Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
The Magazine of St. Ambrose University | Spring 2018
SCENE
ALSO INSIDE:
SAU Gets A Great Report Card
Leap of Faith Led Alum Across Border
50 YEARSof Co-educationat St. Ambrose
Celebrating a Milestone Decision
SCENE The Magazine of St. Ambrose University
Spring 2018 | Volume XLV | Number 3
Managing Editor
Craig DeVrieze ’16 MOL
Staf Assistant
Darcy Duncalf ’12
Contributing Writers
Jane Kettering ’17
Dawn Neuses ’94
Rev. George McDaniel ’66 PhD
Dustin Renwick ’10
Robin Ruetenik ’15 MOL
Designer
Rebecca Harris-Klawon
www.sau.edu/scene
Photo credits: SAU Archives, cover, inside
front cover; John Mohr Photography, p. 2,
4–5, 6, 8–9, 10–11, 17–19.
Scene is published by the Communications
and Marketing ofce for the alumni,
students, parents, friends, faculty and staf
of St. Ambrose University. Its purpose
is to inform and inspire through stories
highlighting the many quality people
and programs that are the essence of
St. Ambrose’s distinguished heritage of
Catholic, values-based education.
Circulation is approximately 30,000.
St. Ambrose University—independent,
diocesan, and Catholic—enables its
students to develop intellectually,
spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically
and physically to enrich their own lives and
the lives of others.
St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St.,
Davenport, Iowa 52803.
24
8
10
18 2 Under the Oaks
8 Who’s SAU: Kris Eitrheim
10 Faculty Profle: Deanna Stoube
12 50 Years Later, Alumnae Making a Diference
16 The History of Women at St. Ambrose
18 A Big Thumbs Up for Computer Sciences
22 Alumni Profle: Franc Contreras
24 Early Alumnae Helped Break Old ‘Habits’
26 Gift of Giving: Frank Mallerdino
26 Class Notes
Paula (Laird) Raney ’72 uses a surveying instrument as one
of the frst women engineering students in 1969.
2 Under the Oaks
8 Who’s SAU: Kris Eitrheim
10 Faculty Profle: Deanna Stoube
12 50 Years Later, Alumnae Making a Diference
16 The History of Women at St. Ambrose
18 A Big Thumbs Up for Computer Sciences
22 Alumni Profle: Franc Contreras
24 Early Alumnae Helped Break Old ‘Habits’
26 Gift of Giving: Frank Mallerdino
26 Class Notes
A Message from the President A Celebration of Equality
Two weeks into my term as president of St. Ambrose, I told a gathering of Quad Cities businesswomen that we will know gender equality has truly been achieved when we no longer see the words “frst woman” in front of president.
Or doctor. Or dentist. Or scientist. Or engineer. Or mechanic, for that matter.
Still, I believe the 50th anniversary of the 1968 decision to make St. Ambrose College a fully co-educational institution is an occasion worthy of celebration and refection.
In the context of today, the choice to become a co-educational institution seems obvious and, perhaps, overdue. Hindsight, however, rarely considers the context of the era under review.
I believe St. Ambrose has always been attentive to the signs of its times; we must remember that for more than a century, Catholic colleges and universities across the U.S. predominantly were single-gender institutions. It was not until the late 1960s that a vast majority of Catholic institutions saw the beneft of co-educational classrooms and campuses.
I also would suggest the idea of single-gender colleges had its right time and purpose, particularly for women, because women coming out of women-only institutions tended to assume leadership positions in an out-sized manner. Having attended a college that began to admit male students only in the last year of my undergraduate studies, I might be an example of that.
Yet I also take tremendous pride in the fact St. Ambrose students learn today in a gender-diverse environment that empowers women and men of all faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds to aspire to anything they want to achieve, while also allowing them to learn from diverse perspectives.
I very much hope our students see me as St. Ambrose’s 13th president, rather than the frst woman to hold that ofce. I hope they learn equally well from our accomplished male faculty members as they do from our accomplished female professors. And I hope our students take pride and fnd encouragement in the success of the alumnae we highlight in this celebratory edition of Scene.
The fact is that any student with a St. Ambrose degree can aspire, like Rachel Bahl ’05, to rise in the engineering ranks of an industry giant such as Ford Motor Company. Likewise, of course, any student —woman or man— can dream of following the intrepid journalistic path of Franc Contreras ’87.
Dating back to Bishop John McMullen’s earliest vision of a Catholic school for men and boys, our long Ambrosian history is worthy of celebration. The fact that the past 50 gender-diverse years comprise a rich part of that history is cause for celebration, too.
Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD
1
under the OAKS
Online Textbooks Will Save Students Money
A new afordability initiative at SAU could save students as much as $1 million per year.
That’s real savings.
St. Ambrose has contracted with the University of Minnesota’s Open Textbook Network (OTN) to help reduce the money students spend on textbooks each year. Beginning in the fall, textbooks and instructional materials for a number of courses will be available online for free or at a minimal cost.
According to Mary Heinzman ’08 MBA, chair of a workgroup tasked with addressing the afordability of a St. Ambrose education, textbook costs have increased 88 percent in the past decade. She said students can spend between $900 and $1,200 on texts and materials in a single year.
The new initiative can signifcantly reduce those costs. “If we could get half of our classes to use free or minimal cost materials online, we could save students upwards of $1 million in a year,” Heinzman said.
A number of instructors have embraced the open textbook concept, and others are investigating. Most online courses next fall will enlist the OTN options or fnd other means of making text, video and other instructional materials available for free or at a lower cost online.
The Library has purchased a number of instructional materials that will be available at no charge via Blackboard, Heinzman said. The SAU Bookstore also will make text materials available online at reduced costs.
“There is no one perfect option for everybody,” Heinzman said. “We are trying to fnd a mix of options that will make education more afordable for our students.”
University Earns Great ‘Report Card’ Ten years of self-refection, strategic assessment and forward planning earned signifcant praise for St. Ambrose when a peer review of the university’s programs, processes and plans won the unequivocal approval of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) earlier this year.
Based on the work, documentation and strategic goals outlined by staf, faculty and students, the commission issued a fnal—and enthusiastic—report granting full accreditation for the next 10 years.
“Every single criterion and core component was met and this does not often happen,”
2
-
-
under the OAKS
said Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, president of the university and a member of the HLC peer review group. “I was thrilled. This is a report card for us and it documents for the public that we are doing what we say we do.”
The Higher Learning Commission is an independent corporation that was founded in 1895 as one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
HLC accredits degree-granting post secondary educational institutions in the North Central region, which includes the following 19 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
“This was outstanding work by the entire campus,” Sister Joan said of the three-year process for earning accreditation. “I’d like to especially thank Tracy Schuster Matlock, PhD, our dean of university academic programs and director of strategic planning, for her dedicated leadership on this important initiative. All Ambrosians can be proud of this milestone.”
St. Ambrose Joins esports Evolution
St. Ambrose will join a growing a number of colleges and universities in felding an esports team in 2018-2019.
The Fighting Bees will compete with other collegiate esports teams in the popular games “League of Legends” and “Overwatch” under the direction of coach Joshua Sides.
Ray Shovlain ’79, ’82 MBA, SAU’s director of athletics, said the move into the cyber sports realm is in step with the university’s recent additions of cutting-edge academic programs in science, technology, engineering and the health sciences.
The co-ed esports team will be the 29th SAU athletics ofering.
Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, said the university studied other collegiate esports programs and came
away convinced the popular activity will help St. Ambrose recruit additional bright and academically engaged student-athletes.
“This new esports program is an exciting opportunity to bring a new generation of students interested in intercollegiate competition to study and grow at St. Ambrose,” she said. “These virtual competitions will call upon teamwork, strategy and individual skills in an activity we know has been popular with college-aged students for many years.”
Also next fall, St. Ambrose will add a color guard to its athletics band program. The guard will join with what is expected to be a 60-musician-strong marching band performing full-length halftime shows at Fighting Bees football home games.
