University of Denver Magazine Fall 2013

FALL 2013

Here come the Pioneers

M A G A Z I N E

2 University of Denver Magazine FALL 2013

Office of the Chancellor

Dear Readers:

I came to the University of Denver in the fall of 1981 as a new faculty member in what was then our department of chemistry. In the 32 years since, I’ve been so pleased to be part of the sciences at DU. We’ve been blessed with many talented people among our faculty—nationally and internationally competitive scholars who came to DU to teach and work with students.

The world in which I made my career as a faculty member was one percolating with ideas, one that engaged immensely talented colleagues and students and produced real and important results. We graduated fantastic students whose subsequent lives and careers are making a positive difference in America and the world. These outcomes relate directly to our vision of being a great private university dedicated to the public good.

While that is surely still the case today, the external context within which we operate is undergoing considerable change. Competition for research funding is far greater than was the case just a few years ago, and scale has become important. At many universities, large clusters of research groups work together on problems of great complexity, their work fueled by much larger research grants that make up an increasing proportion of the funds available. In the instructional enterprise, student interest in STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is growing rapidly. Among those admitted to our new class of first-year students for the 2013 fall term, 32 percent indicated an interest in majoring in these disciplines.

We have developed a new STEM strategy (see story, page 8) that responds to these external forces in ways that will expand the scale of our work in a bounded manner and will focus our resources on strategic paths directly related to our institutional identity. First, we will build new facilities for our School of Engineering and Computer Science, recently named for Daniel Felix Ritchie, father of Chancellor Emeritus Dan Ritchie. We plan to break ground on this $50 million project in early 2014. The new facility will allow us to expand the numbers of students and faculty members in the school by about 30 percent.

The school will retain its strong interdisciplinary character, building on existing faculty talent in mechatronics, bioengineering, software engineering and computer science. We also will work to develop a deeper emphasis on the combination of engineering and computer science with business and entrepreneurship. We have a unique opportunity to do this because of the strength of our Daniels College of Business and the vitality of the entrepreneurial community along the Front Range of the Rockies. By linking a great engineering school with a great college of business, we will produce graduates who have depth in both of these areas and are thus uniquely qualified for key positions in an increasingly technology-driven economy.

The new building will include an entire floor for laboratories of the Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging. Supported by a major gift from Betty Knoebel, the center is an interdisciplinary research construct that will blend research in the sciences and engineering with a host of programs in our graduate professional schools that work directly with the elderly. These include very strong programs in our Graduate School of Social Work and Graduate School of Professional Psychology. The new labs in the Knoebel Center will allow us to add a substantial number of research faculty members in the sciences and engineering, considerably expanding research opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate students.

Please follow our progress on the Ritchie School and the Knoebel Center. These elements of our STEM strategy are tied closely to our institutional identity and are important parts of our continuing effort to build the quality and impact of the academic enterprise at DU.

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Office of the Chancellor Mary Reed Building | 2199 S. University Blvd. | Denver, CO 80208 | 303.871.2111 | Fax 303.871.4101 | www.du.edu/chancellor

ContentsFeAtures

24 Reel Life Film students go behind the camera to shoot their own short documentaries.

By Greg Glasgow

30 Write of Passage In his novels and in the classroom, John Williams made a vivid impact.

By Alan Prendergast

36 Let’s Go, Pioneers! DU athletics teams gear up for a season of new challenges.

By Pat Rooney

DePArtments

4 Editor’s Note

8 News New engineering building

14 Academics The Messy Startup

15 Research Teaching math to kids

16 People Mr. Olympia Phil Heath

19 Q&A Researcher Sarah Bexell on the giant panda

20 Arts Poet Eryn Green

22 Views Alumni-owned restaurants

41 Alumni Connections

On the cover and this page: Pioneer athletes are gearing up for the 2013–14 season; read the story on page 36. Photos and photo illustration by Wayne Armstrong.


UpdateCampus

Even though I work on campus, weeks full of

meetings, deadlines and seemingly endless minor tasks

often take me away from what it really means to work

at a university.

Luckily, I still get to write stories for the

University of Denver Magazine, and in the case of this

issue, I got to hang out with students in the classroom

and really feel the energy that happens when smart

instructors teach smart kids. For my story on the

Messy Startup class in the Daniels College of Business

[page 14], I listened to a roomful of undergrads making exciting discoveries as

they launched their own products—everything from a fashion advice website

to a software training company.

Equally exciting was getting to follow a team of young filmmakers

through the process of making their own student documentary [“Reel

Life,” page 24]. We talk a lot about experiential learning at DU, and this was

experiential learning to the core. Students had to pitch their own concepts,

find their own subjects, and handle all of the camera and editing work

themselves. The team I followed was so proud of its final product, and it was

a joy to watch the whole thing come together.

You can read these stories and watch all of the student documentaries

online at du.edu/magazine—while you’re there, please check out our brand

new magazine website, which offers all of the content from the current issue

in an easy-to-read, easy-to-navigate format. We also will post “between issues”

stories two to three times a week that let you keep up with campus news,

athletics, notable alumni and more. And if you prefer reading on a tablet, look

for the digital edition, which reproduces the print product on your screen.

Greg Glasgow

Managing Editor

w w w. d u . e d u / m a g a z i n e

Volume 14, Number 1

PublisherKevin A. Carroll

Managing EditorGreg Glasgow

Senior EditorTamara Chapman

Editorial AssistantKelsey Outman (BA ’13)

Art DirectorCraig Korn, VeggieGraphics

DesignerRoss Mansfield

PhotographerWayne Armstrong

ContributorsJanette Ballard • Justin Edmonds • Kathryn

Mayer • Doug McPherson • Alan Prendergast • Pat Rooney • Sarah Satterwhite • Ce Shi •

Erica Wood

Editorial BoardKevin A. Carroll, vice chancellor/chief marketing officer • Julie Reeves, associate vice chancellor, brand marketing • Thomas Douglis (BA ’86) •

Kristine Cecil, associate vice chancellor for university advancement and executive director of alumni relations • Sarah Satterwhite, senior

director of advancement communications • Amber Scott (MA ’02)

The University of Denver Magazine (USPS 022-177) is published three times a year by the University of Denver, Division of Marketing and Communications, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. The University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) is an Equal Opportunity Institution. Periodicals postage paid at Denver, CO. Postmaster: Send address changes to University of Denver Magazine, University of Denver, University Advancement, 2190 E. Asbury Ave., Denver, CO 80208-4816.

Editor’s NoteJe

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Printed on 10% PCW recycled paper

Editor’s Note

M A G A Z I N E

More on AmacheWhile Tamara Chapman’s article about Amache [“Digging for Insight,” spring 2013] was interesting, I was disappointed that the camp’s connections with DU were not included. Specifically, the fact that the engineering buildings E-1, E-2 and E-3 were relocated to the campus after the camp’s demise. They served as classrooms and laboratories for those of us who stud-ied engineering in the 1950s and 1960s and those of us who were faculty in the ’60s and early ’70s. Additionally, my classmate Sandra Dallas’ book “Tallgrass” looked deeply into the people who were placed there. Both con-nections would have been good additions.

Ronald Hensen (BS ’60)Centennial, Colo.

The University has another connection to Amache, the World War II Japanese relo-cation camp in southeastern Colorado. Following the war, the government sold the Amache buildings to schools handling the influx of veterans going to college on the G.I. Bill. Some of them were acquired by DU and were placed south of Mary Reed Library. My journalism classes in the 1950s were held in one of them. The buildings were known as the “temporaries” and were temporary for about 20 years.

Sandra Dallas (BA ’60)Denver

Creating connectionsIn the spring issue, I read with special interest two features. The first, on page 26, is “A Catalyst for Connection,” where the reader is exposed in great detail to the Anderson Academic Commons, letting us know that at DU the future of academic libraries has arrived! Congratulations to Tamara Chapman and Greg Glasgow for bringing to the reader information on this well-done project. Secondly, the article on page 12 informing us about the Women’s College of DU getting a new name—an old one, Colorado Women’s College. It so happens that my father, Dr. Jose Domenico

Favole, now deceased, was a member of the CWC faculty as professor of Spanish and French for many years in the 1960s and ’70s, finally attaining the title of professor emer-itus at his death in 1981 while residing in Menton, France, with my mother and brother, Joe, both also dead now.

By the way, Dad helped form the “Junior Year Abroad” program that CWC launched in Madrid, Spain, for 37 Spanish majors and other foreign language majors studying in other European countries.

I am enjoying my retirement years here in Miami, always proud of being a DU alum since 1964. On July 11 I reached my 82nd birthday, and I get together with my classmates from elementary and high school years in Havana, Cuba (my birthplace), now living “in exile” here in Miami.

JG Favole (MA ’64)Miami, Fla.

I cannot tell you how happy I was to read in the spring 2013 magazine that my old college has a new official name as the University of Denver Colorado Women’s College. I graduated in 1968, and even then we had the name of Temple Buell College. I’m glad that was changed. Those years, 1964–68, were some of the best of my life. I even took an art class over at the University of Denver.

Lynne Banister Dobson Jelderks (CWC ’68) Solvang, Calif.

Criminal activityI was really proud to read the campus update about the Sturm College of Law Civil Rights Clinic’s victory against Colorado’s Supermax prison [“Law clinic scores victory in prisoner-rights case,” spring 2013].

As a DU alumna who regularly visits my brother in a state prison, I cannot begin to tell you of the outrageous human-rights

violations that occur every day in these institutions. Yes, there are many men and women who have committed crimes, and some might argue that they deserve whatever they get in there. What people who don’t regularly deal with

the system fail to see is the number of men and women who are nonviolent criminals (many who have drug possession or other petty charges) who are handed severely long sentences and then have to face the most abominable living conditions with no opportunities for rehabilitation.

The prison system generates lots of revenue for state governments and is just as corrupt as any criminal within it. We see the dollar amount of what’s spent per inmate each year, but what is often overlooked is the amount of money that private companies are gaining by “providing for” inmates. A lot of times, these private companies are awarded contracts with the state based on a percentage they will give back to the state. It’s a sound economic model that feeds off human lives.

I hope to see a day when there are better options for dealing with humans who have made mistakes. Many nonviolent criminals could be bettering themselves and contributing to society if our legal system placed less emphasis on supporting a punitive model and seeking profit. I speak from experience and can say I have met some of the most humble men you will ever know on the inside of those walls. If only we, on the outside, knew how to humble ourselves too.

Thank you, DU, for being a humble, progressive community that understands the value of questioning our society’s norms.

Sara Thibodeau (BA ’09, IMBA ’09)Boston

Feedback

A CATALYST FOR CONNECTIONThe Anderson Academic Commons is so much more than a library

SPRING 2013

M A G A Z I N E

Send letters to the editor to: Greg Glasgow, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. Or email [email protected]. Include your full name and mailing address with all submissions. Letters may be edited for clarity and length.

University of Denver Magazine FeeDbAck 5

mailto:[email protected]


University of Denver Magazine Feedback 7

UpdateCampus

on may 25, the University of Denver men’s lacrosse team made its second trip to the NcAA Final Four, where the team fell 9–8 to Syracuse. Under the leadership of coach Bill Tierney, who recently extended his contract through the 2017 season, the Pioneers made their maiden voyage to the tournament in 2011. The men’s squad, which moves to the Big east conference for the 2014 season, finished 2013 with a 14–5 overall record and a 6–1 mark in league play. The team ranked No. 4 in the final Nike/Inside Lacrosse media Poll released in late may.

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UpdateCampus

The largest financial gift in University of Denver history will support the construction of a new campus home for engineering and computer science.

Chancellor Emeritus Daniel Ritchie has donated property valued at $27 million to the School

of Engineering and Computer Science, which in May was renamed

the Daniel Felix Ritchie

School of Engineering and

Computer Science in honor of Daniel

Ritchie’s father. The 110,000-square-foot

building on the south side of campus also will house

the new Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging. It is slated to

be completed in 2015.“We have wonderful faculty;

we have wonderful students; what we don’t have is wonderful facilities.

That’s the piece that’s missing,” Daniel Ritchie said at a May 20 press conference

to announce the new building. “This will make a huge difference for the University, for the faculty and for our students.”

