Continuum

Merit of Honor Awards Recognize Five U Alumni

This year’s Merit of Honor Award winners are, from left, Marian Watkins Ingham BS’63, Beth S. Jarman BS’64 MS’70 PhD’77, Kay Atkinson King BA’64, Mike Korologos BS’59, and Ted L. Wilson BS’64.

The University of Utah Emeritus Alumni Board selected five exemplary alumni to be honored with its 2011 Merit of Honor Awards. The annual awards recognize U alumni who graduated 40 or more years ago and whose careers have been marked by outstanding service to the University, their professions, and their communities.

This year’s winners are Marian Watkins Ingham BS’63, Beth S. Jarman BS’64 MS’70 PhD’77, Kay Atkinson King BA’64, Mike Korologos BS’59, and Ted L. Wilson BS’64. The Emeritus Alumni Board hosted a banquet to recognize them on Nov. 2 at Rice-Eccles Stadium & Tower.

Ingham was the owner/operator of American Icon Products Co. and a sales representative for Midwest of Cannon Falls, Arthur Court Designs, and Compendium
for more than 25 years. She was chair of the Health Sciences Educational Resource Development Council and now serves on its board and on the Fine Arts Advisory Board for the Huntsman Cancer Institute, the Pharmacy Ambassadors Advisory Council, and the Kingsbury Hall Board.

Jarman has long promoted quality education and equality and has been active in government service. As a member of the Utah House of Representatives, she served as a member of the Women’s Political Caucus and chair of the Committee to Study Discrimination in Utah’s Laws. She later became chair of the Utah Housing Finance Agency Board of Directors, and she was the first woman executive director of the Utah Department of Community Affairs. She was also director of Arizona’s Department of Commerce. She is currently president and CEO with The Farsight Group, a consulting company that works with executives and boards to create innovations and design organizational change strategies.

King has long been active in national government administration, working with members of Congress since 1984, most recently as director of InterParliamentary Affairs for the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010. She then became a principal of The Podesta Group, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying and public relations firm. She previously served as Democratic Senior Policy Advisor for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Korologos’s career includes 25 years as sports writer, columnist, editor, and newsroom executive for The Salt Lake Tribune; 30 years as a regional correspondent for Skiing magazine; 14 years with Evans Advertising; and 10 with Reuters News Service. He served as communications director for the Bid and Organizing committees of the 2002 Winter Olympics and is now a public-relations consultant for RIESTER. Korologos is immediate past chair of the J. Willard Marriott Library National Advisory Board and is a member of the library’s Ski Archives Advisory Board. He also serves as a member of the president’s cabinet for the U’s “Together We Reach” campaign.

Wilson served as mayor of Salt Lake City from 1976 to 1985. He was the director of the U’s Hinckley Institute of Politics for 18 years and was the founding director of the Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Advocacy. He founded Exoro Co. and currently serves as director of government affairs for Talisker Corp. A professor emeritus of political science, he continues to teach classes at the U and is a member of the College of Social and Behavioral Science Advisory Board.

U Alumni Contacts Serve as International Network

University of Utah alumni now have a network of fellow graduates in many countries around the world. Twenty-one alumni from 18 countries, plus alumni club officers in three more nations, have agreed to serve as international alumni contacts.

The 21 alumni either now live in or maintain ties to their home countries of Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Egypt, England, Germany, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

In addition, University of Utah graduates who are officers of alumni clubs in China, Europe, India, and Taiwan serve as U liaisons in their home countries.

These international contacts help by:

• Being a source for newly admitted U students from their country and being available for parents and/or students if they have questions about the University
• Working closely with the University of Utah and the U’s International Center to host distinguished visitors to their region
• Serving as contacts for other alumni visiting their country
• Reaching out to newly graduated U students returning to their country
• Assisting with fairs and other events by representing the U in their country

For biographies of these international alumni contacts, please visit the international alumni Web site at http://ic.utah.edu/alumni/contacts.htm and click on the U icons on the map.

If you want to become an international alumni contact for your country or to reach any of our international alumni, please e-mail icalumni@ic.utah.edu.

Alumni Fall Football Social Draws Crowd of 200

Photos by Nathan Sweet

Most of the new members of the University of Utah Alumni Association’s Board of Directors attended the annual Fall Football Social in September at the Alumni House. They are, from left, Julie Barrett BA’70, Lewis Dickman BS’75, Lindsey Ferrari BA’87, Vicki Mortensen BS’72, and Craig Stagg BSN’83.

University of Utah Head Football Coach Kyle Whittingham speaks about Utah’s debut season in the Pac-12.

With the University of Utah Marching Band playing, about 200 U alumni, students, and staff members sat down for a casual dinner Sept. 6 at the annual Fall Football Social on the Alumni House patio, waiting for the opportunity to hear U Head Football Coach Kyle Whittingham speak about Utah’s debut season in the Pac-12.

The attendees included many of the new members of the U Alumni Association’s Board of Directors: Julie Barrett BA’70, Lewis Dickman BS’75, Lindsey Ferrari BA’87, Vicki Mortensen BS’72, and Craig Stagg BSN’83. (New directors Jeff Cardon BS’80 and Tom Cloward BA’87 were unable to be there.)

Whittingham, accompanied by quarterback Jordan Wynn and linebacker Chaz Walker, spoke briefly about Utah’s strategies heading into their first Pac-12 game, against the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. (The Utes went on to lose that one, 23-14, and then trounced BYU the following week, 54-10.)

The coach also noted that the U’s entry into the Pac-12 this year has already started to boost recruiting for the University’s football team. “We felt that spike in recruiting right away,” he said. “Recruiting has gone up, and it’s got to go up, because everyone in the Pac-12 is a little bit bigger, a little bit faster, a little bit stronger than what we’ve been facing in the last years, and so we have to subsequently recruit at a high level to keep pace with that.”