3
Building a Career
under the OAKS
Buildinga Career
Focused
Free course will help more students experience internships
As part of a renewed commitment to ensuring every St. Ambrose student learns through an internship or another experiential activity, SAU now ofers Experiential Learning 202, a free, one-credit elective
it is ofering students this free, one-credit elective,” Matteson said.
Students can earn the credit while working closely with the Career Center to make sure the internship is successful.
“We will make sure the student is creating learning
on
course for students who can’t otherwise aford to pay for summer academic internship credit.
The course is part of a pilot program that the SAU Career Center hopes to continue beyond this year. It is one of several new opportunities and programs being introduced by Director Kim Matteson and her staf.
“We know when a student has relevant work
objectives, refecting on the experience, and being evaluated by a supervisor/mentor in their feld.”
Internships, as well as full-time, part-time, and work-study jobs, are posted on BEE Careers, a website all students can access. As of late April, more than 600 jobs were posted on the site.
The Career Center makes sure students know about these opportunities. Last fall, staf began emailing
Career Center Director Kim Matteson talks with a student about available career options.
4
experience on their résumé, it helps them obtain full-time employment. The university
cares so much about this,
students a weekly list of open positions that match their major. Lists are also created and emailed to faculty, who often encourage their advisees to follow up or learn more.
Also this spring, the Career Center launched a new Health Sciences Career Boot Camp, featuring the same opportunities as the biannual Career
Building a Career
Boot Camp—mock interviews, résumé critiques, LinkedIn critiques and networking with local employers and alumni. The focus is designed for students pursuing a health-related major or graduate program. Health care experts from the two local health care systems, Genesis and UnityPoint, conducted mock interviews and participated in all boot camp activities.
The Career Center also launched two new programs, Bee Internship Ready and Bee Career Ready. These programs match students with volunteers who will coach, guide and encourage them through a job or internship search. The advisors are alumni and university friends who already volunteer to answer career-related questions from students through BEE Connections. There are more than 200 people ready to help. These programs were built in collaboration with the ofces of Alumni Engagement and Advancement.
Matteson said BEE Internship Ready is making an impact. The number of contacts between students and alumni or university supporters has increased 125 percent this academic year. “The alumni connection can be really benefcial to our students,” she said.
Due to recent moves and retirements by longtime Career Center staf, Matteson and administrative assistant Theresa Panich are joined by new staf members Stephanie Gronowski ’14 MOL, coordinator of internships and career advisor; Emily Rollins, career advisor and coordinator of events and marketing; and Kiley Schmidt, student employment coordinator.
We know when a student has relevant work experience on their résumé it helps them obtain full-time employment. The university cares so much about this, it is offering students this free, one-credit elective. — Kim Matteson, Career Center Director
5
IN APPRECIATION of a Couple of True Ambrosians:
BY JANE KETTERING ‘17
For Art Serianz, PhD, professor of chemistry, and Rachel Serianz, PhD, professor of education, retirement will simply be another step in a series of life metamorphoses.
They plan to travel, spend time with family, plant a big garden, join a gym, become more involved in parish ministry and volunteer in many forms. Rachel is going to learn another language, but still is trying to decide which one.
And for Art?
“Maybe just kicking back a little bit—there is nothing wrong with relaxing,” he said.
In terms of their lives as Ambrosians—43 years for Art and 30 for Rachel—both will stay involved. Rachel will continue to be an adviser of the Kappa Delta Pi education honor society, a role she has flled for 22 years. She also will assist
RACHEL AND ART SERIANZ
with engineering camps and, possibly, observing student teachers. Art will serve as an adjunct and continue his work on the Higher Learning Commission Committee, where he has served for more than 30 years.
The Source of Their Passion Art has sustained his passion as an educator by being genuinely engaged and curious about his students.
“Students are always diferent, and it’s always so amazing and wonderful to learn what they’re about, to teach them as new developments occur in science,” he said. “And the material, the topic that I teach, continues to fascinate me.”
“Similar to Art, I have a deep passion for the content that I teach,” added Rachel.
6
of a Couple of True Ambrosians:
under the OAKS Both identify another source of their teaching pleasure— watching students evolve.
“My pleasure has come from being part of developing excellent teachers,” said Rachel. “From their entry into the program to my methods courses to observing some of them as student teachers—the entire metamorphosis.”
“As students take courses and broaden their experiences, they become more aware of themselves and what they really might want to do in their lives,” said Art.
“We watch them develop. The butterfy emerges at the end.”
Leaving Their Mark For Art, one signifcant change in the Chemistry Department has been the emphasis on health sciences education.
“I was on some of the committees to help develop those programs and they have certainly strengthened enrollment in the basic sciences.”
Rachel’s legacy includes bringing about “a more pervasive acceptance and honoring of science” in the School of Education.
Rachel and Art played major roles in creating and sustaining SAU’s well-respected outreach summer camps in engineering and chemistry.
Both have been involved in grant-writing, with Art responsible for approximately $8 million in grants received by SAU over the years.
Both also identify an increased atmosphere of service as part of their legacy.
“We’ve made that a priority as far back as we’ve been here,” said Rachel.
For Students, A Lasting Impression “Art was tough, fair, and supportive—a major positive infuence in my life,” said Rob Philibert ’83, MD, PhD, a University of Iowa professor of psychiatry and CEO and principal founder of Behavioral Diagnostics. “I would not be here without him.”
“Rachel is the best mentor I ever could have asked for,” said Felicia (Toher) Pfuger ’95, artistic director and founder of LATTE Theater in LaGrange, Illinois. “She has been a constant source of vibrancy, goodness and strength in my life … (even) walking me down the wedding aisle.”
Goodbye Is Not Goodbye After turning in grades for the last time, the couple will begin training for their 25th Bix 7-mile road race in July, followed by a 13-day land and sea tour of Alaska. And then it’s back to doing what makes them who they are: Ambrosians committed to service by helping others evolve into their best selves.
Staying Connected: The Art & Rachel Serianz Scholarship
The Art & Rachel Serianz Scholarship has been established in honor of their combined 73 years of service to St. Ambrose and to support students from their respective areas of teaching.
to a rising sophomore who has shown
A rising junior majoring in elementary
scholarship, preferably one with an endorsement in science or STEM. “This is our way to stay connected to the students and the teaching experience,” said Art.
The scholarship will be funded through an initial gift from Art and Rachel, with an additional solicitation of former students and colleagues to make a gift in their honor.
The Chemistry scholarship will be awarded
passion and dedication in the classroom.
education will be eligible for the Education
Should funds allow, a portion of the earnings will be dedicated to funding The Art and Rachel Serianz Lecture on Faith and Science. “We have always been defned by our faith and by our felds of study,” Rachel said.
7
Who’s SAU? Kris Eitrheim By Robin Ruetenik ‘15 MOL
For people trying to fnd their place in the world, giving them that power of directing
something really cool. or designing a set is
— Kris Eitrheim
8
’
’
’ —
—’
’
-’
’
-
“
’’
—
—
“
under the OAKS
At any time of day in Kris Eitrheim s ofce, you’ll most likely fnd at least one student; a diferent student’s bookbag; an assortment of tools and cofee cups; and a very large portrait of General Field Marshal Albrecht Von Roon.
The 19th century Prussian general’s likeness was used as a photo of Hedda Gabler s father in a 2017 SAU Theatre production. Along with many other memories of past productions that somehow ended up in Eitrheim s ofce usually as part of an inside joke between himself and SAU theatre students General Von Roon is part of the life of one of St. Ambrose s biggest Theatre icons.
They Call Him Redbeard Ok, so the beard isn t red anymore, but the greying chin is proof of how long Eitrheim has been at St. Ambrose. Since 1991, he has taught scores of SAU theatre students in scene and lighting design, as well as stagecraft. Toward that end, he occupies a large share of the Galvin basement where students learn machinery, carpentry, painting, and any other jack-of all-trades skill required for backstage work. There s also an impressively organized tool room where Eitrheim demonstrates 54 tools to stagecraft students in a 50-minute class period (roughly one tool per minute, if you re calculating).