The new building is part of a new interdisciplinary science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiative at the University that will address societal needs of the 21st century and prepare globally competitive graduates for business and entrepreneurship. The Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science will bring together multiple complementary STEM activities and research already taking place on campus.

“These are the disciplines that are driving the growth of the worldwide economy,” Chancellor Robert Coombe said at the press conference. “Today, with the U.S. economy rebounding, many of the jobs that are being created are in these disciplines, and we find that this is driving interest among students and among students yet to come to the University of Denver. There is an enormous wave in interest in STEM disciplines, and that wave is washing ashore at the University of Denver with considerable vigor.”

Additional funding for the new engineering building comes from Betty Knoebel, widow of Denver food-service pioneer Ferdinand “Fritz” Knoebel, and the late Bill Petersen (BSEE ’69), an alumnus of the DU School of Engineering. The gifts will allow the University to increase student scholarships, faculty support, industry partnerships and experiential learning programs.

According to Chancellor Coombe, the interdisciplinary focus will allow the University to dramatically expand its current engineering and computer science programs, with a vision of further developing mechatronics, bioengineering and software engineering curricula. Added capacity will allow the school to increase its faculty by more than 30 percent and enhance particular areas of scholarship and instruction. Coombe added that the initiative also responds to the shifting interests of college-bound graduates who are increasingly interested in sciences, math and engineering.

“The University of Denver will be on the cutting edge of developing a new breed of STEM graduates ready for the complex technological needs of the future,” Coombe said. “Our students will create real-life solutions to real-life problems with an integrated approach to learning.”

The University plans to address the increasing needs of an aging population through the new Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging. The Knoebel Center, which builds on the University’s dedication to the public good, supports complementary research and scholarship on aging and aging-related conditions.

The new building will be located between the Newman Center for the Performing Arts and F.W. Olin Hall and will be adjacent to buildings that currently house the University’s Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and multiple research centers, including the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, where students join faculty in conducting foundational biomedical, molecular and genetic research.

“This is an extraordinarily exciting time for our University, and these gifts will go a long way in transforming and redefining the focus of our science, engineering and related programs and research. It will help us lay a strong foundation for collaboration across disciplines, while we expand our ability to serve the future needs of our region and state,” Coombe said.

Support for the sciencesuniversity announces gifts to fund new building and stem initiativeBy Marketing and Communications Staff

stem At Du

The new STem focus at the University of Denver brings together departments from across campus, including

• Applied Physics

• Applied research and Technology

• Biochemistry

• Biological Sciences

• computer Science

• ecology and Biodiversity

• electrical and computer engineering

• environmental chemistry

• environmental Science

• Geography

• mathematics

• mechanical and materials engineering

• molecular Biology

• Physics and Astronomy

University of Denver Magazine uPDAte 9

In June, the University of Denver surpassed $400 million in its ASceND fundrais-ing campaign, now the most successful fundraising campaign in the University’s history. Around the same time, the market value of the University’s endowment also exceeded $400 million, marking the first fiscal year in DU’s history in which the endowment has exceeded the size of the University’s operating budget.

Scott Lumpkin, vice chancellor in the Division of University Advancement, says this is the third strongest fundraising year in the ASceND campaign and in DU’s history, as well as the fourth consecutive year in which the University’s fundraising totals have exceeded those of the previous year. “most fundraising campaigns see a winding down in their final years,” Lumpkin says, “but as we prepare to start the last year of the ASceND campaign, the University is in an amazingly strong position.”

The $400 million milestones in fundraising and the endowment are a result of purposeful investment by donors and by the University itself. resources from new gifts and from the endowment strengthen the educational experience by supporting University priorities such as scholarships and interdisciplinary learning. Since the beginning of the campaign, more than $120 million has been committed to scholarships, and 485 new scholarships have been established.

In addition to increasing access to a DU education, gifts to the University also enrich the quality of the educational experience. The Anderson Academic commons, which opened in march with the support of more than 5,000 donors, contains technological innovations that complement the scholastic and socially integrated lives of DU students. The 154,223-square-foot facility has become a hub of daily activity for students and the University community.

more than 41,000 donors have given to the University throughout the course of the ASceND campaign, which began in July 2006 and is scheduled to conclude in 2014. more than 50 percent of those donors are alumni.

“As more of our alumni and friends have become involved over the past few years, the University has grown stronger,” Lumpkin says. “And that is the secret to the University achieving its potential in the next 150 years—the participation of our alumni and our com-munity in the life of DU.”

—Sarah Satterwhite

meDiA

New magazine website provides DU news all year long

The University of Denver community—including alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff—has a new way to keep up with DU news. The University of Denver Magazine website—du.edu/magazine—has been redesigned so users can easily find stories from the latest issue of the print magazine, as well as a regularly updated news section featuring “between issues” stories on campus life, academics, athletics, alumni and more.

The new site also features a downloadable PDF version of the print magazine that can be read on iPads and other tablet devices.

“This update has been a long time coming,” says managing editor Greg Glasgow. “Our new magazine site combines our DU Today daily news site and the magazine website into a one-stop source of information for alumni and parents.”

To unsubscribe from the print magazine and read it online only, visit du.edu/magazine and click on the “unsubscribe” link on the right side of the page. Include your email address in your response to get an alert each time a new issue is published online.

Pioneers Top 10novels set in academia

1 “Stoner,” by John Williams

2 “Pnin,” by Vladimir Nabokov

3 “White Noise,” by Don DeLillo

4 “All Souls,” by Javier marias

5 “Hangsaman,” by Shirley Jackson

6 “On Beauty,” by Zadie Smith

7 “Possession,” by A.S. Byatt

8 “The Secret History,” by Donna Tartt

9 “As She Climbed Across the Table,” by Jonathan Lethem

10 “Special Topics in Calamity Physics,” by marisha Pessl

FunDrAising

University marks dual $400 million milestones

Compiled by Laird Hunt, associate English professor and editor of Denver Quarterly


UpdateCampus

brieFsNEws

Three authors with DU connections were recognized

at the 2013 Colorado Book Awards in June. Carolyn

Mears, an adjunct faculty member at the Morgridge

College of Education, won the award for best anthology

for “Reclaiming School in the Aftermath of Trauma:

Advice Based on Experiences” (Palgrave Macmillan,

2012), a book that grew out of her experiences as the

mother of a Columbine High School student during

the 1999 shootings. Alumna Kristin Iversen (PhD ’96)

took home general nonfiction honors for “Full Body

Burden” (Crown, 2012), her account of growing up

near the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado;

and Gregory Hill, a former Penrose Library staffer, won

the literary fiction award for “East of Denver” (Dutton,

2012), a Colorado-set novel about a man who convinces

his elderly father to help him rob a bank.

The women’s golf team

won its first

Western Athletic

conference

championship—its 10th straight

conference title—in April at

Longbow Golf club in mesa, Ariz.

Junior Tonje Daffinrud won the

individual title and was named

the WAc Player of the Year.

The team finished 17th at the

NcAA West regional

in may.

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the university of Denver

will commemorate the 2012

presidential debate at Du with a

special event on oct. 3, 2013—the

first anniversary of the historic

showdown on campus. the event

will include discussion on the

impact of the debate on colorado

and on the university of Denver

and a screening of a documentary

film about Du’s preparation for

the debate. A panel composed

of Du experts and local political

figures will discuss a few of the

major issues raised in the 2012

debate and how they have played

out one year later, as well as

issues and political races to watch

in 2014 and 2016. For more

information and to register,

visit debate2012.du.edu.


Journalist bill mckibben, known for his impassioned reporting on environmental issues, in April received the university of Denver’s Anvil of Freedom Award. Presented each year by the Department of media, Film and Journalism studies and the university’s edward W. and charlotte A. estlow international center for Journalism and new media, the Anvil of Freedom honors and recognizes individuals whose careers demonstrate commitment to democratic freedoms, ethics and integrity.

In April, Associate English Professor Laird Hunt was named one of five winners of the 2013 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards for his novel “Kind One” (Coffee House Press, 2012). Presented by the Cleveland

Foundation since 1963, the awards recognize books that have made an important contribution to society’s understanding of racism and the diversity of cultures. Hunt’s latest book—also a finalist for the 2013 PEN/Faulkner award—explores the uncanny intimacy between slave and master. In understated prose, the story tells of two slave sisters who turn the tables on their mistress and take her captive after her Kentucky farmer husband dies.

Lawrence Golan, a Lamont

School of music professor and

conductor of the Lamont Symphony

orchestra, in may was named

music director of the colorado

Philharmonic, one of the oldest

classical music ensembles in

colorado. Golan also is music

director for the Yakima Symphony

orchestra in Washington state. The

DPo, which has been performing

since 1948, is a mostly volunteer

community orchestra.

The University of Denver was ranked No. 1 on the Peace Corps’ 2013 list of top Paul D. Coverdell Fellows programs. The Coverdell Fellows program provides returned Peace Corps volunteers with scholarships, academic credit and stipends to earn

an advanced degree after they complete their Peace Corps service. Currently,

there are 56 returned Peace Corps volunteers enrolled as students

at DU. The University of Denver also took the No. 4 spot on the list of top Master’s International

programs. There are currently 25 MI students making a difference

overseas through Peace Corps service. The Master’s International

program allows students to earn their graduate degree while serving in the Peace Corps.

Erica Chenoweth, an assistant professor at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, has received a $20,000 ADVANCE grant, given by the National Science Foundation to promote scholarship by women. The grant will facilitate Chenoweth’s research on the impact of positive rhetoric in reducing terrorist activity. Chenoweth began her research in 2008 alongside Laura Dugan, associate professor of criminology at the University of Maryland.

ten students from the university of Denver’s Lamont school of music were invited to perform for britain’s Prince Harry during his may visit to colorado. the prince was in colorado to attend the Warrior games in colorado springs. the event for disabled veterans includes teams from the u.s. and the u.k. As a link to the games, the prince requested performers with disabilities. Junior John Jones (pictured) has cerebral palsy, junior voice major

Jenna bainbridge is partially paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury, and vocal jazz performance major samantha barrasso is blind. the singers were accompanied by a jazz combo featuring eli Acosta, Jake Alvarez, sean edwards, charles Hoffer Fenning, Justin Peterson and camilla Vaitaitis, along with pianist Jon Parker.

UpdateCampus

ceremonies

2013 Commencement

Date: June 8 • Number of graduates: 1,010 • Speaker: Denver mayor michael Hancock • Message: “This nation yearns for new American heroes. We live in a world that is changing minute by minute. New innovations drive the endless pace of expectation. And increased connectivity makes our world smaller and more competitive. It is your civic obligation to be able to compete in this new world. my charge to you is simply this: Go out, and in your own way, live up to the promise of the great American heroes of the past and work, however you choose to do so, to make this a better world.”

Date: June 7 • Number of graduates: 850 • Speaker: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon • Message: “The world is changing dramatically and rapidly. New economic powers are rising, new threats have emerged, climate change above all. Your chal-lenge—ours together—is to shape this new world for the better, to build a landscape of peace while conquering the persistent problems of old: poverty, hunger and hatred.”

GrADUATe

UNDerGrADUATe

Pioneers Take on the Colorado College Tigers off the ice in a new alumni giving challenge.

Sept. 1–Nov. 7, the first school to score 1,500 undergraduate alumni donors takes home bragging rights. Make your gift at ccversusdu.com to get on the scoreboard. Help us lock in the win before the puck drops on November 8 in Colorado Springs.

ccversusdu.com | 800.448.3238vs.

Be Part of the Win


From the desk of roddy macinnes, associate professor of photography in the school of Art and Art History

1 This antique Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera that macInnes picked up at a junk store reminds him of his first camera, a 1965 Kodak Instamatic. “I lived in the country up in Scotland, and all my relatives lived in the city,” he says. “They would come up to visit us in the summertime, and I noticed that’s when they took photographs. I remember thinking I wanted to do the same thing, make a record of my experience.”

2 macInnes, who grew up in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland, still has his grandfather’s bowler hat.

3 These storage drives hold photos by macInnes, as well as student work. He tries to take photos every day, and he requires students in his Personal Histories of Photography class to do the same. many of his students prefer to shoot on film: “They’re looking at the laptop all day for other classes, then photography becomes the same process of opening up your laptop,” he says. “When they go to the darkroom, it’s a whole different process.”