Homecoming Events Net $50,000 for Scholarships

Photos by Christopher Reeves

Runners compete in the Homecoming Young Alumni 5K.

Students watch fireworks during Homecoming.

The University of Utah Alumni Association’s fundraising events during Homecoming Week generated nearly $50,000 for U scholarships for deserving students.

Homecoming Week began Saturday, Sept. 24, when scores of volunteers turned out to participate in the Legacy of Lowell Community Service Day. The following Tuesday, campus groups decorated their areas to reflect this year’s Homecoming theme, “Pac to the Future.” The U’s emeritus alumni—those who graduated 40 or more years ago—gathered for their Homecoming reunion Tuesday evening, with a dinner and exhibit tour of “LeConte Stewart: Depression Era Art” at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

Fraternity and sorority members competed in song and dance at Songfest on Thursday, and that was followed by a pep rally at the Union Building. Friday began with the U Alumni Association hosting the Homecoming Scholarship Scramble, a golf tournament at Bonneville Golf Course. The golf tournament netted about $20,000 for U scholarships.

Friday night, students gathered for the annual Homecoming dance, held at The Depot at The Gateway shopping center in Salt Lake City.

The Young Alumni 5K and Kids 1K Fun Run on Saturday morning, Oct. 1, raised about $30,000 for U scholarships. The crowds headed in the direction of Rice-Eccles Stadium in the afternoon for the Alumni Association’s pre-game tailgate party on Guardsman Way and then watched the Utes play the Washington Huskies in the U’s first home game in the Pac-12.

Alumni Board President Keven Rowe competes in the golf tournament.

Emeritus alumni eat dinner at their reunion at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

Swoop leads the pack in the Kids 1K Fun Run.

U of U Alumni Form Clubs in China, India, and Taiwan

Raymond Quan, left, the president of the U of U’s China Club for alumni, met this past April with Utah Gov. Gary Herbert at a reception in Beijing when the governor visited China with a trade delegation.

By Cornelia Divricean

University of Utah graduates in China, India, and Taiwan have formed alumni clubs this year. The aim of the clubs is to help graduates maintain ties to the U and to other alumni from their home countries.

Before the three new clubs were created, the U had only one other international alumni group, the Utah Europe Association, which was started in 1998.

The international alumni hope to use the new clubs to reach out to U students from their home countries, as well as U of U graduates who are returning. The alumni work closely with the U’s International Center to host distinguished visitors to their region and assist in representing the U at events in their home countries. The alumni clubs also plan to hold reunions and events of their own.

China Club

The China Club was established this past February. Raymond Quan LLM’01, the president of the China Club, holds a master of laws degree from the University of Utah. An international lawyer, he has been admitted to the bar in both China and New York, practicing law with leading Chinese and international law firms. Currently, he is a senior counsel of a large Chinese law firm and serves as an executive director of a consulting company in Beijing.

“The establishment of the China Club of U of U alumni is by all means the most exciting news at the beginning of 2011 for all Chinese alumni of the U,” Quan said in his welcome letter to the club members. “With its establishment, we have a ‘home’ in China.”

Carol Qiu MS’07, the secretary of the China Club, graduated from the U with a master’s degree in management of parks, recreation, and tourism. She now works as a strategic sales manager for American Express Business Travel in Shanghai, China.

Qiu and Quan both say they are excited about the opportunity to meet other U of U alumni in China. This past April, Quan met with a group of U alumni and fans, as well as Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, when the governor visited Beijing with a trade delegation from the state.

India Club

The India Club was established in May 2011, drawing together U of U alumni from India who live there and in the United States. Anurag Ghatole MS’09, who graduated from the U with a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering, is the president of the India Club. Ghatole lives in Hyderabad, India, and works as lead structural engineer for FLSmidth.

The alumni club’s formation was spurred by Varun Gowda MBA’09. In 2008, Gowda started working with the U’s International Center on international alumni development, and he helped establish the University’s International Alumni Project.

The India Club now has four board members: Gowda, who lives in Salt Lake City; Urvi Vyas PhD’11, a graduate in bioengineering who now lives in Palo Alto, Calif.; Swapnil Sinha MBA’07, now living in Bangalore, India; and Anupam Tyagi PhD’00, a graduate in economics who lives in New Delhi, India.

Gowda works at the U’s Energy & Geosciences Institute as a project leader specializing in geothermal energy. Vyas is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University, working with Dr. Kim Butts Pauly on developing techniques for using magnetic-resonance imaging to guide procedures such as surgeries.

Sinha works for Hewlett-Packard in Bangalore as a vice president of marketing analytics. Tyagi runs his own company, HAIM R&D, which specializes in health and environment economics and survey research. The company is based in Ghaziabad, near New Delhi.

Taiwan Club

The Taiwan Club for University of Utah alumni was established this past May. Jow-Lay Huang PhD’84, who is from Tainan, Taiwan, is the club’s president. He graduated from the U with a doctorate in materials science and engineering. He is now a professor of materials science and engineering at National Cheng Kung University, in Tainan, specializing in ceramics and thin film technology.

The alumni club’s secretary is Wen-Bin Liau PhD’89, who graduated from the U in chemical engineering. He now works as a professor of materials science at National Taiwan University in Taipei.

Huang and Liau kept alive the U spirit by getting together with a group of Utes every year in Taiwan, and with the formation of the new alumni club, they expect to continue those meetings and plan more events.

—Cornelia Divricean BS’09 is the U’s international alumni coordinator.

