Come join the stampede at the Fry the Frogs pep rally including a special football announcement Friday, September 23, at 6:30 p.m. on Doak Walker Plaza. The exciting event will fire up our spirit before we cheer on the Mustangs against TCU Saturday, September 24, in Ford Stadium. Game time will be announced later, but plan to attend the tailgate at the SMU Alumni tent near Clements Hall before it starts. Pony Up!
After the Friday pep rally, attendees receive free admission to these great matches: SMU men’s soccer vs. Florida International University at 7 p.m. at Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium and SMU volleyball vs. University of South Florida at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
Find a schedule of events and more Family Weekend information here.
The SMU community is invited to celebrate the dedication of the transformed visual arts facilities at Meadows School of the Arts Friday, September 16, at 11:30 a.m. RSVP here.
We’re excited for what the new year holds, but it will only be possible with the support of dedicated Mustang donors. We hope you’ll be inspired to support our students, faculty and campus with your gift today.
Homecoming festivities start Thursday, October 20, when we celebrate our Distinguished Alumni Award honorees A. Shonn Evans Brown ’95, ’98; John Cartwright Phelan ’86; and Thear Sy Suzuki ’96; and Emerging Leader Award recipient Emily K. Graham ’07.
DAA recipient C.J. “Don” Donnally ’67, ’68, who passed away in May, will be honored posthumously.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner and the SMU Alumni Board will host the event recognizing extraordinary achievement, outstanding character and good citizenship. The celebration at Armstrong Fieldhouse will open with a reception at 6 p.m. that will be followed by a dinner and awards presentation at 7 p.m. Read more.
The Josh Abbott Band will perform Saturday, September 10, at 4:30 p.m. on Doak Walker Plaza, on the north side of Ford Stadium, before the Mustangs play Lamar in the home opener, kicking off at 6 p.m. Get entry to both with a previously purchased game ticket or a concert ticket. Read more.
Come back to where it all began to reconnect with classmates and SMU. With loads of events, there’s something for everyone. Be sure to stop in at the SMU Alumni tent near Clements Hall. Check out the schedule and make your plans now.
Here are some of the highlights: Thursday, October 20
Distinguished Alumni Awards
6 p.m. Reception
7 p.m. Dinner and presentation
Armstrong Fieldhouse Registration and information Friday, October 21
Enjoy tours of campus landmarks and new additions, and visit the George W. Bush Presidential Center and the Meadows Museum.
Undergraduate reunion parties at various locations. More information.
Saturday, October 22
The parade, fun on the Boulevard and the SMU vs. Cincinnati football game are just a few of the exciting activities. Read more.
Latino Alumni of SMU will host a celebration of the academic achievements of their 2022 scholarship recipients Thursday, September 15, at 6 p.m. at the Meadows Museum. Register by September 9.
The Residential Commons are abuzz, organizations are going full speed and the events calendar is already packed. Students are back and ready for the big year ahead. Read more.
A NASA-funded team led by SMU researchers think that their small, lightweight device developed to measure spaceship velocity will improve the odds of successful landings on Mars and other planets.
Smaller, they say, is better in space.
The optical microresonator built by the team is only 2 millimeters in length, compared to the velocity-monitoring tool most commonly used on spacecraft – the Fabry-Perot interferometer – which can be as long as 500 millimeters. NASA and other space agencies may be able to use the microresonator to get an accurate, quick measurement of how fast a spaceship is moving in a specific direction.
The first proof-of-concept results have been published in AAIA Journal.
“Every gram of a device makes a huge difference in how much fuel I will have to have on a spacecraft and how many other items I can include as payload on that spacecraft,” says SMU’s Volkan Ötügen, one of the creators of the optical microresonator.
Ötügen is senior associate dean of the Mechanical Engineering Department in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering and director of the SMU MicroSensor Laboratory. The device he and other researchers built uses a phenomenon known as “whispering gallery mode.”
A spacecraft’s velocity is a key measurement during its descent, because the time between when a spaceship enters a planet’s atmosphere and the time it lands is usually only minutes at most. And costly accidents likethe crashed European spacecraft Schiaparellion Marsunderscore how quickly a mission can go wrong when the spacecraft is given wrong information.
Just40 percent of Mars missions – launched by any space agency – actually land there successfully. Read more at SMU Research.
With new students heading to classes soon, exciting faculty research underway, and progress made on new and improved structures all over the campus, this school year promises to be bigger and better than ever. That’s because of the generous support of Mustangs like you.
Visit the Hilltop this fall to see how your gifts ignite our University’s success today and for years to come. Give now.
Plan to meet up with fellow Mustangs at away-game tailgates throughout the football season, beginning September 3, when we play UNT in Denton. At home, check out the SMU Alumni tent on the Boulevard, beginning September 10. And stay tuned for details about a big pep rally for the SMU-TCU game September 24. It’s time to Boulevard!
When our Mustangs play at home, gather at the SMU Alumni tent near Clements Hall for a pre-game “pop up” experience featuring snacks and drinks from partner purveyors. A cash bar will also be offered. The fun begins two hours before kickoff. Click for information and registration. Away-game tailgates
SMU football is hitting the road for some great games this season. If you find yourself in “enemy” territory, don’t worry; you’re not alone. SMU Alumni Relations and the Mustang Club will bring a taste of the Hilltop to road games. Enjoy food and beverages with fellow Mustangs at tailgates starting two hours before kickoff at these games: September 3: University of North Texas, Denton, Texas September 17: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland October 1: University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida November 17: Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
Find information and registration here.
Meet Diamond M Club President Kellie Prinz Johnson ’96, whose connection to the Hilltop seems to grow stronger each year. In fact, she named her son after her best band friend and her favorite SMU professor, and she’s now a proud SMU parent.
What do you do for work?
I am the director of operations at Retro Studios, which is a video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo. Some of the games we’ve made are the Metroid Prime series, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. I manage everything that is not involved with making the games or IT. I’ve been there for 19 years.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Basically, driving up and down I-35 coming to SMU events. *Laughs.* I’m also an avid baseball fan, so when SMU isn’t having sporting activities, I fill the void with Major League Baseball. I just got back from Chicago where I saw the Cubs, my favorite team, play five games in four days. But I love going to SMU games; I have season tickets to football and men’s and women’s basketball so I’m here as often as possible.
What is your favorite Diamond M Club memory?
My favorite memory is how I get to do cool things, meet people and represent the club. A few years ago, at Pigskin Revue, we gave Paul Layne ‘76, who is SMU’s superfan, a beanie and he was really honored by that, so it was special for me to be the one to give him something the Mustang Band doesn’t take lightly or give to many who were not in the band.
Art and science intersect in the hands of SMU junior Travis Nolan ’24. He’s an international origami champion whose fascination with dinosaurs and paper folding come together as a study of the biomechanics of prehistoric creatures.
Students tackled the ultimate DIY challenge by building a “baby supercomputer” that not only deepens their understanding of networking and parallel computing, but also shows big potential for their artificial intelligence research.
As SMU’s powerful new NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD supercomputer research system launched on campus, students assembled their own “baby supercomputer.” Small but mighty, it’s capable of running and training artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models with the potential to make an array of modern conveniences even better at what they do.
“Our student team already has access to a really powerful supercomputer on campus, but having this miniature version gives them a chance to administer their own supercomputer, which is a novel experience,” explains physicist Eric Godat ’18. He’s the team lead for SMU’s Office of Information Technology Research and Data Sciences Services and director of its Student Technology Assistant in Residence (STAR) Program. Read more.
In a July 3 interview with ESPN staff writer Harry Lyles, Jr., former SMU football safety Ra Kazadi ’22 talks about how the loosening of name, image and likeness (NIL) restrictions on college athletes and the financial freedom it generated gave him the wings to explore and grow as an artist.
EXCERPT: SMU safety Ra’Sun Kazadi is a unique talent among college football players.
You might see that he’s appeared in 10 games over the past two seasons and registered two tackles and say that’s a stretch, but it’s not. Ra – as he’s often referred to by his teammates, friends and family – has talents that go beyond the football field.
He’s a gifted artist, and last July 1 – with the loosening of restrictions on college athletes making money through their name, image and likeness – Kazadi’s world as an artist opened up considerably.
“I’m able to do more of the work that I want to do because of NIL,” he said. “I can sell my pieces for more, and therefore, I don’t have to do, like, 100 pieces a month.
“It’s funny because it’s been less about money now. It’s been more about just working and growing, and just trying things.”
Kazadi sold his work before NIL restrictions were lifted, but couldn’t put his name on it, have shows or promote his art on his Instagram or website.
“It was just basically relying on people to know that I was an artist and then doing stuff for super cheap,” Kazadi said. Because of these limitations, he said he wasn’t able to sell pieces for much – $30 for a sketch, and maybe around $100 for a painting if he was lucky.
“It wasn’t at the scale, even close to what it was now,” he said.
Kazadi said he’s able to get higher prices for his work now because people know it is his and he’s able to promote it. The greater financial freedom has given him more time to experiment with his art and continue to improve at his craft. Read the full story.
During the 2021–22 academic year, 69 Cox School of Business graduate students were currently active duty in, or veterans of, the U.S. Armed Forces. Cox Today magazine profiled a cross-section of the students about what they would like all of us to know about their time in military service. Here’s a sampling of their responses:
Corbin C. Anderson
Former Captain, Aviation Officer and UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter Pilot in the U.S. Army
Full-time two-year MBA in finance
Anticipated graduation in 2023 Originally from Westlake, Texas
“I had the honor of serving with amazing leaders, soldiers and aviators who came from all different walks of life. Those individuals I served with helped mold me to become a successful officer and junior leader in the Army. People are the Army’s most important asset. I was blessed to serve with leaders of character who were incredibly smart, tough and diverse, and who had the ability to solve incredibly complex and time-sensitive problems. I will forever be grateful for the individuals with whom I had the privilege to serve and who continue to serve our country.”
Destiny Perez
Former E-6 Aircraft Maintenance Technician and Instructor for the Air Education and Training Command in the U.S. Air Force
M.A./MBA in arts management and arts entrepreneurship
Anticipated graduation in 2023 Originally from San Marcos, Texas
“Military service afforded me time to figure out who I was and what I wanted in life. A mentor once asked, ‘If you could only do one thing the rest of your life and you never got paid for it, yet you’d still be happy, what would that be?’ Thanks to that question, I changed my undergraduate degree to focus on my passion for dance. Later in my service, as an instructor, I learned I love teaching as much as I love learning. If I could share one thing with you, it’s to ask yourself the same question. Find your passion.”
Drewnard “D” Woods
Current Combat Airlifter, E6 rank, in the U.S. Air Force Reserve
Professional MBA (PMBA) in real estate/finance
Anticipated graduation in 2023 Originally from Chicago, Illinois
“Coming from the South Side of Chicago, it’s a war zone in itself. I chose to join the Air Force because I knew it would challenge me mentally and would propel me forward in other ways, such as being able to pursue a career in business, to look sharp, give attention to detail and be willing to show up early even if that means waiting around a bit. I’ve gained other great attributes, too. Most importantly, I knew I was joining something that I would be proud of the rest of my life, and that maybe one day, I would be able to tell my story to encourage others to join the ranks of the world’s greatest Air Force.” Read the full story.
A groundbreaking new collaboration between telecommunications giant AT&T and SMU will deliver high-level training, practical experience and a potential employment offer in the field of data science for a group of University students spending the summer together in the classroom and on the job.
AT&T is covering the cost of the training for the students and for the overlapping on-site internship. After the program ends, each participant who earns an SMU certificate for completing the on-campus boot camp and the internship will receive interviews for permanent positions with AT&T after graduation.
“We’ve had interns for years, but we’ve never really done a boot camp where we actually have the formal training using the Artificial Intelligence tools we use here internally at AT&T and then collaborate on projects, too,” says Mark Austin, AT&T’s vice president for data science. “So, this is unique, and we’re excited about it.”
The nine students selected for the program are spending half of the summer in an SMU classroom led by Bivin Sadler, technical assistant professor and course lead faculty for SMU’s online Master of Science in Data Science program. Part of that “boot camp” experience includes a competition between the students, divided into teams, working to solve problems presented by their AT&T mentors. Following the SMU instruction, the group will head to AT&T offices for the second half of the summer to work with the massive data sets and corporate-level challenges that are bread-and-butter to the communication company’s own data science group.
The Data Science Scholars are a mix of undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in various STEM fields – data science, statistics, math and engineering.
Demand for data scientists is expected to increase by 22 percent over the next decade, according to estimates by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented in the STEM workforce. Women, who now earn the majority of undergraduate and advanced degrees, are significantly underrepresented in computer science fields. Read more.
Curtis has been a creative director for more than 25 years with Wieden+Kennedy, a global agency headquartered in Portland, Oregon. He’s a legend in the field with three Emmy wins for best commercial, and seven Emmy nominations to his credit. In Advertising Age’s 20th anniversary edition of Creativity Magazine, Curtis was named one of the 50 most influential creative leaders of the past 20 years.
His wide-ranging portfolio for Nike, ESPN and other high-profile brands includes an acclaimed commercial featuring Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons fighting over a Coke. In 2010, Adweek named It’s Mine the Super Bowl spot of the decade.
The SMU collaboration took flight during a conversation with SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad E. Cheves.
“Brad and I were talking about all the amazing individuals who have come through SMU over the years. It’s an impressive list,” Curtis says. “We both thought it would be something interesting to – in a broadcast spot – remind folks of.”
After getting the greenlight, Curtis and his production team faced the challenge of tracking down archival video and images. They worked with Laura Graham ’16, director of photography and video in SMU Marketing and Communications, to locate assets and secure licensing approvals. Curtis supplied his expertise to the project at no charge.
The commercial encapsulates the breadth and achievements of our Mustang family and the reputation for excellence that draws the best and brightest to the Hilltop. (Play the video above to see for yourself.)
It was a labor of love for Mustangs with star power like Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates ’69, whose distinctive voice provides the narration, and fan favorite Brian Baumgartner ’95, who submitted his own video when the cost of licensing footage of him as Kevin in The Office TV series was prohibitive.
Other notable alumni featured include NFL star and sports commentator “Dandy” Don Meredith ’60, real estate titan Trammel Crow ’39 and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11.
Also shown are Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on campus in 1966 and former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and the late George H.W. Bush on campus in 2013 to celebrate the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Center with former President Bush.
The ad ends with an intriguing question for the future Mustangs viewing it: What will you do?
The commercial premiered during the TCU game September 25, 2021, where SMU retained the Iron Skillet with a 42–34 win.
“Maybe the spot helped us beat the Horned Frogs, who knows,” Curtis says. “What I do know is it reminds us that we’re all a part of something pretty special around here. That’s inspiring, and worth celebrating.” – From SMU Magazine, spring 2022
The Mustang Band represented the U.S. as thousands turned out for D-Day commemoration ceremonies in Normandy, France, in June. The trip was more than two years in the making because of the pandemic and brought history alive for the young musicians.
Read more:
On June 13, SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow lit up SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, at the kickoff of our $1.5 billion campaign for impact in Southern California. More than 200 impassioned Mustangs from across the region gathered to celebrate the campaign empowering outstanding students, enriching teaching and research, and enhancing our campus and community. Read more.
Pony ears and cheers are on the way. The first season under Head Football Coach Rhett Lashlee kicks off September 3 with the Mustangs traveling to UNT. SMU will host Lamar at Ford Stadium September 10. Check out the schedule and get season tickets now.Six big games come to Ford Stadium this fall, highlighted by the Battle for the Iron Skillet against TCU on September 24 during Family Weekend, and a match-up with 2021 CFP participant and AAC Champion Cincinnati on October 22 for Homecoming .
The Mustangs will also host AAC Championship game participant and in-state rival Houston on November 5, as well as Navy in a Friday night contest on October 14, before Memphis visits to close the regular season for Senior Day on November 26.
SMU’s non-conference slate features the season opener at North Texas on September 3, a home game against Lamar on September 10 and a match-up at Maryland on September 17.
The Mustangs finished 8-4 in 2021 and have won at least eight games in two of the last three seasons (7-3 in 2020). The 2021 Fenway Bowl bid was the third consecutive year with a bowl berth. SMU reached as high as No. 19 in the in AP Poll and No. 16 in the Coaches Poll last season.
Kickoff times and TV information will be announced at a later date. Check out the full schedule. Purchase tickets.
If you’re from Dallas, or never left after graduation, then you’re never at a loss for things to do or ways to reconnect with classmates and create impromptu mini reunions at any time of the year.
The warm summer weather presents the perfect time to meet up and head out with your fellow Mustangs and reminisce about how falling in love with SMU meant falling in love with all things Dallas too. Whether it’s hiking or biking, aquariums or botanical gardens, museums or art galleries there’s something for everyone on this list of things to do with your herd this summer! Read more.
Our alumni leaders, founders, innovators and creators are ready to guide startup-minded students aiming to transform their bold ideas into businesses.
Some students arrive on the Hilltop with a plan in mind. Others find that spark in a class, through a research project or even in a casual conversation over coffee.
When they decide to bring their vision to life, students can find step-by-step support. Across the campus, a multitude of experiential, academic and research resources provide a framework for entrepreneurial endeavors, while funding from grants and competitions get them off the ground.
Our alumni have blazed new paths in tech, business and just about every other sector of the economy. As mentors, they provide guidance, share expertise, generate opportunities and cheer on students finding new ways to make an impact on the world. Read more.
Congratulations to history-making SMU alumna Averie Bishop ’19, ’22, the first Asian American Miss Texas.
She currently serves on the Mayor’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council. It was established last year by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to advise the city and police on ways to increase tolerance and understanding and engage the private sector and communities in discouraging hate and encouraging diversity.
Bishop received a B.A. in human rights in 2019 and graduated from Dedman School of Law in May. While she was an undergraduate, Bishop and her mother establish the Tulong Foundation in 2015. The nonprofit organization serves an area of the Philippines where Marevi Bishop grew up. The foundation supports children’s education and efforts to develop sustainable farming and clean drinking water. As an SMU Human Rights Fellow in 2018–19, she spent the summer in the Philippines building water wells in rural communities.
On the Hilltop, Bishop displayed her vocal talent as Cinderella in Into the Woods, the student musical presented during Family Weekend in 2017.
Bishop will now start preparing for the Miss America pageant, which will take place in Connecticut in December. She is active on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, offering a candid look at her life as a law student and beauty pageant contestant.
Want to be less selfish, manipulative or impulsive? A new study has found that tasks designed to make someone more agreeable also effectively reduce a trio of negative personality traits known as the “Dark Triad” – Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy.
SMU psychology professor Nathan Hudson’s study showed that practicing activities like “donating money to a charity that you would normally spend on yourself” or “talking to a stranger and asking them about themselves” decreased all three Dark Triad traits after four months. That was the case even for people who said they wanted to increase their dark traits, not diminish them.
In a surprise twist, though, Hudson’s study published in the Journal of Personality found that these people did want to become more agreeable – modest, kind, considerate and helpful.
“Thus, interventions targeting agreeableness may be an effective way to help reduce dark traits in a way that people may be likely to cooperate with,” he says.
How does Hudson account for the finding?
“I’d guess that people with high levels of Machiavellianism, for example, do want to be nice, kind people. But they also feel that manipulating others is a good and useful strategy for navigating life and getting what they want.”
And perhaps there’s a mental disconnect for people with high levels of the Dark Triad.
“No one wants to see themselves as bad or evil. So people tend to justify their bad behavior,” he says. Read more.
With an SMU career spanning nearly five decades in the Meadows School of the Arts, Barbara Hill Moore has been named the recipient of the 2022 Faculty Career Achievement Award for her contributions to the teaching, scholarship and service missions of the University.
“I am truly honored to cap off my career at Meadows by accepting this wonderful award of recognition,” says Hill Moore, senior associate dean for faculty and Meadows Foundation Distinguished Professor of Voice. “SMU offered me the opportunity to teach, mentor and advise many of the University’s biggest and brightest singing talents during my nearly 50 years here at the Hilltop, and I’ll be forever grateful for that.”
Hill Moore, a world-renowned opera singer and voice teacher, began teaching at Meadows in 1974 and served as chair of the voice department from 1977 through 1992. In the summer of 2011, she founded and began directing an international study abroad program, SMU-in-South Africa, built around teaching and directing a class in musical theater hosted by the Opera School and Choral Academy (OSCA) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa.
Hill Moore also founded SPIRITUAL VOICES in 1990, an ensemble of five soloists and accompanists who have sung throughout the U.S. and Europe, specializing in performing the earliest composed Negro spirituals and African American art song repertory.
Hill Moore is a recipient of SMU’s prestigious “M” Award. She was named Meadows Foundation Distinguished Professor of Voice in May 2005 and named SMU Distinguished University Citizen in 2009–10. In March 2010, the South Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club honored Hill Moore as a trailblazer for her excellence in education. Through the Barbara Hill Moore and Bruce R. Foote Foundation, Hill Moore awards scholarships to underrepresented students in SMU’s graduate and artist certificate programs that are pursuing an advanced degree in classical vocal study. Read more.
While our community mourns the loss of Chester John “Don” Donnally, Jr. ’67, ’68, we also look forward to celebrating him and our other 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award honorees on October 20. Don was delighted to know of our plans to honor him, and we hope you will join us for the dinner and presentation during Homecoming Weekend. Find more information, including registration.
Robin Suzanne Poston, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Memphis, has been named dean of SMU’s Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies and associate provost for graduate education. She will assume her position at SMU August 15. Poston has since 2018 led strategic initiatives at the University of Memphis to modernize academic, scholarly and international approaches that support enrollment growth, student success and timely graduation in its Graduate School. These initiatives serve Ph.D., professional and graduate certificate students across 161 graduate programs in 12 colleges and schools. Poston also has served since 2015 as director of the Systems Testing Excellence Program (STEP) at the University of Memphis’ FedEx Institute of Technology. In that capacity she has supported interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students on government and industry-sponsored projects to build up research and curricular competencies, helping to promote STEP as an internationally recognized group of thought leaders in the science of systems testing. STEP researchers are currently working with the Department of Homeland Security and the Air Force Institute of Technology and in the past have performed projects for the Defense Information Systems Agency of the Department of Defense, FedEx Corporation and others. “The Moody School for Graduate and Advanced Studies is focused on improving the quality and success of SMU’s graduate programs in concert with strategic investments in the research enterprise,” says Elizabeth G. Loboa, SMU provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “Graduate education is an essential component of a university’s research ecosystem, and doctoral students, in particular, constitute important metrics in the Carnegie Classification, which is used to distinguish universities in terms of their research productivity. “Dr. Poston is a proven leader with deep experience at the intersection of research and graduate education,” Loboa adds. “She was the chief architect in the rise of University of Memphis from R2 to R1 in the Carnegie rankings, and we are excited that she is joining SMU’s leadership team at this time in our quest for even greater academic quality.” Read more.
Jason P. Nance, an education policy and law scholar who studies inequalities in public education, has been named the Judge James Noel Dean at SMU’s Dedman School of Law. He will join SMU on August 10 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he is associate dean for research and faculty development and professor of law.
Nance began his career in education, teaching math to middle schoolers and GED and English courses to adults in Houston. After three years, he began to prepare for a career in education administration, intending to become a school principal. But Nance developed a keen interest in education policy and law through his graduate studies, ultimately earning a Ph.D. in education policy and administration before completing his law degree.
“The Dedman School of Law aspires both to maintain its long-standing top status in the region and to rise significantly in the national rankings,” says Elizabeth G. Loboa, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Throughout the interview process, campus stakeholders responded enthusiastically both to Jason’s experience and to his vision for the law school. Dedman Law has tremendous faculty and staff who have for years trained and supported the placement of our students in meaningful and impactful careers. Under Dean Nance’s leadership, we are well positioned to advance our well-earned reputation within the legal and business communities and to expand our impact in line with SMU’s aspirations for even greater academic excellence.”
Nance clerked for Judge Kent A. Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware after graduating from law school. He served as a litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, practicing corporate and securities litigation during the financial crisis of 2007–2010. Nance was a visiting assistant professor of law at the Villanova University School of Law before joining the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2011.
Since 2021, Nance has served as associate dean for research and faculty development at UF Law. Previously at UF Law, he served as associate dean for academic and faculty affairs, as an associate director of the Center for the Study of Race and Relations, and as an associate director for education and law at the Center on Children and Families. As professor of law, he taught education law, torts and remedies. He oversaw the continued development and implementation of the Introduction to Lawyering and the Legal Profession Program, then directed the program designed to help first-year law students develop key competencies to become effective lawyers.
“We look forward to welcoming Dean Nance to Dedman School of Law,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “His early public education experience combined with a distinguished legal career and passion for education equity issues bring talents that will be valuable on many levels at SMU.” Read more.
It was an exciting time on the Hilltop for sports fans as men’s golf, men’s tennis, equestrian and rowing all captured conference titles this spring. Go, Mustangs! Equestrian
No. 1 seed SMU claimed its fourth straight conference championship, and second Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) title, after defeating No. 2 seed UT Martin, 11-9, March 26.
Four members of the team were tabbed as 2021–22 Ariat All-America selections by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association. Senior Mallory Vroegh ’22 and sophomore Nya Kearns ’24 were named as first-team horsemanship selections. Sophomore Taylor Madden ’24 was given the nod as a first-team selection in the flat, and freshman Elli Yeager ’25 earned second-team honors in fences.
SMU made it to the final four of the 2022 NCEA National Championships April 15, finishing the season with an 11-7 record, including a 4-1 mark in ECAC play. Read more. Men’s golf
The SMU men’s golf team secured its second American Athletic Conference (AAC) title and 10th title in program history, setting a 54-hole tournament scoring record of 835 (282-277-276, -29) April 24.
The season came to a close with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Bryan Regional May 18. Read more. Men’s tennis
Top-seeded SMU defeated the No. 2 seed Memphis 4-2 in the AAC tournament championship to claim its first AAC title and 10th conference championship in program history. The victory also gave the Mustangs an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships, marking the school’s 24th appearance.
SMU concluded its season with a 22-7 record after losing to LSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Read more. Rowing
SMU won all four races and successfully defended its AAC Women’s Rowing Championship May 15. The Mustangs finished with 168 points to win the team title.
The team wrapped up its run in 12th place at the NCAA Championships with an all-time conference team best 72 points. Read more.
SMU celebrated the future of the Cox School of Business and its role as a driver of Dallas innovation, breaking ground May 6 on a $140 million renovation and expansion project. As part of the SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow campaign, more than 50 donors have already invested more than $100 million toward the facilities designed to train students for a collaborative and technologically integrated world.
SMU is blazing a trail into the next era of business education. We have undertaken a two-year, $140 million renovation and expansion project to provide the facilities needed to train students for an ever-more collaborative and technologically integrated world. Enter our virtual experience to experience the new classrooms and collaborative spaces in our future facilities. Read more.
Smiles lit up the room and excitement was in the air April 28 at the announcement of the new William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the SMU Cox School of Business to encourage business creation, leadership development and economic growth.
A commitment from celebrated energy expert and philanthropist William S. Spears, the largest gift by a non-alumnus in the history of SMU, will establish the William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the SMU Cox School of Business. This new addition to SMU’s $1.5 billion campaign for impact, SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow, will empower students, bolster faculty pursuits and ignite our community for future generations. Read more.
“What SMU allows you to do is feel very empowered to create new experiences,” says Sameer Paroo ’01. The former Homecoming king candidate finds new ways to engage and connect with fellow Mustangs as chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Alumni of SMU.
Paroo is an “M” Award-winning, Toronto-born Mustang who grew up in Orlando and completed high school in Plano, Texas. The avid basketball fan has visited approximately 33 countries since finishing graduate school and has worked in both Nairobi, Kenya, and Vancouver, Canada. In fall 2000, as an SMU senior, he represented the Program Council as a Homecoming king candidate in the annual parade. Twenty-one years later, he had the opportunity to ride in the parade again, but this time as chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Alumni of SMU. Read more.
Meet two outstanding Mustangs: At 19, Haley Taylor Schlitz is the youngest law school graduate in SMU history. At 85, Marillyn Burton Seeberger is making history of her own by receiving a bachelor’s degree and aiming for a new career as a screenwriter.
Seun Suberu ’23 created the CollegePlus app to help students take control of their future. Now it’s shaping his path, too. Over the past three years, Suberu has earned more than $85,000 in funding through multiple SMU competitions to fuel his startup.
Suberu – his first name is pronounced like “Sean” – continues to expand and refine his app while pursuing a degree in computer science and a minor in statistical science. His own experiences inspired CollegePlus. It guides prospective students through a series of questions to help them land on schools that are good matches for their interests and needs.
A strong computer science program, proximity to his family, scholarships and a thriving entrepreneurial community made SMU a clear choice for Suberu. Like many of his peers, however, he struggled during his college search before finding the right fit.
“I didn’t know what was feasible, given my credentials, what was affordable, if I could get a scholarship and so on,” says Suberu, who graduated from Mesquite High School. “I had more questions than answers.” Read more.
SMU is launching Access SMU – additional merit scholarships – beginning with Texas students to meet full need for high-achieving scholars who receive federal Pell Grants and SMU merit scholarships.
Access SMU will break financial barriers to college entry and graduation – first for academically talented Texas students, with the goal to later expand the investment in more students who need help paying for college. The program will help high-achieving Texas students who receive federal Pell Grants to attend SMU regardless of financial means. Access SMU is expected to increase the number of first-generation students and students from underrepresented groups who earn their undergraduate degrees at SMU. Read more.
After capturing the American Athletic Conference championship, the SMU men’s golf team was selected to the NCAA Bryan Regional. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at Texas A&M’s Traditions Club May 16-18.
SMU’s regional berth marks the Mustangs’ 26th appearance in the NCAA Regionals since the format began in 1989 and the program’s 37th overall appearance in the NCAA postseason.
The Mustangs received an automatic bid as a result of winning the AAC Championship April 24. The conference named SMU senior Noah Goodwin ’22 and sophomore Nathan Petronzio ’24 to its 2022 All-Conference Team. Jerry Pittman Head Men’s Golf Coach Chris Parra was named AAC Coach of the Year. Parra is in his third season as head coach and eighth as a member of the SMU coaching staff. Read more.
SMU Distinguished Professor Emerita of Art History Alessandra Comini gained acclaim early in her career with her on-the-ground investigation into an art world mystery. Now, through a $2 million planned gift to SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, she’s setting the stage for a new generation of the bold, curious and creative to make their own discoveries.
Comini’s gift will be split between two endowments:
The newly created Alessandra Comini Endowed Professorship in the Division of Music to teach and study 19th-century composers, a period she identifies as critical to our understanding of music.
The existing Alessandra Comini Endowed Fellowship Fund, which was launched in her honor with early support from former student Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo ’83 and Charlotte Whaley ’70, ’76, former editor of SMU’s Southwest Review.
“SMU has been my home for so long,” says Comini, who retired in 2005. “It’s an honor to give back to this University and support scholarship and research where my lifelong passions intersect. Art and music are so harmoniously intertwined. Art can’t be art without music by its side.”
The fellowship that bears her name supports the type of research that made her own breakthrough discovery possible. The fund awards $25,000 annually to an outstanding Meadows doctoral or postdoctoral art history student pursuing landmark research abroad that embraces multiple perspectives and cultural influences.
As a young professor, Comini traveled to Vienna in 1963 to study a series of self-portraits by Egon Schiele, an Expressionist painter and protégé of Gustav Klimt. Schiele’s controversial work and lifestyle eventually landed him in jail.
When she learned that no scholar had ever located the place where he was imprisoned, she had to find it. She drove to the nearby village of Neulengbach and quickly identified the local courthouse as the likely site. Initially turned away, she eventually sneaked in and made her way down a dark staircase into the basement. She found and photographed “cell No. 2,” the interior door of which Schiele had faithfully sketched, showing a former prisoner’s carved initials, M H.
Comini later published her research and photographs in Schiele in Prison, which garnered international accolades.
“It was the most exciting moment of my life,” she says.
Joining SMU’s faculty represented a sort of homecoming. Comini’s ties to SMU run deep. Her mother founded SMU’s Italian language program, her father worked as a commercial photographer near campus, and her younger sister attended SMU.
Now 87, Comini has published eight scholarly books, including The Changing Image of Beethoven: A Study in Mythmaking, a German edition of which appeared for the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth, as well as numerous articles, reviews and chapters in exhibition catalogs and opera booklets.
She was awarded the Grand Cross of Honor by the Republic of Austria for her work on art and music. Comini was honored by the Egon Schiele Museum in 2018.
After retiring, she turned to fiction. She now writes the Megan Crespi mystery series, in which her alter ego investigates crimes in the art and music world. Comini will soon publish her 10th book in the series, and all in the series are being translated into German.
“There is such join in giving to and believing in an institution like SMU. ”
– ALESSANDRA COMINI
Our spring “homecoming” is your opportunity to see the SMU Ignited campaign at work as we celebrate two new campus resources. Festivities begin April 7, with the groundbreaking ceremony for the Holt Hickman Outdoor Pool at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center at 4 p.m. Head back to the Hilltop on Friday for the dedication of the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium at 10:30 a.m., and enjoy the spring football game at 7 p.m. in Ford Stadium, a chance to see our Mustangs in action under new Head Coach Rhett Lashlee. Read more.
What can we do in one day? That question was answered by 3,497 Mustang households giving more than $8 million to over 175 causes on SMU Giving Day. Thank you for changing the lives of students, creating new opportunities and shaping a brighter future on the Hilltop and beyond. Read more.
Rob Lanier has been named SMU’s head men’s basketball coach. Lanier, who comes to the Hilltop from Georgia State, arrives with more than 30 years as a collegiate coach, including seven seasons as a head coach.
“We are excited to welcome Rob Lanier and his family to Dallas as the head basketball coach at SMU,” Hart says. “Rob is an excellent coach and has been mentored by some of the game’s best in Rick Barnes and Billy Donovan. He and his staff will build upon the success our program has experienced under Coach Brown and Coach Jankovich. As importantly, his character, integrity and commitment to developing our student-athletes as both players and people align with our mission of shaping champions. Our conversations with individuals in the basketball community only reinforced our belief that Rob Lanier is the right leader for SMU basketball.”
Lanier’s former teams have made 12 NCAA Tournaments and earned 19 total postseason bids.
“I couldn’t be more honored to lead the program on the Hilltop,” Lanier says. “SMU’s location in the heart of Dallas, Texas, the beautiful campus, stellar academic reputation and overall commitment to excellence make it the perfect fit for me and my family. I’m excited to get to work and to take this program to the next level.”
Can you smell those roses? There’s a real possibility that the gene that helps you experience their heavenly fragrance may also help you feel the prick of their thorns.
Researchers from SMU have determined that a gene linked to feeling touch may moonlight as an olfactory gene. That’s the conclusion drawn from studying a very small, transparent worm that shares many similarities with the human nervous system.
“This gene has previously been identified as a potential therapeutic target for chronic pain. Now that we know the gene is also involved in olfaction, it might present an opportunity for treating or understanding olfactory defects, such as the mysterious loss of smell that many COVID-19 patients have reported,” says SMU’s Adam D. Norris, co-author of a study published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
Norris is the Floyd B. James Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. He worked with SMU graduate students Xiaoyu Liang and Canyon Calovich-Benne, who are the lead authors of the study. Both are studying to get a Ph.D. in biological sciences. Read more.
If Dylan Guerra ’16 had given up after failing to win playwriting fellowships in New York, he would not be where he is today: authoring a screenplay for a well-known production company and co-writing season three of The Other Two, the HBO satire that hilariously spoofs showbiz and celebrity.
“Perseverance is a massive part of it,” says Guerra by phone during a lunch break from The Other Two writers’ room in New York. “I applied to everything more than once.”
It took three tries to become a member of the prestigious Youngblood group of playwrights at Ensemble Studio Theatre and two each for residencies at Ars Nova and Page 73.
“In about a six-to-eight-month period, I got into three of the highest-profile playwriting fellowships in New York, and that put my name on a bunch of lists,” he says. “I also had a solo show, and there was this organic interest in my work.” Read more.
Startup founder Mona El-Gharby ’21 won seed funding from SMU’s Big iDeas program three years in a row as a student. D Magazine writes about El-Gharby, founder of CURLē, “a customized haircare company that’s making curls luxurious,” and her entrepreneurial journey in the March 2022 issue.
EXCERPT: “Take a single strand of your hair and roll it between your fingers with your eyes closed.”
Can you feel it? Is it thin or thick? Is it straight or curly? Odds are, if it’s straight, you’ve never had to think about this before.
But CURLē founder Mona El-Gharby has.
The Egyptian American Dallas native says her classmates used to bully her growing up over her natural hair texture. Her parents had raised her to be confident and elegant, but it was hard to feel that way about her curly hair. Like many other women, she felt her hair wasn’t “professional” or fit European beauty ideals.
And when her peers teased her, El-Gharby didn’t have any celebrities or television characters to point to and say, “these people have beautiful hair, they’re doing great things, they’re representing me.” Read more.
SMU Giving Day unites every member of the Mustang community with easy and fun ways to give to our favorite causes and support the SMU Ignited campaign. Watch the spirited video, volunteer to amplify #SMUOneDay as a Champion and decide how you will shape the future March 22. Learn more.
Thanks to the generosity of the Mustang community, SMU Ignited has garnered more than $800 million in donations, more than halfway toward our $1.5 billion goal. Learn how you can be part of this extraordinary drive to make a positive difference in the world around us.
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Elizabeth G. Loboa, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and Zhong Lu, the Shuler-Foscue Chair in SMU’s Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Loboa and Lu will be inducted into the organization later this year as part of the 2021 class of AAAS Fellows, which includes 564 scientists, engineers and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.
AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized by their peers in the organization for their achievements across disciplines ranging from research, teaching and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
“Provost Loboa and Dr. Lu are respected scientists and their work and contributions continue to advance SMU as a premier research and teaching university,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The AAAS recognition from their peers is well deserved, and SMU is fortunate to benefit from their expertise and commitment to excellence in teaching, research and scientific discovery.” Read more.
BALANCED Media|Technology, in partnership with the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and SMU, has announced a patent-pending medical imaging technology (U.S. Patent Application Serial No.16/538,662) that uses automated software and a video game to provide standardized, accurate and precise identification of ocular diseases including age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of visual impairment in the world.
BALANCED, the Retina Foundation of the Southwest and SMU also signed a 10-year exclusive license, development and commercialization agreement for BALANCED to bring the medical imaging technology to the $35 billion artificial intelligence (AI) health care market.
BALANCED created and crowdsourced an original video game, Eye in the Sky: Defender. The game uses optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal images embedded in the game’s environment to create human-computational image segmentation. As players predict the path of the alien force in the game, they unknowingly learn to trace lines used to perform diagnostic measurements of OCT retinal scans and create new datasets.
When integrated with BALANCED’s HEWMEN AI platform, these new datasets were used by experts at the Retina Foundation and SMU researchers to provide the information needed to train a machine learning (ML) algorithm to analyze OCT images more accurately and precisely.
“Human and machine collaboration is the next step in machine learning and AI,” says Corey Clark, deputy director of research and assistant professor of computer science and engineering for SMU Guildhall, an assistant professor of Computer Science at SMU Lyle School of Engineering and CTO at BALANCED. “This application is a great example showing how injecting human knowledge and intuition into the machine learning process is able to create something that neither were capable of doing on their own. This is just the first step. I believe we will see many more exciting things come from these collaborations in the future.”
SMU’s Dallas Literary Festival is back March 12–22. This annual celebration of writers and literature will feature more than 100 acclaimed national and local authors as well as special events across the city. Authors representing relevant and diverse voices will converge at a series of in-person events on the SMU campus, at Fair Park’s African American Museum and at other locations throughout Dallas.
SMU football great and NFL Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson ’84 will deliver the keynote conversation at noon Saturday, March 19, in Dallas Hall. After a prolific and often contentious career, Dickerson is telling his side of the story in his new book, Watch My Smoke. Capping the day will be the Friends of the SMU Libraries’Tables of Content fundraiser, featuring the presentation of the 2022 Literati Award to culinary historian Adrian Miller, author of Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue. Tickets are required, and proceeds from the event benefit the Friends’ annual grants program.
2020 Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story and recipient of the 2021 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work–Nonfiction, will close the festival at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at SMU.
The festival’s theme, resilience, was chosen when organizers expected to be looking back at how the country survived the turbulence of 2020 and 2021, says Sanderia Faye Smith, Dallas Literary Festival executive director, SMU creative writing faculty member and author of the award-winning novel, Mourner’s Bench.
“As the festival date approaches, we realize we’re going to need even more resilience to stay the course and not give up,” Smith says. “As Toni Morrison says, ‘During hard times, writers should not remain silent and readers should read, heal, gain knowledge and escape within the pages of a book.’”
While related events begin March 12, the first official festival event is Friday, March 18, featuring National Book Award finalist David Treuer and scholar, poet and author DeMaris Hill. Treuer’s The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is a new narrative that demonstrates how Native Americans have maintained their culture and civilization through dark years. Hill’s Breath Better Spent: Living Black Girlhood is a narrative in verse that takes a personal and historical look at the experience of Black girlhood. Treuer and Hill will speak at 7 p.m. at SMU’s McCord Auditorium in Dallas Hall.
Two full days of author panel discussions, readings and interviews follow, March 19 and 20, with national award winners, memoirists, scholars, romance writers, poets, historical fiction writers and authors of gems you might not have heard of yet, but soon will.
Unless otherwise noted, events are free and open to the public.
Among the highlights: Saturday, March 19, Dallas Hall, SMU
Novelist Nathan Harris, author of The Sweetness of Water, Oprah’s June 2021 Book Club pick.
Joaquin Zihuatenejo, National Poetry Slam finalist and Grand Slam Spoken Word champion.
W. Bruce Cameron, author of the New York Times bestselling triology, A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Way Home and A Dog’s Courage.
Long-form narrative writer Catherine Prendergast, author of The Gilded Edge, named by Artnet as one of top 20 books about art in 2021.
Sunday, March 20, African American Museum, Fair Park
Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal and Nev, which was a 2021 Good Morning America Buzz Pick and named one of the best books of 2021 by Barack Obama, TheWashington Post and NPR.
Elisa Dusapin, author of Winter in Sokcho, 2021 National Book Award winner for translated literature.
Scholar and commentator Jelani Cobb, author of The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker.
Culinary historian Adrian Miller, author of Black Smoke.
Daniel Black, author of Don’t Cry for Me, February 2022 Book of the Month selection.
Tuesday, March 15–Tuesday, March 22: Dallas Public Library will host a series of in-person and online events supporting the Dallas Literary Festival, including craft and story-making projects, readings, a Shakespeare Adventure Walk and writing workshops.
Monday, March 21: SMU’s Tate Lecture Series will present biographer Walter Isaacson. Tickets required.
SMU’s Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex was the venue for the inaugural Dallas Open February 6–13. With Dallas and SMU hosting the only ATP Tour indoor championship held in the U.S., Mustangs got the opportunity to take part in the event. All four SMU student-athletes faced off with featured players ranked inside the world’s top 200 in singles or doubles.
Caleb Chakravarthi ’22, Liam Crall ’24, Adam Neff ’24 and graduate student Ivan Thamma went toe to toe with top players and came away with a new perspective.
While the match was tough, the overall experience is one Chakravarthi came to relish.
“Watching a few of the matches and practicing with the guys has motivated me to try and achieve greatness in tennis. Being with these pros you see how small the margins are and the differences between a college tennis player and a pro,” Chakravarthi says. “It definitely has motivated me to be the best tennis player I can and has motivated me to play professional tennis after my time at SMU.” Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU researchers combined street-level investigations with the University’s supercomputer power to reveal infrastructure deserts. Their study lays the groundwork for improving neighborhoods.
Residents of a neglected corner of southeast Dallas daily navigate crumbling sidewalks, pothole-riddled streets and neglected intersections. Few trees shade their streets, and the lack of access to basic services like internet, health care and grocery stores isolates them within a thriving city. Like residents of 61 other Dallas neighborhoods, they live in an infrastructure desert.
What are infrastructure deserts? Why do they matter?
Those two questions get to the heart of a multiyear research project led by SMU’s Barbara Minsker, a nationally recognized expert in environmental and infrastructure systems analysis.
To find answers, Zheng Li, a Ph.D. student in civil and environmental engineering, and other team members created a computer framework with the ability to assess, at census-block level, 12 types of infrastructure. Neighborhoods were evaluated and compared by infrastructure deficiency, household income and ethnicity.
“This framework enables us to collect data from a huge variety of sources, then analyze the patterns that emerge to discover new information that can be used by scientists, policymakers and residents to improve their neighborhoods,” Li says. Read more.
From a very early age, Lacey A. Horn ’04, ’05 knew she wanted to use her talents on behalf of her tribe. The former treasurer of the Cherokee Nation now serves as a strategy and financial consultant to tribal leaders as CEO of Native Advisory and heads Horn CPA, a niche cryptocurrency consultancy.
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Six big games come to Ford Stadium this fall, highlighted by the Battle for the Iron Skillet against TCU September 24 during Family Weekend and a matchup with 2021 CFP participant and AAC Champion Cincinnati October 22 during SMU Homecoming.
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A $50 million commitment from the Garry Weber Foundation, established by former Mustang football letterman Garry A. Weber ’58, is the largest gift in the history of SMU Athletics and supports a $100 million drive for a new 192,500-square-foot Garry Weber End Zone Complex at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
The Garry Weber Foundation’s gift continues an exciting new era for Mustang football and SMU as part of the University’s recently announced $1.5 billion campaign, SMU Ignited: Boldly Shaping Tomorrow. With the drive, SMU Athletics will reach a new milestone, having invested $250 million to develop and enhance championship-caliber athletic facilities across campus.
The new Garry Weber End Zone Complex will anchor Ford Stadium’s south bowl that will connect the stadium’s existing east and west gate entries. The three levels of the new complex will increase the functionality, efficiency and overall experience of Mustang football for student-athletes and fans, as well as inspire interest and investments in athletics across SMU’s campus. Read more.
This spring, SMU will break ground on the Holt Hickman Outdoor Pool, the newest addition to the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center made possible by lead gifts from the Robson, Hickman and Lindley families. Once completed, the project will establish the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center as the only U.S. university facility with both indoor and outdoor Olympic pools.
The Holt Hickman Outdoor Pool will include an eight-lane, 50-meter-by-25-yard outdoor pool, 1- and 3-meter diving boards and a 20-by-40-foot instructional pool for lessons and rehab/therapy. Other amenities feature a locker room facility – accessible from both the indoor and outdoor pools – including an indoor dryland training area, which will specifically benefit the SMU diving program. Exterior showers and a decorative overhang to provide shade will complete the project.
This outdoor pool addition will be a hub of community engagement and help SMU attract local and national swimming and water polo events to SMU and the city of Dallas. Read more.
So far, 124 Mustangs who lived it have been interviewed for Black History at SMU, part of the Voices of SMU oral history project. Voices of SMU is among hundreds of projects, causes and organizations you can support on SMU Giving Day March 22.
Voices of SMU is a collaboration between students, alumni and entities across campus to diversify the SMU Archives’ holdings. With Voices of SMU, undergraduate research assistants conduct oral history interviews with SMU alumni from underrepresented groups. The oral histories are made available online in the SMU Libraries Digital Collections.
The interviews document not only the history of the University, but Texas as well, including the desegregation of higher education, the experiences of African American and Latinx University students, and Black and Brown student activism in Texas. They speak to growing up in Dallas’ Little Mexico; post-World War II African American community-building in places such as Hamilton Park, Dallas; studying as an undocumented student; organizing as minority seminarians and student activists; and shaping Texas’s churches, social ministries, and business communities upon graduation. Read more.
Her dinosaur drawings earned Myria Perez ’18 a volunteer position at the Houston Museum of Natural Science when she was just 12. Flash-forward to high school, and her passion for dinosaurs again made a big impression – this time on renowned vertebrate paleontologist Louis Jacobs, now professor emeritus of Earth Sciences and president of the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man at SMU.
Jacobs became her mentor while she earned bachelor’s degrees in geology and anthropology from SMU. Along the way, she helped prepare fossils that Jacobs and his team had uncovered in Angola. They were exhibited in Sea Monsters Unearthed at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where she now works in the Deep Time FossilLab as a fossil preparator.
Perez aims to inspire more young women to enter STEM fields as one of 125 AAAS IF/THEN Ambassadors. Read more.
Neha Husein ’19 launched the Just Drive app as an SMU student. Recently she captured the top prize in the WEDallas inaugural pitch competition for ZStash, an innovative platform promoting sustainability by helping wholesalers and boutique owners destash inventory.
Husein’s latest venture, ZStash, is a free website and mobile app designed for wholesalers and boutique owners to buy, sell and destash inventory on an all-in-one, secure platform. Prior to creating Zstash, Husein founded Just Drive, an app that rewards undistracted driving that she created after she was rear-ended by a driver who was texting.
For her triumph, Husein was awarded a $1,500 microgrant from Capital One.
WEDallas is a partnership between the DEC Network and Capital One.
Sienna Dugan ’20 came to SMU wanting to make an impact in global health care. Through Engaged Learning and other projects supported each year by Mustangs on SMU Giving Day, she gained experience that helped her dream come true. Today she helps run a free medical and dental clinic in Honduras. Join with thousands of other Mustangs to support the projects, causes and organizations you care about on SMU Giving Day March 22.
More details about our 24-hour giving challenge will be coming soon.
In the meantime, learn more about SMU Engaged Learning.
The new Black/Africana Church Studies program in the Perkins School of Theology aims to prepare students for innovative and impactful leadership in the Black church, the academy and the world while providing opportunities for the entire SMU community to learn about the origins, development and diversity of the Black church tradition.
“The program will critically explore Black theology, Black Biblical studies and interpretation, history, pastoral theology, preaching, worship, religious education, ethics, and other practices in conjunction with African American, African and other African diasporic churches, nonprofit organizations and social justice ministries,” says Tamara Lewis, assistant professor of the history of Christianity and program director.
An overall goal of the program is to improve campus quality of life for members of the SMU Black community, starting with a biennial survey of the campus climate as seen through the eyes of students, faculty and staff.
The Black/Africana Church Studies program will offer a range of opportunities and activities designed to enrich the educational, cultural and communal experiences of Black students at Perkins School and the Graduate Program in Religious Studies as well as the broader SMU community. Read more at Perkins School.
The U.S. Department of Education’s FY 2021 Education Innovation and Research Competition awarded Professor Leanne Ketterlin Geller an $8 million grant to enhance instructional practices to meet the high needs of students experiencing math difficulties in grades 4-8. Read more at Simmons School.
Researchers at SMU and Northwestern University are using new technology that enables cameras to record high-resolution images and holograms of objects that are hidden around corners, obscured from view and/or beyond the line of sight.
Called Synthetic Wavelength Holography, the technology computationally transforms real-word surfaces such as walls into illumination and imaging portals, which serve to indirectly illuminate the hidden objects and intercept the tiny fraction of light scattered by the hidden objects.
Capturing images through fog, face identification around corners and imaging through barriers like the human skull are potential applications for the technology, detailed in a study published in Nature Communications.
The technology has defense, hazard identification and medical applications. Read more at SMU Research.
SMU alumnus Kelvin Beachum ’10, ’12 is a decade into his NFL career, including the last two seasons with the Cardinals. But in those 10 years, Beachum has never failed to put into motion his parents’ lessons of giving back. He was named the Cardinals’ Walter Payton Man of the Year and is now among 32 players vying to become the NFL’s Man of the Year. But such an honor is merely a detail in a life built on such service.
The oldest of four siblings in Mexia, Texas, Beachum grew up in a family hovering around the national poverty level.
His father, Kelvin Beachum, Sr., worked on cars for a living. His mother, Culetta, worked for Mexia State School in Limestone County.
The family didn’t have a lot of money, but Kelvin Jr. never knew their situation since his parents shielded him from that reality. More importantly, Beachum’s parents – even if they had to struggle financially – made sure their children understood the importance of helping others. Read more at Arizona Cardinals.
Environmental science major Isabelle Galko ’22 is one of just 41 American university students – and the only student from a Texas university – named a 2022 Marshall Scholar.
Galko will use the two-year scholarship to further her studies on climate and policymaking at both Oxford and Durham Universities in England.
From the beaches of Australia to the bayous of Louisiana, she finds her inspiration in the places where water meets land. The Austin native spent part of her childhood in Australia, where she learned to love snorkeling near the coral reefs, then studied abroad on the North Island of New Zealand and conducted research on the sinking wetlands of southern Louisiana.
“My personal experiences spark my drive to make a difference, but approaching environmental issues from the public policy perspective gives me hope of affecting change,” Galko says. “As a Marshall Scholar, I plan to use my time in the UK to link science with effective policy and gain a British perspective for future policymaking.” Read more.
After a decade of working for others in the world of aviation, SMU alumni and brothers Stuart Edenfield ’07 and Curtis Edenfield ’09 founded Thrive Aviation. Read the story of how they got their jet charter company off the ground and why family matters. Read more at SMU Alumni.
When it comes to telling the stories of student life, alumni are SMU’s best ambassadors. Mustangs are needed to talk with admitted students. Answer general questions, share your experiences or just convey your congratulations.
Mustangs never back down from a challenge. That’s why we’re joining together to address the Hilltop’s immediate needs while continuing to ignite the future. Your annual support will make a world of difference. Make your gift now.
Mechanical engineering major Hannah Clark ’23 is interning at NASA – her second stint with the space agency – where she’s working on a challenge for other students. The journey has taught her not to fear failure and to shoot for the stars.Read the story.
SMU and Children’s Health through its Children’s Health Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine are launching a collaboration dedicated to leveraging the transformational power of sports to improve the health, activity levels and well-being of kids. The Youth Sports Impact Partnership, a unique university-hospital relationship, will use an evidence-based approach to improve access to youth sports, prevent injury and share age-appropriate training and development practices.
The partnership will feature the expertise of James Andrews, founder and director of the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, and SMU biomechanist Peter Weyand, who directs the Locomotor Performance Lab in SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development – both internationally renowned for their work with athletes across a spectrum of ages and abilities. Read more at SMU Research.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had already won the Nobel Peace Prize when he spoke before a standing-room-only audience in SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium March 17, 1966. Each year, SMU honors the life and legacy of the slain civil rights leader with special Dream Week events.
SMU’s Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement (SCIE) invites everyone to join these Dream Week events: Wednesday, January 19
Unity Circle
A celebration and reflection of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Noon to 1 p.m.
Main Quad flagpole Friday, January 21
Screening of the award-winning film, Selma. 6 p.m.
Hughes-Trigg Student Center Saturday, January 22 Day of service honors Dr. King’s life of service by lending a hand to local nonprofits.
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom A/B Learn more about Dr. King’s visit to SMU. Follow SMU SCIE on Instagram.
On Friday, December 3, 2021, SMU broke ground on the new Frances Anne Moody Hall, named for Frances Anne Moody-Dalberg ’92, SMU trustee and executive director of the Moody Foundation. Moody Hall will house SMU’s eighth degree-granting school, the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. Backed by a $100 million gift from the Moody Foundation – the largest gift in SMU’s history – the Moody School began operations in fall 2020. This gift is already transforming graduate education at SMU.
The expansion of research at SMU – a strategic priority that fuels the University’s steady ascent toward achieving Carnegie R1 status – gained momentum with the Moody gift. This bold investment supports SMU’s research mission by attracting outstanding graduate students – the workforce behind groundbreaking discoveries that bolster the University’s doctoral and research ecosystem. New positions that will help SMU graduate students win nationally recognized external fellowships, thrive in their programs and launch successful careers have been filled with extraordinary faculty and staff. The combination of SMU’s strengths in supercomputing and data science, the University’s growing externally funded research and the outstanding graduate education provided through the Moody School drives impactful ideas on the Hilltop and beyond.
Read more at SMU Ignited.
Army and Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) students at SMU with full-tuition ROTC scholarships are now eligible for a new SMU scholarship that will cover the full cost of their campus housing and dining. When combined, these scholarships will cover all costs for tuition, fees, housing and dining.
“We’re really pleased to be able to share this news on a day we traditionally honor our military veterans,” Wes Waggoner, SMU associate vice president for Enrollment Management, said during the Veterans Day announcement. “ROTC tuition scholarships are based on academic achievement, leadership potential and community involvement. These are the traits of the students we recruit to SMU. We hope that the addition of a housing and dining scholarship will encourage more ROTC students to become Mustangs, and SMU is honored to support their goals.” Read more.
It’s official: Rhett Lashlee is returning to the Hilltop, this time as head football coach. Lashlee previously served as offensive coordinator for the Mustangs, including the record-setting 2019 season.
The November 30 press conference about the appointment became a pep rally as the SMU community and Dallas officials cheered Lashlee’s return.
“Rhett’s ability to connect with recruits, his passion and love for his players and his alignment with our vision and values are among the many reasons he has been selected to lead SMU football,” said SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart.
Lashlee is a one-time finalist (2013) and two-time semifinalist (2019 and 2020) for the Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant coach. He comes back to SMU after two seasons as the Miami Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Lashlee also has the distinction of being the only coach ever nominated for the Broyles Award four different times at four different schools (Arkansas State, Auburn, SMU and Miami). Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU is collaborating with accelerated computing leader NVIDIA to dramatically boost the University’s high-performance computing system – increasing SMU’s current supercomputer memory tenfold and setting the stage for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning 25 times faster than current levels.
SMU is investing $11.5 million in hardware, software and training to strengthen the University AI infrastructure with an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, bringing world-leading AI supercomputing capabilities to Dallas. The collaboration will give SMU faculty, students and research partners the ability to integrate sophisticated AI technology across a wide array of research disciplines, ranging from computational biology to human performance, from national defense to digital humanities.
“This partnership will put us in the fast lane for artificial intelligence,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Research universities like ours have an obligation to actively engage in the development and application of AI for societal good, and this partnership gives us the tools to do it.” Read more.
Volunteers with drive, school spirit and fresh ideas are needed to champion our SMU alumni.
Apply yourself or nominate a fellow Mustang for the following boards:
When the pandemic forced her kindergartners online during the 2020–21 school year, teacher Michelle Davis ’21 deployed quick reading assessments to assist with keeping their learning on target.
Last year at F.P. Caillet Elementary in the Dallas Independent School District, Davis used a program called DIBELS to test a range of literacy skills. Students read grade-level passages to display such competencies as identifying letter sounds and comprehending text. The assessments take about one minute and are typically done at the beginning of the school year and continue every few weeks until the end.
“We need to assess the students to know where they are developmentally,” says Davis, who received her master’s degree in bilingual education from SMU in May.
This kind of rapid, low-key test can be an essential tool for teachers as they try to help our communities’ youngest students catch up and remain motivated to learn.
Training teachers to use these tests has been a focus for Diane Gifford, clinical associate professor in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
“It’s increasingly important that teachers offer these assessments and determine where weaknesses are,” she says. “Early assessments should be part of school whether or not there’s a pandemic. Every year, teachers get in a new batch of kids, and they need to know what is happening with those kids.”
Last year a lot of the assessments had to be done virtually. “That’s not ideal,” particularly for younger students, Gifford says.
Regular evaluations have become even more vital as youngsters returned to more traditional classroom settings this fall. Davis now teaches third grade at Caillet, and the learning gaps are even more pronounced. None of her 44 students reads at grade level.
“Right now, it’s figuring out how to keep them from falling even farther behind,” she says. “It’s a huge challenge.”
The pathbreaking partnership igniting an innovative model for pre-K–8 public education marked a milestone in August when the new West Dallas STEM School welcomed its first students.
The new school is the result of more than three years of collaboration between the Dallas Independent School District, SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, the Toyota USA Foundation and the West Dallas community. Every step – from the beginning of the public-private partnership to what’s happening at the school today – is being documented by Simmons School researchers and educators to codify a process that can be successfully duplicated in other Dallas schools and, eventually, across the nation.
From the beginning, bringing neighborhood stakeholders to the table was crucial to understanding the needs and aspirations of the families served by the school, which is housed in the L.G. Pinkston High School building, a West Dallas landmark. The STEM school launched with seventh and eighth grades this year and will eventually enroll students in pre-K through eighth grade.
Science teacher Elizabeth Blue-Allen, the school’s STEM curriculum coordinator, leads project-based lessons with students working in teams.
Simmons School faculty provided their expertise in developing the project-based, industry-informed STEM curriculum meant to inspire and prepare students for college and careers in a rapidly changing world. That readiness also requires addressing issues outside the classroom that can derail learning.
“Wraparound” academic and social services will be delivered by local nonprofits directly to students to help with such issues as literacy, nutrition and after-school care.
“Together with the community, we have worked on everything from building design, teacher development, curriculum and before- and after-school care. This extends also to addressing broader community needs, including access to transportation,” says Sean Suggs, director, Toyota USA Foundation and group vice president, Toyota Social Innovation.
“We want our students to learn new ways of
thinking and find the best solutions to emerging
challenges. For this to happen, guidance is essential,
so we have created strong professional learning
groups for teachers so they can advance, too.”
– Stephanie L. Knight, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Simmons School
RELATED LINKS
01 Shaping the STEM school 02 Watch: Key partners’ perspectives 03 Watch: Transforming education 04 Watch: Virtual groundbreaking
Prior to the school’s opening this fall, the Toyota USA Foundation approved a grant of $3 million to SMU, adding to the $2 million grant the foundation awarded in September 2018. This is in addition to Toyota’s teacher and community grants, West Dallas scholarship and mentorship programs, and the recently launched transportation circulator in the area.
The school’s innovative ecosystem recently received another boost from business leader Carter Creech ’60, an SMU alumnus with a passion for education philanthropy, who pledged an additional $3.5 million, following his initial gift of $1.5 million to the project. Creech’s contribution will go toward a new middle school career and college readiness pilot program at the school, as well as efforts to replicate the West Dallas STEM School.
Master Principal Marion Jackson has described her school as “the jewel of West Dallas.”
“This is an opportunity of a lifetime for the students and community of West Dallas,” Jackson said during the virtual groundbreaking for the school in May. “This partnership has afforded us the space to realize what’s possible when we focus our collective efforts on changing how we meet the needs of our students and families.”
As the model school continues to take shape, Simmons School educators and researchers will work alongside DISD teachers on state-of-the-art educational practices, professional development, and continuous monitoring and evaluation of the program.
For digital age archaeologists like Mark McCoy, hands-on research often means using drones that can map far-flung landmarks in a matter of hours; creating 3D models that reveal stunning structures lost for thousands of years; and deploying scanning systems that reveal sites without lifting a trowel.
McCoy harnesses an array of data-rich tools to unearth new discoveries, and he is bringing his findings to the public in a fresh way. His latest book, Maps for Time Travelers: How Archaeologists Use Technology to Bring Us Closer to the Past (University of California Press, 2020), recently earned the 2021 Popular Book Award from the Society for American Archaeology, who called his approach a “first of its kind.” An associate professor in the Department of Anthropology in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, McCoy joins a prestigious list of winners that includes the late Lewis R. Binford, SMU Distinguished Professor of Archaeology, considered one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century. In his new book, Mark McCoy takes a novel approach to explaining modern archaeological practices in action. Photo by Elizabeth Lavin.
Blending fictional storytelling and scholarly research, McCoy’s book taps into readers’ imaginations to show modern archaeological practices in action. It’s engaging and educational, lauded as “a brilliant introduction to the frontiers of archaeology … lucid, entertaining and highly informed in the art and science of geospatial archaeology” in the spring 2021 issue of The Journal of Interdisciplinary History. McCoy understands the power of a good story. He was hooked by the film exploits of Indiana Jones as a kid growing up in Delaware, but his intense curiosity about history fueled his future. Before he even entered college, he was already fascinated by fieldwork.
“I was very fortunate to have been on my first dig when I was a teenager,” McCoy recalls. “It was at a Boy Scout camp in the Pocono Mountains. The camp was founded on what was an old tannery town built just after the Mexican War. We were just a bunch of kids scraping the ground, but it was a heck of an experience, and it certainly left a great impression on me.”
On his journey from teenage explorer to award-winning researcher, McCoy earned his Ph.D. in 2006 from University of California, Berkeley and soon became a leader in the field of geospatial archaeology with a regional focus on islands of the Pacific. After a stint at the University of Otago in New Zealand, he was recruited by SMU for his interdisciplinary expertise.
“SMU has an established department and a strong reputation in archaeology specifically,” says McCoy. “It was an easy ‘yes’ to SMU.”Reconstructing ancient societies is no easy task, but McCoy is revealing details once lost to time while training a new generation of archaeologists. Three anthropology Ph.D. candidates from SMU are currently working on their own research under his supervision: Adam Johnson and Spencer Lambert in Hawaii and Samantha Lagos in New Zealand. He also advised undergraduate anthropology major Joseph Panuska ’21, recipient of the Edward I. and Peggy C. Fry Award for Academic Excellence in Undergraduate Anthropology, whose senior honors project involved fieldwork in Hawaii.
McCoy keeps the focus of his research on the humanity of both the people he’s learning about and his students.
“The past is populated with real people, and if I can help create for students that kind of empathy that we often lack for each other in the present, then curiosity will follow naturally.” Chris Kelley is a veteran journalist and founder of The Kelley Group, a Dallas-based strategic communications company, and a fellow at the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity at the Lyle School of Engineering.
Since 2010, SMU has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships to current and former military service members. There are currently 36 undergraduates and 131 graduate military veterans utilizing the GI Bill at SMU. Support for these brave men and women has been growing over the last several years. These scholarships, in combination with the GI Bill education benefit and SMU’s participation in the tuition matching Yellow Ribbon program, help cover up to 100% of tuition expenses. Read more at SMU Alumni.
Katy A. and Kyle D. Miller ’01 commit $5 million to Cox School of Business expansion and renovation. The Millers’ generous investment will establish the Katy and Kyle Miller Courtyard, part of the future Cox School renovation and expansion project.The new Katy and Kyle Miller Courtyard, an oasis along Bishop Boulevard, will be a place for students, faculty, staff, visitors and corporate partners to gather for lunch, study sessions, discussions and formal events. Enhanced landscaping and seating areas highlight the surrounding historic facades and provide shaded sanctuary. The space features four building entries and a stunning view into the new Commons to the east. Read more at SMU Ignited.
Pony ears, campaign swag and Mustang spirit were out in full force October 30 when SMU Ignited and Mustang football traveled to Houston, home to more than 8,000 alumni and nearly 600 current students. See photos from the Houston event.
Make an impact that resonates far beyond the Hilltop with your gift on #GivingTuesday to empower students, enrich teaching and learning, and enhance the campus and community. Read more about #GivingTuesday.
Tower Scholar Nia Kamau ’22 spent the summer in Washington, D.C., where she interned with a nonprofit, studied economics and public policy and learned from innovative leaders helping trafficked and exploited people and communities recover and flourish.
Kamau, a double major in human rights and international studies, talks about how those experiences inspire “thinking outside the box about solutions targeting the developing world” in this SMU Tower Center blog post.
Through the Hatton Sumners Fellowship, I traveled to Washington, D.C., this summer and interned with The Market Project (TMP), an NGO that supports the economic empowerment and trauma healing processes of victims of exploitation and trafficking. … Read the full story.
That’s right, a new season of Mustang basketball begins in Moody Coliseum next Tuesday. The men’s team opens against McNeese, and the women’s team – under new head coach Toyelle Wilson – hosts Missouri-Kansas City. Get season ticket information here.
The SMU Student Foundation kicks off the holidays with Celebration of Lights festivities at 7 p.m. Monday, November 29 on the Dallas Hall lawn. All are welcome to this family-friendly evening filled with music, the story of the first Christmas, dazzling lights and more. Read more at Student Foundation of SMU.
Researchers at SMU’s AT&T Center for Virtualization are testing the effectiveness of an innovative approach they developed to improve pilot training and better understand what stress factors pilots may experience in the cockpit.
Through a partnership withCAE USA, a technology company that specializes in flight simulation and other digital immersion technologies and platforms, SMU researchers developed a method to use cognitive load sensing and machine learning to capture how pilots react to various scenarios in a flight simulator. This includes measuring pupil size, heart rate and other physical reactions to determine the pilot’s levels of interest, stress, or fatigue.
The researchers are now comparing the physical observations recorded by the flight training staff and the students’ self-evaluations to the results of the SMU biometric analysis. The findings are expected to yield the first real-time analysis of student situational awareness, andwill be used to improve flight training.
A gift from Kim and William (Bill) Shaddock ’74 will establish Shaddock Hall as part of the building renovation project of the Cox School of Business. The $6 million contribution will foster educational excellence through dedicated spaces for learning, research and collaboration.
“Through this gift, Bill Shaddock and his family are helping to nurture business education and an enterprising spirit in future generations of SMU and Cox School students,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Additions like Shaddock Hall will help the Cox School of Business grow in prominence and national rankings.”
A vital new addition to the Cox School’s building renovation project, Kim and William C. Shaddock Hall will promote strong partnerships and industry research to meet the needs of an ever-evolving business landscape. Providing students with unique learning and networking opportunities, Shaddock Hall will strengthen the Cox School’s position as a leading institution for business education and leadership in North Texas. Read more at SMU Ignited.
SMU mourns the loss of Mark A. Roglán, renowned director of the University’s Meadows Museum, to cancer October 5. His death at the age of 50 comes on the heels of the recent 20th anniversary of his leadership of the institution, the foremost center in the United States for exhibition, research and education in the arts and culture of Spain.
A public memorial service is pending.
“Under Mark Roglán’s dynamic leadership, the Meadows Museum has become one of SMU’s brightest beacons,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Through his unflagging devotion, energy and intellect, Mark built a prestigious museum and collection that brings great honor to the vision of its founder, Algur Meadows. Mark leaves behind a profound legacy.”
The museum tripled attendance, developed a major program of international exhibitions and made major acquisitions nearly doubling the permanent collection of Spanish art under his guidance. His tenure at the helm of the museum was marked by major institutional milestones: the construction of a new sculpture garden and outdoor spaces, the prolific publication of insightful research, the creation of meaningful fellowships and accessible educational programs. His leadership was characterized by the formation of strategic alliances with many of the world’s most prestigious arts organizations–including national museums in the US, UK, a number of European countries, and especially Spain. Read more.
Alumni returning to campus for Homecoming had a chance to attend the Hughes-Trigg Student Center rededication ceremony showcasing renovations that continue to transform the heart of the student community. Enjoy these photos from event.
To SMU math curriculum researcher Candace Walkington, the best way for students to understand math is to make it part of their lives. She’ll use her recent $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help students see that math is in the angle of a giraffe’s neck at the Dallas Zoo and in the flutter of the leaves of the cottonwood trees at Twelve Hills Nature Center in Oak Cliff.
These are just two of the stops on Dallas STEM walks, guided walks that illustrate how mathematical principles can be found in one’s surroundings. During the five-year grant, Walkington will partner with Dallas STEM walk nonprofit, talkSTEM, to better understand how educators can support math education outside of school and the role out-of-school experiences like these play in enhancing math education. First up: developing an app that turns a cell phone into an interpretive math tool.
“In this research, rather than having kids see math as symbols that exist on a worksheet or on a computer screen, we want them to see it as something that exists in the world all around them – the trees, the buildings, the artwork and the things they use every day,” says Walkington, associate professor of teaching and learning at SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. “We want to help them to look at the world through the lens of math.” Read more at SMU Research.
The family of a beloved SMU professor has established the Dr. Henry L. Gray Endowed Scholarship in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences to celebrate his SMU legacy and his love for students. The scholarship will be awarded on a need or merit basis to first-generation students interested in majoring in mathematics, statistics or the sciences.
Pictured above, from left, are Robert Gray ’87; Henry L. “Buddy” Gray and his wife, Rebecca “Becky” Gray; Scott Gray ’90; and Kelly Gray Doughty ’96. Gray’s children provided $75,000 as the foundation for the scholarship fund, which now totals more than $100,000. It has the potential to help even more students with additional support from former students and friends who wish to honor Gray’s memory.
Gray was a beloved SMU professor, who served as the Frensley Endowed Chair of Mathematical Sciences in Dedman College from 1973 until his retirement in 2006. During his time in Dedman College, he also served as associate dean, 1980–1988; dean ad interim, 1988–89; and dean of Dedman College and vice provost, 1989–1991.
The new scholarship is not the first time Gray’s family has honored his love of teaching and research at SMU. In 2016, Scott Gray and his partner, Duane Minix, on behalf of all Gray’s children, surprised their parents by establishing the Henry L. and Rebecca A. Gray Endowed Chair in Statistical Sciences with a $1.5 million planned gift.
Gray passed away July 24, 2020, and was preceded in death by his wife. Read more and contribute to the scholarship endowment by searching for “Dr. Henry L. Gray Endowed Scholarship” or “Buddy Gray.”
“Perfect Pairs” is the perfect theme for this year’s celebration of Mustang spirit and pride. The festivities begin on Thursday with the Distinguished Alumni Awards. Friday evening is all about undergraduate reunions. On Saturday, enjoy your favorite Homecoming traditions and the SMU-South Florida football game in Ford Stadium (game time to be announced). Throughout the weekend, a nightly light show on campus will commemorate the launch of SMU’s new campaign. See you on the Hilltop! See the schedule of events.
The gift of $3 million from Linda P. Custard ’60, ’99 and William A. Custard ’57 is the largest personal contribution in the history of the Meadows Museum. With matching funds of $3 million from The Meadows Foundation, it will establish the Custard Institute for Spanish Art and Culture at the Meadows Museum.
These generous gifts from longtime SMU supporters will launch an exciting new endeavor at the Meadows Museum through the establishment of the Custard Institute for Spanish Art and Culture. Dedicated to the study of the material culture and heritage of Spain, the institute builds on the museum’s excellence in the field of Spanish studies established over more than 50 years. The Custard Institute represents a major stride towards the Meadows’ core mission to be “the leading center in the United States for exhibition, research and education in the arts and culture of Spain.”
“This commitment marks an exciting new chapter at SMU,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The Custard Institute for Spanish Art and Culture at the Meadows Museum illustrates the critical role that institutions like museums play in the study of art and culture and their lasting impact on the world. Through their gift, the Custards and The Meadows Foundation will foster profound partnerships and inspire meaningful scholarship that reaches far beyond SMU’s campus.” Read more.
A $1 million gift from the Hegi Family – Fred ’66 and Jan Hegi ’66 and their sons and daughters-in-law, Peter and Amy ’96 and Brian and Elisabeth (Libby) – will equip students to navigate today’s fast-changing work environment and find lifelong career success through the renovation and expansion of SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center. The Hegis’ generous commitment will modernize conference rooms and the lobby of the center, as well as fund the addition of two new career counselors to equip students with skills that position them for professional success.
“The Hegi name is synonymous with student achievement on campus,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Jan, Fred and their family’s support continues to positively impact countless students during the most crucial point in their lives – their first steps toward a rewarding career. With this new gift, the Hegi Center will be able to provide even more relevant experiential learning and professional development opportunities for Mustangs to gain skills that will situate them for a productive and rewarding future.”
Whether you’re coming back to the Hilltop for Homecoming or you haven’t been out on the town in a while, you’ll enjoy this quick guide to some of Dallas’ best bets written by SMU alumna Meredith Carey ’15, the travel bookings editor at Conde Nast Traveler and host of the Women Who Travel podcast. Check out the guide.
Researchers at SMU have found a way to make chemotherapy drugs more lethal to HPV-infected cervical cancer cells without collateral damage to normal cells, a study suggests.
Decreasing the amount of a protein called TIGAR in cervical cancer cells was found to make those cancer cells more responsive to commonly-used chemotherapy drugs at a very low dose. Yet normal cells were not similarly affected, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals.
As a result, developing a drug to target the TIGAR protein could be an effective way to lower chemotherapy doses for cervical cancer patients, bringing fewer side-effects while still killing cancer cells. Chemotherapy drugs can have severe side effects, including liver and kidney toxicities, because these drugs may harm normal cells as well as cancer cells. Read more at SMU Research.
SMU theatre students and alumni helped create the new Public Works Dallas film, A Little Less Lonely, now streaming for free at DallasTheaterCenter.org.
Developed through remote meetings and rehearsals and filmed outdoors, A Little Less Lonely was made through a collaboration of the Dallas Theater Center, SMU Meadows School of the Arts, SMU initiative Ignite/Arts Dallas, Bachman Lake Together, Jubilee Park & Community Center and the City of Dallas Park & Recreation Department.
Public Works Dallas affords SMU graduate and undergraduate students paid work in their chosen fields and a chance to develop professional networks, notes Clyde Valentín, director of Ignite/Arts Dallas.
“This is an opportunity to really experience best practices with respect to community-engaged work,” Valentín says. “They are experiencing a professional hiring process, which is part of what they need to learn.” Read more.
SMU’s Brian Stump and his team will use the grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue their work of international nuclear disarmament and peacekeeping significance.
In 2008, when North Texas began experiencing strange underground rumblings in what historically has been a stable region of the country, curious reporters reached out to seismic detective Brian Stump, Albritton Professor of Earth Sciences at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, to explain what was going on.
Once again, Stump is the center of attention as he and his team have been named the recipients of the largest research grant in SMU history. With the funding, the researchers will use a combination of acoustic and seismic waves to better distinguish between human-made events, such as nuclear tests, and nature’s bumps and jolts, like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
SMU’s seismo-acoustic analysis team has been doing this kind of work for over a quarter century. The team boasts other noteworthy experts in the field, including Stephen Arrowsmith, associate professor and Hamilton Chair in Earth Sciences; Chris Hayward, senior scientist in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences; and Paul Golden, director of the geophysics laboratory in earth sciences.
Using data from two seismic arrays in the Big Bend area of Texas and in Mina, Nevada, SMU scientists analyze data resulting from the acoustic and seismic waves that occur when nuclear weapons are detonated anywhere in the world. These stations, both in extremely quiet areas, record signals accompanying earthquakes and sometimes volcanic eruptions as well. The new funding allows this work to continue.
“In the cases of earthquakes and volcanoes, the waves provide new insight into the physical processes that accompany these natural events,” said Stump. “For human-induced events, the waves similarly allow us to locate the sources as well as the processes that accompany the events. An example is mining explosions at the Earth’s surface, which generate both seismic and infrasound signals that can be used to identify these activities.” SMU seismologist Brian Stump and his team were awarded the largest research grant in SMU’s history, $18 million, for their work on monitoring the Earth’s acoustic and seismic waves.
A shared commitment to making a positive impact has drawn the SMU community and Goodwill Industries of Dallas together for almost a century. The challenges created by the pandemic sparked new opportunities for that bond to grow stronger.
Under the leadership of SMU alumnus Tim Heis ’01, president and CEO, Goodwill Dallas is expanding its presence and finding innovative ways to augment its mission of “changing lives, one job at a time.”
Over five generations, SMU community leaders have helped advance that goal. Alumni David B. Miller ’72, ’73; Bill Vanderstraaten ’82; Donald Berg ’70, ’77; R. Brooks Cullum, Jr. ’70; Roland K. Robinson ’72; Jim Johnston ’70, ’71; Stephen Sands ’70; Matt Hildreth ’88; Frank Mihalopoulos ’77; Ronald J. Case ’54 and Charles M. Solomon ’61 each served as chair of the board of directors and left an indelible mark on the organization, Heis says.
Through the years, a host of alumni have served on the board, including Pat Bolin ’73, C. Fred Ball, Jr. ’66, Ray Hunt ’65, Harriet E. Miers ’67, ’70 and Jeanne L. Phillips ’76. An active Mustang contingent is currently involved on the board, including alumni Tucker Bridwell ’73, ’74; Wood Brookshire ’05; Pete Chilian ’97; Ward A. Kampf ’85; Craig Keeland ’76; Andrew Levy ’89; Peter Lodwick ’77, ’80; Kris Lowe ’04; John C. McGowan ’03; Douglas C. Nash ’04; Kyle Miller ’01; Kirk Rimer ’89; Mark Sloan ’90; and Brooke Holman West ’96; as well as Matthew B. Myers, dean of SMU’s Cox School of Business.
Building careers, one internship at a time
With companies shifting to remote operations and cutting back on expenses, many summer internships melted away in 2020. In response, Dean Myers and Jason Rife, senior assistant dean of the Cox Career Management Center and Graduate Admissions, reached out to alumni. Heis answered the call.
“We had just reopened our operations in early May after a six-week closure,” Heis says. He and the nonprofit’s board of directors used that time to reflect on the future. A key principle of their plan to move forward was identifying ways to “emerge stronger.”
“We saw an opportunity for SMU students to help, and we recruited and hired five interns to work on our most strategic projects,” Heis says.
A first step was growing Goodwill Dallas’ footprint “to dramatically increase the number of lives we could impact,” Heis says. Although the nonprofit serves eight North Texas counties, it had physical operations in only three.
Heis enlisted Jimmy Tran ’03 to lead the store footprint and real estate expansion strategy. Tran had recently left CBRE, where he headed corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions, to focus on his own enterprises, including Oaklawn Group, a real estate investment firm he founded in 2007. As BBA students, Tran and Heis were Hunt Leadership Scholars and studied abroad in Australia and Southeast Asia together. After SMU, they went their separate ways before meeting again while each pursued an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.
Over eight weeks in summer 2020, Tran and SMU intern Gabriela Barcelos ’21 analyzed which of Goodwill’s stores performed best and why, then identified 12 target submarkets where new stores and career centers could be successful.
Barcelos says Tran’s feedback, coaching and mentoring were invaluable. Opportunities to apply concepts learned in the classroom to a real-world project also stood out for her. “It is amazing to see our work come to fruition,” she says. Barcelos received a BBA in accounting in May and is now pursuing her MSA with a tax concentration at Cox School. In summer 2021, she was a tax intern at EY.
Based upon their recommendations, a new Goodwill store opened in Plano June 17. More than a dozen SMU alumni, including board members, friends and employees of the organization turned out to celebrate. Among them was Kate Cox ’21. As an intern she created real-time reports and analytics that Heis describes as “a game-changer.” She also completed a pricing benchmark study.
“I spent the summer working closely with the Goodwill Dallas leadership team to help the organization gain deep data insights into the organization. Along the way, I developed a love for the organization’s culture and began to see an opportunity to make an impact in the community,” Cox says.
She turned down another job offer to become the organization’s first vice president of information technology and business analytics after receiving her full-time MBA in May.
Other summer 2020 projects and SMU interns included: store operations, Alison Sheehan ’21, BBA in marketing, who is now an analyst with Goldman Sachs; telecom and internet sourcing and optimization, Richard Albert ’21, full-time MBA in management and strategy and entrepreneurship; and financial planning and agility, Samantha Stevenson ’22, SMU Dedman School of Law student who previously worked as a senior accountant for EY.
Goodwill Dallas continued its internship program in summer 2021. Full-time MBA student Daniela Garcia Maltos ’22 worked with Kate Cox to help the organization’s business intelligence dashboards and applications move to the next level.
Creating a path for people to reach their full potential is not only at the heart of SMU’s academic charge, but it’s also what Goodwill has been doing in Dallas since 1923 through its donated goods retail operation and workforce development programs. SMU alumni and student interns are helping Goodwill expand possibilities for thousands of people, Heis says.
“SMU has provided each of us with the tools and resources to make a difference in the world, and Goodwill is a benefactor of these combined talents in action,,” he says. “It has been fulfilling to work together to provide more opportunity for people with barriers to employment.”
Take a look at the new SMU logo. It’s the result of a community collaboration to create a new logo that reflects who we are – a bold, vibrant University leaning into the future.
While the University’s logo has been redesigned periodically throughout its history, this was not a change made hastily. The endeavor began in 2019 with the Bright marketing agency in parallel with our efforts for the launch of SMU’s third comprehensive fundraising campaign this fall. In addition to interviews with key leaders and influencers in the SMU community, Bright surveyed more than 32,000 alumni, faculty, staff and students about the logo.
Their research revealed that the letters “SMU” had the highest recognition level in any form. Another important determination was the desire for a logo that conveyed both research and teaching excellence and our great campus experience. Research also indicated the need for a logo that worked well in today’s marketing environment.
We incorporated those findings into this new logo that strikes a perfect balance between classic and contemporary styles. It’s also intentionally flexible to work in both academic and athletic contexts. The new logo works great at any size, making SMU recognizable in the digital environment and across all other media channels.
University leadership is extremely enthusiastic about this new direction, and we hope you are, too, as you see it roll out everywhere in the coming months.
We can’t wait to see the Boulevard abuzz with Mustangs for the football season opener Saturday, September 4. Let’s fill Ford Stadium when SMU hosts Abilene Christian. Get your tickets now!
Scholarships for exceptional students, pioneering research, a world-class campus experience, hands-on career opportunities and community partnerships that make a lasting impact are just a few of the ways our collective generosity contributes to a brighter future at SMU. Band together for Mustangs!
A team of SMU biological scientists has confirmed that P-glycoprotein (P-gp) has the ability to remove a toxin from the brain that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. The finding could lead to new treatments for the disease that affects nearly 6 million Americans. It was that hope that motivated lead researchers James W. McCormick ’17 and Lauren Ammerman ’21 to pursue the research as SMU graduate students after they both lost a grandmother to the disease while at SMU.
In the Alzheimer’s brain, abnormal levels of amyloid-β proteins clump together to form plaques that collect between neurons and can disrupt cell function. This is believed to be one of the key factors that triggers memory loss, confusion and other common symptoms from Alzheimer’s disease.
“We were able to demonstrate both computationally and experimentally that P-gp, a critical toxin pump in the body, is able to transport this amyloid-β protein,” said John Wise, associate professor in the SMU Department of Biological Sciences and co-author of the study published in PLOS ONE. Read more at SMU Research.
Photojournalist Stuart Palley ’11 has become famous for stunning wildfire photos like the one above. SMU’s Chris Roos looks at wildfires through a research lens. Ultimately, their perspectives are the same: Wildfires are getting worse, and there’s an urgent need to adopt coexistence strategies.
SMU DataArts, the national center for arts research based at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, is one of 46 arts organizations worldwide selected for the new $30 million Digital Accelerator Program launched July 14 by Bloomberg Philanthropies in New York.
The purpose of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Digital Accelerator Program is to help cultural nonprofit organizations invest in and use technology to speed their economic recovery from COVID-19. The goal is to provide tools and training to help the organizations build audiences, increase fundraising, drive revenue, or continue to deliver dynamic programming virtually and in-person. The program will also support projects with the potential to benefit the broader cultural sector. In addition to funding, Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide leadership development, consulting support, and technical assistance, and share best practices with participants and the wider cultural community. Read more at SMU Meadows.
SMU’s AT&T Center for Virtualization has signed a four-year agreement with the United States Air Force Academy to collaborate on mutually beneficial projects and joint research, providing opportunities for both SMU students and USAF cadets.
SMU and the Academy intend to collaborate on a range of research areas, including immersive environments, artificial intelligence/machine learning/deep learning, autonomy, the internet of things, cyberspace, cognition and context-aware computing and ubiquitous computing. Projects in these areas will expose cadets to important science and engineering opportunities through independent study, cadet summer research and capstone opportunities. Read more at SMU Research.
Read about elite runners testing out the world’s fastest treadmill at SMU, watch students hanging out on the Hilltop and catch up on the people, programs and alumni making news on the Hilltop and beyond.
The Dallas ISD’s new West Dallas STEM School recently received expanded support from the Toyota USA Foundation and education champion Carter Creech ’60 through SMU. The new public school is scheduled to open in the fall.
The new Pre K-8 STEM school is set to open this August beginning with students in the 7th and 8th grades. The West Dallas STEM School, a Dallas Independent School District Transformation and Innovation School, is the result of more than three years of collaboration between the school district, the Toyota USA Foundation, SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development and the West Dallas community.
“We strongly believe that all children should have equal access to opportunities and a pathway to great careers,” said Sean Suggs, director, Toyota USA Foundation and group vice president, Toyota Social Innovation. “Together with the community, we have worked on everything from building design, teacher development, curriculum and before and after-school care. This extends also to addressing broader community needs, including access to transportation.”
To further support the school, business leader Carter Creech ’60, an SMU alumnus with a passion for education philanthropy, has pledged an additional $3.5 million, following his initial gift of $1.5 million to the project. Creech’s contribution will go toward a new middle school career and college readiness pilot program at the school, as well as efforts to replicate the West Dallas STEM school. Read more at Simmons School.
Fall will be here before you know it, so get your football season tickets now. With Boulevarding back in full swing, the alumni tent will return for home games. Plans for away-game tailgates are in the works, including SMU at TCU in Fort Worth September 25. Read more at SMU Athletics.
“Never stop learning and improving” is Kristin W. Henderson’s motto. In her new role as SMU Alumni Board chair, Henderson aims to improve communication, expand connections and fortify alumni relationships.
Whether continuing to set world records with her U.S. Masters Swimming relay team or honing her public speaking skills, Henderson always strives for growth.
She is passionate about SMU and the differences it can make in the lives of others. She sees the value for alumni, students and the community. Working in collaboration with Young Alumni Board Chair Stephen Reiff, Black Alumni of SMU Chair Malcolm McGuire ’14 and Hispanic Alumni of SMU Chair Rumaldo Robles ’17, Henderson is leading the charge to champion shared priorities. The board chairs will work closely together to increase alumni engagement opportunities and lift up each other’s unique board initiatives, such as scholarships and mentorships for underrepresented populations. Read more at SMU Alumni.
College life awaits the SMU Class of 2025, and it all begins at Summer Send-Off Parties. SMU is hosting hometown events across the country to welcome incoming first-year students into the Mustang family.
As students connect with classmates who hail from nearby, alumni and SMU staff will be on hand to answer questions about life as a Mustang and living on the Hilltop. This is a fun and casual community event that brings incoming students, returning students, new families and alumni together. All alumni are invited to join us in welcoming the newest members to our Mustang family. Find in-person and virtual events.
SMU researchers put the COVID-19 pandemic to work as a proving ground for a fast, accurate and affordable immune response test. While its timesaving properties give it an edge, what really sets the “lab on a chip” device apart is the lifesaving potential it holds for rural areas and emerging countries where medical resources are scarce.
Lead researchers Ali Beskok and J.-C. Chiao, professors in the Lyle School of Engineering, are seeking funding to fully develop the potential of their breakthrough test. Read the story.
Caeli Blake ’21 learned from a young age the importance of investing in herself. She credits her family, especially her mom, a professional singer and a former professor at Howard University, for instilling in her the drive and fortitude necessary for her to pursue a professional career in dance.
Blake was initially on the path to a double major in dance and advertising, but later decided to switch from advertising to education. “I made the switch, one, because of time, but then I took pedagogy at SMU and realized that I really enjoyed teaching dance. I liked what comes out of seeing what you can do as a teacher and having students.
“My goal with my education degree is to finish my dance career, moving audiences all over the world. Then I would love to teach at a performing high school and eventually become the Dance Division chair at SMU!” Read more at Meadows School.
The SMU Cox School of Business honored four alumni at its annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon May 7. Distinguished Alumni Awards honorees included Brad Brookshire ’76 and R. Andrew Clyde ’85. The 2021 Outstanding Young Alumni honors went to Lizzy Bentley ’12 and Elizabeth Wattley’15.
Brookshire is chairman and CEO of Brookshire Grocery Co., which operates more than 180 stores under the Brookshire’s, Super 1 Foods, Fresh by Brookshire’s and Spring Market banners. He is a longtime member of the SMU Board of Trustees, a member of the Cox Executive Board and stays active with a number of SMU initiatives and committees.
Clyde, a member of the Cox Executive Board, has served as president and CEO of Murphy USA since its spinoff as a public company in 2013.
Bentley is founder of CITY Boots, the realization of her lifelong passion for cowboy boots.
Wattley is the executive director of Forest Forward, a nonprofit organization fighting the effects of systemic racism in Dallas through neighborhood revitalization. Pictured above, left to right, are Brad Brookshire ’76, Elizabeth Wattley ’17, Lizzy Bentley ’12 and R. Andrew Clyde ’85. Read more at Cox School.
SMU’sTom Fomby,professor ofeconomicsin Dedman Collegeof Humanities and Sciences, is the 2021 recipient of the Faculty Career Achievement Award for his contributions to the teaching, scholarship and service missions of the University.
Fomby will be recognized by the SMU Board of Trustees in the fall.
“I am truly honored to have been chosen to receive this award. Without the support of my colleagues both within the economics department and outside of it, very few of my accomplishments would have been possible,” Fomby says. “SMU has afforded me the opportunity to achieve my career goals – researching at the highest level, teaching wonderful and talented students, and participating in the shared governance of the university via the Faculty Senate and serving on formative University committees.” Read more at SMU Research.
As part of its goal of shaping champions and preparing students for life, SMU Athletics announces the addition of BOLD (Big Opportunities Live in Dallas), a suite of student-athlete development tools designed to help student-athletes navigate and capitalize on opportunities created by recent Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) legislation.
BOLD will, among other things, provide SMU student-athletes with the means to keep pace with the evolving NIL landscape. The BOLD program will incorporate INFLCR, a comprehensive NIL education and compliance solution, and campus resources from Cox School of Business, Dedman School of Law and Meadows School of the Arts. Read more at SMU Athletics.
We’re excited to announce the 2021 recipients of the highest honor SMU bestows on its alumni: SMU Distinguished Alumni Award
Liz Martin Armstrong ’82 and Bill Armstrong ’82
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot ’92
Barbara M. Golden Lynn ’76 SMU Emerging Leader Award
Bryson DeChambeau ’16
The extraordinary achievements, outstanding character and community leadership of these alumni make us all proud to be Mustangs. We hope you will join us Thursday, September 30 for a ceremony and dinner in their honor to launch Homecoming festivities. Learn more at SMU Alumni.
Geospatial archaeology expert Mark McCoy fuses fiction with fact in explaining how technology is revolutionizing the way archaeologists study and reconstruct the distant past. From satellite imagery to 3D modeling, today’s technological advances enable archaeologists to answer questions about human history that could previously only be imagined. As archaeologists create a better and more complete picture of the past, they sometimes find that truth is stranger than fiction.
McCoy, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology in Dedman College and Humanities and Sciences, received the 2021 Popular Book Award by the Society for American Archaeology, which called his approach “creative and original” and a “first of its kind” explanation of a revolution in archaeology born out of technology like digital mapping, laser scanning and remote sensing. Brian Fagan, author or editor of more than 40 books on archaeology, also hailed the book as “lucid, entertaining, and highly informed in the art and science of geospatial archaeology” and “a brilliant introduction to the frontiers of archaeology.” Read more at SMU News.
A $4 million gift from Mark ’87 and Jennifer Styslinger ’86 and the Altec/Styslinger Foundation will shape and sustain future tennis champions in the newly named Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex. This gift is in addition to a long history of support for the SMU tennis programs and complex.Since its opening in 2015, the 45,000-square-foot complex has quickly become recognized as a premier facility for tennis competition and training; it earned the 2019 USTA Facility Award, which was awarded during the 2019 U.S. Open.
“Jennifer and I met at SMU, and we were thrilled to have the chance to support a place that has been so important in our lives,” said Mark Styslinger, senior vice president of sales and service for Altec Inc., a manufacturing company founded in 1929 by his grandfather, Lee J. Styslinger, Sr. “Tennis was fundamental in shaping who I am, and I know this complex has already begun providing opportunities for other young student-athletes to achieve their goals as well, and will continue doing so in the future.” Read more at SMU News.
Thanks to support totaling more than $145 million from Mustangs like you, SMU is celebrating the end of another record-breaking fiscal year marked by unbridled generosity, building momentum for our next comprehensive fundraising campaign. Invest in world changers.
For the last two years, George Killebrew ’85 has been a voice for all alumni. As SMU Alumni Board chair, he led the charge to bring the SMU Alumni Board to prominence and give all alumni voices a conduit to University leadership. His responsibilities included serving as the alumni trustee to the SMU Board of Trustees and on the standing committees for Academic Affairs, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Development and External Affairs and Legal Affairs.
Perhaps his favorite part of being board chair was the opportunity to speak during Commencement to each graduating class. “This weekend, you’re about to join something extraordinary,” he said at the May 2018 ceremony. “The SMU alumni community is 130,000 strong and spans the entire globe. So no matter where you go, you’ll always have family.”
Tenure highlights
In early 2020, when fears surrounding the coronavirus kept people at home, George rallied the board. He kept them connected with hybrid in-person and virtual meetings. Members worked together to hold a safe and fun Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony during the traditional Homecoming Weekend.
Official @SMUAlumniNetwork Instagram and Facebook accounts were launched. Social media and monthly newsletters highlighted the creative ways alumni and the entire Mustang community came together. Unprecedented times saw an unprecedented response as gifts poured in to support urgent needs in the SMU community.
Alumni Cary Pierce ’91 and Jack O’Neil ’90 of the band Jackopierce kicked off a new series of virtual events for alumni, by alumni, aptly titled Stampede in Place. Other alumni leveraged their unique talents and resources as well in a wide range of ways, from converting existing businesses to accommodate the demand for much needed personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer, to distributing donated personal hygiene essentials and food. Alumni gave new meaning to the term Mustang Strong.
SMU Giving Day 2021 was record-breaking. More undergraduate alumni participated than ever before, by raising awareness about the 24-hour fundraising blitz, making donations and sponsoring matching gifts. And despite having fewer students attending class on campus at the time, more students than ever before donated to Giving Day causes. More than 8,000 gifts comprised more than $2.5 million raised for 216 SMU causes in one day.
George had his sights set on elevating the board from the beginning. And, despite unprecedented times, he successfully led the charge to champion a more connected, invested and informed Mustang alumni community. His term as chair kicked off a new era in SMU alumni engagement. We are so grateful.
– Astria Smith, senior executive director for Annual Giving and Alumni Relations
A little more about George
The Honolulu native has been fiercely committed to the Mustang family since his graduation more than 35 years ago. He started as a young alumni volunteer advocate, and, since then, has volunteered on the Tate Board, Athletic Forum Board, reunion committees and in numerous other capacities. During his board tenure, George also dutifully served on SMU’s Pony Power leadership committee, where he helped advance giving for the University’s current-use needs.
George and his wife live in Dallas with their two sons. He is a collector of sports cards and sports memorabilia and enjoys running, golfing, horse racing and cooking. He is an avid Mustang sports fan and attends as many home athletic events as he can.
Currently: Commissioner, Major League Rugby
Previously: Executive vice president, Dallas Mavericks
The next chapter
Last month, George completed his two-year term as chair and will move into an ex officio capacity for one year. On May 14, during the last Alumni Board meeting of 2020–2021, George ceremoniously passed the gavel to Alumni Board Chair-elect Kristin W. Henderson ’82. Her official term started June 1 and will continue through May 31, 2023.
“You have represented alumni well,” says Brad E. Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs at SMU, expressing his gratitude to George. “Whether it was during outdoor Commencement ceremonies in 100-plus degree temperatures, at Baccalaureates, at student ring ceremonies – and everything in between.” Visit SMU Alumni to learn more about our alumni community.
Watch Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11, founder and CEO of Bumble, delivering the address at May Commencement, and enjoy photos of golden moments as the classes of 1970 and 1971 gathered at graduation and for their 50-year reunion.
Our newest graduates navigated uncharted waters during three school terms shaped by the pandemic, but they never let that sink their big dreams or cloud their optimism about the future. Read more: Here we go, Mustangs!
Carefully nurturing the cancer cells she uses in SMU biology professor Pia Vogel’s research lab is routine for SMU junior Gabrielle Gard ’22, who has been working in sophisticated research labs since she was a junior in high school. Her dogged pursuit of hands-on research is just one of the reasons she has received a 2021–22 Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious national science awards presented to undergraduate students.
Because of Gabrielle’s interests and accomplishments in science, SMU awarded her the Provost Scholarship, the SMU Discovery Scholarship, the Dedman College Scholarship and the BRITE Scholarship. Gabrielle says the invitation to become a Dedman College Scholar was key to her decision to attend SMU. The program provides faculty mentoring, an active community of like-minded peers and unique learning opportunities.
“Knowing that I would come to SMU with a cohort of students from a variety of disciplines that would challenge me academically and outside of the classroom was a huge pull for me,” she says. Read more at Dedman College.
A World Athletics panel ruling that Paralympic sprinter Blake Leeper cannot compete using unnaturally long, blade-like prostheses at the Tokyo Olympics was based on research led by renowned SMU human speed expert Peter Weyand.
The governing body for track and field athletes said Monday that Leeper’s disproportionately long prostheses, would give him an “overall competitive advantage.” The ruling follows testing by Weyand and University of Montana professor Matt Bundle on Leeper and his running specific prostheses (RSPs) at SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory.
Weyand is Glenn Simmons Professor of Applied Physiology and professor of biomechanics in the Department of Applied Physiology & Wellness in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He also runs the SMU Locomotor laboratory and has done extensive analysis of many professional sprinters, including Usain Bolt and Oscar Pistorius. Bundle is the director of University of Montana’s Biomechanics Lab. Read more at SMU Research.
A $15 million gift from Sharoll and Bryan S. Sheffield ’01 to SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business will empower future entrepreneurs by creating new technology-equipped collaborative spaces.
Their generous commitment will establish Bryan S. Sheffield Hall, part of the future Cox School renovation and expansion project, which will provide students with innovative learning environments, enabling Mustangs to develop critical skills that are vital to success in today’s evolving workplace.
Located on the southwest corner of the renovated business school quad, Sheffield Hall will feature Collegiate Georgian style construction with up-to-date classrooms designed for collaboration and data-focused problem-solving. Sheffield Hall will serve as the new hub for Cox School’s Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program, including BBA admissions, academic advising and student records. In addition, it will house classroom space on the lower level and faculty offices on the second floor. Read more at SMU News.
Five outstanding students sharing a passion for academics, pride in their heritage and a commitment to doing a world of good have been awarded 2021 Hispanic Alumni Scholarships.
Hispanic Alumni of SMU established the annual award in 2009 to provide financial assistance to upper-level or graduate Hispanic students excelling at the University. Since the scholarship’s inception, 42 students have received support as they continue to work toward their degrees. This year’s recipients are: Teresa Acosta ’22 made SMU history as the inaugural First-Generation Senator elected to the 107th SMU Student Senate. Teresa is a junior majoring in biology and human rights with minors in Spanish and History in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. She holds a multitude of additional leadership roles in organizations across campus. Teresa serves as co-director of marketing and outreach for SMU Alternative Breaks, co-events director for the SMU Human Rights Council, Daniel House Director of House Advocacy for Upper Division Housing and president of the League of United Latin American Citizens at SMU. She is also vice president of the SMU Global Medical Brigades and of the Unity Coalition at SMU; rush chair for the Alpha Phi Omega Community Service Fraternity; co-socials chair for the Connect Program; Student Wellness Champion; and secretary of the Japanese Cultural Club. Lucy Carreño-Roca ’22 is a first-year student in the Cox School of Business’ full-time MBA program with a concentration in finance and marketing. Lucy serves as vice president of Cox School’s Operations and Analytics Club and is a member of the Latino Business Club and the Women in Business and Finance Club. Prior to attending SMU, she was a global treasury implementation adviser and operations manager for Bank of America, where she discovered a passion for improving the financial lives of clients while taking advantage of leadership and team cultivation opportunities. In 2016, Lucy graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College as a double major in English and psychology. Jose Martinez ’22 is majoring in film and media arts with a minor in graphic design in Meadows School of the Arts. Jose’s deep spirituality inspires his goal to make movies that “remind us we are part of something bigger than ourselves.” He aspires to help “set the path that leads future generations to the truth” by being a good friend and trusted neighbor. Valeria Reynosa ’22 is a junior from El Paso, Texas, majoring in history and political science with a minor in law and legal reasoning. As an undergraduate research assistant for The Voices of SMU oral history project, Valeria strives to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups in the SMU community by documenting individuals’ experiences. Her academic interests weave through her roles as a History Ambassador, a history intern with the Bywaters Special Collections in Hamons Arts Library, an SMU Pre-Law Scholar and secretary of the SMU Historical Society. Her volunteerism off campus includes service as a court appointed special advocate for Dallas CASA. In her free time, Valeria enjoys hiking, running and listening to podcasts. Antonio Orta Williamson ’22, a junior majoring in civil engineering in the Lyle School of Engineering, moved to Dallas from Mexico when he was 17. After graduating from high school, Antonio continued his education in community college, earning his associate’s degree while working and saving to attend SMU. He was recognized for his work with Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society during this year’s Honors Convocation. In his free time, he loves to hang out with his family and take his dogs, Lily and Luca, on long walks. He also plays soccer with his friends in a couple of different indoor and outdoor leagues. After graduating, he plans to pursue a career in land development in Dallas.
A stunning portrait of alumna and SMU parent Thear Sy Suzuki ’96 (center) by former President George W. Bush is among six of his original oil paintings gracing the cover Out of Many, One – Portraits of America’s Immigrants. Suzuki, a principal and global client service partner with Ernst and Young, survived the killing fields of Cambodia as a child before she and her family were sponsored for immigration by a U.S. relief organization. Suzuki became a U.S. citizen in 1992 and is among the 43 immigrants painted by the 43rd President of the United States for his newest bestseller. Her vibrant likeness appears along with such famous faces as Mavericks’ legend Dirk Nowitzki, baseball star Albert Pujols and golfer Annika Sörenstam; foreign policy experts Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger; and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. All are celebrated in the book – and accompanying exhibition at the Bush Presidential Center – described as “a powerful new collection of stories and oil paintings highlight the inspiring journeys of America’s immigrants and the contributions they make to the life and prosperity of our nation.” Read more at the Bush Presidential Center.
More than 5,200 of you gave a record $2.5 million – up 81% over 2019 – to champion 216 causes you care about on Giving Day. Once again you’ve proven that Mustangs together are a force for good every day. Learn more about Giving Day.
SMU researchers have developed a set of computer-driven routines that can mimic chemical reactions in a lab, cutting the time and labor-related expense frequently required to find the best possible drug for a desired outcome.
The University has a patent pending for the computational routines under the name ChemGen. In addition to speeding the process of finding successful drugs for specific applications, ChemGen will allow smaller labs to contribute to meaningful research at a level many cannot currently afford.
“ChemGen has the ability to replace a team of 20 highly-skilled organic chemists in the optimization of a molecule of interest,” said lead inventor John Wise, an SMU professor who specializes in structural biochemistry. “We’re basically arming an army of smaller labs to do really sophisticated research. Read more at SMU Research.
SMU has served societal needs and prepared students to make an impact in their chosen professions for more than a century. A recent article that appeared in The Dallas Morning News described how SMU fulfills its mission in a data-driven world.
The university has developed major new programs in research and data science, combining high-speed computing, mathematics and statistics to extract meaningful insights from extremely large quantities of data. These programs are helping the business community in Dallas and beyond thrive in an increasingly data-driven, complex and interconnected world. Read more.
Richard A. Duschl, a leader in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering known for his continuing contributions to science education through research, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Education.
Duschl is the executive director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education in the Lyle School and has an appointment in SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development in the Department of Teaching and Learning.
“Induction into a national academy representing your field of expertise is the pinnacle of achievement in one’s career,” said Marc P. Christensen, dean of the Lyle School of Engineering. “When we recruited Professor Duschl to lead the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education, we knew he was one of the most distinguished researchers in the field education. We are so pleased that he has been formally recognized in this way.” Read more at SMU News.
A predictability model built by an SMU research team can calculate the odds that certain variables – such as drunk driving or speeding 20 miles above the limit – will result in a severe car accident.
Tony Ng, an SMU statistical science professor and one of the co-creators of the model, says the tool could be especially useful as an educational tool for making concrete the real impact of certain driving conditions and behaviors to different audiences, like young drivers.
“This can hopefully influence drivers’ behavior positively and reduce crashes by making drivers more aware of dangerous driving habits,” Ng says.
Using data analytic techniques such as the SMU model to analyze traffic data also can potentially identify accident hotspots and the reasons behind them, helping traffic officials improve road safety. For example, the data could be used to adjust speed limits on a given highway or prompt the placement of cameras where drivers are known to speed, Ng says.
You can never have too much of a good thing, right? Here are even more great videos and stories about the people, projects and events making us proud to be Mustangs.
Tuesday, April 13 is SMU Giving Day, an exciting and powerful 24-hour challenge when we champion causes we care about. Join the conversations about #SMUOneDay on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and help spread the word.
On Giving Day, choose from more than 200 purpose-driven pursuits going on across campus to support. The more Mustangs who give, the bigger our impact on the Hilltop and beyond. Learn more about Giving Day.
Ford Stadium will come alive with the sound of music during Sing Song, the annual student musical competition April 16, just one of the great events planned for our annual spring celebration.See the events schedule.
Toyelle Wilson, SMU’s first Black female head coach, arrives on the Hilltop after two seasons at Michigan with plans to bring “passion, energy and joy” to the program.
Director of Athletics Rick Hart announced Wilson’s appointment April 1.
“Toyelle emerged from a really talented group of candidates,” said Hart. “Her commitment to the academic, athletic and social development of our student-athletes aligns with our vision of shaping champions. She is a respected leader, and her positive energy, strong work ethic and ability to connect with and inspire others are qualities we look for in a head coach. We are happy that Toyelle has accepted our offer to serve as the head women’s basketball coach at SMU and look forward to working with her and her staff in building a championship program.”
Wilson arrives on the Hilltop after two seasons with the Michigan women’s basketball program, where she served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. She arrived in Ann Arbor in 2019 after spending six years as an assistant coach at Baylor and three seasons as the head coach at Prairie View A&M. Read more at SMU Athletics.
No. 1 seed SMU won the inaugural Eastern College Athletic Conference equestrian championship March 26 after defeating University of Tennessee Martin, 11-4. The title is the program’s third consecutive conference championship after the 2020 championship was canceled.
SMU is seeded fourth for the NCEA National Championships in Waco April 15–17.
SMU equestrian earned five conference post-season awards and had six riders named to all-conference teams.
Three Mustangs were named ECAC Riders of the Year: Taylor Madden in flat, Devin Seek in fences and Nya Kearns in horsemanship. SMU had two team members selected as Freshman Riders of the Year: Nya Kearns in horsemanship and Chalyce Head in reining.
The Mustangs had six riders named to All-Conference teams for the 2020-21 season. Taylor Madden was named to the all-flat team. Devin Seek was named to the fences team for the third year in a row. Aubrey Alderman earned her first conference honor as part of the All-Horsemanship team and is joined by Nya Kearns. Dani Latimer and Jill Pfisthner were both named to the reining team, the second consecutive honor for both riders. Read more about nationals.
We’re always looking ahead on the Hilltop, and our community is already talking about the on-campus opportunities they’re most looking forward to in the fall.
Gifts totaling $650,000 from two couples with profound personal connections to the SMU Human Rights Program provide crucial resources for the renowned initiative, one of only seven of its kind in the United States. Through hands-on training and research, community internships and life-changing trips, the Program empowers students to become changemakers.
J.D. Dell, managing director and partner at Big Path Capital, a leading investment bank for impact companies and private equity funds, and Ann Marie Dell, who is currently enrolled in an SMU doctorate program, are pleased to announce a $500,000 commitment toward the endowment of the Human Rights Program in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
Ann is in her final semester of coursework for the Doctor of Liberal Studies degree in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Her concentration and research focus is in the area of Human Rights and Holocaust Studies under Human Rights Program Director Rick Halperin.
The Dells’ initial $250,000 gift will establish the Ann and J.D. Dell Endowment Fund for Human Rights. The Dells have set aside another $250,000 to be used as a matching gift to encourage other contributions. For every $2 that others donate to the program, the Dells’ endowment fund will match $1.
“My wife, Ann, was, and continues to be, the driving force in our family’s interest in the study of human rights and the important role SMU’s Human Rights program plays in educating and creating young, servant leaders who are willing to take on and solve some of our society’s and the world’s most important and pressing human issues,” Dell said. “Simply put, we believe in the Human Right’s Program’s mantra: ‘There is no such thing as a lesser person,’ and fully support the Program’s teaching, mentorship, travel and enrichment opportunities which advance its mission.”
The SMU Human Rights Program empowers its students to become change-making leaders who understand, promote and defend human rights. The program is one of only seven college and university human rights programs in the U.S., and the only one in the South. From its inception in 2006, the program has grown to well over 200 students, majoring and minoring in human rights.
“We are grateful for the generosity of Ann and J.D. Dell, who are longtime friends and supporters of SMU,” said SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad Cheves. “We are thrilled at the prospect of attracting more commitments thanks to the Dells’ matching gift offer.”
The Dells were moved, in part, to make their gift after participating in the Program’s annual Holocaust study tour of memorials and Nazi death camps in Poland.
Trey Velvin ’86, ’91, ’17 and Dee Velvin ’87, ’92 were similarly inspired. Trey graduated from SMU’s Master of Liberal Studies program with a focus on Human Rights in 2017, and participated in Human Rights Program learning experiences in Vietnam, Cambodia and the southern U.S.
The Velvins have committed $150,000 toward the endowment. The gift expands their long-standing advocacy for people and communities in need as well as their previous support for SMU Human Rights.
Both the Dells and the Velvins serve on the host committee for the Triumph of the Spirit Award Celebration, which will be held Thursday, November 18 in Dallas. The biennial event recognizes individuals and organizations for outstanding human rights activism and raises funds for the SMU Program. Find registration details and more information here. Read more about SMU Human Rights.
A $5 million gift from longtime SMU supporters Mary and Rich Templeton will bolster student excellence and doctoral research in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering through endowed scholarships and fellowships.
The Templetons’ gift includes $2.5 million to endow four Templeton Ph.D. Fellowships and cover their initial operating funds for the first five years, boosting the school’s capacity to meet its research goals. The Templeton Ph.D. Fellowships endowment is the first of its kind within the Lyle School. The gift also includes a further $2.5 million to endow 10 Templeton undergraduate scholarships and cover their initial operating funds for the first five years, strengthening the school’s ability to attract the best and brightest to the Hilltop.
SMU, on behalf of the University’s AT&T Center for Virtualization, has executed a Navy Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific). The research facility in San Diego provides the U.S Navy and military with essential capabilities in the areas of command and control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber and space.
SMU will benefit from NIWC Pacific’s access to technical data, says Suku Nair, Center director and a University Distinguished Professor in the Lyle School of Engineering. The Navy research facility will benefit from SMU’s expertise in virtualization technologies including enterprise and telecom virtualization, artificial intelligence/machine learning, cyber security, and in application of reliability, supportability and cyber security to defense systems. NIWC Pacific will also gain improved access to Dallas/Fort Worth defense contractors including Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, Bell Textron, Boeing and Elbit.
As a result of the agreement, SMU students trained in data science, statistical science, computer science, software engineering, cyber security and systems engineering will be well-positioned for recruitment opportunities in careers supporting U.S. Department of Defense initiatives.
The Mustangs kick off the season in Ford Stadium against Abilene Christian September 4 and open conference play at home against USF October 2. Find the schedule and ticket information here.
Vishal Ahuja is on a mission to reduce spending by applying business practices, grounded in operations management and analytics principles, to the health care world.
An assistant professor of information technology and operations management at SMU Cox and an adjunct professor of clinical sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Ahuja leans on his years of experience in the corporate world to apply principles of operations management and data analytics to local healthcare data and improve patient outcomes and efficiency of care.
Ahuja works with health care providers to gain access to patient data and uses algorithms to predict outcomes and prevent negative ones. His research focuses on patients with diabetes, especially veterans, who suffer disproportionately from this disease. Addressing diseases before patients land in the hospital can significantly reduce healthcare spending. Read more at Cox School.
SMU’s Dallas Literary Festival returns March 26–27 with Zoom sessions featuring the diverse voices of more than 100 powerhouse writers. See the schedule and register for events.
The 2021 recipients of the Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award, presented by Perkins School of Theology, are Kirk Franklin, a Grammy-award winning gospel artist and member of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship; Nancy Seay, a philanthropist and elder of Highland Park Presbyterian Church; and Lisa Tichenor, an active community leader and lay member of Highland Park United Methodist Church.
The awards will be presented during the online worship service that is part of the Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning Friday, March 19 at 4:45 p.m. Mary White, the 2020 recipient of the Seals Laity Award, will also be honored at that virtual event. Read more at Perkins School.
The Unity Circle (above) and other SMU Dream Week events commemorating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. provided a prelude to the celebration of Black History Month on the Hilltop.
In a tribute tailored to this time, the Black Alumni of SMU invite all Black alumni working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to submit their photos, class years and a few lines of their stories to smualum@smu.edu. They will be honored as 2021 History Maker Award recipients.
All alumni are welcome to tune in to these special programs when they stream live on the SMU Association of Black Students’ Instagram: @SMUABS.
February 19 at 8 p.m.: Black In Time Fashion Show. The evolution of fashion in the Black community will span from the 1970s to today, with a special feature for African wear and future designers.
February 23 at noon: Lunch and Learn with Monique Holland. She’ll discuss her experiences as an African American woman in collegiate athletics. She spent nine years at SMU as the executive senior associate athletics director for administration and the senior woman administrator before taking the post as senior associate athletics director for student-athlete experience at Auburn.
On February 27, seven SMU students receiving Black Alumni Scholarships will be recognized during the annual Black Excellence Awards celebration. This year’s recipients are: Lexxi Clinton ’21, a senior from Austin, is double majoring in political science and philosophy with a specialization in political theory while triple minoring in history, law and legal reasoning, and corporate communication and public affairs. She currently serves as the chief of staff to the Student Senate and as the president of both the Association of Black Students and of the Kappa Mu chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Most recently, she has filled the role of Caswell Leadership Coach for intercultural organizations. After graduation, Lexxi will move to Chicago to begin a career in consulting then going on to get a masters in business or possibly law school. Kennedy Coleman ’23 is a sophomore from Dallas majoring in political science with minors in English and public policy and international affairs. Kennedy is currently a Dallas County Mustang Scholar, Rotunda Scholar, Tower Scholar and a McNair Scholar. She serves in numerous campus leadership positions, including event coordinator for the Association of Black Students, Dedman College Senator, the student representative on the Police Training Advisory Board for the SMU Police Department and a member of the Vice President of Student Affairs Advisory Board. She is also working with the Student Affairs undergraduate research team examining areas that contribute to racial battle fatigue among Black students with the aim of offering the University empirical data to enact meaningful change. In these various positions, Kennedy hopes to illuminate the voices of communities at SMU that are often silenced. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend law school. Courtney Jackson ’24 is a first-year student from Frisco, Texas, majoring in mechanical engineering. She is a Rotunda Scholar, serves on the Mary Hay-Peyton-Shuttles Commons Council and is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers. In the future, she hopes to use her math and science expertise to develop sustainable products for a large tech company. Titus McGowan ’24 grew up in Dallas and is a graduate of St. Mark’s School of Texas where he excelled in orchestra and Spanish, served as a national ambassador for the game of lacrosse and was an All-American in track. At SMU, he is a bassist in the Meadows Symphony Orchestra, and he is a member of the Men’s Lacrosse Club, the Association of Black Students and the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students. He has been nominated for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Stacy Tubonemi ’16, ’21 is a final-year full-time M.B.A. student concentrating in finance, strategy and entrepreneurship with a minor in management in the Cox School of Business. She graduated from SMU in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and moved on to work for JP Morgan Chase in its Leadership Development Rotational program. She’s currently the president of the National Association of Black Accountants, a Forte Fellow and a Cox Career Fellow. In the summer, Stacy was awarded the Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholar Award for her contribution to the SMU community as well as her passion for entrepreneurship. After graduation, Stacy will join AT&T where she interned over the summer with its Finance Leadership Development Program Class of 2021. In her free time, Stacy enjoys traveling, hanging out with friends and exploring different places.
Learn more about the Black Alumni of SMU.
A new antibody test being developed by SMU researchers has the potential to detect the presence of antibodies generated in response to COVID-19 faster and with more accuracy than current antibody testing.
Antibody tests are key to helping determine how many coronavirus cases have gone undetected and whether people who have had the virus might now be immune – measurements that can help the healthcare community manage the COVID-19 pandemic and plan for the future. But conventional immunosensor antibody tests tend to be slow to show results and frequently inaccurate.
Researchers estimate the “Lab on a Chip” test could detect immune responses to coronavirus in two to three minutes, with just a drop of blood. The materials used to create the test are inexpensive, which should result in low-cost mass production. Ali Beskok and J.-C. Chiao are the lead researchers behind the “Lab on a Chip” test. Beskok is The Brown Foundation, Inc. Professor of Engineering at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. Chiao is The Mary and Richard Templeton Centennial Chair and professor in Lyle’s Department of Electrical and Computing Engineering. Together, they have more than 50 years of combined expertise on microfluidics technology and biotechnology. Read more at SMU Research.
Understanding the psychology of vaccine acceptance is key to convincing the majority of Americans to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, says SMU health behavior researcher Austin Baldwin.Research shows that individuals make health decisions based on their perceptions – the process of interpreting information and turning it into meaningful knowledge – and their beliefs – the process of acceptance of the truth or validity of something. To choose to take a COVID-19 vaccine, individuals must have a perception of the severity of the virus and that a vaccine will be effective as well as a belief that they are at risk of contracting the disease, Baldwin says. Anticipated regret is also a robust predictor of how health decisions are made, he says. Humans can imagine how they would feel if they chose not to be vaccinated, then became infected with COVID-19 or infected someone dear to them. Read more at SMU Research.
Eight Dallas ISD elementary school teachers have been selected to receive the first Kathryne and Gene Bishop Endowed Scholarships. They are pursuing master’s degrees with dual specialization in special education and bilingual/ELL studies at SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Their scholarships cover 94 percent of the tuition costs.
“Simmons faculty members, who excel in scholarship and teaching, can equip teachers with proven research-based practices to increase learning in the classroom. For teachers, acquiring new knowledge matters, especially if they can build on skills the district needs,” says Stephanie L. Knight, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean.
The scholarships reflect the longtime support by the Bishops of children’s education and health, among other philanthropies. Read more at the Simmons School.
When they first met as SMU roommates, Jaime Noble Gassmann ’02 (on the left in the photo above) and Beth McKeon ’02 weren’t sure they would be close friends. Flash forward to 2020, and they’re revolutionizing the startup ecosystem together.
Beth is the co-founder and CEO of Fluent, a Denver-based data technology company that developed the Fluency Score, which works like a FICO score for startups. Jaime serves as the company’s COO.
Since graduation, their paths have diverged for long periods but intersected at crucial points. The connection that took root in their campus home has kept them close through the years. That’s something they didn’t always see coming. Read more.
SMU volleyball, the defending American Athletic Conference West Division champions, is the favorite to win the division again in the 2020-21 season. The Mustangs earned seven first-place votes for the division. So far this season, the team is undefeated.
SMU had three players elected to the American Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference team, which featured 13 players from seven of the league’s 11 members. Lily Heim and Rachel Woulfe were unanimous selections after earning first-team accolades last season. Hannah Jacobs was also voted to the team after a second-team award in 2019.
Heim was also selected as a team captain by her teammates, along with Meryn Kennedy, the lone senior on the squad.
Read more at SMU Athletics.
A picture-perfect dusting of snow was gone almost as quickly as it fell on campus Sunday, January 10. Enjoy these photos of the flurries captured by SMU photographers Kim Leeson and Guy Rogers, III.
Unprecedented and uncertain: these are the well-worn descriptors of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, it has also given us opportunities to be our best selves. SMU has met the challenges introduced by COVID-19 with innovation, creativity and resilience. In the midst of the pandemic, here are some of the ways that SMU has continued to be Mustang Strong.
Mustangs meet the pandemic head on
Meeting Growing Needs
In 2017, Owen Lynch, an assistant professor in the Division of Corporate Communication, started Restorative Farms, a self-sustaining nonprofit farm that not only grows food, but also trains and nurtures local urban farming professionals. When the pandemic hit, Restorative Farms quickly transitioned to selling box gardens, dubbed GroBoxes, online with the help of 14 SMU communications students.
“Through working with Restorative Farms, I have learned more about the intersection of giving back to a community and capitalism, and how business and service do not have to be mutually exclusive,” says student Palmer Beldy ’22.
Making Math Easier
For many parents trying to help their children with remote learning during COVID-19, panic set in – especially when math instruction was involved. That’s when Candace Walkington came to the rescue.
Walkington, a math education associate professor in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development, produced a series of videos targeting grades 3-8. She used hand-washing, neighborhood walks and other timely topics to make math fun and accessible. She even calculated the number of rubber bands needed to craft a cord to give a beloved Barbie doll the best bungee jumping experience. Watch the video and try it yourself.
President Turner Zooms In
When COVID-19 forced SMU to move to remote learning in the spring, President R. Gerald Turner missed seeing students on campus and decided to drop in on classes via Zoom.
During his visit to an intro to modern physics class, he asked the students if they had any questions he could answer. One quickly replied, “Would you like to come solve the Schrödinger wave equation, President Turner?”
“You know, if I didn’t have an appointment right after this, I would,” Turner responded with a laugh.
Musem Crafternoons
Even while closed during the pandemic, the Meadows Museum continued to act as a leading center for education and exhibition in Spanish arts and culture through its “Museum From Home” webpage of digital resources for anyone to access.
Among the video offerings was the Crafternoon series of weekly at-home art activities for all ages; a Culture Corner revealing insights into various aspects of Spanish culture; and Tiny Tours featuring deep dives into works of art. In addition, the Poest Laureate program provided a platform for SMU students to voice connections between visual art and poetry.
Free telehealth counseling
When times get tough, SMU’s Center for Family Counseling is there to help. Mandatory social distancing forced the clinic to offer remote counseling when patients could not visit in person. As clinic staff began to work with established clients via Zoom, they also realized that many individuals were now dealing with coronavirus-induced isolation and additional stay-at-home issues. That’s when they came up with a plan.
The clinic began offering free telehealth counseling for those struggling during COVID-19. It’s been so successful that even when in-person visits can resume, the clinic will continue to offer remote appointments.
Striking the right chord
Music therapy students in the Meadows School of the Arts found new ways to stay in tune with those they serve. They connected with clients weekly through HIPAA-compliant Zoom accounts and used live music, talking, singing, playing instruments and therapeutic movement to improve physical and mental health.
This new reliance on telehealth methods meant that students had to get creative. When Malley Morales ’22 discovered that some people she works with didn’t have musical instruments at home, she looked to her kitchen for inspiration and found that pots and spoons can become a drum kit in a pinch.
Q&A with Leigh Ann Moffett, SMU Director of Emergency Management
Even for someone as experienced as Leigh Ann Moffett, the challenges COVID-19 brings to her role as SMU’s director of emergency management are unique.
For over a decade she’s been preparing for – and managing – complex emergencies like fires and active shooter situations on college campuses. COVID-19, however, has proven to be as demanding as it is far-reaching.
Moffett is up to the task, with a little help. She leads SMU’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), a cross section of campus departments that coordinates the University’s comprehensive response to the virus.
Moffett discussed how this group handled myriad issues created by the pandemic with SMU Magazine. At what point did you realize COVID-19 was going to be consequential?
When cases first started to appear in the U.S. in January, that’s when we immedi-ately pulled together our team. We started reviewing our pandemic plan to ensure we had the capability and capacity to execute it. SMU’s decision not to resume on-campus instruction in the spring was significant. We had to further evaluate what resources we’d need and where to pull them from. That’s why it was critical for the EOC to meet regularly and form a united response. How is this emergency different from anything else you’ve managed?
It’s challenging to target an end date. With any incident, there will always be unknowns. Not only is the timeline uncertain, but a pan-demic is not a scenario where the threat can be immediately neutralized. Because of that, starting the recovery process is uncertain. It’s quite different from a fire or an active shooter in that sense. This seems like a stressful role. What keeps you going?
This is a good team and these are really good people in the EOC. Everyone is working just as hard and putting in as many long hours as I am. We all do it for the greater good of our students and the SMU community.
In the wake of nationwide protests, Black students and alumni called for meaningful action to address issues of inequity and bias. By Catherine Womack ’08
People around the United States and the world reacted to multiple videos of aggressions against Black people at the hands of police officers. In Dallas, as in nearly every other major city in the U.S., citizens took to the streets to protest the deaths and injuries.
“I felt like I had to do something. It’s too important,” SMU junior Tyne Dickson ’22 told The Daily Campus reporter Michelle Aslam, explaining her choice to join a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Dallas in late May. Dickson was just one of many SMU students, faculty and alumni who joined protests in Dallas. On June 3, SMU Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes, along with dozens of SMU players and staffers, attended a protest outside Dallas City Hall, listening and handing out water to those were voicing their outrage against police brutality.
“You have to do what your heart compels you to do and what it tells you is right,” Dykes told The Dallas Morning News.
SMU students and staff also focused atten-tion on issues of inequality, discrimination and racial prejudice on campus. Dickson started a GoFundMe page called “SMUBlackLivesMatter.” She plans to use the money raised through the site to produce Black Lives Matter apparel for students to wear on campus. It’s just one way, she says, students can publicly support the Black community on campus this fall.#BlackatSMUJust like the larger Black Lives Matter movement, the hashtag #BlackatSMU saw a resurgence this summer. Since its inception in 2015, the hashtag has helped bring to light problems of racism on campus and amplify the voices and stories of Black SMU students and alumni.
When the #BlackatSMU hashtag initially went viral, the negative experiences shared sparked SMU President R. Gerald Turner to respond to students’ concerns and demands by initiating the creation of the Cultural Intelligence Initiative (CIQ@SMU). The program was launched to infuse the principles of cultural intelligence into every aspect of SMU’s campus life, provide sensitivity training for faculty and staff and do more to recruit minority students.
This year’s resurgence of #BlackatSMU reveals there is still much work to be done to intensify and finish the work started in 2015 and have a University community in which equality and inclusion are demonstrated in all aspects of campus life.
Black alumni stand shoulder to shoulder with students
On June 9, Anga Sanders ’70, D’Marquis Allen ’16 and the Black Alumni of SMU Board published an open letter to Black SMU students in The Daily Campus. “We hear you. We feel you. We are with you,” they wrote, standing in solidarity with students who posted their stories using the #BlackatSMU hashtag or protested against police violence.
Placing today’s protests in historical context, they reminded current Black students that they are continuing the work of generations of SMU minority students who have pushed the University to become a more inclusive, welcoming and equitable space. They urged SMU leadership to provide accountability, calling for a robust response to Black students’ experiences and demands. Excerpt from alumni letter to Black SMU students:
“Being a Black college student at a Predom-inately White Institution, or PWI, presents a particular set of challenges, and this is no less true at SMU. When you are not in the majority, when your history and culture dominate neither experiences nor activities, the simple tasks of daily living require greater expenditures of physical and emotional energy. It’s exhausting. It sometimes seems overwhelming. But you are not alone.
“We can say this with confidence because of the rich history of mobilizing that precedes your current station. In 1969, and on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, 33 members of SMU’s Black League of Afro-American College Students (BLAACS) sat in on President Willis Tate’s office to protest the lack of academic diversity and (to call for) the improvement of working conditions for Black employees. In 2015, ABS (the Association of Black Students) helped launch the #BlackAtSMU movement to call attention to long-standing racial insensitivities across SMU’s campus while incidents of police brutality increased nationwide. And at multiple points in between, Black students have raised their voices to seek equality and fair treatment at SMU.
“Today, you all are calling the University to accountability by advancing the #BlackAtSMU movement during a global pandemic and in the midst of national protests in response to the unjust killings of Black people by law enforcement officials and civilians. Though the times have changed, we are uniquely united by similar sets of circum-stances that we most certainly will overcome.
“As present members of ABS, you are playing an active role in honoring the legacy of Black students who came before you. More importantly, though, you are extending a tradition of resistance that will live beyond your time on the Hilltop. While doing so, it is important to express your feelings freely. Share your stories in both cathartic and instructive ways. Listen to the experiences of others, learn how they dealt with them, and internalize the fact that just as they belonged, you too belong at SMU. Though this journey might not always be what you anticipated, you have the power to effectuate change proactively and strategically for yourselves and future generations. The skills and resilience that you are developing now will serve you well throughout your life.”
Read the complete letter.
Through a series of online discussions, President R. Gerald Turner listened to and learned from leaders of Black student organizations, the Black Alumni of SMU Board, staff and faculty. In June, he outlined his early takeaways from these sessions in a letter to the SMU community. Excerpt from SMU President’s letter to the SMU community:
“Accompanied by Vice President of Student Affairs K.C. Mmeje, Senior Advisor to the President Maria Dixon Hall and our Provost-elect Elizabeth Loboa, I heard firsthand what it means to be Black at SMU. These were not easy stories to tell and they were difficult to hear. Those who participated virtually on calls and by using the #BlackatSMU forum demonstrated courage and love for our University by sharing not just their stories, but also suggestions that will enable our campus to become a true community. For allowing me to hear from you, I am grateful.
“This will be a journey during which we will continue to listen. And there will be action. Next week, we will meet with Black graduate student leaders to ensure that no voice or experience is left unheard. We recognize that there are other members of the Mustang family who want to be part of this process, so I know we will be holding more listening sessions. In the meantime, please continue to use the #BlackatSMU forum to make sure we hear from you and learn of your desire to participate. As we progress, we also plan additional meetings with each of these groups to ensure we stay on the right track to address this systemic issue.
“These important conversations and the themes that are emerging from them are just the beginning. But one thing is very clear: Our Black students, staff and faculty need more allies and advocates on campus to create an environment where they feel they belong. We must affirm that the lives and experiences of our Black students, faculty, staff and alumni matter. Black lives Matter, and Black Mustang Lives Matter.”
SMU has taken a significant step forward in its commitment to open dialogue, diversity and inclusion with the appointment of Maria Dixon Hall as the University’s first chief diversity officer.
As Senior Advisor to the President for Cultural Intelligence and associate professor of corporate communications in the Meadows School of the Arts, Dixon Hall has been managing the Cultural Intelligence Initiative – CIQ@SMU – an innovative, grassroots strategy that she developed to infuse the principles of cultural intelligence into every aspect of SMU’s campus life. CIQ@SMU involves more than talking about diversity. It is designed to spark conversations on how people engage. By bridging the gap between traditional diversity training and real-world knowledge and skills, CIQ@SMU gives every Mustang the opportunity to learn, work and lead in diverse cultural contexts.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to be appointed by President Turner to serve our University in this critical role,” Dixon Hall says. “We are at an important crossroads for our country and campus, and the challenges to reweave the fabric of civility, diversity and inclusion that binds us are daunting. However, I believe that as Mustangs, we are more than able to meet this challenge together in authentic and collaborative ways that affirm the sacred worth of every student, staff and faculty member. Every day, I hope you will walk with me on the journey to create a campus where every Mustang knows they are valued.”
The appointment of Dixon Hall, an expert on power, identity and culture in corporate, nonprofit and religious organizations, reflects SMU’s commitment to purposeful engagement and progress in overcoming the challenges to equity.
“I look forward to working with an incredible team of diverse leaders who are dedicated to the idea that diversity, inclusion and cultural intelligence are not add-ons, but essential parts of what it means to be a member of the SMU community. These leaders, some of whom I entered the University with as a new faculty member, are going to be key in working with me to create an environment in which every Mustang is visible and valued. The African American community, and indeed all of our communities, expect nothing less from me in this new role,” Dixon Hall says.
Reporting directly to President Turner, Dixon Hall will collaborate with SMU faculty, students, administrators and staff to both initiate and report the outcome of diversity initiatives, policies and programs. She will continue to coordinate the delivery of SMU’s Cultural Intelligence and antibias training for members of the SMU community.
A photo of one of Broussard’s suited-up flash mobs went viral a year ago. For the SMU alum, his suits are about looking good, of course, but in the long run, they’re really about saving lives. By Kathy Wise D Magazine
Two years ago, after seeing yet another news story about police brutality against a Black man, NeAndre Broussard had had enough. He founded his Instagram page, Black Menswear, to counter negative media portrayals with images of Black men dressed in colorful, impeccably tailored suits. The proof of his concept was evident at our photo shoot in The Shag Room at the Virgin Hotels Dallas. Passersby kept stopping to comment on how good he looked, and it was clear that they figured he must be someone of import. That’s Broussard’s hope: to change reality by changing perception. In this case, with a double-breasted windowpane suit from his new BM & Company suit line.
Broussard first went viral a year ago in February, with a photo he had staged in Deep Ellum of a stylishly suited flash mob fronted by an unsmiling 6-year-old boy. The men are slightly blurred in the background. The boy is in sharp focus in the center of the frame, wearing a tiny turquoise suit with a pink carnation tucked in the lapel. He looks into the camera and holds up a single fist, exposing a starched French cuff.
Common, Diddy, Reggie Bush, Tracee Ellis Ross — even the online celebrity news site The Shade Room — all started sharing the photo. But it wasn’t planned, at least not the inclusion of the boy, Harper. A friend of a friend’s wife, who was visiting from Chicago, asked to bring him to the shoot at the last minute. Broussard had staged similar flash mobs before, but the emphasis had always been on the grown-ups.
Tired of police brutality against men who were presumed to be aggressive solely because of the color of their skin, the SMU graduate and insurance businessman created his Instagram account, Black Menswear, to change the narrative. He started gathering large groups of Black men in suits, sometimes organized around a color theme. For the first shoot in Dallas, 20 men showed up. Then 75. Then 100. When he would travel to Philadelphia or D.C. or Chicago for work, he would put up a post and hundreds would show up in those cities, too.
On the day of the Deep Ellum shoot, Dallas photographer Santos Paris spotted Harper and asked him to stand in front of the group. “I told him to raise his fist,” Broussard says. “But how he took it, that was all him. As we like to say, he ate that shot. It was lunch.”
The reason the image was so impactful, Broussard believes, is because Harper was the only child. “You have 99 men behind him, to where it’s like a support system,” he says. “It spoke to so much more than just a picture of a young boy wearing a suit. It was, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ It was, ‘We all got your back.’ It was, ‘You can do whatever you want because we stand behind you.’ That one, it took Black Menswear to the next level.”
Now, Broussard speaks to kids of all ages, talking to them about the importance of appearance. He advises them on what to wear to a job interview, how to tie a necktie, and how to press a shirt or suit themselves if they can’t afford to go to a dry cleaner.
He has flash mobs planned in 12 cities this year, and at each one he’ll host a networking roundtable beforehand that he calls Dapper Conversations. Through these events, his goal is to impact 1,500 additional lives and to create a nonprofit suit bank to which his flash mob participants can donate.
In March, he launched a suit line called BM & Company. The suits are made to measure, allowing for a custom fit at an affordable price. His spring line includes six options, three solid and three windowpane, all of which have functioning buttons and are made of 100 percent European wool.
“Suits are longevity,” Broussard says. “People are always going to be wearing suits. You go look at pictures from the 1920s, and you look at a picture from 2020. One thing that’s consistent? Suits.”
For Broussard, the clothing is really a means to an end. The suits are about looking good, but in the long run, they are about saving lives. “At the end of the day, for me, it’s not about the dollars,” he says. “It’s about the impact.” Originally published in D Magazine in April 2020. Photos by Elizabeth Lavin and Kendal Lanier.
TOP 5 SUITING TIPS
Get it tailored. “If I’m not in a position to buy that expensive suit but I still have the urge to buy one, I go for off the rack and take it right to my tailor. Make it your suit.”
Follow the button rule. “Your bottom button is never, ever, ever buttoned. You stand up, you button the top button. You sit down, you unbutton your jacket.”
Have a go-to power suit. “It’s like your superhero costume. Some people have lucky underwear, or athletes have lucky socks. I’ve got lucky suits. I know I look good, so the mental battle is already done.”
Use your accessories. “For those who like color but are nervous about wearing a colored suit, let your accessories be that voice. Wear your conservative suit, but then use your tie, pocket square, watch, or belt to be your voice.”
Invest in the shoes. “I may get a suit for an affordable cost. But the shoes? That’s something that I’m going to invest in because I walk. You might wear the same shoes with four different suits, so you want a shoe that you don’t have to go and buy a new pair in six months because you wore it out.”
Author, serial entrepreneur and Silicon Valley CEO Promise Phelon ’93 talks about opportunity, bias and why institutions must change to thrive.
Phelon describes her younger self as somewhat “naive about bias.” Growing up outside Dallas, she was often one of the few nonwhite students in classrooms and clubs. At SMU, that naivete was an asset, Phelon says, giving her the courage to lead in settings where she was often in the minority. The successful CEO and author lives in the San Francisco Bay Area today, and has a new book, The Way of the Growth Warrior, written for underdogs of all sorts.
“We have to start talking about the fact that most people are underrepresented,” she says. “Most of us didn’t go to Stanford, we’re over 40, maybe we’re divorced. It’s beyond gender and race. All these things are biased. As an underdog, you often don’t know you are one.”
Phelon says that while she did face bias in college, she also encountered opportunity. She recalls sharing a sorority house with people from massively privileged families, and being stunned to learn how they handled finances and mortgages, borrowed money and invested in the stock market. “I feel privileged that, as someone who considers herself an underdog, early in life I got access to people who were crushing it economically,” she says.
“If you’re an institution of any kind – an organization, government, university, corporation – you can no longer give lip service to change. You have to actually do it.”
While writing her book, Phelon reflected on her time at SMU and how it shaped her. “I found that one of my superpowers is that I am a divergent thinker,” she says. It’s a quality she traces directly to specific classroom experiences and professors. Phelon, who studied world religion at SMU, says she benefited from a liberal arts degree that taught her to think comparatively and empathetically.
“What I learned in religion was culture, anthropology, language, critical thinking,” she says, tools that helped her thrive as a leader in Silicon Valley. As positively as she remembers her time at SMU, Phelon is honest about the prejudice, and how that needs to change.
“SMU was a hostile environment for people of color when I was there,” she says. “As I progressed in SMU’s culture, I saw there was a certain fraternity that was extremely racist. I realized how hard it was to get into a ‘top sorority’ if you were a person of color or if you weren’t pretty or if you weren’t wealthy.”
Phelon is inspired by the people taking to the streets to march for equality and protest injustice. “Youth culture and Black culture have merged,” she explains. “It’s moved from being ‘those people’ to ‘it’s us.’ Youth today feel a deep sense of kinship with people of color … our cultures are no longer bifurcated. We’re one.” Phelon says this movement, fueled by young people, is one the world can no longer ignore. “If you’re an institution of any kind – an organization, government, university, corporation – you can no longer give lip service to change. You have to actually do it.”
When she advises CEOs and other leaders, Phelon asks them to consider the “why” behind their actions to increase diversity and inclusion. She says it’s important for leaders to see, articulate and believe in the benefit of these actions.
“So I applaud President Turner for starting the conversation,” she says. “And I also implore him to effect real change.” Visit Promise Phelan’s The Growth Warrior website.
Our annual Celebration of Lights started early this year so students could enjoy this heartwarming holiday tradition before they left for Thanksgiving. The Hilltop will remain aglow through January 3 for the enjoyment of our Mustang family and community neighbors. Enjoy these photos!
SMU mourns the loss of renowned Dallas business leader, entrepreneur, public servant, educational pioneer and longtime University supporter and trustee emeritus Edwin L. Cox Sr. ’42, who died Thursday, November 5, 2020. He had celebrated his 99th birthday on October 20, and remained active and engaged with family and friends until his passing.
“Edwin Cox’s contributions to and enthusiasm for this University and the Cox School of Business are invaluable. He was a tremendous presence and an inspiring influence for every person who crossed his path, and his work with and for his community has reached across generations and over great distances,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “He will remain an example of tireless drive, selfless spirit and boundless energy to the students of Cox and of SMU for generations to come. He is missed, not only because of his determination to make the Cox School a globally recognized institution, but also because of his character and his unwavering commitment to the students of SMU and to the people of Dallas.” Read more.
A $7.5 million gift from Jane R. and Pat S. Bolin ’73 to SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business will foster collaboration inside and outside the classroom, and strengthen students’ advanced data analysis skills.
The Bolins’ gift will combine with a $7.5 million designation by Gina L. and Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74 from their previously announced gift to create the new Bolin-Bridwell Hall, part of the future Cox School renovation and expansion project. Bolin-Bridwell Hall will offer a learning environment that mirrors the evolving workplace and uses the latest technology to build students’ data fluency. Read more.
NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Garrett Haake ’07 lives by the advice he learned from an SMU faculty mentor – stay packed, and don’t make any dinner plans that can’t be canceled.
Garrett knew he wanted to major in journalism when he selected SMU. The opportunity to work in the professional-level Pederson Broadcast Studio and the offer of a President’s Scholarship, SMU’s most generous, brought him to the Hilltop.
His first taste of life at a national network came the summer after his junior year when he interned in New York with NBC Nightly News. SMU alumna Lucy Scott ’77, an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster who served as executive-in-residence in the journalism division of Meadows School of the Arts, helped him make the NBC connection. Read more.
It’s been a perfect season so far for men’s basketball, with the Mustangs beating Dayton 66–64 December 5. The team is also doing its part to defeat hunger during the holidays by collecting food donations on campus for the North Texas Food Bank through December 18.
The team has partnered with the SMU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to help families in need through a food drive. All canned goods and nonperishable food donations collected will be delivered to the North Texas Food Bank for distribution to those in need throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Items can be dropped off at designated boxes outside Ford Stadium and Moody Coliseum. Read more.
Allison Schultz ’21, a Highland Capital Management Tower Scholar and recipient of the Hamon Internship, quickly adapted her summer internship at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to an online-only format. Although she was not able to interact in person, her experience was not diminished. Find out what Allison found to be rewarding in the post below.
“Reflecting on my experience in DANY’s summer college internship program, I am immensely grateful for the attorneys who took time out of their busy days to mentor and teach me, turning my theoretical and academic understanding of the criminal justice system into a much more nuanced, practical understanding of what it means to be a policy practitioner, attorney, and advocate for both victims and the people of the State of New York. Thank you to the SMU Tower Center for funding my experience and facilitating my pursuit of knowledge in this field – knowledge I know I will carry with me well into the future.” Read more on the SMU Tower Center Blog.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides increased 2020 tax benefits for charitable giving. For more information on how these changes can affect your charitable goals, please contact SMU’s Office of Gift Planning at giftplanning@smu.edu or 214-768-1911.Find more information at SMU Gift Planning.
Today’s health crisis and human rights movement may differ from anything we’ve seen before, but Mustangs of every generation have faced challenges in their times. Sometimes we’ve stumbled. Sometimes we’ve triumphed. But for more than 100 years, we’ve been engaged.
World War I and the Roaring Twenties
1915
A financial crisis and the collapse in cotton prices hurt Texas and the nation. SMU scales back its plans for dormitories in the fall, build-ing three temporary halls for under $40,000. (In 1926, all three still-standing dorms were destroyed in a fire.)
1916–1918
World War I dampens enrollment at SMU from 1,114 (1916-1917) to 1,012 (1917-1918). More than 250 students join the Student Army Training Corps through SMU, and 473 current or former students enter the armed forces. Of those students, 11 die in service. The depressed economy leads SMU into debt that will last years. President Robert Stewart Hyer borrows money to pay professors, using his personal possessions as collateral. Trustees put up their own collateral for loans to keep SMU afloat.
1918
The influenza epidemic invades SMU at the opening of school in September. In October, University officials implement health precautions, including canceling all chapel and church services. Four members of the SMU community perish during the epidemic.
1920
National economic boom and the rise of the oil industry in Texas put SMU on secure financial footing. Following the war, enrollment grows to 1,341 (1920-1921).
The Great Depression
1932–1934
The depression forces SMU to reduce salaries by 20% in 1932–1933, and then by 50% in April, May and June of 1934. Due to these financial challenges, SMU offers its first need-based scholarships to 60 incoming freshmen in 1934. Through it all, SMU students establish several traditions, including two that endure: the live mascot Peruna in 1932 and Pigskin Revue in 1933.
1936
Student Council of Religious Activities and the Moorland branch of the YMCA for Negroes campaign to improve Dallas’ Black high school, Booker T. Washington. SMU students speak at several churches about “Our Responsibility for Negro Education in Dallas” and call for an end to prejudice.
1936–1938
The New Deal’s positive impact on college attendance causes SMU’s enrollment to explode – from 2,445 (1934-1935) to 3,831 (1937-1938).
World War II
1938–1939
Before President Umphrey Lee takes office, he tells the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, “There can be no future for our civilization except a future of tolerance.” During uncertain times, he urges SMU to “emphasize its college of liberal arts” and freedom of inquiry.
1940–1945
As the U.S. gets closer to entering WWII, SMU engineering school facilities are used to train military aviators and others. In 1942, male student enrollment drops from 2,308 to 1,886. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, SMU moves to a quarter system, enabling students to earn a degree in only three years. By November 1942, 27 faculty members have been called into military or government service. The Navy College Training Program (V-12) begins in July 1943 at SMU. By the end of the war, 450 men have participated and nearly 50 have earned SMU degrees. Female students form the College Organization for General Service to support the war effort and increasingly take leadership roles in student organizations. By the war’s end, 127 students and 137 alumni have lost their lives in the service of their country.
1944–1953
President Lee, anticipating the utilization of the GI Bill’s tuition benefits, establishes the General Co-ordinator of Veterans Education office. The School of Business Administration establishes rehabilitation certificate programs for returning veterans. In fall 1946, 6,780 students (nearly 4,000 of them veterans) enroll – 3,000 more than in any previous semester. Dozens of new faculty members are hired. From 1946 to 1953, many veterans with families live in “Trailerville,” a self-con-tained community including 108 trailer homes.
Post-war Years
1946–1948
Dallas and SMU remain strictly segregated. Beginning in 1946, a small number of Black graduate students begin studying in the Perkins School of Theology, though they do not earn any credits. The 1948 Cotton Bowl football game sees SMU face Penn State, which has its first Black players – establishing the first major southern sporting event with Black and white players competing. After the tied (13-13) game, both teams are honored with a joint dinner at the SMU student center. By 1949, a handful of Black students are attending regular theology classes, doing required coursework and taking exams – all unofficially, with grades being forwarded to the students’ chosen institutions. In November 1950, SMU trustees authorize enrolling Black students as regular degree-seeking students. In 1951, Merrimon Cuninggim, dean of the Perkins School, recruits at Black colleges and enrolls five students who become SMU’s first Black graduates in 1955: James Arthur Hawkins, John Wesley Elliott, Negail Rudolph Riley, Allen Cecil Williams and James Vernon Lyles. The students initially eat their meals only in the Perkins cafeteria and room only with one another. In spring 1953, the four unmarried Black students and four white students choose to become sets of roommates, sparking controversy.
1950
Fall sees the departure of 120 male stu-dents for the military at the beginning of the Korean conflict.
1957
The computing revolution enters its second decade, and the Soviet Union launches the satellite Sputnik. Remington Rand installs a UNIVAC 1103 computing system on SMU’s campus – the first of its kind on any college campus in the southern United States. SMU, the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and Texas Instruments form the Graduate Research Center, a nonprofit organization housed on the SMU campus and focused on research in the pure and applied sciences.
Civil Rights Era
1961–1969
Nationally, protestors challenge Jim Crow laws and the violence and discrimination against Black Americans. In January 1961, Perkins theology students and others commandeer a “white only” lunch counter at the nearby University Pharmacy until the Black protestor in their group is served. In September, after years of Dallas ISD resisting Brown v. Board of Education, 18 Black first-graders enter several Dallas public schools. In April 1962, SMU admits its first Black undergraduate student, Paula Elaine Jones, who graduates in 1966 with a B.A. in speech. By 1969, about 60 Black students – 40 undergraduate and 21 graduate – enroll at SMU, including Jerry LeVias, the first Black athlete in the Southwest Conference to win an athletic scholarship. LeVias later says, “I was a good teammate on the weekends. I got a good academic education, but I didn’t really have a social life.” During this time, SMU has only one Black faculty member: anthropology and sociology professor William S. Willis, Jr. Racist practices such as Old South Week continue throughout the era and beyond.
In March 1965, a contingent of SMU students and faculty participate in the “Bloody Sunday” march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol in Montgomery to champion voting rights for Black citizens. After police attack the demonstrators, eight SMU theology students travel to join the second Selma march, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For the third march, 56 students and faculty members join 25,000 other protestors. On March 17, 1966, at the invitation of the Student Association, Dr. King becomes the first major civil rights leader to speak on campus.
In 1967, Black students at SMU create the Black League of Afro-American College Students (BLAACS). In April 1969, BLAACS delivers to President Willis M. Tate a 13-page list of demands; it includes the sentence, “We blacks demand an education which will be useful to us as black people, for black people.” One week later, 34 students negotiate with Tate and other administrators until several agreements are reached, including a goal to enroll 200 Black students and hire five Black faculty members by fall 1969. SMU soon hires its first Black administrator – Irving Baker, assistant to the president and head of the Afro-American studies program – and five additional Black faculty members. Hiring two Black students to help with student enrollment, SMU recruits 50 new Black students – a record number but still far short of its 200-student goal.
1965–1975
Inspired by the civil rights moment, the U.S. women’s liberation movement grows. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 extends nondiscrimination protections to educational institutions. By 1965-1966, anachronistic dress codes for women are eliminated. As part of SMU’s 50th anniversary in 1966, the first Women’s Symposium is held, becoming an annual event. By 1970-1971, SMU relaxes or eliminates curfews at women’s residence halls. In 1970, the national Women’s Equity Action League files sex discrimination complaints against more than 300 institutions, including SMU. At this time, women account for only 16% of the faculty, with more than half only being instructors. In 1972, the 15-member Commission on the Status of Women is formed, and one year later, it delivers recommendations for reaching full compliance by 1976. President James
1967–1972
Across the nation, students protest the U.S. military presence in Vietnam. In April 1967, SMU students form a chapter of a national student antiwar group, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). In May 1972, more than 300 SMU students march to Willis Tate’s office in protest of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon’s extending the Vietnam War by mining the harbor of Haiphong, North Vietnam.
Late 20th Century
1971–1974
In 1971, the approximately 50 Hispanic students on campus form the Chicano Association, which soon becomes Los Chicanos. Like BLAACS two years earlier, the group delivers a list of demands to President Paul Hardin III. In 1974, the University names a full-time advisor to Chicano students and establishes the Chicano Studies Council. In 1976, José Gonzalez, SMU’s first Chicano professor, helps establish the Chicano Studies program.
1975–1979
In 1975, four Black students are added to SMU’s cheerleading squad, joining nine white members and officially integrating the group, which is later named best varsity team at a major college campus in August. In 1976, students vote to eliminate quotas for the cheerleading team, which resulted in the team’s having only one Black cheerleader in 1977. In 1978-1979, 230 students are Black, and in an unprecedented write-in campaign, David Huntley is elected as the first Black student body president.
1975–1991
The gay liberation movement surfaces at SMU with the Perkins School admitting gay and lesbian students for theological studies. In 1975, the Student Senate rejects a student organization for gay students, who in 1980 form the Gay/Lesbian Student Support Organization. In 1983, the Student Senate again denies recognition. In response, 3,500 students sign a petition in opposition, and several alumni and faculty write letters of protest. Students on both sides appear on Phil Donahue’s national television program in December. Active debate continues until 1991, when the Student Senate charters the organization, officially renamed Spectrum in 2006.
1986–1994
The Office of Admission hires staff focused on recruiting and retaining students from ethnic minorities. In 1987, President A. Kenneth Pye joins SMU and emphasizes the importance of attracting Black, Hispanic and Jewish students. The Campus Jewish Network is created. New faculty are hired to direct the Mexican American Studies and African American Studies programs, which are combined into the Ethnic Studies program. From 1987–1991, minority enrollment increases 40%. By 1993–1994, minority students comprise 22% of first-year undergraduates and 16% of the entire student body.SOURCES: Darwin Payne, One Hundred Years on the Hilltop (2016)
SMU Archives/SMU Libraries
Our 100th Homecoming may have looked different, but Mustang spirit was stronger than ever during virtual and live events designed for safety. Enjoy these photos highlights.
When this young alum is not crunching numbers for SMU’s Center on Research and Evaluation or helping family members with their floral business, he loves to play fetch – with his cat. Read more at SMU Alumni.
The blind-audition format meant the Meadows alum showed off his high-range talents for the audience before the judges got to see the opera singer behind the jaw-dropping rendition of “Misty.” After winning his battle round, a duet of Steve Wonder’s “Summer Soft,” he’s primed for the third round of the singing competition.
Spike Lee has redefined how we look at Black culture in America through epic films like Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X and, most recently, Da’ Five Bloods. On Tuesday, October 20, during the week of SMU’s 100th Homecoming celebration – he talked with Ace Anderson ’13 about a wide range of subjects, including culture, giving back, empowering the next generation and being a filmmaker. The special virtual event was presented by the Black Alumni of SMU Board in partnership with the Tate Lecture Series and raised nearly $40,000 for the Black Alumni of SMU Scholarship Fund.
Almost every year since 1988, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker has released a new movie. Lee comes from a long line of educators has been a professor of film at NYU for more than 20 years.
Lee’s candid conversation with Anderson clocked in around 40 minutes. Here are some of our favorite moments. Giving credit where credit is due
Regarding being a third-generation legacy at Morehouse (class of 1979) where Martin Luther King III was one of his classmates: “I’ve got to say this because a lot of time I get a lot of flak because I didn’t take my major at Morehouse. I took my major across the street at Clark College, which is now CAU (Clark Atlanta University). I’ve got keep reminding myself that I’ve got to give love to Clark AU too.” Who gave him the gift of confidence
“Film found me. My freshman, sophomore year, I was just drifting.”
The “tumultuous summer of 1977” was a turning point for . Lee. There were no summer jobs to be had, so when a friend gifted him a Super 8 camera and a box of film, he started filming.
It was the “summer of the black out – so I saw my fellow Puerto Rican and African American brothers and sisters looting, I filmed that. It was the first summer of disco, so every weekend there were block parties and DJs were hooking up their turn tables and speakers to the street lamps… people were doing the hustle – and then there was a psychopath called David Berkowitz – Son of Sam. It was bananas, New York City.”
After returning the fall of his junior year and declaring a major in mass communications, his focus was set and his grades improved drastically. He went from being a C/D student to an A+ student. Lee credits this change to Professor Herbert Eichelberger, the man who encouraged him to turn his footage into a documentary that eventually became Last Hustle of Brooklyn, Lee’s first film.
“I’m not the only one who has had their life changed by a professor, a teacher, a mentor, someone for whatever reason took interest in you and for me it was Dr. Herb Eichelberger.”
“When someone looks at you and says you have a gift, when they tell you, like yo’ my sister/my brother you’ve got something special, they give you the confidence in something that you didn’t know that you had.” On launching the careers of many now-famous actors and actresses
“I knew from the get go that there’s a ton of talent out there, but if people don’t get a chance to display their talent, how are you going to be seen? So sometimes when I’m writing I know who I want for the role or what I’m looking for, but other times, which gives me great pleasure, is when someone comes in and my casting director says, you should look at this person, somebody I don’t even know who they are – never met them, never heard of them – and they just kill the audition. I mean that’s a great, great, great feeling when I get surprised like that.” Advice for the generation that stands before him now on handling the stories that will emerge from our current social justice movement
“It is my belief that in this crazy world that we live in of the two pandemics, I think artists will lead the way. I think great art, whatever the art form be, it is going to be told.”
“In no way shape or form am I negating historians. … We need historians – to tell the truth, but I think that artists will lead the way. I think there are going to be great movies, plays, novels, poetry, music sculpture photography, I could go on and on – that will be the definitive word on what we were going through now, which has never happened before ever.”
“Artists will lead the way. I will put money down on that.” In response to the question: “As a white artist, how can I be most effective as an ally to help the Black community without misappropriating Black culture?”
“I think if you have truth in your heart, you won’t step into that fuzzy world of appropriation of culture. If you understand it, you know what appropriation is then you won’t do it. And white artists can be involved with the experience. But the tricky thing is that you have to humble yourself and put yourself in the mindset – I’m saying this, but I just can’t come in here Bogarting and telling everybody this is the way that it is. You have to have some humility”
A gift of $11.5 million from Aurelia and Brad Heppner ’88 and family to SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business will strengthen the school’s commitment to fostering the leadership skills of tomorrow’s executives and investing in groundbreaking research that impacts the business world.
The Heppners have committed $10 million to establish the Heppner Family Commons, creating a new hub for collaboration between members of the Cox and SMU community, and a centerpiece of the future Cox School renovation and expansion project. Additionally, $1.5 million to support Cox faculty research will be received from the Heppner Endowments for Research Organizations (HERO). Read more at SMU News.
SMU has received $18 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue global observations and research using acoustic and seismic waves to better understand when nuclear tests, large earthquakes and other major events happen. The award for the Seismic-Acoustic Monitoring Program IV is the largest SMU has received for research.
With the award, SMU seismologist Brian Stump and his research team will use a combination of low frequency acoustic waves and seismic waves to help figure out if the occasional burps and shudders that travel through and around the Earth are caused by man-made events like a nuclear explosion test or natural events like earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Read more at SMU Research.
Since appearing in the acclaimed documentary Boys State, sophomore Ben Feinstein ’24 has backed away from the idea of a political career and now aspires to serve his country “in a neutral role.” A double-amputee since the age of 3, Feinstein talks about his political evolution in an article published by the San Antonio Current on August 14. EXCERPT:
Described in the political documentary Boys State as a “Reagan-loving arch-conservative,” San Antonio native Ben Feinstein has been on a journey of self-discovery since filming wrapped two years ago.
In Boys State, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, filmmakers follow Feinstein and a group of young men participating in a high school summer leadership program in Austin as they’re tasked with building a mock state legislature from the ground up. This includes campaigning for state representatives, creating party platforms, holding elections and drafting and passing bills.
When former Mustang basketball standout David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and his wife, Carolyn, made the largest single alumni gift in SMU history, the Hilltop milestone made headlines in Dallas. Longtime business columnist Cheryl Hall ’73, who earned her journalism degree from the University, wrote about the publicity-shy couple for The Dallas Morning News. In this excerpt of the newspaper profile, their generous spirit and their love for family, community and SMU shine through.
BY CHERYL HALL ’73
How does a guy who went to Southern Methodist University on a basketball scholarship strike it so rich that he can give his alma mater more than $100 million? He parlays the finance education that he earned at its Edwin L. Cox School of Business into co-founding one of the world’s largest private equity firms.
And just how David B. Miller came to do that is one of those under-the-radar success tales that Dallas is so famous for.
Miller and his wife, Carolyn, pictured at right, made headlines in October 2019 when they gave SMU $50 million — the biggest individual donation in the University’s 108-year history.
The Millers’ moment in the spotlight was unusual for this Highland Park couple who have quietly given tens of millions of philanthropic dollars since 2006.
The Miller name is already on the event center of Moody Coliseum and the floor of its basketball court, the campus student center at SMU-in-Taos and the ballroom of the new indoor training center.
The couple’s latest donation is intended to keep the Cox School competitive by modernizing and building facilities, hiring additional endowed faculty and expanding undergraduate and graduate scholarships to increase student diversity.
But frankly, a lot of people outside the SMU community don’t know who Carolyn and David are.
“He treats people with dignity and respect regardless of what their lot is in life.
He’s a believer in collective thinking from smart minds.”
– Kyle Miller ’01 speaking about his father, David Miller ’72, ’73
David was a three-year varsity standout center from 1968-72 and earned his undergraduate degree and M.B.A. in finance at Cox in the early 1970s.
Today Miller is a co-founder and managing partner of global private equity firm EnCap Investments LP, which completed its 21st fund last year with 350 institutional partners. That brought the total amount of funds under its management to nearly $40 billion since its inception in 1988.
Carolyn, a former elementary school teacher in Garland and social worker, closely guards her privacy while rolling up her sleeves to work for social causes such as aiding seniors, protecting battered women and sheltering the homeless.
But $50 million is hard to keep under wraps, especially when one intent of the Millers’ huge gift was to lead others to SMU’s next major fundraising campaign.
The Millers sat down for the first time ever as a couple to share how they came to spread such enormous largesse. MAGICAL MOMENT
David Miller keeps a scrapbook close at hand in his home office. Its title: “A Dream Come True.”
“That dream was to play basketball at SMU,” he says, flipping through the worn pages of newsclips and mementos assembled by his mother.
As Miller was about to graduate from Richland High School, the team’s star center had nearly a dozen scholarship offers but not the one that really mattered to him – SMU.
“There was just nothing bigger in the southwestern part of the country than SMU basketball,” he recalls. “Doc Hayes was their legendary coach. My senior year, SMU beat Louisville, the No. 2 team in the country, in the NCAA regional tournament. I was a passionate fan.”
Two days after National Signing Day, the first day high school players can commit to a college, David told his mother at breakfast that he’d reconciled himself to becoming a Red Raider at Texas Tech University. But Fay Ann Miller, now a 92-year-old SMU alum, urged her son to hold out for one more day.
Celebrating the naming of Moody Coliseum’s David B. Miller Court in 2018.
“It was magical,” he recalls. “I show up at the high school the next day, and there is the legendary coach Doc Hayes and his replacement, Bob Prewitt, who was actually my coach, and they offer me a scholarship. And the rest is history. My dream came true.”
Miller earned his undergraduate degree on a basketball scholarship and his M.B.A. in finance on a teaching fellowship, so he never paid a dime in tuition. He says that as he crossed the stage to receive his M.B.A. diploma, he promised himself that he would give back if he ever could.
His first donation was a $25 gift to the Mustang Club and a $100 pledge to SMU’s general operational fund in 1979.
Little did he know just how much he’d be able to pay it forward.
He started his career in energy lending for Dallas’ Republic National Bank, which was one of the largest financial institutions in the Southwest.
In 1980, the 30-year-old and his buddy, Bob Zorich, left Republic to form an oil and gas company in Denver. Seven years later, when energy boom times went bust, the partners sold out and moved back to Texas.
That same year, Miller — backed by the late, legendary oilman L. Frank Pitts and his son-in-law, Bill Custard — formed PMC for Pitts, Miller and Custard, scraping together energy properties viewed as worthless by most investors.
“The major oil companies had all decided that domestic onshore opportunities wouldn’t move the needle,” Miller recalls. “So they had moved to the deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico and international exploration and were selling their domestic properties. There was a wealth of opportunity to buy. You just had to find the money.” PATH TO BIG RICH
PMC’s first fund raised $20 million with three institutional investors: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a huge medical foundation in Washington, D.C., and two major insurance companies.
PMC eventually became part of EnCap (short for Energy Capital) Investments — co-founded by Miller, Zorich and three other friends from Republic Bank. Frank Pitts considered Miller his adopted son, says Linda Pitts Custard, Pitts’ daughter and wife of Bill.
“Daddy was a wildcatter, as you know, and he appreciated David’s entrepreneurship and his ethical approach to business,” she says. “David is a very personable, warm, affable man. None of his success has gone to his head. He remains just as down-to-earth as he was when I met him 30 years ago.
“The business partnership separated, but the deep friendship remained.” LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON
David’s son, Kyle Miller, made headlines of his own three years ago.
In 2012, Kyle started Silver Hill Energy Partners LLC, an independent oil and gas company, with $12 million in seed money. He sold it four years later for $2.4 billion to Dallas-based RSP Permian Inc., a publicly held Permian producer. The Oil & Gas Journal called it the “2016 M&A Deal of the Year.”
Kyle says his father taught him and his sister, Meredith Miller Bebee, that their most valuable assets were their word and integrity.
“He treats people with dignity and respect regardless of what their lot in life is. He’s a believer in collective thinking from smart minds,” says the 40-year-old founder of Silver Hill Energy Holdings LLC, which he founded last year. MUTUAL ADMIRATION
David and Carolyn married 19 years ago — the second marriage for each.
“I have massive respect for her and what she thinks,” David says, looking over at Carolyn on the couch. “And while I may not agree with some of her political leanings, I respect them. Frankly, if you think about the discord that’s going on in the country, that’s probably the solution.
“She’s softened me.”
Carolyn grew up in Magnolia, Arkansas, a town of about 12,000, before earning her degree in elementary education at Hendrix College in 1974. She also holds master’s degrees in elementary education and in gerontology.
“She’s an extraordinary person who has a great humanitarian persona.”
– SMU Trustee Caren Prothro speaking about Carolyn Miller
The causes closest to her heart are The Senior Source and Shelter Ministries of Dallas, parent of the Austin Street Center and Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support.
“It’s so important for women to feel empowered to leave an abusive relationship,” Carolyn says. “Most abusers are controllers. So Genesis gives women a sense of control over their lives. And with the increase in homelessness in Dallas County, the need for the Austin Street Center is obvious.”
SMU trustee Caren Prothro says Carolyn is a story in her own right. “She’s an extraordinary person who has a great humanitarian persona. An example of that is her involvement with New Friends New Life, a program for trafficked girls,” Prothro says. “She and David are a wonderful duo. They both have their great strengths and passions. Carolyn holds her own and then some.”
Pastor Richie Butler ’93 remembers a particularly heated discussion during a town hall shortly after a white police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, on a street in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9, 2014. The conversation grew fiery among the many members of the community in attendance to speak with the leadership of the Dallas Police Department, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the Dallas County Sheriff’’s Office.
“I noticed every negative emotion and energy – division, anger, mistrust, frustration, hate,” and many in attendance felt that justice would not be served, he says.
But out of that meeting, Butler says, came a calling from God: to serve as an activist in Dallas race relations, to unite factions on both sides of a fractious issue and to build bridges among people of all colors. That’s where Project Unity was born.
Through Project Unity, Butler has galvanized the community around the idea that conversations, not confrontations, will create and sustain relationships among diverse groups. And he has brought the topic to a place where many avoid discussing the issues of politics and religion altogether – the dining table – as well as to a place where differences are put aside during the heat of athletic competition – the basketball court.
“What unites us is greater than what divides us,” Butler says.
This year, Butler took on a new post that positions him to build on the social movement he started. He left his pulpit at St. Paul United Methodist Church, which was founded in 1865 by enslaved people in Dallas, to become pastor of St. Luke “Community” United Methodist Church, long considered a seat for social change in Texas. “This is a historical church, but we also want to make history here,” Butler says.
Project Unity has developed various events aimed at helping heal race relationships between law enforcement and Dallas citizens. One of the earliest, “Together We Ball,” is an annual day of family activities for the community culminating in a basketball game between pastors, police officers and community leaders held each August at the P.C. Cobb Stadium in Dallas. The event draws more than 1,500 participants.
“Together We Learn” is a partnership among the Dallas Police Department, the Black Police Association of Greater Dallas, Dallas ISD, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department and others to provide opportunities for teens to interact with law enforcement. Several hundred high school students have lunched with officers and received instructions on how to handle traffic or pedestrian stops.
However, Butler knew he needed broader engagement from the community after five police officers were ambushed and gunned down at a peaceful rally in downtown Dallas in July 2016. The gunman, killed in a standoff with police, was an Army Reserve Afghan War veteran who was angry over police shootings of black citizens and stated that he wanted to kill white people, particularly police officers.
After multiple conversations with faith and community leaders across the city, Butler called for a Year of Unity in 2017. In partnership with white Dallas attorney Rob Crain, then-incoming Dallas Bar Association president, the pair engaged leaders statewide and from organizations, businesses and faith institutions, with former President George W. Bush serving as honorary chair.
Year of Unity rolled out more events with “Together We Heal,” a day of activities at the American Airlines Center that honored the fallen officers. A Year of Unity Choir was created with more than 100 diverse voices, and the group performed at the 2017 State Fair of Texas and at a benefit for Hurricane Harvey victims.
The signature event from Year of Unity, one that is close to Butler’s heart, is “Together We Dine.” The project is a series of safe conversations about race over dinner. At tables of six to eight diners and a facilitator, they answer questions about race while others at the table listen. After everyone answers the question, the table opens for discussion.
Highland Park United Methodist Church hosted a “Together We Dine” in December 2019. The event has been held by design several times at the church, in majority white and affluent University Park, to send a message, Butler says, because it is an area where people of color perceive they are not welcome.
Dozens of members from the church have participated in “Together We Dine,” which has provided “enlightening experiences for our congregation,” says the Rev. Paul Rasmussen ’04, HPUMC senior pastor and a member of SMU’s Board of Trustees. “Sharing a meal and being in conversation with people from different parts of Dallas, who had different experiences growing up around race and discrimination, was powerful. It reminded me that the more we understand what someone else has lived through, the greater the possibility for connection and relationship, even if opinions differ.”
Some of the diners have continued to participate in small, diverse groups around the topic after dining together to learn more “about the realities of racism in our community in a setting that allows for openness and honesty,” Rasmussen says. Others have taken “Together We Dine” back to their places of employment, where there were racial tensions that aren’t discussed openly.
Butler hopes that individuals at “Together We Dine,” who come from across racial, economic and social spectrums, experience an epiphanic moment when hearing stories of encounters with racism, just as he did.
Butler was raised by a single mother in a low-income area of East Austin. He attended a Baptist church and excelled in athletics, which led to a scholarship to play football at SMU in 1989, when the football program was being revived after a two-year ban because of sanctions (known as the “death penalty) imposed by the NCAA for recruiting violations. He was recruited out of high school to play defensive back by the late SMU alumnus and pro football great Forrest Gregg ’55, whom Butler still considers a mentor.
“He was good man who modeled hard work, discipline and focus, and didn’t allow us to settle for second-rate,” Butler recalls. “Even though the odds were stacked against us (the team went 2-9 in 1989), win, lose or draw, we were to fight, to give our best effort and not back down.”
Other mentors for the double major in psychology and religious studies included Clarence Glover, who taught the course “Black and White”; history Professor Kenneth Hamilton; law Professor C. Paul Rogers III, who has served as the SMU faculty athletics representative since 1987; and religious studies Associate Professor Richard Cogley. He also interned with then-Congressman Martin Frost (D-Texas) in Washington, D.C. “I found people who saw potential and took an interest in my development,” Butler says. “They encouraged me to push forward, to be all that God wants me to be.”
Butler says his SMU experience helped shape who he is today. “I learned how to think critically and reflect on the information I was receiving, rather than just memorize and regurgitate facts. At SMU I was exposed to a world different from my working-class upbringing in East Austin.”
While a member of the football team, Butler reached out to other student-athletes around the Southwest Conference (of which SMU was a member at the time) to launch initiatives to help improve opportunities for them, and he lobbied the SMU Student Senate to create a seat for a student-athlete representative. “Activism is in my blood, and SMU helps foster that by directing students’ energies in a productive way toward improving the community,” he says.
Butler continues that activism today, and gives back to his alma mater by serving on the SMU Board of Trustees and Dedman College Executive Board, as well as on the Communities Foundation of Texas board of trustees, the Dallas Assembly and the Real Estate Executive Council. He has received numerous awards for his efforts on behalf of racial reconciliation, including SMU’s Emerging Leader Award in 2008; the 2018 Silver Anniversary Mustang Award; the Dallas Bar Association 2017 Martin Luther King, Jr. Justice Award; Dallas Business Journal’s 2018 Minority Business Leader honoree; and the 2019 Juanita Craft Humanitarian Awards Visionary recipient, among others.
While at SMU, Butler established lifelong relationships and networks among his classmates, including his wife, whom he met as a freshman. Neisha Strambler-Butler ’93, vice president of compensation and benefits at American Airlines, serves on the advisory board of directors for Project Unity. Butler credits her with keeping him balanced.
“God brings people into our lives for a reason. She recognizes my calling and cares deeply about social ills in society and how to make them right. She’s a brilliant woman, and I leverage her knowledge and experience with American Airlines for social good. We are partners in ministry together,” he says.
Former classmate Paige Dawson ’94, founder and president of MPD Ventures in Dallas, provides marketing and communications pro bono for Project Unity. She and Butler met while living across from each other in Shuttles Hall. When she read in the newspaper about Butler’s work with Project Unity, she reached out to reconnect.
“A great community builder and fundraiser, Richie has that rare ability to get people to say yes, so naturally my firm joined on to support the mission and raise awareness,” Dawson says. She also has served as a host for several “Together We Dine” tables. “At every one there has been some poignant statement or example from a minority attendee that has literally left me stunned at what people still experience.”
Butler knew he had a calling to preach as an undergraduate, even preaching on occasion while in school. He earned his Master of Theological Studies from Harvard in 1996. When he moved back to Dallas in 1998, he put together his first real estate development deal in South Dallas called Unity Estates, a planned community of 285 single-family homes sponsored by the 70-member African-American Pastors’ Coalition.
Today, he chooses to go by “pastor” rather than the traditional “reverend” because the invocation of the shepherd brings him joy and affirmation, he says. “There’s a greater level of responsibility that goes along with being someone’s pastor.
He contends that solutions to issues of racism will have to come from the people, not the politicians. And he takes comfort in the knowledge that he is making a difference for his two children and their generation through his efforts to bring diverse groups together.
Charlene Edwards ’95, another classmate of Butler’s, holds out that hope for transformative relationships, as well. She became involved with Project Unity in 2017 when he was seeking program and event planning support to launch the Year of Unity, because she was compelled by Butler’s vision to bridge the divide between Dallas citizens and law enforcement.
Early on, she observed at “Together We Ball” events the “camaraderie among the different groups as they came together,” she says. “People’s lives, perceptions and actions are changed. They think before they say something that might be offen- sive, learn to become more compassion-ate about others.”
Adds Butler: “It’s hard to demonize the ‘other’ when you have a relationship with them, when you see them as a human being.”
A young woman carrying a backpack walked into the Fairmont Dallas bar, sat next to Ashlee Hunt Kleinert ’88 and her husband, Chris ’88, and ordered a glass of water. In her cutoff overalls and tank top, she stood out in the crowd of suits and cocktail attire. The Kleinerts, who were at the downtown hotel for a social event, thought she looked too young to sit at the bar. They guessed she was about 17 or 18.
More conspicuous, though, was the young woman’s trembling discomfort.
“She was constantly looking over her shoulder, scanning the room and scraping her nails along the bar’s surface,” Kleinert remembers. “She seemed terrified.” New Friends New Life, co-founded by Nancy Ann Hunter Hunt ’65, Pat Schenkel and Gail Turner in 1998, helps human trafficking survivors.
Kleinert, a longtime volunteer with New Friends New Life, a faith-based Dallas nonprofit offering a comprehensive program for human trafficking survivors, recognized the behavior of a young woman being exploited.
“Her pimp likely sat among the patrons, keeping watch while she waited to join a john in a hotel room,” Kleinert says.
When her husband suggested passing along a note about New Friends and the phone number, Kleinert hesitated. Through her volunteer work, she knew that if the pimp were watching, such contact could put the trafficking victim in peril. Torn by the possible ramifications of their intervention, the couple decided not to risk placing her life in jeopardy. Eventually she walked out of the bar alone, leaving the Kleinerts with a new perspective on a growing problem that has been termed a global epidemic.
That experience six years ago became their “paradigm shift,” Kleinert says. The real-time glimpse into the darkness amplified her understanding of the women she had met at New Friends, who were rebuilding their lives with the help of counseling, support groups, education and job training.
“It made us sick when we didn’t know what to do,” she says. “We’ve never forgotten her.”
Kleinert first got involved with New Friends through her mother. Nancy Ann Hunter Hunt ’65 co-founded New Friends New Life in 1998 with civic leaders Pat Schenkel and Gail Turner, wife of SMU President R. Gerald Turner. Over the past decade of volunteering with the nonprofit, she has spent time with survivors as she assisted with meals and childcare and listened to their stories. On her own, she has devoured grim statistics about the international criminal scourge that affects millions worldwide.
She has learned a lot about human trafficking, maybe more than she ever wanted to know. On a topic that can be awkward – or even dangerous – to broach in public, Kleinert has become a vocal advocate for victims.
Creating a community that is welcoming to people from all walks of life starts with frank discussions about thorny topics. Since her student days, Kleinert has appreciated the freedom that SMU provides to explore and discuss crucial issues – when she was a student, when her children were students and today.
“SMU students now have such high awareness and regard for human rights issues,” she says. Ashlee ’88 and Chris Kleinert ’88 at SMU’s The Big Event in 2019.
She graduated with a B.A. in history from SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. One of her favorite professors was the late Glenn Linden, a revered historian.
“It touched me, the way he portrayed history as the lives of real people whom we could learn from,” she says. “Throughout history, individuals have made a difference by speaking up – and they still do now.”
Ashlee and Chris Kleinert were involved with New Friends as their three children were growing up. However, like most kids, it took them a while to recognize their parents’ wisdom.
Their oldest son, Tyler Kleinert ’14, ’15 , earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sport management from SMU and serves as managing director of The Tritex Group, a startup venture firm focused on entrepre- neurial and civic initiatives. The group’s enterprises include Baldo’s Ice Cream & Coffee, a popular artisanal ice cream shop located across from campus on Hillcrest Avenue. An undergraduate economics class taught by Beth Wheaton opened his eyes to the magnitude of the trafficking problem. Wheaton is a senior lecturer of economics in the Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences who studies the economics of human trafficking.
“He told me, ‘You’re right, Mom, it’s happening,’” Kleinert recalls about her son’s epiphany. She applauds that “interesting and genius approach” to helping young people grasp the issue through the lens of its everyday economic impact.
Daughter Connie Kleinert Babikian ’12, a senior finance analyst for Hunt Oil Company, holds bachelor’s degrees in finance and economics from SMU and volunteers with New Friends New Life. She served as chair of its 20th anniversary recognition luncheon in 2018.
Their younger son, Travis “T.J.” Kleinert ’16, was motivated by his interest in human rights to pursue a law degree at SMU Dedman School of Law. Now a third-year student, he has provided pro bono legal services for the Genesis Women’s Shelter and Support legal aid program, assisting women with restraining orders and custody rights. He also has volunteered as a children’s activity di- rector at Genesis as well as at St. Philip’s School and Community Center in Dallas.
Kleinert continues a family legacy of taking action where there is need. Her parents, Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt ’65, established the Judge B. Elmo Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women at SMU Dedman School of Law in 2014 . The Center is named in honor of Kleinert’s maternal grandfather, a distinguished legal mind and public servant who served as a judge in Western Missouri for 38 years. New Friends New Life refers clients to the clinic, whose services include helping trafficking survivors clear their criminal records.
“Watching the previous generation do something about an issue fosters a feeling of responsibility to pass forward that hands-on, caring style,” Kleinert says. The work of the Hunter Center and New Friends is more important than ever. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, describes sex trafficking as modern-day slavery. Traffickers prey on the vulnerable. They groom victims by creating dependency, often providing clothing, food, lodging and emotional support. Once they have established trust, they pressure or coerce victims into prostitution.
Traffickers are always on the prowl for new victims. They often approach runaway teens within their first 48 hours on the street, according to the Dallas Police Department.
The sex trade is big business in Texas. A recent study ranks the state as second in the nation, between California and Florida, for trafficking activity. In Dallas, sex trafficking is a $99 million a year illicit industry, according to a 2014 report funded by the National Institute of Justice.
Addiction, domestic violence, homelessness and other social ills foster the feeling of powerlessness and vulnerability that traffickers home in on, Kleinert says. Once the victim becomes dependent, “a pimp will say, ‘I’ve been taking care of you, and now I need you to help me,’” she says.
She points out that sex trafficking can be more lucrative and less risky than drug trafficking, which carries stiffer criminal penalties in Texas. A person can be sold 10 times per night compared to the one-time sale of cocaine or heroin, Kleinert explains. Also, today’s technology makes it easy for johns to remain anonymous. They can select their victims and pay in cash through websites and mobile apps.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline ranks Dallas as No. 2 in the state for trafficking activity – a stain on the city, as far as Kleinert is concerned. She worries about Dallas becoming defined by it.
“Trafficking is evil,” she says. “A perpetrator sells human beings like commodities and eventually discards them like trash.”
While the topic of sex trafficking can be a conversation killer, it’s too important to avoid. Dodging it doesn’t mean the problem doesn’t exist, Kleinert says. “Sex trafficking thrives in the dark,” she says. “Awareness, education and dialogue light the path to stop it.”
She embraces opportunities to talk about New Friends New Life’s restorative programs and encourage the public to become involved. However, she’s careful to assess her audience first.
“I’ve learned to gauge interest in how much they want to know,” she says.
More often than not, people want to learn about the crime that hides in plain sight, she says. To engage as many people as possible in their efforts, New Friends created a men’s auxiliary in 2015, the Men’s Advocacy Group. Chris Kleinert served as the organization’s inaugural chair.
The group spells out its mission as mobilizing men “to take action against sex trafficking and exploitation by raising awareness through advocacy, education and volunteerism.” A key component of its educational focus is the manKINDness Project, an interactive learning curriculum aimed at teens and young men. It’s designed to challenge masculinity myths and nurture respect for females and one another. MAG volunteers lead young men to connect the ways demeaning language, including obscene comments and jokes, attitudes and behaviors contribute to an environment where sex trafficking is ignored or tolerated.
Last year, Kleinert partnered her popular Ruthie’s Rolling Café food trucks with Dallas’ Café Momentum, a nonprofit that works with at-risk youth, many of whom are homeless and vulnerable to traffickers. Graduates from that organization’s culinary training program can secure paid externships on the food trucks. “We talk about signs of human trafficking with our employees,” she said. “Unfortunately some of these kids have been on the inside of it.”
Sex trafficking happens everywhere and touches all parts of society, Kleinert says. “It’s hard not to see trafficking, once you know the signs.”
A case in point: Kleinert contacted authorities after observing a suspicious situation at a Dallas-area business park where the Ruthie’s business offices were located in 2011. She reported an uptick in parking lot traffic and a sudden surge of men frequenting a neighboring office space. After a period of surveillance, law enforcement shut down what was, indeed, a trafficking operation.
To raise awareness, New Friends New Life and the Men’s Advocacy Group sponsor a free monthly bus tour guided by representatives of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Participants observe telltale signs of human trafficking and exploitation while learning about real cases worked by Dallas law enforcement.
Kleinert advocates bringing as many people as possible, especially those who regularly deal with the public, into the conversation. Electricians, plumbers and other trades professionals can be trained to spot red flags, such as a private residence housing an unusual number of young women.
In recent years, flight attendants have made headlines by spotting teens being trafficked, which points to the importance of training those in the airline, transportation and hospitality industries to learn the signs and join the fight.
“Everyone can be part of the turnaround,” Kleinert says. – By Cherri Gann ’15
In 2015, Robbie Hamilton turned to SMU’s Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women for help in cleaning up the criminal record she acquired over 25 years of working in Dallas strip clubs, battling drug addiction and experiencing repeated arrests for drug possession. On January 11, 2020, on Human Trafficking Awareness Day, she was issued a full pardon by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after a unanimous vote by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The pardon wiped away convictions for petty crimes that were the final trace of a dark era in her life.
“I’m humbled and thrilled with this. It seems like the beginning of something bigger,” says Hamilton, a youth mentor and survivor advocate at New Friends New Life, the Dallas-based nonprofit that offers a comprehensive program for formerly trafficked women and children.
The Hunter Legal Center, established in 2014 with a gift from alumni Ray L. ’65 and Nancy Ann Hunter Hunt ’65, is named in honor of Mrs. Hunt’s father, a distinguished judicial leader and public servant who served as a judge in Western Missouri for 38 years. The clinic’s services include helping trafficking survivors determine whether their criminal record convictions can be cleared either by order of nondisclosure or expungement. As public information, criminal records appear on housing, employment and other background checks and get in the way when victims try to rebuild their lives.
“Since its founding, the Hunter Center has worked to ensure that survivors of human trafficking do not carry the burden of criminal convictions resulting from their victimization,” says Natalie Nanasi, director of the Hunter Legal Center and assistant professor of law.
For about four years, Hamilton worked with Nanasi and student attorneys who filed legal petitions to seal or expunge five convictions from her record, including three of her four felonies. In 2017, student attorneys began using the web-based Texas Fresh Start Application, a legal app developed by Dedman School of Law students to streamline the process.
“We have successfully represented many clients like Robbie and celebrate this hard-earned victory,” Nanasi says. “We will continue representing survivors, removing hurdles that inhibit their ability to move past the trauma they endured.”
Student attorneys in the Hunter Legal Center also engage in advocacy efforts, educating Texas lawmakers about the need to expand eligibility for post-conviction relief. “We will keep speaking out about this important issue,” Nanasi says. “And joining with partners, advocates and lawmakers to ensure that criminal histories cease to be a barrier to survivors’ healing.”
For Hamilton, the pardon vindicates her own hard work and the persistence of her legal team and New Friends colleagues. “This feels like being part of a shift toward seeing that women are the victims in trafficking and exploitation, not the criminals,” she says.
Now free to live wherever she likes, Hamilton plans to find a new apartment. She also wants to join a Dallas-based ministry that assists the homeless – an opportunity previously barred by her criminal record.
“I’m holding my head up higher,” she says. “I can look the world in the eye and know I have every opportunity that others do.” – By Cherri Gann ’15
We’re celebrating Homecoming Weekend October 22–24 with reimagined experiences for everyone. Whether you plan to be on the Hilltop or cheer on your alma mater from home, we’ve got you covered.
If you can’t make it to the Hilltop for SMU Homecoming, you can count on us to help you get into the spirit of things. Start planning now for your StayHomecoming, and check our Homecoming website in the coming weeks for information about how you can get your very own swag kit. Hail to the red and the blue! Read more at SMU Homecoming.
Passionate.
No other word is used more frequently to describe Ana Rodriguez ’03, managing director of the SMU Cox Latino Leadership Initiative.
Spend a day in her office at SMU Cox School of Business, and you’ll see just how much passion fuels this Dallas native, community bridge-builder, and business executive leadership adviser to some of the nation’s largest companies.
“Ana is the right person at the right time with the drive and tenacity to make the difference we and our business partners need,” says Shane Goodwin, associate dean of executive education and graduate programs at the Cox School. “She is absolutely a force of nature.”
As the head of the Latino Leadership Initiative (LLI) – the nation’s only executive education program dedicated to the professional advancement of Latinos – Rodriguez helps students and executive-level employees from minority backgrounds transform their lives and careers. The program also helps more than 40 companies – like AT&T Communications, State Farm, and Walmart – retain and develop C-suite talent, so they don’t miss out on the market value and cultural perspective that Latino professionals bring to the workplace.
As of 2020, Latinos make up over 18% of the population, yet they represent less than 3% of executive-level positions in the United States. Rodriguez knows firsthand what it’s like to struggle to gain a foothold in the U.S. Read the full story.
A $15 million gift from Gina L. and Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74 to SMU’s Cox School of Business will generate transformational economic research and cutting-edge business education for generations to come through the creation of the new Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom. The research institute will examine and promote free enterprise in markets around the globe. This generous gift builds on the Bridwells’ legacy of support for SMU and promises to elevate the Cox School’s already outstanding global reputation.
Since its opening in 2000, Ford Stadium has helped the University flourish. We’ll celebrate this milestone for the remainder of the season as our nationally ranked Mustangs continue to make us proud. Check out the schedule and get tickets.
In today’s world, the trend to work virtually or distanced is growing, making digital networking more important than ever. The new SMU Network is on top of this trend and gives SMU alumni and students a platform to connect, integrate their LinkedIn profiles, filter results by school, class year or city of residence, or identify as “willing to help” or “needing help.” The platform’s user-friendly features mean a Meadows School of the Arts grad arriving in a new city could find fellow alumni nearby with whom they can connect.
Take Juan Francisco de la Guardia ’10, for example. After several years working in television production in the Dallas-Fort Worth area following graduation, de la Guardia and his wife made the move to Los Angeles. The transition certainly had complications professionally, since de la Guardia needed to establish new connections in L.A. He contacted professors and asked them to connect him with guest speakers from his classes. “My first work was through Meadows Professor Sean Griffin,” de la Guardia says, explaining that Griffin had brought in a reality show producer to speak to his class. “I remembered that guy when I was coming out here, and called Dr. Griffin to ask, ‘Hey, do you have that guy in your Rolodex?’”
Meadows recently conducted internal research showing that students want to interact with alumni and other potential connections but often don’t know how to initiate contact. Fortunately, de la Guardia was extroverted and unafraid to reach out. He ended up scoring his first gig through that connection from Professor Griffin’s class. “If the online SMU Network had existed when we moved to L.A., I would have been on it, looking for Los Angeles film people from SMU,” he says. Read more at the Meadows School.
The newest law student at SMU’s Dedman School of Law is also the most unlikely.
“Looking back and saying, ‘Wow, I was there, but now I’m here.’ Just imagine where else I can go,’” said 26-year-old Kevin Lee. A few years ago, Lee was homeless.
After losing their house in Pittsburgh in a flood, Lee and his mom spent a year bouncing from shelter to shelter. Soon after, his uncle, who was his biggest role model, was murdered.
But when we first met Lee three years ago, he had far different things on his mind.
“I just knew that I wanted to go to college,” he said. “I knew I wanted to go to law school. That was something I knew I wanted to do.”
Lee says he was captivated by the movie “The Great Debaters,” which takes place at Wiley College in Marshall. So, after losing their home, Lee and his mom left Pittsburgh and headed for Texas, where he planned to pursue his dream of going to college.
“I’ve always told him as a child, ‘Whatever you want to be, you can be,’” said Kevin’s mom, Tamara Williams. “So if that’s what you want to be, that’s what you’re going to be.’”
The Cox School of Business and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development have created a new certificate to teach the business management side of the growing esports industry.
The Esports Business Management Certificate consists of six courses, each lasting six class hours, and combines a mix of self-paced work with weekly online meetings with instructors. SMU PRO is currently accepting students for the program, which starts in spring 2021. Classes include esports ecosystem and business models, fan engagement and sponsorship activation, and business development and revenue strategies. The certificate can potentially be completed from anywhere in the world in as few as six months. Read more at SMU PRO.
#StampedeinPlace hosted by the Black Alumni of SMU on June 24 was an evening of listening, learning and growing together by Mustangs for Mustangs.
If you feel inspired to learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement and the history of social and racial justice issues in the U.S., the collection of resources found here invite deeper conversation.
In a letter to the SMU community on April 30, President R. Gerald Turner announced plans to “safely open our University for on-campus teaching, learning and student living for the fall semester.” The unique academic experience that defines SMU will return, along with the “energy our students bring to campus.”
“Clearly, we will work within the boundaries of governmental guidelines as we plan for the beginning of fall classes. Be assured, every phase of our return to campus will launch with the health and safety of our campus population in mind. Your University is committed to managing this process aggressively and efficiently, using data and verifiable research to make good decisions. …” Read the letter from President Turner.
Commencement has been postponed, but degrees were conferred on May 16. Our friends at Reunion Tower opened their doors for hundreds of graduates and their families to safely celebrate the day together. We’re so proud of our newest alumni! See photos of some of our newest alumni.
The COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t stop our 2020 grads. They shifted to remote classes and continued to learn, create and achieve. Now, these architects of our future are ready for new challenges in corporate careers, public service or graduate school. Read Here We Go Mustangs.
How do we help ensure the pandemic doesn’t prevent students from becoming SMU alumni?
Support for the new Presidential Fund for Immediate Needs will provide scholarships to first-year, transfer and current students in need. Help make their dreams come true. Learn more.
Recent conversations between President Turner and Black student organizations, alumni board, staff and faculty are shaping a blueprint to address systemic racial issues and create a welcoming environment.
On June 12, President Turner sent a letter to the SMU community describing the listening sessions and forthcoming actions:
“This week, I had the honor of participating in a series of Zoom discussions with the leaders of our Black student organizations, alumni board, staff and faculty. Accompanied by Vice President of Student Affairs K.C. Mmeje, Senior Advisor to the President Maria Dixon Hall and our Provost-elect Elizabeth Loboa, I heard firsthand what it means to be Black at SMU. These were not easy stories to tell and they were difficult to hear. Those who participated virtually on calls and by using the #BlackatSMU forum demonstrated courage and love for our University by sharing not just their stories, but also suggestions that will enable our campus to become a true community. For allowing me to hear from you, I am grateful. …” Read the complete letter.
Ally Van Deuren ’15 of Korn Ferry recently moderated a panel discussion with career volunteers Brandy Mickens ’02 of Equitable Advisors, Ivan Roussev ’12 of EY, Travis Roberts ’19 of Goldman Sachs and Alexis Gambino ’16 of State Farm.
Check out the recording for tips and insights.
Physician Barbara Stark Baxter can joke now about her resemblance to Sesame Street’s Big Bird. But at the time, donning head-to-toe yellow personal protective equipment for the first time to help a possible COVID-19 patient was no laughing matter.
Baxter, founder and medical director of the Agape Clinic, and her staff weren’t prepared on March 12 when the patient from Hunt County, Texas, arrived at the East Dallas nonprofit. They wasted no time shutting down the clinic and disinfecting the facilities while making arrangements to test the patient the following day. Thanks to planning by Air Force veteran Gary Foster, director of clinical operations, they had the bright-yellow personal protective equipment on hand, and Baxter brought in her own supplies to collect a specimen for testing.
Fortunately, the patient was not infected with the novel coronavirus. However, the situation prompted Baxter and Foster to seek the advice of clinic volunteer Ellen Kitchell, an internal medicine physician specializing in infectious diseases and geographic medicine at UT Southwestern Medical School. Together, they worked out a comprehensive plan to help ensure the safety of Agape Clinic staff and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For almost 37 years, the Agape Clinic has provided low-cost or no-cost medical, dental and other health services, and depends on donations and volunteers to keep going.
One of those essential volunteers is SMU alumna Mary Ann Scott ’65. When Scott first heard about the nonprofit in 2018, she wanted to help. The Dallas consultant in project management, strategic planning and international communications called Baxter to find out how she could be involved.
It turned out that her involvement could run deep. Baxter, who is a Mustang by marriage to the late David Baxter ’72 and the mother of SMU alumna Sallie Baxter ’17, joined Scott in creating The Agape Always Foundation in 2019. Their goal is to expand services and fortify the financial future of this vital community resource.
The foundation was just getting off the ground when the spread of COVID-19 became a global crisis. Now the clinic is on the front lines. On weekdays, the clinic treats patients with acute and chronic medical conditions and refers anyone with severe COVID-19 symptoms to the appropriate area medical facilities. Mild and post-COVID-19 patients are treated through virtual visits.
“Our aim with The Agape Always Foundation is to ensure the clinic’s health and to continue the services that are critical to the well-being of the patients it serves as well as the entire community,” Scott says.
Scott witnessed the significance of serving those in need while growing up in Brownsville, Tennessee, a small town outside of Memphis. Her father was a country doctor whose patients often paid him in chickens, eggs and spring water. “Everyone in town respected my father for his selfless attitude and desire to treat those who were sick even though they were never able to pay,” she says.
She attended SMU on a full-tuition scholarship, earning bachelor’s and master’s of music degrees in piano performance and music education from Meadows School of the Arts.
“Music drives my thinking and approach to my business endeavors,” she says. “The skills that I acquired in music make it possible for me to be a creative thinker, a great listener, a careful strategist and strategic planner, to come up with problem-solving solutions, to communicate effectively with people of all backgrounds and languages, to bring harmony into the workplace and be a good team player.”
Scott says she is looking toward the future, when the nation emerges from the pandemic and “when we all must find a meaningful purpose – a way to contribute to society, to live a more meaningful life, to be of service.” That is why The Agape Always Foundation means so much to her, she says. “It is a great place to take the expertise I have acquired in my lifetime and leverage for the good of those in need. It is my chance to spread the good word about lifesaving opportunities of service.”
In addition to financial support, Baxter says the clinic can always use donations of much-needed items such as hand sanitizer, surgical gowns, surgical masks, N95 masks, gloves, eye protection, cleaning supplies and medical-grade disinfectants. They also are collecting nonperishable food items for distribution to patients.
To learn more about The Agape Always Foundation, email Scott at mscott@agapealwaysfoundation.com.
Hubert Zajicek, M.B.A. ’06, a physician and founder and CEO of the Health Wildcatters incubator in Dallas, helped create the Health Hacking Crisis Network to find quick solutions to problems like the face-mask shortage among healthcare workers.
The group was started as a way to share knowledge and resources on actionable ways to help during this time. The goal is to connect people who are willing to share talents, knowledge and ideas, and/or access to useful equipment in order to solve emergency healthcare issues quickly. Professionals, students and anyone who believes they can contribute is invited to join the converation. Read more.
CRACK. Splash. Oops!
SMU first-year student Sarah Tersigni spoons a tiny piece of eggshell from the four eggs she’s cracked into a glass bowl. She’s making the filling for the lemon squares that she will serve later to fellow students in her residence hall. The Austin native loves to stir things up in the kitchen – she is her family’s designated birthday cake-baker – but she never thought baking would be part of her college routine.
Sarah’s lemon squares are part of a spread served every week to students who live in her Residential Commons, Mary Hay-Peyton-Shuttles. It’s not unusual for more than 100 students to stop by on a Sunday to feast on homemade mac ’n’ cheese, sliders, chocolate Bundt cake, fresh fruit and everyone’s favorite, chocolate chip cookies, prepared by students in Liljana Elverskog’s kitchen. Liljana and her husband, Johan, are SMU professors who live in the Commons as Faculty in Residence. Student residents stream into the couple’s cozy apartment every Sunday night for snacks. Read more.
Computer science, the digital humanities and students eager to make a difference are all in the mix for a high-stakes collaboration tapping brainpower and the gift of time.
What if university computer scientists, biologists and historians collaborated to use modern artificial intelligence and machine learning to examine a massive trove of infectious disease research papers, text mining for abstract patterns, elusive insights and hard-to-spot trends related to COVID-19 and the coronavirus family of viruses?
Imagine the energy such a group could generate if their students, working remotely and cut off from the normal distractions of student life, jumped in to volunteer for the project? Welcome to the nascent SMU Artificial Intelligence Lab.
M Crowd Restaurant Group co-founder and co-owner Ray W. Washburne ’84 has been tapped by President Donald Trump to serve on a task force developing a recovery plan for the nation’s food and beverage industry.
The prominent restaurant and real estate investor will join a host of the nation’s business leaders apppointed to the president’s Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups.
Washburne received a bachelor’s degree in history from SMU and serves as CEO and president of Charter Holdings, a Dallas-based investment company involved in real estate, restaurants and diversified financial investments. His M Crowd Restaurant Group includes the Mi Cocina and Katy Trail Ice House chains. He is also president and managing director of Highland Park Village.
He was named to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board in 2019. From August 2017 to February 2019, he served as the president and chief executive officer of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the United States government’s development finance institution. From 2000 to 2017, he served on the board of directors of Veritex Holdings, Inc. He also has served as an adjunct professor at SMU’s Cox School of Business. He is a member of the American Enterprise Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations and the advisory board for the United States Southern Command. Read more.
In just 48 hours, Lucy and Andy Rieger ’09 pivoted J. Rieger & Co. – their family distillery in Kansas City, Missouri – from producing whiskey to making hand sanitizer for hospitals, nursing homes and the community.
The distillery is making sanitizer in two-liter bottles by the pallet these days, working to keep up with the requests pouring in. “I’ve been getting about 500 a day.”
Rieger said it started on a much smaller scale with a request from a nursing facility and a small offering to the public, but the demand was huge.
“It felt for a while there like I was playing God,” Rieger said. “People calling, saying, ‘I have nowhere else to turn; can you help us?’” Read more.
Since its doors opened in 1893, Commander’s Palace has been New Orleanians’ go-to for celebratory brunches and festive dinners. The novel coronavirus has now forced the beloved gathering place to temporarily close its doors, but co-proprietor Ti Martin ’82 and her team have found other ways to keep the restaurant’s hospitable spirit alive. Read more at Southern Living.
For the Odee Company, co-owned by Steve and Sarah Lodwick Holland ’80, the ability to adapt to shifting demands has kept the business going since 1923. Now the printer is churning out hospital gowns for frontline health workers.
Hospital gowns may not seem like a natural transition for a print shop, but they actually got the idea when a local hospital reached out to them asking if they’re up to the task.
They are now pumping out hospital gowns by the thousands. Read more.
For many SMU students, like Marie Joung ’20, a senior pre-med biology major and human rights fellow, and her husband, Benjy, sheltering at home during spring break was the right thing to do. Dallas Morning News columnist Sharon Grigsby wrote about the couple’s decision to self-quarantine as the nation’s beaches were packed with revelers. “But here in North Texas, I found plenty of smart young people who are taking the pandemic seriously. They aren’t freaking out over COVID-19, but neither do these unselfish 20-somethings want to contribute to people losing their lives or further destabilize a country they hope to continue living in.”
The following excerpt was published by The Dallas Morning News on March 18, 2020: EXCERPT
By Sharon Grigsby The Dallas Morning News
We’ve hardly had time to come to terms with the new normal imposed by the coronavirus, but it shouldn’t look like a day at the beach.
Videos of revelers crowded together on the sand and in oceanfront bars — just daring the pandemic to cancel spring break — have flooded social media this week. The raucous invincibility drowned out the pleadings of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to stop this foolish behavior in order to protect themselves and others. …
That’s why Marie and Benjy Joung, sturdy Midwest millennials who have lived in Dallas since 2018, are self-quarantining in their 600-square-foot downtown apartment with their three pet rats, Leonard, Vern, and Nebuchadnezzar. They know the walls of their studio space are likely to close in on them more with each passing week, but they are determined to take deep breaths and stay put to buy time for other Americans.
Marie and Benjy are in great health, but they began socially distancing even before the first cases of coronavirus were reported in North Texas. Since Saturday, except for a few brief, cautious walks, they haven’t left the apartment that’s serving as their 24-7 work, study and living space.
The Joungs don’t want to catch a virus that doctors still know so little about, but their top reason for hunkering down is to protect others. “Neither of us wants to feel like somebody caught the virus because of our irresponsibility,” Benjy told me by phone after his remote workday ended Tuesday night.
Imagine the lifesaving potential of groups of drones performing search-and-rescue missions. But there’s a communication problem that needs to be solved first, and SMU faculty and student researchers are on it. They’re transforming an off-campus warehouse into an innovative drone research lab. See story and video.
A $5 million commitment from Heather and Ray W. Washburne ’84 and family will enhance the student experience and elevate SMU’s competitiveness by establishing the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium. Located on Ownby Drive between Ford Stadium and the Binkley Parking Center, the Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium will house SMU’s men’s and women’s soccer teams, along with the track and field and cross-country teams.
“The Washburne family’s gift will enable us to continue to offer the best opportunities, resources and facilities to help our students succeed in all their endeavors,” SMU President R. Gerald Turner said. “The new Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium will not only create a new home for our student-athletes on par with the achievements of their programs, but it also will provide another venue where fans from across our community can come together to support our Mustangs.”
The Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium will stay true to the footprint of the current Westcott Field and the 400-meter outdoor track, which will be updated to meet the new facility’s standards. The new 2,577-capacity stadium will include a structure featuring locker rooms and a team meeting/conference room. In addition to complementing the central campus aesthetic, the stadium will welcome Mustang fans for home events. Read more at SMU News.
James Quick will open the doors to a new era of research and interdisciplinary collaboration as inaugural dean of SMU’s newly created Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.
SMU announced the creation of the Moody School in November 2019, made possible by a landmark $100 million gift from the Moody Foundation. The investment in graduate-level education is fueling SMU’s move to join the finest universities in the country in its development of research with impact, delivered by top-notch faculty and graduate students.
Quick, a volcanologist of international stature, joined SMU in 2007 as the University’s first Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies, with the responsibilities of supporting increases in research activity and the number of students graduating with a Ph.D. Since his arrival, research expenditures has increased from $14 million a year to $42 million a year, and annual graduation of Ph.Ds has increased from 45 to more than 70. Read more at SMU News.
The 2020 Simmons Luminary Award dinner and ceremony on Thursday, March 12 will honors organizations that have shown an extraordinary commitment to improving lives through education. This year’s recipients are: Big Thought, North Texas honoree; Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, regional honoree; and the Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching, national honoree. More information and registration.
SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts will present its 27th annual Meadows at the Meyerson concert at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10 in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. in Dallas. The event will feature works focused on stories and legends by Sibelius and Rimsky-Korsakov, performed by the critically acclaimed Meadows Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Paul Phillips. Meadows at the Meyerson supports talented Meadows students through the Meadows Scholars Program. More information and tickets.
A multidisciplinary team of SMU researchers is working with Parkland Health and Hospital to create a statistical model to predict which patients are at risk for developing diabetes five to 10 years before they exhibit symptoms.
Diabetes and pre-diabetes affect an astonishing 43 percent of the country’s population at a cost of $237 billion in treatment and $90 billion per year in indirect costs such as absenteeism. The U.S. spends more treating diabetes than the entire GDP of Portugal.
The earlier the disease is caught, the more likely treatment costs will be kept down. But testing is expensive and time consuming, so providers need to be wise about who they test. Usually, the patients who receive a diabetes test already have a symptom, meaning the chances of reversal are low and treatment costs are more likely to be high. Read more.
InSight is the first mission dedicated to looking deep beneath the Martian surface, and SMU’s Matt Siegler is one of the scientists who will ultimately help determine what heat flow probe measurements mean for the composition of the planet’s interior.
A new understanding of Mars is beginning to emerge, thanks to the first year of NASA’s InSight lander mission. Findings described in a set of six papers published recently reveal a planet alive with quakes, dust devils and strange magnetic pulses.
Among Insight’s science tools are a seismometer for detecting quakes, sensors for gauging wind and air pressure, a magnetometer and a heat flow probe designed to take the planet’s temperature. Read more at SMU Research.
A rare, polio-like condition left Braden Scott paralyzed. Now a team led by Edmond Richer, professor of mechanical engineering in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, has developed a robotic arm aiding the eight-year-old Beaumont boy’s recovery. Read the story and watch the video.
Learn about Los Alamos, awaken your artistic skills and sharpen your culinary chops – you can do it all at SMU’s Taos campus, July 16–19.
Enjoy in-depth, hands-on explorations that broaden your outlook, and build memories and friendships that can last a lifetime. Field trips add a vivid dimension to augment your understanding and bring additional perspective to course content. Also woven into the itinerary are lively receptions, SMU’s Ima Leete Hutchison Concert featuring Meadows School students and free time to enjoy a bit of respite and discover Taos at your own pace.
Award-winning actress Regina Taylor ’81 will be honored as the Black Alumni of SMU History Maker during the celebration of scholarship, leadership and community on February 29. Black Alumni of SMU and the Association for Black Students will host the ninth annual Black Excellence Ball. Alumni, students, staff, faculty, parents and friends are invited to join in the celebrations. The evening’s emcee will be radio and television personality Ed Gray ’89, ’13.
Among the highlights will be recognition of the Black Alumni of SMU Scholarship winners, Nana Yaw Seffah ’20 and Crystal Tigney ’23. Registration and information.
Tom Leatherbury, one of the country’s leading First Amendment litigators, has been named director of the new First Amendment Clinic in SMU’s Dedman School of Law.
The new clinic will launch in the fall, thanks to a generous gift of $900,000 from the Stanton Foundation. The clinic will focus on First Amendment issues including free speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly and petition. This funding will cover the core operating expenses of the clinic for five years.
Leatherbury, a partner in Vinson & Elkins LLP, will serve as director and adjunct professor, while the law school will appoint a full-time fellow to handle the clinic’s day-to-day administration.
“This is a great fit for my interests both in First Amendment work and in clinical education,” says Leatherbury. “It’s really important to me to train the next generation of lawyers, and in particular, to train them in First Amendment values which are so critical to our democracy.”
In a career spanning more than four decades, Leatherbury has regularly represented traditional and digital publishers, as well as broadcasters, in all aspects of media litigation, including libel, privacy and other torts, reporter’s privilege, newsgathering and access, misappropriation, and breach of contract actions.
In addition to his active First Amendment practice at Vinson & Elkins, Leatherbury also has worked on cases with First Amendment clinics at Yale Law School and at Cornell Law School. Read the full story.
When the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs met in Super Bowl LIV on February 2, SMU was represented by a Mustang football great and an SMU soccer alum and prominent business leader. Emmanuel Sanders lined up at wide receiver for the 49ers, while Clark Hunt is part owner, chairman and CEO of the Chiefs.
In 17 games this season, Sanders has 66 receptions for 869 yards and five touchdowns. In his first two games in San Francisco, Sanders registered touchdown receptions, becoming the first 49er to do so since Paul Salata in 1950.
For nearly two decades, Hunt has been with the Chiefs leadership, helping the club to the playoffs six of the past seven seasons. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Politics doesn’t have to be polarizing, says SMU Student Body President Darian Taylor. “The pendulum will move back toward a climate of cooperation, and my generation is the one that will swing it that way,” he told Dallas Morning News columnist Sharon Grigsby.
In a profile published on January 24, Taylor told Grigsby he was hopeful, but not naive, about the state of affairs in Dallas and Washington, D.C. The following is an excerpt from the story:
[Darian] Taylor hasn’t just gotten an education at SMU; he’s broken down walls within the school and between its students and local communities “that don’t have the privilege we have.”
As SMU student president, he’s also often the only African American present in boardrooms with donors and administrators. “I realized how important it is to have my opinion at that table, and how long have we gone without a person of color at this table?” he said.
K.C. Mmeje, vice president for student affairs, says he knew the first time he met Taylor that he would leave an indelible mark on SMU. He ticked off a list of Taylor’s assets — strong sense of character, work ethic, maturity and passion for serving others — then summed it up thusly: “I want to be like him when I grow up.”
Raised in the Houston area, Taylor will graduate in May with a double major in public policy and communications. Regardless of what job he lands next, he intends to make time to replicate his work at SMU by doing community-organizing.
“I don’t just want to live and work in a city. I want to build coalitions of different-minded people who are my age,” he said.
Registration is now open for the Perkins Summit for Faith and Learning – formerly the Perkins Theological School for the Laity – which takes place March 26–28 on the SMU campus. With the theme “Boundless Learning, Bountiful Living,” the program offers multiple course options and is open to laity as well as clergy.
Headlining the event is “What’s Ahead for the UMC?” The half-day course will be taught by Will Willimon, professor of the practice of Christian ministry, Duke Divinity School, on on Thursday, March 26. The course will explore how The United Methodist Church arrived at the present moment, what factors led to the 2019 special called General Conference and its aftermath, and what may happen in the upcoming General Conference.
All-day courses on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 will include these by Perkins faculty:
“How to Read the Bible According to the Early Church Fathers” by James Kang Hoon Lee, associate professor of the history of early Christianity and director, Doctor of Ministry Program
“Truth Telling in a Post-Truth World” by D. Stephen Long, Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics
“The Emperor’s New Clothes: How Mark’s Ironic Passion Story Reveals God’s Reign,” by O. Wesley Allen, Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics
“How Do We Solve a Problem Like…Mary?” taught by Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, professor of pastoral care and pastoral theology See the full event schedule here.
Online registration closes on March 19. Read more at the Perkins School.
SMU senior Kaitlyn Contreras ’20 is a first-generation honor roll student attending the University on a full scholarship and majoring in health and society. She admits it hasn’t always been easy, but she has never shied away from hard work and big challenges. Now, with the support of her family, faculty mentors and a close-knit student community, she’s ready for her most ambitious project yet – applying to medical school. Read Kaitlyn’s story.
Elizabeth Loboa will join SMU as provost and vice president for academic affairs on July 6. As chief academic officer for the University, Loboa will be responsible for the overall quality of teaching, scholarship and research and all aspects of academic life, ranging from admissions and faculty development to supervision of SMU’s eight schools, library system and international programs.
Loboa, a biomedical engineer, is currently vice chancellor for strategic partnerships and dean and Ketchum Professor of the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri. She brings to SMU a distinguished academic record and broad university leadership experience.
“Dr. Loboa is joining SMU at an exciting time, as we launch a new graduate school and strengthen our commitment to both world-changing research and teaching,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Her proven track record in building and supporting partnerships both inside and outside the academy is exactly what we are looking for as SMU reaches out for collaborations that serve both Dallas and our global community.” Read more at SMU News.
In a new study, SMU strategy professors Julian Kolev and Wendy Bradley analyze the link between digital piracy and innovation in software technology firms. Their research finds that large incumbent firms like Microsoft and Adobe Systems increased innovation after disruptions to their business model occurred as a result of file-sharing technology that allowed their products to be more easily copied or pirated.
“If you expect your ideas and innovations to be pirated, you might not feel as motivated and incentivized to invest in those innovations,” Kolev says. “Our research findings see the opposite: there was an increase in innovative activity on a broad spectrum of measures, including research and development spending, patents, copyrights and trademarks.”
Their analysis used intellectual property and the development of improvements in product software to investigate the effects of piracy on innovation. Read more at the Cox School.
A new study by SMU researchers shows that the drug oleandrin, which is derived from the Nerium oleander plant, could stem the spread of HTLV-1 virus. A cousin of HIV, the virus infects 10-15 million people worldwide. It causes cells to divide uncontrollably and can lead to leukemia, neurological disease and even death. There is currently no treatment or cure for the virus.
“Our research findings suggest that oleandrin could possibly limit the transmission and spread of HTLV-1 by targeting a unique stage in the retroviral life cycle,” said Robert Harrod, associate professor and director of graduate studies in SMU’s Department of Biological Sciences in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Harrod is a co-author of the study, published in the Journal of Antivirals & Antiretrovirals. Read more at SMU Research.
Friends of the SMU Libraries will celebrate its 50th year and honor photographer and author Laura Wilson with the 11th Literati Award at the annual Tables of Content fundraiser on Saturday, March 28.
Nancy Perot is serving as honorary chair for the event. The proceeds will benefit the annual grants program sponsored by the Friends, which supports the purchase of books, periodicals, electronic resources and other much-needed equipment and materials for all SMU libraries.
Wilson will receive the 11th Literati Award, which honors individuals who have used the written word to advance creativity, conviction, innovation and scholarship and who have had a significant impact on culture and the community through their work. Wilson has published six books: Watt Matthews of Lambshead (Texas State Historical Society, 1989), Hutterites of Montana (Yale University Press, 2000), Avedon at Work (University of Texas Press, 2003), Grit and Glory (Bright Sky Press, 2003), That Day: Pictures in the American West, (Yale University Press, 2015) and From Rodin to Plensa: Modern Sculpture at the Meadows Museum (Scala, 2018).
She is currently working on two projects. Writers, a project documenting 35 writers destined to have a lasting legacy, will become a book and exhibition for the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Making Movies documents directors, cinematographers and actors behind the scenes. Read more at Friends of the SMU Libraries.
According to a study led by SMU psychologist Nathan Hudson, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that people’s overall sense of happiness is linked to physical health.
As reported by Psychology Today on December 7, 2019, “the question of whether health promotes happiness or vice versa remains a matter of scientific debate. Some findings suggest that people who are healthier just feel better about life; others that some third factor such as personality or genetics causes health and happiness to be related; and still others suggest that people who are happier are healthier because they take better care of themselves.”
The researchers analyzed three years of data for a group of 1,952 participants ranging in age from 17 to 95. They found “it was impossible to separate the dynamic interplay between happiness and health.”
The findings revealed that taking measures to stay healthy, like exercising and getting enough sleep, and focusing on long-term goals can go a long way toward maintaining overall happiness. Read more at Psychology Today.
SMU will take a major step forward in serving the talent and research needs of a challenging world, thanks to a landmark $100 million commitment from the Moody Foundation that will fund the University’s eighth degree-granting school – the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies. The Moody Foundation commitment is the largest gift in SMU history.
“We cannot overstate the power and reach of this gift,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “This is a transformational moment for SMU and Dallas, signaling that SMU is a premier institution with the means to be a full partner in commercial and global problem-solving, and a pipeline for leaders to tackle those challenges.
“As the Texas economy booms, companies and institutions look to universities like SMU for innovative ideas, data-driven research and technology that can create opportunity,” Turner said. “The Moody School will be the portal to all of our resources – the entry point for any organization with a research challenge to approach the University for partnership.” Read more at SMU News.
SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts paved the way toward the future of arts education with the kickoff of the Owen Arts Center renovation on November 8 during SMU Homecoming Weekend. The $34 million initiative will improve academic spaces in the north wing for visual arts, art history and creative computation, while creating grand, welcoming and accessible exterior entrances.
At the celebration, a $1.8 million challenge gift from Indianapolis philanthropist and former SMU Meadows parent G. Marlyne Sexton was announced, creating a new incentive for others to become part of this transformative project. Previously, Sexton had given $3.2 million toward the project, bringing her total commitment to $5 million.
With this new gift, Sexton encourages admirers of the arts to help the Meadows School reach the remaining $4 million needed for the revitalization of the arts hub, which will enrich the experiences of students and the commununity for years to come.
The renovation launched as the Meadows School of the Arts marks the 50th anniversary of its naming. Formally established at SMU in 1969 and named in honor of benefactor Algur H. Meadows, it is one of the foremost arts education institutions in the United States.
The commitment to excellence, entrepreneurial vision and devotion to community that Mr. Meadows embodied are captured in the reimagined Owen Arts Center, where creation and innovation will converge in new and exciting new ways.
“The improvements will serve as a catalyst for Meadows to attract the next generation of talented and diverse visual artists, art historians and multidisciplinary creatives and draw scholars and visitors from across the region and around the world,” SMU President R. Gerald Turner said. “We thank our donors for their generous support.” Read more at SMU News.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson will be the guest speaker at the all-University Commencement Convocation on Saturday, December 21 at 9:30 a.m. in Moody Coliseum. Degree candidates from all SMU schools and professional programs will be recognized at the ceremony, which will be streamed smu.edu/live.
Eric Johnson is the 60th mayor of Dallas, Texas, elected in June 2019. Prior to becoming mayor, Johnson served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, where he represented the city of Dallas from April 2010 to June 2019. During his tenure in the Texas Legislature, Johnson served on 20 prominent legislative committees, including appropriations, ways and means, higher education and natural resources. He also served as chair of the Dallas Area Legislative Delegation. In addition to his service as mayor of Dallas, Johnson is an attorney and partner with the international law firm of Locke Lord LLP. Read more about December Commencement.
Men’s soccer seniors finish their SMU careers with 51 wins, three conference championships and three NCAA tournament berths.
No. 5 SMU’s season came to an end in the NCAA Elite Eight on December 6 when the Mustangs fell to No. 1 Virginia, 3-2, in overtime.
Eight-seeded SMU (18-2-1) started the match off in the right foot when it broke away from the Virginia (20-1-1) back line in the second minute, resulting in a Garrett McLaughlin chance. But the AAC First-Teamer pushed his shot just right of the post to leave the scoreboard even.
The last six minutes of regulation would be a mad dash, as both teams looked to punch their ticket to the College Cup, but neither side found a winner, and the game went to overtime. Read more at SMU Athletics.
When it comes to giving, gifts of any size make a huge difference to our world changers. Be inspired by your fellow Mustangs, and make your donation by December 31. Thanks to all who have already made an impact! See A Lifetime of Impact.
SMU welcomed the community to campus on December 2 to launch the holiday season. Ice skating, the story of the first Christmas and “Silent Night” sung by candlelight created a magical and memorable evening on the Hilltop.
See photos @smufacebook.
Professor Jill DeTemple teaches students how to take topics that drive people apart and reframe the conversation around personal experiences to promote understanding. Through curious questioning and thoughtful listening, students learn they don’t have to agree with their political opposites to understand where they’re coming from. Columnist Sharon Grigsby wrote about the class published for The Dallas Morning News on October 16, 2019. EXCERPT:
Professor Jill DeTemple, in the religious studies department of SMU’s Dedman College, has developed a discussion tool, dubbed reflective structured dialogue, that she is using in her own classrooms and sharing with professors here and across the nation.
The idea is to take topics that drive people apart — gun rights, abortion, the death penalty, the existence of God — and reframe the conversation around personal experiences. Lots of weighty research underpins the technique, but at its core is curiosity about another person’s life and values.
“Tell me a story that helps me understand how you came to hold that belief,” DeTemple repeatedly says.
She uses the model throughout her teaching, but most of it is invisible to students. The exception is the occasional dialogue circle, which former students told me they approached with dread but look back on as life-altering.
Confetti rained and applause roared as the SMU community celebrated Carolyn L. and David B. Miller ’72, ’73 on October 18. Their historic $50 million gift to SMU will drive innovative education in SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business. It also builds on the Millers’ decades-long support for academics, athletics, student scholarships and other areas to benefit generations of world changers. Read more at SMU News.
Dallas entrepreneur, industry leader and educator Bobby B. Lyle ’67 builds on the farsighted generosity that named the Lyle School of Engineering 11 years ago by designating $10 million to power a new strategic vision for the school. The bold future-focused model will combine innovation, agility and swift responses to shifts in technological capabilities with enduring institutional support.
“Bobby Lyle’s vision, then and now, speaks to the core needs of engineering education to prepare students to solve problems, drive the economy and change lives through problem-driven research and real-world experience,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Today we celebrate Bobby’s leadership and commitment to the future of the Lyle School and SMU.”
The ability to react quickly to promising new ideas is essential for technological trailblazers. To take advantage of opportunities with transformative potential, Dr. Lyle’s investment will support the school’s Future Fund by establishing endowments for Accelerating Emerging Research and Accelerating High Tech Business Innovations. The fund also will support two additional strategic portfolios: Transforming the Engineering Education Experience and Transformative Technology for Social Good.
In engineering, speed is of the essence when developing groundbreaking advancements, Dr. Lyle said.
“Researching and prototyping new ideas must happen quickly to be competitive, while traditional fundraising takes time,” he said. “This transformational plan allows engineering school researchers to be nimble in the fast-changing tech landscape.” Read more at SMU News.
The SMU Student Foundation invites all to the Hilltop for the Celebration of Lights at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 2. Cocoa, cookies, carols and the Christmas story bring the magic and meaning of this joyous season. The campus will remain aglow throughout the holidays for all to enjoy. Read more at Student Foundation.
SMU Dedman School of Law will launch a First Amendment Clinic in fall 2020, thanks to a $900,000 gift from the Stanton Foundation. The clinic will focus on free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and petition and other First Amendment issues. This funding will cover the core operating expenses of the clinic for five years.
“SMU is incredibly honored to be the recipient of this extraordinary gift,” said Jennifer Collins, Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law. “We are extremely grateful that the Foundation recognized the talents of our constitutional law faculty and our long tradition of excellence in our clinical program by entrusting us with this opportunity.”
The Stanton Foundation was created by Dr. Frank Stanton, the long-time president of CBS and one of the founding fathers of the television industry. Dr. Stanton was a fierce defender of freedom of speech and the First Amendment and received numerous awards in recognition of his efforts to ensure the freedom of the press. Read more at Dedman Law.
Lunch by Ruthie’s Rolling Cafe, music by the Mustang Brass Quintet, games and gratitude from all for those who serve our nation will highlight the SMU Veterans Day Celebration. Read more from the Maguire Center.
An auction of fine and decorative arts on November 20 will benefit the programs supported by the Friends of SMU-in-Taos. View the catalog and bid online, or plan to attend the event at Dallas Auction Gallery.
Garrett McLaughlin is among 10 finalists fans can vote on for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, given annually to the nation’s top senior student-athlete who excels on and off the field.
The 20 total NCAA men’s and women’s soccer finalists were chosen from 30 men’s and 30 women’s finalists. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans will be able to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 18, 2019. Fan votes will be combined with media and Division I head coaches’ votes to determine the winner.
After a record-breaking five-goal performance versus Cincinnati on October 26, McLaughlin was named the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week. The Senior CLASS Award candidate now has a team-high 14 goals and 33 points in 2019, both marks are the most of any Mustang since 2002. After battling back from a painful injury, McLaughlin is having a great year. So is men’s soccer. The team is ranked No. 12 nationally in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Between bobsledding and winning a seat in the Oklahoma Legislature, Mickey Dollens ’11 also experienced a boom (and bust) in the oil business and a teaching job that he loved (and lost). It has been a wild ride for someone only eight years out of SMU, but as you follow the twists and turns of his story, one thing is clear: Mickey never quits. Read the full story
For Ian Perkins-Smith ’20, music has always been a part of life. After taking piano lessons in elementary school, he joined the band in sixth grade and took up the saxophone. He stayed with the band all through high school and advanced to the role of drum major. Now an SMU senior, he’s repeating that success as drum major of the Mustang Band.
“When I first got on campus — I moved in early because I was in band — but I think because of that, I really gained my first family on campus,” Ian says. “That was big for me because it held me together here my first year. It was pretty awesome. I love that community that I get from it.”
For those who love music and want the community that it provides, Ian recommends joining the Mustang Band.
“Try out, even if you’re unsure, because it’s a great experience to have,” Ian said. “It’s a community like no other.” Read the full story at SMU Daily Campus.
A planned gift to SMU by Anne R. Bromberg of Dallas honors a life filled with intellectual adventure and global exploration that she shared with her beloved husband, the late Alan R. Bromberg. He served as University Distinguished Professor of Law at SMU’s Dedman School of Law until his death in 2014.
The bequest includes a $2 million endowment to establish the Anne and Alan Bromberg Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts, as well as unrestricted funds to be divided among Dedman Law, the Meadows School and the Meadows Museum.
“Dr. Bromberg’s farsighted generosity reflects the dedication to scholarship and education that she and Alan shared over a lifetime,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Their passion for art and the law will live on in future generations as a result of the planned gift. It will allow SMU to direct resources toward our highest priorities in those areas, as well an endowed chair that will allow us to attract and retain faculty of distinction in the arts.” Photo above: SMU President R. Gerald Turner (left) and Dean Jennifer Collins, Dedman School of Law (center), with Anne R. Bromberg, the Cecil and Ida Green Curator for Ancient Art at the Dallas Museum of Art. Read more at SMU News.
A recent $2 million gift expands the profile of SMU’s Tsai Center for Law, Science and Innovation as a leading academic platform for multidisciplinary research and scholarly debate surrounding new technologies.
Located within SMU Dedman School of Law, the academic center brings together experts from the legal, scientific and business communities to explore the complex challenges presented by the evolving innovation ecosystem. Such topics as artificial intelligence, digital currency, intellectual property and data privacy have been explored through faculty research, educational programming and student engagement opportunities since the Tsai Center was launched in 2015.
The new gift was made by the same anonymous Dedman Law alumnus who generously provided the $3.125 million gift to establish the center. It will be split between endowment and current operational funding, and provides additional resources for research grants, programs and curricula. Read more at SMU News.
Rehearsing and performing in the Meadows Symphony Orchestra was a revelatory, life-changing experience for Michelle Merrill ’06, ’12.
In 2002, Merrill was a freshman saxophone performance student who had never performed in an orchestra. Growing up in the small East Texas town of Canton, her pre-college musical experiences were limited to private piano and saxophone lessons and playing in the high school band.
“But at SMU I got to play some of the big orchestral repertoire, like Bizet’s L’Arlésienne Suite,” she says. “I remember that first rehearsal with Dr. Phillips. I was completely in awe of sitting in the middle of this huge orchestra. I’d been in band and wind ensembles, but nothing as massive as an orchestra, and I just remember loving it and thinking it was one of the greatest things I’d ever been a part of.” Read more at Meadows School of the Arts.
For the past few years, Brett Story, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at SMU, and students at Garland High School have used the Briarwood Bridge in Garland as a testing ground. By gathering information collected by smartphones in passing cars, Story and the students aim to check the bridge’s structural health.
The information Story needs is collected by the smartphone’s accelerometer. An accelerometer is generally used to measure how quickly something is moving. Its inclusion in smartphones is to help determine the phone’s orientation. Smartphone sensors are sensitive enough, though, that they can also sense a bridge’s vibrations as we drive over it. Read more at The Dallas Morning News.
Opening Convocation formally welcomed new students to the Hilltop on August 25. Incoming first-year and transfer students hail from 49 states and 25 countries. They include 295 students with at least one Mustang in their families, and 87 students who are the first in their families to attend college. Find out how some of these new Mustangs are already changing our world.
Fresh off a 37-30 victory on the road last week against Arkansas State, the Mustangs will host UNT on September 7. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. in Ford Stadium.
CJ Sanders was named the AAC Special Teams Player of the Week after a 98-yard kickoff return TD against Arkansas State, while Xavier Jones earned an honor roll nod for a three-TD performance in the opener. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Sociopolitical comedian W. Kamau Bell and author Malcolm Gladwell are among the speakers bringing their unique perspectives on building bridges across the cultural divide to SMU.
Bell is the Emmy-award winning host of the CNN original series United Shades of America, which explores such topics as the emerging Sikh culture in California, the South Carolina Gullah culture, the new Klu Klux Klan and the people of Appalachia in an effort to bring a deeper understanding of the rich cultural shades that are the fabric of America. He will speak about “The Bridge of Racial Difference” on Thursday, September 19.
In his new book, Talking with Strangers, Gladwell takes a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology and scandals taken straight from the news to illustrate how and probe the reasons why interactions with strangers often go terribly wrong. He will discuss his book on Monday, October 7. Read more and purchase tickets.
Australian Gillian Triggs ’72 brings decades of experience as an academic, lawyer, advocate and public policy expert to her new role as assistant high commissioner for protection in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Triggs recently served a five-year term as president of the Australian Human Rights Commission. An expert in international law, she has an extensive history of dedicated service to human rights and the refugee cause in Australia, the Asia-Pacific Region and globally.
She holds a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate in law from the University of Melbourne and a master’s degree in law from SMU. Read more at Dedman Law.
Stirling Barrett’s sunglasses have been spotted on Beyoncé, Kristen Bell and Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex. But before hestarted KREWE, a multimillion-dollar eyewear brand that was named the runner-up in the 2016 Vogue Fashion Fund, he learned his “radical attention to detail” at the Temerlin Advertising Institute.“My time at SMU Meadows was extremely positive,” Barrett said. “It helped me develop a dedicated work ethic. And it taught me that traditional art forms were not the only form of creativity.” Read more at SMU Meadows.
Cross-border venture capital investments play an important role in the scaling up of high growth companies, according to Wendy Bradley, strategy professor in the Cox School of Business. Foreign capital, expertise and the networks that accompany cross-border investments are welcome by startup ventures. However, a concern is that they transfer the majority of economic activity to the investor country. In new research, Bradley and her co-authors develop a framework to help policymakers develop a coherent set of policies for cross-border venture capital investments Read more at SMU Cox.
Math is omnipresent — found in video games, participatory sports and even on walks to the park, writes Candace Walkington in a recent posting about education for Inside Sources. Walkington, associate professor in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, suggests ways of seizing opportunities to connect math to everyday activities to make learning more interesting and relevant – more personal – for math students.
SMU welcomes the community to celebrate the dedication of the Indoor Performance Center, featuring Armstrong Fieldhouse, at 7 p.m. on Friday, September 6. An open house will follow, providing an opportunity for everyone who attends to tour the newest facility resource for the entire campus. A transformative presence on Bishop Boulevard, it features an indoor turf field and training, fitness and special event spaces. Read more about the Indoor Performance Center.
Inspiring speeches. Faculty in full regalia. The Rotunda Passage. Memories for a lifetime. The newest members of the Mustang community will take part in one of our most treasured traditions on Sunday, August 25, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Click here to watch live.Read about Opening Convocation.
Jennifer Burr Altabef ’78, ’81, Martin L. Flanagan ’82 and Scott J. McLean ’78 will be honored with Distinguished Alumni Awards, and Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11 will receive the Emerging Leader Award at the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony and dinner on November 7, which will be hosted in the new Indoor Performance Center at SMU.
Each year, SMU honors four outstanding leaders in philanthropy, business and civic life with the highest honor the University can bestow upon its graduates. The Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony recognizes extraordinary achievement, outstanding character and good citizenship in an event hosted by President R. Gerald Turner and the SMU Alumni Board.
Registration begins at 6 p.m. Alumni and guests will have an opportunity to socialize at the reception preceeding the ceremony and dinner, which start at 7 p.m. Find more information and purchase tickets.
Fall isn’t in the air yet, but football sure is. Mustang fans are invited to Football Fan Day on Saturday, August 17, at the Pettus Practice Field. Come out and watch the team practice, while enjoying food trucks and other family-friendly activities. The event begins at 7 p.m. and admission and parking are free.
The Mustangs will hit the road for the season-opener against Arkansas State on August 31. Check out ticket options, and get those pony ears in shape. Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU researchers could help determine if Saturn’s icy moon – Titan – has ever been home to life long before NASA completes an exploratory visit to its surface by a drone helicopter.
NASA announced in late June that its Dragonfly mission would launch toward Saturn’s largest moon in 2026, expecting to arrive in 2034. The goal of the mission is to use a rotorcraft to visit dozens of promising locations on Titan to investigate the chemistry, atmospheric and surface properties that could lead to life.
SMU was awarded a $195,000 grant, also in June, to reproduce what is happening on Titan in a laboratory setting. The project, funded by the Houston-based Welch Foundation, will be led by Tom Runčevski, an assistant professor of chemistry in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. SMU graduate student Christina McConville also was awarded a fellowship by the Texas Space Grant Consortium to help with the project.
Before the rotorcraft lands on Titan, chemists from SMU will be recreating the conditions on Titan in multiple glass cylinders — each the size of a needle top — so they can learn about what kind of chemical structures could form on Titan’s surface. The knowledge on these structures can ultimately help assess the possibility of life on Titan — whether in the past, present or future. Read more at SMU Research.
Scientists from SMU, The University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University found that the majority of faults under the Fort Worth Basin are sensitive to changes in stress, which could cause them to slip. The good new is: None of the faults shown to have the highest potential for an earthquake are located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.
Though the majority of the faults identified on this map have not produced an earthquake, understanding why some faults have slipped and others with similar fault slip potential have not continues to be researched, says Heather DeShon, SMU seismologist and study co-author who has been the lead investigator of a series of other studies exploring the cause of the North Texas earthquakes.
“The SMU earthquake catalog and the Texas Seismic Network catalog provide necessary earthquake data for understanding faults active in Texas right now,” she says. “This study provides key information to allow the public, cities, state and federal governments and industry to understand potential hazard and design effective public policies, regulations and mitigation strategies.” Read more at SMU Research.
TV host and travel author Rick Steves leads the lineup of distinguished speakers for Perkins’ annual fall convocation, “Mission Quest: Finding Your Place in God’s World,” November 11-12 at Highland Park United Methodist Church and on the campus of SMU.
This annual event offers two days of lectures, workshops, dialogue with speakers and participants, Bible study and worship.
Rick Steves’ lecture, “Travel as a Spiritual Act,” will take place 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m on Monday, November 11,in McFarlin Auditorium. Steves will explore how his lifetime of travels, along with his faith, shaped his politics and broadened his perspective. Steves will reflect on how his social activism has grown from his travels — and how travel can be a transformative experience for all Americans. He will sign books afterward from 9 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets for non-full-conference attendees are $15 per person; a printed receipt will be required for entry. No payments will be accepted at the door. View the complete schedule here. Read more at Perkins
Stejara Dinulescu ’19 came to SMU as a pre-med student, but fell in love with her art classes. She found her passion for coding and neuroscience research when she added psychology and creative computation to her fine arts major. Her unique interdisciplinary interests led to her acceptance to three Ph.D. programs. Watch the video.
Siddhakshi Solanki ’20 is studying languages in Senegal this summer as a Boren Scholarship and Gilman Scholarship recipient, and Tyler Giallanza ’21 received a Goldwater Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford for two semesters. They are among the SMU students who recently earned prestigious Fulbright, Goldwater, Boren and Gilman awards to pursue their studies or conduct research across the globe. Read more at the Office of the Provost.
Ancient children’s teeth and adult remains found in Siberia yielded a huge archaeological discovery for a team of international researchers that includesSMU anthropologist David Meltzer. They uncovered a new Ice Age ethnic group whose DNA reveals a genetic link to Native Americans.
Meltzer, a professor in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, was a senior author of the paper on the breakthrough research that was published in the June 5 issue of Nature, a leading scientific journal. “We gained important insight into population isolation and admixture that took place during the depths of the Last Glacial Maximum – the coldest and harshest time of the Ice Age – and ultimately the ancestry of the peoples who would emerge from that time as the ancestors of the indigenous people of the Americas,” Meltzer says. Read more at SMU Research.
Young athletes with the grit, determination and heart of Mustangs made lasting impressions on the SMU football staff when they teamed up with basketball star Ejike Ugboaja’s foundation to teach some gridiron fundamentals to youth in Lagos, Nigeria. Watch the video at SMU Athletics.
Firms with strong corporate governance are like democracies, according to Nickolay Gantchev, a finance professor in SMU’s Cox School of Business.
Through their proposals and votes, shareholders can determine the broad direction of a company. In new research, Nickolay Gantchev of SMU Cox and Mariassunta Giannetti study the effectiveness of this low-cost form of shareholder activism. As in a democracy, informed shareholders, as voters, can better vet good or bad proposals.
In exploring this form of shareholder governance, Gantchev goes beyond his recognized expertise in hedge fund activism. Hedge fund activism has been found to improve governance and firm performance, but it is costly. Shareholder activism by proposals is a less costly form of external corporate governance but has been shown to have mixed effectiveness. Shareholders can put forward proposals regarding any governance topic, such as demanding more finance experts to serve on a firm’s board. Read more at SMU Cox.
Ian Derrer ’96 remembers fetching coffee and chauffeuring visiting talent as a vocal performance student with an internship at The Dallas Opera. Now, as general director and chief executive officer, his responsibilities include overseeing the company’s fiscal health and steering its artistic direction.
In his new position, Derrer says he still relies on skills he picked up as a TDO intern and as a vocal performance student at SMU all those years ago.
“Certainly because of the voice teachers I had at SMU, I really have a great appreciation and keenness to be able to listen for technique in singers,” he says. “But in addition to those musical proficiencies and skills, Meadows really gave me a robust picture of the arts. I loved my history classes. I was able to take orchestral conducting. I loved art history classes, too. My education there helped expand my mind. All of that is enormously helpful in this role.” Read more at SMU Meadows.
Perkins’ Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions, in collaboration with Meadows School of the Arts, will present “The Art of Resilience: Latinx Public Witness in Troubled Times,” an experiential event on September 21–22. The event is free and open to the public.
The work of theologians, scholars, artists and community members will come together to address the current social climate and public policies affecting the Latinx community
Participants may attend the entire two-day event, or segments of it, depending on their schedules and interests. The first day will focus on how current events on the U.S. – Mexico border impact women and will be led by Daisy Machado, professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B. Duke Professor of Sociology at Duke University, will lead the second day, which will focus on racism and the rising nativism in the U.S. as it’s shaping faith, culture, politics and economics.
As part of the program, the Meadows School of the Arts will host an art exhibit and a performance by New York Latina playwright Jessica Carmona of her original work Elvira: The Immigration Play.
Registration is required. Read more at SMU Perkins.
The SMU Cox School of Business honored four alumni at the school’s annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon on May 10. Two Distinguished Alumni Awards and two Outstanding Young Alumni Awards were presented at the luncheon ceremony in the Collins Executive Center on the SMU campus. Award nominations are submitted to the SMU Cox Alumni Association for consideration by a selection committee.
In alphabetical order, this year’s SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni Award winners are Steven J. Lindley and Bruce Robson, both BBA ’74. The Cox School’s 2019 Outstanding Young Alumni honorees, also alphabetically, are Courtney Caldwell, BBA ’00, and Ryan Dalton, BBA ’01. Read more at SMU Cox.
Thomas Hodges ’20 is a full-time student majoring in journalism with a sport management minor. He stays close to his family to help his mom, who is battling cancer. And he has a rigorous practice schedule as the emergency goalie for the Dallas Stars professional ice hockey team.
On the other end of the line was the assistant general manager for the Dallas Stars. Thomas Hodges, a junior at SMU, couldn’t believe the news he had just received. He was going to be the emergency goalie for the Stars.
“I was excited, maybe a little nervous too, but it didn’t sink in until my first practice a few weeks later,” Hodges said.
This has been a dream of his ever since he attended his first Stars game when he was 11 years old. Read more at the SMU Daily Campus.
Fans streaming a recent video game tournament that raised funds for kids with cancer had a chance to help SMU researchers by playing Omega Cluster, an interactive game designed to pinpoint promising compounds to add to the chemotherapy arsenal.
Three-time Super Bowl winner and NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin and two-time Madden NFL champion Drini Gjoka competed in a video gaming tournament alongside patients and families at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. The tournament consisted of a live Madden NFL 19 streaming game via Twitch and ExtraLife.
A Twitch interactive gamed called Omega Cluster also allowed people watching the gaming tournament to help SMU researchers.
In the Omega Cluster game, each player acted as a spaceship pilot who must warp from location to location gathering energy crystals before enemies’ lock onto their position and destroy their ship. The process of collecting and sorting crystals was actually sorting by proxy a set of chemotherapeutic co-medications compounds that have been tested in the SMU Center for Drug Discovery, Design and Delivery’s laboratory. The game let players explore these compounds and identify what has allowed some to be successful in lab testing while others have not. Read more at SMU Research.
Senior Meredith Burke ’19 is a third-generation Mustang who thrives on taking on challenges like juggling a hectic academic and extracurricular schedule. She is triple-majoring to earn bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering (ME), art and math and working toward her master’s degree in ME. “Fusing these majors cultivates my creativity and ingenuity from a fresh interdisciplinary perspective,” Burke explains. “The way I see it, engineering and art have a yin-yang relationship. There’s a crossover between a ceramics in technology class and an engineering materials class because they both involve hands-on learning with similar materials.”
Burke has frequently been recognized as an up and coming engineer during her time as an undergraduate. In 2018, she was named the ASME North Texas Section Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Student of the Year and received an honorable mention for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, based on her summer brain tumor research at UT Southwestern. In 2017, Burke was one of only 11 students to be selected for DiscoverE’s sixth annual New Faces of Engineering College Edition. Students selected for this honor exemplify the vision, innovation and leadership skills necessary for a successful engineering career.
Burke sharpens her soft skills through the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership by attending a variety of seminars, workshops, mock interviews and career fairs. “For me, the Hart Center solidifies SMU’s slogan, ‘World Changers Shaped Here.’ With the Hart Center’s support, students learn essential leadership skills, foster those skills, and then apply them outside of the university,” she shares.
An aspect Burke particularly values about the center is the Hart Leadership Assessment, which gauges a student’s strengths and identifies areas for improvement. “I found ways to apply this knowledge, not only in my engineering and other academic classes but also in a broader sense—it has changed the way I work and connect with people,” Burke says.
Burke is actively involved in many clubs and activities across campus. Her long list of accomplishments includes being a Hunt Scholar, an honors mentor in Armstrong Residential Commons, an ambassador for both Lyle and Meadows School of the Arts, the treasurer for SMU’s Ballroom Dance Team, and the incoming president of Mustang Rocketry Club. As a member of the “Hub of SMU Spirit,” Burke plays the piccolo and is a section leader in the Mustang Band.
“What sets SMU apart from other schools is the ability to pursue multiple majors and experience a strong academic program while exploring various interests. I’ve found SMU is the perfect sized school where undergraduate students feel supported and encouraged to have a multidimensional college education,“ she states.
Burke used her Engaged Learning Fellowship, in which select undergraduate students receive funding to engage in capstone-level scholarly research, to design and build a toaster that can launch a piece of toast greater than 20 feet. She is currently building a circuit to heat the bread. This summer, Burke interned at Raytheon and hopes to use her knowledge of materials and heat to work in the defense industry. Meanwhile, she expects to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest popping toaster and use that experience encouraging young women to consider an engineering career.
“If I am successful in breaking the world record, I would like to visit local schools and Girl Scout troops to show them the fun, inventive power of engineering.” This story was originally published in the fall 2018 issue of LyleNow, a publication of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering at SMU.
“Bionic solutions for those with missing limbs often look and move, well, like a robot,” says mechanical engineering graduate student Ophelie Herve ’19. She recently received a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to continue research on technology to make prosthetic limbs move more fluidly and naturally.
Military veterans aspiring to SMU’s innovative graduate education in engineering and business have a new scholarship opportunity with The Milledge A. Hart, III Scholarship Fund for Veterans of the United States Marine Corps. The endowed fund was established in January by prominent Dallas business leader Linda Wertheimer Hart ’65 to honor her husband, SMU Trustee Emeritus Milledge (Mitch) A. Hart, III, on his 85th birthday. The Harts are among SMU’s most generous donors.
“We thank the Harts for their generous and wide-ranging support of visionary initiatives at SMU,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Having Mitch Hart, a Marine Corps veteran who served our country with distinction, associated with this scholarship will hold special meaning and be a point of pride for the military veterans on our campus who will benefit from it as they pursue advanced degrees.”
Each year, in perpetuity, the scholarship will support one or two graduate students who are U.S. Marine Corps veterans and enrolled in the Lyle School of Engineering or the Cox School of Business – and may be applied to tuition, fees, housing, meals, books or supplies.
“Providing learning environments and new opportunities at SMU for students to pursue bold ideas has brought both Linda and me such joy,” said Mitch Hart, a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who served five years as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. “A scholarship in my name that opens doors for military veterans heading toward boundless achievement is a wonderful tribute.”
Graduate programs in the Cox School and the Lyle School have the highest enrollments of military veterans, and both schools offer additional financial aid options as well as transitional and educational support.
“The Marine Corps values have guided Mitch’s life. Ethical leadership, service, determination and integrity are qualities that we should be fostering in leaders who will inspire others to take on the world’s challenges,” Linda Hart said. “Mitch has always led by example, and I can think of no better way to pay tribute to him than a scholarship that supports Marine Corps veterans as they prepare to change the world in innovative ways.” Read more at SMU News.
Five Dedman School of Law alumni were recognized for their leadership, achievements and contributions to their profession with Distinguished Alumni Awards, the highest honor the law school bestows upon its alumni and friends.
The law alumni honored and the awards they received on April 10 include:
The Emerging Leader Award – Christa Brown-Sanford ’04, partner, deputy department chair, intellectual property (firmwide), Baker Botts
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Corporate Service – Joseph Wm. Foran ’77, founder, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Matador Resources Company
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Private Practice – Michael P. Lynn ’75, partner, Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst, LLP
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service – Irma C. Ramirez ’91, magistrate judge. U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
The Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service – Kelly Rentzel ’02, general counsel, Texas Capital Bank
The Maguire Energy Institute at SMU Cox School of Business presented Tim Leach, chairman and chief Executive officer of Concho Resources Inc., with the L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award at a luncheon on April 9 on the SMU campus. At the same event, two iconic oil industry entrepreneurs and longtime supporters of SMU, Bobby B. Lyle ’67 and Cary M. Maguire, were honored with the Maguire Energy Institute Pioneer Award.
The Maguire Institute’s Energy Leadership Award Committee considers long-term impact to the energy industry as a key factor when it selects oil and gas leaders for both awards. The Pitts Energy Leadership Award is presented annually to an individual who exemplifies a spirit of ethical industry leadership. The committee identifies industry trailblazers as Pioneer Award recipients.
The annual Pitts Energy Leadership Award event raises funds to support the Maguire Energy Institute, named in honor of oilman and co-founder Cary M. Maguire, as well as BBA and MBA scholarships for students with degree concentrations in energy. A portion of the proceeds raised by this year’s event will help support the educational goals of two SMU Cox students. The BBA Scholarship recipient is Southern California native Johnny Blumberg, a senior BBA finance major, concentrating in energy. A past president of the SMU Cox BBA Energy Club, Blumberg participates in the SMU Spindletop Student Managed Energy Investment Fund. Upon graduation, he’ll be going to work for Concho Resources in Midland, Texas. MBA recipient and SMU MBA Energy Club President Will Zach Hodge is a second year MBA concentrating in energy finance. He is also a Kyle D. Miller Energy Scholar recipient at the Cox School. Upon completion of his MBA, Hodge will work for Caiman Energy in Dallas. Read more at SMU Cox.
Sophomore Mac Meissner ’21 set a conference record on the way to claiming the individual title at the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship at the Copperhead Course in Florida. Meissner won the 13th individual conference title for the Mustangs, joining the ranks of Payne Stewart ’78 and Bryson DeChambeau.
Meissner (66-66-68–200) set a conference record with the lowest round in conference championship history in the first two rounds. He wrapped up the tournament setting the three-round record 13- under finish, breaking the 7-under record set by SMU’s Bryson DeChambeau at the inaugural AAC Championship in 2014. The sophomore finished five strokes ahead of Austin Squires of Cincinnati. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Jerry Bywaters Cochran, daughter of renowned Texas artist Jerry Bywaters ’27, has donated more than two dozen works of art, including four paintings by her father, to SMU. The late artist served on the SMU faculty for 40 years and played a major role in the Texas Regionalism art movement in the 1930s and 1940s.
“The importance of the art of teaching runs deep in our family,” Cochran says. “We believe the arts are essential to our lives and culture.”
This is the second gift from Cochran and her late husband, Calloway. In 2011, she donated 65 works of art from the couple’s personal collection that included 49 pieces by Bywaters and 16 works by other members of the Dallas Nine, a group of influential local artists of which Bywaters was a leading figure.
Together with works previously given by Cochran, the donation represents one of the largest gifts of art presented to SMU and has become part of the University Art Collection, which is overseen by the Meadows Museum.
“Jerry Bywaters is one of Texas’ most important artists, and this gift makes the Meadows Museum the largest repository of his works,” says Mark A. Roglán, Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in Meadows School of the Arts. “We are grateful for Mrs. Cochran’s thoughtful generosity and her trust in us to preserve the art of this region.”
Additional materials expand the Jerry Bywaters Collection on Art of the Southwest housed in SMU’s Hamon Arts Library. The collection was established in 1980 when Bywaters, who taught fine arts and art history at SMU from 1936 to 1976, began giving his papers, letters, prints and other ephemera to SMU.
Bywaters was a progressive influence on artistic subject matter, accessibility and regional art in the 1930s and 1940s, according to Ellen Buie Niewyk, curator of the Bywaters Special Collections.
“He demonstrated through his own art, and advocated through his role as a teacher, museum administrator and writer, that artists could focus on local scenes and subjects to portray universal themes,” Niewyk says. “Together, the works of art and archived materials create a comprehensive view of the artist’s life and legacy and the regionalist art movement in the American Southwest.”
The University community mourns the loss of two SMU legends whose scholarship and leadership made a lasting impact on the Hilltop. Luís Martín
Luís Martín’s passion for history, philosophy and people was contagious. Although he officially retired from SMU in 1993 as professor emeritus of history in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, he never stopped teaching and exploring ideas and issues.
Martín died at his home in Dallas on December 11, 2018. He was 91. Former students, colleagues, friends and community members were welcomed to campus for a memorial service in his honor on January 4.
Born in Seville, Spain, he earned a bachelor’s degree in classical studies and completed master’s-level study in philosophy in Spain. As an ordained priest, he was assigned to the Jesuit mission in Japan and served the church until returning to secular life at age 40. He received a doctorate in Latin American studies from Columbia University in 1966 and joined the SMU faculty in 1968.
In 1973 he became a U.S. citizen and the inaugural holder of the Edmond and Louise Kahn Endowed Chair in History at SMU.
After 25 years of teaching, he retired from SMU but continued to lecture on Spain and Latin America at SMU’s Meadows Museum.
Memorials may bemade to Luís Martín Graduate Fellowship by contacting Mary Lynn Amoyo at mamoyo@smu.edu or 214-768-9202; or to the Meadows Museum Education Fund by contacting Jessica Whitt Garner at jgarner@smu.edu or 214-768-2610. Bishop Wiliam B. Oden
Bishop William B. Oden served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2004 and was a member of the Perkins School of Theology faculty from 2004 to 2008. He is remembered by those who knew him best for his “gentle demeanor” and “gracious spirit.”
Oden had been in failing health and was surrounded by family when he passed away on December 22, 2018 in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
As a leader in The United Methodist Church, he was known as a “peacemaker” for his ecumenical and interfaith advocacy, according to a remembrance published by United Methodist News.
While growing up in Shawnee, Oklahoma, he preached his first sermon at age 16. He earned his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University, a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School and a doctorate from Boston College.
He traveled the world for the church and served many roles including president of the Council of Bishops from 2000–2001 and Council ecumenical officer from 2004–2008.
In 2004, he retired as an active bishop. That year, a scholarship honoring him and his wife was established in Perkins.
Memorials may be made in his memory to the William B. Oden Scholarship at Perkins by contacting John Martin at johnma@smu.edu or 214-768-2026. The article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of Shaping SMU newsletter.
In 1969, Meadows School of the Arts was named in honor of Algur H. Meadows, legendary businessman, art collector and philanthropist. “Meadows at the Winspear” on April 4 launches the 50th anniversary celebration of the school’s naming. The annual spring concert will honor The Meadows Foundation, which has supported SMU and Dallas since it was established in 1948.
The event raises funds to support talented Meadows students through the Meadows Scholars Program. It also honors a community leader, and this year, the honoree is The Meadows Foundation. The honorary chairs are Linda and Bill Custard, and the event chair is Stacey McCord.
The concert will feature the critically acclaimed Meadows Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Paul Phillips, and the students of the Meadows Dance Ensemble performing three new works, each set to well-known 20th-century music.
The works include Takehiro Ueyama’s ethereal Heroes, set to John Adams’ The Chairman Dances; Broadway choreographer Alex Sanchez’s lively interpretation of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue; and Dwight Rhoden’s vibrant ballet, Stellar Matter, set to an orchestral suite from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. How to buy tickets The Meadows Foundation: Supporting SMU and Dallas since 1948
The Meadows Foundation traces its historic partnership with SMU back to the early 1960s, when Algur Meadows, an avid art collector, donated his Spanish art collection to SMU in honor of Virginia after her passing, along with a $1 million endowment to create the Virginia Meadows Museum within the Owen Arts Center. Mr. Meadows later donated his collection of sculptures by contemporary Italian artists to SMU to establish the Elizabeth Meadows Sculpture Garden, named in honor of his second wife. The museum and garden opened in the Owen Arts Center in 1965. He also gave a $10 million gift to the SMU School of the Arts, and in gratitude, the SMU Board of Trustees renamed the school Meadows School of the Arts in 1969.
The Meadows Foundation has continued its generous support of initiatives and causes across SMU over the decades, and in 2015 announced a gift of $45 million to the Meadows School and the Meadows Museum – the largest single gift in SMU’s history. The momentous gift made the Foundation the only entity to provide SMU more than $100 million in financial resources to a singular area of focus: the education and promotion of the arts. Read more at SMU Meadows.
Haley Taylor Schlitz was accepted to multiple law schools but opted to enroll at SMU Dedman School of Law. In an interview on Good Morning America, she says a “nice scholarship” and proximity to her family’s home made the choice easy.
The future Mustang has already attended a few law school events and can’t wait to explore her interests in educational policy and intellectual property, according to an interview with her in Texas Lawyer magazine, published on March 14. EXCERPT:
Most 16-year-olds spend the summer break working, going to camp, or hanging out with their friends. Not so for Haley Taylor Schlitz, who’s on track to graduate with both an associate’s and bachelor’s degree in May. She’ll spend the upcoming summer preparing to start law school and attending a six-day program with the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington for incoming law students.
SMU could not say whether she’s the youngest ever to enroll at the Dallas campus, though admissions officials said she’s the youngest they know of. We caught up with Schlitz this week to discuss her law school plans, what inspired her to seek a J.D., and what she thinks her new classmates will make of a teenager in their midst. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Meet Chris ’75 and Connie ’77 O’Neill, co-chairs of the SMU Parent Leadership Council. They met as B.B.A. students and have maintained close ties to their alma mater. Connie serves as an SMU Trustee and is a past chair of the SMU Alumni Board. Their son, Jack ’19, is a double major in engineering and mathematics. As they prepare for his graduation in May, the O’Neills reflect on the past four years and look forward to the future in this Q-and-A with SMU. Why have you remained involved with SMU? There is an energy on the campus you don’t want to miss. Interacting with current students is inspirational and makes you feel young. We have thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of opportunities to become involved through the impressive programming on campus for alumni and the community. As parents, it is exciting to be able to see our son have the same phenomenal college experience that we had. What are some of the traditions you enjoyed as students that you are pleased to see continue today? SMU is rich in traditions that bring the Mustang family together across generations. Every year we look forward to Homecoming festivities, including Pigskin Revue and the parade, and the Celebration of Lights, where SMU lights the trees and welcomes the community to enjoy the holiday season. It’s magical! We honestly believe SMU’s Commencement ceremonies are among the most special in the country. They are rich is tradition and represent the pride we all feel in our students’ accomplishment. What are some of the aspects of today’s SMU that you have appreciated most as parents?
SMU strikes a healthy balance between maintaining important traditions while adapting to meet the needs of current students. We’re very excited about the Residential Commons. Having students living on campus their first two years builds a strong community that energizes the entire Hilltop. Attracting high-achieving students continues to be one of SMU’s top goals, and we’re incredibly impressed by today’s students. Their talents, their leadership skills, their intellect and their expectations for a unique and quality education push SMU to reach new heights. What are some of the opportunities your son has enjoyed that you have most appreciated as parents?
Jack attended SMU-in-Taos for J-Term in 2018. He took an engineering course and was able to take a skiing course that satisfied an academic requirement. He enjoyed it so much that he went back in August 2018. Being there in the summer was an entirely different, but equally fulfilling, experience. He has given tours to prospective engineering students and likes sharing his experiences and insights about the things that make SMU so special. He also had an amazing internship last summer through an SMU connection. What makes SMU unique are the personal relationships Jack has been able to forge with his professors and the close friendships he has formed with students from all over the country. Why did you choose to become active in the Parent Leadership Council? We both feel so strongly that SMU is THE perfect place to attend college. It is one of a kind in so many ways, and it is an honor to be able to share and explain why to other parents. We also want to encourage parents to get involved on campus. There is really nothing better than connecting with your student’s university. It gives parents a rare glimpse inside the student experience. And we have loved meeting people and making friends from all over the country. Why is current-use giving by parents so important? This flexible support immediately impacts all of our students by funding programs and initiatives that are not covered by tuition. It also enables the University to support strategic priorities and new opportunities as they emerge. This not only contributes to great experiences for our students, but also improves the value of their degrees. What are some of the things that are most exciting about SMU’s future? Everything excites us about SMU’s future! We’re proud of the quality and diversity of our students, and there’s such vision among leadership to ensure the University stays ahead of the curve on meeting the needs of all students. Decisions are made thoughtfully, and the long-range planning for all aspects of the University, from faculty to facilities, means SMU will be educating bright students to be world changers for generations to come. This article originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of the Shaping SMU newsletter.
The Lettermen’s Association will honor four new members of the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame at the induction ceremony and dinner on Friday, May 3. The celebration of excellence and achievement also will honor photographer Brad Bradley, 2019 Legends Award recipient.
The 2019 Hall of Fame inductees are Colt Knost ’07, men’s golf; Bryan Robbins ’68, men’s diving; John Simmons ’81, football; and Teri Steer ’98, women’s track and field.
Legends recipient Bradley has been photographing sports at SMU since 1947. He is also a photographer for the SMU Tate Lecture Series and SMU Athletic Forum. Buy tickets here.
The SMU Athletics Hall of Fame celebrates the many extraordinary individuals in all sports who have played a role in developing the tradition and prestige of SMU Athletics, and seeks to provide future generations with a greater appreciation for the rich heritage of the Mustangs. Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU’s data-empowered faculty and students deploy research as a force for good in a relentless quest for solutions with lasting impact. They aren’t waiting for the future; they’re making it.
According to SMU Cox Management Professor Sal Mistry, most companies engage in some form of multi-teaming, where employees are on multiple teams at the same time. In new research, Mistry and his co-authors unpack the challenges for those employees and offer ideas for creating better multi-teaming environments.
In today’s workplace, employees often wear many hats, whether in an academic, corporate or non-profit environment. Through multi-teaming, organizations are attempting to extract and share knowledge, says Mistry, bringing expertise to the benefit of the whole organization. Mistry references a Dallas-based tech company with 30 employees that are on multiple teams simultaneously: “In high tech, rapidly changing circumstances and a fluid environment have different requirements than say, a credit union, which has a more stable operating environment.” In a senior management team, one could be a member of an executive team and lead the marketing team, which is considered multi-team membership (MTM).
In their research, Mistry and his colleagues examine the effect of identification with one’s primary team as it relates to identity strain. “We show that the number of teams impacts employees’ identification,” says Mistry. “Many times people gain identity from being on a team, but the more teams you stack onto a person, they may not recognize who they are.” Read more at SMU Cox.
SMU took a giant leap forward in the rapidly shifting digital frontier with the groundbreaking of the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation on February 22. SMU Trustee Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, his wife, Kelli O. Ford, and The Gerald J. Ford Family Foundation provided a $15 million lead gift to help fund construction of the new 50,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research hub, which will equip faculty, students and industry partners with tools and resources to collaborate, solve complex problems and power new enterprises.
“With this gift Gerald Ford is continuing his extraordinary legacy as a catalyst for excellence and growth for the University,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “His earlier vision and lead gift for the Ford Stadium has attracted tens of thousands of visitors to SMU each year and energized the campus and wider communities. Now, with the construction of the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation, SMU’s student and faculty research initiatives will be transformed, pushing the boundaries of knowledge and innovation.”
SMU Trustee Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69 and his wife, Kelli O. Ford, with their daughters, Kelli and Electra, at the groundbreaking of the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation at SMU.
Researchers at SMU already are working with industry and community partners on diverse projects such as cloud computing and internet security, adult literacy and cancer research. With recent investments in computing capacity, the recruitment of specialized faculty expertise and investments in facilities such as Ford Hall, SMU plans more collaborative research projects like these in the next decade and beyond.
“This is a critical step in SMU’s journey to strengthen its research capabilities,” Ford said. “The University is creating an exciting space for bold doers and collaborators. It’s the next step in SMU’s ascendancy as a premier research and teaching university, and my family and I are honored to play a role in this process.” Read more at SMU News.
Thanks to all who made SMU Giving Day a tremendous succes!
Within 24 hours on March 5, more than 3,200 world changers gave over $1.3 million, fueling research, athletics, learning and service opportunities across the University. The impact of this day will not only be felt at SMU, but around the globe.
Enjoy this video celebrating the Mustang community’s generosity, and if you haven’t already, find your cause at SMU Giving Day.
A treasure-hunting smartphone app developed by SMU and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) to help low-literate adults learn to read tied for the grand prize in the competition hosted by the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE.
The SMU-LIFT team, PeopleforWords, won $1.5 million as a grand prize winner and an additional $1 million achievement award for most effective app to help adult English language learners learn to read in the competition presented by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Using the video game app for Codex: The Lost Words of Atlantis, players assume the identity of an enterprising archaeologist seeking clues to the forgotten language of mythical Atlantis. Keys to finding the lost language are hidden in letter-sound instruction, word lists and consonant and vowel decoding skill-building exercises.
The award for the app, presented on February 7 at the Florida Celebration of Reading in Miami, capped a four-year global competition to develop a smartphone app that created the greatest increase in literary skills in adult learners over a 12-month period. Reading specialists from SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development, game developers from SMU Guildhall graduate video game development program and adult literacy experts from LIFT, a Dallas nonprofit literacy service provider, teamed to develop an award-winning video game that has reaped much more than international honors.
“We are thrilled to be a grand prize winner,” says Stephanie Knight, dean of the Simmons School. “But the important part of this competition is learning the most effective way to help low-literate adults become readers. The development of the app, the data gathered through this process and our partnership with LIFT is just the beginning of bringing the life-changing benefits of reading to low-literate adults.”
The 7,000 players who have downloaded the game and improved their reading skills have left a trail of information that will strengthen the app and provide important data to researchers as well. Data collection is built into the game’s design, says Corey Clark, deputy director of research at SMU’s Guildhall, assistant professor of computer science and leader of the team of faculty, students and volunteers who developed the game. Each time a player touches the screen, data is collected that records engagement, difficulty and transfer of knowledge. Read more at SMU News.
Junior Chelsea Francis ’20 qualified for the 2019 NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships in the 60-meter dash after capturing gold in the American Athletic Conference Championships.
Francis, the school record holder in the 60 meter, improved upon on her 60-meter time over the weekend at the American Conference Indoor Championships. The junior came into the event with an adjusted time of 7.27 and was able improve the critical .01 that earned her a spot in the upcoming championships.
She came into the 60-meter final as the reigning silver medalist in the event and looking to improve her placement in the NCAA Qualifiers. The Carrollton, Texas native was able to win the gold with a time of 7.27, 0.03 seconds better than her closest rival, Brianne Bethel of Houston. In the 200m final, Francis would finish just a millisecond off a podium spot running a 23.64 in the event.
Over the two-day event, Francis was responsible for 19 Mustang points. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Perkins School of Theology is the recipient of a five-year, $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., for an initiative designed to strengthen congregational ministries with youth. Co-directors of the grant are the Bart Patton, director of youth and young adult ministry education, and Priscilla Pope-Levison, associate dean, Office of External Programs.
Entitled “Reboot: The Congregation as Youth Worker,” the initiative will select and resource a cohort of congregations within a 300-mile radius of Dallas without a paid full-time youth worker. The initial cohort of 18 congregations – the “Starter Cohort” – will undergo a discovery process to determine the viability of ministries with youth in their communities and will be introduced to current innovation models for youth ministries. From this cohort, 12 congregations will be selected as the “Innovation Cohort” to apply for resources provided by the grant to build and sustain an innovative model for congregational ministry with youth. Read more at SMU Perkins.
Ana Rodriguez ’03 is “managerially focused and empirically driven” as she helps top companies recruit, retain and develop diverse workforces. Rodriguez was interviewed by the Dallas Business Journal about her role as director of the Cox School of Business Latino Leadership Initiative and its focus on combining practical leadership principals with insights from rigorous research to address the opportunities of today’s diverse, global market. Read more at SMU Cox.
Professor Barbara Minsker has been honored by the American Society of Civil Engineers with the 2019 Margaret S. Petersen Award for her technical accomplishments, leadership and commitment to mentoring women pursuing engineering careers.
Minsker serves as chair of the civil and environmental engineering department in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.
She is the author of two acclaimed books: The Joyful Professor: How to Shift from Surviving to Thriving in the Faculty Life (2010) and Discovering the Path of Success and Happiness: Mindful Living with Purpose and Resiliency (2014). From her books, she developed a popular leadership course focused on navigating through conflict and uncertainty that has drawn students from across the SMU campus.
Since the late 1990s, Minsker has successfully advised and mentored 17 Ph.D. students and 24 master’s students. She also leads research to develop innovative systems approaches to improve the sustainability and resilience of human and natural systems.
The award honors Margaret S. Petersen, a pioneer in hydraulics and water resources engineering and recognizes a female member of ASCE or the Environmental & Waters Resources Institute, a specialty organization within ASCE, who has demonstrated exemplary service to the water resources and environmental science and engineering community.
Minsker was previously awarded the ASCE’s Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize in 2003 and EWRI’s Outstanding Achievement Award in 2005.
Researchers at SMU and UCLA are enrolling subjects for a five-year study of a treatment for a psychological condition known as anhedonia – the inability to find pleasure in any aspect of life. A grant of approximately $4 million from the National Institute of Mental Health will allow professors Alicia Meuret and Thomas Ritz at SMU and Michelle G. Craske at UCLA to study the effectiveness of their treatment in 168 people suffering from this very specific symptom.
“The goal of this novel therapeutic approach is to train people to develop psychological muscle memory – to learn again how to experience joy and identify that experience when it occurs,” said Meuret, professor of psychology and director of SMU’s Anxiety and Depression Research Center. “Anhedonia is an aspect of depression, but it also is a symptom that really reaches across psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders. It’s the absence or the lack of experiencing rewards.”
Historically, treatments for affective disorders such as anxiety and depression have been aimed at reducing negative affect, Meuret said. Over the next five years, Meuret, Ritz and Craske will treat 168 people using a type of cognitive behavioral therapy aimed at teaching people to seek out and recognize the positive aspects of life – increasing their sensitivity to reward. They will compare their results with a more traditional approach of treating the negative affect side of their problems.
The monitoring of treatment success will include simple biomarkers of enjoyment. “The heart beats faster in joy, something that has been shown to be absent in anhedonia,” said Ritz, an SMU professor of psychology who specializes in studying the relationship between biology and psychology in affective disorders and chronic disease. Other measures will capture immune activity, which is important as an indicator of long-term health. Read more at SMU Research.
The Tony-winning Dallas Theater Center (DTC) and the SMU Meadows Division of Theatre are presenting the hit play The Wolves, March 6 through April 14, at Studio Theatre, an intimate black box space on the sixth floor of the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, 2400 Flora St. in Dallas. The play continues the close collaboration between SMU’s theatre program and DTC, with a cast composed chiefly of Meadows theatre students and alumni.
Written by Sarah DeLappe, the play focuses on a competitive high school girls’ soccer team known as The Wolves. The elite squad of nine teenage female warriors meets every Saturday to stretch before their games, and high school gossip rapidly evolves into mature meditations on the girls’ understanding of themselves and their place in the world. The play, which critics called “remarkable,” “exhilarating” and “incandescent,” was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2017. It will be directed by guest artist Wendy Dann, a playwright, director and associate professor of theatre at Ithaca College in New York. The Wolves, along with last year’s co-production of Frankenstein, represents a new development in the Meadows School’s longstanding relationship with Dallas Theater Center. Read more at SMU Meadows.
The University community is invited to attend the groundbreaking for the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation at 11:45 a.m. on Friday, February 22, at the site of the new facility on the corner of McFarlin Boulevard and Airline Road.
The new facility will serve as the home to SMU’s AT&T Center for Virtualization, the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, high-performance computing and data science, the new innovative Visualization Lab and SMU Guildhall, the Hart eCenter’s top-ranked digital game design program.
SMU’s ability to cultivate and launch entrepreneurs for North Texas and beyond received a major boost with a significant new gift from prominent Dallas business leaders and major SMU supporters Linda Wertheimer Hart ’65 and Milledge (Mitch) A. Hart, III. The Harts now are among SMU’s most generous donors.
The Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at SMU will combine the innovative forces of SMU’s Cox School of Business and Lyle School of Engineering. The two schools will integrate their expertise, resources and guidance to develop technology prototypes and create viable business plans.
“SMU will play a major role in the formation of new enterprises and cross-disciplinary ventures thanks to the Harts’ generosity and vision,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The Hart Institute will stand as a pioneering and lasting example to future SMU donors, reinforcing our role as an engine of regional economic development and job creation.”
Linda Hart said SMU’s focus on creating new knowledge inspired the gift.
“I was inspired to support this institute because I have seen first-hand how technology and innovation have been crucial to my own business endeavors, and they are critical elements needed in solving the world’s challenges,” she said.
“With a new institute dedicated to guiding and promoting entrepreneurial work, the University will continue its march forward as an innovation leader,” Mitch Hart said.
“Providing exposure to forward-thinking mindsets and feeding the enterprising spirit in an academic setting means there is no limit to what can be done,” he said. “I look forward to the exciting work that will be produced here.” Read more at SMU News.
Trial attorney Laura Benitez Geisler ’97 made history on January 12 when she was sworn in as the 110th Dallas Bar Association president, becoming the first Hispanic member to lead the organization. Laura Benitez Geisler ’97
“The Dallas Bar Association is among the strongest and most active in the country, and I’m looking forward to the year ahead,” Geisler says. “I’ve been an active member of the Dallas Bar my entire career, having served on the board of directors since 2006. I am eager to get to work in this new and challenging role.”
Among her goals as president is to highlight the importance of protecting the independence of the judiciary through a series of programs on the history and challenges facing an independent judiciary, the development of a “Life Skills for Lawyers” series and a “Legal Incubator” program designed to help young attorneys become successful practitioners.
Geisler has served as president of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. She was elected to chair the Dallas Bar board in 2015 and served as president of the Dallas Women Lawyers Association in 2003. As the co-chair of the 2014–15 Equal Access to Justice Campaign benefitting the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, she helped raise more than $1.1 million for pro bono legal services for low-income Dallas County residents.
She received her J.D. from SMU’s Dedman School of Law and has 21 years of experience representing clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases. She has achieved multimillion-dollar jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of her clients.
Geisler has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers and has earned a National Diversity Council listing among the Top 50 Multicultural Lawyers in Dallas and Top 50 Women Lawyers. The Hispanic National Bar Association also honored her with its Top Lawyer Under 40 award in 2011. She recently merged her firm to form Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler.
The Dallas Bar Association is a 145-year-old professional, voluntary body of more than 11,000 Dallas-area lawyers.
SMU history professor Jo Guldi’s book, The History Manifesto (Cambridge University Press, 2014), recently was named one of the most influential books of the past 20 years by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Writing with Harvard’s David Armitage, she argues that historians need to shed their enthusiasm for micro-history and return to examining history’s big picture to better influence the future.Guldi and Armitage propose that historians embrace new technology as the key to analyzing the grand scope of history in ways that were not possible before. Supercomputing capable of sorting daunting amounts of data encourages scholars to synthesize information in new ways, seeing things that do not emerge in the close examination of single decades.
“Applying computer technology to research empowers historians to step back, analyze longer periods of time and search for trends and patterns that might otherwise remain hidden,” Guldi says. “It revolutionizes how we work.”
Algorithms, big data and data text mining are key to the historian’s new digital toolbox, she says Using these tools, and at SMU, the University’s supercomputer, ManeFrame, researchers can now interpret long-term historical trends and giant topics like inequality, capitalism and climate change in ways that were impossible before the emergence of search technology. Read more at SMU News.
Take a deep dive into presidential history, innovation in the digital age and other fascinating topics while enjoying the beauty and serenity of SMU’s distinctive mountain campus in New Mexico.
The 15th anniversary of the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute will be celebrated this year with courses that offer something for everyone. Whether you choose an engaging class for the joy of learning or one that expands your knowledge of the world, you’re sure to have an unforgettable experience in a unique setting that inspires intellectual discovery and lasting friendships. The SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute provides in-depth, hands-on explorations that are designed to broaden your outlook, teach new skills or simply celebrate the cultural richness of Northern New Mexico and beyond. Field trips enable you to experience topics even more vividly, and there’s always time to discover the uniqueness of Taos on your own. Read more and register today.
The distinguished journalist and author will receive the prestigious award from SMU at Tables of Content, presented by Friends of the SMU Libraries in support of its annual grants program.
Tables of Content opens with a cocktail reception featuring this year’s Top 10 Haute Young Authors at 6 p.m. and is followed by the award presentation and dinner with table hosts leading fascinating conversations on a variety of topics. Reservations and more information are available here.
The Literati Award honors individuals who have used the written word to advance the ideals of creativity, conviction, innovation and scholarship and who have had a significant impact on culture and the community through their work. This award was created by the Friends of the SMU Libraries/Colophon in 2010 and was established in honor of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the organization to celebrate the power of the written word and to recognize significant achievements in creativity.
Lehrer came to Washington with PBS in 1972, teaming with Robert MacNeil in 1973 to cover the Senate Watergate hearings. They began in 1975 what became The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, and, in 1983, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the first 60-minute evening news program on television. When MacNeil retired in 1995, the program was renamed The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Lehrer has been honored with numerous awards for journalism, including a presidential National Humanities Medal in 1999, the News & Documentary Emmy’s Chairman’s Award in 2010 and in October 2011 he received the Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club.
With proceeds from the evening, the Friends of the SMU Libraries’ grant program funds the purchase of books, periodicals, electronic resources and other much-needed equipment and materials for all SMU libraries.
Vince Miller, a second-year graduate student, chose the Applied Statistics and Data Analytics (MASDA) program in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences because he was looking for “a top tier education.” After his first year at SMU, a data scientist internship at Capital One turned into a full-time career. He’ll be working for the bank after graduating in the fall. He recently shared some insights about his SMU student experience in the college’s newsletter, Inside Dedman College. EXCERPT:
What drew you to the MASDA program? With so many options within the field, what makes SMU’s MASDA program special?
While I was considering what graduate program I wanted to attend, I was able to speak with our advisor Dr. Robertson as well as then-current students. These conversations gave me the confidence that MASDA was exactly what I had been looking for: a top tier education that would allow me to develop applied statistics knowledge while gaining experience using industry standard as far as available technology for data science from insightful professors. In my second year, I have found that the insights given by my professors have been invaluable. The main insight I’ve taken away is that an understanding of applied statistics is the best background to have within this industry.
Can you share an experience or two that sums up your time in the program best? Is there a particular member of the faculty, project, or course that you would consider to be a defining moment for you?
The class that I enjoyed the most was “Intro to Data Science.” A defining moment was when the course began, and I did not expect such a mathematical approach to the subject. I expected the course to be similar to other data science tutorials or certifications I had completed, but after a short period, I realized that the professor understood how important a fundamental understanding of statistics was in the field. This course definitely gave me an upper hand when comparing myself to students from other programs.
“Defiantly smart” acting, “stunning original music” and “profound choreography” were just a few of the accolades Meadows alumni, students and faculty recently received from multiple TheaterJones.com critics in their “Best of 2018” roundups highlighting outstanding work by Dallas-area performing artists. EXCERPT:
Dance
Chief dance critic Cheryl Callon’s list of top works of 2018 included Aladdin by alum Joshua Peugh ’06, created for his Dark Circles Contemporary Dance company, with music by alum Brandon Carson ’16. Callon said, “With its elaborate, thoughtfully designed narrative and stunning original music by Brandon Carson, the evening-length show provided an intimate, almost immersive experience for Joshua Peugh’s take on the tale and concept of the well-known character.” …
Music
Critic Gregory Isaacs’ review of favorite classical music concerts of 2018 included Joel Estes Tate Chair Joaquín Achúcarro’s piano performance with the Fort Worth Symphony on an all-Spanish program; Isaacs wrote, “Achúcarro’s performance will always stick in my memory.” Isaacs also cited the “rare treat” of hearing the Diaz Trio, including cello professor Andres Diaz, in a concert presented by the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth.
Theatre
Critic Martha Heimberg named alum and Kitchen Dog Theater co-director Tina Parker ’91 one of nine outstanding local female directors she would like to host at a dinner party, saying, “I can’t even imagine a party of theater women in this town, or anywhere, without Tina.” …
Former First Lady Laura Bush ’68 was honored as the 2018 Texan of the Year for her “uncommon leadership,” education advocacy and dedication to causes around the globe to improve the lives of women, children and families. The Dallas Morning News editorial board announced the selection on December 30, 2018, in an article detailing her extraordinary accomplishments through the years.
Laura Bush earned a bachelor’s degree in education from SMU and currently serves on the SMU Board of Trustees. EXCERPT
Looking across the Lone Star State and surveying the world at large, there is one person who stands out for her quiet ability to unify people behind a common vision, to focus public attention on what’s critical for our society, and to produce change without concern for who gets credit. In a divided world, her graceful style has helped our country move forward on critical issues and enabled her to leave a lasting mark not only in the past year but over a lifetime of work. …
Laura Bush’s life and career have been about learning, and she has helped ingrain in our culture a deeper understanding of the need for public schooling and preserving our history — the need to both develop within our communities the skills necessary to thrive in life and the tools required to understand and expand free and democratic societies. …
Another important area to highlight in Mrs. Bush’s career is her record of leadership in creating new civil institutions. By our count, over the past two decades, she has founded or co-founded at least a half-dozen nonprofits and other initiatives that continue to improve our world. …
The artist and KREWE founder using fashion as his medium. The National Football League social maven harnessing big data for big engagement. The New York Jets tackle with a passion for startups and STEM education. What do they have in common? They’re SMU alums named to the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, the magazine’s chronicle of “the brashest entrepreneurs across the United States and Canada.”
EXCERPT:
Stirling Barrett ’11
Starting when he was a teenager, New Orleans native Barrett found a market for his photographic collages. For five years after college, he supported himself by selling his artwork and flirted with opening a New Orleans gallery. Instead he took his savings and self-financed the launch of KREWE, an eyewear brand that includes sunglasses, prescription glasses and soon, sports eyewear. KREWE’s frames are plant-based Italian acetate with lightweight lenses. The company has two stores in New Orleans, a small Soho boutique that opened in 2018 and two traveling tiny house stores. It replaces any frame that breaks, in perpetuity. KREWE’s celebrity following includes Gigi Hadid, Serena Williams, Beyoncé, Kendall Jenner.
Barrett received a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Meadows School of the Arts.
Kelvin Beachum, Jr. ’10, ’12
When Beachum isn’t protecting quarterbacks, he’s padding his portfolio. With stakes in over 20 companies, he focuses on the manufacturing, agricultural and autonomous robotics industries. He also serves on the advisory board of OneTeam Collective, an accelerator connecting companies to athletes and their IP.
Beachum received the 2018 Emerging Leader Award from SMU and has been nominated for the NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and a Master of Liberal Studies degree from the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
Sana Merchant ’11
Merchant advises the NFL’s 32 clubs’ executive teams on their social media strategy. She also oversees all social reporting that is distributed from the NFL to the clubs and helps teams analyze the data. She leads relationships with all major social platforms with which the NFL has deals, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. She launched the Social Managers Workshop, an annual meeting for teams’ social staff.
Merchant received a bachelor’s degree in corporate communications and public affairs from Meadows School of the Arts.
“I’ve had an almost five-decade association with this University, and I tell people all the time it’s been a 50-year love affair,” David B. Miller ’72, ’73 said before the SMU men’s basketball game against TCU on December 5.
At halftime, SMU named the Moody Coliseum court in honor of Miller, a basketball alumnus and vice chair of the SMU Board of Trustees. The move cemented Miller’s legacy as a generous and important pillar of the SMU basketball family.
Growing up, it was always Miller’s dream to attend and play basketball at SMU, which was a dominant force in the Southwest Conference in the 1960s.
“The day Bob Prewitt and Doc Hayes came into my high school gym in 1968 and offered me a scholarship, other than the birth of my children and my grandchildren and my marriage, was the biggest day of my life,” Miller said. “That dream came true that day.”
Miller earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from the Cox School of Business. As an undergraduate, he was a three-year starter and letterman on the varsity basketball team and a member of the 1971-72 Southwest Conference Co-Championship team.
Since 2011, Miller and his wife, Carolyn Lacy Miller, have given $20 million toward the expansion and renovation of Moody Coliseum as well as the construction of the Miller Event Center.
He has served on the SMU Board of Trustees since 2008 and also serves as chairman of the Cox Executive Board. He is a recipient of Distinguished Alumni Awards from both the University and the Cox School. In 2009, Miller was honored with the Silver Anniversary Mustang Award by the SMU Lettermen’s Association. He is also a recipient of the Methodist Health System Foundation’s 2017 Folsom Leadership Award. Read more at SMU Athletics.
There was an SMU reunion in Mexico on December 13, when former Mustang golfers Sam Fidone ’15, Harry Higgs ’14 and Austin Smotherman’16 competed in the Go Vacaciones Cozumel Cup.
The fourth annual event pits 10 players from the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada vs. 10 players from the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada in a Presidents Cup-Ryder Cup-style competition.
The Go Vacaciones Cozumel Cup featured Fidone captaining Team Mackenzie Tour, while Higgs served as captain of Team Latinoamerica and played alongside Smotherman.
In an interesting twist, Fidone is a veteran of both Tours, playing in Canada most recently. This season, he won the Bayview Place Open in Victoria, British Columbia, and finished sixth on the Order of Merit.
Two weeks ago in Miami, at the season-ending Latinoamerica Tour Championship – Shell Championship, Higgs secured the Order of Merit title by $64 over Colombia’s Nicolas Echavarria. In his last four starts, Higgs enjoyed a win (Diners Club Peru Open), finished third (Neuquen Argentina Classic), tied for second (113th Visa Argentina Open) and tied for fourth (Shell Championship). Read more.
The University community will join the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the annual Dallas parade on January 21 and honor his life and legacy during SMU’s Dream Week.
Dream Week 2019 events include the annual Unity Walk on the SMU campus on Wednesday, January 23, and service experiences inspired by the civil rights leader’s commitment to bridging barriers and strengthening communities. In 2018, more than 400 SMU students participated in Dallas-area service opportunities during Dream Week. Read more at SMU Student Affairs.
The SMU community joined the nation in mourning the loss of the 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush. President Bush was lauded at home and abroad for his many accomplishments, including his pivotal role in ending the Cold War. He died at his home in Houston on November 30, 2018. He was 94.
The late President Bush is also famous as the father of our 43rd president, George W. Bush. The two were photographed above at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in 2013. The remarkable photo includes (from the left) then-President Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, the late George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
In 2001, the late President Bush was honored with the SMU Tower Center’s Medal of Freedom in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to the advancement of democratic ideals.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner issued the following statement upon the former president’s death:
“The SMU community joins the nation in grieving the loss of President George H.W. Bush – a servant leader who lived his entire life as a steadfast example of patriotism and the strongest American ideals. Gail and I send our heartfelt condolences to President George W. Bush and Mrs. Bush, and the entire Bush family. We treasure memories of time spent with “Bush 41” when he honored us with visits to our campus, such as when he received the Medal of Freedom from the Tower Center for Political Studies, and when he proudly attended as one of five living presidents the 2013 dedication of his son’s George W. Bush Presidential Center. Our University has unique opportunities to share the lessons from a life well-lived. We intend to use them.” Read more at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
Judy Woodruff, anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour, will be the featured guest at the 2019 Bolin Family Public Life Personal Faith Scholarship Luncheon. The event will be held from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Friday, February 8, at the Martha Proctor Mack Grand Ballroom of the Umphrey Lee Student Center on the SMU campus.
Woodruff will be interviewed by Peggy Wehmeyer, former religion correspondent for ABCWorld News Tonight, on the topic of personal faith in the public square.
Judy Woodruff has covered politics and other news for more than four decades at NBC, CNN and PBS. She is the recent recipient of the Radcliffe Medal, the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism, the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University.
The Public Life Personal Faith series, inaugurated in 2010, is a fundraising and outreach event of Perkins School of Theology in service to the larger community. The lecture provides an opportunity for guests to hear prominent people in the public sphere on topics related to how and why personal faith shapes public life. This luncheon is a major fundraiser for student scholarships. Read more at SMU Perkins.
Though a decade has passed, the recession of 2008-09 offers perennial lessons to retailers. No one is immune to shopping for groceries and basic household items but shoppers have choice. SMU Cox Marketing Professor Chaoqun Chen analyzes how consumers shop around various retail formats and how their behavior changed during the Great Recession. Her findings uncover truths about how consumers from different income levels adjusted to a new normal in their weekly treks.
Grocery stores have been the dominant retail format for food and related items for decades, Chen’s narrative begins. Households form their impressions about retail attributes of a retail format over a long period, and their impressions are unlikely to change quickly. Their impressions are slightly sticky. In general, retail formats are competing for expenditure shares, a distinguishing factor in her research — not for consumers.
From 2004 to 2007, discount stores such as Target and Walmart grew their market share substantially, the research notes. However, in 2008, the beginning of the Great Recession, discounters lost share to other competing formats like Costco warehouse clubs. Chen observes that in the midst of the Great Recession there was little adjustment to retailers’ pricing policies, despite the changes in market share. Read more at SMU Cox.
SMU Meadows School of the Arts announces a new collaboration with the renowned Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) in Canada that will offer SMU’s Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence Prize to the competition’s first place laureate.The Banff International String Quartet Competition, a program of Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta, is one of the world’s leading music competitions. Founded in 1983 and held once every three years, BISQC invites 10 select quartets from around the globe to Banff Centre to perform various pieces of work over seven days, competing for the top prize: a three-year career development program worth over $150,000. It includes a cash award, concert tours throughout Europe and North America, and a Banff Centre residency that includes the production of a recording.
Now, the first place laureate will also be named the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at SMU Meadows. The fellowship was made possible by a generous gift from Martha Raley Peak ’50, a graduate of SMU who had a lifelong passion for the arts, particularly music. She regularly championed young musicians starting their careers.
The next BISQC will take place August 26 to September 1, 2019, and the winner is expected to begin the Peak residency in 2020. Read more at SMU Meadows.
Paleontologist Louis Jacobs calls Myria Perez ’18 “the closer” because she can chip away centuries of dirt and rock from the most delicate fossils to the highest degree. Perez and more than 100 SMU undergraduate students painstakingly cleaned and preserved the fossils now on exhibit in Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. Dive deeper into Sea Monsters Unearthed.
Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 is president and CEO of DFI Management, Ltd., and the general partner of Putterboy, Ltd., the owner of the Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina. He is chair of the SMU Board of Trustees.
At SMU, Dedman is continuing the historic leadership and vision of his parents, Nancy Dedman ’50 and the late Robert H. Dedman, Sr. ’53 LLM, who served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1976 to 2002 and as its chair from 1992 to 1996. Their major gifts to SMU have had a sweeping impact, including in the areas of humanities and sciences, law and lifetime sports.
Watch the ceremony live, beginning at 9:30 a.m., at smu.edu/live.
Revolution Retail Systems, a Carrollton-based cash automation and recycling tech provider, is the fastest-growing entrepreneurial company in the Dallas area, according to the SMU Cox School of Business’s Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship.
“Revolution has increased sales almost tenfold over the last three years, evidence of the rapid growth that made it the No. 1 company this year,” said Simon Mak, associate director of the Caruth Institute. “Often, the privately held corporations, proprietorships and partnerships we honor through Dallas 100™ don’t get a lot of recognition and yet, like Revolution, they contribute greatly to our economy.”
Mak is pictured above with Mark Levenick, president and CEO of Revolution Retail Systems.
The Institute’s annual Dallas 100™, a celebration of the fastest-growing, privately-held businesses in the Dallas area, revealed the area’s top entrepreneurial companies in rank order from 100 to one before a crowd of about 1,000 people on November 1.
The Caruth Institute, working with the accounting firm BKD LLP CPAs and Advisors examined sales from hundreds of companies for 2015 to 2017, the last year for which complete data is available. The winners represent a wide swath of Dallas-area businesses. The winning companies collectively generated $3.3 billion in sales in 2017, according to Jerry White, the Linda A. and Kenneth R. Morris Endowed Director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship at SMU Cox. Collectively, the companies grew at an average annual growth rate of 87 percent from 2015 to 2017. Together, they created 11,096 jobs in that same period. Read more at SMU Cox.
Biological sciences major Noelle Kendall ’19 combines her interest in medicine with public policy as a Highland Capital Management Tower Scholar at SMU. “Medicine/science and public policy seem to be two very different fields, and they are, but each one heavily affects the other,” she says. “I think it is important that these two worlds find a connection so that they can better understand each other. This understanding would lead to more comprehensive science policy and a scientific community that understands and works with its government for safe, efficient progress.” Read more at SMU Tower Center.
At the end of her first year in SMU’s M.F.A. program in theatre design, Yvonne Johnston earned a career-influencing costume design internship with the Television Academy in Los Angeles. “It was the most epic experience of my life,” she says.
That’s saying a lot.
A Marine veteran, Johnston was in boot camp when the 9/11 attacks occurred. It wasn’t long before she was an ammunition technician providing supplies to soldiers in Kuwait.
Toward the end of her almost five years of service, she was back in the U.S. giving birth to her first son. Taking stock of her future, she tapped into resources provided by the Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment to earn her undergraduate degree.
She enrolled in the University of North Texas’ competitive fashion design program in 2006, but had difficulties transitioning out of the military. She not only had to readjust to civilian life, but also to life as a brand-new mother. It took her six years to finish her B.F.A. degree in fashion design, and points to the discipline she gained in the Marines with helping her persevere.
After working in the local fashion industry, where her credits include designing a shirt for Big Tex, the 55-foot animatronic cowboy who greets visitors to the State Fair of Texas, she was accepted into the Meadows School of the Arts’ M.F.A. program.
Johnson has worked as an assistant costume designer on Dallas Theater Center’s production of A Winter’s Tale. Her most recent work was designing costumes for A Lie of the Mind, presented by the Meadows Theatre Division.
“It’s a demanding program,” she says. “Me, I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m worn down, but I love it. I’m getting to better myself, I’m getting to do something fun. I’ve been where I’m not doing anything fun – like getting shot at in the desert – so I’m like, this is nothing. I get to meet new people and interact with them, and have these ideas, and I get to be creative!” Read more at SMU Meadows.
SMU will honor the jersey of the Mustang legend during a halftime ceremony on January 12 at Moody Coliseum. Ira Terrell ’76 wore No. 32 during his Mustang basketball career, 1972–76.
His jersey will join those of Mustang basketball legends Jim Krebs ’57, Jon Koncak ’85 and Gene Phillips ’71 in being recognized by SMU. Terrell was inducted into the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
Terrell was the 1976 Southwest Conference Player of the Year and was a three-time All-SWC first team honoree. He is the only Mustang to average a double-double for three seasons. He finished his career as the SMU leader and now ranks second all-time in rebounds (1,077). Read more at SMU Athletics.
Remaining undefeated throughout the fall, the No. 2 Mustangs enjoyed an 8-6 away victory against No. 8 Delaware State on November 16.
Led by a dominant 3-1 performance by SMU’s reining squad, the Mustangs compiled a conference win over the Hornets that culminated in a perfect 6-0 season, so far. SMU is the only team in the UEC with no losses and one of only two teams in the entire NCEA that remains undefeated.
The Mustangs swept Most Outstanding Player honors at the meet with Devin Seek in equitation over fences, Vivian Yowan in equitation on the flat (her third consecutive Hunter Seat MOP), Megan Waldron in horsemanship and Aubrey Alderman in reining, earning top recognition out of all the riders. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Faculty and students in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering will use an $849,839 grant from the National Science Foundation to improve unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) communications, with the potential to enable the next wave of drone applications ranging from delivery of consumer goods to supporting autonomous combat and search and rescue efforts.
The award to Joseph Camp and Dinesh Rajan in the Electrical Engineering Department begins funding their work October 1, 2018, and will extend through September 30, 2021. The objective is to build infrastructure for Multi-Dimensional Drone Communications Infrastructure (MuDDI) to address research issues related to three-dimensional connectivity, distributed antennas across a drone swarm and 3-D swarm formations that optimize the transmission to intended receivers.
The SMU team will rent and equip indoor space relatively close to campus for repeatable experimentation. “This will allow us to run our experiments in a controlled environment with the ability to precisely measure the wireless transmission characteristics,” Camp said.
The drone research could have far-reaching applications for the future of UAV communications, including increasing Internet connectivity during natural disasters as well as commercial and military applications, all of which require coordination of multiple entities across various altitudes, from in-flight to ground-based stations. Potential applications also include deploying WiFi in underserved, low-income neighborhoods. Read more at SMU Research.
For the 1,300 students who receive scholarships funded by current-use gifts, your investment in SMU means they’ll dream bigger and accomplish more this year. Create new opportunities for our world changers with your Pony Power gift.
Last year alone, members of the Mustang family provided more than $16.5 million for current-use scholarships. That’s the impact you can make by supporting Pony Power, and it’s only the beginning. Pony Power gifts are designated for current use – meaning they provide flexible support that SMU can use immediately, in the year it is received, to advance the cause of shaping world changers. Read more and give to Pony Power.
Eric F. Hinton has been named director of SMU Dedman School of Law’s new Robert B. Rowling Center for Business Law and Leadership.
“We are delighted to welcome Eric Hinton as the leader of this important new center,” said Jennifer Collins, Judge James Noel Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law. “His extensive legal and business experience, combined with his professional network, will enable him to make the Rowling Center immediately impactful to our students and the business and legal community.”
Hinton has 20 years of experience as an executive in international business law. He has worked for two public Fortune 500 companies as well as two privately owned companies. Hinton began his career practicing international trade law in Washington, D.C., and has also worked in Illinois, Texas, and Brussels, Belgium. Hinton currently co-teaches a course called “Ethics and Compliance for the Global Enterprise” at Dedman Law. Read more at SMU News.
The Maguire Ethics Center and the SMU Student Veterans will honor members of the campus and greater community who have served our country with a special tribute on Veterans Day, November 12.
The public is invited to attend the family-friendly event on the Dallas Hall lawn from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Enjoy games, lunch and fun. New, unwrapped toys for the Toys for Tots drive will be collected during the event. The highlight of the salute will be the presentation of SMU Veteran lapel pins, awarded to student, faculty and staff veterans. Read more and register at the Maguire Center.
When 17-year-old Petya Kertikova competed in the European Youth Olympic Festival in Lignano, Italy, back in 2005, she had never heard of SMU. Then the powerhouse runner for the Bulgarian national track team placed fourth in the 3,000-meter competition. That one race, filled with top athletes from all over Europe, changed the course of her life. In the stadium that day was then-SMU Track and Field Head Coach David Wollman. He sprinted over to meet her, and within days Kertikova was offered a full sports scholarship to SMU.
“It was a tough decision,” says Kertikova, who never before had thought about leaving Bulgaria. “America was an unknown country to me back then. It was another continent, something I used to hear about only in the movies.”
But an old Bulgarian saying nudged her to consider the offer. “‘The bird lands on your shoulder only once in a lifetime,’” she says. She accepted the offer.
Her first two years in America were difficult. Her biggest hurdle: understanding English.
“I did study it in my high school, but it wasn’t enough for me and my studies at SMU,” she says. “When I went to Dallas I took more English courses. There were people at SMU’s Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center [ALEC] who helped me a great deal.”
While she was meeting new friends and running track, money was another barrier. “It was really tough for me to cope with all the stress, being in a new country when I knew only a few words, starting from scratch at a brand new and really different place, having very little money,” she recalls. “My parents gave me less than $100. I struggled when ordering food, or when shopping at the store, simple things that were hard to do back then. I cried a lot. I remember looking at my suitcases under the bed in my dorm room thinking about leaving America and coming back to Bulgaria.”
Instead, she stayed. An overachiever at heart, she doubled down on her studies.
“I learned every day. My first two years at SMU were simply a test for my will. Looking back now, going to the U.S. was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, even though it was really hard for me the first few years.”
Fast forward to today: After graduating from SMU in 2011 with a degree in journalism, Kertikova worked as a news anchor for BiT TV, a Bulgarian-content station located in Chicago. She then returned to Bulgaria in late 2016 and worked for BiT in its Bulgarian studio for a year and a half. Recently, she accepted a position as a news anchor at Bulgaria On Air, a national television network located in Sofia, the country’s capital.
Of the many stories she covers every week, one topic in particular is close to her heart: stories of Bulgarians who left the country for better education or employment, but then returned. She is on fire with that topic, having walked that path herself. Read more at SMU Meadows.
Denver transplants Will Ammons ’16 and Schuyler Grey ’16 agree that there was one thing missing from their student experience. So they’ve teamed up with Tyler Kleinert ’14 to open a neighborhood ice cream shop. The Daily Campus shared the news about the new alumni venture on October 18, 2018. EXCERPT:
By Catherine Neilson The Daily Campus
When Schuyler Grey and Will Ammons moved from Denver to Dallas to attend Southern Methodist University, they noticed the neighborhood around campus was missing a go-to neighborhood ice cream shop. The friends grew up grabbing scoops from the ice cream parlor down the block.
When they graduated in 2016, they teamed up with their friend Tyler Kleinert to do something about it. Their new Scoop Shop Café, Baldo’s, opens soon on Hillcrest Avenue. What started as a popular Dallas food cart with the help of local artist and chef, Aldo Sandoval, is now turning into a brick-and-mortar store in the old Goff’s space. It’s a convenient location for SMU students wanting a treat on a hot Dallas afternoon.
“After graduation, we started a company called the Tritex Group, with the goal of starting new businesses,” Grey said. “Baldo’s is our first shot at starting a business under the umbrella of the Tritex Group.”
The friends struggled with an idea first and wanted Baldo’s to be more than just ice cream.
“The idea was originally a cookie dough shop, modeled after some of the popular cookie dough shops in New York City and LA,” Kleinert said. “It has since evolved into what we call a ‘scoop shop café’—a hybrid ice cream shop and coffee shop.”
The three friends took their seedling of an idea and borrowed the best parts of other restaurant concepts, including quality coffee, European style pastry displays, homemade teas, and, of course, cookie dough to create Baldo’s. All of the ice cream is made from scratch in-store by Aldo. That homemade quality is just one of the things that makes their shop unique.
After earning first-place rankings in four divisions at the Mendoza Debate Tournament in Houston, SMU Debate elevated its standing in the International Public Debate Association to No. 1 in the nation.
Over the course of more than 70 debate matches, SMU’s wins included first place in the professional, team varsity, junior varsity and novice divisions, and second place team overall in sweepstakes points behind Louisiana State University. SMU defeated opponents from Drury University, University of North Texas, Texas A&M International University, Stephen F. Austin, University of Arkansas, Abilene Christian University, Lee College, East Texas Baptist University and several other regional colleges and universities. Read more at SMU Meadows.
The Meadows Museum hosted Dalí in the Dark after-hours events for alumni and students in conjunction with the Dalí: Poetics of the Small, 1929–1936 exhibit, which continues through December 9. More than 150 alumni enjoyed the paintings and Dalí-themed activities on October 24, while over 600 students participated in the interactive art experience on September 15.
With Dalí: Poetics of the Small, 1929–1936, the Meadows has organized the first in-depth exploration of the artist’s small-scale paintings — some measuring just over a foot, and others as small as 3-by-2 inches. A major part of the artist’s output during the early part of his Surrealist period (1929–1936), these small works reflect Dalí’s precise style of painting.
A second exhibit, Dalí’s Aliyah: A Moment in Jewish History, features a rare, complete set of the lithographs created by the artist to celebrate 1968 as the 20th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. That exhibit continues through January 13, 2019. Read more at the Meadows Museum.
Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11, founder and CEO of Bumble Inc., became the youngest woman in the U.S. to take a company public when she celebrated the initial offering of her dating app shares in February 2021. In May 2021, the 31-year-old entrepreneur returned to the Hilltop as the featured speaker at SMU’s May Commencement Convocation. In the following profile of Wolfe Herd, which was published in the fall 2018 issue of SMU Magazine, she traces her evolution as a tech powerhouse and talks about her time on the Hilltop as an SMU student. “I think SMU has a remarkable way for charting students on the right course.” Take a look behind the scenes at Bumble in this profile of Wolfe Herd that first appeared in the fall 2018 issue of SMU Magazine.
By Meredith McBee ’19
Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11 is inside her second-floor office at the Bumble headquarters in Austin, Texas, pacing back and forth. One hand clutches her phone, while her free hand slices the air. She buzzes around the room, navigating her way through the plush pink chairs as if she is running an obstacle course.
Herd is the founder and CEO of Bumble, a social connection app that empowers women to make the first move. In just four years, her female-centric business has grown to more than 35 million users in 160 countries.
In tech speak, her company is a unicorn, a startup valued at a billion dollars or more. Wolfe Herd is something of a mythological creature herself as one of the creative disruptors behind the digital romance revolution. She is a co-founder of the Tinder dating app and the visionary force behind Bumble, America’s fastest-growing dating app.
Drawing on her own experience as the target of cyberbullying, Wolfe Herd reinvented the dating space with Bumble. She shaped an environment where users were required to mind their manners and women felt safe, respected and in control. The app’s basic interface is familiar. Users swipe right on the profiles of potential dates in whom they are interested, and left on those they’re not. Bumble upends the archaic tradition of men making the initial contact; instead, in heterosexual matches, women must start a chat within 24 hours or the match expires.
Two vertical expansions of the original platform connect other aspects of womanhood. There is Bumble BFF for those seeking a friendly connection and Bumble Bizz for those looking for a business connection.
The young entrepreneur’s achievements have earned major accolades. In December, she appeared on the cover of Forbes’ 30 under 30 issue, after making the list for the second consecutive year. She also was named to the TIME 100, Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential people of 2018. In July, she was tapped for the board of Imagine Entertainment, the film and television production company founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.
Despite her success, Wolfe Herd remains humble.
“It’s not that I’m some rare breed of human,” she says. “Everybody has the ingredients to achieve what I’ve achieved.”
Her efforts are all linked to her desire to end abusive and misogynistic behavior.
“I get out of bed to reverse engineer that every day,” she says.
WATCH: ‘For any young woman, or girl, out there who has ambitions or dreams, just remember that anything is possible.’
Wolfe Herd moves fast, both in person and in her work, jumping from one conversation to another, one potential idea to another.
Back in her office, she is still pacing. The nerve center of the Bumble hive overlooks the sunny workspace below, decorated with hexagonal cushions and a fluorescent “Bee Kind” sign. The apiary theme is carried throughout the interior, from the honeycomb motif accents to the bright yellow walls. The warm, fun and feminine vibe may not be the norm for a tech company, but it intentionally reflects Bumble’s celebration of female kindness, creativity and collaboration.
Members of her core team, some of whom have been with her from the beginning, are usually nearby. They’re accustomed to reacting at lightning speed to keep up with their CEO.
“If an opportunity comes to further our mission, Whitney’s going to have it done by the time she’s off the phone,” says Samantha Fulgham, director of field marketing who has been with Bumble from the start.
Wolfe Herd reached back to her SMU roots when creating a team to launch her startup. She recruited Alex Williamson ’10, her Kappa Kappa Gamma Big Sister who now serves as Bumble’s chief brand officer, and Caroline Ellis Roche ’14, Wolfe Herd’s chief of staff.
“She was always entrepreneurial,” says Williamson. “She could figure out how to make things happen.”
SMU NETWORK Writer Meredith McBee ’19 (left), an SMU senior from Atlanta, Georgia, interviewed Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11 at Bumble headquarters.
As Wolfe Herd has demonstrated throughout her career, life’s lemons become a valuable commodity in her hands.
She arrived on the Hilltop in 2007 from Salt Lake City, Utah, intending to major in advertising, but she didn’t make the cut for admission to the Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research in Meadows School of the Arts.
“Maybe the reason I failed that test is because that wasn’t the right place for me,” Wolfe Herd says.
Instead, she majored in international studies in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, which she says provided a solid marketing foundation that has been pivotal to her career.
“I think SMU has this remarkable way for charting students on the right course,” she says. “People will work with you to make sure you’re taking the right classes to achieve your ‘big picture’ dreams.”
While at SMU, Wolfe Herd founded two companies, each in response to a problem she saw in the world. Tender Heart was a clothing line that brought a message of fair trade. The Help Us Project was a line of grocery bags that benefited the Oceans Future Project, which was a direct response to the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
After graduating, she served as a volunteer at orphanages overseas. She returned to the U.S. determined to do something creative and philanthropic, but she wasn’t sure what that was. At the time, she had no employment possibilities lined up. She was living at home, an arrangement her parents told her had an expiration date.
So, she found a job at Cardify, a customer rewards app. During her brief tenure, she had no idea that her next career move would turn the dating world upside down and change her life forever.
BUMBLE HQ Bumble’s Austin, Texas, headquarters – affectionately known as “the hive” – exudes a warm, fun and feminine vibe that may not be the norm in the tech industry, but it intentionally reflects the company’s celebration of female creativity and collaboration.
In 2012, she co-founded the game-changing dating app Tinder. She marketed the platform at SMU and on other college campuses. That early success – with all its thrilling highs – also led to a life and career crisis. She left in 2014 and filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
She was bullied online by complete strangers during this period. While she had once viewed social networking as a conduit for connecting people and building community, she watched as online interactions became weaponized, and she became the target of misogynistic and hate-filled attacks collapsing on me,” she says.
At the time, she thought her career was over.
“It is unbelievable how that negativity can completely control your life,” she says. “There were moments when I let that fear engulf me to the core.”
The experience gave Wolfe Herd a new perspective on social media. She wondered what it looked like for younger people and what it would turn into for future generations. She soon had a new mission: to reinvent the Internet for women.
In her entrepreneurial fashion, she developed the framework for a female-only social network called Merci. On this platform, women could only give each other compliments.
This idea morphed into a dating app after her investor and business partner, Andrey Andrev, encouraged her to transfer her passion for a kind social network into the dating sphere.
“I said no, I’m never going back into the dating world, absolutely not,” Wolfe Herd says. “With a lot of convincing, we agreed to start this company together.”
Snippets of Merci remain in the Bumble DNA.
“When you think about it, women are making the first move, which is empowering,” Wolfe Herd says. “We tolerate zero abusive behavior, so that kindness piece is there, too.”
Wolfe Herd returned to her alma mater with her new idea. She bought dozens of cookies at JD’s Chippery in Snider Plaza, plastered each box with Bumble stickers and passed out the sweet rewards to students who downloaded the app.
To help spread the word, she created a network of Bumble Ambassadors, college women who live the brand’s core message of being kind and embody its stylish coolness and cheeky attitude.
A week before the woman-first app launched, Wolfe Herd called her team and told them to book a flight to Austin the next day. When they arrived, she announced they would be filming a promotional video of them skydiving. None of her colleagues questioned the idea.
“The whole point of it was that if we can jump out of an airplane, we can message a guy first,” Fulgham says.
MUSTANGS IN THE HIVE Proud SMU alumnae members of the Bumble team are (from left) Chelsea Cain Maclin ’12, Alex Williamson ’10, Caroline Ellis Roche ’14 and Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11.
Nearly four years and 500 million first moves later, Wolfe Herd is never short of new ideas.
“I think that’s part of her genius, not only coming up with ideas that resonate on a personal level and have empathy and kindness at their core, but also the ability to get everybody in the room excited and passionate about the same project” says SMU alumna Cain Maclin ’12, Bumble’s vice president of marketing.
Wolfe Herd’s genuine commitment to female empowerment has made her a role model for young women, as illustrated during a recent encounter on the streets of Austin during a company field day.
Dressed in Bumble gear, the team chalked sidewalks with “Download Bumble” and posted yellow fliers advertising the app around the downtown area. They happened upon a bachelorette party, and the honoree told Wolfe Herd that one of her dreams was to meet the Bumble founder. She had no idea that the woman standing next to her was, indeed, the “queen bee.”
When she found out, she burst into tears.
“I don’t think Whitney had ever seen a fan like that,” Fulgham says. “She has no idea how many women look up to her across the world.”
Last fall, her admirers everywhere swooned over photos of her storybook wedding in Positano, Italy, to businessman Michael Herd. They met through friends several years ago. Although she didn’t know it when they met, he is the son of one of her favorite SMU professors, Kelly Herd, a filmmaker and former lecturer in the Meadows School.
“That just goes to show the serendipitous nature of an SMU education,” Wolfe Herd says. “I looked up to her for her caring, articulate and creative abilities as a professor. She’s proof that you meet professors who will have a lifelong impact on you and stay with you long after your graduation date.
“I always say I would trade almost anything to just go back to SMU for a day,” she adds.
Wolfe Herd believes her SMU experience helped her become strong and confident enough to change the dating world.
“SMU gave me the foundation to become an adult and evolve into the woman I am today,” she says.
Today, Wolfe Herd is a very busy executive. She finally puts down her phone and collapses on a plush chair for a few seconds. Then, she gets up, arms moving as she talks to a colleague. Back to work she goes.
When Mustangs band together, we empower students filled with passion and purpose. Thanks to YOUR support, SMU’s creators, innovators and problem-solvers will push harder, dream bigger and accomplish more this year. Because tuition only covers about 70 percent of a University education, your gift fills the gap with crucial funding for scholarships, research and so much more. There’s strength in our numbers. Thank you for banding together for these world changers to shape experiences they’ll never forget!
Rich and Mary Templeton, longtime supporters of SMU, have committed $5 million for research at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. Their generous gift provides a major boost to the University’s externally sponsored research, which is critical to the University’s global academic prestige.This gift, which includes $4 million for an endowment and $1 million for operations, creates the Templeton Endowed Research Excellence Fund. The fund is flexible, allowing for support of the most pressing and important research needs in the Lyle School at any given time. It covers a range of project essentials, including postdoctoral researchers, doctoral and graduate student stipends, equipment and supplies.
Working in collaboration with SMU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies, the Lyle School will select projects that benefit the University’s research portfolio, along with faculty who have strong track records for significant external research funding and success in recruiting elite graduate students. Metrics of success will be defined by the school and the research teams.
“This investment in research is critical to strengthening SMU’s academic quality and attracting top graduate students who will seek solutions to some of the world’s most stubborn problems,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Rich and Mary have a long history of supporting successful initiatives to advance technological innovation. They understand what is required to be a premier research university, and their generous gift will play an important role in moving our University closer to the global reputation we desire.”
“Research is essential to SMU’s ability to make an impact through technology. We’re delighted to help make that happen,” said Mr. Templeton, who is chairman, president and CEO of Texas Instruments and also serves on SMU’s Board of Trustees.
“Our family has deep connections to SMU,” said Mrs. Templeton, renowned community philanthropist and volunteer. “The University’s goals and strategies to bolster research are aligned with our vision for higher education and technology.” Read more at SMU News.
SMU parents Daniel M. Doyle, Jr. and Nicole Kudelko Doyle ’94 continue their long-standing commitment to expanding educational opportunities and supporting academic excellence with a $1 million gift to the University.
The Doyles are the parents of Danny Doyle, III, a business major at SMU and a member of the Class of 2021. Danny enjoyed his first year of classes, new friendships, attending football and basketball games, and looks forward to his sophomore year. Their daughter, Madeline, began her first year at SMU in the fall, and is excited to be a Mustang.
After more than a dozen years of active participation in the education of their three children, the couple has learned “that it takes donors stepping up to help a school achieve peak performance,” said Mr. Doyle, the president and CEO of Tampa, Florida-based DEX Imaging. “We realized that schools can’t survive just on tuition.”
After approaching SMU leadership to learn about the University’s needs, the Doyles decided an open-ended gift made sense. “We are grateful for the Doyles’ continued generous support of SMU, even beyond sending two of their three children here for their education,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “We are thankful to receive a gift that we can direct toward the University’s highest priorities.”
The couple’s SMU giving began in 2015 with the Dan and Nicole Doyle Endowed Scholarship Fund. Their support also includes the SMU Fund for Greatest Needs, the Mustang Athletic Fund and the SMU Student Foundation Fund.
Mrs. Doyle appreciated the family feeling that SMU provided when she was a student. Just like daughter Madeline, she also attended the University with her older brother. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in English. She recalls the sense of community and the delight she felt when professors invited students to dinner.
“I’m thrilled that my children will have the opportunity to enjoy many of the same great experiences,” she said. The Doyles’ gift to SMU will have an impact across campus. “Discretionary gifts let us quickly act on emerging opportunities that directly benefit our students and faculty,” said Brad E. Cheves, SMU vice president for Development and External Affairs.
The Doyles’ philanthropic involvement encompasses their core interest in helping children and families succeed. They support The Arc Tampa Bay, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County and the local chapter of Jack and Jill of America, among others.
Mr. Doyle serves on the board of the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. His other board service includes Big Brothers Big Sisters for Pinellas County, in Florida, and Lynn University, in Boca Raton. From 2014–17, he served on the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida. In 2013, he received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the technology category. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Lynn University in 1993.
SMU is ranked 59 among the nation’s universities in the 2019 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges. The ranking represents an increase from the 2017 ranking of 61.
The new ranking again places SMU in the first tier of the guide’s 312 “best national universities.” Among Texas universities, only Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin rank higher. SMU tied with the University of Washington, Pennsylvania State University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
SMU saw key improvements in the peer assessment score, which is the rating of academic reputation by college admission deans, provosts and presidents, and in the high school counselor assessment score. In addition, SMU ranked 31 for best national universities for veterans, tied with the University of Washington.
“SMU’s national ranking is a reflection of a dedicated effort to provide our students with the opportunity to become society’s innovators and leaders,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “It also reflects the contributions of high-impact research and inspired teaching by our faculty members. We are grateful for the recognition and inspired to continue SMU’s positive momentum.
“As students and parents evaluate universities, it’s important to note, however, that rankings are just one of the factors to consider in this important decision. We encourage parents and anyone considering a college education to visit institutions for firsthand evaluation of academic offerings and campus experience.” Read more at SMU News.
The Mustangs open the 2018–19 basketball season in Moody Coliseum, when the men’s team hosts Northwestern State on November 8 in Moody Coliseum, and the women’s team faces Louisiana Monroe on November 9.
Men’s basketball is entering the third season under Head Coach Tim Jankovich. Under Jankovich, the Mustangs are 56-21 with a 38-5 mark at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs won the 2017 American Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, reaching the NCAA Tournament. In the past two seasons, the Mustangs have five wins over teams ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press Poll. See the full schedule and find ticket information.
Women’s basketball under Head Coach Travis Mays welcomes back three-time all-conference honoree Alicia Froling, returning after missing last season due to injury. The Mustangs also will have the services of Colorado transfer Makenzie Ellis after the post player sat out last season. The roster also includes seven first-years. See the full schedule and purchase tickets.
SMU Alumni Relations and the Office of Social Change and Intercultural Engagement are joining forces for the annual Stampede of Service on October 13. During the daylong volunteer effort, members of the SMU community will lend a hand with 10 Dallas-area nonprofits to help those in need. Read more at SMU Student Affairs.
Erin Nealy Cox ’95 is truly a crime fighter for the 21st century. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas is an expert in prosecuting cybercrimes.
Nominated by President Trump last September, the 48-year-old magna cum laude SMU Dedman School of Law graduate oversees federal prosecutions in 100 Texas counties with a combined population of about 8 million. Nine of the state’s 20 biggest cities are under her jurisdiction. She’s in charge of roughly 100 government attorneys and a like number of support staff in five divisions.
Few lawyers in America possess her combination of training and career experience in the law, technology, business, and administration. In addition to her SMU Dedman Law degree, Nealy Cox holds a degree in finance from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. After law school, she clerked for U.S. District Judge Barefoot Sanders of the Northern District of Texas and Chief Judge Henry Politz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She also served as a litigation associate at two prestigious law firms—Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York City and Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal in Dallas. Read more at Dedman Law.
Scholarships and the chance to double major in music and electrical engineering brought Jay Appaji ’19 to SMU. Now his music cognition research is gaining an international audience.
As a high school student, Jay Appaji was on the radar of multiple colleges.
They liked that he was an accomplished musician, having mastered the South Indian classical mridangam (“mrih-dun-gum”) by the time he was 13. They liked that he was performing in Texas and in India, and helping raise funds for music education in underprivileged communities in both countries. They noted that he received the 2013 Percussive Arts Society’s M&J Lishon/Franks Drum Shop national scholarship in his junior year, and the Texas Commission on the Arts Young Masters Award his senior year.
Then there was his interest in the sciences. He had already started doing research while still in high school, working with music cognition veteran Dr. Jay Dowling at The University of Texas at Dallas.
All of the colleges pursuing him offered him scholarships.
When Appaji thought about college, he wanted to major in music but he also wanted to study the sciences. “You can double major in music and the sciences at SMU,” he says. “A lot of other schools, especially music schools, won’t let you double major. If you’re doing music, then you’re only allowed to do music and nothing else.” Read more at SMU Meadows.
Find out how a Dedman Interdisciplinary Research Cluster created new connections between students and faculty from religious studies, art history, art and world languages and launched conversations exploring biases and inclusion. EXCERPT:
One of the great rewards of graduate school is meeting like-minded individuals with whom one shares intellectual curiosities. These newfound relationships not only make graduate life enjoyable but also enrich one’s thinking and research work.
At SMU, we have been fortunate to find a multidisciplinary community of students and professors with whom to exchange ideas in and outside of the classroom. During the spring of 2018, we had an opportunity to bring that community together through the Dedman Interdisciplinary Research Cluster titled “On Decolonial Options and the Writing of Latin American History.”
The cluster brought together students and faculty from Religious Studies, Art History, Art, and World Languages. The conversation centered on the writing of Latin American history in the U.S academy and the ways in which we should think about the decolonial question in our future research and teaching pedagogies.
SMU, the Dallas Independent School District and Toyota are creating a new and innovative PreK-8 STEM school in West Dallas. The Toyota USA Foundation is granting $2 million to SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, which will develop curriculum, advise on educational practices, provide professional development for teachers, coordinate nonprofits operating in the area and monitor and evaluate the program. The new school will be operated and staffed by the DISD’s Office of Transformation & Innovation. Read more at the Simmons School.
Owen Lynch harbors a “crazy” idea – one that just might help eliminate the food deserts scattered throughout South Dallas. Driving through the impoverished area surrounding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, Lynch points out abandoned lots and vacant dirt areas under nearby freeways that hold possibilities as future community gardens.
“One of the unexpected assets of a food desert is the large availability of property or lots for farming and food system development,” Lynch says. “These properties are at best eyesores detracting from their neighborhood’s home values, but at worst they are a breeding ground for vermin, wild dogs and other negative neighborhood effects.”
Lynch is associate professor of corporate communication and public affairs in Meadows School of the Arts and a senior research fellow in SMU’s Hunt Institute for Humanity and Engineering. But he and his Hunt Institute colleagues are looking at a bigger picture for South Dallas, advocating for something more sustainable than community gardens through an extensive food production system.
“Each lot could become part of a functioning food system by providing the city with a local, sustainable food source and creating jobs for the immediate community,” he says. “There is a large amount of unemployed or underemployed people and youth in these local communities who could gain employment and training within these urban farms.”
South Dallas is one of the largest food deserts in the country, Lynch says. Urban food deserts are short on fresh food providers, especially fruits and vegetables; instead they are rife with quick marts selling processed foods heavy in sugar and filled with fats. In South Dallas many residents live at least a mile from a grocery store and don’t always have access to ready transportation to drive farther.
SUSTAINING COMMUNITY GARDENS
Lynch, who also serves as president of the nonprofit, urban farm consulting agency Get Healthy Dallas, and the Hunt Institute took the first step toward reducing the gap in available healthy food sources by establishing the Seedling Farm, dedicated at the MLK Freedom Garden last November, in collaboration with numerous local urban farm organizations. The Seedling Farm aims to overcome some of the barriers to successful local agricultural production and help improve the health of South Dallas residents.
During a visit to the Seedling Farm on a cool but sunny April morning, manager and horticulturalist Tyrone Day shows off the seedlings that have sprouted in the recently built greenhouse and soon will be transferred to local private and community gardens and farmers markets. The greenhouse packs in up to 4,000 4-inch plants started from seedlings that will grow into a variety of vegetables ranging from asparagus to zucchini, as well as herbs such as cilantro, basil and thyme.
Plans are to produce 20,000 seedlings each year through all four seasons to sell at a discount to area residents who grow their own produce. Providing seedlings is an important factor. “The process of going from a seed to a seedling is the most vulnerable stage in a plant’s life,” Day says. “At the farm, we raise them in controlled conditions with constant monitoring, and also prepare them for transportation to community and home gardens.” Jump-starting gardens by planting viable young seedlings means the plants are more likely to survive, mature faster and produce fruits or vegetables more quickly, he adds.
A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Lynch involved several of his corporate communication students in the development of the Seedling Farm. Caroline Davis, a senior majoring in corporate communication and public affairs and public relations and strategic communication, knew little about food deserts until taking several courses from Lynch. She helped plan and coordinate the launch of the Seedling Farm, and asked area residents about their food knowledge and access to various foods, particularly vegetables. “The Seedling Farm is about much more than food for these communities and farmers,” Davis says. “Community members have the chance to receive the necessary education and training to co-develop a self-sustaining resource.” Sara Langone ’17, who received degrees in political science and corporate communication and public affairs from SMU, and DeAngelo Garner ’18, who graduated in May with degrees in organizational communications and public relations with a minor in Spanish, conducted a survey with the area residents on the need for the Seedling Farm. Garner, who will begin a master’s degree in business analytics in fall 2018 at Cox School of Business, says the experience helped drive him toward his interest in data analytics.
“It was eye opening seeing the human aspect of statistical information that I had previously studied,” he says. “Having the hands-on experience humanized the very real problems that residents of South and West Dallas experience.”
Lynch, who was designated a 2018 Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Fellow, is moving to Rhode Island where his wife has a job, but will return weekly to Dallas to teach at SMU and continue to build on the Seedling Farm initiative. He emphasizes that a local food production system requires well-organized distribution systems, which includes support from community foundations, nonprofits and experts. And investment in local micro-urban farms requires upfront capital and experience to design, build and maintain, but the payoff is huge. Micro-food systems have the potential to provide innovative and economical solutions to reducing food poverty and unemployment, Lynch adds.
“Hundreds of micro-farms, community gardens, personal gardens, greenhouses or even small raised beds can be linked into a vibrant food chain providing sustainable fresh local produce to the DFW market.”
A “crazy” idea that is blooming where it’s planted.
Get ready to enjoy “A Roarin’ Good Time” as the SMU Student Foundation presents Family Weekend 2018, September 28–29.
Events include:
Friday, September 28
Family Luncheon Weekend hosted by the SMU Mothers’ Club and the Student Foundation featuring student speakers and a message from the SMU Present R. Gerald Turner.
Taste of Dallas Dinner featuring entertainment by our talented students.
Saturday, September 29
Boulevard BBQ on the Clements Hall lawn before the SMU-Houston Baptist football game kickoff Sunday, September 30 Spring Awakening student musical See the full schedule of events here.
In a new video, Professor Maria Dixon Hall discusses the Cultural Intelligence Initiative, or CIQ@SMU, and its mission to equip the SMU community with the skills to manage and communicate effectively in complex cultural contexts. Read more at CIQ@SMU.
The University community will honor Pierce M. Allman ’54, Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74 and Jane Chu ’81 with Distinguished Alumni Awards and Kelvin Beachum, Jr. ’10, ’12 with the Emerging Leader Award on November 1.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony recognizes extraordinary achievement, outstanding character and good citizenship in an event hosted by President R. Gerald Turner and the SMU Alumni Board. Read more and purchase tickets.
SMU announces the merger of its National Center for Arts Research (NCAR), a leading provider of evidence-based insights on the nonprofit arts and cultural industry, with DataArts, the respected Philadelphia-based resource for in-depth data about U.S. nonprofit arts, culture and humanities organizations.
The two are joining forces to strengthen the national arts and cultural community through data, the knowledge that can be generated from it, and the resources to use it.
The combined entity, SMU DataArts, will integrate the strengths and capabilities of both organizations, which have been closely collaborating since 2012. The merger will continue the core operations of both organizations and build on their existing successful programs. NCAR’s research expertise, its partnerships with other data providers, and the resources of a major research university will be combined with DataArts’ existing data collection platform and relationships with arts organizations and grantmakers. SMU DataArts aims to make data useful and accessible to all in the arts and culture field, illuminating strengths, challenges and opportunities for individual arts organizations and for the sector as a whole, to help ensure long-term stability.
Since its founding, NCAR has integrated national data on arts organizations and their communities to provide evidence-based insights and tools to arts leaders as well as groundbreaking research on the impact and viability of the nonprofit cultural industry. NCAR’s research is available free of charge to arts leaders, funders, policymakers, researchers and the general public. Its findings and tools have been accessed nearly 100,000 times by users from all 50 U.S. states and 166 countries. Its Key Intangible Performance Indicators (KIPI) Dashboard, a free online diagnostic tool launched in July 2016, has attracted more than 7,600 unique users. Read more at SMU DataArts.
Highland Capital Management Tower Scholar Visakh Madathil ’21 spent his summer in Washington, D.C. as a data science/software engineering intern with the Chief of Technology Officer and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He talked about his experiences for the SMU Tower Center Scholar Spotlight. Tell us about your internship.
I worked primarily on the data portfolio with the chief data officer. Using Natural Language Processing, we worked on understanding data needs across the department and how data stewards, analysts and other users access the data so we could ultimately make data sharing more efficient, responsible and secure. I worked on building an internal data-sharing system and was involved in web prototyping, technical data architecture, researching ways innovative technologies, such as machine learning and blockchain, could be used in this platform to facilitate data-sharing.
I worked to increase the use of data across different data silos, not just in the Department of Health and Human Services, but also in the healthcare sector in general. What was your biggest takeaway from the experience?
One thing that I really realized is that in government especially, but also in any type of issue that we have – most of these things are people-problems. Technology isn’t going to solve all of our issues. Technology is inherently neutral—it’s not good nor is it bad, but it’s very important to understand the human side and the technology side so you can build innovative technologies that can help people and minimize the harm.
So my biggest takeaway is that the human-side is just as important. To understand people, understand their issues, understand the problems people face, is more important than understanding the underlying technologies that you’re using to solve those issues. Read more at the SMU Tower Center.
Holt Garner ’19 of Decatur, Texas, designed his own multidisciplinary “dream degree plan” to master both accounting and biology. He says his dual business and science perspectives provide a competitive edge as he prepares for medical school.
“SMU’s approach to interdisciplinary study has shaped me into a more critical thinker who can approach a problem from both business and scientific perspectives,” he says. “And as I prepare for medical school, my dual degree plan gives me a competitive edge. I am able to pursue diverse internship opportunities, including those that focus on the business and clinical aspects of health care.”
Creating a feature-length film is no small feat, particularly when the project is independently written and directed by a student. With no financial backing from a major production company, no outfit of hundreds of workers, and limited time and resources, recent Meadows graduate Andrew Oh has learned why entrepreneurial skills can make or break a film.
Oh has produced numerous class film assignments, most of which run from five to ten minutes and use a crew of one to ten people, but a 90-minute feature is an entirely different animal. “This is the biggest thing I’ve worked on,” says Oh. “It’s the culmination of my four years at SMU.”
With a cast and crew of about 50, Oh’s film The Book of Job is both written and directed by the 2018 B.A. alumnus and is the fifth film to be chosen for SMU Meadows’ Summer Film Production.
The Summer Film Production is a student-run, biennial program that offers film students the opportunity to learn what it takes to make a feature film or TV series pilot.
While working on The Book of Job, Oh gained greater clarity on what it takes to make a film and the importance of entrepreneurship in the filmmaking business. Doing extensive research and having a general knowledge of film is important, says Oh.
“And preproduction is key. The more work you do in preproduction the easier it is to make the film.” Read more at Meadows.
Randall Joyner ’14 was easy to pick out at SMU football’s first scrimmage of their August training camp. The former standout Mustang linebacker, now the assistant coach for defensive ends, was wearing his signature bright red backwards hat and bright red Nike sneakers. Bouncing up and down the sideline, Joyner was the first person to greet players coming off the field after a big defensive stop, which happened often.
“To be able to come back to the school that gave me a chance to live my dream, not once but twice, is a blessing,” Joyner said after the scrimmage, his voice slightly hoarse from yelling for two hours straight. “Now we have a great group of guys and a great staff – I’m really excited.”
Joyner grew up in nearby Carrollton, Texas where he was a two-star recruit out of Newman Smith High School as a running back and defensive back. A four-year letterwinner at linebacker at SMU, he totaled 240 tackles in 50 career games, including 10.5 tackles for loss. As a senior in 2013, he recorded a team-high 98 tackles and three forced fumbles, earning recognition as a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy.
“I have a great group of guys. They are really good kids. They do everything I ask,” Joyner said. “One thing I’ve been challenging them is to attack greatness. To grow beyond their talents. All I want them to do is play hard and play with passion and play for their brothers. I’ll coach everything else up. They’ve done an unbelievable job.”
Native American communities actively managed North American prairies for centuries before Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World, according to a new study led by SMU archaeologist Christopher I. Roos.
Fire was an important indigenous tool for shaping North American ecosystems, but the relative importance of indigenous burning versus climate on fire patterns remains controversial in scientific communities. The new study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), documents the use of fire to manipulate bison herds in the northern Great Plains. Contrary to popular thinking, burning by indigenous hunters combined with climate variability to amplify the effects of climate on prairie fire patterns.
The relative importance of climate and human activities in shaping fire patterns is often debated and has implications for how we approach fire management today.
“While there is little doubt that climate plays an important top-down role in shaping fire patterns, it is far less clear whether human activities – including active burning – can override those climate influences,” said Roos. “Too often, if scientists see strong correlations between fire activity and climate, the role of humans is discounted.”
A year ago, Brenda Carmona escaped an attempted assault. The experience left the Dallas high school junior determined to pursue a future in criminology or law “to fight for justice for all the people who aren’t as lucky as I was.” The teen admits she wasn’t sure about the steps she needed to take to realize her ambitions until she spent the day at the Cutting Edge Youth Summit at SMU.
“It gave me so much to think about, as far as considering which are the best colleges and programs to help me achieve my goals,” she says. “And it also made me think about the possibility of getting scholarships and what I need to do to qualify.”
Now in its seventh year, the summit brought nearly 300 students, parents and community leaders from historically underrepresented communities to campus on April 21 during SMU’s Founders’ Day Weekend. Conference sessions provided insights about college admission, scholarships, science and technology-focused careers, social entrepreneurship and more.
Candice Bledsoe ’07, founder and executive director of the Action Research Center, which conducts research in schools, communities and nonprofits to advance student and community leadership development, created the one-day event. The program is designed to help middle and high school students with big dreams visualize a future powered by higher education. Community college transfer students planning to continue their education at a four-year institution are also welcome.
During discussions and interactive programs, SMU professors, staff and alumni joined a host of community experts contributing their insights about exploring career paths, developing leadership skills and making the most of a university experience.
Students also learn about the avenues open to them for affording college. At SMU, for example, three out of four students receive scholarships and/or financial aid.
“Our message to students is that no dream is out of reach,” says Bledsoe, who teaches in SMU’s Master of Liberal Arts program in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. “We give them advice on the college application process as well as tips for seeking out scholarships. We also talk to them about channeling their passions as social innovators and leaders in their schools and the community. Perhaps equally important, students are able to ‘see’ themselves on a college campus and realize they have a rightful place here.”
The information shared at the summit “fills in the gaps,” says Saella Ware, who graduated from Mansfield High School in May. “I wasn’t sure about all the steps before I came, but the speakers provided a sort of layout of when to take the SAT and ACT, finish your application, apply for scholarships and submit financial aid information. That helps for getting things done in a timely manner and establishing helpful habits prior to attending college.”
It’s a learning opportunity for parents, too, Bledsoe says. “Parents are often overwhelmed because their children are preparing for such a different experience than they’ve had. Those parents aren’t always sure how to navigate the complexities of the system, so they’re grateful to get information and connect with people who can help them.”
James Muhammad found the grant and scholarship information particularly useful as his son, Jamaal, begins his junior year at the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas. Muhammad has always been actively involved in his son’s education, and when a teacher sent an email about the summit, he jumped at the chance to attend.
“The sessions helped clarify the steps he needs to take this year to prepare for the future,” he says.
According to the Action Research Center, the research arm of Bledsoe’s program, the Cutting Edge Youth Summit has helped 1,903 middle, high school and community college students since it was launched in 2011. Ninety-nine percent of student participants have earned a high school diploma, and 90 percent have gone on to college.
The University offers a portfolio of opportunities like the summit that show ambitious younger students from all walks of life that a college education is attainable.
Perhaps the best-known college access program is Upward Bound. This year, SMU celebrates 50 years of graduates of the program geared for high school students from low-income families or from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree. As students build the academic credentials they’ll need to succeed in a college classroom, they also develop the confidence and resilience they’ll rely on to attain goals throughout their lives.
High school students from Dallas, Garland, Lancaster and Duncanville school districts participate in SMU’s year-round Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math Science programs. In-school tutoring, college visits, Saturday academies and regular mentoring are designed to amp up students’ precollege scholastic performance and prepare them for postsecondary pursuits.
The proof of success is in the numbers: 90 percent of participants attend college after high school graduation. Even a campus visit can have a huge impact on young minds. “Just being on the SMU campus is exciting to so many students attending the summit,” Bledsoe says. “It can jumpstart the process of thinking about the future and saying, ‘Yes, I can see myself here.’”
SMU welcomes hundreds of youngsters from Dallas-area schools to campus each year so they can become acquainted with college life. One recent example is a special experience created by the University for about 200 eighth-graders and their teachers from Dallas’ Rusk Middle School. When the students dramatically improved their test scores, their teachers wanted to build on that academic momentum and reward their hard work with a trip to a college campus. But school district budget challenges stalled the plan.
That’s when SMU came to the rescue by arranging a campus visit like no other. The Rusk students participated in science and engineering demonstrations, visited with Head Football Coach Sonny Dykes and tossed some footballs in Ford Stadium, explored the campus during a scavenger hunt and learned about the importance of a college education from SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
At the end of the day, many of the youngsters vowed to return – as SMU students.
“Our message to students is that no dream is out of reach. We give them advice on the college
application process as well as tips for seeking out scholarships. We also talk to them about
channeling their passions as social innovators and leaders in their schools and the community.
Perhaps equally important, students are able to ‘see’ themselves on a college campus
and realize they have a rightful place here.”
As the daughter of parents serving in the military, Bledsoe grew up primarily in Germany. She learned the language and took advantage of the European location to travel extensively on the continent. That early exposure to different cultures shaped her global perspective and belief that travel is an invaluable teaching tool. Today, family vacations with husband Horace and their children Jeremiah, 14, and Jasmine, 8, often include tours of historical sites. They’ve recently traveled the path of the civil rights movement and visited the Lincoln Home historic district in Springfield, Illinois.
Her worldview also informs an international component of each youth summit. This year the focus was on opportunities across the globe in engineering and technology fields.
Bledsoe’s aim with the summit is to get kids excited about college the way that passion was ignited in her as a youngster.
In a thought-provoking presentation at TEDxSMUWomen in 2016, Bledsoe said, “To know who I am, you must know my grandmother.” Women’s issues were the focus of the event. Bledsoe, founder of the Black Women’s Collective, a creative arts group devoted to sharing the stories of women of color, discussed the power of narrative to bring the experiences of the underrepresented to light, an academic passion inspired by the matriarch.
She describes her grandmother, Johnnie Mae “M’dear” Lucas, as “her first teacher.” Lucas grew up during segregation, with few higher education options open to her, but she never gave up on her dream of becoming a teacher. When she decided to pursue a master’s degree, her entire family relocated to Houston so that she could attend Texas Southern University, a historically black public university. The trailblazer who prized her degrees made sure her granddaughter always understood the value of an education.
When Bledsoe was living abroad, summer vacations were reserved for spending time with Lucas in Texas.
Thanks to her grandmother, she was steeped in great literature from an early age, especially the poetry of Langston Hughes. Bledsoe remembers hearing her friends playing outside while she was inside, following her grandmother’s “summer school” curriculum, which included a robust reading list and book reports. One of the books she was assigned to read was a biography of Mary McCloud Bethune, a story that became pivotal to her own story.
Bethune was “one of the most important black educators, civil and women’s rights leaders and government officials of the 20th century,” according to the National Women’s Museum. “The college she founded set educational standards for today’s black colleges, and her role as an advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave African Americans an advocate in government.”
“I was blown away when I first read about her and how she used education to open doors of opportunity for others,” Bledsoe says. “Her commitment to education, access and the community has inspired my work to this day.”
Bledsoe’s grandmother died at 97, but she lived long enough to see her favorite pupil earn three degrees: Bledsoe received a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, her MLS from SMU and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Southern California. Candice Bledsoe and members of the SMU community shared their insights with students attending the Cutting Edge Youth Summit at SMU in April.
Her academic research explores the impact of race, gender and class in higher education contexts. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment of the Humanities, New Leadership Academy, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan and Boone Texas Project for Human Rights Education.
In 2013, she was honored with a Profiles of Community Leadership Award, presented by the SMU Women’s Symposium. The award celebrates the accomplishments of women who have made a significant impact on the city of Dallas and on the quality of life for women overall.
So much of what drives Bledsoe circles back to the example set by her grandmother and the wisdom she shared.
“She taught me that without a college education, my options would be limited, and that stuck with me,” she says.
It’s a message she stresses today when guiding aspiring college students.
The right mentor can make all the difference, says James Samuel ’19, a double major in political science and advertising at SMU. He’s in his thirties and met Bledsoe through her husband. Samuel had attended a Texas community college and was on the fence about pursuing a bachelor’s degree.
“I kept second-guessing myself and making excuses, like ‘I’m not ready’ or ‘I can’t afford it.’ Candice talked me through that. She told me I had to get out there and try.”
He did, and SMU has been a great fit for him.
“It’s like you become a member of the family at SMU. Everyone is so willing to help you succeed,” Samuel says. “When you show a passion for a subject, there is an army of people ready to help you pursue your goals. I never thought I’d have the opportunities I’ve had at SMU, and I’ll be forever grateful to Candice for her confidence in me.”
Neha Husein ’19 turned Just Drive, her mobile app that rewards users who lock their phones while driving, into a full-time career. In the summer, she’ll participate in a Women’s Business Enterprise National Council program in Washington, D.C., then return to Dallas to focus on building app usage and expanding rewards partnerships. By Nancy Lowell George ’79
Neha Husein ’19 gripped the steering wheel as her car jolted forward, hit from behind on one of Dallas’ busiest and most dangerous freeways. Shaken, but not injured, the high school senior surveyed the significant damage to her car. The cause of the crash? The driver behind her was texting while driving.
The SMU senior admits to being “a little paranoid” on the road since that 2014 collision. That unease eventually inspired her to develop Just Drive, a mobile app that awards points to drivers who lock their phones while driving. Users redeem points for coupons and gift cards for food, drinks and merchandise.
In less than a year, Husein piloted Just Drive from a class assignment into a viable startup. Along the way, SMU’s innovation ecosystem put her on track for success. Her venture won financial awards from SMU, and faculty mentors helped steer her in the right direction. She even tapped into the Mustang alumni network to bring her idea to life.
Her enterprising spirit also shines through in her academic passions. She’s a double major in marketing in the Cox School of Business and human rights in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. “People sometimes question my combination of majors,” Husein says. “When they do, I point out that so much of my campus involvement – everything from planning and organizing cultural awareness events to serving as the social media and marketing coordinator for the Embrey Human Rights Program – demonstrates how beautifully they mesh together.”
In fact, her mobile app started out as a paper for her “Ethics and Human Rights” class, taught by Brad Klein, associate director of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights program. A requirement for human rights majors, the course examines ethics as part of everyday life, work and relationships. The final project challenges students to develop something that will benefit society and create a proposal for implementation.
“Neha came to class with an embryo of an idea based on an experience that touched her deeply,” Klein says. “I encourage students to develop projects that match their skills. As a marketing major, she brought the skills to develop and market an app. By the end of the class she had everything in place – goals, timeline, funding, partnerships.”
She also had a new identity as a social entrepreneur.
Husein aims to change drivers’ behavior through positive reinforcement. Just Drive users collect points that can be redeemed for products and services, so they are rewarding themselves for resisting the temptation to use their phones.
According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDoT), one in five car crashes in 2017 was attributable to people behind the wheel not paying attention while they were driving, and cellphone use was a top reason. Distracted driving resulted in 100,687 accidents, 444 deaths and 2,889 serious injuries.
It is now illegal for drivers to read, write or send a text and drive in Texas, but many can’t seem to break their bad habits. The state has issued hundreds of citations and thousands of warnings since the law went into effect last fall.
TXDoT statistics show that drivers ages 16 to 34 are most likely to text while driving, but Husein is betting the app will appeal to all ages. “Expecting incentives is a generational thing, but it’s a human thing, too,” she says. “People enjoy rewards.”
Her incentive-based approach struck a chord with judges at SMU’s Big Ideas pitch contest, where she won $1,000 for her 90-second elevator speech about her app. The multi-stage competition is part of SMU’s Engaged Learning program, a campus-wide experiential learning initiative that encourages students to turn their passions into signature projects.
Her project mentor, SMU law professor Keith Robinson, a specialist in patent, intellectual property (IP) and technology law, co-directs the Tsai Center for Law, Science and Innovation in SMU’s Dedman School of Law. He also teaches a class for law students on designing legal apps.
“I like people who show initiative and are willing to bet on themselves,” says Robinson, who met weekly with Husein to discuss IP issues and trademark application. “Neha has developed an app for a relatable problem, one that can save lives.”
Husein grew up with an entrepreneurial mindset. As a child, the Carrollton, Texas, native manned a toy cash register alongside her father at his convenience store. He was on hand to see his daughter present her business plan during the second stage of the Big iDdeas competition – and win $5,000 in seed funding.
“I had the biggest smile in the room,” says her father, Malik Husein. “I am so proud of her.”
Memories of her father pulling over to offer assistance whenever he saw someone on the roadside with car trouble influenced her desire to help others, she says. Husein counts herself fortunate to have grown up in a multigenerational household, with the support and guidance of her parents and two sets of grandparents. Her SMU activities reflect her caring spirit and the examples of community engagement she grew up with. Husein begins her third year as a resident adviser at Kathy Crow Commons this fall. She was the president of Circle K International service organization and has performed community service as a Caswell Leadership Fellow and Human Rights Community Outreach Fellow. She is also a Hilltop Scholar, which recognizes academic achievement and commitment to service, and a McNair Scholar, a University undergraduate research program.
“People sometimes question my combination of majors. When they do, I point out that so much of
my campus involvement – everything from planning and organizing cultural awareness events to serving
as the social media and marketing coordinator for the Embrey Human Rights Program – demonstrates how beautifully they mesh together.”
In March, Husein was invited to share Just Drive on one of the world’s biggest stages for entrepreneurs, South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin. Red Bull selected Husein and seven other Texas college students to participate in its SXSW Launch Institute, a three-day workshop filled with one-on-one mentoring, idea pitching and media training.
“I was able to refine my pitch and iron out some of the details about Just Drive that I hadn’t even thought about,” she says.
She also experienced a game-changing transformation.
“My mindset shifted from student to entrepreneur,” she says. “Instead of introducing myself as a college student and handing out my résumé, I began handing out my business card.”
In the spring, she focused on moving her concept into development. A mutual friend introduced her to Jayce Miller ’16, ’18, a software engineer at Toyota Connected by day and an app wizard by night. Miller, who earned undergraduate degrees in accounting and math as well as a master’s degree in computer science from SMU, has enjoyed the creative challenge.
“We’ve had to find the right balance between ease of use and control,” he explains. “Some similar apps go to the extreme, making it almost impossible to use your phone at all. Others basically give you points regardless, so that defeats the purpose. Our goal is to make something that people will use again and again, which also encourages the safe driving goal.”
He applauds Husein for laying the groundwork for a strong launch. “It could be the best piece of technology in the world, but it only matters if people know about it, and Neha has done a fine job of getting people interested.”
She credits her Cox affiliation with helping her stand out at networking events. “It’s so easy to connect with someone who has taken the same managerial accounting course, from the same professor, as you,” she says.
Over the summer, she pitched prospective restaurant and retail partners when she wasn’t working as a business systems analyst intern for global marketing giant Epsilon in Irving, Texas.
Her goal is to have a consumer-ready app before the end of the year and expand it beyond the Dallas area.
“After graduation, I hope to create an ambassadorship program at local high schools, colleges and driving schools to emphasize the importance of undistracted driving,” she says. “I also hope to continue to upgrade and promote Just Drive until distracted driving becomes a thing of the past.”
Geothermal scientist Andrés Ruzo ’09 is described as “a restless spirit” whose passions for science and adventure drive the online photo essays he creates for National Geographic. In the first of the four-part series, he talks about what sparked his interest in the rugged land of fire and ice – Iceland. Ruzo earned undergraduate degrees from SMU in finance and geology and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. EXCERPT
I’ve always dreaded the question, “Where are you from?” For me there is no easy answer. My life has always varied among Peru, Nicaragua, and the United States. I am Peruvian on my dad’s side, Nicaraguan on my mom’s side, and I live in the U.S. My life continues to be shaped by all three countries.
My first real link to geothermal science started as a kid in Nicaragua. My big, agricultural family is from northern Nicaragua and, among other things, we grow coffee on the Casita Volcano. Some of my most vivid childhood memories happened there.
As a child, I would regularly spend my summers on the coffee farm, playing with my cousins in the jungles on the flank of the volcano. My favorite place was the Casita’s geothermal field, which is full of fumaroles (steaming openings in the ground emitting hot, volcanic gases) and hot springs. There, the intensity of earth’s heat made it impossible for trees to grow, and the area seemed barren compared to the lush jungle surrounding it. We would throw things in fumaroles and watch the steam blast them away. We’d throw hot geothermal mud at each another. Once, we even cooked eggs in a hot spring.
The beginning of the new school year is just around the corner, and faculty, staff and returning students are preparing to welcome the Class of 2022 to the Hilltop.
Here are some important dates to remember in the coming weeks:
SMU’s Meadows Museum will present its first-ever gala, “The Color of Dreams,” on Saturday, October 13, to raise funds to endow a director of education position. The theme is inspired by the art of Salvador Dalí, whose paintings will be on view in Dalí: Poetics of the Small, 1929-1936, opening at the museum on September 9.The gala will be chaired by Pilar Henry, with Peggy ’72 and Carl Sewell ’66 serving as honorary chairs. With decor by Fleurt by Margaret Ryder, the black-tie event will kick off with a cocktail reception on the plaza featuring dance performances by SMU students and an exclusive musical performance, followed by a seated dinner in the Museum’s galleries catered by Cassandra Fine Catering. After dinner, the evening will continue with live music by Cuvee and dancing.
Mark Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum, said the new endowment will “ensure strong leadership of the museum’s education and outreach efforts in perpetuity, establishing a healthy financial base from which to recruit and retain the highest-quality staff and allowing the museum to direct more resources toward its exceptional programming endeavors.”
The Meadows Museum’s education director plays a significant role in the life of the museum, he said, interpreting the art to make it understood by audiences that range from scholars to children to adults. In addition, they generate all the tours, programming, lectures and educational infrastructure, and are knowledgeable about the permanent collections as well as visiting exhibitions. They also work with departments throughout the University and collaborate with institutions throughout the world.
The museum annually hosts thousands of visitors, teachers, and K-12 and SMU students through symposia, lectures, workshops, gallery talks and guided tours. “For many school students who come through the museum, it’s the first time they’ve stepped on a campus or visited a fine arts museum,” Roglán says. Additionally, it has received recognition for its accessible programming and resources that welcome audiences of all abilities, with a particular focus on adults with early stage dementia and their care partners, and visitors who are blind or have low vision. “Endowment of the director of education position, currently held by Scott Winterrowd, will liberate funds used now to cover his salary to enable us to expand and better focus our offerings for our SMU audiences,” he says. “With the allocation of resources toward campus partnerships, we can ensure that large portions of SMU students are engaging in learning at the museum and can create new initiatives that forward the mission of the museum and University.” Find more information about the gala, including sponsorship opportunities, at the Meadows Museum.
The Dallas Regional Chamber, Accenture, SMU and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas released the results of the DFW Regional Innovation Study, which provides a strategy roadmap to accelerate the growth of North Texas’ innovation economy and bolster its reputation as a hub for innovation excellence.
The study – a six-month-long research project that included stakeholder interviews and analysis of the DFW economy and other global cities — found that the region’s thriving innovation economy results from the diversity of its industries, a skilled and growing workforce, a collection of accelerators and co-working spaces, investment capital, robust academic institutions, and top-ranked arts and culture scenes. The results also suggest that there is additional opportunity to bolster the region’s reputation as a magnet for innovation into the future.
However, it notes that staying ahead of the curve in today’s digital era — with the rapid pace of change and fierce competition — requires that a successful innovation economy combine several key ingredients: growing and flooding the ecosystem with the right talent; creating areas of density for that talent to “collide” to generate creative and innovative ideas; and providing access to funding and resources to allow those ideas to flourish and scale. Read more at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.
In a breakthrough development, SMU’s Stephen Sekula and his group of researchers in the SMU Department of Physics were part of the ATLAS Experiment team to first observe the direct interaction between the Higgs boson and the bottom quark. This major milestone is an important step toward understanding the origins of mass.
The discovery of the latest piece of the cosmic puzzle was helped along by Sekula’s recent work involving an abundance of data from the Large Hadron Collider, the most powerful particle accelerator in the world.
“At this point, taking more data wasn’t the primary issue,” explains Sekula. “This is a measurement that’s challenged by the fact that you can’t see clearly what is in the data. For the past year, we have been focused on improving the lens for this process so we really know where to look for the Higgs boson-bottom quark interaction.”
This is where SMU’s supercomputer, ManeFrame II, came into play. “In the last year, Maneframe II has been immensely helpful,” says Sekula. “It made it possible to enhance our simulation in ways that were more targeted.” Read more at Dedman College.
A new pilot study by SMU scientists indicates that simple cognitive tasks performed as early as four days after a brain injury activate the region that improves memory function and may guard against developing depression or anxiety.
Currently, guidelines recommend that traumatic brain injury patients get plenty of rest and avoid physical and cognitive activity until symptoms subside.
But a new SMU study looking at athletes with concussions suggests total inactivity may not be the best way to recover after all.
“Right now, if you have a concussion the directive is to have complete physical and cognitive rest, no activities, no social interaction, to let your brain rest and recover from the energy crisis as a result of the injury,” said SMU physiologist Sushmita Purkayastha, who led the research, which was funded by the Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.
“But what we saw, the student athletes came in on approximately the third day of their concussion and the test was not stressful for them. None of the patients complained about any symptom aggravation as a result of the task. Their parasympathetic nervous system — which regulates automatic responses such as heart rate when the body is at rest — was activated, which is a good sign,” said Purkayastha, an assistant professor in the Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness. Read more at SMU Research.
Senior football player Jordan Wyatt ’19 was selected as a nominee for the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.
The student-athletes nominated for the honor were announced by the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).
To qualify, nominees not only demonstrate a unique dedication to community service and desire to make a positive impact on the lives around them, but they also show tremendous perseverance as well as the ability to overcome personal struggles and come out victorious against all odds.
Wyatt has participated in various community service activities at SMU, including visits to youth clinics and participation in Habitat for Humanity projects.
The 22 finalists will be named in September. Afterward, fans will be able to vote for the Good Works Team Captain. Read more at SMU Athletics.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will open a new exhibition November 9, revealing how millions of years ago, large-scale natural forces created the conditions for real-life sea monsters to thrive in the South Atlantic Ocean basin shortly after it formed. Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas will offer visitors the opportunity to dive into Cretaceous Angola’s cool coastal waters, examine the fossils of striking marine reptiles that once lived there and learn about the forces that continue to mold life in the ocean and on land.
Over 134 million years ago, the South Atlantic Ocean basin did not yet exist. Africa and South America were one contiguous landmass on the verge of separating. As the two continents drifted apart, an entirely new marine environment — the South Atlantic — emerged in the vast space created between them. This newly formed ocean basin would soon be colonized by a dizzying array of ferocious predators and an abundance of other lifeforms seizing the opportunity presented by a new ocean habitat.
“Because of our planet’s ever-shifting geology, Angola’s coastal cliffs contain the fossil remains of marine creatures from the prehistoric South Atlantic,” said Kirk Johnson, the Sant Director of the museum. “We are honored by the generosity of the Angolan people for sharing a window into this part of the Earth’s unfolding story with our visitors.” Read more at SMU Research
A puzzle-solving smartphone game designed by SMU and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) experts to teach struggling adults to read was today named one of five finalists in an international competition. Codex: The Lost Words of Atlantis is a finalist for the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE presented by Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
A recent pilot study at SMU found that low-literate, English-language learner adults who played the game for two or more hours a week significantly improved their literacy skills after eight weeks. Anecdotal evidence also shows their improved reading skills also have improved their lives, ranging from a grandmother who finally gained the confidence to speak with her granddaughter in English, to co-workers who praised a participant’s improved language skills.
“Clearly we are very proud to have advanced in this important competition,” says Stephanie Knight, dean of SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development, which provided faculty expertise in the literacy and instructional design of the game. “We are committed to finding a successful, accessible teaching tool for low-literacy adults. And we know we are on the right track when we hear that one of our study participants gets to hear her children clap every time her reading skills improve enough for her to advance in the game.”
Finalists were selected based on field-testing performance. The SMU-LIFT team will be recognized Saturday, June 23 at the American Library Association annual meeting in New Orleans, along with the other finalists. Each finalist will be awarded a $100,000 prize.
In January 2019, X-Prize will present the team with the most effective app with $3 million, plus $1 million apiece to the apps with the best performance among native English speakers and non-native speakers. Read more about People ForWords in SMU Magazine.
SMU Guildhall, the top ranked graduate school for video game design in the world, in collaboration with eGency Global, one of North America’s most experienced esports production, marketing and talent management firms, have announced the launch of OP Live Dallas — a premier esports event featuring high-level professional competition, a 16-team collegiate tournament, a hackathon for high-schoolers and a showcase for the work of SMU Guildhall master’s degree candidates in interactive technology.
OP Live Dallas will run September 22-23, 2018 on the main floor of the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas.
“We are excited to be part of this collaborative effort with eGency Global,” said Mark Nausha, Deputy Director of GameLab at SMU Guildhall. “OP Live will be interactive, immersive, and unique from typical esports events. We look forward to bringing this awesome fan experience to the Dallas area.”
Through their collaboration, eGency Global and SMU Guildhall will offer esports fans a unique and more robust experience than traditional esports events, the collaborators say. Beyond the interactive and engaging experience, OP Live Dallas will also showcase the multitude of career opportunities available to video game and esports devotees. SMU Guildhall alumni work for the biggest names in the video gaming industry, as well as in gamification sectors in a multitude of other industries like tech, education, business and medical. Read more at SMU News.
Honor those who serve our country and communities by purchasing football tickets through the 7-Eleven Seats for Heroes program, and make plans to attend the Salute to Our Heroes game on September 22 against Navy and the First Responders Appreciation game against Houston Baptist on September 29 during Family Weekend. Read more and purchase tickets at SMU Athletics.
Mission trips are about leaving a place better than you found it, building relationships, appreciating a different culture and discovering a new perspective. In May, a group of student-athletes and staff did just that while helping the village of Silver Creek in Belize as Courts for Kids volunteers.
For some, it was the first time outside of the United States. For others, it was the first time without vacation plans or an athletics team jersey to compete in scheduled games or events. The trip only lasted 10 days, but the adventure will have a lifelong impact on both the people of Silver Creek and the travelers from SMU.
Swimmer Keegan Pho said about the time in Silver Creek, “Living in Silver Creek Village allowed me to experience and become immersed in a different culture. I will be forever changed. There is something special about the universal language of kindness.”
Swimmer Nathan Ciatti described the as transformative. “I am walking away from a 10-day service trip with lifelong friends that I am interconnected with on a whole different level than my teammates and other friends back home… Throughout our many nightly conversations after dinner, it was very evident that this trip heavily impacted all of us.” Read more at SMU Athletics.
Higher empathy people appear to process music like a pleasurable proxy for a human encounter — in the brain regions for reward, social awareness and regulation of social emotions, according to a study by researchers at SMU and UCLA.
The researchers found that compared to low empathy people, those with higher empathy process familiar music with greater involvement of the reward system of the brain, as well as in areas responsible for processing social information.
“High-empathy and low-empathy people share a lot in common when listening to music, including roughly equivalent involvement in the regions of the brain related to auditory, emotion, and sensory-motor processing,” said lead author Zachary Wallmark, an assistant professor in the SMU Meadows School of the Arts.
But there is at least one significant difference.
Highly empathic people process familiar music with greater involvement of the brain’s social circuitry, such as the areas activated when feeling empathy for others. They also seem to experience a greater degree of pleasure in listening, as indicated by increased activation of the reward system. Read more at SMU Research.
MinJun Kim builds the type of “nanoscale transformers” that once existed only in the vivid imaginations of science fiction writers. Kim, a professor of mechanical engineering and the Robert C. Womack Chair in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, creates tiny robots “that may one day perform surgery, deliver drugs directly to tumors and help doctors see what’s happening inside the body’s hardest-to-reach spaces,” according to a story published by The Dallas Morning News on June 1, 2018. EXCERPT:
By Anna Kuchment Science Writer The Dallas Morning News
MinJun Kim says he “got a shock” in graduate school when he discovered the science fiction film Fantastic Voyage.
In the movie, a submarine crew shrinks down to miniature size and travels through a scientist’s body to save him from a dangerous blood clot in his brain.
Today, Kim builds robots the size of particles, viruses and microbes that are capable of doing many of the same things as the Fantastic Voyage crew. He creates tiny devices — about 500 times thinner than a human hair — that may one day perform surgery, deliver drugs directly to tumors and help doctors see what’s happening inside the body’s hardest-to-reach spaces.
“They are kind of like nanoscale transformers,” says Kim, 46, a professor at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. He’s a fan of sci-fi and credits films like Fantastic Voyage, Inner Space and Big Hero 6 for inspiring his work. He was surprised that the makers of Fantastic Voyage, which came out in 1966, could have foreseen many of the projects he’s working on today.
Peng Tao, assistant professor in SMU’s Department of Chemistry, received the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support his research in fighting antimicrobial resistance. Tao’s innovative strategy involves developing computational methods and an advanced theoretical framework to predict protein evolution.
“There are a special group of proteins called beta-lactamases in bacteria causing infections,” explains Tao. “The main function of these proteins is destroying antibiotics. And these proteins evolve very quickly leading to so-called ‘superbugs’. We are developing theoretical models to understand how these proteins carry out their functions as machines and predict how these machines may evolve when encountering new antibiotics. If successful, our models could be used by other researchers and pharmaceutical companies to develop new generation of antibiotics with low or even no antimicrobial resistance.”
The insight this research yields will have instrumental applications in the advancement of biomedical and pharmaceutical development.
In addition, Tao and his team are equipping and encouraging future scientists by developing online educational tools and conducting social media outreach to make science education more widely available for students and general public.
Read more at the National Science Foundation.
Paleobotanist Bonnie Jacobs, professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, has been named a Paleontological Society Fellow for her contributions to the field of Cenozoic paleobotany as well as her stellar mentorship of students and postdoctoral researchers. She was particularly lauded for her transformative research on the Cenozoic vegetation and climate of Africa.
“The research I am working on with colleagues and students is aimed at understanding how tropical ecosystems in Africa came to be what they are today, and more specifically, how they were impacted in the past by global climate changes, first and foremost,” explains Jacobs. “I am always thrilled by the discovery of new fossils, but the most joyful, rewarding part of my work comes from friendships developed through shared experiences in the field, and through collaboration in research. There is great fun in that, and in learning from others, including postdocs and students. The work and these relationships have been and are a tremendous part of my life, I am very grateful for that, and it is what makes the honor of this award so sweet.”
The Paleontological Society selects fellows who have made significant contributions to paleontology through research, teaching, or service to the profession. Jacobs has been a member of the Paleontological Society for more than a decade and is one of three fellows to be elected this year.
Dancer Kelly Zitka ’15 intended to land a job in marketing, but the allure of the stage won out. SMU Meadows recently profiled the up-and-coming performer who has added acting and singing to her repertoire with an eye toward a career in musical theater on Broadway. EXCERPT:
By Diamond Victoria
Launching from the classroom to the Big Apple, Meadows alumna Kelly Zitka knows that perseverance and a little spontaneity can help to find footing in the world of performance art.
The dance and business major now calls New York home, and is learning more about the world of dance theater through rigorous training and auditioning. Staying in New York for good, however, was never part of her original plan. But with growing insight into her art, Zitka is betting that risking uncertainty can pay off.
Zitka traveled to New York at the end of January for what she considered a temporary refresher in dance training and auditioning. “It was kind of a spontaneous decision and I thought I would only stay for a month. But now, I’m not sure if I plan on leaving,” she says.
At the all-University Commencement ceremony on May 19, featured speaker Randall L. Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, challenged members of the Class of 2018 to “make every effort not to live your life in a straight line.” The day was filled with hugs, laughter and pony ears as the new graduates looked back on their four exciting years on the Hilltop and forward to their futures as world changers.
Since rising to the position of CEO in 2007, Stephenson has guided AT&T through a number of major milestones, including the ongoing acquisition of Time Warner, the 2015 acquisition of DIRECTV, and the purchase of Mexican wireless companies to create a North American network.
Stephenson also has led AT&T’s breakthrough “It Can Wait” campaign – an awareness program educating drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. The program has amassed more than 19 million pledges of support.
“We are honored to have a pioneering business and technology leader of Mr. Stephenson’s stature as featured speaker at Commencement,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “He is a striking example of what can be accomplished when someone possesses a clear vision of where they want to go. I know he will inspire each of our graduating students to form their own grand vision of what they want to accomplish in their lives with the knowledge they’ve acquired at SMU.”
AT&T contributed $2.5 million to SMU in 2016 to endow the AT&T Center for Virtualization and fund its research into the fast, reliable cloud-based telecommunications necessary for global activity. SMU and AT&T have also partnered with other organizations to create the Payne Stewart SMU Golf Training Center at the Trinity Forest Golf Club, which will become home to the PGA Tour’s Byron Nelson this year and annually host NCAA invitational tournaments and additional high-profile professional and amateur events.
Stephenson began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone in 1982 in Oklahoma. He served as the company’s senior executive vice president and chief financial officer from 2001 to 2004, and from 2004 to 2007 as chief operating officer. He was appointed to AT&T’s board of directors in 2005.
Stephenson is a member of the PGA TOUR Policy Board and National Chairman of the Boy Scouts of America. He received his B.S. in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma and his Master of Accountancy from the University of Oklahoma.
SMU awarded more than 2,500 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in the University-wide ceremony. The University’s individual schools and departments hosted diploma ceremonies throughout the day. Related coverage:
Combined gifts of $4 million will create the new Robert B. Rowling Center for Business Law and Leadership in SMU’s Dedman School of Law to train the next generation of prominent legal and business leaders and influence national conversations surrounding business and corporate law.
At the request of an anonymous donor who made the lead gift, the center is being named in honor of Dallas businessman Robert B. Rowling, owner and Chairman of TRT Holdings, Inc., which is the holding company for the Omni Hotels and Resorts chain as well as Gold’s Gym International. He received an undergraduate degree in business before graduating from SMU’s Dedman School of Law in 1979.
The lead donor asked Mr. Rowling the favor of sharing his name with the new center to reflect that Mr. Rowling exemplifies the type of business achievement, community engagement and civic contribution that future participants in the center’s programs should strive to emulate.
“Bob Rowling is the perfect example of the combined skills that will be the focus of the new center,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Today’s law students will be navigating careers that we cannot even imagine at the moment. They need training in ethical leadership, business analytics and entrepreneurship to develop the skills they will need to be successful. The Rowling Center has a role to play in shaping the future of business and corporate law.”
The Rowling Center will enrich the School’s existing curriculum, and include new leadership training to highlight professionalism and “soft skills,” as well as empirical training to teach core business skills. The program will build on the legal and business acumen centered in Dallas, collaborating with SMU’s Cox School of Business to provide an interdisciplinary approach. The center also will enhance Dedman Law’s mentoring program and provide new opportunities for students to connect with SMU’s extensive network of highly successful alumni and supporters. Read more at SMU News.
Continuing The Ascent: Recommendations for Enhancing the Academic Quality and Stature of Southern Methodist University, a report by SMU President R. Gerald Turner and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Steven C. Currall, presents a set of 14 bold recommendations for further raising SMU’s standing relative to other universities.
“This is our time to rise even higher,” Turner said. “There’s more to do to strengthen our already fine academic quality, and to bolster our local, national and global impact.”
The recommendations, discussed and vetted for more than a year among the SMU community via task force work, forums and town halls, address four categories:
Enhancing the Quality of Undergraduates and Their Educational Experience
Strengthening Faculty, Research and Creative Impact at SMU
Enhancing the Quality of Graduate Students and Their Educational Experience
Deepening Innovative Community Partnerships and Engagement
Each recommendation briefly compares SMU with its peers and aspirants, and includes estimated costs.
“The SMU Community contributed extensively to, and informed the development of our recommendations,” Currall said. “This report represents our collective vision of SMU’s futureand how to further elevate SMU’s excellence in scholarship, creative activity, teaching, and societal impact.” Read Continuing the Ascent.
Jasmine Liu ’18 came to the Hilltop from Fuzhou No. 5 High School in Fuzhou, China, to major in accounting and physics and intended to pursue a career in the corporate world. However, after joining physicist Robert Kehoe’s research team, she was star struck. Fueled by SMU’s high-performance computing power, her work helped reveal a variable star in the Pegasus constellation. Now she sees graduate school in either astrophysics or astronomy in her future.
Story by Kathleen Tibbetts
Invisible to the naked eye, the variable star ROTSE1 J000831.43+223154.8 flickers in the northern sky. It hides within an ancient star map formed, it was said, when the king of the gods transformed his most heroic steed into a constellation.
For Jasmine Liu ’18 – an SMU physics student and Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholar – it represents a crowning achievement in her University career.
As a student living in Dallas, it was fitting that her work helped unveil a variable star in the Pegasus constellation. The city of Dallas long ago adopted the winged horse of Greek song and story as its own – not as a myth but as a symbol of striving, of inspiration, of looking ever upward.
It seems especially appropriate for Liu, who found her calling in the night sky after arriving in Dallas to study business.
Liu came to the Hilltop from Fuzhou No. 5 High School in Fuzhou, China to major in accounting and physics. With a degree from SMU’s Cox School of Business in hand, she planned to return home after graduation and pursue a career in the corporate world, as both her parents had.
But Liu, a math lover, soon discovered that she didn’t find the arithmetic of accounting quite challenging enough. And she was questioning the wisdom of trying to manage double majors in business and one of the natural sciences. “It just left me a little too busy,” she says.
By her second summer in Dallas, she’d made her next big discovery: the opportunity to work with SMU physicist Robert Kehoe in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences as a 2016 Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholar. A long discussion with Dr. Kehoe about cosmology and astrophysics convinced her to take on work as his undergraduate research assistant.
“I really wanted to give it a shot,” she says. “I could have spent the summer doing nothing, but it seemed really meaningful to do this instead.”
Read more at SMU News.
Three new officers and three new trustees were named to SMU’s Board of Trustees during the board’s spring meeting on May 4. The Board also passed a resolution to honor two former members as trustees emeriti.
Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 has been elected as chair, David B. Miller ’72, ’73 was elected as vice-chair, and Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79 was elected as secretary. Officers are elected for one-year terms and are eligible for re-election up to four consecutive terms in any respective office.
The new officers will begin their one-year terms on June 1, and preside over the September 14 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
New trustee Bradley W. Brookshire ’76 will fill the vacancy left by the death of longtime SMU trustee Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48. The Board’s new ex officio faculty representative is Faculty Senate President Dayna Oscherwitz, French area chair in the Department of World Languages and Literatures, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Ben Manthey ’09, ’19 will serve as ex officio student trustee.
Concluding their board service are Paul Krueger, past-president of the SMU Faculty Senate and professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering; and student trustee Andrew B. Udofa ’18.
The SMU Board of Trustees also passed a resolution naming Linda Pitts Custard ’60, ’99 and Alan D. Feld ’57, ’60 as trustees emeriti. Read more at SMU News.
University of Connecticut Associate Dean of Libraries Holly Jeffcoat, a leader in the use of technology in instruction and library services, has been selected as the next dean of SMU Libraries. She will assume her new duties August 1, 2018.
“Holly Jeffcoat has deep leadership skills, as well as broad administrative experience in the library system of a highly ranked research institution,” said SMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Steven C. Currall. “She will lead SMU Libraries in forging a collective vision in line with SMU’s goals for even greater academic quality.”
SMU President R. Gerald Turner lauded Jeffcoat’s strategic vision.
“Holly is wonderfully forward thinking in her understanding of the role of technology in libraries now and in the future,” Turner said. Read more at SMU News.
The SMU Cox School of Business honored four alumni at the school’s annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon hosted on May 11 at the Collins Executive Center on the SMU campus.
Pictured from left are Clark Hunt ’87, Kris Lowe ’04, ’14, James M. “Jim” Johnston ’70, ’71 and Jeff Owens ’01, ’02. SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni 2018 Clark Hunt (BBA ’87) is the chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League and FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. He is a leading voice among NFL owners and a founding investor-operator in Major League Soccer. His love of soccer was evident in college, as he served as captain of what was then the Mustangs’ nationally-ranked soccer team. He was a four-year letterman, and graduated first in his class at SMU, graduating in 1987 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. Hunt has served as a member of the SMU Board of Trustees since 2004, and he’s a longtime member of the Cox Executive Board. In 2004, the Cox School honored Hunt as an Outstanding Young Alumnus. With the 2018 award as Distinguished Alumnus, Hunt becomes only the third alumnus in SMU Cox history to receive both accolades. James M. “Jim” Johnston (BBA ’70, MBA ’71) became president of Methodist Health System Foundation in November 2016. Before joining the Methodist Foundation, Johnston was a 40-year mainstay in the Dallas banking industry. He began his career at Republic Bank of Texas, where he held various corporate executive positions. Later, he was named regional chair of Frost Bank, and subsequently, he served as board vice chair for Bank of Texas. He came to SMU on a football scholarship, and became not only a star player, but a dedicated student. Johnston completed his BBA in Marketing in 1970, and went on to earn an MBA in Finance the following year. He has served as chair of the SMU Mustang Club, the Lettermen’s Association, the Planned Giving Council and the Athletics Hall of Fame. He currently serves on the Cox Executive Board. SMU Cox Outstanding Young Alumni 2018 Kris Lowe (BBA ’04, EMBA ’14) is a director in the Dallas office of HFF, a U.S. and European commercial real estate capital intermediary. In his four years at HFF, he’s participated in the execution of more than $5.5 billion in commercial real estate transactions. Before he went to work for HFF, Lowe served for seven years as the CFO of SMU Athletics. During that time, he got his Executive MBA degree, the second of two degrees he earned from SMU Cox. His first was his Bachelor of Business Administration in 2004. He was originally recruited to SMU to play basketball, and remained with the Mustangs through college. Today, Lowe is active with the Cox Folsom Institute for Real Estate, serving on its executive and associate boards. Jeff Owens (BBA ’01, MSA ’02) is a partner at Armanino, the fastest growing public accounting firm and one of the top 25 largest accounting and business firms in the country. He leads the Dallas audit department and concentrates on serving the nonprofit and technology sectors. Owens started his career working with KPMG in Sydney, Australia. He earned his BBA in 2001 and the next year, graduated with his Master of Science in Accounting—both at the Cox School. He stays active with SMU and serves on the Cox School Accounting Department’s Alumni and Professional Advisory Board.
More than 10,000 donors supported SMU in 2017–2018, creating extraordinary possibilities across the SMU community. Thank you for making the Horsepower Challenge such a success!
Jeff Bezos, chairman and CEO of Amazon, was the featured speaker at the Closing Conversation of the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Forum on Leadership, in partnership with SMU.
Described as “one of this generation’s leading visionaries,” Bezos talked about the ways in which he thinks our world will change and some of his most ambitious upcoming projects. Bush Center CEO Kenneth Hersh moderated the discussion on April 20 in Moody Coliseum.
The three-day Forum, hosted by President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, is an annual gathering to develop, recognize and celebrate leadership. This year’s Forum coincided with Founders’ Day Weekend, during which the University celebrated the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the SMU campus. MORE:
A $400,000 challenge from longtime SMU supporters Carl Sewell ’66 and Peggy Higgins Sewell ’72 has generated more than $834,000 in gifts and pledges for merit-based scholarships combined with unique programming for academically gifted students in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
Dedman College Scholars are chosen to inspire their peers, challenge their professors and contribute to the university’s academic reputation. The new funding will allow SMU to offer 20 new four-year scholarships, effectively doubling the number available in past years.
“The Sewells’ call to action, and the response of 17 new donors and donor families who met their challenge, is giving us the opportunity to offer admission in fall 2018 to the largest group of Dedman Scholars in SMU history,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “These scholarships are a great opportunity for the recipients, but our Dedman Scholars also enrich the University as a whole.”
Carl Sewell, an SMU trustee, issued the challenge November 27, 2017, after the summer launch of the Pony Power initiative to raise more current-use funds for initiatives such as scholarships, faculty research and rewarding student experiences. The Sewells vowed to match every dollar in gifts and pledges up to $400,000 made by new donors to the Dedman College Scholars program by September 1; however new donors stepped up to meet the challenge and committed $434,614 before April 1. Read more at SMU News.
The Meadows Museum will present its inaugural Masterpiece Gala, “The Color of Dreams,” on October 13 to establish an endowment for the museum’s director of education position. The event, presented by Sewell Automotive, will include cocktails, a seated dinner, world-class entertainment and dancing.
The endowment will ensure strong leadership of the museum’s education and outreach efforts in perpetuity, establishing a healthy financial base from which to recruit and retain the highest-quality staff and allowing the Museum to direct more resources toward its exceptional programming endeavors. The Meadows Museum annually hosts thousands of visitors, teachers and K-12 and SMU students through symposia, lectures, workshops, gallery talks, and guided tours.
Additionally, it has received recognition for its accessible programming and resources that welcome audiences of all abilities, with a particular focus on adults with early stage dementia and their care partners, and visitors who are blind or have low vision.
Underwriting opportunities are available. Please e-mail or call 214.768.4189 for information. Limited individual tickets will go on sale to the general public in September. Read more at the Meadows Museum.
SMU celebrated the building of its new SMU Indoor Performance Center on April 14 during the annual Mustang spring football game. The 67,000-square-foot facility with its indoor practice field, training facilities and entertainment areas, slated to open in the spring of 2019, is a reflection of SMU’s commitment to a first-class and competitive athletic program.
“Opening onto Bishop Boulevard in the very heart of our campus, this facility will enhance the student-athlete experience, elevate our competitiveness and serve as an asset to the entire campus community,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
Located at the corner of Bishop Boulevard and Binkley Avenue, the new center will be built on a site long dedicated to SMU Athletics. A basketball pavilion built in 1926 was replaced by the 1942 construction of the Perkins Gymnasium. The gymnasium was converted in 1957 to the Perkins Natatorium, home of SMU Swimming and Diving, which moved in 2017 to the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center on SMU’s East Campus. The new facility will continue the site’s historic legacy.
“The SMU Indoor Performance Center represents a tangible, visible investment in our ongoing vision to establish SMU Athletics as the best overall program in the American Athletic Conference,” said Director of Athletics Rick Hart. Read more at SMU News.
Three teams tapped Mustang football standouts to join their rosters during the NFL Draft 2018 at AT&T Stadium, April 26–28. SMU wide receiver Courtland Sutton was selected by the Denver Broncos as the eighth pick in the second round of the draft. In the seventh round, defensive end Justin Lawler was picked by the Los Angeles Rams, and wide receiver Trey Quinn was chosen by the Washington Redskins.
The last time the Mustangs had multiple players selected in the draft was 2014, when Kenneth Acker went to the San Francisco 49ers and Garrett Gilbert to the then-St. Louis Rams. The three selections are the most since 2012 when Josh LeRibeus ’12 (Washington Redskins), Taylor Thompson ’12 (Tennessee Titans), Richard Crawford ’12 (Washington Redskins) and Kelvin Beachum ’11, ’12 (Pittsburgh Steelers) were chosen.
Sutton will join former Mustang Emmanuel Sanders ’10 in Denver. He is the first second-round pick since Margus Hunt ’13 was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2013. At No. 40 0verall, he is the highest-drafted Mustang since Rod Jones ’89 and Reggie Dupard ’99 were selected 25th and 26th, respectively, in 1986.
Sutton earned SB Nation All-America Honorable Mention accolades and was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection following his junior season. The Brenham, Texas, native ranked eighth nationally in receiving touchdowns with 12, while coming in at 21st in receiving yards (1,085) and 26th in receiving yards per game (83.5). He was second on the team with 68 receptions. Read more about Sutton.
Lawler, the 244th overall pick, started all 13 games for the Mustangs at defensive end in 2017, helping SMU to seven wins and its first Bowl appearance since 2012. A first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection, Lawler was a member of the Ted Hendricks Award Final Watch List and earned a spot on Chuck Bednarik, Bronko Nagurski and Wuerffel Trophy preseason lists. Additionally, he was a nominee for the AFCA Good Works Team.
Quinn led the nation with 114 receptions and 8.8 per game en route to Pro Football Focus First-Team All-America honors. He was also a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Awards and earned first-team All-AAC accolades. Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU Cheer was awarded first place at the National Cheer Association’s national competition in Daytona, Florida, April 3–7. This is the squad’s third consecutive win.
The cheer squad competed in Division 1A against 16 college cheer teams from across the country. The first day of the event included the preliminary competition, where the six teams with the lowest scores were eliminated from the competition. On prelims day, SMU cheer performed a gameday routine, followed by a competitive routine filled with tumbling, stunts, and dancing.
Nate Williams, senior cheerleader, reminisced on his past performances on the bandshell at prelims and said that it is the most special stage he has ever performed on.
“There is something suspenseful about the elements that makes competing on the bandshell so unique,” Williams said. “In all of the major stages I have performed on throughout my cheer career, there’s nothing quite like the atmosphere of the bandshell. The ocean to your left, the hot sun beaming down on you and the sea breeze blowing. It’s an incredible experience.” Read more at The Daily Campus.
Andrew H. Chen and Elaine T. Chen have made a $2 million gift to the SMU Edwin L. Cox School of Business to establish The Andrew H. Chen Endowed Chair in Financial Investments Fund.
Andrew Chen, who retired as Professor Emeritus of Finance at SMU in 2012, said he and his wife wanted to ensure that the Cox School will continue to attract outstanding finance faculty.
The gift will include $1.5 million for the endowment of the faculty chair and $500,000 for operational support, which will enable immediate use of the position while the endowment vests.
“As a faculty member in the Finance Department, I focused much of my research and teaching in the areas of option pricing and options-related investment strategies, ” Andrew Chen said. “After retiring from my faculty position, I decided to put into practice what I had taught in the classroom and was fortunate enough to meet with some success. Elaine and I now find ourselves in the position of being able to make a useful contribution to the Cox School by setting up an endowed chair in financial investment. We hope that this new finance chair will further enhance the Cox Finance Department’s reputation and enable its holder to enjoy an excellent career at SMU, just as I did when I was a member of the Finance Department.” Read more at SMU News.
The George W. Bush Institute and SMU are joining forces to launch the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative on June 1. This effort will combine the existing Economic Growth Initiative of the Bush Institute with the public policy-relevant work of the SMU Department of Economics. The objective is to build the initiative into a globally respected policy voice on the most pressing economic issues of our time.
“We have developed a close and successful relationship with SMU since the establishment of the Bush Institute nine years ago, and we are thrilled to partner with SMU on this joint initiative,” said Kenneth Hersh, President and CEO of the Bush Center. “Since its inception, the Bush Institute’s Economic Growth Initiative has promoted pro-growth economic policies on issues like trade and immigration. The addition of SMU will add a nationally recognized research partner to our work. Importantly, we will also be able to add expertise to broaden our scope.”
The Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative will promote policies to support domestic economic growth and strengthen our competitiveness in the global economy. The initiative will also highlight the benefits of continuing American economic leadership, global trade, immigration, and the economic vitality of cities and regions in our country. The new combined initiative will be supported by the George W. Bush Presidential Center Endowment at SMU that was established to support joint programming as well as funding from the Bush Institute, thereby enabling its work to begin immediately. Read more at SMU News.
The Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center at SMU Dedman School of Law is partnering with some of the nation’s leading criminal justice researchers to conduct the Prosecutorial Charging Practices Project, the center’s first data-driven criminal justice research project.
This project is an innovative, mixed-methods empirical study that is multi-jurisdictional. The Prosecutorial Charging Practices Project will provide a holistic account of prosecutors’ charging practices. Additionally, it will:
Produce descriptive and empirical information about the important factors that influence prosecutorial decision-making;
Evaluate how prosecutorial charging decisions affect cases as they progress through the criminal justice system; and
Provide a baseline against which to evaluate future prosecutorial practices.
“This research will represent the varied prosecutorial work of three district and/or county attorneys’ offices in discrete geographical locations, with different charging philosophies, said Pamela Metzger, director of the Deason Center and law professor at SMU . “We expect the results to be instructive in determining the relative effects of prosecutorial charging policies on case outcomes.” Read more at Dedman School of Law.
“The main reason why NATO is the most successful alliance in history is that we have been able to change, to adapt, when the world is changing,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, at a town hall on campus on April 5. The event was moderated by Provost Steven Currall and featured U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison.
During his address, Stoltenberg noted the University’s reputation as a center of academic excellence, stating “… the scientific work and the teaching which is taking place here is something really which is highly recognized and, therefore, is a special pleasure for me to visit SMU.”
In her remarks to SMU students, Hutcheson underscored NATO’s role as the cornerstone of U.S. and transatlantic security over the past 69 years. She recalled that NATO came to America’s defense following 9/11, invoking Article 5 – the collective defense clause of the Washington Treaty – for the first time in its history.
Stoltenberg and Hutcheson also met with former President George W. Bush.
During their two-day visit to Texas, they also visited the Lockheed F-35 Lightning II production plant in Fort Worth and Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, where many NATO allies participate in the Euro-NATO joint jet pilot training program. See photos at SMU Facebook.