4 Hanging above macInnes’ desk are enlarged photographs of his late parents. “When I was taking these photographs I was never imagining looking at them after they were dead,” he says. “That’s kind of a stretch for most of us. But I’m so glad I took them. I had a great relationship with them, and it’s like they’re still alive.”

5 macInnes has worked at DU for 13 years. He says the advent of digital photography and computer editing has changed things for the better—and for the worse. “It’s a time saver, theoretically, because before you’d shoot the film, get it processed, and then you look at it—it might take a week,” he says. “Now it’s instant: ‘I can’t wait to go home tonight and download my photographs.’ The big problem is storage. Where do they go? How long are they going to last? How many do you keep?”

6 Using blurb.com, macInnes helps students make on-demand hardback books of their photos. “With every paradigm shift, you gain something and you lose something—this, to me, is the gain,” he says. “Ten years ago it would cost you $20,000 to make a book. Now it’s $100, and you get your own hardback book.”

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UpdateCampus

Undergraduate students at the Daniels College of Business are getting a very real look into the hectic world of startups, thanks to Avi Stopper, founder and CEO of online youth and college sports network CaptainU. In the new Daniels class The Messy Startup, Stopper gives students the benefit of his entrepreneurial experience as they launch their own apps, products and businesses.

“There are any number of goals for the class, but empowering people to understand how to build products with the skills that they have is really the main one,” Stopper says. “One of the big problems with the startup environment right now is that everyone thinks you have to build some piece of software, and there is a very limited number of people who can actually build quality software. One of the coolest things about what’s going on right now is that there’s an abundance of really powerful, inexpensive tools, and if you have the right methodology and the right process, you can use those tools to really test the concept.”

The Messy Startup has its origins in a new intro-level Daniels course called Gateway to Business, which gives first-year students an overview of business fundamentals through the process of creating an app. The best ideas are presented to a panel of investors, who award a cash prize for further development. Daniels Professor in Residence Stephen Haag and Stopper, who was one of the investor-judges, saw a need for a class that took students even further into the process of starting a business.

The students move fast, dividing into teams and working through concept, design, testing, marketing and analysis, all in the course of 10 weeks. Among the ideas being tested in the spring quarter were Fashion Ducks, a company

that connects customers with online fashion consultants; MyUSA, a subscription service that sends customers email updates on legislation considered or passed by Congress; and ChatterU, a website that lists all campus events of interest to students. ChatterU founders Grant Wilkinson and Bryce Quigley originally envisioned the site as a Facebook-style social networking platform for college students, but Stopper convinced them to simplify.

“He’s really taught us through this class that you can take your idea and you can strip away all the fancy stuff about it and just try and get something really primitive and basic out there,” says Wilkinson, who was part of a winning Gateway to Business team that started selling its app in May. “You can do it for little or no money and put it out there and see how people like it, and then say, ‘OK, now that people like it and we’re generating sales, we’ll slowly add the other stuff.’ That was the biggest takeaway, that you don’t need much to get started.”

Haag says the Messy Startup and the gateway course are just the beginning of the Daniels College’s new focus on entrepreneurship. The school has hired an entrepreneurship director and an entrepreneurship professor, and plans are in the works for students in classes like the Messy Startup to collaborate with students from the School of Engineering and Computer Science to build apps and products that can hit the marketplace before the students reach graduation.

“It’s the recognition that you don’t have to have four years of traditional business education in order to launch your own business,” he says. “You need a lot of that stuff eventually, but you don’t have to have four years of business education to write a business plan.”

Where to begin new Daniels class gives students hands-on experience in the world of startupsBy Greg Glasgow

“I think in their own ways, each

product that the teams are

working on right now could

have very interesting results in

the marketplace,” Stopper said

of his spring quarter students.

“The challenge is in the execu-

tion, both in terms of how you

build the product and how you

market it. This process frees

them from the limitations of six

months and $30,000 invested

in some app that doesn’t work.

I think of that as the tyranny of

the big investment.”

Wayne Arm

strong

Wayne Arm

strong


Preschoolers may not be able to calculate the circumference of a circle or ponder the delights of pi, but they’re more than ready to enjoy a standing play date with patterns, shapes and numbers.

In fact, says Professor Douglas Clements of the Morgridge College of Education and the Marsico Institute for Early Learning & Literacy, young children have “surprising capabilities to learn incredible amounts of surprisingly deep mathematical ideas—they’re not sitting there writing formulas on paper, but they’re learning in a way that’s appropriate to their developmental level.”

Clements should know. Along with his wife, Professor Julie Sarama, also of the Morgridge College, he’s one of the country’s foremost experts on teaching math to young children. The two hold the University’s James C. Kennedy Endowed Chair in Early Childhood Learning and the James C. Kennedy Chair of Innovative Learning Technologies, respectively.

When Clements and Sarama share their research findings, policymakers and educators take notice. In May, for example, Clements was on Capitol Hill, testifying at a Congressional briefing about the importance of early childhood mathematics intervention.

Together, the two have published more than 125 research studies, as well as 20 books and 70 chapters in scholarly tomes. Their nationally recognized Building Blocks mathematics program, designed for pre-kindergarteners, is celebrated for developing the cognitive foundations for quantitative and spatial reasoning.

The husband-and-wife team has guided more than 25 research projects and more than $25 million in grants from, among others, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Studies. Today, they are working on five of those projects. They are joined on these high-impact projects by co-investigators at universities across the country and by DU graduate students interested in qualitative and quantitative research.

One of their projects explores innovative ways to help children learn science, math and technology content. Another creates and tests assessments that allow teachers to understand

Number theorymorgridge duo developing new innovations in childhood learning By tamara Chapman

The University received $10 million in 2008 from alumnus and former trustee James “Jim” Cox Kennedy (BSBA ’70) to endow three faculty chairs and a program/research endowment in the Morgridge College of Education. These funds were established with the intent to help identify innovative and cost-effective means for promoting and sustaining the educational success of vulner-able children—from early childhood through postsecondary education.

This generous gift established the following program endowment and endowed chairs:• The James c. Kennedy endowment for

educational Success

• The James c. Kennedy endowed chair in early childhood Learning

• The James c. Kennedy endowed chair in Urban education

• The James c. Kennedy endowed chair in Innovative Learning Technologies

Wayne Arm

strong

exactly what children understand. Still another project follows the progress of more than 1,000 students participating in an effort known as TRIAD (Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction Assessment and professional Development). To date, TRIAD students have a better grasp of mathematics concepts than their counterparts in a control group. Continued study will show whether that advantage persists through later years.

Clements and Sarama hope their work will remind decision makers—everyone from school superintendents and politicians to parents and teachers—that the best educational solutions are rooted in cognitive science.

As much as they’ve accomplished, Clements and Sarama still have a robust agenda focused on providing the science to support effective education. Clements sums it up this way: “It shouldn’t surprise me, but it continually surprises me how many things you have to get right to do education well.”

UpdateCampus

Phil Heath thought basketball was his destiny.He was wrong.Though Heath came to the University of

Denver on a basketball scholarship, he ended up finding much more success in the world of bodybuilding. In 2012 he claimed his second consecutive Mr. Olympia title, and in September 2013, he’ll return to Las Vegas to try for his third.

Heath, who grew up in Seattle, came to the University in 1998 to play on DU’s first Division I basketball team. Though he had dreams of going pro, his hoops career came to an end in 2002, when the team was eliminated from the Sun Belt Tournament in the first round.

“Something was just not easy with that. I didn’t like it,” Heath says. “Hearing the buzzer sound and your career is done. I was going to class, and I was still living in the basketball house, so I’m still seeing the guys compete, and it hurt. I despised basketball for a long time. I didn’t go to a game for three years.”

But what Heath thought was an ending turned out to be a beginning. As he was finishing his academic career at DU, he was introduced to bodybuilding by a chance encounter with a classmate in the Daniels College of Business. Intrigued, he started working out at the Coors Fitness Center on campus with a group of aspiring musclemen.

“I start training with these guys, and I realize I’m stronger than most of them who have already been bodybuilding for years,” Heath says. “I end up working a night job with them over at Jackson’s Hole, in the LoDo area, where they’re all bouncers. I thought, ‘This is pretty cool; these guys get paid to stand there looking huge? This is neat.’”

Six months later, Heath competed in his first tournament. In 2006, he won his first

two professional events, the Colorado Pro Championships and the New York Pro Championship. He placed fifth at the Arnold Classic in 2007 and competed at his first Mr. Olympia in 2008. He worked his way to second place in 2010, and in 2011

defeated reigning champ Jay Cutler. Heath took bodybuilding’s biggest prize for the second

time in 2012.

As Mr. Olympia, Heath travels more than 200,000 miles a year for seminars, appearances, competitions and signings in countries all around the world. He also is the star of “Generation Iron,” a new bodybuilding documentary that screened in theaters over the summer.

“I think Phil is definitely one of the best Mr. Olympias that we have had,” says Robin Chang, executive director of the annual contest. “I would say he is the current Arnold Schwarzenegger of bodybuilding. He’s got the personality, the charisma, he’s got the physique to back it up, and he’s a fan favorite.”

Despite all his success, Heath had an additional weight to carry: Competition had taken him away from DU before he had the chance to finish his degree. More than a decade after he first set foot on campus as a freshman basketball player, Heath returned in 2012 to complete his BSBA in information technology—training he uses to run his own website and manage his own merchandising.

“He knew he wouldn’t be complete, no matter what he did on the stage or in the gym, until he had finished this,” says Greg Grauberger (MPS ’12), manager of undergraduate student programs at the Daniels College and Heath’s academic adviser. “There are a lot of guys and gals out there who participated here, whether they were in sports or just academics, who didn’t finish and some of them never think about it. Here’s a guy who has done extremely well; he would never ever need to have a degree with everything that he’s done, but he just felt that he had to do it. I really thought a lot of him for that.”

As he prepares to vie for his third title, Heath is confident he will be Mr. Olympia for a third time. But even if he doesn’t take home the crown, he is happy knowing he reached a pinnacle that few ever even attempted.

“You win the Mr. Olympia, you are the best in the world,” he says. “There is no better than that. Some people will think back prior to the 1950s, where Mr. Universe was the top guy. They say, ‘Are you Mr. Universe?’ ‘No, I’m Mr. Olympia, which is the best of all.’”

Body of workAlumnus Phil Heath talks about his journey to mr. olympiaBy Greg Glasgow


Photos: Justin Edmonds



UpdateCampus

What does University of Denver junior Ryan Holly like about swimming?

As you might expect from a molecular biology major, his answer is very scientific.

“I like that you can quantitate how well you’re doing,” he says. “You can mark your progress as you go. In basketball or football, there’s no real way of determining if you’ve gotten better throughout the season. In swimming, if you went a faster time, you just got better.”

Holly, who grew up in Phoenix, Ariz., has been on the Pioneers swimming and diving team since his first year on campus. He was elected captain in April. During the season he practices with the team six days a week. That’s in addition to weight training three times a week and meets every other week.

When he’s not in the pool, you’re likely to find Holly in a biology lab, where he’s working with Assistant Professor Todd Blankenship to research the effects of certain proteins in fruit flies. The work could help to answer questions about the way cancer grows and spreads.

“At a big school, you’d have so much competition to get into a lab, and chances are you’re just going to be doing a small portion of a project,” Holly says. “Here, I have my own project. It’s been fun.”

After DU, Holly plans to apply to medical school—and his impressive academic record should help him get there. In April, he was awarded Mountain

Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic honors for maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA. For two years in a row he was named DU Scholar Athlete of the Year for having the highest GPA of all student-athletes in his class.

And his first year on campus, he earned a spot on the Sun Belt Commissioner’s List by earning a 3.5 GPA or better.

Between academics and athletics, it’s clear Holly is making the most of his time on campus.

“There are so many opportunities here that you wouldn’t get at a big university,” he says. “I’m just trying to take advantage of all these things. You can only be an undergraduate once.”

One to watchryan Holly, microbiology By Greg Glasgow

Ce Shi

You can make a difference. A simple provision in your will or trust can change the lives of future generations. Help DU shape the leaders and problem-solvers of tomorrow.

Did you know DU will match your current gift or bequest to establish an endowed scholarship? Call for details.