About That Fancy Golden Wrench The SAU Tech Team has won the Golden C Wrench six times, the most recent being in January at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival for the Central Midwest Region. It’s awarded annually to the fastest and most profcient technical crew. The winners learn their skills from Eitrheim. And they love him for it.
We get to spend free time together,” he says of his close relationship with students. They practice the craft of theatre not for a major, necessarily, but because they love it. “This is something we re all passionate about, and when we re working on a show, we get to share with each other what we love.”
What About Your Work Makes It Fun? The backstage of Allaert Auditorium is basically a giant playground for people with all kinds of interests, which is what makes it a great place for college students. The collaboration between students and faculty on a production whether for the intimate, 50-seat Studio Theatre or the 1,200-seat auditorium is what makes work synonymous with fun.
They are active participants in an art form,” Eitrheim says of his students. “For people trying to fnd their place in the world, giving them that power of directing or designing a set is something really cool.”
SAU Theatre Department in 10 years? If everything stayed the same, then nothing would change. And for all the talented, successful, and award-winning students the department has churned out over the years, one would think not a lot should change.
“In certain ways, it will still be the same in 10 years,” Eitrheim says. “It will still be a family-like place. It will still be a place of opportunity for artists and technicians with skills to learn. People will come and go, and facilities will change, but I hope the favor and spirit of this department will stay the same.”
9
The IMPACT of Teaching Teachers Deanna Stoube Strives to Build a Community of Readers
By Dawn Neuses ‘94
Nearly two decades ago, Deanna Stoube, PhD, told her frst-grade students and their parents she had accepted a job at St. Ambrose University and wouldn’t be returning to their grade school after Christmas break.
As a teacher focused on reading skills for Davenport Community Schools, Stoube had become close with her students and their families. So close in fact, she remembered the father of one student—almost angered by the news— abruptly left her classroom.
“A week later, he returned and apologized,” Stoube said. “He said to me, ‘I thought about it, and yes, my son is going to miss out on you. But you will be teaching students how to be a teacher like you, so more kids are going to get that experience. And that’s important.’”
Repeating the story almost brings Stoube to tears. “I continue to think about my job like that,” she said. “I’m not just teaching my 20 frst-graders; hopefully, I’m teaching a bunch more.”
Now in her 17th year as a professor in the St. Ambrose School of Education, Stoube continues to teach education majors how to be the best teacher they can be, while tirelessly working to ensure Iowa teacher education programs continue to rank No. 1.
Not only do current and former students appreciate her knowledge, but so do many others. Stoube is president of the Iowa Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (IACTE) and works closely with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners and the Iowa Department of Education. She also lends counsel to the education adviser to Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.
In SAU classrooms, Stoube teaches literacy and content area literacy. Any student who takes her course on how to diagnose and treat reading issues also participates in the SAU Reading Clinic.
Area elementary students who need extra reading support sign up for the clinic and are paired with an SAU student. Twice a week for one semester, they tutor the child and so much more.
Stoube teaches education majors how to observe and assess the child’s skill level, plan lessons and set goals based on specifc needs.
Then, once a week, Stoube follows-up to review the tutoring progress, lesson plans, and goals. During these sessions, Stoube does exactly what she wants these future teachers to do: listens and ofers guidance and encouragement.
10
“I’m not just teaching my students how to teach reading or communication arts and writing skills; I model how to be a teacher and how to work with the whole child through my personal interaction with each of them,” she said.
There are yet more ways for SAU Education majors to further develop their diagnostic skills. For those who want to specialize in teaching reading, those majors participate in a second, more advanced reading clinic where they brainstorm with their fellow education students to analyze the best ways to help each child.
These reading clinics—also ofered in the summer—are highly valued by the local schools, parents and children, and are making an impact. Reading test scores almost always improve.
facultyPROFILE
But, Stoube believes the best measure of impact isn’t found in test scores; it’s in the child’s attitude.
“We have to work on changing their attitude and value of literacy,” she said.
Stoube wants all K−12 students to have high-quality teachers who will help them grow as a class and as individuals. So naturally, she’s known for being a little tough on her students.
“Usually, after they’ve graduated and started working in a classroom of their own, I begin getting phone calls and emails of ‘thanks for all you taught me. It was hard and a lot of work, but it has really helped me help my students.’”
11
50 Years Later, St. Ambrose AlumnaeAre Making a Difference
By Craig DeVrieze ‘16 MOL
It’s not you or me. It’s us. And we have that balance
at St. Ambrose.
I never thought one gender was superior. I felt it was
very balanced and we had
respect for one another. — Celeste (Raya) Canfeld ’15
More than 16,000 women have earned college degrees under the oaks since April 4, 1968, when the Board of Trustees voted to make St. Ambrose a co-educational institution.
Over the past 50 years, more than 1,000 alumnae have gone on to become teachers, 800-plus have become nurses and another 800 have entered the feld of accounting. Close to 700 women, meanwhile, have earned undergraduate business degrees, 400 graduated with degrees in biology and nearly 300 earned degrees in economics.
Since St. Ambrose added graduate programs in 1987, more than 1,500 women have earned their doctoral or master’s degrees in business administration and 500-plus gained Master of Social Work degrees. Other health-related graduate programs have awarded more than 1,200 degrees to women in or entering the felds of physical and occupational therapy, speech-language pathology and physician assistant practice.
The 1968 decision did not open the doors to the frst alumnae in St. Ambrose history. St. Ambrose degrees were conferred to more than 500 women by various means over the frst 86 years of the school’s existence. Yet, it wasn’t until the fall of 1968, when 166 women enrolled as commuter students, that St. Ambrose ofered a true co-educational experience.
The past half-century has brought signifcant change to the make-up of our student and alumni populations. Women comprise better than 55 percent of all St. Ambrose graduates since 1968, and more than 59 percent of students enrolled this year are female.
Included among our alumnae are numerous lawyers and judges; school principals and a college president; foundation chairs and nonproft leaders; CEOs and entrepreneurs; medical doctors and hospital presidents; biologists and
12
chemists; engineers and inventors; an Olympic medalist and several college athletics coaches.
Above all, these women are Ambrosians, informed by a university-wide commitment to diversity in all its forms, gender included.
“I am extremely proud of St. Ambrose’s mission to be a diverse and inclusive place where all are welcomed and made to feel a part of the university,” said Angela Lindsay ’94 MBA, an associate vice president of sales for Nationwide Insurance in Atlanta and one of 10 females —fve of whom are alumnae—currently serving on the university’s Board of Trustees.
Lindsay earned her undergraduate degree at Jackson State University, a historically black college that she said gave her a sense of empowerment and pride. She felt fully prepared for the working world after experiencing St. Ambrose MBA classes that included a diverse cross section of gender, ethnicity and experience.
“St. Ambrose believes in preparing students for a real world that may look diferent from what they are used to,” Lindsay said.
Where gender is concerned, men and women who learn together are prepared for a world which looks very much like the one in which they will work, said Julie (Hughes) Link ’07.
She came to St. Ambrose after attending an all-girls high school in Chicago, and while it wasn’t a culture shock, it was a new learning experience.
“You’re kind of in the real world,” she said of SAU classrooms. “Being in that environment helped pave my thought process. ‘Hey, we’re equal.’ Certainly, it gave me a wider perspective.”
Link earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at St. Ambrose and went on to add a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and an MBA elsewhere. She currently is a health adviser for Press Gainey Associates. Her sister Maureen Hughes ’01 also attended an all-girls high school. She went straight to law school after earning an SAU degree in teacher education and is an Assistant State’s Attorney in a Cook County (Illinois) ofce that has more female prosecutors than males.
Hughes said that the transition from an all-girls high school to co-educational college classes at SAU wasn’t difcult for her.
