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U N I V E R S I T Y O F
MAGAZINE
N I V E R S I T Y O F
A G A Z I N E
UN I V ER S I T Y O F
MAGAZINE
UNIVERSITY
MAGAZINE
Saving Seph
Office of the Chancellor
Contents
Features
news • events
Office of the Chancellor
• sports • community
On the cover and this page: Seph Ware. By Wayne Armstrong. Story on page 32.
Mary Reed Building | 2199 S. University Blvd. | Denver, CO 80208 | 303.871.2111 | Fax 303.871.4101 | www.du.edu/chancellor
2 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Update 3
U N I V E R S I T Y O F
w w w. d u . e d u / m a g a z i n e
U N I V E R S I T Y O F
Volume 9, Number 2
M A G A Z I N E
UN I V ER S I T Y O F
MAGAZINE
UNIVERSITY OF
Working for the University of Denver Magazine, Publisher
MAGAZINE
I’m constantly reminded of how remarkable our DU Carol Farnsworth
family is. Of course, the students, faculty and staff Managing Editor Connections Gender identity Dr. Cherrington, who headed
on campus are tremendous, but it’s the alumni who Chelsey Baker-Hauck (BA ’96) What pleasure I receive from receiving and I was reading the the International Relations
Assistant Managing Editor reading the University of Denver Magazine. letters written in Department and the Social
most amaze me.
Christine Cole (MPS ’07) I received my MBA in 1961; so much has response to the new Science Foundation hired
In this job, I meet or hear from alumni happened to the University in the past 47 gender identity clause that was put into Dr. Korbel and laid the groundwork upon
Associate Editor
nearly every day. They send class notes and share Tamara Chapman years. It is great to be kept current on the effect on DU’s campus [Letters, fall 2008]. which the Graduate School of International
memories and bits of nostalgia. They forward news growth of the University and all of the It’s interesting that students are con- Studies, now the Korbel School, was
Editors
Richard Chapman accomplishments being acknowledged by sidered deviant when in fact they are trying constructed. One of the founders of the
of family members and fellow Pioneers. I’ve formed
Brenda Gillen (MLS ’06) others. to make the world a more equal and just United Nations Economic and Social
friendships with those who call or write regularly and
Michael Richmond
Kathryn Mayer (BA ’07) The fall 2008 issue was very enjoyable, place for all individuals, regardless of sexual Council (UNESCO), Dr. Cherrington
look forward to hearing their updates and feedback. Editorial Assistant particularly the story on Josef Korbel. The orientation or gender identity. It might be was a prominent internationalist of the
Most of the news alumni share eventually winds up Samantha Stewart (’08) school he headed was still growing when I considered PC to say “transgendered,” but World War II era. He was an advocate
in the pages of the University of Denver Magazine or in Creative/Brand Strategist was a student, but it had already developed a to provide a safe place for individuals to use of collective security, the fostering of
Jim Good reputation for excellence. the restroom—or feel comfortable in their international organizations, the maximum
our online news publication DU Today (www.du.edu/today).
Art Director C. Russell Nickel (BSBA ’59, MBA ’61) own skin—on a college campus is not devi- use of diplomacy in the settlement of
The backgrounds of our alumni are as diverse as their life callings. Lacey, Wash. ant, but actually humane and decent. disputes, and the building of international
Craig Korn, VeggieGraphics
They are following their passions and living lives of meaning and purpose. Students today live in a world that is partnerships as a keystone of America’s
Contributors
Their stories recharge me. Jordan Ames (BA ’02) • Wayne Armstrong • changing, and with that change comes edu- world role.
You’ll read about some of those remarkable, inspirational alumni in Jim Berscheidt • Dave Brendsel • I am very happy to be receiving the cation. Today’s modern movement is for In today’s terms, Dr. Cherrington
Janalee Card Chmel (MLS ’97) • Kristal Griffith • DU magazine; it is a wonderful magazine equality for the GLBTIQ community, when would, I believe, be among the advocates
this issue, including solar energy pioneer George Lof (page 57), 94-year-old Jeff Haessler • Linda McConnell • and reminds me of my youth and the won- back in the ’60s and ’70s the movement was of soft-power and collective arrangements
dynamo Marion Downs (page 44), benefactor and trustee Donald Sturm Doug McPherson • Jeff Nishinaka •
derful time we spent at DU. for race and gender equality. It’s admirable vis-à-vis the more unilateral use of military
Marc Piscotty • Sarah Satterwhite •
(page 24) and Ryan Greenawalt, national board director of the Log Cabin Chase Squires • Janna Widdifield • It has been about 60 years since I was a that DU is a campus where individuals can power that has characterized so much of
Republicans (page 56). Carrie Wigglesworth DU student in the mechanical engineering be themselves and not have to worry about our recent foreign policy. As such, he would
You’ll also read about alumna Lori Ware (page 32), whose son, Seph, is Editorial Board department’s temporary wood building. We hiding who they really are like so many most likely disagree quite strongly with Dr.
Chelsey Baker-Hauck, publications director • were, at the time, about 50 Iraqi students individuals have had to do in the past. Condoleezza Rice, the school’s most promi-
pictured on our cover. He has a fatal form of muscular dystrophy, and Lori
Jim Berscheidt, associate vice chancellor for sent by our government. All of us had a I applaud DU for its effort to make its nent graduate whom Dr. Korbel mentored,
is in the fight of her life to save him. I had the great pleasure of meeting university communications • Thomas Douglis wonderful academic and social education, campus a safe environment for all, regard- as to many of the policies she advocated
Lori and Seph when they visited campus in August. Seph’s gigantic spirit (BA ’86) • Carol Farnsworth, vice chancellor for or supported as national security adviser
which helped us in working in Iraq at very less of race, gender, sexual orientation or
university communications • Sarah Satterwhite,
and Lori’s love, faith and passion have moved all of us who have worked senior director of development/special assistant high levels. None of us (as I remember) gender expression. You might be joining and secretary of state. But Dr. Cherrington
on that article. I find myself thinking of them often and praying for their to the vice chancellor • Amber Scott (MA ’02) • entered the Saddam Ba’ath Party, and none the “Eastern and California universities” in would honor her service, be proud of the
Grace Stanton (PhD ’79), executive director of of us had criminal records (as was usual for their move for equality, but really you are recognition she and other graduates have
family. creative/brand strategy • Laura Stevens (BA ’69), some others during the Saddam regime). All standing up for humanity and the decency, brought to DU, and be especially gratified
I hope that the stories in this issue leave you feeling inspired, informed, director of parent relations by the development of the international
of us believed in democracy, human rights concern and compassion that should be
entertained and connected to your DU family. and social well-being. shown to all. studies program and the standing of the
Please keep the stories coming. I am not a politician, but I can’t forget And by the way, I am a straight female Korbel School as one of the great interna-
Printed on 10% PCW recycled paper (with the majority of the people of Iraq) who is proud of what my University has tional education programs in America. He
the great help of the U.S.; without it, we done for the equality movement. was a gracious gentleman and devoted to the
The University of Denver Magazine (USPS 022-177) is could not be rid of the worst dictator in the Lauren Johnston (MSW ’07) University.
published quarterly—fall, winter, spring and summer—by
the University of Denver, University Communications,
history of the world. Saddam’s regime was Denver Allan Howerton (BA ’48, MA ’51)
Chelsey Baker-Hauck 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208. The dangerous not only for Iraq but also for the Alexandria, Va.
University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) is an Equal
Managing Editor Opportunity Institution. Periodicals postage paid at Denver,
rest of the world.
CO. Postmaster: Send address changes to University of I hope and dream to visit our beauti- Ben Cherrington
Denver Magazine, University of Denver, University As a 1948 graduate majoring in international Send letters to the editor to: Chelsey Baker-
Advancement, 2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208.
ful DU and Denver again some day. My
relations, I was pleased to note the recogni- Hauck, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S.
best regards to our dear teachers and fellow
University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208. Or, e-mail
graduate friends. tion given to Ben Cherrington in the tribute
du-magazine@du.edu. Please include your full
Hamdi Touqmatchi (BS ’52) to Dr. Josef Korbel [“Remembering Joe”] in name and mailing address with all submissions.
Amman, Jordan the fall 2008 issue of the magazine. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.
Wayne Armstrong
U.S.News & World Report’s annual college rankings for undergraduate
Nagel Hall’s first three floors house sophomores in four-person suites with two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. The present crimson and gold
education, released in August, again placed the University of Denver among
fourth and fifth floors have apartment units for juniors and seniors. Each fully furnished apartment includes a kitchen, living apparel, Harold Beier
the nation’s top 100 universities. DU ranked 89th, tied with the University
room and four single bedrooms. Upper floors feature expansive views of the mountains, Denver skyline and DU campus. (BA liberal arts ’47) is the
of California-Riverside, the University of Kansas, the University of Nebraska-
very picture of Pioneer
The building was designed to encourage upperclassmen to remain on campus, says Mike Furno, associate director of Lincoln and the University of Vermont.
pride. Members of the
housing operations. “Having a mixture of sophomores, juniors and seniors together helps diversify the campus,” Furno says. DU’s ranking is based on its Carnegie Foundation category as a
campus community also
“Upperclassmen have experience and a maturity and academic focus that contributes a richness to the campus community.” doctoral/research university with high research activity. U.S.News & World
know him as DU hockey’s
DU Trustee Ralph Report collects data on as many as 15 indicators of academic quality within
biggest fan.
Nagel and his wife, Trish, each category. DU ranked high for its freshman retention rate (88 percent),
Although he retired
contributed $4 million to its acceptance rate (74 percent) and its percentage of full-time faculty (75
21 years ago, Beier has
percent).
spearhead the nearly $40 spent his golden years
Universities ranked by U.S.News & World Report include 262 national
million project. Ralph, hard at work. Despite
public and private universities that offer a wide range of undergraduate
an accomplished artist, the endless hours he
majors, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees. The magazine weighs
contributed works from spends on the computer
75 percent of a school’s ranking by objective criteria and 25 percent on
his collection to be dis- as the archivist for the
a school’s academic reputation as determined by a survey of university
played throughout the DU Hockey Alumni Asso-
administrators.
ciation, Beier will be the
building. At his request, —Dave Brendsel
first to tell you that the years have been better than gold. They’ve been
a residential room with
crimson and gold.
studio space has been
Since varsity hockey’s inaugural year in 1949, Beier has dedicated
designed for an artist-
in-residence program University purchases wind himself to the program by hosting numerous breakfasts, luncheons
and post-tournament receptions and founding the Hockey Alumni
being developed in coop- energy credits Association.
eration with the School of Beier says necessity prompted him to create the association. He be-
Art and Art History. In September, the University purchased wind credits from Florida lieved that in order to perpetuate the characteristic spirit of DU hockey,
To lessen the Power & Light Energy, the nation’s top wind project developer. former coaches, players and staff had to stay involved.
structure’s environmen- The “green power” purchase is like a carbon credit. By buying “It helps players to know alumni are involved and behind them and
tal impact, architects Renewable Energy Certificates, DU can offset its total electricity usage and rooting for them,” Beier says.
Wayne Armstrong
incorporated an energy- support the development and increased production of wind power. A sports fan through and through, Beier not only understands the
efficient heating and The new commitment is for 15 million kilowatt hours of wind power importance of community for a sports program, he also understands
during each of the next two years. DU uses about 48 million kilowatt hours the importance of camaraderie for an athlete’s development.
cooling system, operable
of electricity annually, so the wind credits will offset about 31 percent of the In 1967, when then head coach Murray Armstrong asked Beier if
windows, a copper roof made of 90 percent recycled materials, low-water-use faucets, dual-flush toilets, and low-VOC paint
University’s consumption. he would house a player, Beier responded, “No Murray. I won’t take just
and carpet glues. A kilowatt hour is the amount of electricity ten 100-watt light bulbs use one, I’ll take two or three.”
The University’s signature structural masonry, which is designed to last well beyond 100 years, was created from region- in one hour. Beier also understands the importance of preserving the program’s
ally sourced bricks. The project’s general contractor, GH Phipps Construction, recycled the construction debris, diverting up to The purchase is a joint partnership between the University and its history. In 2001, Beier donated a roomful of hockey memorabilia to the
75 percent from landfills. students, who each contribute about $6 of their quarterly student fees to DU Archives.
The University has submitted the project to the U.S. Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental buy wind energy credits. The total annual cost of the purchase is about In 2005, Beier received DU’s Randolph P. McDonough Award for
Design (LEED) Gold certification. $75,000. service to alumni. And in 2006, the athletic department recognized
University Architect Mark Rodgers took care to design a building that not only fits into the surrounding landscape, but Prior to the expiration of the wind-energy contract on July 31, students Beier for his invaluable service to DU hockey by installing him as a
also serves as an open, central point of activity on campus. decided to reduce their commitment to the program so they could support special inductee into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame. Although
“Nagel Hall is meant to be a building like Grand Central Station—a crossing point of campus,” he says. “It’s designed to be energy-efficient lighting. In response, Chancellor Robert Coombe agreed Beier no longer houses hockey players, he and his siblings provide sup-
much more than a place where people sleep.” to make up the funding so DU could continue the wind program at the port to the program through the Beier Family Endowed Hockey Scholar-
original level. ship.