University’s Alumni Association Boards Welcome New Officers and Directors

Keven M. Rowe

Keven M. Rowe BS’83 JD’86, president of the University of Utah Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, says that during the academic year ahead, he wants to keep the alumni involved and up to date as the University navigates new territory with the selection of a new U of U president, as well as the institution’s entry into the Pac-12.

Rowe took the helm of the Alumni Association’s board on May 11, at the Association’s Annual Board Meeting. Heidi Makowski BS’83 became vice president, and three of the board’s four affiliated groups also welcomed new presidents.

As president of the Alumni Association’s board and one of the newest members of the University’s Board of Trustees, Rowe is serving on a 20-member committee that will assist the Utah State Board of Regents in conducting a national search for the University’s next president. Michael K. Young, who had led the U of U since 2004, left in May to become president of the University of Washington.

Rowe, a managing partner of the law firm Jones Waldo, has served three years as a member of the Alumni Association’s board. He has been chair of Kingsbury Hall’s advisory board and a member of the University’s Health Sciences Advisory Board.

Makowski, the new vice president of the Alumni Association’s board, also has been a member of that board for the past three years. She is director of development for the U’s College of Fine Arts.

Heidi Makowski

At the Alumni Association’s Annual Board Meeting, chair of the Board Development Committee Rex Thornton BS’72 welcomed seven new members of the Board of Directors: Julie Barrett BA’70, Jeff Cardon BS’80, Tom Cloward BA’87 MD’91, Lewis Dickman BS’75, Lindsey Ferrari BA’87, Vicki Mortensen BS’72, and Craig Stagg BSN’83.

Barrett works as the headmaster’s assistant at Rowland Hall. Cardon is president of Wasatch Advisors. Cloward works as a physician for Intermountain Healthcare. Dickman is a clinical analyst at Intermountain Healthcare. Ferrari is a partner in the public-relations firm Wilkinson Ferrari and Co. Mortensen works as a paralegal at Matheson, Mortensen, Olsen & Jeppson. And Stagg works as a quality management consultant for Intermountain Healthcare.

Three of the Alumni Association board’s affiliates also have new leaders. The Emeritus Alumni Board has chosen Carolyn Kump BS’53, who has had a long career in K-12 education, as its new president. Josh Bradley BA’98 MD’02, a physician, will serve as president of the Beehive Honor Society Board. And Sam Haslam, a senior at the U whose major is exercise physiology, will lead the Student Alumni Board.

Three Join University of Utah Alumni Association Staff

The University of Utah Alumni Association welcomed three new staff members this past spring.

Jessica Peterson BA’00 BFA’00 MPA’05 joined the staff in May. As director of marketing and development, she is overseeing alumni membership, marketing, and fundraising.

Peterson has been a nonprofit fundraising professional for seven years. She has worked for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Utah, Girl Scouts of Utah, and most recently, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, where she oversaw the largest annual membership increase in UMFA history. She holds a master’s degree in public administration, and bachelor’s degrees in communications and ballet from the University of Utah.

Julianne Basinger BA’87 MA’91 joined the UUAA staff in May as director of alumni publications and managing editor of Continuum.

Basinger is an editor, reporter, and media-relations specialist with 20 years of experience. Most recently, she was a news and business editor at the Deseret News for four and a half years. Before moving to Utah, she spent eight years as a national reporter and special-projects editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington, D.C. She has also worked for the Associated Press and Reuters.

Basinger decided to become a journalist when she was teaching at the University of Caen in Normandy, France. She taught English there after finishing a master’s degree in literature and creative writing at the University of Utah.

As the new marketing manager for advertising sales and event sponsorship at the Alumni Association, Bill Lines BS’83 has come full circle since graduating from the U of U with a degree in journalism and communications.

His career path took him to KUED-Channel 7 as a documentary line producer, and then four years at KSTU-TV20 as a production manager and talk-show host. He went on to work for companies including Video West, KSL television’s film and video production arm; American Stores Corp.; and TeleScene, KUTV-Channel 2’s film/video production arm.

Lines moved on to become the director of sales and marketing for graphic design/branding legend Randall Smith in Salt Lake City and then worked for Site Utah and Newsletters Ink.

U of U Alumni in Europe Meet in Portugal for Reunion

By Cornelia Divricean

U of U alumni from Europe enjoyed the old architecture of Lisbon during a reunion in June that also featured updates from University of Utah officials.

University of Utah alumni from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Romania—including me, the U’s international alumni coordinator—met for a reunion in Lisbon on June 12 and 13. The alumni were happy for a chance to spend time together and to get an update about the U from Barb Snyder, the University’s vice president for student affairs; Kirk Jowers BA’92, director of the U’s Hinckley Institute of Politics; and me.

The reunion was organized by the Utah Europe Association, the University’s first international alumni group. The European alumni have held a reunion to celebrate their U of U roots every year since 1998, when their first gathering was in Heidelberg, Germany.

Gohar Stepanyan MBA’04 is the Utah Europe Association’s president. She now lives in Lisbon, Portugal, where she is an assistant professor of international finance at the Catholic University of Portugal. She coordinated and planned the 2011 reunion in Lisbon for the U of U alumni.

Kirk Jowers, director of the U’s Hinckley Institute of Politics (seated at right in a black T-shirt), eats lunch with University of Utah alumni from Europe at an outdoor cafe in Lisbon.

The group of 24 people met on June 12 at the main entrance of Lisbon Oceanário, an oceanarium that was the centerpiece of the 1998 World’s Fair. We had lunch in Commerce Square (Praça do Comercio) in the old part of the city and took a boat ride to enjoy Lisbon from the Tagus River.

The official dinner was held at Sofitel Liberdade in Lisbon. Snyder started the night with an update about the latest U of U developments. I told them about the International Center’s efforts and international alumni development. And Jowers took us around the world talking about the Hinckley Institute’s interns.