Top, left to right: Angela Lindsay ’94 MBA, Julie (Hughes) Link ’07, Maureen Hughes ’01 Middle, left to right: Lori Sundberg ’03 DBA, Celeste (Raya) Canfeld ’15 Bottom, left to right: Kim Clarke ’91, Miracle Leach ’14, ’16 MSW
Thanks to St. Ambrose, she said, the transition to law school at Western Michigan University was easier still.
“I’m not saying it was easy, but I felt like I was prepared for it,” she said. “Because I was successful at St. Ambrose and because of the support of professors, staf and fellow students, male and female, I felt like ‘Yes. I can do this.’”
For most alumnae, discussing the impact of gender-diverse classrooms seems superfuous. It is what they have always known. “I guess it’s hard for me to think about it any other way—it just seems like the educational setting would always be co-educational,” said Lori Sundberg ’03 DBA.
13
“It’s one of those things where you have two perspectives,
and I think bringing those two together
really helped create not only what St. Ambrose is today but essentially what we want our communities and our world
to be,” said Canfeld,
who is an
(DeSmet) Putnam ’01 often traveled with the men’s team and competed in doubleheaders before the same crowds.
“There was great cohesion and support between the men’s and women’s teams,” said Putnam, now an assistant women’s basketball coach at the University of Missouri, where her former SAU coach, Robin (Becker) Pingeton ’92, is head coach.
Putnam said she and Pingeton often marvel at the close bonds their SAU experiences created, something they say the Division I atmosphere can’t replicate.
“That tightknit St. Ambrose experience provides that closeness and allows you to improve your communication and relationship skills,” Putnam said.
Clarke is a three-time U.S. Olympian in women’s handball who sandwiched her SAU career between the 1988 and 1992 Summer Games. Now a manager of reporting and data analysis for RIA in Atlanta, Clarke also played softball at SAU and felt that female athletics were a priority here.
“St. Ambrose was a place to play and learn as an equal,” she said. “I didn’t feel like the women’s basketball team was
slighted at all.”
Chicago-area social worker Miracle Leach ’14, ’16 MSW learned about herself through the diversity
she experienced in the classroom and on the SAU campus.
Ambrose really gave me the opportunity to get to know myself and be around people
who were accepting of me while I was going through that process,” she said. “I grew up in public schools, but my schoolmates were African-American.
In August, Sundberg will become the frst female president in the history of Kirkwood Community College, a system with more than 14,000 students spread across 10 campuses in central Iowa. “What we know from research is that diversity really enhances the experience,” she said. “It works that way in organizations, and it works that way in classrooms.”
That was certainly the enhanced experience Celeste (Raya) Canfeld ’15 gained in pursuit of her Bachelor of Science in Teacher Education degree, as well as from practicing alongside men as a track and feld athlete.
English as a Second Language teacher in Rochelle, Illinois. “It’s not you or me. It’s us. And we have that balance at St. Ambrose. I never thought one gender was superior. I felt it was very balanced and we had respect for one another.”
In athletics, Canfeld’s track and feld experience was unique in that the women frequently practiced with the men and routinely competed at the same venues. “Our coaches were adamant that ‘It’s not the women’s team or the men’s team. We’re SAU track,”’ she said.
As women’s basketball players, Kim Clarke ’91 and Jenny
“
Jenny (DeSmet) Putnam ’01 is an assistant women’s basketball coach
at the University of Missouri.
Rachel Bahl ’o5 is a project manager in the vehicle design studio at Ford Motor Company.
I didn’t experience diferent cultures until I got to St. Ambrose. I learned how to view things from other perspectives, which is a necessary thing in any profession.”
Likewise, Rachel Bahl ’05 leaned on the shared perspectives small St. Ambrose classes provided as she followed in the engineering footsteps of her grandfather who owned 13 patents at Deere and Co.
Bahl said she never felt like a gender pioneer until physics professor Tom Yang, PhD, pointed out she was a true rarity as a left-handed female engineering student. “He was just trying to motivate me,” she said.
It worked. Today, Bahl is a project manager in the vehicle design studio and a rising leader in the engineering division of Ford Motor Co.
Margaret Gustafson ’99 MBA is among the many St. Ambrose alumnae who have risen to the top of their professions. She served as president and CEO at two Illinois hospitals before recently taking time of to look after family.
“I had no immediate plans for career advancement,” she said of her decision to enroll in the H.L. McLaughlin MBA program. “I wanted to prepare for an opportunity that might present itself. Given these hopes, it was important to fnd the right academic partner with an excellent reputation, professional faculty and a cutting-edge curriculum. SAU was a terrifc choice for me.”
Likewise, Sundberg said her St. Ambrose doctorate “has made all the diference in the world for my career.” When she moves on to the presidency at Kirkwood, Sundberg will pack a shard of glass given to her by a friend when she assumed her frst post as a college’s frst woman president, at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois, in 2006.
“It’s to remind me that I have broken that glass ceiling — twice now,” she said, before adding, “Here we are in 2018, and we would think that women in leadership would be routine, but, in fact, it’s not. Only a third of junior college presidents are women and it’s less than that at four-year institutions.
“These are difcult conversations to have,” she said of challenges yet to overcome, “but I think we have to have them.”
I didn’t experience different cultures until I got to
St. Ambrose. I learned how to view things from other
perspectives, which is a necessary thing
in any profession.
— Miracle Leach ’14, ’16 MSW
15
16
Although Bishop John McMullen founded St. Ambrose as a school for boys, women have been present on campus since the school began accepting boarding students in the mid-1880s. Members of the Sisters of Humility and some laywomen came as housekeepers and cooks.
As the curriculum expanded, Helena Bradford Churchill was hired in 1918 to teach public speaking and dramatic arts, a position she would hold until her death in 1939. She later was joined by another woman, Elizabeth Arnauld, who taught shorthand and typewriting.
By the mid-1920s, states were demanding elementary and secondary teachers have college degrees and be certifed— endangering the status of Catholic schools—where classes were taught largely by religious sisters who had not attended college. To serve that need, St. Ambrose established an extension division to teach these teachers at of-campus sites in 1925. The frst year, fve sisters enrolled and that number increased each year. In the 1928-29 academic year, 19 laywomen enrolled.
The frst two women to receive a degree from St. Ambrose fnished in 1931: Sister Mary Aquinas Freehill received a Bachelor of Science and Sister Margaret Mary Dwyer received a Bachelor of Arts.
In 1932, the college began to ofer summer classes for religious women. In that frst summer, at least 125 religious and laywomen enrolled. Over the next 40 years, hundreds of sisters from several Midwest religious communities enrolled in summer sessions.
In 1934, St. Ambrose established a Women’s Division, but all classes except science laboratory classes would be taught ofsite. The Women’s Division students took part in social activities and wrote for the student newspaper. However, not many women enrolled.
The hisTory of Women aT sT. ambrose − A Great and Lasting Beginning
By Rev. George McDaniel ’66, PhD
A few years later, discussions began with the Sisters of Humility to move a junior college in Ottumwa, Iowa, to Davenport and open a four-year all-women’s college. These discussions bore fruit when Marycrest College opened in 1939. In its frst years, St. Ambrose provided accreditation for Marycrest.
Also in the 1930s, nursing students from St. Anthony’s Hospital in Rock Island and Mercy Hospital in Davenport began to attend summer and night classes. St. Ambrose faculty members taught courses—including basic science—to nursing students from Mercy Hospital. In 1951, this arrangement was formalized when St. Ambrose created a nursing division where student nurses could earn a bachelor’s degree. The nurses lived at Mercy Hospital but they participated in campus activities and became part of student life.
In the years following World War II, the number of women on the faculty grew and some women took on administrative roles. In 1959, three women were added to the St. Ambrose Board of Trustees. Women continued to attend summer classes and receive degrees. It is estimated that by the mid-1960s more than 500 women had received degrees from St. Ambrose.
Msgr. Sebastian Menke became the 10th president of St. Ambrose in 1963 and began to recognize the need to make St. Ambrose a co-educational institution. In March 1968, the issue was put before the Board of Trustees. Some weeks later, the Board voted to make the change, but only for women who would commute to campus.