In addition to students, Nagel Hall also houses academic research space, offices and classrooms for the Department of
The new green power purchase is being made through the Hockey’s biggest fan, however, has endowed far more than money.
Psychology and classrooms for the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, which “sup- By working tirelessly to keep hockey alumni interested and involved in
“So much learning happens in between class,” Rodgers says. “A university is built around the premise that better, more ports the development of new, renewable energy in the United States.” their alma mater, Beier has helped to create a legacy of camaraderie that
effective learning happens when students, faculty and staff interact.” will continue to benefit the program for seasons to come.
—Richard Chapman
—Samantha Stewart
8 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Update 9
Academics
Wayne Armstrong
program are doing: boldly sharing their business acumen with women in India who desperately need the help.
success of the University is
measured by the success of statistics The story starts in 1996 when Katie Kramer visited India and saw firsthand a Dalit village, home for women who are
deemed outcasts from society.
our alumni,” Chancellor Rob-
ert Coombe told the multi-
generational capacity crowd
9,261 “I was so touched by what I saw—the profound poverty—that it changed my life and influenced my career choice
to enter the nonprofit sector, and it fed my deep desire to help other people,” says Kramer, an EMBA student and vice
Pounds of coffee beans used
at DU’s second annual Alumni president and assistant executive director of the Boettcher Foundation, a Denver nonprofit.
Symposium Oct. 3–4. “We Fast-forward 11 years. Kramer enters DU’s EMBA program and meets fellow student Flo Mostaccero, who had gotten
really need to be an asset to
you throughout your life.”
8 involved with Women with a Cause, a nonprofit that teaches sewing and business skills to Dalit women so they can sell
Espresso machines what they make and earn a living.
The symposium is one “Funny how life comes full circle sometimes,” Kramer says.
way DU is trying to do that. Kramer and Mostaccero joined forces as part of the EMBA’s community service component and unleashed a flurry
The free event provides an
opportunity for alumni to
333,396 of help for Women with a Cause. They developed a
12-ounce cups of coffee sold marketing feasibility study, an inventory tracking
exchange and explore ideas,
system, clothing tags, statistical analyses on
intellectually reconnecting
with the University through
keynote lectures and faculty-
The Alumni Symposium featured a session on the steel drum. From left:
percussion major Michael Van Wirt, Diana Talamas (attd. 1988–89
$516,763 merchandise pricing, consumer research, a sales plan
and a customer relationship management system.
Coffee sales revenue They also helped organize an event with EMBA
led courses. and 1995–96) and Arlene Sibrell (BA ’50, MA ’64).
Nearly 200 symposium volunteers from DU that raised nearly $100,000 to
participants attended five class sessions, choosing from 33 lecture topics. “Hard Choices for America”
featured former Colorado Govs. Dick Lamm and Bill Owens—Lamm is a professor and Owens is a senior
10 help build a sewing center in India.
Now they’re recruiting other EMBA students
Campus coffee shops
fellow at DU—who shared their opinions on the difficulties facing the nation. Other topics included Mo- to improve the organization’s financial systems and
town, trauma psychology, Chinese nationalism and privacy issues. Internet sales.
“I used to feel disconnected from the University,” said Anita Khaldy (BA ’86), but this weekend “Katie and Flo have helped in more ways than I
changed that.” ever imagined,” says Susan Kiely, CEO and founder of
Compiled by Nori Yamashita, general
—Samantha Stewart manager of Sodexo at DU Women with a Cause. “They’ve done so much.”
Mostaccero—president of Pearl Development
Linda McConnell
Co., an oil and gas engineering firm—says she got
Latino Center presents report to Congress Katie Kramer (left) and Flo Mostaccero
involved because of her “personal need to help other
women.”
DU’s Latino Center presented a report on the state of Latinos in the United States to members of Congress on Sept. 23. The report calls for “I’m a chemical engineer by degree and have
comprehensive immigration reform and the establishment of a presidential commission on Latino issues. always worked in male-dominated industries and professions … but have always felt a strong need to connect and give back
The report, authored by the DU Latino Center for Community Engagement and Scholarship and sponsored by Fundación Azteca America, was released to women,” she says. “When I heard about Women with a Cause [and] … women helping women to help themselves, it just
Sept. 15. It includes detailed policy recommendations for the incoming administration and members of Congress. seemed [to] fit exactly with my passions.”
Maria Salazar, lead author of the report and a professor at DU’s Morgridge College of Education, says the most compelling recommendation is the need Mostaccero has never been to India but hopes to go with Kiely next year.
for various Latino organizations nationwide to collaborate on important Latino issues, funneled through a presidential commission. A united effort, she says, Kramer says she’s been involved in nonprofits her entire career and that helping Women with a Cause was “the perfect
would ensure a strong Latino voice in the new administration. intersection for my interests … partnering with a business to help women become economically self-sufficient.
Additional recommendations include: increasing access to quality education, health care and economic services; investing in Latino community “I love the business model—it teaches the women in India a trade so they can support themselves and their families,”
development as a means of promoting self sufficiency; increasing linguistically and culturally relevant practices in education, health care, economic access,
Kramer says. “They’re taking their earnings and educating their children and providing loans to the men in the village to
immigration reform and political engagement; enacting federal legislation to protect Latinos against discriminatory and predatory practices; and advancing
help them become self-sufficient, too. Talk about a positive cycle.”
comprehensive and humane immigration reform.
Kramer credits Mostaccero for “the perfect tagline” that captures the spirit of Women with a Cause: “Teach a Woman
The report found that Latino communities want to be self-sufficient and contribute to U.S. society. However, Latinos face major challenges in accessing
education, health care and economic services. The lack of immigration reform widens disparities and limits progress. to Sew and a Village Blossoms.”
DU’s Latino Center completed exhaustive research on Latino issues through community forums and consultation with several local, state and national “Being a part of something that’s creating positive change is so fun and empowering,” Kramer says. “Flo and I are both
Latino groups. thankful for this opportunity.”
>> Read more and download the report at www.du.edu/today. >>www.womenwithacause.com
—Dave Brendsel >>www.daniels.du.edu
10 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Update 11
Winter Arts Calendar
DU installs natural gas pump Planting project
Jeff Haessler
December 12 Lamont Symphony Orchestra. 7:30 p.m.
on campus 4 The Nutcracker, International Youth Ballet. Hamilton Recital Hall. adds trees to
13 The Playground, Lamont artist in residence.
DU’s facilities management department is living up to the University’s “Pio-
7:30 p.m. Additional performances Dec. 5
at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 6 at 12:30 p.m. Noon. Hamilton Recital Hall. campus
neer” spirit by installing what’s believed to be the first compressed natural gas Gates Concert Hall. 14 Either/Orchestra with Ethiopian guests.
(CNG) vehicle refueling station on a Colorado university campus. 7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. The University of Denver campus
5 Granny Dances to a Holiday Drum, Cleo is getting a little greener in celebration
The natural gas “pump,” a fueling station for a growing fleet of maintenance Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. 7:30 p.m. 19 Post-News Pen & Podium Series: Carl
and other vehicles that run on natural gas, offers DU a cleaner and less-expen- Hiassen. 7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. of the 100th anniversary of the Daniels
Additional performances Dec. 6, 12, 13, 19
College of Business.
sive way of powering vehicles. Unlike building a gasoline station, which requires and 20 at 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and String and wind chamber ensembles.
a storage tank, the natural gas station draws from the underground pipes that 21 at 2 p.m. Byron Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital Hall. The Daniels Centennial Trees
6 Solstice Celebration, Turtle Island Quartet. project aims to plant 100 different trees
crisscross the city already. 21 Bourbon Street Brass, Denver Brass.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s list of CNG fueling stations 7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. 7:30 p.m. Additional performance Feb. 22 at across campus by April 2009. The col-
2:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. lege is soliciting donations to cover the
nationwide, DU is the first university campus in Colorado to build a station. 13 Midwinter Song—Christmas Around the
Allan Wilson, DU’s director of building services, introduced drivers to the station in September. World, Sound of the Rockies. 2 p.m. and 22 Organist Gerhard Weinberger. 3 p.m. cost of the trees and to endow a Dan-
Building on a $180,000 grant from the Denver-based Strategic Environmental Project Pipeline Foundation—a nonprofit dedicated to a cleaner environment 7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. Hamilton Recital Hall. iels Centennial Scholarship.
and clean energy—DU converted a dozen campus vehicles to natural gas, although the vehicles can still run on gasoline when needed. 14 Holiday carillon concert. 3 p.m. Williams String and wind chamber ensembles. The project grew out of a desire
The University has gone on to convert three more vehicles on its own—at a cost of about $12,000 each—and is planning to convert at least two more. Carillon. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital Hall. to celebrate the college’s history, create
16 Christmas Around the World, Lori Line and a fund to help students in the future
Since 2007, burning natural gas instead of gasoline has kept more than 9.5 tons of carbon out of the atmosphere and cut fuel costs by at least $12,000, Wilson 23 Carl Roth and Mark Patterson, bassoon
says. her pop chamber orchestra. 7:30 p.m. Gates and trombone. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital and to support Denver Mayor John
With the new pump station, which draws gas off existing lines and compresses it in a holding tank for rapid dispensing, DU departments can run vehicles at Concert Hall. Hall. Hickenlooper’s Tree by Tree initiative.
the equivalent of paying $1.05 a gallon for gasoline. 21 O Holy Night, Denver Brass. 2:30 p.m., Gates 24 Lamont guitar ensembles. 7:30 p.m. Hickenlooper’s plan aims to plant one
Concert Hall. Hamilton Recital Hall. million trees in the Denver metropoli-
—Chase Squires
31 Countdown with the Denver Brass. 4 p.m. 25 The Climb, Lamont faculty jazz combo. tan area in the next 20 years.
and 9 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital Hall. The first campus
26 The Three Penny Opera. DU theater and tree—a “baby blue-
eyes” spruce—was
January music school production. 7 p.m. Additional
performances Feb. 27 and 28 and March 5, 6 planted in June in
8 Paul Soldner exhibition. Through Feb. 22.
and 7 at 7 p.m; Feb. 28 and March 7 at 2 p.m. honor of Daniels
Myhren Gallery.
Byron Theatre. Dean Emeritus
9 “Flo’s Underground” jazz combos. 5 p.m.
28 David Dorfman Dance, underground. Bruce Hutton.
every Friday through March 6.
The University of Denver Presents 7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. Sixty-
The Iznaola Transcriptions. Ricardo Iznaola
three other
Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet and a panel of Jubilee Concert. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital
Hall. March trees have
education experts discussing K–12 reform from their points of view 18 Flutist Leone Buyse. 3 p.m. Hamilton Recital 2 “Jazz Night,” Lamont jazz ensembles. since been
Hall. 7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. planted.
3 The Playground, Lamont artist in residence. Each tree is
Feb. 9, 2009, 7 p.m. 28 Cellist Richard Slavich and friends.
Noon. Hamilton Recital Hall. being marked
7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital Hall.
June Swaner Gates Concert Hall
iStock
Lamont percussion ensemble. 7:30 p.m. with an arbore-
Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. 29 The Playground, Lamont artist in residence.
Gates Concert Hall. tum inventory
7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital Hall.
4 Men’s and women’s choirs. 7:30 p.m. Gates tag designating it as a gift of the Daniels
America’s education system faces many challenges. Some critics contend that 30 Lamont wind ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Gates
Concert Hall. College of Business.
our public school system needs a radical overhaul, while others recommend Concert Hall.
incremental reform. Virtually everyone agrees that there are more questions than 5 Transforming Traditions: Contemporary The scholarship will be awarded
31 Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. 7:30 p.m.
answers in this important policy arena. Join the discussion as the University of Chinese Art from the Logan Collection. on April 25, 2009, at an event capping
Gates Concert Hall.
Denver’s 2008–2009 Bridges to the Future series, which is free and open to the Through April 26. Myhren Gallery. the yearlong anniversary celebration.
public, looks at the future of education in our complex society. 6 Bach: The Four Lute Suites. Ricardo Iznaola Planned activities include a five-mile
February run/3K walk, an alumni barbecue and
Jubilee Concert. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital
4 “Jazz Night,” Lamont jazz ensembles. Hall. the planting of the 100th tree.
7:30 p.m. Gates Concert Hall.
8 Lamont chorale and wind ensemble. For more information or to
RSVP at www.du.edu/bridges after 1/5/09. 6 Violinist Linda Wang with pianist Alice 4 p.m. Gates Concert Hall. donate to the Daniels Centennial Fund,
For those without Internet access, please call Rybak. 7:30 p.m. Hamilton Recital Hall. e-mail givetodaniels@du.edu.
303.871.2357. Free parking is available in the 11 Guitarist Leonardo Lozano. 7:30 p.m. For ticketing and other information, including a full —Jordan Ames
Newman Center garage.
