Reunion Weekend 2009 - Lawrence University

Lawrence Today magazine, Summer 2009

Reunion Weekend 2009 was a smashing success with alumni from 10th, 20th, 25th, 40th, 45th, 50th, and Golden classes returning to their alma mater for a wide variety of events.

Alumni College featured a number of distinguished alumni “faculty” this year:

• David Mulford ’59: India and America Come of Age

• Betsy Benson ’69: Energy Future — Prospects for a Greener World • Linc Keiser ’59: Losing the Hearts and Minds of the Afghan People

• Darlene Verbrick Walsh ’64: A Medium of Priceless Value

• Andy Kass ’69: The Benefits of Aging (Wine, that is)

• Liz Cole ’63: Elder Voices: Literature to Understand Aging

Wind Ensemble alumni provided a Friday night concert in Memorial Chapel under the direction of current conductor Andrew Mast and former conductor Bob Levy.

Tours of the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center were held throughout the weekend giving alumni a sneak peek at Lawrence’s impressive newest addition due to open in the fall.

Back-to-back sessions focused on racism in the 1960s: Professor Tim Spurgin led a Freshman Studies discussion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech and John Coltrane’s “Alabama.” Davis Fisher ’64 facilitated a discussion on 1960’s racism that featured Sidney Mallory ’65 and Joe Patterson ’69, two of the first African-American students to attend Lawrence that decade.

In addition to the annual alumni awards (see page 27), former Director of Alumni Relations Gil Swift ’59 received a special Presidential Award recognizing his introduction of June Reunion Weekends, regional alumni clubs, and the Senior Class program.

The 25th Reunion program featured Laura Van Nostrand Caviani ’84 (jazz piano) while the 45th enjoyed dramatic performances “Let Me Count the Ways” by Liz (Megan) Cole ’63 and Ted Katzoff ’65. The 20th Reunion had a 1980s fashion show, and the 10th gathered Saturday afternoon in the Quad. The Class of 1959 “Saturday Night Singers,” led by John Liebenstein ’59, premiered several musical parodies and reprised “O’er the Fox“ — a fitting finale for their golden Lawrence weekend.

EIGHT HONORED WITH ALUMNI AWARDS

DAVID MULFORD ’59 Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award
David Mulford was appointed ambassador to India in 2004 by President George W. Bush and served until February of this year. His previous public service includes an appointment as undersecretary and assistant secretary of the U.S. treasury for international affairs, serving as the senior international economic policy official at the department of the treasury. Mulford received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree in 1984 from Lawrence and in 2000 was inducted into the college’s athletic Hall of Fame. He has been recognized with the Legion d’Honneur from the President of France (1990), the Alexander Hamilton Award, the highest award bestowed by the Secretary of the Treasury for extraordinary service (1992), the Order of May for Merit from the President of Argentina (1993), and the Officer’s Cross of the Medal of Merit from the President of Poland (1995).

MICHAEL LEPAWSKY ’59 Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award
Michael Lepawsky is the former medical director of the hyperbaric unit at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia. While at Vancouver General Hospital, he helped develop a state-of-the-art hyperbaric chamber for patients needing hyperbaric oxygen therapy, setting the benchmark for hyperbaric medicine in North America. For more than 30 years, Lepawsky worked with the diving community to improve safety, creating a guide that established standards and protocols for those training for underwater diving. His efforts were recognized in 2004 with the Third Ocean Pioneer Award from the Underwater Council of British Columbia. A respected scholar, he has published more than 150 articles in publications ranging from Diver magazine to the American Journal of Surgery.

ROBERT MAC WEST ’63 Lucia R. Briggs Distinguished Achievement Award
Mac West is the founder and president of Informal Learning Experiences, Inc. The Washington, D.C.-based company, started in 1992, promotes science learning throughtraveling exhibitions. It also offers consulting services to organizations and agencies involved in informal and recreational learning, ranging from the National Geographic Society and the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation to the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy. West also has spent more than three decades working for and consulting with museums around the country. He is the former director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and served as curator of geology at the Milwaukee Public Museum. During his career, he has written widely on paleontology museum science and has taught at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Adelphi University.

ELIZABETH COLE ’63 George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award
Elizabeth Cole has enjoyed a near 40-year career as a professional actor. Using the stage name Megan Cole, she has performed everything from classical roles in repertory theatre to guest appearances on numerous television series. A hallmark of her career has been her passion for using her talents and training as an actor to give back to her audiences. One of her most noteworthy roles came as the lead character in the first production of the Pulitzer-prize winning play “Wit” in Southern California, for which she earned a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. The role inspired her to develop a course for medical students called The Craft of Empathy, which she has taught for nearly 10 years at the University of Texas-Houston. She also has taken the course on the road, giving presentations on the personal aspects of cancer care to medical and health professionals at conferences and conventions around the country.