That fall, 166 women enrolled as commuter students. The next year, construction was completed on the new South Hall (Cosgrove) and women moved on campus.
Bishop McMullen’s school was now available to all who wanted a college education. Left: Instructor of public speaking and dramatic arts,
Helena Bradford Churchill.
Above: Nursing students from the 1950s were part of a cooperative nursing program between St. Ambrose and Mercy Hostpital.
17
A BIG THUMBS UP
FOR COMPUTER SCIENCES SAU Department One of Eight in U.S. Chosen for Facebook-sanctioned Cybersecurity Program
By Craig DeVrieze ‘16 MOL
Facebook Inc. has been forced to take an intense look at its information-sharing practices in recent months. That doesn’t mean the social media giant wasn’t already aware and pro-active, however, regarding the need for enhanced security in our digitally driven age.
To strengthen the worldwide frewall against cyber crime, Facebook has turned to higher education.
The Facebook Info Security Program debuted in 2016 and currently sanctions only eight college and university computer science programs across the U.S. to teach a hands-on cybersecurity training class developed for industry insiders by the cyber-savvy organization CodePath. The program was designed in part to fll a dire and growing need for educated cybersecurity professionals.
A special topics course on creating new kinds of code to defeat hackers was added in January to the SAU Computer Information Science (CIS) Department’s Computer and Network Security degree program.
In addition to St. Ambrose, foundational partners in Facebook’s Info Security Program include Mississippi State University, Virginia Tech University, the University of Virginia, the City College of New York, Hofstra University, Merritt College and California State University-San Bernardino.
Beyond invaluable professional training, the Facebook Info Security Program provides students at each school the opportunity to participate in all-expense paid trips to several of the biggest cyber conferences involving many of the world’s largest digital corporations.
More signifcantly, students who excel in the CodePath course can earn front-of-the-line access to internships with Facebook itself.
Talk about a big thumbs up for one of SAU’s most-poised-to-grow programs.
SAU was asked to join the program after Stephanie Siteman, Facebook’s diversity and academia outreach manager, represented the company at the CornCon IV Cybersecurity Conference on campus this past fall. Siteman was so impressed with the CIS department’s faculty and curriculum, she quickly ofered to include St. Ambrose as an Info Security Program partner.
“I was looking for a Midwest presence,” she said. “Now, we’re invested in St. Ambrose.”
In January, fve St. Ambrose students attended the Enigma 2018 Conference in Santa Clara, California. They were accompanied by Sayonnha Mandal, PhD, the assistant professor who is teaching the SAU special topics course. Along with Facebook, the primary sponsors of the two-day conference included digital industry giants Google, Netfix and Dropbox.
“It was awesome to see the wide array of research and eye-opening things in the industry,” said Vincent Beckman, a senior computer science major. “And it was a huge opportunity to rub elbows with people in the industry, as well as vendors and job recruiters. It was interesting to get their take on what the industry is looking for.”
The students also spent a morning visiting Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California. “The people from their security team actually sat down with the students to talk,” said Mandal. “That’s a big opportunity.”
Angelique Iradukunda, an SAU junior from the small African nation of Rwanda, is a perfect example of the diversity— both gender and ethnic—Siteman said the Info Security Program hopes to foster in the cybersecurity feld.
While standing in Facebook HQ, Iradukunda couldn’t help but wonder what her old Facebook friends back home might think to see her rubbing shoulders with the famed social network’s inventors and primary protectors.
“I would say that was a miracle,” said Iradukunda, who also joined Mandal for a Facebook-funded trip to Chicago for a March conference on women in cybersecurity. “The frst thing that came to my mind was ‘anything is possible.’”
The Facebook stamp of approval only serves to illustrate the increasing impact of the computer sciences at St. Ambrose.
“Facebook selected eight universities that it thinks have the faculty and facilities capable of serving this initiative— and that also bring an established commitment
19
to teaching cybersecurity,” said Kevin Lillis, PhD, a professor of computer science and the CIS department chair.
“This doesn’t just set us apart. It recognizes that we were already set apart.
“We have had a cybersecurity program here for the past 15 years. That’s light years ahead of other universities.”
St. Ambrose has ofered degrees in the computer sciences for 30 years. In addition to Computer and Network Security, SAU students can major in Computer Science, which focuses on programming and software creation, as well as Computer Network Administration, which prepares students to work as network and systems administrators.
At the graduate level, a Master of Science in Information Technology Management degree helps IT professionals hone their professional management skills.
Kevin Sinclair, a one-time flm school student from Boston, began his pursuit of a St. Ambrose degree with a focus on programming and development. Then the intrigue and fast-expanding need for digital security professionals caught his interest. The Facebook partnership sealed his decision to major in Computer and Network Security.
“Everybody should jump on it,” he said of the opportunity to learn in a Facebook-approved program. “They really want to shape students into desirable job candidates. This is a challenging course, but it’s expected to be.”
Mandal and St. Ambrose are increasing the challenge within the 12-week CodePath course by adding four weeks of academic classwork around it. That includes a fnal paper and an exam.
20
This doesn’t just set us apart. It recognizes that we were
already set apart.
— Kevin Lillis, PhD Professor and Chair
Computer and Information Sciences Department
“We’re asking our students to refect on what they have learned and put it into context of how it fts in the entirety of the computer security realm,” Lillis said. “How does it relate to our other courses? How does it relate to other concepts? CodePath is giving us the technical, hands-on training. We are taking it and putting it within the context of the bigger picture.”
A frst-year member of the department, Mandal brings cybersecurity expertise of her own. She has a doctorate in information technology and a master’s in cybersecurity from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
She also earned an additional master’s in telecommunications engineering from the University of Oklahoma. Her thesis centered on quantum cryptography, an advanced level of encryption that could prove to be cybersecurity’s last line of defense against computers built with processors capable of
deciphering any classical algorithm—and personal password— in a matter of seconds.
Mandal recently received a grant from Dr. Tom and Mary Ann Stofel to build a fve-year research project in the quantum cryptography feld, enlisting the assistance of SAU student researchers.
That’s just one of the ways the Computer and Information Sciences Department is poised to grow. Lillis points to an increasing number of internship partners who give students a taste of the strong employment opportunities the computer sciences ofer.
“That’s why this Facebook partnership can be so good for us—and not just because it’s Facebook,” he said. “Part of it is helping students recognize that there is something beyond academics here. The computer discipline is growing. We’re positioned to grow with it.”
21
STORIES OF DEATH, POVERTY AND
Uplifting ResilienceSOUTH OF THE BORDER
Foreign Correspondent Franc Contreras’ Own Story Took a Turn at SAU
By Craig DeVrieze ‘16 MOL Franc Contreras was mere hours from returning to St. Ambrose for the frst time since his May 1987 graduation when one of the many major news stories he has reported as a foreign correspondent in Mexico shook up those plans.
This time, quite literally.
When a 7.1 magnitude earthquake killed 370 people in central Mexico, including 228 in his adopted hometown of Mexico City, Contreras scuttled his SAU Homecoming plans late last September, picked up his camera and went about the important business of sharing the quake’s impact with the world as a freelance reporter for the global television network Al Jazeera English.
The deadly earthquake was another in a long list of heart-wrenching stories Contreras has reported since he moved to Mexico in 1996 to serve as the country’s primary correspondent for Latino USA Radio. He previously had worked in the U.S. as a producer for the Latino USA network and for National Public Radio’s award-winning program, All Things Considered. Over 21 years in Mexico, he also has collaborated extensively for BBC World Service radio and other news agencies.
22
alumniPROFILE
Working as a foreign correspondent in a country where drug cartels and corrupt ofcials frequently kill journalists they see as threats, Contreras said he has feared for his life on a few occasions. Just as harrowing, however, has been the work of bearing witness to gruesome deaths of scores of local journalists, drug-war combatants and, especially, innocents caught in the battle’s crossfre.
“I saw some things that I just don’t want to talk about— a lot of dead bodies, a lot of visits to the morgue, a lot of shootouts,” he said. “I also have seen a lot of very desperate poverty. And I wonder which of those things has weighed most heavily on my soul.”