Hamilton Recital Hall. listing of campus events, visit www.du.edu/calendar.
Carrie Wigglesworth
about a university at any level. trained volunteers, who are and fax inquiries from Outrigger customers and group booking agents.
incredible alumni. This is a place where we have been able to
However, it’s the most visible. matched one-on-one with The students will be paid for their time, and their work hours will
attract some of the best young coaches, retain the best seasoned
I would look at the national a child. Nine events have count toward HRTM’s 1,000-hour work requirement.
coaches and have created an esprit de corps that there is a sense been held since the service The partnership is one of two agreements between Outrigger
exposure from this past year’s
of energy and commitment. There is a universal feeling of, “It’s began in April, and more than 100 children from 52 families have participated. and university hospitality programs, and the only such arrangement on
success in a very positive light.
great to be a Pioneer.” Children with moderate to severe special needs—from infants to 12-year-olds— the U.S. mainland.
We have 17 programs, and 12
and their siblings are eligible to participate. Outrigger’s customer contact center fields 3,000 inbound phone
of those programs went to the
For more information on participating or volunteering, e-mail nightowls@ calls, 1,000 faxes and several hundred Internet customer chats each
NCAA tournaments. We have
DU Archives
the right work ethic, talented staff, outstanding student-athletes ful to see the hard work of the coaches and of the staff and the The goal is to organ-
who have a shared vision of having greatness here at DU. This student-athletes be realized. 2. Toyota ize, archive and preserve
the items, some of which
is an incredible university with top-notch faculty and incredible We strive to become the No. 1 basketball program in the
3. Honda go back to the late 19th
alumni who aspire to be the very best they can be. Rocky Mountain region, to maintain our national success in
century. One photo is
hockey and to overall have an extremely successful broad-based 4. BMW of the 1891 DU sailing
program. But as we go forward, we continue not to worry about club.
5. Audi
Q What factors have contributed to DU’s athletic
success?
the outcome. We worry about the process—recruiting and
retaining the top talented students and staff, making sure we are
doing things the right way, making sure we graduate our student-
6. Volvo
Some 150,000 ath-
letics and recreation pho-
tos, along with hundreds
Wayne Armstrong
By Doug McPherson
Religion
&
the walls, it means somebody on the “weak side” of the defense is
Disaster psychology students American Music
open and possibly able to score. The words we’re up or we’re down
mean they’re up or down a player because of a penalty.
The sport pits two teams of seven players each (six “field” play-
ers and one goalie) against each other. The aim is simple: Score more
put what they learn into practice Climate Change Opera
On her birthday, Linda Baker arrived in Belize City, Belize—not to cel-
goals than the other team. The playing area is 30 meters by 20 meters; the floating goals are one meter high and three meters ebrate but to volunteer for the Pan American Health Organization. It was a
wide. part of her summer internship for the DU International Disaster Psychology
The ball can only be caught and thrown by one hand. When a team gains control of the ball, it has just 35 seconds to Program.
shoot. The circumstances were difficult; two weeks prior to her arrival, tropi-
Kincses started the DU water polo club in 2005. By the start of the 2006–07 school year, he had a team of 25 sanctioned cal storm Arthur had flooded much of the country’s eastern coast. Baker, a
second-year graduate student, says there were numerous injuries and seven
by the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
fatalities due to flooding.
In that first year, DU hosted the Rocky Mountain Conference Championship and placed a respectable third of seven
Baker and fellow student Alyson Welch worked with the World Health
teams from Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.
Organization, helping train psychiatric nurse practitioners about how patients
Today about 25 students, both men and women, play water polo throughout the school year; 14 play competitively would normally react in a disaster and helping develop a national mental
in eight games during the fall against other schools such as the University of Utah, University of Colorado, Utah State health disaster plan.
University, University of Wyoming, the Colorado School of Mines, U.S. Air Force Academy and Colorado State University. The International Disaster Psychology Program at the Graduate School
Maura Shandley, a junior from Illinois who played in high school, says she “fell in love with the sport immediately” of Professional Psychology develops partnerships with governmental and
because of the team aspect. nongovernmental agencies, working with communities affected by disaster Film
Art
“It was such a great change from swimming. It’s absolutely challenging,” Shandley says. “We’ve had several people come to create the internship possibilities for students.
out who’ve never played, and they all loved it. Many even stuck with it the entire season and became key players.”
Katie Bernell, a sophomore from Texas, says a friend urged her to try it.
Currently, international disaster psychology students have opportuni-
ties to work with the Pan American Health Organization, a division of the
Politics
“More or less I tried it to see if I could tread water for more than five minutes,” Bernell says. “I kept afloat … gained some World Health Organization, in Belize and Jamaica or with a variety of non-
skills and made some great friends.” governmental agencies in Bosnia.
—Kristal Griffith
Wayne Armstrong
professor of sociology and criminology,
In 2008—and for the first time in human history—most people on the planet will A crowd of nearly 1,400 heard author, educator and activist
delves into racial disparities in death penalty cases in
live in cities. Given this monumental transition, societal concerns about the long-term Parker Palmer discuss challenges facing America’s education
Harris County, Texas. The research suggests that the
sustainability of urban settlements, and urban life in general, are at an all-time high. system as the seventh year of Bridges to the Future kicked off in
district attorney was more likely to pursue the death
The University of Denver-Bologna International Center for Civic Engagement September.
(ICCE), an international venue for research and study, has received a multi-institution, The theme of this year’s Bridges lecture series is “A Nation Still penalty against black defendants and on behalf of white
$180,000 grant from the European Union-United States Atlantis Program to develop At Risk: The Future of Education.” victims.
and implement an international “Excellence in Mobility” project to address problems Palmer, founder of the Center for Courage and Renewal, told The study, “Racial Disparities in the Capital of Capital
confronting contemporary cities. the crowd that trust needs to be put back in the education system Punishment,” was published in the Houston Law Review
The project will create a curriculum shared among four partner institutions— and all educators need to explore self-knowledge, no matter their this fall.
the University of Denver, Portland State University, University of Bologna and the spiritual beliefs, in order to be better practitioners. “Conventional wisdom holds that the race of the
University of Nottingham—focused on the study of social and natural transformations DU invited teachers and administrators from 13 Front Range victim is pivotal,” Phillips says. “But current research
of urban areas in Europe and in the United States. school districts to attend the event and other activities before and after suggests that the race of the defendant and victim are
The program will include an exchange of 48 undergraduate students and some Palmer’s address in order to engage them in the conversation. both pivotal.”
teaching faculty equally divided among the partner institutions. The project brings Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet is
Phillips studied whether race influenced the district
together students and scholars from across the social sciences, natural sciences and scheduled to appear with a panel of educators Feb. 9 to continue
attorney’s decision to pursue a death trial or the jury’s
humanities to develop interdisciplinary perspectives on urban problems and to work the discussion surrounding K-12 reform. Reservations for the free
decision to impose a death sentence against defendants
toward sustainable urban futures. event will be taken after Jan. 5.
Teresa Conley, a marketing professor at the Daniels College of Business, will lead DU also is producing a series of one-hour television specials on indicted for capital murder in Harris County, which is
a course in the spring. Students attending the grant-funded program will take classes education in partnership with Rocky Mountain PBS. The series will in the Houston area. He spent several years looking at
on the Italian language, The Role of Business in Civic Engagement, and Democracy feature Bridges speakers. The first segment will air in December. more than 500 capital murder cases that occurred from
and the City: Moving Towards an Engaged Citizenship. They also will participate in Visit the Bridges to the Future Web site at www.du.edu/bridges 1992–99.
a civic engagement practicum to apply classroom learning into real-world situations for additional information. “Harris County is the capital of capital punishment,”
utilizing the civic backdrop of Bologna. —Kristal Griffith Phillips says. “If Harris County were a state, it would rank
—Jordan Ames second in executions after Texas.”
While Phillips’ research shows a clear racial disparity
in the district attorney’s decision to seek the death
Library program gets federal grant of nearly $1 million penalty, the professor is not accusing the district attorney
at the time, John Holmes Jr., of being racist. Scott Phillips
The University of Denver Morgridge College of Education Library and The office has a long-standing practice of removing
iStock
Information Science Program and its partners—DU’s Westminster Law Library and the race of parties from the memo that the district attorney uses to decide whether to seek death.
the Sturm College of Law—will recruit and educate 10 new law librarians, known as “Discrimination implies purposeful action,” Phillips says. “I am certain that the Harris County D.A. does
the Law Librarian Fellows, thanks to a grant of $999,360 from the Federal Institute not intend for race to influence the process. Nonetheless, it appears that it does.”
of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). In fact, the percentage distribution suggests that the district attorney sought the death penalty against
The grant was one of 31 awards given to institutions nationwide as part of a black and Caucasian defendants at the same rate. However, the racial disparity is found when looking at the
$20.3 million initiative of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program. nature of the crime because black defendants committed murders that were less serious, according to objective
Partnering with law librarians on outreach initiatives from the State of Colorado measures. After controlling for the nature of the crime, the findings demonstrate that the odds of the district
Supreme Court Library, the law librarianship students will participate actively as
attorney pursuing a death penalty trial were 1.75 times higher against black defendants than Caucasian
members of the Rural and Small Practice Attorney Library Support Center at DU.
defendants.
They will be assigned a list of clients and provide legal reference, document
“To impose equal punishment against unequal crimes is to impose unequal punishment,” Phillips says.
retrieval and other services under the guidance of Westminster law librarians. Clients
will include rural attorneys, academic and public libraries with legal collections, rural Phillip’s work was highlighted in April by reporter Adam Liptak in The New York Times. The American
government agencies, and nongovernmental legal organizations serving low-income Constitution Society (ACS) distributed a brief on his work to its members in October.
individuals and families. Emily Chatterjee, the national program law fellow for ACS, says Phillips’ work ties into their mission to
IMLS is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 ensure human dignity, individual liberties, genuine equality and access to justice in American law.
libraries and 17,500 museums. The institute’s mission is to create strong libraries “Phillips’ work investigating racial disparities in capital punishment and his proposals for how to help limit
and museums that connect people to information and ideas. such disparities very much falls under our mission,” Chatterjee says. “It is important that research like this is
—Jim Berscheidt highlighted for ACS members and shared as widely as possible.”
Wayne Armstrong
September thanks in part to volunteers from the University of Denver. Squires, a DU senior public affairs specialist and University of Denver Magazine writer, is what you call an
Seven undergraduate and graduate students, led by University ultradistance runner—the folks who use a marathon to get warmed up and often run 100 miles.
Chaplain Gary Brower, spent a day at Petrocco Farms in Brighton, Colo., For those counting, that’s just a little jaunt from DU’s campus to CU-Boulder’s campus, back to DU, and, uh, back to CU.
cutting and boxing cabbage in a gleaning project for COMPA Ministries. “I think a lot of folks think we’re nuts,” Squires says.
The cabbage was distributed to 170 shelters and food pantries in the You might not pick Squires out of a crowd as someone who could run 100 miles, or even one mile for that matter. He’s
Denver metro area and across Colorado.
5-foot, 4-inches tall, thinning on top and weighs in at about 150. He’s a self-described 42-year-old “desk jockey, nothing
During harvest season (September and October), COMPA works
special.”
with volunteers from local churches, civic agencies and community
Wayne Armstrong
“I’m not an athlete, just some slug who’s
groups to harvest fresh produce donated by area farms. The organization
supports the acquisition, production and distribution of healthy food too dumb to quit when his whole body hurts
to the “working poor” to help promote self-sufficiency and prevent and his mind tells him to call it a day.”
homelessness. But that gets at the message Squires
The DU group joined nearly 100 other volunteers. In just two and a wants most to impart: “You can do this.”
half hours, the volunteers had cut and packed enough cabbage to fill three He’s kind of an evangelist for the sport
flat-bed trailers and a 24-foot van. of ultrarunning, the father of farther, the
Brower organized the DU contingent as a way to unite students pastor of faster. “I really believe that people
from across campus to work toward a common cause. cheat themselves if they say, ‘I could never
—Jordan Ames do that.’ Heck, did you try? I’ll bet you never
tried!”
The key, he says, is to get three miles
under your belt “until you think that’s
nothing.”
Elsbeth Williams
found a world of opportunity at DU.
From there, you just build on the miles.
Maybe five at first, then seven, then 10.
“Before you know it, 18 miles isn’t that
far,” he says.
Squires himself entered the sport slowly.
As a double major in music and international studies,
In 2001, he weighed 205, ate a lot of pizza,
Elsbeth Williams was able to mix and cultivate her
burgers and fried chicken and nursed a
passions. Her DU experience included study in
France, Vienna and a service-learning trip to India. cholesterol level north of 300.
His wife signed him up for a YMCA class. “I went in, walked 20 minutes on a treadmill and thought I was going to die.”
“My global perspective was enhanced at DU But he kept at it. From 20 minutes to 30 minutes, then jogging. First two miles, then three. About 18 months later he
thanks to the opportunities I received and bagged his first marathon in 4 hours, 30 minutes. He was hooked. Four months later he broke four hours. “That’s when I got
a scholarship funded by Gwen VanDerbur serious,” he says.