Come out to cheer on the Mustangs under new Head Coach Sonny Dykes at the annual spring football game in Ford Stadium on April 14 and be part of the celebration as halftime festivities kick off the construction of the SMU Indoor Performance Center, a new campus asset to enhance the student experience and elevate SMU’s competitiveness.
Gates will open at 10 a.m. The Mustang Kids’ Zone will also be set up in the south end zone, and fans can pick up 2018 schedule magnets and meet the coaches and players after the game. Parking and admission are free.
Along with on-field action at halftime, fans will be part of the celebration to mark the start of construction of the new training center. The SMU Indoor Performance Center represents a tangible, visible investment in the University’s vision to establish SMU Athletics as the best overall program in the American Athletic Conference. This facility will enhance the student experience, elevate our competitiveness and serve as an asset to the entire campus community.
Randall L. Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T, will be the featured speaker during SMU’s 103rd all-University Commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 19, in Moody Coliseum.
Since rising to the position of CEO in 2007, Stephenson has guided AT&T through a number of major milestones, including the ongoing acquisition of Time Warner, the 2015 acquisition of DIRECTV, and the purchase of Mexican wireless companies to create a North American network.
Stephenson also has led AT&T’s breakthrough “It Can Wait” campaign – an awareness program educating drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. The program has amassed more than 19 million pledges of support.
“We are honored to have a pioneering business and technology leader of Mr. Stephenson’s stature as featured speaker at Commencement,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “He is a striking example of what can be accomplished when someone possesses a clear vision of where they want to go. I know he will inspire each of our graduating students to form their own grand vision of what they want to accomplish in their lives with the knowledge they’ve acquired at SMU.” Read more at SMU News.
Dallas business leaders Linda Wertheimer Hart ’65 and Milledge (Mitch) A. Hart, III have committed a significant gift to the Gerald J. Ford Research and Innovation Building at SMU. The new facility will house the University’s Linda and Mitch Hart eCenter, which includes SMU Guildhall, the world’s top-ranked graduate game design program. The building will be located on SMU’s main campus at the corner of McFarlin Boulevard and Airline Road.
“Thanks to the Harts’ generosity, we are one step closer to creating a world-class center for research and innovation on our campus,” said R. Gerald Turner, president of SMU. “We are excited about the synergies we’ll derive from bringing advanced computer programs together under one roof.”
In 2000, the Harts made a generous gift to establish the Hart eCenter, currently located at SMU-in-Plano, as well as to endow the eCenter’s directorship. The Hart eCenter focuses on interdisciplinary research, education and innovation; it is the first university-wide initiative focused on interactive network technologies created at a major research university. Reporting directly to SMU’s provost, the Hart eCenter uses this freedom and flexibility to promote thought leadership at the intersections of multiple fields and disciplines.
The Hart eCenter’s most visible manifestation is SMU Guildhall. Since its founding in 2003, the program has graduated more than 700 students, who now work at more than 250 video game studios around the world. SMU Guildhall offers both a Master of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development degree and a Professional Certificate of Interactive Technology in Digital Game Development, with specializations in Art, Design, Production and Programming. In 2017 and 2018, the Guildhall has been named the world’s “No. 1 Graduate Program for Game Design” by The Princeton Review, based on a survey of 150 institutions in the United States, Canada and abroad that offer game design coursework and/or degrees. Read more at SMU News.
When Hamon Charitable Foundation board member Tom Souers read a Dallas Morning News article last June about an SMU Lyle School of Engineering summer camp for underrepresented students, it proved to be the spark behind a $2 million foundation gift to support expansion of the camps and create engineering scholarships for students who attend them.
The camp opportunities and scholarships are aimed at inspiring students to pursue engineering as a field of study and future career. Middle and high school students attending the Lyle School Hamon Summer Engineering Camps initially will be recruited from the KIPP DFW network of public charter schools, the STEM-focused Young Women’s Preparatory Network, and DISD’s Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy.
Teachers from the participating schools also will be allowed to attend camps to engage with Lyle students and faculty. Students attending the camps who are later accepted into the engineering program at SMU will be eligible to apply for college scholarships through the new Jake L. Hamon Scholars Program.
“We are delighted that the Hamon Charitable Foundation is making these eye-opening camps available to a larger group of students,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The foundation’s gift helps expand our impact in the community and will help build a brighter future for more young people in Dallas, particularly through the creation of the companion scholarship program.” Read more at SMU News.
SMU junior Zach Miller’s interest in politics played out like it does for many college students his first couple years at SMU – he volunteered for political campaigns and pursued internships.
But then, in the months following Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Miller decided he wanted to kick his involvement up a notch and earn some compensation at the same time. As the 2018 election season gains momentum, Miller is working as finance director for a Texas Senate hopeful and has launched his own political consulting firm: Atlas Strategies LLC.
Miller, an economics major, is benefitting from a unique immersion experience in public policymaking for SMU undergraduates: Ten students like Miller are chosen every year as Highland Capital Management Tower Scholars, awarding them access to a specialized curriculum and a minor in public policy and international affairs. The scholars learn from global and national leaders and policy makers, take advantage of specialized study abroad opportunities and senior-year internships.
“One of the biggest reasons I launched my firm last year was the network SMU provides,” says Miller. “I felt, being here now, I could benefit from the networking connections while I have direct access to people who can help me out. When I graduate, I’ll have access to the alumni networking, which is incredible, but it doesn’t compare to a dean being willing to help.” Read more at SMU News.
HCM Tower Scholar and Student Body President David Shirzad has dedicated his time at SMU to making the school a better place. He’s been a Peruna handler, a member of the Mob (a group of high-spirited students guaranteed tickets to men’s basketball games), a student representative to the Board of Trustees and more. His latest mission is to give students more opportunities to have their voices heard.
In the Scholar Spotlight on the SMU Tower Center blog, Shirzad talked about his time at SMU and offered some advice for younger and incoming scholars. What drove you to be so involved at SMU?
I’ve always had a drive to make the community around me as strong of a place as I possibly can. In high school I was super involved with Best Buddies. There were just awesome people in the club—everyone from the captain of the football team to all sorts of different students. So I thought that was the best avenue for me to serve and promote change and instill strong values around my high school. And at SMU I have sort of done a similar thing—it’s just been different in the topics of discussion. I’ve tried to make SMU have as strong of a campus community as I possibly can. I’ve been doing that in ways such as school spirit, being a Peruna handler, being a part of the Mob, as well as working to increase undergraduate opportunities for research by working as Student Body President with the Provost’s office and others involved in that, or working to better the student voice so that hopefully even if there are issues that come after me students at least have the opportunity to help improve the university. I love SMU, but I value the community and want to make it as strong of a place as it can be. What do you think makes a community strong?
I think a place that people believe in. I think a place where all people have a voice, and they believe they’re being heard, is a good indication of a strong community because people buy into that. Nothing’s perfect in that sense, but in some ways I’d say we’re working toward that. Read more at the SMU Tower Center.
How well do couples pick up on one another’s feelings? Pretty well, when the emotion is happiness, says family psychologist Chrystyna D. Kouros. But a new study finds that couples do poorly when it comes to knowing their partner is sad, lonely or feeling down.
“We found that when it comes to the normal ebb and flow of daily emotions, couples aren’t picking up on those occasional changes in ‘soft negative’ emotions like sadness or feeling down,” said Kouros, lead author on the study. “They might be missing important emotional clues.”
Even when a negative mood isn’t related to the relationship, it ultimately can be harmful to a couple, said Kouros, an associate professor in the SMU Department of Psychology. A spouse is usually the primary social supporter for a person.
“Failing to pick up on negative feelings one or two days is not a big deal,” she said. “But if this accumulates, then down the road it could become a problem for the relationship. It’s these missed opportunities to be offering support or talking it out that can compound over time to negatively affect a relationship.”
The finding is consistent with other research that has shown that couples tend to assume their partner feels the same way they are feeling, or thinks the same way they do, Kouros said.
But when it comes to sadness and loneliness, couples need to be on the look-out for tell-tale signs. Some people are better at this process of “empathic accuracy” — picking up on a partner’s emotions — than others. Read more at SMU Research.
Two giant sinkholes near Wink, Texas, may be the tip of the iceberg, according to a new study that found alarming rates of new ground movement extending far beyond the infamous sinkholes.
That’s the finding of a geophysical team from SMU that previously reported the rapid rate at which the sinkholes are expanding and new ones are forming.
Now the team has discovered that various locations in large portions of four Texas counties are also sinking and uplifting.
Radar satellite images show significant movement of the ground across localities in a 4000-square-mile area — in one place, as much as 40 inches over the past two-and-a-half years, say the geophysicists.
“The ground movement we’re seeing is not normal. The ground doesn’t typically do this without some cause,” said geophysicist Zhong Lu, a professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at SMU and a global expert in satellite radar imagery analysis.
“These hazards represent a danger to residents, roads, railroads, levees, dams, and oil and gas pipelines, as well as potential pollution of ground water,” Lu said. “Proactive, continuous detailed monitoring from space is critical to secure the safety of people and property.”
The scientists made the discovery with analysis of medium-resolution (15 feet to 65 feet) radar imagery taken between November 2014 and April 2017. The images cover portions of four oil-patch counties where there’s heavy production of hydrocarbons from the oil-rich West Texas Permian Basin.
The imagery, coupled with oil-well production data from the Railroad Commission of Texas, suggests the area’s unstable ground is associated with decades of oil activity and its effect on rocks below the surface of the earth. Read more at SMU Research.
Former student-athletes Janielle Dodds ’07, Denny Holman ’67, Wes Hopkins ’83, Hank Kuehne ’99, Cheril Santini ’95 and the late Clyde Carter ’35 have been named to the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame by the University and SMU Athletics, in conjunction with the SMU Lettermen’s Association. The outstanding former student-athletes will be recognized at the annual Hall of Fame Banquet and Induction Ceremony on Friday, May 4 at Moody Coliseum.
An SMU women’s basketball standout, Dodds was a four-time All-Conference honoree and two time All-America Honorable Mention selection. She holds the SMU career record for points (1,861) and rebounds (974). As a senior, she led the Mustangs to the 2008 NCAA Tournament and a 24-9 record. That season, she was named the Conference USA Tournament MVP after leading SMU to a 73-57 win over No. 18 UTEP in the championship game.
Holman helped the SMU men’s basketball team to three straight Southwest Conference titles and NCAA Tournaments, including a regional final appearance as a senior in 1967. He was named SWC Player of the Year in 1967, also earning all-conference and all-district selections. The Mustangs went 54-25 during his seasons on the Hilltop with a 33-9 league record. Holman went on to play professionally for the Dallas Chaparrals.
Hopkins was an All-Southwest Conference safety on the 1981 and 1982 SMU football national championship teams. He had 14 career interceptions, including a league-leading six picks in 1982. He had an SMU-record four interceptions in a game against Houston in 1981. Hopkins was a second-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1983 NFL draft, and played 11 seasons for the franchise. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 1985 and was the 1988 Ed Block Courage Award recipient.
Golfer Kuehne was a three-time All-American from 1996 to 1999. He won the 1998 U.S. Amateur championship and was the 1996 Southwest Conference individual champion. Kuehne represented the United States as an amateur on the 1998 Eisenhower Trophy team and in the 1998 and 1999 Palmer Cups. He went on to play 11 years on the PGA tour with eight top-10 finishes, including runner-up marks at the 2003 Shell Houston Open and 2005 John Deere Classic. He also collected four career professional victories.
SMU women’s diving’s Santini was a 10-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion in 1-meter diving, winning the national title in 1992 and 1995. She swept the Southwest Conference championship in the 1-meter during her four years at SMU, winning the 10-meter crown in 1992 and 3-meter title in 1993. Following the 1995 season, she was awarded the NCAA’s Top VII Award. Santini also was a three-time Academic All-American. In 1994, she was named one of Glamour magazine’s “Top Ten College Winners.”
Carter played football and basketball on the Hilltop, earning All-America honors on the gridiron in 1934. As a tackle, he led SMU to an 8-2-2 record as a senior in 1934. On the hardwood, Carter guided the Mustangs to a 14-3 record to capture the 1934-35 Southwest Conference Championship. Purchase tickets for the event here.
For more information about tickets or event sponorship, please call 214-768-4314 or email Jeff Lockhart at lockhart@smu.edu. ABOUT THE SMU ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME
The SMU Athletics Hall of Fame celebrates the many extraordinary individuals in all sports who have played a role in developing the tradition and prestige of SMU Athletics, and seeks to provide future generations with a greater appreciation for the rich heritage of the Mustangs.
In 2005, the SMU Lettermen’s Association began taking steps to renew the SMU Hall of Fame, which was established in 1978 to honor both outstanding athletes and administrators who played an important part in founding the great tradition of Mustang football. Building on this strong history, the Lettermen’s Association broadened today’s SMU Athletics Hall of Fame to include all sports, past and present, sponsored by the University.
No boredom allowed this summer, thanks to SMU’s wide-ranging activities for kids. They’ll learn while having fun as they create code, experience the fundamentals of engineering, express themselves artistically and fine-tune their athletic abilities at summer camps offered at SMU-in-Plano and on the main campus in Dallas.
Calling all adventurers! SMU Summer Youth Program is gearing up for a variety of educational expeditions. Weekly workshops explore coding, game design, language arts, math, robotics and visual arts. SAT and ACT test prep classes also will be available. Programs for students entering grades K–12 will be offered from June 4 to August 3 on the SMU-in-Plano campus. Extended day options are available. Find program details and registration information here.
On the Dallas campus, camps focus on engineering, 2-D, 3-D and digital art, and skill-building in basketball, equestrian competition, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball. Read more at SMU News.
April 14 will be a red-letter day for football fans with the annual spring game showcasing the Mustangs under new Head Coach Sonny Dykes and halftime festivities kicking off the construction of SMU’s Indoor Performance Center. The game starting at 11 a.m. in Ford Stadium will open a new chapter in the University’s gridiron history. The Mustangs’ 2018 season starts on September 1
SMU football’s 2018 schedule includes six games at Gerald J. Ford Stadium and seven contests against teams that made a bowl appearance a season ago.
The Mustangs open the new season on Saturday, September 1 at the University of North Texas in Denton, before returning to the Hilltop for a Friday night matchup with historic rival TCU on September 7. The Battle for the Iron Skillet will also be SMU’s annual Whiteout Game.
A trip to The Big House is on the schedule for September 15 when SMU travels to Michigan, and SMU opens AAC play by hosting Navy on September. 22. The Mustangs close out the non-conference slate at home with a September 29 game against Houston Baptist during SMU Family Weekend. See the full schedule at SMU Athletics.
Celebrate the fifth anniversary of the George W. Bush Presidential Center by joining the SMU community on the Hilltop for Founders’ Day Weekend, April 20–22. Reconnect with friends and commemorate the impact of one of the University’s unique assets. Highlights include alumni events, music, community events and an evening with Jeff Bezos, Chairman and CEO of Amazon, featured speaker at the George W. Bush Presidential Center’s Forum on Leadership. See the Founders’ Day Weekend schedule.
Dallas Women’s Foundation has named Gail O. Turner as one of four recipients of its 2018 Maura Women Helping Women Award. The winners will be honored at the Leadership Forum & Awards Dinner, presented by AT&T, on Thursday, April 19, at the Omni Dallas Hotel, 555 S. Lamar Street.
The Maura Awards recognize “leaders who have positively impacted the lives of women and girls in the North Texas area,” according to a DWF press release announcing the honors. Tickets to the dinner start at $350; sponsorships are also available. Learn more at the Dallas Women’s Foundation website.
Gail Turner, the wife of SMU President R. Gerald Turner, is a founding member and former board chair of New Friends New Life (NFNL), a Dallas organization that serves women and children who have been victimized by trafficking. She has worked with NFNL successfully to lobby the Texas Legislature on laws that help victims of human trafficking. She also serves on the board of Shelter Ministries of Dallas, comprised of Austin Street Center, which assists 400 homeless people each night, and Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support.
As “First Lady of SMU,” Gail Turner also serves on the boards of the Meadows School of the Arts and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
“It is a great honor for Dallas Women’s Foundation to recognize … extraordinary leaders whose example and service to women and girls are literally awe-inspiring,” said Roslyn Dawson Thompson, Dallas Women’s Foundation president and chief executive officer. Read more at SMU Forum.
Businessman, philanthropist, author and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg received on Jan. 29, 2018, the Tower Center Medal of Freedom from SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies. The honor, presented every two years, recognizes “extraordinary contributions for the advancement of democratic ideals and to the security, prosperity and welfare of humanity.”
Bloomberg was elected the 108th mayor of New York City in 2001 and won re-election in 2005 and 2009. As the first New York mayor elected after the 9/11 attacks, he put emergency preparation, infrastructure issues, education, and environmental and health regulations at the center of his concerns. During his tenure, he balanced the city budget, raised New York teacher salaries; unveiled PlaNYC: A Greater, Greener New York to fight climate change and prepare for its impacts; and co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns (now Everytown for Gun Safety), a nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to reducing the number of illegal guns in U.S. cities.
“In the aftermath of the worst terror attack on U.S. soil, Michael Bloomberg led New York City out of mourning and back into its place as one of the most important cities in the world. He took the city’s public education system and poverty issues head on during his terms as mayor,” said SMU Trustee Jeanne Tower Cox ’78 in her introduction. She also lauded Bloomberg’s work with his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, which focuses on five areas that echo his priorities as mayor: public health, the arts, government innovation, the environment, and education. Read more at SMU News.
Tom Dundon ’93 helped turn Topgolf into a millennial magnet, and as the new majority owner of the Carolina Hurricanes professional hockey team, he’ll apply his brand of secret sauce to fire up fans. EXCERPT
Karen Robinson-Jacobs The Dallas Morning News
Dallas billionaire Tom Dundon, who may just be the busiest man in sports business, has “a way I like to see things done.”
That applied when he became the biggest investor in “a small family fun center” with a driving range called Topgolf. Dundon helped turn today’s Topgolf into a millennial magnet with an estimated 13 million guest visits across 40 venues in 2017.
And it applied with his first job after graduating with an economics degree from Southern Methodist University. With a buddy, he launched a Fort Worth burger joint, but he knew “almost instantly once it opened that that was a bad idea.”
SMU basketball forward Akoy Agau ’18 fled war-torn Sudan with his family and learned English with Harry Potter’s help. Despite serious shoulder injuries that quashed pro dreams, he still considers himself lucky. He’ll receive a master’s degree in business management from SMU’s Cox School of Business this summer. “I feel like my purpose is to try and give back as much as I can,” he says.
The Maguire Energy Institute at SMU Cox School of Business honored Greg Armstrong, CEO of Plains All American, with the L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award, and oilman and entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, founder of Mesa Petroleum, among other successful endeavors, with the Maguire Energy Institute Pioneer Award. The presentations were made at a luncheon on February 1 on the SMU campus.
Long-term impact to the energy industry is one of the factors that the Maguire Institute’s Energy Leadership Award committee considers as it selects oil and gas leaders annually for these two awards. The Pitts Energy Leadership Award annually honors an individual who exemplifies a spirit of ethical leadership in the energy industry. The equally prestigious Pioneer Award is presented to energy industry trailblazers.
“The Institute is proud to honor Greg Armstrong,” said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute. “Greg has demonstrated a steady record of company leadership, industry leadership and innovation throughout a distinguished career, much like Frank Pitts in his day. We are also pleased to present our Pioneer Award to T. Boone Pickens, who is a legend in this industry. Both of these men are making big differences not only in the petroleum industry, but in the communities in which they live and operate.” Read more at SMU News.
SMU researchers have discovered three drug-like compounds that successfully reverse chemotherapy failure in three of the most commonly aggressive cancers — ovarian, prostate and breast.
The molecules were first discovered computationally via high-performance supercomputing. Now their effectiveness against specific cancers has been confirmed via wet-lab experiments, said biochemistry professors Pia Vogel and John G. Wise, who led the study.
Wise and Vogel report the advancement in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.
The computational discovery was confirmed in the Wise-Vogel labs at SMU after aggressive micro-tumors cultured in the labs were treated with a solution carrying the molecules in combination with a classic chemotherapy drug. The chemotherapy drug by itself was not effective in treating the drug-resistant cancer. Read more at SMU Research.
Spencer Meyer ’19 was on top of the world over winter break – at least that’s what it felt like at 13,000 feet on the Bolivian altiplano. Meyer and other members of SMU’s Engineers Without Borders continued work on a multiyear effort to provide a reliable source of clean water to the village of Llojlla Grande, Bolivia. It is among the 80 projects SMU community members can support on March 8 during Mustangs Give Back, SMU’s annual 24-hour funding challenge.
Mustangs Give Back donations in 2016 helped SMU’s Engineers Without Borders start construction on the clean water system in the small community, located about two hours south of the capital city of La Paz. The village currently relies on easily contaminated shallow wells pumping water that is high in salt, manganese and arsenic.
Donations to the project on March 8 will help the team make further progress by completing water towers, piping and a tap system.
Over winter break, Meyer and fellow student Mauricio Sifuentes ’19 spent a day supervising the well installation before they were joined be other team members and spent 10 days building a well house and footings for a water tower.
On the right is a slide show featuring some of the amazing photos he took on the work trip and posted on Instagram. “No talent is required to take sweet shots in Bolivia,” he said.
Back on campus, Meyer answered a few questions for SMUMagazine: Your majors, class year and hometown?
Mechanical engineering and math, Class of 2019, Half Moon Bay, California
Who from SMU participated in the project?
Hebah Jafferey ’20, civil engineering and human rights major Alec Maulding ’18, mechanical engineering major Mauricio Sifontes ’19, computer engineering major Sam Walker ’20, mechanical engineering major Madison Woeltje ’18, civil engineering and math major
Who were your advisors on the trip?
We had two professional advisors travel with us. Larry Bentley, electrical engineering, and Allen Savoie, civil engineering.
What was your role in the project?
I was the senior medical officer for this trip. I am now the project lead for next year’s trip.
Was this your first trip to Bolivia for the project?
This was my first trip to Bolivia and the project’s third trip:
Trip 1 in 2015 – Assessment trip
Trip 2 in 2017 – Implementation trip: drilled one well and poured one water tower footing.
Trip 3 in 2018 – Drilled the second well, poured three water tower footings and built the well houses.
Estimated project completion date is 2020. If all goes as planned, we’ll make two more trips.
What is the village’s current water source?
Currently they pull water out of the ground with hand dug wells. Cattle is their main livestock, so they constantly must provide water for the cows, too. The average milking cow (according to Larry) drinks 22 gallons of water a day. So, as you can imagine, that’s a lot of hauling buckets of water out of a hole. We hope this system will make their lives significantly easier.
What are your favorite memories of the experience?
Playing soccer with the kids in the community at sunset. The kids were around 12 to 14 years old and only spoke Spanish, but that didn’t matter. They kicked our a– and won 6–1. It didn’t help that we were playing at 13,000 feet.
Everybody in the community came out to help us dig holes for the water tower footings. Each tower footing was 20x9x3-feet. We couldn’t find a cement mixing truck in Bolivia for rent, so we had to use hand mixers. In three days we made four cement trucks worth of cement with two hand mixers. The women, children and elderly were digging harder than we could keep up with. There was a total language barrier. They didn’t speak English, and we didn’t speak Spanish, yet we were still able to accomplish a huge amount of work together. We worked with the community from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day to dig and mix concrete. We had no problem sleeping after working that hard!
Seeing a new aspect of life. It might sound stereotypical, but going without electronics or showering for 10 days can really give you a new perspective on how lucky we are in America.
Will you be going back to work on the project?
We will hopefully be returning next January in 2019, but that depends if we raise enough funds for supplies. We heavily rely on our donors for support. This coming year we plan to install the water towers and wire up the pumps. We are currently deciding between running the pumps off solar panels or having a Bolivian power company install a transformer closer to the pump for us.
What have your learned through your participation in the Bolivian water project?
This project has allowed me to use my engineering experience I’ve developed at SMU and apply it to real-world problems.
SMU graduate student Amelia Bransky ’18 says her professors encourage her to “make scary choices,” so she jumped at the chance to design the sets for Frankenstein, a on stage at the Kalita Humphreys Theater through March 4. The play is the first full collaboration between Meadows School of the Arts and the Dallas Theater Center and features SMU students and faculty performing alongside DTC professionals. In a Dallas Morning News story published on February 6, 2018, Branksy said she loves set design because “I get to work with the director, actors, the other designers. We all come together to solve a problem. It’s a joy.” EXCERPT
Nancy Churnin
Theater Critic The Dallas Morning News
Frankenstein is an old tale, but a fresh adaptation marks the dawn of something new for the Dallas Theater Center — and Southern Methodist University students such as Amelia Bransky.
Bransky has designed a stark, encompassing set for the show — her “favorite monster story,” the graduate student says — which debuts at the Kalita Humphreys Theater on Wednesday, Feb. 7. The production marks a new collaboration between DTC and the theater division of the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, with multiple students performing alongside working professional artists.
“One of my classes was focusing on monsters through art and painting,” Bransky says on the phone from SMU. “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was my favorite part. I love that it’s written by a young woman. I love how it speaks to humanity about the constant tension of nature and nurture and asks if we’re born evil or born good or can be made good or made evil.”
Game artist Jackie Gan-Glatz ’05 knows how confusing it can be to try to piece together unfamiliar words into an intelligible sentence. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she spoke only her parents’ native language until she started preschool. Although she mastered English quickly, she occasionally experiences linguistic hiccups. “I might use an English word a bit differently or think of a phrase in Chinese before it comes to me in English,” she explains.
She draws on her own language acquisition journey to understand the challenges faced by the adult learners testing Codex: Lost Words of Atlantis. Gan-Glatz and other SMU video game developers and education experts created the puzzle-solving app in collaboration with Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT), a nonprofit service provider for low-literate adults in Dallas.
The engaging game with an educational mission earned the SMU/LIFT team, People ForWords, a place among the eight semifinalists chosen from 109 international teams competing for the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE presented by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
The People ForWords team includes (clockwise, from top left) Simmons Ph.D. candidate Dawn Woods ’09, ’18; Corey Clark, deputy director for research at SMU Guildhall and development lead for the project; Guildhall alumni Brian Rust ’15, Jackie Gan-Glatz ’05 and Victoria Rehfeld Smith ’14. Skyping in on the screen is Lauren Breeding ’18, Guildhall master’s candidate.
The first-of-its-kind global competition aims to transform the lives of adult learners reading English at or below a third-grade level. Adult illiteracy has been described as a “crisis hiding in plain sight.” Low literacy is linked to high rates of poverty, high health care costs and low labor productivity. According to the American Journal of Public Health and the National Council for Adult Learning, low-literacy skills cost the United States an estimated $225 billion in lost productivity and tax revenue each year and add an estimated $230 billion to the country’s annual health care costs.
Near SMU, the number of adults needing intervention is staggering. “There are about 600,000 adults in Dallas County who have less than a third-grade reading level,” says Corey Clark, deputy director for research in the SMU Guildhall game development program and People ForWords development lead. “If we could help 10 percent of those people, that’s 60,000 people who could learn to read proficiently. That makes a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”
SMU alumna Lisa Hembry ’75, LIFT president and CEO emerita, brought the idea of joining forces for the XPRIZE competition to SMU. Founded in 1961, LIFT spearheads the effort to mitigate the problem by delivering the educational resources, tools, teaching and support needed by struggling adults learning to read and write.
“Here we are, two years later, with a viable phonics-based app in a gamified solution that helps low-literate people learn to read the English language while having fun,” Hembry says. “In North Texas, where one in five adults cannot read, this is more than a competition,” she adds. “This is a dedicated effort by our team to tackle the growing issue of low literacy and poverty.”
SMU’s strong relationship with Dallas and the surrounding region offers myriad opportunities for students, faculty and alumni to gain meaningful experiences while strengthening the community and making a difference in the lives of others. The city provides a unique launch pad for realizing an ambition, making an impact or developing a revolutionary innovation.
“Working with LIFT and SMU Guildhall in the Adult Literacy XPRIZE competition highlights how communities and academia can collaborate to improve the public sphere,” says Paige Ware, the Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Endowed Professor in the Simmons School.
WATCH A CODEX DEMO
A national leader in K-12 literacy research, the Simmons School became involved with the initiative to expand its work on literacy issues. Diane Gifford, a clinical assistant professor, and Tony Cuevas, director of Instructional Design and clinical professor, both in the school’s Department of Teaching and Learning, oversee the instructional design and curriculum of the game, ensuring that it improves the literacy levels of users.
“I started my career teaching children to read, but low-literacy adults face different challenges. Just opening the door to walk into an adult literacy class can be challenging for them,” Gifford says. “We have the potential to touch millions of people who never walk through that door.”
Even though national studies show more than 36 million U.S. adults lack basic English literacy skills, “there hasn’t been as much significant research as you might expect, considering the magnitude of the problem, and there is almost no research on the use of video games to teach low-literacy adults,” Cuevas says.
“I started my career teaching children to read, but low-literacy adults face different challenges. Just opening the door to walk into an adult literacy class can be challenging for them. We have the potential to touch millions of people who never walk through that door.”
– Diane Gifford
Teaching and technology weave together throughout Cuevas’ career. He designed SMU Guildhall’s top-rated master of interactive technology degree program and served as the program’s academic director before joining the Simmons faculty. He specializes in integrating emerging technologies into teaching and learning and serves as director of Simmons’ Teacher Development Studio, where simulated pre-K-12 classroom environments and other leading-edge technologies are used to train SMU students to become effective teachers.
For Cuevas, the long-term goals at the heart of the project strike close to home. “I have two sons with special needs who have struggled to learn to read, so I understand how children can fall through the cracks easily into adult illiteracy,” he says. His sons, ages 13 and 18, have used the app and found it engaging and helpful. Both Cuevas and Gifford see future potential in modifying the game for use in a structured K-12 classroom setting.
While struggling children and adults share some learning weaknesses, the approach for ameliorating those deficits is very different, says Gifford, which is why the app development process started with focus group sessions with more than 20 LIFT adult students. “We heard firsthand about what interested, motivated and concerned them about using a mobile app to learn to read,” Cuevas says.
Those conversations and playtesting revealed that maintaining motivation is key, meaning harried adult learners have to feel that playing the game is worth their scant free time. “They need chunks of learning, instead of small pieces, so that they feel a more immediate benefit,” Gifford says. Codex: The Lost Words of Atlantis whisks participants to Egypt, where they play as enterprising archaeologists solving puzzles as they hunt for relics of the once-great civilization of Atlantis. Audible prompts for each letter and sound that appear on the screen teach the look and feel of written English. To minimize frustration, players learn to read very simple sentences from the beginning.
“We want them to have a sense of accomplishment immediately so they keep moving forward,” Gifford explains.
The 24/7 convenience of the app obliterates other obstacles, such as a lack of childcare, transportation and free time during the day. “Users can download it at home and play to their heart’s content when it’s most convenient for them, even if that’s at 3 a.m.,” Gifford explains.
Games also provide safe environments for learning, says the Guildhall’s Clark. “They allow you to fail in ways that aren’t overwhelming. They let you keep trying until you succeed.”
The XPRIZE project serves as one example of how research is incorporated into the curriculum at SMU Guildhall. Students explore a vast range of interests within video game development and its global implications and diverse uses. Both current students and alumni are able to apply their analytical and research skills by participating as funded research assistants on an array of Guildhall’s “games for good” projects.
WORD PLAY
LIFT adult learners tested the puzzle-solving app and provided feedback that helped the developers improve it. Gamers learn something new with every move they make. Take the app for a test drive: Download the Codex: The Lost Words Of Atlantis app for Android at Google Play.
“All research is based on the idea that games have more purpose and value to society than just entertainment,” says Clark, whose expertise lies in finding solutions to large-scale problems by combining several areas of study, such as gaming, distributed computing, analytics and artificial intelligence. His recent work in reverse engineering gene regulatory networks and integrating gaming techniques into cancer research led to his appointment as adjunct research associate professor of biological sciences in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
Out of the gate, the Guildhall team had to grapple with the vexing issues of designing an adventure for gamers who can barely read and write and have likely never touched a computer. “This was the first time some participants had used a desktop computer,” Clark says. “Registering was a challenge for them, clicking and dragging was a challenge. So we had to think about how to make a game that’s fun and interactive, yet simple and intuitive enough to be a first experience with technology.”
He and his colleagues collected and analyzed data on game elements such as the amount of time players stuck with a task, how many times they repeated moves, how quickly they progressed and whether performing the game actions translated into the desired learning outcomes.
“First, games have to be fun,” Clark says. “From story to characters, you want to engage people enough for them to play over and over again. And this is the same process that reinforces learning.” And at its core, every game is about learning. “You learn something new with every move you make,” Clark says.
Out of the gate, the Guildhall team had to grapple with the vexing issues of designing an adventure for gamers who can barely read and write and have likely never touched a computer.
https://blog.smu.edu/smumagazine/files/2018/03/GuildhallTeam3.gif
People ForWords takes players from Egypt to Sydney, Australia, and the Great Barrier Reef for its next learn-as-you-go adventure. The Guildhall team includes Gan-Glatz, programmer Brian Rust ’15, artist Victoria Rehfeld Smith ’14 and research assistant Lauren Breeding ’18, a level designer working on her thesis for a Master of Interactive Technology degree from SMU Guildhall. They are joined by Dawn Woods ’09, ’18, a Simmons Ph.D. candidate, for weekly meetings where they dive into the nitty-gritty of development. Nuance matters for beauty, function and efficacy, so the conversation zigzags from topic to topic: Should an orb be recolored to look like an empty crystal? Where should punctuation marks appear? How should the capitalization of words be introduced?
They also discuss supplemental mini games that will synthesize skills and guide players to test themselves in real-life situations, such as reading street signs and a bus route map, within the safe haven of the app.
Meanwhile, Clark, Gifford and Cuevas meet periodically to deliberate progress and strategy. People ForWords has until April 2018 to complete additions and modifications.
Testing of the literacy software created by the semifinalists began in July 2017, with the participation of 12,000 adults who read English at a third-grade level or lower in Dallas, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Postgame evaluation of the literacy gains among test subjects will help determine up to five finalists, to be announced in June 2018. The winner will be named in 2019.
Two years into the project, all involved admit that maintaining momentum over the protracted timeline has been a challenge, but they believe this critical experiment in improving adult literacy will be world-changing.
“I’ve volunteered with nonprofits that help people who have fallen on hard times for a number of reasons. I feel like this project would give some of them a second chance in life,” says Gan-Glatz. “Literacy would open doors of opportunity and allow them to contribute to society in ways they never thought possible.”
Aleena Taufiq ’18 recently landed her dream job as a data engineer working in artificial intelligence at Verizon, a career she never imagined four years ago.
After her first semester at SMU, Taufiq knew the pre-med track she had chosen was not the right path. Now the senior majoring in mechanical engineering and math runs an afterschool enrichment program she developed to inspire middle-school students to pursue engineering, math and science in college. And none of it would have happened without people like Jim Caswell ’63, ’66, ’70 and Chuck Lingo ’90 – neither of them an engineer and neither of whom Taufiq met.
Taufiq found her major when she signed up for an immersive design challenge offered by the Lyle School of Engineering’s Deason Innovation Gym and joined a team assigned to remake the Slurpee experience for consumers.
The fusion of brainstorming, problem-solving, designing and building sparked an unexpected result. Instead of refreshing the frozen beverage industry, Taufiq reinvented her future.
“I learned my passion through the project,” she says. “I fell in love with engineering.”
To encourage the next generation of students to find the academic direction that’s right for them the way she did, Taufiq developed the afterschool program Geared Up. Her curriculum blends fun, hands-on projects with talks about engineering careers by fellow Lyle students and other guest speakers. While Taufiq hopes some youngsters follow her footsteps into engineering, she devised the educational series to catalyze unbridled learning in all areas.
She targets low-income middle-school students because “that’s an important age to engage their interest in engineering, math and science, and get them to start thinking about college.” Geared Up launched last year at Dallas’ Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School and expanded this year to Life School Oak Cliff and Edward H. Cary Middle School in northwest Dallas.
“On the first day, the kids are always excited when I tell them I’m a mechanical engineer, and they get really excited when they hear I’m from SMU,” she says. “They may not know exactly what a mechanical engineer does, but they definitely know SMU.”
Support from SMU’s Caswell Leadership Development Program has been critical to her project’s success. Offered by SMU Student Affairs’ Community Engagement and Leadership Center, the Caswell Leaders program accelerates students’ leadership skills by enabling them to discover their gifts while combining their passions for academics and public service.
“I couldn’t do Geared Up without Caswell Leaders. The program provides so much – funding, mentorship and friendship. We have monthly meetings for reflections about our project, where we think of next steps and opportunities to move it forward,” she says. “We make really personal connections in the program. It feels like we’re a Caswell family.”
SMU created the Caswell Endowment for Leadership Development and Training in 2007 as a tribute to alumnus, educator and longtime administrator Jim Caswell ’63, ’66, ’70 while he was preparing to retire. The program seeks to extend his legacy of molding “reflective and authentic leaders dedicated to improving their local communities.” Ask anyone who knew Caswell at SMU, and there’s a good chance they’ll tell you a story about a windmill. A four-foot version and assorted smaller models of the picturesque precursor of the wind turbine decorated his Perkins Administration Building office. Like the windmill’s agile gear system that converts a natural resource into energy to pump water or grind grain, Caswell guided students on a journey of self-discovering, harnessing their innate abilities and steering them toward successful careers and lives of purpose after graduation.
“He felt like students’ time at SMU was a unique opportunity for him to help them find their true direction and grow and develop into the people they wanted to be,” remembers his widow, Jackie Caswell Wallace.
Thomas Kincaid ’05 first got to know Caswell during his junior year when he served as student body president. He met weekly with Caswell, then vice president for student affairs but also an ordained Methodist minister, and continued to do so as a senior and student member of the SMU Board of Trustees. Then a finance major, Kincaid didn’t know that his true direction would become the ministry.
Now an Episcopalian priest and vice rector of Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, he keeps one of Caswell’s small windmills on his desk as a daily reminder to carry forward the example of a “person who really cared about others.”
“Dr. Caswell taught me what it was to never be too busy to care about someone,” Kincaid says. “He had plenty of demands on his time, but he was able to make time for a student or find a place where his support would be useful. Caswell’s wisdom continues to influence Roy Turner ’88 as well. When Turner was a junior accounting major and president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, Caswell – then dean of student life – tapped him as a member of a student leaders advisory forum convened to examine campus challenges and strategize solutions. As president of the SMU Interfraternity Council the following year, Turner relied on the high ethical standards set by Caswell when working through issues governed by the group.
“Lessons from Jim that I’ve carried forward are to do the right thing, stand up for what’s right and hold everyone accountable,” says Turner, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City and a loyal donor to the Caswell Endowment. “I’m almost 30 years away from that experience, but it still resonates with me.”
Caswell understood the SMU student experience so well because he had lived it. He first arrived on the Hilltop as an undergraduate in 1959. He was active in campus life and served as president of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in social science from Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences in 1963, he went on to earn a bachelor of divinity in 1966 and a master of sacred theology in 1970 from the Perkins School of Theology. He also received a master’s and Ph.D. in educational management from Columbia University.
His career in higher education began as a graduate residence hall director at SMU from 1964–66. A short time later, he was named an instructor in Dedman College. Over the next two decades, he held a number of pivotal administrative roles, including dean of men, dean of residential living and dean of student life. As vice president of student affairs from 1988 to 2007, he became an iconic campus leader known as a caring friend, reliable sounding board, chief cheerleader and beloved mentor. His door was always open, and one of his frequent visitors was Chuck Lingo ’90.
Lingo never really needed words to communicate his ardor for all things SMU. Although he suffered from a debilitating neurological disease that impeded his speech, he refused to allow his physical limitations to curb his enjoyment of life. His Highland Park High School friends cherish their memories of the “Super Scot” cheering on their team at football games and pep rallies. He enrolled at SMU in 1986, determined to capture all that he could in the classroom and fully participate in the Hilltop experience. He took a job in the Student Activities Center during the summer months, helping with AARO (Academic Advising, Registration and Orientation) and other tasks to prepare new students.
Fellow students admired his enthusiasm and can-do attitude. The Student Foundation embraced Lingo, eventually honoring him with the Mike Miller Outstanding Service Award. He served as a Student Senate committee member and was recognized for outstanding service.
Often decked out in spirit gear, the “Super Mustang” became a familiar sight in Caswell’s office. The two never missed an opportunity for some friendly facetime. Their conversations hopscotched across topics, from personal news to sports to current events, and usually ended in a goodbye hug.
When the University created the Caswell Endowment for Leadership Development and Training, Lingo was among the first donors. The friends shared a huddle and hug at Caswell’s retirement dinner in May 2007.
In the following years, Lingo attended many SMU Centennial Celebration events, never missed Celebration of Lights, his favorite SMU tradition, and faithfully remembered Caswell, his dear friend who succumbed to cancer in October 2007, with an annual gift to the Caswell Endowment, hand-delivered to the Student Affairs office.
On May 24, 2016, Lingo lost his battle with the disease that had claimed his mother years earlier, but he had taken steps to ensure his connection to SMU and to Caswell would endure: He bequeathed a significant portion of his estate to the Caswell Endowment.
“The Chuck Lingo gift exponentially increases our future opportunities to support the development of student leaders at SMU and further the legacies of servant-leadership and involvement established by both Dr. Caswell and Mr. Lingo,” says Stephanie Howeth, director of SMU’s Community Engagement and Leadership Center. “Thanks to their example and foresight, students today will learn and experience the many benefits of discovering their purpose as well as develop a passion for creating a more positive global community and SMU campus.”
The influence of Caswell, Lingo and many other donors lives on through current Caswell Leaders whose projects advocate for abused women, alleviate poverty with microloans, bridge international divides through language acquisition and inspire middle-school students to pursue engineering and math.
On an October afternoon in Dallas’ Cary Middle School, 18 boys and girls seated at cafeteria tables chatter, giggle, nudge and generally act like typical seventh and eighth graders. They have no idea they are about to witness the Caswell Endowment in action.
Aleena Taufiq explains how they’ll use the tools spread out in front of them – wires, putty, tape and batteries – to craft a simple LED circuit to light up polystyrene Halloween pumpkins. They get to work, and the cacophony builds as she moves from group to group, fixing a few glitches and praising their efforts. Soon tiny candy-colored bulbs and 100-watt smiles light up the room. “When I started, I was terrified of working with kids because I hadn’t before, but once you build a small connection with them, they’re so much fun,” she says. “They are very creative and aren’t afraid to try out their ideas.”
After the buses arrive and the class breaks up, a student wanders from table to table, rescuing abandoned materials. “I want to make more lights at home to show my family,” he says proudly. Just two hours earlier, that boy had no idea he could complete a basic electrical engineering feat so easily.
Taufiq makes sure he has everything he needs to wow his audience the way he has just impressed her.
That’s the reaction she was aiming for when she started planning Geared Up. She remembered watching bright high school classmates flounder “because they didn’t really see a pathway to college. They didn’t have parents or siblings who went to college, so they didn’t have that exposure and weren’t encouraged to continue their education.”
Her parents were both born in Pakistan, but met, married and became naturalized citizens in the Dallas area. Although higher education wasn’t an option for them, “they made it clear they wanted us to go to college,” she says.
She considers herself lucky that her mother “pushed me to make the most of every opportunity available in school.” As a high school student in her hometown of Irving, Texas, she played on the tennis team, worked on the yearbook, competed in state math, science and literary criticism competitions, and joined the National Honor Society. Because she had always excelled in math and science, well-meaning high school teachers steered her toward a medical career without introducing her to the array of disciplines where her talents could flourish.
The youngest of four children, she already had two Mustangs in the family – sister Tasmia Taufiq Noorali ’10, ’11 and brother Khurram Taufiq ’12 – and knew “SMU was a great school.” After receiving several scholarships, including the University’s academic Founders’ Scholarship and a Discovery Scholarship for students focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines, she joined the class of 2018.
After her first semester, she knew she didn’t want to go to medical school, so she became a fearless explorer, diving into unfamiliar topics and developing new competencies. She was selected for a multiyear research project led by SMU’s Wei Tong, a mechanical engineering professor specializing in biomechanics, in partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. They conducted tests on six taping methods commonly used in hospitals to secure intubation tubes, which keep airways open in acutely injured and sick patients. Preventing tube displacement can be a matter of life and death.
“There’s no standardized method, so we tested a lot of variables,” she explains. “We’re still working on the analysis, but so far, the easiest method seems to be the fastest and strongest as well.”
A Hamilton Research Scholarship allowed her to broaden the scope of her research last year through an ongoing project with mathematics professor Daniel Reynolds, whose scientific computation expertise encompasses biomedical applications. Among the skills she added to her portfolio was proficiency in a CAD (computer-aided design) program she used to create a three-dimensional rendering of a human lymph node for modeling the flow of lymphatic fluid.
“Both experiences taught me so much about different aspects of engineering, and it gave me such a good feeling to be part of research that can have real impact,” she says.
As she was in high school, Taufiq has continued to be actively engaged at SMU. She’s wrapping up her second term as a Lyle School senator in the Student Senate and participates in Theta Tau engineering fraternity and the Muslim Student Association.
Through Lyle’s “4+1” program, she will receive her bachelor’s degree in May and continue studying at SMU for another year before earning her master’s degree. She’s leaning toward a nontraditional trajectory for a mechanical engineer, “something more on the tech side of things, maybe in big data or tech consulting.”
Last summer, an internship she found through Handshake, SMU’s jobs and recruitment portal, took her to the Dallas office of New York Life Insurance Company for a taste of project management in the technology department.
After a few weeks, with a green light from her manager, she launched a weekly team-building activity dubbed “Fun Friday.” Little did her colleagues know that the gummy bear bridges they built and the edible cars they crafted with Rice Krispies treats and Life Savers candies were prototypes she was testing for Geared Up.
“It really broke the ice. People had fun and started talking to one another,” she says. “I think it created a friendlier work environment and much more of a community atmosphere.
She put those projects to good use when, in an unexpected turn, she teamed up with the STEAM Club at her alma mater, MacArthur High School in Irving, to launch a series of design challenges. Geared Up for high schoolers started before winter break and is continuing this spring. “It has been been amazing to go back to where it all started for me and inspire students who are where I was just four years ago,” she says.
Taufiq is also achieving her longstanding goal to expand Geared Up into a national program this spring. With funding from an SMU Engaged Learning Fellowship, she will travel to Harper McCaughan Elementary School in Long Beach, Mississippi, on February 16; Pioneer Middle School in DuPont, Washington, on March 2; and Shapleigh Middle School in Kittery, Maine, on March 30, where she will lead one-day, hands-on engineering extravaganzas for students and teachers.
“If the students step into the shoes of an engineer and get a taste of what it’s like to work together to create something or solve a problem, then they get excited and want to learn more,” Taufiq says. “I hope they become more excited about school, learning and challenging themselves.” – Patricia Ward
Sam Weber ’18 says he’s the “type of person who likes to stay busy.” That’s an understatement. As a student researcher, he trains others working on cell biology experiments and explores the use of the performing arts in public health education. And this spring he is directing his second 24-Hour Musical, Heathers the Musical. The Dedman College Scholar and University honors student will graduate in May with B.S. degrees in biological sciences, and health and society, and a B.A. in chemistry, with minors in Latin, classical studies, musical theatre, history and human rights. The senior dynamo is currently weighing several post-SMU academic opportunities that will lead to his ultimate goal: medical school.
Growing up in Overland Park, Kansas, Weber became fascinated with science by watching Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. The 2001 film, the first 3-D animated feature made outside Hollywood, was directed by SMU alumnus John Davis ’84. Weber, whose mother is a nurse, imagined being Jimmy while playing with his junior chemistry set. Later, when he stumbled upon the Harry Potter novels and films, he says his interest in science became intertwined with magic.
In seventh grade, after Weber heard a neurologist speak to his class about the wonders of the brain, he began to make the connection between science and medicine. While his fellow students were enthralled with the brain-shaped gummies she passed around the class, Weber locked onto the floating pink blob in a jar she had brought for show and tell. “She said the brain was ‘the last true frontier of science,’” he recalls.
In high school he straddled the two worlds of science and art – taking AP biology and chemistry courses and working downtown at a neurology lab, while participating in theatre, rehearsing for plays and musicals nightly. He thought that when he got to college he would have to keep his two loves – the sciences and the arts – separate.
But when he got to the Hilltop, he says he realized he could successfully combine those seemingly disparate worlds. As a University honors student in on the pre-med track and through numerous campus opportunities, SMU has enabled him to explore his interests in the performing arts. In his senior year, he has even found interesting ways to fuse his interests.
Patience With The Process
As a first-year student in his general chemistry course, Weber made such an impression that Associate Professor Brian Zoltowski considered him a natural to work in his lab.
Before enrolling at SMU, Weber had already gained lab experience at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Zoltowski says Weber “displayed a unique combination of creativity, passion and deductive reasoning that is, frankly, atypical anywhere. His ability to devote himself to any task, and complete it at the highest possible level, made me trust him right away.”
Nearly four years later, Weber runs the entire cell biology focus of Zoltowski’s lab, which conducts research on circadian clocks and the molecular mechanisms of blue-light photoreceptors. The senior trains graduate and undergraduate students who work with cell culture and drug discovery projects. He is instrumental to the research group’s mission as he leads and directs multiple projects, which has enabled Zoltowski to greatly expand their research scope.
On a Thursday afternoon in November, Weber is working in the tissue lab at Dedman Life Sciences Building on what he calls the “downstream biological application of manipulating proteins.” His project focuses on a protein complex that is responsive to light “much like the rest of our circadian biology; our rhythms are linked to the sun and the light we have available,” Weber says. During a process called transfection, he forces some human cells to take up and incorporate foreign DNA into their own. Once that DNA is incorporated, the cells start to express that altered form of the protein, “so we can see how the overall complex functions with these changes in response to light.”
The transfecting process is precise and time-intensive, requiring a lot of tedious work, Weber says while adding one of 2,112 pipette strokes to different wells. After this step, he puts the cells under a blue LED lamp to simulate an “awake” state. The next day he treats these cells with a solution that causes them to glow in varying intensities.
On this particular day, the experiment doesn’t generate any usable data. The blank wells show the same or higher luminescence than some samples, which shouldn’t be physically possible, he says. “This tells me something was wrong. In this case, one critical reagent, a substance or compound added to a system to cause a chemical reaction, was running low.” So he orders a new bottle and repeats the experiment, troubleshooting until it doesn’t have an error.
The setback doesn’t bother Weber. “So many things can go wrong in biochemistry – the temperature in the room, the humidity, how bright the room is, how much air the AC is moving, shelf life of reagents and more can all contribute, just like human error, to poor results. Things don’t work all the time; science is slow and crawling,” he adds.
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Finding The Magic “I’m the type of person who needs to stay busy and wants to be involved,” Weber says, adding that SMU enabled him to engage in many different activities, take on several majors and sample numerous minors because it accepted all 46 hours of his AP credits, allowing him to get ahead in his biology degree plan. “There are lots of opportunities to get involved at SMU,” pointing out that funding often is made available through Program Council or Student Senate for events like SMU’s 24-Hour Musical.
Outside his classroom and lab work, Weber joined the student-run Program Council, overseeing campus concerts and entertainment events and directing Sing Song, the annual competition among student organizations that perform musical revues. He also served as a resident assistant in Virginia-Snider Commons for two years, providing resources and programming on mental health, career planning and handling social stressors. And he’s president of Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Health Honor Society and on the Embrey Human Rights Program Student Leadership Board, to name only a few of his numerous roles.
He’s studied abroad with SMU in Oxford, Rome and Paris, and went on SMU’s most recent human rights trip to Poland over the winter break. All the while, he also applied to medical schools, a time-consuming and demanding task in itself.
Scenes from Into the Woods
With the 24-Hour Musical, Weber is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Charlie Weber ’16, who along with Ally Van Deuren ’15 began the musical in spring 2015 to provide nontheatre majors an opportunity to perform on campus. The production is choreographed, blocked and rehearsed during 24 hours spread over three days. Last fall, Weber directed Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, staged on the quad in front of Dallas Hall in September during Family Weekend. This was his fifth 24-Hour Musical.
During the first year of the SMU 24-Hour Musical, Van Deuren recalls, “Sam, then a freshman, walked in the first day ready to work. He took partial or total lead in choreography, tech, production and costume design, graphic design and many more day-of tasks that no one else had the headspace to handle. He was a much-needed source of organization, whether he was lending a hand with heavy lifting, maintaining order with a cast of 40 students after a long day of rehearsing or finding quick solutions for any last-minute costume mishaps.”
Weber also is recognized for maintaining a cool head in the face of possible disaster. During rehearsal and the staging of Into the Woods, the sprinklers came on in the flowerbeds where the orchestra sat. Weber was unflappable. During the chaos that a tightly developed production engenders, Weber found time to mentor the next generation of 24-Hour Musical leaders. Sophomore theatre major Stevie Keese ’20 assisted Weber with Into the Woods and found him generous and approachable. “Sam helped me articulate my artistic thoughts through our late-night passionate debates on the future of theatre and the arts,” she says. He also taught her about ambition and “how to ask for exactly what you want with no apologies, while continuing to be gracious and grateful.”
Weber has found working on 24-Hour Musical to be invaluable in developing skills that will carry over into his post- SMU life. “It is some of the best training students can get working in professional environments. We hold the project to a very high standard, and I’d like to think that learning on the fly, making bold choices and the time management that are required for 24-Hour to be successful are the same kinds of skills professional theatre artists develop,” he says.
He’s also been grateful to his professors, who have given him leeway with his classes and studies to spend time cultivating and following his theatrical interests. Last year, Weber worked as a choreography fellow for the Public Works Dallas musical production of The Tempest, co-produced by Meadows School of the Arts and the Dallas Theater Center. The community outreach production used local community groups and 200 nonprofessionals to stage Shakespeare’s play. Weber found it “motivating to work with people who had never done performance art before, but still got it; they understood movement and narrative. It really reaffirms how art is truly innate in all people.”
Putting It All Together
As a capstone to his four years at SMU, Weber is merging his love of science and the arts through a research project that explores the relationship between performing arts and public health from a medical anthropology angle. He is studying how theatre performance can help engage the public in a discussion of mental illness, thereby reducing the stigma it often creates. His research is supported by a Mayer Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship. Weber says that everything he’s done or achieved at SMU has helped prepare him for medical school and a life in the profession. As an undergraduate, he didn’t want to be what is called a “gunner,” a term applied to pre-med students who adhere solely to a regimen of science courses and, while making high GPAs, explore little else outside that regimen.
As his passions for pure science and performance have intersected, he’s come to understand that “medicine is an art. Physicians perform for and with their patients, seeking to achieve an honest and productive outcome,” Weber says.
Zoltowski, who has observed how Weber has grown in multiple ways, regards him more as a colleague than as a mentee. “Sam as a student is unique. In the sciences people often forget that you need to be extremely creative, have excellent abilities in deductive reasoning and be skilled in computational methods,” he says. “Creativity is a key part of the scientific process, as we have to find unique ways to combine disparate concepts or new approaches to tackle complex problems. Often young scientists will be unable to combine the deductive and computational approaches with creative insight. Sam is different – he excels in all three capacities, even in this early stage of his career. Most important, his strength is in creativity and thinking outside the box. That is why he will have tremendous success in anything he pursues.”
– Susan White ’05
ear the military base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina – the Army’s largest – there are several dozen Army-Navy stores. They sell the usual used military equipment and also T-shirts with the logos of the various forces. But to Perkins School of Theology alumnus and U.S. Army Major Jeff Matsler ’93, another shirt stands out. It’s popular with soldiers returning from deployment in Afghanistan. Black T-shirt. White Gothic letters. One word: “Guilty.”
Matsler says choosing the “Guilty” shirt reflects the shame and alienation many soldiers returning from combat areas bear because they took actions “that can violate their moral code, their paradigm of what is right.”
A chaplain and the Army’s Bioethicist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Matsler says, “It’s a volunteer Army. Most young soldiers in the infantry units and on the front lines will tell you they signed up to serve God and country. They are very patriotic.” But to succeed as soldiers, they are trained to follow orders, and that can mean taking lives, sometimes those of unintended targets such as civilians.
For more than a decade, Matsler has made it his mission to study “moral injury,” a condition associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in which combat soldiers understand themselves to be morally deficient. They return not only psychologically and emotionally battered but also spiritually injured.
In light of the 2016 Veterans Affairs report that on average more than 20 veterans died daily from suicide in 2014, Matsler’s work is extremely important. In November 2017, the PBS series POV debuted “Almost Sunrise” focusing on the issue of “moral injury,” defining it as “a wound to the soul inflicted by violating one’s own ethical code.”
ANSWERING GOD’S ‘STILL SMALL VOICE’
Matsler grew up working on his family’s farm in Floydada, a small rural community in West Texas. As a high school freshman, he attended a United Methodist Church summer camp where he first encountered Connie Nelson, then a youth counselor and now Perkins School director of public affairs and alumni/ae relations.
“I had the opportunity to watch Jeff grow in size, stature, maturity and faith,” Nelson says. “I remember particularly a workshop that I led one summer on discernment, listening for God’s voice and Christian vocation. At the conclusion of the workshop, Jeff came up to my co-leader and me to tell us he felt called to ministry. He was only 17 or 18, but it was clear that he had heard God’s ‘still small voice.’” He graduated from high school and set off for McMurry University, a Methodist institution in Abilene, Texas, where he was first exposed to the field of bioethics by his philosophy professor and mentor, Joseph Stamey, who received his Ph.D. in medical ethics. Matsler recalls thinking as an undergraduate, “What on earth would be debatable about medical ethics?!”
After earning a B.A. degree in history and religious studies with a minor in philosophy in 1989 from McMurry, Matsler attended Perkins Theology, where he encountered professors such as Joseph L. Allen, now professor emeritus of ethics, and the late Frederick S. Carney, professor emeritus of moral theology and Christian ethics whose background also was in medical ethics. “The theological training I received at Perkins has grounded me to this day,” he says.
Matsler represents the third generation of his family to graduate from SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. His grandfathers, the late Dr. Charles E. Lutrick ’49 and Cyrus Barcus ’27, ’33 (also founding director of the Mustang Band), both attended Perkins and became Methodist ministers. His uncle, the Rev. Dr. Robert C. Monk ’54, is one of many SMU and Perkins alumni who taught at McMurry.
After graduating from Perkins in 1993, Matsler entered the ministry as an associate pastor at Polk Street United Methodist Church in Amarillo. During his three years there, he also served as a staff clinician for the substance abuse unit at the Amarillo Veterans Affairs Medical Center. His time at the VA convinced Matsler he could provide much-needed ministry in service to his country with the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps.
In 1995, while Matsler waited to go on active duty, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. Matsler went to participate in rescue efforts, provide stress debriefings and minister to victims of the tragedy and to teams searching for survivors. The emotional wreckage he encountered in Oklahoma sparked his interest in and thinking about how traumatic events can wreck the soul.
Matsler says there were two issues in Oklahoma City that made it a significant magnet for moral injury among those involved in the rescue effort: The first was the overwhelming sense of horror that accompanies any disaster relief effort – particularly if it is man-made. “My first day at OKC consisted of helping the team searching for survivors, realizing that we had entered the building’s nursery and debriefing the team afterward. No young soldier – not even a seasoned veteran – is ever emotionally prepared to deal with that type of carnage.”
One of the key elements of moral injury is a sense of betrayal felt by the individual or group members involved in such an event. “The significant issue at OKC became clear on day five when we learned that those responsible were not only Americans (Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier) but also veterans – a feeling of betrayal that grew as we also learned they were combat vets. Moral injury isn’t just over things done, but also things observed – things you didn’t or couldn’t prevent,” Matsler says.
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IN SERVICE TO COUNTRY
He went on active duty in 1996 as a battalion chaplain with the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and served until 2000, when an injury led to a medical discharge. After serving as Senior Chaplain at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch and then pastor at First United Methodist Church in Panhandle, Texas, Matsler returned to active duty in 2007.
During the past 10 years Matsler has served several tours of duty in Afghanistan as brigade chaplain. While one duty included presiding over liturgical services in Bagram (2008–09) and another in Kandahar (2013), the main effort of his ministry consisted of traveling around the country counseling with soldiers and providing mentoring and oversight for the battalion chaplains in his unit’s footprint. It was while ministering to soldiers in combat zones that Matsler began to understand what “moral injury” truly meant. “Soldiers on the front line need to hear the message of forgiveness and redemption,” he says. “More than anything, they need to hear that no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been, what you’ve done in the service of your country, whatever act you had to do – whether it was right or wrong – God still loves you. There is nothing we can do that can separate us from the love of Christ and restoring us to who he intended us to be.”
Between postings to Afghanistan, Matsler’s commander at Fort Bragg asked him to gain advanced education to support his chaplaincy duties. He enrolled in the Master of Theological Studies program at Duke University Divinity School in nearby Durham and focused on ethics. He continued to study combat trauma and its effect on rebuild-ing character when he earned a Master of Sacred Theology degree in bioethics in 2015 from Yale Divinity School.
His 2012 thesis, “Post Traumatic Saint,” looks at the life of Saint Francis of Assisi and his experiences as a combat veteran and prisoner of war during the early 13th century. Francesco Bernardone was born into a wealthy family in Assisi, and, as did so many of his childhood friends, he became a seasoned professional soldier and officer. By his 22nd birthday, he had gained over six years of grueling combat experience. In 1202, he helped lead a military expedition against the neighboring city-state of Perugia. One of only 12 survivors, he became a prisoner of war and spent a year in captivity. After his release, Francis had a spiritual conversion and began experiencing visions. He eventually rejected his wealthy family and embraced a life of poverty and isolation, and he made it his mission to restore the chapel at San Damiano, where the icon of the crucified Christ told him to repair the ruined church.
Matsler argues that Francis’ actions – hearing voices, seeing visions, isolating himself from family and avoiding community – constitute behaviors that when encountered today would be symptomatic of post-traumatic stress disorder. Looking for release from his pain, Francis eventually found it in the community of fellow veterans, he says.
FINDING FORGIVENESS, RESTORING JOY
Although his research on Francis informs Matsler’s approach to moral injury, it was his training at Perkins that taught Matsler to find in stories the truth being shared. “What does it mean when Jesus walked on water? I try to apply that same understanding when a veteran comes in and tells me something that sounds far-fetched. What do you do with that guy who claims that a cross came to life or that God spoke to him in the middle of the night? Initially I just listen and affirm what I hear them saying. It’s way too easy to discount their stories. My goal is to get nonveterans to take seriously what they hear veterans say,” Matsler adds. Speaking to conferences throughout the country about aspects of moral injury and spiritual recovery, Matsler distinguishes between the standard approach to healing and the early Franciscan model he advocates. “The way we deal with PTSD now is through talk therapy and pharmacology. It can eliminate the physical pain but it cannot restore joy.”
In contrast, the early Franciscans sat in the community of other veterans and talked about their experiences and how their actions harmed others and them-selves. Matsler says of soldiers, “By owning their actions they can move to a stage of forgiveness, and restore joy.”
As the Army’s bioethicist, he works with Walter Reed’s medical personnel to help determine what decisions are best for a patient. He says, “Doctors ask, ‘What can we do?’ A bioethicist asks, ‘What should we do?’”
Matsler also provides insights on medical experimentation conducted by the Department of Defense involving human subjects, such as the testing of Ebola and Zika vaccines before any public use.
The medical center also works with amputees and researches new methods for improving prosthetics. “After soldiers have sustained injuries in service to their country, we want to ensure that they don’t just exist but have a quality of life,” Matsler says. “My job is to advise in such a way that we not do something that might cause undue harm now while trying to find a better way for them in the future.”
Matsler also teaches medical ethics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the Department of Defense’s medical school in Bethesda. He says this connects him back to his time at SMU: “I am now seeking to do for others what professors Allen and Carney did for me at Perkins.”
– Susan White ’05
It’s hard to keep up with Averie Bishop ’19. The reigning Miss Asian American Texas and SMU junior has her hands full as a double major in human rights and political science, vice president of Phi Alpha Delta pre-law fraternity and co-founder of a humanitarian charity. She segued from the Hilltop to Capitol Hill as a Congressional Fellow last summer and participated in the Clinton Global Initiative University annual meeting in October. Senior Alexis Kopp ’18, a double major in English and education with a journalism minor, recently convinced the dynamo to take five for a chat about her academic and philanthropic passions and her fairy tale Family Weekend. Have you always done pageants?
No! It was the very first pageant I’d ever competed in. This pageant circuit is very different. Instead of a bathing suit competition, it had a cultural attire competition, where you wear clothing that represents your ethnicity; in my case, that’s Filipino on my mother’s side. It also emphasized the interview portion more than other pageants usually do. Averie Bishop played Cinderella in Into The Woods, the Family Weekend Musical presented in the fall. What are some of your duties as Miss Asian American Texas?
I’ve been hosting community events, volunteering with many organizations and doing a lot of work with my nonprofit organization. I was also a part of the opening State Fair parade. That was a lot of fun! What did you do as a Congressional Fellow, and what did you take away from the experience?
I worked in the U.S. House of Representatives, primarily with Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston, organizing committee hearings and briefings and writing talking points. I also helped draft bills. I think a lot of people assume that the government is in shambles, and everything is chaotic and hectic and polarized. I found that people were willing to have candid conversations and listen to other opinions. That experience made me realize that I should listen more closely and think about what people are really saying. What’s new with your nonprofit, The Tulong Foundation?
My mother, Marevi, grew up in a poverty-stricken community in the Philippines, where access to education was limited by your ability to pay for it. We started the foundation in 2015 as The Bishop Outreach Fund but have changed the name to better reflect our mission. “Tulong” means “help” in the Filipino language. We are currently helping impoverished children in the southern Philippines get an education. We also built a water well in the Banga, South Cotabato province – where my mother’s from – to provide easier access to clean water. I represented our organization at the Clinton Global Initiative conference, and I learned a lot. It made me rethink our efforts and expand our focus. We want to reach other countries in Southeast Asia and broaden our efforts to teach sustainable farming skills. You transferred to SMU from Texas State. Describe that experience.
Both of my parents work two jobs, so it was very important that I received additional financial support. I was awarded an Honor Transfer Scholarship, which covers half of my tuition. Had I not received that assistance, I would not have been able to attend SMU, so I’m very grateful for that. Transferring here, finding a place to live and finding a good community and friends were much easier than I expected. I’m so glad I’m here! Why did you choose your majors?
Prof. Rick Halperin, the compelling classes and my mother’s story. She struggled to get to the United States and become a citizen. I feel like the political science-human rights combination is good preparation for my future. I hope to become a lawyer with a focus on immi-gration or civil rights. What was it like to play Cinderella in the Family Weekend Musical, Into the Woods?
It was hectic, to say the least, because we learned everything in 24 hours. Sam Weber was an incredible director! I got to meet so many different people, and I think I really found a sort of family on campus. Before I transferred to SMU, I majored in acting, so it was great to get back into the arts. While academics are very important, I think it is important for people to have their niche or hobby, something they really enjoy doing, to go back to when they need a creative release. What do you like best about SMU?
The community of students. The univer- sity I previously attended was very large. The classes averaged about 100 students, so people weren’t as motivated to speak to one another or contribute in class. But SMU is a good size – it’s not too big and not too small – and people are so willing to exchange ideas and listen to one another. The community is very understanding, open and accepting.
Dallas made Amazon’s shortlist of potential locations for its second headquarters. With its investment in supercomputing infrastructure and data-driven research, SMU is ready to take advantage of new opportunities and ambitious challenges.
A story in the Chronicle of Higher Education notes that SMU and other universities have been key players in cities’ bids to host the coveted HQ2. SMU President R. Gerald Turner was interviewed for the story and issued this comment on the Amazon announcement:
“Dallas is a global city ripe with opportunities for research partnerships, mentoring and internships – value added for countless students and faculty members at Dallas universities. It’s particularly true at SMU, where we are a hub for talent. We connect the dots between every discipline we teach with innovation and business acumen. SMU’s investment in one of the nation’s most powerful academic supercomputers is aimed at dramatically expanding our research and supporting federally funded research partnerships with community and business. To add Amazon’s reach, resources and leadership to our real-world classroom would be like capturing lightning in a bottle, and our students are primed to take advantage of it.” Read more at SMU News.
More than $5 million in contributions to his alma mater from a consortium of donors will honor SMU alumnus and energy industry leader Kyle D. Miller ’01. SMU Trustee Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74 led the effort to assemble tribute gifts in recognition of Miller’s extraordinary success in the energy industry. Bridwell and his wife, Gina, personally contributed to the effort, along with other SMU alumni and industry colleagues.
In recognizing Miller’s expertise and accomplishment in the energy finance arena, the majority of the tribute will establish the Kyle D. Miller Energy Management Program and the Kyle D. Miller Energy Scholarship Fund in the Edwin L. Cox School of Business. Both initiatives will receive endowment and current-use funding. The gift also will include a naming opportunity honoring Miller and his love of athletics within SMU’s planned Indoor Performance Center.
“It’s a fitting tribute that Kyle’s colleagues have chosen to honor him by supporting both academic and athletic programs,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Kyle was named outstanding young alumnus for the Cox School of Business in May 2015, and these contributions will help position other students to find the kind of success he has achieved in energy finance.” Read more at SMU News.
In a new tech-focused class, three Dedman School of Law student teams developed consumer-friendly mobile apps designed to help legal aid organizations improve client services and streamline processes.
One app focuses on helping women who are survivors of gender-based harm, while another assists defendants in debt-claim cases who fall into the “justice gap.” A third app provides immigrants with information about their legal rights during encounters with law enforcement.
“The initiative and its valuable partnerships “benefit everyone involved,” said Jennifer Collins, Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law. “Students learn how to use technology in innovative ways to solve complex legal problems, legal aid groups can reduce cost and improve outcomes, and the law school can help underserved communities access the legal assistance they so desperately need.” Read more at Dedman Law.
A low-budget field experiment to tackle the lack of women in the male-dominated field of economics has been surprisingly effective, says SMU economist Danila Serra, the study’s author.
Top female college students were inspired to pursue a major in economics when exposed very briefly to charismatic, successful women in the field, according to Serra. The results suggest that exposing young women to an inspiring female role model succeeds due to the mix of both information and pure inspiration, Serra said.
SMU economics graduates Julie Lutz ’08 and Courtney Thompson ’91 spoke to four Principles of Economics classes in spring 2016. Serra told the speakers nothing of the purpose of the research project, but encouraged each alumna to explain to the class why she had majored in economics and to be very engaging.
“The specific women who came and talked to the students were key to the success of the intervention,” she said. “It was a factor of how charismatic and enthusiastic they were about their careers and of how interesting their jobs looked to young women.” Read more at SMU Research.
Sophomore Hannah Miller set a new personal best and broke the existing SMU record in the 3000m at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 20.
Miller placed fifth in the event with a time of 9:26.62, beating her own PR of 9:29.43 set in 2017 and the existing school record of 9:28.90 set by Mary Alenbratt in 2013.
Miller was named the American Athletic Conference Female Track Athlete of the Week, just days after she set the record. Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU alumni and their guests are invited to a pre-show reception on Tuesday, February 13, when the Meadows Division of Theatre and the Dallas Theater Center present Frankenstein at the Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas.
Based on Mary Shelley’s 200-year-old tale of scientific advancement and human tragedy, the hit play imported from London will be presented February 2–March 4. The cast will include Meadows faculty and students, while several alumni are involved behind the scenes: Jeff Colangelo ’13 serves as fight coordinator, and Wendy Blackburn Eastland ’12 is stage manager.
On February 13, before the curtain goes up, enjoy refreshments and remarks by Meadows School Dean Sam Holland. The reception will be from 6 to 7 p.m. Registration is $20 per person and includes complimentary parking, drinks, appetizers and show tickets. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact meadowsalumni@smu.edu. Tickets are limited, so please reserve early
The Meadows School has a longstanding relationship with Dallas Theater Center. In spring 2017, Meadows collaborated with DTC to launch Public Works Dallas, a groundbreaking community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members, culminating in an annual production featuring more than 200 Dallas citizens performing a Shakespearean play. The inaugural production was The Tempest, which will be followed by A Winter’s Tale in September 2018.
Join the Black Alumni of SMU and the Association of Black Students for the annual Black Excellence Ball on February 24, where 2018 History Makers and scholarship recipients will be honored.
The seventh annual event will be held in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom on the SMU campus. Registration will open at 6 p.m, with the dinner and program to begin at 6:30 p.m. Register now!
SMU’s Michael Nelson ’18 and Mauro Cichero ’18 were selected in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft Friday. Nelson was selected 20th overall by the Houston Dynamo and Cichero was picked 29th overall by FC Dallas. This is the eighth time the Mustangs have had multiple picks in the MLS SuperDraft.Read more at SMU Athletics.
Emulating his SMU mentors earned Amir Ali ’15, an assistant professor at German University in Cairo, Egypt, a sweet gift from his graduating seniors: a chocolate bar with a custom wrapper declaring, “To the Best Professor Ever! Thank You.”
After Ali earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Lyle School of Engineering, he returned to the German University in Cairo (GUC), where he received his MSc degree in mechatronics engineering in 2010. GUC is a private Egyptian university established in cooperation with the State Universities of Ulm and Stuttgart, Germany.
In addition to teaching undergrads, he is the founder and director of the university’s ARAtronics Lab, a research group composed of more than 20 graduate and undergraduate students. This year the ARAtronics team was selected to join the Cairo Invents Program in cooperation with the Scientific Research Academy in Cairo.
“We follow the same model as my research at SMU,” says Ali.
His work in the field of micro-optical sensors aims to connect mind and machine. It may sound like science fiction to non-engineers, but advances in neural interfaces could have sweeping life-changing applications. For example, engineers are now working toward more lifelike prosthetic limbs that not only move more naturally but also “feel” sensations like heat and pressure.
The young academic was honored with the 2017 National Instruments Excellence Award in Academic Education and Scientific Research for the Middle East. And he recently published Principles of Sensing Based on Micro-optical Whispering Gallery Modes: Physics, Design, and Applications, a technical textbook.
In working with students from different faculties and diverse backgrounds, Ali draws inspiration from his Lyle experience.
He describes his SMU mentor and advisor Volkan Otugen, senior associate dean and the George R. Brown Chair in Mechanical Engineering, as his “role model.”
“I’ve emulated his way of thinking, interpreting problems and inspiring students,” he explains.
Edmond Richter, associate professor of mechanical engineering, has also been an important influence, he says. Read more at Lyle Now.
Perkins School of Theology announces a new partnership with Wesley House, Cambridge in England that’s providing a unique international study opportunity for two recent Perkins graduates.
Adam White (M.Div. ’15) and Shuo En Liang (M.T.S. ’17) are spending the academic year studying at the University of Cambridge through Wesley House. They are living in Wesley House, an international, intentional community of Methodist scholars and students at the heart of the University city of Cambridge. Since Wesley House is also a member of the Cambridge Theological Federation, students are also exposed to ecumenical teaching, and classrooms.
The partnership offers an exceptional experience for the two Perkins graduates, according to Craig Hill, Dean of Perkins School of Theology.
“At Cambridge, you daily rub shoulders with fellow students and faculty from around the world, and you are exposed to an extraordinary parade of intellectuals and other leaders who pass through the city in any given year,” he said. “To study there is the opportunity of a lifetime.” Read more at Perkins School of Theology.
Ruhi Deshmukh ’21, a first-year pre-business major, connects the “morality gauges” she studied in a business ethics class with the vestiges of inhumanity she visited during the Holocaust Poland human rights pilgrimage over winter break. “Embracing and understanding this history in the rawest form is what can help us challenge our own morality and keep ourselves from committing such a crime against humanity ever again,” she says.
From Ruhi Dshmukh, a first-year pre-business major
How ethical are we actually?
This past semester I took a business ethics class where the last topic we discussed had to do with overconfidence of human morality. We like to think of ourselves as beings, that when placed in a difficult situation, would always take the high road.
However this is not necessarily the case. In this unit we discussed two types of morality gauges. The first theory explored how we are as ethical as our inner moral compass. Even if you don’t take action on something, as long as you believe it is wrong or feel the wrongness of the situation you are considered an ethical person. The other theory said that we are only as moral as our actions. Although we may have a moral compass, we are as ethical as the actions we take to keep unethical situations from happening.
On this trip I often think about what I learned in that class and how it applies to the Holocaust. I often wonder how did so many people just passively allowed this to happen.
Read more at SMU Adventures. No Resting Place: Holocaust Poland, a new book from SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program, features more than 200 contemporary photographs of Nazi-occupied Poland’s deadliest killing sites, historical vignettes and poignant personal observations shared by those who have experienced the nation’s most comprehensive, longest-running educational pilgrimage of its kind: SMU’s Holocaust Poland trip. Read more.
The SMU community is invited to celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by walking in the City of Dallas parade on January 15 and participating in campus events during Dream Week 2018.
Alumni, students, parents, friends and other members of the SMU community are welcome to represent the University in Dallas’ annual parade on the national holiday on January 15 honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Participants will meet at 7:50 a.m. at the Mustang Parking Center, located at 6001 Bush Avenue, to depart together to the parade site. As they follow the mile route, parade participants will hand out giveaways, hold signs and show SMU’s commitment to unity on this historic day. The bus will return to campus at 11:30 a.m. Find more information here.
The annual MLK Unity Walk through campus will launch Dream Week 2018 on Tuesday, January 23. Other events include the MLK Day of Service on Saturday, January 27, a volunteer effort to lend a hand to a wide variety of North Texas nonprofit organizations.
Read more about Dream Week 2018 and the MLK Day of Service.
Renowned civic and philanthropic leader Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48 died on December 8, 2017, leaving a legacy of leadership, friendship and generosity focused on institutions dedicated to improving lives. A memorial service was held at Highland Park United Methodist Church on December 14.
As a leader she was known for her intelligence, decisiveness, legendary fundraising skills and sense of humor. As a result, Altshuler became the first woman to lead numerous Dallas boards and organizations, including the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, SMU. Education, health and services for some of the most downtrodden members of society were areas that attracted her support, but her generosity touched nearly every Dallas civic organization. Her influence, however, went far beyond Dallas. Altshuler was recognized nationally and internationally as a dedicated civic leader and philanthropist.
“The loss of Ruth leaves a major hole in the hearts of us all,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Ruth was my dear friend as well as a tireless fighter for SMU and all causes she believed in. She didn’t do anything halfway. Her work on behalf of Dallas and SMU was legendary years ago, and yet she continued to lead and inspire us year after year. Her impact on her city and her University will live on forever.”
A Dallas native and 1948 SMU graduate, Altshuler served on the SMU Board of Trustees for 50 years. She brought knowledge and understanding of every aspect of University life to her position, along with a great love of SMU. Read more at SMU News.
A $1 million gift from the Moody Foundation will support renovation of Meadows School of the Arts facilities and key education research by Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
Renovation of Owen Arts Center will update existing spaces and add new space for the Divisions of Art, Art History and Creative Computation. At the Simmons School, the gift will expand cross-disciplinary research with other SMU schools as well.
“This gift goes to the heart of SMU’s academic mission and purpose and being a premier research and teaching institution,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “We are delighted to partner with the Moody Foundation again to achieve our academic goals.”
“We are pleased to be able to continue the Moody Foundation’s interest in the arts and our longstanding commitment to education research in Texas,” said Frances Moody-Dahlberg, Chairman and Executive Director. Read more at SMU News.
Recent graduate Courtland Sutton ’17 completed his SMU football career as one of the top Mustang wide receivers of all time and is expected to be a first-round call in the upcoming NFL draft. Sutton has never shied away from a difficult play, and in his final semester, he took on a different kind of challenge: tackling the piano. As his final, he learned to play the song “Lean on Me.” He said the experience was fun and “pushed me to my limits.” During his time on the Hilltop, the star athlete made it clear how highly he values his education. In just three and a half years, he earned a degree in sport management. “That degree is something no one can take away once my playing career is over,” he says. Read more:
As an SMU undergraduate, Regina Taylor ’81 was a writer planning a career in journalism. She never imagined that an acting class she took as an elective would change everything. She “fell in love with acting,” and it wasn’t long before casting directors were impressed by her talent. While collecting a trove of acting accolades – a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award and three Emmy nominations – she never stopped putting pen to paper.
As a playwright and director, Taylor “likes to play with form and style.” Her new play, Bread, was recently awarded an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. Its world premiere run will be April 13–May 16 at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, Texas. Set in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, the “compelling family drama of hopes, fears, thwarted dreams and dark secrets is set against a turbulent backdrop of racial tension and social upheaval.” Regina Taylor ’81 peels pack the layers of her play Magnolia at a table reading with Meadows students and other actors. Her new award-winning play, Bread, will have its world premiere at WaterTower Theatre in Addison, April 13–May 16. Photos by Kim Leeson.
In some of her other plays, the daring dramatist transports Anton Chekhov out of pre-revolutionary Russia and into the black American experience. In Magnolia she reimagines The Cherry Orchard in 1963 Atlanta as the civil rights movement gains momentum. Last spring she spent two days with Meadows School of the Arts students and actors from the Dallas theater community in workshops and open rehearsals for a public reading of the play at Meadows.
“This was a wonderful opportunity to take them through my process,” she says, “and to work with some very promising students and experience and explore their reactions to the characters.”
She says it was exhilarating to be back where she developed “a great bag of tricks” and acquired “a solid foundation that prepared me to go out into the world.”
While an SMU student, she was cast in Crisis at Central High, a television movie about the 1957 integration of Little Rock, Arkansas, schools. She played one of the nine black students who broke the color barrier. Five years later, in 1986, she made history as the first black actress to play Shakespeare’s Juliet on Broadway. Her Romeo was former SMU scene partner René Moreno ’81.
At the moment, theater work takes center stage in her career. The Dallas native continues a longtime association with the Goodman Theater as a member of its prestigious Artistic Collective and is a playwright-in-residence at the Signature Theatre in New York City. This is an interesting time for artists, she says.
“The arts can be an igniter, an educator. They provide an opening for very necessary conversations about complicated issues like race and gender. They also help us draw connections between our experiences that build bridges between communities.” More:
SMU senior Benjamin H. Chi was named a 2019 Schwarzman Scholar, one of 140 students selected globally to receive the honor. Schwarzman Scholars are selected on the basis of academic aptitude, intellectual ability, leadership potential, entrepreneurial spirit, ability to anticipate and act on emerging trends and opportunities, exemplary character, and desire to understand other cultures, perspectives and positions.
A native of Dallas, Chi is SMU’s first Schwarzman Scholar. The Schwarzman program provides a one-year master’s degree in global affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
“It’s a validation of all the work I’ve put in so far and also the next best step for me professionally,” Chi says. “The Schwarzman scholarship talks a lot about leadership in the application and interview process, and I hope to build on that skillset. What I really want to take away also is an understanding of Chinese culture and to bolster my language skill. I want to understand how Chinese people view culture, America and policy.” Read more at SMU News.
Michael Taylor will be the first to tell you that he was not ready for college when he graduated from Plano East High School in 2006. And he’ll also tell you that nobody was more surprised than he was when SMU admitted him in 2014, a little later than the average undergrad.
But Taylor’s disciplined approach to life, honed through five years in the Marine Corps, combined with the intelligence he learned to tap, has earned him a master’s degree from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering that will be awarded Dec. 16. And after proving his mettle as a student researcher in Lyle’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Taylor has been awarded the first Raytheon IIS Cyber Elite Graduate Fellowship, which will fund his Ph.D. in quantum computing at SMU and then put him to work as an employee at Raytheon.
Taylor learned to focus on the details in the Marine Corps. He had sampled community college very briefly after high school, but it didn’t stick. He knew he didn’t have skills to trade for a decent job, so joining the Marine Corps made sense to him.
“Honestly? In retrospect, I wasn’t ready for school,” Taylor acknowledged. Read more at SMU News.
Military veteran Evan Atkinson ’17 thought he would be shut out of law school until an SMU scholarship opened the door to a life-changing opportunity.
His journey started years before he ever considered college. The events of 9/11 and the aftermath shaped his profound love of country and call to duty. He enlisted in the military in 2005, straight out of high school. He was drawn to the Army by his natural affinity for its Seven Core Army Values, including loyalty, duty and selfless service.
Expecting to serve four years, Atkinson instead stayed for nine. He grew up in the Army, worked hard, married and had kids. He even took online courses to earn a bachelor’s degree from what he joked was a “fake college.” He knew and loved the Army, and it was comfortable. But it wasn’t enough.
While considering his options for the future, he took the LSAT (Law School Admission Test). Although he scored well, he looked at law school as a long shot. How would he, a soldier from “a little Podunk town outside of San Antonio,” manage law school when he hadn’t even been to a “real” college? But an even bigger question for him: How would he support his family?
One night, as he was driving home from work on base, Atkinson received a call from a “214” number. His heart rate jumped. While still driving, he answered the phone and couldn’t believe what he heard. SMU had accepted his application – and was offering him a scholarship!
He plunged into life as a Dedman School of Law student. He served as editor-in-chief of the SMU Science & Technology Law Review (2016–17), was vice president of the Veterans Law Association and the Association for Public Interest Law, volunteered with Dallas Kids public service project and excelled in legal competitions.
A 2017 cum laude graduate of Dedman School of Law, he now serves as a judicial clerk in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. After completing the clerkship, he hopes to continue his career in bankruptcy law.
Atkinson says he left SMU with a new perspective.
“While in law school, I was very impressed by the Dallas legal community, both in the importance the community puts on pro bono work and also by SMU alums who go out of their way to help current students and to give back to the school,” he says. “I entered law school believing in the importance of giving back to the community but left with a new understanding of what that means.”
Annual gifts to SMU for current use support scholarships for students such as Evan Atkinson and power every part of the University. Read about Pony Power: Strengthening the Stampede to learn how you can make an immediate impact on today’s students.
Biko McMillan was supposed to be named “Stanley,” after his grandfather. But his father wanted a name that came with a legacy, so he named him after Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist and leader of its 1960s and ’70s black consciousness movement.
“When I think of my name, it’s a lot to carry,” says McMillan.
The SMU senior biological sciences and Spanish major from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, is graduating Dec. 16. But McMillan is well on his way to living up to his name, says Creston Lynch, SMU director of multicultural affairs and a mentor to McMillan.
“Biko is an amazing example of how SMU shapes leaders,” Lynch says.
After commencement McMillan plans to earn graduate degrees in science and public health. His dream? To become a researcher and leader at the National Institutes of Health or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more at SMU News.
Guilt and shame play a role in reducing bribery, according to research by SMU economist Danila Serra.
As an economist who has studied bribery behavior extensively, Serra has discovered that bribery declines if potentially corrupt agents are made aware of the negative effects of corruption, and when victims can share specific information about bribe demands through online reporting systems.
An assistant professor in the SMU Department of Economics, Serra’s research methodology is unique – relying on lab experiments in which players gain and lose real money. Her work is frequently cited by other researchers studying the field of bribery.
In November the directors and officers of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics honored Serra as the inaugural recipient of the $50,000 Vernon L. Smith Ascending Scholar Prize. The Smith Prize is described by the foundation as a “budding genius” award. Read more at SMU News.
The National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) at SMU released a new report on December 13, 2017, detailing the financial health of arts organizations in the United States.
The new report examines organizational bottom lines using data collected from over 4,800 organizations between 2013 and 2016. Overall, the report shows that it has become increasingly difficult for arts and cultural organizations to break even, a trend that is particularly alarming given the nation’s current period of economic growth.
“As we all know, the arts are heavily labor intensive and salaries naturally rise over time, but the technology-driven productivity increases that drive efficiencies in many industries just don’t apply, making the cost of doing business in the arts a challenge—a phenomenon recognized for decades as ‘Baumol’s cost disease,’” said Zannie Voss, NCAR director. “As with all NCAR’s work, this report is designed to help organizations and the individuals and institutions that support them better understand the state of the field, rethink traditional operating models, and spark new strategies that advance the financial sustainability of the field.” Read more at SMU Meadows.
Elizabeth Mills Viney ’10 was named the winner of The Dallas Foundation’s eighth annual Good Works Under 40 Award. Offered in partnership withThe Dallas Morning News, Good Works Under 40 honors up-and-coming leaders who are improving the future of Dallas and inspiring their peers to make a difference.
Viney was nominated by Guy Delcambre, director of advancement at Advocates for Community Transformation (ACT). Since 2013, Viney has logged more than 400 volunteer hours with ACT, where she works with West Dallas residents, law enforcement and the civil justice system to reduce crime.
A former attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Viney uses her knowledge of the legal system to empower families to restore hope and dignity to the area. In addition to her own service, Viney recruited many other attorneys to volunteer with ACT, together donating nearly 1,200 hours of pro bono legal counsel.
In inner-city areas typically pervaded by intimidation and fear, “residents live like prisoners in their homes,” said Delcambre. “For residents to stand and accept the risk of retaliation against them takes an indescribable amount of courage.”
A former attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Viney uses her knowledge of the legal system to empower families to restore hope and dignity to the area. In addition to her own service, Viney recruited many other attorneys to volunteer with ACT, together donating nearly 1,200 hours of pro bono legal counsel.
“Elizabeth is a joyful, selfless and motivated leader who has given her time and talents to serve ACT in whichever way the organization has needed,” said J. Reid Porter, president of ACT. “Her service as a volunteer lawyer is unmatched.”
Viney was honored during an award ceremony hosted by The Dallas Foundation on November 8. As part of the recognition, Viney earned a $10,000 prize for ACT. In addition to the winner, four finalists received $3,500 checks for the nonprofit agencies that nominated them. The finalists were Stephanie Giddens, president and founder of Vickery Trading Company; SMU alumna Lana Harder ’00 with Dallas Court Appointed Special Advocates; SMU alumnus Dominic Lacy ’03, board president of Deaf Action Center; and Robert Taylor, founder and director of The Educator Collective. Applications were reviewed by a committee of emerging civic leaders led by Meg Boyd of Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
“Elizabeth is a shining example of the commitment, dedication and passion that Good Works Under 40 aims to spotlight,” said Boyd. “She and all our finalists prove that the future of philanthropy is bright in Dallas.”
New this year is the People’s Choice Award, a $1,000 grant to the nonprofit of the finalist who garnered the most online votes from the community. Dominic Lacy received the inaugural People’s Choice Award on behalf of the Deaf Action Center.
A $15 million gift from the Nancy Ann Hunt Foundation (a supporting organization of the Communities Foundation of Texas) will ensure the long-term support of the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program, which is one of SMU’s signature scholarship programs attracting academically talented student leaders from throughout the United States to SMU.In 1993, Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt and SMU announced a vision to create an annually funded leadership program to preserve the well-rounded and entrepreneurial nature of SMU’s student body while the University grew its academic standing. They believed that an SMU education fosters, and benefits from, students who exhibit demonstrated leadership skills, intellectual ability, a spirit of entrepreneurism and a strong work ethic, combined with a desire to grow these skills and apply them in service of the community.
“SMU has benefited enormously from Nancy Ann and Ray Hunt’s historic generosity,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Today SMU receives three times the number of applicants than it did in 1993 with many now having proven leadership, entrepreneurial and academic strengths. Therefore, although the Hunts feel that the original program’s objectives have been accomplished, we were delighted when they agreed to make this significant gift that will enable the University to create an endowment to insure the long-term continuation of the Leadership Scholars program and the legacy that the Hunts have created.”
With this gift, the Hunts will have contributed $65 million to the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program, a nationally recognized scholarship program for SMU, attracting the interest of academically gifted and exceptional service-driven student leaders from across the country.
Hunt Scholars span majors across all disciplines at SMU and are leaders in virtually all spheres of campus life. They have served as president, vice-president, and secretary of the Student Body, Program Council, and Student Foundation. They have been leaders across the spectrum of SMU’s hundreds of student organizations and editors for campus newspapers and publications. To date, the program has provided scholarships to 372 students who following their graduation from SMU have had a significant impact in many diverse fields ranging from medicine and law to theology, teaching and politics. Read more at SMU News.
SMU is eager to serve and partner with Dallas, just as Northwestern University serves Chicago and Columbia University serves New York. We are ready to leverage SMU’s academic vitality and strong relationships with the Dallas region for expanded community service and impact.
Dallas is a city in a hurry, taking its place as a global business and knowledge center. Major corporations like Toyota and (perhaps) Amazon recognize that Dallas has a stake in the tech-driven future. What you need to know is that SMU has skin in that game.
We are a 21st century university, data empowered and actively seeking solutions to societal problems through interdisciplinary collaborations between the humanities, the sciences, the arts and the world of bytes and bits.
The red brick campus with a tradition of liberal arts and professional education now offers 13 graduate programs in data science, including an online master’s degree, and is powered by ManeFrame II – in the top 20 among the most powerful supercomputers in North American higher education. SMU’s high-speed supercomputer is completely accessible with no waiting to our students, faculty and our research partners outside SMU, providing us with more per capita shared computing resources (both in terms of faculty and students) than any university in Texas.
Simply put, a University that offers the ability to complete research in any discipline faster, without long wait times for processing data, has a distinct advantage. It’s like the difference between sitting in a traffic jam and whipping over into the HOV lane. Read more at SMU: Data Empowered.
As the son of refugees, Kovan Barzani ’17 wanted to make the most of his University experience. While a triple major at SMU, he managed a Texas House campaign, started a program to teach refugees job skills and turned a finance internship into a full-time job.
“My mother didn’t know how to read,” says Barzani. War kept her from completing elementary school, and eventually Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime forced Barzani’s parents to flee for a new life in the United States.
In middle school, Barzani helped his mother learn English and pass her U.S. citizenship test. By the time he graduated from high school, he had scholarship offers from three schools. He says, “When I realized there were more opportunities to double or triple major at SMU, that was a huge factor in my decision to come to the Hilltop.” Read more about Kovan Barzani ’17 and other SMU World Changers.
Kenneth A. Hersh, president and chief executive officer of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which oversees the George W. Bush Institute and houses the George W. Bush Library and Museum, will be the featured speaker during SMU’s December Commencement at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 16, in Moody Coliseum.
The entire event will be livestreamed via Facebook Live at https://www.facebook.com/smudallas/.
In addition to his work at the Bush Center, Hersh is the co-founder and advisory partner of NGP Energy Capital Management, a deputy chief investment officer for The Carlyle Group’s natural resources division, and sits on the board of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. Read more at SMU News.
Kumar Venkataraman, James M. Collins Chair in Finance at the Cox School, has been appointed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to serve on its newly formed Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee. The committee, with an initial focus on the corporate bond and municipal securities markets, will provide advice to the Commission on the efficiency and resiliency of these markets and identify opportunities for regulatory improvements.
“Fixed income markets are larger in size and scope than stock markets,” said Venkataraman. “Yet, for a variety of reasons, trading in bonds continues to be dominated by old methods that do not exploit technology. I am honored to be part of a working group that plans to review bond market structure, and suggest ways to improve the market for bond investors.”
The SEC’s Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee consists of a diverse group of 23 outside experts, including individuals representing the views of retail and institutional investors, small and large issuers, trading venues, dealers, self-regulatory organizations and more. Venkataraman is one of only two academics named to the committee. Read more at SMU News.
Fossil leaves from Africa have resolved a prehistoric climate puzzle — and also confirm the link between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and global warming.
Research until now has produced a variety of results and conflicting data that have cast doubt on the link between high carbon dioxide levels and climate change for a time interval about 22 million years ago.
But a new study has found the link does indeed exist for that prehistoric time period, say SMU researchers. The finding will help scientists understand how recent and future increases in the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide may impact the future of our planets.
The new analyses confirm research about modern climate — that global temperatures rise and fall with increases and decreases in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere — but in this case even in prehistoric times, according to the SMU-led international research team. Read more at SMU Research.
On November 21, local Dallas urban farm organizations and residents of South Dallas gathered for the grand opening of the new Seedling Farm at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center’s Freedom Garden. The Seedling Farm, one of several urban farm initiatives that have sprouted in Dallas over the past five years, is the latest addition to ongoing efforts to transform South Dallas from a “food desert” to a vibrant source of fresh vegetables and fruits.
According to SMU Meadows Associate Professor Owen Lynch, one of the principal event organizers, a food desert is a community without close access to fresh, healthy foods at grocery stores or other retail outlets. In South Dallas, many residents live at least a mile away from a grocery store.
“South Dallas is one of the largest food deserts in the country,” says Lynch, president and founding board member of the nonprofit, urban farm consulting agency Get Healthy Dallas. Read more at SMU Meadows.
That’s SMU alumna Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11 on the cover of the Forbes 30 Under 30 issue. Herd founded Bumble, “America’s fastest-growing dating-app company,” just three years after receiving a bachelor’s degree in international studies from SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. This is her second consecutive appearance on the business magazine’s list of top “youthful visionaries” in 20 industries. In the profile that accompanies her December 12, 2017, cover, the 28-year-old entrepreneur talks about her mission to empower women via social networks devoted to dating, friendship, and business and networking. “We let our users guide our innovation. We let our users guide our brand.” EXCERPT
By Clare O’Connor Forbes
When Whitney Wolfe Herd started planning an October launch party for a new product at Bumble, America’s fastest-growing dating-app company, she was deliberate in her choice of venue: the Manhattan space that for 57 years hosted the Four Seasons restaurant, where regulars like Henry Kissinger, Vernon Jordan, Edgar Bronfman and Stephen Schwarzman created the ultimate power lunch.
The space now has a new name, new management and a new menu. And, as Herd insists, a new perspective on business. “The power lunch is no longer just for men,” Herd announces to the mostly young, mostly female crowd, before ceding the stage to the pop star Fergie. “We all deserve a seat at the table.”
That table surely now includes the 28-year-old Herd, who has changed the tenor of dating dynamics. By letting women make the first move, Bumble has amassed over 22 million registered users, to closest competitor Tinder’s 46 million, and at more than 70% year-over-year growth, to Tinder’s roughly 10%, it’s closing the gap quickly.
As a young researcher, Paul E. Hardin ’82 clocked innumerable hours in a pitch-dark lab to shed light on one of the keys to good health. Hardin was the first author on one of the fundamental papers from a body of circadian rhythm research to win the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The Nobel Prize went to Hardin’s former colleagues Michael Rosbash and Jeffrey Hall of Brandeis as well as Michael Young of Rockefeller University “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm.”
“It’s a really beautiful example of basic research that has led to incredible discoveries,” Hardin commented in Quanta Magazine. “Almost every aspect of physiology and metabolism will be controlled by the circadian clock.”
Hardin earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from SMU in 1982 and a doctorate in genetics from Indiana University in 1987.
As a postdoctoral researcher in Rosbash’s lab from 1987 to 1991, Hardin demonstrated that the protein encoded by the gene that controls circadian rhythm in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) fluctuates over a 24-hour period, rising at night and falling during the day. His research over the past two decades has helped establish the fruit fly as a model organism for studying the circadian clock in humans and allowed scientists to unravel myriad ways in which that natural timekeeper affects our health. These discoveries may lead to new treatments for a wide range of afflictions – from jet lag and sleep disorders to obesity and heart disease.
Hardin, Distinguished Professor and John W. Lyons Jr. ’59 Endowed Chair in Biology at Texas A&M University, told Texas A&M Today: “A Nobel prize for ciradian clocks is great for the field. It is, indeed, exciting to have worked with two of the three winners and to see them and my field honored with such a momentous award. It is a proud moment for circadian clocks.”
His research has earned international recognition, including the 2003 Aschoff-Honma Prize from the Honma Life Science Foundation in Japan. He has served as president of the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Genetics Society of America and the Society of Neuroscience. He is the author of more than 100 publications.
A previous version of this story erroneously stated that Dr. Hardin was the son of SMU President Paul Hardin III, and we apologize for the error. Read more:
Congratulations to soprano Michelle Alexander ’14, winner of multiple awards in the international Wagner Society Singing Competition in London on November 5. Michelle Alexander as Magda in The Consul. Photo by Clive Barda.
Alexander, who received a Master of Music degree from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, won second place in the overall competition as well as three additional awards: the Audience Prize; the President’s Award, which entitles her to a master class with opera legend Dame Gwyneth Jones; and a Bursaries Award to attend the Bayreuth Festival in Bayreuth, Germany, the home of the opera house that composer Richard Wagner had built specifically for the performance of his operas.
Alexander is pursuing post-graduate studies at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she recently performed the role of Magda Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul.
SMU alumnus George Killebrew ’85 will receive the SEAL Legacy Foundation Unsung Hero Award at the organization’s seventh annual benefit and gala on November 14. The Unsung Hero Award recognizes outstanding support for the United States Armed Forces. George Killebrew ‘85
Killebrew serves as executive vice president of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. He earned a B.B.A. from SMU and is actively involved with his alma mater as a member of the SMU Alumni Board and volunteer.
Jerry Jones, owner, president and general manager of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and professional golfer Lexi Thompson will receive the SEAL Legacy Award, presented each year to distinguished Americans who have demonstrated a lifetime of unwavering commitment to the U.S. Armed Forces and, in particular, the U.S. Navy SEALs. Past recipients include SMU Trustees Ray Hunt ’65, David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68, who was honored with his wife, Penny Loyd.
All proceeds from the event will benefit the SEAL Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization established and operated by U.S. Navy SEALs that provides support to families of wounded and fallen SEALs, educational assistance for SEALs and their families, and other charitable causes benefiting the SEAL community.
The annual SEAL Legacy Foundation Benefit & Gala – featuring food, drinks, entertainment and special presentations by the U.S. Navy Seals – will begin at 6 p.m. on November 14 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Tickets may be purchased at www.SEALLegacy.org. Read more: George Killebrew ’85: Helping SMU students break into the big time
Mustang swimming and diving teams will make a splash on November 3 when they host LSU in the new Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium, which will be dedicated at 3 p.m. that day. Five Mustangs events are coming up in the state-of-the-art aquatics center, including the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championships in February.
The 42,000 square foot center, located on the University’s east campus at 5550 SMU Blvd., is key to preparing SMU’s Division I men’s and women’s swimmers and divers for the highest level of competition.
“For more than 70 years, SMU swimming and diving has produced Olympians, All Americans and NCAA champions,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The completion of the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center affirms SMU’s commitment to providing first-rate facilities to support our student-athletes.”
The Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center was built with the help of former SMU swimmers, divers, coaches and friends of men’s and women’s swimming and diving dedicated to supporting the future of SMU’s swimming and diving programs.
Lead donors include Bruce A. Robson ’74 and Emily K. Robson, Joe Robson ’76 and Hannah Robson and Steven J. Lindley ’74 and Shelli Mims Lindley. They are joined by Sheila Peterson Grant and Joseph (Jody) M. Grant ’60, The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, Inc. and Robert A. Wilson ’67 and Susan Cooper Wilson ’67.
The final fundraising push for the Aquatics Center received a significant boost when the Grants contributed $1.5 million while also creating the Sheila and Jody Grant Challenge, which encouraged other donors to give the remaining $1.5 million to complete the center’s $22 million funding goal. The challenge was near its goal approaching the center’s dedication.
“I am so grateful to our donors for their commitment to swimming and diving at the highest level,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. “The commitment of the Robson and Lindley families and the other lead donors, the encouragement of Sheila and Jody Grant in their funding challenge and the many other donors who have supported this project at many levels, shows the impact that SMU swimming had on so many lives. Thanks to their generosity, future swimmers and divers will have the opportunity for memorable experiences as well.” Read more at SMU News.
The Mustang Momentum Challenge is complete, and we are thrilled to announce $119,376 was raised by 516 alumni in just 14 days! Of that amount, nearly $67,000 was given to a current-use SMU Fund.
With Homecoming days away, we are raising the stakes and challenging our alumni to reach $75,000 to SMU’s current-use funds. During the past fourteen days, SMU alumni made an average gift of $171. Some quick math reveals that we need fewer than 50 alumni donors to reach our $75,000 goal.
If you want to make a difference in the education of a current SMU student, become one of these donors today. Read more at Mustang Momentum.
A new season of Moody Magic opens on November 10 when a trio of talented returning players fronts SMU men’s basketball, the reigning American Athletic Conference champions, against UMBC, and four returning starters lead the women’s team against Nicholls State in Moody Coliseum. SMU men’s basketball only returns three rotation players from last season’s squad that captured the conference championship, but it’s an extremely talented and experienced core for the 2017-18 team to build around. Senior Ben Emelogu II ’18, along with juniors Shake Milton ’19 and Jarrey Foster ’19, have all been through the battles and played a huge role in SMU making the NCAA Tournament.
“Even though we only have three guys (returning), they are guys you wouldn’t trade for the world,” head coach Tim Jankovich said. “They’re tremendous competitors. They’re all very bright. They help us set a tone of what this program is all about and how we’ve gotten to where we’ve gotten and what is really valued here.” Read more. SMU women’s basketball returns four of five starters, including all-conference honoree Alicia Froling ’18. McKenzie Adams ’18 averaged 12.2 points per game a year after leading the Mustangs in scoring with 13.4 points per game as a sophomore. Kiara Perry ’18 led the team with 58 steals and was tied for the team lead with 84 assists. Stephanie Collins ’18 started 19 games and led the Mustangs with a 52.0 shooting percentage. The Mustangs also set a program record with 187 blocks.
SMU plays 13 non-conference games, featuring road trips at Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Alabama. The Mustangs also play at UT Arlington and the University of North Texas as well as two games in a Thanksgiving tournament at Nevada. Read more at SMU Athletics.
As venerable statesman and decorated war hero Sam Johnson ’51 prepares to leave Congress at the end of 2018, he is making two gifts to SMU that will support the education of military veterans and preserve for future study papers and materials from his distinguished life and career.
Johnson’s gift of $100,000 to SMU will establish The Hon. Sam Johnson Endowed Military Scholarship Fund, with the Collin County Business Alliance (CCBA) providing seed funding to make the scholarship operational for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Johnson’s dedication to public service spans a 29-year military career and 26 years in the U.S. Congress. SMU’s Board of Trustees and President R. Gerald Turner will celebrate the creation of the scholarship and the donation of his historic papers and other materials to the University’s special collections repository at an on-campus reception in his honor at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in Fondren Library.
“SMU helped shape me into the person I am today, and I can’t think of a better way to say thank you to my alma mater than with this scholarship and library gift,” Johnson said. “I’m grateful to join SMU in making a commitment to the military and its families by helping these deserving individuals achieve their higher education. And I’m hopeful that this library archive will help inspire future generations to build a legacy of service on behalf of others and our great nation.”
Johnson’s archive will be housed in DeGolyer Library, SMU’s special collections repository. Read more at SMU News.
By Kenny Ryan SMU News
Iraq war veteran Jason Waller, 40, knows how challenging it can be for veterans to find civilian work when they leave the military. He heard it firsthand from the men and women he served with during his own deployments overseas.
Now, he’s in position to help both veterans and Americans who lost their homes in a hurricane season unlike any in living memory.
A senior at SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, Waller has launched his own company, Emergent Services LLC, to provide on-the-job training for vets to work as independent property insurance adjusters. Waller says the client base – Americans struggling to navigate insurance claims after devastating storms – is one that vets are eager to help.
“There are a lot of aspects of being an insurance adjuster that veterans can relate to,” says Waller, who will graduate with a management science degree in December. “There’s something in our nature that we want to serve Americans. When we can do it face-to-face instead of on the other side of the world, it’s therapeutic for us.” Read more at SMU News.
Michael McKee, resident bishop of the Dallas Area of The United Methodist Church, is the 2017 Distinguished Alumnus of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. He will be honored during the annual awards banquet on Monday, November 13, at 5 p.m. in the Great Hall of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall on the SMU campus.
Bishop McKee was selected for the award by the Perkins Alumni/ae Council for his demonstrated effectiveness and integrity in service to the church, continuing support and involvement in the goals of Perkins School of Theology and SMU, distinguished service in the wider community and exemplary character.
A native of Fort Worth, Bishop McKee’s service to The United Methodist Church, to Southern Methodist University, and to Perkins School of Theology has spanned almost five decades and has influenced the denomination at the local, regional, national, and global levels. Read more at Perkins.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Awards – the most prestigious honor the University bestows upon alumni – and the Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes an outstanding Mustang who has graduated within the past 15 years. Return completed forms by December 31, 2017.
When military strategists plan a mission, one of many factors is the toll it takes on the Army’s foot soldiers. A long march and heavy load drains energy. So military strategists are often concerned with the calories a soldier will burn, and the effect of metabolic stress on their overall physiological status, including body temperature, fuel needs and fatigue.
Now scientists at SMU have discovered a new, more accurate way to predict how much energy a soldier uses walking.
The method was developed with funding from the U.S. military. It significantly improves on two existing standards currently in use, and relies on just three readily available variables.
An accurate quantitative assessment tool is important because the rate at which people burn calories while walking can vary tenfold depending on how fast they walk, if they carry a load, and whether the walk is uphill, downhill or level.
“Our new method improves on the accuracy of the two leading standards that have been in use for nearly 50 years,” said exercise physiologist Lindsay W. Ludlow, an SMU post-doctoral fellow and lead author on the study. “Our model is fairly simple and improves predictions.” Read more at SMU Research.
SMU Athletics dedicated the new Payne Stewart SMU Golf Training Center at Trinity Forest Golf Club on October 13. The facility, among the finest in college golf, was made possible through the support of generous donors Ann Park Roberts Gibbs ’66 and James R. Gibbs ’66, ’70, ’72, Carolyn L. Miller and David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and the David B. Miller Family Foundation, The Dedman Foundation and family, and the Payne Stewart Family Foundation, Inc. Many additional donors also contributed generously to this initiative.
The center is named in honor of Payne Stewart ’ 79, 1989 PGA Champion, two-time U.S. Open Champion and member of five U.S. Ryder Cup teams.
The 6,700-square foot facility features team locker rooms, coaches’ offices, a conference room, a workout center and kitchen. The center also houses a hitting bay featuring premier equipment, including the Swing Catalyst, which tracks weight shift throughout the swing as well as four video motion-capture cameras and monitors to show swings. A TrackMan system uses dual radar technology to track both club movement and the ball at the moment of impact. This equipment provides the perfect foundation for analysis, enabling the Mustang golfers to use real-time data to improve their games. Read more at SMU News.
Bearing witness to Poland’s deep physical and emotional scars that linger long after World War II – when the Nazis made the country the epicenter of the Holocaust – is the focus of a new book by SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program, No Resting Place: Holocaust Poland (Terrace Partners, $39.95).
The large-format hardcover combines more than 200 contemporary photos of occupied Poland’s deadliest Holocaust sites with historical vignettes and poignant observations from those who have experienced one of the most comprehensive, longest-running Shoah study trips offered by a U.S. university.
Each December, the two-week Holocaust Poland trip, led for more than 20 years by SMU Professor Rick Halperin, exposes students and lifelong learners to the Third Reich’s genocidal “Final Solution to the Jewish Question.” Like the trip, No Resting Place visits 13 of the most notorious SS-run sites – Stutthof, Lodz, Chelmno, Warsaw, Treblinka, Jedwabne, Sobibor, Belzec, Majdanek, Auschwitz, Birkenau, Plaszow and Gross-Rosen – six designed solely for killing. Read more at SMU News.
SMU anthropologist Caroline Brettell celebrated her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences during a ceremony at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 7.
The 228 new fellows and foreign honorary members — representing the sciences, the humanities and the arts, business, public affairs and the nonprofit sector — were announced in April as members of one of the world’s most prestigious honorary societies. In addition to Brettell, the class of 2017 includes actress Carol Burnett, musician John Legend, playwright Lynn Nottage, immunologist James Allison and many others.
Brettell is the fourth SMU faculty member to be elected to the Academy. She joins David Meltzer, Henderson-Morrison Professor of Prehistory in Dedman College (class of 2013), Scurlock University Professor of Human Values Charles Curran (class of 2010), and the late David J. Weber, founding director of the University’s Clements Center for Southwest Studies (class of 2007). Read more at SMU News.
Just a week before Hurricane Harvey hit, Punam Kaji ’12, an associate with Haynes and Boone, LLP, had relocated from Dallas to Houston. After the hurricane, her inbox was flooded with emails from other lawyers asking, “What should we be doing right now to help?” Kaji, a graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, serves as chair of the Asian Pacific Interest Section (APIS) of the State Bar of Texas. APIS recently organized and co-sponsored hurricane relief legal training with a coalition of Bar organizations and community groups at South Texas College of Law–Houston. Above the Law, a legal news and commentary website, highlighted the pro bono initiative on October 20, 2017. EXCERPT
Renwei Chung Above the Law
Punam Kaji ’12
Last week, the Asian Pacific Interest Section (APIS) of the State Bar of Texas organized and co-sponsored hurricane relief legal training with a coalition of diverse bar organizations and community groups at South Texas College of Law–Houston.
Their training focused on ways to help with Hurricane Harvey relief, specifically instructing attorneys and others in the community on how to manage the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) appeals process. But other issues, such as language access and cultural barriers, were topics of discussion as well for the 44 attendees.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to catch up with Punam Kaji, chair of APIS, associate at Haynes and Boone, LLP, and alumnus of SMU Dedman School of Law. As Harvey’s downpour was still draining, her inbox started flooding with emails from other lawyers. Even attorneys whose homes were damaged were asking, “What should we be doing right now to help?”
As the chair of APIS, Kaji felt compelled to help focus its attention on a project they could do with several other community organizations. Helping with Harvey relief was very personal for her as well. The week before Harvey hit Houston and the surrounding areas, Kaji had just relocated to Dallas from the ravaged region. This training allowed her to be there in spirit to help after the catastrophe.
Renwei Chung: Your pro-bono initiative focused on training people for the FEMA application appeals process. Why?
Punam Kaji: The local organizations and pro bono lawyers in Houston did an incredible job getting to the shelters and assisting with FEMA applications. Daniel Hu, an APIS Council Member and board member of Lone Star Legal Aid, informed us that the FEMA Appeals process would come next, and be a difficult stage for those who have been denied FEMA assistance.
We wanted to anticipate the next critical legal need for Harvey survivors trying to get their life back. We figured if we train lawyers they will be able to take on a pro bono case or even give better advice to friends, family and community members.
Since graduating from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts in 2006, Joshua L. Peugh ’06 has achieved acclaim worldwide for his unique and innovative choreography. He founded Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (DCCD) in 2010 in Seoul, with the company’s newest branch based in Dallas. DCCD was among the performing arts groups appearing in the groundbreaking public theater production of The Tempest in March. Two new works by Peugh will have their international premiere in Seoul, just days before the company returns to Dallas to open its fifth anniversary season.
Dark Circles Contemporary Dance’s Big Bad Wolf and Les Fairies will be performed at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, 6th Floor Studio Theatre, October 19–21, just days after their international premiere in Seoul, South Korea. The company celebrates the opening of its fifth anniversary season with these two new creations by founder and artistic director Joshua L. Peugh ’06. Big Bad Wolf is inspired by cautionary tales people worldwide use to frighten naughty children. Influenced by characters described in stories by Heinrich Hoffmann, the Grimm Brothers, Charles Perrault and others, the work will be grandly theatrical and draw from vaudeville. A brand-new score for the work has been commissioned from composer and SMU Meadows School of the Arts alumnus Brandon Carson ’16.
The second work, Les Fairies, is a modern reimagining of the classic ballet Les Sylphides, with music by Frédéric Chopin performed live by Meadows School of the Arts staff musician Richard Abrahamson.
The production will feature a lighting design by Roma Flowers, whose credits include work for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Donald Bird, Doug Elkins Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, Doug Varone, Dance Theatre of Harlem and many other distinguished dance companies and artists. Susan Austin will provide the costume design.
Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 19; and at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, October 20–21. Tickets are $25. More information about our performances can be found online at darkcirclescontemporarydance.com along with additional details about the company’s fifth anniversary season.
Maggie Inhofe, a design and innovation graduate student in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty in the name of research. After receiving a Maguire and Irby Family Foundation Public Service Fellowship from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, she spent the summer learning more about compressed earth block technology and designing modular building systems for rural communities.
Here is an excerpt from one of her posts about the experience on the SMU Adventures blog:
If I were to tell you that I spent the last week using a giant mixer, a piping bag and biscuit molds, you might think that I chose to redirect my Maguire grant to study the delightful field of baking. Rest assured, I’m still researching compressed earth block technology for a rural housing project. But I did get to use all of those things, and a lot of other seemingly kitchen-related material, out in the field when I attend DwellEarth’s training session last week.
I was one of 15 attendees at DwellEarth’s semi-annual training sessions. DwellEarth is a construction firm that specializes in compressed earth block construction.
The other participants came from all over the world. Though earthen construction is certainly lagging in America more than in other parts of our world, I am happy to say that I had some fellow Texans in my company. We began the week with a brief orientation before heading out, almost immediately, into the construction site where the hands-on learning would begin.
The first day focused on material science. We learned how to identify the different components of soil to determine how viable it was for construction. These tests ranged from incredibly simple – involving nothing more than your hand and a sprinkle of water – to more methodical – moving a mixture of soil and water through a series of test tubes to separate the different compounds.
Most soil is made of a mixture of clay, silt and sand. To prep the soil to be used in a compressed earth block, you need to know the proportion of these three components in the virgin soil, and see whether it needs any modification.
This fall, thousands of alumni are joining together in support of Pony Power: Strengthening the Stampede. This three-year initiative will improve the academic and campus experience of SMU students at the University, right now. By focusing on current-use funds, Pony Power seeks to maximize resources available to the provost, deans and faculty to address the most pressing needs and best ideas on campus. To get this initiative moving, SMU is introducing the Mustang Momentum Challenge. For 14 days, starting on October 18, SMU will celebrate the outstanding work of students and faculty across campus, highlighting the tangible impact current-use gifts make on the lives of students now, and leaving a lasting legacy for the future. Each day, a new student or faculty story will be featured in emails to alumni and on the web. And each day, alumni will be encouraged to make their own contribution, together gaining momentum to meet the challenge. Read more about Pony Power to see how meaningful alumni generosity is in the lives of individual students and the community at large, and how you can contribute to the Mustang Momentum Challenge.
Former SMU swimmer Joseph M. “Jody” Grant ’60, and his wife, Sheila Peterson Grant, are providing SMU Athletics with a $1.5 million gift to help fund the University’s new Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center. With their gift, they have created the Sheila and Jody Grant Challenge, encouraging other donors to donate the remaining $1.5 million to complete the $22 million funding goal.
The 42,000-square-foot facility, soon to be home to the University’s internationally recognized men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, will be dedicated Friday, November 3, during SMU Homecoming.
“As community business and philanthropic leaders, Jody and Sheila Grant know the importance of reaching the finish line and completing worthy goals,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Their generosity is inspirational and helps get us closer to completing funding for the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and providing a place where our student athletes can continue the championship legacy of SMU swimming and diving.”
The Aquatics Center features an indoor Olympic-sized pool, which can be configured for eight 50-meter competition lanes or twenty-two 25-yard lanes. Its platform diving well boasts a 10-meter diving tower with five springboards and seating for 800 spectators is on the mezzanine level.
Jody Grant attended SMU on a swimming scholarship, earning four individual Southwest Conference swimming championships and was twice named to the All America team.
“SMU’s swimming program has been near and dear to my heart since Coach Red Barr recruited me many years ago to swim for the Mustangs,” said Dr. Grant. “I am honored to support this new facility, which will be home for the swimming program that was so meaningful to me.”
The Grants met as students at SMU and have been SMU supporters since 1979. They have provided support to the SMU Fund, the Tate Lecture Series, the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics award, the Distinguished Alumni Award, Meadows School of the Arts, Dedman College, and Cox School of Business.
“With the challenge grant, we hope to inspire the community to join us in reaching the goal for the fundraising of the Aquatics Center. We like to participate in opportunities that provide benefits for as many people as possible, profoundly enhancing their lives,” said Sheila Grant. Read more at SMU News.
Come back to the Hilltop for Homecoming, November 2–5, 2017! Reconnect with your friends, reminisce where you began an important part of your life and celebrate the achievements and momentum propelling SMU toward an ever-brighter future.
This year’s celebration begins with the Distinguished Alumni Awards, a prelude to a weekend packed with activities. Choose from among a range of concerts and performances, as well as special exhibitions at SMU’s museums and libraries. Celebrate 100 years of Mustang spirit and Mustang jazz with the Mustang Band at the Pigskin Revue. And enjoy the excitement and fun of the annual parade and the Boulevard, all leading up to the Mustang football team’s game against the UCF Knights.
A highlight of the weekend for many returning Mustangs are the reunion class parties on November 3, where alumni catch up on old times, share memories and reconnect with one another at some of Dallas’ best-loved venues as well as great spots on campus with food, drinks and entertainment.
Student Foundation has been hard at work to make this the most memorable Homecoming yet. Join your Mustang family in November and experience the best of SMU. Read more at SMU Homecoming & Reunions.
The Mustang Band – the most visible performing ensemble at SMU – is celebrating its 100th year during SMU Homecoming 2017 with several special events, including:
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Diamond M Club Mixer 9 p.m. Old Chicago Pizza 5319 Mockingbird Station Dallas, TX 75206
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Mustang Band Mini-Reunion Noon Mustang Band Hall 6005 Bush Avenue Dallas, TX 75206
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Centennial Celebration 6:30–7:45 p.m. The Martha Proctor Mack Grand Ballroom Register now
“Choose Your Own Adventure” CLE experience, a reunion party for classes ending in 2s and 7s, and barbecue on The Boulevard are planned for Dedman School of Law alumni during SMU Homecoming Weekend. Read more at Dedman Law.
A $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to researchers in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development targets the ongoing struggle of U.S. elementary and high school students with math. SMU K-12 math education experts Leanne Ketterlin Geller and Lindsey Perry ’16 will conduct research and develop an assessment system comprised of two universal screening tools to measure mathematical reasoning skills for grades K–2.
“This is an opportunity to develop an assessment system that can help teachers support students at the earliest and, arguably, one of the most critical phases of a child’s mathematical development,” said Ketterlin Geller, principal investigator for the grant.
The four-year project, Measuring Early Mathematical Reasoning Skills: Developing Tests of Numeric Relational Reasoning and Spatial Reasoning, started on September 15, 2017. The system will contain tests for both numeric relational reasoning and spatial reasoning.
“I’m passionate about this research because students who can reason spatially and relationally with numbers are better equipped for future mathematics courses, STEM degrees and STEM careers,” said Perry, whose doctoral dissertation for her Ph.D. from SMU specifically focused on those two mathematical constructs.
“While these are very foundational and predictive constructs, these reasoning skills have typically not been emphasized at these grade levels, and universal screening tools focused on these topics do not yet exist,” said Perry, who is co-principal investigator.
“Since intervention in the early elementary grades can significantly improve mathematics achievement, it is critical that K-2 teachers have access to high-quality screening tools to help them with their intervention efforts,” she said. “We feel that the Measures of Mathematical Reasoning Skills system can really make a difference for K-2 teachers as they prepare the next generation of STEM leaders.” Read more at SMU Research.
SMU paleobotanist Bonnie F. Jacobs has contributed research to a major new study by a team of global researchers that provides scientists with a new tool for understanding both ancient and future climate by looking at the size of plant leaves. The research was published September 1, 2017 as a cover story in Science.
Why is a banana leaf a million times bigger than a common heather leaf? Why are leaves generally much larger in tropical jungles than in temperate forests and deserts? The textbooks say it’s a balance between water availability and overheating.
But it’s not that simple, the researchers found.
The study was led by Associate Professor Ian Wright from Macquarie University, Australia. The study reveals that in much of the world the key factor limiting the size of a plant’s leaves is the temperature at night and the risk of frost damage to leaves.
Jacobs said the implications of the study are significant for enabling scientists to either predict modern leaf size in the distant future, or to understand the climate for a locality as it may have been in the past. Read more at SMU Research.
SMU’s Frederick R. Chang, executive director of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, recently urged a congressional subcommittee to remember the success of Cold War-era legislationthat dedicated more than $1 billion to growing the “space race” workforce as a model for closing the 21st century cyber security skills gap.
Chang testified recently before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee on “Challenges of recruiting and retaining a Cybersecurity Workforce.”
The hearing fell the same day that that it was revealed that a data breach at Equifax Inc. had potentially exposed vital information on about 143 million Americans. “Cyber attacks are growing in frequency and they are growing in sophistication – but the availability of cyber security professionals to deal with these challenges is unfortunately not keeping pace,” said subcommittee chair John Ratcliffe, R-Tx.
One estimate, Ratcliffe said, forecasts a worldwide shortage of 1.8 million cyber security workers five years from now.
“In general, the actions that are being taken now are important, valuable and are making a difference,” Chang testified. “But given that these actions are being taken, and that the cyber skills gap continues to grow, tells me that we must do more. In 1958 science education in America got a shot in the arm when the National Defense Education Act was passed the year after the Soviet satellite “Sputnik” was launched into outer space. This act helped launch a generation of students who would study math and science. Read more at SMU News.
Hear best-selling author Anne Lamott, seminary president Rev. Dr. Marvin McMickle and noted biblical scholar Rev. Dr. N.T. Wright at The Power of the Story: 2017 Fall Convocation on Creative Communication, November 13–14, at Perkins School of Theology. Read more at Perkins School of Theology.
The impact of the nation’s evolving demographics will be explored by Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and a host of urban planning and economics experts at SMU on October 26.
A bouncy tune booms in the background as little girls with hair adorned in bright bows, barrettes and beads swarm the elementary school gym. It’s time for Sisterhood Circle at Solar Preparatory School for Girls. For the next 15 minutes, a lively mash-up of movement, song, patriotism and affirmation kicks off the morning.
Students direct the all-school assembly, and on this April day, a kindergarten class runs the show. Each Wednesday is College Day, and the pint-size emcee polls her classmates about their aspirations: “I want to go to SMU and become a lawyer … doctor … archaeologist … teacher … coach.”
Beaming from the sidelines is Nancy Bernardino ’01, ’04, ’05. She’s the principal leading the new single-gender campus, a unique startup developed through the Dallas Independent School District’s Choice School program, a pitch contest of sorts for educators to sell the district on their plans for new public schools.
“Everything we do here is designed to prepare our students for life,” Bernardino says. “They’re learning to write code and problem-solve. They’re learning to express themselves and support one another. We’re seeing our students blossom and become confident young girls.”
HAIR BOWS, HUGS AND HAMMERS It’s just another day in the life of Solar Preparatory School for Girls and Principal Nancy Bernardino as she makes her morning rounds, checking in on classrooms; pitching in as parents and students build lemonade stands, where students will learn about finance as they compete to sell the most beverages; and watching light bulbs flick on as students learn new concepts in the school’s makerspace. Pictured at the top of the page are the Simmons School alumnae leading Solar Prep: (from left) Olivia Santos ’05, ’16, instructional coach; Principal Bernardino; and Jennifer Turner ’16, assistant principal.
SHAPING A MODEL SCHOOL
From the girl power celebration that jumpstarts each day to the fusion of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts and math) curriculum with social and emotional learning (SEL), this model school equips girls with the academic abilities and daring they need to unlock their full potential.
GIRL CODE Students use Tinkercad to create basic 3D digital designs. Coding is part of the curriculum that builds tech literacy and nurtures STEAM interest.
Conversations about the “super school” started in 2014 when Bernardino, assistant principal Jennifer Turner ’16, teacher Cynthia Flores ’00, ’17 and instructional coach Ashley Toole ’16 worked together at John Quincy Adams Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, a modest neighborhood in southeast Dallas. Like any entrepreneurs seeking venture capital, the team had to formulate a viable idea, identify data to support their concept and devise a feasible plan that could withstand DISD’s rigorous vetting process.
“When we started looking at the greatest need at the elementary level, we found compelling research about girls losing their voice in the classroom by the time they reach fifth grade,” Bernardino explains. “I started thinking about my own experiences as a very shy student and how things changed for me.”
Bernardino was born in Mexico but has lived in Dallas since she was a year old. She grew up in East Dallas, not far from Solar Prep’s location on Henderson Avenue.
“Neither of my parents had a formal education,” she explains. “My mother wanted us to have career options that she never had.”
Even though they didn’t speak English, her parents regularly attended school functions – demonstrating to Bernardino the importance of parental engagement. Solar Prep sponsors both a parent-teacher association and a club for fathers and other important men in students’ lives.
Poised and self-assured with a quick wit and sunny smile, Bernardino admits she wasn’t always comfortable wearing a leadership mantle. Winning a scholarship to the The Hockaday School, the prestigious all-girls private school in Dallas, was “life-changing,” she says.
“I feel like I found my voice at Hockaday. It was an empowering environment. We learned to speak up for ourselves, and I became my own advocate.”
She used that voice as a “super involved” SMU student. She was active on the Program Council and with Mustang Corral, and she served as layout editor for The Daily Campus while studying public affairs and corporate communications at Meadows School of the Arts.
“It was a great program for me. I still rely on the research skills I developed and tools I learned to use,” she says. “Even graphic design skills, which I didn’t think I would use again, have come in really handy.”
In 2001 she became the first person in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, a milestone that thrilled her parents. While working in SMU Student Activities, she completed a graduate certificate in dispute resolution and a master of liberal arts degree, both offered by SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. She went on to earn a master of education degree from Texas A&M–Commerce before joining DISD in 2005, where she served as a teacher, academic coordinator and assistant principal before becoming an award-winning school principal.
Currently a candidate for the Ed.D. in educational leadership at Simmons, Bernardino says, “We learn practices in class that we can then apply immediately to improve our schools.” For example, a discussion about character-building and core values sparked the idea for the backbone of Solar Prep’s social- emotional learning component: the “Solar Six.” Students explore and discuss curiosity, self-awareness, empathy, humility, leadership and grit.
Simmons School programs also profoundly influenced Solar Prep’s assistant principal Turner and instructional coach Olivia Santos ’05, ’16. Both received master’s degrees in educational leadership with a specialization in urban school leadership.
MAKERSPACE A Lego wall sparks the imagination and encourages collaborative discovery in a space dedicated to hands-on creativity and interdisciplinary learning.
“It was career changing,” Turner says. “It opened my eyes to the pivotal role school leaders can play in creating a learning environment that supports student achievement across the board.”
“Before I completed my master’s, I thought education was mainly about curriculum,” Santos says. “Now I see the importance of implementing systems and practices that create a culture where all students feel welcomed and valued and that support students of all backgrounds, helping those who need it the most get up to speed. Addressing our students’ needs as an entire school has tremendous impact.”
NOW IT’S TIME TO SHINE
Bernardino embraces the Simmons mission to find evidence-based solutions and to “roll out our successes to benefit other schools.”
Solar Prep made its debut in August 2016 with 199 students in kindergarten through second grade from neighborhoods across Dallas. The school will add one grade level per year until students can complete eighth grade at Solar Prep. They will have the option of continuing their public education in an all-girls setting at DISD’s nationally ranked Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership Academy.
The new school exemplifies the district’s first attempt at a socioeconomically balanced campus, a decision informed by mounting evidence that achievement gaps can shrink when low-income children learn side-by-side with their affluent peers. By design, 50 percent of students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch and the other half do not.
The student body is also racially diverse, comprising 51 percent Hispanic, 22 percent black, 22 percent white, 2 percent Asian and 3 percent other races.
Perhaps its most unusual pioneering step is a partnership with Girl Scouts of the USA. Solar Prep is the only public school in the nation to enroll all students in the organization. Once a week, as part of the regular school day, teachers become scout leaders as students focus on activities to earn badges in such areas as financial literacy, computers, inventing and making friends. The program ties to an extended day schedule adopted so that all students can benefit from enrichment activities.
Bernardino already sees signs that Solar Prep is living up to its ambition as an incubator for postmillennial trailblazers.
When an academically gifted student who is not athletically inclined joined the track team, Bernardino cheered. “We want students to push themselves because they know that even if something doesn’t work out, all of us – teachers and students – will help them push through it and figure it out.”
By the way, that little girl exceeded expectations.
“She didn’t do well in the 100-meter race, but she placed second in the 200 meters,” Bernardino recounts. “Afterward, she said, ‘See, I knew I just needed more time, and I would get there.’” – Story by Patricia Ward and photography by Kim Leeson
Luisa del Rosal ’08, executive director of the Tower Center and founding executive director of Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center at SMU, received the Latino Up-And-Comer Award as part of D CEO’s 2017 Latino Business Awards. The awards are designed to honor the top Latino “visionary thinkers and industry pioneers” in North Texas.
“I get to do what I love every day and it’s an honor to be selected among such a worthy group,” del Rosal said. “Each nominee and award winner is an outstanding Hispanic leader, proving that we are better together.” EXCERPT:
D CEO
September 2017
In 2004, Luisa del Rosal left Chihuahua, Mexico, to attend school at Southern Methodist University.
She was a shy, doe-eyed girl who had trouble finding her way around campus. Arriving several minutes late to her first class, she entered through the wrong door and ended up at the front of the classroom. “I’m apologizing in Spanish, but I don’t notice because I’m so frazzled,” she says, only realizing the mistake when her professor responded with confusion. “I remember being just mortified.” But to del Rosal’s relief, the professor and the rest of the class laughed it off and welcomed her inside.
That first day of school has been much like the rest of her story: a series of peers, communities, and superiors who have welcomed her and her ideas.
Chad Morris mentioned several times in his Tuesday press conference that he believed his team this year was his best one yet at SMU as well as one of the better squads the Hilltop has seen in years. It’s obviously a long season, but it’s difficult to have a much better start to the season. The 58-14 win against Stephen F. Austin at the “Salute To Our Heroes” game on Saturday was SMU’s largest margin of victory since 2012 and easily the largest of the Morris Era.
“We’re building something,” he said. “It’s taking time, and we’re not done. We’re not as good a football team as we’re going to be, but we’re the best we’ve ever been since I’ve been here. I’m extremely proud to say that. As you build a program from the ground up, that’s what you ask coming into year three.”
The Mustangs scored on all three of their first offensive drives while adding two defensive scores from junior Jordan Wyatt to blow past the Lumberjacks right out of the gate. It was one of the most dominant first halves SMU has put together. The 31-point lead was the largest the Mustangs have enjoyed since 2011.
The “Salute To Our Heroes” game served as a tribute to all active military service members and veterans. Read more at SMU Athletics.
As new students made themselves at home, Matthew Desmond’s Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City inspired poetry, research and soul-searching about the meaning of home and the impact of its loss in programs presented by SMU Reads in conjunction with the common reading discussion of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book.
Desmond talked about his research and experiences at a free public program on campus on August 24.
“It’s an honor to be at SMU and an honor to have all these amazing, brilliant young minds engage in these morally urgent questions,” he said. “I love these big reads because they bring folks interested in science, the humanities, social science and everything together around this issue, and we certainly need a lot more minds around this issue.”
SMU sophomore Amit Banerjee, a public policy and engineering major, was inspired by Desmond’s book to research the issue of eviction in the Dallas area.
“I wanted to contextualize it to a place that I call home and that a lot of my peers will call home for the next several years,” he explained. “I learned that affordable housing and eviction are huge issues in Dallas.”
As a prelude to Desmond’s appearance, poet Fatima Hirsi set up her 1953 manual Smith Corona typewriter in Starbucks in Fondren Library on August 22 and talked to students about the meaning of home. Based on the interview, she crafted a short, personalized poem for each student.
Here’s an excerpt from one of her on-the-spot creations:
Families from across the country will join their SMU students in celebrating Family Weekend, September 22–24, when the Student Foundation presents “Wild About SMU.”
The family luncheon, annual student talent show and Boulevard barbecue before the SMU vs. Arkansas State football game are just a few of the can’t-miss events planned.
The Student Foundation’s Family Weekend Committee is partnering with local restaurants and retailers to support the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, which provides a home away from home for families with seriously ill or injured children. Details and a list of the businesses supporting this philanthropic mission are available on the Student Foundation website.
Register for Family Weekend, buy football tickets, check out the full schedule of events and more at the Student Foundation website: http://smusf.squarespace.com/familyweekend/.
Antoine Mellon ’19, a junior studying world languages, was awarded a Maguire and Irby Family Foundation Public Service Fellowship for summer 2017 from the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility at SMU. As a result, he spent the summer as a volunteer at Parque Ambue Ari, a wildlife center in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, rehabilitating wild animals rescued from trafficking and taking amazing photos. He says it was an “unforgettable” experience. “Never before had I met such an open group of people, all with a common love of animals and volunteering.”
Here’s an excerpt from one of his posts for the SMU Adventures blog:
The past two months at Ambue Ari have gone by unbelievably fast. It seems like just yesterday that I arrived in the park, and listened in awe as people casually talked about walking their pumas or jaguars in the middle of the jungle. I can’t believe how quickly I took part in those conversations without realizing how crazy and amazing the work we were doing really was.
I had the opportunity to help Wayra move from a small cage into an enclosure that felt more like a small jungle surrounded by some fencing. Read more at SMU Adventures.
Paul Krueger, a mechanical engineering professor at SMU, joined a team of researchers studying squid locomotion in Maine over the summer. A greater grasp on the invertebrate’s impressive maneuverability may have wide-ranging applications – from understanding muscle physiology to improving remotely operated vehicles. Coverage of the project was published in the August 22, 2017, edition of the Wiscasset Newspaper. By Linda Healy Darling Marine Center
This summer, the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center is hosting a team of researchers for a collaborative study of squid locomotion. The goal of the project is to identify critical features of muscles that control maneuvering performances in squid.
The idea for this research was sparked five years ago, during a conversation between three scientists: Ian Bartol, Paul Krueger and Joe Thompson. The topic of conversation was the unique and amazing maneuverability of squid. Read more at SMU News.
This summer, Teaching and Learning faculty members Diego Román, Ph.D., and Dara Rossi, Ph.D., invited Dallas Arboretum educators Dustin Miller and Marisol Rodriguez to help train 125 Ecuadoran teachers in the Galápagos Islands.
Román and Rossi participate in a four-year professional development program initiated by The Galápagos Conservancy and Ecuador’s Ministry of Education. They also advise The Dallas Arboretum Education Department, which focuses on life and earth science and trains 500 teachers annually. So having Miller and Rodriguez teach with them in the Galapagos was a plus. The team also included Greses Perez, a Simmons alumna, and current student Heny Agredo. Read more at Simmons.
Carolyn Smith-Morris, associate professor of anthropology at SMU, has been studying the impact of culture and lifestyle on diabetes outcomes for over 15 years—from a decade spent among the Pima Indians in Arizona to a new study sponsored by Google aimed at preventing diabetes-related blindness. Anthropology, she says, provides the most holistic perspective of this complex problem: “Anthropology seems to me the only discipline that allows you to look both closely at disease … and from the bird’s-eye perspective.” Smith-Morris’ research was featured on Sapiens, a website that covers anthropology, on August 22, 2017. Kate Ruder Sapiens
Mary (a pseudonym) was 18 years old and halfway through her second pregnancy when anthropologist Carolyn Smith-Morris met her 10 years ago. Mary, a Pima Indian, was living with her boyfriend, brother, parents and 9-month-old baby in southern Arizona. She had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes during both of her pregnancies, but she didn’t consider herself diabetic because her diabetes had gone away after her first birth. Perhaps her diagnosis was even a mistake, she felt. Mary often missed her prenatal appointments, because she didn’t have a ride to the hospital from her remote home on the reservation. She considered diabetes testing a “personal thing,” so she didn’t discuss it with her family. As Smith-Morris’ research revealed, Mary’s story was not unique among Pima women. Many had diabetes, but they didn’t understand the risks. These women’s narratives have helped to explain, in part, why diabetes has been so prevalent in this corner of the world. An astonishing half of all adult Pimas have diabetes. Read more at SMU Research.
Kent Hofmeister ’73, ’76 of Brown & Hofmeister in Dallas, Texas, has been selected by the Federal Bar Association as the 2017 recipient of the Earl W. Kintner Award for Distinguished Service presented as “a lifetime contribution award to an FBA member who has displayed long-term outstanding achievement, distinguished leadership and participation in the activities of the association’s chapters, sections and divisions throughout the nation over a career of service.”
The award will be presented at the FBA national convention in Atlanta on September 16.
He served as the national president of the FBA in 2002–03, was a member of the FBA National Executive Committee (later the board of directors) for 14 years, and created the FBA’s Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award, which honors that attorney “who promotes the advancement of civil and human rights amongst us, and who exemplifies Judge Hughes’ spirit and legacy of devoted service and leadership in the cause of equality.”
Hofmeister earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts in 1973 and his juris doctor from Dedman School of Law in 1976.
As the University makes final preparations for the arrival of new students and the start of fall classes August 21, I am more excited than ever about the opportunities ahead – for the Class of 2021 and for the University as a whole. We invite you to be a critical part of all the great things that will happen on the Hilltop in the months ahead.
Our new students join peers from every U.S. state and more than 90 countries around the world. On the Hilltop, new first-year students will immediately find a home away from home in their Residential Commons. Read “Uncommon Life” to see what that experience will be like as they interact with peers who represent a cross-section of the student body and with Faculty in Residence who take an interest in their well-being, academically and socially.
The new students will be joined by new faculty members and administrators: new deans for the Cox School of Business and Simmons School of Education and Human Development, the University’s first-ever associate provost for continuing education, and new leaders for student affairs and information technology.
These outstanding leaders and their peers across SMU will enhance the abilities of our students and faculty to work together across disciplines to create new fields of knowledge and address tough problems. For examples of ways in which they change the world, read about the groundbreaking community partnerships forged by Meadows School of the Arts and the entrepreneurial alumnae who created an innovative all-girls school in Dallas.
The unique opportunities SMU offers students, faculty and alumni are only possible because of the ever-increasing generosity of donors. That is why we started the exciting three-year initiative called Pony Power: Strengthening the Stampede to inspire more people to give every year to support current initiatives.
Your annual gift to the SMU Fund – which you can direct to broad areas such as the University’s greatest needs, scholarships or faculty, or to the highest priorities of a school, the libraries, Athletics or Student Affairs – enables you to be a critical part of all the great things that will happen on the Hilltop in the months ahead.
I hope you can see for yourself the incredible things happening at the University – by coming to campus for Homecoming November 2–4 or Family Weekend September 22–24; by attending an event across the U.S. for alumni, family and friends; by seeing a game or performance on campus; or by reading the stories SMU shares online through-out the year.
It is going to be a fantastic year, and we want you to be a part of it. R. Gerald Turner President
How many people does it take to stage a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest? When you’re using it as a way to forge new relationships across Dallas neighborhoods and community organizations, you’d have as many as 200 people, of whom only a handful were professional actors. And Meadows School of the Arts at SMU played a major role in bringing the event to fruition.
In late February, only one week before this musical version of The Tempest was scheduled to open, an evening rehearsal resembled controlled chaos. Director Kevin Moriarty, also Dallas Theater Center’s artistic director, raised his voice to be heard above the din coming from the rehearsal room on the ninth floor of the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas. Children of all ages (the youngest at 4), who were playing island spirits, squirmed in the staging area while their parents, seated in chairs that lined the sides of the room, chatted with one another.
Other ensemble members were still arriving from work after slogging through Dallas commuter traffic. SMU theatre alumnus Ace Anderson ’13, a member of Dallas Theater Center’s Brierley Resident Acting Company and one of only five professional actors in the cast, rushed in and polished off a fast-food dinner he had picked up on his way in.
Moriarty told the company to start with a banquet in Scene Six. Sitting next to him was Maria Calderon Zavala ’20, a first-year SMU theatre major from Mexico City, who translated into Spanish his directions for many of the adults and children in the ensembles. When words failed him, Moriarty moved to the center of the room and pantomimed his desires for the scene, reminding everyone that time was precious and repetition was necessary to get the movement right.
Not in the room were members of seven local arts groups whose performances would be inserted into the action, including flamenco dancers, an elementary school choir, a high school drumline, a brass band, Aztec dancers, a church choir and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company, founded by SMU alumnus Joshua Peugh ’06.
An observer couldn’t help but wonder: With only one week left, could this become a polished performance?
‘Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On’
Seeds for the project were planted in 2015, when SMU presented the Meadows Prize to Lear deBessonet, director of Public Works – an initiative of The Public Theater that engages the citizens of New York City as theater creators as well as spectators, blurring the line between professional artists and community members.
In 2013, Public Works staged in New York’s Central Park a contemporary adaptation of The Tempest by Todd Almond, who transformed it with music and lyrics. The Tempest is a 400-year-old play about magic, vengeance, forgiveness and redemption.
On a remote island the sorcerer Prospero, the deposed Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place. Through illusion, he conjures up a storm to shipwreck on the island his usurping brother, Antonio, and the complicit King Alonso of Naples. His manipulations reveal Antonio’s treachery, the King’s redemption and the marriage of Miranda to Alonso’s son, Ferdinand.
For her Meadows Prize project, deBessonet spearheaded a new co-production of The Tempest between the Meadows School, which made a $200,000 commitment, and the Dallas Theater Center. Moriarty and Clyde Valentín – director of Meadows’ Ignite/Arts Dallas, an engagement initiative between SMU and the local arts community – had witnessed the New York performance. Moriarty said they wondered “if such a New York-specific idea could take root and flourish in Dallas.” Meadows School and SMU’s Ignite/Arts Dallas collaborated withDallas Theater Center to make Dallas the first city outside New York to develop its own version of Public Works.
Since 2015, SMU and Dallas Theater Center have built partnerships with five local organizations that support low-income and underserved populations in Dallas: Jubilee Park and Community Center, Vickery Meadow Learning Center, Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT), Bachman Lake Together and City of Dallas Park and Recreation. Local actors, including SMU theatre alumna Lydia Mackay ’08, and SMU theatre artist-in-residence Will Power led workshops and classes for the last half of 2016 to transform the five organizations’ community members into stage-ready performers.
“I knew this would be a challenging proposition for our respective institutions because it would require us to collaborate more closely than maybe we have in the past,” Valentín said. “I knew it would be a challenging proposition for the actual participants because we were going to work with people who had no real relationship or history with the Dallas Theater Center or the Arts District in general. And it would be a challenge to get our theater students involved in engaging and meaningful ways beyond performing on stage.”
Both Public Works Dallas and Valentín were committed to paying the SMU students who served as teaching artist assistants at the community centers and as production assistants and volunteer coordinators at the Dallas Theater Center. Valentín set aside Ignite/Arts Dallas funds for such a purpose and actively pursued additional gifts from SMU donors through the Mustangs Give Back one-day giving challenge.
‘Be Not Afeard’
Eleven SMU undergraduates worked on The Tempest. Some served as teaching assistants in the workshops that led up to the auditions for the performance. Others assisted on set, costume, hair and makeup design, and with the run crew and dance ensemble. Still others were volunteer and community coordinators. James Michael Williams ’18, who is earning an MA/MBA in Meadows’ arts management program, served as assistant to Dayron Miles, director of Public Works Dallas.
Sophomore theatre major Kassy Amoi ’19 worked with Will Power as a teaching assistant in storytelling and movement workshops at Literacy Instruction for Texas, and during the performances led the sand spirits ensemble.
“Will and Kassy gently involved every single student to bring out hidden talents that even our students didn’t know they had,” said SMU alumna Lisa Hembry ’75, LIFT president and CEO. About 98 percent of LIFT’s students are adults who have learning differences such as dyslexia and ADHD and have never learned to read, or adults who never graduated from high school and are studying to obtain their high school equivalency certificates. As a result, Hembry says, “LIFT’s students are always wary when it comes to working with new people because generally they have suffered embarrassment, ridicule and bullying their entire lives.”
Amoi, who had previously worked on reading programs with children, discovered that working with adults who have literacy issues was very different. “Many were severely shy. I had to learn how to explain things a bit better, and in a more positive and reinforced way,” he said. “I found that while many of them weren’t experienced in school, a lot were experienced in life, with inspired, powerful stories.” Amoi took pride in the fact that one of his students, Felisha Blanton, was cast in the supporting role of Sebastia. “She’s a natural comedienne, and took on the role fully and openly. She went from being unsure in the room to being completely comfortable with what she had to say while on stage. It was nice to see her blossom.”
Volunteer coordinator Kaylyn Buckley ’17, who graduated in May with a degree in theatre studies with concentrations in stage management and directing, thought working with The Tempest in a managerial capacity would provide real-world applications to her studies. She began work in November and visited each of the centers during auditions, collaborated with all department heads to evaluate their volunteer needs, communicated with Public Works Dallas as she developed the architecture of the volunteer program and recruited volunteers from the SMU community.
“I’d never participated in anything like this – I’m not sure that anyone outside of Public Works has,” Buckley said. “It’s truly a beast unlike anything else.” Dallas Theater Center resident company actor Liz Mikel performs the role of Ariel. Members of the Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company, founded by SMU alumnus Joshua Peugh ’06, perform during the wedding scene. Alex Organ as the monster Caliban plots with clowns Ace Anderson (right) and Rodney Garza against Prospero.
“It’s not just managing 200 cast members, 50-plus crew members and 100-plus volunteers, but also being acutely sensitive to how you’re saying things, the experience you’re creating and navigating a language barrier,” she explains. “You want to cultivate a positive experience for cast members who have never been involved in the arts, many of whom have learning disabilities, are not native English speakers and who are living in poverty. I’d have to be very direct, forward and efficient with 28 Junior League members simultaneously looking to volunteer, then immediately modify my tone and delivery as soon as a cast member approached.”
Theatre/theatre studies major Christina Sittser ’17, who also graduated in May, gained performing experience in her native St. Louis before coming to SMU, attracted by numerous scholarships. For The Tempest, she served as a teaching assistant for acting classes at Bachman Lake Together and at Jubilee Park and Community Center, and during the performances was captain of the water spirits. “I really loved the work. I saw kids so shy at first that they would keep their faces down. It was beautiful to watch them grow as actors and open up more. I didn’t understand that at the end of the show I would leave pieces of my heart behind with these people. It made me think more about the role of community in theater. Listen to what people in the community want and need and then incorporate that into theater.”
‘Our Revels Now Are Ended’
SMU theatre alumnus Ace Anderson ’13 played the clown role of Trinculo.
When the opening performance on March 3 began, the Wyly had been transformed into a remote island, all the performances flowed seamlessly and the production worked like magic. Audiences were astounded by a type of community performance never seen before in Dallas. Theater Jones critic David Novinski described it as “the ‘you had to be there’ theatrical event of the year.”
Valentín said the success of the show was not just in what audiences saw but also what they couldn’t see: the interactions, bonding and trust-building at the community centers. “It shows what’s possible when you take this large-scale participatory theater approach, treating it as you would any other show in the Dallas Theater Center season that requires the same level of quality, rigor and diligence. We did it! We proved that we can create exceptional, high-quality art with nonprofessionals alongside professionals in a nurturing, safe environment for all those participants, so the space and work truly will begin to feel like it’s theirs. And, it was my hope that our students were transformed by this project as well. What we were able to create for those five weeks was truly exceptional.”
SMU and Dallas Theater Center will use the same model and continue the relationship with the community centers for the next Public Works Dallas production, Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, to be staged in September 2018. At that time, Sam Weber ’18 – a Dedman College Scholar majoring in biological sciences, health and society, and chemistry – will be busy applying for medical school but hopes to return as a dance assistant fellow.
“Working with Public Works Dallas is one of the best experiences I’ve had in college,” Weber said. “I’d grown up doing theater and I’ve taught dance and choreography to non-dancers before, so that wasn’t a big shock. But meeting all the extraordinary people and hearing their stories was so special. It was really motivating to work with people who had never done performance art before, but got it; they understood movement and narrative. It really reaffirms how art is truly innate in all people.” Before the final production of The Tempest, director Kevin Moriarty stepped on stage to address the audience. He noted the monumental effort from numerous entities to bring the project to fruition and thanked SMU for its collaboration and support. He said, “Shakespeare belongs to all of us, not only a select few. Our city is at its best when all of us have the opportunity to create, and we are at our strongest and most joyful when we come together.” – Story by Susan White ’05 with photography by Kim Leeson, unless otherwise credited
Life in the Residential Commons is never dull. Just ask David Son, professor of chemistry in Dedman College, and wife Heidi – or take a look at photos and memories from a year at Boaz Commons. In 2014, David Son was named Boaz FiR and the 61-year-old residence hall was retrofitted with an apartment that houses the couple and their children, Geoffrey, 14, and Kaylee, 11.
The Sons believe so strongly in the Residential Commons model for living and learning at SMU that they sold their home in Plano to move to campus. And they say they’ve never looked back.
Besides serving as guides to University life, the Sons have been called upon to: pull a splinter from a toe; help light the charcoal in a grill on the Boaz patio; iron a shirt for a tennis player; lend tools; and take a student with a split forehead to the emergency clinic. Basically, they serve as parental figures.
The Sons say Boaz community activities often revolve around food – from “Son-day” night snacks to weekly “family” dinners with students to Korean BBQ night and cookouts on the new Boaz patio.
Uncommon Life photos by Guy Rogers III and Hillsman S. Jackson
In The Thick Of Campus Activities
The Sons participate in many events outside of Boaz – from The Boulevard to Homecoming to intracommons competition. And they aren’t immune to visits from SMU’s famous squirrels.
Enjoying The Comforts Of Home
To help make students feel at home, the Sons host a family meal every Wednesday night in their Boaz apartment, in which a few residents are guests. David Son says that saying grace before each meal is part of the tradition. During the holidays, residents decorate with homey seasonal touches – and creative signage.
“B” Is For Boaz
Like all SMU Residential Commons, Boaz has its own crest. The stars represent the five founding Commons team members as well as the community’s five guiding values: mentorship, community, compassion, integrity and zeal. Each RC also has an official pin, which new residents receive at a special pinning ceremony. Boaz held its pinning ceremony in September.
Let The Games Begin!
With 184 residents, Boaz may be the smallest Residential Commons, but the Sons say it’s one of the tightest. To prove the point, Boaz students won the Commons Cup for 2017 by attending SMU athletic events, participating in community service and competing in the Residential Commons Olympics.
#Corral: The Res Commons Comes to Life
The new academic year is off to a great start! Watch the Hilltop spring to life as new students experience the excitement of move-in day, the tradition of Opening Convocation and all the merriment in between in this collection of videos and photos that capture the spirit of Mustang Corral, August 16–20.
Annual gifts for current use power every part of the University. An investment in study-abroad programs combines with a scholarship gift and another for hands-on learning projects, and suddenly donors have given a world-class educational opportunity to students who might not otherwise afford them. Gifts to research labs link to investments in academic centers and community partnerships, and the combined impact can reveal new solutions to pressing problems. Take a look at how chains of gifts strengthen SMU, and read more about Pony Power – the SMU stampede for current-use gifts.
Real-World Research
Annual support for scholarships and undergraduate research creates unlimited possibilities. Patricia Nance ’17 discovered a mentor in Professor Patty Wisian-Neilson and a passion for research with life-changing potential. After graduation, it was on to a Ph.D. program in chemistry at Caltech. Read more.
Faculty Excellence
Scholarships
Research
Novel Solutions
The SMU Fund propels academic centers and community engagement efforts that make possible hands-on projects such as Evie, an experimental mobile greenhouse developed by students at the Hunt Institute for Engineering to help low-income communities access fresh produce. Read more.
Academic Programs
Community Engagement
Hands-On Learning
Powerful Partners
University-led collaborations sustained by the SMU Fund uplift, inspire and improve communities. From Ignite/Arts Dallas’ free Shakespeare performances to The Budd Center’s research and resources for improving West Dallas’ neediest schools, SMU’s efforts transform lives every day.
Community Engagement
Hands-On Learning
Academic Programs
Living and Learning
A vibrant campus life fueled by annual gifts drives students’ growth and achievement. Their lasting friendships and lifelong memories start with the Residential Commons experience, while leading-edge facilities and services dedicated to health and academic fitness keep them on track for success. Read more.
Campus Communities
Facilities & Technology
Student Support Services
Global Approach
SMU Abroad and other programs funded by annual giving open up a world of learning opportunities for students like Sabrina Janski ’16, ’17. She completed an internship in Seville, Spain, before earning a master’s degree in accounting and landing a job with PwC. See video at smu.edu/ponypower.
Scholarships
Global Perspectives
Hands-On Learning
Spirit
Student Support Services
Athletics
Credit SMU undergraduates Brandon Cohanim and Francois Reihani for importing Dallas’ latest food craze. Spurred by entrepreneurial cravings and an eye for trends, the California transplants opened Pōk the Raw Bar in January, the city’s first restaurant focused on poke (pronounced poh-kay), a raw fish salad with Hawaiian roots.
Located in the prime Uptown neighborhood, the sleek dining destination is more than just a business to Cohanim and Reihani. It’s also a platform for their “Imagine X Inspire” social impact project, which they launched through SMU’s Engaged Learning program.
Their idea for a job-training program for teens on the cusp of aging out of the foster care system won a $5,000 award at an international business plan competition in April.
“It’s not just about how many people we serve,” Cohanim says. “It’s also about how many people we help.”
Ready For A Big Night
The student restaurateurs welcomed SMU photographer Guy Rogers III behind the scenes shortly after the opening of their new hot spot in Uptown
While Dallas sushi legend Jimmy Park manned the raw bar, Brandon Cohanim and Francois Reihani prepped the staff on the details, including the fine art of matcha tea service.
Among their first guests was SMU Professor Simon Mak. Cohanim says Mak’s entrepreneurship class in the Cox School of Business “opened up our minds and helped us focus on our goals and strategy.”
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The Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development dedicated in March the Olamaie Curtiss Graney Design Lab in Harold Simmons Hall. Olamaie G. Fojtasek and Randall S. Fojtasek ’85, ’90 (center) made a $1 million pledge to SMU, with $500,000 directed to the Design Lab and $500,000 for M.B.A. scholarships in Cox School of Business. Also at the ceremony were (from left) SMU Provost Steve Currall, President R. Gerald Turner and Simmons Interim Dean Paige Ware. Graney, Mrs. Fojtasek’s mother, was a public school teacher in Tennessee and Mississippi. In the lab, education students use technology to develop unit and lesson plans and technology applications to support student learning.
SMU is one of more than 100 institutions from around the world building hardware for a massive international experiment — a particle detector — that could change our understanding of the universe.
Construction will take years and scientists expect to begin taking data in the middle of the next decade, said SMU physicist Thomas E. Coan, a professor in the SMU Department of Physics and a researcher on the experiment.
The turning of a shovelful of earth a mile underground marks a new era in particle physics research. The groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday, July 21, 2017 at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota.
The Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) will house the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Called DUNE for short, it will be built and operated by a group of roughly 1,000 scientists and engineers from 30 countries, including Coan. Read more at SMU Research.
Jabari Ford ’20 spent six weeks this summer using literacy to drive self-empowerment and community engagement through the Freedom School program supported by his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He describes it as a life-changing experience. “I’ve developed a passion for these kids that I’ve never had before.” His story appeared in The Dallas Morning News on July 3, 2017.
After he finishes reading a book, Jabari Ford looks down to see seven eager faces staring back at him.
The 18-year-old SMU sophomore didn’t ever envision himself in the role of an instructor. But here he is, in a classroom at Dallas ISD’s Pease Elementary in east Oak Cliff, with a group of young boys sitting — and squirming — on a rug in front of him as he reads.
It’s a life-changing experience.
“‘I’ve developed a passion for these kids that I’ve never had before,” he said.
Ford is one of a handful of college students and recent graduates teaching at Pease’s Freedom School, part of a national program launched by the Children’s Defense Fund. The six-week program is centered on reading, using literacy to drive self-empowerment and community engagement. It’s the first of its kind in Dallas. Read more at SMU News.
Building on unprecedented accomplishments over the past decade, SMU has launched a three-year giving “stampede” focused on yearly investments that strengthen current efforts in every area of the University.
The drive, named Pony Power: Strengthening the Stampede, sets a goal to raise an average of $50 million a year in current-use gifts from June 1, 2017, to May 31, 2020, for a total of $150 million.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner provided a preview of the stampede to a gathering of the University’s key supporters during Founders’ Day weekend in April.
“The national universities with which SMU now competes have endowments two to three times the size of ours,” Turner said. “Annual fund gifts that bring immediate assistance to enhance what is happening at SMU today enable the University to ‘fight above its weight class’ as its endowment continues to grow.”
A committee of volunteer leaders representing academic schools and constituencies is leading Pony Power. The stampede is chaired by SMU trustees Caren H. Prothro and Carl Sewell ’66, with honorary chairs Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84, Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, Ray L. Hunt ’65 and David B. Miller ’72, ’73.
Other representatives on the committee include Douglas Smellage ’77, chair of the SMU Alumni Board; Connie ’77 and Chris O’Neill, co-chairs of the SMU Parent Leadership Council; Paul Grindstaff ’15, president of the SMU Mustang Club; Fredrick Olness and Jennifer Jones, co-chairs of SMU Faculty and Staff Giving; SMU Student Giving representative Madison M. Zellers ’18.
Additional committee members include representatives from each school’s executive board: Kirk L. Rimer ’89, Cox School of Business; Jon J. Altschuler ’94, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; James L. Baldwin ’86, Dedman School of Law; Michael G. Sullivan ’85, ’91, Lyle School of Engineering; Marvin B. Singleton ’89, Meadows School of the Arts; Dodee F. Crockett ’03, Perkins School of Theology; and Richard H. Collins ’69, Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
“Pony Power represents a fantastic opportunity for donors and non-donors alike to enhance new initiatives created in recent years – and empower the University to take advantage of new opportunities as they emerge,” Prothro said. “Increasing our investment in these areas will ensure that SMU expands its ambitions and impact.”
Sewell said, “Peggy’s and my support for scholarships to SMU is one of the most rewarding things we have ever done. Current-use gifts fuel student scholarships and fellowships, faculty research and every area of the student experience. If thousands of donors join together to give $50 million each year, SMU can outperform traditional academic powers when it comes to attracting outstanding students, charting new fields of knowledge and solving complex problems.”
To encourage others to experience for themselves the benefits of consistent, increased giving for current use, one strategy SMU will employ is the expanded SMU Fund, which provides flexible support for key priorities and emerging opportunities. SMU Fund donors will be able to designate their gifts to broad areas such as SMU’s greatest needs, scholarships and faculty; to the highest priorities of a school or the libraries; or to campus experiences through Athletics or Student Affairs.
Brad Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs, said, “Expanding the SMU culture of annual giving and encouraging donors to commit to extend their annual gifts over a three-year period helps every school and unit plan its efforts to address the University’s strategic priorities.”
To learn more about Pony Power and see a video about the impact of current-use gifts, visit smu.edu/ponypower.
The SMU and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) team was named today one of eight semifinalists advancing in the $7 million Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE presented by Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The XPRIZE is a global competition that challenges teams to develop mobile applications designed to increase literacy skills in adult learners.
SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development and Guildhall graduate video game development program are working with LIFT to design an engaging, puzzle-solving smartphone game app to help adults develop literacy skills. The SMU and LIFT team, PeopleForWords, is one of 109 teams who entered the competition in 2016.
Drawing upon the education experts at SMU’s Simmons School, game developers at Guildhall and adult literacy experts at LIFT, the team developed “Codex: Lost Words of Atlantis. ” In the game, players become archeologists hunting for relics from the imagined once-great civilization of Atlantis. By deciphering the forgotten language of Atlantis, players develop and strengthen their own reading skills. The game targets English- and Spanish-speaking adults. Read more at SMU News.
The New York Times reporter Jeré Longman covered the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter Weyand and his colleagues Andrew Udofa and Laurence Ryan for a story about Usain Bolt’s apparent asymmetrical running stride.
The article, Something Strange in Usain Bolt’s Stride,” published July 20, 2017.
The researchers in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory reported in June that world champion sprinter Usain Bolt may have an asymmetrical running gait. While not noticeable to the naked eye, Bolt’s potential asymmetry emerged after the researchers dissected race video to assess his pattern of ground-force application — literally how hard and fast each foot hits the ground. To do so they measured the “impulse” for each foot.
Biomechanics researcher Udofa presented the findings at the 35th International Conference on Biomechanics in Sport in Cologne, Germany. His presentation, “Ground Reaction Forces During Competitive Track Events: A Motion Based Assessment Method,” was delivered June 18. Read more at SMU Research.
Mustang fans are invited to Ford Stadium for SMU Football Fan Day on Saturday, Aug. 26. Gates will open at 5 p.m. Fans can pick up posters, schedule cards and other giveaways and will be able to come onto the field post-game for autographs and photos with the Mustangs before enjoying a movie on the video board. The scrimmage will kick off at 6 p.m.
SMU opens fall camp today, Aug. 1, and fans are invited to watch the Mustangs practice each of the other Saturdays in August at 10 a.m. in Ford Stadium.
SMU opens the 2017 season on Sept. 2 against Stephen F. Austin at Ford Stadium.
Season tickets are still available for as little as $99. For Mustang ticket information, call the Athletics Department Ticket Office at (214) SMU-GAME (768-4263) or purchase tickets online here. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Live Science Senior Writer Laura Geggel covered the discovery of a new Cretaceous Period dinosaur from China that is named for paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs, an SMU professor in SMU’s Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences.
Jacobs mentored three of the authors on the article. First author on the paper was Junchang Lü, an SMU Ph.D. alum, with co-authors Yuong–Nam Lee and Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, both SMU Ph.D. alums.
The Live Science article, “Newfound dino looks like creepy love child of a turkey and ostrich,” published July 27, 2017. The dinosaur’s name, Corythoraptor jacobsi, translates to Jacobs’ helmeted thief.
The scientific article “High diversity of the Ganzhou Oviraptorid Fauna increased by a new “cassowary-like” crested species” was published July 27, 2017 in Nature’s online open access mega-journal of primary research Scientific Reports. Read more at SMU Research.
SMU graduates Morgan Bolton ’17 and Sylvia de Toledo ’17 have been nominated for the 2017 NCAA Woman of the Year award after completing their senior seasons on the Hilltop.
Bolton was a three-year starter at point guard for the Mustangs. As a senior, she led the team to the WNIT Round of 16 with postseason wins against Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian before losing at Indiana.
As a four-year starter for the equestrian team, de Toledo finished her career with a program-best 70 career wins, and ranks second on the SMU All-time Most Outstanding Player (MOP) list with 14.
NCAA Woman of the Year nominees are submitted each year by member schools. Nine finalists from that list will be announced in September with the winner announced on Oct. 22 in Indianapolis. Read more at SMU Athletics.
Parker Holloway ’17 created the curriculum and spent the summer sparking engineering interest through hands-on challenges during weekly camps for middle and high school students held in the Deason Innovation Gym at SMU. Reporter Bill Zeeble’s story on the camp aired on KERA Radio on July 20, 2017.
Throughout the summer, high school and junior high students have been gathering at Southern Methodist University for week-long engineering camps. High schoolers tackled a tough challenge. Devise – then build – one of several electronic items like an alarm clock or home burglary system. Only make it smaller, cheaper and faster than what’s out there. And finish it in just days.
Everyone’s deadline-busy in SMU’s maker-space – the Deason Innovation Gym. With the clock ticking, Conrad High School 17 year-old Chan Hnin and his three team mates are building their own, unusual, alarm clock.
“The battery life is way longer and it’s also louder than your phone,” Chan says. “Some people are sleepy headed, you know?”
Chan’s on one of four teams of high school boys here to learn real engineering through hands-on experience. London Morris, from Lancaster High School, explains why their clock’s an improvement. Read more at SMU News.
Reflecting their passion for connecting the arts to the community through public spaces, Gene and Jerry Jones have committed $5 million to transform the east entrance to SMU’s Owen Arts Center along Bishop Boulevard, providing a new gateway and venue for student performances and community gatherings.
The Joneses’ commitment will be matched by a $5 million grant from The Meadows Foundation, Inc., generating a total of $10 million to create the Gene and Jerry Jones Grand Atrium and Plaza. The gift launches a $30 million, first-phase initiative to modernize all four floors on the north side of the largest academic structure on campus, which houses Meadows School of the Arts.
The Meadows Foundation provided a $10 million matching grant for the Owen Arts Center renovation project as part of its historic 2015 commitment of $45 million to SMU, creating an incentive to attract donors for the project.
We are proud to invest in nurturing young artists and connecting them with the broader community, both of which the Meadows School successfully achieves. – Gene Jones
Gene Jones is a civic and philanthropic leader, a supporter of the arts and the driving force behind the creation of the Dallas Cowboys Art Collection at AT&T Stadium and The Star. She serves on the Meadows School executive board and the John Goodwin Tower Center board of directors, and is a former member of the SMU Board of Trustees. Jerry Jones is owner, president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys.
“Anyone who has experienced the wonderful artworks that fill AT&T Stadium and The Star has seen that the Joneses have a personal commitment to sharing the arts,” said President R. Gerald Turner. “They are extending their generous support to the Meadows School of the Arts to provide a beautiful gathering space for those attending community events and performances of our outstand-ing students.”
The Gene and Jerry Jones Plaza will feature beautiful landscaping and walkways, and will be ideal for outdoor performances, classes and events.
The enclosure and integration of the east-side outdoor courtyard and expansion of the Bob Hope Theatre Lobby will create the 4,300-square-foot Gene and Jerry Jones Grand Atrium with lofty ceilings and expansive glass. Other features of the renovation project will create and improve academic spaces for the visual arts, art history and creative computation programs.
“Renovation of the Owen Arts Center will transform the environment in which our students and faculty study and create visual art,” said Meadows Dean Samuel S. Holland. “Our aim is to create spaces that will inspire and foster creativity, attract current and future generations of artists, and solidify the Meadows School’s place among the city’s top five arts and cultural institutions.”
For more information, contact the Meadows School of the Arts Office of Development at meadowsgiving@smu.edu or 214-768-4421.
Megan Brown, a Ph.D. student in anthropology, was awarded a Maguire and Irby Family Foundation Public Service Fellowship for summer 2017 from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. She is spending the summer studying environmental advocacy with the Trinity River Audubon Center. She wrote about her experience for SMU Adventures:
Last week before camp started I was speaking with the grandfather of one of our campers about my research and the Ph.D. program I am in. He told me that my analytic skills would be valuable when I finished because data analysts and statisticians are in high demand right now.
He wasn’t wrong. We live in the era of “big data”, a phrase which refers to the use of extremely large-scale datasets – so large that they must be analyzed with computers. Indeed, advances in computing technology, along with an increased availability of a multiplicity of data points, are a significant factor in the rise of big data. These days, those with statistical and analytic skills are prized for their ability to mine through vast quantities of data and draw meaningful, robust conclusions from it. These insights guide the decisions and tactics of corporations and governments, and provide important information about consumers, citizens, and other group members. Read more at SMU Adventures.
SMU Cox Executive Education welcomes a new director to take its four-year-old Latino Leadership Initiative to the next level. Ana Rodriguez, an alumna of SMU Cox, brings nearly twenty years of experience in higher education, not for profit and corporate work.
Launched in November 2013, the LLI is a national center of excellence at the Cox School of Business designed to help meet the nation’s growing need for corporate leaders as the economy grows and national demographics evolve. The LLI grew out of research that shows a gap in talent at the country’s executive leadership level.
Rodriguez will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for the LLI, which works with the university and the business community to access an important talent resource and marketplace. The LLI operates to deliver management education programs, organization development services, new research-based insights and community engagement activities.
“I am honored and overjoyed to return to my alma mater as the director of the Latino Leadership Initiative,” said Rodriguez. “While Latinos make up nearly 18 percent of the total U.S. population, only two percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are of Hispanic origin. I am humbled by the opportunity to build upon the LLI’s proven success and to work with companies to recruit, retain and develop top Latino talent.”
“The LLI is of utmost importance to SMU Cox Executive Education in our mission to serve the business community,” said Frank Lloyd, associate dean of Executive Education at SMU Cox. “Ana Rodriguez brings solid experience in establishing mutually beneficial relationships between universities and business organizations. She will strengthen the LLI’s efforts to expand the corporate leadership pipeline and accelerate top Latino talent to management and executive level positions. This will benefit our community, our country, and so SMU.”
Rodriguez will begin her new role August 1. She has held leadership positions in corporate partnerships, development, alumni relations, university advancement, and external affairs at UTD’s Naveen Jindal School of Management and UNT Dallas. In those roles, she coordinated corporate relations strategies, public relations, fund raising, and community engagement. Ana also served as the executive director for the Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico, a non-profit arts organization and resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center, and she worked for Bank of America in its Global Wealth and Investments division.
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Craig C. Hill joined SMU’s Perkins School of Theology as dean and professor of New Testament in July 2016 from Duke University Divinity School. Although his latest book, Servant of All: Status, Ambition, and the Way of Jesus (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016), is aimed at church leaders, its lessons can be readily employed by people leading institutions, corporations and even nations – and, he told SMU Magazine with a hint of irony, by him as well. What is a servant leader?
The term “servant leader” can seem like an oxymoron because we tend to view leaders as persons who dominate and command. By contrast, servants are typically located far down on the ladder of social status and influence. Parents don’t dream of raising their children to be servants. Nevertheless, choosing to engage in a lifetime of service requires a strong sense of personal identity. Ironically, egocentrism is a position of great weakness. If we constantly look to others for affirmation – in effect, to tell us who we are – we place ourselves in a chronically servile position. True service doesn’t come from a place of weakness but rather a place of strength. Why did you use the foot-washing story found in John 13 to reflect Jesus’ thoughts about status and serving?
Throughout the Gospels, the disciples were the egocentric ones, always worrying about their relative position, competing with each other for status. In this story, Jesus is the only one in the room who truly knows who he is, who isn’t constrained by the opinions of others and, therefore, the only one free to serve. Jesus voluntarily assumed what was then considered the lowest task – that of washing the feet of others – to set an example of true leadership and true standing. Elsewhere when the disciples bickered over rank, Jesus said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). He didn’t say they must empty themselves of meaning or value, or that it is wrong to want to have a life of significance. Instead, he turned on its head the conventional understanding of where significance was to be found: through service, not supremacy. Those who lose themselves in something greater than themselves are the very ones who find themselves. How does this correlate to positions of authority and power in today’s world?
Researcher and author Jim Collins observed that companies that have transitioned from “good to great” shared a common factor: their leaders didn’t have “larger than life” personalities, as one would expect, but were instead remarkably humble. Their CEOs weren’t focused on drawing attention to themselves but were laser-focused on the mission of the institution. They were unselfconsciously “self-forgetful,” putting their passion for the mission of the company ahead of themselves. How do you apply this philosophy to your leadership of Perkins Theology?
I often reflect on the story of the “widow’s mite,” about a woman who gave a gift to the temple that everyone but Jesus regarded as insignificant. Jesus saw a person invisible to others and recognized the quality and depth of her sacrifice. It reminds me that the more prominent a position you’re in, the more people will likely recognize you, but also the more tempted you might be to overlook those less noticed whom God would honor ahead of you. Universities are typically hierarchical places, where staff can feel unseen and disregarded. I don’t want Perkins to be guilty of that. Everyone here is a partner in the mission of the school; everyone has a contribution to make. How did you handle the irony of being named dean of Perkins Theology only months before your book on status and ambition was published?
That put me in an awkward and rather humorous position. It was somewhat safer tackling this topic as a professor. Moreover, the book made a few explicit references to theological school deans. Rather than expunge these, I retained them as an inside joke at my own expense. On a more serious note, it made me all more conscious of the fact that the book contains essential lessons that I myself need to remember and to heed.
SMU will launch Homecoming Weekend 2017 by honoring four outstanding leaders in education, business and civic life at the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony and dinner on Thursday, November 2, on the historic Main Quad. Randy L. Allen ’73, Richard H. Collins ’69 and Albon O. Head, Jr. ’68, ’71 will receive 2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards, and Lacey A. Horn ’04, ’05 will receive the Emerging Leader Award. Randy L. Allen ’73 has been the head football coach at Highland Park High School since 1999. A 1973 graduate with a bachelor of arts in social studies, Allen attended SMU on a football scholarship and lettered in football and baseball. Climbing the high school ranks an assistant coach, Mr. Allen earned his first head coaching job in 1981 at Ballinger High School. After stops at Brownwood and Abilene Cooper, he led the Scots to state championships in 2005 and 2016. Read more Richard “Dick” H. Collins ’69, a businessman and entrepreneur, is committed to making quality education available to all children. Collins graduated from SMU in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. A chairman of two commercial banks, real estate developer, wildcatter and media investor, Collins co-founded Istation in 1998. Istation is a global leader in education technology. He has served as its chairman and CEO since 2007. Read more Albon O. Head ’68, ’71, a partner at Jackson Walker LLP in Fort Worth, is a four-year Mustang football letter winner. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1968 and his juris doctor in 1971. He helped the Mustangs to the 1966 Southwest Conference Championship, and was co-captain of the 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl win over OU. He began his studies at the Dedman School of Law while serving as a graduate assistant coach in 1969 and 1970. Read more Lacey A. Horn ’04, ’05, treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, is noted for her ability to find optimal solutions for ideal outcomes and making a difference in the governance of organizations and lives of people. Horn earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2004 and master of science in accounting in 2005. Beginning her career with Hunt Oil and KPMG Chicago as an auditor, she has been Cherokee Nation treasurer since 2011. Read more
Newly minted graduates Semi Ojeleye ’17 and Sterling Brown ’17 were selected in the NBA draft on June 22, writing a new chapter in Mustang basketball history.
Ojeleye was selected 37th overall by the Boston Celtics and Brown was picked 46th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers before being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first time multiple Mustangs were tapped in the first two rounds, and the fourth time the Mustangs have had multiple picks in the draft.
Another Mustang standout, Ben Moore ’17, has agreed to a partially-guaranteed contract with the Indiana Pacers as an undrafted free agent.
Ojeleye capped his SMU basketball career as the first player in American Athletic Conference history to garner Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. He graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
In a Boston Herald profile, writer Mark Murphy describes Ojeleye “as precisely the kind of swing forward the NBA now demands — a player agile enough to guard multiple positions, strong enough to rebound and defend power forwards and accomplished enough offensively to space the floor.”
Brown was named an NABC Division I College All-Star, All-American Athletic Conference Second Team and AAC All-Tournament in his final season with the Mustangs. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sports management with a minor in sociology from SMU.
On Behind the Buck Pass, the Bucks’ news and fan site, Brown is praised as “a standout shooter who is long enough to defend well in the NBA. For the Bucks, he should provide another shooter off the bench, which is something the team definitely needs.”
Brown and Moore are the all-time leaders in wins for the Mustangs.
Moore was a four-year player at SMU, with 1,214 career points. He became the 39th player in the program’s history to reach 1,000 points, which came on a dunk in the match against Temple on January 4.
Moore, Ojeleye and another SMU alumnus, Markus Kennedy ’16, were among the exciting young players showcased in the NBA Summer League in July.
Kennedy was signed by the Detroit Pistons following a season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Houston Rockets G-League team). While at SMU from 2013–16, he was twice named the American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year. He scored 1,003 points during his SMU career.
As a newly minted SMU graduate with three degrees, Kovan Barzani not only has exceeded his Kurdish-American parents’ expectations, but also reinforced their decision to flee Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime for “peace and peace of mind” in the U.S.
While weighing three college scholarships during his last year at Liberty High School in Frisco, Kovan recalls his mother’s singular request, delivered with a smile: “Be sure to get at least two degrees – one for you and one for me.”
As it happens, Kovan chose SMU precisely because it could offer not two but the three degrees he sought – in economics, public policy and management – while helping him cultivate the three virtues most valued by his family: “empathy, adaptability and persistence.” Also a plus: His Plano-based family would be nearby as he navigated the next four years. Read more at SMU News.
A new chapter in the storied history of SMU’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs will begin this fall with the completion of the new $30 million Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium.
The 42,000-square-foot “Nat,” located on the University’s growing East Campus, will house modern amenities and increased space to enhance training, give student-athletes greater flexibility to balance practice and academic schedules and improve recruiting. The facility’s enhanced quality also will make SMU an ideal future site for competitions such as American Athletic Conference and NCAA championship meets, as well as events hosted by community groups.
“The facilities at the new Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium will help student-athletes continue the Mustang swimming legacy and enable fans to enjoy the highest levels of competition at a premier venue,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. The new facility will include an Olympic-size 50-meter, 8-lane indoor pool; a 10-meter diving tower with four springboards; a moveable bulkhead to maximize programming; men’s and women’s varsity team locker rooms; seating for 800 spectators; and a spacious lobby. While construction is underway, fundraising to complete the project is a University priority, and naming opportunities remain. For more information about opportunities and to support the project, visit https://giving.smu.edu/aquatics-center/.
SMU statistics Ph.D. student Yu Lan received the Dr. Thomas Chalmers Award May 9 in Liverpool, England, for a paper he wrote on a new, money-saving method for predicting clinical trial outcomes.
Lan, a student of SMU biostatistics program director Professor Daniel Heitjan, took a fresh look at data from the International Chronic Granulomatous Disease Study to develop his method of predicting clinical trial outcomes on the fly.
In clinical trials, it is common to conduct one or more interim analyses of the accumulating data, typically upon occurrence of pre-specified numbers of events such as heart attacks, strokes, hospitalizations or deaths. Traditionally researchers predict the timing of these events before launching their clinical trials and then hope for the best. When predictions are inaccurate – perhaps a trial is running its course faster or slower than expected – this can lead to a waste of resources.
Lan’s method allows companies to periodically update their predictions of when a trial has run its course and adjust their budgets and expectations accordingly. Read more at SMU News.
SMU Dedman School of Law’s Professionalism Initiative has been named one of two national recipients of this year’s E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Award, bestowed annually by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism.The award – established in 1991 to honor former ABA and American Bar Foundation President E. Smythe Gambrell – honors excellence and innovation in professionalism programs led by law schools, bar associations, professionalism commissions and other legal organizations. The award will be presented at the ABA’s annual meeting on August 11 in New York City.
SMU Dedman School of Law’s flagship professionalism initiative is aimed at developing practice-ready, competent and thoughtful lawyers. Read more at SMU News.
Two Meadows alumni won 2017 Tony Awards at the ceremony held June 11 in New York’s Radio City Music Hall, and two other alums are featured in winning and nominated musicals. In addition, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) won the Tony for Best Regional Theatre. Meadows has a long-standing partnership with the center, which includes alumni and faculty in its resident acting company. Michael Aronov, who earned a B.F.A. in theatre at Meadows in 1998, won his first Tony Award as Best Actor in a Featured Role for Oslo. The play, about the secret negotiations in the early 1990s leading to the Oslo Peace Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, was also named Best Play. Aronov won for his performance as Israeli cabinet member Uri Savir, director-general of the foreign ministry. Oslo is Aronov’s second Broadway show, following his appearance in 2012’s Golden Boy. For this year’s Tony, Aronov was competing against veteran performers including Danny DeVito (for The Price), Nathan Lane (for The Front Page), Richard Thomas (for The Little Foxes) and John Douglas Thompson (for Jitney).
“Talent, practice and persistence pay off,” said Associate Professor of Theatre Michael Connolly, who taught Aronov while he was a student. “No actor I know has worked with greater focus and zeal than Michael, and no actor I know deserves this recognition more.” Read more at Meadows School of the Arts.
SMU’s Semi Ojeleye ’17 and Sterling Brown ’17 were selected in the 2017 NBA Draft on Thursday night. Ojeleye was selected 37th overall by the Boston Celtics and Brown was picked 46th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. This is the fourth time the Mustangs have had multiple picks in the NBA Draft, but the first time with multiple selections in the first two rounds.
Ojeleye was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention. He was also named AAC All-Tournament Most Outstanding Player, All-AAC First Team, USBWA All-District VII and NABC All-District 25 First Team.
Brown was named an NABC Division I College All-Star, All-American Athletic Conference Second Team and AAC All-Tournament this season. As a senior, he averaged 13.4 points (13th AAC), 6.5 rebounds (16th AAC), 3.0 assists (14th AAC) and 1.4 steals (7th AAC). He led The American in 3-point percentage for the second straight season (44.9) and was eighth in free throw percentage (79.1). Read more at SMU Athletics.
SMU chemist Alex Lippert has received a prestigious National Science Foundation Career Award, expected to total $611,000 over five years, to fund his research into alternative internal imaging techniques.
NSF Career Awards are given to tenure-track faculty members who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research in American colleges and universities.
Lippert, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, is an organic chemist and adviser to four doctoral students and five undergraduates who assist in his research.
“We are developing chemiluminescent imaging agents, which basically amounts to a specialized type of glow-stick chemistry,” Lippert says. “We can use this method to image the insides of animals, kind of like an MRI, but much cheaper and easier to do.” Read more at SMU Research.
In late September, the Cox School of Business M.B.A. class on customer engagement taught by professor Marci Armstrong met for a guest lecture. The speaker related stories about working in the trenches of customer engagement for 30 years, consulting with such clients as American Airlines, Pan Am, Blockbuster and Borders. Although most of the students were too young to know many of those companies by name, they listened attentively because they knew they were hearing from a top expert in the field.
Hal Brierley has come a long way from starting a database marketing firm in 1969 in the basement of Dillon Hall at Harvard Business School. Brierley became well known as the only external consultant involved in the launch of American Airlines AAdvantage, the nation’s first frequent traveler program. He grew his firm Epsilon into an industry leader, and then spent 30 years building Brierley + Partners into a global leader in the design and management of customer loyalty programs.
After selling Brierley + Partners in 2015 to Nomura Research Institute, a leading Japanese technology services firm, the executive considered the “Father of Customer Engagement” is making a late-career segue. He recently moved his office from the Legacy area in Plano to an airy suite atop Parkland Hall on the old Parkland Hospital campus, only a few minutes away from his home in Highland Park – and from his latest venture in customer engagement at SMU’s Cox School of Business Hal Brierley, who will serve as an executive-in-residence in Cox’s new customer engagement institute, spoke to MBA marketing students in September. Photo by Hillsman S. Jackson.
Hal Brierley, who will serve as an executive-in-residence in Cox’s new customer engagement institute, spoke to MBA marketing students in September. Brierley first guest lectured in Armstrong’s class several years ago. From the beginning, he was particularly impressed to learn that American Airlines – extremely protective of its customer data – had given the students access to data from 10,000 anonymous AAdvantage members. As he interacted with the next generation of customer engagement marketers, Brierley wanted to ensure they were properly trained and educated in the ever-evolving field.
The seed of this hope grew into the $10 million gift that Brierley and his wife, Diane, gave to SMU in September to create the Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement in Cox, the nation’s first academic institute devoted to study of the field. The gift – among the largest in the history of the Cox School – will help students and businesses address a critical and growing business need: capturing customer attention in what Brierley describes as “a time-starved, social media-obsessed environment.” Armstrong will serve as the Harold M. Brierley Endowed Professor and Brierley himself will be an executive-in-residence.
Not what he planned
Brierley didn’t set out to become the guru of customer engagement. “Most of us who’ve been involved in direct marketing backed into it. Very few people of my generation sat down in college and said, ‘I think I’ll go into direct marketing,’” he recalls.
During his college years at the University of Maryland, he had the opportunity to work part time as a math aide at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center programming the early mega IBM computers. After earning a B.S. in chemical engineering, he was accepted at Harvard Business School, but decided to work for a year at IBM as a sales trainee. After getting his M.B.A. in 1968, he stayed on at the business school serving as a research assistant, with some outside consulting for The Boston Consulting Group and the Rand Corporation.
While working as a research assistant, Brierley’s college fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, recognizing his computer background asked him to help automate its membership records. “I naturally looked for a data processing firm that specialized in maintaining membership organizations.” Not finding one, he and a business school classmate offered to serve as consultants to automate SAE’s membership records.
They quickly realized that most other fraternities were also not yet computer savvy, and after a year, they were maintaining the membership records for 16 of the 18 national fraternity offices. “But,” Brierley adds, “we also found that our clients needed advice on how to use the computer to communicate with members, especially for fundraising, and we backed into becoming a direct marketing agency.” Over the next 10 years, Epsilon grew to work with more than 400 nonprofit organizations.
Gaining the advantage
After helping his fraternity automate its membership records, Brierley and a classmate established the Epsilon direct marketing agency. Brierley’s collection of memorabilia includes an early American Airlines AAdvantage pass.
Living in Boston, with all of Epsilon’s clients in the Midwest, Brierley became an early frequent flyer. One day, he stopped by United Airlines’ Chicago offices to visit the executive running its club for frequent fliers to talk about its membership record keeping. “While he politely told me he didn’t need help, a month later he called to tell me that the government was going to make United charge for access to the Red Carpet Club and that he may need help.”
Over the next several years as Epsilon helped maintain the records for United’s Red Carpet Club, Brierley recalls, “I became intrigued with the concept of customer loyalty. As we served as the vendor maintaining the Club’s records, we started wondering if we could use the Red Carpet Club as the vehicle to motivate flyers to concentrate their flying with United, offering unanticipated rewards and more personalized communications.”
Later, United introduced them to Pan Am and Epsilon started maintaining Pan Am’s Clipper Club records. With the advent of airline deregulation, airlines were freed from pricing restrictions and allowed to become more creative, he says. “So, I proposed to Pan Am that Epsilon could develop and operate a turnkey program to reward passengers for flying its new transcontinental routes from New York to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Our proposed ‘multi-trip discount program’ would offer passengers who flew three round trips on Pan Am’s transcontinental flights a free coach trip to Europe. Pan Am said it would never work, that no one would ever go out of their way to fly one airline rather than another simply to earn a reward.”
Later, after he had left Epsilon, one of Brierley’s business school classmates became senior vice president of marketing for American Airlines. Brierley recalls, “When we met, I told him what I had proposed to do at Pan Am and he said, ‘We’ve got a secret program we’re thinking about that would reward passengers for flying on American.’ It ended up with me as the one outside adviser on the design and launch of the AAdvantage program.
“American wanted frequent travelers to give the airline their names and addresses so it could communicate directly with them and provide their member numbers when they flew, thus allowing American to accurately identify their best customers. By offering a small incentive for participation and working the database, American thought they could gain a larger share of the customer’s travel.” A pioneer in database marketing and loyalty programs, Brierley has counseled scores of iconic brands.
He adds, “It’s important to remember that the original AAdvantage program had a one-year term – you had to fly 50,000 miles in one year to earn a free ticket.”
Brierley proposed several key innovations, including entry-level awards starting at 12,000 miles, an unanticipated gift (a bag tag) after a member’s first flight, a monthly mileage statement, and a Gold program for members flying at least 25,000 miles each year. While he is still proud of his contribution, he always likes to point out that the work was done “by a very talented team of AA employees, and Bob Crandall was the visionary who said they needed the program.”
Brierley laughs as he recalls that American thought it had a one year head start against its competitors when it launched AAdvantage, since the technology and planning had been a year in the making. To American’s surprise, United Airlines matched it “literally over the weekend, improvising the initial program support. Obviously when a big competitor launches a major initiative, you should respond. But United made one big change,” Brierley adds. “They said, ‘If it makes sense to give people miles when they fly, why not let them earn miles for more than just year-to-year?’ So, United made the term for earning miles open-ended, and eventually, millions of travelers would earn a free trip.
“That totally changed the economics of the program, and led to these programs becoming much bigger and more expensive than planned,” he says. “However, offsetting the added cost, no one anticipated that someone would decide that letting travelers earn miles for using a credit card could change the credit card industry. So today, billions of dollars are spent by credit card companies to reward their cardholders with airline miles, making the sale of airline miles a major profit center for the airlines.”
Retaining customer attention
Over the more than 30 years since the launch of the first airline loyalty program, Brierley has worked with clients “to define what behavior change they want their customers to make – such as to sign up for a program or purchase something they might not otherwise have bought – the economic value of the change, and how much they want to spend to motivate the behavior change. In addition to the tangible incentives, I’m convinced providing emotional benefits and understanding the psychology of loyalty have become critical in designing a successful program,” he says. An ad featuring a Brierley + Partners brochure on “The Art of Relationship Management.”
Brierley believes that the next generation of loyalty programs will reward people for their time and attention. “We’re in a time-starved world today and the biggest problem for a brand is getting and keeping the consumer’s attention,” he says. “I think share of attention is going to be as important as share of wallet. And that’s where the focus on customer engagement becomes important.
“Talk about loyalty and a lot of CFOs think about a big, cumbersome reward program that offers trips to Hawaii. However, everyone has pretty well agreed that if we can get customers to engage more frequently with the brand, they will buy more.”
In Brierley’s view, customer engagement centers on having a conversation with customers and prospects. “Most marketers preach rather than converse. Conversation says I talk to you, I ask you a question, you tell me something.”
To emphasize this point, Brierley recalls when rental car company Hertz sat in focus groups with customers nearly 30 years ago and asked what kind of benefits Hertz could extend to them that would cause them to prefer Hertz. “What people said was, ‘I want a faster way to rent the car.’ They had their airline miles, and they didn’t want points or golf balls from Hertz, but they didn’t want to stand in line.” And, to Hertz’s credit, it listened and created the Hertz #1 Club Gold program.
The explosion of the internet and digital marketing has made it faster and cheaper to engage with customers. Brierley says that the idea of rewarding people for their time, for opening an email and for sharing their opinions by completing a survey, led him to launch e-Rewards, now known as Research Now, the world’s largest online market research panel. It monthly rewards over a million consumers for completing market opinion surveys for some 2,500 research firms.
“I’m firm believer that a well-crafted incentive can profitably change behavior. We’re an incentive-based society today.”
The next level of engagement
Cox faculty member Marci Armstrong will serve as the Harold M. Brierley Endowed Professor in the customer engagement institute.
Brierley sees SMU’s new institute as a way to move to the next level of customer engagement. “I would like to think we’ll have a generation who actually knows how to profitably drive consumer engagement,” he says. “Since it’s a bit of a science and a bit of an art, there are a lot of nuances that make programs successful.”
His relationship with SMU actually began with the arts, which he and Diane have supported generously across Dallas for decades. Having earlier served on the executive board of Meadows School of the Arts, he was attracted to the National Center for Arts Research (NCAR) program in Meadows and Cox. “It struck me as a very innovative program; SMU was taking the initiative in a very entrepreneurial endeavor – building a database of best practices in the arts community. There was a fundraising opportunity to support NCAR that had a matching grant, and we gave $100,000.”
When it came time to make a major investment in developing the field of customer engagement, Brierley felt that SMU would be the best academic home.
“It could take years for Harvard to identify a professor interested in building a course around loyalty or engagement, much less establish an M.B.A. concentration,” he says. “SMU already had been teaching a class on customer loyalty, and working innovatively with American Airlines to let students work with real customer data and address loyalty issues. We have a professor who already had a love for customer engagement, we have an innovative school in Cox, and a superlative brand in SMU. I think we can make SMU and Dallas a center of excellence in this critical part of marketing. When you think of all the Fortune 500 corporate headquarters here, we have a tremendous laboratory for advancing loyalty.”
At an SMU summer program, Dallas ISD middle-school teachers shot off rockets, kayaked the Trinity River and collected data on animals at the Dallas Zoo to learn new ways to engage their students in science.
Teachers from six middle schools were the first to take part in the STEM Academy at SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Supported by the Texas Instruments Foundation and O’Donnell Foundation, the goal of the new program is to increase the numbers of students who study and pursue careers in math and science-related fields. Read more at SMU News.
For Josh Thomas, an engineer by training, every new version of an idea brings a chance to discover something new. And the gift he’ll leave with SMU – an interactive map of the University’s entrepreneurial ecosystem – encapsulates both his work as an Engaged Learning Fellow and his hopes for future students.
“I wanted to let the undergraduate population know how many resources are available here on campus,” says Thomas, who will graduate May 20, from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. “At SMU, we pride ourselves on our startup spirit – but you don’t get a more entrepreneurial campus unless you create more entrepreneurs.” Read more at SMU News.
As incoming SMU students prepare to settle into their on-campus homes, they will examine the life experiences of those who can’t afford to stay in theirs. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond, which won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, is the 2017 SMU Reads selection and first reading assignment for the class of 2021.
Community members, alumni, book lovers and book clubs are encouraged to join students in reading the book, and come to campus to hear the author discuss it at a free public forum at 6 p.m. Thursday, August 24 at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium. Register for the event at smu.edu/SMU Reads.
Author Desmond, an associate professor of social sciences at Harvard University, knows firsthand the trauma of eviction. The bank foreclosed on his family’s Arizona home while he was attending college on scholarship. Since then, he has devoted his research to the intersection of poverty, race and gender in American life. Read more at SMU News.
No matter where you live, it’s possible to give back to SMU with the gift of your time.
Help shape the next generation of world changers by sharing your experiences and expertise through these upcoming interactive volunteer opportunities:
SMU Admission Volunteer – Contact prospective, admitted students from your area and encourage them to choose SMU.
SMU Career Volunteer – Provide career guidance to students and alumni by offering informational interviews or hosting a one-day job shadowing externship. Read about the experience of volunteer George Killebrew ’85, executive vice president with the Dallas Mavericks. He hosted a one-day externship for Connor Kolodziej ’19 over winter break that blossomed into a three-month summer internship with the Mavericks for the SMU student.
SMU alumnae Melissa Reiff ’77, CEO of The Container Store, and Brittany Merrill Underwood ’06, founder and CEO of the Akola Project, made Inc.com’s list of the world’s Top 10 servant-leader CEOs.
Underwood, No. 5 on the list, was cited as a “clear example of a servant leader practicing conscious capitalism to transform the lives of impoverished women and families.”
Her commitment to that cause was sparked by a summer she spent in Uganda while an SMU undergraduate. In 2007 she established the Akola Project, and over the last decade, it has blossomed into a thriving social business.
The nonprofit offers jewelry-making jobs that provide a living wage to women living in poverty in Uganda and Dallas.
When the jewelry was introduced in Neiman Marcus last fall, the “full impact brand” became a bestseller. The luxury retailer has since doubled its Akola business.
Underwood, who received SMU’s Emerging Leader Award in 2013, plans to build on Akola’s success in the luxury market after winning the top prize of $75,000 at the United Way GroundFloor’s OneUp the Pitch contest in April.
Reiff, No. 8 on the list, was commended for “continuing the company’s commitment to ‘conscious capitalism’ and its servant leadership-driven culture.”
Reiff joined The Container Store in 1995 as vice president of sales and marketing. She was promoted to executive vice president of stores and marketing in 2003. She served as chief operating office and president before being elevated to CEO in 2016.
She is credited with improving The Container Store’s approach to launching new stores and has played a critical role in enhancing and strengthening the retailer’s “employee-first” culture, a philosophy that has led to 18 consecutive appearances on Fortune’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”
Reiff received an SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013 and has served on the school’s executive board and been active on the Cox Associate Board. Read the full story at Inc.com.
Jorge Baldor ’93 was honored with the 2017 Distinguished Hispanic Alumni Award presented by SMU Hispanic Alumni at the chapter’s annual awards celebration on April 27. SMU Hispanic Alumni also presented undergraduate scholarships to Carlos “Alex” Negrete ’18 and Victor Sanchez ’19. Guest speakers included SMU President R. Gerald Turner and Thomas DiPiero, dean and professor of World Languages and Literatures and English, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
Baldor, pictured at the top of the page with Elizabeth Zamora ’12 (left),chair of SMU Hispanic Alumni, andCynthia Villanueva ’00, past chair, graduated from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in history. He is co-founder of ResidentCheck, a national tenant background screening service.
An award-winning leader in business and civic affairs, Baldor was named Outstanding Latino Advocate in 2016 by D CEO magazine. He also has been recognized for his support of the Innocence Project and was named an “Amigo de Centroamerica” by Fundación Esquipulas, a nonprofit organization led by Vinicio Cerezo, the former president of Guatamala.
In 2015 Baldor co-founded the Latino Center for Leadership Development (Latino CLD), which strives to develop the next generation of leaders driven by thoughts, values and experiences that will improve the Latino community. Earlier this year, Latino CLD and SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies awarded nine research grants to support meaningful research geared to promoting a stronger understanding of the Latino community and creating a dialogue about key societal issues.
He serves on the executive board of SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and as a commissioner-at-large on the City of Dallas’ Cultural Affairs Commission. He also serves on the boards of the Cisneros Center for New Americans, the World Affairs Council and the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce.
SMU Hispanic Alumni also honored scholarship recipients Carlos “Alex” Negrete ’18 of Carrollton, Texas, a business administration major in the Cox School of Business, and Cox finance major Victor Sanchez ’19 of San Antonio, Texas.
When award-winning scholar Dominique Earland ’17 crossed the stage at Commencement, she could track her academic accomplishments and the life path she has chosen directly back to the lessons about love, nurturing and vulnerability that she learned from her mother.
After Texas’ maternal mortality rate spike last year made international headlines, and the state’s family-planning resources continued to decline, Dominique focused her Community Outreach Fellowship, funded by SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program, to create a 36-page life-saving toolkit for women facing motherhood. “Your Right to Health,” completed with input from Dallas County’s Fetal-Infant Mortality Review program at Parkland Hospital, is filled with medical advice and community resources.
Also, her 2016 research on anemia in pregnancy in western Jamaica has been accepted for peer-reviewed publication – a remarkable achievement for an undergraduate student.
Dominique says her ongoing efforts to strengthen women’s health rights and education will forever be linked to “the unbreakable bond that exists between mother and child.” Read more at SMU News.
Kenechukwu (K.C.) Mmeje, assistant vice president and dean of students at Loyola University Chicago, has been named Vice President for Student Affairs at SMU effective July 17, 2017.
“Strength of character and a commitment to students shines through in interactions with Dr. Mmeje,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “His experience at urban, private universities in Chicago and Los Angeles also set him apart as a candidate for this important position at SMU. We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Mmeje to the Hilltop in Dallas.”
In his new duties, Mmeje (pronounced MAY-jay) will oversee areas including the Office of the Dean of Student Life; Residence Life; women’s, LGBT, multicultural, volunteer and leadership programs; student activities; student conduct; the Hegi Family Career Development Center; campus ministries; health and wellness programs, including the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center; the Hughes-Trigg Student Center and the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. Read more at SMU News.
The SMU Cox School of Business honored six alumni at the school’s annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon on Friday, May 19.
Three Distinguished Alumni Awards and three Outstanding Young Alumni Awards were presented at a luncheon ceremony in the Collins Executive Center on the SMU campus. Award nominations are submitted to the SMU Cox Alumni Association for consideration by a selection committee.
This year’s Distinguished Alumni honorees are, in alphabetical order: Peter T. Dameris, BBA ’82; Kirk L. Rimer, MBA ’89; and Liz Youngblood, MBA ’05. Outstanding Young Alumni honorees are: Amber Venz Box, BA ’09; Baxter Box, MBA ’11; and Vik Thapar, MBA ’09. Read more at SMU News.
Graduating senior Arya McCarthy has been a frequent presence on SMU’s campus practically since the day he could walk.
As a child, he would stroll across verdant lawns, his tiny hand held firmly in his grandfather’s gentle one, as his grandpa, John McCarthy, checked his mail.John McCarthy was a biology professor at SMU, where he taught Mustangs and researched endocrine physiology from the 1950s up to his retirement in 1999.
Neither knew then just how grand a role SMU would play in Arya’s life.
Fast forward to the summer of 2016. Arya was a President’s Scholar at SMU, three years into his pursuit of bachelor’s degrees in both math and computer science, and a master of computer science. With the presidential race well underway, people were describing the American electorate as being more partisan than ever, and Arya wanted to know: Was it? Read more at SMU News.
Biochemistry professors Pia Vogel and John Wise in the SMU Department of Biological Sciences and Corey Clark, deputy director of research at SMU Guildhall, are leading the SMU assault on cancer in partnership with fans of the best-selling video game Minecraft.
Vogel and Wise expect deep inroads in their quest to narrow the search for chemical compounds that improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs.
“Crowdsourcing as well as computational power may help us narrow down our search and give us better chances at selecting a drug that will be successful,” said Vogel. “And gamers can take pride in knowing they’ve helped find answers to an important medical problem.”
Up to now, Wise and Vogel have tapped the high performance computing power of SMU’s ManeFrame, one of the most powerful academic supercomputers in the nation, to sort through millions of compounds that have the potential to work. Now, the biochemists say, it’s time to take that research to the next level — crowdsourced computing.
A network of gamers can crunch massive amounts of data during routine gameplay by pairing two powerful weapons: the best of human intuition combined with the massive computing power of networked gaming machine processors.
Taking their research to the gaming community will more than double the amount of machine processing power attacking their research problem. Read more at SMU Research.
Lawson Malnory’s fascination with music began not with a musical instrument but with a cowboy hat. The 22-year-old senior, who graduated May 20 from the Meadows School of the Arts, tagged along as a child with his McKinney family to SMU’s football and basketball games — both parents and a brother are SMU grads.
Those games set the course for Malnory’s future. “There was this one guy in the Mustang Band who always wore a cowboy hat on the field,” says the Meadows Scholar. “I thought he was the just coolest guy ever, and I decided I wanted to be like him. … I was going into sixth grade, so I tried out for band and got in, and I stuck with it. This year, the band director (at SMU) started letting me wear a cowboy hat, so it’s come full circle.”
Clearly Malnory likes doing things a little bit differently. Take, for example, his work with the Bridge the Gap Chamber Players: His positive experiences with music and the joy that it brings him led him to join the nonprofit student group whose mission is to bring music to those who might not get regular exposure. Read more at SMU News.
By Karen Shoholm SMU
“I met Michael Jordan during the first week of my internship,” says Mark Lau ’06. “Right then I knew that Nike was the place I wanted to work. Eleven years later, I haven’t looked back.” Mark Lau ’06, global director of Nike’s EKIN Experience, sports some favorite kicks outside the Nike store in Portland, Oregon. “There’s no such thing as a typical day at Nike, and that’s why I love it,” he says.
Lau, who graduated with degrees in marketing from the Cox School of Business and in advertising design from Meadows School of the Arts, works at Nike’s World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. As global director of the company’s EKIN Experience – named in 1981 for the Nike reps who “had to know the product backwards and forwards,” according to Nike – Lau leads the team responsible for curating Nike’s stories and delivering inspiration and innovation to athletes around the world through a grassroots approach.
“My internship played a huge part in getting a full-time job at Nike,” he says.
Lau also credits his SMU Abroad experiences studying in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Suzhou, China. “I believe that some of the best learning experiences take place outside the classroom. The study abroad programs provided the opportunity to interact with students from around the world and experience global cultures.”
Adapting to different kinds of people and cultures was good training for what Lau does at Nike. “There is no such thing as a typical day at Nike, and that’s why I love it. We are a consumer-driven company, and the consumer moves fast. We learn, adapt and evolve quickly to keep up with today’s fast-paced environment,” he says.
“We call Nike’s World Headquarters a campus because it is designed like a university and fosters an environment of learning and sharing. Our maxim, ‘Be a sponge,’ inspires us to constantly soak up and share information.”
From the SMU campus, Lau is grateful for what he learned in his marketing classes, especially those taught by Judy Foxman, senior lecturer of marketing at the Cox School. Lau says she made learning fun. “She merged the classroom with the real world, providing valuable insights and experiences.”
Foxman calls Lau “a fabulous student whose marketing and communication skills were enhanced in my Honors Marketing Practicum class. When you are relating academics to a real-world project, a company knows that you will be able to hit the ground running. You earn more than a marketing degree; you acquire a level of confidence and professionalism.”
Lau serves as the co-president of SMU’s Portland alumni chapter and helps organize events for fellow Mustangs who live in the area.
He adds that SMU’s location in Dallas gave him an ideal launch pad for getting to Nike and Portland. “Dallas is strategically located so it is attractive to companies. Whether you want to work for a big company or a small company – or start your own – Dallas and SMU can provide those opportunities.”
Findings of a new study solve a key mystery about the chemistry of how plants tell time so they can flower and metabolize nutrients. The process — a subtle chemical event — takes place in the cells of every plant every second of every day.
The new understanding means farmers may someday grow crops under conditions or in climates where they currently can’t grow, said chemist Brian D. Zoltowski of SMU, who led the study.
“We now understand the chemistry allowing plants to maintain a natural 24-hour rhythm in sync with their environment. This allows us to tune the chemistry, like turning a dimmer switch up or down, to alter the organism’s ability to keep time,” Zoltowski said. “So we can either make the plant’s clock run faster, or make it run slower. By altering these subtle chemical events we might be able to rationally redesign a plant’s photochemistry to allow it to adapt to a new climate.” Read more at SMU Research.
Under Texas and Federal law, individuals convicted of domestic abuse are required to surrender any firearms they possess – but it rarely happens.
A team of SMU law students who spent the past year studying Dallas County’s gun-surrender efforts presented their recommendations for improving the program during a press conference at the 12th annual Conference on Crimes Against Women, presented on May 24 by the Dallas Police Department with the Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support and other collaborating agencies.
“It is estimated that between 7,000 and 8,000 cases of domestic violence go through the courts each year in Dallas County, and yet only 60 guns have been turned in over the past two years,” says SMU Law professor Natalie Nanasi, director of the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women. Nanasie advised law students Laura Choi, Rachel Elkin and Monica Harasim in assembling the report.
“Statistics show that the presence of a firearm in a domestic violence situation increases the likelihood of death by 500 percent,” Elkin says. “We hope that this report can be a tool for Dallas County leaders to use to expand and improve the Gun Surrender Program.” Read more at SMU News.
A consortium of institutions led by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas will partner with the U.S. Census Bureau to establish the Dallas-Fort Worth Federal Statistical Research Data Center.
The DFW center is the result of an extensive grant application process involving contributions from each consortium member and a review by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Census Bureau. One of several planned Federal Statistical Research Data Center locations across the country, the center will be housed at the Dallas Fed and will provide approved researchers with secure access to restricted micro-level data.
The center will advance scientific knowledge, improve data quality and inform policy in fields spanning the social, behavioral and economic sciences and the health professions, and extending to urban planning, and engineering. The cutting-edge research opportunities afforded by the center will raise the profile of participating institutions and assist in attracting and retaining top research talent to the region. Read more at SMU Research.
Reflect. Refresh. Renew. We invite you to an enriching weekend at the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, July 20–23.
Whether you choose an engaging course for intellectual growth or a Taos adventure, you’ll enjoy your experience in this inspiring setting. Taos Cultural Institute courses give you two-and-a-half days of in-depth, hands-on exploration of topics that reflect the unique cultural richness of Northern New Mexico. Field trips enable you to experience your topic even more vividly, with time to discover and sightsee on your own. Register now at SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute.
He was seldom a starter on the SMU mens basketball team, but you’d never know it from his fans: Graduating senior guard Jonathan Wilfong made an impact every time he played at Moody Coliseum home games.
The crowd loved him, yelling out his name in overly long syllables (Wil-foooooong!) when he stepped onto the court. But as much as he’s been loved by the raucous crowds at Moody, and by the coaching staff that admires his dedication, there’s another set of fans who mean even more to Wilfong – the kids he is helping through his “Coaching for Literacy” program.
Now that he’s graduating, he hopes to both continue his work with the program, as well as expand it to other colleges and universities.
Wilfong’s degree from the Cox School of Business helped give him the know-how to expand the charity. In fact, the degree is part of what brought Wilfong to SMU in the first place.
“I wanted to attend a school where I could play basketball and also get a business degree,” Wilfong said. “I could have gone to a smaller school and played more, but I knew what I wanted to study and I knew where my future was. SMU offered the best of both worlds.” Read more at SMU News.
Noted SMU anthropologist Caroline Brettell joins actress Carol Burnett, musician John Legend, playwright Lynn Nottage, immunologist James Allison and other renowned leaders in various fields as a newly elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She and other members of the Class of 2017 will be inducted at a ceremony on October 7 at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Her research centers on ethnicity, migration and the immigrant experience. Much of her work has focused on the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex as a new immigration gateway city, especially on how immigrants practice citizenship and civic engagement as they meld into existing economic, social and political structures. She has special expertise in cross-cultural perspectives on gender, the challenges specific to women immigrants, how the technology boom affects immigration, and how the U.S.-born children of immigrants construct their identities and a sense of belonging. An immigrant herself, Brettell was born in Canada and became a U.S. citizen in 1993. Read more at SMU News.
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the National Institutes of Health who may be best known for leading the Human Genome Project (HGP), will be the featured speaker during SMU’s 102nd all-University Commencement ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 20, in Moody Coliseum.
Dr. Collins – whose own personal research efforts led to the isolation of the genes responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington’s disease and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome – will receive the Doctor of Science degree, honoris causa, from SMU during the ceremony. The entire event, including Collins’ address, will be streamed at smu.edu/live and on SMU Facebook Live, beginning at 9 a.m. (CT).
SMU also will award honorary degrees to pioneering astrophysicist Francis Halzen; attorney, business leader and philanthropist Nancy Nasher; and E.P. Sanders ’62, an alumnus of SMU’s Perkins School of Theology and internationally respected New Testament scholar. The four distinguished leaders in science, the arts and theology will be celebrated during presentations and discussions in the days leading up to Commencement. Read more at SMU News.
Connor Kolodziej ’19 was so excited about his winter break externship that he was up by 5:30 a.m. so he would be early to the office of George Killebrew ’85, executive vice president with the Dallas Mavericks.
Kolodziej didn’t know what to expect going in. He just knew a chance to work in a sports organization was something he’d always dreamed about. Dallas’ five professional sports teams had attracted the Atlanta, Georgia, resident and lifelong sports lover to SMU, where he is majoring in applied physiology and sport management in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. So it made perfect sense to pursue a one-day opportunity to get an inside look at the business operations of a legendary team.
Little did he know then that it would land him a three-month summer internship with the team.
SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center connected Kolodziej with Killebrew, who’d received his BBA from the Cox School of Business. “When I found out George was with the Mavericks, I was very excited,” says Kolodziej. “The day exceeded my expectations. I understood the daily operations. Everyone was friendly and happy, and that really encouraged me about my future.”
“It’s actually a simple thing,” says Killebrew, who is also a member of the SMU Alumni Board. “Anytime someone comes in, whether it’s for a summerlong internship or a day’s externship, we want to make sure they get a full flavor of the organization and the different business roles within. A lot of people see the Mavericks and think about the basketball piece of it. But we’re over in a warehouse in Deep Ellum. We’re selling tickets and sponsorships and merchandise. Connor came in and spent pretty much the whole day with us. My whole staff took time with him. So everybody had 30 or 45 minutes with him. We’re always trying to help out – especially someone who wants to get into sports.”
Kolodziej values how the externship helped with his longer-term career aspirations. “I got to make new connections and meet new people who didn’t go to SMU. It also helped me see new aspects – so it broadened my horizon about where I’d like to go in the future.”
He parlayed his winter externship into a summer internship by “staying in contact with George and everyone else I talked to during my winter externship. You never know what is out there unless you ask.” In assisting the Mavs’ corporate sponsorship team this summer with promotions and programs, Kolodziej hopes to gain deeper insights into sports organizations and continue to “learn as much as possible.”
Killebrew, who grew up in Hawaii, credits his SMU education and SMU connections to getting him where he is now. “I was a bit sheltered growing up on an island. When I got to SMU, I met people from all different walks of life, all 50 states and a lot of foreign countries. That really helped prepare me for the real world.”
After graduation, Killebrew worked in the SMU Alumni association for two years, then “I got a job in the Athletics department at SMU. So I was working for the Mustang Club, which opened the door to get me here to the Mavericks – because the people at SMU were helping me take the next steps.” Killebrew encourages others to take advantage of SMU alumni connections. “There are so many resources, in the city of Dallas and within the SMU alumni community, that you can pretty much accomplish anything you want, regardless of your field. Alumni are willing to help. They just need to be asked.”
Kolodziej appreciates how SMU is helping him pursue the career of his dreams and emphatically recommends the externship experience to other SMU students. “I loved the whole day. I learned so much. SMU has a great connection with alumni, and George pushed home the importance of networking and meeting new people, especially as a student in college. And the most important thing I learned is to find a good place not just to work, but also to enjoy what you do.”
Dylan DeMuth ’17 started classes at the University of Texas School of Medicine in San Antonio in July. He credits a “no” from an SMU professor with changing his life and putting him on track for a career in medicine.
When DeMuth wanted to enroll Eric Bing’s global health class, the professor told the premed student that he was not yet qualified and offered a challenge: “Improve your grades and call me in a month.”
A sophomore chemistry and economics major with a 3.0 grade point average at the time, DeMuth sought tutoring before his midterm exams, instead of waiting until he was struggling with challenging science and math courses. He met with Bing, professor of global health and director of SMU’s global health program in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, a month later to report improvement on his midterm tests – the beginning of a mentorship that inspired DeMuth to re-choreograph his life.
DeMuth, determined to fulfill his passion for study and working in global health, followed Bing’s advice to develop a mission and find his strengths. He began each day with what Bing calls “10-10-10,” a daily practice of 10 minutes of reading, 10 minutes of meditating and 10 minutes of journaling.
When the opportunity to enroll in Bing’s global health class rolled around again, DeMuth was the first person admitted to the class.
With Bing’s encouragement, DeMuth has conducted his own global health research.
“Dylan is a natural. He understands people in a way he doesn’t yet realize,” Bing says. “Mentoring him is lighting a torch that someone once lit in me.” Read more at SMU News.
It’s about the size of a slice of bread, costs roughly $60 to purchase and assemble, and packs the potential to improve the lives of thousands of patients around the globe with Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neuromuscular diseases.
The portable bioelectric impedance analyzer developed by graduating SMU seniors Taylor Barg, Allison Garcia, Danya Hoban, Mar McCreary and Hyun Song measures electric current pulsing through the body to assess muscle health. For someone who otherwise might have to endure a painful needle biopsy or costly MRI to measure the progress of their disease, this small device would be a welcome improvement.
The women have been working together on the device since the beginning of the academic year as their senior design project in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.
“Our goal was to create an affordable, accessible device that was non-invasive and non-intimidating,” says group spokesperson McCreary, a mechanical engineering major with a premedical/biomedical specialization. She recently presented their research at the 2017 HUNTALKS hosted by the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity, a pipeline for student innovation with social impact at SMU.
Their research is particularly relevant now because of the increasing number of health issues and deaths attributed to neurodegeneration in the rapidly growing population of aging Americans. McCreary points out that the Parkinson’s mortality rate has jumped 330 percent over the last 40 years. In addition to the comfort factor inherent in their design, the diagnostic and monitoring applications of their device could improve the odds for older patients living in rural areas without easy access to doctors and medical services.
Each student on the team contributed ideas and expertise in her field. Hoban also is a mechanical engineering major with a premedical/biomedical specialization, while Barg is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. Garcia and Song are electrical engineering (EE) majors in the “4+1” program, which enables them to complete a master’s degree in one year after earning a bachelor’s degree. Read more at SMU News.
Strong academic records, writing ability and an active love of journalism translated into scholarships recently for Meadows students Jacquelyn Elias and Hannah Ellisen.
Jacquelyn, a junior pursuing degrees in journalism, creative computing and computer science, was one of seven students to win the prestigious Founders’ scholarship from the Headliners Foundation of Texas; Hannah, a junior pursuing journalism and public relations & strategic communication degrees, was the sole winner of the foundation’s Texas Associated Press Broadcasters scholarship award. Read more at Meadows School of the Arts.
Matthew B. Myers, a global marketing and strategy expert with special expertise in cross-border business relationships and Latin American economies, has been named dean of SMU’s Cox School of Business. He will assume his new duties on August 1, at which point Albert W. Niemi Jr., who has been dean of the school since 1997, will transition to full-time teaching.
As dean and Mitchell P. Rales Chair of Business Leadership of the Farmer School of Business at Miami University of Ohio, Myers manages an $80 million budget and recently launched the first independent fund-raising campaign for a college at Miami University. The $200 million effort includes a $40 million lead gift, the largest philanthropic gift in Miami history. The Farmer School of Business is a top-10 producer of Fortune 500 CEOs and maintains undergraduate, graduate and executive programs with a student body of approximately 4,300 and more than 250 faculty and staff members. Read more at SMU News.
Stephanie L. Knight, a nationally recognized education leader, researcher and professor, has been named dean of SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The current associate dean and professor of education in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University will assume her new duties at SMU on August 1.
Knight began her education career as a classroom teacher of Spanish and French in Texas, Saudi Arabia and Pennsylvania. She received her doctorate in Curriculum and instruction at the University of Houston before beginning a 20-year tenure at Texas A&M University, where she was professor of educational psychology and teaching, learning and culture. In addition, she held the Houston Endowment, Inc. Chair in Urban Education at Texas A&M, received the University Distinguished Teaching Award and was named a University Faculty Fellow. Knight joined Pennsylvania State University in 2009 as professor of educational psychology, where she taught courses in educational psychology and effective learning. In 2013 she became associate dean at Penn State, leading the College of Education’s undergraduate and graduate studies programs. Read more at SMU News.
Perkins School of Theology announces two new degree concentrations – presented in partnership with SMU’s Cox School of Business and Meadows School of the Arts – designed to strengthen future clergy in the area of church management and to equip those pursuing nontraditional forms of ministry that encourage social innovation.
The Church Management and Social Innovation and Nonprofit Engagement concentrations will be available in fall 2017 to Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Arts in Ministry (M.A.M.) students. Read more at Perkins School of Theology.
Calling all adventurers for a learning expedition with the SMU Summer Youth Program! Explore weekly workshops in game design, coding, robotics, visual arts, math and language arts, as well as SAT and ACT test prep. Programs are offered for students entering grades K-12 from June 5 to August 4 on the SMU-in-Plano campus. Extended day options are available. Popular classes fill early, so register today. Use the code ALUMSY17 at checkout for 20 percent off. Read more at SMU Summer Youth Program.
When Mustangs gather on the Hilltop, memorable moments and countless pony ears follow as you’ll see in these photo and video highlights of Founders’ Day Weekend 2017, April 6–9.
The spirited celebration of all things SMU included the Golden Mustangs Reunion; Sing Song, the “On Demand” edition, an evening of musical performances based on favorite TV shows; Community Day activities at the Meadows Museum and George W. Bush Presidential Center; and the SMU Ring Ceremony, a once-in-a-lifetime tradition for students who have completed 60 or more academic hours.
A high point of the weekend was the Mustang Football Fan Fest and Spring Game at Ford Stadium. Before the kick off, alumni took to the field for a friendly flag game, while kids enjoyed meeting student-athletes and coaches and “test driving” award-winning videogames from SMU Guildhall. There’s already a lot of excitement surrounding our team, and the players didn’t disappoint, as the Offense edged the Defense, 24-21, on the final play of the scrimmage.
When Mustangs come together, great things happen, a point driven home by President Turner on Founders’ Day when he announced the theme for SMU’s next era of accomplishment: Pony Power – Strengthening the Stampede.
Make plans now to come home to the Hilltop next April for Founders’ Day Weekend 2018. Pony Up!
Skill-building projects in coding, programming and robotics are among the new additions to the SMU Summer Youth Program at SMU-in-Plano. Weekly workshops are offered for students entering grades K-12 from June 5 through August 4. Popular classes fill early, so register today. Use the code ALUMSY17 at checkout for 20 percent off. Read more at SMU Summer Youth Programs.
Olga Amelkina-Vera, a graduate student in the music composition program at Meadows School of the Arts, was named 2016-17 Student Composer-in-Residence with the Irving Symphony Orchestra. She won the honor with Cattywampus Rompus (Texas Tarantella), a five-minute composition that gives the ancient musical “tarantella” a modern, Texas twist. Read more at SMU News.
D CEO magazine heralded Professor Suku Nair, director of the new AT&T Center for Virtualization at SMU, as the researcher at the center of “understanding some of tomorrow’s biggest technical challenges” and an academic leader in “creating a knowledgeable North Texas employee base.” Read more at SMU News.
Six University graduates who have carved out successful careers across the legal spectrum will be honored by Dedman School of Law at its 30th annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony this evening. Read more at SMU News.
The Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development honored Jubilee Park and Community Center, The Meadows Foundation and the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project with 2017 Luminary Awards for their support of education as a catalyst for change. Read more at SMU News.
SMU Guildhall has risen to the No. 1 spot among the world’s best graduate game-design programs in The Princeton Review’s eighth annual report. Director Gary Brubaker credits “faculty with deep experience, bright and motivated students and a robust network of successful alumni” as key to attaining the top ranking. Read more at SMU News.
Retired Dallas Police Chief David Brown accepted the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility on March 21. On the 20th anniversary of the award, Brown told the remarkable story of how Jonsson giving his mother a job years ago put him on the path to success.
Tammy Winter ’17 loves being a member of The Mob student cheering section and hasn’t missed an SMU men’s basketball game at Moody Coliseum in years. She’s also a big fan of the opportunities she has had as a student to “pursue something that no one else is doing.” Read more at SMU News.
During a Perkins School of Theology immersion trip to South Africa over spring break, graduate student Nicole Melki recalled the anti-apartheid activism of Soweto’s children, defining the hope they exemplified as “the conviction that pain and suffering can be transformed.” Read more at SMU Adventures.
By Leah Johnson ’15
SMU
It was a night of fun, food and fellowship as alumni, faculty, students and members of the community celebrated achievement at the sixth annual Black Excellence Ball on February 25. Black Alumni of SMU joined the Association of Black Students (ABS) to present “Mustang Masquerade.”
The program included remarks by SMU President R. Gerald Turner and keynote speaker Clint Smith, 2014 National Poetry Slam champion and doctoral candidate in education at Harvard University. The former high school English teacher is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship with research interests that include mass incarceration, the sociology of race and the history of U.S. inequality. His first book of poetry, Counting Descent, won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award.
Performances by SMU’s Voices of Inspiration Gospel Choir and dancers Kendall Lockhart ’19 and Takia Hopson ’19 ushered in the main event: recognition of the 2017 Black History Makers and Black Alumni Scholarship recipients as well as the ABS Legacy Award student and faculty honorees.
BLACK ALUMNI HISTORY MAKERS
Mercury R. Hall ’98, ’03 made University history as the first African American to receive a master’s degree in applied economics from SMU. As an undergraduate, he played on the Mustang football team while earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Today the financial expert and sports entrepreneur serves as an assistant vice president on the trade settlement team at Markit, a global financial information, analytics and services company. He is also the founder and CEO of Mercury Universe, an online community and recruiting tool that enables young athletes to promote themselves to agents, coaches and fans.
In the community, Hall is involved with numerous charitable organizations including Meals on Wheels, Special Olympics and the Markit Social and Charity Committee. He also has served on the Richardson Corporate Challenge Board.
Contessa Hoskins’09, a senior business engineering and operations consultant for Raytheon, has made her mark across the business spectrum in a wide range of industries, including petrochemicals, industrial commercial manufacturing, telecommunications, defense and aerospace, distributed control systems and automation and integration.
She is a certified Project Management Professional and Lean Six Sigma Certified Black Belt, a designation recognizing her expertise in helping companies improve performance and eliminate waste.
Hoskins has earned multiple awards for mentoring excellence, service, corporate performance and leadership and been profiled in numerous publications, including US Black Engineer and Beta Gamma Sigma honor society magazines.
She earned an MBA from the Cox School of Business and serves on the school’s alumni board.
Moses L. Williams, Jr. ’78, ’81, the first African American to obtain a Ph.D. in anthropology from SMU, founded an innovative education program in 1990 while director of admissions for Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
The program, which was hosted by SMU for several years, trained minority students for success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, beginning in seventh grade and continuing through college. One hundred percent of program participants attended college, 99 percent graduated and 92 percent completed the pipeline project before it ended in 2016.
Through the program, Williams has helped produce hundreds of minority physicians, scientists and engineers.
BLACK ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Autumn Langston ’17, a music therapy major and arts entrepreneurship minor, has served as director of the Voices of Inspiration Gospel Choir for three consecutive years. She also serves as treasurer for the Student Association of Music Therapy and parliamentarian for the Southwestern Region of the American Music Therapy Association for Students. Lezly Murphy ’19 (left) and Autumn Langston ’17
After completing five semesters of clinical practicum at SMU and serving as an AmeriCorps member, she has developed a passion for working with youth and the psychiatric music therapy setting. Following her graduation in May, she will begin a six-month music therapy internship at a psychiatric hospital that serves children, adolescents and adults. She believes music has the power to heal and connect us all.
“The scholarship means opportunity,” Langston says. “It’s nice to feel appreciated and recognized. I’m grateful.” Lezly Murphy ’19, a sophomore from Houston, is majoring in electrical engineering with a pre-medicine focus. A Hilltop Scholar, she has served as an assistant for professors in the physics and chemistry departments.
She is active in numerous campus organizations, including ABS, Women in Science and Engineering and Sisters Supporting Sisters, a service and support network for minority students and all women on campus.
After graduation, Murphy plans to attend medical school with the goal of conducting research in drug design, serving with Doctors Without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization, and designing and reforming medical devices and methodologies.
Murphy said that after a tough semester, it was nice to receive encouragement through the scholarship.
“I’m very grateful,” she said. “This was a miracle and a blessing. I’m supposed to be here at SMU. This is my home.”
Marc Young ’96, chair, Black Alumni of SMU (center) with ABS student award recipients (from left) Gel Greene ’18, Naomi Samuel ’19, Cecily Cox ’18 and Raven C. Harding ’19.
ASSOCIATION OF BLACK STUDENTS LEGACY AWARDS
Student honorees:
Naomi Samuel ’19, finance and English major, is a member of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc. and a resident assistant.
Raven C. Harding ’19, health and society and psychology double major with a minor in Spanish, serves on the executive board of Sisters Supporting Sisters and as president of the Belle Tones, a student-run, all-female a cappella group. She also has served as a resident assistant and a student ambassador. She was named Homecoming Princess for the inaugural Black Homecoming Court.
Gel Greene ’18, sports management major, is a member of the SMU Rowing team, SMU Cheer and Pom squads and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she plans to pursue a master of science in sports management at SMU.
Cecily Cox ’18, is a pre-law scholar who serves as chair of the Student Senate Diversity Committee, community service chair for Sisters Supporting Sisters and vice president of College Democrats. She is also an Engaged Learning fellow and has served as an intern for Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson ’76.
Faculty honoree: Professor Maria Dixon (left) was honored by SMU’s Association of Black Students.
Maria Dixon Hall, associate professor of organizational communication and director of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs at Meadows School of the Arts, serves as the SMU Provost’s senior advisor for Campus Cultural Intelligence Initiatives. Professor Dixon Hall is passionate about helping organizations and nonprofits communicate in a way that creates results, community and transformation. She serves as the director of Mustang Consulting, an in-house firm staffed by top communication students, whose global client list includes Southwest Airlines (Dallas), The Dance Theatre of Harlem (New York), the Ugandan American Partnership Organization (Kampala/Dallas), The Lydia Patterson Institute (El Paso) and Lifeworks (Austin).
Dixon Hall maintains an active speaking schedule and is a frequent contributor to national media outlets such as TIME magazine and CNN on issues of race and education.
Recognized throughout her SMU career for her teaching and research, Dixon Hall has been honored with the 2005-06 Willis M. Tate award for service to the student body; the 2009 Golden Mustang Award for outstanding teaching and research by junior faculty; the 2010 Rotunda Award for Outstanding Teaching; and the 2011 “M” Award, SMU’s highest award for service to the University. In 2016, she was named an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor by SMU’s Center for Teaching Excellence.
Cardiologist John Harper ’68 vividly remembers waking in the middle of the night to the sound of his father crying out in pain.
It was 1964 and Harper was 17 years old – just a year shy of starting college at SMU. But he was as frightened as a small child that night when he peaked through a cracked-open bedroom door into the hallway of his West Texas home. A physician named Bruce Hay was arriving at 3 a.m., impeccably dressed in a three-piece suit, his black doctor’s bag in hand, to offer aid.
Harper’s father was a bear of a man, a former basketball player named Frank who was his son’s hero. The doctor walked up to Harper’s father, put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Frank, it’s OK. I’m here now, and I’ll stay until you’re better.”
And then he did. The doctor tended to Harper’s dad, answered his mother’s concerns, and even reassured the young man who was watching from a bedroom door.
That’s the kind of personal touch Harper says is often missing from medicine these days. The key to getting it back, he says, may be literature. That’s why he’s hosting the 7th annual Literature + Medicine Conference from 8 a.m. to noon April 1 at SMU’s Mack Ballroom in the Umphrey Lee Center.
“Science has become so complex and hard to keep up with that it’s a legitimate thing to say you don’t have time to be empathetic, but it’s important to try,” Harper says. “My argument is that you need good science to be a good doctor, but you also need a compassionate side. The best medicine is science and compassion intersecting at the patient.”
Harper’s path to medicine wasn’t a typical one. The budding bibliophile earned an English degree from SMU, initially with an eye toward studying international law, but then, while signing up for classes his sophomore year, he had a change of heart.
“I was sitting there, filling out my proposed schedule for the year, and I realized I was signing up for a lot of pre-law courses I didn’t really want to take,” he remembers. “Then I thought about Dr. Hay, the doctor who came to my house that night, and I thought of my uncle, who had been an orthopedic surgeon, and I picked up the phone and called my dad and asked him what he’d think if I changed my major to pre-med. There was pause, and then he said, ‘I’d be very delighted.’
“I loved the English and stuck with it for my degree,” Harper adds. “But for my other courses, I took biology and chemistry.”
The biology and chemistry provided the foundation that got him through med school, but the English and a lifetime love of reading is what Harper credits with making him a truly successful doctor. In his acceptance speech for a 2014 SMU Distinguished Alumni Award, Harper cited “remarkable faculty” in the humanities and sciences with shaping his future success. “SMU is where I learned to make decisions,” he said. “Even today, if I have a hard decision, whether it be medical, personal, financial, whatever it is, I come to this campus and walk here because this campus catalyzed my ability to go through a process and come to a conclusion.”
Building on his undergraduate education and medical school training, the cardiologist formulated his prescription for better medicine over time as a practicing physician, mentor and teacher. In addition to serving as the Ewton Chair of Cardiology at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Harper instructs residents at Presbyterian Hospital and medical students from UT Southwestern with an approach as unique as the path that led him to study medicine. He often assigns his students the homework of listening to an orchestra and training their ears to pick out a single instrument: The talent that allows them to isolate the piccolo is akin to the talent that will enable them to identify a subtle flaw in the rhythmic beating of a human heart, he explains. Harper also likes to read excerpts from books to his students during class so they can practice their attentive listening skills – another dying art, he says.
“I ask myself what kind of doctor do I choose to utilize, and most are well-rounded people,” Harper says. “There are times you just want someone to operate on you and you never talk to them or hear from them again, but other times you want someone who can understand how you’re feeling, commiserate with how you’re feeling, and help you through what might be an emotional process.”
Skill-building projects in coding, programming and robotics are among the new additions to the SMU Summer Youth Program at SMU-in-Plano. Weekly workshops are offered for students entering grades K-12 from June 5 through August 4. Popular classes fill early, so register today. Use the code ALUMSY17 at checkout for 20 percent off. Read more at SMU Summer Youth Programs.
Coming this fall: SMU’s new master of science degree in engineering entrepreneurship. The program will focus on technology development through a business lens with the aim of providing managers and entrepreneurs with the skills they need to start and lead new technology ventures.
It’s 7,000 light years away from Earth, but a rare pulsating star identified recently by SMU astrophysicists could shed new light on scientists’ understanding of the universe’s expansion. As big as or bigger than our sun, the new delta Scuti is one of only seven known stars of its kind in our Milky Way galaxy.
Want to run faster? A new study by SMU researchers simplifies the physics of running, enabling scientists to predict ground force patterns that determine performance. Their work also has immediate applications for shoe, orthotic and prostheses design as well as injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Dennis Simon, an award-winning professor and mentor to University students since 1986 and a leader of SMU’s Civil Rights Pilgrimage, died February 12 in Dallas after a long illness. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 3, in Perkins Chapel at SMU. The family requests that memorial gifts go to the Civil Rights Pilgrimage.
SMU student Eskinder Abebe’s eyes light up when you ask about his favorite project. While he fuses his passion for art and science in everything from videos to futuristic gadgets, Abebe is really excited about working with the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity on designing an inexpensive “inclusive” tablet.
Founders’ Day Weekend, April 6–9, kicks off on Thursday with Golden Mustangs Day and continues on Friday with Sing Song. Saturday’s Community Day activities include family fun at the Meadows Museum and the Mustang Fan Fair and the spring football game. See the full schedule, and make plans now to come home to the Hilltop this spring.
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hat’s the key to juggling the demands of graduate school and competitive rowing?
“I started drinking a lot of coffee, especially with early morning practices,” Gabrielle (Gabby) Petrucelli ’16 says. “Being able to balance both is a game in itself.”
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Petrucelli, a four-year starter for the SMU women’s soccer team as an undergraduate, is working toward a master of science in accounting (MSA) at SMU’s Cox School of Business while testing the waters as a first-year member of the SMU rowing team. Gabby Petrucelli ’16 played soccer for four years at SMU and is now a first-year member of the SMU rowing team and a graduate student in the Cox School of Business.
She and her teammates are at the boathouse on White Rock Lake by 5:30 a.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. on Saturdays. They start with a warm-up run before heading inside to practice on rowing machines. Before 7 a.m., they hit the water in racing shells, those long, narrow boats used in competitive rowing. For the next two hours, they glide back and forth across the lake as head coach Doug Wright and assistant coaches Jessie Hooper ’03 and Paige Love take note of performance strengths and weaknesses, offer suggestions, track times and check in with rowers to make sure they’re feeling 100 percent. It takes tremendous strength and stamina to make the sport look so graceful and effortless.
SMU rowing wrapped up its fall schedule on November 5 with several top-three finishes at the Tulsa Fall Invitational. In its season opener on March 11, the Mustangs host Creighton at White Rock Lake.
The team also finished the fall semester as one of nine SMU sports programs to set new academic records.
While the rigors of graduate school would be enough of a workout for most students, Petrucelli, a lifelong athlete, couldn’t pass up the chance to learn a new sport. Besides soccer, she played tennis in high school but had never tried rowing. The transition has been smooth, but she has had to make a few adjustments.
“In rowing you’re competing for a seat in the boat against your teammates, of course, but soccer is more of a contact sport and the competition is more physical,” she says. “I was used to the group dynamic of soccer practice, and I’ve had to get into the mindset of the individual challenge of the rowing workouts.”
She’s used to challenges. As an undergraduate, she played the trickiest soccer position – coach’s daughter. Her father is SMU women’s soccer head coach Chris Petrucelli. During her four years of eligibility, she and her father adhered to a strict rule: When at practice or during a game, they were “coach” and “player,” not “father” and “daughter.”
“To both my dad and me, it was about being members of a team,” says the former soccer mid-fielder. “I felt like I was treated the same by him and my teammates, which I’m grateful for.”
She says the discipline and time-management skills she developed as an undergraduate student-athlete serve her well in graduate school.
“Being an athlete teaches you to work hard and persevere. You learn that you have to keep going, whether you lose a game or have to stay up late to figure out an assignment you thought you’d never understand,” she says. “I have developed the mindset of ‘you can do this,’ no matter what, and that has helped me academically.”
The spring will be a whirlwind, as she finishes her master’s program, competes with the rowing team and prepares to sit for the CPA exam, beginning in May. All this will lead up to the launch of her professional career, when she joins the tax department of PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) in July.
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to compete in two sports at the collegiate level while receiving a great education at SMU,” Petrucelli says. “I have learned a lot about competiveness, perseverance and teamwork that will be valuable in my career going forward.” – Patricia Ward SEE MORE PHOTOS OF SMU ROWING AT WHITE ROCK LAKE
Shortly after earning his bachelor’s degree in dance performance at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, Michael Trusnovec ’96 joined Paul Taylor’s renowned modern dance company. In an interview with The Dallas Morning News published on February 7, 2017, he talked about his lifelong obsession with dance and obsessively watching videotapes of Paul Taylor Dance Company performances in the library as an SMU student. EXCERPT By Manuel Mendoza The Dallas Morning News
When he landed at Southern Methodist University in the early 1990s on a full scholarship, Michael Trusnovec was aiming for career in musical theater. Then the Long Island native discovered the choreography of Paul Taylor. Michael Trusnovec and Eran Bugge in Esplanade. Photo by Paul B. Goode/Courtesy of Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
“I saw the theatricality of Broadway all of a sudden taken to a whole different level in his work, a much deeper level,” Trusnovec says. “It’s not just about a bunch of people on stage executing movement. There’s a purpose and a meaning behind these dances, even if it’s just a mood and not necessarily a story. There’s no way I can execute a Taylor dance without thinking about who I am in that dance, and that fed my appetite for theatricality.”
More than two decades later, he is such a key member of Taylor’s New York-based company that Trusnovec is considered a potential successor to the 86-year-old modern dance pioneer when he retires as artistic director. Trusnovec joined Taylor’s junior troupe shortly after graduating from SMU in 1996, and he never left.
Now he’s back in town this week as Paul Taylor American Modern Dance prepares to perform at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. Taylor and the Eisemann have a relationship that dates back to the center’s opening in 2002, when it presented the premiere of Taylor’s Dream Girls, commissioned by the city of Richardson.
Saturday’s show will be the company’s eighth appearance at the Eisemann and will include the third premiere of the partnership, former Taylor dancer Lila York’s Continuum. Rounding out the program is a pair of Taylor classics, Books of Beasts (1971) and Cascade (1999).
Performed to Max Richter’s re-composition of Vivald’s The Four Seasons, Continuum is the latest example of the company’s expansion of its repertory beyond Taylor’s choreography. Trusnovec describes it as highly formal and structured, with warlike fight scenes and movement that starts stiff and staccato and evolves to become lighter and more open. READ THE FULL STORY
One of the most valuable resources available to students exploring career options is the SMU alumni network as Daniel Molina, a first-year marketing and finance student in the full-time MBA program, experienced last fall. He was among a group of MBA students from the Cox School of Business offered insider access to some of the world’s top companies by SMU alumni during Cox’s “Marketing Trek to Seattle.” A group of full-time MBA students from the Cox School of Business visited the headquarters of Starbucks and other iconic companies during a fall trip to Seattle. Alumni with the SMU Seattle Chapter helped the students get the most out of their exploratory expedition.
Shanna Upchurch, associate director of MBA marketing, analytics and operations career coach at Cox, worked with Cort Clark ’12, Alan Clements ’06 and Gavin Benedict ’14 of the SMU Seattle Chapter leadership team, as well as the SMU Office of Alumni Relations and Engagement staff, to spread the word among alumni about the exploratory tour and arrange a gathering with Cox alumni in the Seattle area for the visiting students.
In the following summary written by Molina, he describes the fact-finding expedition and networking opportunity as a highlight of his first semester in the Cox program:
Last October, my peers and I from the SMU Cox MBA represented our school in a series of visits to companies throughout the Seattle area. As a first-year MBA with a background in operations management at Starbucks, this trip was a great way to act as an ambassador for SMU to the Fortune 500 companies we visited. On this trip, I had a great time meeting with upper management and touring the facilities of prominent businesses, all while networking with SMU alumni and executives.
During the trip, we visited Nuance Communications and spoke with marketing managers about how they work with such companies as Apple and Amazon to create voice commands for their phones and technology apps. We toured Boeing, the world’s largest manufacturer of planes, and learned what it is like to market directly to businesses and governments. Starbucks, the global coffee and retail company, invited us behind the scenes at their headquarters, where we learned about the innovative way they design drinks and how they finance new marketing projects through long-term contracting and coordination with farms throughout the world. At Amazon, the leader in internet retailing, we learned how they aim to implement their plans for an efficient global marketplace with low costs and intricate shipping strategies.
At each business visited, we interacted with SMU alumni who worked there, learning how they navigated their way after the MBA program. We met Amazon’s Nikhil Nilakantan ’05, a Cox MBA alumnus, who told us how his time at SMU prepared him for a career at the world’s largest online retailer. His recommendations for success in the MBA program inspired us to work hard to achieve our personal goals and someday succeed at Fortune 500 companies, perhaps in the Seattle area. I am very grateful for all of those who helped us on our trip, including Michael Barry ’14 at Amazon, Shalini Nilahantan ’05 at Starbucks, Mark Silverman ’94 at Boeing and Cort Clark ’12 from Microsoft. Without these esteemed SMU alumni, my peers and I wouldn’t have been able to experience the great industry that Seattle offers.
The MBA program and SMU makes trips like the “Marketing Trek to Seattle” possible. As a student seeking an internship in marketing or operations in the summer, I feel fortunate to have been able learn more about the possibilities afforded to an SMU Cox graduate. The amazing faculty and staff guided our way around the wonderful northwestern city, and the experience remains as one of the highlights of my first semester in the MBA program. In addition to being a coffee aficionado, Daniel Molina loves travel and case competitions, and he even geeks out with HTML coding from time to time. Contact him at dmolina@smu.edu. For information about providing Cox MBA internships or employment, please contact Shanna Upchurch at shanna@smu.edu.
It’s a scorching July afternoon, a few weeks before summer term ends and fall classes begin. Strains of conversation, followed by a burst of laughter, waft through the hallway that leads to Patty Wisian-Neilson’s chemistry lab in Fondren Life Sciences Building. Inside, Patricia Nance ’17 checks a beaker filled halfway with a milky polymer as it gyrates on a magnetic stirrer. Everything is going smoothly today, but when she hits a snag in the lab, Nance has a tried-and-true formula for shaking off disappointment and moving forward.
“Thinking of my grandmother’s battle with breast cancer reminds me that my research has a real purpose: to benefit the millions of women around the world who might one day find themselves in her situation,” Nance says. “Looking at it from that perspective makes any setbacks seem minor.”
With help from “Dr. Patty,” as Nance calls her professor and mentor, the SMU senior shaped an Engaged Learning project inspired by her grandmother’s fight for good health and fueled by her passion for inorganic chemistry.
For the past two years, the chemistry and math major has been developing a new antibacterial polymer, or coating, for breast implants. “Synthesizing antibacterial polymers has been a project in Dr. Patty’s laboratory for some time now. When I inherited the work, the results did not look very promising. Instead of attempting to fix the procedures, Dr. Patty and I designed a new method of synthesizing these polymers,” Nance explains. “This made me feel as if my project were contributing something original to the work of the group. I also shifted the focus of my project after reading about some of the issues encountered with reconstructive breast surgery for mastectomy patients.”
Post-mastectomy breast reconstruction using saline or silicone gel implants is part of the recovery process for many women. However, their bodies have a difficult time combating infection-causing bacteria because their immune systems have been weakened by radiation and chemotherapy.
“The infection rate at the implant site is about 30 percent in post-mastectomy patients, compared to about three percent in those undergoing a standard enhancement procedure,” Nance explains.
She’s on a mission to even out the equation for women like her 75-year-old grandmother, “who has officially beaten breast cancer twice.” The high-energy septuagenarian loves to hike in the mountains and travel, and her determination to maintain an active lifestyle influenced her decision more than a decade earlier to eschew reconstructive implants, her granddaughter says. “She read about the risks and didn’t feel it was safe enough.”
Personalizing her research is one of many examples of how Nance’s independent spirit infuses all aspects of her University experience. Always game to try a new challenge, she enrolled in an arts and culture course at SMU-in-London last summer. Participants were encouraged to “become Londoners” and put their own stamp on the five-week experience. Even though she had not traveled out of the United States before, she relished living on her own and exploring the rich history and cultural diversity of England’s capital.
The chance to make her mark on the world as a student, her way, is what drew her to SMU in the first place.
“When I visited SMU, it was immediately clear that the school would be a good fit for me. During my tour I learned about undergraduate research opportunities, which were very important to me as a future researcher,” she says. “SMU really excels at providing undergraduates with opportunities to work closely with professors on important research with real impact. You don’t get that at other universities.”
Mentors shape a star researcher
Nance attributes her academic drive to strong women mentors who “recognized something in me I didn’t recognize in myself.”
It’s almost impossible to picture now, but in middle school she was the poster child for academic underachievement. At 13, her stepfather’s job took the family from the only home she had known in Raleigh, North Carolina, to “the tiniest place I had ever seen,” Santo, Texas, population 315 – about a two-hour drive west of Dallas. She was not happy, and her low grades showed it. Nance’s high school science teacher Rita Elizabeth Tallant remembers “a young girl who was exceptionally bright but trying to find who she was and where she fit in.”
When Nance was placed in Tallant’s biology class, part of the school’s distinguished achievement program, she thought it was a mistake and tried to switch. “In my mind, I definitely wasn’t going to college,” she remembers. “I planned to go to cosmetology school.”
Tallant had other plans for her reluctant student. She served as the science coach for state UIL and Science Olympiad competitions, and eventually persuaded Nance to participate in her sophomore year. She thrived, winning numerous ribbons and medals, and eventually asked Tallant to find a university professor who could tutor her for a complex chemistry event.
Nance graduated at the top of her class of 47 from Santo High School four years ago and chose SMU as the best path to pursue a degree in evolutionary biology.
On the Hilltop, she found another mentor in “Dr. Patty.”
Wisian-Neilson made an indelible impression on Nance on the first day of her General Chemistry I introductory class. “Dr. Patty is famous for her ‘Welcome to College’ speech, and I was really intimidated by it. She had office hours after class, and I went in immediately and introduced myself by saying, ‘Hi, I’m Patricia, and I’m really terrified by your class.’ We’ve been close ever since.”
The professor’s classroom lecture made it clear the subject wasn’t easy, but in private she assured the first-year student that if Nance knew enough to be worried, she probably didn’t need to be.
After more than 30 years as an educator and researcher at SMU, Wisian-Neilson knows a serious scholar when she meets one. She instantly recognized Patricia’s “unusually strong work ethic and superb determination and, of course, amazing intelligence.”
Since joining the University in 1984, the chemistry professor has earned numerous accolades, including the President’s Associates Outstanding Faculty Award in 2013 and the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor designation in 2005.
Like Nance, she grew up in a small town with limited resources and opportunities for budding scientists, yet managed to flourish because of caring teachers who recognized her potential. In another parallel in their stories, Wisian-Neilson didn’t discover how much she enjoyed chemistry until she began working in a lab as an undergraduate at Texas Lutheran College. Her involvement in polymer research now predates the birth of most of her students.
“I was part of what I call the ‘Sputnik Generation,’ so there was a recognition that science would be important to the future,” she says.
In the chemistry lab, ‘a team of equals’
While Nance started out doing research in a biology lab, by the spring of her first year, she had fallen in love with chemistry and switched her major. The summer after her sophomore year, she joined Wisian-Neilson’s research team, and the professor moved back into the lab to train her. Her professor characterizes the event a bit differently: “I moved back into the lab to work with her. Note the ‘with,’ because I felt like we were a team of equals,” Wisian-Neilson says. “Within a few weeks, she was making suggestions for the project and designing her own direction for making biomedical coatings. We had discussions, not lectures.”
The work was intense but exhilarating, Nance says.
“The precursor to the polymer is air sensitive, so it’s not something you necessarily learn in your class labs,” she explains. “I was working with new materials, glassware and techniques to make sure the product is never exposed to air. You learn about safety really quickly because the product is reactive to air.”
Nance’s research involves polyphosphazenes, a versatile class of hybrid inorganic polymers with a phosphorous-nitrogen backbone. Because of their structural diversity and biocompatibility, they may ultimately be deployed in a multitude of biomedical applications, from drug delivery systems to tissue engineering.
Her contribution to the field will be a coating that attaches directly to synthetic implants. The coating should thwart bacterial colonization that causes serious infections in women who have undergone breast cancer treatment.
Scholarships create a platform for success
While on her scientific quest, Nance receives crucial support from the Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholars Program in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and SMU Engaged Learning.
A gift from the late Jack and Jane Hamilton established the scholars program in 2008. The competitive funding opportunity allows promising students like Nance to collaborate with distinguished faculty members on significant research. The program has grown from nine students in its inaugural academic year to 31 today.
Dan Hamilton ’71, ’79 and Diane Hamilton Buford continue to fund the program to honor their parents. In March 2016, they and other family members attended the annual Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute celebration for undergraduate research scholars, where Nance and other students explained their work and talked about their progress. “It has been exciting to see our father’s vision grow over the years,” Dan Hamilton says. “Education was his priority, and he would be so proud to see what these students are accomplishing. The level of their research is amazing.”
As a Hamilton Scholar, Nance is compensated for working up to 10 hours per week in the lab on her project.
“Getting paid to do research is still so amazing to me. Not only am I able to do what I love, but I’m also able to devote large amounts of time to it because I’m not having to work a second job for living expenses,” she says. “It’s not common for a student my age to really love his or her job, but I am so passionate about my work. That’s something I wouldn’t be able to say without the Hamilton Undergraduate Research Program.”
An Engaged Learning Fellowship supplies additional funding for her signature project. The program challenges students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to capstone-level research. The successful completion of a project is recorded on a student’s SMU transcript, a valuable distinction for those applying to graduate school or seeking a first job.
In August, Nance and another SMU student researcher, Shreya Patel ’17, presented posters and discussed their individual Engaged Learning projects at the American Chemical Society’s national meeting in Philadelphia.
“It was the first time I had been in such a large group of scientists, and it made me feel that I have so much still to learn, but I was also pleased by how much I understood,” she says. “Other scientists had great feedback about our work. It really helped to have new sets of eyes on the project. I also met research developers who expressed interest in perhaps working with us, so that was encouraging.”
The experience was so valuable that she plans to attend to the ACS spring meeting in San Francisco in April.
Nance also receives merit-based Harold Jeskey and Lazenby scholarships from the Department of Chemistry, a tuition scholarship from the Dedman College and Southwestern Medical Center Graduate School of Biomedical Science BRITE collaborative, and was one of the Texas students who received a STEM Columbia Crew Memorial Scholarship. Additionally, she was named a 2016-17 Barry Goldwater Scholar, a national scholarship presented to top science, mathematics and engineering students nominated by their universities.
“The chemistry department does so much for its students, from providing teaching assistant jobs to writing countless recommendation letters. They even provide departmental scholarships, which have significantly eased my own financial burden,” she says. “I am so lucky to be a part of such an amazing department that truly cares for each of its students.”
Her final semester in Dr. Patty’s lab has been bittersweet for both student and mentor.
“We really do become a family in the lab, so it’s hard to see students go,” Wisian-Neilson says. “But I really can’t be too sad because they are going on to what we’ve been preparing them for.
“I give her credit for putting the ‘oomph’ back into my research program,” she adds. “This semester there is a new graduate student and four undergraduates. I am not sure this would have happened without Patricia’s enthusiasm and passion.”
Nance has applied to top graduate schools, where she plans to continue inorganic chemistry and delve into nanoscience.
“I’m hoping to find a graduate program similar to the undergraduate chemistry program I’ve found here at SMU: a department full of amazing and personable chemists who value both teaching and research,” she says. “I am looking for another program that cherishes its students both as chemists and as people while pushing them to become better scientists.” – By Patricia Ward
When third-year law student May Crockett ’17 entered the VanSickle Family Law Clinic program, she expected “to gain practical lawyering experience.” What she never anticipated was the life-altering impact her work would have – on her clients and her future.
The high point of her two semesters with the clinic in SMU’s Dedman School of Law was handling an adoption from the beginning to a happy ending. The action protected children from a perilous situation, driving home the magnitude of Crockett’s role as a legal advocate and emotional anchor.
“I didn’t realize I would become an integral part of my clients’ lives. Whether it is finalizing an adoption or helping them through a difficult divorce, my clients rely on me heavily,” Crockett says. “Without the clinic, these clients would have no one to turn to.”
SMU’s community clinics open doors to legal services for low-income North Texas residents unable to afford representation. One of the newest among 10 clinical programs and projects offered by the Dedman School of Law, the VanSickle Family Law Clinic launched in January 2016 under the direction of Chante Prox. Prior to joining SMU, Prox was managing attorney and mediator with Barnes Prox Law, PLLC.
“Having built my own practice, I was excited to take that experience and apply it to the challenge of shaping a clinical program from scratch,” she says.
Helping families heal lies at the heart of the clinic’s mission – and is a cause Prox has embraced throughout her career. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and started out as a caseworker with Texas Child Protective Services (CPS). What she saw there was a revelation for someone who grew up in a stable home.
“Our family wasn’t perfect – no family is – but my parents always made sure I felt safe, secure and loved,” she remembers. “They were my first role models. Thanks to their example, I knew what it takes for a family to be strong and healthy.” In contrast, many of her cases at CPS involved children whose parents were debilitated by drug abuse and whose grandparents were raising them. Prox later became a champion for those “second-time parents” while serving as a legislative aide for Texas State Senator Royce West. She recommended the “Grandparents Bill” West sponsored to provide financial assistance to grandparents raising their grandchildren to keep them out of the foster care system and preserve their family ties. Tenets of the bill have been adopted in federal kinship care legislation.
In a prophetic twist in Prox’s life, divorce pushed her to take a leap she had been considering for years, and she enrolled in The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. When she moved out of the classroom and into the courtroom as a student attorney, it reinforced her passion for the legal profession and family law. She has been an enthusiastic booster of clinical programs ever since.
Prox says it takes a special breed of attorney – part therapist, part legal ninja – to handle the emotional highs and lows involved with family law proceedings. Things get personal as attorneys navigate the choppy legal waters surrounding some of life’s most stressful changes.
“You are often more than a lawyer assessing and advising clients on their legal rights,” she explains. “Clients frequently come in with a lot of baggage and issues. Acting as an effective advocate for them requires listening, understanding and patience. It’s an area of law that you really have an affinity for or you don’t.”
Student attorneys see the full spectrum of the field when they work in the VanSickle Family Law Clinic, which functions much like a family law firm. The clinic handles divorce, child custody, visitation, paternity, child and spousal support, and adoption proceedings. Cases can include enforcement actions and modifications of previously issued court orders.
Each semester the case selection process starts with a call for applications, which is posted on the clinic’s website. In spring 2016, 150 Dallas-area residents contacted the clinic to inquire about services, and 12 applicants were accepted, with two cases assigned to each of six student attorneys.
While Prox is the attorney of record and sees the proceedings through to their conclusion, students are in the driver’s seat during their clinic commitment. They interview and counsel clients, conduct factual investigations and legal research, prepare court documents and negotiations – including property settlement and custody agreements for divorce actions – and represent clients in court.
Prox serves as a sounding board during weekly one-on-one meetings with students. She also accompanies them to major settlement negotiations and all appearances in the 17 different courts in Dallas County that handle family law issues.
Students embrace the high ethical and professional standards set by the clinic and emphasized by the director. “I’ve been so impressed with the students as they take ownership of their cases, apply my teaching and demonstrate exemplary lawyering,” Prox says. “Their professionalism in dealing with clients is particularly meaningful because our low-income clients often don’t expect to be treated with respect.”
In addition to the cases assigned through the clinic, student attorneys work with the courts and community legal clinics to provide some assistance to pro se litigants – individuals representing themselves in court. Through this work, they help keep minor policy and procedure issues from clogging courts already swamped with cases.
“Pro se litigants are offered advice on such things as how to dress and given information about where to file and how to conduct themselves in court,” Prox explains. “They won’t be as frustrated if they know what’s going on and what is expected of them in court.”
“Chiefs” serve as her proxies for addressing students’ day-to-day questions and concerns. In the fall, third-year students Crockett and Ashley Jones ’17 filled the roles. Both were in the first class to participate in the clinic and have completed family law internships.
After receiving her Juris Doctor (JD) in May, Crockett will join a family law firm in Houston. She’s looking forward to lending a legal hand in the Gulf Coast city.
“I will definitely continue doing pro bono work,” she says. “Almost half of the cases that come into the Houston Volunteer Lawyers, the pro bono legal aid arm of the Houston Bar Association, are family law related, so my clinic work has been great preparation.”
Jones also will earn her JD in May and praises the clinical program for adding an unmatched dimension to classroom training.
“The clinic offers a very special social component that is vital to being a successful attorney,” she says. “From day one, you are given real clients, with real problems, who depend on you to help them. No other internship or law school experience has provided me with this level of real-world client contact and responsibility.”
Giving families in distress a fresh start is the ultimate reward of family law practice, she says.
“I had the opportunity to finalize a client’s divorce in court. She was my first client, and I really got to know her and her story,” Jones recalls. “When we were walking out of the courtroom, she had the biggest smile on her face, and she kept thanking me. I realized that as a student attorney, I’m not just getting amazing experience that will prepare me for the rest of my career, but I’m also affecting and changing lives.”
What began as a class project has sparked a two-game winning streak for Tim Cassedy, assistant professor of English, and former students Chelsea Grogan ’15, Jenna Peck ’15 and Kate Petsche ’15.
They invented Dick: A Card Game Based on the Novel by Herman Melville and Bards Dispense Profanity. Patterned on the popular Cards Against Humanities games, their “fill-in-the-blank” challenges invite players to complete a phrase with language and imagery from Moby-Dick and Shakespeare’s plays for humorous, often ribald, results.
The team launched Why So Ever – their do-it-yourself enterprise – in online collaborative documents by drafting prompts like “I’m sorry, this table is reserved for _______” and mining the texts for such nuggets as “a robustious periwig-pated fellow” (Hamlet). They printed the cards themselves, cut them out on a hand-cranked device and stockpiled inventory in spare corners of their homes.
After selling several thousand copies, they’ve scaled up and invested in professional printing and rented a storage locker. The games are available at the Barnes & Noble SMU Bookstore, as well as from Uncommon Goods, Amazon and their company’s website, whysoever.com, where they also offer notecards, T-shirts and temporary tattoos.
“It might be fairly common for a professor in engineering or the sciences to take an idea to market, but it is absolutely not something I expected to happen from where I sit in the English Department,” Cassedy says. Watch Cassedy and company playing around with language:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAKZ55vzf50&utm_source=smu&utm_campaign=%2Fmag17bard&utm_medium=alias%20redirect
Joowon Kim ’07, an SMU Guildhall alumna living in Houston, is co-founder and chief technology officer of Oncomfort, an award-winning start-up that offers virtual reality stress-mangement tools for patients undergoing medical procedures and treatments. The company is now testing Kimo, a game that helps kids with cancer visualize the battle going on inside their bodies. “Kids can zap pretend rogue cells on their screens while chemotherapy takes on the real ones to save their lives,” writes Jenny Deam in a story about Kim and her company that was published in the Houston Chronicle on December 25, 2016. As Kim explains, “It is self-empowering. Instead of them just being passive and playing a game where they shoot things, it brings their focus back to what is happening to them. It makes it real.” EXCERPT Houston Chronicle
By Jenny Deam
The game screen is dark and creepy, just as a journey through the inner workings of a body would be with all those weird veins and organs floating around. Suddenly, a mocking, one-eyed creature pops into view, bent on destruction. It must be vanquished.Kimo, a virtual-reality game created by Oncomfort, allows kids to thwart evil cancer cells. The game helps young patients undergoing chemotherapy visualize the battle going on inside their bodies.
One shot and it is gone. But then there is another. And another.
That’s how it is in cancer and video games. The bad stuff just keeps coming.
Which is why two women, one from Texas, one from Belgium, joined forces to come up with an inventive way to let children with cancer visualize the fight going on inside them. Marrying the technology of virtual-reality gaming with medicine, kids can zap pretend rogue cells on their screen while chemotherapy takes on the real ones to save their lives.
“It is self-empowering. Instead of them just being passive and playing a game where they shoot things, it brings their focus back to what is happening to them. It makes it real,” said Joowon Kim, a 36-year-old computer scientist and gaming industry veteran.
Korean-born and now living in Houston, Kim is co-founder of a unique start-up called Oncomfort that offers virtual reality applications to distract, relax, and educate patients during difficult medical procedures. The products are being developed and readied for market through JLABS @ TMC, a life-sciences business incubator launched earlier this year by Johnson & Johnson and the Texas Medical Center. READ THE FULL STORY
To the applause of fans everywhere, Lauren Graham ’92 has returned as Lorelai Gilmore in the Netflix miniseries, “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” Photo: Netflix
Here’s a fact that will interest those who spent Thanksgiving break binging on “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life”: Lauren Graham, who plays fast-talking, caffeine-fueled, hip mom Lorelai Gilmore, is an SMU theatre graduate who earned her MFA from Meadows School of Arts in 1992. She attended SMU with the support of scholarships and met her first agent after performing at an SMU workshop.
Netflix released four new 90-minute “Gilmore Girls” episodes on November 29, sending millennials and their moms to their couches for a marathon of memorable moments in magical Stars Hollow. The revival picks up 10 years after the finale of the original series and follows the characters through four seasons of change. The miniseries seems to have filled the Gilmore void left in the hearts of millions when the series wrapped its seven-year run in 2007, earning praise from nostalgic fans and television critics alike.
Graham went on to star in the critically acclaimed series “Parenthood” as well as a host of movies, including “Birds of America,” “Flash of Genius” and “It’s Kind of a Funny Story.”
One more thing to know about the multitalented Mustang: Graham is also an accomplished writer. Her new collection of personal essays, Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls and Everything in Between, was released on November 29. She also is the author of Someday, Someday, Maybe: A Novel, published in 2014.
SMU Magazine did some time traveling in its archives and found this great interview with Lauren Graham from 2008, when she spent two days working with theatre students at Meadows School of the Arts:
Lauren Graham: Acting Is Being The Real You
Actress Lauren Graham talks with students at Meadows School of the Arts. Photo by Kim Leeson/Courtesy of Meadows School of the Arts.
As Lorelai Gilmore on “Gilmore Girls” for seven years, actress Lauren Graham ’92 typically worked 14-hour days. “To do anything else feels like I’m on vacation,“ says the M.F.A. theatre graduate.
So she was unfazed during two days of training SMU theatre students in February. Hustling back and forth from one conference to the next workshop held at Meadows School of the Arts, she barely took time to sip from a bottle of water.
Theatre Chair Cecil O’Neal says that Graham has been generous with her time, energy and expertise during visits to SMU. “It is absolutely wonderful for our students to have an opportunity to learn from someone as knowledgeable, experienced and successful as Lauren.“
While on campus, Graham observed that the student experience has changed somewhat since she attended SMU. “They’re so much more exposed to the business of the business than we were,” she says. “My class wanted to be theatre professionals, mainly. We were kind of biased about what it meant to be an actor in film and television. I don’t think students have that bias so much now. They’re more interested in working in a world where they can make a living. They seem really enthusiastic and very smart.”
Although trained for the stage at SMU, Graham’s experience in film and television comes into play when passing along insights about the business to students. M.F.A. candidate Lydia Mackay found the workshop beneficial and supportive. “She reminded us that to be ourselves, and to be confident in who we are and the choices we make in our art, is vital not only to our success but to our integrity,” Mackay says. “Theatre students worry about being right or wrong, but Lauren really encouraged the belief that there is no right or wrong, there is only you. And people want to see the real you.”
Graham realized she wanted to be an actor at an early age. Growing up in Virginia near Washington, D.C., she participated in the renowned Arena Stage program for children and young adults. When she graduated from Barnard College, however, it was with an English degree. “I’m from a pretty academic family, and when I called home talking about my acting studies, I was hearing, ‘You’re rolling around on the floor? That’s a class?’ ”
Going to school in Manhattan exposed Graham to plenty of theatre and acting classes, and she was hoping for a career as a performer. “Then I got out of school and I was working retail during the day and cocktail waitressing at night, six days a week,” she says. “I was in the city, but I had no access to the business.”
After a long run of “Gilmore Girls” and Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for best actress, Graham is concentrating on movie roles; her next feature, “Flash of Genius,” is set to debut in June. But she hopes to play a different role in her next TV show. “I’d really like to be an executive producer,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot about how a show succeeds and the kind of world I like to create and be part of.”
Olympic medalists Michael Carter ’83 and his daughter, Michelle Carter, served as grand marshals of the 2016 Homecoming Parade on Saturday, November 5.
Olympic medalists Michael Carter ’83 and his daughter, Michelle Carter, led the 2016 Homecoming Parade as grand marshals.
Michael won the silver medal in the shot put in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and 32 years later, Michelle made history by winning the gold medal in the shot put in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
A Dallas native, Michael played football for the Mustangs in 1981 and 1982. He took first place in shot put and helped SMU win the NCAA Men’s Indoor National Championship in 1983, the Mustangs’ first national title in 29 years, a feat proudly touted in the 1983 Rotunda yearbook.
He went on to play in the National Football League, spending his entire career with the San Francisco 49ers, 1984-1992. He is the only athlete to have won a silver Olympic medal and a Super Bowl XIX ring within a 12-month period. He won a total of three Super Bowl rings with the 49ers and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection.
Michelle is the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in the shot put. She also competed for Team USA in the Beijing and London Olympics. READ MORE
By Nancy George SMU Music therapist Kamica King ’13A circle of 12 men and women shake tambourines, beat drums and rattle shakers in a corner of the cafeteria at Dallas’ The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center. They are accompanying the Otis Redding classic, “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” Music therapist Kamica King ’13 slowly dials down the volume of the audio system until just the percussion instruments fill the cafeteria, becoming their own unique rhythm. The performance ends with a flourish of drumbeats.
“We made music,“ King says.
A graduate of SMU’s music therapy program, King uses music as a tool to help individuals work on nonmusical goals. Guests at this music therapy session say it helps them deal with stress, connect with one another and feel accepted for who they are.
She created the music therapy program at The Bridge, a center designed to connect homeless individuals with resources to help them recover from homelessness. Care managers help connect homeless individuals with on-site health, mental health, veteran, substance abuse and job hunting resources. Music therapy is offered once a week as an additional resource for Bridge guests. Guests take part in the afternoon Bridge Beats program as well as morning music studio, where King gives music lessons and offers independent music making opportunities.
“We see 600 to 800 individuals each day who may be at the absolute lowest point of their life,” says David Woody, chief services officer at The Bridge. “Art and music may be a constructive part of their history that can be the beginning of a conversation about their struggle. The music in the corner of the cafeteria could be the beginning of their connectedness.”
King chose “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” for its words as well as its beat. She leads Bridge guests in a discussion of Redding’s lyrics.
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay Watchin’ the tide roll away I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay Wastin’ time
“It’s all of our song, sitting around doing nothing,” says Susan, who attends the music therapy sessions regularly.
“Is he wasting time?” King asks.
“Maybe he’s cooling off, taking time for himself,” says Richard, another Bridge Beats regular.
King was selected in 2014 by Bridge advisors, including SMU music therapy faculty members and alumni, to create the Bridge program. Her internship practicing music therapy with the homeless and those in recovery at San Diego’s Rescue Mission, YMCA and Scripps Drug and Alcohol Treatment Program coupled with her program development background and entrepreneurial spirit prepared her well for the position. King interned with with MusicWorx, Inc. and Resounding Joy, Inc. in San Diego.
A singer-songwriter and arts entrepreneur, she is founder of King Creative Arts Expressions, a music therapy and arts consulting and direct service company. She provides music therapy for cancer patients at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, performs at venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the George W. Bush Presidential Center and composes music for special events. She wrote and performed “Live, Love, Dream” featured in “Signs of Humanity,” a documentary about SMU advertising professor Willie Baronet and his work to raise awareness about homelessness. King graduated from Western Connecticut State University in 2009 with a degree in music and minors in psychology and communications and is a 2013 graduate of SMU’s music therapy program.
“My mission is to help others,” King says. “I’m drawn to the overlooked and the underserved. The music and experiences I share can be a spark that helps someone else make a positive impact on the world, too.”
King is not the only SMU graduate associated with The Bridge, a national model for homeless recovery. Jay Dunn, Bridge president and CEO, is a 2000 SMU Perkins School of Theology graduate along with Sam Merten, chief operating officer and a 2007 SMU Meadows School of Artsjournalism graduate. SMU students regularly volunteer at The Bridge on SMU’s Community Service Day and to fulfill service requirements for human rights and other classes. Music therapy students at SMU also complete practicums in music therapy with King. In addition to her music therapy sessions, King has launched other programs for The Bridge including the bi-monthly karaoke night. Last spring she helped Mustang Heroes, an SMU student organization devoted to community service, donate their time, talent, refreshments and door prizes to help pilot the program. Karaoke night has drawn increasingly larger crowds over the summer, attracting as many as 70 guests a night.
As the music therapy session ends, guests gather the percussion instruments and return them to King’s rolling music therapy cart. She serves them a snack, then they gather things and leave for appointments with Bridge resource staff, return to The Bridge’s shaded courtyard or go outside. King sends them off with a smile.
“Music therapy is literally the bridge for some people that propels them to seek help,” King says. “I count it as a blessing to work with them.” READ MORE
Congratulations to Mustang golf alumna Jenny Haglund ’16, who earned her Ladies European Tour card after a successful LET Access Series (LETAS) season. Overall, Haglund ranked second. In 10 events, she compiled 23,925.83 points, finishing behind Sarah Schober of Austria.
Haglund, a native of Karlstad, Sweden, won both the Norrporten Ladies Open and the Azores Ladies Open after coming from behind in the final round. She scored other top-three finishes at the Norwegian Ladies Open and the Boras Ladies Open.
After a successful career with the Mustangs, Haglund turned professional in June. At SMU she was a four-year all-conference selection and completed play for the University as the Mustangs’ all-time scoring average leader at 73.55. Haglund won the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship in 2014 and earned runner-up honors in 2013. – SMU Athletics
Hilltop Volunteers serve as campus tour guides for visiting students during Pony Preview Days and are involved in a host of other service activities.
SMU alumni Desiree Brown ’06, ’10 and Astrud Villareal ’10 introduced scores of prospective students and their parents to campus while serving as tour guides during their undergraduate years. Now they’re helping map out a path to SMU for visiting youth as Hilltop Volunteers.
The volunteer program gives Mustangs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area a platform to support their alma mater in personal and meaningful ways. Alumni may choose from a variety of hands-on opportunities covering a wide range of interests.
“Volunteering is free and fun,” says Desiree. “I feel like this is how I can continue to give back to SMU for making my college dream come true.”
Now a business architect IV with Fannie Mae – “I support all Real Estate and Credit Operations’ reporting, analyses, data strategies and infrastructure” – Desiree was in the University Honors Program as an undergraduate majoring in political science and math in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. She was able to attend SMU thanks to scholarships, financial aid and work-study jobs, including three years in the Office of Undergraduate Admission.
In addition to the bachelor’s degrees she earned in 2006, she also received a master’s degree in operations research from the Lyle School of Engineering in 2010 and a Certificate of Management from the Cox School of Business in 2013.
As a volunteer she has distributed SMU “swag” during the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program launch and represented the University as a Student Recruitment Volunteer (SeRVe). Her favorite activity, however, is being a Pony Preview Days tour guide. Pony Preview Days offer an inside view of SMU to local elementary and middle-school children, many of whom have never before visited the University or factored higher education into their futures.
Over the summer she assisted with one of three tours led by former Mustang football and NFL star Reggie Dupard ’99 for Garland Independent School District students.
“During lunch I sat at a table with about 10 girls and had the opportunity to really talk to them about their future plans – we have fashion designers, teachers and doctors coming soon!” Desiree says. “One girl, in particular, was so excited to learn that SMU was a possibility for her. The whole event only reinforced why I loved my years at SMU.”
Likewise, Astrud has many fond memories of her student days, which she looks forward to imparting as a Hilltop Volunteer. Chief among them was going to Rwanda for Professor Rick Halperin’s human rights class. “It was an incredibly humbling and enlightening experience,” she says.
“I also enjoyed attending Tate Lectures and got to shake Anderson Cooper’s hand during one of our Hunt Scholars dinners,” she adds. “That remains a highlight of my time at SMU.”
She majored in biology, with minors in chemistry, human rights and international studies, and is now a busy family medicine resident at UT Southwestern Medical School. She credits her experience at SMU-in-Copenhagen, where she was enrolled in the DIS Medical Practice and Policy Program, with igniting her passions for medicine and travel.
“I do feel like SMU provided me with four amazing ‘unbridled’ years in the sense that I felt very supported in whatever path I chose,” she says. “The incredible opportunities that SMU brings are truly outstanding, and there is no better way of giving back than to share this message with others.”
SMU dance students performed “The Hi Betty Cha-Cha” by Joshua L. Peugh ’06, founder and artistic director of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, at the SMU Meadows Dance Ensemble Spring 2015 Dance Concert. Photo courtesy of Meadows School of the Arts.
“With all Meadows B.F.A. majors under one roof, dancers at SMU are instilled with a culture of collaboration and artistic curiosity,” writes Nichelle Suzanne in the September 22, 2016, issue of Arts+Culture Texas magazine. In her profile of contemporary dance luminaries Jennifer Mabus ’93, Lydia Hance ’06, Alex Karigan Farrior ’07, Albert Drake ’15 and Joshua L. Peugh ’06, she credits their success to innate talent coupled with the rigorous training at Meadows where “opportunities to prepare for the artistic and economic challenges of dance and dance making are provided” throughout a student’s academic career at SMU. Suzanne notes, “As diverse as the dance artists who have emerged from SMU’s Division of Dance and infiltrated contemporary dance in Texas are, they are allied by the high standard of excellence demanded at Meadows.” Arts+Culture Texas
Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas is home to one of the nation’s most highly regarded and rigorous dance programs. The Division of Dance releases graduates who leave with the training, talent, and drive to pursue a career in dance performance and who have gone on to dance with such legendary companies as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Martha Graham Dance Company, Paul Taylor Dance Company and more.
A few fly back. And some stay to build their own nest.
The ones who choose to stomp ground primarily in Texas go big right here at home. These leaders and influencers in Texas dance are releasing shockwaves, some of which are felt far beyond state lines. Each has a unique voice, like the fiercely independent Jennifer Mabus, or the sharply focused Lydia Hance or the creatively charged Alex Karigan Farrior and Albert Drake, or the indefatigably nimble Joshua L. Peugh. They demonstrate one common trait: A powerful ability to carve their own niche. Perhaps there’s something in the water at Meadows.
“In the first year, students take a class called the Dancers Toolbox, which looks at developing skills that support a sustainable and long lasting career in dance,” says Associate Professor and Division of Dance Chair at Southern Methodist University (SMU) Patty Harrington Delaney.
In fact, throughout a dancer’s academic career at SMU, opportunities to prepare for the artistic and economic challenges of dance and dance making are provided. Standing out among these are well-established events like the Brown Bag series, a faculty-mentored showcase for student choreography, and senior-year trips to attend the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) Conference, where students encounter a large number of dance companies from all over the world. This year, students will participate in a workshop at New York City’s Gibney Dance Center, where they will develop skills for building a support network, take part in a mock audition, and ask questions of established artists. READ THE FULL STORY
The nation’s first academic institute devoted to the study of customer engagement will be based at SMU’s Cox School of Business thanks to a $10 million gift from Diane and Harold (Hal) Brierley. A pioneer in database marketing and customer loyalty programs, Hal Brierley is perhaps best known as the only consultant for the launch of American Airlines’ AAdvantage program, the nation’s first frequent traveler program. Hal Brierley (right) with Albert Niemi (center), dean of SMU’s Cox School of Business, and Marci Armstrong, assistant dean of Graduate Programs in the Cox School. A veteran professor of marketing and six-time teaching award honoree, Armstrong will be the new Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement’s first appointment as the Harold M. Brierley Endowed Professor.
The Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement will support a critical and growing business need: capturing customer attention in what Brierley has described as “a time-starved, social media-obsessed environment.” The gift – among the largest in the history of the Cox School – will be formally announced at a ceremony on the SMU campus in the James M. Collins Executive Education Center, 3150 Binkley Ave., at 4 p.m. on September 14.
“It is an honor for SMU and the Cox School of Business to serve as home of the Brierley Institute for Customer Engagement,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “We are grateful for the Brierleys’ foresight and their generous gift to establish endowments and provide operational funding that will support curricular innovation, graduate scholarships and faculty leadership to address the issue of building and maintaining customer relationships.”
The ceremony will be followed by a 5 p.m. panel discussion, also in the Collins Center, focusing on customer engagement insights for the future. Panelists will include John Deighton, Baker Foundation Professor and Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School; Karen Katz, CEO and president of Neiman Marcus; Suzanne Rubin, former president of American Airlines AAdvantage program; Hal Brierley; and Marci Armstrong, SMU Cox associate dean of Graduate Programs. SMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Steven Currall will host the panel discussion.
“This gift will greatly enrich our marketing concentration, provide extra funding and create depth,” said Albert Niemi, dean of the Cox School. “The Brierley name is magic in customer engagement. Hal will have an office here and serve as an executive-in-residence. He’ll be engaged in the classroom with our students. Both his gift and his presence will strengthen the program.”
“It’s more than serendipity when the right program comes to the right University,” said Currall. “Our existing course offerings within the Cox School are a strong foundation for the new Brierley Institute, and we look forward to partnerships with other disciplines across campus, which will multiply the Institute’s value to our students and faculty members.”
The Institute will create innovative learning experiences for SMU Cox MBA students that lead to successful careers in marketing, business analytics and consulting.
“I look forward to having Dallas and SMU viewed as a center of excellence in customer relationship management,” said Hal Brierley. “I’m pleased that SMU Cox has stepped up to create effective curricula to teach tomorrow’s marketers the techniques that are essential to design and manage successful customer loyalty programs. The Brierley Institute will take an active role in advancing the techniques employed by consumer brands for their current and future customer engagement efforts.”
Associate Dean Armstrong, a veteran professor of marketing and six-time teaching award honoree, will be the institute’s first appointment as the Harold M. Brierley Endowed Professor.
“The Brierley Institute will honor the contributions of the man many consider ‘the father of customer loyalty programs,’” said Armstrong. “It will bring together students, practitioners and academics to increase what we know about how engagement drives loyalty and profitability. Already, a new Customer Engagement specialization is being developed for SMU Cox MBA students who will lead the customer engagement efforts of tomorrow.”
According to Armstrong, these students will learn to promote business practices that build customer relationships, leverage digital and traditional media, measure financial impact, and create customer experiences that engage customers and create loyalty and value. MBA scholarships and student research grants will be offered. To advance knowledge and improve business practice, the Institute will feature an annual invitation-only conference focused on bringing together young scholars from top academic institutions and practitioners from well-known corporations to develop faculty research agendas, influence curricula and solve current business challenges. In addition, the Institute will offer faculty research grants.
“Hal and Diane Brierley have long been active in their support for Dallas and SMU, and the Cox School will benefit beyond measure from both their financial gift and the time that Hal Brierley intends to spend with students,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for Development and External Affairs. “They have our sincere thanks.”
Hal Brierley is the chairman and CEO of The Brierley Group, LLC. Over the past 30 years, as founder and chief loyalty architect for Brierley+Partners, he has counseled scores of clients, including such iconic brands as American Express, AT&T, Hertz, Hilton, Neiman Marcus, 7-Eleven, Sony, and United Airlines.
In 1985, he established Brierley+Partners in Dallas, served as president and CEO through 2006, and then as chairman until the firm was sold to Japan’s largest technology services firm, Nomura Research Institute, in 2015. He is also co-founder of Epsilon, a pioneer in database marketing. In 1999, he founded e-Rewards (now known as Research Now), the world’s largest online market research panel providing survey respondents for over 2,500 research firms.
Diane and Hal Brierley, who make their home in Highland Park, Texas, are active locally and nationally through board service and philanthropic outreach. Hal is a member of the SMU Cox Executive Board and previously served on the Meadows School of the Arts Executive Board. Hal Brierley earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering at the University of Maryland and an MBA from Harvard Business School, from which he graduated as a Baker Scholar with High Honors in 1968.
Seven new members were elected to SMU’s Board of Trustees in July during the quadrennial meeting of the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. They will begin their four-year terms at the September 15-16 meeting of the Board of Trustees, along with 31 trustees re-elected to four-year terms.
The following are newly elected to the SMU Board of Trustees:
Gerald B. Alley ’75, president and CEO of Con-Real, Arlington, Texas
Tucker S. Bridwell ’73, ’74, president of Mansefeldt Investment Company, Abilene, Texas
Juan Antonio González Moreno, president and chairman of the board of Gruma Corporation, Mexico City/Irving, Texas
Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey ’99, bishop of the Louisiana Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
David S. Huntley ’80, senior executive vice president and chief compliance officer of AT&T Inc., Dallas
Frances A. Moody-Dahlberg ’92, chairman and executive director of the Moody Foundation, Dallas
The Reverend Paul Rasmussen ’04, senior minister of Highland Park United Methodist Church, Dallas
In addition, Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67 was re-elected as chair, David B. Miller ’72, ’73 was elected as vice-chair, and Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 was elected as secretary. Officers are elected for one-year terms and are eligible for re-election up to four consecutive terms in any respective office. New ex officio members named to the board are Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner, president of the SMU Faculty Senate, and SMU 2011 alumnus and current SMU law student Stephen Jake Torres, student representative, both of whom will serve one-year terms.
“I am honored to be re-elected as chair of the SMU Board of Trustees,” says Michael M. Boone. “As SMU begins its second century as a vibrant university in the heart of the thriving city of Dallas, the board is poised to continue to guide SMU to become one of the nation’s finest educational institutions in academic quality, research, student development and community impact.”
Completing their Board of Trustees terms are Bradley W. Brookshire ’76, the Reverend Mark Craig, Larry R. Faulkner ’66, James R. Gibbs ’66, ’70, ’72, Gene C. Jones and Frederick S. Leach ’83. Jacob Conway ’16 and Doug Reinelt concluded their ex officio terms as student representative and president of the SMU Faculty Senate, respectively.
“I am grateful to the members of the SMU Board of Trustees for the important wisdom and insight they bring to the University,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “My special appreciation goes to the eight board members who have completed their terms during such a pivotal and progressive time in the University’s history. I am also grateful to the new and current board members who are taking the charge forward as SMU enters its next century.”
Returning Board of Trustee members include Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, William D. Armstrong ’82, Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, Laura Welch Bush ’68, Pastor Richie L. Butler ’93, Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79, Jeanne Tower Cox ’78, Katherine Raymond Crow ’94, Gary T. Crum ’69, Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84, Antoine L. V. Dijkstra, Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, Antonio O. Garza, Jr. ’83, Frederick B. Hegi, Jr. ’66, Clark K. Hunt ’87, Ray L. Hunt ’65, Bishop Scott J. Jones ’81, ’92, Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68, Bobby B. Lyle ’67, Bishop Michael McKee ’78, Scott J. McLean ’78, David B. Miller ’72, ’73, Connie Blass O’Neill ’77, The Reverend Dr. Sheron Covington Patterson ’83, ’89, ’96, Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83, Jeanne L. Phillips ’76, Caren H. Prothro, Carl Sewell ’66, Richard K. Templeton, Richard Ware ’68 and Royce E. (Ed) Wilson, Sr. Continuing ex officio members are R. Gerald Turner, president of SMU, and Peter A. Lodwick ’77, ’80, chair of the SMU Alumni Board.
SMU also benefits from the continuing interest and perspectives of former board members including trustees emeriti Edwin L. Cox ’42, Milledge A. Hart, III, William L. Hutchison ’54 and Cary M. Maguire.
The 42-member board sets policies governing the operation of SMU, a nationally ranked private university in Dallas. SMU enrolls more than 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.
Alumni Marshals direct students around the SMU seal in Dallas Hall during Rotunda Passage, a symbolic rite of passage during SMU’s Opening Convocation.
As the strains of “Varsity” filled Dallas Hall, incoming SMU students streamed through the landmark building for Rotunda Passage, marching toward McFarlin Auditorium and SMU’s 102nd Opening Convocation.
Rotunda Passage and Opening Convocation hold a special place in the hearts of alumni parents, grandparents and other relatives as the next generation joins the Mustang fold. Many graduates volunteer to serve as Alumni Marshals during this milestone event. Donning ceremonial regalia, the alumni line the Convocation path, welcoming students as they take their initial steps toward intellectual and personal growth at SMU.
Among this year’s participants were Robert Hyer (Bob) Thomas ’53, ’57 and Gail Griffin Thomas ’58. Robert, a Dallas attorney, is the grandson of SMU’s first president, Robert S. Hyer (1911–1920). Gail is president and CEO of The Trinity Trust Foundation and co-founder of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. The two met as students at SMU.
Their granddaughter, Electra Gail Thomas, is a member of the Class of 2020. She extended an invitation to her grandparents to participate in this pivotal moment in her future on the Hilltop.
“She is so excited to be at SMU, and we’re so excited for her,” Gail said.
As Charles Salazar ’88 watched students prepare to enter the Rotunda, he marveled at the opportunities that await his first-year son, Matthew.
“I hope he will take advantage of all that SMU has to offer, from study abroad programs to internships,” he said.
Charles received his bachelor’s degree from another university before graduating from Dedman School of Law, and he’s “very pleased” that his son chose SMU as an undergraduate. Matthew plans to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering in the Lyle School of Engineering.
The campus is already familiar territory to first-year student Gatlin Shore, son Michael Shore ’86, ’90 and Judy Shore ’90, both graduates of Dedman School of Law. One of their favorite family photos shows four-year-old Gatlin decked out in spirit gear, ready for game day at Ford Stadium.
“We’ve always been active in the SMU community, so coming to SMU as a student is like coming home for him,” said Michael, managing partner at Shore Chan DePumpo LLP in Dallas. Cara Davila ’91 and JoeDavila ’92 were “surprised and excited” when their son, Jordan, decided to attend SMU as a journalism major in Meadows School of the Arts.
“We visited schools around the country – Wisconsin, North Carolina and California as well as Texas – so we weren’t sure where he would end up,” said Cara, who received a B.B.A. from the Cox School of Business. “He really liked SMU. It felt comfortable, and he wanted to be in Texas.”
Joe, who received a bachelor’s degree in management science from the Lyle School, is in mortgage finance, and Cara serves as the yearbook advisor for the International School of Luxembourg. The couple traveled from Luxembourg to help their son move in and stayed to participate in Opening Convocation. They were stationed at the front doors to Dallas Hall, providing Cara with a great vantage point for snapping a cell phone photo of Jordan as he processed by.
When the Class of 2020 graduates in four years, they’ll be joined on Commencement Weekend by alumni celebrating their 50th reunion. In recognition of that special Mustang bond, members of the Class of 1970 were invited to participate in the Rotunda Passage. Buddy Ozanne ’70 says that next to his own graduation – he earned a B.B.A. from SMU – his proudest moment on campus has been the graduation of his son, Tyler Ozanne, who received a B.B.A. in 2002. He’s looking forward to following the progress of SMU’s newest students as they experience time-honored traditions while creating a few of their own.
“It feels great to welcome a new class to SMU,” he said, “and be a part of this memorable time in their lives.”
2016 Opening Convocation Alumni Marshals
Fred Arnold ’57
Cara Davila ’91 and Joseph Davila ’92
Raymond Fernandez ’78, ’82
Stephen Griffith’86
Balie Griffith ’53
Alexandra Gulledge ’92
Robert Hatcher ’85
Carolyn Hoffmann ’83
Carrie Katigan ’89 and Steven Katigan ’89, ’94
Jennifer Madding ’15
Buddy Ozanne ’70
Randy Phillips ’70
Sheila Rogan ’92
Henry Rogan ’93
Charles Salazar ’88
Judy Shore ’90 and Michael Shore ’86, ’90
Geoffrey Small ’86
Carrie Teller ’02 and Andrew Teller ’86
Gail Thomas ’58 and Bob Thomas ’53, ’57
Mary Jo Vida-Fernandez ’82
Marti Voorheis ’92 and Paul Voorheis ’92
Maidie Yale ’85
Amy Lou Yeager ’93 and Stephen Yeager ’93
Alex ’10 and Marielle McGregor ’10 at their five-year SMU reunion in 2015.
A bus ride with a group of strangers isn’t the most promising start for a great romance, but it turned out to be the right place at the right time for Marielle Perrault McGregor ’10 and her husband, Alex McGregor ’10.
As first-year SMU students, they didn’t really know what to expect when they boarded the motor coach for Mustang Corral in August 2006. They certainly didn’t realize that the trip to the off-campus retreat would be their first date, sort of.
“We really got to chatting after one of the Corral leaders started a round of ‘speed dating,’ so to speak, to encourage everyone to get to know each other,” explains Marielle.
The icebreaker worked. A few weeks later, they were officially a couple.
Marielle hails from Columbus, Ohio, where she grew up playing volleyball and studying ballet. When she was applying to universities, SMU jumped to the top of her list because she found programs that could satisfy her academic passions.
“I was looking to double major in dance and advertising and wanted a school where both programs where strong,” she explains. Alex and Marielle as first-year SMU students in 2006.
Alex grew up in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb, where he mastered the roles of science geek, theatre nerd and tennis ace. Adding “Mustang” to the list was a natural progression. He comes from a long line of SMU graduates, including his late grandfather, Alex Ramsay Elder ’53; his parents James McGregor ’79 and Julia Elder McGregor ’80, who met as geology majors; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.
Four years after meeting, they were marching down the aisle – at graduation.
Marielle earned bachelor’s degrees in advertising and dance performance from Meadows School of the Arts, which she has put to good use in her dual careers. By day she is a senior digital editor for Dallas County Community Colleges’ online publications. In the evening she teaches dance and performs with the 6 o’Clock Dance Theatre. She also has danced with Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Contemporary Ballet Dallas.
“The Temerlin Advertising Institute program gave me a framework for my creativity,” she says. “Professors did an excellent job of providing both theory and hands-on projects where I not only learned how to create unforgettable ads, but also to adapt ideas for different audiences and media. The couple at graduation in 2010.
“As for the dance program, during my four years at SMU, I worked with some of the top choreographers in the nation and developed relationships with local dance leaders and classmates,” she adds. “The network I have been able to build has, by far, been the most valuable asset to my dance technique.”
As a corporate communications and public affairs major in Meadows, Alex flexed his oratorical skills as a member of the SMU Debate Team, which captured a number of awards after being revived in 2008. Ben Voth, director of debate and associate professor of corporate communications and public affairs, became “an exceptional mentor,” Alex says.
“Dr. Voth goes beyond helping students in the classroom. He truly cares about students as people,” he says. “He is actively involved in the academic and professional world and exposes students to both settings.”
Today Alex is lead iOS software engineer for Bottle Rocket Studios, where he has had a hand in developing apps for such big-name clients as Starwood Hotels and Resorts and The Coca Cola Company and worked on OoVoo, the world’s largest independent video chat and instant messaging app.
Marielle and Alex wed on December 15, 2012, at The Woodlands United Methodist Church. However, they have a milestone anniversary coming up this week as the Class of 2020 heads off to Camp Corral.
“We’ve been a couple now for 10 years,” notes Marielle, “and it’s amazing to think that it all began on a bus ride.” – Patricia Ward
When SMU alumna Truett Adams ’12 was working toward her bachelor of fine arts degree in theatre in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, one of her professors noticed her talent as a movement artist. As she tells it, he looked her in straight in the eye and told her she should run away and join the circus. She didn’t run away, but she did join the circus. The Dallas Observer profiled Truett, part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s latest show, Circus Xtreme, on August 11, 2016. The show wrapped up in Dallas over the weekend but continues at the Fort Worth Convention Center through August 21.
Dallas Observer
In one of the bar rooms at American Airlines Center, a pack of painted characters welcomes visitors to clown alley, where a red carpet leads to a couple of trunks topped with circus gear; there are wigs, shoes and one of those horned Viking helmets.
The jumpy gang of living, breathing cartoons couldn’t be happier. The multicolored troupe is part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s latest show, Circus Xtreme. Each clown wears bright overall costumes and special makeup that exaggerates their features.
Among them is SMU grad Truett Adams, who sports bright blue overalls with matching shoes and hair. “With clowning, I make my own story,” she says of what led to her decision to take up the funny gig. “I play in my own universe.”
Adams is a full-time clown, but not the stereotypical kind you’d see at a birthday party or in a bad horror movie. There’s a real art to her craft. In comedy, the clown or “the fool” is an age-old profession and people have been enthralled by these characters for centuries. Even Shakespeare used clown-like characters in his plays. Queen Elizabeth always needed a good laugh.
… Read the full story MORE ABOUT TRUETT ADAMS The Dallas Morning News: Behind the greasepaint: Meet the Ringling Bros. clowns NBC Channel 5: Ringling Bros. clowns come home to North Texas
By Denise Gee
SMU A sheriff’s deputy receives a hug at the Human Rights Dallas summit at SMU July 9. Photo by Denise Gee.
It had been planned months in advance, but when hundreds of city and county leaders gathered at SMU July 9 for the first Human Rights Dallas summit, the city was openly grieving the July 7 murders of five police officers in downtown Dallas after what had been a peaceful protest march. That march was in response to controversial police shootings of two African-American men in Louisiana and Minnesota – incidents that had produced anger, anxiety and grief.
In taking “unified steps forward,” Embrey Human Rights Program (EHRP) Director Rick Halperin emphasized his event’s goal would not be “to focus on your work, or my work, but our work – to ensure everyone is afforded human dignity, protection and advocacy of their inherent rights.”
What resonated most for Human Rights Dallas participant Toya Walker, a senior-level paralegal for SMU and the Sabre Corporation, “was getting to openly share thoughts on what a human rights culture could look like, and how we, as a diverse group, could make it a reality.”
During larger group discussions and smaller breakout sessions guided by innovative coaching from Journeyman Ink, attendees tackled issues and solutions related to concerns ranging from human trafficking crimes to racial, sexual and religious discrimination.
Leaders from business, law enforcement, education, faith, non-profit and other groups expressed overwhelming support “for an official referendum to establish human rights as a top-level concern for Dallas government leaders,” said EHRP Assistant Director Brad Klein. “We also would like to see a public forum for citizens to regularly address their concerns with people who actually can do something about them.”
Summit participants vowed to continue the dialogue by staying connected via social media outlets and creating educational opportunities that could start with initiatives as small as a neighborhood gatherings for coffee and conversation.
The ultimate question, met with resounding applause, was posed by Tri-Cities NAACP Director Carmelita Pope-Freeman, who summarized the feelings of those at her table: “How can we replace fear with empathy?”
While the timing of the long-planned event came on the heels of tragic circumstances, Walker said, “I believe it awakened the soul of Dallas and America to know human rights matter.” Leaving the event motivated and inspired, she added, “I believe we have an opportunity to truly enable the change the world so desperately needs.”
Progress on Human Rights Dallas efforts will be shared via future EHRP communications and also at its “Triumph of the Spirit” Awards event November 16 at the Kessler Theater in Dallas. The celebration will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the program at SMU — only the seventh university in the nation to offer an undergraduate degree in human rights and also a master’s level degree in human rights and social justice.
For more details about the Embrey Human Rights Program within SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, contact humanrights@smu.edu, call 214-768-8347 or visit EHRP online.
Alumni, parents and friends of SMU have extraordinary opportunities to shape the life of the University as volunteers. Whether it’s sharing professional expertise, hosting a gathering for area Mustangs or encouraging prospective students to enroll, SMU volunteers not only energize connections across campus but also extend the University’s legacy of success. Here are some ways to become involved no matter where you live.
SeRVe (Student Recruitment Volunteers)
SeRVe volunteers assist with the University’s recruitment efforts in their local areas. These alumni volunteers represent SMU at local college fairs, correspond with prospective and admitted students, and attend events for prospective and admitted students. In 2015-16, 85 alumni covered 71 college fairs in 60 cities, 21 states and three countries. Nearly 200 of these Student Recruitment Volunteers also contacted 1,528 admitted students and encouraged them to enroll at SMU. Dana Cassell ’03 of Raleigh, North Carolina and Ali Morgan ’92 of White Plains, New York enjoy sharing their perspectives on the Hilltop with prospective students in their regions.
Dana “fell in love with advertising” at SMU, earning a bachelor’s degree in the field from Meadows School of the Arts. She credits professors who taught her “how to solve business problems and challenges through creativity and strategic thinking” with helping her achieve success as the owner 37 South Consulting, a brand strategy and digital marketing firm. She represented her alma mater at the Raleigh National College Fair in Raleigh in March. Whether they host a gathering for area Mustangs or share insights and information with prospective students, alumni volunteers serve as the SMU’s ambassadors around the globe.
“I spoke about the benefits of going to a private university, the diversity of degree programs offered, the study abroad opportunities and the value of being located in a city like Dallas,” she explains. “The families and I talked about how the depth of the collegiate experience at SMU strengthens character, expands horizons and delivers an incredible education.
“Most of the representatives from other universities were staff and not necessarily alumni,” she adds. “It was such an authentic platform for me to be able to talk from my own personal experience and share my SMU story.”
Ali also found his career passion at SMU, a fact he’s anxious to share with future Mustangs. He grew up in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, where he was an athlete, scholar and actor. A teacher encouraged him to consider SMU – Ali’s paternal grandparents and other family members lived in Dallas – so he made an audition tape and was accepted as a theatre major. He plunged into campus life and was active in Multicultural Student Affairs and a host of other student activities. He also continued to sharpen his skills on the intramural fields.
In the theatre department, the more classes he took, the more enamored he became of teaching.
“There wasn’t a formal theatre education program, but I was able to piece one together,” he says. “I ended up student teaching at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where I directed a piece. It was a really awesome experience.”
Today all the interests he honed as an undergraduate converge in his position at Rye Country Day School, an independent K-12 school in Rye, New York, about an hour away from New York City. He serves as as the director of diversity and inclusion, teaches drama and coaches middle-school tennis.
When he makes calls to prospective students from New York and Connecticut, Ali is quick to point out that he discovered “the best of both worlds – theatre and education” at SMU.
SMU Connection
SMU Connection volunteers have the opportunity to provide career mentorship or advice for alumni or students and to participate in a job-shadowing externship program over winter break and in May. In 2015-16, more than 100 students were matched with alumni for externships. Tricia Linderman ’91, executive vice president of recruiting and corporate communications at Texas Capital Bank, shared her time and expertise with psychology major Lauren Gonzalez ’16 as a volunteer with the SMU Connection externship program over winter break. An externship can help students discover job options they may not have considered, Tricia says.
“Initially, Lauren thought about going to law school, but had recently decided to pursue a role in human resources. I told her that employment law is a fascinating area where she could combine both her passions.”
For consultant Matt Samler ’04, who hosted business major Taylor Press ’18, the volunteer experience allowed him “to give back to SMU in a more personal way and help a student in the process.” Matt serves as vice president of site selection and location economics for JLL, a commercial real estate services and investment management firm. He believes the externship program is “a great way for students to expand their professional network, which will help lead to employment opportunities when they graduate.”
Spending a day on the job can be revelatory as students consider career possibilities, says Sandy Speegle Nobles ’75, director of education at the Momentous Institute, which provides educational and therapeutic services for children and families. She was shadowed by psychology and sociology major Melissa Kraft ’19.
“Knowing how we are building and repairing social and emotional health in children growing up in poverty was a good fit for what she is passionate about studying at SMU,” Sandy says. “She was able to walk away with an understanding of what we do at the intersection of education and mental health.”
Chapter Leadership and Activities
With active SMU Chapters across the globe, there are plenty of ways to connect with Mustangs in your city. Chapter leaders commit to planning and hosting at least two events per year with the support of the SMU Office of Alumni Engagement. Laurie-Leigh Nix White ’07, senior vice president with BVA Group, a nationally recognized litigation, valuation and financial advisory firm, has served as chair of the Houston chapter since 2011.
“SMU gave me the connections I needed to land a great job, and when I moved to help start the firm’s Houston office, getting involved with the alumni chapter helped me build out a network. I’ve really enjoyed having the opportunity to meet and get to know so many great people.” Megan ’06 and Karl Dunkelman ’05 joined the Orlando, Florida chapter when they relocated from Dallas. Megan, a public relations consultant who has worked with professional golfer Annika Sörenstam and other high-profile clients, hails from the Orlando area. Karl is a senior digital producer and production manager for Lightmaker, a global digital agency that develops websites and apps. They’ve served as chapter co-chairs since 2012.
“We loved our time at school and felt a really strong connection to SMU,” Karl says. “When we moved to Orlando, we wanted to get involved in the community and meet more people who shared that passion.”
The Mustang bond is strong, regardless of class year, he says. “Some of our older alumni aren’t able to make it back to Dallas very often, so we enjoy letting them know what’s new, and it’s interesting to hear their stories. It’s mind-blowing how much has changed and how SMU just gets better and better.”
UPDATE: SMU’s Jackie Galloway earned a bronze medal in taekwondo for Team USA on August 20, beating France’s Gwladys Epangue at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. More about Jackie Galloway’s win:
• NBC: USA’s Jackie Galloway wins bronze
• The Wall Street Journal: Jackie Galloway Celebrates Taekwondo Bronze with U.S., Mexican Fans
• The Dallas Morning News: Dallas’ Jackie Galloway shakes off tough semifinal loss to rival, bounces back to win taekwondo bronze By Kenny Ryan
SMU SMU engineering student and taekwondo superstar Jackie Galloway will compete for Olympic gold in Rio.
To Jackie Galloway’s classmates, she’s just a self-described nerd in the Lyle school of engineering, frantically creating computer models and cramming for the next exam.
To those who know her well, she’s kind of a superhero. A mild-mannered student in the classroom and a world-class taekwondo expert in the ring, Galloway is better than a superhero – she’s real.
This summer, she’ll represent Team USA at the Olympic Games.
“Out of the ring, I’m nice and sweet, so when I tell people I do taekwondo and show them videos of me in the ring, they say ‘That’s you?’ and they don’t believe it,” says Galloway, who goes by the not-so-subtle handle @ikick_urface on Twitter.
“I’m a bit of a nerd, but I always compare taekwondo to a game of chess because it’s very strategic,” Galloway adds. “You get points for body kicks, points for face kicks and if you add a spin, it’s additional points, but my strategy has to adjust to who I’m Matea Samardzic (above), a 2016 transfer to SMU, will compete for Croatia. Jonathan Gomez, who will begin competition as a Mustang this fall, qualified in the 200 butterfly for Team Colombia.
fighting based on how tall or big they are. Success comes down to having a killer instinct and a mind for strategy.”
This isn’t the 20-year-old sophomore’s first brush with the Olympics. Four years ago, the Texas-born dual citizen was an alternate on Mexico’s Olympic team, narrowly missing her chance to compete in the London games. This time around, she’s representing the red, white and blue and dreaming of gold, gold, gold.
“Winning the Olympics is not just my desire, it’s my plan,” says Galloway, who has trained with her father since childhood.
“When I was 7, I went home from training and told my mom I wanted to be world champion and an Olympian,” Galloway adds. “And when I started having success at the adult level at age 14, it became apparent to everyone else that I wouldn’t be told I couldn’t do this.”
SMU Alumni Olympic Qualifiers*
SMU alumna Lovisa Lindh has been named to the Swedish Olympic track and field team. She placed third in the 800 meters final at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam, which gave her the Olympic qualifying time.
SMU Olympic Medalists
2008 Beijing
Sara Nordenstam ’06 – Norway – Bronze – Swimming, 200 breaststroke 2004 Athens
Aleksander Tammert ’98 – Estonia – Bronze – Track and field, discus 2000 Sydney
Kajsa Bergqvist ’99 – Sweden – Bronze – Track and field, high jump
Lars Frölander ’99 – Sweden – Gold – Swimming, 100 butterfly
Martina Moravcova ’98 – Slovakia – Silver – Swimming, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle 1996 Atlanta
Ryan Berube ’97 – USA – Gold – Swimming, 4×200 freestyle relay
Lars Frölander ’99 – Sweden – Silver – Swimming, 4×200 freestyle relay
Marianne Kriel ’94 – South Africa – Bronze – Swimming, 100 backstroke 1992 Barcelona
Scott Donie ’90 – USA – Silver – Diving, 10-meter platform
Lars Frölander ’99 – Sweden – Silver – Swimming, 4×200 freestyle relay 1988 Seoul
Kevin Robinzine ’86 – USA – Gold – Track and field, 4×400-meter relay 1984 Los Angeles
Michael Carter ’84 – USA – Silver – Track and field, shot put
Keith Connor ’83 – USA – Bronze – Track and field, triple jump
Jon Koncak ’85 – USA – Gold – Basketball
Steve Lundquist ’83 – USA – Gold – Swimming, 100 breaststroke and 4×100 medley relay
Ricardo Prado ’86 – Brazil – Silver – Swimming, 400 individual medley
Rich Saeger ’86 – USA – Gold – Swimming, 4×200 freestyle relay
Amy White ’90 – USA – Silver – Swimming, 200 backstroke 1972 Munich
Jerry Heidenreich ’72 – USA – Gold – Swimming, 4×100 freestyle relay and 4×100 medley relay; Silver – 100 freestyle; Bronze – 100 butterfly 1968 Mexico City
Ron Mills ’73 – USA – Gold – Swimming, 4×100 medley relay; Bronze – 100 backstroke MORE ABOUT MUSTANG OLYMPIANS >NBC Olympics: Who is… Jackie Galloway >CBS 11 News: Searching For Gold – SMU Sophomore Qualifies For 2016 Olympics >Arcila, Gomez Join Team Colombia For Rio Games >Fletcher Selected To Represent Bermuda In Rio >Rio Bound: Lovisa Lindh Named To Swedish Olympic Track And Field Team
Trent Redden ’06, assistant general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the locker room with the Larry O’Brien Trophy after the Cavs won the NBA championship June 19.
What’s it like to be at the center of 1.3 million ecstatic fans? SMU alumnus Trent Redden, assistant general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was with the team in a parade on June 22 celebrating the Cav’s National Basketball Association (NBA) championship.
“It’s such a cliché, but words are really hard to come by in trying to describe the experience,” Redden says. “The outpouring of love for the team has been amazing.”
The Cavaliers made NBA history on June 19 after charging back from a 3-1 finals deficit – no other team has ever rebounded from such a lopsided start – beating the Golden State Warriors, 93-89, in Game 7 of the finals. They also lifted the legendary “Cleveland sports curse,” a 52-year title drought for its professional teams.
“There may be other championships, but this moment can never be replicated,” Redden says. “Fifty-two years of suffering by one of the most passionate fan bases in the country is over. Some people might think sports don’t matter, but when you see how happy the city is, you know they matter. And I feel so lucky to be a small part of it.”
As assistant GM, he’s involved in trades and hiring, including coaches and players, and free agencies and helped build the winning team. For six of his 10 years in the NBA, he has worked with superstar LeBron James, who famously returned to the Cavaliers in 2014 from Miami with a future championship in mind.
“We’re all fortunate to be around him,” Redden says. “He’s a great person and a great player. He makes us all look good.”
Redden hasn’t had much time to savor the victory, though. After the team returned to Ohio on June 20, he hit the ground running to prepare for the NBA draft on June 23 and free agency period starting July 1. After that, his attention turns to the NBA Summer League, July 8-18. If he’s really lucky, Redden will be able to sandwich in his first free weekend since September.
The lion’s share of his job focuses on professional and college scouting. He’s on the road 20 days a month, checking out talent across the United States and scouring Europe for prospects.
I had other opportunities, but SMU bet on me on a level that no one else did by giving me a President’s Scholarship,” says Trent Redden ’06. Now he’s paying forward that vote of confidence through the Trent D. Redden Endowed President’s Scholarship. “It’s my way of thanking SMU for the scholarship and a great education.”
His path to the NBA started at SMU. Redden grew up in Portland, Oregon, where he excelled in the classroom. When it came time to select a university, the choice was a no-brainer.
“I had other opportunities, but SMU bet on me on a level that no one else did by giving me a President’s Scholarship,” he says. Each year SMU invites 20 to 25 of the most gifted first-year students to receive President’s Scholarships. The academic scholarships provide full tuition and fees.
He’s paying forward that vote of confidence through the Trent D. Redden Endowed President’s Scholarship.
“The University thought enough of me to make that commitment, and I will always be grateful and indebted,” he says. “It’s my way of thanking SMU for the scholarship and a great education.”
While earning bachelor’s degrees in accounting and public policy, he had internships with two powerhouses: Haynes and Boone, an international corporate law firm co-founded by SMU alumnus and board chair Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, and KPMG, a global accounting services company.
“They were great experiences, and I learned a lot,” he says. “And they helped me focus on what I wanted to do after SMU.”
He landed on the NBA. Thanks to his academic training, he had developed the front office skills, and basketball was a game he loved and played. He was a walk-on at SMU, joining the Mustangs for two seasons, 2003-2005. After graduating magna cum laude, he applied for a paid basketball operations internship with the Cavaliers. He interviewed three times before he was hired in 2006.
“If I had known what I was up against, I might not have pursued it,” he jokes. “We never advertise the positions, and we get 300 to 400 résumés each year from very qualified people.”
That internship has evolved into a high-profile career. In 2007 Redden became a full-time basketball operations assistant. He has risen through the ranks and was promoted to his current role in 2013.
By his own admission, he’s living the dream. “I’m so fortunate. I get to do something that I enjoy every day.”
With the NBA regular season starting in late October, he doubts he’ll make it back to the Hilltop for his 10-year reunion during Homecoming Weekend, November 3–5. However, he plans to be cheering on the Mustangs at Ford Stadium during the epic SMU v. TCU Battle for the Iron Skillet on September 23 during Family Weekend.
Redden has seen the SMU men’s basketball team on the road and had been to Moody Coliseum several times since the renovation to watch practice and play pick-up, but he had not attended a home game and experienced the new “Moody Magic” until this year.
“The atmosphere was truly incredible,” he remembers. “I saw people I couldn’t get to come to games when we went to school together. What they have built there as a program is a testament to Larry and his staff. They truly have made it the cool thing to do in Dallas.” – Patricia Ward
Elizabeth Holzhall Richard credits one of her Dedman School of Law professors with urging her to take the Foreign Service exam, the first step in her long and lauded career in the United States diplomatic corps. In her 30 years of service, she has held posts in some of the world’s hot spots, including Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen. She grew up in Hammond, Indiana, and was interviewed by the Northwest Indiana Times for a story published on June 21. Richard earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences before graduating from law school. NORTHWEST INDIANA TIMES
Elizabeth Holzhall Richard, a former Hammond resident, is scheduled to be sworn in today as the new U.S. ambassador to Lebanon.
Richard served most recently as deputy assistant secretary and the coordinator for foreign assistance to the Near East in the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. In that role, Richard oversaw a foreign assistance budget of more than $7 billion.
Richard, 56, said she was thrilled when she was told she would be named to the post in Lebanon. She called it both a huge honor and a huge responsibility.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years now, so I’m absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to serve with the folks that I’ll be working with and try to be able to make a little bit of a positive contribution,” Richard said.
…
When attending law school, Richard said she took some international law classes and one of her teachers suggested she take the foreign service officer test. Richard said she wasn’t really exposed to the fact that there was this line of work out there prior to that time and now urges young people to consider such a career. The government is seeking people from a wide variety of backgrounds and parts of the country to serve.
… READ THE FULL STORY
Craig Lucie won an Emmy Award as the best news anchor at the Southeast Emmy Awards gala in Atlanta on June 11. Craig anchors Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m. on WSB-TV, an ABC-affiliated television station in Atlanta.
The Southeast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences includes Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina.
Before moving to Atlanta in 2011, Craig worked at WESH-TV in Orlando, Florida, as a reporter and weekend anchor for four years. He covered everything from hurricanes and shuttle launches to the Casey Anthony case. He has contributed reports to NBC News, CNN, HLN, and Fox News Channel on numerous occasions. Prior to his work in Orlando, Craig was with KTBC in Austin, where he interviewed Gov. Rick Perry on multiple occasions and toured military bases with U.S. Senator John Cornyn. Before KTBC, Craig was an anchor and reporter at KZTV in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he covered the most active hurricane season in recorded history.
He was part of a team that received the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for a newscast following a tragic police shooting. His previous honors also include “Best Reporter” and “Best Feature News Story” awards from The Associated Press.
Craig earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from SMU, where he met his wife, Alexandra Dillard Lucie ’05, whose innovative leadership in retail management and merchandising was recognized with SMU’s 2014 Emerging Leader Award. Craig and Alexandra have assumed regional SMU alumni leadership roles, serving on the board of the Atlanta Alumni Chapter and the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Atlanta.
SMU alumnus Lance Thompson ’01, served as commander of the USS Chicago nuclear submarine, based in Guam, for three years before being promoted recently to captain. He was honored for his service by the Chicago City Council, which declared “Commander Lance Thompson Day” on May 27. Thompson, a native of Kewanee, Illinois, was profiled by his hometown newspaper, the Star Courier, on June 7, 2016. Thompson earned a master’s degree in engineering management from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. STAR COURIER
Desire and dedication led Lance Thompson from the halls of Kewanee High School to the helm of a nuclear submarine and, recently, to recognition of his service at Wrigley Field.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel signed a resolution passed by the Chicago City Council declaring Friday, May 27, Commander Lance Thompson Day, which included an introduction before a Cubs game and a handshake from Cubs manager Joe Maddon.
Thompson was promoted last month to captain after serving three years as the commander of the submarine USS Chicago, based at Guam. He was elevated to senior deputy commander of Submarine Squadron 15 which consists of four fast attack Los Angeles-class submarines, including the Chicago, all part of the Pacific Fleet.
… READ THE FULL STORY
Hope Hicks ’10 talks about her role as communications director for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in the June 2016 issue of Marie Claire magazine. Hicks earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and played lacrosse while an SMU student. MARIE CLAIRE
In Donald Trump’s inner circle on the campaign trail, there’s just one woman: Hope Hicks, 27, his communications director and the only woman who travels full-time with the Republican front-runner.
Hicks has played an integral role in Trump’s unprecedented rise in the 2016 election. As Trump tweets about the controversies du jour with abandon, delivers unscripted soliloquies at campaign stops, and is a near-constant presence on cable news, Hicks is behind the scenes, juggling the moving parts of the rapid news cycle.
In 2012, after a successful teen modeling career and graduating from Southern Methodist University, the Connecticut native got her first taste of the Trump life working on the hotel and golf divisions of his company for New York public relations firm Hiltzik Strategies. The Trump Organization brought her in-house as the director of communications in 2014, and the following year, she got the surprise of a lifetime when The Donald asked her to join his budding campaign. Here, in her first-ever interview in her current role, she shares what it’s like to work for the unconventional candidate.
Founders’ Day 2016 marked another milestone in the history of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. In addition to the campus campaign finale celebrating $1.15 billion raised in gifts and pledges, Founders’ Day April 15 honored more than 65,000 donors to the campaign.
Among them are 10,000 individuals whose names are now literally etched into the history of SMU. They gave funds for pavers, at $100 each, to create a new campus promenade. The pavers are engraved with the donors’ names or the names of others they wish to honor – families, friends, favorite professor or administrators. Invited to share online their stories behind the pavers, donors recalled special memories ranging from “this is where I met my wife” to “these professors changed my life.”
A 2012 gift from the Crain Foundation enabled construction of the Crain Family Centennial Promenade, which in turn offered the opportunity for others to join in with honorific pavers. The promenade makes the campus more pedestrian-friendly, linking the Hughes-Trigg Student Center on the north with the new Residential Commons complex on the southern end of the campus. It is a convenient passageway to sites including the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Moody Coliseum, Collins Executive Education Center and Blanton Student Services Building. The Crain family represents three generations of SMU alumni.
The Crain Promenade provides the setting for other historic markers on campus – a permanent plaque wall, over 6 feet in height, honoring the highest-level donors who have made campaign history with the size and scope of their giving. They include 183 donors of $1 million and up and 601 supporters giving from $100,000 to $999,000.
“It takes donors at every level for a campaign to succeed,” says Brad E. Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. “We appreciate every gift and are pleased that our campaign finale could honor so many generous donors. These donors are paving the way into our second century of achievement.”
The Founders’ Day campaign finale celebrated the official campaign results reported to the University’s Board of Trustees at its February meeting. The $1.15 billion total represents the largest campaign amount raised by any private institution in Texas.
The campaign is providing 689 new student scholarships; raising the previous number of 62 endowed faculty positions to a new total of 116; and supporting 68 new or significantly enhanced academic programs and initiatives, including endowments for two schools. Twenty-four capital projects have been substantially funded, including new facilities for academic programs, student housing and athletics. Other gifts for campus enhancements support expanded career services and leadership programs.
SMU joins 34 private universities nationwide that have undertaken campaigns of $1 billion or more. The institutions include Columbia University, the University of Notre Dame, and Emory and Vanderbilt universities.
Mirroring the importance of the arts in a thriving community, the Meadows Foundation provided the largest single gift to the campaign, $45 million, the largest in SMU history. The gift benefits SMU’s Meadows Museum and the Meadows School of the Arts, which offer collections and events that strengthen cultural programs of the region.
ATTRACTING THE BEST STUDENTS AND FACULTY
New funding for student scholarships will enable SMU to attract greater numbers of high-quality students. Those who remain in Dallas after graduation will strengthen the talent pool in the area, while those who leave for other cities will elevate recognition of SMU’s success in producing outstanding professionals.
“What this campaign will do for the next generation of leaders, researchers, innovators, artists and entrepreneurs is impossible to measure at this time, but the impact will be unprecedented,” says Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, trustee and convening co-chair of The Second Century Campaign.
New endowed scholarships created include support for undergraduates and graduate students in all seven schools of the University. New support also is being provided for SMU’s top two merit scholarship programs – the Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholars and the SMU President’s Scholars.
Endowments for new faculty positions enable SMU to broaden the subjects taught and researched at the University. Faculty endowments provide support for research projects in addition to salaries, and enhanced research enables SMU scholars to make an impact on their varied disciplines and global issues.
LIVING AND LEARNING FACILITIES
New campaign-funded facilities include buildings for the Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Perkins School of Theology and Lyle School of Engineering, as well as a new Mustang Band Hall, new tennis center, and renovation and expansion of Moody Coliseum for athletics and academic ceremonies. In progress are the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center and Fondren Library Center renovation, parts of which were dedicated on April 15, such as the Fondren Foundation Centennial Reading Room.
Upcoming construction projects include the Gerald J. Ford Research Center and the Robson-Lindley Aquatics Center. At SMU-in-Taos, new facilities include a campus center, new and renovated housing and a chapel.
One of the most visible campaign projects is the addition of five new residence halls and a dining center as part of SMU’s new Residential Commons system, including on-site classes and faculty in residence. Six other halls have been renovated as Commons.
The Second Century Campaign was launched in 2008 with a goal of $750 million. Rapid progress toward that goal and opportunities for further advancements led SMU leaders to increase the goal to $1 billion. The last four years of the campaign, 2011-2015, coincided with SMU’s centennial era, marking the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and opening in 1915.
ACHIEVING LOCAL AND NATIONAL STATURE
The multiyear centennial commemoration has provided SMU with greater opportunities to recognize its special relati
onship with Dallas. In 1911, the city fought to become the location of the new university being planned by Methodist Church leaders, who then partnered with the city in establishing SMU in and for Dallas.
“Dallas and SMU have grown up together, and both are experiencing an era of great promise and momentum,” says Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, chair of SMU’s Board of Trustees and a campaign co-chair. “I’m thrilled that this fundraising success helps ensure that SMU will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing the growth and entrepreneurial culture of Dallas.”
The prominence of SMU now transcends regional recognition.
“All major metropolitan areas have at least one nationally competitive university that educates the area’s workforce and leadership, serves as an intellectual and cultural hub and, through its research and innovation, contributes to the broader progress of society,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “SMU is proud to be that university for Dallas, with an impact that is national and global.”
SMU dedicated the Crain Family Centennial Promenade during Founders’ Weekend April 15-16 and paid tribute to the long-standing support of the Crain family. A 2012 gift from the Crain Foundation enabled the family to continue advancing the beauty of the campus through the promenade. The walkway makes the campus more pedestrian-friendly, linking the Hughes-Trigg Student Center on the north with the Residential Commons complex on the southern end of the campus. Lawson M. Crain ’11 and B. W. Crain IV ’05 attended the dedication of the Crain Family Centennial Promenade on Founders’ Day. The cousins are grandsons of the late Ann Lacy Crain ’41 and represent their family’s third generation of SMU alumni.
“This is a joyful day for all of us,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Not only are we celebrating a job well done by our major donors and legions of others, but we invited our friends and families to stroll this beautiful new promenade and read the inscriptions. It’s a perfect finale for The Second Century Campaign and a lasting tribute to our generous donors.”
The Crain family’s ties to SMU began with the late Ann Lacy Crain ’41. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She later became president of R. Lacy, Inc., an oil and gas production corporation founded by her father, Rogers Lacy, and based in her home community of Longview, Texas. She also was president of the Crain Foundation. Mrs. Crain served her alma mater as a member of the SMU Board of Trustees from 1984 to 1987 and as a member of the Dedman College Executive Board.
Ann Lacy married Bluford Walter “B.W.” Crain, Jr. and they had three children: Lacy Crain, B. Walter Crain, III ’72 and Rogers Lacy Crain. The Crain family comprises three generations of SMU alumni.
Crain Foundation support includes funding of the Ann Lacy Crain Fountain on the east plaza of the Blanton Student Services Building, as well as support of Meadows School of the Arts, Edwin L. Cox School of Business, the Hamon Arts Library Building Fund, the SMU Annual Fund and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, among other areas.
As part of dedication festivities for the Crain Family Centennial Promenade, donors of engraved pavers were asked to share the stories behind the bricks. While there are thousands of stories, many reveal common themes of a passion for learning, a love of SMU and the bonds that were formed on the Hilltop. Here are just a few of them:
For paver donor Jack Benage ’11, ’13, SMU is where he found the love of his life: “I donated this paver as a Valentine’s Day gift to Meredith Levine ’11, ’14, commemorating the day that we met on campus years ago. As it turns out, months later I asked her to marry me just steps from where the pavers [were] placed. Our paver is now a lasting tangible reminder of SMU’s role in bringing us together!”
Kellie P. Johnson ’95 honored Professors Brad Carter, Dennis Simon and Joe Kobylka: “I graduated with my B.S. in poli sci in 1995. I took almost every class taught by Drs. Simon, Carter and Kobylka. They were, by far, my favorite professors. I named my oldest son after Dr. Carter. I still email all three of them regularly and often stop by the Poli Sci Department when I’m on the Hilltop to just say ‘hi’ or chat as long as they’ll have me. They are great men, great teachers and great friends. I bought my paver to honor three individuals who made a lasting impact on my life.”
Many multigenerational SMU families are represented on the promenade. Among them are Deva Fontenot ’88 and her son, Dustin Fontenot ’13. She donated the brick as a lasting tribute to their Mustang pride: “I completed my education at SMU in 1988 with a degree in advertising. I always felt that this great University introduced me to talented people and had the ability to attract great professionals here to share their knowledge. When my oldest son applied to SMU, it was thrilling to see him accepted and create a legacy for our family. We have commemorated that with this paver displaying both of our names. It’s an honor to be a part of this beautiful promenade for always.”
Hundreds of SMU family members returned to the Hilltop April 15 to participate in Founders’ Day festivities, from marking the milestone of $1.15 billion raised during The Second Century Campaign to dedicating the new Crain Family Centennial Promenade.
Individuals and families enjoyed finding the engraved brick pavers that are among the 10,000 that were bought to help create the Promenade. Students celebrated Peruna’s annual birthday at Perunapalooza held on the main quad. On Saturday, participants attended Inside SMU sessions presented by faculty on topics ranging from the overuse of antibiotics to global economic challenges. SMU Athletics held its spring football game and the Meadows Museum opened its doors for Community Day. Duncan MacFarlane, the Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship, and sophomore Diana Cates ’18, a 2016 Tower Scholar, spoke at the campaign finale about how they have benefited from donor support. The photos on this page capture some of the high points of the fun-filled weekend.
1. President R. Gerald Turner (fourth from left) and his wife, Gail, celebrate with campaign leaders at the ribbon cutting for the dedication of the Crain Family Centennial Promenade and campaign major donor monument. 2.–5. Alumni and donors enjoyed finding their engraved bricks on the new Promenade. 6. Former first lady and librarian Laura Bush ’68, an SMU trustee, spoke at the celebration of donors to the renovations of Fondren Library. 7. Duncan MacFarlane, the Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship, and sophomore Diana Cates ’18 told their stories about the impact of donor support at the campaign finale. 8. A student sits patiently while her face is painted with her favorite running Mustang. 9. Kids of all ages enjoyed the Mustang Fan Fair at Ford Stadium, which featured an enormous bounce slide and an appearance by SMU’s mascot, Peruna. 10. Students performed in Sing Song, an annual musical competition, which featured an updated take on traditional fairy tales.
11. SMU football played its spring red-blue game in Ford Stadium, where the offense defeated the defense 45-35, on Saturday during Founders’ Day weekend. 12. Robert G. White, Jr. ’74 and his wife, Brenda G. White ’74, look at the list of major donors to The Second Century Campaign on a new campus marker on the Crain Family Centennial Promenade. 13. Campaign co-chair Caren Prothro stands next to the table that was given in honor of Cullum Clark, her son-in-law, by the Vin and Caren Prothro Foundation for the new Centennial Reading Room
in Fondren Library. 14. Debra Tippett Gibbe ’76 honored Donald F. Jackson ’63, who taught finance at the Cox School of Business, with a chair in the Centennial Reading Room. 15. Perkins School of Theology Professor Robert Hunt spoke on “Achieving Solidarity: Religion and Society During Anxious Times” at Inside SMU during Founders’ Day weekend.
16. With a flourish the Mustang Band helped inaugurate the Crain Family Centennial Promenade.
More than 1,300 donors supported SMU during the Mustangs Give Back challenge March 24, providing funding for campuswide projects and other important areas that have a big impact on today’s students.
The one-day giving opportunity raised $186,119 for a wide range of student-focused programs and initiatives, including engineering research, new courses in emerging fields, tutoring and scholarships. Thanks to Mustang generosity, SMU engineering students are closer to bringing a reliable source of clean water to a Bolivian village.
A special Mustangs Give Back website provided profiles of 30 featured projects and their funding goals. By the end of the challenge, each highlighted project had received contributions, and 21 projects had exceeded their goals.
“When Mustangs come together to support students and faculty, there is no limit to their potential to change the world,” says Marianne B. Piepenburg ’81, SMU’s assistant vice president for alumni and constituent giving and executive director of alumni relations.
Thanks to the generosity of the University community, the SMU student chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) has cleared another hurdle toward its goal to help the village of Llohila Grande, Bolivia, obtain a reliable source of clean water.
The EWB’s “Water the World: SMU to Bolivia” raised $6,658, more than three times its original funding request. Morgan Monzingo ’16 and Andrew Timmins ’16, senior engineering majors in the Lyle School of Engineering, led the “Water the World” effort. Andrew Quicksall, J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Assistant Professor in the Lyle School, serves as faculty advisor.
“This donation puts us one step closer to providing the community of 250 residents with water that they can drink with confidence and won’t make them sick,” says project participant Rachael Rodgers ’18, a sophomore civil engineering major from Granbury, Texas.
In August 2015, Rodgers traveled to Bolivia for an initial assessment during which SMU students met with townspeople and ran field tests to collect water quality data.
Mustangs Give Back donations will not only help improve the quality of life for the people we met in Bolivia, but they also provide students like me with the opportunity to use our education to improve our local and global communities. I have always been interested in water resources, and I also have a love for the Spanish language and culture. Being able to combine these two passions into one project is an exciting privilege.” – Rachael Rodgers ’18
Residents of the South American village currently rely on shallow wells containing high levels of salt, manganese and arsenic. SMU students have designed three solutions, ranging in cost and complexity, to solve the problem effectively.
Rodgers, along with Richie Burns ’18, Michael Keya ’17, Mauricio Sifontes ’19 and Erin Walsh ’18, has planned a return trip to Bolivia in August to install a deep well as part of the project implementation.
“Mustangs Give Back donations will not only help improve the quality of life for the people we met in Bolivia, but they also provide students like me with the opportunity to use our education to improve our local and global communities,” Rodgers says. “I have always been interested in water resources, and I also have a love for the Spanish language and culture. Being able to combine these two passions into one project is an exciting privilege.”
The University’s East Campus may not reflect the same Collegiate Georgian architectural style as the main campus, but make no mistake: The SMU buildings east of Central Expressway contain a hive of University activity.
Since 2006, SMU has acquired 15 acres east of U.S. Highway 75 (Central Expressway). Many of the buildings line SMU Boulevard (formerly Yale Boulevard), the most predominant of which is the 15-story Expressway Tower, a Dallas landmark that once served as headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys.
Today Expressway Tower houses administrative offices for human resources, financial operations, and facilities planning and management. Across the street is 6200 Central Expressway, housing some units of development and external affairs, including alumni relations.
SMU’s Office of Human Resources (HR) was one of the first to relocate to Expressway Tower in 2007. “The move enabled HR to have a beautiful new space, including a full state-of-the-art training room; however, we knew we would miss being on the main campus,” says Sheri Starkey, associate vice president and chief human resource officer. “HR had to learn to reach our faculty and staff in new and different ways, and we’ve found that people enjoy coming to our offices or attending a course in our training center.”
Expressway Tower also houses Dedman College’s Department of Psychology, Lyle School of Engineering labs and its Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, and several programs of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, including Research in Mathematics Education, StemPrep and the Center on Research and Evaluation. Simmons’ Locomotor Performance Laboratory is housed in a building at 5533 Dyer, where research is conducted on the mechanics of movement, performance, metabolic energy expenditure and metabolic power.
Having psychology housed at the tower has been an adjustment, because classes are still taught on the main campus, mostly in Hyer Hall, says George Holden, professor of psychology and department chair. Many students now prefer to contact their professors via email rather than come to the Tower for office hours. But the move has provided more space for research labs. Continuing and Professional Education (CAPE) moved into an SMU building at 5539 SMU Boulevard. Because CAPE offers hundreds of courses and registers from 6,000 to 10,000 adult students each year, “having a permanent building has given our small unit an important identity and allowed us to provide better service,” says Kimberly Rutigliano, director of CAPE. “Having our own classrooms has allowed us to expand certificate programs, and we now have the space to offer weeklong intensive programs for working professionals.”
To ensure that the surrounding community knows of SMU’s presence in the area, a sign atop Expressway Tower features the SMU logo and the words East Campus. Added more recently is a large outline of the familiar running Mustang that lights up nightly and in red when SMU wins home football and basketball games. The cupolas atop the Blanton Student Services Building and Armstrong Commons also light up in red after wins, creating a spirit connection between the east and main campuses.
SMU’s East Campus also has become an integral part of the University Crossing Public Improvement District (UCPID), a neighborhood comprising more than 200 organizations and businesses within a 122-acre radius defined by North Central Expressway, Mockingbird Lane, Greenville Avenue and Lovers Lane. Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs, and Paul Ward, SMU vice president for legal affairs, serve on the UCPID board of directors. Improvements made to the area include beautification, lighting and brick paving.
The latest development on the East Campus was the groundbreaking in February for SMU’s new Robson-Lindley Aquatics Center. The future site of SMU’s outdoor pool is next to the center. Two new parking lots are being constructed on Dyer Street next to Central Expressway and are scheduled to open this summer.
Tricia Linderman ’91 Tricia Linderman ’91 remembers how important mentors and business contacts were to her as a newly minted SMU graduate.
“I was very fortunate to have a lot of executives who made time for me early in my career, and I believe in paying that forward,” she says.
Linderman, executive vice president of recruiting and corporate communications at Texas Capital Bank, shared her time and expertise with psychology major Lauren Gonzalez ’16 as a volunteer with the SMU Connection externship program over winter break. A collaboration between SMU’s Alumni Relations and Engagement team and the Hegi Family Career Development Center, the program matches alumni across the country with SMU undergraduates for a one-day job-shadowing opportunity. Matt Samler ’04
The externships had been offered during winter break only, but the program was recently expanded to the spring. For the first time, approximately 50 students and alumni have been matched for externships in May.
For consultant Matt Samler ’04, who hosted business major Taylor Press ’18, the volunteer experience allowed him “to give back to SMU in a more personal way and help a student in the process.” Samler serves as vice president of site selection and location economics for JLL, a commercial real estate services and investment management firm. He believes the externship program is “a great way for students to expand their professional network, which will help lead to employment opportunities when they graduate.”
Spending a day on the job can be revelatory for students as they consider career possibilities, says Sandy Speegle Nobles ’75, director of education at the Momentous Institute, which provides educational and therapeutic services for children and families. She was shadowed by psychology and sociology major Melissa Kraft ’19. Sandy Speegle Nobles ’75
“Knowing how we are building and repairing social and emotional health in children growing up in poverty was a good fit for what she is passionate about studying at SMU,” Nobles says. “She was able to walk away with an understanding of what we do at the intersection of education and mental health.”
An externship can help students discover job options they may not have considered, Linderman says. “Initially, Lauren thought about going to law school, but had recently decided to pursue a role in human resources. I told her that employment law is a fascinating area where she could combine both her passions.”
Gonzalez says Linderman “opened my eyes to employment law. It wasn’t ever something I considered, but I am looking into now.”
Find out more about serving as an externship host and other SMU Connection alumni volunteer opportunities online or email involved@smu.edu.
SMU’s Cox School of Business honored five alumni May 13. Pictured at the awards luncheon are (from left) Dean Al Niemi, Bryan Sheffield ’01, John Anthony Santa Maria Otazua ’79 , ’81, Michael Merriman ’79, Jason Signor ’04, Billie Ida Williamson ’74 and SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
The SMU Cox School of Business honored five alumni at the school’s annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon on May 13. 2016 Distinguished Alumni Honorees Michael Merriman, BBA’79, is Chief Executive Officer of Financial Holding Corporation — FHC — a privately held financial services holding company in Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to serving on other corporate and civic boards, he is a member of the SMU Cox Executive Board. Mr. Merriman’s wife, Ellen, and their four children — Jack, Margaux, Edward and Mattie — are all SMU alumni. John Anthony Santa Maria Otazua, BBA ’79 and MBA ’81, is the CEO of Coca-Cola FEMSA, the largest public bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world, encompassing franchise territories in 10 countries across Latin America and Asia, with over 100,000 associates operating 63 bottling plants and 327 distribution centers globally. He serves on other corporate boards and helps represent Mexico on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council. He and his family live in Mexico City. Billie Ida Williamson, BBA ’74, served as a senior assurance partner and the Americas’ inclusiveness officer of Ernst & Young LLP until her retirement in 2011. She began her career at Ernst & Young in 1974 in the assurance practice. Ten years later, she became one of the firm’s first women partners. After 19 years with EY, she left to become chief financial officer of AMX Corp., led that company’s successful IPO, and became senior vice president of finance of Marriott International, Inc. In 1998, she rejoined Ernst & Young in its Center for Strategic Transactions and became a senior client-serving partner. Ms. Williamson serves on multiple corporate boards, is active on civic boards and is a member of the Cox Executive Board. Before earning a BBA in accounting in 1974, with highest honors, Ms. Williamson was SMU’s student body treasurer and Homecoming queen. She was honored by SMU with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015. 2016 Outstanding Young Alumni Honorees Bryan Sheffield, BBA ’01, founded Parsley Energy in 2008 and serves as chairman, president and CEO. He led the company’s growth from a two-person contract operator to a publicly-traded company with more than 200 employees and more than 800 operated wells. In May 2014, he directed Parsley’s initial public offering — the second largest E&P IPO ever — after which the company has established a track record of drilling some of the basin’s most productive wells. Last fall, he presented SMU Cox with a gift to honor his father. The new Scott Sheffield Energy Investment lab bears the name of Bryan’s dad, the chairman and CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources. Jason Signor, MBA ’04, is a partner and CEO of Caddis Healthcare Real Estate. He began his career designing hospitals in Nashville, Tennessee, then chose to pursue graduate school at SMU Cox, where he served as president of his MBA class. In graduate school, he co-founded the still thriving Real Estate Club at Cox with a fellow graduate student who would eventually become his business partner at Caddis. Modern Healthcare magazine named Caddis the ninth largest healthcare developer in the U.S. this year.
SMU Cox Distinguished Alumni must hold an undergraduate or graduate degree from SMU, a position of distinction in the business community; demonstrate outstanding career success, be active civic leaders and community partners, and be involved with SMU and the Cox School through activities and contributions. Those recognized as SMU Cox Outstanding Young Alumni must meet the same criteria, but can be no more than 40 years of age at the time of the awards luncheon. Nominations for either honor may be sent to Kevin Knox, assistant dean of external relations and executive director of the SMU Cox Alumni Association, at kknox@cox.smu.edu.
Michelle Merrill ’06, ’12, assistant conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, is among 11 recipients of 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards for young conductors with promising careers. Michelle Merrill ’06, ’12, assistant conductor, Detroit Symphony
“The mission of the Solti Foundation U.S. is to identify, support and promote emerging young American conductors as they launch their classical careers,” says Penny Van Horn, U.S. board chair. “We nurture relationships with all our recipients, tracking their progress and offering support when it is merited. We also provide continuing support not only in the form of grants but in valuable access to mentors, door opening introductions and opera residencies.”
Merrill is in her second season as assistant conductor and Phillip and Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She was recently named one of Hour Detroit Magazine’s “3 Cultural Organization Leaders to Watch” and made her classical subscription debut with the Detroit Symphony in April 2016.
Recent and upcoming engagements include the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Toledo Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Symphoria (Syracuse), Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera, Boise Philharmonic, Orlando Philharmonic, New Music Detroit, St. Augustine Music Festival and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, where she formerly served as assistant conductor.
In March 2014, Merrill stepped in on short notice with the Meadows Symphony Orchestra for its performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 4, named a Top 10 Classical Performances of 2014 by The Dallas Morning News. In 2013, she was awarded the prestigious Ansbacher Conducting Fellowship by members of the Vienna Philharmonic and the American Austrian Foundation. A strong advocate of new music, she recently collaborated with composer Gabriela Lena Frank and soprano Jessica Rivera on Frank’s La Centinela y la Paloma (The Keeper and the Dove), as a part of numerous community programs related to the Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
A Dallas native, Merrill studied conducting at SMU with Paul C. Phillips, professor of music, Martha Raley Peak Endowed Centennial Chair and director of orchestral activities in Meadows School of the Arts. She earned bachelor’s degrees in music education and saxophone performance in 2006 and master’s degrees in orchestral conducting and music education in 2012.
The Solti Foundation U.S. was established in honor of Sir Georg Solti, internationally renowned orchestral and operatic conductor, by his family following his death in 1997. Over the past 12 years, the foundation has granted 46 career assistance awards to “young, exceptionally talented American musicians at the start of their professional careers,” according to Valerie Solti, honorary board chair.
Nicholas Saulnier ’15, ’16, a master’s degree student and graduate research assistant in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, always hoped he’d be able to solve problems and help people over the course of his career as an electrical engineer. To his surprise, that time came sooner than he expected. An interdisciplinary research team – (from left) Eric G. Bing, Nicholas Saulnier, Dinesh Rajan and Prasanna Rangarajan – has developed a smart phone-based screening system for early cervical cancer detection being tested in Zambia.
“I never thought I’d be able to make a difference while I was still a student,” says Saulnier, one of several SMU engineering students to help develop hardware and software to screen for cervical cancer with a smart phone. The technology, for use in remote regions of the globe where physicians are in short supply, is being tested in Zambia.
Department of Electrical Engineering Chair Dinesh Rajan, the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Engineering, conceived of the research project in 2014 with Eric G. Bing, professor of global health in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, during a research meeting of the SMU Center for Global Health Impact, which Bing directs. Other project members include Prasanna Rangarajan, research assistant professor, and master’s student Soham Soneji.
“It’s meant to assist the person in the field, a nurse or other medical practitioner, to make better decisions,” Rajan says. “Cervical cancer is a curable cancer when detected early. But there’s a lack of experienced doctors in many countries, or people must travel far to reach a clinic to be examined.”
The smart phone technology leverages a well-known algorithm used in a wide variety of applications, Rajan says. The SMU engineers coupled the algorithm with hardware that improves performance of smart phone cameras for taking pictures in low light, where focus is difficult and impeded by scattering reflections from the speculum used in the cervical examination. The software compares the photo to pictures stored in a vast medical database. When a possible abnormality is detected, patients are referred to a clinic or specialist for further evaluation.
“Technology must and will be leveraged to improve healthcare for everyone and break the divide between the medical haves and have-nots — this is just among the early steps in that direction,” Rajan says.
Bing saw the need while a senior fellow and director of global health for the George W. Bush Institute, where he co-founded Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, a public-private partnership to combat cervical cancer in Africa.
“Through innovative and interdisciplinary research like that which is being conducted at SMU, our students and faculty can help save lives throughout the world,” Bing says. – Margaret Allen
This SMU Magazine represents my last issue as executive editor. It’s been 33 years since SMU recruited me from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C., to become editor here. I had previously edited publications at The American University and Georgetown University, but I was attracted to SMU by the opportunity to make a difference at an up-and-coming institution. Today, as we all know, SMU has definitely “arrived” among the nation’s distinguished universities. Patricia LaSalle-Hopkins ’05
As I retire May 31, my hope is that the 92 issues I oversaw have told the story of SMU’s progress and potential in a compelling way. Yes, we reported on the institutional tragedies of the late ’80s, but it was then even more of a joy to report SMU’s turnaround and triumphs under Presidents A. Kenneth Pye and R. Gerald Turner. President Pye showed great respect for the role of consistent communications for our alumni, parents, donors and friends, as does President Turner today.
At the same time, we’ve been fortunate to garner external recognition for SMU Magazine, including being named one of the top 10 university magazines in the nation by our professional association. In this digital age, some may consider magazines to be old school, but as one who has kept up with communication trends at colleges and universities nationwide, I can attest that the best institutions, and those striving for that status, are producing lively, colorful and frequent (usually quarterly) university magazines. SMU Magazine is published twice yearly now, but our content is updated online.
Most SMU staff will tell you that the University is not just a place of employ-ment – it is a community that is embrac-ing and enriching, with an impact on all areas of our lives. My work at SMU has resulted in friendships with many accomplished and caring individuals among the faculty and staff. The most notable relationship, of course, has been with beloved SMU History Professor James K. Hopkins. I interviewed him for a magazine article shortly after arriving in 1983, and this June we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.
I also became an SMU alumna after completing the Master of Liberal Arts degree in 2005. It has been an honor to become a Mustang, one of the more than 100,000 members of the alumni commu-nity who receive this magazine.
SMU enabled me to advance professionally as well, moving up to my current position as associate vice president for public affairs, but still watching over the magazine as executive editor, working with Susan White as editor.
I have indeed been fortunate in pursuing my career – which became my calling – at SMU, including collaboration with a remarkably talented Public Affairs staff. In telling my own SMU story, it is difficult to separate the personal from the professional, so I will end by simply, but wholeheartedly, saying thank you. And – Go Ponies!
– Patricia LaSalle-Hopkins ’05
Hats off to SMU’s 2016 graduates! The academic accomplishments of more than 2,500 students were celebrated at the University’s 101st annual Commencement ceremony May 14.
Technology and civic leaders Richard and Mary Templeton shared the delivery of the SMU Commencement address. Richard Templeton, a member of the SMU Board of Trustees, is president and CEO of Texas Instruments, and Mary Templeton is a philanthropist and community volunteer who had a 14-year career with General Electric before moving to Dallas.
SMU conferred an honorary degree on pioneering medical researcher Groesbeck Parham. Parham has saved the lives of thousands of women in Africa by developing a simple, affordable cervical cancer screening procedure using household vinegar as an indicator of abnormal cells.
The all-University Commencement ceremony can be viewed here.
Diploma presentation ceremonies were held at individual schools on Friday and Saturday afternoon.
Following are some highlights of the Saturday morning ceremony captured by SMU Photography. Ready. Set. Pony up! Preparing for the walk. Students gathered for pre-Commencement fun and photos. Moody Coliseum was filled with graduates and their families and friends. Students are ready to receive their doctorates. Honorary degree recipient Groesbeck Parham (left) with SMU President R. Gerald Turner. Technology and civic leaders Mary and Richard Templeton delivered the Commencement address. These smiles say it all. Happy graduation! Looking for familiar faces among the sea of well-wishers. It wasn’t easy to stand out in the crowd. Congratulations to all SMU graduates!
Wearing full regalia, undergraduate degree candidates lined up on the main quad and outside McFarlin Auditorium for the Baccalaureate Service May 13. Following the service, students were led by faculty and alumni marshals through the front doors of Dallas Hall for the Rotunda Recessional. This symbolic departure from campus welcomes the newest members to the SMU Alumni family. These images from SMU Photography capture the excitement and camaraderie of an unforgettable evening in the lives of SMU graduates.
In 1974, Professor Cecil Smith challenged his engineering students to build a concrete canoe and enter it in a national intercollegiate contest sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The “Engineering Lunch Bunch” in 2010: (from left) Professor Emeritus Bijan Mohraz, Kelly Williams, the late Professor Cecil Smith, Margaret Pawel-Moore, Sam Basharkhah and Bill Hanks. Smith’s former students are raising money to name an endowed scholarship in his honor in the Lyle School of Engineering.
“We did it, but we didn’t do so well,” recalls Bill Hanks ’75, one of the students participating in the San Antonio race. “It was truly a huge pain to build, but Dr. Smith knew we could finish, and we wanted to prove him right. He was the leader of the project for years at SMU and students always followed him.”
When Smith died at age 90 last May, Hanks and other SMU engineering alumni joined forces to complete another goal: to raise $100,000 to establish the Professor Cecil H. Smith Endowed Scholarship Fund in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering.
This is an opportunity for alumni to have a lasting impact on today’s students in memory of their beloved professor.
“From my conversations with many Lyle alumni, I know we all feel Dr. Smith was ‘our’ professor,” says Hanks, who earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from SMU. “To so many of us, he was much more than a teacher and mentor. He became a true friend.”
For more than 30 years, Smith and Bijan Mohraz, professor emeritus, presided over the “Engineering Lunch Bunch,” a group of former students meeting for freewheeling conversations over lunch. “These lunches developed out of a connection that started in classroom, labs and working on SMU’s first concrete canoe,” says Hanks, a veteran of the group.
A few years ago, before Smith moved away to be closer to family, the group met for the last time. Smith, a tennis ace, had broken his hip on the court and required surgery, but the group was undeterred. The hospital staff was so impressed by the alumni’s determination that they booked a conference room and delivered Smith, bed and all, to the celebration.
As they come together now to raise funds in honor of their beloved professor, alumni recall a few of the reasons he was so special:
Smith enjoyed conjuring up nicknames for students, and they returned the favor. His snowy mane earned him “The Silver Fox” and “Snowman”, while “Coach” was a nod to his tennis prowess.
He was the go-to professor for help with any engineering problem, even if you weren’t in his class. It wasn’t unusual to see a line of students waiting outside his office.
Whether they needed advice about careers or relationships, alumni sought Smith’s counsel.
“Dr. Smith was a truly unique individual who made an IMPACT on many engineering students over such a long period of time,” Hanks says.
By creating the endowed scholarship, alumni and friends are recognizing Smith’s efforts and success in developing engineers and leaders during his time at SMU, Hanks says. “Please join us to complete our goal of raising enough funds to create the Endowed Scholarship Fund in Dr. Smith’s name, and his legacy will live on through future generations of students.”
Gifts of all sizes are welcomed and appreciated. Donations may be made online or by contacting Casey Andrews, Lyle School advancement associate, at andrewsc@smu.edu or 214-768-4136.
By Denise Gee Lisa Walters ’14 in Ecuador, where she now lives and works. She was in Houston, on her way back to the South American country, when an earthquake devastated coastal Ecuador April 16.
Everything Lisa Walters ’14 learned from earning SMU degrees in human rights and Spanish is being put to the ultimate test in Ecuador. She was about to board a plane back to her home in the South American country Saturday, April 16, when she learned Ecuador had been struck by a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
Lisa, the daughter of SMU Assistant Chief of Police Jim Walters, moved to Ecuador a week after she graduated from SMU and now works as a team leader for the educational nonprofit group Global Citizen Year (GCY), a Oakland, California-based program that provides study abroad opportunities for young men and women in their “gap” or “bridge” year between high school and college. She was changing planes in Houston, on her way back to Quito after escorting a group of GCY students to California, when she learned the quake had killed hundreds, injured thousands, and left some 40,000 people searching for shelter, food and family members.
At the time, her usually unruffled police officer father was, “to be honest, frantic,” he says.
Since he and his daughter are close, they communicate almost daily by email or via the international–calling WhatsApp service. Chief Walters worried about her heading to Quito, which had closed its airport to allow in only flights carrying relief supplies.
After the duo connected during Lisa’s delay in Houston, she checked in as “safe” on Facebook – much to the relief of her 687 friends on the social media network and her Ecuadorean husband of less than three months. Meanwhile, countless people were contacting Chief Walters to inquire about his and Lisa’s wellbeing. “It was a pretty amazing feeling to hear from so many people, especially at SMU, who showed just how much they care about us,” he says. “It was heartwarming to say the least.”
As Lisa and her father connected with family members and friends during a multi-hour delay in Houston, her flight was finally cleared to return to Quito. But once there, she would spend nearly another full day trying to get a seat on a bus to take her to her home, three hours away in the Imbabura province that borders hard-hit Esmeraldes.
“While some young people might complain about such a trying situation, all Lisa could think about was finding out about the safety of others, especially her family and co-workers,” Chief Walters says. She learned her husband’s family home was damaged but still livable, and that her brother-in-law’s home was completely destroyed. Then came a swirl of unconfirmed reports about friends and colleagues that fostered a frenzy of emotions – from alarm to relief to concern. But as the daughter of a veteran police detective, Lisa has learned to approach chaos with a level head and an outstretched hand.
“The very first thing she did was to start thinking about what she could do to assist, which didn’t surprise me, knowing that’s just her nature,” Chief Walters says. “What did surprise me was the measured approach she and GCY took in handling the crisis.” Lisa with her father, SMU Assistant Chief of Police Jim Walters.
As Lisa tells it, “Many well-meaning volunteers assumed they needed to travel directly into the fray, but wound up only impeding relief efforts because of their lack of skill and organization,” she says. “Our team decided to use the sources we already had in the badly affected areas to communicate the most important needs.”
“We’re all in a state of limbo,” but not a static one, says Lisa, who’s helping whenever and wherever she can. She’s especially in demand as a translator for English-speaking tourists needing information about navigating the damaged terrain, assisting with relief operations or getting out of the country.
On a personal note, “I’m starting by donating urgently needed items in Quito,” Lisa says. “I’ve signed up to join a relief/building crew with TECHO Ecuador within a few days.”
Her father couldn’t be more proud.
“Thanks in large part to the human rights and Spanish-language training she received at SMU, Lisa is able to carry out her work in a tremendously meaningful way – making her own personal comfort and safety secondary as she helps others,” he says. “That would make any parent proud. It’s certainly the case for me.”
GCY offers gap-year students the chance to study in Ecuador, Brazil, India and Senegal “to build self-awareness, global skills and grit.” Those were traits Lisa herself vowed to pursue after her first SMU Abroad trip in 2010 to Ecuador, where she fell in love with “the beautiful people and country,” she says.
“Being from the U.S. is a huge privilege, and I don’t want to let the connections I have there go to waste during this extremely trying time,” Lisa adds. “Ecuador needs long-term commitment in the form of monetary and material goods to allow this country’s hardworking people to begin the process of recovery. I now call this amazing country home, so the very least I can do is try to make some small difference.”
How To Help Earthquake Victims In Ecuador
Lisa Walters recommends contributing to the Ecuador Earthquake Emergency Relief Fund powered by Generosity/IndieGoGo.
Begun by the youth group Global Shapers Community Quito in partnership with The Red Cross Society in Ecuador and the Ecuadorean government, the site has so far raised more than $87,000 to “sustain national and international efforts beyond peak emergency response,” Lisa says.
“Reconstruction in Ecuador will take months, if not years, and the sustainability of reconstruction requires us to act now, while doing our best to ensure international attention.”
Bloodbuy, the Dallas-based company whose technology connects hospitals and blood centers nationwide to ensure the efficient flow of lifesaving blood products to patients in need, has been named the winner of the first Harvard Business School-Harvard Medical School Health Acceleration Challenge. “This award is obviously a huge honor, and our team is blown away,” commented Christopher Godfrey ’05, founder and CEO of Bloodbuy. “It serves as tremendous validation for the work we are doing to try to create a higher level of efficiency in what we consider one of the most critical health care verticals.”
Godfrey received his BBA from SMU’s Cox School of Business in 2005. He also holds master’s in healthcare leadership from Brown University, where he was the recipient of the Brown University Graduate School Master’s Award for Professional Excellence.
The Health Acceleration Challenge is a “scale up” competition that focuses on compelling, already-implemented health care solutions and helps them to grow and increase their impact through powerful networking and funding opportunities. In its first year, the Health Acceleration Challenge received 478 applicants and attracted 20,000 online visitors from 29 countries.
“Bloodbuy’s innovation addresses a significant problem in health care—the imbalance between the supply of and demand for blood,” said Robert S. Huckman, the Albert J. Weatherhead III Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. “Its online platform and ability to scale its organization have already had a positive impact on patient care, and the company is poised to make even greater contributions in the future. We are proud to recognize Bloodbuy’s success with this award.”
Bloodbuy emerged as the winner after a year-long selection process that involved 18 semifinalists winnowed to four finalists who share a $150,000 prize endowed by Howard E. Cox, Jr., now an advisory partner in the venture capital firm Greylock Partners and a member of both the HBS Healthcare Initiative Advisory Board and the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. As the final winner, Bloodbuy will receive an additional $50,000.
As the founder and CEO of Bloodbuy, Godfrey is responsible for the overall strategic direction and growth of the company, its technology solutions and its people. Prior to founding Bloodbuy, he sourced and structured control investments within the healthcare sector on behalf of HealthCap Partners. Over the course of his career, he has played a principal role in the underwriting, structuring and closing of numerous healthcare sector control investments with an aggregate investment basis in excess of $700 million.
Previously, Mr. Godfrey served as senior vice president and director of finance for The Cirrus Group, where he chaired its investment committee. Prior to Cirrus, he held positions with Hillwood Capital, Macfarlan Capital Partners and J.P. Morgan.
He has been included on the Dallas Business Journal’s list of Who’s Who in Healthcare, recognized by the Harvard Forum on Healthcare Innovation, and served as the protagonist of a Harvard Business School Case Study. READ MORE:
>Harvard Business School: Bloodbuy Wins First Harvard Business School-Harvard Medical School Health Acceleration Challenge
>KERA Radio: A Dallas Startup Banks On The Blood Business
>Bloodbuy.com
Writer/producer David Hudgins ’91, known for such soulful, family-centered dramas as Friday Night Lights and Parenthood, switches gears for his new NBC series, Game of Silence, a dark drama revolving around a group of childhood friends and a secret from their past. Writer/producer David Hudgins ’91
Viewers will be treated to a preview airing of the first episode April 12 at 9 p.m. (CST) before the 10-episode series settles into its regular time slot at 9 p.m. (CST) on Thursdays, beginning April 14.
Hudgins, an executive producer and writer for the series, adapted Game of Silence from the Turkish series Suskunlar.
The network describes it as “a gripping new drama about friendship, love, revenge and the moral dilemma of how far one will go in the pursuit of justice.”
More from the series’ website: “Five best friends have a dark secret they thought was buried, but they soon discover that you can’t hide your past forever.
Jackson Brooks (David Lyons, Revolution) is a successful attorney who seems to have it all. He’s engaged to his boss, Marina (Claire van der Boom, Hawaii Five-O), and he’s on the fast track to becoming partner at his firm, but his world is turned upside down when his long-lost childhood friends unexpectedly reappear after 25 years. Jackson, Gil Harris (Michael Raymond-James, True Blood), Shawn Polk (Larenz Tate, Rush) and Boots (Derek Phillips, Friday Night Lights) always stuck together, like brothers. They spent their boyhood summers in the small town of Dalton, Texas. But their idyllic world turned chaotic one fateful summer afternoon when a well-intentioned and heroic attempt to save their friend Jessie (Bre Blair, Las Vegas) ultimately cost the 13-year-old boys nine months at Quitman Youth Detention Facility, where their lives were changed forever.
Now 25 years later, the nightmare of the worst nine months of their lives has resurfaced, uprooting a mystery even deeper than their buried past. The cast also includes Conor O’Farrell (The Lincoln Lawyer), Deidrie Henry (Justified) and Demetrius Grosse (Saving Mr. Banks).”
A childhood spent in Texas is familiar territory for Hudgins. He grew up in Dallas and graduated from St. Mark’s School of Texas. After earning his undergraduate degree from Duke University, he served as a staff assistant to Sen. Al Gore before entering SMU’s Dedman School of Law. After receiving his J.D. in 1991, he spent eight years working as a trial lawyer for a Dallas firm. The Game of Silence cast includes (from left) David Lyons, Michael Raymond-James and Larenz Tate. (Photo: Bob Mahoney/NBC)
Hudgins’ journey to success as an executive producer and award-winning writer reads like a screenplay he might have written. In 2001, following the death of his sister from breast cancer, he made a life-altering decision to quit his law practice and and move with his family to the hills of Tennessee, where he concentrated on writing. Two years later, he sold his first feature screenplay, prompting a move to Los Angeles
A staff writer position on the WB show Everwood was his first job in television. Hudgins spent three seasons writing for the series and also served as a co-producer. He then moved to the NBC drama Friday Night Lights, where he served for three seasons as a writer and co-executive producer.
In 2009, Mr. Hudgins created and ran Past Life for Warner Brothers Television, a one-hour drama that aired on Fox. He then returned to Friday Night Lights, serving as showrunner and executive producer on the show’s fifth and final season, before moving on to Parenthood, where he spent four seasons as a writer and executive producer.
In March 2014, he moved his overall deal to Sony Pictures Television, where he also is adapting the best-selling novel Natchez Burning for cable.
For his work in television, he has received multiple Emmy and Writer’s Guild Award nominations, including Best Drama Series for Friday Night Lights. He is also a recipient of the Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
In 2012, Hudgins founded The Catherine H. Tuck Foundation in honor of his sister. He serves as president of the breast cancer charity. A frequent guest speaker and industry panelist, he also serves on the board of trustees for The Humanitas Foundation and the Austin Television Festival.
Hudgins lives in California with wife Meghan and their four sons: Jackson, Brooks, Reid and Owen.
Kathryn Jones Malone ’00, instructor of communications studies at Tarleton State University, will be inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL) as part of the organization’s annual awards event April 15-16 in Austin. Kathryn Jones Malone ’00 will be inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters at the group’s annual awards event April 15-16.
“I’m honored to be chosen as a member of this prestigious group,” Jones says. “I grew up reading many of the writers who are part of TIL. This encourages me even more to keep writing and never to lose sight of my goal to write to the highest standards.”
Jones earned a master of liberal arts degree from SMU in 2000.
New TIL inductees will present a sample of their work on Saturday, April 16, at the AT&T Executive Conference Center at the University of Texas. Jones plans to read a selection from one of the chapters she wrote for Pickers and Poets: The Ruthlessly Poetic Singer-Songwriters of Texas, edited by Craig Clifford, professor of philosophy and director of the Honors Degree Program and the Presidential Honors Program at Tarleton.
TIL honors outstanding writers with a Texas connection. Members include such distinguished authors as Larry McMurtry, Cormac McCarthy and Dagoberto Gilb.
TIL recognizes writers with membership; awards annual prizes for distinguished literature by Texans or about Texas; sponsors the Dobie Paisano Literary Fellowships in conjunction with the University of Texas; and fosters fellowship among TIL members while promoting books and literature in the state.
“Tarleton State should be very proud of Professor Jones,” says Charlie Howard, head of the Department of Communication Studies. “She has added a great dimension to our program. Students are learning and publishing because of her guidance.”
In addition to teaching news writing, feature writing, photojournalism and editing, Jones is faculty adviser for the student-produced Cross Timbers Trails magazine. She is a longtime journalist, having worked as a reporter for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald, as well as a writer-at-large and contributing editor for Texas Monthly and a freelance writer for many other publications.
Tarleton, a member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven educational experience at campuses in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian as well as online.
Jonathan Norton ’11 has won the 2016 M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award for an emerging playwright from the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA). The award will be presented at the Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville on April 9. Award-winning playwright Jonathan Norton ’11
The Osborn Award recognizes Norton’s “Mississippi Goddamn,” which premiered in February 2015 at the South Dallas Cultural Center in a production directed by Vickie Washington.
Norton’s play is also a finalist for the 2016 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, the winner of which will be announced at the festival.
An inaugural member of the Dallas Playwrights Workshop, Norton has had plays developed or produced by PlayPenn, The Black and Latino Playwrights Conference, TeCo Theatrical Productions, African-American Repertory Theater and more. Norton earned a master of liberal studies degree from the University in 2011 and is an SMU staff member. In “Mississippi Goddamn,” Norton takes us to the house next door to that of civil rights leader Medgar Evers and offers a drama about a family making tough decisions in a tumultuous time. Among the comments by the ACTCA New Play Committee panelists: “Venal haters and courageous civil rights leaders have been the subjects of many a film and play, but this piece tackles the less dramatized and understood reality of those caught in the crossfire.”
“He may have used Nina Simone’s song as his title, but the play’s content isn’t borrowed at all.” The “fast-moving, dramatic and revelatory” play with a “truly explosive, molten core” contains “nothing PC or sentimental.” It has “a raw quality that actually benefits the tense ‘desperate hours’ scenario of neighbors and families divided by the insidious pressures of racism.”
“The conflicts explored here are usually left out when theater looks at such revered figures as Medgar Evers,” but Norton offers “a very gripping, very human drama on every page.”
“Norton’s research into that story paid off, and he emerged with a show that sparks conversation.”
ATCA’s Osborn Award is designed to recognize the work of an author who has not yet achieved national stature. The award was established in 1993 to honor the memory of Theatre Communications Group and American Theatre play editor M. Elizabeth Osborn. It carries a $1,000 prize, funded by the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association.
The American Theatre Critics Association was founded in 1974 and works to raise critical standards and public awareness of critics’ functions and responsibilities. The only national association of professional theater critics, it has several hundred members who work for newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations and websites across the United States. ATCA is also a national section of the International Association of Theatre Critics, a UNESCO-affiliated organization that sponsors seminars and congresses worldwide.
NFL offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum ’11, ’12 will talk about the role sports play in furthering the conversation on American human rights issues during a panel discussion on Thursday, April 7 at 7:15 p.m. in Dallas Hall’s McCord Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Kelvin Beachum ’11, ’12 will be among the speakers examining the interplay of sports and human rights.
“A Conversation on Sports and Human Rights” will be moderated by WFAA sportscaster Dale Hansen and will include SMU Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director Monique Holland.
“Sports provides an easy doorway for social analysis, and a common ground for open dialogue,” says Embrey Human Rights Program Assistant Director Brad Klein, who helped organized the event.
“In sports media and the conversations of fans, it is common to hear discussions about paying college athletes, women’s and LGBT rights, race relations, team mascots, athletes with disabilities, drug use in competition and more,” Klein adds. “In this way, sports has a remarkable ability to get people of different backgrounds and perspectives talking together.”
The April panel will pull back the curtain on what those debates look like in the locker room, the newsroom and in the front office. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel during the course of the discussion.
“There are important differences between the way athletics works in the U.S. compared to, say, politics,” Klein says. “Sports has a special ability to put a personal face on big issues. How many more people can name the quarterback of the Cowboys rather than their Congressional representative? Sports touch many people at a young age before prejudices and biases about identity are fully formed.” – Kenny Ryan
SMU alumni Kelvin Beachum ’11, ’12, Candice Bledsoe ’07, Tonya Parker ’98 and Michael Waters ’02, ’06, ’12 are among the speakers addressing issues that face African-American college students at an SMU Simmons School conference on April 1. Topics at “Looking Beyond the Horizon: Black Excellence in Higher Education” include mentoring, poverty and youth, and transforming the higher education experience for African-American students.
The Black Excellence in Higher Education conference is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Harold Simmons Building on the SMU campus. The conference is free and open to the community, but registration is required. To register, e-mail Yolette Garcia at ygarcia@smu.edu.
College enrollment for African-American students is at its highest in history, but a recent report found that fewer than one in 10 African-American high school graduates are college ready. In addition, when black students attend college, their graduation rates lag behind other students. An average of 45 percent of African-American students who enroll in college graduate, compared to 65 percent of white students.
“The time is overdue for colleges and universities to have conversations about the black experience in higher education,” says David Chard, dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. “The goal is to understand what structures, dispositions and practices we need to have in order to improve student success. Also, we need to look at what conditions should change. We want to work with community members to help us with this, and are grateful for the assistance of our conference partner, the Youth Action Research Center in Dallas.”
Speakers and panel discussions include current SMU students as well as the following leaders in higher education, justice, religion and professional athletics: Kelvin Beachum’11, ’12, a tackle for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, serves as an ambassador for initiatives that spark interest in science, technology, engineering and math among underserved youth. Beachum, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars in March, started for 52 games as a member of SMU’s football team. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 2011 from SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and, 16 months later, a master of liberal studies degree from the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Candice Bledsoe ’07 is the founder and executive director of the Youth Action Research Center, co-sponsor of the “Black Excellence in Higher Education” conference. The center promotes college readiness and leadership skills. She is a 2015-2016 fellow for the New Leadership Academy at National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan. A graduate of Baylor University, she earned a Master of Liberal Studies degree from SMU and recently received the Doctorate in Education from the University of Southern California. Her community leadership awards include the Profile of Community Leadership Award from SMU’s Women’s Symposium. David Chard became the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development’s first endowed dean in 2007. Under his leadership, the school now offers a total of 15 graduate degree programs and two undergraduate degree programs and has grown from 13 full-time faculty members and 42 staff members to 80 full-time faculty members and 86 full-time staff members. Research funding has increased to $36 million since 2007. Known nationally as an education reformer, Chard shaped the school to attract high quality research faculty and deliver evidence-based teaching. Chard was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education in 2012 and elected chair. The board oversees and directs the work of the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Nakia Douglas, founding principal of the Dallas Independent School District’s all-male magnet school,Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy, has set the tone for the unique public school in southern Dallas. Students take college preparatory courses like Latin and calculus and develop their leadership skills. Now in its fifth year, Barack Obama is home to 470 students, grades six through twelve, and has a waiting list. Every member of the first graduating class in 2015 now attends college. The recipient of numerous awards, Douglas accepted the Luminary Award from the Simmons School in January.
The Hon. Tonya Parker ’98, judge of the 116th Civil District Court in Dallas County since 2004, was elected by her judicial colleagues to serve as presiding judge of the Dallas County Civil District Courts and is the immediate past president of the Texas Association of District Judges. A 1998 graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law and the recipient of numerous awards, she was recently elected to the American Law Institute, an organization made up of the country’s most distinguished jurists. Devoted to community service, she is a regular volunteer with IGNITE, a nonpartisan organization aimed at encouraging more high school and college girls and women to become involved in politics. Richard Reddick, assistant vice president of diversity and community engagement and associate professor of higher education at the University of Texas at Austin, is an expert on higher education and African-American students and faculty. His research analyzes mentoring relationships between faculty and black students, including factors influencing faculty mentorship and the advising and counseling approaches utilized by faculty in mentoring black students. A former elementary and middle school teacher, he is the co-author or co-editor of three books on the African-American family.
The Rev. Michael Waters ’02, ’06, ’12, founder and senior pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church, is a Dallas interfaith leader and author of Freestyle: Reflections on Faith, Family, Justice and Pop Culture. He is board chair of the City of Dallas’ Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, which offers social services, cultural and educational opportunities to more than 300,000 Dallas citizens. SMU, Ebony Magazine and the Dallas Business Journal have recognized him as an emerging leader. Waters earned undergraduate degrees in political science and religious studies from SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, followed by two degrees from Perkins School of Theology: the M. Div. cum laude and Doctor of Ministry with honors. – Nancy George
William C. Roberts ’54, MD, executive director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute (BHVI), has been awarded the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for his contributions to the cardiovascular profession.
The award, which is the highest recognition bestowed by the ACC, honors Roberts’ outstanding work in cardiac pathology. Roberts will receive the award at the American College of Cardiology’s 65th Annual Scientific Session and Expo on April 4 in Chicago. The ACC was founded in 1949 and has more than 49,000 members worldwide.
“I am humbled and honored to receive this award from my peers,” Roberts says. “I am proud and pleased that the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute has played a major role in my career and research done particularly after coming to Dallas made this award possible.”
The award also recognizes him as a role model through his service, research and teaching.
“Dr. William Roberts has made lasting contributions to the field of cardiovascular medicine through dedication to his patients, practice and colleagues,” says ACC President Kim Allan Williams, MD, FACC. “It is an honor to be able to recognize Dr. Roberts with the Lifetime Achievement Award and celebrate his contributions to and achievements in cardiology.”
Roberts earned a bachelor’s degree in English from SMU in 1954, which has served him well as editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Cardiology and Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings. He has published more than 1,600 peer-reviewed articles and served on the editorial boards of nearly three dozen cardiology publications.
“Bill has, indeed, experienced a lifetime of achievement as the most important and accomplished cardiovascular pathologist of his era, as a teacher of incalculable numbers of cardiologists including at the annual Williamsburg Conference on Heart Disease for more than 40 years, and as the successful editor of The American Journal of Cardiology for 34 years,” says Barry Maron MD, director of the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.
Roberts also serves as dean of the A. Webb Roberts Center for Continuing Medical Education.
“It is a rarity to have the opportunity to work closely with such a stellar cardiac pathologist who is also an exemplary clinical research investigator and who is truly known to be the ‘father of cardiovascular pathology,’” says Kevin Wheelan, MD, chief of medical staff, Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital, Dallas.
“To work with him on a daily basis is an honor. Dr. Roberts’ contributions to the cardiology world have been far-reaching.”
Accomplished alumni and outstanding students were honored at the fifth annual Black Excellence Ball on February 27 as part of SMU’s observance of Black History Month. Black Alumni of SMU joined the Association of Black Students (ABS) to present the festive evening that included recognition of the 2016 Black History Makers and Black Alumni Scholarship recipients as well as the ABS Legacy Award honorees.
2016 History Makers
Jennifer M. “JJ” Jones ’93, ‘99 Jennifer M. Jones ’93, ’99 has been shaping world changers for more than 30 years. “Her name is synonymous with SMU,” said Deah Mitchell ’13 in her introduction of the campus leader.
Known to almost everyone at the University as “JJ”, she joined the staff in 1985 and has served in a wide range of roles. After 16 years with Residence Life and Student Housing, JJ continued to have a major impact on the student experience as the director of multicultural student affairs and later as the assistance dean of Student Life/director of Student Activities and Multicultural Student Affairs.
Now, as the executive director of Student Life, she supports and advises the Student Association and coordinates the social event registration process through her office. She also supervises the directors of the Women & LGBT Center, family and parent programs and the associate dean over the Caring Community Connections program.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1993 and a master of liberal arts degree in 1999 from SMU. A member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, she has served as National Pan-Hellenic Council president. She travels around the U.S. speaking to Greek councils and other student organizations about student leadership responsibilities and related issues. At Inside SMU last year, she shared the story of her fight against breast cancer and credited the unbridled support shown by students with keeping her going through the rough patches. “It was affirmed to me that we have the best students in the world,” she said. “That’s why I’ve been here so long.” Jamal Story ’99 could not make it to the awards ceremony to accept the 2016 Chairman’s Award. The globetrotting dancer/choreographer was on the West Coast for a performance. After his recent workshop, Jamal Story ’99 gets a lift from SMU dance students.
Since earning bachelor’s degrees in dance and communications arts/TV and radio from Meadows School of the Arts, he has worked on stage and as a dance captain for two historic black Broadway shows, The Color Purple and Motown: The Musical, and toured with Madonna and Cher. But his impressive résumé doesn’t end there. He also has served as an ad interim professor of dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and worked with such acclaimed companies as Complexions, Lula Washington Dance Theatre and Donald Byrd/theGroup.
He sits on the board of Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and co-chairs its national dancers committee.
The premiere of The Parts They Left Out, a new aerial piece he createdfor the Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s annual Cultural Awareness series in February, garnered rave reviews. While he was working in Dallas, he took time off to teach a workshop for SMU dance students.
2016 Black Alumni Scholarship Recipients
Black Alumni Scholarship winners (from left) Stacy Tubonemi ’16, Naomi Samuel ’19 and Mariah Williams ’17. Naomi Samuel ’19, a first-year finance major and English minor from Garland, Texas, is a BBA scholar in the Cox School of Business. Beyond the classroom, she is involved with Sisters Supporting Sisters, a student organization designed to uplift black women on campus, and serves on the Student Senate Diversity Committee. Mariah Williams’17, a junior biology and Spanish major from Chicago, Illinois, serves as the community service chair for the Association of Black Students and is an active contributor to ABC programming efforts throughout the academic year. She also serves as secretary for the Voices of Inspiration Gospel Choir. After SMU, Mariah plans to pursue a career in medicine as a pediatric neurologist. Stacy Tubonemi’16, a senior finance major from Liberia, serves as the public relations chair for the African Student Association and has been invaluable in strengthening and sustaining the bond between that organization and the ABS. After graduation, Stacy aspires to return to Liberia and use her business degree to promote entrepreneurship.
Association of Black Students Legacy Awards
Alumni honorees:
David S. Huntley ’80, AT&T chief compliance officer, who become SMU’s first black student body president (1978-79) after a successful write-in campaign his sophomore year.
Jennifer M. “JJ” Jones ’93, ’99
Anga Sanders ’70, a member of the “SMU 33” whose activism drew attention to the need for diversity among faculty and in the curriculum and called for improved working conditions for black employees of the University.
Jerry LeVias ’68, football legend and the first black player in the Southwest Conference to receive an athletic scholarship, was unable to attend.
Student honorees:
Gabrielle Faulkner ’17, a finance major with a fashion media minor from Dallas, has been active in many campus organizations, including Student Senate and Alternative Breaks, and has served as a career development ambassador. Her career goal is to be the CEO of a major fashion brand.
Darien Flowers ’18, a management science major with a minor in sociology, works at El Centro Community College/Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development as a department assistant/adjunct faculty teaching GED, workplace preparation, career exploration and planning, and other continuing education courses. He is president of the Upsilon Mu Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Marcus McNeil ’19, an offensive lineman for the Mustangs from San Antonio, is a member of ABS and has been a member of the Youth and College Division of the NAACP for the past five y ears. In his free time he works with such community organizations as The Boys and Girls Club of San Antonio and Black Lives Matter of San Antonio.
Briana A. Rollins ’18, a biology major with a minor in sociology from Houston, serves as vice president of Sisters Supporting Sisters. She is the student coordinator of CONNECT Leadership Development Institute, which assists first-year and transfer student of color through peer mentoring and friendship. While at SMU, she has raised more than $40,000 to support campus life and student needs. She plans to attend medical school and pursue a career in neonatal medicine.
Building on a legacy of proud Olympians, world records and 155 national titles, SMU broke ground on the new Robson-Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium February 26.
The 42,000 square foot center will be home to SMU’s internationally recognized men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. Located at 5550 SMU Boulevard, on the University’s growing east campus, the center will provide facilities for practice, competition and community use.
“SMU swimmers and divers have a legendary record of success, both in the pool and in the classroom,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The facilities will help student-athletes continue the Mustang swimming legacy, and enable fans to enjoy the highest levels of competition at a premier venue. Today’s groundbreaking demonstrates SMU’s commitment to supporting students in their quests for excellence.”
The Robson-Lindley Aquatics Center will house the Barr-McMillion Natatorium, an Olympic-size, eight-lane indoor pool with a platform diving well, including four springboards and a 10-meter tower for training and competition. Coaches’ offices, men’s, women’s and visitor locker rooms and a classroom and meeting area will be located adjacent to the pool. Spectator seating for 800 will be on the mezzanine level.
The center also will be available for community use and swimming lessons.
Lead donors to the SMU Aquatics Center include Shelli and Steve Lindley ’74 and the Willard M. and Ruth Mayer Johnson Charitable Foundation, the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, Emily and Bruce Robson ’74, Hannah and Joe Robson ’76, and Susan Cooper Wilson ’67 and Robert A. Wilson ’67.
Major donors include Michele Stackhouse Berube ’97 and Ryan T. Berube ’97; Frank M. Dunlevy ’71 and Susan Dunlevy; Maureen G. Frieze ’84 and J. Ed Frieze ’81; John M. Haley ’64 and Margie Jackson Haley ’67, ’68; Cindy L. Hawkins and Pat C. Hawkins ’70, ’71, ’72; Anna Marie Krizman Hurwitz and Joseph M. Hurwitz ’75; Dane K. Johnson, D.O., FACOS ’75; Mr. and Mrs. T. Gregory Kraus ’80; Greg M. Swalwell ’79 and Terry G. Connor; John T. Unger ’73, ’74 and Kathy J. Welch ’74; and Terry Warner ’74.
“These generous donors are ensuring a strong future for SMU swimming and diving,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for Development and External Affairs. “We are grateful for their support and commitment to future student-athletes.” A permanent exhibit in the Robson-Lindley Aquatics Center will honor former swimmers, divers and coaches who have built the strong reputation of SMU’s program. When the former Southwest Conference declared swimming a major sport in 1932, SMU fielded its first men’s team. After a brief tenure in the early 1920s, women’s swimming returned to the Hilltop in 1974. Since then men’s and women’s teams have garnered 57 conference championships and qualified for 91 appearances at the NCAA National Championships. SMU athletes have earned 155 national titles and 1,465 All-America honors, with six Mustangs recognized as NCAA Swimmer of the Year or Diver of the Year.
Since 1952 SMU men’s and women’s swimmers have qualified for 91 Olympic appearances, winning eight gold medals, eight silver and four bronze. Current SMU women’s coach Steve Collins has led the national teams of Slovakia and Bulgaria and men’s coach Eddie Sinnott served as the head coach for Haiti in 1996 and assistant manager of the U.S. team in 2008.
Much of the programs’ storied success can be traced to two legendary coaches: A.R. “Red” Barr and George “Coach Mac” McMillion ’55. As head coach at SMU from 1946-71, Coach Barr led the Mustangs to 17 Southwest Conference championships. As a student, McMillion was captain of the 1954 SMU team, winning seven Southwest Conference individual championships. He returned to SMU to become assistant coach for 14 years, then succeeded Coach Barr in 1971. McMillion led the Mustangs to eight consecutive conference championships, and a top 15 ranking each year he coached. Bryan Robbins coached 12 diving All-Americans under McMillion, and was the coach of the 1976 and 1980 U.S. Olympic teams. Current swimming and diving head coaches have continued the Mustang legacy, each with long tenures on the Hilltop. Men’s swimming and diving coach Eddie Sinnott, another Mustang championship swimmer and assistant coach to McMillion, became coach of the men’s team after McMillion’s retirement in 1989. Women’s swimming and diving coach Steve Collins inherited a championship team when he arrived in 1986. Under Collins, the women’s team finished in the nation’s top four for eight consecutive years, 1992-1999. Head diving coach Jim Stillson, who arrived on the Hilltop in 1985, has coached Mustang divers to 88 All-America honors and mentored three Olympians. In addition, he is a three-time NCAA Diving Coach of the Year.
“SMU swimmers and coaches achieved great success in Perkins Natatorium, but they have long dreamed of a new aquatics center,” said Rick Hart, SMU director of athletics. “The promise of these superb new facilities will strengthen the future of the swimming and diving program and honor the legacy of the student-athletes and coaches who created the SMU swimming powerhouse.”
The gifts to support the Aquatics Center count toward SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which concluded on Dec. 31, 2015, and raised more than $1 billion to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. Fundraising for the Aquatics Center continues. To make a gift, please contact Kurt Pottkotter, kpottkotter@smu.edu, 214-768-3639.
A wide range of SMU club sports teams now have a new field to call home. The University’s new Crum Lacrosse and Sports Field was formally dedicated on February 24. The field was made possible by a generous gift from Gary T. Crum ’69 and Sylvie P. Crum, whose support reflects their family’s long-time love for lacrosse. The couple’s three children – Ashley, Christopher and Clayton – each played lacrosse in their youth as their sport of choice, with Christopher playing on the SMU club team while an undergraduate. Sylvie Crum is a current board member of the US Lacrosse Foundation.
“The new multipurpose sports field will help promote and support a healthy lifestyle for our students who are involved in club sports,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The generosity of Gary and Sylvie Crum is a product of their passion for athletics, particularly lacrosse. We are grateful that they are giving more students an opportunity to enjoy sports competition as part of student life at SMU.”
Located along Bush Avenue, south of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the Crum Lacrosse and Sports Field provides space for practice and games for club teams, including men’s and women’s lacrosse, which will have priority use of the field. SMU’s soccer, baseball and rugby teams also will have opportunities to use the field. The facility consists of a synthetic turf field with 6,945 square feet of space, a field house, six tennis courts and additional parking for Park Cities Plaza. The field house, designed in Collegiate Georgian style in keeping with SMU’s other architecture, includes locker rooms, a concessions area and covered bleachers.
The new field opened for use January 19.
Gary Crum received his B.B.A. from SMU in 1969 and was an active member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He went on to earn his M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972, where he later served as the chairman of the McCombs School of Business Advisory Council. Before his retirement from private industry, Crum was co-founder of AIM Management Group and served as director of AMVESCAP PLC. In recognition of his many contributions, Gary Crum has received Distinguished Alumni Awards from SMU and the Edwin L. Cox School of Business and has been inducted into the McCombs School of Business Hall of Fame at the University of Texas at Austin. Sylvie Crum is active in numerous civic activities in their home community of Houston. Graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in French, she formerly served as the Regent’s representative on the UT Intercollegiate Athletics Council for Women and is a member and former chair of the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council. She also serves as a director for the US Lacrosse Foundation.
Gary and Sylvie Crum serve as the chief executive officers of the CFP Foundation, a Houston-based charitable organization focused primarily on educational issues related to Texas. They have three children: Ashley, Christopher and Clayton. Continuing the legacy of their father, Ashley ’03 and Christopher ’05 earned B.B.A. degrees at SMU. Clayton earned her B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, and Christopher went on to earn an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Gary and Sylvie Crum received SMU’s Mustang Award in 2012 in recognition of their remarkable generosity. Their other gifts to SMU include Crum Commons, Crum Basketball Center, athletics initiatives and scholarships in the Edwin L. Cox School of Business.
“The Second Century Campaign opened new classrooms and residential facilities across the University, and now it’s opened a new athletic field for students,” said SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad E. Cheves. “Thanks to the inspiring generosity of donors like the Crums, the campaign has helped increase the quality of students, faculty and facilities to higher levels, truly raising SMU’s profile as a private university with a national and global reputation.”
The gift to fund the Crum Lacrosse and Sports Field counts toward SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which concluded on Dec. 31 and raised more than $1 billion to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience
SMU dedicated Harold Clark Simmons Hall, a three-story building serving a new generation of teachers and leaders to develop and use evidence-based strategies in education, on February 25.
The new hall, the second building for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, is home to innovative teaching laboratories, a center that fights poverty through education and community support, as well as offices for faculty members and researchers. Annette Caldwell Simmons and her husband, the late Harold C. Simmons, gave $25 million in February 2013 to fund the new structure and three new endowed academic positions. Mrs. Simmons wished to recognize her husband and his lifelong commitment to education by naming Harold Clark Simmons Hall in his honor.
Previously in 2007, a historic $20 million gift by Mr. and Mrs. Simmons established endowments for the school and provided funding for the school’s first new building, Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall. The gift created an endowed graduate fellowship fund and an endowed deanship and faculty recruitment fund, both of which honored Mr. Simmons’ parents, who were educators in Golden, Texas. SMU named the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development in recognition of this significant commitment. Annette Caldwell Simmons and Harold Clark Simmons“The Simmons partnership, and this new building, expand the critical national and international role the Simmons School plays in research, development of innovative programs and leadership in the field of education, ” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Work performed here ranges from strengthening the academic skills of the youngest preschooler in West Dallas to conducting research on new uses of technology in education. We are grateful to Annette and Harold Simmons for their insight and encouragement of evidence-based education.”
Situated on the SMU campus along Airline Drive, Harold Clark Simmons Hall is a 40,000-square-foot academic building constructed in the University’s distinctive collegiate Georgian style. It is home to the Budd Center: Involving Communities in Education, the Department of Teaching and Learning and the Teacher Development Studio. The facility also includes classrooms, faculty and administrative offices and conference rooms.