The heartache, however, hasn’t caused him to reconsider a vocation that ofers rewards stretching far beyond a paycheck.
“I have seen every state in Mexico three or four times. I’ve heard dozens of indigenous languages I could never hope to understand,” he said. “I have also seen some amazing, brilliant moments where people in a country we think of as less than our own have shown me a thing or two about what life really means. It has been a pretty incredible experience, no doubt.”
Contreras grew up in a barrio in Tucson, Arizona, but never considered crossing the nearby Mexican border until a few years after coming north to St. Ambrose.
He left the University of Arizona after a year and was about to start a stint in the Navy when he met Rev. Tony Clark, a priest from the Diocese of Davenport, who was serving a mission with the Sanctuary Movement.
That movement brought refugees from war-torn countries such as Nicaragua and El Salvador across the border and gave them sanctuary in the Catholic Church. One night, Fr. Clark gave Contreras the keys to a van, a map to an obscure destination and instructions to park and await a knock on the vehicle’s window. Soon enough, Contreras found himself driving a group of El Salvadoran peasants escaping persecution in their homeland to a sanctuary church.
On that drive, he said he felt closer to who he ultimately wanted to be than he would as a sailor. “I told Tony, ‘I think I need a diferent path,’” Contreras recalled. “And he said, ‘I think I’ve got the thing for you.’”
And, so, Contreras found himself at St. Ambrose—both literally and fguratively.
Here, he said, “the brilliant Joe McCafrey opened my mind to the world of ideas,” while, in the KALA and SAUtv studios, he honed the working skills that still drive him today.
“I think St. Ambrose gave me the analytical tools to understand complex things,” he said. “My studies showed me how to be a good journalist, showed me how to follow what instructor Julie McDonald told us over and over. It does matter that you get the story right.”
Contreras believes his own amazing story has resulted from doors that opened at the exact right moment.
“Part of it was just the courage to do it, too,” he said. “Sometimes I took jobs where I was making $100 a month. When I moved to Mexico, I spoke no Spanish. I learned it in the streets. So it was kind of a great series of leaps of faith. And one of those was a leap of faith to go from Tucson to Davenport. To me, it was like going to a diferent culture. I learned so much and have so many good memories. And I still love corn.”
23
W alumniFEATURE
hen women began to attend St. Ambrose as full-time students in the fall of 1968, it marked a change in the university’s long-standing history as an all-male institution. Alumnae who enrolled those frst few years said they were welcomed, challenged, and supported; and they highly value their Ambrosian experience, friendships and education.
Kathy Williams ’72 attended a large co-ed high school and was very comfortable being one of the frst female students at St. Ambrose in 1968. As she sat in Rev. Herman Strub’s class, however, she realized some changes would require a bit more time to process.
“Fr. Strub had a habit of saying, ‘You are all good men.’ And to that I would respond, ‘Thank you, Sister,’” she said, with a laugh. “He wasn’t doing it intentionally, but out of habit.”
Williams said she always felt accepted by her male classmates. In fact, she bonded with many, fnding a community of supportive peers and a campus open to discussion and diferent opinions. “I never felt unwelcomed or challenged because I was a female. I felt challenged because I was an English major and because I was conservative in a very liberal time,” she said.
Paula (Laird) Raney ’72 also was one of the frst full-time female students. She was drawn to St. Ambrose by a partial scholarship and its strong engineering and physics programs. “It was interesting; I would be in class and suddenly realize I was the only woman,” she said.
Yet Raney never felt uncomfortable.
“The students in the engineering program were great. My classmates were very helpful,” she said, “and the faculty was tremendous. They made sure you were successful and understood the material, and if not, they invited you to stop by their ofce to get extra help.
“It was not only the faculty and my peers, the whole campus was welcoming,” she said.
Christine (Krumdieck) Shelton ’73 enrolled in 1969 as a commuter student, but at mid-semester decided to move into the brand new, female-only residence hall, South Hall (now known as Cosgrove Hall). She said it was built with an amenity the male residence halls lacked—a full, shared bathroom for every two rooms.
Shelton said she and the other estimated 50 women who lived in South Hall that frst year were envied and even teased a bit by their male peers.
“Everyone thought we were the cream of the crop,” she said. “But we were very well accepted by the male students.” The same was true of the faculty. “We were treated as equals, and we were respected and valued,” she said.
Moving into South Hall strengthened Shelton’s ties to St. Ambrose. “Living in the dorms was a much diferent experience than when I was a commuter student because there was such a sense of community. I saw the same women day after day,” she said.
24
alumniFEATURE
As her social circle grew, Shelton formed lifelong bonds with some of the women she met in South Hall as well as her male classmates, many who were seminarians. They challenged and supported each other during a time of great debate about the Vietnam War.
“I liked going to college. I liked the academic growth. But the diference in me as an individual came out of those friendships. I believe I am the woman I am today because of the community that supported me,” Shelton said.
Helen Schwartzhof ’75 agrees. “Something very special happened to me at St. Ambrose.”
Schwartzhof enrolled in the fall of 1971 as an art major. She lived on the fourth foor of South Hall and Shelton was her RA. They became close friends, and part of a group of Ambrosians who continue to meet once a year and spend a week together.
Schwartzhof said it was at St. Ambrose that she realized the world was changing; women were no longer expected to be lifelong homemakers and they weren’t being sent to college to fnd a husband. She was there to gain an education that would support her throughout life, and she changed her major to education.
At one point, she joined a women’s group that met in South Hall. “I remember going to the dorm room, and the women who were sitting on those twin beds are still my friends today,” she said.
Schwartzhof also got involved in social justice activities and the peace movement and gained a wealth of experience. “It was a great time for liberal arts education and I had the ability to explore many diferent things,” she said.
“St. Ambrose was a great community and I felt supported as a woman on campus.”
Early Alumnae Helped BreakOld ‘Habits‘
By Dawn Neuses ‘94
The bond created within the frst group of female Ambrosians is still strong. These alumnae and their families get together annually to spend a week together.
25
Paying His Passion Forward Not every St. Ambrose alumnus can say they’ve swung from the
rafters of Lee Lohman Arena.
Frank Mallerdino ’84 can.
And if he ever does it again, he’ll remember to wear gloves.
Mallerdino’s enthusiasm for his alma mater is large and
sustained. And that’s notwithstanding the time when, dressed
as Barney the Bee, he climbed over the rail of the running track
above the arena, grabbed a rope attached to the rafters, started
swinging, and only then realized he’d forgotten to put on
Barney’s gloves.
“I slid down the rope, got horrible rope-burn and almost broke
my back,” Mallerdino said, laughing as loudly on the tale’s
1,000th telling as he did on its frst.
Mallerdino’s Ambrosian memories also include being
Homecoming king; president and treasurer of the Student
Government Association; waking at 5 a.m. every morning as a
frst-year student to mop the foor of the student union and pub;
and, then, a year later, becoming the frst sophomore to manage
that very same pub.
“That was basically because of my dedication to mopping that
foor,” he said of his promotion.
Mallerdino’s enduring support for St. Ambrose is delivered with that same
up-at-5 a.m.-to-mop-the-foors kind of passion. He poured that passion
into serving as Admissions recruiter immediately following his graduation,
but, even now, as a long-established salesman in Wisconsin, his dedication
is unwavering.
“Frank does it all,” said Anne Gannaway, director of alumni engagement
and special events. “He has hosted Bee Happy Hours in Milwaukee, where
he lives, and he has welcomed admitted SAU students from Milwaukee to
his house for gatherings. He also served on the alumni board. He still has
the school spirit he had when he was Barney the Bee.”
Mallerdino also found a way to pay his memorable experiences forward
when his fellow alum and former Q-C area roommate Jim Stangle ‘82,
now vice president for Advancement at SAU, asked for his help with the
Building Our Future campaign.