Mitchell (Law ’54).” And today he’s completed several 100-mile races. The most recent was in February 2008: the Rocky Raccoon 100 in Texas.
– Elsbeth Williams, BM, BA, MA, 2007 He’ll race in Hawaii’s HURT 100 in January.
What’s it like to run 100 miles (which takes Squires 28 hours, on average)?
Find out more about Elsbeth and how you can “From about midnight on … you see some weird things. I start hallucinating from sleep deprivation.”
help students like her. One time he says he looked down at a puddle at 3 a.m. and saw a duck sitting in it next to a miniature statue of the
Stanley Cup. “Weird. By the time the sun comes up, I’ve got 10 or 20 miles to go and I just want to finish. My body hurts and
Visit us at www.giftplanning.du.edu it’s slow going.”
Nevertheless, he likes it. “You know what? It’s fun.”
And he adds that ultras are typically in “wild and fantastic” settings.
Innovative. Dynamic. On the move. Office of Gift Planning
800.448.3238 or 303.871.2739 “There’s a saying in the sport: ‘Thanks to ultrarunning, I’ve thrown up in some of the world’s most beautiful places.’”
www.giftplanning.du.edu E-mail: gift-planning@du.edu
The cornerstone of the Memorial Chapel was laid in 1910, but it wasn’t until December 1917 that the building was Rodney Slater’s numbers are right. At the conference, Slater said
commercial applications and other investments in the broad field are
dedicated in honor of those who died in World War I. Only one of the chapel’s original four towers remains;
expected to make nanotechnology a $2 trillion industry by 2015.
the rest of the building was destroyed by fire in 1983. Today, the Buchtel Memorial Tower houses DU’s Victory Bell—moved
—Chase Squires
from Old Main—which tolls for Commencement.
Million Dollar
W
hen the man whose name sits atop diplomas at the $2.2 billion in assets, employs more than 850 people and has
Sturm College of Law showed up at DU in 1955 to loans out totaling $1.7 billion. He’s been on and off the Forbes list
begin classes, the law school dean looked at him and of the 400 richest Americans and has involved himself in so many
blustered: “What are you doing here?” businesses he can’t remember the number.
Don Sturm was four months late for class. He earned a master of laws degree in taxation from NYU,
Sturm may have said he was there so he could get out of litigated for the IRS across a nine-state region and earned his way
the Army three months early. to the vice chairmanship of Peter Kiewit Sons, one of the largest
Or that he chose law because he didn’t want to be a doctor, employee-owned companies in the nation. (Kiewit’s Colorado
dentist or accountant. credits include the Eisenhower Tunnel, Glenwood Canyon and
Or because of nifty murder trials he’d stopped off to watch the T-Rex project in Denver.)
on the way home to Brooklyn after cruising through liberal arts Sturm helped pull Continental Airlines out of bankruptcy,
courses at City College of New York. came an eyelash from owning the Denver Nuggets, Colorado
Sturm doesn’t remember what he actually replied, only that Avalanche and Pepsi Center, and was instrumental in helping
it was the right answer. He had a letter of admittance to DU, Colorado and other western states rebound from the savings and
military benefits, a 1947 Mercury he’d bought for $200 and loan crisis of the 1980s and ’90s.
driven from an Army base in Alabama, and an intellectual engine He runs a $60 million philanthropic foundation whose
“revving” for the law. gifts, when combined with the charitable endeavors of his
“I was a class of one,” recalls Sturm, now a 76-year-old DU companies, provide about $4 million a year to communities
trustee. “But it worked out. I caught up. I went through in two across five states.
years and two months. Sturm has given nearly $30 million to the University of
“The GI Bill paid for tuition, fees, books, but you couldn’t Denver, where his name graces Sturm Hall, a major academic
live off it. So I worked. I took the bar exam in December 1957, building that houses social sciences and humanities programs. His
found out I passed on Valentine’s Day 1958, finished course other DU namesake, the Sturm College of Law, enrolls more
work a few weeks after that. I was sworn in and I left.” than 1,200 aspiring lawyers. He has served on the DU Board of
Sturm was debt free but dollarless. Fifty years later, he Trustees for 16 years and in spring 2008 received the prestigious
sits at the head of a financial group that owns 42 banks with Evans Award for professional achievement and service to DU.
24 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 25
N
ot bad for someone who calls himself “just a kid couples like the Sturms and to Jews who don’t wish to affiliate The bank was failing, its shareholders wanted out and several
from Brooklyn.” For someone who grew up in a one- with area synagogues. Events the group ran for High Holy Days people involved previously had gone to jail. They offered the
bathroom, ground-floor duplex that the family lived in last year attracted 1,700 people. shares to Sturm for $1. He took the offer, pumped in $5 million
to get a break on rent. For someone whose family cooked meals “We talk a lot at the family dinner table about gifts we’re to keep things afloat and turned the bank around in two years.
on the coal furnace in the basement, never took a vacation and making and what the purpose of them is,” says Susan, a former Today, the bank makes $4 million to $5 million annually and
couldn’t afford a car. For someone who grew corn in the backyard Foreign Service brat who as a child lived in Peru and West operates as Premier.
during World War II and didn’t learn to drive until he was 23. Germany for a time and who spent three years with the Central “Colorado was really flat on its rear end,” recalls Susan,
But someone with a drive to excel, who plotted, sacrificed and Intelligence Agency after graduating with honors from Princeton. who worked hand-in-glove with her husband. “There wasn’t a
pushed himself to do well, then went out and did it. A savvy businesswoman, she serves as CFO of the holding solvent bank in the state when we came in and started buying
“Get good education from good schools,” Sturm urges. “Get company that controls the couple’s 42 banks. financial institutions … There were situations where we were
good experience. Get into some professional activity. Invest your “Our kids work every single summer,” she says, adding that the only bidder. They had a lot more to sell than there were
time, hard work and money. Work in something that doesn’t seem they’ve exposed their children to poor villages in Kenya and people to buy.”
to be work, [something] that’s fun.” hospitals in Costa Rica. They’ve even taken a field trip to the But like phoenixes rising from the ashes, the banks returned
And give back to society in ways where you can see the Brooklyn neighborhood where Don Sturm grew up. to health and began reinvesting in their communities, which
results. “[Don] wanted his kids to see the circumstances that he grew Susan says has made the couple “pleased and proud.”
“I think anybody could do what I did,” he says. “I really up in, that [those circumstances] were much more hard-scrabble, Along the way were some missteps. Sturm lost a lot of
believe that.” much more hand-to-mouth than the way they’ve grown up.” money in the WorldCom collapse, where at one time he owned
If only Sturm’s father, Mark, had been born under a luckier Susan and Donald Sturm 5 percent of the company, and in Level 3 stock, where his stake
T
star. was nearly $600 million, according to Forbes. He’s had to fend off
“My father worked his heart out for his family,” Sturm says he turning point in Sturm’s humble past may have been in “We had a cleaning lady who asked if it was against my lawsuits aimed at his deep pockets, deflect untold schemes and
reverently. He was a “self-taught guy” who had emigrated from 1964 on a nondescript Midwestern morning in Nebraska. religion to buy furniture,” he laughs. “I sacrificed quality of life to solicitations, and settle a 1988 insider-trading dispute with the
Austria to the U.S. as an 8-year-old raised by an aunt. He saved, That was the day he found the answer to a $35 million build a nest egg.” SEC from which he had never traded or profited.
invested and rose to prominence as a restaurant manager, then lost problem and his career took off. The strategy paid handsomely. But none of that deterred him from pursuing his three
everything in the crash of 1929. While working as an IRS attorney in Omaha, Sturm had Sturm’s ownership share eventually amounted to 11 percent principal priorities: family, work and charity. Plus Nebraska
“I remember once he took me to Sheepshead Bay when I caught the eye of Peter Kiewit, the highway construction mogul of the company, which at the time he left in 1991 was making $400 football, Yankees baseball, Final Four basketball, fashionable ties
was 10 years old to show me property he once owned,” Sturm once dubbed by Forbes magazine “the Colossus of Roads.” Kiewit million in his unit alone. and 20 laps in the pool nearly every day.
says. “He wound up working as a waiter. Until he died, that’s hired Sturm as a tax attorney and asked him to get the company Eight years previous, Sturm had invested in his first bank, a Among things nearest his heart is DU, which Sturm has
what he did. He hated what he did, but he did it to provide for out from under a $35 million tax deficiency the IRS said the small family owned operation in Macomb, Ill. It wasn’t lucrative, served vigorously since former Chancellor Dan Ritchie recruited
his family.” company owed. but it taught Sturm banking. Four years later, he bought a bigger him for the Board of Trustees in 1992.
The elder Sturm also scraped together $50 a month to help Sturm was 32. bank in Cheyenne, Wyo. Today, Sturm’s drive is to raise money for DU scholarships,
his son through law school at DU. Decades later, dad’s sacrifice is “I woke up [that morning] and said, ‘Wow, is that right?’ I When Kiewit decided to sell off Continental Group, a Fortune expand the number of donors, and improve the law school’s
a cobalt blue memory that can still redden Sturm’s no-nonsense ran to the office to see if I was right, and I was. I thought about 500 company Sturm had acquired and managed and believed in, ranking and bar passage rate. He chairs the trustees’ Bar Passage
eyes. The rich, stentorian voice with which he hammers together something that nobody else thought about.” Sturm saw the profitable sale through, then cashed his chips. Committee and has expressed strong feelings about the issue that
multimillion-dollar business deals quavers. The tough-guy image Sturm’s epiphany turned a $35 million obligation into a $5 He walked away with a lot of money—about $160 million, haven’t always been well-received.
that people presume about him falls away. million refund. according to Forbes. Unafraid to mince words, Sturm is pressuring the law school
“Don is completely devoted to his family and extended The IRS answered by retroactively revoking the ruling the At the time, the nation’s banking system was a mess. Banks to accept stronger students, offer more financial aid, toughen
family,” says Susan Sturm, 25 years his junior and married to young attorney had used as the basis for the reversal. and savings and loans, also known as thrifts, were losing money or standards, help students who struggle, emphasize excellence over
Sturm since 1987. The couple has two teenagers, and Sturm has Sturm pushed back. failing, investor confidence was teetering, government supervision opportunity, and tweak the curriculum to achieve greater business
two older children from a previous marriage. “It took a year to get them to revoke the revocation,” he was poor, and in some cases managers ended up in handcuffs. and international exposure.
“He gets that [devotion] from his father, who grew up with says proudly. “Then they made the payment. I was king of the The collapse of Silverado Savings and Loan by itself cost “I’m sure people at the University, particularly at the law
nothing and yet used so much of what little he had to take care of road.” taxpayers $1.3 billion of the estimated $124.6 billion taxpayer school, think I’m a pain in the ass,” he says with a laugh.
other family members,” Susan adds. “That’s a very deep, important Being king brought greater responsibility at Kiewit and the bailout the federal government spent to resolve the crisis. Susan Sturm contends that it’s just Don following his
part of Don: loving his family and helping them in all ways.” freedom to go beyond taxes. It led to the chance to negotiate Sturm found himself in the middle of all this armed with a managerial instinct to walk inside the factory, roll up his sleeves
The Sturms have helped more families than just their own. lucrative coal contracts and acquire and manage Fortune 500 level banking background, business experience, a reputation for honesty and make things better.
Some 100 families own homes today because of funding the companies. Each became a real-world business experience that got and a wad of cash. “Don doesn’t see any point in warming a chair,” she says,
couple provided. The Sturms have given money to fund 14 charter Sturm’s feet wetter and better. The efforts also helped push Kiewit “The deals were so wonderful you couldn’t pass them up,” emphasizing how proud of DU he is when he’s on campus and
schools and helped libraries, the Children’s Hospital, Denver Art down the road to immense success. Sturm recalls. “All the crappy loans I gave back to the government watching things hum.
Museum, Boy Scouts of America and myriad charities in the states The company didn’t forget. Kiewit had a long tradition of and they gave me cash—100 cents on the dollar. “My concern in addition to rebuilding the campus is quality
where they do business: Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Wyoming rewarding key employees by letting them buy shares of company “I bought two failing banks, four failed thrifts and one failed of education,” Sturm says. “The product is not a building, not a
and Arizona. stock. Sturm bought as much as he could. He borrowed money to bank in eight months.” football field or a basketball court. The product is the education
They’ve even created a religious support group called Judaism buy stock. He bought a house fully financed so he could spend his Sturm later bought one bank in Kansas City for $1—“and I that you provide the student. At the end of the day, that’s the
Your Way, which provides services and assistance to interfaith money on stock. overpaid!” key.”
26 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 27
J
Baby boomers have become
the new ‘seniors’ on campus
By Doug McPherson
Photography by Wayne Armstrong
BacktoSchool
Jackie Brown is 54. She has a part-time job. She has a mortgage. And tonight, she has home-
work: a case study paper on how to help a teenage girl who was physically abused by her father
and who is now fighting depression and anxiety because she’s about to leave a foster home she’s
known since puberty.