“The teachers and students in our region will be the beneficiaries of the Harold Clark Simmons Hall,” says David J. Chard, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Simmons School. “The teaching laboratories here will enable the Simmons School to help teachers optimize their impact on children’s education. It also will serve as the hub of our community-based programs, enabling us to expand our understanding of the relationship between schools and the communities they serve.”
Mrs. Simmons earned a B.S. degree in elementary education from SMU in 1957 and later taught first, second and third grades at Maple Lawn Elementary School in Dallas and at Clark Field, a U.S. air base in the Philippines. Mrs. Simmons is a former member of the board of the SMU Tate Distinguished Lecture Series and has been active in numerous other SMU programs and civic activities.
The late Mr. Simmons was founder, chair and CEO of Contran Corporation, a holding company with interests in several industries. He is a former member of the executive boards of Cox School of Business and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. His relationship with SMU began in 1961 when he bought a small drugstore near the campus, Simmons University Drug. The enterprise eventually expanded to 100 stores. He sold the chain in 1973, and it later became Eckerd Drugs.
Previous gifts to SMU from Mr. and Mrs. Simmons include the endowment of four President’s Scholars and the creation of the Simmons Distinguished Professorship in Marketing in Cox School of Business. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons’ combined commitment to the Simmons School makes their gifts among the largest to SMU’s Second Century Campaign, also making them among the most generous donors in SMU’s more than 100-year history. In 2012, Mr. and Mrs. Simmons received the Mustang Award in recognition of their extraordinary philanthropic support of SMU.
“We are grateful for the inspiring generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Simmons for bringing resources to bear on national education issues that will strengthen our region and the lives of individuals for generations to come,“ says Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. About Harold Clark Simmons Hall
Harold Clark Simmons Hall includes eight classrooms, including the McCarthy Classroom, given by Connie McCarthy Sigel ’85 and Marc Sigel. Its six conference rooms include the McLamore Conference Room, a gift of the McLamore Family Foundation. The classrooms, conference rooms and 28 faculty offices feature floor-to-ceiling white boards to facilitate interactive learning. In addition, two-story naturally lit porticoes at the north and south ends of the building provide comfortable settings for study or discussion. A rose garden connects Harold Clark Simmons Hall to SMU’s first education building, Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall.
The hall also serves as home for these innovative programs of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development:
The Budd Center: Involving Communities in Education focuses on a strategic and holistic approach to fighting poverty by transforming education. Endowed in 2014 by Russell and Dorothy Budd ’06, the center leads The School Zone, a West Dallas partnership of 32 social service agencies and 16 public, private and charter schools. The Budd Center equips school districts and nonprofits to work together to meet the extraordinary needs of children living in poverty. The center builds data-sharing and legal infrastructure and teaches partners to translate data and use it to develop highly targeted plans for struggling students. The center also creates networking, training and professional development experiences for partners to strengthen their ability to accelerate students’ academic success. The Budd Center’s work in West Dallas serves as a model that can be replicated by other communities. New projects have launched in the Dallas Independent School District and in Taos, New Mexico.
The Teacher Development Studio occupies three laboratories technologically equipped to train students to become effective teachers. The Teaching Performance Lab simulates pre-K–12 classroom environments with computer avatars standing in for students. Education students use video game technology to interact with simulated students. Students in the Assessment Lab learn to use software, which will enable them to create assessments and evaluate student performance. Assessment outcomes are relayed to the Instructional Design Lab where education students learn to create the resources to connect with their students. With technology like 3-D printers, 70-inch touch screens and large format printers, students learn to develop unit and lesson plans and technology applications to support student learning.
The Department of Teaching and Learning prepares educators to be scholars and leaders through teacher education programs at the undergraduate, post baccalaureate and graduate levels. Faculty members combine years of classroom experience with a deep knowledge of research-based practices to create high-quality learning environments. Many faculty members are actively involved in the local education community and work in schools, focusing on reading, bilingual education, mathematics and special education. Programs offer students a comprehensive curriculum of theory, research, cross-disciplinary studies and practical experience.
Coming on the heels of its 100th birthday celebration, the University announced on February 26 that SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign has raised gifts totaling $1.15 billion, the largest amount ever raised by a private university in Texas. Donors provided 68 new or significantly enhanced academic programs and initiatives and 689 new student scholarships during the campaign.
The University’s Board of Trustees heard the final tabulation of gifts and pledges at its meeting February 26 on the SMU campus, following the official completion of the campaign December 31, 2015.
Teaching and learning at SMU are forever enhanced by the ambitious campaign: Donors provided 689 new student scholarships; raised the previous number of 62 endowed faculty positions to a new total of 116; and provided for 68 new or significantly enhanced academic programs and initiatives, including endowments for two schools. Twenty-four capital projects have been substantially funded, including new facilities for academic programs, student housing and athletics. Other gifts for campus enhancements support expanded career services and leadership programs.
The campaign succeeded against a backdrop of explosive North Texas population growth and the relocation of many Fortune 500 companies to the region. SMU President R. Gerald Turner said the unprecedented funding for scholarships, academic positions and programs, and facilities will benefit SMU’s home city and surrounding region in the form of innovative ideas, research and talented graduates.
“These gifts, in many ways, are gifts to the greater Dallas area,” Turner said. “All of the major metropolitan areas of the country have at least one nationally competitive university that not only helps educate the area’s workforce, but also serves as the educational and intellectual hub for many of the city’s needs and cultural assets,” he said. “SMU is proud to be that university for Dallas.”
SMU joins 34 private universities nationwide to have undertaken campaigns of $1 billion or more. The institutions include Columbia University, the University of Notre Dame, Emory and Vanderbilt universities.
“The future for SMU and Dallas is brighter because of the incredible generosity of donors to this campaign,” said SMU alumnus Gerald J. Ford, SMU trustee and convening co-chair of the campaign. “What their gifts will do for the next generation of leaders, researchers, innovators, artists and entrepreneurs is impossible to measure at this time, but the impact will be unprecedented.”
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Campaign resources enabled SMU to endow the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering and SMU’s newest and seventh degree-granting school – the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering is home to the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Institute for Engineering Education, the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security Hunter and the Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity.
A strong example of SMU’s response to the needs of its home community, the Simmons School was established at the request of area school officials, offering evidence-based approaches to teacher preparation, school leadership development and community partnerships, as well as research on physiology and human performance. Within the school, the SMU Budd Center: Involving Communities in Education is reaching into West Dallas in particular, partnering with 29 nonprofits; 16 public, private and charter schools; and the Dallas Independent School District. They aim to address the social, emotional and educational issues that cause many students to disengage from learning, drop out or graduate from high school unprepared for employment or further education.
Also endowed during the campaign was the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crime Against Women at the Dedman School of Law, one of 10 specialized clinics and projects, where, under the supervision of faculty, students serve as advocates on behalf of clients in many areas of the law.
Mirroring the importance of the arts in a thriving community, the largest single gift to the campaign, and the largest in SMU history, was $45 million from The Meadows Foundation to support the Meadows Museum and the Meadows School of the Arts, which offer a range of nationally recognized academic programs and events that enhance the cultural offerings of the city and surrounding region.
“Dallas and SMU have grown up together, and both are experiencing an era of great promise and momentum,” said SMU alumnus Michael M. Boone, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees and a campaign co-chair. “Great global cities need great centers of learning that serve as incubators for creative ideas and innovative actions that change the world. I’m thrilled that this fundraising success helps ensure that SMU will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing the growth and entrepreneurial culture of Dallas for many years to come.”
Here is a partial list of academic programs receiving funding from The Second Century Campaign: COX SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
EnCap Investments & LCM Group Alternative Asset Management Center
Don Jackson Center for Financial Studies
Kitt Investing and Trading Center
DEDMAN COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SCIENCES
Embrey Human Rights Program
Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences
Texas-Mexico Research Program in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies
DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW
Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crime Against Women
Tsai Center for Law, Science and Innovation
BOBBY B. LYLE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
W.W. Caruth, Jr. Institute for Engineering Education
Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security
Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity
MEADOWS SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Art History Ph.D. Program
Journalism Digital Studio
National Center for Arts Research
PERKINS SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
Center for Preaching Excellence
Center for Religious Leadership
Center for the Study of Latino/a Christianity and Religions
ANNETTE CALDWELL SIMMONS SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The Budd Center: Involving Communities in Education
Institute for Leadership Impact
Research in Mathematics Education
GROWING SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
The 689 new endowed scholarships created include support for undergraduates and graduate students in all seven schools of the University. Among them are Cox School of Business MBA scholarships for veterans and active military students and additional scholarships for transfer students. New support also is being provided for SMU’s top two merit scholarship programs – the Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholars and the SMU President’s Scholars.
Other newmerit-based scholarships include those offered by schools for students who express advanced interest in major programs – Cox BBA Scholars, Meadows Scholars, Dedman College Scholars, Lyle Scholars, Simmons Scholars and Dedman Law Scholars. Annual gifts for multiyear scholarships also provide essential support to these students.
FACULTY SUPPORT
The extraordinary quality of SMU’s faculty is a defining feature of the University. Support for The Second Century Campaign enabled SMU to add 54 endowed faculty positions, reaching a University total of 116, up from 62 in 2008. Endowments for new faculty positions enable SMU to broaden significantly the subjects researched and taught at the University, many of which are vital to the future of Dallas.
Among the notable examples of faculty endowment is Frederick Chang, the Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security and director of SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, who this year was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering.
NEW FACILITIES
New campaign-funded facilities include buildings for the Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Perkins School of Theology and Lyle School of Engineering, as well as a new Mustang Band Hall, new tennis center and renovation and expansion of Moody Coliseum for athletics and academic ceremonies. Under construction are the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center and Fondren Library Center renovation; upcoming construction projects include the Gerald J. Ford Research Center and an aquatics center. At SMU-in-Taos, new facilities include a campus center, new and renovated housing and a chapel.
One of the most visible campaign projects, and one with significant impact on campus life, is the addition of five new residence halls and a dining center as part of SMU’s new Residential Commons system, including on-site classes and faculty in residence. Six other halls have been renovated as Commons, enabling all first- and second-year students to live on campus.
Overall construction funded by the campaign has been a major contributor to the Dallas economy. Since 2011 SMU has spent $390 million on renovation and construction projects, which have employed about 270 service providers, including architects, engineers, landscapers, contractors and suppliers.
“From the beginning, this campaign was about big ideas, innovative thinking and unbridled enthusiasm for SMU,” said Brad E. Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs. “Campaign co-chairs and SMU trustees set ambitious goals. Along the way, our longtime supporters and thousands of new donors joined in this effort. The momentum they’ve created is like nothing we’ve seen before. I’m excited to see where we go from here.”
BREAKING CAMPAIGN RECORDS
SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign made fundraising history in several ways. The campaign:
Gained support from the largest number of donors – more than 65,000 from throughout the world, an increase of 58 percent from SMU’s previous campaign, which ran from 1997-2002.
Saw an increase of 135 percent in gifts from outside Texas, as compared to the last campaign.
Received the largest number of gifts of $1 million or more – 183.
Exceeded its goal to receive gifts from 50 percent of alumni over the course of the campaign, achieving 59 percent.
Surpassed its goal to achieve 25 percent of undergraduate alumni giving in a single year, reaching 26 percent for 2014–2015. (This measurement is used by some ranking organizations to gauge the level of alumni satisfaction with their alma mater.)
Concurrent with the campaign, starting in 2008, SMU improved in national U.S. News & World Report rankings from 68 to 61; undergraduate applications increased 57 percent to 12,992; and SAT scores rose to 1309.
VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP
The campaign has been served by more than 400 volunteers from throughout the world led by six co-chairs, all SMU trustees: convening co-chair Gerald J. Ford, Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler, Michael M. Boone, Ray L. Hunt, Caren Prothro and Carl Sewell.
The Second Century Campaign was publicly launched in 2008 with a goal of $750 million. Rapid progress toward that goal and opportunities for further advancements led SMU leaders to increase the goal to $1 billion. The last four years of the campaign, 2011–2015, coincided with SMU’s centennial era, marking the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and opening in 1915.
SMU’s previous major gifts campaign, ending in 2002, was the University’s first successful campaign since its opening. “A Time to Lead: The Campaign for SMU” was launched in 1997 with an original goal of $300 million. Again, strong momentum led to an increased goal of $400 million. The final amount raised was $542 million.
Including both campaigns, in the last two decades SMU has raised over $1.7 billion for new scholarships, new academic positions, academic programs and capital projects.
Nick Boulle placed second in the Prototype Challenge Class in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Photo by Taylor Johnson. Nick Boulle ’11 knows how to make an impressive debut. Boulle finished in second place in the Prototype Challenge (PC) Class during his first time to compete in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, January 29-31.
The Rolex 24 Hours is a grueling 24-hour marathon on the storied Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Boulle’s teammates included Tom Kimber-Smith, a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Robert Alon and Jose Gutierrez. The team traveled a total of 698 laps around the 3.56-mile circuit, with each driver completing about six hours behind the wheel during the endurance race. Their Le Mans PC car, an open cockpit design, clocked up to 190 mph during the event and was sponsored by de Boulle Motorsports and Meridian Realty Advisors.
The son of Denis and Karen Boulle, owners of de Boulle Diamond & Jewelry, purveyors of Rolex watches and other fine jewelry, Boulle grew up in University Park and started racing go-karts as a youngster. By the time he was an SMU student, he was competing nationally on the Volkswagen Junior Driver circuit.
After earning his BBA in finance from the Cox School of Business, he stepped away from motorsports for a while, taking up competitive cycling and growing his social media/marketing firm, WOW!Birds.
It appears, though, that his racing career is going full speed ahead.
“I have always loved motorsports,” he says, “and racing in the Rolex 24 has turned a dream into reality.”
Six SMU alumni returned to the Hilltop on February 18 to share their stories and discuss the many career paths open to students studying human rights at a career forum sponsored by the Embrey Human Rights Program in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. >Read coverage of the career forum in The Daily Campus
Speakers included: Maillil Acosta ’11 Teach For America, Manager of Teacher Leadership Development (Dallas) Dallas-native Maillil Acosta has dedicated her life to fighting for educational equity in the city she loves most. While pursuing a human rights minor at SMU, she participated in the Civil Rights pilgrimage. After earning a bachelor’s degree in political science, she joined Teach For America and taught fifth- grade math at Herbert Marcus Elementary, the Dallas elementary school she had attended as a youngster. While she initially believed she had joined TFA to change the lives of students, she quickly realized how working with students was changing her life. After completing her two-year commitment in the classroom, she became a full-time Teach for America staff member. She is now in her third year of supporting and managing teachers toward achieving ambitious learning and leadership goals that provide students with the education they deserve. She believes to her core that educational inequity is the most urgent civil rights issue of our time and is committed to pursuing justice through education for the rest of her life. Rachel Ball-Phillips ’06 Adjunct Lecturer, History and Indian Studies, SMU Department of History Rachel Ball-Phillips took a deep dive into human rights issues as the president and vice president of Amnesty International at SMU. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in history, she completed a Ph.D. in Indian History at Boston Colleg. She joined the faculty of SMU in 2014, and has since taught classes that address human rights in modern South Asia. Laura Buck ’13 Compass Professional Health Services, Business Development Manager (Minneapolis) As a human rights major at SMU, Laura Buck deepened her belief that adequate health care is a human right. She began her career as a patient advocate at Compass Professional Health Services, and two years later, shifted her focus to health care business development. She now resides in Minneapolis, where she volunteers though the Junior League. Philip Haigh ’12 Dallas Regional Chamber, Director of Public Policy Philip Haigh advocates for regional economic growth to improve the quality of life for all in Dallas. He has worked on living-wage legislation, prison justice reform, immigration and DACA/DAPA enrollment, and government accountability/transparency. He holds dual master’s degrees from SMU in global studies and human rights and social justice. Amanda Koons ’12 Northwestern University School of Law Student (Chicago) Amanda Koons graduated from SMU in 2012 and is now in her final semester at Northwestern University School of Law, where she will receive a joint JD/LLM in international human rights law in May. At Northwestern she has participated in criminal defense, death penalty and human rights advocacy clinics. She has worked on teams representing people facing homicide charges and the death penalty at every stage of the criminal process in Texas and Louisiana, as well as Malawi. She also has served as a law clerk on trial teams at the Cook County Public Defender’s office in Chicago and the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center in New Orleans. She is spending her last semester in a full-time externship with the Government Misconduct and Racial Justice division of the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York City. Her exposure to the failings of the American criminal justice system have led her to pursue a career as a public defender, which she will begin in the fall in Lafayette, Louisiana. Samantha Matthews ’12 K-3 Special Education Teacher (New York) At SMU Samantha worked with newly arrived refugee children and families in Vickery Meadow. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in human rights, she joined Teach For America in New York City and continued her work with young children. For two years she taught some of Brooklyn’s youngest learners – 2- and 3-year-olds – before completing her master’s in early childhood special education in 2015. She is now a K-3 special education teacher in Harlem.
Shown at the 2016 SMU Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Awards gala are (from left) Dedman Law Dean Jennifer Collins, Jim Baldwin ’86, Cece Cox ’04, Judge Catharina Haynes, A. Shonn Brown ’98, Windle Turley ’65 and SMU President R. Gerald Turner. By Denise Gee SMU Dedman School of Law honored five highly accomplished legal, business and public service professionals at its 29th Distinguished Alumni Awards event February 4.
Dedman School of Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award is the most prestigious award bestowed by the school. Recipients are selected for being highly respected in the legal field.
In addition to the alumni recognition, an honorary award is presented in acknowledgement of outstanding service to the law school.
This year’s award recipients are: Jim Baldwin ’86: Award for Corporate Service Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.
James “Jim” Baldwin is executive vice president and general counsel for Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) Group, Inc., where he oversees all legal issues for the global, Plano-based company.
Baldwin has played a key strategic role in the company’s major acquisitions and restructurings. He was involved in the DPS Group’s spin-off from London-based Cadbury Schweppes PLC as a publicly traded company in 2008. Previously, he played a central role in consolidating the operations of Snapple Beverage Corp., Mott’s Inc. and Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., into Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, as well as the subsequent acquisition of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up Bottling Group and several other bottling and distribution businesses. He also helped lead the acquisition of several of DPS Group’s leading brands.
Baldwin joined the company in 1997 as assistant general counsel, where he supported company initiatives to strengthen the company’s bottling network and route to market. The following year, he was promoted to general counsel for Mott’s, Inc. in Stamford, Conn., where he oversaw all legal aspects of Mott’s business. In June 2002, he relocated to Dallas to head the legal department at Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., as senior vice president and general counsel. A year later he was promoted to his current role.
Prior to his work with the DPS Group and Cadbury Schweppes, Baldwin was a partner in the Dallas office of the Houston-based law firm Hutcheson & Grundy. He began his law career in the firm of Berman, Mitchell, Yeager and Gerber.
Baldwin graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English from Washington & Lee University and earned a Juris Doctor degree from SMU Dedman School of Law. A. Shonn Evans Brown ’98: Emerging Leader Award Partner, Gruber Hurst Elrod Johansen Hail Shank LLP
Shonn Brown is a respected trial lawyer and leader in both the legal and greater Dallas community. She has a sterling reputation among her professional colleagues, clients, members of the judiciary and community leaders.
Before earning a bachelor of science degree in sociology from SMU in 1995, she was an active student leader and accordingly honored with the coveted SMU “M” Award. She then attended SMU Dedman School of Law, continuing to lead by serving as secretary to the Student Bar Association and Board of Advocates. Upon graduation, Brown was one of 10 of the Class of 1998’s top advocates to be inducted into the Order of the Barristers.
Brown began her practice in Dallas at Locke Purnell Rain Harrell (now Locke Lord), where after seven years she was elected to serve as partner. She credits her 14 years at Locke Lord for having helped shape her foundation as a trial lawyer and foster her passion for community service.
In May 2012, Brown became a partner with Gruber Hurst Elrod Johansen Hail Shank LLP, where she has won a number of significant jury-trial verdicts representing both plaintiffs and defendants.
In support of SMU and the legal and greater Dallas communities, Brown has served on the SMU Alumni Board and is now a SMU Dedman Law Alumni Community Fellow for the Inns of Court Program and a mentor in the Mustang Exchange Flash Mentorship Program. Currently she also serves as a trustee of the Dallas Museum of Art and The Lamplighter School and as a director of the Dallas Women’s Foundation, the Dallas Bar Association, Big Thought and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Cece Cox ’04: Award for Public Service Chief Executive Officer, Resource Center
Recognized for her longtime leadership and advocacy in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights movement, Cece Cox serves as CEO of Resource Center, one of the nation’s largest LGBT community centers. Resource Center, which provides health services and programs to individuals with HIV/AIDS, serves more than 60,000 people annually with a staff of more than 50 employees and 1,100 volunteers.
Having advocated on behalf of the LGBT and HIV communities for nearly 30 years, Cox was instrumental in the passage of the City of Dallas’ sexual orientation nondiscrimination policy, and the Dallas Independent School District’s first anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies. Since June 2010, more than 50,000 public sector employees and a quarter-million students in the Dallas area have new or expanded LGBT nondiscrimination protections thanks to the Center’s advocacy.
Cox joined the Center in 2007 as associate executive director and three years later became CEO. Previously, she practiced commercial law and provided probono legal services to individuals with HIV. She is a member of the executive committee for SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development and the Board of Visitors for UNT-Dallas College of Law. She also serves on the board of the Dallas Women’s Foundation and is co-chair of the national organization CenterLink.
Cox is a former president of the Dallas Gay and Lesbian Alliance (DGLA), former co-chair of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation/Dallas and a former officer of the LGBT Section of the State Bar of Texas. She is an alumna of Leadership Dallas and Leadership Lambda & was recognized with the Kuchling Humanitarian Award from Black Tie Dinner in 1999.
As a former professional photographer, Cox co-authored a book chronicling the 1993 March on Washington for gay and lesbian rights. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor degree from SMU’s Dedman School of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas. Windle Turley ’65: Award for Private Practice Founder, Turley Law Firm
Preeminent Dallas lawyer Windle Turley’s record-breaking jury verdicts, innovative legal techniques and compassionate efforts have influenced some of North Texas’ best trial lawyers—many of whom he trained.
After earning his undergraduate degree from Oklahoma City University in 1962, he attended SMU Dedman School of Law and graduated in 1965. Five years later, the young attorney challenged a Texas law enabling unmarried fathers to avoid child support obligations. He ultimately argued the case before the Supreme Court of the United States, which held the Texas law unconstitutional.
In 1973, Turley opened his own firm, where he developed innovative litigation techniques and established new legal theories. Soon he would be overseeing one of the country’s largest plaintiff-focused firms. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Turley frequently takes cases few others would, and as a result, a hallmark of his career is his success in a wide array of personal injury cases.
A foremost expert in tort litigation, Turley continually challenges companies to make safer products. He was the first to apply the crashworthiness doctrine in aviation litigation in Smith v. Cessna Aircraft, which helped spark industry changes. In 1979, he obtained an injunction that grounded DC-10 aircraft worldwide due to a safety defect that resulted in a Chicago crash. Additionally, his “Firearms Project” attracted national attention as he filed lawsuits pursuing strict product liability on firearm manufacturers and sellers. He also tried the first tractor-trailer post-crash fire case and first airbag case.
Turley has represented hundreds of child abuse victims and continues to do so. After receiving a historic $120 million judgment for 11 boys sexually abused by Father Rudy Kos of the Dallas Catholic Diocese, the highly publicized verdict brought to light crimes previously concealed in confidential settlements. The landmark case empowered other victims to come forward, forcing the National Council of Catholic Bishops to create new diocese standards to protect children from abusive priests.
Turley helped pioneer video and demonstrative evidence in the courtroom, and he was the first to use video settlement documentaries. And while he has written numerous legal books and papers on litigation involving aviation and firearms, in 2010 he published The Amazing Monarch, featuring Monarch butterfly photographs and scientific information.
Turley has been honored as a “Texas Trial Legend” by both the Dallas Bar Association and the Higginbotham Inn of Court. He also received the 2006 Distinguished Alumni in Arts and Science Award from Oklahoma City University. Catharina Haynes: Honorary Alumna Award Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Judge Catharina Haynes was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in April 2008 by then-President George W. Bush. Before taking the federal bench, she served eight years as a Texas state district judge in Dallas. She also spent 13 years in private practice, first as an associate at Thompson & Knight LLP and then as an associate and partner at Baker Botts LLP. She is certified in consumer and commercial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Currently chair-elect of the Appellate Judges Conference of the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division, Haynes also chaired the 2014 Appellate Judges Education Institute Summit co-hosted by SMU Dedman School of Law. Additionally, she served 11 years as a member of the Council of the State Bar of Texas Insurance Section and as an at-large director of the Dallas Bar Association for one year.
Haynes recently received the 2014 Award of Distinction from Florida Tech—where she also received its alumni association’s Outstanding Achievement Award—and is a two-time recipient of the Dallas Bar Association’s Jo Anna Moreland Outstanding Committee Chair Award. She also has been honored with the Outstanding Board Member Award and Louise B. Raggio Award from the Dallas Women Lawyers Association, the Award of Excellence from the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Foundation, and while at Baker Botts, the Thomas Gibbs Gee Award for pro bono efforts.
From 2003 to 2011, Haynes was a volunteer teacher of pre-GED English-as-a-second-language classes for adults at Vickery Meadow Learning Center (now known as VMLC), for which she has been a board member for six years.
Haynes earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor degree from Emory University School of Law.
SMU alumni gave a helping hadn to student volunteers participating in the University’s Alternative Breaks (AB) program, March 6-12. Over spring break, eight teams of nine students and a faculty/staff advisor fanned out across the globe to supply hands-on service to established nonprofits that are aiding those in need and improving their communities. Student volunteers serve with nonprofits in the United States and abroad over spring break through SMU’s Alternative Breaks program. Last year, this group of students helped a New York City organization prepare meals for delivery to seriously ill people. Mustang alumni are invited to connect with SMU teams visiting their cities over spring break, March 6-12.
Teams worked in several cities with active SMU Alumni chapters, including Atlanta, New Orleans, New York City, St. Louis and Taos, as well as the greater Philadelphia area.
Through the SMU Connection program, the Office of Alumni Engagement collaborates with Alternative Breaks and other partners across campus to provide opportunities for alumni to connect with current students. Here are some ways Mustangs assisted the AB teams:
Supply meals or snacks/desserts. Students are on a tight budget, so evening meals and treats are greatly appreciated.
Serve as a “city consultant” by offering insider tips on fun freebies, things to do and places to go on the cheap, and other information about your area.
Share your expertise as a guest speaker, if you have professional or volunteer experience related to the AB service project in your city.
Alternative Breaks projects in the chapter cities included: Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta Community Food Bankoperates a product rescue center, grocery, mobile pantry and community garden. Kimberton, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia area) Camphill Village is a dynamic farming, gardening and handcrafting intentional community that includes adults with developmental disabilities. New Orleans, Louisiana St. Bernard Project engages youth in rebuilding distressed and foreclosed homes to stabilize neighborhoods still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. New York City, New York God’s Love We Deliver delivers nourishing meals to those with cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. St. Louis, Missouri Saint Louis Crisis Nursery provides help and a safe haven for abused and neglected children. Taos, New Mexico Roots and Wings Community School fosters academic excellence by connecting its diverse student population with the unique agricultural, linguistic and cultural heritage of Northern New Mexico.
If you know how you would like to get involved, or you need more information, email the Office of Alumni Engagement at alum@smu.edu. READ MORE
Cardiologist John Harper’s passion for medicine and the written word intersect in the annual Literature + Medicine Conference at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.
As a boy growing up in Pecos, Texas, John Harper ’68 was first drawn to medicine by the compassion demonstrated by his family doctor, then through great writers such as Anton Chekhov, a practicing physician for most of his literary career. Harper majored in English at SMU and earned his medical degree from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1972. Now a cardiologist with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Harper received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2014 and was named the 2012 Dedman College Distinguished Graduate Award recipient.
Harper leads the Literature + Medicine Conference, now in its sixth year. In a Dallas Morning News story about the event and his literary approach to medical education, he offered the following list of favorite titles that includes a bestseller by Carl Sewell ’66, fellow Mustang and SMU Trustee:
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
Customers for Life by Carl Sewell and Paul B. Brown
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking at SMU on March 17, 1966.By Nancy Lowell George ’79 Past and present SMU student leaders honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on January 15. Photo by Nancy Lowell George ’79.In recognition of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1966 speech at SMU, the University presented a bound transcript of his words and a photograph of him taken at the event to the Dallas Civil Rights Museum at 4:30 p.m. Friday, January 15.
The presentation took place at the museum’s open house from 4 to 9 p.m. and celebration in honor of Dr. King’s birthday. He was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta and would have been 87 this year. A contingent of past and present SMU student leaders made the presentation. The transcript was presented to leaders of the Dallas Civil Rights Museum. The museum is located at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center at 2922 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Building A, in Dallas.
Student Body President Carlton Adams, Association of Black Students President D’Marquis Allen, former Student Senate Chair Charles Cox ’67, ’75, ’79, who introduced Dr. King before his speech at SMU on March 17, 1966, and Dr. Michael Waters ’02, ’06, ’12, chair of the museum board, were among members of the SMU community celebrating Dr. King’s birthday with the museum.
Read more about Dr. King’s speech at SMU and SMU Dream Week 2016 events honoring his life and legacy:
Rev. John McKellar ’90, pastor of White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas, and Rev. Linda Roby ’75, ’00, associate minister of local and global missions at First United Methodist Church Dallas, have been selected as the 2016 Perkins School of Theology Distinguished Alumni Award recipients. Rev. John McKellar
They will be honored at 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, 2016, during the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards banquet during Ministers Week.
The recipients were chosen by members of the Perkins Alumni/ae Council for their demonstrated effectiveness and integrity in service to the church, continuing support and involvement in the goals of Perkins School of Theology and SMU, distinguished service in the wider community and exemplary character.
“Through their respective ministries, Linda Roby and John McKellar have impacted untold lives not only in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex but also throughout the world,” says Perkins School of Theology Dean William B. Lawrence. “Their faithfulness to the ministries to which they have been called and their effectiveness in communicating the transformational love of Jesus Christ has garnered the respect of peers and colleagues alike. We look forward to honoring them both as the 2016 Distinguished Alumni of Perkins School of Theology.”
McKellar received his master of divinity from Perkins in 1990. After serving churches in Grandview, Haslet and Fort Worth, he began his appointment at White’s Chapel in 1992. During his tenure, McKellar has helped increase church membership there from 490 members to more than 13,000.
In addition to regularly teaching Bible study groups, McKellar also serves on the Central Texas Conference Committee on Finance, the Committee on the Episcopacy and is one of the conference’s delegates to both the 2016 General Conference and South Central Jurisdictional Conference. He also received his Doctor of Ministry degree in Applied Ministries at The Graduate Theological Foundation in 2004.
“John is an incredible model for what it is to live the Christian life in the community,” say Todd Renner, co-pastor at White’s Chapel UMC. “In every way, he exemplifies the grace that forms the foundation of Wesleyan theology and defends it with humility and passion.” Rev. Linda Roby
Roby received her master of divinity from Perkins in 2000. Since her appointment to First UMC Dallas in 2009, Roby has directed the UrbanLife Ministry, congregational care and the church’s mission and outreach efforts. Previously, she served at Highland Park UMC, overseeing adult education, Sunday school, and local and global mission outreach opportunities. At both churches, Roby has been instrumental in cultivating relationships and identifying global partners – notably in Latin America – that led to significant growth in outreach participation.
An ordained deacon in the North Texas Conference, Roby graduated from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She also serves on the board of directors of Golden Cross Academic Clinic in Dallas and is a member of the Perkins School of Theology Executive Board.
“Linda fully exemplifies the mission of Perkins and its interpretation in the local church and community context,” said Rev. Andy Stoker, senior minister at First UMC Dallas. “She has sought to connect the church and the world in profound ways both locally and globally and embodies the very best of the Perkins spirit through vital piety and social witness.”
The awards banquet will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, in the Great Hall of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall, 5901 Bishop Blvd. More information and tickets are available here.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner receives a standing ovation as he announces that the University has achieved its $1 billion campaign goal during the centennial commemoration ceremony September 24.
Celebrating the centennial of SMU’s opening, President R. Gerald Turner recalls the vision of our founders, outlines campaign accomplishments and looks forward to the next 100 years.
[dropcaps]A[/dropcaps]s we celebrate the centennial of SMU’s opening, I invite you to think with me across the sweep of a century. Imagine the excitement, the anticipation, the sense of pride and purpose as a group of visionaries stood on this North Texas prairie 100 years ago to watch SMU’s very first group of students climb the steps into Dallas Hall. After almost five years of planning and building, the day was both the culmination of a dream and its launch. That remarkable inaugural day, September 24, 1915, was made possible by the twin pillars of leadership and partnership – pillars that continue to support the SMU of today.
One hundred years ago, leaders of what is now The United Methodist Church saw the need for an institution of higher education in the Southwest. And civic leaders in Dallas, recognizing the tremendous benefit a great university could bring to a growing city, worked hard to lure SMU here. Two permanent buildings stood on campus, built with funds given and land donated by our partners in Dallas and the Church: The Women’s Building, now Clements Hall, and Dallas Hall, named for our city, patterned after Thomas Jefferson’s rotunda at the University of Virginia. Its grandeur set the standard of excellence that would guide our first century and that still inspires us today. Whenever I want visitors to understand the grand vision of our founders, I always walk them into Dallas Hall and show them the beautiful dome and oculus of the rotunda. It never ceases to inspire.
MARKING MILESTONES
Over the five years of this centennial era (2011-2015), we have tried to channel the thoughts and excitement of those individuals who labored from April 17, 1911, when we were founded, to opening day. Each year, during this era, we have celebrated a major milestone in the creation of SMU. In 2011, we celebrated the charter establishing the corporation of Southern Methodist University with a new annual observance of Founders’ Day each April. In 2012, we celebrated the SMU Master Plan that founding President Robert S. Hyer unveiled in 1912. In 2013, we celebrated our libraries during The Year of the Library, as President Hyer named Dorothy Amann in 1913 as the first librarian of the University.
It was a wonderful coincidence to also celebrate in 2013 the magnificent opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. In 2014, we celebrated The Year of the Faculty, the 100th anniversary of the hiring of the first faculty. And this year, The Year of the Student, we are reliving the excitement of those first 456 students who entered Dallas Hall in 1915 to begin their collegiate studies. A critical component of Dallas’ emergence as a world-class city, the creation of its university, was now in place and ready to grow with the city.
Our founders envisioned a particular type of university, located in a thriving city and shaped by its entrepreneurial, “can-do” spirit. It would be dedicated to academic freedom and inquiry, non-sectarian in its teaching, yet grounded in both the spiritual and moral values of the Church and the professional and educational needs of the city. The result was to be a unique marriage of faith and intellect: to reunite, in the words of Charles Wesley, “those two so long divided, knowledge and vital piety.” We are the keepers of that grand vision. We hope that those who gather on campus 100 years from now will feel the pride and optimism with which we began the second century, whose conclusion they will be celebrating in 2115.
Either fortunately or unfortunately, none of us gets to choose the era in history in which we live. But having the opportunity to live in Dallas at this special time of connection to SMU by alumni and friends, we have a dual responsibility. First, we have to finish well by bringing SMU’s first century to its best possible conclusion. I could not be more proud and grateful for the way we collectively – our University, our alumni, and donors and partners across Dallas, North Texas and the world – have done just that. Our founders had the imagination to see farther than anyone thought possible. Yet, I suspect they might be astounded to see the SMU of today.
We’ve grown to 101 buildings on 234 acres at our main campus and expanded east across Central Expressway, plus added satellite campuses in Plano and Taos. We have a great diversity of students from all 50 states and 90 foreign countries. As testament to the increasing quality of the students we are attracting, those taking the ACT now average 29.5 while those taking the SAT average 1309, a 165-point increase in the last 20 years. We offer 104 bachelor’s, 113 master’s and 27 doctoral research degrees in seven degree-granting schools. Several faculty members have been elected to prestigious national academies. We have nearly doubled the number of endowed faculty to 111.
With great excitement and gratitude, we competed for and were selected to be the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which has expanded our tradition of attracting world leaders to our campus. The beautiful Meadows Museum, celebrating its 50th birthday, is hosting world-class exhibitions never before seen in the United States to augment its incredible collection of Spanish art. Our student scholars are engaged in research projects designed to benefit not only Dallas, but also cities and communities across the globe.
As we complete our first century, our Cox School of Business ranks among the top business schools nationally and globally, and we are ranked by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as an institution with “high research activity.” The Dedman School of Law and the Perkins School of Theology also offer top programs among their competitors. In 2014, our undergraduate music program was ranked No. 1 in the nation among programs at comprehensive universities and dance was ranked No. 6. Dedman College, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and Lyle School of Engineering also have unique, nationally renowned programs.
A NEW RESPONSIBILITY
By any measure, we indeed have met our first obligation to finish our first century well. However, being blessed to live during this historic time, we have a second responsibility: to launch SMU’s second century with the same optimism, devotion, persistence and unrelenting commitment to SMU’s success and excellence as were shown by our founders. It is our obligation to pour the foundation for our future just as solidly as we did for the many new buildings that now grace our campus. Therefore, ensuring a robust future is the primary purpose of our major gifts campaign during this centennial era. That is why we called it The Second Century Campaign, pointing forward, rather than naming it The Centennial Campaign, which tends to point to the past.
We started with what we thought was a stretch goal of $750 million. You will recall that we went public in September 2008 on the Thursday before Lehman Brothers fell the next Monday! Your support, even in the difficult days of that great recession, was sustained and generous.
[dropcaps]A[/dropcaps]s I said earlier, a university’s centennial is its time to triumphantly close one era while enthusiastically launching another. And you were absolutely committed to our meeting both obligations. Based upon your ongoing commitments, the co-chairs of the campaign and the Board of Trustees raised the original goal to an unprecedented $1 billion, knowing the huge impact such a milestone would have on our entire campus community. Because of your generosity and the hard work of thousands of individuals across the globe, I am pleased to make this historic announcement: Today, on the occasion of SMU’s centennial opening, The Second Century Campaign has received commitments of more than $1 billion dollars. That’s $1 billion, 70 million, and change.
Importantly, other goals have been achieved: Gifts from over 62,000 donors worldwide have helped us to exceed our yearly undergraduate alumni participation goal of 25 percent. And we’ve exceeded our overall alumni giving goal of 50 percent over the course of the entire campaign, reaching 56.9 percent.
Happily, a big part of my job today is to say thank you for helping us meet these historic milestones. Thank you to the campaign co-chairs: trustees Ruth Altshuler, Gerald Ford, Ray Hunt, Caren Prothro and Carl Sewell, who were joined in the past two years by Mike Boone, Board chair. They met quarterly with us and served as role models of giving, while also attending dozens of campaign-related events. (Ruth Altshuler attended nearly everything, mainly to be sure that Vice President Brad Cheves and I did exactly what she told us to do.)
JOINING ELITE COMPANY
In raising a billion dollars, SMU is joining a very elite club. Only 33 other private universities in the United States (and only Rice in Texas) have ever conducted campaigns of this size. Even more important is what those dollars will enable: more student scholarships to attract the best and brightest seekers and thinkers for the future, more endowed chairs and professorships to retain or recruit the very best to our faculty, and continuing facility and program improvements to enrich our campus experience, including our intercollegiate athletics programs. And we still have until December 31, when the campaign officially ends. So, it’s not too late to join those whose support we celebrate!
This year’s Commencement speaker, former President George W. Bush, said, “SMU is dynamic, diverse and destined for continued excellence.” We intend to fulfill that destiny by continuing to improve teaching, research, creative achievement and service as we rise in stature. How strong was Harvard in 1736 as it began its second century, or Princeton in 1846 at its centennial celebration? Compared with those years of existence, we are just getting started. But we have come a long way. This next century will be a time of crossing boundaries and borders as we continue to grow into our commitment that world changers are shaped here.
We will cross the boundaries of current knowledge with our research and advanced computing capability. For some of you, your time at SMU was defined by the smell of baking bread from the Mrs Baird’s plant across Mockingbird. The southern tip of that site is now home to our new Data Center. SMU recently moved into the top 25 in the country in our high-performance computing capacity. This allows us to analyze massive amounts of data, and through computer modeling, it facilitates innovative and interdisciplinary research – from the liberal arts and sciences to engineering and communications and fine arts.
Use of big data in an interdisciplinary environment is a major emphasis of the current draft of our new 10-year strategic plan, approved by the Board of Trustees at its December meeting. New faculty endowments will help us recruit and retain the talented faculty attracted to SMU by this new resource. Therefore, cross-disciplinary research and teaching, empowered by advanced computing approaches, will define our new scholarly productivity as we move into the first decade of our second century.
Reflecting the growing interest in interdisciplinary studies, our students are choosing double and triple majors and seeking global experiences. SMU’s latest Truman Scholar, Rahfin Faruk ’15, for example, majored in economics, political science, public policy and religious studies with a minor in mathematics.
We will cross the borders and boundaries of geography as we become even more global. One hundred years ago, we offered one educational site: here on the Hilltop. Ten years ago, we offered 18 education abroad programs in 12 countries; today our students choose from more than 150 programs in 50 countries, and that expansion will continue.
We are increasingly crossing boundaries between the campus and community. We are expanding engaged learning programs, sending faculty and students to conduct more than 200 community projects in places like West Dallas. In that community, our Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development is supporting the School Zone, helping give children the educational and societal tools to break the cycle of poverty. And we will continue to welcome citizens from the community to our campus for professional development and cultural opportunities.
OUR TIME AND CALLING
Although technology and communications will continue to revolutionize the way we live and work, some things will not – and should not – change. SMU will continue to be a bustling place of activity, but also a serene place of beauty, where students experience a personal, supportive campus community, captured so well in the words of Jimmy Dunne’s song, “SMU, In My Heart Forever.”
Our classes will continue to be small, allowing meaningful faculty and student interaction. We remain committed to a broad-based liberal arts education surrounded by outstanding professional schools. We will continue to affirm that a liberal arts foundation provides an irreplaceable window into understanding humanity and how to address complex problems, regardless of one’s professional pursuits.
We will continue to develop joint programming with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which already has begun to be the incredible resource that it will become during our second century. There, world leaders will continue to work to resolve current and future challenges, often in partnership with SMU’s Center for Presidential History and the Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College.
Finally, we will continue to enrich our academic programs with a growing focus on ethics, knowing that leaders who are both well-educated and grounded in enduring values will become those who help society progress. We offer one of only seven human rights majors in the country. We have no higher calling than to shape ethical world changers of tomorrow.
So, in summary, we will:
Cross new interdisciplinary research barriers with advanced computing.
Provide more opportunities for students to combine academic majors.
Cross geographic borders by increasing the number of students who will study abroad.
Connect more closely the University with the city, strengthening the relationship of town and gown.
Expand the study of ethics in all we do.
We will remain attentive to emerging opportunities, knowing that as a private university we can adapt swiftly, ever mindful of our mission, but open to new ways of fulfilling it.
A university, like a city, is never finished. Universities evolve, and ours has evolved in a wonderful way. SMU’s first President, Robert Hyer, when asked when SMU would be completed, replied: “When the City of Dallas is completed.” Today, SMU and our host city are both more mature, more dynamic, more diverse and more international than our founders could have asked or imagined. Yet, Dallas and SMU are both far from complete – still evolving, still becoming ever more important to our country and beyond.
Our church founders would have wanted us to note that the Bible speaks of at least two great strategic locations: in the midst of the city and a city on a hill. The Psalmist says the Lord “is in the midst of the city … she shall not be moved.” And, as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “a city built on a hill cannot be hid.”
So, from our Hilltop, in the midst of our city, it is our time and our calling to get the second century under way so strongly that the bicentennial will be even greater than this centennial! As we reach back across 100 years to join hands with those founders of SMU, we also reach forward for the hands of those who, in 100 years, will reach back for ours, in appreciation for what we have enabled. This extension forward and backward vividly shows that our work is truly designed for the betterment of humanity across the ages. As President Hyer said at our founding: “Universities do not grow old, but live from age to age in immortal youth.”
Thank you for committing so much of your time and resources to ensure that SMU can move with great confidence into its second century, with full assurance of our commitment: “World Changers shaped here!” View video of President Turner’s address
SMU officials and members of The Second Century Campaign Leadership Council gather for the announcement that the campaign reached its goal early. (Left to right) SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad E. Cheves; Richard Ware ’68; Gene C. Jones; Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, co-chair; Linda Pitts Custard ’60, ’99; SMU President R. Gerald Turner; Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84; Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, convening co-chair; Caren H. Prothro, co-chair; Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, co-chair; Bobby B. Lyle, ’67; Carl Sewell ’66, co-chair. By Patricia Ann LaSalle ’05 SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign has lived up to its name. It reached its $1 billion goal ahead of schedule, raising unprecedented funding for scholarships, academic positions and programs, facilities and other enhancements to campus life. The campaign’s official completion date is December 31, 2015.
The campaign announcement was made September 24 at a gathering of volunteers, donors, alumni, civic leaders and other members of the campus and Dallas communities. The event in McFarlin Auditorium was the official celebration of the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening on September 24, 1915 – and a rally for its future. The centennial was celebrated during a weekend of Homecoming and other special events.
“This is a doubly historic day for us,” said President R. Gerald Turner. “As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening, we are pleased to announce unprecedented new support for our future. Our founders were forward-looking leaders, and they’d be pleased to see that today’s supporters are generously investing in our next century of achievement. These donors are truly the founders of our second century.”
SMU joins 33 other private universities nationwide in conducting a campaign at the $1 billion level or above. The institutions range from Columbia University and the University of Notre Dame to Emory and Vanderbilt universities.
“SMU joins distinguished company within the higher education community,” said Gerald J. Ford, SMU trustee and convening co-chair of the campaign. “This stature underscores the reality of our growth in quality and reputation.”
FUNDING PROGRAMS
Among academic programs, campaign resources have enabled SMU to endow the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering and SMU’s newest and seventh degree-granting school – the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, established at the request of area school officials.
The campaign has raised support for 582 new student scholarships; 49 new endowed faculty positions, now reaching a total of 111; 66 academic programs and initiatives; and 18 substantially funded capital projects, including new facilities for academic programs, student housing and athletics. Other gifts for campus enhancements support expanded career services and leadership programs.
“The campaign’s many successes reflect great confidence in SMU’s progress under the leadership of President Turner,” said Michael M. Boone, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees and a campaign co-chair. “This investment in our people and programs also will strengthen Dallas as our home city. And it will elevate the contributions of both Dallas and SMU to our nation and our global society.”
New campaign-funded facilities include buildings for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Perkins School of Theology and Lyle School of Engineering, as well as a new Mustang Band Hall, new tennis complex and renovation and expansion of Moody Coliseum for athletics and academic ceremonies. Under construction are the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center and Fondren Library Center renovation; upcoming construction projects include the Gerald J. Ford Research Center and an aquatics center. At SMU-in-Taos, new facilities include a campus center, new or renovated housing and a chapel. Among the most visible campaign projects is the addition of five new residence halls and a dining center as part of SMU’s new Residential Commons system, including on-site classes and faculty in residence. Six other halls have been renovated as Commons, enabling all first- and second-year students to live on campus.
SUPPORTING SCHOLARSHIPS
The 582 scholarships created include support for undergraduates and graduate students in all seven schools of the University. Among them are Cox School of Business M.B.A. scholarships for veterans and active military students and additional scholarships for transfer students. New support also is being provided for SMU’s top two merit scholarship programs – the Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholars and the SMU President’s Scholars.
New academic centers reflect increasingly important fields requiring interdisciplinary approaches. These include the Tsai Center for Law, Science and Innovation in Dedman School of Law; the Dedman Interdisciplinary Institute and the Embrey Human Rights Program, both in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; and the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security in the Lyle School of Engineering, which is collaborating with academic areas throughout the University. New endowed professorships address these areas as well as topics such as global entrepreneurship, art history, education, engineering innovation and economic freedom.
The largest single gift to the campaign, and the largest in SMU history, was $45 million, made in March 2015 by The Meadows Foundation to support the Meadows Museum and the Meadows School of the Arts. This gift, the largest ever given by The Meadows Foundation, came during the 50th anniversary year of the Museum.
BREAKING RECORDS
SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign has made SMU fundraising history in several ways. The campaign:
Gained support from the largest number of donors – more than 62,000 from throughout the world.
Received gifts from nearly 23,000 donors in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Received the largest number of gifts of $1 million or more – 171.
Exceeded its goal to receive gifts from 50 percent of alumni over the course of the campaign, achieving 56.9 percent.
Surpassed its goal to achieve 25 percent of undergraduate alumni giving in a single year, reaching 26 percent for 2014-2015. (This measurement is used by some ranking organizations to gauge the level of alumni satisfaction with their alma mater.)
Attained the highest level of giving by faculty and staff, at 68 percent.
Received gifts from 18 percent of the student body in 2015 from campus leaders promoting a “Join the Stampede” drive.
Campaign volunteers applaud as they are showered by confetti at the volunteer summit September 25 celebrating SMU’s $1 billion campaign achievement.
Construction funded by the campaign is a major contributor to the Dallas economy. Since 2011, SMU has spent $390 million on renovation and construction projects, which are employing about 270 service providers, including architects, engineers, landscapers, contractors and suppliers.
VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP
“Absolutely essential to our success has been the leadership of our co-chairs and the entire Board of Trustees,” said Brad E. Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs. “As they met with campaign volunteers throughout this campaign, they galvanized a new level of enthusiasm and optimism and a shared vision of what SMU can be for new generations of students.”
The campaign has been served by more than 400 volunteers from throughout the world led by six co-chairs, all SMU trustees: convening co-chair Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, Ray L. Hunt ’65, Caren Prothro and Carl Sewell ’66.
The Second Century Campaign was publicly launched in 2008 with a goal of $750 million. Rapid progress toward that goal and opportunities for further advancements led SMU leaders in 2013 to increase the goal to $1 billion and extend its timeline to 2015. The last four years of the campaign, 2011-2015, have coincided with SMU’s centennial era, marking the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and opening in 1915.
Ending in 2002, SMU’s previous major gifts campaign was the University’s first successful campaign since the drive funding its opening. A Time to Lead: The Campaign for SMU was launched in 1997 with an original goal of $300 million. The final amount raised was $542 million.
Combining both campaigns, in the past two decades SMU has raised a total of $1.5 billion for 753 new scholarships, 111 new academic positions, 146 academic programs and 32 capital projects. Read more about SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign
By Kevin Richardson
Growing up in Kansas, Jennifer Burr Altabef dreamed of going away to college as her older siblings had. She had met several SMU graduates, and had set her heart on attending the University. Jennifer Burr Altabef (left) with Meadows Scholar Gabrielle Bear ’17 at a luncheon on November 17 honoring donors of student scholarships and support as part of SMU’s centennial commemoration.
But when she was 15, Altabef’s father called her into his office to impart some difficult news that might have shattered that dream permanently. He told her he had lost his job and would be unable to pay for her education after she graduated from high school.
Determined to earn enough money to pay for college, Altabef worked minimum-wage jobs throughout most of her high school career. She ultimately applied and earned acceptance to SMU, but with a little more than $3,000 saved, the Hilltop seemed out of reach.
Then, she received a letter from SMU informing her that she would receive scholarship support that would make her education possible.
Altabef was overwhelmed.
“I almost couldn’t believe that people who didn’t even know me had made it possible for me to attend SMU,” she says about the donors who created her scholarships. “It was life-changing. I was determined to do well because I didn’t want to let them down.”
Fascinated by the Watergate scandal and the role played by reporters, Altabef studied journalism and earned her bachelor’s degree from Meadows School of the Arts in 1978. She eventually decided to pursue a legal career and credits her Meadows professors with teaching her to write, a skill she has relied on throughout her professional life.
“The ability to write well is one of the most important and useful skills a person can have,” she says. “I am so lucky for the rigorous training that I received from my journalism professors. It’s helped me in everything I have ever done.”
When Altabef applied to law schools, she badly wanted to stay in Dallas and knew the SMU Dedman School of Law would offer the best path into the Dallas legal community. The University of Kansas offered a full scholarship that might have taken her back to Kansas. But once again, SMU scholarship support — combined with loans — helped her achieve her dream.
After Altabef graduated from Dedman School of Law in 1981, she began what became a distinguished career in labor and employment law and litigation. She never forgot what had helped enable her achieve so much success.
“Every morning that I went to the office, I was aware that someone whom I did not know had made it possible for me to stay in Dallas, made it possible for me to practice law, and made it possible for me to have the life I chose,” Altabef says.
Altabef became involved with SMU as a volunteer after a former dean of the Meadows School asked her to lunch. He told her about the exciting educational experiences students were having at Meadows and throughout SMU. Memories of her own experiences on the Hilltop and what she heard about today’s SMU inspired her to serve her alma mater.
Altabef has served as a member of the SMU Libraries Executive Board and the Meadows School of the Arts Executive Board, on which she is slated to serve as the next chair. “I feel grateful to SMU for essentially giving me my life,” she says. “So I jumped at the opportunity to be involved.”
In her work on behalf of the Meadows School, Altabef has developed a strong connection with the Meadows Scholars Program, which raises annual and endowed resources to bring top-caliber students in the arts and communications to SMU.
“The simple truth is that scholarships change lives,” Altabef says. “I know that because scholarships changed my life. For that reason, it is also true that people who receive scholarships are the people who most want to give them.”
Adam Gannon ’15 (right) was among more than 100 undergraduate students participating in SMU’s Engaged Learning program in 2015. He is shown with Svetlana Radyuk, research associate professor of biological sciences in Dedman College. Gannon, a medical student at the University of Houston Medical Science Center, is continuing the Alzheimer’s disease research he started as an Engaged Learning project. SMU celebrated the Year of the Student in 2015, honoring students past and present who have shaped a 100-year tradition of excellence.
Snow transformed the SMU campus into a winter wonderland.
Fans filled Moody Coliseum to witness SMU Men’s Basketball beat Tulsa, 67-62, capturing the American Athletic Conference championship. It was SMU’s first conference title since 1993. The Mustangs beat Connecticut 62-54 on March 15, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. During the season SMU spent nine weeks in the AP and USA Today Top 25.
Fanfare and fireworks marked the 50th anniversary of the Meadows Museum during Founders’ Day Weekend, April 16-18. As part of the yearlong celebration, the museum hosted two blockbuster exhibits – “The Abelló Collection: A Modern Taste for European Masters”, April 18–August 2, and “Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting”, which continues through January 3, 2016.
Students enjoyed games, rides, activities and carnival-inspired food at Perunapalooza, celebrating the birthday of SMU mascot Peruna.
Scenes from SMU’s historic Commencement: Former President George W. Bush (left) with SMU President R. Gerald Turner. Bush delivered a speech laced with wit and wisdom before the University awarded more than 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama displays his famous sense of humor as he peeks through the curtain before taking the stage at Moody Coliseum with ABC News political correspondent Cokie Roberts, who moderated a wide-ranging discussion with the spiritual leader. The Dalai Lama spoke about the importance of compassion, forgiveness and finding common ground despite differences.
Courses offered at SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, July 16-19, took full advantage of the beauty and cultural richness of Northern New Mexico. During the weekend, SMU celebrated the opening of the Carolyn and David Miller Campus Center, a new campus/community hub.
At Camp Corral, part of the Mustang Corral experience, incoming students got to know each other as they enjoyed zip-lining and other activities. Members of SMU’s newest class of 1,374 students come from 800 high schools in 44 states.
SMU sociology major Jamil Wilkerson ’18 lends a hand at Uplift Luna School during the University’s annual fall day of service. A group of 100 SMU students helped 10 Dallas nonprofits with a wide variety of projects, from painting and cleaning to processing books and aiding teachers.
SMU alumnus Ryan Atwell ’98 lifts daughter Sydney, 4, as SMU capped off its centennial celebration with a post-game fireworks show at Ford Stadium. From the announcement that SMU had reached its $1 billion campaign goal to the spectacular finale, SMU’s Centennial Homecoming Weekend was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Mustangs.
The University’s centennial year ends with the dazzling Celebration of Lights. The community is invited to campus to see the holiday lights through January 3.
David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer often called “America’s greatest historian,” received the Medal of Freedom from SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies November 18. The award is given by the Tower Center every two years to an individual or individuals who have contributed to the advancement of democratic ideals and to the security, prosperity and welfare of humanity. At the Medal of Freedom presentation: (from left) President George W. Bush, David McCullough, First Lady Laura Bush ’68, Penny Tower Cook and SMU Trustee Jeanne Tower Cox ’79.
President and Mrs. George W. Bush presented the award during an event held at the home of Kelli and Gerald J. Ford. The Medal of Freedom Committee, chaired by Gene Jones, raised nearly $800,000 to benefit the Tower Center. Platinum sponsors for the event included Berry and SMU trustee Jeanne Tower Cox ’79, Kelli and SMU trustee Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, trustee Gene and Jerry Jones, and trustee Sarah ’83 and Ross Perot Jr. Guests at the Medal of Freedom event enjoyed a featured conversation between McCullough and his longtime friend, former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson.
The Tower Center, part of SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, supports teaching and research programs in international and domestic politics with an emphasis on global studies and national security policy. It also educates undergraduates in international relations, comparative politics and political institutions.
Past Tower Center Medal of Freedom recipients include former Secretary of States James A. Baker III and Colin L. Powell; U.S. Senator John McCain; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, as well as former First Lady Laura Bush ’68.
McCullough also spoke to the SMU campus community at a question-and-answer session earlier in the day moderated by Tower Center Scholar Sara Jendrusch in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Theater.
McCullough, who said he had “always been impressed with SMU,” quizzed his audience of SMU students, faculty and staff and expressed approval that taking history is an SMU graduation requirement. “I was stunned to learn that something like 80 percent of colleges these days don’t require it,” he said.
The historian said he has about 25 more book ideas he’d like to see in print. He credited much of his success to the editing skills of his wife, Rosalee, “my editor-in-chief for 50 years.” He spoke lovingly about the craft of writing and confessed that he still composes his work using technology now consigned to history for most people – a 1960s typewriter.
And history, McCullough said, is how you make life matter.
“It’s not a series of chronological events. It’s human,” McCullough said. “That’s why Jefferson wrote, ‘When in the course of human events …” in the Declaration of Independence.
In researching his many subjects, including U.S. presidents, McCullough said that one of the best ways to judge a person, especially a potential leader, is how he or she handles failure. “For some people who get knocked down, they whine and whimper and blame others,” McCullough said. “For others, they get up, assess what went wrong, then learn from it and move forward. How someone handles failure can tell a lot about his or her character.”
McCullough has twice won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book award.” His 11 books include the Pulitzer-winners Truman(1993) and John Adams (2001), which has become one of the most widely read American biographies and was adapted as an HBO mini-series. His newest book about aviators Wilbur and Orville Wright, The Wright Brothers (Simon & Schuster, 2015), is a New York Timesbestseller.
He has received the United States’ highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his “lifelong efforts to document the people, places and events that have shaped America.”
By Kenny Ryan
It’s not uncommon to hear sports pundits say that one SMU team or another is “stampeding” to victory. But one SMU team sport actually does gallop to victory – the Mustangs’ polo teams. And they’re hoping that alumni support will help continue the teams’ presence as a club sport on campus. Polo coach Tom Goodspeed (left) with the SMU men’s polo team.
Colloquially referred to as “hockey on horseback” by SMU polo coach Tom Goodspeed, polo is a sport that has existed at SMU sporadically throughout the University’s 100-year history. It wasn’t until 2009, though, that the men’s and women’s teams formally registered as club sports with the University, a process that was approved in 2011. In the years since, both teams have combined for three national tournament appearances: The men’s team came within a point of reaching the national finals last year and both are primed for further postseason runs this spring.
“When you play polo, you learn how to conduct yourself appropriately when pressure is high, you develop leadership skills, and there’s a camaraderie you build with some of these horses,” Goodspeed says. “It’s different from putting on a pair of skates. You’re on a live animal; you have a trust level and understanding of each other. It’s a whole new dimension of not just how you are performing, but how you are able to perform with this horse you’re riding.” Goodspeed, shown with the SMU women’s polo team, is a renowned trainer and club manager whose credits as a player include two national collegiate titles and success in professional arena polo.
“The connection with the horse is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced,” says junior Maxi Langois. “Nothing compares to polo. You get to meet a lot of good people, and it’s a heck of a thrill.”
There are five riders on the men’s team and 10 on the women’s team. Three riders compete in the arena at any given time.
The SMU polo club introduces the sport to interested students with a polo practicum every Monday, October through April, at the Flower Mound Equestrian Center, where it also practices twice a week.
Though some stereotype the sport as “soft,” Goodspeed says it’s as physically challenging as any. “Remember, these horses weigh as much as 1,000 pounds,” he says. “When you’re running at full speed with the weight of an entire football team’s defensive line underneath you and you collide with another horse, it’s a big hit.”
The clubs were organized by SMU alumnus Enrique Ituarte ’14 and supported financially by his parents, Miguel and Esther Zaragoza. Ituarte’s younger brother, Manuel, is on the men’s team but is set to graduate in May 2017. If the teams don’t find additional sponsors by then, their futures could be in doubt.
“I am really hoping the program can stay at SMU,” says senior and team member Emma Blackwood. “We’re safe for a couple more years, but after that, it’s a tough thing.”
“Most programs across the country have alumni support, so we’re pursuing that same avenue,” Goodspeed says. “We just need to plant the roots to become a perennial force.”
For more information about supporting the SMU polo teams, email Tom Goodspeed.
The teams’ schedules will be posted at www.smupolo.org when they are finalized.
Read the latest news about SMU polo on Facebook.
Three SMU graduate students in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering were awarded first place in a national student wastewater engineering design competition. (From left) Erin Mosely, member of the WEF board of trustees, made the award presentation to SMU team members Kaylee Dusek, Allison Leopold and Abigail Klaus.
The SMU design team – Kaylee Dusek, Abigail Klaus and Allison Leopold – competed against 10 universities at the 88th annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC) in Chicago, where they won the national title September 27. The team won first place in the regional competition at the ninth annual Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT) Student Design Competition in April.
The graduate students’ project, City of Grapevine Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) Master Plan, focuses on upgrading Grapevine, Texas’ water facility
“Essentially, the design focused on equipping the Grapevine Wastewater Treatment Plant for future governmental regulations, as they become stricter with time and increasing technological efficiency,” Klaus said. “The three project objectives involved a redesign focused around decreasing nutrients in the cleaned outflow water, taking one million gallons per day to water a local golf course with reclaimed water, and finally upgrading the solids to a classification that would allow them to be publicly applied to land for beneficial use.”
“As a team for the WEAT student design competition, we got an opportunity to provide solutions to a relevant and real-world engineering problem, learning and completing all the different elements that go into an engineering project,” Leopold said. “Texas Water and WEFTEC were great experiences to interact with other students and industry professionals who work every day toward providing clean water and treatment solution in their communities and across the world.”
Women have averaged more than 30 percent of incoming undergraduates in the Lyle School since 2005, exceeding the national average of about 20 percent in American colleges and universities. For fall 2015, 100 out of 295 first-year students enrolled as engineering pre-majors at SMU are women – almost 34 percent of the total.
“We couldn’t be prouder of Kaylee, Abigail, and Allison,” said Lyle School Dean Marc Christensen. “We’ve been very competitive in this contest for a number of years and are happy to see these young women taking top honors. Each of them is a shining example of how our students strive to solve problems that matter and make a difference in the world. We aim to create an environment where all students feel challenged to succeed, and this victory is evidence that our efforts are paying off.” About the the Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference
The Water Environment Federation’s Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference is the largest conference of its kind in North America and offers water quality professionals from around the world with the best water quality education and training available today. Also recognized as the largest annual water quality exhibition in the world, the expansive show floor provides unparalleled access to the most cutting-edge technologies in the field; serves as a forum for domestic and international business opportunities; and promotes invaluable peer-to-peer networking between its more than 22,000 attendees.
About the Water Environment Federation
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of 34,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. Since 1928, WEF and its members have protected public health and the environment. As a global water sector leader, their mission is to connect water professionals; enrich the expertise of water professionals; increase the awareness of the impact and value of water; and provide a platform for water sector innovation.
Vicki Sterquell ’78 was a special guest at the Centennial Celebration of Lights ceremony November 30.
When she came up with the idea to produce a holiday celebration on campus, Vicki Sterquell ’78 didn’t realize she was creating one of SMU’s most beloved traditions, Celebration of Lights. Sterquell, who resides in Houston, was a special guest at this year’s Centennial Celebration of Lights ceremony on November 30.
Here are some highlights from her account of that first magical event, called Festival of Lights at the time: Deck Dallas Hall with orange lights?
Sterquell, a member of the Student Foundation Board, pitched the idea for a Christmas lighting party as a thank-you to the community for its support. At the time, SMU did not have a campus Christmas tree or “even celebrate the holiday season,” she says. The board agreed it was a great idea and planning commenced.
“After asking the head of the maintenance department at SMU, Dick Arnett, and getting permission from President James H. Zumberge’s office, I ordered Christmas lights to decorate Dallas Hall and some trees along the main quad, at a cost of $5,000. Since it was so late in ordering, the only lights available from the company were orange.” Amarillo alumni to the rescue
Even though she had obtained permission through the proper channels, Sterquell learned in late October that no department had money budgeted for the lights. “I felt panic setting in,” she remembers. But that didn’t stop her. She persuaded all those who needed to sign off on the project to agree that she could proceed if she raised the $5,000.
When she told her parents about her plight, they suggested she contact Carolyn Newbold ’42, the society editor of her hometown newspaper, The Amarillo Globe News, and a fellow Mustang. “She offered to write a column about the event to help raise the funds needed. The next weekend I flew home to Amarillo,” where alumni donated the $5,000 she needed. Let there be white lights!
The idea of orange lights adorning Dallas Hall didn’t appeal to the maintenance department crew charged with stringing the lights, and the department ordered enough white lights for the entire display. The catch: All the orange bulbs had to be replaced. “The entire Student Foundation and friends spent many hours late into the night taking the orange light bulbs out and replacing them with the white bulbs.” A beloved tradition is born
“Our first event was called Festival of Lights and was held on the first Sunday in December [December 4, 1977],” she says. “The sidewalks were lined with luminarias, a large Christmas tree stood in front of the fountain, the University Choir sang Christmas songs and President Zumberge read the King James version of the Christmas story.”
When the lights were switched on, the crowd gasped and clapped, she says. “At the close of the ceremony, you could hear people singing carols as they walked back to their cars and dorms. It was truly an exciting event, especially for me, my committee and the entire Student Foundation.”
The next year, SMU’s signature holiday event was renamed Celebration of Lights.
Below is coverage of the first event from the 1978 Rotunda. These photos and videos of the 2015 Centennial Celebration of Lights capture the magic of this joyous Hilltop tradition.
Rosemary Hickman ’01, Semmes Foundation Museum Educator for teachers and public programs at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, has been named the 2016 Outstanding Museum Art Educator by the Texas Art Education Association (TAEA). Rosemary Hickman ’01
Each year the TAEA, the largest state professional art education association in the nation, recognizes members from across the state with awards in various divisions. The Outstanding Museum Art Educator award is presented to a museum educator who has significantly contributed to the association and to art education on the state, local and/or national levels.
Hickman received her award on November 13 at the TAEA 54th Annual Conference at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.
She joined the McNay Art Museum in April 2013. In her role as museum educator, she organizes museum events for teachers including hands-on workshops, biannual “Evening for Educators” programs and a Summer Teacher Institute. She also develops online resources for educators and interactive applications for visitors; plans exhibition-related adult programs such as artist and curator talks, lectures and art classes; and supervises education department interns.
Prior to joining the McNay, Hickman served as the education director at the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts in Spring, Texas, and as program coordinator of the MSC Forsyth Center Galleries at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
“Incredibly deserving of this award, Rosemary stands out for her dedication to San Antonio educators and to museum educators in this community,” said Kate Carey, the McNay’s director of education. “In a very short time, she has established and nourished connections with educators and students through a variety of workshops, school visits, and educator programs, and she builds consensus and camaraderie wherever she goes. She’s an asset to the museum and to the arts education community in San Antonio.”
Hickman earned bachelor’s degrees in French and art history from SMU.
SMU alumnus Bryan Sheffield ’01, founder, president and chief executive officer of Parsley Energy, has honored his father with a generous gift that provides students pursuing energy investment careers with a competitive edge. Shown at the dedication of the lab at the Cox School of Business are (from left) SMU President R. Gerald Turner, Scott Sheffield, Kimberley Sheffield, Cary Maguire, Bruce Bullock, Bryan Sheffield ’01, Cox Dean Al Niemi, Kit Sheffield ’04 and his wife, Lisa Bulgakova Sheffield ’16.
The Maguire Energy Institute at Cox School of Business dedicated the new Scott Sheffield Energy Investment Lab on October 16. The state-of-the-art Sheffield Lab, located in the Fincher Building, gives students a unique experiential learning opportunity as they prepare to enter the energy industry. The hands-on learning space is dedicated solely to the advancement of energy investment-related education.
This one-of-a-kind learning tool is named in honor of Bryan’s father, Scott Sheffield, chairman and chief executive officer of Pioneer Natural Resources. Bryan began his career as a bond trader. Like his father and grandfather Joe Parsley, he earned success in the energy industry. On Father’s Day 2014, he told his father of his plans to donate funding to build an energy investment lab at SMU Cox and name it for him.
“I always tried to teach my children to give back,” says Scott Sheffield. “This is one of the best gifts a father could ever have.”
Through his gift, Bryan is paving the way for future SMU Cox alumni to do the same.
“We are grateful for alumni Bryan Sheffield’s generosity and vision in providing this tremendous learning resource for Cox students,” says Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute. “Bryan’s gift is making it possible for our energy students to have a competitive edge even before they enter the work force.”
While other investment centers exist on university campuses around the country, none focus solely on energy nor do they provide the SMU Cox instructional environment of the Kitt Center Investing and Trading Center and the combined research/collaboration environment of the Sheffield Lab. Designed and arranged in a collaborative set-up, the lab promotes team research and discussion to support the school’s student-managed energy investment fund, one of the first of its kind in the world. Through the Sheffield Lab, SMU Cox students will make team-oriented investment decisions using highly specialized energy specific data feeds and analytical tools, the same kind of work environments they will employ early in their careers in energy investment banking, private equity, corporate finance and other analytical functions.
State Rep. Rafael Anchia ’90
Dedman College and SMU Alumni Relations will present State Rep. Rafael Anchia’90 discussing how the education he received at SMU laid the foundation for his future as a successful attorney, proud member of the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees and a state representative. The Alumni Connection Series program will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 29, in Room 133 of the Fondren Science Building on the SMU campus.
Anchia credits his undergraduate education at SMU with setting the stage for his thriving career in law and politics. He graduated from SMU in 1990 with a triple major in Spanish, anthropology and Latin American studies. He later graduated from Tulane University Law School. In 2004 he was elected to the first of his six terms in the Texas House of Representatives. He represents District 103, covering northwest Dallas County.
“I was grateful to get a scholarship to SMU and considered that my big break,” says Anchia. “SMU offers a world-class liberal arts education for those who are willing and able to avail themselves of it. It is an honor to come back and share my experience.”
The event is free and open to the public; however, reservations are encouraged. RSVP online, by phone at 888-327-3755 or by email at smualum@smu.edu.
By Emily Hooper
SMU News
SMU has been named a top contributor to Teach For America for the third year, with 17 University graduates working in high-need classrooms across the country. SMU alumna Cheyenne Rogers ’09, ’15 (right) taught in a Dallas middle school through Teach for America. In 2010, she brought her students to campus for a taste of SMU, complete with classes in poetry and political science and lunch at Umprhey Lee. Read the story here.
SMU alumni who joined the Teach For America corps this year are Sana Ibrahim ’07, Victoria McKay ’15, Caitlin Bailey ’14, Angela Martinez ’12, Kat Kappos ’15, Crystal Chen ’15, Christine Medrano ’14, Joseph Gaasbeck ’12, Stephanie Newland ’15, Katelyn Hall ’15, Pablo Lara ’15, Meaghan Barclay ’15, Lucy Yu ’15, Michael Lee ’15, Alaina Leggette ’15, Devon Wall ’15 and Gabriella Padgett ’15.
Teach For America’s 2015 list of colleges and universities contributing the greatest number of alumni to its teaching corps include graduating seniors from a range of backgrounds and experiences and a growing number of individuals with professional experience. Totals for each college and university include both 2015 graduates and alumni of previous classes who are transitioning to teaching from another field or joining the corps as experienced educators.
“I was very lucky to grow up in the Dallas region with great teachers, but I have noticed that not everyone has had that same privilege and I don’t think that’s fair,” says Pablo Lara ’15, who teaches at Edward Titche Elementary School in the Dallas Independent School District. “Through Teach For America, I have an amazing opportunity to give back to the community that has given me so much. By teaching in my hometown, I hope to inspire other great leaders to help our city reach its full potential [and] that starts with education.” Pablo Lara ’15 teaches at Edward Titche Elementary School in Dallas.
In order to attract the strongest students to teaching and provide them with rigorous training, Teach For America partnered with SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development in 2015 to launch the Teach For America DFW Summer Institute. In collaboration with faculty from SMU Simmons, the institute was designed to instill a commitment in the promising leaders to improve student academic achievement in high-need school in low-income communities. After completing the Teach For America DFW Summer Institute, TFA-DFW corps members are scheduled for two years of ongoing professional preparation and coaching from TFA staff in their classroom in addition to Simmons faculty who will support them in the field and through coursework.
“Working with SMU and Momentous Institute has allowed us to tailor our pre-service teacher training and ongoing support to the schools and students in the Metroplex,” says Alex Hales, executive director of Teach For America in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Our teachers benefit from the expertise of SMU faculty, the extensive resources of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and Momentous Institute’s leadership in social emotional health and classroom culture building.”
This fall, 8,800 corps members are teaching in high-need classrooms across 52 regions. The 4,100 incoming corps members represent more than 830 colleges and universities and 36 states and the District of Columbia. Two-thirds of Teach For America’s 2015 corps members are graduating seniors from the class of 2015 and one-third are individuals with professional experience. In addition to the corps, Teach For America’s network of more than 42,000 alumni continue to work toward ensuring that all children have access to an excellent education.
The “Centennial” designation of the program recognizes the foresight of donors who ensure the immediate impact of their gift by providing operational funds while the endowment matures.
The gift to Dedman School of Law creating the scholarship program will be celebrated Tuesday, Sept. 22, at SMU. Guests also will honor Luce’s achievements in business and public service over a long and storied career, focused on the unique relationship Luce has enjoyed with two generations of the Perot family.
Luce, who received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999, earned his undergraduate degree on the Hilltop in 1962 and graduated from what is now Dedman School of Law in 1966.
“Sarah and Ross Perot have found the perfect way to honor their life-long friendship with Tom Luce,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Tom has been successful both in business and in public service and we are very proud of the history that he’s had here. Having Tom Luce’s name with us in perpetuity on a scholarship fund in the Dedman School of Law is a great way to honor his terrific contributions to SMU and the broader community.”
Describing his family as big supporters of SMU, Ross Perot, Jr., said they agreed the best way to honor Luce was through a gift to his alma mater. In addition to financial support, students in the Luce Scholars Program will have both formal and informal opportunities to learn directly from Luce, who was a founding partner in the Dallas-based legal firm of Hughes & Luce LLP.
“Tom Luce is the role model for what a lawyer should be,” said Perot, Jr.
“We hope that with this scholarship Tom will be able to attract great students to SMU, teach them to be great attorneys, and also to focus on public service.”
“I am so honored and grateful that my dear friends, Ross and Sarah Perot, chose to honor me in this way at my alma mater that means so much to me,” Luce said. “I look forward to working with the Luce Scholars in the years ahead.”
Jennifer Collins, Judge James Noel Dean of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, said she expects the experience of working with Luce will be transformative for Luce Scholars.
“Not only has he excelled in the profession, but Tom Luce spends his time serving others on issues ranging from mental health to education,” Collins said. “He shows students what it means to be a world changer and how to really have an impact on their community, and those are the kind of lawyers we want to be sending out into the marketplace.”
The words “integrity” and “character” are repeated frequently by national and Dallas-area business and community leaders who have worked with Luce during his unique and decades-long business and personal relationship with EDS-founder Ross Perot.
They cite as some of his most important success stories:
The development with Perot and Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk of Victory Park and American Airlines Center
The development with Perot of Legacy in Plano, home first to the EDS headquarters and now J.C. Penney and Toyota
The development with the younger Perot of Alliance Texas, a major transportation hub that includes a cargo train terminal and Alliance Airport
Acquisition with Perot of EDS by General Motors Corp.
Acquisition with the younger Perot of Perot Systems by Dell, Inc.
Purchasing on behalf of Perot one of the original copies of the Magna Carta
Margaret Spellings, president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and U.S. Secretary of Education under Bush from 2005 to 2009, calls Luce an unsung hero of education reform, both in Texas and nationally.
“He’s helped close the achievement gap, he’s helped bring attention to the needs of poor and minority students for many, many decades, and I think that is one of the mighty contributions Tom has made,” Spellings said. “It hasn’t been a year committed to education reform, he’s been on the battlefield for 30 years. I’m personally grateful to him, and kids in America owe him a big debt.”
Del Williams, general counsel for Hillwood, a Perot company, commended Luce for succeeding in business and public service with honesty, integrity and decency intact.
“Whether assisting Mr. Perot, Sr., in freeing two EDS executives from a Tehran prison and then successfully suing the Iranian government for millions of dollars; whether it is successfully helping execute the merger of EDS and GM; whether it is helping Mr. Perot zone the land which is now the EDS headquarters in Legacy in Plano; or (whether) it is helping Ross Jr. in his years-long struggle to build the Air Force Memorial in Washington, D.C. – Tom has accomplished a great deal, and in no point in that journey has Tom wavered from his commitment to his values, or his family or his friends,” Williams said.
Those who know Luce well speak of the partnership between Luce and two generations of the Perot family, but it is the elder Perot who explains it most succinctly:
“I looked for the finest lawyer in Dallas to work with me when I started my company,” said Perot. “Again and again people referred me to a man I had never met – Tom Luce – and that’s the story, right there.
H. Ross Perot
“Tom has had the attitude throughout his career of Winston Churchill’s shortest speech, delivered during “World War II,” Perot said. “This is the entire speech: ‘Never give in, never give in, never, never, never.’ Tom, God bless you and keep you – I can’t tell you how much we appreciate everything you have done.”
Thomas W. Luce, III
Luce is founding CEO and chairman of the Dallas-based National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit organization founded in 2007 to improve student performance and college readiness in STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and math. He also is founding CEO of the newly created Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, a nonpartisan organization designed to improve the delivery of mental health services for all Texans.
Luce served as assistant secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development in the U.S. Department of Education under President George W. Bush from July 2005 through September 2006. The attorney was appointed to major posts by Texas governors, including that of chairman of the Texas national Research Laboratory Commission, chief justice pro tempore of the Texas Supreme Court, and a delegate to the Education Commission of the States. Luce also has been appointed by the Speaker of the Texas House to serve as a citizen member of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).
Luce is perhaps best known for his role in 1984 as the chief of staff of the Texas Select Committee of Public Education, which produced one of the first major reform efforts among public schools. Luce was co-founder of the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA), sponsor of the Just for the Kids School Improvement model, and served as chairman of the board for NCEA and Just for the Kids from their inceptions until 2005. He also founded Communities Just for the Kids. In 1995, Luce wrote Now or Never: How We Can Save Our Public Schools, a book that defined his education philosophy and outlined a preliminary plan for education reform that called for broader support for public education. He published a second book on public education, Do What Works: How Proven Practices Can Improve America’s Public Schools, in December 2004.
Luce has served on the boards of, or served as guest lecturer at, a number of schools of higher education, including SMU, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
In addition, Luce has served on the boards of multiple community and charitable organizations, including the Texas Education Reform Caucus, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, Advanced Placement Strategies, Education is Freedom and the Foundation for Community Empowerment, and on the executive committee of the Dallas Citizens Council, an organization comprising CEOS of Dallas’ largest businesses. He was appointed by the U.S. Senate to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board.
He is the recipient of the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public responsibility, the Center for Non-Profit Management Social Entrepreneur Award, the Dallas Historical Society Excellence in Community Service Award and the CASA Award for Service to Children.
By Victoria Winkelman Meadows School of the Arts Vincent Gover ’14, a master’s student in the music composition program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, won first place in the American Modern Ensemble (AME) Ninth Annual Composition Competition. Gover won in the Tier 1 (young artist, ages 22 and under) category for his seven-and-a-half-minute long composition Brook’s Release. Inspired by a summer trip to Colorado, the piece evokes the wide-ranging movement of a river from quiet flow to rapid whitewater, blending excitement, humor and energy. Brooks Release by Vincent Gover ’14, a master’s student in the music composition program at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, won first place in the American Modern Ensemble (AME) Composition Competition.
In addition to receiving a cash prize, he will have his piece performed by the AME in a New York concert in April 2016 and will receive an archival recording.
“I’m truly honored that the American Modern Ensemble selected my piece as their Tier I winner,” says Gover. “I know they’ll give a wonderful performance of my work, and I can’t wait to be there!”
This year’s contest drew 181 entries from North, Central and South America. The judges were nationally acclaimed composers Margaret Brouwer, Steven Burke and Robert Paterson, AME’s artistic director.
Gover, who earned a bachelor of music in composition and horn performance at SMU Meadows in 2014, is no stranger to awards. In January 2011, when he was a first-year student, his composition Children’s Suite wasperformed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., by the Saxony-Anhalt Brass Quintet, an ensemble of principal performers from German orchestras on a U.S. tour. Later that year, he was named the 2011-12 William H. Lively Student Composer in Residence with the Irving Symphony in Irving, Texas. Gover has studied with such award-winning composers as Robert Paterson, David Ludwig, Xi Wang, Paul Rudy and Robert J. Frank and has had works performed throughout the U.S., including in Dallas, Philadelphia and Baltimore. About the American Modern Ensemble
Founded in New York in 2005, the American Modern Ensemble is a contemporary classical music ensemble that spotlights American music via lively thematic programming, performing a wide repertoire by living composers. The mission of AME is to create definitive performances of the highest caliber for the widest possible audience base. It supports its mission by presenting live concerts, making recordings and presenting premieres. AME also conducts an annual competition for composers of all ages. Winners receive a performance with a recording, videography and cash awards.
As Student Recruitment Volunteers (SeRVe) for SMU, Don Morriss ’76 of Texarkana, Texas, and Leigh Todforde ’86 of Houston share their perspectives about life on the Hilltop in their communities. Don Morriss ’76
Offered by the SMU Office of Alumni Engagement, the SeRVe program enables Mustangs to spread the word about the value of an SMU education with prospective students and their parents. Alumni participate in admission events and college fairs, as well as contact admitted students to encourage them to attend SMU.
Don, who earned a B.B.A. from SMU, represents his alma mater frequently at college fairs in East Texas. “I tell high school students that SMU has a smaller school feel with all the advantages of a big-city location,” he says. “From top corporations and law firms to tech start-ups, the Dallas business environment is ideal for students interested in internships and career opportunities after graduation.”
For the past 39 years, Don has followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, grandfather and father as an independent insurance agent with Offenhauser & Co. Insurance in Texarkana. He credits Frank Young, professor emeritus of insurance, and other Cox School of Business faculty members with providing a solid academic background for his career.
Leigh also acknowledges the lasting influence of great professors. During a recent visit to New York City, she made a special trip to The Cloisters because “I just had to see the Unicorn Tapestries that Bonnie Wheeler [associate professor of English and director of Medieval Studies] had talked about so much,” she says. Leigh received a bachelor’s degree in English from SMU and later earned a master’s degree in education from the University of St. Thomas in Houston.
As a recruitment volunteer, she contacted accepted students in the Houston area to encourage them to make SMU their number-one choice. “They were all very lovely young people who said they appreciated the outreach,” she says. “It was a very manageable, easy-to-do project to support the University.”
Join Leigh, Don and almost 3,500 Mustangs around the world who volunteer for the University by checking out the wide variety of programs available and filling out an interest form today. For questions or more information, email involved@smu.edu.
Junchang Lü (right) with Steve Brusatte and the fossil of Zhenyuanlong suni, a new species of dinosaur with bird-like wings. Photo by Martin Kundrat.
SMU alumnus Junchang Lü ’04, one of China’s leading dinosaur experts, has helped identify a new dinosaur species – Zhenyuanlong suni – a cousin to the Velociraptor of Jurassic World fame and the newest clue as to how birds descended from dinosaurs.
The well-preserved fossil of a dinosaur with bird-like wings was unearthed by a farmer in northeastern China and eventually found its way to Lü, a top dinosaur researcher with the Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing. Lü called in Stephen Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh to aid in the identification process. The two scientists had teamed up previously in the discovery of Qianzhousaurus sinensis, a cousin of Tyrannosaur rex whose whose long snout earned it thenickname “Pinocchio rex.”
The newly identified dinosaur is believed to have lived around 125 million years ago in China and likely met its end during a volcanic eruption. It measured over five feet in length, had short arms, a mouthful of sharp teeth and talons. It also sported a complex set of wings covered with colorful feathers, perhaps like those of the modern-day peacock or pheasant. The scientists doubt the dinosaur could fly, so the function of the wings remains unclear.
The nearly complete skeleton suggests that winged dinosaurs were larger and more varied than previously thought.
“The western part of Liaoning Province in China is one of the most famous places in the world for finding dinosaurs,” Lü told CBS News. “The first feathered dinosaurs were found here and now our discovery of Zhenyuanlong indicates that there is an even higher diversity of feathered dinosaurs than we thought. It’s amazing that new feathered dinosaurs are still being found.” An artist’s impression of Zhenyuanlong suni. This Velociraptor cousin posessed large, complex wings and looked bird-like. Image by Chuang Zhao.
The scientists’ study was published in the journal Scientific Reports on July 16 and was covered around the globe by BBC, CBS, CNN, PBS and other media.
In an interview with BBC News, Brusatte said: “It will blow some people’s minds to realize that those dinosaurs in the movies would have been even weirder, and I think even scarier – like big fluffy birds from hell.”
Lü earned a Ph.D. in geology from SMU in 2004.
“He published a number a papers before, during and after his SMU stay, mostly as an expert on dinosaurs and pterosaurs,” says Dale Winkler, a research professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. “He is a very productive researcher, and we are, of course, very proud of him.”
By Nancy Lowell George ’79
The STEMPREP Project at SMU recently received a $3.78 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to support its goal of increasing the number of minorities in STEM fields. The grant follows a $2.6 million award in 2014. SMU graduate and former STEMPREP student Taisha Husbands ’15 is teaching science courses to current STEMPREP students, like eighth-grader Walter Rouse II of Washington, D. C. Husbands will attend USC’s Keck School of Medicine this fall. Photo by Nancy George
According to a report just released from the Executive Office of the President, 21 percent of Hispanic men and 28 percent of black men have a college degree by their late twenties compared to nearly half of white men. The 2013 U.S. Census Bureau reports that African Americans make up 11 percent of the U.S. workforce but only 6 percent of STEM workers. Hispanics make up 15 percent of the U.S. workforce, but just 7 percent of the STEM workforce.
To create more diversity in STEM fields, the STEMPREP Project, based at SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, recruits bright, science-minded middle school students for the first phase of the 10-year program. At SMU 100 seventh- and eighth-grade minority students live on campus through August 1 for six weeks of college-level biology, chemistry, statistics and research writing and presentation classes, laboratory techniques course, and the creation of a final in-depth research presentation on a disease. Each day begins with class at 8:30 a.m and wraps up after study hall at 8:30 p.m.
Eighth-grader Walter Victor Rouse, II wants to be a heart surgeon and professional basketball player to honor his grandfather, Loyola basketball standout Vic Rouse, who died from heart disease before Walter was born. Vic Rouse was an honor student at Loyola University in 1963 when his rebound and basket in overtime clinched the NCAA basketball championship for Loyola. The elder Rouse died in 1999 at age 56.
Walter is part of a program that boasts an impressive success rate – 100 percent of STEMPREP project students who finish the program attend college. And 83 percent go on to graduate school to become physicians, pharmacists, dentists, researchers or engineers.
“Being in this program empowers students,” says Charles Knibb, STEMPREP director of academic affairs, an SMU research professor and a former surgeon. Moses Williams ’78, ’82, executive director, founded the program in 1990 when he was director of admissions for Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
“As a gatekeeper, I realized there were not a lot of minorities being considered,” he says. “I wanted to change that.” He compares the program to training young athletes: Identify talent early and then nurture it through practice and coaching.
Eighth-grader Beatriz Coronado of Marietta, Georgia, says she would be spending the summer taking care of her little brothers if she wasn’t at SMU as part of STEMPREP. She recently completed her favorite lab so far, an enzyme-linked immuno-assay simulation that detects and measures antibodies in the blood. She plans to become a family physician.
Dallas eighth-grader Tomisin Ogunfunmi says he didn’t know he could be so independent until he spent six weeks on the SMU campus at STEMPREP last summer. Now he looks forward to next summer when he will work in a Philadelphia university research lab with a scientist as a mentor. He plans to pursue a combination MD/PhD to become a biomedical engineering researcher, possibly at a university.
After participants in the STEMPREP program finish the junior high component, they spend their senior high and college summers working in university, U.S. government and private research laboratories in Philadelphia, Bethesda, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver. Taisha Husbands ’15, who graduated from SMU in May with psychology and chemistry degrees, joined the STEMPREP program as an eighth-grader.
“I’ve known since I was four that I wanted to be a doctor,” says Husbands, a native of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. “But I come from a family of teachers and police officers, and I thought this program would help me reach my goal.”
Husbands starts medical school in August at the University of Southern California. This summer she is teaching science to current STEMPREP seventh- and eighth-graders and lives with them in a residence hall on campus. She hasn’t forgotten what it is like to be an eighth-grader wrestling with college-level material and created an evening study session for students who wanted extra help.
“When I was in eighth grade, one of the STEMPREP teachers sat down with me at lunch every day to help me with the material,” she says. “Helping these students is one of those pay it forward things.” EXTRA
> View video of the SMU STEMPREP Program
The Carolyn and David Miller Campus Center will be dedicated at 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 17, at SMU-in-Taos. The Center is named for lead donors David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and Carolyn L. Miller. The newest facility at SMU-in-Taos will create a comfortable gathering place for campus and community groups, ranging from 100 guests attending a lecture to a handful of students relaxing before a huge stone fireplace. Miller Campus Center in Taos The new Carolyn and David Miller Campus Center was dedicated on July 17 at SMU-in-Taos.
Seminar rooms, a fitness center, media room and a large gathering space are included in the Center, which is surrounded on three sides by a covered wrap-around porch. An outdoor plaza connects the facility to the campus dining hall, auditorium, chapel and newly renovated classroom space.
“The Miller Campus Center is the new heart of SMU-in-Taos,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “This Center will facilitate academic discussions, intellectual discovery and friendships for students, faculty and New Mexico community members who have the opportunity to spend time here. I am grateful to the Millers, the Clements Foundation and other generous donors who, with great foresight, have made this facility possible.”
Designed to embrace its natural setting, the Miller Campus Center includes the William P. Clements, Jr. Great Hall, with outdoor views from large windows on three sides and a stone fireplace for chilly Taos evenings. The Sands Lobby, made possible by Marcellene Wilson Sands ’69 and Stephen Sands ’70, provides a welcoming entry. The Ubelaker Classroom, adjacent to the Center, was named by Barbara Hunt Crow and her son, Daniel Crow ’12, in honor of John Ubelaker, SMU biology professor emeritus, longtime SMU-in-Taos faculty member and former director of SMU-in-Taos. Seminar rooms include the Dickey Seminar Room, given by Maurine Petty Dickey ’67, and the Director’s Seminar Room in the adjoining dining hall, given by the Mockovciak Fund of the Dallas Foundation in honor of Mike Adler, SMU-in-Taos executive director and associate professor of anthropology.
“The Miller Campus Center is the epitome of how we live in Taos,” Adler says. “There is a constant osmosis between the indoors and the outdoors.”
In addition to interior spaces, the Miller Campus Center includes plazas, portals and deep porches, which provide outdoor areas for lectures, discussion and reflection. The wide terrace and tiered steps of the Janis and Roy Coffee Terrace Plazuela will invite students and visitors to linger before entering the Center. On the north and east sides of the building, the Ware Portal, made possible by William Ware ’01, overlooks a winding mountain stream. The Cecil Patio, a gift from Robert V. Cecil ’62 and Sandra Garland Cecil ’64, provides outdoor seating adjacent to the dining hall and Director’s Seminar Room.
“One of SMU’s highest priorities is enhancing the quality of the campus experience both inside and outside the classroom,” says Brad Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs. “The new Miller Campus Center brings this goal to fruition for those studying at SMU-in-Taos. We are grateful to the dedicated group of donors who have embraced the special character of this mountain campus and have enhanced it with this new facility.” Carolyn L. Miller and David P. Miller ’72, ’73
Carolyn L. Miller and David B. Miller ’72, ’73 were inspired to support the campus center as regular participants at the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, a summer program for adults, which explores the art, history, culture and literature of Northern New Mexico. Longtime SMU supporters, the Millers also provided the lead gift for the renovation and expansion of Moody Coliseum on the main SMU campus in Dallas.
Carolyn Miller earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Hendrix College and holds master’s degrees in both elementary education and gerontology. She is a member of the SMU-in-Taos Executive Board, the Hendrix College Board of Trustees and a former member of the Women’s Initiative advisory council for the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
David Miller is co-founder of EnCap Investments L.P., a leading private equity firm based in Houston and Dallas, where he serves as managing partner. Miller is secretary of the SMU Board of Trustees, on which he has served since 2008, and is a member of the Second Century Campaign Leadership Council. He is chair of the Executive Board for the Edwin L. Cox School of Business, co-chair of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Cox School of Business and serves on the Campaign Steering Committee for Athletics. Mr. Miller is president of the David B. Miller Family Foundation, with Mrs. Miller serving as vice president.
Through the foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Miller have supported Cox School of Business, SMU Athletics, Moody Coliseum and scholarships for students in several different areas of study. In 2012, they received the Mustang Award in recognition of their extraordinary philanthropy supporting SMU. Mr. Miller has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from both SMU and Cox School of Business, recognizing his professional success and leadership. William P. Clements, Jr. ’39
The late William P. Clements, Jr.’39, former Texas governor, made possible SMU’s acquisition of Fort Burgwin, a pre-Civil War cantonment, leading to the development of SMU-in-Taos. His leadership kept the rustic beauty of the campus intact, while enabling development of learning and living facilities. Thanks to his vision, the Taos campus today is the setting of undergraduate and graduate courses, research, public lectures and academic conferences. The Clements Foundation honored Clements through its support of the Miller Campus Center and the naming of the William P. Clements, Jr. Great Hall.
Clements supported Southwest studies in several other ways. In SMU’s Dedman College, he endowed the Department of History, which created a Ph.D. focused on the American Southwest. In addition, he funded the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, which provides fellowships for research and scholarly publications about the Southwest. Other major gifts to SMU have supported programs in engineering, mathematics and theology.
As former chair of the SMU Board of Trustees, Clements also provided leadership guiding the academic planning, endowment management and physical development of the main SMU campus. About SMU-in-Taos
Since 1973 Fort Burgwin has been an SMU educational center. Its setting in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, surrounded by the Carson National Forest, provides a unique backdrop for the enrichment of body, mind and spirit.
Courses in anthropology explore local Native American and Hispanic cultures and the archaeology of the Southwest, including the continuing excavation and examination of Pot Creek Pueblo and historic Fort Burgwin. Native environments, as well as global environmental issues, are the scope and focus of biology courses taught at Fort Burgwin. Geologically, the region provides a diverse landscape to study. Courses in history, literature, music, painting, sculpture, theatre and dance, as well as professional and educational retreats, benefit from the natural surroundings, far removed from the distractions of the city. In addition, the program offers a variety of wellness activities, including hiking, biking, river rafting, rock climbing, horseback riding and fly-fishing.
SMU-in-Taos also offers programs to the northern New Mexico community, including a free Tuesday evening SMU-in-Taos Colloquium Lecture Series, established through an endowment in recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Clements, focusing on research related to the area. Student art is exhibited throughout the summer. A popular free concert occurs each summer, with additional concerts presented by music students and faculty. Dance and theatre students give performances when in residence, and the campus is home to community meetings and school and corporate retreats.
The gifts to fund the Miller Campus Center count toward the $1 billion goal of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. To date the campaign has raised more than $987 million in gifts and pledges to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. The campaign coincides with SMU’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915. EXTRA
> Dedication story from the Taos News
This story was published originally by SMU Perkins School of Theology on June 30, 2015.
SMU Perkins School of Theology announces the relocation of its Houston-Galveston Extension Program to Houston’s Medical Center district, effective July 1. The new partnership with three United Methodist institutions — St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Houston Methodist Hospital and St. John’s “Downtown” United Methodist Church — will expand opportunities for enhanced theological education in settings that embrace new frontiers in ministry. The SMU Perkins School of Theology Houston-Galveston Extension Program has relocated to Houston’s Medical Center district and will be headquartered at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church.
A special launch reception will be held Wednesday, August 5, at 6 p.m. in the parlor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 5501 Main Street, in Houston. This event is open to the public.
“Perkins’ move to the Medical Center affirms our mission of preparing women and men for faithful leadership in Christian ministry in relationship to the greater setting of the southwestern United States that includes hospitals, clinics, and biomedical research laboratories,” said Dr. Evelyn Parker, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Susannah Wesley Centennial Chair of Practical Theology at Perkins.
“Our vision is to prepare imaginative leaders who will shape relevant theological questions and create appropriate practices that flow out of biomedical research and patient care,” she said.
The program will be headquartered at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and staffed by on-site coordinator Lisa Beth White, Student Services Specialist. Library reserves and reference books will also be housed at St. Paul’s.
The expansion of the Houston-Galveston Extension Program includes a new course format of concentrated one-month modules. Classes will meet in Houston on Thursday evenings and two Friday evenings per month, with one Saturday in Houston and one in Galveston per course per semester. Spiritual Formation will be held on Monday evenings.
Since 1994, the Houston-Galveston Extension Program has been based at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church. Classes have also been held in Galveston at Moody Memorial United Methodist Church, which will continue its partnership with Perkins.
“We are thankful for 20 years of hospitality offered by the congregation and leaders of St. Luke’s UMC to Perkins students and faculty,” Associate Dean Parker said. “Their countless gifts of facilities and resources helped us realize our mission.”
Learn more about the Perkins School of Theology Houston-Galveston Extension Program. View the courses for fall 2015 and the 2015-2017 course planning guide.
Lawrence Herkimer ’48, the irrepressible icon and model entrepreneur known as “the father of modern cheerleading,” is being remembered as the originator of the pompom, the spirit stick, the Herkie jump and the National Cheerleaders Association. Lawrence Herkimer with cheerleaders in front of SMU’s Dallas Hall.
Herkimer, who began his spirit-squad revolution during his time as an SMU cheerleader, died in Miami, Florida, on July 1, 2015. He was 89 years old.
“Lawrence Herkimer’s legendary spirit energized everyone and everything in his orbit, including his beloved alma mater,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “In his vision, his enthusiasm and his entrepreneurial spirit, he was a true world changer. Generations of young people have learned from his example, and none more than his fellow Mustangs, who will carry his legacy forward.
Better known as “Herkie,” Herkimer honed his craft as a cheerleader at SMU, where his electric personality and inventive athleticism made him a standout. While attending the University, he formed a national organization for cheerleaders and created a cheerleading-oriented magazine called Megaphone.
He also perfected his signature jump — which he first performed as a North Dallas High School cheerleader in the early forties — during his stint as the Mustangs’ head cheerleader in the Doak Walker era. The Herkie is correctly performed with one arm extended straight up in the air and the other hand on the hip, with one leg extended straight out and the other bent back in a hurdler’s stance.
“Far more difficult acrobatic stunts exist, but none so perfectly capture the energy and exuberance identified with cheerleading,” wrote Joe Nick Patoski in Texas Monthly in 1989.
Yet the iconic move was, by its creator’s own admission, a failed attempt at a different stunt. “It was just a poor split jump,” Herkimer said to John Branch of The New York Times in 2009. “I don’t like to tell people that.”
Herkimer organized his first cheerleading camp in 1948 at Sam Houston State Teachers College in Huntsville, Texas. The first session drew 52 girls and one boy. The following year, it drew 350 participants. The increasingly successful camps were the beginning of the Dallas-based National Cheerleaders Association (NCA), which Herkimer incorporated in 1961 and sold for $20 million in 1986. Now owned by Varsity Brands, the NCA still holds cheer camps each summer on college campuses throughout the nation, including at SMU. The organization also presents the annual College National Championships, broadcast live from Daytona Beach every April.
The cheer camps also gave rise to another of Herkimer’s inventions: the spirit stick. During an NCA camp in 1954, Herkimer noted that one squad was not the best at performing moves, but stood out from the others in their hard work and encouragement of other teams. He was so impressed by the squad’s positive attitude that he cut a small tree branch, decorated it with paint, and awarded it to the team in front of the entire camp. Since then, the tradition of the spirit stick has represented the teamwork, spirit and support that Herkimer believed to be the essence of cheerleading.
In 1951, Herkimer cofounded the Cheerleader Supply Company with his first wife, Dorothy Brown Herkimer ’46, who died in 1993. Originally operated out of the Herkimers’ Dallas garage, the firm grew quickly into a booming retail business for sweaters, skirts, spirit sticks, booster ribbons, specially made shoes and other cheerleading equipment.
The advent of color television led to another Herkimer innovation. Cheerleaders were garnering more and more camera time, and Herkimer recognized a need to provide colorful and visually appealing accessories for them. As a result, he put paper streamers on a stick to create the “pom pon.” For his subsequent design update — a flameproof Mylar version with a hidden handle — Herkimer was granted patent number 3,560,313 by the U.S. Patent Office in 1971. (He used the “pom pon” spelling on purpose, after hearing that the more common variation, “pompom,” had vulgar meanings in other languages.)
Herkimer’s SMU ties remained strong throughout his life. He served as president of the SMU Alumni Association in 1981-82, and as the Class of 1948 reunion giving chair from 1992 to 1994. In 1985, he received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and in 1994 received an honorary letter from the SMU Lettermen’s Association. In 2012, he was honored as one of the University’s Centennial History Makers.
“Lawrence Herkimer was a wonderful guy and an SMU legend,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for Development and External Affairs. “He was very proud of his association with his alma mater, and very generous to the University throughout his lifetime in ways that directly impacted students. We will cherish his memory.” EXTRAS
> Read the New York Times profile of Lawrence Herkimer
> Remembering Lawrence Herkimer, NPR
> Lawrence Herkimer obituary, Boston Globe
> Read the Texas Monthly profile of the cheerleading legend
This article was published originally in SMU Forum. By Kathleen Tibbetts
SMU Dean of Undergraduate Admission Wes Waggoner has been named the University’s interim associate vice president for enrollment management in the Office of the Provost, effective July 1, 2015. SMU Dean of Undergraduate Admission Wes Waggoner has been named the University’s interim associate vice president for enrollment management.
“Wes has provided leadership in the SMU Admission Office during a time of an unprecedented increase in the number and quality of applicants to the University,” says Harold W. Stanley, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “He has brought expertise and passion to his role as an executive director of the Division of Enrollment Services by overseeing improvements to recruitment strategies and increased efficiency in admission operations. He will maintain the division’s focus on serving prospective and current students, while supporting SMU’s ongoing commitment to increasing quality and diversity.”
As interim associate vice president, Waggoner will oversee the Division of Enrollment Services, which includes the Office of Undergraduate Admission, Office of Financial Aid, Office of the Registrar and Bursar’s Office. He also will provide guidance for summer school enrollment.
Waggoner was named dean of undergraduate admission and executive director of enrollment services at SMU in 2011. He previously held admission roles at TCU, the University of Tulsa, Tulane University, Fort Worth Country Day School and The Episcopal School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Tulane University and an MBA with a concentration in not-for-profit management from the University of Dallas.
Waggoner is a nationally known leader in the admission profession, having served as chair of the Professional Development Committee for the National Association for College Admission Counseling, chair of the Admissions Practices Committee for the Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC), chair of the Higher Education Curriculum Committee for the Admission and College Counseling Institute, and as a member of The College Board’s SAT Advisory Committee and the SAT Score Choice Task Force.
SMU will conduct a national search to replace Associate Provost Stephanie Dupaul, who has been appointed vice president for enrollment management at the University of Richmond.
To celebrate the University’s centennial year, we asked students to tell us what they liked most about SMU. Here is the highly subjective, not-at-all comprehensive and totally fun list, in no particular order, of the people, places and more that earn a thumbs-up.
Do you have an SMU like to share?
Post it in our comments section, or tweet us @smumagazine.
The Liberty Project, the modern revival of Liberty magazine, launched June 24 with three SMU graduates at the helm. Editorial director Christina Geyer ’10, editor Courtney Spalten ’14 and marketing manager Patrick Kobler ’10 have reimagined and reinvented the iconic lifestyle publication as a multimedia site tailored to the 21st-century reader. The Liberty Project’s inaugural issue offers more than 120 original works and personal accounts, including features by actress Sarah Michelle Gellar and author and fashion journalist Lauren Scruggs Kennedy. SMU alumni shaping The Liberty Project: (from left) Patrick Kobler ’10, marketing manager; Christina Geyer ’10, editorial director; and Courtney Spalten ’14, editor.
In its heyday, Liberty published the musings of everyone who was anyone, from Albert Einstein to Shirley Temple. The weekly magazine folded in 1950, but its legacy of rich storytelling and thoughtful commentary inspire its online reincarnation.
“The Liberty Project is reclaiming the power of the first-person by publishing an array of carefully curated and thought-provoking stories,” says Geyer. “We’re creating an environment that celebrates the voice of the individual and fosters the sharing of relatable personal narratives to create a unique editorial experience that is meaningful to our contributors and our audience.”
Melding backgrounds in media, technology and marketing, the founding editorial triad infuses the storied brand with a fresh vision.
Both Geyer and Spalten majored in journalism in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and forged careers as editors.
As an SMU student, Geyer co-founded smustyle.com, a campus fashion blog that continues to this day and is managed by a team of student editors. Her keen observations of tastemakers and trends landed her as an editor at PaperCity magazine before she moved to FD, The Dallas Morning News’ style magazine, where she served as managing editor and launched its wedding magazine, FD Love.
Spalten minored in psychology and fashion media at SMU and acted as digital editor of FD before joining the new online venture.
“I feel incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to use the journalism skills I learned at SMU and put them toward relaunching an iconic publication as an innovative digital, multimedia content platform,” Spalten says.
Kobler’s résumé befits a political science major. He served as president of the SMU student body in his senior year and joined Teach for America after graduation. Kobler went on to become an author and program coordinator for the George W. Bush Presidential Center and Institute; headed external affairs and public outreach for Chui, a tech start-up founded by SMU alumni Shaun Moore ’10 and Nezare Chafni ’10; and, most recently, served as the managing director of regional communications, public affairs and engagement for Teach For America.
The three came together some months ago to start serious work on the reboot with CEO Amy Katzenberg and the rest of the team.
While the new iteration would likely be unrecognizable to anyone who had picked up the first copy of Liberty in 1926, some of the core characteristics that made the magazine a household name for a quarter-century remain. Much like the original, The Liberty Project provides a platform for writers, photographers, artists, celebrities and thinkers to share multiple perspectives.
The stable of contributors includes Kiflu Hussain, writing about human rights. He served as a refugee research assistant with the SMU Department of Anthropology’s Forced Migration Innovation Project and is now with The Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering.
“The Liberty Project can help make Dallas an important national media hub. In doing so, SMU’s students, professors and alumni can have an additional opportunity to share their voices as world-changers,” says Kobler.
Unlike most publications of the time, the original magazine bought the rights to many works it published. The Liberty Library boasts original writings by such literary giants as F. Scott Fitzgerald, P. G. Wodehouse, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and Agatha Christie. Among the notable stories published: “My Sex Life” by Mahatma Gandhi, “What Democracy Means to Me” by Clark Gable and “How It Feels to Be a Has-Been” by Babe Ruth.
Roughly 120 of the magazine’s literary properties have been adapted for popular media, including the movies Sergeant York (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944) and the TV series Mr. Ed (1958-66).
Plans are for The Liberty Project to showcase original content from the magazine’s archive through a contemporary lens.
The following story was first published in the Diamond M Club Newsletter, June 2015.
Origin Of “Proclamation”
Among the many lasting Mustang Band traditions is a drum cadence that was written in the summer of 1972. “Proclamation” was composed by band member Randy Dodgen ’73 and, over 40 years later, it remains a part of pre-game today, helping get the band from the sidelines onto the field. Even if you don’t know it’s title, if you’ve ever seen the Mustang Band play at a football game over the last few decades, you’ve heard “Proclamation.”
“I had the privilege of leading Squad 7 for three years while I pursued a B.B.A. and M.B.A. at SMU,” Dodgen says. “Bill Lively, who was Coach’s assistant director then, wanted something new for the squad’s entrance to the field, something that would make more of a ‘proclamation’ and could continue from there to immediately lead the band onto the field.”
We talked to Randy to find out more about the cadence’s origins. So are you the one who came up with the name?
I really don’t remember. Let’s credit him [Bill Lively] with the first use of the word “Proclamation” that I just added to the manuscript. It was a very ‘Lively-esque’ word. What was the drum line like back then?
At that prehistoric time, Squad 7 was comprised of 5 snares, 1 tenor drum, 1 pair of cymbals and 1 bass drum. Those were the days before the large drum and bugle corps lines had begun their impact on marching bands down here, so we didn’t march a multiple tenor/multi-cymbal/multi-bass drumline which could have added even more color to the cadence. How did you write “Proclamation”?
It started in my head and moved to a piece of manuscript paper. I didn’t really know whether we had something that would work until we began to rehearse it with all components before Hell Week. I wanted a fast flowing/cascading cadence that would allow each of the elements in the drumline an opportunity to be showcased and also was a change up of the way we had done the band’s entry cadence in the past. After working on it alone all summer, when you presented it to the other drummers, was there any revising or was what you wrote the finished product?
It was pretty much a finished product. What was the band’s response the first time they heard it?
I don’t remember their responses. I was just focused on playing it! Prior to “Proclamation,” how did the band get onto the field?
We used to enter from the sidelines along with the band for probably 1969 and 1970. Later, we entered from under the goal post with a silent march, first sticks from left shoulder to right hip to get into our 1st position. Then [drum major] Randy West ’70, ’74, ’77 would whistle everyone to attention, and the band would enter to our cadence. What about the hand flashes and “hey” vocals from the band?
The band did the hand flashes in our era as well. It always looked sharp. Do you have anything else to add?
The import of “Proclamation” was not in my writing it; it was in its being written in hopes of furthering the Mustang Band and its on-field performances. I’m nobody special. Notes on a piece of manuscript paper are of no value unless they are infused by the spirit and interpretation of them by a group of men sharing the camaraderie of the love of the music and of the spirit of the Mustang Band. Make that the “Proclamation”: This about them, not about me.
I wish nothing but the best for the current drumline and band as they grow under and Don and Tommy’s leadership and bask in each other’s friendships as they have the privilege of playing the old and new standards of Mustang jazz. Hubba!
Good job, Randy!
Trevor Weichmann ’06 works about 8,000 miles from the SMU campus, serving as the Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) Epic ASAP Application coordinator in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. However, his heart is never far from the Hilltop. One of the first things he did when he moved into his new work space was spruce it up with an SMU pennant and a miniature Mustang football helmet. That’s Trevor Weichmann ’06 making Pony ears and showing Mustang pride in Saudi Arabia, where he is working on an electronic medical records project with Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare.
“We have a tradition of Mustangs in my family. I think I’m the 13th member to graduate from SMU,” he says. “I feel like SMU has helped shape my life since the day I was born.”
Weichmann started on the two-year project in Saudi Arabia in May. Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare is a first-of-its-kind health care joint venture between Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and Saudi Aramco, the state-owned energy company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The partnership provides health care to about 350,000 beneficiaries associated with the world’s largest oil and gas company.
“I knew that the chance to work for the Johns Hopkins Health Network-Saudi Aramco collaboration was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t turn down,” he says.
As a consultant with Epic Systems, a Wisconsin-based company that is a leading provider of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software, his focus is on EMR for the emergency room as part of Epic’s ASAP Application team.
“My role is to help implement the project from start to finish,” he says. “We meet with physicians and stakeholders to explain possible functionality, validate workflows, build the system and test the software against required metrics, train end-users and assist in ongoing efforts to assure long-term excellence.”
At SMU Weichmann majored in management science in the Lyle School of Engineering. He credits SMU professors who “challenged me to see technical problems as games that needed solving” and “opened my eyes to different cultures and experiences” with paving the way for a career that can take him anywhere.
“SMU provided so much more than a education that can be given grades,” he says. “I received an education in life.”
Follow Weichmann’s adventures in Saudi Arabia on his blog, CT Scans the World.
Recipients of 2015 Black History Makers Awards presented by the Black Alumni of SMU are (from left) Michael Pegues ’84, Malcolm Gage ’99, Brandy Mickens ’02, Judge Eric Moyé ’76 and Warren Seay ’10, ’13 with Ashley Hamilton ’03, 2014-2015 chair of the Black Alumni Board. Photo by Kevin Gaddis.
Accomplished alumni and students were honored at the fourth annual Black Excellence Ball held this spring as part of SMU’s observance of Black History Month. Black Alumni of SMU joined the Association of Black Students (ABS) to present the celebratory evening that included recognition of the 2015 Black History Makers and Black Alumni Scholarship recipients. ABS Black Excellence Leadership Award recipients also were honored.
> See photos from the event
The Black History Maker Awards are presented to “alumni who have paved the way for black students at SMU,” said Kevelyn Rose ’16, ABS vice president and chair of the ball, who served as MC for the event.
2015 Black History Makers
Malcolm Gage, Jr. ’99
Malcolm R. Gage, Jr. is a leader in his profession and the community. A native of Beaumont, Texas, he earned a bachelor’s degree in public affairs and corporate communications from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. After graduating, Gage built a 17-year career in the automotive industry and currently serves as sales manager for Park Place Premier Collection, one of the largest luxury purveyors in the country. 2015-2016 Black Alumni Scholarship recipients (from left) Raina Scruggs ’17, Kiara Wade ’17 and MacKenzie Jenkins ’18. Photo by Kevin Gaddis.
Gage is also an entrepreneur. He is the co-owner and managing partner of Ophelia’s New Soul. The modern soul food restaurant was a season two winner in the Food Network’s “Food Court Wars.” He and his business partner have been recognized among the “Top 50 People Changing the South” by Southern Living Magazine.
In 2013, Gage was recognized by DIFFA Dallas as a Style Council Ambassador, a group comprised of the city’s top influencers and activists each year. His philanthropic activities include the Human Rights Campaign, Immigration Equality, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce.
He also is active in the SMU Alumni Association. Brandy Mickens ’02
Brandy Mickens has distinguished herself as an award-winning financial services professional and a devoted community volunteer. Mickens earned a B.B.A. in finance from SMU’s Cox School of Business. As a student Mickens served as president of ABS, the community service chair for the Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts and as a member of the 2001 Homecoming Court for ABS and National Pan-Hellenic Council. She also was an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and the Soul Sista’s Championship Intramural Basketball Team. 2015 Leadership Award recipients are (from left) Tyrell Russell ’16, D’Marquis Allen ’16, Nariana Sands ’16, Brianna Hogg ’17 and Raina Scruggs ’17.
Mickens serves as divisional vice president for AXA Advisors, where she has received numerous honors. Shortly after joining the firm, she received AXA’s Fast Start Award. She also was named Associate of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and received the Centurion Producer Award in 2014. She was selected to serve on AXA’s National Diversity Steering Committee. In 2014, she was promoted to her current position, becoming the first woman in the company’s Texas Retirement Benefits Group to be named to the position.
In the community, she has spearheaded her firm’s relationship with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) and has served as a mentor to DISD students. She also is actively involved with her church and sorority.
In addition she served as the development chair for the Black Alumni of SMU from 2012-2014. Eric Moyé ’76 The Honorable Eric Vaughn Moyé serves the community with dedication and distinction. He graduated from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1976 and earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1979.
As an attorney, he was licensed by the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Claims, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas and the Northern District of California, all courts of the State of Texas and the State of New York.
Judge Moyé’s legal career has been highlighted by a series of firsts. He joined Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld in 1979 and was the first African-American lawyer to be hired by a major Dallas law firm. In 2008, he became the first African American to be elected a Civil District Court Judge in Dallas.
Another career high point occurred in 1993, when then-Governor Ann Richards appointed him judge of the 101st Civil District Court of Dallas County, the highest level trial court in Texas.
Judge Moyé has been active in numerous professional organizations including the State Bar of Texas, the State Bar of New York, the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Dallas Bar Association, the Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association, the American Association for Justice, the American Judicature Society and the Texas Bar Foundation. He is a frequent lecturer to practitioners about effective trial advocacy through the Dallas and State of Texas Bar Associations.
He has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of History in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. For the past 18 years, he has been a member of the guest faculty of the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop. Michael Pegues ’84 Michael Pegues demonstrates a commitment to excellenceas an attorney and as a volunteer for his alma mater. After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pegues enrolled in SMU and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering in 1984.
He began his career with LTV Aerospace and Defense Company’s Armadillo Works division. For five years he was assigned to the B-2 Stealth Bomber design team as a stress analyst.
In 1991, he earned a Juris Doctor from Tulane University Law School and served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Richard A. Schell ’72, ’75 of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The clerkship led to a position as an associate in the intellectual property section of Haynes and Boone, LLP. He later became a partner at Haynes and Boone. He also was a partner with Bracewell & Guiliana, LLP, before taking his current role as partner and intellectual property litigator with Polsinelli in Dallas.
Pegues has served on the Lyle School of Engineering Executive Board for many years and also has provided his leadership to the school’s Campaign Steering Committee during SMU’s Second Century Campaign. He also supports the Lyle Scholars program, which enables the engineering school to recruit the best and the brightest students. Warren Seay, Jr. ’10, ’13 Warren Seay, Jr. exemplifies the term “world changer.” The DeSoto High School graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from SMU’s Dedman College, graduating summa cum laude from SMU in 2010.
As an SMU student, he was a Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt Leadership Scholar, Institute for Responsible Citizenship Scholar and one of 50 students to receive the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, an award presented by President Barack Obama for high academic achievement and commitment to public service. Seay also was recognized as a USA Today Academic All-American and served as a Basileus of the Nu Kappa chapter of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. His work experience includes stints at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington D.C., at the National Association of School Boards and at TV-ONE as a production assistant when President Obama was nominated in 2008 at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
While a student, Seay won a seat on the DeSoto Independent School District Board of Trustees in 2009, becoming the youngest elected official in the state of Texas at age 20. He is now serving his fourth term as board president and is among the youngest school board presidents in the nation.
Seay earned his Juris Doctor, graduating cum laude from Dedman School of Law in 2013. He is currently an associate with Winstead PC in the firm’s real estate finance group.
As a writer and speaker, he explores a wide range of social issues. A chapter he authored – “Human Rights in Egypt” – has been published in Human Rights and National Security Dilemmas. He also drafted a chapter on affirmative action in Contentious Social Issues and has served as a guest lecturer at the University of North Texas at Dallas and American University in Washington D.C., with the presentation “‘Joshua Generation Rises: The Intentional Transformation of Public Education in DeSoto, Texas.”
His community involvement includes serving as a member of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson’s Young Leaders Alliance. Johnson is a 1976 graduate of SMU. He also serves on the board of the Moore Foundation’s A Careful Mind mental health initiative and the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Dallas.
2015-2016 Black Alumni Scholarship Recipients
Kiara Wade ’17, sophomore from Houston majoring in vocal performance at the Meadows School of the Arts with aspirations to also study advertising.
MacKenzie Jenkins ’18, a first-year student from Richardson, Texas majoring in political science and human rights in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
ABS Black Excellence Leadership Award Recipients
D’Marquis Allen ’16, junior from Round Rock, Texas majoring in computer engineering in the Lyle School of Engineering, 2014-2015 ABS president.
Brianna Hogg ’17, sophomore from Dallas majoring in business marketing at the Cox School of Business.
By Kimberly Cobb
With earthquakes continuing to rattle North Texas – and the nerves of its residents – the search is on for the source of the activity. That’s been the focus since 2008 for a team of SMU earth scientists who have become the go-to experts on North Texas earthquakes. Even though the largest quake in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (Jan. 6, 2015) measured only 3.7, and was a relatively small-magnitude quake that caused no major damage, the tremors do provoke concern. SMU geophysicist Brian Stump spoke to the media after the research team’s report to the Irving City Council in March about earthquakes that have been occurring nearby.
“Most people in North Texas have never felt an earthquake in their lives,” says seismologist Brian Stump, Albritton Professor of Earth Sciences in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Dedman College. “People don’t understand what the earthquakes are, so it can be scarier [to experience] than it should be.”
The scientists have deployed seismic monitors, gathered and distributed data and explained the earthquake activity to national and local news media, community groups, government officials, oil and gas industry researchers and other scientists. SMU is funding the research, using monitoring equipment loaned by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).
Texas lies within a geologic region where earthquakes large enough to be felt were once infrequent. But starting Halloween night of 2008, the earth below North Texas shook hard enough to be felt for the first time in more than 100 years.
Since then, the USGS reports that there have been almost 150 earthquakes large enough to be felt within 100 kilometers of Dallas-Fort Worth (thousands, if including quakes too small to be felt). They have occurred in or near areas developed for natural gas extraction from a basin-like geologic formation known as the Barnett Shale.
In April this year, SMU scientists published a study of earthquakes occurring near Azle from November 2013 through April 2014. Their findings suggest that the most likely cause of the quakes are subsurface pressure changes created by high volumes of wastewater known as “brine,” extracted from producing gas wells, combined with the nearby injection of gas field waste fluids. The study used numerical computer modeling to simulate the changing fluid pressure within a rock formation in the affected area near the intersection of two fault lines. Conclusions from the modeling were drawn from a broad range of estimates for subsurface conditions.
Data used in the Azle study came from locally installed seismic monitors, oil and gas companies, the Texas Railroad Commission and the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.
More recently, when small earthquakes began rumbling near the site of the old Texas Stadium, including two widely felt earthquakes (magnitude 3.5 and 3.6) on Jan. 6, the SMU scientists located as the source of the seismicity a previously unidentified shallow fault extending about two miles from Irving into Dallas. That study continues.
The SMU team has a broad range of expertise, says Heather DeShon ’99, associate professor of geophysics, an expert in earthquake location and a former President’s Scholar. Other team members are geophysicist Matthew Hornbach, associate professor of geophysics, whose focus is dynamic earth processes, including fluid movement; seismologist Beatrice Magnani, associate professor of geophysics, who does seismic imaging of subsurface geology; and senior scientist Chris Hayward, who handles instrumentation and processing, modeling and interpretation of data.
The team shares a sense of serendipity in doing research in a region that has unexpectedly become a hotbed of seismic activity. “In many instances, it takes very little for fault systems to fail,” Hornbach says. “All that’s really happening [with these earthquakes] is lubricating and stressing a system that’s ready to fail.”
More research is needed, say the scientists, in part due to the lack of public data about North Texas’ subsurface faults. A larger monitoring network is necessary to measure smaller magnitude quakes and better pinpoint their locations. Read more: SMU Seismology Team To Cooperate With State, Federal Scientists North Texas Earthquakes news site
Originally published by SMU Forum
James K. Hopkins, professor of history and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, has been named the inaugural recipient of SMU’s Second Century Faculty Career Achievement Award, announced by the Office of the Provost Friday, April 17, 2015. James K. Hopkins, professor of history in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, has been named the inaugural recipient of SMU’s Second Century Faculty Career Achievement Award.
In his honor, the James K. Hopkins SMU Second Century Faculty Career Achievement Scholarship has been created and will be awarded to a student in SMU’s fall 2015 entering class.
In addition, he has received the 2015 Faculty Club Mentor Supereminens Award, recognizing “exceptional mentoring of the University’s faculty and students.”
“Professor Hopkins’ achievements exemplify a career of outstanding accomplishment in scholarship, teaching and sustained commitment to the University,” the award citation reads. “[H]is academic merits are complemented by a career of service to furthering SMU’s engagement in world-changing issues.”
“I simply cannot imagine a more deserving recipient of this award than Jim Hopkins, who is nothing less than a University treasure,” says Andrew Graybill, professor and chair of the William P. Clements Department of History and co-director of the Clements Center for Southwest Studies. “Across a career spanning more than four decades, Jim has served his students, the SMU community and the world beyond our campus borders with extraordinary grace and commitment. It is so fitting that an incoming student will receive a scholarship in Jim’s name, so that his legacy will continue.”
Hopkins joined SMU in 1974 and for several years served as director of undergraduate studies in the Department of History. He also served as associate dean for general education in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. He chaired the Clements Department of History from 2001 to 2007. As president of the Faculty Senate, he served as a member of SMU’s Board of Trustees. In 2011, during the 100th-anniversary year of the University’s founding, he chaired the SMU Centennial Academic Symposium, “The University and the City.”
An early advocate of education beyond the campus, Hopkins co-founded SMU’s Inter-Community Experience (ICE) Program combining learning with service. Deeply involved in study abroad, he was founding director of SMU-in-Oxford and also served as director of SMU-in-Britain.
In 2001 Hopkins became one of the first recipients of the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Award and a member of SMU’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Other University honors include the “M” Award, SMU’s most prestigious award for outstanding service; the Phi Beta Kappa Perrine Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship; four Rotunda Outstanding Professor Awards; the United Methodist Church Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award; Faculty Volunteer of the Year Award for “exemplary leadership in the greater Dallas community”; and on four occasions the Willis M. Tate Award for contributions to student life. He received the Distinguished University Citizen Award in 2005 and is a five-time recipient of the HOPE (Honoring Our Professors’ Excellence) Award, given by student staff members in SMU Residence Life and Student Housing. He has been a long-time adviser to the University’s President’s Scholars Program.
Hopkins teaches courses on modern Britain and European social and intellectual history, modern European history, women in European history, and service learning related to Dallas. From his course on the social history of atomic energy, he wrote and narrated a film used for an academic orientation, “The University and the Fate of the Earth.” The film received a Silver Award from the New York International Film and TV Festival. During the 1996-97 academic year, he served as the first Public Scholar with SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.
Hopkins’ publications include two books examining the ideas of ordinary men and women in times of political crisis, A Woman to Deliver Her People: Joanna Southcott and English Millenarianismin an Age of Revolution and Into the Heart of the Fire: The British in the Spanish Civil War. The latter received a 1999 Godbey Authors’ Award as an outstanding book written by an SMU faculty member. For the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, he developed a popular course on Los Alamos and the Manhattan nuclear bomb project.
Hopkins received his B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Cambridge University. He earned his Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. He will retire in May as professor emeritus of history. – Kathleen Tibbetts
Civic leader Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67, co-founder of the distinguished law firm of Haynes and Boone, has been re-elected chair of the SMU Board of Trustees, the University’s 42-member governing board, effective June 2015.
“Mike Boone’s leadership has been crucial as SMU marks the final year of its centennial celebration and capital campaign,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “His able guidance has set a strong course as we prepare for our second century of achievement.”
Boone has been an SMU trustee since 1996. Throughout his service on the Board, he has been a member of virtually every Board committee, among them Finance, Audit and Trusteeship. A former adjunct professor of corporate securities law at the Dedman School of Law, he currently serves as vice chair of the Dedman Law School’s Executive Board.
In leading the Board of Trustees, Boone serves as a co-chair of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which seeks $1 billion for scholarships, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience.
In addition, Robert Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 was re-elected vice chair of the Board of Trustees and David Miller was re-elected secretary.
Robert Dedman is the general partner of Putterboy, Ltd. and president of the Dedman family enterprise, DFI Management, Ltd. He was elected to the SMU Board of Trustees in 2004 and has served as secretary of the Board since 2010. He also serves on the Executive Boards of Dedman College and Dedman School of Law and on The Second Century Campaign Leadership Council. He previously served SMU on the board of the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College, the 21st Century Council and the Texas Campaign Committee for The Campaign for SMU.
David Miller ’72, ’73 is co-founder of EnCap Investments L.P., a leading private equity firm based in Houston and Dallas, where he serves as a partner. He also serves as president of the David B. Miller Family Foundation. Miller has served as a member of the SMU Board of Trustees since 2008 and is a member of the Second Century Campaign Leadership Council. He is chair of the Executive Board for the Edwin L. Cox School of Business, co-chair of The Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Cox School of Business and serves on the Campaign Steering Committee for Athletics.
Founders’ Day Weekend April 16-18 celebrated several University milestones – the 100th anniversary year of SMU’s opening, the Year of the Student and the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Meadows Museum.
“This year, 2015, is the Year of the Student because 100 years ago our first students climbed the steps of Dallas Hall to enter SMU, with all University operations centered in that single, grand building,” President R. Gerald Turner said at his annual briefing. “Appropriately, our students have been making history ever since.”
On Friday the SMU community commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Meadows Museum with a celebratory gathering that attracted international visitors (large photo above). Founded in 1965 by benefactor Algur H. Meadows, it houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain.
As part of the celebration, the Meadows Museum is presenting the first exhibition in the United States of paintings from the collection of Juan Abelló and his wife, Anna Gamazo, considered among the world’s top collectors. The Abelló Collection: A Modern Taste for European Masters features paintings and drawings spanning the 16th to the 21st centuries, including works by Spanish and other European masters.
On Saturday, the Meadows Museum welcomed visitors to travel to Spain without leaving Dallas with its “Passport to Spain” Community Day activities (small photos above). The family-friendly event included opera arias performed by Meadows School of the Arts student, painting demonstrations and dance performances.
Rounding out the weekend was a reunion of Golden Mustangs, for alumni from the classes of 1964 or earlier; Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU; President’s Associates reception honoring donors who make gifts totaling $1,000 or more in a single year; the President’s Briefing; and the Mustang Fan Fair at Ford Stadium, featuring the SMU football spring game.
More scenes from the Meadows Museum, Founders’ Day Weekend
Fireworks light up the night sky during a special celebration of the Meadows Museum 50th anniversary. The Meadows Museum opened to the public in 1965 and has been housed in its current building since it opened in 2001. The SMU community gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the Meadows Museum’s 50th year on Friday, April 17. Trumpeters’ flourishes signaled the beginning of the public celebration of the museum’s golden year. Daniel de Córdoba Bailes Españoles troupe performed Spanish classical, regional and flamenco dances and music. Meadows School of the Arts voice students performed a selection of operatic arias during Community Day on Saturday, April 18. Art appreciation, family style. A young artist creating her own work of art during Community Day.
> See more photos of Community Day at the Meadows Museum
By Kimberly Cobb
Three international leaders who will receive honorary degrees at SMU’s 100th May Commencement will participate in symposia on the main campus Friday, May 15. All symposia are free and open to the public.
The symposia will feature 2015 honorees Meave Leakey, a renowned anthropologist whose research in Africa has revealed important clues to humans’ earliest ancestors; Irene Hirano Inouye, who helped build the Japanese American National Museum and is founding president of the U.S.-Japan Council; and Helen LaKelly Hunt, a donor-activist, author and SMU alumna whose life focus has been to empower women and educate people about the value of healthy, intimate relationships. All three will receive the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, during the Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16.
> The history of honorary degrees at SMU, including honorees by name, year and degree Human Evolution in the East African Rift Valley: A Symposium Honoring Meave Leakey Friday, May 15, 2-4 p.m. McCord Auditorium, 306 Dallas Hall
Leakey, one of the world’s most distinguished paleoanthropologists, is a research associate at the National Museums of Kenya, director of Plio-Pleistocene research at the Turkana Basin Institute, Nairobi, and research professor in anthropology at Stony Brook University, New York. In 2002 she was named a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. Leakey is a foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and an honorary fellow of the Geological Society of London.
David Pilbeam, curator of paleontology at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, will moderate the symposium.
Leakey will speak on “Human Evolution in the East African Rift Valley.”
Also presenting will be Frank Brown, dean and distinguished professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, who will speak on “Time and the Physical Framework in the Turkana Basin, Kenya;” and Kay Behrensmeyer, curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, who will speak on “Faunal Context of Human Evolution in the East African Rift Valley.” Thure Cerling, Distinguished Professor of Geology and Geophysics and Biology at the University of Utah, will speak on “Floral Context of Human Evolution – as Represented by Geochemical Signatures;” and Bonnie Jacobs, professor of earth sciences in SMU’s Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, will speak on “Floral Context of Human Evolution – as Represented by Plant Fossils.” Celebrating the American Experience and U.S.-Japan Relations: Irene Hirano Inouye, Her Life, Works and Achievements Friday, May 15 Reception, 3-3:30 p.m.
Panel Discussion and Remarks, 3:30-5 p.m. Hillcrest Classroom, Underwood Law Library
Inouye is a leader in international relations who, while still in her 20s, began tailoring her career toward service as director of a Los Angeles medical clinic providing affordable care for poor and uninsured women. She helped build the Japanese American National Museum, which opened in 1992, and became the founding president of the U.S.-Japan Council in 2008.
Panel participants are Admiral Patrick M. Walsh, U.S. Navy (ret.), Tower Center senior fellow and former commander of the Pacific Fleet; Anny Wong, research fellow in the Tower Center and a member of the board of the Japan-America Society of Dallas-Fort Worth; and moderator Hiroki Takeuchi, associate professor and director of the Tower Center’s Sun & Star Program on Japan and East Asia. Inouye will deliver closing remarks and will be available for questions.
The symposium is free, but registration is required; email the Tower Center to RSVP. More information is available at the Tower Center website. A Revolutionary Approach to Conflict Resolution: A Symposium Honoring Helen LaKelly Hunt Friday, May 15 Panel presentation 10:30 a.m.-noon
Smith Auditorium, Meadows Museum Lunch and remarks, noon-1:30 p.m.
Jones Room, Meadows Museum
Hunt is a donor-activist, author and SMU alumna who has been recognized for both her work for healthy marriages and family and her efforts in helping to build the global women’s funding movement. She is the founder of The Sister Fund, a private foundation that supports women’s social, political, economic and spiritual empowerment. Hunt has helped establish several other organizations, including Dallas Women’s Foundation, New York Women’s Foundation, Women’s Funding Network and Women Moving Millions. Her books include Faith and Feminism: A Holy Alliance, as well as seven books on intimate relationships and parenting co-authored with her husband, Harville Hendrix.
Hunt and Hendrix will discuss the new science of relationships with panelists David Chard, dean of SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development; Rita Kirk, director of SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility; Lorelei Simpson Rowe, associate professor and graduate program co-director in SMU’s Department of Psychology and an expert in couples relationships; and Michelle Kinder, executive director of the Momentous Institute.
Please RSVP for the lunch to Family Wellness Dallas.
A passion for innovation drives Leandre Johns ’02, general manager of Uber Technologies for North and West Texas. Johns returned to the Hilltop to discuss his trajectory from SMU student to tech executive in a conversation with Thomas DiPiero, dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, April 28. Leandre Johns ’02, general manager of Uber Technologies for North and West Texas
Johns, a native of Garland, Texas, was a Hunt Leadership Scholar and active in the campus community while earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SMU. He encouraged students in the audience at Dallas Hall’s McCord Auditorium to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible while they are undergraduates.
“Test yourself. Make the most of it. Get involved,” he said. Learning to deal with so many different personalities in a variety of situations as a student “made me a more dynamic person.”
While at SMU, he thought he had his future mapped out. During an SMU Abroad semester in Copenhagen, he was involved in children’s cancer research, which shaped the next phase of his education. He graduated from SMU determined to help cure cancer and pursued a master’s degree in public health at the University of Chicago. As a graduate student, he interned for UnitedHealthcare, then spent three years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Chicago as a healthcare and financial consultant.
“I got to meet a lot of strong-minded business people, but I learned that I wasn’t going to be as innovative in healthcare as I had hoped to be because it moves slowly,” he explained.
So he took a detour, switching his focus to finance and earning an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
“I was doing marketing, finance and business and that drove me to venture capitalism,” he said. Over the next few years, Johns worked in venture capital as vice president for a healthcare technology and media portfolio company in Chicago.
When Uber popped up on his radar, he was ready for a change. “It was an interesting risk to take,” he said, “and I ended up moving [back to Dallas].”
Launched in 2009, Uber is one of the world’s fastest-growing technology companies. The transportation service connects riders and drivers through its mobile applications. Uber is now available in more than 200 cities in over 55 countries.
In the early days of the company, Johns hit a few roadblocks. “It was rough. It was me and two guys sitting in a small closet trying to start a business,” he recalled. “We used to go to bars and tell people they should take Uber. And they were like, ‘What is You-ber?’ We had to do a lot of grassroots marketing.”
Watching the enterprise thrive has been “one of the happiest things about my job,” Johns said.
It’s an exciting time for Uber, he added. Restaurant partnerships, a carpooling service, expansion into aviation and the use of driverless cars are just a few of the new avenues the company is exploring.
“People see what we are do and that we’re open to new things,” he said. “That is going to push our transportation and tech model to an interesting place. We are moving very quickly.”
Johns has become a familiar face in Dallas. In 2014 D Magazine named him one of Dallas’ “10 Most Eligible Men,” noting, “Leandre’s responsible for some serious transformation in the Dallas social scene.”
Even though his career took a different turn, Johns remains committed to helping children. He is a former board member of Common Threads, a program that teaches children of low-income families how to cook healthy and affordable meals. He said he looks forward to one day having a seat on the board of a Dallas-based charity for kids.
“Getting into philanthropy was a natural thing for me. I am focused on charities around cancer and children,” he said.
As he surveys the route he has traveled, Johns said he wishes he “had known the path I would take while at SMU.” He urged students to take full advantage of all the University has to offer to jumpstart their careers.
“There isn’t a better situation to be in than where you are now,” he said. “The tech space and venture capital space are hard to break into as a minority, but I’m not the exception. You have to have the mindset to succeed, and you have to start now.” – Leah Johnson ’15
SMU is taking steps to increase the number of Ph.D. students on campus by creating a new University-wide fellowship program, according to the following announcement by the University’s OE2C initiative: Using funds saved as a result of the OE2C initiative, new graduate fellowships will be awarded this spring to up to 15 high-achieving Ph.D. students in a variety of SMU’s 22 doctoral programs. Faculty graduate advisors across SMU were invited to submit up to two nominees for the new fellowship. The nominations were reviewed by the SMU University Research Council, a committee of faculty members drawn from disciplines across SMU; the council meets three times a year to vet nominees for SMU Ford Fellowships and other grants. According to Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies James Quick, increasing the number of Ph.D. students will provide benefits to the University as a whole. “We want to have outstanding faculty to provide better education to undergraduates as well as graduate students,” says Quick. “We want to have outstanding grad students because they add to the educational experience of the undergraduates. They are intermediate in their career development between faculty and undergraduates and are role models. If the grad student is also functioning as a teaching assistant, they add to the faculty member’s ability to teach. “The new University-wide fellowship program will enrich an outstanding Ph.D. program, and outstanding students coming to SMU enriches the atmosphere.” The move to build up SMU’s doctoral programs was encouraged by the SMU Faculty Senate, which, in its resolution of December 4, 2013, urged SMU to create University-wide fellowships for doctoral students, saying they “play a crucial role in engaging and interfacing with undergraduate students in faculty research projects that in turn helps us recruit high quality undergraduates and raise the academic quality of the incoming class … and … [that] doctoral students are the future leaders of research, innovation and scientific progress, of creative enterprise and arts, and of great scholarship, all of which are some of the longest lasting contributions and legacies that SMU can make to the local economy and community. …” The Faculty Senate followed up with a resolution on April 2, 2014, requesting that the SMU administration devote “… a substantial and appropriate portion of any savings or additional revenue resulting from Project SMU” toward recruitment and retention of high- quality faculty; investment in research infrastructure, university libraries and doctoral programs; increasing the number of laboratory and teaching assistants to improve the quality of undergraduate education; and University-wide fellowships to attract high-quality graduate students. The new University-wide fellowship program fund is expected to grow over time, starting with $150,000 for the program’s first year. The inaugural selected Fellows will receive up to $10,000 in addition to teaching or research assistantships offered by their departments.
A senior honoring her late father, a sorority rallying around a pledge – SMU students took this year’s Relay For Life personally, breaking records for raising funds that support cancer research. Katie Schaible ’15, who lost her father to cancer, was the top individual fundraiser in SMU’s Relay For Life for the fourth consecutive year. Photo courtesy of Katie Schaible. SMU Relay For Life was named the number-one college Relay by the American Cancer Society (ACS). SMU competed against the top 25 university Relays in an online fundraising effort held February 23-25. SMU Relay garnered $45,534 in donations during the two-day event. Altogether, the university teams raised $315,654 for the ACS. The ACS’s Relay For Life is an international effort designed to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease.
SMU collected approximately $176,400 for Relay For Life, exceeding the $158,000 goal, at its 12th annual Relay For Life event, which began April 10 at 6:30 p.m. and ended April 11 at 11:30 a.m. During the overnight fundraising walk, more than 1,500 students and community members filled the Boulevard to raise awareness and funds in the fight against cancer.
For the fourth consecutive year, Katie Schaible ’15 was named the top individual fundraiser. Schaible, who lost her father to melanoma when she was 14, has raised more than $100,000 for Relay For Life over the past four years.
> Read more about Katie in a story by SMU student Lauren Castle posted on USA TODAY’s Voices On Campus blog
Kappa Alpha Theta took honors as the top team fundraiser by collecting more than $38,761. Like Schaible, the sorority had a personal stake in the philanthropic endeavor. After a junior in the Theta pledge class was diagnosed with cancer in the fall, the sorority chose Relay For Life as its platform to help fight cancer.
Courtney A. Follit ’12 , a Ph.D. student in molecular and cellular biology at SMU, is one of 85 doctoral students nationwide to receive a $15,000 scholar award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was nominated for the award by Chapter CQ of Dallas.
Courtney is the daughter of Jane and Robert Follit of Rockville, Maryland. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences in 2012 from SMU, where she was the recipient of Distinguished Scholar and Rotunda scholarships, among other honors.
The P.E.O. Scholar Awards (PSA) were established in 1991 to provide substantial merit-based awards for women of the United States and Canada who are pursuing doctoral-level degrees at an accredited college or university.
The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded Jan. 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is a philanthropic educational organization interested in bringing increased opportunities for higher education to women. There are approximately 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with nearly a quarter of a million active members
SMU is launching a task force to review campus fraternity and sorority life and determine whether changes are needed to support diversity and to encourage interaction among the student organizations. The 29-member task force is composed of students, faculty, staff, advisors to campus fraternities and sororities, a fraternity alumnus, and three members of the SMU Board of Trustees, two of whom will act as consultants.
Chairing the task force are Joanne Vogel, associate vice president of Student Affairs and dean of Student Life, and Creston C. Lynch, director of Multicultural Student Affairs and National Pan-Hellenic Conference advisor. Lori White, SMU vice president for Student Affairs, established the task force with support from University President R. Gerald Turner.
“Recent nationally publicized incidents regarding racial insensitivity on the part of some Greek letter organizations present an opportunity for SMU to examine fraternity and sorority life on our own campus,” Vogel says. “These incidents, and the conversations they have sparked, present an opportunity for us to commit ourselves to being a model where diversity in Greek life is encouraged, supported and respected.”
“Almost half of SMU’s undergraduate student body participates in fraternity and sorority life affiliated with one of four Greek councils – the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) or the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC),” Lynch says. “It is important that student participation in these groups be open to reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of our campus.”
The task force is charged with reviewing:
Are there barriers to enhancing the diversity of membership within each fraternity and sorority? What are the outreach and recruitment practices by current members, alumni, and the national organizations that demonstrate inclusivity of membership in the organizations affiliated with each of the four councils to those who may be interested in joining? How can these practices be strengthened to enhance membership diversity?
What are the historical and current traditions of the Greek letter organizations at SMU and/or practices that may discourage diverse participation in various Greek letter organizations? What are some new traditions and practices that might positively contribute to diverse participation in various Greek letter organizations?
What are some particular strategies for enhancing connection, communication and community across all four councils?
What additional support can the university provide so that the organizations affiliated with each council are successful?
What are some resources and/or examples of “best practices” from the respective national Greek letter organizations and from other colleges and universities that SMU might adopt to enhance diverse participation in Greek letter organizations at SMU, and to ensure that all members demonstrate personal responsibility and sincere regard and respect for others?
In what ways does the presence of these organizations on campus impact (positively or negatively) the social fabric of the SMU student experience with respect to diversity? What can be done to ensure the positive and decrease any negative influences of Greek letter organizations on campus with respect to diversity? How might the programming within each residential commons encourage diversity within the four councils, interactions among the councils, and between other students living in the commons regardless of Greek affiliation?
What other issues from discussions about Greek life diversity on the SMU campus could impact the overall SMU student experience?
The Greek Life Diversity Task Force will issue a final report to the vice president for Student Affairs in December 2015. But the Task Force, in consultation with the vice president for Student Affairs, may implement any recommendations in response to the charge prior to the issuance of the final report. The final report will be reviewed by SMU President R. Gerald Turner and shared with the SMU Board of Trustees.
In addition to Vogel and Lynch, Task Force members include:
Steven Johnson, assistant director of Multicultural Student Affairs/MGC advisor
Kevin Saberre, coordinator of Student Activities/IFC advisor
Jennifer Jones, executive director of Student Life/national president of the NPHC
Stephen Rankin, chaplain
Ashley Fitzpatrick, coordinator of Student Activities/NPC advisor
Anthony Tillman, assistant provost/chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Jomita Fleming, assistant director for Residential Life
Pamela McNulty, learning specialist at the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center
Maria Dixon, associate professor of communications, Meadows School of the Arts
Martin Camp, assistant dean for student affairs, Dedman School of Law/faculty- in-residence
Ann Batenburg, clinical assistant professor, Simmons School of Education and Human Development/faculty-in-residence
Former SMU Board of Trustee member and alumnus Jess Thomas Hay died April 13. He was 84. He earned a B.B.A. in 1953 and J.D. in 1955 from SMU. The late Jess T. Hay ’53, ’55 served on the SMU Board of Trustees, 1973-1990, and in numerous other leadership positions.
“Jess Hay served on SMU’s Board of Trustees during critical years of the University’s growth,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “His support of law scholarships ensured that future students would be prepared for careers in the professions and civic leadership. He was a role model for combining success in business, public service, and support of education and health resources. The recipient of a bachelor’s and a law degree from SMU, he personified the achievement and dedication recognized by our Distinguished Alumni Award, which he received in 1977.”
Hay served on SMU’s board from 1973-1990, on SMU’s board of governors from 1973-1985 and on the Dedman School of Law executive board from 1989-1990. Hay’s SMU support also included establishment of the Betty Jo Hay Endowed President’s Scholarships, named in honor of his late wife, who received her Bachelor of Arts degree from SMU in 1952. She died in 2005.
Hay also funded the Dennis Barger Memorial Scholarship in the Dedman School of Law. The scholarship was established in memory of a fallen soldier who planned to attend SMU’s law school after military service in Vietnam. Other Hay gifts have supported the SMU fund and the Tate Lecture Series.
Hay received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1977.
Hay was a director of Trinity Industries, Inc. and Hilltop Holdings, Inc., and previously served as a director of Exxon Mobil from 1982-2001, SBC Communications (now AT&T) from 1985-2004, and MoneyGram International, Inc. from 2004-2010. Hay retired as chairman and CEO of Lomas Financial Corporation in 1994.
“Jess Hay was one of the most outstanding individuals that I have ever known. I have the utmost respect for him personally and professionally,” said friend and colleague Gerald J. Ford, a member of SMU’s Board of Trustees. “Texas, the country and world will be lesser without him.”
A renowned dynamic Democratic Party political fundraiser, from 1977-78 Hay served as finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Hay raised millions for such Democrats as Walter Mondale, former President Jimmy Carter, former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock and former President Bill Clinton. He organized a dinner that raised $1 million for Al Gore’s 1988 presidential campaign.
Hay was chairman of the Texas Foundation for Higher Education, a position he held since 1987. In 1990 he and his wife were honored by the organization with the Cecil and Ida Green Award. He served on the University of Texas board of regents from 1977-1989, including a term as board chair from 1985-1987. In 1991 he received the Santa Rita Award, the highest honor given by the University of Texas system.
Hay is a former member of the Democratic National Committee, Dallas Citizens Council, Dallas Assembly, and Greater Dallas Planning Council. He has served on the boards of the Texas Research League, North Texas Food Bank, Child Care Partnership Dallas, and Dallas County Historical Foundation. Hay and his wife founded the Texas Mental Health Foundation and the Betty Jo Hay Distinguished Chair of Mental Health at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
He was appointed by Congress to the World War II Memorial Advisory Board.
At SMU, Hay was a member of Barristers, Blue Key and Cycen Fjodr.
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD) has named Kit Sawers, former CEO of Fay+Sawers Productions, as the organization’s new chief development officer. With a résumé highlighted by key roles at the 2014 NCAA Final Four, the grand opening of Klyde Warren Park and the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, Sawers brings unparalleled fundraising, volunteer engagement, programmatic support and event experience to the post. Her staff will join United Way as the new business development strategies team, effective April 1. Kit Sawers ’93
Sawers earned a J.D. from SMU’s Dedman School of Law in 1993. She formerly served as the associate vice president and executive director of lecture programs at SMU. For 10 years she headed the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series and the SMU Athletic Forum.
“We have a bold and exciting vision for the future of UWMD and its positive impact on our community,” says Jennifer Sampson, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas CEO and president. “For over two years, we’ve had the great fortune to work with Kit and her team on our record-breaking 90th anniversary volunteer events and the Unite Forever Gala. >DMN: The queen of big events joins United Way
“Kit is bold thinker and will be a valuable addition to our senior leadership team,” Sampson continues. “I have no doubt her experience, expertise and passion will drive relationship and revenue growth and her leadership will accelerate UWMD’s ability to meet the changing requirements and expectations of our current investors and volunteers.”
Sawers will replace interim chief development officer Mike Gelhausen, who has served in the role since June 2014.
“United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is in the midst of unprecedented community collaboration, making measurable progress in addressing education, health and well-being and the financial stability of North Texans,” says Sawers. “We have seen the way this organization works, the passion its leaders have for changing the future of Dallas, and we are excited and eager to join in United Way’s mission.” >Biz Journal: United Way taps Kit Sawers
In addition to her work on United Way’s 90th anniversary celebrations, Fay+Sawers served as a key component of the local organizing committee for the 2014 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four. The company was responsible for the grand opening of Klyde Warren Park, raising over $850,000 and producing the multiday event for more than 40,000 attendees. Her team’s work also included the Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational and events surrounding the College Football Playoff National Championship.
From 2008-2011, Sawers served alongside SMU alumnus Bill Lively ’65 as the vice president of special events for the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. Prior to the Super Bowl Host Committee, Sawers spent four years as executive director of the Bickel & Brewer Foundation.
SMU alumnus Loy Williams ’63, ’66 photographed the sea of participants streaming through a Montgomery neighborhood while he joined in the historic Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march on March 25, 1965. By Nancy George ’79
When SMU student Loy Williams hurriedly packed his bag before climbing aboard a bus bound to join civil rights protesters in Montgomery, Alabama, he grabbed his Argus C3 camera. Long hours later, he loaded the sturdy camera with Kodachrome film and began snapping photos as he joined 25,000 others marching to the Alabama capitol.
The 22 images have never been published, says Williams, who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from SMU in 1963 and a master’s degree in theology from the Perkins School of Theology in 1966. He is now a retired pastor living near Chicago in Geneva, Illinois. And he still has the Argus C3, a hand-me-down from his father. >See more of Loy Williams’ images from Montgomery, March 25, 1965
Williams captured images of marchers in overcoats gathering on the overcast day and African-American children dressed in their Sunday best, waving as marchers passed their house on an unpaved road. As Williams approached the Montgomery business district, he photographed the angry faces of bystanders in front of the Trustees Loan & Guarantee Company and the Exchange Lounge.
A student at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology in 1965, Williams helped organize SMU protestors after receiving a telegram from Martin Luther King, Jr., urging him to join the third (and ultimately successful) Selma-to-Montgomery march. Students raised nearly $1,700 overnight to charter a bus and pay for traveling expenses to Selma for students traveling by bus and car. Fifty SMU students and faculty members traveled overnight to join the marchers in Montgomery March 25, 1965.
Williams had not told his parents he was treasurer of SMU’s Selma travel fund and did not tell them he was making the dangerous journey to Alabama to participate in the protest. However, he asked his sister, Ruth, an SMU undergraduate, to stay home.
“I didn’t want to take the chance my parents would lose both of us,” he says.
The SMU protestors joined a staging area in Montgomery, where they were serenaded by folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary as they waited to join the marchers.
“We didn’t know what would happen when we reached the capitol,” Williams says. “We were singing the civil rights song, I Am Not Afraid, but, yes, I was afraid.”
Williams snapped photographs when he reached the Alabama statehouse, capturing Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking to the crowd from a flatbed sound truck. When the speeches ended peacefully, the SMU marchers re-boarded the bus to return to Dallas, opening box lunches ordered in advance from the bus company. But their lunches delivered an ugly message: The cardboard boxes were filled with garbage.
As students listened to pocket-sized transistor radios on the bus, they learned of the Klu Klux Klan murder of civil rights activist, Viola Liuzzo, as she drove marchers back to Selma.
“We were on high alert until we crossed the Alabama state line,” Williams says. This photo, taken as the marchers pass the Guaranty Savings Life Building, captured the palpable tension in the streets. White bystanders can be seen turning away from Williams’ camera, while others laugh. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stands in front of the microphones, speaking from a sound truck in front of the Alabama capitol building in Montgomery. >See more of Loy Williams’ images from Montgomery, March 25, 1965
Celebrating the announcement of the $45 million gift from The Meadows Foundation are (from left) Mark Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts; SMU President R. Gerald Turner; Michael M. Boone, chair, SMU Board of Trustees; Linda P. Evans, president and CEO, The Meadows Foundation; Sam Holland, Algur H. Meadows Dean of the Meadows School of the Arts; and Brad E. Cheves, vice president, SMU Development and External Affairs.
The Meadows Foundation, Inc. has pledged $45 million to SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and the Meadows Museum, the largest single gift in SMU history. With this commitment, The Meadows Foundation has provided more than $100 million to the University since 1995.
“SMU has enjoyed a long and productive partnership with The Meadows Foundation, one initiated by Algur H. Meadows himself through the endowment of the Meadows School and the creation of the Meadows Museum,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The resulting collaboration has enhanced the lives of thousands of students, faculty and members of the local, regional and international communities. This year, as we celebrate both the 50th anniversary of the Meadows Museum and the centennial of SMU’s opening, we are honored to accept a gift that will continue this extraordinary partnership.”
The $45 million gift, the largest in The Meadows Foundation’s history, includes $25 million to support goals and programs at the Meadows Museum, which houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The gift designates $13 million for exhibitions, education programs and initiatives; $6 million for acquisitions; and $6 million for an acquisition challenge grant. In addition, the gift will help the Museum expand relationships with international cultural institutions and enhance its reputation as the center for Spanish art in the United States. The SMU community gathered to celebrate the gift announcement in Dallas Hall. “A historic occasion in this historic place,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
The Meadows Foundation gift also designates $20 million to the Meadows School of the Arts to support its goal to lead the nation in arts education. The funding will be used to attract and retain top faculty and students, create and maintain innovative programs of national importance and provide enhanced studio, gallery and state-of-the-art classroom spaces. The gift designates $12 million for facility enhancements, including a $10 million challenge grant, and $8 million for student and faculty recruitment and retention, as well as new strategic initiatives.
“Algur H. Meadows’ vision of an innovative school of the arts and a museum of international distinction has been realized in the Meadows School of the Arts and Meadows Museum,” says Linda P. Evans, president and CEO of The Meadows Foundation. “This historic gift recognizes their remarkable transformations over the past two decades, as well as the talented leadership in place at SMU. It also serves as a strategic investment in the dynamic futures of the Meadows School of the Arts and the Meadows Museum, serving diverse audiences around the globe.”
The Meadows Foundation is a private philanthropic institution established in 1948 by Algur H. Meadows and his wife, Virginia, to benefit the people of Texas. Since its inception, the Foundation has disbursed more than $700 million in grants and direct charitable expenditures to more than 7,000 Texas institutions and agencies. The Meadows Foundation’s primary areas of giving are arts and culture, civic and public affairs, education, health, and human services, in addition to initiatives focused on the environment, mental health and public education.
The Meadows School of the Arts was named in 1969 in honor of Algur H. Meadows, its primary benefactor. The School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in advertising, art, art history, arts management, communication studies, creative computation, dance, film and media arts, journalism, music and theatre. As a comprehensive educational institution, the Meadows School of the Arts seeks to prepare students to meet the demands and opportunities of professional careers. A leader in developing innovative outreach and community engagement programs, the School challenges its students to make a difference locally and globally by developing connections between art and entrepreneurship.
The Meadows School of the Arts also is a convener for the arts in North Texas, serving as a catalyst for new collaborations and providing critical industry research.
“This generous gift will help the Meadows School to maintain and continue its historic journey as a national model for arts education,” says Sam Holland, the Algur H. Meadows dean of the Meadows School of the Arts. “We are honored to reflect Algur Meadows’ legacy with a School that continues to create and maintain important programs and initiatives in the arts.”
In 1962 Dallas businessman and philanthropist Algur H. Meadows donated funds to establish a museum at SMU to house his private collection of Spanish paintings. The Meadows Museum in Owen Arts Center opened to the public in 1965. With a $20 million gift from The Meadows Foundation in 1998, its largest gift at that time, a new museum building was constructed on campus to provide an appropriate home for the internationally acclaimed and growing Spanish art collection. Important international relationships formed since then include the 2010 partnership with the Museo Nacional del Prado of Madrid, enabling loans of important paintings, jointly organized exhibitions and international fellowships for pre- and post-doctoral scholars specializing in Spanish art. Funds from The Meadows Foundation also have made possible the continued acquisition of masterpieces such as Portrait of Mariano Goya, the Artist’s Grandson, by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. Today the Museum is home to works ranging from the 10th to 21st centuries. In 2015 the Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of exhibitions, publications, special events and educational programs that will attract international attention and visitors. Special golden anniversary exhibitions include “The Abelló Collection: A Modern Taste for European Masters” (April 18-August 2, 2015), consisting of approximately 100 works from the 15th to the 21st centuries; and “Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting” (September 4, 2015-January 3, 2016), with more than 100 European works, including paintings and tapestries, as well as manuscripts of Christopher Columbus. Both exhibitions are private Spanish collections that have never before been seen in the United States. Planning for this landmark year has been made possible by a 2013 grant from The Meadows Foundation.
“The exhibitions and events planned for the Museum’s golden anniversary will showcase the Museum’s international influence and academic and cultural leadership as we begin our next 50 years,” says Mark A. Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. “As we celebrate the important role the Meadows Museum plays as an educational and cultural leader, we also honor the pivotal role the Meadows family and Foundation have played in the creation and incredible growth of the Museum.”
The Meadows Foundation gift counts toward the $1 billion goal of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. To date, the campaign has raised more than $942 million in gifts and pledges to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. The campaign coincides with SMU’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915. Confetti, music and thunderous applause capped the celebration surrounding the announcement of the largest single gift in SMU history.
Maria Richards, SMU Geothermal Laboratory coordinator in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, has been named president-elect of the Geothermal Resources Council (GRC). She will become the 26th president of the global energy organization beginning in 2017. Maria Richards Richards has been at the forefront of SMU’s renowned geothermal energy research for more than a decade, and the University’s mapping of North American geothermal resources is considered the baseline for U.S. geothermal energy exploration. SMU’s Conference on Geothermal Energy in Oil and Gas fields, which Richards directs, is pioneering the transition of oil and gas fields to electricity-producing systems by harnessing waste heat and fluids.
“The GRC is a tremendous forum for expanding ideas about geothermal exploration and technology related to this commonly overlooked source of energy provided by the Earth,” Richards says. “It’s a great opportunity for educating people about an energy source that covers the whole gamut – from producing electricity for industries, to reducing our electricity consumption with direct-use applications, to even cooling our homes.”
“This also is a unique occasion for me to encourage and mentor young women to participate in the sciences throughout their careers and get involved in leadership roles,” says Richards, who will be the GRC’s first woman president.
Development of many forms of renewable energy can lose momentum when the price-per-barrel of oil is low, but Richards expects the current low oil prices to drive more interest in geothermal development. Today, sedimentary basins that have been “fracked” for oil and gas production create reservoir pathways that can later be used for heat extraction. Fluids boil after being pushed through the hot reservoir pathways, producing electricity-generating steam. In addition to the geothermal energy, the equipment used in active oil and gas fields generates heat, which also can be tapped to produce electricity.
“Oil and gas drilling rig counts are down,” Richards says. “The industry has tightened its work force and honed its expertise. The opportunity to produce a new revenue stream during an economically challenging period, through the addition of relatively simple technology at the wellhead, may be the best chance we’ve had in years to gain operators’ attention.” SMU’s seventh international geothermal energy conference and workshop is scheduled for May 18-20 on the Dallas campus. Designed to reach a broad audience, from the service industry to reservoir engineers, “Power Plays: Geothermal Energy in Oil and Gas Fields,” is an opportunity for oil and gas industry professionals to connect with the geothermal and waste-heat industries to build momentum. The conference is a platform for networking with attendees from all aspects of project development. Presentations will highlight reservoir topics from flare gas usage to induced seismicity and will address new exploration opportunities, including offshore sites in the eastern United States. Information and registration is available at www.smu.edu/geothermal.
Richards’ projects at SMU’s Geothermal Laboratory vary from computer-generated temperature-depth maps for Google.org to on-site geothermal exploration of the volcanic islands in the Northern Mariana Islands. Along with Cathy Chickering Pace, Richards coordinates the SMU Node of the National Geothermal Data System funded by the Department of Energy.
Past research includes the Enhanced Geothermal System potential of the Cascades, Eastern Texas Geothermal Assessment, Geothermal Map of North America, Dixie Valley Synthesis, and the resource assessment for the MIT Report on the Future of Geothermal Energy.
Richards has previously served on the Geothermal Resources Council Board of Directors and was chair of the Outreach Committee in 2011‐12. She is also a Named Director of the 2015 Board for the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Alliance (TREIA). Maria holds a Master of Science degree in Physical Geography from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a B.S. in Environmental Geography from Michigan State University.
Students from across campus are involved in Spring Awakening, the first annual 24-hour musical to be presented by the SMU Program Council and the SMU Student Theatre at Meadows School of the Arts on Saturday, April 4. By Ally Van Deuren ’15 SMU Program Council and SMU Student Theatre (SMUST) will present the first annual 24-Hour Musical, Spring Awakening, at Meadows School of the Arts on Saturday, April 4, at 2 p.m. Spring Awakening will involve 35 students from various majors and will be rehearsed and put together on the SMU campus in only 24 hours.
“What intrigued me most about this project was the idea of working within the 24 hour time constraint,” says senior theatre major Jenna Hannum ’15, director. “It forces us all to make big, bold choices and I’m very excited to see where that takes us.”
With music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater, Spring Awakening is a Tony Award-winning rock musical based on the 1891 German play Spring’s Awakening by Frank Wedekind. Set in late-19th-century Germany, this iconic 2006 musical tells the story of self-discovery and budding sexuality as seen through the eyes of three teens.
Auditions for the show, held in early March, were open to students from all majors.
“This production is different than any normal production because we are bringing together people from every corner on campus,” says Charlie Weber, president of Program Council and a cast member. “It’s going to be an incredible, crazy and most definitely exhausting 24 hours, but there is no doubt that this is one of the first steps of moving forward to unify the SMU campus.”
The cast features SMU undergraduate Kaylyn Buckley, Aria Cochran, Hope Endrenyi, Derek George, Parker Gray, Caitlin Galloway, Jon Garrard, Reece Graham, Dylan Guerra, Meagan Harris, Kyle Hartman, Edward Johnson, Harley Jones, Jennie Leski, Lily Manuel, Matty Merritt, Ta’Ron Middleton, Matthew Moron, Alexis Nguyen, Catherine Norton, Kaysy Ostrom, Hardie Parham, Marcus Pinon, Marissa Pyron, Becca Rothstein, Braden Socia, Ian Stack, Rodman Steele, Jo-Jo Steine, Matthew Talton, Chris Thrailkill, Kiara Wade, Charlie Weber, Sarah Wood and Isaac Young.
The creative, stage management, production and marketing teams include SMU undergraduate Cole Chandler, Kelsey Cordutsky, Esther Lim, Taylor Logan, Ryan-Patrick McLaughlin, Jenna Richanne, Chloe Rogers, Laura Sullivan, Tori Titmas, Ally Van Deuren and Sam Weber.
Tickets to Spring Awakening are free for all and more information can be found online at the Facebook event page. The Greer Garson Theatre is located at the Owen Arts Center within Meadows School of the Arts on the SMU main campus. The address is 6110 Hillcrest Avenue, Dallas, TX 75205.
SMUST and SMU PC gratefully acknowledge SMU Student Senate Finance Committee and the leadership at Armstrong Commons, Mary Hay Hall, Peyton Hall and Shuttles Hall. Spring Awakening is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. >Visit the Spring Awakening event page on Facebook
When 50 SMU students climb aboard a chartered bus and van on Friday, March 6, bound for Selma, Alabama, they will follow the legacy of 50 other SMU undergraduate and Perkins School of Theology students who rode through the night to meet Martin Luther King, Jr. and hundreds of civil rights marchers in Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965.
One group of current students is enrolled in a unique political science class, which this year will complete SMU’s 11th eight-day Civil Rights Pilgrimage to civil rights landmarks across the South. Students will take part in a series of activities and events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” attacks on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“This experience transforms students regarding their faith, career plans and awareness of the plight of others,” says Betty McHone, SMU assistant chaplain and one of the founders of the pilgrimage.
The other students are traveling with SMU’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs on a Student Senate-supported trip to the five-day Selma commemoration.
Retired SMU English professor Ken Shields, who traveled with the University’s students to Selma in 1965, will see the students off when they depart from the Dallas campus Friday. When the SMU group arrives in Selma, the Rev. Jack Singleton’66 – an SMU Perkins School of Theology student who also traveled to Alabama for the 1965 march – will be waiting for them.
SMU-to-Selma: 1965
There were three voting rights marches scheduled from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. The first ended in horrific violence March 7 when state troopers and a county posse attacked approximately 600 marchers as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the way out of Selma, headed toward the state capital of Montgomery. That incident became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
Singleton and nine other Perkins School of Theology students answered Martin Luther King, Jr.’s call on clergy nationwide to join him in completing the rescheduled march on March 9. But King turned that group around just after crossing the bridge, waiting on federal court-ordered protection for the successful march that thousands would make March 21-25. That interrupted march is known as “Turnaround Tuesday,” but Singleton had no way of knowing he would not met with the violence that stopped the first marchers.
“I was terrified,” Singleton says, as he remembers the march. “Two blocks out of the ghetto we moved up into ranks of four abreast and held hands tightly. The runners along the sides of the column worked to move women and children to the inside and the shouts from the bystanders grew and grew. As we were walking across the bridge, we could see that the head of the march had been blocked…nearly three-quarters of a mile away. The prayer service and freedom rally ended our planned march and we turned and walked away with a dignity which had not been allowed two days before.”
The Perkins students called in reports to fellow students in Dallas, who taped them then shared the tapes with local radio stations. When Singleton returned to Dallas, he was fired from his job as youth pastor at a suburban church because of his activism.
On the SMU campus, students collected money to support the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, attended a Perkins Chapel memorial service for the Rev. James Reeb, a Boston pastor murdered in Selma after the interrupted March 9 march, and participated in campus and Dallas protest marches. Letters to the editor in The Daily Campus both supported and condemned student participation in the Civil Rights movement.
SMU students joined the third (and ultimately successful) Selma-to-Montgomery march after Martin Luther King, Jr. sent a telegram to Perkins students Loy Williams ’66 and Joe Lovelady’63 urging them to bring everyone they could. Overnight nearly $1,700 was raised to charter a bus and pay for traveling expenses to Selma for students traveling by bus and car. Fifty SMU students and faculty members traveled overnight to join the marchers in Montgomery March 25.
Perkins Theology student Williams had not told his parents he was treasurer of SMU’s Selma travel fund and did not tell them he was making the dangerous journey to Alabama to participate in the protest. However, he asked his sister, Ruth, an SMU undergraduate, to stay home.
“I didn’t want to take the chance my parents would lose both of us,” he says.
The SMU protestors joined a staging area in Montgomery, where they were serenaded by folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary as they waited to join the marchers.
“We didn’t know what would happen when we reached the Capitol,” Williams says. “We were singing the Civil Rights song, ‘I Am Not Afraid,’ but, yes, I was afraid.”
Williams snapped photographs when he reached the Alabama state capitol, capturing Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking to the crowd from a flatbed sound truck. When the speeches ended peacefully, the SMU marchers re-boarded the bus to return to Dallas, opening box lunches ordered in advance from the bus company. But their lunches delivered an ugly message: The cardboard boxes were filled with garbage.
As students listened to pocket-sized transistor radios on the bus, they learned of the Klu Klux Klan murder of civil rights activist, Viola Liuzzo, as she drove marchers back to Selma.
“We were on high alert until we crossed the Alabama state line,” Williams says. Retired English Professor Shields, a civil rights activist before he joined the SMU faculty in 1961, knew joining the Selma protest was “not a light-hearted adventure.” “We were doing something right, but we underestimated the danger.”
As the marchers entered the Montgomery business district, workers leaned from office windows and shouted at the protesters. A businessman stepped from a doorway and swung a fist at Shields, but missed.
“I had never experienced that rage,” he says.
A 13-year-old African-American girl, still bandaged from the March 7 march, linked arms with Shields as they continued marching toward the Capitol. “How can you sing?” he asked. She looked at him and smiled, “Because Dr. King told me to.”
SMU to Selma: 2015
Travelers with SMU’s 2015 Civil Rights Pilgrimage will journey back in time on a spring break, eight-day bus journey to meet those who participated in and witnessed the struggle for civil rights. They will walk across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge with 40,000 others to mark the 50th commemoration of Bloody Sunday and will visit Dexter Ave. Baptist Church, joining for dinner those who knew Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They will visit the Jackson, Miss. home of murdered NAACP activist Medgar Evers, whose bloodstains can still be seen on the driveway where he was murdered. Turning toward Oxford, Miss., pilgrims will remember murdered civil rights workers Andy Goodman, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner and the experiences of James Meredith at the University of Mississippi. Finally, in Memphis, they will visit the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
“Leading this pilgrimage has been the highlight of my professional life,” said trip leader Ray Jordan ’08, a pastor and professor who first completed the trip as a student. “It’s been incredible to see the faces of students, often with tears in their eyes, as they come to fully appreciate the great sacrifices of those who were a part of the Movement. This trip has lead many of them to commit their lives to social justice.”
Along the way pilgrims will meet with journalists, attorneys, former marchers and those who shared their homes with freedom riders and other civil rights workers.
“The experience joins the intellect and emotions,” says Dennis Simon, professor of political science and trip leader. “The pilgrims see Brown Chapel, touch the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and listen to the foot soldiers of the movement – the ordinary people who accomplished extraordinary things.”
The travelers from SMU’s Multicultural Student Affairs Office will frame their experiences in Selma and Birmingham from March 6-9, joining the other students in Selma.
The first Civil Rights Pilgrimage was organized in 2004 by SMU’s Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life, part of SMU’s Office of Student Affairs, as a spring break trip. In 2008, the pilgrimage became part of the political science class created by Dennis Simon, professor of political science. Now a joint collaboration, the class is a requirement for undergraduate human rights majors and also offered to graduate students in the Master of Liberal Studies program. Former SMU civil rights pilgrims have created scholarships to enable others to follow in their footsteps.
SMU photographers Hillsman Jackson and Clayton Smith captured the action on Sunday, March 8 as the Men’s Basketball team defeated Tulsa 67-62 to win the American Athletic Conference regular-season championship.
An overnight snowfall covered the DFW area in more than 3 inches of powder – along with ice on streets and highways – creating the perfect conditions for snow day fun as captured in these shots by SMU photographers Clayton Smith and Hillsman Jackson.
Dallas Hall Snowman in progress on the Main Quad Snowman, Phase I, on the Main Quad Blanton Building and the Engineering Quad Meadows School of the Arts Entering campus via Bishop Boulevard Wave at Meadows Museum of Art. Maguire Building, Cox School of Business Turner Centennial Pavilion Dallas Hall Texas snowmobile! Perkins Chapel
NOTE: This story was originally posted on the Meadows School of the Arts website February 18, 2015. Due to inclement weather, the new production’s debut was rescheduled for February 26. By Ally Van Deuren (B.F.A. Theatre, B.A. Journalism, ’15) Meadows School of the Arts
Just a few weeks ago, Molly Beach Murphy ’09 flew from New York City back to her alma mater to begin rehearsals for her production of The Sparrow, an SMU Division of Theatre mainstage production that takes flight in the Greer Garson Theatre February 26-March 1, 2015. Molly Beach Murphy ’09 (third row center, in glasses) during rehearsals for The Sparrow. Photo by J. J. Darling.
“In this production our hope is to take what is on the page, the intention of the story, and find our own way of bringing it to life on stage,” Murphy said. “It’s a big story about community and belonging. It’s got a huge heart, and is told with simple small theatrical conventions. I think that tells you something really beautiful about life. There’s big life in small places, tight communities and in small things.” The Sparrow, written by SMU theatre alumni Nathan Allen ’00, Chris Mathews ’02 and Jake Minton ’02, is a play first produced at the House Theatre of Chicago, a nonprofit ensemble theatre company with the mission of exploring the ideas of storytelling in order to create a unique and interactive theatrical experience.
Upon their graduation from SMU’s Division of Theatre, Allen, with help from Mathews, Minton and seven other SMU theatre alums, started The House Theatre in Chicago. Eleven SMU graduates are in the company today.
“At SMU, the faculty gave me tools for my toolbox,” Mathews said. “They weren’t giving me the one way to do things. They allowed me to explore. The harmony was in the arguments.”
After having heard so much about the alums who had started The House Theatre, Murphy was able to meet with Nathan Allen to chat about The House Theatre of Chicago and The Sparrow. Director Molly Beach Murphy ’09. Photo by J. J. Darling.
“The House Theatre has always been a great inspiration to me and many SMU students as examples of alums who started their own thing, made their own world and created their own pieces,” Murphy said. “What I love about what The House does is that they create whole worlds and involve the audience in it entirely”
In preparation for the opening of The Sparrow at SMU, graduate designers Darren Diggle (M.F.A. Design ’16), Janet Berka (M.F.A. Design ’16) and Hunter Dowell (M.F.A. Design ’16) continue to work on this production. In addition, Jeff Colangelo ’13 and Katy Tye (B.F.A. Theatre ’15) have been serving as the cast’s fight captains and Associate Professor Sara Romersberger has been helping with movement work.
“We are fully staffed,” Murphy said with a giggle. “It’s going to be a very physical show. On the page, they’ve written all kinds of ‘impossible stage directions’ (as The House calls them) and our job is to carve out what our conventions are. How we are going to make a whole town fly.”
Chair of SMU’s Division of Theatre Stan Wojewodski, Jr. looks forward to the production, on which so many current students and alumni have been collaborating over the past several months.
“It’s a marvelous and original script that looks at American life but most importantly it does it in very specific terms having to do with how a community understands itself and its individual members and how we either can look directly at things and heal or turn away from them and pretend that there’s nothing wrong,” Wojewodski said.
While at SMU, Murphy directed a lot of her own work and produced and directed several other projects and productions and was heavily involved in SMUST, SMU Student Theatre. “I can’t say enough about SMUST,” Murphy said. “I think it’s really important for people to make their own work and to find out what your own work is especially when you have free space in the basement, because that costs in the real world!”
Murphy said that it is SMUST that made her realize that making her own work was something she wanted to do for the rest of her career.
“It’s that entrepreneurial spirit that SMUST cultivates,” Murphy said. “When you go out, you have to hang your own lights, find your own space and make your own schedule and find your own money and convince people to do it.”
Since her graduation, Murphy has worked in venues such as Signature Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Public Theater, The Juilliard School, McCarter Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Nickelodeon Theatricals, The Apollo Theater, Arena Stage, Harlem Stage, The Dallas Theater Center, Zach Scott Theatre and NYU/Tisch.
Her most recent project was working with director Jo Bonney on the N.Y. Public Theater/American Repertory Theater production of Father Comes Home From The Wars, Pts. 1, 2 & 3 by Suzan-Lori Parks. Murphy is a recipient of SMU’s Garland Wright Award for Excellence in Directing.
“She’s a wonderful director,” Wojewodski said. “As she is working with some of the most interesting and exciting playwrights and directors right now, she is a wonderful resource and example for current students.”
How does she balance everything?
“A very intense Google calendar,” said Murphy with a giggle.
Wojewodski said he is often asked, “What sort of training are you training your students to do?” His reply: “We are training them to do the theatre they will make.”
Both Wojewodski and Murphy agree that the tools cultivated from a B.F.A. in theatre from SMU and from experience gained from SMUST can be applied to work in the real world.
“The most exciting thing about coming here is to work with the students,” Murphy said. “SMU trains you in theatrical craft, but more importantly, it cultivates individual artistry. Everyone here is their own artist. To have the opportunity to work and collaborate in such a bursting exciting environment is a true thrill and honor.”
Scenes From Rehearsals
Photos of rehearsals for The Sparrow by Meadows photographer Kim Leeson
The Sparrow tells the story of a teen with unusual hidden powers that could either save or destroy her hometown. The Chicago Tribune called the play “a thrilling, riveting celebration of the power of the imagination that adults and teens can enjoy, and understand, together.” >Performance times and ticket information
SMU alumni will join student, faculty and staff volunteers participating in the University’s Alternative Breaks (AB) program over spring break, March 9-15. The service-learning experience pairs AB teams with established nonprofits to supply hands-on help to those in need. The projects range from cultivating a community garden to nurturing neglected children. >Read student blogs from past Alternative Breaks
Of the 11 AB trips, six of them will take place in metropolitan areas with active SMU Alumni chapters. Those cities and projects include: Through the Alternative Breaks program, students work with organizations around the world as they explore issues such as poverty, education and public health. Atlanta, Georgia
A group will pitch in at the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which operates a product rescue center, grocery, mobile pantry and community garden. Another group will assist three organizations – Wellspring Living, YouthSpark and BeLoved Atlanta – that address issues related to domestic violence and human trafficking. El Paso, Texas Annunciation House, which helps the needy of the border region with housing, food and social services. New Orleans, Louisiana St. Bernard Project, which engages youth in rebuilding distressed and foreclosed homes to stabilize neighborhoods still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. New York City, New York God’s Love We Deliver, which delivers nourishing meals to those with cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. St. Louis, Missouri Saint Louis Crisis Nursery, which provides a safe haven for abused and neglected children. Washington, D.C. The D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, which offers education, outreach and advocacy services. Here are some of the ways Mustangs will lend a hand:
Supplying meals or snacks/desserts
Housing students
Offering advice about your city, including tips for a “fun day” outing
Volunteering alongside students during the project
Providing monetary support
For more information, email Jackie Walker, assistant director of alumni engagement at SMU.
SMU begins the final year of its $1 billion Second Century Campaign with the momentum of $4.8 million in new commitments, continuing the campaign’s historic levels of support. The new campaign commitments are:
$1 million from David B. and Carolyn L. Miller and the David B. Miller Family Foundation for an endowed scholarship fund for MBA students in Cox School of Business. David Miller is an SMU alumnus, member of the SMU Board of Trustees and chair of the Cox School of Business Executive Board. He is a co-founder and managing partner of EnCap Investments L.P., a leading private equity firm based in Dallas and Houston.
Two new commitments to SMU will support scholarships. To date, campaign gifts have provided 539 new endowed scholarships.
$1 million from SMU alumni Charles A. and Elaine Scheffer Mangum for the Barbara and James Mangum Endowed Teaching Excellence Fund, which will present annual awards to outstanding accounting faculty in Cox School of Business and economics faculty in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Charles Mangum is co-founder and chief investment officer of Baylon Capital Management, a private investment partnership. The Mangums reside in Boston.
$1 million from SMU alumnus Richard H. Collins to establish the Institute for Leadership Impact in Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The institute will support the preparation of leaders in public and private education systems. Collins is chair and CEO of Istation, a global leader in educational technology.
$1 million planned gift from an anonymous donor to establish an endowed fund in Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The fund will support undergraduate and graduate scholarships for students preparing to become teachers.
$800,000 in new funds raising to $1 million the total commitment from SMU alumni Jennifer and Martin “Marty” Flanagan for the Jennifer and Marty Flanagan Endowed Master of Arts/Master of Business Administration Scholarship. It supports graduate students pursuing careers in arts management through a dual degree program offered jointly by Meadows School of the Arts and Cox School of Business. Martin Flanagan is president and CEO of Invesco, a global investment management organization headquartered in Atlanta.
The generosity of these donors in supporting faculty, students and programs contributes toward SMU’s continued advancement as a major institution of higher education and moves us closer to achieving our academic goals.”
– SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, launched in 2008, is the largest fundraising effort in the University’s history. Bolstered by the early success of the campaign, in 2013 the Board of Trustees raised the original $750 million goal to $1 billion to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. With the addition of new campaign-funded faculty positions, the number of substantially endowed faculty positions at SMU has risen from 62 to 102, toward a goal of 110. Campaign gifts have provided 539 new endowed scholarships, averaging $100,000 each.
Campaign commitments have enriched academic offerings through support for 40 academic programs, including schools, departments, institutes and centers. The Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering and the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College were named in recognition of campaign commitments.
Major new facilities funded by campaign gifts include a new Residential Commons complex of five residence halls and a dining center and new buildings for Lyle School of Engineering, Perkins School of Theology, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development and SMU-in-Taos. Athletics facilities have been enhanced with the new Crum Basketball Center, major renovation and expansion of Moody Coliseum and the new SMU Tennis Complex to open this spring. The new Mustang Band Hall opened last fall, and construction has begun on new buildings for the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center and Gerald J. Ford Research Center.
We are grateful to these leadership donors and the thousands of other donors supporting SMU’s vision. As we begin the campaign’s final year, we are encouraged by the high level of dedication to SMU’s progress. We are confident of a strong campaign finish to begin SMU’s second century of achievement.”
– Brad E. Cheves, SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs.
The Campaign Leadership Council is composed of Gerald J. Ford, convening co-chair, and co-chairs Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler, Michael M. Boone, Ray L. Hunt, Caren H. Prothro and Carl Sewell. More than 400 volunteers have contributed their time and efforts toward the campaign’s progress. To date, the Second Century Campaign has received commitments of more than $927 million. > Dallas Morning News’ Robert Miller: Donors boost SMU drive
Monique Achu ’02 spends a lot of time on the phone these days, fielding calls from across the globe. Achu serves as director of programs for Mott Hall Bridges Academy (MHBA) in Brooklyn, New York, the small school inspiring big-hearted support. Principal Nadia Lopez (left) and Monique Achu ’02, director of programs, at an event at their school, Mott Hall Bridges Academy. An online fundraiser has netted more than $1.2 million (and counting) for the middle school’s students.
An online fundraiser to pay for enrichment programs at the middle school has gone viral, raising over $1.2 million from more than 41,000 donors.
[UPDATE:Since this story was posted, the fundraiser ended, with a total of $1,419,284 contributed by 51,472 donors.]
“We could never have imagined this type of response,” says Achu, who has been with the school since it opened in 2010. MHBA is considered a safe zone – a haven for learning and personal growth – in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood, an impoverished area with one of the highest crime rates in New York City.
The catalyst for the fundraiser was a posting on Brandon Stanton’s popular blog Humans of New York, featuring Vidal Chastanet. The 13-year-old identified his school principal, MHBA’s Nadia Lopez, as the person who has had the biggest influence on his life. Stanton was impressed and reached out to Lopez.
On January 22, Stanton launched a campaign on the crowd-funding site, Indiegogo Life, to cover the costs of a school trip to Harvard to show students that no university was beyond their reach. “Let’s Send Kids to Harvard: The Vidal Scholarship Fund” quickly caught fire on social media, receiving more than $1 million in donations in four days. It grabbed the attention of celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, and earned an invitation for Vidal, Principal Lopez and Stanton to meet President Barack Obama.
“We’ve heard from media across the industry, from NPR to Elle magazine. This story has really engaged everyone,” Achu says.
The exposure has resulted in an exhausting deluge of calls and emails, “but it’s a good problem to have,” she says.
The fundraiser ends February 10. In addition to the Harvard trips, donations will seed a scholarship fund for MHBA alumni, and Vidal will be the first recipient.
Praised for its “holistic” approach to education, the Academy aims to close the achievement gap by opening doors to possibilities for its 191 scholars – the school’s term for students – in grades six through eight. While the academic curriculum revolves around a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) core, the Academy’s formula includes the enrichment programs and community events that Achu directs. >NYT: A Brooklyn School’s Curriculum Includes Ambition
“Our non-instructional programming emphasizes emotional and social development,” keys to creating college-ready scholars, she explains. Among the offerings are “Be Cool Be Kind,” an anti-bullying initiative; “She Is Me,” a mentoring and female empowerment group; and “I Matter,” an initiative to help young men understand their value to the community. There are also programs focused on a host of interests, from entrepreneurship to robotics to sports.
When they are ready for post-secondary education, Achu hopes her students will have the type of experience she had at SMU, where she majored in communications arts in Meadows School of the Arts.
“You get such a diverse education at SMU,” she says, “And there are so many hands-on opportunities to develop skills you’ll use every day. Even classes you’re not sure apply to your future career can be really useful. I wasn’t sure how I would use it, but now I’m really glad I took a PR class.”
While at SMU, she was active in a variety of organizations, including the Association of Black Students and Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
“I think the student leadership roles I had, where I learned to plan and coordinate events, as well as manage people and projects, have been essential to my career development,” she says.
Although she originally planned to pursue a path in media that combined communications and civic engagement, her “passion for helping people” led her to education. After earning a master’s degree at Boston University, she coordinated nonprofit programs in Boston before relocating to New York City.
Achu has been part of Mott Hall Bridges Academy from the beginning, and she is anxious to see what the future holds.
“I’ll be coordinating the trips to Harvard,” she says. “I think the experience will be truly life-changing, and that’s what education should do: change lives.” – Patricia Ward Although the fundraiser ends February 10, Mott Hall Bridges Academy scholars can always use support. For more information, email Monique Achu.
In this SMU Magazine exclusive, Fred Chang discusses cyber issues with Kim Cobb, director of media relations in SMU’s Office of Public Affairs. The Dallas Morning News described Fred Chang as a “cyber warrior” when he joined SMU in September 2013. His roles at SMU reflect the breadth of his expertise, as well as his goals – Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security, computer science professor in the Lyle School of Engineering and senior fellow in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College. Chang says he plans to tap as many SMU resources as possible to develop a multidisciplinary program aimed at tackling significant cyber challenges facing individuals, businesses and government. By November 2013, he was testifying before a congressional committee examining concerns about lack of privacy protection for people using healthcare.gov as it was being rolled out. And in January 2014, SMU announced the establishment of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security with Chang as its director. The past year has been marked by global cyber security problems. How are those issues shaping the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security?
The many cyber security incidents over the past year have underscored to the public just how widespread the problem is. Unfortunately, the headlines also have demonstrated that the cyber defenders continue to trail the cyber attackers. It has proven to be quite difficult for the defenders to get ahead of the problem.
From day one, a primary goal of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security has been to conduct high-quality research that will contribute to the creation of a science of cyber security. We are working with industry partners to move from being reactive to proactive, and the creation of a science of cyber security with these same partners is a critical step in the process. Creating a science with universal standards and methods of measurement will take some time, but we’ve got to start. We expect that the research we conduct at the Institute will make important contributions to this new science.
It’s also important that we take a multidisciplinary approach in addressing the problem. The focus of our programs ranges from hardware and software security concerns to economic and social sciences issues to consideration of policy and law factors. That’s why SMU is such a good home for this program – the University has expertise in so many disciplines. I have had the good fortune to collaborate with Josh Rovner, the John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair of International Politics and National Security, associate professor of political science, and director of studies at the Tower Center for Political Studies, as well as Amit Basu, chair of the Information, Technology and Operations Management Department in Cox School of Business. And within the Computer Science and Engineering Department in the Lyle School, I am working with a team of truly committed people, including, among others, Mitch Thornton, who specializes in hardware security Tyler Moore, whose research focuses on the economics of information security, and Suku Nair, department chair. You frequently say that cyberspace is getting to be a bad neighborhood. What keeps you awake at night as you think about strolling through “the neighborhood?”
Cyber attacks on the nation’s critical infrastructure are a constant worry. Attacks that would lead to a disruption of communications networks, health care, public safety, financial services, transportation and the like are unthinkable. Indeed, the federal government has made the protection of critical infrastructure from cyber attacks a major priority. And here’s another concern that I’ve had more recently: As security breaches and data exposures are becoming the new normal, I worry that we are all suffering from “security fatigue.”
We are constantly learning about some new data breach that may compromise our personal security and requires, for example, that we change our passwords as a defensive measure. I worry that people, upon hearing about the latest compromise, might think: “I just changed my password three weeks ago – I’m not going to do it again.” Are we going to become numb to the warnings? I’m certainly not advocating an overreaction to every new breach report, but I do worry that when a credible warning is issued, it may not be taken seriously. What is SMU doing about these problems? In the classroom, we want our students to have the right balance of technical implementation details, adversarial thinking and fundamental principles. On the one hand we want them to be “front-line qualified” when they graduate, but at the same time we want to ensure that they are well prepared for the future, because we know the specific attacks that they witness today will be very different two and five years from now. Undergraduate and graduate students gain valuable theoretical and practical skills that prepare them for additional formal training in cyber security or for positions in the job market.
We’ve been ramping up our research capabilities, focusing on world-class “problem-driven” research through the Deason Institute. We are working with research clients to produce tangible solutions – and by that I mean prototype software – to pressing, difficult problems within a shorter time frame. Another goal of the Institute is our interest in helping to solve the “skills gap.” Because there is a large shortage of highly skilled cyber security professionals, employers in the private and public sectors worldwide can’t find enough trained workers in the field to fill their openings. This problem will persist for a long time, but we are determined to help close the gap with well-trained, innovative graduates in cyber security from the Lyle School. And because our students have the opportunity to participate in industry-driven research through the Deason Institute, they graduate from the Lyle School with industry-focused skills. For most people, the question of cyber security comes down to personal security. Is there really anything that individuals can do to protect themselves from cyber thugs?
Just like when you drive your car, you can’t guarantee that you won’t get into an accident. But like buckling your seat belt and adjusting your mirrors, there are some things you can do to help defend yourself in cyberspace. Let me mention three approaches:
Update software – It’s a good idea to regularly and frequently update the software running on your machine. The software vendors are constantly providing updates that include improvements, including security patches that will close a security vulnerability that exists in the software.
Be vigilant – Be smart when you’re on the web and when processing email. It remains all too easy for your machine to inadvertently download malware – nasty software intended to damage or take control of computers.
Use difficult passwords – It continues to be the case that people use passwords like “password” or “123456.” It’s not necessarily convenient, but people are well served to use harder passwords.
You receive many requests for speaking engagements. What do people want to learn about cyber insecurity – especially in industry, where problems are occurring faster than many experts can form a response?
A lot of people find the cyber security problem both surprising and alarming – they realize the problem has become widespread, and they either know somebody who has been affected or they have been affected. There’s a saying that has been going around the business world as it relates to cyber security: There are two types of companies – those that have been hacked and know it, and those that have been hacked and don’t know it. So, that’s our challenge, and we are embracing it. We’re very excited about the research momentum we are building at SMU. We believe we are making a difference in the field of cyber security by helping to solve some challenging problems, and our positive outlook is being validated as an increasing number of research sponsors are approaching us for assistance. We’re off to a fast start and we don’t plan on slowing down. What does it mean for your work, overall, to hold a centennial endowed chair and lead a new institute dedicated to solving global cyber security issues?
It was very clear when I joined the University that SMU intended to provide significant resources to make a real impact in the field of cyber security. The beauty of a centennial chair is that the donor has had the foresight to provide several years of operational support until the endowment matures. And the opportunity to develop and direct an institute that reflects the priorities I have embraced through work in government, business and academia will provide important resources for important work.
Broadcast journalists Eva Parks ’03 and Joshua Parr ’11 are used to working behind the scenes, but at the 35th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards Ceremony in September, they stepped into the spotlight as members of award-winning news teams.
Parks served as the investigative producer for Driven to Distraction, a seven-month probe by the NBC 5 Investigates team that revealed serious crashes caused by police officers distracted by technology in their vehicles, such as computers, GPS, smart phones and cameras. The report won in the Outstanding Regional News Story – Investigative Reporting category.
Parr worked as a broadcast associate on Caught, a special report on CBS’ 48 Hours about the manhunt and capture of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. The segment earned the Emmy for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine.
The Emmy winners spoke recently to SMU Magazine writer Leah Johnson ’15 about how hands-on opportunities and encouraging professors at SMU prepared them for success in a highly competitive field. Eva Parks says she never imagined a career as an investigative producer. At SMU she interned for an entertainment reporter, but her future kept taking serious turns as she accepted hard news assignments for NBC and Fox News. Eva Parks ’03 (second from right) holds the national news Emmy won by the NBC 5 Investigates team.
She later worked in SMU’s Office of Public Affairs before joining KXAS-TV, the Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate, in 2012. She currently serves as the investigative producer for the NBC 5 Investigates team. How did SMU pave the way for your career?
I loved that my journalism classes were taught by professionals who had a wealth of information because of their experience in the business or had an amazing Rolodex of contacts they were willing to share. By my second semester, I was interning at a local TV station and getting hands-on experience. My class was also the first class to be a part of SMU-TV. In fact, I was the first executive producer. I learned a lot while producing that show and made a lot of mistakes, but it resulted in some of the best experiences and memories I have of my time at SMU. Also, a lot of TV networks would call the journalism department looking for runners or production assistants to help out on shoots. So I was able to start building my résumé and make contacts while I was in school, which was an advantage with landing my first job. Talk about some favorite professors and SMU memories. Some of my favorite professors still teach at SMU – Michele Houston, Camille Krapelin and Jane Suhler, to name a few. Their doors were always open, and they were always eager to help. Some of my best memories were made in Umphrey Lee while shooting a show for SMU-TV or shooting projects across campus with fellow alum and still best friend, Carissa Hughes ’03. Another highlight was when Don Hewitt came to campus and a few of us got to have lunch with him and pick his brain. Looking back, SMU opened so many doors for me, and I am forever grateful to the experience and access the University provided. What did it take to get where you are today? I’d say simply putting myself out there and not being afraid. During Hurricane Katrina, I was working for NBC in the Dallas bureau. We were on a conference call with all the shows, and you could sense the urgent need for resources to help crews in New Orleans and along the coast. Someone had asked if anyone knew how to get RVs and supplies. I sent a message to the guy leading the conference call, and within a matter of minutes, we were ordering RVs to go to New Orleans. I chose to speak up, and that single moment really took my career to the next level. What did it feel like to win the national Emmy?
When they called our name, we couldn’t believe it. We were up against some amazing investigative teams. When we were on stage, I kept pinching myself because I couldn’t believe it. I looked out into the audience and saw Dan Rather, Brian Williams and Lester Holt. It was a proud moment, for sure! What is the best part of your job? The best part of my job is that I get to help people. Period. I’m fortunate that my news director and station have made an investment in investigative reporting, so I get the time to go deeper and ask more questions. What do you do in your spare time?
When I’m not investigating, you’ll probably find me walking my little dog, Mico, or whipping up something special in the kitchen. I love to cook and try new recipes. Joshua Parr ’11 served on the 48 Hours team that won a national news Emmy for breaking news coverage. Joshua Parr works as a broadcast associate for 48 Hours, the CBS true-crime series now in its 27th season. Like Parks, Parr was sold on SMU and its journalism program from the beginning. He says gaining hands-on opportunities and real-world experience in print and broadcast journalism while a student was a definite advantage in the competitive world of network news. How did SMU prepare you for your career?
The journalism program provided many opportunities to immerse myself in the world of news. From TheDaily Update to TheDaily Campus, journalism students are allowed to use what we learn in the classroom in real-life situations. I covered the groundbreaking of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, which was one of my first experiences with breaking news. I spent countless late hours in Umphrey Lee editing packages that were due the next morning, which definitely prepared me for script writing and working on deadline. Tell us your favorite SMU memories.
I truly cherish my time at SMU. Some of my favorite memories are of projects and activities with my BYX (Beta Upsilon Chi Christian fraternity) brothers, from building our Homecoming float, to playing ultimate Frisbee on the quad, to Boulevarding. Believe it or not, I really enjoyed getting up at 6 a.m. and doing The Daily Update in the journalism wing. It may have been early, but I feel it provided a camaraderie with my fellow journalism students and gave us a challenge of putting on a newscast, which many of us have to do today. What challenges have you faced?
Working for a major network in New York City right out of SMU took some adjustment. I learned quickly how to do the mechanics of the job, but the most important thing I learned was to have a good attitude, a calm head and a willingness to help in any situation. I feel these three traits are paramount and help me along the way. How did you get to where you are today? It was through the mentorship of my SMU professor Lucy Scott that I am where I am today. She was a field producer at 48 Hours and leaned on me for help with a local story. From there I was able to get an interview in New York City in my last semester at SMU. I found out I got the job of production secretary at 48 Hours the day before graduation. I was very excited about the opportunity, but also very nervous; after all, I had little money and nowhere to live in NYC. A week before I was supposed to move, I was blessed again with a place to stay for three months, for free! It was clear that this was where I was supposed to be. I spent my first few months at 48 Hours learning the ropes. There were a lot. I started in the month before the 10th anniversary of 9/11. My first field shoot was at Ground Zero. What did it feel like to win an Emmy?
It was a great honor. The whole 48 Hours team pitched in during the tragic events at the Boston Marathon bombing to put together an amazing and informative broadcast. It was great to be a part of such a big operation at CBS News, collaborating with other broadcasts and sharing information. What does this mean to you in terms of success? It’s an honor to get the Emmy award, but in the long run, it’s not the goal. The goal is to put on an informative broadcast for the good of the public. What is the best part of your job? The best part of my job is that it allows me to cover very interesting stories. I have time for a personal life and get to travel every so often to cover trials and do interviews with people involved in the cases we cover. It’s also a great accomplishment when we have an impact on the justice system, for instance, helping to get someone who was wrongfully convicted out of prison. You are also an artist. What inspires you? Art is something I’ve always had a passion for, but I’ve never given it the attention it deserves. I wish I would have double majored instead of getting only an art minor. I feel most joyful when I’m creating something, be it a painting, an illustration or a wood work. Lots of things inspire me. I really enjoy making functional art that can be used but also viewed for its beauty. Right now I’m exploring woodworking and building furniture for our apartment. What about your personal life?
My wife, Emily, and I have been married for over a year. We live in Harlem. We both enjoy seeing movies, running and bike rides in Central Park. We are small group leaders at our church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Like many young people in the 1960s, Will A. Courtney ’58 was moved by the challenge issued by President John F. Kennedy at his inauguration in 1961. Will A. Courtney’s long list of interests includes history, and during a visit to campus last year, he enjoyed touring the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum.
“When he said, ‘… ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,’ it really made me think about our responsibilities as citizens and what we can do for our country, in addition to military service,” he says.
Inspired by the president’s words, Courtney rolled up his sleeves and began more than a half-century of hands-on charitable work and service to the community. The USO World Board of Governors, the Van Cliburn Foundation and a host of local organizations have benefited from his time and talent. However, it is his involvement with Goodwill Industries that stands out. For more than 50 years, he has volunteered on the local, national and international levels.
“I have deep respect for the work they do,” says Courtney of the organization that provides education, skills training, jobs and services for people with disabilities and other specialized needs.
For his commitment to advancing its mission, Goodwill Industries International named Courtney the 2014 Elsine Katz Volunteer Leader of the Year. He received the award at the annual Goodwill Delegate Assembly in Austin June 29.
Courtney recently garnered another accolade when he was inducted into Goodwill’s Hall of Fame.
He first joined the board of directors of Fort Worth Goodwill in 1964. He went on to serve as a member of Goodwill’s national board for 16 years. He also served on the boards of Goodwill Global and the Goodwill Industries International Foundation. He is famous for his fundraising skills, spearheading an $8.5 million capital campaign for the construction of several local Goodwill facilities.
From custom-made cowboy boots that sport the Goodwill logo to the Goodwill lapel pin he rarely leaves home without, Courtney often dresses the part of “Mr. Goodwill,” an affectionate nickname he has earned in the business community. He was instrumental in the development of a business advisory council that meets quarterly to recommend new directions and opportunities for the agency. He also attends every Goodwill graduation ceremony, an event that honors program participants for achieving their training goals.
“Will serves as a wonderful role model to his peers in the business community,” says Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International.
Courtney, who studied real estate at what is now SMU’s Cox School of Business, owns and manages Courtney & Courtney Properties, a 54-year-old company in his native city of Fort Worth. He has managed shopping centers and business properties in Fort Worth and Dallas – including the block that houses the 7-Eleven store across from the SMU campus – as well as Colorado Springs, Colorado. He also has managed ranches in Fort Worth and Dumas, Texas.
His community engagement extends to service on the boards of the Fort Worth Air Power Council, Outdoor Sportsmen’s Club, Fort Worth Public Library Foundation, Fort Worth Air and Space Museum, National Jewish Respiratory Hospital and Downtown Fort Worth Rotary Club, among many others.
In 2013 Courtney was honored during the Association of Fundraising Professionals National Philanthropy Day celebration in Fort Worth. He was nominated by the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth Foundation for the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award in recognition of his campaign leadership that enabled the facility to expand its accommodations for families.
Courtney also is known for his role with the Van Cliburn Foundation, where his passions for classical music and philanthropy intersect. Won over by the piano virtuosity of the late Van Cliburn, he was among the first civic leaders to recognize the potential of the international music competition. As a director of the Foundation, he has worn many hats as “The Cliburn” has grown to include a contest for amateur musicians, a free community concert series and music education initiatives.
Despite the accolades he has earned, Courtney remains modest about his contributions.
“I support organizations I believe in, that are good for the community as a whole,” he explains. “It’s the right thing to do.”
– Patricia Ward
From SMU Athletics
SMU alumnus Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 was honored with the 2014 SAM Award at the SMU men’s basketball game against East Carolina January 17. The award was presented at halftime on behalf of the SMU Lettermen’s Association by SMU President R. Gerald Turner and Director of Athletics Rick Hart. Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 was honored with the 2014 SAM Award by the SMU Lettermen’s Association January 17. Loyd and his wife Penny have contributed to improvements across campus, including the new Loyd Residential Commons, as well as the Paul B. Loyd, Jr. All-Sports Center.
Loyd was a member of SMU’s 1966 Southwest Conference Championship football team that played in the 1967 Cotton Bowl Classic and was elected team captain of the 1967 team. In 1968, Loyd graduated from what is now SMU’s Cox School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He went on to complete his MBA at Harvard University before building a successful career in the energy services industry.
He currently serves on the SMU Board of Trustees and as chair of the Athletic Committee. He also serves on the executive boards of the Cox School of Business and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. In addition, he is co-chair of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Athletics and serves as honorary chair and member of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Houston.
Loyd was honored with SMU’s Mustang Award in 1999 and the Cox School’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001. In 2012, he was recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award, which is the highest and most prestigious award the University bestows upon its alumni.
In 2004, Loyd was honored as the Man of the Year at Fort Benning by troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for his contribution in setting up satellite computers for the troops to communicate with loved ones at home, as well as funding of much needed equipment not readily available at that time to troops in the field.
In 2009 Paul, along with his wife Penny, created The Loyd Charitable Foundation to support charities in the Houston and Dallas areas as well as international charitable organizations. From goodwill mission trips in American Samoa to generous donations to the Baylor College of Medicine, Paul’s generosity knows no bounds. Loyd serves on the board of directors of Houston Children’s Charity, Goodwill Industries of Dallas, the Boys and Girls Clubs of American Samoa and the Marshall Plan Charities for Afghanistan Recovery as well as advisory boards of the June Jones Foundation, the College Football Assistance Fund, the Eddie G. Robinson Foundation, the Dikembe Mutumbo Hospital Foundation, Opportunity International, the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund, the United Way and Boys and Girls Country. He is also the Chairman of the Navy SEAL Legacy Foundation national advisory committee and chaired the Inaugural Navy SEAL Golf Tournament held in Houston in 2012. Paul has worked with numerous Houston charities and organizations including Theatre Under the Stars, in which Paul and his wife Penny are the host of the TUTS Annual Scotch Tasting party and is an underwriting chair. He has also hosted The Bayou Preservation Association’s 2011 Gala and the Houston Zoo Asante Society’s 2011 cocktail reception in his home.
Paul and his wife have five children and two grandchildren. They attend Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Houston and Trinity Church in Dallas.
The annual award, which was initiated in 1991, is the most prestigious award given by the Lettermen’s Association. To be selected as the SAM Award winner, an individual must have graduated from SMU at least 25 years ago and made a significant, positive and lasting impact on his/her community.
The young man with bright dark eyes bears an almost ethereal quality as he stares at viewers from the canvas. In “The Portrait of Mariano Goya, the Artist’s Grandson,” Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes communicates his deep love for his grandson. Painted in 1827, the portrait had not been on display for more than 40 years. It now sits as a centerpiece to an exhibit of Goya prints at SMU’s Meadows Museum through March 1, 2015. >See the Meadows Museum 50th Anniversary video
SMU acquired the painting in 2013 through funding from The Meadows Foundation and a gift from Mrs. Eugene McDermott in honor of the museum’s 50th anniversary in 2015. “Portrait of Mariano Goya” is a significant addition to the museum’s five other paintings by the artist. “The work stands at the pivotal last phase of Goya’s career and will serve as a linchpin in our growing collection,” says Mark A. Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in Meadows School of the Arts. The Meadows Museum will celebrate its golden anniversary with a series of other special exhibitions and programs, along with public and private events, April 16-18, 2015, during SMU’s annual Founders’ Day Weekend. The museum’s 50th celebration coincides with the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening in 1915.
The 50th anniversary represents a landmark moment in time for the Meadows Museum, and we’re thrilled to celebrate it with a series of special exhibitions,” says Linda Perryman Evans, president and CEO of The Meadows Foundation. “Thanks to the extraordinary vision of Algur H. Meadows and the support of SMU and museum donors, the Meadows has become one the most comprehensive museums of Spanish art in the world.”
As part of the yearlong celebration, Meadows Museum will feature two landmark exhibitions of art works never seen outside of Spain – The Abelló Collection: A Modern Taste for European Masters April 18-August 2, 2015, and Treasures from the House of Alba: 500 Years of Art and Collecting September 4, 2015-January 3, 2016. The Meadows Museum is undergoing the “second most important era of collecting in its history,” says Scott Winterrowd, curator of education. This second era was spurred, in part, by a $33 million gift from The Meadows Foundation in 2006. The gift included $25 million to support Meadows Museum acquisitions, exhibitions, expanded educational programs and other initiatives, as well as a challenge grant to match dollar-for-dollar new gifts for acquisitions.
As a result of this support, last summer the Meadows Museum acquired three works by noted Spanish artists Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, Miquel Barceló and Juan Muñoz “to further enhance the museum’s role as a leader in the study and presentation of Spanish art,” Winterrowd says. These new works – currently on display at the museum – expand and strengthen the Meadows’ 19th- and 20th-century holdings, as well as its growing collection of contemporary art. As a result of these and other acquisitions, the Meadows’ collection has nearly doubled in size in the past 35 years with more than 815 paintings, sculptures and works on paper. The museum’s first era, of course, began with one foresighted collector – Algur H. Meadows – who fell in love with the art of Spain while prospecting for new oil sources there during the 1950s. Meadows, founder of General American Oil Company, would visit Madrid’s world-renowned Prado Museum and admire the works of the world’s great artists. Although his oil prospecting was a bust in Spain, Meadows aggressively began to acquire Spanish art.
In 1962 Meadows donated to SMU his private collection of Spanish paintings in memory of his late wife Virginia Stuart Garrison Meadows. At the time, SMU was raising funds to build a new facility for its School of the Arts, and Meadows provided an endowment for the school and a museum to house his collection, which opened on the north side of Owen Arts Center in 1965.
Shortly after the museum opened, questions were raised about the validity of some works in the collection, and Meadows learned he had been victimized by some unscrupulous sellers of fraudulent art. With founding Meadows Museum director William B. Jordan, an American historian of Spanish painting, Algur Meadows meticulously began to rebuild the collection, removing and replacing the questioned works. From 1967 until his death in 1978, Meadows had spent $10 million on rebuilding the collection and the Elizabeth Meadows Sculpture Garden (named after his second wife) outside the Owen Arts Center. “He became one of the greatest patrons and one of the most admired men in the art world,” Jordan said during the museum’s 30th anniversary. “His response to the negative experiences he had when he first began collecting was an example of ‘growupness’ to the world.”
The Meadows Museum now represents the art of Spain ranging from the 10th to the 21st centuries. In fact, the Meadows Museum is affectionately known as “the Prado on the Prairie” (prado in Spanish means meadow). Today, over 50,000 visitors a year, including 5,500 school children, come to the museum to see what is considered one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The Meadows Museum collection includes works by Spain’s greatest masters – El Greco, Velázquez, Ribera, Murillo, Goya, Miró, Picasso and Sorolla. The collection also includes sculptures by major 20th- and 21st-century masters, including Auguste Rodin, Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, Claes Oldenburg, David Smith, Jaume Plensa and Santiago Calatrava.
Miguel Zugaza, director of Museo National del Prado, says, “We consider the Meadows Museum as part of the family of the institutions that look after the Spanish art in the world, which study the Spanish art in the world and is located in a city like Dallas, so rooted and so connected with the history of Spain itself.” As the collection grew, so did the need for additional space. Aided by a $20 million gift from The Meadows Foundation, a new 66,000-square-foot facility, six times larger than the original museum, opened in 2001 on Bishop Boulevard just north of Mockingbird Lane. The first floor houses education programs, special events and small galleries; the second floor contains galleries dedicated to the original collection and special exhibitions. An expansive outdoor plaza showcases the Elizabeth Meadows Sculpture Collection, which features the latest acquisitions: Plensa’s “Sho” (2007), a 13-foot-tall sculpture of a female head formed by white-painted stainless steel openwork mesh; and Calatrava’s moving sculpture “Wave” (2002), installed below the plaza at street level. >Story continues after the break
As a repository of significant Spanish art, the Meadows Museum serves as a resource for art scholars and students, both at SMU and worldwide. Pamela Patton, chair and professor of art history in Meadows School of the Arts, served as curator from 1993 to 2000 and co-authored The Meadows Museum: A Handbook of Spanish Painting and Sculpture. She uses the collection to teach undergraduates the art and culture of medieval Spain and Europe and to support thesis development by graduate students. She has a particular fondness for a 14th-century Catalan Eucharist cabinet, the basis for scholarly articles she has written.
“There are few special collections of Spanish art in the world [outside the Prado],” Patton says. “Because of the Meadows collection, and as a university, SMU is one of the few places that can teach the art of Spain as fully as it should be taught.”
Senior Elisabeth CreMeens is an intern at the Meadows Museum who works with Winterrowd to develop interactive programs for students, children and adults. The art history major/medieval studies minor has a preference for the museum’s medieval retablos – paintings or sculpture set behind the altar of a church – because they naturally apply to her academic interests.
“I have used pieces from the Meadows Museum collection as research topics in my art history courses, such as my Baroque class, which was actually taught within the museum. Art and art history faculty urge their students to use the museum’s collection in their assignments,” she says.
Because of the Catholic Church’s dominance and influence in Spain during the 16th century, that country’s Golden Age, works in the museum mirror the religious fervor of the era, as well a response to the Reformation occurring in Northern Europe during the 17th century. The Meadows collection reflects intense religious feelings in works rich in the symbolism of the church; they usually tell a story because few among the general population could then read. Roglán contends that the Meadows Museum has long been highly regarded and more known outside the Dallas area. “Spain has one of the richest history’s of art and culture in Europe. The country itself is the result of a crossroads of cultures, a melting pot of legacies, including the Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, Muslims, Jews and Christians,” he says. “After 1492, Spain became the portal to the Americas, another unique chapter in its history that still resonates today. Moreover, some of the greatest art patrons throughout history were Spanish, and collections, such as the Prado Museum in Madrid, reflect Spain’s wealth and interest in the arts and culture.”
To broaden outreach to the local Hispanic and international communities, the museum printed wall labels for all its works in English and Spanish. While the new museum was under construction in 2000, 27 paintings were sent for exhibition to Spain, where they were received enthusiastically in Madrid and Barcelona.
Since its opening nearly 14 years ago, the museum has been able not only to display all of its significant works, but also to organize and bring to Dallas major exhibitions that have helped to increase museum membership and attract crowds, many of whom are visiting the museum for the first time. In the area of Spanish art, the Meadows Museum has shown, among many other exhibits, the popular Balenciaga and His Legacy, featuring the creations of the renowned Spanish fashion designer; Royal Splendor in the Enlightenment: Charles IV of Spain, Patron and Collector; and Sorolla and America.
Beginning in 2010, the Meadows Museum entered into a historic partnership with the Prado Museum, in which the Spanish institution agreed to lend to SMU three major paintings from its collection over three years. The works included El Greco’s “Pentecost”; Jusepe de Ribera’s “Mary Magdalene”; and Diego Velázquez’s “Philip IV.” These could be viewed and studied next to other works by the same artists in the Meadows Museum’s collection. Roglán says the success of the partnership led to the groundbreaking exhibition, Impressions of Europe: Nineteenth-Century Vistas by Martín Rico, which opened at the Meadows in March 2013 after its presentation at the Prado. The partnership and interaction with the Prado and other international collections helped to lay the groundwork for the upcoming exhibitions of the Abelló and Alba collections. And as it has from the beginning, The Meadows Foundation again is providing support to bring the exhibits to SMU.
“As we lead up to this special anniversary, we look forward to expanding its distinguished permanent collection even further,” says Linda Evans of The Meadows Foundation.
Nearly two decades of geological research by an SMU earth sciences professor is unifying villages in Italy’s northern Alps.
“Excluding natural disasters, it is an unusual event when geology brings together people in a spirit of cooperation,” says SMU geologist and volcanologist James Quick. From the overlook of Sacro Monte de Varallo, SMU volcanologist James Quick (left) and Italian geologist Silvano Sinigoi examine a geologic map that describes their discovery, a rare fossil supervolcano. Quick is also dean of graduate studies at SMU.
But discovery of a 282 million-year-old fossil supervolcano in northwest Italy did just that. The supervolcano is a central geological feature within the new Sesia-Val Grande Geopark, a recent UNESCO designation. >Quick talks about his supervolcano research.
Quick, a professor in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College and associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies, led the scientific team that discovered the rare supervolcano. The discovery in Italy’s Sesia Valley attracted attention worldwide for its unprecedented view of the volcano’s internal plumbing to a depth of 15.5 miles.
Normally hidden from examination, plumbing is a volcano’s internal geological structure through which lava migrates from the earth’s mantle, up through the crust, to ultimately explode. Plumbing remains a substantial mystery, as volcanologists continue scientific exploration into how lava forms and moves through the earth.
One of only 100 geoparks in the world, Sesia-Val Grande Geopark spans tens of thousands of acres and more than 80 Alpine communities with diverse histories and cultures that have endured for centuries. When residents of Sesia Valley realized their supervolcano’s unique scientific qualities, they joined forces to attain and maintain coveted geopark status. Supervolcano Dormant
Eruption of supervolcanoes is one of the most potentially violent events in the world, spewing hundreds of cubic miles of hot lava and ash and causing catastrophic changes in global climate. Sesia Valley’s supervolcano last erupted 282 million years ago, when it unleashed more than 186 cubic miles of molten particles, ash and gas.
When the discovery by Quick and scientists from the University of Trieste made headlines worldwide in 2009, Sesia Valley residents were alarmed.
“They held a big town meeting in one of the communities, Borgosesia, and hundreds of people came from all over the valley,” Quick says. “People were extremely worried the volcano would erupt again.” The scientists reassured residents they had nothing to fear. A fossil, the supervolcano no longer poses a danger.
Now its protruding rocks are a popular destination for scientists, college students, villagers, tourists and school groups. Proud residents enthusiastically brand many of the valley’s events and activities with their supervolcano identity. Even acclaimed Italian winemaker Cantalupo in 2013 honored the unique volcanic origins of its Sesia Valley grapes by labeling its Christmas wine with a painting of the exploding supervolcano. Volcanic Rock Puzzle
The rock strata of the supervolcano extend for nearly 31 miles through Sesia Valley, sitting sideways like a tipped-over layer cake. In some places, rocks protrude haphazardly from the sides of mountains; in other places they sit under dense forest, roads, bustling villages, crop and livestock farms, outdoor sports locales and tourist destinations.
Scientists have known for more than a century about volcanic rocks in Sesia Valley. Quick first arrived there in 1989, seeking insight into the processes in the deep crust that influence eruptions. What he found kept him returning every summer for 16 years, including as head of the Volcano Hazards Program for the U.S. Geological Survey. His quest made him the first to tramp every mile of the steep mountainsides, sometimes with colleagues, often alone, to identify and map the valley’s rocks.
An unexpected breakthrough occurred in summer 2005. Walking the Sesia River, Quick stumbled upon a chaotic assemblage of giant rocks in the riverbed. He recognized them as fractured relics of the gigantic rim of a fossil supervolcano, quarried into huge chunks by a volcanic explosion.
In 2009, Quick and his team announced their discovery in the scientific journal Geology. They estimated that the mouth of the volcano would have been at least eight miles in diameter, although its true size will never be known because much of it is covered by younger sedimentary deposits. Ancient Boundary
The Sesia Valley supervolcano was located inland on the supercontinent of Pangea. When Pangea began to break up more than 200 million years ago, the supervolcano was stranded on the coast of what we know as Africa. About 20 million years ago, another tectonic shift drove Africa and southern Europe back together, brutally heaving their coastal edges upward and resulting in a massive uplift – today’s Alps. The Sesia Valley supervolcano was tilted sideways, shoving it upward and exposing its plumbing.
Today the supervolcano is a mecca for geologists not only for its plumbing, but as one of the best examples of the earth’s mantle exposed at the surface.
Calling it the “Rosetta Stone” of supervolcanoes, Quick says ultimately the supervolcano could solve the mystery, “How does magma build up and explode?” Scientific Merit
In 2010 the Italian Geological Society awarded Quick the Capellini Medal, presented to foreign geoscientists for a significant contribution to Italian geology. In 2013 he was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Along with his Italian colleague, Silvano Sinigoi, Quick also was awarded honorary citizenship of Borgosesia, the highest award given to civilians by the largest city in the Sesia Valley.
– Margaret Allen
SMU opened five new residential facilities, dining commons and parking garage this fall at the southeast corner of campus. The facilities were built to accommodate another 1,200 students to fulfill SMU’s new two-year living requirement on campus. The six existing residence halls have been renovated to form SMU’s 11 Residential Commons, all of which include faculty in residence. Crests were created for each Residential Commons to provide a unifying identity among the residents. >Read about life in the RC >See an interactive map Arnold Dining Commons: The Residential Commons’ crests are displayed on the balcony of the Arnold Dining Commons. Virignia-Snider Commons: Residents and Faculty in Residence Ann Batenburg (left) show off the Virginia-Snider Commons crest.
Mac’s Place: This grab-and-go dining option features outdoor seating at McElvaney Commons. Kathy Crow Commons: Students attend senior English lecturer Tom Stone’s class in the Kathy Crow Commons classroom.
As a high school student in Kansas, Kelsey Charles ’13 was voted the student most likely to host a talk show. Her classmates knew her really well. The SMU journalism graduate is the host – and producer – of two programs for the Dallas Cowboys, “Cowboys Break” and “Writer’s Roundtable.” Kelsey Charles ’13
“I was always destined to do something that allows me to communicate and speak my mind,” Charles says.
Program host is one aspect of her multidimensional role with the Cowboys organization. As the mobile marketing and new business development manager for the Cowboys, her mission is to keep fans engaged, even when the team is not playing. One of her newest efforts is 5 Points Blue, a website designed for female sports fan that mixes typical football fare, like stats and player interviews, with topics of wider interest.
“It targets people like me, women who can talk in-depth football with the guys, but who also have an interest in the social aspects of sports, like fitness and fashion,” she explains.
There’s never a dull moment when she’s on the clock – she has even climbed on the roof of AT&T Stadium – and that’s what the communications dynamo loves about her job.
“I’ve seen it all,” she says. “The question is: what haven’t I been able to do?”
Charles began her career with “America’s Team” as an intern while attending SMU.
Although she began her undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas, she always had an interest in SMU and soon transferred. But her academic career path was uncertain. When searching for a class to complete her schedule, she landed on Ethics in Journalism, a course taught by Tony Pederson, professor and The Belo Foundation Distinguished Chair in Journalism. And from that point on, she was hooked on everything about journalism at SMU and well on her way to fulfilling that high school career prophecy.
“My professors didn’t bring anything less than the best,” she says. “I mean it wholeheartedly that I wouldn’t be here today without them. They pushed me to be a person I did not know I could be.”
As a sports fan, SMU game days also were important to her as a student, and they still are.
“Having come from a public university in Kansas, I wasn’t prepared for SMU’s brand of tailgating,” she remembers. “I was literally in awe when I went Boulevarding for the first time.”
Charles’ equation for professional success has added together the writing, reporting, editing and digital communications knowledge she gained at SMU with her own drive to succeed.
“My professors opened the door for me, but hard work, persistence and being innovative helped get me where I am,” she says. “I really had to put myself out there.”
In terms of a five-year plan, Charles doesn’t have one. But, in view of her recent accomplishments, her future will likely unfold in interesting and exciting ways.
“Being open is a good thing in this world. I am exploring every single day,” she says. “I will be happy as long as I am learning new things and trying new things.
“It has been a wild ride so far, and there is so much more to come,” she says. “Stay tuned!”
– Leah Johnson ’15
TEDxSMU returned for its sixth year November 1, and as expected, provided a lineup of intriguing speakers. This year’s theme, “Strangely Familiar,” featured topics ranging from the psychology of magic to the intersection of cultures through dance. Kelly Stoetzel ’91, content director for TED, speaking at TEDxSMU November 1.
Among the speakers was SMU alumna Kelly Stoetzel ’91, who talked about TEDYouth, a daylong event designed to enlighten and inspire middle- and high-school students. She curates the event, which was held November 15 in Brooklyn and experienced by young people around the globe via webcast.
But, that’s not all she does.
Not even close.
As content director for TED, the internationally renowned conferences that present “ideas worth spreading,” Stoezel recruits, auditions and prepares speakers for events. Sometimes that means travelling the world. Two years ago, Stoetzel participated in a TED talent search, visiting 14 countries to find untapped speakers.
Lots of philanthropic work happens at SMU, and that taught me the importance of contributing to the world.”
Stoetzel also co-hosts and produces TEDActive in Whistler, British Colombia, Canada, a live event that combines the hallmark TED Talks with workshops, exhibits, demonstrations and other opportunities for active participation.
In fact, she does a lot of hosting for TED and TEDx. Before this year’s TEDxSMU, she co-hosted parts of October’s TEDGlobal in Brazil, including “Inside the Active Studio,” a more in-depth conversation with speakers.
“Six years ago, when SMU first did TEDxKids@SMU, I had never hosted an event for young people. I was scared because I didn’t know how to host for kids,” she says. “It was the most spectacular day I ever had in my working career. I saw kids change the way they wanted to learn. So doing events for youth has been my favorite thing since.”
During TEDxSMU, she seemed born for the role. The interplay between Stoetzel, the audience and the speakers is what makes a TEDx conference so different and what makes her so special. She did not just go on stage and read from a script; she incorporated the audience into the experience, encouraging them to talk to each other and the speakers. Her easy-going manner, coupled with the great rapport between her and co-host John G. Rives, made everyone feel like they were part of an intimate conversation.
I chose SMU because of the fantastic professors, and I wanted to combine my interests in advertising and art. Also, the liberal arts education – learning about so many different topics – was important to me. And that knowledge has carried over with my work for TED today.”
SMU alumna Kelly Stoetzel ’91 (front row, third from left) with speakers at TEDxSMU November 1.
She may make it look easy, but her career path was not always so clear. As a student in Meadows School of the Arts, she majored in advertising with an art minor.
“I chose SMU because of the fantastic professors, and I wanted to combine my interests in advertising and art,” she says. “Also, the liberal arts education – learning about so many different topics – was important to me. And that knowledge has carried over with my work for TED today.
“And, lots of philanthropic work happens at SMU, and that taught me the importance of contributing to the world,” she adds.
SMU is also where she met her husband, Lee Stoetzel ’90, ’93, and “made so many good friends.”
She says she found her calling in a reverse order, with each step of the way contributing to where she is now.
“I didn’t graduate from college knowing for sure what I wanted to do. I went down a couple of paths before I landed at the right place,” she says. “But, that’s OK. By continuing to figure out what I did and did not enjoy, and what I naturally was good at, I think I just figured out that my job was to help other people communicate. I also feel committed to giving people a platform to make an impact.”
I didn’t graduate from college knowing for sure what I wanted to do. I went down a couple of paths before I landed at the right place. But, that’s OK.”
Stoetzel’s introduction to TED was through her father. He attended the first TED conference in 1984, a lone event focused on technology, engineering and design – the “t-e-d” in TED – and was hooked. She says her family used to poke fun at her dad for his TED fervor. But, after attending some TED conferences herself, she became hooked, too. She came to know the director of TED, Chris Anderson, and when he relocated the headquarters from California to New York, she jumped at the opportunity to become permanently involved.
“I’ve gotten to work with so many amazing people,” she says, “and it is not necessarily the big names. To me some of the most interesting people are not household names. They are people who are innovating because they need to or love to. TED is about getting other people’s work out into the world.”
Even after 10 years, no TED is the same, she says.
“We are constantly working at doing a better job at programming and details for the next year. It’s not about a lecture, it’s about a conversation. Even down to the theater design, it’s about connecting with the audience. And TEDxSMU is one of the best TEDx events in the country because they put a lot of energy and care into the program.” – Leah Johnson ’15
The Maguire Energy Institute at SMU Cox School of Business honored David Miller, co-founder and managing partner of EnCap Investments, L.P., with the 2014 L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award at a sold-out luncheon ceremony on Friday, December 12, at the Cox School’s Collins Center. David Miller ’72, ’73
The event raised $375,000 to support the Institute, as well as scholarships for students seeking to pursue careers in the energy industry. The Energy Leadership Award committee selected Miller, who holds a BBA and an MBA from SMU Cox, as someone who, like the late oilman for whom the energy award was named, embodies the spirit of entrepreneurship, ethical leadership and energy industry innovation.
“The Institute is proud to honor David Miller with this prestigious award,” said Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute. “Throughout his 40-year career, David has an unsurpassed record of achievement as an innovative leader in oil and gas and energy finance. His contributions extend far beyond the industry to SMU, the Cox School of Business, our students and the Dallas community. As a former partner of Frank Pitts, he exemplifies the qualities and values that are the basis for this award.”
A Dallas native, Miller earned his BBA from SMU in 1972. He was a three-year starter on the Mustang basketball team, which became the Southwest Conference Co-Champion in his senior year. His ability as a leader was recognized early on with the Bobby James Award for leadership, scholarship and basketball achievement. After completing his MBA from SMU in 1973, Miller began his professional career as an energy lender with Republic Bank Dallas, where he ultimately served as vice president and manager of the bank’s wholly owned subsidiary, Republic Energy Finance Corp.
In 1987, he partnered with legendary oilman Frank Pitts in the formation of the PMC Reserve Acquisition Company. In 1988, Miller and three former Republic Bank colleagues co-founded EnCap Investments, L.P., a private equity firm focused on investments in early-stage oil and gas companies. Since its inception, EnCap has raised 18 funds and managed more than $21 billion of capital for some 275 U.S. and foreign institutional investors. According to Private Equity International, EnCap today represents one of the 10 largest private equity firms in the world.
For the past 10 years, Miller has been a member of the National Petroleum Council, an advisory body to the U.S. Secretary of Energy. He serves as a member of the Maguire Energy Institute Advisory Board, and he was recently inducted into the Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Hall of Fame. Miller is a member of the SMU Board of Trustees and currently chairs the Executive Board of the SMU Cox School of Business. Both the University and the Cox School have honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus. He will be inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame in the spring of 2015. Miller is the current chairman of the Board of Goodwill Industries of Dallas. Numerous other charities benefit from his individual involvement and the support of the Miller Family Foundation.
Miller is the fifth recipient of the L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award. The first award was presented in 2010 to Ray L. Hunt, chairman and CEO of Hunt Oil Company and chairman, CEO and president of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. The 2011 recipient was J. Larry Nichols, now retired co-founder and executive chairman of Devon Energy Corporation. Mark Papa, now retired chairman and CEO of EOG Resources, Inc., received the award in 2012. Last year, Scott Sheffield, chairman and CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Company, was the honoree.
The Maguire Energy Institute, named in honor of oilman and co-founder Cary M. Maguire, just celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding. The L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award was created in 2010 to honor the legacy of another Texas oilman, independent oil and natural gas producer L. Frank Pitts, who participated in the drilling of more than 3,000 wells over almost seven decades, and was a business partner and mentor to David Miller. The late oilman, like Miller, served as a member of the Maguire Energy Institute Advisory Board. Pitts’ daughter, Linda Pitts Custard, is a former member of the SMU Board of Trustees and an alumna of SMU Cox, and she serves on the Award Event Committee for the Pitts Energy Leadership Award Luncheon.
The annual event serves as a fundraiser to support the Maguire Energy Institute, as well as its MBA and BBA scholarships for students with degree concentrations in energy. This year’s event yielded more support than any previous year. A portion of the $375,000 raised by the 2014 event will help support the educational goals of Stuart Duenner, who will complete his BBA in May 2016, and William LaFuze, Jr., who will complete his MBA in May 2015.
Dinesh Rajan, Department of Electrical Engineering, has been named the Cecil and Ida Green Endowed Professor of Engineering in SMU’s Lyle School.
Dinesh Rajan has been named the Cecil and Ida Green Endowed Professor of Engineering in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. He is the first faculty member to be named to the recently established professorship, made possible by the growth of an endowment provided by Cecil and Ida Green in 1979. Rajan came to SMU in 2002 with experience in both academia and industry, having held positions at both Rice University and Nokia. Since arriving at the University, he has served as professor and chair of the Electrical Engineering Department, providing leadership to the faculty while pursuing greater departmental productivity in research.
“Dinesh is an award-winning teacher and innovative researcher. He has made definitive contributions to his research field and continues to build upon that reputation,” said Lyle Dean Marc Christensen. “Outside the classroom, Dinesh utilizes his intellect and energy to motivate young engineers through undergraduate research and senior design. He is consistently striving to stretch his boundaries, and I look forward to what he will achieve in the future.”
Rajan has published more than 100 peer-reviewed technical articles in leading journals and at conferences. He also has co-edited two books. He has been awarded research grants totaling more than $7 million supported by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and companies including Toyota and Nokia. He was technical program chair for the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference in 2009 and has served on other conference executive and technical committees.
Rajan’s broad research interests are focused on the sensing/extraction, transmission and dissemination of information. His work is interdisciplinary in nature and spans the traditional areas of information theory, wireless communications, signal processing and operations research. Most recently, he has focused on improving wireless data rates and reducing battery consumption. Another ongoing project develops cognitive methods to overcome challenge of scarce wireless spectrum and improve wireless connectivity and data rates.
His honors for teaching and research include the NSF CAREER Award in 2006 for his work on applying information theory to the design of mobile networks, a Ford Research Fellowship in 2012, SMU’s Golden Mustang Award in 2008, IEEE Outstanding Young Engineer in 2009, and multiple outstanding EE faculty teaching awards.
Rajan earned his B.Tech degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. He also was awarded M.S and Ph.D degrees from Rice University in Houston, both in the areas of electrical and computer engineering.
Cecil and Ida Green provided endowments for two faculty chairs in what is now the Lyle School of Engineering, both of which multiplied over time to provide funds for an additional professorship. Their gift of approximately $1.5 million in 1979 established the Cecil and Ida Green Chair currently held by Milton Gosney, and has grown over time to provide funding for the professorship held by Rajan. Their gift of $891,558 in 1969 endowed the Cecil H. Green Chair of Engineering held by Stephen Szygenda and now also supports Sila Cetinkaya as the Cecil H. Green Professor of Engineering. The couple’s gift of approximately $500,000 in 1979 also endowed the Cecil and Ida Green Fund for Excellence in Engineering and Applied Science Education to strengthen and enrich programs in the school.
Ida Green ’46 was a member of the SMU Board of Trustees, and was honored by the University in 1977 as a distinguished alumna. She died in 1986. Cecil Green, a British-born, naturalized American geophysicist and alumnus of MIT, was one of the four co-founders of Texas Instruments. He was made an honorary alumnus of SMU in 1962 and received an honorary doctor of science degree from the University in 1967. Cecil Green died in 2003 at the age of 102. – This story appeared originally in SMU Forum.
Actor Brian Baumgartner ’95 with one of his former professors, Bill Lengfelder, during a conference hour Q-and-A at Meadows November 14. Prior to the Meadows session, he talked at a student event in Hughes-Trigg. Baumgartner was back on campus to lead the Homecoming parade November 15. Photo by Kevin Gaddis.
SMU alumnus Brian Baumgartner ’95 – a.k.a. Kevin Malone from the hit series “The Office” – brightened up the cool and cloudy afternoon during his stop at Meadows School of the Arts for a conference hour with students November 14. > Brian’s Back: Mustang Minute! Video
As expected, Baumgartner brought laughs to Margot Jones Theatre, where he spoke about his journey from SMU to Hollywood. His comedic genius permeated the question-and-answer session with students. They laughed uncontrollably, and even he couldn’t contain himself, cracking up at some of his own lines.
There also were touching moments. Upon seeing one of his former professors, Baumgartner leapt out of his seat with joy and gave Bill Lengfelder a heartfelt hug.
“You are a comedic genius,” Lengfelder said to the actor. “You came in brilliant, and you left brilliant.”
During the hour-long session, Baumgartner revealed that one of his favorite memories involves another famous Meadows alum.
When the Greer Garson Theatre first opened, Meadows invited accomplished alumni back to SMU to join in the celebration. Among those attending was award-winning actress Kathy Bates ’69. Baumgartner is a huge fan of Bates – “who doesn’t love Bates,” he interjected. His mother secretly contacted the actress, and for Christmas that year, he received an autographed book from Bates. Fifteen years later, when she made special appearances on “The Office,” Baumgartner was able to pull out that autographed book.
“I am getting a little emotional,” he said. “It was a special moment. And she’s Kathy Bates. She’s awesome.”
After graduating from SMU, Baumgartner went on to help found the Hidden Theatre in Minneapolis with fellow SMU graduates. He served as artistic director.
“I couldn’t visualize the path to move to New York, so that’s why I founded the company. Even though it’s horribly cold, Minneapolis was more livable,” he said.
While in business for about five years, the company experimented with putting on original plays and recreating works by comedians such as Steve Martin.
“It’s a lot of work getting a business going,” he said, “and we were relatively successful at what we were doing.”
Baumgartner later performed with several prestigious regional theatres in Minneapolis, including the Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theatre Company and Theatre de la Jeune Lune.
After taking a year off to try film and TV, he moved permanently to Los Angeles. Four months later, he landed a role on “The Office.”
“We knew we had something special from the second episode called ‘Diversity Day,’” he said.
But, in the beginning, the audience didn’t share the cast’s enthusiasm. At first, the ratings were terrible, he said. He recalls a moment in Steve Carell’s trailer. He was sitting opposite John Krasinski, and they were bummed about their ratings. “Well, we got to do 12 episodes. That’s pretty cool,” Carell said.
Shortly afterward, the show found its audience and became a hit, running from 2005 until May 2013. Over nine seasons, the show received 42 Emmy nominations and won five awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series.
“The reason for the success of that show was college students watching. There is no doubt in my mind. Young people embraced something new,” he said.
Baumgartner has spent 2014 trying to recreate his identity as an actor. He dabbled in a few TV and film drama roles, and “spent the last year saying ‘no’ to anything that resembles Kevin. You have to constantly reinvent yourself.”
Baumgartner wrapped up the Q-and-A with these words: “Everything is valuable. No path is better or worst. They say take advantage of SMU, and that is 100-percent right. Go out and experience other parts of the University. SMU teaches you there is more. What you are learning here is so important.” – Leah Johnson ‘15
NOTE: This story was published originally by The United Methodist News Service October 17, 2014. Anna Kaydor Labal is an alumna of SMU’s Perkins School of Theology (C.M.M. ’05) and serves as associate pastor of Miller McAllister United Methodist Church in Ganta, Liberia.
By Kathy L. Gilbert United Methodist News Service The Rev. Anna Kaydor Labala ’05
One Sunday morning, a young man called the local radio station in Ganta, Liberia, and threatened to take his Ebola-infected family into the streets because no one would help them.
Ten members of his family had already died and their bodies were still in the home. The rest of the family was under quarantine. Some family members were sick. They had no food or medication.
The people of Miller McAllister United Methodist Church, started by U.S. missionaries in 1926, answered his plea.
“Their situation was so grave that they needed immediate response. This led us to challenge the church to lift a special offering to respond to the needs of several homes that were victimized by the Ebola virus,” said the Rev. Anna Kaydor Labala, associate pastor at Miller McAllister.
In August, the church started sending out a team of three pastors and two lay members to visit homes of people affected by the deadly virus that has killed nearly 4,500 in West Africa.
“We delivered food and non-food supplies to the affected families, interacted and prayed with them. We trusted God for our safety and we ventured out into areas where nobody wanted to go. It was indeed a risk-taking mission as only health workers were allowed to go that close to Ebola victims,” Labala said.
Labala explained that the team wears long-sleeve shirts with jackets and long trousers. They put the food and supplies on the ground and the people pick them up.
“We do not touch anybody. We stand several feet away from the sick people and their family members. We wash our hands each time we interact with a family,” she said.
“I had some fears, but we all believed that God wanted us to feed the people who were isolated and hungry, and to give them hope by our presence. Our presence with them helped to remove the stigma and they saw a sign of hope.”
Since the first visit, the church has helped 15 families, Labala said.
Bishop John G. Innis, episcopal leader of the denomination in Liberia, said the country’s whole economic system has collapsed and he gets hundreds of calls every day asking for help.
“Bishop, we are hungry,” the callers say. An outreach team from Miller McAllister United Methodist Church, Ganta, Liberia, gather rice, bags of charcoal, buckets with chlorine and soap, drinking water and other supplies for families infected with Ebola. (Photo by Photo by the Rev. Anna Kaydor Labala, UMNS)
While Innis is grateful that the U.S. is sending soldiers to help build health-care facilities, he worries that there is going to be “another epidemic” if the problem of hunger is not addressed.
“We want to go well-fed to God,” he said.
Other United Methodist groups, including United Methodist Women and Love Beyond Borders, are now distributing food along with Ebola information and prevention tool like soap and buckets.
Ganta has the second largest population in Liberia and was hit hard by the Ebola viral disease in July. In the months of July and August, more than 100 people died of the virus, Labala said.
People panicked when Ebola was first diagnosed because they were told there was no cure. However, as people started going into treatment centers in Monrovia and recovering, hope has returned.
The economy is still suffering, she said. Schools and markets are closed and no one knows when they will reopen.
Most people in the area are business people who depend on the markets. Many of them went to the Republic of Guinea, a neighboring country, to sell their products and bring goods into Liberia. The first case in the recent Ebola outbreak was in Guinea. After the border was closed, many people went out of business, Labala said.
Traveling around the country has been discouraged so that people will not spread the virus. That also has curtailed business opportunities and increased economic hardship in Ganta.
“The church has been working in the community to give hope to the people. The church meets for prayers every evening. Our members who are health workers provide regular education on how people can prevent themselves from contacting Ebola,” Labala said.
Labala remembers on one of their first visits a man told them, “You have brought us food and water and we appreciate it. Please come again. We will drink this water and it will get finished. And we will have no more water. Nobody wants to sell anything to us so please come back.”
His words inspired the church to do weekly outreach.
“During our second outreach, a lady said that she would come to our church if she survived the crisis. I believe that the prayers and love we showed the victims brought them hope and recovery.”
Labala said a pastor from another faith group recently returned to the church to tell his story.
He had been in a treatment center for three weeks and recovered from Ebola. Church members had visited him and prayed with him before he went for treatment.
“On the day he went home he thanked us for being the first church that had reached out to him to pray for him,” she said.
Since then, two more families have come to the church to offer thanks and report some members of their family have survived and are doing well.
“We will continue to go out every week as we are able,” she said.
Samuel S. Holland, an internationally renowned music educator and outstanding arts administrator, has been named the Algur H. Meadows dean of Meadows School of the Arts. Holland has provided strong leadership to the Meadows School in both teaching and administrative roles for more than 20 years. Samuel S. Holland, an internationally renowned music educator and outstanding arts administrator, has been named the Algur H. Meadows Dean of Meadows School of the Arts.
“We are delighted to have a distinguished leader who is already a highly respected member of the SMU family and the Dallas arts community to assume this important position,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Sam Holland brings experience and success not only in teaching and performing, but also in fundraising, external outreach and impact on his profession.”
The Music Division Holland has led in the Meadows School was named the number one music program in the United States in the 2014 College Factual rankings, as reported inUSA Today.
Holland has been director of the Meadows School’s Division of Music since 2010. He has served as Meadows dean ad interim since July 2014, following the departure of former dean José Antonio Bowen.
Holland joined the Meadows music faculty in 1991, initially serving as head of piano pedagogy and director of the Piano Preparatory Department. In subsequent years, his administrative positions in the Meadows School have included serving as head of the Department of Keyboard Studies and Pedagogy, associate chair and chair ad interim of the Division of Music and associate director for academic affairs of the Meadows School. His teaching at SMU has included piano pedagogy, studio piano, computers and keyboards, jazz piano and piano master classes.
“After years of growth in the quality and reputation of its programs, the Meadows School is emerging as a national model for arts education in the 21st century,” Holland says. “Considering the people at SMU and Meadows, an extraordinary executive board and the dynamism of Dallas, I can’t help but be irrepressibly optimistic about the future. Great cultural centers have great schools nearby. Lincoln Center has Juilliard. Chicago has Northwestern. The Dallas Arts District has Meadows. The powerhouse schools of the next 25 years will be those in which fine and performing arts are working alongside cutting-edge communication arts – precisely the ingredients we celebrate at Meadows.”
He has provided leadership in fundraising for Meadows School programs. He worked with the Meadows development team to obtain more than $10 million in new giving for piano inventory and programs; renovation of practice facilities; and support for endowed scholarships, new endowed professorships and the ensemble-in-residence program.
Holland has extended the Meadows School’s reach beyond the campus. He developed closer associations with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and organized SMU student performances for civic events, such as the grand opening of the Winspear Opera House and groundbreaking for the George W. Bush Presidential Center. He developed and shepherded partnerships with community groups including Dallas Chamber Music, Voices of Change, Dallas Bach Society and the Allegro Guitar Society.
Aside from his responsibilities in the Meadows School, Holland is co-founder and executive director of the Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy, Inc., a nonprofit educational institution in New Jersey. He is executive director of the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy and Clavier Companion magazine. He chairs the Committee on Ethics of the Texas Association of Music Schools.
He earned his Bachelor of Music in applied music cum laude from The University of Texas at Austin, followed by a Master of Music in applied music with highest honors at the University of Houston and a Ph.D. in music education with an emphasis in piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma.
After years of growth in the quality and reputation of its programs, the Meadows School is emerging as a national model for arts education in the 21st century,” Holland says. “Considering the people at SMU and Meadows, an extraordinary executive board and the dynamism of Dallas, I can’t help but be irrepressibly optimistic about the future. Great cultural centers have great schools nearby. Lincoln Center has Juilliard. Chicago has Northwestern. The Dallas Arts District has Meadows. The powerhouse schools of the next 25 years will be those in which fine and performing arts are working alongside cutting-edge communication arts – precisely the ingredients we celebrate at Meadows.”
Before joining the SMU music faculty, he taught at the University of Kentucky School of Music and Westminster Choir College of Rider University.
Holland is the author or co-author of more than 70 critically acclaimed method and repertoire collections with major publishers. At the international level, he has provided leadership for music workshops and lecture/demonstrations in England, Spain, Australia, Hungary, Norway and Canada. He has represented the Meadows Division of Music on visits to the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Shanghai, Spain and the Peoples’ Republic of China.
Holland has been honored with the Texas Music Teacher Association Outstanding Collegiate Teaching Award and the Dean’s Prize of Meadows School of the Arts.
Actor Brian Baumgartner ’95 will serve as grand marshal of the 2014 Homecoming parade November 15.
Well-known for his character “Kevin” on the Emmy-winning television series The Office, actor Brian Baumgartner ’95 is making the trip back to SMU for Homecoming weekend.
> Read The Daily Campus interview
Baumgartner will lead SMU’s Homecoming parade as grand marshal Saturday, Nov. 15, with its theme of “Dynamic Duos” helping to celebrate SMU’s Year of the Faculty. Community members and families are invited to enjoy a parade featuring marching bands, student-designed floats and costumed characters. The new parade route will begin near campus at the intersection of SMU Boulevard and Bush Avenue, travel south on Airline Road, then west on Binkley Avenue and then north onto Bishop Boulevard into campus. The parade time will be announced based on the still-pending game time, which will be determined on Nov. 3.
Baumgartner earned a special cadre of SMU fans during televised SMU men’s basketball games last season: As SMU basketball fans held up giant cutouts of alumnus Baumgartner at games, the funny man began responding on Twitter with quips such as “I’ll be watching until I get there,” and “I want to be in Moody with you.” That dream is coming true for Baumgartner and his fans as the actor plans to be in Moody Stadium for the sold out SMU vs. Lamar men’s basketball game at 8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14.
Baumgartner continues to make regular appearances on fan-favorite shows, including Hot in Cleveland, Mike & Molly, Criminal Minds,Law & Order: SVU and a recent arc on FX’s critically acclaimed drama, The Bridge. Along with acting, Baumgartner works as the executive producer, creator and host of his production company, 3 Bees Entertainment. The production company has been responsible for three consecutive years of NBC Sports Specials leading up to The American Century Championship.
> See the full schedule of Homecoming events
Joseph E. Ackels ’82 and Kristin Larimore ’89, ’91 will offer inside perspectives on their careers to students participating in the SMU Connection Winter Externship program. Through SMU Connection, alumni have opportunities to share their career insights with current students.
They join 290 alumni across the country in providing one-day job-shadowing opportunities to current SMU undergraduates over winter break. The SMU Office of Alumni Engagement collaborates with the University’s Hegi Family Career Development Center and various departments across campus to recruit students and match them with alumni hosts.
Both Ackels and Larimore have volunteered for the “day in the work life” experience before. Ackels, an attorney with Ackels & Ackels, L.L.P., in Dallas, considers the chance to share his insight a natural extension of what he does on a daily basis – “help people in their search for solutions to life’s challenges.
“Students seeking guidance about their career paths will have many questions, but not much experience. A glimpse at a day in the life of a lawyer will open eyes as to an attorney’s ability to impact lives every day,” explains Ackels, who holds a J.D. from Dedman School of Law.
In sharing his daily routine – “warts and all” – he discovered an unexpected benefit: “Surprisingly, the externship gave me the opportunity to reflect on my own work. I found myself explaining why I chose to give certain advice, or not to do so. It’s just a great opportunity to teach ethics outside of the classroom.”
For Larimore, the role of externship host links to her work as a volunteer campus recruiter, identifying talent for her company’s summer internships.
“The program allows us to introduce GE to first-years and sophomores and start developing relationships with SMU students we might recruit for internships, when they are juniors and seniors,” she explains.
“For the students, it’s a great opportunity to explore their career options and start making professional connections,” she adds, “and for me, it’s another way to give back to my alma matter and keep connected with students.”
Larimore earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology from SMU and has been an unwavering supporter of the University through the years. She co-chairs the Class of 1989’s 25-year reunion committee, is a 25-year Mustang football season ticket holder and has served on the Mustang Club board.
She also gives an annual gift to Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences in honor of the late Michael Best, a former dean, psychology chair and professor.
“Dr. Best is the reason for the trajectory of my career, and I’m grateful to him and SMU for literally helping to shape my future,” she says.
That great SMU experience inspires her “to give back to the University any way I can.”
The Winter Externship program is one of myriad platforms for alumni to give their time and expertise in support of the University. As of this month, 464 alumni around the globe – in 25 cities and 24 states, as well as Canada, China, Greece, Japan and Vietnam – have signed up to help recruit and mentor students, participate in career events, and many other activities. Find out more online about opportunities to serve and lead as Mustang volunteers, or send questions to involved@smu.edu.
Poet Tim Seibles ’77
Lauded for his bold, thought-provoking writing, SMU alumnus Tim Seibles will receive the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize November 11 at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. Previous winners of the prestigious award include past U.S. Poets Laureate Robert Penn Warren (1971) and Robert Pinksy (2008).
The award recognizes his most recent collection of poetry, Fast Animal (Etruscan Press, 2012). The book earned a PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award in 2013 and was a National Book Award for Poetry finalist in 2012.
Tim Seibles’ work is proof: the new American poet can’t just speak one language. In his new book, he fuses our street corners’ quickest wit, our violent vernaculars, and our numerous tongues of longing and love. He records danger. He records the sensual world. And he records a troubled enlightenment, which is a ‘fast animal’ pivoting toward two histories at once.” – National Book Foundation citation
Publisher’s Weekly calls Fast Animal “crisply comic, disarmingly frank and aurally bold.”
A native of Philadelphia, Seibles earned a bachelor’s degree in English from SMU in 1977 and an M.F.A. from Vermont College of Norwich University. He serves on the faculty of Old Dominion University as an associate professor of English and creative writing and resides in Virginia. He also is a teaching board member of the Muse Writers Workshop and a part-time faculty member of the University of Maine’s Stonecoast M.F.A. in writing program.
In May, he was invited to participate in the Library of Congress’ celebration of poet Countee Cullen’s birthday. One of the most celebrated poets of the Harlem Renaissance era, Cullen died in 1946. Seibles, who has taught Cullen’s work in his classes, read selected poems and discussed the writer’s work at the program.
Seibles, one of America’s foremost African-American poets, has given the world a collection of tight, elegant and honest poems about growing up; themes of innocence, memory, (un)knowing run throughout.” – Undertow Magazine
Other books by Seibles include Body Moves (1988), Hurdy-Gurdy (1992), Hammerlock (1999) and Buffalo Head Solos (2004). His work also has been featured in the anthologies In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African American Poetry (1994), Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry (2009), and Best American Poetry (2010).
Seibles approaches themes of racial tension, class conflict and intimacy from several directions at once in poems with plainspoken yet fast-turning language.” – The Poetry Foundation
Thomas DiPiero, whose academic interests range from the psychoanalysis of race and gender to French literature, is the new dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and professor in the Departments of English and World Languages and Literatures. Thomas DiPiero, whose academic interests range from the psychoanalysis of race and gender to French literature, is the new dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and professor in the Departments of English and World Languages and Literatures.
DiPiero joined SMU in August from the University of Rochester, where he was dean of humanities and interdisciplinary studies in the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering and professor of French and of visual and cultural studies. He replaces William Tsutsui, who resigned in May to become president of Hendrix College.
“Dedman College is the academic heart of SMU, home to world-class, innovative teaching and research about the natural world, its people, their creations and institutions,” DiPiero says. “The college’s departments, programs and centers are leading the way in creating new knowledge and new fields of inquiry, and I am tremendously eager to work with faculty, students, and staff to extend the intellectual boundaries of our work and the geographic reaches of our discoveries.” >Dean DiPiero discusses the value of a liberal arts education.
As dean of Dedman College, DiPiero will head the largest of SMU’s seven colleges and schools, with its 307 full-time faculty members, including 19 endowed professorships. About half of SMU’s undergraduates pursue their majors in Dedman College through 39 baccalaureate degree programs and their minors in more than 50 areas. Nineteen graduate programs in Dedman College lead to a Master’s degree and 13 programs lead to a doctor of philosophy degree.
DiPiero received a Ph.D. in Romance Studies from Cornell University in 1988, a Master of Arts from Cornell University in Romance Studies in 1984 and a Master of Arts from The Ohio State University in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1980. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from The Ohio State University in 1978.
“The College and the entire University will benefit from DiPiero’s interdisciplinary approach to the humanities and sciences, as well as from his passion for research and teaching,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “He’s a great fit for Dedman College and for SMU.”
DiPiero previously served as a visiting faculty member at SMU-in-Taos in 2011 and as a guest lecturer for SMU’s Gilbert Lecture Series in 2008.
Dedman College is the academic heart of SMU, home to world-class, innovative teaching and research about the natural world, its people, their creations and institutions,” DiPiero says. “The college’s departments, programs and centers are leading the way in creating new knowledge and new fields of inquiry, and I am tremendously eager to work with faculty, students, and staff to extend the intellectual boundaries of our work and the geographic reaches of our discoveries.”
DiPiero is the author or co-editor of three books: White Men Aren’t (Duke University Press, 2002); Illicit Sex: Identity Politics in Early Modern Europe, edited with Pat Gill (University of Georgia Press, 1997); and Dangerous Truths and Criminal Passions: The Evolution of the French Novel 1569-1791 (Stanford University Press, 1992). He served as editor of the Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies (University of Pennsylvania Press) from 2005-13, and has written several book chapters, as well as numerous journal articles.
At the University of Rochester, he received awards for distinguished undergraduate teaching and for support of Ph.D. candidates. He served as the principal investigator for the project “Training Graduate Students in the Digital Humanities,” which received $1 million in funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Prior to Rochester, DiPiero was a visiting assistant professor of French and Humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon from 1985-87 and a lecturer at the Université de Paris-X, France from 1982-83.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Ludden expressed thanks to Peter Moore, Dedman College’s senior associate dean and associate dean for academic affairs, for serving as interim dean during the search. “Dr. Moore is a consummate professional, and his work in an interim role is helping Dedman College maintain its momentum as we prepare for Dr. DiPiero’s arrival.”
The El Portal Fire burns on a hillside in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park on the evening of Sunday, July 27, 2014. The community of El Portal was under a mandatory evacuation. By Tuesday, the blaze had burned nearly 3,000 acres. Photo by Stuart Palley.
On location, there is absolute calm and stillness in the burn area of a wildfire. In May I stood atop a mountain overlooking San Marcos and Escondido in San Diego County, alone and under the moonlight, with the distant roar of flame and fire engine siren lights in the valley below. Smoke hung low over the valley, enveloping the cities in an ashy cocoon as the Cocos Fire smoldered. I set up my tripod and made images as the fire danced vertically into the air, inexorably marching forward, towards more homes.
Stuart Palley
LightBox, TIME magazine, August 8, 2014
Photographer Stuart Palley ’11
By day, Stuart Palley ’11 runs his own photography business in Los Angeles, shooting videos and writing. As night falls, with camera in hand, he follows the flames, capturing the fierce beauty of California wildfires. He calls his photo project Terra Flamma, which he roughly translates from Latin as “earth fire.” The young alumnus is becoming famous for his fiery landscapes, which have been published by TIME, the Los Angeles Times and other news outlets.
Palley became interested in capturing these smoldering images in 2012 and took to Kickstarter in June to launch an online fundraiser that has allowed him to expand the scope of Terra Flamma.
“Covering wildfires is more than just a photo project. It’s about educating the population at large of the growth of wildfire danger and sharing the efforts of wildland firefighters who put their lives on the line. It’s also to show that these fires can be beautiful in a way that only nature could create. Despite their destructive nature, there is a surreal beauty to the fires photographed at night under long exposure,” Palley stated on his Kickstarter website.
He raised more than 260 percent of his original goal, and the project was fully funded in two weeks. “I knew there was interest, but I was totally floored by the support,” he says.
Money came in from a diverse pool of contributors, including a businessman in Canada who donated $1,000 and a retired firefighter from Iowa who gave $8,000. “Funny enough, a Kickstarter employee donated a dollar,” he says.
With the extra funding he is able to travel farther, but the physical preparation for each journey begins at his home base. He works out five or six times a week to be in shape to carry all his gear and build the endurance needed to hike over rough terrain at high altitude. He has trained with the U.S. Forest Service to earn basic wildland fire certification and has studied fire behavior extensively.
Palley realizes his work is dangerous and always puts safety first. “My number-one goal while photographing wildfires is to stay safe and stay out of the way of firefighters and once that is assured, I make photographs,” he says.
To date, he has photographed more than 25 wildfires. Most recently, his pictures were featured on The Washington Post’s In Sight blog September 19. The Meadow Fire Burns overnight near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park early Monday, September 8, 2014. Photo by Stuart Palley.
Maybe no one is more surprised about the trajectory of his career than Palley, who admits that he didn’t always envision a career in photography.
He grew up in Southern California, and like so many other students, was drawn to SMU by the beautiful campus and the Dallas scene. In fact, he is the first of three Palley siblings to become Mustangs. His younger brother, Rennick, earned degrees in mechanical engineering and math from SMU in 2013, and sister Lauren ’15 is a senior in the Cox School of Business. His parents, Roger B. and Marion Palley, serve as co-chairs of the Campaign Steering Committee for Los Angeles and support The Roger B. and Marion Palley Family Internship Endowment Fund. Through SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center, the Palley Family Fund provides grants to SMU students participating in domestic or international internships.
While photography was not his primary focus at SMU – he majored in history and finance – it was his minor, along with human rights. As a student he was associate editor of The Daily Campus and did some shooting for the Texas Tribune.
Palley uncovered his passion by first discovering what he wasn’t passionate about. After completing a finance internship, he realized photography was his future. That decision was reinforced when he took a course from Debora Hunter at SMU-in-Taos. Hunter, an associate professor of photography in Meadows School of the Arts, has been capturing images of the cultural landscape in and around Taos for more than a decade.
At SMU-in-Taos, Palley found environmental photography and calls Hunter a “great mentor.” The French Fire burns in the Sierra National Forest in August 2014. Photo by Stuart Palley.
Still, he has no regrets about his academic path. “Even though I switched to photography, my finance and history background have been instrumental in helping me get to where I am. If I went back and did it again, I wouldn’t change much,” Palley says. “I might have taken a few more accounting classes.”
After graduating from SMU, he earned a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri before returning to Southern California.
His complete Terra Flamma photo essay documenting the 2014 California wildfires will be displayed online, and he plans to publish a limited-edition book to give to some of his Kickstarter supporters, based on sponsorship levels.
Beyond his current project, Palley sees his future as a combination of commercial work and the environmental photography he loves. “I just want to continue on this path and expand what I am doing.” – Leah Johnson ’15 Stuart Palley, ready for another night of shooting California wildfires.
EXCERPT: Virginia Kull ’04 and Candice Patton ’07, who earned bachelor’s degrees in theatre at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, are featured in two new television shows this fall. Kull can be seen in Fox’s Gracepoint, beginning October 2, while Patton appears in The CW’s The Flash, beginning October 7. Their stories appeared in The Dallas Morning News September 19, 2014:
Dallas-area stars shine in fall TV offerings
Virginia Kull ’04 in Gracepoint. Photo by Mathieu Young/Fox By David Martindale The Dallas Morning News Special Contributor
Dallas-area actors are making their presence felt this fall in new TV series. There must be something in the water. Meet a half-dozen of the new season’s up-and-coming stars. Virginia Kull
Virginia Kull, a Southern Methodist University graduate and Dallas Shakespeare Festival veteran, has spent most of the past decade working on the New York stage. The Austin native is eager for friends and family all over Texas to see her performance in Fox’s Gracepoint, a dark 10-episode crime drama premiering at 8 p.m. Oct. 2. “I’m really proud of it,” says Kull, who plays the grief-stricken mother of a murdered boy. “For those who can’t come to New York to see me in a play, now they can just turn on the TV to confirm that I’m really a working actor!” Kull felt an instant connection to the role of Beth Solano. “When I read the pilot script, I could not put it down,” she says. “The words felt like they fit in my mouth. I understood who this woman was, and I thought, ‘Whoever gets to do this will be so incredibly lucky.’ Then it turned out to be me.”
… Candice Patton ’07 in The Flash. Photo by Jack Rowand/The CW Candice Patton
Candice Patton, who grew up in Plano and graduated from SMU, has one minor beef with her role as Iris West in The Flash, which premieres at 7 p.m. Oct. 7, on The CW. She envies leading man Grant Gustin, who’s having a blast playing the lightning-fast superhero. “I tell my producers all the time,” Patton says. “If they ever want to strap me in leather and give me a superpower, I’m all for it. But I don’t know if we have any plans for that.” Otherwise, she’s having the time of her life as the girl Barry Allen (The Flash) is pining for. “Iris is such a beloved comic book ingénue,” she says. “Beyond that, she’s incredibly brave and strong and smart.” Patton says you don’t have to be a comic-book fan to enjoy the show. “It’s exciting, there’s a lot of action and a lot of heart,” she says.
…
> Read the full story
> Virginia Kull describes Beth Solano, her Gracepoint character
> Candice Patton talks about Iris, the love interest on The Flash
Established less than a decade ago, the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development opens a new chapter in its history with the groundbreaking for the Harold Clark Simmons Hall September 12. As its campus footprint expands, the Simmons School invites SMU alumni who may not have graduated through the school but have an affinity for its programs to a “Welcome Back” reception and open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, October 10, at Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall. SMU alumni educators are invited to a “Welcome Back” reception and open house at the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development October 10 to learn about the school’s wide-ranging programs and research.
“This is an opportunity for SMU alumni who are active professionally, have moved on to new careers, or perhaps have retired, to learn what we’re doing in Simmons and reconnect with classmates,” explains David J. Chard, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Simmons School.
Expect a spirited, fair-like atmosphere, with information stations, tours, demonstrations and interactive presentations by faculty and students showcasing Simmons’ wide-ranging and interrelated programs in teaching and learning, education policy and leadership, applied physiology and wellness, sport management, dispute resolution and counseling and liberal studies.
Much has changed since many alumni were in the classroom, especially in regard to research. “Today we study learning and teaching as much as we prepare teachers. We’re now better informed about which children need what kind of supports and when,” Chard says. “We’re also trying to impact communities differently. Alumni who did work in West Dallas decades ago will be interested in our research to understand the roles of a wide range of variables, such as nutrition and mentoring, on child development.”
Alumni also will hear about professional development, personal enrichment and volunteer opportunities.
The education of educators has been part of the University’s mission since its early years, a commitment reaffirmed by the teacher training and related concentrations lacked a nexus until the school’s creation in 2005. The Simmons outreach event is aimed at alumni such as Gigi Poglitsch ’69, ’72, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications disorders (speech pathology) from SMU. When the University discontinued the program, Poglitsch admits to feeling a bit adrift until she found a new home at Simmons.
“Having worked with autistic children for many years, I’ve been involved with public school districts and university faculty around the country,” she says. “The Simmons School’s research and programs are not only having a positive local impact but also are leading the way to improvements on a national and even an international scale. It’s an exciting time to be part of this vibrant community.”
Poglitsch serves on the event steering committee with Carol Seay ’66, ’71, Gerry Hudnall ’71 and Bobbie Sue Williams. Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall, the hub of the Simmons School of Education, opened in September 2010.
Seay earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in history from SMU. A former teacher and administrator in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD), she applauds Simmons’ “hands-on training to equip teachers to help students succeed.”
“When I was teaching, we basically had to figure it out for ourselves,” she recalls. “SMU uses research to pinpoint key skills and tools teachers and administrators need to be effective so that students are prepared when they graduate. I’ve really enjoyed being part of the future of education through Simmons.”
With a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in political science, Hudnall taught history and government at DISD’s Hillcrest High School before her children were born. Afterward, she was a substitute teacher for 12 years. Like others on the steering committee, Hudnall believes “education is critical in the future of our country, and I am very impressed by the Simmons School’s creative approach in training future teachers.”
Williams, a Mustang by marriage to neurosurgeon Phil Williams ’59 and a former elementary school teacher, jumped at the chance to connect with the Simmons School, where her interests in education and science merge. “It’s amazing to see how far the school has come in such a short time, not just the strides they have made in education programs, but also in the areas of human development,” she says. “You have to talk to the faculty and students, visit the classrooms and really experience it all for yourself before you really understand the impact Simmons has.”
For more information about the Simmons School’s “Welcome Back” reception and open house for SMU alumni, contact Patti Addington, director of development, paddington@smu.edu or 214-768-4844.
As an SMU junior, Daniel Poku enlisted friends Paul Curry, Marc Feldman, Tyler Hayes, Stephen Nelson, Tyler Scott and Kyle Spencer to start CauseCakes, a cupcake business with a philanthropic twist. They raised funds through a social media blitz, earned their University degrees in 2014 and are “unwrapping the movement” September 5. An important aspect of the movement is the sharing of photos and other expressions of the CauseCakes experience via social media.
Inspired by fortune cookies, Poku came up with the idea to print suggestions of random acts of kindness – for example, “Pay the bill of the person behind you the next time you’re in Starbucks” – on cupcake wrappers. CauseCakes are now sold at The Original Cupcakery in Dallas’s Uptown neighborhood.
CauseCakes is active on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram (@CauseCakesTeam), and customers are encouraged to share their CauseCakes experiences on social media. More information also is available online at www.UnwrapTheMovement.com. SMU Magazine writer Leah Johnson ’15, who is majoring in journalism at Meadows School of the Arts, has covered the CauseCakes story from its beginning as a reporter for The Daily Campus, SMU’s student newspaper, and other media. Here, she catches up with the young alumni as they take their idea to the public: Are all the members of the CauseCakes team still participating? POKU: Except for Stephen Nelson, all members are participating in the same roles. There is one addition, Lauren Packer, who handles advertising. What is new? New websites? New strategies? New flavors ? New wrappers? EVERYTHING IS NEW! We have been working hard to develop a better looking and functioning website; that has been our biggest challenge. We also have rebranded and developed our wrappers to embrace Dallas, so you will see the city skyline now decorating our wrappers. How does your collaboration with The Original Cupcakery work? We negotiated a partnership with the bakery that gives us a portion of cupcake sales. We plan to reinvest in CauseCakes initially.We hope to quickly get to a point where we can begin to partner with charities and/or perhaps use the profit to fund acts of kindness that the CauseCakes team wants to pursue. What did you learn from the process of starting CauseCakes? When you have a crazy or innovative idea that you think might have promise, run with it and see it through to the end. Every roadblock or challenge, though frustrating, could not stop us because we had this very powerful resolve: We have nothing to lose, only something to offer. I think there were times when we had to evaluate whether or not CauseCakes was worth our time as it pushed up against other demands. It was beautiful to see us come to the conclusion that the opportunity to create something that can spur someone to do something incredible for another person is priceless. We also learned a great deal about social media and leading and following one another. Switching gears, let’s talk about your time at SMU. What organizations were you involved in? At SMU, most of us found each other through Mustang Heroes, the community service organization. A few of us were involved in Greek life. How did you balance academics and extracurricular activities with trying to start CauseCakes? It was incredibly difficult to balance all of life and school’s demands to launch something like CauseCakes. It was time-consuming to do the research regarding the cupcake wrappers and the feasibility of putting messages inside the wrappers. Raising funds was an incredibly strategic and time-consuming activity. Much of our time was devoted to hundreds of meetings that we tried to fit into our busy schedules; sometimes these meetings were physical meetings, but they were often virtual, especially during breaks at Thanksgiving and Christmas. How has SMU helped all of you get to where you are in life? And with CauseCakes? SMU allowed each of us to be introduced to someone with a different life background and academic background. We were able to partner and use our synergies in business, advertising/marketing, design, vision sharing and grassroots organizing to create something like this. Without being able to learn from one another and shape each others’ ideas, a concept like CauseCakes might never have come about in the form it is now. What are some of your favorite memories at SMU? CURRY: To be completely honest, one of my favorite memories of SMU was CauseCakes. We all put so much time and dedication into something over the years, something that we believed in. It was rewarding. The culture of SMU had a big part to play in it, seeing professors and other students accomplish so much really made us realize that we could, too. As for classes, anything that I had with Dev Gupta. He teaches all of the creative portfolio classes in advertising and does it in a way that really focuses on making cool stuff and learning along the way. Needless to say, that was the way we approached CauseCakes and how I try to approach everything.
SCOTT: Attending the George W. Bush Center dedication with all five living presidents in attendance will always be one of the most special memories of my entire life. Susan Holland of the SMU Sport Management Program (APSM) was by far my favorite professor.
HAYES: I would have to say my favorite class at SMU was Project Management with Karin Quiñones. Joan Arbery taught first-year Rhetoric II and that class helped develop and change my way of thinking.
POKU: My favorite class was Organizations and Their Environment with Professor Matthew Keller. This class armed me with valuable frameworks I use to critically analyze organizations and groups I work each day, including my team.
FELDMAN: I really enjoyed Mustang Corral both as an incoming freshman and later as a leader. I also enjoyed watching the men’s basketball team climb their way into the Associated Press Top 25. That 3-point shot Nic Moore hit in the last seconds to beat the California Bears in the National Invitation Tournament was one of the happiest moments in my life!
SPENCER: My favorite memory at SMU had to be my sophomore year when I went to Altus, Arkansas, with Alternative Breaks. My experience in Arkansas was life-changing as I realized that I wanted to devote my life to helping others. Also, this trip was the beginning of my friendship with Daniel Poku as we spent time discussing how we can better help the people of Dallas. Soon afterward, the idea of CauseCakes came about, and the rest is history. There are classes that I enjoyed and learned more from than others due to the incredible gift for teaching that the professor had. Among them were Ellen Allen, Thomas Osang, Patricia Kriska, Pamela Van Dyke, Karin D. Quiñones, William Nanry and the late Robert Van Kemper, just to name a few. What advice would you give to other SMU students/ young professionals wanting to start their own business? POKU:Figure out what it is you want to offer to someone, whether that is a service or a product. Starting a business is something that always has a level of risk, but the entrepreneurs who push and put the effort to start it are the ones who truly believe they have something important to offer. Last words? Come buy cupcakes! We promise they’re good.
Geoarchaeologist Fekri Hassan ’71, ’73, whose research brings an archaeological perspective to the contemporary challenges of global climate change and food security, has been named the 2014 Wendorf Distinguished Scholar by the Department of Anthropology in SMU’s Dedman College. SMU alumnus Fekri Hassan ’71, ’73 is a renowned expert on the origins of Egyptian civilization and brings an archaeological perspective to contemporary issues related to climate change, water access and food security.
Professor Ron Wetherington says that Hassan was the unanimous choice as this year’s speaker in the prestigious series named for Fred Wendorf, Professor Emeritus and Henderson-Morrison Chair in Anthropology. Wendorf and Wetherington co-founded SMU’s Department of Anthropology in 1964, and the lecture will launch the department’s Golden Jubilee. The series or programs celebrating the 50th anniversary of the introduction of anthropology to the University’s curriculum will continue through summer 2015.
“This is a special year, and we wanted a graduate of the program who has international name recognition and is still active in the field,” Wetherington explains. “Fekri was one of Professor Wendorf’s first graduate students and participated in his Nile Valley project. His credentials since then have been very impressive.”
Hassan, an expert on cultural heritage management and the origins of Egyptian civilization, will travel from Egypt for the honor. He will speak on different aspects of his scholarship at three programs this week:
Thursday, September 4 at noon
On “Think,” KERA Radio’s in-depth interview show, Hassan will talk about how the need for water has shaped civilizations throughout history.
Friday, September 5 at 5 p.m., Dedman Life Sciences Building Room 131
This lecture targeted at students, faculty and other members of the SMU community will include a brief question-and-answer session.
Saturday, September 6, at 5:30 p.m., the Martha Proctor Mack Ballroom in Umphrey Lee
“Living on Edge: Origins and Spread of Food Production in the Near East and North Africa” will be the topic of the Wendorf Lecture. The Golden Jubilee event is free and open to the public. Business attire is recommended.
In an email to Wetherington, Hassan called the honor “a wonderful surprise” and reflected on the “profound” impact of his time at SMU:
I cherish those formative years when you all contributed to opening up the magic box of anthropology with all its dazzling colors, hues, and temptations in front of my eyes. It was a life-changing experience, not just on a professional level, but on a profound human level, and I am indebted to you and those who showed a special caring for me during these early days.”
>See the Golden Jubilee schedule of events
Hassan earned an M.A. (1971) and Ph.D. (1973) in anthropology from SMU. He also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt.
Now the director of the Cultural Heritage Management Program, French University, Cairo, Hassan is also Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College, London. In addition, he is president of Heritage Egypt, honorary president of the Egyptian Cultural Heritage Organization and a former adviser to Egypt’s Ministry of Culture.
A widely published author, he is a contributing editor for The Review of Archeology, a former editor of The African Archaeological Review and serves on a host of journal editorial boards.
Hassan’s research brings the future into focus by examining the past. In one of his most well-known works, Droughts, Food and Culture (Springer Science+Business Media, 2002; reprinted, 2013), for which he was editor and a contributor, more than 10,000 years of African history provide a framework for “interpreting cultural change and assessing long-term response to current climatic fluctuations.
“Recent droughts in Africa and elsewhere in the world, from China to Peru, have serious implications for food security and grave consequences for local and international politics. The issues do not just concern the plight of African peoples, but also our global ecological future,” he writes. “This work aims to bring archaeology within the domain of contemporary human affairs and to forge a new methodology for coping with environmental problems from an archaeological perspective.”
More information about the Wendorf Lecture Series and the Golden Jubilee is available on the Department of Anthropology’s website.
The Elevator Project, a collaboration initiated by the AT&T Performing Arts Center (ATTPAC) to bring local productions to the smaller performance spaces of the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, has been called a game changer for Dallas-area arts groups. Upstart Productions, a company with several SMU alumni ties, will launch the six-play series with its staging of “Year of the Rooster” August 22-September 6. David Denson ’07, artistic director of Upstart Productions
For David Denson ’07, Upstart’s artistic director, using the Wyly’s black box theater has a déjà vu feel. During his three years as a student in the M.F.A. program at SMU, Denson directed student productions at Meadows School of the Arts, including in the Margo Jones Theatre, a black box in which the stage and seating can be arranged in multiple configurations.
“The black box allows us to manipulate the space in more creative ways, and the actors to have a more direct and intimate relationship with the audiences,” says Denson, who also is a programmer at ATTPAC.
Under the leadership of Denson and fellow SMU alumni David Miller ’00, president of the board, and Aaron Page ’10, head of the marketing committee, Upstart Productions has spent the last year becoming reacquainted with audiences following a dormant period. It will be the first company to produce “Year of the Rooster,” a play about cockfighting by Eric Dufault, since its New York premiere in fall 2013. Writing in The New York Times, critic Neil Genzlinger called the play “astonishingly entertaining.”
Denson describes it as “a classic hero story about a man who overcomes significant obstacles to find success.” The playwright is looking at “aspects of society that are ugly, uncomfortable or unsavory but in a way that we also experience empathy toward people we’re inclined not to be sympathetic toward,” he adds. One of the most intriguing facets of the drama is that no live animals are used; all roosters are played by actors.
Other SMU alumni involved in the production are Korey Kent ’03, producer; Christopher Ham ’05, scenic and lighting design; and Christina Cook ’05, costume design. Joey Folsom (left) portrays prize rooster Odysseus Rex in Upstart Productions’ “Year of the Rooster.”
ATTPAC’s Elevator Project provides a high-profile, state-of-the-art venue for small companies in a city with a dearth of affordable performance spaces. Such scarcity was something unfamiliar to Denson, who moved to New York City after he earned his B.F.A. in performance from East Carolina University. Although he tried acting for a while, he found that directing suited his interests better. And there never was a lack of theaters off- and off-off Broadway.
“People go there from college, and if they don’t get hired right away, they gather their friends and put on a show themselves,” he says. “Many actors are part of founding small companies that last a production or two before they fall apart.”
While in New York, Denson served as artistic director of Yazoo City Productions and The Anomalous Collective, directing productions of Kate Chell’s “The Resurrectionist,” Jeff Hirsch’s “Destination and A Private Conversation,” Foster Soloman’s “The Penny Executive: The Maggie L. Walker Story” and Harold Levitt’s “The Song of the Speechless Whore.”
But after 10 years he felt he had hit a glass ceiling with directing and wanted to expand his repertoire through graduate school. At SMU he studied under Greg Leaming and Stan Wojewodski, Jr., Distinguished Professor and chair of the Division of Theatre. “I lucked out and got two great mentors in the process. I had a lot of one-on-one time with Stan, which meant we were able to break down every aspect of directing the plays and analyze them in a way few people have the opportunity to do.”
At SMU Denson directed several productions, including “The Underpants,” “The Good Person of Szechwan” and “Hamlet.”
After SMU he served as artistic associate and resident dramaturg at the Dallas Theater Center’s 2007-08 season, briefly returned to New York, and then moved back to Dallas. He spent two years promoting the arts in Dallas with the Office of Cultural Affairs where he led the campaign to bring the 2013 Theater Communications Group National Conference to Dallas.
Following Upstart Production’s “Year of the Rooster,” The Elevator Project series will continue through summer 2015 with five plays presented by other local companies. Individual tickets are $20 or subscribe to all six plays for $100. Ticket information is available here. – Susan White ’05
Peruna’s Pals, the official kids club of SMU Athletics, will kick off its 2014-2015 season with a family-focused event Saturday, September 6, at 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum. SMU alumni, as well as all Mustang fans, are invited to bring their youngsters for a fun-filled night at the SMU vs. Oklahoma volleyball match.
Peruna’s Pals is open to children ages 12 and younger. The 2014-2015 membership, which is valid through July 31, 2015, costs $20 per child and $15 for each additional child in the same family.
Current members and those who join at the launch event will receive a free Peruna’s Pals t-shirt, backpack and membership card.
Other members-only benefits include:
Free admission to volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s soccer and women’s basketball regular season games*
Discounted tickets to select football games*
Monthly email newsletter
Birthday card from Peruna
* Tickets subject to availability. Tom Jiede ’94, ’00 and Valerie Chauvin Jiede ’96 with their Peruna’s Pals, Elizabeth and Henry,
SMU alumni Tom Jiede ’94, ’00 and wife Valerie Chauvin Jiede ’96 say their entire family has gained from the Peruna Pal’s experience. The Jiedes are members of the Mustang Club and hold season tickets to football and men’s basketball games and try to make it to some soccer matches. Showing Pony pride with them at every event are their children, Elizabeth Rose, 8, and Henry Joseph, 6, members of Peruna’s Pals.
Elizabeth performs with the Mini Mustangs, the cheer squad of 5- to 10-year-olds coached by the SMU Pom Squad, and was thrilled when she was named the Peruna’s Pal of the Game at a basketball game last season. So far, Henry’s favorite membership perk has been the birthday card from Peruna.
“We thought it would be fun to engage the kids more in SMU activities and support the programs on campus that involve families,” Valerie says. “It has turned out to be a great opportunity to meet other families and young fans while showing our support for SMU student-athletes.” Find out more about Peruna’s Pals and register online
Peruna’s Pals: Young Fans Are All Smiles With SMU’s Favorite Pony
Almost two decades ago, SMU alumnus Will Wallace’s career took a sharp turn from practicing law to making movies. After landing a one-line role in a major motion picture, the attorney was hooked on acting. Today Wallace, a 1989 graduate of SMU, is a Hollywood veteran, with more than 50 films and television programs to his credit. Will Wallace ’89 (left) with actors Glen Powell (center) and Bill Paxton on the set of Red Wing.
His most recent release is the movie Red Wing. He produced and directed the love story adapted from the French novella François le Champi by Georges Sand. Transported to present-day, small-town Texas, Red Wing follows the journey of a troubled boy into manhood. It stars a host of well-known actors, including Luke Perry, Bill Paxton and Frances Fisher. Wallace also has an on-screen role.
“Red Wing is a new take on a love story with a twist to boot,” he says.
While filming near Dallas, he welcomed several Mustang visitors: “My old friend Dave Blewett ’89, stopped by, and Joel Pechauer, an ’88 grad, came to the set. His young daughter, Porter, makes an appearance in the film.” Red Wing has been released by Warner Bros. Digital and is currently available “On Demand” in more than 100 million homes through most major cable and satellite providers, including Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, AT&T Uverse and Verizon. It also can be streamed or downloaded through multiple sources, including Amazon, Google Play, Hulu and iTunes.
Wallace is now working on a new movie with a timely theme, human trafficking. It is also set in Texas.
In addition to his work on films, he is an acting teacher. He and wife Sara, a casting director, operate the Will Wallace Acting Company in Los Angeles. They provide training for actors at all levels in areas such as improvisation and on-camera technique.
“Almost all Red Wing cast members are acting students of mine,” he says. “It is fun to be part of their journey.” Fellow Mustang Dave Blewett ’89 (right) visited Will Wallace ’89 on the Red Wing set.
Surprisingly, Wallace was not interested in acting while a University student. “I really enjoyed math, and here I am an artist,” Wallace jokes.
At SMU, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, his favorite classes were all math-based, including accounting and statistics. He served as president of Alpha Kappa Psi and received a B.B.A. in the Cox School of Business.
He went on to earn a J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law and an LL.M. from the University of the Pacific.
In the late 1990s, while practicing law in Spain, the urge to make a change hit.
“I was in Barcelona, sitting at my office desk, wondering why I was doing something I didn’t enjoy,” he recalls. “I decided to take a job with a firm in Dallas and just take a stab at acting. I was able to convince an agency to represent me, and they were able to get me an audition for a small part in the sequel to Terms of Endearment called The Evening Star. It was only one line, acting opposite Shirley MacLaine, but I got the part and was hooked.”
Fast-forward to the present day, and the father of four young sons boasts an impressive film résumé that includes 25 producing and nine directing credits.
Wallace says his SMU education was “immensely helpful” while carving out a successful career in a competitive industry.
“Having a business background helps with owning an acting school in Hollywood,” he says. “SMU also prepared me for law school and graduate law which, in turn, now proves incredibly helpful for contract work as a film producer and director.”
He offers this advice to SMU students: “It might sound cliché, but follow your heart. I was late in my career when I chose to truly follow my heart.” – By Leah Johnson ’15
AT&T executive Brooks McCorcle ’82 specializes in “breaking glass,” and in the spring, she invited a group from SMU to join her.
“‘Breaking glass’ is looking at new and different ways to do things,” says McCorcle, president of Emerging Business Markets, a startup within AT&T that is responsible for identifying and rapidly launching innovative solutions to drive value and growth in AT&T Business Solutions. Brooks McCorcle ’82
Approximately 30 students and several members of the SMU leadership team and alumni joined McCorcle for a “Hack-a-Pitch” and “Barnstorm”– sobriquets that capture the lightning pace and freewheeling spirit of the brainstorming event.
Emerging Business Markets, co-located at the AT&T Foundry® innovation center, in Plano served as the setting for the collaborative exercise centered on finding new opportunities for the company to work with SMU to improve and enhance the campus experience. The group first broke into small teams to exchange ideas and formulate proposals. They later regrouped for a pitch session.
“We set up a little bit of framework, then let them go after it,” McCorcle explains. “I was really impressed by the students’ creativity and their poise and confidence when they presented their ideas to the group.” >See video of SMU students participating in the Hack-a-Pitch learning experience
As a result, AT&T prepared a proposal of 30 ideas generated from the session that were shared with SMU leadership. They touch on many aspects of student life including the application process, on-campus living and job recruitment.
McCorcle recently followed up with University leaders to discuss possible next steps, including potential app development.
The unbounded intellectual workout that McCorcle facilitated is the type of activity she would have relished as an SMU student. She earned a B.B.A. in the Cox School of Business and explored other interests through minors in economics and women’s studies in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
While she enjoyed “great relationships with many of my professors,” McCorcle says Ann Early stands out in her memory. Early taught for many years and was instrumental in introducing the study of women to the SMU curriculum in the 1960s. She directed SMU’s Women’s Studies Program when McCorcle was a student. Today, the Ann Early Award is given each year to a Women’s and Gender Studies minor in recognition of academic achievement in the minor and service to the program.
“She was not only brilliant, thoughtful and courageous as she forged new ground in academia, but she was an incredibly authentic person,” McCorcle says. “She pushed you to your limits and truly wanted to know and understand your point of view. From her I learned how to articulate your viewpoint as a headline supported by proof points. I still do that today.
“She made a huge impact on me, showing me what the possibilities for women were. I have modeled many of my leadership characteristics on her,” she adds. “I try to be as authentic and inspiring as she was, to welcome a diversity of views, to be an advocate. And, I invite my team to my home. I learned that from her. She invited her students to her home, and it was such a meaningful way to show that she cared about us as people. It really forged a relationship of trust.”
McCorcle honed leadership skills through various roles with student organizations. A member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, she served as Panhellenic rush chair. As a member of the Program Council, she welcomed such luminaries as actor Vincent Price to the Hilltop. She also participated on the student judiciary committee.
For her contributions to the SMU community, she received the “M” Award, the University’s highest commendation for students, faculty, staff and administrators.
McCorcle went on to earn an M.B.A. from the Olin Business School at Washington University.
Over her 24-year tenure with AT&T and its predecessor companies, she has held positions in Mergers & Acquisitions and Finance, and executive positions in Consumer Marketing, Customer Care and Sales.
She has earned numerous professional awards. In 2012, she was listed among the “Top 30 Women in Finance” by Treasury & Risk magazine and was named the “#1 Investor Relations Professional in the Telecom Industry” by Institutional Investor magazine for 2011. The Dallas Business Journal recently honored her in the 2014 “Women in Business” awards program that recognizes outstanding local women business leaders who not only are making a difference in their industries, but also in their communities.
For her work in the community with Friends of the Dallas Public Library and other organizations, she received the President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
While discussing her accomplishments, McCorcle circles back to SMU.
“SMU does a great job of preparing you to succeed out of the gate,” she says. “You leave with the academic foundation and confidence you need to be successful in your first job. And the valuable lessons you take with you and apply immediately are those you will use and refine over the course of your career.” – Patricia Ward
By Mary Guthrie and Victoria Winkelman
SMU Meadows School of the Arts
SMU alumna Wendi Leggitt ’07 serves as the director of DKC Connect, the digital division of DKC, one of the nation’s top 10 independent public relations firms with seven offices coast to coast. As leader of the digital practice, Leggit oversees the development of online strategies and social media campaigns for some of the nation’s most recognizable brands including New Balance, Bazooka Candy Brands and Paradisus Resorts, a subsidiary of Meliá Hotels International. Under her leadership, digital revenue increased by over 128 percent and the division’s client roster has grown to include work with brands such as QVC, Match.com, The Plaza Hotel and filmmaker Ken Burns. DKC’s digital campaigns have been featured in prominent media outlets and trade publications such as Fast Company, PR News, The Holmes Report, ABC News, USA Today and The New York Times.
Earlier this year Leggitt, who earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising at the Temerlin Advertising Institute in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, was recognized by Fast Company as one of the “Most Creative People in Business 1000,” which features an “influential, diverse group” of business leaders behind “ideas that are moving business in new directions today.” In addition, Leggitt was one of 15 people across the country selected as a founding member of the Clinton Foundation’s Millennium Network Leadership Council, established to develop and mentor the next generation of leaders.
Leggitt recently took time out of her busy schedule to talk about her career and the impact of her SMU education. What made you decide to major in advertising?
Growing up, I loved art and everything related to it – creating it, observing it, discovering it – and I pursued painting and other artistic hobbies inside and outside of the classroom. Prior to college, I became more interested in advertising as a visual medium, and as I saw it, advertising was art. The idea of bridging the visual aspects of advertising with creative storytelling through copy, humor, and nuances really appealed to me, so in my search for colleges I paid particular attention to those with attractive advertising programs. That brought me to SMU and Temerlin Advertising Institute – one of the most respected and innovative institutional advertising programs across the country. I remember in one of my first advertising classes, taught by former Professor Bill Ford, we analyzed award-winning television commercials from around the world, and I was entranced. I knew I was in the right place.
A defining moment from my time at SMU was creating taglines for one of my advertising classes. I was approaching a project deadline and felt that I didn’t have the idea that was my “light bulb moment,” so I spent all night writing tags, searching for words on thesaurus.com (which I still find helpful for inspiration), and staring at my computer screen. As an ad student I spent many all-nighters trying to come up with ideas, copy and clever advertising executions, and wouldn’t stop until I felt I had done my best. Although it was grueling, I think it established a good benchmark for my work and the time investment I was willing to make to do my best. Entering the workforce in New York following graduation required a lot of grit, so the “real world” late nights at the office didn’t seem as bad as they may have otherwise.
Were there any professors who made a lasting impact on you? If so, can you describe that for us?
Professors Bill Ford and Bill Galyean had a tremendous impact on me while I was studying at Temerlin. First and foremost, they were encouraging and supportive, and they invested a great deal of time and care into each of their students. I remember feeling special and empowered while taking their classes, but looking back, I’m sure most students felt that way. They also loved the field of advertising and that came through in their classes and teachings, which was inspiring to young dreamers like me. Their wisdom and support extended well beyond class, however, and I think it was through them that I recognized creativity doesn’t have to be limited to one career path or one area of work, but rather it’s the magic and energy behind the creative thinking process where one finds fulfillment, which can apply to anything in life. What were the most important skills you learned at Temerlin that have helped you in your career?
Temerlin helped me develop the ability to think strategically, which shapes approaches to business endeavors and even situations outside of my work-life. The creative thinking exercises practiced in advertising classes provided valuable skills that altered my thought process, allowing me to tap into new ideas and explore the possibilities of paths less traveled for clients. For example, the word association exercises and use of images that represent a target audience or company to define messaging and branding are tools that have been beneficial as part of the creative thinking process. The symbolism in the endless possibilities behind creative thinking is very compelling.
Tenacity was another skill I acquired as a Temerlin student. When you work in a creative field, there are many possibilities for an outcome and you often have less real estate to communicate a message (i.e. a tagline, tweet, online ad, or 30-second video), so it can be challenging coming up with the right approach that sticks. This means you have to try and try again. It also has helped with going out and grabbing opportunities proactively. As a wise fortune cookie once told me, “Great minds must be ready not only to take opportunities, but to make them. DKC Connect manages the social media presences of brands with a wide range of audiences (e.g., Bazooka Candy Brands, The Plaza Hotel). In order to reach these different audiences, how do you learn about them? What methods do you use to find out what they are thinking?
The client is a great starting point. As the brand expert, the client has the best foundational knowledge of the product and the consumer. From there, it’s important to go to the online platforms where the consumer community resides to listen to what they are saying and absorb the nuances that may help refine or improve brand messages and awareness. Often there are unexpected opportunities that come to the surface, like influencers on Twitter who are sharing positive content and messages about a brand with their followers and in turn have become organic social media ambassadors. Online listening tools and social media analytics are also key to assessing what consumers are saying and developing a deeper understanding of their thought process, interests, online interactions and other important factors such as demographics. Social media is a very data-driven medium, and a scientific approach through the use of data, combined with compelling creative to communicate messages, is what translates to success. Regarding marketing message “vehicles” (print, TV, social media, live events, etc.), how important is social media? How big is the social media piece of pie in the marketing mix?
Social media is a very important part of the marketing mix, particularly now that it has become much more integrated with other marketing vehicles such as TV, live events and print advertising, making it all the more impactful in brand communications. The ability to engage directly with a target audience is very powerful, and through social media you are empowering target audiences to be the message vehicles themselves. When you give consumers the “keys,” you are naturally carving out a bigger piece of the marketing plan for social media as a by-product of their engagement. This engagement may vary from brand to brand, but social media is unique in that it can be a stand-alone vehicle, or support other aspects of a marketing plan, making it very important to the bigger picture. What advice can you offer current students about using social media to further campaigns, causes or corporate messages?
Social media is a powerful force in communications that offers an opportunity to deliver a message with more impact. In describing the relevance of social media to traditional media, a Facebook post, tweet or Instagram picture can now bear the same weight of a press release. However, in distributing messages through social media, millions of people can be reached and driven to action instantaneously with one compelling photo, video or short piece of text.
For students thinking about a career in digital communications or social media, it’s important to have a thorough understanding of the online platforms, but it’s also important to have a well-rounded approach. This includes knowing the business of your client, your agency, PR, advertising, media, branding, etc. You’ll need to understand what makes people tick online and offline, how to craft an effective message, and how to optimize a strategy. A broader skill set and know-how will help develop and inform a specialization in one area or another, especially in the realm of digital media.
What top three pieces of advice would you give to current students about preparing for a career in communications, marketing, advertising or public relations?
Be open-minded, be prepared to work (and work hard), and listen to what’s going on around you – at work, in the media, online – because a lot of creative ideas come from observation, and the best creative ideas are those that capture the essence of an intersection of things, which requires thought, patience and persistence. What are some of the campaigns you’ve worked on that you are most proud of, and why?
Some of the best campaign moments have centered on revealing a message, insight or experience behind a brand that may have otherwise been lost or forgotten. It can be difficult to change a perception of a brand in the minds of consumers who have already established a relationship with and opinion of a product or company. For example, we have worked with historical properties that were looking for a “refresh” of their perception to re-energize their identity and attract new audiences, while maintaining the historical roots and authenticity that make them unique. Changing perceptions requires a lot of thought, planning and navigating the existing brand landscape to see what opportunities exist that haven’t yet been explored. It also requires developing a deep understanding of consumers as well as their mindset to figure out what most interests them. The prep work that goes into this research, analysis and conceptualization can be tedious and time-consuming and is often unseen by the client, but when the prep leads to a campaign that transforms a brand perception and promotes new ideas that stick, that is a proud moment. Read the full interview.
Erin Eidenshink ’09 got her first taste of living abroad while conducting research as an SMU undergraduate. Now she calls Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, home. Erin Eidenshink ’09
As an SMU sophomore, Eidenshink received a Richter International Fellowship to spend eight weeks in Cochabamba, Bolivia’s third-largest city, researching gender roles and how they affect economic development programs in that country. Jill DeTemple, assistant professor of religious studies in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, served as her research adviser for the project in 2007.
“Dr. DeTemple taught some of the best, most challenging courses I took while at SMU,” she says.
The project “gave me a deep interest in international development,” she adds. “I knew after completing the Richter Fellowship that I wanted to find a job after graduation that would allow me to live overseas.”
As an SMU senior, Eidenshink applied for the Global Mission Fellows program of the United Methodist Church. Just a few weeks after earning bachelor’s degrees in journalism and German, she learned that she had been assigned to Mongolia’s capital city. During her 16-month assignment there, she taught English and worked with the young adult and children’s ministries.
After completing the assignment, Eidenshink returned to the United States, where she finished the second half of her three-year internship at a nonprofit in Omaha, Nebraska. Shortly afterward, she was back overseas.
“Mongolia is a country of incredible beauty, history and culture,” she says. “When I first moved here, an acquaintance told me that it is a place that gets under your skin and changes you forever.”
That friend was right. Mongolia did change her forever. For it was there that she met Tsogoo Davaadorg, the man she would marry in 2012.
“Before I met my husband, I knew that I wanted to eventually return to Mongolia, but meeting him was a good added incentive,” she says.
The couple just welcomed their first child, a daughter named Enerel Amaya, in March 2014.
Today, Eidenshink teaches first-grade English at a bilingual private school in Mongolia.
Thanks to the internet, SMU is never far away. She stays in touch with some professors through Facebook, and many friends keep up with her through her blog, Once Upon a Time in Real Life.
“I would encourage new SMU grads to stay connected with their department alumni groups and their professors who are a large wealth of information and knowledge,” she says.
She has even traveled back to the Hilltop a few times, once to show the campus to her husband. But when visits are not an option, she still finds ways to stay in the loop.
“My dad frequently travels to Dallas for his work, and he sends me pictures of the new buildings, fountains and other developments that have sprung up since I’ve graduated,” she says. “I may be on the other side of the world, but I still feel very connected to SMU and proud of my alma mater.”
— Sarah Bennett’11
Nima Kapadia ’08, ’10, ’13 put all three of her degrees from SMU to work as a journalism teacher at South Garland High School, earning a 2014 Rising Star Award from the Journalism Education Association. Nima Kapadia ’08, ’10, ’13
The award recognizes teachers with one to five years of journalism teaching and/or advising experience and who demonstrate a commitment to journalism education and show promise as up-and-coming advisers. The award was presented in April at the association’s spring meeting in San Diego.
Kapadia received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degrees in education and educational leadership from SMU. She started teaching at South Garland High in 2009.
One of her former students, Patricia Villacin ’14, nominated her for the award. Villacin graduated summa cum laude from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in May. She was recognized for outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism by the Department of Journalism in Meadows School of the Arts.
“During my first year of teaching high school, Patricia was assigned her first news article on the initiatives the district was taking to make school lunches healthier after state mandates were passed,” Kapadia recalls. “She understood the lengthy editing process I put her through because she has been able to compare the quality of her first draft to the final product.”
As she coaches students in crafting the written word, Kapadia remembers when she was a reporting rookie at SMU. Her first assignment as a journalism major was on “the freshman 15.” She entered the University with a solid background in the field – she had served as editor of the student newspaper at North Garland High School, then at Richland College, where she earned an associate’s degree – but says her SMU professors pushed her talents even further.
“My article was full of red marks when it was returned to me,” she says.
She credits foundational journalism classes with nurturing skills that she now passes on to her students. She pinpoints two courses as particularly relevant: Reporting I with Carolyn Barta and Reporting II with Jayne Suhler.
“My students go beyond just student and teacher voices, but rather, into the community for sources,” she says. “I attribute that to Professor Suhler’s class.”
With other professors, it took a few years for the lessons learned to sink in, she says, recalling the media ethics class taught by Tony Pederson, professor and The Belo Foundation Endowed Distinguished Chair in Journalism in Meadows.
“He probably remembers me as the quiet student who sat in the back of the classroom, but to this day, I still call him with questions about how to approach certain stories for my campus newspaper,” she says.
Rounding out her SMU experience was an internship with the Dallas Business Journal
Now she is fulfilling passions for journalism and teaching that have been alive since her own high school days.
“I would tell my [high school] adviser Scott Russell that one day I was going to attend SMU and return to become a journalism adviser, which is exactly what I did,” she says.
“The University was already a household name to me, because my older sister had graduated from SMU in 1998,” she adds. “You could almost say that I bleed red and blue, because SMU was the only university I applied to after I completed my associate’s degree.”
At South Garland High, Kapadia teaches journalism and acts as the school’s newspaper and yearbook sponsor. She also serves as the University Interscholastic League (UIL) journalism sponsor.
The Rising Star Award reinforces to Kapadia that she is definitely in the right line of work — and she remembers the teachers along the way who helped her realize her goals.
“I still consider my journalism and education professors to be mentors,” she says. “With their help, I feel like have come full circle and am exactly where I want to be.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
SMU alumni Shaun Moore ’10 and Nezare Chafni ’10 were chosen as part of the first six-team class of Boomtown Boulder, a startup accelerator based in Boulder, Colorado. Moore and Chafni will present Chui, their “socially intelligent” doorbell, to potential backers and media from across the country during the Boomtown Demo Day June 27.
Boomtown’s intensive, 12-week program allowed the entrepreneurs to work with mentors such as Alex Bogusky, founder of the Crispin Porter + Bogusky advertising agency, who was named Creative Director of the Decade by Adweek. Moore and Chafni met as students at SMU’s Cox School of Business and are set to begin shipping their smart doorbells in the fall. Chui combines facial recognition technology with machine learning to enable individuals and companies to control access to their homes and businesses. Part security camera and part monitoring device, Chui is wifi-enabled and can be used both outdoors and indoors. Since they launched the company, the alumni have added two fellow Mustangs to their team: Shaun’s brother, Trenton Moore ’12, and Patrick Kobler ’10, who serves as chief outreach officer for Chui. Read more about Shaun Moore and Nezare Chafni here.
Derek Hubbard ’12 did not have to venture far from the Hilltop to launch his dream career. Hubbard serves as the communications and public relations manager for Dallas HD Films, a local production company, and co-executive producer of “Inside Entertainment,” a weekly TV show about pop culture in the Lone Star State. Derek Hubbard ’12
He credits internships, on-campus opportunities and an astute observation from a favorite professor for giving him the skills and motivation he needed to carve out a successful career in a competitive industry.
“I’m grateful that SMU allowed me the platform to explore a lot of different options,” he says.
Hubbard majored in corporate communications and public affairs with a minor in Spanish. That academic route paved the way for a variety of internships with companies such as The Marketing Arm, Southwest Airlines and Tulchan Communications in London.
“With each of the internships, I had a lot of cool experiences and I learned a lot,” he says.
Along the way, he became more focused on a different future. “I always had this dream of transitioning into some form of entertainment; I always knew I wanted to be in that industry,” he remembers.
Hubbard grabbed as many on-campus opportunities as he could to further develop his portfolio, including acting as moderator for the Tate Lecture Series. Among the celebrities he met were Katie Couric and Michael J. Fox.
“It really gave me a platform to learn and to connect with people who were in the industry,” he says.
During his senior year, Hubbard intended to apply to graduate school at Columbia University with an eye toward eventually establishing an entertainment career. He sought the counsel of teacher and mentor Rita Kirk. Kirk is professor of communications studies in Meadows School of the Arts and director of the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility at SMU. After listening to his plan, she made a statement that would change his life.
“With a straight face, she looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘You know what, Derek, you’re aiming too low.’ I was speechless,” he says. “Her words were playing in my head on a loop. A couple months later, it really hit me what she meant.”
Stop talking about your dreams and make them happen.
Hubbard put his graduate school application on hold and concentrated his efforts on networking, sending out queries and pursuing leads in New York and Dallas. Months after submitting his résumé to Dallas HD Films, he finally got a meeting with Hussain Manjee, president of the company.
“It wasn’t even an interview; it was supposed to be an informational meeting,” Hubbard remembers. “At the end of the conversation, he offered me a job.”
Helping to create “Inside Entertainment” has been an exhilarating challenge, he says.
“We realized that there was a void in the Texas market,” he says. “We have all of this talent, we have all of this entertainment locally that we weren’t showcasing, so why couldn’t we do an ‘E! News’ here in Texas?”
“We essentially had 45 days to go from nothing to a fully produced TV show,” he adds.
“Inside Entertainment,” which debuted March 7, airs three times a week on KTXD, a Dallas-based independent TV station. The half-hour program, hosted by Bri Crum and Paul Salfen, offers an inside look at local food, fashion, celebrities and more.
As he talks about the show, Hubbard circles back to the professor who inspired the leap forward in his career.
“I consider her [Rita Kirk] a friend of mine at this point. I know I can go to her with anything,” he says. “I’m not going to stop aiming high, because that’s what my girl Rita would want!” — Sarah Bennett ‘11
SMU faculty send off thousands of students each year after graduation, hopeful that they have prepared them to become creative thinkers and citizens of the world. And professors appreciate being remembered by alumni. So to celebrate the Year of the Faculty in 2014, SMU is inviting alumni to share memories of a beloved or favorite professor. SMU Magazine is sharing some of those recollections. To read more memories – and add your stories – visit the Year of the Faculty site.
While I consider Schubert Ogden my mentor at Perkins School of Theology, when he retired, he suggested that I work with Billy Abrahamas my dissertation adviser. Although I never took any courses from Billy, we spent countless hours in deep discussion, bouncing ideas off each other. One of the things he showed me was that my own position [on theology] was not as solid as I thought it to be. He forced me to consider things I had never even thought of. He possessed an infectious enthusiasm and passion for his work, as well as a fierce dedication to his students. – Allen Pomeroy ’93
We all have teachers in our pasts who made a difference in how we viewed the world. For me there were two: Jeremy Adams, history, and Bonnie Wheeler, English. I accompanied them to Oxford one summer, during which I learned a great deal about medieval history, Arthurian legend, and how to power through lengthy bus rides and castle tours. I wouldn’t trade a moment of the glories we saw and the marvels we experienced. Professors Adams and Wheeler pushed us to study hard and challenged us to think for ourselves. I became a history teacher myself, and I hope I can bring the same enthusiasm and passion to my students. – Polly Granzow Viehman ’83, ’09
Franklin Balch, political science, was smart, entertaining and interested in his students’ intellectual progress and their well-being. Our freshman group seminar met in his home, where his gracious wife made incoming students from widely divergent backgrounds feel at home. Prof. Balch fanned our desire to be intellectually curious and to hone the critical thinking that should be the cornerstone of a liberal arts degree. – R. Bruce Moon ’81
Taking Bill Barnard’s Intro to Primal Religions opened my eyes to cultures that see the world in ways we can’t even imagine … I took every class I could with him, finishing with a minor in religious studies, which I never imagined pursuing. – Bryan Ellett ’02
Paul Boller’s History of American Ideas and Art Etzler in German stand out in my mind. Dr. Boller caused me to look at history with a critical mind. He inspired me to become a history teacher, and I used his notes as the bases for my own lectures. Not only was Dr. Etzler an outstanding professor, he was ever present on campus. From him I learned to appreciate every aspect of my university – the classroom, sporting events, cultural events, even bridge in the student center. – Mary Kay Overbeck Coleman ’59
When I was a first-year law student participating in a mock trial competition, Professor William Bridge patiently coached me and the other members of our team to give us a rudimentary understanding of the rules of evidence. He made the concepts interesting and clear. My practice, which involves criminal appellate litigation, requires familiarity with the rules of evidence, and I am always thankful that I received such a firm foundation from Professor Bridge. – Sarah Page Pritzlaff ’85
Dr. Alessandra Comini folded art history lessons so masterfully into a historical period story that every student could savor as the most spectacular explosion of heart and mind. Never before or since have I witnessed a lecturer captivate an audience so wholly as to elicit a standing ovation at the conclusion of every single session. – Mark Logan ’92
I enjoyed Virginia Currey’s political science classes so much that I took almost everything she taught. During the 1980s, the women’s movement was coming around to mainstream society. She discussed the ways in which women had made a difference in politics and had changed history. Dr. Currey encouraged all students to share their views without fear of intimidation. She taught me confidence. – Cindi Lambert ’85
Kenneth Hamilton ignited my interest in African-American history. His classes formed the foundation that I would use in writing articles on race and ethnicity. That foundation also proved helpful when I returned to graduate school and got my Master’s degree in history at the University of Nevada, Reno. – Geralda Miller ’98
I actually had two favorite faculty members: Dr. John Deschnerand Dr. Albert Outler, Perkins Theology. Both not only talked the talk, but they walked the walk as Christians. They were kind, true gentlemen, brilliant in terms of their subjects, but wholly present in mind and heart to their students. I will never forget the impact they made on my life. – Mary Ann Lee ’67
Dr. Edwin J . Foscue’s geography classes were always fun. We not only discussed the daily assignment but also current events and politics. The discussions were lively and everyone participated. I had enough hours in geography to change my major. – Walter Judge ’41
Bill Fox, who taught humanities, was my adviser, so we became friends. He was a wonderful teacher, both interesting to and interested in all of his students. He helped me navigate my first two years of college, leaving a lasting impression. I will always credit him for instilling in me a love of learning and an appreciation for the humanities. I went on to obtain a Master’s degree from the University of Dallas. – Susan Pollan ’73
One of the most important persons in my life of 82 years now was Professor Samuel Geiser, who was a zoologist at SMU. I now have been a university professor for 50 years at Ohio State, Rice and George Mason. I keep Dr. Geiser’s picture on my desk to remind me what a splendid teacher and scholar looks like. – David Schum, ’56, ’61
Dr. Mary Alice Gordon helped me discover an interest in the psychology of human/group interaction, leading me to a career in organizational development. She encouraged me to challenge myself with graduate courses while an undergraduate. My success at SMU is uniquely and distinctively entwined with her and significantly affected by having her as a mentor and a professor. – Sheryl (Sherry) Black ’80
This Ohio boy was struck by what good teachers he found as an English major and history minor at SMU – Ima Herron, Herbert Gambrell, Larry Perrine, John Lee Brooks and George Bond, who would hand over the creative writing baton to me. Looking back, I am moved by the interest taken in me and the encouragement given me as a student and young faculty member by these committed teachers. It was for this reason I stayed to take a Master’s degree and began to take my writing seriously as something I could do and think of teaching as a vocation. – Marshall Terry ’53, ’54
Jim Hopkins in history is an example of the exemplary dedication of faculty to undergraduate education – one of the many things that attracted us both to SMU. As a history major, one of us (Read) recalls fondly the atmosphere of intellectual engagement and curiosity that Jim fosters in every classroom discussion. But our warmest memories are of Jim and his wife, Patti LaSalle, from Alternative Spring Break in March 1999, when they joined our group of SMU students on a service trip to San Francisco, where we served the city’s homeless. Over meals, Jim regularly led riveting discussions. Alternative Spring Break became an extension of the applied learning laboratory that Jim and others create everyday on the SMU campus. – Read ’00 and Vanessa Rusk Pierce ’01
In summer 1958, I had two sessions of organic chemistry with Harold Jeskey. He was a wonderful man, a great teacher and influenced my life positively in many ways. Around 1975, I was in Dallas and went back to visit him at Fondren Science; he was coming down the hall toward his office. He called me by my full name and remembered everything about my time with him. I feel really blessed to have known him. – Eugene N. Robinson ’60
Dr. G. William Jones ’51, ’56 had a passion for the art of cinema that was obvious from my first class, when he transformed “Citizen Kane” from a movie to a masterpiece of writing, editing, camera angles and sound. I took every class that he taught. My SMU experience with Dr. Jones led me to work in local television for many years. – Mary “Mabs” Bonnick ’76
Dr. Richard Johnson taught me, and so many others, the value of education. His pragmatic approach opened our minds and his humor and genuine concern for his students won our hearts. We all benefited from our time with Dick Johnson. – Carl Sewell ’66
I once told Alice Kendrick, advertising, that I did not like, nor watch, much TV. She said I should think twice about majoring in advertising then. She was always blunt, but right. I became a publicist in New York City, where I lived for 12 years, and now have my own event production business in Los Angeles. – Nichole Wright ’98
I am forever grateful for the impact the late Professor Jeffery Kennington in engineering has had on my career. Not only he was a great teacher, but also one of the finest human beings you will ever meet. Professor Kennington was kind, thoughtful, and inspired his students to be the best they can be. – Bala Shetty ’85
I took six or seven classes from Don Jackson’63 in Cox School of Business. I used to sit in the back of his class and one day he asked me to come see him. He told me “it’s time to get off the back row and engage because you have great potential.” That was a turning point for me. – David Miller, ’72, ’73 (who later provided a lead gift to establish The Don Jackson Center for Financial Studies)
I took Barbara Kincaid’s law and taxation classes in the Cox School, and loved them! I actually took my first class with her at SMU-in-Taos, which was an interesting choice compared to most of the liberal arts and cultural courses offered in this environment. It was a challenging class, and I loved her passion for teaching. She is a role model to all business-minded and career-driven women. – Alexandra Dillard Lucie ’05
Dr. Lonnie Kliever really opened my eyes and mind with his religious studies classes. I was a pre-med student and took some very challenging and difficult classes. Dr. Kliever’s Philosophy of Religion was one of the toughest classes during my college tenure. I’m sure he never knew what a profound impact he had on my life, both then and now. – Joseph Newman ’83
Joe Kobylka in political science made Constitutional Law class so much fun. It cemented my desire to learn more about the law and attend law school after graduation. – Tracy Ware ’95
In Virginia Baker Long’s Office Management and Business Letter Writing classes, she included the importance of table etiquette when dining with upper management executives while being interviewed for a job. Poor table manners could make or break a job offer. All of these lessons have been helpful to me throughout life, in the business world as well as in my personal life. – Cora Sue Wootters Warren ’47
Sheri Kunovich, in her Sociology of Wealth and Consumption course, brought many things to our attention that most of us hardly ever think about. For instance, Americans are willing to work longer hours and spend less time with family just to have enough money to consume more, and buy things we don’t really need. Dr. Kunovich sheds light on how happy we could be if we all lived a little more simply. Her class was my last final before graduation, and in a way it was quite fitting, as I believe this class truly sent me off [well prepared] into the real world. – Gianna Marie Philichi ’13
I graduated 37 years ago and often think of what I learned in the journalism classes of David McHam and Darwin Payne ’68. I would not have succeeded in law school if I had not taken David McHam’s writing class. He taught me that every word has a particular meaning and should be used correctly and carefully. Darwin Payne used his experiences as a journalist to motivate his students to consider the ethical issues involved when covering a story. I remember the stories about his interaction with Abraham Zapruder (known for his home movie documenting the assassination of JFK) and the difficult ethical issues he faced when interviewing him. – Margaret Dawkins ’76
Dr. Ruth Morgan taught a course on the American Presidency. Every class was filled with memorable information. I was amazed at how prophetic she was and that so much of the information I learned is still pertinent. She made us aware of not believing everything we read but to do the research and think for ourselves. Dr. Morgan was professional in every way and I felt that her course was one of the most valuable courses I ever took. – Gerry Brewer Hudnall ’71
Luis Martin was by far the best professor one could ever have. From the first minute of his History of Mexico class he was absurdly engaging. His class made one think about the opportunities that were presented for the simple luck of having been born American. There are few other professors I can even name from my college years. – Linda Olson (Eidsvold) ’86
Jack Myers, creative writing/poetry, was rigorous. I learned enough from a few semesters with him to carry me successfully through an M.A. at Johns Hopkins and Ph.D. at University of Houston. – Leslie Richardson ’88
Dr. Lloyd Pfautsch, choral conducting professor, had wonderful people skills, was great at making a seemingly daunting task simpler, taught us to analyze and break down complex pieces into approachable components, then rehearse properly until the expected result happened every time. His work and caring for each of us in a way that encouraged rather than belittled us was not truly appreciated until years later. – Hal Easter ’77
My mentor and huge influence on my professional life was Dr.Paul Packman – Mechanical Engineering Department chair and my M.S. and Ph.D. adviser. Not only did he teach me all about fracture and fatigue of materials, he also introduced me to the world of litigation consulting and to the world outside of Dallas through food and stories of his travels around the world. – Angela Meyer ’83, ’85, ’87
I came to SMU to obtain my Bilingual/ESL certification in 1987. Dr. William Pulte encouraged me to apply for a scholarship to get a Master’s degree at SMU. What a great opportunity that was! One semester was so hard – I was working full time as a public school teacher and taking nine hours at SMU. He always encouraged me to stay with the program and finish. I received my degree and went on to become a lifelong learner, getting my principal’s certification and Master Reading Teacher Certification. Dr. Pulte has remained a valued mentor throughout the years. – Lisa Dupree ’89
One of the professors at Cox who made an impact on my career was Robert Rasberry. He reminded us that ethics was a critical part of business and encouraged my inquiry into ethical leadership and organizational behavior. I have been designing and delivering corporate training since 1998 and have worked with some of the largest companies in the world. When I stand in front of executives and discuss how the role of a leader is to create an environment where employees can make ethical decisions and behave in a way that promotes good communication and sustains healthy relationships, I try to honor Dr. Rasberry and all he taught me. – Martha Acosta ’96
When I was a Perkins Theology student, we had a project called the “West Dallas Work Project.” Dr. Joerg Rieger always taught that you must do theology with “dirt under your fingernails.” These were not merely words for him. On multiple Saturdays we headed to sites around West Dallas and did our best to make a difference. What a grand opportunity to work side by side with a professor, talk theology, and get our hands dirty together as we worked and lived out our calling! – Brian Minietta ’99
I came to SMU as a junior in 1947 with hundreds of other World War II veterans. The director of both the band and the orchestra was A. Clyde Roller, who also was a WWII vet. I had known Mr. Roller from pre-war days in the Oklahoma Symphony, where he was the first oboe player. We all had tremendous respect for his musicianship and the genuineness of his personality. He left a year after I arrived, and the person who followed him was my high school director from Oklahoma City, Oakley Pittman. Mr. Pittman was a great band director, and we remained friends after graduation. I became the commander and conductor of the U.S. Army Field Band with the rank of full colonel. Mr. Pittman felt that he had played a major role in my success. – Hal Gibson ’50
Dr. Bill Stallcup was a gifted teacher – and also such a kind person. He helped me with private tutoring in genetics and had endless patience with my mistakes! He was respected by faculty and students, and it was a blessing to learn from him. – Carol Hay (Caton) ’71
Without the help of Walter Steele, Herb Kendrick, Larry Lee, Harvey Wingo,Bill Flitte,Joe McKnight and several others in the Law School, this country lawyer might not have been able to practice 44+ years. – William McGowan II ’70
[I remember] the mentorship, leadership, friendship and professional career guidance provided by Dr. Jerrell Stracener’69, ’73, systems engineering program director. Without a doubt, this was the very best educational experience that has had a direct impact on my achieving a variety of career goals. – Keith Castleberry ’05
Marshall Terry’s creative writing classes were inspirational and downright fun! Marsh always encouraged us to find our own voices and to never give up. To this day, some of my best SMU memories are from his class. And one final icing on the cake was that he presented me my diploma at graduation. – Amy Cardin (Patterson) ’81
The professor of whom I have shared the most memories over the years is the great Lon Tinkle in comparative literature. His look recalled that of Mark Twain. He was an author, scholar and reviewer of the highest regard, but it was his spellbinding speaking that made him unforgettable. He would, in his marvelous one-of-a-kind, part Texas, part British accent, take us on 80-minute literary journeys. He would always start from a launching point premised on the book that we were reading, but soon the storytelling would lead onto apparently disconnected yet mesmerizing avenues, only to have him tie it all up a second or two before the bell rang. Had it been in a theatre, he would have received a standing ovation. – Chris Rentzel ’72
I took two or three semesters of Mary Vernon’s art history classes. Not only did I gain a deep appreciation for fine art, I also learned so much about design and color, and how artists hold the viewers’ eyes. This enlightenment fed my career in overseeing the production and design of several vertical market magazines and a newspaper. The insights I gained from Mary Vernon’s courses have permeated and enhanced my life culturally, also. – Suzanna Penn ’75
The late David Weber was a brilliant professor of history, and he had a way that made you want to learn. He wrote many books, and besides his knowledge of the Southwest, he truly loved the Southwest. He was kind, laid back and patient, and such a wonderful mentor to so many. He became my friend for life, and we kept in touch until he passed away. He had a profound impact on my SMU experience, and I will be forever grateful I was his student. – Katie Gordon ’86
After almost four years, I thought I was through, “done and dusted” as they say Down Under, where I live. Then Jerry White [Entrepreneurship, Cox School] challenged me by helping me understand that nothing else matters if there’s not enough cash flow to make payroll. It’s a lesson I still carry with me today as a CEO. I should have known that it was going to be good when in the first class he gave us a Roman history lesson that explained double-entry accounting. It is the only interesting thing about accounting I have ever heard. I almost failed his class, but it was the best education I ever had. – Craig Campbell ’93
I had some great teachers and, regrettably, two have passed away, including Dan Wingren, who was fabulous in his knowledge of art and art history, and Dr. Karl Kilinski, who was tops in his field of Greco-Roman art history. I was lucky to have taken one of his tours to Greece in 1976. Dr. Annemarie Carr was another facet to my education. But I owe a lot to Larry Scholder, who encouraged me to be a printmaker and guided me through the basics of etching. (I am still a printmaker, by the way.) It is very important to give positive as well as negative comments without stomping on a student’s ambitions. – Sandra Douglas ’83
My wife, Kathleen Brooks ’63, and I earned our B.B.A. degrees from SMU, and our favorite professor was Frank A. Young in the Insurance Department. He taught insurance from a scholarly point of view as well as a vocational one. None of us will ever forget Mr. Young’s foolproof grading system, which was designed to require each student to prepare daily and have a comprehensive understanding of the entire course material. Professor Young knew each student by name and kept up with all of us. To this day, 50 years later, the Insurance Department alumni still look forward to receiving our Frank Young Newsletter (via email) with great anticipation and fond memories. – James Verschoyle ’63
Share memories of your favorite SMU faculty members here.
EXCERPT
SMU alumni Mark Hiduke ’09, Wood Brookshire ’05, ’11 and Kimberly Lacher ’05 were featured in the following article about a new generation of entrepreneurs finding success in the Texas oil fields, published by Bloomberg May 20, 2014.
Millennials Spurning Silicon Valley for Dallas Oil Patch
By Isaac Arnsdorf Bloomberg Mark Hiduke ’09
Mark Hiduke just raised $100 million to build his three-week-old company. This 27-year-old isn’t a Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur. He’s a Texas oilman. As oil and gas producers change their focus from grabbing land to drilling, young entrepreneurs are forming companies to trade everything from minerals to leases and wells to equities. They’re competing against, and sometimes collaborating with, industry veterans twice their age.
The oil and gas industry is suddenly brimming with upstart millennials like Hiduke after decades of failing to attract and retain new entrants. Now that a breakthrough in drilling technology has U.S. oil and gas production surging, an aging workforce is welcoming a new generation of wildcatters, landmen, engineers, investors, entrepreneurs and aspiring oil barons.
…
“These guys are going to be the poster children of self-made oil and gas tycoons,” Nathen McEown, a 33-year-old accountant at Whitley Penn LLP in Dallas who organizes networking dinners, said in an e-mail April 1. “Or they could be the poster children of how too much money is chasing deals.” Wood Brookshire ’05, ’11 Kimberly Lacher ’05
Since the generational shift coincides with a technological breakthrough, the younger crop only knows the shale boom and knowledge of conventional drilling might retire with the baby boomers, Kimberly Lacher said by phone May 8. The 38-year-old studied to be a chemical engineer and was reassigned by her employer to petroleum just when the shale boom was starting.
Now she and her 31-year-old business partner, Wood Brookshire, head Vendera Resources, which has invested a total of more than $50 million in about 1,200 wells. The Dallas-based duo turned their first fund of a few hundred thousand dollars between the two of them into $4 million today, Brookshire said.
… Read the full story here.
Approximately 11,000 Mustang alumni have made their marks on the future of SMU with gifts to The Second Century Campaign. That support’s extraordinary impact is apparent across the campus in dedicated faculty, accomplished students and world-class facilities. Taylor Martin ’99
These achievements are points of pride for the alumni community, says Taylor Martin ’99.
“SMU has come so far in the 15 years since I’ve graduated. We’ve really found our direction,” says Martin, who chairs the Class of 1999 Centennial Reunion Committee. “When I run into classmates who haven’t been back in a while, I tell them to visit the campus because they’ll be inspired and impressed by what they see.” This year SMU is working toward a goal of 25 percent participation – that’s 13,000 alumni – by the end of the fiscal year, May 31, 2014.
As a member of the Fort Worth Chapter leadership, Martin has been “spreading some red behind the purple curtain” – and spreading the word about the importance of alumni giving. He notes that the annual alumni giving percentage affects SMU’s national rankings by U.S. News & World Report and others. The ranking agencies use the number as an indicator of alumni satisfaction with the education they received.
“Rankings influence the caliber of students and faculty SMU attracts,” Martin adds. “And, as SMU rises in the rankings, so does the value of our degrees.”
Martin’s ties to his alma mater are rooted in family, friendship and stewardship. During football season, he and wife Lauren Martin, a 2004 SMU graduate, enjoy Boulevarding with his sister and brother-in-law, Liz Armstrong ’82 and Bill Armstrong ’82, who serve on the executive board of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and co-chair the Denver Campaign Steering Committee. Bill also serves on the SMU Board of Trustees. The Armstrongs’ alumni daughters, Lindsey Armstrong ’10 and Leigh Armstrong Young ’11, also join in.
“It’s easy to get involved in the fun things, like Boulevarding,” says Martin, a member of the Fort Worth Campaign Steering Committee. “But something alumni don’t always consider – and we should – is what our annual giving participation means to SMU today and tomorrow.” All gifts of any amount made by alumni before May 31 go toward the annual participation goal including:
Reunion gifts
Mustang Club gifts
Gifts to schools, libraries, scholarships and other areas of the University
Special gifts for etched pavers on the Crain Family Promenade
“My yearly gift is a statement that I believe in SMU’s mission and it’s future,” says Martin, a member of the SMU Hilltop Society, which honors consistent giving.
“We’re so close to meeting the 25 percent goal – one of the final big goals of the campaign. Making a gift today is an easy way for every Mustang to make a huge difference.” To make a gift, visit smu.edu/horsepower or mail to SMU Office of Development, P.O. Box 750402, Dallas, Texas 75275-0402.
Methodist Health System Foundation has named Bobby B. Lyle ’67 the 2014 Robert S. Folsom Leadership Award recipient. Established in 2005, the award recognizes individuals whose demonstrated excellence in community leadership emulate the achievements of former Dallas Mayor Robert S. Folsom for whom the award is named. Bobby B. Lyle ’67
In the award announcement, Lyle was praised as “an innovative engineer, educator, corporate executive, entrepreneur, civil leader and philanthropist.”
“Bobby’s leadership and entrepreneurial approach have had a far-reaching and real impact on the Dallas community,” says April Box Chamberlain, Methodist Health System Foundation President and CEO. “He embodies the Folsom Leadership Award, and we are honored to celebrate his achievements.
Past Folsom Leadership Award recipients include SMU alumni Nancy Ann Hunt ’65 (2006), Laura Welch Bush ’68 (2008), Trevor Rees-Jones ’78 (2011) and Michael M. Boone ’64, ’67 (2012), who also serves on the SMU Board of Trustees. The Rev. W. Mark Craig , also an SMU trustee, received the award in 2013.
The award will be presented at a dinner on September 25 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Hilton Anatole Hotel’s Grand Ballroom.
Lyle’s multifaceted career has spanned more than four decades. He has served on the boards of more than 20 private and public companies — many that he helped create — in industries as diverse as oil and gas, banking, ranching, computer software service, real estate, manufacturing, restaurant and green energy.
He received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Louisiana Tech University and a master’s degree in engineering administration from SMU. He served as dean ad interim of SMU at age 30 and subsequently as executive dean of the SMU Cox School of Business before completing his doctorate in education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. After graduation, he returned to Dallas to enter the oil and gas industry. He served in leadership roles in the development of notable oil and gas fields, such as the Bakken Shale; real estate projects, such as the Dallas Galleria; and business startups, including InterFirst Bank-Galleria.
Throughout his career, Lyle’s passion for his alma mater has remained constant. As a member of the SMU Board of Trustees for more than 26 years, he has served as chair or vice chair of numerous University standing committees and boards, including the Audit Committee, the Cox Associate Board, the Maguire Energy Institute and the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. He is past president of the SMU Alumni Association and has been vice chair of the executive boards of both the Cox School of Business and the Lyle School of Engineering, which was named in his honor in 2008. He has received the SMU Distinguished Alumni Award, been recognized as Alumni Volunteer of the Year, and twice has been named Outstanding Trustee of the Year by the SMU Student Association. He was inducted into the School of Engineering Hall of Leaders in 2006 and given the coveted Mustang Award in 2012.
Lyle’s commitment to education is matched by his unwavering dedication to community service. He is vice chair of the Salvation Army National Advisory Board and a member of its DFW Metroplex Command Advisory Board. He is past president of Circle Ten Council-Boy Scouts of America and currently a trustee of the Council’s Foundation and chair of its $90 million Centennial Campaign. He is vice chair of The Trinity Trust Foundation, trustee of Communities Foundation of Texas, trustee of the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation and past director of the Volunteer Center of North Texas.
Lyle has served as president of the Dallas Assembly, president of the Center for Nonprofit Management and trustee for the Retina Foundation. He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas, Volunteer Center of North Texas. and Dallas Historical Society. He has been inducted into the Dallas Business Hall of Fame.
He is the father of two children: Sharon lives in Dallas with her husband, Mark Mutschink, and Christopher resides in California with his wife, Lyndsay, and their two daughters, Emerson and Hannah.
Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Methodist Charlton Medical Center, Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, Methodist Richardson Medical Center and Methodist Family Health Centers are part of the nonprofit Methodist Health System, which is affiliated by covenant with the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church.
SMU alumna Gavanne Davis has big hair, a big attitude and a big dream. The 5-foot-1 force of nature has created a successful career that combines her chemistry expertise and love of the beauty industry. Gavanne Davis ’12
“SMU gave me confidence to follow my dreams,” says Davis, who earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2012. “At SMU I learned to network, take advantage of opportunities, research and be independent.”
The New Orleans native now makes her home in Placentia, California, a city she identifies as “the capital of cosmetology.” A promotion, a passion for the cosmetics scene and, “of course, the weather” led her to Orange County-based Coast Southwest. The chemical distribution company supplies manufacturers in the personal care and household products industries. She describes Coast Southwest as “a huge grocery store” that sells ingredients to make items ranging from facial creams to automotive lubricants.
Davis calls herself a “cosmetic chemist” but her official title is technical sales representative. When she started with the company, she was strictly in the lab. Now she has transitioned to building relationships with clients.
“I deal with increasing and maintaining sales, document control and product development,” she explains.
But, Davis is not stopping there. She is laying the foundation for her own beauty line, Vann Cosmetics. While working on product development, she also is building a following through a website – vanncosmetics.com – and a social media network that includes Twitter and Instagram. In addition to offering tips and product reviews, she uses her chemistry background to explain the science behind some ingredients commonly found in cosmetics.
According to the entrepreneur, her mission with Vann Cosmetics is to change the way people view female beauty, particularly in regard to minority women, along lines similar to Dove’s successful “Real Beauty” campaign.
“I want my brand to represent individualism,” she says.
Her focus on hair care started as she gained interest in her own natural hair. In a posting on her website, she encourages women to be proud of natural assets such as curly hair. “Being different is a beautiful thing!” she writes. “When we place ourselves in this box of how we should look, or act, or dress, we are critically diluting the uniqueness we possess that causes us to shine so brightly,” she writes.
Davis knew early on that she wanted to make a big impact with her career and has found a way through cosmetic science. The most rewarding part of her venture so far has been in helping women build confidence, she says. When she faces challenges, Davis remembers she “is doing this for so many other women.”
And that big attitude for that big dream pushes her to keep going. – Leah Johnson ’15
Harlan and Katherine Raymond Crow ’94 of Dallas are the newest donors who are supporting SMU’s new Residential Commons complex, which was dedicated May 9. Their $5 million gift is funding the Kathy Crow Commons. Harlan and Kathy Crow ’94
They join five other donor families who are providing $5 million each to support the complex, comprised of five residence halls, a dining commons and a parking center. Designed to accommodate 1,250 students, the complex will enable all first-year students and sophomores to live on campus.
Opening in fall 2014, SMU’s new Residential Commons model of campus living includes 11 Commons created from new and existing residence halls. It will provide an integrated academic and residential student experience, with live-in faculty members who will have offices and teach classes in the Commons.
“Harlan and I have been highly impressed by the leadership of Gerald Turner and others at SMU, and the positive momentum and aspirations of the University are infectious,” says Kathy Crow. “Those factors, plus SMU’s decision to aim for $1 billion and my great pride in being an SMU Cox School alumna, inspired us to want to contribute to SMU’s goals in a meaningful and impactful way.”
Dallas civic leader Kathy Crow earned her M.B.A. from Cox School of Business. In addition to serving on the SMU Board of Trustees, she is a member of the executive boards of the Cox School of Business and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. She also has served in the Women’s Economics and Finance Series at Cox. Harlan Crow earned his B.B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin and soon afterward joined The Trammell Crow Company. He has worked with Crow-affiliated entities for nearly 40 years and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Crow Family Holdings. He is a member of several boards of directors, including the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Monticello Foundation Board.
The Residential Commons and their namesake donors are: Armstrong Commons. Liz Martin Armstrong ’82 and Bill Armstrong ’82. They founded Armstrong Oil and Gas, Inc., based in Denver, Colorado, conducting business throughout the United States, and they established Epoch Estate Wines in Paso Robles, California. Bill Armstrong is a member of the SMU Board of Trustees, and Liz Armstrong serves on several SMU leadership boards. Crum Commons. Sylvie Crum and Gary Crum ’69. Before his retirement from private industry, Gary Crum was co-founder of AIM Management Group and served as director of AMVESCAP PLC. Both are the chief executive officers of the CFP Foundation, a Houston-based charitable organization. Gary Crum is an SMU trustee. Loyd Commons. Penny Loyd and Paul Loyd Jr. ’68. Paul Loyd is founder and principal of a private investment firm in Houston and is past chairman and CEO of R&B Falcon Corporation, the founder of Carrizo Oil and Gas Corporation and co-founder of JVL Advisors. Penny and Paul Loyd together head The Loyd Charitable Foundation. Paul Loyd is an SMU trustee. Ware Commons. Richard Ware ’68 and family, daughter Anne Clayton and triplet sons Patrick, William and Benjamin. Mr. Ware continued a family tradition by making his career in the banking industry. He is president of Amarillo National Bank, which has remained family owned and operated for five generations. He is the longest-serving non-Dallas member of the SMU Board of Trustees.
In addition to these alumni donors, Anita Ray and Truman Arnold, longtime philanthropists supporting education, are providing funds for the Arnold DiningCommons, open to all students on campus. He is founder and chair of the board of Truman Arnold Companies, one of the nation’s largest privately owned petroleum marketing firms. Both are co-partners in a family private equity firm, TA Capital, and also serve as trustees of the Truman and Anita Arnold Foundation.
To learn more about these donors and the Residential Commons complex through video interviews, visit smu.edu/residentialcommons. Kathy Crow Commons Harlan and Katherine Raymond Crow ’94 Armstrong Commons Liz Martin Armstrong ’82 and Bill Armstrong ’82 Crum Commons Sylvie Crum and Gary Crum ’69 Loyd Commons Penny Loyd and Paul Loyd, Jr. ’68 Ware Commons Richard Ware ’68 and Family Arnold Dining Commons Anita Ray Arnold and Truman Arnold
President R. Gerald TurnerAs a former high school math teacher, I know that numbers can be misleading.
Case in point: When we report that SMU’s Second Century Campaign is attracting numerous gifts in the neighborhood of $1 million, and has thus far raised $874 million, it’s difficult for some to feel that there is room for them in the University’s community of givers. They might assume that only large gifts are needed and appreciated. But that would be a wrong conclusion.
That’s because there is another number that is vitally important to the success of the campaign – 25 percent. That’s the percentage of alumni we need to become donors each and every year, no matter what the size of their gifts. Those gifts make a difference in their own right and often inspire others to make the major commitments that we often hear about. After all, the percentage of alumni giving reflects the level of graduates’ satisfaction with the education they received, a factor that some foundations and individual donors consider in making future gifts.
There is another number that is vitally important to the success of the campaign – 25 percent. That’s the percentage of alumni we need to become donors each and every year.
In the past few years, SMU has reached a little over 24 percent in alumni giving annually, but we’ve not been able to achieve 25 percent. Instead, we should be in the company of institutions like Duke, with 36 percent; Brown with 38 and Notre Dame with 41. These numbers also count when national ranking organizations evaluate institutional quality. Soon, we will add up the number of alumni donors during the fiscal year ending May 31, 2014. Then, on June 1, 2014, we will start the count again, from zero, aiming for 25 percent. And when we arrive at May 31, 2015, we hope to have broken the barrier, not only reaching, but also exceeding, 25 percent, setting a tradition of alumni giving each and every year thereafter.
Help us do the math and come up with the right answer for SMU. R. Gerald Turner President
A $2.5 million gift from Carolyn and David Miller will help fund a $4 million new campus center at SMU-in-Taos in New Mexico. Carolyn and David Miller ’72
The center will be a valuable addition to the 423-acre SMU-in-Taos campus, which includes the 19th-century Fort Burgwin and the 13th-century Pot Creek Pueblo archaeological site. Courses are designed to take advantage of the area’s environment and mix of cultures. Students earn course credit during three summer terms and, new this year, a January term, at SMU-in-Taos. Participation in summer terms has increased more than 40 percent in the last three years.
The Carolyn and David Miller Campus Center will include academic spaces, a media room and a gathering area for groups as large as 100. The great hall will have outdoor views on three sides and a fireplace for chilly mountain evenings. Outdoor spaces include a deck that surrounds the building, a plaza that connects the center to other buildings and an entry terrace with seating for events. A groundbreaking is scheduled for July with completion scheduled for May 2015.
>Read more about the Carolyn and David Miller Campus Center at SMU-in-Taos
“The campus center will add another facet to the ‘classroom without walls’ experience at SMU-in-Taos,” said Mike Adler, director of SMU-in-Taos and associate professor of anthropology. “The Millers’ gift is a tremendous step toward the $4 million cost of the building. We look forward to the support of other generous donors.”
David and Carolyn Millers’ gift to SMU-in-Taos is the most recent example of their generous support of SMU. Their 2011 gift created the 39,245-square-foot Miller Event Center expansion to Moody Coliseum. The Miller Event Center features a furnished entertainment area and premium guest suites with courtside views. The new Carolyn and David Miller Campus Center at SMU-in-Taos, shown in this conceptual rendering, will include academic spaces, a media room and a gathering place for groups as large as 100.
David Miller fulfilled his dream of attending college and playing basketball at SMU after being awarded an athletic scholarship. He earned B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from SMU, where, as an undergraduate, he was a three-year starter and letterman on the varsity basketball team and a member of the 1971-1972 Southwest Conference Co-Championship team.
Mr. Miller went on to co-found EnCap Investments L.P., a leading private equity firm based in Houston and Dallas, where he serves as a Managing Partner. He also serves as president of The David B. Miller Family Foundation, with Mrs. Miller serving as vice president
Through the foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Miller have supported the Edwin L. Cox School of Business, SMU Athletics, SMU-in-Taos and scholarships for students in several different areas of study. In 2012, Mr. and Mrs. Miller received the Mustang Award in recognition of their extraordinary philanthropic support of SMU.
In addition to their financial contributions, Mr. Miller serves as an SMU trustee and as a member of the Executive Board for the Edwin L. Cox School of Business, and Mrs. Miller serves as a member of the Executive Board for SMU-in-Taos. Mr. Miller has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from both SMU and the Edwin L. Cox School of Business, recognizing his professional success and leadership.
The Millers’ gift supports a new master plan for SMU-in-Taos. SMU began acquiring the New Mexico property in l964 and added facilities to offer summer classes in 1973. In addition to SMU students, SMU-in-Taos hosts the annual Taos Cultural Institute, which attracts nearly 150 adults for a summer weekend of informal courses taught by SMU faculty and other experts. The 28-building campus also hosts youth groups, conferences and retreats year-round. Other special events offered at the site include lectures, concerts and art exhibitions, all open to the public.
To learn more, contact Pam Conlin, assistant vice president of University Development, at 214-768-3738 or pconlin@smu.edu.
Faculty gathered for a group portrait in Moody Coliseum. See the photo with individual identifications here.
Founders’ Day Weekend, April 10-13, highlighted the Year of the Faculty, celebrating the centennial of the recruitment of SMU’s first professors.
President R. Gerald Turner honored SMU faculty during a reception April 11 at the Miller Event Center in Moody Coliseum. Preceding the reception, a group photo was taken of full-time and emeriti faculty who assembled in Moody Coliseum. In his president’s briefing, Turner highlighted the University’s accomplishments and provided a look ahead for the coming year.
Board of Trustees Chair Caren Prothro said that “one of the great benefits and rewards of service on the board is getting to know the faculty. Also, it is my pleasure to express the Board’s sincerest respect and greatest appreciation for all that the SMU faculty have done over the past century – to support students, to develop new knowledge through research, to shape community and national issues due to your expertise and to lead the development of SMU as a highly respected institution today in U.S. higher education.” Golden Mustangs, alumni from classes of 1963 or earlier, participated in a reunion and luncheon and toured the Sorolla exhibit at the Meadows Museum on Thursday.
This year Founders’ Day Weekend added a new performance program on Friday, Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU. The program featured stories and demonstrations from 16 SMU faculty, staff, alumni and student speakers on topics ranging from NSA surveillance to SMU’s civil rights pilgrimage program to a whimsical demonstration using giant origami.
Founders’ Day Weekend expanded its annual Community Day activities this year, including family events at the George W. Bush Presidential Center as well as at the Meadows Museum. Tom and Susan Downs Armstrong ’59 reminisced while leafing through old Rotunda yearbooks at the Golden Mustangs reunion April 10. At the President’s Briefing, SMU Board of Trustees Chair Caren Prothro honored the faculty with a proclamation held by Student Body President Ramon Trespalacios (left) and accepted by Faculty Senate President Santanu Roy. President R. Gerald Turner highlighted a year of SMU achievements at a briefing. Parent Leadership Council Chair Jim Landon ’82 spoke to the group at the Miller Event Center during Founders’ Day Weekend. Fred Wendorf, professor emeritus and Henderson-Morrison Chair in Anthropology, and wife Christy Bednar attended the reception for faculty at the Miller Event Center in Moody Coliseum. Families enjoyed snacks and hands-on activities at the Bush Presidential Library and the Meadows Museum during Community Day April 12. Children explored painting with watercolors at the Meadows Museum during Community Day. Families enjoyed the bluebonnets at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum’s Native Texas Park.
Ray L. ’65 and Nancy Ann Hunter Hunt’65 have committed $5 million for a new legal center at SMU’s Dedman School of Law that will provide services for the victims of domestic violence, sex trafficking and other crimes against women. The Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women is named in honor of Mrs. Hunt’s father. The late Judge Hunter was a distinguished Missouri state and federal judge. Ray L. Hunt ’65 and Nancy Ann Hunter Hunt ’65
“Ray and Nancy Ann have recognized the great need for free legal assistance to some of our community’s most vulnerable members,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “As is typical of the Hunts, they have acted with generosity and insight to fill a need and also expand educational opportunities for law students to make a difference in this important area.”
>See a video of the gift announcement
Under the supervision of faculty, Dedman Law students working in the Hunter Legal Center will provide legal services such as protective orders; divorce, custody and child support agreements; as well as assistance with credit and housing issues.
“We are honored to name this Legal Center after my father, whose main interest as a judge was the well-being of individuals through fair treatment and protection under the law,” said Nancy Ann Hunt. “Law students participating in the program will gain a deeper understanding of the victims of exploitation, trafficking and abuse and what they need for their lives to be restored. Through the availability of free legal services, we hope these victims will feel empowered to obtain help.”
Estimates are that each year in the United States more than 1.3 million women are victims of domestic violence and more than 300,000 individuals, including children, are trafficked in the sex industry.
The Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women will expand the Law School’s programs providing free or low-cost legal assistance. Existing programs include the W.W. Caruth Child Advocacy Clinic and clinics in civil law, criminal justice clinic, federal taxpayer representation, small business issues and consumer advocacy. Dedman Law was one of the first in the country to provide such community services, beginning in 1947, and among the first law schools to implement a public service requirement for graduation.
“The Center underscores our commitment to equip law students not only to practice law, but also to become community leaders well-informed about societal issues,” said Julie Forrester, interim dean of the Dedman School of Law.
The Hunts’ gift is the most recent example of their generous support of SMU. Among their many contributions is the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program, which supports students who were leaders in their high schools and communities and have an ongoing commitment to service. Other gifts have supported academic programs, athletics and campus enhancements. About Judge Elmo B. Hunter
Judge Hunter was a distinguished judicial leader and public servant, who served as a judge in Missouri for 38 years. Receiving all of his degrees at the top of his class, he graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia at 16 and then earned an LL.B from the University of Missouri Law School and an LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School.
After serving in U.S. Army Intelligence through World War II, he returned to Kansas City and worked for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He later became a founding partner of what is today Shook, Hardy and Bacon, then served 14 years as a state district judge and later as presiding judge for the Missouri Court of Appeals. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Lyndon B. Johnson, becoming the youngest federal judge in the U.S. He subsequently sat by special appointment on numerous District Courts and Court of Appeals panels in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. He was appointed by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger to the Judicial Conference of the U.S.
Judge Hunter was the only member of the American Judicature Society to serve both as its chair and president. In 1991 the Elmo B. Hunter Citizens’ Center for Judicial Selection was formed to further the Society’s historic interest in judicial selection issues. His service was recognized with honors from both educational institutions and law organizations. About Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt
Nancy Ann Hunt ’65 taught in elementary school before focusing more fully on community service. She has received numerous awards, including the Boy Scouts of America’s Silver Beaver Award, Robert S. Folsom Leadership Award of the Methodist Health System Foundation, Women’s Center of Dallas Maura Award and Genesis Women’s Shelter Jane Doe Award. She is chair-elect of the board of New Friends New Life, which helps victims escape the sex industry and build new lives for themselves and their children. She serves on the executive board of SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
Ray L. Hunt ’65 is chairman, president and CEO of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. His service to SMU has been multifaceted. He chaired the Board of Trustees after its restructuring in the late 1980s and now serves on the Board’s Trusteeship Committee and Executive Committee. Working with other trustees and President Turner, he helped attract the George W. Bush Presidential Center to SMU and serves on the Bush Foundation board. Elected to the Texas Business Hall of Fame, he received the first J. Erik Jonsson Award of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Linz Award honoring humanitarian service. He also received the Order of Marib Award from the Republic of Yemen, the only non-Yemeni to be so designated.
In 2013 Ray and Nancy Ann Hunt became the first couple to receive the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, and both have received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Teaching children who were struggling to read launched Stephanie Al Otaiba on an investigation of early literacy intervention that continues almost two decades later as a professor in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Delores Etter’s future path was not as clear. Etter, a professor in the Lyle School of Engineering, grappled with the relevance of her mathematical expertise outside the realm of higher education until she discovered the link through electrical engineering and digital signal processing research. Robert Lawson, a professor in the Cox School of Business, recognized the value of computer muscle as he sought to move to a different plane the debate about the merits of free-market versus interventionist economic systems. The data-driven evaluations of international economies that Lawson has been instrumental in developing are intended to remove conjecture and rewire the discussion along empirical bases.
In contrast, subjective observations and human foibles lie at the heart of historian Sherry L. Smith’s inquiries. An early interest in Native American culture and treaty rights motivated Smith, a professor in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, to delve into the power of perception in shaping much of our nation’s history involving American Indians.
While their explorations may not intersect, these faculty members share intellectual curiosity, the courage to test the status quo and a desire to teach and guide students. Following, they trace the roots of their interests and discuss the defining experiences that inspired their research and eventually led them to SMU. Opening a new chapter for struggling readers
Stephanie Al Otaiba folds her tall, graceful frame until she is eye-to-eye with the two young girls quietly poring over workbooks. She starts chatting with them about their reading assignments. Without prompting, one of the students says she is dyslexic, then asks, “Can you be a teacher if you’re dyslexic?” Stephanie Al Otaiba, the Patsy and Ray Caldwell Centennial Chair in Teaching and Learning in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, conducts reading intervention research involving fourth-grade students at Stevens Park Elementary School in Dallas.
In a soothing voice, Al Otaiba assures the student that people with dyslexia excel in many fields, and that with the skills she is developing now, she is on the right path to joining their ranks. Pleased by the answer, the girl goes back to her book.
“That’s why we teach,” says Al Otaiba, who was recently named the Patsy And Ray Caldwell Centennial Chair in Teaching and Learning, the second Centennial chair in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
The exchange took place in a classroom at Stevens Park Elementary School in Dallas, where she was observing her team of research assistants involved in a school-based research project that examines the efficacy of the Voyager Passport reading intervention. The widely used program combines targeted instruction and progress monitoring for young students who need supplemental assistance. The children have or are at risk for reading disabilities, and in the fall, they scored in the bottom 30 percent in reading comprehension on standardized tests.
The research – the first of its kind performed with this intervention – involves fourth-grade students in West Dallas and Northern Florida schools. It started July 1, 2013, and will continue through June 30, 2017, and is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences. Al Otaiba, who came to SMU in January 2012 from Florida State University, collaborates with FSU Professor Jeannie Wanzek, principal investigator, on the project.
Al Otaiba focuses on early literacy intervention for struggling students, understanding students’ response to intervention and training teachers how to use data to guide instructional decisions. Her current research portfolio extends to six other grant-funded projects.
“I’m fortunate to have a strong team of research assistants, including some current and former SMU graduate students, led by Brenna Rivas, an alumna of the doctoral program in the Simmons School,” she says.
Connecting research to the classroom completes the equation, she adds. “For any of us who do intervention research, what keeps us passionate is the feeling that we can impact the greater community through improving teachers’ practices and, in turn, improving outcomes for children.”
Her mission to aid children with learning difficulties began in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. While visiting family she met her late husband, a UAE citizen, and her temporary stay turned into a 16-year residency and an incubator for her future career in education.
“A friend was working with the United Nations to establish a special education program. At first I worked as a volunteer, then completed teacher training and started teaching in 1981,” she says. “The longer I taught, the more I wanted to learn about evidence-based practices that helped students learn.”
A decade later, she earned a master’s degree in special education and began to follow beginning reading and special education research. After her husband’s death in 1996, she returned to the United States and completed the Ph.D. program at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.
The global relevance of Al Otaiba’s research performed in the intervening years recently drew her back to the Arabian Peninsula, this time to Muscat, Oman. At the invitation of Mahmoud Emam, an assistant professor of special education at Sultan Qaboos University, she served as a guest lecturer at a two-day workshop about reading disabilities and interventions. She continues to consult on his grant to improve special educators’ ability to use data to guide their intervention.
“Since there are few measures available in Gulf Arabic, developing appropriate formative progress monitoring measures has been a challenge. Dr. Emam and his team have been adapting measures associated with response to intervention in English,” she explains. “It was wonderful to see how dedicated they are and motivated to helping change the face of special education and how developing countries are using U.S. research and making it their own.”
Closer to home, Al Otaiba is acting as an Engaged Learning project mentor to junior Stephanie Newland. Newland hopes to learn more about the impact of the Jesters Program, a musical theatre activity for people with intellectual and/or physical disabilities, on participants, parents and volunteers. Eyeing The Future Of Engineering
The yellow-orange light emitted from the scanner casts an eerie glow in the darkened room. Delores Etter positions one of her student researchers in front of an apparatus that resembles a vision-testing machine in an optometrist’s office. As the student sits in a fixed position, visible and near-infrared light is used to take a clear, high-contrast picture of his irises. Delores Etter and a student researcher demonstrate the scanner used to take iris images for biometric research they conduct at the Lyle School of Engineering.
A digital template of the image – a map of the naturally occurring random patterns that make each person’s iris unique – will be created and stored in a database. With this type of database, matcher engines sort through templates at lightning speed and make identifications with extreme accuracy.
This research at the vanguard of technology with wide-ranging applications is happening at the Lyle School of Engineering, where Etter leads SMU’s biometrics research program. Etter, who joined the SMU faculty in 2008, holds the TI Distinguished Chair for Engineering Education in the Lyle School of Engineering. She also serves as the first director of SMU’s Caruth Institute for Engineering Education.
In offering hands-on opportunities to undergraduates, she ties what they learn in the classroom to knowledge and skills that will fuel their careers after graduation. Her own college experience informs her belief that students should make those relevant connections early.
“I completed my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics, and I could do all this wonderful math, but I didn’t see the applications,” Etter remembers. “I started questioning what good was it to know it if it didn’t seem useful.”
Major life events – she got married and had a child – took precedence over her academic career until she accepted a position at the University of New Mexico. Although she was teaching computer science, many of her students were electrical engineering (EE) majors.
“I didn’t have a clue about it, and I sat in on the first EE course so I could see how to tie in my classes to what they were doing,” she says. “It totally changed my life. I thought ‘Here’s the real-world application for all that math I know.’”
She went on to earn a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UNM at a time when few women entered the field. Etter blazed trails across the technology spectrum, making significant contributions to the knowledge base on digital signal processing and the emerging specialty of biometrics. She also became an internationally recognized advocate for early STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.
Her rising stature in academic and engineering research was noticed in Washington, D.C. She served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense and Assistant Secretary of the Navy under two presidents. She also held the Office of Naval Research Distinguished Chair in electrical and computer engineering at the United States Naval Academy.
With her finger on the pulse of the international intelligence community, Etter brought biometrics research to SMU “because it has national significance in terms of security.”
Etter and former colleagues from the Naval Academy initiated a joint research project involving biometrics databases. At Lyle, students comb through the iris image data they have collected to “get rid of the noise” that could interfere with accuracy. In conjunction with the project, they will travel to Annapolis for a week this summer to interact with industry experts and government specialists working on real issues related to national security.
In the fall, she will take a group from SMU to the Biometric Consortium Conference in Tampa, Florida, where they will sit in on presentations and visit state-of-the-art exhibits. They will follow up by writing reports about what intrigued them and what they learned.
These experiences not only enhance their engineering toolkit, but also open their eyes to possibilities, Etter says.
“I want to develop a cadre of students who understand biometrics, find it fun and interesting, and want to go out into industry or government and add their innovations to the field.” Measuring The Economic Might Of Freedom
In the film “Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives,” successful entrepreneurs in Chile, Slovakia, South Korea and Zambia describe how they mapped their personal routes to prosperity when unbounded by restrictive government policies and institutional structures. The documentary aired on 200 PBS stations nationwide from November 2013 through January 2014. The program was based on the findings of the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) report released in 2012. The Cox School of Business’ Robert Lawson travels the world lecturing about the Economic Freedom of the World annual report that he coauthors.
Economist Robert Lawson coauthors the yearly index that is produced by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian public policy think tank. Lawson holds the Jerome M. Fullinwider Endowed Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom in the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom in SMU’s Cox School of Business,
“If you boil it down, economic freedom is about people being free to make their own choices in their economic lives – government largely leaves them alone to buy and sell what they want at prices they have negotiated,” Lawson explains. “It’s analogous to freedom of speech and religion.”
First published in 1996, the study now covers 151 countries and territories. Using data collected from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Economic Forum and other sources, researchers employ 42 distinct variables in ranking countries on a zero-to-10 scale, with 10 representing the highest level of economic freedom. Economic freedom is quantified using five different factors: size of government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labor and business.
For Lawson, the report provides the data-driven clarity missing from the intellectual free-for-alls he participated in with fellow graduate students at Florida State University.
“In broad terms, they were Adam Smith versus Karl Marx debates, free market versus interventionism. They were great, but they were primarily theoretical and hotly ideological,” he says. “Those discussions basically took us nowhere, whereas using data advances the debate on empirical grounds.”
While earning a master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics at FSU, he served as a graduate assistant to economist James Gwartney, who became a mentor, friend and collaborator on the EFW report. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair and directs the Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education at FSU. It was Gwartney who took on the challenge of developing a scientific instrument that could be used to quantify economic freedom. He enlisted Lawson to add his data-mining expertise to the groundbreaking project.
“Kelvin said to measure is to know, and we wanted to know,” Lawson says. “We started collecting data and feeding it into the computer. It was a long process. It took seven or eight years to develop our first report.
“It was very important to us to use objective data to avoid subjective views influencing the ratings of any country,” he adds, “And transparency was key. We wanted to develop a research tool that others could replicate.”
A self-described “math guy,” Lawson says he was first drawn to economics by its demand for “analytical rigor.” Although he started his undergraduate education at Ohio University as a political science major, he changed his mind “within minutes of my first economics class.”
Lawson, who joined SMU in 2011 from Auburn University, teaches in the M.B.A. program at Cox. He also travels the world as a guest lecturer on the topic of economic freedom.
Because he misses teaching and mentoring undergraduates, he recently launched an interdisciplinary reading and discussion group for these students. The 12 participants had to apply for inclusion and commit to completing weekly reading assignments.
“The readings are eclectic and cover political science, philosophy and economics,” Lawson says. “I lead the group, but it’s not a lecture; it’s a forum for student discussion. They ask questions, but it’s really up to them to talk through the issues and draw their own conclusions.” Documenting The Power Of Perception
A fascinating character from her childhood still looms prominently in the memory of historian Sherry L. Smith, University Distinguished Professor of History and assistant director of SMU’s William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies in Dedman College. SMU History Professor Sherry L. Smith’s award-winning research examines perceptions that have shaped national policy regarding Native Americans.
The man she describes as “a sort of surrogate grandfather” lived in a rustic cabin near her family’s home at Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan and was an Indian hobbyist.
“He had grown up in South Dakota, and his home was full of all sorts of Indian items. He would dress in full Native American regalia and tell stories. Of course, I was in awe,” she says.
Much like today’s Civil War re-enactors who bring battles back to life, hobbyists gathered in tribal clothing to recreate Native American ceremonies. While she leaves it to other scholars to dissect the hobbyists’ motivations and influence, Smith has documented a provocative perspective on Native American history.
“The central questions in my research are how have non-Indians perceived Native Americans and how did those ideas shape political action and our culture,” she explains.
Her interest in Native American issues first took a scholarly turn when she entered Purdue University. As she worked toward bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, she became particularly sympathetic to Indian demands for justice regarding sovereignty and treaties.
“As a member of the Baby Boom generation, I believed we could change the world,” she says. “At first I considered a path through law, with a specialization in Indian law, to make a more immediate impact.”
Instead, she elected to make a difference in academia, an option she had not seriously contemplated before a pivotal conversation with a professor.
“He asked if I had ever considered getting a Ph.D. No one had ever suggested that before,” she says. “I realized then how professors can open up a realm of possibility you’ve never considered and really make a huge difference in your life’s trajectory.”
She subsequently earned a doctorate at the University of Washington and launched a career in higher education that has spanned three decades.
Smith, who joined SMU in 1999, focuses on actors at the frontline of evolving attitudes and policies affecting Native Americans. She has documented the moral conflicts experienced by army officers involved in the Western expansion; the influential writings that helped change American opinions from 1880 to 1940; and the fight for Indian rights in the 1960s and ’70s.
She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters. She also has written four books, including two prize-winners. Reimagining Indians: Native Americans Through Anglo Eyes (Oxford University Press, 2000; paperback edition, 2001) received the 2001 James A. Rawley Prize of the Organization of American Historians and the SMU Godbey Author Award. Smith’s most recent work, Hippies, Indians and the Fight for Red Power(Oxford University Press, 2012), is the first book to examine the loose coalition that cut across racial, ethnic and class lines to push for political reforms that strengthened Native American sovereignty. The book garnered a 2014 Godbey Award.
While on leave from teaching in the spring, she is revisiting the life of Charles Erskine Scott Wood, an Army officer who figures in Reimagining Indians and earlier writings, from a very different angle. His complicated, 35-five-year relationship with Sara Bard Field, a married woman 30 years his junior who eventually became his wife, plays out against a backdrop of Progressive Era politics, Bohemianism and West Coast radicalism.
“It’s a fascinating story, but quite different from my previous research,” she says. “In this case, I’m letting their story take precedence over analysis, and as it unfolds, allow readers to decide how they feel about the couple.”
Although the final result of the National Invitation Tournament – Minnesota 65, SMU 63 – was not the one that the Mustangs wanted, SMU fans never let the disappointment diminish their enthusiasm for the men’s basketball season. Brandishing the hashtag #FinishTheRightWay, the Twittersphere exploded with congratulations, attaboys, thank-yous and so-proud-of-you comments. Buildings downtown and across Dallas – and as far away as Amarillo – lit up in red and blue lights after SMU’s home game wins.
When the players and coaches returned to campus after the April 3 loss at Madison Square Garden, they were greeted by a crowd still showing the love for the resurgent team. In numerous interviews with the media during the season, Coach Larry Brown credited the home crowd for helping the team make it to New York City. “We have a program now that people don’t laugh at, and we’ve had unbelievable support. We’re going to win a national championship, or at least be competitive from now on out,” he said.
> Larry Brown and the Mustangs profiled in The New York Times
Brown and the players maintained all season that it was the atmosphere of a newly renovated and expanded Moody Coliseum – christened Moody Magic – that helped them achieve a 27-10 season. The Mustangs went 18-1 at home, setting a record for home victories, including 12-1 inside Moody Coliseum (the team played six home games at Curtis Culwell Center in Garland while Moody renovations were being completed). SMU also broke its season attendance record, setting the new mark at 107,412 (was 101,296 in 1984-85). The Mustangs sold out nine of 13 games in Moody Coliseum. Former President George W. Bush attended several games at Moody Coliseum. With him at the game against Louisville on March 5 are daughter Jenna Bush Hager, former First Lady Laura Bush ’68, Gail Turner and SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
By the time Moody Coliseum re-opened January 4 to a sold-out game against the University of Connecticut, SMU had a 10-3 record. At the time, UConn (the eventual NCAA Tournament champion) was ranked No. 17. As the game progressed, excitement mounted in Moody. The crowd exploded in pure joy when it became clear in the final seconds that SMU would beat the Huskies 74-65.
> Read more about the new Moody Coliseum and Miller Events Center
When the men beat a No. 7-ranked Cincinnati team 76-55 on February 8, hundreds of students rushed the floor. Tickets to home games became more difficult to obtain, and students even camped overnight in extremely low temperatures to acquire their allotted tickets. The only game the men lost at home was on March 5 to an unranked Louisville 84-71. The sold-out crowd wore white T-shirts bearing the slogan “Moody Magic.” The Mustang Band worked its magic at Moody Coliseum and the NIT Finals.
Even the disappointment of SMU being overlooked by the NCAA Tournament selection committee did not dampen Mustang spirits. After SMU was named a No. 1 seed by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), tickets again were in high demand by fans seeking to support the team in its three-game home court advantage. The capper occurred in the third round when guard Nic Moore nailed a 3-pointer in the final six seconds to beat UC-Berkeley 67-65, sending SMU to the NIT Finals at Madison Square Garden. Students rushed the court, hoisting Moore on their shoulders.
> See Dedication Ceremony and Moody-related videos
About 3,000 alumni and SMU supporters attended the NIT Final games. Those who couldn’t make the trek to New York City followed their beloved team on Facebook, Twitter and the SMU homepage before the game against Clemson aired on national television April 1. Watch parties occurred back home in Dallas and throughout the country, and those who couldn’t watch because of class or an event kept up through minute-by-minute updates on their cell phones. Down by 12 at halftime against Clemson, it appeared that the Mustangs’ NIT run might be over. But the Heart Attack Kids pulled it off in the second half, as they had in many previous games. At every home game, SMU Student Body President Ramon Trespalacios donned a lobster suit and led a spirited student section, which often included students dressed up as characters, including the Mario Bros.
The Mustangs’ 65-59 win over Clemson sent them to the NIT Final against Minnesota, also a No. 1 seed. The back-and-forth contest ended when, in the final minute, Minnesota hit a 3-pointer to tie the score, and then eventually to win 65-63. The long season was over.
> Read a recap of the “magic” season from SMU Athletics
But the Mustang Nation can’t shake the feeling that something special happened this season. The 73-year-old Brown was supposed to be leading a rebuilding stage, but he did more than that. At the beginning of the season few expected the men’s basketball team to go as far as it did, to accomplish numerous firsts. Most importantly, however, the games became a rallying point for SMU fans, who bonded in Moody Coliseum over rowdy, raucous, rocking moments, and around the water cooler the next day to compare notes and relive highlights.
A pre-preseason poll has rated the Mustangs at No. 10 for 2014-15. See you next season for more magic at Moody Coliseum.
– Susan White Participating in the ribbon cutting for a re-opened Moody Coliseum at the December 21 graduation ceremony were (from left) Provost Paul Ludden; student Morgan Rose Beckwith ’13; donors Frances Moody-Dahlberg ’92 and Carolyn Miller and SMU Trustee David Miller ’72, ’73; President R. Gerald Turner; Board of Trustees Chair Caren Prothro; Brad Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs; and Athletics Director Rick Hart. Coach Larry Brown strategizes with players during a break in the Cal game, which SMU won 67-65. Students flashed signs indicating that SMU was on its way to Madison Square Garden for the NIT Finals after the UCBerkeley game. Mustang fans flash the pony ears in front of Madison Square Garden before the NIT Final game. An SMU student raises a sign with the catchphrase the Mustangs used to end their season at home. SMU Trustee Ray Hunt ’65 was the speaker for the December 21 graduation ceremony in Moody Coliseum.
Keena Mays takes the ball down the court at Moody Coliseum for the SMU women in the game against the University of Connecticut on February 25 in front of a record crowd of 4,091 fans. The SMU women’s basketball team advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
Peter A. Lodwick ’77, ’80 Peter A. Lodwick ’77, ’80 has been selected chair-elect of the SMU Alumni Board for 2014. He will assume the role of chair in 2015-2017 when current chair Leslie Melson ’77 completes her term of office.
Lodwick received a J.D., cum laude, from SMU’s Dedman School of Law and a B.B.A., magna cum laude, in finance from the Cox School of Business.
While a student, Lodwick played basketball for SMU with teammate Michael “Jake” Jaccar ’76. An anonymous donor recently established a $100,000 endowment in honor of the Mustang alumni. The Jaccar/Lodwick Teammates for Life Endowed Basketball Scholarship Fund provides support to promising young basketball players.
Lodwick is a partner in the corporate and securities practice group in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight. His practice includes counseling clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance, corporate governance, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and investigations.
Recognized for his legal expertise, Lodwick has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2009-2014), Texas Super Lawyers (2012-2013) and D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas (2011-2012).
He is a member of the Dallas and American Bar Associations and the Corporation, Banking, and Business Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. In the community, he serves on the Dallas Country Club Board of Governors.
David Bates ’75, /78 received the SMU Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.
Artist David Bates ’75, ’78 made history this spring with the first-ever collaborative exhibitions at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Spanning Bates’ 40-year career, more than 90 artworks were included in the three-month exhibitions. The Modern displayed his paintings, and the Nasher displayed sculptures and works on paper.
Called “without question Dallas’ most venerated artist” by Dallas Morning News art critic Rick Brettell, Bates got his start at SMU. After earning a B.F.A. degree, he participated in the prestigious Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art. However, the New York art scene’s focus at that time didn’t fit with his interests, so Bates returned to Dallas to earn an M.F.A. from SMU. He went on to attain national stature through a career grounded in his Texas roots. Magnolia in a Chair, 2004. Oil on canvas.
Marla Price, director of the Modern, said that Bates “translates his own experiences into works of art that transcend regional boundaries.” Nasher Director Jeremy Strick noted that Bates is “following in the footsteps of the great painter-sculptors Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.”
Bates’ paintings, many of them large-scale, are distinguished by bold black outlines and heavy application of paint. His subjects range from atmospheric representations of the cypress swamps of Grassy Lake in Arkansas to powerful figures of fishermen working along the Gulf Coast. Bates’ compelling series on Hurricane Katrina depicts the pathos of storm survivors. Both paint and sculpture renditions of magnolias track the evolution of the artist’s style through the years. More abstract than his paintings, Bates’ sculptures begin with such materials as wood, cardboard, clay and scrap metal. After they are cast in bronze, he adds patina and paint to their surfaces. His diverse sculpture subjects include starkly dramatic owls and skulls and graceful female figures.
Works in the exhibitions were on loan from major museums, including New York’s Metropolitan and Whitney, the Hirshhorn Museum and Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., Dallas Museum of Art, and museums in San Francisco, Houston and Honolulu, as well as numerous private collections.
Gail Griffin Thomas ’58, president and CEO of the Trinity Trust Foundation and a champion of urban transformation, received the 2014 J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility March 19. Gail Griffin Thomas ’58
“Gail has blazed trails for our city, questioned complacency and also taken risks with boundless imagination and inspired perspective,” says Nancy Cain Marcus ’74, a Maguire Ethics Center advisory board member.
After Dallas residents approved the Trinity River Corridor Project in 1998, then-Mayor Ron Kirk tapped Thomas to raise private funds for the plan. The project consists of 20 miles and 10,000 acres of land in and along the Trinity River Corridor and the Great Trinity Forest. It seeks to protect downtown Dallas against future flooding while supporting environmental restoration, improving transportation, spurring economic development and providing outdoor recreational opportunities.
“We give this award to someone with courage, someone who responds to challenges with a sense of grace and ethical direction,” says Maguire Center Director Rita Kirk. “Gail Thomas certainly represents all of those things.”
In addition to her Trinity Trust Foundation role, Thomas is director of the Dallas Institute’s Center for the City program, where she teaches and conducts seminars and conferences — something she has done for several decades in several U.S. and international cities.
Thomas has written the books Healing Pandora: The Restoration of Hope and Abundance, Imagining Dallas and Pegasus, the Spirit of Cities. She co-authored Stirrings of Culture with Robert Sardello and Images of the Untouched with Joanne Stroud. Her next book, Recapturing the Soul of the City, is forthcoming, as is a play she is writing.
She has received numerous civic awards and is a distinguished alumna of both SMU and The University of Dallas. She has been an awards panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, and has been honored by the Texas Society of Architects and the American Institute of Architects.
“The fact that this award is named for the man who achieved the highest in excellence in public service means a great deal to me,” Thomas says, noting that her first foray into civic work was serving on Jonsson’s “Goals for Dallas” design task force. “When I think about what J. Erik Jonsson did for Dallas — how, in the year following the Kennedy assassination he took office and went on to turn the ‘City of Hate’ into the ‘City of Hope’ — I’m very honored.”
Thomas and her husband, Robert Hyer Thomas ’53, have three children and 10 grandchildren.
Tom Sheahan ’87 has lived overseas and now calls San Francisco home. Regardless of where he lands, this globe-trekking Mustang will always call the Hilltop “home.” Tom Sheahan ’87
“I truly cherish the friendships I made at SMU,” he says. “They have been a source of strength and humor through the trials and tribulations of life. SMU is more than just an outstanding academic institution – it is home for a lot of people.”
Sheahan is co-founder and CEO of Red Oxygen, which offers an array of communications solutions for mobile workforces. Despite frequent business travel, he stays involved with the San Francisco alumni chapter and serves on the leadership team. Most recently, he attended a party for accepted students in San Mateo, California.
He also makes time for volunteer opportunities. Sheahan’s company, which has headquarters in the city’s Mission District, participated in the one-day externship program offered through SMU Connection over winter break.
“I know how difficult it must be to understand the Silicon Valley mindset from Dallas,” he says. “I love helping young, motivated people out.” Sheahan is now focused on a new arm of Red Oxygen – Octopi Network. Currently in beta stage operation, Octopi Network deploys multilayered security protocols to ensure privacy when sending and receiving messages across any platform. “We provide a secure digital environment that erases compatibility issues and allows users to reach anyone, on any device, anywhere in the world,” he says. While attending SMU, Sheahan was active in the Student Senate and as a campus tour guide. He majored in communications studies with a focus on public relations and was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
This is the Year of the Faculty at SMU, and as part of the celebration, alumni are encouraged to share memories of their favorite professors. Sheahan says English Professor Emeritus Marsh Terry ’53, ’54 stands out in his memory for “exposing me to some great authors.”
After graduating from SMU, he entered the telecommunications field, working in various sales and marketing positions in the United States and abroad before co-founding Red Oxygen in 2001.
Even in the unlikeliest places, membership in the SMU alumni community creates an advantage, he says, offering this anecdote:
“It was 1997, and I had just moved to Bondi Beach, outside of Sydney, Australia. I headed to this amazing outdoor pool for a swim, when I hear, ‘It will be two bucks, mate.’ I had no money with me, so I went back to my apartment and discovered that I was locked out. I returned to the pool, borrowed the phone and started calling locksmiths. ‘Where are you from,’ asked the guy working at the front desk in his thick Aussie accent. ‘Texas,’ I answered. ‘My brother went to school in Texas,’ he said. I asked which one, and he replied, ‘SMU.’ His brother was Gus Cameron. While Gus and I weren’t good friends, we had mutual friends. The guy at the desk, Hamish Cameron, and his family ended up being my surrogate family in Australia. I would not have had such a wonderful 10-year experience there without them, and it wouldn’t have happened without that SMU connection.”
Distinguished Alumna Karen Greenwaldt ’77 speaking at Perkins School of Theology during Ministers Week.
The Rev. Karen Greenwaldt, general secretary of the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship from 2001–2013, received the 2014 Perkins School of TheologyDistinguished Alumna Award February 3.
The award was presented as part of Perkins’ annual Ministers Week, which draws scholars from across the country for lectures and workshop on the Bible and ministry. It recognizes effectiveness and integrity in service to the church, continuing support and involvement in the goals of Perkins and SMU, distinguished service in the wider community and exemplary character.
A clergy member of the Central Texas Annual (regional) Conference, Greenwaldt earned a Master of Theology degree from Perkins in 1977. The first woman ordained as an elder in the Central Texas Conference, she served as general secretary – or chief executive officer – of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) from 2001 until her retirement in 2013.
Bishop D. Max Whitfield, Bishop in Residence at Perkins, praised Greenwaldt’s selfless leadership. “She was the individual from whom the other general secretaries and many of the Council of Bishops members sought direction when major issues and the future direction of the denomination were needed.”
She also has served as an associate pastor and a hospital chaplain.
Greenwaldt is the author of Singles Care One for Another, For Everything There is a Season and Organizing in the Small Membership Church, as well as numerous articles on the vision and mission of the church.
SMU’s Golden Mustangs Reunion and Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU, a new performance program hosted by the SMU Alumni Board, are among special activities planned for Founders’ Day Weekend April 10-13. The annual Golden Mustangs Reunion for alumni in the classes of 1963 and earlier will be held Thursday, April 10.
Alumni from the classes of 1963 and earlier will launch the celebratory weekend on Thursday, April 10, with the annual Golden Mustangs Reunion. The event will be hosted by the Office of Reunion Programs and the Golden Mustangs Reunion Committee in the Martha Proctor Mack Grand Ballroom at Umphrey Lee Center, beginning at 10:30 a.m. The program includes a luncheon, a guided campus bus tour and an opportunity to see the “Sorolla and America” exhibit at the Meadows Museum.
On Friday, April 11, Inside SMU will feature compelling stories and demonstrations from 16 SMU faculty, staff, alumni and student speakers on a wide range of topics. Alumni speakers are Blake Norvell ’04, who will discuss “NSA Wiretapping: A 4th Amendment Violation?”, and Dennis E. Muphree ’69, who will speak on “The Importance of Persistence.” Inside SMU is scheduled for 1-5 p.m. in the Greer Garson Theatre in the Owen Arts Center and is open to everyone. Tickets are $5 for SMU students, faculty, staff and alumni and $15 for the general public. Breaks are built into the program, allowing the audience to meet speakers and start the conversations that are the hallmark of the TEDxSMU experience.
The President’s Briefing and a Centennial Salute to the Faculty also are planned for Friday.
Special family-friendly events will open the SMU campus to the community from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12. At SMU’s Meadows Museum, activities will complement the “Sorolla and America” exhibit, allowing children to paint outdoors, learn traditional Spanish dances and take part in a multi-sensory game of Texas Landscape Bingo. Student guitarists will play music that evokes the spirit of Spain, and artist Jon Bramblitt, who is blind, will demonstrate how he paints using only his sense of touch.
A short walk or shuttle ride from the museum, the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum’s Native Texas Park will be blooming. Families can participate in a wildflower scavenger hunt, plant wildflower seeds and enjoy more SMU student musical performances near the Hall of State. SMU’s Peruna mascot will be on hand for photos, and there will be more family activities available inside the Bush Library.
From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, SMU’s student Environmental Society is sponsoring Barefoot on the Boulevard, a free mini-festival that celebrates sustainable living with an afternoon of music, performances, and tabletop exhibits at the north end of Bishop Boulevard.
Among the activities wrapping up the Founders’ Day celebration will be a reception Sunday, April 13, in conjunction with the exhibit “Romantic Visions of the American Southwest: Works on Paper and Paintings by Edward G. Eisenlohr” in the Hamon Arts Library’s Mildred Hawn Gallery. The event begins at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
As part of the University’s centennial celebration of the Year of the Faculty, alumni returning to campus for Founders’ Day events will be encouraged to record their memories of favorite professors through a variety of methods:
Post on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #smufaculty.
Look for one of the “Memory Stations” on campus during Founders Day Weekend.
Those memories are being collected and shared, along with stories about extraordinary faculty achievements and contributions on SMU’s Year of the Faculty site.
Watch Facebook and Twitter for #InsideSMU photos, topics and previews surrounding Founders’ Day 2014.
Join SMU Mustang fans in watching the NIT Championship at two locations in the Dallas area – Moody Coliseum and Dave & Busters on Walnut Hill Lane at U.S. 75.
SMU is hosting the College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships tonight at Moody Coliseum, and the NIT Championship game will be shown on the videoboard. Fans must have a ticket to the event that begins at 8 p.m. to attend the watch party. As of 4 p.m., tickets were still available for purchase online.
Moody will open at 5:30 p.m. and concessions stands will be open.
Should the NIT Championship game still be in progress after 8:12 p.m., the College Slam Dunk event will begin on the court. The game and the Slam Dunk will be shown on a split-screen on the videoboard, as well as on the concourse monitors.
Other watch parties around the country:
Austin: Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, 509-A Rio Grande St., at 6 p.m. Central time. RSVP to austin@smualumni.smu.edu
Orlando area: The Ale House, 1251 Lee Road, in Winter Park, at 7 p.m. Eastern time. RSVP to orlando@smualumni.smu.edu
San Francisco: Taps Social House and Kitchen, 1516 Broadway, at 4 p.m. Pacific time. RSVP to sanfrancisco@smualumni.smu.edu
Tampa: Beef O’Brady’s, 2819 S. Macdill Ave., at 7 p.m. Eastern time. RSVP to tampa@smualumni.smu.edu
Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institute for Science, 1530 P Street NW, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. This event will be held in conjunction with “SMU Brings the Hilltop to D.C.,” with a reception and remarks featuring Alan C. Lowe, director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Registration is $15 per person and includes food and beverages. RSVP online.
Use the hashtags #PonyUp #FinishTheRightWay #NIT to join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Go Mustangs!
A gift of any size by large numbers of alumni can make a big difference to SMU’s progress and reputation. That’s the key message that alumni leaders want to convey as the Second Century Campaign seeks higher alumni participation.
“To be direct, we need 13,000 alumni donors by May 31. But even beyond that date, we need more alumni to give annually,” says Leslie Melson ’77, chair of the Alumni Board. “We need alumni to adopt the habit of giving each and every year. Even those who have made large gifts also become annual donors, recognizing the importance of continual alumni giving.”
“This is not just about money, it’s about reputation,” she adds. “The number of alumni donors who support the University annually is noted by ranking agencies such as U.S. News & World Report as an indication of alumni satisfaction with the education they received. And the stronger SMU’s showing in national rankings, the higher the value of our degrees as we compete in the marketplace, lead our professions and serve our communities.”
Yearly giving directly supports daily operations that shape the quality of the educational experience at SMU, such as library resources, technology, faculty salaries and financial aid. It also helps to keep tuition increases moderate, benefitting student recruitment.
“Prospective donors who read about multimillion-dollar gifts to SMU could feel that their smaller gifts might not be important, but that is far from true,” says Caren Prothro, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees. “We deeply appreciate gifts at all levels, which carry a great deal of weight beyond their monetary value. And for alumni who hope to send family members to SMU, support for the University today will bring dividends in the quality of education those children or grandchildren will enjoy tomorrow.” To make a gift, visit smu.edu/giving or mail to SMU Office of Development, P.O. Box 750402, Dallas, Texas 75275-0402.
EXCERPT
The 40th anniversary production of Am I Blue, a one-act play by SMU alumna Beth Henley ’74, will be staged March 28, 29 and 30 at Owens Art Center in Meadows School of the Arts. It is free and open to the public. SMU student Ally Van Deuren ’15 plays Ashbe, the female lead. Van Deuren got in touch with Henley, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for Crimes of the Heart, and other alumni involved in the play for their perspectives on that pivotal production. Here’s an excerpt from her story:
AM I BLUE: 40 Years Later, a One-Act Play by Beth Henley Returns to SMU
Meadows alums share their memories from the original production in 1974; director of first production to attend Friday performance
By Ally Van Deuren (B.F.A. Theatre, B.A. Journalism, ’15)
When Becca Rothstein (B.F.A. Theatre, ’16) approached me about acting in Am I Blue, a one-act play by SMU alumna Beth Henley (B.F.A. Theatre, ’74), I was overjoyed. Nicholas Costello (B.F.A. Theatre, ’17) as John Polk Richards and Ally Van Deuren (B.F.A. Theatre, ’15) as Ashbe in the 40th anniversary of AM I BLUE by Beth Henley, opening on Friday, March 28 in room B150. Photograph by Liz Crowell
The play is set in 1968 and centers around two troubled teens from two very different walks of life who come together by a chance meeting and share their stories. Written by Henley in her sophomore year (1972), the play is making its return to Meadows 40 years later.
I always have a wonderful experience doing SMU Student Theatre (SMUST) shows, as I often get to work with my immensely talented colleagues on new and challenging material. But I could never have prepared myself for the excitement that this process has given me.
The rest of the cast and I reached out to Charley Helfert, who worked in the Division of Theatre at SMU from 1970 to 2013, hoping he could give us some insight on the original production. He got us in contact with several alumni who shared their personal memories of the very first production back in 1974.
These alums are enthusiastic, helpful, encouraging and wonderfully excited that we are performing Henley’s Am I Blue again.
“I can’t believe the responses I have gotten from [the alumni],” Helfert said. “You can’t imagine how much it means to them. This is their life you are celebrating.”
Jill Christine Peters (B.F.A. Theatre, ’74) directed the original production of the play and will attend Friday’s performance and speak to audiences beforehand.
I went out on a limb and sent an email to Ms. Henley, not expecting a response. When she emailed me back within 12 hours, I was starstruck. John Tillotson as John Polk Richards (left) and Marcie Glazer Newland as Ashbe in a publicity shot for the original production of Am I Blue by Beth Henley (1974). Courtesy John Tillotson.
“I was so happy to read in your e-mail that SMU is performing Am I Blue this year,” Henley wrote. “Really forty years ago? Yikes.”
Henley, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for her play Crimes of the Heart, was active in the undergraduate theatre program while at SMU.
“It was nerve-racking for me at the time,” Henley wrote. “My first produced play. I used the pen name Amy Peach.”
Peters, the original director, gave us insight on Ms. Henley.
“Beth was a funny sweet soul. She was very humble about her writing – self-deprecating, even, and could not believe anyone was recommending her work,” said Peters. “She shyly handed me her script with the caveat that she would be glad to change it up so it would not be so ‘corny.’
“Other playwriting students were self-promoting, shopping their plays around the directing program hoping to get produced, but not Beth. She was kind of quietly writing under the radar,” said Peters.
Not only did Peters give us insight on Henley during their time in the Theatre Division at SMU, she also gave us a glimpse into the play’s history and context.
UPDATE: SMU alumna Yasmeen Tadia ’04 recently expanded her gourmet treat business with the addition of HotPoppin Gourmet Popcorn.
Yasmeen Tadia ’04 credits her four-year-old son’s sweet tooth with sparking her entrepreneurial spirit.
“Zain loves candy, like any other child,” Tadia says. “So I looked for reasonably healthy options, but most of them didn’t taste good.” Yasmeen Tadia ’04 founded Fluffpop, a gourmet cotton candy company.
When she failed to find what she wanted in the marketplace, she created it. In 2012 the Cox School of Business alumna founded Fluffpop, producing gluten-free, vegan cotton candy. The airy confection is available in three categories: exotic, which includes fruit flavors such as guava and sparkling strawberry; sugar-free; and certified organic, which is also a kosher option.
She imports chemical-free, flavor-packed hard candy from countries around the world as the foundation for the sweet concoctions and uses a customized spinning device she designed to whip up treat-sized Fluffpops. The small, flavor-infused portions are about 90 percent air and 10 percent sugar, she says.
While consumers can place orders on her company’s website at fluffpop.com, most of her business is event related. Tadia and her team, who are known as DJs because they “spin candy,” have become fixtures at business and social functions around the country. Fluffpop has been served at events at Neiman Marcus, the New York City Library, Klyde Warren Park and SMU, among many others venues.
Tadia draws on her experience as a corporate human resources manager in the hospitality industry to personalize each event.
“Every client of mine becomes a friend,” she says. “I work with them to create a special experience, to bring a little unexpected joy into their guests’ day.”
The young alumna says she first recognized the importance of relationship building while involved in an array of SMU student organizations. She was active in Program Council, Asian Council, the Association of Black Students, the Leadership Consulting Council and the Muslim Student Association.
She acknowledges the influence of favorite professors, including Chip Besio, on her people-focused approach to business.
“He always went above and beyond to foster the relationship,” she says of Besio, who serves as director of the Center for Marketing Management Studies and a senior lecturer at Cox. “He helped me understand the value of relationships in building a business.”
Now that Fluffpop has taken off, Tadia plans to add her magic touch to popcorn with her Hot Poppin’ line.
“I’ve innovated the way people think about cotton candy and that’s what I plan to do with popcorn,” she says.
— Sarah Bennett ’11 What’s new with you? Share your information here.
Last year Matt Zoller Seitz ’92 took the reins as editor-in-chief of rogerebert.com, the acclaimed movie-focused website of Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert, who lost a long battle with cancer in April 2013. In making the announcement, Ebert’s wife, Chaz, who heads the media company that publishes the site, wrote: “What Roger and I found refreshing about Matt is his ability to spot and encourage talent in other journalists, critics and video essayists. He mentored them with a benevolent style that helped to bring out the best in what they did.” Critic, filmmaker and author Matt Zoller Seitz ’92
Seitz, a renowned film critic in his own right, says a University experience distinguished by gifted professors and practical training helped bring out the best in him.
“SMU was a great place to be academically during the late ’80s and early ’90s,” Seitz says. The administration focused on hiring “great faculty, and I became the beneficiary of many of their talents.”
He studied creative writing with C.W. Smith, now SMU professor emeritus of English, poetry with the late Jack Myers, and film with one of his favorite professors, Marty Rubin, now the associate director of programming at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago.
While working as an archivist at the Southwest Film/Video Archives with the late G. William Jones, Seitz gained an appreciation for film history. Jones, an SMU alumnus and professor, was a devoted film collector and preservationist, most notably of rare African-American movies from the 1930s-1950s. The archives, now known as the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection, are housed at SMU’s Hamon Arts Library.
Seitz’s stint as a student reporter also played a pivotal role in his future. “I learned a lot of what I know about journalism working for The Daily Campus,” he says. “I still treasure those very late nights that I spent there.”
Shortly after graduating from SMU, he joined the staff of the Dallas Observer, where his writing got rave reviews. Citing his “lucid and insightful film criticism,” the Pulitzer Prize committee named Seitz a finalist for the 1994 award for criticism.
Around the same time, he met director Wes Anderson, the auteur behind movies such as The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Over the years he periodically interviewed the writer-director. Seitz combined those interviews with essays on Anderson’s work and lush movie visuals in the book The Wes Anderson Collection (Harry N. Abrams, 2013). New Yorker writer Richard Brody praised the lavish volume “as an indispensible resource, as well as a delight,” crediting Seitz as “the first critic to discern Anderson’s prodigious artistry.”
A companion piece to the book, a video essay series on Anderson that Seitz did in 2009, can be viewed on rogerebert.com.
In addition to his role with that website, Seitz is a respected television critic for New York magazine and its entertainment site, vulture.com. He also founded “The House Next Door” blog, now part of Slant Magazine, and is founder and publisher emeritus of the “Press Play” blog on indiewire.com. And, he has had a hand in more than 100 hours of video essays on cinema history.