Office of Gift Planning1.800.448.3238 or 303.871.2739E-mail: [email protected] | www.giftplanning.du.edu

Make a Difference & Double Your Gift


tHe beguiLing PAnDA• Zoos around the world vie for the honor of

hosting pandas, though doing so requires specially designed facilities and high fees. These can amount to as much as $1 million a year.

• Even when pandas are born in zoos outside China, they are considered Chinese nationals and are destined to participate in the country’s captive breeding programs.

From: “Giant Pandas: Born Survivors,” by Sarah Bexell and Zhang Zhihe

Conservationist Sarah Bexell serves as scholar-in-residence at the Graduate School of Social

Work’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection. She also is director of conservation education at China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where she works with DU social work students to staff an education program that highlights the connection between human and animal welfare. Bexell’s new book, “Giant Pandas: Born Survivors” (Penguin Books, 2013), is co-authored with Zhang Zhihe, one of China’s leading giant panda experts.

Q You’ve spent a lot of time around pandas. Are they as lovable as their press would suggest?A Absolutely. They are the most peaceful species I have ever had the opportunity to work for. They are amazing mothers and have wonderful, peaceful and stoic personalities. Each individual has his or her own personality, just like we do. Some are goofy and love to play and get dirty. Some are fastidious and are always clean. One of my favorite qualities is their peacefulness. They really like quiet and calm and to be left alone in safety and serenity.

Q For decades, the panda has served as the poster child for endangered species conservation. And your book identifies the panda as a “born survivor.” Is it too soon to consider the panda a success story for conservationists?A Much too soon. I fear we never will be able to call our work for them a success story. None of the barriers to their continued existence has been lifted. The reason giant pandas are teetering on the brink of extinction is because of the human population explosion and our consumption patterns. The reference to giant pandas as born survivors refers to their extremely long history on Earth, with a lineage of at least 8 million years. They are considered a “living fossil,” and their adaptation strategies have allowed them to persist for far longer than most species. The only reason for their decline today is our species, giving us a great moral imperative to save room for them.

Q You make a link, in your book, to human consumption habits and the fate of endangered animals like the panda. What’s the connection?A Every single thing that humans consume takes resources away from other animals. This is a reality that all people need to understand and take personal responsibility for. This, coupled with the exponential growth of our numbers, creates a destructive force. We dominate the planet with our numbers and our taking of resources. From a pencil to a hamburger to cars and homes, all take untold resources to create—resources that other animals and plants depend on as well.

Q What can conservationists learn from the panda’s survival story?A That so far we have taken mostly wrong turns in conservation work. I am making myself slightly unpopular, but we need to get out of our labs and back into the forest, rivers, seas and lakes. Using technology—breeding programs, for example—puts us in a holding pattern at best. It is a sexy way to try to “save” or resurrect species, but the only way to save them is to save their native homes. Conservation professionals did not make mistakes; we trusted humans would save space. We didn’t realize how bad it could get. Decades of reality are now forcing us to come through with stronger strategies. Humans as a species are now threatened by our own behavior. We need to focus all our efforts on curbing the human population, utilizing only what we need from Mother Earth, and leaving every ounce of untouched habitat untouched.

Bear essentialssocial work scholar strives to save the giant pandaInterview by tamara Chapman

Way

ne A

rmst

rong


UpdateCampus

UpdateCampus

Eryn Green got quite the send-off from the University of Denver’s creative-writing program. Shortly before receiving his PhD in June, Green found out he had won the 2013 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize for his book “Eruv.” Green is now counted among a distinguished group of American poets who have received the prestigious award since 1919.

“Since I was a much younger writer, the Yale Series has always been the paragon of exciting new writing to me,” says Green, 29. “Poets that I absolutely admire, including [DU English Professor] Bin Ramke, have won this prize before me, and to be counted in their company is humbling and unbelievable.”

The award celebrates the most prominent new American poets by bringing their work to the

attention of the larger public. Yale University Press will publish Green’s book in April 2014.

Unknowingly, Green began writing his book while pursuing his doctoral studies at DU.

“For a long time I didn’t realize I was writing the book that ended up becoming ‘Eruv,’” he says. “Poems that appear in the manuscript were written as recently as six months ago, and as long ago as three years. Almost all of the work in the book was written while at DU.”

Wilderness is a predominant theme throughout the collection, as attested by Carl Phillips, judge of the award competition. “Eruv,” he says, “reminds us how essential wilderness is to poetry—a wilderness in terms of how form and language both reinvent and get reinvented. Meanwhile, the sensibility behind these poems points to another wilderness, the one that equals thinking about and feeling the world—its hurts, its joys—deeply and unabashedly, as we pass through it.”

Green, who grew up in Park City, Utah, became interested in reading, writing and teaching poetry while attending the University of Utah. He says DU’s reputation as a bastion of adventurous, experimental and ethically minded poetry was well known to him during his MFA studies.

“Eleni Sikelianos, a professor in the DU creative writing program, was a visiting writer at Utah during my time there, and I was fortunate to have several conversations with her that convinced me the reputation was well-deserved,” Green says. “The opportunity to work with poets like Eleni and Bin Ramke, whom I have always admired, as well as fiction writers and literature professors whose work had long impressed me, sealed the deal.”

Green now hopes to become a full-time professor in a graduate program for creative writing. He also will tour in support of his book and continue to write.

“Poetry is not the exclusive property or province of poets, and everyone has access to the same inspiring universe that drives the creation of most poems,” Green says. “Everyone should feel free to read poetry, write it themselves, or simply live their days in a way that feels poetic to them.”

A way with wordsnew creative writing PhD eryn green has been named one of the country’s best young poets By Janette Ballard

Page of Swords

So take care of yourself, learn how to take better pictures, breatheinto your hips, braver pleasegive love credit forthe way I live that call mekind of feelingfrenzied, lupine the card I drawblushing in your breast pocket undressingfreedom I know you know you understand

Wayne Arm

strong


ARTS CALENDAR

MUSIC(all events take place at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts; newmantix.com)

SEPTEMBER20 — Flo’s Underground, student jazz ensembles, 5 p.m., free21 — Newman Center Presents Mark Morris Dance, 7:30 p.m., $23-$5522 — Newman Center Presents Mark Morris Dance, 2 p.m., $23-$55

OCTOBER 7 — Lamont Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., free, ticket required ($5 reserved

seating) 5 — Newman Center Presents Chris Thile, solo mandolin, 7:30 p.m., $23-$60 9 — Jazz Night with Thin Air Band featuring Bobby Shew, 7:30 p.m., free14 — Lamont Wind Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., free16 — Newman Center Presents Colorado Symphony with pianist Natasha Paremski,

7:30 p.m., $23-$5523 — Faculty Recital Benefit: Ricardo Iznaola, guitar, 7:30 p.m., $20-$2527 — Lamont Alumni Jazz Jam, 1:30 p.m., free30 — DU Jazz Faculty Combo, 7:30 p.m., $1031 — Lamont Opera presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma,”

7:30 p.m., $11-$30

NOVEMBER1–2 — Lamont Opera presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma,” 7:30 p.m., $11-$30 3 — Lamont Opera presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma,” 2:30 p.m., $11-$30 6 — Lamont Wind Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., free 7 — Lamont Chorale, Lamont Women’s Chorus, Lamont Men’s Choir, 7:30 p.m., free 8 — Collegiate Choral Festival, 7:30 p.m., free 9 — Newman Center Presents Cameron Carpenter, organ, 7:30 p.m., $23-$55 p10 — Faculty Recital: Jeremy Reynolds, clarinet, 1:30 p.m., $1014 — Lamont Symphony Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., free, ticket required ($5 reserved seating)22–23 Newman Center Presents MOMIX “Botanica,” 7:30 p.m., $23-$55

VISUAL ARTSEPTEMBER 1–OCTOBER 31t “Horizon,” showcasing the work of 53 book artists from the Guild of Book Workers, Anderson Academic Commons, du.edu/commons

OCTOBER 3–NOVEMBER 17Juried Alumni Exhibit, featuring work by DU alumni, Myhren Gallery in the Shwayder Art Building, open noon–5 p.m. daily, free; myhrengallery.com

THEATEROCTOBER 16–20“Circle Mirror Transformation,” DU Department of Theatre, Black Box Theatre, Johnson-McFarlane Hall, 7:30 p.m., $10 OCTOBER 31–NOVEMBER 10“Arabian Nights,” DU Department of Theatre, Byron Theatre, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m., $10

Cameron Carpenter

UpdateCampus

Three new alumni-owned establishments have opened in the DU neighborhood since January. Here’s a look at the new spaces and their Pioneering owners.

Food and drinkAlumni offer new flavors in Du neighborhood By Greg GlasgowPhotos by Wayne Armstrong

slotted spoon meatball eatery2730 S. Colorado Blvd. Unit #19; slottedspoon.com

owner: Alex Comisar (BSBA ’07)

backstory: Taking a cue from homegrown chains such as Chipotle and Noodles & Company, hotel and restaurant management graduate Comisar and well-known Denver chef Jensen Cummings rolled out a new fast-casual food concept Feb. 4: six different varieties of meatballs—beef, chicken, pork, lamb and salmon, plus a black bean/quinoa concoction for the vegetarian crowd—that can be ordered plain, in a sandwich, on pasta or on a salad, with a choice of hot or cold sauces, including romesco, chili queso and garlic vinaigrette.


maddie’s restaurant2423 S. Downing St.; maddiesrestaurant.com

owner: Gayor Geller (BSBA ’99, MIM ’01, JD ’04, MS ’08)

backstory: Geller lives in the Harvard Gulch neighborhood west of campus, and the breakfast and lunch spot he opened in January in the former Cozy Cottage space is filled with relics from the years he spent managing jam bands and music festivals—concert posters, backstage passes and more. On the menu at Maddie’s—named after his 2-year-old daughter—are yummy breakfast treats including housemade latkes and chicken schnitzel and eggs.

steam espresso bar1801 S. Pearl St.; facebook.com/steamespressobar

owners: Twin brothers Hani El-Yaafouri (MS ’08, MRLS ’10) and Zahi El-Yaafouri (MS ’01, MRCM ’01, MBA ’03)

backstory: Hani El-Yaafouri (pictured) worked for Starbucks for six years in the brothers’ home country of Lebanon, starting as a barista and ending up in the corporate office. For their Old South Pearl café, the brothers went simpler, using reclaimed wood and other materials to turn a former photography studio into a destination coffee experience.

24 University of Denver Magazine sPring 2013

Film students go behind the camera to shoot their own short documentaries.By Greg Glasgow

r e eLLife

University of Denver Magazine FALL 2013 25

emonDAY, JAnuArY 28

Like most movie projects, it all starts with the pitch. A roomful of DU film students, having spent the last three

weeks learning about the art and theory of documentaries, is now ready to start making their own films.

Each has been assigned to come up with three ideas, and one by one they stand in front of the class to deliver their pitches. The concepts cover the gamut: ultimate Frisbee. Blind skiers. A profile of a local dubstep DJ. Medical marijuana. Breed-specific dog legislation.

Each pitch is met with thoughtful questions from the class: questions about access, funding, timing and the ethics of making a movie starring your friends. After class, each student will pick his or her top three pitches. Teams will be formed, and the rest of the ideas discarded.

Senior Courtney Merage stands in front of the class and talks about a program she learned about while volunteering at the Emily Griffith Technical College in downtown Denver. The Pathways Program gives job training and English lessons to refugees and immigrants by teaching them to work at an onsite coffee shop. Merage proposes a film about the program and the people it helps.

“I’ve always been so inspired by those refugees because they are so resilient,” Merage says later. “But there have been so many documentaries that already tell an amazing story of the resiliency

of refugees. The one component that made [this one] different was this coffee-shop setting. We have a really unique, hyperactive coffee culture in America.”

FriDAY, FebruArY 22Three weeks later, the students have made their choices and

teams have been assigned. Seniors Jessica Markowitz and Montana Knapp were drawn to Merage’s energy and her idea, and all three are now dedicated to telling the stories of the refugees in the Pathways Program.

“The reason I’m in film is to connect with a larger audience and to focus on more global issues, and it seemed like this one was great for that,” Knapp says later. “I just knew that it could have a huge impact.”