Bjoern Tharun BS’02, a U of U alumnus from Germany, holds his son Vincent during lunch.

On June 13, the alumni group met at Praça de D. Pedro IV TrainStation, also known as Rossio Square, ready to visit Sintra. We enjoyed our day by walking around the city, including a visit to Quinta da Regaleira, located near the historic center of Sintra and classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

We finished the reunion with an informal get-together in Praça da Figueira (Figueira Square), eating Portuguese food, enjoying the atmosphere of old Lisbon, and talking about possible locations for next year’s reunion.

—Cornelia Divricean BS’09 is the U’s international alumni coordinator.

Awards and Accolades

Par Excellence Award 2011: Luz Robles

Luz Robles

Young alumni—defined as those who left the University of Utah no more than 15 years ago—are in the throes of carving out their careers. But there are inevitably a talented few who speed up the process by establishing themselves early on as movers and shakers.

One such individual is Luz Robles BS’00 MPA’05, who is this year’s Par Excellence Award recipient.

Robles was elected to the Utah Legislature in 2008 as a State Senator, representing District 1 (Salt Lake Valley’s west side). But even before that, she began establishing a résumé with an impressive array of achievements and appointments, especially notable given the relatively brief time she has spent in the state.

Originally from Mexico, Robles arrived in Salt Lake City in 1996 to attend the University of Utah, receiving a bachelor’s degree in business marketing and a master’s in public administration. Passionate about victim’s rights, and committed to promoting equity and justice for all people, Robles has served as diversity coordinator for the Utah Domestic Violence Council, and as a health policy analyst for Utah Issues, lobbying the Legislature to support health care for low-income families. She currently sits on the U’s College of Social and Behavioral Science Advisory Board, and on many other boards and committees in the community. In 2005, former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. appointed her director of the State Office of Ethnic Affairs.

Robles is currently vice president and Hispanic/Latino market manager at Zions Bank and was previously director for Zions Business Resource Center. A recipient of the Pete Suazo Award for her dedication and commitment to the Hispanic/Latino community, Robles sees the late senator as a role model, representing District 1 constituents just as Suazo once did.

Robles lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Jorge, and their daughter, Aileen.

Philip and Miriam Perlman Award for Excellence in Student Counseling 2011: Nevon Bruschke

Nevon Bruschke

Advising and guiding students to ensure that they receive the best academic experience possible at the University of Utah is one of the most important jobs on campus. Without direction by a professional who understands the complexities of higher education, students can wander aimlessly—or even fall through the cracks.

In recognition of the importance of providing students with a secure safety net during their college experience, the Alumni Association each year presents a staff or faculty member with the Perlman Award for Excellence in Student Counseling.

Nevon Bruschke BS’72, a student advisor in the Department of Art and Art History, is this year’s Perlman Award recipient. She serves as the principal contact for more than 600 students, including pre-majors, majors, minors, and certificate students enrolled in the department’s art, art history, and arts technology degree programs.

Bruschke is pragmatic yet creative in her approach to counseling. She has simplified the degree requirements in tables and checklists that include a sample four-year schedule for each of the department’s eight areas of emphasis. She designs her own information leaflets, and is known for her dedication to her job. Says Elizabeth A. Peterson, associate professor and former department chair, “Patience and genuine caring for each individual guide her every interaction.”

Bruschke has also instituted some innovations that help faculty do their jobs better. She developed the department’s first systematic high school student recruitment program, improved the transfer student art portfolio review process, and implemented unique retention strategies. “[Her] commitment to the department, the college, and the University is unparalleled,” says Peterson.

Luz Robles and Nevon Bruschke were honored at the Alumni Association and Young Alumni-sponsored Spring Awards Banquet held in April.

Founders Day Scholarship Recipient, 2011-12: Mohamed Ahmed Dirshe

Mohamed Dirshe (left), recipient of the 2011 Founders Day scholarship, with his father at the Alumni Association’s Founders Day Celebration and Banquet, held in March.

The Founders Day Scholarship, a full tuition award, is presented each year to a University of Utah student who has overcome difficult circumstances or hardships.

It is rare to find a young man who has confronted more adversity during his lifetime, and yet is still so dedicated to pursuing a higher education, than Mohamed Ahmed Dirshe.

Born in Somalia, Mohamed is the eldest son in a family of nine children. During the Somalian civil war of 1991, he and his family were attacked by bandits in their small hometown near the city of Mogadishu. His 2-year-old brother was killed, his father injured, and Mohamed, age 8, was blinded. The family fled, and for eight months, walked toward Kenya, where they sought sanctuary in the Dadaab refugee camp just across the border. There, Mohamed lived for 14 years, learning Braille and English. He now speaks Somali, English, and Kiswahili.

In spite of his blindness, Mohamed was often the best-performing student in his class—to the surprise of his classmates and teacher. But when he reached the eighth grade, Mohamed found that the Kenyan refugee school didn’t have the resources that would allow him to continue his education. As a result, all he was able to do to fill the time was to listen to the BBC and soccer games on the radio, which prompted his interest in international affairs and turned him into an avid soccer fan.

In August 2006, Mohamed and his family left Kenya for the United States, through a U.S. government program and Catholic Relief Services. Settling in Utah, a place he had never heard of, Mohamed completed a six-month training program at the Utah Division of Services for the Visually Impaired in 2007, and received his General Education Development Certificate (GED), with high marks, in 2008. He then enrolled at Salt Lake Community College, where he received his associate degree (with honors) in August 2010 and made the Dean’s List, which requires maintaining a GPA of 3.5 and above for five semesters.