Although he headed to the East Coast years ago and now lives in Brooklyn with his two children, Hannah and James, the Dallas native reveals that the Hilltop will always have a special place in his heart. He met his late wife, Jennifer Dawson, at SMU. She died suddenly of a heart attack in 2006.
“We met working together at the SMU Bookstore at the student center,” he says.
Among his fondest memories: hanging out with her at Mary Hay Hall and sharing Snuffer’s famous cheddar fries.
In a touching tribute to his wife, published on salon.com in 2010 on what would have been her 40th birthday, he wrote about their student days and later years, saying she was “as important an influence in my development as a critic as any teacher or editor I ever had.”
Clearly, Seitz had met his match at SMU.
– Sarah Bennett ’11
Shaun Moore ’10 and Nezare Chafni ’10 met as SMU sophomores at the Cox School of Business. Moore was preparing for a job in the financial sector and Chafni had his eye on politics. Fast-forward to January 2014, when they introduced CHUI, their “smart doorbell” with facial recognition capabilities, to the world at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Nezare Chafni ’10 (left), holding the CHUI device, and Shaun Moore ’10
So how did the young alumni end up as partners in an emerging technology business? Despite going their separate ways after graduation from SMU, they stayed in touch.
As an undergraduate, Moore played on the Mustang football team and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He readily admits that beyond “playing with gadgets,” he had no particular interest in technology as a student. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in finance, he returned to his native Chicago and worked for Merrill Lynch.
After earning a B.B.A. in financial consulting from SMU, Chafni moved back to his parents’ home in Morocco and launched a campaign for Parliament.
But the friends who had collaborated on student projects never let the distance stop their conversation. When talk about opportunities in the tech sector turned serious, they joined forces to create a software company.
Moore says his Cox education provided the knowledge and confidence to take on the challenge of starting a new venture. “Classes that focused less on theory and more on doing really helped me,” he says. Out of the gate, the business partners knew they were on the right track. “We took a few apps to market,” Chafni says, before facial recognition technology struck the right chord. “When we started work on this, we gradually refocused our attention.”
CHUI quickly took shape, and they applied for a provisional patent in July 2012. They say the unusual name is derived from the Swahili word for “leopard” – an animal known for its agility and adaptability. They feel those traits have served them well as they move forward.
The sleek CHUI device, which is mounted outside a home’s front door, captures the facial images of visitors and instantly sends them to the homeowner’s cell phone. “For example, if Mom’s picture pops up, you open the door. If it’s an unwanted visitor, you don’t have to get up from the couch,” Chafni says.
Homeowners also can program the device to recognize frequent visitors and deliver prerecorded messages. “If you’re leaving a key for a friend under the doormat, for example, when CHUI recognizes your friend’s face, your message about the key will play,” Chafni explains. “The technology is 99.6 percent accurate, and we’re working on secondary layers of security.”
While initially geared toward residential customers, CHUI can be deployed in settings as varied as office complexes, University buildings and classrooms, say its creators. Residential customers can now preorder the device without being charged until it ships in the fall.
Although they could have set up shop anywhere, they returned to Mustang country because, as Moore says, “with our friends and ties to SMU, Dallas is definitely home.”
– Sarah Bennett ’11
As an art major at SMU, Annie Griffin ’06 spent hours in the studio, perfecting her painting techniques. At the time she never dreamed she would be taking her creations from the drawing pad to the runway as an up-and-coming fashion star. Annie Griffin (right) and her sister, Robin Gerber. Photo courtesy of Southern Lady Magazine/Hoffman Media
The artist is the founder and creative force behind the Annie Griffin Collection women’s wear. Her line mingles Southern femininity and modern sensibility in separates and dresses distinguished by soft silhouettes with retro flair. While some neutral colors are offered, vivid hues and fresh prints are her calling card.
“Every print we use is made in-house, which is really exciting for our company,” she says.
“The traditional art training I received at SMU has been really, really helpful,” adds Griffin, who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, and now lives in Atlanta. “I was so interested in learning everything — use of color, composition and scale — and that translated well into fashion design.”
Small class sizes and supportive professors helped her become comfortable with critiques of her work, a skill she says is essential to the owner of a creative business.
Griffin did not intend to start her own company after graduating from SMU. Instead, she landed a job with an interior design firm in Atlanta but soon found that she preferred selecting fabric for clothing rather than furniture. She enrolled in the Savannah College of Art and Design to learn the mechanics of clothing construction, including sewing and pattern making.
The Annie Griffin Collection was launched in August 2009. About a year later her sister, Robin Gerber, joined her to handle sales and marketing. The line has been featured in publications such as Southern Living and is sold in roughly 150 stores nationwide, including St. Bernard Sports and Mine Boutique in Dallas.
Griffin is now adding a philanthropic dimension to her company. She is working with Brittany Merrill Underwood ’06, a friend from SMU, on a new venture for the Akola Project. Underwood, recipient of SMU’s 2013 Emerging Leader Award, founded the Akola Project in 2007 to offer sustainable skills that generate reliable incomes for Ugandan women living in poverty. Their handmade jewelry is sold in more than 220 boutiques in the United States.
Plans are to expand the Akola Project’s product line with a sewing facility, and Griffin plans to donate clothing patterns to the cause.
“They’ve done amazing things,” she says. “We really excited about being involved in such a worthwhile project.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
How does a student know when a professor is an extraordinary teacher? For SMU alumna Laurie-Leigh Nix White ’07, ’08, the proof came at test time, when she would surprise herself by the amount of knowledge she had absorbed on a topic. Houston Alumni Chapter President Laurie-Leigh Nix White ’07, ’08
“I was exposed to so much information and learned so much, but didn’t always realize it in the moment,” White says. “I particularly remember an accounting class with Professor Wayne Shaw. I would wonder, ‘What is he talking about?’ Then, when taking the exam, I would think, ‘Oh, of course!’”
White earned undergraduate degrees in accounting from the Cox School of Business and political science from Dedman College. In 2008, she received a master’s degree in accounting from Cox. While at SMU, she was a teaching assistant for Shaw, the Helmut Sohmen Endowed Professor in Corporate Governance in SMU’s Cox School of Business. She also tutored students through the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center.
The beautiful campus and a scholarship made the decision to choose SMU an easy one, she says. She not only treasures the education she received, but also the unforgettable experiences she had as a member of the University student community.
“I remember we lost every football game my freshman year, but when we won a game the next season, it was sheer bedlam,” she says.
Now a senior vice president with BVA Group in Houston, a financial advisory firm, White maintains close ties to her alma mater. She serves as president of the Houston Alumni Chapter and is a dedicated donor to the Mustang Club and Cox. She has given faithfully every year since her student days, beginning in 2006.
“The first monetary donation I gave was $20,” she remembers. “You don’t have to start out big. Gifts of all sizes have an impact. It’s about maintaining brand power and supporting SMU’s mission today and in the future.”
White says giving to SMU – particularly to Cox – is her way of showing heartfelt gratitude for life-changing opportunities. “That’s where I grew up, so I want to give back to what has given me so much.”
— Sarah Bennett ’11
Jane Chu, who earned a master’s in music from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts in 1981, will be nominated by President Obama to serve as executive chair of theNational Endowment for the Arts.
“Jane’s lifelong passion for the arts and her background in philanthropy have made her a powerful advocate for artists and arts education in Kansas City,” Obama said in the White House press release. “She knows firsthand how art can open minds, transform lives and revitalize communities, and believes deeply in the importance of the arts to our national culture.” > Read about Jane Chu’s nomination in the Los Angeles Times
Chu currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri. She has been with the Kauffman Center since 2006. As the performance home of the Kansas City Ballet, Kansas City Symphony and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kauffman Center hosts community presentations from classical to contemporary dance, Broadway, children’s theater with local, national and international artists. Since its grand opening in September 2011, more than 1 million people from all 50 states in the United States, as well as international countries have already attended an event at the Center. > Read more about Jane Chu’s life in From the archives: Kansas City Star
Chu’s appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. >Read the official White House press release
In “Fighting for Fugate,” which originally appeared in The Daily Campus January 26, 2014, reporter Jehadu Abshiro tells the story of Jennifer Fugate ’13, who was diagnosed with cancer late last year. Since then, the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering student graduated from SMU with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and started chemotherapy. The Lyle School, students and alumni have rallied around the alumna, organizing “Fighting for Fugate” fundraisers to help cover mounting medical expenses.
EXCERPT
Fighting for Fugate
By Jehadu Abshiro
Starting a new career, renting an apartment, buying a new car and even finding love is what many college students expect their futures hold for them when they graduate. Oct. 31 is also a night that most college students see as a night of partying.
It’s what SMU alumna Jennifer Fugate expected when she started her last semester at SMU in fall 2013.
For Fugate, Oct. 31, 2013, was the day when her entire life was flipped upside down. She was admitted into Baylor Hospital at Plano after suffering from severe pain in her right hip for about three months.
“It was literally the worst timing ever,” Fugate said. “A month before college ended.”
An electrical engineering major, she had four job offers, including two from John Deere and General Motors, which she was deciding on. She had to turn all four down.
Fugate’s right hip was four times bigger than her left hip and after a high contrast MRI, doctors found a tumor. The tumor was so large that it broke her hip in half. Her team of 10 doctors at Baylor couldn’t pinpoint the specific type of cancer and sent her lab results to Harvard.
“At one point, no one could figure it out,” Fugate said. “My insurance company wanted to kick me out of the hospital because the doctors couldn’t do anything.”
She was on pain medication every two hours.
“This period was such haze,” Fugate said. “I couldn’t walk at all. I had to have help to the bathroom, it was embarrassing. I used to be so independent.”
Fugate’s mom had to speak to several doctors before the third doctor gave Fugate tests that allowed her to stay in the hospital.
“You can’t just lay in the hospital,” Fugate said. “It was crazy, I can’t go home when I can’t function.”
After Harvard tried three times to narrow her diagnosis, she was diagnosed with an Ewing like Sarcoma. Her specific type of cancer is only found in .6 percent of the population.
… Read the full story and see Jennifer’s photo at smudailycampus.com.
With the snip of a red ribbon, SMU’s renovated Moody Coliseum and the Miller Event Center addition opened for Commencement on December 21. The 57-year-old landmark is home to SMU Commencement as well as athletics, speaking and community events. The west entry concourse (above) has been widened and opened up to reveal a view of the basketball court (rendering shown below).
A $20 million gift from the Moody Foundation in 2011 provided the impetus for the extensive expansion and renovation. SMU and the Moody Foundation have enjoyed a long partnership, including the foundation’s support of improvements to Fondren Science Building and Moody Coliseum.
Alumnus and trustee David Miller ’72, ’73 and his wife, Carolyn, also committed $10 million toward the renovation project in 2011. The Miller Center, an addition on the north side of Moody Coliseum named in their honor, includes the Miller Champions Club – a 5,000-square-foot furnished entertainment area on the concourse level – and 12 suites with courtside views, along with other resources to support student athletes and coaches.
“The renovation of Moody Coliseum enhances a valuable resource that serves as a gathering place convenient to the entire region,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Programs ranging from academic ceremonies to George W. Bush Presidential Center offerings to athletic events will attract thousands to SMU.” >Mustangs Down UConn, 74-65
Through the leadership of the Moody Foundation and the Millers, and the generous support of other donors, the renovation features widening of the entry lobby and concourses, event space, party suites, premium and loge seating, and courtside retractable seating designated for students. Technology improvements include new video boards, scoreboards, sound system, broadcast capabilities, and heating and cooling systems. In addition, new conference rooms and coaches’ offices were created, and locker rooms and restrooms were upgraded.
Known as SMU Coliseum when it opened in 1956, the building was renamed Moody Coliseum in 1965 in recognition of a $1 million gift from the Moody Foundation.
Moody Coliseum long has been the site of special events, including heart-stopping basketball moments. In its inaugural year, fans packed the coliseum to cheer the Mustang men’s basketball team to the Southwest Conference Championship and the NCAA semifinals. Women’s basketball came to Moody Coliseum in 1976 and women’s volleyball began there in 1996. Legend has it that “Moody Magic” contributes to consistent wins at home for Mustang teams. The first Commencement ceremony in the new Moody Coliseum was held December 21.
Each May and December the coliseum is transformed to host SMU Commencement as well as graduation ceremonies for thousands of area high school students. >More Than 600 Graduate Dec. 21
Four U.S. presidents have spoken at Moody Coliseum, including Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
Moody Coliseum also has been the venue for bands such as the Rolling Stones, Three Dog Night, Grateful Dead, U2 and Pearl Jam. Dallas’ first professional basketball team, the Chaparrals, competed at Moody along with professional tennis players at the Virginia Slims and WCT tennis tournaments. Sports camps and dance marathons also have taken place at Moody.
The first athletic event was an American Athletic Conference double-header men’s and women’s basketball games January 4, with the men playing University of Connecticut and the women playing South Florida.
The Meadows Museum has acquired a major work by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, a portrait of Mariano Goya, the artist’s grandson, painted in 1827. The work, which has not been on display for more than 40 years, is one of Goya’s last paintings, finished only months before his death. Funding for the acquisition was provided by The Meadows Foundation and a gift from Mrs. Eugene McDermott, which counts toward SMU’s Second Century Campaign. Meadows Museum Director Mark Roglán says that “Mariano’s image possesses an ethereal quality that softens his features and hints at Goya’s deep love for his grandson.”
“The Meadows Museum will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015, and the acquisition of this extraordinary work by Goya is a wonderful way to begin that celebration,” says Mark A. Roglán, the Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts. “The work stands at the pivotal last phase of Goya’s career and will serve as a linchpin in our growing collection.”
The Meadows Museum is planning a range of special exhibitions and events leading up to the celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2015. Among them is the exhibition Sorolla and America December 13, 2013-April 19, 2014, which explores Joaquín Sorolla’s unique relationship with the United States in the early 20th century. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) was the most internationally known Spanish artist until the arrival of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973).
The exhibition, which will feature nearly 160 paintings, oil sketches and drawings, is curated by the artist’s great-granddaughter, Blanca Pons-Sorolla. It includes numerous works from The Hispanic Society of America, which has been a major supporter of the project. After Dallas, the exhibition will travel to The San Diego Museum of Art in May and to Fundación MAPFRE in Madrid in September.
SMU’s National Center for Arts Research (NCAR)has released its inaugural report assessing the health of the nonprofit arts industry. The NCAR report is the first of its kind for the arts, creating a data-driven assessment of organizations’ performances and evaluating the industry from multiple perspectives, including sector/art form, geography, and size of the organization. NCAR is led by faculty at Meadows School of the Arts and Cox School of Business in collaboration with the Cultural Data Project (CDP) of Philadelphia and other national partners.
NCAR Director Zannie Voss, chair and professor of arts management and arts entrepreneurship in the Meadows and Cox schools, says the report tried to answer the question, ‘All else being equal, what makes one arts organization more successful than another?’ “Perhaps more than any other industry, arts organizations are driven by managerial and artistic expertise,” Voss adds. “Being able to estimate the value of this expertise in an organization’s performance is the single most valuable result of our first study.”
NCAR researchers were able to identify some factors that drive performance, finding, for example, that organizational age and size (total expenses) boost performance in every case; more local, national or world premieres all lead to higher attendance and higher levels of total engagement; and organizations that target children (pre-K-12) tend to have a larger footprint, offering more programs on larger budgets and attracting more attendance and more total engagement.
In 2014, NCAR will launch an interactive dashboard, created with IBM, which will provide online resources to arts organizations nationwide.
By Patricia Ann LaSalle ’05
On a bright, crisp day in late October, SMU students walked as usual across the Main Quad on their way to class.Unusual, however, was a huge tent that had been erected in front of Dallas Hall, causing some to wonder what was going on inside. As several students pressed their faces against the tent’s transparent plastic sides to satisfy their curiosity, some of the tent’s occupants also peered through the plastic to get a look outside, creating a virtual face-to-face encounter. Pointing to the students looking in, and the others making their way across the Quad, one occupant of the tent said to a colleague, “This is why we are here.” Campaign leaders thank Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69 for his new $15 million gift, paving the way for a new campus research center.
They were indeed “here.” More than 200 volunteers and leaders of SMU’s Second Century Campaign gathered on campus October 25 for a revival of sorts, complete with music, streamers, enthusiastic speakers, rousing applause and, finally, a surprise announcement.
In the 100-by-150-foot tent, erected to house several Homecoming events, the Campaign Volunteer Summit enabled supporters from throughout the nation to hear progress and plans as the major gifts drive nears its final two years. They also heard about the structure and strategies to reach a new $1 billion goal, approved by SMU trustees in September 2013. By that month, SMU had already surpassed its original goal of $750 million, and raised more than $785 million by October. Now, the campaign’s momentum will fuel the drive to a billion-dollar destination by December 2015. The new goal places SMU among the ranks of 34 distinguished private universities that have raised or are seeking at least that amount. Among them are Columbia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, the University of Chicago and the University of Southern California. Faculty Senate President Santanu Roy says thanks for scholarships supporting high-achieving students that “enhance the education of all.”
“That’s good company to be in,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner at the Summit. “We belong in this group.”
Summit participants soon learned, however, that there was even more reason to celebrate. As the Summit ended, Turner made an announcement that would rework the math of the campaign to date: Gerald J. Ford had just informed Turner that he was committing $15 million to fund a new research center at SMU, supporting a major new initiative to expand advanced computing and interdisciplinary research throughout the University. Ford, an SMU trustee and convening co-chair of the campaign, has a strong history of support for faculty research, as well as programs throughout the University.
Ford’s new gift brought the campaign total raised to more than $800 million, charting a clear path to the finale – $200 million in the next two years.
“The campaign has achieved remarkable results that can be seen in our impressive gains throughout the University,” said Board Chair and campaign co-chair Caren Prothro. “But its momentum tells us that much more can be accomplished.” GOALS EXPAND
“We are focused on what needs to be done,” Turner continued. “Going to a billion dollars enables us to adopt new goals to accelerate our progress.” At the Volunteer Summit, campaign leaders outlined the goals:
Increase the number of new scholarships from 472 to 500. SMU not only wants the best students to choose the University but also wants them to graduate with minimal indebtedness, keeping SMU an outstanding value in private higher education.
Increase the number of endowed faculty positions from 100 to 110. These positions attract accomplished faculty with active research agendas who are nationally and globally competitive. Faculty and academic leadership positions targeted for endowments are in areas such as entrepreneurship, biostatistics, science and technology law, the impact of the arts on communities, art history and theological studies. Academic programs earmarked for new endowments and operational support represent areas of growing importance to the region and nation, among them energy management, public policy, interdisciplinary studies, cyber security, arts research and K-12 school leadership.
Complete funding of 15 major capital projects, among them the renovation of Fondren Library Center and Bridwell Library in Perkins School of Theology, the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center, Moody Coliseum and the construction of the five-hall Residential Commons complex. “To date SMU has added more than 125,000 square feet of academic space alone, not counting renovation of existing facilities,” Trustee and Co-chair Ray L. Hunt reported at the Summit.
The campaign also seeks to reach 25 percent alumni giving per year and 50 percent over the course of the campaign, the latter already having reached 51.1 percent. For the year ending May 31, 2013, SMU neared its annual alumni giving goal, reaching 24 percent. Rates of alumni giving are one measurement used by national ranking organizations in evaluating universities nationwide. REACHING NEAR AND FAR
The Second Century Campaign is led by five co-chairs: convening co-chair Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, with Ruth Altshuler ’48, Ray L. Hunt ’65, Caren H. Prothro and Carl Sewell ’66. They lead a 19-member Campaign Leadership Council and nearly 40 Steering Committees. The Committee co-chairs spearhead various fundraising efforts, such as those for each school, the libraries, athletics and student life. At the Summit, trustee and co-chair Carl Sewell outlined a new campaign structure, including the addition of four SMU trustees to the Campaign Leadership Council: Paul B. Loyd Jr. ’68, Bobby B. Lyle ’67, David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83. Also new is an Alumni Campaign Steering Committee, chaired by Alumni Board President Leslie Melson ’77. Members are being recruited to focus on increasing the annual rate of alumni giving.
A new regional strategy for the campaign will focus on Texas and its more than 70,000 SMU alumni. Trustees Michael Boone ’63, ’67 of Dallas, Scott McLean ’78 of Houston, and Richard Ware ’68 of Amarillo will lead the Texas regional effort. The strong work of the Campaign Steering Committees in Houston, led by Scott McLean ’78 and Dennis Murphree ’69, and Fort Worth, led by Albon Head ’68, ’71 and Stephen Tatum ’76, will contribute to this regional strategy.
“At critical times in Dallas’ history, the city has been transformed by decisions that resulted in world-class assets for our community,” Boone said in support of SMU’s $1 billion goal. “Among these are an airport that serves as a global hub, a thriving arts district, a distinguished medical school producing Nobel laureates and a vibrant business community. Our new campaign goal signals the unequivocal commitment to join the list of milestones that have changed our community and its impact on the world.”
Regional fundraising efforts will be led by Tim Moen ’74 and Jim White ’82 (Midwest); Jim MacNaughton ’72, ’73 (Northeast); Marty Flanagan ’82 (Southeast); and Liz Armstrong ’82 and Trustee Ed Wilson (West). These leaders will continue to work with the co-chairs of the 10 leadership city Campaign Steering Committees. These efforts are led by co-chairs: Tim ’74 and Paulette Moen ’75, and Jim ’82 and Becky White ’82 (Midwest-Chicago); Paul ’86 and Sheri Diemer ’86 (Midwest-St. Louis); Jim MacNaughton ’72, ’73 (Northeast-New York City) and Ann Cole ’63 (Northeast-Washington, D.C.); Marty ’82 and Jennifer Flanagan ’82 (Southeast- Atlanta); Liz ’82 and Trustee Bill Armstrong ’82 (West-Denver); Marion and Roger Palley, Kelly ’78 and Kevin Welsh, and Leslie ’81 and Trustee Ed Wilson (West-Los Angeles); and David Cush ’82, ’83 (West-San Francisco). IMPACT: COUNTING THE WAYS
To date, the campaign has raised funds for 472 new scholarships; 24 academic programs, such as two newly named schools and several institutes and centers; 34 endowed faculty positions, bringing SMU’s total to 96; and five capital projects, including new or expanded facilities for academic
programs and athletics. Student Body President Ramon Trespalacios says he is inspired by the work of campaign volunteers and “can’t wait to give back.”
In another measure of impact, the average SAT score of entering students has risen from 1144 in 1999 to 1302 in 2013, thanks to increasing resources for scholarships. “The return on investment for scholarships is too great to let this moment pass,” Turner said at the Summit. Also increasing is SMU’s diversity, with minority enrollment now at 25 percent of the total student body. And a record number of international students makes up 13 percent of the
fall 2013 enrollment.
Among those outstanding students is senior Ramon Trespalacios, student body president, who made remarks at the Summit. “You are an inspiration,” he told the volunteers. “I can’t wait to graduate and give back to SMU.”
Faculty Senate President Santanu Roy of the Department of Economics added his perspective. “Dallas will have one of the best universities in the world, and that university will be SMU.” He said it has become evident that “high-achieving students enhance the education of all students. Thank you from the faculty.”
Thus far 58,159 donors have made one or more gifts to the campaign. This includes 467 who have given $100,000 or more, and 124 who have committed $1 million or more, a record high for SMU.
At the Volunteer Summit, one of SMU’s longest-serving leaders, Ruth Altshuler, reminded her colleagues that she entered the University during World War II and has been an SMU trustee for 46 years. “With the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and all that we are accomplishing with this campaign, we are into the stratosphere. A billion dollars – here we come!”
A new $15 million commitment has been made as the lead gift to construct a campus research center supporting SMU’s goal to expand advanced computing and interdisciplinary research throughout the University. The gift is from Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69 and Kelli O. Ford and The Gerald J. Ford Family Foundation. The commitment brings to over $800 million the amount raised to date by SMU’s Second Century Campaign. President R. Gerald Turner thanks Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69 for his lead gift to construct a new research center.
The new building will support research facilitated by SMU’s high-performance computing capabilities, among other projects. It also will be the home of the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, established in May 2012 through a gift from the Dedman family and Foundation. The building will be located at McFarlin and Airline.
Establishment of the Gerald J. Ford Research and Innovation Building joins other advancements SMU is implementing to support its accelerated research initiative. Among them is completion of a new University data center, a companion building under construction south of Mockingbird Lane. Technology in the new building will enable SMU’s high-performance computing capacity to grow from 2,000 to more than 10,000 CPUs. Other actions to promote research include raising support for new endowed faculty chairs and other faculty with active research agendas, along with increasing opportunities for undergraduate research.
“The new Gerald J. Ford Research and Innovation Building will help to transform the research and educational landscape of SMU,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Students must be prepared for a
world in which data analyses, modeling and visualization are critical decision-making tools, while faculty continue to push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation. Gerald Ford’s new gift continues his tradition of strong support for faculty research.”
In 2003 Ford established the Gerald J. Ford Research Fellows program at SMU, which annually honors outstanding faculty members with funding to support their research and creative endeavors. By providing the lead gift for the Mustangs’ football stadium in 1997, Ford revitalized the campus experience for athletes, other students and supporters. He also supports student scholarships.
It is expected that availability of the Research Center will encourage more faculty to use high-performance computing and attract greater levels of external research funding. SMU aspires to increase its current $20 million in research activity annually to $50 million per year. In addition, high-performance computing will apply directly to the undergraduate curriculum in several disciplines.
Projects that will benefit from the Ford Research and Innovation Building and expanded high-performance computing include those in biology and chemistry, aiding the development of new drugs to treat life-threatening diseases. In business, advanced computing will support accurate simulations and forecasts of changes in financial markets and consumer behavior. Projects in computer science and engineering also will include forecasting behavior of complex networks, and research in the arts will be aided by improved digital imagery and sound. In statistical science, high-performance computing will support comparisons of DNA/RNA sequences in the human genome to identify sources of genetic disorders.
“Over the years, I have seen firsthand the contributions made by our faculty through their research,” says Ford, a member of the SMU Board of Trustees, former Board chair and the convening co-chair of the Second Century Campaign. “I am pleased to provide them with the next essential asset they need to continue their achievements.”
Gerald J. Ford is one of the nation’s most accomplished financial services executives. Over the past 35 years, he has acquired, managed and sold banking businesses and other financial services companies, including First United Bank Group Inc., First Gibraltar Bank, FSB, Golden State Bancorp and Pacific Capital Bancorp. He serves as chair of Hilltop Holdings Inc., which acquired in 2012 PlainsCapital Corporation, and is the co-general partner and principal investor in Ford Financial Fund II, L.P.
Ford earned a B.A. in economics from Dedman College in 1966 and a J.D. from Dedman School of Law in 1969. He received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995 and the Mustang Award in 1997 honoring significant contributions to the University.
Ford is a member of the Executive Board of Dedman School of Law. He is a past member of the executive boards of Cox School of Business, Dedman College and the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies.
Anita and Truman Arnold have given $5 million toward construction of the Dining Commons in SMU’s new Residential Commons complex. Opening in fall 2014, the Anita and Truman Arnold Dining Commons facility joins five new residence halls and a parking garage. The complex will accommodate 1,250 students and several faculty members in a shared campus community.
“This dining facility will be the centerpiece of our new Residential Commons complex and will be an important element of the campus experience for countless present and future students,” says President R. Gerald Turner.
The new Residential Commons complex is located in the southeast quadrant of the campus adjacent to Ford Stadium and Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. The addition of the residential facilities will enable SMU to implement a new requirement that sophomores, as well as first-year students, live on campus. The new complex is part of a larger SMU initiative to establish a residential commons living-learning model that will include renovation of six current residence halls as residential commons. On-campus living beyond the first year has been linked to higher student retention rates at universities offering this benefit.
“By including facilities for live-in faculty members, who also will have offices and teach classes in the Residential Commons, this complex will provide students with an integrated academic and living experience,” says Paul W. Ludden, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs.
“This model supports a strong residential community with a balance between academic and social aspects of campus life,” adds Lori S. White, vice president for student affairs. “Each commons
will develop activities and traditions that build a sense of community and encourage lasting ties among the student residents.”
All students and faculty living in the five residential units of the complex will share meals in the Anita and Truman Arnold Dining Commons, which will be open to other students as well. The 29,658-square-foot dining commons will have a seating capacity of 500.
Truman Arnold is founder of Truman Arnold Companies, which he started in 1964 in Texarkana and is one of the nation’s largest privately owned petroleum marketing firms. In 1995 Truman and Anita Arnold acquired First National Bank of New Boston, a $55 million community bank. The name was changed to Century Bank and grew to $1.4 billion when it was sold in 2008 to Wells Fargo. They are co-partners in TA Capital, a family private equity firm.
Truman Arnold has served as chair of the board of directors for Texarkana College and Texarkana College Foundation, president of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce and member of the Lamar University board of regents. Anita Arnold serves on the boards of SMU’s Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series, the AT&T Performing Arts Center and Baylor Health Care System Foundation, among others.
The Arnolds donated land for the recent relocation of Texas A&M University-Texarkana. Their support of higher education includes the SMU President’s Scholars program, scholarships at Texas A&M-Texarkana and the Student Center at Texarkana College.
“We have a deep appreciation for higher education in our state and its impact on students,” says Truman Arnold. “We focus our efforts on projects and organizations that enhance the student experience.”
Music aficionados know the ritual.As student musicians in SMU’s Meadows Symphony Orchestra take their seats on stage, the audience quiets and the lights dim. Maestro Paul Phillips steps onto the podium and lifts his baton, and the orchestra begins to play. Meadows Symphony Director Paul Phillips and donor Martha Raley Peak at the gift presentation in September.
Now, Phillips has the added distinction of being the first holder of the Martha Raley Peak Endowed Centennial Chair and Director of the Meadows Symphony Orchestra. The endowment is funded by a $2 million gift from the Preston Peak family.
“As we thank the Peak family for this generous centennial gift, it is important to note that the School of Music was one of SMU’s first four schools at its opening in 1915,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Since then, generations of gifted musicians have sharpened their talents here, then shared them with audiences worldwide. This gift ensures that this important legacy will continue.”
The Martha Raley Peak Endowed Centennial Chair and Director of the Meadows Symphony Orchestra is one of three endowed centennial faculty positions in Meadows School of the Arts. Special centennial faculty positions include annual funding to support the faculty position while the endowment matures, providing an immediate impact on the University. The $2 million gift counts toward the $1 billion goal of the Second Century Campaign, which to date has raised more than $800 million.
A musician, arts leader and patron, Martha Raley Peak was a choral singer, violinist and pianist while at SMU. Selected as a charter member of Pi Kappa Lambda music honor society, she graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Music degree.
A member of the Highland Park Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir since 1948, she also performed with the Dallas Civic Chorus from 1962 to 1973 and various other choirs.
A leader in Dallas’ arts community, Peak serves on numerous boards, including the Dallas Opera Board of Directors and the Meadows School of the Arts Executive Board. In addition, she is a member of Pro Musica, which re-creates vocal music from the Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Peak attends SMU’s performing arts programs, and Martha and Preston Peak have contributed to scholarships for Meadows School students as well as to the Meadows Symphony Orchestra.
“Music teaches discernment, dedication and attention to detail,” says Martha Peak. “It impacts the ways our brains develop and function and is a universal language. I am thrilled and honored to support the training of young student musicians by endowing this position.”
A 1974 SMU music graduate, Phillips joined the Meadows School in 1996 after earning his Master of Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He served as music director of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra and was professor of music at the University of Connecticut. He also served as assistant conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
As conductor he has recorded new works for compact disc release, taught master conducting classes around the world and received critical acclaim as guest conductor of internationally renowned symphonies, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Phillips directs the Master’s degree program in conducting in Meadows’ Music Division and, as a teacher, closely works with 125 student musicians from all over the world in the Meadows Symphony Orchestra.
The orchestra performs concerts in Caruth Auditorium at SMU and at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. New this year is a concert at the Dallas City Performance Hall for the “Meadows in the Community” series. In addition, the orchestra annually collaborates with the Meadows Opera Theatre and the Meadows Dance Ensemble. The orchestra also has participated in world premiere performances. Meadows Symphony Orchestra alumni are members of orchestras throughout the world, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Chicago, San Francisco, Paris, London and Tokyo.
“The artistic community at Meadows is one of the most amazing things in this country,” Phillips says. “There is a sense of extremely high artistic standards along with true caring about the students. This is the type of school where students don’t get lost – we challenge and nurture them at the same time.”
(From left) Ross Perot Jr., Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83, Leah Fullinwider and Jerome M. Fullinwider with the certificate honoring the creation of the Fullinwider Endowed Centennial Chair in Music.
A $2 million gift from SMU Trustee Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83 and Ross Perot Jr., in honor of Sarah’s mother, Leah Fullinwider, has established an endowed centennial chair in music performance at Meadows School of the Arts, the first centennial position in the Meadows School.
“The arts are vital to our community, and we are proud that SMU is leading the way in preparing artists for careers that will help keep the arts relevant for future generations,” says Sarah Perot. “We are delighted to lend our support to these efforts through this new centennial chair in honor of my mother, who studied both piano and organ and has had a lifelong love of classical music.”
This is the second centennial chair established by the Perots. The first, established in 2011 in the Cox School of Business, honored Sarah’s father, Jerome M. Fullinwider. In addition to serving SMU as a trustee, Sarah Perot is co-chair of the Campaign Steering Committee for the Meadows School. Ross Perot Jr. is a former member of the SMU Board of Trustees.
The SMU cross country team placed first and captured the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Madison, Connecticut.
The championship was the fifth in the past six years (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013) and third straight for the Mustangs. The previous four conference titles came in Conference USA.
Six Mustang runners earned all-conference honors and finished as the team with 29 points, beating second-place Louisville by 32 points. Rounding out the top five was UConn, UCF and Rutgers.
Head Coach Cathy Casey earned Coach of the Year honors, garnering her fifth accolade since her arrival on the Hilltop.
SMU’s experimental physics group played a pivotal role in discovering the Higgs boson – the particle that proves the theory for which two scientists received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics. SMU physicist Ryszard Stroynowski (right) explains an aspect of the ATLAS Experiment to James Quick, associate vice president for research at SMU and dean of graduate studies.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize to theorists Peter W. Higgs of Scotland and François Englert of Belgium to recognize their work developing the theory of what is now known as the Higgs field, which gives elementary particles mass.
The Nobel citation recognizes Higgs and Englert “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.”
In the 1960s, Higgs and Englert, with other theorists, published papers introducing key concepts of the theory of the Higgs field. In 2012, scientists on the international ATLAS and CMS experiments, performed at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Europe, confirmed this theory when they announced the discovery of the Higgs boson.
“A scientist may test out a thousand different ideas over the course of a career. If you’re fortunate, you get to experiment with one that works,” says SMU physicist Ryszard Stroynowski, a principal investigator in the search for the Higgs boson. As the leader of an SMU Department of Physics team working on the experiment, Stroynowski served as U.S. coordinator for the ATLAS Experiment’s Liquid Argon Calorimeter, which measures energy from the particles created by proton collisions.
The University’s experimental physics group has been involved since 1994 and is a major contributor to the research, the heart of which is the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator on the border with Switzerland and France.
SMU joins nearly 2,000 physicists from U.S. institutions – including 89 universities and seven Department of Energy laboratories – that participate in the ATLAS and CMS experiments. The majority of U.S. scientists participating in LHC experiments work primarily from their home institutions, remotely accessing and analyzing data through high-capacity networks and grid computing.
The SMU High Performance Computing system is part of that grid and routinely runs data that contributed to the observation, Stroynowski says. “Much of the success of our small group in the highly competitive environment of a large international collaboration has been due to an easy access and superb productivity of the SMU High Performance Computing system,” he adds. “We used the HPC for fast data analyses and complex calculations needed for the discovery.”
The High Performance Computing Center will be expanded and relocated later this year to the new University Data Center under construction at the southern edge of the main campus.
SMU’s role in the Higgs discovery contributes to the University’s drive to expand research and enhance education, says James Quick, associate vice president for research at SMU and dean of graduate studies.
The discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN was the culmination of decades of work by physicists and engineers around the world. Contributors from SMU have made their mark on the project at various stages, including current Department of Physics faculty members Ryszard Stroynowski, Jingbo Ye, Robert Kehoe and Stephen Sekula. Faculty members Pavel Nadolsky and Fred Olness performed theoretical calculations used in various aspects of data analysis.
University postdoctoral fellows on the ATLAS Experiment have included Julia Hoffmann, David Joffe, Ana Firan, Haleh Hadavand, Peter Renkel, Aidan Randle-Conde and Daniel Goldin.
Significant contributions to ATLAS also have been made by SMU faculty members in the Department of Physics’ Optoelectronics Lab, including Tiankuan Liu, Annie Xiang and Datao Gong.
“The discovery of the Higgs is a great achievement, confirming an idea that will require rewriting of the textbooks,” Stroynowski says. “But there is much more to be learned from the LHC and from ATLAS data in the next few years. We look forward to continuing this work.”
A high school student from Plano, Texas, under the guidance of SMU biologist Johannes H. Bauer, recently participated in a new study looking at the potential health benefits of organic versus non-organic food. Specifically, research conducted by Ria Chhabra and Bauer found that fruit flies fed an organic diet recorded better health outcomes than flies fed a non-organic diet. Ria Chhabra discusses her research with biologist Johannes Bauer in his lab.
“While these findings are certainly intriguing, we now need to determine why the flies on the organic diets did better, especially since not all the organic diets we tested provided the same positive health outcomes,” says Bauer, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences in Dedman College and principal investigator for the study.
To investigate whether organic foods are healthier for consumers, the lab utilized one of the most widely used model systems, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Because of the low costs associated with fly research and the fly’s short life cycle, researchers use fruit flies to study human diseases – from diabetes to heart function to Alzheimer’s disease.
Fruit flies on organic diets showed improvements on the most significant measures of health, namely fertility and longevity. “We don’t know why the flies on the organic diet did better,” says Chhabra, who led the experiment. “That will require further research. But this is a start toward understanding potential health benefits.”
Chhabra sought to conduct the experiments after hearing her parents discuss whether it’s worth it to buy more expensive organic foods to achieve possible health benefits.
Bauer mentored Chhabra by helping guide and design her research experiments. The research focus of Bauer’s fruit fly lab is nutrition and its relationship to longevity, health and diabetes.
The Bauer lab fruit flies were fed organic and nonorganic produce purchased from a leading national grocery retailer. The flies were fed extracts made from organic and conventional potatoes, soybeans, raisins and bananas. They were not fed any additional nutritional supplements. The researchers tested the effects of each food type independently and avoided any confounding effects of a mixed diet.
The findings have been published in the open access journal PLOS One. Bauer and Chhabra co-authored the paper with Santharam Kolli, a research associate at SMU. The Bauer lab results come at a time when the health effects of organic food are widely debated. Previous studies have yielded conflicting results as reflected in the scientific literature. While several studies have shown elevated nutrient content and lower pesticide contamination levels in organic food, a recent publication reporting a large-scale analysis of all available studies concluded no clear trend was apparent.
Baur urges caution, however, in jumping to conclusions about their study results. “We need to understand what causes these health differences first before attempting to extrapolate the results to humans.” – Margaret Allen
R. Gerald Turner President
As you read in this magazine about our new campaign goal of $1 billion, you may well ask, “Why”? Since we exceeded our original goal of $750 million in summer 2013, ahead of our 2015 target date, why not stop now, thank our donors for their generosity and celebrate the achievement?
One answer, of course, is that success can breed further success. Our new goal derives from the tremendous speed, breadth and level of giving we have enjoyed to date. Our donors are responding enthusiastically to The Second Century Campaign, fueling our unprecedented momentum. In this atmosphere of “can do” for SMU, we know that there are potential new donors who will answer the call to give, as well as longtime donors who will continue their support.
Donors are embracing our goals to complete funding for important projects improving our libraries, health center, and academic and athletics facilities. They want us to hire and retain the best faculty and explore new opportunities, such as establishing centers of expertise in areas ranging from cyber security to economic freedom. And they support our continuing commitment to provide scholarships, so that all students worthy of an SMU education can indeed afford
to study here. For those students and the faculty who inspire them, we can and must do more. You’ll read more about our new and continuing goals in this SMU Magazine.
And the time is right. Our centennial era, 2011-2015, gives us the opportunity to reaffirm boldly and publicly our founding vision and carry it forward. Our donors have become the next generation of University builders for our second century of achievement.
A pragmatic question is, “If not now, when?” With a billion-dollar goal, SMU is among 34 private universities that have sought or are seeking that amount or more. If we chose not to join this distinguished group, we would be failing to fulfill the potential that presents itself to us now. And it would take another 10 years of planning and cultivating to reach a similar intersection of opportunity. Our founders had a bold vision when they established SMU, and we are committed to continuing that tradition.
We’re moving on with our fundraising so that SMU can continue moving forward. Thanks to all who have brought us to this new milestone, and to those who will join in the days and months ahead. R. Gerald Turner
President
SOPHOMORE AVERY ACKER ALSO GARNERS ALL-AMERICAN AND ALL-REGION HONORABLE MENTIONS
Janelle Giordano Caroline Young Avery Acker
Sophomore Avery Acker was named Setter of the Year in the American Athletic Conference, one of five Mustangs to earn all-conference honors after leading SMU to a 22-9 record and a second-place finish during the inaugural season of the league.
Acker was joined on the first team by junior outside hitter Caroline Young and freshman middle blocker Janelle Giordano.
With 1,199 assists this season, Acker became the sixth player in SMU history with 1,000 during a season, averaging 11.21 per set. She led the league in conference matches, averaging 11.56 per set with a league-high 728. She also had 264 digs, finishing with a team-high 12 double-doubles, including a career-high 17 digs with 51 assists in a four-set win at Rutgers. She eclipsed 50 assists five times this season, with a career-high 57 in a four-set win against Davidson.
Acker also was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I All-Southeast Region team, marking the fifth straight year an SMU player has been selected. The sophomore setter earned honorable mention and was one of just four American Athletic Conference players honored among the 10 region.
In addition, she became the fourth player in program history to earn All-America status, earning honorable mention to the 2013 AVCA All-America team. The sophomore setter joins Dana Powell, Kendra Kahanek and current-player Caroline Young, as Mustangs to earn All-American honors, and was one of just two players from the American Athletic Conference to earn the award this season.
Young earned her third all-conference award, earning first-team honors last season after being named to the All-Freshman team in 2011. She ranked second in conference matches with 3.51 kills per set, and was eighth in the league with a .318 attack percentage. Young had at least 10 kills 23 times, including 14 of 18 conference matches. She had four double-doubles, finishing with 167 digs, and had 73 blocks. She was also named conference Player of the Week a league-best four times this season.
Giordano led the team and ranked sixth in the league with a .308 attack percentage, and hit .320 in conference matches, ranking seventh. She averaged 1.19 blocks per set in league play, ranking sixth, and finished the season with 113 total blocks, including a season-high eight against San Francisco. Giordano also scored 219 kills, and had at least 10 in a match four times.
Abbey Bybel
Cailin Bula Cailin Bula and Abbey Bybel were named to the second team, as voted on by the league’s coaches.
Bybel finished second on the team with 268 kills, finishing with at least 10 in 14 matches, including eight league matches. She ranked 15th in the league, averaging 2.68 kills per set in conference matches, and had three double-doubles, recording a career-high 15 digs at Temple. She had 212 digs, third on the team, and 37 blocks.Bula recorded 232 kills, reaching double figures in a match 12 times, and led the conference in aces per set. She had 29 on the season, and was tied for the league-lead with 21 in conference matches. Bula had a career-high 17 kills at home against South Florida, and finished with 15 against Davidson. She also had 74 digs and 42 blocks.SMU played home games at the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports while Moody Coliseum was being renovated. The Mustangs will return to the updated arena for the 2014 season.
SMU biomechanics experts have teamed with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to study the practice of player flopping in basketball and other sports. The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study. Peter Weyand
Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls.
The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping.
“The issues of collisional forces, balance and control in these types of athletic settings are largely uninvestigated,” says SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who leads the research team.
The objective of the research is to investigate the forces involved in typical basketball collisions, says Weyand, associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
Other members of the research team include engineer and physicist Laurence Ryan; Kenneth Clark, doctoral student in the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory; and mechanical engineer Geoffrey Brown.
The research findings conceivably could contribute to video reviews of flopping and the subsequent assignment of fines, Weyand says. “It may be possible to enhance video reviews by adding a scientific element, but we won’t know this until we have the data from this study in hand.”
By Patricia Ward
Tyrell Russell, a sophomore Hunt Leadership Scholar from Riviera Beach, Florida, planned on taking an organic chemistry course over the summer. Instead, he embarked on “the trip of a lifetime” with fellow SMU students Katie Bernet, Melanie Enriquez and Prithvi Rudrappa. In June they met up with a group of volunteers led by former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush ’68 for a weeklong renovation of a cervical cancer screening and treatment center in Livingstone, Zambia. A group of volunteers organized by the George W. Bush Institute helped renovate the cervical cancer screening and treatment center in Livingstone, Zambia, shown above. Among the volunteers were (left to right) Pam Jackson, SMU junior Prithvi Rudrappa, Carolyn Creekmore, Professor Eric G. Bing, SMU sophomores Tyrell Russell and Melanie Enriquez, and SMU junior Katie Bernet.
Immersed in a situation in which limited material resources and a patriarchal culture have blocked progress in the past, the students witnessed the power of a community’s boundless determination bolstered by its international partners’ resolve to improve medical care. As hands-on participants in the clinic overhaul, the students not only assisted with a lifesaving project, but they also found new purpose as they continue their educations at SMU.
“The experience gave me a new perspective,” says Russell, a double major in biology and philosophy in Dedman College. “It inspired me to explore the humanities side of medicine, including the cultural barriers that prevent people from seeking treatment.”
The students were recommended for the project by their respective schools or programs. After submitting applications, they were interviewed by Eric G. Bing, who traveled with them to Africa. Bing, professor of global health in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, serves as senior fellow and director for global health at the Bush Institute. The Bush Institute paid all expenses, except for students’ vaccinations and malaria pills.
In Africa, the students worked with local Zambians, U.S. Embassy officials and Bush Institute staff – including SMU alumna Hannah Abney ’02, director of communications for the Bush Institute – on the Mosi-Oa-Tunya Clinic. The clinic is part of Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon, the George W. Bush Institute’s flagship global health program. The public-private partnership focuses on cervical cancer prevention, screening and treatment, as well as breast and cervical cancer education efforts, in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. SMU junior Prithvi Rudrappa takes five with a group of children on a soccer field in Simoonga, a village near Livingstone, Zambia. Photo by Katie Bernet.
Cervical cancer is a growing public health concern in Africa. According to the World Health Organization, Zambia has the highest cervical cancer mortality rate globally, with 38.6 deaths per 100,000 women.
When the students arrived June 21, major construction had already been completed on the clinic, so the students pitched in on the finishing details, including interior and exterior painting and floor installation. The Bush Institute’s humanitarian project not only improved a critical medical resource, but it also created a cross-cultural bridge, says Enriquez, a Hunt Leadership Scholar from Corpus Christi, Texas.
“Working alongside Zambians daily during the renovation and speaking with the women at an operating cervical cancer clinic were priceless experiences,” says Enriquez, a sophomore on the pre-medical track in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. “Even though we have lived completely different lives on opposite sides of the world, in most cases, we shared the same core values of family, faith and education.”
The extraordinary opportunity “showed me that learning should not be limited to the classroom,” she says. “I will now seek more opportunities, such as a study abroad program, to enhance my academic experience.” SMU sophomore Melanie Enriquez says the volunteer experience in Zambia made her realize “learning should not be limited to the classroom.” Photo by Katie Bernet.
Rudrappa also has set his sights on a health-related career, which he is now considering in a global context. The son of a primary care physician in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Rudrappa began working at hospitals as a high school student. He spent summers in facilities as varied as a small clinic in rural Missouri and an urban medical center in Detroit.
Working in Zambia “made me realize what a powerful health-care tool education can be, which has inspired me to get involved in shaping global health policy,” says Rudrappa, a junior Dedman College Scholar studying biochemistry and finance in the Cox School of Business.
He is now assisting Bing with a project to determine the costs and efficiencies of scaling up cervical cancer screening and treatment in Tanzania, Botswana and Zambia, countries included in the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative.
For Russell, a trip to a nearby village was a defining moment. “I was so impressed by the residents’ ingenuity and resourcefulness. They were able to find value in the smallest things,” he says. “It made me more appreciative of things that we often take for granted, like our health and family.”
The trip influenced Bernet, a junior advertising and photography major in Meadows School of the Arts, to visualize her future in broader terms. “I know that I want to do something that makes me feel the way I did during that trip,” she says, “like I’m a part of something that matters.”
Bernet, now a marketing and communications intern with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, used her photography talents for a project to highlight the women’s lives outside the medical setting.
“We distributed 19 disposable cameras and asked the women to take pictures of what they felt were the most important aspects of their lives,” she explains.
Most of the women photographed their children, families and homes, she says. “I have pictures of myself when I was young posing in the same way that a Zambian girl is posing in one of the photographs. We face vastly different circumstances, but underneath it all, we are very much the same.”
Hannah Abney recommends that students interested in global health and other Bush Institute focuses apply for internships.
“Because the Bush Center sits on the SMU campus, SMU students have a unique opportunity to volunteer and intern for projects that few other students have access to,” she says. “Whether it’s in global health or any of the other Bush Institute focus areas – including education, military service, women’s issues, human freedom and economic growth – one of the most exciting elements of the work is exposing SMU students to new and different ideas, and learning from them as well.” Read about other SMU students making a difference around the world on the SMU Adventures blog site.
By Patricia Ward
An Academy Award-winning film by alumnus William Joyce ’81 wrapped adult emotions in a magical tale that speaks to audiences of all ages. Another alumnus, Travis Tygart ’99, led an investigation that revealed consistent doping by cyclist Lance Armstrong. And alumna NoViolet Bulawayo ’07 won international praise and a Man Booker Prize nomination for her provocative first novel.
Although the alumni have earned fame in diverse fields, they share an appreciation for the SMU faculty members who recognized and nurtured their talents.
“If you’re lucky, you get a couple of teachers that sort of get you and say ‘you might really succeed,’ and that happened at SMU,” Joyce said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News October 25. “There was a really nice group of teachers that put up with all my shenanigans and encouraged this crazy bunch of enthusiasms that I was hell-bent on merging.”
As a measure of the University’s impact, the trio’s accomplishments set a gold standard that also is being met by thousands of other successful graduates around the globe. Following are stories of their internationally recognized achievements and how their SMU student experiences helped set the trajectory of their futures. Painting A Global Picture
In her remarkable first novel, We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo speaks in a 21st-century voice as she weaves a global generation’s immigration story. Lauded by literary critics worldwide, she became the first black African woman – and the first writer from Zimbabwe – to be shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize this year. She also was the only debut novelist on the list. Among those praising Bulawayo’s work was Michiko Kakutani, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times. In a review published May 15, she called the novel “deeply felt and fiercely written” and described Bulawayo’s powerful “pictorial language” as possessing “the indelible color and intensity of a folk art painting.”
Speaking to Publisher’s Weekly, Bulawayo said her book “is not fiction fiction … it’s very much born out of politics.” The author entwines the grim headlines of Zimbabwe’s recent history with the story of 10-year-old Darling and her group of young friends. After a government-sponsored relocation program obliterates her community and unravels her family, Darling is sent to live with an aunt in the United States. As years pass and the girl becomes an Americanized teenager, Bulawayo captures the push and pull of the immigrant experience. No matter how comfortable Darling becomes in her adopted country, she feels the tug of her birthplace, a longing for home. Author NoViolet Bulawayo was the first writer from Zimbabwe to be shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.
Soon after the Booker nomination, Bulawayo was selected by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz for the National Book Foundation’s “5 Under 35” program, which honors young fiction writers tapped by past National Book Award honorees. As the fiction editor for the Boston Review, Díaz had published her short story, “Hitting Budapest,” which won the Caine Prize for African Literature in 2011. That story became the first chapter of We Need New Names.
Shortly after receiving the Caine Prize, Bulawayo talked with Shelley Strock ’07, a former SMU classmate, in an interview posted on the English Department blog. In the interview Bulawayo said she did not start taking her writing seriously until she enrolled at SMU. She credited English professors David Haynes, head of SMU’s creative writing program, and Beth Newman, director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program, with “getting her in line” as a student and giving her “the courage to go for it.”
Haynes did not have to wait for her book to know Bulawayo would become a literary sensation. While she was working toward her master’s degree in English, she participated in his undergraduate creative writing workshop. She had not yet adopted her pen name and was known as Elizabeth Tshele. From the first assignment she submitted to him, Haynes “knew this work was something special.
“The writing was extraordinary, not just for the quality but because of the depiction of the troubled lives of the characters in the story,” Haynes says.
Bulawayo, now a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, continued working with him for another year, producing a creative thesis for her master’s degree. In that “impressive body of fiction, she began her exploration of some of the characters and situations that eventually became We Need New Names,” Haynes says.
The novel is “stunning, deserving of all its accolades,” he says. “By reinventing the story of the relationship between immigrants/emigrants and their homes, NoViolet has made a significant contribution to the world of fiction.” THE ‘MISCHIEVIAN’
William Joyce – author, illustrator, filmmaker and self-proclaimed “rascal” – played a special role in the 2013 Homecoming celebration. He served as grand marshal of SMU’s book-themed Homecoming parade, a salute to the University’s Year of the Library. The recipient of a 2004 Distinguished Alumni Award, he also was honored along with other Centennial History Makers at the annual DAA dinner and ceremony. During the week, he also visited two elementary schools where he read from his books and delighted the youngsters with rollicking tales from his childhood.
And, at a free community event on campus, he showed his Oscar-winning animated short, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” A world like no other came to life before 350 children and adults as the dialogue-free movie combined humor, allusions to the “The Wizard of Oz” and Hurricane Katrina, and pathos. When the lights in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center theater went up, children and adults smiled and wiped away tears.
Less than 15 minutes long, the movie encapsulates Joyce’s mammoth creative powers. “Bill’s special gift is his ability to hold onto a sense of childhood wonder,” says Sean Griffin, chair of Film and Media Arts in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. Griffin led a question-and-answer session with Joyce after the screening. “He taps into that yearning in adults to come back to that mindset, to celebrate imagination and faith in magic.”
Joyce told the audience he had always “wanted to do something with flying books.” On a trip to New York to visit his ailing mentor, the late publisher Bill Morris, he wrote Morris Lessmore with his friend in mind.
Although it was originally planned as a book, it first became a movie, the debut film of Moonbot Studios, a multimedia startup he helped found in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. The Mischievians, William Joyce’s new book, is a field guide to the secret world of the Remote Toter, the Sock Stalker and other mischievous characters.
In a 2011 profile, The Atlantic called Moonbot Studios the “Pixar for the iPad age.” One of Moonbot’s latest projects, “The Scarecrow,” made headlines when it captured more than 7 million views on YouTube in September. Moonbot collaborated with Chipotle Mexican Grill on the short film and companion mobile game app that supports the restaurant chain’s “Food with Integrity” focus on responsible agriculture.
Joyce’s two latest books are The Mischievians, a pictorial guide to the sock thieves lurking in dryers and other mischief-makers, and The Sandman and the War of Dreams, the fourth chapter book in his The Guardians of Childhood series. They demonstrate the artistic versatility that he traces, in part, to his time as an
SMU student.
“I started taking journalism classes and worked for The Daily Campus. I learned how to tell a story quickly and succinctly,” he said. “In Meadows, all of the arts are in the same building. So you see it and feel it and soak it up. That fed my curiosity and imagination. It showed me that art does not have to have boundaries.” PLAYING FAIR AND SQUARE
As the chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) since 2007, Travis Tygart has taken on professional cycling’s Goliath – seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and his powerful entourage. Tygart’s thorough investigation of the athlete’s use of banned performance-enhancing substances over a period of years ended in Armstrong’s disgrace. The cyclist eventually admitted to doping, was stripped of his titles and banished from the sport. Tygart, who earned a Juris Doctor with Order of the Coif honors from SMU’s Dedman School of Law in 1999, was on campus August 26 for lectures on “Playing Fair and Winning: An Inside View on Ethics, Values and Integrity from the Lance Armstrong Case.” He talked to students and faculty at the law school and later spoke as the Delta Gamma Lecturer in Values and Ethics at an event co-sponsored by SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.
In introducing her former student, Julie Patterson Forrester, the law school’s interim dean, quoted TIME magazine, which named Tygart one of 2013’s 100 most influential people in the world: “No one would argue with the philosophy of doping-free sport, but few are willing to undertake the demanding work of identifying cheaters and imposing sanctions on them,” wrote Dick Pound, former chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. “Score one for the good guys.”
Tygart descibes USADA’s role as protecting “clean athletes who are frustrated by being tainted” by cheaters. His commitment to that mission kept the attorney going despite death threats – two men were indicted in July following an FBI investigation – and an organized campaign to discredit him and derail his inquiry. Travis Tygart talked about the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation of cyclist Lance Armstrong at a lecture on values and ethics at SMU.
An athlete with youngsters involved in team sports, Tygart said a “win at all costs” culture has hijacked athletics on every level – from parents giving their eight-year-old energy drinks for swim meets to Armstrong’s sophisticated doping operation. “Whether you’re an athlete or running a business or practicing law, if you build on a foundation of fraud, it is all going to come down at
some point.”
Tygart joined USADA “because I wanted something bigger than myself to commit to every day.” He previously practiced sports law with a firm in Colorado. He credits his SMU education with providing “a great foundation” for his current role.
“My professors taught me to want to be a good person,” he said. “I also got a sound legal education and great experience at the legal clinics. I wrote an anti-trust paper and Title IX paper, both of which got published. All of that was good preparation when an opportunity opened up for me in sports law.”
By Chris Dell ’11
On the third and final day of the 2013 NFLDraft, former SMU running back Zach Line ’13 was waiting at his home in Oxford, Michigan, to hear where his NFL career would begin. The first glimmer of hope came in the fifth round when Line received a phone call from an NFL coach telling him he would be the team’s next pick. But the team chose someone else. Another coach called with the same guarantee. Once again, Line was not selected. The same routine played out four more times throughout the draft, which ended with SMU’s most decorated running back since Eric Dickerson ’83 without a home.
Hours after that letdown, Line received a call from the Minnesota Vikings, and he accepted a rookie minimum contract as an undrafted free agent, facing long odds of making the team’s 53-man roster.
“You’ve got to trust coaches to make the right decisions,” Line says. “You see guys whom you’ve competed against get drafted, and you know you’re better. Once I got on the field, I thought I could make it.”
Currently, 10 SMU alumni are playing football in the NFL on Sundays. Some, such as Margus Hunt ’13 and Emmanuel Sanders ’10, were drafted early (second and third rounds, respectively). But many more have waited until the later rounds to find a team. A year before Line began his rookie journey, wide receiver Cole Beasley ’12 faced the same improbable odds when he entered the Dallas Cowboys training camp as an undrafted free agent. Beasley finished his career at SMU with the third most receiving yards and second most receptions in team history, but he was not expected to catch any passes in the NFL because of his 5-foot-8 stature.
However, Beasley made a name for himself as he fearlessly ran routes through the middle of the field, eluding defenders with his speed. He ended up making the Cowboys’ 53-man roster and catching 15 passes for 128 yards in the 2012 season. His former teammate, Aldrick Robinson ’11, who was drafted in the sixth round by the Washington Redskins a year earlier, broke out in 2012 with 237 yards and three touchdowns on 11 catches.
Many former SMU players now in the NFL, such as Beasley, Line, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Kelvin Beachum ’12 and Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darius Johnson, say they flew under the radar in college because of SMU’s lower national television exposure compared to schools in bigger athletic conferences. Nevertheless, head coach June Jones has been known in his six years on the Hilltop for grooming players who have succeeded in the NFL. One of the major changes Jones made when he came to SMU was creating an environment of personal accountability, where players are expected to practice and play with excellence and become hardworking men of integrity.
“A lot of players have their hands held throughout college, and when they get to the pros it’s a rude awakening,” says Jones, who played four years in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and later became their head coach for three seasons. “The way we treat players here is just like they’re treated in the pros. When we practice and when we meet together, we hold each other accountable. We coaches don’t yell, holler or scream, but everyone has to take care of his business if he’s going to play.”
Line was known as a player who took care of his business at SMU, and it was his work ethic and maturity that helped him beat improbable odds to make the Vikings’ final roster. He even started a game before suffering a season-ending injury in late September. Line hopes the injury is just a minor setback in the beginning of a long NFL career, one in which he could follow in the footsteps of other successful SMU graduates, such as New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead ’09, who won a Super Bowl in his rookie season in 2009 and made his first Pro Bowl in 2012.
By Susan White ’05
In September, when SMU announced that it had attracted an internationally recognized expert in cyber security to the faculty, as well as a scholar in international politics and national security, it was evident that the University was expanding research and teaching in areas critical to a global society. They are among several faculty who have joined SMU as endowed chairs in areas ranging from economic freedom to medieval studies. Endowments created through The Second Century Campaign provide permanent funding for scholarships, faculty positions, research opportunities, academic programs and facilities. With endowed faculty chairs, SMU can recruit top faculty and reward current faculty for outstanding research and teaching.
Normally, a gift designated for an endowed faculty position takes five years to become fully funded before an appointment can be made. But during The Second Century Campaign, the Board of Trustees established new centennial endowments in recognition of SMU’s 100th anniversary. These giving opportunities provide permanent funding as well as operational funds to initiate the faculty position or scholarship quickly. For example, Centennial Distinguished Chairs are endowed at $2.5 million, plus start-up funding of $1 million for the first five years to provide immediate support for the position and related research. Other funding levels create Centennial chairs and professorships.
To date, SMU has 96 substantially endowed faculty chairs. SMU’s Board of Trustees recently increased the targeted goal from 100 to 110 endowed faculty positions for the remaining two years of The Second Century Campaign. The number is significant because of what it tells the rest of the world about the University, including organizations that rank colleges and universities, says Linda Eads, associate provost for faculty affairs and Dedman School of Law professor.
“The best faculty in the country note if SMU is hiring for and growing its number of endowed chairs. It means that SMU is on the move academically and that our alumni and donors support our goals in this area. To attract the best faculty you have to match what other comparable institutions are offering, and endowed chair support enables us to do that. Raising funds for endowed chairs shows that we are going after the best and keeping the best.” Eads also notes that endowed chairs often attract external funding for their research, particularly in the sciences and engineering. “Most importantly, what they bring with them is their network and ability to bring us into the national discussion in a variety of areas,” she says. NAVIGATING CYBERSPACE
Joining a team already conducting research on cyber security in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering is Frederick R. Chang, the new Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security. Chang, whose career credentials include leadership positions in academia, business and government, will develop a multidisciplinary program aimed at tackling today’s most pressing cyber challenges. Centennial Distinguished Chair in Cyber Security Fred Chang (left) and benefactor Bobby B. Lyle.
Chang says he enjoys working toward something bigger than himself – a philosophy that carries over from his service at the National Security Agency and that he shares with SMU students. “There are some very difficult problems that the nation faces in cyber security,” he says. “I am confident that SMU, working with different partners, can make a difference at the national level.”
Chang will add to the research that Computer Science and Engineering faculty members Suku Nair, Mitch Thornton and Tyler Moore are conducting in network security. “What is required today is cyber security research that incorporates innovative thinking with consideration of people, processes and technology,” he says.
Chang’s Centennial Distinguished Chair is made possible by a financial commitment from SMU trustee and longtime benefactor Bobby B. Lyle ’67, for whom SMU’s engineering school is named. “Research will be significant under Dr. Chang’s leadership, but he also intends to teach courses that make information about cyber science and security accessible to students of all disciplines,” Lyle says. “That’s a tremendous gift, as understanding the rules in cyberspace becomes more important in our daily lives.”
Reflecting a trend toward greater interdisciplinary collaboration, Fred Chang is also a senior fellow in the John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies. EXAMINING FORCE AND WAR Joshua R. Rovner, the new John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair in International Politics and National Security
Looking at security issues from another angle is Joshua R. Rovner, the new John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair in International Politics and National Security, who aims to bring wide-ranging discussions on the use of force and war to SMU’s undergraduate program in political studies. He recently added to the conversation when he served as co-convener of the sixth annual Tower Center National Security Conference in October featuring senior defense officials, military officers and leading national security experts.
Rovner, who writes extensively on strategy and security, also has been named director of studies for the Tower Center and associate professor of political science in Dedman College. His research on terrorism and surprise attacks challenges conventional wisdom, and his writing confronts widely held beliefs about counterinsurgency and U.S. strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Before joining SMU, Rovner served as associate professor of strategy and policy at the U.S. Naval War College. He was attracted to SMU because of its commitment to undergraduate security studies, the national prestige of the Tower Center and the endowed chair. “The Tower Center is where undergraduates engage in meaningful debate over critical issues as they prepare for careers in public service,” he says. “It is a place to interact with faculty from across the University as well as public officials from the United States and abroad.” A DISTINGUISHED TRADITION
Chang and Rovner join a distinguished list of faculty members who have held endowed chairs since the University’s early years, names familiar to the thousands of alumni they taught. SMU’s first endowed chair was the E.A. Lilly Professorship of English, established in 1920 and then held by Jay B. Hubbell, who founded the Southwest Review. The chair was later held by beloved English professors Lon Tinkle and Marsh Terry ’53, ’54, and since 2006 by former SMU provost Ross C Murfin, a scholar on 19th- and 20th-century British literature.
Eads points to Latin American history scholar Kenneth Andrien, the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Chair in History, as another example of a recent appointment that attracted national attention.
“Last year there was a review of SMU’s Clements Department of History by faculty from UCLA, USC and Yale, and one of the first things they mentioned was SMU’s impressive faculty for Southwest and
Eads, who has been a professor of law at SMU for 27 years, finds there are now more faculty throughout the University who are known regionally and nationally. She cites Bill Dorsaneo, the Chief Justice John and Lena Hickman Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Dedman School of Law, as an example of “stellar endowed faculty: He’s considered one of the absolute experts on Texas litigation and civil procedure, and his book on the subject is widely used in Texas courtrooms.” STRENGTHENING PROGRAMS Hemang Desai, the Robert B. Cullum Professor of Accounting in the Cox School of Business Hemang Desai, the Robert B. Cullum Professor of Accounting in Cox School of Business since 2007, joined SMU in 1998. As a nationally recognized researcher on mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, short selling and financial reporting, he often is quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and The New York Times, among others. He also chairs an Accounting Department that has two other endowed chairs – Jody Magliolo, Distinguished Chair in Accounting, and Wayne Shaw, the Helmut Sohmen Endowed Professor in Corporate Governance. Endowed chairs have enabled the Business School to recruit top researchers and teachers at both the senior and junior faculty levels, Desai says.
“The chairs help to build a department and develop a culture that helps attract other top-quality faculty. This has a direct impact on the quality of education for our students. We are very fortunate to have donors who want to make a difference in the lives of our students and, by extension, help develop future leaders of business and industry.” Alyce McKenzie, the George W. and Nell Ayers LeVan Chair of Preaching and Worship in the Perkins School of Theology Alyce McKenzie, who has been at SMU since 1999, was appointed in 2011 to the George W. and Nell Ayers LeVan Chair of Preaching and Worship in Perkins School of Theology. The appointment signaled that “the University values as scholarship the fields of homiletics and liturgics, which are crucial to faith communities and bridge the distance between the academy and church. The chair will allow me to pursue my own passions in preaching and worship and to help re-energize the preaching and worship ministries of others,” she says.
(McKenzie also wryly notes that the chair was not just a title – she was actually given a chair. “It’s a beautiful captain’s chair with my name and the LeVan family’s name carved in the back. I sit in it every day.”)
Beyond the University, McKenzie is widely known in her field of homiletics, having written numerous books on preaching that focus on the wisdom literature of the Bible and, more recently, the role of creativity in preaching. She writes the blog Knack for Noticing that highlights “insights from everyday life that might spark ideas for sermons,” and the weekly column Edgy Exegesis, a reflection on the New Testament that attracts nearly 5,000 readers worldwide. REAL-WORLD PERSPECTIVES Tony Pederson, The Belo Foundation Endowed Distinguished Chair in Journalism, Meadows School of the Arts
Ultimately it’s the students who become the beneficiaries of what endowed faculty bring to the institution. Joining SMU in 2003 as The Belo Foundation Endowed Distinguished Chair in Journalism in Meadows School of the Arts, Tony Pederson brought perspectives based on 29 years with the Houston Chronicle, where he was managing editor and executive editor. An expert on media ethics and converging media, Pederson is a longtime activist on issues related to the First Amendment and international press freedom, especially in Latin America. Today he directs a journalism program that was strengthened in part through support from The Belo Foundation in Dallas. “It allowed us to build this terrific facility” that transformed the lower level of Umphrey Lee Center. It comprises three digital classrooms equipped with cable television and multimedia projection and a cutting-edge convergent media lab, among other resources.
The Belo gift also enabled Pederson to attract and support faculty who “are dedicated to the old-fashioned values of producing professional content and emphasizing reading, writing and editing. But they also teach students how to adapt to rapidly evolving methods for delivering news content – from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to social media venues such as Twitter.” Mark Vamos, the William J. O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism
The funding also allowed the SMU Journalism program to respond to specific market needs in Dallas through focus areas in fashion, business and sports journalism. The William J. O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism attracted longtime journalist Mark Vamos to SMU. His background includes serving as a reporter and editor at Business Week, Newsweek, SmartMoney.com and Fast Company magazine. As the first holder of the O’Neil Chair, Vamos designed and launched an interdisciplinary program with the Cox School of Business to prepare undergraduate students to become business journalists for print, broadcast and the web.
“After 25 years as a working business journalist, I had become convinced that too many people were entering the field with too little knowledge and understanding of business and economics, and that they often were not making up for this deficit in the course of their work,” Vamos says. “I wanted to do something about that. The O’Neil Chair represents the cornerstone of SMU’s commitment, not just to offer a business journalism course, but to establish an innovative interdisciplinary program that would help train the next generation of business journalists.”
Linda Eads believes that SMU’s strong current faculty have created the kind of environment that welcomes and attracts the caliber of faculty who are appointed to endowed chairs, who in turn have created new energy among the faculty. “Our faculty and endowed chairs are very active people. They are always seeking ways to connect things, organizing colloquia, programs, symposia,” she says. “They are doing what they love. As more endowed chairs come here, they stimulate the environment for everyone else.”
UPDATE:Tenor Juan José de Léon (Meadows, M.M. ’10) has been offered two roles next season with the world-renowned La Scala: Remendado in Carmen and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor. In addition, he has been offered roles in two Opéra de Paris productions: La Cenerentola in 2017 and Capriccio (date to be determined).
Dressed in a T-shirt and distressed gray jeans, Juan José de Léon ’10 stood at the front of the classroom, looking like a high-tech entrepreneur about to launch a new gadget. Instead, the tenor filled the air with a glorious thunder, the “big voice” that has earned him opera roles across the globe. Opera tenor Juan José de Léon ’10 sat in on a voice class taught by Virginia Dupuy during a visit to Meadows earlier this fall. Photo by Kim Ritzenthaler Leeson.
De Léon returned to SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts earlier this semester to catch up with former teacher Professor of Voice Virginia Dupuy and sit in on one of her classes. He and Dupuy met after he completed a bachelor’s degree in music at the University of North Texas in 2008 and was making the rounds to find the right program for the next stage of his training.
“I had one lesson with Virginia, and she had me singing in ways I hadn’t before,” he recalled. “We hit it off. We were a good fit.”
As the students sang their assigned pieces, de Léon listened intently. He offered words of praise – “such a good job of singing in character” – and some pointers – “really focus on your diction.” The students seemed a bit intimidated by his presence, but grateful for the rare opportunity to gain constructive feedback from a rising star on the international opera scene.
His recent visit to campus occurred during a break between engagements. His next stop was the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In October he made his debut with the Met in the American premiere of Two Boys, a new opera by Nico Muhly.
Having completed a two-year residency with the Pittsburgh Opera, de Léon calls Dallas home again. He is “pretty much booked up for the next two years,” with performances in Chicago, Atlanta, Stuttgart, Sydney and other cities in the United States and abroad. SMU Professor of Voice Virginia Dupuy at Two Boys with (from left) producer Will Trice (The Glass Menagerie, Porgy and Bess); SMU alumnus Stephen Hartley ’01, covering the role of the father in the opera; Juan de Léon, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of the Congressional Page in Two Boys; and entrepreneur Trey Pratt.
“I don’t have to live in New York; I just need to be close to a major airport,” he joked.
Earlier this year, he was a semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and performed in the American debut of “I Sing Beijing” at Lincoln Center. He spent the summer performing with the renowned Wolf Trap Opera Company in Virginia.
Among other accolades, de Léon was a winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition in 2010 and made his Dallas Opera debut in 2011 in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
As a Meadows graduate student, he participated in the Dallas Opera/SMU Emerging Artists Program, presenting the “Opera in a Box: Follow Your Dreams” touring arts program to schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Such programs, which introduce opera to new generations, are crucial to the future of opera, he said.
“Opera is very much alive,” he said. “Companies are finding new ways to bring in younger patrons. At Pittsburgh, we had an outreach program for younger children and performed for 3,000 kids. They went crazy; it was like a rock concert.
“It’s gratifying when audiences are so engaged,” he added. “Their enthusiasm is contagious; you give back even more when you perform.”
Michael Thomas ’06
With academic backgrounds in art, business, philosophy and psychology, the four SMU alumni seemed unlikely to have intersecting career paths. However, Michael Thomas ’06, Megan McCann ’99, Casey Parrott ’08 and Elizabeth Romo ’86 have found a common denominator in My Possibilities.
My Possibilities is a nonprofit educational day program for adults with special needs who have “aged out” and are no longer eligible for special education programs provided by school districts, explains Thomas, executive director of the five-year-old program.
The 11,200-square-foot facility in Plano is the first of its kind in Collin County, he says. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and provides year-round programs for about 140 students each day. Vocational training, independent living skills development and socialization opportunities prepare students for full lives in the community. Megan McCann ’99
For Thomas, McCann and Parrott, the path to My Possibilities started at SMU.
Thomas, who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from SMU’s Dedman College, worked with Special Olympics through his fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon. The volunteer experience helped steer him toward a career in the nonprofit sector. After graduation, he worked for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and other nonprofits in Texas and Nevada before joining My Possibilities.
McCann, a speech therapist, worked with Best Buddies International while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology at SMU. The volunteer organization promotes friendship with and employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Casey Parrott ’08
With a degree in studio art from Meadows School of the Arts, Parrott uses his artistic talents to help the students on several levels.
“We’re trying to teach them artistic skills to allow them to express who they are,” he says. “At the same time, it teaches interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and helps develop their motor skills.”
Romo has an even more personal connection to her work. “My husband and I have a 19-year-old child with a cognitive disorder, so that’s what really drew me to this organization,” she says.
She earned a B.B.A. from the Cox School of Business and worked in commercial real estate finance before leaving to raise three children. At the nonprofit, she specializes in resource development, using skills she honed over 17 years of volunteer service with various organizations. Elizabeth Romo ’86With the holidays approaching, the team is gearing up for its third North Texas Great Santa Run December 14 in Plano. In the spirit of the season, participants don Santa suits instead of event T-shirts for the 5K run or 1-mile walk. In addition to the run, there will be family-friendly entertainment, including a magic show by SMU alumnus Trigg Watson ’12.
“It’s more about the fun than the run,” Romo says.
About 4,000 people are expected at the event. All proceeds will benefit My Possibilities.
For Thomas, there’s an extra bit of pride involved when he thinks about sharing the experience with his fellow Mustangs.
“It has been gratifying to welcome more alumni to My Possibilities,” he says. “When a résumé comes across the table, it’s nice to think about extending our SMU family.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
Ashlee Hunt Kleinert ’88, the culinary entrepreneur behind Ruthie’s Rolling Café food trucks, connects her career trajectory to her University education. Ashlee Hunt Kleinert ’88
“I love knowing why something happened and all the things we can learn from the past: what we can repeat and what shouldn’t be repeated,” says Kleinert, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history from SMU and was a Dedman College Scholar.
She says lessons imparted by the late Glenn Linden, a favorite professor, still resonate with her today. “He taught me that history applies to everything and that we can use information gleaned from studying the past to shape the future.”
The analytical skills she developed as a student served her well in her latest venture. Kleinert started down the food truck route in 2010 when she contemplated their use at the charity galas and other large functions she designed through In Any Event, her special events planning company. After hearing more about food trucks at a national events conference, she was sold.
In an interview published in September in D CEO magazine, Kleinert admitted that her father, Ray L. Hunt ’65, was skeptical when she introduced her idea. Hunt, a well-known Dallas business and civic leader who serves on the SMU Board of Trustees, is now a huge fan.
The first Ruthie’s Rolling Café hit the streets of Dallas in 2011, just as the food-struck scene was gearing up. Kleinert’s grandmother inspired the name and the concept. Ruthie’s Rolling Café on campus
“My grandmother’s name was Ruth. We’d go to her house and stay up late and talk and make grilled cheese,” she says. “So, we started with grilled cheese because we were trying to think of something that appeals to everyone; we wanted to be nostalgic and comforting. And we’re not gourmet cooks, so it felt authentic and real.”
Ruthie’s made-to-order sandwiches cover the grilled-cheese spectrum from The Classic – American cheese on sourdough bread – to The Truffle Shuffle – roast beef, white truffle oil, arugula and mozzarella on sourdough bread.
Since the business took off, Kleinert has phased out In Any Event to focus her full attention on the expanding fleet. The busy mother of three also manages a nonprofit, Executives in Action, which she formed with husband Chris in 2009. The group connects transitioning business executives with nonprofits in need of their expertise.
In addition to the original pink-and-blue truck, there is Ruthie’s Rolling Café Too, which also serves grilled-cheese specialties, and Ruthie’s Rolling Crêperie, billed as “French cuisine, Texas style: big and hearty,” featuring sweet and savory crêpes.
The Ruthie’s trucks are regulars on the SMU campus as part of the Tuesday and Thursday food truck rotation, as well as Klyde Warren Park in downtown Dallas, the Truck Yard on Lower Greenville Avenue and other local hot spots.
“Every time we go out, it’s like a little mini event,” Kleinert says. “The creativity and variety – every day is different – really appeals to me.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
Specialty grocer Trader Joe’s gained fame with its “Two-Buck Chuck” wine deal, which SMU alumnus Scott Toalson ’85 helped create. After Scott Toalson ’85 helped create Trader Joe’s “Two-Buck Chuck,” he retired to his hometown of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Toalson played a key role in launching the popular vino while working for Bronco Wine Company in California. Trader Joe’s approached the vintner for a well-priced wine to sell in its stores, which were mainly located on the West Coast at the time. Bronco pegged its Charles Shaw label as filling the bill.
As the quality assurance lead, Toalson helped refine many details of the project, including the colors of the labels.
“I got lucky. I was at the right place at the right time,” he says. “When you do something you enjoy every day, it’s not really going to work.”
In 2002 Charles Shaw wines debuted in Trader Joe’s. Priced at $1.99 per bottle, the red and white varietals were hits and quickly gained the moniker “Two-Buck Chuck.” Although the price now hovers above its original “two bucks,” the wine remains among the supermarket chain’s best sellers. Since its introduction, more than 600 million bottles have been sold.
With its blockbuster introduction at Trader Joe’s, the value of the Charles Shaw label quadrupled, Toalson says. “I was offered two options: take a lump sum and stay on with the company or take an annuity with lifetime benefits,” he explains. He chose the annuity and headed back to his native Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to care for family members.
Toalson studied business management at the Cox School of Business and credits his SMU background with opening doors that led to the trajectory of his career. Bronco’s manager of development had a brother who graduated from SMU’s Perkins School of Theology, so she appreciated the value of an SMU education, he says. “I got hired because I went to SMU.”
A loyal Mustang, Toalson remembers first seeing the campus as a child while visiting an aunt in Highland Park and deciding SMU was the University for him.
“I’m very proud,” he says. “Everybody in town knows who I am because I drive down the avenue with my big ol’ SMU sticker.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
Political and corporate strategist Karen Hughes ’77 was honored with SMU’s 2013 Dedman College Distinguished Graduate Award October 10. Karen Hughes (left) with the Hon. Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, Texas House of Representatives, and SMU Trustee Jeanne Tower Cox ’78, who serves on the board of the Tower Center for Political Studies.
Named by The Associated Press as “perhaps the most influential woman ever to serve an American president,” Hughes earned bachelor’s degrees in English and journalism from SMU. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority.
Hughes’ ability to manage public policy, communications and politics helped brand George W. Bush’s “compassionate conservative” image, lending to the success of his gubernatorial campaigns beginning in 1994 and his subsequent campaigns for president.
From 2001-2002 Hughes served as strategic adviser to President Bush on policy and communications, managing all communications, speech writing and media affairs for the White House. She served as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from 2005-2007.
In accepting the award from Dedman College, Hughes called a liberal arts education “foundational” and credited SMU with preparing her for “working at the White House and in the State Department, representing our country around the world.
“What I learned here was the best possible preparation for those roles,” she said.
Two SMU professors, in particular, made a lasting impression. She spoke about the influences of the late Laurence Perrine and his English poetry class, where she “learned much more than word usage and rhyme,” and Joseph Tyson and his philosophy of religion course, where she “learned what motivates people to think and act as they do, invaluable training for the State Department.
“I don’t believe one specific thing that we talked about in those classes ever came up in a White House meeting, yet everything I learned in those classes prepared me for every White House meeting,” she said. “I learned how to think, evaluate arguments, test logic, analyze complex situations and use words in new and different ways to convey my thoughts and ideas effectively.”
Tyson, now SMU professor emeritus of religious studies, was among the guests at the awards luncheon.
Hughes said she was encouraged to “think, explore and discover” at SMU. “I am so grateful because that has made my entire life so much richer.”
Now based in Austin, Hughes is worldwide vice chair of the public relations and communications firm Burson-Marsteller, advising global business leaders on communications and branding strategies. She also serves on the board of SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College.
Hughes is the author of Ten Minutes From Normal (Viking, 2004), which highlights her time in the inner circle of President George W. Bush, with whom she co-wrote A Charge to Keep (William Morrow, 1999).
In her personal life, Hughes is an elder in the Presbyterian church and has been a longtime Sunday school teacher. She is married to attorney Jerry Hughes and they have two children, Leigh and Robert.
As an SMU senior, Adina Salehi Belloli ’02 channeled her passion for helping children into action by forming Care For Kids. The nonprofit organization, which she started with best friend Mica Odom ’03, held events to raise money for local children’s charities. SMU alumna Adina Belloli ’02 with husband Giorgio, son Nico and daughter Luna.
More than a decade later, Belloli’s work still focuses on improving the lives of children. Now living in London with her husband, daughter and son, Belloli is preparing to launch Invisible, a non-governmental organization (NGO).
“We named the organization Invisible because children in poverty are made to feel invisible by society,” she explains. “But we see them; we stand with them.”
Invisible’s purpose is to provide “hope and resources for those without life’s essentials,” she adds.
Since earning a degree in psychology from SMU and a master’s degree in international health care, public policy and economics from Bocconi University in Milan, Belloli has served in various capacities with other NGOs, including the Cure2Children Foundation and the World Health Organization (WHO). Those experiences provided the push she needed to take the next step.
“It was while doing research for the WHO that I realized I wanted to get back to doing more grassroots development and decided to utilize my knowledge and network to launch my own international NGO,” she says.
Invisible aims to help struggling communities create sustainable programs to address such needs as clean water delivery, health care improvements, alternative income development and access to education. “We work to build strong relationships with and obtain commitments from local governments, ministries of education, and community leadership,” she explains.
“We only work in communities to which we have been invited and rely heavily on the guidance of community members to select and prioritize the most appropriate projects,” she adds. “The program is designed to empower communities to break the cycle of poverty and support themselves over the long term.”
The first program will start this month in Quezon City, Philippines. The nation’s most populous city, which adjoins the capital city of Manila, was spared the worst of the recent Typhoon Haiyan, but the needs of thousands living in poverty are great. The NGO will take its cues from locals in shaping the scope of the project, she says.
Belloli says she called on her SMU network – she stays in touch with 10 close friends and several professors – for advice before launching Invisible. “SMU definitely helped me to get where I am today.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
For SMU alumnus Kent Hofmeister ’73, ’76, studying abroad as a student through SMU-in-Spain was a life-changing experience. Forty years later, he gathered former classmates for a trip down memory lane at an SMU-in-Spain Mini Reunion during Homecoming Weekend. Kent Hofmeister ’73, ’76 (seated on the grass in the foreground) organized the SMU-in-Spain Mini Reunion held during Homecoming Weekend.
Hofmeister, an attorney and founding partner of Brown & Hofmeister in Dallas, was already serving as co-chair for the Class of 1973’s Centennial Reunion when he decided to organize the Mustang Mini Reunion. The “minis” are alumni-driven gatherings that bring together classmates who shared a distinctive connection while at SMU.
“People were absolutely thrilled with the idea,” says Hofmeister, who earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Meadows School of the Arts and a Juris Doctor from Dedman School of Law. “They’d say things like, ‘I can’t believe you’re calling me! That’s wonderful!’”
With alumni showing such keen interest, he quickly assembled an unofficial committee. Tobie Hayes Sasser ’73, ’74 jumped on board to host while Sally DeWitt Spurgin ’74 took charge of nametags.
Barry Hobbs ’73 and wife Gwen Dawson Hobbs ’74 volunteered to do a slideshow of old photos, and Hofmeister contributed video footage of street life in Madrid and surrounding villages. The multimedia presentation was a hit with the SMU-in-Spain alumni, he says. “People were amazed to see photos of themselves at that time.”
Approximately 40 students who studied in Spain in spring 1972 attended the get-together October 25.
Even those who couldn’t make it to the party had an opportunity to participate. Hofmeister had sent a short questionnaire to everyone before the event and compiled the answers in a scrapbook format. “That was really fun,” he says, as it conjured up memories from his time abroad as well as from his days on the SMU campus.
Hofmeister and his fellow celebrants are among the more than 2,000 alumni of the SMU-in-Spain program. Established in 1969, it is the University’s longest-running education abroad program.
While reconnecting and reminiscing was the main focus of the mini reunion, the event also served a philanthropic purpose with a Spanish flavor: Hofmeister led the “Goya Gives” drive, which raised about $5,500 for the Meadows Museum from the alumni group.
When he thinks back to his semester abroad, Hofmeister recalls being out of the country for the first time without cell phones or email to keep in touch. His memories of riding trains from Madrid to Barcelona, hitchhiking with buddies to castles, monasteries and caves, and taking a ferry into Morocco remain vivid. But what makes those recollections so special are the SMU alumni who share them.
“This was a special experience and a special group of people, and, collectively, everybody felt that way,” he says, “I don’t want to sound corny, but bringing the group back together was a labor of love.” — Sarah Bennett ’11
Clint Carmichael ’10, president of the SMU Alumni Chapter in Chicago
Clint Carmichael ’10 recalls his years at SMU as “an incredible and meaningful experience.” Those great memories have motivated him to stay connected to his alma mater as an active member of SMU Alumni in Chicago, where he now serves as chapter president.
Carmichael, who grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL, earned a degree in finance from the Cox School of Business before launching his career. He’s currently an associate at Glencoe/Stockwell Capital and is pursuing Chartered Financial Analyst certification.
“Glencoe Capital is a private equity firm that acquires lower-middle market companies. Stockwell Capital is owned by Glencoe and does private equity co-investment,” he explains. “I conduct financial analyses on potential buyout opportunities for Glencoe and monitor the financial performance of the companies in which Stockwell has invested.”
Despite his hectic schedule, he makes sure to carve out time for chapter events. Coming up in Chicago are a Campaign Celebration for alumni, parents and friends October 9, and the Stampede of Service October 19, when alumni will volunteer at the Chicago Park District’s Northerly Island Adventure Day.
Carmichael recently shared some of his favorite Mustang moments and thoughts about his student experience with SMU Magazine: A favorite SMU memory?
Freshman year tailgate for the SMU/UAB game on Halloween. My roommate and I made some funny costumes and were matched by many other great outfits on the Boulevard before the game. SMU also won, which is a plus. A favorite SMU class and/or professor and why?
I have to name two professors. First, Mark Frost, my micro- and macroeconomics teacher. I am sure every college has a few professors who boast about the difficulty of their class on the first day and recommend dropping it to those looking for an easy B. Frost wasn’t boasting; he was giving away valuable advice. For the first test, I studied for 12 hours and got a 32 (out of 115). I was disheartened, but I decided to stay in the class. Frost had an unorthodox way of looking at the world; he stretched the class to see different perspectives and somehow related economics in an effective way. I looked forward to every lecture and encouraged a few of my friends to sit in on some of them. My test grades improved, and I passed both micro- and macroeconomics with an A, a new way of thinking, and a solid grasp of the subjects. I continue to be fascinated with economics, and I give Mark Frost much of the credit.
The second is Ashley O’Neill, my Rhetoric 1 and 2 teacher. I was a terrible writer when I entered college. Terrible. She was a skilled teacher and broke down writing into fundamentals that even I could understand. She also put in many extra office hours with me and brought my writing skills up to a manageable standard. Thanks to SMU for making rhetoric a mandatory class. I can now craft Shakespearean two-line emails. How did your SMU education prepared you for your career?
Very well. The Cox School of Business gave me a well-rounded basis for different aspects of business; my psychology minor expanded my knowledge in a subject in which I was very interested; and the liberal arts requirements forced me to take interesting classes I would not have otherwise chosen. SMU also does a good job of connecting students with alumni for job opportunities.
SMU alumnus Jonathan “Jonás” Lane ’09 calls his three years in the Peace Corps “an internship in life itself.” Jonathan Lane (left) with children showing off their artwork created in conjunction with a river clean-up project.
Lane, who graduated from the Cox School of Business with a degree in finance, serves as a volunteer leader for community economic development in San José, Costa Rica. He says the Peace Corps may not be for everyone, but in his experience, it definitely lives up to its reputation as “the toughest job you’ll ever love.”
“If you are prepared for a challenge that is as personal as it is professional, and as globally meaningful as it is personally enriching, then brace yourself,” he says. “This is as real as it gets, in the best possible way, and I am assuredly all the better for it.”
His role in the Peace Corp’s central office in the capital city encompasses training, technical support, project strategy development and a multitude of other services for volunteers in the field.
In the previous two years, while fulfilling his regular term of service, Lane put his business and finance background to work as an economic development facilitator in a community of 4,800 people located almost two hours south of San José.
“I worked primarily on three tiers of economic development: first, preparing a qualified labor force and teaching skills to improve employability; second, stimulating entrepreneurship and better business practices; and finally, fomenting the development of and offering organizational consulting to economic associations and institutions, as well as national enterprise networking opportunities.” A Peace Corps posting in Costa Rica has provided Jonathan Lane with an opportunity to travel in Central and South America. Here he is on a visit to Lake Nicaragua’s Ometepe Island.
Under his guidance, the community formed a Chamber of Commerce and Tourism; created a community-owned and -operated Community Credit Union and a rural tourism cooperative; and organized a National Rural Tourism Symposium that included some 11 communities from across Costa Rica. He also served as an organizational and commercial development consultant for a women’s artisan group.
When his initial Peace Corps stint ended in December 2012, Lane signed up for an extra year, which has been extended to June 2014. “To be honest, I couldn’t be happier,” he says.
Lane’s path to service in Central America started at SMU.
While an undergraduate, he was a man for all seasons: a President’s Scholar, manager of the men’s swimming and diving team, Student Senate Chief of Staff, a member of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity and a Hilltop Ambassador and campus tour guide, to name just a few of his affiliations and activities.
He spent the summer of 2007 at SMU-in-Oxford followed by a semester of study with SMU-in-Spain and a semester with SMU-in-Australia, opportunities that had a game-changing impact on his future. He credits a host of SMU staff and faculty supporters with helping him find the ideal intersection of his desire to use his academic foundation in a consequential way with living abroad and two mentors, in particular, for steering him toward the Peace Corps.
“When I was considering post-graduation options, Dr. Tom Tunks [professor of music], who was an assistant provost and director of the President’s Scholars at the time, told me a great deal about his experience serving in the Peace Corps with his wife in Colombia in the 1960s,” he recalls. “And, Susan Kress [director of Engaged Learning], then the director of SMU Abroad, talked to me about her service as a volunteer in Malaysia.
“While they both helped me distill my vision for my future – professionally, personally, spiritually – it was their strength of character, their emotional maturity and their global perspective that truly convinced me that the path to international service in the Peace Corps was exactly what I needed to fill the hole left by my profound experiences of living and studying abroad.” – Patricia Ward
Carl Pankratz ’03, ’06, city councilman for the City of Rowlett, Texas, and vice president/legal counsel for Capital Title, was recently named to the Dallas Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list of the area’s top young business executives and entrepreneurs. The rising stars are recognized for their work both professionally and in the community. Carl Pankratz ’03, ’06
Pankratz specializes in closing industrial, multi-family, office and retail properties, as a commercial escrow officer; oversees the real estate firm’s legal department; and manages more than 200 employees.
His service to the community of Rowlett, the growing city in northeast Dallas County that he calls home, is equally multidimensional.
Active in civic affairs, he was elected to the Rowlett City Council in June 2011, having previously been a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Adjustment. He has drafted several key ordinances, including an ordinance to reserve oil and gas rights for the city and a program that requires outside vendors to carry a “pink badge” when soliciting homes. Currently, he is drafting an oil and gas drilling ordinance.
He also is co-founder of the Rowlett Association of Non-Profits, a network of more than 100 arts, service and support organizations.
A passionate champion of and participant in the arts, Pankratz has starred in more than eight productions with the Amateur Community Theatre of Rowlett and has been selected for the Texas Ballet Theater’s Leadership Ballet for his commitment to the performing arts.
In addition, he has been selected as one of the “Top Five Dallasites” by the Dallas Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Pankratz graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Meadows School of the Arts. He earned a Juris Doctor from Dedman School of Law, where he served on the Moot Court Team and National Mock Trial Team, and founded the SMU Dedman School of Law Sports and Entertainment Law Association.
The busy alumnus was able to “take five” recently to share some Hilltop memories with SMU Magazine. Did you do any acting at SMU?
I only took one acting class, The Art of Acting, and I was never in a production. But I remember being blown away by the first production I saw at Meadows as a freshman, The Threepenny Opera. What was your favorite course/professor?
Don Umphrey [professor emeritus of advertising] and his Advertising Research class. On a smaller group project before our big final project, he gave us a lower grade than I thought we deserved. He and I had a passionate discussion about it before I took the group and decamped to the library. For the next two weeks, we worked almost around the clock on that final project. When we turned it in, he said it was the best he’d seen in 20 years of teaching the class. He was the first professor to challenge me in that way, and it was really motivating. What is your favorite SMU memory?
I’ll never forget the feeling of being part of the first Mustang football team to play in Ford Stadium. [Pankratz was a field goal kicker for two years.] Running through the tunnel, the energy, the excitement. It was amazing. How did your undergraduate experience prepare you for the road ahead?
The advertising degree program gives you a great foundation, regardless of where you go with it. You have to present frequently, and the more you do it, the more polished and confident you become. Public speaking is a valuable asset for your toolbox in any field. What do you value most as an SMU alumnus?
As a commercial real estate attorney, I attend a lot of networking functions, and at almost every event, the vast majority of the successful professionals there are SMU alumni. The distinction of being part of this large network of people who excel in their fields is a priceless opportunity. Success breeds success.
Jewelry designer Ali Howell ’86 is among 13 winners of the Belk Southern Designer Showcase.
Jewelry maker Ali Howell ’86 is among 13 winners of the second annual Belk Southern Designer Showcase. Howell, the founder and designer of ali & bird jewelry, was selected from nearly 300 entrants. Her pieces will be sold in Belk department stores throughout the country and online in spring 2014.
Howell, an Atlanta resident, started ali & bird in 2009. She describes her original pieces as “affordable statement jewelry that reflect current fashion and color trends, bringing modern flair to classic looks.” The jewelry is handcrafted with semi-precious stones in the United States and is sold by more than 75 retailers.
A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Howell dived into the design realm as an SMU student when she landed a summer job in the Dallas Market Center showroom of a friend’s mother. “That led to an internship and a job offer after graduation,” she says.
After earning degrees in advertising and psychology from SMU, she moved to New York City where she launched a career in visual merchandising. Howell’s talent for mixing bold colors and classic designs served her well as the creative force behind the marketing, showroom displays and advertising campaigns for Herend USA, a fine china company, for 10 years.
At first, jewelry making was strictly a hobby. “I’ve always been a creative person, and when a friend started making jewelry, I watched her and asked her to show me a few things. I got hooked,” says Howell. “I made a several pieces, and every time I would wear one, people would ask where I got it.” Shark Tank panelist Barbara Corcoran wearing ali & bird jewelry.
Bucking conventional wisdom, Howell took a chance on her own business just as a recession gripped the global economy. As it turns out, her timing was perfect. She found that while women weren’t investing in new clothes, they were buying distinctive, well-priced jewelry to freshen last year’s looks.
Celebrity fans of her line include Barbara Corcoran, real estate expert and Shark Tank panelist, and Maria Cardona, political strategist and CNN contributor.
Howell’s company is truly a family business. She designs and creates the pieces in her home studio with the help of several assistants and off-site “stringers.” Her 12-year-old daughter, Lindsey, also known as “Bird,” not only lends her nickname to the enterprise but also a hand in making the jewelry. In addition to his job in the corporate world, husband Ward handles marketing for ali & bird. The Howells also have a nine-year-old son.
As a winner of the Belk designer competition, Howell looks forward to introducing her jewelry to new Dallas customers when the retailer debuts its 170,000-square-foot flagship store in the Galleria mall. When she’s here for the opening next spring, a trip to the Hilltop will be on her to-do list.
“Whenever I’m in Dallas, I try to make it back to campus,” Howell says. “SMU was a great place for me. I feel I got a good education and started on a path that has led me to where I am today.” – Patricia Ward
The following story about entrepreneur and SMU alumna Ashlee Hunt Kleinert ’88 appears in D CEO, September 2013. Kleinert’s food truck, Ruthie’s Rolling Café, is a regular on campus at Food Truck Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as special events.
Ruthie’s Rolling Café’s Entrepreneurial Appetite
By Carol Shih
Ruthie’s Rolling Café at SMU September 12.
When Ashlee Hunt Kleinert told her father four years ago that she wanted to start a food-truck business, Ray L. Hunt couldn’t believe what he was hearing. At first he thought she was talking about those vehicles that visit construction sites and sell frozen and prepackaged foods. Hunt, heir of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt and CEO of Hunt Consolidated, knows the energy business inside and out. But a restaurant on wheels? What was that? And why would anyone stand in line instead of going to a brick-and-mortar restaurant for a nice meal?
Kleinert’s father wasn’t the only one who wondered why the mother of three wanted to get into the food-truck business. A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Kleinert had never taken a business class. Still, the energetic blonde had founded an events company (In Any Event) and co-founded a nonprofit (Executives in Action). She was inspired to get into the business after hearing at an events convention that food trucks were projected to become a hot new trend.
As it turns out, Kleinert had excellent timing. Ruthie’s Rolling Café hit the road in August 2011, right when the food-truck scene was just about to explode. The blue and pink truck bears the name of her grandmother, Ruth. … Read the full story and see photos
See the campus food truck schedule here
The following story about SMU alumna Amber Venz ’08 and Baxter Box ’11, who holds an M.B.A. from SMU’s Cox School of Business, is from the September 2, 2013, edition of The Dallas Morning News.
Dallas start-up puts together fashion bloggers, shoppers and retailers
By Hanah Cho
Personal stylist Amy Wells Havins dishes on her latest fashion picks and catalogs her outfits on her blog Dallas Wardrobe.
With a few clicks, her readers can purchase those Gap shorts or that Marc Jacobs bag featured on the blog. With every online sale, Havins gets a commission.
“Maybe someone doesn’t hire me to take them shopping. [But] they shop with me online,” said Havins, 27.
Driving the sales engine behind thousands of fashion and lifestyle bloggers like Havins is Dallas-based rewardStyle.
The 2-year-old start-up provides the back-end platform that not only helps bloggers make money from their content but also drives sales to retailers.
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RewardStyle expects to drive nearly $150 million in sales to its retail partners by the end of the year, said Amber Venz, co-founder and president. The projection is two to three times the revenue its style publishers generated for retailers a year ago, Venz said.
“As the numbers show, these content creators are driving a lot of commerce,” said Venz, 26. “Retailers understand that. That’s why they’re willing to pay for it.”
The startup has attracted 2,500 U.S. and international retailers. They include well-known brands such as Neiman Marcus, Fossil and Shopbop. … > Read the full story and see a related photo. > Read an interview with Amber Venz from Meadows School of the Arts.
McKenna received her doctorate in geophysics from SMU’s Huffington Department of Earth Sciences and now holds the position of research faculty member. She maintains an interest in applied research and academics at SMU through her joint supervision of graduate students and service on dissertation committees, according to Brian Stump, Claude C. Albritton Professor of Earth Sciences, who supervised McKenna’s thesis research.
McKenna’s achievement comes as no surprise to Stump. “She reaches out to understand a variety of technologies, and then finds innovative ways to apply them,” he says.
After earning her doctorate, McKenna joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pursue infrasound research. Infrasound refers to sound that is below the frequency band audible to the human ear and can travel great distances. Scientists measure low-frequency acoustic waves as they move through the atmosphere to monitor many different types of natural and man-made events. Such events can range from shallow earthquakes to volcanic eruptions to nuclear explosions to meteorites passing through the atmosphere. Infrasound study also plays a role in many other research spheres, from cardiology to animal communication.
McKenna’s current investigations apply infrasound experimental techniques, mapping and numerical analysis using high-performance computing to create complex 3D models of structures. The models are used to evaluate the health of buildings, bridges and other structures without having to physically examine them.
Mihan House McKenna ’05 accepts the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Researcher of the Year Award from David Pittman, director of the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory, U.S Army Engineer Research and Development Center.
“All structures ‘sing’, but we cannot hear the vibrations because the frequencies are below what humans can perceive,” says McKenna, who is also a federally certified bridge inspector as well as a registered professional geologist. “Using the naturally emitted, low-frequency structural acoustics (infrasound), engineers are now able to assess condition, capacity and holistic behavior of large, critical structures from distances of 10 or more kilometers by listening to the music these structures create.”
This type of remote monitoring has many potential applications, from tactical route reconnaissance for the military to evaluating the safety of civilian structures.
McKenna’s area of expertise supports tactical decision making for deployed military expeditionary forces. She directs the Remote Assessment of Critical Infrastructure working group at ERDC, which has research projects with the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Defense Intelligence Agency, Los Alamos National Laboratory and academic institutions. She supports several ongoing Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) programs related to national security.
As an SMU graduate student from 1999 to 2005, she merged her undergraduate interests in physics, acoustics and music with geophysics in the form of infrasound research, comments Robert T. Gregory, chair of Earth Sciences in SMU’s Dedman College. “Mihan came to SMU with a strong background in physics from Georgetown University where she was also an accomplished musician, which helped spark her interest in acoustics.”
As a graduate student, McKenna served as a research assistant supported by funding from the U.S. Air Force. She also excelled in the classroom/laboratory as a teaching assistant in earth science courses. Among the undergraduate courses she assisted with were Stump’s “Earthquakes and Volcanoes” and Gregory’s “Solar System” classes.
At SMU she conducted research in support of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and currently serves as an advisory member of the U.S. and International Infrasound Working Groups for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria. – Patricia Ward
The following story about SMU alumnus Joshua Peugh ’06 is from the August 15, 2013, edition of Pegasus News.
South Korean Transplant Expands ‘Seoul-searching’ Dance Group To Dallas
By Tiney Ricciardi
FORT WORTH — Dance can be both an objective and subjective art form. Depending on the style and execution, some productions allow being taken at face value. Others are meant to address deep, and often times uncomfortable, societal issues.
Ask lifelong dancer and choreographer Joshua Peugh. As co-founder and artistic director of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance Company, Peugh has made a career out of defining the difference between entertainment and art. This new to North Texas troupe, a secondary branch of the company that Peugh established in Seoul, South Korea, will be making its stateside debut at Hardy and Betty Sanders Theatre in September.
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A native of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Peugh, 29, began taking tap and ballet classes at age three. He continued his classical training through high school and, upon graduating, pursued degrees in both dance and English at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
College was Peugh’s first experience in the world of modern dance. He was required to take up to three classes every week to satisfy his curriculum. All the while, Peugh said he maintained his status as a classical ballet dancer, though the contemporary style continually grew on him. Read the full story and see related photos.
Six SMU alumni have been named to the Dallas Business Journal’s annual “40 Under 40” list of professionals under age 40 who are making their marks on the business world: Gabriella Draney ’03/Tech Wildcatters Gabriella Draney ’03 Gabriella Draney is co-founder and managing partner of Tech Wildcatters, a mentor-driven incubator for tech start-ups. She received an M.B.A. in strategy and entrepreneurship from SMU’s Cox School of Business and worked for HP Growth Partners and Morgan Stanley before following her entrepreneurial passion. Tech Wildcatters has been named one of the “10 Hottest Start-up Incubators” by Forbes.
In June, the Dallas Observer profiled Draney among its 30 “most interesting” people of 2013 issue. In July, she was invited to participate in the first national Accelerator Demo Day sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Global Accelerator Network in Washington, D.C. According to the SBA, “accelerators provide a mentoring and networking component to help start-ups avoid pitfalls and give them the skills necessary to raise capital.” Lacy Durham ’08/Deloitte Tax Lacy Durham ’08 Lacy Durham, a tax manager with Deloitte Tax, LLP, earned an L.L.M. in taxation from SMU’s Dedman School of Law. She also holds a Juris Doctor degree from Southern University Law Center.
An active member of legal communities in Texas and Louisiana, she serves as minority director for the Texas Young Lawyers Association. She also is a member of the National Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, the Baton Rouge Bar Association and the J.L. Turner Legal Association.
In addition, Durham serves on the advisory board for the Southwest region of the National Diversity Council and volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas and Junior Achievement. Dan Healy ’06/Civitas Capital Group Dan Healy ’06 Dan Healy, a co-founder and chief executive officer of Civitas Capital Group, holds an M.B.A. from SMU’s Cox School of Business. As CEO, he is responsible for the general management of the Civitas family of specialty management and financial services companies. Healy has been responsible for the origination, financing and management of dozens of real estate investments across all property types. He also has significant experience in securities compliance.
Prior to forming Civitas, Healy served in senior executive roles with Royalton Real Estate Capital, LLC and Highland Capital Management, LP, a $30 billion alternative asset manager.
Matt Houston ’06/Group Excellence Matt Houston ’08 Matt Houston, executive director of Group Excellence, a mentor-tutoring company founded by SMU alumnus Carl Dorvil ’05, ’08, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Dedman College and serves on the Young Alumni board. He has worked with Group Excellence since August 2008 where his responsibilities include the recruitment, training and management of 250 tutors, supervisors and directors providing educational programs throughout the North Texas area.
He is active in a number of civic organizations, including the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce and the Urban League of Greater Dallas Young Professionals. He also has served on the W.W. Samuel Early College High School Advisory Board and the Southern Dallas Leadership Task Force. He is a member of the Leadership Dallas Class of 2012. Kevin Lavelle ’08/Mizzen + Main Kevin Lavelle ’08, speaking at TEDxSMU last fall Kevin Lavelle, 27, founder and CEO of the clothing company Mizzen + Main, is the youngest honoree. He was a President’s Scholar at SMU and earned a bachelor’s degree from the Lyle School of Engineering. He traveled the world as a technology consultant before starting his company, Mizzen + Main, which makes high-quality dress shirts in moisture-wicking, wrinkle-free fabrics.
At TEDxSMU last fall, Lavelle talked about his goal of building a “socially responsible company” from the ground up, noting that his products are manufactured in the United States and that a portion of every sale supports charities and job programs for veterans. He was recently a panelist at the Bloomberg Conference on Alternative Investments held at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, discussing angel investing and entrepreneurship. Carl Pankratz ’03, ’06/Capital Title Carl Pankratz ’03, ’06 Carl Pankratz serves as vice president/legal counsel for Capital Title, a residential and commercial property title company, and is a member of the Rowlett City Council. He earned a bachelor’s degree from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and a Juris Doctor degree from Dedman School of Law.
At Capital Title he closes commercial real estate transactions, oversees the legal department and manages more than 200 employees. In recognition of his real estate law expertise, Pankratz was selected by the State Bar of Texas to serve on its Real Estate Forms Committee and was among 20 lawyers selected to participate in Leadership State Bar of Texas.
Active in civic affairs, Pankratz served on the City of Rowlett Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Adjustment before being elected to the city council in 2011. He also is co-founder of the Rowlett Association of Non-profits and has performed in numerous productions with the Amateur Community Theatre of Rowlett.
The SMU alumni were selected from more than 300 nominees. All “40 Under 40” honorees were featured in the Dallas Business Journal and honored at a reception August 28 in Dallas.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings officially recognized SMU today for the University’s co-sponsorship of the Mayor’s Summer Reading Club, which encouraged youngsters and their families to enjoy reading this summer.
SMU was among those receiving proclamations at the City Council meeting for supporting the Reading Club. This year’s edition of the program will wrap up next week, having attracted more than 37,000 participants throughout Dallas.
At the Club’s kickoff on May 14, SMU President R. Gerald Turner encouraged students to “Pony Up and Read,” as well as visit the campus as SMU celebrates its “Year of the Library.”
At SMU, the program was supported by the Friends of the SMU Libraries and the Meadows Museum. > Read more
Megan Riegel ’84 recently received South Carolina’s highest civilian honor — The Order of the Palmetto — for her work as president and CEO of the Peace Center for the Performing Arts. The award was presented by South Carolina Governor Nikki R. Haley on Tuesday, June 25, at the Peace Center in Greenville, S.C. Megan Riegel ’84 The Order of the Palmetto recognizes lifetime achievements and contributions to the State of South Carolina. Riegel has headed the Peace Center since 1997.
Gov. Haley lauded Riegel’s arts leadership: “Your work with the Peace Center for the Performing Arts in Greenville demonstrates your dedication to the enrichment of South Carolina, and your advocacy for the arts will have a lasting impact on our state for years to come. In the world of making a positive difference, you have been an incredibly effective leader to those around you.”
Under Riegel’s tenure, the Peace Center has served as a catalyst for unprecedented economic development in upstate South Carolina through its diverse cultural performances and educational opportunities. The Center generates $1.1 million in annual tax revenues and has an economic impact of $25 million annually.
A 20th Anniversary Campaign that Riegel and the Peace Center board of trustees initiated in 2010 shattered its $21.5 million goal in just two years, with a total of $23 million raised to date. The campaign has funded the expansion and renovation of the Peace Center “to ensure that the stellar performing arts center continues to live up to its mission of offering the most extraordinary cultural experiences possible for patrons and visitors,” says Riegel, who holds both an M.F.A. from Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, as well as an M.B.A. from SMU’s Cox School of Business.
With the majority of the renovations complete, the Peace Center is a focal point of Greenville’s award-winning downtown and has become a popular public gathering spot.
“The Peace Center simply wouldn’t be the incredible performing arts institution it is today without Megan,” says Betty Peace Stall, a longtime Peace Center benefactor. “Her leadership and demand for excellence in programming and facilities has helped expand the vision for the Peace Center far beyond its original concept.”
Riegel oversees an annual budget of $12 million for a six-acre campus in the heart of downtown Greenville that includes eight buildings totaling 200,000 square feet. Theaters include a 2,100-seat multi-purpose concert hall, a 437-seat proscenium theater, a 140-seat cabaret, and a 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheater. Under her leadership, the Peace Center’s annual fundraising program has grown from $400,000 to $1.9 million and its annual endowment has grown from $6 million to $26 million.
The SMU alumna has spent her entire career in the performing arts industry. Prior to joining the Peace Center in 1994 as general manager and director of development, she headed up development and marketing for the Actor’s Fund of America in New York City. In addition, she has managed daily activities at the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet’s development department, the Philadelphia Drama Guild and the Curtis Institute of Music.
She started her post-SMU career at the Cleveland Play House in Cleveland, Ohio, America’s first professional regional theatre. She initially managed operations for the four-theatre complex before assuming the helm of its fundraising and development efforts.
Her professional affiliations include membership in the Performing Arts Center Consortium, the Broadway League and the Independent Presenters Network. In Greenville she has served on the boards of Child Development Services, the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Commerce Club, the Metropolitan Arts Council, the Greenville Chamber of Commerce Board of Advisors, Greenville Forward Board of Advisors and the Warehouse Theatre.
Epidemiology and economics merged in a groundbreaking analysis of West Nile Virus data by SMU alumnus Robert Ware Haley ’67, M.D., and Tom Fomby, SMU Professor of Economics. Medical researcher Robert Haley ’67, M.D., (left) and SMU economist Tom Fomby joined forces with Dallas County health officials on a groundbreaking study of data collected during the nation’s largest outbreak of West Nile Virus, which occurred in Dallas County in 2012.
The interdisciplinary University-community research collaboration reveals several key findings about West Nile outbreaks and points to the use of a mosquito vector index rating system to trigger early intervention. Those results are published in the July 17 issue of JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association), the prestigious peer-reviewed medical journal.
Haley, Chief of Epidemiology and Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Fomby, Director of the Richard B. Johnson Center for Economic Studies in Dedman College, joined forces with Wendy Chung, Chief Epidemiologist for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, and her colleagues, Christen Buseman, Sibeso Joyner and Sonya Hughes, in the study. James Luby, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern and a longtime research collaborator with Haley, is also an author. >Read more about their West Nile research
A senior author of the journal article, Haley calls the research a “stone soup” project, referring to the folk tale that demonstrates how cooperative efforts benefit the entire community. “Everyone contributed their data and expertise to produce significant advances in our understanding of West Nile.”
The perfect storm of conditions that created the 2012 public health emergency in Dallas County presented an unprecedented opportunity to study the anatomy of the nation’s largest West Nile outbreak, says Haley, who has been involved in research on mosquito-borne illnesses since he was a medical student at UT Southwestern in the 1960s. He spent 10 years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, serving as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, before returning to the medical center in 1983 to found the Division of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine.
Last year, an estimated 400 people in Dallas County suffered mild to severe West Nile infections. The county’s 20th death related to that outbreak was recorded in April 2013.
The econometric approaches Fomby brought to the statistical analysis of the unusual data were crucial, Haley says. This latest research cross-pollination follows previous work – along with Wayne Woodward, Professor and Chair of SMU’s Department of Statistical Science – on two noteworthy appendicitis-related studies published in 2010 and 2011.
“With the publication of these two papers we saw how techniques developed in one field can be usefully applied in other fields when researchers embrace collaborators outside of their own areas of expertise,” says Fomby.
Fomby’s specialized knowledge of count time series models exposed the value of the mosquito vector index as a leading indicator of subsequent West Nile Virus outcomes. And, his use of event study analysis – which he says is “fairly unique to applications in economics and finance” – showed aerial insecticide spraying was not associated with increases in hospital emergency room visits for respiratory symptoms or skin rashes.
Another key discovery materialized when Haley combined data collected by the county health department – including patient statistics and mosquito-trap test sample results – with weather information.
“Major outbreaks of West Nile occurred in 2006 and 2012. Both of those years had the fewest hard-freeze days in the winter and, overall, warmer than average temperatures,” he says.
Merging health department data with census tracks located another marker: areas of higher property values, higher housing density and higher percentages of unoccupied homes are at higher risk. In Dallas County, the data showed West Nile clustering in the Park Cities and North Dallas, areas with environments ripe for house mosquitoes, which are more likely to transmit the disease.
Along with the findings, the researchers provide an instruction manual for health officials in other counties to calculate their vector index by plugging in their own data.
“Virtually every community in the country has the potential for a West Nile outbreak, and provided with this prediction model, they can conduct their own analysis and determine when to act,” says Haley.
Both Haley and Fomby say they look forward to continuing a partnership that stems from a Town and Gown Club at SMU meeting in 2006.
“I gave a talk on how data mining (also called big data) was affecting many areas of our lives on a daily basis,” Fomby recalls. “Robert commented on how he saw quantitative reasoning and data analytics significantly affecting his fields in the future.”
Haley, honored as a Dedman College Distinguished Graduate in 2008, traces his SMU roots to its early days. His maternal grandfather, Samuel D. Ware, was a strong proponent of building a Methodist University in Dallas. His parents, Arvel E. Haley and Charlotte Ware Haley, met in a music class at SMU. In fact, more then 20 members of his extended family are SMU alumni.
After finishing pre-med requirements, he also completed a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and social sciences at SMU and taught a philosophy survey course for a year after graduation. That liberal arts background continues to inform his work.
“The hardest part of research is asking the right question,” he says, “and there’s nothing like studying philosophy, in some depth, to understand the right way to ask a question to get the answer you need.”
In addition to research projects with Fomby, Haley has worked with Woodward and Richard Gunst, Professor of Statistical Science, and William Schucany, Professor Emeritus, on pioneering brain imaging data studies of veterans with Gulf War illness. Haley holds the U.S. Armed Forces Veterans Distinguished Chair for Medical Research Honoring America’s Gulf War Veterans at UT Southwestern.
“When I had a really difficult problem in blazing new ground in statistics, I was lucky enough to have one of the top departments here in my backyard,” says Haley. “What they did was absolutely original, creative and brilliant.” – Patricia Ward
Outfitted with a webcam on his collar, “First Dog” Barney captured a canine’s view of White House Christmas preparations in 2002 during the first term of President George W. Bush. The video went viral and an online star was born. “Barney was used in such an important way, offering a look inside the White House at a time when it was closed to the public after 9/11,” says author Jennifer Boswell Pickens, whose new book, Pets at the White House, focuses on the famous canines, felines and other pets that have occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Pickens portrays the special role of first pets in more than 200 carefully selected photographs, many of which have never been published before, as well as a multitude of anecdotes. Each administration, from Kennedy to Obama, is covered in its own chapter. Pickens, a 2000 graduate of SMU with a degree in American history, also includes an overview of pets owned by earlier first families.
“Like all families, I think the first families were very comforted by their pets and it shows in the photographs,” says Pickens, who lives in Dallas with husband Bryan ’99, their four young daughters and two dogs.
This is her second volume to offer a distinctive look inside the most prestigious address in Washington, D.C. Pickens, a noted White House social expert, published her first best-selling book, Christmas at the White House, in 2009.
“It’s very special to me that every living first lady wrote the introduction to her section of the book,” says the author. SMU alumna Laura Bush ’68 also contributed the forward. Author Jennifer Pickens is currently working on a third White House-related book.
While poring over images for that book, Pickens was drawn to photos that featured the first pets. “So, before I was even finished with the first book, my second book was well under way,” she says.
She intentionally selected topics that not only interest her, but also hold universal appeal.
“What I love about my books is that they are on subjects that can bring all Americans together,” she says. “No matter which side of the political aisle you are on, everyone can appreciate the White House at Christmastime and what it represents, as well as the history of our famous ‘first pets.’”
Both coffee-table books are published by Fife and Drum Press, which she and her husband founded in 2009.
Her first book took four years of research and interviews, and along the way, Pickens learned that “each presidential library has its own personality. They’re all very different,” she says. She gives the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum staff high marks for being “very helpful and responsive. They’re great to work with.”
Pickens also gained a new appreciation for her academic training at SMU. “James Breeden, Glenn Linden and other professors really pushed students to do solid research for papers and presentations,” she says. “I learned to ask the right questions, and when you’re cold-calling librarians and archivists, you need to know what to ask to get the information you need.”
Jennifer Pickens’ books may be purchased in the gift shop of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, as well as at other presidential libraries throughout the country and from national booksellers.
Librarian Dorothy Amann in a 1940 Rotunda yearbook photo, SMU Archives SMU was truly fortunate in its first librarian, Dorothy Amann, a remarkable woman who almost single-handedly oversaw the transformation of the library from a miscellaneous assortment of books to a useful working collection with some claims to distinction. She began her work in 1913, before the University opened, and she retired in 1949. Others in the library’s history may have served longer than her 36 years, but none has made a more lasting contribution to its welfare. Not only are most of the materials she acquired still part of the SMU collections, she also established high standards of service for the staff, a time-honored tradition. She had a real gift for identifying talent in others and encouraging its development. Many of the women she hired (and SMU’s librarians were exclusively women, and almost exclusively single women, in the early years) shared her commitment to the cause, and they embarked on their task with missionary zeal.
Dorothy Amann (1874-1967) was born in Mississippi and grew up in Smithville, Texas. As a child, Amann had considered becoming a doctor but, after her mother’s death, she proceeded to the Eastman College of Business in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Her business career took her to various newspapers in the South, to the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, and eventually to a law office in Midland, Texas, where, in 1913, she was contacted by Frank Reedy, bursar of SMU. “He just said he wanted me to come to Dallas and talk to him. I didn’t know what for, but there was a lot of hoorah in West Texas about a major college – Methodist at that – being started, and I was curious.” SMU’s first library in Dallas Hall, 1922, SMU Archives
Amann’s curiosity, energy and unflagging good cheer made her the perfect person to direct SMU’s library in the early years. Although she was reading for the law in Midland, she must have been persuaded that taking a chance on a place like SMU offered more scope for a woman of her abilities and interests than an uncertain law practice in Midland. She was 39 and ready for a change, and so in October 1913, she joined Reedy, President Hyer and two accountants – the sum total of the SMU administration – at an office in the Methodist Publishing House in downtown Dallas, rolled up her sleeves and went to work.
In addition to various administrative duties under President Hyer, she also took part in the sorting of the packages of books that were arriving almost daily. “There had been coming to the University for two years before the opening many donations from people in Texas and neighboring states,” she wrote in 1935, “and these also had to be handled and gleaned for possible values.” Many of these books were given by Methodist ministers, or by the widows and families of ministers whose rounds on the earthly circuit were over.
By 1914, Amann and the rest of the University had moved to the construction site that was Dallas Hall, without utility service but with more space. “During the year preceding the opening, the University staff, as a whole, was busy with matters pertaining to organization of all kinds for reception of students,” Amann remembered later, “and so the work of details for library organization did not have the attention it deserved. Of course, all such work for [the] best library services should have been under way for many months before the students arrived.”
With a few student assistants in the fall of 1915, Amann culled the best of the donated books, ordered new materials and put out the first card catalogue in the spring of 1916. “An excellent beginning has been made toward the accumulation of a University library,” she wrote in the official SMU catalogue. “During this first year, 7,000 volumes were acquired, and this nucleus of books will be increased steadily and rapidly by the addition of works carefully selected with reference to their immediate usefulness to the several departments of the institution.”
Today the libraries hold four million volumes and celebrate 100 years of service to the University . It all began with Dorothy Amann.
President R. Gerald Turner
As we note SMU milestones of the past 100 years, this year we also mark a new highpoint in our timeline of progress. In a rare and remarkable moment in the history of higher education and our nation, SMU hosted five U.S. presidents April 25 for the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. And with the opening, SMU officially became one of the few U.S. universities to host a presidential center, housing a library, museum and independent institute.
SMU’s growing reputation as a center for research was a dominant theme during the dedication, which attracted more than 8,500 guests and 600 international reporters. We achieved unprecedented visibility for SMU through media coverage – in a four-day period more than 1.1 million media stories around the globe mentioned SMU as the home of the Bush Center. Social media postings reached an all-time high.
SMU began celebrating the Bush Center opening on Founders’ Day April 19, part of our Second Century Celebration 2011-2015. We held an official Bush Center welcoming ceremony on the main quad. The more than 3,000 attendees were surprised by a visit by former President George W. Bush. SMU student leaders presented him with 100 letters of welcome written by their classmates. And in honor of the Bush Center’s opening, our trustees funded the purchase of a historic journal by a 19th-century Western explorer, which became our four millionth library acquisition.
These achievements coincide happily with our Year of the Library, so called because we are commemorating SMU’s hiring in 1913 of our first librarian, Dorothy Amann, and the purchase of our first book. Helping us celebrate this special year, the Bush Presidential Library is co-sponsoring an exhibit of George Washington’s personal copy of the U.S. Constitution, including his handwritten notes. From July 14-27, SMU’s DeGolyer Library will display the document, part of its “Hail to the Chief” presidential exhibit July 14-October 4.
In this SMU Magazine, you will read more about the developments I’ve mentioned, along with major new gifts supporting expansion of our libraries.
So, our Year of the Library truly is rewriting the history of our resources for research. We thank everyone whose generosity is marking new milestones for the SMU libraries. R. Gerald Turner
President
Jennifer Robb calls Fondren Library Center her “second home.” Robb, a junior majoring in applied physiology and biology, studies in the library almost daily. On the Tuesday before spring finals started, she set up her laptop and checked out a movie to review for a class on Hispanic film.
“When I’m studying or working on a research paper, I never have to leave the library,” she says. “All the resources I need are right here.” As part of the Year of the Library celebration, SMU invites alumni to share library stories from their student days by emailing them to Paulette Mulry, director of development, Central University Libraries, at pmulry@smu.edu. Information also may be mailed to her at P.O. Box 750135, Dallas, TX 75275-0135. Be sure to include your graduation year and a phone number.
While it is doubtful that SMU’s founders imagined libraries abuzz with students like Robb using laptops, tablets and smartphones, or scholars around the globe gaining access to the University’s special collections via the Internet, they did have a clear vision for building a great University with a library as one of its cornerstones. Provision for the first library was made in 1913, well in advance of SMU’s opening to students
in 1915.
In 1940, Fondren Library, SMU’s first library building, opened with Charles C. Selecman, the University’s third president, speaking these words: “The library is the heart of the University.” That description, inscribed below Selecman Tower in Fondren Library Center, still rings true today.
Fast-forward to 2013 as the University community commemorates the Year of the Library, a 12-month celebration of the fundamental importance of the libraries to the intellectual life of SMU. Programs and exhibitions planned throughout the year provide opportunities to discover the rich resources and one-of-a-kind collections housed in the nine facilities that constitute the largest private academic library system in the Southwest. Planned improvements to Fondren Library Center will expand collaborative work spaces and upgrade technology to meet student needs today and in the future.
The Year of the Library quickly became the year of new milestones. On Founders’ Day, April 19, the SMU Board of Trustees commemorated the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Center by presenting a rare volume to DeGolyer Library in honor of former President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush ’68. The journal of American explorer John Maley, recounting his 1810-12 travels through the trans-Mississippi West, including Texas, represents SMU libraries’ four millionth volume.
The preservation of Maley’s eyewitness account of exploration illustrates how the libraries have acclimated to the shifting needs of students and scholars over the past century. While honoring the tangible and tactile brilliance of works on paper, the libraries embrace new technology as a catalyst for learning and research. Maley’s original 188-page text will be archived for study today and by future scholars as part of DeGolyer’s already strong holdings on Western Americana. At the same time, the document will be available to researchers everywhere online. Central University Libraries’ Norwick Center for Digital Services team, using its new Hasselblad H4D-200MS – the highest-resolution camera on the market – captured each page of the book as a digital image.
Likewise, the realities of serving new generations of users in new ways require reconfiguring spaces. Renovations planned for Perkins School of Theology’s Bridwell Library and CUL’s Fondren Library Center take into account essential technology upgrades and changing learning styles to accommodate small group study and work on collaborative projects.
Hayden Hodges, a junior majoring in engineering management with a minor in math, likes what he has heard about the remodeling plans. He says there is no substitute for physically going to the library and studies at Fondren Library “about two to three times a week.”
“I like the idea of having more places where students can study together or even just hang out in a comfortable spot,” he says. “The better it is, the more I’ll come.” – Patricia Ward
In a year of remarkable experiences centered on libraries, SMU will present another history-making event when President George Washington’s personal copy of the Acts of Congress goes on display at DeGolyer Library July 14-27. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
For two weeks the priceless piece of U.S. history will be part of DeGolyer’s summer exhibit, “Hail to the Chief: American Presidential History in Word and Image,” July 14-October 4. George Washington’s annotated copy of the Acts of Congress will be exhibited at SMU July 14-27. Photo courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association
The 106-page, leather-bound Acts of Congress with Washington’s annotations includes his copy of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and other laws passed by the first session of Congress.
Washington’s volume will be part of a larger exhibit of presidential materials drawn from various DeGolyer collections.
For the convenience of visitors, the exhibit will be open during regular library hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, as well as on these weekends only:
12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 14 and July 21
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 20 and July 27
On Saturday, July 20, history comes to life from 9 a.m. to noon during a special community event. Bring the family to enjoy free colonial-themed activities, crafts and performances, and by signing the exhibit guest book, receive a discount on tickets to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Register here.
The Acts of Congress at DeGolyer Library is sponsored in partnership with the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and will be the ninth stop on a seven-month, 13-stop tour of the nation’s presidential libraries. The tour is made possible by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA) and the National Archives and Records Administration. The MVLA, which operates Washington’s historic estate, purchased the Acts of Congress at auction for a record $9.8 million in June 2012.
More Year of the Library Exhibits and Programs
Bridwell Library Entry hall – “Documents from the First Decade of SMU,” a selection of 18 documents produced between 1911 and 1920 that offer insight into the development of the University, will be on view through August 18. Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries – “Highlights from Bridwell Library Special Collections: The Reformation” in June and July, and in the fall, “Fifty Women,” featuring more than 50 books from the Bridwell’s special collections that date from the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century and were written, produced, owned or inspired by women.
Find more exhibit information here. DeGolyer Library
“Treasures of the DeGolyer Library,” featuring materials from some of SMU’s most significant special collections, will be on view October 24 through February 28, 2014. Find more library information here. Hamon Arts Library
“Color and Chiaroscuro Prints,” featuring selections from the Jerry Bywaters Special Collections, September 16- December 31 in the Hawn Gallery. Find more library information here. Friends of the SMU Libraries
Thursday, August 29, 5 p.m. – Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, the 2013 Common Reading selection. Location to be determined. Co-sponsored with the Common Reading Program.
September 19, 7 p.m. – Jamie Ford, author of Songs of Willow Frost. Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC), 3300 Mockingbird Lane. Co-sponsored with HPUMC and Friends of the Highland Park Public Library.
October 8, 6 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. lecture and book signing – Andrew Isenberg, author of Wyatt Earp: A Vigilante Life. DeGolyer Library. Co-sponsored with Clements Center for Southwest Studies and DeGolyer Library.
Find more information about Friends of the SMU Libraries here.
The 43rd president of the United States was the surprise guest of honor at a colorful, music-filled, ceremony welcoming the George W. Bush Presidential Center to campus on Founders’ Day April 19. More than 3,000 SMU alumni, students, faculty and staff applauded as Bush walked down the steps of Dallas Hall to the speaker’s platform.
“You see a guy who’s grateful, really grateful, that the leadership of SMU and the Board of Trustees made it possible that Laura and I could build the Bush Presidential Center on this campus,” Bush said. “Today is a day to give thanks, and I’m the most thankful person here.” Former President George W. Bush with student leaders (from left) new Students’ Association vice president Jaywin Singh Malhi ’14, secretary Katherine Ladner ’14, outgoing president Alex Mace ’13 and new president Ramon Trespalacios ’14.
Following student performances of music specially composed for the festivities, SMU President R. Gerald Turner continued the theme of gratitude. “First, of course, to George W. Bush and Laura Bush …, we’re honored with your historic decision to place this center on our campus.” Turner also expressed his gratitude to the Bush Library Selection Committee, Bush Foundation, National Archives and Records Administration and SMU alumni, faculty, students and staff.
“The long-term impact of the Bush Presidential Center on SMU, on Dallas and on our nation can really only be imagined at this time,” Turner said. “However, if the activities of the past two years [with the Institute] are any indication, this unique national resource will help change lives around the globe.”
Other SMU and community leaders welcomed the former president, including University Park Mayor Richard B. Davis, who presented President Bush with a “Bush Ave.” street sign. Portions of Airline Road and Dublin Street near the Bush Center have been renamed Bush Avenue to commemorate the new center, located on SMU Boulevard. SMU trustees honored George and Laura Bush (center) by acquiring a historic journal for DeGolyer Library. The presentation included (from left) Dean of Central University Libraries Gillian McCombs, SMU President R. Gerald Turner, Trustee Chair Caren Prothro, and DeGolyer Director Russell Martin.
Outgoing student body president Alex Mace ’13 presented a bound book of student letters welcoming the Bush Presidential Center to President Bush, along with a tiny Mustang cheerleader outfit for Bush’s new granddaughter, Margaret Laura Hager.
The Board of Trustees honored the Bushes by purchasing a previously unknown journal, An Account ofFour Years Travels, by American explorer John Maley, which became the four millionth volume at the SMU libraries.
In addition, SMU Board of Trustees chair Caren Prothro presented a resolution from the Board. “Today is the culmination of literally years of work and collaborative efforts of thousands of individuals,” she said. “The entire world will be watching the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center next week, and we are honored that SMU is a full party in this project.”
Founders’ Weekend included “Inside SMU” informal classes, a briefing by Turner, Golden Mustang reunion, donor receptions, a picnic with faculty, an open house at the Meadows Museum and activities with SMU football players.
It came in the form of five presidents, including President Barack Obama. It was the first gathering of the so-called President’s Club in several years, bringing together Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the center of their attention and expressed admiration on this day.
It came in the form of more than 10,000 visitors from around the world, including heads of state such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
They came to help dedicate the George W. Bush Presidential Center, housing the first presidential library and museum of the 21st century, the first such facility of the social media age, and the third to be located in Texas.
“This is a Texas-size party, worthy of what we’re here to do today: celebrate the legacy of the 43rd president,” Obama said. He praised Bush’s “incredible strength and resolve that came through the bullhorn after the September 11 attacks, his compassion in advancing global health, and his bipartisan efforts on education and immigration. He is a good man.”
For SMU President R. Gerald Turner, the “significance of April 25 cannot truly be described or predicted, as it opens up the home of documents and artifacts chronicling a unique time in U.S. history. No matter what one’s political views, the Bush Center establishes SMU as a major resource for presidential history. The world truly came to SMU on April 25, and it will continue to do so because of the Bush Center.”
The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is the 13th such resource in the nation operated by the National Archives and Records Administration, a federal agency. The George W. Bush Institute, an independent public policy organization, reports to the Bush Foundation. Starting April 22, the SM U campus became hospitality central hosting 12 events in five days planned by the Bush Foundation, ranging from private dinners for donors and dignitaries to the formal dedication ceremony to a massive block party co-hosted by SMU and the Bush Center. For the pageantry of the dedication, a massive stage and seating area were erected on the north side of the Bush Center along SMU Boulevard, with seating also on the nearby intramural field. SMU faculty, staff and students not attending the ceremony watched simulcasts online, in McFarlin Auditorium or at an outdoor screen.
Each former U.S. president made remarks praising Bush for progress on issues they share in common.
In his remarks, Bush turned the spotlight on SMU. “I want to thank the people who have made this project a success. President Gerald Turner runs a fantastic university … with active trustees, dedicated faculty and a student body that is awesome,” the latter remark eliciting a huge cheer from students in the audience. He continued, “Today I am proud to dedicate this center to the American people.”
To plan and execute dedication events, Bush Center staff and vendors worked with SMU departments throughout the University. The campus resembled a giant fairground, with tents, stages, outdoor viewing screens, media platforms, special fencing for security zones, and seating areas, all in various stages of assembly. More than 600 media representatives from around the world converged on campus, among them Diane Sawyer of ABC and Matt Lauer of NBC. An episode of Meet thePress was filmed in a journalism class with host David Gregory.
SMU staff made sure the campus exuded hospitality – with welcome banners, information booths, campus maps listing nearby restaurants, and numerous “comfort stations” (read: portapotties).
After the ceremony, SMU’s libraries, the Meadows Museum and other campus attractions held open houses for visitors to sample the University’s resources.
More than 200 members of the SMU community volunteered to help the Bush Center beyond performing their regular duties, while others assisted in their professional capacities. Many staff members began shifts at 4 a.m. with an uncertain end time. Because security was tight, visitors and media had to arrive hours before the 10 a.m. ceremony to accommodate inspections and screening by magnetometers.
“SMU’s goal from the start was to be a gracious host,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. “That meant no task was too trivial. There were administrators driving golf carts to get visitors across campus. Others helped guests board shuttles at the nearby DART rail station. It was round-the-clock service, and we were honored to provide it,” said Cheves, who co-chaired SMU’s dedication event team with Tom Barry, SMU vice president for executive affairs.
One of the biggest challenges for SMU was to change campus parking assignments for most students, staff and faculty April 24-26. To accommodate those being affected, SMU rented a parking lot downtown, ran shuttles to campus and encouraged use of mass transit. The University decided not to cancel classes, but concern about crowds and traffic led some faculty to hold classes online, some staff to work from home (and some students simply to stay home). Officials in University Park, Highland Park and Dallas helped spread the word about road closures and high-traffic areas, “and our neighbors were very patient about any inconveniences,” Cheves said. “The result was an orderly, accommodating and hospitable campus that presented the best face of SMU.”
At the same time, SMU was under the watchful eyes of more than 200 law enforcement personnel from SMU police and local, state and federal agencies, in addition to the U.S. Secret Service, which supervised security for the dedication. F-16 jets and helicopters could be heard flying nearby.
The capstone event, especially for SMU community members not present at the dedication ceremony, was an evening block party on the intramural field and lighting of the Bush Center’s Freedom Hall. Those events attracted more than 13,000 students, faculty and staff and their families, SMU neighbors and Bush Center guests. Featuring games, food and entertainment by students and alumnus Jack Ingram ’93, the block party culminated with a nine-minute pyrotechnics show. It included a pattern-changing light show on the Bush Library façade. Fireworks formed a giant “W” in the sky.
On April 29, SMU students, faculty and staff got a preview of the Bush Museum, opened exclusively for them in advance of the public opening May 1. (Admission will remain free to students, faculty and staff.) They saw museum exhibits ranging from the somber to the inspirational, as well as a lighthearted look at life in the White House. Among exhibits drawing the most attention were those on the 9/11 attacks. The museum houses floor-to-ceiling twisted and charred pieces of steel from the second tower of the World Trade Center. Visitors are encouraged to touch. Even though the Museum’s exact replica of the Oval Office represents the setting for difficult, world-changing decisions, the sunny room served as a welcome counterpoint, eliciting excitement as students took turns posing for photos in the presidential chair.
Others found the Museum’s Decision Points Theater worthy of serious attention. “You listen to the facts about a particular controversial issue and then decide how you would handle it if you were president,” said Christine Buchanan, SMU professor of biological sciences. “At first I was skeptical and suspected that it was rigged, but after watching visitors vote to disagree with what the president actually decided to do, I have more confidence in the display. It does require you to think or at least to listen.”
Buchanan hopes the Bush Museum visit will “inspire students to visit other presidential museums or read further on the issues of that administration.”
Issues that remain close to the Bushes – global health, education, economic growth and human freedom – are the focus of the Bush Institute, an independent policy organization that includes initiatives advancing women and the military. Although the Institute is housed in the same building as the Library and Museum, the Institute faces west toward campus as a symbolic gesture inviting academic interactions. The Library and Museum entrance faces north on SMU Boulevard. The 226,565-square-foot Bush Center occupies 23 acres featuring Texas prairie landscaping.
Its intersection is SMU Boulevard and the new Bush Avenue, representing renamed portions of Airline and Dublin.
The Bush Institute already has worked collaboratively with SMU. Active since 2010, the Institute has sponsored 12 symposia on campus attracting more than 2,500 participants from around the world and involving faculty and students in related disciplines. Various SMU schools and centers have co-sponsored Bush Institute programs, are engaging in joint research projects or have made concurrent appointments of Institute Fellows to the SMU faculty. President Bush has visited SMU classes on topics ranging from journalism to immigration, and more than 100 students have served as Bush Center interns in its temporary facilities.
On April 19, SMU celebrated Founders’ Day as part of its centennial commemoration. Events included an official welcome ceremony for the Bush Center, with Bush as a surprise guest. Student leaders presented Bush with 100 letters of welcome written by their classmates. “Mr. President, you probably don’t know it, but you and I have been pen pals since I was in the fifth grade,” wrote Cole Blocker ’15. “Now I have the privilege again of writing to you to thank you and Mrs. Bush for establishing the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the campus of SMU. I believe that Mrs. Bush said it best when she said, ‘There’s nothing like a trip to the library.’”
The journey begins.
Tele-Pony student callers look forward to talking with alumni when they gear up again in the fall.
Student Ade Guobadia ’16 believes working with Tele-Pony offers a priceless fringe benefit: As a caller with SMU’s telemarketing outreach program, she has the opportunity to meet and talk to alumni across the country.
“I’ve had some really good conversations,” says Guobadia, a first-year student from Dallas majoring in business with a minor in creative computation. “I recently spoke to an alumnus who majored in physics and electrical engineering and is now involved in physics research. He offered me some great advice about graduate school.”
On any given night, Guobadia and other student “voices” of Tele-Pony gather in a call center on campus for an experience that allows alumni to share personal stories and offer advice to today’s students, while helping their alma mater thrive in its second century.
Tele-Pony employs about 35 student fundraisers each semester. Working in groups of up to 15, students clock nine to 12 hours each week. The call center operates 6-9 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, and 1-7 p.m. on Sundays from August through May.
From August 2012 to May 2013, students talked with nearly 23,000 alumni and parents in all 50 states and spent a total of 6,056 hours on the phones.
Each call is intended as a genuine two-way conversation, says Emily Kavy ’11, who worked for Tele-Pony as an undergraduate and has managed the call center for the last two years.
“Most of our students are outgoing, involved in University life and passionate about SMU,” she says. “They truly enjoy swapping stories with our alumni. And, as students, they are directly affected by the generosity of our constituents.” From contributing to scholarships and financial aid to funding research projects and campus technology upgrades, annual gifts from alumni ensure that SMU will continue to attract high-caliber students.
“I have a scholarship, and whenever possible, I let our alumni know that their gifts really do make a difference in students’ lives,” Guobadia says.
Alumni annual giving also influences national university rankings. Publications such as U.S. News & World Report, which publishes its Best Colleges guide each September, factor in the percentage of yearly donations by alumni in determining ratings.
“A gift to the University is so much more than a dollar amount. It is a statement of pride in SMU and a vote of confidence in our future,” says Marc Bullard ’15, a sophomore majoring in communications studies with minors in business and psychology.
Over the past year and a half, Bullard estimates he has spoken to “hundreds, if not thousands, of alumni. I’ve talked to graduates ranging from the class of 1932 to the class of 2012.”
Bullard’s favorite conversations are with those who recount stories from their student days. “One alumnus in particular, who graduated in 1961, told me the story of how he met his wife here at SMU – they are still married today. We probably spent 20 minutes talking about how SMU has changed and what things were like for him over 50 years ago.”
When Tele-Pony gears up again in August, student callers will be ready to listen. All alumni have to do is answer the phone.
Adam Bartley ’01 on the set of Longmire. Photo courtesy of A&E Adam Bartley, who earned a bachelor’s degree in theatre from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts in 2001, plays the endearing Deputy Ferguson, known as “The Ferg,” on the A&E series Longmire. Bartley’s character, described as “loyal, sweet, well-meaning and eager to please,” provides some of the more lighthearted moments on the drama that puts a Wyoming outback spin on the police procedural genre.
Bartley talked about the series, now in its second season, with The Dallas Morning News July 1, 2013. In the interview, he said he feels “lucky” to have attended SMU:
“Southern Methodist is one of the top undergraduate theater companies in the country. It’s an incredible program. For me to be accepted as one of the 25 students was a huge deal. Michael Connolly, the head of acting there while I was there, was instrumental in my training. I was lucky to go there.”
Read more about Bartley here.
What does it take to impress the president of the United States?
That question was foremost in the minds of SMU President R. Gerald Turner and the Board of Trustees for several years. They began to ponder it when they decided that SMU should compete to house the George W. Bush Presidential Center, including the library and museum run by the National Archives and Records Administration and the independent Bush Institute reporting to the Bush Foundation.
The quest began in December 2000, when the Board of Trustees appointed a steering committee including Turner, trustees Ray L. Hunt ’65 and Jeanne L. Phillips ’76, and the late Fred Meyer, former chair of the Texas Republican Party. Trustee and attorney Mike Boone ’63, ’67 later joined the steering committee to help guide legal negotiations once SMU was selected.
Among alumni guiding the bid for the Bush Presidential Center were (from left) Michael Boone ’63, ’67, chair-elect of the SMU Board of Trustees; Jeanne L. Phillips ’76, trustee; and Ray L. Hunt ’65, trustee.
Hunt, Phillips and Boone represent numerous alumni who supported the process. Even though SMU leaders occupied the top of the planning pyramid, many others helped to build a foundation of support that transcended political leanings.
“It does not matter if you agree or disagree with President Bush on his programs and actions as head of state,” Hunt says. “His papers and artifacts will tell the story of a unique eight-year period in U.S. history. The Bush Presidential Center is bringing invaluable resources for research, dialogue and programming to SMU and Dallas, making us a global destination for scholars, dignitaries and visitors of all ages.”
To become that destination, SMU competed against six other institutions (see timeline), all of which received a request for proposal in July 2005 from the Bush Library Selection Committee.
As part of its proposal, SMU developed print and electronic materials to distinguish SMU from its competitors. Most had more land, but were not centrally located in a major metroplex, where the Bush Center would be an integral part of both campus and community. To show that advantage, SMU commissioned a detailed scale model of the entire campus. The 6-foot by 6-foot model was part of SMU’s proposal package traveling by truck to Washington, D.C., for presentation to the Library Selection Committee by Turner, Hunt and Phillips.
Jeanne Phillips remembers the meticulous work involved. To check on construction of the miniature campus, she visited the model makers in their Pennsylvania workshop.
SMU Board of Trustees chairs providing leadership during the 12-year process of winning the Bush Center for SMU are (from left) Carl Sewell, ’66; Gerald J. Ford, ’66, ’69; Caren Prothro; and Ruth Altshuler ’48 (below). They worked with President R. Gerald Turner (far right) to capture the national treasure for the University.
“There were six guys in a small warehouse gluing leaves on trees and enjoying every minute of their day. Their mastery of detail was amazing, and I enjoyed watching the campus come to life under their skilled hands. This trip fell into the category of ‘the Devil is in the details!’”
Phillips speaks from experience. In April she chaired dedication events of the Bush Center and serves with Hunt and Turner on the national finance executive committee for the Center. Previously she raised funds for the state and national campaigns of George W. Bush and oversaw three of his four inaugurations. From 2001-2003 she served as his appointee as U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. She is now senior vice president at Hunt Consolidated, which Ray Hunt leads as CEO.
Ruth Altshuler ’48
Attention to detail of a different sort became SMU’s focus after December 21, 2006, when the Bush Library Selection Committee announced it was focusing solely on SMU as the possible site. That began negotiations involving, not surprisingly, more details.
Mike Boone, founding partner of Haynes and Boone, LLP, served on the Board of Trustees committee overseeing contract negotiations between SMU and the Bush Foundation. “Two law firms did the legal work while I was focused on the business terms from a trustee perspective,” he says. Working with Leon Bennett, then SMU vice president for legal affairs, Boone served over the entire 13 months that it took to negotiate the agreements, signed February 22, 2008. The result is a portfolio of contracts on issues ranging from terms of the ground lease to height limitations on surrounding campus structures, totaling 144 single-spaced pages.
The biggest challenge was developing contracts “cut out of whole cloth,” Boone says. “We had to be very thoughtful since there were no forms to be followed.”
Thoughtful and meticulous also describe Ray Hunt’s involvement with the Bush Center project. From the beginning, he and Turner immersed themselves in every detail to show that “SMU is the best place for the Bush Presidential Center to be successful,” Hunt says.
“We emphasized that our strong academic programs would contribute to the vitality of the Bush Center as a national historic treasure,” Turner says. “And we offered a resource that our competitors could not – a partnership with a dynamic city and location offering easy access to the public. We also pointed out that we have experience hosting high-profile events. We felt the entire package of SMU’s assets made us a strong competitor, but nothing could be taken for granted. We worked hard to prove our worthiness.”
As members of the Bush Foundation’s finance executive committee, Hunt and Turner had the dual challenge of helping to raise funds for the Bush Center and SMU’s Second Century Campaign, which Hunt co-chairs. He and Turner were convinced that both campaigns could succeed on parallel tracks, and they have. The Bush Foundation has surpassed its goal to raise $300 million to construct the center and over $200 million for operations, programs and endowment. “We have more than 310,000 donors to the Bush Center from all over the world,” Hunt says, “and most have had no SMU connection
until now.” And as of May 2013, SMU had raised $732.5 million toward its $750 million campaign goal.
“This means that over $1.2 billion has been raised in the past four years for programs benefiting SMU,” a figure that will grow as SMU’s campaign concludes in 2015, Hunt adds.
Boone, chair-elect of the SMU Board of Trustees, looks forward to the Bush Center’s economic impact on Dallas. “The city and our region were key to SMU securing the Presidential Center. The SMU-Dallas partnership of 100 years has worked again to the benefit of each partner.”
Phillips also credits the SMU community, “which is made up of very generous individuals,” she says. “They captured the vision of what a great Presidential Center will mean to SMU and our nation.”
Pointing to “the incredible leadership of Dr. Turner,” the impact of trustees and alumni, the strengths of the Dallas and SMU communities, and the careful consideration of the Bush Library Selection Committee, Hunt concludes: “The stars were aligned in bringing all this together.”
– Patricia Ann LaSalle M.L.A. ’05
2000
December: SMU forms trustee and staff committees to develop a proposal.
2001
Other competitors emerge: Texas A&M, University of Dallas, University of Texas at Austin (system), University of Texas at Arlington (with the City of Arlington), Baylor University, a West Texas coalition consisting of Texas Tech University in Lubbock and Midland College.
2005
November 15: SMU makes its presentation to the Selection Committee in Washington, D.C., along with other competitors.
2006
December 21: The Library Selection Committee announces it is focusing on SMU as the possible site; contract negotiations begin.
2008
February 22: The SMU Board of Trustees and George W. Bush Foundation Board approve agreement establishing SMU as the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Public announcement is made.
2010
November 16: Groundbreaking is held for the Bush Center.
2013
April 25: George W. Bush Presidential Center is dedicated. May 1: George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum open to the public.
The balcony of George W. Bush’s office in the Presidential Center bearing his name provides a bird’s-eye view of the SMU campus. But the proximity transcends mere geography. It represents a partnership that promises to offer benefits to both institutional neighbors.
In an interview with SMU Magazine and The Daily Campus, the University’s student newspaper, former President Bush reflected on his hopes for the Bush Library, Museum and Institute. Following is an excerpt from that interview: Q. What will be the impact of the Bush Center on SMU? A. Well, I can tell you what the impact of SMU is on the Institute and Library. It gives us great credibility to be associated with a fine university. There are a lot of synergies to be achieved. Here’s a great example. Laura is in charge of what we call the Women’s Initiative. We happen to believe that women will lead the democracy and peace movement in the Middle East. An SMU professor noted that there’s a lack of networking among women in the Middle East. And yet networking among women is important in helping to develop civil society. If women who are mistreated can find solace and aid with other women in their network, it will advance what ought to be a human objective, which is liberty. So now we’re helping set up an Egyptian women’s network. The women come here and their first classes are on the SMU campus. SMU has not only been hospitable, but it’s been of great value to us. Hopefully we will add value, too. One thing is certain. On April 25 when the Center was dedicated, the attention of the country and parts of the world was on the fact that the Bush Center is on the SMU campus. So SMU’s visibility is definitely being raised. We’ll have all kinds of interesting people coming. As more and more people discover the greatness of SMU, the University itself will benefit. Former President George W. Bush talked to SMU Magazine and The Daily Campus about his hopes for the Bush Library, Museum and Institute. Q. Why did you decide to have an open competition among institutions to house your presidential center? A. It was important to see what was available. It was a big decision to locate the Center here. This is where Laura and I will spend the rest of our lives. Before we made the decision, we wanted to make sure that we explored all options. One of the things about the presidency, and I hope people recognize this through the Museum or in reading my book, is that when you’re the president, you have to weigh a lot of different opinions before you make a decision. SMU has been the perfect selection for us. And Laura went to school here . Actually, a lot of people who worked in my administration went here, notables like Harriet Miers ’67, Karen Parfitt Hughes ’77 [White House advisers] and Tony Garza ’83, [former ambassador to Mexico]. Q.What role did Mrs. Bush play? A. When we were briefed, she was in the meetings to hear what the different options were. So it’s a joint decision. She made another significant contribution in chairing the architecture and landscape committee. And that committee made two really good selections in Robert Stern [architect] and Michael Van Valkenburgh [landscape designer]. And she’s very much involved with the Center now. Laura was an active first lady with a lot of projects. Like me, she wants to stay active. What we don’t want to do is atrophy. I don’t how many final chapters there are in my life. But we don’t want to waste a chapter. Q.What did you hope people would feel after the dedication and their first looks at the Library and Museum? A. [Dedicating a presidential library] is a great tradition for our country. I remember going to help open President Clinton’s library and to honor him, and then as sitting president he came to help open my dad’s library. Regardless of political party, people come and honor the person by helping to dedicate the presidential library. I’ve seen enough people who’ve come here already and go, “It’s amazing.” But my hope and dreams go way beyond the moment of dedication. I want people to be really impressed with what we do here: running an Institute that is results-oriented and focused on fundamental principles that will endure way beyond my time. It has to be focused on something bigger than a person. I keep reminding people who work here that to succeed, this can’t be about me. It’s got to be about the universality of freedom or the importance of free enterprise or the importance of good education for a free society or the notion that to whom much is given, much is required. Therefore, when we see women dying from cervical cancer in Africa, and not much is being done about it, we want to be involved. We want to contribute. My hope is that 30 years from now (let’s see, I’m 66; I’ll probably be gone), the Institute endures and is a contributor to peace and freedom. Q.How did you feel the first time you stepped into an SMU classroom? A. It’s funny. There was a kid on the front row who had his hat on backwards. It was an early morning class, and this kid was half asleep. He looked up and goes, “My gosh, that’s President Bush!” And I thought to myself, “There I was.” I felt youthful. What’s interesting from my perspective is what the questions are like. You can get a sense of the kind of intellectual curiosity or the level of education by listening to the questions. And they were very good questions. I appreciate curiosity. Q. Years from now, after researchers have been using the resources of the Library, what do you hope they walk away with? A. An objective analysis of the decisions I’ve made. It’s impossible for anybody to write an objective history until time has passed. History has a long reach. I hope they find the truth about certain aspects of the presidency, that difficult decisions were thoughtfully considered. I hope they discover we had a joyous presidency, that we had fun in the White House. Most of all, I hope they find that we were all there to serve something greater than ourselves, which is the country, not an individual, not a political party, but the country. I hope they see that we faced some pretty tough decisions and that we did our best to solve the problems. The 9/11 exhibit at the Museum is going to be very profound, very profound, and very necessary. It will be a powerful reminder of some truths. One truth is that something is going to happen that you don’t want to have happen. And when you’re the president, you have to deal with it. There’s nothing more important for a president than to protect the country from attack, and we were attacked. In the Museum there are two pieces of twisted steel where it is believed one of the planes hit the World Trade Center, and all the names of those who died are there. It’s a reminder that there is evil in the world. It’s also an important reminder that the human condition abroad matters to security at home. The ground zero part of the Museum will be themost vivid reminder of what took place on that day. Q.Students are asking through social media how the Bush Presidential Center and SMU can move forward together. A. I am impressed by SMU. I knew of SMU, but I really didn’t know much about the University. I have great admiration and respect for Gerald Turner. I think he’s really one of the great university presidents. I’ve spent some time in classrooms, and I’ve been impressed by the enthusiasm of the students, the diversity of the student body and the intelligence of the people with whom I’ve come in contact. As I spend more time here in the Center, obviously I’ll be spending time on the SMU campus, which will give me a chance to visit more classrooms. I’ve met some faculty members, and I’ve really enjoyed the experience. As SMU heads into its second 100 years, we can help SMU not only by bringing visibility, but also through the programs we’ll do at the Bush Institute. It is not a political center; we’re a policy-driven center that will help draw attention to the good works of SMU. I hope we’re helpful in defining the next 100 years. This interview was conducted by student Rahfin Faruk, Daily Campus editor, and Patricia Ann LaSalle, SMU associate vice president for public affairs and executive editor of SMU Magazine.
At the dedication of his presidential library on June 30, 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt observed that to maintain important presidential records and archival materials, “A Nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future.”
Following in this tradition, the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum opened its own doors to the nation on May 1, 2013. At SMU’s Center for Presidential History, we recognize this occasion as a great gain not only for the University but also for the city of Dallas, the nation and the world.
Over the past half-century and more, presidential libraries have become our nation’s public squares beyond the confines of Washington’s beltway. They are places where great minds gather to discuss, and yes, often to debate, the central political and cultural questions of our day. As repositories of the past scattered throughout the land, they are magnets for powerful minds of all political stripes, eager to shape and to serve the nation.
Presidential libraries help us bridge the gap between history and the present. The buildings and museum exhibits physically remind us that past presidents remain profoundly relevant to our lives today. The George W. Bush Library, for example, frames its museum exhibits with four themes – freedom, responsibility, opportunity, and compassion – themes that clearly reverberate beyond the years of President Bush’s administration. A presidential library’s ongoing role is what universities have always embraced: the expansion of knowledge through an open venue for the honest and unabashed exchange of ideas. Presidential libraries also provide a common space for government and educational institutions to interact with the broader citizenry. SMU’s Center for Presidential History and the Bush Library and Museum consider this sort of public engagement vital to our missions. We already partner with the Bush Library and its Director Alan Lowe in the ongoing series of lectures “Presidential Histories and Memoirs.” These lectures have been free to the public and to date have featured world-renowned scholars on Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Bush and Calvin Coolidge. In fall 2013 discussions will focus on Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, George Washington and more.
Finally, and perhaps most important for future generations, presidential libraries act as the primary conduit of archival information between scholars and the public. As such, they serve to enhance understanding of U.S. leaders’ contributions to American history and even clarify public misconceptions about them.
For example, our understanding of President Eisenhower wholly changed once historians gained access to his administration’s records. A globally famous war hero, Ike cultivated an image of detached leadership during his presidency. He allowed others within his government to enjoy the limelight. Release of his administration’s records revealed just how in command, day-to-day and moment-to-moment, he was over his entire government, especially his foreign policy. These revelations sparked a whole new term for his management style – “the hidden hand” presidency – ultimately adopted by management experts in the decades since, to explain a powerful leader confident enough to lead from the shadows of his own government.
Over the next several decades, members of the National Archives and Records Administration will work with library archivists to process, preserve and provide access to archival materials from the Bush presidency. The George W. Bush Library holds more than 70 million textual documents, as well as millions more in electronic and multimedia records. When cleared, the materials become the sources that scholars of the Bush years will discover and use to understand our nation’s past, making Dallas and SMU a prime destination for scholars from throughout the world for generations to come.
For all these reasons, we at SMU’s Center for Presidential History look forward to the history the George W. Bush Library will tell and the public services it will offer. Even more, we look forward to the crucial role it will play in processing, preserving and providing the records necessary for understanding one of the most historic and tumultuous eight years in our nation’s history. – Brian Franklin, associate director, SMU’s Center for Presidential History
November 22, 1963, started out as a drizzly day in Dallas, but quickly turned bright and clear. The mood of spectators lining downtown streets matched the sunny weather as crowds cheered the passing motorcade of President John F. Kennedy. But at 12:30 p.m., shots rang out, steering history in a startling new direction.
Much like the shocking attacks of 9/11 decades later, the Kennedy assassination cloaked the nation in sorrow and anxiety. The tragedy and its aftermath are “ingrained in the collective memory of this country,” noted Jeffrey A. Engel, the founding director of SMU’s Center for Presidential History and a senior fellow with the Tower Center for Political Studies, during the program “JFK, History and the Politics of Memory,” held at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza February 19.
Panelist Edward T. Linenthal, professor of history at the University of Indiana Bloomington and editor of the Journal of American History, acknowledged the “power of 50th anniversaries.” “They are often the last time adults who were seared by it will get to put their eyewitness imprint on the event,” he said.
Five decades later, the story of that day is still being written, commented panelist Timothy Naftali, a senior research fellow with the New America Foundation’s National Security Studies program and a former director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. “Nothing is ever settled in history,” he said, “because there is always new evidence and always new questions.”
Scholarly discourse on the fluid nature of history served as an appropriate launching point for a yearlong observance of the 50th anniversary of the assassination. Working in concert with the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and The Sixth Floor Museum, SMU will present a series of public programs examining Kennedy’s legacy. This milestone year provides an unprecedented opportunity to “join together to study, discuss and ultimately understand the event and what it continues to mean for the city, the country and the world,” Engel said. REMEMBRANCE AND COMMEMORATION
Shaping the University’s observance is the Tower Center Working Group on Remembrance and Commemoration: The Life and Legacy of JFK, a special committee of distinguished members of the SMU community. Dennis Simon, SMU associate professor of political science, a fellow of the Tower Center and director of its program on American politics, leads the interdisciplinary committee. He spearheads a summer workshop on “Teaching JFK and Civil Rights,” in collaboration with Sharron Conrad, associate director of education and public programs for the Sixth Floor Musuem.
Alan Lowe, director of the Bush Library and Museum, and Engel also are key members of the group.
Also lending their expertise:
James Hollifield, professor of political science and Arnold Fellow of International Political Economy, Dedman College; director of the Tower Center; and chair of the Sixth Floor Museum Board
Thomas Knock, associate professor of history, Dedman College, and member of the board of trustees of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library
Ruth Morgan, former SMU provost and professor emerita of political science
Daniel Orlovsky, professor of history and SMU’s George A. Bouhe Research Fellow in Russian Studies, Dedman College
Tom Stone, senior English lecturer, Dedman College
The University’s participation in the anniversary commemoration “helps fulfill the Tower Center’s mission to better understand American political change and advance presidential scholarship,” Hollifield said.
And, it builds on a decades-long commitment by the SMU community to preserve and study the vestiges of a painful turning point for the city and the nation.
The infamous Texas School Book Depository – its sixth floor provided a bird’s-eye view of the presidential motorcade for assassin Lee Harvey Oswald – was widely considered a stain on the city’s image, prompting some civic leaders to call for its removal. According to Hollifield:
“A group of history professors, including [the late] Glenn Linden, Thomas Knock and Daniel Orlovsky, were instrumental in preservation efforts.”
SMU alumna Lindalyn Bennett Adams ’52, who serves on the City of Dallas anniversary program committee, was chair of the Dallas County Historical Commission when the county bought the building in 1977. Adams organized efforts to plan and raise funds for a public museum focused on the JFK assassination within the context of U.S. cultural history.
The museum, then called the Sixth-Floor Kennedy Exhibit, opened on Presidents’ Day 1989 and attracts more than 325,000 visitors annually.
SMU alumnus Pierce Allman ’54 narrates the recently updated audio guide to the museum’s permanent exhibition. As a young newsman for WFAA-Radio, he became the first reporter to broadcast from the Texas School Book Depository November 22, 1963.
“I did the only on-scene broadcast from a phone in the lobby of the building minutes after the event,” Allman says, “and according to the Secret Service, the man that I asked about a phone was Oswald leaving the building.” ENLIGHTENING A NEW GENERATION
While the circumstances and repercussions of the JFK assassination are indelibly etched in the memories of those old enough to remember that day, they may not be as familiar to later generations. Programming throughout the year is intended to make the legacy of the tragedy more accessible to SMU students and others too young to have experienced it firsthand.
The following programs are planned in the coming months:
An exploration of the Warren Commission’s findings in October, led by Bridge from Dedman School of Law.
A conference on “Presidents and Their Crisis,” presented by SMU’s Center for Presidential History, the Maguire Center, the Tower Center and the Sixth Floor Museum February 18, 2014. This final event in the City of Dallas’ yearlong commemoration will examine the way traumatic life events that affect us all, be it illness, death in the family, or personal struggle, affect the nation when they happen to a U.S. president while in office.
A look at “Dallas Then and Now” in spring 2014.
Details will be available as they are finalized, so watch for announcements on SMU’s website, smu.edu.
The year of remembrance and scholarly review demonstrates that the University is “essential to the intellectual and cultural life of the city,” Engel said. “The assassination is one of the first things that comes to mind when people think about Dallas, and SMU is at the vanguard of helping shape that legacy.” – Whit Sheppard ’88and Patricia Ward
Photographer Bob Jackson took one of the most unforgettable images of the 20th century when he captured the moment Jack Ruby fatally shot accused assassin Lee Harvey Oswald November 24, 1963. Jackson, a former SMU student (1952-57), was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for the iconic black-and-white photo, which was first published on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald on November 25, 1963 (left).
Shortly after the assassination, he presented a copy of the photo to the Dallas Press Club, which in November donated it to SMU’s Division of Journalism in the Meadows School of the Arts.
The image graphically represents “an awful time in the history of the city of Dallas and of the United States,” says Tony Pederson, professor and Belo Distinguished Chair in Journalism.
“This photo also marks a time of significance in news coverage,” he adds. “It changed journalism in Dallas; it was the first Pulitzer Prize won by a Dallas newspaper. … It created an awareness of professional journalism.”
As a staff photographer for the now defunct Dallas Times Herald, Jackson was assigned to cover President John F. Kennedy’s visit to the city. When shots rang out in Dealey Plaza, he was one of the few eyewitnesses to spot a rifle barrel in a sixth-floor window at the Texas School Book Depository. But as he recalled in a 1993 interview for the Sixth Floor Museum, “Of course, I had an empty camera. I don’t think I could have reacted fast enough to get a picture, even if I had film in the camera.”
Two days later, while crowded into the basement of Dallas police headquarters with other members of the press, waiting for the police to transfer Oswald to the county jail, he took the photo of a lifetime.
In the 1999 Turner Network documentary “Moment of Impact: Stories of the Pulitzer Prize Photographs,” Jackson retraces his actions: “My plan was to shoot a picture as they brought [Oswald] out into an open space. I pre-focused on about 10 feet where I knew he would be in an open area. … As soon as he stepped into the open area, I was aware that somebody was stepping out from my right. My first reaction was ‘this guy is getting in my way.’ Ruby took about two steps and fired. I guess I fired [my camera] about the same time.
“I thought I had something good. I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like until I looked at the film, but I felt like I had a good picture.”
Jackson worked as a newspaper photographer in Dallas into the 1970s. He later served as a staff photographer for the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph, from which he retired in 1999.
“In the end, I want to be remembered not just for one picture,” he says, but for a career where I tried to do my best on any and every assignment.”
DarwinPayne ’68 was a 26-year-old staff reporter assigned to the rewrite desk of the Dallas Times Herald when he was thrust into the heart of what remains one of this country’s most painful episodes.
Originally slated to cover a reception for First Lady Jackie Kennedy November 22, 1963, Payne was sent to Dealey Plaza about 10 minutes after gunshots were fired. In a stroke of luck, a group of young women he interviewed worked for Abraham Zapruder and told him that their boss had been filming the presidential motorcade. They led Payne to the offices of Jennifer Juniors, Inc., a clothing manufacturer co-founded by Zapruder, in the Dal-Tex Building at 501 Elm St. In plain view, on an office filing cabinet, rested the Bell & Howell Zoomatic 8-mm camera that had just recorded what are arguably the most famous 486 frames in the history of moving images. Quick-thinking Payne was the first reporter to learn about the film and set his sights on acquiring it for the Times Herald.
“I offered to buy the film, but Zapruder declined,” Payne says. “The next day, Life magazine won a bidding war [for $150,000] for the publication rights.”
While interviewing Zapruder, Payne recalls hearing radio reports that the president was seriously wounded and had been rushed to nearby Parkland Hospital. Zapruder tearfully exclaimed that he was certain the president would not survive his wounds, saying, “No, no, he’s dead. I was looking through my viewfinder, and I saw his head …”
Later that afternoon, Payne examined Lee Harvey Oswald’s perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository before heading to the Oak Cliff rooming house where Oswald had been living under the name of O.H. Lee. He interviewed Oswald’s neighbors and occupants of the rooming house before heading back to the newsroom to write a lengthy story that appeared in the newspaper the following day, a Saturday, which happened to be his regular evening to cover police headquarters.
“I saw Oswald paraded back and forth a couple of times,” he recalls. “Reporters were wondering what time Oswald would be transferred Sunday from the police station to the county jail.”
After working until 2 a.m. Sunday morning, an exhausted Payne slept late the following morning, only to awake in time to see Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shockingly gun down Oswald on national television. The reporter was dispatched to Ruby’s apartment at Ewing and R.L. Thornton to interview neighbors and gather background information. His field notes were incorporated into a subsequent feature story on the Dallas nightclub owner and self-appointed vigilante.
In January 1964, Payne talked his way into the home of the press-shy Marina Oswald, the assassin’s widow, for a brief interview. “I managed to ask her a few questions, though she said she didn’t want to talk,” he says.
Thirty years later, Payne organized a reunion on the SMU campus of the professional news gatherers who covered the assassination. He compiled their memories in the book Reporting the Kennedy Assassination: Journalists Who Were There Recall Their Experiences.
These days Payne is involved in chronicling a happier history. He is the official SMU centennial historian writing the story of the University first century, to be published in 2015.
Ever understated, the 75-year-old SMU professor emeritus of journalism shrugs off his role during one of the 20th century’s most pivotal events. Asked if covering the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath was a life-changing event for him, he answers: “No, I wouldn’t say that. Anybody who was involved in it to any extent always carries that mark. People are always interested in it, so it’s hard to get away from it.” – Whit Sheppard
Mosasaur expert Michael Polcyn (right) was among the SMU scientists who advised Perot Museum Curator of Earth Sciences Anthony Fiorillo.
SMU’s Michael Polcyn is a global expert on mosasaurs – ancient reptiles that swam the world’s seas millions of years ago. So when preparations began in 2010 for an Ocean Dallas exhibit at the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the museum tapped his expertise.
Polcyn, director of SMU’s Digital Laboratory in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, created digital reconstructions of two mosasaurs for the exhibit, including Dallasaurus, discovered in North Texas and named for the city of Dallas. He is one of numerous SMU professors and graduate students who provided scientific expertise to the $185 million museum, which opened in December in downtown Dallas.
Polcyn’s contribution is an example of SMU’s collaboration with the Perot Museum and its predecessor, the Dallas Museum of Natural History. From loaning fossils to <providing technical assistance, SMU’s faculty and Shuler Museum in Dedman College and the Innovation Gymnasium in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering have teamed with the nation’s new premier science museum.
Texas fossils on loan from the Shuler Museum include a 113 million-year-old dinosaur; sea turtles from more than 70 million and 110 million years ago; the giant footprint of a 110 million-year-old dinosaur; and a rare 110 million-year-old crocodile egg. Also on loan are fossil wood, cones, leaves and images of microscopic pollen grains used to create a model of an extinct tree. SMU paleontologist Louis Jacobs and the model of ,Malawisaurus at the Perot Museum.
The fossils on display in the Perot’s T. Boone Pickens Hall of Ancient Life tell an “evolutionary story documented right here in North Texas, told in strata exposed between DFW Airport and the North Sulphur River in northeast Texas,” says SMU Professor Louis L. Jacobs, an internationally recognized vertebrate paleontologist.
Scientists from 10 countries convened in May at SMU for the 4th Triennial International Mosasaur Meeting. The group, which visited the Ocean Dallas exhibit, was the first scientific conference to hold a reception at the new museum.
“The Ocean Dallas exhibit was a significant opportunity to showcase the extraordinary story that the rocks tell us about life in the deep past in the Dallas area,” Polcyn says. “It was a great experience working with the museum’s creative and technical professionals on this project. Many of the fossils in the exhibit were found by interested citizens walking the local creeks and rivers in search of these beasts, and they deserve tremendous credit for bringing these finds to the public.”
Another SMU fossil on loan is a life-sized model of the 35-foot dinosaur Malawisaurus, which stands sentry in the Perot’s spacious glass lobby. Paleobotanist Bonnie Jacobs, along with Michael Polcyn, is featured in Perot Museum Career Inspirations videos. She advised the museum on the text for the paleoenvironment.
“The new museum building is an icon, but it’s also a statement by the city about taking the advances of science to the public,” says Jacobs, who led the team that discovered Malawisaurus in Africa and provided the cast to the museum. Jacobs, who was ad interim director of the Dallas Museum of Natural History in 1999, now serves on the Perot Museum Advisory Board and Collections Committee. He also will be the first professor to teach a university-level science course at the museum next fall or spring.
“I designed the Earth and Life course to engage students hands-on and outside the box, to inspire them through the museum and flame their interest in the evolution of life and in the entwined future of people and our planet,” he says.
Perot Museum Curator of Earth Sciences Anthony Fiorillo is an authority on Arctic dinosaurs and an adjunct research professor in SMU’s Earth Sciences Department. “A look around the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall shows the importance of the relationship between the Perot Museum and SMU, especially with respect to the numerous graduate students who are active participants in my field expeditions,” he says.
SMU paleobotanist Bonnie Jacobs, who along with Polcyn is featured in Perot Museum Career Inspirations videos, advised on the text of the paleoenvironment. “The world of the past is a test case for global climate models, which are computer driven,” she says. “If we can reconstruct climates of the ancient Earth accurately, then we can create better models of what may happen in the future.”
In addition, SMU doctoral students assisted with excavation in Alaska of 69 million-year-old Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum, the new species of dinosaur named for the museum’s major beneficiaries, Margot and Ross Perot.
The Perot Museum’s Texas Instruments Engineering and Innovation Hall features a small-scale, autonomous unmanned fire-fighting helicopter built in the Lyle School of Engineering Innovation Gymnasium, as well as interviews with Director Nathan R. Huntoon and SMU students. Huntoon served on the Perot’s Technology Committee and the Engineering and Innovation Committee.
“Any first-rate city needs a strong public scientific face with which it’s identified,” says SMU Professor Emeritus of Geological Sciences James E. Brooks, who serves on the Perot’s Collections Committee and who was a longtime board member of the Dallas Museum of Natural History. “The Perot Museum is going to be that organization.” – Margaret Allen
A proven parenting program developed by researchers in SMU’s Department of Psychology will now help Dallas-area families who were once homeless. Ernest Jouriles and Renee McDonald Family Compass, one of the oldest child abuse prevention agencies in Dallas, is expanding its use of “Project Support,” developed by Associate Professor Renee McDonald and Professor and Chair Ernest Jouriles to reduce child abuse and neglect.
Since its launch in 1996, Project Support has been adopted by social services agencies nationally and internationally. SMU research found that the program reduces abusive parenting among mothers who live in poverty and whose families have a history of domestic violence or child abuse.
“Families who have been homeless are emerging from a very stressful situation,” says McDonald, also associate dean for research in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. “At a time when parents are trying to get back on their feet, Project Support provides structure and training that guide them in parenting their children in ways that are loving and effective.”
Family Compass will make Project Support available through a new partnership with the Housing Crisis Center in Dallas. “The prevalence of families who are homeless in Dallas continues to escalate,” says Jessica Trudeau, executive director of Family Compass. “The scientific literature indicates that housing instability places children at risk for abuse.”
An $18,000 grant to SMU from Verizon Foundation will fund both the program and an in-depth evaluation of Project Support’s impact. Doctoral students from the Psychology Department will conduct assessments of the families who participate in the program.
Mental health professionals meet with families weekly in their homes for up to six months. Caregivers learn specific skills, including how to pay attention to and play with their children, how to listen to and comfort them, how to offer praise, how to give appropriate instructions, and how to respond to misbehavior.
Therapists also provide mothers with emotional support, help them access resources such as Medicaid, evaluate the adequacy of the family’s living conditions and the quality of their child-care.
When Distinguished Teaching Professor of Art History Karl Kilinski died in January 2011, he left his completed manuscript for a book, Greek Myth and Western Art: The Presence of the Past, under contract with Cambridge University Press. Soon after, a team of his art history colleagues – Janis Bergman-Carton, Britten LaRue, Lisa Pon, Pamela Patton and Eric White – undertook the task of finalizing the manuscript and its illustrations for publication. The book, which examines the legacy of Greek mythology in Western art from the classical era to the present, was published by Cambridge in November 2012. Available at online booksellers.
Dean David Chard (left) with Annette and Harold Simmons, whose new gift of $25 million will support a new building and academic positions.
Harold C. and Annette Caldwell Simmons have committed a gift of $25 million to SMU’s School of Education and Human Development named in her honor. Their gift will fund a new building for the expanding programs of the school and support three new endowed academic positions. The new facility will be named Harold Clark Simmons Hall, at Mrs. Simmons’ request.
In 2007 the Simmons made a historic $20 million gift to SMU, which established endowments for the school and provided funding for a new building, Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall. The gift created an endowed graduate fellowship fund and an endowed deanship and faculty recruitment fund, both of which honored Mr. Simmons’ parents, who were educators in Golden, Texas.
Their combined gifts of $45 million to the school make Harold and Annette Simmons’ commitment among the largest to SMU’s Second Century Campaign, also making them among the most generous donors in the University’s 100-year history. Previous gifts include the endowment of four President’s Scholars and the creation of the Simmons Distinguished Professorship in Marketing in the Cox School of Business.
“Since its creation less than a decade ago, the Simmons School has made significant and rapid contributions addressing the challenges facing schools and educators,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Harold and Annette Simmons have established an enduring legacy of service and generosity benefitting SMU and have shown great foresight by supporting education.”
The Second Century Campaign coincides with celebration of the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915. Counting the Simmons’ new gift, the campaign has raised $732.5 million toward a goal of $750 million to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience.
Harold Simmons says, “We have been pleased to see the rapid progress the school has made in developing programs aimed at addressing the greatest challenges in our nation’s schools. Our investment has resulted in the formation of innovative programs for education and human development, the hiring of outstanding faculty leading research that makes a difference, and growing outreach to communities with solutions that work. This progress is worthy of continued investment, which we are pleased to lead.”
In the past six years, the school has expanded from one department and several programs to five departments – Teaching and Learning, Education Policy and Leadership, Counseling, Dispute Resolution, Applied Physiology and Wellness, and Master of Liberal Studies program – offering eight graduate degree programs and one undergraduate degree program. The school has grown from 13 to 62 faculty members and from 42 to 112 staff members. Research funding has increased to $18 million since 2007. In addition, the school hosts research conferences and provides continuing education to teachers throughout North Texas.
The school also has developed community outreach programs that complement degree programs. These include the Center on Communities and Education that includes The School Zone in West Dallas, an initiative among SMU, not-for-profit agencies, Dallas Independent School District and businesses to improve school performance, raise graduation rates, and increase college readiness in the economically distressed area.
Others include the Center on Research and Evaluation, the Institute for Evidence-based Education, Research in Mathematics Education and college access programs. In addition, the Simmons School has appointed a faculty member in global health who is a concurrent fellow at the George W. Bush Institute. The school also partners with the Bush Institute on two education initiatives – Middle School Matters and The Alliance to Reform Education Leadership.
“This extraordinary gift enables our school to leave a more durable imprint as we increase its capacity for making an impact,” says David Chard, Leon Simmons dean of Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. “The new building and endowed faculty positions will enable us to expand dramatically the scope and quality of our teaching, research and service.”
The renovation and updating of two SMU libraries will be advanced through gifts totaling $8.5 million from family foundations that have supported University libraries for most of SMU’s 100-year history. The J.S. Bridwell Foundation of Wichita Falls is providing a lead gift of $7.5 million for renovation and expansion of Bridwell Library at Perkins School of Theology. The Fondren Foundation of Houston has pledged $1 million to name the Centennial Reading Room as part of the renovation of Fondren Library Center. Further funding is being sought for both projects. A conceptual rendering of the Fondren Centennial Reading Room.
SMU is celebrating the centennial of its founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915. The year 2013 has been designated as the Year of the Library, marking the 100th anniversary of the beginning of SMU’s library collections. The University’s nine libraries house the largest private collection of research materials in the Southwest, which last month reached four million volumes. Bridwell Library
The lead gift of $7.5 million from the Bridwell Foundation will make it possible for renovations of Bridwell Library to include consolidating special collections, relocating the special collections reading room, increasing study carrels and small group study rooms for Perkins theology students, improving handicapped accessibility and providing multipurpose space for instruction, study and lectures. The renovations also will create an archives processing and digital lab.
Bridwell Library, which was dedicated in 1950 as part of the new Perkins School of Theology complex, was provided through a gift from Wichita Falls rancher J.S. Bridwell and his daughter, Margaret Bridwell Bowdle, a 1948 SMU graduate. Bridwell continued to support the Library, particularly in the acquisition of rare books, until his death in 1966. The J.S. Bridwell Foundation, which he established, provided funding for the renovation and enlargement of the Library in 1988. The Bridwell Foundation has continued to support acquisitions, programs and renovations of the Library through the years.
With more than 370,000 volumes, Bridwell Library houses one of the nation’s finest research collections in theology and religious studies. Its outstanding collection of rare books and manuscripts includes over 50,000 items dating from the 15th to the 20th centuries. Among the special collections are the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection and the largest collection in the United States of manuscript letters written by John Wesley. Fondren Library Center
Renovation of Fondren Library Center will update the facility as a center of interactive technology and a vital gathering place on campus. In addition to expansion of spaces for individual and group study, the project will bring together the many special collections currently distributed throughout the Fondren Library complex in a redesigned Special Collections Research Center, providing exhibit areas and increasing access to its resources.
A prominent feature of the renovation will be the restoration of the grand reading room, to be known as the Fondren Centennial Reading Room.
The original Fondren Library, which opened in 1940, was provided through a gift from W.W. and Ella Fondren of Houston. Both served on the SMU Board of Trustees, and she was the first woman to serve on the board. Fondren was the first stand-alone library and the first air-conditioned building on campus. After her husband’s death, Ella Fondren and the Fondren Foundation funded the Fondren Library East addition in 1968. The Fondren Foundation also supported renovation and naming of the Texana Room in the original Fondren Library and in 1999 funded the addition of Fondren Library Center, a building that connects Fondren Library East and West and the Science Information Center. Mrs. Fondren and the Fondren Foundation also funded the Fondren Science Building and the Memorial Health Center.
Fondren Library Center is the primary information resource facility for SMU students and faculty. It holds more than three million print volumes covering the humanities, social sciences, business, education, science and engineering, many of which also are available electronically.
For more information about the library renovations or to make a gift, contact Paulette Mulry ’83, director of development, Central University Libraries, 214-768-1741 or pmulry@smu.edu; Todd Rasberry ’90, director of development, Perkins School of Theology, trasberr@smu.edu, 214-768-3166.
Linda and William Custard have made a $1 million gift to endow the director position of the Meadows Museum. Current director Mark Roglán (seated) will be the first to hold the endowed director position.
A $1 million gift from Linda and William Custard of Dallas will establish and endow the position of Linda P. and William A. Custard Director of the Meadows Museum and Centennial Chair in the Meadows School of the Arts. An additional $1 million from The Meadows Foundation will add to the endowment.
The Centennial chair supports one of the Second Century Campaign’s highest priorities, bringing SMU’s endowed academic positions to 93 toward a goal of 100. The Centennial designation is a special gift category during SMU’s 100th anniversary commemoration, 2011-15. Centennial endowments include operational funding to support the immediate needs of a scholarship or academic position while the principal of the endowment matures. Mark A. Roglán, who has served as director of the Meadows Museum since 2006, will be the first to hold the endowed director position.
As Meadows Museum Advisory Board chair since 2009, Linda Custard has worked closely with Roglán in developing and expanding Museum programs. “Mark Roglán has enhanced the Meadows Museum’s international stature with important new programs, such as a partnership with the Prado Museum in Madrid,” she says. “I have been privileged to assist him in implementing some of his exciting plans for the Museum.”
Linda Custard has served SMU and its arts programs in numerous roles. A member of the SMU Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2012, she serves on the Campaign Steering Committee for the Meadows School of the Arts and its Executive Board, which she chaired from 2006 to 2010. She also serves as vice chair for special events of the Second Century Celebration of SMU’s 100th anniversary from 2011-2015. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility. She served as chair of the Jubilee Opening of SMU’s Greer Garson Theatre in 1992 and as chair of the International Festival of Opening Events for the new Meadows Museum in 2001.
“Linda Custard has a strong commitment to the arts in Dallas and at SMU,” says Linda Evans, president and CEO of The Meadows Foundation. “Her tireless efforts were a major factor in the success of the opening festival for the new Meadows Museum.”
Linda Custard received an M.B.A. degree from SMU in 1999. She received the Cox School of BusinessDistinguished Alumni Award and SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award. She is a two-time recipient of the Outstanding Trustee Award given by the SMU Students’ Association.
William Custard earned a B.B.A. degree in banking and finance from SMU in 1957. He is a member of the Advisory Board for the Maguire Energy Institute in Cox School of Business and has served on the Executive Board of the Cox School. He was honored with the Cox School’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Linda Custard is a general partner for Custard/Pitts Land and Cattle Company, a real estate and energy company based in Dallas. William Custard is president and CEO of Dallas Production Inc., a privately held oil and gas operating company. A member of the National Petroleum Council, he is adviser to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
In addition to their new gift to SMU, the Custards, along with Linda’s father, the late L. Frank Pitts, have provided support for President’s Scholarships and the Custard Meadows Scholar Endowment Fund. In Cox School of Business, they have supported the L. Frank Pitts Oil and Gas Lecture Series, the L. Frank Pitts Oil and Gas Scholars and the L. Frank Pitts Energy Leadership Award.
The Custards have provided leadership to Dallas civic and arts organizations. Linda Custard serves on the boards of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. William Custard is a life trustee and board chair of the Dallas Theater Center and served as president of United Cerebral Palsy of Dallas and Texas. Both were recipients of the TACA/Neiman Marcus Silver Cup Award for contributions to the arts. Linda Custard also received the Hearts of Texas Lifetime Achievement Award from the Volunteer Center of North Texas.
The Meadows Museum houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain, with works dating from the 10th to the 21st centuries. The Museum attracts approximately 60,000 visitors annually.
Mark A. Roglán, a native of Madrid, worked at Madrid’s Prado Museum before coming to the Meadows Museum in 2001, after earning a master’s and doctoral degrees in Spain. In 2010 King Juan Carlos I of Spain knighted Roglán for his contributions to the arts and culture. The Dallas Historical Society honored him with its Award for Excellence in Community Service-Arts Leadership in 2011. He received an M.B.A. degree from Cox School of Business in May 2013.
A $1.5 million gift from the Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education will establish an endowed chair in the Division of Art History at Meadows School of the Arts. The gift supports a major goal of SMU’s Second Century Campaign to endow 100 faculty positions.
The Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education is a private charitable foundation supported through generous contributions from Marsha and John B. Kleinheinz of Fort Worth (left). Their daughter, Marguerite, graduated from SMU in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in art history.
“We are very impressed with Marguerite’s experience at the Meadows School and SMU,” says Marsha Kleinheinz, president of the family foundation. “We want to support the future of the University that is so important to our family.”
John B. Kleinheinz, a Stanford University graduate, started his career as an investment banker engaged in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions for Nomura Securities and Merrill Lynch in Tokyo, New York and London. In 1996 he established Kleinheinz Capital Partners, Inc., a private investment management firm in Fort Worth.
Marsha Kleinheinz earned a B.B.A. degree from SMU in 1983. She is involved in several charitable organizations, including Gill Children’s Services, The Warm Place, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Van Cliburn Foundation, among others.
“Our art history faculty are doing remarkable new things that will change the way art is studied,” says Meadows Dean José Bowen. “With this generous gift, we will be able to recruit and retain outstanding professors and continue to enhance our reputation as one of the very best art history departments in the country.”
Les Ware and Amy Abboud Ware (left) have given $1 million to SMU Dedman School of Law not only to establish an endowed professorship at their alma mater, but also to reinvest in their home city of Dallas. “Great cities need great universities, and great universities need great professors,” Amy Ware says. “They make the city a better place.”
Though the gift is from the couple, Les Ware says it was clear why the Amy Abboud Ware Professorship should bear his wife’s name. “Amy left a successful practice to raise our four children. I wanted to honor her legal accomplishments,” he says of her criminal defense work, which led to her being named one of the first female presidents of the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
The Wares support several law school programs and funds, including the Amy Abboud and Leslie Ware Emergency Loan Fund, the Dedman School of Law Symposium on Emerging Intellectual Property Issues, the Law Dean’s Discretionary Fund, the Law Library Book Fund, and law school class reunions. They also contribute to the SMU Fund, Meadows School of the Arts and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
Les Ware founded The Ware Firm, with offices in Dallas and Marshall, Texas, which specialized in patent and intellectual property and telecommunications law. He founded PanOptis IP, a patent acquisition and management firm, and owns private real estate investment and development firms.
The Wares serve on the executive board and campaign steering committee for Dedman School of Law; Amy Ware serves on the campaign steering committee for Dedman College.
Through the Amy and Les Ware Foundation, the couple supports children’s health, education and shelter. Amy Ware also has served on the board of trustees for St. Mark’s School of Texas, has been a member of the Dallas Museum Art League and a trustee for Dallas Children’s Theatre.
The Wares, both under 50, hope their gift will inspire other young professionals to give to SMU, says Amy Ware ’87, ’90, who holds a B.A. in foreign languages and a B.F.A. in communication arts from SMU and a J.D. from Dedman School of Law. Les Ware ’89, ’92 holds a B.S. in political science from SMU and a J.D. from Dedman School of Law.
The Wares say their time at SMU not only allowed them to succeed in their careers but also led to their meeting, marrying and building a family, a combination they say has been “the ultimate gift.”
Two recent gifts will expand the special collections housed in the Jake and Nancy Hamon Arts Library at SMU. A gift of personal materials from the estate of Dallas philanthropist and arts patron Nancy Hamon includes $1 million to endow, preserve and exhibit the collection. In addition, a planned estate gift of movie archives valued at $1.5 million has been made by film historian and collector Jeff Gordon. Film historian and collector Jeff Gordon with one of the posters from his collection that was included in the spring exhibition, “Linda Darnell: From Dallas to Hollywood,” at Hamon Arts Library. Nancy Hamon, who died in 2011, provided $5 million in 1988 to establish the Hamon Arts Library, which opened in 1990. A branch of SMU’s Central University Libraries, it houses materials supporting the visual, performing and communication arts in Meadows School of the Arts. Its archives include the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection, which will house the Gordon Collection, and the Jerry Bywaters Special Collections, where the Hamon materials are located.
The Hamon materials include photograph albums, diaries, records of Nancy Hamon’s elaborate theme parties in the 1950s and ’60s, memorabilia, personal correspondence with seven U.S. presidents and other prominent leaders, and materials related to her husband’s long career in the oil business.
The Gordon collection bequeathed to SMU includes hundreds of original movie posters, over 1,000 other film-related advertising materials, more than 15,000 35-millimeter slides of movie memorabilia, several thousand original movie photos, a 16-millimeter film collection with more than 200 features, more than 20 Warner Bros. cartoons, 100 television programs and a large group of Elvis Presley materials. The Gordon archives focus primarily on movies made from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Although the entire collection will not be transferred to SMU until a future date, Gordon curated a Linda Darnell exhibition at Hamon this spring as a sneak preview of his collection. The exhibition included posters, photographs and materials from recently acquired scrapbooks of Darnell, a Dallas native who grew up in Oak Cliff and became a major movie star in the 1940s. Her career peaked with Forever Amber in 1947.
Gordon, whose interest in film dates to his childhood, earned degrees in film production and cinema studies at New York University. In 1984 he formed Jagarts, a business dealing with the history of American movies. Since 2004 he has operated a film group in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the author of Foxy Lady: The Authorized Biography of Lynn Bari.
A new portal for SMU Libraries Alumni Services and additional offerings for alumni are now available at http://www.smu.edu/libraries/alumni. The link features several new online resources for alumni including JSTOR, Project Muse, and Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism: JSTOR provides image and full-text online access to back issues of almost 2,000 scholarly journals. Project MUSE provides access to 300+ high-quality, scholarly journals that are 100 percent full-text from a wide range of disciplines. Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism is a full-text searchable database of articles on individual critics and theorists covering various countries and historical periods.
The SMU alumni population grew by more than 1,500 on May 17 as the University bestowed undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees at its spring Commencement ceremony.
As part of SMU’s Centennial Commemoration, 2011-15, the ceremony was held on the main quad for the first time in several decades. Typically held in Moody Coliseum, the ceremony will move back to that venue in 2014. School and departmental degree-granting ceremonies followed in the afternoon and evening. Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (above, far left) delivered an upbeat Commencement address and received an honorary doctor of engineering degree recognizing her distinguished public career and leadership in supporting higher education. Hutchison’s honorary degree citation noted that she was the first woman to represent Texas in the United States Senate, where she advanced science, technology, engineering and math education.
“SMU is an entrepreneurial university in an entrepreneurial city,” she told the graduates. “It represents the can-do spirit – the we-can-do-anything mentality that has been your experience and that you take with you into your career to guide you through the minefields of life.” She closed with: “Class of 2013, the best of your life is yet to come, and you are ready!”
Other honorary degrees were awarded to James Robert (Bob) Biard, Doctor of Science, who received the world’s first patent for the light emitting diode (LED); Swanee Hunt, Doctor of Humane Letters, founder and president of the Institute for Inclusive Security and former ambassador to Austria; Francis Christopher Oakley, Doctor of Humane Letters, former president of Williams College who led development of the tutorial form of instruction; and Bryan A. Stevenson, Doctor of Humane Letters, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative.
Also participating in Commencement were members of the Class of 1963 celebrating their 50-year reunion (above, far right).
“Commencement allows us to celebrate our SMU graduates’ achievements and look forward with them to the future,” said President R. Gerald Turner. “By awarding honorary degrees, we also recognize individuals who have made important contributions to academia and society.”
SMU President R. Gerald Turner has accepted the recommendations of a task force he appointed to ensure that the University follows the best practices in dealing with the national issue of sexual misconduct, which has gained increased visibility in higher education, the military and other institutions.
“Colleges and universities are required by the federal government to investigate allegations and hold violators accountable through an internal grievance procedure,” Turner says. “Even without such requirements, SMU is committed to fosteringa healthy learning environment based on mutual respect, responsible behavior and fair treatment of all students.”
“We learned that SMU has in place policies and procedures that align with national benchmarks,” says Task Force chair Kelly Compton ’79, SMU trustee and chair of the Board’s Committee on Student Affairs. “We also found areas that should be improved or more effectively addressed with new measures, particularly programs promoting education, training and communication.”
The 20-member task force included external experts, among them a representative of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and the executive director of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Initiative, as well as SMU students, faculty and staff members.
Calling on parents to be “our partners in encouraging personal responsibility and accountability,” the task force said parents should be “allies in SMU’s effort to develop comprehensive student training and educational programs….”
The Office of Student Affairs will oversee implementation of the recommendations in cooperation with several departments, ranging from SMU Police and Counseling and Psychiatric Services, to the Office of the Chaplain and Women’s Center for Pride and Gender Initiatives.
Several Task Force recommendations were implemented during the past year, such as expanding information on SMU’s website. The full report and news release summary are available at www.smu.edu/liveresponsibly.
Marc Christensen, a nationally recognized leader in photonics – the science and technology of light – has been named dean of SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. He has served as interim dean in the Lyle School since July 1, 2012.
“Dr. Christensen has set a strong example of collaborative leadership, innovative research and commitment to students since he began his career at the Lyle School in 2002,” said President R. Gerald Turner. “He is well-equipped to lead the Lyle School as it continues its rise to prominence.”
Christensen will continue as the engineering school’s Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Engineering Innovation and as a research professor in the Department of Physics in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
“SMU-Lyle is making a difference – preparing our students to be innovative leaders, engaging them in our classrooms, our research labs and our community,” Christensen said.
Christensen received his Bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from Cornell University and his Master’s degree in electrical engineering and his Ph.D. in electrical computer engineering from George Mason University. He also is a graduate of the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education Management Development Program.
Christensen is a recognized leader in mapping photonic technology onto varied applications. In 2007, the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) identified him as a “rising star in microsystems research” and selected him to be one of the first DARPA Young Faculty Award recipients.
Joining SMU in 2002, Christensen served as chair of the Electrical Engineering Department from 2007-12. He received SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Research Fellowship in 2008 and the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor Award in 2011.
Long before the SMU women’s basketball team brought them together again, Keena Mays and Alisha Filmore shared the court for one summer in middle school as members of the Lady Rhythm in the Amateur Athletic Union basketball league. Alisha Filmore
After that summer, Filmore attended Mansfield Summit High School in Arlington, where she won a 5A state championship her senior year in 2009 and signed to play basketball at SMU. The year-younger Mays attended archrival Mansfield Timberview High School. She guided the Wolves to a 4A state championship in 2010 and went on to sign at Division I Kansas. During the three years that their high school careers overlapped, Mays and Filmore went toe-to-toe on the court as their teams dueled once each year for neighborhood supremacy.
“Our high schools were only five minutes away from each other, which is what made our schools’ rivalry so strong,” Mays says. “We were all friends.”
Filmore chimes in: “If I lost, I knew I’d have to put up with players from the other team coming up to me for the rest of the year and saying, ‘Hey, remember when I hit that 3-pointer in your face?’”
As it turns out, the pair would share the court again, but this time shoulder-to-shoulder as teammates. Mays, who played her freshman season and part of her sophomore season at Kansas, started feeling homesick and made the switch to SMU, where she could be closer to family. After sitting out a year due to transfer rules, she started her collegiate career anew in mid-December of the 2012-13 season and sparked a run that carried the Mustangs to the Conference USA regular season championship and a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Keena Mays
She and Filmore led the Mustangs in scoring and finished with all-conference selections. Mays was named Conference USA player of the year, becoming only the third player in team history to earn the honor. Filmore received a second-team all-conference nod and the Conference USA Spirit of Service Award.
The players who once shared the Lady Rhythm jersey put together one spectacular season of “greatest hits” that neither will forget. Mays took the court for the first time on Dec. 17 against Louisiana-Monroe and notched a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds. After losing two of their next three games, the Mustangs reeled off 10 straight victories, nine of them in conference.
The run was highlighted by a triple-overtime victory Feb. 7 against Alabama-Birmingham. Mays hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into its final overtime period, and then topped it with another buzzer-beater from the right elbow to win the game. Filmore had fouled out in the third overtime and became “the biggest cheerleader known to man,” she says.
“I knew if we’d gone to the fourth overtime without Alisha, we would’ve been in trouble,” Mays says. “She grabbed me afterward, and I was like a dead fish.”
Head coach Rhonda Rompola ’83, who picked up her 400th career victory in the Mustangs’ win against Tulsa on Feb. 21, now has a 401-263 record in 22 seasons at SMU. She says the team’s sizzling season was largely due to excellent chemistry. Twelve of the 14 players on SMU’s roster played high school basketball in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and many of them knew each other before they ever set foot on campus. Some had been friends and some had even been rivals, but they quickly learned how to play well together when they put on the SMU uniform. Coach Rhonda Rompola during her 400th career victory Feb. 21 against Tulsa.
“The best way I can put it is that this team bickers like sisters,” Rompola says. “And that’s a compliment. They have each other’s backs, and even sometimes give each other a hard time. But at the end of the day they’re sisters.”
The future is bright for Rompola’s SMU squad. Filmore, who was the team’s captain and vocal leader, was the Mustangs’ only senior. Mays will be a senior next season, as will Akil Simpson, who was a second-team all-conference selection last year. Although the Mustangs finished the 2012-13 season with losses in the first round of the C-USA tournament and the WNIT, they will be joining the newly formed American Athletic Conference in 2013-14.
“I would trade in all the honors and awards if we could have won the Conference USA Tournament and gone to the NCAA Tournament,” Mays says. “If the awards come, that’s great, but I just want to win next year.” – Chris Dell ’11
SMU athletics will become a member of the American Athletic Conference on July 1. The conference, formerly known as the Big East, announced the decision in April after university presidents approved the new moniker. The American Athletic Conference will have 10 members in its first season:SMU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, South Florida and Temple. East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will join the league in 2014, and Navy is set to come aboard in 2015.
In their first full meeting as the American Athletic Conference May 22 in Ponte Vedre, Florida, the conference presidents chose SMU President R. Gerald Turner as their new chair.
Despite the league’s transformation in the year since SMU decided to leave Conference USA, Athletics Director Rick Hart reaffirmed SMU’s commitment to the remaining members of the league who were in the Big East.
“We have partnered with a quality group of schools and our new television contract will provide us with unprecedented visibility and exposure,” Hart said.
Read sports writer Bill Nichol’s take on the new conference here.
Margus Hunt was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals. SMU defensive end Margus Hunt was chosen by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2013 NFL Draft with the 21st pick of the second round (53rd overall). In addition, five Mustangs have signed free agent deals with NFL teams and three others are set for rookie mini-camps.
Mustangs Bryan Collins and Ja’Gared Davis signed with the Houston Texans while teammate Torlan Pittman will join them at rookie mini-camp with hopes of also making the team. Darius Johnson signed with the Atlanta Falcons, Zach Line inked with the Minnesota Vikings and Taylor Reed signed with the Dallas Cowboys. Fellow SMU standouts Aaron Davis and Blake McJunkin are both set for rookie mini-camps with the Green Bay Packers, while Davis will pull double-duty and also work out for the Washington Redskins.
Mustangs have had great success in recent years in making teams as free agent signees, as Cole Beasley and Sterling Moore of the Dallas Cowboys as well as Bryan McCann of the Arizona Cardinals have all played in the NFL as FA signees.
SMU has also had eight players drafted in the past five years, led by Margus Hunt. He joined current Washington Redskins Aldrick Robinson (2011), Josh LeRibeus (2012) and Richard Crawford (2012), Tennessee Titan Taylor Thompson (2012), Pittsburgh Steelers Emmanuel Sanders (2010) and Kelvin Beachum (2012) and New Orleans Saint Thomas Morstead (2009) as recent Mustang draftees.
Men’s Swim Wins C-USA Title; Arcila Captures Honor For Women
The SMU men’s swimming team rewrote school and conference records, sweeping the highest individual honors and taking the team title in the Conference USA Championships Feb. 20-23 in Houston. Senior Mindaugas Sadauskas finished the 100-yard freestyle in a meet-record 42.77 seconds, earning the men’s swimmer of the meet honor. He also swam on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that set school and meet records. Sophomore Devin Burnett (left) was diver of the meet after finishing first in the platform diving competition. The SMU women finished third in the same competition; Isabella Arcila (right) earned swimmer of the meet honors after winning the 200-yard backstroke and competing on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that won first.
Ford Stadium Adds Luxury Seating For 2013 Season
SMU is adding luxury seating to Gerald J. Ford Stadium to be ready for the 2013 season. Seven new suites and a 233-seat Hall of Champions Club will be added on the west sideline, featuring indoor-outdoor seating. The team’s locker room and meeting rooms as well as the playing surface were upgraded in 2011. Mustang football opens play at home against Texas Tech at 7 p.m. August 30.
Equestrians Hurdle The Competition As First-Years Excel On National Stage
The SMU equestrian team was defeated 6-2 by No. 3 Georgia in April in the second round of the National Collegiate Equestrian Championship at the Extraco Events Center in Waco. The No. 6-seeded Mustangs had defeated No. 11 New Mexico State in the opening round of competition. In only their first year of collegiate equestrian competition, Schaefer Raposa and Mary Abbruzzese (left) have excelled on the national stage. Raposa won the 2013 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. She knocked off four nationally ranked opponents in equitation over fences to take home the title. Fellow first-year Abbruzzese was named athlete of the month in February by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association after finishing the month 4-0 in equitation on the flat. Raposa and Abbruzzese were named to the NCEA’s All-American team in April, earning second-team honors with sophomores Courtney Line and Greer Hindle and first-year Alex Butterworth.
Attorney Elisa Maloff Reiter ’80, ’83 is a graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law. In this letter to SMU Magazine, Reiter shares memories of a favorite law professor, Ann Van Wynen Thomas, who died in March: Professor Ann Van Wynen Thomas
Picture it, 8 a.m.
Not the time of morning for most students to be sitting in their seat, enraptured by a professor.
But enraptured I was, and I remain.
My dear friend and former pre-law advisor, Professor Ann Van Wynen Thomas, died on March 27, 2013, at the age of 93 in Texoma, to which haven on the lake she retired in 1983.
For those of us of a certain age, 8 a.m. may have been an impossibly early hour. Yet the stories woven by Professor Thomas at that early hour in regard to constitutional law and international law made it well worth the effort. With tales of trading whiskey for a working toilet and tub, she integrated her experiences in the Foreign Service, where she worked from 1943 through 1947, into the study of key cases. First posted as a vice consul to Johannesburg, South Africa, she was later an attaché of the embassy in London, and later, in The Hague, Netherlands.
Ann was born in the Netherlands on May 27, 1919, the only child of Cornelius and Cora Jacoba Daansen Van Wynen. The family came to the United States in May 1921, and Ann became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. in November 1926. She attended the University of Rochester and completed a bachelor of arts degree with distinction in June 1940. She then entered the University of Texas law school, passing her bar exams in October 1942 and receiving the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in January 1943.
Following her work in the Foreign Service, she returned to America and promptly married her great love, A. J. Thomas, Jr. They repaired to New York City, where simple but stunning Cartier gold bands were chosen as a reflection of their lifelong commitment – in love, in life, and in the pursuit of good cooking, fine entertainment, and being ultimate raconteurs beloved by faculty and students alike. Professor A. J. Thomas, Jr. is credited with helping to develop and build the program for international students at SMU’s law school.
A prolific author, often writing with her beloved husband – who served as ad interim dean [of Dedman School of Law] after Professor Galvin’s tenure – her publications are still cited in regard to the war powers of the president, the Organization of American States, and international law in the Western Hemisphere.
In addition to her teaching duties, Ann served as pre-law advisor for SMU from 1966-84. She also served on numerous governmental commissions, advising on such important issues as civil rights, the Central American Common Market and arms control and disarmament. She received SMU’s Willis M. Tate Award twice. She also received the University’s “M” Award, an Outstanding Professor Award and the University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award from The United Methodist Church.
While Ann Thomas maintained offices in the then subterranean labyrinth of the Political Science Department in Storey Hall, her favorite place was on the other side of the massive partner desks ensconced in A.J.’s office – except for Spaniel Hall, their retreat on Lake Texoma, which was so named due to their lifetime love of King Charles Cavalier Spaniels. First a simple cottage, a natatorium was later added to facilitate swims for A.J. They later added a bigger living space to accommodate their frequent parties for SMU students, professors and alumni.
When A.J. passed away in 1982, a number of international students in the law school funded the A.J. Thomas Commons Room in Storey Hall. The University also designated the A.J. & Ann Van Wynen Thomas Memorial Endowed Research Fund. Please help SMU remember the Thomases by making a contribution to the fund in their memory. There are hundreds, if not thousands of us, who have benefitted from their wisdom and humor over their decades of service.
NOTE: In the print version of the spring issue of SMU Magazine, Joseph W. Mosby, Class of 1976, was incorrectly listed among deceased alumni as a result of a records department error. We apologize to Mr. Mosby for the error.
The following deaths were reported to SMU between September 5, 2012, and February 25, 2013:
1921 Roland W. Harrison 4/1/63 1928 Herndon Y. Robinson 5/1/86 Frances Johnson Smith 3/27/01 1933 Mary Simpson Neeley 12/24/12 1938 Martha McKamy Caldwell 2/11/13 Sarah Gallaher Cramer 11/2/12 1939 Louise Corrigan Jordan 11/9/12 1940 Pauline Kettle Haynes 10/2/12 Dorothy Novich Levy 9/5/12 1941 Martha Proctor Mack 11/9/12 Laura Coffey Pruitt 9/13/12 1942 George Pierce Cullum Jr. 1/4/13 Edward F. Meador 1/14/13 1943
Dr. Paul E. Pfeiffer 10/7/12 Jean Watts Rodgers 4/27/12 William B. Strange 10/18/12 1944 Mary Rickles Armstrong 1/13/12 Anita Scott Bennett 9/18/12 Clarence Bentley 8/30/12 1945 Mary Jo McCollom Entwistle 2/20/13
Bishop S.P. Murphy 9/24/09
Col. Isabelle J. Swartz 9/26/12
Dr. Elgin W. Ware 11/20/12 1946 Charles D. Montgomery ’47, 1/17/13 Charles Taubman 7/16/11 1947 William S. Bean 1/11/13 Mary Kirksey Dodson 12/16/12
Max Harper 1/6/13
Dr. Julia M. Johnston ’48, 7/3/12 James A. LeVelle 12/16/12 John F. McGauhey 9/24/12
Jack B. Moncrief 10/15/12 Marshall E. Surratt 9/8/12 Betty Hearn Ways 1/6/13
Dr. Channing Woods 12/1/12 1948 Horace T. Ardinger 12/24/12 Bettye Erwin Daugherty 12/23/12 Jack E. Earnest ’52, 11/9/12 Ruth Patterson Maddox 9/29/12 Joan Slaughter Parr 6/3/12 William R. Pennington 8/31/12 Bill J. Rice 10/9/12 Burton B. Rollings ’54, 2/7/13 Bill Tarter 3/21/10 Mary J. Ware 8/17/12 1949 Gloria Bryant Alley 1/11/13 Caryll F. Beer 10/17/12 Russell J. Brydon 9/2/12 Clifton R. Collins 9/18/12
The Rev. Charles V. Denman 1/9/13 Rawlings E. Diamond 11/5/12 Bill G. Gaffney 8/27/12 Henry H. Hollingsworth 2/1/13 Leonard R. Huber 9/29/12 Irwin A. Kay 9/29/12
The Rev. Charles P. McDonald 9/6/12 Charles S. Myers 2/17/13 John E. Oehlschlaeger 11/23/12 Glenn G. Parker 11/15/12 Homer D. Puckett 11/2/06 Robert R. Royster 8/28/11 Foster P. Scott 1/8/13 Susan Whitley Sessions 2/9/13
The Rev. William B. Slack ’60, 11/6/12
Col. Chester E. South 9/28/12 Maurice A. Tharp 9/20/12 1950 Dan E. Abbott 12/8/12 Anton Chiapuzio 5/1/12 Joe M. Egan ’64, 9/4/12 James W. Fuston 10/22/12 Robert A. Gwinn ’54, 1/17/13 David C. Keenan 10/9/12 Neal J. Knox 9/15/93 James P. LaPrelle 2/6/13 Bland McReynolds 9/27/12 Emanuel M. Melaun 11/1/12 Thomas H. Rose 10/25/12 Kirby D. Watkins ’52, 9/28/12 Charles F. Weaver 1/28/12 Elizabeth Sorsby Wiesner 8/23/12 1951 H.M. Amirkhan 12/24/12 Robert D. Beasley 12/26/12 Virginia Hull Brecheisen ’53, 10/18/12 Jack A. Burris ’79, 9/3/12 Diane F. Cook ’56, 10/27/12 Martha Adamson Hoffman 10/23/12 Ruth Chambers Lewis 10/16/12 Robert H. Lindop 12/7/12 Jane Walton Lutkus 1/18/13 Laurel L. Miller 2/3/13 James H. Parr 9/27/10 Sharon Smith Ryan 9/28/12 Starkey A. Wilson 10/2/12 1952 Walter J. Babb 6/10/08 Mayme Diffey Evans 1/30/13 Marie Fagan 8/19/12 David L. Frankfurt 2/2/13 Ann Thompson Maguire 1/3/13 Wayne A. Melton 12/17/12
The Rev. Louis Sada 10/7/12 Kenneth B. Varker 1/8/13 Mary Anne Morrison Williams 2/3/13 53 James A. Donnell 1/16/13 Bill Forester 4/27/07
Dr. Johnnie J. Jerome 1/13/13 Herbert H. McJunkin ’55, 12/6/12 William S. Richardson 12/24/11 Carl N. Roberts 8/13/12 Katheryn Bunton Steen 1/15/13
Dr. William G. Tudor 8/28/12 1954 Sam L. Allen 9/9/12 Donald J. Aronson 11/27/12 Jean Hollowell Booziotis 2/12/13
Dr. Ronald E. Buchanan 3/5/03 Ann Whorton Forester 1/9/13 E.M. Gilpin 10/18/12
Dr. George E. Hurt 11/11/12 William C. Kimple 11/12/12 Richard L. Salmon 1/16/13
The Rev. James S. Tiller 1/4/13 Suzanne Smith Tubb 1/1/13 Val J. Walker 1/23/13 1955 John R. Cecil 8/16/12 George V. Charlton 10/26/12 Dorris Summers Combs 10/15/12 Shannon Francis 11/8/12 Ross E. Hanna 2/6/13
Dr. Ann Hanszen Hughes 1/27/13 Barlow Irvin 10/26/12 Jack A. Matthews 12/9/12 Mary D. Paxton 12/22/12 Lydia A. Robertson 9/21/12 Peg C. Shauck ’56, 8/4/10 George G. Wise 10/1/12 1956 Jean Ditzler Berg 9/7/12 Margaret Dillon Cox 8/29/12 Fred R. Disheroon 9/19/12 Bedee Buckner Durham 12/27/12 Barbara Wooten Fooshee 11/22/12 Jerry R. Jacob 10/13/12
The Rev. Hiram E. Johnson 12/8/12 Earl I. Jones ’58, 10/14/12
The Rev. E.F. Leach 6/24/12 Nolan G. Le Van 7/28/12 Vance C. Miller 2/23/13 Lyndell Paxson 10/8/12
The Rev. James W. Turner 8/2/12 1957 Mary Jackson Adair 1/5/13 Oliver L. Albritton 10/17/12 Jack M. Felts 7/27/11 Daniel W. Ford 5/14/09 Marilyn Kendrick Krog 11/11/12 Carroll Noell Rather 12/13/12 1958
Dr. James E. Bell 8/29/12 Lee V. Hall 12/9/12 Fred C. Huddleston 2/5/13 Ralph H. Johnson 8/11/93
1959 Ramón (“Pancho”) Arguelles 1/6/13 Charles B. Bragg 9/25/12 T.Richard Connally 1/18/13 Cecilia Straus DeLoach, 8/31/12 J.E. Hatchel 11/23/12 Bob E. Martel 4/9/11 Vernon H. Pierce 12/29/12 Jack W. Westbrook 1/26/13 1960 June Carey Castelow 9/25/12 Leslie A. Clark 9/29/12 Robert C. Rice ’62, 8/26/12 Mary Fouthworth Volker 1/23/13 1961 Kayleen Boyer Behring 9/24/12 Lynn W. Cox 12/30/12 Joellen Timm Finn 8/29/12 Glynn S. Gregory 2/14/13 George E. Priest 12/1/12 Sidney D. Rogers 1/6/13 Roger L. Wagner 2/4/13
The Rev. Donald S. Waters 11/30/12 1962 John W. Beckett 8/31/12 Franklin L. Fosdick 12/27/12 John Hutton 3/10/10 Harry K. Wasoff 9/19/12 1963 George H. Elliott 9/4/12
Dr. Joseph E. Hall ’80, 5/12/12 Thomas E. Lewis 4/14/10 Howard N. Moore 5/23/02 1964 Willie A. Crabtree 2/6/13
The Rev. Al E. Jennings 12/23/12 Marianne Cabe Long 9/17/12 James A. Smrekar 9/25/12 Theodore E. Spreng ’70, 10/2/12 1965 Nicholas W. Border 7/12/11
Dr. Lewis D. Elliston 11/25/12 Judy K. Rawls 10/27/12 Joseph W. Stewart 1/17/13 1966 W. Lee Carter ’71, 12/16/12 Kenneth L. Garner 2/8/13
Dr. Charles L. Johnson 3/1/12 Lindley E. Lawhorn ’68, 12/26/12 1967 Paul L. Overton 8/27/12 1968 B.T. Ratliff 12/12/12 Earl R. Tayce 5/5/06 1969 Betty Lively Blaylock ’76, 12/25/12 Wallace R. Heitman ’04, 9/9/12 1970 Jeannette Real Boster 1/15/13 Nancy Ketchersid Howard 2/6/13 Greer Nadeen Krajicek Maeder 1/16/13 Cassandra Nelson 8/29/12 Roland E. Schubert 4/4/12 1971 Jeffrey J. Battle ’80, 10/5/12 William B. Benton 10/5/12 Webster S. Breeding 11/9/12 Anthony J. Coumelis 1/17/13 William Gaus 9/21/12 James R. Kellogg 10/7/12 Paul J. Peters 12/3/12 Melinda Toland 10/20/12 1972 Dana Fulbright Delamater 1/1/74 Gary N. Jaffa 10/25/12 Debbie McClung 1/18/11 Pat W. Potts 1/1/13 1973 Diane Souther Dolan 12/1/12 Raymond Flachmeier 1/12/13 Dora Perez McClure 1/23/13 Esther Wilson Patterson 8/27/12 Carroll Rather 12/13/12 Kathryn Alexander Stancampiano 1/12/13 Judith Wolfe 1/16/13 1974 John J. Barlettano 11/7/12 Nova L. Harris 11/29/12 Neeta Ball Lewis 11/15/12
Dr. Kusum A. Luther ’82, 12/1/87 Ernest A. Sallee 9/4/12 1975
Dr. John R. Anderson 9/17/12
Judge Richard D. Greene 10/7/12 Hubert C. Hughett 11/14/12 Dorothy Haire Martin 9/5/11 Mary Selecman Morgan 11/15/12 1976 David C. Geist 1/7/13 Robert F. Gore 7/29/12 Ray A. Hanes 9/25/12 Robert C. Millspaugh 10/7/12 John G. Probst 1/9/02 Deborah Triplett Stribling ’77, 12/5/12 Sara D. Trautschold 12/9/12 Thomas L. Wheeler 9/3/12 Sheila Goodnight White 10/26/11 1977 David H. Kittner 11/25/12 William H. Stallings 10/7/12 John T. White 1/1/13 1978 Gay Gayle Cox 1/18/13 Ann Kao 12/1/12 Nancy C. Maier 2/7/10 1979 Richard Boiko 8/17/12 Laura Y. Hargett 12/30/12 1980 Charlotte Fetzer Avery 1/19/13 Edward J. Drake 9/30/12 1981 Carol A. Ayres 9/6/12 Mark E. Hasse 1/31/13 Louis C. Naham 1/21/13 Sarah Carlile Stevens 12/23/12 1982 Pauline M. Hendler 1/14/13 Kerney Laday 9/8/12 1983 John K. Anderson 8/29/12 1984 Harry L. Brodnax ’87, 4/24/12 1985 Lance O. Valdez 11/22/12 1990
The Rev. Pamela Kilpatrick 9/17/11 Walter B. Thurmond 5/3/12 1991 Thomas R. McClain 9/13/12 1992 Robert A. Amaro 9/10/12 1994 Wyatt L. Pasley 2/7/13 1996 Terisa Green Markey ’04, 9/8/12 1997 Lucy Travis Mercer 10/15/12 1999 Brendan Behanna 8/31/12 2000 Hunter Q. MacDonald 8/23/12 2002 Dale W. Deutscher 10/9/12SMU COMMUNITY George Pierce Cullum Jr. ’42, former SMU trustee, 1/4/13 Benjamin E. Franco, SMU student, 11/17/12 Lorn Howard, University carillonneur, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and chief marshal emeritus, 10/8/12 Morton Brandon King, professor emeritus of sociology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, 2/14/13
Dr. J. Carter Murphy, former economics faculty member, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, 10/26/12 Doris Libby Beale Riedel, retired staff, 12/2/12 Jere Scott, retired staff, 2/28/13 Fred Smith, retired staff, 11/26/12 Wanda Smith, retired staff, Perkins School of Theology, 2/22/13 Katelyn Jane (“Katey”) Stern, SMU student, 12/29/12 Wilbert Verhelst, retired faculty, Meadows School of the Arts, 12/16/12 Jonathan M. Wentz, SMU student, 9/30/12
Dr. James Allen Wharton, former faculty, Perkins School of Theology, 10/19/12 Jacob Woolley, SMU student, 3/19/13
Roza Essaw ’13 graduated from SMU in May
SMU alumna Roza Essaw ’13 is the recipient of a 2013 Mortar Board Fellowship. The $5,000 award from the national honor society recognizes outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service.
Essaw majored in political science, communication studies and human rights at SMU. In the fall, she will pursue a master’s degree in human rights at the London School of Economics in England.
As an undergraduate, Essaw traveled to three continents and 17 countries. While participating in SMU-in-Copenhagen, she focused her studies on European countries with a history of human rights violations. Essaw also journeyed to Ethiopia to conduct independent research on women’s health and rights and spent time in Rwanda interviewing survivors of the 1994 genocide. Her exploration of human rights issues also took her to El Salvador to better understand the challenges of violence, crime and poverty following civil war.
All of these experiences shaped Essaw’s interest in a career in international human rights. “I continue to remind myself of the unforgettable stories…in hopes of bettering the dignity and humanity of men, women and children with similar unfortunate stories around the world,” she says.
Essaw was initiated into the Decima chapter of Mortar Board in 2011 and held many leadership positions at SMU. She served in the SMU Student Senate and as a student representative to the President’s Commission on Alcohol and Substance Abuse. She also participated in student life as an Academic Advising Registration and Orientation (AARO) leader for first-year students and was a member of the debate team and three-year resident of the SMU Service House.
Among other achievements, Essaw received the John L. Freehafer Memorial Award and the Outstanding Senior Woman Award from the SMU Mothers’ Club. At SMU she also was a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholar, a Ray and Nancy Hunt Leadership Scholar and a Mustang Scholar.
Essaw was born in Ethiopia and moved with her family to the United States when she was eight years old. Despite her self-described “culture shock and an inability to speak English,” Essaw thrived in her adopted country, graduating in 2009 from Wylie High School as a recipient of the principal’s leadership award. She is the daughter of Essaw Jagiso and Senedu Asfaw of Wylie, Texas.
This year, the Mortar Board National Foundation awarded eight fellowships totaling more than $30,000 to exceptional university seniors who are Mortar Board members.
Vivian Castleberry, a longtime features editor at The Dallas Times Herald,was recognized with a lifetime achievement award from the Dallas Peace Center at the 26th annual Peacemaker Awards Dinner last December 5. Working to promote nonviolence, she founded Peacemakers Inc., a nonprofit that sponsors international women’s peace conferences. The University of North Texas named its peace studies institute for her.
1949
Shirley Mays Pond, now retired from her 25-year career as executive administrative assistant to various members of the Texas State Legislature, enjoys traveling, gardening, reading, music and politics. She has three daughters and three grown grandchildren.
The Rev. Dr. William K. McElvaney(M.B.A. ’51, M.Div. ’57) received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Perkins School of Theology February 4 as part of Perkins’ Ministers Week. Following graduation from Perkins, he served for 15 years as pastor of several United Methodist congregations and for 12 years as president of the United Methodist-related Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, MO, where the William K. McElvaney Chair in Preaching was established in his honor in 1988. He received the SMU Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1980, and the William K. McElvaney Fund for the Advancement of Peace and Justice at SMU was started in 1993. 1952 Frank (Francis) Murray is promoting his 52nd book, Vitamin A and Beta-Carotene Are Miracle Workers (Gyan Books, New Delhi, India), especially geared to the developing countries, where millions succumb to skin problems, lung diseases, HIV/AIDS, measles, malaria, diarrhea and blindness each year. His 53rd book is Minimizing the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (Algora Books, New York, 2013).
The Rev. Robert E. Young (Master of Theology) participated in the 60th anniversary of Richland Hills United Methodist Church. Rev. Young was the founding pastor and served the church from 1953 to 1962. Six charter members of the original 89 were in attendance and received special certificates. He shared in the worship service with other former pastors and baptized his great-grandson, Baker Jay Blankenship. His grandmother was baptized in Richland Hills United Methodist in 1956. 1955
The Rev. Dr. Roberto Escamillawas presented the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Alumni/ae Council of SMU Perkins School of Theology as part of Perkins’ Ministers Week in February. He is minister of evangelism at First United Methodist Church in Ada, OK, an instructor in the Perkins School of Theology Course of Study School (COSS) and worship coordinator for COSS every summer. 1956 Richard L. Deats reports joining the King Scholars in the MLK Digital Project and speaking in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, and at Boston University School of Theology.
Mike Engleman has published Finding Home, the first book in a series called Lawes’ Raiders, an alternative historical fiction of the Texas Rangers in South Texas in the mid-1800s. Finding Home and the second book, New Life, are available at Amazon.com, and the sixth book in the series is under way. John H. Massey assumed the presidency of The University of Texas Law School Foundation Board of Trustees Sept. 1, 2012. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from SMU’s Cox School of Business in 1993, the Presidential Citation Award from The University of Texas in 2011 and the Hall of Fame Award for high achievement in business from UT’s McCombs School of Business in 2012. He is active in agricultural and wildlife conservation in Colorado County and Matagorda County in Texas.
1965
Tim Smith (M.S.E. ’69) and his daughter, Tammy Smith Lahutsky ’89, are former Texas Instruments electrical engineers. His TI products include the logic chips that assisted the Apollo lunar modules to land safely on the moon and return to Earth and the chips used to develop the first Apple computer and IBM PC. After retiring from TI as a senior vice president, he started a medical devices company, Avazzia, in 2004, and Tammy joined him. Tim is CEO and principal designer of Avazzia’s FDA-approved medical devices used to manage pain, all developed, manufactured and distributed from the Dallas headquarters. Medical doctors prescribe Avazzia devices for drug-free pain management in patients; dentists use the products to relieve their own hand pain and back pain and for patients with pain/discomfort; athletic trainers manage pain in injured players without drugs; and diabetics use Avazzia products to manage pain connected with neuropathy. Its veterinary applications soothe muscles and stimulate healing in animals.
1968
REUNION CHAIRS: COOKIE KUYKENDALL FRAZAR and ALBON HEAD
Albon Head (J.D. ’71), an attorney in the Fort Worth office of Jackson Walker, was selected for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. He was a 2012 “Super Lawyer,” appearing in last October’s issue of Texas Monthly magazine, and was chosen a 2012 Fort Worth “Top Attorney” by Fort Worth, Texas magazine in the December issue.
Allen B. Clark, a disabled Vietnam War veteran, has authored Valor in Vietnam 1963-1977: Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice, stories from the war and all branches of the military. Signed copies of the book are available at www.valorinvietnam.com. David Hudnall retired at the end of 2012 after 38 years at Omnicom Group Inc. Advertising Agencies. For the last 16 years he has been president of Omnicom Management Services, providing financial, accounting, tax, HR and IT services to Omnicom-owned agencies in the Southwest.
1971
David S. Arthur (M.F.A. ’73) announces the second printing of The Kingdom of Keftiu, his historical mystery novel from Brighton Publishing LLC. It’s the first of a series of three novels, the second of which is in the editorial stage.
1972
Hugh R. (Buz) Craft has written Once Upon a TIME…IS TEMPERATURE! to “prove” that time is simply temperature. He covers various subjects in this printed piece he calls a bookazine. A list of publishers is available from Google. Gail Norfleet is a Dallas artist whose third exhibition of paintings, monotypes, photographs, collages and paintings on glass was held at the Valley House Gallery this past January 11 – February 9. She has had solo exhibitions in Dallas at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary and the former Delahunty and DW Galleries. An art professor at Cedar Valley College in Lancaster, TX, she also gives private instruction. Peggy Higgins Sewell was honored at the TACA Silver Cup Award Luncheon in Dallas February 22 as an extraordinary arts philanthropist and a champion of the performing arts community of North Texas.
Stephen Tobolowsky is a veteran character actor on television and in the movies. Among other roles, he was Needle Nose Ned in “Groundhog Day.” In an award ceremony March 7 at Austin Studios, he was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame. His new book, The Dangerous Animals Club, captures his storytelling flair.
1974
Gary Ingram,an attorney in the Fort Worth office of Jackson Walker, has been named in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and selected as a 2012 Fort Worth “Top Attorney” by Fort Worth, Texas magazine in the December issue. Patrick “Pat” Yack has been named to PBS’ Digital Advisory Council, a national group of broadcasters that advises PBS on a variety of digital initiatives.
1975
John Samuel Tieman ’79, Ph. D., has published “Shame On You, Child: On Shaming, Educational Psychology And Teacher Education,” a chapter in the new book, The Uses of Psychoanalysis in Working with Children’s Emotional Lives, which is published by Jason Aronson, a division of Rowman and Littlefield. The book is designed to be used in, among other places, schools of education. Dr. Tieman also has an article in the spring issue of Schools: Studies In Education, which is published by the journals division of the University Of Chicago Press. The essay, “Miss Freud Returns To The Classroom: Toward Psychoanalytic Literacy Among Educators,” is a call for a more psychoanalytically informed approach to educational psychology and teacher formation, he says.
1976
John Holden, an attorney at Jackson Walker, was designated a 2013 “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers.Only one lawyer in each practice area in each community is so honored. Ladine Bennett Housholder announces her new book, The Well Women, the tale of the Samaritan woman at the well interwoven with stories of challenge and healing of nine contemporary women. With discussion questions in the back, the book is suitable for study and discussion groups as well as personal reflection.
1977
Tim Seibles has been an associate professor of creative writing at Virginia’s Old Dominion University since 1995. He was one of 20 finalists for the 2012 National Book Awards, nominated for the somewhat autobiographical Fast Animal, his seventh collection of poetry (Etruscan Press), in which he traces his life from a 16-year-old to a present-day middle-aged man. Collectively, Fast Animal tells a story of how life changes for all of us.
Wade Cooper is an attorney in the Austin office of Jackson Walker. In last October’s issue of Texas Monthly magazine, he was listed as a 2012 “Super Lawyer,” and he also was selected for inclusion in the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America, regarded by many as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Laurie Hickman Cox had her first solo exhibition at Valley House Gallery in Dallas December 12, 2012 – January 7, 2013, displaying oil paintings, pastels and cut-outs. In 1984 she attended a summer residency at The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and since then has spent two summer residencies at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, ME, and one residency at Anderson Ranch in Snowmass Village, CO. Rod MacIlvaine and Cindy Funkhouser MacIlvaine celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary and the arrival of their sixth grandchild this spring. Their children are spread out from Seattle to London, so it makes for exciting places to visit, according to the MacIlvaines. Rod continues to serve as senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Bartlesville, OK, and on the adjunct faculty of Oklahoma Wesleyan University. His recent article, “The Apologetic Value of Religion and Wellness Studies,” was published in the Christian Apologetics Journal. His next article will appear in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice journal later this year. Rod has recently enjoyed reconnecting with his fellow fraternity brothers, especially his freshman year roommate from Boaz Hall.
1979
Renee Pfrommer Castle (J.D. ’82)married Robert L. (Larry) Crawford Nov. 5, 2011, in Rosemary Beach, FL. She practices law with her brother in Memphis, and her two daughters, Sarah and Cristia, attend Birmingham-Southern College. Mary Collins received the Spirit Award last November from Women In Film.Dallas at the 2012 Topaz Award Gala, recognizing her outstanding contributions, dedication and trailblazing efforts within the film and television industry. She is founder, owner and president of The Mary Collins Agency in Dallas, which represents voiceover and on-camera performers. In 2012 she also was inducted into Worldwide Who’s Who of Executives, Professionals and Entrepreneurs.
Sharon S. Millians was honored March 5 by the Fort Worth Commission for Women as an Outstanding Woman in the Workplace. She is a partner in, and co-chair of, the real estate and finance section of law firm Kelly Hart & Hallman. She has been on the list of “The Best Lawyers in America” since 1992, recognized as a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly since 2003 and identified as one of the “Top 50 Women Texas Super Lawyers” and “Top 100 Super Lawyers” in the Dallas/Fort Worth region. Regina Taylor moved to Chicago in 2010 andhas now been selected by Chicago Magazine as one of six Chicagoans of the Year for 2012. Playwright, director and Golden Globe-winning actress, she has rewritten and revived her 10-year-old musical Crowns, a celebration of African-American women and their hats. Lisa Benefield Thomas had her first classical label recording released last October 29 by Toccata Classics in London. It is solo piano music by American composer Arthur Farwell.
Dr. Melanie Moore Biggs is a licensed clinical psychologist at the V.A. North Texas Health Care Systems – Dallas V.A. Medical Center, where she works with Dallas veterans on the inpatient psychiatry service providing individual and group psychotherapy and psychological evaluations.
1984
Jeff Austin III was re-appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas Transportation Commission in March for a term that expires Feb. 1, 2019. The commission oversees the Texas Department of Transportation. John Gilchrist was named a Fellow in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, one of 183 fundraising professionals to have earned this highest level of distinction. Megan Riegel was awarded South Carolina’s highest civilian honor — The Order of the Palmetto — for her work as president and CEO of the Peace Center for the Performing Arts. The award was given by S.C. Governor Nikki R. Haley on Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at the Peace Center in Greenville, S.C. Elizabeth Longino Waller of Birmingham, AL and James McBrayer Sellers, III ’83 of Lexington, MO were married on June 8, 2013, in New Orleans, LA. The ceremony took place in the original stables of the French Quarter’s historic Hermann House, now Broussard’s. The bride wore a circa 1905 gown that had belonged to the groom’s great-great-great aunt. Following their vows, the new couple, wedding party, and guests joined a Second Line Brass Band for a parade through the Quarter, returning to Broussard’s for a courtyard reception. The groom’s mother, Elizabeth Singleton Sellers ’56, a Kappa Alpha Theta sister of the bride, read I Corinthian 13. The guests included Elizabeth’s other Kappa Alpha Theta sisters Lucy Duffy Tankersley ’84 and Lisa Cave Andrews ’84.
1985
Larry Pierson, who earned an MS in engineering management from SMU, reports that he recently filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent Office for a Texas-sized internet data switch. At over 30,000 ports of 10-gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), it is much larger than any other telecom switch out there, he says. “One of the more interesting applications for it is to provide a fault-tolerant communications core for a supercomputer with over 10 million processing units. It can also be used to maximize (groom) the flow of data in long distance internet lines to help keep the costs of carrying internet services down.” Christine Karol Roberts is an attorney in California and author of the children’s books The JewelCollar, a tale of a Maltese dog and the lesson that sharing is the Christmas spirit and the spirit of true friendship, and Hannah the Hummingbird, a story of the adventures of Hannah and her baby hummingbirds. From last December through February 14, she donated 100 percent of all Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple iBook store sales from these books to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund in Newtown, CT. She was recognized among Los Angeles’ Women Leaders in the Law in March 2013 by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell. Todd A. Smith, owner of The Todd Smith Law Firm, has been elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation, a mark of distinction and recognition of his contributions to the legal profession. Each year only one-third of one percent of State Bar members are invited to become Fellows.
1986
Margaret Love Tuschman DeVinney has transferred from her position in SMU Athletics as executive assistant for women’s basketball to administrative assistant for Athletic Forum and programs in SMU’s Program Services. Evangelia Costantakos Kingsley, a Meadows School of the Arts graduate, and Chip Prince return to the Metropolitan Room in New York September 22 and 30 to sing songs about dance by Cohen, Coward, Gershwin, Rorem, Waits and many more. The show is directed by Eliza Beckwith. Linda Yows Leitz was elected chair of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors last January 31 and will serve as chair-elect until her term begins Sept. 1, 2013. A financial professional since 1979, she founded and co-owns the financial planning firm It’s Not Just Money, Inc. in Colorado Springs. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in the personal financial planning program at Kansas State University.
The Honorable Brian McCall is chancellor of the Texas State University System, serving more than 77,000 students at eight institutions. In a ceremony in Waco Jan. 25, 2013, he was presented the Price Daniel Distinguished Public Service Award by the Baylor Alumni Association. He served two decades in the Texas House of Representatives and has authored The Power of the Texas Governor: Connally to Bush, based on his Ph.D. dissertation.
1987
Mark S. Bertrand has been appointed vice president for financial services for defense and space programs for Boeing Capital Corporation. Based in El Segundo, CA, and a resident of Long Beach, he leads a team supporting financial structuring and solutions for Boeing’s military and satellite systems customers. Steve Hickman has moved from Phoenix to Seattle where he continues in his fourth year as the IP strategist for Honeywell Aerospace. In the 1990s he worked as a consultant in Dallas, Kansas City and Minneapolis, developing sustainable software architecture helping clients in industries ranging from aerospace and oil/gas to manufacturing, pollution and telecom.
Margaret White Weinkauf has returned to SMU as assistant director of development for the Meadows School of the Arts. She has chaired fundraising efforts in the Dallas community with a broad network of arts and cultural supporters and has extensive experience as an attorney.
1989
Julianne M. Furman has been named president of Polydesign Systems, a subsidiary of Exco Technologies. Based in Tangier, Morocco, she manages divisions comprising almost 800 people in France and Morocco. Matthew Thompson has been recognized for legal excellence with his selection to the 2013 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. He practices immigration law in the Houston office of Jackson Walker.
David A. Dreyer (M.F.A. ’92) had a fourth solo exhibition of his paintings and sculpture, “Resonance of Place,” at Valley House Gallery in Dallas from February 16 to March 16. He has been honored with the Moss/Chumley Award from the Meadows Museum at SMU and has had solo exhibitions at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas and The Grace Museum in Abilene. Lee Mulcahy (Ph.D. ’00) is an artist in Aspen, CO. In January 2013 he exhibited at Germany’s Universitat der Kunst Berlin and the Carbondale Council for Arts and Humanities in Carbondale, CO. In March he was featured at Aspen’s Red Brick Center for the Arts. Nisha Shah returned to the Dedman School of Law at SMU last December as the assistant director of development. She has experience as a trial lawyer and has chaired fundraising efforts and worked closely with lawyers and constituents throughout the Dallas area.
1991
Elise A. Healy, a Dallas-based immigration lawyer, has been named 2013 Dallas Immigration Law “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, reflecting the respect she has earned for her ability, professionalism and integrity.
1992
David Gunn and his wife, Kristen Smith Gunn ’94 recently relocated back to Texas after 14 years in Florida. They settled in the Katy area with their children, Preston, Peyton and Pierce. When they are not busy chasing the kids or reconnecting with friends and family, David works as vice president of Business Development and Strategy for SonarMed, a medical device company. William Jenkins is a civil litigation attorney at Jackson Walker. He was selected as a Fort Worth “Top Attorney” for 2012 by Fort Worth, Texas magazine in last December’s issue. Matthew Kadane has written The Watchful Clothier: The Life of an Eighteenth-Century Protestant Capitalist (Yale University Press, 2013). He is an associate professor of history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Andrea Iken Tennison and her husband, John Tennison, M.D., welcomed twin sons, James Tyler and Joseph Thomas, Jan. 31, 2011. Andrea reports that their big brother, Jack Truman, has been helping the boys learn to make pony ears! Lisa K. Thompson has been promoted at Prairie View A&M University from assistant professor of educational leadership to associate professor with tenure and to coordinator of the Ph.D. program in educational leadership in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education.
Jacqueline Bradley designed and implemented initiatives for fall 2009-fall 2012 that doubled success rates for under-prepared students in the writing program at El Centro College in downtown Dallas. She is chair of the Department of English and Developmental Writing. Dan Davenport co-founded RiseSmart in 2007, a leader in next-generation outplacement solutions, helping laid-off employees get back to work. With his leadership, 30 Fortune 1,000 companies have switched from traditional outplacement firms to RiseSmart, now the fastest growing outplacement solutions provider in the U.S. Logan Flatt is senior vice president of strategic planning at the integrated marketing agency Ansira, based in St. Louis and Dallas. As a Chartered Financial Analyst and member of CFA Institute, he is considered an expert on improving the impact of marketing on corporate financial performance. He lives in Dallas. Phyllis Durbin Grissom has been elected grand president for Delta Delta Delta social Greek organization for the 2012-2014 biennium, announced at the 55th biennial convention in Tucson last July. Victor G. Hill III married Jennifer Owens in Oklahoma City March 24, 2012. He is a senior network engineer with General Dynamics Information Technology – Air Force and Navy Solutions, and Jennifer is in her 18th year as an English teacher at Putnam City West High School. Sean Whitley is a producer of “Home Strange Home” on HGTV. Heather Wilson joined Ogilvy Public Relations as executive vice president and director of the corporate group, based in Chicago. Previously she was a senior vice president with Weber Shandwick and led its West Coast corporate issues and crisis management group in Los Angeles.
1994
John Dorsey reports that he and Andrew Stephan ’93 started their own production company – ten100 – three years ago. Their latest film, “Glory Hounds,” which took three years to make, premiered on “Animal Planet” in February to rave reviews. It documents the bond between military working dogs and their handlers on the front lines in Afghanistan. Last year they directed “The Marinovich Project” for ESPN, which was nominated for an Emmy for best sports documentary. And in 2010 they collaborated with Thaddeus Matula ’03 on “Pony Excess,” also for ESPN. Jeffrey Hoffman was recently accepted into Theatre Bay Area’s inaugural ATLAS (Advanced Training Leading Artists to Success) program for directors, which will help him identify his career goals and better understand where he fits into the Bay Area theatrical landscape. He has been cast as Chris Keller in “All My Sons” at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre in Hayward, CA. Daxton R. (Chip) Stewart is an associate professor at TCU’s Schieffer School of Journalism with a law degree from The University of Texas and a Master of Laws and master’s and doctoral degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri. He combined his background in journalism and law as editor of Social Media and the Law: A Guidebook for Communication Students and Professionals (Routledge, 2012), which details the legal challenges that have arisen with social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube as they relate to journalism, advertising and public relations. Abby Sassenhagen Williams and her husband, Todd Williams, were honored at the National Philanthropy Day Awards Luncheon in Dallas last November 30. Nominated by Austin College in Sherman, TX, they were named Outstanding Philanthropists by the Greater Dallas Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for their support of educational opportunities for underserved populations. They chair the regional advisory board for Teach for America in Dallas-Fort Worth and helped establish the Williams Preparatory School in Dallas. Abby serves on the board of the Dallas Women’s Foundation and the Campaign Steering Committee for Campus and Student Life for SMU’s Second Century Campaign.
1995
Tracy Ware Odetunmibi and her husband, Ayorinde Odetunmibi, welcomed their daughter, Atinuke Nia Odetunmibi, August 17, 2012. Hilary Russo (right) was honored in May with the “Excellence in Teaching” award from the National Society of Leadership and Success. Hilary is an adjunct professor at St. John’s University in New York City and teaches TV performance and production. She is also a TV host/lifestyle and design specialist and a guest host on QVC, the national shopping network.
1996
Melinda Jones has launched her own stationery line, Read Between the Lines, the first of several planned retail extensions from her company and blog, Super Much Love™. She honed her design skills remodeling premier Dallas properties and also had a successful career in advertising and marketing before pursuing her passion for fun paper products. Colette Kress (right), a 24-year veteran of the tech industry, has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Nvidia Corp., a graphics chip maker. She previously served as senior vice president and CFO for Cisco’s Business Technology and Operations Finance organization for three years. Prior to that, she spent 13 years with Microsoft, including four years as CFO of its Server and Tools division. In addition, she has held various financial positions with Texas Instruments. Nefeterius Akeli McPherson (J.D. ’08) was diagnosed with a rare bile duct and liver disease in her first year of law school at SMU. She received a lifesaving liver transplant Nov. 6, 2011, from a 12-year-old West Virginia girl who died suddenly from a brain hemorrhage. Now she has made a vow to keep her donor’s memory alive and spread awareness about the importance of organ donation through a public Facebook page: www.facebook.com/livertransplant. The Charleston (WV) Gazette ran a front-page story about Nefeterius and her donor last October 9 and a story about her efforts supporting organ donation February 8. Constantine (Taki) Scurtis has been named a managing partner with LYND, a national real estate investment, development and management firm, which he joined in 2009 as vice president of business development. He will manage a LYND office in Miami, which he recently opened, as well as sourcing new real estate opportunities in South Florida.
1997
Bill Crean (M.S. ’98) has accepted a position as director of product management at InterDigital Communications and has moved to Wayne, PA (in the Philadelphia area) with his wife Stephanie (B.S. ’98) and children Will and Allison. Shawna Ford Lavender is director of operations for SMU’s women’s basketball. An SMU player from 1993-97, she was head coach at Abilene Christian University for the last nine seasons. Jason McKenna (Ph.D. ’02) was the speaker at a January 24 lecture at SMU, Emerging R&D in Support of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief, presented by SMU’s Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity. He spoke of how technology is being developed to meet the often neglected needs of people confronted by natural disasters, faced with limited resources, living in everyday poverty. He is lead technical director for geospatial research and engineering at the U.S. Army’s Engineer Research & Development Center, leading a research team that supports the U.S. military’s humanitarian assistance and disaster relief programs in the U.S. and internationally. In 2010 he received the Civilian Service Award, the highest given to civilian Department of Defense employees. Todd Martin recently joined Culhane Meadows PLLC as a partner in the Dallas office. Suzanne Campbell Wellen and her husband, Darrell, welcomed a son, John Jay, May 6, 2012. She is a business litigation attorney with Andrews Kurth LLP in Dallas.
Todd Martin, SMU Law class of 1997, recently joined Culhane Meadows PLLC as a partner in the Dallas office.
Alison Ream Griffin has been named to Delta Delta Delta international leadership as a member of the board of directors of this leader among social Greek organizations. Her position was announced at the 55th biennial convention last July in Tucson. Monique Roy published a new historical fiction novel, Across Great Divides, in July 2013. This is her second book. Her first book for children, Once Upon a Time in Venice, was published in 2007. You can find out more at www.monique-roy.com. Books are available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Jennifer Clark Tobin (J.D. ’01) and her husband, AaronTobin ’00, announce the birth of their first child, Anna Christine, in Dallas May 31, 2012.
Travis Justin Matthews Sr.received his Doctorate in Supervision, Curriculum and Instruction in Higher Education from Texas A&M Commerce in May. Ian McCann, after 12 years as a reporter for The Dallas Morning News,has joined the City of Richardson as information coordinator. Dennis Rogers is director of communications and digital media for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
2001
Mary Elizabeth Ellis (right) is an actress living and working in Los Angeles, who has appeared in the television programs “New Girl,” “Up All Night,” “Happy Endings” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Bernard Jones has been appointed an Oklahoma County District Judge. Jones earned a law degree from Notre Dame Law School and was previously associate dean for admissions and external affairs at Oklahoma City University School of Law and an associate at law firms in Oklahoma City and Ohio. He is board chair for the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City and serves on the boards for Sunbeam Family Services, the American Cancer Society, Oklahoma Lawyers for Children and the national board of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. Bernard lives in Edmond with his wife, Mautra, and son, Bernard. David B. Lacy is a litigation attorney recently elected a partner at Christian & Barton LLP, a civil law firm in Richmond, VA. Treasurer of the Richmond Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, he is a member of the CLE Committee for the Bar Association of the City of Richmond and the Lewis F. Powell Jr. American Inn of Court. Kristen Holland Shear and Mark F. Shear, OD, celebrated the birth of Benjamin Clay on September 23, 2013. Benjamin joins two older sisters, Savena and Cora. Frank White (J.D., M.B.A. ’06) and his wife, Stephanie ’06, are parents of three children: twins Henry and Clayton, age 3, and Wesley, born Sept. 14, 2012. Frank has created a new website, CollegeFrog, which helps employers recruit accounting majors and manage the hiring process in one simple, inexpensive Web application.
2002
Jodi Warmbrod Dishman, a trial and appeals lawyer formerly with the San Antonio office of Akin Gump, has joined Oklahoma’s largest law firm, McAfee & Taft, as Of Counsel. She and her husband, Brent, also an attorney, live in Edmond, OK.
Dodee Frost Crockett, Managing Director – Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch, placed 20th on the list of “America’s Top 100 Women Financial Advisors 2013” ranked by Barron’s. She focuses on building one-on-one relationships founded on trust and developing an understanding of her client’s needs and financial goals. Juan José de León won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Great Lakes Region finals, in January representing Pittsburgh, where he has been in the Pittsburgh Opera Young Artists program for the last two seasons. In 2013-14, he will make his debut with The Metropolitan Opera in Nico Muhly’s Two Boys and with the Atlanta Opera as Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. He is spending the summer with the Wolf Trap Opera Company where he will perform in The Journey to Reims, Falstaff and Carmina Burana. He was a winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition in 2010 and made his Dallas Opera debut in 2011. Cameron W. George was promoted to director of finance at Linn Energy (NASDAQ:LINE), a top-15 U.S. independent oil and gas company based in Houston. He joined Linn in August 2005 to help take the company public. Previously he was an energy investment banker with RBC Capital Markets. Eva Parks joined NBC 5 Investigates as an investigative producer in 2012. In their first year together, the investigative team has won two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Best News Series and Continuing Coverage, and a national Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Investigative Report from the Society of Professional Journalists. D.J. Pierce is an actor primarily known as the drag character “Shangela.” Having once appeared on the reality series “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” he broke out to guest on “2 Broke Girls,” “The Mentalist,” “LA Hair,” “Glee” and the E! Network’s “The Soup.” Last September he debuted in the YouTube scripted series “Jenifer Lewis and Shangela” and has recently launched a stand-up comedy tour.
2004
Susannah Cullum McGown and her husband, Patrick McGown ’09, celebrated the birth of their first child, Jackson Paul, Jan. 19, 2013. José Leonardo Santos (Ph.D. ’08) was appointed social science assistant professor in anthropology at Metropolitan State University’s College of Arts and Sciences in Saint Paul, MN. He teaches 21 semester credits per year, advises students and frequently guests on Minnesota Public Radio. He has taught at SMU’s Taos and Dallas campuses.
2005
Matt and Melissa Rothschild Bragman (right) welcomed future Mustang Molly Elizabeth Bragman (Class of 2027) September 17. She was born just in time to watch the Battle for the Iron Skillet, says Matt. The Bragmans live in Long Beach, CA where Matt is an administrator for Green Dot Public Schools and Melissa is the entertainment events manager at the Queen Mary. Ashley Randt Kneisly and her mother, Margo Geddie, who attended SMU’s Cox School of Business, work side by side managing large investment and retirement portfolios at The Geddie Group at Morgan Stanley in Houston. Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in corporate communications and public affairs from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and says her mother has been a supportive mentor in her career in the financial services industry.
2006
Ruthie Leggett married Zachary Thicksten July 6, 2013, in Beaver Creek, CO. The newlyweds live in Little Rock, AR. Melissa Meeks runs TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art, an annual contemporary art auction in Dallas benefiting two organizations – the Dallas Museum of Art and amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research – and drawing prominent artists, art collectors and philanthropists from around the world. She was recently profiled in ELLE magazine as one of ELLE’s 2012 Fresh Makers, an art world power player. She is an active member of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium’s art council, with a hand in its founding. Allison Pfingstag graduated from Tarrant County College in 2012 with a degree in dental hygiene and is now a dental hygienist in the family and cosmetic dentistry practice of Dr. Ted Hume III.
2007
Natalie Bidnick has relocated to Austin to attend graduate school at St. Edward’s University, working toward a Master of Liberal Arts degree with an emphasis in creative writing. Tamara L. Joneshas completed an orthodontic residency and earned a Master of Science in Dentistry degree from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She is excited to be joining Willow Bend Orthodontics in Plano. Brent Turman (J.D. ’12) has been named an associate at the Dallas-based law firm SettlePou, where he concentrates on contract disputes, real estate litigation, consumer financial services litigation, negligence claims, Texas Deceptive Trade Practices claims and commercial disputes. Jay Wieser has been selected a 2012 Fort Worth “Top Attorney” by Fort Worth, Texas magazine in the December issue. He practices civil litigation in Jackson Walker’s Fort Worth office.
Katharine Brunson and Travis Clark were married in Dallas June 23, 2012, and live in Fort Worth. She is a paralegal with Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP, and Travis is a geologist with Dynamic Production Inc. Mary Pat Higgins, at the Hockaday School in Dallas since 1990, is a CPA and Hockaday’s longtime chief financial officer. On Jan. 1, 2013, she began new duties as president and CEO of the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance, where she looks forward to possible construction of a new museum. Lindsay Scanio is the new assistant director of alumni engagement at SMU. Previously she was coordinator for SMU alumni relations and a program specialist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, where she helped recruit and retain over 200 volunteers.
2009
Jamila Benkato received an M.A. in Global and International Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2012, after completing internships at the Arab American Institute and Human Rights Watch, both in Washington, D.C. After serving for a year as Program Coordinator for West Michigan Refugee Education and Cultural Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she is returning to California to become a member of UC, Irvine School of Law’s Class of 2016. Brian M. Kwesiga was elected the 10th president and CEO of the Ugandan North American Association (UNAA) at its 25th annual convention held August 30-September 1 in Dallas. The organization promotes the “social, cultural and economic development of the Ugandan community in North America [which numbers more than 120,000] and beyond.” Brian chaired the organization’s 2013 Dallas Convention Organizing Committee (COC). 2010 Nikki Cloer married Sam McDonald Jan. 12, 2013, in Corinth, TX. The newlyweds live in Dallas. Ashley Howe (M.S. ’12) and James Justinic (M.S. ’12) were married at Perkins Chapel Nov. 3, 2012. They met in the Mustang Band. Andrew Nguyen was profiled as a “real hero” by Peter Calabrese on Huffington Post July 1, 2013. Nguyen founded Honor Courage Commitment, Inc. a nonprofit that provides free training, mentorship and education to develop vets into entrepreneurs. Nguyen, who holds a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship for SMU’s Cox School of Business, also launched WSI Search, a digital marketing and Web development firm, in 2008. He served in the Marines for four years all over the world, including Afghanistan, before returning to Dallas and attending SMU.
2011
Jordan Chlapecka and Jennifer Wagstaff were announced last October 3 as two of five national winners of The Big Ad Gig, an annual Advertising Week competition that invites aspiring copywriters and art directors to vie for a 30-day paid freelance position at one of the industry’s best agencies. Jordan won a spot at Deutsch, and Jenny, a position at Ogilvy & Mather. Olivia Anne Smith is an artist whose first show, “Site Reading,” was front and center last September 23 – October 20 in Brooklyn at an experimental gallery called A Slender Gamut. She describes her work: “I throw an inked ball into the walls of a small, unlit room. Word, image, and action are suddenly indistinguishable. A drawing is something to be done to a wall inside the site of display, platform for performance, and exclusive container of art.”
2012
Natalie Blankenship and Ryan Wolfe were married June 8 at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church here in Dallas. They met in high school in Austin. At SMU Ryan was the president of Delta Sigma Pi and Natalie is a member of Delta Gamma. Paul Boynton participated in the summer internship program of Sabre Holdings, a global technology company serving the world’s largest industry – travel and tourism – and now has accepted an offer to work for Sabre Travel Network as a marketing communications associate. Laura Brandt has joined the Dallas-based law firm SettlePou as an associate in the commercial litigation practice group and the insurance defense practice group. David de la Fuente has accepted a position as field representative/caseworker for Congressman Marc Veasey of Texas in the United States House of Representatives. Kyle Hobratschk recently won the Turner House art competition with a copper plate etching of the Turner House itself. His was the winning entry in the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts art contest, marking the 100th anniversary of the historic residence. Kyle pursues painting, printmaking, woodworking and furniture design. He is a resident of Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas. J. Jody Walker is a new associate at SettlePou, a law firm based in Dallas, where he is a member of the business counsel services practice group. At Abilene Christian University, where he earned his undergraduate degree with a 4.0 GPA, he was a starting linebacker for the Wildcats.
2013
After two years with Merrill Lynch, Trenton B. Owens recently transitioned to the role of financial advisor as an associate partner with the team of Price, Diwlorth & Associates here in North Texas. Trent resides in Dallas.
Meadows alumna Amy Acker plays Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, now showing in theaters. Photo by Elsa Guillet-Chapuis/Much Ado About Nothing
SMU alumna Amy Acker ’99 plays the tart-tongued Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, a recent film directed by Joss Whedon that opened in theaters in June and will be released on DVD in October.
The new adaptation of Shakespeare’s comedy is the latest collaboration between the actress, who earned a B.F.A. in theatre from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, and cult hero Whedon, whose credits include The Avengers (2012), a blockbuster he wrote and directed. Acker appeared in his Angel (1999-2004) and Dollhouse (2009-10) television shows, as well as the horror movie The Cabin in the Woods (2012), which he co-wrote and produced.
In Much Ado About Nothing, Acker joins a host of other Whedon alumni in bringing a contemporary perspective to the “merry war” of Shakespeare’s battling lovers, Beatrice and Benedick (played by Alexis Denisof). Filmed in black and white over 12 days at Whedon’s California home, the movie had its U.S. premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin in March and opened in theaters nationwide on June 21.
Movie critic Chis Vognar interviewed Acker for The Dallas Morning News at the festival, where she offered this comment about her experience in the SMU theatre program:
“It prepared me for so much, just getting that education and getting to play all those roles. They were training us to apply for Yale graduate school, so just the work ethic and the teachers there were so incredible. But I do think they need a class on how to act with monsters or vampires. That’s the only thing I’ve had to do a lot of that they didn’t teach there.” >Read the interview
Among critics praising Much Ado About Nothing is Sheila O’Malley. In a four-star review published on rogerebert.com, she writes: “Watching Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof battle it out, in words and in a near wrestling match near the end of the film, is a supreme pleasure. … Much Ado About Nothing is one of the best films of the year.” [Meadows School of the Arts alumnus Matt Zoller Seitz now serves as editor-in-chief of the movie website founded by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Roger Ebert.] >Read O’Malley’s review
Writing in The New York Times, critic A. O. Scott calls the film “perhaps the liveliest and most purely delightful movie I have seen so far this year.” >Read Scott’s review
Acker is currently roiling the plot as a series regular on CBS’s Person of Interest. Her character, Root, a computer hacker extraordinaire with deadly talents, is locked in a battle of wills with Samantha Shaw, played by fellow SMU alumna Sarah Shahi. >Read more about “Root”
Acker’s other recent acting credits include recurring roles on the TV series Warehouse 13 and CSI. She also has appeared in recent episodes of Once Upon A Time and Grimm. She was recently profiled byUSA Today.
[UPDATE: William Joyce ’81 will play a special role in 2013 SMU Homecoming festivities. At a Year of the Library event Oct. 25, he will talk about his work and sign copies of his two latest books. On Oct. 26, he will add grand marshal of the SMU Homecoming Parade to his already impressive résumé.]
From left, director Chris Wedge, William Joyce ’81 and Jim Hart ’69 at a preview of their new animated 3D movie, Epic.SMU alumni James V. Hart ’69 and William Joyce ’81 started a conversation in 1999 that wound up as Epic, their animated fantasy-adventure film that opened in theaters in the spring and is now available on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital HD.
Hart and Joyce, who wrote and produced the 3D movie, hosted a preview screening May 14 in Dallas for SMU’s Meadows School of the Artsfilm and media arts students, faculty and alumni and friends. > See the Epic trailer
“This all started with grown men admitting they believed in fairies and chasing fireflies and sharing a love for Vikings and Robin Hood and great adventures,” says Hart.
Inspired by Joyce’s children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, the action-packed story centers on a battle between forces that work to keep the natural word alive – leaf men, fairies and wisecracking slugs – and those who try to destroy it – the Boggans, a sinister collection of rat-coated creatures. The struggle plays out in a hidden forest realm. Adding a human element is the evolving relationship of Professor Bomba, a bumbling researcher tracking down tangible proof that the miniature world exists, and his estranged teenage daughter, M.K. Hart (left) and Joyce with Associate Professor Sean Griffin, chair of film and media arts in Meadows School of the Arts, field questions after the screening.
Characters are voiced by such stars as Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Waltz, Colin Farrell and Jason Sudeikis, among others. Epic’s stunning animation is the latest work of director Chris Wedge and Blue Sky Studios, a leader in the industry of high-resolution, computer-generated character animation and rendering. Among the studio’s best-known features are the Ice Age series, Rio and Robots. Wedge, one of the studio’s founders, co-created Robots with Joyce, who also served as a producer and production designer. Joyce was also the production designer for Epic.
Joyce, who earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Meadows and received the SMU Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004, is perhaps best known for his illustrated children’s books, including Rolie Polie Olie, which was adapted as an animated television series for which he won three Emmy awards.
In 2009, Joyce and partners established Moonbot Studios in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. Their 14-minute film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, based on a story by Joyce, won a 2012 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. The company has grown from four employees to 54 and now includes a division that develops apps, e-books, games and other interactive media. He will publish two new books in October: The Mischievians and The Sandman and the War of Dreams, the fourth volume in his Guardians of Childhood adventure series. Stunning animation comes to life in the 3D adventure movie. Photos by Kim Ritzenthaler Leeson
Although their paths never crossed at SMU, Joyce says Hart’s screenplays for the movies Hook and Bram Stroker’s Dracula caught his attention. “I decided I really want to work with this guy; he’s amazing. But, it took us five years to finally get together,” he says, despite the fact they had the same agent. “We hit it off immediately.”
Hart earned a bachelor’s degree in social science from SMU’s Dedman College but spent his senior year immersed in arts studies at Meadows. He started out in the movie business as a producer but switched to writing, a talent he discovered as an undergraduate at SMU.
“The first time anyone told me I was a writer was in an English class at SMU,” says Hart, who received SMU’s first Literati Award in 2010.
He has written more than 15 screenplays, and in 2005, he wrote the novel Capt. Hook, the Adventures of a Notorious Youth, which depicts Peter Pan’s nemesis long before they meet.
During a question-and-answer period that followed the movie screening, the alumni discussed their “epic” experience:
On casting: “It’s one of the scariest parts of the process because you have an idea of who you want … for the most part, we got the actors we wanted.”
On inspirations: “For the character of Ronan, we had classic Hollywood heroes in mind, Robert Mitchum, John Wayne …” “the illustrations of N.C. Wyeth …” “Kidnapped and Treasure Island …” “When we started talking about it in 1999, we wanted to make a Robin Hood movie …” “We are both fathers of daughters (and sons), so we were very comfortable and familiar with the father-daughter dynamic.”
On skeptics: “When we were pitching the idea, [potential backers] were most resistant to the idea of having a teenage girl as the protagonist. They didn’t believe you could make a big animated movie with a teenage girl as the lead.”
On the filmmaking process: “Notes were often very helpful. Our first draft was four hours long, and I think we ended up with a better movie than we started out with. It’s really a collaborative art … Animators are writers who use pictures instead of words.”
On Epic: “It represents a big chunk of our lives and a big chunk of the things we love.” – Patricia Ward
Hugworks, a nonprofit organization offering music therapy for children of all ages, will present “An Afternoon with Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary” at 3 p.m. May 19 at SMU’s Greer Garson Theatre. Musician Noel Paul Stookey
Proceeds from the benefit concert will help support Hugworks, which was founded in 1981 by SMU alumni Paul Hill ’72, who holds a bachelor’s degree in music – theory and composition from Meadows School of the Arts, and Jim Newton ’75, who earned a master’s degree in theology from Perkins School of Theology. The organization offers therapeutic entertainment and music therapy, comfort and encouragement to children in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools, early childhood centers and music therapy clinics.
As a member of the legendary folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, Stookey became a household name in the 1960s. The group performed to a full house at SMU in 1964. Stookey’s interest in the therapeutic values of music led him to Hugworks in the 1980s.
Tickets for the benefit concert may be purchased on the Hugworks website. General admission tickets are $40 each. VIP tickets, which include admission to a post-benefit reception for Stookey and an autographed copy of his CD, “One & Many,” are $100 for one or $150 for two. The Greer Garson Theatre is located in the Owens Arts Center at 6101 Bishop on the SMU campus.
The music therapy department at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts has partnered with Hugworks for the past five years. Meadows’ music therapy students have worked under the mentorship of Hugworks music therapists to provide services in a variety of settings, including SMU’s music therapy clinic, the Hugworks Music Therapy Clinic in Hurst, Texas, and at area hospitals, rehabilitation and other facilities. Noel Paul Stookey (left) with Mary Travers and Peter Yarrow from SMU’s 1964 Rotunda yearbook.
“SMU students must complete 1,200 hours of supervised fieldwork before graduation and board exams, so the opportunity for them to work with the therapists at Hugworks has been critical to their successful completion of our program,” says Robert Krout, professor and director of music therapy at SMU.
More than 18,000 children, family members and health care professionals are assisted by Hugworks each year.
With Stookey, Hugworks has produced three award-winning CD collections of music for children with special medical and emotional needs: “We Can Do,” “Best I Can Be” and “World Around Song.” Work on a fourth CD will begin shortly after the concert.
“I love the music we make at Hugworks. Jim, Paulie and I recognize that we are building trust at the same time we’re sharing this music, and for that reason, we don’t speak down to the listener. We respect the intelligence of children and the grownups, both musically and thematically,” says Stookey. “The upcoming Hugworks IV release will be possibly the most important musical project we’ve ever done.”
For more information about the event, call Hugworks at 817-268-0020 or visit the Hugworks website.
On the morning after graduation last May, Curry Heard (third from left) and four friends posed for this snapshot on their first day as newly minted SMU alumni. Heard, who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, majored in advertising and Spanish and now enjoys a fast-paced career as an account executive for Brynn Bagot Public Relations. She recently shared this photo with SMU Magazine and provided an update about the other four members of the Class of 2012, all of whom live in the Dallas area. Pictured from left: Julie Amundson (originally from Las Vegas, Nevada) will join Deloitte after earning her master’s degree in audit accounting from SMU’s Cox School of Business in May; Katherine Bruce (Kansas City, Kansas) majored in broadcast journalism and serves as regional sales representative for Estech Systems; Curry Heard; Sarah Grayden (Orange County, California) is also working toward an MSA at SMU and will join KPMG after graduation in May; and Georgia Grey (Denver, Colorado), an English language and literature major, teaches kindergarten at Laureate Preparatory School.
Colin Beaton and Hunter Parkhill are incredible “brats,” and their parents could not be prouder. Hunter Parkhill (left) and Colin Beaton on the set of Albert Herring. Meadows Opera Theatre will present the comic opera February 7-10 in the Bob Hope Theatre at SMU.
Colin, 13, the son of Julia ’84 and Ross Beaton, and Hunter, 13, the son of Karen ’87 and Jeff Parkhill, will take turns playing the role of the mischievous Harry, described as the “village brat,” in the opera Albert Herring by Benjamin Britten. SMU’s Meadows Opera Theatre will present the comedic masterpiece February 7-10 as an official participant in the “Britten 100” international celebration of the centenary of the renowned composer. > BUY TICKETS TO ALBERT HERRING “Albert Herring is an absolute joy and definitely a crowd-pleaser, a perfect opera for a first-timer because it’s full of crazy characters from a small town with which we can all easily identify,” says SMU Director of Opera Hank Hammett. “It’s full of laughs and it’s in English!”
The opera holds special significance for Hammett: “As a young singer, I had the privilege to work with, and subsequently become dear friends with, Eric Crozier, the librettist for Albert Herring, and his wife Nancy Evans, who created the role of Nancy. They fell in love during the writing of the opera, and you can hear that in the music Britten wrote for her character. “Although they are now passed, for years I got to hear stories and stories about the creation of Albert and how important it is to find just the right kind of young man to play Harry, as he can make or break the show,” adds Hammett. “I know they would adore Colin and Hunter. They are both fantastic in the role.”
Hannah Rigg, a graduate student in voice who plays the village school teacher in the Meadows production, also sings the teens’ praises. “It’s so encouraging to see their enjoyment and enthusiasm for opera at such a young age. They’re the future of opera.”
The young vocalists were acquainted before joining the cast through participation in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Christmas Concert for the past two years. Albert Herring is the second opera in which Colin has performed. Last year, he appeared in Boris Gudonov with the Dallas Opera. “That was an amazing experience and has kept Colin interested in musical theatre and opera,” Julia Beaton says.
Julia, who majored in psychology and communications at SMU and covered sports for The Daily Campus, shares Colin’s love of theatre but prefers working behind the scenes. “That’s probably where I shine. Over the years, I’ve created costumes for musical productions ranging from Aida to Beauty and the Beast,” she says. “I also love painting and helped create sets for the shows.”
Her son started acting at five. “I like performing because you can be anyone you want to be, and it’s really fun to play different characters, such as Harry,” Colin says.
Hunter is also an experienced vocalist whose credits include guest soloist with the Las Colinas Symphony and singer in the Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas. Before the Parkhills moved to Dallas in 2011, he sang with the Chicago Children’s Choir.
Karen Lynch Parkhill introduced her son to “the great works and accomplishments of Meadows graduates” several years ago at a Chicago alumni program featuring Dean José Bowen. The vice chairman and CFO of Comerica Incorporated, Karen is among the 2012 Distinguished Alumni honored by the Cox School of Business.
According to Jeff Parkhill, his son became interested in vocal performance around age seven. Hunter says he enjoys playing the boisterous Harry “because he’s so different from my personality, so it’s a challenge, but a fun challenge.”
Although college is still years away for both young men, they are already considering a future at SMU.
“Colin has expressed quite a bit of interest in becoming a Mustang, since he was about eight years old,” says Julia. “And, as we see his interests develop, we’re keeping a close eye on opportunities, like the SMU swim team, the Mustang Band and the performing arts at Meadows.”
Attending SMU as a student “would complete the circle,” says Hunter. “I’m already involved in SMU culture through tailgating with my family during football season – we have season tickets – and now the opera. This experience proves to me that Meadows offers the kind of challenge I want.”
Meadows Opera Theatre presents Albert Herring Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 7-9, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. in the Bob Hope Theatre in Owen Arts Center on the SMU campus. Tickets are $13 for adults, $10 for seniors, $7 for students, faculty and staff. For more information call 214.768.ARTS (2787).
SMU alumni Nicole and Nick Caluori in a photo from the Life in the West Point Band blog.
SMU alumni Nick (M.M. Horn Performance ’06) and Nicole (B.M. Horn Performance ’07, M.M. studies ’07-’08) Caluori completed graduate studies at Meadows School of the Arts, married in 2008 and now perform together in the prestigious West Point Band.
Read more about their experiences in this posting from Life in the West Point Band blog and in this story from the Meadows School of the Arts news site.
Juan José de Leon ’10
Tenor Juan José de Leon ’10 bested nine singers in the Great Lakes Region finals January 12 in Buffalo, New York, to advance in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He will sing on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera during the national semi-finals in March.
De Leon, who earned a Master of Music in Performance-Voice from Meadows School of the Arts, is a second-year resident artist with the Pittsburgh Opera.
Among the judges of the regional finals was Jonathan Pell, artistic director of The Dallas Opera. Writing about the competition for his blog, Pell applauded the rising star: “Juan has continued to develop and grow as an artist, and we all can be very proud of the vocal progress he has made. I think he has an excellent chance to go on to be one of the winners in New York, and I know that all of his friends in Dallas wish him the best in the next round of this prestigious competition.”
This is not the first time de Leon’s talent has captured the attention of judges in the national opera talent search. While a student of SMU Professor of Voice Virginia Dupuy, de Leon won the Gulf Coast Region district competition in 2009. According to The Metropolitan Opera, the annual competition is designed “to discover promising young opera singers and assist in the development of their careers.”
In addition, De Leon was a winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition in 2010 and made his Dallas Opera debut in 2011 in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
As a Meadows graduate student, de Leon participated in the Dallas Opera/SMU Emerging Artists Program, presenting the “Opera in a Box: Follow Your Dreams” touring arts program to schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Ron Judkins ’75, who studied filmmaking at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the Sound Mixing category for his work on the movie Lincoln, which leads the Oscar field with 12 nominations. Ron Judkins ’75 Judkins previously won Academy Awards for Best Sound for Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan, movies also directed by Steven Spielberg, who has been nominated this year for his direction of Lincoln. Judkins also was nominated for his sound-design skills on Schindler’s List and War of the Worlds, also directed by Spielberg. > View Lincoln movie trailer
Judkins is currently working on his own film, Neighbors, which he wrote and directed. He and his producers used Kickstarter, an online fundraising platform for creative projects, to raise money to complete post-production on the movie. They surpassed their $18,000 goal in November. >View Ron Judkins’ Kickstarter video
“In May 2011, we started principle photography on my film Neighbors. We cut the film until September 2011, at which point I went to work on Lincoln, and then I went back to working on Neighbors in January 2012,” he says. “We are very close to finishing the film.”
Judkins calls Neighbors, “a comedy-drama about a graphic novelist facing down a midlife crisis.” The film stars Michael O’Keefe, Catherine Dent, Blake Bashoff, Julie Mond and Sean Patrick Thomas, and it includes many of Judkins’ own neighborhood friends.
After graduating from SMU, Judkins worked as a sound recordist in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles in 1979. In addition to working as a sound engineer on major motion pictures, Judkins is also an independent filmmaker. His first film, The Hi-Line, debuted at Sundance in 1999. He also has produced several independent films.
SMU’s Boulevard receiving at Top 20 recognition for tailgating. SMU rose in the ranks of the nation’s top universities in the 2013 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, published online September 12. Among 280 institutions classified as national universities, SMU ranks 58, an increase of four points from last year’s ranking of 62. The ranking again places SMU in the first tier of institutions in the guide’s “best national universities” category. In Texas, only Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin ranked ahead of SMU. Among private national universities, SMU ranks 40.
The factors weighed in determining the rankings include measures of academic quality, such as peer assessment scores and ratings by high school counselors; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; and alumni giving. Princeton Review released its annual rankings in August. Among the rankings, SMU placed number two for “most accessible professors,” number seven for best career services, number 10 for best athletic facilities and number 15 for “happiest students.”
In addition, Southern Living magazine released its first-ever list of the top 20 tailgates in the South, and the Boulevard experience at SMU made the cut. Winners included first-place Clemson, second Ole Miss, and third Alabama. The Boulevard has been an SMU tradition since Gerald J. Ford Stadium opened in 2000. SMU was one of only three schools in Texas (along with the University of Texas and Texas A&M) and the only Conference USA school to make the list.
1929 Frances Wells Mallory, 2/5/01 1931 Julia Bonner Denton, 3/19/12
Marie Lackey Walker, 7/23/04 1932 Elizabeth Huke Withrow, 6/22/12 1935 Artha Crutchfield Carleton ’36, 2/20/12 1936 Eugene C. Mornhinweg, 9/2/10
Frances Carpenter Powers, 1/1/06
Maco C. Stewart, 6/27/12
Celeste M. Thomas, 6/14/12 1937 Betty Anthony Maxwell, 8/22/04
Frances Jones McCleskey, 3/4/12 1938
John Maxwell Anderson, 10/25/11
Mary Lula Williams Fleming, 8/27/12 1939
Loraine Thomas Spence, 4/10/12 1940
Eugene W. Bailey, 3/10/12
Bonnie Adams Henderson, 6/16/12
Dr. Joe C. Piranio, 7/21/12
Margaret Rodgers Pospichal, 3/4/12 1941 Patti Perry Jones, 5/13/12
Gordon W. Smith, 3/4/10
John D. Willyard, 9/1/95 1942 Marion L. Halford, 3/10/12 1943 Dr. Donald S. Brown, 6/15/12
Carolyn Russell Cuthbertson, 8/15/12
Robert D. Maddox ’45, 8/22/12
William B. Strange Jr., 10/18/12 1944 Dr. Ray M. Schumacher, 4/9/07 1945
Virginia Danforth Allen, 7/7/12
Colesta Hatchel Land, 6/20/12 1946
Mary Whitehead Ackerschott, 6/5/12
Doris Senseney Brinlee, 4/30/12
Norma Lea Wright Hall, 3/31/12
Harold C. Myers, 1/29/12 1947
Everett G. Brown, 3/13/09
Eleanor A. Colquitt, 5/6/12
Frank K. Dobbins, 7/1/12
Evelyn Richardson Green, 6/3/12
Rosemary Matthews Hidalgo, 6/24/12 1948
William P. Anderson, 5/2/12
James B. Cochran, 7/16/12
James O. Gibbs, 6/4/12
Dr. Gwendolyn Bryant Grossman, 6/9/12
Irvin S. Heflin, 5/9/12
Dr. Julian B. Honeycutt, 8/5/12
Col. Marschal W. (Bob) Massey, 3/3/12
R.B. Murray, 2/26/12
Clayton M. Stanhope, 4/18/12
James B. Stoops, 3/11/12
David L. Strachan, 12/25/11 1949
Seth J. Abbott, 6/5/12
E.W. Burnett, 7/14/12
William F. Burnett, 10/3/04
Robert J. Cotter, 3/7/12
Verne Glass ’50, 8/19/12
Jean Wallace Harrell, 5/20/12
Barbara Ball Hathaway, 3/23/12
C.W. Lokey, 12/16/11
E.D. McNees, 5/13/12
Nancy Daigh Ogden, 8/23/12
Nigel C. Stewart, 6/25/12
Denson F. Walker, 5/10/12
George T. Weaver, 6/19/12 1950
Zelda Davis Anderson, 3/17/12
John B. Cooke, 3/30/12
Lawrence F. Furlow, 5/19/12
James M. Gilligan, 6/17/12
J.A. Grimes, 3/16/12
George R. Grubbs, 4/2/12
George W. Keeling, 6/12/12
Jacqueline Green La Taste, 6/8/12
Patricia Denham Luce, 3/27/11
R.H. Mitchell, 5/25/12
Joe O’Connell, 8/12/12
Alex L. Pickens, 6/23/12
James F. Saunders, 9/3/11
Byrt C. Scammel, 7/8/12
James F. Widener, 5/17/12 1951
William V. Frasco, 3/2/11
Nancy Hopkins Jamison, 3/22/12
The Rev. Paul H. Kapp, 3/30/12
Thomas A. Mott, 7/19/12
Peggy V. O’Sullivan ’58, 7/12/12
Frank P. Perretta, 5/21/12
Frances Dixon Smith, 1/3/12
Wilfred E. Tubre ’65, 6/22/12
James S. Warnick, 6/9/12
Allwyn N. Wilmoth, 3/29/12 1952
James E. Anderson, 7/26/12
The Rev. Richard J. Detweiler, 7/25/12
John P. Dewey, 6/10/12
Blair Smith Erb, 8/10/98
Walter D. Hill, 7/8/12
Joseph W. Lindsley, 7/24/12
Laura Cox Love, 5/29/12
Felice Hesselson Mirsky, 4/1/12
Dr. Robert B. Moore, 7/19/12
Lois Greenwood Piehler, 6/22/12
Dr. Paul A. Willis, 4/22/12
Albert E. Wilson, 3/5/12 1953
Mildred Nettle Bickel, 7/11/12
Herbert E. Blackbourn, 12/27/08
Hal A. Dawson, 5/23/12
Thomas L. Fiedler, 6/19/12
Thomas Garth, 3/17/12
Dr. Richard G. Hosford, 3/4/12
Lynn B. Poche, 7/8/12
Carlos J. Roberts, 8/2/12
Duane W. Row, 4/18/12
Ben Schnitzer, 3/29/12
Samuel N. Sharp ’55, 1/25/1
Glenn A. Taylor, 4/20/12
Samuel Thompson, 5/19/12 1954
Dr. Donald E. Barnes, 8/21/12
Webber W. Beall ’59, 8/10/12
Verna Morrison Black, 5/26/12
Don E. Cole, 8/4/12
The Rev. Wesley N. Daniel, 6/22/12
Virginia Williams Derum, 5/26/12
Fred L. Fason, 7/25/12
Marian Holton Martin, 5/25/12
John C. McGlamery, 7/10/12
Samuel S. Stollenwerck ’59, 5/22/12 1955
Alvin G. Boeger, 4/28/12
Edward A. Grube, 4/4/12
Dr. Marvin K. Hall, 3/9/11
O.E. Lynge, 8/4/12
Bette Forrest Reaser, 3/10/12
Marilou Rutledge, 4/2/12
Norman B. Wilson, 3/20/12 1956
James T. Blanton ’58, 2/25/12
C.W. Litchfield, 7/6/12
Dr. Paul W. Schlapbach, 3/24/12
Nadyne Massey Ticer, 6/17/12
Dr. Walter P. Wink, 5/10/12 1957
Charles R. Rhoads, 4/11/12
Sherrill Hawkins Todd, 4/11/12 1958
Dr. John T. Graves, 8/22/12
Dr. Robert Roe, 6/16/12 1959
James Elton Bass, 6/2/12
Jacquelyne Birdwell Quinn, 5/21/12 1960
Raul Barrios, 5/10/12
Jack W. Basden, 3/16/12
Howard M. Dean, 3/25/12
Dr. John W. Lansing, 10/10/11
Philip L. Lawrence, 7/9/12
David G. Stubbeman, 9/11/10
Dr. W.J. Truitt, 6/7/11
James G. Walsh, 5/1/12 1961
Gene E. Alderson, 5/5/12
Carolyn Lehman Gaskell, 3/4/12
Gerard D. Koeijmans, 7/4/12
Charles H. Pistor Jr., 7/18/12
Samuel N. Rea ’62, 7/2/12
Silas D. Snow, 6/17/12
Rosemary Krnoch Wilson, 4/23/05
1962
Ronald B. Joplin, 2/21/12
Lenox C. Ligon, 10/3/11
Laura Garner Long, 11/29/10
David G. Randolph, 3/1/12
Franz M. Spear, 10/2/10
William P. Weir ’64, 11/28/11 1963
George H. Burson, 8/10/12
Charles C. Foster, 7/29/12
John B. Gilman ’66, 7/23/12
Dr. Sondra Oster Kaufman, 8/27/12
Charlton W. Lewis, 2/25/12
The Rev. Joe W. McClain, 11/20/11
Gayle E. Oler, 7/25/12
The Rev. Lawrence D. Ravert, 6/15/12
Ronald J. Ritchie, 5/25/12
Merilyn May Smith, 8/24/12 1964
Linda Adams, 8/26/12
Cynda Cason Grover, 8/23/12
Dr. Leonard C. Radde, 5/24/12
Anne Douthit Snodgrass, 8/21/12
The Rev. Clarence Snodgrass, 8/1/12
Dr. Daniel C. Steere, 8/6/12
Sarah Baker Toler, 6/24/12
Jane M. Willis, 2/17/10 1965
Mary J. Fike, 6/15/12
The Rev. Joe L. Hock, 7/8/12
Anita Hornsby Kinney, 8/6/12
William C. McClain, 11/17/07
The Rev. Thomas O. McClung, 7/16/12
Linda Mitchell, 2/25/12
Harry D. Moore, 3/18/12
Creighton M. Stork, 10/27/11 1966
Dr. Larry D. Pope, 6/9/12
Charles T. Thomas, 7/5/98
Hank A. Williams, 5/29/12 1967
Doris Wachter Brewer, 9/30/11
George R. Bronk, 4-7-12
Gary D. Cody, 4/19/12
Carol S. Crossett, 4/17/12
Henry C. Goldwire, 1/5/10
Carolyn Koenig Haynes, 5/28/12
Ben E. Hill, 8/1/12
Robert R. Kyle, 12/8/09
Irmgard Klopf Matson, 3/12/11
Bennie R. Messina, 4/6/12
Dr. Earl F. Rose, 5/2/12
Robert S. Strevell, 5/9/12
Wilbur T. Titus, 6/9/12 1968
James N. Dearien, 2/24/12
Michael D. Ferguson ’73, 5/14/12
James M. Kruse, 4/19/12 1969
Barbara Butler, 6/12/12
Austin G. Harris, 8/20/12
Randall A. Kreiling ’71, 11/7/11
Annette Reger MacDonald ’71, 4/5/01
Jerry R. Matthews, 10/19/11
Helene Garst Oshlo, 4/10/12
Charlene Sockwell, 3/29/12 1970
Fred C. Blair, 6/17/12
Jacqueline Parker Knuckles, 1/25/12
Norman E. McNiel ’74, 6/13/12
Stephen E. Morris, 7/10/12
Marsha Redding Somerville, 4/11/12
Joseph J. Stewart, 8/1/11 1971
Teresa (Terri) Rogers Connolly ’74, 5/23/12
Alkis J. Marland, 3/6/12
Gerda M. Neel, 8/10/12
Jane E. Onofrey, 8/7/12
Harry W. Shifflett, 6/23/12
Bill R. Ware, 3/22/12 1972
James D. Bowers, 5/30/11
Robert C. Bukowsky, 4/14/12
Joan Brand Kelly, 8/14/12
Nan Stovall Porter, 4/29/12
Elaine Small Prude, 5/15/12
Stephen H. Rhea ’81, 5/16/12
Grady H. Sanford ’73, 5/30/12 1973
Earnest L. Dozier, 5/1/84
Lloyd Smoot, 8/9/12 1974
Patti Nelms Bedford, 3/3/12
John D. Evans ’78, 7/28/12
Tommy C. Oldham, 5/22/12
Marinell Mason Watts, 5/14/12 1975
Edna M. Davis, 4/20/12
Teresa Neufeldt Race, 12/13/10 1976
Doris Coffey Korioth, 4/17/12
Dr. John T. Muir, 7/18/12 1977
Joyce Adams Curtis, 7/25/12
Gary D. Hetherington, 7/1/12
Dr. Jerome M. Sampson, 3/8/12 1978
Jonathan C. Seaman, 3/8/00
Nannette D. Simpson, 5/17/12 1979
Donald G. Pray, 7/31/11 1980
Ruth A. Cowan, 3/11/12
Judy D. Greene, 8/8/12
Lawrence L. Jones, 7/31/12
Jeremiah J. Sinnah-Yovonie, 6/30/12
Elizabeth M. Webster, 3/26/12 1981
Nancy K. Farina, 8/25/12
The Rev. Gary E. Gibson, 6/7/11 1982
Sam W. Dulaney, 5/10/12
Lisa L. Wright, 6/18/12 1984
James S. Hudson, 7/21/12 1986
Randolph A. Scott, 6/15/12 1987
Klaus F. Becher, 4/17/12
Katherine M. Donohue, 12/1/99 1990
Lila D. Kameyer, 6/20/12
David W. Phillips, 6/11/12 1991
Robert F. Phillips, 2/15/11
Louis F. Rothermel ’98, 7/18/12 1992
Robert J. Baca, 7/15/12
Carole Elam Ward, 6/6/12 1994
Timothy F. Abraham, 6/4/12
Bradford Trent Hampton, 3/1/12 1996
Jennifer L. Thompson, 7/10/12 1997
Paula A. Hollifield, 3/20/12 2000
Presnall Grady Cage, 5/9/12 2002
Pablo Aguilar, 5/19/12 2004
The Rev. Glenda K. Buchanan, 7/21/12
Roy E. Caldwell, 7/16/12
Melissa K. Dubose, 3/24/12
Ricky R. Miller, 7/4/12 2005
Keith L. Krueger, 7/14/12 2006
Diane E. Connolly, 3/21/12 2009
Donald B. Baier, 11/17/10
SMU Community
Shirley Chu, professor emeritus, Lyle School of Engineering, 7/9/12
Bill Komodore, current professor, Meadows School of the Arts, 8/2/12
Glenn M. Linden, professor emeritus of history, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, and only recipient of SMU’s Distinguished University Service Professor Award, 6/25/12
Alexander Wells Pfeffer, current SMU student, 8/3/12
Charles H. Pistor Jr. ’61, former SMU trustee, 7/18/12
Martin Reese, professor emeritus of journalism, Meadows School of the Arts, 4/12/12
Gretchen Voight, assistant registrar and director of academic ceremonies, 3/23/12
SMU Physics Professor Ryszard Stroynowski (right) explains the workings of ATLAS to Jim Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at SMU. Besides celebrating U.S. independence, July 4, 2012, now marks another historic milestone: discovery of the Higgs boson fundamental particle in physics. And SMU’s Department of Physics in Dedman College was at the center of the action.
The biggest physics discovery of the past 50 years was announced July 4 by CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics in Switzerland. CERN confirmed that the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest physics experiment, had observed the Higgs boson, informally dubbed the “God particle.” Hypothesized in the 1960s to explain why matter has mass, the Higgs had never been observed until now.
SMU’s physicists were key players in the discovery, which is credited to a team of several thousand physicists worldwide but only a handful from institutions in the United States.
Physics Professor Ryszard Stroynowski led the SMU team, which includes faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. “The experimental physics group at SMU has been involved since 1994 and is a major contributor,” he says. “This discovery was many years in the making, but it was worth the wait.”
Observation “opens up clear directions for physicists at SMU and throughout the world to study the properties of the Higgs,” Stroynowski adds.
The $10 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which began operation in 2010, is a high-tech, 17-mile tunnel about 100 meters below ground on the border between France and Switzerland. The LHC generated evidence of the Higgs by smashing together protons at high energies so their breakup replicates the Big Bang at the origin of the universe. Billions of protons are hurled through the LHC’s tunnel, some crashing head-on and breaking apart. Physicists around the world and at SMU analyzed the resulting particle shower for hints of the Higgs.
SMU contributed to the LHC’s design, hardware, software, operations and data analysis. Stroynowski was U.S. supervisor for the $50-million design and construction of the Liquid Argon Calorimeter of ATLAS, one of the LHC’s principal experiments.
Physics Professor Jingbo Ye’s research group developed a high-speed integrated circuit to transmit ATLAS data.
Physics faculty Robert Kehoe and Stephen Sekula led researchers in developing software for the ATLAS trigger system to identify potential Higgs evidence. And Assistant Professor Pavel Nadolsky’s research group contributed calculations used for discovery and ongoing analyses of the Higgs.
Faculty and students also spent hours in shifts staffing the LHC control room. And much of the success of SMU’s small group in the highly competitive environment of a large international collaboration was due to the massive and cutting-edge processing capacity of the SMU High Performance Computing System, Stroynowski says.
Observation of the new particle is only the beginning, he adds. “Our work continues to evolve.” Read more … – Margaret Allen
SMU law graduate W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers, Jr. of Houston is giving back to the school he attended on a scholarship. His gift of $12.1 million will provide scholarships for students in SMU’s Dedman School of Law. The W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund is the second largest gift in the history of the law school, following the Dedman family gift of $20 million that resulted in naming of the school. Trustee Scott J. McClean ’78 (left), Houston co-chair of he Second Century Campaign Steering Committee, was among those honoring W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers, Jr. ’61 and his wife, Suzie, at a reception and presentation at the Houstonian November 1.
“The Rogers Scholarships will provide resources to educate leaders like Tog,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
Through a scholarship arranged by Law Professor Roy Ray, Rogers was able to complete law school and graduate in 1961. “I’m paying back a debt,” says Rogers. “Without a scholarship, I wouldn’t have made it through the SMU School
of Law. This gift is to help other people in need do what I was able to do.”
Rogers is a retired lawyer and businessman. He clerked for Texas Supreme Court Justices Clyde Smith and Joe Greenhill. He was an associate in the Dallas law firm of Wynne, McKenzie, Jaffe and Tinsley from 1961 to 1967. As part of the firm’s litigation practice, he represented celebrities such as baseball legend Mickey Mantle. > Houston Commitments, Gifts Top $100 Million
Rogers moved to Houston in 1967. He served as general counsel at Ridgway Blueprinting, a small, publicly traded company, before becoming president of the company. He took Ridgway private and purchased the company, selling it to American Reprographic Company in 2000. At that time, Ridgway was the largest privately held reprographics company in the U.S.
Rogers is a member of the Executive Board of Dedman School of Law and the Houston Steering Committee of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. Three of his five children are SMU graduates. Wiley Yandell Rogers III earned a B.B.A. in finance in 1986. Laura Rogers Braun earned an M.B.A. in 1987, and Matthew Alford Rogers graduated in 2003 with B.A. degrees in public policy and economics.
“Continued investment in scholarships and faculty is essential to SMU Dedman Law remaining competitive and advancing the momentum of recent years,” says Dedman Law Dean John B. Attanasio.
With Rogers’ gift of $12.1 million, SMU Dedman School of Law has raised more than $55 million in gifts to The Second Century Campaign.
SMU President Willis M. Tate, shown with students in 1960, championed academic freedom. Willis McDonald Tate was born in the year of the founding of SMU, 1911. As student, faculty member, dean and president, his life was at one with the University. His tenure as president was remarkable not only for its record length (1954-1972 and 1974-1976), but also for his vision for the University.
Willis Tate was the second SMU alumnus, after Umphrey Lee ’16, to serve as president. At his inauguration in May 1955, President Tate stated a basic tenet of his faith: That a nation remains free only as universities are free in the quest for truth. A volume could, and should, be written about his constant defense of academic freedom, or as he would call it for greater understanding by his supporting constituency, the “free marketplace of ideas.”
From the late 1950s to the mid-60s, Tate and the University withstood McCarthy-like attacks from some individuals in the region who would have banned certain books from the library, kept controversial speakers off the campus, and prevented the races from learning together. Tate was excoriated as a “Communist dupe” in The American Mercury and labeled a “pinko” by columnist Lynn Landrum in The Dallas Morning News. The Ku Klux Klan attacked him for presiding over the integration of SMU. But the most controversial, time-consuming, and celebrated test of academic freedom occurred in 1959 when some students invited John Gates, former editor of The Daily Worker [Communist newspaper], to speak on campus. Tate defended their right to invite Gates; he came and spoke.
In 1965 his faculty nominated him for the Alexander Meiklejohn Award of the American Association of University Professors “for significant action in support of academic freedom,” and he won it. Tate maintained that he was more pleased by the fact that his faculty nominated him than by the award itself.
The Master Plan occurred about halfway through his term and was a “hard-nosed, extensive” effort to “re-examine all our presuppositions.” The Master Plan retains its strategic importance because it helped to shape SMU’s present conception of itself and because it articulated an educational philosophy not in principle departed from since. It states:
“The aim of this University . . . is to educate its students as worthy human beings and as citizens, first, and as teachers, lawyers, ministers, research scientists, businessmen, engineers and so on, second. These two aims – basic and professional education, general and special . . . will not be separated. For the well – educated person is indeed a whole human being.”
The next phase of Tate’s challenge as president was the difficult ’60s, a period of genuine soul-searching for him. “Young people in that time of great stimulus and challenge, of integration and war and so on,” he said, “wanted to take charge of their own lives. SMU came through it with its values intact. We had no violence because we had good students and a tradition of shared decision-making and because we had good faculty leadership and concern. When the black students came to see me with their demands in 1969, for example, I trusted them and left them in my office to discuss things among themselves, and there was a good outcome. We agreed to work together for their goals. It all depended, finally, on trust.”
Asked about the moral-ethical importance of SMU’s relationship with the Methodist church in facing such issues, Tate agreed that the moral force of the church had always been a positive factor. The Methodists wanted a first-class academic institution, not sectarian but open to all truth-claims, including their own. They understood a free pulpit, so they could understand the need for academic freedom. And the church in those days “was out ahead of the normal citizen in Texas on social issues,” Tate said.
Another great strength of SMU, of course, has always been the nature of the people and the place together. In Tate’s words, “The strength of this University can be placed in the fact that we did attract people who were willing to put their roots down here and make this their commitment and professional life. They were willing to stay and help make this the place they wanted it to be. They were here because SMU was a calling for them.” – Marshall Terry ’53, ’54
Excerpted from the fall 1986 SMU Mustang celebrating SMU’s 75th anniversary. Terry served in the administration of President Tate from 1957 to 1965, and as a professor of English and director of creative writing at SMU. He retired in 2007 as the E.A. Lilly Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English.
Rick Hart became SMU’s 13th director of athletics in July. Rick Hart, who joined SMU in July as its 13th director of athletics, is a third-generation athletics administrator. Hart’s father, Dave, is director of athletics at the University of Tennessee, and his late grandfather, Dave Sr., served in a variety of roles within collegiate athletics, including a stint as commissioner of the Southern Conference. Before coming to SMU, Rick Hart served for six years as athletics director at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, overseeing a program that won 17 regular-season and 22 postseason Southern Conference titles. Before that, he spent seven years at the University of Oklahoma Athletics Department. In the following interview, Hart discusses his vision for SMU athletics. What is your long-term vision for SMU athletics?
What drew me here are assets that you can’t just go out and acquire anywhere – SMU’s reputation and high academic quality, a vibrant city, strong leadership, community involvement and alumni support. So when you look at that, our vision should be to become a premier program in the country. I am making sure that I understand the goals of the institution so I can align the Athletics Department with the vision that President (R. Gerald) Turner and the Board of Trustees have for SMU. We’ve got good people and strong coaches, and our academic reputation is among the top in the country. We must ensure that our athletics program reflects the high standards that the University has for its students. We want to continue to be known as an athletics program that graduates its students, prepares them for life, competes for championships and makes a positive impact on the community.
We’re developing a plan that will better define our mid- and long-range goals and vision, and hope to share a draft with the president around the first of the year. This is an inclusive process, so we’re involving the people closest to the program – student-athletes, coaches and staff – gathering feedback and ideas. I also want to include faculty, staff, administrators, students, donors, ticket-holders, supporters, alumni and former student-athletes so that when we implement this plan, it’s representative of as many groups as possible. The process creates ownership and buy-in because the plan is something that they will have helped to create. How will SMU’s move to the Big East Conference benefit the athletics program?
The Big East is known as one of the premier conferences in the country – arguably the best basketball conference and certainly among the top football conferences. I think that level of competitiveness will help make us a stronger program and give us a better sense of how SMU is performing nationally and where we need to improve. Some of it also has to do with prestige – to have a national presence, particularly in that Northeast corridor where SMU recruits a lot of students. We want to associate ourselves with institutions that aspire to the same things we aspire to. What are the critical ingredients that go into building a successful collegiate athletics program?
People are the most important ingredient. You need to have people of integrity who work hard and are servant leaders. Whether it’s administration, faculty, staff, donors, alumni, ticketholders, volunteers or the media, everyone plays a role. People are the main ingredient that will determine success or failure. To that end, how can alumni get involved in helping the program?
You just said it. The most important thing they can do is get involved. For some people that means being a supporter or a volunteer or just buying a ticket. There’s nothing more meaningful to our student-athletes than to know they’re supported and seeing people in the stands cheering them on as they display their athletic talents.
They could become donors. We have many different opportunities to give, even as little as a dollar a year. It doesn’t matter the amount, but get involved and help support our 398 student-athletes. At the end of the day, it takes resources to implement our plan, be effective and pursue comprehensive excellence. – Chris Dell ’11
Chris Petrucelli, head women’s soccer coach Two-time National Coach of the Year and 1995 NCAA Championship coach Chris Petrucelli has been named SMU’s head women’s soccer coach. In 22 years as a head coach, Petrucelli has compiled a 340-110-36 record. His career win total and winning percentage (.737) rank eighth among active Division I coaches.
The six-time conference coach of the year comes to the Hilltop after spending the past 13 seasons as head coach of the University of Texas women’s soccer program, where he compiled a 165-88-26 mark and signed some of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Under his guidance, Texas captured back-to-back Big 12 postseason titles (2006-07) and the program’s first Big 12 regular season title in 2001. He guided the Longhorns to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances (2001-08, 2010-11), and was lauded as the NSCAA Central Region Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2006.
Before joining UT, Petrucelli developed the Notre Dame women’s soccer program into one of the nation’s best from 1990-98. He was honored by the NSCAA as the National Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1995 en route to becoming the only collegiate coach to win the award in consecutive years. During his tenure with Notre Dame, he led the Irish to the 1995 NCAA National Championship, three National Championship title matches (1994-96) and six NCAA Tournament appearances.
Senior Aleksandra Malyarchikova and freshman Hristina Dishkova took home
a pair of singles championships at the Texas Invitational in September. Malyarchikova and senior Edyta Cieplucha captured a doubles title to make it three championships. Malyarchikova was named the Conference USA tennis athlete of the month in September. Alumna Marta Lesniak ’12, who finished her career at SMU with a 102-18 record, was named to the 2012 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team in August. She was one of three Division I athletes to receive the honor.
Reaching Olympic Heights
Twelve current and former SMU athletes participated in London’s 2012 Olympic Games in August. Laura Bennett ’97 finished 17th for the United States in triathlon and Johan Brunstrom ’03 competed for Sweden in men’s doubles tennis. Competing in track and field were Aleksander Tammert ’96 for Estonia in discus and Jerome Bortoluzzi ’08 for France in the hammer throw. Swimming for their countries were Anja Carman ’08 (Slovenia), Sara Nordenstam ’06 (Norway), Denisa Smolenova ’12 (Slovakia), and Therese Svendsen ’12 and Lars Frolander ’98 (Sweden). Current Mustang swimmers Nina Rangelova ’14
(Bulgaria), Mindaugas Sadauskas ’13 (Lithuania) and freshman Danielle Villars (Switzerland) also competed. Also making the trip were swim coaches Steve Collins, who served as an assistant on the Bulgarian coaching staff, and Andy Kershaw, who was a manager for the U.S. swim team.
In addition, the late SMU senior Jonathan Wentz placed fourth for the United States in the Paralympian Equestrian Individual Championship Grade 1b competition at the 2012 Paralympics held Aug. 29-Sept. 4 in London. Wentz, who was born with cerebral palsy, died Sept. 30.
Blake McJunkin: A Good Sport
SMU senior Blake McJunkin was named in July the Division I male winner of the NCAA Sportsmanship Award. The offensive lineman also received the 2012 Conference USA Sportsmanship Award in June. In the 2011 season opener at Texas A&M, McJunkin protected a vulnerable opposing player from potential harm. After intercepting a Mustangs’ pass, Texas A&M defensive back Trent Hunter lost his helmet when he was tackled by McJunkin and Kelly Turner. With Hunter’s head exposed, McJunkin shielded his opponent with his arms until the play concluded.
View video here.
Margus Hunt: He Blocks That Kick!
SMU defensive lineman and special teams extraordinaire Margus Hunt set the NCAA record for blocked kicks when he stuffed his ninth career field goal try in SMU’s 52-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 8. He extended his record with a 10th block at UTEP on Oct. 6. The 6-foot-8 senior from Estonia was named DFW’s Best Athlete in a summer poll by DallasNews.com and
also received the honor of being called the No. 1 “freak athlete” in college football by CBSSports.com’s Bruce Feldman.
School-age children who participate in structured after-school activities improve their academic achievement, according to a new study by researchers in SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The study by associate professors Ken Springer and Deborah Diffily measured academic performance of children enrolled in Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas. Springer and Diffily both teach in Simmons’ Department of Teaching and Learning.
The study looked at data on 719 students in second through eighth grades who participated in after-school activities at one of 12 clubs during the 2009-2010 academic year. Among elementary and middle-school children who participated frequently in club activities, the researchers saw grades improve from the start to the end of the year. That was especially true for elementary students. The researchers also saw improved school attendance for both age groups.
Afterschool care activities can provide a child with a sense of success, says Diffily. “For children who live in poverty – often those who attend Boys and Girls Clubs – the clubs can ameliorate the pressures of poverty, such as living in an overcrowded apartment or a lack of after-school snacks.” Read more …
Louis Jacobs The fieldwork of SMU paleontologist Louis Jacobs normally takes him to Angola, Mongolia or Ethiopia. But Jacobs’ latest research took him to SMU’s DeGolyer Library. There he dug through the archived papers of Robert T. Hill and discovered a treasure trove of 13 historic letters. Hill was a frontier geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is now called the Father of Texas Geology.
“Hill found rocks of an age that were nowhere else known in North America,” Jacobs says. “The Eagle Ford Shale that Hill named and mapped is one of the biggest producers of oil and gas in South Texas today.”
The personal letters to Hill were from Edward D. Cope, one of two antagonists in the infamous 1800s fossil feud known as the Bone Wars. Cope’s letters to Hill sought inside information about Cope’s arch-enemy, O.C. Marsh, who had an in with the USGS. East Coast scientists Cope and Marsh competed for decades during the opening of the American West to collect more fossils than the other.
The Cope letters add new knowledge about the Bone Wars.
“What a treasure these Cope letters are, that nobody ever saw before,” says Jacobs, a professor in Dedman College’s Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences and president of the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man. Read more …
Historian A. Azfar Moin A new study by SMU historian A. Azfar Moinexplores why Muslim sovereigns in the early modern era began to imitate the exalted nature of Sufi saints. Uncovering a widespread phenomenon, Moin shows how the charismatic pull of sainthood (wilayat) – rather than the draw of religious law (sharia) or holy war (jihad) – inspired a new style of sovereignty in Islam at the end of the 16th century. Commonly described as the mystical dimension of Islam, Sufism encompasses a diversity of ideas and practices, including asceticism and meditation, devotion to a spiritual guide, and pilgrimage to saint shrines. Sufism became especially popular in Islam beginning in the 14th-century and was widespread in Iran before the country converted to Shia Islam in the 16th and 17th centuries. His research, published in The Millennial Sovereign (Columbia University Press, 2012), uses the anthropology of religion and art to trace how royal dynastic cults and shrine-centered Sufism came together in the imperial cultures of Timurid Central Asia, Safavid Iran and Mughal India. Moin is assistant professor in the Clements Department of History. Read more …
Like colleges and universities nationwide, SMU is reviewing its procedures for handling allegations of sexual misconduct in light of new guidelines issued by the federal government. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 requires institutions to investigate and have procedures for adjudicating such allegations, along with efforts to prevent them. Institutions are reviewing their procedures after receiving a “Dear Colleague” letter from the federal government.
To aid SMU’s review process, SMU President R. Gerald Turner has established the Task Force on Sexual Misconduct Policies and Procedures to examine SMU’s programs in comparison with benchmark practices and determine if changes are needed, taking into account state and federal laws. Students reporting sexual misconduct can pursue SMU’s grievance procedure through its Code of Conduct, as well as the external criminal process at the same time or at a later date.
Sexual assault remains one of the most underreported crimes in all settings. By updating its procedures, SMU aims to provide an environment in which students feel comfortable coming forward to report violations. A key goal is to ensure that all students are treated with care and fairness. SMU’s standards of behavior and current grievance procedures are outlined at smu.edu/LiveResponsibly.
Specifically, the task force is reviewing:
Sexual assault reporting procedures and coordination among campus offices, the SMU Police Department and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
The structure and make-up of the conduct review (grievance) process;
Programs and responses to prevent harassment, particularly regarding the complainant.
Policies regarding students accused of sexual misconduct.
Support services for victims.
Orientation, training and education.
The 20-member task force is chaired by SMU Trustee Kelly Compton ’79, chair of the Student Affairs Committee of the SMU Board of Trustees. Membership includes SMU officials along with student and parent leaders, and representatives of nonprofit organizations assisting victims of sexual assault and the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. The task force also is hearing from local and national experts.
“As an SMU trustee and the parent of college-age students, I appreciate the care and deliberation that is being given to this issue, which requires our best thinking and highest level of compassion,” Compton said. “The best interests of our students will be well served by the task force.”
Parents can play an important role by discussing this issue with their students.
“Although our procedures are examined regularly, and mirror those of many other institutions, the task force is a timely opportunity to broaden deliberations,” Turner said.
SMU has created commemorative books for its Centennial celebration that highlight the campus experience. SMU: Unbridled Vision, a picture book showcasing the beauty of the campus. It is available online or by calling The Book Foundry at 1-615-330-9013. The University also has published The SMU Campus at 100, A Century of Shared Commitment, which includes histories and photos of all SMU buildings, along with fountains, promenades and other landmarks. Both books are available at the SMU Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 214-768-2435. SMU photographer Hillsman S. Jackson won a gold award as Photographer of the Year in the international competition of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for his portfolio of images in Unbridled Vision. He also shot many of the images for The SMU Campus at 100.
Trustee Chair Caren H. Prothro Business, academic, civic and religious leaders are serving on the SMU Board of Trustees through 2016. Members were elected in July by the South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and began their terms with the Board meeting in September. The 42-member board sets policies governing the operation of SMU.
In addition, Caren H. Prothro was re-elected as chair, Robert H. Dedman, Jr. ’80, ’84 is serving as vice chair and David B. Miller ’72, ’73 as secretary. Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67 has been named chair-elect, to become chair in June 2014.
“Working with Dr. Turner and his administration, the Board is leading SMU to an unprecedented level of progress – in academic quality, research, resource development and community impact. We fully expect to continue this momentum,” Prothro says.
Eleven new trustees were elected and 27 trustees were re-elected to four-year terms. Two new ex officio members were elected to represent students and faculty and two ex-officio members were re-elected.
New trustees are William D. Armstrong ’82, Richie L. Butler ’93, Jeanne Tower Cox ’78, Katherine Raymond Crow ’94, Antoine L.V. Dijkstra, Bishop James E. Dorff ’72, Larry R. Faulkner ’66, Bishop Michael McKee ’78, Scott J. McLean ’78, Connie Blass O’Neill ’77 and Richard Ware ’68.
Re-elected trustees are Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, Bradley W. Brookshire ’76, Laura Welch Bush ’68, Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79, The Rev. Mark Craig, Gary T. Crum ’69, Gerald J. Ford ’66, ’69, Antonio O. Garza, Jr. ’83, James R. Gibbs ’66, ’70, ’72, Frederick B. Hegi, Jr. ’66, Clark K. Hunt ’87, Ray L. Hunt ’65, Gene C. Jones, Bishop Scott J. Jones ’81, ’92, Fredrick S. Leach ’83, Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68, Bobby B. Lyle ’67, Rev. Dr. Sheron Covington Patterson ’83, ’89, ’96, Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83, Jeanne L. Phillips ’76, Carl Sewell ’66, Richard K. Templeton and Royce E. (Ed) Wilson.
New ex officio trustees are Steven M. Edwards, president of the SMU Faculty Senate, and John D. Oakes ’13, student representative, who will serve one-year terms.
Continuing ex officio members are R. Gerald Turner, SMU president, and William H. Vanderstraaten ’82, chair of the SMU Alumni Board.
“Our newly elected trustees bring valuable perspectives to the Board. And with our continuing trustees, the Board will have a strong balance of insights and experience,” says Turner. “We also are grateful to trustees whose terms have expired. Their wisdom and support have positioned us for ongoing success.”
President R. Gerald Turner
In 2013 we will celebrate the third year of our Second Century Celebration. We started the commemoration in 2011, the centennial of our founding, and will culminate the festivities in 2015, the 100th anniversary of our opening. Every commemorative year has been filled with progress that would make our founders proud.
This fall we paid tribute to the architectural vision of founding President Robert S. Hyer by commemorating the birthday of Dallas Hall, whose cornerstone was laid in November 1912, and by celebrating the centennial of the first master plan. We also published the book, SMU at 100, showcasing SMU architecture and our enduring commitment to that plan.
We also celebrated groundbreakings for new and renovated facilities: Moody Coliseum and Band Hall renovations; construction of the five-hall Residential Commons, the Dr. Bob Smith Memorial Health Center renovation; construction of indoor and outdoor tennis facilities and a new Data Center on former site of Mrs. Baird’s bakery.
While the number of construction cranes on campus might suggest a building boom, there are other signs of tangible progress inside our classrooms and laboratories: ever-more talented students with the highest SAT average of an incoming class, 1274; SMU’s ranking at 58 among national universities in U.S. News & World Report; an increase in endowed faculty positions, and the addition of more than 200 scholarships since the Second Century Campaign began in 2008. Our fall campaign total is over $653 million toward our goal of $750 million.
The new year brings a unique and historic event – the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, secured after our competition with six other institutions. The dedication in April will attract U.S. and foreign leaders, scholars
and other guests from around the world. As never before the spotlight will be
on SMU, a chance to shine attention on our academic strengths, beautiful campus
and welcoming environment.
As our academic profile rises, so does our deep appreciation for the support of our alumni and friends, the sponsors of our progress for nearly 100 years and into the future. R. Gerald Turner President
Former President George W. Bush answers questions during an interview on campus with C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb. SMU honors students and campus leaders served as the audience and asked questions during the nationally televised program. The seven Texas institutions that competed to house the George W. Bush Presidential Center sought the historical resource in part because of the scholars and dignitaries it would attract for research, programs and interaction. But perhaps few expected that Bush Center activities would begin as early as 2010, three years before the facility would be completed in spring 2013.
The quick start was provided by the George W. Bush Institute, the independent, action-oriented think tank housed in the Bush Center and reporting to the Bush Foundation. The Center also includes the Library and Museum to be operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Library will contain the documents, artifacts and electronic records of the Bush administration, while the Museum will feature permanent and traveling exhibits.
The Institute’s programs took full advantage of the assets that SMU promoted in competing for the center – the University’s convenient Dallas location and experience hosting national and world leaders. Using the Collins Executive Education Center at the Cox School of Business, the Institute has sponsored 12 symposia attracting more than 2,500 participants and panelists, including SMU faculty, staff and students.
In March 2010 SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development co-sponsored the two inaugural symposia, the first focusing on U.S. education and the second on educating the women and girls of Afghanistan, presented in collaboration with the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council.
“The single most effective investment in developing countries is to educate a girl,” said speaker Melanne Verveer, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and co-chair of the U.S. Afghan Women’s Council. “Because when you educate a girl, you educate a family and a community.” The George W. Bush Presidential Center nears completion at the corner of SMU Boulevard and Central Expressway. The 225,000-square-foot building contains the presidential library, museum and independent institute (pictured).
Another 2010 conference, on natural gas development, was co-sponsored by the Maguire Energy Institute in Cox and included SMU faculty and students from business, law, engineering and geology.
Human rights students participated in the Bush Institute’s inaugural human freedom symposium, focusing on how “cyber dissidents” in repressive societies use the tools of technology in their nonviolent freedom movements. Participating dissidents “spoke about the daily efforts, both big and small, of the people most affected” by lack of freedom, said SMU student Adriana Martinez ’12 from Mexico, then a sophomore. She was asked to serve as a translator for a Cuban dissident scheduled to participate by phone from Havana, but the connection was lost. “If the cause was censorship by the Cuban government, then in my mind, there could not have been a more poignant statement made right at the beginning of this conference,” Martinez said.
Other Institute programming included:
Middle School Matters, aimed at increasing the number of children who enter and graduate from high school, in partnership with the Simmons School.
Alliance to Reform Education Leadership (AREL), which focuses on recruiting and training school principals. The Simmons School’s Ed-Entrepreneur Center, focusing on urban schools, is a part of the AREL Network.
A conference on the Arab Spring in the Middle East, focusing on the recent uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and other nations in the region.
Pink Ribbon, Red Ribbon, a program to address cervical cancer and HIV/AIDS through screening and treatment for women in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
A symposium on America’s First Ladies, featuring Barbara Bush and Laura Bush ’68, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and journalist Cokie Roberts.
A symposium on the Institute’s 4% Project on the economy. At the symposium’s luncheon, student Haynes Strader ’11 found himself seated with one of the three Nobel laureates at the symposium. “It was a unique and special learning opportunity.”
A visit from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in May 2011. He participated in a Bush Center event and SMU’s Hart Global Leaders Forum, involving more than 250 high school students along with SMU students.
Bush Women’s Initiative Director Charity Wallace welcomes participants to the Fellowship Program for Egyptian women.
In February 2012 SMU played an integral role in the inaugural session of the Bush Institute’s Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program, which brought 14 Egyptian women to the United States for a year-long program of leadership training, networking and travel. It included six days of courses developed and taught by 17 SMU faculty in business, anthropology, communications, political science, law and education.
SMU’s setting as the home of the Bush Center also brought to campus the directors of presidential libraries throughout the nation for a meeting in May 2010 convened by Archivist of the United States David Ferriero. In October 2011 he returned for a speech sponsored by SMU libraries and the Book Club of Texas. The Bush Center “will be the jewel in the crown among the nation’s 13 presidential libraries,” he said, “because it was designed by a librarian – Laura Bush.”
Over the past two years, President Bush has spoken in SMU classes at the invitation of faculty; more than 100 students have served as interns at the Bush Foundation and Office of the President; and several student groups have toured the Bush Library’s storage facility in Lewisville.
Such opportunities are precisely what SMU President R. Gerald Turner envisioned when he led the effort to obtain the Bush Center. “SMU has a strong track record of bringing national and international leaders to campus. But without Bush Center programs, never would so many be assembling at SMU in such a short period of time, interacting with faculty and students and becoming familiar with the strengths of SMU. The opportunities will only increase when the entire Bush Center opens in 2013.”
By Susan White
When first-year student Caroline Olvera attended an orientation session during the summer, she experienced momentary anxiety. As a member of SMU’s class of 2016, Olvera was introduced to the new University Curriculum (UC), which provides the foundation and structure for undergraduate education. The pre-business/accounting major says that all the requirements to fulfill the University Curriculum “felt overwhelming; I thought I was going to have to take all these credits that wouldn’t apply to my major.”
On the other hand, first-year English/creative writing major Matthew Anderson thought the new UC “sounded unique and was different from other places that I applied,” says Anderson, a Dedman College Scholar and a Hunt Scholar. Also considering courses in film and music, he says the UC “lets you explore interests in more than one thing and still graduate on time.”
Fortunately for Olvera and Anderson, as well as the 1,430 other first-year students who enrolled in SMU this fall, academic advisers assured them that not only were the new University Curriculum’s requirements doable, but many of those courses more than likely would be counted toward their majors. Olvera learned that her courses in microeconomics and introduction to calculus meet three requirements under the UC as well as apply toward her accounting degree. Theatre major Parker Gray realized that his theatre history course would count toward a history requirement as well as toward his major.
SMU administrators emphasize the flexibility of the University’s latest version of the undergraduate curriculum that all students are required to take during their four years at SMU. The new University Curriculum replaces what was known as the General Education Curriculum (GEC) to classes entering SMU since 1997. Classes before that entered under the Common Educational Experience, and even earlier, University College starting in 1960.
Flexibility in the new University Curriculum allows students to put their own stamp on their education and makes it easier for them to pursue multiple majors and minors, while still graduating on time with 122 credit hours (more in some majors). That aspect appealed to Sasha Davis, a Meadows Scholar majoring in theatre with an interest in arts activism, who says she wants to “build my own degree by taking courses in human rights and anthropology.”
Preparing 21st-century innovators and creators
Every so often, universities take stock of their academic offerings, particularly those in the liberal arts. In 2008 President R. Gerald Turner asked SMU’s provost to review the General Education Curriculum to ensure that it was meeting the needs of 21st-century students entering a global marketplace. Provost Paul Ludden asked a committee of 17 faculty and staff members, “What will be the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences that characterize a person with an SMU education, regardless of major?”
The committee used SMU’s liberal arts core as a guide – preparing students to communicate effectively orally and in writing, increasing their critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills, and developing their ability to innovate and create. The goal was to come up with something new that remained true to SMU’s intellectual tradition, laid out in the 1963 Master Plan that states, “Professional studies must rise from the solid foundation of a basic liberal education.”
Part of the committee’s directive was to ensure that SMU meets the intellectual needs of students with higher SAT scores. In the past 16 years, entering students’ SAT scores have risen 134 points.
“Today’s students are more demanding, expect greater challenges from their education, and want more options and flexibility in designing their degree plans,” says committee co-chair Dennis Cordell, professor of history and Dedman College associate dean for General Education and the University Curriculum. “The new curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary knowledge and research, introducing students to what is unique about higher education and offering faculty opportunities for collaborative teaching.”
In addition, the curriculum will accommodate more Engaged Learning opportunities that include international study, undergraduate research, service learning, internships, and creative and entrepreneurial activities.
‘Knowledge today is profoundly interdisciplinary’
The UC comprises courses in four components: Foundations, Pillars, Capstone, and Proficiencies and Experiences.
Foundations include Discernment and Discourse (previously Rhetoric), Quantitative Foundation, Ways of Knowing, and Personal Wellness and Responsibility. Although some of the components are similar to requirements under the General Education Curriculum, Ways of Knowing is new. The courses in this category, which students take as sophomores, will be team-taught by SMU faculty from various disciplines who will consider a common topic.
“Knowledge today is profoundly interdisciplinary,” says Vicki Hill, assistant dean for the University Curriculum. “Ways of Knowing will introduce students to the different ways in which university communities define and create knowledge. Such as, how do physicists think? What matters to a sociologist? What questions do accountants ask? But what happens when they are all in the same room looking at the same issue?”
The Pillars are five two-course sequences devoted to different ways of pursuing truth in Pure and Applied Sciences; Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures; Historical Contexts; Creativity and Aesthetics; and Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics.
The Capstone requirement, usually taken during senior year, allows students to use the skills, knowledge and methodologies learned throughout their undergraduate careers and apply them to a course, thesis, project or performance, or an internship, combined with a paper in which students reflect on the experience.
A paradigm shift for the entire University community
In addition, there are eight Proficiencies and Experiences that can be satisfied by coursework or out-of-class activities: writing, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, oral communication, community engagement, human diversity, global engagement and proficiency in a second language.
“The new curriculum encourages faculty to create courses that satisfy more than one requirement,” Hill says. “When courses can be double-counted, students have an easier time pursuing additional majors or minors. The more areas of inquiry with which a student is comfortable, the more equipped he or she will be to face a competitive job market.
“The UC represents a major paradigm shift for the entire University community – teachers and learners alike,” Hill adds. “This change will be accomplished in part through its focus on student learning outcomes (SLOs). The UC’s organizing principle is not where students fulfill the learning objectives, but rather what students have learned and how they demonstrate this knowledge.”
Other ways that the proficiencies can be satisfied include hands-on engagement or thoughtful reflection through a paper, says Hill. For example, “A student tour guide may be able to petition to have that work satisfy the expanded emphasis on oral communication. Or a student who spends spring break volunteering with Habitat for Humanity may be able to have that experience satisfy the emphasis on community engagement.”
In every case, she adds, faculty will review the student’s work to determine if the experience satisfies the requirement.
The “second language proficiency” gave many incoming students and their families pause, and was asked about most often during orientation, says academic adviser Tim Norris. The new UC requires students who enter SMU to improve their second language proficiency through college-level courses or by taking placement exams that show they have attained college-level proficiency. Both Parker Gray and Sasha Davis plan to take Italian because of their interest in the Commedia dell’arte style of theatre from that country. Olvera, who took French in high school, is taking a beginning French class this fall and intermediate French in the spring. All will fulfill the language requirement. Wes K. Waggoner, dean of undergraduate admission and executive director of enrollment services, is on the front line of recruiting students to SMU. He, as much as anyone, has seen a rise in expectations along with a rise in student quality.
“In sending their children to college, today’s families look for a return on their investment, expecting a university education to be relevant and to give their students skills that prepare them for work in a global marketplace,” he says. “We like to tell potential students and their parents that their degree not only will help them get their first job but also their first promotion; the University Curriculum is designed to make them valued employees by giving them the ability to learn new skills in a changing workforce, as well as adapt to and manage multiple careers.”
SMU senior Andrew Lin spent a week in Washington, D.C., with two “rock stars.” He applies that term reverently to James G. Mead, curator emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, and Charles W. Potter, manager of the museum’s marine mammal collection. Lin worked with the renowned whale experts in July while collecting data for his Engaged Learning project comparing the anatomy of a 17-million-year-old beaked whale specimen with the Smithsonian’s modern whale bones and fossil specimens. SMU senior Andrew Lin conducted research at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History last summer as part of his senior research project in geology, an Engaged Learning project.The experience was “very hard and even kind of intimidating – speaking with people who have spent their whole lives working on whales and are legends in the field,” says Lin, a President’s Scholar majoring in geology and biology with a minor in chemistry. “Ultimately it was very rewarding because I learned so much about working with collections, photographing specimens and imaging programs.”
SMU’s Engaged Learning program challenges students to reach beyond the classroom in shaping their educations. The campuswide initiative comprises research, service, internships, creative activities and courses with community components. Fanning out across the globe, 100 undergraduates tackled significant projects under the Engaged Learning umbrella over the summer.
Students can either identify pressing issues and plot their own paths toward solutions or put their stamp on existing projects. Such flexibility suits SMU’s entrepreneurial students, according to Susan Kress, director of the Office of Engaged Learning. Established last year, the office serves as a clearinghouse for information about student engagement, as well as a link to the more than 30 campus organizations and 150 local and global community partners that offer avenues for academic inquiry, career development and civic involvement.
“Through Engaged Learning students have the opportunity to transfer the knowledge and skills of the classroom to real-life situations, learn from their experiences, reflect on them and use them as a basis for further learning,” says Kress.
More than 40 student-driven studies, including Lin’s, were deemed capstone level by a review committee. At the capstone level, students connect their SMU education to goal-oriented projects in the field.
“The project spans two academic years, typically junior and senior years,” says Kress. “It begins with an idea and proposal in the first year and project performance, presentation and publication in the second.”
Close collaboration with a faculty or staff mentor is a key facet of these high-level explorations. Mentors can structure projects to meet criteria for academic credit. Undergraduate researchers Acacea Sherman (left), Christopher Roig (seated) and Isaac Guerra with their faculty adviser Bob Kehoe, associate professor of physics. Kehoe was named SMU’s first Director of Undergraduate Research in September.
A final paper, report or creative product will be archived online in the SMU Digital Repository’s Engaged Learning Collections. Students can earn University Curriculum credits for Oral Communication and Capstone.
In Lin’s case, Louis Jacobs, a professor in the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences and president of SMU’s Institute for the Study of Earth and Man, serves as his mentor. Lin’s Engaged Learning project qualifies as his senior research project in geology.
Leading the effort to identify common needs and increase research opportunities for students is SMU’s first Director of Undergraduate Research Bob Kehoe, an associate professor of physics and coordinator of the Undergraduate Research Assistantships (URA) program for the past two years.
Kehoe joined the University faculty in 2004 and is a member of the SMU team on the ATLAS Experiment, the largest detector in the Large Hadron Collider array at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva. He contributed directly to the analysis published over the summer that observed a new particle consistent with the elusive Higgs boson “God particle.”
His own experience as an undergraduate researcher at Notre Dame informs his belief that a chance for hands-on discovery in a real-world environment “bridges the gap between the classroom and the external professional world and can be a very important stepping stone for students toward their careers.”
Michael McCarthy ’12 believes his Engaged Learning project launched his career on the right trajectory, calling it a “definite stepping stone” to a position as a business systems analyst for Epsilon, a marketing technology firm in Dallas.
“Now I’m expanding on the technical skill set I built at SMU, while learning how to manage client demands and building communication skills,” he explains.
For an Engaged Learning project, the senior major in statistics and mathematics analyzed data for Veterans Affairs in Dallas to evaluate home care support provided to veterans with spinal cord injuries.
“Through my project at the VA I learned how to devise a solution to a complex problem using data and how to manage a long-term multi-stage project,” he says. “Because of this experience, I entered into my role at Epsilon with a strong advantage, and it made the transition from college to industry much easier.”
– Patricia Ward
From the ruins of an old fort and 13th-century Indian pueblo, SMU grew a campus that provides a unique setting for teaching and research.
An act of serendipity enabled Fort Burgwin to enjoy a second life as a University campus. The property was owned by a Taos-area lumberman who had heard that a fort once existed on the land but was unable to locate it. He enlisted the help of Fred Wendorf, then anthropologist of New Mexico, who not only found the buried ruins of the log fort but also excavated and reconstructed it.
SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute
The annual SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute
takes advantage of the historical, cultural and recreational riches of Northern New Mexico for a weekend of learning and outdoor adventure. The 2013 Taos Cultural Institute will be held July 18-21. Online registration will begin on January 1 on the institute’s site at smu.edu/culturalinstitute. Seven courses covering history, political science, archaeology, art, cooking and other topics of interest are now being finalized. Last summer, participants got a bird’s-eye view of the Rio Grande River during a hot-air balloon tour. More information about the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute is available online or by e-mailing taosci@smu.edu or calling 214-768-8267.
When Wendorf joined the SMU faculty in 1964, he brought with him the idea of developing Fort Burgwin into a research center. The late Gov. William P. Clements, Jr. ’39 was chair of SMU’s Board of Governors at the time and helped the University begin the process of acquiring the property that became SMU-in-Taos.
Over the years support from donors such as trustee emeritus Bill Hutchison ’54, ’55 has helped SMU-in-Taos develop into a premier site for research and scholarship on the Southwest. Hutchison remembers coming upon the campus “accidentally, while driving to Taos” en route to his ranch one day in the 1970s. He had not known of SMU’s presence in New Mexico, but it immediately captured his imagination. He comments, “What could be more interesting to somebody who likes the history and the culture of New Mexico than the ruins of an old fort and an archaeological dig?”
Subsequently Hutchison chaired the SMU Board of Governors, was a member of the SMU Board of Trustees, and led the Fort Burgwin Executive Committee. He recalls that after touring the property with Clements to determine its needs and potential, “we engaged in a fundraising effort that resulted in the building of the art center/auditorium, faculty housing, repairs to the [student] casitas” and improvements to the fort itself.
SMU’s interest in further developing Fort Burgwin foundered, however, during the budget-challenged 1980s and early ’90s. Hutchison credits its survival to Biology Professor William B. Stallcup Jr. ’41, former interim president of SMU who became director of SMU-in-Taos after his retirement. “Bill brought the thing back to life.”
Any hesitation about the importance of SMU-in-Taos ended with the appointment of R. Gerald Turner as president in 1995, Hutchison says. “Dr. Turner got the entire administration behind the efforts to improve and emphasize SMU-in-Taos. Talking to students who have studied there, I think it’s a great environment for learning and a very unusual experience for University students.”
The University’s renewed focus on SMU-in-Taos has been supported by both longtime and more recent donors. Thanks to recent gifts and purchases, the campus now sprawls across 430 acres – almost twice the size of the 237-acre main campus in Dallas. And the land now includes new and refurbished structures to facilitate study, teaching and research. Patsy ’54 and Bill Hutchison ’54, ’55 are longtime supporters of SMU-in-Taos. One of the most well-known community events held on the campus, the Ima Leete Hutchison Concert Series, is made possible by an endowment they established in 1989 in honor of his mother.
A gift from the estate of Bill Clements of three houses and 123 acres adjoining the campus continues a decades-long legacy of support. The new gift includes art, furnishings and other household items. In addition to the 2,800-square-foot main house, there is a 2,000-square-foot dwelling and a 1,400-square-foot cottage. A committee is considering options for the houses, one of which is to use the facilities for a conference/retreat center available to the SMU community and outside groups.
Over the years the late governor and his wife, Rita, provided more than $7.5 million for facilities and programs at SMU-in-Taos, including $1 million for the construction of Wendorf Information Commons.
Among other recent acquisitions and improvements:
The purchase of the 2,000-square-foot home of Fred Wendorf, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at SMU, and five acres of land on the far eastern edge of the campus. Visiting scholars and SMU faculty will stay in the home.
The conversion of Faculty Casita Two into a true duplex containing a one-bedroom apartment and a separate two-bedroom apartment. The remodeled casita, now suitable for faculty with families, was funded by an anonymous gift. Two similar faculty casitas await the same transformation when funding is obtained.
The renovation of the three-bedroom officers’ quarters, supported by a gift from SMU-in-Taos Board Chair Roy Coffee, Jr. and his wife, Janis. The Coffees also helped fund improvements to student casitas.
In 2009 support for new and renovated student casitas, as well as technology upgrades and improvements to winterize facilities, transformed SMU-in-Taos. The changes made it possible to operate the campus from May through December, accommodating a new fall semester and a one-week Alternative Break volunteer program in March.
Casita Clements, a new student casita funded by Bill and Rita Clements, became the first commercial or institutional building in the Taos area to achieve Gold LEED certification for environmentally responsible construction. Other named residences and the donors supporting them include Casita Armstrong, funded by Bill Armstrong ’82 and Liz Martin Armstrong ’82 of Denver; Casita Harvey, funded by trustee Caren H. Prothro in honor of her mother, Juanita Legge Harvey; Casita Thetford, funded by Jo Ann Geurin Thetford ’69, ’70 of Graham, Texas; and Casita Ware, funded by trustee Richard Ware ’68 and William Ware ’01 of Amarillo, Texas.
Additional support for housing improvements has been provided by Dallas residents Maurine Dickey ’67, Richard T. Mullen ’61 and Jenny Mullen, and Stephen Sands ’70 and Marcy Sands ’69; and Irene Athos and the late William J. Athos of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Technology enhancements to provide cell phone and Internet connectivity also moved the campus into the 21st century. In partnership with Commnet, a wireless phone service provider, the campus has its own cell tower that offers full-bar signal strength. Wireless Internet access is available throughout SMU-in-Taos, and a recent broadband speed upgrade improved real-time video streaming. Other updates include new LCD projectors for classrooms, a large-format color printer for photography instruction and new flat-screen televisions for the dining hall.
The improvements and additions are part of a new master plan for SMU-in-Taos supported by the Executive Board and members of the Friends of SMU-in-Taos. Other components of the plan are being implemented as funding becomes available.
A ceramics class taught in an outdoor studio attracted sophomore Alexandra Jones to SMU-in-Taos for the August term. The chance to dive more deeply into an opportunity she calls “life-changing” cemented her decision to remain for the fall semester. Students now have the option to spend a fall semester at SMU-in-Taos, thanks to new and renovated casitas and upgrades to winterize facilities. The photo above was taken by Associate Professor Debora Hunter, who teaches a popular photography course. Among the students sitting on top of the wall are sophomores Alexandra Jones, fifth from the left, and Sam Clark, second from the right, quoted below.
Jones, a Provost’s Scholar and BBA Scholar, prizes the small class sizes, the intense focus of the academic courses and the “amazing Wellness opportunities – everything from white-water rafting to horseback riding.” But what makes the Taos experience like no other is the camaraderie that develops among students and with faculty, she says.
“The living-learning environment has allowed me to connect with my professors in new ways,” says Jones, an accounting major with minors in anthropology and Mandarin Chinese. “Students are valued and respected like colleagues because we’re all expected to contribute to the community, and we’re all working toward the common goal of getting the most out of our time here.”
Faculty and their families reside on campus, so students “see them as individuals with outside lives, and faculty interact with students both in and out of the classroom,” says Mike Adler, associate professor of anthropology and executive director of SMU-in-Taos since 2006.
New Field School Excavations
Archaeological excavations in Taos continue to yield new clues to lost chapters of Southwestern history. Over the summer new digs focused on the Fort Burgwin guardhouse on the SMU-in-Taos campus and at a pithouse site on private land nearby.
The guardhouse appears on early maps of the fort, which helped a team from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, locate the building’s foundation. The recovery of artifacts and documentation of the site will continue next summer.
The excavation is the most recent project of the Taos Collaborative Archaeological Program, an education and research partnership between SMU’s field school and the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute initiated in 2009.
New research by SMU students aims to shed light on the Pithouse period, which dates from approximately 900 A.D. to 1250 A.D. Lauren O’Brien, a doctoral candidate in Dedman College’s Department of Anthropology, started fieldwork with a team of three graduate students in early summer. In June and July she continued the project with five undergraduate students as the leader of SMU’s field school.
Little is known about the Pithouse period in the northern Taos Valley, she says. The ground dwellings pre-date New Mexico’s iconic pueblo structures. “We are the first group to begin research on and excavation of the site,” which is about 10 miles north of Taos in Arroyo Hondo, she says.
The pithouse measures approximately nine feet deep and 15 feet square. The semi-subterranean design provided natural climate control: The interior temperature hovered around 55 degrees, and with the addition of a fire, warmed to a cozy 76 degrees.
Among the finds so far are pottery, lithics (stone tools) and several worked turquoise pieces, which means the stones’ surfaces had been smoothed by humans using tools, says O’Brien. “We’re not really sure what the turquoise was used for; perhaps it was inlaid in pots.”
The objects, along with soil samples and other materials from the site, are now being studied on the Dallas campus.
“The lab is really where it all starts to come together,” explains O’Brien. “For example, soil sample testing will help us understand the environment: what was growing, what the pithouse inhabitants were eating and so forth.”
“There’s so much to learn about who they were,” she adds. “We’ll be looking for similarities and differences among materials collected from each pithouse and the surrounding activity areas.”
SMU-in-Taos opened for classes in 1974 on the site of Fort Burgwin, a pre-Civil War fort, as a unique center for teaching and research drawing from the cultural and natural resources of Northern New Mexico. The grounds include the site of a 13th-century Indian pueblo that has been the focus of SMU’s archaeology field school. Each year approximately 300 students take courses in the humanities; sciences; business; and performing, visual and communication arts.
Students enrolled in the fall semester take 12 to 18 hours of courses that meet core undergraduate requirements in a variety of disciplines, or they can focus on courses to earn a minor in business. The term is divided into four blocks, each of which lasts about three weeks.
Sophomore Sam Clark, an applied physiology major, believes “the block system makes it worthwhile to take the business minor route in Taos.” He took management, marketing, finance and personal finance, one course per block.
“I feel like I learned more because I got to focus on one subject at a time in a low-stress environment,” he says.
Breaks between sessions allow time for outdoor adventures. In September students visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado for sand sledding – sliding down dunes on sand boards or sleds – before beginning Block 2 of their classes.
An integral part of the curriculum is the “Taos Experience,” an anthropology class taught by Adler. “We take students off campus into this very diverse and complicated place we call Taos, which is very different from Dallas,” he explains. “Students get a better understanding of the many historical, ethnic and cultural differences that make up this place.”
Internships with local nonprofit organizations enable students like Jones to give back to their adopted community while developing practical skills. She works with Taos CPA, which provides accounting services for local nonprofits.
SMU also strengthens ties with Taos through cultural programs such as the Ima Leete Hutchison Concert Series, which showcases the musical talents of Meadows students each summer.
The Summer Colloquium Lecture Series brings members of the Taos community to campus on Tuesday evenings to hear SMU faculty and guest speakers discuss a broad range of topics. More than 1,000 people attended the free lectures last summer. And a fall series sponsored by SMU-in-Taos and the University of New Mexico-Taos offers free lectures in September and October.
Inspired by the strong service-learning link forged between SMU and Taos, Jones pledges to become more active when she returns to Dallas in January.
“It’s easy to sink into the shadows and let other people do the work,” she says. “At SMU-in-Taos I’ve developed a sense of responsibility to contribute to the community. Involvement has become a habit that I’ll take back with me.” – Patricia Ward
Alumni, parents and friends of SMU from the Houston area have committed more than $100 million toward SMU’s Second Century Campaign, capped by a $12.1 million gift for endowed scholarships from W. Yandell “Tog” Rogers, Jr.
Houston is home to more than 6,200 SMU alumni – the largest concentration of former SMU students outside Dallas. Rogers’ commitment brings to a dozen the number of commitments of $1 million or more from Houston donors listed below:
• AIM Foundation
• Marshall P. Cloyd ’64 and Robin Singleton Cloyd MBA ’80
• Gary T. Crum ’69 and Sylvie P. Crum
• Jay D. Fields ’99 and Allison Fields
• Roy M. Huffington ’38 (deceased)
• Paul B. Loyd Jr. ’68 and Penny R. Loyd
• The Moody Foundation
• The Noel Family James L. Noel III and Melinda C. Noel Stephen King ’77 and Carol Noel King ’76 Edmund O. Noel ’75 and Patrice Oden Noel ’75 William D. Noel ’82 and Barbara W. Noel Robert C. Noel ’80, ’89 and Deanne Moore Noel ’89 • C. Robert Palmer ’57, ’66 and Rebecca S. Palmer
• The Robert A. Welch Foundation
• An anonymous benefactor
Houston donors have given more than 10,000 gifts totaling more than $100 million during SMU’s Second Century Campaign, which began in September 2008, resulting in 15 new endowments for professorships, scholarships and academic and student life programs. Forty-nine Houston donors have made commitments of $50,000 or more, and more than 1,100 donors have been recognized by SMU’s Hilltop Society for two-to-20 years of consecutive giving to SMU.
Trustee Scott McLean ‘78, CEO of Amegy Bank of Texas, and Dennis Murphree ‘69, principal of Murphree Venture Partners, are co-chairs of the Campaign Steering Committee for Houston.
“The dedication and enthusiasm of alumni and friends has been inspiring,” says McClean. “And it sends a strong message to alumni across the country – that Houston believes what SMU is doing now will positively impact the lives of future Mustangs.”
By Lauren Smart ’11
My first days at SMU were overwhelming. Mapping the quickest route from class to class and learning the difference between Fondren Library Center and Fondren Science Building were minor adjustments. Arriving on campus meant something much larger, the first big step toward being an adult – moving out.
Derived from the model that originated at higher learning institutions overseas, particularly Oxford and Cambridge, the Residential Commons can be most familiarly compared to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts. Although there will be no ceremonial “sorting hat,” all room assignments will be random.
In Boaz, McElvaney, Mary Hay and all the residence halls along Bishop Boulevard, apprehensive first-year students eyed their new homes and roommates. Although many students request friends or acquaintances as roommates upon acceptance to SMU, most participate in potluck selection and spend their first year bunking with a stranger.
The freedom of living away from my parents on the scenic SMU campus was exciting, with a constant influx of new friends and activities. However, soon I began wishing for my first apartment in Dallas and couldn’t wait to have my own kitchen and bathroom. But moving off campus was jarring.
If you hadn’t found an apartment by the end of freshman year, you were already behind, as accommodations near campus were swept up long before May. Although some residential hall rooms are available to upper-class students who choose to remain on campus, beginning their sophomore year, many students as young as 19 commute to campus from Uptown, the Village or other nearby areas. I became an efficient grocery shopper, adjusted to a neighborhood without campus staff or police and navigated traffic and parking to get to class on time. > Loyds Fund Residential Commons
But this scenario will change in 2014 with the completion of five new residence halls in the southeast corner of campus. They will be part of the Residential Commons, along with all other residence halls retrofitted to that model. And SMU will require sophomores to live on campus, in addition to first-year students.
Derived from the model that originated at higher learning institutions overseas, particularly Oxford and Cambridge, the Residential Commons can be most familiarly compared to Harry Potter’s Hogwarts. Although there will be no ceremonial “sorting hat,” all room assignments will be random. Faculty members will live in apartments tucked into the residence halls, relationships with a particular hall will last an entire academic career, there will be classrooms in each hall, and students will be encouraged to participate in activities with their residential neighbors.
“The idea is that each Commons will be a microcosm of the campus as a whole,” says Lori White, vice president for student affairs. “We want to avoid the stereotypes that X-type of student lives here and Y-type of student lives there.” Five new residence halls will house 1,258 students.
Driving to and parking next to Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports is no longer possible because construction is in progress; when the project is completed, the Center will be flanked by a dining facility and five new residence halls, which will house 1,258 more students in addition to the current 1,922 already living on campus.
The common misnomer applied to these buildings has been “sophomore housing,” when, in fact, five existing residence halls also will convert to the Commons model. Although this means the disbanding of casual communities that have sprung up, such as Meadows students being assigned to Mary Hay, the belief is that stronger communities can be created with a diverse mixture of students, White says. And it is hoped that these bonds will be strengthened as students spend more than one year within those communities.
Deanna Vella ’10, who spent her sophomore and junior years as a resident assistant, recalls an enthusiasm in first-year students that fizzled in sophomores who lived on or off campus. “It can be frustrating to be the only sophomore in your dorm. I imagine the new Commons model will keep students more comfortable and involved,” she says. > Armstrongs Support Living-Learning Communities
Resident assistants will continue to lead in the Commons, but each building also will include a faculty member in residence. In all there will be 11 live-in faculty members – some self-identified and some nominated by students. Although resident professors are not intended to serve as authority figures for student life, SMU officials hope that mutually beneficial relationships will develop between students and faculty.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of History David Doyle lived in the Virginia-Snider Hall as director of the University Honors Program. Seeing his students as “complete individuals” informed his communications with them in the classroom, he says. “I think my living there reinforced things I taught in the classroom, but it also set the mood that studying could be acceptable,” Doyle says. “As I got to know the students, they would come to me with questions unrelated to academics.” > What A Difference A Century Makes: See the SMU Centennial Map
This interactive component is key to the Residential Commons model, according to Steve Logan, senior executive director of residence life and student housing. “Academic integration and interaction is one of the main benefits we came across in our research on the Commons model,” he says. “As we attract more highly qualified students, the living experience becomes as important as the curriculum.”
For many students, proximity to professors might seem intimidating or even off-putting. But having faculty in residence not only enables students to become comfortable with taking advantage of office hours right next to where they live, it also allows professors to see the varied lives of their students.
“There won’t be forced interactions with the faculty members,” says Jeff Grim, assistant director of residence life. “But I imagine professors will start different traditions, like taking a group of students to a local theater or inviting them over for movies or coffee.” Living on campus has been linked to higher retention rates and a greater sense of camaraderie among students.
To develop a vision for its Residential Commons model, SMU appointed a committee of faculty, staff and students to look at institutions that have live-on requirements after the first year and/or adopted similar designs for student housing. Duke University and Rice University are leading examples that require on-campus living through the junior year. Several schools made the transition to a residential college model in the past decade, including Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University, which SMU considers benchmark schools.
Living on campus has been linked to higher retention rates and a greater sense of camaraderie among students. “No private university in the U.S. News & World Report Top 50 lacks the capacity to house all second-year students on campus, and no private university in that group has less than a 90 percent retention rate of first-year students, or less than an 80 percent six-year graduation rate,” says SMU Provost Paul Ludden. SMU’s first-year retention rate is 88 percent, and its six-year graduation rate is 77 percent.
The Residential Commons model “enriches the living and learning environment by emphasizing academic and social balance,” Ludden adds. “This intellectual and social community will be appealing to the high-achieving students we seek in greater numbers.”
Although many of the schools studied first instituted a sophomore requirement and slowly segued into a residential commons model, SMU’s change will be immediate in terms of the transition to an all-residential commons model for first- and second-year students. The first students will be relied upon to create traditions within each commons.
“I imagine they’ll want to organize intramural teams or annual events,” White says, emphasizing that this is one of the points she’s most excited about. “When something is new, there are fewer limitations.”
At its core this model is about providing students with a “common experience.” Many students find this sense of belonging in the Greek system or in campus organizations, but often it takes months to find an affinity group. “It definitely takes students awhile to adjust to their new environment,” Vella says. “As an RA, I would watch kids take almost all year to settle into their lives, and then they would start looking for an apartment,” requiring another transition.
Logan hopes the Commons model will quell the fears of parents who worry about their children moving out on their own before they’re emotionally ready. White agrees, citing numerous stories she’s heard of students who feel unprepared for life off campus.
“School can be stressful enough without worrying about having to cook your own meals or pay your bills on time,” she says. “We hope this will put the parents and the students at ease.”
SMU officials hope this new model will bolster the vibrancy of on-campus life as well as school spirit. Every school that served as a case study for these changes, from Wake Forest to Notre Dame, confirmed that longer connections with on-campus living engender lifetime dedication to the school.
It’s hard to imagine how living on campus an extra year would have changed my experience. Some of my fondest memories are of breakfasts at Umphrey Lee, ultimate Frisbee games on the lawn in front of Dallas Hall and the conversations I had with professors during their office hours. As an upperclassman, my participation in these activities slowly tapered. I can’t help but wonder what memories of SMU I missed because so often the two miles to campus seemed too far to drive.
SMU alumna Lauren Smart ’11 earned an M.A. degree in arts journalism from Syracuse University in May. She is a communications specialist for Dallas’ new Klyde Warren Park.
A $5 million gift from the Dedman family and The Dedman Foundation has created the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute (DCII). The new institute supports the University’s mission to expand knowledge through research and engaged learning beyond the classroom. The new Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute launched its IMPACT (Interdisciplinary Meetings to Address Pressing Current Themes) series of symposia October 31 with a panel discussion on the concept of privacy. Speakers included English, history, economics, psychology, engineering and law faculty.
The new Institute will bring together faculty and students from the humanities, sciences and social sciences for collaborative research and other programs. The institute’s projects also will reach beyond Dedman College to the broader University and the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
“The Institute is a perfect fit for a college that spans departments from philosophy to physics,” says Dedman College Dean William M. Tsutsui. “By creating opportunities for substantive collaboration across the disciplines, the Institute will open new vistas for research and help prepare students for real-world challenges requiring multiple perspectives.” Caroline Brettell, University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and an expert on immigration, has been named the first director of the DCII. Unlike interdisciplinary centers at other universities, the institute involves undergraduates as well as graduate students and faculty. Students and faculty from across the SMU campus have the opportunity to participate in three informal and interdisciplinary research clusters being offered this academic year. Roundtable discussions and other collaborative activities will focus on the topics of “Futures for Humanistic Learning,” “Reframing Africa” and “The ‘World’ in University Education.”
Annual Fellows Seminars provide a platform for the cross-disciplinary exploration of complex issues. This year’s seminar topics are “Medicine and the Humanities: Suffering, Knowledge and Culture” and “Thinking About Agency,” which will delve into “the capacity, condition, or state of acting or exerting power” across a range of disciplines.
Institute seminars and research clusters will generate capstone courses, a vital component of the new University Curriculum.
The $5 million gift for the DCII is the latest of numerous major gifts from the Dedman family and The Dedman Foundation to SMU. Their cumulative gifts and pledges to SMU have a current value in excess of $82 million.
“SMU has benefited from the Dedman family’s extraordinary vision and support for more than five decades,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Few other families have had such a wide-ranging impact on the University’s development. Their major gifts have supported areas from humanities and sciences to law and lifetime sports. As we celebrate the University’s Centennial, this latest gift will help SMU continue to move forward among the nation’s leading universities.”
The Dedman family has strong ties to SMU. Robert H. Dedman, Sr., who died in 2002, earned his Master of Laws degree from SMU’s School of Law in 1953. His wife, Nancy McMillan Dedman, received a bachelor’s degree in political science with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1950.
Their daughter, Patricia Dedman Nail, earned a Master’s degree in psychology from SMU in 1981. Their son, Robert H. Dedman, Jr., earned both J.D. (’80) and M.B.A. (’84) degrees from SMU. He serves as vice chair of the SMU Board of Trustees and on the Second Century Campaign Leadership Committee. His wife, Rachael Redeker Dedman, earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from SMU in 1996.
Kathryn Arata ’87, ’91 credits her favorite professor with instilling “a sense of academic curiosity and desire for learning that I possess to this day.” In appreciation she and husband Stephen L. Arata ’88 have made a gift of $1.25 million to create the Jeremy duQuesnay Adams Centennial Professorship in Western European Medieval History in honor of the longtime SMU professor, who will continue to teach in the University’s Clements Department of History. SMU alumni Stephen L. Arata (left) and Kathryn Hedges Arata with their son, Jeremy Andrew Arata (right), a first-year student, and History Professor Jeremy Adams
“We are grateful to the Aratas for their vision and generosity in providing this gift, which supports our Second Century Campaign goal to increase the number of endowed chairs to 100,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “With the Adams Professorship, the University is within 15 faculty positions of reaching that goal.
Several other former students of Adams have contributed $25,000 or more to the professorship, including Cindy and Dr. David Stager Jr. ’87; Jo ’90 and Joe Goyne; and Renee Justice Standley ’90 and Kenneth Standley.
The professorship “underscores our commitment to interdisciplinary teaching and research reflecting Professor Adams’ creative blend of history, literature and other disciplines, which makes medieval history come alive for his students,” says Dedman College Dean William Tsutsui.
SMU has initiated a search to fill the Adams Professorship in the 2013-14 academic year.
Both Stephen and Kathryn Arata majored in English and minored in medieval studies in SMU’s Dedman College. Their son, Jeremy Andrew Arata, named for their beloved professor, entered SMU in the fall as a Dedman College Scholar. The Aratas have two younger daughters, Hanna and Julianna.
The Adams Professorship is the first Centennial Professorship to be established in Dedman. The “Centennial” designation is a special gift category during SMU’s 100th anniversary commemoration, 2011-2015. > Read more
A new gift of $1 million will create the Marriott Family Endowed Professor Fund in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. The new Marriott Family Endowed Professor Fund in Meadows School of the Arts will enable the school to strengthen and broaden its academic offerings. The school showcases student talent throughout the year in performances, exhibitions and programs.
SMU parents John W. Marriott III and his wife, Angela C. Marriott, as well as John’s father, J. Willard Marriott Jr., and his wife, Donna Garff Marriott, supported the gift, which was provided through the Marriott Fund of The Columbus Foundation in Columbus, Ohio.
“This gift will enable Meadows School of the Arts to strengthen and broaden its academic offerings to prepare students for success in the arts,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The gift supports a goal of SMU’s Second Century Campaign to endow 100 faculty positions.”
John W. Marriott III and wife Angela live in Maryland and serve on SMU’s Parent Leadership Council. Their daughter, Nicole ’10, earned a Bachelor’s degree in advertising with minors in English and Italian from SMU. Two daughters are current SMU students: Elyse is majoring in advertising and
will graduate in 2013, and Michelle is a sophomore.
“Our three daughters have benefited from the outstanding education they received through Meadows School of the Arts, and we want to help provide similar opportunities for future students,” says John W. Marriott III. “Instead of designating a specific division of the arts for our gift, Angie and I decided to give the Meadows School the freedom to use this fund to support a professorship in whatever field seems most appropriate to strengthen the school and enrich the educational experience of its students.”
The gift supports the Meadows mission “to become the national leader in a new form of arts education that measures itself not by the number of celebrities produced, but by the number of working artists who serve their communities and earn their living in the arts,” says Dean José Bowen. > Read more
SMU Trustee Paul B. Loyd Jr. ’68 and his wife, Penny Requa Loyd, are continuing their longtime support of SMU with a $5 million gift to build a Residential Commons, one of five new student residences under construction in the southeast section of campus. Penny Requa Loyd, Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 and Sarah Requa ’12 with a rendering of the new Residential Commons at Founders’ Day in April
The Loyds also provided funding in support of the new Penny and Paul Loyd Center for the Academic Development of Student Athletes (ADSA), housed in the Loyd All-Sports Center.
“Nearly every SMU student benefits from the Loyd family’s generosity,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “From students enhancing their study skills and preparing for exams at the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center and the ADSA, to student athletes working out in the weight room, all in the Loyd All-Sports Center, the Loyds have enhanced the campus experience of SMU students. Now a new generation of students will enjoy living and learning in the Loyd Commons.”
The Residential Commons living-learning complex will provide housing, parking and dining facilities for 1,250 students, enabling all first- and second-year SMU students to live on campus. Each residential facility also will house a faculty residence and offices, classrooms and seminar rooms.
In addition to serving as a trustee since 2000, Mr. Loyd is a member of the executive boards for the Cox School of Business and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He is co-chair of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Athletics and honorary chair and member of the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Houston.
Mrs. Loyd, a civic leader and community volunteer in Houston, has worked with public and private companies both in the United States and abroad prior to the formation of the family’s charitable foundation.
The Loyds have served on the SMU Parent Leadership Council. Three of their five children are SMU graduates: Kelly Loyd ’96, Jessica Requa ’08, ’09 and Sarah Requa ’12.
The Loyd gift is the second contribution to name a Residential Commons. Liz Martin Armstrong ’82 and Bill Armstrong ’82 provided a $5 million gift for construction of the Armstrong Commons in 2011.
SMU continues to seek funding for this essential project. For more information contact Pam Conlin, assistant vice president for University Development, at 214-768-3738 or pconlin@smu.edu.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of SMU’s master plan, and the laying of the cornerstone of Dallas Hall in 1912, donors of SMU’s more than 100 buildings gathered for a luncheon in October as part of the Second Century Celebration. Speaker was architect Graham Wyatt of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, designers of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Wyatt said the Bush Center’s design is “fully in the tradition of the campus,” but does not compete with its iconic structures such as Dallas Hall. Right: SMU Board of Trustees chair Caren Prothro, representing the Prothro and Perkins families’ funding of several campus buildings; Wyatt; Linda Custard ’60, ’99, vice chair for special events, Second Century Celebration Committee; trustee David Miller ’72, ’73, a major donor for the expansion of Moody Coliseum; and Mark Langdale, president of the Bush Foundation. To mark the anniversary of the master plan, SMU has published The SMU Campus at 100: A Century of Shared Commitment, a guide to facilities, monuments and special features. The book is available at the SMU Bookstore; call 214-768-2435 for details. > Read more
When Mathew Busby ’09 was a student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, the Lyle School’s alumni mentor program paired him with Joe Novoa ’71. As SMU Connection volunteers, alumni help prepare students for the future through participation in speed networking sessions (above) and a variety of other career-building events.
“On field trips to building and construction sites, we talked about what was going on and why things were constructed the way they are, which proved to be invaluable insight as I was going through classes and then later when working as a civil engineer,” Busby says. “I think ‘talking shop’ gives a glimpse of what someone has learned in the field – knowledge you usually don’t have as a student. I learned that engineering isn’t just about producing a set of plans, but about focusing on how people will utilize something and how it will make their lives better.”
Now Busby is paying that favor forward through SMU Connection, a new partnership between the Office of Alumni Relations and Engagement and SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center. The program links alumni mentors with University undergraduates.
As of early November, 312 Mustangs across the country have signed up as Connection volunteers.
“Through SMU Connection, alumni have an opportunity to reinforce the strength of the University by mentoring current students and passing on the passion we have for our alma mater,” says Busby.
During winter break, alumni from coast to coast will host student externs for a day of on-the-job experience. Students applied through the Hegi Center and have been matched in their preferred fields. They will spend the day “shadowing” alumni, who have the flexibility to decide how to make their time together beneficial.
The 40 students participating attended a mandatory orientation session conducted by Allison Dupuis, career coach with the Hegi Center. There are 10 first-years, nine sophomores, 12 juniors and nine seniors in the group, representing SMU’s five undergraduate degree-granting schools.
“Most of the students have never done anything like this before, so it is important that they understand how to maximize the experience,” Dupuis says. She encourages them to prepare by looking at alumni’s LinkedIn profiles, reading about their companies and developing questions based on that research.
Externships assist students in making well-informed career decisions, according to Dupuis. “I tell students that in just one day they can absorb so much that it can be truly life-changing,” she says. “They’ll have a chance to network, make important career connections and learn that they can take the initiative to create these kinds of opportunities for themselves.” > OTHER WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Through SMU Connection, alumni also can serve as career resources, offering advice and information throughout the school year to students interested in their professions. More than 170 alumni have committed to participate.
Dallas alumni can be part of these career-preparation activities sponsored by the Hegi Center:
Résumania: Volunteers meet one-on-one with students to provide feedback about their résumés.
Speed networking: During this job-focused spin on “speed dating,” students practice their interviewing skills with volunteers from various industries in a fast-paced, informal setting.
Work abroad panel: At events designed for students interested in the global job market, alumni offer valuable information about their international experiences.
Industry specific panel: At events centered on specific fields, such as law and education, alumni offer their perspectives on their professions.
Alumni interested in participating in SMU Connection should fill out the online form. More information is available by contacting Lindsay Scanio, SMU Connection alumni coordinator, at lscanio@smu.edu or 214-768-ALUM (2586).
A total of 313 alumni in 15 cities from coast to coast signed up to assist food banks, animal shelters, meals on wheels programs and other nonprofit organizations during the “SMU Stampede of Service,” the second annual SMU alumni national service day, in November. Chapters in Atlanta; Austin; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Fort Worth; Houston; Los Angeles; New Orleans; Orange County; California; Salt Lake City; St. Louis and Washington, D.C., participated. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the New York City chapter postponed its service day. Locally, members of the Black Alumni of SMU, SMU Hispanic Alumni and the SMU Military Alumni chapters joined other Dallas alumni in filling two shifts at the North Texas Food Bank distribution center. Volunteers sorted and packed 29,057 pounds of food, enough for 24,215 meals.
ATLANTA AUSTIN CHICAGO DALLAS DENVER FORT WORTH HOUSTON LOS ANGELES ST. LOUIS WASHINGTON, D.C.
Marianne Piepenburg Marianne Piepenburg ’81, a key member of SMU’s Development and External Affairs (DEA) leadership team, was appointed assistant vice president for Alumni and Constituent Giving and executive director for Alumni Relations in September by Brad E. Cheves, vice president for DEA.
In this new, expanded role, Piepenburg will direct the Office of Alumni Relations and Engagement and the University’s annual and alumni giving effort, as well as continue in her role managing Gift Planning and Endowment & Scholarship Giving.
Piepenburg previously served as interim director of Development and interim executive director of National Major Giving.
“Through all of her assignments, she has continued to lead SMU’s Planned and Endowment Giving programs, where we benefit greatly from her expertise,” Cheves says.
A 1981 graduate of Dedman School of Law, Piepenburg practiced law for several years before moving into the field of planned giving. She was with Baylor Health Care System for seven years before returning to the Hilltop as SMU prepared for its “Time to Lead Campaign” in 1996.
“It is a privilege for me to work with SMU alumni across the country and around the world,” says Piepenburg. “As an alumna, staff member and a very proud mother of two SMU students, SMU is important to my family, and I hope to share this enthusiasm with other alumni, parents and friends.”
Piepenburg’s daughter, Claire ’13, is majoring in history and anthropology with a minor in political science, and her son, Andrew ’15, is a studio art major.
Maurice W. Acers*
Lindalyn Bennett Adams
Allison Allen Holland
Richard A. Arnett* William W. Aston* Sue Davis Baier
Fritz E. Barton, Jr.
Don R. Benton
Laura Lee S. Blanton* Floyd E. Bloom
Ina C. Brown* Juan Chacin
Donald D. Clayton
Charles M. Cole* Aylett R. Cox* Glenn A. Cox, Jr.
Robert H. Dennard
Charles O. Galvin* Arvel E. Haley* Charles M. Harmon, Jr.* Lawrence R. Herkimer
John A. Hill
Roy M. Huffington* Ray L. Hunt
Nancy Ann Hunter Hunt
George E. Hurt, Jr.* William L. Hutchison
F. Ben James, Jr.
Julia C. Jeffress*
Samuel R. Johnson
E. Gene Keiffer**Deceased
Frank H. Kidd, Jr.*
Sally Rhodus Lancaster
Jed Mace*
Virginia Holt McFarland
Don Meredith*
Carmen M. Michael
Ruth A. Montgomery
P. O’B. Montgomery, Jr.*
Stephen Halcuit Moore, Jr.*
Noreen Lewis Nicol*
William F. Nicol
Paul E. Page*
Cecil E. Peeples*
Charles H. Pistor, Jr.*
Lee G. Pondrom
Kenneth Prewitt, Jr.
Aaron Q. Sartain*
Carl Sewell
Mark Shepherd*
William T. Solomon
Susan Herring Stahl*
Ellen C. Terry
Robert Hyer Thomas
Paul J. Thomas*
Gail G. Thomas
Charles H. Trigg*
Kitty Trigg*
Charles H. Webb, Jr.
Temple W. Williams, Jr.
Evie Jo C. Wilson*
AUBREY ANNE ANGERSTEIN Michael Connors ’69 and Jeannie Connors of Spring, Texas, welcomed their first granddaughter, Aubrey Anne Angerstein, January 24, 2008. ISABELLA XEUNEOURA CHAMBERS Birthdate: January 12, 2009 Parents: Khouanchith Xeuneoura ’98 and Ruben Chambers of Plano, TX CAROLINE CRESPO Candy Crespo ’07 and Rene Crespo of Dallas welcomed their first child, Caroline, October 14, 2011. Caroline weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 19.5 inches. DELANEY DARWIN, 6, AND AMELIA DARWIN, 4 Daughters of Chris Darwin ’91 TAVIN IMRE MCCAUL Lisa Renee Wilson ’02 and David Benjamin McCaul ’02 of Seattle welcomed their first child, Tavin Imre McCaul, February 24, 2012. Tavin weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 21 inches. RAY SAALFIELD, 8, AND HUNT SAALFIELD, 2 Sons of Missy Tibbitts Saalfield ’97 and John Saalfield ’95 HELENA, WIL AND OTTO HEPPE Rosaria (Chachy Segovia) Heppe ’99 and Hansjoerg Heppe ’97 of Dallas welcomed Vicente Felix Joachim “Wil” Heppe June 4, 2012. Wil has an older sister, Helena, and brother, Otto.
Send us your Precious Ponies
Submit your Precious Ponies pictures to smumag@smu.edu. Please send a quality photograph – save files at the largest size – with the names and class years of alumni parents (and grandparents) and your child’s name and birthday. Photographs will be published in the printed edition of SMU Magazine as space allows.
Distinguished Alumni Award recipients (from ) Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68, Jeanne Tower Cox ’78 and James H. “Blackie” Holmes III ’57, ’59, and Emerging Leader Award recipient Alonso N. Gutiérrez ’03
Three notable members of the alumni community have been honored for their accomplishments, leadership and service with the highest honor the University bestows upon its former students. Philanthropic leader Jeanne Tower Cox ’78, former University Park Mayor James H. “Blackie” Holmes III ’57, ’59, and entrepreneur Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 received 2012 Distinguished Alumni Awards October 25. > View video of the event
In addition, medical physicist Alonso N. Gutiérrez ’03 received the University’s Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes alumni who have graduated in the past 15 years for their outstanding achievements.
The awards ceremony and dinner launched a weekend of Homecoming festivities.
2012 Distinguished Alumni
2012 Centennial History Makers
The SMU Distinguished Alumni Awards celebration provides an opportunity to honor past DAA recipients with Centennial History Maker Awards in recognition of the high standard of service and accomplishment they exemplified in the University’s first century. See the list of 2012 History Makers here.
Jeanne Tower Cox’78 exemplifies the dedicated volunteer leadership that is vital to the University and the community. She earned a B.B.A. degree from the Cox School of Business and has been actively involved in various facets of the University. She played a major role in the creation of The John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies, established in Dedman College in 1992 in honor of her father, the late United States senator. Cox served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1996-2008 and was elected to a new term in 2012. She also serves on the Advisory Board of SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility and on the Second Century Campaign Steering Committee for Dedman College.
Cox’s civic involvement includes service on the Board of Trustees of Communities Foundation of Texas and the National Advisory Board of the Laura Bush Institute for Women’s Health. James H. “Blackie” Holmes, III’57, ’59 has served his profession and community with dedication and distinction. He earned two SMU degrees – a B.B.A. in 1957 and the L.L.B. in 1959. As an undergraduate, he was a letterman on the varsity swimming team, member of Blue Key national honor society and a distinguished military graduate. He was honored by Dedman School of Law with its Distinguished Alumni Award and has served on the SMU Alumni Board.
Seeking 2013 Nominations
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2013 SMU Distinguished Alumni and Emerging Leader Awards. Any individual may nominate an SMU alumna and/or alumnus by completing the nomination form, which can be downloaded here and mailed to the SMU Office of Alumni Relations, P.O. Box 750173, Dallas, Texas 75275-0173. The deadline is December 31, 2012. For more information, contact Alumni Relations, 214-768-2586, 1-888-327-2586 or smualum@smu.edu.
Now a senior partner with Burford and Ryburn LLP, Holmes is known as a consummate trial attorney, practicing primarily in civil/defense tort litigation. He has received numerous professional honors, including ABOTA Texas Trial Lawyer of the Year award.
In addition to his distinguished 50-year legal career, Holmes has devoted 30 years of service to University Park in various leadership positions. As mayor from 2004-10, he helped facilitate the successful efforts of SMU to acquire the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 has used his extraordinary professional success to benefit his alma mater and other causes. Principal of the Houston-based private investment firm he founded in 2001, he previously served as chair and CEO of R&B Falcon Corporation and has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry.
Loyd earned a B.B.A. in economics from SMU in 1968 and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He was a member of SMU’s 1966 Southwest Conference championship football team that played in the 1967 Cotton Bowl Classic and was captain of the 1967 football team.
A member of SMU’s Board of Trustees since 2000, Loyd also serves on the executive boards of Cox School of Business and Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He received the Mustang Award and Cox’s Distinguished Alumni Award. His generous support includes funding for the Loyd All-Sports Center, SMU Athletics programs and Loyd Residential Commons, now under construction .
Loyd’s service extends from local to global causes. He was named Man of the Year by Fort Benning (Georgia) troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for his aid in setting up satellite computers for troops to communicate with home.
2012 Emerging Leader
Alonso N. Gutiérrez ’03 has achieved a distinguished career in medical research, clinical service and teaching. He holds dual positions at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as assistant professor and as educational director of the Medical Dosimetry Program in the Department of Radiation Oncology.
Gutiérrez earned B.S. degrees summa cum laude in both mechanical engineering and physics from SMU in 2003. While at SMU, he was a President’s Scholar, Barry M. Goldwater Scholar and Frank C. McDonald Physics Scholar. He was honored with the Harold A. Blum Award in Mechanical Engineering and the Robert S. Hyer Award in Physics. After graduating from SMU, he earned Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in medical physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Gutiérrez joined the faculty of UT Health Science Center at San Antonio in 2007.
SMU Trustee Michael M. Boone Michael M. Boone ’63, ’67 received the Robert S. Folsom Leadership Award from the Methodist Health System Foundation October 30 for his accomplishments in making a lasting, positive change in the Dallas community and inspiring others to follow. The award is named for former Dallas Mayor Robert S. Folsom, a 1949 SMU graduate.
“Mike Boone is a brilliant and innovative businessman as well as a community leader. He is passionate about education and serves his community in so many ways. He embodies the Folsom Leadership Award, and we are honored to celebrate his achievements,” said April Box Chamber, president and CEO of the MHS Foundation.
A 1967 graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, Boone has more than 40 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and securities transactions. As co-founder of Haynes and Boone LLP, he has been a catalyst for programs that promote diversity in the workplace and encourage participation in public service projects.
Boone, who received his B.B.A. from SMU in 1963, has served on the SMU Board of Trustees since 1996. He was named chair-elect in September and will become chair in June 2014. He is a vice chair for the Second Century Celebration Organizing Committee and serves on the Executive Board of the Dedman School of Law.
Boone led the development of “Dallas & SMU: The Power of Partnership,” a community and economic impact report that outlines the unique contributions SMU is making to North Texas. He also was instrumental in final negotiations to secure the George W. Bush Presidential Center for SMU.
He received the University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996 and the 2007-08 J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.
In the Dallas community, Boone has served as president of the Dallas Citizens Council, as a leader at Preston Road Church of Christ and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Highland Park Independent School District.
Boone and his wife, Marla Hays Boone ’68, reside in Highland Park. They have two children, Maryjane Boone Bonfield, a 2004 graduate of Dedman School of Law, and Michael Hays Boone, and four grandchildren.
The Rev. James V. Lyles and four fellow students in Perkins School of Theology made history in 1955 as the first African Americans to graduate from SMU. The Rev. James V. Lyles in May 2005 at the 50th anniversary of his groundbreaking graduation from Perkins School of Theology.
The events leading up to the milestone were detailed in “Breaking the Color Bar,” published in the spring issue of Legacies, A Historical Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, a joint publication of the Dallas Historical Society, Dallas Heritage Village at Old City Park, the Old Red Foundation and the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. In writing the article, William R. Simon conducted research at Perkins’ Bridwell Library, where he found a journal article written in 1956 by Merrimon Cuninggim, dean of Perkins (1951-60) and an architect of the desegregation strategy.
“The journal article related in some specificity about how Perkins broke the color bar at SMU,” Simon explains. “It was written from the perspective of an administrator, and I thought it would be interesting to explore the event from the perspectives of SMU alumni, including Rev. James Lyles, who actually lived the experience most directly.”
Lyles, now retired from the ministry and working on his memoir, was an undergraduate at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, when the Perkins dean came to speak in spring 1952. At the time, Cuninggim was conducting a national search for African-American candidates, and Philander Smith’s president recommended Lyles. The first African Americans to graduate from SMU: (from left) James Arthur Hawkins, John Wesley Elliott, Negail Rudolph Riley, Allen Cecil Williams and James Vernon Lyles.
The son of a minister who made his living as a sharecropper, Lyles grew up in rural Arkansas. “My father always encouraged me to study and pursue an education,” he says. “Early on, I decided to be a minister.”
Lyles recalls “a positive attitude, particularly in the seminary, when we arrived” in fall 1952. Having grown up in rigidly segregated communities, Lyles says that coming to SMU “opened up the world to me.”
“The faculty and students went out of their way to find out who we were, where we had come from, and what they could do to make the transition from segregated communities and schools easier for us as we entered into a community that was different and strange and something that we were not accustomed to,” he says.
Perkins equipped him for a changing world, Lyles says. “I received an excellent education that prepared me for difficult leadership positions with national and international agencies of The United Methodist Church and the U.S. military.”
Lyles, who now resides in Rowland Heights, California, was a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force and held various positions with The United Methodist Church before retiring in 1998. He served on the staffs of the former General Board of Evangelism, Education and Cultivation and the World Division of the General Board of Global Ministries and was Area Secretary for Africa. He also held several local pastorates. From 1998 to 2004, he was a hospital chaplain in California.
He keeps in touch with fellow pioneering classmate Cecil Williams, minister and leader of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco. The church has earned accolades for developing numerous programs to help San Francisco’s underprivileged to break the cycle of poverty. Williams was honored in 2009 with SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award. The other African-American students – James Arthur Hawkins, John Wesley Elliott and Negail Rudolph Riley – are deceased.
Lyles last returned to SMU in May 2005 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his groundbreaking graduation. “Everything was possible because of SMU’s efforts,” he says. “Dean Cuninggim and President Umphrey Lee, followed by President Willis Tate, intended that the experiment succeed, and they did everything they could to make it a success because they thought it was the right thing to do. I’ll always be grateful that they made sure we got a first-rate theological education.”
Fleetwood Hicks ’85 offers a new spin on celebrating the University’s second century with his custom-made cruiser bicycles. Hicks, founder and owner of Villy Custom LLC, created the limited-edition SMU Centennial Cruiser to mark the milestone. The bikes made their debut during SMU Family Weekend September 28-30 and were featured during Homecoming festivities October 25-28. Alumnus Fleetwood Hicks, founder and owner of Villy Custom, and SMU student Adelaida Diaz-Roa, chief brand officer for the company, with the limited edition SMU Centennial Cruiser.
“The SMU Centennial is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and it’s an honor to commemorate this milestone by offering my fellow Mustangs a unique way to show their pride in SMU,” says Hicks, who has competed on the ABC reality series “Shark Tank.”
The red, blue and white bikes sport special features such as an SMU “bling badge” on the front, the “SMU Unbridled 100” logo on the rear fender and a Mustang logo on the seat cover. Prices start at $549.
Hicks founded his company in 2009 and has made more than 1,500 cruisers, a recreational two-wheeler noted for comfort and durability. The bikes are fully customizable, from frames to chains. All bikes are built, packed and shipped at the Villy Custom assembly facility in Dallas.
A self-proclaimed “lifelong entrepreneur,” Hicks has big plans for Villy, which is also the nickname of his bullmastiff, DeVille. In May, Hicks appeared on “Shark Tank,” competing against 20,000 businesses for one of 60 spots on the prime-time program. After making his pitch to five celebrity panelists, he persuaded billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and Barbara Corcoran, real estate magnate and business consultant, to invest $500,000 for a 42-percent stake in his venture. They now serve on his board of directors.
Hicks earned a marketing degree from the University and counts two fellow Mustangs among his management team. Taylor Rodriguez is the accountant and logistics manager. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in economics with financial applications from SMU in 2012.
Adelaida Diaz-Roa, a junior at SMU, is an investor in the company and serves on the board. She began working for Hicks in 2010 as an intern and now holds the title of chief brand officer, managing website design and social media marketing.
A marketing major in Cox School of Business, Diaz-Roa says the hands-on learning experience “is an amazing opportunity to take what I learn in the classroom and put it into practice in a real business.”
Hicks and his team are gearing up for growth. In October, “The Price Is Right” game show selected Villy Custom cruisers as a product offering in segments that will begin airing in spring 2013. “The show has been an American staple for over 40 years, and their prize selection staff told me that they have rarely, if ever, offered a bicycle on air,” says Hicks.
Chris Bhatti, Carl Dorvil, Kevin Lavelle and Tammy Nguyen Lee share the bond of an SMU experience that encouraged them to see possibilities instead of barriers and provided them with the knowledge and skills they needed to make their marks on the world. The four entrepreneurial alumni talked about how their University education helped shape their futures during TEDxSMU Hilltop September 21.
They were among more than 20 presenters at the half-day conference hosted by
the Lyle School of Engineering and Meadows School of the Arts at the Bob Hope Theatre on campus. The SMU-only event brought together students, alumni, faculty and staff for thought-provoking conversations and performances.
Following, the alumni offer their perspectives on the theme of the afternoon: “re:THINK.”
‘Comfortable with the Uncomfortable’
Chris Bhatti
While Chris Bhatti ’04, ’08 joked about often standing out in a crowd as an Indian American, his underlying message applied across the cultural spectrum: In learning to embrace his difference, he realized “the critical importance of being comfortable with the uncomfortable.”
Bhatti, who serves as the director of External Affairs and Alumni Relations for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, is currently working toward a Master’s degree in the school’s Dispute Resolution program. He also is involved in several entrepreneurial ventures, including Group Excellence, an education company created by Carl Dorvil, a fellow TEDxSMU Hilltop speaker.
He praised his father with instilling a respect for education and the drive to achieve. The elder Bhatti emigrated from a small village in India to the United States with $8 in his pocket and an eighth-grade education.
“He always said ‘I want the best for you, so I want you to go to SMU,’” Bhatti said. He, as well as his two older brothers, graduated from the University. He earned Bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and psychology and an M.B.A.
Bhatti views the world as his classroom – he has visited 28 countries and taught school in four of them. By remaining open to new experiences, “the walls come down and people come together,” he said.
“I deliberately put myself in situations of discomfort to learn,” Bhatti added. “In learning I become a better student, a better teacher, a better professional.”
‘The Four P’s of Success’
Carl Dorvil Carl Dorvil ’05, ’08 credits his parents, Haitian immigrants who placed a high value on education, with steering him to SMU. As a student in Dedman College, he majored in public policy, economics and psychology. He earned a Professional M.B.A. through the Cox School of Business in 2008.
As an undergraduate, Dorvil launched Group Excellence, a tutoring and mentoring company, from his residence hall room in Cockrell-McIntosh. Today the company provides K-12 educational services in Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. In 2011, Group Excellence was listed among Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing private companies in the country.
Dorvil analyzed the winning strategies of such legends as sprinter Michael Johnson and Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith while building his business. He joked about his sports-centric viewpoint during a high-energy explanation of his alliterative formula for success: push, pace, position and pray.
“You have to push yourself from the beginning; if you don’t, you’ll spend the rest of your time making up for that mistake,” he said. “The friends you keep set your pace … friends will tell you the truth – and have your back.”
The ability to weather setbacks and keep moving forward places “you in a position to succeed,” he said. “And you have to pray; you have to have faith and believe in what you’re doing.”
‘No = Go’
Kevin Lavelle Kevin Lavelle ’08 is the founder and CEO of Mizzen+Main, which offers a new spin on men’s dress shirts: They’re fashioned in moisture-wicking, wrinkle-free fabric.
Lavelle’s idea for high-performance work wear was sparked by his experience as an intern in Washington, D.C. On a particularly humid day, he watched a political staffer’s soggy dress shirt become a wrinkled mess minutes before an important meeting. Lavelle began pondering a possible solution, but at the time, he seemed like an unlikely candidate for the apparel business. The President’s Scholar was majoring in management science in the Lyle School of Engineering and was preparing for a very different future.
“I remember thinking: I’m a student; what do I know about that business? I have no knowledge about textiles,” he said. “So, I shelved the idea.”
After graduation he traveled the world as a technology consultant but kept circling back to the shirt. This year he “pulled the idea off the shelf” and launched the manufacturing and retail business with two goals: producing the garments in the United States and donating a portion of every sale to support charities and job programs for veterans.
“Veterans return with skills that do not easily translate to a traditional résumé,” Lavelle explained. His company’s “A Shirt For A Start” program aims to help them develop marketable skills through paid internships.
Lavelle’s advice to budding entrepreneurs was simple: “Never take ‘no’ for an answer.”
“I had let ‘no’ stop me in the past, but I hope it won’t be the case for you,” he said. “In college is the perfect time to start. Next time you hear ‘no,’ think ‘go.’ No is just a cue to reorganize and press on.”
‘Starting My Movement’
Tammy Nguyen Lee Tammy Nguyen Lee ’00 was just three months old when her family fled war-torn Vietnam. They eventually settled in the Dallas suburb of Garland. Inspired by her parents, “hardworking folks who always gave back to their community, even when they had little themselves,” Lee’s determi-nation to find a way to make a difference led her to Meadows School of the Arts to study filmmaking.
“Life changed for me at SMU,” she said. “I was idealistic and decided to change the world with films.”
Her documentary debut, “Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam,” has been screened at more than a dozen festivals and has won two audience choice awards. The movie takes a contemporary look at the controversial humanitarian effort that brought more than 2,500 Vietnamese children to the United States for adoption in 1975.
The film served as a catalyst for Against The Grain Productions. Lee founded and serves as president of the nonprofit that supports arts initiatives and outreach in the Asian-American community. The organ-ization also raises money for orphanages in Vietnam and Thailand.
“My passion project turned into my movement,” said Lee, who received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Emerging Leader Award in 2010. “Dare to dream big … use your unique creativity to change the world.”
S.M. Krishna ’59, India’s Minister of External Affairs, spent the first week of October addressing the United Nations and conferring with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before visiting his alma mater for what he called “a happy homecoming.” S. M. Krishna ’59. Photo by Brittany Oswald.
Krishna, who earned a Master of Comparative Law degree from SMU’s Dedman School of Law, made his first official visit to Texas October 3. He spoke on the topic of “India Now” as part of the Carrington Endowed Lecture Series sponsored by the law school. Broad interest in the event required a venue change to McFarlin Auditorium to accommodate the growing audience.
Before diving into an insightful overview of India’s past, present and future in the world community, Krishna talked about his return to the University following “a 40-year gap.”
“As I entered the campus of SMU today, I cannot but reminisce on the wonderful, eventful time spent here during the formative years of my student life,” he commented. “I owe a great deal of my success to the knowledge that I acquired at this great institution of learning.”
After completing his studies in the United States, Krishna taught international law at Renukacharya Law College in Bangalore. In 1962 he launched a distinguished career in public service in India that has included positions at the state and national levels. Krishna became external affairs minister in 2009 and oversees the agency responsible for relationships with other countries. His position is similar to that of the U.S. secretary of state.
In discussing his country’s role as a global economic driver, Krishna credited former President George W. Bush with strengthening ties between the United States and India. “President Bush made a strong political investment in building a relationship with India,” he said. As a result, the countries have forged a “natural partnership for enhancing mutual prosperity and stimulating global economic growth,” particularly in the areas of energy, science, technology, health care and agriculture, Krishna said.
Praising Dallas as “a thriving city” and Texas for developing “one of the healthiest economies in the United States,” Krishna expressed interest in expanding the trade relationship between his country and the Lone Star State.
The globetrotting statesman received the Dedman School of Law Distinguished Global Alumnus Award in 2009, but was unable to attend the annual awards ceremony at that time. Dean John B. Attanasio presented the commemorative medallion to him at the lecture, lauding Krishna and his “brilliant career” as a “reflection of the caliber” of SMU’s law school alumni.
A few years after graduating from SMU’s theatre program in 1973, actor Stephen Tobolowsky gave the “performance” of a lifetime as the cool-headed target of a gunman in a real-life hostage situation. Calling the incident “the most creative day of my life,” Tobolowsky sketched out the story in dramatic and humorous detail during a program sponsored by Friends of the SMU Libraries October 3. While he is known for scene-stealing parts in movies such as Groundhog Day, Tobolowsky is also an author. He was on campus to promote his new book The Dangerous Animals Club.
In a perfectly paced monologue that demonstrated his talents as a storyteller and performer, Tobolowsky recounted being held hostage by an armed robber in a Snider Plaza grocery store. Relying on his natural loquaciousness – bolstered by pop psychology gleaned from “Medical Center,” a hit drama series of the time – he diffused the potentially lethal situation by engaging the gunman with his “million miles an hour” conversation. He provided the distraction needed by tactical officers, who entered the store and apprehended the would-be robber without firing.
That story and others in the 26 chapters of The Dangerous Animals Club celebrate the twists and turns of a creative life. The author described the book as “true stories from my life” that do not appear in chronological order but are woven together to “make sense at the end.”
In a seamless hour that covered many topics, he also recalled a first foray into creative writing – when he could not find information about Moses Austin for a fourth-grade history report, he substituted details from his Pennsylvania-born mother’s life.
With family and friends in the audience, the event became something of a homecoming for “Tobo,” as they call him. He introduced “the most important man in the room,” his father, physician David Tobolowsky, who served as director of medical services at SMU in the 1970s.
Stephen Tobolowsky last visited SMU in 2010, where he talked to theatre students in Meadows School of the Arts about his prolific career. He has acted in more than 100 movies and 200 television shows and most recently appeared on The Mindy Project, a comedy on the Fox network.
Among his other credits: co-writer of the movie True Stories with musician David Byrne and then-girlfriend Beth Henley ’74, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and SMU classmate; Tony award-nominee as a featured actor for the 2002 revival of Morning’s at Seven; and creator of “The Tobolowsky Files,” a series of popular podcasts that include stories from The Dangerous Animals Club.
During a question-and-answer segment, Tobolowsky talked about performing
with fellow SMU graduate Powers Boothe ’72 – and a spooked horse that wandered into their scene – in the HBO series Deadwood. And asked when he knew a story was completed, he replied: “As a writer your story is never finished.”
John Phelan ’86,co-founder and co-managing partner of MSD Capital, L.P., offered his insights about Wall Street and the financial crisis at the first Gartner Honors Lecture of the academic year September 10. His topic, “The Financial Crisis of The Big Short:An Investor’s Perspective,” continued the campuswide discussion of SMU’s 2012 Common Reading selection,The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis. Phelan challenged the accuracy of the book and encouraged students to seek multiple perspectives on the issues of the day. He also advised students to follow their passions, not the latest trends, to be successful. Phelan graduatedcum laudewith distinction from SMU with Bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science. He earned his M.B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1990 and holds a General Course degree with an emphasis in economics and international relations from the London School of Economics. Phelan serves on the Investment Committee of the SMU Endowment.
SMU alumni, parents and friends gathered in Los Angeles October 11 to hear the latest campus news and a pre-election survey of the political landscape by Matt Wilson, associate professor of political science in Dedman College, and John S. Thomas ’07, a political consultant. Among those attending were (from left) Kelly Allen Welsh ’78, Karin Clark Ott ’82, Thomas and Wilson. Thomas was profiled by the Los AngelesTimes October 8 as a rising star in Southern California politics. The 27-year-old strategist has worked on several winning campaigns in L.A. County and is currently advising L.A. mayoral candidate Kevin James, an attorney and former talk-show host. Thomas earned a degree in advertising from SMU and is a past president of the L.A. alumni chapter.
Jane Albritton ’67, ’71, a Peace Corps volunteer in India (1967-69), spent several years collecting essays from fellow returned volunteers about their service overseas to mark the 50th anniversary of the organization’s accomplishments. The result is 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories, a four-volume collection of volunteers’ experiences. She served as series editor and volume editor of Even the Smallest Crab Has Teeth: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories, which focuses on stories from Asia and the Pacific. The four books are available from Amazon.com. Albritton is a former lecturer in English at SMU. She is the daughter of Claude Albritton, legendary SMU geology professor, administrator and mentor.
Dr. Jack Rudd is founder and full-time volunteer field director of Teethsavers International Inc. In Africa he teaches a six-year molar course, whose graduates, in teams of 10-15, travel by truck and use simple hand instruments to fill the teeth of children in villages and primary schools. In 2007 Dr. Rudd received the Award of Distinction for Continuing Education from the Academy of Dentistry International. His soon-to-be-released book, Grateful for the Pain, traces his early struggles followed by the privilege of serving some of the world’s poorest children.
1961
Wynona Wieting Lipsett (M.M.Ed. ’83) is the proud grandmother of Andrew Taylor Lipsett (see Class of 2009).
1966
The Rev. Dr. Roy H. Ryan has a new e-book, Hot Button Issues for Religion and Politics, available from Amazon-Kindle and Barnes & Noble-Nook.
1967
Pam Lontos sold her public relations firm PR/PR and opened Pam Lontos Consulting in Orlando, FL.