Today, the team is on its way to Kaladi Brothers Coffee near campus to film an “observational sequence”—no narration, just footage of employees working at Kaladi, which is a shadow site for the job-training program. The team is nervous, but excited. It’s their first time, as a group, wrestling with equipment and shooting footage in the field. Before they begin, they tape sheets to Kaladi’s door letting patrons know they consent to be filmed by coming inside. “You guys, we’re going to be expert photographers after this,” Merage tells her teammates. “We have to be.”

Photos: Jake Schuss

each year, students in the University of Denver’s film studies and production program get the chance to put their technical training to the test, dividing into teams to conceptualize, shoot and edit their own short films. Students alternate each year between narrative films—fictional movies with a script—and documentaries. In the winter and spring quarters of 2013, students in Documentary Film and Video Production I and II, team-taught by associate professors Sheila Schroeder and Diane Waldman, made short documentaries on topics including amateur poker, wolf rescue, mortality, and programs that help refugees adjust to life in America. the University of Denver Magazine followed one team through the filmmaking process.


tHursDAY, APriL 18Midway through their production cycle, the students are ready

to pitch again. DU alumnus and movie producer Roger Birnbaum (attd. 1968–71), co-chairman and chief executive officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and co-founder of Spyglass Entertainment, is on campus as part of the Masters Program put together by DU’s alumni relations department. After telling the documentary film class about his road to Hollywood, Birnbaum hears a pitch from each group, evaluating them as he would if he were in his Beverly Hills office.

Merage represents the coffee-shop team, pitching a short documentary that is now called “Americano.”

“An Iraqi and a Congolese walk into an American coffee shop,” she begins. “This may sound like the beginning of a very tasteless joke, but in fact it’s the beginning of a flavorful journey in pursuit of the American dream. In ‘Americano,’ the American coffee shop becomes playground and classroom for a group of refugee men and women. In a one-month-long program, they not only learn to become baristas, they learn to become Americans.”

Birnbaum likes the idea, but he has questions about the story. “The world in which you want to set your story is very rich and has lots of ways to convey an emotional journey,” he says. “But I’m not sure what the story is. I know the characters and the setting but not the story.”

It’s advice the team will take to heart in the weeks to come. “Story” becomes their mantra as they begin to edit their film.

“At that point, we really hadn’t solidified our character and our

story, and so—as he mentioned—we didn’t really display that story arc that he was looking for, and that was so key,” Merage says later. “We know from now on that when it comes to pitching and when it comes to creating your story, the main thing that you want to hold onto is that arc.”

WeDnesDAY, mAY 8 Over the past few months, all five teams have logged dozens

of hours behind the camera and in the editing bay. Merage, Knapp and Markowitz have been all over Denver, it seems: at the Emily Griffith school, filming refugees learning in the classroom and training at the coffee shop; at the home of Kim Hosp, the woman who teaches the refugees about customer service and American customs; and back at Kaladi Brothers, filming one of the refugees as he trains on the job. For the DU students, this is learning without a net—outside the classroom, in the real world.

“They’ve had the classes that laid the foundation,” Schroeder says later, “but [Diane and I] are not making calls to participants, we aren’t there setting up the dolly track, we’re not there saying, ‘Check your sound’ or in the edit bay saying, ‘This is how you connect the sound with the video.’” In the field, the students are totally on their own.

Today, the teams are ready to screen their rough cuts for the class. Generally longer than the finished film, the rough cut sets up the film’s structure and basic format.

The “Americano” team’s 10-minute rough cut—assembled from more than 30 hours of footage—makes it clear that their film


is morphing into a story about Naseer Al Hammal, one of the Iraqi refugees the team has been following. There’s a dilemma, though: The film crew has become good friends with two other refugees, brothers Matti and Majd Matti, and they feel bad about the idea of leaving their stories on the cutting-room floor.

“Part of our ethical dilemma here, outside of the film itself, is that we’re all close now,” Merage says of the brothers. “We’re not like besties or anything, but we text, we’re getting coffee—so we would feel awful not including them. And they’re really expecting to be part of it. The stories all work; it’s just a matter of truncating it.”

After the screening, the other students offer their critiques of “Americano.” Is the montage too fast? Should they put the classroom scenes first? Is there too much focus on Hosp? Schroeder emphasizes it’s important to know your story first, then figure out how to tell it.

“I think that speaks to what you did really well with Naseer in introducing him,” Schroeder tells the “Americano” team. “Immediately, we have a very compelling story as to why he is here. He is here because obviously he has had this very traumatic experience in Iraq, so his refugee status hinges on this moment. Where with Matti and Majd, we don’t get that story.

“You really need to think about this film for an audience who knows nothing about it,” she tells them. “I don’t really get the connection between class and what they’re doing in the coffee shops. There are some great things going on here; this is appropriate for a rough cut, working out these issues. I think you’ve got it all, save for the end. It just needs a little more work.”

WeDnesDAY, mAY 15 It’s a rainy night on the University of Denver campus,

and Merage, Markowitz and Knapp are in an editing bay in the journalism building, putting the finishing touches on their documentary. Schroeder has told the class about the small miracles that can happen when you’re making a documentary, and the “Americano” team is about to experience one of them firsthand.

While perusing YouTube for archival footage to use in their documentary, they come across amateur video of a bus bombing in Mosul, Iraq, in May 2010. The video shows the immediate aftermath of the attack, and amid the bloodied victims, harried doctors and worried family members, the filmmakers pick out one lone figure walking to the front of the frame.

“Oh my god, that’s him!” Merage cries. Improbably, from amateur video three years and half a world away, the DU filmmakers have found Naseer, their subject, in the chaos surrounding a terrorist attack. He’s wearing the same clothes he wears in one of their interview segments.

I feel like as filmmakers we have a

stake in Naseer’s life, and just as

human beings we have a stake in his

life, which is really cool.

Photos: Jake Schuss


tuesDAY, June 4Two days from premiering “Americano” at the documentary film

showcase on campus, Merage, Knapp and Markowitz sit down to talk about the project and what it’s meant to them.

“I’ve never been prouder of anything in my entire life,” says Merage, an international business major with a film minor. “I feel like as filmmakers we have a stake in Naseer’s life, and just as human beings we have a stake in his life, which is really cool. We talk to him all the time, and we are also working on making sure he gets a job. That’s why I’m in film. I want to be able to have that kind of impact.”

All three agree that “Americano” was the highlight of their DU experience, not least because it got them out of the classroom and into the real world.

“I think what we did best was the story,” Markowitz says. “When we were filming we were always focused on the story, and I think that comes out in our final piece. Even though when we were editing it was very choppy and it wasn’t clear, now I think we got it.”

Another positive aspect of the class, they say, was the community they formed with their teachers and fellow students.

“We got so much guidance and resources and tools and knowledge,” Merage says. “I’m really, really proud of our work, and I know how much work we put into it, but I don’t think it would have been as awesome as it is without the class. Without Sheila and Diane and the knowledge that they gave us, and the feedback from our peers.”

The seniors are now fast friends with plans to work together again someday—perhaps on a longer version of “Americano” that has room for Matti and Majd—but today they’re focused on Commencement, which is less than a week away, and on their postgraduation plans. Markowitz, an environmental science major

with a film minor, is headed to Alaska to be a sea-kayaking guide for the summer.

“They’re excited I have all this experience in film,” she says. “I’m planning on making a documentary there, and I also think they want me to make a marketing video for their company.”

Knapp, meanwhile, is planning to spend part of her summer working on a movie in Iowa. After that, massage therapy school.

“The reason I wanted to apply in the first place was because if I did go and travel making documentaries, I could bring massage therapy with me and make money while I was doing documentaries,” she says. “You don’t make money off of them when you’re making them.”

Merage says she is taking the summer to write a novel and submit “Americano” to film festivals. “Then I’ll become a grownup and get a job,” she says—hopefully as a producer’s assistant.

tHursDAY, June 6 It all comes down to this: screening night in Davis Auditorium

on campus. Many of the students are dressed up; family members are there; there’s a preshow reception—the feel is a cross between a high school choir concert and a Hollywood opening. Naseer couldn’t come because he had to work, but Matti and Majd, the brothers whose stories ended up on the cutting-room floor, are there, as is Kim Hosp, the teacher at the Pathways program. Subjects of some of the other student films are in the audience as well, delighted to have their stories told. Knapp later describes it as a “magical night.”

Before the screenings begin, Schroeder has an announcement: Wade Gardner, founder of the annual DocuWest festival in Golden,

Photos: Wayne Arm

strong


Colo., is so impressed with the students’ work that he’s decided to program all five films into this year’s festival, running Sept. 11–15.

“For him to come to us to suggest, ‘I’d like to make a whole program of the DU films,’ that’s a real honor for the program,” Schroeder says later. “If there was a [bad film] in there, he wouldn’t have said that.”

The lights go down, and “Americano” begins. The finished film is not that different from the rough cut, but it is much more refined and focused. The found footage from YouTube adds emotional heft to Naseer’s story. After the credits roll, the applause is loud and long.

“It was pretty amazing; it got really emotional,” Knapp says later. “It was like we were watching it for the first time, which was weird since we watched it so many times. To have all that reassurance was kind of overwhelming, but in a really good way.”

Merage agrees. “It was pretty miraculous,” she says. “It was one of the most exciting and proudest nights of all our lives, at least mine. We were all very excited and nervous, very sentimental—we were all clutching each other’s hands right before our screening started. We had some people who were involved who ended up crying afterwards just because they were so proud and moved. I think everybody who was involved with it, they were all pretty proud.”

It’s not just “Americano” that’s a hit at the showcase; after each of the five films, the audience is enthusiastic in its response and thoughtful in the questions asked of the filmmakers in the short Q&A session that follows each screening.

“I think across the faculty, not just Diane and myself, there’s a

strong sentiment that this was our strongest program of films that the students have ever done,” Schroeder says later. She attributes that in part to the fact that film studies has only been a major for four years, making the class of 2013 the first to have it as an option since they started at DU.

“They had the chance to be a major from the get-go, so they’ve built this community,” Schroeder says. “This class was really outstanding in the way that they were supportive of each other. The critique that they give each other, not only in the classroom, but sitting in the editing bay and saying, ‘Hey, come take a look at this scene’—

that sort of growth and trust in each other, and the filmmaking community that I think we have here, I’m particularly proud of that.”

And she is proud of the “Americano” team, the only all-female team in the class, which had to negotiate a world of refugees and red tape to get its documentary made.

“The road is very steep in filmmaking for women, so to have this group develop the kind of trust and excitement and camaraderie that they did is a wholly unique experience in the filmmaking world,” Schroeder says. “This is a really intelligent group of filmmakers, but for them to have that experience as their last experience in college, I think, is going to really enhance their confidence in what they can do because they were able to do it and do it very, very well. I think it’s a really tight film.”

>>See “Americano” and the four other student documentaries online at du.edu/docs

DOCUMENTARY SEQUENCE STUDENT PRODUCTIONSTHURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2013

MEDIA, FILM & JOURNALISM STUDIESFACULTY

Renee BottaRod BuxtonLynn Schofield ClarkTyrone DaviesChristof Demont-HeinrichTony GaultRobert HandleyElizabeth HenryNadia KanevaErika PolsonAdrienne RussellSheila SchroederDerigan SilverMargie ThompsonDiane Waldman

FACEBOOKMedia, Film & Journalism at DU

TWITTERMedia_FilmatDU

WEBwww.du.edu/mfjs

“Americano” was one of five short documentaries produced in the winter and spring quarters of 2013 by students in the Documentary Film and Video Production class. The other four films were:

Hope is Free at This Shop: A look at Safari Thrift, a second-hand store in Aurora, Colo., that teaches refugees job skills and helps them find employment. Team: Brian Bakos, Ty Dockter, Wanda Lakota, Xusiming

Refuge: Wolves and humans find sanctuary at Colorado nonprofit Mission: Wolf. Team: Merle Gleiforst, Brittany Heath

Leveled: An exploration of death, the great equalizer, through a variety of perspectives, including those of a cemetery worker and a priest. Team: Patrick Gillespie, Jennifer O’Connor, Mike McKelvey, David Stewart

Final Table: This film follows DU film student Jonny Havey to an amateur poker tournament in Las Vegas. Team: Samuel Granados, Jonny Havey, Dan Ketchum

WATCH ONLINE


DDon’t feel bad, Pioneers fans, if you have to consult a scorecard to make sense of some of your favorite teams’ new rivalries. Given that it is a time of unprecedented change in DU’s athletics department, keeping a few notes handy will be perfectly understandable.