Now, Mohamed is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Utah. He is determined, self-motivated, and studious—with help from computer software that allows his computer, including the keyboard, to “speak.” Mohamed’s ultimate goal, he says, is to obtain a degree in law and serve as a leader in the community.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Tim Chambless MS’77 PhD’87 notes: “Mohamed was an outstanding student in my Political Parties class during Fall Semester 2010. He came to class fully prepared. He was ready to think critically, to problem solve. He would listen actively, unable to take notes, then would ask me highly substantive and sophisticated political and governmental questions. He was hungry to learn.”

Chambless notes that Mohamed’s presentations to the class were remarkable in that, unlike other students, he spoke from memory—“without the use of class notes, which his peers could utilize. When he concluded, his classmates and [I] gave him long rounds of applause.”

At present, Mohamed participates in the Utah Council of Blind Youth and the Blind and Visually Impaired Students Association of Utah (BSAU), which he established in the fall of 2009. His goal is to bring together all blind and visually impaired students at the U to share their experiences and contribute as functioning members of society.  Outside of his studies, most of his time is spent helping his younger siblings in their schooling.

Mohamed hopes to become a U.S. citizen in August 2011. In the future, he intends to serve the community of the visually impaired by lobbying for them, helping them get better access to education, find employment, and become self-sufficient and full-fledged members of society.

Young Alumni on the Move: “Service, Scholarship, Spirit”

Young Alumni officers, 2010-11: Tim Conde, vice president; Addie Maudsley, president, and Julie Davidson, vice president.

Out of some 230,000 (more or less) University of Utah alumni, the “young alumni”—those who left the University no more than 15 years ago—are by far the largest component (about 60 percent). Addie Maudsley JD’00, the current Young Alumni Board (YAB) president, says, “The Young Alumni Board is committed to carrying out our motto—service, scholarship, and spirit. We continue to look for ways to get more involved on campus and in the local community.”

Service to others has always been an important focus for the board. During the holiday season, members of the YAB and their families gather at the Alumni House to put together gift packages for residents at the Arlington Hills Care Center. In past years, members have also volunteered to serve meals to residents at The Road Home (a Salt Lake City homeless shelter), provide stuffed animals to children in counseling at the Children’s Justice Center, mail health-care packages to villages in Africa, and prepare dinner for refugees in the Salt Lake City area.

Over the last few years, the YAB has added a number of new programs, including a Speaker and Networking Series offered periodically throughout the academic year. The series has so far featured such personalities as football coach Kyle Whittingham and Tech Ventures’ Jack Brittain.

Three of the FUSS founders stand next to the FUSS barbecue pit (L-R): Brandon Riley, Jeff Herring, and Jeremy Barlow.

And, in the wake of the success of The MUSS, five core members of the YAB—Jeremy Barlow BS’99, Brandon Riley BA’98, Jeff Herring BA’98, Michael Haney BS’00, and Chris Evans BS’96—spawned The FUSS, the “Fanatical (or Former—take your pick) Utah Support Section,” designed to keep the spirit going among youngish Utah fans who still want to be part of a wild and crazy group. As with The MUSS, FUSS members enjoy tailgating before football games, maintaining friendships, and adding their voices to the growing chorus of Utah fans who fill the stadium to capacity every fall. The current president of The FUSS, Coleman Richmond BA’07, says, “The FUSS is basically The MUSS for the rest of us! There’s a great spirit and camaraderie among FUSS members.”

A license plate demonstrates FUSS spirit.

Most recently, the YAB instituted the Career Pathways Series in partnership with the University’s Career Services Office, which provides advice to alumni and current students. The first event was launched in March and featured a panel of professionals who are currently employed in the nonprofit sector—from The Road Home to the YWCA and the National Ability Center.

“Runnin’ in Red” participants in the Young Alumni 5K.

“The Young Alumni Board values partnerships with various entities on campus, and one of the messages we hear from young alumni and students is the need for career mentoring,” says Nanette Richard BS’90, director of Alumni Relations and YAB supervisor, about the event. “So we formed a partnership to create the Career Pathways Series. It was clear from the response to our first event that this is something the students and young alumni appreciated.”

One of the most significant initiatives that the YAB undertakes each year—in terms of contributing to the University and its students—is raising scholarship funds through a 5K Run/Walk on Homecoming Day. Over the past decade, the event has expanded such that it now attracts more than 750 runners. There are prizes for categories including “Most Outrageous Ute Fan,” and “Runnin’ in Red,” and inevitably, there are a few participants who show up festooned in outrageous and ultra-red outfits. The organizers recently added a 1K Kids Fun Run, which has proved enormously popular—perhaps more with proud parents than with the children themselves, who wonder why they have to run around the Union parking lot and what all the fuss is about. In the end, it’s all about raising scholarship funds, which over the last 10 years have amounted to more than $273,000. “Sponsors value the fact that the money we raise goes back to students in the form of scholarships” says Tim Conde BA’00 JD’04, current co-vice president of the YAB. “There is greater need for scholarships as tuition continues to increase.”

U of U mascot Swoop helps line up young runners to start the 1K Kids Fun Run, which helps raise scholarship funds.

The YAB is working on a new initiative to garner additional scholarship dollars for students in need: The Red Roots campaign, which will target first-time young alumni donors through social media. “There are a huge of number of graduates who have been out of school from zero to 15 years,” says Julie Davidson BFA’02, Red Roots campaign chair and current YAB co-vice president. “Like other members of our board, they’re raising families, are in the middle of building a career, and don’t have a lot of discretionary income. However, they feel that it’s important to give back in smaller amounts—for a really good cause,” she adds.

Learn more about the YAB and the programs it supports at www.alumni.utah.edu/ya/.