1968
Bryan Robbins was inducted into the Texas Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame April 13, 2012. He was a three-time All-American diver at SMU and coached the 1976 and 1980 Olympic diving teams. For 39 years he taught physical education and wellness at SMU, retiring in 2008, and now teaches yoga to faculty, staff and students.
1969
Charles R. (Rocky) Saxbe, an attorney at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, was named in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA as a “Leader in Their Field” in litigation: general commercial.
Barbara Petersen Scott was elected to the board of directors of the Bank of Charles Town (WV) and its holding company, Potomac Bancshares Inc., at the annual shareholders meeting May 15, 2012. She is president of Summit Point Raceway Associates Inc. and BSR Inc., the operating entities for the 785-acre Summit Point Motorsports Park. She lives on a farm in Middleburg, VA.
1971
David Arthur (M.F.A. ’73) has published a second novel, The Kingdom of Keftiu (Brighton Publishing), an archaeological mystery set in 1935-36, which takes the reader from the ruins of an Egyptian cave to an island in the Aegean Sea, all somehow involving the fabled lost civilization of Atlantis. Steve Browne was recognized by the Foundation Fighting Blindness with its Volunteer of the Year Award for the Southwest Region, acknowledging his service supporting the Foundation’s mission to save and restore sight lost to retinal diseases. The award was presented before an audience of 500 at the VISIONS 2012 national conference last June 30 in Minneapolis. Earlier this year he was instrumental in the success of the 4th Annual San Antonio/Austin 5K VisionWalk. Over the last four years his “Sight for Sore Eyes” team has raised $270,000 for vision-saving research, and he co-chairs a walk that has generated more than $660,000 since 2009. He is an attorney with the San Antonio-based firm Langley & Banack. Rev. Howard (Rusty) Hedges has been appointed senior pastor of Holy Covenant United Methodist Church in Carrollton, TX. He is married to the former Betsy Pharr.
1974
Jan M. Carroll,a business litigation attorney at Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Indianapolis office, is a Super Lawyer in the March 2012 issue of Indiana Super Lawyers magazine, and she’s on the list of the top 25 female Super Lawyers. Elizabeth Becker (Beth) Henley is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Crimes of the Heart,” performed last summer at the Contemporary Theatre of Dallas. Dan M. Linn announces his retirement from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts effective July 31, 2012. What started as a two-year learning experience evolved into a 40-year career. For the past 10 years he has been the manager for evaluation, development and succession planning, helping to ensure that the state tax audit function is ready for the challenges of the future.
1975
Sol Villasana has been named Of Counsel at White & Wiggins LLP in Dallas, the largest and fastest growing full-service, minority-owned law firm in Texas. Pat Wheeler is an editor with Texas LinksMagazines,host of a weekly radio show about golf, “Texas Links on the Air,” and now an author. His first book, When Golf Was Fun (Tales from the Late, Great Beer and Barbecue Circuit), was recently published.
1976
Betty Francine Carraro, Ph.D.,started September 1 as director of the Wichita Falls (TX) Museum of Art at Midwestern State University. She has been executive director at three museums across the country; has held teaching positions at Texas State University, The University of Texas and SMU; and has completed a special teaching assignment at the University of Kent at Canterbury, England.
1977
Louis M. Mathis has written TheTear of Ra, The Second Coming of 9/11 (January 2012), available at Barnes & Noble and in paperback and e-book format.
1978
David Cassidy is an attorney at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson in Baton Rouge, LA, listed among the leading lawyers in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA. In addition, he was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2013. Rod MacIlvaine and his wife, the former Cindy Funkhouser, enjoy their work at Grace Community Church in Bartlesville, OK, where Rod is senior pastor. Last March they traveled to Santa Marta, Colombia, to co-lead a marriage conference for pastors and spouses. For 41 years Rod and his father have sailed large yachts recreationally. The book Successful Bareboat Chartering: The Essential Guide for Captain and Crew (Intermediate Publishers, May 2012) grew from their list of things they do when they sail. Their story was featured in the June 2012 issue of SAIL magazinein the article “A Father-Son Tradition: Forty-One Years of Bareboat Chartering in the Caribbean.” Gary Sloan had a book reading and signing at theatreWashington (DC) last April 27 for In Rehearsal: In the World, In the Room, and on Your Own (Routledge Publishing, London 2011, New York 2012), his “how-to approach to the rehearsal process” based on 30 years of professional acting experience.
1979
Idalene (Idie) Kesner has been named interim dean effective October 1 of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, where she is associate dean of faculty and research and the Frank P. Popoff Chair of Strategic Management. Her latest teaching award came from Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, which has a joint M.B.A. program with the Kelley School.
Paul Carney received the 2012 Educator of the Year Award from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. An instructor in English nationally recognized for his work on college readiness for writing, he is the developer and coordinator of Ready or Not Writing, an online program allowing high school students to submit their writing to college English instructors for feedback and support, and the creator of Roadside Poetry, a public arts project celebrating the “personal pulse of poetry in the rural landscape.” He lives on an eight-acre hobby farm in Underwood, MN. Timothy R. R. Gordon has been named to the board of directors of Middlesex Genealogical Society in Darien, CT. Denise Marrs is the general manager for American Airlines in San Francisco, where her group has won three customer service awards. Working for American for 30 years, she has traveled extensively and worked in places such as London and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Her home is in Pacifica, CA. Vernon Scarborough, Ph.D., is a professor of anthropology at the University of Cincinnati. He was part of a multiuniversity team to visit Tikal, a prominent urban city of the ancient Maya. Their findings on the Maya water and land-use systems appeared in an article that Dr. Scarborough co-authored: “Water and Sustainable Land Use at the Ancient Tropical City of Tikal, Guatemala,” which appeared last July in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and received prominent coverage in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
1981
Deborah Ballard (M.F.A. ’90) is a Dallas artist whose sculpture was presented last May-June in an exhibition at the Valley House Gallery and throughout its sculpture garden. Seeing Egyptian antiquities on a recent trip influenced her sense of scale as revealed in her “Memories of Egypt” series. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Meadows Museum at SMU, the San Angelo Museum of Art and the Museum of Art of Monterrey, Mexico. Denise Gerneth, writing as Denise Weeks, has published a mystery novel, Nice Work (Oak Tree Press, 2012), winner of the Oak Tree Press First Mystery Novel contest in 2011. The first book in a series, it’s available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or any bookstore. She used a pseudonym writing young adult fantasy novels and has done ghostwriting, but Nice Work is her first novel using her married name.
1982
Robert (Bob) Cheek plans to attend his 30th SMU class reunion. He has been disabled since 1993.
1983
Randy Krone is a writer-editor for the Dallas Mavericks official Wikipedia page, featuring the history of the Mavericks basketball franchise from 1980 through present day. Sheron C. Patterson (M.Div. ’89, D.Min. ’96) is a well-known Dallas pastor, author and breast cancer awareness advocate. On May 13 she launched a fundraiser, “A Year of Living and Giving,” celebrating her five-year mark in surviving breast cancer by raising $200,000 to provide free mammograms for low income women in Dallas. She will partner with the Methodist Health System for screenings in areas with high cancer rates and low screening services.
1984
Joe Drape, author of the bestsellers Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen, The Race for the Triple Crown and Black Maestro, is an award-winning sports reporter for The New York Times. His Aug. 1, 2012, Times article on Forrest Gregg, “Coach Who Revived SMU Looks Back With Pride,” recounts his visit with the legendary coach who restored integrity to the SMU football program in the late 1980s. Now, after spending the past year with the football team at West Point, Joe has written Soldiers First: Duty, Honor, Country, and Football at West Point (Times Books, September 2012), an inside story of the 2011 Army football season. Joe lives with his wife and son in New York City. Jennie Fish Firth (M.L.A. ’90) married Jeff Johnson July 13, 2012, in Austin, TX. John Gilchrist passed the examinations for advancement to Fellow in the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy, one of only 180 healthcare development professionals in North America to have earned this distinction.
1985
Linda Beheler (B.F.A. ’86, M.B.A. ’99) has joined the SMU Meadows School of the Arts Communications Studies Advisory Board. She works for Celanese Corporation, a Fortune 500 chemical and specialty materials company based in Dallas, with responsibility for global internal and external communications. Laurie A. Farnan received the 2011 Great Lakes Region of Music Therapy Scholarly Activity Award and the national American Music Therapy Association 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award. She has influenced professional music therapy practice for three decades, having served as the coordinator of music therapy services at Central Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled for 36 years, training 121 interns. She developed a partnership with the Madison Symphony Orchestra as a consultant for the “HeartStrings” community engagement project, and she has been involved in Very Special Arts. Rick Mase was promoted to vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, where he has worked for 26 years. He has responsibility for the cash services function. James T. (Jim) Moorhead is founder/publisher of Renew, a magazine and website he started in 2010 to stress the positive aspects of living in recovery (www.RenewEveryDay.com). There is much in every magazine to inspire and inform recovering alcoholics and addicts. Subscribers include treatment centers, sober living homes, therapists and individuals across the country. He lives in Chicago. Cynthia Colbert Riley was appointed vice president for institutional advancement for the University of St. Thomas in Houston and will lead the University’s fundraising efforts in the “Faith in our Future” capital campaign. Most recently she served as the interim executive director and vice president for development at The Methodist Hospital Foundation in Houston. Linda A. Wilkins has established Wilkins Finston Law Group LLP, practicing in employee benefits and executive compensation. She is listed in Best Lawyers in America in employee benefits law.
1988
Chris Hymer and Debbie Suchy reconnected after 25 years during last fall’s SMU v. UTEP tailgate and were married March 23, 2012. He is an executive chef for Lone Tree USA based in Utah, and Debbie owns Eclectic Galleries in Snider Plaza near SMU, specializing in American fine craft.
1989
Gregory W. Kugle has been appointed to the board of directors for Meritas, a global alliance of 175 independent business law firms in 75 countries. He is a director of the Honolulu-based law firm Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert.
Sharon Humble is managing partner of law firm Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP. She was honored by Philadelphia SmartCEO magazine as one of this year’s Brava winners July 18 at the 2012 Brava! Awards ceremony, where the achievements of 25 of Greater Philadelphia’s women business leaders were celebrated. She also was mentioned in the Philadelphia Business Journal August 9 as a recipient of the Minority Business Leader Advocate Award, which recognizes minority and nonminority executives who support minority businesses.
Artist Lee Mulcahy (Ph.D. ’00) of Aspen, CO, exhibited at the Red Brick Center for the Arts Biennale in Aspen and the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin in May 2012.
1991
Marc Chehlaoui relocated to Lafayette, CA, with his wife, Christina, son Blake, 7, and daughter Grace, 5. Marc is a managing director in the institutional equity sales division of Needham & Company in San Francisco. Jonathan G. Polak (J.D. ’94) of law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP was named a “Leader in Their Field” in litigation: general commercial in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA.
1992
Ken Ichiro Aiso is a violinist and former student of SMU Professor Alessandra Comini. Having performed as warm-up at some of her lectures around the country, he has obtained an invitation for them to do a dual performance on Richard Strauss in Tokyo December 1. He is currently on tour in Europe. David Gunn is the new vice president of business development and strategy at SonarMed, a medical device manufacturer in Indianapolis, where he builds relationships with healthcare systems and creates partnerships with strategic industry participants. He works in the Houston office. Andy Wolber writes a column for TechRepublic.com’s Google in the Enterprise blog. The column helps organizations understand and leverage the power of Google apps.
1993
Macy Jaggers (J.D. ’02) founded the criminal defense law firm Macy Jaggers, Defense Attorney PLLC. She lives in Dallas with her husband, Michael, and two children: Jenna, 16, and Max, 10. Berna Rhodes-Ford was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Southern Nevada chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners at the 14th Annual Women of Distinction Awards. She is managing shareholder of Rhodes-Ford & Associates, a law firm specializing in corporate, employment and healthcare law. She is a past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners in Southern Nevada and a Leader Under 40 in Nevada Business Magazine.
1994
James Isleib and Jennifer Cook Isleib, married 15 years ago at SMU’s Perkins Chapel, celebrated their anniversary with a trip to Italy. He is CFO for ghg, grey healthcare group, and she is vice president of accounting operations for Russell Stover Candies. They live in Leawood, KS, with their two dogs, Cosmo and Camden.
1995
A. Shonn Evans Brown (J.D. ’98) is a Dallas trial attorney and new partner at Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank LLP. She is secretary-treasurer of the Dallas Bar Association and has served as co-chair of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers’ committee to support diversity and education. She is a director of both the Dallas Black Theater and Bryan’s House and has held leadership positions with the Dallas Museum of Art’s Junior Associates Circle and the Junior League of Dallas. She has been recognized five times in the Texas Rising Stars listing and was named in 2006 by D magazine as one of Dallas’ top lawyers under the age of 40. She was honored in the statewide “Multicultural Power 100” list published in 2010 by the Texas Diversity Council. Shonn serves on the SMU Alumni Board. Melinda Morrison Gulick is Arizona’s first Cox Conserves Hero as announced by Cox Communications and The Trust for Public Land, an honor based on her longstanding commitment to and passion for Arizona’s open space. She also volunteers for the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, the City of Scottsdale Preserve Commission and the Desert Discovery Center Task Force. Colleen Smith McTaggart and her husband, Lawrence, welcomed their third child, Patrick James, Jan. 11, 2012. Their older son John is 5, and daughter Claire is 2. Unrhea Session announces the birth of her daughter, Teagan Elizabeth, Dec. 19, 2011.
1996
Michael Brown has been named Head of School at The Outdoor Academy in Pisgah Forest, NC, where he lives with his wife, Susan Daily, and their children, Noah and Wren. The academy is for high school sophomores and emphasizes intellectual achievement, environmental awareness and character development. Anthony P. de Bruyn received his 10-year Employee Service Award from The University of Texas System, where he is assistant vice chancellor for public affairs and the chief spokesperson for the UT System Board of Regents, UT System chancellor and the executive leadership team. He lives in Austin and enjoys visiting the 15 University of Texas institutions across the state. Jeremy Kulisheck (Ph.D. ’05) was named forest archaeologist for the Cibola National Forest in Albuquerque, where he oversees the archaeologic and historic preservation programs for the national forest lands in central New Mexico and the national grasslands in northeastern New Mexico, the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma.
1997
Andrew Graham is an attorney in the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP selected as a 2012 “Rising Star” in the April 2012 issue of Texas Monthly magazine.
1998
Mark Rainey Allen and his wife, Lauren, and daughter Rainey announce the birth of Sydney Wheeler Feb. 13, 2012. Mark owns Case Advances LLC, which provides litigation funding to clients of attorneys.
1999
Amy Albritton Eaker joined the staff of SMU’s Planned and Endowment Giving May 29 as director, encouraging larger gifts to the University through planned giving opportunities. Previously she was in private law practice focusing on estate planning and probate. Since 2004 she worked in the nonprofit and charitable trust administration division of JPMorgan. Timothy Janus was crowned world burping champion by the World Burping Federation last June 8 in New York City. Jason Shanks was listed in the April 2012 issue of Texas Monthly magazine as a “Rising Star” for 2012. He is an attorney in the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP.
Quinton Crenshaw has joined Carlson Restaurants Worldwide as director of communications, overseeing employee and executive communications and public relations for the U.S. division of T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants. Previously he was senior manager of global communications for Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Tré Douglas received a Master of Science degree in health care administration from the University of Maryland, University College May 12, 2012. He completed an internship at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital with the Internal Audit Department. Tammy Nguyen Lee was a recipient of the 2012 National Association of Asian American Professionals Leaders of Excellence Award. She was honored in 2010 with SMU’s Emerging Leader Award. She and husband George Lee, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, are founders of ATG Against The Grain Productions, a nonprofit organization that produces films, media, programs and events that promote awareness and unity of Asian- American culture, artistry and identity.
2001
Kenyon Adams is a vocalist, songwriter and actor in plays and the movie “Lucky Life.” He performs original music in New York City and recently released an EP. In 2011 he joined American Restless, a Brooklyn-based blues-rock band in which he sings, writes and plays harmonica. He works as arts ministries coordinator at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Hear Kenyon at www.reverbnation.com/kenyonadams. Michael Arthur Harper (M.S. ’03, Ph.D. ’09) received the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award from the Secretary of the Navy, honoring his service from June 2009 to June 2012 as the Office of Naval Research Science Advisor for Commander, Naval Forces Central Command and Commander, U.S. Fifth Fleet. His efforts supported Partnership-Strength Presence; Maritime Security Operations; the Struggle Against Violent Extremism; and Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and New Dawn. He was selected recently to serve as associate director for Irregular and Expeditionary Warfare with the Office of Naval Research.
2002
Jonathan Adamson has been named a partner in the Dallas office of Hall Capital Partners to lead the company’s presence in Texas. His experience managing private equity funds in the distribution, manufacturing, energy and real estate sectors will benefit Hall’s growth in Texas. Misty Morley Broome (J.D. ’08) is a partner in the recently formed Dallas law firm Johnson Broome Cantu PC. Jonathan Childers, an attorney with Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank LLP in Dallas, was named to the 2012 Texas “Rising Stars” list published in the April 2012 Texas Monthly magazine. Holly F. Smith owns Holly Smith Reps in Dallas, representing local commercial photographers and a video production company.
The Rev. Michael W. Waters (M.Div. ’06) and his wife, Yulise Reaves Waters (J.D. ’08) announce the birth of their third child, daughter Liberty Grace, Feb. 1, 2012. He is founding pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas, and she is an assistant city attorney for the City of Dallas. Michael has been interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation and National Public Radio for recent writings. Last May he was awarded a $10,000 fellowship from the Beatitudes Society, one of only eight emerging faith leaders from across the United States to be so recognized. The yearlong fellowship will equip him with the resources and relationships to create new models for church and the pursuit of social justice. He is completing a Doctor of Ministry degree at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology.
2003
Dodee Frost Crockett was recognized on Barron’s magazine’s list of “America’s Top 100 Women Financial Advisors” published June 4, 2012. She lives in Dallas and has been at the Merrill Lynch Wealth Management office for 32 years. Ashley Hamilton has returned from working abroad with Disney Cruise Lines and recently took a position with Anthony Travel Inc. as an event manager. Eddie Healy began playing guitar at age 13. Now he is a classical guitarist, composer and performer in Dallas-Fort Worth and music instructor at several area colleges. “Direction” is his new album of guitar music he composed. Listen to the entire CD at http://www.reverbnation.com/eddiehealy. Jerrika Hinton wrote, produced and directed a short film, “The Strangely Normal,” which is now on the festival circuit. Bill LaRossa has become a partner with HelioPro LLC, a manufacturer of customized magnetic bracelets. His entrepreneurial endeavors include LaRossa Shoe Inc., a past recipient of the SBANE New England Innovation Award. He is a principal of W.L. Trading LLC, the exclusive distributor of the Primigi brand of children’s clothing and shoes from Italy, and a board member of the McDonough Foundation and the Catholic Charities Leadership Council. He lives in Hingham, MA, with his wife, Gina (’84), and daughter, Olivia. James McClurdy is a Marine staff sergeant and member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. He recently met with WWII veterans at their memorial in Washington, DC, and played “Taps” for their fallen comrades. Eva Parks joined NBC 5 Investigates as an investigative producer in 2012. In their first year together, the investigative team has won two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, for Best News Series and Continuing Coverage, and nationaly, the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Investigative Report. John Rosenbaum announces the birth of Grayson and Weston, his second set of twins in two years.
2004
Jennifer Bronstein partnered with Allison Darby Gorjian and Betsy Dalton Roth to found a new theater company in Los Angeles: Little Candle Productions. Their mission is to bring large-scale theatrical events to the stage for a single, affordable performance. The first production was Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale”at a 1,400-seat theater. Jennifer writes that Little Candle Productions is a fiscally sponsored arts organization, so all donations are 100 percent fully tax deductible (www.littlecandleproductions.com). Virginia Kull is a theater actress in New York City. Performing in “Rapture, Blister, Burn” at Playwright Horizons, she was reviewed in the New York City Stage June 8, 2012, as stealing the show, definitely someone to watch out for on the New York City stage. The New York Times has described her as “lovely, convincing, and so good.” Blake C. Norvell, a 2007 graduate of UCLA Law, was published in law journals at Yale, USC and Temple, one of the highest honors a practicing attorney or law professor can receive. The full text of each article is available on WestLaw and LexisNexis, databases used by attorneys and judges for legal research. He has lectured on the articles and has been invited to New York City to give four lectures to attorneys.
2005
Ashley Arendale (M.S.A. ’06)married Elvin Lewis Baum II on August 25, 2013, in Littleton, Colorado. The newlyweds reside in Denver and Colorado Springs, where Elvin serves at Fort Carson as a member of the United States Army. She is an investment accounting director at Archstone, a luxury apartment owner, developer and operator. Emily Jordan Cox and her husband, Grant, welcomed their first son, George Steven, May 1, 2012. She is director of policy for Governor Mike Beebe of Arkansas. Carl Dorvil (M.B.A. ’08) is president and CEO of Group Excellence, listed in Inc. Magazine as one of the country’s 500 fastest-growing private companies for 2011, the only tutoring or K-12 education-related company on the list. He founded Group Excellence in 2004 while an undergraduate at SMU. Now the Dallas-based company has divisions in San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Fort Worth. Using college students and young professionals as mentors and role models, Group Excellence provides tutoring programs to school districts and community organizations throughout Texas. Carl recently announced a branding campaign, including a new logo and website. Emily Robards married Jay Minner last May 12 at Eden Gardens State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. They live in Atlanta, where she is on SMU’s Atlanta Alumni Board and volunteers for the SMU Centennial Campaign. Craig B. Smith is a community advocate and financial analyst for the City of Dallas, very involved with the Trinity River corridor project. The corridor is an area of urban open space and forest spanning 20 miles through the center of the city. He also works in business development with the country of Chile.
2006
Melissa G. Iyer has been named a shareholder of Burch & Cracchiolo in the Phoenix office. Since joining the firm in 2006, she played a key role in a landmark case before the Supreme Court of the United States. Brent Loewen is founder and CEO of Cube Billing, a Cloud-based cost allocation and chargeback system. Joshua L. (Josh) Peugh went to Seoul, Korea, after graduation to perform ballet and stayed on as a freelance modern dance artist, co-founding Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, an award-winning international group with performances in Korea, China and Japan. He also is associate choreographer and performer with the Bruce Wood Dance Project. Returning to Dallas in early 2012, he put together a “Slump-in-Korea” campaign that raised over $10,000 to pay airfare and accommodations for himself and his cast of six dancers to perform “Slump,” a wild, aggressive dance about courtship and the instinctual rituals of mating, at its international premiere in Seoul September 26-28. Christopher J. (Joe) Theriot was recently elected by the Texas Bar Foundation to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. He is an attorney at Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC.
2007
Christopher Haug conquered the second of the Seven Summits – the highest mountain on each continent – last New Year’s Day by successfully scaling Argentina’s 22,841-foot-high Cerro Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside the Himalayas.
2008
Luca Cacioli has relocated to Cleveland as the new director of operations for CEIA USA, a worldwide leader in induction heating systems and metal detection for security, industrial and ground search applications. He is responsible for operations of the North America office. Ken Morris announces his latest projects in creating art with a direct benefit to the community. His coloring book series, Paul and Friends, is available on Amazon. The earnings from volume two, Paul and Friends: Again, will be donated to The USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute. Future releases of the coloring book series will benefit other organizations, hence the theme “coloring for the cause.” Senthil Velayudham was elected vice president of finance and operations for high performance analog at Texas Instruments Inc., where he has worked since 1998.
2009
William J. (Bill) Chinn has started a new business, Amy Kate Miniature Gardens. He writes that such gardens can be created in terrariums, planter bowls, old wooden drawers or added into an existing potted plant. The good news is that there is no right or wrong in personalized mini gardening with its tiny little plants and dollhouse-sized accessories. Thomas R. Hegi (right)has been elected a partner of the firm Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP. Hegi’s law practice includes corporate and partnership tax, executive/employee compensation, income tax, state and local taxation, aviation law and corporate transactions including hedge funds, partnerships and joint venture transactions, and private equity. A graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, he joined the firm as an associate in 2006. Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP is a limited liability partnership with more than 139 resident attorneys in its offices in Fort Worth and Austin. John C. Huddleston is a Navy seaman who recently completed eight weeks of U.S. Navy basic training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, IL, which included classroom study, naval customs, first aid, firefighting, water safety and survival, shipboard and aircraft safety, physical fitness and the capstone event: battle stations, an exercise to give recruits the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the fleet. Andrew Taylor Lipsett was named Team USA’s Player of the Game at the 2012 International Paralympic Committee Sledge Hockey World Championship competition in Hamar, Norway, in March, when he scored three goals and added an assist to help the U.S. National Sledge Hockey Team to a 5-1 victory over Korea in the gold-medal game. Excelling at his sport, he is an inspirational motivational speaker throughout the country. He works for Bank of America in Dallas and is studying for a master’s degree in finance and banking. He and his wife, Antonina Kathleen Mathews, live in Plano, TX. Rachel C. Stuart will marry Joshua M. Duke ’10 in June. They will relocate to Tallahassee, FL, where she has accepted a Ph.D. offer with Florida State University’s English department. Rachel has been awarded FSU’s Elliott Butt Loyless Doctoral Fellowship. Josh will continue to pursue business ventures in web design and digital marketing.
2010
Dee Donasco was selected to be an apprentice artist at the prestigious Chautauqua Opera Festival in summer 2012, one of only eight chosen from 600 auditions by the opera institute. In July she received a rave review from a Young Artist concert in Chautauqua, NY.
2011
J. Stirling Barrett was a successful photographer at age 17 but wanted to continue to develop as an artist. He moved back to New Orleans after his SMU graduation, inspired by the landscape and vitality of the city and its people. This year he showed his art at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; he had one exhibition in June and will have another in December 2012 at Scott Edwards Gallery. With his photographic collage style, his photography captures the New Orleans state of mind and the pulse of the city. Above all, he wants to create art that everyone can appreciate and afford.
Three SMU alumni unexpectedly crossed paths as they were participating in a field training exercise at Camp Pendleton, California, in August. Cmdr. Stephen Burgher ’85 (left), Lt. Cmdr. Gerald Delk ’93 (center) and Lt. Jason Park, who attended SMU in 1994-96, trained with the Marines of the 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group. The training involved the deployment of a Shock Trauma Platoon (STP) and Forward Resuscitative Surgical System (FRSS), “our medical platform for the 4th Medical Batallion,” explains Dr. Burgher. “The STP and FRSS provide a mobile trauma emergency room and operating room, offering damage control intervention as close to the point of injury as possible to our forward deployed Marines.”
The “reunion” allowed the three Mustangs to compare notes about SMU and their paths of service to our country.
Dr. Bugher practices emergency medicine at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, a Level I trauma center. He earned a Bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from SMU in 1985 and was inducted in Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He attended the University of Texas Medical School at Houston on a Navy Health Professions scholarship, receiving his commission in 1987.
Upon graduation from medical school in 1990, he was commissioned in the Navy. He attended Naval Flight Surgery School, 1991-92, and served as a flight surgeon with Training Air Wing FOUR in Corpus Christi, Texas, 1992-95.
In addition to his medical duties, he took an active interest in aviation, becoming NATOPS qualified in the T34C primary trainer and the T44 advanced multi-engine trainer and earned single and multi-engine, instrument and commercial ratings.
Dr. Burgher attended post-graduate residency training in emergency medicine at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia, 1995-98, and was selected chief resident. He became board certified in emergency medicine in 1999.
His military personal awards include the Navy And Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2), and Navy Achievement Medal.
Dr. Burgher left active duty in September 2000, after more than 10 years of service. He entered private practice in Houston before relocating with his wife and three children to Dallas.
He entered the Navy Reserves in December 2010, receiving a commission as a commander in the U.S. Navy and assignment with the Marines as a battalion surgeon.
Dr. Delk is a general partner with Emergency Services Partner, LLC and practices emergency medicine at Cedar Park Regional Medical Center in Austin. He is also the co-founder of Texas Jurisprudence Prep, LLC and Designated Doctor Outsourcing, LLC.
He earned a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in chemistry from SMU and was a member of Kappa Alpha Order. He received his Doctor of Medicine from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in 1998 and completed his emergency medicine residency at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2001.
He completed overseas tours in Germany and Kosovo, as well as a 15-month deployment in Iraq, 2003-2004, where he served as the battalion surgeon with the 1-36 INF, 1st Armored Division. Dr. Delk attained the rank of major in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Medical Badge for his combat service. His unit, the Spartans, earned the Presidential Unit Citation.
Upon returning to the U.S., Dr. Delk completed his M.B.A. at Texas Tech with a focus on health care management.
Now a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves, Dr. Delk is assigned as an emergency physician for the shock trauma platoon in the 4th Medical Battalion, 4th Marine Division.
Dr. Park attended SMU from 1994-96 as a President’s Scholar. He transferred to the University of California Berkeley to accept a Navy ROTC Scholarship. He attended Albany Medical College in New York and completed his internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center/SUNY Upstate in Syracuse. He then completed his anesthesia residency, along with a fellowship in regional anesthesia/acute pain medicine, at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans. He is currently working there as an attending physician. He serves with the 4th Medical Battalion Surgical Company A in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Never heard of Ron Judkins ’75? Moviegoers may not know his name, but they know his sound. Judkins, who studied filmmaking at Meadows School of the Arts, has won Academy Awards for Best Sound for Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan. He also was nominated for his sound-design skills on Schindler’s List and War of the Worlds. His latest collaboration with director Steven Spielberg is the movie Lincoln.
The project that has Judkins really excited, however, is his own film, Neighbors, which he wrote and directed. He and his producers are using Kickstarter, an online fundraising platform for creative projects, to raise money to complete post-production on the movie. >View Ron Judkins’ Kickstarter video Ron Judkins with producers Judy Korin and Jennifer Young
“In May 2011, we started principle photography on my film Neighbors. We cut the film until September 2011, at which point I went to work on Lincoln, and then I went back to working on Neighbors in January 2012,” he says. “We are very close to finishing the film.”
Judkins calls Neighbors, “a comedy-drama about a graphic novelist facing down a midlife crisis.” The film stars Michael O’Keefe, Catherine Dent, Blake Bashoff, Julie Mond and Sean Patrick Thomas, and it includes many of Judkins’ own neighborhood friends.
After graduating from SMU, Judkins worked as a sound recordist in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles in 1979. In addition to working as a sound engineer on major motion pictures, Judkins is also an independent filmmaker. His first film, The Hi-Line, debuted at Sundance in 1999. He also has produced several independent films.
British & Irish Landscape Portraits, a collaboration between Dallas photographer Sarah Carson ’60 and Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, professor of history at SMU, captures unique views of both urban and rural settings and provides thoughtful context for the images.
“Working with Dr. Adams to complete our Landscape Portraits has yielded a book that I think both of us are extremely proud of,” says Carson, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from SMU and began practicing serious fine art photography in 1982.
Carson’s 132 color and black-and-white photographs in the coffee table book cover a range of themes, while Adams’ commentary explores the meaning of the term “landscape” and discusses the historic and human influences on the world as seen through Carson’s lens.
The book includes historic landscapes, such as Stonehenge and Hadrian’s Wall. In a chapter titled “The Landscape Makers: Human Landscapes,” Carson documents the impact people have had on their environments. The photos range from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge to pigs in a Cornish barnyard. The book closes with “London Town: The Cityscapes,” a selection of city views. Some are familiar, such as the Parliament building and Big Ben clock tower, and some, such as a bridegroom outside a municipal building, picture a decisive moment in time.
Carson’s work has been featured in major photography exhibitions in Dallas, New York City, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Budapest, Hungary, and other cities. She has held photography workshops in Tuscany, Italy.
Her two previous books are Montestigliano, A Tuscan Farm and 50 Black/White Photo Images. Carson is now working on a project of images taken in Easter Europe, from glasnost to 2006. British & Irish Landscape Portraits is available from Amazon.
Angela Braly, a 1985 graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, was ranked No. 24 among “The World’s Most Powerful Women” by Forbes magazine August 22, 2012. Read more. Angela Braly
The following profile of Braly first appeared in SMU Magazine in 2007:
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.”
SMU alumni will be among the athletes competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London July 27-August 12. Watch these Mustangs go for the gold:
Laura Reback Bennett ’97 has qualified for the USA Triathlon team. This is Bennett’s second Olympics; she placed fourth in the 2008 Beijing Games. Bennett was a four-year NCAA All-American at SMU.
Former SMU tennis All-American Johan Brunstrom will represent Sweden in doubles competition. In 2001 and 2002, Brunstrom was an All-American in doubles at SMU and in singles in 2003.
This is the third Olympic Games for Anja Carman ’08 of Slovenia, who will compete in the 200-meter backstroke.
Swedish swimmer Lars Frolander will compete in his sixth Olympics in the 100-meter butterfly.
Sara Nordenstam ’06 will represent Norway in the 200-meter breaststroke. She won the bronze medal in the same event in Beijing.
Denisa Smolenova ’12 will race for Slovakia in the 100-meter butterfly. Therese Svendsen ’12 of Sweden will swim in the 200-meter backstroke and as a member of the 4X100 medley relay team.
Alumni in seven chapters, along with membership of the National Mustang Club, set the pace for giving by hitting their campaign participation goals during fiscal year 2011-12.
Finishing the year with flying colors were Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York City, San Francisco, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., chapters.
More Alumni News
First Black Alumni of SMU Scholarship
With support from more than 100 donors, Black Alumni of SMU awarded its first scholarship of over $7,000 to sophomore Leah Johnson of Little Elm, Texas. The alumni group launched the scholarship fund and honored 13 history makers at a special event in February. Read more … SMU Hispanic Alumni Student-focused Initiatives Two major SMU Hispanic Alumni initiatives – a new mentorship program and the three-year-old scholarship fund – support student achievement while strengthening the Mustang bond. Read more …
These chapter efforts were tied to an international outreach that keeps Mustangs informed about the University’s progress and connected to their alma mater. More than 7,500 guests attended over 200 events in 52 cities across the globe in 2011-12.
To keep alumni on track to attain a 25 percent annual giving participation rate by the end of the campaign, chapter leaders motivate members to pony up by adopting strategies tailored to their Mustangs’ interests.
For example, in Chicago the Centennial paver program was a winner, according to Caroline Sullivan ’08, who spearheaded the initiative. Alumni were encouraged to make their marks on the SMU centennial with a special gift of $100. In recognition of each donor, a commemorative etched paver will be placed in the Centennial Promenade to be constructed on Ownby Drive. >The Second Century Celebration
“I donated because I loved every minute at SMU and couldn’t be more proud of our legacy,” explains Sullivan. “I think the personal element really got people excited about the paver program, which allows you to both literally and figuratively ‘make your mark’ on SMU.” Check the back cover of the current print edition of SMU Magazine to see how you can make your mark on the SMU centennial.
Among the Chicago alumni participating were Lisa Lebeck ’07, who purchased a paver with her father, an SMU alumnus, and Micah Nerio ’08, who bought a paver to honor his father, Mark A. Nerio ’78, a former University trustee (1993-2008).
“Since I was a little kid, I remember Dad taking my brothers and me to visit the campus, where we attended special events and met distinguished alumni,” says Nerio. “SMU has always been a part of our family, and I’m proud to have followed in his footsteps.”
In New York City, alumni raised money for student travel in conjunction with the Embrey Human Rights Program in Dedman College. SMU is the first university in the South, and only the fifth in the country, to offer an academic major in human rights, which was officially launched in the spring.
“For a city that faced an absolute human rights violation in the 2001 attacks, this is something unique and worthwhile we pulled together and care about,” says Jackie Effenson ’05, chapter president.
The National Mustang Club extends the scope of SMU’s official athletic fundraising organization across the country with a network of 31 volunteers – including alumni, parents and friends of the University – operating in 22 national regions. Since its inception 18 months ago, the National Mustang Club has generated more than $451,000 in new gift dollars to support SMU student-athletes.
To date SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign has raised more than $631 million to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence, and the campus experience.
Sophomore Leah Johnson was awarded the Black Alumni of SMU's first scholarship.
With support from more than 100 donors, Black Alumni of SMU awarded its first scholarship of over $7,000 to sophomore Leah Johnson of Little Elm, Texas. The alumni group launched the scholarship fund and honored 13 history makers at a special event in February. >Black Alumni of SMU launch scholarship
Johnson is majoring in journalism with minors in Spanish and advertising. As an active member of the Association of Black Students, PULSE ministry outreach and the Mustang Academic Bridge Program, she has participated in mentoring and community service projects.
“Although it was a very tough decision, the selection committee felt Leah was a well-rounded student who demonstrated strong qualities as a mentor and leader,” says Fredricka Johnson ’08, immediate past chair of Black Alumni of SMU. “We hope that she will continue to excel in her studies and give back to those students she mentors.”
Among the highlights of the past academic year for Johnson was an SMU Alternative Spring Break trip to volunteer with the AIDS Project of Los Angeles. “My favorite part about the staff was how passionate they were to work with and educate youth on the dangers of AIDS.” >Read Leah’s blog post about the trip
This summer Johnson is working on campus as a desk attendant at Dedman Fitness Center and as a summer conference leader for SMU’s Office of Conference Services, which handles logistics for events ranging from cheerleading camps to business workshops.
Johnson says the Black Alumni of SMU Scholarship will take some of the financial pressure off her mother, a single parent who also assists Johnson’s older brother, a graduate student at the University of Houston.
After earning her Bachelor’s degree, Johnson plans to attend graduate school. The scholarship moves her closer to that goal, she says. “I am grateful to have recieved this scholarship and hope this is just one of many more to come.”
Two major SMU Hispanic Alumni initiatives support student achievement while strengthening the Mustang bond.
The group’s latest effort – a mentorship program – will partner Hispanic alumni with current SMU students for networking, socializing and career-related workshops. The Black Alumni of SMU’s successful Developing Dynamic Leaders student-mentor partnerships served as a template, according to Jake Torres ’11, chair of SMU Hispanic Alumni. Angela Martinez, shown with sidekick Baby Martinez, graduated in May with degrees in Spanish and psychology. She will be a graduate student in education at SMU in the fall.
Because preparing tomorrow’s graduates for their careers is a key focus, participants will utilize SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center resources. Workshops on such topics as résumé building and job interviewing techniques are planned.
While helping undergraduates set a trajectory for future success, the program also is designed to build a sense of community among the University’s Hispanic students and alumni, explains Torres.
For more information about this SMU Hispanic Alumni volunteer opportunity, contact Natalia Vargas, program chair, at nvargasgc@gmail.com.
The alumni group also assists students through its three-year-old scholarship fund. During the 2011-12 academic year, more than 200 donors provided over $22,000 in scholarships split evenly between recipients Angela Martinez ’12 and Pamela Varela.
Martinez graduated in May with a double major in psychology and Spanish. In the fall she will pursue a Master of Education in Educational Leadership – Higher Education at SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Senior Pamela Verala is a student representative on the SMU Sustainability Committee and has organized campus efforts for the annual Recyclemania college recycling competition.
“I’m especially appreciative for the SMU Hispanic Alumni scholarship because the scholarship options for graduate students are limited,” Martinez says.
Her long-term plans include law school, with a specialization in immigration law.
“My career choices are motivated by my passion for education, human rights and making our world a better place,” she says.
Varela, a senior majoring in environmental engineering, serves as a resident assistant at Boaz Hall and student representative on the SMU Sustainability Committee. As a lab assistant in the SMU Environmental Engineering Lab, she has worked on a variety of experiments related to the safety of drinking water. Varela says that experience provided a solid foundation for her current internship with Halff Associates engineering and technology firm.
In addition to offering welcome financial relief, the scholarship “is proof that hard work really does pay off,” Varela says.
“How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
– Portia, Merchant of Venice
Co-founders (from left) Allison Darby Gorjian, Jennifer Bronstein and Betsy Roth at the Little Candle Productions launch party in April.
The Bard may not be such stuff as typical happy hour conversations are made, but when friends Jennifer Bronstein, Allison Darby Gorjian and Betsy Roth met before a Meadows School of the Arts alumni mixer in Santa Monica, California, the topic turned to their roots in classical theatre.
“We reminisced about the good old days at SMU and all the wonderful productions we were in,” recalls Bronstein. While students in Meadows’ acclaimed theatre program, she and Roth had concentrated on acting, with a focus on the works of Shakespeare and Chekov, while Gorjian studied writing and directing. All graduated in 2004 and pursued artistic opportunities that eventually led them to the Los Angeles area.
Before the end of that momentous March evening, the trio’s talk had turned from wishful thinking about performing together again to a decision to make it happen. On April 23 – Shakespeare’s birthday – the arts entrepreneurs formally launched Little Candle Productions to bring large-scale theatrical events to the stage for a single, affordable performance. >See Little Candle’s Kickstarter video Among the SMU alumni cast in The Winter’s Tale are (from left) Billy Gill ’03 as Autolycus, Emily Habeck ’11 as Perdita and Sky King ’08 as Florizel.
Their midsummer night’s dream came to life with the company’s inaugural presentation of The Winter’s Tale June 29 at the Alex Theatre, a historic 1,400-seat venue in Glendale, California.
The one-night-only concept is practical in financial terms and supports the fledgling company’s artistic goals. “By producing a show that closes on its opening night, we can truly highlight the ephemeral nature of live theatre, an experience captured only by those lucky enough to be in the room for that one performance,” explains Roth.
To cast the play – a genre-bending blend of psychological drama, romance and comedy – they plugged into the University’s strong West Coast alumni network. “We posted a notice on the Meadows Facebook page and sent out e-mails to as many SMU alumni as we could to help spread the word about our auditions,” explains Bronstein.
As a result, many of the actors are SMU alumni. In addition to Bronstein and Roth, the cast includes Meredith Alloway ’11, Billy Gill ’03, Adam Daniel Elliott ’05, Emily Habeck ’11, Sky King ’08, Ethan Rains ’04 and Blake Walker ’03. Gorjian directs the play, which runs approximately two hours and 20 minutes. Working behind the scenes are Catherine Hayden Dyer ’05, stage manager, and McLean Krieger ’11, special effects manager. >Meet the cast
Little Candle’s successful inaugural performance has unfolded into an entire season of plays wrapped around the theme “Tales of Redemption.” The three coming attractions are: Our Country’s Good, an exploration of the humanizing force of theatre, October 2012; Abelard and Heloise, a powerful romance based on the true story of star-crossed lovers in 12th-century France, February 2013; and the world premiere of The Innocence of Father Brown, based on a collection of short stories by G.K. Chesteron and adapted for the stage by Patrick Rieger, in April 2013.
In a few short months, Bronstein, Gorjian and Roth have achieved what many theatre professionals spend a lifetime daydreaming about. In reflecting on their new roles as arts entrepreneurs, the SMU alumni trace their drive and willingness to take a gamble to their Meadows training.
“The SMU bond really is a wonderful thing,” says Bronstein. “It gave us the trust we needed – in our own abilities and in each other – to be brave enough to take this big risk.”
Gorjian says she “learned a lot about creatively starting a project from the ground up” through participation in New Visions, New Voices, Meadows’ annual playwriting festival, and similar opportunities. “Those projects – in addition to my own directing projects – taught me how to work collaboratively and without fear.”
Roth recalls being told as a first-year student that “you’ll never know your true potential unless you push the limits of what you can do. It’s impossible to have great success unless you’re willing to risk great failure, and we are taking a huge risk by starting this theatre company … but one that I think we’re ready for!”
By Chris Dell ’11
As the University community anticipates the makeover that Moody Coliseum will receive over the next year, a little reflection is called for on the storied history of the arena’s place among sports and public events in Dallas. In addition to serving as the home of SMU’s indoor athletics teams, Moody Coliseum also has been the site of some of the greatest moments in Dallas sports history during the past half-century. Check out the best of the best, and then try your hand at Moody trivia. Gene Phillips '71 The Golden Era Of SMU Basketball
The year before it moved into Moody Coliseum in 1957, the SMU men’s basketball team made its first and only NCAA Final Four appearance, where the Mustangs, led by future All-American Jim Krebs ’57, fell short against future NBA great Bill Russell and the University of San Francisco Dons. In the decade that followed Moody’s opening, SMU, led by legendary coach E.O. “Doc” Hayes, won six Southwest Conference championships and made six NCAA Tournament appearances. > Test Your Moody Trivia Knowledge The Dallas Chaparrals
Little do most Dallas Mavericks fans know that their bitter rivals, the
San Antonio Spurs, got their start in Moody when they were the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association. The Chaparrals played most of their home games in Moody from 1967-73 before the team moved to San Antonio and was rebranded as the Spurs. The Chaparrals made the ABA playoffs in all but one season but never won
a championship. World Championship Tennis
From 1971 to 1979, Moody hosted one of the biggest tennis championships
of the year, which was a season-ending eight-player tournament to decide the champion of the professional tennis circuit. All-time greats such as Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Rod Laver dueled each other in
front of packed houses at Moody and a national television audience. The tournament was moved to Reunion Arena in 1980, but Moody continued to host exhibitions between stars such as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras into the 1990s. The Virginia Slims of
Dallas Tennis Championships and the Rolex Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Tournament also were held at Moody Coliseum. Gerry York ’58, curator of SMU Heritage Hall, and former SMU tennis player Roman Kupchynsky ’80 served as resources for the article.
A host of events – from record-setting athletic competitions to unforgettable rock concerts – have taken place over the years at storied Moody Coliseum. Following are a few questions to test your Mustang-Moody quotient (answers below). 1. Who were the first and last NBA MVPs to compete against SMU with their collegiate squads at Moody? 2. Which SMU player scored the first basket at Moody Coliseum? 3. This player is second on the SMU men’s basketball team’s career scoring list and played two seasons with the Dallas Chaparrals. 4. Which SMU men’s basketball player holds the record for the most points scored by a Mustang at Moody Coliseum? 5. Which SMU women’s basketball player holds the record for the most points scored by a Mustang at Moody Coliseum? 6. Which Southeastern Conference school did the SMU volleyball team play in its first home game at Moody on Sept. 12, 1996? 7. Who are some of the famous bands that performed at Moody? 8. How many U.S. presidents have spoken at Moody? 9. Who appeared in the most champion-ship matches in the nine years (1971-79) that the World Championship Tennis finals were held at Moody? 10. When was May Commencement Weekend 2012? Answers: 1. Wilt Chamberlin (University of Kansas, 1957) and Derrick Rose (University of Memphis, 2008) 2. Bobby Mills ’57 3. Gene Phillips ’71 4. Gene Phillips scored 39 points twice in his four-year career (1968-71) to claim the record. (Jim Krebs ’57 scored 50 points against University of Texas at Perkins Gym in 1956, the year before Moody opened.) 5. Jeannia Nix ’89 scored 43 points against the University of Texas in 1989. 6. Auburn University 7. Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, Three Dog Night, Queen, U2 and Pearl Jam 8. Four – Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush 9. Bjorn Borg – 4 10. May 11-12, 2012
– Chris Dell ’11 Gerry York ’58, curator of SMU Heritage Hall, and former SMU tennis player Roman Kupchynsky ’80 served as resources for the article.
As part of its Centennial commemoration, the University has published “Dallas & SMU: The Power of Partnership,” a report detailing SMU’s impact as a return on investment through its economic, intellectual, cultural and service activities.
The report was presented to more than 400 Dallas-Fort Worth leaders at a luncheon April 17. > Read the SMU Community and Economic Impact Report
‘Dallas & SMU’ Report Highlights
• An impact of $861 million for the 2010-11 academic year from expenditures for SMU operations and capital projects; spending by students, parents and visitors drawn to the region by the University; and SMU expenditures for student scholarships.
• A total impact of $7 billion, including the above and expenditures by SMU’s 40,000 DFW alumni.
• From 1995 through 2015, an impact of $2.2 billion from capital projects, including more than 40 new or renovated SMU buildings and facilities thus far.
• University resources valued at $4 billion, including an endowment of $1.2 billion; real estate, buildings and equipment; art and collections; and other assets.
The report notes that SMU has raised more than $1.1 billion since 1995. The current Second Century Campaign coincides with the Centennial commemoration period, 2011-15. To date the campaign has raised more than $610 million, 81 percent of the $750 million goal.
Along with alumni from throughout the world, donors in the DFW region are major contributors to SMU’s campaigns. “Of the more than 42,000 donors to SMU in the last 15 years, 23,000 did not attend the University,” said Board of Trustees Chair Caren Prothro. “But they, like me, understand the value of a distinguished university in the heart of our city.”
SMU Board of Trustees Vice Chair Michael Boone ’63, ’67, who leads community outreach for the Centennial Organizing Committee, led development of the community impact report. “SMU’s academic presence and reputation will continue to ascend in a manner that brings much greater visibility and value to the region in the global marketplace,” he said.
The report also notes that SMU has established academic programs to support the city’s global impact, among them schools or institutes focusing on areas such as business, engineering, energy, and international affairs. Speakers on SMU's economic and community impact were (from left) SMU Trustee Carl Sewell '66, President R. Gerald Turner, Trustee Chair Caren Prothro, Trustee Vice Chair Michael Boone '63, '67 and Trustee Ray L. Hunt '65. More than 400 area leaders attended the event.
SMU’s faculty numbers 705 scholar-teachers who increasingly conduct important research. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has raised SMU to the category of “high research activity,” among 96 universities nationwide. Research highlighted in the report includes projects on geothermal energy, effective drug therapies for debilitating diseases and developing artificial limbs that “feel.”
One of the most dramatic changes at SMU has been in its enrollment. Applications for admission have steadily increased, and the averageSAT score has risen 129 points since 1995. Minority enrollment has reached 25 percent. Seventy percent of students receive some form of merit and/or need-based financial aid. About 50 percent of SMU students come from outside of Texas, representing all 50 states. More than 1,100 students come from 90 foreign countries. To increase global perspectives among its U.S. students, SMU has increased study abroad programs to 150 in 50 countries.
A major source of community impact is the growth in volunteerism among students and campus organizations and through academic programs that involve service, ranging from courses in human rights and theology to the arts and communications. Some 2,500 undergraduates contribute more than 200,000 hours of service a year. SMU also has increased its K-12 outreach. Law students provide six campus legal clinics, and
the pro bono law program, required for graduation, has provided more than 160,000 volunteer hours from 1996-2011. City leaders attending a luncheon to hear SMU's Economic and Community Impact Report view a model of the main SMU campus in a lobby of the Federal Reserve Building, where the event occurred. The model shows current buildings and new construction, one of the many sources of SMU's contributions to the regional economy.
SMU attracts around 300,000 visitors a year to more than 500 lectures, performances, exhibitions and athletics competitions. The internationally known Meadows Museum attracts 60,000 visitors a year, including 7,000 area schoolchildren.
SMU’s report also notes that the George W. Bush Presidential Center will attract more than 450,000 visitors in the first year alone. Since 2010 the George W. Bush Institute has been sponsoring symposia on human freedom, education, the economy and global health.
Of the 112,000 SMU alumni worldwide, 40,000 live in the DFW region, where many hold leadership positions. They include CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, members of Congress, former First Lady of the United States, officials in foreign countries and organizers of humanitarian programs. SMU alumni have won Nobel and Pulitzer prizes; Academy, Emmy, Tony and Grammy awards; the Heisman trophy and Olympic gold medals.
Economic impact information was prepared by Bernard Weinstein, associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute in Cox School of Business and an adjunct professor of business economics, and Terry Clower, director of the Center for Economic Development and Research at the University of North Texas.
Breaking ground on new campus projects: (from left) Gillian McCombs, dean, Central University Libraries; Chaplain Stephen Rankin; Austin Prentice '12, student body president; Lori White, vice president for Student Affairs; Caren Prothro, chair, SMU Board of Trustees; Brad Cheves (at lectern), Vice President for Development and External Affairs; PresidentR. Gerald Turner; Centennial Co-chairs and Trustees Ruth Altshuler '48 and Carl Sewell '66; and Provost Paul Ludden.
SMU marked milestones and broke ground on new projects during 2012 Founders’ Day Weekend in April, attracting nearly 1,000 alumni and friends. The University also announced that it has raised $610 million toward its Second Century Campaign goal of $750 million. The total includes recent contributions of more than $47 million supporting new projects, celebrated at a groundbreaking April 20. Nine commitments of $1 million or more and nine of $100,000 or more have been received in support of these projects, and fundraising is ongoing. > Scenes from Founders’ Day 2012
The projects include the new Residential Commons, a complex of five halls and a dining facility that will enable SMU to implement a sophomore residency requirement. Existing halls will be retrofitted to the Commons model, which includes classrooms and faculty residences. At the groundbreaking, President R. Gerald Turner announced the latest gift for the Residential Commons, a $5 million commitment from Trustee Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 and his wife, Penny R. Loyd. As naming donors to build one of the halls they join Bill Armstrong ’82 and Liz Martin Armstrong ’82, whose $5 million contribution to the project was announced last May. The groundbreaking also represented other projects either beginning or planned: renovation of Fondren Library Center, expansion and renovation of Moody Coliseum and construction of a new indoor-outdoor tennis complex south of Mockingbird Lane, a new Mustang Band Hall at Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports, a new data center to increase computing power for teaching and research, and renovation of Memorial Health Center, soon to be renamed the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center. New facilities also will include the Crain Family Centennial Promenade, a pedestrian thoroughfare. Engraved pavers for the promenade, recognizing gifts from alumni, parents, friends and other members of the SMU community, will serve as permanent markers of support for the University. The Mustang Band performs at Founders' Day.
Founders’ Weekend also included “Inside SMU,” informal classes taught by SMU faculty for alumni and other friends, followed by a briefing by President Turner. His remarks included highlights from SMU’s Economic and Community Impact Report, presented to city leaders at a luncheon April 17. The report thanked the city of Dallas for its partnership with the Methodist Church in founding the University and outlined the return on investment to the region provided by SMU’s achievements and outreach, also noted in an April 21 Dallas Morning News editorial, “SMU at 100.”
As a capstone to what observers called “SMU week in Dallas,” President Turner was inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame April 21, an honor recognizing community leadership, personal integrity and innovation. In his remarks, Turner said the award recognizes the entire University – “the remarkable commitment of SMU’s Board of Trustees, students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends…. This induction into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame tells us that Dallas is very pleased with the return it has received. And, in a very real way, we have just begun.”
In 1988, students participating in SMU’s first alternative spring break trips traveled to a Brownsville, Texas, refugee camp and a New Orleans soup kitchen. The program was designed to enable students to use their time off for community service.
This year, SMU Alternative Breaks celebrated its 25th anniversary and its 100th trip, which the student organization marked by returning to Brownsville. Alternative Breaks now offers 14 trips during fall, winter, spring and summer and has more than 150 student, faculty and staff participants annually. > Read more Alternative Spring Break history
“Every trip makes a difference not only in the communities we visit, but also in the lives of the people who take part,” says senior Matthew Gayer, the organization’s director since 2010. “The trips take us out of our comfort zones to really focus on social issues such as hunger and health.”
Alternative Breaks is housed in SMU’s Community Engagement and Leadership Center. Carol Clyde, the center’s director, says students increasingly are interested in community service. “Forty-two percent of incoming students say they’re likely to participate, up
from 31 percent only eight years ago.”
During spring break in March, students traveled to Atlanta, to work with veterans and the homeless; Boston, to volunteer with a homeless services bureau; Crawfordville, Florida, to perform environmental restoration; Denver, to serve with Habitat for Humanity; Los Angeles, to volunteer with its AIDS Project; New York, to serve at a food bank; Taos, New Mexico, to tutor children at a rural charter school; Window Rock, Arizona, to work on education issues with Native Americans; and Quito, Ecuador, to teach children and support community development. > Read 2012 student blogs
Jillian Frederick, a sophomore anthropology major in Dedman College, participated in the Brownsville trip during winter break. She and seven other SMU students worked at the Good Neighbor Settlement House, where they planned several Christmas parties for families in need.
“It was amazing to think that 25 years ago, SMU students had traveled to Brownsville with the same goals and excitement to serve,” Frederick says.
As new projects begin, SMU outlines return on investment
In 2012 we are heralding another Centennial milestone – the 100th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of Dallas Hall, inaugurating our campus master plan in the Collegiate Georgian tradition. President R. Gerald Turner
Today, we are continuing the tradition of stately and state-of-the-art facilities as we further develop the campus. On our second Founders’ Day April 20, we broke ground on new projects in the southeast quadrant of campus, near Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane:
• A new Residential Commons with five halls and a dining facility
• The renovation and expansion of Moody Coliseum
• A planned new Mustang Band Hall
• The Crain Family Centennial Promenade
• And south of Mockingbird, on the former Mrs. Baird’s bakery site, a new tennis complex, computer center and throwing fields.
Elsewhere on campus are two other important new projects – renovating Fondren Library Center and updating the Memorial Health Center. We thank our lead donors as we continue to raise funds for all of these projects.
We also celebrate the role of Dallas in partnering with the Church to establish SMU. We prepared an Economic and Community Impact Report to document the return on investment to Dallas. In 1911 city leaders provided $300,000 in start-up funding for SMU. Today, our regional economic impact totals $7 billion annually, including spending by SMU, its 40,000 alumni in the region, and the 300,000 visitors attracted to campus, along with capital projects and employment. Our assets stand at $4 billion, including our endowment of $1.2 billion. The full report, Dallas and SMU: The Power of Partnership, is available online at smu.edu/impact.
The report also details the growth in academic quality of our students, expanding research activity, cultural significance and public service.
In all, the intellectual resources, cultural enrichment and community service we provide are immeasurable benefits to Dallas and its growing importance to our nation and world. Our immediate impact on the region is remarkable, but our influence also extends more broadly with priceless human capital – the 112,000 alumni who lead, succeed and serve throughout the world.
Thank you for enabling SMU’s impact to grow. R. Gerald Turner President
An SMU law professor never imagined that she would refer to Dr. Seuss, Shakespeare and Vaudeville for legal research, but those sources proved invaluable in producing the book Lawtalk: The Unknown Stories Behind Familiar Legal Expressions(Yale University Press, 2011). Written by Dedman School of Law Professor Elizabeth Thornburg, along with three other legal scholars, Lawtalk explores the origins and uses of 77 popular law-related expressions such as blue laws, boilerplate, jailbait, pound of flesh and the third degree. “Law pervades U.S. society, and the words and metaphors we use to talk about law give powerful clues about our values and what’s important to Americans as a people,” Thornburg says.
This summer visitors to the Meadows Museum can view works from one of the world’s greatest collections of modern Mexican art. Through August 12, Mexican Modern Painting from the Andrés Blaisten Collectionwill feature 80 paintings created in Mexico in the first half of the 20th century, including works by Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Diego Rivera, Irma Mendoza, 1950 María Izquierdo, Portrait Of Juan Soriano, 1939
Karl Kilinski II
A $1.5 million gift from the estate of Karl Kilinski II will establish SMU’s 84th endowed faculty position.
In addition, Kilinski’s personal library of classical materials in the arts and humanities, as well as his research papers, have been donated to Central University Libraries.
The Karl Kilinski II Endowed Chair in Hellenic Visual Culture in the Department of Art History will pay tribute to the work of the archaeologist, art historian and University Distinguished Teaching Professor. He died in 2011 after 30 years on the Meadows School of the Arts faculty.
“We are honored to have an endowed faculty chair bearing the name of one of the University’s most distinguished professors,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “This gift supports our Second Century Campaign goal to increase the number of endowed chairs to 100. We are grateful for the generosity and foresight of the late Dr. Kilinski and his family.”
The gift supports the appointment of “a scholar who continues the tradition of interdisciplinary work in Hellenic visual culture embodied in the teaching of Karl Kilinski II and who upholds the standard of scholarly excellence represented in his books.”
Among his published works are The Presence of the Past, Greek Myth in Western Art, Boetian Black Figure Vase Painting of the Archaic Period and The Flight of Icarus through Western Art.
“Karl’s vision in establishing this endowed faculty position will ensure that his interdisciplinary style of teaching and research will continue to engage scholars in study of Hellenic visual culture,” says Gunnie Corbett, Kilinski’s fiancée and executor of his estate. “The chair will be a fitting continuation of his legacy of dedication to his students and others he inspired.”
An internationally known classical scholar, he received numerous honors, including the SMU Outstanding Professor Award and the Godbey Lecture Series Author Award. He was widely published in scholarly journals and led numerous educational tours to the Mediterranean, Turkey, Egypt and Africa. In addition, he held guest curatorships and was a symposium organizer for various museums, including the Meadows Museum.
“Karl Kilinski’s impact on generations of students throughout his illustrious academic career was significant,” says José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School. “We are indebted to his estate for their gift.”
As an archaeologist, Kilinski participated in both underwater and land excavations in Greece. He was a senior research fellow for the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, Greece; director of academic programs in Greece, Japan and Cairo; board member of The Society for the Preservation of Greek Heritage; and a member of the Ambassador’s Committee of Friends of Greece.
A new gift from The Crain Foundation will enhance the SMU campus with a pedestrian walkway linking the Hughes-Trigg Student Center on the north with the new Residential Commons complex to be built on the southern end of the campus.
The Crain Family Centennial Promenade will add a highly visible and convenient passageway to sites including the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Moody Coliseum, Collins Executive Education Center and Blanton Student Services Building. The Crain Family Centennial Promenade is outlined in blue in the early conceptual rendering.
“Crain family members have long-standing ties to SMU, and we are grateful for their vision and generosity in providing this beautiful addition to the campus,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “The Crain Family Centennial Promenade will serve as an appropriate capstone to new construction taking place now and into 2015, when we celebrate the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening.
“In addition to the quality of SMU’s programs, the beauty of our campus is a major attraction to prospective students,” Turner adds. “The addition of this promenade makes the campus more pedestrian-friendly, an attribute that helps build a sense of community.”
SMU maintains a special place in the hearts of the Crains, with family ties to the University spanning three generations.
The Crain Foundation previously provided funds for construction of a fountain on the plaza in front of the Blanton Student Services Building, which opened in 2003. The Crain Fountain serves as a focal point at the intersection of SMU Boulevard and Airline Road.
The Crain Foundation gift counts toward the $750 million goal of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which to date has raised more than $610 million to support student quality, faculty and academic excellence and the campus experience. The campaign coincides with SMU’s commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915.
Members of the SMU community – alumni, faculty, staff, students, parents and friends – may participate in the centennial commemoration by contributing $100 toward pavers for the Crain Family Centennial Promenade. The pavers will be customized with wording specified by each donor.
The 52-year-old Memorial Health Center will be upgraded and renamed the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center.
With a $5 million gift from the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation, SMU will transform the aging Memorial Health Center into an updated health care resource to accommodate the needs of the growing campus community.
As the 52-year-old facility begins a fresh chapter, it will be renamed the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center in honor of the distinguished Dallas pediatrician and SMU alumnus whose foundation is making the upgrade possible.
When Memorial Health Center opened in 1960 as a 30-bed infirmary, the University’s enrollment was approximately 8,000. Today the outpatient facility serves approximately 11,000 students, about 2,400 of whom live on campus. By the time renovations are completed in 2014, an estimated 3,650 students will reside on campus, including those living in the new Residential Commons.
“Bob and Jean Smith have a strong history of generous support for SMU priorities and have always kept the welfare of students uppermost in their minds,” SMU President R. Gerald Turner says. “This new gift will dramatically improve campus health care resources and provide support services that enable students to do their best academic work and fully enjoy the campus experience.”
SMU’s health center provides medical services for the diagnosis and treatment of illness and injury, along with counseling and psychiatric services. The center is staffed by full-time physicians, mental health counselors, registered nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory and X-ray technologists. It also houses SMU’s Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention.
“It is an honor to align the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation with SMU in combining superior academic facilities with excellent student life resources,” says Sally Smith Mashburn ’77, Foundation president and treasurer, and daughter of Dr. Bob and Jean Smith. “After all, one of SMU’s greatest responsibilities is to nurture the well-being of students.”
Among improvements to the health center will be interior remodeling to increase the number of patient procedure rooms, counseling offices and private waiting rooms.
“This new gift is a natural outgrowth of the dedication of the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation to improve resources for health care and education. In addi- tion to providing students with outstanding health care facilities, the gift will improve student access to education and counseling on health-related issues,” says Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. “As we prepare to house more students on campus, this facility will be of increasing value to our campus community.”
Other changes will include medical equipment and technology upgrades and enhancement of pharmacy and laboratory spaces.
“The renovations and upgraded equipment will greatly augment our ability to serve the SMU student community, complementing the high-quality staff members and specialists already in place,” says Patrick Hite, Memorial Health Center executive director.
Dr. Smith established the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation in 1989 to support higher education, medical education and research, and health projects. He served as the Foundation’s chair and chief executive officer until his death in 2006. His wife now serves as the Foundation’s chair and CEO.
In 2001 the Smith Foundation provided $1 million to establish the Bob Smith, M.D. Foundation Pre-Medical Studies Center in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. Later that year another $1 million gift provided for the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Auditorium in the Meadows Museum. The Foundation also established a $2.5 million challenge grant for the SMU Annual Fund, which supports University operating expenses.
Dr. Smith earned two degrees from SMU, a B.A. in 1944 and a B.S. in 1946, followed by an M.D. degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He served on the SMU Board of Trustees from 1992 to 1996. He received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995. In 2003 SMU honored Dr. and Mrs. Smith with the Mustang Award, which recognizes those whose service and philanthropy have made a lasting impact on the University.
The new Kitt Investing and Trading Center (left) in the Cox School of Business “takes our finance curriculum to the next level,” says Albert W. Niemi Jr., dean of the Cox School and Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership. The center, which opened in the fall in the lower level atrium of the school, integrates curriculum with practical investment and trading applications.
It was established with a gift to the University from SMU parents Barry M. and Beth M. Kitt and their family. The Kitts’ eldest son, Gregory ’08, graduated from SMU with a major in finance and a minor in Chinese. Their youngest son, Steve, is a junior majoring in finance and economics with financial applications. The Kitt Center contains a 1,200-square-foot LED stock ticker, three video walls, 22 high-end work stations and 10 Bloomberg Professional terminals, with state-of-the-art data feeds and financial software.
With the new Residential Commons as its centerpiece, the southeastern section of campus will be transformed. Among the new projects are:
Tennis Complex
A conceptual rendering of the new Tennis Complex.
The groundwork is being laid for the new Tennis Complex on the southwest corner of Mockingbird Lane and North Central Expressway, the former site of Mrs. Baird’s Bakery. The premier tennis venue will house an indoor pavilion with six courts and the outdoor Turpin Tennis Stadium with six courts.
SMU is seeking funding for the new home of Mustang tennis, and a number
of naming opportunities exist. To learn more, contact Tim Leonard, senior associate athletic director for development, at tleonard@smu.edu or 214-768-4465.
Mustang Band Hall
A conceptual rendering of the new Mustang Band Hall.
To ensure a bright future for one of the University’s most treasured institutions, SMU has embarked upon a funding initiative for the construction of a new Mustang Band Hall. To date, the project has secured $1 million in commitments toward the $3 million goal.
To make a contribution or for more information, contact Arlene Manthey, associate director of development for Student Affairs, at 214-768-4711 or amanthey@smu.edu.
Read more about Building for a Second Century
Medical anthropologist James Kennell, an SMU adjunct professor, took this photo in Benin, West Africa, of school children lining up to receive measles vaccinations. By Margaret Allen
For several years James Kennell has studied the efforts of global healthagencies to vaccinate the Aja people in Benin, West Africa. As a result, Kennell ’11 has been invited to join a global initiative to prevent the debilitating skin disease Buruli ulcer.
A tropical disease that historically hasn’t been studied, Buruli ulcer is caused by a germ in the same family as leprosy and tuberculosis. The disease severely incapacitates and often kills people worldwide every year, but especially in Benin, according to the research initiative’s sponsor, the World Health Organization. Because the neglected disease is largely found in rural areas, the exact number of cases worldwide isn’t known, but it’s a growing problem in tropical and subtropical countries, WHO reports.
Kennell, a medical anthropologist and now an SMU adjunct professor, went to Benin in 2009 and 2010 as part of the WHO’s Buruli ulcer team. He’ll return for another six-week stint this summer, joining teams of scientists to pinpoint how the disease is transmitted.
“My job is to look at the particular ways the Aja are interacting with their environment – such as farming or other outdoor activities – that put them in contact with a very high concentration of the pathogen in the environment,” he says. Once the method of transmission is established, WHO researchers can devise strategies to combat the disease.
Kennell has logged numerous field seasons with Benin’s Aja people, research that helped him earn his doctoral degree in cultural anthropology from SMU in 2011. That research focused on the barriers encountered by global health organizations and the Aja to prevent polio, measles, chicken pox and other dangerous skin diseases, among them the refusal to be vaccinated.
Historically, Western aid agencies have attributed widespread refusal of vaccines to a lack of knowledge among local people. The agencies then attempt to bridge this “knowledge gap,” as they call it, by educating the Aja and other local groups about the benefits of vaccines from a Western viewpoint.
But in his doctoral dissertation, “The Senses and Suffering: Medical Knowledge, Spirit Possession, and Vaccination Programs in Aja,” Kennell reports that the Aja refuse vaccines for a number of reasons that aid efforts don’t address. Some refuse on religious grounds; others because they fear infertility, sickness or government control.
“It’s really not an issue of a knowledge gap,” Kennell says. “We’re talking about very different, very complex world views related to health and disease among the Aja that are as established as any Western medical tradition.”
The problem, he says, is a cultural disconnect between global health organizations and the Aja people. Stuck in the middle are the local health officials who are hired, trained and supplied with medicine to achieve one goal – vaccinate large numbers of people.
Kennell has followed four different vaccination campaigns in Benin, observing health workers as they move through scores of Aja villages. He interviewed villagers before and after the visits, and found that up to 25 percent refuse vaccinations, including entire villages. For vaccination campaigns to protect a community against disease, a significant percentage of the population must be protected. For example, measles requires from 85 percent to 95 percent immunization to be effective, he says.
Kennell observed that the imperative to vaccinate drove local providers to extreme measures. “Very often, instead of really trying to educate in a positive, productive way, the conflicting knowledge traditions of the two cultures are pitted against one another and manipulated by interested parties to achieve a particular result, in this case, the number of individuals vaccinated,” he says.
Kennell witnessed health workers trying to convince villagers that a vaccine would prevent an illness other than the one it protects against. Other times, health workers would call in the head physician of the main regional hospital to persuade villagers.
“I think local health care workers wouldn’t have to resort to manipulating knowledge so strongly if there wasn’t such a disconnect,” he says.
The blog Anthropologyworks.com selected Kennell’s dissertation as one of the best 40 cultural anthropology dissertations in North America for 2011.
When chemotherapy fails to halt the spread of cancer, it is typically because new super cells develop resistance to the chemotherapy. Instead of dying off, the cells reject the medicine, are able to pump it out and continue to thrive and reproduce. In this model of human drug-resistant protein, the backbone skeletal structure is represented by purple and blue helices, yellow ribbons and turquoise coils. New compounds like that shown in dark blue could make it possible for chemotherapy to work on recurring cancers by binding to the protein. (Image: John Wise)
Scientists have long tried to find a drug to combat these super cells. Now biochemists Pia Vogel and John Wise in the Department of Biological Sciences in Dedman College are using SMU’s supercomputer to tackle the problem. Vogel and Wise are searching for a drug that will shut off the cancer cell “sump pump” so that chemotherapy can once again be effective. They are collaborating with other researchers at SMU’s Center for Drug Discovery, Design and Delivery.
“This is a desperate situation for people whose cancer returns in an aggressive state,” says Wise, a research associate professor. “We don’t want to knock out this sump-pump system permanently, but would like to find a drug that will inhibit the pump, then allow the body to return to its normal state.”
“If we could search through millions of compounds we could potentially find one that could ‘throw a stick’ in the sump-pump mechanism,” says Vogel, an associate professor. Because testing each one in a lab would be too costly and take a lifetime, they adopted a faster method.
Using simulation software and a computational model of the “sump-pump” protein called P-glycoprotein, they screen potential compounds digitally through SMU’s High Performance Computing (HPC) system. With the computational model, Wise and Vogel can observe on a computer screen how digital compounds are absorbed onto and into the P-glycoprotein model. Compounds that stick or bind instead of being pumped out have potential as an effective drug.
Creating the P-glycoprotein model was not easy. The structures of P-glycoprotein in mice and bacteria are well understood. But human P-glycoprotein remains a mystery and is highly unstable in the lab. Wise designed the computational model by deducing and inferring characteristics from what is known about human P-glycoprotein.
So far, the researchers have screened millions of digital compounds, a process that took 7.55 million computational hours on the HPC. They’ve discovered more than 300 potentially effective compounds. With a team of students, the scientists have tested 30 of those 300 compounds in the lab and found several that inhibit the protein.
Wise and Vogel also are working with their colleague and Associate Professor Robert Harrod to test a multidrug resistant line of cancer cells to see if the drugs again can make the cells susceptible to chemotherapy.
Mike Hall ’76 (left) lost his SMU ring in the 1980s and was certain it was gone forever. However, someone found it – no one is quite sure who, when or where – and passed it along to the Alumni Relations office, which brought Bob Sharp (right) into the loop. Sharp, director of major gifts and Circle of Champions, SMU Athletics Development, graduated from SMU in 1976, the year etched on the ring. Sharp recognized the initials inside the ring, “MWH,” as possibly belonging to Hall. Both men were Mustang cheerleaders – Hall in 1975 and Sharp in 1976-77 – and had been roommates during the 1975-76 school year. Although out of touch for some years, they reconnected at their Centennial Reunion in November. After exchanging e-mails to verify ownership, Sharp was able to reunite Hall with his ring. “What an unbelievable surprise! I never expected to see it again,” says Hall. “Some people think it’s corny for a grown man to wear his college ring, but I wear mine proudly. For me, my ring symbolizes the tremendous gratitude I feel toward my parents for enabling me to attend the finest University in the nation.”
The National Science Foundation has recognized two SMU faculty members with the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award. The NSF career grants recognize junior faculty whose research will have a broad impact on society.
In Dedman College, Assistant Professor of Physics Jodi Cooley (left) was awarded a five-year grant of $1 million toward her work with the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search, a collaboration of scientists from 14 institutions who are trying to detect the passage of dark matter through the earth deep in an abandoned Minnesota mine.
Cooley’s proposal also draws area high school physics teachers into the research. Joseph Camp (right), the J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Professor of Electrical Engineering, was awarded a five-year, $450,000 grant for developing a more affordable wireless network design and protocols to help provide Internet access to low-income individuals. He teaches in the Lyle School of Engineering.
This electronic billboard in New York City's Times Square welcomes SMU to the Big East. SMU’s membership in the Big East Conference will fulfill the University’s goal to join a Bowl Championship Series Automatic Qualifier (BCS-AQ) conference, a standard of excellence in college athletics today.
As of press time, the Big East continued to admit new members to fill vacancies that will be created by the exit of Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014 and West Virginia to the Big 12 Conference, at a date to be determined. And though the league may continue to change its membership makeup, one thing is certain: SMU will become a part of the largest conference, which will span coast-to-coast, on July 1, 2013. Traditional rivalries will take on new meanings for the Mustangs.
In 2012, the Big East football membership will consist of Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple (newest addition) and the University of South Florida (USF). In 2013, Boise State, University of Central Florida (UCF), Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and SMU will be added, and in 2015, the U.S. Naval Academy will join the league.
In 2014, the Big East basketball membership will include Cincinnati, Connecticut, DePaul, Georgetown, Houston, Louisville, Marquette, Memphis, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Seton Hall, SMU, Temple, UCF, USF and Villanova.
“Over the past 32 years, the Big East Conference has constantly evolved along with the landscape of college athletics,” says Big East Commissioner John Marinatto. “The inclusion of these great universities, which bring a unique blend of premier academics, top markets, strong athletics brands and outstanding competitive quality, marks the beginning of a new chapter in that evolution.
“Much like the conference as a whole, the Big East name – though derived 32 years ago based on the geography of our founding members – has evolved into a highly respected brand that transcends borders, boundaries or regions. It’s national. Our membership makeup is now reflective of that.” Big East’s Big Footprint Click on map for PDF
With the addition of the new schools, the Big East will have the largest footprint of any college football conference in the nation, with a coast-to-coast presence spanning nine states in five regions of the country.
And that is good news for SMU alumni living in the Midwest or on the East Coast, who now will be able to see the Mustangs play in their own back yards. Pony fan Lisa Utasi ’84 of New York City cannot wait. “It’s exciting to have the prospect of playing top-level competitors in the new Western division of the Big East, as well as indescribable to think we will have an opportunity to potentially see SMU play basketball in Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament,” she says. “I can only imagine driving to New Brunswick, New Jersey, to watch SMU take on the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights at the ‘birthplace of college football,’ too.”
James White ’82 of Chicago believes that joining the Big East “enables SMU to gain greater visibility in different regions and cities throughout the country. “We now will be able to see SMU play in the Chicago area against Notre Dame, Marquette and DePaul,” he says. “Academically, we should be able to attract more kids from other regions with our additional exposure. The quality of the SMU student has continued to improve, and now more people will get to know SMU and the many great qualities that drew all of us to the University.”
By joining the Big East Conference, SMU continues its push toward becoming a top-25 athletics program. On the field of play, SMU has been ranked as the top school in its conference for 11 of the past 14 years in the Director’s Cup overall athletic rankings. Building And Improving SMU football players celebrate their 28-6 victory over current Big East member Pittsburgh at the BBVA Compass Bowl January 7.
From an infrastructure standpoint, SMU has embarked on an $80-million plan to build new facilities and improve existing ones. The $13-million, 43,000-square-foot Crum Basketball Center, a basketball-only practice facility adjacent to Moody Coliseum, opened in February 2008, and Turpin Tennis Stadium opened that April. (To make way for construction on the new residential halls and corresponding parking garage, a new indoor-outdoor tennis complex will be built on the site of the former Mrs. Baird’s bakery on Mockingbird Lane.) Phase I of the SMU Payne Stewart Golf Learning Center at the Dallas Athletic Club was completed in 2010 and updates have been made to the Loyd Center, which houses coaches’ offices, athletic administration, sports medicine, strength and conditioning and academic support services.
In addition, a new integrated video and audio system was installed at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in 2010, and a renovated football locker room and team meeting rooms, along with new stadium turf, were completed before the 2011 season. Renovations to Moody Coliseum, which began in 2008 with the installation of a new $900,000 video board and redesigned court, will ramp up in the coming year as SMU has announced a $40-million-plus plan for a complete facility renovation and expansion expected to be completed in time for SMU’s first season in the Big East.
Academically, SMU’s new conference features six schools ranked among the top 82 universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2012 ranking of Best National Universities. At No. 62, SMU ranks fourth among all Big East schools in the category.
In adding SMU and the Dallas-Fort Worth television market, the nation’s fifth-largest, the Big East Conference further strengthens its media presence. Big East markets already contain almost one-fourth of all television households in the United States – more than twice as many households as any other conference. Big East institutions will now reside in six of the nation’s top-eight media markets, and 12 of the top 35. Cities like Dallas, Houston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., all fall in the Big East footprint.
“Our move to the Big East is good for SMU, for Dallas and for this region of the country and reflects the re-emergence of our successful football program under the leadership of June Jones,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Coupled with our steady rise academically and athletically, we are in a good position to continue our rise among national universities. On top of that, a grassroots effort of our alumni, elected officials and steadfast supporters coast-to-coast gave us the momentum we needed. We look forward to this new era of competition.” Excitement Goes ‘Through The Roof!’ SMU President R. Gerald Turner (right) and Student Body President Austin W. Prentice (left) are joined by Big East Commissioner John Marinatto in announcing SMU's membership in the Big East Conference.
Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, the Big East Conference was formed in 1979. The league has won 31 national championships in six sports with 133 student-athletes capturing individual national titles. Specifically for football, the Big East is an automatic qualifier (AQ) to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), meaning the league champion is assured a berth in one of the five BCS bowl games on an annual basis. Those bowls include the Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl and the BCS National Championship game.
In men’s and women’s basketball, Big East teams have excelled at the highest levels, winning 14 national championships. In 2004, Connecticut’s men’s and women’s teams both won NCAA titles in the same season.
Since the conference announcement, excitement for upcoming football and basketball seasons has been “through the roof,” says Student Body President Austin W. Prentice ’12. “SMU’s acceptance into the Big East Conference has provided a tremendous jolt of energy among the student body. Whether die-hard college sports fans or not, the conference changer will be an added benefit to SMU’s already nationally recognized name.”
Larry Brown has been named SMU's head men's basketball coach. Larry Brown has been named the head men’s basketball coach at SMU. He arrives on the Hilltop as the only head coach to win both an NCAA title and an NBA Championship. Brown was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002.
“I always wanted to coach at a great school academically and in a great conference to compete for a national championship with high-type kids,” Brown told a gathering of alumni, students, faculty and staff at the announcement April 23. “That opportunity has presented itself – everything I thought about is right here (at SMU). President Turner and I are on the same page – we want excellence in academics and excellence in athletics.”
“From an educational perspective, hiring a teacher of the game like Larry Brown will make a huge impact on both our student-athletes and our community as a whole,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Athletics is an integral part of SMU, and developing a winning basketball program will dramatically increase our national profile while providing a rallying point for our students, alumni, faculty, staff and the city of Dallas.”
Brown is the sixth-winningest coach in NBA history with 1,098 career victories and led his teams to 18 playoff appearances, eight 50-win seasons, seven division titles, three conference championships and one NBA Championship. He most recently served as head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, whom he guided to the franchise’s first playoff appearance in 2010.
Brown began his coaching career in the American Basketball Association, where he led the Carolina Cougars from 1972-74 before taking the helm in Denver for two seasons. He continued with the Nuggets after their move to the NBA before moving on to coach UCLA for two seasons. He led a freshman-dominated team to the 1980 NCAA title game before falling to Louisville.
After two years with the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, Brown began his tenure at Kansas in 1983. He would go 135-44 in five seasons, leading KU to the 1988 NCAA Championship, Kansas’ first national title in 36 years. In all, Brown spent seven seasons at the collegiate level, leading his squads to three Final Four appearances and one NCAA title.
He was named Naismith College Coach of the Year in 1988 and Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1986. His cumulative collegiate coaching record stands at 177-61 (.744).
At the pro level, Brown has served as head coach of the Bobcats, Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2001 and was named ABA Coach of the Year three times.
Brown played collegiately at North Carolina under legends Frank McGuire and Dean Smith and served as an assistant coach at UNC from 1965-67.
In Olympic competition, Brown was the head coach of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 2004 Athens Games. He was an assistant coach for the 1980 Olympic squad that did not participate in the Moscow Games and for the 2000 team that won the gold medal in Sydney. As a player, Brown won a gold medal with the U.S. squad at the Tokyo Games in 1964. He is the only U.S. male to both play and coach in the Olympics.
Former SMU basketball player David Miller poses with a photo in Moody (he's in the lower left corner) of the team that became the 1971-72 Southwest Conference co-champions. ByChris Dell ’11
When it was built 56 years ago, SMU Coliseum, renamed Moody Coliseum in 1965, may have been the brightest gem on the Dallas sports landscape.
In the past half-century, the historic arena, home to the men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball teams at SMU, has hosted collegiate hoops stars, tennis legends, American presidents, NBA MVPs and music icons. However, Moody Coliseum has passed its prime.
Now, as the Mustangs prepare to enter a new era of athletics with their admission to the Big East Conference July 1, 2013, SMU is putting one of Dallas’ original treasures back in the game with a $40 million renovation.
“Moody Coliseum has seen so much history at SMU, but it needs to be modernized,” says Tim Leonard, SMU senior associate athletics director for development and interim director of athletics.
In April 2011, SMU announced a $20 million gift from the Moody Foundation and a $10 million gift from former men’s basketball player David Miller ’72, ’73 and his wife, Carolyn, to spearhead the renovation, which essentially will gut the arena and give it a floor-to-ceiling makeover.
Changes include the addition of premium seating, as well as courtside retractable seating designated for students, and widening the entry lobby and concourses. Technology improvements will include new video boards, scoreboards, sound system, broadcast capabilities and heating and cooling systems. Renovations also will bring the facility up to code with handicap accessibility and restroom availability, add concessions, remodel locker rooms, and extend the north side of the building to include luxury suites, a club lounge and coaches’ offices.
Because the changes will reduce the seating capacity from 9,000 to 7,500, the arena will be an even more intimate setting, Leonard says.
“The renovations will give our programs an immediate and long-lasting boost and will dramatically improve the quality of experience fans will enjoy at Moody Coliseum events,” adds Leonard. “These changes will help make our legendary facility a state-of-the-art venue and help our teams meet the top-25 standard we have set for each of them.”
Miller says one of the results he expects is a top-quality atmosphere for home athletic events. Miller, who was a three-year starter and letterman and a member of the 1971-72 Southwest Conference co-championship men’s basketball team, says he remembers running onto the floor in front of a packed house of screaming fans and hopes that future athletes have the same experience.
“I still get chill bumps talking about it today. When Moody is full and there is a strong contingent of students, it’s a wonderful facility to play basketball in.”
Once the facility is re-opened, it also will continue to host non-athletic events, such as SMU’s Commencement ceremony, high school graduations and lectures. Moody is located near the soon-to-be-completed George W. Bush Presidential Center, which could use the arena for high-profile speakers and special events.
The renovation will begin in August and is expected to be completed in December 2013, perhaps just in time for the men’s and women’s basketball teams’ first games against Big East opponents. The basketball and volleyball teams will be able to compete in the arena next year as the initial stages of construction take place, but the building will be vacated from March 2013 until it re-opens nine months later. (The May 2013 Commencement will be relocated.)
The renovation comes on the heels of the creation in 2008 of the nearby Crum Basketball Center practice facility, which includes two full-size courts and locker, weight and training rooms.
SMU volleyball coach Lisa Seifert says “joining the Big East and having the facility renovated gets us that much closer to being able to attain our goal of being a top-25 volleyball program.”
Women’s basketball coach Rhonda Rompola says the renovation of Moody Coliseum is “another positive step in showing the commitment that the SMU community, our administration and our president have toward SMU athletics. To learn more about supporting the Moody Coliseum project, contact Tim Leonard at tleonard@smu.edu or 214-768-4465.
By Patricia Ward
As a high school student in Cedar Hill, Texas, Alexandra Thibeaux met one of the most important people in her life: Adela Just, her English teacher.
“She recognized something in me that I didn’t know was there,” says Thibeaux, a junior in the University Honors Program majoring in history with a minor in political science. “She really encouraged my writing and academic performance, which had a profound influence on me. As a result, I know I want to have that kind of impact on students’ lives.” SMU junior Alexandra Thibeaux reads with Emmitt Williams, a third-grade student at Sidney Lanier Expressive Arts Vanguard elementary school in Dallas.
Thibeaux’s SMU work-study assignment at Sidney Lanier Expressive Arts Vanguard, a public elementary school in West Dallas, galvanized her interest in pursuing a career linked to education. Now, three days each week, Thibeaux helps children in teacher Chandra Hanks’ third-grade class with math and reading.
Lanier Principal Alyssa Peraza connected with SMU’s work-study program several years ago through the Dallas Faith Communities Coalition (DFCC), a nonprofit organization committed to the transformation of West Dallas through education. The coalition became part of the new Center on Communities and Education at SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development late last year.
The new center serves as the backbone organization for The School Zone, a collaboration among 10 public schools and 20 nonprofit agencies. The School Zone provides a range of resources – from parent training to after-school homework assistance – focused on closing “the education gap in West Dallas,” says Regina Nippert, former executive director of the DFCC who now heads the Center on Communities and Education (CCE) at SMU.
The CCE operates in an area of the city where only 33 percent of residents over age 18 have high school diplomas.
“We will contribute to the education mission of the coalition by assessing what works, measuring outcomes and developing programs that are meaningful to West Dallas,” emphasizes David Chard, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Simmons School.
While the neighborhood west of downtown Dallas provides the initial context, communities everywhere will benefit from research that results in a practical and sustainable model for effective instruction, Chard says. Game-Changing Partnerships The CCE is among the most recent University-community partnerships to build on a century of tradition. While launching SMU’s centennial celebration in 2011, President R. Gerald Turner traced the roots of the Simmons School to the mutually beneficial SMU-Dallas relationship: “We established a new school of education focused on applied research in response to the needs we were hearing from our area superintendents and others in the schools.”
Although education and teacher certification programs had long been a part of the SMU curriculum, the University expanded its commitment to the field by creating the School of Education and Human Development in 2005.
A $20 million gift from Harold C. and Annette Caldwell Simmons in 2007 provided an endowment for the school and its new headquarters, the Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall. During festivities marking its first anniversary in September, the dean called SMU’s hub for education research a “game-changer.” The state-of-the-art facility accommodates many of the faculty, staff and students who once were housed at 12 sites on campus.
“The ability to gather together in one place changes the whole dynamic of the faculty,” contributing to a research environment where they can collaborate productively with each other and their students, explains Chard, who became dean in 2007. Discover, Document, Deliver Leanne Ketterlin Geller (center), director of SMU’s Research in Mathematics Education unit, works with consultant Nicole McGilvray (left) and Simmons doctoral student Lindsey Perry during a recent workshop to develop test questions for the Middle School Students in Texas: Algebra Ready (MSTAR) Diagnostic Assessment, designed to help teachers support students who need extra help with pre-algebra skills.
Rigorous academic inquiry steers the national conversation about education reform “away from the realm of human interest and into an evidence-based context,” says Chard, a nationally known expert on the role of instruction in literacy and the development of numeracy skills.
His “prove it” philosophy comes after almost 10 years on the frontline as a high school teacher, followed by more than a decade of scholarship aimed at helping children with learning disabilities or at risk for school failure. Over the course of his career, Chard’s research and development projects have been awarded more than $11 million in federal, state and private grants.
Chard’s leadership in education research has received recognition from President Barack Obama, who appointed him to the Board of Directors of the National Board for Education Sciences. The board advises the president and sets priorities for the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Chard was sworn in as a member of the board June 20.
The Simmons research portfolio encompasses explorations in vital areas of education and human development, including foundational literacy and numeracy skills; the challenges presented by language barriers, learning difficulties and intellectual disabilities; the special needs of gifted youth; teacher and leadership training; the mechanics of movement; and human physiology.
Faculty research has garnered significant funding from federal, state and private sources. From 2009 through 2011, the school received more than $10 million in grants, with almost $4 million obtained in 2011.
Last year, a $201,000 grant from The Meadows Foundation provided start-up funding for the school’s new Research in Mathematics Education (RME) program. The research and outreach unit’s mission is to provide the instructional resources, assessment tools and training that K-12 educators need to improve student achievement in math.
“Most schools are swimming in data,” says RME Director Leanne Ketterlin Geller, an expert in measuring and assessing mathematics skills. “We have to think carefully about which data we collect and how we collect it. We have to gather information that will guide instruction for struggling students.”
Investigating Human Development
In the Simmons School’s Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness, faculty and students examine the biological basis of health and fitness.
During one of the department’s recent Research on Exercise and Wellness Colloquiums, Peter Weyand shared with the SMU community insights from his groundbreaking analyses of the mechanics of running. Weyand, an associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics, directs the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory. Read more …
The Simmons School’s investigative interests align with two landmark education initiatives of the George W. Bush Institute. Chard and Ketterlin Geller are among the nation’s top researchers participating in Middle School Matters, the most comprehensive research-based program ever applied to middle schools. The program’s goal is to use proven practices to prepare middle-school students for academic success in high school.
The Bush Institute’s Alliance to Reform Education Leadership (AREL) is a national program to transform the way school districts identify, recruit, prepare, empower and evaluate their leaders. Simmons’ new ED-Entrepreneur Center (EEC) is an AREL operating program and will be sharing its research data with the Bush Institute.
The EEC coalesces efforts of the Simmons School and Teaching Trust, a nonprofit organization established by Rosemary Perlmeter, founder of Uplift Education charter schools and a former business executive, and Ellen Wood, a financial and social investment consultant.
“We’re proud and appreciative of the great support we receive from Dean Chard and the faculty and staff engaged in our Middle School Matters program, as well as the involvement of the Ed-Entrepreneur Center in our Alliance to Reform Education Leadership, an emerging leader in the work of developing excellent school principals,” says Kerri L. Briggs, the Bush Institute’s director of education reform. Visionary Leaders, Better Schools
The education equation is completed by teachers and principals equipped with the research-based knowledge they need to boost schools out of mediocrity and into excellence.
“In the Simmons School, we consistently monitor our students’ progress and evaluate our programs, changing coursework as needed to address the latest issues,” explains Lee Alvoid, clinical associate professor and chair of the Department of Education Policy and Leadership at SMU. “Right now, with K-12 school budgets being downsized, we need to help our students be more efficient in resource allocation, as well as become more creative in seeking funding opportunities outside the schools.”
The department’s newest program, the Master’s in Education Leadership with an Urban School Specialization, borrows elements from national models for competency-based principal preparation, as well as the corporate executive training playbook, to prepare school leaders for the challenges of the inner-city learning environment. First-year coursework includes classes taught by SMU’s Cox School of Business faculty.
“The best research on leadership models, change management, coaching and conflict resolution comes from combining effective new programs in education with select aspects of the business discipline,” Alvoid explains.
The first group of 20 students started the two-year program last June. The 45-hour, part-time program was developed in concert with SMU’s ED-Entrepreneur Center.
“It’s very ambitious because only a few programs in the country are stepping back and relying heavily on experiential learning built around a competency-based framework,” says Perlmeter, senior director of leadership programs for EEC. “We continuously measure our students’ application of skills over the two years of the program.”
Lyndin Kish, a fifth-grade teacher at Summit Preparatory, an Uplift Education charter school, and a student in the urban specialization track, says her most important take-away so far is “a refined lens through which I view my school leaders. Not only have I gained a much clearer vision of what excellent school leadership can and should look like, but I have a much better understanding of the discrete actions school leaders can take to get there.”
In the Simmons School’s Department of Applied Physiology and Wellness, faculty and students examine the biological basis of health and fitness.
During one of the department’s recent Research on Exercise and Wellness Colloquiums, Peter Weyand shared with the SMU community insights from his groundbreaking analyses of the mechanics of running. Weyand, an associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics, directs the SMU Locomotor Performance Laboratory.
The most important factor driving performance is how hard runners hit the ground in relation to their body weight, he says. “Runners are a lot like bouncing balls. The vertical force propels them upward and momentum carries them forward.”
Weyand believes “research shouldn’t stop at the lab door. It’s important to make sure the public understands our scientific findings and how we translate them into practice.”
Last month Weyand received a three-year grant totaling $892,058 from the U.S. Army to focus on “quantifying the effect of loads on physiological stressors – such as metabolic rate and locomotor performance – over relatively short distances.”
“The overburdened foot soldier is a major issue for the army, and it needs guidance to evaluate the trade-offs involved in adding gear and technology that results in loading down the soldier. Pack weights can be 120 pounds or more,” he explains.
Other scientific investigations explore the function and dysfunction of human biological systems. In the department’s new Applied Physiology Laboratory, researchers use state-of-the-art equipment to study the autonomic nervous system in healthy and clinical populations. The autonomic nervous system controls heart rate, respiration, digestion, perspiration and other functions.
Assistant Professor Scott L. Davis directs the lab. In research funded by National Multiple Sclerosis Society grants, Davis examines autonomic dysfunction specifically related to thermoregulation and blood pressure control in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system and afflicts an estimated 2.1 million people worldwide.
First-year student Mayisha Nakib had been at SMU only a week last fall when she achieved one of her goals: to participate in research as an undergraduate. Upon learning of Nakib’s interest, Assistant Professor of PhysicsJodi Cooley suggested that she apply for a Hamilton Scholars Undergraduate Research grant. Nakib, a Dedman College Scholar, received the grant and now works with Cooley on dark matter research in the cleanroom laboratory in Fondren Science Building. Jodi Cooley (left) and Mayisha Nakib
Nakib is one of nearly 130 undergraduates who are conducting research with faculty across the University, from anthropology to engineering to statistics. Many are supported by SMU’s Undergraduate Research Assistantship program, created in 2005 to provide funds to encourage undergraduate research.
Other students receive funding from the Hamilton Scholars Program or Richter Fellowships, awarded to Honors Program students to conduct research either in the United States or internationally. Still other undergraduates who have impressed their teachers by excelling in their classes are asked to work on research projects.
“There are many benefits for undergraduate students who engage in research projects,” says James E. Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies. “One broadens the scope of study beyond what can be obtained strictly in the classroom. And the opportunity to pursue a topic or idea in an independent way with faculty involvement or supervision provides an important path to intellectual growth.”
Working closely with a faculty mentor on research and discovery is a key component of SMU’s recently created Engaged Learning program, which provides undergraduates the opportunity to complement their classroom education through engagement in research, service, internships or other activities with the Dallas-Fort Worth community and beyond. Monnie McGee (left) and Michael McCarthyAssociate Professor of Statistical ScienceMonnie McGee has mentored senior Michael McCarthy, one of the first recipients of an Engaged Learning grant. McCarthy, a double major in statistics and mathematics, is analyzing data that evaluates home care support provided to veterans with spinal cord injuries for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Dallas. The home care program for veterans attempts to reduce the need for veterans’ visits for medical appointments and emergencies to the medical center.
McCarthy, who had taken three classes from McGee, asked her to mentor his project. The two meet weekly to go over assignments and to review the data that McCarthy is gathering from patients. “Understanding how data are gathered and entered is very important to any research,” McGee says. “When you ask questions about the quality of life of the participants, you realize you have to be particular and methodical to obtain reliable information. I think Michael is beginning to grasp concepts that he may not have understood before taking on this project. He is a really good student and has made it easy for me to be a mentor,” she adds.
Pursuing an undergraduate research project not only “reinforces material gleaned from coursework, it can provide valuable feedback on the kind of career a student chooses,” Quick says. Following are examples of research that undergraduates are conducting under the guidance of SMU faculty. And while each relationship is different, depending on the academic level of the student and the nature of the research, one thing is the same: the shared passion of student and faculty for exploring the unknown together.
Physicist Jodi Cooley leads SMU students as part of a global team searching for elusive dark matter – the “glue” that represents 85 percent of the matter in our universe, but which has never been observed. Cooley is a member of the scientific consortium called SuperCryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS), which operates a particle detector located deep in an underground abandoned mine in Minnesota. The detector is focused on detecting WIMPS (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), which some physicists theorize comprise dark matter. WIMPS are particles of such low mass that they rarely interact with ordinary matter, making them extremely difficult to detect.
To assess background interference that could affect their research, Cooley and her team rely on the high-tech XIA Alpha Particle Counter, housed in a cleanroom operated by the Department of Physics. SMU is one of only five institutions in the world to house the XIA. As part of the team, student Mayisha Nakib is investigating the history of various detectors to calculate their exposure to radon or radioactivity, which can produce background interference. Less background interference improves the chances of observing WIMPS.
Nakib, who is majoring in biological sciences and physics, says she already has learned new computer skills and how to operate the particle counter. “The faster I get involved with research, the easier it will be to pick it up.”
Cooley adds that the Physics Department has more students who are eager to conduct research than it has faculty who can mentor them. Larry Ruben (right) and Nick Burns
For 30 years, Biological SciencesProfessor Larry Ruben has worked on decoding the genetic traits of a parasite that causes the lethal disease commonly known as sleeping sickness, infecting humans and livestock and potentially more than 60 million people in 36 countries. His most recent work focuses on proteins required for late stages of cell division and on the pathways that regulate cell division and cell death. He is searching for unique processes in the trypanosome parasite that can be used to design new therapies that may prevent infected cells from successfully dividing and reproducing.
“Better understanding of these proteins could lead to development of new drugs to treat sleeping sickness,” Ruben says.
In his lab, Ruben oversees senior and President’s Scholar Nick Burns, who is majoring in biological sciences and French with a chemistry minor and also received a Hamilton Scholars Undergraduate Research grant. For the past year, Burns has been working on his own project, which “doesn’t often happen with undergraduates in the lab,” Ruben says.
Burns is looking at how suppression of a signal or production of an inappropriate signal in cell division can be lethal to the trypanosome organisms. Specifically, he is investigating a gene that tells the trypanosome where to place some of its specialized structures, like its flagellum (tail), nucleus and skeletal components. If the structures do not align properly, then cell division may be inhibited; this could be further explored as a new target for therapies against sleeping sickness, he says.
Through his research experience, Burns says he has gained a “passion” for the study of molecular parasitology, which he hopes to continue in medical school, as well as “an appreciation for science itself. You learn a lot of analytical skills and realize what a time-consuming experience and intellectual game the whole process is. It takes patience and a lot more patience.” Maria Minniti (left) and Kalinda Dinoffer
The ongoing economic crisis has underlined the importance of female entrepreneurship, which historically has been a significant defense against economic distress for many families. First-year B.B.A. Scholar Kalindi Dinoffer is searching through historical records and data to learn what conditions best promote this activity in both good and bad economic times, and eventually may search as far back as the Colonial era. The information will support research conducted by Maria Minniti, Bobby B. Lyle Chair of Entrepreneurship at Cox School of Business, who plans to expand her study of female entrepreneurship into a book. Minniti says she recognized resourceful and detail-oriented qualities in Dinoffer, who took a business decision-making class from her last fall, which would make for a reliable research assistant.
The two meet weekly to go over the data that Dinoffer has found. “Learning more about female entrepreneurship and its historical evolution will teach us a lot about how individuals (both men and women) respond to incentives, to uncertainty, and how employment choices are made,” Minniti says. “We also will learn what policies and institutional systems are more conducive to women’s participation in the labor force and how the legal and regulatory systems molded the socioeconomic dynamics of the U.S. labor market.”
Dinoffer, who is also considering studies in the social sciences and economics, thought she would conduct the research for a semester, but “now I’ve gotten invested in this and can’t just hand off the data to someone else! And I’ve learned that interacting with faculty is what you make of it, that they respond if you show you’re interested. Dr. Minniti has gone above and beyond in making herself accessible to her students.”
A Meadows Exploration Grant enabled senior and President’s Scholar Charlton Roberts to undertake a project last fall that combined computer programming and live theatre. The theatre and computer science major wanted to explore how computation could be a part of a theatrical performance, not just facilitate it, and enlisted the aid of student actors and engineers to help create the project. Ira Greenberg (left) and Charlton Roberts
“My idea was to use computation as a fundamental facet of the storytelling on stage – a form versus content approach,” Roberts says. During the performance, audience members sat in chairs on the stage of the Hope Theatre with the curtain closed. Six actors and a dancer, who received their lines and direction from a computer program, improvised their scenes in front of a giant white sheet with video projectors placed in the front and back. The Meadows grant provided funding for the connections, Apple TVs, cords, cables and hardware needed to create the production.
Roberts worked on the project through the Center of Creative Computation, a new area of study in Meadows School of the Arts that also requires coursework in the Lyle School of Engineering. At the philosophical core of the major is the integration of creative and analytical study and practice – championing a “whole brain” approach, says Associate Professor and center director Ira Greenberg, who teaches in both schools. Although Greenberg did not work with Roberts on the project in the fall, he has worked with him on an independent study this spring.
“We’re asking students to become proficient computer programmers who must deal with math and computer science, but we also expect them to be good artists, and that’s what Charlton did,” Greenberg says.
Roberts adds that the project “far exceeded my expectations to the point that I have completely changed my mind about being an actor. I get more creative fulfillment out of projects like this than acting now. And this would not have been possible without the creative environment SMU provides.”
Harrison Taylor Benjamin SnowHave a new addition to your family? Share your happy news with the SMU community in SMU Magazine. Send a quality photograph – photos should be at least 1500 pixels wide – along with the names and graduation dates of alumni parents (and grandparents) and your baby’s vital statistics: birthdate, weight, length and place of birth. Only photographs of children ages 2 and younger will be published as space allows.
Here is a sample of the information that will be printed for each photo: Jennifer Gadd Snow ’07 and Andrew Snow of Dallas welcomed their first child, Harrison Taylor Benjamin, Sept. 10, 2010. Harrison was 6 lbs., 1 oz., and 20 in.
Send image files and information to smumag@smu.edu. Deadline for the fall 2012 issue is September 4. Be sure to include a phone number. Remember: Precious Ponies dressed in spirit gear will melt Mustang hearts.
Alumni support is crucial to the achievement of University goals, and chapters around the world serve as the primary conduit for engagement by former students with their alma mater, says Bill Vanderstraaten ’82, chair of the SMU Alumni Board. Bill Vanderstraaten
“We want to increase participation by alumni in all parts of SMU life, including recruiting prospective students, volunteering and annual giving,” he says. “The chapters program provides the platform for our out-of-town alumni to become ambassadors for the University in their communities in every way.”
SMU alumni chapters number 38 from coast to coast in the United States. In addition, 14 international groups in Mexico, Central America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia bridge the miles to the Hilltop.
Outside of Dallas, the chapters boasting the greatest number of SMU alumni are Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, St. Louis, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
San Diego is home to the newest chapter, which is expected to be up and running by the end of this academic year. The Cleveland, Ohio, chapter just relaunched after a year of inactivity.
The Fort Worth chapter also is going strong, reports Watt Stephens ’07, chapter leader. Stephens, who serves on the Fort Worth Steering Committee for The Second Century Campaign, “just couldn’t stand all the purple over here” and decided the time was right to paint the town red and blue.
In late February he organized the chapter’s first event in several years. Approximately 60 alumni, spanning class years from 1949 to 2009, gathered at a landmark venue in Sundance Square to get acquainted and learn about the many avenues for engagement with SMU.
“I got a lot of positive feedback from alumni who are interested in becoming more involved with the University as volunteers,” says Stephens, a commercial lending manager with Frost Bank. “Several alumni expressed an interest in partnering with the Hegi Family Career Development Center in some way.”
A focused approach to revitalizing the alumni chapters program began in 2008. As chair of the Outreach Committee at that time, Vanderstraaten led the team effort.
“We were a national university without a national chapter structure, which was a vital missing link to accomplishing University goals,” says Vanderstraaten, president of Chief Partners, a private real estate investment firm in Dallas. Jennifer Leslie Boettcher '92 (left) and Kim Head Amos '94, chapter leader, at an alumni event in Atlanta.
Under the leadership of the SMU Alumni Board and the Young Alumni Board, the chapters program has flourished. Game day watch parties, community service, net-working breakfasts, happy hours and “SMU on the Road” events are just a few of the activities offered by alumni chapters. These Mustang gatherings not only strengthen ties between former students and the University, but they also provide a collegial forum for networking and meeting new friends.
“For me, the primary benefit of staying connected is the friendships – the continuation of bonds with people I knew in college and forging new friendships with SMU alumni I’ve met since graduating,” says Kim Head Amos ’94.
After earning Bachelor’s degrees in political science and French, Amos landed in New York where she headed the New York City alumni chapter from 1996-2000. When she moved to Atlanta, she stepped into that chapter’s leadership role, a post she has held for 10 years.
“When you live away from Dallas, you need the SMU group in your town much more,” Amos says. “Chapters are a great resource for alumni, especially those who have recently relocated and may need housing information, networking contacts or just a friendly face.” John Gaines, Chicago chapter leader
In Chicago the Careers and Cocktails series brings together recent graduates with more seasoned alumni, says chapter leader John Gaines ’04, a commercial real estate broker.
“We usually bring in a guest speaker to address a specific topic, followed by a question-and-answer period,” he explains. Recent speakers have included experts in the fields of finance and human resources. “Afterward, alumni often stay and network. We’ve gotten great feedback, particularly from our older alumni who really like that it’s not just a happy hour, that it’s an informational program as well.”
In Orange County, California, weekday get-togethers at a central location provide Mustangs living in the sprawling region with a chance to reconnect, says chapter leader Alexandra Aswad ’06, a California native who works in pharmaceutical sales.
“We recently had two alumni, who had been good friends at SMU but lost touch after graduation, come to an event and find each other after all these years,” she says. “We’ve also had alumni who didn’t know each other at the University meet and become good friends.”
A shared interest in Mustang sports and the latest news about Centennial happenings inspire alumni of all ages to come together for watch parties and “SMU on the Road” campus updates.
“It has been an advantage to build a network while our sports teams have been improving. It’s always easy to rally alumni around sports,” says Vanderstraaten. “Our move to the Big East Conference will provide a whole new experience for SMU alumni.”
Through chapter participation alumni also show their appreciation to the University.
“I grew up in Richardson, so I technically didn’t go away to school, but the geographic diversity of the student population made it seem like I did,” says Vanderstraaten, who earned a B.B.A. from SMU.
“Attending SMU was life-changing, and I want future students to have that same positive experience, which is why I give back to the University – both through financial support and my time.”
Get Involved, Connect Today
Whether they recruit new students to the Hilltopor rally support for SMU’s Second Century Campaign, alumni are vital to the University’s mission to strengthen its student quality, faculty excellence, academic distinction and the campus experience.
Alumni talent and enthusiasm are always needed to:
Recruit students
Mentor students
Inspire peers to make a gift
Represent Hispanic alumni
Plan class reunions
Represent African-American alumni
Get involved in local chapters
Represent young alumni
The “Get Involved” website streamlines the volunteer process. On the site alumni can view a description of each opportunity and outlines of expectations and time requirements.
The online application procedure is quick and easy: Select the “Connect Today” button; fill out the form, checking all programs of interest; and hit the submit button. A representative from Alumni Relations will follow up with all volunteers.
For questions about SMU’s alumni involvement opportunities, e-mail involved@smu.edu or call 214-768-2586 (ALUM) or 1-888-327-3755.
Dr. Lucile A. Allen 1/25/99 Samuel F. Steele 5/25/58
1932
Jimmie M. Woodward 9/16/01
1933
Dennis B. McNamara 8/19/01 Curtis C. Mitchell 1/5/09
1937
Angus Bailey 12/13/93 Howard W. Mays 2/4/12
Col. Jesse R. Rogers 5/1/84
1938
Dr. John Maxwell Anderson 10/25/11
Dr. Mary Jo Crampton Montgomery 10/20/09
1939
The Rev. Homer Noel Bryant 1/3/11
Dr. John Harvey Killough 4/12/00 George E. Livings 2/9/12 Katherine Greeman Mitchell 5/9/04 Nat Allen Pinkston 9/4/11
1940
Martha Sharp Bryan 10/23/11 Jack H. Johnson 12/27/11 Celeste Budd Kostanick 2/1/12
Col. Hugh W. Robbins 4/28/08
The Rev. Roy Clifford Rowlan ’41, 11/27/11
1941
Betty Jean Ballard 3/29/11 Elliott Doyle English 2/15/12
Gen. Fred E. Haynes 3/25/10 Cynthia Anne Warren Meeks 1/6/12 Raymond L. Windt 9/17/11
1942
Dr. Clarence James Borger 12/21/11 Kenneth G. Dixon 6/20/01 John C. Gregory 1/14/12 William H. Harrison 12/5/04 Robert G. Langdon, M.D., Ph.D., 3/19/11
Dr. Joseph L. Leach 12/29/11 William Frank Manning 11/9/11 Clyde I. Maund Stephenson ’76, 6/7/11 Dickinson Yale Waldron 2/22/09
1943
Elizabeth Nelson Maxwell 3/1/95
Dr. Richard E. Maxwell 11/15/99 Arthur H. Stern 1/5/12
The Rev. Vernon C. Stutzman 8/10/11
1944
Nell Carter Fenton 7/8/10 Robert A. LaFleur 7/22/98
1945
Melvin S. Aronoff 1/9/12
The Rev. Emmitt C. Barrow 4/28/10
The Rev. Lawson Gerald Lee 11/23/11 Frances C. Bailey McCall 2/12/12 Florene Wilson Reed 11/5/11 Katharine M. Rupard Waite 1/26/12 Charles R. Young 5/23/11
1946
Frank P. Carvey Jr. 1/2/12 Carolyn Boston Kirkham 1/7/12 Fayrinne Smith Lester 10/16/11 Joann Morey Long 2/3/12
1947
Nancy Wood Fair 10/9/11 Lisbeth N. Day Leath 11/29/06 James R. McDade 11/1/11 Dorothy Harding Parr 5/3/11 Jerry Sterling Stover 2/7/12
1948
William R. Bozman 1/15/12 Polly Koon Claxton 10/3/11 Virginia E. Duff 1/13/12 Lou Morton Ellis 9/27/11 Barbara Jean Gilpin Lanser 11/30/11 George Howard Linton 4/4/05 Charles R. Roberson 12/7/11 Eugenia Vincent Sears 8/25/11
The Rev. James Clifton Sprouls 1/10/10 Jack A. Titus ’52 12/26/11 Louis A. Williams 2/10/12
1949
Donald A. Bedunah ’56 3/31/05 Maurice D. Bratt 1/5/12 Thomas I. Coleman Jr. 9/24/11 Walter H. Coleman Jr. 1/7/12 Thomas Bacon Cuny Jr. 3/29/11 Sydney Lavelle Farr 6/11/11 Kenneth T. Grantham 10/1/11 David D. Grayson 1/29/12 Ruby McCollom Haley 12/14/11 Frank Bridges Haughton 1/9/12 James E. Hestand Sr. 9/20/11 Bementa Beck Ingalls 12/6/11 Earl W. Mealer Jr. 1/5/12
The Rev. Barbara Fleming O’Neal ’69 1/27/12 Louis Burns Parum 11/6/11 Gail L. Pitts 8/31/11 Willard Frank Proctor 2/1/12 Fred Bryan Shelton Jr. ’53, 8/20/11 Richard Joe Snow 2/14/12 William W. Snyder 2/1/11 Ted Dundas Treadaway 1/28/12 Richard L. Turner Jr. 1/17/12 John H. Wall 2/13/12
The Rev. Harry C. Walz 3/31/11 Horace B. Watson Jr. ’51, 2/8/12 Philip Bert Wise 4/7/04
1950
James D. Adams 7/31/09 Gordon W. Alexander 6/11/98 John Harold Anderson 12/5/11 Rawlins Apperson 1/25/12 Thomas Lee Bailey 6/7/01
The Rev. Lee A. Bedford Jr. ’52, 9/30/11 Howard Lafe Coldwell 9/13/11 Arthur L. Green 11/2/11 William Don Halbert 2/18/12 Jerome (Jerry) Martin Haynes 9/26/11 Josephine H. Wood Kiel 9/23/11 Samuel A. Paine 12/18/11 Willis E. Plunk 10/9/11 William E. Ralph 3/14/08 Donald G. Runyan 1/1/12 L. Harrold Salmon 1/29/12 Clyde A. Saunders Jr. 10/7/11 Dan S. Shipley 12/19/11 Mary Crook Campbell Shoop 1/8/12 William D. Stafford 12/24/11 Kenneth E. Staples 12/7/11 Eldon R. Vaughan 9/17/11 Nancy Hogue Webb 2/17/12 Ena Shrader White 10/24/09 Charles J. Winikates 1/20/12
1951
Charles L. Carroll 12/19/11 Cecil R. Couch Jr. 1/22/11 Jean Cammack Cragg 5/30/10 Jack T. Gay ’59, 9/19/11 Thomas Henry Greer 1/15/10 Richard F. Henley 1/14/11 Carl G. King Jr. 5/2/11 William M. Koger 11/26/09 Anna Leslie Coolidge Richardson 12/20/11 Louis Newton Sparkman Jr. 12/24/11 James E. Vermillion 11/27/11 Robert William Weyrauch 7/11/05
1952
Herbert N. F. Calhoun 9/4/06 Julianne Carroll Carpenter 1/30/12 A. E. Collier 1/15/1 Bruce Gilbert 1/26/10 Pauline Barnes James 1/11/12
The Rev. Finis B. Jeffery 7/16/10 Dorothy Louise Pfeiffer La Borde 12/14/11 Tom C. Madden 4/15/11 Lonnie W. Mohundro Jr. 4/11/09
Dr. Anton G. Ostroff 12/28/11 Douglass C. Peabody Sr. 12/28/11 William F. Sallis Jr. 1/13/12
Dr. Jack W. Shoultz 11/6/11
Dr. Norman W. Spellmann 9/10/11 W. Warren Tilson 6/30/08
1953
John Cramer Biggers ’55, 2/1/12 Thordis D. Harden, 8/13/1 Ann Brittain Reed, 11/5/11
The Rev. W. Sidney Roberts, 10/15/11
1954
Wayne D. Bodensteiner, 7/29/00
The Rev. James T. Fleming, 1/30/11 Robert R. Guinn, 5/17/89 Tom N. Hewlett, 9/29/11 Marvin P. Hodges, 8/21/92 Roger W. Kraus ’56, 2/15/12 Kenneth L. Sisserson 9/28/11 Sarah Forbes Wayland 6/13/11
1955
Gerald Bernard Busby 12/5/11 William L. Crawford Jr. 12/23/11 Carol Moss Leonardon, 10/22/10 Robert Vance Parker 9/20/11 Betty McCaa Randall 1/29/12 Homer C. Schmidt 2/5/12
1956
Bryan E. Bush Jr. 12/4/10 Stanley Dee Coker 12/6/89
The Rev. Dr. Jack Hooper 2/25/11 Arnold J. Hudson 9/27/11
The Rev. Russell R. Jones 9/24/11
1957
Col. George A. Brewer III 12/21/11 Lawrence A. Carpenter 12/31/11 Amalie Lieberman Koppel 12/6/11 Patrick S. Russell Jr. ’58, 7/24/01 Willard Douglas Simpson 4/6/04 James H. W. Tseng, Ph.D., ’78, 7/29/07
1958
Charles Herbert Asel Jr. 7/22/11 Carroll Sneed Brown ’61, 11/8/11
The Rev. Jack Callaway 1/22/12 Roger Edward Davidson, 9/20/11 Al Fairfield 12/31/11 Anne Perdue Herrscher ’86, 10/11/11 Ronald Wesley Hughes Sr. 11/24/11 John L. Moore 9/28/04
The Rev. Clair D. Wilcoxon 7/10/11
1959
Kenneth L. Baker 11/21/11 Charles R. Bergstrom 2/7/11 Marshall Rhea Bobbitt 10/4/11 Hal Dean Caskey 2/9/12
Dr. John L. Davis 11/4/11 Gordon L. Gano Jr. 1/23/12 Hubert Skembare 5/10/10 Stanley Rolfe Wilfong 7/10/11
1960
Andy T. Ward, Ph.D., 12/31/11
1961
Margaret K. Houston Cheyney 9/21/11 F. M. Hennen 3/16/03 Eugene Rippen 7/30/11 Ed H. Smith Jr. 1/29/12
1962
T. William Bechtol Jr. 9/28/03
The Rev. Bill Browers 3/25/11 Eugene M. Decker III 12/6/11 Linnie Mower Garner 4/18/11 Robert Michael Kirkpatrick 9/16/11 Richard P. Koehn II 1/20/12
Dr. Carol L. Wheeler-Liston 10/19/09
1963
David J. Bohlmann 8/3/11 H. H. Cunningham Jr. 1/15/06
Dr. William M. Curtis III 11/10/11 Marion W. Demus 10/20/11 Joseph V. Dust, Ph.D., 12/14/11 Paul Gustav Faler 12/14/11 Howard D. Johnson 7/5/10 Ronald V. Mason ’69, 10/15/11 James P. Williams Jr. 4/3/05
1964
Walter J. Crawford Jr. 2/6/12 Joanne McEwen Phelps 10/3/11 Lynn Slepicka 10/15/95 Richard E. Whinery 12/5/11 John A. Woodside ’66, 1/4/12
1965
David R. Barnett ’71, 5/28/06 James T. Bonner 5/15/11 Patricia McKee 10/1/05 Terrence M. Peake ’67, 9/29/11 Wallace M. Swanson 6/23/11
1966
The Rev. David A. Day 8/23/11 Sherry Stribling Greener 10/20/11
1967
Dr. Roy Edward Johnson 12/8/11 Dan Richard Kirbie 9/17/1 James William Moore 2/11/11
1968
William David Gill II 11/30/1 Shelby R. Henson 11/8/11 Doris Mae Leslie 1/20/12 Nathaniel Fred Taylor 9/2/11
1969
Dr. Arthur J. Collmeyer 9/28/11 Norma Goldthwaite Hoffrichter 6/12/08 Mike L. Janszen 1/21/12 Charlie Neil Overton 10/1/83 Paul W. Pearson ’76, 9/18/11 Eliane Uninsky, M.D., ’72, 10/10/06 Don F. Waniata 6/5/11 Jessamine Grimes Younger 1/11/12
1970
Richard L. Blosser 7/22/06 John R. Cole 3/13/11 Robert D. Crenshaw 11/14/11 Joe L. Dunlap 11/27/11 Wendell A. McAndrew 1/4/12 Michael S. McKelvy 8/26/02 Pat D. Robertson Jr. 4/16/10 Richard W. Tillman 10/11/11
1971
Edward J. Block 10/12/11 Martha Mitchell Couch-Courtney 7/10/11 Fredrick G. Davidson 9/23/11 Ivan E. Huddleston 2/13/83 Richard H. Ivers 9/12/11
1972
Bill Hegedus, 1/5/96 Charles L. Mac Donald 10/1/04 Vernon Edward Morgan 9/22/11 Joseph A. Morin 2/19/09 Margaret (Peggy) Nicolai Railey 12/26/11 Jack E. Runion ’79, 9/27/11
1973
Eric L. Paul 12/17/11 Val Henry Sharp Jr. 3/18/11
1974
George C. Burrows 1/23/12 John C. Durkin 10/1/11 Carsten Ernst Meyer 12/11/11 David L. Pace 11/13/11 Doris A. Hutchison Preston 7/1/06
1975
Stuart McIlwaine Irby 1/17/12 Sylvia Jacobs Knie 9/23/11 James M. Pannill 8/1/87 Dennis Michael Roe 9/21/11 Jeff Forrest Smith 1/4/12 Bruce E. Wilkinson 3/9/11
The Rev. John N. Williams 9/18/11 John Manning Wulfers 12/2/11
1976
Mark A. Wilson, M.D., 3/23/09
1977
Phil H. Rogers Jr. ’83, 10/14/11 Terry M. Shapley 1/21/12
1978
Jewel Dean Burrus 8/14/00
The Rev. Woody R. Flynt Jr. 2/1/11 Leonard Johnson 12/7/11 Susan Jane Rascoe 1/10/12
The Rev. Danny Glenn Rinehart 9/26/11
1979
Phillip Kevin Baxter 8/7/04 Zada A. Pement Grider, R.N., 11/25/11 Andrew Oden Jensen Jr. 4/23/11 Thomas M. Strava ’01, 11/12/11 Jon Douglas Welker 9/11/11
1980
Robert E. Rose III 9/24/11
1983
Paula Schildhau Dickey 8/12/11
1984
Connie J. Miller 2/13/12
1985
The Rev. Oltha Thomas Austin Jr. 1/17/12
1986
Carolyn Hamilton Huckleberry 1/23/08 Gerald Douglas Lowry 11/24/10 Nancy Griffith Mercer 1/14/12
1987
Robin Janette Copeland Solomon 10/30/11
1988
F. Paul Benz III 9/13/11
1989
Scott A. Freshwater 1/1/12 Glenn Allen Tucker 11/25/11
1990
Roger Talamantez Herrera 10/30/11
1991
Edward Thomas Malek III 12/13/09
1992
The Rev. Pamela Stevenson Besser 12/25/11 Flavio Paes Daibert 12/6/11 Karl Scott La Porte 6/12/06
1995
Robert Stephen Klefisch 4/25/11 Thomas Francis Lysaught 12/29/11
1998
Ronald Eddins 1/5/12
2001
Bonnie J. Stein 9/6/11
2002
William Fredrick deTournillon III 10/22/10 Yat-Fai Philco Poon 7/25/03
2004
Kerry Liebrecht 4/18/11 Melody Ann Monroe Loggins 9/9/11 Charlene Denise Williams 9/17/11
2005
Sharad Sood 8/26/10
2006
James Robert Green III 12/29/11
2011
D’Anna Conway Chance 10/14/11
SMU Community
The Rev. Dr. Roy D. Barton ’57, retired faculty member and founding director of the Mexican American Program in Perkins School of Theology, 10/18/11 Allen Maxwell ’37, ’40, former director of the SMU Press and adjunct English professor, 2/11/12 Gladys Mollet, retired staff member in Perkins School of Theology, 1/17/12 Darlene Moses, former staff member in Student Activities, 12/20/11 Stephen C. Piper, current staff member in Cox School of Business, 12/27/11 Michael Pueppke, Ph.D. student in English, 2/12/12 Gretchen Voight, assistant registrar for academic ceremonies in the Division of Enrollment Services, 3/23/12
A thread of philanthropy weaves through the fiber of SMU. Each year more than 2,500 SMU students volunteer with over 70 nonprofit organizations, and as alumni they continue to make a positive difference in their communities and around the globe. Following are the stories of two SMU graduates who are changing lives through their good works. Carter Higley ’01: LEAD (Letting Everyone Achieve Dreams)
Carter Higley ’01 of Houston, founder of LEAD (Letting Everyone Achieve Dreams), a youth mentoring and leadership program, calls SMU a “game-changer.” Carter Higley ’01 (center, in white shirt) and some participants in the youth mentoring and leadership program he founded in Houston.
“I had a wonderful experience from an academic perspective, but what was even more fulfilling was the opportunity to give back through community involvement,” he says. “I think I may have started out a bit singularly focused, and my volunteer experiences definitely broadened my perspective.”
As an SMU student, Higley served as a volunteer tutor for struggling Dallas students. Working with the youngsters inspired him to join Teach for America after graduation. Assigned to Compton, a city in southern Los Angeles County, he witnessed the need for strong role models and enrichment opportunities outside the classroom.
“Summers were particularly challenging for students,” he says. “They had a lot of free time on their hands and not much to do that was productive.”
After completing his teaching commitment, Higley forged a successful career in business – he is now a financial adviser with UBS – but his students left a lasting impression.
In spring 2005, he and his wife, Jamil, founded LEAD. The year-round program for inner-city youth instills confidence and strengthens self-esteem through team building and leadership training activities, as well as community service projects and a summer wilderness experience.
What sets LEAD apart from similar programs is a six-year commitment required of both students and mentors. Students must apply and be accepted as sixth-graders – participants are called “LEADers.” They work with the same three mentors until they graduate from high school. Throughout the school year, LEADers must meet academic, service and other standards to remain eligible.
Higley reports that “all 16 students in our first LEAD class have completed high school and are attending college, including a student who was the first from his high school to go to MIT.” Jennifer Kenning ’01 and Josh Helland ’00: A Good Night Sleep
A scene in the movie “The Blind Side” caught Jennifer Kenning off guard. When the Michael Oher character is shown his new room, he confesses that he’s never before had a bed. That powerful moment moved her. Josh Helland ’00 and Jennifer Kenning ’01 are shown with mattresses donated to provide beds to those in need.
“I couldn’t imagine not having a bed to sleep in at night,” says Kenning, a wealth management director for Aspiriant in Los Angeles. “It made me realize how much I take for granted.”
While her initial intention was to write a check to a charity that provides beds to the needy, she discovered “there was not a single organization with that sole purpose,” she says.
In fall 2010, Kenning filled that gap by founding A Good Night Sleep (AGNS). The nonprofit organization partners with charitable groups to provide beds and bedding
to the homeless and others in need as they transition into permanent housing. She serves as chair of AGNS, and fellow Mustang Josh Helland ’00 is executive director.
During Homecoming weekend last year, Kenning and Helland organized the first Dallas “bed drop.” Among the local partners was the mattress retailer Sleep Experts, owned by Chris ’91 and Christine Cook ’91. Beds and basic household items were provided for 120 people moving from The Bridge homeless shelter to apartments.
“We plan to do another bed drop in Dallas and are very interested in working with SMU student groups,” says Kenning.
To date, A Good Night Sleep has provided 504 beds and bedding in Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Managua, Nicaragua, with a commitment to distribute another 123 beds in 2012.
Allison Hannel ’04 served in San Juancito, Honduras (2005-07). Allison Hannel’s “proudest accomplishment” while serving as a business development volunteer with the Peace Corps in San Juancito, Honduras, was establishing the first restaurant in the agrarian village of 3,000 people. The humble venture consisted of only four picnic tables and a menu of eight variations on a rice-beans-tortillas theme, yet it thrived.
“My measure of success for the project was that just three months after we opened, two or three other restaurants opened, serving the same type of meals,” says Hannel, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in marketing from SMU in 2004.
Hannel and other members of the University community shared their memories and accomplishments during SMU’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps January 31. Approximately 40 returned volunteers now living in North Texas attended the event. Michael McKay ’87 is manager of the Peace Corps’ Southwest region.
Michael McKay ’87, who holds a Master’s degree in public administration from SMU, manages the Peace Corps’ 10-state Southwest region. Of the more than 200,000 people who have served in 139 host countries, 111 are SMU alumni, he says.
Hannel’s service in the Peace Corps quenched a thirst for “living abroad and the experience of being immersed in another culture.” As a student and varsity volleyball player, her rigorous schedule left no time for study overseas, so she applied for the Peace Corps and was accepted a year after graduating.
In addition to opening the restaurant in San Juancito, Hannel assisted village artisans in marketing and distributing their handmade products, taught English and basic accounting, and helped start a high school computer center.
“Now all these kids I taught to use a mouse are my friends on Facebook,” she says.
After returning to Texas in 2007, Hannel found that “the combination of SMU and the Peace Corps set me apart from the pack” when she was exploring career options. She was hired into the AT&T leadership program and now serves as a senior brand manager for the company. David Metcalf ’99 served in Partido, Dominican Republic (1993-95).
Likewise, David Metcalf ’99 feels his term in the Dominican Republic (1993-95), coupled with an international finance degree, opened doors upon his return to the States. “My Peace Corps experience complemented the solid academic foundation I already had,” he says.
Assigned to Partido, a town of approximately 10,000 in the northwest corner of the country near the Haitian border, Metcalf used his finance background as a banking and small business consultant. He also learned to speak Spanish and gained insights into another culture that only come from becoming a part of it.
“The more you give, the more you get. It’s a chance to make a difference unlike any other,” says Metcalf, a manager with the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas.
Several faculty and staff members found their experiences in bridging cultural chasms with a common language of peace and hope to be truly life-changing. History Professor Dennis Cordell and Jane Albritton ’67, ’71.
Thomas Tunks, professor of music education in Meadows School of the Arts, served in Colombia, South America (1968-69). “Every day, what I do is affected by those short years and what I learned,” he says. “You get so much more out of it than you give.” Susan Kress, director of SMU Engaged Learning, served in Malaysia in Southeast Asia (1975-76). At the event, she thanked the Peace Corps for providing the opportunity “to become a citizen of the world.” Dennis Cordell, professor of history in Dedman College, entered the Peace Corps in 1968 and volunteered in the central African nation of Chad until 1970. “If you’re thinking about what to do next, I urge you to consider the possibilities of the Peace Corps,” he said. “You very well may end up with the hardest job you ever loved.” Jane Albritton ’67, ’71, a writer, editor and former lecturer in English at SMU, served in India (1967-69) and was instrumental in creating a lasting legacy to the first half-century of the Peace Corps. Albritton signed copies of the anthology she edited, Even the Smallest Crab Has Teeth: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories, at the SMU Barnes and Noble bookstore February 4. Donald Ross ’70 (left) served in Thailand (1963-65) and his son, Owen Ross, served in Ecuador (1996-98).
Among the 9,000 volunteers now serving in 75 countries are eight SMU alumni, according to McKay. Among them are Robin and Woody Al-Haddad. Robin ’04, a cultural anthropology major, and Woody ’96, an engineer, live in rural Mpumalanga, South Africa, and teach English and math in three schools. They chronicle the progress of various projects – from raising funds for high school textbooks to showing youngsters how to use toothbrushes – in a blog, “Rhino & Springbok’s Excellent Adventure in South Africa.”
In a recent posting, Robin recounted her high school students’ experiences as pen pals with seventh-grade students in Farmers Branch, Texas. Although designed to help the South African students improve their writing skills in English, the exercise also “opened their eyes to some of the similarities and differences between themselves and American kids,” she wrote. “It’s pretty universal that most teenagers love to talk about music, sports and animals. But when it comes to food – well, that’s a different story. I found myself trying to explain more than once what fajitas and sushi are.”
Black Alumni of SMU history makers: (from left) Gene (GE) Pouncy Sr. ’74, Joe Pouncy ’74, Michael Rideau ’76, Michael Waters ’02, ’06, Charles Howard ’72, Charles Mitchell ’71, Rufus Cormier ’70, Detra Taylor ’72 and Anga Sanders ’70. The event honoring the alumni and announcing the Black Alumni Scholarship was part of SMU
An estimated 118 alumni and guests gathered to honor the past and celebrate the future when Black Alumni of SMU recognized 13 of its history makers and introduced the inaugural Black Alumni Scholarship February 17.
The honorees included award-winning athletes, outstanding student leaders and members of the “SMU 33,” a group of students who, in 1969, staged a sit-in to call attention for the need for more diverse faculty and curriculum.
13 History Makers Recognized
LEADERSHIP
Bernard Jones ’01 – The first write-in candidate elected to the SMU Student Senate and, in 2002, the first person to be elected student body president without a runoff in a multi-candidate race.
Michael Waters ’02 – The former student body vice president who, while serving as a chaplain’s assistant in 2004, founded the SMU Civil Rights Pilgrimage to the “shrines of freedom” throughout the South. As a senior political science major at SMU, he helped create a set of remembrance journals where students recorded their reflections on the events of September 11, 2001.
ATHLETICS
Jerry LeVias ’69 – The first African-American player in the Southwest Conference to receive an athletic scholarship.
Mike Rideau ’76 and twins Joe Pouncy ’74 and Gene Pouncy ’74 – Members of the 400-meter relay team that won the Southwest Conference championship for three consecutive years.
CIVIL RIGHTS
The “SMU 33” – A group of students, including Rufus Cormier ’70, Charles Howard ’72, Charles Mitchell ’71, Michael Morris ’72, Anga Sanders’70 and Detra Taylor ’72, whose activism in 1969 drew attention to the need for more diverse faculty and curriculum and called for the University to improve working conditions for its African-American employees.
Rev. Zan Holmes Jr. ’59, ’68 – A Perkins School of Theology graduate who, as pastor of Hamilton Park United Methodist Church and a Texas legislator in 1969, helped successfully resolve the standoff between the “SMU 33” and the University administration.
The evening not only highlighted past accomplishments, but it also set the stage for future achievements through the Black Alumni Scholarship. The first scholarship will be awarded this spring to a rising sophomore or graduate student. To apply, a student must be a member of the Association for Black Students, maintain a 3.0 GPA and qualify for financial aid.
Anga Sanders ’70, a member of the “SMU 33” honored that evening, called the scholarship “a long-awaited dream.”
A video that included photographs, newspaper clippings and other materials from the SMU Archives showed the University as it was when many attendees were students. The contrast between the SMU of yesterday and today was palpable for Detra Taylor ’72, another member of the “SMU 33.”
“It really is like being in a different place today,” Taylor said. “There is a sense of community and belonging now.”
The history of the black student experience at SMU was an inspiration – and revelation – for some current SMU students at the event.
“Hearing their stories made me proud, and it really motivates me to want to be more courageous as a student,” said Bri Evans, a first-year English major in Dedman College. “I want to affect positive change like they did.”
For Fred Leach, a senior majoring in history and film, the evening was personal: his father, Fredrick S. Leach ’83, an SMU Trustee, and his uncle, Bobby Leach ’86, are SMU alumni.
“This is their history, and learning more about it makes me even prouder of their accomplishments,” he said.
Hortense Weir Smith’s “Tracing a Family’s Deep Hilltop Roots” (Mustang Memories, SMU Magazine, Fall 2011) prompted John B. Danna Jr. ’53 to continue the story in this letter. John B. Danna Jr. with his granddaughter, Mackenzie Martin, a first-year business student at SMU As I read SMU Magazine, I certainly have fond memories from my days at SMU. I remember receiving my diploma for a business degree in 1953, and thinking of my uncle, Ralph Beaver, about whom Ms. Smith’s article was written. Uncle Ralph was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity and graduated in 1923. His wife, Hazel Matthews, also attended SMU at that time, and they were married upon Ralph’s graduation.
Also, my thoughts were with my father, John B. Danna, a prominent Dallas architect who attended SMU in 1920 and 1921. He pledged Kappa Alpha (KA) fraternity and was one
of its first members at SMU.
In 1949 I registered at SMU and pledged ATO like my Uncle Ralph. I graduated in 1953 and spent two years active duty with the U.S. Air Force. After my tour of duty I studied architecture in Austin, Texas. I returned to Dallas to work with my father in his architectural practice in 1958.
Another family member associated with SMU is my cousin, Claire McDougle Roberts ’57. After graduating from SMU and raising her children, she worked at SMU with alumni and is now retired.
Last year was another milestone in our family as my granddaughter, Mackenzie Martin, excitedly enrolled as a first-year student in fall 2011. I’m looking forward to seeing her graduate with the Class of 2015!
With so many changes over the years, it is great to see how SMU has grown and prospered as one of the prominent universities in the country. The 100-year celebration, I am sure, will be an affair to remember. John B. Danna Jr. ’53, AIA Dallas, Texas
Corporate and civic leader Walter J. Humann ’67, lauded for his efforts in education, urban planning and other areas of public service, received the 2012 J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award from SMU April 2. Walter J. Humann
Presented by SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, the annual award recognizes individuals who epitomize the spirit of moral leadership and public virtue. In Humann’s case, that involves his work in improving race relations,
government organization, infrastructure and other facets of life in North Texas. The award also recognizes his successful business career: Humann leads his own firm, WJH Corporation, and has held top management positions in other major corporations, including Hunt Consolidated, Memorex-Telex and the LTV Corporation.
“Having worked closely with both Walt and Erik Jonsson on many projects, I can say that Walt’s spirit of public service and responsibility to his community is cut from the same cloth as Mayor Jonsson,” says SMU Trustee Ray Hunt ’65, chair of this year’s ethics award event. “Everything Walt has done for Dallas and its citizens, not to mention in his private business, has been conceived and executed with the highest level of ethical conduct and moral responsibility. I believe that there is no one in Dallas more deserving of this honor than Walt.”
Humann was selected for the honor because of his lifelong commitment to improving the quality of life for the Dallas community, says Maguire Center Director Rita Kirk.
“With quiet tenacity and perceptive vision, he played a pivotal role in the desegregation of the Dallas Independent School District by founding the Dallas Alliance Education Task Force, which created the Magnet Schools of DISD, thereby enriching the education and lives of thousands of children.
“With everything he’s done,” Kirk adds, “Walt upholds the tradition of excellence that the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award was created to recognize.”
Nationally, Humann was selected in 1970 as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Men of America,” primarily for chairing the committee to create the U.S. Postal Service while serving as a White House Fellow (the first from Texas).
Regionally, the “father of DART” led the successful redevelopment of the North Central Corridor, with Central Expressway and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) rail line helping to solve the nation’s “oldest living highway controversy.” He founded the Jubilee Project in the late 1990s and served for more than 10 years as its chairman, helping revitalize a 62-block inner-city Dallas neighborhood.
Humann holds a physics degree from MIT, an M.B.A. from Harvard and a Juris Doctor degree from the Evening Division of SMU’s Dedman School of Law. He has received numerous business and public service awards, including The Legacy of Leadership Award from the White House Fellows Foundation in Washington, D.C. He also has received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1998 and the Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.
Cardiologist John Harper’s passions for science and the written word merge in “Intersections: Literature and Medicine,” an annual conference he established in 2010. “The science of medicine could learn from literature by gaining a better understanding of the human condition, a view inside the human soul and more ways to deeply connect with patients through compassionate, healing words,” he stated in an announcement about the inaugural event. The conference is among the accomplishments for which he was recognized as the 2012 Dedman College Distinguished Graduate. He was honored along with Psychology Chair Ernest N. Jouriles, 2012 Dedman Family Distinguished Professor, and Kevin Eaton, Robert and Nancy Dedman Outstanding Senior Student, at the school’s annual awards luncheon March 20. Harper, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from SMU in 1968 and an M.D. from UT Southwestern Medical School in 1972, has been a clinical cardiologist for 33 years at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. He is the first Jennie Metcalf Ewton Chair for Cardiology at the hospital.
Ruth Morgan, provost and professor emerita, was the guest of honor at a luncheon hosted by some of her former students in November. Morgan taught political science in Dedman College, 1966-95. She also served as assistant provost, 1978-81, and associate provost, 1981-86, before becoming provost and vice president for academic affairs, 1986-93. Those attending the luncheon included (from left) Warren Russell ’69, “M” Award, 1969, Student Senate, and wife Sheryl; David Waldrep, ’70, ’73, ’93; Lon Williams ’70, president of the SMU Student Senate, 1969-70, “M” Award, 1970; JoAnn Harris Means ’70, ’74, student body president, 1972-73, “M” Award, 1973; Ruth Morgan’s son, Glenn E. Morgan; Provost Emerita Morgan; H.W. Perry Jr. ’74, student body president, 1973-74, “M” Award, 1974; Carolyn Jeter, assistant to the provost, 1987-present; Terry Means ’71, ’74, student body president, 1970-71, “M” Award, 1970; and Randy West ’70, ’74, ’77, Mustang Band drum major, 1967-72, assistant band director, 1969-72, and student senator, 1975-76. Not pictured is Craig Enoch ’72, ’75, recipient of a 2006 SMU Distinguished Alumni Award and a 1999 Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.
Flooding rains didn’t dampen the spirit of those who turned out for a “Happy Hour with the Professors” January 25. Sixty members of Dallas Young Alumni and 21 faculty members gathered to reminisce and share news about SMU. The event provided Kristina Kiik ’06, ’10 (left), Political Science Professor James Hollifield, who serves as director of SMU’s Tower Center For Political Studies, and Gennéa Squire de Torres ’06, ’11 with an opportunity to catch up. “I’m always amazed at the accomplishments of SMU’s faculty, and I am so fortunate to have a plethora of former professors who continue to inspire me today,” says de Torres, event chair.
Mouzon Biggs Jr. ’65 (right) received the 2012 Perkins School of Theology Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Alumni/ae Council of Perkins School of Theology at a dinner in his honor during Ministers Week in February. Biggs accepted the award from Suzanne Cox Reedstrom ’04, chair of the council and lead associate minister at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church, Houston, and Perkins Dean William B. Lawrence. The award recognizes distinguished public service, exemplary character and continuing support and involvement with the school. Biggs has been senior minister at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since 1980. A popular public speaker, he has addressed audiences in 30 states and traveled in 41 countries. His interfaith and interracial work have garnered numerous accolades, including the National Conference of Community and Justice Award and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Keeping the Dream Alive Award.
Becca Ellinor ’11 (left) and Korey Adams ’11 sort shoes during a community service project sponsored by the Dallas Young Alumni February 25. Twenty-five volunteers helped with Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls, which provides new shoes and socks to children in need in the United States and around the globe. Volunteers also wrote notes of encouragement to be placed in each pair of shoes. “This was a great opportunity for young alumni to stay connected and give back to the community at the same time,” says George B. Hunter ’05, event chair.
Former Mustang football players Mike Richardson ’69 (center) and Chris Rentzel ’72 (right) joined Coach June Jones for the National Signing Day celebration hosted by the SMU Mustang Club February 1. Among the 20 student-athletes recruited to the Hilltop is PARADE All-American Prescott Line, brother of running back Zach Line, a Doak Walker Award semifinalist. “Every year gets better,” Jones said, praising the recruits’ academic records and character as well as their athletic abilities. The 2012 season opens with a road trip to Waco to face Baylor September 1. The first home game will be against Stephen F. Austin September 8. Ticket information is available at smumustangs.com or by calling 214-768-4263 (SMU GAME).
Dedman School of Law honored seven highly accomplished legal and business professionals at its annual Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner February 27. This year’s recipients and their awards are (from left) W. Richard Davis ’58, mayor of University Park and a retired partner of Strasburger & Price LLP, Private Practice Award; Dean M. Gandy ’50, retired judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas, Judicial Service Award; trustee Carl Sewell Jr., chairman of Sewell Automotive Companies, who earned a B.B.A. in banking, finance and economics from SMU in 1966, named an honorary alumnus of the law school; Edward B. Rust Jr. ’75, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual, the Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Achievement (the highest honor); Sarah R. Saldaña ’84, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas, Government Service Award; and D. Wayne Watts ’80, senior executive vice president and general counsel of AT&T, Corporate Service Award. H. Harjono ’81, founding justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, recipient of the Distinguished Global Alumni Award, was unable to attend and will receive his award at a later date.
Joseph W. Geary (J.D. ’48) enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in November 1942, flying more than 50 European combat missions as a navigator and serving in the liberation of France in WWII. After 70 years, France honored him last October in Houston with its highest military decoration: Knight of the Legion of Honor. When his plane was damaged and co-pilot severely injured in October 1944, he helped guide the pilot toward the safety of an Allied airfield in Yugoslavia. For his accomplishments he was given the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. After earning his law degree at SMU, he helped to found the North Dallas firm of Geary, Porter and Donovan and also served as a Dallas County assistant district attorney and City Council member. He downplays his WWII exploits and subsequent awards: “I’d like to say I did a lot more than I did. But sometimes you’re just there.”
1949
The Rev. John Michael Patison Sr. edited the first published history of the Central Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. He is conference historian and chair of its Commission on Archives and History. His children are SMU graduates: Pamela Patison Signori ’82, ’86 and John Michael Patison Jr. ’85.
Martha Tannery Jones had her fifth children’s historical fiction book published. RED CALICO Traded for Young Girl (Hendrick-Long Publishing Co.) is based on the life of her great-great-grandmother, who lived with the Choctaw Indians her first 13 years.
1956
Richard Deats has written Active Nonviolence Around the World and Stories of Courage, Hope, and Compassion, along with books on Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Muriel Lester and Hildegard Goss-Mayr. Ginger Hamel Metcalfe married Glenn Flournoy in May 2011 after each was widowed following 50 years of marriage. They enjoy traveling and are involved in the arts in Shreveport.
1958
Joan Mulcahy married John Carl Thompson Feb. 14, 2011.
Sara Carson has published British & Irish Landscape Portraits with commentary by SMU Professor Jeremy Adams.
1961
Paul L. Hain is emeritus dean of arts and humanities and emeritus professor of political science at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. Following service in the U.S. Air Force, he earned a Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University and taught at the University of New Mexico for 18 years. He and his wife, Sue, married 45 years, have two children and three granddaughters. The Hains are retired in Conroe, TX.
1963
James Hoggard has published his 20th book, the novel The Mayor’s Daughter. He is a fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters.
1964
Dennis McCuistion (M.L.A. ’85) is clinical professor of corporate governance, executive director of the Institute for Excellence in Corporate Governance at The University of Texas at Dallas and a faculty member of the Board Advisory Services of the National Association of Corporate Directors in Washington, D.C. He is in his 23rd year as host of “McCuistion” on KERA, Channel 13 in Dallas.
1967
Reunion Chairs: Pat Cecil Edwards and Robert Haley
1969
Albon Head (J.D. ’71) has been chosen by his peers as a 2011 “Top Attorney” in Tarrant County in Fort Worth, Texas magazine and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America 2012. He is with Jackson Walker LLP in the Fort Worth office. Charles R. Saxbe has been included in the Best Lawyers in America 2012, the oldest, most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. He is an attorney at Chester Willcox & Saxbe LLP in Columbus, OH.
Reunion Chairs: Gary and Beverly Kuck Hammond, Jack and Dana Hargrove Harkey and
Mary Ann Portman Schwab Deborah A. Ackerman has joined the Dallas office of law firm Strasburger & Price LLP in corporate and securities practice. Previously she was vice president-general counsel of Southwest Airlines, spending 19 years there. She graduated first in her class from St. Mary’s University School of Law.
Dr. Dan P. McCauley was nominated for the Texas Dentist of the Year Award for 2011 by the 1st District Dental Society for the Texas Academy of General Dentistry and was honored at a gala last September 16. Practicing in Mt. Pleasant, he has been recognized by Texas Monthly magazine as a Texas Super Dentist and by the Research Council of America as one of the Best Dentists in America. He has been a trustee for Northeast Texas Community College, serving as president of the college foundation and now as chair of the board of trustees. Sheryl Rogers Palmer is vice president and trustee of The Robert M. Rogers Foundation, supporting the arts and numerous charities in East Texas and Idaho.
1973
Dr. George C. Baker (M.B.A. ’98), a renowned organist, performed the closing number on a recent broadcast of “Pipedreams” on public radio. Phillip H. Virden spent a year in the Mississippi Delta with Teach for America. Last January he traveled to Kenya to teach at the Kyandili Primary School and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Makindu Children’s Program. On completing his work, he will be at home in Lake City, CO, with his wife, the former Carolyn Armstrong ’74, and daughters Lily and Dasha. He is owner of the Mountaineer Movie Theatre.
1974
Gary Ingram is an attorney in the Fort Worth office of Jackson Walker LLP, selected as a 2011 “Top Attorney” in Tarrant County in Fort Worth, Texas magazine and voted by his peers across the nation as a “Best Lawyer in America” for 2012.
Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley became a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dec. 31, 2011, when President Obama signed legislation to add his position, chief of the National Guard Bureau, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1975
David Bates is a nationally acclaimed artist. In 2010-11 a solo exhibition of his Katrina paintings originated at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, MO, and traveled to the Knoxville (TN) Museum of Art. Last fall his paintings, sculpture and collage were presented in New York City, and this spring he has a solo exhibition in New Orleans at Arthur Roger Gallery. He will be home in Dallas in October with a one-man show at the Talley Dunn Gallery. Sherry Hayslip is president and principal designer at Hayslip Design Associates Inc., an award-winning Dallas interior design firm. She also owns an antiques business, an art and antiques specialty moving company and with her husband, architect Cole Smith, owns Whitesmith & Company, an architectural and decorative hardware studio. She supports the fine and performing arts and is a patron of The Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Dallas Museum of Art. Sol Villasana was a guest presenter at Dallas’ Sixth International Book Fair last October 29. He also signed copies of Dallas’s Little Mexico, his 2011 book.
1976
Kathy Biehl made her film debut as a voice-over actor in “Walk Away Renee,” a Critic’s Pick at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. John B. Holden was voted a “Best Lawyer in America” for 2012 in the annual nationwide peer review. He is an attorney in the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP.
1977
Reunion Chairs: Craig L. Massey and Susie McLamore McCormack Melinda (Mindy) Baxter leads customer, sales and marketing teams as vice president of business development at Hamilton Exhibits. An experienced market strategist, she has worked with high-level, global brands in New York and Europe. James T. (Jim) Kelly (M.A., M.B.A.’84) owns James Kelly Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM. Last fall the gallery exhibited photographs by SMU-in-Taos faculty member Debora Hunter. Susan Mead was voted by her peers in the legal profession as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” for 2012. She is with the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP.
1978
David R. Cassidy has been named to the 2012 edition of Louisiana Super Lawyers. He serves people and companies throughout Louisiana as a tax attorney at Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson LLP. Valerie Pohl Ertz was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
1979
Clayton L. (Clay) Harrington left his Memphis private practice in counseling and last August joined Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville as minister for senior adults. Mary Emma Karam is a former partner at Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas, elected to rejoin the firm’s partner category in February 2012. She has practiced law at Jackson Walker for more than 32 years, during which time she and her husband had six children. She was appointed by the Texas Attorney General during 2000-2001 to serve as counsel in health care/managed care matters for the state.
Karen Elliott was appointed chief executive officer of the Florida-based Rafiki Foundation, where she has worked for 10 years. Rafiki is a Christian charity and mission agency helping Africans to know God and improve their standard of living through Bible study, childcare, classical education and economic opportunities for widows. She previously served 10 years as a missionary in Nigeria after 10 years in banking. Linda Newman has joined Sammons Enterprises as vice president, general counsel and secretary, handling governance issues, providing legal advice to Sammons’ business units and supporting the board of directors. She gained 17 years of commercial lending, management and merger and acquisition experience with Bank of America’s legal department. Gordon M. Shapiro practices law at Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas. Recently he was named a “Best Lawyer in America” for 2012 in a vote by legal peers across the country.
1981
Tony Jack Howard (M.L.A. ’98) was consecrated bishop of Texas Sept. 24, 2011, for the Universal Catholic Church, an independent church within the Liberal Catholic Movement. He is pastor at St. Clement of Alexandria Cathedral in Allen, TX. He and his wife, Victoria, celebrated the birth of son Gabriel May 9, 2011. William Joyce is well-known as an author, illustrator and now filmmaker. At February’s Academy Awards presentation, he received an Oscar for the best animated short film of 2011, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” which he co-directed. This was the first project for Moonbot Studios, which he co-founded in Shreveport. Barry Sellers was honored this spring with an exhibit at the Hartford (CT) Stage, where he has been a draper for 30 years, helping create more than 1,000 costumes for almost 200 theatrical productions. He makes designers’ sketches three-dimensional and wearable by first developing patterns from which he creates the costumes. Regina Taylor, author of “Crowns,” is a playwright in residence at the newly expanded Signature Theatre in New York City. As such, she is guaranteed three productions over a five-year period and receives a $50,000 cash award and health insurance.
1982
Reunion Chairs: Richard Neely and Ann Swisher Mark T. Josephs is an attorney at Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas. He was recently voted by his peers as a “Best Lawyer in America” for 2012 in the new edition of that publication. Kathleen M. LaValle was named in the peer-selected Best Lawyers in America 2012. She practices in the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP.
1984
Debra Ann Engelke married Phillip J. Olsson Sept. 18, 2010. Her daughter, Alicia Votaw, graduated from Simpson College in 2011, and her son, Paul Votaw, attends Bradley University. Lance McIlhenny has joined the Dallas office of CresaPartners, focusing on local and national business development. Previously he was senior marketing director at CASE Commercial Real Estate and senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, formerly The Staubach Company, where he was named a “Top Achiever” for 16 years.
1985
Cynthia Colbert Riley ’85 has been appointed the vice president for institutional advancement by the University of St. Thomas (UST) in Houston. Riley will lead the University’s fundraising efforts, which includes funding for a new performing arts center. Riley, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from SMU, has more than 24 years of experience in institutional leadership in healthcare, higher education and public broadcasting. Most recently she served as the interim executive director and vice president for development at The Methodist Hospital Foundation in Houston. Riley is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from UST in 1995.
1986
Kazem BuAbbas earned a Ph.D. degree in international law from the University of Edinburgh (UK) in 2004. He is a deputy head in the Department of Legal Advice & Legislation, State of Kuwait, as well as chief editor of the department’s legal journal and contributor of legal, social and political articles for local newspapers James R. (Jim) Griffin was named a “Leadership Dallas Alumni Hero” by the Dallas Regional Chambers’ Leadership Dallas program for the class of 2003 and received his award Dec. 6, 2011, at the 35th Annual Leadership Luncheon. An attorney at Jackson Walker LLP, he was selected as a “Best Lawyer in America” for 2012 by that peer-review publication. James Houghton founded New York’s Signature Theatre as an Off Broadway nonprofit in 1991 and remains artistic director as well as director of the drama division at the Juilliard School. Following a capital campaign of $70 million, he opened Signature Theatre’s new home last January, the 70,000-square-foot Pershing Square Signature Center with three theaters and café and bookstore open to the public. The glass marquee lights a stretch of New York’s West 42nd Street near 10th Avenue. John Michael Kennedy has been promoted to vice president at the New York-based public relations firm Goodman Media International, which he joined in 2008 to manage projects in the entertainment, travel, media and other creative industries. He has more than 25 years of experience in media relations, crisis communications and legislative affairs.
1987
Reunion Chairs: James Outland and Karen Lynch Parkhill
Dr. Eileen Baland (M.L.A. ’97) is a student of poetry in the M.F.A. writing program at Spalding University in Louisville, KY. Michael (Mike) McKay is manager of the southwest regional office of the Peace Corps and was a guest speaker Jan. 31, 2012, at SMU’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Corps. James (Jamie) Moreland and his wife, Francesca, announce the birth of their first child, Jack William, Nov. 15, 2011. They live in Shreveport, where Jamie has been in the commercial real estate business for more than 20 years.
1989
Craig R. Taylor has been appointed to the Midwest BankCentre South County Regional Board. He is president and chief executive officer of U-Gas convenience stores and Dirt Cheap retail storefronts, overseeing operations, strategic planning, new store development and programming for all 30 locations of his companies. He is on the operating committee and incoming 2013 president of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. His home is Wildwood, MO. Matthew (Matt) Thompson is a new partner at law firm Jackson Walker LLP, specializing in U.S. immigration and nationality law and global business immigration. He was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America under Immigration Law (2010-2012) and also was named a “Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters in 2005.
Clifton Forbis stars as Tristan in The Dallas Opera’s production of “Tristan and Isolde.” He is the new chair of voice in the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU. Theodore (Ted) Kolman specializes in property tax as a director in Grant Thornton’s state and local tax practice in Schaumburg, IL. Ted, his wife, Clair, and children Caroline and Whit recently moved from Dallas to South Elgin, IL. Jay Hunter Morris was praised last October by The New York Times for his performance in the title role of the Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner’s “Siegfried.” David Pagan recently joined the Washington, D.C., international security and intelligence consulting firm Command Consulting Group as director of business advisory services. Previously he served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of International Affairs and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
1991
Jennifer Grant is a mother with a sense of humor. Her second book, MOMumental: Adventures in the Messy Art of Raising a Family (Worthy Publishing, May 2012), tells a humorous tale of balancing family life. Her first book was 2011’s Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter. Jennifer freelances for the Chicago Tribune and blogs for Christianity Today.
1992
Reunion Chairs: David and Shannon Scott Brown and Chris Williams William Jenkins is an attorney at Jackson Walker LLP, named a 2011 Fort Worth “Top Attorney” in Fort Worth, Texas magazine.
1993
Gretchen Hoag Foster and her husband, Charlie, announce the birth of son Harry Dungan, Sept. 8, 2011, in Walnut Creek, CA. Daughter Kathleen is age 4 Jeff S. Matsler was promoted to Chaplain (Major) at Womack Army Medical Facility, Fort Bragg, NC, in a ceremony Feb. 5, 2012, attended by his wife, Michelle, daughter Mary Elizabeth, 12, and son Charles Taylor, 10. He is the clinician chaplain for in-patient psychiatric, surgical and critical care units. In Egypt, Kuwait and Afghanistan, he ministered to U.S. combat troops, and after being medically retired, was pronounced rehabilitated in 2007 and re-entered the chaplaincy. While at Womack he is studying war’s effect on society as a graduate student at Duke University. He is an elder in the Northwest Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. Berna (Rhodes) Rhodes-Ford opened Rhodes-Ford & Associates in June 2011 in Henderson, NV, focusing on corporate, employment and health care law.
1995
Ellen Blue has a new book, St. Mark’s and the Social Gospel: Methodist Women and Civil Rights in New Orleans, 1895-1965 (The University of Tennessee Press), about Methodist deaconesses who confronted social issues in New Orleans during the rise of the social gospel movement and into the modern civil rights era. Dr. Blue is the Mouzon Biggs Jr. Associate Professor of the History of Christianity and United Methodist Studies at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, OK. She teaches and writes about women’s issues and the post-Katrina church in New Orleans. Jennifer Sallee Chang announces the birth of her son, Mason Alexander, July 21, 2011. Jenifer Rogness McCormick joined Weber Shandwick’s health care practice as an account group manager and will play a lead role on health care accounts and new business efforts. She has 16 years of experience in public affairs, public relations and journalism and previously was communications director for the Transportation Trades Department with the AFL-CIO, communications director for U.S. Congressman Martin Sabo and an account supervisor at Dallas agency Richards/Gravelle.
1996
Robynn Mocek Allveri left her faculty position at San Diego State University to join the faculty at Koç University Law School in Turkey. She and her family moved to Istanbul in August 2011. Brian Linder spent 12 years in digital marketing as a creative director/principal for national ad agency The Richards Group. Now he is a designer and founder of Opposite Inc. He created the You Rule Chores app for iPhone and iTouch, which turns household tasks into motivating and fun-to-complete activities, inspiring kids to be productive. Elliott Weir has been in practice as a certified financial planner since 2004. He recently launched III Financial in Austin to help families ensure they don’t run out of money when they need it most.
1997
Reunion Chairs: Chris Boyd and Kristina Wren Monica Hill Clift and her husband, David, welcomed a daughter, Marin Sloan, July 22, 2011. Leticia Garcia married Joe A. Yanez last March 5. She served as a director for the HRSouthwest Conference, the nation’s largest regional human resources gathering. Warford B. (Trace) Johnson III is a partner in the Springfield, MO, law firm Baird, Lightner, Millsap & Harpool PC. He has been selected for the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association board of directors for 2012-2014. He was a Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2010 and 2011, was recognized by Missouri Lawyers Weekly in 2010 as an Up & Coming Attorney and was chosen by the Springfield Business Journal as one of their 40 Under 40. Stewart Mayer is the inventor of the camBLOCK robotic camera system, used in the Academy Award-winning best animated short film for 2011, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.” The system allows cameras to move in ways that can’t be done manually, providing fluidity and accuracy. Melissa McCullough Ulrich and her husband, Spencer, announce the birth of their second child, Reed Wilson, in Austin Dec. 25, 2011.
1998
Angela G. Harse has been named a partner in the Kansas City office of law firm Husch Blackwell effective Jan. 1, 2012. She joined the firm in 2003 and concentrates her practice in white collar criminal defense; business litigation; and government compliance, investigations and litigation. Tim W. Jackson reports that his debut novel, Mangrove Underground (The Chenault Publishing Group, December 2010), was named by USA Book News a “Best Books 2011” award finalist for literary fiction. Gabe Reed promoted the March 2012 North American tour of opera legend José Carreras. Chad Wolf completed the 2011 Ford Ironman Arizona race in Tempe last November. He is vice president and senior director with Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates in Washington, DC. He and his wife, Hope Solomon Wolf, live in Alexandria, VA, with sons Tucker and Preston.
1999
Jason Hess was the camBLOCK operator on the 2011 Oscar-winning best animated short feature “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” filming the 1/12th scale miniature environments at Moonbot Studios in Shreveport. Nicola (Hobeiche) Hobeiche-Hewes (J.D. ’02) and her husband, Todd, welcomed Alexandra Colette (Coco) Sept. 6, 2011. Their older daughter is Gabrielle. Catherine Rodgers and David Hamling live in Bettendorf, IA, following their marriage in Iowa Oct. 9, 2010.
Belinda Briones (M.Ed. ’05) married Michael James Moran Nov. 27, 2009, at the Empire State Building in New York City. They live in Dallas, where both teach in the Dallas Independent School District. Their son, Benjamin Enzo, was born Sept. 6, 2011. Quynh Dang Lu and her husband, Henry Lu, welcomed daughter Emma Sophie Oct. 20, 2011, in San José, CA. C. Jerry Nelson retired after a 35-year career in international safety, security and loss prevention/claims. As a volunteer with Seniors vs. Crime, a project of the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to recover money for senior citizens engaged in civil disputes, he conducted research that uncovered an investments fraud scheme, ultimately totaling more than $1 billion in 23 states. As a result of his work, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s Meritorious Award Review Board honored him in a ceremony Nov. 17, 2011, with a “Certificate of Appreciation” for outstanding service to his community.
2001
David Bennett is executive director of Gotham Chamber Opera, intent on ensuring financial stability for the company poised to grow into the role held by New York City Opera. Keren Elias is the winner of a Texas Medical Association scholarship award, given annually to one incoming medical student from each of nine Texas schools. She is the recipient from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Susan McIntyre has returned to Dallas as major gifts officer for The Dallas Opera. Tiffanie Roberson Spencer announces the birth of daughter Nicolette Ciara July 11, 2011.
2002
Reunion Chairs: Julie Carney and Christopher L. Dodson Debra J. DeWitte is an art historian specializing in nineteenth-century French art. She teaches at The University of Texas at Arlington and has developed an online art appreciation course that won a platinum award in 2008 from the United States Distance Learning Association. She co-authored the textbook Gateways to Art: An Introduction to the Visual Arts (W.W. Norton & Company Inc.). Jodi Warmbrod Dishman and her husband, Brent, welcomed their second son, Rook Keeter, Dec. 29, 2011. Their older son, Cash Davis, is 16 months. Jodi is counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. The Dishmans live at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, TX, where he is senior defense counsel for U.S.A.F. bases in West Texas and eastern New Mexico. Trey Ditto has been appointed vice president at Emanate PR, an award-winning agency dedicated to integrated communications, consumer marketing and health and reputation management. Previously he was deputy communications director for the Republican Party of Texas, communications director for a U.S. congressman and deputy press secretary at the U.S. Department of Education during the Bush Administration. Nicole Locke Finn and her husband, Michael, welcomed their first child, son Parker Locke, Dec. 26, 2011, in Orange County, CA. Theresa Eva Remek (M.L.A. ’07) was promoted November 1, 2011, to manager of administrative services in Development and External Affairs at SMU. She has more than 10 years of experience in nonprofit organizations and has formed and maintained important relationships across the SMU campus.
2003
Brett Charhon was promoted Jan. 1, 2012, to principal in the Dallas office of law firm McKool Smith. He handles litigation for clients in state and federal courts. Dodee Frost Crockett is a Merrill Lynch financial advisor named one of the “Top 50 Wirehouse Women in 2011” in the January 2012 edition of Registered Rep. magazine. This follows her recognition on Barron’s list of “Top 100 Women Financial Advisors 2011.”
2004
Cece Cox, executive director and CEO of Resource Center Dallas, will serve on the board of directors of CenterLink, the national association of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community centers, where she will oversee strategic direction while guiding the organization as it advocates empowerment, self-reliance, inclusion and diversity among the community centers in the coalition. She has more than 25 years of experience in executive management and leadership in the nonprofit and private sectors. Allison Hannel, a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, spoke Jan. 31, 2012, at the SMU celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps. She is senior brand marketing manager at AT&T. Scott Harrison joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in October 2010 and Sept. 26, 2011, became senior director of patron engagement and loyalty programs and executive producer of digital media. Previously he was associate director of marketing with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and spent several years managing community programs for the New Jersey Symphony. Lindsay M. Higgins married Derek J. Schelldorf Oct. 15, 2011, in Fort Worth. They live in McKinney, TX. Susanne Mayon began work Jan. 23, 2011, as advancement associate in National Major Giving at SMU. She recently moved back to Dallas from San Francisco, where she worked for Sterling Brands, a marketing and strategy firm. Blake C. Norvell, a 2007 graduate of UCLA Law, has been published in the prestigious law journals of Yale University, USC and Temple University. Each scholarly article is circulated nationally to law schools and judges. The articles are available on WestLaw and LexisNexis, two databases widely used for legal research. In addition, he has given lectures based on the articles, including a series of four lectures for attorneys in New York City as part of a continuing legal education program. Nathan T. Smithson was elected a partner last February in law firm Jackson Walker LLP in Dallas, focusing on federal income tax planning for domestic and international operations of corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies.
2005
Christy Isaacs and Charles Halladay were married in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Oct. 8, 2011. After honeymooning in southeast Asia, they are at home in Corona del Mar, CA. E. Adrienne Jackson (J.D. ’08) has joined Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP’s labor, employment and benefits practice as an associate. She is experienced in defending against allegations of discrimination based on gender, natural origin, pregnancy and religion. Akers Moore and Caitlin Rhodes (M.A., M.B.A. ’04) were married Oct. 8, 2011, in the Cox Chapel at Highland Park United Methodist Church. They live in Dallas. Barbara R. Vance was presented an Indie Book Award and Moonbeam Silver Medal for her children’s poetry book, Suzie Bitner Was Afraid of the Drain. For each book sold on her website, www.suziebitner.com, she gives a book to a U.S. soldier, who is recorded reading it, and the USO sends the DVD and book to his/her children.
2006
Rachel Sam is a new associate in real estate practice in the Collin County (TX) office of law firm Strasburger & Price LLP. She has worked for a global law firm, dealing in real estate acquisitions, dispositions, financing transactions and negotiated leases.
2007
Reunion Chairs: Liz Healy and Taylor D. Russ Nic Arras and his wife, Beth, announce the birth of daughter Zoë Rose, Aug. 15, 2011. He recently was promoted to controller, logistics and distribution, at Gates Corporation in Denver. Garrett Haake works for NBC News covering the 2012 presidential election. As reporter, cameraman, producer, editor and blogger, he focuses on the Romney campaign and other political stories. He was nominated for two Emmy awards in 2010 and two in 2011 for helping produce NBC News specials, such as the funeral of Ted Kennedy, the earthquake in Haiti and climate change and conflict. John T. Holiday Jr. is a countertenor, who in 2011 placed first in The Dallas Opera Guild competition, received The Sullivan Foundation Award and was recognized by the Santa Fe Opera with the Anna Case MacKay Award for his work last summer in the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program. He signed with Columbia Artists Management Inc., one of the premier artists’ agencies in the world, and made his company debut with Portland Opera this March-April. He will debut at Carnegie Hall with the Atlanta Symphony.
2008
Jeff Broadway and his friend, Robert G. (Rob) Bralver, co-founded the film production company Gatling Pictures in 2009 while Jeff was pursuing post-graduate studies from the London School of Economics and the University of Southern California. Their first film was the documentary “Cure for Pain: The Mark Sandman Story” about the life and music of the front man of the 90’s band Morphine. The film had an international screening in 2011, winning awards in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Their next film, a documentary on Taiwan, will hit the film festival circuit later this year. Annie Lau is an associate in the Dallas office of national labor and employment law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP. Previously she was an associate at a firm in Houston and an intern for the EEOC. Lindsay Miller married Daniel Scanio ’02 Oct. 15, 2011, at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio. She works at SMU in Alumni Giving and Relations, and he is an environment artist at id Software, a video game developer. Allison Morrow Venuto started Ducks in a Row Personal Organizing in 2011, helping people find more time to spend on their interests.
2009
Erica Clemmensen and her mother, Lexia Allen ’77, announce the one-year anniversary of their Dallas store, Muzzie’s Dressy Dresses, featuring accessories and prom, pageant, after-five, party, homecoming, work and other special occasion dresses.
2011
Tate Hemingson has returned to Strasburger & Price LLP as a member of the litigation practice unit after participating in the firm’s 2010 summer associate program. In addition to his law degree, he holds a master of arts in classics and a doctor of philosophy.
Kimberly Hodgman joined Strasburger & Price LLP in October 2011 in governmental and specialty litigation practice. In summer 2010 she was in the firm’s associate program, and she has interned with several trial law firms, an international snack food company and the United States Department of Justice. Allison Reddoch is a new associate in the specialty litigation group at law firm Strasburger & Price LLP in the Collin County (TX) office. She was in Strasburger’s 2010 summer associate program and an intern for a Dallas-based insurance law firm and the Collin County District Attorney’s office. R. Haynes Strader Jr. began a two-year commitment with Teach for America after graduation and spent seven weeks training at Rice University in Houston. During the 2011-12 school year, he is teaching English and Language Arts to 100 sixth-graders at Summit International Preparatory in Arlington, TX, and encouraging them to stay on the path toward a college education.
Barry Sellers '81
For three decades, Barry Sellers ’81 has brought costume designers’ sketches to life. As the Hartford Stage’s draper, he has created more than 1,000 costumes for almost 200 productions.
Now the Connecticut theater shines the spotlight on Sellers’ theatrical artistry with an exhibition that will continue through April 29. Costumes, photographs and commentary tell the story of “one of the premiere theatrical drapers in the country.”
“The not-so-secret ingredient for making astonishing and memorable theatre at Hartford Stage was – and still is – Barry Sellers,” says Michael Wilson, former artistic director.
Adds Darko Tresnjak, Hartford Stage’s current artistic director: “Barry is something of a legend.” This exquisitely detailed dress is among the costumes featured in an exhibition celebrating the artistry of SMU alumnus Barry Sellers.
Hartford audiences are familiar with Sellers’ work, but they may not know exactly what he does. A draper takes a designer’s sketch and develops a pattern for the garment. Patternmaking involves draping and manipulating muslin on a dress form until the desired shape is achieved – hence the term “draper.” The draper’s work is particularly important for period costumes.
“I have designed nine shows at the Hartford Stage and am always eager to return because the artisans there are of the highest caliber and carry a great commitment to the art of theatre,” says designer Susan Hilferty, who won a Tony Award for costumes for Wicked. “Barry Sellers is a master!”
Sellers earned a Master of Fine Arts in design from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts, where he studied with Rosemary Ingham, an award-winning costume designer and author of two well-known texts on the subject, and theatre designers Bill and Jean Eckart, three-time Tony nominees.
While living in Dallas, Sellers worked with costume designer Irene Corey; Alberto Cerconni, former head tailor of Neiman Marcus; and such performing arts organizations as Dallas Theater Center.
Sellers recalls being hired by Hartford Stage 30 years ago while in New York City at an SMU-sponsored conference of the League of Professional Training Schools.
Photos by The Defining Moment/Courtesy of Hartford Stage
Stewart Mayer '97 utilizes camBLOCK technology for a location shoot.
As the inventor of the camBLOCK modular motion control system, Stewart Mayer ’97 helped fellow SMU alumnus William Joyce ’81 and Joyce’s co-director, Brandon Oldenburg, achieve the hybrid animation of their Academy Award-nominated short film, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.”
“Having the film nominated for an Oscar is amazing; it is a real validation that hard work and passion really can make a difference,” says Mayer, who earned a B.A. in cinema-television from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. “Everyone went above and beyond for the film. That combination of dedication, along with Bill and Brandon’s vision, created a beautiful film.”
For the “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” Mayer and camBLOCK operator Jason Hess, who received a Bachelor’s in communications from SMU in 1999, spent a week filming the charming miniature environments constructed at Joyce’s Moonbot Studios in Louisiana. The sophisticated camBLOCK system “allows cameras to move in ways that can’t be done manually,” providing fluidity and accuracy, says Mayer. Animated characters were later composited into the shots. Some of the models shot with a camBLOCK system for the Oscar-nominated movie, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
Mayer devised his first basic motion control (or “moco”) system in 1999 for a documentary about the art deco architecture of Dallas’ Fair Park. “Following that initial film, I received a lot of requests from other filmmakers who wanted to purchase my cobbled together motion control system. In 2008 I decided to turn my invention into a serious product, redesigned it, and named the new company camBLOCK.
“What makes camBLOCK unique is its compact size, which allows filmmakers to create motion control effects on location, instead of in a dedicated studio.”
The cinematographer/inventor has traveled the world, filming everything “from polar bears in the Arctic to jellyfish in Micronesia.” Other filmmakers have used the camBLOCK “to capture real-time and time-lapse images for National Geographic Channel, BBC, Discovery Channel and TNT, as well as numerous commercials and 3D Imax documentaries,” Mayer says.
Last year Mark Kerins, Meadows associate professor of film and media arts, and David Croson, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship in the Cox School of Business, used moco technology designed by Mayer in making their film, “How NOT To Quit Your Day Job.” The 40-minute comedy, based on Croson’s research, was nominated for the 2011 McGraw-Hill Award for Innovation in Entrepreneurial Pedagogy and has been picked up for educational distribution. It is now being shown in college business classrooms nationwide, Kerins says.
As an SMU student, Mayer started out as an engineering major but switched to cinema-television as a natural fit for his creativity and technical acumen.
“The best part of SMU, for me, was being surrounded by other students motivated to make films no matter what. Back then, video looked horrible and film was prohibitively expensive, but we banded together to make films despite the obstacles,” he remembers. “We were forced to be resourceful, and those skills – along with the encouraging guidance of professors such as Rick Worland – shaped a work ethic that has made me successful today.”
While a 3D documentary about polar bears that he filmed is soon to be released, Mayer says his most exciting project recently has been “the birth of my now 13-week-old son, Wyatt Henry Mayer. He is, by far, the best invention I’ve ever been part of creating.”
A permanent reminder of SMU’s milestone anniversary and a lasting tribute to University leadership was dedicated September 9. A gift from Susan Smith Cooper ’62 and William R. Cooper ’58 created the Cooper Centennial Fountain near Blanton Student Services Building.
The 1.5-acre R. Gerald Turner Centennial Quadrangle, located in the eastern quadrant of the campus, includes the Cooper Centennial Fountain, funded by Susan Smith Cooper ’62 and William R. Cooper ’58. Also located within the quadrangle is the Gail O. and R. Gerald Turner Pavilion.
The Centennial Quad is bounded by the Laura Lee Blanton Building; Collins Executive Education Center and Fincher Memorial Building, both part of the Cox School of Business; and Caruth Hall, part of the Lyle School of Engineering.
Upon seeing the final plans for the quad space, Bobby B. Lyle ’67, trustee and chair of SMU’s Buildings and Grounds Committee, approached the Board of Trustees with the idea of naming the quadrangle and pavilion as a permanent tribute to the Turners.
“We wanted not only to recognize the tremendous progress President Turner has achieved for SMU since 1995, but more importantly to celebrate his ongoing leadership for many years to come,” says Caren H. Prothro, Board chair. “We also wanted to recognize the tremendous role that Gail Turner plays in the life and progress of the University.” The 1.5-acre R. Gerald Turner Centennial Quadrangle is located in the eastern quadrant of the campus and includes the Gail O. and R. Gerald Turner Pavilion and Cooper Fountain.
Inside the 20-foot octagonal pavilion, the dome is covered by a re-creation of the night sky pattern an observer would have seen on the date of SMU’s founding on April 17, 1911. A bronze SMU logo marks the center of the pavilion floor.
The Cooper Centennial Fountain is designed in the form of an architectural terrace overlooking the Quadrangle and Pavilion. The fountain features five arched niches that repeat the visual structure of the Blanton Building’s classical colonnade. Night lighting of the fountain and uplighting of the Blanton façade integrate the building and landscape.
“Gail and I want to emphasize that SMU’s tremendous progress has been a team effort with the vision and support of a forward-looking board, generous donors and the commitment of the entire University community,” Turner said. “What pleases us most about this new quadrangle is that it will provide a peaceful and attractive gathering place for our students and others, especially as we welcome growing numbers of visitors to campus during our Centennial celebration years. We are excited to be a part of SMU’s ongoing progress at this historic time.”
The $2.5 million Centennial Quadrangle project is fully funded by 100 percent of the current trustees and several former members of the Board who have served during Turner’s presidency. The gift counts toward SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, which to date has raised more than $574.1 million in gifts and pledges toward its goal of $750 million.
Wes K. Waggoner Wes K. Waggoner, whose university admissions experience spans 20 years, has been named SMU’s new dean of undergraduate admission and executive director of enrollment services. Chosen after a national search, Waggoner reports to Stephanie Dupaul, associate vice president for enrollment management.
Waggoner previously served as associate dean and director of freshman admission at TCU. In addition, he held admissions roles at the University of Tulsa, Tulane University, Fort Worth Country Day School and The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in history from Tulane and an M.B.A. from the University of Dallas.
“Wes has demonstrated his skills in developing comprehensive recruiting plans, redesigning processes, and mentoring a professional team of admissions professionals,” Dupaul says. “He is excited about the path the University is on as we implement a new curriculum, develop our residential commons, and continue to expand our academic research.”
Waggoner also is a nationally known leader in the admission profession, having served on committees for numerous organizations.
At SMU, Waggoner will oversee all activities of the Office of Admission, including admission for first-year, transfer and international applicants. He will work with recruitment staff from Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, the Lyle School of Engineering, the Meadows School of the Arts, the Cox School of Business and the Simmons School of Education and Human Development to recruit outstanding undergraduates to SMU.
“The Centennial is such an exciting time to become a part of the SMU community,” Waggoner says. “I am most pleased that at the forefront of such momentum is a student’s academic experience. That’s what makes SMU a great university.”
Charlie Wilkinson had only a sixth-grade education, but the East Texas farmer shared the vision for a great new center of higher learning with academics Robert Stewart Hyer and Hiram Boaz. Wilkinson, who observed his 29th birthday April 15, 1911, was among those who provided financial support to help The United Methodist Church build SMU.
“My grandfather was a farmer whose only source of income was the sale of cotton,” recalls grandson Fred Head ’61, ’63. “In a good year, he would make six bales, which would sell for a top price of $25 per bale.”
Wilkinson and his wife, Alva Lena Burton Wilkinson, were active members of Henry’s Chapel Methodist Church, a small congregation in Cherokee County, Texas. Like Methodists across the state, the Wilkinsons were encouraged to contribute what they could afford toward the proposed university.
Even though he had four children to support – Lou Ella, Emery, Pauline and Annelle – Wilkinson pledged $25 to be paid over several years. It was a princely sum for a family that earned $150 in a good year. The receipt for Charlie Wilkinson's final payment on his $25 pledge, dated November 2, 1917.
Head cherishes the documentation of his grandfather’s contribution:
• An acknowledgement of Wilkinson’s $25 subscription to the “Million Dollar Fund” signed on April 27, 1913, by SMU President Robert Stewart Hyer, Vice President Hiram A. Boaz and Bursar Frances Reedy.
• A subscription note signed by his grandfather June 1, 1915.
• A receipt for the final payment of $8.34 dated November 2, 1917, and a letter acknowledging their pledge fulfillment dated November 17, 1917.
• A Dallas Hall medallion, sent in recognition of full payment.
“My grandfather believed it was one of the best investments he had ever made,” Head says.
Although he did not realize it at the time, Wilkinson had planted family roots with SMU that would grow over generations. Fifty years after the filing of SMU’s charter in 1911, grandson Fred earned a B.B.A. from the University. Two years later, he graduated from Dedman School of Law. Head established a successful practice in Athens, Texas, and represented Rusk and Smith counties in the Texas Legislature from 1967-81. One of Head’s five children, Catherine Marsha Head Lenz, received a Bachelor’s in communications from SMU in 1991.
“My grandfather, who died in 1970, never could have imagined that SMU would begin its Centennial celebration with Founders’ Day on his birthday,” Head says. “He was so proud that the fruits of his investment returned to his family and so many other families over the years.”
If you would like to share your SMU memories, please e-mail your story to smumag@smu.edu or write to SMU Magazine, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, Texas 75275-0174. Please print legibly and include a daytime phone number. Deadline for submission is January 31, 2012. Due to space limitations, not all Mustang Memories will be printed.
Two new affinity groups for SMU alumni with close connections beyond their alma mater became active this fall: SMU GALLOP (Gay and Lesbian League of Persons)
GALLOP exists to encourage and foster an academic environment that supports the role of Mustangs – past, present and future – who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT), according to Brian Davis ’00, chapter leader.
For more information, e-mail, call 214-768-4792 and visit the SMU GALLOP Facebook page. SMU Military Alumni
The SMU Military Alumni provides support for the deployed, as well as networking and mentoring opportunities for SMU students and alumni in the military.
Major Rob “Big Shot” Fowler serves as chapter leader. He organized a military flyby during Homecoming and prepared a slideshow featuring photographs of SMU military alumni that was shown during halftime at the SMU-Navy game November 12.
For more information, e-mail and join the SMU Military Alumni Facebook group.
Marshall Terry ’53, ’54 shares a lighthearted moment with Charlotte Whaley ’70, ’76, editor emeritus of the Southwest Review, at a reception and book signing for his memoir, Loving U. Terry’s book is described as “an affectionate and clear-eyed narrative” of his more than 50-year relationship with the University. The professor emeritus of English and architect of SMU’s creative writing program, Terry offers his unique perspectives on famous moments in Hilltop history – including poet T.S. Eliot’s visit in 1958 – and beloved figures such as President Willis Tate (1954-72). Terry will receive the third annual Literati Award from the Friends of the SMU Libraries March 31, 2012. Loving U.may be purchased from DeGolyer Library – call 214-768-0829 for more information – and the SMU Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
Darrell Lindsey and Anita Ray ’54 toured the Centennial Hall exhibits during a reception and dinner for the Dallas Hall Society September 20. Located in the first floor of Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Centennial Hall includes a historical timeline, interactive features, videos, digitized copies of Rotunda yearbooks, tributes to communities associated with SMU, such as Dallas and the Park Cities, and an electronic guestbook, where visitors may add their reflections and hopes for SMU’s future. The Dallas Hall Society recognizes alumni, parents and friends who have included SMU in their estate plans or made other planned gifts to the University. Chartered in 1996, the Society has 445 active households (as of May 31, 2011).
Judith Banes ’69, ’78 retired as director of Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports in September, but she may be best known as Peruna’s unofficial godmother. Thanks to the creative blankets she has fashioned for him over the years, Peruna is, perhaps, one of the best-dressed mascots in the nation. Judith and her husband, Fred, met as first-year SMU students. She joined SMU in 1986 and served as Dedman Center director for 21 years. Fred, who also retired, returned to the Hilltop in 1997 and was a trades manager with the Office of Planning, Design and Construction. Their son, Corey, is a 1990 graduate.
More than 400 former athletes, their families and other supporters of Mustang sports attended the SMU Lettermen’s Annual Reunion September 9-10. Pictured are: (front, left to right) Marshella Atkins, Tennel Atkins ’78, Suzanne Johnston ’70, and (back) Chris Rentzel ’72, Bill Wright ’71 and Jim Johnston ’70, ’71. All tennis teams and the 1976-79 football teams were honored this year. William L. Hutchison Sr. ’54, ’55 received the 2011 Honorary Letter Award from the Lettermen’s Association board. Hutchison, a trustee emeritus, is also a 1990 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
SMU trustee Bradley W. Brookshire ’76 (left) and Ann Warmack Brookshire ‘77, who serves on the SMU Libraries Executive Board, join Mark L. Meyer ’76, a member of the SMU Athletic Forum board, and Judiann Reeves Meyer ’76 for pre-game festivities in the SMU Alumni tent before the TCU game. The SMU-TCU rivalry dates to 1915, when the University’s football team first traveled to Fort Worth for the season opener, according to Darwin Payne, professor emeritus of communications and author of a history of athletics at SMU,In Honor of the Mustangs. The Battle for the Iron Skillet was launched in 1946, according to newspaper reports of the day. This year, the Mustang football team won the 76th Iron Skillet in a 40-33 overtime victory against the 20th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs.
Matthew Adamic ’01 and Katie Wright ’07 flank human Peruna at the Young Alumni Fry The Frogs happy hour September 13. The Mustangs not only captured the Iron Skillet in the annual gridiron battle October 1, but SMU alumni “fried the frogs” by besting their TCU peers in an annual giving challenge. A total of 1,067 alumni donors made a gift in September to win the competition, while the Horned Frogs garnered 934 donors. Mustangs can still contribute to the SMU Scholarship Fund online.
I’m a graduate of SMU (1940) but the exciting part of the Centennial celebration is that my mother, Ilma Beaver, and her brother, Ralph, were both students the first year this wonderful university opened. Ilma was in what was, I suppose, the School of Music, and Ralph was a real Joe College. He pledged Alpha Tau Omega, was a cheerleader, and sang in glee club. In fact, the family joke says he had such a great first semester that Dr. [Robert S.] Hyer called my grandparents and asked them to come get Ralph, and when he was “big enough to wear long pants” he could return to SMU. (He must have been quite stylish wearing knickers.) He did return and met his future wife there and graduated. My mother only went a year or two but spoke often about how much she learned from her studies … They lived in the small town of Garland at that time, so both lived on campus during the school year.
I have many relatives and a sister and brother-in-law – Dr. and Mrs. Harold (Virginia Weir) Brown – who are graduates, as well as cousins. And my mother’s cousin – Hatton W. Sumners – was a benefactor, so the memories of SMU are many. My sister and I both lived in Snider Hall, and I think my mother’s dorm in 1915-16 was what became Curtis dorm. Congratulations for the great progress the University has made. I wish I lived nearby to enjoy the many pleasures the University brings to the community. I do visit a daughter who lives in the area, so will look forward to seeing and hearing about the continuing celebration of the 100th anniversary. – Hortense Weir Smith ’40, Leawood, Kansas If you would like to share your SMU memories, please e-mail your story to smumag@smu.edu or write to SMU Magazine, Southern Methodist University, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, Texas 75275-0174. Please print legibly and include a daytime phone number. Deadline for submission is January 31, 2012. Due to space limitations, not all Mustang Memories will be printed.
Kraft Wins U.S. Amateur Golfer Kelly Kraft '11 won the 111th U.S. Men's Amateur Championship.
SMU golfer Kelly Kraft ’11 concluded a scorching summer on the links by taking the 111th U.S. Men’s Amateur Championship in August, becoming the third SMU golfer since 1998 to accomplish the feat. Kraft defeated UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay – the nation’s No. 1-ranked amateur player – in the final round at Erin Hills Country Club in Wisconsin. Cantlay had knocked off SMU senior Max Buckley in the quarterfinals.
Kraft collected the Southern Golf Association’s National Amateur of the Month award in August and earned automatic qualifications into the 2012 Masters, U.S. Open and British Open major championships, if he chooses to keep his amateur status. He follows Hank Kuehne (1998) and Colt Knost (2007) as past U.S. Amateur champions. Golf Teams Appoint New Coaches Jeanne Sutherland Josh
Gregory
The SMU men’s and women’s golf teams have new coaches at the helm this season, both with impressive NCAA resumes.
SMU alumus Josh Gregory ’97 was named the men’s head coach in June after guiding Augusta State to two consecutive NCAA Division I championships and adding a second National Coach of the Year Award to his trophy case in July. The Mustangs were two strokes shy of qualifying for the 30-team NCAA Championships in May.
The women’s team hired Jeanne Sutherland in June, bringing her back to the NCAA coaching ranks after three years as head professional at Vail (Colorado) Golf Club. Sutherland spent 15 years at Texas A&M, where she guided the Aggies to the postseason 13 times and earned four conference Coach of the Year honors. Texas A&M had not won a tournament in seven years before she arrived in 1992. Women’s Tennis Soars Marta Lesniak
The SMU women’s tennis team earned its best postseason finish in 23 years, advancing to the NCAA Championships’ Round of 16 last May in Palo Alto, California. The Mustangs finished 23-6, earning their third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance before dropping to No. 5 Baylor. They advanced to the second round in the previous two years.
Senior Marta Lesniak finished the 2010-11 season ranked No. 15 in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association after compiling a 42-7 record at No. 1 singles. She reached the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships for the third consecutive year. Ranked No. 10 in November, Lesniak won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Collegiate Championship with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against No. 26 Joanna Mather of Florida at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Lesniak is now 17-3 on the season and 102-18 (.850) for her career. She moves her into third at SMU in career wins and ranks second in career winning percentage. Ford Stadium Again Site Of Armed Forces Bowl
Gerald J. Ford Stadium will serve as the site of a second bowl game when the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl returns on December 30.
Ford Stadium has served as the site of the bowl game the past two years because of ongoing renovations at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium, where the contest is normally held. Brigham Young, an NCAA Independent, will play against a Conference USA team in this year’s game if the Cougars are bowl eligible. Last year, Army edged SMU 16-14 in front of a stadium-record crowd of 36,742 fans.
SMU announced in August that it had made stadium improvements of its own, totaling $3 million in upgrades to the locker rooms, meeting rooms and playing surface at Ford Stadium. Latest News Right Now
SMU Athletics has introduced a new mobile application for Mustang fans with iPhone and Android devices. The mobile application offers iPhone and Android owners instant access to information from SMUMustangs.com, including the latest news, scores, live game play-by-play, stats, schedules, rosters and photo galleries. The application is free to download from the iPhone App Store or Android Market. Users also can purchase access to live audio broadcasts within the app.
The Lyle School of Engineering is partnering with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to improve water quality in African and Asian refugee camps housing tens of thousands of people. Engineering professor Andrew Quicksall (center) collects water samples with SMU graduate students and UNHCR partners.
Supported by a $270,000 grant from UNHCR and additional SMU funds, Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty member Andrew Quicksall and his graduate students are collecting water samples in UNHCR camps, which they will analyze at SMU. They also are training workers at the refugee camps to test water supplies. The group will integrate information from other sources to develop a database that will help UNHCR planners provide safer drinking water in existing and future refugee camps.
“They’ve asked us to build out a whole picture, truly worldwide, of what’s in
the drinking water in refugee camps,” says Quicksall, the J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Assistant Professor in the Lyle School of Engineering.
The database developed by Quicksall’s group will identify contaminants in drinking water and allow UNHCR officials to track water quality in the camps over time. Some water quality problems are indigenous to the regions where the camps are situated and some are the result of thousands of people congregating in unsuitable locations to escape war and famine faster than sanitary infrastructure can be built.
For example, the agreement with UNHCR commits Quicksall’s team to investigate critical water issues in Dadaab, Kenya – home to the largest refugee complex in the world. Nearly half a million people are concentrated in three camps there. Refugees pouring across the border to escape war and famine in Somalia continue to face shortages of food, water and shelter, in addition to sanitation hazards.
“The technical challenges of supporting refugee populations of this size will require that our teams stay engaged with the UNHCR for years to come,” says Geoffrey Orsak, dean of the Lyle School of Engineering. “Fortunately, our new Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity makes it possible to lead efforts of this magnitude nearly anywhere on the globe.”
Research results have revealed concentrations of iodide in drinking water at Dadaab and fluoride in Southern Uganda and Kakukma, Kenya. Some types of contaminants may not create problems short term, Quicksall explains, but create severe health issues for people over the long term. His study group will recommend and implement remediation methods for those problem water sources.
“To work with the science in the lab and see it applied internationally – I don’t think there is an opportunity like this anywhere else,” says graduate student Drew Aleto, a member of Quicksall’s study team.
UNHCR and the Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity at SMU have signed an agreement establishing a framework for increasing the role of engineering and innovation to improve refugee camp operations.
Nancy Goodman Brinker (center) with Gillian M. McCombs, dean of SMU's Central University Libraries, and SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
SMU’s DeGolyer Library and Susan G. Komen for the Cure® have formed a partnership to preserve and chronicle the history of the international organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer. DeGolyer’s Archives of Women of the Southwest now houses correspondence, advertisements and news articles chronicling Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s 29-year history.
The collection tells the story of the organization from its start as a grassroots effort to its role as the global leader of breast cancer awareness and the fight to find a cure. Since its founding in 1982, the organization has invested more than $2 billion to fight breast cancer.
A sister’s promise in 1980 led to creation of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. When Susan G. Komen died from breast cancer at age 36, her sister, Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, promised to do everything she could to end breast cancer, culminating
with the founding of the organization that now bears her sister’s name. Today Susan G. Komen for the Cure is the largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists, working in 50 countries worldwide.
DeGolyer will preserve and catalog for researchers the personal papers, scrapbooks and photographs of Susan Goodman Komen as well as other documents and artifacts
Total: 1,382 Demographics: 51% female, 49% male; 55% from outside Texas; 26.6% diversity Top states: Texas, California, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia Average SAT: 1268, up from 1243 last year Average ACT: 28.4, up from 27.6 last year Average GPA: 3.44, up from 3.37 last year President’s Scholars: 45 Hunt Leadership Scholars: 27
Interesting Facts:
• 8 sets of twins and 2/3 of a set of triplets
• Most popular male names: Christopher, William, Andrew, Michael, and John
• Most popular female names: Katherine (spelled multiple ways), Lauren, Emily, Alexandra, and Sara
• Longest first name: Oluwadamilade
• Shortest first name: J
• Students attended more than 750 different high schools from Abilene, Texas, to ZhangJiagang, China.
An exhibition, “Four Centuries of Religious Books for Children,” will be featured January 20-May 12, 2012, in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries at Bridwell Library. The exhibition explores religious books specifically written for children that were printed in Europe and America from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Intended to both instruct and delight, these publications were the foundation for young people’s future religious education and faith. Shown at left is The Illustrated Scripture Alphabetwith Prayers and Hymns for Children. Boston: J. Buffum, [1855-1857].
ENVISO (formerly the Irving Symphony) and SMU’s Division of Music have launched a partnership in which a music composition student will serve each year as a composer-in-residence with the area’s only boutique professional symphony orchestra. Vince Gover
The initiative is named the William H. Lively SMU Student Composer-in-Residence Program in honor of alumnus Bill Lively ’65, vice chancellor of strategic partnerships for the University of North Texas System.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in music from Meadows School of the Arts, Lively returned to SMU in 1973 as the Mustang Band assistant director. He served SMU for 25 years, most recently as vice president for development and external affairs. He also served as president and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation and as president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
“The new program will support and celebrate young musicians who aspire to be among the next generation of American composers,” Lively says.
“To our knowledge, this is the first such program of its kind between an orchestra and a university music department,” says Tracy Boyd, president of ENVISO.
The first student selected for the residency is sophomore Vince Gover. ENVISO performed the world premiere of Gover’s Let Us Begin Anew… (a quote from John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech) in November in a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s presidential inauguration.
Though an undergraduate, Gover already has received recognition for his compositions. Last January, his Children’s Suite was performed at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., by the Saxony-Anhalt Brass Quintet. Gover’s Minute Fanfare was performed by the Meadows Wind Ensemble at its October concert at SMU.
“Our composition students will have an opportunity to work with a professional orchestra and gain performance experience that will be invaluable to them in their careers,” says Samuel Holland, director of the Meadows’ Division of Music.
By design, students in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineeringget the opportunity to solve engineering problems for real customers during the course of earning an undergraduate degree. Yasmin Ara ’11, a mechanical engineering major who graduated in May, says the hands-on opportunity reinforced what she learned in classes. Lyle School senior design instructor Nathan Huntoon (left) with alumnus Colin Wood ’11, a member of the student engineering team that helped design the pinch-and-grip strength measurement system at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
Ara and six other students majoring in computer science, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering worked as a team to design special equipment for Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas. They developed a pinch-and-grip strength measurement system that assesses the hand function of young children. Dallas-based Tess P. White Foundation gave $3,500 to SMU and Texas Scottish Rite for materials to design and build the project during spring 2011.
Texas Scottish Rite is a leading pediatric center for the treatment of musculo-skeletal disorders. Surgeons at Scottish Rite knew that the hands of children under 5 years old were too small for adult-sized equipment that measures a hand’s ability to pinch and grip, says Bill Pierce, senior biomedical engineer at Scottish Rite. The surgeons wanted testing equipment that would measure the grip of children ages 2 to 5 to evaluate the function of normal and abnormal hands, particularly thumbs that are reconstructed surgically.
“Our research department is resourceful at finding solutions to treat kids with really debilitating disorders. If we can’t find an item off the shelf, we have to develop custom devices,” Pierce says. “We’re trying to find a way to quantify the effectiveness of surgery and physical therapy for children with a reconstructed thumb. Functionally, having opposable thumbs for humans is huge. The SMU measuring device gives us some insight into the impact of our treatment.
Pierce showed the SMU student team how to use the machine shop and electronics equipment at the hospital so they could build the system they designed. “This collaboration allowed the hospital to share its needs and capabilities with the engineering program at SMU,” he says.
“I was certainly nervous that whatever we made would actually be used,” says Ara, now an operations research graduate student in Lyle School’s Engineering Management, Information and Systems Department. “I was happy that we were able to complete a real project; it makes your education feel validated.”
The students delivered the device in May, complete with a user’s manual and a presentation to the customer. Scottish Rite is fine-tuning the device, and the surgeons will use it to conduct a significant study.
Pierce says he was pleased with not only the results, but also the process. “This was very cost-effective. A commercial version of such a system sells for approximately $40,000,” he says. “As an engineer who’s been practicing for more than 20 years, I was impressed with how the students worked together as a team composed of different disciplines. That gave me a greater appreciation for SMU’s engineering program.”
Lyle senior design instructor Nathan Huntoon ’09 says the project fulfilled the purpose of engineering. “We spend a lot of time in class teaching students how to interact with customers and to extract what the customers’ problems are,” he says. “Only by solving an actual problem and developing a solution that people will use can the transition from theory to practice be complete.”
Other students on the team were Tanya West, Ceená Hall, Will Laudun, Drew Petersen, Michael Rappaport, Samantha Watkins and Colin Wood, all 2011 graduates. – Margaret Allen
Untitled, 2004. Archival injet print on Hahnemuhle rag paper, 34 x 41 inches, edition of 7.
Photographer Debora Hunter’s research explores the modern world’s imprint on the iconic New Mexico landscape and the resulting social and environmental contradictions. Her latest study is “Land Marks: Photographs from Taos, New Mexico.”
She says about the documentary project she started in 2004: “I make portraits of houses – houses alone, in clusters and in the landscape. Each house is a metaphor for its inhabitants whose hopes, values and histories are written in adobe, wood, paint and peel. I photograph houses under construction, newly finished, in their prime, maintained, modified, deteriorated, abandoned and finally eroded.”
Hunter, associate professor of photography in Meadows School of the Arts, has taught classes at SMU-in-Taos for the past 13 years.
Photographs from her “Land Marks” portfolio were exhibited recently at James Kelly Contemporary in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While a Meadows student, gallery owner James Kelly ’79, ’84 took photography classes from Hunter. Her photographs also appear in an exhibit, “Contemplative Landscape,” at the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe. Museum Director Frances Levine earned a Master’s and a Ph.D. in anthropology from SMU.
Yuri Kimura studies tiny mice teeth under a microscope in a lab in Heroy Hall. Dinosaur bones in a museum sparked SMU graduate student Yuri Kimura’s childhood fascination with fossils.
“I was given a piece of 100-million-year-old sedimentary rock,” Kimura recalls of her visit to a museum in her native Japan. “I could not imagine how many stories this stone had experienced through 100 million years.”
Today Kimura is earning her doctoral degree in paleontology from Dedman College’s Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences. Instead of enormous dinosaurs, however, Kimura’s focus is small mammals, whose fragile fossilized bones require a microscope to identify.
As a field assistant on an international expedition to a fossil site in Inner Mongolia, Kimura helped collect fossils smaller than a grain of rice. Guided by SMU Professor of Paleontology Louis Jacobs, Kimura identified the 17-million-year-old fossils as a new species of birch mouse, the earliest prehistoric ancestor of the modern-day birch mouse. Named Sicista primus, the new species connects two previously known fossils that are nine million years apart
George Holden
Corporal punishment in the United States remains controversial. But for SMU Psychology Professor George Holden, there is no debate. Based on his own research and that of other parenting and child development experts, Holden wants to end spanking as a means of discipline. He spoke about the issue on Anderson Cooper’s talk show in November.
His quest to teach parents alternatives to spanking prompted him to organize the Global Summit on Ending Corporal Punishment and Promoting Positive Discipline, held in June in Dallas. More than 140 researchers, attorneys, social activists and child advocates from 21 countries attended the conference. They unanimously adopted a proclamation calling for an end to all corporal punishment.
“Children who are spanked are more likely to be aggressive toward other children and adults,” Holden says. “Over the long term they are at risk for a variety of mental health problems.” In fact, the majority of physical child abuse cases begin as a disciplinary encounter, he adds.
A university with strong executive education programs is a key advantage for any city trying to attract and retain major businesses, according to Henry S. Bienen, president emeritus of Northwestern University, speaking at the SMU Centennial Academic Symposium.
Cox School of Business offers numerous career development opportunities that provide individuals and organizations with a competitive edge through new knowledge and skills, as well as networking and collaboration.
Among them are two Master’s programs ranked in the upper tier by Bloomberg Businessweek in November. The Executive MBA (EMBA) for senior-level professionals was named No. 7 in the world, and the Professional MBA (PMBA), which offers part-time classes for working professionals, was listed as No. 7 in the United States. A combined total of more than 500 students are currently enrolled in both programs.
For people who want to expand their skills and enhance their professional credentials, Cox offers graduate certificates in three concentrations: business intelligence, finance and marketing. Approximately 50 students are currently enrolled in each certification program.
Executive education also covers special courses tailored to the particular needs of individuals or companies. In 2010-11, more than 1,500 executives, managers and working professionals took part in more than 50 such programs, taught either on campus or at companies’ offices.
SMU has always played a leading role in Dallas’ vibrant arts milieu, beginning with the Arden Club, the longtime student drama organization, and expanding in scope and scale as the University and the city matured.
Among the trove of SMU’s rich cultural resources is the Meadows School of the Arts. In 2010, the school welcomed an estimated 9,500 audience members to 104 ticketed events that included dance, theatre, opera, symphony, wind symphony and faculty performances.
The Meadows Museum is one of the city’s cultural landmarks, attracting about 60,000 visitors each year. Entrepreneur Algur H. Meadows, whose prized assemblage of Spanish art serves as the museum’s core collection, envisioned a “Prado on the Prairie.” That vision became further realized with the announcement of a three-year partnership between the museum and the Prado Museum in Madrid last year. The first of three major paintings to be loaned from the Prado was the focus of “The Prado at the Meadows: El Greco’s Pentecost in a New Context,” drawing 20,446 visitors.
In addition, the University’s nine libraries house the largest private collection of research materials in the Southwest, valued by scholars from across the globe. The holdings include more than 3 million print volumes, as well as over 9,000 digitized items from the University’s special collections.
Counted among SMU’s one-of-a-kind collections is the archive of Academy Award-winning playwright Horton Foote. When North Texas arts organizations honored Foote with a two-month festival in the spring, Dallas theatre companies found their muse atDeGoyler Library.
“Hallie [Foote, the writer’s actress daughter and frequent artistic collaborator] recalled that a recording of music used in the third act of the production directed by Horton Foote was in the archive. It was located, and we were able to use the original music. That was an amazing resource that we didn’t even know existed,” says Kimberly Richard, director of publications and communications for Theatre Three, which staged Foote’s “The Roads to Home.” Defining The Future …next page
While large cities like Dallas boast innumerable advantages, they also face complex problems that often endure for generations. Interdisciplinary student teams involved in SMU’s Big iDeas program investigate some of those massive challenges, dissect them into smaller issues and design viable projects based on their research.
The Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs launched Big iDeas in 2008 and awards grants of up to $5,000 to put students’ plans into action. Eight teams received Big iDeas grants in April, and student researchers reported their findings at a symposium November 4.
Big iDeas provided a conduit to the community for senior Amrita Vir. She and fellow finance major Sean Zech ’11 produced “Mustang Microfinance,” a proposal to provide loans to fledgling entrepreneurs in underserved neighborhoods. Their group, which includes seniors Trigg Burrage, Seth Dennis and Christina Sanders and junior Weston Richter, has grown to 20 participants.
“Education has always been a passion, but I’m not a teacher. I wanted something empowering and uplifting that I could do as a finance major,” says Vir, the 2011-12 Carl and Peggy Sewell President’s Scholar and a 2010-11 Richter Research Fellow. “The more I learned about microfinance, the more I believed it could work here in Dallas.”
While researching how to proceed, Vir and the team met Jeremy Gregg ’01, executive director of The PLAN Fund, a Dallas-based nonprofit microfinance institution. Gregg discovered an affinity for the nonprofit sphere while he was an SMU student serving as a White House intern in 1999.
“The opportunity exposed me to how the third sector can have a transformational impact on society, especially among populations that are underserved and often forgotten,” says Gregg, who obtained his first post-graduation job, with Camp Fire USA, through the Hegi Center.
As a mentor Gregg guided the students through the candidate interview process and arranged for The PLAN Fund to provide infrastructure, including a direct-deposit system for the loans.
Working with candidates referred by CitySquare, a faith-based nonprofit in Dallas, the Mustang Microfinance team has approved six loans, ranging from $200 to $1,000. Students set up a loan repayment schedule with the recipients and are offering monthly finance classes to borrowers, as well as others who would like to attend.
Kris Sweckard, managing director of Dallas’ Office of Environmental Quality, serves on the Big iDeas review committee. He sees the University’s emphasis on student engagement in the community as a long-term investment that enriches the entire city.
“It’s not just about the impact they have right now as students, it’s about their future as the city’s business leaders and philanthropists,” says Sweckard. “The lessons they’re learning now will have an impact on Dallas for the next 30, 40 and more years, perhaps forever.”
For more than six decades, SMU’s Dedman School of Law Clinical Program has remained true to its core intent of public service by providing legal representation to low-income clients while providing skills training to legal students through seven clinics and projects:
CIVIL CLINIC
Represents low-income clients in civil matters such as housing disputes, elder advocacy and civil-rights litigation. CRIMINAL DEFENSE CLINIC
Partners with the Dallas Public Defender’s Office to provide students with felony trial experience. FEDERAL TAXPAYERS CLINIC
Represents low-income taxpayers with tax issues. This clinic is the first tax clinic in the country with the authority to represent clients before the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Tax Court. SMALL BUSINESS CLINIC
Represents small start-up companies and individuals developing private nonprofit entities. W. W. CARUTH, JR. CHILD ADVOCACY CLINIC
Is appointed by juvenile district court judges to serve as guardian/attorney ad litem to represent children who have been abused and neglected in Dallas County. Interdisciplinary lectures given by psychologists, forensic detectives, child development specialists and social workers are a significant component of this clinic. CONSUMER ADVOCACY PROJECT
Assists the local Hispanic community with consumer complaints and focuses on informal advocacy, negotiation and mediation strategies, and community education. DEATH PENALTY PROJECT
Gives students practical experience on death penalty cases. Dedman School of Law and Embrey Human Rights Program were awarded 2011 “Angel of Freedom” awards by the Human Rights Initiative (HRI) of North Texas in November. Since 1997, SMU Dedman School of Law students have assisted HRI attorneys in their representation of clients through public service as well as paid summer internships and academic externships, currently overseen by law professor Jeffrey Kahn.
At a symposium hosted by Meadows School of the Arts this spring, participants across the creative spectrum were challenged to rewrite the relationship between artists and activists in the city.
This fall, first-year Meadows Scholars put their talents to work on the Dallas Mexican American Historical League’s ongoing oral history and photo archive project as part of the course “Artspace: Mapping Sites of Social Change.” Janis Bergman-Carton, art history chair, led the team of art, art history, dance and theatre faculty teaching the class. The course is the first curricular piece produced by Creative Time, a New York-based public arts organization and a winner of the inaugural Meadows Prize arts residency in 2009.
The scholars assisted the DMAHL with its mission of documenting the history and contributions of Mexican Americans in Dallas. Students also delved into the impact of the Trinity River Corridor Project, specifically the construction of the Santiago Calatrava-designed bridge, and the Mexican-American community of West Dallas. Group projects allowed the Meadows Scholars to express their findings in artistic ways.
The culmination was “Las huellas: footsteps in West Dallas,” a student art installation and mapping (dance) performance at the Bataan Center in West Dallas November 28 and at the Meadows School’s Doolin Gallery December 1.
“Students became stakeholders and participants in the next phase of the Meadows initiative to define its own model of urban engagement and creativity in 21st-century Dallas,” says Bergman-Carton.
The new Center on Communities and Education (CCE) will bring research, documentation and evaluation capabilities to a West Dallas redevelopment strategy that focuses on school transformation as its core.
A partnership between the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development and the Dallas Faith Communities Coalition (DFCC) created the CCE in October. The CCE assumes leadership of the education component of the University-wide commitment to provide intellectual resources and volunteer involvement that will have a positive impact on West Dallas.
Professor Reid Lyon, associate dean of the Simmons School, serves as CCE’s faculty director. He will supervise research and faculty engagement. Regina Nippert is the executive director and will oversee operations and programs, including all nonfaculty staff.
“The center is focused on communities and how their systems interact,” says Nippert. “One of its most important responsibilities is to support The School Zone, a community partnership that is committed to a healthy West Dallas educational ecosystem.”
CCE will function as the backbone organization for The School Zone, a collaboration between 10 Dallas Independent School District campuses, three charter schools and 20 nonprofit agencies.
While the center’s programs are still in development and details have not been finalized, its initial research partnerships are likely to focus on the effects of early intervention on children, schools and families, and interventions that support improved academic, social and language outcomes for English language learners and children in poverty, according to Nippert.
The Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering examines the complexities of poverty in an effort to create scalable, feasible solutions that can be applied in greater Dallas and around the globe.
In January a new Master of Arts in Sustainability and Development will be offered by the Lyle School and supported by the Hunt Institute. Like the Institute, the Master’s program will focus on research, seminars, site-based internships and service learning opportunities in the local area. Coursework will concentrate on sustainability, environmental resources and urban development.
The Master’s program contributes another dimension to the Hunt Institute’s mission to identify and create innovative and affordable technology that, in combination with market forces, will help accelerate improvements for the poor everywhere. The Institute’s efforts center on access to clean water; creating affordable shelter, including design justice for the marginalized; hygiene education and promotion; access to energy; and meeting basic infrastructure needs.
“To make basic technology available at a price the poorest of the poor can afford requires a radical rethinking of centuries of engineering practice,” says Geoffrey Orsak, dean of the Lyle School.
The harshness of life for the billions of people who exist without these building blocks was brought home by the Hunt Institute during SMU’s Engineering & Humanity Week in April. In the “Living Village” constructed on campus that week, participants cooked their meals, spent time and slept in temporary shelters designed to house those living in extreme poverty or displaced by war and natural disasters.
Jonathan L. Barger ’11 was among the students who shared their thoughts on a blog devoted to the living-learning experience: “Like others, I jolted awake several times and only achieved light sleep – imagine having to spend the night like this for several months, surrounded by thousands of other people. Quite sobering.”
Dallas becomes a living laboratory for students in Dedman College courses like “Latino/Latina Religions,” which blends classroom instruction with service in the community.
“I think students learn better when they can apply theories and historical frameworks that we discuss and read about in class to real-world situations,” says Jill DeTemple, assistant professor of religious studies, who teaches the course. “They take a sense of ownership of course materials, and because they are working for a community organization, they are working for more than the grade.”
In fall 2010 students spent hours sifting through the archives of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral in East Dallas. Their mission was to document the rich past and explore the evolving present of the multiethnic congregation. Students uncovered some surprises – Jack Benage, a senior accounting major, unearthed the academic record of former first lady Claudia “Lady Bird” Johnson, a graduate of St. Mary’s College for Women, which was housed at the site until 1930. They also examined how a surge in Latino parishioners is changing the congregation.
At the end of the semester, the students presented a 57-page history of the cathedral and its programs to the congregation in English and Spanish.
“Students didn’t just read about a subject, they produced knowledge based on their experiences with archival materials and interviews,” DeTemple explains. “This gives them a window into how academic materials are produced, and why they are useful for the wider community.”
Senior Lindsay Sockwell, one of the first Engaged Learning grant recipients, experienced her own “journey of discovery” this past summer while working with orphans in Zambia. She used her skills as a dance performance major with a psychology minor to inspire the children, most of whom lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
“I had spent time in Africa last year and saw how the children’s facial expressions changed in the presence of music and dance,” Sockwell says, “and I became interested in how that could be therapeutic for orphaned kids in Zambia.”
Sockwell divided her time in Zambia’s capital of Lusaka between a summer camp and an orphanage, both operated by Family Legacy Missions International of Irving. She worked with a group of boys ages 4-16 for two weeks and helped lead dance sessions within large-group gatherings for another two weeks. Sockwell and other counselors taught the children songs through repetition and taught dance movements that used symbolic gesture because most of the children don’t speak English. The youngsters reciprocated by teaching the Americans a few songs in their tribal language.
Sockwell advises other SMU students who develop an engagement project: “Prepare for your life to be changed. My experience has put hundreds of faces and names to the staggering statistics about life in Africa. This kind of knowledge changes things.”
James Quick, SMU’s associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies, whose office oversees Engaged Learning, observes that students often ask, “‘Why are we learning this information in the classroom?’ Through involvement in a community project, they find that what they’ve learned is useful. Engaged Learning programming will help students build on their classroom education and develop a significant and sophisticated understanding of how the world community intersects with knowledge gained in their academic disciplines.” Engaged Learning: Michael McCarthy … next page
Senior and grant recipient Michael McCarthy, a double major in statistics and mathematics, is using his knowledge to analyze data for Veterans Affairs in Dallas while covering school expenses. Receiving the Engaged Learning grant enabled him to participate in the program by replacing the salary he otherwise would earn working part time, which he needs to do to cover school expenses. McCarthy is conducting database analysis that evaluates home care support the VA Spinal Cord Injury Center provides to injured veterans.
“My experience at the VA already has begun to shape my post-graduation and career plans,” McCarthy says. “I’m now considering an applied statistics Master’s program to further my ability to assist with these types of statistical projects and use data analysis techniques to answer important questions. I’ve also become interested in biostatistics and health care data analysis.”
The Engaged Learning program resulted from work by the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Committee, created in 2009 to develop a plan to help SMU enhance its educational mission and qualify for reaccreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The Quality Enhancement Plan is a new requirement by SACS that presented a “great opportunity for SMU to coalesce around a strategic plan for improving student learning,” says committee chair Margaret Dunham, professor of computer science and engineering in the Lyle School of Engineering. QEP Committee members represented a cross section of the SMU community, from faculty and administrators to students and staff. “Engaged Learning was a concept the group embraced from the outset, with a goal of inspiring students to develop a lifelong desire to help others and their community,” Dunham adds. Engaged Learning: Matt Gayer … next page
The new program will build on elements of the new University Curriculum, which will debut in fall 2012. Starting then, students will be required to engage with local and global communities around issues of civic responsibility and cultural understanding either through coursework, volunteer opportunities, or study abroad. The Engaged Learning program takes students a step further: They can enhance their experiences through independently designed projects that require more depth and serious commitments of both time and effort. A major component of Engaged Learning requires the students to write reports about their projects, reflecting on their experiences. All students’ reports will be published in an online journal organized by Central University Libraries.
As SMU’s first director of Engaged Learning, Susan Kress serves as a facilitator who will build on experiential learning programs that already exist at SMU under a variety of names. She previously served
as SMU’s director of Education Abroad in the International Center.
“I’m eager to help the University broaden opportunities for engaged learning and to get students excited about trying out what they are learning in the classroom through real-life work,” Kress says. “Engaged learners explore who they want to be, not just what they want to do.”
Senior Matt Gayer, who served on the QEP Committee, is a prime example of a student who has channeled his academic interests into community engagement. Majoring in public policy and political science with minors in economics, human rights and biology and a certificate in leadership, he has become an advocate of health literacy, which seeks to help local residents understand health issues and to improve communication between health professionals and patients. He first saw the need after helping with a health literacy campaign in Jefferson County, Missouri, as a teenager. When he came to SMU, Gayer realized that Texas lacked health literacy leadership.
“Everyone, regardless of cultural or educational background, deserves an opportunity to understand their own health and to take steps to ensure a basic quality of life for themselves and their families,” Gayer says. A grant from SMU’s Big iDeas program, sponsored by the Provost’s office, enabled him to create the nonprofit organization, Health Literacy Dallas, in 2009.
Awarded a national Truman Scholarship, Gayer plans to earn a Master’s degree in public administration with a focus on health policy and work in the field of social justice. “One thing I have learned during leadership experiences inside and outside of SMU is to focus on individuals who need my help, rather than becoming lost in impersonal administrative issues,” he says.
“Today’s student population hungers for engagement inside and outside the classroom,” says Patricia Alvey, director of the Temerlin Advertising Institute in Meadows School of the Arts and chair of the search committee for a director of Engaged Learning. Universities across the nation are increasing opportunities for students to become involved with their communities, Alvey says. “SMU is not the first to emphasize this popular educational concept, and it won’t be the last, but the University hopes its program will grow into one of the best examples,” she adds. Engaged Learning: Colby Kruger …next page
Grant recipient and sophomore Jaywin Malhi also praises the Engaged Learning program. Malhi is a political science and business management major who plans to attend law school and
is considering a career in public service. Because he wants to learn firsthand how government works, he proposed and received a Congressional internship for summer 2012. “Engaged Learning is so broad that you’ll be surprised by what projects might be deemed applicable,” Malhi says. “Pursue your interests, and, most likely, the program will be able to help you.”
The stories of Meera, Lindsay, Michael, Matt, Colby and Jaywin are early examples of the enthusiasm that SMU administrators hope will grow in years to come.
“Engaged learning is not a gimmick but an important concept that requires nurturing and focus,” Ludden says. “After students learn to observe and listen to the needs of the world, they come up with strategies for making improvements. And if thousands of students from each class experience the power of engagement, SMU is convinced that each student can leave a positive mark on society.”
Senior Colby Kruger wanted to expand her previous volunteer services for Girls Incorporated of Metropolitan Dallas. With her Engaged Learning grant, she is teaching photography to teens from low-income neighborhoods while encouraging them to develop a realistic understanding of beauty. The business marketing major, who has a double minor in photography and art history, is working through a partnership with Girls Inc.
“I’ve had this idea for a workshop for about a year,” says Kruger. But what she lacked was equipment. The SMU grant enabled her to buy 18 cameras to teach the girls photographic skills. “I was so excited
to make this dream into a reality.” Engaged Learning: Jaywin Malhhi … next page
Perkins School of Theology programs put faith into practice in the community through experiences that integrate classroom learning with hands-on ministry. One example – available to students taking “Theory and Practice of Evangelism” – is a four-week immersion opportunity with New Day, a network of missional micro-communities.
Developed in large measure by Elaine A. Heath, McCreless Associate Professor of Evangelism, New Day communities bring people together across racial, ethnic, educational and economic divides. They are located in the Vickery Meadow and West Dallas neighborhoods as well as in Garland.
About a dozen students participate each semester. As part of the program, they attend a weekly community meal and worship gathering, as well as monthly outreach activities that usually include a cookout, soccer, music and games. Students also assist with English for speakers of other languages classes and activities for newly arrived immigrants and refugees.
“This assignment is valuable because it introduces students to an alternative form of church, one that is grounded in at-risk neighborhoods and that uses a team leadership approach in all aspects of church life,” says Heath, who introduced the community-based experience in her evangelism class two years ago. “The New Day model is becoming widely known throughout The United Methodist Church, and judicatory leaders across the nation are taking an interest in the model as a way forward for the church to become more missional here in the United States.”
Over the past century, the “town” and “gown” have flourished together. With more than 40,000 alumni now living and working in the area, the University’s DNA runs through the economic, civic and cultural networks of greater Dallas.
“Universities bring intellectual capital to their regions. They bring young, talented students. They create new knowledge through faculty research, resulting in new corporations and business opportunities. They elevate civic dialogue and contribute to cultural vibrancy. They serve as a city’s conscience, and they set the standard for civic discourse and free expression,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said at SMU’s Centennial Academic Symposium.
“SMU has done all of this for Dallas. … Dallas would not be the intellectual, business, cultural and philanthropic powerhouse that it is, were SMU not to have been founded 100 years ago.” Forbes magazine ranked Dallas a top-10 city for businesses and entrepreneurs in June, calling it “one of the most resilient economies during the recession” and forecasting the city “could add 190,000 jobs in the next three years.”
In cultivating human capital through more than 100 majors and 75 minors, SMU helps drive that growth. The worldwide reach of ExxonMobil, Texas Instruments and other leading employers based in the Metroplex demands educated problem-solvers with global perspectives.
“Upon graduation SMU students are well prepared to contribute in a meaningful way to the world of work and possess the initiative to become the leaders of the future global economy,” says Darin Ford, director of SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center. The center assists approximately 7,000 students and alumni each year through a campus recruiting and job-referral program, as well as career plan development and counseling.
From the beginning, SMU’s core mission has been to prepare graduates for successful futures as citizens and professionals, and in fulfilling that duty, SMU has remained nimble, helping to predict emerging needs and being ready to adapt to the shifting economic landscape.
STEM knowledge – science, technology, engineering and math – is critical, according to symposium panelist William A. Blase Jr., senior executive vice president, human resources, AT&T. Today’s students “are much more demanding,” he said. “They want the University to get them prepared.”
The most successful job candidates, however, must have an education balanced with coursework and experiences that develop a range of nontechnical “life skills,” said symposium keynote speaker Duy-Loan Le, senior fellow, Texas Instruments, and board of directors, National Instruments. The ideal employee, she said, has the ability to handle complex problems and think creatively; write and listen effectively; collaborate and work with people with different viewpoints, backgrounds and cultures; and possess a strong sense of ethics and integrity.
If two candidates have equally solid technical skills, but one has stronger life skills, “guess which one I would choose,” she said. Life-skills knowledge requires years of development, and the candidate with those qualities is more valuable, she explained. Priceless Intellectual Capital …next page
SMU’s sacred music program emphasizes musical training as much as theological education – potential students must audition to be accepted into the Meadows School, in addition to being admitted into the Perkins School. Meadows provides a major portion of the music education aspect of the Perkins degree, including applied instruction in organ and voice, as well as conducting, techniques courses, music history, and performance opportunities, says Pamela Elrod, associate professor of music and director of choral activities in Meadows.
“The partnership is a natural one to begin with, since music is so integral to the worship process. The church was, for centuries, the most important arts patron in the world. So a huge portion of the greatest choral music ever composed is essentially church music – and thankfully, that legacy is still present in many churches today,” Elrod adds.
Several M.S.M. alumni were recognized recently for their artistic success in the secular realm of music performance. Keith Weber ’88 and Matthew Dirst ’85 received a 2011 Grammy nomination for Best Opera Recording for Johann Adolf Hasse’s MarcoAntonio e Cleopatra,produced by Weber with Dirst conducting the Ars Lyrica Houston, a group of musicians who perform Baroque music using period instruments.
Perkins Associate Professor of Sacred Music Christopher Anderson ’91 earned both the M.S.M. and Master of music degrees from SMU. He recognizes that many of his students are attracted to the interdisciplinary nature of the M.S.M. program, interested in developing their musical artistry as much as their theological skills.
“The challenge is finding the right balance between the theological and musical sides of the curriculum, and defining exactly how these relate to each other,” he says. “Church musicians have to be artists, but they also must be able to perceive and manipulate the theological potential of their material, the music-historical context in which it sits, its place in effective worship. The challenge lies in the synthesis of these varied disciplines, which always ends up being a very personal solution for the student.”
The Rev. Marti Soper ’98, pastor at Greenland Hills UMC, says that she and her minister of music Stern have developed a collaborative relationship, sharing a common vision for their “eclectic congregation, so our music has to honor that. Our people are concerned about transforming the world, so our music has to inspire them to embrace their role in that transformation by singing global faith music. Additionally, our people do not respond well to hierarchical authority, so a strong congregational song component undergirds their sense of being drawn into using their own gifts to promote the reign of God.
“Chelsea is always taking into account the whole picture, as well as the particular needs of musicians and choir,” Soper adds. “When Chelsea began to really understand the context, it was easy to give her the freedom to use musical resources that are not in the hymnal or supplement, but draw from a variety of sources. In the end, we try to let every piece of music further the message or vision.”
Dallas alumni, friends and family made hundreds of sandwiches for the homeless.
Black Alumni of SMU launched the project with a bread drive and were joined by other Mustangs at eXcuses eXtreme Café in Deep Ellum to make sandwiches. The food was distributed to the homeless through Random Acts of Kindness’ SoupMobile. SMU alumna Nikki Brewster '01 SMU alumni, from left, Lauren Driskell '06, Zach Dobbs '09 and wife Razieh Dobbs '11, and Fredrika Johnson '08 were among those preparing food for those in need during National Community Service Day.
Volunteering was a family project for alumna Aliya Khatri '04 and her husband, Mushtak Khatri, and their children Zayd, 8, and Saira, 6.
Conventional wisdom holds that Southern Methodist University opened the doors of Dallas Hall to its first students on September 22, 1915, welcoming 456 young men and women to their first classes in the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Theology and the Department of Music. The 1913 SMU medical diploma for John William Macune hangs on the second floor in the Laura Lee Blanton Building.
These schools, however, were not the first established by the University,
and these students were not the first to attend. In fact, by 1915, SMU had already opened and closed its first school, a medical college; its first degree recipients were awarded medical diplomas in 1912. How SMU came to have a medical school and what happened to it by the time the University opened Dallas Hall in 1915 is a story almost forgotten by history.
With plans under way in 1911 to build SMU, an opportunity for the University soon developed. Southwestern University at Georgetown was struggling to operate a medical college based in Dallas. Opened in 1903, the Southwestern University Medical College was located at 1420 Hall Street, between Bryan and San Jacinto streets. The three-story, gray brick building was completed in 1905 at a cost of $40,000.
However, inadequate resources resulted in a Class C designation for the school, not the Class A designation needed to be accepted by the American Medical Association. The commissioners of education of the Methodist Church, which included SMU President Robert Stewart Hyer, decided the medical college was better suited to the newly chartered SMU. The medical college, which included the medical and the pharmaceutical departments, thus became the University’s first school, with the first class of students (including transfers from Southwestern) matriculating in October 1911, well before ground was broken on Dallas Hall.
The building on Hall Street housed a dean’s room, an office, several laboratories, a bookstore and a large assembly hall. An amphitheater held 125 students and was fitted with “opera chairs” and a “demonstrating table.” A library/reading room was also used as a museum for the many specimens at the college.
According to the 1911 catalog, there were 35 medical school faculty members. Areas of focus included anatomy, medicine, surgery and eye, ear, nose and throat.
In 1911, 66 students matriculated in the medical department and 27 in the pharmacy department. Most of the students came from Texas, with a few from Oklahoma. Tuition was $100 per year for general instruction and another $5 for lab fees. Admission requirements included graduation from a high school or normal school or possession of an entrance certificate to the freshman class of a recognized college or university, and completion of 14 units in “literary work,” such as English, history, mathematics, sciences and foreign languages. Each student also needed a letter granting permission from the State Board of Medical Examiners certifying the above credentials.
At the medical college commencement on May 31, 1913, SMU awarded 14 medical degrees and 10 pharmaceutical degrees. By fall 1913, a record 120 students were expected, faculty numbers had increased to 44, and entrance requirements were raised to include a full year of chemistry, physics and biology at the college level.
The following spring, the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners adopted a resolution declaring that SMU’s Medical College was “doing a character of work equal to that of the very best medical colleges in the United States.” This resolution prompted the AMA’s Council on Medical Education to raise the Medical College’s rating to Class A.
Despite its successes, however, in June 1915, SMU’s Board of Trustees “temporarily suspended” both the medical and pharmaceutical departments, stating that “financial conditions are such that the great expense of such a department is not considered justifiable for the limited number of students, and the money can be spent to better advantage in the college of liberal arts.” One week later, the trustees officially disbanded the medical faculty.
But SMU’s impact on the medical profession is far from over. Today, the University offers strong programs for pre-medical and pre-health studies, and SMU students enjoy a high acceptance rate to the nation’s top medical schools. – Nancy Skochdopole Excerpted from an article that appeared in Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Texas and presented to the 11th annual Legacies Dallas History Conference, January 30, 2010.
SMU alumni in 11 chapters from coast to coast put pony power to work for good causes during the first annual National Community Service Day October 29. A total of 245 participants helped nonprofits and other organizations in the following cities: • Atlanta: Assisted the United Methodist Children’s Home, a safe haven for abused and neglected children and youth. • Chicago: Helped spruce up Onward Neighborhood House, which offers educational, recreational and social services programs. Afterward, alumni gathered for an SMU-Tulsa watch party. • Dallas: Black Alumni of SMU launched the project with a bread drive and were joined by other Mustangs at eXcuses eXtreme Café in Deep Ellum to make sandwiches. The food was distributed to the homeless through Random Acts of Kindness’ SoupMobile. • Houston: Distributed books donated by Half Price Books and discussed the importance of reading with youngsters involved in the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) at Sharpstown College Prep School. • Los Angeles: Worked with Heal the Bay’s Nothing But Sand program to clean up Venice Beach. • Nashville: Sorted, stored and boxed food at Second Harvest Food Bank. • New York City: Following a walking route, volunteers delivered meals to the homebound elderly. • Orlando: Prepared meals for families served by Ronald McDonald House Charities and helped them design thank-you cards. • St. Louis: Pitched in at City Academy, which offers recreational and educational programs in an urban setting. • Salt Lake City: Sorted and distributed food to the needy at the Utah Food Bank. • Washington, D.C.: Aided So Others May Eat (SOME), which provides food, clothing and health services to the poor and homeless.
The SMU football team’s buses and airplanes aren’t the only vehicles racking up travel miles on cross-country journeys during the season. Arriving at the game site a couple of days early is a Yukon XL, ferrying some of the Mustangs’ most passionate fans – the Beasley family from Canyon Lake, Texas.
When senior wide receiver Cole Beasley takes the field, three generations of his family often are in the stands. His mother, Danette Beasley, has not missed a game since Cole’s freshman year. His father, Mike, a retired high school football coach, also is usually there with Cole’s grandparents, brother, sister, and even aunts and uncles. The Beasley cheering section has been supporting Cole since he began playing football as a child.
“When you’re a kid, you always want to be supported by your parents,” Cole says. “They like coming to my games as much as I like them being there.”
With about 400 Mustangs competing in 16 varsity sports, scores of parents and families root for their student-athletes each year. “Parental support means a lot to our student-athletes and to our program,” says SMU Athletics Director Steve Orsini. “Parents and family create a special atmosphere for players and fans at our athletic events.”
Beasley’s parents retired after his first year at SMU so they could attend all of his games. To afford the weekly road trips from their home, about five hours south of Dallas, Mike and Danette picked up a summer job on the Guadalupe River, working as handymen and shuttle drivers at White-water Sports.
The extra money in their pockets enabled them to visit the East Coast last December, when the Mustangs played consecutive Conference USA games. They watched SMU beat East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina, in the final week of the 2010 season to clinch a berth in the title game. But instead of driving back to Texas, the Beasleys pointed the Yukon south and went to Florida for a week on the beach before attending the C-USA championship game in Orlando.
Not all parents, however, are able to make their student-athlete’s games. But with the proliferation of websites dedicated to college sports and the increasing use of social media, most parents do not need to leave their homes to know how their children are performing. The Internet has provided these families with the opportunity to feel as if they are in attendance at the sport. Such is the case for Freddy and Carmen Espericueta, parents of women’s golferFelicia Espericueta.
The Espericuetas live in Edinburg, nestled in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. They traveled to all of Felicia’s matches in high school, but regular attendance has not been possible for her college events because the women’s golf team travels as far as Wisconsin, Alabama and Puerto Rico. The only tournament within driving distance this season was a late October contest in San Antonio.
The Espericuetas keep up with their daughter’s performance on GolfStat.com, which places scorers every few holes at most Division I collegiate golf tournaments. Players report their tallies to officials who post them on a scoreboard. The website posts scores on every hole and updates the tournament leaderboard for both teams and individuals.
“It really helps us as parents because we can’t go,” says Carmen, whose son, Freddy Jr., played collegiate golf at the University of North Texas 10 years ago. “We know where she had the bogey or where she had a birdie. I get so hooked when she’s in a tournament that I don’t want to leave the computer.”
Other parents, such as Aleksandra Lesniak, whose daughter, Marta, is an SMU All-American tennis player, have embraced social media. Lesniak uses Twitter and SMU’s varsity athletics web site, SMUMustangs.com, to obtain Marta’s results from her home in Wroclaw, Poland. Marta, a senior, calls home only once or twice a month, which has motivated her mother to become tech savvy.
“I’m on Twitter also, but I think she is there more often than I am,” says Marta. “Everything she knows about how I’m doing comes from Twitter, the SMU website and other tennis websites.”
In Houston alumni distributed books donated by Half Price Books and discussed the importance of reading with youngsters involved in the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) at Sharpstown College Prep School. Kipp Sharpstown’s goal is to help students become lifelong learners capable of excelling in college by fostering self-reliance, honor, achievement, responsibility to others and persistence.
Volunteers worked with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, which provides food to those in need in Middle and West Tennessee. Alumni helped stock refrigerators, boxed food and sorted canned goods.
Alumni volunteered with City Meals on Wheels at the Stanley Isaacs Senior Center. The program’s mission is to ensure that homebound elderly New Yorkers never go a day without food or human company. Volunteers followed a walking route to deliver meals to the elderly.
Alumni helped spruce up Onward Neighborhood House, which offers educational, recreational and social services programs. Afterward, the Mustangs gathered for an SMU-Tulsa watch party. Pictured from left are Tom Cooper ’02, Jesica Cooper ’02, John Gaines ’04, Tim Moen ’74, Steve Swanson ’74 and John Simon ’10.
Alumni aided SOME (So Others May Eat). SOME is an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation’s capital. The organization meets the immediate daily needs of the people it serves with food, clothing and health care. SOME helps break the cycle of homelessness by offering services, such as affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment and counseling, to the poor, the elderly and individuals with mental illness.
Alumni in St. Louis volunteered at City Academy, a K-6 school that strives to admit promising children from committed families in the urban community; offer an exceptional and affordable education; foster a culture of academic rigor, integrity and citizenship; and cultivate an appreciation of lifelong learning that inspires future success.
SMU alumni assisted the United Methodist Children’s Home (UMCH) with landscaping. The mission of UMCH is to provide redemptive, healing services that bring meaningful change to children and families. The Children’s Home has been a safe haven for abused children and youth since 1871. Services are aimed at preventing the breakup of families, restoring and healing separated families, and teaching teens and young adults how to create successful lives for their future families.
The six-decade romance of James H. and Mickey Cates Abbott began like a Hollywood movie. Mickey Cates Abbott and James H. Abbott
“I spotted her from across the rotunda in Dallas Hall,” James says. “She had an art class on the east side, and I was walking from class on the west side. After that, I made sure to walk down the stairs on her side.”
A few years later they would walk down the aisle together at Perkins Chapel, one of the first couples to be married in the church after it opened in 1951. Sixty years later to the day – June 16, 2011 – the Abbotts returned to the chapel for the first time since their wedding and spent the afternoon reminiscing.
It was a warm June day when family and friends gathered as James and Mickey repeated their vows. SMU President Umphrey Lee officiated.
Lee, a respected Methodist scholar, had a fan in the Abbott household. “My mother idolized Umphrey Lee,” James says. “He was the most charming man, and we became friends, so I asked him if he would perform the ceremony.”
Leading up to their marriage was a courtship that advanced from Dallas Hall to dates at Turtle Creek and drives through Oak Cliff in a Hudson with an inline-eight engine, which car buff James vividly recalls.
Having earned a Bachelor’s in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado, James was pursuing a Master’s in mathe-matics at SMU, which he received in 1949. Mickey’s creative talents led her to art and theatre with a focus on costume design. She earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s in 1949.
The couple remembers the influx of military veterans to campus after World War II – James served a stint in the Navy. Their paths crossed with fellow students Doak Walker, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1948, and Aaron Spelling, with whom Mickey worked on Arden Club productions.
After graduation, Mickey applied her fashion background as a buyer with the Titche-Goettinger department store chain. James taught at Texas A&M before earning his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Illinois. He went on to teach there and at Purdue, the University of New Mexico and the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest at the University of Texas at Dallas.
In 1965 they moved to New Orleans, where James served as chair of the mathematics department at the University of New Orleans and is professor emeritus of mathematics.
Now retired, the Abbotts divide their time between New Orleans and the Dallas area.
It has been a year for cherishing memories and celebrating milestones.
In the centennial year of SMU’s founding, 2011, we honored our heritage. We gathered as a community to celebrate Founders’ Day in April. We transformed the first floor of Hughes-Trigg Student Center into Centennial Hall, a multimedia, interactive display of our history, our present and our potential for even greater achievement. President R. Gerald TurnerWe hosted Centennial reunions, expanded the Homecoming parade, and produced a stunning full-color picture book capturing SMU’s grandeur as a place of learning and living. We invited SMU, Dallas and national experts to take part in our Centennial academic symposium, “The University and the City: Higher Education and the Common Good.” Our web site at www.smu.edu/100 captures the many ways we are marking the Centennial period, 2011-2015, and welcoming your ongoing participation.
Most important of all, we honored the legacy of our founders by building on their dreams.
Once again, we welcomed the most academically gifted entering class in our history, with an average SAT score of 1268, up from 1243 last year, and moving closer to our goal of 1300. SMU’s average SAT scores have risen 125 points in the past ten years, and applications have more than doubled. It is clear that SMU is increasingly attractive to the best students, and we’re determined to keep that momentum going.
A key way to accomplish that, of course, is to continue raising funds for merit scholarships, a major goal of our Second Century Campaign, which has reached another milestone: We have reached $574.1 million toward the $750 million goal, and we’re still in full swing.
So, as we enter 2012, we have much to celebrate and anticipate. We will continue to mark the special milestones of our past through Founders’ Day activities and other Centennial events. And we’ll continue to commemorate ongoing progress. We will break ground on the new Residential Commons, implement a new University curriculum and proceed with upgrades to facilities such as Moody Coliseum. Most of all, we remain grateful for your unwavering support of the University’s founding vision and enduring aspirations. Today’s donors are the founders of our future, and we celebrate you. R. Gerald Turner President
Alumni Elisabeth Martin Armstrong ’82 and William D. Armstrong ’82, of Denver, have committed a $5 million gift toward the construction of SMU’s new Residential Commons. William D. Armstrong ’82 and Elisabeth Martin Armstrong ’82, of Denver, with daughters Leigh ’11 and Lindsey ’10.
The Residential Commons model represents a new direction in SMU student housing. The five Residential Commons will enable SMU to accommodate a sophomore residency requirement. First-year students are already required to live on campus.
Campus living beyond the first year has been linked to higher retention rates and the creation of a greater sense of camaraderie among students. Each Residential Commons will include faculty in residence, expanding opportunities for learning, informal interactions and mentoring, says Paul Ludden, provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Construction of the Residential Commons will begin in early 2012. The living-learning complex will be located north of Mockingbird Lane near the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports and Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the main campus. It is expected to open in fall 2014 and will provide housing for 1,250 students, as well as a dining facility. Each Commons building will include classrooms, seminar space and faculty accommodations.
The plan also calls for existing residence halls to be renovated to achieve the Residential Commons model by 2014. The living-learning communities will include faculty in residence and space for academic, social and cultural activities.
“The Armstrong family’s gift to SMU will help ensure that future students will benefit from a close-knit, living and learning community that will enhance their SMU experience,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “We are grateful to the Armstrongs for funding the first Residential Commons, and we are pleased to name it in their honor.”
Supporting SMU is a family tradition for the Armstrongs, who are among three generations of family members to have attended SMU. The Armstrongs met as first-year geology students in Dedman College and as students attended geology field camp in Taos.
They serve as co-chairs of the University’s Second Century CampaignSteering Committee for Denver and served from 2008 through 2011 as chairs of the Parent Leadership Council.
In addition, they contributed to construction of the Armstrong Casita student residence at SMU-in-Taos.
Daughter Leigh graduated in May from Meadows School of the Arts, and in 2010 daughter Lindsey earned a Master’s degree in education from the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
A major renovation planned for Fondren Library Center will restore the Grand Reading Room (shown in rendering) for use by all, while also creating a Special Collections Reading Room and a gallery space for public programming. These rooms will be signature spaces for scholarly pursuit and will honor the architectural tradition of the campus, according to Gillian M. McCombs, dean and director of Central University Libraries (CUL). The project also incorporates several amenities for students, including a collaborative learning suite and a café/browsing area. While utilizing the existing footprint of the complex, the proposed renovation increases user spaces, technology access, public programming capabilities and other improvements. Funds are now being raised to support the project. To make a contribution or for more information, contact Paulette Mulry ’83, CUL director of development, 214-768-1741.
As part of its Second Century Celebration, SMU has published a 160-page book, SMU: Unbridled Vision, which features more than 200 new color photographs, combined with selected historic images, showing the beauty and vitality of the campus experience. The Second Century Celebration extends from 2011, the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding, to 2015, the centennial of its opening. The book also features an essay on the founding and an essay by SMU President R. Gerald Turner that focuses on current strengths. The book is available at the SMU Barnes & Noble Bookstore on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas; Gameday Cloth in Plano; Madison in Highland Park Village, Dallas; Suzanne Roberts in Snider Plaza, Dallas; and online from Amazon. Cost is $59.95 each.
DeGolyer Librarywill celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most popular novelists with “Charles Dickens, 1811-2011: An Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen Weeks,” opening January 19, 2012. Weeks, a member of the SMU Libraries Executive Board, began collecting books while in high school. Weeks’ collection includes 1,000 volumes of Dickens’ first novel, The Pickwick Papers. The novel was published originally as a 19-month serial beginning in March 1836. “In The Pickwick Papers you can see Dickens develop as an author,” says Weeks, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Cyndi. Their daughter, Jennifer, is an SMU senior. Weeks’ collection also contains 2,000 Pickwick Papers illustrations, including proof sets and hand-tinted works. The exhibit will continue through May 11, 2012. The illustration at left is from the Stephen Weeks collection.
Peruna IX, shown sprinting with handlers Ryan Gage (left) and Chris Manthey, is the big stud on campus now. The miniature black stallion took the reins from Peruna VIII at halftime of the football game against Central Florida October 15 in Ford Stadium. Also honored at the game were current and former Peruna handlers and the Culwell family. W.E. Cullwell, owner of Culwell and Sons, donated Peruna II in 1932; since then the Culwell family has donated each pony that has served as the Mustang mascot. Four-year-old Peruna IX has been groomed for the job since his selection as a colt, attending summer band practices to become adjusted to game noise. However, 17-year-old Peruna VIII, who reigned from 1997-2011, is not being put out to pasture. In semiretirement, he will continue to make appearances on The Boulevard before home games and at other events.
The late Bill Clements and Rita Clements in 2009 at SMU-in-Taos at the opening of new student housing they helped to provide.
Former Texas Governor William P. Clements Jr., a longtime major supporter of SMU academic programs and trustee emeritus, died May 29, 2011, in Dallas. He was 94 years old.
His relationship with SMU began in the mid-1930s, when he was an engineering student. Through the years, Clements and his wife, Rita, have contributed more
than $21 million to the University, funding some of SMU’s highest academic priorities, including support for his special interest in the Southwest.
“Bill Clements’ generosity and guidance have made a significant impact on academic programs throughout SMU, with major gifts supporting engineering, theology, mathematics and history,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “By endowing the Clements Department of History, including a new Ph.D. program, and the Clements Center for Southwest Studies, he enabled students to learn more about the history and cultures of this region. Bill and Rita Clements also made it possible for SMU to acquire, rebuild and offer academic programs at SMU-in-Taos, located on the site of historic Fort Burgwin in northern New Mexico.”
Clements served multiple terms on SMU’s Board of Trustees and twice served as chair of its former Board of Governors, from 1967-73 and from l983-86. He was named trustee emeritus in 1991.
Adelaide A. Scanland Busey 10/24/00 Helen F. Johnson 4/15/11 Susan Townsend Schreiber 3/4/11
1938
Bishop Monk Bryan 8/20/11
Dr. Henry Bedford Furr ’50 5/24/11 Beth Almond Harris ’70 7/3/11 Jane M. Arveson Hassenstein 1/29/11 Armilda Jane Magee Loveless 10/3/98
1939
Judge Jack D.H. Hays ’41 1/1/95
The Rev. Jordan C. Mann ’42 1/1/10 George R. Moorman ’41 7/22/11 Leslie Gray Pattillo Jr. 2/20/11
1940
Jeanne Rucker Deis 3/17/11
Dr. Arvel Edwin Haley 8/23/11 James Lawson LaPrelle Jr.3/16/11
1941
Joyce Zirkel Cooper 3/14/11 Betty Zumbrunnen Mallouf 3/15/11
Chaplain George Wheeler 7/5/06
1942
George W. Bookhout Jr. 1/20/11 Gene M. Griswold 11/14/10 Janet Coats Lowry 1/1/96 Frederick Wm. Mayes 4/6/11
1943
Bob Banner 6/15/11 Harry George Hamilton 8/11/11
Dr. Irving Lee Smith 1/1/11
1944
Jo Frances Seegar Leecraft 6/7/11
1945
Marjorie Weatherly Kues 8/30/10 Babette L. Johnson Robb 8/15/11
1946
Colleen A. Keilty Darnall 1/18/06 Peggy Hardy Goodman 4/29/11 Mary Jane Murphey Harmon 7/1/11
The Rev. Harrison Marshall 11/25/10 Clyde Emerson (Doc) Swalwell Jr. 5/10/11 Cathryn M. Graham Whaling 3/17/10
1947
Marcelyn McMurrin Caver 7/19/11 Lynn Chapman 3/28/11 Ralph D. Churchill 6/7/11 Betty Jean Bell Frierson 2/19/07 Louis R. Hollingsworth Jr. 10/20/10 Bette J. Barnes Mathers 4/1/11 James W. Sewell, M.D. 9/10/04
Dr. William McFate Smith 2/25/11
1948
Alex Salinas Carrillo 6/19/11 Sarah Connolly Ciuffardi ’51, 6/16/11 Leo Francis Corrigan Jr. 5/20/11 J. Thomas Daniel 3/9/10 Philips Duke 8/22/10
Dr. Eugene M. Friedman 7/13/11 Max Lloyd Hagan 5/17/11 Margaret Bingham Hale 8/22/11 James Patrick Harris 4/26/95 Katie L. Sanders Maris 12/7/06 Stephen Henry Maris 1/26/06 William J. McMordie 11/5/09 Hunter E. Pickens 6/19/11 Jack Carson Presley 9/16/10 William Floyd Ray 6/22/10 Sam K. Reger 12/25/75 Sarona Whitaker Roberds 6/21/11 James M. Stafford II 4/28/11 Joel Dean Stout ’51, 4/4/11
The Rev. Bonner Earl Teeter 12/21/10| Paul Meachum Thorp’50, 2/5/11
1949
Perry Jack Allen 5/11/11 Harry Benjamin Charles 7/12/11
The Rev. Burney C. Cope 3/5/11 Victor S. Decker ’51, 2/17/11 William C. DeLee 5/29/11 Humbert F. DeRosa Jr. 6/30/10 Guss Dunn Farmer 6/8/11 Newton D. Gregg ’64, 8/27/11 L. Raeburn Hamner Jr. 7/8/01 William D. Jerger Jr. 12/28/10 Janet A. Kanatser 1/12/10 José H. Martinez 5/24/11 Jack H. Matlock 9/19/05 Adolph F. Moravec 2/4/11 J.D. Price Jr. 4/30/89 James D. Ross 3/24/11 David V. Simmons 7/2/11 Ivie J. Stewart 4/27/11 David Coulter Templeton 6/12/11 Henry J. Wilson 5/10/11 Henry E. Wise’52, 3/23/11
1950
Joe E. Arrington 7/14/11 William S. Barnhill Jr. 4/11/11 Frances Heard Billups 6/20/11 Buddy Saunders Brooks 1/15/08 William Roy Burkhart 7/17/11 James W. Cantwell III ’55, 6/13/11 Jo Ann Schwab Carlson-Berry 8/22/11 Costine A. Droby 7/22/11 James Ashley Eidson 6/18/11 Donald James Embree 8/24/11 Stanford Fong 4/27/11
Dr. James N. Frierson 7/14/10 George M. Fullwood 6/17/11 Justin Edwin Garrison 6/6/11 Charles H. Gross 4/20/11 Gloria Busby Helmer 2/24/11 Fred M. Hunstable Sr. 3/25/11 Norman A. Kimmel 7/1/10 Lewis Drayton Mitchell 11/26/10
Dr. William R. Nail Jr. 7/6/11 James H. Norman 7/2/11 Earle F. Plyler 11/7/10 Jennings D. Ross 1/10/11 Clyde C. Sanders Sr. 9/29/10 Simon Schwartz 5/8/11 William C. Smellage 8/18/11 Thomas T. Sorrels 12/29/10 Grady Dowell Thomas 1/23/10 Carl Preston Wallace 9/1/11 Max A. Zischkale Jr.4/4/11
1951
Mary Vanita Harlow Avery 6/9/92 Rosalind Riddle Beaird 8/5/11 Dorothy G. Blankenship ’55, 4/6/11 William Ralph Green 5/25/11 Olin E. Groves 5/27/11
The Rev. Richard Knowles Heacock Jr. 8/2/10 Lawrence F. Ley 3/30/11
Dr. Asbury Lenox 1/18/11 Elizabeth Hunsucker Moore 6/7/11 Roy L. Poe Jr. 7/1/11 Betty Andrews Rogers 3/20/10 John J. Santillo 6/15/11 Dorothy Weaver Welwood5/24/11
1952
Richard Allen Beadle 7/21/11 Jack Honaker Byrd 3/24/11 Sarah E. Carmichael 8/28/11 Bobby Wilson Cheney ’56, 8/15/11 Marion L. Jacob 2/4/11 Edward J. Kolb 7/5/11 Scott McDonald 8/14/11 James R. Minter ’59, 2/20/11 Howard S. Mitana 2/13/11 Harold F. Mosher Jr. 9/18/10 Bryan L. Murphy Jr. 10/25/10 Louis B. Read ’53, 3/31/11 Allen C. Redding Jr. 7/5/11 Emanuel Rohan ’72, 8/16/11
Dr. Robert Wilburn Sanders 12/27/10 John G. Street Jr. 5/26/11 Melvin Ray Traylor Sr. 9/1/11 Donald M. Tucker1/4/11
1953
Phyliss Oakes Burke 8/19/11 Howard L. Crow Jr. 6/2/11
Chaplain Charles Irven Fay 8/8/11
Dr. Eduardo Guerra 3/15/11 George W.B. Hall Jr. 8/12/11
The Rev. Robert Harold Ruppert 4/30/11 Max H. Schrader 5/5/11
The Hon. Hugh T. Snodgrass8/8/11
1954
James Thomas Clemons, Ph.D., 1/14/11 Marilyn Eckert Goldstein 3/28/11
Dr. Walter Jene Miller 5/17/11
The Rev. Dr. E. Bruce Parks 1/7/11 James A. Vordenbaum 3/27/11 Richard Gilbert Webb7/30/11
1955
The Rev. Charles E. Dennis 7/15/11
The Rev. Dr. Kenneth W. Johnstone 1/25/11
Dr. Richard D. McEwen 9/12/90 Campbell W. Newman Jr. ’68, 3/23/11 Jeanne Garrett Owens 4/18/11
Dr. Kirby A. Vining1/20/09
1956
Linda Fraser Chilton 3/25/11 Kenneth L. Coleman 3/15/11 William C. Diller 8/22/11 Von R. Douthit 5/28/11
Dr. Farrell D. Odom 3/27/11
Capt. Edwin R. Wallace8/11/11
1957
Dr. Earl L. Carter Jr. 3/26/11 Jack Dean Gorham 12/10/87 James Randolph Hudson 8/20/11 Klyde Z. Huston 7/1/84 Richard D. Oswalt 5/1/11 George H. Rumbaugh Jr. 2/15/11 Frieda E. Sheel 7/3/11 Ken Smith 2/24/11 John David Tresp 3/19/11
1958
Charles Herbert (Herb) Asel Jr. 7/22/11 Travis (T.D.) Dickey Jr. 5/15/11 Samuel P. Mitchell 7/29/11 Harriet Magruder Newgent 2/28/11 Thomas D. Pitts 8/14/04 Kathie Remington Poff 3/19/11 Linda L. Wyman 8/29/11
1959
Billy H. Barbee 1/10/11 Rowena Wimberley Freefield 3/31/11 John R. Gray 6/10/11 Spencer Phelps Harris 5/17/11
Dr. Landon J. Lockett III 4/3/10 Lyman M. Niemeier 4/6/10 Linda Boyce Steward5/1/11
1960
William E. Ackley 4/27/11
Dr. William A. Bevier 5/5/11 Harold Cecil Cantrell 5/27/11 Brooks Robert Collum 5/31/11
The Rev. William I. Eubanks 6/10/11 Rollin H. Smith Jr., 4/15/11
1961
Thomas S. Bayer Jr. ’77, 7/12/11 James M. Bogan Jr. 10/20/10 Warren D. Dickinson 11/4/09 Sarah Kay Henry 11/9/10 Charles R. Johnson 4/13/11 Edward L. Johnson 7/11/07 Paul J. Kendall 5/29/07 Jack Weldon McCaslin 3/18/11 Donald J. Needham 4/29/11 Nancy Robbins Reagan 9/8/10 Billy D. Schaerdel 5/16/11
Dr. Wendell Shackelford 11/29/08 Buford Stanley Shannon Jr. 1/3/10 Mary Lou Brown Smith12/4/10
1962
Dr. David S. Bennett 5/19/11 Steven K. Cochran 5/27/11 Gene M. Goodwin 4/16/11 William S. Hooton 6/13/11 James Locke Jones 3/16/04
The Rev. Dois M. Kennedy 5/30/11 Herbert E. McDill4/30/11
1964
Ronald C. Herrick4/4/11
1965
Ray A. Goodwin 1/2/11 William Michael Guckian 8/21/11 Paul N. Hug7/28/11
1966
Larry B. Bach 2/14/05 Kay R. Bice Gandy 10/18/06 Kenneth Marston Good Sr. ’67, 8/13/11
Dr. Rush C. Harris 1/19/11 James P. Kenny Jr. ’67, 9/22/08
Dr. Jack D. Logan 8/12/11 Jewel B. McDaniel Reed 8/16/11 Leonard Arthur Washburn7/17/09
1967
Dr. James William Gibson 12/27/10 Charles E. Poole Jr. 8/4/11 Leon G. Radinsky Jr.7/19/11
1968
Denford Allen Brumbaugh 2/22/08 Robert James Burke7/10/00
1969
Jean J. Bowden 2/18/10 Walter Bruce Henry 2/4/10 Mitchell L. Parks II 7/15/11 Thomas R. Regmund 9/2/11 Leasel Richardson 9/4/87 Thomas David Van Orden11/11/10
1970
Francis (F.R.) Callaway 11/15/04 Edward De Spain 1/8/08 Deborah Driggs Jarrett 7/2/11
1971
Lucille T. Chapin 7/7/11 Marvin Wayne Hill 10/28/09 Alan T. Sundstrom 5/10/11 William J. Teague, Ph.D., 7/2/11 Kent E. Durbin Westmoreland10/15/09
1972
Hayes Bolton 1/1/09 Audrey Dennis Raney12/10/10
1973
Ruth Flores Barnard 9/4/11 June Jenson Sinclair 8/22/11 Del R. Threadgill6/9/11
1974
Donald Roland Bustion ’77, 8/14/11 Paul R. Love 7/29/11 Don H. McKinney 4/3/11 Stuart Arthur Nichols5/7/11
1975
William A. Dickenson 5/2/11 Martha L. Pool Dodd 12/27/07 Ardith A. Stevens Kephart8/28/11
1973
David Richard McCormack 1/5/11
Dr. Stanley Eugene Monroe Jr. 6/20/11
Dr. James B. Palmer Sr. 6/1/11 Norma L. Boyd Shillinglaw1/23/04
1977
Susan Ehrenberger Crawford7/3/11
1978
Robert Wade Lund 4/7/11 Sylvia Sullivan Williamson1/15/11
1979
Patricia A. (Patty) Smith ’80, ’86, 5/9/11 Jon D. Welker9/11/11
1980
Robert Allen Fleming 6/17/11 Thomas M. Groggel 2/20/11 James E. Jack7/4/11
1981
Danny L. Colvin6/9/11
1982
James Edward Butler 11/9/10 Katherine Gerber Romer 10/16/08 Sterling Howard Wilson5/17/11
1984
David Bentley Jones 6/26/11 Robert Ancel Palmer III 6/21/11 Ronald Burroughs Scott8/15/11
1985
David L. Brock 5/30/11 Charles E. Washington7/15/02
1988
Byron Chandler Barber 7/27/11 Thomas Martin Harmon 5/29/11 Gregg Daniel Martin 8/26/11 Russell Wayne McAdams4/22/11
1990
Greg S. Bruce ’96, 5/22/11 Asim Gursel Celik1/18/10
1991
Charles Richard Butler 5/5/11 Richard W. Fishgall7/18/11
1992
The Rev. Barbara Keeney Wordinger7/6/11
1993
Sharilee Counce 7/13/11 Sharon M. Saffron5/31/06
1994
David S. Adkins 4/22/10 Donald Frederick Walker Jr.7/17/99
1996
Jason David Blakey5/21/11
2003
Michael J. McLeod 4/6/11 Eric Najera7/4/11
2004
The Rev. Marisa June Everitt Rozdilsky5/6/11
2006
Barrett M. Havran3/14/11
SMU Community
Lewis R. Binford, professor emeritus of anthropology and one of SMU’s three members of the National Academy of Sciences, 4/11/11 Nancy Hamon, noted philanthropist and arts visionary who was a major contributor to SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts – the school’s Nancy and Jake Hamon Arts Library is named for her and her late husband – and the Meadows Museum at SMU, 7/30/11 Kerry Liebrecht (J.D. ’04), former staff member of Development and External Affairs and Legal Affairs, 04/18/11 Daniel W. Shuman, M.D. Anderson Foundation Endowed Professor of Health Law, 4/25/11
Max M. Morrison lives in El Paso, TX, and in January 2010 celebrated his 95th birthday, reports his daughter, Monica Morrison ’98. He had a TV repair business following graduation from SMU and worked for 20 years as an engineer for Western Electric.
Margaret Elizabeth RodgersPospichal is a retired teacher in the Fort Worth school district. For 47 years she was married to Lt. Col. Arnold B. Pospichal. She has two daughters and a son, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Celebrating her 92nd birthday Sept. 12, 2011, she enjoys driving and riding her stationary bike.
44
Bennie H. Furlong was a teacher for 41 years and city council member for 20 years in Jacksonville Beach, FL, where the Bennie Furlong Senior Center is named in her honor. She celebrated her 90th birthday Sept. 30, 2011.
48
Claude W. Ferebee Jr. owned a grocery store in Pecos, TX, an oilfield service in Midland, TX, and an oilfield storage and transportation company in Harvey, LA. He earned a law degree from Loyola University in 1971 and practiced in Louisiana and Texas until 1988. Now retired, he lives in Fort Worth. Georgia Schenewerk Pitts stays busy with volunteering and an interest in politics. She has 11 grandchildren.
49
Earle Labor (M.A. ’52), considered a leading authority on Jack London, was honored as “Jack London Man of the Year 2011” by the Jack London Foundation in Sonoma, CA. He has published eight books on the author, and his newest, Jack London: An American Life in Letters (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), is set for a 2012 release.
J. Webster Feild participated in a remembrance of the invasion of Iwo Jima 66 years ago. E.L. Gibson, a retired aircraft designer, worked 33 years at General Dynamics in Fort Worth. Dorothy Marion Arterburn McKinsey has seen most of the world and retired twice. Now a broken leg has slowed her down. Elizabeth Cady Pousson went back to college and became a hospital dietitian. She has four children and six grandchildren.
51
Jerome M. (Jerry) Fullinwider received a 2011 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Highland Park High School Alumni Association. In December 2010 the Jerome M. Fullinwider Endowed Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom at SMU’s Cox School of Business was named in his honor.
53
Murray T. Bass (M.A. ’54) was recognized as a “Living Legend” by the Solano County (CA) Senior Coalition. He is founder and president of Tools of Learning for Children, helping preschoolers learn to read, and the Tools Citizenship Program, teaching students about American government. His “Plan to Live” column has appeared in the Fairfield Daily Republic newspaper for more than 25 years. Carolyn Saunders Jones began her sixth term last June as mayor of Winnsboro, TX. She volunteers as president of the Winnsboro Community Foundation, vice president of Enough Is Enough Drug Task Force and board member of Winnsboro Community Resource Center Food Bank.
55
William A. Riedel recently traveled to Asia and toured South America and the Mediterranean with his wife, Bobbie.
56
Julia Sanford Burgen, an environmental advocate, received the Shield Award from National Delta Gamma Fraternity in spring 2011. Her keystone accomplishment was the establishment in 2004 of Julia Burgen Park on the Johnson Creek Greenway, 70 acres of floodplain in the heart of Arlington, TX. Donald D. Clayton, 1993 SMU Distinguished Alumnus, was invited by the Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation to deliver a public lecture in March at the Melbourne Museum. He presented “Astronomy with Radioactivity – What Is That!” and enjoyed two weeks in the Melbourne area with his wife, Nancy.
57
Ann Weaver McDonald was the designated spotlight artist for the 2011 Lubbock Arts Festival, the first photographer so honored. Harry Donald Nicholson introduces his new wife: Linda.
Adelfa Botello Callejo was honored by Hispanic 100, an organization of Hispanic professional women, at its 2011 Latina Living Legend Awards September 14. As an attorney and civil rights activist, she has worked to break down racial barriers for Dallas Hispanic residents and improve equality in education. Robert W. Cooper (M.L.A. ’74) teaches at Eastfield College near Dallas. He has been a professor of English for 20 years. William B. (Bill) Moorer and his wife, Helen, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last August. When he was a student at Perkins School of Theology, she was secretary to SMU President Willis M. Tate. Dr. Moorer served 41 years as a minister in the Oklahoma Conference, retiring in 2000. He and Helen live in Muskogee, where he is a part-time V.A. chaplain.
62
Dr. Linda Hawkins Kay was inducted into the Jacksboro High School Alumni Hall of Fame in Texas. The spring/summer 2011 Class Notes mistakenly located the high school in Mississippi. SMU Magazine apologizes for the error. Robert M. (Bob) Richardson retired Jan. 1, 2011, after 25 years as chief judge of the State Court of Houston County in Georgia. He will serve as a senior judge in retirement and also continue his hobby of scuba diving for fossils.
63
Mike Boone is the recipient of the 2011 Law Firm Distinguished Leader Award by The American Lawyer for his positive contributions to law and society. He is in the Junior Achievement Dallas Business Hall of Fame, and the Dallas Lawyers Auxiliary honored his long-standing dedication to volunteerism with the Justinian Award for Public Service. The Michael Mauldin Boone Leadership Scholarship, initiated by his friends, is awarded annually to a Highland Park High School senior who exemplifies Boone’s commitment to community service and ethical leadership. He is co-founder and partner of Haynes and Boone law firm in Dallas. F.R. (Buck) Files Jr. (M.L.A. ’74) was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association June 10, and on June 23 was sworn in as president-elect of the State Bar of Texas. Paul Petersen retired in 2006 from full-time teaching at Cleveland State University’s Fenn College of Engineering. He lives in Bath, NC, where he enjoys fishing, sailing, teaching part-time at a community college and spoiling his grandson. Brad Tibbitts was honored at a reception April 28 on his retirement from Weatherford (TX) College after 38 years. Though serving in several capacities, he is most remembered as an instructor of American history.
64
Gayle Outlan (M.A. ’67) works part-time as a speech pathologist for Southwestern Medical Home Health and Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas Home Health.
65
Clark Hendley left retirement to return to academic administration as vice president for academic affairs at Hastings College in Nebraska. Bill Lively was appointed vice chancellor of strategic partnerships for the three campuses of the University of North Texas System effective Sept. 7, 2011. He will work with campus presidents in fundraising and strategic planning.
67
King Bourland is a partner at the Dallas certified public accounting and consulting firm CF & Co. LLP. He was interviewed in the June 3-9 edition of Dallas Business Journal.
68
Jack Moffatt is serving a two-year term as president of the Tularosa Basin – Don Root Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America.
69
Kathy Bates plays Gertrude Stein in the Woody Allen movie “Midnight in Paris.” Eugene Taylor has won the 2011 Abraham Maslow Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Farther Reaches of the Human Spirit, conferred by the Society for Humanistic Psychology in the American Psychological Association. J. Richard (Dick) White serves on the SMU Presidential Commission on Substance Abuse Prevention, 2010-2012.
Kyle T. Demler is a 33-year emergency department physician. Bob Emrichis is co-founder of Tranzpal Inc., a company that develops speech-to-speech software for Apple, Android and Blackberry cell phones. With an initial application in the oil and gas industry and construction, it provides automatic translation of common phrases to increase safety and reduce injuries in the field. David L. Nelson has co-authored the book David & Lee Roy, A Vietnam Story (Texas Tech University Press, 2011), as a tribute to the life of his Lubbock, TX, childhood friend, Lee Roy Herron, killed in action in 1969. After law school and a stint in the JAG office and Okinawa, Nelson lost track of Herron. At a benefit in 1997, he heard a retired Marine colonel mention Lt. Lee Herron and his heroic actions on the front lines. After uncovering the story of his death, Nelson set out on a 13-year mission to honor his friend. Along with writing the book, he spearheaded a scholarship in Herron’s name at Texas Tech University. Nelson retired in 2005 from Houston Endowment, a private foundation, after 14 years as vice president and grant director.
71
Valerie Brenner is working part-time. She has a daughter, Kristen Belle, and a granddaughter, Annabelle Louise, age 7. Elizabeth (Betty) Underwood has been appointed to the Alumni Advisory Council for Meadows School of the Arts at SMU.
72
Molly Engelhardt has written her first book, Dancing Out of Line (Ohio University Press, 2009), and has published works on Jane Austen, the romantic ballerina Marie Taglioni, American cheerleaders and the 1970s popular press. She is a tenured professor of English at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, where she lives with her husband, Gary Goodwin. Asher W. McDaniel retired from the Missouri Annual Conference and moved to Lake of the Ozarks.
74
Gregory S. (Greg) Davis (J.D. ’77) is deputy first assistant district attorney in McLennan County, TX. Kenneth Labowitz was named a “Super Lawyer” in elder law for Virginia and Washington, D.C., and was chosen one of Washington’s best lawyers in Washingtonian magazine. Brian Lusk, recently named corporate historian for Southwest Airlines, helped design a permanent exhibit at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas that includes the first Boeing 737-300 to enter commercial service.
75
Garrett W. Epp and his wife, Teresa Pruett-Epp, announce the birth of Oliver Dietrich Oct. 9, 2010, in Olathe, KS. Michael H. Norman (M.B.A. ’76) practices law in Houston and around the state. Wilma Norris Sonntag taught public school for 49 years and will soon celebrate her 92nd birthday. Sol Villasana was the guest at a book signing and reception hosted by Preservation Dallas last August for Dallas’s Little Mexico (Arcadia Publishing, 2011), which chronicles the neighborhood’s growth, zenith, demise and renaissance.
76
Todd Meier was elected mayor of Addison, TX, May 14, 2011. Jon Mitovich is president and CEO of Volcano Industries Inc., recently named by Inc. magazine as one of America’s fastest growing privately held businesses. Dianne Pingree (M.L.A. ’89) is a corporate etiquette and international protocol consultant, trained and certified by the Protocol School of Washington. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from Texas Woman’s University, where she taught in the Department of Sociology and Social Work. The Dallas native has lived in Austin since 1995.
77
Frank Byrne has won several awards, including American Federation of Northeast Pennsylvania, Gold Winner, Business to Consumer website; ScrantonVocations.com, Gold Winner, Business to Consumer Poster Series; ScrantonVocations.com, A Different Kind of White Collar Worker Poster Series, Gold Winner, Business to Consumer Campaign; and ScrantonVocations.com, A Different Kind of White Collar Worker Advertising Campaign. Madeline Dunklin has left a 30-year career in advertising and public relations to work for Clarkson Davis, a Dallas-based consulting firm that looks to refocus and reinvent nonprofit organizations’ strategies due to current economic challenges. The mother of two is involved in Highland Park United Methodist Church and the Dallas Opera Women’s Board. Paul N. Gold has been honored by the College of the State Bar with the 2010 Jim D. Bowmer Award for professional contributions to the Bar. He also received the 2010 Texas Bar Foundation Dan Rugeley Price Memorial Award for professionalism, the 2009 Texas Trial Lawyers Association John Howie Award for mentorship and the 2007 State Bar of Texas Gene Cavin Award for contributions to continuing legal edu-cation in Texas. He is a partner in the Houston trial firm of Aversano & Gold. Jerome M. Sampson has moved to Gainesville, FL.
78
Susan Garbett Kendrick and her husband, Dick, welcomed two grandsons, Cole Evans Estrada in December 2010 and Brody Spencer Stark in January 2011. Susan retired after 30 years on staff at First Baptist Church of Dallas, and Dick works for IBM Corporation. They live in Frisco. EllenBoling Zemke and her husband, Douglas, moved to Cincinnati after he retired as president of Millikin University in Decatur, IL. She retired from Deloitte & Touche in 2004.
79
Greg Carr is managing partner of Carr LLP, a Dallas-based intellectual property law firm named a Technology Advocate finalist by the Metroplex Technology Business Council at the 11th annual Tech Titans Awards gala Aug. 26, 2011. The firm actively supports emerging technology in the private and public sector. John A. Cofield re-entered active duty in the U.S. Army to serve with his two sons. Starting in August 2011, he is stationed in Korea with the 2nd Infantry Division. Beverly B. Godbey, a partner in the Dallas office of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, was elected chair of the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas. She began her one-year term during the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting June 23-24, 2011, in San Antonio and will serve until June 2012. She is married to the Hon. David Godbey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Kim DeWitt Quirk is president of the Richardson Independent School District board of trustees.
Neil L. Abramson was promoted to director of customer service at F4W Inc. in Lake Mary, FL, in January 2011.
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Joe Coomer’s 1992 novel, The Loop, is now a feature film. “A Bird of the Air” premiered in Dallas in October. John D. Duncan is vice president of development for The Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce. He and the former Melanie Swanson ’84 have been married 25 years and have two daughters. Paul Koning announces the opening of Koning Rubarts LLP and his concentration in professional liability defense and complex commercial litigation. He was with Hughes & Luce/K&L Gates for 29 years.
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Caralyn Wehlitz Bushey is an ESL instructor and student services coordinator at the Maryland English Institute at the University of Maryland.
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J. Alan Davis is a theatre producer in London’s West End and last summer co-produced “Being Shakespeare.” Louis Murad is the owner of Murad Auction Group in Richardson and a full-time professional, licensed auctioneer. He helps nonprofit organizations raise money by holding live and silent auctions and educates development directors and auction chairs on how to have a successful event. He and his wife, Claire, own a subsidiary company, Auction & Event Solutions, providing turnkey solutions for auctions.
Col. Mike Schwamm retired from the U.S. Air Force after serving 26 years. Now a pilot for Southwest Airlines, he lives in Las Vegas.
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Tyrone Gordon is senior pastor of the 6,000-member St. Luke Community United Methodist Church, one of the oldest of Dallas’ mega-churches. Paulara Hawkins has a new ebook available on Amazon, Talk That Talk, under the name P.R. Hawkins.
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Anthony Helm became head of digital media and library technologies at the Dartmouth College Library in March 2011. ArLena Richardson gave the graduate commencement address to the Class of 2011 at Western International University in Phoenix. Elena Rohweder is on the board of the Dallas International Association of Business Communicators and co-chairs the Quill Awards. Patty Sullivan joined MoneyGram International in January 2011 as senior vice president of communications. Rick Whittlesey runs a nonprofit organization, Go Nigeria, that provides food, care and education to orphans, widows and others in need in Nigeria. As reported by Carrie Slaughter-Whittlesey ’98, the organization held a fundraiser in Dallas last June to build a school for Nigerian orphans.
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Todd Boulanger is back in the U.S. after managing Alta Planning & Design’s pedestrian safety action plan for the Abu Dhabi Department of Transportation. Now he works with small cities in Oregon on their streets and transportation plans and continues his longtime work as a board director of Bikestation, which provides and designs bicycle parking hubs throughout the U.S. He is celebrating his 23rd year without owning a car. Dorree Remont Colson and her husband, Michael, have two sons: Walker Rheed, born May 12, 2009, and Daniel, 7. The Colsons live in Houston. Michael Hudak is a private wealth advisor for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Phoenix, listed on “America’s Top 1,000 Advisors” in the Feb. 21, 2011, issue of Barron’s magazine. He ranked fourth among the 25 advisors in Barron’s Arizona Top Advisor list. This is the third consecutive year he has been so recognized. Amy Martin is founder and creative director of Winter SolstiCelebration, a fusion of seasonal service, performing arts and musical theater. In her online newsletter Moonlady News, she reports on nonmainstream spirituality; environment; holistic, metaphysic mind-body movement; personal growth; and progressive causes in North Texas. Jeffrey L. Weinstein of Athens, TX, is a new member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, trial lawyers who have won million- and multimillion-dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. He represents victims of drunk driving, distracted driving and texting and cell phone usage.
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Brant Bernet is co-founder and managing director of Lincoln Rackhouse. On June 14, 2011, he posted a blog at realpoints.dmagazine.com on the maturation of the data center business. Brad D’Amico practices securities and oil and gas law at the Fort Worth and Dallas law firm Cantey Hanger LLP. Kimberly Nelson-Olszewski is a partner and branch manager of RPM Mortgage Inc. in Santa Monica, CA.
The Rev. Rita Sims conducted her first service June 12, 2011, as pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Rockdale, TX. She is enrolled in the doctoral program at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
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Rod Pipinich (D.Eng. ’92) and his wife, Missy, celebrated the birth of a third daughter, Alexandra.
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The Rev. Elaine Bussey has been appointed pastor of Friendship United Methodist Church in Sherman, TX. She has two daughters and five grandchildren. D’Ann Delp Mateer, writing under the name Anne Mateer, has written a fifth novel, Wings of a Dream (Bethany House Publishers, 2011), and is working on a second historical novel. She and her husband, Jeff Mateer ’90, have three children and live in Rockwall, TX.
Texas State Representative Rafael Anchia received a 2011 Ohtli recognition award at a ceremony in San Antonio last June, the highest acknowledgement conferred by the Mexican government to honor members of the Mexican, Mexican-American and Latin communities abroad. He is a partner in the law firm Haynes and Boone LLP in Dallas. Laura Claycomb, an international opera star based in Italy, returned to Dallas in April 2011 to make her Dallas Opera debut as Gilda in “Rigoletto.” Conducting was Pietro Rizzo ’96, ’97. David Metzler has been named managing shareholder of Cowles & Thompson law firm in Dallas.
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Jeffrey Scott Brewer is president, director and CEO of New York-based nonprofit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International Inc. Previously he was executive chair of Kickstart International, a nonprofit that helps poverty-stricken populations, mainly in Africa, become self-sufficient. In 1995 he co-founded City-Search, the online city guide providing information about businesses in U.S. cities, and in 1998 co-founded GoTo.com, a successful “pay-per-click” and “pay-for-placement” search advertising system. Jennifer Grant is a journalist and mother of three whose book, Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter (Thomas Nelson, August 2011), tells of her family’s decision to adopt, the strenuous search for their daughter, Mia, and adjustments to life as a multicultural family. Included are resources and tips for prospective adoptive parents. Harrison Long received the 2010-11 Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of the Arts at Georgia’s Kennesaw State University, where he is associate professor of theatre and performance studies and coordinates the acting concentration. The National Endowment for the Arts accepted a grant proposal he co-authored to support the 2011-12 KSU production “Splittin’ the Raft,” a retelling of the Huck Finn story. Stephanie M. Murdock has been promoted to lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. A public affairs officer with 12 years of military service, she is assigned to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.
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Amy Chang has been an executive assistant for five years at Travelport, a travel technology company based in Parsippany, NJ. She lives in Bloomfield. Lisa Gentry Decker is celebrating 20 years with the executive search firm Lucas Group, where she is executive senior partner, placing accounting and finance professionals in Denver. She has been married 12 years to Ray Decker and has two children, ages 10 and 7. Mindy Tucker Fletcher announces the birth of Caleb Cash April 29, 2011, in San Diego. Lisa Schilling Henry (M.A. ’96, Ph.D. ’99) is chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of North Texas in Denton. She has been teaching at UNT since 2001, along with her husband, Doug Henry ’96 (Ph.D. ’00). They have two children: Riley, 5, and Will, 3.
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Capt. David A. Alpar (M.M. ’96) has conducted the U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty to the 2010 Air Force Media Award for Outstanding Recording of a Single Work, “Gardens of Stone,” and Outstanding Recording of an Original Work, “Symphony #1.”
Country music star Jack Ingram was last June’s guest artist at the St. David’s Round Rock Express Summer Concert Series presented by Dell. Christy LeMire enjoys national attention as co-host of the PBS series “Ebert Presents At the Movies.” She is the film critic for The Associated Press based in Los Angeles and was listed among the 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2008 on the Annual Independent Critics List. Leif Wennerstrom, an SMU swimming star, is in remission from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma but still fights cancer. Using his swimming talent to raise money for cancer research, he was among 200 participants June 11, 2011, in the first Swim Across America event, held in Dallas at Lake Ray Hubbard to benefit the Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. He and others formed Team Mustang to swim in honor of all SMU alumni who have battled cancer.
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Michael C. Sanders is one of the founding partners of Borrego Sanders Willyard LLP, a Houston law firm specializing in oil and gas litigation and transactions.
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Kate Haulman is assistant professor of history at American University in Washington, D.C. Her new book is The Politics of Fashion in Eighteenth-Century America (University of North Carolina Press, 2011). Rob Johnson was senior political adviser to Newt Gingrich as the former House Speaker explored whether to run for president. Rob managed Rick Perry’s 2010 re-election campaign for Texas governor. Amy Swanson married Peter Sillan in December 2010 in Connecticut, where they live. She is vice president of marketing strategy for Time Warner Global Media Group in New York City. Ellen Sharp Tuthill (M.A., M.B.A. ’98) traveled with her husband to Ethiopia in March 2011 to serve orphans and HIV widows. Gregory Dean Watts has written a short comedy script, “Momfia,” accepted into the 2011 Beverly Hills Film Festival. The script also won the short comedy category in the 2010 Woods Hole Film Festival and the 2010 Indie Gathering Film Festival in Cleveland.
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Carol Apelt joined CRAFT | Media/Digital last March, a multichannel communications consulting firm in Washington, D.C., as director of operations and business development. She also serves the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as administrative officer for the D.C. Disaster Medical Assistance Team, part of the nation’s National Disaster Medical System. Josh Gregory captained the SMU men’s golf team in 1996-97. Now he has returned to SMU as men’s golf coach after leading Augusta State University to two straight NCAA men’s golf titles. Elizabeth Tomek Hernandez and her husband, Ruben, announce the birth of Zachary Allen, May 18, 2011; big brother is Aaron. Elizabeth is director of the Texas office of The Pivot Group, a political communications company. Cooper Smith Koch was named a top 40 Under Forty by Dallas Business Journal in June. As principal of the Cooper Smith Agency, he has led his company from its 2002 beginning to today’s prominence in product placement, managing his clients’ relationship with production companies for “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” DIY Network and HGTV series and programs on the Food Network, A&E, TLC and PBS. His agency also works with national showcase homes, including Idea House in Southern Living and Esquire magazine’s Ultimate Bachelor Pad.
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Tim W. Jackson established the Coral Reef Preservation Fund in April 2011 from his home in the Cayman Islands. He reports that we risk losing not only the reefs’ beauty but also the food, jobs, medicines and other resources healthy reefs provide. He is donating to the fund a portion of the proceeds of all copies of his literary novel Mangrove Underground (The Chenault Publishing Group, December 2010) purchased through www.timwjackson.com. Gabe Reed was the master promoter of the Mötley Crüe South American tour in May 2011, part of the 30th anniversary world tour, with shows in Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Czarina Reyes (M.L.A. ’01) announces the birth of daughter Sophia Czarina June 14, 2011.
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John Keehler is a Dallas Business Journal 40 Under Forty honoree in the June 24-30, 2011, edition. At Click Here, where he is principal, digital strategy, he leads a team setting the direction for their clients’ brands in the digital space. They design websites, social media, online advertising and mobile experiences.
Dr. Maria Luby Prodanovic-Nutis and her husband, Dr. Mario Nutis, welcomed son Nicolas in December 2010. They live in El Paso, where she practices pediatrics and volunteers with the Junior League. Catherine Coates Walts and her husband, Cameron, announce the birth of their first child, William Jack, Aug. 21, 2011, in Atlanta, GA.
Lindsay Abbate Ballotta and her husband, Ray, announce a son, William Davis, born Dec. 17, 2010. Their daughter, Caroline Leigh, is 3. The Ballottas live in Dallas. Nichole Briscoe Bentley owns Bentley Business Consulting in Coppell, TX. After submitting a video to Verizon demonstrating the balance she strikes between caring for four sons, ages 9 to 15, and running her business, she was named “Hardest Working Small Biz Mom.” She received $5,000 and cleaning service for a year. Glen Webb was unanimously elected to a one-year term as president of the Texas Wildlife Association at the 2011 convention in San Antonio last July 8. He is a rancher as well as owner of Glen Webb PC, a law firm in Abilene, TX. Jason White married Kiley Crabb at Perkins Chapel Aug. 13, 2011. He is director of player personnel for the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. Attending groomsmen were Brad Bader, Mike Furr, Brian Kriete and Joe Zuercher. Lukas K. Womack with business partner Nadeem Lakhani ’98 has started a company online at www.FEELZY.net, which focuses on user privacy and anonymity. The technology captures how people feel about various web content and stores their opinions. Users can view any piece of FEELZY content, share their “feelz” and see how the rest of the world “feelz.”
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Myesa Nichole Knox Mahoney received a Ph.D. in criminology, law and society from the University of California, Irvine, in March 2011. She is an associate lecturer in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, where she and her husband live. David Malcolm married Gina Lisa Andrews April 9, 2011, in Butler Chapel on the campus of Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC, where he is pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree. He serves as an Army chaplain at Fort Bragg, NC. David Ninh is bookings editor at Seventeen magazine in New York. William J. Saunders pursued his Master’s degree in directing from Columbia University’s School of the Arts Film Division. In 2009 he and five others formed Anywhere Films and made “Sweet Little Lies,” which he directed; Josh Ayers ’01 was executive producer. Saunders won an Emmy award for his sports documentary “Big Charlie’s” on the NFL network. His short film “Dash Cunning” won the Audience Choice Award at the Columbia University Film Festival and received the 20th Century Fox/Farrelly Brothers Award for outstanding achievement in comedy. Kristen Holland Shear earned a Master of Arts degree in emerging media and communications at The University of Texas at Dallas. Jessica Shapard Thuston and Dixon Thuston ’02 welcomed a daughter, Eve Amelia, Nov. 19, 2010. Their son, Tripp, is 3. Jessica is executive editor of Southern Livingmagazine, and Dixon is engineering manager at Cash Acme. The Thustons live in Birmingham, AL.
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Sonya Cole-Hamilton and her husband, Gerald, announce the birth of their second daughter, London Corie, April 14, 2011. Charles R. (Chuck) Constant was named executive vice president of business development at the Dallas firm Capital Plan Inc., a business that enables advisers and clients to restore capitalism to insurance ownership. He was an officer and fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, and his service and deployment to Kuwait and Afghanistan in 1999 and 2004 earned him five combat medals. Now a major in the U.S.A.F. Reserve, he works with Congress and the Air Force Academy as a Deputy Liaison Officer Director. Gitanjali (Mishty) Deb and Raney LaSusa ’01 opened LaSusa & Deb PLLC, a general practice law firm in Carrollton. Erin Hendricks joined Parker McDonald PC, where she works on cases ranging from eminent domain to personal injury. Previously she was chief of the sexual assaults crimes section of the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney, trying more than 120 jury trials. Ludwig Otto is an entrepreneur, educator and evangelist who speaks to organizations and groups. He is chair and CEO of Franklin Education & Development, a worldwide nonprofit corporation. Amber Aronson Parkerwrites and publishes children’s books through Reimann Books in North Carolina. After obtaining a second Master’s degree in 2010, she works as a human resources director in local government. Robert Sine married Ashley Walton March 19, 2011. Peruna was at the reception.
The Rev. Michael W. Waters (M.Div. ’06) was invited to become a blogger for The Huffington Post. A recent posted article referenced Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church’s partnership in fall 2010 with the SMU Office of Leadership and Community Involvement. Rev. Waters is the founder and senior pastor of Joy Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dallas and a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree from Perkins School of Theology.
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Whitney C. Aronoff is a recruiter for LivingSocial, a digital media/daily deal company based in Washington, D.C. Dana Dieckman Cassell and her husband, Dan, announce daughter Caroline Jo’s birth May 3, 2011. Dodee Crockett was recognized for a second year on “America’s Top 1,000 Advisors: State-by-State” list in the Feb. 21, 2011, issue of Barron’s magazine. She is a managing director-investments and wealth management advisor and has been with Merrill Lynch for 29 years. Ashley Hamilton is youth activities manager with Disney Cruise Lines. Rogers Healy owner/broker of Dallas-based Rogers Healy and Associates Real Estate, was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal in their 40 Under Forty list in the June 24-30, 2011, edition. He began his career while at SMU, helping students find off-campus housing. His latest endeavor is DingmanHealy.com, a residential relocation company focusing on the real estate needs of high-profile clients. Nolan Joseph Laborde, D.D.S., graduated in May 2011 from Harvard School of Dental Medicine with a post-doctoral in periodontics. He and his wife, Elizabeth Leddy Laborde, D.D.S., live in Dallas, where he is establishing his dental practice. John Ley has opened Two Corks and a Bottle, a Dallas winery/wine bar in Uptown. He previously worked in Development and External Affairs at SMU. Chrissy Crawford Malone has launched a tech/art venture in New York City called LittleCollector.com to create high-quality, limited edition prints of contemporary art for children. Since graduation she has worked for the Aspen Art Museum, received a Master’s degree in international art business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London, run her own art advisory company in New York and launched ArtStar.com and LittleCollector.com. Katie Krenz Reedy has pursued a career in the pharmaceutical industry since 2003. She and her husband welcomed their first child, Bryce, in September 2010 Harry Joseph Smith III and his wife, Stephanie, became parents to Harry Joseph Smith IV March 9, 2011. They celebrated five years of marriage June 3, 2011.
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Elizabeth Nabholtz Allen is vice president of The Weitzman Group, offering a full range of commercial real estate services. She was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal in their 40 Under Forty list in the June 24-30, 2011, edition. Phil Carlson married Christy Noel Osborne ’09 at Trinity Church, Dallas, June 4, 2011. Both serve the SMU undergraduate population as campus ministers through the student organization and Christian campus ministry called PULSE, also known as Victory Campus Ministries. Emily Johnson has accepted a position as a graduate assistant hall director at Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX. Keats Ellen Ryan Moeller and her husband, Darren, celebrated the birth of their first child, Reagan Elizabeth, June 5, 2011. Karthik Rangarajan has been appointed vice president of marketing for the Irving-based EF Johnson Technologies Inc., a developer and manufacturer of communications technology for emergency responders. He has 15 years of experience in mobile technology. Whitney Phelps-Brown Zolna and her husband, Aaron Zolna ’01, are moving to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where Aaron will fly the B2 stealth bomber for the U.S. Air Force.
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Carl Dorvil started Group Excellence, a tutoring and mentoring company, which provides academic services to schools and community organizations. The model uses college students and young professionals as mentors who bond with students in at-risk environments. He was recognized by the Dallas Business Journal in their 40 Under Forty list in the June 24-30, 2011, edition. Sarah Robinson Evans has started her own business in laser engraving called Sima Design in Grand Prairie, TX. Previously she was an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin. Margot Allen Goss is a vice president at Union Bank, N.A., after serving as assistant vice president at Amegy Bank, N.A. Jacky Niederstadt received her M.D., graduating from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is completing her residency in pediatrics at the University of Colorado in Denver. Barbara R. Vance has written and illustrated Suzie Bitner Was Afraid of the Drain, a book of children’s poetry, which won the Next Generation Indie Book Finalist Award, presented to her in New York City. The poems center on a wide range of things children have to deal with.
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Desiree Dawn Brown was promoted in April 2011 to business analysis manager at Fannie Mae in Dallas. She had been a project lead since 2008. Courtney L. Geiger is a dentist at the newly opened Hillcrest Dental Associates in Dallas, which offers general dentistry, orofacial pain management and clinical oral and maxillofacial pathology. Kirby Stuart is a film and television producer who most recently worked on the VH1 reality show “Football Wives.” She took a break to chair the spring 2011 fundraiser sale, Rummage Roundup, for the Junior League of Dallas.
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Nick Aronoff works for Let’s Powwow, a location-based social media company in Beijing, China, where he lives. Jason Coosner received the Choreography Recognition Award in March 2011 from Regional Dance America, placing him on the National Choreography Plan for his neoclassical ballet “Composition VII.” John Holiday Jr. was an apprentice artist with Santa Fe Opera last summer, working with respected conductors, directors and singers from the classical world. He placed fifth in the 42nd Annual Palm Beach Opera competition and was a semifinalist for the 2011 Dallas Opera Guild vocal competition. John Hunninghake and his wife, Talia, welcomed daughter Jane Catherine June 17, 2011. Eduardo Manzur and Amanda Cochran ’08 were married in Los Angeles last July. Michael Tarwater married Julia Brewer in May 2011 in Charlotte, NC, where he is in his third year at Charlotte School of Law.
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Sydney Anne Bridges received her M.S.N. degree from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in August 2010. She is an acute care nurse practitioner at the Debakey Heart & Vascular Center of The Methodist Hospital in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. Breanna Gribble is a project manager/geologist at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation, while pursuing a career as a modern dancer and choreographer. She is the associate artistic director of Mari Meade Dance Collective and choreographs for festivals in NYC.
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Erica Clemmensen and her mother, Lexia Allen ’77, opened Muzzie’s Dressy Dresses, a store in Dallas featuring accessories and prom, pageant, after-five, party, homecoming, work and other special occasion dresses. Sadia Cooper and Keith Turner ’08 were married in Houston June 25, 2011, honeymooned in Maui and returned to Houston. She works for KPMG in their advisory practice, and he is employed by Halliburton. Emily Dawson is a research analyst for Texas Capital Bank. But she also stays busy with a new Texas nonprofit corporation, Giverosity Inc., which she and a friend started to provide a quick, easy way to donate toys to underprivileged children during the busy holiday season. Shayna Rebecca Luza works for the Dallas Caruth Police Institute and is a volunteer for the Dallas Suicide Crisis Hotline. She married Devon Vincent Oct. 29, 2011. Bryan Melton is a mechanical engineer with Raytheon of Richardson. Ebonii Nelson completed her Master of Education degree in college student affairs administration at the University of Georgia and now works in the Center for Student Development at Texas Woman’s University in Denton. Andrés Ruzo, one of the recent “Faces of SMU” on the SMU website, reports from Peru that National Geographic will support his Ph.D. thesis, “The Geothermal Map of Peru,” with a $5,000 grant for field work. Because of the project’s economic and scientific significance for multiple industries, including oil and gas, mining, business and renewable energy sectors, he has been able to raise $85,500 for his study. Gary Suderman works in Seattle as a cameraman/editor for “Penny Arcade: The Series,” a documentary-style comedy revolving around Penny Arcade, one of the most popular and longest running webcomics online. He also produces short films and writes screenplays for feature productions. Doug Wintermute left his job as public information spokesman at Kilgore (TX) College several years ago to begin the journey toward becoming a preacher. He became an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church in spring 2011.
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Elisabeth Brubaker moved to New York City and joined the “Piers Morgan Tonight” team at CNN. Jacqueline Conley and Brandon Allen were married June 11, 2011, at Highland Park (TX) United Methodist Church. She is an attorney at Hayes, Berry, White & Vanzant LLP, and he is a financial analyst at Transwestern Commercial Services Bavand Karim has been a producer for Mother Earth News Radio, a nationally syndicated radio program, and an associate producer of Dig in DFW, an organic lifestyle program for television. In July 2011 he was hired by Northern Kentucky University as a lecturer of electronic media and broadcasting in the College of Informatics. His keystone film, “Nation of Exiles,” has been screened at more than a dozen festivals in four countries, and he plans to expand the film to encompass social movements throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Lauryn E. May started law school last August at Columbia University. Jonathan P. Miller was an honor graduate from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Linh Nguyen moved from her position at Perkins School of Theology in public affairs and academic services to assistant director of direct marketing communications in SMU’s division of Development and External Affairs. She also will help manage the alumni website content and social media sites to promote events. Robert Nitsche is the new CEO at Insurance Network of Texas, one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the state. He grew up in the company, moving from the mailroom to COO and CFO to CEO. Frank Sciuto and Bailey McGuire ’07 started Trinity West Ventures and opened their first franchise restaurant, MOOYAH, in June 2010 in Burleson, TX, near Fort Worth. Running MOOYAH together is what prompted the brothers-in-law to reunite their families in Texas.
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Taylor Holden is working for ESPN in New York City.
As a student in 1991, Chris Lake ’92, ’95 began tutoring a 9-year-old boy living in the crime-riddled East Dallas neighborhood where he rented a house. Despite Lake’s best efforts, his student usually dozed off during their sessions. Unable to sleep one night as he puzzled over the problem, the tutor took a 2 a.m. walk through the neighborhood and found an answer: He spotted the youngster helping his mother clean the local Laundromat. SMU students volunteer with approximately 70 nonprofit organizations in the Dallas area.
“He told me, ‘I could not have known the issues that my student faced had I not lived in the neighborhood.’ It revolutionized his understanding, gave him a holistic sense of the lives of the young people he was coming into contact with that would not have been possible unless there was some kind of continuing connection, some kind of understanding of what their lives were like,” explains James K. Hopkins, professor of history in Dedman College and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor.
With like-minded students and faculty, Lake, now a Dallas attorney, laid the foundation for the 20-year-old Academic-Community Engagement (ACE) program and its ACE house in the low-income East Garrett Park neighborhood. Under the program, students enroll in urban studies courses, tutor and mentor the neighborhood children, and work with nonprofits serving the area. Some students live full-time in the ACE house to become neighbors as well as volunteers.
The ACE program heralded a renewed emphasis on learning opportunities that reach beyond campus boundaries. Academic courses with a community service aspect are now incorporated into the curriculum of all seven of SMU’s degree-granting schools. In addition, the University’s new Quality Enhancement Plan, Engaged Learning, provides opportunities for SMU undergraduates to build on their classroom knowledge by participating in at least one extensive experiential learning activity before graduation.
The role of strong university-city alliances in addressing community challenges was explored in “The University and the City: Higher Education and the Common Good,” SMU’s inaugural Centennial Academic Symposium November 10-11. Panel discussions with national, local and SMU experts centered on topics such as educating tomorrow’s workforce, the impact of growing diversity, technology’s role in shaping the future and student perspectives on community engagement.
The symposium was a forerunner of an in-depth analysis and report on SMU’s economic and community impact that will be released in January. Following, SMU Magazine cites some of the University’s benefits to greater Dallas and offers a snapshot of SMU’s human and intellectual capital that will be enumerated in the study. Work In Progress … next page
THE BUMPY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SEASON WILL ONLY BECOME MORE TURBULENT AS THE NOVEMBER 6, 2012, ELECTION DRAWS CLOSER. THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS, USA TODAY, THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR AND THE WASHINGTON POST ARE AMONG THE MEDIA OUTLETS THAT RECENTLY HAVE CALLED ON SMU EXPERTS TO HELP UNRAVEL THE RHETORIC. BELOW, SMU MAGAZINE QUOTES FROM THE SCHOLARS WHO ARE DROWNING OUT THE POLITICAL NOISE AND AMPLIFYING THE SALIENT ISSUES:
Uncertainty and high anxiety
Tom Fomby
What would an economist’s plan for the economy include, and what role does partisan politics play in voters’ apprehension about the future? Tom Fomby, professor of economics in Dedman College, offers these insights:
“One of the biggest inhibitors of economic growth is uncertainty in the minds of consumers concerning their jobs, taxes and retirement. There are several ways we can reduce that degree of uncertainty: Reform the Social Security system so as to make it actuarially sound for the next 50 years, invest in our country’s infrastructure as proposed in the bipartisan Kerry Hutchison Infrastructure Bank plan, and simplify the U.S. tax code to close special interest group tax loopholes.
“One of the greatest growth stimulators would be for Congress to move toward moderation and compromise in political views and away from purely ideological political stances.” Fomby, a research associate with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, is an expert on the Texas economy and its role in national and global economies. He also serves as a research associate in the surgery and epidemiology departments at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he has applied time series and data mining techniques to medical research.
‘Slumped shoulders and heavy hearts’
Cal Jillson
Political Science Professor Cal Jillson in Dedman College describes the mood of the American electorate this way:
“Most voters seem unenthused with their 2012 choices. As the economy continues to labor, voters must choose between Republican candidates and policies that many believe led to the economic collapse and Democratic candidates and policies that all see have not been able to resolve the difficulties. Voters will shuffle toward the polls with slumped shoulders and heavy hearts.” Jillson is an author and frequent commentator on domestic and international politics. His next book, Lone Star Tarnished, which will be published early next year, is an analysis of the shortcomings of Texas public policy.
‘Personal, retail politics at its best’
Rita Kirk
The growing importance of social media and the impact of “ideological voters” have set the stage for a tempestuous election year, says communications expert Rita Kirk:
“Many people forget that the Obama campaign hired Chris Hughes, one of the Facebook founders, to create his 2008 social media campaign. It revolutionized modern campaigning because the voters were more engaged in the process; it was personal, retail politics at its best. The candidates in the 2012 primaries have not shown a similar interest in grassroots campaigning, but the Republican Party will have to assemble a top-notch team to compete.
“This has been a fascinating early campaign season. Ideological voters such as those who identify themselves with the Tea Party are much more aggressive in asserting their influence early in the campaign season as compared to similar groups in past elections. The result is that they have been able to set the agenda for the Republican debates.” Kirk is director of SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor of Communication Studies in Meadows School of the Arts. Kirk and Dan Schill, assistant professor conducted dial-testing focus groups for CNN.
Sin and ‘spinmeisters’
William B. Lawrence
In a recent Huffington Post column, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president, Union of Reform Judaism, wrote that Americans “fear the language of sin.” Would it be better if “sin” were part of the political vocabulary? Reporter Wayne Slater recently posed that question to theologian William B. Lawrence. Here is an excerpt from Lawrence’s answer, which was posted on The Dallas Morning News’ Texas Faith blog on October 25:
“I am opposed to adding the word ‘sin’ to the political vocabulary. … My opposition stems from my desire to prevent yet another theologically defined word from falling captive to the political classes and spinmeisters. We have already seen the word ‘evangelical’ become useless in its original theological context, because it has been so corrupted by political commentators and schemers that one can no longer utter it unless one intends to be understood as making a point about conservative political perspectives. Even the word ‘religion’ has lost its value in public discourse. …” Lawrence is dean and professor of American church history at Perkins School of Theology. His newest book, Ordained Ministry in The United Methodist Church, was published this fall.
Surveying the polls
Lynne Stokes
Polling has become an important strategic tool in politics, but Lynne Stokes, professor of statistical science in Dedman College, warns consumers to look at the polling organizations as closely as they look at the candidates:
“New communication technologies have made data collection so much faster now that public opinion can be monitored nearly in real time. News organizations love this, because they are always looking for a story, preferably for a competitive edge. Advances in survey methods have also improved polling accuracy.
“The organization that conducts the poll is an important indicator of its validity. The best-performing pollsters are usually non-partisan survey research companies or university research centers. Organizations
that publish their methods, including sample sizes, margins of error and statements about how they limit nonresponse error, are usually more reliable.” Stokes is an expert in surveys, polls and sampling, as well as in non-sampling survey errors, such as errors by interviewers and respondents. Her recent research for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has focused on the improvement of data collection and estimation of fish harvests.
Fueling the economy
Bernard L. “Bud” Weinstein
Independent voters will be drawn to a sound, economic recovery plan, according to economist Bernard L. Weinstein:
“Since we’re not likely to see much net job creation between now and election day, the dominant issue on the campaign trail will be the economy. The candidate who can put forward the most credible and affordable program for reviving the moribund economy should be able to attract the growing ranks of independent voters.
“A sound, domestically-focused energy strategy can also be a job creation plan. Though proposals to increase oil and gas production in the U.S. will appeal to voters in most Southern and Western states, energy development is not likely to resonate with voters in the northeast and California.”
Weinstein is associate director of the Maguire Energy Institute and an adjunct professor of business economics in the Cox School of Business.
Politics and religion
Matt Wilson
The presidential campaign may be as much about religion as it is about the economy, says political scientist Matt Wilson:
“Religion inevitably will be a major theme of the 2012 campaign, even if the economy is supposedly the central issue. As it has been for the past several electoral cycles, the partisan gap between regular church attenders and the nonreligious will be greater than that between rich and poor, men and women, the employed and the unemployed. Religious and secular Americans have simply come to see the world in very different ways and that has translated into their political preferences.
“If the Republican candidate is Mitt Romney, then we can expect a bevy of stories on Mormonism. We can also, unfortunately, expect a range of subtle and not-so-subtle anti-Mormon attacks, both in the primaries and the general election. … We’ll have to see if America is ready to once again expand its definition of what constitutes an ‘acceptable’ president.” Wilson, associate professor of political science in Dedman College, specializes in religion and politics, as well as public opinion, elections and political psychology.
In spring 2011, Greenland Hills United Methodist Church in Dallas celebrated the opening and consecration of a new fellowship hall. Under the guidance of Greenland Hills’ minister of music Chelsea Stern ’10, children proceeded into the sanctuary singing a Rwandan song of praise: Munezero! Munezero kwa Jesu. Munezero Hallelujah! (“Sing out gladly! Sing out gladly to Jesus. Sing out gladly Hallelujah!”). Though Stern had planned to ask the congregation to stand after the children finished singing, the people spontaneously leapt to their feet, clapping and singing along. Minister of Music Chelsea Stern ’10 (left) and the Rev. Marti Soper ’98, pastor, have created a harmonious partnership at Greenland Hills United Methodist Church.
Stern recalls that the experience exceeded her expectations. “I’m always hopeful that a song will take on meaning beyond my vision. We went immediately into ‘O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing’ – a great Wesley hymn. In those ‘holy’ moments, I am reminded that God is at work beyond our understanding or imagination.”
Stern’s ‘holy moment’ experience with her church community is what she trained for in SMU’s Master of Sacred Music program. The M.S.M., which recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the entering class of sacred music students in 1960, is one of SMU’s longest-running joint programs – between Perkins School of Theology and the Division of Music in Meadows School of the Arts. To honor its 50th anniversary in 2010, the M.S.M. program set a goal to raise $1 million by 2015 for an M.S.M. Alumni Scholarship Endowment.
The M.S.M. is one of the few graduate sacred music programs jointly accredited by The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and the National Association of Schools of Music. Students specialize in either choral conducting or organ performance and also take theology courses. The program has produced more than 350 alumni, among them church musicians in most major Christian denominations, university professors, composers, performers, hymnal editors and authors.
M.S.M. Alumni Scholarship Endowment
To honor its 50th anniversary in 2010, the Master of Sacred Music program set a goal to raise $1 million by 2015 for an M.S.M. Alumni Scholarship Endowment.
The program has produced more than 350 alumni, among them church musicians in most major Christian denominations, university professors, composers, performers, hymnal editors and authors.
To make a contribution or for more information about the M.S.M. Alumni Scholarship Endowment, contact Todd Rasberry, 214-768-2026.
Michael Hawn, University Distinguished Professor of Church Music and director of the M.S.M. program, attributes part of the program’s success to location. “The influence of church music in the United States has shifted from the Northeast to the South, and the two largest buckles on that Bible Belt are Atlanta and Dallas, where vital, diverse church communities exist,” Hawn says. “Innovation in church music is happening in Dallas – there is a lot of productivity and composition of sacred music works. We give equal attention in our teaching to the congregational song as well as choir song; it’s part of the heritage of Perkins School and The United Methodist Church.”
The Dallas area also provides numerous internship opportunities for sacred music students at churches and other agencies, where students hone their ministering skills as well as learn how to lead a congregation or choir. The Rev. Ashley Hood ’99, minister of spiritual life at Presbyterian Village North in Dallas, sings the praises of the first sacred music student who interned at the retirement community last year. Jordan Stewart directed the residents’ choir and oversaw other sacred music activities. She also helped organize Camp PVN, which brought together older adults with older elementary youth for fellowship and service during a week of day camp at the retirement community.
“This program has far exceeded our dreams, mainly because of Jordan’s experiences in music, theology and ministry and her love for being with the people in this community. They loved her because she was genuine and gifted, faithful, theological and playful,” Hood recalls. Musical training and theological education … next page
By Kara Kunkel
Teaching mentally handicapped children in India this past summer, SMU sophomore Meera Nair used her ingenuity to handle situations that challenged her understanding of “classroom norms.” In doing so, she achieved success in small steps.
In one class, Nair taught 8-year-old students with cerebral palsy, who, because of a lack muscle control, found it difficult to copy simple words like “cat” and “dog.” Instead of relying on the written word to teach language skills, she structured two-minute conversations in English for them. “It was rewarding to know that for those three hours I worked with them, they were actively learning and applying their knowledge,” she says. A public service internship from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility enabled Nair to spend her summer volunteering. She requested and received a teaching position at Swasraya, a school for mentally handicapped children near her grandparents’ home in Kerala, India, where she spent summers as a girl and would play with the children during break time at the school. “The teachers knew me and the students became my friends,” says Nair, who is majoring in computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.
Nair’s internship is a prime example of a learning experience that SMU increasingly seeks to offer its undergraduates out of the classroom. The University has initiated a new program, Engaged Learning, which encourages undergraduates to apply their knowledge in one of four categories – research, the arts, the community and the professions – to real-life situations in the Dallas community and the world.
“We ask the students, ‘What do you care about?’” says Provost Paul Ludden, whose office piloted the program and last spring provided $2,000 each to four undergraduates to support their projects. One goal of working on such projects is for students to gain an understanding of how the academic and real-world communities work together, he says. Other goals aim for students to design their experiences and to be directly involved in meeting needs in the community.
“I call these experiences journeys of discovery,” Ludden adds. Engaged Learning: Lindsay Sockwell … next page
Six Mustangs lead sports marketing efforts in Dallas for hawkeye, a multichannel customer development marketing agency with offices in the United States and abroad. The SMU alumni work with such clients as Gatorade, Gore, Michelob ULTRA, the NCAA and The North Face. They also connect companies in unrelated fields, including financial and technology enterprises, with sports-related marketing opportunities. SMU alumni working for hawkeye in Dallas are (from left) Kate VanHee ’10, Becca Ellinor ’11, Amanda Dempsey ’02, Brandi Connolly ’03,Whitney Eckert ’07 and Carly Mathews ’06.
“The agency has people from every great university, but our common SMU background on the sports marketing team has added some extra cohesion,” says Amanda Dempsey ’02, managing director of sports and experiential marketing, “and any coach will tell you, that’s the key to reaching your goals.”
Sports marketing is among the fastest-growing, event-related marketing avenues, with an estimated $12.4 billion spent this year, notes Brandi Connolly ’03, director of sports and experiential marketing. “Sports marketing creates unique connections between consumers and brands by leveraging that strong passion most of us have for sports and sporting events,” she says. “By engaging our emotions and lifestyles, sports and experiential marketing creates unique and strong bonds with consumers.”
SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development now offers a major in sports management – one career path for which is sports marketing – to meet the demand for knowledgeable professionals in the rapidly expanding field.
“We think Dallas could be a major market for sports marketing endeavors, just as New York is the center of fashion marketing and L.A. is the epicenter of the entertainment industry,” says Steve Dapper, founder and chairman of hawkeye.
Revving up the pony power for hawkeye’s sports and experiential marketing team are these SMU alumni: • Amanda Dempsey ’02, managing director, sports and entertainment. She develops strategic integrated platforms that utilize media, sponsorship, athlete/celebrity marketing, promotions and event marketing. Dempsey played soccer for SMU and continues to play and coach, and she avidly supports Dallas’ bid to host the World Cup in 2022. • Brandi Connolly ’03, director of sports and experiential. Connolly serves on the team that directs business for The North Face and Gatorade and works on new business development. An Oklahoma native, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from SMU and an MBA in sports business from Arizona State University. • Whitney Eckert ’07, senior account executive. She serves as a senior account executive and manages all facets of The North Face Endurance Challenge series. She also assists with programs for a number of other hawkeye clients. Her passion is golf, and she went to SMU on a Division I golf scholarship. As a Mustang she earned Academic All-Conference honors. • Carly Mathews ’06, account executive. Matthews plays a crucial role in the planning and execution of experiential programs across such diverse industries as apparel, food and beverage, tourism, business and consumer services and athlete management. In addition to her creative talents and affinity for technology, she is known around the office for her wicked jump shot. • Kate VanHee ’10, account executive. VanHee joined the company after graduation and has worked on The North Face Endurance Challenge race series. She also worked on a new Expo activation strategy for Gatorade and helped launch their new Endurance athlete specific product, G Series Pro. Whenever possible, she returns to her home state of Colorado to ski. • Becca Ellinor ’11 , account coordinator. At SMU, Ellinor was a marketing major with minors in Spanish and art history. She played volleyball her first two years at SMU and was the team manager during her junior year. After completing an internship with hawkeye as a senior, she was hired full-time upon graduation.
Although Tommy Phillips ’09 had just entered high school when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred, they had a profound impact on his future. Tommy Phillips '09 and sister Molly Phillips '07 at SMU for the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl last December.
“For the first time in my life, it was apparent that it was my generation’s time to serve and defend our nation,” Phillips says.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in political science from SMU, he decided to pay his “debt of gratitude” to his country through military service. Phillips entered the U.S. Navy’s Officer Candidate School at Naval Station Newport in Rhode Island. He was commissioned as an Ensign in November 2010.
Last December Ensign Phillips proudly sported “dress blues” during a visit to the Hilltop with his family – including sister Molly ’07, who majored in journalism at SMU and now resides in New York City. They attended the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl played in SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium.
Since January he has been deployed with the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Middle East where his ship was part of the Carl Vinson Strike Group; the Carl Vinson was the ship Osama Bin Laden’s body was carried to after his assassination. Ensign Phillips also served in Iraq while on deployment.
The 5th Fleet’s “area of responsibility encompasses about 2.5 million square miles of water area and includes the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean. This expanse, comprised of 20 countries, includes three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Strait of Bab al Mandeb at the southern tip of Yemen,” according to the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command website.
Ensign Phillips returned from his deployment in September and was excited to return to his homeport of San Diego. “I’m really looking forward to seeing my family, my two great Labs, my bed – and having stable Internet service and cable TV,” he said. “I also intend to start taking surfing lessons.”
Service in the U.S. Navy has been gratifying on many levels, Phillips says. “I’ve had the opportunity to see and explore some extraordinary parts of the world. We’ve done some great work, so it has also been a very exciting and rewarding time for me.
“I think President Kennedy pretty much summed up my view when he stated: ‘I can imagine a no more rewarding career. And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: I served in the United States Navy.’”
Two exhibitions in New Mexico with ties to SMU alumni showcase photographs by Debora Hunter, associate professor of photography in Meadows School of the Arts.
Hunter’s solo exhibit, “Land Marks: Photographs from Taos, New Mexico,” will continue through November 12 at James Kelly Contemporary in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
For the past 13 years, she has taught photography courses at SMU-in-Taos. “This project has grown from that experience,” says the artist, who joined the Meadows faculty in 1976. Untitled, 2004, Debora Hunter
Hunter’s series of rich color images depicting both the natural and “built” environment “document a world in flux, where irony and grace, discord and harmony, grandeur and the mundane variously combine in this legendary Taos Valley,” according to the gallery notes.
James Kelly, a Meadows alumnus with a Bachelor’s degree in art history (’79) and Master’s degrees in business and arts administration (’84), opened his highly regarded gallery in 1997 in a renovated warehouse. The gallery, located in the Railyard District, which has become a center for contemporary art in New Mexico’s capital city, represents a host of notable photographers, painters, sculptors and video artists, including Hunter.
A second exhibition featuring Hunter’s work, “Contemplative Landscapes,” opens October 23 at the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. Through images captured by 24 photographers, the show explores the people, practices and sacred places of the state’s diverse religious communities. “Contemplative Landscapes” will continue through December 31, 2012.
The museum’s director, Frances Levine, earned a Master’s and a Ph.D. in anthropology from SMU. While a graduate student, Levine directed the archaeological survey and excavation program at Los Esteros Lake in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.
Hunter’s photographs have appeared in exhibitions around the country, and her work is part of the permanent collections of the Amon Carter Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Corcoran Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Houston Museum of Fine Art, Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum and the Yale University Art Museum, among others.
Locally she is well-known for creating eight permanent art panels for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail station at Skillman and LBJ Freeway. She completed the public art project in 2002.
On September 11, 2001, SMU invited students, faculty and staff to share their thoughts in a journal started by Michael Waters ’02, ’06, then an intern in the SMU Chaplain’s Office and now senior pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas. The pages are filled with inspiring statements — such as “Pray, cry, remember, but never hate” — written by members of the SMU family in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedies.
A digital copy of the journal has been posted on SMU’s 911Remembered.org site, where SMU alumni and other members of the University community are invited to share 9/11 memories and thoughts in a new online journal.
SMU President R. Gerald Turner and the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility invite the community to participate in a series of events reflecting on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and what it means today. The events begin on Wednesday, September 7, and conclude on Sunday, September 11, with a Service of Remembering at Dallas Hall.
Georita Frierson was 19 years old when her father, an African-American, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and subsequently died of an infection. That experience shaped Frierson’s interest in health psychology, especially in improving the health behavior of underserved groups such as African-Americans, Hispanics and non-English-speaking minorities. Assistant Professor Georita Frierson“There is a silver lining in every experience that can grow your passion,” says Frierson, assistant professor of psychology in Dedman College. “I’ve been very passionate about helping people increase their healthy behaviors and decrease their unhealthy behaviors.” Frierson earned her Master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from The Ohio State University.
Frierson now is engaged in research partnerships with some of the nation’s most respected medical institutions and health care providers, including The Cooper Institute and the Simmons Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Her research focuses on helping individuals with chronic conditions to improve quality of life, to address their physical and emotional health and to participate in healthy living programs, including breast cancer prevention and education. She has embedded herself in the community through work at clinics, churches and health fairs.
One program, Project GATHER, explores the motivating factors and barriers to racial and ethnic minorities’ willingness to participate in genetic biobanking, in which individuals donate blood to a health institution for genetic research. Led by Frierson, a team of SMU graduate and undergraduate researchers in collaboration with UT Southwestern and The Cooper Institute recruited Dallas-area residents into 28 focus groups to assess willingness to donate blood for genetic research on cardiovascular disease and cancer. Preliminary findings revealed that 81 percent of participants had never heard of biobanking. Before the focus group, 64 percent said they would participate in a biobank; after the focus group, that number increased to 90 percent.
With a $50,000 grant from The Discovery Foundation in Dallas, Frierson also is undertaking a two-year study to understand the effect of fitness, exercise and psychosocial factors in women diagnosed with aggressive, non-hormonal Triple Negative Breast Cancer. Triple Negative, which occurs in 10 percent to 20 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer, doesn’t respond to all traditional treatments. It generally affects women who are younger, test positive for a mutation in the human gene that suppresses tumors, are African-American or Hispanic-Latina.
Called Project Positives About Triple Negatives, or PAT, the study will provide data to enable doctors, hospitals and other providers to develop programs and care strategies for Triple Negative patients.
“We want to fill a gap that needs to be addressed,” Frierson says. “The information from this pilot can help us develop programs and support groups to ease the burden on Triple Negative survivors. These are young cancer survivors; understanding their needs is important.”
As much as Frierson is devoted to behavioral health, she is equally dedicated to mentoring students. She directs graduate and undergraduate students in her ARCH 1 (Addressing Race, Ethnicity, Culture and Health for 1) Lab in Heroy Hall, which looks at the causes and risk factors of various health behaviors. In the four years Frierson has been at SMU, nearly 40 students have worked in the lab.
Sophomore Olivia Adolphson has worked more than 135 hours in Frierson’s lab. “This experience showed me what psychologists do in real life instead of just reading about it,” says Adolphson, who wants to be a clinical psychologist. “Now I’m conducting my own study about people’s perceptions of genetic biobanking.”
– Margaret Allen Read more about Frierson’s research.
Chemistry Professor Edward R. BiehlSynthetic compounds developed in the lab of ChemistryProfessor Edward R. Biehl one day may help the millions
of people who suffer from nerve-degenerating diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s.
Biehl developed and tested the compounds with SMU postdoctoral researchers Sukanta Kamila and Haribabu Ankati, and Santosh R. D’Mello, a biology professor at The University of Texas at Dallas. The family of small molecules shows promise in protecting brain cells.
SMU and UTD have granted Dallas-based startup EncephRx, Inc. the worldwide license to the jointly owned compounds. A biotechnology and therapeutics company, EncephRx will develop drug therapies based on the new class of compounds as a pharmaceutical for preventing nerve-cell damage and delaying onset of degenerative nerve disease.
Current treatments don’t stop or reverse degenerative nerve diseases, but only alleviate symptoms, sometimes with severe side effects. If proved effective and nontoxic in humans, EncephRx’s small-molecule pharmaceutical would be the first therapeutic tool able to stop affected brain cells from dying because of these diseases.
The researchers now will assist EncephRx in testing and analyzing the primary compound. The company initially will focus development and testing efforts on Huntington’s disease and potentially will have medications ready for human trials in two years. Read more
Archaeologist Brigitte KovacevichMaya culture has fascinated scientists for decades, but many mysteries remain about the ancient people that rose to prominence for their highly developed civilization in what is now Central America and Mexico. Archaeologist Brigitte Kovacevich, assistant professor of anthropology in Dedman College, is part of a growing effort to understand the lesser-known early period of Maya culture, before the rise of its kingdoms and powerful rulers.
“Little is known about how kingship developed, how individuals grabbed political power within the society, how the state-level society evolved and then was followed by a mini-collapse between 100-250 A.D.,” says Kovacevich.
A specialist in Mesoamerica, Kovacevich is exploring early Maya culture at the mid-sized city of Holtun in the central lakes region of Guatemala. Holtun dates from 600 B.C. to 900 A.D. and had no more than 2,000 residents. Situated on a limestone escarpment fed by two nearby springs, Holtun was flush with natural resources, including chert, a sedimentary rock from which tools are made, says Kovacevich, an expert in stone tools. She earned her doctoral degree in anthropology from Vanderbilt University in 2006.
Today, cow pastures and cornfields surround the patch of rainforest where Holtun’s structures – more than 100 – are buried under decomposed foliage and soil. Overgrown with jungle trees, the site has the appearance of large mounds, Kovacevich says. Looters have tunneled into some of the structures. Archaeologists who explored the structures have verified the existence of numerous plazas, an astronomical observatory, a ritual ball court, mounds that served as homes and a signature Maya architectural structure called a triadic pyramid – a 60-foot-tall platform topped with three 10-foot-tall pyramids.
In summer 2010, Kovacevich and U.S. and Guatemalan colleagues installed a weatherproof roof on one structure to prevent further damage to various monumental stucco masks and other art that adorn the facades of the pyramids. Kovacevich and her colleagues also hosted a workshop to teach local guides about the site’s importance as a way to aid ecotourism development and creation of an on-site museum. This summer the scientists will begin excavation, adhering to Guatemala’s rigorous preservation, environmental and conservation requirements.
The Institute for the Study of Earth and Man in Dedman College, the Downey Family Award for Faculty Excellence and University Research Council are funding the research. Read more
William Tsutsui has been dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences since July 2010 but already he has made news. Tsutsui was blogging about his experiences with the Japanese American Leadership Delegation that was visiting Tokyo when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan March 11. His interviews and SMU Adventures blog provided media outlets (from The New York Times and NBC Nightly News to CNN and The Dallas Morning News) with an eyewitness account of the natural disaster’s impact on Japan. In fact, Tsutsui’s quote comparing the movement of downtown skyscrapers to “trees swaying in the breeze” was the Times’ quote of the day March 12. He also has spoken to numerous student groups on the subject. Tsutsui, a specialist in modern Japanese business and economic history, joined SMU from the University of Kansas, where he served as associate dean for international studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, professor of history and director of the Kansas Consortium for Teaching About Asia. He received M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from Princeton University, a Master of Letters in modern Japanese history from Oxford University’s Corpus Christi College and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies. As dean of the largest of SMU’s seven schools, Tsutsui has been promoting the benefits of a liberal arts education to numerous alumni and SMU constituents and developing a strategic plan to position Dedman College for further progress. He also is helping Dedman College prepare for its major role in implementing the new undergraduate University Curriculum, which goes into effect for the entering class in fall 2012. And on occasion, he will eagerly share his passion about the Japanese film icon, Godzilla, the subject of one of his books. Action figures of the mutant monster line the shelves in his office in Dallas Hall. In the following interview Tsutsui shares his optimism about the future of Dedman College.
You have said that Dedman College and SMU provide the perfect formula for the model of success in higher education. What do you mean by that?
"SMU and Dedman College are the perfect mingling of the two great traditions of teaching and research," says Dean William Tsutsui.
We’re at a difficult point in higher education in the United States. It’s not just the economic issues facing a lot of universities now, but also an existential crisis – what are we doing, what value are we giving to students? I spent 17 years at the prototypical flatland state university being asked by taxpayers in the state of Kansas to train their kids to do anything and everything and to do it for nothing. Big public institutions like Kansas and Berkeley and Ohio State are wonderful examples of the modern American research university that have contributed to life, well-being and knowledge in countless ways. The problem is that the model of a gigantic state university funded largely by federal research grants and touching every aspect of society looks increasingly like a brontosaurus, and we’re undergoing climate change in higher education. In particular, state universities have lost touch with a fundamental part of their mission – the education of undergraduate students. That’s something that liberal arts colleges like Amherst and Williams have long focused on and continue to do extremely well. But liberal arts colleges also fall short in serving students and society because they don’t have the commitment to creating knowledge that a research university does. SMU and Dedman College are the perfect mingling of these two great traditions of teaching and research. We have high-powered, cutting-edge research, scholars winning highly competitive national research grants and creating knowledge that could change millions of lives. At the same time, every faculty member in the College is dedicated to teaching undergraduate students. A rich undergraduate experience, based on individual relationships between faculty and students inside and beyond the classroom, must continue to be the hallmark of Dedman College and SMU.
How do you make the case that the liberal arts continue to play a vital role and make significant contributions to society?
We are undeniably in a moment of renewed worries about the state of the liberal arts and increased scrutiny of the place of liberal education in American colleges and universities. The discontinuation of departments and degrees, especially in the humanities, at many institutions has been chilling. And students seem to be voting with their feet, walking in the same direction for a couple of generations: away from the liberal arts and toward professional schools. We’re all familiar with the arguments for why a liberal education is the best possible preparation for life and career in America today: look at any corporate board of directors or the leadership of any top government agency and you are likely to find a slew of liberal arts graduates; the liberal arts prepare you not just for one job (as more narrow professional or vocational training might) but for a wide range of jobs that need readily transferable skills like reading, writing, research, analysis and creativity; the liberal arts prepare individuals to lead full, open-minded, civically engaged and reflective lives; today, nations like China and India are trying to emulate the liberal arts from America to stir creativity and breadth in their undergraduates. But we also need to emphasize the role of the liberal arts in combating the fear that seems so prevalent today in American families and throughout our society, a pervasive sense of anxiety growing from economic uncertainty, international concerns, and political divisions. It is precisely at this moment, I believe, that the liberal arts are the most valuable. The constant questioning, critical thinking and healthy skepticism that characterize the humanities and sciences are a potent antidote to uncertainty and anxiety. A liberal education teaches us that “not knowing” is the normal state of being and that by thoughtful, self-reflective and collaborative investigation, experimentation, discussion and debate, new options can be discovered, new truths revealed and a new comfort found amid insecurity and doubt. The liberal arts help us master and direct our fears and approach the future not with apprehension and unease, but with the confidence that no challenge is too great to be studied, contemplated and eventually surmounted.
You’ve been working on a strategic plan for Dedman College. One of the main initiatives is support for undergraduate education. What does that entail?
Students conduct research in the lab with Eva Oberdorster (right), senior lecturer in biological sciences.
As part of a university with several high-caliber professional schools that offer attractive undergraduate programs, Dedman College must provide the kind of curricula and educational experiences that can draw the best students to the liberal arts. To get those top students requires an institution to not only offer excellent academic programs but also top scholarship support. Dedman College has been a little behind the times in that regard. Happily, with the Dedman College Scholars program we’ve begun to compete for exceptional students at the highest level. We must work harder to build the financial base of endowed scholarship funds that are necessary to increase the academic quality of our undergraduates. We need to take advantage of our real strengths at SMU and one of those is our size – this is still a very intimate campus, where students can have extraordinary experiences and take on unique roles. One of the ways they can do that is through undergraduate research. At large state universities focused on attracting huge research grants, faculty often don’t have the time to mentor undergraduates, to give them an enhanced educational experience. At SMU we can do that in our labs, libraries and classrooms. Dedman College also needs to create more degree programs that capture the interests of students, such as we have achieved through the Embrey Human Rights Program. Students today (and especially those we have at SMU) are incredibly idealistic – they grew up doing community service projects and participating in volunteer programs. The Human Rights Program offers them an opportunity to explore how they can make a difference at a personal level in the world. We need to develop similar major and minor programs that build on faculty strengths and engage our undergraduates: I hope we can expand our existing environmental studies program and consider degrees related to important issues like migration, where Dedman College has interdisciplinary expertise in anthropology, sociology, literary studies and political science. We also need to provide more opportunities for international exposure, both inside the classroom and through education abroad, and for service learning. New and enhanced options in experiential learning and building global awareness will contribute to the undergraduate experience.
How does the strategic plan address graduate education?
That is a tough one, because many people still think of SMU as primarily an undergraduate institution. Nevertheless, the research projects that we’re engaged in and the high-level scholarship that takes place in the College are not sustainable without vibrant graduate programs. Strong graduate programs also feed collaborations across disciplines, build bridges to the community through research and service, and enhance the productivity of faculty. Graduate students also can play an important role in mentoring undergraduates and facilitating undergraduate research projects. Many graduate programs in Dedman College have long histories and records of educating and placing their students. Unfortunately, graduate education is probably the least well-funded part of the College now. We need to find ways to build support for our doctoral programs, to offer students financial packages (including health benefits) that are competitive with other top universities around the country, and to increase the number of graduate students within our departments.
In a time of budget cutting and faculty reduction at universities nationwide, you are proposing an increase in Dedman College faculty. Why?
Despite the overall growth at SMU, the development of new programs and the ever-increasing demands on scholars and educators, the total number of faculty in Dedman College has not changed in 25 years. Recruiting and retaining a faculty of excellence is an ongoing challenge, especially in today’s competitive climate. For Dedman College, however, the size of the faculty may well be our most pressing concern. Almost all College departments have fewer tenure-track faculty than their equivalents in SMU’s comparative peer institutions, and some are not even staffed to the levels found in small liberal arts colleges. This situation means that Dedman College departments generally do not have the number of faculty necessary to provide the breadth of teaching and research generally expected in leading American universities. We need to work through the Second Century Campaign to build the number of endowed chairs, which have a rapid and substantial impact on the reputation of the University. We can hire well in Dedman College, we just need the financial resources to do it.
Why are interdisciplinary programs a major aspect of the College’s strategic plan?
Maria Richards (right), coordinator of SMU's Geothermal Laboratory, and graduate students study a map that denotes geothermal resources.
The budgetary zero-sum game that has affected Dedman College for the past 25 years has made it very difficult for faculty to collaborate across disciplines – they’ve pulled back into their departments, reluctant to support interdisciplinary endeavors. But the problems of the world today are too big for any one discipline or department to solve. Look at any of the big issues – cancer, health care, climate change, democratic transformations – all of these require scholars with a variety of training and expertise coming together to explore possible solutions. I am proposing the creation of a new organization in the College to stimulate the kind of interdisciplinary collaboration that feeds an active intellectual climate. Dedman College is rare among universities at our level in that it doesn’t have a humanities center. I envision a high-profile institute that will spark interdisciplinary connections across departments and schools, throughout the humanities and sciences, spanning research and teaching. It also would welcome undergraduate and graduate students in addition to faculty. I can easily imagine it contributing to the development of new courses and new degree programs, as well as enhancing our ability to compete for large research grants. Dedman College is fortunate in having a number of established units that support interdisciplinary research: the Tower Center for Political Studies and the Clements Center for Southwest Studies have international profiles, the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man is a long-term contributor to research in the natural sciences, and the new Center for Scientific Computational Science has great potential. These centers and institutes can and should provide leadership in stimulating dialogue across campus, but the new institute will play a critical role in creating a vibrant culture of interdisciplinarity in the College and at SMU. What are your priorities for research in Dedman College?
Historically, the majority of externally funded research at SMU has been conducted in Dedman College. We have the potential to do even more, but we need to provide better support for undergraduate and graduate research and further assist junior faculty members in competing for the top national grants. We also need bridge funding to help senior faculty start new projects or launch new areas of investigation. In addition, we must ensure that the natural and social sciences have adequate laboratories and collaborative spaces, and that they have the latest technology to support the work of scholars and students. Dedman College faculty members have long been enthusiastic participants in the process of discovery, and a lot of people locally recognize the value of that research – the benefit it brings not just to the world but to Dallas in particular – because it generates new economic opportunities and addresses a wide variety of social, political and cultural challenges. People want to invest in people. That’s why it is so important to get our faculty out into the community as part of The Second Century Campaign. When alumni see the passion that our biologists, economists, psychologists and other faculty bring to their research, they understand that what can seem like a faceless institutional gift actually has a very human imprint. To help stimulate research activity, the College, working with our Campaign Steering Committee co-chairs Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79 and Fred Hegi ’66, has created the Dean’s Research Council, a donor organization that provides resources for promising new scholarly projects. We’ve already received a $100,000 leadership gift from Pierce Allman ’54 and have selected some impressive young, tenure-track faculty members – Amy Pinkham in psychology, Yunkai Zhou in mathematics and Lisa Siraganian in English – who will receive seed funding as a springboard to compete for large federal grants. Why is it important to raise Dedman College’s profile?
Dedman College serves Dallas in countless ways, but we seldom get the recognition we deserve because few people are aware of all that we do. The College’s outreach spans from members of our Economics Department consulting with the Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Dallas to our faculty in the sciences collaborating with researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center to undergraduate students in sociology, world languages and religious studies working on tutoring, bilingual education or local history programs with low-income communities in East Dallas. Connecting Dedman College more deeply with Dallas will enrich faculty scholarship and the student experience, provide new opportunities for applied research and funding, and contribute to our region’s economic vitality and the quality of life.
What will Dedman College’s role be in implementing the new University Curriculum (formerly General Education Curriculum), effective fall 2012?
Dedman College is where all SMU students begin their collegiate journey, no matter what majors or minors they ultimately choose. The University Curriculum provides the common knowledge, skills and experiences every student must accrue before he or she graduates. The new curriculum makes it easier to pursue multiple majors and minors. It also accommodates more opportunities for honors programming, international study, undergraduate research, internship experiences and service learning. Students must demonstrate second-language proficiency equal to four semesters of college study. What I particularly like is that the new curriculum engages students more actively in the process of their own education, forcing them to do more than just sit in a classroom and take notes from PowerPoint slides. It will require students to think about how they learn and what they’re going to learn, asking them to be more active and intentional, for example, in identifying a community service experience or gaining global perspectives. SMU will be in the forefront of having an up-to-date student-focused curriculum. Of course, this new curriculum also will pose a few challenges for Dedman College. The foreign language requirement will have a huge impact on our World Languages and Literatures Department. We also have to work to develop our interdisciplinary offerings. There is sure be a lot of juggling in introducing this curriculum, but it’s a valuable opportunity for faculty and the institution to evaluate and sharpen the undergraduate experience – this challenges us to reflect on what we are doing in the classroom and what we can be doing better.
What are you saying to alumni who may be concerned that the SMU “as they know it” is going to change?
I’ve spent a lot of time talking to alumni about their strongest memories of SMU. Some will mention athletics, for others it was their sorority and fraternity experiences. But I’m often pleasantly surprised by the number of alumni who can remember the first classes they took. I was talking recently to a successful graduate in the automobile industry who transferred to SMU; he remembers even today that one of his first classes was in philosophy, and that he called his parents right afterward and said, “This is the place I was meant to be.” That’s exactly the experience I want our students to have when they take classes in Dedman College. I don’t want them to think, “This is high school, year five.” They need to be exposed to a broad range of perspectives (and challenges) by their instructors. As long as we keep engaging students and firing their curiosity, that fundamental experience of an SMU education will remain consistent over the decades. That’s the genius of the liberal arts – you never know what will capture a student’s passion. There is so much to learn out there in the world, and it’s unlikely we’re ever going to learn exactly all that we need to know. Take for example the events unfolding today in Libya. You probably can count on one hand the people in America who’ve had courses on Libyan politics. It’s not a good investment of resources at most universities to have specialists in only that field. Nevertheless, as informed citizens we need broad exposure to political movements, to Islam, to technology and its power, and to civil-military relations that allow us to understand an unpredictable and rapidly changing situation like we’re seeing in Libya and all over the Middle East. And that’s what the liberal arts can offer us. Even if you haven’t been trained to deal with a specific issue or series of events, a broad liberal education equips you with a toolkit of analytical skills for making informed, intelligent decisions about a rapidly changing world.
What are your final thoughts on Dedman College?
The time is now for Dedman College; we have all the ingredients to really fly – a wonderful faculty, a strong student base, and a supportive administration and Board of Trustees. Now is the time for us to define our vision, to ask where we want to go and how investment will make a difference, and then to take off. There is no more optimistic campus in America than SMU, and there is no part of this University better positioned for growth and success than Dedman College.
To support Dedman College’s faculty, students, research and programs, visit www.smu.edu/Dedman/Giving or call Courtney Corwin ’89 at 214-768-2691.
Michaux Nash Jr. ’56 ended a three-decade treasure hunt a few years ago by completing the only known collection of sheriffs’ badges from all 254 Texas counties. Nash, a fourth-generation Dallasite and third-generation banker, donated the collection to SMU last year. It is a one-of-a-kind collection because regulations now prohibit private individuals from obtaining genuine law enforcement badges, says DeGolyer Library Director Russell Martin ’78, ’86. The collection can be viewed at DeGolyer Library; call 214-768-2253.
It seems there are sharp eyes and memories among several of our alumni, who contacted SMU Magazine to gently inform us that the photo on the back cover of the Fall/Winter 2010 issue was not of SMU’s 1934 Homecoming queen. In fact, we were contacted by the Homecoming queen from the actual year of the photo: Sarah-Finch Maiden “Skippy” Rollins (Mrs. Joe G. Rollins) ’42, who now lives in Boulder, Colorado. She says it was she sitting atop the convertible during SMU’s Homecoming parade in downtown Dallas in fall 1941. SMU Magazine stands corrected, and so does SMU Archives
“Universities do not grow old; but yearly they renew their
strength and live from age to age in immortal youth.”
With that statement in 1913, SMU’s first president, Robert Stewart Hyer, made a commitment for SMU in his time, but affirmed that we would be a university for all time. President R. Gerald TurnerReflecting that vision, SMU has built upon its initial offerings in the liberal arts as the core of the University along with programs in theology and music. We have remained young and nimble in developing professional education to serve a changing region, nation and world, adding programs in the sciences, business, engineering, law, communications and other applied areas of learning. Today, part of SMU’s uniqueness comes from the fusion of our liberal arts core with pre-professional and professional programs through our seven schools.
We celebrated this tradition of looking forward as we marked the 100th anniversary of SMU’s founding April 15. At a briefing that day, I shared a wealth of good news with our alumni and friends:
Cox School of Business is one of the few in the nation to have three M.B.A. programs ranked in the top 15 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Dedman School of Law ranks among the nation’s top 50 law schools in U.S. News & World Report.
And The Second Century Campaign has surpassed $500 million at mid-point, making possible many of the improvements we celebrate today.
You’ll read in this magazine the many ways in which we are saying Happy Birthday, SMU. We pledge to remain “in eternal youth” as we move into our second century of achievement. R. Gerald Turner President
1936 Louise Little Barbeck, 11/13/10 Susanna Saville Grinnan, 2/12/11
1937 Dorothy Wathen Mayers, 11/13/10
The Rev. Harry Frank Miller, 1/16/06
1938 Dr. Cecelia Bachrach Crow ’40, 11/8/10 Robert L. Howell, 12/15/10
1939 Lurlyn January Fleming, 1/23/11 Dr. Presley Clyde Funk III, 1/19/11 Andrew M. Swarthout, 9/24/10
1940 Dr. Charles O’Neill Galvin, 1/27/11 Ben R. Howard, 2/9/09 Frances Cornett Warren, 11/27/10
1941 Adm. George L. Cassell, 3/20/09 Josh H. Parr, 9/5/07 Dixie Martin Taylor, 11/15/10
1942 Mary Ellen Haughton Forde, 12/29/10 Winfred Larry (W.L.) Tunnell, 2/10/11
1943 Thomas Slater Walker, 11/9/10 James P. Williams Jr., 2/12/11
1944 Frances Golden Ware, 12/16/10
1945 Vivian Walker Chaffin, 9/22/10 Horace Eugene Chamberlain, 1/12/11 Elizabeth Shawver Cramer, 9/10/10
Dr. Ewing Burton Jones, 3/1/11
The Rev. B. Rhodes Martin, 7/12/10 Luther S. Pully, 1/3/11
1946 Tom H. Owens Jr., 9/5/10
1947 Richard R. Brown, 11/3/10 Fred Eubanks, 11/5/10 Dorothy Coughran Harbordt, 2/13/10
Dr. Robert L. Johnson Jr., 1/4/11
Dr. Edgar Lee Lancaster Jr., 2/28/10 Lorelei Weltman Marks, 11/5/03 Claude T. Savage Jr., 9/23/1 Gloria Thornton Slack ’48, 2/26/11
1948 Albert E. Aikman III, 12/8/09 Edward E. Blount ’57, 2/12/07 Todd Corry, 9/19/10 James O. Faires Sr., 7/20/10 Jack F. Fanta, 12/27/10 Jack H. Hunter, 5/24/10 Howard F. Mauldin, 9/22/10 Louise Ferguson McKnight, 11/24/10 Arthur E. O’Connor ’58, 1/9/11 John F. Slice, 9/11/10
1949 James E. Browning, 7/28/04 Joseph Albert Calamia, 2/20/09 George E. Cowand, 2/15/11 Floyd Merle Fields, 2/2/11 Joe Freed, 2/2/11 Deryl Hamilton Freeman, 11/13/10 Ruth Rein Hopper, 2/9/11
Lt. Col. Clifford W. Houy, 12/11/10 Nancy Warlick Loe, 9/15/10 Margaret Pace McBeath, 11/8/10 William W. McCormick, 8/8/0 John E. Moore, 4/24/10 Hugh O. Mussina ’55, 8/30/10 Jack S. Rolf, 2/14/11 Joe F. Schreiber, 11/4/10 Sammy Z. Seltzer, 11/30/10
The Hon. Rodrick L. Shaw, 12/27/10 Esther Lietemeyer Smith, 9/1/10 Charles R. Totebusch Jr., 10/9/10
1950 Marshall K. Bercaw Jr. ’54, 12/23/08 Charles Robert Busbee, 9/8/10 Laverne I. Bynum, 1/10/11 Curtis H. Cadenhead Jr. ’51, 11/29/10 Garvin H. Germany Jr. ’55, 8/21/01 Tresa June Thompson Ghormley, 1/2/96 L. Camp Gilliam, 12/17/10 Guy Douglas Herring, 1/9/11 Kevin B. Koecher, 10/10/10 William D. Lawrence Jr., 1/25/10 William David Minnick, 5/24/10 Nancy M. Granrud Monson, 8/30/10 Robert J. Robinson ’52, 11/15/10 Lawrence Ray Ward, 12/27/10 Leanora Lee Tartt Williams, 1/19/11 Willard Charles Williams, 7/20/88
1951 Maurice E. Cunningham Cantrell, 9/24/10 William Brown Gough, 10/13/10
Dr. Eugene Thornton Herrin Jr., 11/20/10 Martha A. Bynum Irizarry ’70, 12/29/10 E.C. Karnavas, 1/26/11 Porter Loring Jr., 1/14/11 Michael Gordon Reily Sr., 2/21/90 Leo Bernard Rickmers, 6/2/06 Eugene Bragg Smith Jr., 1/23/11 Noel N. Standridge, 2/22/01 Clayborn Umberfield Jr., 11/14/10 Phillip Donald Weihs, 9/12/10
Dr. Charles Edgar Wells, 6/14/10 Helen Rumback Wood, 5/14/03
1952 James Merritt Anderson, 2/27/10 Jo Nell Ussery Bailey, 6/16/09 Louise Ballerstedt Raggio, 1/22/11 Martin W. Vernon, 11/24/10
1953 David Leo Blonstein, 10/24/10 Don A. Dozier, 3/12/10 Ruth Joyce Potts Fulgham ’74, 2/12/11 Patsy Martin Rogers, 5/2/06 Jake W. Scherer, 1/5/11
The Rev. Norris Steele, 8/29/09 Willard Dawson Sterling, 1/15/11 Effie Xeros Yianitsas, 9/22/10
1954 Albert Mitchell Belchic, 11/17/00 Peter Joseph Canizaro, 5/1/84 John Glenn Donaho, 1/31/07 Roscoe C. Elmore, 11/2/10 Richard Lee Farr, 1/1/11 Hal Neitzel, 8/31/10 John Curtis Thompson, 10/19/10 William W. Ventress, 4/6/10
1956 Priscilla Rettger Bell, 2/1/11 Kenneth R. Davey, 11/15/10 Bruce Anthony Dunmore, 10/27/09 Theodore E. Gebhardt, 12/15/10 Carl D. Jackson, 12/16/10 Frederick Lee Kribs Jr., 8/6/10 Jeanne Byrd Meyer, 12/21/09 Diane Hall Mitchell, 2/5/11 Carolyn Clark Norton ’75, 2/28/10 Martha Maxwell Waters, 9/25/10
1957 Taylor Boyd II, 2/4/11 Jerry D. Brownlow, 4/14/05 Barbara Brian Hamilton, 12/24/10 William C. Kaltenbach, 12/19/10
The Rev. William Roy Moyers, 2/19/10 Mildred Hancock Penk, Ph.D., ’70, ’75, 11/24/09 Danny (Buzz) Seibold, 8/27/10
Dr. John Clinton Shanks, 1/3/11 Marie Shippen Snyder, 4/12/96
1958 Charles C. Blaylock, 12/22/10 Donald E. Fisher Jr., 9/24/10 Robert M. Lindsley, 8/31/10 Jacqueline Roberts Miller, 9/9/10
Prof. Robert C. Moffat ’62, 11/14/10 Thomas G. Nash Jr. ’62, 1/24/11 Warren Mark Pulich, 11/27/10 Clairenne Allensworth Sanborn, 7/20/10 John R. Standley, 5/24/10 Kay Barnhouse Stout, 12/17/10 Otis C. Wyatt Jr., 2/6/10
1959 Patricia Hand Armstrong, 1/11/10 John Robert Biar, 1/22/11
Dr. Rex Jordan Cantrell, 12/19/08 James E. Graham, 1/1/62 Morgan P. Groves ’63, 3/13/10 Elizabeth Oates Hefner, 11/13/10 Kennett Hobbs, 11/21/10 Gloria A. Galouye Jackson ’78, 1/13/11 Douglas H. Jeffers, 11/18/10 Robert C. Peterson, 3/31/09 Jennings B. Thompson, 5/24/09
1960 Charles E. Ashmore, 10/16/10 Lucretia Nilan Cloran, 12/3/10 Bill W. Folmar ’67, 8/24/10 Wayland Kesler, 12/23/08 Don Meredith, 12/5/10
1961 Guy P. Reese, 11/22/10 Susan Herring Stahl, 2/14/11
1962 Frank J. Doran, 1/22/11 Theron J. Ewert ’71, 10/10/10
The Rev. Kenneth T. Metzger, 3/9/10 Charles D. Wood, 11/4/10
1963 B. Gill Clements, 10/21/10 B.G. Folkers, 4/1/10
1964 Robert E. McClendon, 7/18/08
1965 David B. Harrell Jr., 3/6/10 R.Lewis Nicholson ’67, 10/27/10
1966 Don T. Bullock, 8/1/86 Katherine Zimmerman Huller, 1/18/11 Jack Frank Lutts, 4/23/10 George Wilfert Martin, 6/24/99 Martin F. O’Donnell, 9/27/10 Samuel C. Oliver III, 9/20/10 Albert B. Ramsdell, 9/1/83 Jack W. Rhodes, 10/15/10 Henry L. Spence, 10/29/10
1967 Hugh E. Prather III, 11/15/10
1968 Douglass Phillip Bales ’70, 2/8/10 Richard Dean Hawn ’73, 11/22/10
1969 Thomas E. Gaines, 11/14/10
Dr. Gary W. Husa, 10/10/10
1970 Wm. R. Newsom, 2/17/10 Russell J. Spetter, 11/2/10 Michael David Tuttle, 10/4/10 Verner J. Vansyckle, 7/1/70
1971 Beverly Barnette, 8/31/10 Jarrett H. Boren, 2/28/11 Carolyn Sue Johnson, 9/4/10 John W. Moore, 8/17/05 Gail Andrea Schatzman Smith, 10/23/10 Warren Tomlinson, 1/18/11 Janet L. Whittlesey, 11/13/10 Patricia Rogers Winters, 3/28/04
1972 Pastor Ralph Howard Ford, 2/26/11 Martha Addington Hoffmann, 8/24/10 Sophronia Sue Broom McCone, 10/9/02 James (Jim) McLure, 2/17/11 Daniel Joseph McNulty, 9/22/00
1973 Thomas Alan Draper, 9/28/10 Bryan K. Ford, 11/20/10 Jean K. Lemons Slagle ’76, 8/28/10 John William Steakley Jr., 11/27/10
1974 Alan R. Barr ’82, 1/3/11
Dr. James E. Fix Sr., 1/17/11 Ernest E. Hoffman III, 9/7/10 Marta Heria Reina Paisan, 1/14/11 L. Paul Snell III, 9/18/10 Robert E. Verinder Sr., 11/13/10
1975 Ronny Vandon Cook, 10/4/10
Dr. Paula Moffett, 5/10/10
1976 Patti Crook Parris, 10/30/10 Jerry L. Turner, 12/23/10 Willem Willemstyn, 1/15/11
1977 Lillian Dubois Starr, 9/8/10 Victoria Veach-Rogers, 12/12/10
1978 Victor Charles Barton Jr., 10/1/10 Lawrence David Hanna, 10/12/10 Frederick W. McElroy ’82, 12/20/10
1980 Fred Irven Franklin, 11/22/10 Ruth Harbison McDowell, 12/30/10 Allan K. Moser, 12/4/10 Phil Rolland, 5/14/10
1981 Ann Hillin, 9/30/10 Craig Brantley Vernon ’90, 9/21/10
1983 Charles Pasquale Guerriero IV ’89, 2/8/11 Robin Perkins McBride, 4/8/08
1984 David Michael Radman, 10/17/10
1985 Hei Tak Chu ’87, 4/16/03 Frederic Cullen Liskow, 2/14/11 Phillip Brian Morton, 1/18/11
1984 Mary Tichenor Metzinger, 4/2/10 Rodney William Winslow, 1/18/11
1987 James Mathew McGee, 3/21/10
1989 Marjorie Ann White, 9/12/10
1990 Martha A. Cochrum, 3/31/05
1991 David Nigle Evans, 9/13/09
1992 Allen Robert Cole, C.P.A., 1/16/11 Brian Anthony Marczynski ’93, 10/23/07
1993 Robert Lewis Millard II, 1/28/11 Raymond Jacques Seguin, 1/25/11
1996 Brenda Lea Newlin, 12/2/10 Christin Rooney Palmer, 3/3/11
1997 Mary Jane Furr, 10/19/10
1998 A’Drewana Chane’t Johnson, 12/2/10
2000 Adelea Anne Fussell, 9/20/10
2001 Martha L. O’Rourke, 1/7/11
2002 Cory Christopher Fross, 11/14/10
2004 Johnny Kyle Cotton, 9/16/10
2005 Benjamin (Ben) Todd Fricke, 2/21/11 Robert Chris Moore, 2/20/10 Courtney S. Turner Chambers, 1/3/11
SMU Community
Earl Borgeson, retired professor and law librarian at Dedman School of Law, 12/25/10 Ben Earp, SMU staff, 12/7/10 Charley Galvin, former dean of Dedman School of Law, 1/27/11 Eugene Herrin, Schuler-Foscue Endowed Chair in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, 11/20/10 Douglas E. Jackson, retired professor of sociology of religion at Perkins School of Theology, 1/26/11 Karl Kilinski, SMU professor, 1/6/11 Ann S. Knowles, retired SMU staff, 10/7/10 Laura Laurin, retired SMU staff, 9/29/10 Syd Reagan, retired professor in Cox School of Business, 11/10/10 R. Richard Rubottom ’32, ’33, former professor of political science, 12/6/10 James Shelton, retired SMU staff, 12/23/10 James Cleo Thompson, former SMU trustee, 11/18/10 Fern Helene Chase Whitehurst, SMU staff, 10/26/10 Emmitt Wickliffe, retired SMU staff, 10/17/10 Mike Wooton, retired professor in Cox School of Business, 1/24/11
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has raised SMU’s classification among institutions of higher education, reflecting dramatic growth in the University’s research activity since it was last measured in 2005.
SMU is now categorized with 96 other institutions as a research university with “high research activity,” a significant step up from its assessment in 2005 as a doctoral/research university. The Carnegie Foundation assigns doctorate-granting institutions to categories based on research activity during a particular period and the number of doctoral programs.
“SMU’s rise in the Carnegie classification system is further evidence of the growing quality and research productivity of our faculty,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “We are building a community of scholars exploring important research questions, making an impact on societal issues and enriching the classroom environment for their students.”
Most universities in the highest research category have medical schools.
The foundation’s assessment of SMU’s increased research activity occurs as the University is making dramatic advances in other measures of academic progress: U.S. News and World Report magazine gave SMU its highest ranking ever for 2011, placing SMU 56th among 260 “best national universities” – up from 68th in 2010. In addition, Cox School of Business is one of only a few schools in the nation to have all three of its M.B.A. programs ranked among the top 15, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.
Trainer Kelli Clay applies an ice pack to Delisha Wills’ knee.
Whenever SMU coach Rhonda Rompola ’83 pushes her women’s basketball team to the brink of giving up, she always says the same thing: “Just fight through it!”
Just fighting through it, however, becomes an entirely different challenge after an athlete suffers a serious injury. That is why athletic trainer Kelli Clay, a seven-year veteran with the program, is such an important aspect to ensuring the team’s success.
Clay has seen her share of cuts, strains, breaks and tears, but she experienced perhaps her greatest challenge in the 2009-10 season. She helped one of the team’s top performers, Delisha Wills, recover from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee.
Wills, an English major from Mesquite, had been one of the team’s top scorers since she arrived at SMU in 2006 as a freshman. But she suffered the torn ligament as she hustled for a loose ball in a preseason practice in October 2009. The injury ended her hopes of seeing the court in what was supposed to be her senior season.
“I heard her scream, so I ran over to help her,” Clay says. “The hardest part was seeing her lie there in so much pain, but there was nothing I could do to take the pain away.”
Wills had surgery in November of that year, and she and Clay spent every day together in the training room until Wills was cleared to play again six months later. The 5-foot-10 forward redshirted the 2009-10 season and returned this season, averaging 10.1 points per game in 25 starts – making her the team’s third leading scorer for the year. The Mustangs finished 14-16 overall and 7-9 in Conference USA games.
“Not everybody comes back from an ACL injury,” says Wills, as she sat next to Clay in the women’s basketball training room in Crum Basketball Center. “Some people just give up because they don’t want to do the rehab and they don’t want to play the game anymore. But for me that wasn’t an option.”
“I wouldn’t have let you not come back,” Clay adds.
Similar stories of rehabilitation, recovery and a return to dominance abound in other SMU sports as well. These conquests are made possible by SMU’s staff of seven full-time athletic trainers. Every sport at SMU has its own athletic trainer, with football having two.
These healing artists do much more than hand out water bottles and tape ankles. They also work daily with injured players, tailoring individual workouts to facilitate quicker and safer recoveries. They drive players to doctors’ appointments and surgeries and closely monitor practices and games to make sure athletes stay as safe as possible. They also communicate regularly with physicians, coaches, players and parents to ensure that everyone remains informed about an athlete’s injury.
This job comes with long hours behind the scenes. Mike Morton, SMU’s director of sports medicine, helped rehabilitate four football players with ACL injuries last fall while traveling with the team. In addition, he juggled an active family life at home, helping his wife, Michelle, care for their newborn daughter, Violet, 20-month-old son, Michael, and 6-year-old stepdaughter, Carys. From July to January, he took off only three days.
“During preseason practice, I worked 160 hours in two weeks,” Morton says. “Even though it can be tough to find that work-life balance, I really enjoy my job because of the positive results that I see.”
Clay works during holidays because she travels with the women’s basketball team, but she says the job’s rewards outweigh the sacrifices. She enjoys the opportunity to help student-athletes stay on their feet – and in many cases get back on their feet – so they can continue to pursue their dreams of playing Division I basketball. In the meantime, Clay has developed rewarding relationships with players, perhaps none more so than Wills.
“Delisha and I have been through a lot,” Clay says. “An ACL rehab is very hard on you physically and mentally, and I was honored to have walked down that path with her.”
Rompola also gained a new appreciation for Wills’ toughness and her determination to end her career on the court – not on the sidelines with an injury.
“The best way to compare Delisha’s situation to one faced every day by our team is that she had to fight through it, just like we have to fight through adversity on the court,” Rompola says. – Chris Dell ’11
Four years ago in volatile southern Baghdad, Captain Troy Vaughn ’11 was in charge of a 32-member scout platoon for the Army, leading more than 250 high-risk counter-insurgency and reconnaissance missions over 15 months. In addition to ensuring the success of the missions and the safety of his troops while dodging snipers’ bullets and searching for Al-Qaeda, Vaughn found that “everyday reality” also commanded his attention.
“Real life doesn’t stop for the soldiers, who can be dealing with all kinds of issues – from family to financial to emotional,” Vaughn says. “My challenge was to take care of the soldiers – ensure they were grounded emotionally and spiritually and had all the support they needed to do their jobs effectively.”
For his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star and rated top platoon leader by his battalion commander.
Today Vaughn, 28, is earning an M.B.A. at the Cox School of Business, where he has studied operations management and honed his leadership skills. Vaughn is one of the nearly 150 undergraduate and graduate students attending SMU on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides education benefits to military veterans and their dependents. The bill is a 2008 update to the 1944 GI Bill of Rights, which awarded scholarships to World War II veterans to colleges of their choice.
However, beginning in August 2011, changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill create a nationwide cap of $17,500 a year for tuition and fees reimbursement for private universities. SMU’s Division of Enrollment Services and the schools are working on financial arrangements, which include participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program, an addendum to the Post-9/11 GI Bill, to enable currently enrolled veterans to continue their education at SMU, says Veronica Decena, manager, SMU Registrar’s Office.
“We estimate that at least $200,000 will be needed to cover tuition and fees next academic year where the current GI benefit leaves off,” she adds. “We don’t know if the cap will be supplemented for all students by the Yellow Ribbon Program,” which currently covers only graduate and professional students.
Following, six veterans reflect on their experiences as students at SMU.
Something Bigger Than Yourself
The leadership skills that served Vaughn well while in the military continue to do so at Cox. He has been a member of the M.B.A. Energy Club and was president and a founding member of Veterans in Business, which helps student veterans in their transition from the military to a career in business. Troy Vaughn
“We’ve grown from five members to nearly 30,” he says. “We’ve built strong connections among ourselves, and we also have connected our members with networking and job opportunities. These students demonstrate discipline and leadership, even in the most challenging situations.”
Holding an internship and part-time position with an energy exploration company while completing his studies, Vaughn has accepted a project manager position with Sharyland Utilities after graduation this May.
A 2004 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Vaughn served in the military for more than five years, most recently as commander of a Texas National Guard infantry company. He was reared in Bulverde, Texas, in a family that takes pride in its patriotism, he says. “In the military, you get a sense of service, of doing something bigger than yourself,” he says. “I’m hoping to achieve that in business.”
Preparing To Deploy
In summer 2011 Sarah Wiita, 24, will deploy for a year as a health care specialist with the U.S. Army Reserves 490th Civil Affairs Battalion. The five members of her civil affairs unit expect to be stationed in the Horn of Africa. They will serve as military liaisons with local authorities and nongovernmental organizations while assessing how best to provide aid and services to residents in need.
“We have been training at least one weekend a month at the Army Reserve Center in Grand Prairie, and more often as we’re preparing to leave,” says Wiita, a junior psychology major and human rights minor in Dedman College. Sarah Wiita
As the unit’s lone health care specialist, Wiita is headed to Fort Sam Houston for medic training before deployment. She has been studying current events in Africa with her unit and says her courses in SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program also have helped her understand different cultures and histories. “People may think human rights and the Army don’t go together, but the Army does a lot of noncombat operations and tries to make a difference with civilian populations. That’s how I try to represent the military.”
Wiita joined the Reserves in 2008 while earning an Associate’s degree in applied science at Collin County Community College and training as a paramedic and emergency medical technician on an ambulance. “I told the Army recruiter I wanted to be a combat medic,” she says. “I enjoyed my medical work and knew I wanted to continue to do something challenging, something I could dedicate myself to.”
When considering where to continue her college education in 2009, she applied only to SMU because of the strength of its reputation, she says. “I love the campus, and I didn’t want to go to a big state school.”
The Army’s emphasis on discipline has helped her transition to college life and balance coursework with her training and part-time jobs, she says. “I realized I have different perspectives on politics and other topics in my classes, probably because I’ve been working for so long,” she says. Rick Halperin, director of the Embrey Human Rights Program, describes Wiita as a credit to SMU and the country. “Sarah has embraced an understanding of all people’s rights and can use them to the benefit of all in her military operations,” he says.
After serving a year in Africa, Wiita intends to return to SMU to finish her coursework and attend graduate school in psychology. She wants to work with women and children who are victims of trafficking.
“In war zones around the world, the men do the fighting, while the women and kids are left behind and suffer the consequences,” she says. “When I joined the military, I thought about serving our country, and now I’m looking forward to the opportunity to serve people around the world.”
Discovering A Passion
When Kashima Jones served in the Navy from 2004 to 2008, she was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. She won numerous awards working as a dental technician, providing care to Marines as they deployed to and returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I am so grateful to people who are willing to go to war and make huge sacrifices for all of us back home,” says Jones, 25, who today is a junior biology major in Dedman College and a member of the Navy Reserve. “It was hard to see some not make the trip back.” Jones’ husband, Necorian, 26, a Navy veteran and active Reservist, is a junior mathematics major in Dedman College. The couple continues to serve one weekend each month as dental technicians at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.
“Working with dentists helps with my biology classes because they’ve all been down the same road before me,” says Kashima, who is from Miami. She and her husband moved to his hometown of Dallas in 2008 and began their college studies at Mountain View College before transferring to SMU. Necorian and Kashima Jones
Necorian also is earning a minor in education from the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and both Joneses say they hope to teach: Necorian would like to be a high school math teacher and football coach, while Kashima wants to teach high school biology and eventually serve as a principal. She discovered her passion for the field this year while working with the Dallas college-readiness program, Education Is Freedom.
“I’ve been helping students at a Dallas high school fill out financial aid forms and college applications and get in the mind-set for college,” she says. “I am a first-generation college student, and I remember thinking I didn’t have the tools to go to college. It feels great to help others get there.”
Kashima also is working to form a student organization for SMU’s military members. “It would offer camaraderie and support,” she says. “It could bring together all of us who can relate to life in the military – veterans, reservists, active-duty students, family members – and also anyone who’s interested in learning more about the military.”
Furthering The Mission
Former Petty Officer 2nd Class James Noel, 28, served aboard warships around the world during his six years in the U.S. Navy and two in the Navy Reserve. His first time at sea was at the start of the Iraq war in 2003 on the USS John S. McCain, where he worked as a sonar technician, watching for underwater threats and minefields.
“We had been in the Arabian Gulf for about a week when we heard President Bush’s address to the nation over the ship’s intercom about the start of military operations,” says Noel, a sophomore accounting major in Cox School of Business, with a minor in economics in Dedman College. “It was two or three in the morning, and the war became very real then. We were all determined to focus on our orders and meet our objectives.” James Noel
After Baghdad was taken by U.S. forces – and 98 straight days on the water – Noel and his shipmates sailed back to their home port in Japan.
“In the military, you’re there for a purpose – not to earn a paycheck, but to serve your country,” he says.
“But all students at SMU, who are working toward their degrees and careers, also are working to further the mission of this country. They’re learning to be the leaders of tomorrow in every field – business, government, medicine, the arts.”
Noel, a Chicago native who always enjoyed visiting family in Texas, transferred to SMU in fall 2010 from Richland College in Dallas, where he discovered his passion for accounting. “I’m enjoying my business classes at Cox and the interaction with professors,” he says. “And I love the atmosphere at SMU, the school spirit, game days and Boulevarding. Even though I’m not a traditional college student, I feel like one here. Everyone – the professors, staff and students – has been very welcoming.”
Noel serves as secretary of the National Association of Black Accountants at Cox, which hosts experts and offers professional development and leadership training. He hopes to start an online retail business after earning his degree.
His military experience taught him to be prepared for anything, Noel adds. “If anything, the Navy was a stepping-stone. Students who haven’t been in the military probably can’t relate, but if you’re just on time, you’re late, and if you’re early, you’re on time,” he says. “I make sure I’m early to class and ready to get to work.
“I do take class seriously. After visiting underdeveloped countries and seeing what people have to do to make a living, I’m grateful for everything I have.”
Finding The Right Fit At A Distance
First Lieutenant Michael D. Gifford II, 29, works with lasers, high-power microwave systems and radiological safety at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Gifford, who earned his Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and worked as an engineer in Houston for several years, decided to follow his dream of joining the Air Force in 2008. Michael D. Gifford II
He was based in Wichita, Kansas, for his first two years in the Air Force. “People in my field are experts in chemical, radiological and nuclear incidents. We’re responders in emergencies – not first responders – but we go in and assess signs and symptoms.” Now at Kirtland, he works primarily on Air Force policy issues.
So earning a Master’s degree in environmental engineering through the distance-learning program at the Lyle School of Engineering was a natural fit. “The coursework goes hand in hand with my work as a bioenvironmental engineer,” Gifford says. “The courses deal with contaminates, the environment and regulations. Environmental engineering gets you out on site, doing assessments and making things better.”
Gifford also appreciates how receptive the Lyle School is to military students. “I did a lot of searching to find the right program that was fully accredited online and flexible. SMU was at the top of the list because it offered half-price tuition. I was assigned temporary duty in Florida and was able to get my coursework and submit it online.”
The Lyle School Distance Education Program began over 40 years ago with the Tager Satellite Network. Approximately 25 percent of applicants for the fall 2011 term are classified as military students, including active-duty, veterans and Department of Defense civilians. “Our faculty often are impressed with the caliber of experience that military students bring to the learning environment,” says Abigail Smith, assistant director for graduate military, distance and part-time on-campus education.
Military veterans and their families, as well as active-duty military, have long been important members of the SMU community, says Provost Paul Ludden. “They bring unique, global perspectives to the classroom and campus. We are proud that after serving our country, many are choosing to continue their education at SMU.”
Throughout red-and-blue SMU, green practices have become a way of life as the University community rallies to cut waste and conserve precious resources.
In Cockrell-McIntosh Hall, Pamela Varela’s small refrigerator used to be stocked with single-use plastic water bottles. Now Varela, a resident assistant, relies on reusable bottles.
“I used to think that throwing all those plastic water bottles into the recycling bin was enough, until I realized that it’s best not to have a bottle to recycle in the first place,” says Varela, a sophomore environmental engineering major. She also is a member of the SMU Environmental Society and the campus co-chair of RecycleMania, a national intercollegiate recycling competition.
Not far from Varela’s South Quad living quarters, a crew completes the installation of a new chiller for Barr Pool. The high-efficiency system captures energy that would otherwise evaporate into the atmosphere and converts it into heat. As a result, the University will save about $80,000 a year in heating costs for the outdoor swimming pool.
On the west side of Bishop Boulevard, students gather for lunch at the campus’ main dining hall, the Real Food on Campus (RFoC) in Umphrey Lee, where trays have been removed. That action has yielded substantial decreases not only in water consumption but also in the amount of food thrown away, according to Michael Marr, SMU director of dining services and resident district manager for Aramark, which provides dining services.
“When people use trays, they tend to pile up their plates with much more food than they’ll eat,” he says. “Without the trays, food waste has been reduced by 4 to 6 ounces per meal a day, and we serve an average of 3,000 meals each day.”
Many Shades Of Green
At Barr Pool, a new, high-efficiency chiller system saves the University about $80,000 annually in heating costs.
The widely accepted definition of “sustainability” – eco-conscious behavior that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” – was established as a national goal when the Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1970. That year, the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22.
The SMU Sustainability Committee generates the kind of awareness that Earth Day evokes and supports it throughout the year. Established in 2009, the committee focuses efforts by students, faculty and staff on a sweeping plan to recycle, reduce waste and reuse. The long-term strategy encompasses resource management programs, student initiatives and green-building construction as well as degree programs, course offerings and research.Sophomore Elizabeth Peterson serves as an Environmental Representative, or E-Rep, a student staff position assigned to a residence hall to promote recycling and other green efforts.
Steps to shrink SMU’s environmental footprint are taken around the clock, says Michael Paul, executive director of Facilities Management and Sustainability (FM&S) and a member of the SMU Sustainability Committee.
“There’s not one big thing we do that’s the sustainability panacea; it’s the thousand little things that really add up and make a difference,” Paul says.
FM&S takes the lead in rethinking business as usual by identifying new recycling and waste management opportunities as well as finding products and techniques that are eco-friendly and cost-effective.
“Before we adopt a new method or system, it not only has to meet certain environmental criteria but it also has to make economic sense,” Paul says.
As an example, he points to the replacement of incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs in all exit signs. On average an LED bulb uses about a 10th of the energy and lasts about 80 years, compared to the three-month lifespan of an incandescent bulb. “In one year the program paid for itself,” he says.
Forward Thinking
SMU’s long-term commitment to sustainability includes academic tracks to educate students who can meet the needs of a changing world and develop energy-conservation tactics that will play out over decades.
Environmental degree programs – Environmental Studies and Environmental Sciences in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering in Lyle School of Engineering – prepare students now to develop solutions to mounting global sustainability issues. Mackenzie Keck, a first-year advertising student, shines in a design by Diana Mansour, a first-year business student. They participated in the inaugural eco-fashion show hosted by SMU’s Environmental Representatives March 25.“I’m interested in research and work being done around the world to reduce carbon emissions by switching to renewable resources for fuel,” says Sarah Karimi, a sophomore environmental sciences and chemistry double major from Karachi, Pakistan. “My academic background helps me understand the environment from a scientific perspective, and I hope to pursue research that will contribute to sustainable energy solutions.”
Researchers like David Blackwell, Hamilton Professor of Geothermal Studies and one of the country’s foremost authorities on geothermal energy, and SMU Geothermal Laboratory Coordinator Maria Richards explore the alternative energy frontier. Their breakthrough mapping of the nation’s geothermal resources shows the vast potential for geothermal energy, which harnesses heat from the Earth’s core. Geothermal energy is reliable – and with the right technology can be generated virtually everywhere.
“That’s really the holy grail of geothermal: that you can go anywhere and extract the Earth’s heat,” Blackwell told National Geographic News in December.
SMU’s Sustainability Committee also is looking at energy through a long-range lens. A Carbon Action Plan with a 30-year goal of attaining carbon neutrality is in development, according to Michael Paul. The plan will outline specific projects to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions by using fiscally sound technologies.
“If we’re not good stewards of the environment today, then we’re not setting up generations to come for success,” he says. “Sustainability is as much about the future as it is about today. ”
Visit SMU’s real-time water and electricity usage on the Building Dashboard.
A thread of entrepreneurship weaves through the history of SMU from the beginning. In asking “What is our duty to all the coming generations of Texans until the end of time? … ,” members of the Commission of Education, Methodist Episcopal Church, South of Texas demonstrated game-changing foresight in 1911. They spotted an opportunity in a growing city and joined forces with like-minded civic leaders to bring the University to life. Jerry White, director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship in the Cox School of BusinessFast forward six decades: When the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship opened in August 1970, “we could identify only a handful of universities that even taught a course in entrepreneurship,” says Jerry White, director of the institute in the Cox School of Business. “Today, if you don’t have a substantial entrepreneurship education program, then you won’t have a business school.”
The institute was established with the support of W.W. Caruth Jr., son of W.W. Caruth Sr., who donated land to SMU in 1911. “W.W. Caruth Jr. felt that universities were training students to be employees of large organizations, and that’s not what he chose to be,” White says. “He was ahead of the curve in recognizing that business schools needed to address entrepreneurship education.”
While White says there’s no hard and fast definition of “entrepreneurship,” he boils it down to “building a business where none existed before and pursuing the opportunity without regard to resources you currently control.”
“Innovation is not entrepreneurship,” he adds. “Entrepreneurs take innovation and do something with it.”
Do You Fit The Profile?
Growing up in Carthage, Miss., Jerry White says he was “one of those kids who always had a business.” Among his most successful ventures was a snow cone stand. Within weeks of opening, his operation was doing such brisk business that his adult-run competition folded.
White seemed to know instinctively that by offering a superior product at the right price, he would thrive in the marketplace. So, are some people born entrepreneurs? While an actual gene linked to entrepreneurship has not been identified, people who bring their ideas to life do seem to share some attitudinal DNA, according to White. Read more …
The Caruth Institute offers four undergraduate and 20 graduate courses – from venture financing to financial transactions law – to provide students with a solid foundation for launching and managing successful ventures. Through the institute students can pursue a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship, as well as a noncredit Starting A Business certificate.
Also within Cox, the Executive M.B.A. program was ranked by Financial Timesas No. 6 in the world for entrepreneurship last fall.
Andy Nguyen ’11 says the Master of Entrepreneurship program provided him with a solid handle on the mechanics of business ownership. Nguyen owns WSI Search, a North Dallas marketing firm that specializes in web development and Internet marketing strategies, and calls himself a “serial entrepreneur with a laundry list of ideas.” The nine-year Marine veteran, who has served in Afghanistan and Asia, is now mapping out “a nonprofit organization to help veterans transition into entrepreneurship.”
“The MSE program has given me the tools and resources to build, run and exit a business in the most effective and efficient manner,” says Nguyen.
‘Be Ready To Jump’
Engineer Bobby B. Lyle ’67 proves that inventive go-getters populate all disciplines. He served as a professor and administrator at the University before making his mark in the petroleum and natural gas industry. Lyle, an SMU trustee for more than 20 years, provided gifts that established the Bobby B. Lyle Chair in Entrepreneurship in Cox – held by Professor Maria Minniti – and laid the foundation for leadership and entrepreneurship education in the Lyle School of Engineering, which was named for him in 2008.
The school offers a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with an Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship Specialization. In addition courses such as “Technical Entrepreneurship” encapsulate the challenges of technology start-ups through “on-the-job learning,” says Professor Stephen A. Szygenda. Brian Tannous (left) and Amir Ghadiry, creators of the SeekDroid smartphone app
Divided into company teams, students have to decide on a hypothetical venture and develop a five-year strategy. As the semester unfolds, Szygenda bombards the groups “with different situations, like an unanticipated natural disaster. They have to come up with solutions and document how they’ve redirected the company to successfully deal
with the issue.”
The course’s emphasis on team dynamics and innovative problem-solving complements initiatives of the Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, which was funded by a
gift from Linda ’65 and Mitch Hart and opened in October 2010.
In the lightning-fast technology sector, “there’s a very small window for success, so when it opens, you have to be ready to jump,” Szygenda says.
New engineering graduates Amir Ghadiry ’11 and Brian Tannous ’11 took a leap into the marketplace with SeekDroid, an application (“app”) for smartphones that run the Android mobile operating system. The multifunction app serves as a locator – through a secure website, a user can pinpoint the device’s location – as well as a security system.
“If your phone is stolen, you can lock and wipe it [erase data] remotely,” Ghadiry explains.
After five months on the market, the application has been downloaded more than 16,000 times from SeekDroid.com at a price of 99 cents per download.
They began tinkering with apps in an electrical engineering special topics course taught by Joseph Camp, the J. Lindsay Embrey Trustee Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. “For students with an entrepreneurial flair, the mobile phone applications market is an emerging avenue,” Camp says.
It’s Not Business As Usual
Some new SMU programs borrow from the B-school toolkit for courses tailored to a challenging climate.
In June the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development will launch a Master’s program with a specialization in urban school leadership. The 45-hour program was developed by theDepartment of Educational Leadership and Policy in concert with the school’s new Education Entrepreneur Center (EEC).
The EEC coalesces efforts of the Simmons School and the Teaching Trust, a nonprofit organization established by entrepreneurs Rosemary Perlmeter, founder of Uplift Education charter schools, and Ellen Wood, a financial and social investment consultant, to offer high-quality professional preparation for emerging school leaders as well as development opportunities for seasoned principals. Lee Alvoid, clinical associate professor and department chair, believes some of the business approaches used to turn around ailing companies can be modified and applied to low-performing urban schools.
“Entrepreneurial educators can find and deploy resources in a creative and nontraditional manner,” she explains. “They are able to create an organizational culture focused on the students and have the ability to develop policies that support change that’s important in urban schools with low performance.” Zannie Voss, chair of Meadows' Division of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship
Much like the Simmons program aims to prepare school leaders to achieve under difficult conditions, a new Meadows School of the Arts initiative merges a business perspective with classical training as an intellectual gyroscope for a shifting arts landscape.
“Our students are incredibly proficient and expert with their talent as performers and artists. We don’t want them to wait for the phone to ring; we want them to take a proactive role in sculpting their post-SMU futures now,” says Zannie Voss, chair of the Division of Arts Management and Arts Entrepreneurship in Meadows and professor with a dual appointment in Meadows and Cox.
Beginning in the fall, Meadows will offer an undergraduate minor in arts entrepreneurship open to students from any major on campus who want to develop their ideas for new arts – or entertainment-related ventures. The six-course minor focuses on such skills as arts budgeting and financial management, attracting capital (donors, investors and public funds) and generating an arts venture plan.
As they home in on how to monetize their ideas, students may redefine success in terms of personal fulfillment rather than fame. And even those who have their sights set on stardom need to be able to interpret a financial statement.
“The reality is that it’s in our students’ best interests to not only create their own art and films but also to understand how to sustain themselves,” Voss says. “This initiative emphasizes Meadows’ encouragement of students to ‘start a movement.’”
– Patricia Ward
Julene Fleurmond, Young Dreamer Enterprises
When Oprah Winfrey took her show on the road in December, journalism graduate Julene Fleurmond ’09 was among the “Ultimate Viewers” treated to a trip to Australia.
When producers were searching for people inspired by Winfrey for the audience of the show’s final-season premiere, Fleurmond caught their attention. Her organization, Young Dreamer Enterprises, and website advance creativity and entrepreneurship in young people through online activities, inspirational posts and videos.
“Seeing Oprah in person was a surreal experience and reinforced my belief that by pursuing your passion and purpose, your dreams can come true,” says Fleurmond, who is now working toward a Master’s in public health at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
While an SMU undergraduate, Fleurmond received a Big iDeas grant for her website. Sponsored by SMU’s Office of the Provost, the Big iDeas program funds selected undergraduate research proposals aimed at addressing issues that confront major metropolitan areas like Dallas.
“Having recognition and support from a program like Big iDeas encourages you to make your idea bigger,” she says.
Alison Bailey Verchruysse (left) and Erin McCormick
Alison Bailey Vercruysse’s head for numbers earned her success in banking – including a stint at the Federal Reserve in Chicago – but her heart wasn’t in it. She needed a creative outlet. After trying everything from art to yoga, she started playing with her food – tweaking homemade granola recipes until she got it right.
In 2008 Vercruysse ’92 started 18 Rabbits, “simple, authentic granola and bars.” Her company’s unusual moniker comes from a prolific childhood pet named Blackjack. “We’re hoping to continue to grow and expand – like rabbits,” she quips.
Today her products, all of which are certified organic, are sold at Whole Foods, Central Market and many other outlets around the country.
By harnessing “pony power,” Vercruysse moved into an important national market and found a key employee.
“At my mother’s (Kay Hunter ’93) urging, I introduced myself to David Cush at an alumni function in 2008,” recalls the San Francisco-based entrepreneur. Cush ’82, ’83 is president and CEO of Virgin America Airlines; he serves as a Second Century Celebration Steering Committee co-chair. “He was very gracious, gave me his card and suggested I send him a box of samples.”
She did, and 18 Rabbits Gracious Granola is now on the airline’s breakfast rotation for a second time.
Two years later, the tables were turned when Erin McCormick ’09 approached Vercruysse. McCormick, a dance major, was searching for a new opportunity after living in New York for a year. “It just wasn’t for me,” says the California native. “When I decided to move, I contacted everyone in the SMU alumni online database who lived in the San Francisco area. The alums were very encouraging and really wanted to help.”
Coincidentally, Vercruysse, who majored in accounting and finance at SMU, was hunting for a marketing intern and arranged an interview. The two hit it off, and McCormick now serves as field marketing manager for the company.
“I never thought of working in the food industry – and I love it,” McCormick says. “Even if you think you know what you want to do with your career, don’t close yourself off to unexpected opportunities.”
High-energy thin-film polarizers are among Precision Photonics' products.
Chris Myatt ’91 had the perfect ingredients for a startup – a good idea, a spare room and a lawyer-partner – wife Sally Hatcher ’91. The couple founded Precision Photonics, which specializes in precision optical components, in Boulder, Colorado, in 2000. The telecommunications boom was at its peak, so the timing seemed right.
“We started as a telecom business. When the bubble burst in 2001, 70 percent of our customers went out of business and those remaining weren’t spending money,” says Hatcher, who earned undergraduate degrees in philosophy and history from SMU and a J.D. from the University of Colorado. “It took ‘enduring perseverance’ to keep going.”
The little company that could gradually morphed into a successful “specialty optics shop,” Hatcher explains. “We improve the performance of lasers used in almost any industry: the medical field, in aerospace and even large industrial lasers that precision-cut materials in factories.”
While retooling the company’s focus, Myatt, who holds undergraduate degrees in math and physics from SMU and a Ph.D. in atomic physics from the University of Colorado, became interested in medical testing equipment. His “little side science project” has grown into a separate business: MBio Diagnostics.
Myatt developed a portable, affordable device for blood tests that is ideally suited for use in emerging nations where small clinics rarely have diagnostic equipment. Next month field trials of the device will begin Kenya.
“Getting results in minutes for a battery of tests, rather than waiting days or even weeks, can make a huge difference in outcomes,” Hatcher says.
TOMS Shoes isn’t just another footwear company and founder Blake Mycoskie isn’t a cookie-cutter executive. His title synthesizes an unusual corporate philosophy: He doesn’t call himself “chief executive officer.” Rather, he’s the self-proclaimed “chief shoe giver.” Blake Mycoskie celebrates TOMS' success.
TOMS – the name is derived from Shoes For Tomorrow – operates on a one-for-one giving model: For each pair of TOMS shoes sold, one pair is given away. As of 2010, more than 1 million pairs of shoes had been donated to needy children in over 20 countries, including the United States.
Mycoskie started the enterprise in 2006 after a trip to Argentina, where he was moved by a group of youngsters with no shoes to protect their feet. When he returned to the U.S., he decided that writing a check wasn’t enough and developed the idea for TOMS. Today, a range of designs for men, women and children bears the distinctive TOMS logo.
Over a decade ago, Mycoskie started his first company, a laundry service, while an SMU student. He later created and sold a billboard company and worked in TV development and entertainment marketing before finding the perfect fit.
What’s his next step? Mycoskie recently announced his newest one-for-one venture, TOMS Eyewear. Each pair of TOMS sunglasses sold will support eye care for an individual, including medical treatment, sight-saving surgery and prescription eyeglasses. The program will start in Nepal, Cambodia and Tibet.
David B. Miller and Carolyn Lacy Miller
David B. Miller ’72, ’73, a member of the SMU Board of Trustees, and his wife, Carolyn Lacy Miller committed $10 million toward the expansion and renovation of Moody Coliseum April 28.
“As a former Mustang basketball player, David has enjoyed the excitement of athletic success in this facility, and he and Carolyn have attended numerous ceremonies in Moody,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Their generous gift builds the momentum to secure additional funding.”
The Millers have been generous long-time donors to academic and athletic programs at SMU. Gifts have created the David B. Miller Endowed Professorship in Cox School of Business, the Don Jackson Center for Financial Studies in Cox and the EnCap Investments & LCM Group Alternative Asset Management Center, also in Cox, as well as the David and Carolyn Miller Annual Scholarships. They also have provided support for the Crum Basketball Center, the men’s basketball program and Circle of Champions in the Department of Athletics.
Miller is co-founder and partner of EnCap Investments L.P., a private equity firm based in Dallas. He is also president of the David B. Miller Family Foundation, which Carolyn serves as vice president.
More than 1,200 alumni from around the globe and members of the campus community gathered April 15 for tributes, fireworks and a giant birthday card as SMU celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. The event kicked off a series of events for SMU’s Founders’ Day Weekend.
The kickoff also officially launched the University’s multiyear Second Century Celebration, commemorating the centennial of the University’s founding in 1911 and its opening in 1915. Founders’ Day, designated as the third Friday in April of each year, recognizes the filing of the University’s charter on April 17, 1911.
“Our founders would be proud of where we are as we approach 100 and as we launch our second century of achievement,” said President R. Gerald Turner, citing as examples SMU’s recent rise in academic rankings, applications for admission and student SAT scores.
The event took place in front of Dallas Hall, SMU’s centerpiece and oldest building. Board of Trustees Chair Caren Prothro noted that the Hilltop was just a patch of Johnson grass when SMU was founded. “The land, the resources and the magnificence of Dallas Hall were all made possible by the citizens of Dallas, who believed that a better future for our region, a better city, a better quality of life for our families – all would be the result of SMU being placed here.”
The University presented resolutions thanking the citizens of Dallas and The United Methodist Church, which joined in partnership to establish SMU. They were accepted by Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt, representing the city, and Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe ’85, representing the church.
Other Centennial Activities
COMMEMORATING A CENTURY OF HISTORY Darwin Payne, Dallas historian and SMU professor emeritus of communications, has been appointed the University’s centennial historian, responsible for compiling SMU’s first comprehensive history. The book, to be published in 2015, will provide an account of SMU’s first 100 years. Payne also recently authored In Honor of the Mustangs: The Centennial History of SMU Athletics, 1911-2010. The centennial commemoration will include taped interviews with past and current University leaders and supporters and a series of symposia and public programs. COMMEMORATIVE PICTURE BOOK To be published in fall 2011, the book will contain photographs of SMU’s campuses, historic architecture and University life. This book will be the first of its kind since SMU’s 75th anniversary celebration in 1986. COMMEMORATIVE PAVERS By making a $100 gift, alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends of the University will be recognized with an etched paver on SMU’s planned Centennial Promenade, to be constructed on Ownby Drive for the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening in 2015. For more information, go to smu.edu/100pavers. CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION “SMU’s Second Century of Achievement” – The lower level of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center will become a Centennial Hall with an interactive web-based exhibition designed to engage visitors of all ages in the life and future of the University. The exhibition, expected to open in fall 2011, will be available both in the Centennial Hall and through SMU’s website. The hall will be the site of alumni reunions, Homecoming activities, Founders’ Day events and other campus activities through 2015.
The Centennial Celebration coincides with SMU’s Second Century Campaign. Launched in 2008 with a goal of $750 million, gifts to date have exceeded $500 million.
In addition to President Turner and Trustee Chair Prothro, other platform party guests included Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48 and Carl Sewell ’66, co-chairs, The Second Century Celebration Organizing Committee; Brad E. Cheves, vice president, SMU Development and External Affairs; W. Richard Davis ’56, ’58, mayor of University Park; Linda S. Eads, president, SMU Faculty Senate; Paul W. Ludden, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs; Gail Meletio Madden ’63, mayor pro tem, Town of Highland Park; Rev. Dr. Stephen W. Rankin, SMU chaplain; Jake Torres ’11, student body president; Bill Vanderstraaten ’82, incoming chair of the SMU Alumni Board; and Gretchen Voight, president of the SMU Staff Association.