As a widower raising three sons, Mallerdino doesn’t have the means just
yet to write a fve-fgure check, but on a payment plan, he was able to
The Gift of Giving
60The Sixties
Beth Furlong ’63 wrote a chapter on
ethics and safe patient handling and
mobility and served as a co-editor
for Health Care Ethics—Critical Issues
for the 21st Century. Furlong is a
member of the board of directors
for the National Association of Safe
Patient Handling Professionals. She
also wrote a chapter on agenda
setting for Health Policy and Politics,
which is for advanced practice
registered nurses and other health
professionals. In Omaha, Furlong
serves on the boards of directors
of the Visiting Nurses Association
and the Foundation for the Douglas
County Health Center.
26
Dan Doran ’68 has published two
thriller books, The Copper Casket and
The Candidate.
70The Seventies
Lawrence Clark ’72 is retired and
living back in the Quad Cities with
his wife, Carol. They have seven
daughters, 24 grandchildren,
and seven great-grandchildren.
80The Eighties
Kelly (Pratt) Garrett ’83 has joined
State Farm Insurance as an IT
analyst-architecture at its corporate
headquarters in Bloomington,
Illinois.
Terry Ousley ’84 retired as the vice
president of customer satisfaction
at MidAmerican Energy Company
after 38 years in the utility industry.
He will continue to represent
MidAmerican Energy in the Quad
Cities on various boards he serves.
State Farm Insurance hired Tina
Kohn ’87 for the team manager-
ofce of learning position in
Bloomington, Illinois.
90The Nineties
Joseph Rodriguez ’99 was promoted
to commercial casualty claims
manager for State Auto Insurance
in Des Moines, Iowa.
Theresa McConnell-Hill ’99 is a
member of the U.S. Navy Reserves
as a Master at Arms and has a new
position as a police ofcer for
Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
00The Zeros
Ryan Maxwell’01 is the clubhouse
manager and travel coordinator for
the Albuquerque Isotopes, the Triple A
baseball afliate of the Colorado
Rockies.
Jessie (Mernka) Maxwell ’03 works
for the University of New Mexico
Hospitals as a neonatologist and
assistant professor of pediatrics. She
completed her pediatric residency at
MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland,
where she also spent a year as chief
pediatric resident. She completed
her Neonatal Fellowship at the
University of New Mexico in 2016.
alumniNEWS
commit to a $25,000 donation to help build the
new Wellness and Recreation Center. He was
honored to be able to dedicate the gift to his
late wife, Stacy.
As the Building Our Future campaign moves
toward its June conclusion, Mallerdino urges
any Ambrose alumni with a checkbook and
great memories to pay their own experience
forward.
Those Lee Lohman Arena rafters he swung
from were basically brand new when he arrived
on campus, he noted.
“I knew alumni helped build that building and
helped me make great memories,” he said.
“Where do you get to do all the things I was
able to do at St. Ambrose and be a leader and
learn? I really believe I became who I am today
because of St. Ambrose.”
Lori Sundberg ’03 DBA will become the ffth
president of Kirkwood Community College in
central Iowa beginning in August. Sundberg
is currently the president of Carl Sandburg
College in Galesburg, Illinois.
Attorney’s Title Guaranty Fund Inc. hired
Chris Burhans ’05 as senior vice president and
chief information ofcer.
Stephanie (Cervantes) Crouppen ’05 is
Google Cloud’s frst representative in the
St. Louis area.
Sara (Jones) Loquist ’05 graduated with a
Master of Architecture degree from Louisiana
State University in May 2016.
Tyler Edwards ’06, ’14 MBA is the investment
center operations manager for Quad City
Bank and Trust.
Allsteel in Muscatine, Iowa, announced
Andrea (Fischer) Guck ’08 as project
coordinator.
She Learned the ‘Why’ Behind the ‘Want’ at SAU Serving others comes naturally to Rachel Hohneke ’16.
She started volunteering in sixth grade and continued through high school.
As a frst-year student at St. Ambrose, she attended an Ambrosians for Peace
and Justice meeting and found like-minded peers committed to social justice
and action. They held fundraisers, hosted informational events and
volunteered.
“I found my passion for service when I found Ambrosians for Peace and Justice.
It fulflled not only my want to help people, but why I wanted to do it,” she said.
In January 2016, Hohneke joined AmeriCorps and worked with elementary
students in the Davenport Schools Stepping Stones program. When her term
ended, the district hired her as a kindergarten paraeducator and to teach
parenting classes, too.
Now, Hohneke is serving a “service year” through
Urban Servant Corps, a one-year, full-time Lutheran
volunteer program. She is a case manager for Urban
Peak, which is the only agency in Denver, Colorado,
providing direct services to youth, ages 15 to 24,
experiencing homelessness.
Hohneke helps run the drop-in center, teaches
classes on healthy relationships, co-facilitates
a mindfulness class, helps youth set goals and
connects them with community services.
That is half of her job. The rest is outreach.
Hohneke and her co-workers load backpacks and
spend two hours a day looking for youth living
on the streets. Once found, they ofer the youth
things that are central to life: food, clothes and a
steady, accepting, caring presence.
Many of her clients have unstable or unsafe
relationships with adults. Her mission is to be a
person they can consistently rely upon, to create
trusting relationships. “What I try to keep in
perspective is I am a person walking the path
with them, helping in any way I can.”
She fnds joy in her work at Urban Peak.
Helping others is very uplifting, and yes, at times,
emotionally draining. “Compassion fatigue is very real, and I feel it, but I try to
put sufering in a bigger context and fnd a way to learn from it,” Hohneke said.
And, she has.
“Every person I serve is somehow connected to me and to ignore that kinship
is detrimental to my service,” Hohneke said. “I always keep in mind we are
all sisters and brothers in his world, and to take care of one another is the biggest
charge I have.”
27
10The Teens
Exelon, the leading energy provider in
America, hired Ryne Nicklin’10 as a
supply analyst.
After graduating in May 2017 with
a Master of Divinity and working
towards ordination in the United
Methodist Church, Rebecca
(Swanson) Groves ’12 is the director
of youth ministries at Summerside
United Methodist Church in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Hannah (Thomas) Molina ’12 is a
registered nurse with UnityPoint
Health in Moline, Illinois.
Mark Brauweiler ’13, ’15 DPT is
the clinic manager at Progressive
Rehabilitation Associates LLC, in
Tipton, Iowa.
Jena (Keimig) Peterlin’13 is a special
education teacher in the Raytown
(Missouri) C2 School District.
Sarah Serkowski ’14, ’16 MOT passed
the National Board for Certifcation in
Occupational Therapy in Dec. 2017.
Total Family Eye Care hired Colton
Anderson ’15 for the position of
Optician in Grimes, Iowa.
After graduating with a Master of
Science in Exercise Physiology from
Illinois State University in December,
Hannah Dohm ’15 is working for
BetterNOI–Deposit Choice/
Protection Choice as a lead for
insurance operations.
Jacklyn Young ’17 was hired as
residential program manager at
Transitions Mental Health Services
in Rock Island, Illinois.
■Marriages
Raymond Terronez Jr. ’07 and Cristal
Rios, Rock Island, Illinois
Andrea Fischer ’08 and Kevin Guck,
Bettendorf, Iowa
classNOTES
Natalie Knoblauch ’08 and Chris
Fryzek, Chicago, Illinois
Eva Dondanville ’10, ’11 MBA and Matt
Schmid, Galena, Illinois
Tanika McNeal ’11 and Jason Hill,
Waterloo, Iowa
Bethany Dufy ’12 and Jonathan Ketz,
Davenport, Iowa
Hannah Thomas ’12 and Elijah Molina,
Rock Island, Illinois
Jena Keimig ’13 and Sam Peterlin ’13
Davenport, Iowa
Chris Cox ’14 and Kayla Horstman ’15,
’16 DPT, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Mary Adlfnger ’16 and Ty Balduf ’16
Davenport, Iowa
■Births
James ’10 and Sara (Lopata) Lyons ’11
welcomed home son Michael, born on
Oct. 6, 2016.