KATHLEEN CALLAGHAN ’99 Marshall B. Hulbert ’26 Young Alumni Service Award Kathleen Callaghan was elected class agent during her senior year, a role she has willingly filled ever since. Following graduation she spent nine years as a member of the Viking Gift Committee and also served five years on the Lawrence University Alumni Association Board of Directors, working with the Development and Program Committees. As a regional event coordinator, she has helped organize the annual Madison-area student send-off picnic each fall. She served on the steering committee for her 5th and 10th year class reunions.

BONNIE LAIRD ’64 Gertrude B. Jupp M-D’18 Outstanding Service Award
Bonnie Laird has advanced the college through a number of leadership roles on the LUAA Board of Directors. She has served on the LUAA Executive Committee, as chair of the Communications Committee, as the first chair of the More Light! Capital Campaign Liaison Group and as co-chair of More Light! Alumni Advisory Committees. She also has served as a leader of the Class of 1964’s 40th Reunion Gift Committee and as a member of the Steering Committee for her 45th reunion in 2009. For the past nine years, she has stayed connected with her classmates as class agent.

SUSAN VOSS PAPPAS ’69 Gertrude B. Jupp M-D’18 Outstanding Service Award
Susan Voss Pappas has spent the past 20 years serving as class secretary. She also served four years (2002–05) on the LUAA Board of Directors, serving on the Executive Committee and as chair of the Student Relations Committee. In that role, Pappas led efforts to foster increased diversity at Lawrence and introduce new ways to facilitate meaningful interactions between students and alumni. She has served as a member of the Cluster Reunion Steering Committees, the 25th Reunion Steering Committee and this year’s 40th Reunion Steering Committee chair. She is the third member of her family to receive the Jupp Award, joining her mother, Clarmarie White Voss M-D‘35, and her sister, Jane Voss Holroyd ’61, who received the award in 1982 and 2001, respectively. J.

GILBERT SWIFT III ’59 Presidential Award
Gil Swift served as Lawrence University’s director of alumni relations from 1974 through 1995. During that time Gil revolutionized the Lawrence alumni relations program, creating the first June Reunion Weekends, establishing regional alumni programs, re-energizing the Lawrence University Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, and launching the Senior Class program — initiatives that continue to flourish today. In the process, countless Lawrentians and Downerites came to know Gil as both a natural leader and a friend. On the occasion of his 50th Reunion, Lawrence recognized Gil’s service to alumni and his alma mater with a special presidential award.

CLASS OF 1999 | 10TH REUNION

Row 1: Brian Murphy, Erin Oliver, Dan Price, Annie Dude, Kathleen Callaghan, Courtney Gerber, Chad Freeburg, Leslie Marquardt-Vidas, Elissa Davis Hoffman Row 2: Jonathan Neville, Lara Weber McLellan, Chris Henderson, Trent Lunder, Brian VanDenzen, Scott Trigg, Aaron Marrs Row 3: Tim Hadley, David Pippen, Kendra Whittier, Eric Traband, Melinda Bayne Bowman, Christine Jones Benedict, Brad Searl, Sara Olson Row 4: Willie Aguilar, Jen Good, Nikki Nikruto, Laurie Schwelitz Steines, Sylvie Manaster, Quinn Mullikin, Josh Chudacoff, Gina Haugen, Jamie McMaster Swanlund

CLASS OF 1984 | 25TH REUNION

Row 1: Margo Flemma Crowley, Mary Eggen Sabin, Christine Pasko Falls, Susan Lichty-Schmid, LaVay Heintz, Andrea Pandazi, Patrick Grogan, Michele Mayer, Carol Krasin Pisani, Bill Thorman, Jeff Whitcomb Row 2: Tom Brucker, Brian Smigelski, Sharon Roeseler, Karen Marcus, Ron Miles, Keith Kaufmann, Ron Roberts, Jr., Mitch Katten, Dave Pisani, Donna Koudelik Uselmann, Carol Barnes, Murray McDonough Row 3: Marie Lipari Doyle, Katy Schwartz-Strei, Nancy Van Sloun, Clark Stalker, Donna Perille Stalker, Carrie Morris Bowman, Angela Colman Chatten, Cyndy Zimmerman Cowles, Rod Jamieson, Terri Smith Como, Joe Como, Todd Wexman, John Landis Row 4: Ann Thomas Skala, Greg Stevens, Liz Sheridan Rammer, Susie Turner, Karen Phipps Dosh, April Grant, Darcy Jocelyn Kramer, Ruth Washington Mayhew, Laura Van Nostrand Caviani, Allyson Butler, Polly Harker-Smith, Brad Aspgren, Bruce Leslie Row 5: John Marcquenski, John Streibich, Nancy Olson-Streibich, Katie Moore Lauderbaugh, Andy McCausland, Chuck Saunders, Mark Steidl, Warren Pierson, Dan Gustafson, Kurt Schwarzkopf, Raymond Johnson Row 6: Donald Land, Kathy van Beuningen-Newkirk, Alex Starrett, Will Burrington, Tom Wick