Old rivalries have passed by the wayside. New rivalries are on the horizon. And, perhaps most strikingly, most of the Pioneers’ athletics programs will venture into new home conferences in 2013–14.

No program illustrates this shift more clearly than the DU hockey team. The arrival of new head coach Jim Montgomery is only one part of a programwide transformation that includes the team’s first season in the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which will boast some of the most powerful programs in the nation.

But hockey is far from the only program setting foot in a new home this year. The bulk of the Pioneers’ varsity teams will take part in their first season in the Summit League in 2013–14, following a one-year excursion into the Western Athletic Conference. Eleven DU teams are making the move: men’s and women’s basketball; men’s and women’s golf; men’s and women’s soccer; men’s and women’s swimming and diving; men’s and women’s tennis; and volleyball.

Finally, the men’s lacrosse team, fresh off its second appearance in the NCAA Semifinals in three seasons, has joined the Big East Conference, where the Pioneers’ program will enjoy a bigger profile along the East Coast, the nation’s traditional lacrosse hot spot.

Confused? Don’t worry. As soon as the games start, it will be business as usual for the Pioneers as they vie for their various conference crowns. Here is a look at some of the DU programs as they go into the 2013–14 season.

Du athletics teams

gear up for a

season of new

challenges.By Pat Rooney

PIONEERS!LET’S GO,


WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Pioneers enter the fray in the Summit League as head coach Kerry Cremeans begins her second year at the helm.

Although Cremeans will have to fill a gaping hole in the lineup after the graduation of point guard Emi Smith—the program’s all-time leader in assists—the Pioneers will welcome back the rest of their rotation and should be instant competitors in their new league.

Junior Morgan Van Riper-Rose emerged as a dependable scorer in 2012–13, leading the Pioneers with a scoring average of 13.3 points a game. Senior Maiya Michel should again be a force in the paint after pacing the club with 9.8 rebounds a game, and a healthy season from senior Quincey Noonan, who was limited to just 11 games last year, will help DU at both ends of the floor.

Perhaps most intriguing will be the continued development of sophomore Kailey Edwards. The Colorado native only grew more confident as her rookie campaign continued, finishing second on the team with 10.1 points per game. If her late surge last season is any indication, Edwards will be a threat to score 20 points every game.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Head coach Joe Scott’s team earned a share of the WAC regular season crown last year after posting an overall record of 22–10 and going 16-2 in conference play. The team went on to earn a spot in the National Invitation Tournament, the Pioneers’ first post-season selection since 2005.

The Pioneers return the nucleus of a squad that defeated Ohio University at Magness Arena for DU’s first-ever win in a national postseason tournament before falling to Maryland in a hard-fought second round contest in College Park, Md.

Denver returns its top two scorers from 2012–13 in senior captain Chris Udofia, who earned all-conference first team and all-defensive honors in each of the past two seasons, and junior point guard Brett Olson, who was voted All-WAC third team last season.

“We’ll have three new guys in the locker room, and we still have a lot of guys coming back,” Scott says. “For us, once again finding an identity with the new faces will be key. Cam Griffin will be better. Jalen Love will be better. Marcus Byrd will be better.”

Griffin, Love and Byrd all played significant roles last season, and they are expected to step into larger roles after the departure of Chase Hallam, who graduated, and Royce O’Neale, who transferred to Baylor to be closer to an ailing family member.

DU also welcomes Griffin McKenzie, a transfer from Xavier who practiced with the Pioneers last season but now regains his eligibility after sitting out last year due to NCAA transfer regulations.

PIONEERS!

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WOMEN’S SOCCER

The women’s soccer team provided one of the highlights of the entire 2012–13 school year when senior Nicholette DiGiacomo completed a hat trick in dramatic fashion, recording her third goal of the game in overtime against Maryland in the second round of the NCAA tournament, giving DU its first berth in the NCAA Sweet 16.

As usual under coach Jeff Hooker, who is entering his 22nd year with the Pioneers, DU should be one of the favorites in the conference, this time in the Summit League. The Pioneers are set to return two of their top three scorers from a year ago, including DiGiacomo and leading scorer Kristen Hamilton. A two-time conference player of the year, first in the Sun Belt in 2011 and again last year in the WAC, Hamilton ranks among DU’s all-time leaders in goals (37) and assists (24) and is on track to receive three consecutive conference player of the year awards in three different leagues.

Hooker will have to fill a void at goalie following the graduation of Lara Campbell, but a solid corps of defenders led by senior Jessy Battelli and junior Sam Harder likely will take a world of pressure off the Pioneers’ new netminder.

MEN’S SOCCER

Coach Bobby Muuss led the Pioneers to 11 wins last season—the second best finish in the team’s NCAA Division I history—and Denver returns 18 players and six starters for the 2013 campaign. The Pioneers will, however, need to fill the void left by five graduating seniors, including Drew Beckie, who was drafted by the Columbus Crew.

DU returns senior Zach Bolden, who was voted All-MPSF First Team after tying for the team lead with 20 points last season, including a team-leading 10 assists. A number of role players are more than capable of filling the potential holes in DU’s lineup, a group that includes senior Cole Chapleski (three goals, one assist in 2012) and junior Brian Hoyt (four goals, one assist). The Pioneers should be strong defensively with the return of junior goalie Oliver Brown, who went 9–5–3 last year while starting 18 of 20 games. GYMNASTICS

After finishing fourth at the NCAA regionals last year, DU should be poised once again to make waves nationally. The team finished the 2012–13 regular season with a Regional Qualifying Score ranking of 196.470, the highest in the program’s history.

Leading the way during the 2013–14 season should be senior Moriah Martin, who is coming off her second consecutive berth as an individual qualifier at the NCAA finals, having advanced in 2013 in the all-around. Martin became the fifth DU gymnast to collect All-American honors.

Although coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart was forced to say farewell to departed seniors Brianna Springer and Simona Castro, the Pioneers of 2012–13 were a largely young team, and the continued development of those athletes should provide a huge boost to DU in 2013–14. Senior Kaitlin Moorhead led the Pioneers with a vault average of 9.871, and junior Nina McGee should be even stronger after turning in a solid season on the heels of a fall 2012 operation to insert steel rods into both shins.

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Rich Clarkson and Associates

VOLLEYBALL

Women’s volleyball coach Jesse Mahoney enters his second year at the helm in 2013, looking to improve on a 2012 season that was one of the team’s most successful seasons in recent years. DU finished 2012 with a 17-13 record powered by an offense ranked first in the WAC and 44th in the country. The bad news? Mahoney will have to replace his floor leader after the graduation of Faimie Kingsley, a middle hitter who finished the final season of her career ranked sixth in the NCAA in blocking and 22nd for her offense.

But DU will welcome back another First Team All-League selection in senior Colleen King. Also returning are three of the Pioneers’ top four attackers, a group that includes King and sophomore Michele Swope, who was named to the WAC All-Freshman team last year. DU should be strong defensively as it moves into the Summit League.

SKIING

The Pioneers will look for their 22nd national title in 2014 after finishing fourth at last year’s championships under alpine head coach Andy LeRoy and Nordic head coach Dave Stewart.

Denver’s alpine team returns sophomore Kristine Haugen, who became just the sixth skier in NCAA history and the first Pioneer to sweep both the slalom and the giant slalom at the NCAA Championships. Haugen also completed the season undefeated in the giant slalom. Fellow sophomore Silje Benum earned All-American First Team honors in freestyle and All-American Second Team honors in the classical, while classmate Tianda Carrol earned First Team All-American honors in the slalom.

The Pioneers also welcome back redshirt senior Makayla Cappel, juniors Max Marno, Devin Delaney and Trevor Philp and 2012 NCAA slalom champion Espen Lysdahl, all of whom raced to All-American Second Team honors in 2013.

SWIMMING & DIVING

On the men’s side, the Pioneers return 20 letter-winners from last season’s squad, which posted a fourth-place finish at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships. Leading DU’s first season in the Summit League for head coach Brian Schrader is senior Kyle Milberg, who was recognized as the MPSF Swimmer of the Year in 2013. Joining Milberg are returnees Andrew Torres, Jeremiah Zgliczynski, Darian Brunetti and Tanner Krall, each of whom competed at the U.S. National Championships this summer.

Leading the charge for the women will be junior Samantha Corea, who set WAC and DU records last season in the 200 backstroke. Corea also was recognized as the WAC Swimmer of the Year in 2012–13 and is expected to be a major force in the pool again during the 2013–14 campaign.

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HOCKEY

If an atmosphere of change and turnover is a daunting prospect for new coach Jim Montgomery, the former standout at the University of Maine isn’t admitting it.

Former head coach George Gwozdecky is gone. So is the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the program’s home for six decades, and so are leading scorers Nick Shore and Chris Knowlton and goalie Juho Olkinuora.

“George is a legend, and some people think that is a tough person to replace,” Montgomery says. “But I know what I believe in, and I believe in a process. If you’re consistent with your process, the results will follow. I’ve always believed that.”

While DU is short some of its offensive firepower as it enters the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, senior goalie Sam Brittain remains and should be the anchor of the Pioneers’ defense. As usual, DU will welcome a highly touted freshman class. In addition, a solid group of forwards that includes Daniel Doremus, Ty Loney and Zac Larraza should keep DU competitive in what promises to be an exciting inaugural season in the NCHC.

Jim Montgomery, former head coach of Tier 1 junior ice hockey

team the Dubuque Fighting Saints, was named DU’s head coach in April. Montgomery replaces George Gwozdecky, who had been behind the Pioneers bench since 1994. The 2013–14 season will mark the beginning of the Montgomery era, and the coach recently sat down to discuss his new post.

Q When you were hired, you still had to finish your old job with the Fighting Saints. When did you first have an opportunity to start getting to know your new players?A My first day on campus was the Tuesday after Memorial Day. I got settled in that day, and then I had one-on-one meetings with the entire team. I had already met with them the day of the press conference, but I kind of laid down who I am, how I operate, and what they could expect as a team. It gave me an opportunity to get to know them on a one-on-one level. It was a great opportunity to meet the players. I’ve been getting to know a lot of people, and the support from everyone has blown me away. It’s been wonderful.

Q What were your impressions of the players following those meetings?A I think it was three things. One was how much more mature they are than the level I’m coming from. Their maturity in setting personal goals and academic goals—it was very impressive. Their intelligence—it was like I was talking to peers, and I’ll have less of a mentor role than I had at the junior level. So their maturity, their intelligence, and finally what really struck me was their expectations of what Denver hockey should be. They expect excellence, and that’s what I’m hoping for.

Q What are the challenges coming into a program with such a high profile?A The culture of excellence was already there, and George set that culture. The tools are already there for success. You don’t have to rebuild; you have to reload. I don’t see it as pressure. I see it as a wonderful opportunity. The opportunity for us to win right away is here in front of us.

beHinD tHe bencH:

meet the Pioneers’ new hockey coachBy Pat Rooney

Rich Clarkson and Associates

University of Denver Magazine CONNECTIONS 41

ConnectionsAlumni

A member of the Kappa Delta sorority and finalist for the Kynewisbok Queen crown parades before judges in the Kappa Delta living room in this photo from the 1964 Kynewisbok. If you can identify anyone in this photo or have Greek life photos of your own to share, please contact us.


1942Virginia (Raum) Lacy (BA ’42) of San Diego volunteers with her daughter for the San Diego Armed Services YWCA. In June, they traveled to Peru and the Galapagos Islands, with a side trip through the Amazon jungle. This month they plan to take a boat trip around the Ligurian Sea, visiting the Italian and French rivieras.

1957Frank Swancara (BA ’57) of Cedaredge, Colo., recently took an 89-mile rafting trip down the Colorado River. Frank’s first job was with the National Park Service as a sea-sonal park ranger at Grand Canyon National Park in 1956.

1960Stephanie Allen (BA ’60) of Denver received the 2012 Leader of Vision award from the Women’s Vision Foundation, an organization she founded. Stephanie is a principal of the Athena Group, a consulting firm that deals with organizational culture change and leadership.

1962Lester Bundy (BFA ’62) of Boulder, Colo., won first prize in the mixed media category at a juried art show in Lafayette, Colo., in March. Lester is a professor emeritus at Regis University in Denver.