Brown wears a University of Denver sweatshirt and a smile. She’s happy. Very happy.
“When I’m in class and I’m asked to share my experiences, that makes me feel really good,”
Brown says. “It makes me feel accomplished. I feel like my life and my dreams have collided; I’m
just really happy.”
She has plenty to be happy about. Her dream and life are wrapped tight as a rope.
Brown, who grew up in Indiana, says she always wanted to live in Colorado, have a full-time,
on-campus college experience and learn how to help the elderly. Today she has all three.
A couple of years ago, Brown began some soul-searching about a more fulfilling career. For
most of her life she worked in management information systems technology in the steel and bank-
ing industries.
Then, last year, Brown heard from a friend about DU’s PROGRESS program (Providing Real
Opportunities for Gero-Rich Experience in Social Work Services) for students interested in geriatric
social work. She applied to the Graduate School of Social Work, was accepted, packed her bags,
left her banking job and is now a full-time college student working on her master’s degree.
“A lot of the professors are around my age, which is nice. And the students have taken me in,
too,” she says. “I just blend in with the rest of them.”
28 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 29
W
What boomers really want is meaningful work, and more than DU is on the case. In fact, the Rose Community Foundation has
two-thirds want to take part in lifelong learning, according to a 2007 given DU’s University College—which offers continuing profes-
study sponsored by the Rose Community Foundation, which gives sional studies for older students—a $5,000 grant to study what such a
grants for health, education, aging and other causes. clearinghouse might look like and how it might work, according to Jim
And another study from the Met Life Foundation and Civic Davis, the dean of University College.
Ventures, a nonprofit organization that focuses on issues of aging University College offers master’s degrees, certificates and an un-
Americans, found that half of adults between ages 50 and 70 said they dergraduate degree completion program. But it also supports the Osher
are interested in taking jobs now or in the future that help improve the Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)—a 600-member program that
quality of life in their communities. offers non-credit, eight-week classes for those ages 55 and “better”—
Brown herself is an example of this growing network. She and the Enrichment Program, which features short, non-credit courses
explains that a trip to the hospital kindled her need for more meaning- on topics including literature, art, history, contemporary issues and
ful work. science. Each session attracts about 900 students, many of whom are
A few years ago, she says, she took her mother to the hospital for boomers.
a checkup and noticed an elderly lady there alone. “That just kind of The Rose grant, Davis says, is helping University College create a
stuck with me,” she says. “It was so sad; somebody needed to be with center for life transition that will match people’s civic advocacy inter-
her. It’s just not right. We treat the elderly like all of the sudden they ests with community resources and needs. Other center services will
just appeared here, but they’re people. They have histories.” include skill courses so visitors can make an easier transition from an
Brown says her goal is to help the elderly through policy and industry to the nonprofit sector. “They might learn about fundraising
advocacy. “I think that’s the way I can make a bigger impact,” she says. or project management,” Davis says. “We’ll design a series of courses to
“Policy is the forum where the rules are made and where attitudes are help these transitions.”
changed.” The college has applied for a second Rose grant to develop a busi-
Lynn Gangone, dean of DU’s Women’s College, says she’s seeing ness plan for the program, and Davis says he expects the center will
more and more older students who are “truly interested” in changing open by September 2009.
the world through advocacy and are earning master’s and doctoral The Women’s College continues to stretch its welcome mat for
degrees in fields such as social work, law and education—“fields older students by introducing academic certificates, including one in
B
where they believe they can make a difference.” leadership that emphasizes social change and advocacy. The school is
The typical Women’s College student is a late-boomer born in also developing leadership skills in students by placing them in area
Brown’s not alone. Baby boomers—those age 44 through 62—are Karen Newman, a Daniels professor who has researched genera- the early 1960s, Gangone says. “They’ve grown up as women deeply nonprofits.
blending in with their colleagues on college campuses throughout the tional trends, says boomers aren’t the only generation to return to col- engaged in their communities as volunteers. They understand that the “I believe that as we widen our certificate offerings and our scope
country. lege after their teen years. “Previous generations often did it because, achievement of the baccalaureate degree is not just for career purposes, of non-degree programs, we’ll see a lot more boomers at the college,”
T
The U.S. Department of Education reports that in the last decade for one reason or another, they did not get a chance to go to college but for life.” Gangone says.
the number of baby boomers heading back to school has jumped by or get all the way through college when they were younger,” she says. And even though the bachelor’s of business administration
20 percent to nearly 2 million. And officials predict those numbers will Now, because of increased access to higher education, Generation Xers remains the most popular degree at the Women’s College, Gangone
keep rising as boomers opt for books over bingo. [those born from 1965 to about 1980] are more likely to return to col- says, the school is seeing more interest in the law and society major, To Davis, older students seeking to do good has a lot to do with
The trend is palpable at DU, which hosts 800-plus boomers lege or go to college for the two reasons above rather than just to say which is tailored specifically for students interested in understanding the way they see retirement.
today, according to the school’s Office of Institutional Research. they did it.” how law matters in people’s lives, how people’s lives matter in law, and “I think boomers are thinking differently about retirement today;
That’s not surprising to U.S. Census folks, who say Denver has a Another phenomenon causing the return of boomers to the class- how law empowers and constrains individuals, groups, organizations they aren’t going to settle for the old definitions of retirement,”
burgeoning baby boom population that will reach 300,000 people ages room, Kreisman says, is telecommuting—people who feel isolated and communities. Davis says. “They want something more—continue their employ-
55–64 in fewer than two years. Some have even dubbed Denver the working from their homes. “We have more and more students enroll- Tiffani Lennon (JD ’04), who teaches law and society, says many ment, make lateral moves or move from work into volunteering. It’s
boomer capital of the United States. ing who say they not only need new skills, but they want to be a part of her boomer students are passionate about affecting change and plan a generation not content with stuffing envelopes. They want to make
That may explain why over the last year the Executive MBA pro- of something—they want collaboration and stimulation they can’t get to use their degrees to do just that. a true difference.”
gram at the Daniels College of Business witnessed the largest enroll- working alone.” “Our students walk into the classroom with substantial skills, That makes sense to Brown, who plans to graduate in June 2009.
ment jump in its history. She adds that for many boomers, college played an important role truly diverse perspectives and the passion to ignite change,” Lennon “I could have stayed in my banking job and kept making money,”
The obvious question: Why are boomers going back to class? in their lives during the 1960s. “As a result, there is data that shows says. she says. “I was making good money, and I knew I was going to take a
B
Some want a promotion, a bigger paycheck or some kind of career many boomers are returning to the campuses to engage in more dia- big pay cut in social work. And I like golf, and I have a retirement fund.
change or advancement. logue and learning,” she says. But there’s more out there for me.”
“Education is a lifelong process now,” says Daniels Assistant Dean But increasingly, boomers themselves are reporting that they want Back to that Rose Foundation study, which also found that boom- Brown, whose course work involves several internships, worked
Barbara Kreisman, Executive MBA program director. “It’s very appar- more than just more money or a spacious corner office. They want ers actively seek many sources—friends, the Internet, churches, non- with the local Alzheimer’s Association last spring. “I loved talking with
ent via research and reality that people need to garner new skills every to make a difference. They want to tackle the big problems: illiteracy, profits and colleges—where they can learn how and where to put their senior citizens; there’s a lot of living history there.
few years nowadays to stay current in their profession or to be able to poverty, race relations, child abuse and education. efforts to work for good. “The way our society is today, it makes the world smaller. I think I
change careers as theirs may become outdated and irrelevant.” Kreisman has seen the trend in her MBA students. “Absolutely, And therein lies an opportunity, the study suggests, for organiza- can make a difference.”
Kreisman says Executive MBA students range in age from 30 to there are folks here who want to find value in what they do,” she says. tions to develop a clearinghouse of resources. Perhaps a college could She gives a short laugh.
65. “Even some of the older students have been seeking skills which “They’re seeking purpose because many have lived lives in a corporate offer a series of courses to give individuals information they need to “I was thinking, you know, it’s not going to be too long before I’ll
could be applied in their next careers,” she says. environment focused on profits, and that left some of them unfulfilled.” make informed decisions about options in community service. be getting old—I guess it’s an investment in my own future, too. ”
30 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 31
Saving
By Janalee Card Chmel
Photographs by Wayne Armstrong
Seph
Faith fuels alumna Lori Ware in her battle to save her son’s life.
H “He will be dead by the time he’s 18. Take him home and love him.”
With those words, a doctor threw Lori (Watkins) Ware (MBA ’89) into the
fight of her life: The fight for her son’s life.
Just weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the Louisiana coast, Lori’s
3-year-old son, Joseph, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy
(DMD), an incurable genetic disease that destroys a body’s muscles. It is
fatal; children with Duchenne typically die in their late teens.
At the very moment Lori received what she calls “the death sentence
on my baby,” she had the instinctive reaction that would guide the rest of her
life.
She fought back.
She challenged.
She told doctors, “That’s not good enough.”
Today, Lori believes she can help her son to “avoid the wheelchair,” that
he “will grow to be a man.” But her battle is one that entails buying time for
her son, staying on top of worldwide research efforts, and, at the heart of it
all, massive amounts of prayer and faith. She frequently tells people in her
friendly Southern accent, “You know as well as I do that God’s gonna take
care of this.”
So far, God seems to be fulfilling Lori’s expectations. Lori and Seph Ware
T
he primary source of that hope is faith in God. Raised in a Bap-
tist church—her great-grandmother was a charter member—
Lori frequently discusses God’s power to deliver a miracle for
Seph. Barring a miracle, Lori says she can accept that Seph will be in
heaven if he dies before her, though she cries every time she consid-
ers it.
“It’s a God thing,” she says. “Without my faith, I would have
nothing. No hope.”
Joe also relies on his strong faith and says he tries to enjoy every
day without worrying about what the future may hold.
“That boy gives me such joy today, and he does every day,” says
Joe, tearing up. “He makes me so happy now. I don’t want to be sad.
I want to be happy … There will be plenty of time to be sad.”
Lori also found hope through the Parent Project Muscular
Dystrophy Web site—parentprojectmd.org—and its founder, Pat
Seph and physical therapist Melanie Massey Seph and members of First Baptist Church of West Monroe in prayer Furlong.
After learning of Seph’s “death sentence,” Lori e-mailed the
L B
ori was raised in West Monroe, La., a town of approximately toward his head, Seph would grimace. Joe couldn’t get his son’s legs oys with Duchenne or Becker’s muscular dystrophy—very organization. Within an hour, Furlong herself called Lori.
150,000 people about 300 miles northwest of New Orleans. farther than a 90-degree angle without causing Seph pain. few girls get these types of MD—have a problem with their Furlong lost her two sons to Duchenne within six months of
She’s married to Joe Ware, whom she’s known since high Lori thought that was odd, so a few days later, she mentioned it body’s production of dystrophin, the ‘glue’ that holds muscle each other in the 1990s. She, too, had faced a doctor who told her
school, and she has two daughters—Hannah, 13, and Mallori, 12—in to the doctor. cells together. Boys with Becker’s muscular dystrophy produce there was no hope for her sons and, she says, at that moment, “I
addition to son Joseph (they call him ‘Seph’ because there are already “He said to me: ‘You don’t normally see that in a child unless he small amounts of dystrophin, so their bodies can typically maintain turned into a terrorist.”
so many Joes, Joeys and Josephs in the family). has muscular dystrophy, which he doesn’t, but you might want to ask functionality for much longer. Boys with Duchenne, however, pro- “I’m usually a very reserved, consistent person,” says Furlong.
Monroe is a small town built around the Ouachita River. The your physical therapist about it.’” duce no dystrophin, which causes such rapid muscle deterioration “But I lost that side of myself that very day. I pulled that doctor by his
humid climate supports enormous trees and plants with leaves the Two days later, Lori saw Massey, who confirmed that she saw that they are usually in wheelchairs by the time they turn 9. As the tie up to my nose and I said, ‘If I have to choose today who lives and
size of car tires. Lori’s home rests on eight acres of a 20-acre plot signs of the disease in Seph. Lori learned that there was a simple disease progresses, they lose the use of their arms, and then their dies, you are on the top of my list.’”
that’s been in the Watkins family for generations. Her parents live blood test for the disease, so on Oct. 5, 2005, she and Joe took Seph respiratory and cardiac muscles deteriorate, typically causing death The doctor told Furlong she was “overreacting,” to which she
next door on the same plot of land. in for the test. They believed the results would take several days. before age 20. responded, “I will overreact about my children until the day I die.”