CLASS OF 1969 | 40TH REUNION

Row 1: Karen Foster Brassfield, Ellen Beaudreau Sushak, Betty Hintz Hemmeter, Nancy Gardner, Susan Voss Pappas, Joann Gillespie Weisell, Margaret Todd Maitland, Ginny Post Kass, Betsey Rusch Montle, George Seebach, Steven Crane Row 2: Susan Buesing Donnelly, Sara Johnson Hein, Mary Ellen Rysgaard Catron, Betsy Benson, Sue Snyder Gregor, Jane Fisher, Diane Forster Hoagland, Ann Finney Batiza, Richard Smith Row 3: Rick Massopust, Rick Vincent, Ann Branston, Nancy Davis Fritz, Margaret Wright, Barbara Low McBride, Caroline Downs, Pam Berns Row 4: Priscilla Peterson Weaver, Margie Devlin Juedes, Mary Jean Vaubel Montgomery, Alan Braun, Melody Kyser Baker, Kathleen Kelly, Mary Jo Howard Croake, Dean Pappas Row 5: Joseph Patterson, Rick Wylie, Bob Twelmeyer, Jim Stoa, Steve Graham, Andy Kass, Brian Berbach, Peter Neulist Row 6: John O’Boyle, Dennis Waters, Evalyn Wiley Frasch, Dave Frasch, Mark Pollock, Gerry Keith, Dan Hiatt

CLASS OF 1959 | 50TH REUNION

Row 1: Shirley Spangler Steiner, Michael Lepawsky, Ruth Johnson Peterson, Wally Molsberry, Paul Tuteur, Lisa Neuman Weiner, Ann Alexander McDonnell, John Harris, Rousty Harris, Ann Dempsey, Carol Ann Schleger Ostrom, Nancy Gernon Homes Row 2: Carol Fallon Tierney, Marilynn Lyon Powell, Judy Fabrick Burdick, Pat Miller DerHovsepian, Judy Pedersen Brandle, Carolyn Lohman Johnson, Lys Vaillancourt Reiskytl, Edward Doemland, Robert Heidorn, Henry Blanchard, Mimi Spiegel-Volkmann, Joan Nelson Meginniss, Paula Schildhauer Dickey Row 3: Barbara Adrian Karst, Judy Walsh Fetterly, Sally Cantwell Basting, Karl Schmidt , Tom Johnson, Brian Beck, David Mulford, Richard Bergman, Bob Swain, Richard Devine, Bill DeWitt, Phil Dorchester, Dave Berganini, Dick Malcomson Row 4: Linc Keiser, Greg Smith, Tom Christie, Fritz Ruf, Jack DerHovsepian, Duncan Burdick, Don Andler, Thea Binhammer Sager, Kay Achenbach Clancy, Jim Reiskytl, John Liebenstein, Bill Weber, Nathan Pusey

GOLDEN ALUMNI

Row 1: Mary White Stroebe ’40, Mary Hartzell Fritz ’49, Gladys Osborne Hall ’47, Midge Lott Abrams ’47, Betty Leisering Dodd ’54, Ann Lapham Kramer ’54, Sue Lebedeff Rasey ’48, Barbara (Bo) Newman Olson ’47, Bill Firehammer ’49 Row 2: Don Strutz ’49, Doris Klop Jackson ’49,Chuck Merry ’57, Kay McInrue Harbinson ’55, Lynn Semple Hagee ’58, Sue Hackett ’57, Mel Storm ’50 Row 3: Joe Biersteker ’49, Ken Harbinson ’54, Roger Kennedy ’54, Jim Parker ’57, Phil May ’57, Bettie Falvey Hill ’49, Marilyn Ericson Firehammer ’49

WIND ENSEMBLE REUNION

Standing Front: Bob Levy and Andrew Mast Row 1: Ruth Washington Mayhew ’84, Norma Christopherson Kretzschmar ’57, Carole Wolsey Pankow ’90, Harry Vedder ’61, Amanda Artz ’01, Celeste Levitz-Jones ’09, Katrina DeVore ’10, Owen Berendes ’94, Susan Lawrence McCardell ’80 Row 2: Joy Manweiler ’08, Don Niemi ’60, Miriam Rutherford Jenkins ’65, Karl Schmidt ’59, Jim Arps ’89, Emily Blair ’11, Nell Wiley Houser ’90, Stan Smith ’61, Celoris Hackbart Miller ’61, Nancy Bodenstein ’62 Row 3: Jerry Rusch ’57, Janiece Luedeke ’87, Susie Woelm Patch ’98, Brian Koser ’82, Paul Dietrich ’10, Tom Christie ’59, Larry Darling ’76, Gerry Mattern ’57, Dean Laabs ’88, Chad Premeau ’79 Row 4: Dustin Zimmerman ’09, John Miller ’64, Erlan Bliss ’63, Kate Nelson ’06, Tristan Barron ’12, Brian Pertl ’86, Andrew Schmidt ’98, Craig Gall ’90, Todd Pankow ’89, Scott Wilson ’91, Sue Spang ’07 Row 5: (standing) Tristan Renfrow ’12, Felicia Behm ’09, Edward Doemland ’59, Seth Harris ’02, Sally Swanson Stulken ’70