Rachel (Breitbach) Cox ’11 and
husband, Jason, are celebrating the
birth of their son Matthew, born on
April 17, 2017. Matthew was welcomed
home by big brother David.
Derek ’13 and Kristine (Andresen)
Dixon ’14, are the proud parents of
daughter Lillie, born on Nov. 12, 2017.
Kassi (Zbanek) Tuthill ’14, ’15 MOT
and husband, William, are happy to
announce the birth of son Samuel,
born Feb. 16, 2017.
■Deaths
James Stopulos ’40, Bettendorf, Iowa,
Jan. 19, 2018
Robert Carton ’42, Rock Island,
Illinois, Nov. 11, 2017
Rev. Maynard Brothersen ’45,
Davenport, Iowa, Oct. 3, 2015
Rev. William Meyer ’45, Davenport,
Iowa, Dec. 9, 2017
Rev. Vincent McMurry ’46, Baltimore, Edward Desmet ’58, Rock Island,
Maryland, July 24, 2016 Illinois, Aug. 29, 2017
Richard Lahr ’47, Iowa City, Iowa, James Laude ’60, Lincroft, New Jersey,
Oct. 19, 2017 Jan. 12, 2014
William Hofmann ’49, Pleasant Valley, Lloyd Frueh ’61, Davenport, Iowa,
Iowa, Jan. 25, 2018 Dec. 17, 2016
Edward Wehr ’49, Bettendorf, Iowa, John Ryan ’62, Omaha, Nebraska,
Jan. 27, 2018 April 15, 2017
Theodore Stevenson ’50, Beloit, Walter “Ted” Halm ’64, Iowa City,
Wisconsin, Nov. 28, 2017 Iowa, Jan. 9, 2018
Donald Berg ’51, Beecher, Illinois, James Britt ’67, Tucson, Arizona,
Jan. 11, 2018 July 7, 2016
William Hyde ’51, Clinton, Iowa, Philip Brunt ’67, Ramsey, Minnesota,
Oct. 27, 2017 Dec. 20, 2017
John Feehan ’52, Ottawa, Illinois, Joseph Vize ’67, Bettendorf, Iowa,
Dec. 14, 2017 Jan. 26, 2018
Paul Gould ’53, Freeport, Illinois, Kenneth Walanski ’67, Carlsbad,
Oct. 23, 2017 California, Oct. 26, 2017
Gerald Kraus ’53, Copake, New York, Rev. Msgr. James Parizek ’68,
Nov. 18, 2017 Davenport, Iowa, Feb. 3, 2018
Bernard Angerer ’54, Phoenix, Richard Schmitz ’68, Cedar Rapids,
Arizona, July 29, 2017 Iowa, Oct. 30, 2017
Maureen (Burke) Atwood ’54, Russell Swartz ’68, Kansas City,
Jeferson, Maryland, Oct. 21, 2015 Missouri, Sept. 27, 2016
Jackie (Whitacre) Corken ’54, Peter Zagarella ’69, Cape Coral,
Westfeld, Indiana, Nov. 18, 2017 Florida, April 2, 2015
Rev. William Devine ’54, Sioux City, Anthony “Tony” Adgent ’70,
Iowa, Feb. 3, 2018 Nashville, Tennessee, Dec. 23, 2017
Charles Russell ’54, Hinsdale, Illinois, Dale Denklau ’70, Blue Grass, Iowa,
Oct. 26, 2017 Dec. 23, 2017
Richard Glowacki ’55, Davenport, Arthur Kennelly Jr. ’70, Chicago,
Dec. 24, 2017 Illinois, July 13, 2017
Frederick Lorenz Jr. ’55, Seattle, Susan (Spring) Shumer ’71, Burnsville,
Washington, Dec. 2, 2017 Minnesota, Nov. 19, 2017
Robert Terracina ’55, Hofman David Loete ’78, Moline, Illinois,
Estates, Illinois, Feb. 2, 2018 Jan. 2, 2018
Philip Clark ’56, Springfeld, Illinois, Gerard Sharp ’79, Silvis, Illinois,
Jan. 17, 2018 Dec. 31, 2017
Robert Fraune ’56, Waterloo, Iowa, Susan (Maguire) Mulready ’81, Avon,
Dec. 28, 2017 Connecticut, Jan. 8, 2018
James Keefe ’57, Woodstock, Illinois, Jean (Claussen) Bergman ’85,
Nov. 21, 2017 Donnellson, Iowa, Dec. 18, 2017
Louis Vogel ’57, Roswell, Georgia, Elaine (Nares) Boyd ’86, Davenport,
Dec. 7, 2017 Iowa, Nov. 7, 2017
28
alumniNEWS
Gregory Losasso ’87 MBA, Davenport,
Iowa, Dec. 11, 2017
Denise (Stewart) Bray ’88 MBA, The
Woodlands, Texas, Feb. 2, 2018
Vicki (Smithe) Smith ’98, Wilton,
Iowa, March 19, 2016
John Michael ’02 MBA, Cambridge,
Illinois, Oct. 23, 2017
What’s New? Let us know what
you’ve been up to! Drop us a note
Net Gains in Helping Urban Youth By Dustin Renwick ’10
Al Williams ’78 will tell anyone that he’s not a tennis player. Yet the man who still holds the St. Ambrose record for most points scored in a single basketball game (56) has embarked on a new mission with a diferent court.
“One of the most interesting things I have ever done in my life is that I created the E-Z Pop Tennis apparatus,” Williams said.
He began teaching tennis as part of his nonproft called Kids, Sports, Fitness,
“I didn’t have a lot of excitement about how I was teaching my class,” Williams said. “I wanted to keep their focus and attention. I started sketching things. How can I
keep the kids motivated and focused, having fun, and at the same time learning
That goal covered two important areas of youth education for Williams: a desire to demonstrate an active lifestyle and introduce a new athletic option
“This is one sport that is not overly saturated, and it’s not available to kids in the inner city,” he said. “I like to show them, here’s another game. Not every
The E-Z Pop system sets up with little efort and requires much less space than the traditional tennis court, an important factor for the areas and age
group Williams targets with his program—children younger than 14.
“There are basically no tennis courts in many of the neighborhoods. We can take it to the playground, the basketball court, the rec center.”
Adding a racket and tennis balls starts the game, where participants trade turns and attempt to stick the balls to the targets on the E-Z Pop screen. Games are scored like a regular tennis match.
“I use it for frst-time learners,” Williams said. “They can learn how to control the ball by hitting it softer. They’re going to develop the power later. Right from the beginning we want them to aim small,
Williams, a self-proclaimed retiree, laughed about his second life as
He’s currently pursuing partnerships with the park district and the public schools in Chicago to spread the neon-green gospel with
at Alumni Engagement, St. Ambrose
University, 518 W. Locust St.,
Davenport, Iowa 52803 or go
online to share updates.
Include your full name,
class year and phone
number or email where
we can contact you to
verify your information.
online extra: tell us
what’s new at
www.sau.edu/
keepintouch
& Education.
how to play tennis?”
for kids in his home city of Chicago.
kid is good at basketball, football, baseball.”
miss small.”
an entrepreneur.
“This is my new journey.”
even more potential tennis stars.
29
518 West Locust Street
Davenport, Iowa 52803
What’s New? Let us know what
you’ve been up to. Drop us a note at
Alumni Engagement, St. Ambrose
University, 518 W. Locust St.,
Davenport, Iowa 52803, or go online
to share updates. Include your full
name, class year and phone number
or email where we can contact you
to verify your information.
online extra: tell us what’s new at
www.sau.edu/keepintouch
May 19 Wine Festival Wine Tasting
June 14 Bee Happy Hour
July 28 Bix Bee Cool Tent
Aug. 24 Fighting Bee Golf Classic
Sept. 21-23 Homecoming 2018
Connect with us on social media or call us at 800-SAU-ALUM. Update your contact info at sau.edu/alumni.
You’ve Got Places (We hope you’ll
save these dates!) to Bee