When Seph passed his first birthday and months kept ticking Two hours later, the Wares learned that their son had muscular During those painful weeks of waiting for DNA results, Lori She’s held to that promise.
by with no sign of him walking, Lori became concerned. Everyone dystrophy. recalls a co-worker repeatedly saying, “Lori, let’s just pray it’s not the Today, Furlong is the executive director of the Parent Project,
around her kept saying he was fine and that she should relax. But, By this time, Lori had done enough research on the Internet to ‘D’ one. You’ll be OK if it’s not the ‘D’ one.” an organization she established when she realized that research into
exhibiting a trait that would later guide some of the biggest decisions know the disease has no cure and can be fatal. She knew that Seph On Oct. 24, Lori and Joe went to the clinic to hear the news: her sons’ disease was sparse at best, that researchers weren’t com-
of her life, Lori ignored the people who “thought I was crazy” and could have one of two main types of muscular dystrophy: Becker’s, Seph had Duchenne. municating with one another and that there was no standard of care
took Seph to physical therapy when he was 15 months old. a slow-progressing version of the disease in which boys grow to “I was set up for Becker’s because the doctor kept saying it had for boys with DMD. In her quest, she traveled the globe on her own
Physical therapist Melanie Massey agreed that Seph was become men and even into old men; and Duchenne, a fast-moving, to be Becker’s, so when he told me Duchenne, I crumbled,” recalls money, lied to get into doctors’ offices, tricked renowned scientists
developmentally delayed and began strength training. The highly lethal form of the disease in which boys typically die in their Lori, who still cries at the memory. “I said, ‘What does that mean?’ into chairing research panels, and demanded that experts come up
therapy seemed to work and, by the time Seph was 17 months teens. and he said, ‘He will be dead by the time he’s 18.’” with options for “these lost boys.”
old, he was walking. He could not run, but Lori believed that Seph’s blood test only revealed that he had muscular dystrophy, The Wares asked what they could do for Seph. “He said, ‘Take Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy now is a multimillion-dollar
would come. not which kind. For the rest of the story, Seph needed a DNA test. him home and love him.’ He gave us no options, no standard of fundraising, awareness-building, advocacy and research-generating
Then one day Joe was wrestling with Seph and noticed some- The next day, Joe and Lori took Seph in for that test, but those results care.” organization with its finger on the pulse of the field’s hottest research
thing: When Seph was on his back and Joe would push his legs up would take weeks. Lori looks back on that moment as a common snapshot of what and best doctors.
34 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 35
“Part of getting Seph the best medical treatment that I can is through
building awareness,” she says. “The reason 70 percent of pediatric cancers are
curable today is because people raised awareness.”
“I cannot be passive,” she adds.
Lori attends annual Parent Project conferences, where she makes it a
mission to meet the doctors who are working on treatments for DMD. She
has made business cards with Seph’s picture on them and hands them out to
the doctors.
“This is my son, Seph,” she tells them. “He is the reason you must keep
working for a cure.”
Lori also goes to Washington, D.C., to work with Parent Project lobby-
ists and to speak with representatives from every state.
She has helped raise money for other families facing the disease. She
once approached a nonprofit in her hometown to raise money for a Roma-
nian family who wanted to take their son to Wong. She raised $11,000 from
one meeting and two radio broadcasts.
“That was God,” she says, brushing off any credit for herself. “You don’t
raise $11,000 from 30 minutes of effort without God’s help.”
While Lori’s journey with DMD is extraordinary and, by her own
measure, “a nightmare,” she also lives the life of a typical mom. She teaches
Seph and his dog, Max
special education at West Monroe High School. Hannah and Mallori have
diverse interests and, of course, no driver’s licenses, so Lori is their chauffeur.
But when Furlong called Lori, it was one mom to another. Both Wong and Furlong believe that there will be a treatment
Seph attends weekly physical therapy, and Lori helps care for her ailing dad.
“The first words out of her mouth were, ‘How are you?’” Lori for DMD patients, but they differ in how soon they think it will
Twice a year, Lori takes Seph to Cincinnati. During her most recent
recalls. “Well, my baby had just received a death sentence. I dis- come. Wong points to several drugs that are in or near clinical trial
visit, she received news that cemented her faith in a miracle.
solved.” phases, and she believes there may be a useful treatment—but not a
Seph surprised Wong. He is actually improving.
In that initial conversation, Furlong quizzed Lori about Seph’s cure—within four to five years.
Lori maintains a Web site about Seph—www.caringbridge.org/visit/
DNA, his genetic codes and her plans for treatment. She also gave Furlong, however, seems to believe a treatment is further away.
seph—and, from Cincinnati, she wrote that Wong was “very impressed Duchenne muscular dystrophy: The facts
Lori hope. “I believe that, within the next three to four years, doctors will
with how well Seph is doing. His time getting off the floor with no hands
“Pat said, ‘You need to know that your son will grow to be a be able to rule some things out and rule some things in.” Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the
DECREASED by one second ... to most of you that may not be a big deal,
man,’” Lori says. “She told me that there was a lot of research com- Ruling in and ruling out is not a cure, and to Lori, that’s just not most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed
but for us it is HUGE!!!”
ing down the pike. It was the first time I had heard that.” fast enough for Seph.
She went on to explain that Seph would begin taking human growth in childhood, affecting approximately 1 in every
Furlong asked Lori where she was taking Seph for treatment.
hormone (HGH) and that “Dr. Wong really believes that as good as Seph is 3,500 live male births (about 20,000 new
Lori simply said, “You tell me to go anywhere in the world and I
S
doing now, with the addition of the HGH, it will be YEARS before we see cases each year). Duchenne can be passed from
will go. Where do I take my baby?” eph, who is 6, is about the size of a 4-year-old, but what he lacks
any significant DMD signs. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, THANK YOU LORD!” parent to child, but approximately 35 percent of
Furlong recommended Dr. Brenda Wong at Cincinnati in height, he makes up for in a hyper-speed imagination. Com-
Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Lori immediately booked an ing home from an errand with Mom, he races inside, dons his cases occur because of a random spontaneous
L
appointment and made travel plans. But again, she had to ignore Superman cape, races back outside in his socks, climbs into his kid- mutation. Because the Duchenne gene is found
ori admits that all of her efforts amount to one goal: Buying time for
people around her. Just as when she first took Seph for physical size, battery-powered, Caterpillar-brand truck and does laps around on the X-chromosome, it primarily affects boys. It
Seph. The longer she can keep him walking, the more of a chance he
therapy, Lori continued to face doctors and acquaintances in Monroe the driveway. occurs across all races and cultures.
will have when the cure is discovered.
who thought she was grasping at straws. If Seph sees a pen and paper, he is physically unable to stop him- DMD results in progressive loss of strength
Until then, Lori believes Seph should get to be a normal 6-year-old boy,
“People kept looking at me like I was crazy,” Lori remembers. self from drawing space aliens. and is caused by a mutation in the gene that
as much as his body allows. He recently played on a T-ball team that took
“One doctor told me that Cincinnati would just waste my money His gigantic brown eyes seek attention from everyone in a room
the league championship. As her little boy shuffle-ran into home plate and encodes for dystrophin. Because dystrophin is
and use my son as a guinea pig.” as he explains the role that each person will play while he “saves the
turned to give her two thumbs up, Lori’s blue eyes welled up and she said, absent, the muscle cells are easily damaged. The
But Lori was undaunted and in December 2005, she and Joe village from the evil bad guy space monster aliens.”
simply, “Isn’t that beautiful?” progressive muscle weakness leads to serious
took Seph to see Wong. It’s unbearable, Lori says, to think of him in a wheelchair,
Then, she sighed, believing each moment was proof of her favorite medical problems, particularly issues relating to
Wong is credited with establishing and running one of the coun- to think of him unable to feed himself, to think of him unable to
scripture—Jeremiah 29:11.
try’s most progressive DMD medical centers. She has gathered ex- breathe. the heart and lungs.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to pros-
perts from 17 specialties—ranging from cardiology and neurology to “Most days, it’s easy to just go along in a routine and forget the Although there are medical treatments that
per you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
endocrinology—to comprehensively treat each of her now 500-plus bigger picture,” Lori says. “But then reality slaps me in the face and may help slow its progression, there is currently
patients. washes over me like a bad smell.” For more information on DMD, visit Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy at no cure for Duchenne.
“It’s the most amazing place of hope,” says Lori. “When I’m So, in addition to her duties as mom, public school teacher and www.parentprojectmd.org. To follow Lori and Seph’s story, visit www.caringbridge.org/ —Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy
there, I feel like it’s going to be OK.” lifesaver, Lori is an awareness-builder. visit/seph. See a slideshow of Seph and his family at www.du.edu/magazine.
36 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 37
Education
By Tamara Chapman
“Broad and deep learning, especially at
the undergraduate level, is fundamentally
important for a well-lived life.”
Reimagined
—Gregg Kvistad, provost
38 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 39
“We really
wanted to
generate
J Just seven years ago, the Marsico Initiative was little
more than a dream deferred, a half-formed notion
that great things could be accomplished, if and when,
when and if.
“When I was appointed provost by Chancellor
Dan Ritchie in 2001,” Chancellor Robert Coombe
of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences—believed
that the faculty should play the lead role in shap-
ing the initiative. After all, Kvistad says, “Curricular
change, programmatic change, has to fundamentally
involve the faculty, who do the conceptualization,
who do the tinkering, who are responsible for the
priorities and creating a “cell”—or subcommittee—
for each. The cells focused on enriching the first-year
experience; fostering intellectual depth; expanding
opportunities for experiential learning; enhancing
writing and rhetorical skills across the four undergrad-
uate years; and developing quantitative reasoning skills.
first-year seminar, gains steam with required writing
and rhetoric classes, develops quantitative reasoning
skills through an emphasis on numeracy and reinforces
new knowledge through experiential learning opportu-
nities. And that’s just the Reader’s Digest version.
Much of the initiative’s focus centered on the
excitement recalls, “he and I began a long dialogue, which extends curriculum.” A sixth cell was created to assess the effectiveness of all first-year experience. That’s because the first year is so
about the arts to this day, about moving the academic enterprise Faculty leadership took the form of a steering programs introduced under the initiative. important in terms of establishing expectations and set-
and sciences. at DU forward. In those early days … we talked committee made up of 12 members elected by their The cells were charged with developing pro- ting tone, Potts says. “If you are going to transform the
frequently about where the greatest challenges and peers from the three divisions at the center of the grams related to their topics. “We went with the pilot culture, you have to start from the beginning.”
It really was opportunities were to be found among the many units initiative—arts and humanities, social sciences, and approach,” Keables says, noting that the committee At the Discoveries orientation program, students
a cultural and programs of the University.” natural sciences and mathematics. The committee asked the arts and sciences faculty to submit proposals. begin interacting with faculty, enjoying presentations
transformation Ritchie shared these conversations with Tom also included a handful of administrators appointed by In keeping with the freedom given the steering about academic topics and meeting with the instruc-
Marsico, founder and CEO of Marsico Capital Coombe. committee itself, Keables says, “we issued a call to tor who will lead their first-year seminar. Where the
that we had in Management, who had expressed interest in Psychology Professor George Potts chaired that faculty with minimal guidelines.” That way, the previous orientation program emphasized social and
mind.” supporting an academic initiative. “Dan asked steering committee for the first three years of its committee could encourage experimentation and risk- extracurricular activities, Discoveries reminds students
—George Potts, which unit I thought we should propose for such an existence. The first summer, committee members met taking. To ensure the proposals supported initiative- they are embarking on an academic journey.
initiative, and I responded that … it should be for a frequently to define what they wanted to accomplish. related objectives, the steering committee required that That message is reinforced in a new first-year
psychology professor
major advance in the arts and sciences disciplines,” “We really wanted to generate excitement about the each include a mechanism for assessment. seminar, capped at 15 students. This seminar replaced
Coombe explains. “My reasoning was that if we were arts and sciences. We wanted to stimulate this intellec- Proposals were submitted by the dozens, some the required Campus Connection class, originally
going to be a great university, we had to have top-of- tual community. … It really was a cultural transforma- from individual faculty members, others from individ- offered for one hour per week during the student’s
the-line programs in these disciplines. These were tion that we had in mind,” he recalls. ual departments and still others from interdisciplinary first quarter. Under the Marsico Initiative, the seminar
the disciplines in which we had an extraordinary Given the amorphous nature of transformation groups eager to collaborate. Throughout the proposal was expanded to a four-hour course focusing on
opportunity to blend a learning environment and the problematic dynamics of committees, the evaluation and pilot phase, the steering committee a topic to be examined thoroughly. According to
characterized by small classes and close student- Marsico group could have floundered indefinitely try- sought input from the entire faculty. “One of the Keables, this move alone made a huge difference in
faculty interactions, like those found at the very best ing to reach agreement on goals and strategies. Com- things that we decided very early on was that we had to the quality of the student’s introductory year.