The classesDoug Curliss (BA ’62), who has changed his name to Black-Eagle Sun, in May 2013 was inducted into the hall of fame at his alma mater, Burrillville High School, in Harris-ville, R.I. Curliss was all-state in football and baseball. He resides in Albuquerque, N.M.

1963Leslee (Carlson) Breene (attd. 1962–63) released her fifth novel, “Journey to Sand Castle” (Amazon Digital Services, 2013). Set in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, the book involves a divorced teacher, an orphaned child of Hurricane Katrina and a widowed rancher caught up in an inspirational jour-ney of love and redemption.

David Mount (BA ’63) of Hanover, Ind., serves as treasurer on the board of the Madison Performing Arts Foundation of Madison, Ind. David served for six years as president of the Jefferson County chapter of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association.

1965Donald Hanks (MA ’65) was honored by a $2 million bequest dedicated to the Donald K. Hanks Endowed Scholarship Fund in Philosophy. The gift, offered by the late Carl

Muckley, provides scholarships for worthy majors in the Department of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans, where Donald is professor emeritus and where Muckley was a distinguished student. Don-ald currently is a member of the philosophy faculty at Western Nevada College in Carson City, Nev.

Leslie Kleen (BM ’65) of Columbus, Ohio, wrote “The Starry Messenger,” an opera about the life of Galileo. It had its pre-miere at the McConnell Arts Center in Worthing-ton, Ohio, in April.

1966David Erickson (JD ’66) and his wife, Jeanne, in March traveled to Iceland with Adjunct Professor Peter Geoffrey Bowen and his wife, Shirley. David and Jeanne have trav-eled in more than 50 countries and in 49 of the 50 states. Later this year, they will take an extensive trip to the Middle East, South Asia, East Africa and South Africa.

Sharyn Udall (BA ’66) of Santa Fe, N.M., has published her eighth book, “Dance and American Art: A Long Embrace” (University of Wisconsin Press, 2012). The book tells the story of how

KrISTINE CECIL NEw hEAd OF ALumNI rELATIONSThe University of Denver

Office of Alumni Relations has new leadership. Kristine Cecil, associate vice chancellor for University Advancement, is now also executive director of Alumni Relations. Working closely with staff, faculty, students, parents, alumni and the extended DU community, Cecil and her team will continue to enhance the existing network of chapters

and affinity groups, in addition to focusing on robust programming and engagement opportunities for the more than 120,000 alumni living across the country and around the globe.

“It’s an exciting time for DU, particularly as we prepare for the launch of our sesquicentennial celebration in March 2014,” Cecil says.

“Chancellor Coombe and the Board of Trustees recognize the important role alumni played in shaping the University over the past 150 years, and together, we look forward to increasing alumni engagement, participation and opportunities to help shape its future.”

Cecil came to the University in June 2011. In addition to leading the Alumni Relations team, she also oversees the annual giving and parent and family giving programs. Prior to joining the University of Denver, Cecil served as vice president for external relations at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.

“Alumni are our greatest asset,” Cecil says. “Their involvement as advocates, volunteers and supporters of the University is vital to our continued success. I look forward to connecting with members of the DU family on campus and in their communities. As we move forward, I would love to hear from people who are interested in being a part of shaping our University’s future.”

Contact Kristine Cecil at [email protected] or 303-871-2412.— Erica Wood

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Save the Date The Class of 1964 50-year reunion will be June 6–7, 2014. Call 303-871-2701 for details.


ProfilerETIrEE Joe Saunders

Joe Saunders hasn’t had it easy for the past six years.

As CEO and executive chairman of Visa Inc., Saunders led the global electronic-payments network through what he calls a “historic evolution of payments” made even more difficult by the recent financial crisis and ongoing federal regulations.

He led Visa through the most transforma-tive years in the company’s history, changing the way hundreds of millions of cardholders pay for everything from college tuition and vacations to a cup of coffee. Among his big-gest successes: merging Visa’s six independent regional associations into one big company and in 2008 pulling off the then-largest IPO in U.S. history.

It’s no wonder the 67-year-old is ready for a break. Saunders (BSBA ’67, MBA ’68) retired from his position in April and will focus on his other roles, including chair of Teach for All, an organization working to expand educational opportunities worldwide by enlisting future leaders in the effort.

The Chicago native—who has spent most of his career in the credit card industry—leaves behind a record that has earned high marks from analysts and colleagues.

“We think of ourselves not as successful or leading an industry, which we do, but we think of ourselves as a company that desperately is searching for a way to do it better and a way to change,” Saunders says.

But perhaps closest to Saunders’ heart has been promoting financial literacy to people all over the world. Teaching people from high school and college students to employees about the basics of money—what it is, how to use it responsibly, how to invest it—has been a huge priority for the company that manages credit, debit and prepaid cards.

“It’s a quite fulfilling thing, and frankly it’s a smart thing economically,” Saunders says. “The more engaged they are, the more financially literate they are.”

Saunders is quick to give credit to DU, where he admits he didn’t start off as a “ball of fire.” Instead, he found himself looking up to the motivated people who surrounded him. “I was fortunate to be around a lot of people with the notion of continuing education after you got a degree, which was a very important thing,” he says. “I was around people who took themselves seriously. It was an incredibly enlightening experience. I enjoyed the people who were there with me, the people who taught me, and they prepared me to be what I became.”

Saunders has been a member of the executive advisory board for the Daniels College of Business for the past four years, and he and his wife, Sharon, in March 2013 donated $1.55 million to endow the Joseph W. and Sharon P. Saunders Endowed Global Education Fund to provide scholarships for global consultancy projects and coursework for students.

“People ask me how they should act when they start out in business, and I think it’s important when you go to work somewhere to listen, to learn, to pay attention and to take initiative whenever you can. Don’t just wait to be told what to do,” he says. “Take an idea and work hard on it. And I brought that with me from Denver.”

—Kathryn Mayer

American visual artists have been inspired by dance subjects for more than a century.

1968Rilla Rae Franklin Angus (BA ’68) of Everett, Wash., is on YouTube as “Grandma Ril Rae,” reading to children about the adventures of her character Yellow Dog. Milicent Wewerka (MA ’68) of Eagle Point, Ore., retired after 40 years of service at the Library of Congress. Milicent recently was appointed to Eagle Point’s city planning commission.

1969Fred Stitt (BSBA ’69) of Evans, Ga., received the 2013 Elsine Katz Volunteer Leader of the Year Award from Goodwill Industries Interna-tional. The award is given to a local volunteer in recognition of outstanding leadership and service to a member Goodwill Industries organization.

Paul Verciglio (BSBA ’69) of Toronto is retir-ing after 52 years in the hotel industry. Paul has spent the last 24 years working with Hyatt Hotels, leading the award-winning Park Hyatt Toronto & Stillwater Spa.

1970Rosalind Dudden (MA ’70) in May received the Marcia C. Noyes Award, the highest professional distinction of the Medical Library Association. The award “recognizes a career which has resulted in lasting, outstanding contributions to health sciences librarianship.” Rosalind was library and knowledge services director at National Jewish Health in Denver from 1986–2011 and has been a member of the Medical Library Association and the Colorado Council of Medical Librarians since 1971. Rosalind retired in July 2011 and now works on pottery, photography and writing.

Cheryl Miller (CWC ’70) of Benton Harbor, Mich., is president and CEO of New Products Corp., a global supplier of custom precision die-cast aluminum and zinc products that serve a variety of industries.

Barbara Sattler (BA ’70) of Tucson, Ariz., retired after 17 years as a criminal defense attorney and 11 years as a superior court judge. Barbara is the author of “Dog Days” (CreateSpace, 2013), a book that combines her two passions: justice and dogs.

Courtesy of Visa


in Search of an Author.” Shaila previously taught English at DU, Jacksonville Univer-sity in Florida and Fort Lewis College in Durango. She also has written composition manuals, a linguistics text and several articles.

1976Karl Gills (BSBA ’76) of Steamboat Springs, Colo., was awarded the 2012 Navigator Award by the Steamboat Springs Resort Chamber Association. The award recognizes the community’s businessperson of the year.

1978Barry Feldman (BA ’78) of Frontenac, Mo., is a home loan specialist with First Bank

Mortgage. Barry, who has more than 14 years of banking and financial service experience, will be responsible for originating residential mortgages in 40 states. Barry is a supporter of the Laurie Brin Feldman Breast Cancer Fund at the Siteman Cancer Center as well as a member of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis; American Bankers Association; Mortgage Professionals, St. Louis Banking and Finance; and the University of Denver Alumni Association.

Roy Wilson (MA ’78, MS ’83) of Norfolk, Va., published a book titled “Mulling Over School and Life: Some Will Win, Some Will Lose (and Some Are Born to Sing the Blues),” which uses two yearbooks from the same high school to explore questions of success and education. Roy

In 1958, three years after he graduated from the University of Denver, David Rothenberg arrived in New York City, hoping to find a job in the world of theater. By 1966, Rothenberg was working with the biggest playwrights on Broadway, including Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and Harold Pinter.

In his new book, “Fortune in My Eyes: A Memoir of Broadway Glamour, Social Justice, and Political Passion” (Applause Books, 2012), Rothenberg (BA ’55) shares sto-ries from his theatrical career and tells how his work in the theater led to a life of activism, advocating for gay rights and the rights of prisoners.

As a new arrival in the Big Apple, Rothenberg talked his way into a job as an assistant to a theatrical press agent. He soon found himself rubbing elbows with stars such as Charles Nelson Reilly, Bette Davis and a young Alvin Ailey.

Rothenberg’s life changed in 1966, when he decided to produce “Fortune and Men’s Eyes,” a play about a young first offender dumped into the hellish prison system. To help prepare, Rothenberg took the cast on a field trip to New York’s notorious Riker’s Island.

“It was a shocker,” he writes in the book. “All we were witness to was young men being herded about or sitting morosely in dayrooms or dormitories. … It was clear to me, immedi-ately and instinctively, that no matter what in these men’s lives had brought them to jail, nothing would improve as a result of this experience. Later I told a reporter that I found it to be ‘an exercise in institutional futility,’ a viewpoint that only cemented in my mind as the years passed.”

Moved by what he saw and inspired by the post-show audience conversations that became a tradition at “Fortune and Men’s Eyes,” Rothenberg founded the Fortune Society, a nonprofit social service and advocacy organization whose mission is to support successful re-entry from prison and promote alternatives to incarceration. In the book, he recalls being one of three-dozen men called to Attica during the famous 1971 prison riot.

In the following years, Rothenberg would come out as gay, run for public office and get involved in the fight against AIDS. He recounts it all in his chatty, confessional memoir, sprinkled throughout with anecdotes from his life in show business. It’s an illuminating read for anyone interested in the worlds of show business or social justice.

— Greg Glasgow

BOOK BIN Fortune in My Eyes

1971Anthony (Antek) Rudnicki (MA ’71) of Lake View, N.Y., authored “Bipolar Buf-falo: A Mosaic of Minds Journey” (Bipolar Publishing, 2012). The book, which is about a search for self and an authentic meaning to life, includes 52 short stories and 29 original artworks and photos.

1972Albert “Al” Batten (MS ’72) of Colorado Springs, Colo., has joined the faculty of the College of Business at the University of Colo-rado at Colorado Springs. Al teaches business statistics and quantitative decision making.

Douglas Brittin (BA ’72) of Alexandria, Va., is director of global air cargo security policy and industry engagement at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). He currently works at TSA headquarters in Arlington, Va.

Mary “Mimi” Nettrour (BA ’72) of Castle Rock, Colo., received the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women’s Carolyn Hel-man Lichtenberg Crest Award in honor of her professional achieve-ments. Mimi helped found the Women’s

Foundation of Colorado and the Women’s Bank in Denver.

1975Tony Carroll (BA ’75, JD ’84) of Arlington, Va., is an adjunct pro-fessor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He also has joined

Acorus Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund, as a director.

Phil Goodstein (MA ’75) of Denver has published his latest book on Denver his-tory. “Park Hill Promise: The Quest for an Idyllic Denver Neighborhood” (New Social Publications, 2012) focuses on the Park Hill neighborhood, using archival material from the University of Denver special collections.