Rivalry Week 2010: A Clean Sweep for Utah

Students Jamie Bowen, Sarah Black, and Jordan Hill at Gateway raising money for the Food Drive.

The University of Utah swept the annual Utah-BYU Rivalry Week Food Drive last November, with record-breaking results for both food and funds. The competition was particularly driven this year for two simple reasons: Thousands of Utahns needed assistance, particularly as the holidays approached, and, since the U is moving into the Pac-12, the competition would be the last held in November, capping the football season. Both schools wanted to finish with a bang—and they succeeded.

The final results of the competition: Utah garnered a whopping 352,225 pounds of food and $93,000, to BYU’s 182,824 pounds of food and $51,870.

“We were absolutely overwhelmed with both the response and the generosity of Utah fans everywhere who supported the Rivalry Week Food Drive,” says U of U Alumni Association Community Service Committee chair Greg Anderson BS’76.

Jon Van Tassell, Cameron King, and Suzanne Schmidt King making their pitch for the Food Drive.

How did it happen? Students, alumni, and other volunteers rallied like never before. Food and monetary donations were collected at local grocery stores by members of the Student Alumni and MUSS boards. Many Alumni helped raise money and collected food at their businesses. Beat BYU T-shirts were hawked at the U’s Campus Store and outside Rice-Eccles Stadium. And fans donated more than $7,000 outside the gates of the stadium before the rivalry game on November 27.

“The competition with the Cougars makes it fun, but the joy comes in seeing the shelves at the Utah Food Bank fill up with more than 352,000 pounds of food, and knowing that the food bank can now purchase hundreds of thousands of pounds more, thanks to the $93,000 contributed by loyal Utes, much of it a dollar at a time,” says Anderson. “We especially recognize the exceptional work of the U of U students whose enthusiasm was the driving force behind this year’s Rivalry Week campaign. What a team!”

“A few years ago, BYU would just pound us in food collection, while Utah would win the money competition,” says John Fackler BS’89 BS’94 MPrA’95, Alumni Association director of alumni relations and overseer of the Student Alumni Board. “We decided that wouldn’t continue to be the case, and with the support of committed alumni and students, Utah has now won the food donation competition the last three years.”

The growth in food collection comes from coordinating the efforts of various student organizations. MUSS Board Coordinator Brynn Whitchurch BA’05 says, “The students’ enthusiasm is contagious. That was definitely evident in this year’s results. It’s amazing to see how dedicated the students and the University of Utah community have been in helping feed Utah’s hungry.”

The ultimate winners of this annual friendly competition, as always, are those in need in the local community.

Alumni Association Boards: New Faces

Beehive Honor Society	Student Alumni Board
David O’Leary BA’79 (left) is this academic year’s Beehive board president, and Joshua D. Bradley BA’98 MD’02 is president-elect. New board members (not pictured) include Ralph D. Chipman BA’75 MBA’94 MPrA’94, Stanley Langford Lloyd BS’10, John R. Macfarlane, Jr. BA’86 MD’90, and Gary K. Mangum BS’83.	Clockwise, from top left: Kasi Goodwin is this year’s president; Sam Haslam, Becky Cannon, and Suzanne King are all vice presidents. The Student Alumni Board helps plan and organize various campus programs and events including the Utah vs. BYU Food Drive, PlazaFest, many segments of Homecoming, and a year-end party held for graduating seniors.

 Utes Around the World

How does the University of Utah keep in touch with its numerous international alumni, teachers, and scholars who have studied, conducted research, and taught at the U but are now spread around the world?

Thanks to technological innovation, that task is much easier than it once was; almost instantaneous transcontinental communications are widely available, even in the most remote parts of the planet.

Bill Barnhart

But what about collecting, assembling, and tailoring the data (to interface with the U’s established data storage systems) in order to maintain contact with such a widespread and diverse population? That daunting task was undertaken by the International Center (IC), under the supervision of the center’s longtime director Bill Barnhart MS’71.

The IC crew overseeing the project—which has unfolded over the past two years and entailed assembling and uploading data for about 3,000 international alumni, researchers-scholars, and exchange students—included Barnhart, Associate Director Chalimar Swain, Assistant Director Christoph Dressler, and International Alumni Coordinator Cornelia Divricean.

A pivotal point of the project involved revamping the IC’s Web site to expand Web page categories and encourage interaction. The revamped site, coordinated by Louise Shingleton, now includes separate sections for International Contacts and Clubs—providing a world map that spotlights U of U representatives in various regions of the world—as well as the online community ULink (in collaboration with the Alumni Association), a new internationally oriented magazine (Unbounded), published by the Undergraduate Studies office and accessible online in a flip-page format, and a wide variety of student-focused pages intended to ease foreign students’ entry into a different culture and educational system.

Cornelia Divricean

Every year, the Utah-European Association hosts an alumni reunion in a European city that attracts dozens of alumni and guests representing various countries. The goal is to provide a social environment where European alumni get to know one another, exchange ideas, provide feedback to U of U administrators, and stay in touch with each other—keeping alumni spirits and enthusiasm high. The 2010 reunion was held May 22-23 in Mainz, Germany, with special U of U guest Kim Wirthlin BA’86 MPA’02, associate vice president for marketing and communications at Health Sciences. The 2011 event will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 12 and 13. The Utah-European Association hopes for an increase in alumni participation and receives active assistance in promoting the event from the International Center.

All of these expanded efforts are intended to extend the University’s reach into the international community and to keep those once associated with the U tuned in and interested in the school’s future.

Says Barnhart: “There’s a wealth of intellectual talent out there with connections to the University of Utah, and we feel that it’s essential to tap into those resources.”

Adds Divricean: “International researchers/scholars and exchange students may not have a degree from the U, but they sure make great Utes!”