liberal arts colleges, with great faculty and nationally mittee member Michael Keables, currently acting dean keep faculty involved through every stage,” Potts says. He should know. Having taught Campus Con-
competitive scholarship of the sort found at the best of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, feared just that. To foster transparency, the committee launched a Uni- nection classes and the new first-year seminars (his
research universities. Our students could have the “Large committees tend to be fairly dysfunctional,” versity intranet presence, where all relevant materials focus is on environmental issues), he finds vast dif-
best of both worlds.” he says. “They take a long time to reach consensus. were posted for review. ferences between the two. Real depth simply wasn’t
Before the Marsicos would commit to funding, Sometimes they never reach consensus. But there was Once the programs were piloted and evaluated, possible with the Campus Connection courses, where
they wanted reassurance that their money would be a commitment from this group to make this work.” the steering committee recommended several for the 60 minutes per week were too often spent helping
spent on significant changes. Coombe was charged Potts attributes that commitment to faculty permanent funding. Recommendations were based students acclimate to University life. The four-hour
with fleshing out DU’s game plan. “To start this pro- enthusiasm. “Faculty have been saying for a long time on program effectiveness and on the scope of their seminar, on the other hand, allows instructors to guide
cess, I appointed an ad hoc ‘idea group’ of about 20 that it is wonderful that we are getting donations for impact. As Keables notes, “A lot of it came down to students through challenging topics, showing them
faculty members from the arts and sciences disciplines buildings, but we really need money for programs,” he bang for the buck: Put your money where it will have how to approach college-level work.
to think through some initial ideas. We met for several explains. “I felt from the start a real responsibility to the biggest impact.” “One thing it has done is it hits the students, from “It hits the
weeks, bouncing ideas off one another. There were show that when you do that, good things happen.” As Kvistad sees it, the bang has exceeded expec- the time they walk in the door, with the message that students, from
some really good thoughts, but the whole thing just The committee was also encouraged by the tations. “This is, I believe, a textbook case for how academics are important,” Keables explains. As proof,
wasn’t congealing,” he recalls. institution’s promise to develop permanent funding academic, especially curricular, change needs to Keables points to the change in attendance during his
the time they
“At the next meeting, I told the group that I for the initiative’s best ideas. That meant the com- occur,” he says. “It happened at the University of office hours. Today, he sees many more of his first-year walk in the
thought we were being insufficiently bold, and asked mittee could contemplate long-term proposals, even Denver only because the faculty embraced the chal- students more often. They arrive with fewer questions door, with the
that each person put forward a single big idea, no matter those that involved hiring additional faculty and staff. lenge of transforming the undergraduate experience about how to drop a class or change a grade and more
According to Kvistad, “The message from central and believed that the University would find the questions related to academics. Not only that, they
message that
how off the wall, right then and there. We went around
the table, and each person spoke. There were some administration was, you produce a good program, resources to make that happen if they actually did it. often continue their relationship with him long after academics are
pretty wild thoughts, or at least they seemed so at the and we will find ways to fund it.” Keeping that Boy, did they do it.” the seminar has ended. important.”
T
time. I remember in particular that Gregg Kvistad’s idea promise meant scrupulous review of expenses and According to Kvistad, that kind of relationship
—Michael Keables, acting
was that classes be limited to 15 students, and everyone revenue. To fully fund the Marsico Initiative, the makes the DU experience transformational. The new
laughed. How could such a thing be possible?” University added $4.4 million to the base annual Thanks to the Marsico Initiative, today’s undergradu- seminar puts a caring professor in a central role at a dean of Natural Sciences
Once sights were set sufficiently high, and budgets of the divisions involved. ate students plunge into learning even before classes critical time, when they can serve as teacher, mentor, and Mathematics
once the Marsicos issued a green light, the Thanks to faculty engagement and the promise start. advocate and adviser. The professor can also demon-
University plotted its strategy for maximizing of continued funding, consensus came early, with Their education kicks off with an academically strate the pleasures of discovery fueled by intellectual
the opportunity. Coombe and Kvistad—then dean steering committee members settling on a handful of rich orientation period, continues with a topic-focused passion and curiosity. “This relationship is intended to
40 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 41
48 Class notes challenge
49 Book bin
last the entire year,” he says. “As it happens, because we the math behind the topic while helping students be-
are human, it goes on longer than that.” come “numerically wise.” A quantitative reasoning lab-
53 Reunion recap
The Marsico Initiative also replaced first-year oratory, installed in Sturm Hall, offers state-of-the-art 54 Pioneer pics
English classes with a two-quarter writing and rhetoric software to help students develop their analytic skills.
sequence. To develop and administer that sequence, Outside the classroom and the laboratory, a Visit- 55 Alumni director
the University launched a comprehensive Writing ing Scholars Program helps create what Chancellor
Program, directed by Doug Hesse, a nationally Coombe calls a campus culture “bubbling and perco-
58 Announcements
recognized expert on writing pedagogy and author lating” with ideas. The program brings experts from
of the Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers. all over the world to campus to share their insights
“The curricular Recruited from Illinois State University, Hesse was with students. Stays range from two days to a couple
changes wrought charged with creating a program that treats writing of quarters. Long-term visitors generally teach or
both as a discipline and as a foundation of serious work co-teach at least one course. All visitors are asked to
by the initiative
in other disciplines. engage undergraduates in lectures, special programs
demonstrate the Hesse began by building a team of 19 full-time and activities.
seriousness of lecturers—all experts in writing and rhetoric, all versed The Visiting Scholars Program provides opportu-
in DU’s ambitious goals for student achievement. nities, Keables notes, for undergraduate and graduate
the University’s
Members of the writing faculty collaborate with one students to interact with some of the thinkers who are
commitment to another and the rest of the faculty about the best prac- shaping their fields. In fall quarter, the program (in
liberal learning.” tices for developing writing skills. They deploy those conjunction with the Department of Mass Communi-
practices in more than 70 first-year classes offered each cations and Journalism Studies, the Center for Multi-
—Gregg Kvistad, provost
quarter and capped at 15 students. This approach dif- cultural Excellence and Partners in Learning) brought
fers dramatically from traditional writing programs, filmmaker Beverly Seckinger to campus for a panel
which typically enlist adjunct instructors who often discussion on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
have little sense of institutional priorities. By contrast, issues and a screening of her documentary Laramie
all of DU’s writing lecturers are full-time faculty, and Inside Out—a chronicle of how her hometown reacted
their chief priority is working with students. to the murder of gay University of Wyoming student
Writing efforts at all levels and in all majors are Matthew Shepard.
supported by a new Writing Center directed by Eliana To foster experiential learning, an Arts and Sci-
Schonberg. In addition to tutoring students, the center ences Internship Program develops opportunities for
lends support to professors teaching writing-intensive students to test their knowledge and develop their skills
classes for juniors and seniors. These classes—another in a work setting, while an Undergraduate Research
component of the Writing Program—are offered in the Center, currently under development, will promote
core curriculum and throughout the majors. Tutoring hands-on research opportunities with faculty members.
also is available to graduate students. Among its many responsibilities, it will coordinate
Finally, says Hesse, the Writing Center aims to funding for undergraduate research projects and sup-
create a writing-appreciative culture on campus, not port students working on capstone and Honors thesis
just through rigorous instruction but also through pro- projects.
gramming that showcases different kinds of writing. Complementing the University’s emphasis on
“Our goal is to get people to see the whole breadth of internationalization and study abroad, a Language
writing,” he explains, adding that today, DU students Center, also under development, will make it easier for
of every major are writing far more than they were just students to prepare for a future in the global market-
place. By 2009, the center is expected to host a Summer
DU Archives
five years ago.
The Writing Program is attracting national recog- Intensive Language Institute.
nition for its thorough approach. In 2008, it became Reviewing the initiative’s accomplishments,
one of only 23 programs internationally to have earned Kvistad takes pride in their sweep and ambition. “The In the 1950s, students who lived on campus paid $249 for room and board each quarter. Today, room and
a Certificate of Excellence from the Conference on curricular changes wrought by the initiative,” he
board starts at $1,960 per term. What did you pay for student housing during your DU days? Please share your
College Composition and Communication. explains, “demonstrate the seriousness of the Univer-
Other programs implemented under the Marsico sity’s commitment to liberal learning—not to one memories of living on campus.
Initiative are equally ambitious. For example, a series discipline, to one profession, or to one body of
of math foundations courses, proposed by the math knowledge, but rather to developing the capacity of
faculty for non-science majors, aims to develop quanti- each student to think broadly and deeply, to write with
tative reasoning skills. Focusing on topics like cryptog- skill, to understand quantitative data, to view the world
raphy, these courses are designed, Potts says, to explore as a classroom, and never to stop learning.”
Wayne Armstrong
of Lakewood, Colo., grade. In 1946 Bill established his first for the best Western biography of 2008 for Ore., is the author business degree from DU, she expected
received the Legend commercial photo studio in Englewood, his book Gall: Lakota War Chief (University of six books and to spend her work hours helping cli-
of Dance in Colorado Colo. In addition to his career as a Realtor, of Oklahoma Press, 2007). Robert graduated wrote a syndicated ents with their finances. A tax degree
award from the Bill also worked as a freelance photographer from DU Phi Beta Kappa and received his column, “Kids Are nearly two decades later further deep-
Carson-Brierly Dance for the Rocky Mountain News, the Denver PhD in Western history from the University My Business,” which ened her ties to the world of numbers.
Library. Virginia was Post, the Englewood Herald and the Littleton of New Mexico. Robert worked as a teacher appeared in 40 But life has a funny way of turn-
both an organizer and Independent. He continues to display and sell and administrator for Denver Public Schools newspapers from 1974
ing out. Back in 1989, Sardella (BSBA
the first president of the Denver Civic Ballet his photographs. and taught at the University of Northern to 2004. Stanley, who also worked as a third-
statistics ’68, MT accounting ’83) and
and one of three founders of the Colorado Colorado for 30 years. Although retired, grade teacher and curriculum coordinator,
currently teaches at the Portland State her husband were tired of his odd work
Concert Ballet. She also directed and taught Robert continues to research, write and
in her own ballet school for many years. lecture about the American West. He lives in University Graduate School of Education. hours and her business trips getting
Denver with his wife, Peggy. He has been married to his wife, Ellen, for 59 in the way of their life together. She
years and has three grown daughters and five started looking for a business to buy
grown grandchildren. and ended up opening an art gallery.
“I had no experience in retail,
Trailblazer Marion Downs 1954 and I had no idea what I was doing,”
Sardella says. “I rented a small place for
Philip Fox (LLB ’54) of Beverly Hills, a year to see if I’d like it. Eighteen years
Calif., bought an insurance company that
later, here I am.”
For her upcoming birthday, 94-year-old Marion Downs (MA concentrates on seniors. Philip is having a
Sardella may have tentatively
audiology ’51) says she plans on going skydiving—again. great time traveling for clients and visiting
his 11 grandchildren, who all live outside stepped into the art world, but today
Even as she approaches the century mark, Downs—who went
California—some in New Zealand. He says she’s firmly grounded as owner of
skydiving for the first time to celebrate her 90th birthday—rarely
he has no plans to retire soon. Pismo Fine Art Glass with galleries
allows her age to interfere with her desire for adventure. She
in Denver’s Cherry Creek shopping
admits, however, that in her younger years she almost let negative
district, Beaver Creek, Vail and Aspen.
thoughts and habits prevent her from enjoying life.
Twenty-two years ago, Downs believed she was going to die.
1956 The four galleries feature jewelry,
Richard Berry (BSBA ’56) logged more than beads, furniture, paintings and sculp-
Both of her parents died at age 72, and so Downs had prepared 10,000 railway miles on a recent six-week trip ture created by some of the glass
herself to follow suit. Her physician pointed out, however, that around the world, including a journey from
Courtesy of Marion Downs
iStock
has never been much of a Howard Kellough (BS ’63) of Scottsdale, Entertainment & Resorts Co., participated 13 years before becoming an event planner as president of his company DunnWorks
tea drinker. So what makes a Ariz., joined Davis LLP as a partner and in the 54th Annual National Security for the American Birding Association. Her LLC, a consulting firm that provides services
longtime lawyer who doesn’t member of the firm’s national tax group. Seminar, held at the U.S. Army War College new career has allowed her to add numerous to beverage and consumer package goods
drink tea open a tea shop? The Howard received his law degree from the in Carlisle, Pa. One of the purposes of the entries to her bird-sighting list. industries.
University of Saskatchewan Law School in seminar is to give War College students
desire to brew a balanced life.
1966. Prior to joining Davis LLP, Howard the opportunity to hear various citizens’ Thomas Jasin
“The stress of practicing law
can be pretty overwhelming,” says
was chair of the Canadian Tax Foundation viewpoints on defense and security matters. 1972 (MS ’73)
and the National Tax Section of the Canadian As a participant, Ted attended seminars and Alma Howell (MA ’72) of Phoenix retired (pictured on left)
Miller, who’s been practicing law for Bar Association, and co-chair of the Joint discussed national security issues. from Intel in January after more than 17 received NASA’s
more than 25 years. “I didn’t want to burn Committee on Taxation. years as a senior information specialist and Outstanding
out.” research manager. Prior, Alma worked at Leadership
For two years, Miller and his wife, Nenita, ran Arizona State University for three years and Medal on June 9
a small tea shop on the weekends in July and August out of their vacation home—a 1964 at Bensalem School District in Pennsylvania in recognition
re-purposed old general store—in Eagles Mere, Penn. When they saw an open storefront Cynthia (Facer) Clark (MA ’64) of McLean,
during a walk in their Lancaster, Penn., neighborhood, he thought, “Let’s take this a little Va., is the administrator of the national
more seriously.” agricultural statistics service for the United
States Department of Agriculture. Previously,
In 2004 they opened the Pemberley Tea Shop just two blocks from their home.