President Turner also recognized groups of individuals who have helped to shape the University: family members of former SMU presidents; past provosts; as well as current and past trustees; presidents of alumni, faculty, student, and staff organizations; Mom’s and Dad’s club leaders; members of campaign committees; and winners of Distinguished Alumni and Emerging Leader Awards.
The ceremony culminated with a fireworks display and the raising of SMU’s centennial flag that will fly on campus through 2015. Giveaways included miniature versions of the centennial flag, centennial cupcakes and Peruna punch. A 12-foot-by-20-foot birthday card to SMU was available for students, alumni and others to sign.
“Through our centennial activities, we will engage our alumni and the broader community more actively in the life and progress of the University, celebrate our achievements, and prepare for even brighter days ahead,” said Trustee Ruth Altshuler.
Friday afternoon also included Inside SMU, classes for alumni, parents and friends taught by SMU faculty, followed by a University briefing by President Turner. That evening and overnight, the SMU student body hosted Relay for Life, benefitting the American Cancer Society, on Bishop Boulevard.
On April 16, SMU co-sponsored University Park’s Easter egg hunt for children at Goar Park near University Park’s City Hall. And on April 17, the dome of Dallas Hall was illuminated in red and blue lights for the first of 10 evenings, representing SMU’s 10 decades, in honor of the Dallas residents who provided land and funds used to establish SMU.
“Today is really a call to action,” Turner said. “Truly it’s a time to reflect, to express our gratitude, but then to return to the work at hand. SMU has always been eager, ambitious and forward-looking. It’s part of our DNA.”
Taylor Brown (left) and Emily Dawson '09, co-founders of GiverosityLike many young professionals, Emily Dawson ’09 and Taylor Brown wanted to give back to the community in some way but could never find the time, especially during the busy holiday season.
“We’re both analysts who sit in front of computer screens for large parts of our day,” says Dawson, a financial analyst for Texas Capital Bank. “Our goal was to come up with a streamlined holiday donation process that people could do in a few minutes – when it’s most convenient for them.”
Late last year she and Brown founded Giverosity, a non-profit corporation that blends the ease of online shopping with the enjoyment of creating a memorable Christmas for Dallas-area children in need. They partnered with Toys Unique!, a Dallas specialty store, to offer a selection of age-appropriate items on the Giverosity.com website. All toys purchased were donated to the Interfaith Housing Coalition, which provides transitional housing and support services to homeless families.
“The idea came to us just two months before Christmas, so preparations were fast and furious. Due to the time crunch, our marketing efforts were focused primarily on social media,” says Dawson, who majored in marketing at SMU. “Our amazing friends and a local news station also helped us reach additional charitable donors.”
In just three weeks, donors gave more than $6,000 in toys. Over 400 toys were donated to Interfaith Housing, which organized a “Christmas store” where parents could select gifts for their children.
Plans for Christmas 2011 are in full force, says Dawson. “The primary toy drive will be September through December. We were encouraged by many donors to provide clothing as well, and we are currently searching for a clothing retailer with which to partner.”
In addition to augmenting the gift selections to include apparel, winter coats and athletic shoes, the partners plan to expand Giverosity to Austin and Houston next year. “We hope to grow quickly and help as many children feel special as we can,” Dawson says.
Members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks parade during a national reunion on Main Street in downtown Dallas, circa 1908. In 1910 Dallas, a growing, chest-thumping city of commerce in northeast Texas, was earmarked as the best unoccupied site in the nation for a new college. Such was the stated opinion of the executive secretary of the General Education Board of New York. Such matters had received some but not significant attention in Dallas. Its businessmen had been preoccupied with commerce and growth.
Rapid growth was the basis for its chest-thumping pride. Between 1900 and 1910 the city more than doubled in size, jumping from 42,638 to 91,104. That spurt was continuing unabated. By 1920 the population reached 158,978, a nearly fourfold increase in just two decades. Classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as an “emerging” metropolis, Dallas became one of 19 American cities with a population between 100,000 and 200,000.
In the area of higher education … by 1910 the city could boast of a small college for young women that had been in existence since 1889, Saint Mary’s College. Its doors closed in 1930. Dallas also was the site of a medical school, organized in 1903 (moved to Houston
in 1943).
Dallas’ nearby rival, Fort Worth, although smaller, had made a successful overture in 1910 to bring to its city an established college, Texas Christian University. It had accepted Fort Worth’s offer of $200,000 and 50 acres for a campus after a fire destroyed its main building in Waco. In Houston, Rice Institute was preparing to open its doors. Even little Sherman, a town just a few miles north of Dallas along the old Preston Trail, had Austin College, which had moved there in 1878 from Huntsville.
Founded in 1841 by a wandering trader from Tennessee who envisioned a thriving trading post on the banks of the Trinity River, Dallas had been promoted loudly from that moment as the most promising site in North Texas. The arrival of the first two railroads in 1872 and 1873 … prompted an explosion in population.
A bird’s-eye view showed three major downtown streets – Elm, Main and Commerce. Commercial and retail activities, originally centered on the courthouse square, had spread eastward along the three main thoroughfares. The sidewalks were filled with pedes-trians in this day when downtown was the center of life in Dallas. Electric streetcars, horse-drawn carts and a growing number of automobiles crowded the streets.
Two outstanding new residential areas had been developed in recent years – Munger Place and Junius Heights – east of downtown. And just north of the city was the exclusive suburban development of Highland Park, incorporated in 1913 as a separate city.
Cultural amenities were not plentiful. Not until 1901 did Dallas get its first public library… . A modest art museum had been created at the same time by allocating space on the second floor of the library.
On all sides of the city farmers grew crops – mostly cotton – in the black, waxy soil, and Dallas became a market center. Texas was raising about one-third of the world’s cotton, and 60 percent of Texas’ cotton was raised within a 100-mile radius of Dallas.
One of the new develop-ments attracting attention in the area was aviation. In 1911 the traveling International Aviators put on a spectacular show at Fair Park.
The vision of acquiring a fine university for Dallas did not hold the same allure as did the miracles of flight, growth and commerce. But a sense of realization was dawning. To be a city of renown, Dallas must have a quality university to attract and to serve young men and women. It could be an ornament in the city’s crown.
But how to get one? Start one from scratch or find an existing university that could be enticed to move to Dallas? No matter. When Dallas decided it needed something for the betterment of the city, it generally found a way to get it. Darwin Payne ’68 is SMU professor emeritus of communications and centennial historian. The full essay is included inFrom High on the Hilltop… Marshall Terry’s History of SMU with Various Essays by His Colleagues(DeGolyer Library and Three Forks Press, 2009).
Stephanie Dupaul (right) has been named SMU’s associate vice president for Enrollment Management. In this new position in the Office of the Provost, she will provide strategy for the University’s goal of increasing the number and quality of applicants.
Dupaul has served as interim dean of SMU admissions since August 2010. She previously served as director of undergraduate admissions in Cox School of Business, which improved the academic profile of its B.B.A. students. The University is searching for a dean of admissions, who will report to Dupaul.
“This position will strengthen the connections in the Division of Enrollment Management as we work together with the schools to support SMU’s mission and goals,” says Dupaul, who earned an M.A. in English in 2004 from SMU.
Dupaul says she also is eager to work with alumni who serve as Student Recruitment Volunteers, call prospective students in their areas and attend SMU Previews and other events. “Because prospective students view alumni and current students as trustworthy sources of information, alumni can serve as the best representatives of the SMU experience,” she says.
The director of financial aid, registrar and bursar also will report to Dupaul. She will chair the Strategic Enrollment Management Group and direct SMU’s relationships with admissions consultants.
SMU is seeing dramatic growth in applications and a rise in the SAT scores of students who seek admission. Applications for the entering class for fall 2011 increased by more than 30 percent, and SAT scores have risen nearly 100 points in the past decade.
Dupaul served as Cox associate director for B.B.A. advising and student records from 1996-2002. Before joining SMU, she was associate director of M.B.A. admissions at the University of Dallas and academic adviser for Brookhaven College. Dupaul holds an Ed.D. degree in higher education administration and leadership from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor’s degree in English from The University of Texas at Austin.
The SMU community gathered outside Moody Coliseum April 20 to celebrate a Moody Foundation gift for expansion and renovation of the landmark venue.
As confetti rained and a brass band played, the SMU community celebrated the announcement of a $20 million gift from the Moody Foundation April 20. The gift will launch an expansion and renovation of the University’s Moody Coliseum.
“Moody Coliseum has long been a signature space to the University and the city,” said R. Gerald Turner, SMU president. “With this generous gift from the Moody Foundation, the coliseum will be ready for the future.”
With the gift, SMU’s Second Century Campaign reached a milestone. “The Moody Foundation commitment takes our campaign total to date over the $500 million mark,” announced Caren Prothro, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees.
Launched in 2008 with a goal of $750 million, the Second Century Campaign seeks support for student quality, faculty and academic excellence, and the campus experience.
The Moody Coliseum project will feature new premium seating, as well as courtside retractable seating for students and renovation of the lobby and concourses. Technology improvements will include new video boards, scoreboards, sound system, broadcast capabilities and heating and cooling systems. Office suites, restrooms and locker rooms will be upgraded.
Additional donors will be sought for the $40 million project. Planning and design will begin immediately.
“As we celebrate the centennial of our founding this year, it is especially gratifying to receive this gift from a family with a strong legacy of support for SMU,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs. "Go Ponies!" Frances Anne Moody-Dahlberg '92 declared at the celebration.
William L. Moody Jr. and his wife, Libbie Rice Shearn Moody, established the Moody Foundation in 1942. The Foundation has enjoyed a long partnership with SMU, including support of improvements to Fondren Science Building and Moody Coliseum, which opened in 1956.
In Moody’s inaugural year, fans cheered the Mustang men’s basketball team to the Southwest Conference Championship and NCAA post-season competition. Women’s basketball came to Moody Coliseum in 1976 and women’s volleyball in 1996. It is a popular site for area high school graduations. Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have spoken at Moody. Bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, U2 and Pearl Jam have played there.
Frances Anne Moody-Dahlberg ’92, executive director and trustee of the Moody Foundation, captured the spirit of the occasion this way: “On behalf of the Moody Foundation, our trustees, my family and especially my grandmother, Frances Russell Moody Newman, who was a student at SMU in the 1930s and inspires me in my life and work, we are honored to continue the Moody Foundation’s legacy with this gift and thrilled to be part of the beginning of SMU’s second century. Go Ponies!”
When Ed Cook’s brother, Wade, died in 1989 of natural causes, there was no diagnosis for the developmental and emotional problems that had always plagued him. Cook ’77, the Earl M. Bane Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, believes that by today’s standards, his brother would be considered to have autism. Ed Cook Jr. ’77 is the director of the Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, where he conducts autism research.
Cook remembers that Wade, who was six years his junior, would become extremely upset when his or the family’s routine was disrupted – an attribute now identified as common to autism spectrum disorder.A desire to help people like Wade and their families has inspired Cook during his 25-year medical career as one of the nation’s leading researchers focusing on the neurochemistry of autism. He is trying to pinpoint possible genetic links to the neural development disorder, as well as explore the use of medications to alleviate symptoms.
In 1997 he and his research team published findings on chromosome 15q duplication syndrome, a clinically identifiable group of symptoms found in individuals with an extra piece of chromosome 15 that has duplicated end-to-end. This extra genetic material is one of the most frequently identified chromosome problems in people with autism.
For years Cook has been a scientific and professional adviser for IDEAS, a parent support group for children and adults affected by the syndrome.
“People with this condition remind me of my brother from childhood to adulthood,” Cook says. “I’m not surprised that I’ve ended up working with these families, who, like my parents, inspire me with their commitment to provide a loving home and dedication to their children’s needs.”
Cook now is involved in trials for the first autism medications developed on the basis of genetic findings. “Our ultimate goal is to find more drug treatment options,” he says.
A student of the late Harold Jeskey, SMU’s R.S. Lazenby Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Cook says that undergraduate work with molecules and “being tested under pressure was good training for a future physician/researcher.” He holds a Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University.
His fondest memory of SMU: meeting his wife, Melissa Perrett ’76, during his first night on campus in 1973. The couple married in 1981, after his graduation from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. They have two children: daughter Lindsay and son Andrew.
– Cherri Gann
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño ’79 accepted the Distinguished Alumna Award from Perkins School of Theology February 7 with a confession. She was one of the pranksters responsible for placing a jack-o’-lantern in the Perkins Chapel steeple on Halloween Day, 1975. The dean at that time “was not so pleased,” she recalled with a smile. Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño '79
While the audience in Dallas enjoyed the humorous anecdote in her videotaped address, the bishop was 8,000 miles away in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Carcaño was working with Methodist leaders from around the world on organizational issues regarding the church outside the United States, known as the Central Conferences.
Carcaño, who became the first Hispanic woman elected to the episcopacy in 2004, also acts as the official spokesperson for the Council of Bishops on immigration. The council supports “a pathway to citizenship,” fair treatment of immigrant workers and the preservation of family unity.
Immigration policy is an especially volatile topic in Arizona, where she serves the Phoenix Episcopal Area, Desert Southwest Conference, which encompasses most of the state. Some blame heated political rhetoric for the shootings in Tucson January 8 that stunned the nation. Six people were fatally wounded and 14 others were injured, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. The tragedy spurred “much more conversation about what it means to have civil discourse,” she says. “I’m seeing a change in attitude, a realization that the negative tenor of conversation had been unhelpful and unhealthy.”
The calm, soft-spoken bishop, who grew up in the South Texas city of Edinburg, has never retreated from controversy. She led her first congregations in the 1980s – when female ministers were rare and some church members were vocal in their distaste for a woman in the pulpit.
“Early on, I was struggling with a particular parish relations committee. One member told me that her husband had been robbed of a spiritual leader because I was a woman, and he would never seek my counsel,” she remembers. “A few months later, her husband came to me to ask for spiritual guidance. That was a turning point.”
Carcaño credits God with giving her strength and Perkins with providing “the gift of faith expression.”
“I had a calling to serve the Mexican-American community, and Perkins was the only United Methodist seminary at the time that prepared students for ministry in the Hispanic context through its Mexican-American Program,” she says. She served as director of the program from 1996-2001.
“If ever I have provided any light for a world often consumed in darkness, Perkins has been there with me.”
Inertia, the 2D platform arcade game created by students from The Guildhall at SMU-in-Plano, is one of the big winners ($130,000 in cash and prizes) of the second annual Indie Game Challenge. The eight members of SMU’s Team Hermes are enrolled in the Master’s degree program in video game design at The Guildhall. In addition, a four-member team was named as one of three finalists in the National STEM Video Game Challenge in Washington, D.C. The educational game Slime Garden teaches scientific methodology by incorporating experimentation and simulation. The Guildhall recently was named one of the top graduate programs in video game design by The Princeton Review.
As SMU celebrates the centennial of its founding in 1911 and opening in 1915, the University also is marking 100 years of achievements in athletics through a recently released book, In Honor of the Mustangs: The Centennial History of SMU Athletics, 1911-2010. The first history of SMU athletics showcases exploits on the gridiron as well as achievements in swimming, basketball, volleyball, track and field, cross country, tennis, baseball and equestrian competition. In Honor of the Mustangs, published by the Lettermen’s Association and SMU’s DeGolyer Library, was written by SMU professor emeritus of communications and centennial historian Darwin Payne ’68. Gerry York ’58, curator of SMU’s Heritage Hall, selected the book’s 650 photographs. For more information, contact Pamalla Anderson, DeGolyer Library, at 214-768-0829. Copies also are sold at SMU Bookstore, 214-768-2435, and Culwell & Son, 214-522-7000.
Hall Of Fame Beckons
SMU’s Athletics Department and the Lettermen’s Association have inducted these six new members into the Athletics Hall of Fame: Craig James’82 is SMU’s third all-time leading rusher (3,743 yards). The three-time All-SWC selection led the Mustangs to the Southwest Conference Championship during the 1981 and 1982 seasons. He teamed with Eric Dickerson ’84 to form the “Pony Express” backfield. James was drafted by the New England Patriots and played with the team in the 1985 Super Bowl. Gene Phillips ’71 ranks second in SMU men’s basketball history with 1,932 career points. The three-time SWC Player of the Year was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1971 NBA draft and played with the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals. Lisa Cole Zimmerman’90 is SMU’s all-time leading scorer for women’s soccer with 101 goals and 44 assists. The 1990 All-American led the team in goals for four straight seasons (1987-90). Luchi Gonzalez ’01 ranks third in the men’s soccer program history with 128 career points. The 2001 winner of the Hermann Trophy, presented to the nation’s top men’s soccer player, and NCSAA First-Team All-American helped the Mustangs win regular season conference championships in each of his years at SMU. Tommy Bowers Sr. ’55 is the only baseball player in the program’s history to be named an All-American. He helped lead SMU to its only share of a league title by tying with Texas for the SWC title in 1953. He played professionally with the Dallas Eagles and was honored as the Texas League Pitcher of the Year in 1957. Alfred R. “Red” Barr ’71 served as the head coach for SMU swimming from 1947 to 1971, leading his teams to 17 SWC Championships. SMU’s pool was named in honor of Barr, who coached 50 All-American swimmers and divers.
Bouncing Into The CIT
The men’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in March, where the Mustangs lost 72-55 to Santa Clara University at Moody Coliseum. Robert Nyakundi led SMU with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Mustangs spent most of the game without leading scorer (18.3 ppg) and rebounder (9.6 rpg) Papa Dia (left), who suffered an ankle injury when he was fouled on a layup with 8:18 left in the first half. The Mustangs (20-15) finished with their first 20-win season since 1999-2000. Dia was selected the 2011 Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the C-USA All-Defensive Team. The senior forward also was named All-Conference USA First-Team.
Nyakundi was selected All-Conference USA Third-Team and Collin Mangrum was named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team.
SMU Director of Athletics Steve Orsini (left) presents the 2010 Silver Anniversary Mustang Award to former defensive back Albon Head ’69, ’71. Head received the most prestigious honor bestowed by the SMU Lettermen’s Association January 22. A partner in Jackson Walker’s Fort Worth law office, Head lettered in football at SMU from 1966-68, played defensive back on the 1966 SWC championship team and was a co-captain on the 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl championship team, which defeated Oklahoma 28-27. Head has served as chair of the SMU Alumni Association, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum and the Doak Walker Award. He is a member of the executive boards of SMU Dedman School of Law and SMU-in-Taos. In 2003 he received an SMU Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.
A justice of the Supreme Court of Thailand and a philanthropic entrepreneur were among those honored at the SMU Dedman School of LawDistinguished Alumni Awards ceremony February 19. Alumni present at the event and their awards were: seated, from left, Donald J. Malouf ’62, private practice; Barbara J. Houser ’78, judicial service; Philip J. Wise ’81, public service; Jack D. Knox ’63, Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Achievement (highest honor bestowed); and Marshall P. Cloyd, honorary alumnus, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from SMU in 1964. SMU President R. Gerald Turner, awards committee members Dawn Enoch Moore ’78, ’81 and Albon Head ’69, ’71 and Dean John B. Attanasio were among those honoring the alumni. Award winners Sobchok Sukharomna ’81, global, and Richard Wright-Hogeland ’57, ’58 , corporate service, were unable to attend.
When Israel Cordero ’97 became principal of W.W. Samuell High School in 2008, the southeast Dallas school was at risk of being closed after four years of unacceptable ratings. In one year under Cordero’s leadership, the school earned an “acceptable” rating from the state. Cordero was the North Texas recipient of the Luminary Award presented by the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development January 27. The Luminary Awards honor “extraordinary commitment to improving lives through education.” Other recipients were Teach for America (national award) and Neuhaus Education Center (regional award).
Wesley N. Schulze was a United Methodist minister for 43 years and recently retired as chaplain general of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, which honored him as a Knight of San Jacinto. He celebrated his 90th birthday May 15, 2010, and his 67th wedding anniversary with his wife, Ann, last September 1.
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Mary Cecelia Whitehead Ackerschott, as a member of the national American Needlepoint Guild, entered one of her creations and won first place, judges’ favorite and best in show. She donated a collection of original art pieces to SMU’s Taos Cultural Institute.
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Charles Roberson retired in the mid-1980s from an accounting career. Now a resident at the C.C. Young retirement community, he is visited daily by LaVelle, his wife of 60 years.
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Maurice D. Bratt recalls working his way through SMU holding down a six-day-a-week job at the original Neiman Marcus store in downtown Dallas. Blanche Webster Coker moved from Pittsburg, TX, to Dallas in 2008 after the death of her husband, Bill Coker ’49. Earle Labor has been honored as “Jack London Man of the Year 2011” by the Jack London Foundation in Sonoma, California.He has published eight books and over 100 shorter works on the famous author. As a visiting professor at Utah State University in 1966, he taught the first Jack London course ever offered in the United States. Labor also presented the first Jack London seminar in Western Europe as a Fulbright professor at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, in 1974. Kenneth R. (Ken) Steele (M.B.A. ’62) fondly remembers his Pi Kappa Alpha and dorm “X” friends at SMU.
Caroleen Turner has been married to Homer L. Thornton Jr. for 58 years, and they enjoy life in Paris, TX. She has 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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Howard A. (Tony) Bridge Jr. owns and operates six AM/FM radio stations in Longview and Marshall (TX) and Shreveport. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame Nov. 14, 2010.
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Hugh Higgins (J.D. ’67) was named to the Ex-Students Association Wall of Fame at Cleburne (TX) High School, where he taught and coached. After completing law school, he was county attorney and then opened a private practice, from which he is retired. Lowell (Stretch) Smith Jr. was honored last fall by the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum in Fort Worth as a 2010 inductee into the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He raises cattle and is the fourth family member to operate the Smith Ranch, founded in 1887 by his great-grandfather. He also is a well-known banker and served as president of the First State Bank in Rio Vista. His “Cow Pasture Bank” was the largest bank in the area when it was bought by Wells Fargo in 1999.
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H.A. (Pat) Baker Jr. visited Egypt last November, where he saw the pyramids in Giza and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Queens and enjoyed a cruise on the Nile River.
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Roger William Blackmar Jr. is in his 54th year as a financial advisor and is one of five remaining active brokers licensed in 1957 by the New York Stock Exchange. He and his wife, Joan, have been married 53 years. Julia Sanford Burgen received the Shield Award from the National Delta Gamma Fraternity in the spring 2011 for services to the community in Arlington, North Texas, and the State of Texas. Burgen has received local and state-wide awards for her environmental advocacy. She also served six years on the Arlington City Council.
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Luca Cacioli was promoted to worldwide marketing manager for audio and imaging products for Texas Instruments.
The Rev. Dr. John Thomas (Tom) Graves was ordained in 1956 and is now retired after 55 years of ministry. He has authored five books, winning awards with several, and is writing a sixth. He is a sailor and chaplain of the sailing fleet at Lake Texoma. Recently he was awarded Texas United Methodism’s highest honor, the Medallion of Merit, by the Texas Methodist Foundation. He lives in Lamar County, TX.
Kathy Vernon Clark was surrounded by SMU graduates in her family – father, a minister and journalist; mother, a teacher; and brother, an attorney. Their example of service inspired her to earn a Ph.D. and become a special education teacher and professor. Ivor Noreen (Nicki) Huber has retired after a long career that included becoming the first female consultant hired by Booz Allen & Hamilton NYC and running her family business, Nicol Scales, for 23 years. She and her husband, Paul, live in Naples, FL. They have three grandchildren, two of whom live in Seoul, South Korea. Nicki serves on the SMU Libraries Executive Board.
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Rondal G. Crawford worked in structural design at NASA, 1960-1984; marketing at Ford Aerospace, 1984-1990; and marketing at SAIC, 1990-2000, when he retired. He has four children, six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Dr. Linda Hawkins Kay was inducted into the Jacksboro (MS) High School Alumni Hall of Fame last October, recognized for her work on educational, political and environmental issues in Georgia, Mississippi and the nation. Geri Sue Hudson Morgan is doing well nine years after a kidney transplant.
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The Rev. Karl Brown has joined the faculty of The Wisdom School at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Marcos, TX. He was director of the Campus Christian Community at Texas State University for more than 30 years. Sandra Hartman Wilkinson ’71 and husband Ronald L. Wilkinson ’64, ’66 live in Waxahachie, TX. Sandra serves as chair of their neighborhood association. Ronald was mayor of Waxahachie for two terms and maintains an active law practice. Their son, Robert, is an SMU law student and his wife, Melinda, is working toward a Master’s degree at Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
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Michael M. Boone (J.D. ’67) was named by the Texas Lawyer newspaper one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter-century. He was honored for his outstanding contributions at a luncheon at the Belo Mansion and Pavilion in Dallas last October 1.
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Reunion Chairs: Lou Fouts, Norma Friou Fouts, Jack C. Myers, Carol Paris Seay
The Rev. Dr. James E. Dunlap was honorably retired by the Chicago Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. after serving 14 years as coordinator of spiritual services at Saint Francis Hospital, Evanston, IL. He is a board certified chaplain of the Association of Professional Chaplains. E. Stanly Godbold Jr. has published a book, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter: The Georgia Years, 1924-1974 (Oxford University Press). His stepdaughter, Heidi Gluesing, is a 1998 SMU graduate.
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Jerry L. Griffin retired in January as managing partner of Sewell Lexus in Dallas after 40 years with the organization – eight with Lexus and 32 with Sewell Cadillac. His boss throughout has been Carl Sewell ’66, chair of the Sewell Automotive Companies and former chair of the SMU Board of Trustees.
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Henry V. Heuser Jr. was elected chair of the Board of Overseers at the University of Louisville (KY) and president of the Louisville Rotary Club.
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Charles R. (Rocky) Saxbe was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2011. He is managing partner at Chester Willcox & Saxbe LLP, where he represents clients in all aspects of civil litigation in state and federal courts.
Suzanne Goodrich Greene was named 2010 Texas Art Education Association Educator of the Year. She lives in Houston and teaches middle school art in the Spring Branch School District. Susan Johnson Parks has worked for 23 years as an educational specialist for the Maine Department of Education. She founded The Poets’ Group, which recently published its second poetry chapbook, Pondtown Poetry II. Martha Bible Smith, a book reviewer, has published two books of poetry: Yet in 2008 and So in 2010. She is retired after 31 years as a teacher and 15 years as an entrepreneur. Janita Monghan Thomas and her husband, D. Lee Thomas ’74, vacationed in Kauai last August with Dr. Carole Terry ’71 and her husband, Dr. Alan Fine, both couples celebrating their anniversaries. Janita and Carole, four-year roommates at SMU, have remained friends for 40 years despite thousands of miles between them.
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Paul Alfassa operates the general law practice of his late father and serves as docent at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie. Ray Thomas Johnston is an adjunct faculty member in the graduate school of social work at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX, and operates a full-time private counseling practice.
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Linda Kretzmeier Parker (M.M. ’75) received the John Batchellor Award for excellence in music education in the state of New Mexico, where she teaches, as well as an outstanding teacher award from BP Oil.
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Joe Pouncy (M.L.A. ’82) was named Educator of the Year for 2010 by Christ Community Connection Organization of Carrollton and Farmers Branch, TX. He is principal of Carrollton’s Newman Smith High School.
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Cynthia Day Grimes has joined law firm Strasburger & Price LLP in the San Antonio office, representing commercial entities in medical products, medical litigation and personal injury. She was previously at Ball & Weed LLP, where she was a founding partner. Deborah Nadler Straubinger recently earned her Master’s degree in marketing from Webster University in Orlando, FL. Sol Villasana has a new book, Dallas’s Little Mexico (Arcadia Publishing, April 2011), a photographic history of that neighborhood.
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Reunion Chairs: Roy W. Bailey, Betsy Lane Morton
Arden Bennett serves as chief executive officer and director general of CIMA Hospital in San José, Costa Rica, part of the International Hospital Corp., which also operates hospitals in Mexico and Brazil. Mary A. Bonnick volunteered at the NFL Experience at the Dallas Convention Center during Super Bowl week in February helping participants test their football-throwing skills in the “let it fly” game. David (Dave) Dillon is chair and chief executive of Kroger, known for a management style that involves an up-close-and-personal study of Kroger stores and their consumers and employees. Barbara D. Nunneley heads the Nunneley Family Law Center in Hurst, TX, limiting her practice to divorce, property division and custody disputes. Gerald S. Reamey (LL.M. ’82), professor of law at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, was awarded the Culture Medal of Honor from the City of Innsbruck (Austria) at a dinner last summer hosted by the City of Innsbruck and the State of Tyrol. He and a colleague founded the St. Mary’s University School of Law’s Institute on World Legal Problems, an annual five-week summer session in Austria attended by up to 130 students from law schools around the nation. The program had a successful end to its 25th year. Andrew Weberhas joined law firm Kelly Hart & Hallman as a partner in the Austin office, heading the public law practice group. Prior to his new position, he was first assistant attorney general at the Texas Attorney General’s office.
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Madeline Dunkin joined Clarkson Davis, a Dallas-based boutique consulting firm that provides services for nonprofits in North Texas. Her two children attend Texas A&M and she is involved at Highland Park United Methodist Church as well as the Dallas Opera Women’s Board. Scott Inman is a senior program manager for military display systems at Planar Systems Inc. in Beaverton, OR. His daughter, Rochelle, is a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. Randy Nickell has published online the Civil War journal of his great-great-grandfather, Andrew Jackson Nickell.
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Dick Kendrick and Susan Garbett Kendrick announce the arrival of their grandsons, Cole Evans Estrada in December 2010 and Brody Spencer Stark in January 2011. Susan retired after more than 30 years at First Baptist Church of Dallas, and Dick works for IBM. The couple lives in Frisco, Texas.
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Jennifer Bishop Jenkins of Northfield, IL, was selected for the Illinois Women???s Institute for Leadership in 2010. Alyce Tidball completed a one-year assignment to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, and now serves as director for the Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement at the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem.
Timothy R. Gordon is a 2010 graduate of the New Canaan (CT) Police Civilian Academy. John C. Hollar is president of the 100,000-item Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, which opened in January 2011. Hollar estimates that the museum has raised $90 million from 65 private donors, including a $15 million lead gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is married to the former Melinda Williams ’82. Sandra J. Jones works for the U.S. government in microbiology labs.
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Reunion Chairs: Chip Cavanaugh, Ann Frances Paris Jury, Allen Smith, Jane Cornish Smith
Msgr. Tony Jack Howard (M.L.A. ’98) recently published A Month of Sundays: Occasional Sermons of a Liberal Catholic Priest (St. Alban Press). He and his wife, Victoria, are expecting their second child in May.
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Lisa Johnson co-directed/produced His Name is Bob (www.hisnameisbob.com), a documentary screened at film festivals in Texas, New Jersey, Utah and California. Distribution is being sought for the film. Laura Ochoa Morales appeared on the cover of the Houston Chronicle’s business section January 2 as a top motivational speaker. Lillie Young chaired the “Soup’s On” luncheon for the Stewpot Alliance at Dallas’ Union Station Jan. 25, 2011. She is senior vice president of investments with Allie Beth Allman & Associates and is a consistent multi-million-dollar producer for the real estate firm.
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Ray Washburne is co-owner, general partner and president of Highland Park Village near SMU.
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Linda Beheler has responsibility for global corporate communications at Celanese. Susan Dean Hammock owns The College Application Coach, a service that helps students and their families navigate the path to college acceptances. She lives in Orlando, FL., with her three children: Phillip, 20; Kelsey, 18; and Bennett, 16. John Klintworth married Birgit von Wuerzen in Toronto, Canada, Oct. 30, 2010. Richard Rizk is the Far West Ski Association’s 2010 Safety Person of the Year for developing a winter safety speaker awareness series on winter driving, terrain park safety, ski patrol advice and ski risks and the law. He was vice president of the Northwest Ski Council in 2009-2010. He enjoys downhill, backcountry and cross-country skiing on and around Mount Hood in Oregon. Tara Elias Schuchts recently attended the reunion of the SMU Class of ’85. Salvatore Vitale is working to develop and enlarge his law firm, Vitale & Partners, which has several offices in Europe and the United States. He and his wife, Liana, are parents of Giulia, 2, and Diana, born Jan. 27, 2011. Trish Neal Wilson is a photo stylist and works with photographers at four- and five-star hotels and resorts. She also is an independent executive for Zrii/HMG, selling all-natural liquid nutritionals.
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Reunion Chairs: Elizabeth Baier Emerson, Bill Koch
Dorree Remont Colson and husband Michael Colson announced the birth of their son, Walker Rheed, on Mary 12, 2009. They live in Houston, Texas, and have another son Daniel. Michael Hudak, private wealth advisor for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management in Phoenix, was recognized on “America’s Top 1000 Advisors: State-by-State” list in a February issue of Barron’s magazine. Hudak ranked fourth among the 25 listed for Arizona. He currently lives in Scottsdale with his wife and four children. Sharon Killion has moved back to Dallas after living in South Africa for six years. She had a successful career in real estate there, selling more than 55 condos on the Indian Ocean in less than 10 months after arriving. Amy Martin is the founder and creative director of Winter SolsiCelebration, the second largest winter solstice festival in the nation. The event is a unique fusion of seasonal service, performing arts, and musical theater. Martin also authors an online newsletter, Moonlady News, which has over 3200 subscribers. The newsletter consists non-mainstream spirituality, environment, holistic, mind-body movement, and progressive causes in North Texas. Donna J. Smiedt is a family law specialist in the Donna J. Smiedt Law Office in Arlington, TX. In 2000 she was sworn in by Chief Justice Rehnquist to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Patrick D. West heads the Patrick D. West Law Firm PC in Fort Worth.
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David Poynter is senior manager of current programming at TNT cable network in Burbank, CA. He oversees several original television series, including The Closer, Men of a Certain Age and Falling Skies. He is married to Laura Mulrenan, who has a Pilates studio in Hollywood. Their daughter, Anabelle, was born in 2006. Ray Starmann has co-written a new web TV series, The Gumshoe.
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Amy Bishop has been named deputy director of the Texas County & District Retirement System. More than 600 county and district employers participate in the system, which provides benefits to 215,000 Texans. Michael E. Kirst is vice president for strategy and external affairs at Westinghouse Nuclear for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He lives in Brussels, Belgium, with his wife and two daughters. Tim J. Smith has published Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts, & Establishing Price Structures, a text on corporate strategy. Leigh Anne Williams Van Doren received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Fredericksburg (VA) Chamber of Commerce for creating the Fredericksburg Parent and Family Magazine. She and her husband, Tom, have two daughters: Tabitha, 13, and Jamie Nelle, 9.
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Mary Lynn Huckleberry Carver is senior vice president of communications and public affairs at the University of Maryland Medical Center and its parent organization, the 12-hospital University of Maryland Medical System. She relocated with her family to Baltimore from Memphis, where she was senior vice president of public relations and communications for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Angél Wonycott Kytle has headed Saint Paul’s School in Clearwater, FL, for the last three years and has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Council of Independent Schools. Previously she was a division director at Trinity School in Atlanta. Her sons are Blake, 8, and Dustin, 3. N. Mark Rauls has been a professor of philosophy at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas since 1997. In 2010 he was appointed the college’s first ombudsperson. Thomas B. Walsh IV is a Dallas intellectual property and commercial litigation attorney at the law firm Fish & Richardson. In 2010 he earned a fourth consecutive selection to the Texas Super Lawyers list featured in the October 2010 Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers magazines. He has been named a Best Lawyer in D magazine for three consecutive years and twice a Texas Super Lawyers “Rising Star.”
David A. Dreyer (M.F.A. ’92) has had solo exhibitions at The McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas and The Grace Museum in Abilene. He is currently adjunct instructor, technical supervisor and safety coordinator for the Division of Art at SMU. His third solo exhibition at the Valley House Gallery, “Transitional Planes,” ran February 12 through March 12.
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Pamela Ann Marshall, Ph.D., was recently tenured and promoted to associate professor in the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. She was named an exemplar, a faculty member who exemplifies the best of the teacher-scholar model of academia.
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Lisa Gentry will be celebrating her 20th year with Lucas Group, a premier executive search firm. She is an executive senior partner and focuses on placing accounting and finance professionals in Denver. Gentry is married to Ray Decker and has two children. Alison Bailey Vercruysse is the founder of San Francisco’s 18 Rabbits, an organic granola company. Before finding her passion in baked goods, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. She has hosted eight cooking segments of ABC’s View from the Bay and is profiled in the 2010 book Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks and Food Activists by Katherine Leiner. Monica Mullens Warren and her husband, Chris, announce the birth of twins Charlotte Janice and John Patrick in San Francisco Oct. 7, 2010.
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Jamie Hensley Arnold earned a Ph.D. in educational psychology from The University of Texas at Austin and has accepted a tenure-track position at Temple College. Her husband, Doug, is a judge. They live in Georgetown with their two children, Drew and Dan. Kay Longacre Bernzweig is a Master’s degree candidate in the instructional technology program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Jennifer (JJ) Jones (M.L.A. ’99) is the executive director for student development and programs in the Division of Student Affairs at SMU. She accepted an invitation to visit the White House last December Jin Kim is a senior manager and general counsel of the legal team at Korea National Oil Corporation. He joined the company in 2005 and has been the lead in-house counsel in multi-billion-dollar acquisitions.
Father Anthony Frederick (Tony) Lackland is the chaplain to approximately 2,500 Catholic students at SMU, offering them educational programs, ministry opportunities and spiritual support. Brian Waddle and his partner, Kevin Hamby, held a commitment ceremony in Houston Nov. 27, 2010, followed by a trip to Hawaii. Among those in attendance were Wade McAlister ’89, Christy Albano ’93, Mark Dempsey ’94, Kellie Prinz Johnson ’95 and Tricia Letton Clark ’95, ’04. Brian is public relations director for Houston Community College John B. Coleman, M.D. College for Health Sciences in the Texas Medical Center. Sean Whitley wrote The Spawn of the Sasquatch for Viper Comics’ upcoming Cryptophobia anthology.
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George Edward Seay III was co-chair with his wife, Sarah, of the Council for Life’s 2010 Celebrating Life Luncheon Nov. 9, 2010, at Dallas’ Hilton Anatole Hotel.
95
Missy Morrison Gulick and John A. Gulick III ’81 live in Scottsdale, AZ, where she is a vice president for DMB Associates Inc. She received the Sandra Day O’ Connor Community Leadership Award from the Junior League of Phoenix and the Frank Hodges Alumni Achievement Award from Scottsdale Leadership. She is on the board of the Arizona Humane Society and the Phoenix Women’s Board of the Steele Children’s Research Center at the University of Arizona. Mike (Mohammed) Jamjoom is a correspondent for CNN in the Middle East. He has covered stories in Iraq, Yemen, and Turkey. Jamjoom was recently dispatched to Kabul, Afghanistan, to cover the reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Melinda Marie Maxfield has been named principal of Williams & Jensen PLLC in Washington, DC. She joined the lobbying firm as an associate in 2007 and has focused on a public policy portfolio. Nita Patel, P.E., was honored February 17 as the 2011 New Hampshire Engineer of the Year by the NH Joint Engineering Societies and selected a candidate for 2012 IEEE-USA president elect. She is an engineering manager at L-3 Insight Technology and lives in Bedford, NH. Michael P. Sanders is one of the founding partners of Borrego Sanders Willyard LLP. The law firm specializes in oil and gas litigation and transactions. Sanders is Board Certified in Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
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Reunion Chairs: John Anderson, Susan Porter Glassmoyer
Iva Linda Baird is a bilingual diagnostician for the Dallas Independent School District. Jason David Blakey has started his own business, LifestyleONE Agency, to provide lifestyle management services to individual and corporate clients. Christopher Dupuy was elected a county court judge in Galveston County, TX. Suzy Rossol Matheson received the Exceptional Service Award from the American Dance Therapy Association. President of the Texas chapter since 2006, she was given an Arts Respond Grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts to fund and manage adaptive dance programs based on her revitalization of the chapter. Natalie Rule married Matthew Burns in her home state of Oklahoma last August. They reside in St. Paul, MN. Michael F. Trusnovec is a member of the acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company and has received rave reviews in The New York Times and elsewhere. He was among the group that danced at the White House Sept. 7, 2010, in an event hosted by Michelle Obama.
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Emily Watkins Freudigman’s recording with Camerata San Antonio, “Salón Buenos Aires: Music by Miguel del Aguila,” was nominated for two Latin Grammys: best classical album and best classical contemporary composition. In 2003 she and her husband, Ken, founded Camerata San Antonio, a chamber ensemble presenting imaginative music in South Texas. Amanda Holland Janicek and her husband, Matt, welcomed a son, Hayden Holland, July 31, 2010. Heather McCowen defended her dissertation – Mentorship in Higher Education Music Study: Are Good Teachers Mentors? – and earned a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of North Texas in August 2010. She is assistant dean of enrollment for the performing arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Melinda (Mindy) Sutton married John Lund Dec. 31, 2010, in Austin, where they live. She is deputy to the dean of students at The University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing a Ph.D. in higher education administration. Melissa McCullough Ulrich announces the birth of her son, Mason Curtis, Nov. 25, 2009. Suzanne Campbell Wellen is a 10-year business litigation attorney in the Dallas office of Andrews Kurth LLP and a 2010 Texas –Rising Star– in the April issue of Texas Monthly magazine; she also received this honor in 2007 and 2009. She married Darrell Wellen in August 2009 in Indianapolis. Todd Martin serves as vice president and associate general counsel for CoreLogic, Inc.
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Mark R. Allen and his wife, Lauren, welcomed daughter Rainey Elizabeth last New Year’s Eve. Stella Mulberry Antic successfully defended her doctoral dissertation to complete her Ph.D. in higher education at the University of North Texas in April 2010. In November she married Daniel Antic at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Plano, TX. Carlos Carpizo joined Link America, one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the Dallas area and 2010 Dallas 100 Awards’ winner, as president of its international division. Michael J. Cihock has been promoted to partner at the law firm McLean & Howard LLP in Austin. In 2010 he was recognized as a “Rising Star” in real estate law by Texas Monthly magazine. Tim W. Jackson has published Mangrove Underground, his debut literary novel set in the Florida backcountry (The Chenault Publishing Group, December 2010). He is a former staff photographer with the Citrus County Chronicle and Tampa Tribune, which ran his nonfiction travel writing about the Florida wilderness. He is finishing a second novel, set in the Caribbean, and a collection of island-based short stories. He lives in the Cayman Islands, where he is a boat captain and scuba instructor. Regan Stewart Schiestel and husband Adam announce the birth of their twin daughters, Luca and Larkin, in August 2010. John Stone is a U.S. Army major serving in Baghdad, Iraq. He and his wife, Mandi, have three daughters, 7, 5 and 4; a son, 2; and a baby son born in January. They are stationed in Germany.
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Dr. Patricia (Pat) Pefley works for the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Department of Defense in Washington, DC.
Hon. Gena Slaughter is presiding judge of the 191st Civil District Court in Dallas. Jennifer Smith married Aaron Lill at Prestonwood Baptist Church January 22. They live in Plano, TX.
Ashley Lehman Cook formed the law firm Ashley L. Cook PC. Josh Helland conceived and executed the first “bed drop” in Los Angeles Dec. 7, 2010, the kickoff project for the AGNS Foundation (A Good Night Sleep), as he and volunteers delivered 79 beds and bedding sets to the Downtown Women’s Center. In addition, the AGNS team took six double mattresses to Door of Hope in Pasadena, CA, and 25 double mattresses to People Assisting the Homeless in Los Angeles, both groups working with individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness into permanent housing. He has projects lined up for 2011 in San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, New York City, Jacksonville and New Orleans. Tammy Nguyen Lee and husband George celebrated the birth of their first child, Gabriella Young An Lee, Nov. 23, 2010. Tammy, the recipient of SMU’s 2010 Emerging Leader award, is the director of development for original programming at AMS Pictures (Ma’s Roadhouse, Girl Meets Gown) and president/founder of the nonprofit ATG Against The Grain Productions. Patricia McGregor graduated from the directing program at the Yale School of Drama where she was artistic director of the Yale Cabaret. She has worked at venues including Broadway, BAM, Second Stage, The Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, The Kitchen, the O’Neill National Playwriting Conference, Lincoln Center Institute and Exit Art. Last November she was back on the SMU campus holding auditions for the play Yerma, which she directed. C.J. Nelson is researching cases for Seniors vs Crime, a special project of the Florida attorney general. He is a member of the Jacksonville Sheriff&rsqo;s Advisory Council. Cecilia Dubon Slesnick and her husband, Don Slesnick III, announce the birth of their daughter, Cecilia Anne, Nov. 6, 2010. Kevin L. Weiss is senior vice president of human resources in the integrated systems group at L-3 Communications, a defense aerospace business. Crystal Willars married Matthew Vastine ’05 in a ceremony on Maroma Beach, Mexico, Sept. 16, 2010. She is a senior marketing manager for AT&T, and he is a flight test engineer at Lockheed Martin and a Smoothie King franchisee in Fort Worth. Together they own and operate Fort Worth Foodie, a quarterly magazine dedicated to food culture in Fort Worth.
01
Reunion Chairs: Monica Netherland Hopkins, Newton N. Hopkins,
Sara Love Swaney
José Galarza was hired by Yestermorrow Design/Build School as the first director of semester programs. He is an architectural designer, builder and educator with experience in planning, project management, information technology and construction. As Yestermorrow’s community outreach coordinator, he handled class building projects with such clients as the Vermont Foodbank’s Kingsbury Farm. Currently he runs José Galarza Building Workshop, an architectural design studio based in central Vermont. Jonathan Giles and Rebecca Waghorn Giles ’03 announce the birth of twins Knox Carter and Tatum Aubrey, February 16. Bernard M. Jones was elected to the American Cancer Society board of directors. He is the associate dean of admissions and external affairs at Oklahoma City University School of Law. Laran Carman O’Neill (M.L.A. ’08) has been promoted to director of development for the Cox School of Business at SMU, having served as assistant director since August 2007.
02
Jon Alexis is president of TJ’s Seafood in Dallas, specializing in fresh seafood and the personalized service of a family business. Beau Brown was asked to direct Late Night Entertainment at the 2011 National Puppetry Festival in Atlanta. He currently produces a late-night puppet slam in Atlanta called The Puckin’ Fuppet Show and is the artistic director and a puppeteer for the web series The Sci-Fi Janitors. Charles R. Constant works as the executive vice president of business development at Capital Plan in Dallas, Texas. Christopher Epp and Mairin Flynn ’04 were married Oct. 16, 2010, in Dallas. They reside in Austin.
The Rev. Michael W. Waters (M.Div. ’06) has been the primary religion writer for more than a year for the online publication Dallas South News. His most recent article focused on Junie Collins Williams, age 16 when a bomb ripped through the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church of Birmingham Sept. 15, 1963. The blast killed four young girls, one of whom was her sister. Rev. Waters is the founder and senior pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas. Lisa Renee Wilson married David Benjamin McCaul in Seattle, July 31, 2010.
03
Lisa Blank married Brent Matthew Wynn Aug. 28, 2010. They live in Portland, OR. Martin Coe is a systems engineer and founder of Intelligent PD, an engineering consulting and contracting firm assisting clients in product development of complex medical devices. Shannon Winslow De Leon and husband Ben welcomed their second daughter, Winslow Grace, March 12, 2010. Her sister, Anna Lee, was born in October 2007. Christopher Frederick, aka Brotha Fred, has joined KISS-FM 103.7 in Chicago as host of the morning show, syndicated in several markets. Ryan Long earned a Master’s degree in engineering management and information systems from SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering in December 2010. Chrissy Crawford Malone has launched a new tech/art venture in New York called LittleCollector.com, which offers limited-edition contemporary art for children by Shepard Fairey, David Levinthal, Cynthia Rowley and others. Crawford was an art history major at SMU. Amy Sims became part of the SMU athletic staff Sept. 10, 2010, as assistant director of athletics giving. Previously she was community development director at the Arthritis Foundation and Leukemia Texas, both in Dallas. Harry Joseph Smith III and wife Stephanie Smith welcomed their son, Harry Joseph Smith IV into their family on March 9, 2011. The couple also celebrated their five-year wedding anniversary on June 3, 2011.
04
Margaret (Peggy) Covert Branch was married in December 2009 and had a son in 2010. Lindsay Goodner has been named a 2010 Texas “Rising Star” by Texas Monthly magazine. She is an associate attorney in Dallas at Chamblee, Ryan, Kershaw and Anderson PC. Mikhail Orlov launched webyshops.com, a web-based sporting goods retailer that sells major-brand products. Quia Querisma is managing editor of SoulTrain.com, which has run interviews with such performers as Arrested Development, Joonie and Rhian Benson.
05
Andrew Dees is a staf sergeant in the U.S. Marines. In October 2010 he joined “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band as a clarinetist and performs regularly at the White House and across the nation. Elaine Ferguson married Christopher Coleman ’10 in Marietta, OK. They celebrated their elopement with family in October 2010 at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, where they live. Murtaza Madraswala joined the Nike Inc. headquarters in Beaverton, OR, married in 2008 and welcomed a daughter in 2010. Courtney Reilly will graduate with an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2011 and will work in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse. Jordan Reisenweber and Aubrey Knappenberger ’04 were married Aug. 21, 2010, in Laguna Beach and now live in Santa Monica. He has been with MOG Music Network for two years and recently was promoted to digital account executive on the West Coast. She is a digital account executive at comedycentral.com for MTV Networks. José Leonardo Santos (Ph.D. ’08) was appointed social science assistant professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul, MN. He was once an adjunct lecturer and research assistant at SMU, focusing his work on urban immigrants. Courtney Underwood has worked for eight years to get a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) program in Dallas. Last November she was among the celebrants hailing a $2 million grant to support a SANE program and treatment center at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. SANE is a service that helps sexual assault victims in the traumatic aftermath of attacks and assists law enforcement in prosecuting the attackers. Hunter Woodlee has his own gaming company in Dallas, Controlled Chaos, working with iPhone apps, video games and the like.
06
Reunion Chairs: Chip Hiemenz, Katie Horgan
Katie Knapp Littlefield has lived and worked in Japan and now China since her SMU graduation. In 2008 she and a business partner founded an international online retail company called Hazel and Marie Pearls, profiled in the February 2011 issue of Shanghai Talk. They are carrying on the accessorizing legacy of their grandmothers (Hazel and Marie) by offering heirloom-quality pearls online. Anne Reilly Rasmussen is a December 2010 graduate of SMU’s Master of Liberal Studies program.
07
Anna Alvarado practices law with Tanner and Associates PC in Fort Worth. Olivia Bender and A.J. Undorfer ’08 were married at Perkins Chapel Oct. 16, 2010. Olivia is the daughter of Betsy Hall Bender ’77. Bailey McGuire and Frank Sciuto (MBA ’11)have signed on to open a MOOYAH Burgers, Fries, and Shakes location near Fort Worth. The brothers-in-law have been franchise owners of MOOYAH locations for over four years. Temitope (Temi) Oladiran married Demetrio Moroni at Perkins Chapel Oct. 28, 2008, and welcomed twin daughters, Ashley and Alisha, Nov. 15, 2010. Angela Pena and Ben Ulrich ’08 were married at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Dallas Sept. 4, 2010. They first met during Week of Welcome at SMU. Angela works in marketing and Ben is a financial analyst. Jennifer Gadd Snow and her husband, Andrew F. Snow, are the parents of Harrison Taylor Benjamin, born in Dallas Sept. 10, 2010. Andrew is director of alumni relations in the SMU Office of Development.
08
Eric Camp is an attorney in the oil and gas practice group at Whitaker Chalk Swindle & Sawyer LLP in Fort Worth.
The Rev. D. Anthony Everett has been appointed to the Lexington-Fayette (KY) Urban County Human Rights Commission. He is the associate director for African American Ministries with the Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church. Emily George Grubbs, curatorial assistant in the Bywaters Special Collections in the Hamon Arts Library, published an article in Legacies, A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas. The article, “Texas Regionalism and the Little Theatre of Dallas,” discusses the collaboration between local artists and the Little Theatre of Dallas in areas such as program cover design, stage sets and publicity posters. Early in their careers architect O’Neil Ford and artists Jerry Bywaters, Alexandre Hogue and Perry Nichols were among those who collaborated with the Little Theatre. Lindsay Miller joined the SMU alumni relations team in December 2010 as alumni programs coordinator. Previously she was a program specialist at Mothers Against Drunk Driving and a pacesetter campaign associate for United Way. Keith Turner married Sadia Cooper ’09 on June 25, 2011, in Houston, Texas. Turner is employed by Halliburton, and Cooper works for K.P.M.G. in their advisory practice. Following a honeymoon in Maui, the couple will reside in Houston. Tatiana Vertiz won her age group at the Hawaii Ironman last October and is the official women’s world champion triathlete for ages 18-24. She has been competing for only a few years, discovering her love for the sport while a student at SMU.
09
Katye Dunn is the associate youth minister at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock. Erin McCormick works in San Francisco for 18 Rabbits, an organic granola company which sells its products in Dallas at Whole Foods and Central Market. Megan L. Rosser is the lead kindergarten teacher at Truth Campus charter school Shekinah Radiance Academy, responsible for all curriculum design, instruction and supervision. Shelley Smith spent six months volunteering in South Africa teaching and working in journalism and videography. Now she lives in Los Angeles and works in digital ad sales for Turner Broadcasting Company.
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Elisabeth Brubaker moved to New York City in spring 2011 and is a part of the Piers Morgan Tonight team at CNN. Juan José de León won the Metropolitan Opera National Council’s southwest regional auditions Jan. 23, 2011, and in February made his Dallas Opera debut in Romeo and Juliet. Eric Peng, Ph.D., joined the Dallas office of the national law firm Fish & Richardson PC as a technical advisor in the patent group, supporting patent prosecution in technologies including wireless communications, semiconductors and software. He is a member of the technical professional association IEEE and the Leadership Institute. Alan H. Rose has launched handsondallas.com, a multimedia news site that covers sports, entertainment, food and news in Dallas and the surrounding area. He is pursuing a Master’s degree in emerging media and communication and also works for the Texas Rangers baseball organization.
The renowned New York Public Library was the setting for an alumni gathering April 5. New York City chapter leaders pictured are: (front, from left) Andrew Afifian ’00, Sara McCooey ’06 and Jackie Effenson ’05, chapter president; (back) Francesca de la Rama ’10, Kevin Schubert ’04, Jordan Carter ’08 and Jennifer Kesterson ’06. Rick Halperin, director of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program in Dedman College, and Brad E. Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs, spoke at the event.
Claire Cunningham ’49 (left) and Nicki Nicol Huber ’61 were among 178 alumni and guests who attended the Golden Mustangs luncheon on Founders’ Day April 15.Time-honored Homecoming traditions, like the parade and football game, combined with engaging new events will create unforgettable alumni moments during SMU’s Second Century Celebration.
An important aspect of the 100-year-anniversary festivities will be Centennial Reunions, a series of enhanced class reunions held during Homecoming weekend beginning this fall and continuing through 2015. Undergraduate alumni from the classes of 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 will be the first to gather for their once-in-a-lifetime Centennial Reunions November 3-6. However, all alumni are encouraged to be part of this historic SMU experience.Reunion weekend special events and activities will include:
Guided walks and self-guided tours of the campus that highlight historic buildings and new structures. In addition there will be site tours of planned facilities, such as the Residential Commons.
Children’s activities, Boulevarding and Saturday night parties.
New this year: mini-reunions for groups of alumni with common interests or shared SMU experiences across class years.
Dozens of Dallas-area businesses will show their Mustang spirit as “Homecoming Hot Spots.” These restaurants, shops and other venues will offer special discounts to SMU alumni during Homecoming weekend.
As Reunion weekend approaches, more details will be posted online. Jean Foxhall Carter Koons '61 and Dave Harrison '61 attended the Class of 1961's 50th Reunion during Commencement weekend May 13-14.Alumni celebrating their 50th year since graduation are invited for their own special reunion during Commencement weekend, beginning with the Class of 1961 May 13-14.
Alumni who graduated more than 50 years ago are invited to a Golden Mustangs reunion each spring. This year 178 Golden Mustangs and guests attended a luncheon on Founders’ Day April 15.
Reunions also provide a platform for supporting two Second Century Campaign goals: that 25 percent of alumni give each year and 50 percent of alumni give during the course of the campaign.
“By growing the physical plant with beautiful new buildings and increasing the endowment to support academic and faculty excellence, the University is making huge strides in its goals to enhance the SMU experience for our talented students,” says Ann Frances Jury, co-chair of the Class of 1981 Centennial Reunion. “As alumni we all have the privilege of sharing in the reflected glow of this truly outstanding University.”
Stacy Simpkins ’88 grew up in Los Angeles and had never heard of SMU until her high school counselor brought the University to her attention. As a Student Recruitment Volunteer (SeRVe), Simpkins now shares her Hilltop experiences with prospective Mustangs in Southern California.
“Most of the students I contacted were from high schools I was familiar with, so I could relate to their backgrounds and anticipate some of their questions,&rdquo says Simpkins. “I know that traveling so far for college can be daunting, so they’re relieved when I can tell them from my own experience that SMU goes to great lengths to make you feel at home.”
The Office of Alumni Relations, in partnership with the Division of Enrollment Services, coordinates the SeRVe program. “Alumni are critical in the admission process,” says Stephanie Dupaul ’04, interim dean of Undergraduate Admission who will become SMU’s associate vice president for Enrollment Management June 1. “They are the voice of SMU in their communities. Every interaction alumni have with a student, or with a parent of a prospective student, helps make SMU more ‘real’ to that family.”
The SeRVe program harnesses alumni power to forge links with promising high school students around the country. The personal touch is particularly effective in regions where SMU is beginning to build momentum. “The program has given me the opportunity to help recruit the best and brightest students in Kentucky and southern Indiana, where SMU is not well known,” says Doyle Glass ’84. “Not only have I reconnected with my alma mater in a meaningful way, but I also hope that I am helping to make it an even better institution of higher learning.”
SeRVes reach out to prospective students as they prepare to make their college choices and continue to stay in touch with accepted students to encourage them to enroll at SMU. The interaction is satisfying on many levels, according to Judge Charles Montemayor ’88. “My own experience at SMU was so formative and enriching that I feel a real calling to share my enthusiasm with prospective students and their families,” Montemayor says. “The opportunity to support SMU, which offers so much beyond outstanding academics, and to help a young person with an important decision is truly rewarding.”
Alumni also contribute by attending college fairs and recruitment events. Spring receptions were held in 13 cities around the country – including Atlanta, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Diego – for college-bound students and their parents.
For more information about SeRVe and other alumni volunteer opportunities, visit smu.edu/alumni/involved, e-mail involved@smu.edu or call 214-768-ALUM (2586) or 1-888-327-3755.
Three alumni of SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts bring the tale of a court jester’s bitter battle to protect his daughter’s virtue to life in The Dallas Opera’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto. Laura Claycomb ’90, an internationally acclaimed coloratura soprano, makes her long-awaited Dallas Opera debut in the leading role of Gilda. Also making his company debut is baritone Stephen Hartley ’01 in the role of Murillo. Conductor Pietro Rizzo ’96, ’97 , who made his American opera debut in 2009 with the company’s La bohème, returns for Rigoletto.
Gilda is a familiar role for Claycomb, who has won acclaim in Houston, Paris (Bastille), Santiago, Chile, and with other companies around the world for her interpretation of the tragic heroine. Earlier in the season she sang the role with the BBC Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Litton, music director emeritus of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO).
Claycomb, who earned Bachelor’s degrees in music and foreign languages from SMU, studied voice with Professor Barbara Hill Moore. After graduating, she was an Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera from 1991-94. Claycomb made her European debut in Geneva in 1994 and sang at Milan’s world-renowned opera house, La Scala, in 1998.
Stephen Hartley
Known for her adventurous repertoire, she has sung with major opera companies around the world. This season she also will perform in Cleveland, Houston and Moscow, in addition to a European tour with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Claycomb and her husband reside in Italy.
A national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2007, Hartley made his Carnegie Hall debut last year with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. He has participated in young artist programs with the Santa Fe Opera, the Chautauqua Opera in New York and the Sarasota Opera in Florida.
While earning a Master’s in music from SMU, he studied voice with Professor Virginia Dupuy.
A native of Rome, Italy, Rizzo studied violin at Meadows with Adjunct Professor Emanuel Borok, who retired last year as concertmaster of the DSO after 25 years. Rizzo received a Master’s in violin performance and an Artist Certificate from SMU.
Pietro Rizzo
He attended the famous conducting program at Sibelius Academy in Finland and earned a Master’s in orchestra conducting in 2000.
As a guest conductor, Rizzo has worked with major opera companies around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He enjoys working with young artists and has been a guest professor at Flanders Opera Studio in Gent, Belgium, since 2002 and has worked regularly with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Galicia, Spain, since 2003.
He lives in Europe with his wife, pianist Michela Fogolin ’97, and their children. Rigoletto will be performed March 25, 27 and 30, and April 2, 7 and 10. Tickets may be purchased online.
Four SMU graduates were honored for their contributions to the engineering profession during the annual National Engineers Week luncheon Feb. 24. Geoffrey Orsak, dean of SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, delivered the keynote address at the event hosted by the Dallas and Preston Trails chapters of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE).
Participating organizations included the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME).
The award-winning alumni are: John Ho, P.E.
TSPE-Dallas Engineer of the Year
Ho earned a B.S. in civil engineering from SMU in 1981 and is a senior project manager with Huitt-Zollars in Dallas. Among his recent projects are the design of portions of the Trinity Parkway, a proposed nine-mile, Dallas-area toll road; the Fort Bliss brigade staging area complex; and the Dallas Love Field modernization program. Ho was instrumental in setting up the TSPE student chapter at SMU and currently serves as membership and audit chairs. As an active alumnus, he has participated in career fairs and spoken at several student events.
Mark Hendrix
Mark Hendrix, P.E.
ASME North Texas Section Engineer of the Year
Hendrix, who received an M.S. in mechanical engineering from SMU in 1985, is engineering manager at CommScope, where he is responsible for new product development. His areas of product focus are wireless communications systems and modular datacenters, while his technical focus includes advanced thermal design, power systems, UPS backup systems and efficiency advances in power and cooling. Hendrix holds six U.S. patents.
Aleksandra Fortier
Aleksandra Fortier ASME North Texas Section Young Engineer of the Year
Fortier, who holds a B.S ’05, M.S ’06 and Ph.D. ’09 in mechanical engineering and an M.S. ’09 in engineering management, was active in the student chapter of ASME while attending SMU. Now an assistant professor of mechanical and energy engineering at the University of North Texas, her primary research focus is in the area of nano-based materials and components for environmentally friendly electronics systems. Fortier serves as a reviewer for the Journal of Electronic Materials and is an active member of several professional societies.
Greg Kuhn
Greg Kuhn, P.E.
SAME Dallas Post Member of the Year
Kuhn, who earned an M.B.A. from SMU’s Cox School of Business in 1989 and a B.S. in civil engineering from Rice, is vice president of Halff Associates, where he is responsible for the overall strategic planning and marketing/business development activities of the firm. He is a member of the SAME Academy of Fellows, which recognizes outstanding and dedicated service to the society and the field of engineering.
As SMU celebrates the centennial of its founding in 1911 and opening in 1915, the University also is marking 100 years of achievements in athletics through a recently released book, In Honor of the Mustangs.
The first comprehensive history of SMU athletics showcases exploits on the gridiron, from the football team’s infamous 146-3 defeat to the Rice Owls in 1916 to its 45-10 victory over Nevada in the 2009 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. Also highlighted are achievements in swimming, basketball, volleyball, track and field, cross country, tennis, baseball and equestrian competition.
The 400-page book is filled with little-known facts, including:
SMU fielded a soccer team in 1916.
A nine-hole golf course was located on campus in the early days.
Women competed in tennis and basketball at the time of SMU’s founding.
Red Barr, men’s dormitory director and men’s swimming coach, had to enroll in a Red Cross life-saving program to learn the intricacies of the sport.
The book also looks at SMU’s role in integrating Southwest Conference football. When Jerry LeVias ’69 entered SMU in 1965, he became the first African-American to receive an athletic scholarship in the SWC. He made both athletic and academic All-America football teams and led the Mustangs to their first conference title in 18 years. After earning his B.S. degree from SMU, LeVias played professional football for the Houston Oilers and San Diego Chargers. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from SMU in 2006.
To recognize his achievements, a Black History Month Town Hall Forum will feature a screening of the award-winning documentary Jerry LeVias: Marked Man at 7 p.m. Feb. 28, followed by a discussion with LeVias and past and present SMU coaches and players, at the Mack Ballroom in the Umphrey Lee Center on campus. In Honor of the Mustangs, published jointly by the SMU Lettermen’s Association and SMU’s DeGolyer Library, also looks at athletics in the context of the history of SMU and American higher education in general. The book was written by SMU professor emeritus of communications and SMU centennial historian Darwin Payne ’68. Photo editor Gerry York ’58, curator of SMU’s Heritage Hall selected the 650 photographs to illustrate the sports history.
Payne, who received an M.A. in history from SMU and a Ph.D. in American civilization from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973, taught journalism at SMU for 30 years before retiring. He has written extensively about Dallas history and is the author of numerous books, including his most recent, Quest for Justice, a biography of L.A. Bedford Jr. (SMU Press, 2009).
Payne says that although he had known about SMU athletics and been a sports fan all his life, “I was surprised at the national prominence SMU football teams achieved in the 1920s because of coach Ray Morrison. The teams’ reliance on the forward pass became a national sensation, popularizing it as an offensive weapon, and SMU was perhaps the first Southwest Conference team to schedule significant intersectional games. Although football suffered after the ‘death penalty,’ other SMU sports teams generally thrived, and together they provided the University with one of the best all-round sports programs in the nation for private universities. There were many prominent athletes through the years who largely have been forgotten, and I hope this book will help bring them the attention they deserve.”
The editorial advisory group includes Roman Kupchynsky II ’80, president of the Lettermen’s Association; Chuck Hixson ’70, former SMU quarterback and president-elect of the association; Paul Rogers, professor of law and faculty athletics representative for SMU since 1987; Joan Gosnell, University archivist; and Russell L. Martin III ’78, director of DeGolyer Library.
To obtain a copy of In Honor of the Mustangs visit smu.edu/cul/degolyer for an order form. Cost is $55 per book (includes tax and shipping). For more information, call Pamalla Anderson at 214-768-0829. Or call the SMU Lettermen’s office at 214-768-4000 to order by phone, or email Lettermen@smu.edu. Please include your phone number so that we may call you for credit card information. (Please do not email credit card information.)
Copies also are sold at Culwell & Son, across Hillcrest from campus, 214-522-7000.
Artist Amanda Dunbar ’04 will be among those gathering to honor Barbra Streisand as the MusiCares Person of the Year during Grammy Awards weekend in Los Angeles.
Dunbar, whose Precious Rebels art guitars are prized by musicians and other collectors, has been a significant donor, sponsor and contributor to MusiCares for the past 10 years. The MusiCares Foundation was established in 1989 by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to aid musicians in financial, personal and medical crisis.
While Dunbar is best known for her wide range of abstract, figurative and conceptual paintings that hang in private, public and corporate collections around the world, her career has always crossed over into the music industry. Her Precious Rebels guitars, which she began creating in 2007, “bridge the gap between art and the world,” says Dunbar, who earned a B.F.A. in art history, cum laude with departmental distinction, from Meadows School of the Arts. “People connect to popular culture, and I want to have that kind connection with people.”
One of Dunbar’s commissioned art guitars is now part of the Recording Academy’s collection commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards. For now, the guitar takes pride of place in the office of Neil Portnow, president of the academy.
BUSINESS EDUCATION The Cox School of Business Office of Diversity, led by director Steve Denson, works with English as a Second Language programs in Dallas schools to provide mentoring and advice about college in English and Spanish to prospective first-generation college students. LAW CLINICSDedman School of Law’s Clinical Program comprises six specialized community clinics, where students learn public service and professional responsibility while developing their skills under the guidance of faculty and staff. The W.W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic provides legal assistance for abused and neglected children. The Civil Clinic represents low-income clients in matters ranging from elder advocacy to civil rights litigation. In addition, the clinical program includes the Small Business Clinic, the Tax Clinic, the Consumer Advocacy Project and Criminal Prosecution and Defense Clinics. COMMUNITY GARDEN Proposed by Elaine Heath, McCreless Associate Professor of Evangelism in Perkins School of Theology, the new campus garden gives students, faculty and staff the opportunity to learn to garden organically using sustainable irrigation methods. Produce is shared with a local food bank and the campus community. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COUNCIL Through this new effort, representatives of SMU’s seven schools identify opportunities to work with community groups on humanitarian and civic issues. The council helped establish a campuswide partnership with Dallas Faith Communities Coalition in a multiagency effort aimed at improvements in West Dallas, with a focus on K-12 schools.
World War II photographer Melvin C. Shaffer arrived in Naples, Italy, in 1944, to document medical care at the 8th Evacuation Hospital and on hospital ships docked in the Port of Naples. His work was interrupted March 18 when Mount Vesuvius erupted, beginning 14 days of lava flow that destroyed four villages.
Shaffer’s 19 photographs of ash clouds and village streets filled to the rooftops with smoking black lava are among the most popular images in SMU libraries’ 30 digital collections.
Lava flow engulfing a village to the west of Vesuvius, Melvin C. Shaffer, 1944
More than 5,000 images ranging from ancient Babylonian stone tablets to medieval manuscripts to Civil War photographs to Texas artists’ sketchbooks can be viewed on the SMU libraries’ digital collections website. The images represent items in special collections at Bridwell Library, DeGolyer Library, Hamon Arts Library and Underwood Law Library.
Special collections have long been a destination for scholars seeking primary materials for research. But the value and fragile condition of items such as historic Texas currency or ancient Egyptian papyrus fragments require limited access. These items can be studied only by appointment and under library staff supervision.
For the past 10 years, however, SMU libraries have been scanning and cataloging special collections to be placed online, making them available to anyone through the library website.
“Electronic collections have revolutionized scholarship and teaching,” says Patricia Van Zandt, Central University Libraries’ director of scholarly resources and research services. “Students can use primary resources they may never have had an opportunity to see before. Professors can study items online that once required a trip to the British Museum in London.”
Students in “The Greater Dallas Experience” course are using a digitized collection to study the role of media in Dallas history. Longtime Dallas journalist Lee Cullum ’74 spoke to the class, but students also reviewed her work and personal papers online, part of Archives of Women of the Southwest at DeGolyer Library.
Visits to SMU digital collections nearly doubled from 2009 to 2010, partly because of the libraries’ invitation to join The Commons on Flickr, the popular image-hosting website. Flickr launched The Commons in 2008 to provide easy access to publicly held photography collections. The Library of Congress and the National Archives UK are among the 44 institutions included in the consortium.
The Lyle School “Cheerios” These engineering Mustangs challenge stereotypes – and sometimes gravity – as SMU cheerleaders. The students, all members of the Red Squad, and their majors are, from left, first-year student Alana Collinsworth, mechanical engineering; senior Kelby Herzog, mechanical engineering and math with a minor in business; graduate student Ambrel Mitchell ’10, computer science and math; senior Lindsay Neese, electrical engineering (biomedical); senior Sam Kenney, engineering management, information and systems, and economics with a minor in business; first-year student Ashley McNeil, mechanical engineering (biomedical); and senior Brooke Wright, chemistry with minors in environmental engineering and business.
Engineering isn’t just for engineers anymore. The Lyle School’s campuswide Innovation Competition, now in its second year, nurtures scholarly cross-pollination by encouraging students in other SMU schools to enter.
Of the three teams selected as finalists in the first contest, “a good half of those students didn’t have any relationship with engineering other than they had an idea worth testing,“ Orsak says.
Like the IDEs, the Innovation Competition allows students to transform their inspirations into tangibles, Huntoon says. “We can partner students with no technical experience with people who can help them bring their ideas to life,” he says. “What matters is an interesting idea, and we want to hear it with no filter applied.”
Junior Raven Sanders, an electrical and audio engineering major, led the winning project for an audio-mixing system. “Traditional soundboards are
complicated and require considerable training to learn,” Sanders explains. She came up with a spherical design that operates more intuitively, allowing sound designers to control audio tracks by touch.
The team, which included computer science majors Austin Click, senior, and Travis Maloney, junior, and senior mechanical engineering major Jason Stegal, cleared a number of real-world hurdles to reach the top, Sanders says. The cost of developing the sphere was prohibitive, and a software company they’d hoped to partner with didn’t respond to their queries.
So the team did exactly what the competition promotes: They regrouped and devised an innovative workaround by creating a flat-screen device, writing their own program and pulling an all-nighter to complete the project successfully on time.
The project was featured in the December issue of Design News magazine, an engineering publication that focuses on the design of consumer and industry-specific products and systems.
“I will be putting a patent together and a team to build a spherical device as my senior project,” Sanders says.
That “innovate-then-patent” exercise is exactly what Greg Carr ’79 envisioned for the competition, which received generous support from his firm, Carr LLP. Carr, who holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from SMU, now practices intellectual property law in Dallas.
“On average, the issuance of a patent creates from three to 10 jobs,” he says. “You can’t underestimate the importance of innovation to the future economic health of our country.”
The Human Touch
From day one, Lyle School students are encouraged and empowered to make a difference in the world.
For hands-on opportunities, the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity was established in December 2009. Hunt Institute projects focus on finding innovative, affordable solutions to such poverty-related issues as safe and affordable housing, clean water and sanitation, and functional roads and transportation systems.
Programs of the recently established Linda and Mitch Hart Center for Engineering Leadership also play a pivotal role in developing tomorrow’s well-rounded engineers, according to Dean Orsak. The leadership training builds on current co-op and internship programs, adding personal and team experiences that allow students to hone essential leadership skills – including the abilities to develop and implement strategy, communicate clearly and function effectively in a group.
The Hart Center will work with faculty across campus. For example, students who need to polish their presentation skills may be steered toward a theatre class in Meadows School of the Arts. A competition offered in collaboration with Cox School of Business will introduce participants to the mechanics of a business plan.
Approximately 750 Lyle School undergraduates are participating in Hart Center programs this semester.
“Leadership requires students to be fully engaged in the world, to recognize the staggering problems facing us today and feel empowered to contribute solutions,” Orsak says.
“Engineering is a contact sport,” the dean adds. “It’s hard work, but at the same time, the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing something meaningful can be deeply moving.”
By Patricia Ward Teachers Cheyenne Rogers ’09 and Allie Showalter ’09 brought their seventh-grade classes to SMU for a taste of the SMU student experience.
As SMU Associate Professor of English Timothy Rosendale concluded a special poetry lecture for seventh-grade students from Dallas’ W.E. Greiner Middle School, one of the youngsters approached him.
Just minutes before, Micah Roberson was inspired to write a poem, which Rosendale asked him to read to the group. Roberson spoke from the heart of love found then lost.
“Being in the class, I started to think of relationships as poetry,” he says.
That’s the sort of eureka moment language arts teachers Cheyenne Rogers ’09 and Allie Showalter ’09 were aiming for when they brought 50 of their students to the University Dec. 7. Nina Schwartz, chair of the Department of English in Dedman College, who sat in on the lecture, sweetened the experience for Micah and the teachers: She plans to publish his poem in a future issue of erudition, the departmental newsletter.
Clearly this was no ordinary field trip; rather, the visit was designed to give the youths from Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood a true taste of life on the Hilltop. Rosendale introduced them to the nuances of poetry; in another lecture the students learned about the nation’s highest court from Joe Kobylka, associate professor of political science and a Supreme Court scholar. Professor Timothy Rosendale reads the poem seventh-grader Micah Roberson wrote during class.
The seventh-graders wrapped up the half-day trip with the definitive campus dining experience: lunch in the Umphrey Lee cafeteria.
“I think the biggest thing for the students was being able to picture themselves in college,” Rogers says. “When you’re 13, you can’t really see past January. But we were there on campus, in class with professors, asking questions, thinking and imagining – that was the most valuable part of the trip.”
“Thinking and imagining” began weeks earlier when students had to apply to participate – the teachers required their students to fill out the same application essay that SMU requires. Once accepted, the students had to attend several preparation meetings that provided background for the two lectures.
Many of the youngsters could be the first members of their families to pursue a college degree, so planting the seed of higher education now is crucial, according to Showalter.
“I will be their teacher for only one year, so my biggest focus is changing the mindset of my students by showing them what success looks like and how to obtain it,” she says.
Teach For America In Dallas
Rogers, Showalter and reading teacher Caitlin Myers ’09, who served as a chaperone, are part of the Teach for America (TFA) corps in Dallas. Teach for America is a nonprofit organization that recruits and trains outstanding college graduates to teach in low-income urban and rural public schools, with a goal of ending educational inequality. Teacher Cheyenne Rogers ’09, right, and Greiner students Ruby Aguilar, left, and Elida Martinez.
The trio is in the first Teach for America cohort in the Dallas Independent School District. A recent DISD report deems the program a success. The report says a higher percentage of students with Teach for America teachers met TAKS standards in the critical needs areas of math and science when compared to students with other teachers in the 51 Dallas schools where TFA operates. The district wants to add 120 TFA teachers in the 2011-12 school year.
The alumni also are in the first group of 18 SMU graduating seniors to be accepted into the highly competitive program. Last spring, another 17 Mustangs were accepted by TFA from more than 46,000 applicants for 4,500 positions.
Teach for America’s ties to the University have been strengthened by a partnership with the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Education that provides graduate-level courses to the organization’s teachers in Dallas. Twenty-one corps members are enrolled in the Simmons programs.
For Rogers, who graduated with honors in English literature and political science and served in the SMU Student Senate, teaching is the ultimate public service.
“Sleep is scarce and patience is a hot commodity, but you keep plugging along, working hard for someone other than yourself,” she explains. “It’s a wonderful thing to put so much of yourself into such an important mission.”
To Showalter, who graduated with honors in political science and Spanish and was a John G. Tower Undergraduate Research Fellow and Joseph Godbey Scholar at SMU, “the most rewarding part of teaching is impacting students’ attitudes toward learning. Once students know learning can be fun and can change their life opportunities, anything is possible.”
Myers, who graduated with honors in journalism and served as managing editor of SMU Daily Mustang, discovered how much she had meant to her pupils when “on the last day of school last year, students left my room crying. Now they stop by my room to show me their eighth-grade report cards, invite me to their quinceañeras and ask if I’ll write them recommendations to magnet high schools.”
Another Life-Changing Decision For The Alums
Allie Showalter ’09 (in pink sweater) and her students listen to a lecture by Professor Joe Kobylka.
This is a pivotal point in their careers. Their two-year commitment to Teach for America ends with the school year. “I feel as if I’m back in my senior year at SMU,” Myers says. “I truly do not know what I am going to do next year. I have fallen in love with teaching; however, I also have a longing to get back to one of my first passions, journalism.“It’s going to be hard to find another job that makes me feel as valued as a person as this one does,” she adds.
Likewise, Showalter is struggling with her options. “I always thought I would go to law school directly after my two years,” she says. “Now I am torn between staying in the classroom or pursuing a job that still impacts education and the achievement gap.”
Rogers, however, has decided to teach again next year. “I laugh every day. I’m up moving around, discovering, talking and writing with my kids, and we are forging on together,” she says. “I’m a little worried that it’s ruined me for any other job I may have in the future, though,” she jokes. “I just don’t think I can plunk myself behind a desk after this.”
Middle School Students Talk About Their SMU Experience
“On the SMU field trip we learned a lot about college life. After that experience, I though college might be for me, something I would enjoy. SMU is a very big place filled with learning and fun. So when I go to college, I want to attend SMU.” – Destiny Fry
“Now even though I’m in the seventh grade, looking at the many things I saw really had an effect on what I think about going to college.” – Joshua McComas
“I hope next time I visit the campus that I am going for orientation.” –Kyla Taylor
“I felt like SMU was made for me. SMU made me feel more confident about going to college.” – Saphire Cervantes
“I thought this was going to be a regular field trip, yet it was an exciting and inspiring experience to see and realize how great college life is.” – Elia Perez
“Professor Kobylka was my favorite because he made the Supreme Court more important to me and he made it more interesting. To me, I think he should teach at Greiner as my Texas History teacher.” – Martin Cruz
“I liked Professor Rosendale because he would never tell you you were wrong. He always explained exactly what he was doing.” – Elena Vasquez
“I liked learning more about poetry; it has a mystery to it. I especially enjoyed the sonnet [William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18]. It’s a great poem, so important that we’re still reading it today.” – Adrian Rangel
Breaking ground for the Bush Center were (from left) Ray L. Hunt ’65, co-chair of the Bush Finance Committee and SMU trustee; Caren Prothro, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees; Alan Lowe, director of the Bush Presidential Library and Museum; Robert Stern, architect for the Bush Presidential Center; SMU President R. Gerald Turner; Condoleezza Rice, chair of the Bush Institute Advisory Board; George W. Bush and Laura Bush ’68. Among those not shown is Jake Torres, student body president.
More than 3,000 guests filled a massive tent on the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Center to celebrate its groundbreaking November 16, as 15 officials took up shovels to turn dirt. Another 300 members of the SMU community gathered on campus to watch an outdoor simulcast.
“The Presidential Center will benefit from its association with the academic resources, vitality of dialogue and research programs offered by SMU,” said President R. Gerald Turner. “And it will provide remarkable opportunities for research and education to scholars and students of all ages.”
President Bush welcomed the audience, saying, “To those of you who are not privileged to live in Texas, welcome to the great state. And welcome to one of the finest universities in the whole United States, Southern Methodist.”
William B. Browder Jr. 7/8/10 Marion Parr Light 6/13/10 Pearl Bailey Scott 7/7/10
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Grace Wylie Adcock 10/26/09 Elizabeth McLarty Griffis 2/22/10
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Anne Hughston Merritt 3/21/10 Amy Schickram Stephens 12/18/02
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H. Louis Nichols 4/25/10
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Louise Barnes Addison 2/13/10 Lewis P. (L.P.) Baird 2/24/10 James T. Bedsole 4/25/10 Betsy Manton Beesley 7/24/10 Elaine Hillyer Pritchett 2/3/10 Martin Samuelsohn 2/16/10
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Susan Hamman Carlisle ’73 2/7/10 Kathlyn Marian Cole 2/4/10
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M. Elizabeth Alexander 12/8/09 Dr. James M. McKinney 2/25/10
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Janet Brinker Bludworth 2/18/10 Jack Douglass Brown 6/22/02 Jean Downs Jarmon Smither 5/17/10
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The Rev. Robert Martin Templeton Jr. 11/8/08 Juanita Taylor Zukauckas 7/1/10
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The Rev. Henry Lee Fullerton 5/13/10 Catheryn Blewett Henderson 11/4/01 Billie Conley Pickard 7/21/10 Anne Eisenstein Robbins 4/21/10
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C. Robert Anderson ’57 4/13/10 Cecil P. Dotson 6/22/10 Jane Morley Hardeman 4/13/02 Frank Edward McGowan 3/9/10
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Doris Baxley Bresnan 4/23/09 Oliver B. Cavett 4/8/10 John Edgar Clark 3/4/10 James T. Gardner Jr. 3/18/10 John Price Koons 2/9/10 Sol Levin 1/14/07 Peggy Wilson Norris 6/2/10 Robert (Bob) Titus 7/31/10 W.T. Truett 6/7/10 The Rev. Norton E. Wey 1/1/10
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Wm. Thomas Doughtie Sr. 3/24/10 Lorenzo P. Fowler Jr. 3/22/10 Richard R. Fuller 8/16/10 Col. Edwin Dale Heath Jr. 4/14/10 Marianne Shwiff Lichtenstein 2/16/10 William Allen McKenzie 4/18/10 Clarence M. Mims 6/6/10 Marthajohn Cannon Pencotty 4/28/10 Joe Lou Randle 5/11/10 Tom W. Robbins 5/30/10 Gillis Thomas 3/9/10 Hal K. Turner 3/18/10 James E. Woolley 8/27/10
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The Hon. Clyde R. Ashworth 3/28/10 James W. Barton 6/26/10 D. Morris Brantley 4/13/10 William S. Deniger Sr. 5/6/10 Walter Eugene Duckworth 8/6/10 Fredrick R. Hults 5/25/10 Douglas M. Johnson 10/31/09 William C. McClellan 6/22/10 Webb H. McDaniel 5/28/10 Marion Roddy McGinnis 2/14/10 Howard Spitzberg 6/27/10 Layden L. Stroud Jr. 7/21/10 Gene Willett Jr. 4/2/10 Jerry Williams 2/12/10
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J. Mac Ashworth Jr. 4/1/10 George William Baker 5/28/10 Gene Bridges 1/3/08 Gordon F. Cullum Jr. 4/5/10
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James Edward Carter 4/21/10 William E. Cox 8/5/10 Hazel Blount Littrell 8/19/10 Silvan E. McAlpin 3/13/09 The Rev. George L. Needham 7/1/10 Dewena Maddux Powell 3/23/10 Albert Schiavo 8/29/09 Herbert V. Wales 3/14/10
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Carolyn Wright Brown 8/28/10 The Rev. William P. Connell 8/18/10 Dr. John F. Hickman 2/3/10 J. Robert Maceo 10/1/09 Jack Marshall 7/5/10 B.G. Wylie 6/19/10
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Betty A. Worley Long 9/3/09
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Elaine Schwartz Fonberg 7/15/10 Jane Armitage Keas 4/8/10 Elizabeth Foree Lee 8/6/10
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Anthony F. Dunston 1/26/10 Anita Wofford Lavender 9/19/05 Juan G. Matus-Valencia 10/27/08 Grace Ida Todd Pratt 7/7/10 Lucy Jim Westbrook 6/23/10
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Paul Milton Bass Jr. 3/9/10 Lester Lemar Blakely Jr. 8/19/10 James A. Myers 8/11/09 Channing P. Wood 2/1/10
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Charles Ray Hassell 3/26/10 John B. Johnson 7/29/10 The Rev. Russell D. Rasmussen 4/27/10 Dr. Allen T. Segal ’84 6/28/10 The Rev. Paul D. Walker 7/6/10
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Susie Braugh Austin 5/16/10 Richard C. Johanson 7/20/10 Pat McMurray 12/16/09 Charles W. Patmore 4/5/10
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Diane Laugenour Beene 6/29/10 The Rev. Eugene P. Browder ’72 2/16/10 Richard N. Currin 2/27/10 Walter James Lightbourn Jr. 3/8/10 Margaret Dianne Reynolds McDowell 4/21/10 Judy G. Reese 5/21/10 Raymond Santillan Jr. 4/1/10
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William Wayne Aston 7/8/10 Mary L. Seale 7/27/10 Carl R. Stroud 6/1/10 Jack Laughery Woods 11/22/09
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William E. Easterling 3/23/10 Herschel R. Payne 12/16/08 Susan Wilemon Solomon 4/8/10 Linda Stover Walters 5/11/10 Frank W. Weathers Jr. 11/6/09
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John M. Castello 3/11/10 Howard L. Cobb 6/10/10 John C. Ferguson 2/11/10 Gene E. Ford 8/9/10 Royal Hines 8/8/10 The Rev. Glenn R. Howze 5/24/10 Betty Carolyn Highnote Marie 9/23/09 Thomas E. Shugart 7/19/10
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Herbert H. Phillips 12/16/00 C. Judson Shook 4/24/10
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James L. Buchanan II 11/7/09 Frank Marion Burke Jr. 7/24/10 Frank P. Hernandez 3/11/10 Jerry S. Hughes 3/31/10 Joe Wayne Johnson 6/11/10 James R. King 3/6/10 Mrs. Clistus A. Lowe Jr. 7/1/10 Carolyn Futrell Potter 3/21/10 Steven Charles Salch ’68 2/28/10 The Rev. J. Kenneth Shamblin Jr. 7/14/10
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The Rev. Philip Eugene Baker 3/20/10 Sara E. Crawford 7/4/10 Mary Murray Holland 7/14/10 Cyril D. Kasmir 8/28/97 S. Mark Lovell 7/13/10 Robert T. Slater 7/2/10 Dr. Joan Laveson Weston 2/23/10
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Fredrick Erck 12/24/09 Richard E. Hobson 6/12/10 Bishop Raymond H. Owen 5/17/10
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Marion Edelstein Cohn 8/4/05 Dr. Kathleen Kirk Gilmore 3/18/10 William H. Hardin 6/13/10 Dan M. Moreman 7/22/10 Richard W. Ranney 5/11/10 The Rev. William F. Upchurch 4/12/10 Hal C. Ussery 3/8/10
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Rebecca Bowden McCabe 2/14/10 Wilbur F. Philcox 7/30/10
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Ivan L. Carwell Jr. 5/19/10 Robert L. Cole 5/13/10 Margaret Stone Falls 4/2/10 Sandra Rawlinson Galbraith 12/7/05 Robert L. Hiller 7/12/10 James B. Seaman II 9/25/78 Charles H. Troutman III 11/19/07
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Samuel Holliman Bayless 1/11/10 John Mason Brooks Jr. 5/28/10 Prof. Ronald Baxter Harrist 6/28/10 Jared M. Horton 12/12/09 Walter D. Strucely 3/6/10 Barry H. Young 5/24/10
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The Rev. William J. Brackett 8/17/06 Keith L. Carter 3/16/10 William Dennis Lankford 2/18/10 Barbara H. Spencer 11/4/04
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Camilo Capelo Leos 4/29/10 Larry J. Rushin 7/7/10
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David W. Cramer 3/25/10 Dr. C. Lynn Reynolds 1/16/09 Diane Thompson 7/7/10 Kent Michael Williams 8/8/10 James F. Wright 7/3/10
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Dr. Anthony Ben Fadely 2/27/10 The Rev. Richard D. Long 4/12/10 Michael DeWitt Parsons 7/23/10 Wanda Orrill Stockdale 6/26/10 Ronald Glenn Williams 2/22/09
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Mark Herbert Adams 8/29/10 Philip K. Brown 3/7/10
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Mary Calloway Taff Bishop 8/15/10 John W. Eckam 2/27/10 Julia Bell Hann Sutcliffe 4/5/10
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Dr. Lisa Ellen Woody McAlister 1/18/10 Robert Randall Mustard Jr. 3/10/10 Joy Marie Parker 11/6/04 Glen C. Shepherd Jr. 6/25/10 Ernst Gustaaf Tehuteru 11/22/09
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Linda Lawson Burnette 4/11/10 Dr. Eugene James Jennings 6/5/10 Sandra Lee Kraft Kemper 6/25/10 Karen McDermott Ward 6/16/10 Joseph Patrick Wiley 9/1/85
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Zeblin G. Pearson 6/20/10 Sabrina Bennett Trujillo 6/17/10
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Evelyn Stanislaw Junius 6/12/10 The Rev. Louise Banner Welch 11/25/09
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Karan Ann Latimer 7/1/10
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Eve Marie McGinty 8/19/10 Jeffrey Charles Norton 7/18/10 C. David Stokes 8/7/10
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Ronnie Bret Davis 6/8/10 Vicki Bennett Nickerson 8/9/10 Maria Surgeon 2/27/10
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Charles Francis Bailey Jr. 9/3/09 Dr. Roger Stanley Johnson 6/2/10
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Geoffrey Bruce Sanders 12/29/09
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Stephen Thane Shiflet 4/3/10
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Charles David Kennedy 2/16/10 James A. McConnell 1/21/08
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Cynthia Lynn Groner 4/7/10
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Amanda Howe 8/23/10 Nicholas E. Magnis 5/12/10 Lauren Smiley 3/3/10
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Philip Donald Glasgow 5/16/10
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Rick C. Cox 3/18/10 Adrienne E. Willson 7/9/09
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Sara Katy Robertson 7/6/10
SMU Community
Geraldine Goles Cole, former Cox School of Business staff, 7/27/10 Jim Copeland, former SMU athletics director, 6/4/10 Kay Crago, retired SMU staff, 8/19/10 Harold Hietala, retired SMU professor, 7/14/10 Marcelle Douglass Hoskins, retired SMU staff, 12/20/09 Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Hugh G. Robinson, former SMU trustee, 3/1/10 Carl Touchstone, former campus courier, 7/24/10 David J. Weber, history professor and scholar of the Southwest, 8/20/10
Bonnie Jacobs, associate professor and chair of the Environmental Science program in Dedman College, pieces together the Earth’s past, one fossil plant at a time.
Over the summer she traveled to Africa, a continent she has been exploring since 1980, to continue fieldwork in Ethiopia. “We’re looking at the form and structure of fossil plants from two time slices – 28 million years and 22 million years – to better understand the global climate change that some records show happened between those times,” she explains.
In August, she became the first paleobotanist to join a Japanese research team in the Nakali region of Kenya’s Rift Valley, a site famous for the fossil ape, Nakalipithecus nakayamai. The Nakalipithecus may be the last common ancestor to gorillas, chimpanzees and humans.
Using fossil plants, Jacobs will paint a more complete picture of the Kenyan landscape – 10 million years ago. “I’m trying to determine what the apes’ environment was like,” she says. “Vertebrate fossils and plant fossils provide independent records; we’ll compare them to see if they send the same signals.”
Jacobs, a widely published researcher, recently co-authored “A Review of the Cenozoic Vegetation History of Africa,” a chapter in Cenozoic Mammals of Africa (University of California Press, 2010).
She is contributing to The New York Times’ Scientist at Work blog from Ethiopia over winter break.
Psychology professors Ernest Jouriles and Renee McDonald
Psychology professors Ernest Jouriles and Renee McDonald make mental health a family affair – they are husband and wife as well as co-founders and co-directors of the Family Research Center in Dedman College. Their research focuses on family violence, children’s responses to marital conflict, developing interventions and assisting victims of violence.
Their newest study finds that mothers who live in poverty and have abused their children can stop if they are taught parenting skills and given emotional support. According to Jouriles and McDonald, there were large improvements when visiting therapists worked intensively with families.
“Although there are many types of services for addressing child maltreatment, there is very little scientific data about whether the services work,” McDonald says. “This study adds to our scientific knowledge and shows that this type of service can actually work.”
The parenting training is part of Project Support, a program developed at the Family Research Center. Project Support has been included in a study evaluating 15 “promising practices” for helping children in violent families.
“Child maltreatment is such an important and costly problem in our society that it seems imperative to make sure that our efforts – and the tax dollars that pay for them – are solving the problem,” Jouriles says.
As millions of immigrants continue to come to the United States each year, public debate rages on about who belongs in America. For nearly 40 years, anthropologist Caroline Brettell has studied the movement of populations and its impact on the adopted countries.
Current research, conducted with SMU departmental colleague Faith Nibbs, focuses on the tensions between some suburbanites and foreign-born newcomers to their communities.
“For many whites, American identity is wrapped up with being suburban and middle class, and when they see immigrants changing their communities and potentially threatening their class status, they react with anti-immigrant legislation,” says Brettell, the Dedman Family Distinguished Professor of Anthropology.
Because of that, Brettell and Nibbs argue for greater attention to class and culture in the study of contemporary immigration into the United States. The anthropologists base their conclusion on a close analysis of Farmers Branch, Texas, which made news in 2006 as the first U.S. city to adopt an ordinance requiring apartment managers to document tenants as legal residents. The research has been accepted for publication in the journal International Migration.
Considered a leading cultural anthropologist on immigration issues, Brettell provided expertise about “birthright citizenship” for an article in The New York Times’ Upfront magazine in September.
A Canadian by birth, she was naturalized in 1993 to enjoy the full rights of U.S. citizenship. She joined the Department of Anthropology in Dedman College in 1988 and served as interim dean of the College in 2006-08.
As a scholar of American politics, Calvin C. Jillson shares his knowledge about the mechanics of government, in particular the development of American institutions and ideas and how they continue to shape national debates. Both The Dallas Morning News and the San Antonio Express-News have profiled the professor of political science in Dedman College as one of Texas’ top political experts.
In addition to his classic book, Pursuing the American Dream: Opportunity and Exclusion Over Four Centuries, Jillson is the author of two widely used government texts and several other books on American politics.
Jillson’s current book project, Lone Star Tarnished, is a critical analysis of Texas’ public policy.
“The book will try to answer this question: If Texas is doing so great [economically], why is median family income below the national average and why does the state lag so badly in education, access to health care and so many other areas? I expect some hate mail.”
Professor Delores Etter, left, helps Jean Ross, right, a CIA case officer, as she demonstrates the art of disguise to girls attending forensics camp.
Wearing a short, black wig and oversized eyeglasses, the cute middle-school girl was transformed into a young woman few would give a second glance.
Mission accomplished.
“You want to become nondescript, you want to blend into the crowd,” explains Jean Ross, a CIA case officer who dramatically demonstrated her specialty in the art of disguise on the audience volunteer.
The session was part of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education’s CSI-Girls Forensic Evidence and Biometrics Summer Camp. The weeklong pilot program – held on campus in July &ndash offered interactive opportunities for 80 girls entering sixth through eighth grades to study hand geometry, fingerprinting, polygraphs, DNA identification and other topics.
Institute Director Delores Etter, an expert in biometrics, particularly iris recognition, believes this nation’s future depends on the technical agility of the next generation. A key to staying a step ahead is to engage youngsters, especially girls, before they’ve shied away from math and science, she says.
During the camp, female law enforcement officers and forensic experts introduced their occupations to students through discussions and hands-on activities.
Emily Christopher, 11, says the experience was an eye-opener. “It was really interesting to learn about so many different jobs that I didn’t know existed. I want to come back next year!”
Youngsters in the Seattle-Tacoma region, Washington, D.C., and Albuquerque, N.M., will use the camp curriculum via a Web portal – kidsahead.com – developed by the Caruth Institute.
The institute plans to build on the camp’s math- and science-infused subject matter with STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) content, which also will be shared through the portal.
Technology to provide military and
other amputees with realistic robotic limbs – hands, arms and legs that not only move like the real thing but also can “feel” – took a leap forward with the creation of a multimillion-dollar Neurophotonics Research Center led
by Lyle School engineers. Marc Christensen, electrical engineering chair in the Lyle School of Engineering, directs the new center, where two-way fiber-optic communication between prosthetic limbs and peripheral nerves is being developed. Volkan Otugen, mechanical engineering chair, is SMU site director for the center.
Applications for a successful link between living tissue and advanced digital technologies extend to a number of complex medical issues, Christensen says.
“Providing this kind of port to the nervous system will enable not only realistic prosthetic limbs but also can be applied to treat spinal cord injuries and an array of neurological disorders.”
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is funding the $5.6 million center with industry partners as part of its Centers in Integrated Photonics Engineering Research (CIPhER) project.
Two SMU undergraduate research assistants, five graduate students and two postdoctoral students are assisting in the research. “Involving students in broad, multidisciplinary projects like this helps them understand how their knowledge and their work in the lab connect to a bigger picture,” Otugen says.
“We view hands-on implementation as a critical piece of the education of our students,” Christensen says. “It deepens their understanding and provides them with real-world experience that can accelerate their learning and careers.”
The center brings SMU researchers together with colleagues from Vanderbilt University, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of North Texas. The center’s industrial partners include Lockheed Martin (Aculight), Plexon, Texas Instruments, National Instruments and MRRA.
“Team members have been developing the individual pieces of the solution over the past few years,” Christensen says, “but with this new federal funding we are able to push the technology forward into an integrated system that works at the cellular level.”
Bijan Mohraz, a professor in the Lyle School’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Cecil Smith, professor emeritus, meet with engineering graduates for lunch.
These are conversations that the self-described “Engineering Lunch Bunch” has carried on without skipping a beat for more than three decades.
“We get together a few times a year at different restaurants near campus,” Mohraz says. “There’s no set agenda; we talk about everything.”
Both Mohraz and Smith call Margaret Pawel-Moore ’77, ’86 “the glue that keeps the group together.” Pawel-Moore, who also earned an M.B.A. from Cox School of Business, is now an asset management specialist. She says that “in the Engineering School, class sizes were small, so you went to most of your classes with the same people. By sharing the experience, many of us became friends for life.”
Before the meal begins, Sam Basharkhah ’77, chief executive officer of BEI, his own construction and consulting engineering firm, and Kelly Williams ’77, who was an estimator for Austin Commercial on the construction of Caruth Hall, pull out visuals on recent projects to show the group. However, the talk soon shifts from the 9-to-5 arena to life off the clock.
Laughter erupts as Smith shares an anecdote – it’s apparent to everyone in the café that the engineering klatch is having a ball. Pawel-Moore laments that one loyal member of the Lunch Bunch, Jerry Capstick ’75, missed the get-together because of travel.
Great teachers who also are good friends “make a difference,” says Bill Hanks ’75, chief executive officer of Rosebriar Corp., a real estate investment firm. “Dr. Mohraz was always willing to give students the extra help they needed. Dr. Smith taught everything from hydraulics to soil mechanics (dirt) to environmental science (bugs). He also played a pretty good game of tennis, and he taught lessons in that subject if you were willing to try him.”
The opportunity “to truly get to know your professors is a big part of what SMU has to offer and separates it from many other engineering schools,” he adds.
After an hour, the group disbands without good-byes; their conversation isn’t over yet.
Theatre Professor Bill Lengfelder teaches the art of movement.
Theatre Professor Bill Lengfelder is guiding 12 students positioned in pairs in the art of swordplay. At his commands, they thrust, parry, advance or retreat with the swords in a Meadows School of the Artsdance studio. “Bravo children!” he exults after they successfully execute the moves.
A self-described “movement nerd,” Lengfelder combines a variety of techniques – tai chi, mime, swords and daggers, and quarterstaffs (long poles), among others – to help young actors develop “sense mechanics” for the stage. He teaches them how to use the body as an acting tool, to rely on movement as innately as they do on words in a scene. And he has never tired of the subject during the 19 years he has taught at SMU.
“I’ve never not been in some way fascinated by how humanity moves,” says Lengfelder, recipient of the 2009 Meadows Faculty Excellence Award. “I see myself as a supplement to acting and voice and all the other disciplines of theatre. And I get excited when I see the same awakening and understanding about the subject in my students.”
When SMU faculty talk about why they teach, more often than not they point to their students. They are invested with the responsibility to challenge, enlighten, motivate and mentor their students through their teaching, but they also will say in turn that they often are energized and inspired by their students.
Faculty talk about teaching … click below to read more
Lab lessons: from left, undergraduate teaching assistant Kristin Harrington, Professor Christine Buchanan, and students Charles Matthew Harrell and Jane Jung Kim.
“Teaching a laboratory course is a very different experience from a lecture course. It is incredibly labor intensive, but it can and should be the most important part of a science student’s education. For the benefit of those who are not scientists, I like to describe it in terms of a dinner party. Imagine having to hold a dinner party for 20 very important guests once a week for 13 weeks in a row. Imagine the preparation and organization that must precede such a party. Imagine the cleanup afterward.
“A successful dinner party or an educational lab session hinges on advance preparation. I have found it best to write the lab exercises myself, and I try to coordinate the lab lessons with my lectures. Students must identify unknown organisms and complete a series of tests that require them to come into lab outside of the regularly scheduled time. Scientific discovery does not fit neatly into a three-hour time slot.” Christine Buchanan, professor of biological sciences in Dedman College, joined SMU in 1977. Buchanan, who teaches upper-level courses in microbiology and biochemistry, was named an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2004. The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health have supported her research on antibiotic resistance and penicillin-binding proteins in bacteria.
Professor Crista DeLuzio, right, with former student Andrea Kline ’08.
“The most fundamental goal of my teaching is to enhance students’ knowledge and understanding of the history of the United States. In addition to providing students with information about what happened in the past, my lectures, discussions, and reading and writing assignments are geared toward cultivating in them the skills of the historian: the ability to search for evidence, to interpret it carefully, to weigh it judiciously and to use it to make original, educated and convincing arguments about the historical question or problem at hand.
“My classes aim to prepare students for the range of roles they will assume in their adult lives, not only as workers, but also as citizens in a democracy. At the end of the semester, I hope to leave my students more capable of reflecting on the ways they are shaped by the world around them and poised to discover some new possibilities for their shaping it in return.” Crista DeLuzio, associate professor, Clements Department of History, Dedman College, joined SMU in 2000. DeLuzio is a 2009 Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor and 2004 Rotunda Outstanding Professor; she received the 2002 Deschner Teaching Award from the Women’s Studies Program.
SMU alumni and supporters were major players in planning for Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium February 6. And SMU alumnus Ted Thompson ’75 is executive vice president and general manager of the champion Green Bay Packers. The Packers captured their fourth Super Bowl title with a 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bill Lively ’65 leads the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
The late Lamar Hunt ’56, left, with Gene and Jerry Jones.
SMU’s Super Bowl connections date to its beginning in 1967 – SMU alumnus and former trustee Lamar Hunt Sr. ’56 coined the term when he was chair of the Kansas City Chiefs. Son Clark ’87, an SMU trustee, now chairs the board of the Chiefs. He also serves on SMU’s Second Century Campaign Executive Committee, Athletics Campaign Committee and Cox School of Business Executive Board. Emmanuel Sanders ’09, who helped the Mustangs win the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in 2009, was part of Super Bowl XLV history as a player for American Football Conference (AFC) champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. As conference champions, the Steelers received the Lamar Hunt Trophy. Hunt founded the AFC in 1970.
For Bill Lively, starting his career as a band director was good training for coordinating one of the world’s biggest sporting events. It will require perfect timing, knowing the score – and practice, practice, practice. Except that now, “there are a lot more players in this band,” he jokes, including the host committee’s dozens of staffers and thousands of volunteers for the game and surrounding events.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in music from Meadows School of the Arts in 1965, Lively returned to SMU in 1973 as assistant Mustang Band director. He served 25 years in a variety of roles, most recently as vice president for development and external affairs. After leaving SMU in 2000, he spent eight years as founding president and CEO of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Foundation. SMU honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.
“At SMU I learned how important it is to recruit and work with remarkable volunteers,” he says. “If you get great people and let them lead where they have the capacity, you can do anything in this city.”
When his host committee duties end, Lively will transition to another high-profile post: president and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.
Lively hopes that the North Texas region’s first Super Bowl creates a sense of harmony, leaving the region “more united than at the beginning of this exercise.“
Spoken like a true bandleader. – Whit Sheppard ’88
The multiphase competition will continue March 6, when de Léon will perform at Lincoln Center in New York City. Voice Professor Virginia Dupuy, with whom he studied at SMU, will attend the event, which is closed to the general public. “About half of the competitors will go on to the final phase, a public performance at the Met, which will be broadcast live on Sirius radio,” Dupuy explains. “I expect Juan will be one of the finalists.” Winners will receive cash prizes to finance further studies. Dupuy notes that another Meadows alumnus, Stephen Hartley ’01, advanced to the second stage of the Met competition in 2007. Hartley will make his Dallas Opera debut in Rigoletto in March, along with noted soprano and fellow Meadows graduate, Laura Claycomb ’90.
De Léon’s talent has grabbed the attention of important players on the opera scene. He was selected recently by renowned tenor Marcello Giordani to attend his master class. In January he accepted a yearlong young artist residency with the prestigious Pittsburgh Opera. He will sing and cover a variety of roles, as well as receive coaching and acting training and the chance to work with a number of directors and conductors.
Dee Donasco
This month he will make his debut with the Dallas Opera in Romeo and Juliet. While a student, he was one of three featured performers in the Dallas Opera/SMU Emerging Artist Program, which presents short operas in schools throughout the Dallas area. The program was good practice for the young tenor, says Dupuy.
“The experience he gained through so many performances in schools helped nurture the professionalism he exhibits today,” she says. “He expresses the text in song so beautifully. He really sings from the heart and makes the audience so comfortable.”
Dee Donasco is a two-season member of the Dallas Opera/SMU Emerging Artist Program. Her most recent role at SMU was Euridice, the female lead in the Meadows Opera Theatre’s production of Orpheus in the Underworld.
She credits voice teacher Dale Dietert and Director of Opera Hank Hammett for her growth as an artist at SMU. “With their guidance and support, I certainly feel like I’m ready to take on whatever comes my way in the future,” she says.
Last year Donasco received the first Ben K. Howard Award of Excellence in Opera from SMU, placed third in the national Lois Alba Aria Competition and was a finalist in the national Jensen Foundation Voice Competition.
“Competitions are important because they provide an opportunity for singers to be heard and get feedback from respected leaders in opera today,” she says.
When Brittany Merrill ’06 joined a mission trip to teach in Africa, she never dreamed a 10-minute meeting would change her life.
While in Uganda the summer after her sophomore year at SMU, Merrill briefly met Sarah Kamara, a poor Ugandan mother caring for 24 orphans in her meager home. She was moved by the woman’s selflessness and strength of faith.
Brittany Merrill ’06 and Ugandan women in the Akola Project make handbags.
As Merrill began her junior year, she couldn’t forget Kamara. With support from her family and friends, she founded the Ugandan American Partnership Organization (UAPO). Over the past five years, she has raised more than $2 million, built two orphanages, drilled more than 20 water wells, helped 160 village women earn a living and placed nearly 1,600 Ugandan children on the path toward better lives with steady nutrition, shelter, education and health care.
The University community has played a key role in UAPO’s success – from faculty in journalism and corporate communications and public affairs, who have provided their expertise, to her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, which sponsors a biannual golf tournament and jewelry trunk shows to benefit the charity, Merrill says.
“As a student you don’t think about what being an alumna will be like, but I can’t imagine another school being as encouraging and helpful as SMU has been.”
Since graduating Merrill has lived on two continents, dividing her time between UAPO’s offices in Jinja, Uganda, and her home base in Atlanta. She says her work has challenged her in ways she never imagined possible and has shaped the way she sees the world.
“Human barriers that we put up can be overcome,” she says. “That’s a lesson I can apply to all of life’s circumstances.”
In 2007 UAPO started the Akola Project for widows in rural villages. To date, 160 women in eastern and northern Uganda have learned to make and sell beaded necklaces. The project has generated more than $200,000 in revenue for the craftswomen.
In January Merrill stepped down as executive director and is now pursuing graduate studies at Fuller Theological School in Pasadena, California. She still serves on the UAPO board of directors as founder and president and continues her development role on a part-time basis. – Cherri Gann
Faye Bunch Field joined the First United Methodist Church of Longview (TX) 64 years ago. She was honored for her service at a church reception April 18, 2010.
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Charles O. Galvin is designated tax attorney for the year by the tax section of the State Bar of Texas Dr. Arvel Edwin Haley and Charlotte Ware dated at SMU in the 1930s and on August 21, 2010, celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Their four sons graduated from SMU and like their dad, UT Southwestern Medical School. They are Dr. John Marshall Haley ’64, Dr. Robert Ware Haley ’67, Dr. Steven A. Haley ’69 and Dr. Charles Edwin Haley ’71.
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Vivian Anderson Castleberry was honored last summer by Women’s eNews as one of 21 leaders for the 21st century dedicated to improving women’s lives. While at the Dallas Times Herald from 1956 to 1984, she mentored female journalists and after retiring was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame. She launched the nonprofit Peacemakers Incorporated in 1987, which sponsors international women’s conferences on peace, and co-founded the Family Place, the first women’s shelter in Dallas. The Press Club of Dallas honored her with its Buck Marryat Award for a lifetime of outstanding contributions.
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Kenneth E. Kouri enjoys reading about SMU sports and progress.
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Francine Burris Blackwell is retired in Naples, FL, and enjoys playing golf.
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Joanne Martin McClaskey is active in a retirement community. Dr. A. Rodney (Rod) Nurse (M.A. ’50) is the 2009-10 president of the American Board of Couple and Family Psychology, responsible for board certification examinations. He is a life fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality Assessment. His book, Family Assessment (Wiley, 1999), is being translated into the Persian language Farsi. He lives and practices in Orinda, CA. Kathryn Coke Rienhoff spent seven weeks in Africa for the ninth time last winter and in October 2010 visited Saudi Arabia.
Boyd V. Baker (M.Th. ’61) retired in 1992 as a United Methodist minister. He is pastor emeritus for care and prayer at Grace Fellowship United Methodist Church in Katy, TX.
Dr. Nelson A. Lloyd (M.S. ’51) is retired after 20 years as Alabama state geochemist. He and his wife, Ruth, traveled by RV through 49 states and nine Canadian provinces. As a scoutmaster for 20 years, he guided more than 60 scouts to Eagle rank. Bernedette Whitehead Montuori wrote and published One Whitehead Family, the Whitehead family history and genealogy.
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Robert Hyer Thomas (J.D. ’57) was named to The Best Lawyers in America for 2011. He is a partner in litigation in the Dallas office of Strasburger & Price LLP.
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Robert Scoggin was honored with a 10-year service award as a volunteer at the Rochester (MN) Mayo Clinic, and he received the mayor’s Medal of Honor for artistic and cultural achievement in Rochester for 47 years.
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Bruce Baldwin Mohs, known as “The Amazing Mr. Mohs,” is an inventor, entrepreneur, patents owner, pilot, adventurer and motor vehicle manufacturer. At age 78 he has a current U.S. patent pending and has completed the draft for his fifth book about humorous events in his aviation career. His third book is The Amazing Mr. Mohs: An AUTO-Auto Biography Encapsulating a 50-Year Career in American Free Enterprise (Mohs Seaplane Corporation, 1984). In July 2009 he was installed as a life member of the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame. He no longer manufactures motor vehicles in his three factory buildings but restores antique vehicles. He has never missed an SMU reunion and looks forward to his 55th.
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Dr. Haley Kent Beasley (B.A. ’58) has been named clinical professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas. He teaches clinical cardiology to engineering students in the field of cardiovascular engineering and continues his private practice of clinical cardiology and internal medicine in Austin.
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Joan C. Mulcahy has started a lecture series at her senior apartment complex with speakers such as a local television reporter and an international FBI agent. She tutors, does research and enjoys bluegrass.
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Donna Dean Clark Hutcherson was presented the Woodrow Seals Laity Award last March by The United Methodist Church. David Wilemon (M.B.A. ’60) retired from the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University Jan. 15, 2010, where he was the Snyder Professor of Innovation Management and co-founder of the Innovation Management Program and the Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises Program. He lives on a farm with his wife, the former Jane Clement ’61.
Stanley Abramson introduced Swallowaid through his company, National Consumer Products Inc. It became available last November without prescription to ease the swallowing of oral medications.
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Elizabeth Drake Watson and John M. Watson celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last July. She is the daughter of Jean Drake ’53, ’69 and the late Jerry Drake, former chair of the Marketing Department at SMU. The Watsons’ grandson is Ryan Case ’10.
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D’Ann Dublin Riemer retired from Bank of America as a senior vice president in human relations after a 48-year career. She works on the women’s leadership team at her church, coaches fitness walking and mentors mothers of preschoolers. She and her husband of 37 years live in Dallas and have three children and one granddaughter.
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James Martin Hoggard was a finalist for a 2009 literary award from the Texas Institute of Letters. His submission for the Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Poetry was Triangles of Light: The Edward Hopper Poems (Wings Press). Ralph Shanks received a national award for the 2009-10 school year at last summer’s biennial convention of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity in Phoenix. He took first place honors for service to an undergraduate chapter other than as a chapter advisor.
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Larry Faulkner was president of The University of Texas at Austin from April 1998 through January 2006. The University’s nanoscience building has been named the Larry R. Faulkner Nano Science and Technology Building by the UT System board of regents in recognition of his leadership in bringing the university’s nanotechnology program to national prominence. Carl Sewell was honored at the May 2010 meeting of the SMU Board of Trustees with a resolution recognizing his leadership of University advancements during his four-year term as board chair. He remains a board member, co-chairing the trusteeship committee and serving on committees for academic policies and planning, athletics and executive/personnel/compensation. He is chair of Sewell Automotive Companies and a national leader in the automotive industry.
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Sam Burford accepted the 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award from Highland Park (TX) High School Alumni Association at a dinner April 30. He is of counsel at the law firm Thompson and Knight. Jack M. Kinnebrew (LL.M. ’73) was named to The Best Lawyers in America for 2011. He is of counsel at Strasburger & Price LLP. Marc H. Richman (J.D. ’70) hooded his daughter, Alisa Richman ’10, on her graduation from SMU Dedman School of Law May 15, 2010. His father, Victor William Richman ’47, hooded him on his graduation in 1970.
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James A. (Jim) Mounger received the 2010 Guardian Angel Award last June from Project Lazarus, the residential facility in New Orleans for people living with HIV and AIDS, for giving his time, talents, financial resources and leadership on behalf of those in the HIV and AIDS community. He is a real estate attorney and native of Rayville, LA. William W. (Bill) Reynolds retired in March 2010 as executive vice president of R.W. Beck Inc. He lives in Sarasota, FL. Byron Stuckey joined the full-time faculty at Dallas Baptist University as nonprofit M.B.A. specialist and assistant professor of business. In November 2007 he retired as executive director and chief executive officer of Bill Glass Champions for Life Ministry, where he was named Outstanding Business Adjunct in 2006.
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Frank L. Branson (LL.M. ’74) accepted the Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year award Oct. 14, 2010, from the Dallas Bar Association. Mary M. Brinegar has been president and chief executive officer of the Dallas Arboretum since 1996. Jack R. Dugan was named to The Best Lawyers in America for 2011. He is of counsel at the Dallas office of Strasburger & Price LLP. Albon Head (J.D. ’71) received the 2010 Law “Good Scout” Award from the Longhorn Council of Boy Scouts of America in Fort Worth, where he is a partner in the Jackson Walker law firm.
Tim Horan is a Houston real estate attorney and recipient of the NFL Community Quarterback Award by the Houston Texans and the United Way of Greater Houston for leadership, dedication and commitment to improving his community. Ben Shepperd (B.B.A. ’75) has published a novel, Wild Goose Moon – A Story of Love, Death, God, Sex and 1968, the story of events in the life of a sophomore at a conservative university in Dallas against the backdrop of the volatile year in America and the world.
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Marianne Brems co-authored English for Child Care: Language Skills for Parents and Providers (Sunburst Media, 2010) for adults who care for children.
Dr. Carlos Davis is a psychologist in private practice in Dallas, director of a psychiatric research foundation and published author of Never Learn to Milk a Cow. He and his wife, Jane, are parents of Christin Sawyer and Carlos Eugene. Lynn Massingill has retired to Sulphur Springs, TX, after a 30-year career as production stage manager/lighting and scenic designer for the professional theatre and manager of over 2,000 performances in summer stock, dinner theatre and Broadway.
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Kelly Newton was elected to the International Board of the American Gem Society at the annual meeting in Boston last April. The Society promotes consumer protection, gemological education and ethical business practices in the jewelry industry. Chuck Paul started a business in 1994, A Closer Look Inc., for mystery shoppers.
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Phillip Virden was invited to join Teach for America and in summer 2010 began teaching high school English in the Mississippi Delta.
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Stephen B. Kinslow is president/chief executive officer of the Austin Community College District. He announced last June that he will retire in June 2011 after six years as president and 34 years of service to ACC. He was previously with the Dallas County Community College District and a public school teacher in Big Spring, TX.
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Bill Bowers is a partner in the tax practice group at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP in Dallas. He was recently elected to the American College of Tax Counsel based on reputation and demonstrated achievement in lecturing, writing, teaching and bar activities in the tax field. Ginger Henry Geyer (M.F.A. ’78) was deputy director of the Dallas Museum of Art before moving to Austin to start a career in porcelain art. Last spring she had two simultaneous art exhibits in Dallas at The MAC/McKinney Avenue Contemporary and Valley House Gallery. Her sister is the Rev. Wendy Henry Fenn ’03, and her brother-in-law is Douglas S. (Doug) Fenn ’73. Diane Irwin Harris has moved back to Dallas and hopes to reconnect with SMU friends. Angelina B. Treviño recently retired from Austin ISD as an elementary school principal.
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Duncan L. Clore is a partner at Strasburger & Price LLP in Dallas named to the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Tracy Daugherty was a finalist for a 2009 literary award from the Texas Institute of Letters. For the Carr P. Collins Award for Nonfiction he submitted Hiding Man: A Biography of Donald Barthelme (St. Martin’s Press) about his former teacher – short story author and novelist Barthelme.
Dr. Frances Levine (Ph.D. ’80) became director of New Mexico’s Palace of the Governors in 2002. She guided its expansion into the largest and most modern museum in the state, the New Mexico History Museum, which opened in May 2009 and serves as the anchor of a campus that encompasses the Palace of the Governors. In recognition of Dr. Levine’s accomplishments, the Institute of Museum and Library Services gave the museum funds to produce history videos, and she was awarded a spot in the Getty Museum Leadership Institute’s summer program. Geary Reamey (LL.M. ’82) received the Culture Medal of Honor last summer from the city of Innsbruck, Austria, for his role as co-founder and director of St. Mary’s Institute on World Legal Problems, an annual summer study program in international law conducted by St. Mary’s University School of Law with the University of Innsbruck. Elizabeth (Libby) Pedrick Sartain is on the board of directors of Manpower Inc. and Peet’s Coffee and Tea. She and her husband, David, live on a ranch near Bastrop, TX.
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Chris Abood is manager of employee and community partnerships for Cleveland Clinic. Brian Cobble spent five years creating the pastel landscapes for his fifth exhibition at Dallas’ Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden May 21-July 3, 2010. Dirk W. Johnston was recognized by the Texas Association of Broadcasters as Associate of the Year at their annual convention in Austin last August. Pamela J. Brown Wright has owned a visual design firm for the last 25 years. Recipient of multiple design awards, she was recognized in Who’s Who in American Self-Employed Women in Business.
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T.A. Taylor appeared in Cymbeline at Shakespeare Dallas last summer.
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Susan Williams Avant was one of 55 from Central Texas selected for Leadership Austin’ 2010 Essential Class. She is involved with numerous nonprofits and is in her 20th year of selling real estate in Austin.
Martin W. Burrell has served as assistant vice president of minority business for Dallas Area Rapid Transit Systems, developing and implementing the Disadvantaged Minority and Women Business Enterprises program, and as vice president of minority affairs for the American Airlines Center in Dallas, where he initiated a comprehensive Minority and Women Businesses program.
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Rene Moreno (M.F.A. ’01) is an artistic associate for Shakespeare Dallas and director of last summer’s production of Cymbeline. J. Allen Smith is a Dallas attorney elected to the board of directors of the Texas Historical Foundation, which funds preservation and education projects and helps promote the cultural legacy of Texas. He is president of SettlePou and chair of the firm’s commercial litigation practice. Sally-Page Stuck had a role in last summer’s Shakespeare Dallas production Cymbeline.
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Candice Burgess Nancel went to Paris in 1988 on behalf of the Dallas Market Center. On May 25, 2010, at the American Embassy in Paris, she was decorated by the French government with the Légion d’Honneur to recognize her years of work and activity in the area of Franco-American relations. Especially noteworthy is her submersion in the nine-year restoration of the Hôtel de Talleyrand, the U.S. Embassy annex that houses the permanent exhibit of the Marshall Plan, the American plan for Europe’s post-WWII reconstruction. She is now cultural heritage manager responsible for the State Department’s collection of art, antiques and historic decorations located in the embassy buildings in France.
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Kyle Bagwell received the Dedman College Distinguished Graduate Award. He is the Donald L. Lucas Professor of Economics at Stanford University, a fellow of the Econometric Society, co-author of The Economics of the World Trading System, a senior fellow of the Stanford Center for International Development, a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research and a reporter for the American Law Institute project on principles of trade law. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford in 1986. Richard Heard is a lyric tenor who received the silver medal in the 2009 American Traditions Vocal Competition in Savannah, GA. He is professor of music at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.
The Rev. Dr. Sheron Covington Patterson (M.Div. ’89, D.Min. ’96) was named director of communications for the North Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church effective July 1, 2010, to oversee internal and external operations of the 310 United Methodist congregations in the northern Texas region. Hector Reyes is technical director and chief technologist for Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems in Richardson, TX. He was honored at the 2009 national conference of Great Minds in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has devoted his career to helping U.S. soldiers “see” farther, clearer and with a wider field of view using electro optics.
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Joe Drape is a reporter for The New York Times who has published a third book, Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen (St. Martin’s Griffin Press), described as “an inspiring story about how a coach and a community are building young men with the simple values of love, patience and hard work.” Doyle Glass is the author of Lions of Medina: The Marines of Charlie Company and Their Brotherhood of Valor (Coleche Press, 2007 and Penguin, 2008), a true story of a Marine company in 1967 Vietnam told from their viewpoint. He is working on a book about the Marines of Kilo 3/5 in Fallujah.
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Linda Beheler is one of 79 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to earn the designation of Accreditation in Public Relations. David Swanson launched a national media ministry, The Well, broadcast Sundays on church television and released his first book, Vital Signs: Discovering Abundant Life in Christ.
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Bruce Connelly was promoted to vice president of sport performance footwear at Nike Inc., where he is in his 23rd year. Todd W. Gautier was appointed president of New York-based L-3 Communications’ precision engagement sector, which provides products and services including unmanned, global positioning and inertial navigation systems. He has more than 20 years of defense and aerospace leadership and program management experience. He was a strike/fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy and later flew for United Airlines. Michael Hudak joined Merrill Lynch in 2002. He is a private wealth advisor in the Phoenix office recently named to Barron’s list of America’s Top 1,000 Advisors: State-by-State. He lives in Scottsdale with his wife and four children. Kevin Jackson left management consulting for a career as an entertainer, using satire and humor to discuss American politics. He is author of The BIG Black Lie, writer of a political blog, host of a radio show and a nationally known speaker.
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Jennifer Conrad was named director of healthcare business development at Corgan, a U.S.-based architectural and interior design firm. She lives in Dallas. Christina DeLaGarza-Perron and her pastor husband, Mike, are planning a church in Addison, TX. Summit Life Church will be all about adventures. Kurt Kroese won the 2010 Arizona State Masters Criterium Championship. He is a member of GST Racing based in Tucson, AZ, where he practices law at Biaggi & Kroese PLLC. Keith Todd is dean of admission at Reed College in Portland, OR. The previous three years he was director of admission at Rice University in Houston. Edward F. Valdespino is a real estate law attorney at the San Antonio office of Strasburger & Price LLP named in The Best Lawyers in America for 2011.
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Darlene Doxey Ellison garnered the top
prize for autobiography in the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for The Predator Next Door. She is a national keynote speaker/trainer on child abuse/family violence prevention, overcoming obstacles and empowering professional women. She lives in Dallas with her husband, Scott, and two teenage children. Elizabeth (Liz) Lawless recently published her third book, Western Legends: Yesterday & Today – African Americans 1798 to 2009, stories about black frontiersmen, pioneer women, buffalo soldiers, cowboys, cowgirls, horse trainers, lawmen and more. Wild West Diversity is a brand of Liz Lawless Creations Inc. Zeenat Kassam Mitha is founder and president of Sweetwater Specialty Consulting LLC and an adjunct professor at the University of Houston. John O’Reilly was a candidate for city treasurer in Carlsbad, CA. Denys Slater has launched 18 Web sites over the past 11 years.
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Jeffrey Bean is in his 15th season as an Alley Company artist and has appeared in 100 Alley productions since 1989. Last July he played Detective Sergeant Trotter in the Houston Alley Theatre production The Mousetrap. Daniel L. Butcher is a partner at the Dallas office of Strasburger & Price LLP named to the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Sonia Ytuarte Nasser was appointed chief operating officer of Ceres Associates Gulf in the United Arab Emirates. She is a technical expert in solid waste strategic planning and engineering for municipalities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. She lives with her husband, Mohamad, and daughters Sara and Samar in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Edward (Scott) Vokoun is a U.S. Navy commander with 20 years of active service in Afghanistan as an anesthesiologist with a trauma surgery team. His wife, Kelly, gave birth to their third child, Jack, in August. They live in North Carolina.
Susanna Hickman Bartee is the co-author with her father of the political novel Average Joe: The Story of an Unlikely Candidate (Tate, 2010). Tania Cordobés (M.M.T. ’96) released her third CD, a Latin fusion of original contemporary Spanish and English songs. Melissa Stephens Gaha owns a PR firm in Australia and is currently working with the United Nations on small country development. She is married and has two children: Caleb, 9, and Tessa, 7. Eddie Hale is a partner with Chad Costas ’93, ’99, John McFarland ’96 and Brett Dougall ’98 in the three-year-old Black Lab Creative, a Dallas-based full service, award-winning marketing and advertising agency, which helps its clients build brand awareness and drive business through strategically based, unique creative solutions. Gary H. Jacobs is an international business manager for Bell Helicopter, specializing in business in Asia. He and his wife, Ann, live in Lewisville, TX, with their two dachshunds. Frank A. McGrew IV joined investment bank Morgan Keegan as head of industrial investment banking on a global basis. He will remain in Nashville with his wife and two daughters, ages 5 and 7. Jeffrey E. Shokler received a 2010 Norman Bassett Award for Outstanding Achievement in Student Services from the Student Personnel Association at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is associate director of the College of Letters and Sciences Honors Program. Leah Stech married Greg Eknoyan in 1993. They live in Houston with their children, Sarah, 9, and Will, 7. She volunteers at her children’s elementary school and St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.
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Kimberly Grigsby was music supervisor for the production It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman at the Wyly Theatre in Dallas June 18-July 25, 2010. Chris Hury had a lead role in the play Cymbeline at last summer’s Shakespeare Dallas. Ted Richards has a new book, Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (Open Court Publishing), a collection of 31 essays by an international group of authors about the game they love. He teaches in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee.
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E. F. (Mano) DeAyala is a new partner in the Houston-based law firm Buck Keenan LLP, focusing on business and commercial litigation and arbitration. Lawrence Grimm has a practice, Premier Sports Chiropractic, in Dallas. Jeffrey D. (Jeff) Smith has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of the Lancaster, PA-based High Industries Inc. effective April 1, 2010. He will provide leadership and direction to High Steel Structures Inc., High Concrete Group LLC and High Steel Service Center LLC.
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Hilaree Casada (J.D. ’00) joined Dallas-based Cowles & Thompson as a senior attorney in the appellate practice group. She has been recognized as a Texas Rising Star in Texas Monthly magazine each year since 2005 and was recently named in D magazine as one of the Best Women Lawyers in Dallas for 2010. Chad Costas (M.B.A. ’99) is a founding partner of Black Lab Creative, a marketing and advertising agency awarded a bronze ADDY by the Dallas Ad League for the design and development of the 2009-10 Baylor Health Care System Foundation Annual Fund campaign. Other partners are Eddie Hale ’90, John McFarland ’96 and Brett Dougall ’98. Bryan Daley lives in Lexington, KY, with his wife, Shari Beth, and daughter Sophie, 1. He is in private practice as a personal injury attorney with Bryan Begley Daley PLLC and serves at Quest Community Church in his free time. Randy Flores is an attorney in Corpus Christi, TX. He has two children: Mia, 5, and Zachary, 6. Michael A. Greenberg earned a Ph.D. in political science from The University of Texas at Dallas in May 2010. He is project management director at RealPage and lives in Dallas with his wife, Katie, and daughter Isabelle.
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Tiffany Dessert married Edward (Skip) Austin Guthrie III in Houston March 13, 2010. After honeymooning in Spain and Italy, they returned to Houston, where she is a senior project manager at Plains All American Pipeline LP. Dr. Ronald D. (Ron) Henderson is in his fourth year as senior pastor at Custer Road United Methodist Church in Plano, TX. The city’s mayor proclaimed June 27, 2010, Dr. Ronald D. Henderson Day in recognition of the positive impact the church has had on the community under Dr. Henderson’s vision and guidance. Jerry Ward and his wife, Sandra Beltran, are owners of the Ikal 1150 winery in Argentina. The first vintage of the Ikal 1150 Malbec 2007 took a silver medal last April in the prestigious Dallas Morning News wine competition from among 3,000 entries, and their Ikal 1150 Torrontes 2008 won bronze. Last spring they showcased their wine at California restaurants, wine bars and upscale venues, scheduling wine dinners and tastings from Los Angeles to San Diego. The couple and their daughter live in Houston.
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Julie Fort has been recognized among the Top 50 Women in Business by McKinney Living Magazine, and she was listed in D magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas in Land Use and Environment. She is a partner at Strasburger & Price LLP. Gavin Harris and his wife, Lisa, of Atlanta announce the birth of Graham Michael Jan. 14, 2010; their daughter is Claire. Joel M. Price is choral director at Westwood Junior High School and the 2005 Secondary Teacher of the Year for the Richardson (TX) Independent School District. He will conduct the 2011 Mississippi Junior High All-State Choir. Kristin Trahan Winford was a finalist in the M&A Advisor’s Top 40 Under 40 awards. She is a managing director at Mesirow Financial Consulting and will graduate in December with an M.B.A. from Arizona State University. She lives in Scottsdale with her husband, Craig, and their sons, Jackson, 8, and Dylan, 6.
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Shannon Dill Fischer and her husband, Cristian, celebrated their first wedding anniversary Aug. 15, 2010, and are expecting a son in December. Suzy Rossol Matheson accepted the Exceptional Service Award from the American Dance Therapy Association at the 45th annual conference in New York Sept. 24, 2010, for contributions to the profession of dance/movement therapy and to the association. John McFarland is one of four SMU alumni-partners in Dallas-based Black Lab Creative, a full service, award-winning marketing and advertising agency celebrating three years in business. Other partners are Eddie Hale ’90, Chad Costas ’93, ’99 and Brett Dougall ’98. Mike McInnis announces the birth of his third son, Nathan John, March 6, 2010. In May Mike closed his medical practice to become director of production at Doctors in Training, a medical education company based in Fort Worth. Nefeterius Akeli McPherson (J.D. ’08) is senior media affairs liaison/spokeswoman for U.S. Ambassador Ron Kirk in Washington, DC Julie Meyers Pron is owner/editor of Just-Precious.com, founded in October 2009. She is a freelance writer, former elementary school teacher, professional journalist and marketing and PR representative. She lives in the West Chester area of Pennsylvania with her husband and three children.
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Emily Hughes Armour and her husband, John Armour ’96, welcomed their first child, Rowan Elizabeth, April 22, 2010. Wendy Arthurs was elected precinct committeewoman in Gallatin County, MT, on the primary ballot. Josh Gregory coached the men’s golf team at Augusta State to the NCAA golf championship title, beating Oklahoma State. Jennifer Greene Kinser and Scot Kinser ’98 announce the birth of their second child, Megan Elaine, Nov. 28, 2009. Cooper Smith Koch and his partner, Todd Koch, adopted a son, Mason, and a daughter, Claire, both 1. Cooper is principal of the Dallas PR firm Cooper Smith Agency. Eve Hallock Rullo has two sons: Grayson, born June 29, 2009, and Luke. Christine Bittel Skiles announces the birth of Campbell Elizabeth March 15, 2010. Her sons are Michael Raymond and Matthew Kevyn. Kelley Beirne Stephens and her husband, Harry Earl (Steve) Stephens Jr. ’92, welcomed daughter Quincy Kathleen March 23, 2010.
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Erin Devins married Todd Pruetz in 2001. They live in San Antonio with their son, 7, and twin daughters, 4. Brett Dougall is a partner in Black Lab Creative, a Dallas marketing and advertising agency built by four SMU alumni. Other partners are Eddie Hale ’90, Chad Costas ’93, ’99 and John McFarland ’96. Benjamin Lavine is co-owner of Stone Acorn Builders LP in Houston, focusing on new construction in-fill projects in Bellaire, West University and urban Houston. In August 2009 Stone Acorn Builders was selected by Southern Living Magazine to be a part of the exclusive Southern Living Custom Builder Program. David Ovard, a business litigation attorney at Strasburger & Price LLP, is a 2010 Texas Rising Star in the April issue of Texas Monthly magazine. Gabe Reed hosted Lady Gaga and Motley Crüe’s Vince Neil at the KISS concert in Holmdel, NJ. He will promote South American tours for the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb in December 2010 and Motley Crüe in 2011. Rhonda Nicole (Buni) Tankerson released her debut EP Nuda Veritas in early 2010. Jennifer Clark Tobin (J.D. ’01) received the 2009-10 Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the annual Law Day luncheon sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association. John Willding joined Strasburger & Price LLP as a partner in the corporate and securities practice group. He was previously with the firm Haynes and Boone LLP. Nancy Williams is assistant district attorney in Johnson County, TX. Nichole L. Wright is president of Bon Vivant Events LLC. After 10 years in New York City, she returned to Austin a year ago, where she planned the Fashion in Flight runway fashion show and charity benefit for Austin Pets Alive held Aug. 19, 2010.
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Brian Corrigan opened a solo criminal law practice in Rockwall and Dallas last May after 10 years as a prosecutor. He and his wife, Sarah, live in Heath, TX, with their daughters, Campbell and Bailey. Niels G. Jensen and his wife, Katherine Bilowus Jensen ’00, announce the birth of their son, Erik Christian, June 15, 2010. They live in Nassau, The Bahamas, where Niels is director of The Clipper Group, an international shipping consortium. He recently celebrated 11 years with Clipper and has been named to the group’s board of directors. Robert Kehr married Christine Frye May 1, 2010, in Fresno, CA. He is director of product management at Gemini Mobile Technologies. Jadd Masso has been named a 2010 Texas Rising Star by Texas Monthly magazine. He is a business litigation attorney at Strasburger & Price LLP in Dallas. Aimee Williams Moore is a litigation attorney at Sayles Werbner named to The Best Women Lawyers in Dallas 2010. Previously she was recognized in D magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas and in Texas Monthly’s Texas Rising Stars.
Kenta Asakura received her Master of Social Work degree from Smith College in 2004. She practiced psychotherapy in
Seattle, specializing in LGBTQ youth and families, and started doctoral studies in social work at the University of Toronto in the fall. Emily Michelle Blue competed in the 2010 Texas Plus America pageant May 30, 2010, and received a special crowning as Texas Plus America Ambassador 2010. In July she competed in the Miss Plus America pageant in Monroe, LA, and currently promotes wellness and nutrition as spokesperson for the Texas Plus America pageant. Katy Bennett Little and her husband, Todd, celebrated the birth of their first child, Caden Claire, in April 2010. Allison Mooney joined the National Council on Aging in August as campaign manager of the Atlantic Philanthropies Elder Voices for Economic Security Advocacy Initiative.
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Kevin F. Bruce is a government relations advisor at Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. in Dallas. Previously he was an attorney at Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith in New Orleans. Walter J. Buzzetta and his wife, Monica, welcomed their first child, Alexis Riley, May 16, 2010. Bernard M. Jones is dean of admission at Oklahoma City University School of Law. Last spring he was named chair of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Leadership Committee for Oklahoma and in 2009 was recognized by the Journal Record as one of Oklahoma’s Achievers Under 40. David Malcolm was accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program at Campbell University in Buies Creek, NC. He currently serves as a U.S. Army chaplain at Ft. Bragg, NC. David Ninh is an account executive and publicist at PMK-BNC in New York, an entertainment and talent agency working with celebrity clientele and high profile brands. Teneese Kalesha Thomas married Damon A. Williams May 29, 2010, in Jacksonville, FL, where they live following a honeymoon to Grand Turk and the Bahamas.
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Jessica Carroll played Amelia Ainsley in the world premiere of Auctioning the Ainsleys last summer at Theatreworks in Palo Alto, CA. She is engaged to Brandon Hemmig of San Jose. Sonya Cole-Hamilton earned a second Master’s degree, this one in education administration, May 15, 2010, from Lamar University. She passed the Texas state exam and received her principal’s certification. Erik Grohmann is a business litigation attorney at Strasburger & Price LLP recognized by Texas Monthly magazine as a 2010 Texas Rising Star. Joseph Medlin and his wife, Galyn, welcomed daughter Kayla Christine last February. He is manager of employee communication at Dart Entities in Los Angeles. Daria Neidre earned a Master of Arts degree in clinical exercise physiology from The University of Texas at Austin and is a doctoral candidate for December 2010 graduation. Her research focuses on autologous adult stem cells that are isolated from various tissues in the body and their use and applications clinically in the orthopaedic field, with a specialty in spinal fusions. Kimberly Pasca Nyhus is an event producer at High Noon Entertainment in Denver for the television show Food Network Challenge. She and her husband, Dustin, welcomed twin boys Liam and Landon March 4, 2010. Chris Weaver and his wife, Allison, announce the birth of their first child, Andrew Charles, May 2, 2010. Chris has won two Emmy awards as associate producer at NFL Films.
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Dodee Frost Crockett is a Merrill Lynch financial advisor in Dallas recognized for the fourth consecutive time on Barron’s list of America’s Top 100 Women Financial Advisors in the June 7, 2010, issue. John Foley has joined Austin Industries in Dallas as vice president of human resources. He is a global human resources executive with more than 25 years of experience in the high tech and manufacturing industries. James M. Hays II graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School and will clerk in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York before joining the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as corporate associate. Brandon Hicks and Heidi Hicks ’05, ’ 06 welcomed a daughter, Katherine Eleanor, July 14, 2010. Ed Igrisan was recently promoted to vice president of distribution for the western U.S. and Canada for Henry Schein Inc., the largest distributor of health care products and services to office-based practitioners. He joined the company in 2002. Korey Kent was a stage manager at Shakespeare Dallas 2010. Carl Pankratz (J.D. ’06) chairs Texas Ballet Theater’s 2010 Leadership Ballet Class. He is senior vice president/legal counsel of Capital Title of Texas LLC, serves on the city of Rowlett (TX) Board of Adjustment and is vice president of the board of directors for the Rockwall County Boys and Girls Club. Aaron Roberts appeared in last summer’s Shakespeare Dallas production Comedy of Errors. Evan Shaver and his wife, Courtney Fox Shaver ’04, announce the birth of Campbell Virginia July 3, 2010.
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Jane K. Daniels Anabe and her husband welcomed a son, Isaac, Feb. 4, 2010. Raymon D. Fullerton completed his fourth year conducting a four-week writing workshop for GED students at the Community Enrichment Center in Fort Worth, and last June he and his wife, Lindy, sponsored a weeklong camp in New Mexico for high school students. He is exploring mediation opportunities and adjunct faculty options in New Orleans. Elizabeth Nabholtz married Justin G. Allen Feb. 8, 2010. Brian Normoyle played Sagot in a Los Angeles production of Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile and completed a Palm Springs run of The Little Dog Laughed. Carah Ronan earned an M.F.A. degree in science and natural history filmmaking in December 2007. Two of her documentaries have played nationally: Before There Were Parks and a film on Korean grandmothers, Forced into Comfort, Fighting for Apology.
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H. Bentsen Falb received an M.B.A. in finance May 17, 2010, from Wake Forest Schools of Business, graduating with honors and academic distinction in the top nine in his class. In August he began work as a financial analyst at Exxon/Mobil in Houston. Robin Gray-Reed married Diane Gray in 2008. Robin teaches childbirth education classes and works as a labor support professional, lactation consultant and midwives’ assistant in Santa Barbara, CA. Ryan Lamb celebrated his first-year anniversary in San Francisco and the wine country. Melinda M. Lim moved to Houston two years ago to work in the oil and gas industry. Ric Lorilla works for Tenaris, an oil and gas company in Houston. Megan Masoner recently launched reFINE-style.com, an auction site for high-end fashion consignment with a national reach. She spent 10 years as an executive at EDS running global recruitment before starting her new business. Valerie Phillips joined the political consulting and corporate affairs firm Casteel, Erwin & Associates as account manager based in Austin. Kara Torvik appeared in Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare Dallas 2010. Catherine Bryan Tunks is director of social services and activities at C.C. Young Memorial Home, a Dallas retirement community. Courtney Underwood has developed two programs to assist rape victims: Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) and Dallas Area Rape Crisis Center (DARCC).
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Brandon Blaise Brown started the Brangeta Design Group, a sole proprietorship in Dallas offering graphic, packaging, print, advertising and Web design. He has provided design services to SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering since January 2006. Rupal Dalal received a $10,000 scholarship from the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation at a ceremony in San Antonio Nov. 8, 2010, to apply toward her M.B.A. degree from SMU. Chip Hiemenz left his SMU position last June working with young alumni to pursue his Master’s degree in business administration at Washington University’s Olin School of Business in St. Louis. Jean Grumbles Irving and Thomas Daniel Irving ’04 announce the birth of twins Emma Grace and Hannah Claire July 6, 2010. Raul Magdaleno is special assistant to the dean and assistant director of diversity and outreach engagement at Meadows School of the Arts at SMU. He began volunteering in his community at age 13, mentoring young children at the local learning center and helping women and children who were victims of domestic abuse, as his family had been. He worked with the Dallas police in a youth program and promoted education at elementary schools. In 2002 he received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian service award from Congress, for his efforts to help the victims of domestic violence. Michael O’Keefe exhibited his sculpture and drawings, Lady Classical, Mother Metamorphosis, and Other Holy Fables, at Valley House Gallery in Dallas last April 9-May 15. He also has exhibited at Gallery 718 in Brooklyn, NY, the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery at Haverford College, Haverford, PA, and The McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas. A. Sunshine Prior won a Fulbright fellowship to New Zealand to study and conduct research at Victoria University of Wellington, where she works with the Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research. Her goal is to become a mental health counselor and advocate for the deaf.
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Catalina Aguirre and Zac Simmonds ’05 were married June 26, 2010, at Perkins Chapel. She is an orchestra director for Frisco (TX) ISD, and Zac is a football coach at Trinity Christian Academy. They live in Dallas. Lauren Cook married Christopher Brooks in Perkins Chapel Dec. 19, 2009. She teaches Latin and coaches cheerleaders at a private school, and he is finishing his medical doctorate with Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. They live in San Antonio with their cat and two dogs. Pavielle Chriss was promoted to assistant director of student success programs at SMU, where she will coordinate academic support services and resources for students in the Mustang Scholars and Fall Academic Bridge Programs. She was previously senior admission counselor and coordinator of diversity initiatives. Jeff Hale is the assistant football coach at Highland Park (TX) High School. He lives in Dallas with his wife, Marsha, and daughters Casey and Kathryn. Michael Tarwater received his M.B.A. in sports marketing and management from The University of North Carolina-Charlotte in 2009 and is a second-year law student at The Charlotte School of Law.
08
Katie Dean was the media librarian, closed captioner and assistant editor of the television show Gator 911, which aired nationally on the CMT network last spring. Lanie DeLay had the inaugural exhibition last August at the Reading Room, a new project space in Dallas. Double Trouble featured finely drawn and laser-printed self portraits and portraits of friends. She is working toward an M.F.A. degree at the School of Visual Art in New York. Michelle Gonzales Pierce and Alan Randall Pierce announce the birth of daughter Isabella Marie Dec. 27, 2009. Christopher Smith is a new associate in the intellectual property litigation group at global law firm Fish & Richardson. Previously he was a global commodity quality manager at Dell and a development engineer.
09
Brian Badillo is a sales representative at Etheridge Printing Company in Dallas. He enjoys time with his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Olivia Kasia, and bowls competitively in league and tournaments. Meg Bell (a.k.a. Meg Frances) will have her first book published by Desperanto in spring 2011. FFing: Poetic Psychosexual Landscapes and Power Struggles is a poetry and prose collection based on her high school and college years. Ben Briscoe was named the 2009-10 “Best Reporter” by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters. Elizabeth Carlock launched her own jewelry line, Elizabeth Carlock Designs. She recently traveled to Uganda, Africa, for five weeks, where she partnered with the organization The Akola Project to teach 12 Ugandan women to make jewelry; in turn, the women will teach 150 more Ugandan women so they can sustain themselves and their families and community. Elizabeth plans to visit Uganda twice a year to work on new designs and help the women strengthen their skills. Last summer she marketed the jewelry to U.S. stores with all proceeds going to the Ugandan women. Dan Carrillo Levy formed Creative Capital Funds, a company that funds, allocates and produces several films a year. He returned to Dallas last April to present Sin Ella, his first feature film, at the 2010 Dallas International Film Festival. He is currently executive producer of a short film and preparing to direct two films: an epic and a mockumentary. Ben Manthey was pictured on Princeton University’s Princeton-in-Asia Web site. He is a language student studying abroad in Beijing in his second year as an oral English teacher at China Foreign Affairs University. He also works with the Dandelion School, an institution that educates the children of migrant workers. Morgan Parmet works behind the scenes for NBC Network News in Washington, DC, and describes her work as a “heart-pounding, action-packed thrill.” Callan E. Patterson turned a paper she wrote for an SMU class into a 55-page children’s book, The Girl Who Learned Differently, an autobiographical story written from the perspective of a character who finds she is bright despite learning challenges. Callan has become an advocate for learning differences awareness. Marcus Stimac performed in last summer’s Shakespeare Dallas production Cymbeline. Martin Thornthwaite was named by Texas Monthly magazine a 2010 Texas Rising Star. He is a labor and employment attorney at Strasburger & Price LLP.
10
Juan José de León was chosen one of 38 singers from more than 600 applicants to participate in Glimmerglass Opera’s Young American Artists Program, an internationally recognized apprentice program. During the 2010 festival, he performed in Tosca, understudied two roles in The Marriage of Figaro and sang an individual recital for the public. Ryan Glenn had a role in Cymbeline at the Shakespeare Dallas last summer. Natalie Brown Stephens is in the mission field in the Philippines teaching English at an orphanage.
SMU Young Alumni took a red-hot rivalry – the Iron Skillet – and rustled up Fry the Frogs. The one-minute video, which was posted on SMU’s YouTube channel several weeks before the SMU-TCU game, blends old-school Mustang spirit with up-to-the-minute digital technology.
As the Mustang Band plays the fight song in the background, SMU “stars” explain that national rankings, like the U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges, use alumni gifts as a quantifiable measurement of school pride. President R. Gerald Turner and Head Football Coach June Jones are among those who appear in the humorous, fast-paced film.
“The Young Alumni Board wanted to reach members in a way they communicate,” says YA President Jonathan Childers ’02 ’05, a business litigator with Gruber Hurst, Johansen & Hail, LLP, in Dallas. “We thought this would be an exciting and relevant conduit for engaging our audience.”
The YA Development Committee’s Katy Blakey ’06 sparked the idea during the board’s spring meeting.
“What gets people more motivated than the SMU-TCU game? We started bouncing around ways to use that excitement and came up with the video idea,” she says.
Jonathan Childers
The video is a testament “to the power of the group,” Childers says. Shelby Stanley ’10 shot the core video, and committee chair Thomas Kincaid ’05 and Ryan Trimble ’05 solicited homemade video snippets from alumni across the country. Luke Alvey, president of SMU Student Filmmakers Association in Meadows School of the Arts, edited the footage. From start to finish, it took about a month to produce.
As a first-of-its-kind effort, the video gets rave reviews. Almost 2,500 viewings have been registered on YouTube.
“We’re really excited and impressed by the results,” says Holly Myers ’01, assistant director of Young Alumni and Student Programs in the SMU Office of Alumni Relations. “As of September 23, we had 650 Young Alumni donors, which is 400 more than at the same time last year.”
During Homecoming week SMU presents the Distinguished Alumni Awards, the highest honor bestowed upon graduates, and the Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes an outstanding alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the last 15 years. The 2010 award winners are, from left, attorney George W. Bramblett Jr. ’63, ’66; media executive Stephen Mulholland ’60; filmmaker and community activist Tammy Nguyen Lee ’00 (Emerging Leader); and businessman Gary T. Crum ’69.
That’s a familiar chorus from The Drifters’ classic that was a hit in 1960 when Nancy Peoples Buford graduated from SMU. She and her husband, Bob ’58, took a turn on the dance floor at the Class of 1960’s 50th reunion during Commencement weekend May 14-15. Reunion festivities included campus tours, a luncheon and parties.
Jack Ingram ’93 fired up the Homecoming crowd with a pre-game concert in front of Dallas Hall October 23. The award-winning country music star, who studied psychology in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, served as parade marshal before taking the stage. Despite soggy weather, 1,600 alumni and friends attended festivities during Reunion Weekend October 21-23.
SMU’s Hispanic Alumni Associates (HAA), chaired by Carlos Maldonado ’97, presented its 2010 Adelante Award to Rachel Moon ’93. The annual HAA award recognizes an SMU alumna or alumnus who has made significant contributions to the University and Dallas Latino communities.
Showing off their pony pride are Windy City Mustangs, from left, Katy Elliott ’03, Lisa Lebeck ’07, Siiri Marquardt ’06 and Jaclyn Durr ’07. SMU alumni chapters held “Iron Skillet” watch parties in 14 cities around the country September 24.
SMU advanced to its highest ranking ever among national universities in the 2011 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges. The University’s ranking increased 12 points – from 68 in 2010 to 56 in 201l – among 260 institutions listed as national universities. SMU’s ranking of 56 puts it
in the first tier of institutions included in the “best national universities” category.
The only universities in Texas ranked ahead of SMU in the guide are Rice University and the University of Texas-Austin. Among the factors weighed in determining the rankings are peer assessment, including high school counselor evaluations; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources; student selectivity; financial resources; and alumni giving.
“Their impact on the national rankings is one of the reasons alumni give to SMU. That is showing up in the participation rate, which has increased from 14 to 21 percent in recent years,” says Stacey Paddock, executive director of alumni giving and relations.
The U.S. News rankings group schools based on the categories established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
“Although ranking universities is controversial at best, the recognition given our outstanding students and faculty, small classes, strong graduation rates and committed alumni is gratifying,” says President R. Gerald Turner.
Read about high rankings for Cox School of Business, the Department of Religious Studies in Dedman College, Meadows School of the Arts, Perkins School of Theology and SMU Athletics.
Read why the founding of Southern Methodist University in 1911 ranks as one of the most significant events in the history of Dallas, according to a committee of scholars and experts assembled by The Dallas Morning News as part of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of its founding.
The first-year undergraduate class of 1,479 is the largest in SMU history. The previous high was 1,466 in 1969. Texas students represent 46 percent of the first-year class, which also includes 108 international students from 34 countries. Minority students make up 26.2 percent of the class – an all-time high and an increase from 24 percent in fall 2009 and 20 percent in fall 2008.
The incoming class of 2014 has an average SAT score of 1244, which represents a rise of 77 points in the past 10 years. The rise is attributable to University initiatives and an increase in merit scholarships to attract and retain the best students from the United States and around the world. SMU’s Strategic Plan sets an average-SAT goal between 1275 and 1300 by 2015, the centennial of SMU’s opening.
Of the 10,938 students enrolled for the 2010 fall term, 6,192 are undergraduates and 4,746 are graduate and professional students.
Nearly all of the students in SMU’s first class in 1915 came from Dallas County, but 48 percent of undergraduates now come from outside Texas. In a typical year, students come to SMU from every state and the District of Columbia, from 90 foreign countries and from all races, religions and economic levels. Minority students make up 22.58 percent of the current total student body, which is an all-time high.
A program cover, illustrated by Jerry Bywaters ’26, for a Little Theatre of Dallas production is part of the McCord/Renshaw Collection.
Performing arts history takes center stage in an exhibition that draws from holdings of the Hamon Arts Library located in Meadows School of the Arts. “Hidden Treasures of the Mary McCord/Edyth Renshaw Collection on the Performing Arts” will be on display Jan. 31-May 14, 2011 in the Hawn Gallery at Hamon Arts Library.
The McCord/Renshaw Collection, part of the Jerry Bywaters Special Collections, began as the McCord Theatre Museum at SMU in 1933 and was first located in Dallas Hall. Founded by Department of Speech faculty members, the museum and later McCord Auditorium were named in honor of Mary McCord, the first speech professor at SMU. Although the museum acquired numerous items throughout its 57 years, a complete inventory was never conducted because of a lack of funds and staffing.
The collection is now being processed and many rare and significant items have been discovered. Items that will be featured include a Christmas card from Mae West, a photograph from the original production of Sherlock Holmes at the Garrick Theatre in New York City in 1899, and a program from the original production of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan at the St. James Theatre in London in 1892, among others.
For more information, call 214-768-1860.
SMU alumni Kathy Bates ’69 and Sarah Shahi shake up the legal system in two new television shows.
Bates stars as Harriet – Harry – Korn in the quirky dramedy “Harry’s Law,” an NBC series from David E. Kelley (“Ally McBeal,” “Boston Legal” and others). The show airs on Monday at 9 p.m. (CST). The New York Times says the down-but-not-out Harry is “played by Kathy Bates with a likable cynicism.”
A graduate of SMU’s Meadows School of Arts, Bates received an honorary doctor of arts degree and spoke at SMU’s 87th commencement in 2002.
Last year Bates did a guest turn on NBC’s “The Office,” joining fellow Mustang Brian Baumgartner ’95. Baumgartner is now in his seventh season as Kevin Malone on the hit sitcom. Lauren Graham ’92, another Meadows alum, stars on NBC’s “Parenthood.”
Bates has won numerous accolades for her work on stage, screen and television. In 1990 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for Misery. In 1998 she won a Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress, for Primary Colors. Her TV work has earned eight Emmy nominations.
Sarah Shahi lights up Fairly Legal.
Like Bates, Shahi has taken on the role of legal firebrand in a new USA Network series. Dubbed the “anti-law law show” by creator Michael Sardo, Fairly Legal revolves around Shahi’s character, Kate Reed, an attorney-turned-mediator in her late father’s San Francisco legal firm. Shahi describes the character as “a beautiful mess.”
The Boston Globe says Shahi “brings her virtues – wry humor, determination, skepticism – into a leading role.” The series airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. (CST).
Shahi previously starred as Detective Dani Reese on NBC’s “Life” and as DJ Carmen de la Pica Morales on Showtime’s “The L Word.”
The actress was born Aahoo Jahansouz Shahi, but changed her first name to Sarah while in elementary school. She grew up in Euless, Texas, and was captain of the volleyball and basketball teams at Trinity High School.
As an SMU undergraduate, Shahi tried out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and made the 1999-2000 squad. When the cheerleaders made a brief appearance in the movie Dr. T and the Women, Shahi became acquainted with director Robert Altman. In interviews Shahi has credited him for inspiring her to move to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
Shahi and husband Steve Howey live in Los Angeles. They have a son, Wolf, born in 2009. She met Howey, a San Antonio native, while guest starring on the sitcom “Reba.” For six seasons, he played Van Montgomery, Reba McEntire’s son-in-law. Photo credits: Kathy Bates, NBC Universal; Sarah Shahi, David Moir/USA Network
Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall was built to meet Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standards.
Housing programs that emphasize evidence-based learning, community partnerships and national policy leadership, the new Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall is where “the art of teaching and the science of teaching are truly melded,” says Dean David Chard.
Dedicated on September 24, the 41,000-square-foot Simmons Hall “is a place that will shape our future,” adds Chard, the Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
The light-filled building consolidates programs that were once spread across the Dallas and Plano campuses in 11 different locations. For the first time, the Departments of Teaching and Learning, Applied Physiology and Wellness, and Education Policy and Leadership, as well as the Master of Liberal Studies program, are assembled under one roof.
A landmark $20 million gift from Harold C. and Annette Caldwell Simmons in 2007 provided an endowment for the school and its new headquarters.
“My dream has come true,” says Mrs. Simmons ’57. “The education and research that take place here will make a real difference in educating the educators and promoting human fulfillment.”
Harold C. Simmons and Annette Caldwell Simmons with Nishon R. Evans. Mrs. Simmons taught Evans in 1958 when he was in the first grade in the Philippines.
Mrs. Simmons developed a lifelong interest in the education of youth while earning a B.S. degree in elementary education at SMU. She later taught first, second and third grades at Maple Lawn Elementary School in Dallas and at Clark Field, a U.S. air base in the Philippines.
A special guest at the dedication was Nishon R. Evans of Vienna, Virginia. Mrs. Simmons taught Evans in 1958 when he was in the first grade in the Philippines. He is now a certified public accountant with NJVC.
The Simmons gift also supports 10 Fairess Simmons Graduate Fellowships and the Leon Simmons Endowed Deanship and Faculty Recruitment Fund, named in honor of Harold Simmons’ parents. His father, Leon Simmons, was superintendent of schools in Golden, Texas, and his mother, Fairess Simmons, was a teacher.
Although education programs have long been part of SMU’s curriculum, the University renewed its commitment to the field in 2005 by creating the School of Education and Human Development. Patricia Mathes, director of SMU’s Institute for Evidence-Based Education in the Simmons School, notes the University’s progress in the education of future teachers.
“I wanted to be an SMU undergraduate, but the University didn’t have my major,” Mathes recalls. “Now we have a school based on the science of education. When our graduates make decisions about how to teach and work with students, they’ll know what they’re doing.”
The Simmons School offers undergraduate, graduate and specialized programs for educators, as well as research programs that focus on how students learn and develop language skills. These programs include literacy training, bilingual education, English as a second language, gifted student education and learning therapy.
To help celebrate the 2011 centennial of SMU’s founding, SMU Magazine introduces a series of articles that chronicle the University’s past. The articles will continue through 2015, when SMU celebrates the centennial of its opening.
Although most of SMU’s founders were men, women students, faculty and donors played a vital role in the beginning of Southern Methodist University. During the first school year in 1915-16, women made up 21 percent of the student body. Of the 37 professors and instructors, five were women.
SMU’s first student: Flora Lowrey from Hillsboro, Texas
Flora Lowrey from Hillsboro, Texas, was the first student enrolled. She matriculated into SMU as a senior. As she recalled for “Reminiscences,” letters written for SMU’s 50th and 75th anniversaries, women entered SMU on high moral grounds. “Unladylike behavior, lack of decorum, was our enemy. Fortunately there was no problem of smoking, drinking,” Lowrey said. Chewing gum was considered a serious offense that received restriction to campus for a few days.
She also remembered the women’s basketball team: “Girls with hair flowing free, big hair bows, and middy blouses, worn with voluminous bloomers.”
Another early student, Ermine Stone, who entered SMU in 1917, recalled, “We had a strong team, practically professional, it seems to me now.”
Students in 1917 enjoy a class banquet.
Margaret Hyer, President Robert Hyer’s wife, served as unofficial dorm mother. They lived in the Women’s Building (now Clements Hall), and President Hyer said grace before dinner with the women students each night. Mrs. Hyer alone gave permission for small groups of men and women (never couples) to leave campus for downtown Dallas.
SMU’s founding donors included Alice Armstrong of Dallas, who provided part of the land for SMU. Outside Dallas the largest financial donors were women.
The first woman employee at SMU was Dorothy Amann, hired in 1913 as Hyer’s secretary. At first, Amann, Hyer, Bursar Frank Reedy and two bookkeepers worked on the fourth floor of the Methodist Publishing House at 1308 Commerce Street in downtown Dallas. In July 1914, they all moved to Dallas Hall, which was only half finished. There were no sidewalks, no sewage connection, no heat of any kind and only bottled water.
Just before the opening of the University, Amann transitioned into her role as librarian. She opened boxes of books, mainly religious ones, and put them in makeshift wooden shelves in the library in Dallas Hall. The first year a preliminary catalog was begun listing 7,000 books. Amann eventually took library classes at Columbia University in New York City and stayed with SMU long enough to open the new Fondren Library in 1939. [Another bit of trivia: Amann also suggested the name “Mustangs” for SMU’s mascot.]
The women’s basetball team from 1920.
Students Flora Lowrey and Ermine Stone worked in the library for 10 cents an hour. Lowrey became a teacher in Dallas; Stone became the librarian for Sarah Lawrence College.
Mary McCord was hired in 1915 to teach speech and retired in 1945 as a full professor. She prepared many young men in public speaking for the ministry as well as sponsored the debate club and various orations.
McCord is best known, however, for founding SMU’s theatre company, the Arden Club, in 1916. She was honored in 1933 by the establishment of the McCord Theatre Collection. McCord Auditorium in Dallas Hall also is named for her.
The Arden Club performed many of its plays, mostly Shakespearean, in Arden Forest, now the site of the Perkins School of Theology quad. The first play performed for the first Commencement in June 1916 was As You Like It. The play went well, but the chiggers attacked the audience and actors alike, according to Goldie Capers Smith ’20, the first woman editor of the Rotunda. – Joan Gosnell, University archivist To see more images of SMU during all phases of its history, visitSMU Campus Memories, part of the Central University Libraries Digital Collections.
Mitch (left) and Linda Hart ’65 with Aart de Geus ’85, who delivered the new Hart Center for Engineering Leadership’s inaugural lecture October 13.
De Geus delivered the center’s inaugural lecture, “Visions in Engineering Leadership,” October 13. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from SMU and is the co-founder, chair and chief executive officer of Synopsys Inc., a dominant player in the worldwide electronic design automation (EDA) arena.
“Leadership determines the future,” de Geus says. “One thing that all leaders have in common is passion. Passion is the driver that makes you invent, makes you care for others – and that’s the heart of this school.”
Among those in the audience were Linda ’65 and Mitch Hart, Dallas business and philanthropic leaders, who provided a generous gift to fund the center in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. The center is housed in the Palmer Engineering Leadership Complex in the Lyle School’s new Caruth Hall.
In addressing the interconnectedness of the technical, economic and social foundations of today’s global society, the Hart Center focuses on skills beyond applied math and science. A wide range of topics such as ethics, communication, creativity and strategic thinking are explored in individual and team experiences.
“Over my lifetime, I have learned that leadership is not defined by a position,” says Mitch Hart, chair of Hart Group Inc. and a former SMU trustee. “A leader is someone people choose to follow – someone who can make a difference. It is my great pleasure to work with the Lyle School to provide students the tools they need to develop their leadership skills and maintain engineering’s role as a driver of economic growth.”
Approximately 750 undergraduate students in the Lyle School, including about 250 first-year students, are participating this semester. Hart Center programs also are available to graduate students.
“This center will add tremendous value to an SMU engineering education by connecting Lyle students to faculty from a variety of non-engineering disciplines who will help hone their leadership skills,” says Linda Hart, a graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, chair of Imation Corp. and vice chair, president and CEO of Hart Group Inc. She serves on the executive boards of Dedman Law and Cox School of Business.
Faculty from across the campus will work with engineering students to develop non-technical skills. For example, those who need to gain confidence as public speakers may be guided toward a theatre class offered through SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.
The Hart Center also builds on the school’s longstanding co-op and internship programs.
A $2.5 million gift from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation through Communities Foundation of Texas for the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic and Institute funds new programming as well as a clinic director, a tenure-track faculty position to lead the institute and support staff. The clinic serves children and families referred by the Dallas County Juvenile Court and trains law students interested in defending the rights of children. The gift extends the foundation’s support for up to 10 years, subject to a five-year review, and expands the partnership between the foundation and the clinic begun in 2001.
A $1 million gift from Helmut Sohmen ’66 supports the successful Sohmen Scholarship Program for top law graduates in China to attend SMU’s international LL.M. program. Sohmen serves as co-chair of the Campaign Steering Committee for International Regions and as a member of the Campaign Steering Committee for Dedman School of Law. The new gift endows two additional scholarships, enabling SMU to host six Sohmen Scholars annually.
A $1 million gift from Marilyn Hussman Augur ’89 endows the Chief Judge Richard S. Arnold Rule of Law Professorship. The chair honors Arnold, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge who served as a Distinguished Professor at Dedman School of Law in 2001.
The childhood obesity epidemic plaguing America has an unwitting accomplice – the school cafeteria.
According to new federally funded research by SMU economist Daniel L. Millimet, children who eat school lunches that are part of the federal government’s National School Lunch Program (NSLP) are more likely to become overweight.
Professor Daniel Millimet
Through the NSLP, the federal government reimburses schools for a portion of school lunch costs. Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the federal lunch and breakfast programs, does require that meals meet certain nutritional standards, schools choose the specific foods and can serve individual food items a la carte that fall outside the scope of the guidelines.
“First, it is very difficult to plan healthy but inviting school lunches at a low price,” Millimet says. “Second, given the tight budgets faced by many school districts, funding from the sales of a la carte lunch items receives high priority.”
Ironically, the same research study found that children who eat both the federal-government sponsored breakfast and lunch fare better than other children. Specifically, those who eat both federal meals are less heavy than children who don’t eat either the federal breakfast or federal lunch. The researchers found they are also less heavy than children who eat only the federal lunch.
“There’s evidence that school lunches are less in compliance with federal guidelines than breakfasts,” he says. “And it’s possible that even if the school lunch is healthy, kids buying lunch are more likely to tack on extra items that are not healthy.”
Millimet, a professor and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics in Dedman College, co-authored the research with economists Rusty Tchernis of Georgia State University and Muna S. Hussain of Kuwait University.
Millimet and his colleagues analyzed data on 13,500 elementary school children. Photo courtesy of USDA.
The new study “School Nutrition Programs and the Incidence of Childhood Obesity” appears in the summer issue of The Journal of Human Resources. The research was funded by the USDA.
For the study, Millimet and his colleagues analyzed data on more than 13,500 elementary school students, following them from kindergarten into later elementary school.
“The fact that federally funded school lunches contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic is disconcerting, although not altogether surprising,” says Millimet, whose research looks at the economics of children, specifically topics related to schooling and health. “That said, it’s comforting to know that the U.S. Department of Agriculture takes the issue very seriously. The USDA sponsors not only my research, but that of others as well, to investigate the issues and possible solutions.”
Millimet says he was pleased that the findings were released about the same time as a media blitz by First Lady Michelle Obama and the USDA announcing their fight against childhood obesity. The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity report said that more than 30 percent of American children ages 2 to 19 are overweight or obese and recommends serving healthier foods in schools.
Millimet is conducting additional research that looks at the relationship among obesity, the federal Food Stamp Program and the federal school breakfast and lunch programs. Now in the second year of a two-year grant from the USDA, preliminary results show that the Food Stamp Program, alone and in combination with the School Breakfast and School Lunch programs, reduces obesity in children, Millimet says. – Margaret Allen
Mexican women immigrants to the United States who experience abuse by a husband or boyfriend may seek mental health services, but the care they receive often falls short.
Nia Parson
“Many caregivers don’t fully understand the women’s cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds,” says Assistant Professor Nia Parson, a cultural and medical anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology in Dedman College.
In her research, Parson is looking at the specific needs of abused Mexican women immigrants seeking mental health care. Abused immigrant women, for example, may lack social and family networks or familiarity with social services, have language barriers or fear deportation, she says.
Parson has determined that caregivers who are familiar with Mexican women immigrants’ cultural needs recognize a patient’ particular situation, including challenges to successful recovery, as well as examine diversity of experiences within groups.
“Domestic violence research has been conducted over the past 40 years,” Parson says, “but we don’t have much specialized knowledge about how to address the mental health impacts in immigrant women. Medical anthropologists can contribute to knowledge about how to address mental health problems in diverse populations.” – Margaret Allen
Aetodactylus halli as imagined by illustator Karen Carr.
A rare 95 million-year-old flying reptile that made its home over Texas has been rescued from obscurity by SMU paleontologist Timothy S. Myers.
Myers, a postdoctoral researcher in the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College, identified and named Aetodactylus halli, a new genus and species of pterosaur. Pterosaurs were a group of flying reptiles commonly referred to as pterodactyls. He named the pterosaur for Lance Hall, a member of the Dallas Paleontological Society who hunts fossils for a hobby. Hall found the specimen southwest of Dallas and donated it to SMU.
Myers has estimated that Aetodactylus halli, which flew over an ancient shallow sea that once extended over Texas, had a wingspan of roughly 3 meters, or about 9 feet, making it a “medium-sized” pterosaur. They represent the earliest vertebrates capable of flying and ruled the skies from more than 200 million years ago to 65 million years ago when they went extinct. Aetodactylus halli is also one of the youngest members in the world of the pterosaur family Ornithocheiridae, says Myers. The newly identified reptile is only the second ornithocheirid ever documented in North America, he adds. – Margaret Allen
A tiny integrated circuit designed by scientists at SMU may help researchers around the world unravel mysteries about the origins of the universe.
The high-speed SMU “link-on-chip“ (LOC) electronic circuit is microscopic, but also sturdy so that it can withstand extremely harsh conditions. SMU researchers designed the LOC serializer integrated circuit to reliably transmit data in the demanding environment of the world’s largest physics experiment: the ATLAS detector on the Large Hadron Collider.
SMU’s LOC serializer can operate in a radiation environment or at cryogenic temperatures, with high data bandwidth, low-power dissipation and extremely high reliability, says Jingbo Ye, an associate professor of physics in Dedman College who led development of the application-specific circuit. The LOC serializer was perfected over the past three years in an SMU Physics Department laboratory.
The Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile, circular high-tech tunnel about 100 meters underground near Geneva, Switzerland, is being developed by CERN – the European Organization for Nuclear Research – a scientific consortium of physicists, including many from SMU. Within the LHC, trillions of protons are smashed apart each second so physicists can analyze the resulting particle shower. – Margaret Allen
Professor Maria Dixon with student Patrick Fleming.
“One of the programs that I helped to establish at SMU is called Mustang Consulting, which enables our students to work with organizations for the greater good and to apply the communications theories, processes and methodologies that I teach in class. Probably the greatest joy that I’ve had so far is working with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. When the students and I first met with the dance company, it wasn’t sure if it would make it financially through the next year. My students interviewed donors, staff members and the founder to develop communication strategies and campaigns in an effort to create new audiences for the classical arts. We are so proud to say that the company just came off tour. Because my students were willing to do the hard work, Dance Theatre of Harlem was able to do what it needed to do.
“I’ve had students who challenge me, who force me to go back to my own books, to my colleagues across the country and say, ‘I have never thought about this problem in this way and one of my undergraduate students brought this to me.’ I’m always amazed by the level of intellectual curiosity that my students bring to me.” Maria Dixon, associate professor of corporate communications and public affairs in Meadows School of the Arts, joined SMU in 2004. She is a recipient of the 2007-08 Golden Mustang Outstanding Faculty Award and the 2009-10 Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award from the Rotunda yearbook.
Professor Randall Griffin with students Anna Membrino, left, and Anh-Thuy Nguyen.
“In the classroom, I try to involve the students by being an energetic lecturer, staying away from the podium and spurring discussion. Because experiential learning engages interest, I require them to see works of art at museums in the area.
A new undergraduate course that I teach, ‘Picturing the American West,’ examines paintings, photographs, novels and films – from the paintings of George Catlin to Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. It epitomizes my interest in getting students out of the classroom to see images of the American West at the DeGolyer Library and the Amon Carter Museum.
“I want the material to unsettle and challenge students’ world-views. Teaching is the most important thing I do at SMU. I hope that my classes will enrich students’ lives both aesthetically and intellectually long after they have graduated.” Randall Griffin, professor of art history, has taught in Meadows School of the Arts since 1992. He is a 2010 Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, the 2009-10 United Methodist Church University Scholar/Teacher of the Year and 2007 Meadows Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professor.
Professor Jeffery Kennington joins students after Commencement in May 2010.
“I enjoy reading books, solving problems, developing software, writing papers and learning new things. That’s why I’ve been in school for the past 50 years. However, not everybody aspires to be a scholar, and my strategy is to make my courses fun for the President’s Scholars as well as those with an aversion to education.
“Recently, I’ve been teaching management science to first-year undergraduate students and operations research to graduate students. These terms refer to a field that uses optimization theory and computer models to help solve certain types of managerial problems. The mathematics we apply is quite elegant, but not easily understood at the first presentation. I explain this complicated material in a simple and organized manner so that the students don’t shoulder the complete burden for mastering this information.
“In my undergraduate class with 18 students, the first 18 classes begin with a designated student giving a five-minute talk about his or her life. Generally they tell where they were born, where they grew up, their activities in high school, why they selected SMU, why they are in this course, and what they think a management scientist does. This has been a successful experiment, and I plan to continue this practice for small classes.” Jeffery Kennington, University Distinguished Professor of Engineering Management, Information and Systems, joined SMU in 1973. Kennington received the United Methodist Church University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 2003 and was named an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2004. He conducts research on telecommunication design, network flows and integer programming.
Professor Miguel Quiñones, right, talks with Paul Curry, a Hunt Leadership Scholar.
“There are two primary reasons why I teach. First, I like making a difference in our students’ lives. My hope is that the concepts and insights that I cover in class will help our students be more effective and successful in their work and home lives. The second reason is that I love to learn. I have never taught a class when I didn’t learn something new and interesting from the students and from preparing to teach the class.
“Life is full of teachable moments. Sometimes they come in the form of a student’s struggles with work-related issues or in current events they read about in the news.
It is very exciting when the students are engaged with a topic and use their experiences and understanding of the course materials to analyze and debate alternative points of view. I get charged up by lively class discussions.” Miguel A. Quiñones, the O. Paul Corley Distinguished Chair in Organizational Behavior, Cox School of Business, joined SMU in 2006. Quiñones received the M.B.A. Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009 and 2010 and the Distinguished University Citizen Award and the Carl Sewell Distinguished Service to the Community Award in 2010.
Professor Priyali Rajagopal’s marketing classes offer real-world applications for textbook concepts.
“I think a teacher should be a great communicator and a very good listener. One has to be able to assess the needs of different students and adapt accordingly. Teaching marketing entails not only textbook concepts and terminologies, but also the utilization or application of these concepts to real-life business problems.
“My goal is to get my students to go beyond course materials and practice critical thinking, to know which tools and concepts are applicable, and to be able to take positions on business problems and defend them.
“The past six years have been a great learning experience. I have grown as a researcher and marketing educator, and my classroom teaching reflects this progress. A key change is a greater use of technology. I now post class slides and announcements on Blackboard, show videos on YouTube and use slide-shows from publications such as BusinessWeek and Fortune. The different media make the classroom experience richer and more interesting for students.” Priyali Rajagopal, assistant professor of marketing, Cox School of Business, joined SMU in 2004. She has been recognized with the Outstanding Teaching Award in the B.B.A. program and as a 2006-07 HOPE Professor. She conducts research on best marketing practices for multifunctional hybrid products.
A tutoring session at the Academic Community Engagement (ACE) House.
A map of Dallas-Fort Worth nearly fills a wall in Geoff Whitcomb’s office. “It’s my reminder that up here on the Hilltop we are not operating in a vacuum,” says the assistant director of SMU’s Office of Leadership and Community Involvement. “We are interdependent with all of the communities surrounding us.”
Whitcomb helps connect the 2,500 students who volunteer each year through the office with more than 70 North Texas agencies. He also provides resources for the faculty members who teach service-learning courses, which supplement coursework with community service.
“Service teaches students to think critically and apply what they’re learning in the classroom to community issues,” Whitcomb says. “These experiences add a richness and depth to coursework.”
Service has been a critical component of SMU’s mission since its founding, and SMU faculty continue to apply their teaching and research to help solve issues in the community. Currently, faculty partner with nonprofit agencies, schools and government organizations to give students opportunities to serve and learn in North Texas. They also investigate complex challenges facing the region, often joining forces with community groups to find solutions. In addition, faculty make time to volunteer, advise student service organizations and mentor high school students on the path to college.
“With our intellectual resources, we can positively impact our city – our home base – while also providing real-world experiences for students,” says Provost Paul Ludden.
Experiences beyond the classroom lead to “engaged learning,” Ludden says. SMU’s new general education curriculum includes a “community engagement” requirement, which students can complete through a course or a learning activity in the community.
As part of its accreditation by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SMU has proposed that all undergraduates be encouraged to participate in at least one extensive community learning activity before graduation.
“Engaged learning could comprise expanded and new community activities, from service-learning to research to practicums and internships, which would be coordinated by faculty and external mentors,” says Margaret Dunham, professor of computer science and engineering in the Lyle School of Engineering, who oversees the Universitywide implementation committee. “Students and faculty will see even more opportunities for service and learning in years to come.”
More Ways To Learn And Serve
CENTER FOR ACADEMIC-COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Directed by Bruce Levy, the ACE Center in Dedman College supports teaching, research and activities that cultivate an understanding of complex urban and social issues. Since the center’s founding in 1991, more than 2,500 students have taken ACE courses while also volunteering in the community. In addition, four students live and work at the ACE House, becoming neighbors as well as volunteers. EMBREY HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM The interdisciplinary program, directed by Rick Halperin, now offers 70 courses. Approximately 150 students are in the pipeline to graduate with a human rights minor from Dedman College. While studying and investigating universally recognized human rights in Dallas and around the world, students, faculty and staff also have engaged in thousands of service hours since the program’s launch in 2007. CENTER FOR FAMILY COUNSELING The state-of-the-art center at SMU-in-Plano opened in 2008 and provides counseling services to the community on a sliding-fee scale. Graduate students in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development provide the counseling under the guidance and supervision of licensed faculty and staff. The center also provides mental health services in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas through a partnership with Resource Center of Dallas. Read more …
Applauding The Impact Of Music
Robert Krout has directed the music therapy program at Meadows School of the Arts since 2004. His students volunteer and participate in practicums throughout North Texas.
“Music is a way to reach underserved populations,” says Krout, a Meadows Distinguished Teaching Professor. “People with any disability and of any age – from premature infants to the very elderly – respond to music.”
A piano lesson with music therapy students.
Students also work at the Meadows School free music therapy clinic, where North Texas children and adults with special needs come to sing, dance and play instruments. Their weekly private and group sessions target specific objectives, such as speech and motor skills, social interaction and vocalization of emotions.
During her four years at SMU, senior Alison Etter has provided therapy to six adults with intellectually disabling conditions who have attended the clinic for 15 years.
“It was neat to hear from parents how much their children loved coming – that they would run up the stairs two at a time with smiles on their faces,” says Etter, who recently worked as an intern at San Antonio State Hospital and will earn her Bachelor’s degree in December. “I’ve been able to combine my love for music and teaching with my passion for caring for people.”
SMU offers the clinic as part of its partnership with the nonprofit organization Hugworks, based in Hurst, Texas, and founded in the 1980s by SMU alumni James Newton ’75 and Paul Hill ’72. Hugworks’ music therapists help mentor SMU students, who must complete 1,200 hours of supervised fieldwork before graduation and board exams.
J.W. Brown ’68, ’71 is president of the KidLinks Foundation, a Dallas nonprofit that supports Hugworks and its collaboration with SMU through golf tournaments and other fundraising events. “When you see the power of music to touch and heal, you can understand why there’s a huge need for music therapists across the country,” Brown says. “Robert Krout and the Meadows School are giving back to their community in a very unique way. We hope to expose more SMU students to this field and expand their education.”
The 20 students currently in the program take courses in psychology, anatomy and physiology in addition to music theory, history and performance, and they must be proficient in piano, voice and guitar.
“Our students don’t work for applause,” Krout says. “They’re focused on their clients’ progress. We’re teaching students not just about music therapy, but about being leaders in their fields and giving back to their communities.”
Learning Beyond The Classroom
Lynne Stokes, professor of statistical science in Dedman College, has made service a regular part of her courses for the past five years. Her students have created surveys and analyzed data for organizations including the Visiting Nurse Association of Texas and the City of Dallas.
The community garden outside Patterson Hall.
“So many nonprofits need help measuring their success, particularly for grant proposals, and that’s what we as statisticians do,” Stokes says. “At the same time, these experiences teach my students how to communicate with clients and translate real problems into statistics.”
Faculty members currently offer about 25 courses designated as service learning each year, including Latino/Latina Religions (Religious Studies), Social Action in Urban America (History), America’s Dilemma (Human Rights) and Literature of Minorities (English). The courses typically require students to perform community service with North Texas agencies and write papers about their experiences.
During spring 2010, the students in Stokes’ graduate-level Statistical Consulting course volunteered with the American Red Cross and Junior Achievement, which teaches the basics of business and finances at elementary schools.
In her work with the American Red Cross Southwest Blood Region-Texas, graduate student Peggy Zhai evaluated data on the value volunteers bring to the Dallas organization as drivers of blood supplies to hospitals, compared to using couriers and employees. “I was moved to see so many volunteers give their time and energy to the Red Cross,” she says. “I could show them the actual benefits they provide in terms of cost savings.”
Zhai also created a questionnaire about what motivates the volunteers to contribute and presented her findings to the organization’s leaders. “I learned I had to keep things simple and be able to explain difficult terms to people who aren’t statisticians.”
Suzanne Minc, who oversees volunteer recruitment and retention for the Southwest Blood Region, describes Stokes and her students as an asset to the organization. “Service learning gives students a unique perspective on the hard work it takes to meet the needs of patients who rely on blood donations,” she says. “The students become community advocates.”
Geoffrey Orsak loves it when students come over to Caruth Hall to play. As dean of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, Orsak oversees SMU’s newest intellectual playground, which he calls a “sandbox for innovation.”
“At the heart and soul of this building is the joy of play, the joy of creation,” he says.
The serious intent behind this comment will reshape the engineering profession for the 21st century. “It’s a full-on rethinking of what engineering should be,” Orsak says. Gone is the stereotype of the back-office tinkerer who communicates strictly in technical jargon. A new breed of engineer has emerged – versatile young men and women who get their geek on when the job calls for it, but whose vision and talent stretch across disciplines and national borders.
“One thing that has limited the appeal of the discipline is students felt they may be boxed in, but the reality is that they go off and do amazing things across every spectrum of our economy,” he adds. “And they lead, too: More Fortune 500 CEOs have engineering degrees than any other undergraduate degree.”
Today’s engineers are asked to dream bigger dreams – on a shorter timeline and with a tighter budget – than ever before. The Lyle School’s reality-based curricula, focused institutes and centers, new research initiatives and real-world projects mean next-generation engineers leave SMU with the imagination to ask “what if” and the knowledge and skills to answer the question with remarkable solutions.
Infinity And Beyond
Bobby B. Lyle ’67, for whom the Engineering School was named in 2008, calls it “the little school that could.”
Established in 1925, the Lyle School is among the oldest engineering schools in the Southwest, with eight undergraduate and 29 graduate programs offered through five core academic departments.
The centerpiece of a building trifecta – the Jerry R. Junkins Building opened in August 2002 and the J. Lindsay Embrey Building was dedicated in September 2006 – Caruth Hall stands as a brick-and-mortar embodiment of can-do spirit. It’s the launching point for what Lyle calls “a transformational journey with the express intent of creating a new kind of engineering school, the best on the planet.”
Orsak started fueling that trajectory soon after joining SMU in 1997 as an
associate professor of electrical engineering. In 2002 he was named executive director of what is now the Caruth Institute. In that role he developed several award-winning programs that continue to grow:
The Infinity Project, a partnership with Texas Instruments that brings engineering curricula into the classrooms in over 40 states and six countries.
Visioneering, a playful and substantive learning event that gives middle school students the opportunity to be engineers for a day.
The Gender Parity Initiative, which aims to attract girls and young women to engineering. Women made up 37 percent of last year’s incoming SMU engineering class compared to the national average of approximately 19 percent.
Orsak, who was recently named to a national energy policy study committee by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, became dean in 2004.
In 2008 he recruited a longtime mentor, Delores M. Etter, as the first Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair in Engineering Education and Caruth Institute director. Etter came to SMU from the electrical engineering faculty of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Her distinguished academic career is complemented by service in the U.S. Department of Defense as Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition and as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Science and Technology.
While directing the Navy’s acquisitions program at the Pentagon, she realized that academia provides a powerful platform for service to country. “One of our most serious challenges was finding the right people with technical skills,” Etter says.
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works™ Program at the Lyle School, a first-ever partnership with the renowned research center, is a key effort to prepare tomorrow’s engineering innovators. Housed in the Caruth Institute, the program borrows from its namesake’s playbook with Immersion Design Experiences (IDEs): Working in small teams under tight deadlines, engineering students and faculty find feasible solutions to real client projects.
“Innovation is hard to teach,” Etter says. “That’s why opportunities for students to work together, come up with a solution and test it are so important.”
In the first Skunk Works IDE in January, a team of students developed a prototype system that converts an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) now under development by Lockheed Martin and Karem Aircraft into an aerial firefighter. The system has water pumps, a tank and logic that enable it to hover over water, deploy a pump automatically, fill the tank and retract the pump.
During the project, a novel sensor that indicates when the UAV’s lowered pump is in the water was created.
“What makes this special is that commercial water sensors cost around $200. The students used free scraps to make their sensor,” explains Nathan Huntoon, director of the school’s new Innovation Gymnasium. Huntoon, who received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from SMU in 2009, develops IDE projects and supervises the student teams.
As oil gushed and accusations flew, the media called on SMU experts to pilot them through the details of deep-water drilling after the BP well blowout last April.
The Cox School of Business’ Maguire Energy Institute quickly became a go-to resource as Bruce Bullock ’81, director, and Bernard “Bud” Weinstein, associate director, provided expertise to the Los Angeles Times, the Miami Herald, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and other news outlets around the country covering the crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bullock and Weinstein are two of SMU’s many recognized authorities helping print, broadcast and online news consumers understand the most complex questions of the day. National politics and the economy are other hot-button topics recently analyzed by faculty. These high-profile thinkers also share their wisdom on important issues with students in their classes.
Professor Dan Howard
An immeasurable amount of favorable public opinion for the University is generated when notable faculty are quoted in the news, says Cox’s Dan Howard, a marketing professor who studies consumer behavior.
“When students and parents are impressed by an intelligent quote from a faculty member, they develop a positive impression of SMU overall,” says Howard, who is frequently tapped by the media to explain everything from the effect of herd mentality on the stock market to the benefits of product placement in the movies. “That’s especially true when the information is delivered by a credible source in a context where they believe no one is trying to persuade them, like a newspaper story or TV news broadcast.”
Dean David Chard
At the root of many memorable sound bites is consequential research. Some of the University’s sharpest minds concentrate on challenges as diverse as treating dysfunctional families and understanding immigration issues. Their evidence-based solutions play significant roles in reshaping policies and programs to better serve communities everywhere.
“Implementing research is not as neat as it may seem. As a university, we have to produce the evidence to support our solutions, then we have to disseminate the knowledge of what works and why – that’s really the role that we as a faculty can play in outreach,” says David Chard, Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Chard is a nationally recognized expert on best educational practices and teacher training.
“Research that lacks a response to the community can become irrelevant,” he adds.
NAVIGATING THE DETAILS
Bruce Bullock
In helping journalists sift through layers of oil spill particulars, Bullock provided more than pithy quotes and shrewd analyses; he also schooled them in the finer points of deep-water drilling.
“I provided journalists with lots of background information, helped them understand what’s involved in the technology, what kinds of questions to ask and what to believe and not believe,” he says.
A 24-year veteran of the energy industry, Bullock has held positions at Atlantic Richfield Company and FMC Technologies, a leading global supplier of technology for the energy industry. Through a network of insiders and analysts, Bullock stayed informed as events unfolded. “We kept in touch with e-mails and phone calls on a daily basis.”
Posting on the Houston Chronicle’s Barrels and BTUs blog, he explored the economic and political consequences as the cleanup efforts progressed. He predicts the spill will be a game-changer. “In an era of Twitter and other social media, this is going to rewrite the crisis management manual for many corporations, particularly in the energy industry.” Click on the links below to read more about some of the dozens of SMU faculty members offering commentary on international issues, based on research and analysis. Click here to visit the SMU Faculty Expert Search page. Caroline Brettell: Understanding Immigrants Bonnie Jacobs: Into Africa Cal Jillson: Politics In America Ernest Jourile and Renee McDonald: Creating Healthy Families
Like previous generations of SMU students, Jake Torres slips away to the isolated west stacks of Fondren Library Center when he needs to study. But today’s SMU libraries offer the busy student much more than a place to study without interruption.
Computer stations have replaced long wooden tables on the first floor of Fondren. And students now use the library’s soundproof group study rooms, video studios, podcasting booths and web-design stations to complete class assignments.
“The library has amazing research materials online and in print, and the personal study rooms are very convenient for group projects,” says Torres, student body president.
As a reminder of how much academic libraries have changed, a wooden card catalog with index-sized cards sits in the office suite of Dean and Director of Central University LibrariesGillian McCombs, though she never flips through those remnants of the past. “Students and faculty members access library information and resources in a different way than they did 10 or even five years ago,” McCombs says. “Even though libraries today are so much more than books, bricks and mortar, they still exist to put people in touch with information they need.”
Students and faculty now search SMU’s electronic library resources on a Google-like platform that, in one step, directs them to resources in books, journals, databases, media and newspaper articles.
TRUTH ONLINE
First-year students at SMU quickly learn that faculty members do not accept Wikipedia as a source, because volunteers, not necessarily experts, create the entries. Instead, students and faculty scholars rely on online materials available only through SMU libraries – approximately 20,000 magazine or journal subscriptions archived to the earliest editions available, 472 databases, 308,700 e-books and 8,330 digitized items from special collections, a number that’s growing monthly. Or they can always use the libraries’ more than 3 million books.
Studying in the stacks in Underwood Law Library.
“Libraries are the gateway to accurate information,” says Patricia Van Zandt, Central University Libraries director of scholarly resources and research services. “If students use sources they find in the library catalog and from the library webpage, they can be sure that those sources will be reliable.”
Junior English major and Student Senate secretary Katie Perkins uses the digital archive JSTOR for the 10-15 papers she writes each semester. “I’ve used many of the databases the library provides for research,” she says. “JSTOR is the most helpful.” JSTOR comprises more than 1,000 academic publications ranging from Africa Today to The Western Historical Quarterly. Created in 1995 as a resource for academic libraries, JSTOR offers the full-text back files of scholarly journals, the oldest dating to 1665.
Sifting through enormous amounts of data creates new challenges for students, says Alisa Rata Stutzbach ’99, director of Hamon Arts Library. Stutzbach served on the General Education Review Committee that designed SMU’s new general education curriculum that will start in fall 2012. The new curriculum will include a Nature of Scholarship course dedicated to research approaches to difficult questions.
“The hardest part is learning to evaluate information,” Stutzbach says. “Is it reliable? Timely? Applicable? The technology will change, but the core principles of research are skills that students will be able to apply everywhere.”
Digital collections:
worldwide accessibility
More than 5,000 images ranging from ancient Babylonian stone tablets to medieval manuscripts to Civil War photographs to Texas artists’ sketchbooks can be viewed on the SMU libraries’ digital collections website. The images represent items in special collections at Bridwell Library, DeGolyer Library, Hamon Arts Library and Underwood Law Library. Read more …
Faculty members also face new rewards and challenges with the data explosion created by new technology. “While technology has simplified the searching process, the generation of literature from the scientific community also is accelerating,” says John Buynak, professor of chemistry and chair of the Faculty Senate Subcommittee on Libraries. “Our workload has changed from flipping through relevant volumes to assimilating and organizing an enormous amount of data.”
Twenty years ago Buynak began a research project by spending at least a week in the library looking at hundreds of science indices and tracking down print copies of articles. “By contrast, I now can perform this same background search from my office computer and download nearly all of the articles in a matter of minutes.”
Although students and faculty can access SMU electronic resources from computers anywhere in the world, the number of visitors to SMU libraries increases each year. By student request, Fondren Library has been open 24 hours a day since 2006. “I’m a night owl,” says Torres, a senior English major. “Twenty-four-hour access is a huge resource for me and many other students. I’ve pulled countless all-nighters in Fondren preparing for exams or finishing papers.”
By student request, Fondren Library Center implemented a 24-hour schedule in 2006.
Students also count on SMU libraries for expert assistance and technical resources well beyond the software on their laptop computers. When a faculty member assigns a video, podcast or creation of a website, students head to the Norwick Center for Digital Services. The center features 12 iMac creation stations, two group project rooms with video editing software and two rooms with video projectors and cameras that allow students to practice and record classroom presentations. Staff is available for hands-on assistance.
Variations, new music software at Hamon Arts Library, enables students to listen to audio and view digital scores simultaneously. “In contrast, when I was a music performance major in the late ’90s, to do the same thing, I checked out an LP and a score, then read along as I played the LP on a turntable,” says Stutzbach. “After two hours I had to return the LP and score for other students.”
Music composition major Jason Ballmann also relies on Hamon for the Naxos Music Library, which provides streaming access to more than 50,000 CDs. “I have created advertisements using Photoshop, caught the tiniest error in my personal scores on the large-screen TVs and scanned a 60-page score in fewer than five minutes on the large-format scanner,” says Ballmann, a senior.
TAILORED FOR BUSINESS
At the Business Information Center in Cox School of Business, students can follow real-time financial and market data, pricing and trading on the Bloomberg financial wire; gather for group projects at one of 70 computer stations; or print résumés or business cards on designated computers. When Cox faculty member Amy Puelz assigns a class presentation in her Information Systems for Management class, students can videotape practice sessions in a library studio equipped with podium software that simulates a Cox classroom.
The number of annual reference inquiries to library staff at the center doubled from 2007 to 2009, from 659 to 1,220, says Sandal Miller, director of the Business Information Center. Nationally, academic librarians answer more than 72.8 million
reference questions a year, according to the American Library Association.
WHAT’S NEXT?
SMU libraries bear little resemblance to the first campus library that was located in a room in Dallas Hall. The University system now comprises more than 3 million total volumes and seven campus libraries – DeGolyer Library, Fondren Library Center, Hamon Arts Library, Institute for the Study of Earth and Man, Business Information Center, and the professional Dedman Law Library and Bridwell Library, as well as off-campus libraries at SMU-in-Taos and SMU-in-Plano.
But the libraries are just as central to SMU’s academic mission as when the first students set foot on campus in 1915, McCombs says. “A library was formerly judged on the size of its physical collections. But today a library must be measured in terms of the access it provides to materials located around the world as well as its unique on-site collections.”
SMU’s Second Century Campaign seeks funding for renovation of Fondren Library Center as well as for continued expansion of book collections and electronic resources.
“This is the brave new world of information access – our students want and expect to have it all at their fingertips,” McCombs adds. “Meeting their needs is more complex, more challenging and infinitely more exciting than ever.”
When we considered themes for our current major gifts drive, we chose SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign for a number of reasons. The word “unbridled” speaks for itself – our potential is unbounded, characteristic of energetic mustangs. We thought longer and harder about the second part of the title, however, because we were approaching the 100th anniversary of our founding, in 2011, and of our opening, in 2015. Wanting to honor our past while focusing forward, we chose The Second Century Campaign to complete our title. This balance of past and future also guides planning for the commemorative Centennialactivities that begin in 2011.
As we begin this special new year for us, we also carry forward some remarkable progress:
In 2010 SMU ranked 56 in the “best national universities” category of U.S. News & World Report, a jump from 68 in 2009. Over the past several years, admission applications have almost tripled, totaling 9,093. Average SAT scores have increased to 1244 in 2010. Minority enrollment has risen to 22.6 percent, and minority students compose 26.2 percent of the 2010 entering class.
The endowment has more than doubled in the past 15 years, reaching $1.07 billion in 2010, even with the recent downturn. At the midpoint of our Second Century Campaign, we have raised more than $461 million in gifts and pledges toward our goal of $750 million. Along with funding from our previous campaign (1997-2002), new resources have created, among other advancements, 382 new scholarships; 33 academic positions; several new academic programs; and 26 new or renovated buildings, adding 1.7 million square feet to our facilities. Donors are seeing the results of their generosity in SMU’s rising quality and prominence.
In her first meeting as chair of SMU’s Board of Trustees, Caren H. Prothro said, “I can’t recall as many positives at SMU than what is happening now. Trustees, alumni, parents and friends – all have played a vital role in bringing us here and moving us forward.” Thank you and let’s keep going. Happy new century to us all. R. Gerald Turner President
Simone du Toit’s parents deliberated for two years before giving their blessings to send her on a 9,000-mile journey from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Dallas, Texas. The 20-year-old left her parents, two younger sisters, friends and culture last year to become a student-athlete at SMU.
Simone du Toit practices the discus throw.
Du Toit, the 2005 World Youth Shot Put champion, quickly adjusted to Division I athletics. As a Mustang, she finished 10th in the discus throw at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in 2009 and sixth in 2010. Her shot put throw at the NCAA Midwest Regional was the longest outdoor throw by any Conference USA athlete in 2009, and she recorded C-USA’s farthest outdoor throws in discus and shot put in 2010.
“From day one Simone was all business, both academically and athletically,” says Dave Wollman, SMU track and field coach.
Du Toit is one of 42 international student-athletes attending SMU from 27 countries ranging from Argentina to Uzbekistan. The students compete on more than half of SMU’s 17 teams, with women’s swimming hosting the most international athletes.
International student-athletes must meet NCAA eligibility requirements, including establishing their amateur status through an online NCAA clearinghouse, says Monique Holland, senior associate athletics director for compliance and student welfare at SMU. Nationally, 4 percent of intercollegiate male athletes and 4.4 percent of female athletes are nonresident students, NCAA’s term for students from outside the United States. At SMU, about 10 percent of SMU’s 439 student athletes are international students.
SMU On The World Stage
International student athletes represent SMU well on the world stage. Three Mustang athletes were medalists at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Five-time Olympic swimmer Martina Moravcova ’98, ’00 of Slovakia earned two silver medals along with Swedish swimmer and five-time Olympic champion Lars Frölander ’98, who earned a gold. Swedish high-jumper Kajsa Bergqvist ’99 earned a bronze in 2000 in the high jump. More recently, former All-American tennis player Johan Brunstrom ’04 of Sweden is ranked 36th in ATP doubles rankings while Slovakian Libor Charfreitag ’00 won the gold medal in the hammer throw at the 2010 European Athletics Championships.
Competing in the United States is attractive to international athletes with outstanding athletic and academic skills, Wollman says. “In Europe and South Africa, athletics and higher education are completely different entities. Athletes usually have to make a choice,” he says. “Here they can get a great education and pursue their sports.”
Coached by her father, du Toit began throwing the discus and shot put at age 10. After finishing high school she became a full-time athlete in South Africa, often practicing with family friends and fellow throwers Janus Robberts ’02 and Hannes Hopley ’05, both record-holding members of the Mustang men’s track and field team. With their encouragement, Wollman traveled to Johannesburg to meet with du Toit and her family.
“I was intrigued with everything he said about SMU,” du Toit says. But when she saw Wollman work with Janus and Hannes, she made up her mind to come to SMU. “He is a fiery coach. I knew that was how I wanted to train,” she adds.
A Transformative Training Experience
For du Toit, the opportunity to train at SMU has been transforming. “She has lost 90 pounds to go from a power to a rhythm athlete,” Wollman says. “I expect her to be one of the top eight women discus throwers in the 2012 Olympics.”
Now settled into her second year on campus, du Toit is focused on representing SMU as a student-athlete, preparing for the Olympics and working on an advertising degree. She says she misses the fresh open feel of South Africa, but enjoys the friendliness of SMU students and the beauty of the campus. “When my parents visited Dallas, I had them walk up and down the campus three times to show them everything,” she says.
Last year, du Toit and her roommate and fellow track and field athlete, Kylie Spurgeon, celebrated Christmas in bathing suits in South Africa, where it’s summertime in December. This year she looks forward to celebrating what she hopes will be her first white Christmas with Spurgeon and her family at their home in Owasso, Oklahoma.
“When I came to SMU, my sport was the only thing that was familiar to me,” du Toit says. “But when I met other student-athletes, I realized that because of our sports, we had everything in common.” – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Senior defender Lauren Shepherd was one of three women’s soccer players selected All-Conference USA. The women’s soccer team had a 100 percent graduation success rate, according to the NCAA.
Seven of SMU’s 15 varsity teams rated a perfect 100-percent among Conference USA schools in Graduation Success Rates (GSR), according to data released by the NCAA in October.
Among Conference USA schools, the SMU football team ranked third, while men’s basketball rated second.
Programs that scored 100 percent were men’s and women’s tennis, volleyball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, cross-country and track.
In addition, all 15 of SMU’s programs rated by the NCAA were equal to or better than the national average. The data is from the four-class aggregate of entering classes from 2000 through 2003, for which the NCAA has compiled sport-by-sport GSR and the comparable graduation rate using federally mandated methodology. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Senior Kelly Kraft earned Conference USA’s Golfer of the Year Award last spring after posting eight top-10 finishes, including a victory at the Gopher Invitational in Minnesota. It was Kraft’s first time to win Golfer of the Year and his third appearance on the All-Conference team. He was Freshman of the Year in 2007-08. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Junior women’s swimmerTherese Svendsen was named Conference USA’s Swimmer of the Year after placing first in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke at the C-USA Championship, qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Svendsen was C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2009. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Johan Brunstrom, left, celebrates with doubles partner Jarkko Nieminen at the Swiss Open.
Three former SMU student-athletes made impressive showings in international competitions last summer. Men’s tennis player Johan Brunstrom ’04
of Sweden picked up his first ATP World Tour win when he teamed with partner Jarkko Nieminen to win the Swiss Open in early August. Libor Charfreitag ’00 of Slovakia, a five-time NCAA champion, earned a gold medal in the hammer throw at the European Athletic Championships in late July.
And women’s swimmerSara Nordenstam ’06 of Norway placed second in the 200-meter breaststroke at the European Championships in mid-August. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Ramón Nuñez, drafted by Major League Soccer’s Dallas Burn after his 2003 freshman season at SMU, played in all three of Honduras’ group matches in July’s World Cup. Nunez, who started twice and came in once as a substitute, attempted six shots. Honduras did not make it to the knockout round.
SMU has been named the top Conference USA athletics program once again. For the 11th time in 13 years, the Mustangs were the conference’s top-ranked school in the final Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Division I standings. Each year, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics ranks 285 schools that compete at the NCAA’s top level.
The Mustangs earned significant points for strong showings in football, cross country, track and field, women’s tennis, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s golf. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
SMU’s Meadows Museum and the Prado Museum in Madrid have entered into a three-year partnership, marking the first such international program for Spain’s national museum.
The collaboration includes the loan of major paintings from the Prado, interdisciplinary research at SMU, an internship exchange between the two museums, and public programs.
El Greco’s monumental painting, Pentecost, is the first of three loans from the Prado. The masterpiece will be on display at the Meadows through February 1, 2011. Sultans and Saints: Spain’s Confluence of Cultures, an exploration of the religious character of Spain and its impact on El Greco’s style and subject matter, will continue at the museum through January 23, 2011. The exhibition includes works of art from the Meadows and other SMU collections in a variety of media, including manuscripts, ceramics, paintings and sculpture.
Shown left, Pentecost, El Greco, c. 1600, oil on canvas, Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado
DeGolyer Library will celebrate the life of noted playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote with an exhibit and panel discussion in March 2011 (date to be determined).
Foote’s personal papers, housed in DeGolyer Library, illustrate his prolific writing career, spanning six decades. Highlights include his Oscar-winning screenplays for To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Young Man from Atlanta. Photographs, letters, programs, posters and other documents also will be on display.
The exhibit will be up during the Dallas-Fort Worth area Horton Foote Festival, which runs March 14 through May 1, 2011. For more information, call 214-768-3231.
The new smu.edu mobile website puts SMU in the palm of your hand. Get the latest news, football scores and alumni event information on your iPhone, Android or other smartphone device.
The site also features interactive campus maps, the Mustang fight song, a campus walking tour and more.
Did you know that Peruna VI was SMU’s longest-reigning stallion, serving 21 years from 1965-86? Or that Peruna I traveled to New York City for the SMU football game against Fordham University and used a cab to get around town?
These and other little-known facts are highlighted in a recently published coloring book featuring a history of SMU’s lovable mascot. On sale at the SMU Bookstore for $7, the coloring book was illustrated by Bart Wendel, brother of alumna Judith Banes ’69, ’76, director of Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports and unofficial “ godmother” to Peruna (she sews the blankets that he wears at athletics events).
Funds from the books’ sales will go to the Culwell Family Peruna Endowment, which supports the care and feeding of SMU’s mascot.
Bronwen Forbay performed one of opera’s greatest tragic roles when she made her Cape Town Opera debut Oct. 16 in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Forbay, a coloratura soprano, earned an Artist Certificate in vocal performance from Meadows School of the Arts in 2004. At SMU, she was a student of Barbara Hill Moore. Forbay is one of 15 students who have come to SMU from South Africa as Schollmaier Scholars through grants provided by the Bruce R. Foote Memorial Scholarship Foundation. The Foote Foundation’s mission is to encourage and support students with a background that has been historically underrepresented in the advanced pursuit of classical vocal study. The Cape Times’ enthusiastic review of the performance states: “She is a wholly convincing Lucia, portraying a girlish naivety that becomes increasingly suggestive of a more fundamental mental instability until the celebrated mad scene of the final act reveals her as having lost touch with reality. The portrayal was chillingly accurate in its detailing …”
Lucia’s mad scene, often cited as a career maker for the late Dame Joan Sutherland and famously recorded by Maria Callas, “is such a challenge,” Forbay said in an earlier interview with The Cape Times. “Apart from requiring a solid technique and a great deal of emotion, there’s a lot to be learned from the pacing changes.”
A native of Durban, South Africa, she was awarded the 2007 Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music. As a Fulbright Scholar she studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York before attending SMU. Forbay returned to South Africa last year to take a two-year position at University of KwaZulu-Natal in fulfillment of her Fulbright obligations.
Forbay not only performs and teaches, but she also is studying for a doctorate in voice performance at the University of Cincinnati. Her dissertation topic is Afrikaans art songs.
Even though she’s working in South Africa, she still has close ties to Texas: Her husband of three years, tenor Randall Umstead, is an assistant professor of voice at Baylor University. In March the couple performed together in several concerts in South Africa.
Joe Drape ’84, an award-winning sportswriter for The New York Times, has published his third book, Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen. A New York Times best seller, the book is now available in paperback from St. Martin’s Griffin.
In the book, Drape, a Kansas City native, explores the relationship between the Redmen, a winning high school football team in Smith Center, Kansas (population 1,931); the team’s longtime coach, Roger Barta; and the supportive community where the players are referred to as “our boys.”
When the story begins in fall 2008, the team held the national record for the longest high school winning streak. However, the Redmen faced serious hurdles in trying to maintain its title: the greatest senior players in school history had graduated, and Barta was contemplating retirement.
The book is described by Joe Paterno, Penn State’s longtime head football coach, as “an inspiring story about how a coach and a community are building young men with the simple values of love, patience and hard work.”
Drape, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from SMU’s Dedman College, also wrote The Race for the Triple Crown (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001) and the award-winning Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend (William Morrow, 2006), a biography of the African-American jockey Jimmy Winkfield. In addition, he edited To the Swift: Classic Triple Crown Horses and Their Race for Glory (St. Martin’s Press, 2008), a compilation of the best turf coverage in The Times over the last 130 years.
Before joining The New York Times, where he has won awards for his writing on horse racing, Drape worked for The Dallas Morning News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. READ more about the book FIND video, audio, chapter excerpt, book club guide
First-year student Roza Essaw jumped right into the political scene at SMU, serving on the Student Senate and competing as a member of the debate team.
Roza Essaw combines majors in corporate communications and public affairs and political science.
She felt that both activities would be vital in developing the skills to enter
public service and politics one day. Essaw is combining a major in corporate communications and public affairs in Meadows School of the Arts with a second
major in political science in Dedman College.
Matthew Rispoli, a sophomore with majors in electrical engineering, physics and math, serves as a research lab assistant in the Physics Department of Dedman College and is working on a project at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab in the Lyle School of Engineering.
Both students exemplify the bright minds who pursue broad interests as recipients of SMU merit scholarships. Essaw attends SMU on a Hunt Leadership Scholarship, which provides tuition and fees, less the amount of resident tuition and fees at the leading public school of the student’s state of residency, along with other benefits such as education abroad.
Rispoli says his Lyle Engineering Fellows Scholarship “greatly leveled the financial playing field. This was a major selling point because it allowed me to then judge [competing] colleges on what they truly had to offer,” such as the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research.
Matthew Rispoli and his project at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab in the Lyle School of Engineering.
They are among the more than 51 percent of SMU undergraduates who receive some form of merit scholarship aid, based on high school grades, SAT scores, leadership and other accomplishments.
SMU’s top merit package is the President’s Scholars Program, which provides full tuition and fees, room and board while in a residence hall, education abroad, mentoring, and special events such as a retreat at SMU-in-Taos and dinners with faculty.
Scholarship programs within the college and schools, such as Dedman Scholars, Cox B.B.A. Scholars, Meadows Scholars and Lyle Fellows, attract and reward undergraduates in specific fields.
Endowed scholarships support students with exceptional ability, at a time when more universities are offering competitive merit scholarships to a limited pool of high-achieving students. For this reason, increasing scholarship endowments is a major goal of SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. Other scholarships depend on consistent and generous annual giving.
“Increasing student quality isn’t only about test scores and rankings,” President R. Gerald Turner says. “Just as important, the quality of the student body supports the teaching and research conducted by faculty, as well as the interchange among students both in and out of the classroom. The right combination of students creates an academic environment that inspires excellence across campus.”
Rachel Kittrell entered SMU in fall 2008 and discovered a passion for the Land of Enchantment while exploring SMU-in-Taos with her camera.
Rachell Kittrell
“I love that campus and the way the light hits things in New Mexico,” says the Dallas sophomore, who attended SMU’s annual retreat for President’s Scholars in Taos. “We took a beautiful hike up a mountain near campus, and a few of us decided we had to try again at 5 the next morning to get a photo of the sunrise. Unfortunately it was covered by clouds.”
Then Kittrell, a recipient of the Gregg and Molly Engles President’s Scholar award, took an Introduction to Psychology course during her second term that changed her plans for the future.
“It hit me that this is the most fascinating thing I’ve ever studied,” she says. “I couldn’t stop telling my friends everything I had learned about brain structure and neuropsychology and the different fields that use psychology. The class came so naturally to me that I didn’t feel like I was even studying.”
She has since taken courses in developmental psychology and research methods. She is considering a minor in art or French, if her class schedule allows. “My main goal is to stay organized and focused on psychology,” says Kittrell, who began working for course credit during the spring term in the Psychology Department’s research program on stress, anxiety and chronic disease. She assists graduate students with administrative tasks and experiments.
“I’m getting to see an actual lab instead of just hearing about one in class, which has given me a firsthand view of what psychological research is like,” says Kittrell, who also works part time at a dry cleaning business.
“Rachel’s creativity and analytical skills will serve her well in any field,” says Associate Professor of Photography Debora Hunter, who taught Kittrell courses on beginning and documentary photography. “Scholarship students like Rachel raise the whole level of discourse in class.”
Kittrell says her scholarship has provided her with a built-in network. “Being part of the President’s Scholar community is like being part of a family,” she says. “I’ve bonded with other scholars in my residence hall and at get-togethers, and we support each other’s projects.”
Several President’s Scholars and other SMU students have supported a cause that is close to Kittrell’s heart: ovarian cancer awareness. Doctors caught her mother’s cancer just in time four years ago, she says, and the disease is now in remission.
At the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s Walk to Break the Silence in Grapevine, Texas, in September, Kittrell led a 5K team in honor of her mother’s friend, who died from ovarian cancer. “Relatives and friends, SMU students, my mom – we all got together for different reasons to support the same cause,” says Kittrell, who plans to lead a team again this fall. “At the end of the walk, the survivors gather to listen to a singer perform ‘Lean on Me.’ That’s what it’s all about.”
Kittrell hopes to spend a semester at SMU-in-Taos or in an SMU Abroad program, which would be financed by her scholarship. She also is considering graduate school at The Guildhall at SMU, where she could apply her psychology skills to the video game field of “level design,” which focuses on game structure and storytelling.
“My scholarship has given me opportunities that I haven’t had the chance to explore fully yet. I’m looking forward to exploring everything.” – Sarah Hanan
For Daniel Sanabria of Wylie, Texas, community college provided an affordable incubator for interests in sociology, political science and history. Those first two years of college-level study helped pave his way to SMU.
Sanabria received a Dallas-area Community College Scholarship from SMU in fall 2009. Each year the University awards 10 full-tuition scholarships to students from the Dallas, Tarrant or Collin County community college districts. To qualify, students must have 50 transferable credit hours and a minimum 3.7 GPA.
“Knowing that the University chose to invest in me has changed me in ways that I can’t even describe,” he says. “People have high expectations of me, and I want to exceed those expectations by making meaningful changes in the world.”
A desire to make a difference led him to anthropology. “The field is geared toward understanding a specific societal problem in its entirety to develop effective solutions,” says Sanabria, a junior. “I would like to focus on developing community leadership programs and a stronger, more effective system of education.”
The scholarship makes a well-rounded college experience possible, Sanabria
says. He’s president of the Dedman College Ambassadors, a new student organization with a goal of building a sense of community among professors, alumni and prospective students within the University’s largest school.
“SMU needs students like Daniel who are natural-born innovators,” says Mara Morhouse, Office of Recruitment and Scholarship in Dedman College. “By offering scholarships to these student leaders, we help alleviate the stress involved in paying for higher education, which makes the University a feasible option for our country’s best and brightest undergraduates.”
Scholarships generate immeasurable dividends, Sanabria says, and not only for the students who receive them. “A scholarship isn’t just for an individual; it’s an investment in every life the recipient touches.” – Patricia Ward
Alaa Al-Barghuthi’s greatest challenge as a student has been narrowing her focus.
“I want to do everything,” says Al-Barghuthi, a junior with a double major in business and French. “The wealth of opportunities – from meeting world leaders to serving in student government – is why I’m here.”
When Al-Barghuthi first visited the University as a Plano (Texas) Senior High School senior, “it was love at first sight,” she remembers. The oldest of four children in a close-knit family, she was editor of her school’s newspaper, vice president of faculty relations in the Student Congress and participated in several other organizations.
Receiving two scholarships – as a Mustang Scholar and Hunt Leadership Scholar – cemented her decision to attend SMU.
“The scholarships said to me: ‘We’re investing in you because we think you can create change and make an impact.’”
Mustang Scholarships provide partial stipends to support students who bring special talents and diverse perspectives to SMU.
Established in 1993 through a gift from Nancy Ann and Ray L. Hunt ’65, the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program selects approximately 20 to 25 entering students each year. Students must demonstrate leadership abilities and strong academic performance to qualify.
Al-Barghuthi labels the program “forward-thinking” for exposing students to visiting leaders and intellectuals through the Tate Lecture Series and other events.
Scholars are encouraged to take active roles in campus life. Al-Barghuthi served as development chair for the Student Foundation and speaker of the Student Senate. She is currently an SMU Student Ambassador – members represent the Student Foundation and the SMU student body at key University events – and vice president of Tri Delta sorority.
“I have learned so much about myself in these three years as a Hunt Scholar,” she says. “Most importantly, I’ve learned that leadership is not a string of titles on a résumé; leadership is moving people to be better than they thought they could be and creating some sort of good in this world.” – Patricia Ward
Coming off the bowl win and with Jones’ national profile, Mustangs fans are right to be optimistic about the chances for more national television coverage of SMU’s games in the 2010 season. “SMU is definitely back,“ says Rivals.com’s national recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree.
And Jones says the quality of play will continue its upward trajectory.
“I think athletically we’re going to be much better this year,” he says, crediting SMU’s academic stature as a recruiting plus. “When these kids get a degree from SMU, holy smokes, that’s more valuable than anything. It changes their lives.”
Three-year starter Mitch Enright ’08, who competed in his final season as a Mustang while working on an M.B.A. in the Cox School of Business, points to another factor for the team’s success: its fans. “We were able to feed off of their energy and play inspired football,” he says. “Our fans even showed up huge for us on the road. I’ll never forget the large fan support we had when we played at Tulsa. That road win was ultimately the turning point of our season.”
MVP quarterback Kyle Padron
For Jones, who speaks openly of his spiritual faith, football at its highest level requires a devout belief in the Golden Rule. “There are millions of ways to win football games, but that isn’t what decides games. It’s all the things you can’t put your finger on. It’s the friendships and the caring for each other as teammates. Those are the things that you play for and why we do what we do. I think a lot of people never figure that out.”
In the crowd of about 750 alumni and student believers at the Hawaii Bowl were Fort Worth attorney Albon Head (’68, ’71 J.D.) and his wife, Debbie. Head played on SMU’s SWC Championship football team in 1966 and was co-captain of the 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl champions. A loyal follower of Mustang football through all the good times and its 25-year bowl drought, Head earned bragging rights with SMU’s bowl win.
“Living in Fort Worth, I have to listen to TCU folks and ’Horns and Aggies all the time about their teams. I remind them that SMU was one of only two teams from Texas that won a bowl game.” (The other was Texas Tech.)
Debbie Head calls it “the greatest football game I have ever witnessed. The crowd was hugging, screaming, crying, jumping up and down.”
Members of the band, spirit squads, and Peruna and his handlers also attended the game. For junior Michael Danser, drum major of the Mustang Band, getting the opportunity to “represent the University was a great experience for everyone in the band. It felt good to walk around Waikiki all week proudly wearing SMU gear. Seeing a good amount of SMU fans really got the band pumped up.”
Alumni and other fans gear up for the game.
Quarterback Kyle Padron was chosen the Hawaii Bowl’s Most Valuable Player after throwing for an SMU-record 460 yards. He says he didn’t fully appreciate what a bowl victory would mean until he saw the reaction of his teammates, “especially the seniors and what they had to go through to get to that point. As a freshman, I didn’t know a whole lot about the background and all the losing they went through. Their emotion at the end of the Hawaii Bowl was something I will always remember.”
That remarkable win in the Pacific, along with Jones’ far-flung network of high school coaching friends on the mainland, paid off on signing day when the Mustangs harvested a nationally recognized recruiting class. Jeremy Crabtree, the Rivals.com editor, called SMU’s class “one of the top surprises this season.”
So, after 25 years of wondering when they could focus on the future instead
of fretting over the past, the wait is over for Mustang fans. – Kent Best Photos by (from top right) Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News, Robert Bobo, Tim Leonard, Debbie Head; Kyle Padron by Louis DeLuca/The Dallas Morning News; fans by Anthony Calleja.
Andrea Norris Kline ’08 vows she will never again complain about a jury summons – not after learning about Texas women’s hard-fought battle for the right to serve on a jury. As a student she conducted an independent research project for Crista DeLuzio, associate professor in the Clements Department of History. Kline’s research was used to establish a Texas historical marker in Dallas honoring the women who fought for the right to serve on a Texas jury.
Andrea Norris Kline (left) and Christa DeLuzio, associate professor in SMU’s Clements Department of History, with the Texas historical marker.
Although in 1920 the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote, it left to each state the decision to grant women the right to serve on juries. As a result, Texas women gained the right to jury service in 1954 – 34 years after receiving the right to vote.
“I have a newfound appreciation and sense of pride in participating in our local government,” says Kline, a history major and now an eighth-grade American history teacher in Lancaster, Texas.
Kline used U.S. census records, newspaper archives and Texas Legislature records to document the history of jury service in Dallas County.
After the 19th amendment was ratified in Texas, as well as in much of the South, women campaigned for educational opportunities, rights for married women and access to public positions, DeLuzio says. By the 1930s, the Dallas Business and Professional Women’s Club, The Dallas Morning News and the Dallas League of Women Voters made it their priority to gain the right for women to serve on a jury. The first resolution brought before the Texas Legislature was defeated in 1949. However, Texas voters approved an amendment placed on the November 1954 ballot to establish jury service rights for women.
“Most of us want to create our own place in history,” Kline says. “We make decisions that seem right for us and our community. Little do we know about our influence on future generations. These women made the decision to actively and proudly take their place in Dallas history.”
Kline and DeLuzio worked with the Dallas County Historical Commission to draft a proposal for a historical marker to be placed on the east side of the Old Red Courthouse, now a county historical museum in downtown Dallas. The marker was unveiled October 30.
Kline brings her enthusiasm for history to her classroom, dressing as a pioneer woman for her unit on westward expansion and wearing a tri-cornered hat during discussions about Colonial times. She also draws on her SMU experiences to make history come alive for her students.
“SMU opened opportunities for me, which I now share with my students, ” she says.
She attended SMU with the help of scholarships from the Mustang Band, Dedman College and her church. A History Department scholarship enabled her to spend a summer in England at SMU-in-Oxford.
“A lot of my students have never been past Lancaster,” she says. “When we talk about the English colonies, I show them my photos of Buckingham Palace, the House of Lords and the House of Commons. I like to give them something personal so they know they can go and see the world, too.”
Kline’s students gave her their approval when she told them about her role in the historical marker dedication – a standing ovation. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Tameca Robertson ’99 never considered SMU as a possibility in her college plans. In fact, she tossed unsolicited letters from the University into her “No“ pile after she saw the words “Southern” and “Methodist” and “Dallas.”
Tameca Robertson ’99, a systems engineer with JCPenney.
An African-American high school senior living in Romulus, Michigan (near Detroit), Robertson says she was considering northern universities. But on a visit to a relative in Houston, she made a side trip to campus. A meeting with an assistant dean of engineering helped her appreciate SMU’s special qualities, and an offer of a President’s Scholarship helped cement her decision to attend SMU.
The electrical engineering major worked in the Lyle School of Engineering’s minority co-op program to help pay expenses not covered by her full-tuition President’s Scholarship. During her senior year she completed a yearlong internship with JCPenney before joining the company after college.
Robertson, now a systems engineer with the Directory Services team in JCPenney’s Information Technology Department, has “grown up” professionally with the retail giant. She recently completed her 14th year with the company. And though technologies and computer languages have changed multiple times over the course of her career, Robertson says, “I don’t get intimidated because the underlying analytical skills and ability to learn new languages and technologies were ingrained in me through my SMU education and my work experience.“
She also has used that adaptability in her second career as a minister (she was ordained in 2005), particularly on a group mission trip in 2007 to speak at a series of women’s conferences in Uganda. Although she had prepared lessons for Christian college students in Uganda, she found she had been assigned to work with youth starting at age 11.
“I had to wing it, and that is so uncomfortable for me because I always review the material and prepare bullet points when speaking before a group,” she says.
Robertson will return to Uganda this summer. “Who knows, this time I may
minister to a different age group once again. I have a heart for young people and women who need help and support.” – Susan White
Last year alone, alumnus Scott Krouse ’03 flew 250,000 miles and spent more than 300 nights at hotels. “Think Up in the Air, but with more interesting work, people and places,“ he says.
Scott Krouse lives in Dublin, Ireland.
As a senior associate with the Manufacturing, Transportation and Energy practice of the global consulting firm Oliver Wyman, Krouse has worked on three continents and visited more than 50 countries. He lives in Dublin, has offices in London and is working on a project in Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East. “Doha is a stepping stone to Europe, Asia and Africa,” he says.
Krouse, who majored in financial consulting and minored in Spanish and economics at SMU, has had to learn how to work with different clients from many cultures.
“No two projects are the same, and each one has its own challenges,” he says. “One minute you are working for a nonprofit to determine funding for a malaria vaccine in Seattle, the next minute you are estimating the financial impact of maintenance delays for a utility company in Mexico or determining a commercial strategy for a global airline in the Middle East.”
The son of a British mother and an American father, Krouse grew up in Garland, Texas. At first he hesitated to consider SMU because it was so close to home, and cost was an issue. However, the University’s offer of a Hunt Leadership Scholarship sealed the deal because it gave him the financial ability to attend SMU. “It also gave me something else that I desired – a chance to travel and experience the world,” he says.
Krouse attended SMU-in-Spain in Madrid. “The experience was as much about learning outside the classroom as learning in the classroom – the trips around Spain, living with a host family, day-to-day life.”
He continued to use his Spanish on a summer job with a Miami firm and while working one summer in Mexico City with his current employer.
Even though he lives and works more than 5,000 miles away, Krouse continues to maintain ties with his alma mater by serving on the National Outreach Committee of the Young Alumni Board. “SMU gave me experiences and friends for a lifetime and enabled me to improve my leadership skills and prepared me for a job,” he says. “Although I cannot be on campus very often given my location, it doesn’t mean that I cannot give back to the University.” – Susan White
Abha Singh Divine ’89 jokes about inheriting an electrical engineering gene – and maybe some Mustang DNA, too.
Abha, her parents, Shelley (Shailendra) ’71 and Indu Singh ’72, and her brother, Rahul ’97, all hold degrees in electrical engineering from SMU.
“My parents moved from India to pursue graduate degrees at the University when I was just 2,” she says. “We lived on campus, so I have a long history with SMU.”
As an undergraduate, she was a President’s Scholar with a double major in electrical engineering and applied mathematics. She also completed the University’s Honors Program, which she says provided a strong, complementary foundation in liberal arts that continues to influence her work today.
“Some of the most important friendships I established at SMU are with this close set of peers I had all through school,” she remembers. “We came from all disciplines, from all kinds of backgrounds, and had the opportunity to share some of the most interesting events – like the Tate Lectures – together.”
The most important friendship she made was with her husband: Abha met Jim Divine ’89 while both were SMU engineering students. Jim, who was an Engineering Scholar as a student, says he chose SMU “because of the opportunity to apply classroom learning in a real-world environment via the engineering co-op program.”
The couple, who earned M.B.A. degrees after leaving SMU, combined their engineering knowledge and entrepreneurial acumen to establish successful companies. As a founder and managing director of Techquity Capital Management, an intellectual property (IP) investment firm, Abha travels the world to find untapped IP assets. Jim
is chairman and CEO of Keterex, a semiconductor firm based in Austin.
The Divines have made a bequest in their wills that will endow a President’s Scholarship for students studying engineering at SMU. This is a gift for the future, a donor vote of confidence in SMU’s enduring commitment to attract the best young minds.
“Our hope is that this gift underscores not only the importance of academic achievement to the scholar recipients, but also the importance of sharing their talents and giving back to their communities,“ Jim adds.
Scholarships = Student Quality
A key priority of The Second Century Campaign is increasing scholarship resources through endowed and annual gifts. There’s a correlation between student quality and scholarships: Over the past decade, as support for scholarships has grown, the average SAT score for entering SMU students has risen 98 points.
Donors to annual scholarships also play a crucial role in the University’s ability to compete nationally for top students, President R. Gerald Turner says. “Donors understand that annually funded scholarships can provide an essential bridge for students who might not otherwise be able to attend SMU – especially at a time when the University’s endowment is providing fewer dollars because of the recession.”
Like the Divines, many donors can plan now to help ensure a solid future for SMU scholarships, says Linda Preece, director of endowment and scholarship giving.
“People often assume they don’t have the resources to provide an endowed scholarship. However, with some judicious planning and conversation now, a future gift can make a scholarship endowment possible,” she explains. “When donors consider all their personal assets, such as a vacation home, a business they plan to sell, a retirement fund or an IRA, or a simple bequest, then they begin to see the possibilities for making a difference in a student’s life.”
For example, Shirley and Ting Chu, retired engineering faculty members, used the IRA Charitable Rollover provision to move funds from an IRA to establish a scholarship endowment in December 2009. When the endowment reaches its maximum income potential, it will provide scholarships to junior- and senior-level engineering majors who have academic merit and demonstrated financial need, Preece says.
“The beauty of a planned gift is that numerous choices are available, depending on donor needs and goals. Some gifts may even provide income to a donor,” she says. “The Office of Planned and Endowment Giving provides the resource for donors and their advisers in beginning that conversation.”
A Lasting Contribution
For Scott Savarese ’02 and his family, the unexpected death of his father, Donald E. Savarese, prompted them to establish a new SMU scholarship.
“He was such a caring person, and one of the things for which I was so grateful to him was providing the opportunity to obtain a good education. He encouraged me to get my M.B.A,” recalls Scott, who earned the graduate degree from SMU’s Cox School of Business.
The Savarese family – which includes Scott’s mother, Lucille, and sister, Lindsay Savarese Penny – decided to “create a way to remember him that captured his personality,” Scott says. They found it in The Donald E. Savarese Endowed Memorial Scholarship at SMU.
“We were overwhelmed by the support of his business peers,” Scott says. “It’s a great testament to his character; the caring person we knew at home was the same person his colleagues remember and respect.”
Donald E. Savarese moved to Texas when JCPenney relocated from New York City in 1990. He had worked for the major retail firm for more than 30 years and was pension fund director at the time of his death.
Because an endowed scholarship takes several years to generate its maximum income, an annual award has been set up by the Savarese family to cover the first few years. The fund provides one or more undergraduate and/or graduate scholarships up to $5,000 annually and is open to JCPenney associates and their families.
“This is the best of both worlds,” Scott says. “We give back to the JCP community immediately and create a scholarship that will embody my father’s caring spirit in perpetuity.”
SMU Scholarship Fund:
Annual gifts of any amount may be designated for this fund, which provides need-based disbursements to scholarship students. Gifts can be made online at
smu.edu/giving or mailed to: SMU Scholarship Fund, Records and Gifts Administration, P.O. Box 750402, Dallas, Texas 75275.
Annual Scholarships:
A minimum four-year commitment can be designated to support a named annual scholarship.
Endowed Scholarships:
Commitments of $100,000 or more provide permanent funding for scholarships. At these levels donors will have the opportunity to name the endowment fund in perpetuity.
More information about scholarship giving is available from Linda Preece, director of Endowment and Scholarship Giving, Office of Planned and Endowment Giving, at 214-768-4745 or endowment@smu.edu. – Patricia Ward
Imagine rotating the world as a little robot with a gear for a hand, or building steam-powered fantasy machines out of sliding tiles.
Now imagine the video games that will let you do these things and more
Lecturer Chad Walker directs a student in the Motion Capture Studio.
These winning concepts were among 12 finalists (out of 250 entries from throughout the nation) in the inaugural Indie Game Challenge (IGC). GameStop, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, and The Guildhall at SMU created the competition to encourage and reward innovation in game development, without the strictures of commercial concerns. Two entries – Gear and Cogs – received $100,000 prizes in the IGC’s Non-Professional and Professional categories, respectively. The winners were announced at the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit in Las Vegas, where the finalists met with industry insiders.
Ever since SMU began its game development program in 2003, “we’ve believed that we should create this sort of opportunity,” says Peter Raad, Guildhall executive director and the Linda Wertheimer Hart Professor and Director of the Linda and Mitch Hart eCenter at SMU in Plano. “The University is a leader in teaching the next generation of game designers. It was time to start promoting creativity in game design.”
The omnipresence of interactive technology has allowed games to become “the first entertainment choice of people of all ages, both genders, and of every culture and language,” Raad says. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. households play computer or video games, 40 percent of players are women, and 25 percent are older than age 50, according to the Entertainment Software Association, a business and public affairs organization for game publishers.
SMU and The Guildhall are in a unique position to lead the Indie Game Challenge effort, Raad says. “People look to universities as a platform for people who are always improving themselves. As the first university to offer a graduate program for video game development, we have associated ourselves with the best in the industry.”
Since its founding, The Guildhall has graduated more than 350 students. Professional game designers teach its specializations in art creation, level design and software development. Guildhall alumni work at more than 80 U.S. studios, including Sony Online Entertainment, id Software, Buzz Monkey and Insomniac Games.
Lecturer Eric Walker (left) works with students in an art creation class.
Enrollment figures show that The Guildhall also is leading the charge for gender parity in the gaming industry. The January 2010 entering class is nearly 20 percent female, as compared to the industry’s current employment pool of 4 to 6 percent women.
Raad estimates that the visibility the Indie Game Challenge has brought has equaled that of a $3 million national media campaign. “It shows SMU and The Guildhall as leaders working hand in hand with the industry to ensure its future success.”
The vision to make the IGC an annual competition ultimately involves establishing it in Dallas, Raad says. “Our dream is to have it associated with SMU the way the Sundance Festival is associated with Park City, Utah.” – Kathleen Tibbetts
SMU’s Sheraton Hawaii Bowl trophy sits in a corner of the Mustangs football office: clearly visible, but not the focal point. Intended or not, the trophy’s unobtrusive placement is a not-so-subtle reminder of how the mindset of SMU football has changed.
For as magnificent as SMU’s historic 45-10 win was over heavily favored Nevada, it’s now history, and SMU is facing forward. And perhaps no team in the nation has more reasons to look ahead as do the resurgent Mustangs, who return eight offensive and seven defensive starters from last year’s 8-5 team.
The Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl, it seems, was the appetizer for what many believe will be feasts to come.
“I always believed we could turn it around quickly here,&rdquo head football coach June Jones says without a hint of boasting.
And despite winning only one game in his first season at SMU in 2008, Jones stuck to a simple formula: Teach players to play for each other, not for themselves, and the victories will come.
“Probably five of our eight wins were against teams that were better than us,” Jones says of the Mustangs’ breakthrough 2009 season. “But when you come together and learn to sacrifice for each other and believe in each other, you can do great things. I think this past year, probably more than anything, proved that.”
Certainly the Hawaii Bowl offered proof that SMU could compete on a national level, but it also served as a booster shot to Mustangs fans and the program’s recruiting efforts.
“I suspect most football fans in America watched at least some of our game on Christmas Eve, which provided great visibility for SMU,” says Paul Rogers, Dedman School of Law professor and SMU’s athletics representative to the NCAA. On the strength of its prime-time broadcast and widespread national print coverage, the bowl game generated more than $30 million in publicity value for SMU.
“Visibility begets more visibility,” Rogers adds. “Because the team played so well on such a large stage, we’ll probably have more television exposure next year. That will continue to help recruiting, fundraising and every aspect of the program.” Mustang fans are right to be optimistic … Continue reading.
The public’s approval of politics and U.S. governing institutions is at an all-time low – approaching only 8 percent for Congress. The American public has noticed the increasing lack of civility in discussions among public figures and elected officials, who in turn find themselves besieged by arguments that seem more designed to silence and impugn than to encourage a careful search for the truth. As a debate coach, people often ask me what can be done to improve public debate in America. These are my suggestions:
Attack The Argument And Not The Person
In the course of disagreement it is easy to merge the words we see or hear with the opponent’s identity and our own. In essence, the argument becomes personal. Our responses should focus upon the arguments and the policies offered by an advocate rather than the personal aspects. Of course, this is easier said than done and often will require ignoring personal attacks that others launch at us. I urge student debaters to begin sentences with words such as, “Your argument is wrong because…” rather than “You are wrong because… .” I specifically tell SMU debaters that when they cross-examine their opponents in debates to look at the judge rather than the opposing team because this reduces their tendency to get angry and impatient with their opponents and disciplines them to the calmer task of persuading the decision maker.
I point to the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858 as a great example. Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln electrified the Midwest with their lengthy debates about American politics and the looming concerns over slavery. The passions of the debate easily could have made the men lifelong enemies, but this was not the case. After Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, many thought there would be great controversy at the inauguration. But Douglas was known to have remarked at the event: “I shall be there, and if any man attacks Lincoln, he attacks me, too.” Debate and argument on such a passionate issue as slavery that divided the nation did not diminish the friendship of these famous political rivals, who gave us many of our modern notions about political debate.
Teach And Model Argumentation And Debate
When we model appropriate argument, young people learn and appreciate these well-reasoned disagreements. Unfortunately, speech and debate classes are being taught less and less in high school and college. This past year, the college debate community saw two of its legendary coaches, Northwestern’s Scott Deatherage and Wake Forest’s Ross Smith, leave its ranks to teach high school. Both men had coached many national collegiate championships. Because of their successes, they decided to teach debate among underserved populations of high school students. Similarly, SMU serves the Urban Debate Alliance, which reaches high school students in the Dallas Independent School District who might not be able to receive debate instruction otherwise. Teaching and modeling appropriate argument for our young people demonstrates the proper means for resolving disagreements and also ignites the passion for learning.
This past year SMU took the unusual step of sending its debate squad to Marshall, Texas, to debate on the campus of Wiley College – home of the Hollywood-famous The Great Debaters, immortalized in the film created by Denzel Washington. Mere days after the inauguration of the nation’s first African-American president, two SMU debaters took the stage to argue the question of whether a leader believes “the pen is mightier than the sword.” SMU lost, defending the sword as greater than the pen, but won a mighty victory in bringing the first public debate in 80 years to Wiley and the first debate with a largely white university in the school’s history. The auditorium was filled with hundreds of African-American college students seeing their first college debate. I remarked to the press, “It’s the best debate we ever lost.”
Idealize The Idealist
Much of the decline in public argument is rooted in Americans’ unfortunate social addiction to cynicism – believing that all public arguments are inherently self-serving and not for the public good. Criticism for criticism’s sake has become too popular. The recent film Invictus shows Nelson Mandela offering a note of inspiration to the captain of the South African rugby team regarding this important problem. Mandela used a quotation from President Teddy Roosevelt – rather than English literature – that would serve the new advocates of our present time well:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; … if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.”
Roosevelt’s admonition about the critic is an important one in understanding how the American public sphere ultimately will be healed of its present incivility. It will be the hard work and sweat of idealists, such as SMU’s student debaters, who are willing to endure the slings and arrows of selfish critics. Each one of us can, however, live and act in accordance with the principles noted here and be a substantial cornerstone in building a better national culture that treasures argument rather than abuses it.
SMU reinstated its debate program in 2008 through its Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Program in Meadows School of the Arts. At present, 30 students from various academic majors have participated in 12 debate tournaments throughout the United States. They have won numerous individual speaking and team awards. Ben Voth is director of debate and chair and associate professor of corporate communications and public affairs. He can be reached at bvoth@smu.edu.
As a business journalist, I like to look for discrepancies. Show me two sets of facts or data that seem to clash, and chances are I’ll find a story. So here’s a discrepancy if ever there were one: In 2008, U.S. newspapers cut 15,984 jobs, according to Paper Cuts, a blog that keeps count. And yet, in the fall of that year, enrollment in undergraduate journalism and mass communications programs rose nearly 1 percent from a year earlier, the 15th straight year of increase. And SMU is no exception. In 2000, SMU’s Journalism Division had 93 majors; as of fall 2009, we have 150.
One conclusion you might draw from this is not to expect 19-year-old sophomores to make rational economic decisions. But I think something else is going on. I think aspiring young journalists still have the passion for finding and telling the truth that drew generations of their predecessors to the field. They also sense new opportunities that we longtime practitioners, with our heavy emotional and career investments in the old ways of doing things, are too depressed and distracted to see.
No question that the news media – the print news media in particular – are in the midst of cataclysmic change. You sometimes hear it said that journalism has a business-model problem, not an audience problem. I wish that were so. The truth is that although journalism does have a business-model problem – the advertising that supported it has vanished – the business problem is intimately tied to an audience problem. Newspaper readers, because they tend to be older, are literally dying off, and their replacements won’t be coming from Generation iPhone. With the closings of major dailies like the Christian Science Monitor and the Rocky Mountain News and cutbacks in almost every other newsroom, U.S. newspapers now spend $1.6 billion or 25 percent less on newsgathering than they did three years ago, by one rough estimate. So it’s not hard to convince yourself that this represents the end of the world as we know it.
One reason for concern is that newspapers, even in their diminished state, still report 85 percent of “real” news, in the estimate of Alex S. Jones, director of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. That means serious news – about issues like health care reform, the war in Afghanistan
and the local city council’s agenda, as opposed to lighter topics like sports scores, pecan pie recipes and stories about where Britney got that nasty rash. If you are among the dwindling band of daily newspaper readers, you know that most broadcast and online news, and nearly all blogs, feed off that morning’s paper (or its affiliated website). The pessimistic view is that, in a world with many fewer newspapers and vastly smaller newsrooms, there will be little real news – and an increasingly uninformed citizenry.
But I remain an optimist. The traditional news media have an audience problem, it’s true. But information has no audience problem. In fact, the audience for information is insatiable – that’s why 1.7 billion of the world’s inhabitants use the Internet. The trick will be to match up that audience with real news in a sustainable way. There are hundreds of experiments going on right now that seek ways to do just that. Which model or combination of models will be the answer? Will it be an iPhone app, Twitter, an e-reader, a tablet? Will it be things with strange names like micropayments, pay walls, citizen journalism, hyperlocal journalism, nonprofit journalism or consortium journalism? I don’t know, and nobody does. But all the experimentation is the reason that young journalists are so excited by the possibilities: They’re getting in at the early stages of something new, and they have a chance to shape the future instead of carrying on a hoary tradition. It’s also why we no longer teach our students to be print journalists, broadcast journalists or even Internet journalists.
Yes, we teach them to write, to shoot and edit video, to blog, to use flip-cams and to interact with readers on Facebook and Twitter. And yes, we have a new state-of-the-art convergence newsroom where much of our students’ work will ultimately flow for distribution on the Web. But the truth is that some of this new technology eventually will go the way of the eight-track tape. So it’s not really about the gear. What we’re teaching students, still, is how to do journalism, in the confidence that uncovering the truth and telling people about it will never become obsolete.
Mark Vamos, former editor-in-chief of the national business magazine Fast Company and a former senior editor of Newsweek and BusinessWeek, is the William J. O’Neil Chair
in Business Journalism and Journalist in Residence at Meadows School of the Arts.
He can be reached at mvamos@smu.edu.
With the mounting number of online information resources, it may be more important than ever to choose the most effective method of reaching a specific audience.
About seven years ago, SMU Business Services created a 16-member student advisory panel to provide input before implementing student-related projects, according to Ed Ritenour, Business Services marketing director. Divisions that function under the Business Services umbrella include Park ’N Pony, dining services, the bookstore and the campus police, among others.
“We’ve found that students don’t want more e-mails – they usually won’t read them,” Ritenour says, “but they will go to Facebook for information.”
First-year student Jordan McCurdy, a member of the student advisory panel, admits to automatically deleting e-mails. “When you’re getting six e-mails every half-hour, it’s overwhelming,’ says McCurdy, a double major in English and mathematics. “I think systems that allow you to opt in, like a Facebook group that’s concentrated on a specific topic of interest, are more effective.”
Ben Alexander in Public Affairs notes that most SMU schools have their own Facebook pages and Twitter feed that can be accessed by clicking on icons – usually an “f” button for Facebook and a “t” button for Twitter – on the school’s home page.
“Facebook and Twitter allow us to keep in contact with key audiences in a brief, up-to-the-minute way,” he says.
Twitter differs from Facebook in that it’s not so much for wordy back-and-forth exchanges as it is for transmitting ideas and information concisely. Tweets, or Twitter messages, are limited to 140 characters.
Yolette Garcia, assistant dean in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, teaches the class “Consuming News in the Digital Age: From Traditional Media to Citizen Journalism” in the school’s Master of Liberal Studies program.
In the class, students learn by doing. “Students are required to set up Twitter accounts and send Tweets as part of the class,” says Garcia, who administers the Simmons School’s Facebook page (facebook.com/smusimmons) and Twitter feed (twitter.com/smusimmons). “It’s not enough to just talk about it; they have to jump in and use it to really understand it.”
“Oh, no” was Trisha Mehis’ first reaction to Garcia’s Twitter requirement.
“I wasn’t a Twitter user, and I thought it was just another thing to have to check, in addition to e-mail and phone messages,” says Mehis, a senior project manager with SMU’s Office of Planning, Design and Construction, whose primary project is the new Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall.
After a few months of using Twitter, she’s a believer. “It came in handy during the snow day [the SMU campus was closed Feb. 11 after an 11-inch snowfall],” she says. “I didn’t have power at my house, but my cell phone had power and got the Tweet about the campus closing.”
What’s Next?
Morgan Stanley, a global financial services provider, released a 424-page report in December 2009 that predicts more people will access the Internet through their smart phones than their desktops by 2014. And that presents another opportunity for SMU to connect with the University community and external constituents.
“We’re increasing our efforts in the mobile Web arena,” Alexander says. “We’re working on ways to offer content for the broadest population of users. One example is iPhone applications, but we also want to be accessible and open to other devices as well.” – Patricia Ward
Mustang Ryan Rosenbaum’s phenomenal 95-yard goal is the soccer kick seen around the world – thanks to YouTube, the ubiquitous video-sharing website. The first-year player’s sensational move against the University of Tulsa Oct. 16 was a hit on the SMU Athletics’ YouTube channel . As of mid-March, the 27 seconds of Mustang soccer history had been viewed almost a half million times.
YouTube provides an easy and efficient distribution point to news outlets for SMU-related video, says Brad Sutton, assistant athletics director for public relations and broadcasting. “From a media relations standpoint, YouTube gives us the ability to cast a wide net.”
Sutton’s team posted the video and sent out an e-mail alert to media contacts. ESPN’s Sports Center and ABC World News are among the national programs that broadcast Rosenbaum’s powerful footwork as a result. After the clip aired, word spread quickly among soccer fans, and YouTube viewings skyrocketed.
YouTube is just one online window open to the world of SMU. While traditional websites like smu.edu are mainstays of news and information delivery on the Internet, blogs and social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are gaining popularity with users of all ages.
Web-based communication “is about community and participation,” says Steve Edwards, professor with SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute in Meadows School of the Arts. He teaches social media marketing at the graduate and undergraduate levels. “You can’t just throw content out there and let it sit. You have to interact.”
Blogging The Latest News
“Blogs and Facebook are less about pushing out information than about engaging in a two-way conversation with key audiences,” says Ben Alexander, director of e-Marketing in the SMU Office of Public Affairs.
In addition to administering smu.edu, the Public Affairs team maintains SMU’s social networking channels: Facebook, which boasts more than 8,000 fans, and Twitter, with nearly 1,000 followers (figures as of mid-May).
Like YouTube, blogs such as SMU Research provide an efficient conduit for information about the University to media outlets around the world. SMU Research documents important findings by faculty in all academic disciplines, including earth and climate, energy and matter, and health and medicine. When information about the discovery of the “Rosetta Stone” of supervolcanoes in Italy by a team led by James E. Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at SMU was posted on the SMU blog, MSNBC.com, ScienceDaily.com and geology.com were among the national media to pick up the story.
Blogs also provide an opportunity for the University to present a well-rounded picture of SMU student life. The SMU Student Adventures site features blogs written by students participating in SMU education abroad, service, leadership, internship and research programs. The site, which registers more than 4,000 visits per month, appears in “What’s New at SMU,” the Admission e-newsletter for prospective students, and on the accepted students website. Redefining Social Skills …Continue reading.
Howard Mitchell Epps is a World War II Navy veteran and retired manager of a chemical plant in Louisiana. He and his wife of 63 years have two children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. George Olewnick, retired after 37 years with IBM, lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with
his wife of 60 years.
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Newton D. Gregg (M.S. ’64) has structural engineering experience in Dallas, at the Kennedy Space Center for NASA and at the University of Central Florida in Orlando as associate professor of engineering technology.
Don K. Bentz married Joan Dyar in April 1950. During his 23-year retirement from Mack Trucks, they have traveled to 125 islands and countries, 50 states, the Canadian provinces and most Mexico states. They have six children and 15 grandchildren. Samuel Bruce Clark moved to Rivermont Retirement Village in Norman, OK, in November 2009.
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Harlan Harper (J.D. ’57) is retired from the law firm of Fanning, Harper and Martinson in Garland, TX, where he was president and a founding partner. He volunteers on several committees at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas. John Mood, Ph.D., has written a book on German language poet Rainer Maria Rilke: A New Reading of Rilke’s “Elegies”: Affirming the Unity of “life-AND-death” (Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY, 2009).
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William A. Martin is on the board of directors of a San Antonio transit company.
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Nancy Hopkins Reily lives in Lufkin, TX, where she developed a career as an outdoor portrait photographer. She wrote Classic Outdoor Color Portraits: A Guide for Photographers and co-authored Joseph Imhof, Artist of the Pueblos. Her two-volume biography, Georgia O’Keeffe, A Private Friendship (Sunstone Press), details the artist’s
creative and mysterious life.
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Donald D. Clayton chronicles his life on the frontier of scientific discovery in Catch a Falling Star (iUniverse, 2009). For 26 years he was Andrew Hays Buchanan Professor of Astrophysics at Rice University and one of the original four faculty for Rice’s Department of Space Physics and Astronomy. He was honored as an SMU Distinguished Alumnus in 1993. Richard Deats was named a distinguished alumnus of Boston University in October 2009. He is a member of the Rockland Civil Rights/Human Rights Hall of Fame.
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The Rev. Phillip Douglas Erwin, retired in 1997 from the Oklahoma Conference, serves First Presbyterian Church of Tonkawa, OK, as interim pastor. He married Evelyn Toland June 26, 2009.
David G. Stubbeman is retired from law practice and the U.S. Navy Reserves (JAG). He has been a member of the Texas House of Representatives, mayor of Abilene and a district governor for Rotary International. He and his wife, former SMU student Sue Swenson, live in Abilene.
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Judith Manning Clugston Foster (M.A. ’73) has hiked in England, Norway and Switzerland. At Springer, GA, April 13, 1996, she stepped onto the Appalachian Trail at the southern terminus. Thirteen years, 119 trips and 2,176 miles later on Sept. 6, 2009, she reached the northern terminus, five months after her 70th birthday. John M. (Jack) Jacobsen is retired as technical director from Amalie Oil Company. Anne Maples Schultz has returned to Graham, TX, to manage family business.
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Bill B. Hedges is an archivist in the South Central Jurisdiction Mission Council of The United Methodist Church and a member of the General Commission on Archives and History. Thomas E. Shugart announces the birth of his first grandchild, Skylar Elizabeth. Her grandmother is the late Susan Drury Shugart, former SMU student.
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Dr. William H. (Bill) Fox Jr. is senior vice president for external affairs emeritus at Atlanta’s Emory University. At SMU he served as dean of men; at the time, he was the youngest person in the United States to have a full dean title. He and his wife, Carol Lewis Fox (B.A. ’66, M.L.A. ’71), recently
celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary.
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Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Kay Fincher Hyland, Don S. Pearce, Jane Harrell Pierce
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Edmund H. Hecht recently returned from the Ukraine, where he served as a Fulbright Scholar, professor of management, at
Kremenchuk Mykhaylo Ostrogradskiy State Polytechnic University. He is president and principal consultant of EHco Services Inc. of Corpus Christi, recognized as an international volunteer for bringing business and engineering skills to developing and transitioning countries. Bobby B. Lyle serves on the board of trustees of the Communities Foundation of Texas, which has awarded over $1 billion in charitable grants since 1953. He is a prominent figure in the Dallas civic and philanthropic arena and chair, president and CEO of Lyco Holdings Inc. At SMU he is a member of the board of trustees, and the engineering school bears his name.
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Colleen McHugh was elected March 3 by the regents of The University of Texas System as the first woman to lead the board governing the 15 academic and health campuses of the UT System, with 200,000 students and 84,000 employees. She is an attorney and vice president for compliance, risk management and privacy with the Christus Spohn Health System in Corpus Christi.
When alumni speak, prospective students and their parents listen. That’s why alumni participation is key to SMU’s efforts to recruit the best and brightest future Mustangs.
“A student recruitment program for alumni has been in existence for some time,” says Ken Malcolmson ’74, SMU Alumni Board chair. “With the change in the competitive landscape in higher education, the board decided this would be an ideal time to re-energize the program and re-engage alumni in student recruitment efforts.”
In partnership with the Division of Enrollment Services, Alumni Relations provides SMU graduates with many opportunities to share insight and information with prospective students through the Student Recruitment Volunteers (SeRVe) program.
“Alumni play a key role in the University’s recruitment efforts,” says Ron Moss, dean of undergraduate admission and executive director of enrollment services. “Prospective students and their parents appreciate the viewpoints of alumni, who can speak from firsthand knowledge about the campus experience and the value of an SMU education.”
Alumni anywhere in the country can become involved in the year-round effort to draw promising new students to the Hilltop, Malcolmson notes. Volunteer opportunities include:
Representing SMU at college fairs for high school students. “Alumni can speak from their own personal experiences, sharing perspectives that create a rich, well-rounded picture of student life at SMU,” Malcolmson says.
Corresponding with prospective students in the fall, encouraging them to apply.
Corresponding with admitted students in the spring, congratulating them on their acceptance to SMU.
Going to summer send-off parties for students who will attend SMU in the fall. Last year send-off events were held in cities around the country, including Chicago, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Attending and/or hosting recruitment receptions. The events are typically held from mid-August through September and kick off the recruitment season. They are designed for high school juniors, seniors and their families to learn about what SMU has to offer. Enrollment Services sends invitations to high school students who have expressed interest in receiving SMU materials. Alumni participation during the question-and-answer portion of the program is particularly beneficial.
In addition to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, past events have been held in Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Phoenix, St. Louis, San Antonio, San Francisco and other cities around the country.
Marca Price ’84 with her son, David, a sophomore theatre major in Meadows School of the Arts.
Sharing SMU experiences at on-campus events.
When Marca Price ’84 served on a Mustang Days panel in March, she discovered how important the alumni point of view is, particularly to parents.
“We all shared our thoughts on what we like best about SMU. This gave me a chance to point out the excellent ‘family’ feel of the campus,” she says.
She brought an added dimension to the discussion: Price is also an SMU parent. Her son, David, is a sophomore theatre major in Meadows School of the Arts.
“I was approached by more than one parent with additional questions and concerns. One mother even asked, ‘If it were your child … ’ – that made me feel like I had really connected with the audience.”
Price’s experience demonstrates the power of the personal touch in connecting with tomorrow’s Mustangs, Malcolmson says. “We hope to build an army of engaged alumni who will enhance Admission’s efforts to attract some of the country’s most outstanding students to SMU.”
For more information, visit smu.edu/involved, call 214-768-ALUM (2586) or 1-888-327-3755, or e-mail involved@smu.edu.
Alumni Board
Bill Vanderstraaten ’82 has been selected as the chair-elect for the SMU Alumni Board. Bill is president of Chief Partners, LP, a commercial real estate investment company, and resides in Dallas. His term as chair will begin in May 2011. Nominations for the 2011 SMU Alumni Board will be accepted through Dec. 31. Alumni may nominate fellow alumni or themselves. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or e-mail smualum@smu.edu. CHAIR Ken Malcolmson ’74 MEMBERS Brad Adams ’93, Craig Adams ’88, Chris Ainsworth ’94, Emily Blue ’00, Shonn Brown ’95, ’98, Robert Cabes ’91, Jonathan Childers ’02, ’05, Marli Craig ’92, Marcus Duron ’85, Kim Hanrahan ’92, Harriet Holleman ’63, Rob Johnson ’97, Steve Lindley ’74, Doug Linneman ’99, Carlos Maldonaldo ’97, Robert Massad ’68, Susie McCormack ’77, Bobby Mills ’57, Michaux Nash Jr. ’56, Kelli Nesseth ’88, Debbie Oates ’78, Scott Rozzell ’71, Lisa Sabin ’78, Anga Sanders ’70, ’77, David Schmidt ’79, Deborah Sirchio ’70, Steve Swanson ’74, Jeffrey Ziegler ’84
SMU alumni participate in the University’s recruitment efforts with summer send-off parties in Chicago and other cities.
In addition to revving up the horsepower for SMU student recruitment, alumni provide invaluable support in many other areas that truly makes a difference.
Alumni talent and energy are needed to:
Help recruit students
Be class giving ambassadors
Participate in class reunions
Get involved in local chapters
Represent Hispanic alumni
Represent African-American alumni
Represent young alumni
Mentor students
The new “I Am Involved” website streamlines the volunteer process. On the site alumni can view a description of each opportunity, a list of expectations and time requirements.
The online application procedure is simple: Select the “connect today” button; fill out the form, including first, second and third program or committee choices; and hit the submit button. A representative from Alumni Relations will follow up with each applicant.
“We are thrilled to have one central place where alumni can learn about how to get plugged in and volunteer with our alma mater,” says Marli Craig ’92, an Alumni Board member.
For questions about SMU’s alumni involvement opportunities, call 214-768-ALUM (2586) or 1-888-327-3755, or e-mail involved@smu.edu.
Participation in SMU fund-raising initiatives matters more than some alumni might realize. Gifts to the University not only advance the goals of The Second Century Campaign, but they also make a positive public statement about the Mustang experience.
“SMU values donations from its alumni because a financial commitment is a measurable way to show your pride and your vote of confidence in the future of the University,” says Stacey Paddock, executive director of alumni giving and relations.
Consider these important facts and figures about alumni participation:
U.S. News & World Report and other ratings agencies factor in alumni giving when they calculate their rankings.
SMU uses direct mail, student callers and e-mail to solicit 85,000 alumni each year. A graduate has to make only one gift during the fiscal year to be counted in the annual participation numbers.
SMU rewards donors with membership in two recognition societies. Donors who give in consecutive years become members of the Hilltop Society. In fiscal year 2009, the Hilltop Society had 17,576 individual members, with 1,150 giving for more than 20 consecutive years. Donors who give $1,000 or more each year become President’s Associates. There were 3,385 President’s Associates in fiscal year 2009. For more information about these recognition societies, please e-mail donorrealations@smu.edu or call 214-768-4071.
SMU alumni participation jumped from 14 percent in fiscal year 2006 to 19 percent in fiscal year 2009. Paddock attributes the increase “to greater education about the importance of alumni financial support to their alma mater.”
Although that increase is significant, SMU still lags behind some of its peers: TCU, 21 percent; Vanderbilt, 24 percent; Emory, 37 percent; and USC, 39 percent.
Alumni participation is one of The Second Century Campaign goals – 25 percent annual participation by the end of the campaign.
For more information about alumni participation, contact Alumni Relations at smualum@smu.edu, call 214-768-ALUM (2586) or 888-327-3755.
Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Bobby Harrison, Julie Callan Harrison, Jan Gehring Peterson, Marc Peterson
Edward Vela Jr. was elected 2010 president of the Davy Crockett Chapter of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, whose members are documented descendants of people registered as living in the Republic of Texas, 1836-1845.
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Carolyn Johnson is president of Ninth District PTA, serving San Diego and Imperial counties, CA. She has a daughter, Amanda Epple, in college. Elizabeth (Betty) Underwood is a real estate agent for Tom Gilchrist Co. in Dallas.
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Ruth Anne McCoy Hammond presides over the board of directors of Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE), a Los Angeles-based non-profit dedicated to respectful care of infants and toddlers. She is the author of Respecting Babies: A New Look at Magda Gerber’s RIE Approach (Zero to Three Press, 2009). Asher McDaniel serves Knob Noster United Methodist Church in Missouri following his 2009 retirement.
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Dr. Nancy Jurik (M.A. ’75) was named a distinguished faculty member in October 2009 in the College of Liberal Arts at Arizona State University. Ron Ogan joined Georgia Tech Research Institute in Huntsville, AL, last July after leaving Raytheon, Forest, MS, where he worked five years as a lead systems engineer on the U.S. Navy APG-79 (an active electronically steered array radar system) for the USN F-18 aircraft.
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Dr. Betsy Vogel Boze (M.B.A. ’75) was appointed senior fellow at American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, DC.
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Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs:Jane Bander Williams, Tony Boghetich
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Molly Beth Beene Malcolm was recently elected state treasurer of the Community College Association of Texas Trustees. She has served on the Texarkana College Board since 2006 and is board secretary and building committee chair. Susan Hubbard Moran has launched a new wedding design business, V & M Wedding Concepts LLC, in Harrisburg, PA.
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C. Wade Cooper was named managing partner of the law firm Jackson Walker Feb. 15, 2010. He will maintain a legal practice in the Austin office along with his management responsibilities. Jeanne Tower Cox is in the forefront of Dallas civic and philanthropic volunteers, dedicated for nearly 30 years to improving education and public policy and building experience in community giving and service. As a newly elected trustee on the board of the Communities Foundation of Texas, she continues to improve lives by awarding charitable grants – exceeding $84 million in 2009 – to local and national nonprofits. Stephen R. Pattison retired in April 2007 from the Foreign Service as consul general in Berlin and resumed law practice in London, where he is a partner with Magrath LLP and manages the firm’s U.S. immigration unit.
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Warren Zeller has joined Eclipse Marketing Services as director of strategic partnerships, where he will assist in the development of joint marketing campaigns involving cable operators, movie studios and programming networks. He spent 10 years at Starz Encore Group as vice president of marketing and was instrumental in the launch of 14 Starz Encore networks.
Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Roman J. Kupchynsky II, Ruth Irwin Kupchynsky, David W. Long, Terri Amis Long
Melva Davis-Smith retired from the U.S. Postal Service after 30 years and now works in the home health industry. Henry Ross is the CEO of Aegis Health Group, a company that fosters partnerships between hospitals and local employers for workplace wellness programs.
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The Rev. Dr. Jefferson S. Labala has two new publications: Through African Eyes: Biblical Parallel to African Religion and Culture and Its Implications for a New Theological Paradigm (Seaburn Books, 2008) and The Battle Over the Ten Commandments: Challenging the Witness of Christians in Society (Seaburn Books, 2009).
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Brian Bearden (M.L.A. ’85) recently attended the children’s chorus performance of his daughter, Madison, at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Alice (Tina) Sheffield Kuncaitis was voted Southeast representative for the National Concrete Masonry Association board of directors and appointed to the executive committee. She has a daughter, Alyssa, a high school senior. Cathy Boltz Margolin is owner/president of Pac Herbs in Los Angeles and a licensed acupuncturist in Beverly Hills. She specializes in Chinese herbal medicine. Sue Kelly McKone and Suzanne Johnson Snavely, members of Kappa Alpha Theta, visited the SMU campus early this year during sorority rush. Their daughters, Molly and Caroline, also are Thetas. Tim D. Monnich left Dallas for Austin in 2005 to attend a Master’s degree program in rehabilitation counseling at The University of Texas. Michael Solberg and his wife, Virginia, have expanded their Rolfing Structural Integration practices by founding the Solberg Center for Structural Integration in Plano, TX, with another location near SMU.
84
Mark Blinn (J.D. ’87, M.B.A. ’98) is president and chief executive officer since Oct. 1, 2009, of Irving-based Flowserve Corporation, providing engineered and industrial pumps, seals, valves and related services to global infrastructure markets. He joined Flowserve in 2004 as chief financial officer, a position he previously held at Kinko’s.
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Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Stephanie Chantilis Bray, Anne Nash Killebrew, George W. Killebrew
Elena Rohweder Turner has been named manager of communications at Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Linda A. Wilkins has a new law practice in Dallas with a concentration in employee benefit matters and executive compensation. She is an adjunct professor at SMU’s Dedman School of Law and is listed in Best Lawyers in America and Texas Monthly magazine’s Super Lawyers.
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Dr. Mark Boyd (M.S. ’87, Ph.D. ’91) was honored Feb. 16, 2010, as Engineer of the Year by the Dallas Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. He is a partner and engineering manager with LCA Environmental Inc., a vice president with PerTect Detectors Inc., environmental chair for the Texas section of the American Society for Civil Engineers and an adjunct assistant professor of environmental and civil engineering in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. Stephanie Heard Fairleigh is the 2009-10 president of the Junior League of Stamford-Norwalk, CT. Kelley Miller began service in January 2010 as a jet propulsion laboratory solar system ambassador volunteer in a program of the California Institute of Technology and a lead research and development center for NASA.
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Thomas McDavid is a Merrill Lynch financial advisor recognized among the Top 100 Wirehouse Advisors in the country in the Sept. 1, 2009, issue of Registered Rep magazine. He has oversight for more than $70 billion in client assets. He and his wife, Debra, live in Atlanta, where they support the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Troy Stovall was appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer Jan. 1, 2010, for Howard University in Washington, DC, to focus on business operations and enhancement of the PeopleSoft system. He was formerly senior vice president for finance and operations at Jackson State University. Graham Wadsworth is the public works director for the Town of Yountville, CA. He and his wife, Kate, and their three children live in Fairfield.
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Desmond Abban works in international securities. Andrea Dawne Bradley was recently selected executive director of human resources for Bank of America worldwide. She lives in New York.
The Rev. Adam Hamilton was presented the 2010 Perkins Distinguished Alumnus Award by Perkins School of Theology in an SMU campus ceremony February 2. In 1990 he was appointed to a start-up mission in Leawood, KS, and has overseen the growth of that congregation, the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, to more than 12,000.
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Michael Harden and his wife, Susan, announce the birth of their first child, Nathan Richmond, Feb. 5, 2009. Michael is chief operating officer for Atlas Specialty Products in Anaheim, CA.
We’re running ‘Ambush.’” Thomas Morstead will never forget those words. New Orleans trailed Indianapolis 10-6 when Saints head coach Sean Payton instructed the rookie punter/kicker to deliver the kick of a lifetime.
Thomas Morstead
Morstead, a three-year letterman (2006-08) at SMU, hadn’t even tried an onside kick until practice a dozen days earlier.
“My adrenaline started going and my heart was pumping out of my chest,” says Morstead, who is just six credits shy of his Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He plans to finish his degree at SMU as soon as his schedule allows.
Despite the nerves, Morstead had an inkling that the first onside kick attempt before the fourth quarter in Super Bowl history stood a solid chance of succeeding.
“We knew that the ball was tough to handle and we had five guys on two over on that side of the field.”
Once the ball traveled the requisite 10 yards and bounced off the hands of the Colts’ Hank Baskett, a mad scramble ensued for possession. After what seemed like the longest 65 seconds in Saints’ history, New Orleans’ Chris Reis came up with the prize at the bottom of the scrum. The Saints were on their way to springing an upset against Peyton Manning and the Colts. (The Indianapolis Colts also claim an SMU connection: The team is owned by alumnus Jim Irsay ’82.)
The Saints rode the momentum of Reis&rsquo recovery to capture their first NFL championship, 31-17, and set off a celebration to remember.
A self-described “third-string punter and fourth-string kicker” early in his SMU career, Morstead blossomed under the watchful eye of the late Frank Gansz. The onetime head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs was Morstead’s special teams coach for his last year at SMU in 2008, when the Mustangs struggled to a 1-11 finish.
“He was like my dad away from home,” says Morstead, who was drafted by New Orleans in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft, a day before Gansz succumbed to complications from knee-replacement surgery. “He mentally prepared me for life in the NFL, and as a rookie I caught myself thinking often about things he told me I’d experience.”
Morstead now finds himself permanently etched into Super Bowl lore, which crossed his mind after Coach Payton’s halftime command.
“I had a lot of time to sit and think. I realized I had a chance to be involved in the play that could potentially change history.”
Now he and the Saints will chase a repeat. With the NFL’s 2011 championship game slated to be played in Arlington, Texas, Morstead, who makes his off-season home in Dallas, says, “It would be pretty special to play in a Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.” – Whit Sheppard ’88
Amanda Dunbar’s pretty paintings caught the eye of collectors when she was still in her teens. Now musicians like Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger bring down the house with her dazzling, crystal-encrusted guitars.
Hand-painted and emblazoned with thousands of Swarovski crystals, each instrument is a fully functional work of art. They’ve been touted in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book and exhibited at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Dunbar is best known for her wide range of abstract, figurative and conceptual paintings that hang in private, public and corporate collections around the world. Her Precious Rebels guitars, which she began creating in 2007, “bridge the gap between art and the world,” says Dunbar, who earned a B.F.A. in art history, cum laude with departmental distinction, from Meadows School of the Arts in 2004. “People connect to popular culture, and I want to have that kind connection with people.”
When she entered SMU, the striking redhead was already an arts scene sensation; she was also a serious student. “I knew I didn’t know everything,” she says. “I felt it was important to be exposed to different opinions and ways to work.”
Among her favorite professors were Janice Bergman-Carton, chair of Art History – “she is amazing; I am humbled by her brilliance” – and Larry Scholder, whose printmaking inspired her – “he’s a great teacher and very supportive.”
Since graduating, Dunbar has studied in Brazil, Fiji, France and Italy. She also has continued to support numerous philanthropic causes, most of which focus on children. “I realized pretty quickly that I could use my art to help others, whether it was by donating to worthy causes or serving as a role model, inspiring young people to realize their full potential,” she says.
She acts as an ambassador to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and serves on the art advisory board of Children’s Medical Center in Dallas and Plano. She has worked with other organizations such as the World Craniofacial Foundation and the Crystal Charity Ball. Dunbar became the youngest woman and the first painter to be inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2006.
In recognition of her artistic achievements and distinguished service, she received SMU’s 2009 Emerging Leader Award in November. The award is the highest honor the University bestows on its alumni who have graduated within the last 15 years.
“If there’s anything I have learned, it’s that you can have a loose plan, but you really can’t predict the future,” she says. “You have to be flexible and always have a sense of humor, especially about yourself.” – Patricia Ward
Armed with field books, rock hammers and chisels, Aaron Pan ’07 searched among the large boulders and outcrops in northwest Ethiopia for fossilized plants, ancient clues that may yield new information for climate scientists about the composition of ancient forests and the paleoclimate.
Aaron Pan in Ethiopia.
Pan’s dig earlier this year is part of a new research project in the Mush Deposits of northwestern Ethiopia. Other members of the research team are two associate professors in SMU’s Huffington Department of Earth Sciences – paleobotanist Bonnie Jacobs and sedimentologist Neil Tabor – as well as geologist Ellen Currano from Miami University.
Their data will provide an understanding of the evolutionary history of modern African forests and provide information that can help in the development of more accurate climate models.
Now the curator of science at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Pan first traveled to Ethiopia in 2003 as an SMU doctoral student in paleobotany. His discovery of fossilized palm species suggests that African prehistoric forests contained many more species of palms than now can be found.
“Today Africa has about 70 species of palms,” Pan says. “This is compared to 550 species in South and Central America, and around 1,000 species in Southeast Asia. In Africa, most of the palms don’t occur in forests, and in other parts of the world, they do. We’re trying to find out why there’s such a difference.”
In middle school, Pan knew that science would be his future. By the time he had earned a B.A. in biology at the University of California – Santa Barbara, his focus had turned to paleontology and paleobotany.
“Plants tell a lot about the prehistoric community and the climate,” he says.
For graduate school, Pan chose SMU for its strong Earth Sciences department and Bonnie Jacobs’ work in Africa.
“Aaron arrived with a wonderful earth sciences background and a desire to work in the tropics,” says Jacobs, who was Pan’s doctoral adviser. “Early on he could pursue research on his own and understand its significance, an ability that doesn’t always come easily.”
Pan continues his research while heading up the Fort Worth Museum’s science department. He is charged with the care and maintenance of its approximately 115,000 specimens that represent a full range of scientific disciplines, from botany to zoology. He is involved in planning lectures and programming for the museum, which opened a new $80 million facility in November 2009, and assists museum visitors who want to discuss their own fossil finds.
One day Pan hopes to launch a new exploration of fossilized vegetation in Southeast Asia. “Biodiversity has always amazed me,” he says. “And paleontology shows how these diverse groups have radiated over time.” – Cherri Gann
Jamal Story ’99 moved through the lines of dance students, correcting a step here, extending an arm there. “Dance is all in the details,” he declared.
Jamal Story works with SMU students in a contemporary dance class.
When Story spoke to the students, they listened intently – he has the career they’re still imagining. He has danced in the company of influential choreographer Donald Byrd and in a Broadway hit, and he toured the world with Madonna. Now he shares a Vegas stage with Cher. Impressive accomplishments for someone who says that, as a first-year student at SMU, “I wasn’t convinced I could be a professional dancer.”
In January the dancer-choreographer spent several days at Meadows School of the Arts, teaching contemporary dance and ballet classes, as well as offering advice during résumé-building and Q-and-A sessions with students.
Another Meadows graduate, Dana Ingraham ’02, joined him one day to help teach and answer questions. Their schedules overlapped when she was touring in The Color Purple, which played in Dallas and Fort Worth during its national run. Story, an ensemble dancer and assistant dance captain during the musical’s two-and-one-half-year run on Broadway, had just finished teaching a workshop at The Hockaday School. The two contacted Myra Woodruff, chair of SMU’s Division of Dance, who encouraged them to teach and spend time with students.
“In our mission statement for the Division of Dance, our goal is to ‘develop the disciplined, versatile dance artist through a balanced study of ballet, modern dance and jazz techniques, complemented and reinforced by a broad range of theoretical studies and performance opportunities,’” Woodruff says. “Jamal’s accomplishments in the field of dance reflect the essence of our intent. He is a disciplined, versatile dance artist.”
Story, who grew up in Los Angeles and lives in New York City, was an accomplished gymnast who started dancing as part of his training. He didn’t begin serious dance instruction until he was in his mid-teens. After high school, he wasn’t sure what his day job would be, so he looked for “a university with a strong communications program and strong dance program,” he recalled. “That’s why I chose SMU.”
Dana Ingraham puts SMU students through their paces.
Having earned Bachelor’s degrees in dance and communications from SMU, he stretches his creative muscles in both disciplines. Story is also a writer. He plans to self-publish a collection of short stories and is working on a novel about the dance world.
Teaching, however, is a relatively new direction. “I’ve been bashful about teaching; furnishing students with good, useful information is a great responsibility,” he said.
He concedes that it felt a little strange “to be on the faculty side of the equation, where I was once a student,” but ultimately relished the chance to work with students. “They were very receptive and seemed to take my advice to heart.”
Bo Pressly, a sophomore dance major and a student in the contemporary class led by Story, valued the opportunity to work with a master. “I really appreciate the exposure to his style and technique. He has the successful dance career we all dream about.” – Patricia Ward From Meadows School of the Arts: Chrysta Brown (B.F.A. Dance ’10) provides a first-person perspective on Jamal Story’s residency with the Meadows Dance Department … Read more.
Registrar Jennifer Schulle (right) shows some of the presidential gifts in the George W. Bush Library and Museum archives to Ann Warmack Brookshire ’77 (left), SMU Central University Libraries’ Campaign Steering Committee co-chair, and Paulette Mulry ’83, CUL director of development. The gifts are among 42,500 artifacts in the archives. Alan Lowe (next to Schulle), director of the Bush Library and Museum, conducted a tour of the archives’ temporary facility in Lewisville for a CUL group in January. The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will include the library and museum, will open in 2013 at SMU.
A group of Mustangs became Chicago Cubs for a week when they attended a fantasy baseball camp in Mesa, Arizona, home of the team’s spring training facility. Preparing for their turns at bat are (from left) Ken Malcolmson ’74, Jeff Thrall ’71, Steve Sasser ’71, ’73, Larry Malcolmson ’71 and Chuck Hixson ’70. At the camp, “we were nicknamed the ‘SMU hit men,’“ Ken says. Thrall and the Malcolmsons hail from Chicago and are longtime Cubs fans.
Adam Hamilton ’88 (right), pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, received the 2010 Perkins Distinguished Alumnus Award in February. He talked to Jolynn Lowry, wife of Bishop Mike Lowry ’76 (center), Central Texas Annual Conference, at the reception that followed the presentation by the Alumni/ae Council of Perkins School of Theology. Hamilton serves as pastor of one of the largest congregations in Methodism, with a membership of more than 12,000. He writes and lectures on church leadership, evangelism and preaching.
Mustang Club members Ken Williams ’04 (center) and Scott McMillan ’91, ’95 (right) join Steve Jolley, director of corporate development for SMU Athletics, in celebrating the signing of 25 student-athletes to national letters of intent February 3. Two signees are junior college transfers and 23 are high school student-athletes. This year’s class – considered one of SMU’s finest in a quarter century – has eight three- or four-star Rivals.com recruits, equaling the number of such recruits in the 2007 and 2008 classes combined.
Carolyn Braznell ’79 and Dennis Cheever Quinn take a spin on the dance floor during the Class of 1979 reunion party in November. In 2009 more than 1,500 alumni attended their reunion parties, traveling from 41 states, as well as from France, British Columbia, New Zealand, Peru and Canada. In addition to a Saturday night party for each class, reunion weekend activities included golf tournaments, a reunion giving celebration, campus tours, lunch on the Boulevard and priority seating at the football game against the Rice Owls. The Mustangs won, 31-28. At the 2010 Homecoming, reunion parties for class years ending in 0 and 5 will be held October 23.
Lewis Henderson ’89, chief executive officer of Davie Brown Entertainment, offers insight into digital marketing in the entertainment industry to students attending Digital Threads in November. The networking symposium at Meadows School of the Arts focused on social media and career growth. Speakers included several other SMU alumni: Drew Buckley ’94, chief operating officer of Electus; Cyndi McClellan ’94, executive vice president for research and programming strategy for Comcast Entertainment Group; and Alex Richter ’99, vice president of interactive for Camelot Communications. SMU Trustee Royce E. (Ed) Wilson played a leading role in launching the annual event three years ago. “This symposium connects our talented students with alumni, parents and leading companies across the country,” Wilson says. Digital Threads 2010 will be October 21-22.
Anish Taylor ’08 (left) and Asad Rahman ’03 visited with Caroline Brettell, University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology in Dedman College, at the Dallas Young Alumni-faculty happy hour at the Stoneleigh Hotel in January. Despite heavy rain, the event drew 60 alumni and 13 faculty members. A DYA wine tasting will be held June 3 at the Meadows Museum.
Reunions provide a priceless opportunity to reconnect with SMU friends. Shown as they remember good times at the Class of 1984 reunion party are (from left) Bridget Brandon, Melanie Swanson Duncan, Heather Evans Gilker and Chewy Chuinard Borden. Reunions also present a chance for alumni to show their support for their alma mater. In 2009 three classes – 1964, 1999 and 2004 – broke their alumni giving participation goals, with six classes exceeding the 25 percent participation rate. Reunion-year giving totaled more than $3.5 million.
Olivia Nan Davis Bohannan 12/3/09 Henri Etta Robinson Eidt 11/15/09 Henry S. Miller 12/5/09
1936
Theresia Pospick Baccus 11/5/09 David E. Box Jr. 11/8/09
1937
A. George Biggs 1/4/10
The Rev. William Greenhaw 12/24/09
1938
Francis L. Rudine 1/13/10 Audrey Bowman Seale 10/29/09
1940
Ruben K. Abney ’47 9/11/09 Edith Harris ’46, ’69 9/19/09
Dr. Charles L. McNulty 9/17/09 Annette Germany Wilkes ’72 9/30/09
1941
Lydia Juanita Hiegert 10/30/09
1942
Anna (Anne) Lee Hunt Deal 12/14/09 Derrill G Elmore Jr. 1/16/10
1943
Trevor Wm. Rees-Jones ’54 10/26/09 Thomas M. Terry 1/24/10
1944
Betty Williford Bone 12/13/09 Barbara McCartney Mason 9/4/09
1945
Dorothy Bruton 11/22/09 Josephine (Jo) Israel Goldman ’76 11/12/09
1946
Dr. Elizabeth Lee Allen Gealy 9/25/09 Roy M. Gee 11/7/09 Laura Genaro Tomaso 12/12/09
1947
Gordon H. Bayless 11/22/09 Katherine L. Harrison Campbell 10/24/09
1948
Dr. James W. Booth Jr. 12/22/09 Robert E Daniel 9/10/09 Edwin F Hillendahl Jr. 1/28/10 The Rev. Joseph H Jones 9/28/09 David H. Kennington 10/27/09 Claude E. Loy 12/13/09
The Rev. Howard Q. Marcom 11/29/09 Alex R. Schell III 1/17/10 Florine Ablon Seldon 12/10/09
1949
William H. Bradfield Jr. 11/27/09 Lynn A Brown 9/10/09 Rex Corey 12/18/09 George B. Cranfill 11/7/09 Harold L. Gilbert 1/8/10
The Rev. Dr. B. C. Goodwin Jr. ’51 10/3/09 Laurine Test Hollis ’52 10/30/09
The Rev. Ashley D. Jameson 9/12/09 Mahlon R. Kruse 11/30/09 Lewis C. Leftwich 10/22/09
Dr. John L. Martin 11/4/09 William J. Marx 9/9/09 Janet Winder Osborn 10/18/09 Joe Salman 11/14/09 Charlie B. Shuffield 1/25/10
1950
Jim Wells 10/11/09 Helen Caroline Setzer Willbanks ’73 11/14/09 William O. Wood 9/18/09
1951
Ruth Elaine Rolnick Albert 1/12/10 Dillard R. Cantrell 11/1/09 Sidney B. Farrar 9/5/09 Lila Lee Harlow Henry 1/3/10 John O. Humphreys Jr. 11/15/09 Chris H Parr 11/28/09
The Hon. Rolland T. Scales 12/9/09 John L. Watt Jr. 12/17/09 Leon A. Wilensky 9/5/09
1952
Jim C. Autry 9/30/09
The Rev. Robert E. Cook Jr. 1/12/10 Phyllis Anne Carter Cowden 10/3/09 Gene R. Faires 10/24/09 Lindsay A. Fleck 11/25/09 William H. Kline 10/10/09 Dolly Huff McClanahan 12/24/09 William D. Neary 12/29/09 Billie Frank Hurt Phillips 12/10/09 I. D. Russell ’71 11/18/09 Russell L. Switzer 11/18/09 Robert A. Webber Jr. 12/4/09
1953
Craig D Lataste 10/5/09
The Rev. J. Robert Maceo Jr. 10/1/09 Dr. Donald F. Reaser ’58 12/29/09
1955
Dr. Eugene C. Calhoun Jr. 12/31/09 David Donosky ’63 10/20/09
The Rev. Gertrude Caudill Sorlien 10/2/09 Rosemary Thompson 10/15/09
1956
Dr. Raymon L. Bynum 12/10/09 Lauretta (Laurie) Klindworth Dudley 11/24/09 Noble C. Ginther Jr. 12/28/09
1957
Lee B Heyman Sr. 12/13/09 Jo Ann Kissner Hiller 10/7/09
The Rev. Richard D. Howell ’66 1/26/10 Sam H. Malloy 12/25/09 Jim R. Marchman 9/13/09 Barbara Bisset Parnell 1/24/10 Jere J. Ruff Sr. 9/14/09
1958
Marvin D. Black 10/26/09
1959
Carol Randle Anderson ’75 11/8/09 Mary Wagliardo Self 10/26/09
1960
Gene L. McCoy 11/10/09 Jack W. Rogers 12/6/09
1961
Betty J. Langley 12/26/09 Jim McMurrey III ’64 12/16/09 Karen Tobey Sharp 11/16/09 Billy B. Shuffler 10/4/09 Frank S. Springer Jr. ’64 11/19/09 Ann Eugenia Harrell Turk 9/19/09
1962
James P. Elbert 10/11/09 Robert C. Gist ’65 10/5/09 Lanning Jeffries Laing 12/17/09 Donald H Rusling 9/7/09
1963
Barry E Blanton 10/3/09 Daniel Dubois (Charles) Durst ’65 7/1/09 Jack T. Ingram 11/3/09
The Rev. James B. Nicholson 12/25/09 Jack C. Spillman ’71 9/20/09
1964
J. Stephen Weber 10/1/09
1965
The Rev. José A. Galindo 10/17/09 Perry H. Martineau ’76 12/24/09
1966
Vicki Elizabeth Carr Sims 12/25/09
1967
Dr. Joan Baynham Patterson 10/11/09 The Rev. Dr. Royce W. Riley 11/4/09
1968
Dr. Alice Cochran Cowan ’75 1/16/10 Norman R. Goheen Jr. ’73 11/29/09 David Metzger 9/8/09 Francine C. Rudine 1/6/10
1969
Michael D. Cox ’82 12/8/09
Maj. Richard H. Pabst 11/18/09 Susan E. Stevens 10/23/09
1970
Lois C. Bacon 10/5/09 Ralph E. Stewart 11/10/09
1971
Dr. Richard G. Penna 10/16/09 Dr. Leroy G. Seals ’76 9/19/09
1972
The Rev. James O. Burch ’80 12/20/09 Mary Heller Halcomb ’73 9/23/09
1973
Elizabeth M. Crow 11/21/09 Timothy J. Curry 10/15/09 Barbara Babers Easterling 10/3/09 Elizabeth A. Volk ’78 12/30/09
1974
Miles T. Bivins 10/26/09 Don D. Box 1/6/10 Larry L. Covin 12/30/09 Ruth Judith Feffer Natinsky 1/26/10
1975
Harriet L. Daly 10/22/09 William C. Lucas 12/7/09 Neil R. Matzen 12/12/09 Meredith Rees 1/7/10 Diane Batra Spiegel 11/20/09 Gene F. Wakefield 11/29/09 Estelle M. Webre 12/21/09 John H. Wendell Jr. 10/24/09
1976
Edwin C. Etgen 1/9/10 John F. McCormack 1/24/10 John A. Ponsford Jr. 11/17/09
1977
Ernest A. Laun 12/12/09
1980
Peter P. Massari 10/27/09 Robert S. McDonald 1/21/10
1981
Stacy C. Clair 12/25/09
1982
David C. Luhring 9/3/09
1983
Joyce Cotter Hammons 10/7/09 Lela Elizabeth Niedringhaus McArtor 9/9/09
1984
Zachary G. Wilder 9/23/09
1985
Kieron P. Finnegan 1/14/10
1990
Dr. Paul F. Gray 10/2/09 Julie R. Royer 12/7/09
1991
Leigh E. Hutchison 9/19/09
1993
David C. Mason 11/25/09
1997
Alex M. Casimiro 9/25/09
2001
Sharon R. Ransom 12/27/09 John T. Sanford 12/20/09
2003
William L. Baldwin Jr. 12/15/09
2009
Amber D. Browning 11/14/09
SMU Community
Johnnie Cartwright, retired SMU, staff 9/20/09 Alicia Cisneros, retired SMU staff, 12/24/09 George Elliott, retired SMU staff, 11/21/09 Ann Luker, former nurse at SMU Health Center, 9/30/09 Jack Elliot Myers, professor emeritus of SMU Department of English, 11/23/09 B. C. Watts, professor emeritus of SMU Department of Education, 1/4/10
Students lunge and stretch arms above their heads as they warm up for “The Art of Acting,” a course that meets in a large classroom in the basement of Owen Arts Center in Meadows School of the Arts. Geared toward non-theatre majors, the course attracts students of all interests and majors.
Basketball players Rodney Clinkscales (center) and Jasmine Davis (right) warm up for acting class.
Only one exercise, however, separates students into athletes and non-athletes – push-ups.
Mustang basketball players Rodney Clinkscales and Jasmine Davis begin their push-ups flat on the floor and continue with military precision, while other students take a less strenuous approach.
Although push-ups come easy to student-athletes, the acting part of the class is a challenge, they say. Their coaches who urge them to take the class, however, see significant benefits.
“I’ve had hundreds of student-athletes take ‘The Art of Acting,’ beginning when I first started coaching at SMU,” says Dave Wollman, director of track and field since 1988. “It makes a real difference in their self-esteem. For athletes, self-confidence is everything.”
Developing confident athletes is part of what makes Wollman a successful coach. Under his guidance, men and women’s track and field athletes have won eight top-four NCAA championship trophies, nearly 200 All-America awards and 34 NCAA champions. Women’s tennis coach Lauren Longbotham-Meisner also sees definitive results from the class. Acting skills help players outwit their competition, she says. “Sometimes you have to fake it. You can’t let your opponent see when you’re nervous. It’s very similar to playing a character. The ones who don’t show weakness are the hardest to beat.”
Most competitors found Mustang women’s tennis tough to beat this year as the team finished the season 22-3 and ranked as high as No. 21 nationally during the spring season.
“I think the class helps indirectly,” Longbotham-Meisner says. “It helps train the players to be mentally strong. Everyone who plays Division I tennis is talented but the ones who are a cut above are those with mental toughness.”
Acting and athletics may appear to exist in two diametrically opposed camps, says Jack Greenman, assistant professor of theatre and “Art of Acting” course adviser. But both are rigorous emotional, mental and physical activities.
“I often use sports analogies when I lecture about acting theory,” Greenman says. “An actor has to determine how a character will overcome an obstacle, just like a running back has to get past the defense to the end zone.”
The Meadows School of the Arts’ Theatre Division limits class sections to 16 students. Instructors lead the students through games that they say may feel silly at first, but are designed to encourage students to take risks and have positive outcomes, like learning to listen to and respond to a partner.
“Self-consciousness tends to drop away,” Greenman says.
“An actor has to determine how a character will overcome an obstacle, just like a running back has to get past the defense to the end zone.”
Course requirements also include attendance at theatre performances, papers and performance of a scene from a play before the class.
Golfer Kelly Kraft says the class helped him to loosen up and meet other students, but found acting harder than he expected. “It’s tough to do something you’re not used to,” says the sophomore sociology major, who was the nation’s No. 1-ranked collegiate golfer last fall.
An acting class helped high-jumper Viktoria Leks feel less afraid about oral presentations. ”Step by step I became more confident,“ says Leks, a sophomore from Estonia who won the high jump with a mark of 1.73m in February at the Iowa State Classic.
Although these athletes say they don’t see a correlation between performing before an audience and competing before a crowd, they are interested to learn that their coaches see performance-enhancing benefits of the class.
“I wouldn’t think a class would have an impact on my sports performance,” says sophomore golfer Matt Schovee, who liked the quick responses required in the warm-up games during class. “But if [my performance] caught Coach Loar’s eye, then it’s worth it.” – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Known as the “Pony Express,” Eric Dickerson (left) and Craig James were honored at the Legends Award banquet Feb. 19.
Eric Dickerson ’84 and Craig James ’84, former SMU star running backs, were awarded the 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers Doak Walker Legends Award.
The award honors former running backs who excelled at the collegiate level and are leaders in their communities. Teammates Dickerson and James led SMU to national championships in 1981 and 1982. Dickerson went on to an 11-year NFL career where he was voted All-Pro six times and named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During James’ career with the New England Patriots, he was named Offensive Player of the Year and a member of the 1986 Pro Bowl team. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Dana Powell and Kendra Kahanek are
the first SMU volleyball players named
to the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association All-America Team.
Powell, a sophomore outside hitter, and Kahanek, a senior middle blocker, earned All-America honorable mention after leading the Mustangs to a 19-12 record, including a school record 11-match home winning streak. Both players also are the first Mustangs to win All-Region honors. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
The women’s basketball team competed in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament for the second consecutive year, its third appearance in a postseason tournament.
The Mustangs fell 66-51 to New Mexico in the first round of the tournament.
SMU posted a 20-10 record this season and finished tied for second in Conference USA. Senior Brittany Gilliam was named first team All-Conference USA after guiding the Mustangs to a third consecutive 20-win season. – Nancy Lowell George ’79
Former SMU soccer players Luchi Gonzalez ’02 and Diego Walsh ’02 were named to College Soccer News’ Team of the Decade. Gonzalez is SMU’s only Hermann Trophy winner and a member of SMU’s 2000 College Cup team. Walsh was a 2001 and 2002 All-America selection and a member of the 2000 College Cup team.
Current players also are kicking up honors. Dane Saintus ’09 was named first team All-Conference USA and drafted by FC Dallas. C-USA also honored sophomores Payton Hickey and Ian Kalis, junior Kekoa Osorio and first year T.J. Nelson.
Behind The Brackets
Steve Orsini, SMU’s director of athletics, was named one of 10 members of the Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. The committee oversees the administration of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, including the selection, seeding and bracketing of the teams for the tournament. His five-year term begins Sept. 1, 2010.
The kickoff of the 2010 Mustang football season is slated for a national ESPN audience Sept. 5 when SMU meets Texas Tech in Lubbock. The rest of the season follows with home games in bold. For ticket information, call the Athletics Department Ticket Office at 214-768-4263.
Screenwriter and author James V. Hart ’69, who reworked the tale of Peter Pan into the film Hook, has received the first Literati Award from Friends of the SMU Libraries for those who have used the written word “to advance the ideals of creativity, conviction, innovation and scholarship and who have had a significant impact on culture and their community.”
Hart’s film writing/producing credits also include Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Contact and Tuck Everlasting. His first novel, Capt. Hook – Adventures of a Notorious Youth, was named among the Top Ten Young Adult Books in 2006 by the American Library Association. He is writing and producing his first animated film, The Legend of the Leafmen, with William Joyce ’81, children’s book author and illustrator and recipient of SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Robert Hyer Thomas ’53 (back row, third from right) was joined by his wife, Gail Griffin Thomas ’58 (to his right), and members of their extended family at the renaming of the street after his grandfather and SMU founder, Robert S. Hyer.
Hilltop Lane has been renamed Robert S. Hyer Lane, in honor of SMU’s first president. The street runs in front of Hyer Hall and DeGolyer Library. Hyer, former president of Southwestern University in Georgetown, was a key player in SMU’s founding in 1911. Several of Hyer’s descendents, including his grandson, Robert Hyer Thomas ’53, attended the unveiling in April. In a tribute to Hyer, President R. Gerald Turner said, “Robert Hyer was rightfully proud of what he had done in helping to create the University, but he also challenged others not to be content with the present. The present should be used, he argued, to build the future.”
To help celebrate the 2011 centennial of SMU’s founding, SMU Magazine introduces a series of articles that chronicle the University’s past. The articles will continue through 2015, when SMU celebrates the centennial of its opening. Starting in the late 1800s, Methodists began to plan and dream of building a great university west of the Mississippi River, a place to motivate and nurture Methodist ministers and educate Methodist men and women. They envisioned that this university would rival Vanderbilt, which operated under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South from 1873 to 1913.
Robert Stewart Hyer, SMU’s first president
In 1905, Robert Stewart Hyer was serving as president of Southwestern University, the central university of Texas Methodism, in Georgetown. Hyer, a visionary physicist who was born in Georgia and educated at Emory, started teaching at Southwestern in 1882 and became president in 1898. He wanted the Methodists to build a great university and sought funding for Southwestern from the General Education Board, an educational philanthropy run by John D. Rockefeller in New York. However, board members told Hyer that Southwestern needed to move to a large city before it could help the university. “Dallas is the best unoccupied territory in the South. Someday someone will build a university in Dallas and you Methodists are the ones who should do it.”
Hyer and Hiram Abiff Boaz, president of Polytechnic College in Forth Worth (now Texas Wesleyan University), both shared a vision of relocating Southwestern University to North Texas. By 1910, it became known that they and other leaders in the Methodist community wanted the university to move to Dallas or Fort Worth.
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South Educational Commission met with the Southwestern University Board of Directors, which made it clear that they
wanted Southwestern to stay in Georgetown. The Methodist Educational Commission was adamant that its university needed to be in a city but not within 50 miles of any other university, so growing Southwestern (only 27 miles from the University of Texas in Austin) was out of the question.
The Commission continued to meet, visiting both Fort Worth and Dallas. Some of the questions asked: “What is our duty to the thousands of young men and women who could thus and thus only secure a Christian College education and professional and technical training? What is our duty to the hundreds of young preachers who could thus be better equipped for the work of the ministry? What is our duty to the Churches which we furnish with better qualified pastors? What is our duty to all the coming generations of Texans until the end of time?”
Fort Worth made a substantial pitch. A few weeks later, the people of Dallas made a counteroffer, including a generous gift of land from the Caruth family in what was then considered far north Dallas.
On April 13, 1911, the Methodist Educational Commission chose Dallas as the location for the new university. That day, Robert S. Hyer was unanimously elected as the first president. The next decision was the school name. The first name to be considered was Texas Wesleyan University. After an evening of reflection, the Commission offered a new name – Southern Methodist University. The Commission also hired the University’s first employee, Frank Reedy, Southwestern’s bursar, to serve as Hyer’s assistant.
Methodists and Dallas immediately began fundraising to build a great university that would attract students from Texas, the Southwest and beyond. – Joan Gosnell, University archivist
A 1941 photo captures four young people who
would play major roles in SMU’s future: (Front, from left) Jim Collins ’37, who became an SMU trustee and eight-term U.S. Congressman; his brother, the late Carr Collins Jr. ’39, Dallas businessman and namesake of Carr Collins Hall; and their sister, Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48, trustee and former Board chair. Behind them is friend Edwin L. Cox Sr. ’42, former SMU Board chair and benefactor of the Cox School of Business. They gathered at the train station as Carr headed off to attend Harvard Business School. Share a favorite memory from your SMU history in the comments section below.
The scientific world was all ears Dec. 17 when SMU Assistant Professor of Experimental Physics Jodi Cooley announced the highly
anticipated research finding that scientists may have finally caught a glimpse of dark matter.
Speaking at Stanford University, Cooley represented a collaboration of 80 scientists who have been searching for dark matter since 2003.
The results of the experiment, located a half-mile beneath the earth in the Soudan Underground Mine State Park in northern Minnesota, generated headlines in The New York Times, Scientific American, Discover and many others. The result was published in the prestigious journal Science.
According to astronomical observations of the universe, dark matter makes up 25 percent of the universe and 85 percent of existing matter.
As physics analysis coordinator for the experiment, known as the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search collaboration, Cooley unveiled the research and findings in a webcast to science journalists worldwide.
The Big Bang that created the universe more than 13 billion years ago was a huge hodgepodge of chemical reactions. Hydrogen, helium and other gases ultimately began clumping together to form stars, planets and galaxies.
How exactly did that happen?
Scientists now have a better chance of finding answers to that mystery because of the massive computational power of supercomputers – today’s fastest, most powerful computers, says Daniel R. Reynolds, assistant professor of mathematics in Dedman College.
Developing complex models for supercomputers to simulate the physical processes of the Big Bang is a new frontier for mathematicians and
astrophysicists. Reynolds, among those pioneers, says scientists will know they have solved a part of the Big Bang puzzle when they test a model and it results in a simulated universe similar to the one in which we live today.
“Scientists have been able to approximate a great many physical processes in idealized situations. But the true frontier nowadays is to let go of these simplifying approximations and treat the problems as they really are, by modeling all of the geometric structure and the in-homogeneity,” he says.
Now in his second year at SMU, Reynolds teaches applied and computational mathematics. He first made the connection between mathematics and its utility to help him better understand the world in high school calculus and physics classes. Eventually Reynolds earned a doctoral degree in computational and applied mathematics at Rice University. During postdoctoral work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of California, San Diego, he began working with astrophysicists to develop supercomputer mathematical models to understand the Big Bang.
In collaboration with his UC San Diego colleagues, Reynolds has developed a new mathematical model that simulates a slice in time soon after the Big Bang: the so-called “dark ages,” 380,000 years to 400 million years after the universe was born, when gravity pulled gases into the first stars.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, the team has tested its model successfully on two of the largest existing NSF supercomputers: “Ranger” at the University of Texas at Austin and “Kraken” at the University of Tennessee.
A key characteristic differentiates the team’s model from others: “By forcing the computational methods to tightly bind different physical processes together, our new model allows us to generate simulations that are highly accurate, numerically stable and computationally scalable to the largest supercomputers available,” Reynolds says.
The team presented its research at a Texas Cosmology Network Meeting at the University of Texas. Reynolds’ mathematical research also was published in theJournal of Computational Physics. – Margaret Allen
Suppose an energy company wants to build a plant to produce a biofuel using a new hybrid grass. Where would be the best locations in the United States for the new facility?
That was the quandary posed to economics graduate students Michael Fulmer, Steven Gregory and Jingjing Ye in the 2009 SAS Data Mining Shootout. Using extensive U.S. county crop yield data collected over several years, as well as information on variables within the counties, such as weather and soil characteristics, the team developed methodologies to pinpoint successful plant locations for the fictitious Energy Grass company.
First-place team: winners of the 2009 SAS Data Mining Shootout (from left) Steven Gregory, Jingjing Ye and Michael Fulmer with their faculty sponsor, Tom Fomby, chair of the Department of Economics in Dedman College.
Picking the right places for the biofuel plants might seem a bit like finding needles in haystacks. That’s where data mining comes into play. Data mining, which also is known as business analytics, is the process of extracting useful information from lodes of data by detecting patterns.
The team’s final report narrowed the possibilities to the three states and three counties that would be the most propitious for the biofuel plants. The mathematical models they developed acted as “magnets,” allowing them to pull out those favorable locations from the volumes of data analyzed. An effective model will result in a valid forecast when new data are plugged in.
“Anytime you start from scratch and build a model, it’s a challenge, but it’s fun,” says Gregory, who works in data mining for Mary Kay Inc. while pursuing a Master’s in economics at SMU.
For the second consecutive year, an SMU team won the prestigious national contest.
“We usually work independently, so this was a good opportunity to work as a group and share ideas,” says Fulmer, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in economics.
In an age when the facts attached to virtually every step in a business transaction are captured, “companies are being overrun with data and require techniques that enable them to make the information useful,” says Economics Department Chair Tom Fomby, who served as faculty sponsor for the two winning teams.
While data-mining tools often are associated with business applications – in everything from making product suggestions to retail customers to detecting credit card fraud – they’re also important in data-heavy fields like science, engineering and defense.
“Companies are being overrun with data and require techniques that enable them to make the information useful.”
Data mining also can play a significant role in medical treatment, as demonstrated by recent research by Fomby and Wayne Woodward, professor of statistical science in Dedman College.
They analyzed 36 years’ worth of hospital data on appendicitis, influenza and gastric viral infections and uncovered a tracking pattern that suggests a relationship between a flu-like virus and appendicitis.
According to Edward Livingston, the physician who led the study, the findings could prompt the medical community to re-evaluate the need for emergency surgery in cases of nonperforated appendicitis.
The results of the SMU professors’ collaboration with researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida, appeared in the article “Association of Viral Infection and Appendicitis.” The research was featured in USA Today, Bloomberg Businessweek and a number of national science and research news sites.
With the supply of those skilled in data-mining practices outpacing the demand across disciplines for analysts, Fomby’s “Data Mining Techniques for Economists” course is filled to capacity with seniors and Master’s students, along with a few Ph.D. students.
“The first time it was offered in 2004, we had six students. Now we have 30,” Fomby says. “At most universities, data mining is offered through information technology or business. It’s a fairly rare offering for an economics department.” &ndash Patricia Ward
The Caruth Hall dedication ceremony was held in the Hillcrest Foundation Amphitheater.
The Hillcrest Foundation Amphitheater, located between the two wings of the new Caruth Hall, accommodated a near-capacity crowd during the dedication. Noting the contributions engineers have made to advances in
everything from surgery to water desalination, Dean Geoffrey Orsak said “we’re just scratching the surface of what this building will mean to generations and generations of engineers.”
The Lyle School is preparing for a busy summer, which will segue into the first full semester of classes in Caruth Hall this fall. Delores M. Etter, TI Distinguished Chair for Engineering Education and director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education, now housed in the new building, announced two summer programs: SMU students will develop prototype solutions for real world problems during three Immersion Design Experience (IDE) projects, part of the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab; and a summer camp for middle school girls will focus on investigative forensics and biometrics. The camp expands the Lyle School’s national program to encourage K-12 students to prepare for engineering careers.
Designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building standards, the building includes a large, flexible laboratory space for around-the-clock team research projects.
Caruth Hall is the third SMU engineering building completed in the past eight years.
Leadership commitments toward the project goal of more than $26 million include $7.5 million from the W.W. Caruth
Jr. Foundation Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas, $4 million from
Robert and Rebecca Palmer of Houston, $2 million from the Hillcrest Foundation
of Dallas, $1.5 million from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa and $1 million from Bobby B. Lyle. The most recent gift is $1 million from Mary Alice Shepherd and on behalf of her deceased husband, Texas Instruments pioneer Mark Shepherd Jr.
The new building is nearly double the size of the original Caruth Hall, historic home to SMU engineering from 1948 to its demolition in 2008. But pieces of the old building have been incorporated into the new as a tribute: Four verdigris lamps that hung from the original exterior have been installed on the new building’s southeastern face, and a carved limestone doorway from the old building’s east side has been repurposed as an entrance to a first-floor lounge area that also incorporates bricks from the original Caruth Hall in its interior walls.
The Mary Alice and Mark Shepherd Jr. Atrium in the new Caruth Hall.
A $1 million gift from Mary AliceShepherd on behalf of her late husband,Texas Instruments pioneer Mark Shepherd Jr. ’42, has been made for a major component of Caruth Hall.
At 94 feet tall, the Mary Alice and Mark Shepherd Jr. Atrium serves as both an architectural focal point and a source of energy-saving sunlight for the building’s top three floors.
Shepherd, who died in February 2009 at 86, led Texas Instruments as it developed a global manufacturing market for semiconductors and consumer electronics. He was head of
the semiconductor team in 1958 when Jack S. Kilby invented the integrated circuit, and rose to become company chairman.
The SMU alumnus spent two of his busiest professional decades as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees.
“Mark devoted his life to the advancement of technology as a way to improve human lives, and he was especially interested in opening opportunities for bright young minds to continue that progress,” Mrs. Shepherd says. “Now, every student who walks through the atrium to be inspired by the engineering programs in Caruth Hall will continue to feel his impact.”
A fall dedication is planned for the new home of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, which is under construction at University Boulevard and Airline Road. The building project was launched last year with a $10 million dollar gift from Harold and Annette Simmons ’57. The building will accommodate classrooms, research laboratories, faculty and administrative offices, and student support areas. Naming opportunities for rooms are available. For more information, contact Patricia Addington, director of development, at 214-768-4844 or e-mail Paddington@smu.edu.
With three billion people in the world living on $2 a day or less, global poverty is one of society’s most pressing problems. A new SMU institute will combine the power of engineering, collaboration and the free market to address the vital needs of the impoverished in the United States and abroad.
Gathered for the announcement of SMU’s newest institute are (from left) Geoffrey C. Orsak, dean of the Lyle School of Engineering, William T. Solomon ’64, Gay F. Solomon, Hunt Institute Director Jeffrey C.
Talley, Stephanie Erwin Hunt, SMU President R. Gerald Turner, Hunter L. Hunt ’90 and Bobby B. Lyle ’67.
In December SMU announced the
creation of the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity in Lyle School of Engineering. The institute was established with gifts totaling $5 million from Hunter L. Hunt ’90 and Stephanie Erwin Hunt, William T. Solomon ’64 and Gay F. Solomon, Bobby B. Lyle ’67 and others.
The institute’s founding director is Jeffrey Talley, chair of the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering, the Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship and a U.S. Army Reserve general. The institute is housed in the new Caruth Hall. The gifts also create two endowed professorships.
Both engineering and non-engineering students will be involved in projects. Safe, affordable and sustainable housing tops the institute’s project list. Other challenges to be examined are ready access to clean water and sanitation; functional roads and transportation systems; and clean, reliable energy.
The Lyle School’s partnership with the renowned Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® will provide proven innovation methodologies to support the institute’s research and development efforts.
President’s Associates John H. Rexford ’79 ’80 (left), Adrian E. Flatt and Judith K. Johnson ’69, ’75 attended a reception honoring members of the donor recognition society April 9. Donors who give $1,000 or more during the University’s fiscal year become President’s Associates. There were 3,385 President’s Associates in fiscal year 2009. Click here to learn more about The Second Century Campaign.
When the football team traveled to Hawaii for SMU’s first bowl game in 25 years, the Mustang Band was there. Sporting their trademark candy striped uniforms, the student musicians provided a lively soundtrack and spirited support.
The Mustang Band is always there – at football and basketball games, pep rallies and special events. “I believe we have more SMU spirit than any other group on campus,” boasts Don Hopkins ’82, who has served as band director for five years.
To ensure a bright future for this University institution, SMU has unveiled the Mustang Band Second Century Initiative. Funding goals include $2 million for scholarships and student support and $3 million for a new band hall.
The proposed Mustang Band Hall will be located in the lower level of Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports. The plan does not include new construction; instead, existing space would be finished to accommodate the band’s needs.
The initiative will create a source of financial support for scholarships and student resources, including instruments, uniforms, equipment and traveling funds. This will help attract students who embody the spirit, tenacity and work ethic required of a Mustang Band member and to support the band’s growth to at least 100 members, Hopkins says.
There were 85 band members in 2009-10. They practice five hours a week in addition to game-day commitments. Most band members are not music majors. Senior Josh Duke, an English major and trumpet player, says, “The band gave me a sense of community and belonging at SMU right off the bat.” He joined the band as a first-year student and has been a student leader for the past year. “The sense of camaraderie, tradition and school spirit it instills is unparalleled at SMU. That’s why most of us are in the band, not because it is required for our majors.”
The initiative also will create a new band home. Originally intended as a temporary space, the Mustang Band’s current practice facility is a modified storeroom beneath the bleachers in Perkins Natatorium. This has served as the band’s headquarters since 1956.
“We can’t grow much bigger without more room. We’re literally wall to wall to wall at this point,” Hopkins says. The band hall’s poor acoustics are a major concern, he adds. “It’s very difficult to correctly balance and blend.”
More than 13,000 square feet have been allocated in the lower level of Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports for a new band hall with proper acoustics and state-of-the art technology. Plans call for a 2,800-square-foot rehearsal and recording studio, six practice rooms, instrument and uniform storage, a music library, staff offices and a Hall of Honor where band awards and historic memorabilia will be displayed.
The Mustang Band is a pioneer in the collegiate music circles – in 1926 it became the first college band to march and play jazz on the field. The band also toured the vaudeville circuit in 1935, performed with Bob Hope in 1983, and played at the inaugural parade of George W. Bush in 2001.
While the old band hall holds significant “history and sentimental value,” Duke says “a central value of the band is maintaining tradition and keeping the spirit of the band and the University alive. A modern facility will help the band do an even better job of that.”
The band hall’s poor acoustics are a major concern, he adds. “It’s very difficult to correctly balance and blend.”
More than 13,000 square feet have been allocated in the lower level of Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports for a new band hall with proper acoustics and state-of-the art technology. Plans call for a 2,800-square-foot rehearsal and recording studio, six practice rooms, instrument and uniform storage, a music library, staff offices and a Hall of Honor where band awards and historic memorabilia will be displayed.
The Mustang Band is a pioneer in the collegiate music circles – in 1926 it became the first college band to march and play jazz on the field. The band also toured the vaudeville circuit in 1935, performed with Bob Hope in 1983, and played at the inaugural parade of George W. Bush in 2001.
While the old band hall holds significant “history and sentimental value,” Duke says “a central value of the band is maintaining tradition and keeping the spirit of the band and the University alive. A modern facility will help the band do an even better job of that.”
Already known for jazz and Mardi Gras, New Orleans added “Mustang
pride” to its list of attributes March 23. Janet Favrot (left), her daughter,
Jennifer Favrot Smith ’04 (center), and Peggy Sewell were among the 125
alumni, parents and friends celebrating the campaign that will launch SMU into its second century. Commitments as of January totaled more than $421 million toward the campaign goal of $750 million.
The new dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences is a specialist in modern Japanese business and economic history whose books examine topics ranging from banking policy to the film icon Godzilla.
William M. Tsutsui
William M. Tsutsui will join SMU July 1 from the University of Kansas, where he is associate dean for international studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history. Tsutsui also is director of the Kansas Consortium for Teaching About Asia in the KU Center for East Asian Studies and was former chair of KU’s Department of History. “The college has a world-class faculty, talented students, dedicated staff and a broad base of support in the Dallas community,” Tsutsui says. “I look forward
to working with all these constituencies, and with President Turner and Provost Ludden, to enhance Dedman College’s achievements in teaching, research and public engagement.“
Tsutsui received a Ph.D. in history in 1995 and a Master of Arts in history in 1990 from Princeton University. He received a Master of Letters in modern Japanese history from Oxford University’s Corpus Christi College in 1988 and graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian studies in 1985.
He received the 1997 Newcomen Society Award for Excellence in Business History Research and Writing, the 2000 John Whitney Hall Prize from the Association of Asian Studies for best book on Japan or Korea, and the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award for non-fiction.
Before assuming his current duties at KU, Tsutsui was acting director of the university’s Center for East Asian Studies and executive director of its Confucius Institute. He has been named faculty fellow at KU’s Center for Teaching Excellence, received a William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2001 and won KU’s Steeples Service to Kansas Award in 2001.
He is married to Marjorie Swann, director of the Museum Studies Program and the Conger-Gabel Teaching Professor in the Department of English at the University of Kansas. She will be joining SMU’s Department of English.
Dedman College is home to the humanities, social sciences, and natural and mathematical sciences as well as the general education curriculum that all students take. Tsutsui will take the lead in implementing a new general education program approved by the SMU faculty March 19.
During the spring semester, the media quoted numerous SMU faculty members on various topics ranging from economics to education to energy, among others. Following is a brief list of where their names and expertise appeared. Click here for a more comprehensive list. Alan Bromberg, Dedman School of Law, talked about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s newly aggressive posture in its fraud litigation against Goldman Sachs with CNN Money April 19, 2010, and with The Los Angeles Times April 22, 2010. José Bowen, Dean, Meadows School of the Arts, discussed removing computers from lecture halls and urging colleagues to ’teach naked“ – without electronics – with The Washington Post March 9, 2010. Bruce Bullock, Maguire Energy Institute, Cox School of Business, provided expertise for a story on what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. The article appeared in The Washington Post May 9, 2010. David Chard, Dean, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, discussed the trend of teachers selling their lesson plans online with The Dallas Morning News. Jodi Cooley, Physics, Dedman College, reveals that an international scientific consortium may have glimpsed dark matter to BBC News, The New York Times and Scientific American, in December 2009. Edward Countryman, History, Dedman College, discussed the implications of the Texas State Board of Education’s possible revisions to the state’s social studies curriculum with The Austin American-Statesman Jan. 10, 2010. Elaine Heath, Perkins School of Theology, talked with The Associated Press about a plan put forth by the Baptist General Convention of Texas to distribute 9 million Bible CDs throughout the state by Easter. The story appeared in USA Today and publications in February.
Dan Howard, Marketing, Cox School of Business, discussed how companies use Earth Day to promote their brands with giveaway items for an article that appeared in USA Today April 22, 2010. Cal Jillson, Political Science, Dedman College, discussed the Obama administration’s actions and rhetoric in the wake of the BP oil spill and the failed Times Square bombing plot with The Christian Science Monitor May 3, 2010. He also talked about the potential impact of the immigration debate on the 2010 elections with USA Today May 3, 2010. He discussed U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s efforts on behalf of Houston’s Johnson Space Center to win a two-year extension of space shuttle flights for an article that appeared in The Houston Chronicle May 1, 2010. He discussed the first national Tea Party convention with Reuters. The resulting article appeared in several publications in February. John Lowe, Dedman School of Law, talked about President Obama’s new oil lease plan with National Public Radio April 1, 2010. Renee McDonald, Ernie Jouriles and George Holden, Psychology, Dedman College, discussed what can be done to end family violence and child maltreatment on the KERA 90.1 FM program Think with Krys Boyd Feb. 24, 2010. David Meltzer, Anthropology, Dedman College, was one of 255 members of the National Academy of Sciences who signed a letter to Science magazine (May 7, 2010) in response to criticism of climate scientists. Al Niemi, Dean, Cox School of Business, discussed anticipated growth for the U.S. economy – and the possibility that North Texas will outpace it – with <emThe Fort Worth Star-Telegram March 2, 2010. He also talked about why businesses leave states, and why North Texas stands to gain from projected departures from California, with The Dallas Morning News March 15, 2010. Michael J. Polcyn and Louis L. Jacobs, Paleontology, Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Dedman College, described the ancient sea that covered Dallas-Fort Worth during prehistoric times in the Discovery Channel documentary, Prehistoric Dallas in February. Peter Raad, The Guildhall at SMU, discussed current job and salary prospects in the video game industry with Reuters April 29, 2010. Jasper Smits, Psychology, Dedman College, discussed how exercise can provide relief for people who struggle with depression and anxiety disorders with The Daily Telegraph April 12, 2010. Mary Spector, Dedman School of Law, talked about issues that arise when debt-collection companies use litigation to collect past-due bills for an article that appeared in The New York Times April 22, 2010. Brian Stump, Earth Sciences, Dedman College, discussed how recent small Texas earthquakes possibly may be caused by saltwater pumped into the earth in a natural gas mining operation with USA Today March 11, 2010. Jeffrey Talley, Environmental and Civil Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering, was the subject of a feature article in The Chronicle of Higher Education Feb. 28, 2010. Bernard Weinstein, Maguire Energy Institute, discussed the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on the price of gasoline with The Fort Worth Star-Telegram May 4, 2010.
As a dance major, senior Megan Southcott has always been interested in the human body because “I want to know what makes it tick and how it can further facilitate my dancing,” she says.
To help achieve her goals, Southcott became one of the first students to enroll in SMU’s new Applied Physiology and Sports Management (APSM) major, starting last fall in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Two concentrations are offered: Applied Physiology and Enterprise, which focuses on a science foundation in health and fitness; and Sports Management, which provides the business background for students interested in working with sports organizations.
Southcott, who chose the Applied Physiology and Enterprise component, says she wants to create a similar program oriented toward dancers.
Possible careers in this field include management of sports organizations or of a fitness facility, corporate fitness programming, sports marketing and public relations, and representation of
professional athletes.
Traveling to the sites of historic human tragedies can be sobering. But it also can be life changing when accompanied by careful study and a commitment to social action. That is the foundation of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program, which offers a cross-disciplinary minor in the historic struggles and current issues of human rights.
Tobias, a Holocaust survivor in Vilnius, Lithuania, spoke about his experiences with an SMU human rights study group that visited Nazi extermination sites in the Baltic states. Rick Halperin is at right.
Human rights is a topic that has attracted the interest and support of sisters Gayle and Lauren Embrey of the Embrey Family Foundation of Dallas. During her Master of Liberal Arts coursework at SMU, Lauren Embrey took a human rights class taught by history instructor Rick Halperin. Her interest was reinforced and expanded during a trip to Polish Holocaust sites with a study group led by Halperin in December 2005.
Lauren Embrey shared her experience and impressions with Gayle as the two considered projects worthy of Foundation support. They determined that they wanted to help others experience similar life-changing study and travel, and in 2006 they funded the Embrey Human Rights Program in Dedman College.
“It became apparent to me that an integral piece of historical information was being left out of our usual educational experience – the study of human rights, past and present,” Lauren Embrey says. “I felt a definitive call to alter that established standard and bring awareness to people surrounding these issues.”
In 2006 the Embrey Family Foundation provided $1 million for the first four years of the program, funding student scholarships, travel and development of new courses. In March the Foundation voted to provide approximately $390,000 annually in additional funding for another two years, bringing its total commitment to $1.8 million in support of this program.
“I believe the only way we can stop repeating history’s human rights abuses is to understand the consequences of past violations,” says Gayle Embrey. “By educating young people to the abuses that have existed throughout history and that continue today, we hope to inspire future leaders to be advocates for global human rights.”
Directed by Halperin, the Embrey Human Rights Program is one of the fastest-growing programs at SMU, with 179 students in the pipeline to graduate with a human rights minor.
This monument marks the site where 27,800 Jews were murdered in Rumbula Forest, near
Riga, Latvia.
The program that started with 39 courses in fall 2007 now offers 70 courses across a wide range of disciplines. It introduces students to the study of universally recognized civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights, enlarging their understanding of what it means to be a socially responsible citizen of a global society.
Travel to destinations where human rights abuses have occurred is an important component of the program. Halperin leads 30 to 40 people a year to places such as Cambodia, Rwanda, South Africa, El Salvador, Bosnia and European Holocaust sites.
The program also brings human rights scholars to campus for symposia and public forums.
During SMU’s spring break in March, Halperin guided one of his groups through former Nazi extermination sites in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. In August, he will lead another group to Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Japanese cities leveled by atomic bombs dropped by American planes during World War II. Some students who have traveled to human rights destinations have blogged about their experiences on SMU’s Student Adventures website. Jonathan Richardson, a senior English major and human rights minor who made the December 2008 trip to Holocaust sites in Poland, says he was altered by the experience.
“This trip changes people in a way that no one can foresee, its effects unique to every person,” Richardson wrote. “Powerful is a word that might fall short of trying to describe this trip.”
While many college students spend spring break vacationing in the latest tropical hotspot, eight students and three faculty members from SMU spent their free time volunteering in Uganda, among several other SMU service trips. The group traveled to that East African country to partner with The Ugandan American Partnership Organization (UAPO).
Senior Whitney Bartels spent time with orphans
in Jinja, Uganda.
The UAPO began when SMU alumna, Brittany Merrill ’07, spent summer 2004 serving in Uganda. After she met a poor Ugandan mother who cared for 24 orphans, the three-month trip transformed into a life-long mission for Merrill to bring Americans and Ugandans together. Since then, Merrill has raised more than $800,000 in donations to support these efforts.
SMU became involved with The UAPO in 2009 through a student-run organization called Mustang Consulting. Since 2005, Mustang Consulting has counseled organizations and companies ranging from Southwest Airlines to the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Supervised by Maria Dixon, associate professor of corporate communications and public affairs in Meadows School of the Arts, the organization provides students with real-world experience in working with clients.
The UAPO became a client of Mustang Consulting when Merrill contacted Dixon, the first professor who inspired her to start her own nonprofit.
Seniors Carolyn Angiolillo, Whitney Bartels and Stephanie Fedler and junior Amanda Lipscomb spent seven months reworking The UAPO’s messaging campaign, brainstorming on fundraising efforts and developing promotional documents.
In Uganda, the students worked with UAPO’s Akola Project, which empowers more than 150 impoverished women in eastern and northern Uganda to improve the lives of their families and communities by creating income-generating crafts. UAPO trains Akola women to make necklaces from recycled paper, and the jewelry is sold in the United States and local Ugandan markets. The Akola Project has generated more than $100,000 in revenue for the women since its inception in 2007.
During the trip, the students wrote about their experiences on SMU’s Student Adventures site. “The fact that we were able to meet with these women in their own homes proves the genuine trust and relationships that UAPO has developed in the past five years. As we made our final departure from the village, we left with a better appreciation for the work UAPO is doing and the impact it has on the lives of these women. The stories we witnessed will resonate with us long after we leave Uganda.”
Joining Mustang Consulting were Dixon; Mark McPhail, then CCPA Division chair; Susan Kress, director of SMU Abroad; journalism student Brooks Powell; and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority members Genny Weaver, Natalie Sherman and Grace Roberts.
Participating in the symposium on “Educating and Empowering the Women and Girls of Afghanistan” were (from left) Shamim Jawad, Julia Bolz and Andeisha Farid.
Texas universities competing to house the George W. Bush Presidential Center sought the historical resource in part because of the scholars and dignitaries it would attract. But perhaps few expected that activities would begin years before the center opened its doors.
The quick start was fueled by the George W. Bush Institute, which scheduled several conferences for spring 2010 at the Collins Executive Education Center in SMU’s Cox School of Business. In 2013 the institute will join the Bush archives and museum as part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on campus.
In November 2009 Bush announced that the institute will focus on education, global health, human freedom and economic growth, with special involvement of social entrepreneurs and women.
“When you educate and empower women, you improve nearly every aspect of society,” Laura Bush ’68 added.
SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development co-sponsored the first two symposia. A March 3 symposium posed the question: “Could enhanced leadership [of principals and superintendents] be a missing piece in the practical and sustained improvement of America’s schools?”
A March 19 symposium, “Educating and Empowering the Women and Girls of Afghanistan,” included several speakers from that country, along with State Department officials and leaders of non- profit organizations.
Panelists outlined vexing challenges: a 70 percent illiteracy rate; the world’s second highest maternal mortality rate; and lack of schooling for five million children, many of them girls who fear kidnapping, forced marriages, rape and other injuries if they attend school.
Opening the conference, George W. Bush said, “Laura and I left politics but wanted to stay involved in policy. We looked for a suitable place of thought and action, and there is no better place than SMU, with its vibrant faculty and curious student body. The institute is based on principles, not politics, is scholarly and will be transformative.”
Other institute spring symposia focused on U.S. natural gas development, co-sponsored by the Maguire Energy Institute in Cox School of Business; and the use of technology by cyber dissidents to promote democracy.
In all, the four symposia attracted more than 800 officials, dignitaries, business leaders, activists, scientists and other scholars from throughout the world.
Hundreds of alumni, parents and friends came back to the Hilltop April 9 for an afternoon of “classes without quizzes” with SMU’s academic deans and professors. Faculty from each of SMU’s schools spoke on topics ranging from “Hamlet” to innovation to health care. SMU also welcomed hundreds of admitted students and their families to the activities. Information about Inside SMU 2011 will appear in the fall/winter issue of SMU Magazine.
ACareFlite helicopter landed on campus on a Friday afternoon in March between the main quad fountain and the flagpole. Sponsored by Alpha Epsilon Delta, the health pre-professional honor society, the demonstration gave students an opportunity to discuss critical care with a CareFlite medic, nurse, and pilot. “It’s so different seeing things rather than reading about them,” says Elizabeth Chung, a sophomore pre-med major who previously worked with CareFlite and helped organize the event. “I wanted to help students get beyond the textbook.”
As we continue to hear about cutbacks in higher education, we at SMU are especially grateful for our ongoing progress, even as we face budgetary challenges.
One cause for gratitude is donor generosity that has kept The Second Century Campaign moving forward. While giving to most institutions declined 11.9 percent last year, SMU’s increased 37 percent. Thus far gifts to the campaign have exceeded $421 million, funding 193 new scholarships; 16 endowed academic positions; 14 institutes, centers and other academic programs; and 12 new or renovated facilities.
At the same time, annual giving for operational expenses remains a special challenge, in view of the decline in endowment income affecting all institutions. The total return for SMU’s endowment pool for the two-year period ending June 30, 2009, declined 19.2 percent, resulting in fewer resources for operations. We are making cuts in expenditures ranging from 2 to 8 percent – levels that, though difficult, still enable us to continue our academic momentum.
“As competition increases, so must our outreach, campus visitations and, in particular, scholarship resources.”
And examples of academic progress abound. In the past two years, 38 students have received prestigious national fellowships, among them Truman, Marshall, Fulbright and Goldwater awards. Spring break set records in the number of service and study trips taken by our students, ranging from Uganda to Guatemala and throughout the United States. We have added more than 100 education abroad programs, a January term for SMU-in-Plano and a fall term for SMU-in-Taos.
These advancements enrich the experiences of our current students and help us compete for other bright students. Although admission applications have increased 8.8 percent over last year, it will take an all-out effort to ensure that the students we want are the ones who want us. As competition increases, so must our outreach, campus visitations and, in particular, scholarship resources. In addition to giving, alumni can help by serving as SMU ambassadors as you encounter prospective students.
So while we remain vigilant in managing budgets and resources, we report with optimism that SMU is enjoying unbridled progress – thanks to your generosity. R. Gerald Turner President
Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Christy Edwards Hall, Kim Corson Purnell
Greg Brown (M.B.A. ’02) is program director at the Dallas Center for Architecture.
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Tina Parker is co-artistic director of Kitchen Dog Theater in Dallas and director of Slasher, a play by Allison Moore ’94, which premiered at the theater last winter. Joey Slotnick portrayed Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding in the September 2009 production of Animal Crackers at Theatre Goodman. He is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company with credits in film and the New York theatre. He has had roles on such television shows as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Family Guy, Entourage, Boston Legal, The Office, Ghost Whisperer and nip/tuck.
92
Lisa K. Thompson, Ph.D., moved to Houston in fall 2008 as assistant professor of educational leadership at Prairie View A&M University. She is a recipient of the Texas A&M University System Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award for 2008-09.
93
Michael Greenberg earned his doctorate in political science from The University of Texas at Dallas and will be hooded in May 2010. He is the director of Project Management Organization at RealPage Inc. Jennifer Banas West and her husband, Greg West, announce the birth of daughter Harley Reese May 13, 2009.
94
Kandice Keene Bridges (J.D. ‘97, L.L.M. ‘99) was promoted to senior director in the executive compensation and employee benefits practice at Alvarez & Marsal LLC. She lives in Dallas with her husband, Stephen Bridges (‘95, M.S. ‘09), and their children, Matthew and Katie. Scott Mallonee and his wife, Lisa, have two children: daughter Layne, born May 26, 2009, and son Harper. Allison Moore returned to Dallas last November for the Southwest premiere of her newest play, Slasher, at the Kitchen Dog Theater.
95
Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Brian Clark, Adam Stiles, Suzanne Gerum Stiles
Drs. Joy Lockwood Berry and Stuart Berry welcomed their second child, Morgan Elisabeth, Sept. 18, 2009. Matthew Steward was promoted to president and senior loan officer of the Fort Worth office of Worthington National Bank. He was a founding member of the bank seven years ago and former president of the Arlington, TX, location. He has more than 29 years of banking experience. Jim Worlein is enrolled in the Professional MBA program at SMU’s Cox School of Business.
96
Shelley Richmond Arthur and her husband, Coors, announce the birth of their third son, Wright Michael, Nov. 6, 2009. The Arthurs live in Memphis. Aaron Howes is a 12-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry. A Houston broker, he works for Studley, a leading tenant representation firm. Tim S. Pfeiffer joined Oxford Commercial in Austin in 2007 and was recently promoted to chief operating officer. He enjoys running, biking and golfing.
97
Jennifer Emilia Eells and her husband, Brent Loewen, welcomed daughter Gabriela Nohelia Loewen-Eells July 30, 2009. Stacy Stack-Rudolph and Blake Rudolph announce the birth of Tanner Reed Aug. 11, 2009. Meghan Milne Woltz and her husband, David, announce the arrival of Elizabeth Helen Nov. 16, 2009. They live in Appleton, WI.
98
Geralda Miller received a Master of Arts degree in history from the University of Nevada, Reno. Sharon K. Snowton is a bilingual teacher in the Dallas Independent School District and a part-time teacher trainer through Alliance/AFT Education Center.
Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Ryan McMonagle, Sarah Monning
Taylor Lothliam married Brett Ritter May 17, 2009, in Hanalei, Kauai. They work for Deloitte and live in Atlanta, GA. Laura Willmann Mason is a shareholder in the corporate and securities practice group of Oppenheimer, Blend, Harrison and Tate Inc. She is one of San Antonio’s Forty Under 40 for 2009, a Texas Rising Star for the seventh year in Law & Politics and Texas Monthly, recipient of the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association and the Belva Lockwood Outstanding Young Lawyer from the Bexar County Women’s Bar Foundation. Cara Lucia Rizza and her husband, Michael, welcomed their second child, Giovanni, Dec. 22, 2009.
01
Kelli Ahearn Hale and Nathan Hale ‘00 recently celebrated the first birthday of their daughter, Keaton. Kristen Holland Shear and her husband, Dr. Mark F. Shear, welcomed Cora Ann, Dec. 16, 2009. Daughter Savena was born in June 2007. Tiffanie Nicole Roberson Spencer is a high school English teacher in Dallas and a hip hop dance instructor in The Colony, TX. She was recently married.
02
Karla Bucio Barron and her husband, Joel, announce the birth of daughter Ema Marie Nov. 3, 2009 Jules Brenner was elected a partner at Strasburger & Price LLP Jan. 1, 2010, representing small and mid-size private businesses in industries such as technology and oil and gas exploration and development. Adam Walterscheid and Jeff Henderson ‘03 are partners in Pony Xpress Printing in Dallas, begun in 2003 in a garage-size warehouse. With revenue of $2.5 million last year, the screen-printing company is big in sports T-shirts but mostly prints fashion apparel and corporate promotional goods.
The Rev. Michael W. Waters (M.Div. ‘06) and his wife, Yulise Reaves Waters (‘02, J.D. ‘08), announce the birth of their daughter, Hope Yulise, Oct. 15, 2009. She joins brother Michael Jeremiah, 3.
03
Mariano Legaz was named vice president for strategic sourcing and purchase-to-pay systems at Verizon, overseeing U.S. purchasing and limited international sourcing activities at more than $35 billion annually. He lives with his wife and three children in New Jersey and enjoys marathon running. Gianna M. Ravenscroft was promoted Jan. 1, 2010, from associate to counsel at the international law firm WilmerHale, which she joined in 2005. She is in the firm’s regulatory and government affairs department in the Washington, D.C., office.
04
Nathan Brinkley announces the birth of his son, Nolan LaFate, Sept. 8, 2009. Chelsea Cannell was selected to host the daily That Morning Show on E! Entertainment. Although the show ended in November, she looks forward to her next opportunity. Cecile (CeCe) Villere Colhoun married Trevor Lindsay Colhoun in April 2008, and they welcomed a son, Trevor Lindsay Jr., in March 2010. J. Brandon Hancock launched Texas-based GreenShoots Real Estate in October 2009. As president he oversees the company’s development, acquisition and consulting activities focused on urban renewal, using new technologies to reduce consumption of resources. Aubrey Knappenberger works at Comedy Central in California as a sales planner for the digital advertising team. Leanne Lindgren (M.T.S. ‘09) and Jarrod Johnston ‘08 were married July 4, 2009. They live in Slidell, LA. Adriana Jaen Millares married fellow Miami native Javier Millares in 2009. She works as registrar at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida. Blake C. Norvell has published three scholarly articles: “The Constitution and the NSA Warrantless Wiretapping Program” (2009) in the Yale Journal of Law & Technology, “The Modern First Amendment and Copyright Law” (2009) in the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal and “Business Regulatory Lessons Learned from Amusement Park Safety Concerns” (2008) in the Temple Journal of Science, Technology, and Environmental Law. He received his J.D. degree in 2007 from the UCLA School of Law. Robert Richardson Jr. attended driving school at the Texas Motor Speedway and graduated to the Daytona International Speedway and the Daytona 500 Feb. 14, 2010. He was one of 43 drivers who qualified for what is billed as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ biggest, richest and most prestigious event.
05
Reunion: October 23, 2010
Chairs: Andrew J. Baker, Leslie A. Parks
Lindsay Daye Barbee (J.D. ‘08) joined the Dallas office of family law firm McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing LLP as associate, focusing her practice on custody and complex property cases. Kim DeBlance married Eric Davidson May 9, 2009, in Houston. She will receive an M.B.A. degree from Emory University in May 2010. They live in Atlanta, and both work for AT&T.
06
Justin D. Webb was recently commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy after completing Officer Candidate School at Newport, RI. For 13 weeks he received extensive instruction in leadership, navigation, ship handling, engineering, naval warfare and management and completed a demanding daily physical fitness program.
07
Pavielle Chriss has been promoted to the position of assistant director of Student Success Programs at SMU. In her new role, she works with Assistant Provost Tony Tillman in providing support for two new initiatives of the Office of the Provost: the Mustang Scholars and the Fall Academic Bridge Program. Chriss will assist in coordinating academic support services and resources for students in these programs. Since 2007 she has worked in SMU’ Office of Undergraduate Admission, and most recently, was senior admission counselor and coordinator of diversity initiatives. Jonathan E. Hawks is employed by Warner Brothers International Home Entertainment in Burbank, CA.
08
Richard Carrere has begun a career in the automotive business, working for Carl Sewell ‘66 as a sales associate at Sewell Village Cadillac in Dallas. Lee Helms is company manager for the off-Broadway Theatre for a New Audience.
09
Scott Gleeson is an artist and curator in Dallas selected for the year-long Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship presented by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. He will have the opportunity for mentorship with art world luminaries. Kristin Schutz works at Dallas-based Soap Hope, a company owned and founded by former SMU students Salah Boukadoum and Craig Tiritilli (B.B.A. ‘89, M.B.A. ‘94), which sells all-natural boutique body care brands and invests 100 percent of profits in lending funds to support women entrepreneurs locally and globally.
Despite a blizzard that dumped a foot of snow in Manhattan Feb. 10, the New York City Alumni Chapter hosted its first Board Room Breakfast featuring Norman Pearlstine, chief content officer with Bloomberg, a financial news, information and media company; and Tony Pederson, professor and Belo Distinguished Chair in Journalism in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. After the breakfast Pearlstine took the group on a tour of the Bloomberg Building. Pictured at the event are (from left) John Phelan ’86, Erik Nikravan ’06, Pearlstine, Pederson, Mark Robertson ’85, John Trahan ’83 ’93 and Lisa Bozalis ’00.
SMU career counselors emphasize internship opportunities and career development starting with first-year students – exploring who they are and what they want to do, says Ford at the Hegi Career Center. “We challenge them to learn
through their courses, campus involvement, community service and internships,” he says.
The early work pays off during students’ junior and senior years, Ford says, when the process intensifies with applications for second or even third internships, along with résumé building, career fairs, and job or graduate school applications.
The Hegi Career Center and Cox Career Services also offer students numerous online resources and campus workshops on job skills, including a new “Careers In …” series featuring employers and alumni in specific fields. “Students make those crucial contacts at these events and learn to think more broadly about what they can do with their majors,” Kerr says.
Kyle Snyder ’07, a strategy analyst for American Airlines, has represented the Fort Worth, Texas, company at the Hegi Career Center’s fall and spring career fairs, which have attracted up to 700 students and 90 employers. He also participated in this fall’s career fair prep day, where he advised students on speed networking.
“Students have only one or two minutes to make a good impression with company representatives at a career fair,” says Snyder, who earned a B.B.A. degree in finance from the Cox School. During his junior and senior years at SMU, he obtained two internships with American Airlines through the Hegi Career Center’s online postings.
new opportunities
In an initiative to expand internship opportunities, this year the Hegi Career Center joined the University Career Action Network, an internship exchange among more than 20 universities and colleges across the country, including Harvard, Duke and the University of Chicago. The shared database gives SMU students access to more than 1,500 internships nationwide and supplements Hegi’s MustangTrak, an online database featuring hundreds of internships and jobs open to SMU students and alumni. Counselors evaluate postings on MustangTrak, more than 90 percent of which are paid.
“We do not want our students to be “go-fors,’” Ford says. “These internships are about real work related to academic pursuits.”
Jack London, a senior from Birmingham, Alabama, found his summer internship through a MustangTrak posting about a company information session on campus. The marketing major in Cox was among dozens of students who attended the meeting and left a résumé with Coca-Cola Enterprises for one of a few spots in the company’s new University Talent Program.
After a challenging interview and an invitation to the final round, London turned to Cox Career Services for guidance. “They walked me through everything – my résumé, questions to ask, the thank-you note,” he says. “This was really competitive, and I wanted to get it right.”
London landed a sales associate internship. He and about 50 interns and new graduates from across the country started their summer at corporate headquarters in Atlanta, where they met Coca-Cola Enterprises’ CEO and leadership team. Then he headed to the Austin office to learn what goes into selling the global bottling company’s products – from territory development to computer programs to distribution and delivery.
“Before this internship, I wasn’t clear where my career path would take me,” says London, who has been accepted to the company’s two-year training program for next year. “Now I’m incredibly focused. It was an amazing summer of working and learning and meeting people.”
Those are the right experiences to take from an internship, says Kerr at Cox Career Services. “Interns who make the most of their opportunity do two things: They are willing to work really hard, and they begin to build long-standing relationships,” she says. “In any economy, it’s about what you’ve done and who you know.” – Sarah Hanan
A passport isn’t always required to open up a new world of understanding about complicated cultural issues. For example, Caroline Brettell, Dedman Family Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, led a spring break trip to New York’ Ellis Island and other historic sites as part of the Honors Cultural Formations course, “The Immigrant Experience.” SMU’s Richter Fellowship Program funded the class trip.
Other challenges, like the Lyle School of Engineering’s Immersive Design Experience (IDE), provide students with a taste of life after graduation. IDE will be an integral component of the Skunk Works® Innovation Gymnasium, part of the SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Program, housed in the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education. TI Distinguished Chair for Engineering Education Delores Etter directs the Institute and the SMU program.
IDEs, which will be scheduled during semester breaks, will challenge small student teams to solve real-world problems on a compressed timeline. Students will work full time to design and build a prototype, and at the conclusion, will present their solutions to a panel of faculty and industry representatives.
The colorful parade of flags at the 2009 World Model United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Accountability to an important client – SMU – injects a healthy dose of reality into immersion projects at the Cox School of Business. In Practicum in Portfolio Management, two yearlong courses geared toward senior finance majors and second-year M.B.A.s, students manage part of the University’s endowment.
“We’re functioning like any other money manager, making real-time decisions for over $5 million of funds in the endowment,” says Brian Bruce, director of the ENCAP Investments & LCM Group Alternative Asset Management Center, who teaches the classes.
Students are assigned an economic sector to analyze and then make buy-and-sell recommendations to the class. The course culminates in a presentation to the SMU Board of Trustees Investment Committee.
“I believe that investing real money and seeing the consequences of our decisions was a great benefit,” says David Luttrell ’09, now a research analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. “Particularly during the bear market times we experienced, I think we all learned a lot about the market, investor behavior, stock picking and lastly, humility.”
All immersion experiences push students to take what they’ve gleaned from books, lectures and research and use it in demanding situations.
Last spring’s World Model UN (World MUN), for example, was a head-first plunge into international diplomacy for the 10 SMU participants.
Senior political science major Nicola Muchnikoff, a member of SMU’s delegation at the 2009 conference in The Hague, “got so much from the experience that I couldn’t get any other way: public speaking skills, negotiation practice and dealing with language barriers.”
“Although the World MUN is a simulation, with students from 38 countries participating, the cultural and language issues are real,” says Chelsea Brown, a Tower Center for Political Studies postdoctoral fellow, who teaches an upper-division political science class that prepares students for the conference. An SMU group will attend the 2010 event in Taipei next spring.
Muchnikoff, the 2009-10 president of the World Model UN’s International Relations Council, adds, “It gave me the opportunity to apply things I’ve learned in many classes, especially those in human rights and political science.” &ndash Patricia Ward
(Photo above) Lindsey Perkins ’09 (left) and Sommer Saadi ’08 in Romania. (Photo below) Children in a Romanian orphanage. Lindsey took both photos.
With support from a Meadows Exploration Award and the SMU Chaplain’s Office, Sommer Saadi ’08, who graduated with a double major in journalism and history, and Lindsey Perkins ’09, a marketing major with a minor in advertising, traveled to Romania in the summer to research the conditions of orphanages. Perkins is now director of media relations and marketing for the Allen Americans professional hockey team. Saadi, now a journalism graduate student at Columbia University, offers this reflection on their journey: It’s 1:07 a.m., July 1, 2009, six days into our two-week stay in Romania. We’re sitting on our beds in a hotel room in Targu Mures, a small city in the mountains about six hours north of Bucharest, where we’ve spent time with Livada Orphan Care. I am typing notes while Lindsey uploads the photos she took at the baby hospital we visited yesterday. Romanian law allows parents to drop off their children at the hospital – with no questions asked – so they can receive health care. The problem is that children are not always picked up; that’s when Livada steps in.
While staring at our beds covered in papers, pens, maps and blank DVDs, it hits us: We’ve taken on a task greater than we ever anticipated.
“We’re 22 years old,” Lindsey says. “Neither of us has ever worked for a major news agency. We have mentors [SMU journalism professors Mark Vamos and Robert Hart] but no editor to sit us down and tell us, ‘This is what you need to do.’&rdquo
Now that our journey has ended, Lindsey and I realize how much we learned on the trip: the importance of building relationships with our subjects and keeping an open mind; to never stop taking pictures or stop writing; and to put everything into context. We also discovered our potential, our strengths, our weaknesses and ourselves.
We are trying to launch our journalism careers. So we assigned ourselves a challenge.
Our journey started in fall 2008 when we applied for a Meadows Exploration Grant with a proposal to report on the condition of Romanian orphanages, nearly 20 years after the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu’s régime. I had visited the country in 2006 as a volunteer with Humanity United in Giving, which aids two orphanages, so we had contacts through that organization.
Our project progressed as a compelling “then and now” feature package. We interviewed a range of sources on their experiences before, during and after the revolution. In developing the story, we integrated online technology. We built a website featuring a blog that chronicles our trip through video, photos and stories from abroad. As a result, we were able to add a whole new set of skills to our résumés that could help strengthen our freelance prospects.
We’re currently piecing together our research, writing stories and creating photo audio slideshows. We hope to catch the attention of media outlets interested in publishing our work.
Now that our journey has ended, Lindsey and I realize how much we learned on the trip: the importance of building relationships with our subjects and keeping an open mind; to never stop taking pictures or stop writing; and to put everything into context.
We also discovered our potential, our strengths, our weaknesses and ourselves. We reaffirmed our passion for storytelling through pictures and words. And we recognized that, in some ways, we were crazy for taking on such a big task, but Lindsey and I have never considered a little craziness to be a bad thing.
A month-long exploration of sustainable architecture confirmed Jackie Wilcher’s decision to become a double major in environmental engineering and business.
Wilcher studied architect Michael Reynold’s “Earthship Biotecture” homes in Taos, New Mexico, as a member of the first group of students to receive Taos Richter fellowships to pursue research in June at SMU-in-Taos. Reynolds is a pioneer in the use of recycled materials and passive solar power to create self-sufficient homes.
“This project ties in directly with my major, as it has a lot to do with the entire going green effort,” she says.
Students must be part of the University Honors Program to apply for Richter Research Fellowships, which have funded independent research by SMU students in the U.S. and abroad since 1999.
“Each student works with a faculty adviser both to craft the initial proposal and write a scholarly work after completing the research,” says David D. Doyle Jr., assistant dean of Dedman College and director of the University Honors Program.
Samantha Colletti, a member of the inaugural group of Hamilton Undergraduate Research Scholars in Dedman College, ended a four-month project with new respect for communications technology – and for academic research.
Through the new program, which was launched in academic year 2008-09, Dedman faculty members apply for funding that engages undergraduates with their research. Jack Hamilton, a member of the Dedman College Executive Board, and his wife, Jane, created the program at the suggestion of anthropology professor and program director Caroline Brettell, when she served as interim dean of the college. Nine students received stipends during the academic year and two students obtained support during the summer.
Last spring, as a senior with a double major in economics and finance, Colletti assisted economics Professor Isaac Mbiti in a study of the impact of cell phones in the African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and several others.
“My job was to analyze 30 telecom reports, each of which ranged from 80 to 100 pages of all kinds of charts and data, including details about regulations,” she explains.
“Cell phones have literally revolutionized industries,” she says, by linking far-flung tradesmen to markets that pay the best prices.
Colletti ’09, now working toward a Master’s in accounting in Cox School of Business, says the experience cemented “a greater appreciation for the research that professors do. There’s so much research, analyses, follow-up and writing involved. The end product is something to be proud of.” – Patricia Ward ROMANIA REVISITED …Read more
Undergraduate research is the key to educating adequate numbers of American scientists and engineers, James E. Quick says.
In 2008, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the independent government agency responsible for promoting science and engineering through research programs and education projects, allocated $33 million for its Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.
Engineering undergraduates from across the country vie for summer NSF Research Experience positions in SMU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. A $269,958 NSF grant awarded to David Willis and Paul Krueger, associate professors of mechanical engineering, has supported undergraduate research over the past three years.
“Research is a great way of engaging students in their degree program, because it gives them the opportunity to apply what they have learned in the classroom,” says Willis, an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor. “I think for some students it’s a wake-up call. They have the opportunity to learn what graduate school will be like on a firsthand basis, and whether it’s for them.”
Each of the 10 undergraduates accepted this year were matched with a lab according to their interests. Senior Dan Salta focused on an improved set-up for holding materials in place during electron beam welding with a plasma window. The process has applications in automotive, medical, semiconductor and other industries.
With an eye toward research and development, Salta added the design component to his engineering repertoire. His experience also tipped the scale in favor of pursuing a Master’s degree.
“Going through the program showed me some things to expect, and as of now, I’m planning to go to grad school.” IDEAS AND ISSUES … Read more
Competitive awards granted by individual schools, as well as the University Honors Program, support student research that delves into subjects as diverse as the “green chemistry” of fuel-cell reactions and e-commerce in Madrid. Students submit applications that outline their research, goals and budgets. Stipends range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
“Funding is intended to encourage students to explore and expand their creative and research skills beyond the classroom,” says Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Paul Hofeditz, Meadows School of the Arts. The school’s Meadows Exploration Awards granted a total of $23,400 to 35 undergraduates in 2008-09.
Meadows students Rob Thomson, Brandon Sterrett and Jason Ballman describe their interdisciplinary collaborative film project, Lightbulb, as a series of “lightbulb moments.“
They each received an Exploration Award for a total of $2,250.
The movie, which mixes computer-generated imagery and live-action footage, is based on an original graphic novel by Thomson’s cousin. Now in postproduction, the project pushed them to try things they hadn’t before. For Ballman, a senior music composition major with a concentration in piano and a minor in history, learning new software needed to score the film was the toughest challenge. For senior theatre major Sterrett, the movie tested his ability to act in front of a camera. And for Thomson, a junior cinema-TV major, “the experience was about learning how to make a movie – from start to finish – and how not to make a movie. Sometimes you learn more from the mistakes.”
SMU’s Big iDeas program, launched in spring 2008 by the Office of the Provost, encourages collaboration among undergraduates to find possible solutions to issues that affect the wider community. Big iDeas supports 10 undergraduate interdisciplinary teams annually with up to $5,000 each in funding.
Elizabeth Corey, a junior environmental engineering and pre-law major, teamed up with Andrés Ruzo ’09, now an SMU geophysics graduate student, for the “SMU Geothermal Project” funded by Big iDeas in 2009.
“I was a little apprehensive about geothermal energy at first,” she confesses. “However, as I researched it more, I was surprised that it’s not more commonly used.”
Corey and Ruzo investigated geothermal resources located under the campus. The plan is to harness the power of subterranean heat to produce energy. They presented results at the Geothermal Resource Council’s international meeting this fall in Nevada. If all goes as planned, “the fruits of this project could make SMU the world’s first geothermal-powered university,” their report states.
And it could “move the industry from talking about a paradigm shift into the actuality of mass production,” according to Maria Richards, SMU Geothermal Lab coordinator and an adviser on the project. A WAKE-UP CALL …Read more
Pauline Newton, a lecturer in English who teaches “Critical Thinking and Argument: An Introduction to College Writing” to first-year students, encourages students to bring their laptops to class and take notes.
“They were born with fingers on the keyboard,” she says. “They are so used to computers, and they’ll be using them in the real world. I don’t fight technology; I embrace it.”
She finds that teaching students to write and communicate well really hasn’t changed much through the years.
In some ways, technology has made it easier, she says. For example, while helping students craft thesis statements, Newton shares the process with the entire group using the real-time collaboration capabilities of Google Docs, a free Web-based application offered by Google.
Students generally monitor their own use of technology in the classroom, she says. “They know that if I see them using their phone or Facebook during class,
I’ll consider that when factoring class participation in their grades.” Laurie Campbell, director of Undergraduate Programs, Department of Teaching and Learning in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, exposes her students to “as much technology as possible so that when they go into the K-12 environment, they’ll be able to take advantage of all the technical tools available to them.”
Students in all of her classes also keep their computer use in check. In fact, they sign a contract that governs how they can use it and what the ramifications are for breaking the rules.
Boeke, who teaches a media and technology course, believes part of the modern university’s mission is to engage students in the latest technology so they’ll be competitive in the marketplace, he says.
“Even in my classroom, it’s annoying when everyone is on Facebook, looking at email and surfing,” Boeke says. “But those same students are often the first to find some new, useful information online.” – Patricia Ward
Eric Park visited Barcelona while attending SMU-in-Spain this fall.
SMU-in-Spain, the University’s longest-running education abroad program, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Since it was established in 1969, more than 2,000 students have attended the semester- and year-long program. SMU-in-Spain also is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its association with the Fundación José Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, which houses the program. The Foundation recently awarded two undergraduate scholarships for students who qualify academically but need financial assistance to participate, and four scholarships for SMU graduates to continue their study of Spanish language and culture in the Foundation’s graduate program.
Sophomore Aleksandra Gawor used dry humor and driving music to deliver a common sense message about recycling in her winning entry in the SMU Green Minute Video competition. Knowing that often the best ideas start at home, SMU’s Campus Sustainability Committee invited students to create a one-minute video promoting sustainability on the Hilltop. The winner was announced on national Campus Sustainability Day Oct. 21. Other winners included Norman Belza, second; Matthew Rispoli, third; and Ava Damri, honorable mention.
“The Campus Sustainability Committee is less than a year old, and we were looking for a way to let students know that we want their involvement,” says Michael Paul, committee chair and executive director of facilities management and sustainability.
Two frightful masks found in an SMU library collection, labeled as 19th-century Mexican theatrical artifacts, have turned out to be very rare Japanese items. Emily George Grubbs ’08, a curatorial assistant in Hamon Arts Library who majored in anthropology, discovered the masks while cataloging materials for the McCord/Renshaw Theatre Collection.
An Asian art expert at the Kimbell Art Museum identified them as gigaku masks, used in Buddhist dance ceremonies performed in 7th- and 8th-century Japan. About 200 gigaku masks exist in Japan. Only about 10 known examples exist elsewhere
in the world, six of them in the United States – including the two in Hamon Arts Library. Click here for more information.
The Archaeology Field School at SMU-in-Taos has begun a unique education and research partnership with students and faculty from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania, uniting two of the nation’s leading archaeology programs. The Taos Collaborative Archaeology Program joined 12 students from SMU with 16 from Mercyhurst at SMU’s Fort Burgwin campus in northern New Mexico.
“SMU is very strong in community-based archaeology and it has a top facility at which to study,” says Mercyhurst field director Judith Thomas. “We provide an intense, hands-on field archaeology experience using state-of-the art technology.”
The Mercyhurst group supplied a new remote sensing device that works in tandem with computer software to generate subsurface maps and better target excavation efforts.
The students excavated at the Ranchos de Taos plaza and in the homes and backyards of area residents, whose willingness to work with SMU students is a hallmark of the program. Students also took part in the annual re-mudding of the San Francisco de Asis church and recorded rock art near the Rio Grande Gorge.
Meadows School of the Arts Dean José Bowen grabbed headlines over the summer when he encouraged professors to “teach naked.”
Bowen wasn’t egging on colleagues to doff their duds; rather, he wants them to break out of the structured, computer-dependent lecture format and use time with students for more personal interaction and intellectual exchange.
In an interview with <emThe Chronicle of Higher Education last July, Bowen suggested that faculty members use class time more creatively to spark questions and discussions. He specifically rebuked the uninspired use of PowerPoint, a slide presentation program commonly used by educators, and proposed that lectures be posted online, either in a PowerPoint format or as podcasts or videos. Students would be responsible for auditing the materials on their own time.
“I’m not anti-technology in any way,” says Bowen. “I use podcasts and give online exams before every class. I just think the best place for most technology is outside of the classroom.”
The “teaching naked” philosophy struck a chord that reverberated around the world in a matter of weeks. To use an Internet term, “teaching naked” went viral. The Australian, International Business Times, NPR Weekend Edition, Newsweek, Time Magazine (international edition), The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report and other local, national and international media carried reports about Bowen. The topic also burned through the blogosphere, with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Washington State University and The Math Forum at Drexel University among the scores of blogs posting Bowen’s theory.
“I think it touched on a big question being asked in higher education: How is technology going to change what we do?” he says.
Like Bowen, educators across academic fields are trying to find ways to use technology to enhance the University experience while preventing it from becoming a distraction.
Millennials, the demographic cohort to which most current SMU undergraduates belong, “present a unique challenge to the University,” because their laptops are almost an extra appendage, says Brad Boeke, director of SMU’s Academic Technology Services.
A low-tech approach may seem counterintuitive when so many students regard laptops and cell phones as basic necessities. A study released in March by IBM and the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., showed that 93 percent of 1,600 college students queried nationwide owned a laptop.
“It’s difficult to teach when students seem to be paying more attention to their laptops,” Boeke says. “But the question is: Are they distracted or are they multitasking?” “BORN WITH FINGERS ON THE KEYBOARD …”Read more
When mild tremors rocked North Texas over the summer, junior Ashley Howe moved to the frontline of seismology research that could shape the future of urban oil and gas drilling.
The earth sciences major worked as an undergraduate research assistant for Professor Brian Stump, the Claude C. Albritton Jr. Chair in Geological Sciences in Dedman College. She helped Stump and Chris Hayward, geophysics projects research director, deploy portable seismographs in affected Dallas-area and Cleburne, Texas, locations.
Howe, who is now helping Stump’s team write two papers for submission to scientific journals, views the experience as a “launching pad for graduate research,” she says.
“Ashley’s making primary observations that still will be referred to in 10 years,” Hayward says. “She’s making a lasting contribution as an undergraduate.”
Creative Spirit
“Research is central to SMU’s academic mission and contributes directly to its stature among universities,” says James E. Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies and a professor in the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Dedman College. “We should attempt to solve major societal problems, such as energy sustainability, and address questions that capture the public imagination, such as the origin of the cosmos. In these efforts, it is essential that we engage our undergraduates, to capture their creative spirit and draw them into the excitement of discovery through direct participation in research.”
The University’s Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) program, which extends to all disciplines, allows faculty to connect students to ongoing research. The University Financial Aid office covers 50 percent of each salary, with the other half paid by the participating academic department. Students in the program earned a total of $127,526 in academic year 2008-09 (including summer).
The hiring process continues through the fall semester, according to Meredith Dawson, student employment coordinator. As of mid-October, 20 URAs were on the job. In 2008-09, 61 undergraduate research assistants worked in 11 departments, including 16 in chemistry, 10 in anthropology, nine in physics, and six in environmental and civil engineering. COLLABORATE TO INNOVATE …Read more
Senior Laura Ratliff prepared for an on-the-ground study of the effects of the genocide in Rwanda with voluminous research. But it was impossible to anticipate the raw emotions that surfaced during the journey through the killing fields. Those feelings, she says, can’t be conjured in the classroom.
“You can watch all the films and read anything and everything, but nothing compares with walking through a concentration camp in Germany on a 20-degree day or seeing thousands of skulls in Rwanda’s mass graves,” Ratliff explains. “Those experiences live with me every day.
“The trip [to Rwanda] definitely made me more interested in exploring human rights volunteer opportunities before graduate school, whether they be through the Peace Corps or another organization,” she says. “In addition, a few other students and I are planning a ‘commission’ of sorts to increase awareness of SMU’s human rights program throughout the student body and the community.”
The August expedition to the East African country was her second human rights education tour with Rick Halperin, director of SMU&rsuqo;s Human Rights Education Program in Dedman College. As part of an independent study in history, the journalism major joined Halperin’s 2008 spring break pilgrimage to Eastern Europe, which included visits to Nazi death camps.
“One of the main missions of this university is to graduate people who are true global citizens. I see these trips as working to complement that aim, namely to have our students bear witness to terrible events of the past, to remember that these issues live on today, and to be able to speak and write critically and analytically about them,” says Halperin, who is leading groups to Poland, the Baltic states and Japan in 2009-10.
“Immersion experiences,” as these intensive, beyond-the-classroom learning opportunities are known, take many forms across disciplines.
“Students thrive in an environment in which they are encouraged to apply their learning in creative ways,” says Associate Provost Thomas Tunks. “Immersion experiences allow them to explore deeply subjects for which they have significant interest and passion, cultivating not only knowledge but also understanding and a unique perspective.
“By expanding learning opportunities beyond the classroom, or perhaps by expanding the classroom itself to include the world, SMU encourages students not only to broaden their academic goals but also to consider how to live meaningful lives,” Tunks adds.
Students can draw from University curriculum or, as in Ratliff’s case, follow self-plotted paths to discovery.
“I went to Rwanda purely out of personal interest,” she says.
Two very different views of Rwanda: Senior Laura Ratliff took these photos during the human rights pilgrimage last summer. At a memorial site in Nyamata, the skulls of genocide victims are stacked in mass graves as a reminder of the atrocities. Her other photo depicts the future of Rwanda – its children.
To reach the site of his internship last summer, senior Jason Stegall boarded a helicopter in Houma, Louisiana, and flew 150 miles south to an oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico. He worked 12 hours a day for two-week stretches on the massive BP platform, analyzing equipment that pumps natural gas and oil to land.
“I was one of BP’s first two interns to work offshore,” says the mechanical engineering and math major from Amarillo, Texas. “I saw pumps running and taken apart. I developed a tool that tracks performance as the pumping compressor degrades over time. There was always something happening on the platform, and I learned I like to do hands-on research.”
Stegall, an Embrey Scholar in SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, previously interned at an infrared technology company through the school’s longtime co-op program, designed to give students work experience while earning a degree. He also has worked since his first year in the school’s Laser Micromachining Laboratory, conducting research with David Willis, associate professor of mechanical engineering.
When he applied online for the BP internship, Stegall says, his strong work record and campus activities – including leadership roles in Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, SMU Ballroom Club and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers – set him apart from the competition.
Competition In Hard Times
Particularly during this challenging economic climate, employers want to see relevant work experiences on students’ résumés, SMU career counselors say.
“Strong résumés start with a solid GPA, but internships can be the key to landing an interview,” says Darin Ford, director of the Hegi Family Career Development Center.
A student with multiple internships has gained practical knowledge and professional “soft skills,” such as communication and teamwork, he says. “That experience stands out to an employer whose hiring has been limited during the recession.”
The economic downturn also has meant more competition for internships, says Roycee Kerr, director of Cox BBA Career Services, which collaborates with the Hegi Career Center and focuses on Cox School of Business students. With rising unemployment, new graduates are competing with experienced job seekers for the same entry-level positions, she says.
According to spring surveys by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the number of new graduates nationwide with jobs declined 6 percent from 2008, and employers expected to cut internship hiring more than 20 percent this year. Even with the drop in the number of positions offered, however, more than 92 percent of employers planned to hire at least some college interns.
At SMU, postings for internships rose a surprising 10 percent this spring, Kerr says, except in hard-hit financial fields.
“We found companies saying that they still need to build their workforces. They are committed to their campus presence.”
Global telecommunications provider Ericsson filled a range of positions, from engineering to sales to supply chain management, with about 120 interns from SMU and other universities. “They work on real projects that affect real bottom lines,” says John Kovelan, university relations program manager at the Plano, Texas, company. “Their skill sets are definitely put to use.”
Some students enter Ericsson’s co-op program as juniors and stay through graduate school and beyond, he says, an optimal way for companies and students to learn about what each has to offer.
With the current emphasis on cost savings, Ericsson and other companies also have shifted to shorter, project-based internships. “It is an employer’s market, and students must do everything they can to make themselves marketable,” Kovelan says. “Internships are more essential than ever.” NEW OPPORTUNITIES …Read more
Warren Seay is not waiting for graduation to start work in his chosen field: public service. At age 20, the DeSoto, Texas, native and SMU political science major won election in 2008 as the youngest member of his hometown’s school board.
Warren Seay
Now he is balancing those duties with his studies as a 2009 Truman Scholar – an award recognizing college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government or public service.
Seay has joined several SMU students who recently have distinguished themselves with national scholastic awards. Esmeralda Duran, who graduated in December 2008 with degrees in English and French, received a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship to continue her studies at Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris. The Cooke Foundation scholarship, one of the nation’s most competitive awards, will provide her with up to $50,000 for graduate study.
“This has been a wonderful year for SMU,” says Kathleen Hugley-Cook, director of SMU’s Office of National Fellowships and Awards, who guided both students through the application process. The office, established in 2007 to help students and faculty prepare their candidacies for national scholarships, fellowships, grants and awards, has reaped results.
Kylie Quave
Over the past two years, student applications for national awards have tripled and successful applications have quintupled. More than 70 students applied for national fellowships and grants in 2008-09; nearly one-third resulted in awards.
Hugley-Cook also helped archaeology graduate student Kylie Quave and studio art major Amy Revier ’09 win Fulbright Scholarships in Peru and Iceland, respectively. With her assistance, senior political science major Cody Meador won a 2009-10 Presidential Fellowship at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress in Washington, D.C.
Daniel Salta
Science and engineering students also benefit from Hugley-Cook’s efforts. Seniors Daniel Salta, mechanical engineering and mathematics, and Amy Hand, physics and mathematics, spent last summer working in their fields as participants in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates.
Hugley-Cook encourages students to plan early. She presents information sessions each semester on how they can pursue national grants and fellowships. Generally, students begin to apply for national awards in their sophomore year
“Many of the best opportunities require an application a year in advance,” she says. “If you don’t know those deadlines, you could miss out.”
She also helps students find the fellowships and grants best suited to their areas of interest. “The most important aspect of any candidacy is what students are planning to do with their careers,” Hugley-Cook says. “As they begin to focus their interests, we can help them develop a long-range plan and make them aware of possibilities they might miss otherwise.”
The office began serving faculty members in fall 2008, doubling both candidacies and successful applications. During the past academic year, SMU faculty members received a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award; a Fulbright award to teach in Vietnam; seven Sam Taylor Fellowships from the Division of Higher Education, United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry; and a Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Professorship that honors superior teaching at Texas universities, among others.
The pool of future student candidates is encouraging, Hugley-Cook says. “We’ve had excellent results this year, but knowing that this incoming class is such a strong one, we look forward to seeing where they go as their academic careers progress.” – Kathleen Tibbetts
Now we have done it. On September 11, 2009, Perkins School of Theology dedicated a new building (Prothro Hall), two renovated buildings (Kirby and Selecman Halls), and a stone labyrinth in the open and accessible space between Prothro and Selecman.
This labyrinth is a new thing for us. But its history can be traced for thousands of years. And, in some ways, it is a labyrinthine history.
Maze-like patterns have been found that are 15,000 years old. They are known from pre-Christian history in Scandinavia, Tibet, Russia, Greece, India, Egypt and Israel. After persisting through the millennia, they were adopted by Christians for spiritual purposes. One has been found in the floor of a church in Algeria that dates from 324 A.D. By the High Middle Ages (A.D. 1000-1300), labyrinths had nearly become standard features in the floors of great churches and abbeys across Europe, most notably in the cathedral at Chartres, where one was placed in 1215.
For Christians, labyrinths had specific spiritual purposes. They served as a way to make a sacred pilgrimage even if one could not undertake an actual journey to a holy place (the shrine of a saint) or to the holy land. They engaged the body, the soul and the mind in a focusing upon movement along a defined path. And they fostered a sacred promise that if one followed the one way of life, it would lead to peace.
That is how a labyrinth differs from a maze. Typically a maze is a puzzle through which one moves toward a goal while encountering a number of paths that reach a dead end. A labyrinth, on the other hand, is one single, coiled pathway leading toward a center and then back to the world again. Follow the way of faith in a labyrinth, and one will find peace and be able to return to the world.
By the 16th century, this approach to Christian theology was seriously challenged. In the 18th century, efforts were made to destroy labyrinths and the theology that accompanied them. Instead of taking the mysterious and winding path, Christians were told they should walk the straight and narrow path.
In the 20th century the merits of the labyrinth as a way of engaging in meditation, contemplation and spiritual transformation began to be rediscovered. A few hundred are now publicly available in the United States. The one at Perkins School of Theology, given in honor of SMU Professor of World Religions and Spirituality Ruben Habito, will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to anyone who seeks to walk the path toward peace.
Sources consulted include these publications: Jacques Attali, The Labyrinth in Culture and Society [Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 1999]; Patrick Conty, The Genesis and Geometry of the Labyrinth [Rochester VT: Inner Traditions International, 2002]; and Craig Wright, The Maze and the Warrior [Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001]
Lasers have the potential to improve and revolutionize human lives in many ways, from consumer electronics and communications to medical equipment and homeland security. Helping unlock the barriers to these advancements is the research of SMU Electrical EngineeringProfessor Gary Evans.
Evans has been recognized by his peers for his contributions to the development, design and fabrication of semiconductor lasers, microscopic manufactured devices that can amplify subatomic light particles called photons. This technology, in turn, can lead to applications that transmit data, energy, pictures or sound. The field of photonics already has many claims to fame: Laser pulses deliver information through glass fibers to create the high-speed Internet; certain wavelengths of laser light are used in cancer therapy; lasers read CDs and DVDs; and at industrial plants, lasers cut materials with precision.
Professor Gary Evans works in a sterile environment in SMU’s Photonics Lab.
But future development of high-power applications requires research advancements of the kind Evans is tackling in his laboratory: He is looking for a way to fit billions of lasers and other optical components atop a microscopic chip. The challenge is similar to the one faced in the late 1950s by the engineers who developed the electronic integrated circuit. The revolutionary high-density electronic integrated circuit paved the way for powerful hand-held calculators, laptop computers and myriad microelectronic devices and technology that have transformed the world.
Evans and other researchers believe photonic integrated circuits (PICs) may have that same vast potential, but there are technical problems to resolve. One key to manufacturing high-density PICs, which can hold billions of optical devices, is an “isolator.” An isolator would allow photons to flow unrestricted in the forward direction, but would prevent any reflected light from traveling backward. Without an isolator, unavoidable reflections would cause instabilities and chaos in the PIC.
“An isolator allows integration of large numbers of lasers and other optical components to produce stable, robust photonic circuits,” Evans says. Since 1994 he and Jacob Hammer, a retired colleague from RCA Labs, have been working along with graduate students to develop an isolator.
“We have a good understanding of the theory and we realize what problems need to be solved to make an integrated isolator in a semiconductor,” Evans says. “But more theory needs to be done to understand the materials that need to be developed. The materials just don’t exist yet.”
He is seeking federal funding to continue collaborations with Hammer, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to develop those materials.
Since 2001 the team has received $250,000 in federal funding for isolator research. Some funding for Evans’ research also has been awarded to Photodigm Inc., a company he co-founded. Photodigm specializes in photonics technology for communications, digital imaging, defense and medical device applications. The Richardson-based company has contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, among others.
Evans joined SMU in 1992, the year he also received one of electrical engineering’s top honors: election as a Fellow of IEEE, the technology industry’s professional association. The association cited Evans for contributions he has made to the industry’s development, fabrication and understanding of semiconductor lasers.
Over the years, Evans’ research has been conducted in conjunction with others, including the larger SMU photonics team: Jerome Butler, University Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering; Jay Kirk, SMU electrical engineering laboratory manager and a co-founder of Photodigm; and Marc Christensen, chair and associate professor of the Electrical Engineering Department and a member of Photodigm’s technical advisory board. – Margaret Allen
The ASARCO smokestack looms above the Smeltertown graveyard.
Little evidence exists today of Smeltertown, a Mexican American neighborhood that grew up around a smelter in El Paso, Texas. Smelter employees and their families lived there for almost a century before the discovery of widespread lead contamination in the 1970s. The environmental crisis created a complicated situation that ended in the destruction of the community. Monica Perales, assistant professor of history at the University of Houston, captures this story in Smeltertown: Making and Remembering a Border Community, a book under contract with the University of North Carolina Press. She conducted research and honed her thesis for the book in 2006-07 while she was a Summerlee Foundation Fellow in Texas History at SMU’s Clements Center for Southwest Studies.
Perales says her year at the Center “allowed me time to think about place and memory as key components of the history I wanted to tell and really pushed my work in new directions.”
The Clements Center annually awards four yearlong postdoctoral fellowships for scholars studying the American Southwest and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The support enables them to work at SMU revising and polishing their dissertations into book-length manuscripts. Fellowships to emerging and senior scholars have resulted in 23 books published by 14 university presses and seven pending contracts.
Brian DeLay, now an assistant professor of history at the University of California Berkeley, says his year as a Clements Center Fellow (2005-06) “gave me opportunities to test my ideas on smart and critical readers, including history faculty, center staff, graduate students, Dallas-area historians and other scholars who attended the manuscript workshop.” His War of a Thousand Deserts (Yale University Press, 2008) states that Indians played a key role in bringing Mexico and the United States to war in 1846. “Although many scholars have written about the coming of that war, none had noticed the central role of Apaches, Comanches and others.”
Entering its 13th year, the Clements Center has grown into an internationally recognized incubator for research and writing on the American Southwest and borderlands. The Center was established in 1994 through a $10 million gift from former Texas Governor William P. Clements ’39. The gift also endowed the Clements Department of History in Dedman College and funded development of a Ph.D. program in American history.
“The Clements Center has a wonderful reputation among the scholars of not only the Southwest, but among American historians in general.”
Former Clements fellow and Finland native Pekka Hämäläinen recently won the Bancroft Prize, the most coveted honor in American history writing, for The Comanche Empire (Yale University Press, 2008), his book about the nation-changing power of the Comanche Indians. He argues that Comanche power led to Spain’s failure to colonize the interior of North America and, ultimately, to the decay of Mexican power in what is now the American Southwest.
Hämäläinen, associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, worked on the book while he was a Clements fellow in 2001-02 and acknowledges in the volume the support he received while at SMU.
“The Clements Center has a wonderful reputation among the scholars of not only the Southwest, but among American historians in general,” Hämäläinen says.
The Center also provides travel research grants to graduate students working on their dissertations, offers research grants to visiting scholars to use DeGolyer Library’s special collections, and organizes an annual symposium. In February, the topic will be “On the Borders of Love and Power: Families and Kinship in the Intercultural American West.”
Integral to the Center’s success is the work of its longtime director, David Weber, the Robert and Nancy Dedman Professor of History in Dedman College. Recently named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Weber is considered a preeminent historian of the American Southwest and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. His research has helped clarify some of the region’s myths about its history. “We’ve had a major shift in the understanding and appreciation of Spanish and Mexican heritage in Southwestern America in my lifetime,” he says. – Kim Cobb ASARCO photo by Jesus Delgado. Reprinted with permission of Borderlands, a student writing and research project of El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX 79998. Ruth E. Vise, Project Director. All rights reserved.
Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall is the centerpiece of the revamped Perkins School of Theology.
SMU’s Perkins School of Theology opened an important new chapter with the dedication of the new Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall and renovations to Kirby and Selecman Halls September 11. Dean William Lawrence called the day a celebration of “an overwhelming experience of grace and an abundance of gifts.”
Elizabeth Perkins Prothro ’39, who embraced and then expanded her family’s support for SMU during a lifetime of philanthropy and leadership, died May 23 in Wichita Falls, Texas.
“My mother believed with all her heart in the importance of learning and the power of knowledge,” said daughter Kay Prothro Yeager ’61. “She decided early in life to maintain a family tradition of enabling others to better themselves through higher education, a legacy both her children and grandchildren are continuing to honor.”
Including the $6 million lead gift for the new building, the Perkins and Prothro families and their foundations have given more than $36.3 million to SMU since the first gift from Prothro’s parents, Joe J. and Lois Perkins, two years before the University opened in 1915. Joe J. and Lois Perkins endowed the SMU Theology School in the early 1940s. The school was named in their honor in 1945. Most of the family’s support has been for Perkins School of Theology, including its Bridwell Library, but other gifts have been designated for the Perkins Administration Building and Perkins Natatorium.
The 20,000-square-foot Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall is the centerpiece of a revamped theology quad. The updated area includes a courtyard with a labyrinth design that serves as a contemplative public space.
The environmentally friendly Prothro Hall is eligible for LEED certification, an internationally recognized green building certification system. The building includes a 2,200-square-foot great hall for public events, a refectory for dining services, a student computer lab, preaching lab, classrooms, seminar rooms and two lecture halls.
Lawrence noted that Elizabeth Perkins Prothro “honored us not only with her financial generosity, but also with her profound commitment to the treasured books, music and worship that are essential to transmitting faith to the next generations.”
Joe N. Prothro and Kay Prothro Yeager ’61 with a portrait of their mother, Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, unveiled at the dedication.
Prothro donated almost 500 volumes in more than 50 languages to Bridwell Library in 1996. “The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Bible Collection at Bridwell Library,” a recent exhibition, featured selections that ranged from an illuminated manuscript (c. 1250) to a five-volume Dove’s Press Bible (1903-05).
“Elizabeth Prothro left an indelible mark on SMU and on all who knew her,” said President R. Gerald Turner. “Her contributions to this University and to its students, faculty and staff are truly historic. We join the Perkins-Prothro family in mourning her passing, but also in celebrating her extraordinary life.”
The dedication ceremony concluded with a special hymn, “Prothro Hall,” written for the event by adjunct professor John Thornburg and Carlton R. Young, professor emeritus of church music at Emory University and former director of the Sacred Music program at Perkins. The hymn was performed by students under the direction of C. Michael Hawn, professor of church music and director of the Master of Sacred Music program.
Sho a white-painted, stainless-steel mesh sculpture, stands out from the crowd during the dedication of the newly renovated Meadows Museum Sculpture Plaza.
Meadows Museum director Mark Roglán calls the newly renovated museum Sculpture Plaza “a destination not only to see art, but also a welcoming space to gather with friends.”
The centerpiece of the plaza is Sho, a monumental sculpture by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa that was unveiled during the plaza dedication Oct. 7. SMU acquired the sculpture in summer 2009 through gifts from The Eugene McDermott Foundation, Nancy and Jake Hamon, The Meadows Foundation, The Pollock Foundation, the family of Mr. and Mrs. Richard R. Pollock and the family of Lawrence S. Pollock III.
The plaza includes 9,000 square feet of lawn area and landscaping. A new entrance stairway and fountain integrate the museum with the rest of the campus.
The dedication initiated the exhibition Face and Form: Modern and Contemporary Sculpture in the Meadows Collection. The sculpture collection includes 21 significant works showcased together for the first time. The new plaza features a permanent installation from the museum’s collection of works by such
artists as Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi and Claes Oldenburg. Santiago Calatrava’s Wave, created in 2002 specifically for the site in the plaza’s southwest corner, now can be viewed from above. The terrace was donated by Richard and Gwen Irwin in honor of his parents, William and Florence Irwin.
The creative and construction processes used by Plensa and Calatrava in the creation of Sho and Wave are documented in two exhibitions, which continue through Feb. 21, 2010, at the museum.
As a high school student interested in studying theater, Victoria Nassif liked what she saw during two visits to SMU.
“The teachers were wonderful and the students were so friendly,” recalls the Austin native. “It seemed everyone wanted to share their joy.”
Victoria Nassif
An accomplished actress who played lead roles in numerous high school productions, Nassif was accepted at several colleges and universities with top theater programs, including SMU. But when the time came to choose, she says the offer of a Meadows Scholarship sealed the deal.
“SMU was my first choice, but it came down to financial considerations,” she says. “The Meadows Scholarship made it possible for me to be here.”
Nassif, a sophomore, is one of 21 Meadows Scholars. The program, which was launched in fall 2008, was modeled on the successful Cox B.B.A. Scholars program in the School of Business. The Meadows program offers scholarships in each of the school’s disciplines, providing an annual stipend of $7,500 per student. Each scholar also receives up to $5,000 for travel and research, funded by the Meadows Foundation Edge for Excellence Grant.
Increasing student quality through additional support for merit-based scholarships, such as the Meadows Scholars program, is a key goal of SMU’s Second Century Campaign. The University has demonstrated that such support helps SMU attract and retain top students; SAT scores for entering undergraduate students have risen by 98 points in the past 11 years as scholarship support has increased.
More than 20 donors have provided support for Meadows Scholars to date. The school is seeking additional support – through endowments or annual gifts – to fund 20 Meadows Scholarships each year. Donors who pledge $7,500 for four years, or who provide a permanent endowment of $150,000, are entitled to name a scholarship.
“There is nothing more important than educating the next generation of artists who will define our culture in the future,” says Carol Jackson Riddle ’70, ’80, who, with her husband, Michael L. Riddle, endowed the scholarship that Nassif received. “You also get to see what your student does and watch her mature.”
With unbridled support from the University community, The Second Century Campaign achieved a milestone in September when it exceeded the halfway mark.
More than $385 million, or 51 percent of the $750-million goal, has been raised or pledged as part of the largest fundraising initiative in SMU’s history. The campaign’s public phase was launched Sept. 12, 2008, after a two-year quiet phase.
Cash receipts for the fiscal year, which ended May 31, exceeded $100 million, including gifts and payments. That amount represents the highest level of giving in the history of SMU and includes large pledge payments as well as gifts of all sizes, from $1 to more than $1 million.
In the first public-phase year, the University received 55 gifts of $1 million or more. By way of comparison, SMU obtained 113 gifts of that size during the entirety of the last five-year campaign.
Second Century Campaign achievements so far include:
11 endowed academic institutes, centers and initiatives
11 endowed faculty positions
185 endowed scholarships
11 new or renovated facilities
Faculty And Staff Step Up
SMU faculty and staff launched their participation in The Second Century Campaign September 3 with kickoff events throughout the day and an exuberant all-University celebration in Umphrey Lee Ballroom hosted by President R. Gerald Turner.
As of October 1, 54 percent of faculty and staff had given to the campaign, easily besting the 25 percent annual participation goal set before the launch. Harold Stanley, the Geurin-Pettus Professor of Political Science in Dedman College, and Julie Wiksten ’78, ’92, executive director of SMU Auxiliary Services, serve as co-chairs of the Campaign Steering Committee for Faculty and Staff.
Alumni Beat Challenge Goal
The Horsepower Challenge, an end-of-the-fiscal-year drive, surpassed its goal of generating 2,000 additional gifts. A total of 2,312 undergraduate alumni gave almost $1 million.
The class of 1984 raised the most dollars and acquired the most donors of all classes between 1939 and 1998. Among SMU’s young alumni, the class of 2007 raised the most dollars and acquired the most donors.
Alumni from every class between 1939 and 2009 gave to SMU, finishing the year with a 19 percent annual participation rate.
Undergraduates Set Records
A record 840 undergraduate students made contributions to the campaign during the 2008-09 academic year.
First-year class giving rose 62 percent over the previous year, setting a record. The 35 percent overall participation rate by the class of 2009 also established a University record.
The increase was credited to The Union, a new student initiative that encourages students to donate a minimum of $20 each year from the date of their enrollment at SMU through their fifth-year reunion.
Bill Armstrong ’82 and Liz Martin Armstrong ’82 of Denver were among the donors who contributed to the new and renovated student casitas at SMU-in-Taos. The first phase of planned enhancements was made possible by a $4 million gift from former Texas Governor William P. Clements Jr. ’39 and his wife, Rita. In addition to the Armstrongs, other donors who have given more than $1 million to support the student housing include Irene Athos and the late William J. Athos, Roy and Janis Coffee, Maurine Dickey ’67, Richard T. ’61 and Jenny Mullen, Caren H. Prothro, Steve ’70 and Marcy Sands, Jo Ann Geurin Thetford ’69, ’70, Richard Ware ’68 and William J. Ware ’01. As a result of the improvements, SMU was able to offer fall classes for the first time at Fort Burgwin.
Attending the Belo announcement were (from left) Russell Martin, director of DeGolyer Library; Marian Spitzberg ’85, president and trustee of The Belo Foundation; Gillian McCombs, dean and director, Central University Libraries; and Judith Segura, past president of The Belo Foundation and former historian-archivist for the company.
Belo Corp., owner of WFAA-TV and former parent company of The Dallas Morning News, is donating the Belo Corporate Archives to SMU’s DeGolyer Library. The thousands of documents in the archives also include materials from A. H. Belo Corporation, which was formed to own The Dallas Morning News and other newspapers that were spun off from Belo Corp. in February 2008.
“Since 1985, Belo Corp. has invested in updating its archival collection that traces the history of the company as well as the City of Dallas. We are proud of this collection and believe it is best situated in a permanent curatorial setting such as the DeGolyer Library,” says Robert W. Decherd, chair of Belo Corp.
“As the media industry changes, it will be invaluable to have historical resources showing the evolution of a leading corporation and its impact on print and broadcast outlets,” says SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
Belo was established in 1842, making it the oldest continuously operated business institution in Texas. The archives contain operational business papers of the company itself, including internal departmental annual reports to management; annual reports from management to shareholders starting in 1926, when G. B. Dealey acquired the company from the heirs of Col. A. H. Belo; and recordings of important company-related events, beginning with audio recordings from the 1920s.
The DeGolyer Library’s collections also include the papers of Dallas Morning News journalists Blackie Sherrod, Lee Cullum, Lon Tinkle, Rena Pederson and Carolyn Barta, currently a senior journalism lecturer at SMU. In addition, the library has a large collection of Dallas Morning News photographs preserved by the late Homer DeGolyer, who died in 1963, as well as photographs from George McAfee, who worked for The News in the early 20th century.
Pat Baker Jr. ’55 visits familiar territory: the SMU Journalism Division newsroom.
Horace Anson (Pat) Baker Sr. was a well-known family practitioner in Wills Point and Van Zandt County, Texas. His wife, Janet Lybrand Baker, majored in journalism at what is now Texas Woman’s University. The couple instilled a love of learning and a commitment to helping others in their two children, Horace Anson Baker Jr. ’55, known to everyone as Pat, and the late Shirley Ann (Shug) Baker ’58.
In honor of his parents and sister, Pat Baker Jr. has established the Baker Family Scholarship Fund to benefit eligible journalism majors in Meadows School of the Arts and students on the pre-med track in Dedman College. Funding is provided through
the combination of a bequest and a gift annuity.
“I’ve been impressed with the overall academic aspirations and goals of SMU,” Baker says, “and this is my way to help the University continue to make progress.”
Baker credits his mother with nurturing his love of writing, and he entered SMU as a journalism major.
As a senior he was editor of the student newspaper, then called the SMU Campus.
The wordsmith eventually found his niche in advertising and public relations. He retired in 2000 and has been traveling the world since.
“Traveling is always a learning experience, and learning is an endless process,” he says.
Baker believes his family would be pleased to know that the continuing quest for knowledge at SMU is supported by the Baker Family Scholarship Fund.
“On Father’s tombstone it says: ‘Every man should leave his mark,’” he says. “This is our way of leaving the Baker family mark on SMU.”
Dave Gallo, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, dives into a deep subject at TEDxSMU.
Dallas journalists called TEDxSMU “audacious, extraordinary and amazing.” The high-concept think-fest drew 485 people to Caruth Auditorium Oct. 10 for an eclectic list of speakers and presentations, all keyed to the question, “What will change everything?”