Each year, about 450 international students graduate with a degree from the U, and the U hosts around 500 international researchers, scholars, and exchange students.

As for the future, projects include opening international clubs in China, Taiwan, and India, where there are large numbers of U of U alumni. The IC will also work to give a boost to the Utah-Europe Association by helping to increase the number of contacts and establishing U of U representatives in more European countries.

For more information about these and other initiatives, check out the IC’s revamped Web site.

Founders Day 2011: Recognizing Excellence

In recognition of the founding of the University of Utah on February 28, 1850, the Alumni Association each year presents its Distinguished Alumnus/a Award to four alumni who have contributed to society through their professional achievements, commitment to community service, and support of the University’s mission. The Association also presents the Honorary Alumnus/a Award to individuals who have sustained the University of Utah in various ways, including financially. These outstanding individuals will be recognized at the Founders Day Banquet on March 3, 2011. For more information, visit The Alumni Association.

Distinguished Alumni

Afesa Adams MS’73 PhD’75 is a senior research associate at the Florida Institute of Education at the University of North Florida, where she is also professor emeritus of psychology. Adams taught at the University of Florida before being recruited back to the U’s Family and Consumer Studies Department (1980-83). As associate VP for Academic Affairs (1984-89), she helped launch projects including the Days of Remembrance in commemoration of the Holocaust and the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day activities, among others. She was also administrator over the U’s Ethnic Studies Program, Women’s Studies, and the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs. Adams has received such honors for her commitment to education and civil rights as the Salt Lake NAACP Branch’s Albert B. Fritz Civil Rights Worker of the Year Award (1988).

Robert “Bob” Bennett BS’57 has represented Utah in the U.S. Senate from 1992 to the present (leaving office in January 2011). He has served as a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee and the Joint Economic Committee, and as the ranking Republican on the Senate Rules Committee. During his tenure, Bennett helped obtain funding for ventures including the Moran Eye Center expansion, the University Telemedicine Outreach Program, the TRAX spur to the U, and the U’s new National Center for Veterans’ Studies. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Utah, Utah Valley University (formerly UVSU), and Snow College, among others. As a student at the U, Bennett was freshman class president, a political columnist for The Daily Utah Chronicle from 1952-53, and president of the student body in 1956-57.

Robert C. Gay BA’76 is managing director, co-founder, and CEO of Huntsman Gay Global Capital, which uses all investment earnings for poverty relief and humanitarian aid worldwide. After completing a doctorate at Harvard, Gay taught economics there for two years as a research fellow. He went into private equity in 1986, and from 1989 to 2004, served as managing director of Bain Capital, leading the firm’s expansion into Europe. He also cofounded Unitus, now one of the largest micro-credit organizations in the world. At the U, Gay is a member of the David Eccles School of Business National Advisory Board and the UTEC Board of Governors. He received the College of Social and Behavioral Science’s Distinguished Alumni Award in the spring of 2010.

Fred P. Lampropoulos ex’70, founder, chair, and CEO of Merit Medical Systems, Inc., has been in the medical device industry for almost 30 years. After serving as the chair and CEO of Utah Medical, Lampropoulos founded Merit Medical in 1987. He has invented and holds almost 200 patents on devices used in the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment of cardiovascular disease. The company now has manufacturing and distribution capabilities in Angleton, Tex.; Richmond, Va.; Galway, Ireland; and Maastricht and Venlo, The Netherlands. Lampropoulos serves on the U’s Science Advisory Board and the National Advisory Board. He has received awards including the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology and honorary doctoral degrees from Westminster College and Salt Lake Community College, and has been inducted into the Utah Business Hall of Fame.

Honorary Alumni

Eugene “Gene” England and William “Bill” England are part of a local family business—C.R. England—that has thrived ever since its humble founding in 1920. Gene and Bill’s father, Chester R. England, established the business to haul milk from dairies in northern Utah. The boys were raised in the business and, after service in WWII, helped grow it into one of the largest trucking companies in the nation. Gene served as president of C. R. England from 1961 and into the early 2000s and is now president emeritus. Until recently, Bill was the longtime chair of the company’s board, as well as an active member of the Utah Trucking and American Trucking associations. The England brothers continued to operate C.R. England well into the 1980s, when they gradually began to transfer control of the business to their sons and grandsons. C.R. England has been a major supporter of the University. In 2007, Eugene and William England were inducted into the David Eccles School of Business’ Hall of Fame.

Emeritus Alumni Board (EAB): Leadership and New Members, 2010-11

Carolyn Beal Kump, president-elect

John Bennion, president

John Bennion BS’61 MA’62 (and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University) is a former clinical professor of urban education and educational leadership at the U and previously served as superintendent of several school districts, including Salt Lake City and Provo.

Carolyn Beal Kump BS’53 is an educator who taught school in San Diego and Palo Alto, Calif., and later served as a member of the Salt Lake City Board of Education for 12 years.

Gilbert A. Fuller and Janice White Clemmer, new members

L-R: Richard Nordlund, Madlyn Gillespie Tanner, and Harriet R. McDonald, new members

Gilbert A. Fuller BS’66 MBA’67 is a retired corporate finance executive and currently serves on the Board of Directors of USANA Health Sciences, Inc.

Janice White Clemmer PhD’79 PhD’80 (and a J.D. from BYU) is a retired tenured faculty member at BYU-Provo. She is the first Native American (Wasco-Shawnee-Delaware) female to hold three doctorates.

Richard H. Nordlund BS’64 MBA’66 is an office leasing and sales specialist in the Salt Lake Valley.

Madlyn Gillespie Tanner BA’61 taught English and journalism in Salt Lake secondary schools and in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and is currently a freelance editor.