Cynthia lived in London where she worked as ChanCellor’s
Miller works full time at the tea shop and practices law part time after the shop closes in
the late afternoon.
the executive director of methodology for the
Office of National Statistics.
InnovatIon Fund
Funding innovation • Funding ExcEllEncE • Funding du
Although the shop is named for the Pemberley estate in Pride and Prejudice (one of
Nenita’s favorite books), the shop’s décor is not the typical Victorian high-tea style. Glory (Muskat)
“People have described it as ‘fusion,’” Miller says of the blended modern and classic Weisberg (BA ’64)
food and surroundings. of Englewood, Colo.,
the tradItIon
The remodeled warehouse space has exposed beams and pipes, lots of natural was one of five
light, and while it’s decorated with some tea-themed items, it has a mix of local art and women who received
the Triumphant
unconventional furnishings.
“We don’t do frou-frou,” Miller laughs. “But it’s very homey and comfortable.” Women award from ContInues WIth You
The 1,500-square-foot shop serves 50–60 varieties of loose tea, plus baked goods
the Excelsior Youth invest in the future, invest in our students
Center at their annual gala on May 30. Glory
(prepared by Miller), sandwiches, soups and other café fare.
received the award for overcoming obstacles The Chancellor’s innovation Fund, supported by
“I never drank tea before opening the shop because I never really liked it,” Miller and succeeding in her chosen field. She has your annual gift, strengthens scholarships and
confesses. “Like most people, I was forced to drink plain Lipton tea when I was sick. But worked for The Villager of Greenwood Village, priority programs for our students.
there are 2,000–3,000 types of tea, so there is so much variety.” Colo., for 23 years, currently as the society
Running the shop also has given the Millers some “deeply enjoyed” time together. editor. She writes a weekly column called
“For 30 years, she went off to teach and I went off to do law, and we never got in a “GloryUs Goings On” in addition to writing
To contribute to du, please visit
situation where we got to work together,” says Miller, who recently celebrated his 35th and photographing for the publication.
wedding anniversary. She and her husband, David, have five
grandchildren.
www.giving.du.edu
Miller says his favorite time of day is at 4 p.m. when the shop closes and the couple
enjoys a pot of tea together. They’ve even made a game of it.
“The person who makes it tries to surprise the other, and you get three guesses to
name the tea. It really sharpens your skills,” he says. University Advancement
—Janna Widdifield 2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208
303.871.4677 800.448.3238
cOOrs
and Michelle were part of a seven-member managers in the sporting goods industry. 1990
delegation. Michelle is the State Department’s Sharon White (PhD ’90) wrote the book
American public diplomacy envoy. Sharyl Peterson (MA ’80, PhD ’83) of Vanished Gardens (University of Georgia Press,
Fruita, Colo., wrote a book, The Indispensable 2008), which takes readers on a journey
Fitness
Guide to Pastoral Care (Pilgrim Press, 2008). through some of the past and present gardens
1978 Christian Century listed Sharyl’s book as one of Philadelphia. Vanished Gardens received the
Susan Carr-Templeton (BSBA ’78) of of Pilgrim Press’ top-five best-sellers in its Association of Writers and Writing Programs
Oak Brook, Ill., launched Stafford Wells May 6 issue. Award for Creative Nonfiction. Sharon also
center
Advisors, a wealth management firm catering is the author of a collection of poetry, Bone
to investors with $1 million to $10 million House, and a memoir, Field Notes: A Geography
in assets. Susan also worked as a senior vice 1984 of Mourning. She lives in Philadelphia and
president with William Blair & CO and CEO Deirdre McKay (BA ’84) works as a museum teaches writing at Temple University.
of Templeton Associates Ltd. educator at Stepping Stones Museum for
Children in Norwalk, Conn. Deirdre
Craig Moodie previously worked as a journalist and art 1991
(BA ’78) of teacher in Manhattan. She now lives in Rye, Jennifer (Newberry) Hogan (BFA ’91)
Franklin, Mass.,
published the
N.Y., with her teenage children, Wiley and
Isabel.
celebrated the first anniversary of her art
business, Seahorse Designs. Jennifer also has du alumni aLUmni
FinD yOUr Fit with excLUsive
rates FOr FamiLy anD
In June several members of the University of Denver Chicago alumni chapter participated in “Chicago Cares,” an annual philanthropic event to
support Chicago’s public schools. DU’s Chicago group spent the day repainting a portion of an elementary school. Pictured above right (back row,
from left): Nicholas Sauer (BA ’05) of North Barrington, Ill.; Adam Sauer, junior business major; Adam Gunzberg (BSBA ’93) of Chicago; Tim Heath (BA
’98, MTEL ’03) of Chicago; Julia Brennan; Kevin Friduss (BA ’05) of Chicago. Front row (from left): Jonathan Brosk (BSBA ’05) of Chicago; Aimee Marx
Chancellor’s (BA ’07) of Northbrook, Ill.
Innovation Fund
Career corner
Funding Innovation • Funding Excellence • Funding DU
Q: I’d like to work abroad. How do I go about finding a job in another country?
A: If you’ve set your sights upon finding a job overseas, there are some things to consider before you
send a résumé to lands unknown:
The Tradition • Employment rates are not the same in every country. Research the country’s embassy Web site to find
statistics.
Continues With You • In some countries a basic knowledge of the language is important, while in others, the fact that English is
invest in the future, invest in our students your first language is a bonus.
• L iving standards, and therefore pay levels, are not the same in every country. Your travel costs could exceed a
The Chancellor’s Innovation Fund, supported by your annual gift, local person’s annual salary.
strengthens scholarships and priority programs for our students. • Y our cultural competency about the country you’ll be living in may not match your new supervisor’s, or vice
versa. It may be difficult to adjust to social mores.
iStock
• Check with alumni who are from the country you want to work in for networking opportunities.
University Advancement
2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208
The Daniels College of Business Suitts Center for Career Services can assist graduate alumni with international job searches; call 303-871-2154. Undergraduate
303.871.4677 800.448.3238
alumni should contact the DU Career Center at 303-871-2150.
Tips reprinted from the March 2007 NACE Journal with permission of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, copyright holder.
52 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 University of Denver Magazine Connections 53
Pioneer pics Alumni Director Jeffrey Howard
Gerald Cortinez (BFA ’84) and husband David Chase of New York
City pose with a copy of the University of Denver Magazine at Uluru (Ayers Jeffrey Howard has been named executive director of alumni relations at the University
Rock) while on vacation in Australia in March 2008. While there, they of Denver. He joined DU in the fall from the U.S. Olympic Committee, where he worked as the
attended the 30th celebration of the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney director of education and outreach programs in corporate communications.
and spent a week in Melbourne. Howard returns to DU after nearly a decade; he previously was assistant athletics director for
Nancy (Schniedwind) Duffy public relations, coordinating media relations during DU’s transition to Division I athletics and
the construction of the Ritchie Center.
(BA ’70) of Hillsborough, N.J., stands
“Returning to DU in a capacity to help further engage the University’s alumni and advocate
with her son, Pat Duffy (BSBA ’06) of
for the many great programs and initiatives under way on and off campus is a great personal and
Vernon, Conn., in front of the Roman
professional opportunity,” Howard says. “I am a believer in lifelong learning, and the chance to
Colosseum while on a family vacation. return to an environment that fosters that philosophy at such a high level is exciting. I am truly
As you pioneer lands far and proud to join a staff and campus community that inspires excellence in so many different areas of
wide, be sure to pack your DU gear and strike a pose in front of a national monument, focus.”
the fourth wonder of the world or your hometown hot spot. If we print your submission, Howard brings extensive experience in project management, marketing and public relations
you’ll receive some new DU paraphernalia courtesy of the DU Bookstore. to his new role at DU. During his time with the U.S. Olympic Committee, Howard oversaw
Send your print or high-resolution digital image and a description of the location to: significant programming in alumni relations, education and athlete career transition services. His
Pioneer Pics, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208, experience also includes coordinating programming and publicity both internally and externally.
or e-mail du-magazine@du.edu. Be sure to include your full name, address, degree(s) and Howard graduated from Metropolitan State College in Denver with a bachelor of science in sports information and reporting. He
year(s) of graduation. holds a master’s degree in sports organization management from Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France. Howard is married to DU
alumna Gerri Gomez-Howard (MA ’93), and the couple has three children.
—Sarah Satterwhite
Deaths 1970s
Katharine Dodge (MA ’70), Denver, 5-27-08
Stephen Schuyler (JD ’71), Denver, 7-16-08
1930s
Do you ever
Doug Phillips (JD ’73), Denver, 7-15-08
Gerald Lovins (BS ’31), Santa Fe, N.M., 7-7-08 Carolyn Crain (MA ’74), Arcadia, Calif., 5-8-08
Burton Smead (BA ’34, JD ’50), Hope, Maine, 1-13-08 Randall Bruns (MBA ’77), Beaverton, Ore., 5-24-08
Dorothy Wilcox (MA ’77), Longmont, Colo., 8-14-08 wonder what your alma
1940s mater has been doing
Dorothee (Comnillo) Peterson (BA ’46, MA ’72), Aurora, Colo., 1980s since you left?
5-22-08 Mary Murray (MT ’85), Greeley, Colo., 7-10-08
William Hockett (MBA ’49), Mount Dora, Fla., 2-1-08 Rick Hall (JD ’87), Omaha, Neb., 6-15-08
Come to a DU on the Road event and
Wayne Roush (BA ’49, MA ’51), Little River, S.C., 2-5-08
J. Daniel Smith (BS ’49), Fairfax, Va., 6-26-08 1990s find out. University representatives
Jonathan Kindred (BA ’93, MS ’97, MSF ’97, JD ’97), Leawood, Kan., will travel to cities this winter and
1950s 5-19-08 spring to provide an update on campus
William Pryich (BS ’50), Rock Springs, Wyo., 6-20-08
W. Lynn Smith (MA ’52, PhD ’54), Denver, 6-11-08 2000s developments and the vision and goals
Natley Breningstall (BSBA ’53), Denver, 5-19-08 Narendar Barry (JD ’04), Albuquerque, N.M., 7-19-08 behind them. All DU alumni are invited
Stan Miles (BS ’53), Centennial, Colo., 6-23-08 to enjoy an evening of food and drinks
Randell Ericson (BSBA ’55), Roswell, N.M., 3-21-08 Students with fellow classmates, faculty and staff.
John Grow Jr. (BS ’55), Denver, 5-30-08 Devany Carroll, senior psychology major, Cape Elizabeth, Maine, 8-18-08
Look for us this winter and spring
1960s Faculty and Staff as we travel to the following cities:
Tom Richardson (BA ’61, MA ’63), Grand Junction, Colo., 6-5-08 Ann “Lee” Albi (BA ’48), admissions office (retired 1986), Denver, 6-25-08
Atlanta, GA
Jay Spangler (BSBA ’61), North Highlands, Calif., 5-22-08 Eric Arnold, history professor emeritus, Denver, 8-6-08
Las Vegas, NV
William Sparks (MA ’62), Lubbock, Texas, 6-15-08 George Boyd, associate vice provost of internationalization, Denver, 9-2-08
San Diego, CA
Esau Ali (BFA ’63), Ingleside, Wash., 5-13-08 Marie Younkerman (BA ’07), assistant to the director in the Daniels
Seattle, WA
Thayer Rudd Jr. (BSBA ’69, MBA ’70), Hinsdale, Ill., 7-16-08 College of Business statistics department, Lakewood, Colo., 7-8-08
For more information, please visit
Friends www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheroad
Johnston Livingston, husband of longtime DU Trustee Pat Livingston, or call 1.800.871.3822.
Denver, 9-29-08
54 University of Denver Magazine Winter 2008 WinterOTRad_FINAL.indd 1 University of Denver Magazine 2:16:30 PM 55
Connections
11/10/08
2005 Pioneer
Brent Brackle
(MBA ’05) recently
generations Inventor George Lof
won the annual FTI
Denver Office Golf
Tournament. Brent
Republican Ryan Greenawalt Proud. This word describes Julianne
On Parkway Drive in the Englewood, Colo., neighbor-
hood of Cherry Hills, a piece of history is for sale. Years ago,
works at FTI Consulting (Rose) Hennings’ (BSBA ’82) feelings about her however, the technology which makes this item distinct was
Ryan Greenawalt (BSBA ’02) is
Joseph Moran
as a senior consultant
senior vice president at Jefferies & family’s Pioneer legacy. of little interest or value to anyone other than its owner.
and lives with his wife, Lindsay, and dog,
returned.
>>www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheRoad
This Colorado license plate was procured for Chancellor Chester Alter in 1963 as a Christmas present to celebrate the University’s impending
100th anniversary in 1964. Gov. John Love (BA ’39, LLB ’41) authorized the Department of Motor Vehicles to change Alter’s vehicle registration
slip to “DU-1964” after the department had denied an earlier request. The 45-year-old license plate is part of the University Archives.