Ideas that challenged the concept of impossibility were presented in short presentations no longer than 18 minutes. Some of the ideas included: What it’s like to be an astronaut aboard the International Space Station; the unusual teamwork needed for giant whale copulation; how to get the United States off oil by 2040; how to get our minds to work faster than calculators; how living with a terminal disease can be fulfilling; how to help solve malnutrition among India’s orphans with peanut butter bars; and why our ocean world may be more important than our dirt one.
Participants were chosen from hundreds of applicants, who said they found the networking time between sessions almost as valuable as the “TED Talks.” TEDxSMU was an independently organized conference modeled after the annual TED conference in Long Beach, California, and licensed by the nonprofit group that produces the larger event. The acronym stands for technology, entertainment and design. What started as a small meeting of creative thinkers has grown into an annual event that draws speakers like Al Gore and Bill Gates.
The nonprofit group that runs TED also licenses individual events under the same banner of “ideas worth spreading.” After he was wowed by a TED event last spring, Geoffrey Orsak, dean of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, organized TEDxSMU with help from sponsors and project director Sharon Lyle.
Orsak took it a step further, however, organizing many of the same speakers and presentations for a first-of-its-kind TEDxKIDS event for 340 area junior high students Oct. 9. It was learning camouflaged as fun – especially when students appeared on stage to confess, “What My Parents Don’t Know.”
Orsak says he is looking forward to return engagements for both events. “We expect that with the support of the community, TEDxSMU 2010 and TEDxKIDS will be back in full force.”
Alan C. Lowe, a veteran of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) who played key roles in planning the libraries of the past two presidents, has been named director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. His appointment was announced earlier this year by NARA.
Ambassador James K. Glassman, a public policy scholar, diplomat and journalist, has been named the founding executive director of the George W. Bush Institute, a think tank that will be an integral part of the Center.
Glassman’s initial responsibility will be to recommend a slate of Bush Institute research topics and programming to begin in spring 2010. The Bush Institute will operate independently of SMU but will collaborate with interested SMU faculty and students on the sharing of ideas, research and programs.
James K. Glassman
Glassman was a fellow for 12 years at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in economics and technology. He recently served as president of the World Growth Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes policies to achieve prosperity, mainly in developing countries. In the Bush administration he was under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.
The National Archives will operate the library and museum, and the institute will report to the Bush Foundation.
Students bicycle near new casitas at Fort Burgwin during the first fall semester at SMU-in-Taos.
A group of pioneering students this fall explored the landscape of ancient pueblos, studied the impact of writers and artists in the American Southwest, and considered the role of scientists ushering in the atomic age at a secret city in the mountains of New Mexico.
Others studied botany and geology in an ecosystem that serves as a living laboratory or business with a focus on regional issues. Mountain sports offered lessons in wellness in the high desert environment.
The students were the first to spend a fall semester at SMU-in-Taos, New Mexico. Since 1973 SMU-in-Taos has offered summer classes for about 300 students at its 295-acre campus, which includes historic Fort Burgwin, a pre-Civil War fort, and a 13th-century Anasazi pueblo site. But because its buildings and housing were not winterized and needed updating, use of the campus was limited to the summer months. Now, thanks to renovations, new construction and the latest technology, the Taos campus is open for living and learning through mid-December.
“By offering a fall semester, we are making this tremendous resource accessible to more SMU students, especially those who must work during the summer months,” says Paul W. Ludden, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Classes were organized into four intensive course modules taken in sequence, each lasting three weeks. A fifth course module consisted of an independent study project. Between modules, students took field trips to sites such as the Grand Canyon.
“Classes here are small and intimate, allowing you to have a much richer learning experience than you normally would,” says Lauren Rodgers, a sophomore in the fall semester program. “Coming to SMU-in-Taos was the best decision I’ve ever made in my academic life.”
For junior Elizabeth Fulton, taking field trips to places “we talked about in class made the experience more real. Between field trips for class and field trips for wellness, I am getting credit for white water rafting, seeing Bandelier [national monument] and visiting Taos Pueblo. Other students don’t know what they are missing.” James K. Hopkins, Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Clements Department of History, taught “The Good Society: Utopian Perspectives on the American Southwest.” He says there was “a great sense of purpose in making the inaugural semester a success. Students, faculty and staff joined to take full advantage of this beautiful and unique learning environment.”
SMU Anthropology Chair David Meltzer has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for his achievements in original scientific research. NAS membership is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States.
Meltzer was elected along with 71 other scientists, joining more than 2,000 active NAS members, who have included Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and Thomas Edison.
“It’s a wonderful honor to be elected, as it means your peers noticed what you’ve been doing, and thought well of it,” Meltzer says. “I will continue to explore problems that interest me, go out in the field every summer and, hopefully, learn new things.”
Meltzer’s work centers on the origins of the first Americans who colonized the North American continent at the end of the Ice Age. His research has been supported by grants from the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, The Potts and Sibley Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution. In 1996 he received a research endowment from Joseph and Ruth Cramer to establish the QUEST Archaeological Research Program at SMU.
SMU student leaders have formed Mustangs Who Care, a program that encourages students to act responsibly in social settings and trains them to intervene when someone is misusing alcohol or drugs and needs help.
“Mustangs Who Care is about students watching out for their fellow students,” says Patrick Kobler, student body president. “It’s a way for SMU students to show that we can be responsible for ourselves.”
Kobler, a senior political science major, developed the program with Student Senate members and the SMU Circle of Trust chapter, a partner of the Gordie Foundation. The Gordie Foundation is dedicated to the memory of Gordie Bailey, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Colorado who died of alcohol poisoning as a result of a fraternity initiation ceremony in 2004. Its mission is to provide young people with the skills to navigate the dangers of alcohol, binge drinking, peer pressure and hazing.
To join the program, students enroll in Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS), a two-and-a-half-hour course offered through Memorial Health Center. TIPS participants learn decision-making and interpersonal skills to help them take a leading role in preventing alcohol misuse. Currently, 300 students have participated in the TIPS course.
For TIPS-certified students, the Mustangs Who Care course is an additional 20 minutes of training led by students. Participants learn the signs of alcohol poisoning and drug overdose, how to use SMU’s Call for Help program and to call 911 when a student is in distress.
After training, students receive a Mustangs Who Care wristband to wear. “The wristband will allow a student in distress to easily locate a Mustang Who Cares,” Kobler says, “and with the training, the student will know how to handle a potentially life-threatening situation.”
For more information, contact Patrick Kobler at pkobler@smu.edu or 214-768-4448.
“To help make Dallas a great cultural capital, we also must become known as a center for the creation of new works, building a community that nurtures its own and tolerates artistic risk the same way we embrace entrepreneurial risk,” says Meadows Dean José Bowen. “To further that goal, in partnership with the Dallas arts community, the new Meadows Prize will bring artists with an international reputation to Dallas each year to produce an artistic legacy for the city.”
The prize includes housing and expenses for a one- to three-month residency in Dallas, in addition to a $25,000 stipend. In return, recipients will interact with Meadows students and collaborating arts organizations. They also will leave a lasting legacy for Dallas that may take the form of a work of art, a composition or piece of dramatic writing to be performed locally, or a new way of teaching.
The Meadows Prize replaces the Meadows Award, given annually from 1981 to 2003 to an artist at the pinnacle of a distinguished career.
A lab instructor (right) shows a group of junior high school students how to dissect a fetal pig during the Physician Scientist Training Program (PSTP), held for the first time on campus last summer. In cooperation with UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, SMU hosted 106 seventh- and eighth-grade minority students from across the nation and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For six weeks the students lived on campus and studied science and research statistics and learned laboratory skills. They also received advice about biomedical careers. PSTP was founded in 1990 by alumnus Moses Williams ’78, ’82, who directs the program.
Reflecting on 2009, we feel pride that we weathered economic challenges while continuing progress. Our endowment decline of 21.9 percent for July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009 was considerably smaller than that experienced by many other universities. Still, our loss amounted to a $16 million decrease for annual expenditures, about 4 percent of SMU’s operating budget.
With the help of trustee leadership, we adapted. When we saw that the high-quality students we sought would need larger scholarships to attend SMU, reflecting family economic uncertainties, several trustees stepped up to provide immediate add-on funds to scholarships for selected first-year students. That initiative helped us secure an entering class of 1,330 with a slight rise in SAT scores, continuing our 10-year trend of increases.
Like nonprofit organizations throughout the nation, SMU experienced a slowdown in major contributions. Yet in September, we celebrated the first anniversary of The Second Century Campaign with an uplifting announcement: donor generosity pushed us past the halfway mark of our $750 million goal, reaching $385 million during the quiet phase and first year of the public phase. And the campaign gained strong grassroots support as the faculty-staff kick-off achieved a participation rate of more than 50 percent.
The campaign also has moved us closer to our goal of establishing 100 substantially endowed academic positions by 2015. This past year we added three endowed positions, bringing us to 73, and we hired 31 new faculty. These are significant milestones considering that many universities have frozen faculty hiring or cut positions.
Ongoing support for our faculty is leading to greater levels of research and creative achievement. As an example, Anthropology Chair David Meltzer in Dedman College has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, among the highest honors a U.S. scientist or engineer can receive. To provide the best facilities for teaching and research, we opened the new Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall for Perkins School of Theology and are close to completing Caruth Hall for the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, among other campus enhancements.
We know that competing institutions will offer scholarships to the same bright young minds we want at SMU.
We must regain time lost in securing major gifts. As we work closely with our friends on the best timing for their gifts, we must rekindle a sense of positive urgency for their participation. This is the time to attract outstanding students
and faculty with new endowment support.
So, we face forward. We will indeed encounter ongoing economic challenges. But we are confident that, with your support, we will continue to report significant progress in the coming year.
On a drizzly Saturday morning in May, the men’s soccer team faced unusual competitors: Forty children from around the world who grabbed the players’ legs and swung from their arms, ignored calls of “out of bounds” and collapsed in giggles on Westcott Field.
The scrimmage concluded a three-hour soccer clinic held for children from the Vickery Meadow neighborhood in Dallas, where refugees from Africa, Iraq and Eastern Europe have been resettled by international aid groups.
Diogo de Almeida (left) and Brian Farkas (right), along with other members of the men’s soccer team, form a bridge for children to run drills during a soccer clinic hosted by the men’s soccer team.
Sophomore forward Joe Cooper organized the clinic as part of SMU Catholic Campus Ministry’s year-round outreach in Vickery Meadow. “We originally planned to recruit just a few SMU players to help,” says the business major, “but when Coach [Tim McClements] and I presented the idea, the whole team wanted to participate.”
The team hopes to make the clinic an annual event, Cooper says. “The kids learned from our drills, but it was more about having fun and interacting with us. They seem to look up to us as big, official soccer players.”
The Extraordinary Ones
Today’s SMU student-athletes represent an interest in community service that characterizes their generation. Surveys show that people born between 1982 and 2000 are the most civic minded since the generation of the 1930s and ’40s.
“A student-athlete already has two jobs – as a full-time student and Division I athlete,” says Broadus Whiteside, assistant director of compliance and student services in the Athletics Department.
Under NCAA regulations, student-athletes practice 20 hours a week, carry 12 semester hours that are counted toward a degree and must maintain grade eligibility.
“The athletes who can do anything beyond that are the extraordinary ones,” Whiteside says.
Not Just ‘Here And There’
Equestrian team member Lauren Lieberman can be considered one of the “extraordinary ones.” She recently was matched with 12-year-old Lily as her little sister through the Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring program. She and Lily enjoyed ice cream on their first outing while they planned an in-line skating excursion to White Rock Lake and a trip to The Science Place.
“I’ve volunteered at soup kitchens and a nursing home, but I wanted to find a way to regularly volunteer instead of doing little things here and there,” says the junior business major.
She is adding weekly contact with Lily to a schedule that includes strength and conditioning or hunter jumper workouts at 6:30 a.m. each weekday, class in the afternoon and weekend rides on her own.
“Being a student-athlete and on scholarship is a privilege,” Lieberman says. “It’s important to perform well for your school and to be a good role model for younger students.”
Pink Shoelaces
For the past 10 years, the women’s basketball team has devoted the Thanksgiving holiday to preparing for the basketball season and raising money for breast cancer research. Proceeds from the two-day Hoops for the Cure tournament go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Players switch out their white shoelaces for pink ones, and coaches wear pink ribbons on their lapels as they host three teams for the weekend. Debra Burris, a 17-year breast cancer survivor and mother to Mustang assistant coach Deneen Parker, sings “The Star Spangled Banner” each year to open the tournament.
“Most of our players have not yet been affected by breast cancer,” says Lisa Dark, associate head coach. “But they understand that it’s an important cause.”
Director of athletics Steve Orsini believes that “through athletics we have unique opportunities to represent SMU by helping others.”
Haley Schoolfield, former assistant equestrian coach at TCU, is the new head coach of the Mustang equestrian team. At TCU she helped lead the Horned Frogs to the 2008 Western Seat National Championship and a national runner-up finish in 2009. Schoolfield, a member of the Texas A&M equestrian team from 1999-2002, has won numerous national awards, including the 2000 South Texas Hunter Jumper Association championship in adult hunter, adult equitation and schooling hunter.
SMU finished 10th nationally in the Excellence in Management Cup, presented by Texas A&M’s Laboratory for the Study of Intercollegiate Athletics. SMU was the top-ranked university in Texas and trailed only Tulsa within Conference USA.
The award honors athletic departments with the most conference and national championships and the lowest expenses. The scores use a formula that considers total athletic department spending, number of sports played and the number of conference and national championships.
Mustang golfers are building on the momentum of a successful spring season and the promise of new practice facilities. Women’s golfer Kate Ackerson ’09 was selected first-team All C-USA, her third year to be selected. Men’s team golfers – junior Kelly Kraft and sophomore James Kwon – also were named All C-USA after the team finished second at the C-USA Men’s Golf Championship.
Golf World/Nike Golf Division I Coaches’ Poll ranked the men’s team and Kraft 15th in the nation the week of October 19. Kraft helped the Mustangs claim the team title at the Gopher Invitational in Wayzata, MN, breaking the course record with a final-round 64. The men’s team also won the Adams Cup at Kingston, Rhode Island, and placed third at the inaugural Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio.
SMU Athletics broke ground in June on the Payne Stewart Golf Learning Center at the Dallas Athletic Club (architectural rendering, right). The new facility will include a team clubhouse, indoor hitting bays with video swing analysis and a four-hole short course. The hitting bays and short course are projected to be completed in time for use by the men’s and women’s teams during the spring 2010 golf season.
UPDATE: The Indianapolis Colts, owned by SMU alumnus Jim Irsay ’82, played the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl LXIV. Irsay’s team won the Super Bowl in 2007.
Clark Hunt ’87 and Jim Irsay ’82 are members of one of the country’s most exclusive clubs, a privilege that comes with the best seats in the house. Each alumnus owns one of 32 highly coveted National Football League franchises.
“Clark’s a very good friend,” says Irsay. “It’s great to see another Mustang there at the NFL owners’ meetings.”
Jim Irsay ’82 (right) talks strategy with quarterback Peyton Manning (center) and Colts president Bill Polian.
Hunt shares that SMU spirit. “It’s with a certain sense of pride that I see Jim across the table at the owners’ meetings.”
The two men followed in the footsteps of legendary fathers.
Hunt was named the Kansas City Chiefs’ chair of the board in 2005 preceding the death of his father, Lamar ’56, in late 2006. He represents the interests of the Lamar Hunt family in the franchise. The late Lamar Hunt was a member of the SMU Board of Trustees and served on numerous University committees. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1973.
Irsay, owner and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts, inherited control of the team in January 1997 after the death of his father, Robert. The late Mr. Irsay is probably best known for moving the Colts to Indianapolis from their longtime Baltimore home in 1984.
The Colts played the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl LXIV Feb. 7, marking the team’s fourth appearance in franchise history in the Super Bowl.
Irsay is quick to praise the legacy of the Chiefs’ founder, whom he credits as a key mentor. “There will never be another Lamar Hunt. He was brilliant and unique in his creative thinking,” Irsay says. “Lamar was like an uncle to me. He inspired me and was informative through the years.”
Clark Hunt ’87 pays a post-game visit to the Kansas City Chiefs’ locker room.
In recent years, stadium projects have topped the agendas of both team owners.
Irsay spearheaded the drive for the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The 63,000-seat, multipurpose facility opened to rave reviews in August 2008. The Colts will host Super Bowl XLVI in February 2012, with an anticipated local economic impact of approximately $400 million, according to Irsay.
The Chiefs’ new Arrowhead Stadium is undergoing a $375 million renovation that’s scheduled for completion in time for the 2010 season. Clark Hunt and his family have contributed $125 million of their own funds toward the remodeling and expansion, as well as the club’s new state-of-the-art practice facility that will keep the team in Kansas City through 2031.
Hunt recently hired Scott Pioli, architect of the New England Patriots’ three Super Bowl-winning teams, to run the Chiefs’ football operations.
“It’s been a tremendous pleasure working with Scott these past six months. I have been impressed by how thoughtful he is in making decisions and how he values the input of those around him,” Hunt says.
The Colts also experienced management changes, with the retirement of former coach Tony Dungy and the ascension of assistant head coach Jim Caldwell to replace him. Having Peyton Manning as quarterback likely eased the transition
for Caldwell in his first season at the helm.
Hunt is striving to attain a prize that Irsay wrapped his arms around a few years ago: the Vince Lombardi Trophy, awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl (a name coined by Lamar Hunt in the mid-1960s). Irsay’s Colts beat Chicago 29-17 to win Super Bowl XLI in February 2007. Hunt’s Chiefs are still seeking their first Super Bowl appearance since upsetting Minnesota 23-7 in Super Bowl IV in January 1970.
Despite their hectic schedules, Hunt and Irsay stay connected to their alma mater.
Hunt serves on the SMU Board of Trustees and the Executive Board of the Cox School of Business.
First in his undergraduate class at Cox, Hunt was a four-year soccer letterman
and a tri-captain his senior year. He cites both experiences as being useful in
his current role with the Chiefs.
“My experience at the business school laid the framework for what I’ve done professionally, [but] playing soccer at SMU gave me an insight into team sports and helped from a leadership standpoint,” he says.
Irsay and his wife, Meg, have funded an annual scholarship for an Indiana high school graduate to matriculate at SMU. He remembers the Hilltop as an incubator for his off-the-field interests in music and film.
As an undergraduate broadcast journalism major, he made a short documentary film after John Lennon’s death in 1980. He showed it during late-night screenings at several Dallas-area venues.
“I had an unremarkable career playing football at SMU – only played in ’78 before I got injured,” he recalls. “It was kind of like a George Plimpton (author of the football classic Paper Lion) experience for me. I hadn’t played since my freshman year of high school. But I found my rhythm by pursuing the things I loved at SMU.” – Whit Sheppard ’88
As an infant in her mother’s arms, Tammy Nguyen Lee ’00 was carried out of war-torn Vietnam in 1978. Three years earlier, before the fall of Saigon, thousands of children escaped South Vietnam through Operation Babylift. Nguyen Lee, a filmmaker, didn’t draw parallels between the two events until she heard the story of American nurse Mary Nguyen.
Shortly after graduating from SMU, the cinema major met the nurse who recounted taking part in Operation Babylift, a U.S. military evacuation of more than 2,500 Vietnamese orphans. The story struck a personal chord with Nguyen Lee, who had occasionally wrestled with her own experiences as a refugee growing up in the Dallas suburb of Garland, Texas.
Tammy Nguyen Lee at filmAsiafest in September.
“I related to this story as an Asian American who felt torn between two cultures, looking a certain way, being treated differently and trying to fit in,” she says. “However, the need for acceptance and belonging is
something we all feel.”
While earning an M.F.A. from UCLA in 2004, she received a grant from the UCLA Mickey Dude Fellowship to create a film of her choice. She quickly started work
as producer, director and writer of Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam, which became a nearly five-year labor of love. The 72-minute documentary looks at the humanitarian effort and its aftermath through the eyes of participants: airlift volunteers, adoptive parents and the Vietnamese adoptees.
The film premiered at the Vietnamese International Film Festival in April and won the coveted Audience Choice Award. In September, the Crow Collection of Art’s inaugural filmAsiafest hosted the first North Texas screening
of the documentary at the Dallas Museum of Art to a packed auditorium of more than 300 guests.
In 2006 Nguyen Lee founded Against The Grain Productions, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to promote Asian-American cultural awareness and to raise funds for Vietnamese orphanages.
Nguyen Lee juggles her nonprofit venture with a demanding, full-time position as director of development and distribution at Dallas-based AMS Pictures.
She feels fortunate that her SMU professors – including Rick Worland, Tom Bywaters and Kevin Heffernan – were so generous with their time and encouragement while she was a student. “I’ve always been an ‘out there’ kind of thinker; they just let me be free to be a filmmaker. It was amazing to have that support,” Nguyen Lee says.
For young alumni and more seasoned Mustangs alike, reunions offer a forum for rekindling friendships and reconnecting with SMU.
Jennifer Clark Tobin
“The opportunity to catch up with classmates is priceless,” says Jennifer Clark Tobin ’98 of Dallas, who served on her 10-year reunion committee and is also an ’01 graduate of Dedman School of Law. “We spent an important part of our lives together, and you never know how revisiting those relationships may affect your life.”
Bob and Gail Massad of Dallas, who co-chaired the 40-year reunion for the class of 1968, agree that SMU friendships withstand the test of time.
“Most of us met our best friends at SMU; and even though we’re miles apart, when we get together for our reunion, it’s like those friendships were never interrupted,” says Bob, a retired insurance executive who is planning a second career in the nonprofit sector.
Gail and Bob Massad
Reunion weekend coincides with Homecoming each fall. Nine undergraduate classes are welcomed back to SMU to celebrate anniversaries in five-year increments, starting with five and continuing to 45. Graduates whose class years end in 0 and 5 will gather next November. The 50-year reunion occurs each May during Commencement weekend. The class of 1960 will be honored May 14-15, 2010. Golden Mustangs Day, a celebration for alumni who graduated more than 50 years ago, is held every other year in March.
In addition to traditional Homecoming activities – like the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, parade and football game – there’s a reunion lunch tent on the Boulevard. Approximately 900 alumni and their families enjoy the pre-game meal each year.
Another high point is the reunion giving celebration. Twenty-four percent of reunion-year alumni gave back to SMU last year.
Jamie McComiskey Moore
“Reunions are an opportune time to revisit SMU and experience the advances made by the University in recent years,” says Jamie McComiskey Moore ’85, who chairs the Alumni Board’s Development Committee.
“Alumni financial support is a critical element in SMU’s growing reputation,” she adds. “Alumni giving allows for the establishment and preservation of scholarships that attract the most sought-after students. Donations also support programming in faculty achievement and student life as well. We can all take pride in ownership of these achievements, whether as a first-time or annual donor.”
The reunion showstoppers are the parties – evenings filled with good food, music and fun. More than 1,300 attended their class reunion parties in 2008.
“Our class party at the Park Cities Club was the highlight of the reunion, with over 100 alumni and guests attending,” Gail Massad says.
Co-chairs for each class search for the newest and most interesting venues in Dallas. Past class party locations have included upscale hotels, including W Dallas-Victory; venues unique to the city, such as Dallas World Aquarium and the Dallas Museum of Art; and favorite old haunts, like the Green Elephant and Trader Vic’s.
“Class reunion party attendance continues to grow,” says Astria Terry, director of reunion programs. “Social network sites help spread the word that reunion weekend is truly a ‘do not miss’ experience.”
For more information, contact Reunion Programs at 214-768-YEAR (9327) or reunionyear@smu.edu. More information also is available at smu.edu/reunion.
Alumni Board
Nominations for the 2010 SMU Alumni Board will be accepted through Dec. 31. Alumni may nominate fellow alumni or themselves. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or email smualum@smu.edu. CHAIR Ken Malcolmson ’74 PAST CHAIR Connie Blass O’Neill ’77 MEMBERS Brad Adams ’93, Chris Ainsworth ’94, Vincent Battles ’06, John R. Bauer ’66, Shonn Evans Brown ’95, ’98, Robert Cabes Jr. ’91, Stephen A. Corley ’90, Kim Twining Hanrahan ’92, Harriet Hopkins Holleman ’63, Ruth Irwin Kupchynsky ’80, Doug Linneman ’99, Tamara Marinkovic ’91, ’94, Robert Massad ’68, Susie McLamore McCormack ’77, Robert Mills ’57, Jamie McComiskey Moore ’85, Dennis E. Murphree ’69, Laura Staub Pusateri ’01, Mark A. Robertson ’85, Scott Rozzell ’71, Lisa Holm Sabin ’78, Jesusita Santillan ’06, David Schmidt ’79, Deborah Hurst Sirchio ’70, J. Jeffrey Thrall ’71, Jeffrey Ziegler ’84
Since 1951 the Distinguished Alumni Award has been the highest honor SMU bestows upon its graduates in recognition of outstanding achievement, character and citizenship. The Emerging Leader Award, now in its 10th year, acknowledges an outstanding alumnus or alumna who has graduated within the last 15 years. The following graduates received 2009 DAA honors and the Emerging Leader Award Nov. 5:
Distinguished Alumni Awards
Frederick B. Hegi Jr.
Frederick B. Hegi Jr. ’66 is known as a hands-on community leader. The founding partner of Wingate Partners, a private investment firm, Hegi also serves on several corporate boards. A member of SMU’s Board of Trustees since 2004, he is co-chair of the Dedman College Campaign Steering Committee for SMU’s Second Century Campaign. Thousands of students and alumni have benefited from his generosity through services of the Hegi Family Career Development Center at SMU.
Joe White
Joe White ’70, a former defensive tackle for the Mustangs, transforms lives as president and chairman of the board of Kanakuk Ministries, which operates Kanakuk Kamps in Missouri. The Christian camps host 20,000 campers and 2,500 staff members each summer. He is founder of three organizations: Kids Across America, which sends inner-city youth to summer camp; Cross International, a relief organization in 30 countries; and Men at the Cross, a national men’s ministry.
Cecil Williams
Cecil Williams’ ’55 innovative ministry at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco spans more than 40 years. Glide is known worldwide for its outreach to society’s poor and marginalized. Williams was one of SMU’s first five African American students, entering Perkins School of Theology in 1952 and graduating in 1955. The school’s Williams Preaching Lab in Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall was named recently in his honor. He received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from SMU in 1997.
Emerging Leader Award
Amanda Dunbar
Amanda R. Dunbar ’04 picked up a paintbrush at age 13 and released a talent that has been displayed in galleries and museums worldwide. She had her first solo exhibition in Dallas at age 16. Dunbar is the youngest woman to be inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame. With proceeds from her painting sales, she formed a charitable organization to fund arts programs for children and supports other groups that serve youngsters.
Nominations Now Open For 2010 Awards
The 2010 Distinguished Alumni Awards and Emerging Leader recognition are open to SMU alumni who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary service and achievement in a particular discipline, organization or cause.
The deadline to submit nominations is Dec. 31, 2009.
Any individual may nominate an alumna and/or alumnus by completing the nomination form available here.
Once nominated, the candidate remains in nomination for three consecutive years. After that time, the individual may be nominated again.
The completed form may be mailed to Southern Methodist University, Office of Alumni Relations, P.O. Box 750173, Dallas, TX 75275-0173; Attention: Nominations.
Questions about the nomination process should be directed to the Office of Alumni Relations: 214-768-2586, 1-888-327-3755 or smualum@smu.edu.
Fifty years ago: Alaska became the 49th state, the Kingston Trio topped the music charts and the Class of 1959 graduated from SMU. More than 100 class members attended their Commencement weekend reunion, including Marie Murphy Starling (left) and Laura Hamilton Roach. Starling was accompanied by her husband, Bill, who enjoyed looking at class photos. Mustangs from 17 states, the District of Columbia and two countries attended. Norma Fischer, who lives in Switzerland, traveled the greatest distance. During their reunion year, 180 class members gave a total of $403,249 to SMU.
The special of the day was fine food and fun as Sharon Fjordbak ’86 (left) and Judi Baker tried their hand at fried squash blossoms. At the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, the duo attended a Southwestern cuisine class, one of several new offerings in summer 2009. The 2010 Cultural Institute weekend will be July 22-25. Courses ranging from the history and culture of the Southwest to outdoor adventure will be announced in January.
In May 2010 the Hispanic Alumni Associates (HAA) will award its first scholarship to a student leader with a strong GPA and financial need. The group hopes to raise $25,000 for the scholarship fund. Shown at a reception to honor 2009 Hispanic graduates are HAA members (from left) Jesusita Santillan ’06, Elizabeth Ortiz Garcia ’03, Dan Valdez ’88, Angie Parra ’95 and Carlos Maldonado ’97.
Katherine Jones ’09 (left) joins her parents, Rocky and Bonnie Jones, in wishing sister Claire (second from right) a great first year at SMU. The Joneses and other SMU families gathered at the home of Scott and Karen Rozzell in Houston to dispatch new students in Mustang style. Send-off parties were held in cities around the country in July and August.
SMU welcomed more than 1,300 first-year students this fall. Among them is Jaime Toussaint, the fifth-generation woman in her family to attend SMU. Her mother, Adelle Purse Toussaint ’82, helped her move into Perkins Hall Aug. 20 and recalled that Jaime’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Ola Chastain Robertson, started the family’s SMU tradition. “She loved opera and sang in the church choir,” Adelle says. “When she was in her 60s, she enrolled in SMU and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in music and voice.” Jaime plans to follow in the footsteps of her physician father, Richard, as she focuses on the pre-med track in Dedman College.
Kemi Ogun ’07 (left), a human resources manager with Texas Instruments, interviews an SMU student at an on-campus speed-networking session during the Career and Internship Fair prep day Sept. 3. More than 70 employers, many of whom were SMU alumni, helped students hone networking skills at the event, sponsored by the Hegi Family Career Development Center. “I was extremely impressed with the students’ level of professionalism,” says Ogun, who adds that she took advantage of the Center’s résumé and career services while she was a student.
It was an evening of pony pride when SMU Young Alumni gathered for “Pre-Victory at Victory Park” Oct. 1. The celebration preceeded the SMU-TCU game Oct. 3. Colleen Hite ’06 (left); Victoria Stroughter Sheard ’07 (center), a Young Alumni board member; and guest Kendall Kaufman were among almost 400 Mustangs who gathered to cheer on the football team.
Chicago-area alumni joined parents and friends at The Art Institute of Chicago Sept. 15 for an update on what’s new at SMU. Among those attending were (from left) John Gaines ’04, chapter leader; Buffy Bains ’05 and Emily Childers ’03, chapter co-presidents; and Jaclyn Durr ’07, chapter leader. Similar regional events were held in the fall in Los Angeles and Houston.
(Kidd-Key College) Gladice F. Belden 5/11/09 Mary Alice Terry Skaggs 3/18/09
1931
Katherine Neill Ford 4/15/09 Mary Whiteside Hayes 8/3/09 Dr. Vernon N. Henderson 3/21/09 Evelyn Davis Jordan 6/29/09 Dr. S. Halcuit Moore 4/23/09
1932
Melba Mewhinney Davis 4/6/09
1933
Dr. Sol M. Katz 5/6/09 Martha Stewart Woodward 7/29/09
1934
Evelyn Combs Hendrix 3/2/09 Mary Edith Hill Maxson 6/23/09 Donald Foster Rowland 2/28/09 Moneta May Storey Speaker ’60, 2/4/09
1935
Donald E. Bowles Sr. 2/11/09 Catherine Lee Conroy Graves 2/26/09 Edna Kuceria Lankford 8/1/09
1936
Antonette Thomas Jeter 6/14/09
1937
James W. Bookhout 6/20/09 Dr. Charles Max Cole 6/1/09 Adelene Dickinson Oakley 6/11/09 Dr. Paul L. Richburg 3/22/09 Mary Charlton Starcke 6/9/09
1938
Dr. Bernard L. Fulton 6/14/09 Mary Hubbard Harris 3/23/09
1939
Edwin T. Curry 6/8/09 Dr. Paul K. Deats Jr. 7/12/09 Elizabeth Perkins Prothro 5/23/09
1940
Alfred Rufus King 3/21/09
1941
Tyson Cleary Jr. ’47, 3/2/09 Kathleen Moore Cullum 3/11/09 Evelyn Fleming Genseke 8/24/09 Marian Hardy 3/1/09 Virgil L. Wilkerson 4/2/09
1942
Robert A. Dyer 7/29/09 Mark Shepherd 2/4/09
1943
Marilyn Marie Hardberger Austin 2/19/09 R. Eugene Bunn 4/23/09
1944
Margaret Jane Ballew Branch 4/30/09 Sanford S. Brandt 8/23/09 Dr. John Wyatt Fisher III 8/14/09 The Rev. Jeff R. Marsh 8/5/09 Barbara McCartney Mason 9/4/09 Gloria J. Moores 8/26/09 Dr. William D. Witte 6/16/09
1945
Mary Katharine Fisher Cox 8/7/09 Paul H. Hagens Jr. 4/6/09 Dr. Charles W. Hager 5/19/09 Duane G. Harman 4/11/09 The Rev. Glenn Edward Matthew 6/13/09 Dorothy Jean Settle Rodgers 2/11/09 The Rev. J. Kermit Van Zant 5/1/09
1946
The Rev. William Francis Mayo 7/4/09 Robert O. McDonnold 2/4/09 June Brown Tighe ’48, 5/3/09.
1947
Mary Frances Stell Chappell 3/28/09 James W. Crowe 2/6/09 James Walter Fair 3/20/09 Reba Bernice Bay Kilpatrick 6/12/09 Richard Mason Perdue 5/12/09
1948
William D. Burch III 4/7/09 Dr. Lonnie E. Crawford 5/21/09 William A. Freeman 3/2/09 Marvin Hudson Harkins Jr. 4/20/09 Gene W. Hewett 6/26/09 Dorothy Odom Jennings 5/31/09 Marguerite Griner Melson 6/1/09 Marjorie Boston Revercomb 3/21/09 Dr. Wright K. Smith 4/8/09 Eckley Burton Snow 6/9/09 Richard Lanier Thomas ’55, 4/11/09 Julius W. Watkins 4/17/09 James F. Williams 3/8/09
1949
Thomas Martin Bogie 6/15/09 James W. Campbell 7/14/09 Ernest Gene Farrow 5/15/09 Margaret Lucas Grann ’51, 3/6/09 Jackson B. Hunter ’53, 4/28/09 William A. Hunter 7/18/09 Thomas W. Littlejohn 8/21/09 Minerva Longoria 7/3/09 Jack E. Lucas 4/6/09 Virgil R. Marco 7/23/09 Norman E. McMurry 7/14/09 Dr. Louis Evans Moore Jr. 7/8/09 George A. Nicoud Jr. 5/28/09 Donald T. Owens 8/22/09 Joseph F. Pencotty 2/9/09 William R. Reamer 8/24/09 Eugene S. Ward 5/28/09 Frances David Westbrook 3/28/09 Richard W. Wooten ’57, ’61, 5/1/09
1950
Pastor Lonzo F. Battles 3/8/09 Dr. Thetford B. Boone Jr. 8/18/09 Peter Murray Brier Jr. 5/27/09 William T. Covey 8/9/09 Mack M. Elliott 6/16/09 Margaret Bachmann Gafford 3/22/09 Melbourne E. Hatt 4/2/09 Elaine Brazda Howe 7/19/09 Shannon Jones Jr. 2/12/09
The Rev. John W. Lofgren 4/2/09 William Miegel 8/5/09 Nathan E. Shands Sr. 8/27/09 Joab Wolfe Jr. 2/2/09
1951
Millard F. Carr 5/22/09 Robert B. Clayton 7/17/09 John B. Cox 5/2/09 Dr. James C. Curry Jr. 6/16/09 Sidney Bob Farrar 9/5/09 David G. Hanlon 2/14/09 George R. Hollabaugh 8/10/09 Bobby Glenn Mills 7/26/09 Andy Olan Owens 8/16/09 James R. Paxton 8/4/09 Mary Fay Poindexter Simpson 6/15/09 John Logan Tanner III 2/17/09 Leon Abraham Wilensky 9/5/09
1952
Don Canuteson ’69, 2/23/09 Barbara Ann Kerr Carlyon 3/21/09 Elizabeth Ann Brown Hunt 5/23/09 The Rev. Homer R. Kluck 6/10/09 Richard Milton Tillman ’53, 3/24/09
1953
Martha Jean Evans Blaine 3/31/09 Thomas A. Boker 7/6/09 Dr. Carrol W. Click 5/1/09 Barbara Lynne Carter Kendall 8/11/09 Tyke McFarland 2/24/09 The Rev. H. F. Meier Jr. 3/4/09 Georgeann Fenley Owen 5/13/09 Robert Blaine Payne Sr. 4/4/09
1954
Bee Jay Bagley 7/17/09 Calloway Cochran 3/6/09 Lee R. Pair 8/22/09 Dr. Doyle Samuell Stacy 8/11/09 William T. Ward ’56, 7/7/09
1955
Mary Armstrong Brown 2/25/09 Bates M. Grinnell 6/16/09 Lt. Col. Leonard Mittelman 8/25/09
1956
Harriet Boedeker Day 8/27/09 Merlyn M. Murphey 2/7/09
1957
Karolyn Kimzey Beall 6/13/09 John T. Ivy Jr. 7/29/09 John Richard Vandevoort 6/27/09
1958
Hamman David Brown 4/4/09 The Rev. J. Hillman Byram 7/25/09 Robert West Maxwell 7/23/09 Dr. Robert W. McAhren 8/4/09 Robert L. Short 7/6/09
1959
David B. Moseley Sr. 8/20/09 Floreid Francis Stevens 5/20/09
1960
Dr. Fred A. Bieberdorf 4/19/09 William Maston Boyd ’63, 8/29/09 Billy M. Claunch 4/24/09 Thomas Leon Elliston 5/21/09 Ellen Burns Hutchinson 4/4/09 Carolyn Jean Miller ’67, 8/17/09 The Rev. Gordon H. Miller 8/3/09 James H. Newton, Ph.D. ’71, 4/30/09 Siddapur V. Ramanna 5/18/09 Betsy Henderson Walker 6/8/09
1961
Mitchell Garth Florence 8/12/09 Ruth Anne Yeager Hansen 2/28/09 Tom A. Purnell 7/30/09 Norman N. Salome 5/8/09 R. Joe Sewell ’64, 8/18/09 Charles H. Walker 5/22/09
1962
Richard M. Hull ’64, 2/20/09 Cyrus K. Omid 4/22/09
1963
Major Edwin H. Deady 2/5/09 John C. Goggin 7/29/09 Paul J. Keohane 2/10/09 Charles G. Luedtke 5/22/09 O. Jan Tyler 4/22/09 The Rev. DeForrest Wiksten 4/16/09
1964
Ralph R. Corley 1/9/08
1965
Richard Walter Quick ’77, 6/10/09 Roger R. Scott 7/1/09 Nancy Eddins Tansil ’82, 5/25/09
1966
Thomas R. Boughnou 5/16/09 Leslie Ellen West Epsen 6/27/09 Mary Glen Joy Fouts 1/24/09 John E. Humphreys 4/4/09 The Rev. Larry R. Kelley Sr. 5/26/09 Lewis Ray Livesay 6/16/09 Robert Alan Meadows 7/28/09 Hunter Schmidt Jr. 3/2/09 William Ronald Zeigler 4/14/09
1967
Gartrell Bowling Jr. 4/21/09 Joe Kelly Pace 4/15/09
1968
Marie Larsen Dickinson 7/9/09 David Metzger 9/8/09 Catherine L. Wheeler 3/1/09
1969
Ronald P. Barbatoe 6/9/09 Dennis L. Kelley 8/13/09 Robert Lelon Reid, Ph.D., 4/16/09
1970
Brandi Barfield-White ’84, 4/5/09 Norman E. Taliaferro 8/4/09
1971
John A. Rodgers Jr. 5/27/09
1972
John W. Fagg 8/17/09 Morris E. Kruemcke 4/27/09 Eleanor Parker Swank 6/3/09
1973
Mary Beth Barnes Bel 8/20/09 George W. Isom 5/26/09 Janice Elaine Chaney Ware 8/8/09
1974
George T. Allison III 6/18/09 Michelle Pitre Freeman 8/5/09 Robert Stevens Fulbright 6/1/09 Sally Frey Sallee 7/21/09 Robin Joy Valle 6/12/09
1975
Philip R. Cerpanya 4/24/09 Ann Stewart Latourette 8/22/09 Margaret Blair McCune 7/3/09 John Ernest Phillips 3/20/09 Philip M. Rudolph 7/15/09 Howard H. Sutherland 7/10/09 Betty Kacir Wheeler 3/29/09 Renee White 8/31/09
1976
Maryanne Townes ’79, 6/19/09
1977
Max M. Hibbs 3/28/09 Joyce Ann Moody 5/1/09 Robert Christy (Chris) Moore 2/20/09
1978
Suzanne Moore Daughters 5/3/09
1979
Mina Akins Brees 8/7/09 The Hon. Jim Hudson 5/3/09 John H. Reeves 4/8/09
1980
The Rev. Dr. Elisha A. Paschal Jr. 8/29/09 Babette L. Roy 2/22/09 Sammie Kay Ausmus Walker ’72, 2/24/09
1981
Jeffry Scott Bodley ’82, 5/5/09 Kimberly Gowdy Duffey 4/29/09 John Allison Gow 6/26/09 Peter J. Riley 8/1/09 Judy Dianne Robinson 3/28/09
1982
Gwen Griffith 7/22/09
1983
Lucy D. Bateman 6/3/09
1984
Homer Baskin Reynolds III ’87, 4/5/09
1988
Sheri E. Wilson 7/28/09
1990
The Rev. Thomas R. Modd 5/28/09 Angela Morris Schaffer 8/5/09
1991
Dr. Charlie I. Williams II 2/23/09
1992
Shawn Edward Harrell 3/14/09
1993
Thomas Brooks Morris 6/6/09
1994
David Lee Isern 7/1/09 Judith C. Montague 7/27/09
1999
Peggy Marie Daniels 7/20/09
2001
Christopher Michael Morris 6/11/09
2003
Justin Matthew Kendall 7/29/09
2005
Chad Jack Seder 7/20/09
2007
Jacob Anton Clements ’08, 4/24/09 Jessica Chané Waldron 3/29/09
2008
Kye Sug Han 3/20/09
SMU Community
William J. Graff Jr., former chair of SMU Department of Mechanical Engineering, 8/19/09. Robert W. Oram, former director of SMU Central University Libraries, 7/24/09.
Elizabeth Perkins Prothro ’39, a longtime benefactor of SMU, died May 23 in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Elizabeth Perkins Prothro
Her life was built on faith, family and philanthropy. Her legacy of thoughtful leadership and generous support is evident at SMU and other institutions of higher learning across the country, as well as myriad religious and cultural organizations. Her contributions established countless scholarships, faculty positions, rare collections and spaces for worship, art and education.
Born in Dallas in 1919, Elizabeth Perkins grew up in Wichita Falls and graduated from Wichita Falls High School in 1935. She attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and political science from SMU in 1939.
She married Charles Nelson Prothro in Wichita Falls in 1938. They had four children: Joe N. Prothro, Kay Prothro Yeager ’61, C. Vincent (Vin) Prothro and Mark H. Prothro ’72, as well as 10 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
Mrs. Prothro served as a member of the SMU Board of Trustees from 1972-87 and was named a trustee emerita in 1991. She was honored by SMU with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1978 and an honor Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 1996. That same year, she and her husband received SMU’s Mustang Award, which recognizes longtime service and philanthropy to the University.
She was a founding member of the boards of Perkins School of Theology and Colophon/Friends of the SMU Libraries.
SMU has a long history of bringing affordable cultural programs to campus and community. In 1939, SMU director of publicity Ronald C. Knickerbocker was concerned that the citizens of Dallas weren’t visiting the University. To attract them to campus, Knickerbocker and Rabbi David Lefkovitz of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas persuaded President Umphrey Lee to sponsor a concert, lecture and drama series in McFarlin Auditorium. Called the Community Course, the series ran from 1939 to 1979.
“Mr. Nick” and programs from early Community Course events.
That first season tickets cost $3.50 for the Dallas community, and students could attend free – if they sat in McFarlin’s upper balcony. SMU faculty and
students could pay $2.50 if they wanted to sit in the mezzanine. Within two weeks of announcing the program, 1,000 seats had been sold without any high-pressure sales or telephone campaigns. Although SMU was prepared to underwrite the program, the Community Course ran in the black each year. Most years, the season sold out.
That first year, the most popular event with students was British pianist Alec Templeton, with 413 in attendance. Isaac Stern, Paco de Lucia and Yehudi Menuhin, soon-to-be world-famous young artists, all appeared on the Community Course stage, along with such widely known figures as Salvador Dali and Thomas Mann and popular returning acts such as the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Ronald C. Knickerbocker ’30 became SMU’s first director of publicity in 1931. He served as University photographer and director of the Office of Information and University Publications and founded the SMU Archives. Yet his name is most associated with the Community Course, which he directed throughout its 40-year tenure. He thought of the Community Course as a “Chautauqua in the best sense.”
The tradition of community enrichment is alive and well today – with more than 600 campus lectures, performances, exhibits and other programs open to the community, including the Tate Distinguished Lecture Series. – Joan Gosnell, University archivist
Martha Kate Newman Gray followed her great-grandchildren to Fayetteville, AR, where she now lives.
Edgar Huffstutler and his wife, Dorothy, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary June 6, 2009, at home in Palo Alto, CA.
45
Charles Richard Glanville received an award in June for his service to the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts. A 50-year honorary member, he played a major role in the organization, development and growth of the Society, with more than 2,700 members in 60 countries worldwide.
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Barbara Gilpin Lanser lives in St. Augustine, FL.
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Fred C. Hannahs is a retired attorney in Albuquerque, NM.
Joe A. Irvin was honored at a recent ceremony in Pine Bluff, AR, where he belatedly received the Bronze Star and seven other medals for his service in World War II.
Nancy Howell McRae announces the birth of her great-grandson, Nolan Hines Nelson, in June 2009.
51
Zane Bruce Hall (M.A. ’53, M.Th. ’55) and Mary Nell Gray Hall ’52 married Aug. 27, 1949, and celebrated their 60th anniversary in Livingston, MT, where they spend summers. They live in Austin.
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Robert H. Dennard (M.S.E. ’56) received the IEEE Medal
of Honor June 25, 2009, at a ceremony in Los Angeles. IEEE is the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology. He is an IEEE Life Fellow and member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Philosophical Society. Dennard is an IBM Fellow at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY.
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Art Barnes received the 2009 Highland Park High School Distinguished Alumnus Award April 30. He married Sue McFarland in 1955, and they have two sons and a daughter. Today his sons are in business with him at Barnes Investments.
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Roger W. Blackmar Jr. accepted the 2009 Highlander Award from Highland Park High School last April. He and his wife, Joan, have been married 51 years and have three children and four grandchildren.
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Bert Wallace was elected to a third two-year term as a trustee for the St. Paul-based American Academy of Neurology Foundation, which supports education and research in neurology. He was president and CEO of the LSU Health Sciences Center Foundation in New Orleans from 1991 to 2005.
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Robert Short is an ordained Presbyterian minister and Little Rock author who presents programs on Christian values found in popular culture, literature and art. His books include The Gospel According to Peanuts (1965), The Parables of Peanuts (1969) and The Gospel According to Dogs (2007). His latest is The Parables of Dr. Seuss (Westminster John Knox Press, 2008).
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Donna Dean Clark Hutcherson taught elementary school music for 30 years before retiring in 1997. Every summer since 1992, she has worked on a Navajo reservation, and she continues to chaperone the high school band. She has five children, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Somanahalli Mallah Krishna, a member of the upper house of India’s parliament, the Rajya Sabha, was appointed the country’s minister for external affairs.
Marjorie McNeil played a piano recital at Chicago’s Symphony Hall after winning the Society of American Musicians-Allied Arts piano contest.
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James Hoggard has two new books: Triangles of Light: The Edward Hopper Poems (Wings Press, 2009) and Ashes in Love: Translations of Poems by Oscar Hahn (Host Publications, 2009). W. Kelvin Wyrick Sr. was appointed by the Arkansas governor to serve as circuit judge from May 2009 to Dec. 31, 2010. A trial attorney with 46 years of law experience, he has been tapped five times to serve as a special justice to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
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Reunion: November 2010
Elizabeth Gamble Miller was named a Distinguished Alumnus for 2009 by Highland Park High School last April. She is internationally known for her translations of Spanish literature and poetry into English and for humanitarian work in Honduras. She taught for 40 years at SMU, serving as chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. She and husband Fred Miller have three children. Steven C. Salch (J.D. ’68) was recognized as an Outstanding Texas Tax Lawyer by the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Texas.
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Eugenia Wiesley Francis, children’s math book author and owner of TeaCHildMath, was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal’s “Profiles in Later Life” series. Her innovative workbook, Teach Your Child the Multiplication Tables, available in both English and Spanish, is based on pattern recognition. Her method has been endorsed by top learning specialists. Previously, Francis was an English instructor at the University of California Irvine. James M. Griffin wrote A Smart Energy Policy: An Economist’s Rx for Balancing Cheap, Clean, and Secure Energy (Yale University Press, July 2009), an examination of the three critical goals of energy policy and recommendations for our future energy needs and environmental problems. He teaches economics at Texas A&M University.
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Ruth Yvonne Lewis Dower owns and operates Prudential Texas Properties. O. Albon Head Jr. (J.D. ’71) was voted to Best Lawyers in America 2010. He is managing partner of the Fort Worth office of Jackson Walker LLP.
Drew Bagot (J.D. ’73) joined Dallas-based law firm Cowles & Thompson PC in the corporate and business section. He has 35 years of experience in company formation, acquisition, regulation, compliance and licensing issues.
Jane Hansen Gilbert was appointed president and CEO of The ALS Association in March 2009. The association helps people with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
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Elizabeth (Betty) Underwood serves as the 2009-10 corresponding secretary for the Dallas alumnae of Pi Beta Phi. She is also a deacon at Highland Park Presbyterian Church.
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Larry Maday retired in 2009 after 34 years of teaching math at Tinley Park High School in Illinois but continues as varsity football assistant coach.
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Roy R. Campbell III was elected chair of the board of directors of Methodist Healthcare Ministries, a private, faith-based, nonprofit organization providing medical and health-related services to low-income families and the uninsured in South Texas. He is vice president of investment services at Frost Financial Management Group.
Robert K. Carrol (J.D. ’77) is listed in the 2009 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a top attorney in labor and employment in the international law firm Nixon Peabody LLP in California.
Jan Carroll is a Super Lawyer for 2009 in the March issue of Indiana Super Lawyers magazine. A partner with Barnes & Thornburg LLP in Indianapolis, she co-chairs the media practice group, handling product liability, professional liability and real estate and land use.
Lea F. Courington is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a distinction for less than one-half of 1 percent of American lawyers. She is a partner in the firm Curran Tomko Tarski LLP.
Don F. Davison (M.B.A. ’80) completed his second term in May 2009 as Faculty Senate president at Galveston College. He is a recipient of the Galveston College Faculty Exceptional Service Award and a member of the Texas Faculty Association Board of Directors and Texas Community College Teachers Association Legislative Affairs Committee.
Peter G. Pierce released his first book March 31, 2009. Baseball in the Cross Timbers: The Story of the Sooner State League (Oklahoma Heritage Association, 2009) tells about the last Class D baseball league west of the Mississippi, which operated in 11 Oklahoma and four Texas cities from 1947 to 1957.
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Reunion: November 2010
Howard Barnett was named president of Oklahoma State University’s Tulsa campus in September. He was managing director of TSF Capital LLC in Tulsa, a specialized merchant banking firm, and previously served as state commerce secretary and chair of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.
Jim Dent is the author of Twelve Mighty Orphans, now in its 20th printing. A film production company acquired the movie option rights to his true story of a math teacher who leads a group of orphans in forming a winning football team that plays the toughest teams in Texas.
Marilyn O’Hearne is vice president of the International Coach Federation, advancing the coaching profession for over 15,000 members in 92 countries, and a three-year member of the board of directors. She is a writer and speaker and a master certified coach and trainer.
Radamee Orlandi sold his dental practice after 30 years and is now assistant to the pastor at First United Methodist Church of Port St. Lucie, FL, serving in Christian education and discipleship.
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Nancy Wheeler Heller reports that her family is all-SMU: husband Robert Wayne Heller (’75, M.S. ’77, Ph.D. ’80); son Ridley Mathias Heller ’06, a senior associate at Site Selection Group of Dallas recognized as a Heavy Hitter by the Dallas Business Journal; and son Andrew Cole Heller ’08.
The Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson was honorary chair for the 5th annual 5K walk for the National Alliance on Mental Illness May 2, 2009, at Fair Park in Dallas. She also joined the board of directors of The Progressive Center of Texas, formerly Obama Dallas. As a U.S. congresswoman, Johnson represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, encompassing much of Dallas.
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Chris Abood is marketing manager of Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the Best Children’s Hospitals. Last March he and SMU classmates Chris Good and Mark Kane ’76 celebrated the life of R. Chris Moore ’78, who died in February.
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C. Wade Cooper was named to the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers in America. He is managing partner in the Austin office of Jackson Walker LLP.
Richard (Rip) Hale is a senior institutional consultant with Smith Barney in Dayton, Ohio, and one of Barron’s Top 1000 Advisors for 2009.
Rod and Cindy Funkhouser MacIlvaine recently completed a study tour of Greece and Turkey, tracing the journeys of the apostle Paul. A portion of Rod’s doctoral dissertation will be published in the upcoming edition of The Theological Journal Bibliotheca Sacra.
Thomas Slater (D.Min. ’81) was the Bible study leader for 20 pastors on a two-week pilgrimage to Nazareth, Caesarea Philippi, Bethlehem, Masada and Jerusalem, sponsored by Mercer University, where he is professor of New Testament studies in the McAfee School of Theology.
T.A. Taylor performed in The Merry Wives of Windsor last summer at the 2009 Shakespeare Festival of Dallas.
Les Weisbrod has been certified a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum for attorneys who have won million- and multimillion-dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. His specialty is medical malpractice law at Miller, Curtis & Weisbrod, a national firm based in Dallas.
John Wilson is executive director of the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego.
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Doug Adelstein recently completed eight years as city councilman in Lynden, WA.
Martha L. Danhof is lead hospitalist and palliative care physician at Baylor All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth.
Craig Levering retired in March 2009 as CEO of Dallas-based Crawford Electric Supply. In 2007 he sold the business to the largest electrical and lighting distributor in the world. Levering and his wife, Carrie, have two daughters, Courtney and Christen Levering Redlich ’07. They live in Dallas.
Jess Moore and his wife, Beth Sanders Moore, are the youngest recipients to receive the Loving Hearts Caring Hands Award, presented April 30, 2009, in Houston at the 15th annual awards dinner at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Mrs. Moore is a breast cancer survivor.
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Tony Jack Howard (M.L.A. ’98) is editor of The Collected Works of James Ingall Wedgwood and author of the pamphlet St. Clement of Alexandria and Universal Salvation.
Rene Moreno (M.F.A. ’01) directed The Merry Wives of Windsor at last summer’s Shakespeare Festival of Dallas.
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The Hon. Antonio Oscar (Tony) Garza Jr. joined ViaNovo LP management and communications consulting firm and chairs ViaNovo Ventures with a focus on cross-border business development. He also serves as counsel in the Mexico City office of law firm White & Case. He is a former Texas secretary of state, railroad commission chairman and U.S. ambassador to Mexico.
Hector Reyes is a senior Fellow at the Raytheon Company and recently was named chief technologist for Raytheon’s network centric systems business unit in Texas.
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John E. Davis retired June 30, 2009, as a United Methodist minister in the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference.
Barbara Elias-Perciful, a Dallas attorney and child advocate, was honored by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division with the 2009 Child Advocacy Award. She is founder and director of Texas Loves Children, a nonprofit organization that assists lawyers, judges and others working with child protection cases.
Mike Higgins reports that Joe Drape had a book signing in August for Our Boys.
J. Jeffery Johnston (J.D. ’90) won second place in the 2009 Texas Bar Journal short story fiction writing contest for Marsdenbia, which was published in the June issue. He and his wife, MaryBeth Flahavin Johnston, live in Dallas with their children, Arden, Griffin and Hudson. MaryBeth’s clothing boutique, MaryBeth, celebrated 18 years in July 2009.
Gardner Savage joined the real estate and finance section of Dallas-based law firm Curran Tomko Tarski LLP in April 2009. His practice of more than 20 years includes commercial real estate transactions throughout Texas and the nation.
Walker Schupp and Bob Tullier ’83 made their first television commercial together as SMU students. Today they are independent film and video professionals at Dallas-based Reveal Film & HD Productions. Tullier’s wife, Clare Skwirz Tullier ’83, is a freelance producer at Reveal, which was co-founded by Bill Pridham ’78 and Cynthia Frazier Collins ’00. The company partners with local, regional and national advertising agencies to produce television commercials and corporate marketing videos.
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Reunion: November 2010
Melanie Wells has an online campaign, IToldTwoFriends.com, to raise $100,000 for ProLiteracy, an organization aimed at ending adult illiteracy worldwide. She will donate profits from the online sales of her psychological thriller My Soul to Keep (Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers, 2008) to the campaign.
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Patrick Aulson was appointed in June 2009 as chief administrative officer of HRsmart, a leading global talent management software company.
Bart Bevers received the 2008 National Sentinel Award from the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists and was 2009 Public Administrator of the Year from the Society for Public Administration.
Asif Dowla was named to the Hilda C. Landers Endowed Chair in the Liberal Arts at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He is co-author of The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story about the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank.
Gary Walsh is chair of the board of trustees at Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth and principal and portfolio manager at Luther King Capital Management. He and his wife, Janice, have two children.
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Missy Brown Bender won re-election in May to the Plano (TX) school district board of trustees, place 7.
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Luann Aronson performed the role of Anna in last June’s world premiere of the restored The King and I at the Irving (TX) Arts Center. Among other roles she has played is Christine in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera.
Darlene Doxey Ellison received a 2009 National Independent Publishing Award Gold Medal for her book The Predator Next Door. She is a national children’s advocate, speaking across the country on child abuse and betrayal recovery.
Kathleen Mary Mulligan was awarded a Fulbright grant to Kerala, India, for spring 2010 for her project “Finding Women’s Voices,” focusing on the empowerment of women and girls. She is assistant professor of voice and speech at Ithaca College.
Melinda Olbert was honored March 6, 2009, by the Oklahoma Hospitality Club for her work as board chair for CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, for abused and neglected children. She and her husband, Mark, have two sons, ages 16 and 7.
Linda Williams Tomlinson (M.L.A. ’93) is an assistant professor in the Department of Government and History at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
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Ann Coleman Fielder returned to SMU May 11, 2009, as assistant dean for development and communications at the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, where she will lead fundraising efforts. Previously she was director of outreach for the Bickel and Brewer Foundation.
Cathy Cadman Read was matron of honor at the March wedding of her sister, Mary Cadman ’94.
Joe Nemmers appeared as the King in the world premiere last June of the restored Broadway show The King and I at the Irving (TX) Arts Center.
Johnson Samuel Subramanian is a contributor and co-editor of Resourcing New Testament Studies: Literary, Historical, and Theological Essays in Honor of David L. Dungan (T&T Clark, London, 2009).
Kristin Sullivan was named assistant vice president for media relations at The University of Texas at Arlington. She and her husband, Mitch Whitten ’91, have two sons, ages 6 and 2. Whitten is executive director of integrated marketing and advertising in the SMU Office of Public Affairs. The family lives in Fort Worth.
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Donald Hightower (M.B.A. ’93, M.A. ’93) is an associate attorney at Edison, McDowell & Hetherington LLP in Houston, where he previously was briefing attorney in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.
Jennifer Gleason Zander and her husband, W. Kyle, announce the birth of Ginger Dorothy Dec. 1, 2008. They also have a daughter, Charlotte, 6, and sons Bennett, 5, and Graham, 3. The family lives in Frisco, TX.
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Jennifer Ann Carnovale and Philip Steven Marwill were married May 2, 2009, in Chatham, MA. She is a manager in the New York office of Sun Microsystems, a California-based software company.
Anne Dunlap graduated with distinction in June 2008 from the Iliff School of Theology. She was ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ last May and is pastor of Comunidad Liberación/Liberation Community in Aurora, CO.
Jennifer Daniel Milligan and her husband, Kelly, announce the birth of Virginia Maureen (Ginger) Jan. 27, 2009; daughter Mary Kate is 5. Jennifer was recognized in 2009 for the third consecutive year as a D magazine Best Realtor in Dallas.
Monica Mullens was a film executive for 10 years before switching to screenwriting. She wrote her first screenplay, Swing State, with her husband, Chris Warren, and sold it to Sony Pictures.
93
Brad Adams is general counsel of The Brinkmann Corporation. He and his wife, Jen Cannella Adams, live in Dallas with their three children.
W. Ross Forbes Jr. is a Rising Star in the April 2009 issue of Texas Monthly magazine. He litigates business disputes in state and federal courts through the Dallas office of law firm Jackson Walker LLP.
Emily Adams Haly is a primary care physician in Charleston, SC, and mother of four children: Judith Grace, born April 15, 2009; Coleman, 3; Emily Catherine, 8; and Addison, 11.
Sean Whitley wrote and directed the documentary Southern Fried Bigfoot about the Bigfoot legends of the southern United States. It premiered on The Documentary Channel in April 2009 and is now in broadcast rotation.
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Mary Cadman married William T. Turso III March 14, 2009, in Miami, where she heads global consumer insights for the Burger King Corp. Her sister, Cathy Cadman Read ’89, was matron of honor. At the wedding were Laura Gorten and Ashley Gossey Mock. Kimberly Head-Amos, who also attended, joins her husband, Lewis, in announcing the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth Wynn, June 25, 2009; daughter Anne is 2. The family lives in Decatur, GA, where Kim is a leader in SMU’s Atlanta alumni chapter.
Adam McGill is managing director of Perry Street Communications in Dallas, specializing in media and investor relations and corporate communications. He was founding executive editor of D CEO, a business publication for corporate executives, and former senior editor at D magazine.
Robert L. Paddock was named to Texas Rising Stars 2009 in the April issue of Texas Monthly magazine. He is a trial attorney in the Houston office of global law firm Thompson & Knight LLP.
Ryan Turner and his wife, Susan, welcomed a son, Aidan Ryan, July 3, 2009. Turner is director of choral studies at Phillips Exeter Academy.
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Reunion: November 2010
Joy Berry, and her husband, Stuart, announce the birth of their second child, Morgan Elisabeth Berry, Sept. 18, 2009.
Ellen Anderson Rings and her husband, John, announce the birth of daughter Celeste Alexandra April 5, 2009. Big brother is Anderson.
Jennifer Mills Schiltz and her husband, Jared, welcomed twin sons, Tyler Michael and Cooper William, Oct. 30, 2008, in Denver.
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Bogdan Antohe was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He is a senior engineer at MicroFab Technologies Inc., where he has expanded the use of micro-dispensing technology. He lives in Dallas.
Luis Bartolomei and Ryan Browne joined in the formation of Dallas-based law firm Reyes Bartolomei Browne in June 2009. Bartolomei is a trial attorney. Browne focuses on business and tort litigation and personal injury cases.
Bryan Batson co-founded Ten for 10, a nonprofit organization committed to providing clean drinking water to Sub-Saharan Africa. Through dinners and social events, the group raises money and awareness.
Cynthia Lee Caruso was a television news anchor for 12 years before forming a multimedia company, Motah LLC, described as “all positive, all the time.”
Matthew J. Farruggio is president and CEO of California Quivers Inc. in San Diego.
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Jennifer Emilia Eells and her spouse, Brent Loewen, welcomed baby Gabriela Nohelia Loewen-Eells on July 30, 2009.
Ramsey Alan Fahel ’02 was among recipients of the prestigious Friendship Award from the People’s Republic of China Sept. 29, 2009. Fahel is president of Anadarko Petroleum Corp.’s China subsidiary, which is involved in a long-term joint venture with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. to develop heavy crude oil and natural gas underneath China’s offshore seas. He and his family have lived in Beijing since 2007. The award is the highest honor given by China to foreign experts.
Dave Henigan left his five-year position as Corsicana High School’s head football coach and assistant athletic director to become head football coach and athletic coordinator at Grapevine High School near Dallas. He and his wife, Laurie, have three children.
J.R. Johnson is co-founder and CEO of one-million-member VirtualTourist.com, one of the Internet’s most popular travel websites.
Amy Clark Meachum and her husband, Kurt M. Meachum ’98, have three children: Benjamin Zachary, born in February 2009, and Kendall and Allie. Amy is a candidate for 353rd district civil court judge in Travis County, TX. The primary election will be held in March 2010.
Suzy Shire and Cord Adams ’95 were married at Perkins Chapel Feb. 21, 2009. They live in Dallas.
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John D. Edwards and his wife, Dina, announce the birth of their son, Reid, March 25, 2008. Edwards works in accounting at FedEx, and the family lives in Frisco, TX.
Megan Elliott married Derek DiCiccio Jan. 31, 2009, in Indianapolis. They live in Dallas.
Emily Muscarella Guthrie and her husband, Ben Guthrie ’00, ’01, welcomed a daughter, Judith Louise, March 1, 2009. Their sons are Joseph Steven, born in September 2005, and Felix Benjamin, in April 2007.
Ian Leson was in Dallas last summer in the Shakespeare Festival production The Taming of the Shrew.
Sharon K. Snowton is a bilingual teacher with the Dallas Independent School District and a part-time teacher-trainer with Alliance/AFT Education Center. She helps prepare new teachers to take and pass the bilingual, ESL and PPR (pedagogy) tests.
Regan Stewart and Adam Schiestel were married in Las Vegas May 9, 2009. They live in Carrollton, TX.
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Michael P. Davis is chief engineer at Post Asylum (formerly the Stokes Group), a Dallas video-audio post-production company.
Rosario (Chachy) Segovia Heppe and Hansjoerg Heppe ’97 announce the birth of their son, Otto Arturo Joerg Leopold, in Dallas July 2, 2009.
Naoko Imoto is working with UNICEF in Sri Lanka. She builds classrooms in refugee camps and contributed to a January 2009 UNICEF case study of the country’s school system.
Doug Linneman and his wife, Jennifer, have a son, Carpenter MacRae, born April 23, 2009. They live in Tucker, GA. Doug is a member of SMU’s national alumni board and a leader in the Atlanta alumni chapter.
Marc Sanderson is director of international development for the city of Málaga, Spain. Previously he was chief of staff to the U.S. ambassador in Spain and Andorra.
Evyan Strompolos married George N. Maniatis in 2002, and they have two children: Eleni Zoe, born March 1, 2006, and Nikolaos George, July 29, 2008. She previously worked as an actor-educator for the Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre Programs and performed in local professional theaters in Denver. The family lives in Centennial, CO.
Nicole Brende is founder/publisher of Houston’s first online social magazine, RSVP713.com, and host and senior account manager of the television show Hot on Homes.
Rob Fowler is a U.S. Air Force pilot flying F-15Cs at Eglin Air Force Base in Destin, FL.
Tammy Nguyen Lee is producer/director of the documentary Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam, which premiered April 3, 2009, at the Vietnamese International Film Festival in Santa Ana, CA. The film, recounting the 1975 U.S. airlift of over 2,500 Vietnamese orphans before the fall of Saigon, was honored with the Audience Choice Award.
Laura C. Willmann Mason was elected shareholder of the law firm Oppenheimer, Blend, Harrison and Tate Inc. of San Antonio. From 2004 to 2009 she was recognized by Law & Politics and Texas Monthly as a Texas Rising Star. She received the 2009 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award by the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association.
Vanessa Rusk Pierce and Read Pierce ’01 welcomed a son, Bryant William, Jan. 6, 2009, in San Francisco.
Stephen Shannon is the senior manager at Denkmann Southwest LLC, a family-owned business since 1860. He and his wife, Leslee Harp Shannon ’99, live in Argyle, TX, with their children, Anne and Jack.
02
Billy Gannon is an associate for the commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield. He serves on the executive board for the Real Estate Council’s Young Guns, a committee for brokers ages 22 to 30. Recently he was named Emerging Broker of the Year.
Lakeisha Hall received a Master’s degree in library and information science May 2, 2009, from the University of South Florida. She is the instructional services and science librarian at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL.
Adrianne Jaretha Jessie was promoted to assistant division controller of Republic Services Inc. in Houston, one of the nation’s leading providers of environmental and waste services.
Lindsay R. Lowery joined Brookmont Capital in May 2009 to direct the firm’s corporate development activities.
S. Talmadge Singer II was promoted to senior associate for capital raising, national expansion, securities issues and government relations at Advantage Capital, where he started in 2007.
The Rev. Michael W. Waters (M.Div. ’06) is founder and senior pastor of Joy Tabernacle A.M.E. Church in Dallas, studying for his Doctor of Ministry degree at Perkins School of Theology. He was featured in the April 2009 issue of Ebony magazine as one of the top young leaders in America under age 30. Waters and his wife, Yulise Reaves Waters (’02, J.D. ’08), are parents of Michael Jeremiah, age 2.
03
Spencer Browne is a partner in the newly formed Dallas-based law firm Reyes Bartolomei Browne, focusing on pharmaceutical, contract, insurance, trucking and general personal injury litigation. He served as law clerk for the National Football League.
Dodee Frost Crockett was named for the fourth consecutive year to Barron’s Top 100 Women Financial Advisers.
Annie Flanagin joined Baron + Dowdle Construction in 2009 as project manager, drawing on three years of experience as assistant project manager for SG Contracting in Atlanta. She is a LEED Accredited Professional of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Jake Jordan co-founded Accent Commercial Real Estate, a brokerage and investment firm dealing in retail site selection, development, land acquisition and disposition, retail leasing and investment property sales.
Lydia Mackay starred in last summer’s Dallas Shakespeare Festival production The Taming of the Shrew, and Aaron Roberts performed in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Stephanie Torres has joined the special projects and fundraising events team in program services at SMU. She was previously content manager for TRAVELHOST Inc.
04
Oscar C. Carr IV practices civil litigation and construction, employment, health care and personal injury law at Blankler Brown PLLC. Last April he was named to the alumni board of directors of Presbyterian Day School, the largest elementary school for boys in the United States.
Todd Haberkorn is the lead voice in several animated shows released worldwide this fall, including voices for Sgt. Frog, Soul Eater and D. Gray Man. He is producing the film State of Loss with his Blue Logic Productions group.
Rogers Healy is broker-owner of Rogers Healy and Associates in Dallas, catering to recent college graduates seeking their first home rental or purchase. In 2008 he personally closed sales of $15 million. Healy was profiled in Realtor magazine’s top 30 Under 30 in 2009 real estate.
Zac Hirzel and his wife, Hollee, announce the birth of their son, Thomas Lewis, Nov. 14, 2008.
Aubrey Knappenberger is a sales planner for the digital advertising team at Comedy Central.
Jeremy Roebuck was named Star Reporter of the Year by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors in April 2009. Since 2006 he has been covering courts and legal issues at The McAllen Monitor, the largest newspaper in South Texas.
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Reunion: November 2010
Paige Corbly and Adam Buffington were married Jan. 3, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio, where they live. Bridesmaids included Lauren Chapman and Brittney Schaeffer. Paige received her J.D. degree in May from the College of William & Mary.
Elaine Ferguson had her second art exhibition and first solo show, Texas Blues, last December in London.
Ellen Kline married William Nelson Mabry in Nacogdoches May 10, 2008. They live in Houston, where she is an associate in the law firm Short, Carter, Morris LLP.
Meghann O’Leary and her sister, Erin O’Leary ’04, turned a passion for baking and adapting cookie recipes into an online business, O’Cookies Wholesome Bites. Meghann lives in Dallas and is in the business full time, while Erin works from New York, where she also pursues a dance career.
Emily Powell and Brian Fox were married at Perkins Chapel Jan. 3, 2009.
Sarah Stutts teaches world cultures to sixth-graders at McCulloch Intermediate School in Highland Park, TX.
Brittany Timmerman works in program services at SMU on the athletic forum and projects team. She is studying for her M.B.A. degree at the University of Dallas.
Kara Torvik-Smith performed in The Merry Wives of Windsor last summer at the Dallas Shakespeare Festival.
06
Courtney Birck has joined the Dallas office of Jackson Spalding, an Atlanta-based marketing communications firm, as an account professional.
Rebekah Hurt spoke at the Gartner Honors Lecture at SMU last March, discussing “Responsibilities of the ‘Been-To’ in African Literature and the Experience of an SMU Marshall [Scholar].”
Michael A. Olimpio received a Master of Theological Studies degree May 11, 2009, from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
<pJeffrey I. (Jeff) Rose and Metin Eren ’07 are featured in the five-part BBC TV series Incredible Human Journey, which airs in the United States on The Travel Channel. Rose is a lecturer in the Human Origins and Palaeo-Environments Research Group at Oxford Brookes University in the United Kingdom.
07
Tamara Carrell married Jason Jones ’08 in Dallas Aug. 1, 2009. They are living in Austin while Jason attends The University of Texas Law School. At the wedding were Cameron Baynard ’08, Bud Beunier ’08, Catherine Garrett, Kent Kirkwood ’08 and Elsa Monge ’06.
Brentney Hamilton received her Master’s degree in religious studies from Harvard University June 4, 2009. While in Massachusetts, she interned in the office of the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
Nicole Sarhady Kellogg was recently married.
Brittany Merrill is founder and development director of Ugandan American Partnership Organization, which held a dedication ceremony in Uganda March 7, 2009, for the Ranch on Jesus orphanage, built for up to 180 children with funds Merrill raised. Her story was recently featured on CNN World.
Ashley Parker and John Pope ’06 had a Houston wedding May 9, 2009. They live in Dallas.
Halle Smith has joined the Dallas office of Jackson Spalding, an Atlanta-based marketing communications firm, as an account professional.
Lauren Smith and Jim Gutierrez ’06 married Aug. 1, 2009, in Kansas City, honeymooned in the south of France and live in Hoboken, NJ.
08
Meredith Baker is pursuing a J.D. degree at the University of Tulsa College of Law.
C. Taylor Chalmers bought a national junk removal franchise for the Dallas market. College Hunks Hauling Junk employs college students as junk removal specialists.
Esmeralda Duran was selected for a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Continuing Scholar Graduate Award for up to six years of graduate study at up to $50,000 per year.
Lee Helms is working this season as company manager for Theatre for a New Audience, an Off-Broadway theater company.
ctress Katie Featherston’s life in the past few months is a story tailor-made for the movies.
Featherston, a 2005 Meadows School of the Arts graduate, plays a haunted college student in the thriller Paranormal Activity. Shot three years ago in a week for about $15,000, the box office phenomenon has grossed more than $100 million in the U.S. after just a few weeks in nationwide release. The little horror movie that could is now considered the most profitable film ever made and has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award in the “Favorite Independent Movie” category.
With co-star Micah Sloat, Featherston appeared recently on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, and they have been guests on The Jay Leno Show, Today, The Soup and other television programs.
“The whole fame aspect isn’t why I focused on acting, but it is exciting,” she says. “I love meeting nice people who like my work.”
She keeps in touch with fans through Facebook and Twitter, where she posted an email address for their questions.
“When the film was shown at festivals three years ago, we had fans who saw it and have stuck with us through the years,” she says. “They didn’t forget about us, so I won’t forget about them. They’ve changed my life.”
Shortly after earning a Bachelor’s degree in acting from SMU, she headed West. Until recently, Featherston followed the path of countless other young Hollywood hopefuls: She waited tables at an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, attended acting classes and went on auditions.
“I initially went [to Los Angeles] to get a commercial agent,” she explains. “When you go on those auditions, they give you about 30 seconds to look over the script. That’s when I realized how important my SMU training was. Whether I was studying Shakespeare or more modern works, those experiences provided me with a solid background that has been invaluable.”
At SMU her favorite role was Lainie in a student production of Two Rooms. “I loved the student productions. They happened because the students were so passionate and made them happen.”
In fact, Featherston says there’s not much she didn’t enjoy about SMU. “I can’t pick a favorite class or professor; I loved them all,” she says.
“I encourage every student to soak up as much a you can,” she adds. “Take advantage of the free theater space and play parts that may not seem a fit for you – like a 50-year-old woman or a kid. Those kinds of opportunities usually evaporate once you leave the educational environment.”
Featherston jokes about spending four years “trapped in the Meadows basement” as preparation for Paranormal Activity. “[During filming] we worked pretty much around the clock for seven days,” she says. “We left the house [the San Diego home of director Oren Peli] a couple of times for a bagel run, but that was about it.”
The film intentionally resembles a homemade video, which is a huge factor in its creepiness. While director Peli provided an outline, the actors improvised the dialog. And when the story called for Featherston to be dragged out of bed and down the hallway, she did her own stunt work – and had the bruises to prove it.
“We all became part of creating the film, and it was an amazing experience that doesn’t come around very often,” she says. “I feel so lucky.”
Doors are opening for Featherston, who relishes being a full-time actress with a choice of roles. “I haven’t made any decisions yet. I want to do good work with good people.”
Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University has named the Williams Preaching Lab in Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall in honor of the Rev. Dr. A. Cecil Williams ’55, Minister of Liberation at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco.
The announcement was made by Dean William B. Lawrence at a reception held in honor of Williams and his wife, Janice Mirikitani, on November 4 in the Great Hall of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall at Perkins. The preaching lab is a state-of-the-art facility within the newly constructed Prothro Hall. The room is designed to support instruction and training in homiletics for present and future clergy.
Williams was one of three recipients of the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus Awards, presented November 5. He received the Perkins Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1996 and an honorary doctorate from the University in 1997.
As minister, author and social activist, Williams has long been recognized as a national leader in the struggle for civil and human rights. He was one of five African American students admitted to Perkins in fall 1952 in what was the first voluntary desegregation of a major educational institution in the South. The story of the historic series of events surrounding their matriculation is chronicled by former Perkins dean Merrimon Cuninggim in Perkins Led the Way: The Story of Desegregation at Southern Methodist University. In May 2005, SMU recognized the contributions of Williams and his four pioneering African American colleagues at their 50th anniversary commencement.
In 1963 he was appointed to Glide Memorial Methodist, a church of fewer than 50 members in a declining section of San Francisco. His vision and leadership for more than 45 years is credited with leading Glide to national prominence. The church has a diverse membership of more than 11,000.
Glide’s support of the surrounding community and its innovative outreach have served as a model for congregations across the country. The church’s extensive network of services includes the only food program in San Francisco offering three meals a day, 365 days a year, as well as an outpatient substance abuse treatment and recovery program.
In recognition of his spiritual and social leadership, Williams was appointed in 1998 to the Presidential Commission on Holocaust Assets, which was charged with conducting original research into the fate of assets taken from victims of the Holocaust that came into the possession of the U.S. federal government. He also has served on the selection committee of the National Caring Award, presented by the Caring Institute in Washington, D.C.
Seven SMU graduates serve on the faculty and staff of Lon Morris College, a United Methodist two-year college in Jacksonville, Texas. They are: (standing, left to right) Jack Albright ’58, ’82, adjunct professor of religion; Jimmie A. Reese ’58, ’78, professor emeritus of sociology and former chaplain; Faulk Landrum ’61, adjunct professor of religion and philosophy and former college president from 1976-92; Don Young ’62, associate professor of computer science; Betty Addington ’55, director of the Servant Learning Program and instructor; (seated, left to right) Michelle Zenor ’89, ’90, professor of English; and Afton Barber ’03, director of camps and outreach. The seven SMU alumni represent more than 90 years of service to Lon Morris College.
Alumni in the Washington, D.C., area gathered Sept. 20 for a chapter picnic at Hains Point in East Potomac Park. Among those enjoying the Mustang outing were: (left to right) Kathryn Minor ’00, Sarah Wallerstein ’00, Maya Mahoney ’05, Kathryn Maxwell ’97, Tom Maxwell ’98, guest Thomas Comeau and Robin Morgan ’04.
Rock, paper, scissors, Mars. April Kramer Andreas ’02, ’03 shows students a rock sample during a discussion about the geological similarities between Earth and Mars.
When April Kramer Andreas ’02, ’03 saw The Right Stuff, she didn’t just see a movie about the storied Mercury Seven astronauts. She saw her future.
“I’ve always been interested in space, and that did it for me,”Andreas says. “When I saw it, I knew I wanted to be an astrophysicist. I eventually discovered that I liked the math more than the physics.”
In junior high, she explored opportunities that would launch her studies in the right direction and landed at SMU as a participant in the Talented and Gifted (TAG) summer program.
The student became the master when Andreas returned to SMU in July to teach the TAG class, “Mars or Bust: Building a Permanent Martian Settlement.”
“April is the first person to attend a TAG camp and come back to teach in the program,” says Marilyn Swanson, director of programming for the Gifted Students Institute and pre-college programs, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.
TAG is a three-week residential program for academically gifted students who have completed grades 7, 8 or 9. They participate in credit and non-credit college courses.
Andreas’ class of four girls and eight boys tackled topics that ranged from planning an expedition to the Red Planet to governing its first colony.
The TAG class was a Kramer-Andreas family team effort. Her father, geologist Vernon Kramer, who teaches at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas, participated via the Internet in a session about the geological similarities and differences between Earth and Mars.
Andreas’ husband, Derek ’02, an engineer with SpaceX in Waco, Texas, gave students a guided tour of the propulsion and structural test facilities of the private company, which aims to establish routine commercial space transportation.
The experience “really kept me on my toes,” says Andreas. “The kids are so smart, so enthusiastic. They were constantly firing questions at me. My oral exams for my Ph.D. were nothing compared to this.”
Andreas vividly remembers her first day on the SMU campus as a TAG student. “It was July 4, 1993, and I went to watch the fireworks at the stadium and I felt a real sense of belonging here,” she recalls. “I did the TAG program for three years, then the College Experience.”
The academically intensive five-week College Experience program allows students in 10th or 11th grade to earn six hours of college credit by completing regular SMU courses.
After graduating from high school in South Texas, she entered the SMU University Honors Program as a first-year student in fall 1998 with 18 credit hours from SMU already on her transcript, Swanson says.
A President’s Scholar and honors graduate, Andreas majored in mathematics with minors in computer science, art history and physics. She also received her Master of Science degree in computational and applied mathematics from SMU. She earned a Ph.D. in systems and industrial engineering from the University of Arizona in 2006 and later joined the faculty of McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, where she teaches mathematics and engineering.
While Andreas concedes that the topic of colonizing Mars “may seem like crazy talk to some people,” she believes students will find many practical applications for the larger lessons.
“One thing that made this class so exciting is that these kids will be the generation to have the first real shot at colonizing Mars,” she says. “My hope is that my class will encourage their pioneer spirit and give them a sense that they can do anything they want to do.”
Meadows School of the Arts Dean José Bowen (second from left) visits back stage with Joe Nemmers ’90, Augustine “Tino” Jalomo ’93, Addison Reed, Robert Patrick Paterno, Chamblee Ferguson ’88, Margaret “Maggie” Soch Hayden and (seated) Luann Aronson ’88.
“Getting to know you” wasn’t a problem for some members of the cast and crew of Lyric Stage’s The King and I. Their paths had crossed before as Meadows School of the Arts students. Stage veteran Joe Nemmers ’90, in his first musical role, played the titular role of the King of Siam. Luann Aronson ’88, who appeared on Broadway as Christine in Phantom of the Opera, co-starred as his foil, the strong-willed English governess, Mrs. Anna Leonowens. Other players with an SMU connection were Chamblee Ferguson ’88 as Sir Ramsey, Augustine “Tino” Jalomo ’93 as a member of the Royal Ballet and former students Addison Reed and Robert Patrick Paterno, also cast in the Royal Ballet. Margaret Soch Hayden ’89 was stage manager for the production. The world premiere of the newly restored Rodgers and Hammerstein classic was presented June 19-28 in Irving, Texas. In the audience for one of the performances was Meadows Dean José Bowen, who visited back stage and gave Meadows T-shirts to the alumni. The lavish production, a collaboration between Lyric Stage and the R&H Organization, which owns the rights to the musical, gained national attention as the first presentation of the restored 1951 score, performed by a 35-piece orchestra as originally written.
As chief of staff to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Rob Johnson ’96 makes sure the wheels of government run smoothly in the second-highest executive office in state government.
While Johnson manages a staff of over 30 employees with a budget of about $3 million, he also serves key roles as legislative strategist and senior political adviser to the lieutenant governor, who is president of the Senate and chairs the Legislative Budget Board and Legislative Council. As Dewhurst’s right hand, Johnson works closely with senators and their staffs as he directs and guides priority legislation from inception through passage. He also advises Dewhurst on Senate committee assignments and state agency appointments and participates in the development of the Texas’ $160 billion-plus budget. And those are just the high points of Johnson’ high-profile post.
The former student body president, Hunt Scholar and president of Sigma Chi fraternity left SMU with Bachelor’s degrees in political science and public relations and “valuable skills that have helped me in my professional life.”
Johnson remembers SMU “as a special place” with “opportunities to get involved and serve in leadership positions from day one.” While he jokes that he “did not enjoy 8 a.m. meetings” as student body president, he did like “solving problems and creating change and new opportunities” for students.
“Patience is a virtue that I learned at SMU,” Johnson says. “I also learned that there is not always just one way to get things done. Lots of times leadership positions require navigating the process in the most advantageous route for your cause, and that’s an invaluable skill that I learned at SMU. Compromise and listening are abilities that my experience taught me. And maybe most importantly, I learned that if you do not understand your opponent’s argument, then you do not truly understand your own. This lesson has served me well in my career.”
Elena Holy ’90, shown with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founded The New York International Fringe Festival. New York magazine called FringeNYC “Sundance for the theater crowd” when it named the SMU alumna to its list of “The Influentials” in theater. Photo by Dixie Sheridan.
Former Program Council president Elena Holy’s story is the stuff of Broadway musicals. During spring break of her senior year, she went to New York and landed a job with Roundabout Theatre Company. Just three years after graduating in 1990, with a Bachelor’s degree in radio-television communications, she teamed up with husband-and-wife John Clancy and Nancy Walsh ’90 to create The Present Company. She’s now the company’s producing artistic director.
“While my classroom experience was invaluable, in my particular case, what I learned about management, budgeting, long-term planning, marketing, press relations and so many of the skills I use every day at The Present Company derive almost entirely from my student leadership experience.”
In 1996 she established The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC). For 16 days each August more than 200 companies from around the world perform in more than 20 venues during FringeNYC, the largest multi-arts festival in North America.
“What I’m most proud of is the fact that FringeNYC is still run almost entirely by volunteers – an extraordinary community of artists, volunteers and audience members who willingly give their time, talent and energy to make it happen.
“When I think about it, it’s pretty much just like SMU Program Council.”
Lucretia Donnell Coke’s artworks are the subject of Timeless Style: Pastels by Lucretia Donnell Coke, Protégée of Frank Reaugh. The exhibit continues through Aug. 2 at the Texas/Dallas History & Archives Division, on the seventh floor of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library in Dallas. Lucretia’s mother, an artist and teacher, studied with the eminent Dallas artist Frank Reaugh, sometimes taking her daughter along to the lessons. Reaugh took notice of the young girl and invited her to study with him, thus beginning a relationship that lasted more than two decades. While working toward her Bachelor of Arts degree at SMU, she was already being exhibited at venues such as the Dallas Museum of Fine Art. One of her prize-winning pieces from this period – Rain-Washed Canyon with View of Double Mountain – is included in the display. Other works in the exhibit have been selected to show the range of subjects and evolution of her style during the ensuing decades. She continues to paint, teach and exhibit her work from her home in Austin.
On July 1, Ricardo Martinelli was inaugurated as president of the Republic of Panama during a ceremony at the Atlapa Congress Center in Panama City. His term will run from 2009-14. President Martinelli serves on the SMU International Center Advisory Council, and his son, Luis, is a 2004 graduate of SMU. Michael Clarke, executive director of the International Center, represented SMU at the inauguration ceremony and at the reception that followed.
Beyond the classroom, they learn leadership skills through student government, Alternative Spring Break trips, social organizations, Program Council, Student Foundation and the Board of Trustees. They volunteer in the community. They advance Mustang spirit through the Band, varsity athletics and traditions like Homecoming and Celebration of Lights. Nearly 200 student organizations, 400 cultural events annually and numerous high-profile visiting speakers – all are designed to help students encounter a diversity of ideas and interests, enrich their college years, but more importantly, empower their futures.
To ensure the vitality of campus life, The Second Century Campaign seeks in part to raise funds to enhance the campus experience. Goals include creating residential commons; expanding services in wellness and career placement; improving competitiveness in athletics; and broadening leadership opportunities.
SMU Magazine offers a glimpse of collegiate life today, perhaps rekindling a cherished memory of your own. As the class of 2009 graduates in May, its members will carry the lessons of their campus experience wherever they go.
Read about just a few of the people, programs and places that make the SMU campus experience like no other:
In a house four miles east and south from SMU four students live fully immersed in their multicultural community. Like their SMU peers, they attend classes and juggle social lives, but they also participate in a learning environment that is making a lasting impression on their lives and changing the lives of others.
The students live in Academic-Community-Engagement (ACE) House and work year-round in the low-income East Dallas neighborhood, providing free tutoring sessions to neighborhood children and volunteering at local service organizations.
First-year student Melissa Perette tutors neighborhood children at the Academic-Community-Engagement (ACE) House in East Dallas.
“As much as we try to help kids in the community, we also are trying to help our own students who really are seekers,” says Bruce Levy, director of the Center for Academic-Community-Engagement (ACE), part of SMU’s General Education Program. “Many are looking for something substantial and meaningful in their lives. ACE coursework, work-study jobs, and the ACE House can provide that.”
A big draw for some students is the affordable rent at ACE House. With the help of community support, Levy’s goal is to establish rent scholarships to enable even more students to benefit from the experience.
“Our students are very driven, but some could not have afforded to come to SMU if not for the ACE House,” he says. “They pay moderate rent and the house provides a home away from home for them.”
Since the ACE Center (formerly known as the Inter-Community Experience) was founded 18 years ago, more than 2,500 students have taken various service-learning courses exploring aspects of the urban experience and civic responsibility while also volunteering in the community. ACE House residents tutor alongside other service-learning course participants and work-study students.
Senior Gina Argueta has lived in the ACE House for three years and has volunteered there for four. The accounting major says she has grown close with her neighbors, who once gladly shared their oven to let the ACE House residents bake a pan of muffins.
When the ACE House students are on break, the children ask their parents to check on when their tutoring sessions will resume.
“Our group of tutors is very close,” says Argueta, who lives in the house year-round. “It is our job, but it’s what we love to do more than anything. I’m a little sad it will be my last semester.”
Angelica “Angie” Parra ’95 was one of the first residents of ACE House (formerly known as ICE House), beginning in summer 1994 when she was a senior. She served on the neighborhood association and interacted with both children and their families. While there she befriended 11-year-old Elizabeth Torres, who now lives in Mesquite and works as a translator at Children’s Medical Center. Parra took Torres on trips to the library and downtown Dallas and later invited her to visit when she moved to New York City.
Torres said ICE House residents helped to keep the neighborhood kids out of trouble, particularly with organized summer activities. “They were a great influence on us and helped us get to where we are now as a adults,” says the mother of two. “If I had a problem or needed help with my homework, I could always run next door and ask. They almost always left the door open. I wouldn’t change my experience or my friendship with Angie for the world.”
Parra now works in the financial services industry and is enrolled in a Leadership Dallas class, offered by the Dallas Regional Chamber. “There is so much I can draw from that experience 14 years ago,” she says. “It still influences my learning and viewpoints.” Getting Involved … Click here to read more.
Ashley Bruckbauer, a senior majoring in art history and advertising, is a member of the University Honors Program and recipient of a Richter International Fellowship that funded a summer in Paris for independent, graduate-level research in art history. She calls the educational adventure “the first step on the path of a long journey as an art historian.”
Bruckbauer is wrapping up her third year with CORE, the Women’s Symposium student planning committee, and served as this year’s co-chair. “Being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a recognizable face on campus,” she says. “Leadership is about networking with others and hearing their ideas and coming together to not only support a tradition, but to make a difference.”
When students do not find a fit in an existing group on campus, they have the freedom and encouragement to become grassroots organizers, says senior Robert Perales. The religious studies major is a student assistant in the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life and a resident college chaplain for SMU Service House and Moore Hall.
“Being a leader doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a recognizable face on campus. Leadership is about networking with others and hearing their ideas and coming together to not only support a tradition, but to make a difference.”
With guidance from department chair Mark Chancey and assistant professor Jill DeTemple in Dedman College’s Department of Religious Studies, Perales established the Religious Studies Club “to create better relationships between religious studies majors, minors and professors.” The club has sponsored programs exploring such diverse religious movements as Scientology and Messianic Judaism.He serves as president and has started the chartering process required for the group to become an official SMU student organization.
There is no central, unifying theme at the University, but there is a place for everyone if you’re willing to look for it,” Perales says. “You can create your own place. There’s room for growth here, and that’s one of the most positive aspects of SMU.”
“We provide students with the tools and opportunities to investigate what leadership means to them.”
Clyde’s office sponsors several programs to meet the demand for basic leadership training across majors. Last fall, 30 students participated in the new Leadership Certificate Program. Free to all SMU students, the program involves nine hour-long workshops during a semester, as well as six community service hours and a reflection paper.
“We help students develop the soft skills that employers value: the ability to communicate effectively, manage their time and projects, and even how to handle failure,” she says.
Kevin Maher, 2008 chair, credits Emerging Leaders with motivating him to become more involved on campus. “You meet a broad spectrum of people who expose you to other opportunities – on campus, in Dallas and beyond,” he says. “It’s an excellent networking tool.”
“I want to be a physician, and the skills that I’m developing now not only help me communicate with my peers, but also in organizing and influencing change where it’s needed,” she says. “Those skills apply to all facets of my life.”
“We help students develop the soft skills that employers value: the ability to communicate effectively, manage their time and projects, and even how to handle failure.”
Engineering graduate student Daniel Liu already has accepted a business technology analyst job with Deloitte and believes his myriad extracurricular activities aided him in landing the plum post. “The leadership skills I’ve cultivated here, especially effective communication skills, helped me stand out from other candidates,” he says.
In his five years of undergraduate and graduate studies at SMU, Liu has held an impressive array of titles: student moderator for the Tate Lecture Series, student representative to two Board of Trustees committees and Resident Assistant in Peyton Hall.
In March he led 13 students on an Alternative Spring Break trip to Taos, New Mexico. He participated in the joint project with Habitat for Humanity last year and stepped up to pilot the SMU effort this year.
“It’s a great opportunity to do something worthwhile and productive over spring break,” Liu says.
First-year student Melissa Perette tutors neighborhood children at the Academic-Community-Engagement (ACE) House in East Dallas.
Students Lead Their Way
One morning last February, the former leader of the free world spoke to future leaders in an SMU political science class – not your typical collegiate experience.
A relaxed George W. Bush discussed his presidency and the planned library and institute at SMU for about 10 minutes in the American Political System class taught by Harold Stanley, the Geurin-Pettus Professor of American politics and political economy in Dedman College. For the next 40 minutes, Bush took questions from 29 awestruck students.
“SMU offers so many interesting opportunities – like having George Bush drop by your class,” says sophomore Max Camp, a double major in pre-business and pre-political science and a student in the class.
A member of Christian social fraternity Beta Upsilon
Chi and College Republicans, Camp chose SMU for its academic qualities, and “leadership is definitely a part of that. Whether it’s taking on an office in the groups I now belong to or possibly in other organizations, I feel I have so many opportunities to grow as a leader here; it’s up to me to take advantage of them.”
Like Camp, the majority of SMU students place a high value on campus experiences that prepare them for life’s challenges and responsibilities. The University participates in a large national survey by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute called the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Freshman Survey. According to 2007 CIRP data, more than 50 percent of SMU’s incoming students believe that becoming a community leader is “essential” or “very important.” Almost
85 percent indicated that developing leadership ability in the coming year was either “essential” or “very important.”
Student groups are integral to the planning and execution
of big universitywide celebrations like Homecoming, Family Weekend and Celebration of Lights, notes Lori White, vice president for student affairs. “We believe strongly in the shared student governance of our institution,” she says. “Involving student leaders in the business of the University is a very important value to SMU.”
Exploring The Possibilities … <a href="https://blog.smu.edu/smumagazine/2009/05<.bClick here to read more.
SMU Alumni Take The Lead … Elena Holy ’90 and Rob Johnson ’96 share how their SMU leadership experiences shaped their future careers.
The Office of Leadership and Community Involvement helps student volunteers match their skills to organizations that need their help. Students can apply at the LCI office or online using a placement database with 10 search criteria that returns a list of agency options. LCI also hosts an annual volunteer expo for students to learn more about service opportunities.
Clyde notes that as many as 90 percent of students participated in service projects while in high school, while only 30 percent continue serving after high school. She hopes SMU service offerings will reignite students’ passion for volunteering.
Like many students, Ryan Moore was active in high school volunteer service in
his hometown of McKinney, Texas, and wanted to stay involved once he arrived
at SMU.
Moore, now the president of SPARC, says the growing number of students who want to volunteer is encouraging. SPARC has about 50 regular volunteers, but its biggest event, Community Service Day, attracted 500 students last year. Students also choose to work with groups such as Teach for America and the Volunteer Center of North Texas.
“We have something for everybody,” says Moore, a junior with a triple major in economics, public policy and cinema/TV. “No matter what you are interested in you will find a project. We just want students to take the first step.”
Junior Nicola Muchnikoff began volunteering with SPARC two years ago and now serves as director of youth tours on campus. Twice a week she and other volunteers introduce potential first-generation college-bound students to SMU, discuss scholarship options and answer their questions about campus life. SPARC hosts 20 to 30 middle schools each semester.
“We want to plant the seed and tell them that college is an option for them,” says Muchnikoff, a political science major with aspirations of joining the Peace Corps. College is so necessary to go anywhere in life.”
Muchnikoff, who attends SMU on a scholarship, says helping others puts her own life in perspective.
“I honestly see how lucky and blessed I am,” she says. “A lot of students think they’re too busy, but they don’t realize that maybe taking out one hour a week, they will get such joy from helping others. When I finish a tour, there is such a high. The kids are so happy. Who knows what these kids will do
with their lives because of this experience?”
Student residents of the SMU Service House – also known as SMUSH – share a passion for volunteering.
For more than a decade, SMU’s Service House – also known as SMUSH – has offered students a unique learning environment. The former fraternity house, located at Dyer Street and Airline Avenue, is home to 28 students who live and breathe community service.
“(The SMUSH house) draws students who usually have an interest in service, but it also attracts students interested in gaining a stronger sense of community,” says Antron Mahoney, SMUSH community director. “Once students get in the house, they stay because there’s nothing else like it on campus.”
Residents must perform a minimum of 20 hours of service as individuals and 10 hours of service with the house each semester. Students volunteer with such agencies as Vickery Meadows through SMU’s Catholic Center, the YMCA and North Texas Food Bank.
The close-knit group cooks together, creates its own house rules and organizes service projects ranging from providing after-school activities for Dallas-area children to recruiting other students to become involved in the community.
Jake Fields moved into the SMUSH house in 2007 – when he came to campus as a first-year student from his native England – and plans to stay until he graduates.
“It’s the best place to live on campus,” says Fields, a psychology major who is also a member of the service fraternity APO and participates in after-school tutoring and local clean-up projects. “A lot of people might see service as quite boring, sadly, but we do a lot of community building and plan fun activities like game nights and karaoke. It’s a great balance.”
Hannah Kolni lived in the SMUSH house her last semester before graduating
in 2008. She enjoyed living with like-minded, socially aware students and coordinating local environmental projects. She believes it offered a resource for students to learn about area nonprofits and make valuable contacts.
“Volunteering is the best way to get a job with nonprofits for those who are interested in going into that as a profession,” says Kolni, an outreach coordinator for the city of Dallas” Office of Environmental Quality.
The service house attracts students from all majors, cultures and walks of life, says Mahoney, who receives up to 30 applications a year from potential SMUSHies, as they call themselves.
Students Live Where They Serve …Click here to read more.
Sophomore Linwood Fields grew up without a father in a drug-infested Dallas neighborhood, but he always had family and friends around “to nurture me and help me fulfill my potential,“ he says. He refused to let his environment interfere with his goal of attending college.
“People took time out to mentor me through difficult situations when I was growing up,” says Fields, who is majoring in political science and English with plans of attending law school. Since he was 8, he has volunteered with a Dallas nonprofit, Youth Believing in Change. But it wasn’t until he participated in LeaderShapedfw, a conference offered through SMU’s Office of Leadership and Community Involvement (LCI), that he became more involved as a volunteer at the University.
“I feel very passionate about helping others. As long as
they are succeeding as human beings and at their school work, I feel my purpose is being fulfilled,” he says.
This spring he took a Wellness course that requires 45 hours of community service. Fields worked with Heart House of Dallas, a nonprofit that offers after-school programs, tutoring and mentoring. He also works a paid part-time job tutoring students at North Dallas High School.
Fields isn’t alone in his quest to enrich his campus experience and serve others. Each year, 2,500 students volunteer with more than 70 Dallas-area agencies, says Carol Clyde, director of LCI. Other students serve the community through programs in the various schools at SMU.
SMU offers numerous opportunities for students to engage in social activism.
In addition to LCI’s online volunteer database, the University provides a service house; service-learning coursework; an off-campus house sponsored by the Center for Academic-Community Engagement (ACE); and the community-service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega.
“SMU tries to help students become leaders in a global society,” Clyde says. <ldquo;The service options introduce students to what it is like to be part of a larger community.”
Finding The Right Fit
As native of Arizona, Amy Ward was in search of opportunities to connect
with people and adjust to her newly adopted city of Dallas. An active volunteer in high school, she sought out SPARC (Students Promoting Awareness, Responsibility and Citizenship), a campus-sponsored program that encourages students to become involved in community service.
Ward began her tenure with SPARC as its arts and culture coordinator and now serves as its vice president. She says the organization offers eye-opening opportunities for students through programs such as Community Service Day and Alternative Spring Break. Her passion for the arts led her to volunteer with sixth-grade students at the Meadows Museum, but she also participates in Habitat for Humanity projects and efforts to clean up White Rock Lake.
“We get in our little bubble at SMU and forget there’s
a whole other community out there that’s not quite as well off as we are,” says Ward, a senior majoring in corporate communications and public affairs and Spanish. “It’s really great as a college student to stay connected to the outside community.”
Two years after earning a Bachelor’s degree in sociology from SMU, Simeon Knight ’92 returned to campus to visit the career center. He underwent two rounds of mock interviews and critiques by counselors to prepare for an all-day job interview.
“I remember thinking, ‘If only I had done this earlier!’” says Knight, who aced the actual interview and landed a position in banking management.
Top companies recruit new employees at Hegi Career Center career fairs, which are open to students and alumni.
Fifteen years later, with his bank division scheduled to close, Knight is revisiting SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center to seek a new direction. He updated his résumé and took assessments of his interests and personality traits.
“I haven’t needed to think about a résumé for 15 years, so this process has been extremely helpful,” he says.
In today’s uncertain economic climate, more alumni and students are turning to SMU’s career counselors for guidance, says Troy Behrens, career center executive director. “The center connects alumni and students with employers, even in a tough market,” he says.
Since August 2007, alumni who attended job fairs at SMU increased from 1 percent to nearly 6 percent. From August to December 2007, the Hegi Center had
only three alumni career counseling appointments; during the same time in 2008, it had 29.
In addition, the center offers job and internship search strategies, company and graduate school research, mock interviews, workshops on networking and working abroad, and career fairs that attract from 75 to 95 employers.
The center’s online MustangTrak features hundreds of jobs and internships, 75 percent of which are open to all majors.
“Whether you’re 18 or 78, the center offers significant resources for career transitions and growth,” says Fred Hegi ’66, who serves on the SMU Board of Trustees. In 2001, Hegi and his wife, Jan ’66, along with their family, provided the lead gift for a $3 million endowment and expansion of SMU’s career center at Hughes-Trigg Student Center.
As part of The Second Century Campaign, the University is seeking additional donor support for the center’s endowment and programs, including enhanced four-year planning for students and an expanded alumni network.
“The career development process should start with freshman orientation and continue throughout the alumni’s lifetime as we repot ourselves during our careers,” Hegi says.
With students, the career center emphasizes the importance of balancing academic achievement, leadership activities and internships.
Sophomore Andrew Hendrix, a triple major in political science, public policy and economics with financial applications, already has participated in several career workshops and met with counselors to sharpen his résumé.
“The counselors tie what you’re doing now with what you hope to be doing in the future,” says Hendrix, who is considering a law or Master’s degree in international economics after he graduates. “They know how to market you.”
Since 1973, in the mountains of northern New Mexico, SMU-in-Taos has been offering summer courses. The rustic
casitas at the Fort Burgwin campus, however, were impractical for use during colder weather. And lack of cell phone service made students and faculty feel more isolated than they prefer in this day of instant communication.
Now, the construction of new casitas, renovations to existing housing and technological improvements will allow students and faculty to live at SMU-in-Taos comfortably during the fall and winter, making it possible to offer a fall semester for the first time. A $4 million gift from William P. Clements Jr. ’39 and his wife, Rita, is funding the improvements, which will be dedicated this summer.
To qualify as fall Taos Scholars, students must have a minimum 3.3 GPA and be sophomores in fall 2009. Students will take 12-16 hours of courses, among them anthropology, geology, biology, statistics, accounting, photography, art, literature and history. SMU-in-Taos director Mike Adler says each course will use the region’s history and culture as a platform for experiential learning.
The semester will be broken into four blocks of about three weeks each, with five-day breaks between each block. During breaks, students can participate in outdoor adventures to places like the Grand Canyon; SMU-in-Taos will cover the cost of one excursion for each student.
Adler believes a unique aspect of the new fall program will be the Taos Experience course required of all students. Meeting once a week, the course will include a service-learning component, allowing students to work with such groups
as Habitat for Humanity and the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, among others. In addition, a wellness program will offer activities ranging from hiking to fly-fishing.
When an influenza outbreak hit campus in January, the SMU Memorial Health Center medical staff treated hundreds of flu-related complaints and teamed up with the Dallas County Health Department to offer a series of vaccine clinics. A total of 1,000 flu shots was administered
in a matter of days.
Staff, programs and services have been expanded over the past decade to meet changing student needs, says Pat Hite, director of health services for the past 13 years. “Especially
in the area of drug and alcohol counseling, we’re taking a more proactive approach than when I started here in the 1990s.&rdquo
Several recent improvements evolved from recommendations made by the SMU Task Force on Substance Abuse Prevention. The center’s hours have been extended to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and emergency services are available from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In November, Nurse Response, a medical triage phone service, was implemented to provide 24-hour health
care advice and assistance. A total of 64 calls had been received as of mid-March, with 34 occurring in January during the
flu outbreak.
In addition, the center is emphasizing health education as a preventive measure. Megan Knapp, who holds a Master’s degree in public health, joined SMU in 2007 as health educator. “I cover everything health related, but a lot of my effort also is focused on substance abuse issues,” she says.
She teaches two classes designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills to intervene with peers who wrestle with substance abuse issues:
TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) provides strategies and language to use in situations where alcohol is being abused or misused, she explains. Topics such as evaluating behavioral clues and devising appropriate responses are covered in the 2.5-hour class, which 200 students completed in the fall.
Because I Care supplements the TIPS program by emphasizing drug abuse intervention techniques. Last fall, 700 students completed the one-hour Wellness module. “The idea is to create a caring community so that when students see friends grapple with abuse problems, they’ll step up and say something and assist them in getting help,” Knapp says.
A Peer Advising Network (PAN) that Knapp is building expands the student-to-student conversation to such matters as sexual responsibility, safety and stress alleviation. “The aim is for students to get involved, to take responsibility for themselves, their campus and their community.”
The Guildhall, a graduate-level digital game development program, is located at SMU-in-Plano.
As the sun sinks into the western horizon, the school day is just beginning for those driving into the SMU-in-Plano parking lot.
“Our student profile is very different from that of the main campus,” says campus director Kate Livingston. “In a single class, people may range in age from 22 to 72. More than 47 percent of those age 25 and older in Collin County have a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Most are working professionals, so evening classes are ideal for their schedules.”
Daytime classes also are offered at the University’s 16-acre facility, located off the Dallas North Tollway on Tennyson Parkway. Approximately 800 students from the Dallas-Fort Worth area are enrolled in graduate studies and professional development programs in business, technology, engineering and education.
SMU appears to be in the right place at the right time. According to a 2008 U.S. Census Bureau report, Plano is the wealthiest of U.S. cities with a population of 250,000 or more, and Collin County is one of the fastest-growing counties
in Texas. The campus opened in 1997 in the heart of the Legacy Business Park in four two-story buildings formerly occupied by Electronic Data Systems (EDS).
“SMU-in-Plano boosts the business IQ of Plano,” says Jamie Schell ’79 of AR Schell & Son Agency-Insurance, president of the Plano Chamber of Commerce. “The quality of the educational experience through the Cox Professional M.B.A., The Guildhall [graduate-level digital game development], Dispute Resolution, Engineering Master’s and other programs adds measurable value to the local business community.”
And an online recruitment tool offered by Cox’s M.B.A. Career Management Center, Coxmbatalent.com, “offers local businesses the
chance to tap into an excellent talent pool,“ Schell says.
Programs mine the resources of the entire University. For example, the Cox School of Business offers part of its evening PMBA program, ranked 10th in the nation by Forbes magazine, at the Plano campus. In the first year, students take core classes together in Plano, and in the second year, they take electives
at the main campus.
When Jason Degele, a client director in AT&T’s wireless division, researched graduate program options, SMU’s strong academic reputation and the convenience of the Plano campus to his Denton County home made it
an easy decision.
Although he will not complete the PMBA program until August or December, his graduate studies already have had the desired effect. “I wanted to advance my career at a faster pace, and the PMBA program has opened doors already,” he says. “I’m now in AT&T’s leadership development program.
I see good things in store for the future.”
For first-year Student Senator Jack Benage, inspiration struck on his way to class last fall – when he realized he could not see a single recycling bin anywhere along SMU’s traditional entrance to campus.
“If there are any permanent bins on Bishop Boulevard, they aren’t prominent enough,” he says. “I asked several students if they recalled the presence of recycling bins during home tailgate parties, and none of them could
remember seeing any.”
Benage took action: He wrote and sponsored a Student Senate proposal to add recycling bins to the Boulevard festivities that take place before every SMU home football game. In 2009, the Senate passed the legislation, which aims to establish a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of recycling bins to trash cans during Boulevard tailgate activities.
That victory “got me thinking about how SMU could be more environmentally friendly,” Benage says. It also attracted attention from other students concerned about the environment. As a result, the University has formed a new committee on sustainability, which has become a hub for environmental efforts by faculty, staff and students.
“We noticed a lot of overlap as far as green efforts are concerned,” says Tiana Lightfoot ’07. “Coordinating all these efforts became important, and that’s where the Sustainability Committee comes in.”
Lightfoot, a markets and culture graduate and former student leader in
the Environmental Society, now works with Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak
in SMU’s greenest facility – the Embrey Engineering Building. A showpiece of campus sustainability, the Embrey Building was certified in December 2007 as meeting the gold standard established by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Engineering and Environmental Design (LEED) program. A three-story skylight provides natural sunlight to the interior, while specially designed pavers reflect excess rays away from the building to make it easier to cool in the summer. Recycled materials appear everywhere from cabinets to carpets, while the landscaping features drought-tolerant plants kept healthy with recycled water. The building also serves as a living laboratory for students in the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department housed within it.
Yet even older campus buildings can be made significantly more earth-friendly, says Michael Paul, Sustainability Committee interim co-chair and executive director
of facilities management and sustainability in SMU’s Office of Campus Planning
and Plant Operations (CPPO). Paul’s department has initiated dozens of refinements designed to reduce the University’s ecological footprint.
Super-efficient, long-lasting LCD and compact fluorescent bulbs now illuminate signs and buildings, while upgraded heating and cooling systems save even more electricity. Rainwater recovered from the roofs of campus buildings
is used to soak lawns and flower beds. Recycling boxes in every facility allow community members to deposit paper, plastic, aluminum and other materials into a single convenient receptacle.
Even paper products used are now Green Seal Certified: made with 20 to 40 percent recycled materials and constructed without cores, resulting in less waste delivered to landfills.
The University demonstrated its commitment to sustainability by joining the EPA Green Power Partnership in 2006 and the Green Building Initiative in 2008. In addition, SMU is a member of the National Center for Science and the Environment, part of the subgroup that works with university curricula, says Bonnie Jacobs, Sustainability Committee interim co-chair and director of the Environmental Science Program in Dedman College.
The awareness theme continues into SMU’s residence halls. These campus communities have added an Environmental Representative (or E-Rep) to each Hall or Community Council, says Cori Cusker, residence hall director of Boaz Hall.
E-Reps promote and model environmentally conscious behavior in their halls or communities – from providing recycling bags to planning educational meetings.
E-Reps also help rally SMU participation in Recyclemania, an annual intercollegiate competition that helps colleges and universities set goals for campus waste reduction.
Cox’s Niemi contends that Texas’ fortunes will not diminish drastically, and when the national rebound begins, the state stands to prosper. He predicts that companies will leave high-tax states
and relocate to Texas. The flood of employers and job seekers could boost the state’s population by as much as 50 percent through 2030, he says. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and California also will gain population. Two of those states, Florida and California, are major sources of SMU’s enrollment.
“You can’t separate higher education from the underlying strength of the economy,” he says. An influx of affluent, well-educated migrants ultimately could benefit SMU, he adds. “Think of the demand [for their children] to get into SMU. Think of the quality of our freshman classes. It’s a good time to
be in Dallas, Texas.”
Paul Escamilla also believes the recession presents opportunities to learn and reevaluate. And like Fomby, Escamilla, an author, adjunct professor of preaching and associate director of public affairs
at Perkins School of Theology, finds poetry in the fiscal crisis.
“The narrowed economic environment in which we find ourselves globally reminds me of a couple of lines from Emily Dickinson: ‘By a departing
light/We see acuter quite/Than by a wick that stays.’”
“When things aren’t so sunny, in that ‘departing light,’ we start to think with more intention about our true source of fulfillment. What we mean by ‘the good life’ changes into a more classical notion,” he says. “We become
less focused on our comforts and conveniences and begin to think
about relationships, community
and responsibility.”
Escamilla’s latest book, Longing for Enough in a Culture of More (Abingdon Press, 2007), hit the shelves before markets plummeted. As a reflection on building a richer life by simplifying material needs and focusing outward, its themes are especially relevant. He believes the worst of times can bring out the best in people.
“We become
less focused on our comforts and conveniences and begin to think
about relationships, community
and responsibility.”
While people are not flocking to worship services in exceptional numbers, “the church has seen a strong and steady expression of generosity and compassion in giving,” he says. “To the degree that we are compassionate, we find resources. It is more our compassion than our resources that provides the catalyst for responding to others’ needs.”
Tom Fomby, professor of economics in Dedman College, agrees that any stimulus initiative is better than nothing.
“It’s like exploratory surgery,” he says. “We will finally get to the cancer and remove it, but there’s a lot of repairing to be done in the process. It doesn’t always work as we may like, but we have to do something.”
Fomby, who is also a research associate with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a consultant to the World Bank,
visualizes “an L-shaped recovery” forming. “The economy will slide down, then stay flat for a long period” before steadily ticking upward.
“The unusual nature of this recession is that it’s happening worldwide,”
he says. “In previous recessions, other countries weren’t affected in the
same way at the same time, so we could rely on them to help pull us out. Now, we’re a global economy and world trade is stymied.
“There’s reticence to lend. There’s reticence to buy. There’s reticence here, reticence there, reticence, reticence everywhere,” he says, adding an economics spin to Coleridge’s poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Trade protectionist rumblings in Washington worry Fomby. His research tracking Texas’ financial status indicates that if the North American Free Trade Agreement is dismantled, “Texas will be seriously affected and we could see the unemployment rate go up. On a national scale, trade wars potentially could deepen and prolong the recession,”
he says.
“New economic history is being written as we speak.”
Such unprecedented global circumstances pose intriguing questions for economists. “There’s more contemplation of market regulation and rules of commerce,” Fomby says. “We’re coming to better understand efficient regulation – which markets need more regulation, which markets need less.”
The interconnectedness of links in
the world economy is becoming clearer. “What has happened in the past two years has demonstrated how important the credit market is to our global economy. When the markets freeze up, there’s a much more profound effect than we have appreciated in the past,” he says.
“New economic history is being written as we speak.”
Redefining the good life … Click here to read more.
Speaking about the economic outlook at a luncheon sponsored by the SMU Faculty Club in February, Niemi didn’t mince words: “2009 looks like a painful year.”
Niemi, who holds the Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership, credits Bush administration tax cuts for fending off the downturn until the end of 2007
and believes that a $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress in February was necessary. “Nothing else seems to be working,” he says. “We need a shock to the system, a huge infusion of new spending.”
Although the final legislation may not be perfect, “there’s a lot of job creation in the stimulus package that hasn’t been accounted for yet,” he says. He notes that refilling shrinking state coffers ultimately could boost the economy
by putting furloughed state employees back to work around the country.
“Reticence, reticence everywhere” … Click here to read more.
nationally recognized leader in the field of evidence-based education,
Lyon served as a research scientist in the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1992 to 2000 and was chief of that branch from 2000 to 2005. In addition, he was an adviser to the Bush administration on child development and reading research.
At the NIH, Lyon directed research that led to improvements in math and reading scores. “What we found was that even at Blue Ribbon schools recognized for their excellence, there were substantial numbers of students
who had not learned to read,” he says. “Because those schools had more students at high levels of proficiency, the underachievers were hidden.”
Armed with those results, he championed the requirement that all racial, ethnic and economic student subgroups show similar success for a school to be highly rated. That policy change forced schools to concentrate efforts on low-achievers.
In addition, breaking out that data made it possible to conduct research demonstrating that the underlying problem is poverty – not race or ethnicity, he says.
Texas’ graduation rate of 69 percent lags behind the national average of 71 percent, according to statistics from the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE),
a national policy and advocacy organization that promotes high school reform. AEE figures show that 118,100 students did not graduate from Texas high schools
in 2008. The estimated lost lifetime earnings for those dropouts are more than $30.7 billion, according to AEE statistics.
Lacking adequate reading skills, students are destined for low-paying jobs, Lyon says. “In addition to the negative effect illiteracy has on health outcomes, they likely will drain public resources because of reduced tax revenue and increased expenditures for services like [government-funded] health care and prisons, two areas
where those with low literacy are over-represented.”
Lyon notes that the SMU educational leadership program seeks to produce graduates who can help prepare the future North Texas workforce to obtain the well-paying jobs of tomorrow that will require solid literacy skills.
“The number of opportunities for meaningful employment for non-readers has shrunk to minimal levels because all world economies are now based upon the ability to process print.”
n top of global financial uncertainty, Texas faces a further threat: schools that fail their students. They will continue to damage the state’s economy unless school districts have the leadership to institute change in the way children are taught, says G. Reid Lyon, an expert on how children learn.
“If you don’t make it in school, you do not make it in life, and that is a fact,” Lyon declared at the groundbreaking of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development in December. “Here’s what we’ve learned through research conducted at SMU and elsewhere: We actually know a great deal about how kids learn. We know a lot about why kids do not learn, and we know a lot about what to do about it.
“Unfortunately, a huge gap exists between what we know and what we
do in schools.”
G. Reid Lyon shares a joke with second-grade students at Williams Preparatory School in Dallas. A former elementary school teacher, Lyon says most reading difficulties can be prevented through early identification of problems and effective instruction.
Three decades of research show that most reading difficulties actually can be prevented if children are identified early, in kindergarten and first grade, and provided with effective instruction, says Lyon, one of the authors of the federal Reading First legislation – a component of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Even the mathematics skills that need to be learned and applied require proficient reading and comprehension capabilities. Too often, help is withheld until third grade or later, when the struggling learner is so far behind it takes hours of daily intervention to catch up, he says.
“What’s needed now, in addition to expert teachers, is outstanding education leaders to create a school environment that fosters success,” he says.
Lyon joined the faculty of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School in September as Distinguished Professor of Education Policy and Leadership. A neuropsychologist and former third-grade teacher, he helped create the school’s new Master of Education degree in educational leadership, which will be launched this fall.
He describes the new Master’s degree as a rigorous, evidence-based graduate program that stresses the immediate application of theory and leadership concepts in the school setting. Students in the program will intern at schools in the Dallas area and will be assessed on their ability to apply what they learn.
SMU plans to partner in the assessments with the Dallas Independent School District’s research department, an office that has led the nation in developing computer-based systems to track student achievement. The district recently received a $3.77 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen efforts to track student performance and improve college readiness.
A nationally recognized leader in the field of evidence-based education, Lyon served as a research scientist in the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1992 to 2000 and was chief of that branch from 2000 to 2005. In addition, he was an adviser to the Bush administration on child development and reading research.
At the NIH, Lyon directed research that led to improvements in math and reading scores. “What we found was that even at Blue Ribbon schools recognized for their excellence, there were substantial numbers of students who had not learned to read,” he says. “Because those schools had more students at high levels of proficiency, the underachievers were hidden.”
Armed with those results, he championed the requirement that all racial, ethnic and economic student subgroups show similar success for a school to be highly rated. That policy change forced schools to concentrate efforts on low-achievers. In addition, breaking out that data made it possible to conduct research demonstrating that the underlying problem is poverty – not race or ethnicity, he says.
Texas’ graduation rate of 69 percent lags behind the national average of 71 percent, according to statistics from the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE), a national policy and advocacy organization that promotes high school reform. AEE figures show that 118,100 students did not graduate from Texas high schools in 2008. The estimated lost lifetime earnings for those dropouts are more than $30.7 billion, according to AEE statistics.
Lacking adequate reading skills, students are destined for low-paying jobs, Lyon says. “In addition to the negative effect illiteracy has on health outcomes, they likely will drain public resources because of reduced tax revenue and increased expenditures for services like [government-funded] health care and prisons, two areas where those with low literacy are over-represented.”
Lyon notes that the SMU educational leadership program seeks to produce graduates who can help prepare the future North Texas workforce to obtain the well-paying jobs of tomorrow that will require solid literacy skills.
“The number of opportunities for meaningful employment for non-readers has shrunk to minimal levels because all world economies are now based upon the ability to process print.”
– Deborah Wormser
Imagine a medicine that delivers itself automatically into the bloodstream. Or, a protective coating for airplane wings that repairs itself after being damaged.
Though differing in impact, such advancements could have the common effect of saving lives.
In his Dedman College chemistry laboratory, Brent Sumerlin envisions such advancements. He is conducting research that could make them a reality, solving problems in the very different realms of health care and engineering.
One of Brent Sumerlin’s projects focuses on combining blood-sugar monitoring and medicating with insulin into a single mechanism, which would be a boon for diabetics.
His work has earned him national attention – a prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award. The NSF award is presented to junior faculty members who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars in U.S. colleges and universities. Sumerlin, assistant professor of chemistry in Dedman College, will receive $475,000 over five years for two related research projects with very different applications.
With one project, he hopes to combine two aspects of diabetes treatment – blood-sugar monitoring and medicating with insulin – into a single feedback-controlled mechanism. And the challenges that mechanism could solve go well beyond its therapeutic value.
“One of the biggest problems with treating diabetes is in getting the patient to comply with prescribed treatments, and there’s a good reason for that,”Sumerlin says. “All the sticking, both for testing and injections, really starts to hurt after a while.
“If we can cut down the number of shots and of finger sticks necessary to monitor blood sugar, that would be great,” he says. “Our research may be able to aid the development of a more effective treatment strategy that depends less on constant patient vigilance.”
With the NSF grant, he and his team of undergraduate and graduate students will create specially designed vesicles – tiny spheres that are hollow on the inside and only about 100 nanometers across. The vesicles will hold microscopic doses of insulin in shells that respond when high levels of glucose are present by binding chemically with the sugar and becoming water-soluble. As the vesicles break apart within the body, they will deliver a precise amount of medication into the bloodstream.
The second project to be funded by the NSF grant involves making self-healing polymers – materials with the ability to come apart and put themselves back together again. “Potentially, we could make self-repairing coatings for airplane wings that are damaged by debris during flight,” he says.
“One of the biggest problems with treating diabetes is in getting the patient to comply with prescribed treatments, and there’s a good reason for that. All the sticking, both for testing and injections, really starts to hurt after a while.”
The fundamental chemical reactions in the polymer are basically the same as those that occur when the nanoscale vesicles rupture in the presence of glucose, Sumerlin says. “It’s the same interaction, we’re just taking it in two different directions.”
Sumerlin’s NSF award also will fund a program for K-12 school districts and community colleges to help prepare and attract underrepresented minority students for SMU chemistry internship positions. He is working with area school districts to identify academically qualified students.
The presence of younger students in Sumerlin’s lab is nothing new: He has made room for high school researchers since his arrival at SMU in 2005.
“I became interested in chemistry through a high school teacher,” says Sumerlin, who received his Ph.D. in polymer science and engineering from the University of Southern Mississippi. “He helped me get a couple of summer research opportunities at North Carolina State that really turned me on to the investigative side of chemistry. So I’m very aware of the effect those experiences can have on young people in high school.”
Research by SMU cultural anthropologist Victoria Lockwood will take her to the remote tropical islands of Tubuai and Rurutu this summer. Tiny dots in the South Pacific, the islands are part of the French Polynesian chain that includes Tahiti. But the focus of her trip will be anything but pleasant.
Victoria Lockwood
Lockwood, associate professor of anthropology in Dedman College, first went to Tubuai, Rurutu and Tahiti in 1981 as a graduate student working on her doctoral degree at UCLA. Tubuai (pronounced TOO-boo-eye) and Rurutu (Roo-ROO-Two) are small, rural islands known for their white coral beaches and palm trees. When she was a graduate student on Tubuai, there were no hotels on the island, so Lockwood lived with a local family during her yearlong stay.
Since then Lockwood has made seven research trips to Tubuai and its neighboring islands, focusing primarily on the lives of local women and the impact of modernization and globalization. Her research over two decades has produced a large body of scientific work, including journal articles, conference presentations and books. In the course of her studies, however, the women of the islands have revealed another aspect of their lives: details of arguments with their husbands that often result in physical violence.
Those revelations were instrumental to Lockwood’s receipt of a three-year, $128,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. She will investigate the prevalence, causes, meanings and consequences for victims of domestic violence on the island.
“The thing about domestic violence is that people don’t want to talk about it,” Lockwood says. “But because I’ve worked on this island so long, I know these families, and they’ve already talked to me about it.”
Island culture is revealing new information on the types of family violence.
The islands are a fairly gender-egalitarian society, she says, and domestic violence is no more common there than elsewhere in the world. Although the women were distressed that their husbands hit them, they would report that assaults stop after the early years of marriage.
“The word on the street, at least in American society, is that domestic violence doesn’t go away, ‘Once an abuser, always an abuser,’ and that the abuse escalates over time,” Lockwood says. “But that wasn’t the case in Tahiti (Lockwood uses Tahiti to refer to the region and its various islands). And that’s what got me interested in looking at the issue in Tahitian society.”
In recent years, even in American society, psychologists and sociologists have begun to describe the short-lived domestic abuse phenomenon as “situational couple violence,” which typically occurs early in a marriage as a couple attempts to work out balance of power issues and decision-making on various matters. It is initiated by either the husband or wife, and typically fades away. Experts say this is different from battering, which is usually enduring, with the husband normally the aggressor. It escalates into a husband’s psychological obsession to control every aspect of
his wife’s behavior through verbal as well as physical tactics.
One of a few anthropologists to study domestic violence, Lockwood says her research seems to confirm the two different kinds as a broad pattern across societies. In 2005 she conducted preliminary research on the island, interviewing husbands and wives from 25 families about domestic violence that had occurred in their lives.
“If we don’t acknowledge there are two different kinds of domestic violence, then we’ll never understand what the causes are,” Lockwood says. “The causes are very different, so if we
wish to devise policies or social programs, we need to be doing two different things to address the issues.”
They are the first students to arrive in the stands at Ford Stadium and the last to leave. Their spirit and traditions rival any campus organization.
Meet the hub of SMU spirit – the Mustang Band, making music since 1917.
On a typical February afternoon, associate band director Tommy Tucker ’84 rolls up his sleeves to lead a practice in the Mustang Band Hall, located behind Perkins Natatorium. Students file down the ramp into the red and blue band headquarters where Tucker leads the band into the beginning notes of Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney and Wings.
Band members practice five hours a week in addition to game day commitments. Most band members and the twirler are supported by scholarships.
“We take a lot of pride in our performances,” says drum major Bryan Melton, a senior mechanical engineering and mathematics major. “Most of us are in the band because we enjoy it, not because it is required for our majors.&rdqou;
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Even twirler Kayli Mickey puts aside her baton after football season and picks up her French horn to perform with the band during basketball games.
The 78-member Mustang Band prides itself on its uniqueness among other
university bands as well as among SMU student organizations.
“The band has always been small,” says director Don Hopkins ’82. “But with all the brass and saxophones, we hold our own.”
Since the 1920s the band has specialized in jazz, dressed in slacks and blazers for football halftime shows and performed music arranged specifically for it.
“Our only stock arrangement is the national anthem,” says Tucker, who has created hundreds of arrangements beginning in his student band days in the early 1970s. “You may hear the same song, but you won’t hear the same arrangement anywhere else.”
Group bonding occurs before classes start in the fall when members arrive on campus early to begin practice. “In a few weeks, freshmen go from timid newcomers to part of a group of 78 friends,” says trumpet player Cal Smellage, senior engineering management, information and systems major.
For many, that bond lasts a lifetime. Members of the Mustang Alumni Band practice weekly and perform on The Boulevard before home football games and at basketball games.
Hopkins, who played trombone in the Mustang Band, says, “These kids have as much commitment to each other as we did when I was in the band.”
It’s not a topic for debate: SMU debaters have impressed judges with their verbal dexterity and quick thinking at competitions throughout the country. This is the program’s first season after a four-year hiatus.
The topic for the 2008-09 intercollegiate debate season focused on whether the United States should eliminate agricultural subsidies for biofuels.
SMU junior Alex McGregor (right) listens while Wiley College students Shakeisha Coleman and Tristan Love make their point at the debate between the two schools in February.
Team members Tyler Murray ’12 and Brittany Ross ’11 finished fifth in the novice division at the University of Miami’s Hurricane Debates in late January. During preliminary rounds, SMU defeated Vanderbilt, regarded as one of the top three teams in the tournament.
Murray and Deanna Vella ’10 took home third and fourth place awards for extemporaneous speaking at the University of Houston’s Lone Star Swing speech and debate tournament in February.
“Debate provides a foundation for critical thinking that cuts across all disciplines,” says CCPA Chair Mark McPhail, who created the program with José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School.
The team is coached by Ben Voth, associate professor and director of Forensics and Debate, and Christopher Salinas, assistant professor and assistant director of Forensics and Debate.
“Debate should be seen as an important and fundamental civic value,” Voth says. “It’s essential for us to practice the skills of debate both as a university and a society.”
This season, the team has traveled to seven competitions, including the Novice Nationals at Towson University in Maryland and the National Junior Division Debate Tournament in Kansas City.
SMU also faced off twice against students from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, whose 1935 debate team was the subject of the feature film The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington. SMU traveled to Wiley for the first of the two encounters on January 23, while Wiley came to the Hilltop for a rematch in the Meadows School’s O’Donnell Auditorium February 25.
The host school won each of the debates.
The Wiley visit fulfilled an invitation extended 74 years ago for the schools to debate at SMU. Though it did not take place at the time, the proposed debate is mentioned in the film. It would have marked one of the first such competitions between students from predominantly African-American and white colleges.
Vella, SMU’s team president, says debating has given her greater confidence as a student and skills she can use in any workplace. “It has made me a quicker thinker and a better researcher.”
After a surprise visit to a political science class in February, former President George W. Bush attracted a crowd outside Fondren Science Building – and kept cell phone cameras busy. One student called his mother and said, “You’ll never guess who’s standing right next to me.” Bush spoke and answered students’ questions for nearly an hour at the invitation of Harold W. Stanley, Geurin-Pettus Professor of American Politics and Political Economy in Dedman College. Click here to view more pictures.
Warren Seay, a junior majoring in political science in Dedman College, has been selected as a 2009 Truman Scholar. The prestigious national award recognizes college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government or public service.
Out of more than 600 candidates, Seay is one of 60 students from 55 U.S. colleges and universities awarded the 2009 scholarship, which provides up to $30,000 for graduate study, in addition to leadership training and internship opportunities. Selection is based on grades, commitment to public service and leadership. Seay is the 12th Truman Scholar at SMU since Congress established the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation in 1975.
“This Truman Scholarship is a testament to the guidance I’ve received from my professors and mentors at SMU,” says Seay, a Hunt Leadership Scholar and president of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. “It represents the type of service-learning that SMU offers and that I want to be part of in the future.”
Seay also is participating in the 2008-10 Institute for Responsible Citizenship, a leadership program in Washington, D.C. As one of only 24 students nationwide selected for the institute, he interned in summer 2008 with the Department of Labor and met with political leaders, including former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Seay will return to Washington this summer.
Three members of the SMU community are continuing their work overseas after receiving grants from the U.S. Department of State’s prestigious Fulbright Program.
Amanda Aland, a Ph.D. student in archaeology in Dedman College, received a Fulbright U.S. Student fellowship for archaeological fieldwork and research in Peru. Her 10-month fellowship started in March.
Another Ph.D. student in archaeology, Kylie Quave, also will carry out archaeological fieldwork and research in Peru thanks to a Fulbright U.S. Student fellowship, which will begin in August and continue through June 2010.
Nguyen, who joined Dedman Law School in 2003, teaches and researches intellectual property, the Internet, commercial law and taxation. Administrators at the Vietnamese law school asked her to develop the curriculum to expand her impact beyond teaching occasional classes there. “When I leave, they will teach the students using the curriculum I have developed,” Nguyen says. “I”ve been working on a book for them to use.”
Aland returned to a site on Peru’s northern coast called Santa Rita B, where she spent several months last year excavating with the support of a National Science Foundation grant and SMU’s Institute for the Study of Earth and Man.
There, she and students under her direction unearthed evidence – pottery and architecture – showing the influence of the Incas on the region’s Chimú Empire in the 15th century. Aland hopes to learn the extent of the Incas’ influence on the Chimú people through further excavation and laboratory analysis of her findings.
Quave’s project in Cusco and Lima, Peru, will consist of archaeological excavations and archival research on the Inca Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries, focusing on the impact of imperial economic policies.
When Mexican artist Diego Rivera traveled to Paris, he encountered fertile artistic surroundings for developing a distinct Cubist style in portraiture. The Meadows Museum has organized an exhibition, Diego Rivera: The Cubist Portraits, 1913-1917, which aims to provide a new perspective on this lesser known period of his career. The museum’s permanent collection includes Rivera’s Portrait of Ilya Ehrenburg (1915). Algur Meadows purchased this portrait of a Russian writer in 1968 – one of the few paintings by a non-Spanish artist he bought for the museum. The exhibit runs June 21-September 20.
“National security starts with a strong economy, the use of diplomacy, international law and heading off conflicts before they occur. Diplomacy and deterrence still have an important role, and the best war to win is the war you never have to fight. If you go to war, you must go with decisive force, and you must have a clear idea of what the military objective is.” Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, “The Future of Conflict: Military Roles and Missions,” the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College, November 14, 2008
“Everyone has their own moral compass about what they’re being asked to do. My career was based on asking foreigners to put their lives and maybe their families’ lives in jeopardy for the sake of United States security. For me, I thought the greater good was served, and I always tried my absolute best to ensure their safety.”
“The first picture I took of a pile of garbage, I did it because I was interested in color. It reminded me of an Impressionist painting. Then some friends and I started talking about consumerism. That got me going on the idea of photographing garbage as a way to comment on our consumer culture.” Chris Jordan, photographer and environmental activist, Turner Construction/Wachovia Student Forum, Tate Lecture Series, January 27, 2009
“China is roaring to life … because they have brought women into the economy. The greatest unexploited world resource is women. Educating girls is the single most effective way to fight poverty.” Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, The Jones Day Lecture, Tate Lecture Series, March 3, 2009
Frank Cappuccio, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and Skunk Works® director, spoke at SMU in March.
SMU engineering students will be the first in the world to study and create through the one-of-a-kind SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Program at the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. Working closely with faculty, students will roll up their sleeves and learn how to tackle real-world engineering problems in a fast-paced environment.
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab is famous for gathering small teams to work round-the-clock, an approach it used to develop quickly the world’s fastest and most sophisticated military aircraft for use during World War II and in recent years. Its makeshift lab in California was located near an odiferous plastics facility. A team member began answering the phone “Skonk Works,” after the backwoods moonshine still depicted in the popular comic strip, “Li’l Abner.”
“We are fully committed to graduating students with innovative engineering skills, a passion for leadership and a strong social conscience,” says Lyle School of Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak. “Skunk Works® assignments will challenge students with demanding problems that address global challenges.”
Lyle School of Engineering faculty started this spring to solicit and vet real-world problems for students to undertake, says Delores M. Etter, who leads the SMU/Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Program. Etter is director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education at the Lyle School of Engineering and Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair in Engineering Education.
The state-of-the art facility will be located in the new Caruth Hall, now under construction.
SMU students are proving that service and civic involvement are essential to learning, whether across town or around the globe.
Throughout this semester, students have traveled to urban centers, mountain trails, international courts and historic sites to serve and to study. During Alternative Spring Break, students volunteered at the Cherokee Nation in rural Tennessee. In Laredo, Texas, and Taos, New Mexico, they built houses with Habitat for Humanity. They restored wildlife habitats in Moab, Utah, and prepared meals for the needy in New York City and St. Louis.
Also during spring break, students made a civil rights pilgrimage, visiting historic sites in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Another group studied the immigrant experience in New York City, with trips to Ellis Island and ethnic neighborhoods.
Several students have won prestigious competitions. Junior Warren Seay has been named a Truman Scholar, one of 60 students selected from more than 600 candidates nationwide to receive the prestigious fellowship, supporting preparation for service in government or the non-profit sector. An SMU Hunt Leadership Scholar, Seay also is among only 24 students nationwide selected for the Washington program of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship.
Another student learning in Washington has been senior Rachael Morgan, one of 85 students nationally to receive a yearlong fellowship with the Center for the Study of the Presidency. Junior Cody Meador has the honor for next year.
Global diplomacy has been the focus for Nicola Muchnikoff, the lead delegate of the SMU Model United Nations Team of 10 students. In March the team traveled to The Hague, Netherlands, for the World Model UN Conference, where they represented Vatican City.
Students also travel to conduct research. Lindsey Perkins is traveling to Romania to document the conditions of orphanages there through photojournalism. She received financial support from a Meadows Exploration Award for undergraduate research.
Using her Spanish language skills as a volunteer translator for Engineers Without Borders, Allison Griffin has helped SMU students investigate sustainable water sources in a Mexican village. A senior majoring in engineering management science and Spanish, Griffin is an Embrey Scholar in the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering.
Other students are making an impact on the community closer to home through the Big iDeas project, sponsored by the Office of the Provost. Ten student teams have received grants to research local challenges, ranging from the environment to education and health care. Student Andres Ruzo is looking for a source of energy in his own back yard — he is analyzing possible geothermal resources under the campus. A senior majoring in geology and finance, he has made field trips to the Grand Canyon, Australia and Hawaii through SMU’s Office of Education Abroad and the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College.
Students such as these are taking
their education in new directions, mining SMU’s offerings with initiative and
imagination. They reflect a positive light on SMU through service, civic involvement and academic achievement.
Women’s distance running coach Cathy Casey buys 60 pairs of running shoes each August. She knows that each SMU distance runner will log 3,000 to 5,000 miles during her yearlong season and wear out three to four pairs of running shoes.
“Distance running is rigorous; to compete in Division I you have to really love it,”says Casey, who ran cross country for the University of Texas.
Practicing at White Rock Lake in Dallas are distance runners (from left) Rachael Forish, Jessa Simmons, Celeste Sullivan and Kathleen Hoogland.
Only long-distance student-athletes compete year-round, says Dave Wollman, director of track and field at SMU. Fall cross country is followed by indoor track and field in the winter, then by outdoor track and field in spring. “Distance athletes tend to be extreme in everything they do,” says Wollman, Mustang track and field coach since 1988. “They are organized, disciplined and great students. Their drive to excel, however, can become overwhelming. Finding a balance between academics and training is necessary to progress as an athlete.”
Mustang runners found that balance this year, winning the Conference USA title for the first time last fall and earning one of 31 slots at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship in November in Terre Haute, Indiana. The team finished 20th against cross country strongholds such as Oregon, Colorado and Stanford.
To compete successfully on a national scale, distance runners must lead a life of consistency both in training and as a student, says senior runner Rachael Forish, 2006 NCAA South Central Region cross country champion and Athlete of the Year.
Her typical day begins with a 10- to 15-mile team workout at 6:30 a.m. near White Rock Lake in Dallas, followed by classes, a second workout, study time, then bedtime by 11 p.m. She prepares many of her own meals to meet the nutritional demands of workouts that burn hundreds of calories daily.
“I don’t drink energy drinks or pull all-nighters,” Forish says. “I’d crash at workout the next day if I did.“
For distance runners, the weekend falls on Tuesday night – Wednesday is the only day off from their training regimen. Their hardest training day is Sunday when they run up to two hours.
Instead of bonding over pizza and late-night talk sessions, distance runners form friendships through shared challenges and the opportunity to follow their passions, Forish says.
“It’s not just the running, it’s being part of the team. We’re all going through the same thing.”
Women’s cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field were created in 1987 at SMU. Wollman arrived in 1988 to lead the men’s and women’s teams to consistent top-10 finishes in the NCAA indoor and outdoor track and field championships. Most recently, women’s cross country won its first NCAA South Central Regional title and finished in the top five at the 2006 NCAA South Central Regional Championships.
The team’s future also looks bright with runners such as sophomore Silje Fjortoft of Norway. She was named C-USA Cross Country Athlete of the Year last fall and to the All-South Central Region team. She has continued to excel in indoor track and field, breaking the C-USA record in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:19.42 at the C-USA championship in February in Houston. She broke her own record in March with a time of 16:18.80 at the NCAA Indoor National Championship.
For distance runners, the weekend falls on Tuesday night – Wednesday is the only day off from their training regimen. Their hardest training day is Sunday when they run up to two hours.
In addition, Fjortoft won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in March at the Stanford Invitational. Her time – 9:56.73 – was the fastest time by a woman this year in the world. The time also was the second-fastest ever run by a Mustang, about a second off of her own school record.
Fjortoft also excels in the classroom. She earned All-Academic honors from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. She and teammate Jessa Simmons, an advertising major, were named in December to the Conference USA All-Academic Team.
Wollman, who recruits athletes from Texas to Eastern Europe to Africa, has found that they quickly build camaraderie as athletes and students in a setting he says is unique to SMU.
“The University creates an environment that is ideal for my sport,” he says. “Individualists flourish here. SMU takes a student and academically and developmentally makes a difference in her life. As a coach, that allows me to make the same difference for them as an athlete.”
The women’s basketball team clinched the Conference USA title for the second year in a row and advanced to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament where it lost 77-54 to Louisiana Tech. The team finished the season with a 20-12 record, marking the second consecutive season and seventh in SMU history with 20 games in the win column. Junior guard Brittany Gilliam was named C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, leading the conference with 71 steals.
Mustang offensive lineman Tommy Poynter ’08 was one of 12 student-athletes conference-wide to receive the inaugural Conference USA Spirit of Service Award.
Poynter, a three-year starter, began his football career as a walk-on, then earned a full scholarship after one year of play. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in business in May and is working on his Master’s degree in accounting. In addition, he is an active leader with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and speaks to high school students about the benefits of hard work.
Mustangs Mitch Enright and Pete Fleps are among 11 Conference USA football players named to the 2008 C-USA Football All-Academic team. Enright, an offensive lineman, is pursuing his M.B.A. after completing his Bachelor’s degree in business in three years. Fleps, a linebacker and sophomore marketing major, led SMU with 106 tackles in 2008.
2009 SMU Football Schedule
Mustang football kicks off its 2009 season on Sept. 5 with a home game against Stephen F. Austin. For season and individual ticket information, call 214-768-GAME. Click here for the 2009 schedule.
Women’s swimming and diving broke three records and won four events to capture its fourth C-USA title. Senior Petra Klosova broke the 100 free record with a time of 48.58.
First-year Raminta Dvariskyte created a new meet record in the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall at 2:13.68. The 400 free relay team also procured a meet record. In addition, first-year Therese Svendsen won the 200 back, touching in with a time of 2:14.62. The team placed 19th at the NCAA championships.
Pontus Renholm
The men’s swimming and diving team secured its fourth consecutive C-USA title, smashing pool and individual records along the way. Senior Pontus Renholm and juniors Ed Downes and Thomas Fadnes broke C-USA records – Renholm in the 200 back with a time of 1:43.50, Downes in the 200 fly with a time of 1:44.95 and Fadnes in the 100 free with a time of 43.42. Sophomore Matthew Culbertson won the platform diving title. The team finished 24th at the NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas, earning a season best time of 2:53.75 in the 400 relay.
Four new inductees to the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame were honored May 1 at a ceremony. They are:
Eric Dickerson ’83 The All-American football player and member of the Pony Express led the Mustangs to back-to-back Southwest Conference titles. A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the former NFL running back played for the Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Raiders and Atlanta Falcons.
Jim Krebs ’57 The late All-American basketball player led the Mustangs to three SWC titles and the 1956 Final Four. The former NBA player for the Los Angeles Lakers is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.
Steve Lundquist ’83 The All-American swimmer and two-time Olympic gold medalist is a member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and was the 1982 U.S. Swimmer of the Year.
Kyle O’Brien Stevens ’80 The former All-American women’s golfer claimed medalist honors and led SMU to its first national team title at the 1979 AIAW National Championships. She was a 2003 inductee into the National Golf Coaches Association Player Hall of Fame.
Drawing on the special collections of DeGolyer Library, the exhibit will include editions of Darwin’s revolutionary book, his other publications, works by 18th- and 19th-century naturalists, and reactions to Darwin from the popular press and the scientific community of the time.
Wendorf is notable for many important discoveries, including most of what is known about the prehistory of northeastern Africa. He also helped preserve archaeological sites in the American Southwest when natural gas pipelines were laid in New Mexico. His excavations in that state unearthed the remnants of Fort Burgwin, established by the U.S. Army in 1852 near Taos. He reconstructed the fort based on the archaeological evidence he found of the original vertical log buildings. Today, Fort Burgwin is the site of SMU-in-Taos.
The author of more than 30 books, Wendorf joined the University in 1964. In 1987, he became the first SMU faculty member elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Click here for more information or to obtain a copy of the book.
The first SMU team to enter a national competition for sorting and comparing vast amounts of data took first place. Celebrating the $5,000 prize in the 2008 Data Mining Shootout are SMU President R. Gerald Turner with (from left) team members Jayjit Roy, Manan Roy, Stefan Avdjiev and faculty sponsor Tom Fomby, economics professor in Dedman College. Thirty national teams competed in the contest sponsored by SAS, Dow Chemical Company and the Central Michigan University Research Corporation. The prize was based on solutions to a complex scheduling problem involving a fictitious airline attempting to maximize customer satisfaction at three airports. A new team is working on a computer-program solution for the 2009 competition, Fomby says.
From ancient civilizations to the atomic age, the art, history and science of the Southwest will be explored July 23-26 at the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute.
Against a backdrop of New Mexico’s natural splendor, participants can investigate such topics as the art and life of Georgia O’Keeffe, the cultural richness of Taos, the impact of Los Alamos and the atomic age, and volcanic activity
in Northern New Mexico. A digital photography course and a mountain sports adventure also will be offered. The weekend classes for adults are taught by SMU faculty and limited in size to allow for in-depth discussion. Field trips, evening receptions and shared meals provide additional opportunities for interaction, along with time for sightseeing.
Click here to register online, or call 214-SMU-TAOS.
Ayear after celebrating a $20 million gift from Harold and Annette Simmons ’57 for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, SMU broke ground on the building that will house the new school. Construction is slated to start this summer.
“I see a future filled with new teachers; it’s so much fun to think about that,” said Annette Caldwell Simmons, her voice wavering with emotion as she spoke during the ceremony.
A rendering of Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall.
The gift provides an endowment for the previously unnamed school and serves as the lead gift for the Annette Caldwell Simmons Hall. Mrs. Simmons, a former teacher, is an elementary education graduate of SMU.
“This wonderful new building will be the starting place for new generations of educators and for new research on teaching and learning,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “In many ways, this building will stand in honor of all teachers.
“One of the ways we will complete funding is to ask people to step forward to name every room in this building in honor of a teacher,” he said. To launch this effort, Turner has provided funding to name the reading room in honor of his wife, Gail, a teacher for 13 years.
The new hall, targeted for completion in spring 2010, will consolidate programs that have been housed in a variety of locations. The building will include classrooms; research laboratories, including exercise physiology and biomechanics labs; faculty and administrative offices; and student support areas.
In addition to $10 million in support for the new building, the Simmons’ gift established two endowed funds named in honor of Harold Simmons’ parents, both of whom were educators. His father, Leon Simmons, was superintendent of schools in Golden, Texas, and his mother, Fairess Simmons, was a teacher. The $5 million Fairess Simmons Graduate Fellowship Fund provides a minimum of 10 graduate fellowships for students in the master’s and Ph.D. programs. The remaining $5 million created the Leon Simmons Endowed Deanship and Faculty Recruitment Fund.
“This wonderful new building will be the starting place for new generations of educators and for new research on teaching and learning. In many ways, this building will stand in honor of all teachers. One of the ways we will complete funding is to ask people to step forward to name every room in this building in honor of a teacher.”
“The generous gift of Mr. and Mrs. Simmons has given our school great impetus over the course of a year,” said David J. Chard, the Leon Simmons Endowed Dean of the School. “Already, we’ve added faculty, doubled the size of our doctoral program in educational research, expanded our counseling Master’s program to almost 150 students, and added a Center for Family Counseling in Plano and the Oak Lawn area in Dallas.”</P.
He noted that the school also is making plans to extend its Master’s degree in teaching and learning in collaboration with the Neuhaus Center in West Houston.
The Simmons’ gift counts toward The Second Century Campaign, which seeks $750 million to support student scholarships, faculty and academic programs, and the campus experience.
Aonce empty spot on the east side of campus has been transformed by the Val and Frank Late Fountain, which bears the name of the donor and her late husband.
The 42-by-64-foot oval fountain sits in front of Dedman Life Sciences Building at the intersection of University Boulevard and Airline Road. At the dedication ceremony March 5, President R. Gerald Turner called the fountain a “tremendous addition that builds on one of the real strengths of SMU: the beauty of our campus.” The new building for the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development will flank the Late Fountain on the south.
At night, red, blue or white lights illuminate the state-of-the-art water feature, which cycles through several settings. The new gathering spot is part of SMU’s development of the east side of campus.
On July 1, Michael Clarke, executive director of the SMU International Center, represented the University at the inauguration of Ricardo Martinelli as president of the Republic of Panama. President Martinelli’s son, Luis, is a 2004 SMU graduate.
Michael Clarke enjoys the thrill of the hunt. As executive director of the SMU International Center, he recruits potential students in cities across the globe.
Michael Clarke
Clarke also relishes his role’s new dimension as staff liaison for the international efforts of The Second Century Campaign. While he travels to introduce students in such countries as Guatemala or India to the University, he also reaches out to alumni and friends living there to support campaign efforts.
“The ‘people’ aspects of my work are what make it so interesting: developing the relationships with students and their families that bring them to SMU and keep them connected to the University after they leave,” says Clarke, who joined SMU 14 years ago as director of international admissions and relations.
An estimated 3,000 SMU alumni live in 90 overseas countries. Juan L. Elek of Mexico City and Helmut Sohmen ’66 of Hong Kong co-chair the campaign’s international steering committee and serve on SMU’s Board of Trustees.
The outreach process hinges on creating a personal bond not only with alumni and donors, but also with their families. For example, during a November journey to New Delhi, India, Clarke spent time at several schools to meet potential students and visited with 10 graduates interested in starting an SMU alumni chapter in New Delhi. He also attended two weddings and a birthday party.
“The ‘people’ aspects of my work are what make it so interesting: developing the relationships with students and their families that bring them to SMU and keep them connected to the University after they leave.”
A four-day trip to Panama in March also included a wedding – that of 2002 graduates Mercedes Ortiz of Panama and Luis Eduardo Toriello of Guatemala, who met at SMU. Clarke’s itinerary was filled with a party for parents of current students, an alumni reception and several recruitment visits to schools. In addition, he visited with Panama’ new president, Ricardo Martinelli, who serves on the advisory board of the SMU International Center, and his family. His son, Luis Martinelli-Linares, graduated from SMU in 2004.
“Our approach is different because in most other parts of the world people don’t have the tax advantages or the tradition of giving that we do in the United States,” Clarke says. “So personal relationships become a motivating factor for giving.
“It takes time and builds slowly, but the enthusiasm for SMU is there.”
Clarke works with Vice President Brad E. Cheves, Development and External Affairs; Executive Director Stacey Paddock, Alumni Giving and Relations; and Associate Provost Thomas W. Tunks to coordinate his outreach efforts.
As part of the The Second Century Campaign’s new focus on annual giving, the University has created two societies honoring SMU’s consistent yearly donors. Membership in both societies is based on a fiscal year, June 1-May 31.
President’s Associates recognizes supporters who contribute $1,000 or more to any area of the University. They provide critical support that enables SMU to fulfill its mission as a nationally recognized center for teaching and research. Members continue the legacy of donors who joined the first University president in setting a vision for SMU.
Those who have contributed for two or more years consecutively will be welcomed into the Hilltop Society, named for the celebrated crest on which SMU is built. Members receive special recognition after two, five, 10, 15 and 20 years of consecutive giving. Donors who have given for more than 20 consecutive years are charter members of the Hilltop Society.
Members of both societies will receive special communications and acknowledgement in SMU publications. They also will receive invitations to special events in Dallas and cities around the United States.
Among the Hilltop Society’s charter members are William B. “Bill” Kendrick ’54 and his wife, Patty Bell Kendrick ’52. “We’ve always been proud to support SMU because of the University’s devotion to excellence on so many fronts,” Patty says.
As long as Patty can remember, SMU has been part of her life. Her father is the late football legend Matty Bell, who coached Doak Walker to the Heisman Trophy in 1948 and directed SMU athletics until his retirement in 1964. Patty and Bill met at SMU. He majored in mechanical engineering and she majored in sociology “because I was going to change the world.” Instead, Bill changed her world with a proposal. They married in 1954. Both of their sons are SMU graduates: Scott ’81 received a degree in economics and Matt ’83 earned a psychology degree.
“We’re proud to have supported a University with such exceptional schools that provide an outstanding education,” she says. “And we’re proud to continue our support.”
Gordon Worsham (left) and his wife, Sudie, and Bassett and Peggy Kilgore were the guests of honor at an SMU reception in December. The event
was held in a house built by Kilgore’s grandfather, James Kilgore, which is now the home of preservation architect Craig Melde and his wife,
Becky Melde ’74, an advancement specialist in SMU’ Office of Planned and Endowment Giving.
Gordon Worsham and his wife, Sudie Appel Worsham, surprised a longtime friend in December with the gift of
a lifetime.
The Worshams funded an immediate gift and a charitable gift annuity to establish the Bassett Kilgore Endowed Graduate Fellowship Fund in the Chemistry Department of Dedman College. The graduate fellowship is the first of its kind for the Chemistry Department.
Gordon Worsham and Kilgore met 50 years ago and have been best friends ever since. When the Worshams wanted to honor their dear friend, they thought of SMU.
Kilgore and his family already had an association with the University that spans almost a century. His grandfather, James Kilgore, served on the University’s first faculty, was an acting president from 1922 and 1923 and remained on the board of trustees until his death in 1950. His father, Donald ’20, and mother, Gladys Watson ’21, met at SMU.
After completing three years of study at SMU, Kilgore gained early acceptance to Southwestern Medical School in Dallas in 1949. After two years of medical school, he was granted a Bachelor of Science degree from SMU. Kilgore was the first trained neuroradiologist in Dallas and retired from a successful private practice in 2001.
Gordon Worsham and Bassett Kilgore met 50 years ago and have been best friends ever since. When Worsham and his wife, Sudie Appel Worsham, wanted to honor their dear friend, they thought of SMU.
Two of his five children – sons David ’76 and James Patrick ’82 – comprise the third generation of Kilgores to graduate from SMU.
Kilgore developed a lasting bond with the SMU Chemistry Department through the late Harold Jeskey. The professor had just arrived at SMU when Kilgore was a young student, and Jeskey’s organic chemistry class left a lasting impression. “I once proposed taking organic in summer school somewhere else, as a way of getting ahead,” recalls David Kilgore. “Dad counseled me that Dr. J’s organic class was not to be missed. He said I could take anything else I wanted in summer school, but not organic. And he was right.”
Senior Regan Owen introduces his alter ego: a life-sized cutout he uses to help spread the word about The Union, a new student organization to encourage class unity and inform students about the importance of giving. The group comprises 40 undergraduate students, including Owen, a student member of the Development and External Affairs Trustees Committee. The students “personally reach out to their peers and inspire them to make a gift to SMU,” says Chip Hiemenz ’06, assistant director, young alumni programs. The 18 cardboard doppelgangers appear around campus and grab students’ attention, creating an opportunity for Owen and other members of The Union to discuss The Second Century Campaign. “We’re beginning to create a culture of giving in students that will support one of the campaign goals: achieving 25 percent giving participation by our alumni,” Hiemenz says.
The labyrinth, an ancient symbol of spirituality, will be incorporated into the design of the courtyard between Perkins School of Theology’s new Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall and the renovated Selecman Hall. A gift by Dodee ’03 and Billy Crockett ’05 names the granite labyrinth in honor of Professor Ruben L.F. Habito, who teaches World Religions and Spirituality at Perkins. Planned as a contemplative public space, the labyrinth is part of a major transformation of the school’s facilities that began last year and is scheduled for completion this summer. Opportunities to support the school’s new and refurbished buildings exist at all levels. For more information, contact the Perkins School of Theology Development Office at 214-768-2026.
Houston had a problem in September – Hurricane Ike ‐ that caused the delay of The Second Century Campaign launch in that city. The postponement didn’t dampen Mustang spirit, however, as 150 alumni and supporters turned out for the kickoff January 28 at the Houston Country Club. Attendees (from left) Chip Clarke ’85, Scott J. McLean ’78 and Ann Short were among those who heard from President R. Gerald Turner and other speakers about the campaign, which seeks $750 million to support student scholarships, faculty and academic programs, and the campus experience. Houston campaign co-chairs are McLean and Dennis E. Murphree ’69.
Helmut Sohmen ’66 and his wife, Anna, hosted a dinner in Beijing to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sohmen Chinese Scholars program in October. Thirty-five former Sohmen Scholars and SMU’s Dedman School of LawDean John Attanasio attended the event. Pictured with Sohmen (center) are (from left) Attanasio, current Sohmen Scholar Xinying Zhu; Justice Xiaojing Duan, a judge in the Chinese People’s Supreme Court in Beijing and a visiting scholar at the law school; and current Sohemn Scholars Jianhan Guo, Bo Yan and Yang Liu. Sohmen, who lives in Hong Kong, established the program at the law school through a $2 million gift, and he recently pledged an additional $1 million to the program. The Dedman Foundation matched both gifts. Each year the program funds four or five full-time scholarships for a one-year LL.M. in comparative and international law on the condition that the students return to China after graduation. The highly competitive scholarships and living stipend are awarded to outstanding graduates of China’s top law schools. The goal of the program is to train young Chinese leaders in U.S. law and international legal principles.
Bonnie Resler Karlsrud has written Dale Resler Behind the Scene in El Paso, a historical narrative about her father, an El Paso civic leader and philanthropist.
James (Jim) Cronin, the 1980 Nobel Prize winner in physics, attended his Highland Park High School class’ 60th reunion in September.
53
William (Bill) Shockley was at the 60th reunion last fall of the 1948 and 1949 Highland Park High School classes. He retired in 1996 as president of the Andrews Corporation after a 46-year international high-tech career.
54
Patricia Keene Stewart and her husband are active volunteers in Palm City, FL, where they raised funds for a shelter for abused women and children. She serves local charities and is a member of the library board.
56
Richard Deats wrote Marked for Life (New City Press), the story of Hildegard Goss-Mayr and her work in human and civil rights.
Geraldine (Tincy) Miller received the TACA Silver Cup March 6, 2009, in recognition of her support for and contributions to the performing arts in Dallas. She has advocated for arts education in Texas as a member of the State Board of Education for the past 24 years.
57
William R. (Bill) Janowski was honored Jan. 29, 2009, at the opening reception for “Art Collection of Bill and Jo Janowski,” a six-month exhibit at the National Automobile Museum in Reno. The paintings and sculptures feature racing as a theme and include cars, legendary drivers and activities of the sport. He retired from active racing in 2008.
Geri Sue Hudson Morgan is a six-and-a-half-year kidney transplant survivor. During 1980-2001 she helped establish an eye hospital in China to provide free care to the needy.
63
Bill B. Hedges has been appointed archivist of the South Central Jurisdiction Mission Council. He also is a member of the General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church.
In memory of James E. Caswell (M.T. ’66, M.T. ’70), the Texas Association of Student Personnel Administrators renamed its highest honor the Dr. James E. (Jim) Caswell Distinguished Service Award. He was vice president for student affairs at SMU from 1988 until his retirement in spring 2007.
64
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: John M. Haley, Sandra Garland Cecil
John H. Buck wrote Words of Enrichment (Vantage Press, 2008), a vocabulary guide of 500 words. He moved to Grandview, TX, after retiring from a 30-year law practice in Houston.
65
Steven C. Salch (J.D. ’68) has been named the Outstanding Texas Tax Lawyer by the taxation section of the State Bar of Texas.
66
Helmut Sohmen received the Friendship Ambassador Award in October 2008 from the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. He is chair of BW Corporation Limited in Hong Kong (formerly World-Wide Shipping Group Limited).
67
Walter J. Humann was presented the Legacy of Leadership Award by the White House Fellows Foundation Oct. 24, 2008, in Washington, D.C., to honor his public service at national and local levels. He was a White House Fellow in 1966-67. He is married to the former Beatrice Read (’59), and they have three children and 11 grandchildren.
68
Dale Bulla and his wife, Pat, received the National Wildlife Federation’s 2008 Volunteer of the Year award in Keystone, CO, for ensuring a wildlife heritage for future generations by protecting wildlife and habitat in Central Texas.
69
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: G. Mark Cullum, Delilah Holmes Boyd, Cynthia Taylor Mills
Jerry LeVias appeared in the HBO special Breaking the Huddle Dec. 16, 2008.
Harry M. Wyatt III was nominated by President George W. Bush in November 2008 as the next Air National Guard director with the rank of lieutenant general. He will develop and coordinate policies, plans and programs for more than 107,000 Air Guardsmen nationwide. He succeeds Gen. Craig R. McKinley ’74.
72
William Frank Carroll was elected to the Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors for 2008-10, the Dallas Bar Antitrust and Trade Regulation Council for 2009 and the American Law Institute.
Janet Bunn Hensell and her sisters, Patricia Bunn Green ’77 and Ellen Craig, mourn the loss of their father, Rufus Eugene Bunn ’46, who died in April.
74
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: Steve Morton, Robert G. White Jr. and Brenda Beach White
Gary L. Ingram was chosen a Top Attorney by his peers and featured in Fort Worth, Texas magazine. He is a partner in the Fort Worth office of Jackson Walker LLP and statewide chair of the firm’s labor and employment section.
Deanna Koelling married Steve Blahut in 1987. She is a certified professional coder at Claremore Indian Hospital in Claremore, OK.
Craig R. McKinley was promoted to four-star general, the first in National Guard history, at a Pentagon ceremony Nov. 17, 2008. Present were his wife, Cheryl, son Patrick and daughter Christina. As National Guard bureau chief, he is principal adviser to the defense secretary on all National Guard matters.
Patrick Yack was named Atwood Chair of Journalism at the University of Alaska – Anchorage.
75
Radamee Orlandi sold a clinical dental practice after 30 years and is now an assistant to the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Port St. Lucie, FL., working in Christian education and discipleship.
Donnie Ray Albert performed a selection of Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs in February with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera and narrated A Lincoln Portrait.
David Bates is a Dallas artist whose painting was featured on the poster for the 2008 Texas Book Festival. A monograph of his work, David Bates (Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in association with Scala Publishers), was published in 2007.
Michael M. Carlson joined the San Francisco office of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP as a partner in commercial litigation. He has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and was named one of Silicon Valley’s Top Attorneys in 2005 and 2006 by San José Magazine.
Edward B. Rust Jr. is a board member of the Chicago Public Education Fund, which seeks to improve the management of schools and the performance of principals and teachers. He is an attorney and chair and chief executive since 1985 of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company.
Ralph C. Shive is a chartered financial analyst and former manager of the mutual fund FMIEX. He works in South Bend, IN.
Gary Alan Smith was named by The United Methodist Publishing House as project director and co-editor of the new hymn and worship book authorized by the 2008 General Conference.
John Samuel Tieman (M.A. ’79) presented a paper at the annual meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association in January 2009. “The Ghost in the Schoolroom: A Primer in the Lessons of Shame” is published in Schools: Studies in Education (Journals Division, University of Chicago Press) and addresses teachers’ use of shaming in the classroom. He is a widely published essayist and poet.
76
Arthur (Art) Hains was game-day host for the Kansas City Chiefs radio network in the 2008 season and is in his 29th year as the “Voice of the Bears” on the Missouri State University radio network.
Jeannette Stephenson Keton wrote a second book, a biography of Beatrice Carr Wallace, the first woman to serve on the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission. Keton coaches Children’s Medical Center executives in Dallas on presentation and communication skills and is in her fifth year as a communications consultant for Trinity Industries.
78
David Bostick is chief executive officer of Goodwill Fort Worth. He has doubled revenue growth, expanded the number of retail stores, started a recycling program and opened a computer store to provide additional revenue. He started with Goodwill in 1993 as director of rehabilitation.
Valerie E. Ertz was appointed by Gov. Rick Perry of Texas to a second six-year term on the Board of Regents at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches. A board member since 2003, she was chair in 2008. She is owner and president of VEE Services.
Ronald (Ron) Gaswirth was selected a 2008 Texas Super Lawyer. He is an employment and labor attorney in the Dallas office of Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP.
Lisa Loy Laughlin is director of major gifts and planned giving for Communities in Schools Dallas Region Inc., which provides academic and social support services to more than 420,000 children and helps underachieving, at-risk students. She has been an educator, community leader and fund-raiser for more than 20 years. She and her husband, Kendall, have three sons.
Thomas B. Slater (D. Min. ’81) is a New Testament professor in McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta. His article on a key phrase in Revelations 19:11, 21:5 and 22:6 was translated into French for use by ministers in French-speaking African countries.
79
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: Patrick F. Hammer, Kevin Meeks and Laura Green Meeks
Martha L. Danhof, DO, is the lead hospitalist and palliative care physician at Baylor All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth. She also is the POD group leader for IPC, a leading national physician group practice focused on hospital medicine.
Doug Adelstein just completed almost eight years of service as a city councilman in Lynden, WA.
Vasile Beluska was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in May 2008 by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations for helping musicians from Eastern Europe come to the United States to develop their careers. He is a professor of music performance studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
Nancy Lowell George and her children, Emily George Grubbs ’08, Adam and Andy, were featured in the December 2008 Guideposts magazine in Nancy’s story of her family’s Christmas 12 years ago when a now-healthy Andy was critically ill with leukemia. She is a senior writer and editor in the Office of Public Affairs at SMU and a freelance magazine writer.
Bill Bogart has been appointed to the Board of Directors of TACA, a nonprofit organization that funds the arts in North Texas. He has served on the boards of Texas Ballet Theater, The Dallas Opera and the President’s Council of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. A managing director for JP Morgan, he and his wife, Brenda, have six children.
Regina Picone Etherton is the director of Regina P. Etherton & Associates LLC, a Chicago law firm. She was appointed to the Board of Managers for the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, selected as one of the American Trial Lawyers Association’s top 100 trial lawyers and named to the Illinois Super Lawyers list. She also was chosen by Lawdragon magazine as one of the leading lawyers in America for plaintiffs.
John Fisher, M.D., is an interventional radiologist with extensive experience in breast imaging and breast biopsy. He founded Biopsy Services in 2001, a biomedical research and device company that developed the products HydroMARK and BioSEAL. He is moving his company from Tucson to Pinellas County, FL. He has a daughter, Libby.
Harvey Solganick published an article, “Apologetics Worldviews,” in Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization (Blackwell Publications, 2009).
82
Ann Swisher is a new member of the Board of Directors of TACA, a nonprofit organization that supports performing arts organizations in North Texas. She serves on the President’s Advisory Council of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts and the Brinker International Forum Board of Advisors. She is married to Michael McGehee.
Kurt-Alexander Zeller was promoted to associate professor with tenure at Clayton State University in Atlanta, where he is director of opera and vocal studies. He co-authored the book What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body (Plural Publishing, 2008).
83
Sheron Patterson (M.Div. ’89, D.Min. ’96) was honored at the Susan G. Komen Dallas Race for the Cure Eighth Annual Kick-Off Luncheon Oct. 15, 2008
Joseph D. (Chip) Sheppard III received the President’s Award from the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association for extraordinary service to the legal profession and was a 2008 finalist for Missouri Lawyer of the Year. He is a shareholder of Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown PC and practices real estate, business, securities and intellectual property litigation and dispute resolution.
84
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: Hal Gibbs, Chris J. Gilker and Heather Evans Gilker
Barbara Elias-Perciful, a Dallas attorney and child advocate, was honored by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division as the Distinguished Lawyer recipient of the 2009 Child Advocacy Award for her service on behalf of abused and neglected children. The prestigious award is based on an individual’s personal achievements and impact in helping abused and neglected children. She is the founder and director of Texas Loves Children, a nonprofit organization that assists lawyers, judges and others working with child protection cases.
Larry McCord is in his 23rd year of teaching college-level music. Currently at Hill College in Hillsboro, TX, he also directs the music ministry at a United Methodist church near Waco.
Christopher Braun is one of 48 new Fellows elected to membership in the American College of Environmental Lawyers as announced at the annual meeting in San Francisco Oct. 1, 2008. He has a practice with Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP in Indianapolis.
85
Roald Bradstock is shown throwing the javelin at a May 1985 SMU competition in a popular video posted online. Along with a full-time career in fine art, he still competes at age 46. He holds the world’s masters age group record and last year competed in a record-setting seventh Olympic trials. He stages videos on YouTube.com and sets unofficial world records for throwing such items as eggs, fish, iPods, cell phones and golf balls.
86
Bob Jennings is co-author of The Adversity Paradox: An Unconventional Guide to Achieving Uncommon Business Success (St. Martin’s Press, April 2009). He is president of Lean Management Inc., a consulting company focused on senior management methods and execution. He lives in Des Moines, IA.
Curt R. Roberts is a commercial pilot, currently a DC9 captain for Delta Air Lines. He has homes in St. Paul, MN, and Scottsdale, AZ.
Millie A. Sall joined the Houston office of law firm Thompson & Knight LLP in January 2009. She has 20 years of legal experience and practices corporate reorganization and creditors’ rights, corporate crisis management and restructuring.
87
Mary Kay Holman-Romero was married in June 2008 in Orange County, CA, in one of the first same-sex marriages in a mainline denominational church.
Fred Meisenheimer joined Atmos Energy Corporation in June 2000 as vice president and controller. His promotion to senior vice president and chief financial officer was announced Feb. 3.
Andrea Nicole Copeland Sexton wrote her first novel, Party Favors (Globe Pequot Press, 2008).
88
Whit Sheppard lives with his wife and young daughter in Richmond, VA. He contributed a piece to the recently released Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Golf Book.
Lilian Garcia-Roig had an exhibition in January and February at Valley House Gallery in Dallas of more than 30 “Autumn Spectacles” maximalist landscapes she painted in Texas, Florida, New Hampshire, Alabama and Washington. She is a professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Steve Kinderman is a member of the Air Force Band of the Rockies Brass Quintet.
John O’Reilly has appointments by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to the Palomar Airport Advisory Committee and by the Carlsbad, CA, mayor and city council to the Envision Carlsbad Citizens Committee to create a vision of Carlsbad 20 years into the future. He owns a comprehensive wealth management firm in Carlsbad.
89
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: Tracey E. George, Caroline Waggoner Hautt and Craig H. Yaksick
Yikwon P. Kim has worked since October 2007 as an exhibits designer/specialist for the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, CA.
William D. Campbell 12/12/08 Olgah T. Liles Jr. 11/23/08 Mary Virginia Wall Simmons 12/18/08
1935
William B. Boone 8/1/97 Annie Early Fleming Cook 10/17/08 Ethelyn Clara Davis (’36) 12/15/08
1937
Archy M. Roper Jr. 12/3/08 Verna Treadwell 1/15/09
1938
Nellie M. Barnes ’51, 6/1/84 Thelma Quillian Goodrich 12/20/08
1939
Corinne Peirce Philley 10/3/08
1940
Oliver H. Daniel 12/26/08 Elizabeth Jones Eades 11/13/08 Edward C. Fritz 12/19/08 Muriel Carr Griffiths 11/10/08 John A. Oliver 10/30/95
1941
Joseph Guy Rollins Jr. 11/2/08
1942
Roland Elsworth Goss 10/14/08 Kathleen Childress Harrison 11/10/08
Louis Ralph Patterson 1/20/09
1943
William J. Kanewske Jr. ’82, 12/6/08 James V. Patterson ’45, 10/6/08 Robert B. Potter 8/31/08
1944
H. Mathews Garland ’51, 9/5/08 Hazel Gibson McClain 2/24/08 Nancy Shumate Miller 12/7/08 Max L. Plaut 2/25/07 James N. Smith 11/20/08 Cara Patricia Aikin Umpleby 9/3/08 Erwin E. White 11/22/08
1945
George J. Beebe 1/29/06 Peggy Lee Parker Hawk 9/30/08 William P. Kanelos 1/24/09 Jewell K. Patterson 8/16/99 Nita Harmon Smith 9/28/08
1946
Fred B. Bearden Jr. 1/7/08 Paul McConnell Bumpers 9/22/08 Robert A. Greaves Jr. 4/15/08 Henry S. Renz 12/19/08 Betty Lou Tolleson 7/10/01
1947
Patsy Margaret Hayes Edwards 10/20/08 Fred S. Hanna 9/19/08 Dr. Joseph A. Hertell 12/24/95 Robert A. Nichols 9/15/08 Wayne Palmer 12/22/08 Gwendolyn Wolff Robberson 1/13/09 Gracie Prothro Watson 12/7/08
1948
Mildred Ann Woollard Basore 12/16/08 Fred M. Bruner 12/26/08 Paul Simms Dennison 10/27/08 William B. Ferguson 12/1/94 Betty Stroud Fogleman 12/31/08 James F. Heeter 1/25/09 John Fox Holt II 9/8/08 Maurice Keith Kellow 10/23/08 Wilbur R. Lund 12/24/08 Harold Vertel 1/5/09
1949
Donald O. Acrey 1/6/09 Jack F. Birdsong 10/14/08 William E. Boger Jr. 12/24/08 Dorothy Bruce 7/10/04 William F. Courtney ’55, 12/8/08 Howard T. Edwards 11/17/08 Joseph Kirby Ellis Jr. 11/15/08 Donald D. Ferguson 11/30/08 Earl Geldmeier 6/17/08 Alfred C. Griffith 5/11/88 William A. Kohmann 3/1/07 Jamie Linwood Lander 9/20/08 Robert E. Lehman 12/15/01 Elizabeth Llera Massey 9/22/08 Jack H. McRae 11/6/08 James C. Persons Jr. 10/30/08 Ervin Polishuk 11/5/08 Jeanette Durand Potter 10/17/08 Billy R. Prim 9/15/99 William A. Pritchard ’50, 12/1/08 Swift S. Sparks 6/15/88 James Edward Wall 4/29/02
1950
Robert B. Andrews 4/16/08 Joyce Noel Berkenbile 11/9/08 Dorris Cross Bradley 12/29/08 Robert L. Cottingham 10/19/08 George Gordon Davenport 12/1/08 Leonard B. Devenney 4/9/02 John T. Dickehut 2/6/04 Curtis I. Forsbach 10/13/08 Robert Hill Garrett 11/26/08 Edward Emanuel Gilbert 9/30/08 Thomas E. Hamlin 10/25/08 Robert A. Mann 12/6/08 Warren S. McSwain 8/25/06 Elbert M. Morrow 1/24/09 Willis Norman Purvis 4/2/05 Robert J. Snipes 12/18/08 Leslie L. Walden Jr. 9/1/86
1951
Elizabeth Ann Ferguson Alder 9/6/08 Lawrence Hyman Budner ’90, 11/11/08 Raymond Marvin Finnell 9/16/08 William A. Lee 9/19/97 Thomas L. Redden 6/1/08 Walter R. Reetz 7/1/84 Evelyn Joyce Schepps 4/15/70
1952
Susan Bland Bryan 6/15/06 Joe W. Fort Sr. ’55, 10/12/08 Litrelle Templeton Levy 1/1/99 Herbert Bob Stellmacher 7/17/00
1953
Joanne Herrin Bell 3/10/05 Jean McConnell Brewer 12/26/07 Joan Folsom 12/27/08 Charles E. Galey ’59, 9/21/08 Mary K. Jordan Hitt 1/28/08 Bill Frank Kryzda 1/3/09 Henry R. Malinowski 11/11/07 J. Charles Shelley 2/8/08
1954
John C. Archibald 10/2/04 Jerry Garland Bartos 11/28/08 Barbara Ann Boring Burnside 9/12/08 William Wade Fox III 9/5/08 Julian Wales Potter 6/15/99 John A. Rakestraw 8/22/08 Albert L. Shirkey 1/18/09 George Lanman Simons 1/16/03 John W. Torbett III ’63, 9/13/08
1955
Claudia Carroll Baker 10/19/08 Vernon L. Castle 7/31/04 John C. Echols 4/29/08 Reeves B. Fulton Jr. 9/10/08 Charles E. Hamilton 5/2/00 Jimmie Dick Hammons 3/16/08 Brady Preston Lockhart 9/22/08 Cecil L. Minton 10/10/03 Stanley A. Schaeffer 8/3/07 Gordon G. Sorrells ’62, ’72, 12/13/08 Marlin M. Winn 11/14/08
1956
Thomas P. Alexander 11/2/08 Robert A. Clayton 9/8/08 Joseph Henry Cowen 10/5/08 Volney C. Shields II 12/8/08
1957
William A. Baine 6/20/08 Bob W. Patterson 10/24/08 Glenn H. Sparks 5/31/05 Cynthia Hines Weatherford 9/29/08
1958
Dwight D. Arthur 5/7/08 Mary Helen Fisher Griffith 9/16/08 José Olesini 10/30/08 Rance D. Ratliff 6/20/08 Henry Neil Schacht 10/10/08 Barbara Jean Taggart 11/17/08 Sami Jamil Talhouk 9/2/08 Ronald M. Wood 12/31/07
1959
Joseph W. Dawley III 9/15/08 Stanley M. Eckert ’78, 8/10/01 Robert S. Franz 9/10/08 William Earl Norris Jr. 10/7/08 George L. Rodriguez 11/29/07 Anne McCluney Tagore ’61, 10/20/91
1960
Otis D. Carter 12/8/08 Henry C. Christopher 11/12/08 Martin William Katsma 2/4/99
1961
Joseph R. Dowell 10/17/08 Anne Yeager Hansen 2/28/09 Houston Johns Kauffman Sr. 9/2/08 Joe M. Lindsey Jr. 1/23/04 Patricia Cain Stamper 4/29/08
1962
Joe F. Isbell 10/25/08 Mittie J. Lloyd 12/16/08 Houston A. Maddox 10/23/08 Edward L. Miller 4/30/07 Donald Kenneth Small 9/23/02 Mary Nan Stanley Sone 12/7/08
1963
William S. Houston Jr. 10/22/08 Joe R. Lovelady 9/22/08 John O. McGraw 10/4/08 Gale Wayne Merrill 3/17/08 Claire D. Shelton 12/12/08 Winfield N. Stroud 10/7/08
1964
Susan Randall Boone 9/13/08 Colleen Rita Jennett 9/22/08
1965
Philip J. Dick 7/19/08 Elbert Earl Harbour 10/25/08
1966
Mary Glen Joy Fouts 1/24/09 Horace B. Hauk Jr. 8/31/08 Earle B. Johnson Jr. 10/6/01 Frank J. Mesaros 9/1/03
1967
Mohamed Aboul-Enein 11/16/08 Charles E. Beresford 10/21/08 George W. Bolton 6/21/07 Richard A. Cupples 8/3/08 Richard L. Eschenburg II 12/17/08 Donald Charles Ford 10/24/08
1968
Robert William Baier 10/30/08 Nancy Elise Domercq 11/16/02 James Albon Mattox 11/20/08 Mary Krempin Kenney Perkins 8/24/08 James R. Pool 1/13/09 Darrell Lynn Railsback 5/15/02 Murry Robertson 12/24/96 Diane A. Watson 4/12/93
1969
Harold R. Clements II ’72, 1/8/09 Laura Dean Ford 12/20/08 Miro Pavelka 3/1/85 Ruth Vehr Shields 1/18/07 Jan K. Woolverton 7/9/08
1970
James L. Benish 8/24/08 John A. Crary 11/12/08 Christine Metzler Elmore 9/1/87 Michael Lee Manning 1/6/09 Richard A. Monroe 12/9/92 Joyce Dean Redmond 11/1/83 Norma Colson Slane 1/19/09
1971
Carro Shelton Hartman 1/3/09 Raymond O. Pewitt 11/17/08 James S. Waller &rsqo;74, 8/18/07 Gene C. Welborn 11/4/07
1972
Bobby Yogi Casas 12/1/08 Roberta Forbes 6/13/08 William A. Haskell 8/4/08 Donald R. Jones 6/30/08 David C. Walling 11/12/08
1973
Manly Eugene Ballew 1/20/09 Robert A. Kilpatrick Jr. 6/8/06 Marsha Long Reed 4/1/07 Betty Gay Cook Robson 3/3/02 Fred L. Sawyer 4/6/92 Presley E. Smith Jr. 12/2/08 Roger Stacey Webb 1/9/09 Joseph R. Witherspoon 12/27/08
1974
Jill Drake Barbee 10/22/08 Glenn T. Comtois 1/4/09 John Frederick Dalton 1/6/01 Irving L. Friedman 7/16/97 Harry Robinson Gowdey Jr. 1/8/09 Fred Tripp Jr. 6/15/93 Eugenia S. Weitzman 1/6/09 Robert H. Williams 7/28/95
1975
John Ernest Linney 7/28/08 Larry C. Shannon 9/27/08 Nancy Hodge Shy 1/7/09
1976
Karen Elaine Jahn 12/16/08 James Buford Randel III 6/1/85 Gilbert E. Robertson Jr. 11/25/08
1977
Michael Curtis Barrett 1/11/09 Cathryn Beamon 1/13/09 Lynn Hastings ’79, 11/1/08 Steve A. Mandell 4/15/08 Stewart Kyle Owens 9/19/08
1978
Joe Thomas Bagot 1/13/09 Arthur Nowell Bingham 10/27/08 William S. Davis 7/1/07 David M. Donan 7/14/08 Warren Graham Johnson 4/25/08 Chester Worth Shaw Jr. 3/27/08 Rev. Andrew J. Weaver 10/22/08 Mae E. Zimmerman 12/31/08
1981
Margaret Ann Howard Cook 1/5/09 Jeanmarie Tolle Geis 12/19/08 Richard H. Law 10/26/92
1982
Bobby Dean Baggett 4/13/07 Rona Robbins Mears 12/18/08
1983
Ruth Anne Breeding 12/21/02 Tom R. Hollingsworth 6/15/94 James I. Hurst 12/17/94 Maurine B. Owens 6/28/93
1984
Douglas Glenn Haugen 4/1/94 Carl William Neihart 11/16/95 Charles Joseph Romanski 12/21/08
1986
Kathleen Baskin-Ball 11/16/08 David Lee Green 3/9/07 Terry Ronald Hackler 1/17/09 Rhonda Denise Jackson 7/4/05
1987
Thomas F. Crofutt 10/31/08
1988
Jeffrey John Becker 8/15/88 Douglas Mark Gardner 6/29/93 Kelley Maclauren Oliphint 10/5/08
1989
Richard Grant Shellabarger 1/24/94
1990
Alexa Lee Irwin 11/29/07
Samuel James Owen 4/7/07
1992
James D. Slack 10/16/08 Stephen Burr Stallcup 1/6/09
1993
Bryan Craig McOlash Jr. 11/2/05
1995
Robert Warner 6/26/08
1997
Travis Randolph Powell 1/19/09
1999
Robert Carson Qualls 9/13/08
2001
David Noel Morgret 8/3/08
2004
Jennifer Alexis Wells 11/8/08
SMU Community
Mark Shepherd (’42, ’66), former SMU trustee, 2/4/09
Correction
Carolyn Ann Ebbers Whitson ’98 was inadvertently included in the In Memoriam listing of SMU Magazine, fall/winter 2008. She would like her fellow Dedman School of Law alumni to know that she is alive and well and living in Grapevine, TX. SMU Magazine apologizes for the error.
The late Lt. Col. Eric J. Kruger was remembered on campus in November.
On November 9, 2008, family and friends gathered in the Laura Bush Promenade outside Fondren Library Center to dedicate a plaque in honor of SMU alumnus Lt. Col. Eric J. Kruger, 40, of Garland, Texas, who was killed in Baghdad, Iraq, on Nov. 2, 2006. Kruger was on his third military tour of duty when he died as a result of injuries caused by the detonation of an improvised explosive device near his vehicle. Kruger earned a Bachelor’s degree in political science in 1988 and a Master’s degree in liberal arts in 2002. At SMU, he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and the Army ROTC program. A graduate of the Army’s elite Rangers School, Kruger served at the Pentagon, in Korea and with special forces in Afghanistan. He volunteered to go to Iraq to serve as the deputy commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division of Fort Carson, Colorado, where he started his career as an officer. Among his survivors are wife Sara and their four children. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Laura Claycomb sang the role of Tytania in the Houston Grand Opera’s February production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
91
Kimberly Grigsby was keynote speaker Feb. 9 at the Dallas Museum of Art when TACA, a nonprofit fund-raising organization for the performing arts in North Texas, distributed grants, including one to Meadows School of the Arts.
She is a pianist and musical director in New York City with extensive Broadway credits. She also served an artist’s residency at SMU, working with music and theater students in preparation for the musical production The Two Orphans April 29-May 3.
Stephanie Murdock is a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain. As media operations officer, she handles public affairs, media outreach and queries from international news outlets.
Steven E. Ross was named in October 2008 to head the intellectual property practice group at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP in Dallas. He focuses on business development, management, administration, training and mentoring programs for more than 50 attorneys, patent agents and staff.
92
Matt and Jennifer Leslie Boettcher announce the birth of Bo Haworth Dec. 17, 2007, a brother for son Blake. The family lives in Atlanta.
Nadja Swarovski was profiled in The New York Times Style Magazine for winter 2008. She lends assistance to the fashion industry by providing financing and raw materials to designers and design newcomers. She and her husband, Rupert Adams, live in London with their children.
Steven M. Tyndall joined the Austin office of Baker Botts LLP Jan. 1, 2009, as partner. He practices general corporate law, securities law and mergers and acquisitions.
93
William E. (Bill) Adams Jr. (J.D. ’96) is a shareholder at Gunster Yoakley in Jacksonville, FL, specializing in commercial litigation. Florida Trend magazine named him among the “legal elite” for 2008.
Michael T. Carney and his wife, Eunjung, had their first child, Tom, in 2008. Carney continues his business law and trust and estates practice in San Mateo, CA.
94
Reunion: November 7, 2007
Chairs: Molly Noble Kidd and Scott J. Mallonee
Jennifer Adams Brinks and husband Bryan of Denver welcomed a son, Alexander Richard, June 15, 2007. Big brother is Adam.
Monica E. Edwards (M.S. ’96) was named a partner in the Evansville, IN, law firm Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn LLP effective Jan. 1. She practices environmental, intellectual property and real estate law.
Kimberly Head-Amos and her husband, Lewis, announce the birth of their daughter, Anne Beaty, Aug. 18, 2007. They live in Decatur, GA, where Kimberly leads SMU’s Atlanta Alumni Chapter
Ashley Farmer Jenkins and her husband, Chad, are parents of James Clark, born July 19, 2007, and Grant, born Oct. 30, 2004. Their home is Nolensville, TN.
95
Anjie Coplin is the director of communications for the west and southwest regions of Aetna.
Erin Nealy Cox, a Dallas digital forensic expert, has been named to the Dallas Business Journal’s “Forty Under Forty” list of the city’s top young business minds. She is a managing director and deputy general counsel for the global digital forensics firm Stroz Friedberg.
Gavin Harris and his wife, Lisa, welcomed Claire Elizabeth, Sept. 21, 2007. They live in Atlanta.
Quino Martinez was elevated to partner at the Orlando law firm Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed PA, practicing real estate and finance law.
Colleen Smith McTaggart and her husband, Lawrence, are the parents of Lawrence John McTaggart IV, born May 20, 2007. They live in Chicago.
Charlotte Harrington Page and her husband, Michael, announce the birth of Naomi Catherine Aug. 6, 2007. They also have a son, Austin, and live in Hailey, ID.
James W. Worlein speaks before groups about his experiences as an Iraq war veteran. An essay he wrote was published online by Iraq Veterans Against the War.
96
Brad Ashlin announces the birth of his son, William, Sept. 5, 2007.
Pietro Rizzo made his American conducting debut in February at the Dallas Opera production of La bohème, which he conducted from memory. His next engagement was at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, where he conducted Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
97
Suzy Shire Adams and Cord Adams ’95 were married Feb. 21 in Perkins Chapel. They reside in Dallas.
Sean Mackay was awarded a National Science Foundation research fellowship for his Boston University graduate study in geomorphology, polar glaciology, which is linked to his interest in issues of global climate change. At SMU, he was in the first class of Hunt Leadership Scholars (’93) and graduated with a double major in physics and music.
J.R. Johnson is co-founder and CEO of VirtualTourist.com, one of the world’s largest online travel communities. The nine-year-old business receives more than 6 million unique visitors each month, according to the company.
Tara Bratcher Key announces the birth of her third son, Micah Bratcher Key, Nov. 10, 2008.
Melissa Michelle Long married Kurt Francis Mohlman Sept. 6, 2008. They live in Austin, where she is the chief psychologist at Travis County Juvenile Probation Department.
Rio Puertollano’s short film, Tamarind, was a winner in the Thirteen/WNET Reel 13 Shorts competition. He holds a Master’s in acting from Yale, has performed Off-Broadway and has worked for Viacom/Paramount Pictures and HBO. His short films have been screened at numerous film festivals.
Christopher J. Schwegmann joined the trial firm Lynn Tillotson Pinker & Cox LLP in 2005 and was recently named a partner. He was a Texas Monthly Rising Star in business litigation for 2007 and 2008.
98
Andy Buitron and Maria Sanchez ’06 were married September 5 in Dallas. The couple resides in Dallas.
Jill Thieleke Purcell and her husband, Scott, announce the birth of their son, Dominic Borg, Nov. 8, 2008. Daughter Lucy is 2. Jill is an assistant vice president of compliance for Wells Fargo. The Purcells live in Urbandale, IA.
Jason Wood was honored last November by Rochester Business Journal in its 2008 Forty Under 40 list for his professional and civic contributions. He is senior manager of audit and enterprise risk services at Deloitte & Touche LLP in Rochester, NY.
99
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: Taylor Martin and Lindsay Feldhaus Perlman
Rosario (Chachy) Segovia Heppe and Hansjoerg Heppe ’97 announce the birth of their son, Otto Arturo Joerg Leopold Heppe, July 2 in Dallas.
Nicola Hobeiche (J.D. ’02) and her husband, Todd Hewes, welcomed a daughter, Gabrielle Elisabeth, July 30, 2008.
Jacquline (Jackie) Brabham (M.B.A. ’05) was promoted in December 2008 to senior vice president of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. She heads the annuity operations center in Secaucus, NJ, and manages new business, customer service, in-force processing and business services.
01
Catherine McEachern was appointed chief financial officer last November for U.S. operations for Destilería Serrallés Inc. distillery.
Susan McIntyre is development director for major gifts for the Nashville Opera.
Katherine Ryan married Shawn Fullam ’96 in Austin June 7, 2008.
Laura Staub married Vince Pusateri Oct. 18, 2008, in Atlanta. Bridesmaids included Kristen Cruikshank Gary, Julie Kay Gabennesch Maguire and Sarah Adams Trampe. The newlyweds live in Atlanta, where Laura works in communications and marketing at Georgia Tech.
02
Barrett Kingsriter was promoted to vice president of corporate finance and investment banking at Commerce Street Capital, a Dallas-based investment banking firm. He is a licensed attorney in Texas.
Todd F. Lokash was promoted in September 2008 to vice president of TDManufacturing at TDIndustries’ Dallas manufacturing division, which operates the largest prefabrication shop in North Texas.
Benjamin Parkey married Allison Morris Feb. 9, 2008, in Fort Worth. They live in Dallas.
Theresa Garza Remek (M.L.A. ’07) works as FAS coordinator at SMU in the office of the vice president of development and external affairs.
03
Nina Bradstreet, PE, LEED AP was named the first member of the University of Texas at Dallas Mechanical Engineering Industrial Advisory Board at the Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. She is an engineer in the Richardson, TX, office of Halff Associates Inc., one of the nation’s leading architecture-engneering-consulting firms.
Lyle Steelman was appointed associate principal trumpet in the Cleveland Orchestra.
04
Reunion: November 7, 2009
Chairs: Britt Moen Estwanik and Dustin T. Odham
Lindsay A. Allen works with redevelopment opportunities and sells development sites in the Dallas office of the Atlanta-headquartered Apartment Realty Advisors, a privately held, full-service investment advisory brokerage firm. She was 2006 National Rookie of the Year at the Grubb & Ellis Company.
Artist Amanda Dunbar was awarded the DAR Americanism Medal for the State of Texas at a ceremony March 14 in San Antonio for her trustworthiness, leadership, patriotism and service. She funds community arts programs and assists children’s charities through sales of her art. Her newest collection, “Precious Rebels,” includes fully playable instruments, primarily guitars, adorned with Swarovski crystals. She was commissioned to create three exclusive designs for the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book 2008.
05
Lyndsey Hummert Hill works with alumni volunteers as assistant director of chapter programs at SMU.
Shakeeb Mir is a new associate in the transactions section at law firm Jackson Walker LLP.
06
Grant Clayton was promoted to senior associate in the dispute consulting group at Duff & Phelps LLC in Dallas, a provider of independent financial advisory and investment banking services.
John Pope married Ashley Parker ’07 May 9 in Houston. They live in Dallas.
Maria Sanchez and Andy Buitron ’98 were married on September 5 in Dallas. The couple resides in Dallas.
07
The Rev. Dr. Daniel Chesney Kanter was named senior minister of First Unitarian Church of Dallas Jan. 11, 2009. He had been second minister since 2003.
Gabe Travers was promoted to executive producer at WSAV-TV in Savannah, GA, after working on the morning show and evening newscast.
Cortney Garman was selected from among hundreds of applicants to be one of eight Eugene McDermott interns for 2008-09 in the curatorial and education divisions at the Dallas Museum of Art.
08
Ulderico (Rick) Calero Jr. joined Regions Bank as consumer banking executive for South Florida to enhance the consumer banking experience for customers and oversee banking centers and consumer banking personnel in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. He lives in Miami with his wife and three children.
Hector J. Fontanez has completed his Master’s degree in engineering and has started working toward his doctorate at SMU.
Matthew Nudell won one of two openings for trombonist in the U.S. Air Force Band after competing with dozens of players from top music schools across the nation.
For Ken Malcolmson ’74, the friendships forged at SMU were an important part of his education. “There are all these units of connection between students – like Greek life and campus activities – that create a lasting bond,” he says.
That bonding doesn’t stop with graduation, Malcolmson says. It continues through events that promote alumni interaction and involvement with their alma mater.
Malcolmson, who majored in political science, has carved out a successful career in the health-benefits industry. He is CEO of Humana’s West Central Region, which encompasses Texas, Colorado and Utah. With an office in Dallas, he takes advantage of opportunities to stay in touch with his fellow Mustangs. “The best part of being an alumnus is the opportunity to network with a cross section of alumni of all ages,” he says.
As the incoming Alumni Board chair, Malcolmson says “participation and the many forms that takes, from attending get-togethers to supporting The Second Century Campaign” is the Alumni Board’s focus. “We’re the visible champions of the University to the alumni community.”
The board has established three committees charged with fortifying the links between alumni and SMU:
Regional Outreach. The committee has worked with leadership teams to establish chapters in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Chapters host at least four events a year, and “we’re looking at ways alumni can be more involved in student recruitment, which is something we had gotten away from in the past few years,” Malcolmson says.
Campus Outreach. Finding “ways to engage our huge contingent of local alumni” is the committee’s mission. In addition to promoting such signature events as the Distinguished Alumni Awards banquet and reunions, the group is establishing new traditions, such as the Red-Blue Game picnic in April, “which we hope will grow in the coming years to replicate the Boulevard experience in the spring.”
25/50 and Revenue Generation Committee. The committee identifies and implements the most effective tools for boosting alumni giving. “We do an excellent job of alumni-to-alumni solicitation during reunion years, and we’re trying to find ways to inspire alumni to participate in their non-reunion years,” Malcolmson says.
The Second Century Campaign has identified alumni giving as integral to its success. The Alumni Board has been presented with the challenge to increase the annual alumni giving participation rate to 25 percent, with a goal of having 50 percent of alumni contribute over the life of the campaign. “Higher alumni participation rates translate into higher rankings of institutions of higher learning,” he says. “There’s been a positive trend in giving, and we want to build on that momentum. Gifts of all sizes are important to the University.”
Malcolmson views his next two years as chair as “an honor. With our outstanding students and faculty, the transformation of our physical plant and footprint, and the potential for a great athletics program, there has never been a more exciting time to be part of SMU.”
Alumni Board
Nominations for the 2010 SMU Alumni Board will be accepted through Dec. 31. Alumni may nominate fellow alumni or themselves. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or e-mail smualum@smu.edu.
Alumni Board
CHAIR Ken Malcolmson ’74 PAST CHAIR Connie Blass O’Neill ’77 MEMBERS Brad Adams ’93, Chris Ainsworth ’94, Vincent Battles ’06, John R. Bauer ’66,
Shonn Evans Brown ’95, Robert Cabes Jr. ’91, Stephen A. Corley ’90, Kim Twining Hanrahan
’92, Harriet Hopkins Holleman ’63, Ruth Irwin Kupchynsky ’80, Doug Linneman ’99,
Tamara Marinkovic ’91, Robert Massad ’67, Susie Jay McCormack ’77, Robert Mills ’57,
Jamie McComisky Moore ’85, Dennis E. Murphree ’69, Mark A. Robertson ’85, Scott Rozzell ’71, Lisa Holm Sabin ’78, Jesusita Santillan ’06, David Schmidt ’79, Deborah Hurst Sirchio ’70, Laura Staub Pusateri ’01, J. Jeffrey Thrall ’71, Jeffrey Ziegler ’84
From career counseling to summer classes at SMU-in-Taos, SMU alumni receive a range of benefits, says Allison Curran, associate director, Alumni Outreach.
Given the current economic environment, employment-related offerings are particularly important, Curran says. “We’ve gotten many calls from alumni who are considering career changes or are looking for new opportunities.”
The Hegi Family Career Development Center is a good starting point, she says.
In addition to providing job-search tools and services, the Hegi Center also sponsors career fairs, which are open to alumni.
For those who don’t live in Dallas, chapter events held periodically around the country create an avenue for face-to-face networking in a friendly atmosphere. ”The chapters are a huge benefit, and we now have a full-time staff person, Lyndsey Hummert Hill ’05, who focuses on fostering communication, interaction and involvement between SMU and our community of alumni worldwide,” Curran says.
The renovated SMU Faculty Club offers discounted rentals to alumni.
Other alumni perks include:
The Alumni Directory online, which provides a secure, instant connection to SMU’s worldwide alumni network. Users can type in keywords and a location to find alumni contacts that match their search parameters.
Free lifetime subscriptions to SMU
Magazine, both in print and online, and SMU
Connections e-mail newsletter.
Invitations to regional social/networking events, student recruitment engagements, football/basketball tailgates, family weekends, young alumni events, Homecoming and class reunions. For a list, check the Alumni Events Calendar.
Access to the renovated SMU Faculty Club, which provides discounted rentals for business meetings, receptions, parties and other daytime or evening events.
Click here for more information or call 214-768-ALUM (214-768-2586) or 888-327-3755, or email smualum@smu.edu.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, referred to as “The Twisted Sisters” by Janet Pace ’80, provided the perfect opportunity for the alumna and her volunteer agency “to put up or shut up.”
In early August 2005, Pace was president and CEO of Volunteer! Baton Rouge (VBR), which the Points of Light Foundation had just named the National Volunteer Center of the Year. Nineteen days later Katrina hit, and “I felt like the world was saying, ‘Okay, you got the award for being the best; let’s see what you can do.’ So we did what we knew volunteer centers do best: connect people with opportunities to serve.”
Janet Pace (second from left) and volunteers work on a recent rebuilding project in the New Orleans area.
The intervention by Pace and her team filled a crucial gap in New Orleans, which had been without its Volunteer Center since July, when it closed for lack of funding. Volunteer! Baton Rouge came to the rescue again in late September, when Hurricane Rita pummeled southwest Louisiana. “We processed 15,000 offers of help from August to December 2005,” Pace recalls.
During these back-to-back natural disasters, Pace says she encountered a glaring flaw: the lack of a relationship between the state government and Louisiana’s non-profit and faith-based organizations, including the state’s seven Volunteer Centers and independent nonprofits that collaborate under the Louisiana Association of Volunteer Center Directors. “Being bossy, I took it upon myself to pound on the state’s door and demand a relationship.”
Her proposal resulted “in one of the most positive outcomes of Katrina and Rita,” she says. Working with other nonprofits and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, Pace helped rewrite the state disaster plan to include response by nonprofits, the seven Volunteer Centers and the State Service Commission, called Louisiana Serve.
Today, Pace serves as interim executive director and director of volunteer outreach for the LA Serve Commission in the office of Louisiana’s lieutenant governor, supervising an annual budget of $24 million.
Pace, who graduated with cum laude honors in journalism and political science in 1980, credits her participation in student activities at SMU with preparing her for a life of community involvement. She was a reporter and news editor on The Daily Campus and public relations chair for the Women’s Symposium, a series that promotes the leadership development of women. She pledged Alpha Delta Pi because of the sorority’s emphasis on philanthropy &dash raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House.
“My passion is volunteerism and the impact that volunteers can make in our communities,” she says. “The success I had in leadership positions at SMU gave me the confidence to accept or seek responsibility in the ‘real’ world.”
Mary Hutchings Cooper ’91 applies her talents in the corporate corridors of Manhattan, but also on the playgrounds of New York City neighborhoods. As a product manager with Thomson Reuters, she makes sure software is tailored to meet clients’ specifications. During personal time, the Cox School of Business alumna accomplishes volunteer projects as diverse as renovating a playground and mentoring teenage mothers.
Mary Hutchings Cooper (left) and other volunteers package toys for a holiday gift drive.
Cooper is a volunteer with more than 20 years of experience with the Junior League, a charitable organization of women that promotes voluntarism and community improvement, and was recognized by the New York Junior League with an Outstanding Volunteer award. Now a member of the New York Junior League’s Board of Managers, Cooper oversees recruiting and training of more than 350 new volunteers each year. The League partners with approximately 30 hospitals, women’s prisons, homeless shelters, schools and other entities.
Cooper’s mother has been a League member in Galveston, Texas, for nearly 50 years. “Her work inspired me, and I joined just out of college in 1985,” Cooper says. “One of my first projects after completing training was with Harlem teenagers who tutored younger children.”
While earning her M.B.A., Cooper transferred her Junior League membership to Dallas and began volunteering at Bryan’s House, which provides medically managed care and services for children affected by HIV/AIDS and their families. Eventually she was invited to serve on its board as the League representative.
“Each week we prepared a hot meal and played with the kids,” Cooper says. “Their smiles were so heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking. But they loved it when the Junior League ladies visited, and the experience was extremely moving and gratifying.”
Business school taught her much about teamwork. “We had to work together for a project to succeed,” she says. “I saw how one person’s weakness would be another’s strength. Everybody can bring something to the table.”
She calls on her volunteer instincts at work by leading an annual community events week committee, which selects volunteer projects for the company to sponsor. During the week, employees are encouraged to take a day off for volunteering.
One of Cooper’s most meaningful volunteer experiences was a weeklong trip to Sri Lanka in 2005 to assist Habitat for Humanity. On the trip, which was sponsored by her employer, teams helped to build five homes to replace those lost in the 2004 tsunami. Her team worked alongside local masons mixing cement for bricks and building foundations.
She has come to define leadership – both as a volunteer and in the workplace – as understanding that being in charge doesn’t mean you must know or do everything. “It’s okay to rely on others,” Cooper says. “It guides and develops them and keeps you open to new ideas.”
Jeb Mason ’99 thought his federal government duties might slow down as the George W. Bush presidential administration drew to a close last fall. But as the nation’s financial crisis grew graver, it became clear there would be no downturn for his responsibilities.
Mason served as a policy adviser and deputy assistant secretary for business affairs and public liaison for former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. He says the late-year market crisis definitely made it “a sprint to the finish.” His appointment expired at noon, January 20, 2009, when President Barack Obama took office.
Jeb Mason
Mason’s final days with the Bush administration focused on the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and the federal government’s effort to stabilize the financial system. Mason managed the Treasury Department’s outreach to business, advocacy and financial communities, requesting information and opinions from many interests and then advising the Secretary and senior officials of these perspectives, and crafting strategies to communicate Administration policies to these groups.
He was central to organizing support for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. He spent 18 months helping to conceive and organize the coalition of mortgage servicers, nonprofit credit counseling agencies and investors called the HOPE Now Alliance, the mission of which is to help at-risk homeowners keep their houses.
After earning a B.A. in public policy and a B.S. in economics from SMU, Mason went to Washington, D.C., to volunteer for the Bush-Cheney transition and never left. He also has worked for the U.S. Department of Defense, which included assignments at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security and a five-month stint in Iraq. He also worked on the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. A second White House post was in the Office of Strategic Initiatives – affectionately known internally as “strategery,” he says.
He says he used to joke that a “double major was due more to indecision than ambition,” as well as an indulgence of his inquisitive nature. His multipurpose skills, however, have served him well. “Economics provided an analytical framework for considering problems, public policy study provided insight about organizational dynamics and power, and courses in finance obviously came in handy in the recent turmoil,” he says
Washington, D.C., is full of prospects for young go-getters, he says. “There’s always more work than can possibly be done and opportunity to be entrepreneurial for those with adaptable skills. There’s plenty of room to learn, grow and have an impact.”
After a busy eight years in the nation’s capital, Mason’s life is calmer today as he ponders his next career move. He plans to do some independent consulting and catch up with family and friends but hopes to make his way back to Texas soon.
Scott Rochelli ’07 takes a dive while (from top left) Caleb Peveto ’07, Toby Atkins ’06 and Jonathan Childers ’02 fend off incoming fire during an icy game of dodgeball at American Airlines Center. The game was part of the fun at a happy hour attended by 250 young alumni and guests at the Dallas Stars vs. St. Louis Blues hockey matchup Feb. 26.
Charles M. Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering, presented electrical engineer Robert H. Dennard ’54, ’56 with the Academy’s 2009 Charles Stark Draper Prize “for his invention and contributions to the development of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems.” Dennard, who lives in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, has won numerous awards for his contributions to the field of microelectronics, and he received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1993.
Pietro Rizzo (right), who made his American debut conducting the Dallas Opera’s La bohème, was on campus for a question-and-answer session with Meadows School of the Arts students in February. Afterward, he chatted with students Sebastien Hurtard (left), Artist Certificate in cello, winner of the recent 7th Adam International Cello Festival and Competition in New Zealand; Pamela Hurtado, Artist Certificate in piano; and Leon Eldridge, a junior studying voice. The maestro, who earned a Master of Music in violin performance in 1996 and an Artist Certificate in piano in ’97, lives in Europe with his wife, pianist Michela Fogolin ’97, and their children. After his Dallas engagement, Rizzo conducted the Metropolitan Opera’s Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
David Maldonado Jr. ’68 spoke to guests after receiving the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus/a Award from the Perkins School of Theology during the school’s annual Ministers Week in February. Maldonado is director of Perkins’ Center for Latino/a Christianity and Religions. Click here for more information.
Teresa and Lindsay Venable, wore matching outfits on May 16: SMU’s new blue and red robes. Mother and daughter each received bachelor’s degrees from SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences at spring commencement. Teresa entered SMU in 1998. “I took one course at a time,” Teresa says. “I delayed my graduation so that Lindsay and I could cross the stage together this spring.” Teresa graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences with a concentration in psychology. She is employed by Oncor. Lindsay graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and English with a concentration in creative writing and a minor in women’s studies.
David Cush ’82, ’83 donated a surprise door prize – two tickets on Virgin American airlines, for which he is president and CEO – that were won by Anne Averill ’67 at a San Francisco alumni gathering at the Grand Hyatt hotel. SMU officials and professors traveled across the country this spring to attend other alumni events in Washington, D.C., April 18; St. Louis, May 18; and Denver, May 19. Click here for more information.
Bob Beaudine ’77 (left), CEO of a top sports and entertainment executive search firm and author of The Power of Who, chats with Pete Fleps, a sophomore B.B.A. student and a Mustang linebacker, before presenting the inaugural program for the SMU Christian Men’s Leadership and Speaker Series in February, a joint effort of the Cox School of Business and SMU Athletics. Beaudine shared his philosophy that “you already know everyone you need to know” to achieve your dreams. For more information: www.smucoxalumni.com.
The year was 1988. U2 won its first Grammy Award, the Washington Redskins won a second Super Bowl and (from left) Kent and Karen Bromley, Sally and David Mouton, and Doug and Laura Archer graduated from SMU. They returned to the Hilltop in November for Homecoming and their class party at Trader Vic’s, attended by 187 alumni. More than 1,300 Mustangs, from as far away as Canada, the United Kingdom and Belize, attended reunions. Click here for more information.
The class of 2003’s Boulevard bash attracted 150 participants, including (from left) Cameron Atkinson, class reunion co-chair Rogers Healy and Hadleigh Henderson. The class recorded the highest giving participation of any previous five-year class. The gift to SMU from all 2008 Reunion classes totaled more than $3.5 million. Click here for more information.
Geoff Werner ’07 and other alumni in Washington, D.C., shared their insights about living and working in the nation’s capital at a mixer for 21 communications and journalism students from Meadows School of the Arts. Among them were seniors (left) Kaci Koviak, a journalism major, and Jamie Corley, a double major in history and corporate communications and public affairs. The students were in Washington to participate in the inauguration of Barack Obama as part of a course on presidential rhetoric. Click here for more information.
William B. Stallcup Jr. (’41), who served as president ad interim of SMU during one of the most difficult periods in its history, died June 7 at his home in Ranchos de Taos, N.M., after a long illness. He was 87.
A biology professor who never intended to be an administrator, Stallcup served in various positions for half of his four decades at SMU. The most critical of these was as president ad interim in 1986 after the sudden retirement of President L. Donald Shields and SMU’s sanctions for NCAA football rules violations. Stallcup presided over sweeping reforms in SMU’s athletics program and governance structure, helping to restore public confidence in the University.
As president ad interim, Bill Stallcup met with students and the media after SMU’s athletics program received sanctions for NCAA football rules violations in 1986. A longtime biology professor at SMU, Stallcup and his leadership helped to restore public confidence in the University.
“Bill Stallcup repeatedly answered the call to serve in times of special need,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “SMU’s transition to brighter days would not have been possible without his leadership, integrity and dedication. He also was instrumental in helping to develop SMU-in-Taos as a unique educational resource. In the history of the University, he stands out as an exemplary steward of positive change.”
Born in Dallas, Stallcup attended SMU on scholarships. He originally planned a career in medicine, but a weekend job testing lake water in East Texas kindled his interest in applying biology to ecological problems. After graduating with a B.S. in biology in 1941, he became an aquatic biologist and chemist for the City of Dallas. He married fellow biology student Marcile (Pat) Patterson in 1942.
During World War II, Stallcup served in the U.S. armed forces as a waist gunner and radar counter-measure specialist, flying in B-24 bombers and P-38 Lightnings over western Europe. He then taught biology at SMU until the start of the Korean War in 1950, when he was recalled to active duty. Instead of a combat assignment, however, the Air Force decided his services were needed teaching pre-med students at the University of Kansas, where he earned his Ph.D. in zoology. He returned to SMU as an assistant professor of biology in 1954 and was promoted to full professor in 1962.
In the years that followed, Stallcup served as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, associate dean of faculty in Dedman College, associate provost twice, special assistant to the president, acting provost twice and interim president from November 1986 to August 1987.
Bill Stallcup repeatedly answered the call to serve in times of special need,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “SMU’s transition to brighter days would not have been possible without his leadership, integrity and dedication.
He also taught at SMU-in-Taos for more than 20 years. When he sought to retire in 1989, SMU asked him to serve in one more capacity: as resident director of SMU-in-Taos from 1990-92.
“Bill Stallcup’s passing is monumental in terms of his contribution to SMU,” says Marshall Terry, professor emeritus of English and author of SMU’s history. “His interim presidency during the trials of the football scandal made all the difference because the faculty, staff and students believed in him as a person and leader.”
Stallcup received numerous research grants, professional honors and awards for service. The SMU Board of Trustees named a scholarship in his honor, and in 2002 he received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2008, the SMU Board gave him the Trustee Distinguished Service Award.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Dr. William B. Stallcup Jr. Scholarship Endowment for Undergraduate Biology Students at SMU. Mail to: SMU Attention: Gift Administration – Scholarship; P.O. Box 750402; Dallas, TX 75275-0402. For more information, contact Kate Moreland at 214-768-4745 or by e-mail at kmorelan@smu.edu.
SMU alumni leave their mark on society in myriad ways, from the arts to education to public service. Some leave footprints around the world through the paths they choose to follow.
Jane Albritton
For Hector Guzman (’83), a native of Mexico, music is the universal language he uses to connect with audiences as he leads and conducts symphonies in Texas and worldwide. For Jane Albritton (’67, ’71), the Peace Corps gave her an outlet to experience the then-exotic nation of India, creating memories to share in the celebration of the organization’s upcoming 50th anniversary.
Heather DeShon
And geophysicist Heather DeShon (’99) never stopped her intellectual pursuits after graduating from SMU. The assistant research professor has traveled far and wide to study Earth’s movements and potential hot spots for earthquakes. She’s featured in the Ones To Watch profile.
Leaders in the banking industry, a global activist and an inventor received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Awards, the highest award SMU can bestow upon its former students. Recipients honored at the November DAA celebration are Darrell Lafitte (’54), Malcolm S. Morris (’68), Gary E. Pittman (’53) and Richard Ware (’68). The Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni who have graduated within the past 15 years, was presented to community activist and minister Richie L. Butler (’93).
Darrell Lafitte
Darrell Lafitte
Darrell Lafitte pursued a business career with the same focus he displayed as a guard on the Mustang football team. He was named to the Academic All American and All Southwest Conference teams before receiving his B.B.A. degree in 1954.
After graduating, Lafitte began a distinguished career in banking. He was chair of Compass Bank Dallas from 1993-98 and remains on the bank’s board. Previously he was CEO of Cornerstone Bank, which he helped to found. Now semi-retired, he is an investments manager.
Lafitte remains involved with University activities. He is a former Alumni Association president and member of the Board of Trustees. He has been honored with the SMU Letterman’s Silver Mustang Award and the Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumni Award.
Malcolm S. Morris
Malcolm Morris
Malcolm S. Morris advocates on behalf of clean water initiatives in the developing world. He serves as a board member and former chair of Living Water International, now operating in 27 countries. He founded and chairs the Millennium Water Alliance, consisting of American nonprofit organizations dedicated to bringing potable water and sanitation to 500 million people by 2015. He hosted the Millennium Water Challenge to communicate the importance of water issues in U.S. foreign policy.
Morris is chair and co-CEO of Stewart Information Services Corporation and chair and CEO of Stewart Title Guaranty Company. He received his B.B.A. from SMU in 1968. After completing his first year of law study at SMU, he earned J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Gary E. Pittman
Gary Pittman
Gary E. Pittman co-invented the light-emitting diode (LED) while working at Texas Instruments in the 1960s. The revolutionary technology, used in products ranging from traffic lights to digital clocks, transformed the optical communications business.
After leaving TI, he served as an executive with several major companies. He currently is engaged in research on residential energy reduction and the improved use of medical statistics.
The Galton Institute in London published Pittman’s book on Sir Francis Galton, the developer of modern statistical methods. SMU’s DeGolyer Library now houses his collection of Galton materials.
Pittman, who graduated with honors in 1953 with a B.S. degree in chemistry, received the Lazenby Outstanding Alumnus Award from the SMU Chemistry Department in 2008.
Richard Ware
Richard Ware
Richard Ware combines his profession with service to his community and alma mater. He follows a family tradition as president of Amarillo National Bank, one of the largest family-owned banks in the country.
Ware received a B.B.A. degree with honors from SMU in 1968 and later earned an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He served on SMU’s Board of Trustees from 1980-92 and 1994-2008. He was vice chair of the Board and chair of the standing committees on Trusteeship, Student Affairs and Buildings and Grounds. SMU students named him Outstanding Trustee of the Year in 1987, 1995 and 1998.
Richie L. Butler is an activist for improved housing and economic development in South Dallas. He helped create Unity Estates, a planned community of 285 single-family homes sponsored by the 70-member African American Pastors’ Coalition in Dallas.
Butler earned B.A. degrees in psychology and religious studies in 1993 from SMU, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow, and a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard University in 1996. He is a principal, governance committee member and senior vice president for CityView, which finances urban residential developments nationwide.
In addition, he founded Union Cathedral, for which he is senior pastor. The church includes more than a dozen ministries and a nonprofit community development corporation.
Honoring A Few Good Alumni
Nominations for the 2009 Distinguished Alumni Award and Emerging Leader Award are being accepted and must be made by Dec. 31, 2008. Recognition is open to SMU alumni who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary service and achievement in a particular discipline, organization or cause.
Any individual may nominate an alumna and/or alumnus for this award. To nominate SMU alumni for DAA or Emerging Leader Award consideration, please complete the nomination form that can be found at smu.edu/daa.
Once nominated, the individual’s name remains in nomination for a total of three consecutive years, including the initial year in which they were nominated. After that time, the individual may be nominated again.
Nominations may be made online or by mailing the completed form to: Southern Methodist University, Attention: Nominations, P.O. Box 750173, Dallas Texas 75275-0173.
For more information, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or 1-888-327-3755, e-mail smualum@smu.edu or visit smu.edu/daa.
The cell phone rang. It was Erin Eidenshink, an SMU senior we hired to watch our 14-year-old twins, Louise and Emma, while we taught in London. Louise had been feeling lousy for weeks. Despite three visits to the doctor, the diagnosis was the same – only a virus. Not satisfied, we demanded a blood test. By that time we had already left for London, where we teach communication classes through SMU-in-London (and Nina directs the program). We were in a faculty meeting at Regent’s College when we got the call. “Louise has leukemia.” Tuesday, July 1, at 8:05 p.m. our world crashed.
We scrambled to get the next flight home, stuffed clothes into suitcases and fretted about the London program. (Our oldest daughter, Helene, a senior CCPA major who was in London interning with Amnesty International, also left.) So, who would take charge of the 48 SMU students? Who would teach our classes? Nina had placed some students in internships at nonprofit organizations throughout London. Who would oversee the interns? All the months of planning plays, tours, guest speakers and trips &ndash who would take the ball?
SMU-in-London co-director Rita Kirk would. A scholar and author with a doctorate in communications, Kirk is a professor and former chair of corporate communication and public affairs (CCPA) at SMU. She also has a big heart and a Ph.D. in friendship. “We’ll take care of London,” she told us. “You take care of Louise.”
Becky Hewitt would. London program assistant and the Mother Superior of the CCPA division, Hewitt said, “I’ve got it, Nina. Go home and don’t look back.”
On the other side of the ocean we found Louise shivering in a hospital bed in Dallas. A biopsy revealed cancer in 96 percent of her bone marrow. Her kidneys were shutting down. She was terrified and angry, fighting to find footing in a world of spinal taps, bone marrow aspirations, catheters and chemotherapy. With the help of the sharp staff at Children’s Medical Center, as well as the immense outpouring of prayers and well wishes from family and friends, Louise found solid ground. We did, too. Assurances from Kirk and Hewitt that the London program was running smoothly allowed us to focus on our family. But we knew from experience how many plates they were juggling at once.
In London, Kirk was directing the program, overseeing the interns, teaching a CCPA class and, for the first time, a journalism class. But she needed help. Enter Tony Pederson – a journalist who spent 29 years at the Houston Chronicle, serving as managing editor and then editor. Today, he directs the SMU Journalism division and holds the Belo chair in journalism. A guy with a big heart, Pederson volunteered to teach Craig’s class – for no pay. He left for London on a few days advance notice. “I’m free that month,” he said.
We worried our family trauma would cast a cloud over SMU-in-London. We needn’t have. The group visited Cambridge and Oxford, Scotland and Stonehenge. They went to Parliament, Speaker’s Corner, the British Library and various plays. In five weeks they read and wrote as much as many students do in a year. Their final projects were superb, their presentations top notch.
It was another successful summer for the London program, despite the meteor that came hurtling out of nowhere. Many students emailed us asking what they could do. Nina replied by telling them that the best way to help was to “make this the time of your life.” By all accounts, they did.
As for Louise, her prognosis is good. She has an excellent chance of beating the leukemia. And because of the kindness of our SMU colleagues, we were there when Louise needed us most.
The Meadows Museum will honor the 15th anniversary (in 2009) of SMU’s archaeological excavation at Poggio Colla, Italy, with exhibitions on the great ancestors of Rome – the Etruscans – Jan. 25-May 17. University Distinguished Professor of Art History P. Gregory Warden serves as principal investigator of the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project and co-director of the project’s Poggio Colla Field School, an internationally recognized research training center in which SMU has participated since 1995.
More than 350 objects spanning the ninth through first centuries BCE will be on
display at the Meadows. Included will be some of the most significant objects from Florence’s National Museum of Archaeology, which holds one of the finest collections of Etruscan art.
In addition, a co-exhibit, “New Light on the Etruscans: Fourteen Years of Excavation at Poggio Colla,” displays for the first time in this country nearly 100 Etruscan artifacts discovered by SMU-led excavations in Tuscany. Among the artifacts will be a coin discovered by SMU senior Jayme Clemente.
Spending six weeks in the SMU-in-London program, exploring the city’s culture and diversity, may not sound like work. But sleep took a back seat this summer when 48 students and five SMU faculty members used London as a classroom.
Students took six credit hours in communications topics as varied as the history and philosophy of free speech, advertising and British cinema. Living at Regent’s College during the week, the SMU group traveled throughout the United Kingdom and Europe on the weekends.
Although they discovered that the British arguably speak the same language, they realized that is where the similarities end. Londoners ride the Tube, use a different currency, are more immersed in international news and politics, and view Americans through different lenses.
SMU students explore London from a double-decker bus.
Hendrika Rhoad, a junior majoring in corporate communications and public affairs and marketing, says cultural differences in the workplace, such as British humor and jargon, took some getting used to, but her work with Save the Children and the Child Rights Information Network was both eye-opening and inspiring.
“Working with another culture gave me a lot of confidence,” Rhoad says. “It was difficult, but I learned a lot of patience. I didn’t have friends there, so I had to work my way up with everyone, and projects took a lot longer than I thought they would. It allowed me to focus on particular children’s rights issues and made me more aware of it all. I love the nonprofit sector.”
Senior Katie Reynolds, who worked for Mencap, a nonprofit that helps individuals with learning disabilities, saw the full effect of her organization’s lobbying efforts before Parliament. “My organization had a big breakthrough while I was there. The disabled were not receiving adequate medical care, and my organization lobbied and got the policies changed,” says Reynolds, a corporate communications and public affairs major.
Such experiences make indelible impressions on students and shape their views on future employment, says Rita Kirk, professor of corporate communications and public affairs who taught in the SMU-in-London program.
“It makes a difference in their outlook toward the rest of the world and gives them a sense of purpose that maybe they didn’t have before,” she says.</p.
Full Circle
While working in the Mexican orphanage, Elledge was impressed with its employees, who devote their lives to serving others in need. Back in Dallas, he plans to tutor English as a Second Language students and work with the homeless downtown. He says he tries to follow Albert Einstein’s words: “Strive not to be
a success, but rather to be of value.”
“My experiences have changed my thinking about jobs and employment,” he says. “I thought about going to law school, but now there are a lot of alternatives I never considered before.”
– Karen Nielsen
Nina Flournoy, senior lecturer in Corporate Communications & Public Affairs and director of SMU-In-London, and her husband, Craig, assistant professor of journalism, were with the London program last summer when a family crisis developed and the SMU community rallied to help. Click here to read their story.
The résumé of Kevin Lavelle (’08) brings to mind the Johnny Cash recording of “I’ve Been Everywhere.” The President’s Scholar took advantage of the University’s education abroad programs in Britain, Spain, Southeast Asia and Australia.
Thus, it seemed only natural that Lavelle would join Oliver Wyman, an international management-consulting firm, to begin his career. Although he expected to work as an analyst in the Dallas office, he didn’t hesitate to accept an offer to relocate to the firm’s office in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing real estate markets. Lavelle, who was a management science major in the Lyle School of Engineering, now works with 120 other employees of 34 different nationalities, mainly from the Middle East, India and Europe.
Alumnus Kevin Lavelle with an alternative mode of transportation in Dubai.
Although new on the job, Lavelle already considers his relocation to Dubai a career-making move. “I think it is essential in business and life today to be able to think about global opportunities and consequences,” he says. “Many U.S. corporations are looking beyond the borders to emerging markets for growth potential.”
Lavelle’s willingness to travel and work abroad places him squarely in the middle of a generation that pollster John Zogby calls the “First Globals, 18 to
29 year olds who are as likely to say ‘I’m a citizen of Planet Earth’ as those who say ‘I’m a citizen of the United States,’” Zogby recently said in a speech at SMU. “Sixty percent have passports. Twenty-three percent say they expect to live and work in a foreign capital at some point in their lives.”
In that regard, the recent report by SMU’s Task Force on International Education could not be more timely. Appointed in 2006, the Task Force was charged with recommending ways to broaden global perspectives as part of SMU’s educational mission.
One goal is to double the percentage of seniors who graduate with an education abroad experience (from nearly 25 percent to 50 percent). The Task Force also recommends that SMU increase the numbers and locations of education abroad programs. In the past year, SMU added programs in Australia, Asia, India, South Africa, Cairo and Oaxaca, Mexico, for a total of 30 programs in 16 counties smu.edu/studyabroad. An International Center was created to work with education abroad programs as well as international students attending SMU.
SMU Magazine looks at some of the University’s international connections – education abroad, faculty research and alumni who work overseas – to understand how SMU is going global.
Jamie Corley was nearly booed off the stage last year at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) after she gave her speech as a candidate for student union representative.
“When you run for office at LSE, you also express your personal political views,” says the senior, who is majoring in history and corporate communications and public affairs. “As a conservative, my views were different from 99 percent of the other students. But I reminded them that the spirit of LSE was the discussion of conflicting views.”
Corley won the election as the representative for international students. When she finished her year at LSE, she was named one of the 20 most influential students among the 8,600-member student body and awarded a life membership to the London School of Economics Student Union.
“I showed up at every meeting and worked very hard,” she says. “I think they respected me because I accepted their ideas, but I didn’t back down from my own views.”
Corley met her goal to become immersed in British culture through the SMU-in-Britain program, in which students who qualify enroll in yearlong courses at prestigious universities in Britain. Corley joined students from throughout the world
in her classes on the Arab-Israeli conflict, foreign policy analysis, human rights and the history of the Enlightenment.
“After studying at some of the greatest institutions of higher learning in the world and competing successfully with their gifted peers, our students resume their SMU educations with an enormously enriched sense of what their futures may hold,” says Jim Hopkins, professor of history and director of SMU-in-Britain. Hopkins, an Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, teaches British history in the Clements Department of History in SMU’s Dedman College. He attended Cambridge University from 1970-71 as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.
Senior Jamie Corley at Westminster Abbey in London.
More than 400 SMU students have spent a year at universities such as St. Andrews in Scotland, University College London and the University of Kent at Canterbury through SMU-in-Britain since the program began in the early 1970s. According to the London Guardian, 32,000 American students participated in study abroad programs in Great Britain last year. Of those students, only 4,250 were enrolled full time in British universities, according to the British Higher Education Statistics Agency.
“Our goal for SMU-in-Britain was to provide a year-long academic experience that required students to perform at very high standards,” says Ken Shields, professor emeritus of English and director of SMU-in-Britain from 1975 to 2000. “It takes more than four months for a student to adjust to a new culture and understand how a different education system works.”
At the London School of Economics, for example, students’ grades are based on one final exam, says Alan Lin (’08), who studied there in 2006-07 and is now an editor at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a public policy think tank. “A three-hour test determined my grade for the entire year. Exam preparation is intense; there are times when one could not find a study space in the library.”
During her junior year, Jessica Erwin Greenwood (’08) studied history and literature at University College London, where “I read more that year than ever before in my life. Students at British universities have to be much more independent and responsible for their own learning,” says Greenwood, now a Dedman School of Law student.
SMU was one of the first universities to offer study abroad at British universities, Shields says. He relied on his personal network of British friends and colleagues to match SMU students to universities. As a Fulbright Scholar to Great Britain from 1957-59, Shields studied at the University of Edinburgh for two years.
Now SMU-in-Britain is part of the University’s education abroad, which offers 30 study programs in 16 countries. Students first are accepted to SMU-in-Britain, and then apply directly to a British university. They compete with other students from around the world for a limited number of openings.
“Before I went to LSE through SMU-in-Britain, I spoke with others who had participated in the program,” Lin says. “They stressed that this was a year to become more independent, and that when I returned to the United States I would be a different person. It was difficult to fathom what that meant when I
first arrived in London, but now I realize just how true their statements were. This year is one to remember for a lifetime.”
Sophomore Nick Elledge spent part of his summer digging ditches, cleaning chicken coops, hanging drywall and
organizing activities for orphans in Guadalupe, Mexico. Despite the heat and flies, Elledge says the hard work and simple life at the Rancho 3M Christian Orphanage was just what he needed to refocus his priorities.
“I spent my freshman year studying all the time and having superficial relationships,” says Elledge, a President’s Scholar who is majoring in economics, political science and Spanish. “I wanted something real and different.“
These children at Rancho 3M Christian Orphanage in Mexico are among those Nick Elledge worked with last summer.
Many students say they pursue opportunities to travel to learn about other cultures, but most wind up gaining much more from these life-changing experiences.
“One of the first things we hear from the students is that the internships opened their eyes to another part of the world and a different way of life,” says Tom Mayo, director of the Maguire Center, which has awarded stipends for domestic and international internships to more than 90 students over the past 12 years.
“The second thing is that very often the work they do as volunteers either ties into or underscores some real-world aspect of their academic studies,” he says. “And third, they are much more informed. They have a mature take on the way the world works and they come back with some pretty firm opinions about how the host organizations work and what some of the hurdles are for effecting change.“
No Borders
When sophomore Tara Hemphill heard that Southlake-based Sabre Holdings Corp., a technology travel solutions provider, was interviewing for internships in Poland, she at first thought that Eastern Europe was a little far to travel for a summer job. But the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in her area of study – computer science and math – won her over. Hemphill was chosen as one of five SMU engineering students to work at Sabre’s European Solutions Center in Krakow, Poland.
The eight-week stint proved priceless. Navigating the public transportation system and living in the center of the bustling city filled with history and art “opened up new things to me,” she says. “It’s a lot different from a vacation because you are living and working there.“
Another Sabre intern, sophomore computer engineering major Austin Click, says that he appreciated the opportunity to work on projects alongside other company employees, but is especially pleased that Sabre is using some of the code he wrote.
“I never considered working out of the country before, but it was a great experience and I would consider it now,” Click says. “The way my field is going, it’s good to have international experience in a country like Poland, where the IT industry is exploding.“
The technology community knows no borders, says Tom Klein, group president of Sabre Travel Network and Sabre Airline Solutions, which partnered with SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering. The internships allow the students to work with software developers and project managers and witness firsthand the issues facing the global travel industry, he says.
Kathy M. Hubbard, director of SMU’s Center for Engineering Leadership, says she wishes every engineering and technology student could have a similar international experience. “We are living in such a global society, and our students are going to encounter companies having operations in the United States and abroad. Companies are finding it important that their employees have international experience, especially if they are going to move into leadership roles.”
An internship at a real estate investment firm in Dubai this past summer likely will give senior finance major Mohammed Nagda a competitive boost in the financial field, setting him apart when it comes time to finding a job, he says. “I wanted to work in a dynamic international market and get experience in an actual financial field.”
He arranged the internship himself and stayed with a brother living in Dubai. On the second day of the job, Nagda was assigned three projects and immersed in the culture of long hours. He observed people of many nationalities interacting with each other, from British businessmen to a Lebanese man who always lit incense on the boardroom table during meetings.
Roycee Kerr, director of Cox B.B.A. Career Services, encourages students to plan well in advance for international internships or study abroad programs. “If their dreams are to work with a global company that does business in China, which a lot of Cox students want to do, then the ideal thing would be a summer internship in Shanghai,” she says. “It’s never too early to start thinking about a timeline and understanding what is required to be a good candidate.” Both Cox B.B.A. Career Services and the Hegi Family Career Development Center provide services that help students learn how to locate international opportunities and to successfully pursue internships.
London Calling…click here to read more of this story.
China’s bullish economy grew almost 10 percent a year over the past two decades. By some measures, the birthplace of paper currency is now the world’s second-largest economy.
If China stays on pace, it will vault ahead of the United States to become the top economy by mid-century.
Linda Kao at the Great Wall in China.
“Even if you aren’t working directly with a Chinese company, you will be impacted by what is happening in China,” says Linda Kao (’78), Cox School of Business’ assistant dean of global operations. Recent U.S. Census Bureau statistics on foreign trade show that China is now this country’s second-largest trading partner and source of imports (Canada is number one). It is the third-largest export market, behind Canada and Mexico, respectively.
Recognizing that “the sleeping giant” had awakened with a burst of energy, Cox launched its first American Airlines M.B.A. Global Leadership Program to the emerging powerhouse in 2000. “We’ve all heard the clichés – the world is flat, the global marketplace – but they’re accurate,” Kao says. “Next-generation business leaders have to develop a global perspective.”
Kao, who was born in Taiwan, has directed global programs at SMU since 1999. A former chair of the Greater Dallas Asian-American Chamber of Commerce, she first dove into international waters as a consultant for big-stage events like soccer’s World Cup and the Olympics, even acting as production manager for the live telecasts of Miss Universe pageants. Through these experiences, Kao learned that there is no substitute for human contact in navigating the complexities of intercontinental transactions.
Under Cox’s Global Programs, groups of 20 to 30 M.B.A. students will choose one of four two-week trips in May 2009: two to China, as well as one to India and to Europe (London, Budapest and Madrid). “We target the most viable regions, whether it’s in an emerging or a mature market, because students can learn a lot about innovation and creativity from both,“ Kao says.
Cox’s immersion experiences cover a broad swath of the business map. Students get a firsthand look at everything from city-sized computer module factories in China to hospitals specializing in medical tourism in India. In each country, students learn to master the nuances that can cement or sabotage a business relationship.
“Meeting people from another culture and determining how to make a good first impression – from learning how to properly greet them to finding topics of mutual interest for conversation, like movies and sightseeing in their country – was an invaluable experience,“ says Alex Bagden, a finance M.B.A. student who visited China in the spring.
Sometimes the unscripted moments, like a candid conversation over dinner with ex-patriots, yield the most practical insights, says Wes Davis, who is pursuing an M.B.A. in marketing and went to India in the spring. “They offered a good sense of what it’s really like to live and work in India. I’m not sure I want to live there, but now I’ll keep that door open.”
Occasionally the first leg of the journey begins much closer to SMU. Executives of homegrown businesses – such as Mary Kay, Perot Systems, Blockbuster and 7-Eleven (now an indirect subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings Co. of Japan) – share insights before students visit their overseas operations. “It was fascinating to tour 7-Eleven stores in Hong Kong and see how they differ from U.S. stores,” Bagden says. “The stores are much smaller, but have more staff and fresh food.”
Cox students survey China’s Forbidden City.
Overseas professional development trips are de rigueur for leading M.B.A. programs. Cox is one of only a handful of schools, however, that requires full-time, first-year M.B.A. students to complete an intensive two-week exploration of foreign business capitals. And it was one of the first to send students to China.
Travel abroad also is a core component of Cox’s nationally ranked Executive M.B.A. (EMBA) program. In October, approximately 100 students traveled to Santiago, Chile, and in March, they will visit China. About 80 Professional M.B.A. (PMBA) students are expected to take advantage of seven optional trips to Mexico, South America, Europe and China next year.
This on-the-ground study, Kao says, gives SMU’s M.B.A. students the advantage of “learning to communicate with foreign colleagues using the common language of understanding and respect.“
For her International Advertising classes, Carrie La Ferle passes out a list of advertising blunders made by famous multinational companies. One of those blunders is a Coca Cola ad in China that used Chinese characters to spell out the sounds “Co” “Ca” “Co” “La.” Unfortunately for Coke, it found out after the ad ran that the characters they used actually meant “Bite the wax tadpole.” The ad was pulled.
The story is a powerful reminder, La Ferle says, that cultural sensitivity can be as important as brand identity in global markets.
Associate Professor Carrie La Ferle
La Ferle is an associate professor of advertising in SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute. The daughter of an ad executive, she grew up in Toronto, ranked by the United Nations as the most multicultural city in the world. Her friends included Koreans, Germans, Caribbean Islanders and Africans. She never thought any of that was unusual until she went to graduate school at Michigan State University, “and then I realized my experience was pretty unique,” she says.
After earning her Master’s degree in 1990, La Ferle worked on the Nissan automotive account with advertising giant Chiat&slash;Day in Toronto. She later moved to Japan, where she edited ad copy that had been translated into English from Japanese. The occasionally bizarre differences between literal translation and original meaning emphasized the cultural divide between East and West.
“When I first moved to Japan, I thought their ads were weird,” she says. “Some of them didn’t even tell you what the product was, much less what it did. Then I learned that the Japanese use more indirect forms of communication versus hard-sell, persuasion-driven advertising. They also focus more on building a relationship with the brand, in the same way that their more collectivist society focuses on relationships among people.”
And when it comes to global advertising, those differences in mindset can have a huge impact, La Ferle says. “If companies do their research and blend into the culture and surroundings, they can increase market share.”
La Ferle points to the success of McDonald’s first global ad campaign, “I’m Lovin’ It.” The campaign used Justin Timberlake and the same slogan in more than 100 countries, but also featured local celebrities and promotions from each of the countries in which it was running.
In contrast, when MTV first tried expanding into Japan, “it failed to the extent that it had to pull out entirely,” La Ferle says. The music-television titan ignored the burgeoning Japanese music scene and programmed only American artists.
“Everybody loves their local bands,” La Ferle says. “So when MTV relaunched its network in Japan, it played a much bigger percentage of Japanese artists. Now the channel is a huge hit.”
“When I first moved to Japan, I thought their ads were weird. Some of them didn’t even tell you what the product was, much less what it did. Then I learned that the Japanese use more indirect forms of communication versus hard-sell, persuasion-driven advertising.”
The cultural exchange that takes place through advertising is similar to exchanges that have taken place throughout history, La Ferle says. She and co-author Jeffrey Johnson of Michigan State University presented research challenging common criticisms of globalization – and advertising’s role in the process – at the International Advertising Association World Educator’s Conference in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
“Cultures have been blended throughout history and most situations have resulted in mutually beneficially outcomes,” she says.
La Ferle, who received her doctorate in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, has focused her research on how culture influences advertising and consumers’ responses to it. In her classes on ethics in advertising, she teaches students that by being culturally sensitive and socially responsible, advertisers and the companies who hire them can improve their profits as well as their practices.
Today, many corporations &ndash including ad agencies – are working to be more culturally and environmentally sensitive, “whether it’s because they’re altruistic or because their bottom line demands it,” she says.
Cyprus’ spectacular natural beauty, Mediterranean food and warm people make it a choice diplomatic posting, says Amy Dahm (’97), who just completed two years of service with the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia. However, as the U.S. government’s human rights and trafficking-in-
persons (TIP) officer, she often delved into the seamier side of life on the island nation.
“Cyprus is the only European Union country on the U.S. State Department Tier 2 Watch List,” Dahm says. According to the State Department’s Web site, countries placed on the list “deserve special scrutiny for failure to show evidence of increased efforts to combat human trafficking and fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” established in the 2000 Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
Alumna Amy Dahm (left) and a friend work an olive press in Cyprus.
The Cypriot police officially identified 79 trafficking victims in 2006 and 40 last year, but “the suspected number is much higher because of the difficulty in identifying them,” Dahm explains. “Many are ashamed and afraid to come forward.” Most are from the Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Eastern Europe, places where employment opportunities are limited. The young women, including some university students, are lured by the promise of legitimate jobs. Once in Cyprus, they are often held hostage and forced into prostitution.
“In my eyes, sex trafficking is one of the worst crimes imaginable,” says Dahm, who has interviewed victims. “It’s using a woman’s innate femininity and sexuality as a weapon against her.”
She describes her role as “kind of like an investigative reporter.” She received assignments from Washington, checked sources, found information and “reported both formally and informally” back to D.C. on recent developments.
The island crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Cyprus’ strategic location makes it “one of the most diplomatically sensitive environments on earth,” she says, noting that Nicosia, where she lived, is the world’s only divided capital. The country’s largest city is split into northern and southern sectors by the Green Line, a United Nations-created buffer zone. Since 1974, when the country was officially separated, the southern two-thirds of the country are under Greek Cypriot control while the northern third is claimed by Turkish Cypriots.
“Every day is different, which is probably part of the reason I like my job so much,” says Dahm, who received an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and an invitation to join the State Department within 24 hours of finishing her last exam. “Most of my training has been on the job,” she says, and has included learning a “smattering of Greek and Turkish” languages.
At SMU, the history and international studies major took advantage of study abroad opportunities. A President’s Scholar and former student member of the SMU Board of Trustees, Dahm spent her junior year in Japan. For a taste of Europe, she participated in the inaugural season of the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project – the excavation of an Etruscan settlement near the modern town of Vicchio, Italy. She revisited in 2004 as a project volunteer.
The direction of her future was clear by the time she graduated in 1997. In a Rotunda profile, Dahm expressed her hope of becoming a foreign service officer in Italy.
“I haven’t made it to Italy yet, but I’m working on it,” she says. She’s now back in Washington for Spanish language training, after which she will head to Costa Rica for her next assignment. “My focus will shift to such consular work as helping American citizens and screening potential visa applicants to the U.S.”
Robert Hunt (’82) felt the rumblings of change in China while serving as a professor at Trinity Theological College in Singapore from 1993-97. He witnessed “a real opening up of contact.” It wasn’t unusual for the institution to host members of the Chinese Christian church as guests. By the time he left, “the new leadership in China saw their country as a place of possibilities,” including a fresh tolerance for religion.
By some estimates, there may be as many as 100 million Chinese Christians. “Both ‘official’ – those registered with the government – and ‘unofficial’ churches are growing rapidly,” notes Hunt, a graduate of Perkins School of Theology and now the school’s director of Global Theological Education.
With more than 5,000 members, the largest “unofficial” church in Beijing doesn’t operate in the shadows, Hunt says, but it’s a mistake to parse the Sino-Christian movement using an American model. “They don’t enjoy freedom of religion as we understand it; our free-for-all notion is almost unique to the United States.”
Professor Robert Hunt
Hunt and Perkins colleague Sze-kar Wan, professor of New Testament and a native of China, took a group of 15 students to China in June. In addition to attending worship services, the group met with families and ministers, as well as students at the Nanjing Union Theological Seminary. “What challenged our students were the
personal testimonies of faith. Coming from a non-religious background, the Chinese talked about wanting to put their lives in the context of something bigger and transcendent,” Hunt says. “They didn’t emphasize the ‘personal relationship with Jesus Christ’ dimension of Christianity that we’re used to.”
But there were unexpected similarities between West and East as well, says Master of Divinity student Jacki Banks, the pastor of Methodist churches in Duncan and Velma, Oklahoma. “Worshiping there was pretty much like being in our church here; it was just in a foreign language,” she recalls. “The order of worship was almost the same, and they sing many of the traditional hymns. It was extremely moving, though, to hear a hymn like ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God’ in Chinese.”
For the visitors, clarity came through seeing the Chinese “in their own light,” Hunt says. “I think one of the non-students on the trip put it most succinctly: ‘Nothing I had learned about China in the United States has been relevant to understanding what I’m seeing with my own eyes.’ And he’s right. You have to see people in their own world and talk to them.”
Although globalization “flattens” the commercial sector, it creates a need for well-rounded spiritual leaders. Whether guiding a small-town flock or an urban megachurch, “pastors no longer serve in a monocultural world,” Hunt says. They not only must minister to churchgoers from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, but they need to be able to relate to peers of other faiths because “they will be working with members of mosques and Hindu temples and others” on community matters.
Because of this transformation within churches of all denominations, international study now plays a key role in a Perkins Theology education. All M.Div. students have the opportunity to participate in a 10-day to two-week cultural immersion course. The immersion program was launched in 2004 with three trips and approximately 40 participants. In 2009, at least seven groups – and a total of 60 students – will travel to Mexico, Europe, Asia or South America. There also will be a course offered in New Orleans.
Hunt, who also has lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Vienna, Austria, believes there’s no substitute for personal contact to “understand the culture, respect it and learn to work from within it.” While teaching at the Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, a Christian seminary, from 1985-92, that work-from-within philosophy motivated him to study Islam. He has written several books, including What Every Christian Should Know about Muslim Ideals and Islam in Southeast Asia, A Study Guide for Christians.
When your specialty is U.S. foreign policy, the world is your laboratory.
“The United States is a big experiment &ndash and in a sense a microcosm of the world’s big experiment &ndash on how people can live with each other without killing one another, even though they disagree,” says Seyom Brown, the John Goodwin Tower Chair in International Politics and National Security in SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies of Dedman College.
In his national security seminars, Brown helps students identify not only what changes, but what has not changed &ndash whether they talk about counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, the volatile relationship between Russia and Georgia, or China’s growing influence in Africa.
Professor Seyom Brown
Brown uses the Cold War – the struggle for world dominance between the United States and the old Soviet Union after World War II – as a prime example of how issues that sprang up in its wake continue to influence the world students face today. “What has happened is that the new world order [created after the
collapse of the Soviet Union] is really a world of disorder, in which your friend on one issue is your enemy on another. Today’s partner can be tomorrow’s opponent,” he says.
He calls this complex and shifting pattern of alliances a “polyarchy,” and uses President Bush’s pre-Olympics visit to China as an example. “We need the Chinese to ensure that North Korea doesn’t keep nuclear weapons. We also need them to bring pressure on the genocidal regime in the Sudan, because they’re big Sudan oil consumers,” Brown says. “So Bush visited the Chinese for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and said nice things about them while he was there. But later, from Thailand, he harshly criticized China’s human rights situation.”
Brown’s main field of research is U.S. foreign policy – a specialty that has led him to and from government service, think tanks and university teaching and research. During his five-decade career in national security, he has held positions in the field, including as a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, the Brookings Institution and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In addition, he has served as a special assistant in the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of State. Brown also has taught at numerous universities.
His research activities focus on military factors in world politics, including arms control, terrorism and conflicts between homeland security and human rights, among other areas. “I’ve had one foot in the policy community and one foot in academia my whole life,” Brown says. One of his current goals is to help build the Tower Center as a national leader in public policy thought and theory, he says. “I like that challenge, because it fits with my own definition of what I do.” To enhance the Tower Center’s interactions with the policy world, Brown has established a Tower Center office in Washington, D.C.
“The United States has been operating under what I call a double-O fallacy: omnipotence and omniscience. Behaving as a nation as if we’re all-powerful and all-knowing just rubs other people the wrong way. We need to show that we do believe in cultural diversity.”
At SMU, Brown says he has found students who hope to confront the difficult issues head on. “This is a generation that has been bombarded by the complexities. A good many want to continue in the international relations field – not just earn their Ph.D.s, but engage in practical solutions. The Tower Center can be of good counsel to them, as well as provide opportunities.”
Those opportunities include a new program on national security and defense presented in November in a Tower Center forum on “The Future of Conflict: Military Roles and Conflict.”
Brown discusses important issues for students and citizens, as well as for practitioners of the political arts, in his upcoming book, Higher Realism: A New Foreign Policy for the United States. The book explores urgent challenges requiring international cooperation such as global warming, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, poverty, disease, human rights and the declining health of vital ecologies such as oceans and forests.
“The United States has been operating under what I call a double-O fallacy: omnipotence and omniscience,” Brown says. “Behaving as a nation as if we’re all-powerful and all-knowing just rubs other people the wrong way. We need to show that we do believe in cultural diversity. We’re so inextricably intertwined with the rest of the world that we have to be interested in what happens out there – not simply out of the goodness of our hearts, but because those problems can bounce back and hit us.”
Senior art history major Jayme Clemente was working in trench No. 35 in July at an archaeological dig 20 miles northeast of Florence, Italy, when something caught her eye.
“I saw something green in the dirt,“ she recalls. Green is the color of oxidized bronze.
Jayme Clemente digs in at Poggio Colla.
“When you’ve been staring at this light brown mixture of dirt and you see something that is not in the same color palette – it was just an exhilarating feeling to know that there was something (potentially important) in the ground.”
Her trench supervisor raced over and confirmed the first coin discovery of SMU’s 2008 Poggio Colla Field School season in the Mugello Valley. Clemente then worked as slowly as she could to extract the item from the dirt because bronze coins are very fragile after being buried for 2,000 years.
“Your first reaction is to get it out as fast as you can, but you have to take your time and be very patient” to deliver it to the dig conservator in one piece, Clemente says. She is fascinated by the coin’s ability to reveal so many details about the culture in which it was used. Through her research she learned this particular coin was struck far to the south, somewhere between Rome and Naples, between 275 and 250 BCE.
As the site’s field manual says: “It’s not what you find, it’s what you find out.”
Clemente learned her lessons well, says P. Gregory Warden, University Distinguished Professor of Art History. He also serves as the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project’s (MVAP) principal investigator and co-director of its Poggio Colla Field School, an internationally recognized research training center in which SMU has participated since 1995. Clemente was one of a dozen SMU students who were joined at the field school last summer by students from Dartmouth, Princeton and other universities.
The Poggio Colla site spans most of Etruscan history, from 700 BCE to the town’s destruction by the Romans around 178 BCE, which makes the site very rare. It also is distinctive because of what is not there. The Etruscans picked beautiful, easily defended hilltops for their settlements. As a result, generation after generation built new cities on top of their sites. That means many have 2,000 years of other civilizations on top of Etruscan artifacts, Warden says. Not so Poggio Colla, which is all Etruscan.
The oxidized-green bronze Etruscan coin discovered by Clemente features the head of Athena on one side, a rooster on the reverse.
No one knows why the Etruscans disappeared. Most of what archaeologists have learned about the culture in the past 40 years comes from funerary remains that represent the death rituals of the wealthy. Poggio Colla is different, Warden says. It represents an entire settlement, including tombs, a temple, a pottery factory and an artisan community. Excavations of workshops and living quarters are yielding details about Etruscan life to scholars from SMU and its partners, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Recent finds included a large stone column base that probably belonged to the
temple and a ritual pit within the sanctuary where the Etruscans placed a series of sacred objects such as gold thread, two statue bases and two bronze bowls. One of the bowls rests atop the bones of a suckling pig that was sacrificed as part of a purification ritual.
The temple is revealing new information about the Etruscans, who had a theocratic social structure and were considered “the most religious peoples of the ancient Mediterranean,” Warden says. “We can show where the priest was standing and how the objects were placed in this sacred pit with attention to the cardinal points of the compass, reflecting Etruscan religious beliefs and their idea of the sacredness of space.”
The findings are so striking that the British Museum invited Warden to deliver a lecture there in December 2007 on “Ritual and Destruction at the Etruscan Site of Poggio Colla.”
The Italian government long had planned to create a regional archaeological museum in the area. The many discoveries at Poggio Colla moved that plan along, and Warden was a special guest at the museum’s opening in December.
All the artifacts found at Poggio Colla are the property of the Italian government and remain in that country. Because of connections created through the MVAP, more than 350 Etruscan artifacts from Italian museums and 100 artifacts from the field school site will be on loan to the Meadows Museum starting in January for the largest and most comprehensive Etruscan exhibits ever staged in the United States. Warden also will teach a course on “Etruscan Art and Archaeology” for the SMU Master of Liberal Studies program in the spring.
The coin that Clemente found is expected to be part of the exhibit. “I never knew that it would be put into a museum,” she says, “but I feel pride in knowing that I was a part of the process.”
Unbridled Opportunity: The Second Century Campaign Launch
With fanfare, balloons, confetti, music and a call to action, the University announced its commitment to achieve a dramatic increase in academic quality and impact.
“Today we stand as the bridge between the SMU of 100 years ago and the SMU of 100 years from now. Our second century awaits with new challenges and opportunities,” President R. Gerald Turner told the crowd of faculty, staff, students, alumni and donors. “The responsibility to continue SMU’s rising quality now rests with us, and we will boldly answer the call.”
Fred Hegi (standing), campaign steering committee co-chair for Dedman College, and Dedman Dean Cordelia Chávez Candelaria (left), present the College’s priorities to the Campaign Leadership Council and Steering Committees.
The campaign seeks $750 million for student scholarships, endowed faculty positions and academic programs, and enhancements to the campus experience.
The campaign already is off to a running start, with 29,488 donors providing $317 million in commitments during the two-year quiet phase of the campaign. This includes 49 donors who have made commitments of $1 million and above.
“This campaign will strengthen our ability to enable the best students to attend SMU and the most distinguished faculty to teach and inspire them through challenging academic programs,” Turner said. “As a University we cannot stand still. We must remain vital and relevant to meet the emerging needs of our students. And we must play a greater leadership role in supporting our region as a center of commerce and a gateway to the global community. The Second Century Campaign represents a great opportunity to shape our future with confidence and optimism.”
The campaign includes ambitious goals for alumni participation. It seeks to have 25 percent of all alumni make contributions every year, and to have 50 percent of all alumni give over the lifetime of the campaign. “No matter what the size of their gifts, alumni participation will represent satisfaction with the SMU education they received. It also will show an understanding that when they were students, they were the beneficiaries of alumni giving,” said Connie Blass O’Neill (’77), president of the SMU Alumni Board. “It’s a cycle of support that represents the best of SMU spirit.”
Gerald J. Ford (’66, ’69), SMU trustee and convening co-chair of the campaign, said the new effort is befitting a university with high aspirations. “The campaign’s theme, SMU Unbridled, reflects the bold vision of our founders as they looked at the North Texas prairie and envisioned a great university there,” he said. “SMU’s founders were daring, imaginative and creative, and they saw unlimited potential in what they were establishing. We’re going to take that drive and aggressively carry it forward.“
Logo T-shirts were distributed during the event.
Toward that end, SMU has hit its stride with significant progress in recent years. For example, gifts during the campaign’s quiet phase have endowed a seventh school for SMU – the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development – with a $20 million gift from Harold and Annette Simmons (’57). Also in the quiet phase, SMU received the largest gift ever made by The Meadows Foundation – $33 million for the Meadows Museum and Meadows School of the Arts.
Students and faculty, as well as staff, alumni and donors, attended the launch event.
With more emphasis on merit scholarships, SMU has seen its entering SAT scores rise 97 points in the past decade. In addition, SMU prevailed in the statewide competition to house the George W. Bush Presidential Library, which will provide historic resources for research by scholars worldwide as it contributes to the strength of the Dallas economy.
“The Board of Trustees believes that SMU has all the ingredients for a major leap in academic excellence, and it’s our commitment to accelerate this momentum,” said SMU Board Chair Carl Sewell (’66), a co-chair of the campaign. “Our recent improvements in student quality show us that SMU increasingly attracts the best students, and we must provide scholarships that remove financial barriers for these talented young people. They will be inspired by faculty who excel at teaching and creating new knowledge, and they will benefit from a campus experience that develops leadership skills.”
In addition to Ford and Sewell, campaign co-chairs include Ruth Altshuler (’48), Ray L. Hunt (’65) and Caren H. Prothro, all SMU trustees. They lead the 15-member Campaign Leadership Council guiding 39 Steering Committee co-chairs who support fund-raising efforts focused on the various SMU schools and programs on campus, and in cities and regions beyond Dallas. To date the campaign has enlisted 327 volunteers throughout the world.
Moody Coliseum was transformed into an elegant dining area, where faculty, students and staff mingled after the campaign kickoff.
SMU Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad Cheves said the campaign will benefit from long-standing supporters and from newcomers to the SMU donor family. “We have a solid volunteer structure that will take this campaign across the globe, and we expect broad participation among our more than 100,000 alumni.”
SMU’s last campaign, “A Time to Lead,” ran from 1997-2002 and was the first successful campaign in the University’s history. That campaign set an initial goal of $300 million but succeeded in raising $542 million in the five-year time frame. The campaign funded 80 endowments for academic programs, 171 student scholarships and awards, 28 campus life initiatives, 16 academic positions and 14 new or renovated facilities.
The Second Century Campaign places more emphasis on endowments for people and programs, although some new facilities are included to support academic programs. “Endowments are essential in providing long-term resources that grow over time and ensure economic stability,” Turner said. SMU’s endowment of $1.4 billion currently ranks 54th among institutions nationally. “But because much of the endowment is targeted to specific programs, we need additional endowment funds to support new initiatives. That’s what this campaign is all about.“
As competition for the brightest students intensifies, the campaign will expand scholarship programs, such as SMU President’s Scholars and Leadership Scholars; create innovative scholarships within schools and disciplines; expand opportunities to study abroad through scholarships and additional programs; establish new programs that foster leadership skills and personal development; and increase support for graduate students. For example, for this academic year, quiet phase gifts have added 12 new President’s Scholars for a total of 100 students who are receiving this full-tuition award, and 26 new Hunt Leadership Scholars, for a total of 73 receiving close to full-tuition awards.
The campaign aspires to increase to 100 the number of endowed academic positions, including department chairs and deanships; increase by 50 percent the amount of annual faculty research grants; endow departments and institutes that provide core academic disciplines as well as those that address emerging issues; increase resources for graduate programs, including graduate student fellowships and equipment; significantly expand opportunities for undergraduate research; and invest in academic facilities and technology to address changing student and faculty needs. SMU now has 71 endowed academic positions, nine of them newly created with quiet phase gifts. Current external grant funding for faculty research and sponsored projects is $20 million, and the campaign goal is to reach $30 million.
To help ensure the health and vitality of campus life as a resource for the highest achievement, the campaign seeks to create residential colleges or commons as part of a sophomore housing requirement; expand student services in health care, wellness and career placement, among others; enhance competitiveness of the athletics program, which teaches leadership skills and builds community spirit; and continue to enrich the campus environment on the main campus in Dallas as well as at SMU-in-Legacy and SMU-in-Taos. For example, the University seeks to add residential facilities to accommodate 1,200 additional students living on its Dallas campus.
The Second Century Campaign seeks broad alumni participation through gifts of all sizes. The goal is to achieve 25 percent alumni giving every year and 50 percent giving throughout the campaign. To engage alumni across the country, President Turner and campaign volunteers hosted fall events in four regions. Events in every city have attracted the largest crowds in SMU’s recent history. Others events, including the Houston kickoff on Jan. 28, will be scheduled for 2009.</blockquote
The Second Century Campaign has attracted a group of committed leaders who will reach out to alumni and friends internationally. SMU extends its appreciation to the following volunteers and to others who daily are joining the ranks.
Leadership Council
Campaign co-chairs shown at right are:
Ray L. Hunt, ’65, co-chair
Caren H. Prothro, co-chair
President R. Gerald Turner, ex-officio
Gerald J. Ford, ’66, ’69, convening co-chair
Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler, ’48, co-chair
Carl Sewell, ’66, co-chair.
Also shown: Brad E. Cheves, CEC ex-officio
Other members are:
Michael M. Boone, ’63, ’67, Dallas
Gary T. Crum, ’69, Houston
Linda Pitts Custard, ’60, ’99, Dallas
Robert H. Dedman Jr., ’80, ’84, Dallas
Milledge A. Hart III, Dallas
Gene C. Jones, Dallas
Jeanne L. Phillips, ’76, Dallas
John C. Tolleson, ’70, Dallas
Richard Ware, ’68, Amarillo
Steering Committee Co-Chairs
Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences
Kelly Hoglund Compton, ’79, Dallas
Frederick B. Hegi Jr., ’66, Dallas
Cordelia Chávez Candelaria, dean of
Dedman College, ex officio
Cox School of Business
Frank M. Dunlevy, ’71, San Francisco
David B. Miller, ’72, ’73, Dallas
Albert W. Niemi Jr., dean of Cox School
of Business, ex officio
Meadows School of the Arts
Linda Harris Gibbons, ’58, Dallas
John S. McFarland, ’59, ’61, Dallas, convening
committee co-chair
Sarah Fullinwider Perot, ’83, Dallas
José Antonio Bowen, dean of Meadows
School of the Arts, ex officio
Lyle School of Engineering
Bobby B. Lyle, ’67, Dallas,
convening committee co-chair
Karen Livesay Shuford, ’70, Dallas
Geoffrey C. Orsak, dean of the Lyle School
of Engineering, ex officio
Dedman School of Law
Alan D. Feld, ’57, ’60, Dallas, convening
committee co-chair
Marilyn Hussman Augur, ’89, Dallas
Ron K. Barger, ’81, Plano
George W. Bramblett Jr., ’63, ’66, Dallas
Philip J. Wise, ’78, ’81, Dallas
John B. Attanasio, dean of Dedman
School of Law, ex officio
Perkins School of Theology
Dodee Frost Crockett, ’03, Wimberley, Texas
The Rev. Michael McKee, ’78, Hurst, Texas
Kay Prothro Yeager, ’61, Wichita Falls, Texas
William B. Lawrence, dean of Perkins School
of Theology, ex officio
Annette Caldwell Simmons School
of Education and Human Development
Richard H. Collins, ’69, Dallas
Connie Blass O’Neill, ’77, Dallas
David J. Chard, dean of Annette Caldwell
Simmons School of Education and
Human Development, ex officio
Central University Libraries
Ann Warmack Brookshire, ’77, Tyler, Texas
Tavenner C. Lupton III, ’79, Dallas
Gillian M. McCombs, dean and director of
Central University Libraries, ex officio
Campus and Student Life
Craig James, ’83, Celina, Texas
Richard Ware, ’68, Amarillo, Texas
Christine Casey, SMU vice president for
business and finance, ex officio
Paul W. Ludden, SMU provost and vice
president for academic affairs, ex officio
Lori S. White, SMU vice president for student
affairs, ex officio
Athletics
Denny R. Holman, ’67, Dallas
Paul B. Loyd Jr., ’68, Houston
Steve Orsini, SMU director of athletics
Atlanta
Jennifer D. Flanagan, ’82
Martin L. Flanagan, ’82
Chicago
Royce E. (Ed) Wilson
Leslie Zahn Wilson, ’81
Houston
Scott J. McLean, ’78
Dennis E. Murphree, ’69
Los Angeles
Marion O. Palley, Newport Beach
Roger B. Palley, Newport Beach
Kelly Allen Welsh, ’78, Pacific
Palisades
Kevin D. Welsh, Pacific Palisades
New York City
James H. MacNaughton, ’72, ’73
International Regions
Juan L. Elek, Mexico City
Helmut Sohmen, ’66, Hong Kong
Ex-Officio Members
R. Gerald Turner, SMU president
Brad E. Cheves, SMU vice president for
development and external affairs
Houston offshore oil pioneer C. Robert Palmer (’57, ’66) became a bit nostalgic when he spoke at the May groundbreaking for the new Caruth Hall at the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. With his wife, Rebecca, Palmer made a $4 million gift toward the new state-of-the-art building and $1.1 million to their existing scholarship fund for undergraduate engineering students.
“Caruth Hall, as we knew her, soon will no longer exist,“ Palmer said. “There were over 10,000 of us who, over a 50-year period, entered and departed through her doors. The new Caruth Hall is going to be a magnificent structure, with lots of bricks and mortar, but the importance to the University will continue to be the students who pass through the doors.“
C. Robert Palmer (left) spoke at the groundbreaking for the new Caruth Hall. Participating in the platform party were SMU President R. Gerald Turner (center) and Brent Christopher, president and CEO of the Communities Foundation of Texas.
With the Palmers’ gift, SMU has received commitments of $18.7 million toward the $26.3 million goal for the building project. Other gifts include $2 million from the Hillcrest Foundation of Dallas and $1.5 million from the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation of Tulsa. In addition, the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas has committed $7.5 million toward the facility.
The Palmer Engineering Leadership Complex in the new building will include student leadership and co-op programs, an advising center and an “innovation gym,” which will house the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab to work on the nation’s toughest technology problems. Other major components include the Hillcrest Foundation Amphitheater, the Mabee Foundation Foyer and the Vester Hughes Auditorium.
Nicknamed “Caruth Hall 2.0” by Lyle School of Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak, the new building will be bigger – almost double the size – and greener than its predecessor, which was built in 1948. Caruth Hall will be the second engineering building at SMU to be constructed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-certification standards. The J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building, which opened in August 2006, was the first. Environmentally conscious features include natural materials that do not emit chemical gases and a water reclamation system that uses air-conditioning wastewater for landscaping irrigation.
The new Caruth Hall is where “we literally will be defining the new American engineer: a 21st-century leader with the agility, depth and passion to identify and solve problems that matter on a national and global scale,” Orsak says.
SMU rolled out the red carpet during Homecoming weekend in November, and the stars of the show were the Reunion classes, which raised more than $3.1 million for SMU. Taking the field for the check presentation at the Homecoming game were (from left) Board of Trustees Chair Carl Sewell (’66), President R. Gerald Turner, and class of 1968 co-chairs Johnetta Burke, Bob Massad and Gail Massad. As of November 3, the class of 1968 had raised the most money and the class of 1963 had the highest participation rate. Alumni in classes with years ending in 3 or 8 have until Dec. 31, 2008, to contribute toward the gift.
SMU is a family affair for the Parent Leadership Council’s new chairs, Bill (’82) and Liz Martin (’82) Armstrong of Denver. Their daughter Leigh, a sophomore, is the 10th Mustang in the family.
“We share a tent on the Boulevard with Leigh’s aunts, uncles and cousins,” Mrs. Armstrong says. “Tailgating offers such a great opportunity for generations of alums and students to congregate and celebrate.”
The Amstrong family in Denver: (from left) Bill, Liz and daughter Leigh, an SMU sophomore.
The couple met in a first-year geology class at SMU, and both earned Bachelor’s degrees in geology. They say campus experiences like the Boulevard continue to be a vital part of their lives as alumni. “Our relationships and experiences beyond the classroom helped define who we are today,” Mrs. Armstrong says. “We are thrilled that our daughter is exploring many of these programs, volunteer opportunities and social groups herself.”
The Armstrongs stay connected with SMU and their daughter through the Parent Leadership Council (PLC) – last year as members and for the next two years as co-chairs. This year 137 families are represented on the PLC, up from 98 last year.
The PLC is charged with expanding its membership and increasing gifts to the SMU Parent Fund, which supports all areas of the University. “The Parent Fund is unrestricted, and helps fill the gap that tuition does not cover,” says Christi Contreras, director of parent giving. In addition to supporting scholarships and helping to pay for teaching resources, the funds are distributed across campus for everything from buying professional journal subscriptions to purchasing the latest technology equipment.
This year’s PLC goal for annual giving is $800,000, which will be applied toward The Second Century Campaign. The five-year public phase of SMU’s $750 million fund-raising campaign was launched September 12 at a campus rally, which the Armstrongs attended.
“During the kickoff, we felt SMU’s energy and commitment to a strong present and future,” Mrs. Armstrong says.
To learn more about the Parent Leadership Council, contact Christi Contreras at 214-768-4746, or e-mail cshelton@smu.edu.
Celebrating a $4 million gift to SMU-in-Taos from Rita and Bill Clements (center) this past summer were (left) Mike Adler, executive director of SMU-in-Taos, and President R. Gerald Turner.
A$4 million gift from former Texas Governor William P. Clements Jr. (’39) and his wife, Rita, will enable the SMU-in-Taos program to offer classes in the fall, beginning next year.
The Clements’ recent gift is the latest in a long history of support from the couple. When he was chair of SMU’s Board of Governors in 1964, Clements helped the University begin the process of acquiring the property at the former site of Fort Burgwin that became SMU-in-Taos.
Through the years, Bill and Rita Clements have contributed more than $21 million for the University’s academic programs and facilities, including their support of SMU-in-Taos. A gift of $10 million in 1994 endowed the William P. Clements Department of History, began a Ph.D. program in history and established the Clements Center for Southwest Studies. Other gifts include $1 million to establish the Betty Clements Professorship in Applied Mathematics in honor of Clements’ sister and funds for renovation of a building renamed Clements Hall.
The SMU-in-Taos project includes new and renovated student and faculty housing, state-of-the-art technology and a new student center. Fall semester classes will be offered for the first time, in addition to the summer terms. The goal is to accommodate 70 students for fall 2009; about 300 students participate in summer courses.
Other donors have given more than $850,000 to support the student housing portion of the project. They include Dallasites Roy and Janis Coffee, Roland (’69) and Maurine (’67) Dickey, Richard T. (’61) and Jenny Mullen, Caren H. Prothro and Steve (’70) and Marcy (’69) Sands; Jo Ann Geurin Pettus (’69) of Graham, Texas; and Richard Ware (’68) and William J. Ware (’02) of Amarillo, Texas.
Additional funds are being sought for the planned improvements. For more information, e-mail Allison Curran, associate director, Alumni Outreach, or call 214-768-4739.
A $1 million gift from John C. (’70) and Debbie Tolleson of Dallas helped propel the Edwin L. Cox BBA Scholars Program in Cox School of Business past its endowment fund goal of $10 million. Dean Albert W. Niemi Jr. plans to build on that momentum by raising an additional $5 million for a total Scholars Program endowment of $15 million.
The merit-based undergraduate scholarship program was named in fall 2007 in recognition of a $5 million challenge grant from Mr. Cox.
John is chair and CEO of Tolleson Wealth Management, a Dallas-based private banking and wealth management firm. He has been a member of the SMU Board of Trustees since 2000. He also serves on the executive board of Cox School of Business. Debbie is president of the Tolleson Family Foundation and serves on the board of directors of Tolleson Wealth Management. She also serves on the executive board of Meadows School of the Arts. In addition, both are members of the Parent Leadership Council.
The Tollesons have pledged more than $6 million to SMU since 1990. Their gifts have included the Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership in the Cox School and support for the Tate Lecture Series.
About 100 students enter SMU each year as B.B.A. Scholars. The average SAT score for the entering class of 2008 was 1412.
“As a BBA Scholar, you have phenomenal networking connections established, even within your first year as an undergrad,” says sophomore and BBA Scholar Natalie Bornowski.
President R. Gerald Turner (center) visited with (from left) The Honorable Antonio O. Garza Jr. (’83), U.S. ambassador to Mexico and SMU trustee, and his wife, Mariasun A. Aramburuzabala; and Ingrid and Juan L. Elek, SMU trustee, in Mexico City. The University introduced its goals for The Second Century Campaign to alumni, parents and donors in Mexico in September.
With two gifts totaling $5 million, SMU Dedman School of Law has become one of the few law schools in the country with an endowed deanship.
The Noel family of Houston made a gift of $4 million in September to honor the late Judge James L. Noel Jr. (’38). Judge Noel’s five children – James L. Noel III, Carol Noel King (’76), Edmund O. Noel (’75), William D. Noel (’82) and Robert C. Noel (’80, ’89) – and their spouses endowed the Judge James Noel Deanship and Professorship in Law.
The family’s gift secures a $1 million matching gift from the Dedman Foundation for the endowment.
“This is a wonderful way to honor Judge Noel, and is a truly historic moment for the Law School,” says Dean John B. Attanasio, who holds the endowed position.
Noel earned an LL.B. from SMU School of Law in 1938 and received two Bachelor of Science degrees in 1931 and 1932 from SMU as well. After serving in World War II, he worked in the Texas attorney general’s office as the lead oil and gas lawyer. He later established his own law firm. Noel was appointed to the federal district court bench in Houston in 1961, where he served until 1976.
Perkins School of Theology is undergoing a major transformation as construction progresses on the 20,000-square-foot Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall. The structure will house seminar rooms and classrooms, conference rooms, and preaching and computer labs. The building will double the community dining and meeting space and provide facilities for public programs. In addition, Kirby and Selecman halls, built in 1948 and 1952 respectively, are being renovated. Naming opportunities are available in the buildings. For more information, contact the Perkins School of Theology Development Office at 214-768-2026.
On September 12 the University launched SMU Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign. At the kickoff, we announced that during the two-year quiet phase of the campaign, donors already had committed $317 million toward the $750 million goal.
Just two weeks later the economic downturn led to failed financial institutions, falling stocks, layoffs and bailouts. One might wonder: What a difficult time to launch a major gifts campaign! However, after a very successful quiet phase, we were ready to initiate this public phase with a strong belief in the resiliency of the American economy.
In addition, universities must plan for the long term. A campaign can last five or more years, and pledges are paid over time. Most of our donors continue their generosity, and we are confident that when conditions improve, those who may have postponed their philanthropy will renew their support. One of the main goals of this campaign is to achieve a 50 percent participation rate among alumni over the course of the campaign, and a yearly contribution rate of 25 percent. Both of these can be accomplished through gifts of all sizes.
All SMU constituents recognize the University’s momentum, and we must keep moving forward. The previous campaign, which ended in 2002, enabled SMU to upgrade educational facilities and increase endowment funds. We knew, however, that SMU would need a subsequent campaign to focus more heavily on endowment for scholarships, faculty positions and academic programs, upgraded facilities and campus programs Universitywide, but particularly in Dedman College, the academic core of SMU.
The approach of the centennial of our founding, 2011, and of our opening, 2015, gives us a unique opportunity for enhanced outreach and influence. We must uphold our founders’ vision to remain competitive and relevant in a changing world.
Our progress to date is impressive. The number of students applying for admission to SMU continues to rise. Their academic credentials are better than ever. We continue to recruit outstanding faculty to supplement those already here who excel as teachers and researchers. During the campaign’s quiet phase, we named the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development and the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College. The Meadows Foundation has provided new historic support for Meadows Museum and Meadows School of the Arts. In addition, we have gained endowments for five academic institutes, centers and initiatives; nine endowed faculty positions; 175 endowed scholarships; and seven new or renovated facilities.
Our public phase gained momentum with the naming of the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. Now is the time to build on these strengths.
Never has the need been more critical for the strong leadership that SMU graduates provide in so many fields. The best result of this campaign, and our greatest contribution to society, will be to equip our graduates to address difficult issues, solve complex problems and lead productive change. They will strengthen our nation for the long term. Thanks to all of you who have supported this goal and will do so in the future.
Watching the laser show with faculty, students and staff were (from left) President R. Gerald Turner, Bobby B. Lyle and Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak.
SMU’s 83-year-old School of Engineering has been named in honor of Bobby B. Lyle (’67). The Dallas entrepreneur and industry leader was instrumental in crafting a strategic plan for the school that Dean Geoffrey Orsak calls “a new national template for engineering in the 21st century.”
“Over the past several years, Bobby Lyle has spent countless hours helping to chart a course that will position the school for national leadership in American higher education,” said President R. Gerald Turner.
Lyle has been an SMU trustee for 20 years and serves on numerous trustee committees. As a member of the Engineering Executive Board, he has worked with Orsak and the faculty to introduce several major initiatives expanding the school’s focus on technology leadership, engineering activism and social responsibility.
“Our programs are designed to move beyond traditional engineering education as we prepare our students to provide leadership in the application of technology to solve real world problems,” Lyle said. “This calls for engineers with strong skills of oral and written communication, creative thinking and a broad understanding of societal and economic issues.”
Among the new Lyle School of Engineering initiatives are:
The Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab. Through a partnership with Lockheed Martin, SMU will be the first university in the nation to host a lab modeled on the top-secret research and development facility created to solve the “toughest technology problems facing this country,” Orsak said.
The Center for Engineering Leadership. The center will provide a four-year customized leadership development program for each student that will be overseen by a team of executive coaches.
A new international institute. The institute will help to develop and deploy sustainable, technology-based solutions for the global poor.
An engineering and innovation minor. Offered to SMU students pursuing non-technical degrees, the minor will focus on innovation and design skills.
The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education. The K-12 center develops new proven methodologies for incorporating engineering education into public schools. The recently endowed institute also expands engineering opportunities for underrepresented groups, including women and minorities.
The Office of Contemporary Technology. The office is charged with providing cutting-edge educational resources to all engineering alumni for their entire careers.
“Plugged In.” A daily e-mail briefing for students on current global political, economic, social, scientific and technical issues.
A laser light show introduced the newly named Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering at a ceremony Oct. 17.
Lyle has strong SMU ties with both the School of Engineering and the Cox School of Business. He earned an M.S. degree in engineering administration at SMU in 1967 and received a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. From 1967-75, he was a professor and administrator in SMU’s Business School, serving as dean ad interim and as executive dean.
Lyle is convening co-chair of the Engineering Steering Committee for The Second Century Campaign, launched in September with a goal of $750 million. His financial contributions to the Engineering School during the quiet phase of the campaign exceeded $5 million. In 2008 Lyle pledged additional support toward the school’s new initiatives. His total gifts and pledges represent the largest commitment from an individual or institution in the history of the Engineering School.
Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. have become the first couple in SMU history to receive honorary degrees together. They received Doctor of Humane Letters degrees at the May 2008 Commencement ceremony “for their generous and farsighted contributions to the arts, sciences and education in Dallas, Texas, and the nation.”
“I was very honored,” says Peter O’Donnell Jr. “I’ve had a lifelong interest in education and have been involved at SMU for many years.”
Edith and Peter O’Donnell receive honorary degrees from President Turner.
O’Donnell is president and CEO of the O’Donnell Foundation, which has funded innovative programs to strengthen engineering and science education. The Advanced Placement Incentive Program, originally established at nine Texas schools, is now a national model for increasing the rate of minority high school students earning college credit by passing advanced placement exams.
“There is a worldwide demand for talent in every field,” he says. “I really want to see students becoming good at something they choose.”
Edith O’Donnell promotes arts education as founder of Young Audiences of North Texas, now called Big Thought, which brings arts to students through community agencies, school districts, child-care centers and juvenile detention facilities. In 2007, Big Thought won a three-year $8 million grant from the Wallace Foundation to create a national model for arts education. “It is among my greatest joys to help a fine organization in a meaningful way,” she says.
She also founded Advanced Placement Incentive Programs for art and music theory students in 10 Dallas-area schools. Their art is featured each spring in a young masters exhibit, this year at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Last year AP art and music theory students won $10 million in college scholarships.
“Receiving the SMU degree was an unbelievable honor for me,” she says. “Neither Pete nor I attended SMU, and to honor us together is beyond my greatest dreams.”
Ten new members have been elected to serve four-year terms on the SMU Board of Trustees. In addition, 28 trustees were re-elected to four-year terms, and two new ex officio board members were named to one-year terms. The board sets policies governing the operation and direction of the University.
Board officers:
Carl Sewell (’66), chair
Michael M. Boone (’63, ’67), vice chair
Caren H. Prothro, secretary
New trustees:
Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe (’85)
Kelly Hoglund Compton (’79)
Antonio O. Garza Jr. (’83)
Clark K. Hunt (’87)
Fredrick S. Leach (’83)
David B. Miller (’72, ’73)
The Rev. Dr. Sheron Covington Patterson (’83, ’89, ’96)
Sarah Fullinwider Perot (’83)
Richard K. Templeton
Royce E. (Ed) Wilson
New ex officio trustees:
Lamar H. Dowling (’09), student representative
Dennis A. Foster, president of the Faculty Senate
Re-elected trustees:
Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler (’48)
Bradley W. Brookshire (’76)
Laura Welch Bush (’68)
Pastor Kirbyjon H. Caldwell (’81)
Donald J. Carty
The Rev. Mark Craig
Gary T. Crum (’69)
Linda Pitts Custard (’60, ’99)
Robert H. Dedman Jr. (’80, ’84)
Frank M. Dunlevy (’71)
Juan L. Elek
Alan D. Feld (’57, ’60)
Gerald J. Ford (’66, ’69)
James R. Gibbs (’66, ’70, ’72)
Frederick B. Hegi Jr. (’66)
Ray L. Hunt (’65)
Gene C. Jones
Bishop Scott J. Jones (’81, ’92)
Paul B. Loyd Jr. (’68)
Bobby B. Lyle (’67)
Jeanne L. Phillips (’76)
Bishop Ann Brookshire Sherer
Helmut Sohmen (’66)
John C. Tolleson (’70)
Richard J. Wood
Continuing ex-officio members:
Connie Blass O’Neill (’77), chair of the Alumni Board
R. Gerald Turner, SMU President
Trustees who have completed their terms:
Jeanne Tower Cox (’78)
Tom Engibous
Milledge A. Hart III
Ward L. Huey Jr. (’60)
Robert A. Leach (’86)
Mark A. Nerio (’78)
Bishop Alfred L. Norris
Ross Perot Jr.
William Joel Rainer (’68, ’70)
Richard Ware (’68)
Gary A. Evans, faculty representative
Andrew R. Galloway (’08), student representative
“The trustees who have completed their terms have guided SMU through an era of unprecedented progress, ranging from our rise in academic quality and selection as the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library to our successful Time to Lead major gifts campaign and the quiet phase of our new one, SMU Unbridled,” Turner says. “Through these advancements, their leadership will live on, and we are very grateful.”
The Center for Family Counseling features a special area for children.
For Collin County and other North Texas residents feeling the emotional strains of the sagging economy, stressful relationships or everyday life, a new source of affordable help is available at the SMU-in-Legacy campus.
The Centers will serve residents of all income levels by providing individual and group counseling services. In addition, the Centers will offer bilingual counseling services. A sliding-fee scale (with a maximum of $35 per session) ensures that services are affordable to all, regardless of circumstances.
Counseling is provided by graduate students in SMU’s Master of Science in Counseling Program, which prepares individuals for professional practice as counselors. Experienced doctoral-level licensed faculty and staff members direct the center and supervise the students.
Judge John Roach of the 296th State District Court in Collin County says the sliding scale will enable families to get the help they need but could not otherwise afford.
“I am addicted to traveling and the challenge of learning another culture – of not dragging your culture into someone else’s country, but living their culture. It is one of the greatest ways to live… Go to Egypt or Africa or Croatia and see what it feels like. There’s nothing in the world like that. It grows your soul. You open up as a human being.” Quincy Jones, musician, composer and entertainment icon, The Omni Hotels Lecture, Tate Distinguished Lecture Series, Oct. 7
“More Americans today define the American Dream in terms of spiritual fulfillment and living a genuine life as opposed to those who still believe … in the traditional, material American dream. We’re getting accustomed to living in a world of limits. That bodes well for Americans getting along with the rest of the world, for a new direction in foreign policy… (and) in terms of saving the environment.” John Zogby, president and CEO of the Zogby International polling firm and author of The Way We’ll Be, ExxonMobil Lecture Series on Ethics in Advertising, Meadows School of the Arts, Oct. 1
“With everything that’s going on in our lives and society, somehow this elephant has become a symbol to me of the proverbial ‘elephant in the room.’ If people are not moved to protect creatures who are subject to their will, that lack of concern will spread out exponentially to everyone else – other countries, other cultures, other kinds of people.” Lily Tomlin, actress and comedian who spoke on behalf of Concerned Citizens for Jenny, which advocates that the Dallas Zoo’s lone elephant be moved to a sanctuary in Tennessee, Oct. 15
“I believe in national service. When I was in the Senate, we wrote a bill that would require any student who had a federal loan to give some type of service in return. I would have the most lucrative benefits go to those students who were willing to sign up for the military. The second level of benefits would be for those in the Guard, Reserves and homeland security, and the third would be for teachers. We have to pay teachers better, and we have to demand the best and the brightest.” Sam Nunn, former U.S. senator and chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Forces, Turner Construction/Wachovia Tate Student Forum, Sept. 16 “ ‘Illegal alien’ is a really inflammatory phrase. Are people illegal? People tell me, ‘My family were immigrants, but they came here legally.’ And I have to ask, ‘Who checked the papers? Crazy Horse? Geronimo?’ We’re all visitors to this continent in one way or another. I think Americans have to remember that we are a family first, and if we talk to each other, instead of yell at each other, we come to solutions.” Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The Devil’s Highway, SMU’s 2008 Common Reading for first-year students, Gartner Honors Lecture, Dedman College, Sept. 8
The remains of Greek and Roman theatres, temples, bathhouses and roads in Israel have provided important clues to Mark Chancey about the transformation of Jewish culture during the 600-year Greco-Roman period (300 BCE to 300 CE).
“Architectural remains in northern Israel and Galilee show how the Jewish culture adopted Greek and Roman ways and how it resisted them,” says Chancey, chair and associate professor of religious studies in Dedman College.
“Most biblical scholars are trained to handle texts,” he adds. “My research helps bridge the gap between biblical scholars and archaeologists by integrating literary and biblical sources with what is revealed through ancient architecture and artifacts.”
Mark Chancey with a column at the ancient synagogue of Gush Halav near modern Jish in northern Galilee.
A New Testament scholar, Chancey earned his Ph.D. in religion at Duke University, where he also participated in his first archaeological dig at the ancient Roman town of Sepphoris in Galilee. He was attracted to the physical aspect of the dig – getting on his knees to work with “pick and hoe, spade and brush – to uncover new data and artifacts several thousand years old,” he says. Chancey returned to the dig site several times to learn more about the blended cultures represented by coins, pottery and architectural remains and help make them accessible to biblical and religious studies scholars, not only archaeologists.
He returned to Israel in summer 2008 to continue work on his book, The Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: The Hellenistic and Roman Periods, which he is writing with Eric M. Meyers, the Bernice and Morton Lerner Professor of Judaic Studies at Duke University. Chancey’s research is supported by the Sam Taylor Fellowship of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church.
The two scholars are synthesizing the abundance of material and recent archaeological findings about Jewish culture during the occupation of Palestine by the Greeks and later the Romans, highlighting some of the key moments that transformed Western history, Chancey says. Questions they are exploring include “the nature of Jesus’ unique background in Galilee and the rise of the early Christian movement, the varieties of early Judaism in which the Christian movement fits, and how those two traditions make use of the Hellenistic milieu in which they arose.”
Chancey has written numerous articles and two books about his research, including Greco-Roman Culture and the Galilee of Jesus (2005) and The Myth of a Gentile Galilee (2002).
His archaeological background provides context for teaching his favorite course, Introduction to the New Testament, in which many students often are exposed to the Bible in ways they never have encountered. “Students don’t always know what to expect in the course,” he says, “but I work hard at maintaining a balance in which they are seriously challenged without feeling that whatever religious beliefs they hold are being denigrated.”
Chancey recently has developed another area of biblical expertise, but based in the 21st century. He has turned his attention to the academic, political and constitutional aspects of Bible courses in public schools. Chancey reviewed every Bible course offered in Texas public schools and found that “almost all were taught from a conservative Protestant perspective. No guidance or training was provided for the teachers in religious or biblical studies. But the issue is very complicated, and the voices of biblical scholars are needed.”
When he conducted his report on the issue with Texas Freedom Network, a watchdog group on church-state matters, it was the summer before he went up for tenure in 2005. “I was aware that I was doing politically controversial research, and told my department that it would get media attention. There was a firestorm of it, and yet I received nothing but support from the SMU community. This is a good example of the academic freedom we enjoy here – we can engage in politically sensitive research. I know that if I do a good job, my work will be supported.”
When Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, he changed the course of science with the turn of a page. Throughout 2009, SMU schools and departments will celebrate the 150th anniversary of this book and the 200th birthday of the author through a series of lectures, exhibits and presentations, “Darwin’s Evolving Legacy: Celebrating Ideas That Shape Our World.”
Confirmed events include:
A Meadows School of the Arts theatrical reading from “Inherit the Wind,” the iconic play about the Scopes Monkey Trial, Feb. 12.
A panel discussion on the Pennsylvania case barring a public school district from teaching “intelligent design,” Sept. 24.
Other speakers will address Darwin’s impact from the perspectives of biology, ecology, philosophy, anthropology and theology.
In addition, from Sept. 8 through Dec. 9, DeGolyer Library will exhibit every edition of On the Origin of Species published during Darwin’s lifetime, with reactions from the popular press and scientific community.
More than a dozen recommendations made by the SMU Task Force on Substance Abuse Prevention have been implemented since April. Implementation of other recommendations is in progress, with a goal of acting on all 36 of the suggestions accepted by President R. Gerald Turner.
The initiatives are intended to foster a community in which academic achievement is the highest priority, students look out for themselves and each other and they make the best use of resources and assistance, says Vice President for Student Affairs Lori White.
New initiatives include:
Caring Community Connections Program, an online process for registering reports of students in distress, enabling the dean of students to follow up on urgent matters or take other action.
The Call for Help Program, encouraging students to seek medical assistance for themselves (Medical Amnesty) or for another person (Good Samaritan) at high risk due to substance abuse. Students who seek help will now not normally be subject to the discipline process at SMU, though they will participate in educational programs.
Students listen to Jampact perform a weeknight jazz concert at the Hughes-Trigg Varsity.
Social Event Registration, requiring student organizations to register most on-campus and off-campus events through the Office of Student Life. For some events, organizers are required to meet in advance with the Social Event Registration Committee.
Law-Enforcement Partnership, in which SMU collaborates with University Park police to share a police officer on the North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which consists of area police departments and federal agencies.
Parental Notification of a first offense of a substance abuse or alcohol violation.
Extended Health Center Hours and Services, open overnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; availability of a paramedic and an emergency medical technician during the night hours; and a mobile intensive care unit for immediate transport to area hospitals.
AlcoholEdu, a newly required online alcohol education program.
SMU also clarified explanation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and developed a Web site for permission to release FERPA information.
To strengthen a culture of academic achievement and accountability, SMU also implemented several academic recommendations, including scheduling more Friday classes, encouraging faculty to take class attendance, asking faculty to help identify students at risk and providing early grade reports.
White says that although wise student choices are the ultimate protection against substance abuse, SMU is committed to a proactive approach, to be monitored by the new Commission on Substance Abuse Prevention and communicated through print and electronic materials. “We are dedicated to providing a campus environment that encourages good decision-making, responsible behavior and personal and intellectual growth,” she said.
A chain of 14, breathtaking Pacific islands is paradise lost without reliable electricity. The Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States located about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines, has seen its garment industry waste away in the face of global competition. Attracting replacement industry is difficult in part because of the commonwealth’s undependable power supply. Rolling blackouts are the norm, caused by aging power plant equipment and the irregular delivery of expensive, imported diesel to run the plants.
SMU’s geothermal energy team of faculty and graduate students is aiming to prevent the Islands’ economic oblivion by helping to convert their volcanic heat into affordable, renewable energy. “This [energy crisis] could be the United States 20 years from now,’ says James E. Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at SMU.
Quick knows from his own work in the Marianas what it would mean for residents to cut their dependence on costly diesel fuel – he directed a volcano-monitoring program for the islands during his previous career with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Most recently Quick has served as a liaison for the island government in its search for renewable energy: He introduced Northern Mariana officials to SMU’s recognized experts in geothermal energy &ndash David Blackwell, W.B. Hamilton Professor of Geophysics in Dedman College, and Maria Richards, coordinator of SMU’s Geothermal Lab.
In the Marianas, the SMU team is studying the potential applications for two different types of geo-thermal systems that use Earth-heated water and steam to drive turbines and produce electricity. Testing has been completed on volcanic Pagan Island, where the results are being studied to determine if a large, steam-driven power
plant like those found in California and Iceland may be a fit.
On Saipan, the most populated island in the Marianas chain, subsurface water temperatures are lower because there is no active volcano. Testing of existing water wells completed in early summer supports the potential for building smaller power plants designed for lower temperatures. Plans call for drilling a test bore hole on Saipan to confirm water temperatures at deeper depths.
Quick, Blackwell and Richards think the Marianas could produce enough geothermal energy to supply the island chain and some of its neighbors with an endless source of electricity.
Interest in geothermal energy has been growing against a backdrop of rising oil prices. Google.org is providing nearly $500,000 to SMU’s Geothermal Lab for improved mapping of U.S. geothermal resources. Blackwell, who has been collecting heat flow data for 40 years, is credited with drawing attention to the untapped potential energy source with his Geothermal Map of North America, first published in 2004. The Google.org investment in updating that map will allow Blackwell to more thoroughly mark locations where potential exists for geothermal development.
Blackwell and Richards are convinced that oilfields may be some of the most overlooked sites for geothermal power production in the United States. SMU’s geothermal team is offering an energy solution that would boost capacity in low-producing oilfields by using the deep shafts drilled for petroleum products to also tap kilowatt-generating hot water and steam.
The process of pumping oil and gas to the surface frequently brings up a large amount of hot wastewater that the industry treats as a nuisance. Install a binary pump at the well head to capture that waste hot water, Blackwell says, and enough geothermal energy can be produced to run the well, mitigating production costs for low-volume wells and even making abandoned wells economically feasible again.
Taken a step further, surplus electricity generated from an oilfield full of geothermal pumps could be distributed to outside users at a profit. This kind of “double dipping” makes sense for short and long-term energy production, Richards says. “This is an opportunity for the energy industry to think outside the box.” &mdash Kim Cobb
Bamba Fall grew up playing soccer, the national sport in his home, St. Louis, Senegal. When he turned 15, however, the 7-1 center on SMU’s men’s basketball team looked for a new sport. “I was too tall for soccer,” says the senior French major.
In a gym with no windows or air-conditioning, he discovered basketball and became part of an African talent pool that is being noticed by American universities.
Now one of three Senegalese players on SMU’s team, Fall was a celebrity when the Mustang basketball team traveled to Africa in June. Posters with his life-sized photo advertised the game in which the Mustangs took on Senegal’s national team. And, for the first time in three years, he was home to celebrate his birthday.
Mustang basketball players eat a dish of chicken and rice Sengalese-style &ndash from a communal bowl &ndash at Papa Dia’s home.
The Mustangs became the first Division I men’s basketball team to travel to Africa, spending 12 days last summer in Senegal and South Africa. In partnership with Adidas they conducted coaching and skills clinics for African youth and played exhibition games against the national teams of Senegal and South Africa. The trip was funded by private donations.
“NCAA rules allow every Division I basketball team to take a foreign trip once every four years,” says men’s basketball coach Matt Doherty. “Most teams go to Europe or Australia. By going to Africa we had an opportunity to solidify relationships with each other and our three Senegalese players, as well as market our program to a continent full of talented prospects.”
Players and coaches are quick to say, however, that their time in Africa was about much more than basketball. Highlights of the trip included team building, learning about Africa’s history and culture, and visiting the homes and families of Fall, sophomore forward Papa Dia and junior transfer forward Mouhammad Faye.
“This trip was about athletics, Africa and the changing world we live in,” says Vicki Hill, director of the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center. At Doherty’s request, she researched the possibility of adding an academic component to the trip. With the approval of SMU’s Education Abroad Council, eight players took the Peoples of Africa course from Josie Caldwell-Ryan, anthropology lecturer, to prepare for the journey. Both Hill and Caldwell-Ryan also traveled to Africa.
“Taking the class really helped me understand how a country is molded by its historical events,” says sophomore guard Ryan Harp. “In South Africa I saw the infrastructure that the English had developed when they settled there. On the other hand, I saw the underdevelopment in Senegal that was brought on by the French when they colonized that country.”
In addition to classes, papers and tests, players toured Senegal’s Goree Island, once the center of the West African slave trade, and the South Africa homes of former South Africa president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. As basketball players, the team usually travels from hotel to gym to hotel, Hill says. “This time they got to travel as learners.”
The Senegalese players also experienced the trip as hosts – introducing the other players and staff to their families and touring the school where Bamba Fall’s mother teaches. At Papa Dia’s home, the players devoured a chicken and rice dish Senegalese-style – from a large communal bowl. Fall was forced to own up to one of his tall tales – that he didn’t keep a pet lion at his house after all.
“The best part of the trip was visiting the families,” says sophomore guard Alex Malone. “It reminded me of my own family reunions. Learning what my teammates went through to play basketball in America astonished me.”
Like Fall, 6-9 Papa Dia took up basketball when he became too tall for soccer. He attended SEEDS Academy (Sports for Education and Economic Development Foundation) in Dakar, which offers students 10 months of intense academic and basketball instruction. From SEEDS he was offered a scholarship to attend high school in South Kent, Connecticut, before being recruited to SMU. The Mustangs’ trip to Senegal was the 20-year-old’s first visit home in nearly five years.
Meeting with current SEEDS students reminded Dia of the challenges and rewards of playing college basketball. “They re-opened my eyes and made me want to work harder. Maybe someday, after being successful, I’ll come back and help my community and my school. I want these kids to know that life is like links on a chain. Everyone needs someone else to lead them in the right direction.”
SMU athletes and coaches describe the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing as an opportunity to compete against the best athletes in the world. Sara Nordenstam (’06), representing her home nation of Norway, took the bronze in the women’s 200m breaststroke. Laura Reback Bennett (’97), competing for the USA, finished fourth in the women’s triathlon. Nastia Liukin, who briefly attended SMU in 2007 before training for the Olympics, won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around competition and silver in the team competition, silver medals in the uneven bars and the balance beam events, as well as a bronze in floor exercise.
Rodney Harmon celebrates with men’s doubles bronze medalists Mike and Bob Bryan.
“[The Olympics] is the top of the mountain, it doesn’t get any better” says men’s swimming coach Eddie Sinnott, who traveled to Beijing as one of three assistant team managers of the U.S. men’s Olympic swimming team. Other Mustang coaches included women’s head coach Steve Collins, who led the Slovakian national team, and former tennis player Rodney Harmon (’83), who was head coach of the U.S. men’s tennis team. Mustang swimmer Rania Elwani (’99) of Egypt served as a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletic Commission.
Men’s soccer head coach Tim McClements talks strategy with his players.
SMU’s men’s soccer rankings climbed as high as No. 2 in the nation earlier this fall under new head coach Tim McClements. The Mustangs shut out perennial power Stanford, 2-0 and won the University of Virginia Classic Tournament. McClements took over in the summer the program he served for seven years during two stints as an SMU assistant coach. Before returning to the Hilltop in 2006, he was head coach at Vanderbilt University for four seasons, earning Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2005. McClements coached under former SMU head coach Schellas Hyndman, who left in the spring to coach Major League Soccer team FC Dallas. McClements also has served as head coach at Eastern Illinois and Baker (Kansas) universities, and was instrumental in recruiting top players – Ugo Ihemelu and Duke Hashimoto to SMU and Joe Germanese to Vanderbilt – who played for MLS teams.
Marsh Terry is telling SMU’s story with a little help from his friends. From High on the Hilltop . . . Marshall Terry’s History of SMU with Various Essays by His Colleagues explores the University’s past, present and future through the lens of a writer who helped shape his alma mater for more than 50 years. Marshall Terry (’53, ’54), E.A. Lilly Professor of English emeritus, served as a professor of literature and creative writing, chair of the English Department, and associate provost. He is a Distinguished Alumnus of SMU and a Fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters. In a brief history, Terry surveys the University’s development from its founding in 1911 to the present. To complement the story, he invited 14 members of the SMU community to write essays on topics ranging from the building of Dallas Hall to a vision of the centennial years of 2011 and 2015, the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening. From High on the Hilltop, published jointly by SMU’s DeGolyer Library and Three Forks Press of Dallas, costs $24.95 for paperback and $34.95 for clothbound. It is available from DeGolyer Library, 214-768-3231; SMU Bookstore, 214-768-2435; and Three Forks Press.
On Aug. 24, 2006, Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet status, but a Facebook star was born. SMU sophomore Steven Klimczak – then a high school student in Houston – launched “When I was your age, Pluto was a planet” on the social networking site. With an estimated 1.4 million members, the group is one of the largest on Facebook. “I’m not even an Internet person,” Klimczak says. “I wanted to start a group that would engage a lot of students in my high school and was hoping for at least 200 members.” The group, which is “dedicated to the kids who were taught that Pluto was the ninth planet from the sun,” has evolved into “an unofficial petition to get the planet back to planet status,” he says. The Facebook phenom has been interviewed by ABC News, The New York Times, BBC Radio and other media outlets. At SMU, Klimczak is on the pre-med track majoring in finance with a minor in biology.
SMU rowers christened new quarters in September at the White Rock Boathouse. The renovated facility, formerly the Dallas Water Utilities filter building, will house the team’s boats and equipment and includes separate launch and recovery docks. At the team’s previous facilities at the White Rock Lake Bath House, boats were launched lakeside. The boathouse renovation is part of a Dallas Parks Board initiative to enhance White Rock Lake Park.
Women who have made a special impact on their communities, professions and families are being honored with Remember the Ladies!, a campaign to raise $1 million to endow an archivist position for the Archives of Women of the Southwest at SMU’s DeGolyer Library. With a $5,000 gift, donors can honor special women in their lives, whose achievements will become part of the archives and whose names will be engraved on a plaque. The deadline is February 20 for names to be included on the plaque, to be unveiled at an event this spring; honorees after that point will be added at intervals. For information, contact Paulette Mulry at 214-768-1741 or by e-mail at pmulry@smu.edu. The archives includes the story of Lucy Pier Stevens (right) from Ohio, who was marooned in Texas by the outbreak of the Civil War.
On performance night, Maestro Hector Guzman (’83) arrives early at the symphony hall to take advantage of the solitude before the program begins. As the musicians arrive and begin to warm up, their instrumental cacophony sounds comforting to Guzman’s trained ear, as does the growing hum emanating from arriving audience members.
Soon the stage calls begin and the concertmaster tunes the orchestra. Once he takes the podium and raises his baton for the first downbeat, he knows that, even after nearly 30 years of conducting, only those first notes of the music will chase the butterflies from his stomach. “I’m the first one to experience sounds from the orchestra,” says Guzman, who earned his Master of Music degree in instrumental conducting at SMU.
Guzman is music director of the Irving, Plano and San Angelo Symphony Orchestras in Texas, as well as the Jalisco Philharmonic in his native Mexico, where he recently won the Mozart Medal, the country’s highest honor for excellence in music.
He also has served as guest conductor of symphonies throughout the world, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Japan and Spain. “Each orchestra has unique characteristics according to the musicians’ abilities, repertoire and even the local culture,” he says. “A first rehearsal reveals what adjustments must be made to accomplish the program.”
Guzman began his musical career on the piano at age 5; as a teen he switched to the organ, preferring the instrument’s fuller sound. But it was after conducting a performance of Mozart’s “Requiem” at Mexico City’s Conservatory of Music at age 17 that he discovered his passion. Conducting provides an opportunity to express his love for the works of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Mozart, he says. “Music is noble and universal; it touches the heart in a way nothing else can.”
After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of North Texas, Guzman followed former UNT conducting teacher and adviser Anshel Brusilow to SMU, where many of the music faculty also are musicians with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. “All of this helped me develop as a musician,” he says.
Alessio Bax (’96), a pianist on the Meadows School of the Arts faculty who has performed with Guzman, notes his “wonderful ability to consider a soloist’s vision of a piece and to merge it, without compromise, into a musically coherent performance.”
To inculcate younger audiences into the art of listening to classical music, Guzman stages youth concerts and public school performances with age-appropriate programs. For example, a musical program with a magic theme might include “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by the French composer Dukas, made famous in Walt Disney’s animated film “Fantasia,” and current selections from the soundtracks of Harry Potter movies.
One day Guzman says he would like to direct only one orchestra while continuing to serve as guest conductor for major ones. “I’m shooting for the stars.”
During Jane Albritton’s (’67, ’71) first months as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural India, she and another female volunteer repeatedly were asked the same question: “Why don’t your fathers love you”
To the tradition-bound villagers, only uncaring fathers would allow their twenty-something daughters to remain unmarried and travel so far from home. “We came up with an acceptable explanation: Our fathers loved us very much, but they wanted us to do service. We had to fulfill that family obligation before we went home, where our fathers would have suitable husbands waiting for us,” recalls Albritton, whose father was the legendary SMU geology professor, administrator and mentor, Claude C. Albritton.
When Albritton took a test for the then five-year-old Peace Corps, it was a junior-year lark. But it evolved into the adventure of a lifetime. After graduating with majors in English and history, she left for a two-year posting in Karera, Shivpuri District, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the capital of which is Bhopal. “Our house was right in the middle of the bazaar, so we might wake up with a camel or elephant at our front door,” she remembers. “We did have electricity, but no running water.”
She was supposed to assist villagers with poultry production, but in rural India, that was not considered a suitable task for young women. Instead, Albritton was assigned to an applied nutrition program, which involved activities from – trying to get people to raise kitchen gardens – to distributing milk to kindergarteners.
After two years in India, she returned to SMU to complete a Master’s in English and eventually established Tiger Enterprises, a company that offers writing, editing and related services. In 1995 she moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, where she teaches business and magazine writing online through Colorado State University. She is writing a history of presidential pardons titled Pardon Me, Mister President.
Nearly 40 years later, the Peace Corps remains a vital touchstone in her life. “There are almost 200,000 returned Peace Corps volunteers, and everyone has a story to tell,” Albritton says. Peace Corps at 50, a project to collect and publish stories, will mark the golden anniversary of the international service program in 2011. The project is spearheaded by Albritton and a trio of former volunteers, including Dennis Cordell, professor of history and associate dean for general education in Dedman College, who served in the Republic of Chad from 1968-70. A publisher has yet to be named, but 200 stories have been accepted for publication and will be posted online.
Because Peace Corps volunteers have been places “where diplomats will never go,” Albritton says, “we’ve gained a love and appreciation for cultures that sometimes seem unlovable. That’s why the story project is an invaluable resource.”
Without knowing much about the field, Heather DeShon (’99) took what she calls “a leap of faith” to enter SMU as a geophysics major. “Mom always thought I would be a student forever,” she jokes, “but I don”t think I knew that I would stay in academia.”
Now an assistant research professor at The University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI), DeShon “works on data that will help us understand how earthquakes actually generate and what’s controlling how large they will be.” CERI stands at the epicenter of collaborative research on the active New Madrid seismic zone. The fault system slices through parts of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
“My research generally focuses on subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is pulled underneath another, and I’m starting to concentrate more on New Madrid,” she says.
A President’s Scholar, DeShon found her niche when she took Introduction to Seismology from Eugene Herrin (’51), Shuler-Foscue Professor of Seismology in the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College. “I knew I didn’t want to look at rocks, but seismology offered the possibility of field work,” she says.
After graduating from SMU with a double major in geophysics and mathematics, DeShon earned a doctorate in geophysics at the University of California-Santa Cruz in 2004. Field work took her to Central America, where she deployed seismometers in the ocean off the Costa Rican coast and on-shore instrumentation to locate small-magnitude earthquakes as precisely as possible.
“The idea was that small earthquakes occur on the same portion of a fault that would rupture during a major earthquake, which would enable us to locate the boundaries of bigger quakes,” she says. “What we found, however, is that the small earthquakes probably don’t tell us about the entire rupture area, so we use the data collected to figure out what proxies, other than small earthquakes, will provide the information.”
The faults that DeShon studies today have the potential to generate deadly tsunamis like the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster, which killed more than 225,000 people in 11 countries. ”We can’t predict earthquakes in the sense that we can say tomorrow there will be an earthquake here, but we can hope to better understand probabilities,” she says.
DeShon, who joined the CERI faculty in 2007, also relishes international travel and collaboration. “I’ve been to South America and Europe for meetings and short courses, and I recently returned from a month-long project in Germany, where I worked with professors at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel.”
In addition to refining her research, DeShon teaches graduate-level courses and
this fall introduced a Data Analysis in Geophysics class. “I like the research aspect – the problem-solving and the hunting down solutions to important questions.”
Responding to a need for programs that interest alumni of all ages and help them stay connected to their alma mater, the SMU Alumni Board has revamped the chapter program.
“We’ve always had a chapter system, but based on alumni feedback, we decided to refocus to reach the large SMU community that doesn’t live in Dallas,” says Mindy Rowland, associate director of alumni
programming.
Bill Vanderstraaten
“Several chapters were fairly successful, mostly due to initiatives by individuals. But we wanted to be more strategic about professional staffing and volunteers for each chapter,” explains Outreach Committee Chairman Bill Vanderstraaten (’82). “Rather than take an ad hoc approach, we felt it was very important to provide more structure so that all chapters are on the same page.”
The Outreach Committee targets areas with large alumni populations and sizeable numbers of students to draw parents as well. “We sent out a survey in January to key chapter cities, asking alumni which events they are interested in, what days are best for activities, if they were interested in volunteering and other general information, and we got a good response,” Rowland says.
A cornerstone of the re-emerging chapter program is an online chapter handbook, which was expanded and improved based on alumni input. “It gives them the framework for developing effective programs to engage alums in different stages of their lives,” Vanderstraaten says.
The “life stages” programming concept means that some activities will be geared for specific groups of alumni. “For example, our surveys indicate that people just out of school are interested in social events revolving around sporting events and networking opportunities, while those married with children appreciate family activities, as well as networking opportunities. And empty-nesters tend to have more cultural interests, like a lecture series,” Vanderstraaten explains. “And everyone shares a common interest in sports. Of course, all chapter events are open to all alumni and parents, regardless of life stage.”
So far, three out-of-town chapters have been organized and leaders are in place: Atlanta, headed by Kimberly Head Amos (’94); Houston, Benjamin Lavine (’98); and the San Francisco Bay Area, Michael McWhorter (’96). The Outreach Committee hopes to have chapters in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City organized by the end of the year.
“The chapter leaders are vital to pulling together chapter teams to plan and execute events that keep alums engaged with and informed about SMU,” Vanderstraaten says.
Alumni support is vital for the achievement of University goals, he says. “We want to increase participation from alumni in all parts of SMU life: volunteering, recruiting prospective students, annual giving and serving as ambassadors for the University in the community in every way.”
Working with the chapters is Lyndsey Hummert Hill (’05), the new assistant director of chapter programs. For more information, e-mail her at Lyndsey@smu.edu or call 214-768-ALUM (214-768-2586).
Alumni Board
Nominations for the 2009 SMU Alumni Board will be accepted through Dec. 31. Alumni may nominate fellow alumni or themselves. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or e-mail smualum@smu.edu. CHAIR Connie Blass O’Neill (’77)
PAST CHAIR Marcus Malonson (’93)
MEMBERS John Bauer (’66), Robert Cabes Jr. (’91), Stephen Corley (’90), Jennifer Hazelwood Cronin (’94), Regina Davis (’04), Stephanie Mills Dowdall (’81), Andrea Zafer Evans (’88, ’06), Mary Lou Gibbons (’77), Kim Twining Hanrahan (’92), Stewart Henderson (’81), The Hon. Blackie Holmes (’57, ’59), Ruth Irwin Kupchynsky (’80), Doug Linneman (’99), David Lively (’94), Ken Malcolmson (’74), Tamara Marinkovic (’91), Charleen Brown McCulloch (’70), Ryan McMonagle (’00), Jamie McComiskey Moore (’85), Dennis Murphree (’69), Elizabeth Ortiz (’03), Mark Robertson (’85), David Rouse (’95), Scott Rozzell (’71), Lisa Holm Sabin (’78), Maria Sanchez (’06), Jeffrey Thrall (’71), Bill Vanderstraaten (’82), Tracy Ware (’95), Jeff Ziegler (’84)
Roy M. Huffington (’38), who invested his faith and funds in SMU for the long term, died July 11 at the age of 90. Over many years of support for the University, Huffington had given SMU a total of more than $31 million, including a recent gift of more than $10 million to endow the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences. At a memorial service for the SMU community in September, his daughter, Terry Huffington Dittman, revealed the motivation behind her father’s generosity.
“Upon my father’s death, our family received calls and letters from people expressing their condolences and talking about how my father made a difference in their lives. They talked about a lot of his characteristics – that he was kind, gracious, honorable, energetic, charismatic, inspirational, visionary, knowledgeable and brilliant, and that he was a respected geologist and true icon in his industry. And yet most frequently what came out was that he was an incredibly generous man. He gave not for public recognition but because he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. He gave the three Ws – wealth, wisdom and work. His involvement with SMU is a great example of this core value. He loved this University, and thanks to it, he not only discovered a field of study that became his passion, but his eyes were opened to opportunities that he never would have considered before coming here. His gifts to SMU were the largest he ever gave to a single institution. He had such belief in this institution’s future – what it offers students today and can offer them in the future – that he wanted to give something that said, ’I believe SMU will be around a long time and I want to invest in it for its long term, even when I’m not here.’ ”
Paul D. Miller Sr. (’58), who died March 9, 2008, was a popular Mustang Band drum major in 1957 and 1958. The 1958 Rotunda featured the photo at right and wrote, “A personal salute to a great Mustang.”
The distinctive shapes and colors of New Mexico are captured in this photograph taken by Robert G. “Bob” Mebus (’62, ’65). He was one of 15 students in the popular digital photography class taught by SMU photographer Hillsman Jackson during the 2008 SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute July 17-20. Other courses, focusing on the state’s unique contributions in the arts and sciences, were taught by SMU faculty. Registration for the 2009 weekend, July 23-26, will begin in January.
In honor of its 50-year reunion, the class of 1958 set the bar high for gifts from future reunion classes by achieving a record participation rate of 40 percent. At their reunion in May, (from left) co-chairs Gerry York, Gail Griffin Thomas and Linda Harris Gibbons proudly display a poster that shows the class heading toward the record. By May 31, the class had given a total of $454,703. The 50-year celebration included campus tours, a luncheon and special recognition of the class of ’58 at Commencement.
Don (left) and Nancy Taylor, parents of senior psychology major Donald Taylor, and Nick Nichols (’75) attended the spring gathering of SMU parents, alumni and friends in Atlanta. Cox School of BusinessDean Albert W. Niemi Jr. spoke to the crowd about regional and national economic issues.
At its annual recognition ceremony in May, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences presented awards to students, faculty and alumni. The 2008 honorees include (from left) English and history major and President’s Scholar Jessica Erwin (’08), named the Robert and Nancy Dedman Outstanding Senior Student; D.D. Frensley Professor of English Dennis Foster, named the Dedman Family Distinguished Professor; Anthropology Professor Caroline Brettell, recognized for her service as Dedman College interim dean, 2006-08; and Distinguished Graduate Dr. Robert Ware Haley (’67), whose research has helped improve hospital care and define the symptoms of Gulf War syndrome. The Haley family includes 21 SMU alumni.
Showing that SMU alumni have global perspectives, (from left) Anne Lambright (’89), Lisa Sapolis (’90) and Milla Riggio (’62) are working in international education at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Lambright, associate professor of language and culture studies, earned a B.A. in Spanish, history and Latin American studies and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Ecuador after graduation. Sapolis, who earned a B.A. in Russian area studies, is director of international programs and works with Lambright on Trinity College’s study abroad program in Santiago, Chile. Riggio, the James J. Goodwin Professor of English, helped to develop Trinity’s study abroad program in Trinidad.
<Meadows’s graduate Megan Crichton is touring the country in the Rockettes’ Christmas show.
From an early age, visions of being a Rockette danced in the head of Megan Crichton (’07). “I’ve been dancing since I was 2, and saw their Christmas show when I was very young,” she says. “I decided then that my goal was to be a Rockette.” Now she’s living the dream as she travels the country with the 76th “Radio City Christmas Spectacular.”
Crichton, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance from SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and now lives in New York City, was cast for the legendary high-kicking, precision dance troupe in July. “The audition process is crazy,” she says. “There are three auditions per year – in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. About 500 dancers audition in each city. It’s a two-day process, and by the end, they keep 12 from each city.” Crichton made the final cut, but not all of the finalists are offered a place in the line; she had to wait almost two months before she officially became a Rockette.
Crichton and fiancé Garrett Haake, who now works for “NBC Nightly News.”
The dancers started working on their routines for the world-famous holiday extravaganza on September 9. “We’ve been rehearsing eight to 10 hours a day, six days a week since then,” she says. “All that energy you get from the audience during a live performance makes those long, hard days of rehearsal worthwhile.” The touring company hit the road in November for an 18-city tour in 30 trucks and 16 buses. The season will wind down with performances in Austin December 30-31 and close in Houston January 2-4. “My entire family lives in Austin and Houston, so everyone will get to see me.”
Back in New York, she’ll continue to take classes, perform with a small modern dance company and audition. Crichton and fiancé Garrett Haake (’07), an SMU journalism graduate who’s living his dream, too, as an associate producer for “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” will wed May 9 in Perkins Chapel. They’ll return from the honeymoon in time for her to try out for the 2009 Christmas show. “Even if you’ve been cast before, you have to audition again every year.”
Electrical engineering alumni (from left) Aart de Geus (’85), Karen Shuford (’70) and Richard Ru-Gin Chang (’85) were inducted into the Engineering Hall of Leaders at a ceremony in March. Shuford is a Dallas philanthropist and consultant who has provided leadership and support to numerous civic organizations and agencies. De Geus is chairman and CEO of Synopsis, a world leader in electronic design automation software for semiconductor design. Chang is president, CEO and executive director of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., the largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry in China.
Soprano Laura Claycomb (’90) garnered accolades for her role as Polissena in Handel’s “Radamisto,” staged this summer by the Santa Fe Opera. A regular with the Houston Grand Opera, Claycomb has been based in Europe for the past decade, performing in Paris and Geneva, and at festivals in Salzburg, Spoleto and Stockholm. She will make her debut with the Dallas Opera during the 2010-11 season in one of her favorite roles, Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto.’
Lee Batson (’05) recently traveled to Makamba, Burundi, as part of a 16-member team from Watermark Community Church in Dallas. The group partnered with African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries to teach a children’s Bible school and build a medical clinic in the mountain village, which is near Lake Tanganyika.
Lloyd Sartor (’86, ’88) (left), who entered SMU in the first class of President’s Scholars 24 years ago, and his wife, Krissy, attended a pre-graduation reception in May in honor of students who have received SMU’s top merit scholarships. They visited with daughter Courtney (’08), a Dean’s Scholar, and her mentor, Associate Professor of Political Science Joe Kobylka.
At the invitation of SMU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral (center), whose signature appears on all paper currency printed since 2005, shared her experiences as the first person in her family to graduate from college and now as the highest-ranking Latina in the Bush Administration. At the May event, she visited with (from left) Claudia Arias (’08); Raúl Magdaleno (’06), assistant director of diversity and outreach for Meadows School of the Arts; Edna Ruana (’97); and Esmeralda Castro, a junior with a double major in finance and Spanish.
Edwin L. Cox (’42) (second from left), SMU benefactor and trustee emeritus, welcomed a third generation to the alumni fold at Commencement May 17. With him are (from left) grandsons John, an SMU sophomore, and new graduate Justin (’08); their father, Berry (’77); and mother, Jeanne Tower Cox (’78), a recent trustee. SMU awarded nearly 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in May. December graduation will be held Saturday, December 13, at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
Advertising legend Hal Curtis (’84) critiqued the work of Temerlin Advertising Institute students during a spring campus visit. As part of the ExxonMobil Lecture Series, the Emmy-winning creative director addressed the topic “Brand Heroism: Advertising as a Force for Good.” Curtis, who has directed major campaigns for Nike, Coca-Cola and others, told students that a strong sense of ethics and meaningful advertisements can have a positive cultural impact.
Screenwriter and producer Jim V. (J.V.) Hart (’69) and student body vice president Bethany Peters (’08) share a lighthearted moment at the annual Ring Ceremony in April. Hart, the second honoree to receive an SMU ring at the annual event, has spent more than three decades in the film industry. He penned “Hook,” “Contact” and other screenplays, and is working on his first animated movie with children’s book illustrator William Joyce (’81).
Mary Taggart Gorman, 7/14/08 George Crews McGhee, 7/4/05 Mary McReynolds, 2/27/05
1933
Marguerite Gilreath Cade, 3/8/08 C. Lee Connell, 3/8/08 Katherine Louise Frank Gayle, 9/13/04 Marion Caldwell Young, 7/6/08
1934
Alice Rupard Candler, 6/19/08 Theophilus M. Edwards Jr., 4/30/08 Frederick W. Hanger, 5/15/01 Kemp P. Johnson, 8/2/08 M.C. Kirkham Jr., 8/21/08
1935
Helen Simpson Culler (’36), 7/13/07 Mary Irene Mayfield Taylor, 7/2/08 Eunice Faison Threadgill, 7/8/08
1936
Lt. Col. Raymond S. Duvall Jr., 3/23/08 Robert Rolfe Jr., 9/27/04 Lillian Cullum Tate, 8/19/08
1937
Frances Rodin Standifer, 5/3/08
1938
Geraldine Sears Beddow, 3/28/08 Lloyd Shelton Bowles Sr., 3/19/98 Jack B. Dickerson, 10/7/07 Richard Wynne Feagan, 6/13/08 Virginia Carlisle Gay, 7/24/08 The Hon. Roy M. Huffington, 7/11/08 George V. Lohmann, 5/27/08 The Rev. Leslie D. Scott, 5/3/08 Samuel P. Shook Sr., 2/23/07 Helen Wiley Watkins (’43), 8/29/08
1939
Col. Horace B. Baird, 11/10/06 Cordie McFarland Edwards, 7/14/08 Arthur S. Goldberg, 7/1/08 Maurine Page Howell, 7/31/06 John Robert Lynch, 3/14/96 The Rev. John Washington Morphis, 5/22/08 Norma Smiley Stern, 3/3/08
1940
Ruth Kemp Clinger, 4/7/08 Emma Wesson Jacoby, 7/11/07 Freeman L. Mittenthal, 11/30/01 Doris Dodson Mote, 8/30/08 John M. Shuler, 3/22/08
1941
Margaret Spruce Griffith, 11/19/03 Janet Akin Holtzman, 6/8/08 E.C. Johnston Jr., 3/28/08 Raymond L. Mallouf, 6/6/08 Rene Pierre Manes, 6/15/08 Dr. William Blackburn Stallcup Jr., 6/7/08 William E. Stapp, 9/18/06 Dorothy Jones Steger, 4/5/08 Charles William Tibbs, 3/4/08 Frances Stewart Wayland, 6/19/98
1942
James Byers Cain, 4/27/08 K.D. Garver, 5/22/08 Louis Mabrito, 3/14/08 Dr. James E. Shotwell, 8/12/08 Jocquelyn Nesom Young, 7/19/08
1943
The Rev. Howard R. Borgeson, 4/5/04 Jane Proctor Cagle, 7/29/08 B.A. Carrell Jr., 12/11/96 Dr. Thomas R. Cox Jr., 4/15/08 Cecelia McDowell Scott, 5/3/08 Doris Cash Stewart Styles, 3/3/08 W. Buck Wetsel Jr., 3/18/08
1944
Marilyn Peterson Andrews, 9/7/08 William Marvin Board, 6/24/08 Dale K. Dunbar, 5/10/08 John Grissom, 4/3/06 Rosamond Bull Howe, 3/31/08 Dorothy Goidl Krauss, 3/6/08 Hettie Dougherty Kuhfuss, 6/26/08 Louise Ditzler Scott, 5/27/08
1945
Reese Buchanan, 9/6/08 Celia Tucker Cain, 5/9/08 Marjorie Thompson Crowe, 6/10/08 Elizabeth Brush Peurifoy (’48), 3/17/08 Kay W. Pickering, 4/23/08 Billye June Kay Rees-Jones, 4/4/08 Dr. Wilford M. Sanders Jr., 5/18/08 The Rev. James E. Tidwell, 6/28/08 Henry Clay Towles Jr., 3/28/08 Martha Wolfe Williams, 1/20/89 The Rev. Royce C. Womack, 4/12/08
1946
Rosemary DePasquale Boykin, 6/15/08 Wanda Gaines Dow, 4/22/08 Jack Martin King Sr. (’49), 3/23/08 Dr. Myers Thornton, 7/11/08 Paula Page Wallace, 7/7/08
1947
John Gilliam Bonner Jr., 5/25/08 Alberta Zimmerman Brown, 2/7/08 J. David Brown Jr., 6/8/08 Charles L. Childers, 3/3/08 Dixie Coffman, 8/9/08 Leslee H. Echart (’48), 5/15/08 H. Ann Foster Fitzek, 4/19/08 Billie Jane Gauntt, 7/10/08 Edward C. Greene, 5/6/08 Nita Bouknight Harkey, 6/25/08 Dr. Dewey W. Johnston, 4/5/08 Everette L. McGrew, 8/24/08 Jack M. Newman Jr., 4/30/08 Myra Melton Provo, 4/2/08 J.H. Van Voorhis, 5/27/08 Mary L. Whiteman, 5/29/07 Malcolm E. Wilson Jr., 4/24/08
1948
Carroll Lee Bell, 9/4/05 Doris Rutchik Bergman, 9/2/08 Dr. James Marshall Blain, 7/12/08 Shirley Coen, 8/5/08 Hubert B. Everett Jr., 7/13/08 Harold E. Fix, 4/17/08 Charles Schumn Foley, 8/3/08 Jacqueline James Hanks, 7/2/08 Robert S. Harris, 9/18/98 Dr. William M. Haynes, 3/28/08 Charles Gordon Henger, 4/15/08 Edwin P. Horner, 2/2/08 Mary Wagner Knott, 1/7/05 Dr. James S. Lowry, 8/19/08 Betty Jean Clark Montgomery (’70), 5/28/05 Gifford H. Nigh, 7/31/08 Jean Sloan Patton Jr., 8/22/08 Robert Earl Quinn, 4/2/08 Janie Hodges Roberts, 5/29/08 John F. Rudin Jr., 8/8/08 Harold O. Simms, 2/20/06 Ernest C. Sullivan, 1/16/92 Roy H. Terry Jr., 7/20/02 James Ernest Thornton, 12/17/05 Charles R. Wanner Jr., 5/22/08 Ralph W. Wilson, 4/17/08 William P. Wright Jr., 5/26/08
1949
Ira Lee Allen (’51), 3/28/08 Marcia Rolnick Barvin, 4/17/08 William Rufus Boyd, 7/28/08 Harriet Lee Tapp Burns, 7/25/08 Roseanne Ryan Carroll, 6/16/08 Jack E. Clemmons Jr., 7/24/08 William T. Coker, 3/31/08 Peggy Sexton Cooper, 5/31/08 George Sowell Davis, 6/22/08 Robert H. Davis Jr. (’50), 7/29/08 W. Frank Ellison, 6/6/08 Richard W. Engbaum, 11/24/00 Leslie Rayburn Fleming, 7/22/08 Marilyn Parnell Folger, 3/9/08 Clara I. Gasper, 5/30/06 Julia Beard Gilchrist, 11/12/06 Lloyd M. Gilmore, 3/29/08 Robert Keith Heindel Sr., 6/17/08 A. Rex Jasper, 5/4/08 H. Doris Manzer (’73), 9/16/97 Peyton L. Ohlson, 4/12/08 Shirley Philipson Pollock, 3/15/08 Ellis B. Ray, 11/23/93 Garvis Spain (’50), 6/5/08 Jim M. Warlick Jr., 5/29/08
1950
Robert B. Andrews, 4/16/08 Charles W. Beggs, 1/26/08 Raleigh Blakely, 2/4/08 Oscar Franklin Bradley, 5/19/08 Elizabeth Ann Carter, 5/3/08 Donald L. Coker, 12/27/03 Dr. Leonard O. Coleman, 5/31/08 Wayne Conner, 5/9/08 Jim Debes Jr., 6/22/08 Lamar H. Fleming, 6/23/08 William N. Foster, 3/14/08 Suzanne Love Frias, 7/4/08 Jean Robert Gaiennie, 6/10/98 Donald Gibbs, 7/2/08 Dr. James Ernest Hull (’52), 5/6/08 Lonnie Magovirk, 5/1/04 Grainger W. McIlhany, 3/20/08 Clifton T. Nichols, 2/12/08 Harriet Matlock Nye, 3/10/08 A.G. Power Jr. (’59), 6/10/08 Wilbur L. Shackelford, 8/16/04 Dr. C.W. Shahan Jr., 7/13/08 Stephen F. Shelvey Jr., 8/20/08 Charlotte Northcote Skladal, 9/26/07 John W. Starry Jr., 7/29/08 Joe D. Tilley, 6/13/06 Ralph E. Tippit, 3/19/08
1951
John Rogers Alford Jr., 3/13/08 George D. Beard, 4/25/08 Dr. Paul E. Blatz, 7/3/08 James L. Bynum, 12/31/96 Sam Wylie Bynum, 5/17/08 Herman M. Collins Jr, 4/23/08 Allan K. Dray, 8/22/08 Mary Jo Bavouset Irvin, 3/15/08 Jean Nimmo LaPrade, 2/25/08 The Rev. James E. Price, 5/20/08 Donavan N. Riffe, 7/28/08 Roberta Roberts Rountree, 8/29/08 Frank Lewis Schultz, 5/9/07 Edwin T. Simons, 5/26/08 George R. Walker, 12/17/06 William J. Wilson, 5/12/08
1952
Juliana Lofland Bond, 7/10/08 Merle L. Capen, 10/26/06 Mary Jordan Craig, 7/23/08 Patsy Matheny Dippel, 10/26/05 Phillip Moss Green, 3/23/05 Haskell E. Holliday, 4/9/08 Marguerite Wood Kirkley, 5/25/08 The Rev. Daniel V. Leander, 2/2/98 Eugene O. Olson, 2/5/00 Clifton C. Pope, 8/5/08 Ernest E. Specks (’55), 5/29/08 The Rev. Carl Warren Stokes Jr., 5/11/08 Charles Porter Storey, 7/14/08 Richard Newton Wagnon, 12/6/07
1953
The Hon. James A. Baker (’58), 6/22/08 The Rev. William Charles Crouch (’76), 5/9/08 Dr. Donna O’Steen Edwards (’54), 3/17/08 The Rev. Robert L. Ferguson, 4/3/08 Ovitta Sue Harris Gardner, 5/22/08 Reuben M. Ginsberg, 8/23/08 G. Louis Kudrna, 11/8/05 William J. Spies Jr., 6/22/08 E. Jess Spoonts, 9/5/08
1954
William Bowles, 4/3/08 John R. Brandenburg, 8/1/08 Jacqueline Bunch Givens, 7/1/83 John L. Hada Jr., 9/18/94 Leonard F. McCollum Jr., 4/5/08 Helen Ray Woods Nicholson, 7/20/08 Joseph Ruel Robeau Jr., 10/4/05 Peggy Ann Jones Schulkey, 3/15/08 Richard W. Sharp Jr., 1/19/06 Henry M. Shine Jr., 6/20/08 Carolyn Bethmann Slaughter, 7/31/08 Robert G. Terrell, 7/1/08 Col. John T. Watson (’61), 3/15/08 The Rev. Richard F. Yeagley, 6/11/08
1955
Joe C. Pulliam, 4/26/08 Mary Lee Jones Roberts, 6/23/08 William Albert Tyrrell, 4/16/08
1956
Bruce W. Boss (’59), 3/18/08 Arthur M. Gay Jr., 4/27/08 Kirby Lee Gray, 8/10/08 Perry H. Jefferson, 4/3/69 Jerome O. Keating, 6/8/08
1957
Donald R. Aertker (’60), 4/7/08 John B. Apple, 7/27/08 V.O. Bullard, 2/10/08 Janis Hudson Burrows, 6/4/08 The Rev. Joseph H. Dwinnell, 6/16/08 James E. Martin, 7/5/08 Albert S. Reed Sr., 6/27/08 William C. Ross III, 8/19/08
1958
The Rev. Glenn L. Amend, 3/9/08 Margaret Peickert Brown, 6/6/08 The Rev. R. Kenwood Cooper, 2/8/08 Dr. Jerry Stephen Graulv, 5/23/08 Dr. Robert B. Hemphill, 3/17/08 Sara Jane Anderson Hudson, 6/7/08 Richard L. Kollinger, 5/9/08 The Rev. James W. Miller, 4/1/08 Paul Duward Miller, 3/9/08 The Rev. Carl G. Owens, 5/1/08 Dr. Charlotte Walters Rhodes, 6/6/08 Drucillia Spain Scaling, 7/15/08 Diana Hudspeth Spalding, 4/16/06 H. Frank Wicker Jr., 8/30/08
1959
Dr. Patrick H. Buchanan, 6/25/08 Abraham Prengler, 7/9/08 Tec Scherer Jr., 6/30/08 Lillian Fae Parsons Williams, 6/24/08
1960
Frank P. Fullerton, 6/25/08 Harriett Berglund Spinn, 8/21/08 Noble F. Sullivant, 3/4/08 The Hon. John C. Vance, 3/30/08
1961
Larry G. Bill, 4/25/08 Dr. H. Andy Summers Jr., 3/13/08 Jefferson C. Wallace, 6/17/08 Anne Galbraith Wisdom, 5/13/08
1962
James B. Behan, 3/12/08 Richard P. Harrison, 8/12/08 Willard McDuffie Jr., 4/18/08 Dr. Roy F. Melugin Jr., 4/9/08 Norman C. Stranberg, 8/11/08 Gerald Alton Wiley, 5/4/08
1963
Daniel Bates Jr., 6/20/08 Jimmy D. Bradley, 5/9/08 Mary Ann Gregg Carman, 8/13/08 Dr. Vancel Wayne Garoutte, 5/9/08 Lee Head Jr., 1/25/04 Marilyn J. Hill, 4/23/08 James E. Ross, 3/26/08 Chap. Joe Douglas Worley, 7/9/08
1964
Joseph M. Brashear Jr, 4/27/08 Bruce C. Crim, 6/26/06 William C. Manning, 5/3/08
1965
Sharon Axley, 5/16/08 John K. Finlayson, 8/14/06 Nancy Woodell Marotte, 12/24/04
1966
Donald Ray Connaway, 7/15/97 Pat Larry Fulbright, 5/11/08 William B. Reaves III, 3/9/08
1967
Ralph Baker Jr., 7/16/08 William Edmund Beckhart III, 3/30/08 Ann M. Carmody, 2/16/08 Roy E. Jacobie Jr. (’73), 4/29/08 Carolyn Gay Knox (’68), 7/15/08 Eugene R. Konde, 10/14/06
1968
Dr. Gai Ingham Berlage, 8/7/08 Dr. Dale E. Biswell, 3/18/08 The Rev. Norman Wayne Bruner, 8/18/08 Richard H. Canon, 3/19/08 Hugh W. Carney, 6/19/08 Wayne Ernest Furman, 5/30/08 Edward K. Halbrooks, 3/20/08 James B. McClellen (’74), 6/28/08 Alva Joe McLemore, 11/10/07
1969
Dr. Stanley R. Irwin, 5/31/08 Allen Thomas Jacoby (’70), 4/18/08 June Rhoton Thompson, 7/26/08
1970
Clearone Davis, 10/20/05 Mary Madelyn Hauser, 7/31/08 Carole Bolyard Roberts, 7/16/08 James E. Williams Jr., 5/10/08 Paula Minor Coleman, 5/3/08
1972
Dr. Erwin M. Hearne III (’75), 3/2/08 Lawrence Edward Johnson, 6/25/08 Joseph J. Lancaster Jr., 8/7/08 Michael T. Lilly, 5/17/03 Gary Louis Mattison, 8/9/08 Donald Milton Scott, 11/1/86
1973
Sharon Ann Bullock, 7/3/08 James W. Burrows Jr., 11/20/00 Jane O’Neall Chamberlain, 3/4/08 Alan D. Fischer, 8/23/08 Dr. Dan Edwin Hammer (’75), 8/4/08 Lynn B. Heitman, 5/24/08 Connie Gullion Little, 12/25/07 Lenore Kulick Markowitz, 5/31/08 Bob I. Price (’75), 6/11/08 Sherry Swesnik Senior, 3/13/08
1974
Lawrence F. Blais, 8/2/08 Dorothy F. Cox, 3/25/08 Samuel Richard Morton, 6/15/08 Robert E. Redman Jr., 8/17/08 Rufus Shaw Jr. (’76), 3/10/08
1975
Dennis D. Cook, 6/20/08 William Arthur Sheveland, 5/30/08 Robert M. Willard (’79), 11/30/05 Claud Warren Wimberly, 6/1/04
1977
Larence S. Bonfoey, 8/16/08 Jan Walker, 3/3/08
1978
Dr. Paul Reed Bailey (’79), 8/26/08 Mary Lisa Berglund, 8/3/08 Debra Vanessa Enge, 5/30/08 Scott Alan Swenson, 5/15/08 Madeline S. Warnock, 5/5/08
1979
John D. Beach, 3/27/08 Michelle Roten Caraway, 5/12/08 Betty Jane Nichols Condron, 5/15/08 Martha Carol Haywood, 6/9/08
1980
The Rev. Donald F. Armstrong, 3/7/08 Kristen Clarke Neece, 3/17/08
1983
E. Rogers Kemp, 12/20/05 Marilyn R. Kenyon, 1/10/06 Jeffrey Craig Mock, 5/17/08
1985
Larry R. Killough Jr., 8/7/08 Leah Odeneal, 7/3/08 Marsha Jane Ward, 4/23/08
1986
James Edward White, 3/31/08
1987
Michael Patrick Kennedy, 5/7/08 Dr. Daren Danielson Moore, 5/2/08
1989
Maria Alicia Berlanga, 4/26/08
1995
Darlie Ann Jacoby, 1/15/00
1996
Amy Marie Beckman, 8/31/08 Jack Kirkpatrick, 5/30/08
1997
Todd Ronald Gunn, 4/2/05
1998
Janet Holbrook Hardy, 5/7/08
2000
Justin Petersen Brindley, 6/20/08
2002
Jennifer Renee Marks, 3/26/08
2003
Thomas R. Jones, 8/1/08
2005
Lisa Jue Bishop, 3/22/08 Benjamin W. Burris, 8/3/08
SMU Community
Barbara Anderson, professor emeritus of anthropology, 3/29/08. Angela Canales, SMU Payroll Department, 6/28/08. Hugh W. Carney, former professor of Latin and French and former associate director of the SMU Southwestern Graduate School of Banking, 6/19/08. Janet Elizabeth Holbrook Hardy, retired staff, 5/7/08. Patricia (Pat) Newman Hurst (’48), retired SMU staff in Development and External Affairs, 4/17/08. Ronnie Kline, retired staff member, Campus Planning and Plant Operations, 5/1/08. Gordon M. Martin, retired SMU police officer, 7/12/08. Claude Nations, former professor of biology, 4/22/08. Epifanio Ramirez (’02, ’06), staff member, Registrar’s Office, 7/27/08. Helen Watkins, professor emeritus, Cox School of Business, 8/29/08. Kathi Fisher Watts (’94), former director of Evening Studies and Graduate Liberal Studies, rhetoric instructor and Public Affairs staff member, 1988-2007, 10/20/08. Marilyn Edwards Zumberge, wife of former SMU President James H. Zumberge (1975-80), 6/8/08.
Vernon Stutzman spent three years as a hospital chaplain before receiving a Master’s degree in hospital administration from Columbia University. For 28 years he was an administrator in three New York City hospitals. He will celebrate his 90th birthday in December 2008.
44</font
Bennie Houser Furlong was guest of honor at a June 2008 ceremony in Jacksonville Beach, FL, where the Beaches Senior Citizen Center was renamed the Bennie Houser Furlong Center. She is a former city councilwoman and longtime community volunteer.
45</font
Muriel Silberman Brahinsky is retired from an obstetrics/pediatrics practice. She taught anatomy and physiology and now holds reminiscing sessions with seniors in San Antonio.
47</font
H. Neil McFarland, professor emeritus of history of religion and former SMU provost, provided items for display in the exhibit Texas Collects Asia: Japanese Folk Art, sponsored by the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas.
Donald A. (D.A.) Waite and his wife, Yvonne, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Aug. 27, 2008. After serving as a U.S. Navy chaplain, he served two pastorates in Massachusetts before settling in Collingswood, NJ. They have eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
54
Bernard J. Bagley is retired after 34 years at Texas Instruments in Dallas. He is the father of Gina Bagley (’74).
55
William C. (Bill) Mounts celebrated 50 years in the ministry June 1, 2008, at Morningside Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, where he was ordained June 1, 1958. He has held pastorates in Atlanta, Knoxville, San Antonio and Athens, GA, and two post-retirement interim ministries at Union Point and Elberton in Georgia.
56
Elizabeth Crump Hanson received the 2008 Distinguished Scholar Award for International Communication from the International Studies Association. She is the author of The Information Revolution and World Politics.
57
Col. Gary D. Jackson was inducted April 18, 2008, into the U.S. Army Infantry School Class of 2008 Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, GA. He is an adjunct faculty member at the U.S. Command and Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, KS, a Civil Air Patrol officer in Tyler, TX, and an attorney in Lindale, TX, where he lives with his wife of 50 years, Gloria Ann Galouye Jackson (M.A. ’59, J.D. ’78). They have two sons, David and Daniel.
59
Golden Reunion Weekend: May 15-16
Daniel A. Carter Jr. is a retired U.S. Air Force major and former Boy Scout leader.
Martha Ann Madden (M.A. ’63) wrote Wake Up, It’s Gap Time, a transition and planning guide for retirement and a how-to for stimulating the emotional, spiritual and psychological parts of one’s life.
Harry M. Roberts Jr. is among D magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas” for 2008 and one of 20 attorneys from Thompson & Knight LLP named to the “Who’s Who Legal: Texas 2008” list published by Law Business Research Limited.
61
Bennett W. Cervin was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers Sept. 13, 2008, in Denver. He is with Thompson & Knight LLP in the labor and employment law practice group in Dallas and has been named to The Best Lawyers in America every year since 1983.
Henry Doskey (M.M. ’66) is chair of the Keyboard Department at the School of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, where he directs piano and organ competitions for pre-college students. He has recorded the complete Debussy Preludes and complete works of William Gillock for Green Mill Recordings.
64
Reunion chairs: John M. Haley, MD, and Sandra Garland Cecil
66
Mary Elizabeth Moore (M.A. ’67) has been appointed dean of Boston University’s School of Theology. An ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, she earned a Ph.D. in theology from the Claremont School of Theology (CA). Previously she was the director of the Program for Women in Theology and Ministry and a professor of religion and education at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta.
67
Pam Lontos (M.L.A. ’72) wrote I See Your Name Everywhere: Leverage the Power of the Media to Grow Your Fame, Wealth and Success (Morgan James) and Don’t Tell Me It’s Impossible Until After I’ve Already Done It. Her company, PR/PR Public Relations, generates publicity for speakers and best-selling authors.
68
Dale Bulla volunteers in protecting wildlife and habitat in Central Texas. His church was the first in Texas to be certified a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation after he and his wife, Pat, created native plant and butterfly gardens. Their yard was certified a “Best of Texas Backyard Habitat” by both the National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat and the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Texas Wildscapes.
The Rev. Jack Moffatt is a retired special ministry Christian clown. He and his wife, Ellen, entertained with Patch Adams and 37 other clowns from around the world at children’s hospitals and orphanages in Russia for two weeks in November 2007.
William W. Reynolds is executive vice president of global asset consulting for R.W. Beck Inc. in Orlando.
69
Reunion chairs: Delilah Holmes Boyd, G. Mark Cullum and Cynthia Taylor Mills
Jim (J.V.) Hart is a celebrated moviemaker who also teaches screenwriting at Columbia University’s Graduate School of the Arts. He is working on his first animated movie with children’s book illustrator William Joyce (’81).
Dolores Johnson married Phil Chapman March 2, 2008.
Rhett G. Campbell is an insolvency and restructuring attorney in the Houston office of Thompson & Knight LLP. He was named to the Who’s Who Legal: Texas 2008 list from Law Business Research Limited.
Fletcher Freeman (J.D. ’73) is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church in Ely, MN.
71
Jana Cole Bertrand wrote Beware the Red Flag Man: What Mothers Wish Their Daughters Could Know (Brown Books Publishing Group, 2008). She is a kindergarten teacher and single mother of seven daughters and three sons, one of whom attends SMU.
Elizabeth (Betty) Underwood is a real estate agent with Tom Gilchrist Co. in Dallas. She recently was elected a deacon at Highland Park Presbyterian Church.
72
The Rev. James (Jim) Dorff is the new bishop of the Southwest Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church, based in San Antonio. He was associate pastor at Highland Park UMC from 1972-89 and served other Texas churches in Gainesville and McKinney.
Jack W. Lunsford was named one of 50 Powerful People in metropolitan Phoenix for 2007 by Phoenix Business Journal and one of 24 Movers & Shakers for 2008 by West Valley Magazine. He appeared in 1,000 People to Know in Real Estate for 2008 in AZRE Magazine.
Marsha Ann (Shan) Pickard Rankin (M.B.A. ’82) was honored last April by the Zonta Club of West Hidalgo County (TX) at the 2008 Shining Stars event for her professional contributions to the community as executive director of the Museum of South Texas History. She lives in McAllen with her husband, Davis, and two sons, Marshall and Duncan.
Dr. John R. Richmond taught family medicine for 12 years at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and then established a primary care practice at Health Care Clinic in Dallas. He was honored as the 2007 Texas Family Physician of the Year by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians and in 2007 received the Silver Beaver Award from the Dallas Circle Ten Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He and his wife of 31 years, Carol, have six children and four granddaughters.
73
Jay Garrett is a Texas Super Lawyer, a Top Attorney in Fort Worth, Texas magazine and one of the Best Lawyers in America 2008 for real estate law. He is managing partner of Law, Snakard & Gambill in Fort Worth.
James C. Morriss III practices environmental law in the Austin office of Thompson & Knight LLP. He was named to the Who”s Who Legal: Texas 2008 list published by Law Business Research Limited.
Robert L. (Bob) Phillips is president and CEO of Phillips Productions Inc. in Dallas. Better known as the Texas Country Reporter, he has spent more than 35 years on the back roads of Texas and has been on every paved road in the state. His half-hour television programs total more than 2,000, and plans for a national show are in the works. He and his wife live in Beaumont, TX.
Glen Pourciau is the author of Invite (University of Iowa Press, 2008), a collection of stories that received the 2008 Iowa Short Fiction Award. He lives in Plano, TX.
Howard I. Zusman is a commercial lending expert with more than 30 years of experience. He has joined CNLBank in Miami-Dade County (FL) as senior vice president and commercial relationship manager.
74
Reunion chairs: Steve Morton, Robert G. White Jr. and Brenda Beach White
Ralph H. Duggins was appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission for a five-year term beginning February 2008. He is a senior partner at Cantey Hanger LLP and serves on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee. He lives in Fort Worth.
Kathy LaTour (M.A. ’83) is a 21-year breast cancer survivor and editor-at-large for Heal, a magazine for cancer survivors. She performed a one-woman show, One Mutant Cell, in Arkansas and Oklahoma last summer to celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day.
Barry Ross (M.B.A. ’79) started a full-service CPA firm in 2005 in Richardson, TX. Patrick Yack made a presentation on open government at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley became the first four-star general in the 372-year history of the National Guard in November. He is chief of the nation’s National Guard Bureau, overseeing 468,000 citizen-soldiers and airmen in Guard units in each state and territory. As the nation’s senior Guardsman, he also serves as principal adviser on National Guard matters to the Defense Secretary through the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After completing ROTC at SMU, McKinley earned an Air Force commission. Rated as a command pilot, he has more than 4,000 flying hours in F-106, F-16 and F-15 fighters, and has been a command pilot in C-131 and C-130 aircraft.
75
Roger D. Aksamit, a corporate tax attorney in the Houston office of Thompson & Knight LLP, has been selected for the Who’s Who Legal: Texas 2008 list published by Law Business Research Limited.
James B. (Jim) Harris practices environmental law at Thompson & Knight LLP in Dallas. He joins 19 peers named to the Who’s Who Legal: Texas 2008 list.
Frank Kanelos is a home health care speech and language pathologist. He is on the board of directors of the Miss Alabama pageant and poet laureate emeritus for Birmingham.
Gary L. Malone is a Texas Monthly super doctor for the fifth year in a row. He is medical director and chief of psychiatry at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth and a faculty member at the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He has been married for 30 years and has two children.
James W. McKellar is one of 20 Thompson & Knight LLP attorneys named to the Who’s Who Legal: Texas 2008 list published by Law Business Research Limited. He is in banking law at the firm’s Dallas office.
Nancie Nieman Wagner is the 2008-09 president of the Junior League of Dallas Sustainers and a member of the Dallas Women’s Club. She and Alden E. Wagner Jr. have four children, two of whom attend SMU.
76
The Rev. Mike Lowry has been elected bishop of the Fort Worth-based Central Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. He served Texas churches in Kerrville, Harlingen, Corpus Christi, Austin and San Antonio.
Dr. Timothy S. Mescon was named president of Columbus State University by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Since 1990 he had been dean of the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
77
O. Paul Corley Jr. is an attorney in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight LLP named to D magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas for 2008.
Curtis Dretsch has been a teacher, designer and administrator at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, for almost 30 years. Primarily a professor of theater arts and director of design and technical theater in the Department of Theater and Dance, he received a Lifetime Achievement Henry Award in April 2002 for his contributions to the Muhlenberg College community.
The Rev. Dr. C. Robert Hasley Jr. (D. Min. ’78) has been elected to the Methodist Health System corporate board of directors. He was associate pastor of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas from 1978-86 before becoming organizing pastor at St. Andrew UMC of Plano, where he is senior pastor.
78
Rip Hale was recently named one of Barron’s magazine’s “Top 1000 Advisors” for 2009. He is a senior institutional consultant with Smith Barney in Dayton, Ohio.
Cindy Funkhouser MacIlvaine and Rod MacIlvaine live in Bartlesville, OK, where he is senior pastor of Grace Community Church and she leads adult ministries. Their church recently assisted in forming a school in Cuba.
Les Weisbrod is the 2008-09 president of the American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is a partner in the Dallas law firm Miller, Curtis & Weisbrod, representing cases involving serious injury or death as a result of negligence or product defect.
79
Reunion chairs: Patrick F. Hammer, Kevin Meeks and Laura Green Meeks
The Rev. James E. Large completed 10 years as director of connectional ministries for the New Mexico Annual Conference and now serves as senior pastor at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Las Cruces.
Janet Pace is director of volunteer outreach for Louisiana, a position created after Hurricane Katrina. Her office promotes national service opportunities through AmeriCorps and supports the efforts of eight volunteer centers in the state, as well as nonprofits, faith-based organizations and governmental agencies. In June 2008 she was in Cedar Rapids, IA, to help organize volunteers to assist with flood relief.
Kathleen (Kathy) Vollenweider Waring is a volunteer for the New Orleans Secret Gardens Tour where participants open their private gardens to the public as a forum for creating awareness for brain injury recovery issues. Her interest results from a traumatic brain injury sustained by her own young daughter. For details on the March 2009 event, see www.secretgardenstour.org.
81
R. Stephen (Steve) Folsom of Dallas was elected to the Methodist Health System corporate board of directors. He is president of Folsom Companies Inc. and a director of the Alzheimer’s Association, The Hockaday School and the Methodist Health System Foundation. He and his wife, Sharon, have two daughters and a son.
Emanda Richardson Johnson (M.A. ’93) is an adjunct faculty member in art education/art history in the College of Visual Arts at the University of North Texas.
Mark A. Shank is the new chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees and a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He is with K&L Gates LLP in Dallas.
82
Charlene (Charl) Boyd has worked in real estate in Scottsdale, AZ, for 13 years and was a founding member of Equitable Real Estate Company. Recently she was named chair of the Habitat for Humanity Raise the Roof Golf Classic.
Joe Pouncy was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Carrollton-Farmers Branch (TX) Rotary Club in appreciation for his service to the club. He is a high school principal in Carrollton.
83
Hector Reyes is a Senior Fellow at the Raytheon Company in McKinney, TX. Recently he was named chief technologist for Raytheon’s Network Centric Systems business unit in Texas.
Rodney Harmon was head coach of the men’s U.S. Olympic tennis team in Beijing this summer.
A. Brandon is a breast cancer survivor who has established a non-profit organization, Triangle Helping Hands, for cancer patients facing treatment.
Ruthelen Griffith Burns is one of five poets celebrating their first collaborative book, Rivers, Rails, and Runways (San Francisco Bay Press), launched Aug. 27, 2008. Termed “The Airpoets,” they wrote about faraway places and homecoming. An artist interpreted their verses as abstract images and acid-etched them onto 14 stained glass windows in the new terminal at Indianapolis International Airport. Burns lives in Indiana and New Mexico with her husband, Andy, and their three children.
Dr. Michael Joel Lanoux graduated from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, completing a residency in diagnostic radiology. Since 1992 he has been vice president of Fort Worth Imaging PA.
James (Jim) Lewis moved to The University of Texas at Arlington May 15, 2008, as vice president for development, following 13 years as vice president for institutional advancement at Austin College in Sherman, TX.
Nancy Foreman McClure was recognized as one of Tucson’s 10 Most Influential Women of 2008. She is a first vice president for CB Richard Ellis, specializing in retail properties. She and her husband, Doug, have two daughters, Morgan and Erin.
Jon S. Wheeler has a company, Wheeler Interests, in Virginia Beach, VA, that has been listed among the Top 15 fittest companies in the nation, cited by Men’s Fitness magazine for offering employees catered lunches twice a week and free use of a gym.
84
Reunion chairs: Hal Gibbs, Chris J. Gilker and Heather Evans Gilker
Christopher Braun, a senior partner at Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP in Indianapolis, was named to the Super Lawyers listing in environmental, business litigation and real estate law. He is Indiana’s only attorney to be accorded membership in the American College of Environmental Lawyers, which inducted him in September 2008 at the annual conference in San Francisco.
Hal Curtis is an Emmy-winning art director with Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency and creative director since 1997 of national campaigns for Nike and Coca-Cola. Advertising Age’s Creativity magazine named him one of the 50 most influential creative leaders of the past 20 years. As part of the ExxonMobil Lecture Series at SMU last spring, he spoke to students about “Brand Heroism: Advertising as a Force for Good.”
85
The Rev. Earl Bledsoe has been elected bishop of the 20-county North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church, which includes Dallas. He was pastor of churches in Houston and Cypress, TX, before becoming a district superintendent in 2002.
George Lancaster is senior vice president of corporate communications in the Houston office of Hines, an international real estate firm. He holds the designation of senior certified marketing director and senior certified shopping center manager from the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Susan Lang is a personal home building consultant in design, construction and decorating and the author of Designing Your Dream Home: Every Question to Ask, Every Detail to Consider, and Everything to Know Before You Build or Remodel. She lives in Nashville.
Robert (Bob) O’Boyle is a partner at Strasburger & Price LLP and president of the Austin Bar Association for 2008-09. He received the J. Chrys Dougherty Award for 2008 from the Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas for his commitment to pro bono work.
86
Bart Bevers was appointed Texas Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General by Gov. Rick Perry. He received the Founders Award in San Francisco from the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists.
Asif Dowla is a professor of international economics and the economics of developing countries at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. In May 2008 he received the Homer L. Dodge Award for Excellence in Teaching. He co-authored The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story.
Dawn Estes formed Taber Estes Thorn & Carr PLLC, a female-owned law firm in Dallas. She practices civil litigation and technology law and serves as an arbitrator and court-appointed mediator.
87
Suzannah Bowie Moorman made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall June 14, 2008, as soprano soloist of Mass in C major, No. 1, “Wedding Mass.” The concert was sponsored by Distinguished Concerts International – New York.
Roger O’Neel (M.M. ”88) was promoted in August 2008 to associate professor of church music with tenure at Cedarville University in Ohio.
Sima Salamati-Saradh received the Managerial Leadership Award for 2008 by Women of Color magazine, IBM Corporation and the selection panel of the National Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Conference. She was honored in October at the Awards Gala at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas.
Raymond W. Starmann wrote the movie Generation Gap about a troubled teen who spends a summer in Maine with his grandfather. It will be shown on the Hallmark Channel.
Thomas Wiberg worked as a geologist in the environmental consulting field for almost 20 years. He and his wife have left Dallas and opened a wine shop and wine bar in Comfort, TX.
88
Naida Albright Graham is co-founder and former co-publisher of Below the Line, a daily newspaper focused on film crews. She left her position in April 2008 to pursue media and entertainment opportunities with a new production entity, Conshimfee Prods.
Sue Hostetler was appointed to the Board of Trustees at Ballroom Marfa, the non-profit cultural arts center in Marfa, TX. She is host of a television show, Plum Homes with Sue Hostetler, style editor for Aspen Magazine, a contributing editor at Gotham magazine and the author of two books, Hip Hollywood Homes (Random House, 2006) and Oceans (Rizzoli, 2002). She lives in New York with her husband, Jon Diamond, and her young daughter.
John O’Reilly was appointed by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors as one of nine members of the Palomar Airport Advisory Committee; his term expires January 2011. He owns a comprehensive wealth management firm in Carlsbad, CA.
89
Reunion chairs: Tracey E. George, Caroline Waggoner Hautt and Craig H. Yaksick
Kristi Birch is a science writer at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. She also writes for Johns Hopkins Magazine and other JHU periodicals, including Johns Hopkins Public Health, Arts & Sciences, Hopkins Medicine and Peabody Magazine.
Doug Renfro is president of Renfro Foods in Fort Worth, which received the 2008 Greater Tarrant Business Ethics Award from TCU’s Neeley School of Business.
Laura Claycomb made her debut with the Santa Fe Opera this summer. She is working on a touring dance-theater piece and has moved from Brussels, Belgium, to Turin, Italy.
Rena Wilson Fox formed UnTapped Talent LLC, a Hershey, PA-based company geared toward publishing writers with little or no experience. She has 24 years of experience in publishing, copywriting and production.
Arthur (Art) George was honored at the 2008 Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference, produced by the Career Communications Group Inc., in recognition of lifetime achievement and exceptional career gains in government and industry.
Lee Mulcahy (Ph.D. ’00) is a guide and teaches fly fishing in the Aspen, CO, area.
Darren Taylor has three sons: Jack, 3, and twins, Ryan and Luke, born in January 2008 in Evanston, IL. He is director of e-commerce at W.W. Grainger.
Charles Valvano (M.B.A. ’91) was appointed a commissioner to the Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority in Toms River, NJ. He is an adjunct professor of economics and investments at Ocean County College (NJ).
91
Katherine Bongfeldt married Kaushal Vyas in Mai, Hawaii, March 29, 2007. Their daughter, Maggie Anu, was born Sept. 9, 2007. Katherine is signed with nationally known talent manager Maggie Smith of Los Angeles.
John Clanton is senior vice president and senior portfolio manager with Compass Wealth Management Group in Dallas, working with high-net-worth families and individuals.
Mary Hutchings Cooper was honored at a Winter Ball last March as an Outstanding Volunteer of the New York Junior League for 2008. She has worked with teenagers in Harlem, encouraging careers in the arts and media; helped teenage mothers with family life skills; renovated community playgrounds; and built houses for the homeless in Sri Lanka. Cooper is a product manager at Reuters America.
Katy Etheridge has co-authored with ChiChi Villaloz the book Do Dogs Vote? (Malamute Press, Inc., 2008), a whimsical, educational and rhyming picture book for children ages 4-8 that introduces timely themes and vocabulary about the importance of having a voice and making responsible decisions in the voting process.
Patrick Maher is founder and CEO of Eight Crossings, a Sacramento-based company that provides off-site support services for doctors through Windward Health, lawyers through Windward Legal and authors through Two Tree Press. His company has been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
92
Scott Hancock is regional executive vice president of Liberty Bank of Arkansas in Springdale. He plays Santa at civic and charity events and is an active volunteer in northwest Arkansas.
C. Sam Walls III is president of the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation in Little Rock, where he sees business ideas come to fruition and supports entrepreneurial development projects. He is a graduate of the Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Mark Yee has joined Deutsch creative agency in Los Angeles as senior vice president/account director. Previously he was an account director at Latitude/The Richards Group.
93
Andrew Arroyo is vice president of information technology at eCardio Diagnostics, where he directs strategic technology planning for information systems and business applications. He held senior executive-level positions at Mobil Oil, Motorola, Lucent, The Feld Group and Centex.
Jamie McIver lives in Brandon, FL, and has worked in training and communications for six years at the Florida Department of Transportation. She is studying for a Master’s degree in strategic communications and leadership at Seton Hall University (NJ) through the distance-learning program.
Eliza Stewart is Sister Mary Thomas, O.P., a cloistered Dominican nun at the Monastery of the Infant Jesus in Lufkin, TX. She handles the altar bread department and Web site and is head chantress and organist.
Heather Wilson is vice president at the Los Angeles office of Weber Shandwick, where she runs the crisis management group for the global public relations firm.
94
Reunion chairs: Molly Noble Kidd and Scott J. Mallonee
Kirsten Castañeda was elected to the 14-member Executive Committee of the American Bar Association’s Council of Appellate Lawyers for 2008-09. She is senior counsel in the Dallas office of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell.
Marla Mason Ross owns Adelante Boutique in San Antonio. She invented a clothing garment, Chickies Cleavage Coverage by Juls & Meg, as a way for women to layer clothing.
Rawson Stovall is a producer at Electronic Arts, a video game publisher in California. He lives in Redwood City.
95
Thomas E. (Tom) Jones has been promoted to vice president of sales for Exar Corp., where he held sales management positions for 10 years. He lives in Plano, TX, with his wife, Brenda.
Dana Babb McGowan announces the birth of twins, Ian Derek and Avery Barbara, Feb. 11, 2008. Her other children are Evan, 4, and Abby Grace, 2.
96
Stephanie Walsh completed a Master’s degree in counseling psychology in June 2008 and moved to China in September. She has published two children’s books with Aardvark Adventure Stories.
Gregory Dean Watts is board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legalization. He has written a screenplay, “Big Foot Took My Girlfriend,” which was optioned by a production company.
97
Eric Holcomb was promoted to region controller for Europe, Africa, Russia and Caspian for Baker Atlas, a division of Baker Hughes. He lives in Aberdeen, Scotland, with his wife, Lea, and two daughters, Anna Catherine and Elizabeth.
J.R. Johnson left a Los Angeles law practice to co-found VirtualTourist.com, a travel Web site with mentions in Newsweek, The New York Times and Travel+Leisure.
Paige Puryear McGehee announces the birth of her third daughter, Corinne Copeland, April 18, 2008.
98
Emily Muscarella Guthrie and husband Ben Guthrie ’00 ’01 welcomed their third child, Judith Louise, on March 1, 2009. She joins big brothers Joseph Steven, born in September 2005, and Felix Benjamin, born in April 2007.
Alison Ream Griffin and her husband, Paul, announce the birth of Nicholas Owen Sept. 23, 2007. The Griffins live in Alexandria, VA, where she is a part-time higher education consultant.
Anna Katherine Whitehead received a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary May 17, 2008.</P.
99
Reunion chairs: Taylor Martin and Lindsay Feldhaus Perlman
Jay Whittaker starred as Ian in “Shining City” at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Jan. 12-Feb. 17, 2008. He also has television and film credits.
Justin Philips and his wife, Tricia, own and run Beer Table, a small, upscale bar in Brooklyn, NY, that received a positive review last April in The New York Times.
Karolyn Stewart was promoted to marketing resource manager at MSCW Inc., an Orlando-based design firm, overseeing marketing initiatives. She is a member of the Junior League of Greater Orlando and the Society of Marketing Professional Services.
01
Carrie Warrick de Moor is a third-year emergency medicine resident at Thomason Hospital in El Paso, where she is chief ER resident for 2008-09. She lives in El Paso with her husband and son, Christian, 2.
Songming (Anthony) Feng works in international media relations at the Beijing headquarters of Lenovo, and worked on the public relations program of the company’s Olympic marketing campaign.
Cedric Mayfield is in the Middle East with the Air Force Band on a concert tour for deployed military and local villagers.
Bethany Brink Somerman and her husband, David, welcomed son Hunter Davis April 24, 2008, in Plymouth, MA.
02
Chuck Constant moved from Citigroup to Wachovia Securities Southwest Region as vice president and regional banking consultant, responsible for developing and integrating Wachovia’s banking services group within 55 branches and for 450 financial advisers.
The Rev. Stephanie Toon Glassman became pastor of First United Methodist Church of Orange, CA, in July 2008. During the previous six years, she was associate minister at Mesa Verde UMC in Costa Mesa, primarily working with children and youth. She married Bryan Glassman in 2007.
Kelley McRae is a singer-songwriter in New York City. She released her second album, “Highrises in Brooklyn,” in August 2008 and her debut album, “Never Be,” in 2006.
Jannie Luong Nguyen is a public relations manager at Idearc Media in Dallas. She married Binh Nguyen May 31, 2008.
03
Dodee Frost Crockett was recognized in Barron’s magazine as one of the Top 100 Women Financial Advisers for her work in the Dallas market.
Jimmy Tran is in graduate study at Harvard Business School. He was named a George Leadership Fellow for 2008-09 at the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
04
Reunion chairs: Britt Moen Estwanik and Dustin T. Odham
05
Bryan Warrick is a 2008 graduate of SMU Dedman School of Law.
06
Lindsey Jandal Postula joined the Dallas office of law firm Looper Reed & McGraw PC as an associate in real estate law.
07
Megan Crichton is in the national touring company of the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. She is engaged to Garrett Haake, who works as a researcher for NBC Nightly News in New York City.
Ashley Elizabeth Johnston joined the law firm Looper Reed & McGraw PC in Dallas with a practice in health care and corporate transactional matters.
Bailey McGuire began working full time with the Dallas office of Genesco Sports Enterprises following a senior-year internship. In January 2008 he moved to the Denver Genesco office to work on the Coors/NASCAR account.
Aaron D. Pan has been named curator of science at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. He has done curatorial work at the Natural History Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
08
Hector Fontanez, who holds a Master’s degree in software engineering, will begin his doctoral studies in engineering at SMU in the fall.
Michael Blachly has been promoted to director of client development in the Dallas office of law firm Looper Reed & McGraw PC. Previously he was director of communications at SMU Dedman School of Law.
Martha Harms and Lee Helms were in last summer’s Dallas cast of the world premiere of the dark comedy “SICK,” a production of Kitchen Dog Theater’s 2008 New Works Festival.
Paige Pyron spent the summer in Namibia as a WorldTeach volunteer, teaching math, English and science to secondary school students.
Gen. A. J. Beck, 7/2/06. Hugo P. Blackstone, 10/10/07. Irma Kilgore Cash, 1/3/97. Alvis Jackson Harwell, 12/22/01. Nina Jane Wilson Hooper, 1/13/08. Dr. Henry H. Johns Jr., 12/10/07. Alex C. Schumacher, 9/6/07. James C. Wilkie, 7/21/97.
1940
W. Allen Brazell, 4/9/06. Henry C. Cortes Jr., 4/2/05. Sarah Alla Hawley Potter, 1/28/08. Cornelius O. Ryan, 10/17/07. Florence Rose Bender Tobolowsky (’41), 4/1/07.
1941
Clyde L. Gleaves Jr., 1/6/08. Louis W. Mack Jr., 1/10/08. William M. Oliver, 11/15/02. Rufus Choate Porter, 11/9/07.
1942
James Horace Boggess, 11/30/07. Robert F. Butcher, 3/24/98. Helena Bennett Clemmons, 10/7/07. Doris Russell Dealey, 1/19/05. Robert M. Hughes, 6/23/07. Doris Prideaux Kline (’70), 1/12/08. Mary Jo Anderson Parsons, 1/22/08. Albert L. Ray, 10/31/03. Robert H. Singleton Sr., 6/28/06. Peggy Grindell Stafford, 1/30/08.
1943
Marjorie Mullinix Bedard, 1/8/00. Grace A. Crockett, 9/30/07. Mary Jane Bennett Handley, 12/14/07. Walter W. Kirk, 10/29/05. Joe Bob Locker, 9/6/07. Mary Lynn Sinclair Morgan, 12/14/07. Jennie Davis Compton Morphew, 12/27/07. Robert F. Pool, 11/12/07. Dr. Roland Mason Shiflett Jr., 9/2/07. Benny Herring Singleton, 6/20/06. Imogene Babb Springfield, 1/14/08.
1944
Dr. Richard C. Bush Jr. (’46), 2/28/08. Ruth Salling Chapman, 9/5/07. Daphne Scott Cook, 4/9/98. Roger L. Erickson, 11/14/06. Harry E. Gardner, 12/23/07. Jack I. Gronberg, 12/14/07. Pauline Adkerson Milligan, 9/30/07. Rev. Wayne G. Smith, 2/22/08.
Larry W. Carr, 1/4/08. John F. Couleur, 8/25/07. Marion Clark Gough, 9/21/07. George G. Irwin, 6/12/06. Rev. Nick H. Kupferle Jr., 12/7/07. Virginia Zelfel Marx, 4/23/07. Margaret Mims-Adkins, 3/9/07. Robert W. Phelps, 9/18/07. Ernestine Frizzell Swanson, 5/24/07. Dr. William E. Winn Jr., 12/26/07.
1947
Rondo E. Cameron, 1/1/01. Thomas H. Chisholm, 2/6/07. Bryon Lee Cook, 8/25/94. Jack L. Dunn, 11/24/04. Dr. Darris L. Egger Sr., 6/2/07. William E. Gilkey, 10/23/05. Don T. Griffin, 12/11/07. Robert Hallerman Jr., 9/5/07. George E. Jones, 12/10/07. Rev. John B. Koelemay, 12/5/07. Ottis Clark Land, 2/13/08. Ellen Bartlett Presley, 10/1/07. Marvin D. Rubenstein, 11/8/07. Maj. Juanita D. Schiltz, 11/25/07. Margaret Hoehn Stoiko, 12/5/07. David Tallichet, 10/31/07. Ralph Terry, 10/18/07. Dr. Nelson L. Thornton Jr., 10/6/07. Joyce Conly Walker, 10/30/07.
1948
Howard G. Bell, 12/4/05. Norman Walter Bircher, 9/16/07. Betty Lou Hix Brown, 9/18/07. Thomas F. Butler, 9/28/07. Sallye Jean Callaway, 11/15/06. Chester M. Coker, 11/6/05. John William Cook, 4/6/02. Jack Alston Crichton, 12/10/07. James Ira DeLoache, 12/19/07. John S. Estill Jr., 10/24/07. Barbara Jo Fox Fish, 3/16/05. John W. Gerrity, 3/14/05. K. B. Hallmark Jr., 12/15/00. Torrence Ball Hudgins, 10/8/98. James Paul Kerin, 2/23/08. J. W. Mitchell Jr. (’54), 2/1/08. Harriet Voorhis Moreland, 7/21/04. John E. Parker, 3/7/08. Ben G. Ramsey, 10/28/07. LaVerne Lamb Roof, 10/30/07. Jack L. Rush, 12/8/07. John Burns Smith Jr., 1/28/08. Cullen L. Tubb Jr., 1/28/08. Mary Jane Craig Turner, 10/27/07. Joseph A. Yazbeck, 11/22/07.
1949
Austin C. Bolton, 8/12/05. Louis F. Bolton, 11/30/06. James D. Clary Jr. (’59), 10/7/07. Robert McCormick Crites, 1/21/06. Charles F. Hinton Jr., 7/19/00. Jean Ann Jones Hoehn, 10/2/07. Royd Gene Irvin, 1/3/08. Maxine Condit Jones, 7/2/06. J. Kendall Kilgore, 2/19/02. Guy E. Lewis Jr., 9/14/07. Rev. Dr. Charles Edward Lutrick, 12/6/07. David Brian McCall, 2/17/04. David S. McLure (’53), 7/30/06. Dr. Robert L. Nichols, 8/31/07. William J. Pitts, 3/3/08. John K. Pratt, 6/23/07. James C. Rambin, 11/11/03. Calvin T. Reagan, 10/31/07. Rex H. Richardson, 4/26/03. Emmett A. Thaxton Jr., 12/17/07. Henry W. Thompson, 11/6/07. William Louis Turner Jr., 5/25/07. John Edward Wall Sr., 1/22/08. Charles K. Warrick, 1/15/08. Ben M. Webberman, 11/23/07. Cleveland D. Whatley, 12/6/07.
1950
Jack B. Burks, 8/1/01. James Andrew Cavalleri, 1/5/08. Victor A. Childers, 11/9/06. Laura E. Clifford, 2/13/03. Hal Leon Curry, 12/6/06. Mada Rae King Danzer, 10/20/07. Joe P. Ethridge, 12/16/07. Gilbert N. Freeman, 1/7/08. Ernest Clyde Gray, 7/15/03. Jim F. Gruver, 5/29/07. Helen Ellard Haseltine, 1/18/08. Mary Ellen Hill, 10/7/07. John T. Johnson (’52), 10/1/03. John William Lewis, 3/5/03. Jack A. Lindblom (’70), 11/17/04. L. E. Malone, 12/21/07. Milton L. Manoushagian, 1/10/08. LaVerne Golden McClure, 9/10/99. Daniel J. Monen Jr., 12/27/04. Philip J. Naab, 11/14/07. William C. Nichols Jr., 10/8/07. Dixie Huffman Pate, 2/8/06. Melvin B. Shuler Sr., 4/8/07. B. N. Sligar, 9/14/07. Rev. Dr. Laurence A. Sunkel Jr., 1/19/08. Dan Taylor, 10/29/04. Miles C. Taylor, 12/14/07. Mike W. Tipps Jr., 6/27/01. John Keene Trowbridge, 9/15/07. Arnold J. Weir, 10/23/97.
1951
V. M. Basil, 9/19/02. Ben Frank Cumnock, 10/7/07. Constance Cureton Cunningham, 12/7/07. James Harold Darden, 12/27/03. Ernest E. DeJernett, 10/23/07. Jesse Ben Drennan, 11/11/03. Martin S. Elfant, 1/19/05. William S. Freberg, 12/2/07. Richard H. Gaylord, 10/28/01. Larry C. Goodman, 1/28/06. Doris McKelvey Hale, 12/4/07. Azelle Hamrick Hall, 8/4/04. John N. Harris, 8/16/05. John W. Hasse, 11/1/07. Stuart F. Hendricks, 12/5/07. Jo Ellen Clanton Hockett, 11/16/07. Mary Jane Bloys Mallinson, 1/23/04. Conrad Martin, 12/7/07. Virginia Lowrey McClure, 11/29/98. Travis L. Mills, 7/2/07. D. R. Mortimore, 12/20/07. David G. Payne, 3/1/08. Robert M. Sedwick Jr., 10/28/07. Dr. L. E. Selden, 12/25/07. Joseph Tamasy, 1/29/08. Bob Jack Thompson, 9/11/07. Clera Ann Cox Thornton, 10/3/07. Rev. William C. Webb Jr., 1/19/07. Betty Lane Westcott, 1/3/08. James L. Wettersten, 9/8/06.
1952
Billy Joe Adams, 10/28/07. Marvin Leon Berry, 12/8/07. William C. Charlton, 12/14/07. Calvin Louis Eixmann, 7/22/99. George Philip Hale, 3/21/03. Michael John Harvey Jr., 9/9/07. Richard G. Hightower, 12/5/07. Franklin H. Kilgore, 8/27/07. Dr. Carson M. Lewis, 2/7/08. William O. Maddox, 1/26/91. Rosemary Manske Medders, 1/25/08. Louise Hankins Morriss, 10/17/07. Rev. Robert M. Pitzer (’55), 1/29/08. Morris L. Saxon, 6/17/06. Joseph L. H. Skewes, 9/30/03. Shirley Ann Johnston Taylor, 8/19/06. Wanda Rowland Vorlop, 1/17/06. Dr. Lamartha Velvin Wallace, 11/19/07.
1953
Phillip M. Aronoff, 1/15/99. John E. Branch, 2/13/07. Alice Hart Bockus, 2/17/02. John L. Boggs Jr., 12/20/07. Robert Hill Brewer Jr., 10/6/07. Dr. William Paxton Callahan III, 2/25/08. Charmaine Ireland Cole, 10/9/07. Corwin C. Connell, 2/27/08. Marcia Lee Carrell Howard, 11/18/07. Robert H. Lowrey Jr., 12/12/07. Betty Brannin McBee, 2/2/08. Janice Rushing O’Quinn, 11/1/07. Edward J. Shaw, 1/20/07. Judge Adrian D. Speck, 1/21/08. Robert E. Throne, 11/27/07. Carolyn Drew Brooks Whitson, 2/13/08.
1954
Thomas R. Arthur, 6/22/07. Dr. Malcolm B. Bowers Jr., 1/13/08. W. Henry Briggs, 1/6/91. Rev. Ralph G. Hasten, 5/20/07. Eric Jacob Kaspar Jr., 3/8/07. Annette Whistle Sloas, 12/2/07. David Truman Thatcher (’77), 12/20/07. Martha Evelyn Yancey Walker, 12/8/07. Gene Gray Williams, 12/6/05.
1955
Mark L. Abney, 8/9/00. Will Hill Acker, 1/22/06. Renford H. Austin, 4/24/04. C. J. Crutcher, 3/2/08. Neill English Jr. (’61), 1/18/08. Dr. Leo K. Gee, 9/7/07. Samuel S. George Jr., 1/1/03. Martha Townes Grattan, 9/3/07. William S. Harbour, 12/19/07. Robert J. Hieronymus, 10/13/07. Harvey Wayne Morris, 5/21/07. Jerry Paul Owens, 2/20/08. Moid Raymer Jr., 11/14/04. Dr. James D. Wheat, 7/16/96.
1956
Weaver E. Barnett, 8/31/00. Rev. Kenneth E. Bass, 10/20/07. Carlan C. Crawford, 1/29/08. Harold A. Ellard (’60), 9/20/07. John W. Floyd, 10/9/07. Daniel E. Hawk (’71), 1/26/08. Eugene C. Hixson Jr., 12/12/07. Earl D. Johnson, 2/28/08. Ann Libby Jordan, 12/29/07. Rev. Vernie P. Perry, 9/15/07. James Oakley Pittman, 2/26/08. Wilfred F. Roy Jr., 1/28/07. Rev. Dr. Alfred O. Smith Jr., 9/3/07. Roger Odell Wade, 9/4/07.
1957
Ben B. Cook, 8/27/07. Rev. Dr. Philip B. Del Rosario (’77), 1/10/08. J. Rawles Fulgham Jr., 2/22/08. Dr. Jack W. Harrison, 2/3/02. Rev. Gerald Kenneth Hilton, 9/29/02. Sally Ann Bowling Hudson, 10/21/06. Dr. Jay P. Irby, 9/3/07. Thomas C. Penn, 4/1/05. George J. Reuter, 12/10/07.
1958
Dr. Joseph M. Connally Jr., 7/29/06. Marietta Ruby Crabb, 12/22/07. Eileen B. Farney, 1/31/06. Channing A. Galloway, 2/10/06. Ruth Marie Stanley Harrison, 8/14/03. Sara Carter Mayes, 10/20/00. C. Mayo Neal, 5/11/07. John Marshall Sawyer, 3/20/06. Richard B. Schell, 10/20/07. Rev. William A. Triggs, 11/28/07. Ted Ware, 2/25/96.
1959
Michael K. Crawford, 10/27/07. Rodney E. French Jr., 9/18/07. J. Thomas Hailey, 3/30/07. John M. Kellam Jr., 1/4/08. Janet Carter Krissel, 1/15/05. Arthur C. Miller, 4/24/06. J. Robert Ross, 3/1/08.
1960
Claud W. Croft, 10/28/07. Donald A. Gilley, 4/15/98. Virginia Lee Marshall Jamison, 10/6/07. Dr. James Allen Johnson, 10/30/07. Martha Block Lurie, 11/24/04. Anita M. Roberts, 11/6/07. Joseph J. Spranza III, 7/9/07. Marjorie Sue Taylor, 2/8/08. Davis W. Tenney, 11/17/99. Samuel David Ward, 12/4/07. Lonnie M. York Jr., 1/26/04.
1961
Rev. James A. Barker, 12/27/07. Philip W. Campbell, 7/2/02. Ross G. Cummings, 11/14/07. Joyce Ann Joslin, 1/5/08. Col. Wade E. Knudson, 12/26/04. Ronnie M. Long, 1/21/08. Judith Foley Sklar, 2/5/07. Vera Jordan Terrell, 7/13/93. William Henry Thrash, 11/17/07. Martin T. Towb, 1/3/08. Mary Ann Bourland Wilkinson, 12/9/07.
1962
Lewis E. Clemmer, 11/27/07. Thomas Samuel Love, 11/8/07.
1963
James H. Birchfield, 8/4/07. Dr. David A. Bowers, 7/10/07. Terry Coverdale Brennan, 9/6/07. Dr. James E. Caswell (’66, ’70), 10/22/07. Rev. Harold Daniel, 12/28/07. Juan V. Porras-Landeo, 12/4/07. James Scullin Sullivan, 1/25/04. Peggy Robbins Timmins, 1/13/08.
1964
Ralph Randall Corley, 1/9/08. Dr. Billy Ray Cox, 9/24/07. James Royce Jackson, 11/28/07. Noel Aaron Mann, 1/16/08. Beldon G. Robertson, 12/9/07. Dr. Marilyn Savage Ward, 3/6/08.
1965
Robert Charles Frank, 12/2/07. Annette Louise Schweighauser, 1/29/07.
1966
Donald C. Conroy Jr., 10/22/05. Elva Lee Crandell, 2/27/97. Charlene Sumner Dunagan, 11/3/07. George A. Gross Jr. (’74), 9/16/07. Ron J. Holland, 7/9/07. G. Wayne Jackson (’74), 12/10/07. James Lucian LaBarba, 2/22/08. Thomas James Parsell, 9/26/07. In the printed version of SMU Magazine, information obtained from Constituent Records misidentified the deceased as Thomas James Parsell Jr. (’91), son of the late Mr. Parsell. SMU Magazine apologizes for the error. Vernon Ray Sturdivant, 9/6/06. Arnold Wofford, 10/28/07. Richard A. Wright, 1/19/07.
1967
Raymond Truitt Brinson Jr. (’68), 12/30/07. John Wesley Cudd Jr., 9/5/07. Barbara Huntley Greene, 9/27/07. Diane Heddon, 8/3/02. Michael P. Meredith (’71), 8/2/05. Winston L. Pickering (’69), 1/1/07. Kay Kelsay Rohloff, 1/11/05. Fred B. Rohrs, 7/3/06. Charles F. Terry, 12/12/07. Dr. John T. Thurmond (’69), 9/29/06.
1968
Nannette Hasty Davis, 11/4/07. Dorothy Lorene Hill Kerbow, 2/25/08. Charles P. Kern, 4/9/05. Melvin O. McCommas, 1/4/08. Travis D. McPherson, 9/29/06. Judge Jimmy D. Puett, 2/17/07.
1969
Donald E. Cherry, 9/20/07. Lawrence Childs, 10/2/07. Edward E. Day, 3/22/05. B. George Franklin, 11/15/07. Kenneth S. Goldstein, 10/20/07. Rev. Cal H. Kelly, 10/18/07. Ann Sproule Midgett, 1/31/08. Richard O. Pearson, 11/27/03. Edward D. Walters, 7/20/07.
1970
Richard A. Curtin, 11/20/07. Helen Ann Graue, 2/29/08. Dr. Joel Joseph Hebert, 2/11/08. John M. Hunt, 8/27/07. Horace L. Jones, 7/13/06. Rev. John Thomas King, 1/1/08. Isabelle Lang Magdeson (’71), 1/22/04. Margaret Allen Walker, 11/4/07.
1971
F. Douglas Allday, 12/2/07. Wayne Carl Brown, 1/18/08. C. L. Bryant, 6/10/07. Barry Preston Cremer, 9/11/07. F. Jean Sergeant Drake, 9/14/03. Sharon Creel Ezer, 9/1/00. Col. Ronald Lee Godbey, 3/1/08. John Kirby Masterson, 2/10/07. Elza McKnight Jr., 10/22/04. W. J. Morris, 1/8/08. Rev. Charles H. Standifer, 11/18/07.
1972
Donald H. Green (’78), 1/1/05. Garry A. Welch, 7/22/07.
1973
Ellen E. Carnes, 10/23/07. John Martin Hueffner, 10/30/03. Sarah Brown Jordan, 1/5/08. Robert B. Malcolm III (’76), 8/2/07. Mike Miller (’77), 12/17/07. Nyal Eugene Palmer, 9/10/99. Col. Robert W. Sweginnis, 8/28/04.
1974
Marita Ann Chanler Ater, 3/19/05. Mary Alice Brown Ficklen, 10/31/07. Bobbie W. Hauck, 9/22/06. Brian Douglas Lafving (’77), 2/7/08. John L. Marlow, 12/27/07. Vicki Ann Russo McCombs, 10/8/05. Don Miller (’75), 8/8/05. Glenn Edward Pride, 2/26/08. William Wood Randolph, 4/23/07. Dr. James H. Sharp (’78, ’87), 11/19/07. Mildarene Worley, 11/18/07.
1975
Mark A. Fitch, 9/13/07. Betty Jane Reiter Johnston, 10/28/07. Marcia Eileen Hughes Owen, 12/31/07. Rickey Allen Ross, 1/10/93. Joe D. Ruff, 12/20/07. Ivan M. Scott Jr. (’83), 3/2/08. Edward A. Wagner Jr., 1/20/05. David A. White, 10/15/07. Donnie R. Williams, 9/27/01.
1976
Barbara A. Balvin, 2/17/08. Richard Wuichet Bowers, 6/15/92. Bill Braden Grubbs, 6/8/07. Tommy Sun Tuck Hsu (’77), 2/20/08. James M. Jackson, 4/6/06. Robert B. Shirley, 1/5/08. Larry Keith Sloan, 9/18/07. Coy Tate, 5/17/99. Rev. Donald Ernest West, 6/23/07.
1977
Mark D. Buckner, 12/8/07. Dr. Etha Marie Johannaber Howard (’84), 1/25/08. Earnest E. Reed, 11/21/07. Dr. George Alan Starr, 2/23/08.
1978
Forrest E. Sharts, 1/29/05. Verlan J. Zapotocky, 1/26/08.
1979
Michael Eugene Tomlin (’83), 11/10/07.