Harriet R. McDonald BS’62 PhD’83 was a speech-language pathologist in the Murray and Salt Lake school districts until retiring in 2005.

EAB’s New Scholarships

EAB Scholarship recipients with some of their mentors.

A few lucky students from Bryant Middle School in Salt Lake City are the recipients of a unique scholarship, established in 2010 through a generous donation by former EAB member John Piercey BS’52 JD’58. As a result, nine $5,000 scholarships have been awarded to Bryant Intermediate School 8th-graders who participated in the EAB tutoring program in 7th and 8th grade and were identified by their tutors and teachers as showing promise as potential college students. The general expectation is that the scholarship recipients will eventually attend the U of U.

The first group of prospective scholarship recipients, along with some of their teachers and mentors, visited the U of U campus last spring.

Merit of Honor Award 2010

Each year, the Alumni Association’s Emeritus Alumni Board (EAB) presents five emeritus alumni (those who left the U at least 40 years ago) with its prestigious Merit of Honor Award in recognition of their outstanding professional achievements and service to the community. The following five outstanding individuals were honored at the Merit of Honor Banquet on November 4, 2010.

Bruce Bell BA’62 is the quintessential “Utah Man,” having supported the University in various ways, especially athletics, volunteering in various capacities and offering extensive pro bono marketing services for more than 30 years. (He is also credited, along with Tom Barberi, in beginning the U’s tailgating tradition.) Bell has spent his adult life in PR, beginning at KALL Radio, and eventually establishing his own advertising and marketing firm, Bruce Bell & Associates. He has served as a member and former president of the Salt Lake Acting Company board, and on both the Utah Arts Festival Board and the Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival committee since each program’s inception. He also developed “Fit Kids,” an award-winning health and fitness program for Utah’s elementary school children. He received the Silver Gavel Award for Public Information Campaign in 1978.

Harold G. Christensen AB’49 (and J.D. from the University of Michigan) served as deputy attorney general of the United States during both the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. Before that he was chair of the board of Snow, Christensen & Martineau, a Salt Lake City-based law firm, which he rejoined as Of Counsel. He has been a visiting professor of law at the University of Utah; the University of California at San Francisco; and Bond University, Queensland, Australia, and has served as chief of the litigation division of the Office of Utah Attorney General. He is a member and served as president of the Salt Lake County Bar Association and the Utah State Bar, which recognized him as Lawyer of the Year in 1984.

Suzanne Forsberg BMus’62 (with an M.A. from Harvard and a Ph.D. from NYU in historical musicology) is a professor at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, N.Y. She has a broad range of expertise in music of the eighteenth-century. In addition to co-authoring a volume in the Garland Series The Symphony 1720-1840, she has contributed articles to such publications as The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. As the recipient of a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, she conducted research in Europe and has served on the board of the international Society for Eighteenth-Century Music. Since 2003 she has participated as a Speaker in the Humanities program, sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities. She is the founder and director of Concerts at Half-Past Twelve, a series serving St. Francis College and Brooklyn.

Cecelia H. Foxley MA’65 PhD’68 has held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Minnesota, the University of Iowa, and Utah State University, and at the end of her career was a Regents Professor in the U’s Department of Educational Psychology. She was the first woman to serve as associate commissioner for academic affairs, then deputy commissioner, and ultimately commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education and CEO to the State Board of Regents. She has co-authored six books and several journal articles on education, and has received many awards and accolades including an honorary doctorate in education from Utah State University (2007), the U of U College of Engineering’s 2010 Outstanding Service Award, and the U of U College of Education’s 2010 Distinguished Alumni Award (the college’s first).

James L. Parkin BS’63 MD’66 completed his residencies in both general surgery and otolaryngology at the University of Washington. In 1972 he returned to Utah to practice medicine. For 25 years he held positions in the U of U School of Medicine as a faculty member, researcher, administrator, professor of surgery, and chair of the Division of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery (1974-1992) and chair of the Department of Surgery. He also served as associate vice president for Health Science (1996-1997). Parkin has been a visiting professor at universities and medical institutions around the world and has an extensive list of professional publications to his credit. He has received the Presidential Citation from the American Otological Society in recognition of his work in the development of cochlear  implants.

L.A. Alums Hosted at WET Design’s Idea Playground

A demonstration of WET’s water-fire technology.

President Michael Young presents a U of U jacket to WET Design CEO Mark Fuller, host of the evening’s event.

Mark Fuller HBS’76, WET® (Water Entertainment Technologies) founder and CEO, hosted fellow University of Utah alums for a reception and tour of his award-winning water entertainment design company in Sun Valley, Calif., this past October. With its performing fountains, magical fire and ice effects, and jets that shoot water more than 500 feet in the air, WET Design continues to be at the forefront of water-feature design and technology. Fuller’s company has created more than 100 fountains in countries around the globe including the 2002 Winter Olympic Cauldron, the Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas, and, most recently, the $90 million fountain in Dubai.

More than 130 alumni and friends turned out for the event, beginning with a reception and remarks from both U of U President Michael K. Young and Fuller. President Young was happy to point out the $450 million in research funding that the U has received, which, along with many other achievements, he noted, places the University rightfully beside other Pac-12 institutions. In turn, Fuller recalled the exceptional experiences he’d had as a student at the U, where he encountered “acres of opportunities and a passion for learning,” for which he credits his professional success.

In appreciation of his hosting the event, President Young presented Fuller with a U of U jacket. Guests were then given a tour of the facility, which included a display of water and fire being hurled into the air to create fantastic patterns, for which the company is renowned, and an inside view of the various departments responsible for the engineering technology that facilitates the creation of such innovative—and beautiful—waterworks.