1980
Joe H. Bergheim, 1/24/08. Billy R. Hollingshead, 3/18/01. Michael H. Payne, 9/15/07.
1981
Eric Charles Eisenbraun, 12/30/06.
1982
Marie Sipary, 2/14/08. Gordon John Zerbetz, 2/15/07.
1983
Patricia Cecile Calloway, 12/25/07. Brent T. Christian, 9/3/07.
1985
Mark Leon Inboden, 5/19/06.
1986
Robert Willard Campbell, 2/3/08. Robert D. Hoien, 11/25/01. Christopher M. Yanney, 3/1/95.
1987
Susan J. Bunnell, 3/2/08. James E. Hicks, 10/2/07.
1988
Eric John Ferris, 1/18/08.
1991
Della Rese Ekejija, 5/26/06. Rev. J. Wayne Harberson, 11/2/06.
1993
Patrick M. Donovan, 10/15/07.
1994
Ralph Leslie (Bud) Moore Jr., 9/23/07.
1995
Joel Nathan Shickman, 11/17/07.
1997
T. Charles Walker Jr., 2/9/08.
1998
Carolyn Ann Ebbers Whitson, 2/1/08.
2005
Shawn Delaine Weismantel Kramer, 2/22/08.
SMU Community
Mildred “Midge” Hedges, former secretary of the SMU Bookstore, 1952 to 1979, 12/09/07.
Billy Ruth Young Rubottom, wife of Richard Rubottom Jr., former SMU vice president, 1/04/08. Memorials can be made to the Rubottom Foreign Service Scholarship, SMU, Office of Development, Attn: Gift Administration, PO Box 750402, Dallas, TX 75275-0402.
Ruth Townsend Smith (’33), former assistant to Bridwell Library director, 2/11/08. Memorials can be made to Perkins School of Theology, Office of Development, PO Box 750133, Dallas, TX 75275-0133.
Andy Winstel, former financial officer, School of Engineering, 11/30/07.
Norma Whittekin Allen is enjoying life in Palm Beach, FL.
44
William E. (Bill) Sprowls and his wife, Midge Williams Sprowls (’49), celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary on a cruise around the British Isles, ending in Paris.
49
The Rev. Norma Prince Swank Trump (M.T.S. ’86) is retired with her husband, Roger, in Hickory, NC.
51
Herb Robertson (M.S. ’59) has published his first book, The ABCs of De: A Primer on Everette Lee DeGolyer, 1886-1956 (DeGolyer Library, 2007).
53
Patsy Pittman Light has culminated 10 years of research and writing in her new book released April 1, Capturing Nature: The Cement Sculpture of Dionicio Rodriguez (Texas A&M University Press), which examines the artist’s faux bois sculpture.
54
Lowell (“Stretch”) Smith Jr. was special guest at a ceremony last September to rename the former Cleburne Middle School to Smith Middle School in his honor. He has been a longtime force in the Cleburne and Johnson County (TX) business and civic communities, promoting education as the driving force and major factor in success.
56
Richard Deats led a retreat on the committed life at the Kirkridge Retreat Center in Pennsylvania and lectured on the nonviolent Jesus at the 100th anniversary of Union Theological Seminary.
Bill Diller recently was elected president of the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs, comprised of 104 county fairs statewide.
57
Gary Dean Jackson and his wife, Gloria Ann Galouye Jackson (M.A. ’59, J.D. ’78), celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last December in Lindale, TX. The accomplished lawyers have two sons and two granddaughters. He is a retired U.S. Army colonel.
Barbara Jensen Vernon is newly retired as city administrator of Prairie Village, KS, a position she has held since 1978.
58
Robert (Bob) LaFavre was a member of the 1954 SMU swim team that won the Southwest Conference Championship. Now at age 75, he has qualified in six events for the 2008 U.S. Masters Championship Meet. He won five gold medals at the U.S. Masters Zone Championship Meet and six golds at the 2007 Iowa Games. After retiring from business in Dallas, he returned to his hometown of Cedar Falls, IA.
59
Martha Madden (M.A. ’63) was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Northwestern State University of Louisiana at the fall commencement exercises Dec. 14, 2007. President of Madden Associates LLC in New Orleans and Washington, DC, she is an executive consultant in governmental affairs, environmental management, health, education and economic development.
61
Mary Earle Persons Russell has a private practice as a reading and learning specialist in Denver.
Submit a Class Note or address change online, or send information to SMU Magazine, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, TX 75275-0174. Be sure to include your class year.
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs:Harriet Hopkins Holleman, George W. Bramblett Jr.
64
Mike Boone (J.D. ’67) received the 2008 J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award February 12 at a luncheon at the Belo Mansion in Dallas. He is co-founder of the law firm Haynes and Boone LLP.
65
Molly Porter Burke is retired from teaching. She lives in San Antonio where she is a volunteer counselor at Agape Ministry, a coalition of churches providing funds, food and clothing to those in financial need.
66
Mary Ann Lee wrote a chapter in the recently published book Crisis of Conscience: Arkansas Methodists and the Civil Rights Struggle.
68
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Johnetta Alexander Burke, Robert A. Massad, Gail Vosburgh Massad
Jerry C. Alexander (J.D. ’72) has been elected secretary-treasurer of the Dallas Bar Association for 2008 and was selected a Texas Monthly “Super Lawyer” for 2007. His firm is Passman & Jones PC.
Betty Roddy Bezemer is the 2008 president of the Dover Club, Houston’s entrepreneurial club of business professionals. She is a realtor with Keller Williams-Memorial.
Kathleen Gilmore (Ph.D. ’73) is an archaeologist who searched two decades for the lost fort of French explorer LaSalle, finally discovering it near the Texas Gulf Coast. Now age 92, she made a documentary last July at the site of Fort St. Louis. In December she visited Spain to study documents sent from early Texas missions, and she is writing a paper on Texas presidios.
69
Albon O. Head Jr. (J.D. ’71) is a Texas Super Lawyer, a “Top Attorney” in Fort Worth, Texas magazine and a leading U.S. attorney in The Best Lawyers in America 2008. He is a partner in the litigation section at Jackson Walker LLP and managing partner of the Fort Worth office.
Larry Van Smith (J.D. ’73) was named to The Best Lawyers in America 2008 for banking law and real estate law. He is with
the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP.
70
John Alexander is a contemporary painter whose first full-scale examination of his three-decade career was celebrated at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC, Dec. 21, 2007, through March 16. The retrospective moved to Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts April 13 to June 22.
Janie Bryan Loveless (M.L.A. ’74) is the communications manager at the national MADD office in Las Colinas (Irving, TX) and a freelance writer-editor and consultant. She and her husband, a television photographer, have a son, Bryan, 22.
71
Robert C. Margo joined the National Arbitration Forum’s panel of independent and neutral arbitrators and mediators based on experience in health care and contract and employment law. In 2006 and 2007 he was selected an Oklahoma Super Lawyer. He lives in Oklahoma City.
72
William Frank Carroll joined the Dallas office of law firm Cox Smith Matthews Inc. He was elected to the councils of the State Bar of Texas and Dallas Bar Association in the antitrust, business litigation and trade regulations sections.
Terry Daniels is retired in Ohio after 25 years as a private investigator in Texas. He is a former world heavyweight boxing contender.
Mike McCurley was named in October 2007 to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. He is founding partner of McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing LLP, one of the largest firms in Texas specializing solely in family law.
Submit a Class Note or address change online, or send information to SMU Magazine, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, TX 75275-0174. Be sure to include your class year.
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Linda Gibson Stephens, Kay Barker Enoch
Dan Kremer (M.F.A. ’75) appeared as Horace Vandergelder in the summer 2007 production of The Matchmaker at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, UT.
74
Gary Ingram has been selected one of Fort Worth, Texas magazine’s Top Attorneys and was listed in the 2006 and 2008 editions of The Best Lawyers in America. He heads the labor and employment section of Jackson Walker LLP.
Joe Pouncy (M.L.A. ’82) is president-elect of Rotary Carrollton-Farmers Branch (TX). He is principal of Newman Smith High School in Carrollton.
75
Donnie Ray Albert sang the role of Trinity Moses in LA Opera’s production of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, which premiered in December 2007 on PBS.
James B. (Jim) Harris is a partner in regulatory litigation and counseling, including environmental matters, in the law firm Thompson & Knight. He was named in September 2007 to a one-year term as chair of the board of Dallas Heritage Village, a living history museum that portrays life in North Texas from 1840 to 1910.
76
Maxine Aaronson (J.D. ’80) has been named a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. She has offices in Dallas and Houston.
77
Elizabeth (Beth) Mahaffey Anderson is chair of the governing board of the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the state’s affordable housing finance agency. In November 2007 she was appointed a commissioner of the Texas Department of Public Safety by Gov. Rick Perry.
Mary Brooke Casad was named executive secretary in September 2007 of the Connectional Table of The United Methodist Church based in Dallas and will provide administrative leadership to the group. She and her husband, the Rev. Victor Casad, have two sons and one grandson.
Brian Cobble has received his fourth award in five years from the annual exhibition of the Pastel Society of America in New York. He received the 2007 National Arts Club Award for his pastel Lexington Alley (Nebraska).
Dr. Jeffrey Whitman is a physician-ophthalmologist in Dallas at the Key-Whitman Eye Center. He is a pioneer in some of the most advanced eye-care technology to date.
Ken Yano has joined the Kansas City office of Grant Thornton LLP as a state and local tax executive director. He has over 25 years of experience in multistate income/franchise taxation, serving clients in the retail, financial, oil and gas and service industries.
78
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Karen Selbo Hunt, Reagan Brown
Steve Alter is associate professor of history at Gordon College in Wenham, MA.
Tom Aronson helps manage the assets of Julius Schepps Corp. After a 13-year layoff, he concentrates on his Fender Stratocaster in his free time.
C. Wade Cooper of Austin was included in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 for his work in bankruptcy and credit-debtor rights law. He is with the firm Jackson Walker LLP.
79
Mina Brees taught dispute resolution seminars in Poland and Estonia in 2006-07. She is co-author of Arbitration Road Map (Texas Bar Books, 2007).
Peter Meza was appointed counsel Jan. 1, 2008, by Hogan & Hartson LLP. His legal practice focuses on intellectual property matters for U.S. and international semiconductor and high-technology electronics clients.
81
J. D. Salazar was chosen one of Chicago’s 45 finest business leaders and featured in Chicago United’s 2007 Business Leaders of Color, released in November. He is managing principal for Champion Realty Advisors LLC, which under his leadership has become one of the most successful Hispanic-owned commercial/industrial real estate companies in the country. He is on the Board of Directors of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which annually distributes more than 45 million pounds of food in Chicago and
Cook County. He also is a director of the Rediehs Foundation, which supports Christian missions and missionaries around the world.
Karla K. Wigley announces the adoption of her daughter, Larkin Faith MengFen, born Sept. 23, 2006, in The People’s Republic of China. She and her brother spent three weeks in China in September 2007 finalizing the adoption.
82
C. David Cush (M.B.A. ’83) was named CEO of Virgin America airline in November 2007. He is former senior vice president of global sales at American Airlines.
Submit a Class Note or address change online, or send information to SMU Magazine, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, TX 75275-0174. Be sure to include your class year.
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Meaders Moore Ozarow, Sam J. Chantilis
Yolette Garcia is the new assistant dean for external affairs and outreach in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU. She held positions for 25 years at KERA, the North Texas public broadcasting station, including executive producer for KERA-TV Channel 13 and assistant station manager and news director for KERA-FM 90.1.
Hector Guzman received the Mozart Medal, Mexico’s highest honor for musical excellence, in a January 2008 ceremony at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. He is music director of three Texas symphony orchestras: Plano, Irving and San Angelo. He became a U.S. citizen in 2001 and now lives in Plano.
Phil Hubbard took a comic turn as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night and also appeared in King Lear and Coriolanus in the 2007 Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City, UT.
84
Gordon H. (Gordie) Hamilton III and his wife, Ann Marie, adopted their daughter, Dasha, 6, from a Russian orphanage in December 2006 through the Bridge of Hope summer program of the Cradle of Hope Adoption Center
based in Maryland. She has three brothers: Gordie, John and Charlie. Dad Gordie, Cradle’s new regional director,
wants to bring the Bridge of Hope program to Kansas City-area families. He also is a financial adviser and planning specialist for Smith Barney.
Pamela L. Rundell is a senior compliance analyst in the Ethics and Compliance Department at Tenet Healthcare in Dallas, where she coordinates legal issues for Tenet’s U.S. facilities. She has a son, Reiny, 13.
85
Teresa Weiss (Tisa) Hibbs plays the role of Annabel in the TV series Friday Night Lights on NBC. She is married to Billy E. Hibbs Jr. (M.B.A. ’81). They live in Tyler, TX.
Lara Lowman sailed September to December 2007 from Florida to Tahiti with her uncle and three others on a 43-ft. catamaran built by her uncle.
Mark Miller has been named assistant managing editor and chief of correspondents for Newsweek.
Christine Karol Roberts has a California intellectual property law practice and has established GazetteWatch.com,
a trademark watching service. She has written a novel, The Jewel Collar, and is working on a legal thriller to be entitled License to Die For.
Douglas S. (Doug) Rogers has been named chief investment officer of Seattle firm Laird Norton Tyee. He is a noted investment expert and author of Tax-Aware Investment Management: The Essential Guide (Bloomberg Press, 2006).
He is a frequent conference speaker and contributor to industry journals.
Patty Sullivan joined Texas Capital Bank as senior vice president of marketing and media after six years as director of public relations for Pizza Hut U.S. In September 2005 she adopted a baby from China, Catherine Mei Sullivan.
Elena Rohweder Turner was named vice president of corporate marketing at Wachovia bank’s central region
in Addison, TX.
Melanie Wells continues her string of Dylan Foster psychological thrillers with her third book, My Soul to Keep (Multnomah Books, February 2008). Her previous books are When the Day of Evil Comes (2005) and The Soul
Hunter (2006).
86
John R. Bear (M.B.A. ’89) has been named president and COO of Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc., based near Indianapolis. It operates 93,600 miles of high voltage wholesale electric transmission lines over a 920,000 sq. mi. area touching 15 U.S. states and one Canadian province.
Craig Flournoy has been recognized by the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Preparation at The University of Texas at Austin as one of eight Texans who improved the lives of those in their communities for his work as an investigative reporter at The Dallas Morning News and investigative projects by students he directed at SMU. He teaches advanced news writing, computer-assisted reporting, history of American journalism and investigative reporting. He has won more than 50 state and national journalism awards, including the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, and was one of three finalists for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for beat reporting.
Janie E. James (J.D. ’92) has been named a Texas Super Lawyer. She is senior counsel in the business transactions section of the Dallas office of Jackson Walker LLP.
87
Karl L. Fava, CPA, is founder and president of Business Financial Consultants Inc., a national tax and financial advisory firm. He has been elected chair of the board of the Henry Ford Community College Foundation. A. Joseph Shepard has been appointed director of the Office of Investment at the U.S. Small Business Administration based on leadership skills and experience in investment banking and mezzanine and private-equity investing. He will oversee the Small Business Investment Company program which has invested about $51.4 billion in more than 103,000 small U.S. businesses.
88
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Kathy McCoy Turner, Stephen L. Arata
Mark W. Peters was elected secretary of World Services Group for 2007-08 at the annual meeting in Montreal. He is a member of the law firm Dykema, where he deals in mergers and acquisitions of public and private companies, subsidiaries and divisions. He lives in Bloomfield Hills, MI.
90
Rafael Anchía has been named a partner in the Financial Transactions Practice Group of Haynes and Boone LLP. In addition, Anchía has been twice elected Texas state representative for District 103, which includes parts of Dallas, Irving, Carrollton and Farmers Branch.
Craig Anderson (J.D. ’93) has joined the Dallas law firm DLA Piper LLP as a partner in the real estate section.
Greg Brown (M.B.A. ’02) is managing director of the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival. He is responsible for the workings of the festival and year-round programming.
John Clanton is a veteran Texas investment adviser and portfolio manager. He joined Wachovia Wealth Management as a vice president and investment strategist. Most recently he served as portfolio manager for Northern Trust in Dallas.
Carolyn Herter has some of her photos included in an exhibition at Montserrat Gallery in New York City from
October 2007 to September 2008.
Katherine Staton is president-elect of the International Aviation Women’s Association, which brings together
women of achievement in the aviation industry and promotes their advancement internationally through a worldwide network of aviation professional contacts. She is a partner in the litigation and aviation sections of Dallas law firm Jackson Walker LLP.
Johnson Samuel Subramanian recently published the academic book The Synoptic Gospels and the Psalms as Prophecy (T&T Clark International).
92
William R. Jenkins is one of Fort Worth, Texas magazine’s Top Attorneys. He is a partner in the litigation section of Jackson Walker LLP and a board member of the Arts Council of Fort Worth and Tarrant County.</p
Bettye Anderson McLaughlin, at age 78, leads an aerobics exercise class for older ladies at San Saba (TX) UMC.
Dawn McMahan and her husband, Terrell Steketee, announce the birth of their second daughter, Madeline Dawn,
Aug. 23, 2007.
Ross Vick left his family business to write adult contemporary music. His album, released last October, contained the hit single “The Road”.
Michele Wallis is living in southern Florida’s Treasure Coast. She has relaunched the Web site SisterDelirious.com.
Submit a Class Note or address change online, or send information to SMU Magazine, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, TX 75275-0174. Be sure to include your class year.
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Neisha Strambler-Butler, Richie L. Butler, Bradley L. Adams
Dan Davenport is a co-founder of RiseSmart, an online job search company that matches member profiles and résumés with job opportunities from online listings.
Gretchen Hoag Foster and her husband, Charlie, announce the birth of their daughter, Kathleen Stewart, Aug. 14, 2007.
Kelly D. Hine (J.D. ’97) has been elected to the Fellows of the Texas Bar Association. He is a Dallas attorney with Fish & Richardson PC.
Jack Ingram is enjoying a renewed career in mainstream country music after relocating to Austin from Dallas with his wife, Amy, and three children, Ava Adele, 5; Eli, 3; and Hudson, 2. He has a new record label, Nashville’s Big Machine Records, and in March 2007 released the CD “This Is It.”
Jeffrey John (Jeff) Kimbell married Jessica Elizabeth Clement Sept. 29, 2007, at San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico. He is president of Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates Inc., managing director of Jackalope Real Estate Inc. and president of Magnum Entertainment Group LLC. The couple has homes in Washington, DC, and Park City, UT.
95
Mary Beth Wade Schad is the owner of Ellie & Ollie Cookies for Dinner and a recent finalist for the Martha Stewart Dreamers to Doers contest based on women turning their passions into businesses. Her cookies were featured in the November 2007 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.
96
Anthony R. (Tony) Briley and his wife, Ana Pia, announce the birth of their daughter, Izabella Maria, Oct. 25, 2007.
W. Ross Forbes, a partner in the litigation section of the Dallas office of Jackson Walker, has been elected a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Fellows are selected for their outstanding professional achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout Texas.
97
Allison Martin Christie lives in rural England and owns/operates a restaurant and pub. Her daughter was born in August 2007.
Michelle Campbell Gilmartin and her husband, Sean, announce the birth of identical twins, Timothy (Tim) Sean and Thomas Samuel (Sam), Aug. 4, 2007.
98
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Charles W. Wetzel, Julie Bordelon Wetzel, Alison Ream Griffin
Carmen Hazan-Cohen works in the International Outreach Program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Mississippi.
Jennifer Clark Tobin (J.D. ’01) became a shareholder of Geary, Porter & Donovan PC Jan. 1, 2008.
99
Dominique Eudaly married Jeff Jordan in 2002. They live in Tyler, TX, with their sons, Jeffrey, 3; Wells, 2; and Henry, 8 months.
Rosario (Chachy Segovia) Heppe and Hansjoerg Heppe (’97) announce the birth of their daughter, Helena Maria del Socorro Brigitte, April 5, 2007, in New York City. The law school graduates have relocated to Dallas where he joined Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP as an associate in the corporate securities section.
2000
David Kelly has been appointed president and CEO of Bluefin Robotics, which manufactures and develops autonomous underwater vehicles, systems and technology for military applications, oil and gas exploration, sea floor mapping
and archaeological purposes. He has more than 25 years of comprehensive, hands-on, high-tech experience.
Aaron Z. Tobin has joined Dallas-based Anderson Jones PLLC as a partner in complex commercial trial, creditors’ rights and appellate matters and will represent clients in business, bankruptcy, intellectual property and employment litigation matters.
James N. Zoys became a shareholder with Geary, Porter & Donovan PC Jan. 1, 2008.
01
Mary Elizabeth Ellis Day has been a recurring cast member for three seasons on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on Fox TV.
Carrie Warrick deMoor and her husband announce the birth
of their son, Christian, June 7, 2006. She is in her second year of emergency medicine residency at Thomasson Hospital in El Paso.
02
Patricia A. (Tricia) Barnett is director of development for the School of Economics, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. She has served as director of communications for the Office of Private Sector Initiatives at the Reagan White House and director of public affairs for United Way of America.
03
Reunion: November 8, 2008
Chairs: Lizanne H. Garrett, Rogers B. Healy
Dr. Alonso N. Gutiérrez is a radiation oncology physicist with an appointment as assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Ryan Long, as the business operations lead for Boeing Simulator Services in Los Angeles, updates flight simulators around the world.
04
Courtney Cooper St. Eve is a reporter at KSDK-TV in St. Louis. She won an Emmy at the 2007 mid-America regional Emmy ceremony last October for her story on a St. Louis museum that features dollhouse miniatures. In 2004 she had the AP story of the year and won a Telly award for her live coverage of a local plane crash. She married Bryan St. Eve in September 2007.
Luke Vahalik married Mackenzie Britton (’06) Aug. 25, 2007, in Ellsworth, KS. Both are employed at L-3 Integrated Systems in Greenville, TX, where he is an electrical engineer and she is a software engineer.
06
Michael Whaley, a second-year Teach For America corps member who teaches fifth grade in Memphis, has been awarded a fellowship with the Building Excellent Schools (BES) organization. As a BES Fellow, Whaley will enter a yearlong training program in general charter school management. He will open a charter school in the area when he completes his fellowship in summer 2009.
Submit a Class Note or address change online, or send information to SMU Magazine, P.O. Box 750174, Dallas, TX 75275-0174. Be sure to include your class year.
At any moment in the Owen Arts Center, piano tunes waft from classrooms, budding actors practice their faux swordfights and ballerinas pirouette in the hallways. Advertising Professor Patricia Alvey finds the creative environment “thrilling and stimulating.”
Patricia Alvey, Temerlin Advertising Institute
SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research in Meadows School of the Arts shares space with art, music, theatre and other fine arts students and faculty. “I love the energy. It’s delightful that I ended up back in an art school,” says Alvey, Distinguished Chair and Director of the Institute. Before receiving a Ph.D. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, Alvey earned a B.F.A. in drawing and painting from Murray State University.
With a painter’s eye and a pragmatist’s work ethic, she “fell into advertising,” making a happy landing in a field where her passions for art, academics and altruism intersect. Early on she appreciated the blend of personal and professional satisfaction that came from working with nonprofit groups. She designed everything from brochures to brand-identity programs for the Texas Capital Preservation Campaign, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and other organizations. Her work on behalf of the March of Dimes won national Summit International Design awards, which recognize outstanding efforts by small- to mid-sized creative companies.
Alvey also made a name for herself in academia. She headed the creative advertising program at the University of Texas at Austin before being named executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Adcenter, an elite two-year advertising graduate program.
When Alvey arrived at the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) in fall 2002, it was “brand-new and had the blush of fresh success. Although the strategic business portion of the program was strong, there was no creative program to speak of,” she recalls.
Working with TAI faculty, she implemented new admission criteria and a redefined curriculum with “toughened courses.” She recruited and hired new creative faculty, and to supplement classroom lessons, Alvey and her faculty called upon their industry colleagues for lectures and critiques.
Students have responded to the higher expectations by becoming nationally competitive and collecting a trove of trophies. In addition to a cluster of Dallas Ad League ADDY awards, students earned awards from the Houston Art Directors Club and the Dallas Society for Visual Communication. Their work has been published in CMYK Magazine, which is a national showcase for student creative work in advertising, design, illustration and photography. Last year two students made it to the finals of the international One Club Client Pitch, where only seven schools qualified to compete. In 2006, a 30-second TV spot created by an eight-student team won a contest sponsored by national restaurant chain Chipotle.
“These are not lightweight competitions,” says Mike Sullivan, president of The Loomis Agency in Dallas, who has been a guest speaker at the Institute. “Patty and her team didn’t take it up just one notch; they took it up five or six.”
“An overarching goal of the Institute is to help students understand that the creativity and skills used to drive business also can be used for public service.” – Patricia Alvey
In preparing for the high-caliber contests, students experience the creative process – from concepting to storyboarding to post-production work – as if they were producing a national advertising campaign at a top agency. Senior advertising major Allie Edwards is part of a team of advertising and cinema-television students developing a TV spot for the One Show national student competition. She appreciates Alvey’s critiques. “She looks at our work from the standpoint of a creative director who would be hiring us, so her feedback is important and helpful,” Edwards says.
Good advertising is “different, engaging, provocative and surprising,” Alvey says. “Much of what I truly love isn’t seen that much by the public in the U.S.” She likes the steamy spots by Bartle Bogle Hegarty for Axe men’s body products and Levi’s; the visually complex, whimsical work of Wieden & Kennedy for British Honda; and “a great deal of the work coming out of Amsterdam, São Paulo and Singapore.”
Alvey also prizes advertising that serves the greater good. “An overarching goal of the Institute is to help students understand that the creativity and skills used to drive business also can be used for public service,” she says.
A few months after she arrived, Alvey accepted a challenge from SMU’s Center for Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention for TAI to develop an alcohol awareness campaign targeted at students. Advertising students teamed up with faculty to produce a series of bold posters, visible across campus over the next four years, to send the message that irresponsible drinking was the exception, not the social norm. Most recently she led focus group research as a member of SMU’s Task Force on Substance Abuse Prevention.
Another significant project, the World Citizens Guide, reached more than 800 campuses across the country. Published in 2004, the passport-sized book serves a weighty purpose: to sensitize students to cultural differences, making them “worldly” travelers and effective ambassadors. To date, more than 120,000 copies have been distributed. A sister publication, tailored to business travelers, has been distributed to more than 40,000 individuals and businesses.
Alvey ticks off some of the Institute’s current projects: “Right now, we’re teaming up with the Division of Cinema-Television to produce spots for Doritos for The One Show National Student Competition. The TAI Ad Team is working on an AOL project for the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition. Our research and campaigns classes are working with IDEARC, a recent spin-off of Verizon, as a corporate client. And the list is just for this semester.”
A large world map, drawn from the old Soviet Union’s perspective, dominates a wall in Jeffrey Kahn’s office. The map is more than a Cold War artifact for this Dedman School of Law assistant professor. It is a reminder that even the most powerful institutions are not invulnerable.
Jeffrey Kahn, Dedman School of Law
In his second year at SMU, Kahn is carving out an academic niche at the intersection of U.S. constitutional law, human rights, counterterrorism and comparative law.
But when he began his undergraduate studies at Yale in 1990, the Berlin Wall had just fallen and there was a new, reform-talking leader in the Kremlin. Kahn pursued four years of Russian language studies, despite warnings from Yale faculty that the difficult language was not the best use of time for a young man determined to practice law in the United States.
“But I wanted to see how the Soviet story ended,” Kahn recalls. If that seemingly indestructible powerhouse could be disassembled, he wondered what parallels could be drawn to the relative strength and stability of the foundations of U.S. government.
“What do I have to do as a citizen to keep these institutions strong?” he asked himself.
The question continues to shape his teaching and engage his students, particularly in studying U.S. constitutional law. His syllabus for the course directs students toward an answer before they ever enter his classroom:
“At our first class, I will issue you a pocket-sized U.S. Constitution,” reads the syllabus. “You should strive to develop the same level of affection and familiarity toward it that a United States Marine accords to his or her rifle.”
For 2007-08, Kahn was named a Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Professional Responsibility teaching fellow. He already was teaching a seminar on the role of lawyers in counterterrorism, studying the cases of illegal immigrants, citizens claiming to be victims of “rendition” and torture overseas, charitable organizations subject to asset forfeiture after being labeled terrorist fronts and travelers caught by government-issued “no fly” lists. “I want to include the stories told by lawyers who anguish over their ethical responsibilities to country and client,” Kahn wrote in applying for the fellowship. The Maguire fellowship enabled him to bring in guest lecturers to tell those stories firsthand.
One of those classroom lessons played out in a Dallas courtroom: Last year Kahn became a “go-to” source for local and national news media in the federal case against Richardson’s Holy Land Foundation as an alleged front for the terrorist group Hamas. The case ended in mistrial.
He now is researching how the war on terror is affecting a citizen’s right to travel. “The right to travel is a core democratic principle dating back to Athens,” he says.
Kahn first traveled to Russia in summer 1993, just before the October constitutional crisis that prompted President Boris Yeltsin to illegally dissolve the country’s legislature. Kahn returned numerous times while earning a Master’s and Doctorate from Oxford University. His dissertation, “Federalism, Democratization and the Rule of Law in Russia,” was published by Oxford University Press. Even while enrolled at the University of Michigan Law School, Kahn delivered lectures on European human rights law to Russian attorneys at summer programs in Moscow sponsored by the Council of Europe.
After graduating from law school in 2002, he clerked for U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Griesa and took a job (on Griesa’s advice) as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice from 2003-06. Kahn traveled the country on a variety of cases, and remembers exactly when the real significance of the job hit him.
“The first time I stood in front of a federal judge to identify myself for the record and say, ‘My name is Jeffrey Kahn and I represent the United States of America in this matter’ – well, the responsibility behind those words really took my breath away.”
He long since had proven wrong the naysayers who questioned his determination to learn Russian: Among his last assignments, the Justice Department detailed Kahn to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to conduct research on criminal procedure in that evolving democracy.
“I am far from fluent and my American accent, I am told, is very strong,” Kahn says. “But I have found that perseverance and a willing smile accomplishes a lot.”
Acting on a long-developing desire to teach, Kahn calls his faculty appointment a cherished opportunity to think hard on tough issues and talk with intelligent students. “It’s wonderful to be invited into this faculty, where I can take an idea and run with it,” he says.
Like most Western countries in the 1970s, Italy was experiencing its worst economic downturn since the worldwide depression four decades earlier. Double-digit inflation and high unemployment soured la dolce vita.
Maria Minniti, Cox School of Business
“People were concerned about job security,” economist Maria Minniti recalls about her native country. “They worried about being able to afford their rent. Everyone was affected – my family, the parents of my friends. Although I was a child, I could tell there was much distress throughout society.”
Despite its problems, Italy remained a wealthy country, particularly when compared to the misery of the Third World exposed in newscasts in the 1980s. Dismayed by what she saw, Minniti searched for a way she could effect positive change where it was needed most. As the young political science student was researching an honors thesis, the nascent Grameen Bank project in Bangladesh grabbed her attention. The microcredit initiative, which earned the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for American-trained economist Muhammad Yunus, assisted the rural poor in the famine-ravaged country by making tiny loans, primarily to women, to jumpstart small, self-sustaining businesses. As these female entrepreneurs took baby steps up the economic ladder, they gave their children a boost; consequently, entire families lifted themselves out of grinding poverty.
Minniti’s future snapped into focus as she probed deeper into the complex and multilayered role played by entrepreneurs in the economy. “We all want to make a difference, especially when we’re young, and I believed that, as a social scientist, I could make a difference by understanding the issues that influence economic growth, such as having the right institutions in place to promote entrepreneurship.”
Following a national search, Minniti recently was named the Bobby B. Lyle Chair in Entrepreneurship in the Cox School of Business. “Maria adds depth to the entrepreneurship team at Cox with her research on a global scale,” says Jerry F. White, director of the school’s Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship.
A native of Rome and a longtime New Yorker, Minniti earned a Ph.D. in economics from New York University. She comes to SMU from Babson College, Boston, where she was a professor of economics and entrepreneurship and served as research director for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project. Launched in 1999 and coordinated by Babson and the London Business School, GEM is the largest survey-based study of entrepreneurship.
“We assume if there’s more entrepreneurial activity, there will be more economic growth, but we don’t exactly know how the mechanism works,” she says. “We need to better understand which institutional settings are most effective and why. While entrepreneurship is a mechanism for growth, good institutions are a necessary condition for productive entrepreneurship.” The project collects data from more than 60 countries annually to paint a global picture of entrepreneurship and its role in economic development.
“Over the past few decades it has become very apparent that entrepreneurs are the change agents of an economy,” the Caruth Institute’s White says. “If you want to revitalize your country, then encourage entrepreneurship.”
“We assume if there’s more entrepreneurial activity, there will be more economic growth, but we don’t exactly know how the mechanism works. We need to better understand which institutional settings are most effective and why. While entrepreneurship is a mechanism for growth, good institutions are a necessary condition for productive entrepreneurship.” – Maria Minniti
Broadly defined, “entrepreneurship generates innovation or taps unused resources,” Minniti says. The term “entrepreneurship” is entwined in the vernacular with small businesses, but it can be appropriately applied to ventures of all sizes. She offers Southwest Airlines, Google and 3M as examples of large companies that nurture entrepreneurship within a corporate framework by empowering “individuals to pursue their interests and to research and develop new projects and products.”
In the fall she will teach her first SMU classes – on business decision-making. “We will talk about how individuals make rational decisions, and how they can deviate from the rational by following ‘gut’ feelings, which are influenced by rules of thumb and biases,” she explains. “In the end, we want to be able to make better decisions as both entrepreneurs and consumers. When facing an uncertain choice, the best way to make better decisions is to begin by asking the right questions.”
Until then, she will continue to delve into the characteristics of entrepreneurial behavior and the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth. Eager to continue developing her research agenda at SMU, Minniti may not have to venture beyond her own backyard. “Human capital is the main resource of entrepreneurship, and with a fast-growing, ethnically diverse population, Dallas has a lot of that,” she says. “The Dallas area lends itself very well to an exploration of what works and what doesn’t to encourage entrepreneurship.”
A thoughtful and curious observer, Minniti finds that her warm manner and Italian accent are good icebreakers as she explores her new city, drawing her into conversations with everyone from taxi drivers to fellow shoppers. “I’m always asked where I’m from. And when people find out that I have just moved to Texas, they immediately list the many reasons I will love it here,” from reasonable housing prices to the abundance of good restaurants, she says. “It’s a positive sign when so many people can find so many things they like.”
At the age of 12, Harold J. Recinos was homeless on the streets of New York City, abandoned by destitute immigrant parents. Dropping out of junior high school to focus all his attention on survival, he begged for money, wore the same clothing for months and lived in abandoned urban tenements, public parks and parked Greyhound passenger buses.
Harold J. Recinos, Perkins School of Theology
“My answer to rejection and the pitiful existence of street life was to become a street-grown heroin addict. I was one of the youngest junkies in the neighborhood. Shooting dope made it easier to eat food from restaurant garbage dumpsters,” he recalls.
Now a professor of church and society in Perkins School of Theology, Recinos contends that those same mean streets of the South Bronx, which he calls “a tough and crucified place,” shaped his understanding of God and later defined his approach to teaching and research as a theologian.
After four years of living on the streets of New York, Los Angeles and Puerto Rico, he met a Presbyterian minister, who took him into his home and family in the New York City area. They helped him to overcome heroin addiction and to return to school.
The minister also introduced Recinos to A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation by Gustavo Gutiérrez, a book that greatly influenced his approach to the ministry. He enrolled in the College of Wooster (Ohio), his mentor’s alma mater, and later earned a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from American University. He was ordained in The United Methodist Church in 1986 and later served pastorates working with the homeless in New York City, Central American and African refugees, and youth gangs in Washington, D.C. He also was a professor for 14 years at Wesley Theological Seminary on the campus of American University, where he developed and directed programs for student pastors and urban ministries.
Recinos says his hard-scrabble experiences motivate his research on race, ethnicity and the effects of religion on marginalized groups in the United States; he has published numerous articles and books on the topics. He also calls upon mainline Christian churches to broaden their thinking about evangelism among the poor, particularly Latinos in the United States. In Good News From the Barrio: Prophetic Witness for the Church (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), he writes, “By intentionally understanding and welcoming people of different cultural backgrounds into the local church, Christians undergo the transformation necessary to proclaim the gospel of a community-commanding God.”
I woke up this morning feeling sick about America and picked up the telephone to call the equal opportunity office in the nation’s capital responsible for writing us out of history. America why do you hang a threat over our heads like daily bread and keep us in the shadows cooking, cleaning, and caring for your children? – From “Suspects” by Harold J. Recinos
Recinos infuses the theology in his books with his own poetry, a writing activity he developed years ago as a way “to remember growing up at the edges of society and the barrio’s forgotten people,” he says. As a graduate student in New York City, Recinos was befriended by the late Nuyorican poet/writer Miguel Piñero, who established the Nuyorican Poets Café in Lower Manhattan and encouraged the budding writer.
An excerpt from “Suspects,” a poem in Good News From the Barrio, reflects his efforts to capture the Latino experience and contribution to U.S. society: “I woke up this morning feeling sick about America / and picked up the telephone to call the equal opportunity / office in the nation’s capital responsible for writing us out / of history. America why do you hang a threat over our heads like daily bread / and keep us in the shadows cooking, cleaning, and caring for your children?”
His latest research is on how young people, particularly those in poor urban settings, interpret their social reality and produce their own forms of culture. Recinos is looking at the music, films, art and literature embraced by ethnic young people as a form of theological and political discourse among them. More specifically, he writes about rap and hip-hop cultures, which originated in the South Bronx, knowing that they have been subjected to fierce criticism from many parts of society and argued about in U.S. Senate hearings. “I think something good comes from rap music, and what deserves our attention are the existential concerns and material conditions expressed in this popular musical genre, which in part provides a voice of social criticism to young people,” he says.
To help his Perkins Theology students better understand the diverse society they will serve, Recinos encourages them to minister in inner-city communities in this country and to accompany him to minister to the poor in places like El Salvador.
D. Anthony Everett, a fourth-year M.Div. student in the Urban Ministry Certification program in Perkins, says that Recinos has helped “this African American man to better interpret the dialogue between the African and Latino/a worlds through theological discourse. It is further a delight to know that my professor is an avid martial artist and is willing to reach beyond the world of a traditional European-influenced theological perspective to see the significance in African, Asian and Latino views in theology. I aspire to be as generous in spirit and genuine in character as he.”
Recinos says that when his students “leave my courses with a clearer understanding of cultural diversity and a concern to act contrary to the conventions of a divided world, I find a reason to celebrate. It is my hope students will provide the church with the leadership that will deliver society to a more hopeful future.”
Some types of scientific research are driven by opportunity, which frequently means waiting for the next shoe to drop. For Laura Steinberg, that shoe usually is large and destructive.
Laura Steinberg, Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Steinberg is a nationally known expert on how natural and technological disasters are magnified in urban areas. From earthquakes to hurricanes to plant explosions, Steinberg aims her research at mitigating the ripple effects from the next “big one.”
In one of life’s ironies, Steinberg arrived at SMU because of the indiscriminate hand of Hurricane Katrina, which chased her from her New Orleans home in advance of the catastrophic flooding and interrupted her teaching at Tulane University, just as the 2005 fall semester was getting under way. She took no comfort in being right: She had been warning people for years that the right storm would create huge environmental problems for residents along the Gulf Coast, thanks to the regional proliferation of industrial plants and petrochemical refineries. The black sheen of spilled oil floating on the New Orleans floodwaters remains an iconic image from post-storm days.
Steinberg was cast adrift in every sense: Tulane closed its doors for four months after the flooding, but her expertise was in high demand. She moved briefly to Washington, D.C., to serve a fellowship at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, focusing on critical infrastructure research as well as risk assessment and modeling strategy for natural disasters. She also took an appointment as a visiting scientist at George Washington University’s Institute for Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management, where she continued to work on Hurricane Katrina response issues, including U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ preparations for the 2006 hurricane season.
Professor of Environmental and Civil Engineering Bijan Mohraz, former chair of the SMU department, invited Steinberg to join the School of Engineering faculty starting in fall 2006, and she became chair in spring 2007. Steinberg barely paused for breath in her scholarly activities and has broadened her Katrina-related research, bringing
it into a project for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“We’re evaluating a multimillion-dollar computer model that the Los Alamos National Laboratory has built to predict the cascading effects of a large natural disaster or major terrorist attack,” Steinberg says. The model predicts how change or damage to one level of infrastructure would impact others like police and fire departments, health services, transportation, telecommunications and utilities.
“The problem is, are all these big projections right? We have to have a big disaster to provide real world data,” she says. “So we’re running the model simulating part of Hurricane Katrina’s effects on the infrastructure of Baton Rouge, which actually turned out to be a place where almost 200,000 people fled.” If the model is good at “predicting” the effects on Baton Rouge, it will be reasonable to assume its ability to accurately predict the effect of other large events.
“The School of Engineering is committed to sustainability as a way of life, as evidenced by this building [Embrey Engineering Building] and the programs within it. The growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex cries out for attention to issues of renewable resources and the promotion of a healthy and clean environment.” – Laura Steinberg
Another Katrina-based project she is leading is an effort to understand the effect of Katrina on Gulf Coast industrial facilities, pipelines and terminals in the path of the hurricane. “We plan to conduct interviews with the facility plant managers where there was significant damage to understand better the nature of the damage, the causes and effects of it, and to brainstorm mitigating measures to prevent them from happening in the future.”
Steinberg received Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in environmental
engineering from Duke University. Her personal experience with disaster started with her fieldwork in Turkey after a 1999 earthquake killed 17,000 people and injured 43,000. The quake was concentrated in an area dominated by oil refineries, several automotive plants and a military arsenal. That experience, coupled with her more recent work after Katrina, has given Steinberg a heightened sense of responsibility. “It makes the issues so much more human,” she says. “And not just because of my experience in New Orleans – but because of the people I know, the faces I’ve seen.”
“I see myself working in the sustainability area, both developing curriculum and programs, merging that with disaster resilience and focusing a large part of my efforts on water supply issues relevant to the entire Southwest and North Texas,” she says. “The School of Engineering is committed to sustainability as a way of life, as evidenced by this building and the programs within it. The growing Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex cries out for attention to issues of renewable resources and the promotion of a healthy and clean environment.”
She also helped to develop a plan to prevent personal disaster among students by serving on SMU’s Task Force on Substance Abuse Prevention, which delivered its numerous recommendations in February.
Although she likes her new life in Dallas, Steinberg misses the Big Easy. She returns every six weeks or so to keep up with friends and past projects. She reports that the areas of New Orleans that are thriving “are doing well and full of beautiful architecture and landscaping, and yet a good portion of the city (geographically and socioeconomically) is poor and living in substandard housing, or even homeless. Now that much of the city lies unreconstructed, the divide is even more obvious and exaggerated than previously.”
For Harold Stanley, the 2008 presidential campaigns are serving as a laboratory for a class he teaches every four years. He uses the primaries, media coverage, campaign finance reports and voter patterns to teach
Harold Stanley, Political Science Department
Dedman College’s popular political science course on “Presidential Elections.”
“The challenge is trying to figure out what is happening while it is happening,” says Stanley, the Geurin-Pettus Distinguished Chair in American Politics and Political Economy. “Most election analyses are written well after the fact.”
Bill Clinton and Bob Dole were on the ballot in 1996, the first time Stanley taught “Presidential Elections” at the University of Rochester in New York. Since then he has seen voters and students grow more polarized.
“Typically, young people are not strong partisans,” Stanley says. “But what is happening in society is reflected in students. The specialized news outlets that developed over the past few years have reinforced polarization by enabling voters to select what they want to hear.”
Stanley avoids strident polarization in class discussions, instead encouraging thoughtful consideration of each candidate’s stand on issues. “For students to form their own positions, they need to broaden their horizons to understand other political positions,” he says.
Stanley joined SMU’s Political Science Department in 2003 as the first professor to hold the Geurin-Pettus endowed faculty chair. The position was created to attract a scholar whose research and teaching interests related to domestic policy and government and fiscal issues, says Cal Jillson, Dedman College associate dean and former chair of political science.
“Harold taught in one of the nation’s leading political science departments for 20 years,” Jillson says. “We knew that he could help lead an effort to continue the growth and development of our department. And he has done just that.”
Stanley has developed new political science courses that draw upon his research interests, including Southern politics and Latino politics, which he teaches at the Dallas campus and at SMU-in-Taos. Active in the SMU community, he was appointed by President R. Gerald Turner to chair the University’s Task Force on Honors Programming and serves on the Board of Directors for Friends of the SMU Libraries.
“Typically, young people are not strong partisans. But what is happening in society is reflected in students. The specialized news outlets that developed over the past few years have reinforced polarization by enabling voters to select what they want to hear.” – Harold Stanley
Students in his courses benefit from small class size &ndash political science class sizes are limited to 30 &ndash and spirited discussion. He schedules 15-minute meetings with each student at the beginning of the semester because “it puts them at ease to come in later to talk about their research papers, and it leads to better discussion in class,” he says.
An expert in American national politics and electoral change in the South, he has served as president of the Southern Political Science Association. His publications include Vital Statistics on American Politics, now in its 11th edition, which he co-authors with Richard G. Niemi, professor of political science at the University of Rochester. Vital Statistics, the standard resource for political science researchers and students, includes updated data, facts and figures on key areas such as elections, political parties, public opinion and voting patterns.
Stanley earned B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Yale University and a Master of Philosophy in politics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In 1979 he joined the University of Rochester Department of Political Science.
Stanley’s interest in political science and an academic career dates to his days as a student at Yale. “By the end of my freshman year I realized that professors had the enviable job of pursuing what they were really interested in,” he says.
While at Yale from 1968 to 1972, Stanley reported on years of student political unrest as news director of the campus radio station. Classes were suspended when, on the heels of Vietnam War protests, 15,000 demonstrators converged on New Haven to protest the murder trial of Bobby G. Seale, national chairman of the Black Panther Party.
“It was a very contentious and difficult time,” Stanley recalls. “Everything was political.”
A native of Enterprise, Alabama, Stanley says he knew “a lot was at stake for the United States. Growing up in Enterprise, I had a real sense that the world is out there and going on somewhere else. My sense was, ‘Let’s go see.’ ”
He encourages the same attitude in his students today.
When alumni are asked to recall their fondest memories of SMU, a favorite faculty member always comes to mind. As they probe and provoke, demand and debate, SMU professors make an impact in their own special ways. The faces highlighted in these profiles – Harold Stanley, Laura Steinberg, Harold J. Recinos, Maria Minniti, Jeffrey Kahn and Patricia Alvey – exemplify the quality of SMU’s faculty and are sure to turn up on the list of favorites among future alumni.
Harold Stanley: Teaching Politics Without Prejudice
For Harold Stanley, the 2008 presidential campaigns are serving as a laboratory for a class he teaches every four years. He uses the primaries, media coverage, campaign finance reports and voter patterns to teach Dedman College’s popular political science course on “Presidential Elections.”
“The challenge is trying to figure out what is happening while it is happening,” says Stanley, the Geurin-Pettus Distinguished Chair in American Politics and Political Economy. “Most election analyses are written well after the fact.”
Some types of scientific research are driven by opportunity, which frequently means waiting for the next shoe to drop. For Laura Steinberg, that shoe usually is large and destructive.
Steinberg is a nationally known expert on how natural and technological disasters are magnified in urban areas. From earthquakes to hurricanes to plant explosions, Steinberg aims her research at mitigating the ripple effects from the next “big one.”
Harold J. Recinos: Finding Salvation On The Mean Streets
At the age of 12, Harold J. Recinos was homeless on the streets of New York City, abandoned by destitute immigrant parents. Dropping out of junior high school to focus all his attention on survival, he begged for money, wore the same clothing for months and lived in abandoned urban tenements, public parks and parked Greyhound passenger buses.
“My answer to rejection and the pitiful existence of street life was to become a street-grown heroin addict. I was one of the youngest junkies in the neighborhood. Shooting dope made it easier to eat food from restaurant garbage dumpsters,” he recalls.
Maria Minniti: Getting To The Heart Of Entrepreneurship
Like most Western countries in the 1970s, Italy was experiencing its worst economic downturn since the worldwide depression four decades earlier. Double-digit inflation and high unemployment soured la dolce vita.
“People were concerned about job security,” economist Maria Minniti recalls about her native country. “They worried about being able to afford their rent. Everyone was affected – my family, the parents of my friends. Although I was a child, I could tell there was much distress throughout society.”
Jeffrey Kahn: Reinforcing The Value Of Constitutional Law
A large world map, drawn from the old Soviet Union’s perspective, dominates a wall in Jeffrey Kahn’s office. The map is more than a Cold War artifact for this Dedman School of Law assistant professor. It is a reminder that even the most powerful institutions are not invulnerable.
In his second year at SMU, Kahn is carving out an academic niche at the intersection of U.S. constitutional law, human rights, counterterrorism and comparative law.
Patricia Alvey: Inspiring An Artful Approach To Advertising
At any moment in the Owen Arts Center, piano tunes waft from classrooms, budding actors practice their faux swordfights and ballerinas pirouette in the hallways. Advertising professor Patricia Alvey finds the creative environment “thrilling and stimulating.”
SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute for Education and Research in Meadows School of the Arts shares space with art, music, theatre and other fine arts students and faculty. “I love the energy. It’s delightful that I ended up back in an art school,” says Alvey, Distinguished Chair and Director of the Institute. Before receiving a Ph.D. in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin, Alvey earned a B.F.A. in drawing and painting from Murray State University.
By Susan White
Poet Jack Myers loves words – long and short, complex and simple, lovely and lyrical, shabby and flabby.
Thus, his love of penning his thoughts in poetry – a medium that can capture life’s profound themes in a compact space, says Myers, professor of English who has taught creative writing at SMU for more than 30 years. “Poetry addresses very intimate aspects and happenings within the personal self that you
don’t normally talk about in everyday life.”
In his poetry workshops, Myers tells his students that the nature of poetry is all about the writing process, “shaping whatever we are trying to sculpt from inchoate fog that allows us to feel what it is to be human.” And above all, he emphasizes writing in the vernacular of 21st-century young adults, and NO rhyming! To do otherwise would negate their efforts to become contemporary poets, he says. SMU’s Department of English aims to support these budding poets and other writers through recent establishment of the Laurence and Catherine Perrine endowed chair in creative writing and the Marshall Terry Scholarship in creative writing.
The 2003-04 Texas Poet Laureate, Myers is the author of 17 books of and about
poetry and recipient of The Violet Crown Award, the Texas Institute of Letters
Award and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. He is a National Poetry Series Open Competition winner and has been Distinguished Poet-in-Residence at several universities. Myers has served as vice president for the national organization Associated Writing Programs, and was a trustee of The Writer’s Garret in Dallas.
Myers says he began writing poetry at age 12 – “that great transformative and troubling age – because it seemed the right vessel for carrying strong emotions contained within a small space (me). As I progressed in skill and understanding, and my thinking became more metaphorical and analogical, poetry became a sort of high-intensity beam I could shine on whatever intrigued, puzzled, deeply interested, eluded or moved me. Now, in my advancing years, it again has transformed itself for me into a vehicle for inner growth, spiritual quest, and self-discovery, all of which attests to the old saying: ‘Life is short, art is long.’ Aside from my loved ones, I can think of no better companion through the years.”
Myers generously has shared with SMU Magazine six unpublished poems, which will be included in his next book of poetry, and more of his thoughts on poetry. Q. What makes poetry such a challenge to read or write? A. With poetry, you are using your brain in different ways. We’re used to thinking linearly, logically and rationally in most writing, but poetry makes us think metaphorically. There is a kind of a mathematical, image-based thinking that goes on, where we compare or contrast or substitute one thing with another. It’s not all cause and effect or syllogistic reasoning; it’s associative. It’s the kind of thinking that you do when you are a child: You come up with wild metaphors or images that you wouldn’t as an adult. The untrained mind thinks naturally in associative patterns. I think many people find poetry difficult because they’re using a part of their brains they more or less have been trained out of in the education process. Q. How does that affect the way you teach poetry to young people? A. I try to get them to drop the more rational aspects of their minds to allow them to free associate – open up those areas of the mind that they use in dreaming. When they have an experience and want to write a poem about it, my aim is to get them to think more deeply about it; not what happens next as in a plot or narrative, but what does it mean. Q. Why does poetry seem much more personal than a novel? A. Most poetry addresses very intimate aspects and happenings within the personal self that we don’t normally talk about in everyday life. Most poems stand outside of time; they’re not a sequence of events that take place chronologically. An individual poem does not have to be plot-based. In a poem I might start talking about a feeling that I’ve had, connect it back to something that happened to me in first grade and then zigzag over to being 12 years old when something opposite or similar happened. I can go all over time with nothing really happening in the plot. I’m an adherent to the [Carl] Jungian school of psychology, in which things that you dream or what the imagination comes up with stand for larger aspects within you. If you’re dreaming of someone stealing your car, typically a car represents a sense of self; I tend to look at it as a universal but also a personal thievery that’s going on inside the spirit of the person. Contemporary poets intuit how a poem will be on a page – the unconscious and subconscious are partners in creating poetry. Q. Do you have any rules for writing poetry?
A. I tell students the first day of class ‘no rhyming!’ A lot of people think that’s what poetry is, but I take away the crutches of this form. I ask them to let the scales fall from their eyes and to write from their hearts and the way they speak. It allows more of who they are to come out. If they write in a sonnet form today, they are using a costume, a mask for an experience that’s contemporary, which doesn’t seem to fit. Not that they can’t write in a fixed form – people do it all the time – but that takes a certain kind of facility. If most people start from the way they speak, their own natural rhythms, patterns and thoughts will emerge. If they have something to say or they feel deeply about, they pretty much have all the raw material they need. Then they learn to focus sharply on language, how one word in a line affects another in the next line.
Not rhyming is uncomfortable for a lot of people. It’s how I started out. I was horrible, but I had no one to talk to in the blue-collar New England town where I grew up. I couldn’t tell people about the poetic thoughts I had – they would have laughed at me or disregarded it or thought I was weird. I wrote to myself in rhyming lines, but my feelings on the page were valuable to me. It’s the same for the students today. Although the forms change, according to the time and culture, poetry serves the same basic function and works in the same way it always has – capturing life’s profound themes in a compact space. Q. How do you get students comfortable with contemporary poetry?
A. I tell them to read any poet from 1945 on – the good, bad and ugly. That’s how they will form their standards. I have a lending library in my office – stacks of books they can borrow – and then I have them talk to me about what they’ve read. Through the books they borrow, they begin to figure out their tastes and I figure out who they are. Q. Who are some SMU alumni who have become accomplished poets? A.Timothy Seibles (’77) was in one of my earliest creative writing classes in the 1970s. He was a Dallas favorite. He now teaches in Old Dominion University’s M.F.A. in Writing Program and is the author of five collections of poetry. Gillian Conoley (’77) is a widely published poet who teaches in the English department at Sonoma State University. Her poetry is not easily understood – she uses language in an affected way – but I experience [the feelings in] her poems. Most SMU alumni who are publishing poetry are teaching at the university level or work in administration. You can’t make a living as a poet alone. Q. Which poets do you read? A.Jack Gilbert. He’s able to speak of grand things in very short spaces. He plumbs the depths quickly. He’s a wise and smart man and his poems are brilliant. W.S. Merwin, who talks about everyday events in a magical way. He uses pastel tones, and I love to relax and watch his images. As I get older, there are fewer poets who interest me. It all seems like I’ve seen it before or it is derivative. That’s not how I felt when I was younger – everything was interesting and new and astounding and confounding. I’m not jaded; I just don’t get excited about as many poets as I used to. Q. What are you aiming for with your poetry? A. When I was young, I wrote about death a lot, but in a “romantic” sense. Now that I’m 66, I can see death &ndash its actual existence as a boundary. I have a different feeling about death now, and it’s not romantic at all. Whatever I write now, I want it to be as deep and true as I can make it, because I don’t have much time left.
AS a teenager Hector Rivera escaped the civil war in El Salvador and traveled alone to Los Angeles, where he lived a double life as a 10th-grader by day, full-time dishwasher by night. Often he would get off work at 3 a.m., return to his grandmother’s apartment and do his homework, then attend class at a public high school with students from 85 countries, including Cambodia, Laos and some in Africa. He admits to struggling sometimes to stay awake in class.
“My teachers were aware of the things I was going through, and they were supportive,” says Rivera, now an SMU assistant professor of education, working to help educators ease the transition for a new generation of students.
Francesca Jones, research assistant professor in the Department of Literacy, Language and Learning, works with children at a Fort Worth elementary school.
Another assistant professor, Paige Daniel Ware, left her sheltered life on a farm in Kentucky for a high school cultural exchange trip to Japan, an experience that sparked her interest in languages and education. After college, she taught high school English in Burgstaedt, Germany, as a Fulbright scholar and taught English in Spain.
The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded five-year grants totaling $3.9 million to Rivera and Ware to provide training for English as a Second Language (ESL) certification to teachers in the Dallas, Grand Prairie and Irving school districts.
In their work, Rivera and Ware demonstrate a key strength of the new Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU: a commitment to provide practical solutions with an emphasis on language and literacy for the men and women who report daily to the front lines of education.
The School covers the full spectrum of education – from programs that help teachers develop young learners to those that offer lifelong learning to students of all ages. It offers graduate degrees and certificates to educators and strong research programs on how teachers can best help students learn and develop language skills. Specialized programs include literacy training, bilingual education, English as a Second Language, gifted student education and learning therapy.
Under human development, the School also offers Master’s degrees in counseling, dispute resolution and liberal studies, along with wellness courses, professional and continuing studies, and non-credit enrichment classes that serve the Dallas-Fort Worth community.
David Chard, the Leon Simmons dean of the School, says it will continue the University’s tradition of preparing leaders and innovators as it strengthens its commitment to research. In that way, SMU education alumni can provide “a voice of reason” when confronted with the shifting fads that plague the profession, he adds.
Michael Colatrella teaches a dispute resolution class at SMU-in-Legacy in Plano.
“We work in a desperate industry that’s looking for simple answers to complicated questions such as: What factors help children learn to read? Why is it that some children have all those factors in place and some don’t? Why do some children growing up in economically disadvantaged communities succeed when the
odds are against them? Or scholars in SMU’s Center for Dispute Resolution & Conflict Management might ask questions such as: What are the best approaches to resolving international disputes that have a history of failed attempts.”
In fall 2007, Chard had been on the job only two weeks when he learned about the possibility of the $20 million gift from Harold and Annette C. Simmons (’57) that endowed and renamed the School. Their endowment includes $10 million toward
the construction of a new education building, the Annette Caldwell Simmons Building, which Chard says should aid in recruitment of faculty and students. Other goals include opening a Family Counseling Center at SMU-in-Legacy in Plano to provide more opportunities for students to work with the community.
National searches are under way to recruit additional faculty who demonstrate leadership in the classroom, research expertise and the courage to seek answers to difficult questions. “Any good question in education and human development is a controversial one. Otherwise, no one would be asking it,” Chard says.
Interdisciplinary faculty members already on board are in the process of getting to know each other – a crucial step toward becoming the productive team Chard envisions.
“A linguist’s worldview differs from an anthropologist’s, which differs from a cognitive psychologist’s, but all can contribute to research projects that cross discipline boundaries,” he says. “Education is not a discipline, it’s an interdisciplinary field.”
Although Chard will give the faculty leeway, there are basic tenets on which he is unbending. “We believe that you can measure growth in human beings quantitatively,” he says, adding that sound research is vital for educators and policymakers if they are to make evidence-based decisions rather than follow fads.
The School’s commitment to research is exemplified by a rigorous new doctor of philosophy degree program in education, better described as a doctorate in educational research. Three years of full-time coursework and research will prepare graduates to work in educational research settings.
Chard also plans to ensure that the School continues to provide solutions to special problems faced by educators statewide. For instance, under her new grant, Ware recently completed the first semester of training teachers for Project Connect, which will certify in ESL up to 25 teachers a year from the Irving and Grand Prairie school districts. “Rapidly changing demographics have dramatically increased the need for ESL teachers in those communities,” she says.
Unlike elementary schools, secondary schools have no bilingual classrooms. English-only is the rule and all secondary teachers encounter students of varying English proficiency in every class. Project Connect prepares educators to teach both ESL and native English speakers simultaneously. One strategy is to modify lessons by reducing the use of idioms so that everyone understands.
“A linguist’s worldview differs from an anthropologist’s, which differs from a cognitive psychologist’s, but all can contribute to research projects that cross discipline boundaries. Education is not a discipline, it’s an interdisciplinary field.” – Dean David Chard
“For example, a writing prompt for a test that mentions a boy picking up a Louisville Slugger could be rewritten to say he picked up a baseball bat – a small change that greatly increases the level of understanding,” she says.
Rivera, who has a developmental psychology background, is using his grant to train 25 Dallas ISD secondary teachers each year to serve students new to this country. At least half the educators in the program will receive scholarships to attend math and science enrichment classes conducted in Spanish in Cuernavaca, Mexico. His program also fosters community development by partnering with organizations working with the African-American, Asian and Hispanic communities, he says.
The Vocabulary Of Numbers
Chard’s own background includes teaching both mathematics and reading, as well as time teaching in the Peace Corps in the Kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa. He served as assistant director of the Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts at The University of Texas at Austin and most recently as associate dean in the College of Education at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
Although it might seem unusual to have a background in both reading and mathematics, he says, the disciplines are intertwined because humans learn everything through language. “Mathematics is a more precise convention, but reading is where it starts.”
The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded Chard and his colleagues a grant to study language-based strategies for teaching math concepts to kindergartners. The work is based on cognitive psychology research on human infants and primates that finds both have a rudimentary understanding of math, such as the ability to notice when the number of objects displayed on a video screen changes. “If primates and human infants share this skill, when do human beings launch into more complex mathematics” he asks and then answers: “Research indicates it happens when human infants understand language.”
Chard’s research attempts to build fluency early by giving young learners a precise mathematical vocabulary rather than the proxy words that some teachers use because they assume 5- and 6-year-olds cannot understand the actual terms. For instance, children in the study group learn to use the words “addition” and “subtraction” rather than “plus” and “minus.”
The first phase of Chard’s project – a three-year feasibility study on 150 students in Oregon demonstrated the method’s effectiveness. The study found that students in the treatment group outperformed those in the control group by roughly 15 percent. The second phase of the study, to determine whether those gains persist long term, will be conducted in a larger, more diverse group including 600 students in the Dallas community.
By The Numbers
4 Departments – Literacy, Language and Learning; Center for Dispute Resolution & Conflict Management; Lifelong Learning; and Wellness
35 faculty members
More than 900 full- and part-time credit students and 6,000 non-credit students
1 Ph.D. and 8 graduate degrees and 10 graduate certification programs offered
Working with numerous school districts, agencies, city, state
and federal governments on human service issues
Support For Struggling Learners
An estimated 50 million Americans have dyslexia, a neurological condition characterized by difficulty decoding words. Because many with the disorder have average or above-average intelligence, until recently they often could not qualify for special services, which required performance below grade level, although dyslexics consistently failed to meet their potential without academic support, says Karen S. Vickery, director of the Learning Therapy Program.
Based at SMU-in-Legacy, Learning Therapy includes a diagnostic clinic for dyslexia and related learning differences. Diagnosis is the first step in getting a student the specialized learning plan now required under state law. Learning Therapy also provides advanced degrees and certificates to prepare educators to help dyslexic students using methods developed at Columbia University in New York and Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, she says.
Classes are held on weekends and in short summer sessions in Dallas, San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley and Shreveport to accommodate the needs of SMU students with full-time jobs and to help those in rural school districts across the state, Vickery adds.
In one of the Learning Therapy Program’s first lectures, Jana Jones, coordinator of the learning therapist certificate program, shows photos from brain imagery studies comparing dyslexic readers to non-dyslexic readers. Those images show that dyslexics use less efficient brain pathways when they try to discriminate and analyze the sounds within words and then tie those sounds to the symbols (letters) used in written language.
The Dallas Branch of the International Dyslexia Association honored Jones with its 2008 Excellence in Education award at its annual conference. At the same meeting, educators packed a large seminar room to see a multimedia presentation by one of Jones’ former students, Rene King (’05) of Texarkana’s Pleasant Grove ISD. Originally a first-grade teacher, King came to the SMU program for training after her son, Curt, was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade. At the time, Texarkana’s Pleasant Grove ISD had no dyslexia therapists, she says, explaining how she herself ended up leading the district’s dyslexia program for middle and high school students. At the conference, King presented a technology-based program she developed using computers and iPods that helps dyslexic high school students keep up with the heavy reading and writing load of advanced placement courses.
State Board of Education member Geraldine “Tincy” Miller (’56) is a veteran of battles fought to gain funding for learning disabilities programs in Texas public schools. Her son, Vance C. Miller Jr., was born in 1958 and had problems with reading long before most educators acknowledged the existence of dyslexia. Like many dyslexics, Vance was bright and verbal in class discussions, so teachers assumed that mere laziness was keeping him from achieving success in reading and writing, she recalls.
Student teacher Peter Asher helps students at St. Thomas Aquinas School with their lessons.
As a result, Vance never received the help he needed and dropped out of high school. Despite having only a general equivalency degree, he was admitted to SMU’s Cox School of Business, where he excelled and graduated in 1982 with a B.B.A. degree. He went on to work for the family’s real estate business until his death in a car accident at age 37.
Because of her son, Miller dedicated her life to education, obtaining dyslexia certification from Scottish Rite and East Texas State University (now Texas A&M-Commerce) and serving more than 20 years on the State Board of Education, including time as its chair. During her first term, in 1985, Miller helped push through legislation that made Texas one of the first two states to categorize dyslexia as a learning problem separate from special education. That meant students could qualify for help with their disability even if they had not fallen behind in school.
Miller says she admires the dyslexia screening and teaching done by staff therapists at SMU, and is always impressed by the intellectual quality of the students she meets when she comes to campus to explain the history of the Texas law. “I look at SMU as a school that always has been open to innovation and not a status quo kind of place where people say, ‘It’s always been done this way.’ ”
Miller says she can imagine a day when the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development will have a reading laboratory, similar to Scottish Rite’s, where education students can practice working with dyslexic students. And the gift from Harold and Annette Simmons holds particular significance for Miller. She and Annette were sorority sisters and have remained close friends. “When she made that gift with Harold, it just touched my heart,” she says.
“I look at SMU as a school that always has been open to innovation and not a status quo kind of place where people say, ‘It’s always been done this way.’ ” – State Board of Education member Geraldine “Tincy” Miller (’56)
Among the School’s priorities is strengthening SMU’s ties with local school districts and community agencies. Toward that end, Chard has appointed Yolette Garcia (’83) as assistant dean for external affairs and outreach. She previously held positions for 25 years at KERA, the North Texas public broadcasting station.
“It’s a privilege to work at SMU, where significant intellectual and cultural activities happen daily,” Garcia says. “Our School and University already have made solid community connections, but what’s exciting is to help figure out ways to deepen our impact.”
Ultimately, Chard and his colleagues believe their local efforts will help inform the national debate about the needs in education.
“Further development of our programs will strengthen our important partnerships,” he says, “and will make us increasingly competitive for external research funding with national implications for education and human development.”
Where We Are Growing
Planning a new building on main campus
Opening a Family Counseling Center at SMU-in-Legacy
in Plano
Renovating three office areas in Expressway Towers
Developing undergraduate program in Sports and Fitness Management and Promotion
Establishing graduate program in Educational Leadership, Policy and Management
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For SMU visual arts students, the act of creating is anything but neat. Paint drippings and inky blobs, pencil shavings, dried bits of clay, photo chemicals, metal chunks and plaster pieces – such are the substances that, in their hands and through their imaginations, become works of art. The Division of Art in Meadows School of the Arts offers study in six media: drawing, painting, ceramics, printmaking, photography and sculpture. Faculty members, such as Professor of Printmaking Laurence Scholder, are master artists who continue to create their own works. Students also can attend art classes at SMU-in-Taos or in Rome, Paris and London, among other European cities. Over the years, the SMU art program has produced nationally recognized artists such as John Alexander (’70), David Bates (’75, ’78), John Nieto (’59), Dan Rizzie (’75) and Yvette Kaiser Smith (’90). The Meadows School hopes to build new facilities that will provide space for the interaction of traditional art with new digital and video media.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. talks to reporters at SMU in 1966.
On March 17, 1966, with policemen nearby, a standing-room-only audience filled SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium to hear the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver a moving speech about civil rights and “the destiny of America.” King journeyed from Atlanta to Dallas at the invitation of the Academic Committee of SMU’s Student Senate.
Gene Halaburt of Dallas recorded the speech on a handheld recorder and provided a copy to SMU. For the first time in 42 years, that speech can be listened to or downloaded from the SMU’s Web site. The site also has links to excerpts from the speech and a Daily Campus account of the event.
In his speech, King calls for “all people of goodwill to solve this problem [of racism] and get rid of this one huge wrong of our nation.”
Sophomore Warren C. Seay Jr. is participating in The Institute for Responsible Citizenship’s 2008-09 Washington Program, a two-summer leadership program in Washington, D.C.
“With an internship in our nation’s capital, the heart of political activism, I’ll have the chance to put the knowledge and skills I have learned from SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies to work firsthand,” Seay says. A Hunt Leadership Scholar majoring in political science, Seay volunteers with organizations such as Big Brother Big Sisters of North Texas and the YMCA and serves as a mentor at Dallas Community Lifehouse.
During the two summers, Seay will live on the Georgetown University campus, attend classes, serve an internship with an Institute partner and meet with high-level government officials.
America’s pastime becomes a field of literary musings by some of the country’s most noted writers in Anatomy of Baseball, a collection of personal essays about the sport.
The legendary Yogi Berra, who provided the forward, Wall Street Journal reporter Stefan Fatsis and writer Susan Perabo, the first woman to play NCAA baseball, are among the 20 contributors. The book is part of the SMU Press’ “Sports in American Life” series edited by Paul Rogers, an SMU law professor and baseball historian.
Anatomy of Baseball can be ordered online or by calling toll-free 800-826-8911.
The boys of summer also are the focus of “The Old Ballgame: Baseball in American Life,” an exhibit on display through June 30 at SMU’s DeGolyer Library. Drawing on Rogers’ collection of memorabilia and supplemented by materials from DeGolyer’s collections, the exhibit illustrates the development of baseball in all its venues – from sandlots to the big leagues.
See a three-part video of a panel discussion moderated by Rogers with baseball legends Bobby Brown, Jerry Coleman and Eddie Robinson.
SMU Magazine is printed on paper that is manufactured using 10 percent post-consumer recycled materials and carries the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain-of-custody certification from the Rainforest Alliance (RA). The Alliance supports conservation efforts and sustainability practices worldwide and is a major backer of the FSC, a non-profit organization that promotes responsible management of the world’s forests.
The Council says that “purchase of FSC-certified paper and print products contributes to conservation and responsible management” of forests.
“We print more than 100,000 copies of SMU Magazine twice a year for all alumni, and we want to be as responsible as possible in our use of natural resources,” says Patricia Ann LaSalle, SMU associate vice president for public affairs. “We also hope that after reading the magazine, alumni will recycle it by passing it on to friends and prospective parents and students.“
Forging hopeful ideas into tangible results takes optimistic determination and selfless generosity, as demonstrated by the alumni highlighted in SMU Magazine.
For Barbara Elias-Perciful (’84), being appointed as a pro bono attorney opened her eyes to the vulnerability of children in the legal system and led to the formation of a statewide advocacy group that is now a national model. For Robert Edsel (’79), an idea while crossing a medieval bridge in Florence, Italy, led to a book and documentary honoring the men and women of World War II for their rescue efforts of Europe’s fine art treasures. For two intensive days, TV and film star Lauren Graham (’92) shared her expertise and insights with SMU theatre students.
And the young alumni featured in “Ones To Watch” – the Rev. Michael Williams Waters (’02, ’06) and his wife, Dedman Law student Yulise Reaves Waters (’02) – convert a passion for social justice into guiding SMU students on civil rights pilgrimages and working tirelessly through their church to empower an impoverished Dallas community.
Dallas attorney and child advocate Barbara Elias-Perciful was honored in August by the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division as the Distinguished Lawyer recipient of the 2009 Child Advocacy Award for her service on behalf of abused and neglected children. The prestigious award is based on an individual’s personal achievements and impact in helping abused and neglected children.
After nearly a decade as a successful attorney, Barbara Elias-Perciful (’84) discovered “an entire legal universe that I didn’t even know existed.”
Barbara Elias-Perciful founded Texas Loves Children to assist lawyers, judges and others working with child protection cases.
In 1993 she was appointed by the court to serve as a pro bono attorney in a child protection case. That experience revealed to her a system that is overburdened with cases and starved for resources. In representing Sarah – a 12-year-old girl who had been sexually abused by her father for years – Elias-Perciful found that the county’s budget provided few tools, such as expert medical and psychological consultants for case preparation, to assist attorneys and judges in making a “life-and-death decision” for the child.
A case usually lasts a year, at the end of which the attorney recommends returning a child to his or her home or removing the child permanently.
Sarah’s father’s rights were terminated, and she eventually was reunited with her mother. During the case, however, Elias-Perciful decided that as an attorney she could not remain in her comfortable position working on business litigation with Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal. In 1994 she started a solo practice focusing on child protection issues.
A year later, Elias-Perciful founded a nonprofit organization, Texas Loves Children Inc. (TLC). With co-sponsors such as the Dallas County Family and Juvenile Courts, TLC offers seminars by recognized experts on critical legal, medical and mental health issues for judges, attorneys and others working with cases involving child abuse and neglect.
Even with training, attorneys and judges, especially in smaller Texas counties, often are stymied by a lack of research tools, she says. In May 2004 TLC’s scope expanded with the launch of Texas Lawyers for Children, a statewide collaborative effort offering free online access to crucial materials for attorneys and judges, as well as e-mail networks and a pro bono network that lists attorneys willing to provide free assistance.
“TLC’s resources have helped legal professionals across the state, impacting the lives of thousands of children,” says Elias-Perciful.
Texas Loves Children is wholly supported by private donations and grants. Volunteers also play a role in TLC’s work. SMU law students, for example, have helped by conducting initial research for review by TLC’s experienced attorneys, she says. Elias-Perciful teamed up with Fred Moss, associate professor in Dedman School of Law and her mock trial coach in law school, to establish an externship program, which enables students to earn law school credits for their work with TLC.
TLC has created an online center for the state of California, and 31 other states have expressed interest in learning more about using TLC as a model.
In addition, TLC has launched Improving Outcomes campaign to promote the sharing of best-practice information with the goal of improving the quality of case outcomes for abused and neglected children. Improving Outcomes provides judges, attorneys and other child welfare professionals with expertise in legal, medical and mental health aspects of child abuse cases through a three-tiered child abuse court resource network.
While soldiers fighting Nazi aggression in World War II sought to protect the values of their homelands, others worked secretly to preserve the valued symbols of their countries. They located and saved tens of thousands of art treasures from Nazi looting.
Robert Edsel
“Everyone loves a great story, and what these brave men and women did constitutes one of the greatest collections of stories ever assembled,” says Robert M. Edsel (’79). He tells those stories in Rescuing da Vinci. The 2006 book recounts the activities of the U.S. War Department’s section on Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives – about 350 men and women, curators, historians and other experts from 12 nations who saved Europe’s artistic past. They were called, in the vernacular of the day, “Monuments Men.”
“This was the first time an army attempted to fight a war even as it tried to mitigate damage to cultural monuments and other treasures – the first time a nation said, ‘To the victors do not belong the spoils,’” Edsel says.
Edsel also co-produced “The Rape of Europa,” a documentary based on Lynn Nicholas’ 1994 book about Hitler’s systematic pillaging of European art. The film was praised by Variety as “a mesmerizing morality play” and in 2008 was nominated for Best Documentary Screenplay by the Writers Guild of America.
In addition, Edsel established the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art to honor “the legacy of [their] unprecedented and heroic work” and raise public awareness “of the importance of protecting civilization’s most important artistic and cultural treasures from armed conflict.” In 2007, the Foundation received a National Humanities Medal, presented in a White House ceremony by President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush (’68) to Edsel and four of the 12 living Monuments Men.
At SMU Edsel was a general business major and nationally ranked tennis player. As a pioneer of horizontal-drilling techniques, he achieved success in the Dallas oil and gas industry that allowed him to sell his business and move to Italy in 1996. (He has since returned to Dallas.) While in Florence he read The Rape of Europa and realized, “I was embarrassed to think of the number of times I had visited the great museums, toured the great cathedrals, and never once wondered how all this survived the most destructive conflict in history,” he says.
The more that people understand about the Monuments Men, Edsel says, “the better our chance to preserve our civilization for future generations. Learn from history – the Monuments Men got it right, and we as a nation got it right.”
Actress Lauren Graham talks with students at Meadows School of the Arts. Photo by Kim Leeson/Courtesy of Meadows School of the Arts.
As Lorelai Gilmore on “Gilmore Girls” for seven years, actress Lauren Graham ’92 typically worked 14-hour days. “To do anything else feels like I’m on vacation,“ says the M.F.A. theatre graduate.
So she was unfazed during two days of training SMU theatre students in February. Hustling back and forth from one conference to the next workshop held at Meadows School of the Arts, she barely took time to sip from a bottle of water.
Theatre Chair Cecil O’Neal says that Graham has been generous with her time, energy and expertise during visits to SMU. “It is absolutely wonderful for our students to have an opportunity to learn from someone as knowledgeable, experienced and successful as Lauren.“
While on campus, Graham observed that the student experience has changed somewhat since she attended SMU. “They’re so much more exposed to the business of the business than we were,” she says. “My class wanted to be theatre professionals, mainly. We were kind of biased about what it meant to be an actor in film and television. I don’t think students have that bias so much now. They’re more interested in working in a world where they can make a living. They seem really enthusiastic and very smart.”
Although trained for the stage at SMU, Graham’s experience in film and television comes into play when passing along insights about the business to students. M.F.A. candidate Lydia Mackay found the workshop beneficial and supportive. “She reminded us that to be ourselves, and to be confident in who we are and the choices we make in our art, is vital not only to our success but to our integrity,” Mackay says. “Theatre students worry about being right or wrong, but Lauren really encouraged the belief that there is no right or wrong, there is only you. And people want to see the real you.”
Graham realized she wanted to be an actor at an early age. Growing up in Virginia near Washington, D.C., she participated in the renowned Arena Stage program for children and young adults. When she graduated from Barnard College, however, it was with an English degree. “I’m from a pretty academic family, and when I called home talking about my acting studies, I was hearing, ‘You’re rolling around on the floor? That’s a class?’ ”
Going to school in Manhattan exposed Graham to plenty of theatre and acting classes, and she was hoping for a career as a performer. “Then I got out of school and I was working retail during the day and cocktail waitressing at night, six days a week,” she says. “I was in the city, but I had no access to the business.”
After a long run of “Gilmore Girls” and Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for best actress, Graham is concentrating on movie roles; her next feature, “Flash of Genius,” is set to debut in June. But she hopes to play a different role in her next TV show. “I’d really like to be an executive producer,” she says. “I’ve learned a lot about how a show succeeds and the kind of world I like to create and be part of.”
In March 1965 in Selma, Alabama, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders preached at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and launched marches across the nearby Edmund Pettus Bridge to Montgomery. Such actions caught the world’s attention and helped to inspire passage of the Voting Rights Act later that summer.
Forty-one years later from the same pulpit, the Rev. Michael Williams Waters (’02, ’06) delivered a sermon, “One More Bridge to Cross,” to SMU students, faculty and staff during the Civil Rights Pilgrimage, a spring break trip to historic sites in the South.
Michael and Yulise Waters with their son, Michael Jeremiah, 1, at Greater Garth Chapel A.M.E. Church in Dallas.
During that moment in 2006, Waters said, “Although we have made many strides out of bondage – like the children of Israel who crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt – we still haven’t reached the Promised Land. Poverty, homelessness, limited access to health care, school zones like war zones – these are all signs we have one more bridge to cross to achieve change.”
Since delivering the sermon, Waters and his wife, Dedman School of Law student Yulise Reaves Waters (’02), have worked together to help others cross this bridge to social change, including at Greater Garth Chapel A.M.E. Church in Dallas, where they have served as senior pastor and first lady since November 2006. Michael Waters previously was senior pastor at Tyree Chapel A.M.E. Church in Blooming Grove, Texas, and at Greater Allen Temple A.M.E. Church in Grand Prairie, Texas.
“Greater Garth is in the heart of an impoverished area that suffers from crime, addictions, HIV/AIDS and failing schools,” says Michael, a fifth-generation ordained minister and native Texan. “Our prayer is that we can restore hope and empower this community to bring about needed change.”
Waters and his wife, who met as first-year students in SMU’s Voices of Inspiration Gospel Choir, have led the congregation in developing new programs such as tutoring for youths, young adult and senior groups, and a partnership with Child Protective Services to help young parents resolve issues, along with the church’s ministry to feed and clothe the homeless. They have seen membership grow from fewer than 140 to nearly 200 in the past year and say their congregants are increasingly drawn to service, in addition to worship and Bible study.
“We’re creating new opportunities for ministry and fellowship,” Waters says. “We want to serve as a lighthouse to the community beyond these walls and show a better way.”
The pastor holds a dual appointment in the African Methodist Episcopal Church
as dean of chapel at Paul Quinn College in Dallas, where he also teaches as adjunct professor in the Department of Religion.
“I have the unique opportunity to address the entire campus in weekly chapel services, and in my teaching I hope to uplift students to address the challenges facing our world,” says Waters, who earned his Master of Divinity with certificates in African American Church Studies and Urban Ministry at Perkins. A recipient of the Prothro Promise for Ministry Scholarship, Waters was the first student elected to two consecutive terms as Perkins student body president.
“Although we have made many strides out of bondage – like the children of Israel who crossed the Red Sea out of Egypt – we still haven’t reached the Promised Land. Poverty, homelessness, limited access to health care, school zones like war zones – these are all signs we have one more bridge to cross to achieve change.” – The Rev. Michael Williams Waters (’02, ’06)
As an undergraduate, Waters, whose parents also attended SMU, earned degrees in political science and religious studies with a minor in history. He served as student body vice president and Student Senate chair, and among his honors was SMU’s highest, the “M” Award, for service to the University.
In addition to her work at Greater Garth, where she coordinates the Sisterhood
Ministry and sings in several choirs, Yulise Reaves Waters is in her third term as president of the North Texas Annual Conference Clergy Spouses. Along with her husband, she has served on the SMU Alumni Board and held leadership roles in the African American Alumni Associates. A Dallas native, she earned her Juris Doctor from SMU in May and plans to pursue a career in family law. She has worked as a clerk for Dallas attorney Gay G. Cox (’78) and is a member of the family law organization Annette Stewart Inn of Court.
“Family is the core of society, and I feel called to help create a framework there so problems can be solved,” says Yulise, who earned degrees in business administration, Spanish and English. She received an upper-class President’s Scholarship and SMU’s Outstanding Senior Woman Award.
Yulise also acted as chaperone during the three Civil Rights Pilgrimages that her husband directed from 2005 to 2007. Michael Waters created the program while a student at Perkins School of Theology and working as chaplain’s assistant in SMU’s Office of the Chaplain during 2004, the 40th anniversary of Freedom Summer. “This history was fading for my generation, which takes for granted the right to eat at any restaurant, sit in an integrated classroom and walk into a voting booth,” he says.
Associate History Professor Glenn Linden teamed up with Waters to develop a
curriculum to accompany the pilgrimage, now offered as a joint history-political science course, “Civil Rights: Our Unfinished Revolution.” The trip makes classroom lessons real for students, Waters says, by introducing them to people and places that played an important role during the civil rights movement. “We reconnect with the past so it can inform our future.”
Waters adds that the experience became even more meaningful for him with the birth of his son, Michael Jeremiah, in 2006. “Each generation has its own bridge to cross, on the shoulders of those who came before.”
Although she lives 1,700 miles away from Dallas in San Francisco, Andrea Zafer Evans (’88, ’06) stays connected to SMU through friends, serving on the Alumni Board and chairing its Travel and Education Committee.
Evans, who holds a B.B.A. from Cox School of Business, is the founder of Philanthropy Consulting Group, a firm serving nonprofit, grant-making and intermediary organizations. Like many long-distance alumni, she finds that an active alumni chapter and regular communications from SMU help bridge the miles
to campus.
Andrea Zafer Evans
“Katie Horgan (’06) heads up the Bay Area alumni group and does a great job of gathering local Ponies,” she says. “I also read my SMU Magazine, SMU Research and Cox Today cover to cover.”
From 2004-06, Evans returned to SMU during the summers to complete her Master of Liberal Arts degree. Alumni Board meetings also draw her back to Dallas.
“I obtained a great education and made lifelong friends at SMU,” Evans says. “Twenty years later, it’s my pleasure to serve alumni by finding ways for them to reconnect with SMU.”
The Travel and Education Committee creates opportunities for alumni to continue learning from SMU’s vast resources, both on campus and off. Education events on campus have included a private tour of the Meadows Museum and a panel discussion
on primary election politics with associate professors of political science Dennis Simon and J. Matthew Wilson.
“Off campus, the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute provides alumni with educational opportunities on diverse subjects,” she says. “In the future, we hope to bring SMU to alumni in cities throughout the country by offering one-day courses with our professors who are nationally recognized authorities in their fields.”
Also serving on the Travel and Education Committee are David Lively (’93), Charleen McCulloch (’70), Dennis Murphree (’69), Maria Sanchez (’06) and Tom Yenne (’74).
Other new Alumni Board committee chairs are Ken Malcomson (’74), Campus Outreach; Bill Vanderstraaten (’82), Regional Outreach; and Stewart Henderson (’81), Networking.
“Through our four committees, we are excited to be able to plan and present programs that will give alumni the opportunity to stay connected or re-engage with SMU in various ways,” says 2007-09 Alumni Board Chair Connie Blass O’Neill (’77).
For more information on the SMU Alumni Board and how to become a member, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or smualum@smu.edu.
Alumni Board
Nominations for the 2009 SMU Alumni Board will be accepted through Dec. 31. Alumni may nominate fellow alumni or themselves. For more information, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586 or e-mail smualum@smu.edu. CHAIR Connie Blass O’Neill (’77)
PAST CHAIR Marcus Malonson (’93)
MEMBERS John Bauer (’66), Robert Cabes Jr. (’91), Stephen Corley (’90), Jennifer Hazelwood Cronin (’94), Regina Davis (’04), Stephanie Mills Dowdall (’81), Andrea Zafer Evans (’88, ’06), Mary Lou Gibbons (’77), Kim Twining Hanrahan (’92), Stewart Henderson (’81), The Hon. Blackie Holmes (’57, ’59), Ruth Irwin Kupchynsky (’80), Doug Linneman (’99), David Lively (’94), Ken Malcolmson (’74), Tamara Marinkovic (’91), Charleen Brown McCulloch (’70), Ryan McMonagle (’00), Jamie McComiskey Moore (’85), Dennis Murphree (’69), Elizabeth Ortiz (’03), Mark Robertson (’85), David Rouse (’95), Scott Rozzell (’71), Lisa Holm Sabin (’78), Maria Sanchez (’06), Jeffrey Thrall (’71), Bill Vanderstraaten (’82), Tracy Ware (’95), Jeff Ziegler (’84)
SMU recognized five alumni for their outstanding achievements at the Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony November 8. Recipients are (from left) Richard Herrscher (’58), the Hon. Antonio “Tony” Garza (’83), James Gardner (’55) and Linda Pitts Custard (’60, ’99). Emerging Leader Award recipient is Nathan Allen (’00). The DAA is the highest honor SMU can bestow upon its alumni. The Emerging Leader Award recognizes outstanding alumni who have graduated within the past 15 years. The 2008 DAA ceremony will be held Nov. 6. Nominations for 2009 DAA recipients are open through Dec. 31, 2008. For more information, call 214-768-2586 or e-mail smualum@smu.edu.
Jerry Levias (’69), center, visited with Nathaniel and Sylvia Broussard, parents of Ne’Andre’ F. Broussard, a first-year student at SMU, at a gathering of Houston-area alumni, parents and friends before the kickoff of the SMU vs. University of Houston game in November. President R. Gerald Turner and Director of Athletics Steve Orsini spoke to alumni at the event.
Nationally renowned artist David Bates (’75, ’78) has produced a new series of paintings titled “David Bates: The Storm,” recently exhibited at Dunn and Brown Contemporary in Dallas. “The Storm” recaptures the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans through oil paintings, watercolors and charcoal works on paper.
Internationally renowned artist John Alexander (’70) calls the first major retrospective of his work “a triumph that was 30 years in the making.” Alexander, in his New York studio, finishes “Ship of Fools” (2007), one of 61 oil paintings in the exhibit. On view through June 22 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the exhibit opened at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. The installation, which also includes 36 works on paper, documents Alexander’s career from the late 1970s through 2007.
SMU archivist Joan Gosnell (left) accepted Mustang memorabilia for the SMU Archives from Elise Johnson Chapline (’83) and Robert Chapline (’82). The couple presented items from the 1982 SMU vs. Arkansas football game – photos of the pre-game bonfire and a sign from the game. The game ended in a 17-17 tie, and SMU become the only undefeated Division I football team that year.
The class of 1992 gathered for a 15-year reunion at a favorite SMU haunt from the past, the newly refurbished Trader Vic’s. Among those catching up during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend in November were (from left) Reed Smith (’92), Maura Maxfield-Smith (’93), Mary Terry-Benton (’93) and Chip Benton (’92). Alumni from the classes of ’62, ’67, ’72, ’77, ’82, ’87, ’97 and ’02 also returned to the Hilltop for reunions, drawing a total of 1,466 alumni, spouses and guests. The class with the highest attendance was 1987, with 231 alumni enjoying a party at the W Dallas-Victory hotel. After Texas, the three states achieving top attendance were California, 45; Colorado, 37; and Illinois, 33. Makes plans now to attend Homecoming & Reunion Weekend November 7-8, 2008.
Friends and fraternity brothers from across the country gathered during Homecoming weekend in November for the first Kutter Memorial Golf Tournament at Canyon Creek Country Club in Richardson. Among the 53 golfers were (from left) Jason Greer (’91), Neal Faulkner (’91), Greg Clift (’91) and Scott Jesmer (’91). Honoring Chris Kutter (’94), who died last year of metastatic melanoma, the event raised more than $15,000 for a college fund for his two young daughters, as well as $5,000 for a Melanoma Research Foundation grant. A 2008 tournament has been scheduled tentatively for Homecoming weekend.
New York City alumni, parents and friends gathered at the Yale Club March 6 for an SMU update from Associate Vice President of Development and Alumni Affairs Mark Petersen and Vice President for Student Affairs Lori S. White. Catching up on the latest news are (from left) Garrett Haake (’07), Elisha Hoffman (’06), Mary Spies, Vijay Mehra (’05), Molly Phillips (’07) and Jennifer Kesterson (’06).
Legendary retailer and gifted amateur photographer Stanley Marcus was remembered by his granddaughter, professional photographer Allison V. Smith (’93) (center) and her mother, Jerrie Marcus Smith (right), both of Dallas, in an interview with CBS reporter Rita Braver. “The Sunday Morning” segment was taped in SMU’s DeGolyer Library, which houses the Stanley Marcus Collection, an extensive archive of memorabilia and printed materials by and about the international tastemaker, who died in 2002. Ms. Smith and her mother, Marcus’ oldest child, recently published Reflection of a Man: The Photographs of Stanley Marcus, a book featuring 192 images of his images taken from 1936 to 1971.
Drawing from its connections in the media and entertainment industries, Meadows School of the Arts hosted a conference, “Revolutions per Minute: Emerging and Converging Media Technologies,” in November. Cyndi McClellan (’94), senior vice president of research and program strategy at E! Entertainment, moderated a panel discussion featuring (from left) Tom Kalahar, president and CEO of Camelot Communications; Drew Buckley (’93), general manager/vice president of Y! Originals for Yahoo! Entertainment; and Brian Jones, senior vice president and regional manager, Nexstar Broadcasting Group.
Singer-songwriter Jack Ingram (’93) is on a winning streak. His 2006 platinum-ranked album, “Live: Wherever You Are,” launched two Billboard Top 40 country singles. One of them, “Wherever You Are,” peaked at No. 1. The 2007 release “This Is It,” his first studio album in six years, reached No. 4 on the country charts. Recently he has appeared with Toby Keith, Sheryl Crow and Martina McBride. Ingram got his start writing songs and performing in local bars while studying psychology in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. “Music and psychology come from the same place,” he says. “It’s about studying why people tick.”
New head football coach June Jones has built a successful 20-year career molding downtrodden teams into champions. He intends to make the SMU football team his next success.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” he says. “I like turning teams around. My staff and I have done it before and we’ll do it again.”
June Jones works with players during the spring scrimmage.
No brag, just a statement of fact.
Jones accepted the Mustang head coach position in January after leading the undefeated Hawaii Warriors to the 2007 Sugar Bowl. When he took over the Hawaii football program in 1999, the Warriors had lost 18 straight games, the longest losing streak in the NCAA at the time. Sports pundits criticized Jones for taking the Hawaii job, particularly after turning down a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract to continue as head coach of the San Diego Chargers.
In Jones’ first season at Hawaii, the team achieved a 9-4 record, the biggest single-season turnaround in NCAA football history.
“I knew we would be second-guessed by the media about leaving San Diego for Hawaii,” he says. “Winners always are.”
Why SMU?
With only one winning season since 1989 and more than 20 years since its last bowl appearance, SMU football is ready for revival.
“It’s easier to turn around these situations than it is going to a team that is 7-4 and already thinks it knows how to win,” Jones says.
In a January 28, 2008, Sports Illustrated interview, Jones said he had been looking for a new opportunity for about three years. “I needed to be re-energized and SMU has done that for me. People here are very motivated to win. SMU has everything in place that I dreamed about when I was at Hawaii, such as facilities and support. Now it’s my job to get it done on the field.”
Jones brings to SMU the run-and-shoot offense, a fast-paced passing game, and assistant coaches who are experienced in teaching it. Seven of nine assistant coaches have worked with Jones before.
“Retraining the team in a new offense is going to be a challenge,” Jones says. “We’ll do a lot of teaching in the classroom and on the field.”
The 41 returning letterwinners will be joined in the fall by 28 players recruited by Jones and his staff.
“It was amazing that in three weeks of recruiting we were able to attract the quality of kids that we did,” he says. And Jones doesn’t intend to redshirt many of those 28 new players. “If he is the best player, he’ll play.”
Coaching With Wisdom
When Jones arrived at Hawaii in 1999, Dan Robinson was his starting quarterback. “We were excited to have a coach with wisdom and a system,” Robinson says. “We went 0-12 the previous year and ran a different offense each game.”
Jones brought football insight, attention to detail and confidence to Hawaii’s team, says Robinson, now a dentist in Louisville, Kentucky. “He allowed me to take advantage of my strengths. I’m not the greatest athlete, but he let me use my head and make reads. He taught me to make quick decisions.
“We never saw anything in a game that surprised us,” Robinson adds. “June knew what to expect and prepared us. The practices were harder than the games.”
The preparation paid off – Hawaii won the 1999 Western Athletic Conference championship and beat Oregon State 23-17 in the O’ahu Bowl. Hawaii wrapped up that season with the second-best offense in the nation.
“Buy into June’s system and go with it,” Robinson advises current SMU players. “It is a chance of a lifetime to play for him.”
Second Chances
As a college student in 1975, Jones transferred from the University of Hawaii to Portland State University, his third university in five years.
“I played college football on three different teams and never got in a game,” Jones says. “I was going to quit, but Mouse Davis, my coach at Portland State, gave me another chance.”
Davis introduced Jones to the run-and-shoot offense that he popularized in the 1970s. “June was distraught about football when he came to us,” says Davis, now offensive coordinator at Portland State after serving under Jones as an assistant coach at Hawaii. “I think he wanted me to talk him out of quitting college football. But I knew that he would fall in love with football again with our style of play.”
Jones started as quarterback for the Portland State Vikings and finished the year with the Division II passing record of 3,518 yards. He went on to play professionally
for the Atlanta Falcons (1977-1981) and the Toronto Argonauts (1982). He began his coaching career with Toronto, turning around a 2-14 team and sending it to the Canadian Football League championship in one year. Jones later became head coach of the Atlanta Falcons (1994-96), guiding them to a wild-card play-off berth in 1995, and the San Diego Chargers (1998).
Jones is quick to credit Davis as his coaching mentor. “When I played for him I saw another way to do things,” he says.
“Every situation has made June a better coach,” Davis says. “There is absolutely no question in my mind that he will turn the football program around. SMU has an excellent tradition, alumni and facilities. I think everyone will be enthralled with him.”
– Nancy Lowell George (’79)
Legends Gather For Charity
Join Mustang football greats at a benefit for SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, the Gridiron Heroes Spinal Cord Injury Foundation and the June Jones Foundation August 23 at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. The June Jones Foundation provides grants, programming and support for families of children with life-threatening illnesses and for other charitable causes.
Discussing football lore will be honorary chairs Harvey Armstrong, Jerry Ball, Raymond Berry, Eric Dickerson, Reggie Dupard, Chuck Hixson, Craig James, Louie Kelcher, Jerry LeVias, Lance McIlhenny, Ron Meyer, Mike Richardson, Mike Romo and Ted Thompson.
Team statisticians wore out their pencils during the 2007-08 SMU women’s basketball season, which shattered records in team, coaching and individual statistics.
Women’s basketball celebrates the C-USA championship.
For the first time since the 1999-2000 season, the Mustangs reached the NCAA Tournament. With her 300th win, Coach Rhonda Rompola became SMU’s winningest basketball coach, and senior post Janelle Dodds became the first SMU women’s basketball player to twice earn All-America honors.
“This is one of the most special groups I’ve led,” Rompola says.
The Mustangs’ 24-9 record, the most wins in program history, was capped by a 73-57 win against nationally ranked UTEP to cinch the Conference USA Tournament championship, the team’s first since 1999. SMU lost 75-62 to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“We managed to come back and tie the game numerous times, and I give our team credit for that,” Dodds says. “The players that remain now know what it’s like to get to the tournament, and I hope they use it to motivate them to get back to this spot next year.”
Dodds established SMU records in points (1,861), rebounds (974) and free throws (478) and was named MVP of the C-USA tournament in Orlando. After earning a degree in markets and culture, Dodds (’07) is working on her Master’s of Liberal Studies at SMU. Her academic achievements also earned her a spot on the C-USA women’s basketball all-academic team.
“Janelle has been our go-to player for four years,” Rompola says. “She created opportunities for other players because she was double- and triple-teamed so much.”
The C-USA Defensive Player of the Year honor was awarded to senior forward Sharee Shepherd, the first SMU player to receive the award. She broke SMU’s record for steals in a season with 101, including 14 in the C-USA Tournament.
Together with senior guard Katy Cobb, forward Katie Gross and post Brittany Barker, Dodds and Shepherd contributed 4,420 points during their careers and provided key leadership for the team. “These seniors can look at what they’ve done at SMU and be very proud,” Rompola says.
After providing leadership in women’s basketball for 17 years, Rompola reached her 300th win in January with an 85-72 victory over Southern Mississippi. Since becoming head coach in 1991, she has guided the Mustangs to nine postseason berths.
Rompola (’83), a former Mustang basketball player, is well-acquainted with a record that was not broken during the 2007-08 season – she holds SMU records for season scoring (total and average) as well as free throw percentage (.863).
Once hunted to near-extermination, the Northern Rocky Mountain gray wolf reached an important milestone recently. With a population estimated at 1,500, the wolf re-established itself in the Yellowstone National Park area, and in March 2008 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from protection under the Endangered Species Act. Almost immediately, hunters began petitioning the state offices of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming for permits to hunt the wolves, perhaps down to as little as 20 percent of their current numbers in some areas.
Above, a gray wolf howls at sunset near Yellowstone National Park; below, like the tip of an iceberg, a blue whale’s tail shows only a small part of what is beneath the surface of the water.
Such a weighty issue begs the questions: How much hunting is safe for a given species? How many gray wolves can die before the species loses its chance at recovery? Understanding the market forces that drive these environmental decisions is a vital yet
missing piece of public policy on natural resource management, says Santanu Roy, SMU professor of economics and 2007-08 Ford Research Fellow. An expert in dynamic economic models and microeconomic theory, he focuses on the economics of natural resources and the environment.
Central to Roy’s model for managing biological species is a concern about how population size and uncertainty affect the flow of benefits and costs from the harvesting of resources and what it means for conservation and extinction when resources are managed optimally over time. “The traditional model of biological harvesting usually considers only the market value and benefits of using these resources,” he says. “But there is an increasing consciousness of the value of biodiversity – that a species might be very valuable someday because of the biodiversity it helps provide.”
The traditional view of natural resources in general, and of biological species in particular, is as an investment asset – as something speculators can own or privatize, liquidate or conserve, Roy adds. “These simple comparisons have to be abandoned.”
As an example, he focuses on the critically endangered blue whale. Suppose an individual gained the right to own the entire stock of blue whales in the oceans, he says. “If the blue whale population were doubling every year, it would be worth conserving from an investment standpoint. But, at present, it is growing
at only 2 to 5 percent a year. If you take all the available blue whales now, sell them at market price, put the money in the bank and enjoy the interest for the rest of your and your children’s lives, that’s more money than you could make by cultivating whales forever.”
But this approach fails to consider several factors unique to species, Roy says. “There are peculiar challenges that come from the biological side of the story, and these challenges must become part of the equation.”
One is the possibility of what biologists call depensation – if a population becomes too small, it collapses and cannot grow anymore, Roy says. “The International Whaling Commission basically stopped all harvesting of blue whales 30 years ago, but the population hasn’t recovered. They don’t meet each other to mate that often.”
Another factor in Roy’s model is stock dependence of cost. “If you take $100 out of your checking account and have a party, the enjoyment you get will not depend upon how much money you have left in the bank,” he says. “That’s not true for biological species, which become more and more costly to harvest as their populations shrink.” This is one reason why species like the blue whale, almost paradoxically, stop losing their numbers once they are near extinction, Roy adds. “If you’ve ever gone fishing, you know that it’s very difficult to fish if there are very few of them.”
Conversely, if a population is large, its harvesting cost becomes small – a condition that took a toll on the American bald eagle in the past century, Roy says. Protections for the bird allowed its population to grow rapidly – and the resulting easy harvesting gave hunters an incentive to drive them nearly to extinction. “When a population increases, at some point it sharply decreases, because it becomes very economical to harvest,” he says. “These are the critical moments at which species can become extinct.”
Roy hopes his research will help steer public policy toward more intelligent management of biological issues, especially regarding extinction, he says. The U.S. government has long held “safe standards” – the point at which a population is greater than a size critical to survival – as its conservation yardstick. But Roy’s work has shown that “some species may never be safe,” he says.
“The thing most lacking in public policy right now is that it doesn’t understand individual cases,” he adds. “We need to take much more of the available scientific information into account. What’s good for one species is not good for another.”
Roy, who joined SMU in 2003, earned his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. He has published his work in the Journal of Economic Theory, among other publications.
Inhibition of HIV-1 replication (red) by the mutant WRN-K577M helicase (green). Circle inset: Structure of an HTLV-1 protein (p30-II).
In 1996 the introduction of “triple cocktail” drug therapy transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable chronic disease. The drug regimen, also known as HAART (highly active antiretroviral treatment), involved treating patients with three or more classes of antiviral medicines.
But the virus fought back. It mutates easily, and the mutations caused resistance to first one and then another drug making up the cocktail. Unsettling reports of newly infected patients with the drug-resistant virus meant researchers needed to find new ways to fight HIV infection.
That could be what is happening in the Dedman Life Sciences Building at SMU, where a young assistant professor of biological sciences is conducting research that may lead to a novel way of combating HIV-1. In his office, Robert Harrod talks about an exciting discovery his research team made last year. The discovery involves the way viruses replicate and the disease Werner syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes premature aging.
The HIV-1 virus infects white cells involved in fighting infection, inserting itself into the genetic material of the cells, commonly known as T-cells, to cause AIDS. Once the virus is integrated into the host cell, Harrod explains, it is dependent on “human cellular transcription factors” to replicate. The researchers have shown that the Werner syndrome enzyme is an essential factor in that transcription process. They reasoned if they could inhibit the enzyme function, they could block the transcription.
Adult T-cell lymphoma (ATL) cells.
Using cells developed by researchers at the University of Washington who are studying Werner syndrome, the SMU researchers were able to insert the enzyme defect that causes Werner syndrome into HIV-infected T-cells, blocking 95 percent of retroviral transcription. If the HIV/AIDS virus can’t be transcribed, it can’t replicate.
The one in 1,000 people in Japan who are Werner syndrome carriers (without developing the syndrome) have not been observed to develop AIDS, Harrod points out, suggesting that affecting the functioning of the enzyme that causes Werner syndrome is a plausible way to fight HIV/AIDS.
The beauty of the Werner syndrome-enzyme approach to HIV/AIDS treatment is that the virus can’t mutate to defeat treatment, Harrod says.
The HIV-inhibition research was published in the April 20, 2007, edition of The Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Harrod’s research group, which includes Master’s degree student Madhu Sukumar and three biological sciences undergraduates, now is searching for molecules that will inhibit the function of the Werner syndrome enzyme, and thus, viral replication.
HIV-1 infection of the CNS.
His work also is an example of the international collaboration that is occurring to find solutions to global health issues. He is collaborating on the
research with Antonito Panganiban from the University of New Mexico-Health Sciences Center, Carine Van Lint from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and two clinical researchers, Dennis Burns and Daniel Skiest, from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
According to the World Health Organization, 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. That is why Professor William Orr, chair of Biological Sciences at SMU, calls Harrod’s research exciting. “It’s going to provide an alternative way in which one might be able to deactivate or slow down this scourge.”
Harrod joined SMU in 2002 and teaches undergraduate and graduate students. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland in 1996, and received postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health and the Naval Medical Center.
Real-time response is a second-by-second measurement of individuals’ reactions to the presidential candidates debates while they are happening. But it is not only another method of opinion polling; instead, it gives the public more clout in shaping election coverage.
“Voters are tired of being managed by the media,” says Rita Kirk, professor of corporate communications and public affairs (CCPA) in Meadows School of the Arts. “Instead of members of the media deciding what’s important in the debate, and often choosing moments based on what makes good television, voters show us what they feel is most important.”
Undecided Democrats participated in a real-time response
focus group for CNN on the SMU campus Feb. 21.
Using palm-sized electronic dial meters, officially called Perception Analyzer Dials, members of focus groups signal their reactions to the issues raised, the arguments and the bluster. On a scale of 1 to 100, they “dial up” when they like what they hear and “dial down” when they don’t. Their assessments register in real time; thus, the name “real-time response.”
While studying how the public uses blogs, social networking sites and other online tools, Kirk and Assistant Professor Dan Schill developed the idea of giving voters a voice in network coverage through real-time response focus groups. They pitched the idea for debate dial testing to CNN last year. “We made the case that maybe the network didn’t always get it right when it came to deciding what voters think is important,” Kirk says.
Schill used real-time response methodology while in graduate school at the University of Kansas, where he was a research assistant for DebateWatch, a research and voter education project of the Commission on Presidential Debates. “It’s not a new technology, but it’s a quick, reliable method for analyzing live voter reaction,” he says.
CNN signed on, and the professors’ real-time response focus groups now play a prominent role in the network’s online coverage. They started with the first New Hampshire debate in June 2007 and probably will continue through the final head-to-head debate in October, Schill says. In addition, during the second New Hampshire debate, held before the primary in January, they dial-tested for ABC/Hearst-Argyle Television, sponsors of the event.
Undergraduate students are involved throughout the real-time response process. “We take small groups of students with us to the debates when we can, because it’s a great opportunity for them not only to be involved with the research, but to go behind the scenes and see how it all works,” Kirk says.
The palm-sized electronic Perception Analyzer Dial measures focus group responses
They also learn how difficult the preparation can be. “We were on the phone for hours and hours trying to persuade people to participate in the focus groups,” says Esmeralda Sanchez, a junior with a double major in CCPA and Spanish, who assisted with the New Hampshire and California debates. “I think most people are skeptical when you first start talking – they think you are trying to scam them – so it takes awhile for them to understand that we want them to be part of something important and influential.”
Senior Amanda Taylor, a CCPA and French major who worked on the New Hampshire and South Carolina debates, says the experience was meaningful to her as a voter. “I believe it’s important that voters get back their voices, and that’s what the dial tests do. It puts the focus on what’s really important to voters, not what makes great ratings.”
Focus groups of 10 to 30 people come to the TV studio about an hour before the broadcast to learn how the dials work and to answer pre-debate questions prepared by Kirk and Schill. To lighten the mood and let participants practice moving the dial, the interview starts with general topics, like choosing a favorite fruit from among four choices, before turning to the critical issue: “If you were going to vote right now, whom would you vote for?” These answers are compared to their post-debate appraisals.
Once the cameras roll, the dialing begins. Much like an EKG registers a heart’s rhythm, a color-coded graph maps the peaks and valleys of focus-group opinion in real time on the CNN Web site, where the network’s debate analyses are archived.
“Because the sampling is so small, the results aren’t released as a poll, but we do see some interesting shifts,” Kirk says. Before the New Hampshire Republican debate, for example, focus group members said they expected Romney to lead the pack; after the debate, they ranked his performance behind several other candidates. In February, he dropped out of the race.
Kirk believes the dial tests have had a major impact on the networks’ online presence. “Rather than mirror the TV coverage, ABC and CNN added informational depth to their online coverage with the real-time response component.”
The wider trends “are similar to those we would expect to see in any political debate,” Schill says. “People respond favorably when candidates talk positively about their backgrounds, when they show a sense of humor and when they make positive, broad, value statements. People react more negatively when candidates attack each other or when they are overly detailed in the explanation of their policies.”
A Pew Research Center study released in January stated that 24 percent of Americans regularly go online for political news, almost double the percentage during the same period of 2004. Kirk believes the dial tests have had a major impact on the
networks’ online presence. “Rather than mirror the TV coverage, ABC and CNN added informational depth to their online coverage with the real-time response component.”
Real-time response research is part of a study for an upcoming book by Kirk and Schill to be published in 2009. Kirk describes the book, Consent of the Governed, as an exploration of “how voters are talking back to candidates and the media” and are using technology “to reconnect with the political process and take control.”
Signing the agreement between SMU and the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation are (from left) Carl Sewell, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees; SMU President R. Gerald Turner; Donald L. Evans, chair of the Bush Foundation and of the Library Site Selection Committee; and Mark Langdale, president of the Bush Foundation.
With SMU’s selection as the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, Museum and Institute, Texas will become the only state in the nation to house three presidential libraries. SMU will join UT-Austin, which houses the Lyndon Baines Johnson library, and Texas A&M, location of the George H.W. Bush library, to form a unique trio of facilities for historic research. The George W. Bush Foundation announced SMU’s selection February 22.
“I look forward to the day when both the general public and scholars come and explore the important and challenging issues our nation has faced during my presidency,” President George W. Bush said in a letter to SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
The agreement between SMU and the Bush Foundation states that the University was chosen because of its excellent academic reputation; presence in Dallas; strong support of the University’s leaders, alumni and friends; and willingness to
lease land for the project.
“It’s a great honor for SMU to be chosen as the site of this tremendous resource for historical research, dialogue and public programs,” Turner said. “At SMU, these resources will benefit from proximity to our strong academic programs, a tradition of open dialogue, experience hosting world leaders and a central location in a global American city. We thank President Bush for entrusting this important long-term resource to our community, and for the opportunity for SMU to serve the nation in this special way.”
The presidential library will be located on the east side of the main SMU campus, adjacent to North Central Expressway (U.S. Highway 75) and SMU Boulevard. The exact location will be determined based on design specifications.
The Bush library will contain documents and artifacts; the museum will provide permanent and traveling exhibits; and an independent public policy institute will host officials, scholars and others as fellows for research and symposia. Once constructed, the library and museum will be operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), an independent federal agency. The institute will be operated by the Bush Foundation and identified accordingly. Interactions between SMU and the institute could include joint programming and concurrent appointments, following the usual procedures for University appointments, if an institute fellow qualifies to teach at SMU, or if an SMU professor wishes to serve as an institute fellow. The agreement between SMU and the Foundation affirms that any relationship between the two will recognize “SMU’s commitment to open inquiry and academic freedom within the University.”
“The presidential library will offer unmatched opportunities to interact with officials who have shaped public policy in this era and with scholars who will write its history,” said Gary Evans, professor of electrical engineering, president of the Faculty Senate and SMU Board of Trustees member. “The resources and programs will be invaluable to national and international scholars, including those at SMU.”
Betty Sue Flowers, director of the LBJ Library and Museum at UT-Austin, congratulated SMU, saying, “The LBJ Library was the first presidential library to be located on a university campus. Thirty-five years later, I think the UT community and the scholars, government officials and museum visitors who come to us from around the world would agree that the partnership has been enormously beneficial to both the library and the university.”
Fund-raising for the Bush Presidential Center will be conducted by the George W. Bush Foundation in collaboration with SMU. For the past two years, SMU has been in the “quiet phase” of its next major gifts campaign, to be launched publicly in September 2008, for endowments supporting students, faculty, academic programs and the campus experience. “Working with the fund-raising effort of the Bush Foundation will introduce us to new audiences who otherwise would not learn about SMU,” Turner said.
SMU was among eight competitors for the Bush Presidential Library. SMU’s Board of Trustees Library Committee was co-chaired by Turner and Ray L. Hunt (’65) and included Board chair Carl Sewell (’66) and trustees Jeanne L. Phillips (’76) and Michael Boone (’64, ’67). The committee consulted regularly with the full Board of Trustees, which includes representatives from the faculty, student body, alumni board and The United Methodist Church.
Education Abroad also will add a winter interterm program in the African nation of Mali. A service-learning interterm program was launched in Oaxaca, Mexico, last December.
“SMU is committed to providing educational experiences that allow students to acquire knowledge and understanding of diverse cultures,” says Michael Clarke, executive director of the SMU International Center.
The seven new programs follow the recommendations of SMU’s International Education Task Force, which last year developed a comprehensive plan for advancing global perspectives among students.
The new programs reflect SMU’s goals not only to increase opportunities abroad and the number of students who participate, but also to diversify the experience, says John Mears, International Education Task Force chair and associate professor of history. “Every region in our interconnected and interdependent world is significant, as is every field of study, from engineering and science to business and the arts.”
On June 19, the Office of the Provost announced that Cordelia Chávez Candelaria will become a University Distinguished Professor when she begins her new duties as SMU’s dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences in July.
Cordelia Chávez Candelaria
SMU’s new dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences is an academic administrator with experience in strategic affairs as well as an accomplished scholar-teacher in English and ethnic studies. Cordelia Chávez Candelaria comes to SMU from Arizona State University. Her appointment, which ends a nationwide search, is effective July 1. Professor of Anthropology Caroline Brettell has served as Dedman College interim dean for the past two years.
At Arizona State, Candelaria is Regents Professor in the Department of English and the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, a department she once chaired. She also serves as associate dean of the Office of Strategic Initiatives in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“What impressed everyone who met with her during the interview process was her ability to think strategically across the spectrum of disciplines represented in the College,” says Paul W. Ludden, provost and vice president for academic affairs at SMU.
As dean of Dedman College, Candelaria will lead the largest of SMU’s colleges and schools, with a faculty of more than 250 and 2,000 students enrolled as majors or minors.
“As we approach our centennial with a new major gifts campaign, we are committed to raising resources for enhancements to Dedman College,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Cordelia Candelaria has the experience and vision to provide the leadership needed to meet our aspirations.”
All SMU students begin their education in Dedman College, where they take general studies courses before choosing a major in another SMU school or within the College.
“I look forward to working with my new colleagues to advance Dedman College programs to flourishing levels of achievement, innovation and visibility, which will have a positive impact on our shared interconnected global reality,” Candeleria says.
As founding associate dean for ASU’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, Candelaria focused on enhancing diversity among faculty, administrators and staff for the College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as advancing interdisciplinary programs.
She has remained an active teacher and researcher, receiving 18 grants from external funding agencies totaling $3.5 million. She is the sole author of six books and “chapbooks” – pamphlets containing poems, ballads, stories or religious tracts – and has edited or co-edited 10 books, monographs and periodicals. She also has written nearly 200 book chapters, articles, reviews and poems in periodicals and anthologies.
Among her numerous awards, she received in 2005 the Outstanding Latina Cultural Award in Literary Arts and Publications from the American Association for Higher Education Hispanic Caucus. She previously was named a Senior Fulbright Scholar in American Literature at Universidad Católica de Lima, Perú. In 1991 she became only the third recipient of The Americas Award from the University of Colorado, Boulder, following previous winners Carlos Fuentes and U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.
Candelaria earned a B.A. degree with honors in English and French from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado; a Master’s degree in English from the University
of Notre Dame; and a Ph.D. in American literature and linguistics from Notre Dame. In 1970-72 she studied under a Woodrow Wilson Graduate Fellowship.
“Everything is becoming so politicized and segregated that politics are losing their meaning. Watching channels and shows that you already agree with only creates greater polarization, which leaves no room for any outside opinion or abstract thought to gain a broader perspective of things.” Azar Nafisi, human rights activist and author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, Greg and Molly Engles Lecture, Tate Lecture Series, Dec. 3, 2007
“A lot of people assume that interviews with presidents and political leaders would be my favorites. But in many ways the most moving interviews to me are with those who have gone through exactly what I’ve gone through, a brain injury. Whatever you think about the Iraq war, soldiers who come back with injuries need to be
treated a lot better than they have been.” Bob Woodruff, ABC News anchor and reporter, Jones Day Lecture, Tate Lecture Series, March 4, 2008
“The statistics are pretty dismal: 16 female senators out of 100; 71 female members of the House of Representatives out of 435. If you extrapolate from there, it will be about 200 years before women reach parity with men on Capitol Hill. But it’s not unusual anymore to see women in positions of power in Washington. We’ve had two female secretaries of state, a female national security adviser and a female attorney general. These were once positions reserved for men.” Eleanor Clift, contributing editor of Newsweek and co-author of Madam President: Shattering the Last Glass Ceiling, SMU’s 43rd annual Women’s Symposium, Feb. 28, 2008
“The only way you unify people is by espousing sufficiently clear global values: freedom and democracy. But freedom and democracy alone won’t persuade the whole world. You have to add a value that is integral to our politics and way of life, and that is justice.” Tony Blair, former prime minister of Great Britain and Ireland and recipient of the Medal of Freedom from SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and Hart Global Leaders Forum Speaker, March 6, 2008
One recommendation will establish a President’s Commission on Substance Abuse Prevention. SMU also will expand campus health center hours, to be staffed by a nurse with on-call physicians; review judicial procedures and sanctions; establish a Good Samaritan Policy and Medical Amnesty Program for medical emergencies; strengthen collaboration with the North Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force; and establish a central campus source for reports of students in distress.
Regarding academic practices that can affect student behavior, SMU will call on faculty to announce and use a class attendance policy, schedule more Friday classes, increase the academic rigor of courses, provide early grade reports for first-year students and limit the number of course drops.
Turner also approved recommendations to make campus a center of late-night social life for students by extending hours and programming in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center and other venues. Approved recommendations also call for making all Greek recruitment events alcohol-free, including off-campus weekend events, and discouraging all organized parties, including the use of buses, on school nights.
Turner rejected a recommendation to permit organizations to sponsor parties and to serve beer on campus to those of drinking age. He also rejected a recommendation to establish a pub on the Hilltop because most students living on campus are first-year, underage students.
Other approved recommendations focus on improving communication of substance abuse resources and regulations and working more closely with parents to identify and assist students with alcohol and drug issues.
“While students are ultimately responsible for their own choices, we hope to strengthen a culture of personal responsibility, promote a healthy balance between social and academic life, and encourage full use of available resources, programs and assistance,” Turner said. He presented his decisions at a campus meeting April 29.
Appointed last June, the task force consisted of faculty, staff, students and a trustee who is also an SMU parent and alumna.
On July 11, the Honorable Roy Huffington of Houston died while traveling in Italy. Read more about Huffington.
Roy Huffington (right) is joined by Earth Sciences faculty (from left) Louis L. Jacobs, Brian W. Stump and Chair Robert T. Gregory.
One of SMU’s oldest and most distinguished academic departments will have new resources to support the growing impact of its research and teaching, thanks to a gift of more than $10 million from the Hon. Roy M. Huffington (’38) of Houston. The gift will endow the Department of Earth Sciences in Dedman College, now renamed the Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences.
With this new gift, Huffington has given SMU more than $20 million in the past two years and a total of more than $31 million over many years of support for the University.
The study of geology has been part of SMU’s curriculum since its opening in 1915. Through the years, the Geology Department evolved into the Department of Geological Sciences. Changing the name from Geological Sciences to Earth Sciences reflects the broadened scope of this discipline.
Confetti rained as the SMU community and President R. Gerald Turner thanked Huffington at the gift announcement. With them is Caroline Brettell, interim dean of Dedman College.
“The term earth sciences more closely captures the essence of programs that no longer are confined solely to problems of subsurface geology,” says Caroline Brettell, interim dean of Dedman College. “Earth sciences address some of the environmental and natural resource issues that are playing an increasing role in the political life of our nation.”
Earth sciences research at SMU has achieved international recognition in the areas of seismology, experimental petrology, geothermal studies and paleoclimatology, which integrates stable isotope geology, sedimentology and paleontology. Research projects of the Earth Sciences faculty have received external funding totaling more than $4 million from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Energy. Research sites include Asia, Arabia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, Pacific Islands, the Americas and Europe.
The new gift will create the Huffington Bicentennial Endowment Fund for the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences. Along with Huffington’s gift in 2006 for faculty support and scholarships, it is patterned after the Benjamin Franklin Trust, a unique fund established more than 200 years ago through the estate of the American statesman to benefit the cities of Boston and Philadelphia. As with the Franklin Trust, terms are set forth for use of the Huffington Funds while they continue to grow over the next two centuries.
Congratulating Roy Huffington on his gift to Earth Sciences are (from left) SMU Board of Trustees emeriti Edwin L. Cox, William P. Clements and Cary M. Maguire.
At the gift announcement, Huffington, who earned his B.S. degree in geology from SMU in 1938, paid tribute to his mentor at SMU – the late Claude C. Albritton Jr. (’33). Huffington called Albritton, who served as a professor of geology and administrator at SMU for more than 40 years, “a wonderful teacher who loved teaching and students.” Albritton also encouraged Huffington to attend Harvard rather than “head to the oil patch.”
Huffington is chair and CEO of Roy M. Huffington Inc., an independent, international petroleum operations firm based in Houston. After a career in energy, he added another dimension to his international activities by serving as U.S. ambassador to Austria from 1990 to 1993. Upon returning to the United States after his term as ambassador, he renewed his involvement in oil and gas investment. Huffington also earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Harvard University. His late wife, Phyllis Gough Huffington, earned her B.B.A. degree from SMU in 1943.
Joining Caren Prothro are (from left) Vice President for Development and External Affairs Brad Cheves, Provost Paul Ludden, Chair of Biological Sciences William Orr and President R. Gerald Turner.
The gift from Caren Prothro and the Perkins-Prothro Foundation will provide $2 million for a Distinguished Chair of Biological Sciences, whose work will be supported through a $1 million Endowed Research Fund. Named in honor of Prothro’s late husband, a longtime SMU supporter, the gift also will provide $500,000 for a Graduate Fellowship Fund and $100,000 for an Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.
Caren Prothro, a member of the Dedman College’s Executive Board and of SMU’s Board of Trustees, says that her late husband understood the importance of science education for advancements in research and health care. “Our family is investing in what we consider to be a potential center of excellence at SMU, taking an already outstanding department to the next level of scientific teaching and research.”
The Prothro Initiative is expected to attract additional grant funding and “strengthen SMU’s connection with the larger scientific and medical community in the Dallas area,” says Dedman Interim Dean Caroline Brettell.
A distinguished chairholder can be a rainmaker – someone who “attracts other faculty and top-notch graduate students and elevates the ranking of the department,” she adds.
The Department of Biological Sciences, chaired by William C. Orr, attracts the largest number of SMU’s undergraduate majors in the natural sciences. Of the current 126 biology majors and 21 biochemistry majors, many are preparing for careers in medical fields or scientific research. The department also offers research-oriented M.S. and Ph.D. degrees; 16 graduate students are currently enrolled.
Research by the 11-member faculty focuses on genetics and developmental biology, aging and metabolism, the biochemical characterization of protein structures and functions, the role of chromatin in transcriptional gene regulation, and infectious diseases.
On June 4, the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, John S. Thackrah, announced that the Navy’s highest awards for engineers and scientists would be officially named in honor of Delores M. Etter. Read more about the Dr. Delores M. Etter Top Scientists and Engineers Award.
Delores Etter
Segueing from the Pentagon to academia, Delores Etter’s career serves as an example to young people who might otherwise assume math, science and engineering careers are out of reach. The former assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, Etter was named director of SMU’s new Caruth Institute for Engineering Education and will fill the new Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair in Engineering Education. The directorship and chair are made possible by a recent $2 million gift from the TI Foundation.
The Institute is dedicated to increasing the number and diversity of students who graduate from high schools with the knowledge and training to pursue engineering careers that are necessary for the United States to compete in a global economy.
“Engineering education is critical to the future of our region and country. By funding the TI Distinguished Chair, the TI Foundation is helping build a center of excellence in Dallas for the delivery and assessment of K-16 engineering education programs,” says TI Foundation chair Jack Swindle. Among the programs are the Infinity Project, a national education model that was the first math- and science-based high school engineering program in the country, and Visioneering, an annual program that gives middle school students the opportunity to become “engineers” for a day.
Etter also served as deputy under secretary of defense for science and technology 1998-2001. She joins SMU from the electrical engineering faculty of the U.S. Naval Academy, where she held the Office of Naval Research Distinguished Chair in Science and Technology.
“As a professor, she will inspire our students, especially as SMU strives to reach gender parity in engineering education,” says Paul Ludden, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs. “As the Caruth Institute director, she will have an impact beyond campus by providing effective and proven curricula and programs to develop the next generation of engineers.”
Women already make up 32 percent of the undergraduate enrollment at SMU’s School of Engineering, well above the national average of 17.5 percent. “The potential for getting more young women interested in engineering is an exciting part of the Institute’s program,” Etter says.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering, the highest recognition that can be bestowed upon an engineer in this country, Etter says her interest in engineering developed by chance at a time when women engineers were rare. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a Master’s degree in computer science at universities close to her husband’s Air Force postings in Ohio and New Mexico during the 1970s.
“I had a chance as a graduate student to do some teaching. When we moved to New Mexico, all the computer classes were taught in electrical engineering,” she says. “I took an EE course so I’d know what my students were doing, and I loved it. Suddenly, here was the practical application for all this math I’d learned.” She eventually earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico.
Etter speaks from experience about the need for training young men and women of all backgrounds to pursue engineering careers: “I have seen the challenges the military has. A really important one is making sure we have talented engineers and scientists supporting our programs in industry, and through the government laboratories and as part of the Navy programs themselves.”
The driving force behind the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education is concern that the United States could fall behind its international competitors without the targeted pursuit of math, science and engineering expertise that drove the space race of the 1960s, says School of Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak.
“If we don’t keep kids interested and excited about math and science, they won’t have the option to go into engineering,” Etter says. “Our mandate will be to find the innovative approaches that work. I see SMU becoming a nationally recognized center of excellence for collaborative development of these types of activities. There’s so much going on around the country, and there’s so much we can learn from each other.”
TI Foundation Grant Supports Women In Engineering Cause
The TI Foundation approved a $349,000 grant to the Caruth Institute of Engineering Education, part of the School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University, to support program management for the Women of TI Fund (WTIF) High-Tech High Heels programs in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and to fund the expansion of the Advanced Placement (AP) Physics Camps for Girls to the Plano Independent School District (Plano ISD) in 2009 and 2010.
The WTIF’s High-Tech High Heels programs include gender equity teaching strategies for educators, counselor workshops on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers and physics camps for girls.
MU basketball has a new MVP: the $13-million, 43,000-square-foot Crum Basketball Center. Dedicated February 21, the Center was made possible by a leadership gift from SMU Board of Trustees member Gary T. Crum (’69) and his wife, Sylvie, of Houston.
Other major donors are David and Carolyn Miller, Vic and Gladie Jo Salvino and the Embrey Family Foundation.
Projects like the Center benefit the entire SMU community, Board Chair Carl Sewell (’66) said, because “an athletics program that reflects the standards of excellence and leadership embraced at the University level strengthens the overall campus experience for our student athletes, alumni and fans. The victories of our student athletes in the arena are victories shared by all, creating a sense of school pride that lasts long after graduation.”
Now in her 17th season as SMU’s women’s head basketball coach, Rhonda Rompola (’83) says the new facility “shows SMU’s commitment to both basketball programs and will help us to recruit the best players.”
A full-court press by SMU’s men’s head basketball coach Matt Doherty, who arrived at the Hilltop in April 2006, helped turn the hoop dream into a reality. “I have helped design facilities at other universities, but the Crum Basketball Center is, by far, one of the finest practice facilities in the nation,” he says. “The Crum Center will provide players with the opportunity to work on their skills year-round and shows the commitment to big-time basketball at SMU.”
The men’s and women’s programs have their own full-sized practice court, locker room and lounge. The lower level connects via a tunnel to Moody Coliseum, where the Mustangs will continue to play their games.
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Senior Janielle Dodds, who graduates in May, calls the Crum Center “our own home, not one we have to share.”
The Mustangs’ top female scorer believes the new facility will help ease the burden of juggling class schedules with practice time.
The Crum Basketball Center shares its lineage with the venerable Moody Coliseum, which in 1959 also was designed by what is now HKS Sports and Entertainment Group, one of the world’s premier designers of sports facilities.
A$1 million gift to Perkins School of Theology by Erroll (’50, ’51) and Barbara Cook Wendland (’55, ’86) reflects their dedication to church and humanitarian causes.
The gift establishes the Wendland-Cook Endowed Professorship in Constructive Theology, devoted to the academic study of current church and social issues: the inequality of power, a commitment to the liberation of all people, the promotion of justice, the encouragement of nonviolence and the expansion of theological perspectives at the local church level.
Active in numerous civic and charitable organizations, the Wendlands are widely known in their hometown of Temple. Erroll Wendland received the city’s 1995 Frank. W. Mayborn Humanitarian Award for spearheading the building of the state-of-the-art Temple Public Library. He holds a B.B.A. in finance and marketing and an M.B.A. in administrative management from SMU.
Barbara Cook Wendland is recipient of the 2007 Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award, presented annually by Perkins Theology to a layperson “who exhibits an exceptional commitment to service in Christ in church, community and the world through faith and action.” She holds a B.A. in mathematics from SMU and Master of Theological Studies from Perkins, as well as certification in spiritual direction. Since 1992, she has written and published “Connections,” a monthly letter about church-related topics.
SMU alumni put their money where their hearts are during Reunion weekend in November. Taking the field for a check presentation at the 2007 Homecoming halftime are (from left) the Hon. Craig T. Enoch (’72), Drew Bass Stull (’72), Tom J. Stollenwerck (’62) and President R. Gerald Turner. The class of 1972 raised the most money of the nine classes celebrating their reunions, and the class of 1962 achieved the highest participation rate. By the end of 2007, the nine classes had given a total of $8,105,833.
Gifts of all sizes to SMU can affect the diversity of programs offered, attract high-quality students and support faculty teaching and research. Examples of some latest gifts follow. Visit smu.edu/giving for more information about how to make a gift to SMU.
A $500,000 gift to Dedman College’s Department of Sociology has been made by William Maynard to establish a scholarship and award in memory of his sister, the late Betty Maynard. She served as associate dean of the college and chair of the Sociology Department and was the driving force behind the Women’s Studies Program for more than two decades.
A $500,000 gift from the Ernst & Young Foundation parked the creation of a tax concentration for the Cox School of Business’ Master of Science in Accounting (MSA) program. The gift also will support scholarship and mentoring opportunities for full-time M.S.A. students pursuing the tax concentration.
A $174,000 gift from the Wachovia Foundation to SMU’s Meadows Museum and Meadows School of the Arts will fund the development of “Imagine U @ SMU.” The interactive, on-campus arts experience for Dallas middle school students from disadvantaged backgrounds is expected to start in the fall.
Gearbox Software has pledged $50,000 in scholarships to become the first donor for a new “fellows scholars” program at The Guildhall at SMU, one of the premier graduate video game education programs in the country. The company also dedicated resources to provide professional mentors for scholarship recipients during their 17 months of study at The Guildhall.
The first lady of the United States, a senator and Dallas civic leaders are among 74 women being honored through Remember the Ladies!, a project of SMU’s Archives of Women of the Southwest. Among those honoring the distinguished women at a recent reception were (from left) Harriet Holleman (’63), Archives advisory board member; Mary Blake Meadows (’74), Remember the Ladies! campaign chair; Ruth Morgan, former SMU provost and Archives founder; and Jackie McElhaney (’62), Archives advisory board chair. Donors of $5,000 can honor special women through the campaign, which seeks to fund a full-time archivist. For more information, contact Anne Brabham at 214-768-7874 or at abrabha@smu.edu.
SMU’s Cox School of Business is joining a handful of universities worldwide to offer programs addressing the growing need for professionals who handle alternative asset investments, made possible by a new $3 million gift.
EnCap Investments and LCM Group each contributed $1.5 million to fund the EnCap Investments & LCM Group Alternative Asset Management Center and its director. In addition, the gift will support the development of new courses for a specialization within the undergraduate finance major and within the graduate finance concentration. The courses also will prepare students for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) professional designation.
The faces behind the gift are SMU alumni David B. Miller (’72, ’73), partner and co-founder of EnCap, Dallas, and D. Scott Luttrell (’77), founder and CEO of LCM, Tampa, Florida.
In the past five years, investments in alternative assets – including hedge funds, venture capital, private equity, real estate, and oil and gas – have increased dramatically. For example, capital committed to an estimated 9,000 U.S. hedge funds grew more than 17 percent per year from 2002 to 2006, with more than $1 trillion invested at the end of 2006, according to global investment firm CRA Rogerscasey.
Because of its location, SMU provides students with opportunities for extensive interaction with local professionals. Texas has the third-largest concentration of hedge funds outside of New York and California. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to more than 140 firms managing 175 hedge funds with assets in excess of $40 billion.
If you ask university presidents what counts as “a good year” for their institutions, most would tell you it’s when student quality is rising, donors are giving generously, research productivity is up, new facilities are in progress and there is something to cheer about in athletics.
If their universities also gained national distinction by attracting a unique resource – such as a presidential library – they would tell you it was a very good year!
That is indeed what I am reporting. SMU’s selection as the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, Museum and Institute made national news. The complex will bring unprecedented resources for research and dialogue. Along with international scholars and dignitaries, hundreds of thousands of visitors will learn what makes SMU special. But the other good news is that during the years of competition for the library, SMU has been happily moving along and moving up, by all indicators. During the past academic year alone, some examples include:
The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education gift of $10.1 million from the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas, and the hiring of the Texas Instruments Distinguished Chair and director of the Institute.
Campus improvements continue with the opening of the Crum Basketball Center, a new 855-vehicle parking garage, residence hall renovations and three buildings in progress or set for groundbreaking – for engineering, theology and education.
New endowments and facilities have an impact on students and faculty. Entering students SAT scores continue to rise, and external funding for faculty research and sponsored projects has reached an all-time high of $20.53 million. New academic leaders arrived to guide more enhancements: Paul W. Ludden, provost and vice president for academic affairs; James E. Quick, associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies; and David Chard, the Leon Simmons dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Arriving in July is the new dean of Dedman College, Cordelia Chávez Candelaria.
In athletics, the women’s basketball team won the 2008 Conference USA Tournament. Mustang fans also welcomed new head football coach June Jones.
So, yes, it’s been a very good year.
In choosing SMU as the site of the George W. Bush Presidential Library, the selection committee noted the University’s high quality, and the library’s resources will enhance SMU’s prominence. As we continue to attract support, we will ensure many more very good years for SMU – our second century of achievement.
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).
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 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."
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."
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."
Four alumni have received the 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest award SMU can bestow upon its alumni. Recipients are Linda Pitts Custard (’60, ’99), James B. Gardner (’55), The Honorable Antonio O. "Tony" Garza Jr. (’83) and Rick Herrscher (’58). The Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes outstanding alumni who have graduated within the past 15 years, was presented to Nathan Allen (’00). They were honored at the DAA celebration in November.
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.
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.
The Cox School of Business set out to put a finger on the pulse of business leadership in Dallas with its first annual SMU Cox CEO Sentiment Survey. Faculty members Miguel Quinones and Robert Rasberry conducted the survey, which covered topics from the state of the economy to the quality of the DFW labor force, from leadership attributes to the top competitive challenges CEOs face. "This survey is more comprehensive than many smaller studies of its type," Quinones says. "By asking a wider range of questions, we get a very clear picture of what’s going on. We can see that despite the hype about globalization, small business and the local economy still matter, and that a qualified workforce is one of CEOs’ top concerns." Survey results are at www.coxceosurvey.org.
A recent discovery by SMU geology graduate Peter Rose (’04) may lead to a new state dinosaur for Texas. The pleurocoelus (inset), a 50-foot-long, plant-eating dinosaur unearthed 10 years ago near Glen Rose, was designated the official dinosaur of Texas by the State Legislature. Rose determined that the bones of the state dinosaur were not those of a pleurocoelus at all, but of a previously unknown species he named the paluxysaurus. Now the pleurocoelus may be stripped of its official designation and the honor reassigned to the paluxysaurus. Rose, who received his Master’s degree in geological sciences from SMU, is pursuing a Ph.D. in paleontology at the University of Minnesota.
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.
When Neiman Marcus wanted original music composed for the 100th anniversary celebration of the flagship store in downtown Dallas, it turned to a local talent source: Meadows School of the Arts. The opportunity was given to junior Timothy Roy, a President’s Scholar majoring in music composition. Roy wrote three pieces – one for the main floor and outside window area, one for the Wish Tree (incorporating nature sounds), and one for the elevators (jazz style, incorporating the sounds of people talking). "I was inspired by the company’s beautiful and futuristic visual concept, which includes sparkling crystal prisms, glass chandeliers, countless mirrors and radiant lighting," he says. "I wanted to make the music sparkly, reflective, uplifting – no heavy backbeats or the kind of loud, pounding music you hear at designers’ runway shows." The music was played at the downtown store through November 3. Listen to Timothy Roy’s compositions at smu.edu/ps/Tim_Roy.asp.
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
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.
Alumni and their families munched on burgers from Burger House at the Boulevard before the Mustangs’ season opener September 3 against Texas Tech University. At every home game the Office of Alumni Relations sponsors a tent that offers free food provided by popular area restaurants.
Energy industry leader and entrepreneur Bobby Lyle (’67) spoke with students about the importance of inclusiveness at the 2007 President’s Leadership Summit in April. "Leadership is sharing," said Lyle, whose long service to SMU has included a stint as interim dean of the Cox School of Business and current membership on the Board of Trustees. "Don’t put yourself in a ‘we and they’ position. Put yourself in an ‘us’ position, and don’t be afraid to share."
SMU and The Dallas Athletic Club in North Dallas have entered into an agreement to establish the DAC as the home of SMU men’s and women’s golf programs. SMU will construct a new $4 million practice facility and clubhouse on the DAC grounds, and donors are being sought.
The complex will comprise a team clubhouse, locker rooms, a Golf Hall of Fame and trophy room, coaches’ offices, study rooms, a conference room, a workout facility and a media room. Two hitting bays will be equipped with state-of-the-art video and swing analysis capabilities. On the five acres surrounding the complex will be two large putting greens – one Bentgrass and one Bermuda grass. Chet Williams of The Nicklaus Design Team will create a four-hole short course with numerous practice stations for every conceivable lie or situation.
Although a lead donor will have naming options, at least a portion of the complex will be named after SMU alumnus and championship golfer Payne Stewart (’79), who died in 1999.
To support the new facility or for more information, contact Craig Shaver, associate athletics director for development, at 214-768-3639 or cshaver@smu.edu, or visit smumustangs.cstv.com.
SMU golfer Colt Knost (’07) wrapped up his amateur career as only the second golfer in history to win both the U.S. Amateur Championship and the U.S. Public Links title in the same year. He was the first amateur since 1993 to qualify for the 2007 Byron Nelson Championship and was unbeaten as a member of the first U.S. Walker Cup team since 1991 to win the match overseas. Knost, the 2007 Conference USA Golfer of the Year and PING Division I All-American, entered the professional circuit in October.
Top Rankings For Golf
Mustang golfers performed well on the links this summer with four golfers qualifying for the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in Indiana. Jennifer Ackerson (’07) qualified for the first round of match play. In addition to Colt Knost, three other SMU men also advanced to the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship in California.
The 2007-2008 Golf Digest College Guide ranked the Mustang men’s and women’s golf teams among the top 30 in its listing of 800 men’s programs and 500 women’s programs. The women’s team ranked 28 and the men’s team ranked 29 in the guide.
Gaelle Niare
High Jumper Raises The Bar
Senior high jumper Gaelle Niare earned All-American status after a fifth-place finish in the high jump at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. She placed fourth in the heptathlon at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, only her second time to compete in the event. In addition, she was named Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year and Female High Point Scorer after her performance at the C-USA indoor meet. She won the conference high jump title for the second year and captured the heptathlon title.
New Leadership For Tennis, Equestrian Teams
Lauren Longbotham, former Mustang assistant women’s tennis coach, has been named head coach of the team. As interim head coach last year, she led the Mustangs to a 19-5 season, their highest winning percentage since 1977. Longbotham, who joined SMU in 2003, lettered four years with the Louisiana Tech women’s tennis team.
Ashley Schaeffer is new head coach of the SMU equestrian team. She brings 26 years of riding and training experience, including training with the U.S. Olympic team from 1990-93. Most recently she managed upper-level hunter-jumper competitions in Texas and Oklahoma as vice president of Blue Ribbon Shows and president of Fireside Show Management.
Leaders In Graduation Rates
SMU football and men’s basketball teams rank in the top three among Conference USA, Big 12 and Metroplex colleges in Graduation Success Rates (GSR), according to data released by the NCAA. The data is from the four-class aggregate of entering classes from 1997 through 2000. SMU’s football team scored an 84 to rank second among the cohorts, while men’s basketball received an 82 to place third. Overall, eight of SMU’s 15 athletic programs scored a perfect 100 percent in the GSRs: men’s and women’s golf, men’s tennis and swimming, and women’s crew, soccer, cross country and track. All 15 of SMU’s programs rated by the NCAA were equal to or better than the national average.
Ian Clark
Victory Laps For Swimmers
Mustang men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams won Conference USA championships for the second year. Sophomore Petra Klosova was named women’s Conference USA Swimmer of the Meet, winning the 100 free, while head women’s coach Steve Collins was named C-USA Coach of the Year. Men’s Conference USA Swimmer of the Meet, Ian Clark (’07), won the 200 back. Men’s coach Eddie Sinnott also was named C-USA Coach of the Year.
Senior women’s basketball player Katy Cobb is unfamiliar with the details of Title IX, but she is a prime example of its results. Growing up in Rio Vista, Texas, she played girls’ soccer, volleyball, softball and basketball, ran cross-country, competed in rodeos and in fourth grade played on a boys’ football team.
SMU women won their first NCAA National Championship in the newly added sport of golf in 1979.
"The idea of being denied their sport is absolutely inconceivable to female athletes today," says Nancy Kruh (’76), who as an SMU senior was instrumental in advancing Title IX at SMU. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits sexual discrimination against students and employees of educational institutions. The law requires that males and females receive fair and equal treatment in all arenas – academics, financial aid and extracurricular activities.
In 1972, athletic scholarships were not offered to women at SMU. Women basketball players bought their uniforms and carried their own basketballs to practices led by an Olympic volleyball player. The women’s swim team had to create a practice time by enrolling in a swimming class, and 12 members of the women’s tennis team practiced on three old courts while the six-member men’s team practiced on four new courts. Women athletes at other schools and universities faced similar challenges.
As the landmark legislation marks its 35th anniversary this year, women athletes have come a long way at SMU; 191 women now compete in 11 sports, 114 as scholarship athletes. To commemorate the legislation, the Women’s Sports Foundation issued a report card grading women’s athletics participation in 738 colleges and universities. The report compared the gender composition of an institution’s athletes to the gender composition of its student body. SMU earned a B-, meaning its gap is between 8 and 10 percent.
Five out of nine Division I Texas schools earned B’s, but two universities – Baylor and TCU – earned D’s for their level of participation by women. In Conference USA, five of 12 schools earned A’s or B’s.
"SMU is at 50-50 in terms of number of male and female student participation," says Koni Daws, SMU assistant athletics director and senior woman administrator. "But the undergraduate student population is 55 percent women, 45 percent men. That’s where we want to be in athletics, too."
Few universities would have received passing grades in 1975 when Kruh filed a Title IX complaint with SMU’s Affirmative Action Council on behalf of women athletes. She requested equitable access to existing facilities for the two women’s sports – swimming and tennis – and that the recently disbanded women’s basketball team be reinstated.
Katy Cobb plays guard for SMU.
Though Kruh herself was not an athlete, her passion for the issue was stoked after she served in summer 1975 as an intern to Kansas Representative Martha Keys in Washington, D.C. Kruh attended congressional hearings on proposed Title IX regulations.
Congress approved the regulations that summer. When Kruh returned to school in the fall, she talked to some SMU women athletes and learned about their problems. Her standing as a student gave her the right to file the complaint.
Six weeks later, Kruh appeared at the SMU Affirmative Action Council hearing. After five hours, the council forwarded its recommendations to SMU President James Zumberge. His decision arrived as a letter in Kruh’s campus mailbox: The women’s basketball team was reinstated and funded with $2,500, swimmers were given better practice times and the tennis team received priority practice time on five new courts originally designated for intramurals.
"What I did wasn’t easy or pleasant, but as I look at today’s college athletes, I can see it was important to do," says Kruh, now a free-lance writer and Dallas Morning News columnist. "I’m really proud to have been part of something bigger."
By 1979, 32 women attended SMU on athletics scholarships, and SMU women won their first NCAA National Championship in the newly added sport of golf. Kyle O’Brien (’80) was named the nation’s outstanding woman golfer.
Nearly 20 years later, SMU athletics has added a number of other sports for women who have competed successfully at the national level and won numerous conference titles (see insert, this page).
"We are committed to gender equity as an athletics department," says SMU Athletics Director Steve Orsini. "In the past 11 years we have added three women’s sports and increased our funding of women’s athletics in the past two years. We continue to make strides in this area as we fully support all of our student athletes."
Nationally, women’s participation in college sports has increased dramatically, from 16,000 in 1970 to 260,000 in 2006. But Title IX continues to face challenges. The College Sports Council, a national coalition of coaches, athletes and parents, describes its mission as "working to eliminate Title IX quotas." According to the council, 17 percent of men’s collegiate teams have been eliminated since 1981. In a 2007 study, the council found that the average number of men’s teams per school has dropped to 7.8, while the number of women’s teams per school has risen to 8.7. U.S. Census figures, however, state that 58 percent of college students are women, while 42 percent are men.
Women’s athletics administrators also face challenges. "I can analyze the cost and competition of a new women’s sport, but determining how many women are interested in a sport is really difficult," Daws says.
Martina Moravcova (’98, ’00)
As SMU’s Title IX coordinator, Daws plans a yearlong analysis of Title IX, including considering a recommendation for a new women’s sport. "To be part of a collegiate sport is the opportunity of a lifetime," she says. "Women want the opportunity. We know we need to get an A, and we will."
SMU basketball player Katy Cobb says she was reared to work hard, "but playing sports instilled in me that hard work brings results. As an upperclassman and leader of the team, I’m developing skills that will come in handy later when I hope to become a coach."
In 1995, while working as a feature writer for The Dallas Morning News, Kruh was assigned to profile a high school girls’ basketball team, the Duncanville Pantherettes, which has won six state titles and produced two professional basketball players – Tiffany Jackson with the New York Liberty and Tamika Catchings, an Olympic gold medalist who plays for the Indiana Fever.
"Looking at that team, I could tell how much sports was changing these girls’ lives," says Kruh, who plans to give her Title IX records to the SMU Archives. "Title IX really is so much more than just gaining equal practice facilities. It’s given girls and young women access to all the leadership experience, team skills and physical fitness that gave men such an advantage in school and at work for so long."
– Nancy Lowell George (’79)
Scorecard For SMU Women’s Sports
To support its commitment to gender equity in athletics, SMU added women’s soccer in 1986, cross country and indoor and outdoor track in 1987, volleyball in 1996, indoor track and field in 1998, rowing in 1999 and equestrian in 2004.
The national scene:
Women’s swimming and diving finished in the top four at the NCAA championship from 1992-99 and again in 2003;
The soccer team competed in the final four in 1995;
Track and field placed in the top four at the NCAA outdoor championship from 1996-98 and at the indoor championship in 1999.
Some individual athletes who excelled:
Katie Swords (’98), who in 1995 became the first SMU woman to win an NCAA track and field championship;
Windy Dean (’98), the first woman athlete in history to win three consecutive NCAA javelin championships – 1996, ’97, ’98;
Jennifer Santrock (’91), Southwest Conference Women’s Tennis Player-of-the Decade for the 1980s; and
Martina Moravcova (’98, ’00), who won 14 NCAA swimming titles in 1999 along with two silver medals for Slovakia at the 2000 Olympics.
Shawna, a pregnant Pima Indian, calls diabetes a scourge. "Diabetes is a sign that this life we’re living isn’t our life," she says. "The one our ancestors had was way better."
Before World War II, diabetes was rare among Pima Indians. Today, however, Shawna is among the 12,000 tribal members on the Gila River Reservation in south central Arizona who have the highest recorded rate of diabetes of any population in the world.
The decline of agriculture set the stage for the health crisis, says Carolyn Smith-Morris, assistant professor of anthropology and author of the new book Diabetes Among the Pima: Stories of Survival (University of Arizona Press, 2006), the first ethnographic account of diabetes in a community. The dramatic change of diet and reduction in activity levels, as well as a genetic predisposition to the disease, led to the epidemic, which affects 50 percent of the adults on the reservation, she says.
For more than 30 years, the National Institutes of Health and other government and private agencies have studied the disease in the isolated Pima population. Much of what doctors know about diabetes, a chronic disease that develops when the pancreas stops producing insulin, is based on research with the Pimas.
But care practices that work for other cultures have not been as successful with the Pimas. As a medical anthropologist, Smith-Morris has helped health care workers at Gila River better understand the Pima culture and its attitudes about diabetes. Her research underscores the need to understand cultural habits when applying scientific methods.
Beginning in 1996, Smith-Morris lived and worked part time on the Gila River Reservation, attending health care classes, visiting medical clinics and joining holiday parades, birthday parties and bingo nights. "After two and half years, I was finally invited to my first family memorial, spent my first nights in Pima homes, and began in earnest to study life at Gila River," she says.
From information gathered through personal interviews, surveys and observation, Smith-Morris’ research suggests that the Pimas’ diabetes epidemic can be curbed through a community-based approach tailored to their culture.
In the past, most health care was delivered at one hospital that serves the 372,000-acre reservation, where most residents live in poverty and many do not own cars. Buses run regularly to transport patients to medical appointments, but the Pima culture does not live by the clock, she says. In fact, while living among the Pima, Smith-Morris deliberately slowed the pace of her big city gait to match their more leisurely pace.
Based in part on her research, the tribe has spent millions of dollars to develop community-based clinics staffed by field nurses and case managers who provide more home-based care.
Smith-Morris’ research also suggests that improving prenatal care for Pima women like Shawna can help curb the epidemic. Nearly 12 percent of pregnant women on the Gila River Reservation are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, compared with the U.S. average of 4 percent. Women with gestational diabetes and their babies are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and its complications of kidney failure, blindness and amputations later in life.
"The Pima want to avoid diabetes," Smith-Morris says. "They want to learn, but not always through the traditional Western methods of written materials and lectures. This epidemic is about a culture defining its path in an industrial world."
Smith-Morris’ current research focuses on diabetes prevention in the urban setting of South Dallas, where 33 percent of families live in poverty and 61 percent are unemployed. She developed the diabetes prevention component of a proposed $15 million project to create a wellness center in a South Dallas neighborhood. The Baylor Office of Health Equity and the Foundation for Community Empowerment are developing plans for the community-based program.
"My advocacy in these projects has impressed upon investors and planners that healthier lives need less clinic-based, biomedical intervention and more infrastructure support such as family-friendly neighborhoods and jobs that pay a living wage," she says.
Popular culture’s image of the 21st-century woman is tall, large-breasted, narrow-hipped and ultra-slender. Like cultural standards of beauty throughout history, today’s "thin ideal" is unattainable for most women; for many, it also can be destructive.
Katherine Presnell, assistant professor of psychology, is helping at-risk teens challenge this ideal with the Body Project, an eating disorder prevention program that she helped develop with psychology professor Eric Stice at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her doctorate in 2005. Since Stice conducted the first trial in 1998, more than 1,000 high school and college women, including 62 SMU students, have completed the program, including a research trial led by SMU Ph.D. students.
Independent studies conducted at universities nationwide and a recent analysis have shown that the Body Project significantly outperforms other interventions in promoting body acceptance, discouraging unhealthy dieting, reducing the risk of obesity and preventing eating disorders. And these results have persisted for three years.
Prevention is critical because about 10 percent of late-adolescent and adult female Americans experience eating disorder symptoms. Less than a third seek treatment, and less than half of those experience lasting results, says Presnell, director of SMU’s Weight and Eating Disorders Research Program in the Department of Psychology.
While traditional interventions focus on education about anorexia, bulimia and binge eating, the Body Project is based on cognitive dissonance – the 1957 theory that inconsistent beliefs and behaviors create a psychological discomfort that motivates individuals to change their beliefs or behaviors.
While working with a patient who had anorexia during his postdoctoral studies at Stanford University, UT’s Stice says he asked her "to talk me out of being anorexic, and it was a very powerful exercise. Arguing against her own arguments caused her to rethink her perspective on her illness."
Body Project participants, recruited through fliers and mailings, argue and act against the thin ideal during four small-group sessions with a trained leader. They write letters to hypothetical girls about its emotional and physical costs, and challenge negative "fat talk" while affirming strong, healthy bodies.
"Many girls don’t question the messages we get from the media, the fashion industry, our peers and parents that it’s important to achieve the thin ideal at any cost," Presnell says. "We have the girls critically evaluate the ideal, and that creates the dissonance they work to resolve."
The Body Project includes a four-session weight management intervention that helps participants make small lifestyle changes to gain control over eating – such as scheduling time for daily exercise and a nutritious breakfast, and rewarding themselves with a book or bath rather than food. "These little tweaks help participants maintain a healthy body weight and ward off unhealthy behaviors such as extreme dieting, fasting and self-induced vomiting to lose weight," Presnell says.
Presnell also has joined with Camille Kraeplin, assistant professor of journalism at SMU, to examine the media’s connection to the thin ideal. They began collecting data this year at Texas middle and high schools on how media images of female bodies influence girls’ beliefs about themselves.
Although the thin ideal has emerged as a larger issue among middle- and upper-class white girls, Kraeplin says, their study is unique because it includes a diverse sample across racial and economic lines. "We have an opportunity to observe whether girls from different groups use the media differently or respond to the dominant images differently," she says.
Presnell and Stice have published a facilitator guidebook and companion workbook, The Body Project: Promoting Body Acceptance and Preventing Eating Disorders (Oxford University Press, 2007). The researchers also are investigating how best to train school counselors, nurses and teachers as group leaders, with a goal of introducing their program to North Texas schools in the next year.
"Now that we have established that this intervention works, the next step is to reach as many people as possible," Presnell says. "The Body Project could have a big impact on reducing the incidence of eating disorders, while empowering girls to develop a healthy body image."
Sunday Eiselt (right) works on the dig in Lupita Tafoya’s back yard with Mike Adler (left), SMU anthropologist and executive director of SMU-in-Taos, and several members of the research group.
For hundreds of years the beauty and mystery of Taos, New Mexico, have lured thousands of settlers and visitors, from the ancestors of the Taos and Picuris Indians and Spanish settlers to skiing enthusiasts and artists.
Now students participating in SMU’s Archaeology Field School have answered the call of Taos in their own way. In summer 2007 they began work on the first phase of a research project that will bring together University faculty and students, Taos community leaders, private landowners, and local, state and federal government agencies. The multifaceted undertaking will involve surveying on foot and through satellite and Google Earth images, as well as archival research and excavation.
The collaboration marks the first time archaeological exploration has been conducted on the Ranchos de Taos Plaza. The project was made possible because the Field School has established trust in this traditional community that in the past has regarded such efforts with suspicion.
"Modern archaeology involves a lot of soft skills, including cultural sensitivity and the ability to interact respectfully with communities," says Sunday Eiselt, visiting assistant professor of anthropology and acting director of SMU’s Archaeology Field School. "You can’t just go in, put holes in the ground and leave."
The Field School’s first project in the Plaza began last year as a volunteer effort. Taos native Lupita Tafoya’s adobe house has been in her family for 11 generations, and the original structure dates to about 1800. Field School students offered their labor to lower Tafoya’s packed-earth floor to create a step-down living room area. In the process they found a midden, or kitchen garbage area, dating from the early 1800s.
Their 2007 project focused on investigating the midden, as well as deposits in Tafoya’s dining room and front yard. A total of 14 SMU students – 12 undergraduates and two graduate assistants – joined forces this year with two new high school graduates from Taos Pueblo who participated with the help of scholarships from a fund established by former Texas Governor Bill (’39) and Rita Clements.
"It’s a big house with several later additions, so the students will recreate the construction history of the house as well," Eiselt says.
At one time, archaeological exploration of historic cities was confined largely to abandoned areas that provided space for open-area excavation. That changed after World War II, when bomb craters left areas of large, old cities such as London and Warsaw open for investigation. Researchers developed new techniques to cope with the logistical difficulties of doing archaeological digs in places where people lived and worked. As historical archaeology evolved, new skills were needed to address the often-divergent needs of individual communities.
Taos is an especially complex challenge, says Eiselt, who received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and has been conducting archaeological research in Northern New Mexico since 1998. A remote and historically close-knit community, the area has experienced a rapid influx of outside investment in recent years – from tourists drawn to its natural beauty and culture to investors seeking to capitalize on them. About 180,000 visitors a year converge on the town, which has a permanent population of just over 5,000. Tourism accounts for nearly 85 percent of an economy that also consistently maintains a double-digit unemployment rate and a cost of living nearly 14 percent higher than the U.S. average, according to the Taos Economic Report and other indicators.
The tension between tradition and modernization, between preservation and gentrification, is palpable, Eiselt says. "Many former households just off the Plaza are in ruins," she says. "And with Plaza lots going for $400,000 each, the property taxes have created a situation in which residents whose families have lived there for generations cannot afford to do so now."
The collaboration between the SMU Field School and the Taos community is creating an oasis of cooperation in the midst of this upheaval, Eiselt adds. "It’s also a model of how to accomplish goals that serve the people and their interests, as well as our scientific and educational objectives."
As part of that model, each Archaeology Field School project begins with a volunteer component and follows the example set at Tafoya’s home. This year, the Field School students also helped with the annual cleaning and re-mudding (enjara) of the much-photographed San Francisco de Asís church, an adobe landmark whose earliest construction dates to 1772.
The Taos Plaza community is setting guidelines and providing context for the archaeologists’ work, Eiselt says. "Many of the people who live here are accomplished scholars of the area’s history in their own right," she says. "Interacting with them is another great learning opportunity."
Students measure the layers of flooring in Tafoya’s dining room to reconstruct the history of the house.
For example, it was Lupita Tafoya who told Eiselt that the social universe of Taos Plaza was too small for the proposed study, Eiselt says. "She let us know that we needed to explore not only the Plaza, but all of San Francisco de Asís parish. So much of the community’s activity centers on that church; if we want to understand what we find, we need to understand that larger context."
As a result of that conversation, Eiselt has created a multiyear research plan. The plan’s three components – oral history, archival work and general archaeology – will be carried out in consultation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the University of New Mexico Museum of Anthropology, the Taos Archaeological Society and residents and archaeologists from the area.
One of the study’s major features is its emphasis on mapping rather than digging. "Excavation, which is intrusive and destructive, will be avoided as much as possible, with most activities focusing on non-intrusive pedestrian or surface survey, including remote sensing, aerial photography and historic maps," Eiselt wrote in her introduction to the research plan.
The study’s other highlight – focus on community interaction – also helps the Archaeology Field School achieve one of its primary educational goals: to teach how to work as partners in places like Taos.
"We’re teaching students not to go in with an attitude of ‘Here’s your past. We know because we’re scientists,’" Eiselt says. "This work is about the people, not the objects."
City Suburb at Dusk, 1978, Oil on Masonite, Collection of G. Pat Bywaters. Photo by Michael Bodycomb.
The late Jerry Bywaters (’26), a member of the SMU arts faculty for 35 years, transformed Texas art and achieved national recognition for the state’s artists. The former director of the Dallas Museum of Art also led the Dallas Nine, a group of artists who developed the style known as Lone Star Regionalism. The Meadows Museum presents two exhibitions celebrating his achievements: "Jerry Bywaters, Interpreter of the Southwest" and "Lone Star Printmaker" through March 2, 2008. For more information, visit www.meadowsmuseumdallas.org or call 214-768-2516. Accompanying publications (with the same titles as the exhibits) provide a retrospective on Bywaters’ works, and were written by Sam Ratcliffe (’74), director of special collections at SMU’s Hamon Arts Library, which holds the Jerry Bywaters Collection on Art of the Southwest, and Ellen Buie Niewyk (’78), curator of the Bywaters Collection. The books can be obtained online at www.tamu.edu/upress.
"Truth in Translation," based on the experiences of translators for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission created after the dissolution of apartheid in South Africa, made its U.S. premiere at SMU’s Bob Hope Theatre in September. A professional South African acting troupe performed the play, featuring original music by South African composer Hugh Masekela. The Embrey Family Foundation of Dallas funded the event.
Jim Caswell joined former SMU student leaders at the dedication of the expanded Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.
Not many individuals can claim to have influenced the lives of almost 50,000 college students for nearly five decades. But that estimation applies to the late Jim Caswell, who served since 1964 in student affairs positions at SMU, most recently as vice president for student affairs. After retiring in May 2007, he planned to enjoy a second career as a church pastor, but lost his battle to cancer October 22.
Entering SMU as an undergraduate in 1958, Jim Caswell earned three degrees on the Hilltop – a Bachelor of Arts in social science in 1963, Bachelor of Divinity in 1966 and Master of Sacred Theology in 1970, both from Perkins School of Theology. The only time he strayed from SMU was to gain more preparation for leadership in student affairs – when he earned Master’s and doctoral degrees in education management from Columbia University.
"Jim Caswell devoted his professional life to the well-being of SMU’s students, providing them with a campus experience that would strengthen their educational and personal development," says President R. Gerald Turner. In the days following his death, that statement was confirmed repeatedly as alumni wrote remembrances of him in a special blog on SMU’s web site. Writing on the site, Sandra Plowman Kraus (’76, ’80) summed up the feelings expressed by many:
"I first met Jim in 1972 when I was an undergraduate student. He was a kind, gentle and fair-minded guy. When my son became a Mustang in 2004, Jim carved out time from his busy schedule and invited my son to his office for a chat and an informal welcome to the SMU community. I sit in gratitude for his contributions to SMU and for his generosity to my family and me. His life made a difference."
Although he was honored with numerous awards throughout his career, alumni who shared remembrances affirmed that his greatest reward was, no doubt, his influence on them – as a fellow student, teacher, administrator, alumnus and friend.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Jim Caswell Endowment for Leadership Development and Training at SMU or the American Cancer Society. For more information on the Leadership endowment, contact Bonner Allen at 214-768-2986, bonnera@smu.edu or at SMU Box 750305, Dallas, TX 75275. To contribute comments about Jim Caswell, visit the blog site www.smu.edu/caswellremembered
To say that SMU is in the business of education may seem to be stating the obvious. But today we are more deeply invested in education as an interdisciplinary area of study. We are strengthening programs that educate the educators, and bringing more research to bear on effective teaching methods. Our efforts will accelerate with a $20 million gift from Harold and Annette Simmons of Dallas to endow the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Education programs have been a part of SMU’s curriculum since its early years, but now we will have resources to magnify our impact. This gift also supports SMU’s goal to increase endowments for academic purposes.
The needs in education are enormous. According to the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the percentage of eighth-graders rated as proficient or better in reading is 31 percent, an increase of only two percentage points since 1992. The rate for fourth-graders rose to 33 percent, up from 29 percent in 1992. In some states, the rates have remained flat or have fallen.
Recognizing that lack of reading ability equals low performance in schools, SMU is conducting programs and research focusing on literacy. The Institute for Reading Research is an important part of the Simmons School. SMU studies are showing, for instance, that reading can be improved among struggling students through early identification and intensive intervention. The School’s new Ph.D. program will develop researchers in literacy, language and learning; other programs address bilingual education, English as a second language and reading disorders.
Our programs also target the nation’s growing teacher shortage. As schools face a rise in enrollment and in teacher retirements, more than 2 million teachers will be needed in the next decade. At the same time, turnover is a problem, with some 20 percent of new hires leaving the classroom within three years.
Along with preparation for teacher certification, the Simmons School provides specialized training for master teachers in math, science and reading. Through research on how students best learn, we can give teachers the tools not merely to survive, but also to succeed – for their students and for themselves. We must support those who pursue the high calling of education. And through programs in human development – including counseling, wellness and dispute resolution – the Simmons School nurtures the fulfillment of human potential in many ways.
Harold and Annette Simmons are models of support for high achievement. They show us that educational values endure and inspire from generation to generation. Harold Simmons’ father was a school superintendent and his mother was a beloved teacher. Annette Simmons (’57) recalls with gratitude the impact of caring teachers on her life. It is indeed an honor for SMU to name the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development in honor of an alumna who majored in elementary education and became a teacher. Harold and Annette Simmons are investing their trust and generosity in the family of current and future educators – further evidence that there is a strong multiplier effect when it comes to education.
Commemorating the endowment of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development were (from left) Dean David Chard, SMU Board of Trustees Chair Carl Sewell, President R. Gerald Turner, Annette and Harold Simmons and Provost Paul Ludden.
A drugstore lunch counter across campus on Hillcrest used to be a popular gathering spot for students to enjoy burgers, shakes and camaraderie. In the Sixties, the store’s new owner – Harold Simmons – often flipped burgers himself when short on staff. Then a fledgling businessman in his late twenties, Simmons went on to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs and investors in Texas history.
As an SMU donor through the years, Simmons has given back to the campus community that helped him get started in business. Now, he and his wife, Annette, have provided one of the largest gifts in SMU history – $20 million. The gift will endow the newly named Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and provide lead funding for a building to house the School.
When Harold Simmons was growing up in Golden, Texas, education was a common topic of family discussions – his mother was a teacher and his father a school superintendent.
The parents of Annette Caldwell Simons (’57) did not attend college, so they were determined to provide that advantage for their daughter. "I am forever grateful that they sacrificed so that I could come to the best," she says. She majored in elementary education at SMU and became a teacher.
Annette Simmons received a crystal “apple for the teacher” from Education Dean David Chard and SMU President R. Gerald Turner.
Both Harold and Annette Caldwell Simmons were mindful of their family backgrounds as they considered making a gift to SMU that would express the educational values they shared. "I’ve been able to use my education to become successful in business and to support important efforts that have an impact on other people’s lives," Harold Simmons says. "I am pleased to support and name this innovative school in honor of Annette. It will represent our shared commitment to support teachers like the ones who made a difference in our own lives."
In addition to preparation for teacher certification, the School of Education and Human Development offers graduate-level and specialized programs to develop advanced skills for educators and strong research programs on how students learn. Specialized programs include those in literacy training, bilingual education, English as a second language, gifted student education, and learning therapy, along with those for master educators to enhance teaching skills in science, technology, reading and mathematics. The School offers a new Ph.D. in education focusing on literacy, language and learning; a Master of Education with teacher certification; and a Master of Bilingual Education. Research and service centers include the Institute for Reading Research, the Gifted Students Institute and the Diagnostic Center for Dyslexia and Related Disorders.
Annette and Harold Simmons
In the area of human development, the School offers Master’s degrees in counseling, dispute resolution and liberal studies, along with wellness courses and enrichment classes.
Harold Simmons is founder, chair and CEO of Contran Corporation, a holding company with interests including chemicals, metals, waste management and computer support systems. He earned B.A. and M.S. degrees in economics from the University of Texas at Austin. His University Pharmacy, which he purchased with borrowed money, grew into a chain of 100 drugstores across Texas. In 1973 Simmons sold the stores to Jack Eckerd and launched his career as an investor.
Harold and Annette Simmons have been active in the life of SMU. He is a former member of the executive boards of Edwin L. Cox School of Business and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. His previous gifts to SMU include $1.8 million to establish the Simmons Distinguished Professorship in Marketing in the Cox School and $1.2 million for the President’s Scholars program.
Among numerous SMU activities, Annette Simmons served on the board of the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series and has participated in the Women’s Investment Series and Godbey Lecture Series, among others. As a civic leader, she has served on the boards of numerous organizations and earned several awards. Recently the Dallas YWCA named her one of 100 women who have made a lasting impact on Dallas. Frequent donors to area medical institutions, Harold and Annette Simmons received the Southwestern Medical Foundation’s Charles Cameron Sprague Community Service Award and the Annette G. Strauss Humanitarian Award.
When It Comes To Running SMU, There’s More Than Meets The Eye
By Kim Cobb
Illustration By Linda Helton
University of Virginia founder Thomas Jefferson once referred to a college campus as an “academical village.” He was right in more ways than one – a university is a small city, requiring everything from stores and eating establishments to police services and trash collection. More than 1,380 full-time staff members keep SMU running 24/7 for its 10,829 students and 726 faculty members. That includes staff who raise the annual funds to pay for campus operations.
“It’s easy to take for granted all the work that takes place behind the scenes,” says Bill Dworaczyk, president of SMU’s Staff Association. “But whether it’s providing security for the campus, cooking meals in the cafeteria, counseling a student who’s struggling emotionally or programming a Web site, the work of staff is everywhere.”
Some interesting campus facts and figures help tell the story:
For the books. SMU libraries comprise more than 2.9 million books, about 2 million microforms and more than 500,000 photos. The old and the rare find a home here, too – such as a Christopher Columbus letter in Latin, published in Rome in 1493, now housed in DeGolyer Library, and a rare Bible collection in Bridwell Library.
Feeding the masses. Umphrey Lee dining hall serves about 3,000 meals daily during the fall and spring semesters. And while you might think that a thick juicy burger is the most requested meal, you would be wrong: Dining Services dishes out about 500 quesadilla orders a day.
House calls. Campus Planning and Plant Operations staff make more than 12,000 campus service calls a year, including changing 25,400 light bulbs and 4,000 filters.
Parking puzzle. The Hilltop includes approximately 5,700 parking spaces, but almost three times as many tickets were issued for parking violations during the past academic year.
Cleanliness is next to… It takes 100 custodians to keep 72 buildings on campus clean. Each custodian cleans an average of 32,000 square feet a day.
Showing our colors. The SMU Bookstore annually sells more than $1.5 million worth of clothing branded with SMU’s mascot, colors and logo. Pony up with pride.
No place like home. About 1,765 students are tucked into approximately 825 residence hall rooms, most of them double occupancy. Almost 2,000 students live on their own immediately surrounding the campus in zip code 75205, which includes Highland Park and University Park, and zip code 75206, east of North Central Expressway.
Red, blue and green. SMU recycles an average of 350 tons of material each year, part of an ongoing commitment to go green.
One ringy dingy… It’s not coming from pockets or purses, but from more than 5,000 land-line telephones wired into the main campus, from residence halls to staff and faculty offices.
Goin’ to the chapel of love. More than 200 couples marry in Perkins Chapel annually; about a third of those weddings include an SMU student or graduate.
Show-offs. Meadows School of the Arts hosts more than 500 events every year, including museum exhibits, art lectures and dance and musical performances ranging from
Bach to Basie. Theatrical productions include classical dramas and hip urban comedies.
Flower power. The campus groundskeepers plant about 20,000 bulbs after Thanksgiving every year to produce those breathtaking blooms in the spring.
Snail-mail central. The U.S. Post Office at Hughes-Trigg Student Center processes about 70,000 outgoing letters and packages a month. The incoming mail is massive – about 300,000 pieces of first-class mail and about 26,000 boxes – thanks to online orders by students and care packages from home.
Bodies in motion. The start of each semester at the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports sees the most activity – the facility logged in 46,684 visits last September and 47,021 visits last February. [For visuals and more statistics, see pages 16-17.]
“What these numbers and more add up to is SMU’s dedication to maintaining a high-quality campus experience for its students and faculty that helps keep us competitive,” Dworaczyk says.
When David J. Chard joined SMU this fall as dean of the School of Education and Human Development, he had no idea that, within weeks, his university world would change. As he settled into his office in a converted apartment building long overdue for updating, he was well aware of the School’s need for resources, including a suitable building and endowment for programs, research and faculty. President R. Gerald Turner was acutely aware of the needs, too, and, in fact, had been talking with prospective donors about a major gift for the school.
So it was that, only two months after joining SMU, Chard was gathering with other members of the University community to celebrate a $20 million endowment for his school from Harold and Annette Simmons. The school now would be named the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development, and he would hold the Leon Simmons Endowed Deanship, with special resources for faculty recruitment.
"When I accepted the position, I knew that we could build on SMU’s rich history of developing programs in disciplines critical to our region," Chard says. "Now we will have resources to address more fully some of the greatest challenges in education and human services. We can expand our partnerships with area schools and agencies and become increasingly competitive for research funding with national implications."
Chard came to SMU from the University of Oregon, where he was associate dean for curriculum and academic programs in the College of Education. He holds a Ph.D. in special education from Oregon and a B.S. degree in mathematics and chemistry education from Central Michigan University. He has taught at Boston University, the University of Texas at Austin and in California public schools, and served as a Peace Corps educator in Africa.
A scholar on reading and learning disabilities, Chard is widely published. His research focuses on reading and mathematics instructional strategies for early grades, learning disabilities, special education, and reading instruction for students with disabilities.
Celebrating the announcement of a $10.1 million gift to the School of Engineering were (from left) Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak, President R. Gerald Turner, SMU Board of Trustees Chairman Carl Sewell, Communities Foundation of Texas Chairman Charles J. Wyly Jr., CFT President and CEO Brent Christopher, and Texas Instruments chairman and SMU Trustee Tom Engibous.
Engineering education is getting a Texas-sized boost.
A $10.1 million gift to SMU from the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas will help the United States compete globally in engineering and technology by preparing students to excel in these fields. It is the single largest gift ever received by the School of Engineering.
The gift provides a national center and enhanced facilities to promote engineering and technology education in grades K-12 and beyond. The gift allocates $5.1 million to establish and endow the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education at SMU and $5 million toward a new building on the site of the original Caruth Hall, the historic home of the School of Engineering since 1948.
"New products, life-saving medicines, energy-efficient buildings and vehicles, the exploration of space – there is almost no aspect of life that is not touched by engineers."
"As we approach our centennial celebration, it is fitting that the Caruth name is once again linked with SMU, because the Caruth family made the original gift of land that helped to ensure the University’s location in Dallas," says President R. Gerald Turner. "Now, nearly a century later, this generous new gift will enhance SMU engineering as a critical educational asset for North Texas and beyond."
In 2002 Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison helped establish the Institute for Engineering Education at SMU through an initial federal grant. The Institute and School of Engineering have provided leadership in engineering education through national Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives.
"The hard reality is that we are falling behind in the pace of discovery and in our ability to compete in a world driven by innovation," says School of Engineering Dean Geoffrey C. Orsak. "The Caruth Institute for Engineering Education will help overcome this deficit as it becomes a national center of excellence in researching, developing and delivering innovative engineering education programs."
The Caruth Institute will serve as a key resource to other math and science education programs, such as the Texas High School Project, a public-private collaboration managed and funded by Communities Foundation of Texas and also funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.
"The Institute staff will conduct primary research on effective techniques for teaching the math and science foundations for engineering and technology," says SMU Provost Paul Ludden. "As an initial investment of this gift, SMU will recruit an international authority to fill a distinguished endowed faculty chair and serve as executive director of the Caruth Institute."
The Caruth Institute will consolidate and further develop several national programs already in place in the School of Engineering:
The Infinity Project: The nation’s leading high school and early college math- and science-based engineering education program, which will be extended into middle and elementary schools.
The Gender Parity Initiative: A nationally recognized program to promote interest in engineering and technology among girls and young women, with the goal of achieving 50 percent gender parity among engineering students.
Science Readiness Institute: An innovative summer math and science program for North Texas middle school students to prepare them for rigorous high school advanced placement courses.
Visioneering: National Engineers Week events and curriculum that give middle school students experience in engineering design.
College Partnerships: An initiative linking community college pre-engineering programs with four-year engineering colleges to encourage a seamless transition for students.
"Engineering makes the study of math and science very practical," says Brent Christopher, president and CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas. "New products, life-saving medicines, energy-efficient buildings and vehicles, the exploration of space – there is almost no aspect of life that is not touched by engineers."
Current B.B.A. Scholars thank businessman Edwin L. Cox for his latest gift to SMU.
As an international business leader, Edwin L. Cox knows what it takes to compete in a global marketplace – the best minds armed with the best education through nationally recognized academic programs. So he knew that providing funds for merit scholarships at SMU would be a wise investment. Cox is providing $5 million for merit-based undergraduate scholarships in the school that bears his name – SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business.
The gift will serve as a challenge grant to stimulate additional contributions toward the goal of a $10 million endowment fund for the Cox School’s B.B.A. Scholars Program, to be called the Edwin L. Cox B.B.A. Scholars Program.
"Ed Cox has supported SMU generously with his time, talents and resources for more than 50 years," says President R. Gerald Turner. "It is characteristic that he would step up to fund one of the University’s greatest priorities – the support of high-achieving students."
The B.B.A. Scholars Program provides scholarships for outstanding first-year students with an interest in business as a major. SMU students typically concentrate on general education courses in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences in their first year and declare a major in their sophomore year. Students chosen as B.B.A Scholars follow the same general education curriculum but are pre-selected for direct admission to the Cox School as first-year students, thus receiving early access to Cox programs and services.
Approximately 100 students enter SMU as B.B.A. Scholars each year. They receive scholarship support throughout their academic experience at SMU. In addition to merit scholarships, they receive benefits such as customized academic advising and career services, networking with Dallas business leaders and invitations to special events.
SMU’s School of Business, established in 1920, was renamed in 1978 to recognize Cox as its major benefactor. He has served SMU in numerous capacities. Cox was chair of the Board of Trustees from 1967 to 1987 and was named trustee emeritus in 1991. He served on the Cox School Committee for SMU’s recent capital campaign and serves on the School’s Executive Board and the Advisory Board of the Cary M. Maguire Energy Institute in the Cox School. The University honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award in 1974, Volunteer of the Year Award in 1985 and Mustang Award in 1996.
Cox is chair of the Edwin L. Cox Company, a holding company for his private investments. He formerly was chair of Cox Oil and Gas Inc., which became Cox Exploration, one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the United States.
The impact of beloved SMU professor Laurence Perrine will continue for generations to come through a bequest from the estate of his wife, Catherine Perrine. The $3.3 million bequest will fund scholarships and an endowed faculty chair in the Department of English, Dedman College.
A total of $1.5 million of the bequest will establish the Laurence and Catherine Perrine Endowed Chair in English, which will support a faculty position specializing in creative writing. An additional $1 million will establish the Laurence and Catherine Perrine Endowed President’s Scholarship Fund to support at least two President’s Scholarships awarded to Dedman College majors. The remainder of the Perrine bequest will establish the Perrine Endowed University Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships for English majors, who will be known as the Perrine Scholars in English.
"Laurence Perrine’s influence continues through this generous bequest, which will enable the Department of English to strengthen its creative writing program with a new endowed faculty position and allow Dedman College to attract some of the nation’s brightest students through additional scholarship opportunities," says Interim Dedman Dean Caroline Brettell.
Catherine Perrine met her future husband when she was teaching freshman English at SMU from 1948 to 1950. Subsequently, she became active in civic affairs and statewide environmental issues, particularly water planning.
After earning B.A. and M.A. degrees from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. from Yale University, Laurence Perrine began his distinguished career as a member of SMU’s English faculty in 1946 and was named the Daisy Deane Frensley Professor of English Literature in 1968. He gained a national reputation for his classic textbooks, Sound and Sense and Story and Structure, first published in the 1950s. Sound and Sense became one of the most influential works in American education. Updated versions of the textbooks are still in use.
Perrine was one of the founders of SMU’s Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 1949. In his honor, the chapter awards a Perrine Prize each year to a member of SMU’s undergraduate faculty in liberal studies "who embodies the ideals of Phi Beta Kappa and the tradition of excellence fostered by Professor Perrine." He retired as the Frensley Professor Emeritus in 1980 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from SMU in 1988. He died in 1995.
SMU added a creative writing specialization to its B.A. degree program in English in 1975. The SMU Department of English also offers an M.A. degree and began offering a Ph.D. this fall.
Dedicated students often honor the mentors who guided their academic development. But a new gift to SMU reverses that pattern – the mentor is honoring his former student through a gift to SMU.
A new research endowment fund honoring SMU Anthropology Professor Robert Van Kemper has been established through a bequest from his late mentor and teacher George M. Foster Jr. at the University of California, Berkeley. The Foster Trust provides $250,000 to establish the Robert Van Kemper Endowment Fund for Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology at SMU, supporting training and field research experience for graduate students in anthropology.
Foster, who died in May 2006, was a pioneer in cultural anthropology. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from SMU in 1990. Kemper earned his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1971 as a student of Foster and conducted research with Foster in Mexico. Kemper is continuing the ethnographic and demographic research begun by Foster in 1945 in Tzintzuntzán, Michoacán.
"My summer in Mexico in 1967 set the course for my career. Foster’s endowment will enable future generations of SMU anthropology students to have similar experiences," Kemper says.
Kemper, a cultural anthropologist, joined SMU in 1972 and serves as chair of the Department of Anthropology in Dedman College. In addition to his work in Mexico, he conducts research on Mexican-Americans in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Perkins School of Theology launched a major expansion of its facilities with a groundbreaking ceremony in September. The building program includes extensive renovation of two classroom and office buildings and construction of a new building. The new 20,000-square-foot facility will be named in honor of donor Elizabeth Perkins Prothro of Wichita Falls, Texas. The Perkins-Prothro family made a lead gift of $6 million that will provide half the funds sought for the program. Participating in the groundbreaking were President R. Gerald Turner (far left) and Prothro family members (from left) Frank Yeager, Kay Prothro Yeager, Caren Prothro, Holly Philbin, Alex Beltchev, Linda Beltchev and Elizabeth Edwards, and Perkins Dean William Lawrence. For more information: www.smu.edu/newsinfo/releases/07015.asp.
When junior Abigail Seibel worked last year as a caller for Tele-Pony, SMU’s telemarketing outreach to alumni, she enjoyed making connections with alumni nationwide representing every graduating class.
"When I called to ask for their support, they wanted to know how campus has changed and to hear about Homecoming and the Boulevard," she says. "They also wanted to tell me what it was like ‘back when’. One alum from the class of 1936 described how there used to be only one road." This year, Seibel is managing 25 Tele-Pony student callers.
SMU’s goal is to encourage all alumni to support the University by making a gift to the area that most interests them.
"Every alum’s decision to show support is what matters most – more than the amount," says Seibel, who is majoring in international studies and Spanish. Her parents, Mark (’75) and Kelly (’76), also are alumni.
The percentage of alumni who give financially to their alma maters is used as a factor by national publications such as U.S. News & World Report in determining university rankings. "Alumni giving also plays a significant role in encouraging large donors, corporations and foundations to support SMU," adds Mark Petersen, associate vice president for development and alumni affairs. "It is a vote of confidence and sign of commitment."
Although alumni may pledge to programs of their choice, students call on behalf of specific schools and the SMU Fund, which provides unrestricted support to finance SMU’s academic mission and meet its operating budget needs. In spring 2008, students will call parents for gifts to the SMU Parent Fund, which also supports campus operations.
Last year’s gifts helped provide scholarships and financial aid to students; funds for faculty and student research; services at the Hegi Family Career Development Center, including on-campus job interviews and résumé assistance; library materials and subscriptions to journals; and new technology in residence halls, classrooms and labs.
"Every gift makes a difference," says Seibel, noting that during last year’s phonathon, pledges of $35 and under totaled more than $37,000. "Alumni and parents are helping every student – and the entire University – with their support."
With a little help from its friends, the SMU-in-Taos program is more than getting by – it is going strong.
"The new Friends of SMU-in-Taos program is providing funds for increasing student scholarships, strengthening the curriculum through new course offerings and enhancing our present facilities," says Michael Adler, associate professor of anthropology and executive director of SMU-in-Taos.
SMU-in-Taos is located on more than 300 acres in Northern New Mexico. It includes Fort Burgwin, a reconstructed pre-Civil War fort, and a 13th-century pueblo dig site.
The Friends also support the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, founded in 2005 to offer adult weekend courses taught by SMU faculty. The 2008 Institute is scheduled for July 17-20. Visit smu.edu/taos for more information.
Benefits for Friends of SMU-in-Taos include preferred seating at summer lectures, concerts and events; invitations to private dinners; early registration for the Cultural Institute; signed copies of books by faculty, local authors and artists; and special trips to area destinations. To become a member or for more information, contact Michael Adler at 214-768-1864 or at madler@smu.edu.
Attracting High Achievers and Big Thinkers With Merit Scholarships
By Joy Hart
Photographs By Hillsman S. Jackson
To attract the best students to SMU, admission officers cite a campus experience that is challenging in and out of the classroom, the opportunity to interact closely with distinguished professors and other bright students, and the benefits of living and learning on a park-like campus in a vibrant city. They get all this – and the incentive of merit scholarships.
As SMU competes nationally for the best students, merit scholarships "help attract young scholars who will benefit from and enrich the SMU experience. They stimulate an environment of academic excellence," says Ron Moss, dean of undergraduate admission and executive director of enrollment services. And as SMU strives to grow in academic stature, seeking resources for additional merit scholarships is a high priority, championed by SMU’s Board of Trustees and other University leaders.
Two top scholarship packages supported by donors are the President’s Scholars Program, now 25, and the Hunt Leadership Scholars Program, which turns 15 next year. And a new endowment has just been announced for B.B.A. scholars in the Cox School of Business.
Students who win the highly competitive scholarships say it is more than money that seals the deal – it is the total SMU experience and a package of benefits that often includes study abroad, meeting world leaders on campus, close mentoring by faculty, research opportunities and the possibility of pursuing double or triple majors. The students bring the right combination of attributes, too – brains, broad interests, leadership, civic awareness and other talents. They stand out, yet fit in. The following profiles of seven merit scholar recipients make the point.
Balancing Engineering And Athletics – Swimmingly
Brett Denham
Brett Denham was a fraction away from making the Olympic trials in 2008.
At the U.S. National Swimming Championships in July, he completed the 100-yard butterfly in 55.9 seconds – only 3/10th of a second over the qualifying time.
"I have mixed feelings," Denham says. "My time last year was 56.5 seconds. It was a good drop for me, but it’s a little tough to be so close."
Denham, now ranked 54th in the country in the 100-yard butterfly, will try again next year to make the Olympic trials.
"Brett is a great swimmer," says Andy Kershaw, the SMU swim team’s assistant coach. "He has talent, but he also works hard and he’s disciplined." He’s disciplined enough to compete athletically while pursuing the academically demanding major of mechanical engineering. Denham, a senior, swims five hours a day. During the school year, he trains two hours in the morning before classes and three hours in the afternoon. During the summer, he continued the same rigorous schedule, fitting in an internship at Stanley Tool Company between practices.
"Swimming alone is a tough thing to do," Kershaw says. "Swimming and engineering are about as tough as it can get. Brett does both with a smile on his face."
With a 3.6 G.P.A., Denham is one of the reasons why the SMU swim team has earned the NCAA Academic All-American team award for the past three years. Last season, the Mustang swimming team posted a 3.3 overall team G.P.A., ranking it sixth in the nation.
Even though his parents, older brother and numerous cousins attended Texas A&M, SMU is the right place for him, says Denham, who received an Embrey Engineering Scholarship and is an SMU Scholar, both awarded for academic excellence.
"I visited other schools, but I didn’t receive nearly as warm a welcome as I did when I came here on a swimming recruiting trip," he says. "SMU has a good swimming program and a solid engineering school. And the scholarships have helped me tremendously."
Finding The Right Stage For His Talents
Travis Ballenger
When Travis Ballenger was in the second grade, he played the role of a Native American chief in his school’s Thanksgiving play. It was the start of his passion for theatre. During his last two years of high school, he attended the prestigious South Carolina Governor’s School of the Arts and Humanities.
But as a sophomore theatre major at SMU, he discovered that his true calling was working behind the scenes – as a director.
"From the moment of my first rehearsal as a director, it felt right to me," he says. "I felt tense in a good way. There is a spark or fire that directing lights in me."
Ballenger directed seven theatre productions during his first three years at SMU, an impressive number for any student, and in November directed the Meadows School of the Arts production of Lanford Wilson’s "Balm in Gilead."
The first in his family to attend college, Ballenger chose SMU over other universities that offered him scholarships because he wanted to study with Cecil O’Neal, professor and chair of SMU’s Division of Theatre. O’Neal met Ballenger when he visited his high school to provide monologue coaching and encouraged him to compete in SMU’s national auditions in Chicago. Based on Ballenger’s talent and potential, SMU offered him a Meadows Foundation Scholarship.
"SMU has been a terrific place for me," Ballenger says. "The professors really care about the students. You can tell that, for them, this is much more than a job."
To earn extra money and gain even more experience, Ballenger also has worked in the Theatre Division assisting the faculty member who serves as stage manager.
"Basically, I live in the theatre department," Ballenger says.
Last summer Ballenger received a full scholarship to attend a three-week playwriting course taught by playwright Mac Wellman at SMU-in-Taos. He also spent part of the summer teaching acting at his old high school.
"Travis has done everything in his power to take advantage of all the opportunities available to him at SMU," O’Neal says.
Ballenger, who calls himself "extremely ambitious," says his goal is "to have my own company. We would write, direct, act and produce our own work." Based on his studies and experience on and off the stage, Ballenger could probably play any or all of those roles.
Civic-minded, Business-oriented
Jessica North
As a student at a private high school in Salt Lake City, Jessica North entered the public arena to encourage fairness in the treatment of women. She joined a group of students who successfully lobbied Utah legislators to support a bill on pay equity. The bill required the state to conduct employment surveys to verify 2000 census information showing that women in Utah made 67 cents to every dollar made by men, making it the second worst state in the country for pay equity. "It was a first step in correcting the problem," she says. "I learned that you can talk to your legislators."
At SMU North is among those making policy on campus issues. Last year she represented the Cox School of Business on the SMU Student Senate and served on the SMU Honor Council, helping to decide cases involving students accused of cheating or other violations of the University’s Honor Code. She also served as vice president of finance for Delta Sigma Pi, the business honorary fraternity; as an officer in her sorority, Tri Delta; and as a Week of Welcome leader to incoming first-year students.
Although North applied to colleges all over the country, from Santa Clara in California to Duke in North Carolina, she chose SMU for several reasons. The friendly campus was an attraction, she says, as well as the highly rated Cox School of Business.
The clincher, however, was scholarships. North, a double major in finance and political science, received merit awards as an SMU Scholar and a Cox B.B.A. Scholar, which recognize outstanding academic achievement and strong leadership skills. "When I was weighing the pros and cons, the scholarships had a big impact on my decision," she says.
For North, it has been a wise decision. Last spring she learned the value of networking when she was one of 20 students invited to a dinner with the SMU Board of Trustees. She sat next to Trustee and alumnus John Tolleson (’68), who heads Tolleson Wealth Management.
"I hadn’t heard of the company but, after talking to Mr. Tolleson, I thought that it would be a great place to work."
When summer internship opportunities were posted several days later, North found a listing for Tolleson Wealth Management – and applied. She spent her summer at the company helping clients research investment opportunities and file tax returns. She also spent two weeks with the CFO and controller observing their roles in the company. At the end of summer she helped develop a training session that the company now uses to train new hires. "It was a great internship because I was able to put into practice a lot of the things I was learning in classes and see how it actually operates in the real world."
Although she had planned to go to law school after graduation next spring, North has decided to continue her career with Tolleson Wealth Management as an analyst, starting in June. "I want to see where finance will take me first," she says. "Later, I would like to enroll in a J.D./M.B.A. program," combining her interest in lawmaking with her talent for business.
Educating The Youngest Victims Of Civil War
Pragya Lohani
Junior Pragya Lohani returned to her native Nepal last summer to visit her family in the country’s capital, Kathmandu. From there, she traveled even farther in miles and time to the remote village of Rukum, where Nepal’s violent civil war began more than a decade ago.
"We had to fly, and then we had to walk two hours to get to the village," Lohani says. "There are no roads, no electricity, no telephone connections."
With a $10,000 grant from the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Fund, Lohani and a former high school classmate went as "peace ambassadors" to Rukum, where they helped restore a school and selected 20 children for scholarships to attend the school.
"Many of the children in Rukum drop out of school," Lohani says. "Some of the children are so hungry they eat soil. Many of their parents have been killed."
One student, Bimala Pun, described to Lohani how Maoists pulled her father out of their home, kicked him for three hours, dragged him away and shot him. "Bimala was calm because shis used to the war, but I felt very anxious," Lohani recalls. "As soon as I got back to the airport in Nepal’s capital, I started crying so hard."
Lohani says she made "a connection" with the children in Rukum and now has a mission. After she earns degrees in operations research and economics from SMU and then completes graduate school, she hopes to work for the International Monetary Fund. Eventually, she wants to create a nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) to help the children in Nepal.
To help further her goals, Lohani is spending this year at the London School of Economics studying international trade and developmental economics and modernity in Asia, which covers the history of China, Japan, Vietnam and Korea. Study abroad was made possible because at the end of her sophomore year, SMU awarded Lohani an upper-class President’s Scholarship, the highest academic merit award providing full tuition and fees, study abroad and other benefits.
"I love SMU," Lohani says. "I don’t think I could find a better university and education."
A Scholarship Called Serendipity
Rafael Anchia with his wife, Marissa, and their daughters, Sophia and Maia.
Rafael Anchía (’90) calls it serendipity that his father accompanied him to a college fair at the Miami Expo Center in 1985. Dad struck up a conversation with an SMU recruiter who spoke his first language, Spanish, and informed his son, "This is an excellent university."
And when SMU called their home in Florida several months later to offer Anchía a scholarship, Dad accepted for the son, putting him on a path to graduating cum laude from the Hilltop in 1990 with majors in anthropology, Ibero-American studies and Spanish.
Although all four schools Anchía applied to accepted him, SMU offered the most generous scholarship. "This was a big, big deal," he recalls. "I didn’t have my sights set on anything more than going to our state university. I thought that was pretty terrific."
But there would be even more good news for Anchía, who went on to earn a law degree from Tulane University.
Now a Dallas lawyer and state representative, he was named one of the 10 best legislators for 2007 by Texas Monthly magazine. "If the Legislature were a stock market, Anchía would be Google," Texas Monthly concluded.
Anchía represents the future as the son of immigrants who became a lawyer with a blue chip firm, the magazine stated, also noting that he emerged last spring as a top floor debater against a bill that would have required voters to present a government-sponsored form of identification at the polls. Anchía argued that the bill was directed at a voter impersonation problem that does not exist and would have resulted in disenfranchising minority and low-income voters. The bill died after passage in the House but lack of support in the Senate.
At SMU, Anchía remembers putting a lot of pressure on himself. "On many different levels, I wanted to show that a public school kid from a new immigrant community (in Miami) could not only compete but excel," he says. While an undergraduate he joined Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and says he continues to enjoy an extensive social and business network in Dallas because of that experience.
"I would rank my academic preparation at SMU with any education I could have received anywhere else," he says. He has strong memories of the classes he took under linguistics and bilingual education expert William Pulte, associate professor of anthropology, and clearly relishes the opportunity to work as a legislator on community projects with Pulte.
Anchía continues the relationship with his beloved alma mater in numerous ways. He returns often to campus to speak to student groups and says he is pleased to see the increased diversity of the University. He serves on the advisory panel of SMU’s Clements Center for Southwest Studies in the Clements Department of History, the President’s 21st Century Advisory Board and the Executive Board of Dedman College. Anchía and his wife, Marissa (’07), who earned her Master of Liberal Studies degree from SMU in May, still worship at the 9 a.m. Catholic mass at Perkins Chapel, and they baptized both their daughters at SMU.
"So we feel quite invested in the University," he says.
Passport To Cultural Understanding
John Hunninghake
For John Hunninghake (’07), the path to medical school has included stops in Latin America, Australia and Asia.
"In the United States today, there is a huge melting pot of cultures with different values and ideas about health care," he says. "Being open to appreciating those cultures and understanding the different ideas of people will help me as a doctor to communicate with them."
Hunninghake earned a B.A. by pursuing individualized study in the liberal arts with a specialty in medical anthropology and a minor in Spanish. After graduation, he joined another Hunt Scholar, senior Stephen Alexander, to travel to Costa Rica and Ecuador under a Richter International Fellowship. SMU is one of only 12 schools offering the highly competitive Richter Fellowship to conduct independent research, usually outside the United States. Their research evaluated volunteer organizations that are helping citizens in those countries develop ecotourism activities so they will not have to depend on jobs that deplete their environment.
"Volunteers travel to different countries with organizations to help small villages with tourist projects that utilize the beauty of the surrounding environment, instead of destroy-ing it, while improving the sustainability of the village through gardening and maintenance," Hunninghake says.
The two plan to publish a report and a magazine article on what they learned about specific organizations to increase awareness about the meaningful work of volunteers. They also want to make suggestions that challenge organizations to improve themselves.
His studies at SMU prepared him for his work in Latin America, Hunninghake says. "Anthropology is the study of how cultures relate to each other and how they can interact together; by working together they can improve each other."
Hunninghake got a firsthand look at other cultures during his junior year, when he studied for a semester in Spain and a semester in Australia. Through additional travel he has explored Europe and Southeast Asia, where he joined a study tour through Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand. His study abroad was part of his Hunt Leadership Scholarship, created to recruit and foster students who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, academic achievement and a strong sense of civic responsibility. The scholarships cover tuition less the amount of resident tuition of the leading public university in the student’s home state, plus costs associated with education abroad.
"Being a Hunt Scholar opened up many opportunities for me. The financial support the program provides for studying abroad was one of the reasons I decided to come to SMU."
After gaining work experience in the medical field, Hunninghake plans to begin medical school in 2009; but before reaching that destination, he has more travel on his itinerary.
Finding Her Future By Exploring The Past
Karen Gutierrez
Karen Gutierrez spent part of last summer in Portugal carefully extracting pieces of fossilized dinosaur eggs from a big block of dirt. Gutierrez, a senior studying geological sciences, removed the egg fragments from the dirt with an air scribe pen.
"When the pen pulsates, it breaks up the dirt and exposes the layers that contain fossils," she says. "But, if you touch the pieces of egg with the pen, you can cause damage to the surfaces. I was really nervous at first because I never had done anything like that before."
After studying in Madrid with SMU-in-Spain last spring semester, Gutierrez went to Lourinhã, Portugal, about an hour north of Lisbon, to explore a dig site with Octávio Mateus, who is working on a project in Angola with SMU paleontologist Louis Jacobs, president of SMU’s Institute for the Study of Earth and Man and professor of geological sciences. It was Gutierrez’s second trip to Portugal. During spring break in 2006, she worked as a research assistant with graduate student Scott Myers while studying with Jacobs.
"I am really happy with the opportunities that SMU has offered me," says Gutierrez, a President’s Scholar. "Not many undergraduates get to work in the field."
Gutierrez already has gained an international perspective through working on rock cores from the Congo and dinosaur eggs in Portugal as part of an American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund grant. "Karen is a personable, adept and quick student, and a poised ambassador for SMU, geology and paleontology," Jacobs says. "Her work – a mixture of fossils, rock and chemistry – is on the cutting edge of understanding ancient climates. She is destined to be an innovative leader in her field."
Gutierrez says she has wanted to be a paleontologist since watching the movie "Jurassic Park" at age 7. She went to high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and chose SMU because of its strong Geological Sciences Department. But a deciding factor, she says, was a four-year President’s Scholarship that pays full tuition and fees, supports a semester of study abroad and provides a retreat at SMU-in-Taos.
After she graduates from SMU with a triple major in geology, math and Spanish, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in paleontology, to work at a museum or teach and conduct research at a university.
"I have always liked solving mysteries," Gutierrez says, "and there is so much that we don’t know about the dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago."
Speaking The Many Languages Of Learning
Esmeralda Duran
Senior English major Esmeralda Duran met an Arab family this past summer while studying in SMU’s South of France program. She noticed the family speaking Arabic and French and introduced herself. "One of the languages I want to learn next is Arabic," says Duran, who is fluent in French and Spanish.
"The family invited me to their house for dinner, and we watched an Arabic TV station and went to an Arabic market. Seeing France through their eyes was one of the most interesting experiences I had last summer."
As the daughter of immigrants from Mexico who is a first-generation college student, Duran well understands the value of learning from other cultures. She understood only Spanish when she started kindergarten in Fort Worth. "I was only 5, but I still remember my hunger to learn English," Duran says. "It is a hunger for knowledge that I feel at the beginning of every semester."
She quickly became fluent in English and advanced in school, while helping take care of her younger brothers when her mother worked cleaning houses. In high school, a teacher encouraged Duran to apply for a scholarship to study in France through Fort Worth Sister Cities International. Duran, who completed all the applications herself, lived as an exchange student with a Franco-Portuguese host family in Nancy, in northeastern France.
After high school, she studied through the honors program at Tarrant County College. "I decided to make really good grades so that I would be offered a scholarship to a four-year college," she says. Now part of SMU’s Honors Program, she receives support from an SMU scholarship for community college transfer students who have maintained a minimum 3.7 G.P.A., in addition to a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, awarded to only 50 transfer students each year.
After SMU Duran plans to attend law school specializing in immigration law. "While I was growing up, I saw things and heard my parents talk about the injustices done to them," she says. "I want to change the world."
At Expanded Dedman Center, Getting In Shape Never Felt So Good
Photographs By Hillsman S. Jackson
At 5 p.m. most weekdays, Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports hums at its peak of activity – with hundreds of bodies running, swimming, weightlifting, spinning, playing basketball and racquetball, rock climbing, puffing on treadmills and punching the bags. Students, but also many faculty and staff, begin pouring into the facility the minute it opens at 6 a.m. and keep the place hopping until it closes at midnight. Weekends also see their fair share of users, although fewer. For a typical week in September, the daily number of visitors ranged from 800 to 2,300.
Built in 1976, Dedman Center re-opened in phases in 2005-06 after undergoing a $25 million expansion and renovation. It was funded through a student-led initiative supporting an additional 1-1/2 percent increase in tuition and fees in fall 2003 and 2004. Several donors also provided funding for the construction and renovation. Dedman Center now offers 170,000 square feet of indoor recreational space plus an outdoor area that includes The Falls (zero-entry pool with 7-foot waterfalls), two sand volleyball courts and leisure spaces.
The center enhances campus life and enables SMU to uphold its commitment to excellence in all aspects of the collegiate experience.
Judith Banes (’69, ’78), executive director of recreational sports, says she was forewarned by some of SMU’s peer institutions to expect usage to triple once the center became fully operational in 2006, and it has.
"The expanded Dedman Center serves as a positive meeting place for making new friends, relieving stress and achieving potential mentally and physically," Banes says. "The center enhances campus life and enables SMU to uphold its commitment to excellence in all aspects of the collegiate experience."
Increasingly, prospective students assess fitness resources in choosing a college. Nathan Fine, a first-year student from Japan (above, lifting weights), was undecided about his major, but "the Dedman Center greatly influenced my decision to come to SMU," he says. "Its facilities are better than any other university I visited. The center offers me a place to break away from studying."
SMU alumni also can use the facilities at Dedman Center for an annual membership fee.
SMU’s Office of Endowment and Scholarship Giving can help donors establish a new endowment fund at the University.
For more information, call 1-800-766-4371, ext. 2675; or contact Linda Preece, director, Office of Endowment and Scholarship Giving, P.O. Box 750305, Dallas, TX 75275-0305; 214-768-4863, 1-800-766-4371, ext. 4863, lpreece@smu.edu.
For more information about all of SMU’s giving opportunities, visit www.smu.edu/giving.
Benjamin Franklin once advised that a penny saved is a penny earned – but if he were alive today, he may have added that a penny wisely invested is an even better deal.
That sums up the philosophy of those who manage SMU’s $1.363 billion endowment, the foundation of the University’s long-term financial strength and part of its permanent resources.
The Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees oversees the SMU endowment and guides the SMU Treasurer’s Office in finding attractive investment opportunities. Last year’s growth of $200 million in endowment assets and return of more than 20 percent resulted from good investment choices, strong markets and more than $22 million in new gifts, says University Treasurer Liz Williams.
Even before SMU opened its doors in 1915, the General Education Board of the Methodist Church established an endowment of $111,540 for the new University. It took 80 years for the SMU Endowment to reach the $500 million mark – in 1995. That growth accelerated dramatically, however, with the last major fund-raising campaign: A Time to Lead. About one-third of the total $542 million given by alumni and friends was designated for the endowment, says Marianne Piepenburg, assistant vice president for planned and endowment giving. “We were able to increase the endowment by nearly $150 million through new gifts during that campaign. Those gifts, together with the wise investment counsel provided by the University’s trustees, have allowed SMU to double the size of its endowment in the past 10 years.”
So what does this growth mean for students and faculty? Endowment funds, supported by gifts of all sizes, enable SMU to develop innovative programs, enhance academic quality by attracting outstanding students and faculty and raise the profile of the University. In the competitive world of higher education, current endowment income and the assurance of its continued support for the future will allow SMU to compare more favorably with some of the best universities in the country such as Notre Dame, Duke, Brown, Emory, Vanderbilt and Northwestern.
The University’s endowment requires not only investment skill and donor support, but also discipline and patience. “Sometimes an observer will hear about a large endowment gift to SMU and think that this amount can go fully and immediately into supporting the scholarship, academic program or faculty position created,” Williams says. “However, it will take awhile for earnings to accumulate and provide a consistent level of support.” That support is ordinarily about 4 to 5 percent of its market value (gift plus capital gains), she adds.
“As the market value grows from reinvested earnings, future support will increase as well. Building endowment is an exercise in patience, but one that pays off in the long term.”
Funds held in endowment cannot be withdrawn at will, like a checking account, to cover the University’s daily operating costs. Donors who make the original gifts restrict them to endowment and designate use of the income from those funds for specific purposes. So an endowment is more like a savings account, earning a return for current financial stability as well as future growth.
An endowment works this way: An individual gives $500,000 to SMU to endow a President’s Scholarship, the University’s most prestigious and competitive award. The University then invests the gift through a number of strategies and markets. A portion of the interest and capital gains earned from the fund is spent annually for the purpose designated, in this case, the scholarship, while the excess remains in the fund’s principal to protect its value against inflation. So, the original value of the fund, plus any additional gifts, is preserved and invested. As the principal grows, earnings grow.
Williams compares the SMU endowment to a mutual fund pool, with each donor’s fund holding shares in that pool. “Essentially, we pool the endowment gifts and manage them as a single entity,” she says. “In inflation-adjusted dollars we are trying to support the purpose of the funds at the same or greater level each year,” Williams says. “That’s why it is important that we achieve returns that are equal to or greater than the amount we spend on the purpose, plus the amount of inflation.”
She points out that inflation is higher for universities than that reflected by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) because “our costs are related to people and quality improvements such as books and high technology. The price of a computer may go down each year, but the cost of improvements and upgrades in technology, allowing for the newest research capability to keep pace with competing institutions, continues to go up every year.” The impact of increasing costs for the kind of educational experience SMU provides affects the quality of that experience.
In the example of the President’s Scholar award, which provides the student’s full tuition and fees for four years plus study abroad and other benefits, the scholarship must increase each year as tuition rates and other costs rise. “If you give a full tuition scholarship to an incoming first-year student, that student will be much happier as a sophomore if the University continues to support the full cost of tuition with the scholarship,” Williams says.
According to a 2006 study by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), SMU’s endowment ranks 55th nationally (out of a total of 62 schools with $1 billion in endowment). That’s fourth in Texas behind the University of Texas System with $13.2 billion; Texas A&M University System and Foundations, $5.6 billion; and Rice University, nearly $4 billion. Harvard University, which has had the longest period of time to accumulate endowment, had $29 billion and Yale, $18 billion.
What is the budgeting impact? Last year endowment income provided approximately $45.5 million of SMU’s $320 million operations budget, or 14 percent of the total. That means 86 percent of the University’s budget came from sources such as tuition and non-endowment gifts. As SMU increases the income generated by its endowment, it is less dependent on tuition as a means of support – income that can vary each year with enrollment trends. This allows the University more flexibility in recruiting and retaining the best students in the applicant pool because it is not required to accept students it may not want, just to meet a budgetary number.
Despite the endowment’s strong growth, SMU, as a relatively young institution, remains undercapitalized compared to the majority of its benchmark schools, those that SMU emulates. One way to look at the strength of a university’s endowment is to calculate endowment assets per student. Using this measure, for 2006 SMU held $120,593 in endowment per student, compared to an average $257,455 per student among SMU’s benchmark schools. (For more information: www.nacubo.org/x2376.xml) “While we are building our endowment, those schools with which we compete are working just as diligently to build theirs,” Williams says.
That is why SMU’s new major gifts campaign will be devoted primarily to raising funds for the SMU endowment in four key areas: student quality, faculty excellence, academic distinction and the campus experience.
“Endowed professorships provide competitive salaries, research funds and other academic resources for the highest quality teaching and learning,” says Brad Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs. “Scholarships provide financial support for those talented and eager students who would thrive at SMU but are courted by other national universities. Gifts for academic programs enable us to strengthen and add to the curriculum, and support for extracurricular opportunities broadens the SMU experience for our students.”
Scheduled to begin its public phase in 2008, the campaign aims to elevate the endowment to a level comparable with competing institutions, which have more resources for growth in quality and impact.
The red running Mustangs mark the property that SMU has acquired.
SMU is rising. Not only in SAT scores and national rankings, but literally moving up, with programs in a high-rise building across Central Expressway. The 15-story building at the corner of Yale Boulevard and Central now houses SMU’s offices for human resources, internal auditing, taxes, accounting, procurement, payroll, asset management and the Department of Psychology’s Family Research Center. Other research offices are moving east as SMU’s campus stretches across Central for the first time in its almost 100-year history.
SMU’s 2006 purchase of Expressway Tower – a Dallas landmark that previously served as headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys – is one of several recent moves to gain additional space for growing University operations. SMU has purchased another building across from Expressway Tower, the former UA-Cine building on Yale, and the former Mrs. Baird’s bakery on Mockingbird. Across from Mrs. Baird’s, SMU now owns Park Cities Plaza, which houses the SMU Bookstore and other businesses.
With its recent building purchases east of Central, SMU has added nearly nine acres and more than 292,000 square feet to its campus, staking a claim on a valuable and strategic area of East Dallas.
“SMU has been landlocked and space-starved,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “The time had come for our main campus to grow beyond its traditional boundaries.”
The move across Central Expressway also coincides with a real estate renaissance sparked by the DART rail station east on Mockingbird, which has created a main street feel to development at this busy crossroads. Now in its third phase of expansion, the Mockingbird Station entertainment district features the Angelika movie theater, restaurants and urban loft apartments. Across the street, the former Hilton Hotel has been transformed into the trendy Palomar Hotel and high-end residences, including the return of Trader Vic’s restaurant.
“This makes sense for SMU, but also for the existing Mockingbird Station community and, for that matter, a significant part of East Dallas,” says Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm. Plans are under way for the Mockingbird Station area to have a university-themed name – creating a clear link between it and SMU.
SMU’s Master Plan for the East Campus envisions a mixed-used environment, eventually featuring housing for sophomores and juniors, academic offices and research facilities.
In recent years, SMU has opened its door to Central by renaming Yale Boulevard as SMU Boulevard and presenting the street as the main entrance to campus, leading into the East Quad with the Blanton Student Services Building and the Junkins and Embrey engineering buildings.
“We’ve created higher visibility for SMU along 75 (Central Expressway),” Turner says of the heavily traveled corridor serving 350,000 vehicles a day. “This is a 50-year opportunity for us,” he adds, referring to the rarity of available property near campus. “We plan to make the most of it.”
The University’s presence extends beyond Dallas as well, with programs at SMU-in-Legacy in Plano and SMU-in-Taos in Northern New Mexico.
For women in developing countries, how can cultural barriers be overcome to ensure they get mammograms, which could save their lives?
This question was asked of 15 corporate communications and public affairs students who participated in a summer workshop at the Ormylia Foundation Panagia Philanthropini in northern Greece, along with radiologists and advocates from six developing countries. They had gathered to learn about breast cancer from some of the world’s top radiologists and about communication issues that need to be addressed in those countries. CCPA senior lecturers Tony Kroll and Kathy LaTour (’74, ’83) also spoke to workshop participants about identifying and overcoming communication barriers.
In developing countries, cultural barriers such as religion or spousal influence often prevent women from seeking the services they need.
Students learned that breast cancer remains the leading cause of death for women in developing countries, because even when free screening programs are available, cultural barriers such as religion or spousal influence often prevent women from seeking the services they need.
At the workshop students conducted interviews with participants from Eritrea, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Egypt, Turkey and Greece to help identify specific communication barriers faced by each country. “They teamed up and conducted interviews with the participants to collect data that helped them offer some preliminary information about cultural barriers by the end of the three-day workshop,” says LaTour, now editor-at-large for CURE and Heal magazines in Dallas. Four students presented their findings and potential applications, including recommending which media might be successful and in which cases media would be ineffective due to issues with literacy.
Senior Candy Crespo interviewed a radiologist from Eritrea who was late to the workshop after being detained by government officials in his country. “He is one of only three radiologists for the population of 4 million, and they didn’t want him to leave the country,” she says. “But he wanted to learn how to help the women of his country, so he made it happen.”
Students attended the workshop through a grant from Susan G. Komen for the CURE, the largest nonprofit funding organization for breast cancer in the United States, and through Meadows Edge for Excellence funds provided for unique student projects by The Meadows Foundation. Kroll says that a number of the relationships have created opportunities that could provide global research for students interested in pursuing health communications.
From her first pony ride at age 8, Betina Matoni was smitten with horses. For the captain of the SMU equestrian team, however, finding the opportunities to continue her passion was more challenging.
When she was 5, Matoni and her family immigrated to the United States from Romania because of its political turmoil and settled in Richardson, Texas. As a teenager, Matoni mucked out stables, worked at children’s riding camps and exercised horses in exchange for riding lessons and the opportunity to compete. She delayed her dream of riding competitively while attending community college for two years. When she transferred to SMU, Matoni contacted equestrian coach Jenny Passow about joining the team.
More than 400 riders each year e-mail Passow seeking one of 15 scholarships or 20 walk-on slots on the team. Passow looks for riders with experience in English riding both on the flat and jumping fences. In addition, she seeks riders with broad experience riding different horses because horses are randomly selected in college competitions.
Now a senior majoring in sociology and philosophy, Matoni made the team as a walk-on in 2005, balancing her studies, a part-time job and the demands of a collegiate sport. Quickly earning the respect of her coach and teammates, she was elected captain last fall and will compete on scholarship for the 2007-08 season.
“This is the kind of opportunity that comes around only once,” Matoni says. “All of my dreams are falling into place.”
PERSEVERANCE AND PATIENCE
Most coaches of SMU’s 16 varsity sports accept walk-ons. Men’s basketball coach Matt Doherty held open tryouts last fall and took five players. Women’s rowing coach Doug Wright counts on nine walk-ons to fill out his 31-member roster.
Men’s swimming coach Eddie Sinnott says that about half of the SMU team comprises walk-ons. “There are about 11 guys on our team who are not on athletic scholarship,” he says. “We have been very fortunate to have had quite a few walk-ons over the years who have made an impact on our overall success as a team.”
Coaches usually are aware of talented high school athletes coming to SMU. The term “walk-on” is a misnomer when it comes to Division I athletics, they say.
“We know our potential walk-ons before the season begins,” says football coach Phil Bennett, who accepted 27 walk-ons on his team. “They have to have a pedigree.”
Even though senior Ben Poynter’s Lamar High School football team in Arlington, Texas, lost in the 2003 playoffs, he wasn’t ready for football to be over. Poynter, who played on his junior high “B” team, spent much of his junior varsity season on the bench. A growth spurt and increased workouts led to a starting position on his high school team.
“Ben’s high school coach told us that his best football years were ahead of him,” Bennett says.
Poynter, a finance major, began his SMU walk-on football career like many first-year players – attending 6 a.m. practices as a member of the scout team. In spring practice his freshman year he earned a scholarship spot on the team and started at tackle five times his sophomore year. His junior year Poynter started every game. In 2005 and 2006 he won SMU’s Charles H. Trigg Blocking Award recognizing the top lineman.
“I tell the walk-ons, ‘You better have perseverance and patience. It could be gratifying or you could be out quickly,’” Bennett says.
LEADING THROUGH EXAMPLE
At first, Betina Matoni found balancing the demands of the equestrian team with her studies “incredibly hard.” She struggled with the differences she encountered from more well-to-do riders, some who bring their own horses to SMU. Matoni lives at home and earns her own gas money to drive to the practice stable more than 20 miles from campus.
Sometimes scholarship riders have a sense of entitlement, Passow says. “When you have walk-ons like Betina, who work until they have to be pulled away, it brings everyone back to Earth. Betina leads through example by putting her nose to the ground and working.”
Men’s soccer coach Schellas Hyndman also has special admiration for walk-ons. About 30 players try to walk on to the men’s soccer team each year, says Hyndman, who has 9.9 scholarships to distribute among a 26-man roster. When the team competed in the NCAA tournament last fall, 80 percent of the players on the field were walk-ons.
“In 30 years of coaching I’ve learned that the player who walks on wants to be there a little more,” he says. “They are happy to be at the institution they chose and then to add soccer to that. They appreciate the uniforms, the shoes and your time as a coach.”
DREAMS FULFILLED
As a child traveling with her family, Katie Leonard would see collegiate soccer teams in their matching uniforms pass by in airports. “I want to do that someday,” she thought.
A sophomore walk-on on the women’s soccer team, Leonard loves road trips, especially her first visit to Florida last fall. The SMU midfielder played club soccer for eight years in Portland, Oregon, and served as captain of her high school team. Her club team won the state tournament in 2005. Although Division III teams recruited her, she wanted to try out for Division I. She came to SMU a few weeks before her freshman year to try out for the team, earning a spot.
Leonard, who has started a few times, recently learned that she will be a scholarship player in the fall. “I absolutely love it – soccer, the team camaraderie, the whole experience of being a college athlete.”
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With each step and sauté, push and pull, students in the Division of Dance learn their craft while perfecting their art. Beyond the barre, dance students show off the forms they have fine-tuned in the studio with Main Stage productions in the fall and spring, as well as a graduate thesis performance by the division’s M.F.A. candidates in April. The concerts feature historic and contemporary works by such choreographers as Martha Graham, George Balanchine, Judith Jamison and Paul Taylor, among others. SMU must obtain approval from the choreographers’ foundations for performances of these works, which is granted to few college dance departments. Students receive training from such faculty members as Dance Chair and Professor Myra Woodruff, a former member and teacher with the internationally renowned Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland and with the Martha Graham Dance Company. In addition, students have opportunities to work with internationally renowned guest choreographers, including Alison Chase, co-founder of Pilobolus Dance Theatre; Arthur Mitchell, founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem; and Douglas Becker, founding member of the Frankfurt Ballet. For the informal Brown Bag Series, staged at lunchtime in the lobby of Owen Arts Center, students don their choreographer hats and create works of ballet, modern, jazz, or tap that are performed by their peers. As a result of their broad-range exposure, dance graduates are members of numerous companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem and David Parsons Company, among others. For more information: www.smu.edu/meadows/dance.
Former SMU tailback/wide receiver Jerry LeVias (’69) met in February with students in a class on “Blacks and the Civil Rights Movement” taught by History Professor Kenneth M. Hamilton. LeVias spoke about his time at SMU when he was the first African American to receive an athletic scholarship in the Southwest Conference. Last fall he received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
SMU and MLS team FC Dallas will host the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s College Cup at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The 21,293-seat, $105 million complex is the home stadium of FC Dallas. SMU athletics has hosted two NCAA Division I soccer championships – the women’s in 2001 and the men’s in 2002.
Brent Erwin, former SMU men’s assistant soccer coach and University of Central Florida head coach, is the new head coach of the women’s soccer team. He takes over a team that advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships before falling 4-0 to Texas A&M and closing the season with a 17-5-1 record. Ashley Gunter, Carley Phillips and Olivia O’Rear earned first-team NSCAA All-Central Region honors. Kimber Bailey received third-team honors.
After maintaining a No. 1 ranking for most of the season, men’s soccer fell to eventual national champion UC-Santa Barbara in the second round of the NCAA tournament. SMU earned a 17-2-4 record. Senior defender Jay Needham, a Hermann Trophy finalist, was named to the NSCAA All-American first team and, along with midfielder Chase Wileman, was selected to participate in the 2007 Adidas MLS Player Combine. DC United selected Needham in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft. ESPN The Magazine named senior goalkeeper and finance major Matt Wideman its Academic All-American Division I Player of the Year.
Freshman quarterback Justin Willis was named Conference USA Freshman of the Year and received third-team Freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News. Willis’ 29 touchdown passes were the most in a season in SMU history and ranked him 10th nationally in passing efficiency for the season.
Junior Rachael Forish was named Conference USA Female Cross Country Athlete of the Year. She placed first in the league’s championship meet and earned All-American accolades after finishing 35th at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Maguire Interns Recall Lessons Learned As ‘Servant Leaders’
By Sarah Hanan
Quotes from great thinkers plaster a wall in the office of SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, including this one from Henry David Thoreau: “Aim above morality. Be not simply good – be good for something.”
That saying sums up the philosophy of Law Professor and Maguire Director Tom Mayo on teaching future leaders to put service to society first. It underlies the vision behind the Maguire Center since its founding in 1995: to guide students on the wise and moral use of the power they have gained through the acquisition of knowledge and to encourage ethical thinking and action.
Much of this work is accomplished through public lectures and national conferences sponsored by the center and in classroom discussions across campus, where students and faculty work through ethical issues such as end-of-life care, promise-keeping and trust and the war on terror. “The hope is that exposure to time-honored principles will rub off on students so that they will be better prepared to handle the ethical problems that inevitably will come their way,” Mayo says.
The Maguire Center also awards summer stipends to students to gain real-world experience in public service and ethics research. Since 1996, more than 90 Maguire interns have served more than 80 agencies of their choosing throughout the United States and in nine other countries.
“In addition to teaching service, many of the internships abound with ethical issues,” Mayo says. “How hard should a prosecutor push a victim of domestic violence to press charges and testify against her attacker? What does a community owe the undocumented immigrants who live and work there?
“There’s no better time for students than now to learn the skills they’ll need in only a few years for their powerful new roles of business associate, trusted adviser or community volunteer.”
Six Maguire interns provided excerpts from essays that they wrote about their experiences.
Brandie Ballard Wade interned in the family violence division of the Dallas County district attorney’s office, where she hopes to work after graduating from Dedman School of Law. She assisted with misdemeanor trials and helped educate victims, witnesses and even other prosecutors about legal resources and family violence.
“Every day in the misdemeanor courts presents a new challenge – either from the defense attorneys, defendants, victims, witnesses or the judge. I discovered that sometimes even other prosecutors can create a challenge for you because each comes in with his or her own perspectives on family violence. … As I had to explain to one misdemeanor prosecutor, the job of the officers and prosecutors is to protect the victim even when she does not want to be protected; even when she has forgotten the reason she asked for protection – she did ask. So it is still the officers’ and prosecutors’ and, hopefully one day, my job to remember her reason and fight for her protection and safety at all times.”
“The realization that every nonprofit, every effort to really impact the world and help people on a large scale, is reliant on generosity is frightening. It’s frightening because then one has to have faith in humanity’s ability to be generous. I’ve learned to have faith in that ability. I’ve learned that having that faith gives you the strength to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.”
— Sommer Saadi
Katherine Bartush, a sophomore majoring in business and pre-med and a soccer player who has sustained several knee surgeries, hopes to become an orthopedic surgeon. She spent the summer with the Community Outreach Department at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in her home state of Indiana, where she learned “about being a servant leader in medicine.”
“As part of the medical center’s mission, I organized an afternoon program for underprivileged children at the Martin Luther King Center. The kids who attended came from the neighborhood in my community with the highest homicide rate. The program met one afternoon a week for six weeks to teach young women self-esteem and other life skills. I helped brainstorm topics, called volunteers and set the schedule for a health lesson and a fun activity each day. I was in charge of the activity concerning women’s health and self-respect. A school psychologist talked about cutting (which is on the rise in young women) and self-love, and I showed the girls how to make and decorate their own bulletin boards to hang pictures of themselves, their friends and their family. … My time with Saint Joseph helped confirm my career goals and exposed me to part of my own community that needs the most help. ”
Leah Bhimani served an internship with Immigration and Legal Services of Catholic Charities of Dallas that gave her a firsthand look at the human side of America’s debate on immigration reform. The Dedman School of Law student says she experienced the emotional ups and downs of helping clients seek legal status.
“To our clients, legal immigration status is a coveted luxury, something a person waits years for, saves their money for, spends weeks filling out paperwork and taking time off work for, dreaming about reuniting family. When finally a legal permanent resident card arrives in the mail, or their family officially crosses the border, it’s like winning the lottery – it’s unbelievable until it actually happens. On occasions where I was the person lucky enough to find a way to make someone’s difficult immigration case successful, I felt the way I imagine my clients must feel. … There also were moments when my heart would sink and I didn’t want to go back to my office to face a client.”
Bethany Johnson, a pre-med senior majoring in Spanish and Latin American studies, worked with the Agape Clinic at Grace Methodist Church in Dallas. Johnson translated for the mostly Hispanic patients, recorded their histories and checked blood pressure, as well as helped the clinic’s “promotoras” – trained community members who visit schools and offer classes on health.
“The focus on community health was one of the most fascinating aspects about working at the clinic. I was involved in researching problems such as diabetes and childhood obesity, which are prevalent in the Hispanic community. I was able to learn a lot about social work, and I now have a better understanding of the health care system in the United States. The waiting room at the clinic seemed to always be overflowing with people waiting for access to health care that would not have been available otherwise. … I realized that I really want to be in a profession where you can get to know people and help them.”
Ethics By The Numbers
Since the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility was funded by an endowment of $2.5 million from its namesake in 1995, it has upheld its mission by supporting student formation and curricular and faculty development; encouraging national dialogue and community partnerships; engaging research and publication; and sponsoring public virtue recognition. All that activity adds up to:
90 students who have been awarded summer grants for public service work in Dallas and around the world 59 ethics-related conferences and other events across campus and throughout North Texas 35 students who have participated in the regional and national Ethics Bowl competition during the past five years 32 teaching fellowships for the creation of a new ethics-oriented course or a new ethics component in an existing course 21 extended essays in its Occasional Papers series 19 public scholar lectures by faculty members from Dedman College, Perkins School of Theology and Dedman School of Law 16 students who have worked on the Design Team to address ethics issues on campus since its creation four years ago 15 major conferences on topics ranging from the ethics of managed care to college athletics to immigration 10 ethics awards presented to members of the Dallas community in recognition of their public-spiritedness and devotion to the common good 2 books co-published with SMU Press – The Ethics of Giving and Receiving: Am I My Foolish Brother’s Keeper? edited by William F. May and A. Lewis Soens Jr. and War: A Primer for Christians by Joseph L. Allen
Dedman School of Law student Letha Allen confirmed her passion for working in affordable housing during her internship with the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation. She researched a legal case involving residents of a poorly maintained mobile home park whose owner ordered them to move after he was sued for city code violations. Admitting the park needed work, the residents agreed to try to meet the terms of a proposed special-use permit that would allow them to stay for two years, if the landlord paid for some improvements.
“The residents’ problem made me ask what was the most ‘fair’ resolution. They had small mortgages on their homes, which theoretically allowed them to build equity, but in reality their aging homes were worth nothing without the land underneath. They paid an average of $192 a month to rent a space in the park. Was it reasonable for the residents to expect to find alternative housing in Dallas for that little? Was it the city’s or landlord’s responsibility to pay for relocation expenses? I did not have the answers to these questions. I did know that there were not enough good alternatives for poor people who wanted to raise their kids in close-knit communities with good schools and other amenities. When I left CDCDC, the residents were waiting to hear what the landlord’s next step would be.”
Sommer Saadi’s internship with Humanity United in Giving (HUG) Internationally took her from Richardson, Texas, to Romania. The sophomore majoring in history and journalism spent the first part of her summer organizing fund-raisers and donation drives from the nonprofit’s home office and the last part visiting two of the orphanages it sponsors overseas. Along the way, she learned the value of generosity.
“The realization that every nonprofit, every effort to really impact the world and help people on a large scale, is reliant on generosity is frightening. It’s frightening because then one has to have faith in humanity’s ability to be generous. I’ve learned to have faith in that ability. I’ve learned that having that faith gives you the strength to accomplish what needs to be accomplished. … The most rewarding and most influential experience of my internship was my trip to Romania to visit the orphanages HUG sponsors. It was my turn to dedicate myself fully and devote the generosity I had been seeking in others.”
In theatre, even breaking an ankle can be good luck. Ask Wrenn Schmidt (’05), whose own such accident indirectly led to a spot with the national touring company of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The production, featuring Bill Irwin and Kathleen Turner from their Broadway roles as George and Martha, began a five-city tour in January at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The show also travels to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tucson through May.
Schmidt, a President’s Scholar who graduated summa cum laude in theatre studies and history from SMU, migrated to New York City to intern with an off-Broadway theatre company. “I stuffed a lot of envelopes while I was there,” she says. “There weren’t many performance opportunities.” After breaking her ankle early in 2006, “I started doing less interning and more auditioning.”
SMU’s New York alumni network came through when Mary Kate Burke (’00) introduced Schmidt to a friend from the Lincoln Center Theater directors’ lab, who passed on a casting notice for an off-Broadway show. Schmidt followed up, earning the role of Jenny in “Crazy for the Dog” with the Jean Cocteau Repertory.
That led to an invitation to read for “Virginia Woolf.” Three meetings later, Schmidt was chosen to understudy Kathleen Early as Honey, the timid, brandy-addled wife of a junior professor invited to George and Martha’s house for cruel verbal “fun and games.” The opportunity to perform is rare for an understudy; however, Schmidt remains on call to stand in for Early at any time.
“The amazing thing to me was auditioning against people who came from great graduate programs and realizing I was much better prepared than I thought I was,” she says. “If you have an SMU education, you’re already several paces ahead.”
Schmidt’s stage-combat training has come in handy. She serves as “Virginia Woolf’s” fight captain, blocking the many rough scenes between George and Martha. “The characters are so physical with each other, it can get dangerous,” she says.
Her casting in the play also led to guest roles on NBC’s “Law & Order” and CBS’ “3 Lbs.”
As a student playwright, Schmidt earned a showcase in the Meadows Theatre Division’s “New Visions, New Voices” festival, as well as a place at the prestigious World Interplay young playwrights’ conference in Australia.
“Now that I have so much free time as an understudy on the road, I will have time to write,” Schmidt says.
The United States still shines as a beacon to millions of citizens of other countries, many of whom continue to make their way to its borders. Currently the nation is experiencing the largest wave of immigration in its history: 12.4 percent of U.S. residents are immigrants; each year 1 million immigrants arrive legally and 300,000 to 500,000 arrive illegally.
After coming to America, however, how do these new arrivals integrate into the economic, social and political fabric of their new country? To determine their integration into the Dallas area, Dedman College faculty members from several different fields are conducting research supported by a three-year, $445,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Political scientist Jim Hollifield, anthropologist Caroline Brettell and historian Dennis Cordell are interpreting data they gathered from interviews with first-generation immigrants in the Vietnamese, Asian-Indian, Salvadorian, Nigerian and Mexican communities.
Researchers gathered information on their occupations, income, education and language skills. They also wanted to know if they participate politically, have become citizens and how active they are in their churches, community organizations and civic institutions.
“We tried to include every dimension of the community, from the bottom end of the labor market to the top end,” says Hollifield, the Arnold Professor of International Political Economy and director of the John G. Tower Center for Political Studies in Dedman College. “Dallas is growing because of immigration and has become a multicultural city.”
These immigrants to Dallas cherish the right to vote and participate in civic affairs in the United States but still feel close ties to their homelands, says Caroline Brettell, professor of anthropology and interim dean of Dedman College. “They don’t see a conflict between politically belonging to America while continuing to speak their own languages and observe their own cultural traditions.”
Brettell is a co-investigator on another project on Asian immigrants and participatory citizenship funded by the Russell Sage Foundation. Brettell was one of the first to explore the role of women in migration and is the author of numerous journal articles and books on immigration issues. Migration Theory, Talking Across Disciplines (Routledge, 2000), edited by both Brettell and Hollifield, is the standard text in the field. They are preparing a second edition.
Hollifield writes about the inherent conflicts in a free society that arise from immigration. The movement of peoples brings both benefits and risks to democracies, he says. “There is a great pressure legally, politically and from a security standpoint to make sure you have some control over your borders.”
He is the author and editor of numerous books, including the most recent, The Emerging Migration State. In addition to Migration Theory, he co-authored Pathways to Democracy with SMU Political Science Professor Cal Jillson.
SMU’s Clements Center for Southwest Studies also is facilitating research on immigration to the United States. Deborah Kang accepted a postdoctoral fellowship with the center because she wanted to broaden her research and perspectives for a book she is writing on the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The fellowship enables her to combine her interests and expertise in legal, political and immigration history, says Kang, who earned an M.A. in jurisprudence and social policy and a Ph.D. in U.S. history at the University of California-Berkeley.
An added bonus, she says, has been the presence of Hollifield and Cordell, as well as other faculty members with expertise in immigration issues in the Departments of History, Political Science and Anthropology. “As a result of their insights, I’ve discovered ways to transform what was a more narrow focus about a federal agency into a broader story about the border. The fellowship also has given me time to think about and develop the implications of my research for immigration debates taking place at the national level and in Dallas.”
At the border between Switzerland and France, the pristine Alps hide a world-shaking secret. In a 27-kilometer circling underground tunnel, scientists from SMU and other institutions are preparing for a subatomic demolition derby unprecedented in scale, scope and potential significance.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which will power up for the first time in November 2007, can fling high-energy protons at speeds approaching light itself until they crash into each other, releasing even smaller bits of matter. When the largest particle accelerator ever constructed becomes fully operational, physicists will be able to recreate and record conditions at the origin of the universe. Scientists from SMU and more than 140 institutions and 38 countries will be on hand for research and discovery.
The field of particle physics – or the study of subatomic phenomena – has a long history, and its basic principles are well described in the Standard Model of Particles and Forces. During the past 20 years or so, however, “we’ve stopped understanding,” says Ryszard Stroynowski, SMU physics professor and LHC researcher. “Our theories have broken down. Usually when that happens, it’s not because the theories are wrong, but because we’re missing something.”
Astrophysical observations show that visible objects such as stars, planets and other entities reveal only a small percentage of the universe’s total mass and energy. “It’s possible there exists a different type of matter that we and our instruments don’t yet see,” Stroynowski says. “It’s also possible that we don’t understand anything. As scientists, we always keep that in mind.”
The answer to this and related questions may lie in the so-called Higgs mechanism, which suggests that particles in space acquire their masses by interacting with a field of unidentified matter – strongly if the particles are heavy, more weakly if they are lighter. Scientists have not yet proven the existence of a particle called the Higgs boson, the hypothetical “God particle” that may be responsible for that differentiation in masses, and physicists can only look for the Higgs boson in the scattering of subatomic particles released by smashed protons. The motivation for finding that particle is “getting to understand how our universe works,” Stroynowski says.
Enter the Large Hadron Collider, the result of an international collaboration led by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland. SMU’s contribution focuses on a component called ATLAS – at 46 meters long and 7,000 tons, the largest particle detector ever built. Stroynowski is U.S. coordinator for the Liquid Argon Calorimeter at ATLAS’ center, which will detect the high-energy postcollision debris that scientists hope will be the signature of the Higgs boson and other new discoveries.
The LHC project came to life in the void left by the cancellation of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), originally a project of the U.S. Department of Energy located near Waxahachie, Texas. The SSC, which began major construction in 1991 and brought Stroynowski and other experts to SMU, lost its federal funding in 1993. Today, the project is marked only by a vast and vacant underground tunnel where the world’s largest particle accelerator would have been. The LHC will power up at a time when “Superclyde” would have been online for at least five years. “But the questions are not going to go away just because politicians say so,” Stroynowski says.
After the SSC’s closing, the federal government provided U.S. physicists with funds and permission to participate in the European project. (SMU’s own LHC-related grants total nearly $9 million to date from various sources.) By August, the builders expect to close access to the experimental hall, a seven-story pit located 100 meters underground. After months of testing to ensure that the LHC’s systems work as intended, scientists should start taking experimental data within two years.
Each year, researchers hope to capture about 10 rare subatomic “events” (phenomena that occur at a single point in space-time, which are fundamental units of observation in relativity theory). Meanwhile, they will collect data on 40 million events per second. “And we have to make sure those interesting events occurred, not because somebody sneezed, but because they’re real,” Stroynowski says. “It’s unprecedented in the history of human data. This project pushes the limits of many fields beyond anything that has come before.”
To capture the information released when atoms collide, researchers from SMU’s Physics and Electrical Engineering Departments have built about 2,000 fiber-optic transmission links similar to the connection between a home computer and server – except they work at speeds 10,000 times faster. SMU scientists designing this technology include electrical engineers Gary Evans and Ping (Peggy) Gui and physicists Jingbo Ye and Robert Kehoe.
“In this area, SMU is known to be on a par with any other school in the country,” Stroynowski says. “Our Physics Department has brought the University international recognition, and it provides a fantastic training ground for graduate students.” Those students include Vitaliy Fadeyev (’00), now an adjunct professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz, who applied principles he used as an ATLAS researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to help create a new method for restoring and preserving mechanically recorded sound. And projects such as ATLAS reward support for basic research in the natural sciences, Stroynowski says. “This is an adventure of discovery. We don’t always succeed – that’s the nature of adventure. But there is no way to express the excitement for all of us involved.”
One of the benefits of locating a presidential library at a university is that historic materials for research and dialogue would seem to be at home in an academic setting. As presidential historian Michael Beschloss remarked on a PBS news show recently, presidential libraries associated with universities possess “a certain vitality.”
That is already proving to be true at SMU. On December 21 the George W. Bush Library Site Selection Committee announced that it was focusing on SMU as the potential site for the Bush Library, Museum and Institute. “I’m not here to tell you we have been finally selected,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner at a news conference that day, “but this is as good of an announcement as we could have at this time.”
President Turner speaks to the media at a news conference in December.
Since fall 2006 dialogue on the project has indeed reflected the scrutiny and vitality of debate characteristic of the academic enterprise.
Shortly after the inauguration of President George W. Bush in 2001, eight Texas institutions began competing for the library project. In 2005 the Library Site Selection Committee asked each competitor to submit plans for the three components to be included in the project: a presidential library containing documents and artifacts related to the Bush administration, a museum with permanent and traveling exhibits, and an independent Bush Institute. Focusing on topics of interest to President Bush, the institute would host officials, scholars and others as fellows for research and symposia. The institute would be operated independently of SMU by the Bush Foundation, although appropriate interactions between the University and the institute would be determined.
In 2006 the field of competitors narrowed to SMU, the University of Dallas and Baylor University. Citing the need to release land for other purposes, the University of Dallas withdrew from the competition in late December. Baylor University has remained as a competitor, even as Selection Committee members and SMU officials have been involved in discussions. As of press time in mid-April, that process was ongoing.
“It would be a great honor for SMU to be chosen as the site of what will become a tremendous resource for historical research, programs and dialogue involving students and faculty, members of the public and visiting scholars and officials,” Turner said. “At SMU these resources would be associated with a university that has a tradition of debating important issues and bringing world leaders to campus. Over time, presidential libraries transcend politics and become increasingly valuable resources for inquiry, debate and education.”
Campus dialogue took on renewed vigor in the weeks following the Selection Committee’s announcement. President Turner spoke about the library project and answered questions at the opening-semester faculty meeting in January, participated in a special Faculty Senate forum and circulated answers to more than 30 questions resulting from that session.
Some faculty raising issues about the library project said they wanted to ensure that President Turner gained their input as he began discussions with the Library Selection Committee. Some critics opposed various aspects of the library complex, such as the independent Bush Institute. As skeptics and critics wrote commentaries for the electronic and print media, sponsored blogs, circulated petitions and offered their views to reporters, others used similar venues to express support.
The Bush Institute has been the major focus of debate, reflecting concern among critics that it would link SMU inappropriately with partisan politics and stifle academic freedom. Some faculty concerned about the institute have supported its proposed independence from SMU as a safeguarding separation, while others with concerns have urged that the institute be incorporated into the University to uphold academic principles and practices.
“I will say as emphatically and forcefully as I can that any agreement reached between the Selection Committee and SMU will be consistent with SMU’s mission, values and tradition of academic freedom,” President Turner said at the January meeting with faculty.
“It would be a great honor for SMU to be chosen as the site … Over time, presidential libraries transcend politics and become increasingly valuable resources for inquiry, debate and education.”
SMU PRESIDENT R. GERALD TURNER
For example, SMU’s Academic Planning Committee for the library complex, composed of 15 faculty members, recommended guidelines for concurrent appointments of fellows to the institute and the University. The Board of Trustees adopted the guidelines, which stipulate that concurrent appointments can occur only with the approval of the appropriate SMU academic department or school, using accepted standards and procedures.
Other important topics were addressed in resolutions passed by the Faculty Senate as the official group to convey issues to President Turner. Noting the presidential library’s “valuable opportunities related to research and service,” one resolution listed issues such as institute governance and the relationship between SMU and Bush Library fund raising. Another advocated increased access to presidential records. After presenting the resolutions to the SMU Board of Trustees, President Turner and the Board agreed to share the issues identified with the Library Selection Committee.
In its response to the resolutions, the Board noted that faculty perspectives “were particularly welcome in regard to academic freedom and excellence in higher education, guidelines for concurrent appointments [between SMU and the Institute] and access to materials in presidential libraries.”
SMU community members and the media gather to hear President Turner’s announcement of the University’s status as a finalist for the George W. Bush Presidential Library, Museum and Institute. For updates see www.smu.edu.
Two resolutions passed after the February Board of Trustees meeting focused on more detailed issues – recommending clear delineation of funding and duties for those holding concurrent appointments with SMU and the institute, urging that the institute’s identity be clearly distinct from SMU and asking that institute programs involve participants of diverse viewpoints.
Some members of the United Methodist Church questioned the appropriateness of housing the Bush Library and institute at SMU as a church-related institution. Reflecting on the give-and-take generated among church members, William B. Lawrence, dean of Perkins School of Theology, wrote, “It is utterly appropriate within the approach of Methodism to question” the actions of a president. And it is “certainly legitimate in the practices of Methodism for one of its own universities to provide hospitable space for a presidential library, museum and institute. This is not because the university will commit its views and values to the ideology of a particular politician. It is because Methodist universities are unafraid to tackle the greatest challenges of the age.”
On March 14 the Mission Council of the Church, which acts on church matters between quadrennial conference meetings, approved SMU’s long-term lease of campus land for the presidential library complex. Approval is necessary for the sale or lease of land that previously has been used for campus activities.
Fund raising for the library, museum and institute would be conducted by the Bush Foundation. Once completed, the library and museum would be operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which also manages security for such facilities. Because the library and museum would be the property of NARA, the federal government would provide their operational funds.
The selection process for the Bush Library itself has been unprecedented. It is the first time, for example, that eight institutions were invited to submit proposals for a presidential library, museum and institute. Because of the competitive environment, some rivals, like SMU, kept their proposals confidential.
As campus dialogue ensued, “the goal of the Faculty Senate was to provide the appropriate forum for discussing and conveying key issues and to respect the diversity and nuance of opinion among the faculty,” said Rhonda Blair, president of the Faculty Senate and professor of theatre. In their response to the Senate’s resolutions, President Turner and the Board of Trustees expressed appreciation to the Faculty Senate for its “leadership in facilitating discussion” and for “the respect the Senate and the faculty have shown for University processes.”
Among numerous media reports on the library discussions at SMU, ABC World News Tonight noted that controversy is no stranger at universities hosting presidential libraries, among them the University of Texas as it opened the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and related school.
“The dialogue at SMU reflects our tradition of free and open debate, and much of it has been helpful in identifying topics of discussion between SMU and the Library Selection Committee,” said Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs, who has served as a spokesperson for the library project at SMU. “This tradition remains central to our academic mission.”
“Media bias is a huge thing. I think about it every day and in everything I do. The best way to get around it is to have people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and opinions in a room coming up with what you’re going to cover. I’m a big believer in not wearing my opinion on my sleeve. Facts are facts.” Anderson Cooper, CNN News anchor, Turner Construction Student Forum, Nov. 14, 2006
“Presidential libraries are of enormous value. The only way to learn about history is to understand when things went wrong and when things went right, and I think it would be an enormous tribute to all of you here to have that [George W. Bush] library.” Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and author, The Lacerte Family Lecture, Tate Distinguished Lecture Series, Jan. 16, 2007
“Lia Lee, this little child, was connected to a thread, and the thread was connected to a string, and the string was connected to a rope, and if I pulled hard enough, that rope might be connected to the entire universe. I was writing a book about an epileptic Hmong toddler, but it was also about communication and family and health and sickness and war and peace.” Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Al & Sadye Gartner Honors Lecture, Nov. 3, 2006
“What we read the Quran to be saying depends on who reads it, how, what kind of methodology is used, and the circumstances and context. Historically, only males have been authorized to interpret it, and they have done so piecemeal and always within patriarchal societies. Perhaps it should not surprise us that they have read it as privileging themselves.” Asma Barlas, author of “Believing Women” in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an, SMU’s 42nd annual Women’s Symposium, March 1, 2007
“A great many high schools no longer make the study of civics and government a requirement for graduation. Our public schools have to teach liberty to the leaders of tomorrow. All of our young people in public schools are liberty apprentices. An informed citizenry is needed to maintain an independent judiciary. This is one of our most precious assets in this country.” Sandra Day O’Connor, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Dedman School of Law judicial conference, April 4, 2007
“I’ve always believed there was a bigger role for storytelling in economics and the social sciences than in most academic subjects. You have to somehow create a storyline as a way of marketing your own work. Many of my papers and seminars have a big storytelling component to them. For instance, my paper on gangs tries to tell a story about how that gang worked. It wins people over to understanding your arguments. That kind of persuasion is really important.” Steve Levitt,author of Freakonomics, Turner Construction Student Forum, March 27, 2007
Middle school students display their work incorporating green designs for cities of the future at Visioneering 2007 at SMU’s Moody Coliseum in March. More than 600 Dallas-area middle school students, educators, practicing engineers and innovators participated in the event to focus on how engineering can help preserve natural resources. “This year’s challenge was inspired by our new Embrey Engineering Building, one of the first academic buildings in the country to be constructed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Standards. We wanted to show middle school students that engineering is about innovation, creativity and teamwork,” says Tammy L. Richards, assistant dean for the SMU School of Engineering. Visioneering is sponsored by the School of Engineering and the Institute for Engineering Education.To learn more, visit theinstitute.smu.edu/visioneering. For more information on the Embrey Building, see Green With Embrey.
Meadows Museum will feature “Lone Star Legacy: 40 Years of Art” July 15-October 14, 2007, from the University Art Collection (UAC). “Lone Star Legacy” focuses on the works of contemporary Texas artists, including those affiliated with SMU, such as art professor Barnaby Fitzgerald, alumnus John Alexander (’70) and sculptor and former professor James Surls. The exhibition celebrates a 2006 gift of 19 works from Houston collector William J. Hill, including Luis Jiménez’s color lithograph “Southwest Pieta,” 1983. The UAC comprises works of art that belong to SMU apart from the Meadows Museum collection. The collection contains works from former M.F.A. students in the Division of Art, as well as early Texas regionalists, including the late SMU professor Jerry Bywaters, Otis Dozier, Everett Spruce and William Lester. For more information on the exhibit, visit www.meadowsmuseumdallas.org or call 214-768-2516.
James E. Quick, a noted scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey and a frequently published geology scholar, has been named associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies at SMU. He joins the University this summer.
During his 25-year tenure with USGS, Quick has served as a chief scientist, project chief and staff geologist. He currently is program coordinator of the Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) at the USGS. The VHP researches volcanic processes and monitors all active volcanoes in the United States to provide early warning of eruptions.
As the program coordinator, Quick initiated planning for and implementation of a volcano-monitoring network for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; initiated strategic planning for an enhanced monitoring network for the nation’s most dangerous volcanoes; and increased the funding for VHP in the president’s budget.
“With Dr. Quick’s appointment, SMU has taken another important step toward enhancing the University’s funded research and support for our graduate programs,” says Tom Tunks, SMU interim provost.
Quick is well versed in federal grant activity and experienced in leading research teams in obtaining grant funding. As program coordinator, he interacted with congressional delegations in partnership with academic colleagues and local government representatives to maintain the VHP funding and to develop supplemental congressional funding.
Quick is a member of the American Geophysical Union, Geological Society of America, Geological Society of Washington and the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior.
He holds a Ph.D. in geology from the California Institute of Technology and a Master’s in petrology from the University of Minnesota. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in geology from UCLA.
Quick succeeds R. Hal Williams, who has served as SMU’s dean of research and graduate studies for the past three years.
At 26, Alonso Gutierrez (’03) is fulfilling his dream of applying the principles of science to patients’ needs. A medical physics Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is developing new technology to make radiation therapy more effective in treating cancers of the stomach.
Unlike cancers of the bone or brain, cancers of the pancreas, bladder, stomach and colon are difficult to isolate and treat because their anatomy changes daily, even hourly, Gutierrez says.
Radiation kills both cancerous and healthy cells, says Gutierrez, who majored in mechanical engineering and physics at SMU. Radiation to the stomach often causes nausea and fatigue and may result in permanent damage to healthy organs.
Gutierrez conducts research under the direction of Thomas Rockwall Mackie, professor of radiology at Wisconsin and creator of tomotherapy, which aims radiation beams at the tumor from numerous angles while keeping the dosage uniform. Tomotherapy combines radiation therapy with CT scanning, enabling precise treatment and minimizing damage to healthy organs.
Gutierrez takes tomotherapy a step further by isolating the cancer with an implanted tissue expander. “The organs in the abdominal cavity are all squashed together,” he says. The expander, which looks like a breast implant, is surgically implanted in the patient before radiation, then inflated before a treatment, pushing the cancerous organ away from healthy ones.
“The expander localizes the tumor and covers it with radiation,” says Gutierrez, who is in the early stages of developing the technique. Tissue expanders have been used for other medical procedures, but he is the first to use them for cancer treatment.
The tissue expander is not his first medical innovation. In a senior engineering design class at SMU, the President’s Scholar and Goldwater Scholar participated on a team that modified an all-terrain vehicle for paraplegic drivers. “In that class we learned to be creative,” Gutierrez says. “We didn’t reject any idea as too outrageous; sometimes those are the ideas that end up working.”
Gutierrez plans to combine medicine, physics and engineering to become a radiation oncology physicist. “Radiation therapy is a team effort,” he says. “The physician knows how much radiation the patient needs. The physicist knows the tools and designs the treatment plan to ensure that the radiation is delivered effectively. You’re really a problem-solver.”
Anthropology Professor Ron Wetherington (holding ball of string) works with students in the field for the course on archaeology.
Because of its popularity, the SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute has added a second weekend of short informal courses for adults July 19-22. The new classes will be led by SMU professors and other experts on topics such as the geology of Northern New Mexico, the literature of D.H. Lawrence, Latino politics of the Southwest, petroglyphs as historic images, as well as fine art photography and wines of New Mexico.
A few classes remain available for the weekend of July 12-15, including a pottery course taught by Felipe Ortega, recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as a living master, in which students will build their own pots at his studio.
Classes will be held at various places around Taos and at Fort Burgwin, site of an Anasazi pueblo dig and pre-Civil War fort and home of the SMU-in-Taos academic program. For descriptions of course offerings, visit smu.edu/culturalinstitute. For more information and to receive Institute color brochures, e-mail Jana Rentzel at taosci@smu.edu or phone 214-768-8267.
Lori S. White, who has held student affairs positions at the University of Southern California, Stanford University and Georgetown University, has been named vice president for student affairs at SMU, effective June 1. She currently serves as associate vice president for student affairs at USC. White succeeds James E. Caswell (’63, ’66, ’70), who is retiring after 40 years of service to the University.
Lori S. White
“The quality of the campus experience is one of SMU’s greatest strengths in recruiting and retaining students,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Lori White is the perfect choice to build on that quality and keep us up-to-date in our development of students for leadership now and after graduation.”
At SMU White will be responsible for student life programs including residence halls; student activities such as women’s, multicultural, volunteer and leadership programs; judicial affairs; campus ministries; health and wellness programs; career services; the Hughes-Trigg Student Center and the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports.
She also will have an adjunct faculty appointment in SMU’s School of Education and Human Development.
“SMU has great students and strong leadership and is poised to become one of the premier institutions of the 21st century,” White says. “I look forward to working with members of the SMU and Dallas communities to continue to attract the best and brightest students to the University.”
At USC White supervises a staff of 70 and manages a $7 million budget. She also holds a faculty position at USC as associate clinical professor in the Rossier School of Education. An active researcher, she has presented more than 50 papers at professional conferences.
A native of the San Francisco Bay area, White earned her A.B. degree in psychology and English from the University of California and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in education administration and policy analysis, with emphasis in higher education. She also participated in Harvard University’s Management and Leadership in Education Program.
White has been active in community and professional activities, serving in leadership positions with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. She also has served as founding president of the Stanford Black Alumni Club of San Diego and as a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
Although there is only so much an institution can do to protect against the type of tragedy that recently occurred at Virginia Tech, in view of this situation SMU has reminded the campus community about its emergency procedures. The University constantly monitors and updates its procedures as it continues to learn from others in the higher education community and from the security and law enforcement professions.
For procedures and resources, SMU’s Web site at www.smu.edu contains information and links to more detailed information.
SMU students organized a prayer service and candlelight vigil in memory of the students and faculty who died April 16 in Blacksburg, Virginia.
There is still time to travel and learn with SMU. The following trips remain in the 2007 Alumni Travel Education Program (dates subject to change). For more information, contact Alumni Relations at 214-768-2586, toll-free 1-888-327-3755, smualum@smu.edu, or visit smu.edu/alumni/travel. Fall/Winter Travel Education Programs (Dates subject to change)
Cruise The Passage Of Peter The Great (Alumni Holidays) September 12-24
Village Life Along The Seine River (Gohagan & Co.) October 5-13
Yuletide Magic In Vienna And Salzburg, Austria (Gohagan & Co.) December 8-15
The “Stop Global Warming College Tour” kicked off at SMU April 9 with a visit by ABC’s Sam Champion (front left) reporting for “Good Morning America,” along with Laurie David (center), producer of “An Inconvenient Truth,” and singer Sheryl Crow (in scarf). The Mustang Band, Pom Squad and student trustee Liz Healy assembled at 5:30 a.m. to appear on GMA, which featured them five times throughout the two-hour show. The kick-off continued with an afternoon news conference and evening show in McFarlin Auditorium featuring speakers, film clips and a performance by Crow.
SMU honored five outstanding graduates at the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award ceremonies. Recipients were (from left) investment banker and volunteer Paul Bass (’57), artist and former SMU trustee John Nieto (’59), Houston businessman Jerry LeVias (’69), and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Craig T. Enoch (’72, ’75). Houston attorney and volunteer Denise Scofield (’89) received the Emerging Leader Award. For more information, visit smu.edu/daa.
Paul W. Ludden, dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of California-Berkeley and scholar in environmental biochemistry, has been named provost and vice president for academic affairs at SMU. He will join SMU in time for the fall 2007 semester.
As provost, the University’s chief academic officer, Ludden will oversee all aspects of academic life, ranging from admissions and faculty development to supervision of SMU’s seven schools, library system and international programs.
“Paul Ludden is an active researcher, he values undergraduate teaching along with graduate education and he has experience leading academic units in a complex educational setting,” says President R. Gerald Turner.
In accepting the position, Ludden said, “SMU is filled with opportunity. There is a solid foundation of academic achievement, an ambitious plan for obtaining resources to support even more progress academically and a strong partnership with a city becoming more important globally. SMU has all of the ingredients to fulfill its high aspirations, and I look forward to working with the University community in achieving our goals.”
A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, Ludden received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Nebraska in 1972 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. After a Rockefeller postdoctoral fellowship at Michigan State University, he served as an assistant professor at the University of California-Riverside. In 1981 he returned to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he rose to the rank of full professor.
At Wisconsin he directed the Biochemistry Graduate Program for 14 years and taught in the highly regarded Biocore Program for undergraduates. Continuing his administrative career while pursuing his research interests, he served as assistant chair of the Biochemistry Department and later as executive associate dean, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, at Wisconsin.
In 2002 Ludden joined UC-Berkeley as dean of the College of Natural Resources and professor of plant and microbial biology. In addition to his duties as dean, he teaches a first-year seminar and co-teaches the core microbiology course for undergraduate majors. He carries a concurrent appointment as a faculty member at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He represents Berkeley on several environmental science groups and in the University-Industry Consortium.
An expert on microbial biochemistry, Ludden with his students has published more than 175 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. The NIH chose his work for a 10-year Merit Award that provides support for his laboratory.
Ludden has received numerous honors and was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a member of the American Society of Plant Biologists and the American Society of Biological Chemists.
Since earning his Executive M.B.A. from the Cox School of Business in 2006, Erin Patton has found new ways to understand markets and cultures.
During the past year, Patton has launched an innovative market research study, developed a $14.98 sneaker, written a book, and taught a course at Cox – while growing TMG, the market intelligence consulting firm he founded in 2001.
TMG stands for The Mastermind Group. “I surround myself with very smart, talented and committed advisers and employees,” Patton says.
Patton’s team, based in New York with offices in Dallas and Los Angeles, has counseled Fortune 500 companies such as Converse, Absolut, and Mercedes-Benz on connecting with customers and building their brands. Last year the group successfully launched Starbury, an affordable line of footwear and apparel for the New York Knicks’ Stephon Marbury and Steve & Barry’s University Sportswear. This year, TMG is introducing “7 Ciphers,” the first quantitative study of urban consumers that goes beyond traditional approaches based on gender, race and age. Patton has identified seven market segments, ages 14 to 39, with their own styles, attitudes and experiences, such as influential “Contemporary Urban” Gen-Xers and aspiring “Sub-Urban” young adults. “Today the notion of ‘urban’ transcends racial and geographic boundaries,” he says, “and this study will help businesses and organizations understand and quantify these consumers.”
Patton, who lives in Dallas, laid the groundwork for “7 Ciphers” during the market research course taught by William Dillon, the Herman W. Lay Professor of Marketing and Statistics at Cox. The pilot study, sponsored by Pepsi, MTV and the Brookings Institution, uncovered behaviors and attitudes about music, fashion, technology, cars and more.
What influences consumers and how consumers, in turn, influence culture always fascinated Patton. “I was the kid who had to have the Air Jordans,” he says. “I’m a product of Gen X, which redefined the American dream by breaking down old barriers. I’m translating that phenomenon for corporate America.”
In his book, now in discussions with publishers, Patton also has chronicled his personal journey from a tough inner-city Pittsburgh neighborhood to Northwestern University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree. It focuses on his work at Nike in the 1990s, when Michael Jordan handpicked him to launch his signature brand, and on strategies for reaching the urban consumer.
Patton is sharing his experiences with SMU students. Last summer he taught a sports marketing class, tapping into his connections with Nike, the NBA, the Rangers and others. “As they say in business, it’s not who you know, but who knows you,” he says, “and being part of the SMU network boosts that theory exponentially.”
Learn more at themastermindgroup.com.
The new facility for the men’s and women’s programs is under construction behind Moody Coliseum (see map). The map also shows the location of a new parking garage under construction on Binkley and the site of future outdoor tennis courts.
SMU broke ground in December on the Crum Basketball Center, a state-of-the-art facility for the men’s and women’s basketball programs scheduled to open in October 2007. The Center is made possible by a leadership gift of $6 million from Sylvie P. and Gary T. Crum (’69), an SMU trustee. “The SMU Basketball Center will allow us to attract and develop the very best student athletes from across the country and help return Mustang basketball to national prominence,” says Matt Doherty, men’s head basketball coach. The $13-million 43,000-square-foot center at SMU Boulevard and Dublin Street will include two full-size practice courts, players’ locker rooms and lounges, a training and rehabilitation room with in-ground hydrotherapy pools, a strength and condition room, coaches’ offices and film editing rooms. A tunnel will link the center to Moody Coliseum. “In athletics, we are nationally ranked in several sports, but in basketball and football we are not there yet. First-rate facilities are necessary for progress,” Crum says.
A new distribution of more than $2 million to SMU from the will of former U.S. Congressman and Judge Brady P. Gentry will double the size of a scholarship fund for students from several East Texas counties.
Mary Ellen Greenwaldt attends SMU on a Gentry scholarship.
Gentry, who died in 1966, included in his will a trust that established the Brady P. Gentry Endowed Scholarship Fund at SMU, which provides scholarships for qualified students from the East Texas counties of Smith, Van Zandt, Gregg, Wood, Upshur, Camp, Panola and Rusk. Through the years, SMU has received grants from the trust worth more than $2.5 million. In October 2006 the trust was terminated and the proceeds were distributed. At that time, the University received more than $2 million for the Gentry Scholarship Fund, which totals approximately $5 million.
Gentry, who began his career as an attorney in Smith County of East Texas, became one of the nation’s foremost authorities on highway development and administration. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Highways and Roads, he played a major role in shaping the national system of interstate highways.
“We are grateful for Brady Gentry’s foresight and generosity in creating a trust in his will enabling future generations of East Texas students to benefit from an SMU education,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “Planned giving through bequests, charitable trusts, gift annuities and other vehicles allows individuals to leave a lasting legacy that benefits future generations.”
Donors who help to ensure SMU’s future through planned gifts are members of the Dallas Hall Society, which has more than 450 members. For more information or to make a planned gift, visit plannedgiving.smu.edu or call 214-768-2675.
About 2,000 Mustang fans turned out in force for the SMU-Rice football game November 25 in Houston. More than 400 SMU supporters attended a brunch at the Omni Riverway Hotel, as well as a tailgate party at Rice Stadium. The Owls beat the Mustangs 31-27.
A gift of $6 million from the Perkins-Prothro family of Wichita Falls will launch a building program for Perkins School of Theology. This is a combined gift from the Perkins-Prothro Foundation and Elizabeth Perkins Prothro, daughter of the late Joe J. and Lois Perkins, who endowed the SMU Theology School in the early 1940s. The school was named in their honor in 1945.
“As we approach the centennial of SMU’s founding in 2011 and opening in 2015, we are especially grateful for this family’s vision and generosity through the years, which have helped to make Perkins School of Theology one of the nation’s leaders in theological education,” says President R. Gerald Turner.
Elizabeth Perkins Prothro
In addition, a challenge grant established by the Texas Methodist Foundation through the generosity of an anonymous donor will match all gifts, up to a total of $1 million, for the new building program.
As the lead gift, the new $6 million Perkins-Prothro commitment will provide half of the funds to be sought for the program. Plans include extensive renovation of two classroom and office buildings, Kirby and Selecman Halls, built in the early 1950s, and construction of a new building. The new 28,000-square-foot facility will be named in honor of Elizabeth Perkins Prothro.
“The continuing generosity of the Prothro family and the Perkins-Prothro Foundation is a vibrant testimony to the Christian faith that, in the words of Charles Wesley, unites ‘knowledge and vital piety,’” says Perkins Dean William B. Lawrence. “Their outstanding support will help Perkins School of Theology and SMU provide the finest facilities possible for preparing women and men with the learning and experience that they need to serve faithfully in the 21st century.”
The new building will be constructed at the southern end of the Theology School quadrangle, just north of Highland Park United Methodist Church. It will house facilities for education and community uses, including a 3,200-square-foot auditorium for public events, plus spaces for dining services, student computer lab, a student commons, preaching lab, classrooms, seminar rooms and lecture halls. The redesigned building complex will include two cloistered spaces for outdoor activities. Groundbreaking is anticipated in September 2007.
The latest gift from the Perkins-Prothro family to the Theology School continues a family tradition of support spanning three generations – from Joe and Lois Perkins to the late Vin Prothro, Dallas business leader and son of Elizabeth and Charles Prothro, and Vin’s wife, Caren Prothro. Vin Prothro played a major role in extensive renovation of Perkins Chapel, which was completed in 1999, the year before his death. Caren Prothro, a Dallas civic leader, has been a member of the SMU Board of Trustees since 1992.
The new addition will be located on the south end of the Perkins School of Theology quadrangle, just north of Highland Park United Methodist Church, between Bishop Boulevard and Hillcrest Avenue.
Including the new $6 million gift, the Perkins and Prothro families and their foundations have given more than $36.3 million to SMU since the first gift from Joe and Lois Perkins in 1913, two years before the University opened. Most of the family’s SMU support has been designated for Perkins School of Theology, including its Bridwell Library.
Elizabeth Prothro and her late husband, Charles, provided gifts totaling $7 million to Perkins School of Theology in 1997 as part of The Campaign for SMU. These gifts included funds for endowed scholarships, renovation of Perkins Chapel and a permanent collection of rare Bibles and related works spanning eight centuries. The collection was exhibited in the Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries of Bridwell Library in the fall of 2006. Charles Prothro provided the galleries previously in honor of his wife on their 50th wedding anniversary.
They help Buddhist monks teach poor children in Thailand, make wheelchairs for victims of Vietnam-era landmines in Laos and build stoves to save families from respiratory illness in Peru.
And during their trips abroad, Globe Aware volunteers also find time to be tourists.
In 2000 Kimberly Haley-Coleman (M.A., art history, ’97) founded Globe Aware, a Dallas-based nonprofit organization. The group sponsors weeklong volunteer-work vacations in Costa Rica, Cuba, Nepal, Brazil, Vietnam and Cambodia.
As its executive director, she runs the “nonpolitical, nonreligious” organization with two principles in mind.
“We promote cultural awareness, which means we work to appreciate both the real beauty and challenges of a culture,” she says. “And we promote sustainability, which means we train people using local resources; we don’t create dependence.”
Globe Aware grew out of Haley-Coleman’s experiences as an international businesswoman and volunteer. The Dallas native, who also earned an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Dallas and a B.A. from Emory University, has worked for companies including Infotriever in Canada, CNBC.com and the Capstone Japan Fund, where she often focused on strategic partnerships and development. During business trips and between job changes she squeezed in volunteering internationally with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Volunteers for Peace, which usually require commitments of at least several weeks.
“I always came back thinking there had to be a better way for busy Americans, who have almost the least vacation time among developed nations but are the world’s most generous volunteers and donors,” Haley-Coleman says. Through her travels, she built a network of like-minded volunteers – many of whom now serve on Globe Aware’s board – and together they launched their first weeklong program in Thailand in 2000.
Today Haley-Coleman, who has devoted herself to the organization full time since 2003, communicates with coordinators in the field and develops and evaluates programs, such as this year’s new trips to Romania, China and Africa. She seeks out communities that are safe and culturally interesting, and with needs that they want groups of volunteers to address.
Community service has been a significant part of her life, says Haley-Coleman, as has SMU. Her parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents and great-grandparents are all alumni of the University. She recalls hours spent analyzing art with University Distinguished Professor Emerita Alessandra Comini and Associate Professor Randall Griffin. “They helped reinforce my passion for truly examining and appreciating cultures.”
Learn more at globeaware.org.
Student Trustee Liz Healy and Student Body President Taylor Russ accept the scholarship gift at a Student Senate meeting
Showing that sometimes leadership occurs behind the scenes, an anonymous donor has made a $40,000 gift to the Mustang Leader Scholarship Endowment Fund, with the first $6,500 scholarship to be awarded to a student for the 2007-08 academic year.
The fund “provides scholarships to undergraduate students whose leadership has made a tremendous impact on the SMU community,” says Arlene Manthey, development officer for the Division of Student Affairs.
For more information about giving opportunities, visit www.smu.edu/giving.
Roy Huffington (right), President Turner and Vice President Cheves (back).
A gift of $10 million from the Honorable Roy M. Huffington (’38) of Houston will establish endowments to support faculty compensation and scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students at SMU. Each totaling $5 million, the funds will be known as the Huffington Bicentennial Faculty Endowment Fund and the Huffington Bicentennial Scholarship Endowment Fund.
The Huffington Funds are patterned after the unique Benjamin Franklin Trust, established by Franklin more than 200 years ago to benefit the cities of Boston and Philadelphia. As with the Franklin Trust, terms are set forth for use of the Huffington Funds while they continue to grow over the next two centuries.
This is Huffington’s second major gift to SMU patterned after the Franklin Trust. The first was $5 million in 1990 to establish an unrestricted Huffington Bicentennial Endowment Fund. A portion of that fund is paid annually to SMU for current unrestricted use, while the fund continues to grow. The fund, which is administered as part of SMU’s endowment, now has a market value of $15.1 million, more than triple its original value.
“One of the most important components of a university’s growth in academic strength is to have a strong endowment that supports faculty and students,” Huffington says. “This endowment is intended to ensure long-term resources at SMU for the recruitment and retention of outstanding faculty and the bright students they will inspire.”
The Huffington gift “uses a historical model to strengthen our future. His generous investment will serve students and faculty for generations to come,” says Brad Cheves, SMU vice president for development and external affairs.
Huffington is chair and CEO of Roy M. Huffington Inc., an international petroleum operations investment firm. His career has included global oil and gas exploration, international business, military service and a stint as U.S. ambassador to Austria from 1990 to 1993.
“One of the most important components of a university’s growth in academic strength is to have a strong endowment that supports faculty and students.”
Huffington earned a B.S. degree in geology from SMU in 1938 and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in geology from Harvard University. He has received distinguished alumni awards from SMU and the Harvard Business School. He also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from SMU in 1990, when he delivered the Commencement address. A member of the SMU Board of Trustees from 1980-87, Huffington was named a trustee emeritus in 1991. His late wife, Phyllis Gough Huffington, earned her B.B.A. degree from SMU in 1943.
The Huffingtons have given a total $20.6 million to SMU. Other gifts have included endowed faculty chairs in finance and geological sciences and several endowed scholarship funds. In 1996 they received the Mustang Award recognizing longtime service and philanthropy to SMU.
“Resources for competitive salaries and merit scholarships are major factors in not only remaining competitive, but also in becoming one of the nation’s premier private universities,” says President R. Gerald Turner.
Mark Hopkins, 19th-century educator and president of Williams College, reportedly said that for education to occur, all that is needed is a student and a teacher sitting at opposite ends of a log. Although that image does not befit today’s educational environment, it does capture the importance of the special relationship between learner and instructor. That is why recruiting and retaining a distinguished faculty is so important to SMU’s progress. Excellent faculty who create stimulating learning environments will best serve the aspirations of our students, and the reputation arising from this quality will help SMU advance among the top private universities in the nation. For these reasons, in preparing for our next major gifts campaign, we have identified faculty resources as a high priority.
Such resources translate into the hiring, development and retention of new professors; into endowed faculty positions to attract senior-level scholars or further support those already in our midst; and into resources for research and creative achievement. All those outcomes enrich the classroom experience, lead to new understandings and advancements, and raise the visibility and impact of faculty expertise.
One example of this increased visibility is the recent PBS series “The Supreme Court.” Among the handful of experts from throughout the nation who appeared on the series was Joseph Kobylka, SMU associate professor of political science and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor. Professor Kobylka’s research on the Supreme Court is reflected in scholarly publications and already has raised national awareness of SMU’s strength in political science.
In our Department of Physics, Professor and Ford Research Fellow Ryszard Stroynowski will travel to Switzerland as U.S. coordinator for the ATLAS Experiment, a major component of the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and highest-energy particle accelerator ever built (at one time popularly called an “atom smasher”). Named one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World,” the LHC will be the site of experiments to recreate conditions at the beginning of the universe, to help scientists understand subatomic processes.
In the next few months, we will be welcoming two new academic leaders who will support and nurture faculty as well as student achievement. Paul Ludden, dean of the College of Natural Resources at the University of California-Berkeley, will join us in July as new provost and vice president for academic affairs. A noted scholar in environmental biochemistry, he will lead the faculty, the schools, the libraries, admissions and other areas of academic life at SMU.
Another eminent researcher, James E. Quick, will join SMU as associate vice president for research and dean of graduate studies, reporting to the provost. Quick, a prolific author and program coordinator for the U.S. Geological Survey, will lead our efforts to increase funding for faculty research and strengthen graduate studies.
Recent faculty appointments also are strengthening areas of expertise at SMU. For example, the severity of natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, and the possibility of recurring terrorism, have revealed urgent needs in disaster preparation and management. Environmental and Civil Engineering Professor Laura Steinberg, who has worked at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as well as Tulane University, has joined SMU’s School of Engineering. She studies how the effects of natural disasters are magnified in urban areas when nature and technology interact, and how engineering safeguards can reduce destruction.
In May other outstanding professors will be recognized with the 2007 annual Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Awards, funded by Trustee Ruth Sharp Altshuler (’48) and her husband, Ken, and with Ford Research Fellowships, funded by Trustee Gerald J. Ford. These gifts are examples of how donors are supporting excellence in teaching and research, and we hope they will serve as examples for others to follow.
What do such resources and appointments mean to the teaching mission of SMU? Although we are far removed from the proverbial professor and student sitting at opposite ends of a log, enriching the interaction between them remains important. Today, we’re more rapidly bringing new knowledge to the teaching equation. In the words of David J. Weber, the Robert and Nancy Dedman Professor of History, “A great university can’t simply repeat what has been learned from scholars at other institutions. To stimulate intellectual curiosity in our students, we must produce new ideas through research and bring that knowledge to the classroom.”
In the months ahead, through this magazine and other communications, we’ll show how new ideas and resources are stimulating higher achievement among faculty and our students, our future alumni.
Alumna Diana Aguirre (’96), second from left, joined (from left) Meadows School of the Arts staff member Kris Muñoz Vetter and Dean José Antonio Bowen and Fernando Salazar of SMU’s Multicultural Student Affairs office at a reception before the Spanish-language staging of Lope de Vega’s “La Discreta Enamorada” in December. The Meadows Theatre version updated the 1606 comedy to take place in Paris of the 1950s, featuring period music and dance and costumes based on the works of Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. Performances were presented in both English and Spanish with two casts.
Lance Bozman (’85) has grown comfortable with being uncomfortable. The managing director of AIG/Lincoln Hungary, a commercial real estate company in Budapest, he says the business and cultural environment is “so completely different from Dallas that every day is a learning experience.”
In planning and developing projects such as the high-tech InfoPark and the M1 Business Park, “I’ve had a front-row seat to history,” Bozman says. Since 1998, when he moved to Budapest to put together the InfoPark deal, “it’s been an unbelievable journey watching these countries move from a centrally controlled government to a free market.” Bozman also is managing director for S.E Europe, a company that has started an AIG/Lincoln office development in Romania and plans to begin projects in Croatia and Slovenia, as well as other formerly Communist countries and regions.
Before joining the Lincoln/AIG joint venture in 1997, Bozman represented EDS Corporation in the real estate markets of Latin America and Canada. When the chairman of Lincoln Properties asked him to join a new project in Central Europe, he accepted.
The InfoPark project was a crash course in post-Communist bureaucracy. Assembling land for a project can take two to four years; much of it is deeded to farmers who belonged to co-ops, and as many as 800 individuals may own a site as small as 20 acres.
He has spent just as much time finding local consultants and staff who can help him navigate Hungarian business customs and practices, Bozman says. “Americans tend to think they can overlay their own systems onto other cultures and they will work. You have to adapt to different ways of doing business,” he adds.
Bozman, one of a family of Mustangs (his father, sister and brother all have SMU degrees), says he “didn’t have a lot of interest in international markets” while earning a B.B.A. degree in general business. “I went to SMU because I thought I wanted to be a Dallas businessman. But SMU brings together so many different kinds of people; listening to their histories exposed me to different languages and ideas and cultures.”
The entrepreneurial emphasis in the Cox School’s academic programs provided an excellent foundation for working abroad, he says. “It’s such an instrumental part of international business to have that mindset, to be able to adapt to situations and to find and develop opportunities. For an entrepreneur in an emerging market, the opportunities are everywhere.”
Juniors Katie Gage (far left) and Steven Chlapecka (far right) networked with Trisha Gregory (’04) and Julie Terrell (’05) (center) at a Washington, D.C., alumni reception in October as part of “Hilltop on the Hill,” a weeklong program sponsored by SMU’s Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. CCPA students meet D.C.-area alumni, public officials and communications professionals to learn behind the scenes from staff ranging from the White House to Capitol Hill. Student blogs can be read at smu.edu/adventures.
The 1950s was a decade of growth at SMU. In 1950 SMU had 16 buildings with 11 under construction, and an endowment of $4 million. By 1960 the campus had grown to 70 buildings and the endowment to $11 million. Today, as SMU approaches the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1911, the campus comprises 76 buildings.
In 1950 Peyton Hall (right), designed by Dallas architect Mark Lemmon, opened as a dormitory for 106 women. Features included Venetian blinds, rose-beige woodwork and two large sliding-door closets with shelf and hanger space. Then, all freshmen wore red and blue beanies until Homecoming (if SMU won the game) or until the Christmas holiday. For women students, housemothers enforced strict curfews, limited smoking to residence hall bedrooms and generally policed their behavior. With this issue, SMU Magazine is introducing a new section – Hilltop History – that takes advantage of the vast holdings of SMU Archives. Each issue will feature photos that help tell the story of the University through the decades. SMU Archives collects materials that chronicle the University’s past, including documents, photographs and memorabilia from students, faculty, staff and alumni. If you can identify any of the women in this photograph, or wish to donate materials to the Archives, contact University Archivist Joan Gosnell, 214-768-2261, jgosne@smu.edu.
Hilltopics, an alternative campus newsletter, celebrated its third year of publishing by sponsoring its first essay contest, offering $1,000 in prizes for student articles. Edited and produced by SMU students, Hilltopics contains articles ranging from student apathy and sexual relationships to the environment and politics, contributed by students and faculty. The University Honors Program and Residence Hall Association sponsor Hilltopics. Articles of 300-600 words on any topic are accepted from all members of the SMU community, including alumni. E-mail submissions to hilltopics@hotmail.com. (Publication is suspended for the summer and begins again with the fall semester.) “I really enjoyed the creative and intellectual aspect of structuring and encouraging discourse on campus,” says business manager Todd Baty. For more information, contact Baty at tbaty@smu.edu or visit smu.edu/honors/Hilltopics.
SMU advertising and cinema-television students won $20,000 for creating the best 30-second commercial in a national competition sponsored last fall by Chipotle Mexican Grills. Overall, 15 students from Meadows School of the Arts entered the contest. Two teams conceptualized, wrote, filmed and edited three spots each for the competition, “30 Seconds of Fame.” An eight-member SMU team produced the winning entry, “The Wall” (right), which ran with another SMU entry, “The Dryer,” on the JumboTron in New York City’s Times Square, making them the first student-created ads to do so. In the second round of competition, Chipotle uploaded all of the approved entries submitted by teams from 22 colleges and universities – including six from SMU – to YouTube.com and began counting which submissions were being viewed the most. “The Wall,” which attracted 7.7 million viewers, placed second behind the University of Nebraska’s “Dady,” which had 8 million.
2006 Homecoming king and queen Mitchell London and Liz Healy.
Alumni can make new memories of the Hilltop during SMU’s Homecoming and Reunion Weekend November 8-10, 2007. The Homecoming parade begins at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 10, followed by a free picnic on the Boulevard and the football game against Rice in Ford Stadium. Evening reunions will take place for the classes of 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997 and 2002. SMU will recognize four alumni with its Distinguished Alumni Award November 8 at the Fairmont Hotel. Recipients are Linda Pitts Custard (’60), James B. Gardner (’55), the Hon. Antonio O. Garza Jr. (’83) and Dr. Richard F. Herrscher (’58). The Emerging Leader Award will be presented to Nathan Allen (’00). For more information, visit smu.edu/alumni or call 214-768-2586.
SMU’s campus has been the site of numerous memorable occasions – and with the reopening of its historic and newly renovated Faculty Club, University alumni now can make Hilltop memories with their own special events.
Founded in 1921 as a social club for male faculty members to enjoy games of pool and bridge, the SMU Faculty Club merged with the Women’s Faculty Club in 1963. Remodeled and redecorated in 2006, the club provides an inviting setting for University programs and activities as well as private social and business events.
“The partnership between the Faculty Club and Alumni Relations is a good fit,” says Marc Valerin, president of the Factuly Club board and director of graduate admissions for SMU’s School of Engineering. “Through our distinguished luncheon series and our special themed dinners, we are able to give alumni the opportunity to stay connected with the University by participating in events that highlight academe and foster closer relationships between our faculty and our former students.”
Currently, alumni can join the Faculty Club, also home to the Office of Alumni Relations, for a $10 annual fee. The club is on Sorority Row at the northeast corner of Daniel Avenue and Durham Street, next door to the Gamma Phi Beta house. Alumni memberships include discounted rentals for business meetings, receptions, parties and other daytime or evening events.
The renovated Faculty Club includes new offices for the staff of Alumni Relations: (from left) Claudia Hendrix, Mindy Rowland, Jana Rentzel, Judy King, and Sherrill Jones.
Alumni rates for private rentals range from $100 for use of the library to $550 for use of the entire first floor. Other options include the president’s boardroom, the living room and a conference room. The dining room is equipped with an LCD projector and an audio system.
To learn more about rental, catering, floor plans, technical support, parking and University policies, visit smu.edu/facultyclub. To make a reservation, contact Sherrill Jones at 214-768-1143 or e-mail facultyclub@smu.edu.
SMU offers other campus facilities for rent. To learn more about rates, parking and availability, contact:
James M. Collins Center for the Cox School of Business
Zakaria Benyacoub, director of facilities collinsrooms@cox.smu.edu or 214-768-4462
Jim Caswell (’63, ’66, ’70), vice president for student affairs, visited with DJ Pierce (’03) at the reception for former student leaders during Homecoming weekend. He is retiring after serving SMU for 48 years in numerous capacities. Caswell, whose degrees include a Master of Sacred Theology and Bachelor of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology, will serve as executive pastor at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. He recently received the Vision Award from Tri Delta sorority for his influence on the Greek community at SMU. The Jim Caswell Endowment for Leadership Development and Training has been established to support leadership programs in the Student Affairs Division. To share memories of Caswell’s years on the Hilltop and to learn more about the endowment, contact Bonner Allen at 214-768-2986 or Arlene Manthey at 214-768-4711 or visit smu.edu/caswellfund.
The first AFI Dallas International Film Festival held this spring included a substantial contingent of SMU students, faculty and alumni, as well as numerous screenings and master classes held on campus. Opening the master classes was screenwriter Jim Hart (’69), who spoke on his newest movie, “The Last Mimzy.” Other master classes were held with director Sydney Pollack, film music composers Alan and Marilyn Bergman and composer Marvin Hamlisch (right). In addition, SMU student-produced short films were screened at the nearby Magnolia Theater. Alumni film contributions included “Boy Next Door,” written and directed by Travis Davis (’94) and produced by Cale Boyter (’94), and “Midlothia,” directed by Bill Sebastian (’99). Talent agent Stephen Rice (’90) spoke to a class, and James Faust (’97) and Sarah Harris (’05) supervised numerous SMU student interns and volunteers during the festival.
Chronicling The Journey Of The American West
By Deborah Wormser
From the landing of Christopher Columbus in the New World to the railroads, industry and technology that changed the landscape of the new frontier, SMU’s DeGolyer Library contains the rare documents and artifacts that tell the stories of human discovery – and beckon scholars to keep exploring.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the foundation that provided the original collection of materials. It began with one man’s yearning to collect, learn and share.
Renowned oil entrepreneur and philanthropist Everette L. DeGolyer Sr. (1896-1956) began acquiring one of the greatest private libraries of the 20th century after he discovered a first edition of Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers in a London bookstore in 1914. DeGolyer went on to build a fine collection of literary first editions, most of which he gave to the University of Texas, but he also achieved fame as a collector in the fields of the history of science, a collection he gave to the University of Oklahoma, his alma mater, and Western Americana, a collection now housed at SMU. How that collection came to SMU, however, is a somewhat circuitous journey.
In his will DeGolyer created and endowed the DeGolyer Foundation, which first met in 1957. Under the direction of his son, Everett L. DeGolyer Jr. (1923-1977), a private library was transformed into a public trust and deeded to SMU in 1974. Supported since then by the DeGolyer family, SMU alumni, faculty and friends, the collection has nearly tripled from the core 40,000 volumes of 1957.
Now housed in the original Fondren Library building, DeGolyer Library contains about 120,000 rare books, half a million photographs, 3,000 early maps, 2,000 periodicals and newspaper titles and more than 2 million manuscripts in 2,500 separate collections. Each year nearly 2,000 users, including students, faculty and visiting scholars, patronize the library, which also hosts exhibits and seminars on its collections. Annually the library staff answers more than 3,000 reference queries through the mail or the Internet.
Concentration on particular subjects such as the American West or the railroad has enabled the DeGolyer Library, in the words of Everett DeGolyer Jr., “to provide exquisitely detailed information on a handful of scholarly concerns.” As a result, there are materials at the DeGolyer available nowhere else.
“Without the DeGolyer Library, the History Department could not have moved forward to build a Ph.D. program that specializes in Southwestern America or to operate the Clements Center for Southwest Studies with its emphasis on postdoctoral work,” says David Weber, Robert and Nancy Dedman Professor of History and director of the Clements Center. “The DeGolyer houses the manuscripts and imprints that support cutting-edge research and help us recruit outstanding faculty and graduate students.”
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The younger DeGolyer’s chief interest was transportation – from sailing ships to aircraft – but the history of railroads was his passion. As director of the family’s foundation, he snapped up as much industry memorabilia as possible.
“A lot of foundation board members were really critical of him for that. They saw the railroad collection as a diversion from the Western collection, something a little too narrow that would not lead anywhere,” says DeGolyer Library Director Russell L. Martin III (B.A. ’78, M.A. ’84), who also holds a doctorate from the University of Virginia.
History has validated the vision of DeGolyer Jr. “Because so much of the West was developed by the railroad, it is very difficult to separate the two,” Martin says. “Mr. DeGolyer saw that the fields were complementary. He also knew the market and acquired much of the railroad collection when it was comparatively inexpensive.”
Since 1957 the railroad industry that opened up the settlement of the West has dwindled to a handful of companies. In contrast, the SMU collection has grown into one of the nation’s finest repositories of railroad memorabilia, documenting nearly 4,000 railroad companies and lines in the United States as well as Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. The collection includes company documents such as timetables, route maps and photographs, the latter composing part of the DeGolyer’s massive photography collection.
Scholars worldwide are taking notice. Recently, a researcher in India scoured the world for photographs of 19th-century architecture in that country. He found what he was looking for at SMU because photographers who documented the construction of India’s railroads also documented the towns being added to the lines.
“I believe that if you collect long enough, there will be some use for it that you cannot foresee,” Martin says.
SHOWING THE MONEY
For example, the DeGolyer houses the best collection of Texas bank notes in existence, from the earliest days of the Republic of Texas to 1933, when a change in the banking laws meant that local banks could no longer issue notes. A parallel can be drawn between railroads and bank notes. Both were common on the frontier, yet today many U.S. residents have never traveled by locomotive or held a privately issued bank note in their hands.
Little hard currency existed on the Texas frontier and none during the Civil War, so commerce relied on loans and other paper obligations, such as notes issued by banks, merchant houses or state and local treasuries, Martin says.
The notes reveal early printing and engraving techniques – another SMU collection specialty – and show both the difficulties of doing business in a rustic economy and the creative ways business and government leaders overcame those challenges. The collection includes proof sheets for all of those notes, too, says John N. Rowe III, who attended SMU, 1955-58. Founder of Southwest Numismatics, Rowe donated the collection in 2003 with his brother-in-law and co-founder, B.B. Barr.
OVERLAND TALES
SMU’s collection depicting life west of the Mississippi is one of the finest in the country. In addition to vast collections on Texas, California and other western states, DeGolyer chronicles the details of voyages and other travel.
The library recently staged an exhibit on overland narratives – first-person accounts of travel. Items documented the fur trade as well as the lives of Plains settlers and mountain men, Mormons, foreign visitors, military life, literature, art, the gold rush, stories of captivity and early accounts of encounters with Native Americans.
Many of the documents are travelogues filled with practical advice on choosing a route or staking a gold claim, while others are more personal, such as the only known copy of Mountain Charley, or the adventures of Mrs. E.J. Guerin, who was thirteen years in male attire. An autobiography comprising a period of thirteen years life in the states, California, and Pike’s Peak (Dubuque, 1861).
DeGolyer’s collection on the history of the West includes the library’s oldest book, the Latin edition of Christopher Columbus’ letter describing his discovery of the New World, published in Rome in 1493. Unsure of what he had found, Columbus set about convincing his royal patrons that the expense of the journey was worth it and that the islands he had discovered warranted further investigations. He described the land as “extremely fertile,” with “broad and sheltered harbors, incomparably better than any I have ever seen.” Future western narratives often contained similar enticements – as well as accounts of disappointments, Martin says.
PETTICOAT PIONEERS
The Archives of Women of the Southwest represents an area that DeGolyer is steadily building. The Archives documents the historical experience of women in the Southwest through the papers of leaders in women’s organizations, the professions, the arts and voluntary service, along with papers of families and of women in private life, among other records. One recent significant acquisition is the donation by Gayle Eubanks Coleman of the papers, photographs and awards of her late mother, Julia Scott Reed. As a reporter and columnist for The Dallas Morning News for 11 years starting in 1967, Reed was the first African American writer to be employed full time at a major Dallas daily.
Also in the collection is the Diary of Lucy Pier Stevens (1863-1867), materials that tell one of the most dramatic stories in the library’s stacks, Martin says. Lucy Pier Stevens was visiting friends and relatives in Texas when the Civil War broke out, trapping her in the state. To escape she hopped a blockade-runner on the Gulf Coast and went to Cuba. From there, she was able to return to Ohio and eventually marry. Folders include two diaries and two albums: one of photos and the other of locks of hair from people mentioned in her diary.
THE NEWS AS HISTORY
Newspapers are among the most valuable sources for scholarly work because the creation of a community newspaper indicated a town’s success. DeGolyer houses a collection of some 2,000 newspapers in English and Spanish, from Europe, the United States, Mexico and South America. The collection includes small-town weeklies as well as papers from metropolitan centers, such as The London Chronicle from 1755-1865 and a nearly complete run of Gazetas de Mexico, one of the earliest Mexican newspapers, from 1785 through its demise in 1808.
Martin’s personal favorite is the only known complete file of the Harmon News, an amateur newspaper from Lamar County (Harmon, Texas, 1902-1905). “Amateur newspapers were like a Web page in their time. Most were produced by kids who had hobby presses and would write and print their own newspapers, noting what was going on in school and the usual things kids are concerned with,” Martin says, adding that the Harmon News was unique. Its 14-year old editor and proprietor, Jesse Drummond, actually covered the news in his small town, which lacked a regular paper.
PENNEY AND HIS THOUGHTS
The great American retail merchant James Cash Penney (1875-1971) opened his first store in 1902 in Kemmerer, Wyoming, and named it “The Golden Rule.” By doing so, Penney was proclaiming the idea that set his store apart from his competitors, namely, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” His initiative changed the way Americans do business with retail merchants.
JCPenney donated the papers of its founder and its corporate archives to DeGolyer in 2004. The Penney Archives include more than 20,000 photographs as well as 1,500 linear feet of letters, speeches, advertisements and other publications chronicling more than a century of corporate history. Some of the company’s papers will be digitized for access on the Internet. DeGolyer also includes Penney’s personal papers and correspondence starting in 1895.
CALCULATING TECHNOLOGY
In conjunction with its 75th anniversary, Texas Instruments donated the TI Historical Archives to SMU in 2005. The elder DeGolyer was a silent partner in Geophysical Services Inc., a precursor to TI, Martin says. The archives include some rather unbookish items: TI’s first transistor radio, first Speak and Spell educational toy, invented by SMU alumnus Paul Breedlove (’67), and first hand-held calculator, as well as TI engineer Jack Kilby’s 2000 Nobel Prize medal for his work inventing the integrated circuit, which put Dallas on the map as a hi-tech research hub.
Because Margaret Jonsson Rogers, daughter of TI co-founder J. Erik Jonsson, had given SMU her father’s personal correspondence and business papers, the DeGolyer seemed a natural repository when TI began looking for a home for its corporate archives, Martin says. Jonsson became mayor of Dallas in the uncertain times after the Kennedy assassination. Professor Emeritus Darwin Payne (’68), who covered the assassination as a Dallas Times Herald reporter and served as chair of the Journalism Department during his 30-year teaching career at SMU, is using the collection to research a book on Jonsson.
“The city turned to him to lead it out of its despair and to find some way to recover its balance after the awful effects of the Kennedy assassination,” Payne says. The Jonsson papers is one of many “very important collections that are relatively untouched and still there for our scholars to pursue and investigate.”
FROM RETAIL TO REBUILDING DALLAS
In 2003 SMU received the private library of another world famous Texas book collector, retailing innovator Stanley Marcus (1905-2002), of Neiman Marcus fame, prompting the DeGolyer to name its reading room in his honor. The collection’s 8,000 volumes and Marcus’ letters and other memorabilia reflect his wide-ranging interests in art and art history, business history, English and American literature and the craft of printing books.
Marcus was a longtime SMU trustee and member of the Meadows Museum advisory board during the expansion of Meadows School of the Arts. Like Jonsson, Marcus also was involved in post-Kennedy assassination reflections on Dallas and its image. He published a book containing the speech Kennedy would have delivered the day he was killed. In response, Marcus received letters from Jacqueline Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, U.N. Representative Adlai Stevenson, White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, violinist Isaac Stern and others.
A BULLY PRESIDENT
One of the most prominent presidential collections featured in DeGolyer Library is the Doris A. and Lawrence H. Budner Theodore Roosevelt Collection, comprising thousands of books, periodicals, broadsides, photographs, manuscripts and other items documenting the life and times of the United States’ 26th president. “It’s the most important Roosevelt collection in private hands, and SMU is fortunate to have someone with Larry Budner’s foresight and generosity,” Martin says. “It will add tremendous depth and breadth to our resources for the study of the American presidency.”
EXPANDING HORIZONS
To round out DeGolyer’s holdings in literature and entertainment, as well as business, law and government, Martin has targeted SMU’s distinguished alumni and friends in those fields. He plans to stage an exhibit of American trade catalogs drawing not only from the JCPenney and Neiman Marcus collections, but also from the recently donated Roger Horchow Collection.
The Horchow Collection fits well with DeGolyer’s focus on business history but it also feeds other interests. The collection includes playbills, posters and other memorabilia from the Broadway shows Horchow produced, strengthening DeGolyer’s collections devoted to entertainment and the performing arts, including the Horton Foote Collection, the African American Film Collection and the Larry McMurtry in Film Collection.
In addition, Martin is working to expand the DeGolyer’s collection of children’s books. The library already owned first editions of books in the Tom Swift and Horatio Alger series, as well as both British and American first editions of Huckleberry Finn. The Marcus collection added signed first editions of Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeline and Eloise by Kay Thompson. DeGolyer’s comprehensive collection of the works of SMU alumnus William Joyce (’81) “is essential for us,” Martin says. “Joyce is one of the most distinguished children’s authors and illustrators today.”
For DeGolyer Library’s immediate future, Martin’s chief goal is to increase financial support and physical space. “We need proper space to house our collections of primary materials,” he says. “And even though we are 50 years old, we are only beginning to collect.”
The new J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building lets SMU walk the green walk. Professors and students agree: When it comes to state-of-the-art engineering facilities, the grass is now greenest in their own backyard.
For those who’ve advocated a more environmentally responsible future, the Embrey Building has proven to be the logical vehicle for converting visions of sustainability into hands-on education and innovative design.
As the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold-certified building on a university campus in the Southwest, Embrey has firmly placed SMU on the short list of schools with a demonstrated eco-conscience.
“Embrey is a key model of successful green building,” says Geoffrey Orsak, dean of the School of Engineering. “Not only does it provide academic focus for students and professors, it has impact on public and educational policy. There is a transition in higher education construction, and SMU is among the first to complete an engineering facility that meets the strictest environmental design requirements.”
The LEED-designed building houses the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering. “While the full impact on educational programs will take several years, the building is already serving as a laboratory for critical issues concerned with energy and the environment,” says Bijan Mohraz, Environmental and Civil Engineering chair and professor.
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A Better Place to Work and Learn
Combining SMU’s collegiate Georgian architecture outside with cutting-edge technology inside, this virtual environmental laboratory demonstrates the logical connection between engineering and green construction. Offices, classrooms, laboratories and collaborative study spaces have been created using highly energy-efficient design — including substantial amounts of natural light, heat-reflecting materials, smart electronics and water-wise, low-flow bathroom fixtures. Combining these features adds up to about 30 percent less energy usage than typically found in comparably sized buildings.
“There is substantial research documenting that LEED buildings are better places to work and learn,” says Sam Latona, preconstruction manager, Turner Construction. “Three of the key components contributing to these benefits are natural light, clean inside air and building materials that don’t off-gas [release odors and gases from new products that are often harmful] or don’t have very low volatile organic compounds.”
Involved since the genesis of the Embrey project, Latona helped develop a plan that included direct window views from every room and highly efficient and sophisticated air-flow systems to bring in large amounts of outside air and reduce CO2 and particulate matter levels. Finally, there was a lockdown air flush to eradicate any lingering airborne impurities before professors and students took occupancy.
“You can receive a lower-level LEED certification without all of these things,” Latona says. “But if you want a really healthy, productive environment, you add the filters and an abundance of windows and use the right materials. SMU’s commitment to doing it right says a lot about its concern for the students, faculty and the environment.”
What Makes Embrey Green
To achieve the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certification standard, the J. Lindsay Embrey Engineering Building had to meet stringent guidelines set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Standards to meet them include:
Innovative Wastewater — dual use of water for air conditioning, plumbing and irrigation. SMU evaporates 40 million gallons of water a year at the cooling towers; approximately 5 million gallons are sent to the sanitary sewer system. Using the water at the Embrey Building for irrigation and sewage conveyance will save about 1 million gallons a year.
Waterless Urinals — each saves 40,000 gallons a year by using a special cartridge that allows liquids to enter the sanitary sewage system but prevents odors from entering a restroom.
Low-emitting Materials — adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, carpet and composite woods have no or very low volatile organic compounds and no formaldehydes, which reduces indoor air quality problems and provides a superior environment for users.
Construction Materials — most were obtained from within a 500-mile radius of the campus to reduce the use of transportation fuel.
Construction Waste Management — large bins separated and collected unused materials; hundreds of tons of scrap and leftover materials were recycled.
Drought-resistance Landscaping — shade trees and reflective plaza pavers block and reflect heat away from the building.
Inspiring Staff and Students
Faculty and student accolades have grown since the doors to Embrey opened in August. Civil and environmental engineering and mechanical engineering faculty rate the academic setting and their day-to-day work experiences far above those they encountered in previous buildings.
Abundant space; areas that promote collaboration among students, professors and departments; improved lighting and sleek, open architecture top the list of attributes cited by professors. Expanded labs are enhancing research efforts. Some feel their work in them already may be gaining increased attention and potential funding from new sponsors.
Environmental engineering faculty members are especially pleased by the LEED gold-accredited design.
“I teach a lot of courses related to environmental issues,” says Al Armendariz, assistant professor of civil engineering. “I use this facility as a real-world example of how construction impacts the environment. For instance, when I discuss things like managed wood [derived from forests earmarked for harvesting and delivered from a local source], waste management and how certain materials can have minimal environmental impact, I actually can point to classroom and lab components as examples.
“The students see that green concepts are not just pie-in-the-sky thinking, but are realities within their own academic experience,” Armendariz continues. “Many students go into environmental engineering because they have a certain altruistic goal of doing something positive for society. When they see their own university moving along that same path, it validates what they feel, and they realize they actually can make a difference in the quality of others’ lives.”
Among the specific LEED criteria that Armendariz mentions are construction site recycling and using materials from local sources to reduce fuel use in transporting them. During the construction of the building, hundreds of tons of scrap and leftover materials were recycled. Large bins were set up to separate and collect unused materials. Additional LEED credits were awarded for the acquisition of construction materials from within a 500-mile radius of the campus.
Further, noting that natural light has been credited with providing a superior learning environment and energy efficiency, Armendariz points to Embrey’s large central atrium skylight and the addition of about 30 percent more windows as further examples of green-minded design.
Laura Steinberg, professor and incoming chair of the Environmental and Civil Engineering Department, joined SMU last fall — in great part due to the visible commitment the campus has made to engineering. Previously at Tulane University and the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., Steinberg has strong feelings about sustainability and environmental practices.
“The construction of the Embrey building is an obvious commitment to environment issues that I care about,” Steinberg says. “The design is spectacular. You can look all the way through the center of the building and see trees through the windows on the other side.”
Beyond Green
Mechanical engineering faculty and students, also housed within the eco-sensitive building, contend that the open design adds considerable value to their own work.
“I feel enthused about coming to work every day,” says José Lage, professor of mechanical engineering. “The design has given students, professors and departments more room for collaboration, and we are developing better projects, proposals and research. It is making us stronger teachers and adding to student opportunity.”
Expanded lab space has enabled Paul Krueger, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, to use larger equipment for micro-propulsion research. Space restrictions in previous facilities had made studies of this type difficult, if not impossible. This spring, Krueger is highlighting energy efficiencies built into Embrey’s air-conditioning and heating systems in his course on thermodynamics — a significant reference tool he never had before.
Harvesting the Future
Because Embrey has been in use for only two semesters, only a fraction of its potential has been experienced. However, those who have had the opportunity to work in the labs, and appreciate LEED engineering, immediately grasp the day- to-day benefits and future possibilities.
Whitney Boger, a graduate student completing a Master’s degree in environmental engineering, works in one of the labs designing an electrostatic precipitator, a device to remove particulate matter from diesel exhaust before it is released into the air.
“The new lab provides much needed space and improved ventilation for this major project on air pollution,” Boger says. “Before, we were limited in the labs and had to fight for computer access.”
Alumnus Joseph Grinnell (’06), an environmental science major, spearheaded SMU’s recent participation in the Green Power Partnership, developed with Green Mountain Energy to reduce the use of traditionally produced energy and replace it with power derived from alternative sources. He articulates a sentiment shared by other campus environmentalists: “Universities have always been at the forefront of socially progressive ideas. Embrey is no exception — and serves as an important message to the next generation of leaders and decision makers. We have proven that we have solutions at our fingertips that can change global warming trends. It’s now up to us to implement them.”
For more information, visit engr.smu.edu/about/embrey.html.
Nance began his career in education, teaching math to middle schoolers and GED and English courses to adults in Houston. After three years, he began to prepare for a career in education administration, intending to become a school principal. But Nance developed a keen interest in education policy and law through his graduate studies, ultimately earning a Ph.D. in education policy and administration before completing his law degree.
Teresa Acosta ’22 made SMU history as the inaugural First-Generation Senator elected to the 107th SMU Student Senate. Teresa is a junior majoring in biology and human rights with minors in Spanish and History in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. She holds a multitude of additional leadership roles in organizations across campus. Teresa serves as co-director of marketing and outreach for SMU Alternative Breaks, co-events director for the SMU Human Rights Council, Daniel House Director of House Advocacy for Upper Division Housing and president of the League of United Latin American Citizens at SMU. She is also vice president of the SMU Global Medical Brigades and of the Unity Coalition at SMU; rush chair for the Alpha Phi Omega Community Service Fraternity; co-socials chair for the Connect Program; Student Wellness Champion; and secretary of the Japanese Cultural Club.
Lucy Carreño-Roca ’22 is a first-year student in the Cox School of Business’ full-time MBA program with a concentration in finance and marketing. Lucy serves as vice president of Cox School’s Operations and Analytics Club and is a member of the Latino Business Club and the Women in Business and Finance Club. Prior to attending SMU, she was a global treasury implementation adviser and operations manager for Bank of America, where she discovered a passion for improving the financial lives of clients while taking advantage of leadership and team cultivation opportunities. In 2016, Lucy graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College as a double major in English and psychology.
Jose Martinez ’22 is majoring in film and media arts with a minor in graphic design in Meadows School of the Arts. Jose’s deep spirituality inspires his goal to make movies that “remind us we are part of something bigger than ourselves.” He aspires to help “set the path that leads future generations to the truth” by being a good friend and trusted neighbor.
Valeria Reynosa ’22 is a junior from El Paso, Texas, majoring in history and political science with a minor in law and legal reasoning. As an undergraduate research assistant for The Voices of SMU oral history project, Valeria strives to amplify the voices of underrepresented groups in the SMU community by documenting individuals’ experiences. Her academic interests weave through her roles as a History Ambassador, a history intern with the Bywaters Special Collections in Hamons Arts Library, an SMU Pre-Law Scholar and secretary of the SMU Historical Society. Her volunteerism off campus includes service as a court appointed special advocate for Dallas CASA. In her free time, Valeria enjoys hiking, running and listening to podcasts.
Antonio Orta Williamson ’22, a junior majoring in civil engineering in the Lyle School of Engineering, moved to Dallas from Mexico when he was 17. After graduating from high school, Antonio continued his education in community college, earning his associate’s degree while working and saving to attend SMU. He was recognized for his work with Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society during this year’s Honors Convocation. In his free time, he loves to hang out with his family and take his dogs, Lily and Luca, on long walks. He also plays soccer with his friends in a couple of different indoor and outdoor leagues. After graduating, he plans to pursue a career in land development in Dallas.
Lexxi Clinton ’21, a senior from Austin, is double majoring in political science and philosophy with a specialization in political theory while triple minoring in history, law and legal reasoning, and corporate communication and public affairs. She currently serves as the chief of staff to the Student Senate and as the president of both the Association of Black Students and of the Kappa Mu chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Most recently, she has filled the role of Caswell Leadership Coach for intercultural organizations. After graduation, Lexxi will move to Chicago to begin a career in consulting then going on to get a masters in business or possibly law school.
Kennedy Coleman ’23 is a sophomore from Dallas majoring in political science with minors in English and public policy and international affairs. Kennedy is currently a Dallas County Mustang Scholar, Rotunda Scholar, Tower Scholar and a McNair Scholar. She serves in numerous campus leadership positions, including event coordinator for the Association of Black Students, Dedman College Senator, the student representative on the Police Training Advisory Board for the SMU Police Department and a member of the Vice President of Student Affairs Advisory Board. She is also working with the Student Affairs undergraduate research team examining areas that contribute to racial battle fatigue among Black students with the aim of offering the University empirical data to enact meaningful change. In these various positions, Kennedy hopes to illuminate the voices of communities at SMU that are often silenced. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans to attend law school.
Courtney Jackson ’24 is a first-year student from Frisco, Texas, majoring in mechanical engineering. She is a Rotunda Scholar, serves on the Mary Hay-Peyton-Shuttles Commons Council and is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers. In the future, she hopes to use her math and science expertise to develop sustainable products for a large tech company.
Titus McGowan ’24 grew up in Dallas and is a graduate of St. Mark’s School of Texas where he excelled in orchestra and Spanish, served as a national ambassador for the game of lacrosse and was an All-American in track. At SMU, he is a bassist in the Meadows Symphony Orchestra, and he is a member of the Men’s Lacrosse Club, the Association of Black Students and the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students. He has been nominated for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
Stacy Tubonemi ’16, ’21 is a final-year full-time M.B.A. student concentrating in finance, strategy and entrepreneurship with a minor in management in the Cox School of Business. She graduated from SMU in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and moved on to work for JP Morgan Chase in its Leadership Development Rotational program. She’s currently the president of the National Association of Black Accountants, a Forte Fellow and a Cox Career Fellow. In the summer, Stacy was awarded the Texas Business Hall of Fame Scholar Award for her contribution to the SMU community as well as her passion for entrepreneurship. After graduation, Stacy will join AT&T where she interned over the summer with its Finance Leadership Development Program Class of 2021. In her free time, Stacy enjoys traveling, hanging out with friends and exploring different places.
Even for someone as experienced as Leigh Ann Moffett, the challenges COVID-19 brings to her role as SMU’s director of emergency management are unique.
Just like the larger Black Lives Matter movement, the hashtag #BlackatSMU saw a resurgence this summer. Since its inception in 2015, the hashtag has helped bring to light problems of racism on campus and amplify the voices and stories of Black SMU students and alumni.
President Lee, anticipating the utilization of the GI Bill’s tuition benefits, establishes the General Co-ordinator of Veterans Education office. The School of Business Administration establishes rehabilitation certificate programs for returning veterans. In fall 1946, 6,780 students (nearly 4,000 of them veterans) enroll – 3,000 more than in any previous semester. Dozens of new faculty members are hired. From 1946 to 1953, many veterans with families live in “Trailerville,” a self-con-tained community including 108 trailer homes.
1965–1975
In 1978-1979, 230 students are Black, and in an unprecedented write-in campaign, David Huntley is elected as the first Black student body president.
He parlays the finance education that he earned at its Edwin L. Cox School of Business into co-founding one of the world’s largest private equity firms.
The work of the Hunter Center and New Friends is more important than ever. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, describes sex trafficking as modern-day slavery. Traffickers prey on the vulnerable. They groom victims by creating dependency, often providing clothing, food, lodging and emotional support. Once they have established trust, they pressure or coerce victims into prostitution.
Ask anyone who knew Caswell at SMU, and there’s a good chance they’ll tell you a story about a windmill. A four-foot version and assorted smaller models of the picturesque precursor of the wind turbine decorated his Perkins Administration Building office. Like the windmill’s agile gear system that converts a natural resource into energy to pump water or grind grain, Caswell guided students on a journey of self-discovering, harnessing their innate abilities and steering them toward successful careers and lives of purpose after graduation.
Caswell’s wisdom continues to influence Roy Turner ’88 as well. When Turner was a junior accounting major and president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, Caswell – then dean of student life – tapped him as a member of a student leaders advisory forum convened to examine campus challenges and strategize solutions. As president of the SMU Interfraternity Council the following year, Turner relied on the high ethical standards set by Caswell when working through issues governed by the group.
He enrolled at SMU in 1986, determined to capture all that he could in the classroom and fully participate in the Hilltop experience. He took a job in the Student Activities Center during the summer months, helping with AARO (Academic Advising, Registration and Orientation) and other tasks to prepare new students.
“When I started, I was terrified of working with kids because I hadn’t before, but once you build a small connection with them, they’re so much fun,” she says. “They are very creative and aren’t afraid to try out their ideas.”
She was selected for a multiyear research project led by SMU’s Wei Tong, a mechanical engineering professor specializing in biomechanics, in partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. They conducted tests on six taping methods commonly used in hospitals to secure intubation tubes, which keep airways open in acutely injured and sick patients. Preventing tube displacement can be a matter of life and death.
During the chaos that a tightly developed production engenders, Weber found time to mentor the next generation of 24-Hour Musical leaders. Sophomore theatre major Stevie Keese ’20 assisted Weber with Into the Woods and found him generous and approachable. “Sam helped me articulate my artistic thoughts through our late-night passionate debates on the future of theatre and the arts,” she says. He also taught her about ambition and “how to ask for exactly what you want with no apologies, while continuing to be gracious and grateful.”
Weber says that everything he’s done or achieved at SMU has helped prepare him for medical school and a life in the profession. As an undergraduate, he didn’t want to be what is called a “gunner,” a term applied to pre-med students who adhere solely to a regimen of science courses and, while making high GPAs, explore little else outside that regimen.
ear the military base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina – the Army’s largest – there are several dozen Army-Navy stores. They sell the usual used military equipment and also T-shirts with the logos of the various forces. But to Perkins School of Theology alumnus and U.S. Army Major Jeff Matsler ’93, another shirt stands out. It’s popular with soldiers returning from deployment in Afghanistan. Black T-shirt. White Gothic letters. One word: “Guilty.”
He graduated from high school and set off for McMurry University, a Methodist institution in Abilene, Texas, where he was first exposed to the field of bioethics by his philosophy professor and mentor, Joseph Stamey, who received his Ph.D. in medical ethics. Matsler recalls thinking as an undergraduate, “What on earth would be debatable about medical ethics?!”
“Soldiers on the front line need to hear the message of forgiveness and redemption,” he says. “More than anything, they need to hear that no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been, what you’ve done in the service of your country, whatever act you had to do – whether it was right or wrong – God still loves you. There is nothing we can do that can separate us from the love of Christ and restoring us to who he intended us to be.”
Speaking to conferences throughout the country about aspects of moral injury and spiritual recovery, Matsler distinguishes between the standard approach to healing and the early Franciscan model he advocates. “The way we deal with PTSD now is through talk therapy and pharmacology. It can eliminate the physical pain but it cannot restore joy.”
Mercury R. Hall ’98, ’03 made University history as the first African American to receive a master’s degree in applied economics from SMU. As an undergraduate, he played on the Mustang football team while earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Contessa Hoskins ’09, a senior business engineering and operations consultant for Raytheon, has made her mark across the business spectrum in a wide range of industries, including petrochemicals, industrial commercial manufacturing, telecommunications, defense and aerospace, distributed control systems and automation and integration.
“Synthesizing antibacterial polymers has been a project in Dr. Patty’s laboratory for some time now. When I inherited the work, the results did not look very promising. Instead of attempting to fix the procedures, Dr. Patty and I designed a new method of synthesizing these polymers,” Nance explains. “This made me feel as if my project were contributing something original to the work of the group. I also shifted the focus of my project after reading about some of the issues encountered with reconstructive breast surgery for mastectomy patients.”
Nance’s high school science teacher Rita Elizabeth Tallant remembers “a young girl who was exceptionally bright but trying to find who she was and where she fit in.”
Her professor characterizes the event a bit differently: “I moved back into the lab to work with her. Note the ‘with,’ because I felt like we were a team of equals,” Wisian-Neilson says. “Within a few weeks, she was making suggestions for the project and designing her own direction for making biomedical coatings. We had discussions, not lectures.”
“It has been exciting to see our father’s vision grow over the years,” Dan Hamilton says. “Education was his priority, and he would be so proud to see what these students are accomplishing. The level of their research is amazing.”
In contrast, many of her cases at CPS involved children whose parents were debilitated by drug abuse and whose grandparents were raising them. Prox later became a champion for those “second-time parents” while serving as a legislative aide for Texas State Senator Royce West. She recommended the “Grandparents Bill” West sponsored to provide financial assistance to grandparents raising their grandchildren to keep them out of the foster care system and preserve their family ties. Tenets of the bill have been adopted in federal kinship care legislation.
What began as a class project has sparked a two-game winning streak for Tim Cassedy, assistant professor of English, and former students Chelsea Grogan ’15, Jenna Peck ’15 and Kate Petsche ’15.
Congratulations to Mustang golf alumna Jenny Haglund ’16, who earned her Ladies European Tour card after a successful LET Access Series (LETAS) season. Overall, Haglund ranked second. In 10 events, she compiled 23,925.83 points, finishing behind Sarah Schober of Austria.
Craig Lucie won an Emmy Award as the best news anchor at the Southeast Emmy Awards gala in Atlanta on June 11. Craig anchors Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m. on WSB-TV, an ABC-affiliated television station in Atlanta.
The Crain Promenade provides the setting for other historic markers on campus – a permanent plaque wall, over 6 feet in height, honoring the highest-level donors who have made campaign history with the size and scope of their giving. They include 183 donors of $1 million and up and 601 supporters giving from $100,000 to $999,000.
Also endowed during the campaign was the Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crime Against Women at the Dedman School of Law and other innovative legal clinics and centers. The new Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security in the Lyle School is an example of new interdisciplinary programs, joining expertise in engineering, political science and psychology.
For paver donor Jack Benage ’11, ’13, SMU is where he found the love of his life: “I donated this paver as a Valentine’s Day gift to Meredith Levine ’11, ’14, commemorating the day that we met on campus years ago. As it turns out, months later I asked her to marry me just steps from where the pavers [were] placed. Our paver is now a lasting tangible reminder of SMU’s role in bringing us together!”
Kellie P. Johnson ’95 honored Professors Brad Carter, Dennis Simon and Joe Kobylka: “I graduated with my B.S. in poli sci in 1995. I took almost every class taught by Drs. Simon, Carter and Kobylka. They were, by far, my favorite professors. I named my oldest son after Dr. Carter. I still email all three of them regularly and often stop by the Poli Sci Department when I’m on the Hilltop to just say ‘hi’ or chat as long as they’ll have me. They are great men, great teachers and great friends. I bought my paver to honor three individuals who made a lasting impact on my life.”
Many multigenerational SMU families are represented on the promenade. Among them are Deva Fontenot ’88 and her son, Dustin Fontenot ’13. She donated the brick as a lasting tribute to their Mustang pride: “I completed my education at SMU in 1988 with a degree in advertising. I always felt that this great University introduced me to talented people and had the ability to attract great professionals here to share their knowledge. When my oldest son applied to SMU, it was thrilling to see him accepted and create a legacy for our family. We have commemorated that with this paver displaying both of our names. It’s an honor to be a part of this beautiful promenade for always.”
The University’s East Campus may not reflect the same Collegiate Georgian architectural style as the main campus, but make no mistake: The SMU buildings east of Central Expressway contain a hive of University activity.
This SMU Magazine represents my last issue as executive editor. It’s been 33 years since SMU recruited me from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C., to become editor here. I had previously edited publications at The American University and Georgetown University, but I was attracted to SMU by the opportunity to make a difference at an up-and-coming institution. Today, as we all know, SMU has definitely “arrived” among the nation’s distinguished universities.
Wearing full regalia, undergraduate degree candidates lined up on the main quad and outside McFarlin Auditorium for the Baccalaureate Service May 13. Following the service, students were led by faculty and alumni marshals through the front doors of Dallas Hall for the Rotunda Recessional. This symbolic departure from campus welcomes the newest members to the SMU Alumni family. These images from SMU Photography capture the excitement and camaraderie of an unforgettable evening in the lives of SMU graduates.
“It was a pretty amazing feeling to hear from so many people, especially at SMU, who showed just how much they care about us,” he says. “It was heartwarming to say the least.”
“This award is obviously a huge honor, and our team is blown away,” commented Christopher Godfrey ’05, founder and CEO of Bloodbuy. “It serves as tremendous validation for the work we are doing to try to create a higher level of efficiency in what we consider one of the most critical health care verticals.”
Building on a legacy of proud Olympians, world records and 155 national titles, SMU broke ground on the new Robson-Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium February 26.
The field was made possible by a generous gift from Gary T. Crum ’69 and Sylvie P. Crum, whose support reflects their family’s long-time love for lacrosse. The couple’s three children – Ashley, Christopher and Clayton – each played lacrosse in their youth as their sport of choice, with Christopher playing on the SMU club team while an undergraduate. Sylvie Crum is a current board member of the US Lacrosse Foundation.
Sylvie Crum is active in numerous civic activities in their home community of Houston. Graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in French, she formerly served as the Regent’s representative on the UT Intercollegiate Athletics Council for Women and is a member and former chair of the Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council. She also serves as a director for the US Lacrosse Foundation.
SMU dedicated Harold Clark Simmons Hall, a three-story building serving a new generation of teachers and leaders to develop and use evidence-based strategies in education, on February 25.
and educational needs of the city. The result was to be a unique marriage of faith and intellect: to reunite, in the words of Charles Wesley, “those two so long divided, knowledge and vital piety.” We are the keepers of that grand vision. We hope that those who gather on campus 100 years from now will feel the pride and optimism with which we began the second century, whose conclusion they will be celebrating in 2115.
The beautiful Meadows Museum, celebrating its 50th birthday, is hosting world-class exhibitions never before seen in the United States to augment its incredible collection of Spanish art. Our student scholars are engaged in research projects designed to benefit not only Dallas, but also cities and communities across the globe.
moved into the top 25 in the country in our high-performance computing capacity. This allows us to analyze massive amounts of data, and through computer modeling, it facilitates innovative and interdisciplinary research – from the liberal arts and sciences to engineering and communications and fine arts.
City of Dallas is completed.” Today, SMU and our host city are both more mature, more dynamic, more diverse and more international than our founders could have asked or imagined. Yet, Dallas and SMU are both far from complete – still evolving, still becoming ever more important to our country and beyond.
Among the most visible campaign projects is the addition of five new residence halls and a dining center as part of SMU’s new Residential Commons system, including on-site classes and faculty in residence. Six other halls have been renovated as Commons, enabling all first- and second-year students to live on campus.
Courtney A. Follit ’12 , a Ph.D. student in molecular and cellular biology at SMU, is one of 85 doctoral students nationwide to receive a $15,000 scholar award from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was nominated for the award by Chapter CQ of Dallas.
The 29-member task force is composed of students, faculty, staff, advisors to campus fraternities and sororities, a fraternity alumnus, and three members of the SMU Board of Trustees, two of whom will act as consultants.
“I can’t say enough about SMUST,” Murphy said. “I think it’s really important for people to make their own work and to find out what your own work is especially when you have free space in the basement, because that costs in the real world!”
With the addition of new campaign-funded faculty positions, the number of substantially endowed faculty positions at SMU has risen from 62 to 102, toward a goal of 110. Campaign gifts have provided 539 new endowed scholarships, averaging $100,000 each.
In the classroom, we want our students to have the right balance of technical implementation details, adversarial thinking and fundamental principles. On the one hand we want them to be “front-line qualified” when they graduate, but at the same time we want to ensure that they are well prepared for the future, because we know the specific attacks that they witness today will be very different two and five years from now. Undergraduate and graduate students gain valuable theoretical and practical skills that prepare them for additional formal training in cyber security or for positions in the job market.
You receive many requests for speaking engagements. What do people want to learn about cyber insecurity – especially in industry, where problems are occurring faster than many experts can form a response?
The Meadows Museum will celebrate its golden anniversary with a series of other special exhibitions and programs, along with public and private events, April 16-18, 2015, during SMU’s annual Founders’ Day Weekend. The museum’s 50th celebration coincides with the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening in 1915.
The Meadows Museum is undergoing the “second most important era of collecting in its history,” says Scott Winterrowd, curator of education. This second era was spurred, in part, by a $33 million gift from The Meadows Foundation in 2006. The gift included $25 million to support Meadows Museum acquisitions, exhibitions, expanded educational programs and other initiatives, as well as a challenge grant to match dollar-for-dollar new gifts for acquisitions.
The museum’s first era, of course, began with one foresighted collector – Algur H. Meadows – who fell in love with the art of Spain while prospecting for new oil sources there during the 1950s. Meadows, founder of General American Oil Company, would visit Madrid’s world-renowned Prado Museum and admire the works of the world’s great artists. Although his oil prospecting was a bust in Spain, Meadows aggressively began to acquire Spanish art.
From 1967 until his death in 1978, Meadows had spent $10 million on rebuilding the collection and the Elizabeth Meadows Sculpture Garden (named after his second wife) outside the Owen Arts Center. “He became one of the greatest patrons and one of the most admired men in the art world,” Jordan said during the museum’s 30th anniversary. “His response to the negative experiences he had when he first began collecting was an example of ‘growupness’ to the world.”
Peruna’s Pals, the official kids club of SMU Athletics, will kick off its 2014-2015 season with a family-focused event Saturday, September 6, at 7 p.m. at Moody Coliseum. SMU alumni, as well as all Mustang fans, are invited to bring their youngsters for a fun-filled night at the SMU vs. Oklahoma volleyball match.
While I consider Schubert Ogden my mentor at Perkins School of Theology, when he retired, he suggested that I work with Billy Abrahamas my dissertation adviser. Although I never took any courses from Billy, we spent countless hours in deep discussion, bouncing ideas off each other. One of the things he showed me was that my own position [on theology] was not as solid as I thought it to be. He forced me to consider things I had never even thought of. He possessed an infectious enthusiasm and passion for his work, as well as a fierce dedication to his students. – Allen Pomeroy ’93
We all have teachers in our pasts who made a difference in how we viewed the world. For me there were two: Jeremy Adams, history, and Bonnie Wheeler, English. I accompanied them to Oxford one summer, during which I learned a great deal about medieval history, Arthurian legend, and how to power through lengthy bus rides and castle tours. I wouldn’t trade a moment of the glories we saw and the marvels we experienced. Professors Adams and Wheeler pushed us to study hard and challenged us to think for ourselves. I became a history teacher myself, and I hope I can bring the same enthusiasm and passion to my students. – Polly Granzow Viehman ’83, ’09Franklin Balch, political science, was smart, entertaining and interested in his students’ intellectual progress and their well-being. Our freshman group seminar met in his home, where his gracious wife made incoming students from widely divergent backgrounds feel at home. Prof. Balch fanned our desire to be intellectually curious and to hone the critical thinking that should be the cornerstone of a liberal arts degree. – R. Bruce Moon ’81
Kenneth Hamilton ignited my interest in African-American history. His classes formed the foundation that I would use in writing articles on race and ethnicity. That foundation also proved helpful when I returned to graduate school and got my Master’s degree in history at the University of Nevada, Reno. – Geralda Miller ’98Jim Hopkins in history is an example of the exemplary dedication of faculty to undergraduate education – one of the many things that attracted us both to SMU. As a history major, one of us (Read) recalls fondly the atmosphere of intellectual engagement and curiosity that Jim fosters in every classroom discussion. But our warmest memories are of Jim and his wife, Patti LaSalle, from Alternative Spring Break in March 1999, when they joined our group of SMU students on a service trip to San Francisco, where we served the city’s homeless. Over meals, Jim regularly led riveting discussions. Alternative Spring Break became an extension of the applied learning laboratory that Jim and others create everyday on the SMU campus. – Read ’00 and Vanessa Rusk Pierce ’01
I once told Alice Kendrick, advertising, that I did not like, nor watch, much TV. She said I should think twice about majoring in advertising then. She was always blunt, but right. I became a publicist in New York City, where I lived for 12 years, and now have my own event production business in Los Angeles. – Nichole Wright ’98Sheri Kunovich, in her Sociology of Wealth and Consumption course, brought many things to our attention that most of us hardly ever think about. For instance, Americans are willing to work longer hours and spend less time with family just to have enough money to consume more, and buy things we don’t really need. Dr. Kunovich sheds light on how happy we could be if we all lived a little more simply. Her class was my last final before graduation, and in a way it was quite fitting, as I believe this class truly sent me off [well prepared] into the real world. – Gianna Marie Philichi ’13
Dr. Ruth Morgan taught a course on the American Presidency. Every class was filled with memorable information. I was amazed at how prophetic she was and that so much of the information I learned is still pertinent. She made us aware of not believing everything we read but to do the research and think for ourselves. Dr. Morgan was professional in every way and I felt that her course was one of the most valuable courses I ever took. – Gerry Brewer Hudnall ’71
One of the professors at Cox who made an impact on my career was Robert Rasberry. He reminded us that ethics was a critical part of business and encouraged my inquiry into ethical leadership and organizational behavior. I have been designing and delivering corporate training since 1998 and have worked with some of the largest companies in the world. When I stand in front of executives and discuss how the role of a leader is to create an environment where employees can make ethical decisions and behave in a way that promotes good communication and sustains healthy relationships, I try to honor Dr. Rasberry and all he taught me. – Martha Acosta ’96The late David Weber was a brilliant professor of history, and he had a way that made you want to learn. He wrote many books, and besides his knowledge of the Southwest, he truly loved the Southwest. He was kind, laid back and patient, and such a wonderful mentor to so many. He became my friend for life, and we kept in touch until he passed away. He had a profound impact on my SMU experience, and I will be forever grateful I was his student. – Katie Gordon ’86
Harlan Crow earned his B.B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin and soon afterward joined The Trammell Crow Company. He has worked with Crow-affiliated entities for nearly 40 years and currently serves as chairman and CEO of Crow Family Holdings. He is a member of several boards of directors, including the George W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Monticello Foundation Board.
Join SMU Mustang fans in watching the NIT Championship at two locations in the Dallas area – Moody Coliseum and Dave & Busters on Walnut Hill Lane at U.S. 75.
Out of the gate, the business partners knew they were on the right track. “We took a few apps to market,” Chafni says, before facial recognition technology struck the right chord. “When we started work on this, we gradually refocused our attention.”
>Mustangs Down UConn, 74-65
NCAR is led by faculty at Meadows School of the Arts and Cox School of Business in collaboration with the Cultural Data Project (CDP) of Philadelphia and other national partners.
At the Summit, trustee and co-chair Carl Sewell outlined a new campaign structure, including the addition of four SMU trustees to the Campaign Leadership Council: Paul B. Loyd Jr. ’68, Bobby B. Lyle ’67, David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and Sarah Fullinwider Perot ’83. Also new is an Alumni Campaign Steering Committee, chaired by Alumni Board President Leslie Melson ’77. Members are being recruited to focus on increasing the annual rate of alumni giving.
Opening in fall 2014, the Anita and Truman Arnold Dining Commons facility joins five new residence halls and a parking garage. The complex will accommodate 1,250 students and several faculty members in a shared campus community.
The SMU cross country team placed first and captured the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Madison, Connecticut.
Among those praising Bulawayo’s work was Michiko Kakutani, the Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times. In a review published May 15, she called the novel “deeply felt and fiercely written” and described Bulawayo’s powerful “pictorial language” as possessing “the indelible color and intensity of a folk art painting.”
Tygart, who earned a Juris Doctor with Order of the Coif honors from SMU’s Dedman School of Law in 1999, was on campus August 26 for lectures on “Playing Fair and Winning: An Inside View on Ethics, Values and Integrity from the Lance Armstrong Case.” He talked to students and faculty at the law school and later spoke as the Delta Gamma Lecturer in Values and Ethics at an event co-sponsored by SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.
The first glimmer of hope came in the fifth round when Line received a phone call from an NFL coach telling him he would be the team’s next pick. But the team chose someone else. Another coach called with the same guarantee. Once again, Line was not selected. The same routine played out four more times throughout the draft, which ended with SMU’s most decorated running back since Eric Dickerson ’83 without a home.
A year before Line began his rookie journey, wide receiver Cole Beasley ’12 faced the same improbable odds when he entered the Dallas Cowboys training camp as an undrafted free agent. Beasley finished his career at SMU with the third most receiving yards and second most receptions in team history, but he was not expected to catch any passes in the NFL because of his 5-foot-8 stature.
By Susan White ’05
Endowments created through The Second Century Campaign provide permanent funding for scholarships, faculty positions, research opportunities, academic programs and facilities. With endowed faculty chairs, SMU can recruit top faculty and reward current faculty for outstanding research and teaching.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings officially recognized SMU today for the University’s co-sponsorship of the Mayor’s Summer Reading Club, which encouraged youngsters and their families to enjoy reading this summer.
“Barney was used in such an important way, offering a look inside the White House at a time when it was closed to the public after 9/11,” says author Jennifer Boswell Pickens, whose new book, Pets at the White House, focuses on the famous canines, felines and other pets that have occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Starting April 22, the SM U campus became hospitality central hosting 12 events in five days planned by the Bush Foundation, ranging from private dinners for donors and dignitaries to the formal dedication ceremony to a massive block party co-hosted by SMU and the Bush Center. For the pageantry of the dedication, a massive stage and seating area were erected on the north side of the Bush Center along SMU Boulevard, with seating also on the nearby intramural field. SMU faculty, staff and students not attending the ceremony watched simulcasts online, in McFarlin Auditorium or at an outdoor screen.
From contributing to scholarships and financial aid to funding research projects and campus technology upgrades, annual gifts from alumni ensure that SMU will continue to attract high-caliber students.
A presidential library’s ongoing role is what universities have always embraced: the expansion of knowledge through an open venue for the honest and unabashed exchange of ideas. Presidential libraries also provide a common space for government and educational institutions to interact with the broader citizenry. SMU’s Center for Presidential History and the Bush Library and Museum consider this sort of public engagement vital to our missions. We already partner with the Bush Library and its Director Alan Lowe in the ongoing series of lectures “Presidential Histories and Memoirs.” These lectures have been free to the public and to date have featured world-renowned scholars on Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Bush and Calvin Coolidge. In fall 2013 discussions will focus on Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, George Washington and more.
November 22, 1963, started out as a drizzly day in Dallas, but quickly turned bright and clear. The mood of spectators lining downtown streets matched the sunny weather as crowds cheered the passing motorcade of President John F. Kennedy. But at 12:30 p.m., shots rang out, steering history in a startling new direction.
Jackson, a former SMU student (1952-57), was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1964 for the iconic black-and-white photo, which was first published on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald on November 25, 1963 (left).
Darwin Payne ’68 was a 26-year-old staff reporter assigned to the rewrite desk of the Dallas Times Herald when he was thrust into the heart of what remains one of this country’s most painful episodes.
Quick-thinking Payne was the first reporter to learn about the film and set his sights on acquiring it for the Times Herald.
When Distinguished Teaching Professor of Art History Karl Kilinski died in January 2011, he left his completed manuscript for a book, Greek Myth and Western Art: The Presence of the Past, under contract with Cambridge University Press. Soon after, a team of his art history colleagues – Janis Bergman-Carton, Britten LaRue, Lisa Pon, Pamela Patton and Eric White – undertook the task of finalizing the manuscript and its illustrations for publication. The book, which examines the legacy of Greek mythology in Western art from the classical era to the present, was published by Cambridge in November 2012. Available at online booksellers.
A $1.5 million gift from the Kleinheinz Family Endowment for the Arts and Education will establish an endowed chair in the Division of Art History at Meadows School of the Arts. The gift supports a major goal of SMU’s Second Century Campaign to endow 100 faculty positions.
Les Ware and Amy Abboud Ware (left) have given $1 million to SMU Dedman School of Law not only to establish an endowed professorship at their alma mater, but also to reinvest in their home city of Dallas. “Great cities need great universities, and great universities need great professors,” Amy Ware says. “They make the city a better place.”
Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (above, far left) delivered an upbeat Commencement address and received an honorary doctor of engineering degree recognizing her distinguished public career and leadership in supporting higher education. Hutchison’s honorary degree citation noted that she was the first woman to represent Texas in the United States Senate, where she advanced science, technology, engineering and math education.
Marc Christensen, a nationally recognized leader in photonics – the science and technology of light – has been named dean of SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering. He has served as interim dean in the Lyle School since July 1, 2012.
The American Athletic Conference will have 10 members in its first season:SMU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Houston, Louisville, Memphis, Rutgers, South Florida and Temple. East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa will join the league in 2014, and Navy is set to come aboard in 2015.
The SMU men’s swimming team rewrote school and conference records, sweeping the highest individual honors and taking the team title in the Conference USA Championships Feb. 20-23 in Houston. Senior Mindaugas Sadauskas finished the 100-yard freestyle in a meet-record 42.77 seconds, earning the men’s swimmer of the meet honor. He also swam on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that set school and meet records. Sophomore Devin Burnett (left) was diver of the meet after finishing first in the platform diving competition. The SMU women finished third in the same competition; Isabella Arcila (right) earned swimmer of the meet honors after winning the 200-yard backstroke and competing on the 400-yard freestyle relay team that won first.
The SMU equestrian team was defeated 6-2 by No. 3 Georgia in April in the second round of the National Collegiate Equestrian Championship at the Extraco Events Center in Waco. The No. 6-seeded Mustangs had defeated No. 11 New Mexico State in the opening round of competition. In only their first year of collegiate equestrian competition, Schaefer Raposa and Mary Abbruzzese (left) have excelled on the national stage. Raposa won the 2013 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. She knocked off four nationally ranked opponents in equitation over fences to take home the title. Fellow first-year Abbruzzese was named athlete of the month in February by the National Collegiate Equestrian Association after finishing the month 4-0 in equitation on the flat. Raposa and Abbruzzese were named to the NCEA’s All-American team in April, earning second-team honors with sophomores Courtney Line and Greer Hindle and first-year Alex Butterworth.
Hilary Russo (right) was honored in May with the “Excellence in Teaching” award from the National Society of Leadership and Success. Hilary is an adjunct professor at St. John’s University in New York City and teaches TV performance and production. She is also a TV host/lifestyle and design specialist and a guest host on QVC, the national shopping network.
Colette Kress (right), a 24-year veteran of the tech industry, has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Nvidia Corp., a graphics chip maker. She previously served as senior vice president and CFO for Cisco’s Business Technology and Operations Finance organization for three years. Prior to that, she spent 13 years with Microsoft, including four years as CFO of its Server and Tools division. In addition, she has held various financial positions with Texas Instruments.
Mary Elizabeth Ellis (right) is an actress living and working in Los Angeles, who has appeared in the television programs “New Girl,” “Up All Night,” “Happy Endings” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
Matt and Melissa Rothschild Bragman (right) welcomed future Mustang Molly Elizabeth Bragman (Class of 2027) September 17. She was born just in time to watch the Battle for the Iron Skillet, says Matt. The Bragmans live in Long Beach, CA where Matt is an administrator for Green Dot Public Schools and Melissa is the entertainment events manager at the Queen Mary.
On the morning after graduation last May, Curry Heard (third from left) and four friends posed for this snapshot on their first day as newly minted SMU alumni. Heard, who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, majored in advertising and Spanish and now enjoys a fast-paced career as an account executive for Brynn Bagot Public Relations. She recently shared this photo with SMU Magazine and provided an update about the other four members of the Class of 2012, all of whom live in the Dallas area. Pictured from left: Julie Amundson (originally from Las Vegas, Nevada) will join Deloitte after earning her master’s degree in audit accounting from SMU’s Cox School of Business in May; Katherine Bruce (Kansas City, Kansas) majored in broadcast journalism and serves as regional sales representative for Estech Systems; Curry Heard; Sarah Grayden (Orange County, California) is also working toward an MSA at SMU and will join KPMG after graduation in May; and Georgia Grey (Denver, Colorado), an English language and literature major, teaches kindergarten at Laureate Preparatory School.
School-age children who participate in structured after-school activities improve their academic achievement, according to a new study by researchers in SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The study by associate professors Ken Springer and Deborah Diffily measured academic performance of children enrolled in Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas. Springer and Diffily both teach in Simmons’ Department of Teaching and Learning.
SMU has created commemorative books for its Centennial celebration that highlight the campus experience. SMU: Unbridled Vision, a picture book showcasing the beauty of the campus. It is available online or by calling The Book Foundry at 1-615-330-9013. The University also has published The SMU Campus at 100, A Century of Shared Commitment, which includes histories and photos of all SMU buildings, along with fountains, promenades and other landmarks. Both books are available at the SMU Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 214-768-2435. SMU photographer Hillsman S. Jackson won a gold award as Photographer of the Year in the international competition of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education for his portfolio of images in Unbridled Vision. He also shot many of the images for The SMU Campus at 100.
The seven Texas institutions that competed to house the George W. Bush Presidential Center sought the historical resource in part because of the scholars and dignitaries it would attract for research, programs and interaction. But perhaps few expected that Bush Center activities would begin as early as 2010, three years before the facility would be completed in spring 2013.
By Susan White
Every so often, universities take stock of their academic offerings, particularly those in the liberal arts. In 2008 President R. Gerald Turner asked SMU’s provost to review the General Education Curriculum to ensure that it was meeting the needs of 21st-century students entering a global marketplace. Provost Paul Ludden asked a committee of 17 faculty and staff members, “What will be the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences that characterize a person with an SMU education, regardless of major?”
From the ruins of an old fort and 13th-century Indian pueblo, SMU grew a campus that provides a unique setting for teaching and research.
A ceramics class taught in an outdoor studio attracted sophomore Alexandra Jones to SMU-in-Taos for the August term. The chance to dive more deeply into an opportunity she calls “life-changing” cemented her decision to remain for the fall semester.
By Lauren Smart ’11
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of SMU’s master plan, and the laying of the cornerstone of Dallas Hall in 1912, donors of SMU’s more than 100 buildings gathered for a luncheon in October as part of the Second Century Celebration. Speaker was architect Graham Wyatt of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, designers of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Wyatt said the Bush Center’s design is “fully in the tradition of the campus,” but does not compete with its iconic structures such as Dallas Hall. Right: SMU Board of Trustees chair Caren Prothro, representing the Prothro and Perkins families’ funding of several campus buildings; Wyatt; Linda Custard ’60, ’99, vice chair for special events, Second Century Celebration Committee; trustee David Miller ’72, ’73, a major donor for the expansion of Moody Coliseum; and Mark Langdale, president of the Bush Foundation. To mark the anniversary of the master plan, SMU has published The SMU Campus at 100: A Century of Shared Commitment, a guide to facilities, monuments and special features. The book is available at the SMU Bookstore; call 214-768-2435 for details. > Read more
Calling the incident “the most creative day of my life,” Tobolowsky sketched out the story in dramatic and humorous detail during a program sponsored by Friends of the SMU Libraries October 3. While he is known for scene-stealing parts in movies such as Groundhog Day, Tobolowsky is also an author. He was on campus to promote his new book The Dangerous Animals Club. 
John Phelan ’86, co-founder and co-managing partner of MSD Capital, L.P., offered his insights about Wall Street and the financial crisis at the first Gartner Honors Lecture of the academic year September 10. His topic, “The Financial Crisis of The Big Short: An Investor’s Perspective,” continued the campuswide discussion of SMU’s 2012 Common Reading selection, The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, by Michael Lewis. Phelan challenged the accuracy of the book and encouraged students to seek multiple perspectives on the issues of the day. He also advised students to follow their passions, not the latest trends, to be successful. Phelan graduated cum laude with distinction from SMU with Bachelor’s degrees in economics and political science. He earned his M.B.A. degree from Harvard University in 1990 and holds a General Course degree with an emphasis in economics and international relations from the London School of Economics. Phelan serves on the Investment Committee of the SMU Endowment.
SMU alumni, parents and friends gathered in Los Angeles October 11 to hear the latest campus news and a pre-election survey of the political landscape by Matt Wilson, associate professor of political science in Dedman College, and John S. Thomas ’07, a political consultant. Among those attending were (from left) Kelly Allen Welsh ’78, Karin Clark Ott ’82, Thomas and Wilson. Thomas was profiled by the Los Angeles Times October 8 as a rising star in Southern California politics. The 27-year-old strategist has worked on several winning campaigns in L.A. County and is currently advising L.A. mayoral candidate Kevin James, an attorney and former talk-show host. Thomas earned a degree in advertising from SMU and is a past president of the L.A. alumni chapter.
Jane Albritton ’67, ’71, a Peace Corps volunteer in India (1967-69), spent several years collecting essays from fellow returned volunteers about their service overseas to mark the 50th anniversary of the organization’s accomplishments. The result is 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories, a four-volume collection of volunteers’ experiences. She served as series editor and volume editor of Even the Smallest Crab Has Teeth: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories, which focuses on stories from Asia and the Pacific. The four books are available from Amazon.com. Albritton is a former lecturer in English at SMU. She is the daughter of Claude Albritton, legendary SMU geology professor, administrator and mentor.
Thomas R. Hegi (right) has been elected a partner of the firm Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP. Hegi’s law practice includes corporate and partnership tax, executive/employee compensation, income tax, state and local taxation, aviation law and corporate transactions including hedge funds, partnerships and joint venture transactions, and private equity. A graduate of SMU’s Dedman School of Law, he joined the firm as an associate in 2006. Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP is a limited liability partnership with more than 139 resident attorneys in its offices in Fort Worth and Austin.
The training involved the deployment of a Shock Trauma Platoon (STP) and Forward Resuscitative Surgical System (FRSS), “our medical platform for the 4th Medical Batallion,” explains Dr. Burgher. “The STP and FRSS provide a mobile trauma emergency room and operating room, offering damage control intervention as close to the point of injury as possible to our forward deployed Marines.”
Never heard of Ron Judkins ’75? Moviegoers may not know his name, but they know his sound. Judkins, who studied filmmaking at Meadows School of the Arts, has won Academy Awards for Best Sound for Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan. He also was nominated for his sound-design skills on Schindler’s List and War of the Worlds. His latest collaboration with director Steven Spielberg is the movie Lincoln.
British & Irish Landscape Portraits, a collaboration between Dallas photographer Sarah Carson ’60 and Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, professor of history at SMU, captures unique views of both urban and rural settings and provides thoughtful context for the images.![](https://blog.smu.edu/smumagazine/files/alumnews-bralystanding.jpg")
The groundbreaking also represented other projects either beginning or planned: renovation of Fondren Library Center, expansion and renovation of Moody Coliseum and construction of a new indoor-outdoor tennis complex south of Mockingbird Lane, a new Mustang Band Hall at Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports, a new data center to increase computing power for teaching and research, and renovation of Memorial Health Center, soon to be renamed the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center. New facilities also will include the Crain Family Centennial Promenade, a pedestrian thoroughfare. Engraved pavers for the promenade, recognizing gifts from alumni, parents, friends and other members of the SMU community, will serve as permanent markers of support for the University.
An SMU law professor never imagined that she would refer to Dr. Seuss, Shakespeare and Vaudeville for legal research, but those sources proved invaluable in producing the book Lawtalk: The Unknown Stories Behind Familiar Legal Expressions (Yale University Press, 2011). Written by Dedman School of Law Professor Elizabeth Thornburg, along with three other legal scholars, Lawtalk explores the origins and uses of 77 popular law-related expressions such as blue laws, boilerplate, jailbait, pound of flesh and the third degree. “Law pervades U.S. society, and the words and metaphors we use to talk about law give powerful clues about our values and what’s important to Americans as a people,” Thornburg says.
The new Kitt Investing and Trading Center (left) in the Cox School of Business “takes our finance curriculum to the next level,” says Albert W. Niemi Jr., dean of the Cox School and Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership. The center, which opened in the fall in the lower level atrium of the school, integrates curriculum with practical investment and trading applications.
Mike Hall ’76 (left) lost his SMU ring in the 1980s and was certain it was gone forever. However, someone found it – no one is quite sure who, when or where – and passed it along to the Alumni Relations office, which brought Bob Sharp (right) into the loop. Sharp, director of major gifts and Circle of Champions, SMU Athletics Development, graduated from SMU in 1976, the year etched on the ring. Sharp recognized the initials inside the ring, “MWH,” as possibly belonging to Hall. Both men were Mustang cheerleaders – Hall in 1975 and Sharp in 1976-77 – and had been roommates during the 1975-76 school year. Although out of touch for some years, they reconnected at their Centennial Reunion in November. After exchanging e-mails to verify ownership, Sharp was able to reunite Hall with his ring. “What an unbelievable surprise! I never expected to see it again,” says Hall. “Some people think it’s corny for a grown man to wear his college ring, but I wear mine proudly. For me, my ring symbolizes the tremendous gratitude I feel toward my parents for enabling me to attend the finest University in the nation.”
By Patricia Ward
The CCE is among the most recent University-community partnerships to build on a century of tradition. While launching SMU’s centennial celebration in 2011, President R. Gerald Turner traced the roots of the Simmons School to the mutually beneficial SMU-Dallas relationship: “We established a new school of education focused on applied research in response to the needs we were hearing from our area superintendents and others in the schools.”
Cardiologist John Harper’s passions for science and the written word merge in “Intersections: Literature and Medicine,” an annual conference he established in 2010. “The science of medicine could learn from literature by gaining a better understanding of the human condition, a view inside the human soul and more ways to deeply connect with patients through compassionate, healing words,” he stated in an announcement about the inaugural event. The conference is among the accomplishments for which he was recognized as the 2012 Dedman College Distinguished Graduate. He was honored along with Psychology Chair Ernest N. Jouriles, 2012 Dedman Family Distinguished Professor, and Kevin Eaton, Robert and Nancy Dedman Outstanding Senior Student, at the school’s annual awards luncheon March 20. Harper, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from SMU in 1968 and an M.D. from UT Southwestern Medical School in 1972, has been a clinical cardiologist for 33 years at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. He is the first Jennie Metcalf Ewton Chair for Cardiology at the hospital.
Ruth Morgan, provost and professor emerita, was the guest of honor at a luncheon hosted by some of her former students in November. Morgan taught political science in Dedman College, 1966-95. She also served as assistant provost, 1978-81, and associate provost, 1981-86, before becoming provost and vice president for academic affairs, 1986-93. Those attending the luncheon included (from left) Warren Russell ’69, “M” Award, 1969, Student Senate, and wife Sheryl; David Waldrep, ’70, ’73, ’93; Lon Williams ’70, president of the SMU Student Senate, 1969-70, “M” Award, 1970; JoAnn Harris Means ’70, ’74, student body president, 1972-73, “M” Award, 1973; Ruth Morgan’s son, Glenn E. Morgan; Provost Emerita Morgan; H.W. Perry Jr. ’74, student body president, 1973-74, “M” Award, 1974; Carolyn Jeter, assistant to the provost, 1987-present; Terry Means ’71, ’74, student body president, 1970-71, “M” Award, 1970; and Randy West ’70, ’74, ’77, Mustang Band drum major, 1967-72, assistant band director, 1969-72, and student senator, 1975-76. Not pictured is Craig Enoch ’72, ’75, recipient of a 2006 SMU Distinguished Alumni Award and a 1999 Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.
Flooding rains didn’t dampen the spirit of those who turned out for a “Happy Hour with the Professors” January 25. Sixty members of Dallas Young Alumni and 21 faculty members gathered to reminisce and share news about SMU. The event provided Kristina Kiik ’06, ’10 (left), Political Science Professor James Hollifield, who serves as director of SMU’s Tower Center For Political Studies, and Gennéa Squire de Torres ’06, ’11 with an opportunity to catch up. “I’m always amazed at the accomplishments of SMU’s faculty, and I am so fortunate to have a plethora of former professors who continue to inspire me today,” says de Torres, event chair.
Mouzon Biggs Jr. ’65 (right) received the 2012 Perkins School of Theology Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Alumni/ae Council of Perkins School of Theology at a dinner in his honor during Ministers Week in February. Biggs accepted the award from Suzanne Cox Reedstrom ’04, chair of the council and lead associate minister at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church, Houston, and Perkins Dean William B. Lawrence. The award recognizes distinguished public service, exemplary character and continuing support and involvement with the school. Biggs has been senior minister at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, since 1980. A popular public speaker, he has addressed audiences in 30 states and traveled in 41 countries. His interfaith and interracial work have garnered numerous accolades, including the National Conference of Community and Justice Award and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Keeping the Dream Alive Award.
Becca Ellinor ’11 (left) and Korey Adams ’11 sort shoes during a community service project sponsored by the Dallas Young Alumni February 25. Twenty-five volunteers helped with Buckner International’s Shoes for Orphan Souls, which provides new shoes and socks to children in need in the United States and around the globe. Volunteers also wrote notes of encouragement to be placed in each pair of shoes. “This was a great opportunity for young alumni to stay connected and give back to the community at the same time,” says George B. Hunter ’05, event chair.
Former Mustang football players Mike Richardson ’69 (center) and Chris Rentzel ’72 (right) joined Coach June Jones for the National Signing Day celebration hosted by the SMU Mustang Club February 1. Among the 20 student-athletes recruited to the Hilltop is PARADE All-American Prescott Line, brother of running back Zach Line, a Doak Walker Award semifinalist. “Every year gets better,” Jones said, praising the recruits’ academic records and character as well as their athletic abilities. The 2012 season opens with a road trip to Waco to face Baylor September 1. The first home game will be against Stephen F. Austin September 8. Ticket information is available at smumustangs.com or by calling 214-768-4263 (SMU GAME).
seven highly accomplished legal and business professionals at its annual Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner February 27. This year’s recipients and their awards are (from left) W. Richard Davis ’58, mayor of University Park and a retired partner of Strasburger & Price LLP, Private Practice Award; Dean M. Gandy ’50, retired judge, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas, Judicial Service Award; trustee Carl Sewell Jr., chairman of Sewell Automotive Companies, who earned a B.B.A. in banking, finance and economics from SMU in 1966, named an honorary alumnus of the law school; Edward B. Rust Jr. ’75, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of State Farm Mutual, the Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Achievement (the highest honor); Sarah R. Saldaña ’84, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Texas, Government Service Award; and D. Wayne Watts ’80, senior executive vice president and general counsel of AT&T, Corporate Service Award. H. Harjono ’81, founding justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, recipient of the Distinguished Global Alumni Award, was unable to attend and will receive his award at a later date.
Marshall Terry ’53, ’54 shares a lighthearted moment with Charlotte Whaley ’70, ’76, editor emeritus of the Southwest Review, at a reception and book signing for his memoir, Loving U. Terry’s book is described as “an affectionate and clear-eyed narrative” of his more than 50-year relationship with the University. The professor emeritus of English and architect of SMU’s creative writing program, Terry offers his unique perspectives on famous moments in Hilltop history – including poet T.S. Eliot’s visit in 1958 – and beloved figures such as President Willis Tate (1954-72). Terry will receive the third annual Literati Award from the Friends of the SMU Libraries March 31, 2012. Loving U. may be purchased from DeGolyer Library – call 214-768-0829 for more information – and the SMU Barnes & Noble Bookstore.
Darrell Lindsey and Anita Ray ’54 toured the Centennial Hall exhibits during a reception and dinner for the Dallas Hall Society September 20. Located in the first floor of Hughes-Trigg Student Center, Centennial Hall includes a historical timeline, interactive features, videos, digitized copies of Rotunda yearbooks, tributes to communities associated with SMU, such as Dallas and the Park Cities, and an electronic guestbook, where visitors may add their reflections and hopes for SMU’s future. The Dallas Hall Society recognizes alumni, parents and friends who have included SMU in their estate plans or made other planned gifts to the University. Chartered in 1996, the Society has 445 active households (as of May 31, 2011).
Judith Banes ’69, ’78 retired as director of Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports in September, but she may be best known as Peruna’s unofficial godmother. Thanks to the creative blankets she has fashioned for him over the years, Peruna is, perhaps, one of the best-dressed mascots in the nation. Judith and her husband, Fred, met as first-year SMU students. She joined SMU in 1986 and served as Dedman Center director for 21 years. Fred, who also retired, returned to the Hilltop in 1997 and was a trades manager with the Office of Planning, Design and Construction. Their son, Corey, is a 1990 graduate.
More than 400 former athletes, their families and other supporters of Mustang sports attended the SMU Lettermen’s Annual Reunion September 9-10. Pictured are: (front, left to right) Marshella Atkins, Tennel Atkins ’78, Suzanne Johnston ’70, and (back) Chris Rentzel ’72, Bill Wright ’71 and Jim Johnston ’70, ’71. All tennis teams and the 1976-79 football teams were honored this year. William L. Hutchison Sr. ’54, ’55 received the 2011 Honorary Letter Award from the Lettermen’s Association board. Hutchison, a trustee emeritus, is also a 1990 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.
SMU trustee Bradley W. Brookshire ’76 (left) and Ann Warmack Brookshire ‘77, who serves on the SMU Libraries Executive Board, join Mark L. Meyer ’76, a member of the SMU Athletic Forum board, and Judiann Reeves Meyer ’76 for pre-game festivities in the SMU Alumni tent before the TCU game. The SMU-TCU rivalry dates to 1915, when the University’s football team first traveled to Fort Worth for the season opener, according to Darwin Payne, professor emeritus of communications and author of a history of athletics at SMU, In Honor of the Mustangs. The Battle for the Iron Skillet was launched in 1946, according to newspaper reports of the day. This year, the Mustang football team won the 76th Iron Skillet in a 40-33 overtime victory against the 20th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs.
Dean William Tsutsui (left) offered a revealing look at Dedman College in his talk “Research: The Sexy Side of Dedman” at the Young Alumni Professional Breakfast September 13. Geothermal energy, childhood obesity and the origins of the universe are just a few of the complex topics studied by Dedman researchers. Upcoming speakers in the breakfast series include Hunter and Stephanie Hunt, founders of the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity at SMU’s Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering, February 16; and Kerry Briggs, director of education reform at the George W. Bush Institute, April 4. The dean is shown with senior Adriana Martinez, a President’s Scholar and student member of the SMU Board of Trustees, and Jonathan Childers ’02.
Matthew Adamic ’01 and Katie Wright ’07 flank human Peruna at the Young Alumni Fry The Frogs happy hour September 13. The Mustangs not only captured the Iron Skillet in the annual gridiron battle October 1, but SMU alumni “fried the frogs” by besting their TCU peers in an annual giving challenge. A total of 1,067 alumni donors made a gift in September to win the competition, while the Horned Frogs garnered 934 donors. Mustangs can still contribute to the SMU Scholarship Fund online.
Total: 1,382
An exhibition, “Four Centuries of Religious Books for Children,” will be featured January 20-May 12, 2012, in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries at Bridwell Library. The exhibition explores religious books specifically written for children that were printed in Europe and America from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Intended to both instruct and delight, these publications were the foundation for young people’s future religious education and faith. Shown at left is The Illustrated Scripture Alphabet with Prayers and Hymns for Children. Boston: J. Buffum, [1855-1857].
Senior Lindsay Sockwell, one of the first Engaged Learning grant recipients, experienced her own “journey of discovery” this past summer while working with orphans in Zambia. She used her skills as a dance performance major with a psychology minor to inspire the children, most of whom lost their parents to the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
Senior and grant recipient Michael McCarthy, a double major in statistics and mathematics, is using his knowledge to analyze data for Veterans Affairs in Dallas while covering school expenses. Receiving the Engaged Learning grant enabled him to participate in the program by replacing the salary he otherwise would earn working part time, which he needs to do to cover school expenses. McCarthy is conducting database analysis that evaluates home care support the VA Spinal Cord Injury Center provides to injured veterans.
The new program will build on elements of the new University Curriculum, which will debut in fall 2012. Starting then, students will be required to engage with local and global communities around issues of civic responsibility and cultural understanding either through coursework, volunteer opportunities, or study abroad. The Engaged Learning program takes students a step further: They can enhance their experiences through independently designed projects that require more depth and serious commitments of both time and effort. A major component of Engaged Learning requires the students to write reports about their projects, reflecting on their experiences. All students’ reports will be published in an online journal organized by Central University Libraries.
Grant recipient and sophomore Jaywin Malhi also praises the Engaged Learning program. Malhi is a political science and business management major who plans to attend law school and
Senior Colby Kruger wanted to expand her previous volunteer services for Girls Incorporated of Metropolitan Dallas. With her Engaged Learning grant, she is teaching photography to teens from low-income neighborhoods while encouraging them to develop a realistic understanding of beauty. The business marketing major, who has a double minor in photography and art history, is working through a partnership with Girls Inc.
Volunteers worked with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, which provides food to those in need in Middle and West Tennessee. Alumni helped stock refrigerators, boxed food and sorted canned goods.
Alumni volunteered with City Meals on Wheels at the Stanley Isaacs Senior Center. The program’s mission is to ensure that homebound elderly New Yorkers never go a day without food or human company. Volunteers followed a walking route to deliver meals to the elderly.
Alumni helped spruce up Onward Neighborhood House, which offers educational, recreational and social services programs. Afterward, the Mustangs gathered for an SMU-Tulsa watch party. Pictured from left are Tom Cooper ’02, Jesica Cooper ’02, John Gaines ’04, Tim Moen ’74, Steve Swanson ’74 and John Simon ’10.
Alumni aided SOME (So Others May Eat). SOME is an interfaith, community-based organization that exists to help the poor and homeless of our nation’s capital. The organization meets the immediate daily needs of the people it serves with food, clothing and health care. SOME helps break the cycle of homelessness by offering services, such as affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment and counseling, to the poor, the elderly and individuals with mental illness.Alumni in St. Louis volunteered at City Academy, a K-6 school that strives to admit promising children from committed families in the urban community; offer an exceptional and affordable education; foster a culture of academic rigor, integrity and citizenship; and cultivate an appreciation of lifelong learning that inspires future success.
SMU alumni assisted the United Methodist Children’s Home (UMCH) with landscaping. The mission of UMCH is to provide redemptive, healing services that bring meaningful change to children and families. The Children’s Home has been a safe haven for abused children and youth since 1871. Services are aimed at preventing the breakup of families, restoring and healing separated families, and teaching teens and young adults how to create successful lives for their future families.
A major renovation planned for Fondren Library Center will restore the Grand Reading Room (shown in rendering) for use by all, while also creating a Special Collections Reading Room and a gallery space for public programming. These rooms will be signature spaces for scholarly pursuit and will honor the architectural tradition of the campus, according to Gillian M. McCombs, dean and director of Central University Libraries (CUL). The project also incorporates several amenities for students, including a collaborative learning suite and a café/browsing area. While utilizing the existing footprint of the complex, the proposed renovation increases user spaces, technology access, public programming capabilities and other improvements. Funds are now being raised to support the project. To make a contribution or for more information, contact Paulette Mulry ’83, CUL director of development, 214-768-1741.
As part of its Second Century Celebration, SMU has published a 160-page book, SMU: Unbridled Vision, which features more than 200 new color photographs, combined with selected historic images, showing the beauty and vitality of the campus experience. The Second Century Celebration extends from 2011, the 100th anniversary of the University’s founding, to 2015, the centennial of its opening. The book also features an essay on the founding and an essay by SMU President R. Gerald Turner that focuses on current strengths. The book is available at the SMU Barnes & Noble Bookstore on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas; Gameday Cloth in Plano; Madison in Highland Park Village, Dallas; Suzanne Roberts in Snider Plaza, Dallas; and online from Amazon. Cost is $59.95 each.
DeGolyer Library will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the world’s most popular novelists with “Charles Dickens, 1811-2011: An Exhibition from the Collection of Stephen Weeks,” opening January 19, 2012. Weeks, a member of the SMU Libraries Executive Board, began collecting books while in high school. Weeks’ collection includes 1,000 volumes of Dickens’ first novel, The Pickwick Papers. The novel was published originally as a 19-month serial beginning in March 1836. “In The Pickwick Papers you can see Dickens develop as an author,” says Weeks, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Cyndi. Their daughter, Jennifer, is an SMU senior. Weeks’ collection also contains 2,000 Pickwick Papers illustrations, including proof sets and hand-tinted works. The exhibit will continue through May 11, 2012. The illustration at left is from the Stephen Weeks collection.
This just in from Spain: Four monumental tapestries are making their way to SMU’s Meadows Museum to hang in an exhibit titled “The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries” February 5-May 13, 2012. The Gothic works of art portray the conquests of two Moroccan cities by the king of Portugal, Afonso
Peruna IX, shown sprinting with handlers Ryan Gage (left) and Chris Manthey, is the big stud on campus now. The miniature black stallion took the reins from Peruna VIII at halftime of the football game against Central Florida October 15 in Ford Stadium. Also honored at the game were current and former Peruna handlers and the Culwell family. W.E. Cullwell, owner of Culwell and Sons, donated Peruna II in 1932; since then the Culwell family has donated each pony that has served as the Mustang mascot. Four-year-old Peruna IX has been groomed for the job since his selection as a colt, attending summer band practices to become adjusted to game noise. However, 17-year-old Peruna VIII, who reigned from 1997-2011, is not being put out to pasture. In semiretirement, he will continue to make appearances on The Boulevard before home games and at other events.
As a student in 1991, Chris Lake ’92, ’95 began tutoring a 9-year-old boy living in the crime-riddled East Dallas neighborhood where he rented a house. Despite Lake’s best efforts, his student usually dozed off during their sessions. Unable to sleep one night as he puzzled over the problem, the tutor took a 2 a.m. walk through the neighborhood and found an answer: He spotted the youngster helping his mother clean the local Laundromat.
In spring 2011, Greenland Hills United Methodist Church in Dallas celebrated the opening and consecration of a new fellowship hall. Under the guidance of Greenland Hills’ minister of music Chelsea Stern ’10, children proceeded into the sanctuary singing a Rwandan song of praise: Munezero! Munezero kwa Jesu. Munezero Hallelujah! (“Sing out gladly! Sing out gladly to Jesus. Sing out gladly Hallelujah!”). Though Stern had planned to ask the congregation to stand after the children finished singing, the people spontaneously leapt to their feet, clapping and singing along.
By Kara Kunkel
A public service internship from SMU’s Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility enabled Nair to spend her summer volunteering. She requested and received a teaching position at Swasraya, a school for mentally handicapped children near her grandparents’ home in Kerala, India, where she spent summers as a girl and would play with the children during break time at the school. “The teachers knew me and the students became my friends,” says Nair, who is majoring in computer science in the Lyle School of Engineering.
The pages are filled with inspiring statements — such as “Pray, cry, remember, but never hate” — written by members of the SMU family in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedies.
the best possible preparation for life and career in America today: look at any corporate board of directors or the leadership of any top government agency and you are likely to find a slew of liberal arts graduates; the liberal arts prepare you not just for one job (as more narrow professional or vocational training might) but for a wide range of jobs that need readily transferable skills like reading, writing, research, analysis and creativity; the liberal arts prepare individuals to lead full, open-minded, civically engaged and reflective lives; today, nations like China and India are trying to emulate the liberal arts from America to stir creativity and breadth in their undergraduates. But we also need to emphasize the role of the liberal arts in combating the fear that seems so prevalent today in American families and throughout our society, a pervasive sense of anxiety growing from economic uncertainty, international concerns, and political divisions. It is precisely at this moment, I believe, that the liberal arts are the most valuable. The constant questioning, critical thinking and healthy skepticism that characterize the humanities and sciences are a potent antidote to uncertainty and anxiety. A liberal education teaches us that “not knowing” is the normal state of being and that by thoughtful, self-reflective and collaborative investigation, experimentation, discussion and debate, new options can be discovered, new truths revealed and a new comfort found amid insecurity and doubt. The liberal arts help us master and direct our fears and approach the future not with apprehension and unease, but with the confidence that no challenge is too great to be studied, contemplated and eventually surmounted.
must ensure that the natural and social sciences have adequate laboratories and collaborative spaces, and that they have the latest technology to support the work of scholars and students. Dedman College faculty members have long been enthusiastic participants in the process of discovery, and a lot of people locally recognize the value of that research – the benefit it brings not just to the world but to Dallas in particular – because it generates new economic opportunities and addresses a wide variety of social, political and cultural challenges. People want to invest in people. That’s why it is so important to get our faculty out into the community as part of The Second Century Campaign. When alumni see the passion that our biologists, economists, psychologists and other faculty bring to their research, they understand that what can seem like a faceless institutional gift actually has a very human imprint. To help stimulate research activity, the College, working with our Campaign Steering Committee co-chairs Kelly Hoglund Compton ’79 and Fred Hegi ’66, has created the Dean’s Research Council, a donor organization that provides resources for promising new scholarly projects. We’ve already received a $100,000 leadership gift from Pierce Allman ’54 and have selected some impressive young, tenure-track faculty members – Amy Pinkham in psychology, Yunkai Zhou in mathematics and Lisa Siraganian in English – who will receive seed funding as a springboard to compete for large federal grants.
Michaux Nash Jr. ’56 ended a three-decade treasure hunt a few years ago by completing the only known collection of sheriffs’ badges from all 254 Texas counties. Nash, a fourth-generation Dallasite and third-generation banker, donated the collection to SMU last year. It is a one-of-a-kind collection because regulations now prohibit private individuals from obtaining genuine law enforcement badges, says DeGolyer Library Director Russell Martin ’78, ’86. The collection can be viewed at DeGolyer Library; call 214-768-2253.
It seems there are sharp eyes and memories among several of our alumni, who contacted SMU Magazine to gently inform us that the photo on the back cover of the Fall/Winter 2010 issue was not of SMU’s 1934 Homecoming queen. In fact, we were contacted by the Homecoming queen from the actual year of the photo: Sarah-Finch Maiden “Skippy” Rollins (Mrs. Joe G. Rollins) ’42, who now lives in Boulder, Colorado. She says it was she sitting atop the convertible during SMU’s Homecoming parade in downtown Dallas in fall 1941. SMU Magazine stands corrected, and so does SMU Archives
Vaughn is one of the nearly 150 undergraduate and graduate students attending SMU on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which provides education benefits to military veterans and their dependents. The bill is a 2008 update to the 1944 GI Bill of Rights, which awarded scholarships to World War II veterans to colleges of their choice.
The leadership skills that served Vaughn well while in the military continue to do so at Cox. He has been a member of the M.B.A. Energy Club and was president and a founding member of Veterans in Business, which helps student veterans in their transition from the military to a career in business.
When Kashima Jones served in the Navy from 2004 to 2008, she was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. She won numerous awards working as a dental technician, providing care to Marines as they deployed to and returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jones’ husband, Necorian, 26, a Navy veteran and active Reservist, is a junior mathematics major in Dedman College. The couple continues to serve one weekend each month as dental technicians at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.
Former Petty Officer 2nd Class James Noel, 28, served aboard warships around the world during his six years in the U.S. Navy and two in the Navy Reserve. His first time at sea was at the start of the Iraq war in 2003 on the USS John S. McCain, where he worked as a sonar technician, watching for underwater threats and minefields.
professors,” he says. “And I love the atmosphere at SMU, the school spirit, game days and Boulevarding. Even though I’m not a traditional college student, I feel like one here. Everyone – the professors, staff and students – has been very welcoming.”
Throughout red-and-blue SMU, green practices have become a way of life as the University community rallies to cut waste and conserve precious resources.
More than 1,200 alumni from around the globe and members of the campus community gathered April 15 for tributes, fireworks and a giant birthday card as SMU celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. The event kicked off a series of events for SMU’s Founders’ Day Weekend.
Stephanie Dupaul (right) has been named SMU’s associate vice president for Enrollment Management. In this new position in the Office of the Provost, she will provide strategy for the University’s goal of increasing the number and quality of applicants.
SMU libraries bear little resemblance to the first library that was located in a room in Dallas Hall. The University system now comprises seven libraries – DeGolyer Library, Fondren Library Center, Hamon Arts Library, Institute for the Study of Earth and Man, Business Information Center and the professional Underwood Law Library and Bridwell Library, as well as libraries at SMU-in-Taos and SMU-in-Plano. Patrons also rely on online materials available through SMU libraries – approximately 20,000 magazine or journal subscriptions, 472 databases, 308,700 e-books, 8,330 digitized special collections items and streaming access to more than 50,000 CDs. And there is always the traditional route: more than 3 million books.
Inertia, the 2D platform arcade game created by students from The Guildhall at SMU-in-Plano, is one of the big winners ($130,000 in cash and prizes) of the second annual Indie Game Challenge. The eight members of SMU’s Team Hermes are enrolled in the Master’s degree program in video game design at The Guildhall. In addition, a four-member team was named as one of three finalists in the National STEM Video Game Challenge in Washington, D.C. The educational game Slime Garden teaches scientific methodology by incorporating experimentation and simulation. The Guildhall recently was named one of the top graduate programs in video game design by The Princeton Review.
During Engineering & Humanity Week in April, Lyle School of Engineering students built and lived in shelters designed to house the poor or those displaced by war and natural disasters. The Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity sponsored the Living Village.
The men’s basketball team advanced to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in March, where the Mustangs lost 72-55 to Santa Clara University at Moody Coliseum. Robert Nyakundi led SMU with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
SMU Director of Athletics Steve Orsini (left) presents the 2010 Silver Anniversary Mustang Award to former defensive back Albon Head ’69, ’71. Head received the most prestigious honor bestowed by the SMU Lettermen’s Association January 22. A partner in Jackson Walker’s Fort Worth law office, Head lettered in football at SMU from 1966-68, played defensive back on the 1966 SWC championship team and was a co-captain on the 1968 Bluebonnet Bowl championship team, which defeated Oklahoma 28-27. Head has served as chair of the SMU Alumni Association, the PwC SMU Athletic Forum and the Doak Walker Award. He is a member of the executive boards of SMU Dedman School of Law and SMU-in-Taos. In 2003 he received an SMU Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.
A justice of the Supreme Court of Thailand and a philanthropic entrepreneur were among those honored at the SMU Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony February 19. Alumni present at the event and their awards were: seated, from left, Donald J. Malouf ’62, private practice; Barbara J. Houser ’78, judicial service; Philip J. Wise ’81, public service; Jack D. Knox ’63, Robert G. Storey Award for Distinguished Achievement (highest honor bestowed); and Marshall P. Cloyd, honorary alumnus, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from SMU in 1964. SMU President R. Gerald Turner, awards committee members Dawn Enoch Moore ’78, ’81 and Albon Head ’69, ’71 and Dean John B. Attanasio were among those honoring the alumni. Award winners Sobchok Sukharomna ’81, global, and Richard Wright-Hogeland ’57, ’58 , corporate service, were unable to attend.
When Israel Cordero ’97 became principal of W.W. Samuell High School in 2008, the southeast Dallas school was at risk of being closed after four years of unacceptable ratings. In one year under Cordero’s leadership, the school earned an “acceptable” rating from the state. Cordero was the North Texas recipient of the Luminary Award presented by the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development January 27. The Luminary Awards honor “extraordinary commitment to improving lives through education.” Other recipients were Teach for America (national award) and Neuhaus Education Center (regional award).
Philanthropic trailblazer Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48 was honored as the 2011 recipient of the J. Erik Jonsson Ethics Award presented by SMU’s Cary Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility March 10. Altshuler has given generously of her time, talents and resources to the community and SMU, which has honored her with its Distinguished Alumni Award. One of SMU’s longest-serving trustees, she is former chair and a current member of the Board of Trustees. She is co-chair of The Second Century Campaign Leadership Council and The Second Century Celebration Organizing Committee.
The renowned New York Public Library was the setting for an alumni gathering April 5. New York City chapter leaders pictured are: (front, from left) Andrew Afifian ’00, Sara McCooey ’06 and Jackie Effenson ’05, chapter president; (back) Francesca de la Rama ’10, Kevin Schubert ’04, Jordan Carter ’08 and Jennifer Kesterson ’06. Rick Halperin, director of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program in Dedman College, and Brad E. Cheves, vice president for Development and External Affairs, spoke at the event.
Laura Claycomb
Stephen Hartley
Pietro Rizzo
John Ho
Mark Hendrix
Aleksandra Fortier
Greg Kuhn
Professor Bonnie Jacobs
Bill Lively ’65 leads the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
The late Lamar Hunt ’56, left, with Gene and Jerry Jones.
Juan José de Léon
Dee Donasco
Sarah Shahi lights up Fairly Legal.
Professor Daniel Millimet
A piano lesson with music therapy students.
The community garden outside Patterson Hall.
Movie theater marquee, 1963
The Rev.
Birdcage Clock. Gilded bronze, enamels and porcelain. San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Royal Palace, National Heritage
Jim Irsay ’82 (right) talks strategy with quarterback Peyton Manning (center) and Colts president Bill Polian.
Clark Hunt ’87 pays a post-game visit to the Kansas City Chiefs’ locker room.
Rob Johnson
First-year student Melissa Perette tutors neighborhood children at the Academic-Community-Engagement (ACE) House in East Dallas.
G. Reid Lyon shares a joke with second-grade students at Williams Preparatory School in Dallas. A former elementary school teacher, Lyon says most reading difficulties can be prevented through early identification of problems and effective instruction.
Island culture is revealing new information on the types of family violence.
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“National security starts with a strong economy, the use of diplomacy, international law and heading off conflicts before they occur. Diplomacy and deterrence still have an important role, and the best war to win is the war you never have to fight. If you go to war, you must go with decisive force, and you must have a clear idea of what the military objective is.”
“Everyone has their own moral compass about what they’re being asked to do. My career was based on asking foreigners to put their lives and maybe their families’ lives in jeopardy for the sake of United States security. For me, I thought the greater good was served, and I always tried my absolute best to ensure their safety.”
“The first picture I took of a pile of garbage, I did it because I was interested in color. It reminded me of an Impressionist painting. Then some friends and I started talking about consumerism. That got me going on the idea of photographing garbage as a way to comment on our consumer culture.”
“China is roaring to life … because they have brought women into the economy. The greatest unexploited world resource is women. Educating girls is the single most effective way to fight poverty.”
“I am addicted to traveling and the challenge of learning another culture – of not dragging your culture into someone else’s country, but living their culture. It is one of the greatest ways to live… Go to Egypt or Africa or Croatia and see what it feels like. There’s nothing in the world like that. It grows your soul. You open up as a human being.”
“More Americans today define the American Dream in terms of spiritual fulfillment and living a genuine life as opposed to those who still believe … in the traditional, material American dream. We’re getting accustomed to living in a world of limits. That bodes well for Americans getting along with the rest of the world, for a new direction in foreign policy… (and) in terms of saving the environment.”
“With everything that’s going on in our lives and society, somehow this elephant has become a symbol to me of the proverbial ‘elephant in the room.’ If people are not moved to protect creatures who are subject to their will, that lack of concern will spread out exponentially to everyone else – other countries, other cultures, other kinds of people.”
“I believe in national service. When I was in the Senate, we wrote a bill that would require any student who had a federal loan to give some type of service in return. I would have the most lucrative benefits go to those students who were willing to sign up for the military. The second level of benefits would be for those in the Guard, Reserves and homeland security, and the third would be for teachers. We have to pay teachers better, and we have to demand the best and the brightest.”
“ ‘Illegal alien’ is a really inflammatory phrase. Are people illegal? People tell me, ‘My family were immigrants, but they came here legally.’ And I have to ask, ‘Who checked the papers? Crazy Horse? Geronimo?’ We’re all visitors to this continent in one way or another. I think Americans have to remember that we are a family first, and if we talk to each other, instead of yell at each other, we come to solutions.”
Charles Darwin
<Meadows’s graduate Megan Crichton is touring the country in the Rockettes’ Christmas show.
Screenwriter and producer Jim V. (J.V.) Hart (’69) and student body vice president Bethany Peters (’08) share a lighthearted moment at the annual Ring Ceremony in April. Hart, the second honoree to receive an SMU ring at the annual event, has spent more than three decades in the film industry. He penned “Hook,” “Contact” and other screenplays, and is working on his first animated movie with children’s book illustrator William Joyce (’81).
“The statistics are pretty dismal: 16 female senators out of 100; 71 female members of the House of Representatives out of 435. If you extrapolate from there, it will be about 200 years before women reach parity with men on Capitol Hill. But it’s not unusual anymore to see women in positions of power in Washington. We’ve had two female secretaries of state, a female national security adviser and a female attorney general. These were once positions reserved for men.” 
To say that SMU is in the business of education may seem to be stating the obvious. But today we are more deeply invested in education as an interdisciplinary area of study. We are strengthening programs that educate the educators, and bringing more research to bear on effective teaching methods. Our efforts will accelerate with a $20 million gift from Harold and Annette Simmons of Dallas to endow the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Education programs have been a part of SMU’s curriculum since its early years, but now we will have resources to magnify our impact. This gift also supports SMU’s goal to increase endowments for academic purposes.
From her first pony ride at age 8, Betina Matoni was smitten with horses. For the captain of the SMU equestrian team, however, finding the opportunities to continue her passion was more challenging. 
Former SMU tailback/wide receiver Jerry LeVias (’69) met in February with students in a class on “Blacks and the Civil Rights Movement” taught by History Professor Kenneth M. Hamilton. LeVias spoke about his time at SMU when he was the first African American to receive an athletic scholarship in the Southwest Conference. Last fall he received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
After the SSC’s closing, the federal government provided U.S. physicists with funds and permission to participate in the European project. (SMU’s own LHC-related grants total nearly $9 million to date from various sources.) By August, the builders expect to close access to the experimental hall, a seven-story pit located 100 meters underground. After months of testing to ensure that the LHC’s systems work as intended, scientists should start taking experimental data within two years.
SMU honored five outstanding graduates at the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award ceremonies. Recipients were (from left) investment banker and volunteer Paul Bass (’57), artist and former SMU trustee John Nieto (’59), Houston businessman Jerry LeVias (’69), and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Craig T. Enoch (’72, ’75). Houston attorney and volunteer Denise Scofield (’89) received the Emerging Leader Award. For more information, visit smu.edu/daa.
In accepting the position, Ludden said, “SMU is filled with opportunity. There is a solid foundation of academic achievement, an ambitious plan for obtaining resources to support even more progress academically and a strong partnership with a city becoming more important globally. SMU has all of the ingredients to fulfill its high aspirations, and I look forward to working with the University community in achieving our goals.”
Since earning his Executive M.B.A. from the Cox School of Business in 2006, Erin Patton has found new ways to understand markets and cultures.
This year, TMG is introducing “7 Ciphers,” the first quantitative study of urban consumers that goes beyond traditional approaches based on gender, race and age. Patton has identified seven market segments, ages 14 to 39, with their own styles, attitudes and experiences, such as influential “Contemporary Urban” Gen-Xers and aspiring “Sub-Urban” young adults. “Today the notion of ‘urban’ transcends racial and geographic boundaries,” he says, “and this study will help businesses and organizations understand and quantify these consumers.”
About 2,000 Mustang fans turned out in force for the SMU-Rice football game November 25 in Houston. More than 400 SMU supporters attended a brunch at the Omni Riverway Hotel, as well as a tailgate party at Rice Stadium. The Owls beat the Mustangs 31-27.
They help Buddhist monks teach poor children in Thailand, make wheelchairs for victims of Vietnam-era landmines in Laos and build stoves to save families from respiratory illness in Peru.
Mark Hopkins, 19th-century educator and president of Williams College, reportedly said that for education to occur, all that is needed is a student and a teacher sitting at opposite ends of a log. Although that image does not befit today’s educational environment, it does capture the importance of the special relationship between learner and instructor. That is why recruiting and retaining a distinguished faculty is so important to SMU’s progress. Excellent faculty who create stimulating learning environments will best serve the aspirations of our students, and the reputation arising from this quality will help SMU advance among the top private universities in the nation. For these reasons, in preparing for our next major gifts campaign, we have identified faculty resources as a high priority.
Alumna Diana Aguirre (’96), second from left, joined (from left) Meadows School of the Arts staff member Kris Muñoz Vetter and Dean José Antonio Bowen and Fernando Salazar of SMU’s Multicultural Student Affairs office at a reception before the Spanish-language staging of Lope de Vega’s “La Discreta Enamorada” in December. The Meadows Theatre version updated the 1606 comedy to take place in Paris of the 1950s, featuring period music and dance and costumes based on the works of Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. Performances were presented in both English and Spanish with two casts.
Juniors Katie Gage (far left) and Steven Chlapecka (far right) networked with Trisha Gregory (’04) and Julie Terrell (’05) (center) at a Washington, D.C., alumni reception in October as part of “Hilltop on the Hill,” a weeklong program sponsored by SMU’s Division of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. CCPA students meet D.C.-area alumni, public officials and communications professionals to learn behind the scenes from staff ranging from the White House to Capitol Hill. Student blogs can be read at smu.edu/adventures.
The 1950s was a decade of growth at SMU. In 1950 SMU had 16 buildings with 11 under construction, and an endowment of $4 million. By 1960 the campus had grown to 70 buildings and the endowment to $11 million. Today, as SMU approaches the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1911, the campus comprises 76 buildings.
With this issue, SMU Magazine is introducing a new section – Hilltop History – that takes advantage of the vast holdings of SMU Archives. Each issue will feature photos that help tell the story of the University through the decades. SMU Archives collects materials that chronicle the University’s past, including documents, photographs and memorabilia from students, faculty, staff and alumni. If you can identify any of the women in this photograph, or wish to donate materials to the Archives, contact University Archivist Joan Gosnell, 214-768-2261, jgosne@smu.edu.
Hilltopics, an alternative campus newsletter, celebrated its third year of publishing by sponsoring its first essay contest, offering $1,000 in prizes for student articles. Edited and produced by SMU students, Hilltopics contains articles ranging from student apathy and sexual relationships to the environment and politics, contributed by students and faculty. The University Honors Program and Residence Hall Association sponsor Hilltopics. Articles of 300-600 words on any topic are accepted from all members of the SMU community, including alumni. E-mail submissions to hilltopics@hotmail.com. (Publication is suspended for the summer and begins again with the fall semester.) “I really enjoyed the creative and intellectual aspect of structuring and encouraging discourse on campus,” says business manager Todd Baty. For more information, contact Baty at tbaty@smu.edu or visit smu.edu/honors/Hilltopics.
SMU advertising and cinema-television students won $20,000 for creating the best 30-second commercial in a national competition sponsored last fall by Chipotle Mexican Grills. Overall, 15 students from Meadows School of the Arts entered the contest. Two teams conceptualized, wrote, filmed and edited three spots each for the competition, “30 Seconds of Fame.” An eight-member SMU team produced the winning entry, “The Wall” (right), which ran with another SMU entry, “The Dryer,” on the JumboTron in New York City’s Times Square, making them the first student-created ads to do so. In the second round of competition, Chipotle uploaded all of the approved entries submitted by teams from 22 colleges and universities – including six from SMU – to YouTube.com and began counting which submissions were being viewed the most. “The Wall,” which attracted 7.7 million viewers, placed second behind the University of Nebraska’s “Dady,” which had 8 million.
Jim Caswell (’63, ’66, ’70), vice president for student affairs, visited with DJ Pierce (’03) at the reception for former student leaders during Homecoming weekend. He is retiring after serving SMU for 48 years in numerous capacities. Caswell, whose degrees include a Master of Sacred Theology and Bachelor of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology, will serve as executive pastor at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. He recently received the Vision Award from Tri Delta sorority for his influence on the Greek community at SMU. The Jim Caswell Endowment for Leadership Development and Training has been established to support leadership programs in the Student Affairs Division. To share memories of Caswell’s years on the Hilltop and to learn more about the endowment, contact Bonner Allen at 214-768-2986 or Arlene Manthey at 214-768-4711 or visit smu.edu/caswellfund.
The first AFI Dallas International Film Festival held this spring included a substantial contingent of SMU students, faculty and alumni, as well as numerous screenings and master classes held on campus. Opening the master classes was screenwriter Jim Hart (’69), who spoke on his newest movie, “The Last Mimzy.” Other master classes were held with director Sydney Pollack, film music composers Alan and Marilyn Bergman and composer Marvin Hamlisch (right). In addition, SMU student-produced short films were screened at the nearby Magnolia Theater. Alumni film contributions included “Boy Next Door,” written and directed by Travis Davis (’94) and produced by Cale Boyter (’94), and “Midlothia,” directed by Bill Sebastian (’99). Talent agent Stephen Rice (’90) spoke to a class, and James Faust (’97) and Sarah Harris (’05) supervised numerous SMU student interns and volunteers during the festival.