Shaila (Eldridge) Van Sickle (PhD ’75) of Durango, Colo., in fall 2012 published an academic mystery called “Seven Characters


serves on the editorial board of the Society for Modeling & Simulation International Newslet-ter and is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Arti-ficial Societies and Social System Simulation.

Peter Zwack (BA ’78) of Dulles, Va., presented honorary wreaths in a 70-year anniversary ceremony recognizing the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, where thousands of Russians perished against the Nazis in World War II. Peter took part in the ceremony with Michael McFaul, U.S. ambassador to Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

1980Yvonne Bailey (JD ’80) of Raleigh, N.C., was appointed to a six-year term on the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission. Yvonne also serves on the North Carolina Bar Association Environ-mental Law Section governing council. In her free time, she enjoys bicycling for MS Society fundraisers and kayaking in the Cape Fear River near Wilmington, N.C.

Meyer Persow (BA ’80) of Lewes, Del., com-pleted his first Ironman triathlon in summer 2012 in Lake Placid, N.Y. One month earlier, Meyer completed his first triath-lon when he finished the Eagleman Half Ironman in Lewes, Del. Meyer is the treasury liaison offi-cer for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

1981Kenneth Johnson (MA ’81) is on the faculty at Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne. He has published original scores with Arizona University Publications and Centaur Records and is technology chair on the Indi-ana Music Educators board of directors.

1984 Perry Glantz (BA ’84) of Castle Rock, Colo., joined the law firm Stinson Mor-rison Hecker as a partner. Perry has more than 20 years of experience as a trial lawyer in employment, banking, environmental

and general commercial litigation.

ProfileFLOBOT Jami Duffy

Jami Duffy’s message is simple: Career options exist outside traditional paths.

She should know. She’s taken tradi-tional, wadded it up, kissed it goodbye and tossed it in the trash.

But back in 2000, when she entered the University of Denver, Duffy (BA ’03) admits she was on that traditional path. “I saw myself becoming this big-time, hot-shot political reporter on Capitol Hill,” she says with a laugh.

Made sense. She double majored in political science and journalism.

“But then something shifted in my mind about a year before I graduated,” she says. “DU opened my eyes to the injustices in the world, to poverty. I just started thinking about serving others in some way.”

After graduation, she spent three years in the Peace Corps, serving in a small Nicaraguan village where she taught preschool-ers and raised $4,000 to build the only brick structure the village had ever seen. When she returned to Denver, she began working with DU’s social justice program, where she helped DU graduates identify their passions. While in that job, she met the lead singer of the Flobots, a Denver-based hip-hop-rock band that was gaining national popularity.

The singer, Jamie Laurie, told her about Flobots.org, a nonprofit the band had formed that taught kids about music and art. Within a few weeks, she ended up on the board. In 2010, she left DU to become the organization’s executive director—the position she holds today. (The organization has since been renamed Youth on Record.)

As director, Duffy has overseen the organization’s efforts to put musicians into area schools and residential treatment facilities to serve as role models, teach music and help young people achieve academically, artistically and socially.

Her latest project with Youth on Record is a state-of-the-art youth media studio where thousands of at-risk and underserved students will get a hands-on education in the musical arts from world-class musicians, including members of well-known bands such as the Fray, OneRepublic and Dispatch. At the new center, located in Denver’s La Alma neighborhood, students can learn about audio engineering, spoken word poetry, individual and ensemble per-formance, audio recording and music production.

“I think it’s a tragedy that we’re the most developed nation in the world, and yet we’re fail-ing our kids,” she says. “Some areas in Denver have a 53 percent graduation rate, and where we’re building the studio, the graduation rate is only 12 percent.”

That’s an injustice she feels compelled to quell. And so far, she’s making great headway. The studio will open this fall, just a few light rail stops from DU.

“It’s been my baby for three years, and it’s finally happening,” Duffy says. “I’m also a spiri-tual person and believe I was pulled here to do this work right now. Sometimes it’s not the most traditional path that will help you to be most effective.”

—Doug McPherson

Way

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Edward “Beau” Lane (BA ’84) of Phoenix is chief executive officer of advertising agency E.B. Lane. He was named ad person of the year at the 2012 Phoenix ADDY Awards, which reward creative excellence in the art of advertising. Beau, who supervises the daily operations of E.B. Lane in Phoenix and Denver, has supervised successful advertising programs for numerous high-profile clients, including Cable ONE, National Bank of Ari-zona, the Arizona Cardinals and the Arizona Lottery. Under Beau’s leadership, E.B. Lane oversaw the marketing efforts of Super Bowl XLII in 2008 and played an instrumental role in bringing the Super Bowl back to Arizona in 2015.

Kathryn Rudlin (MSW ’84) of San Diego has published her first book, “Ghost Mothers: Healing From the Pain of a Mother Who Wasn’t Really There” (AuthorHouse, 2012).

The nonfiction book is a self-help guide to understanding and healing from a mother

who was emotionally disconnected. Kathryn has a private practice specializing in provid-ing support, education and healing to women who had emotionally disconnected mothers.

1985 Barbara Schmidt (BA ’85) is principal of the marketing and interior design firm bstyle inc., based in New York and Minneapolis. Barbara’s kitchen design for Sub-Zero/Wolf was featured in the April/May issue of Sotheby’s Artful Living magazine. Another bstyle kitchen design was featured in Mid-west Home magazine. Bstyle is currently working with Target and American Standard on branding campaigns.

1987Jack Reutzel (JD ’87) of Littleton, Colo., has joined Fairfield and Woods as a director to its real estate practice group. Jack, who has a master’s degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania, specializes in real estate development and land use. He previ-ously practiced with his own firm, Reutzel and Associates.

1991Deborah Bayles (JD ’91) of Centennial, Colo., is a partner at Stinson Mor-rison Hecker. Deborah represents small to midsized privately held companies and financial institutions in the areas of

real estate, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and general commercial law.

Nancy Gordon (JD ’91) of Mercer Island, Wash., started her own business, Lice Know-ing You, a chain of hair salons that specializes in removing head lice.

1992Toby Genrich (BA ’92) of Colorado Springs, Colo., recently joined Academy Women’s Healthcare. Toby is on the board of directors for the Southern Colorado March of Dimes, an organization dedicated to improving the health of babies and preventing premature birth and birth defects.

We’re adding a new element to our popular DU on the Road series. You still get to mingle with University leadership and other alumni, parents, and friends who live in your area. Now, each complimentary cocktail reception also features a fascinating lecture by a member of the DU community.

Check out dates and speakers at www.alumni.du.edu/DUontheRoad. Check back often! New dates and cities added regularly.

Join us this fall in:

• Grand Junction/Palisade, CO – Sept. 12

• Kansas City, MO – Oct. 10

• Baltimore, MD – Nov. 14

Because you’re always a Pioneer, no matter where you live.

connections & cocktails


James Jordan (PhD ’92) of Santa Fe, N.M., has returned after 10 months in Baghdad, Iraq. James was a State Department hos-pital contractor,

serving as a behavioral health specialist.

1993Cheryl Laughlin (BA ’93) of Lodi, Calif., recently launched BITS OF LOVE, a jewelry line that incorporates inspiring words on each piece. The company is partnered with Street Poets Inc., a poetry-based organization for youth.

Lynda Schroer (MBA ’93) is owner of Denver-based Bechta Group Ltd. Facilities Consultants. Lynda previously was senior vice president of the company and assumed ownership in April. Bechta Group offers a variety of architectural and design services, including planning, design, implementation and on-site support.

1994Eric Barber (BA ’94) of Madison, Wis., is a partner at Perkins Coie. Eric is a member of the insurance coverage litigation practice, representing policyholders in disputes with their insurance carriers under a variety of different types of insurance policies. Eric recently co-authored “Mutual Fund Litiga-tion and Insurance Practice Guide” (Lexis, 2012), a resource on investment companies’ insurance needs.

1995Laura (Hall) Manning (MA ’95) of Tucson, Ariz., is assistant principal at Catalina Foot-hills High School. Laura was named the 2012 Arizona Assistant Principal of the Year.

1996Jennifer Stone-Sexton (BM ’96) of Nashville, Tenn., married Stephen Sexton on Dec. 22, 2012. After graduating from DU, Jennifer taught private voice lessons and performed as a professional vocal-ist in Denver before

relocating to Nashville in 2000 to pursue her music career. Jennifer is a yoga instructor and recently became an executive assistant at a

philanthropic family foundation in Nashville, following 12 years in the legal profession.

1998Matt Branaugh (BA ’98) of Westminster, Colo., was promoted to director of editorial and business development for the Church Law & Tax Group at Christianity Today, a global media ministry.

Matt was honored by the Evangelical Press Association with first-place awards for his work as editor of the Church Finance Today newsletter and ManagingYourChurch.com website.

1999Marc Megel (BSME ’99) of San Antonio, Texas, received a 2012 R&D 100 Award for his casting technology for pre-cision automotive

components. R&D Magazine selected Marc’s hybrid ceramic-sand-core casting technology as one of the 100 most significant techno-logical achievements of the past year. Marc is assistant director of powertrain design and development in the engine, emissions and vehicle research division at Southwest Research Institute.

2000Tyler Muffly (BA ’00) of Englewood, Colo., is a urogynecologist working at the University of Colorado’s Lone Tree Health Center. Tyler completed his medical training in Philadelphia, Kansas City and Cleveland after graduating from a three-year fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. Tyler is married and has a 3-year-old son.

2001Jen Bervin (MA ’01) of Brooklyn, N.Y., received a 2013 Creative Capital grant in literature for her project “The Silk Poems,” an experimental book that explores the textile as a subject and form.

Lindsay Calhoun (MA ’01) of DeKalb, Ill., published a book titled “Public Memory of the Sand Creek Massacre” (Cambria Press, 2012). Lindsay is a visit-ing assistant professor of

communication studies at Northern Illinois University.

Dustin Krajewski (BSME ’01) of Fort Collins, Colo., is an environmental and engineering specialist at RETTEW, a design firm providing engineering, transportation, envi-ronmental consulting,

planning, surveying and safety consulting services. He specializes in projects for the oil and gas, mining, and chemical industries. Dustin has a master’s degree in business administration in technology management from the University of Phoenix. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Engineers Without Borders and the Sustainable Remediation Forum.

2002Molly (Stocco) Ho (BSBA ’02) of Portland, Ore., was married to Kai Ho on Sept. 8, 2012, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Molly works in international trade.

2003Robyn Collins Berg (BA ’03) and Paul Berg (BSBA ’03) of Littleton, Colo., welcomed a son, Cooper Nelson Berg, on Feb. 14, 2013.

David Huber (MBA ’03) of Parker, Colo., is chief operating officer of Solidyn Solutions Inc., an Aurora-based company focusing on the defense and intelligence industries.

Patricia Nelson (LLM ’03) of Denver published “Among the Shapes That Fold and Fly” (Sugartown Publishing, 2012), a book of poetry.

2004Kevin Siegrist (BSBA ’04) of Winter Park, Colo., is director of group services at Devil’s Thumb Ranch Resort & Spa in Tabernash, Colo. Kevin previously was director of cater-ing for Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colo.

Melissa-Marie Zirini (MA ’04) of Kendall, Fla., married Toribio Matamoros Jr. on June 23, 2012, in Miami Beach, Fla. Melissa-Marie is a


Which alum taught preschoolers in Nicaragua?

The answer can be found somewhere on pages 42–49 of this issue.

Send your answer to [email protected] or University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. Be sure to include your full name and mailing address. We’ll select a winner from the correct entries; the winning entry will win a prize.

Congratulations to Bob Baxter for winning the spring issue’s pop quiz.

world history teacher at Aventura City of Excellence School and conducts the school’s dance team.

2005Teresa Brown (JD ’05) of Houston has joined Davis Graham & Stubbs, where she works in the natural resources department with an emphasis on transactional matters for the oil and gas industry. Teresa previ-ously practiced as an associate at Mayer Brown in Houston.

Max Goldberg (BSBA ’05) of Nashville, Tenn., was named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30: Food & Wine” list for 2012. Max owns Strategic Hospitality LLC, the parent company of the award-winning Catbird Seat and other Nashville restaurants, including Paradise Park.

Keri Herman (BSBA ’05) of Breckenridge, Colo., won first place for the second year in a row in the FIS World Cup slopestyle event at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colo.

Melanie Spence (MA ’05) married Frederick Joiner on June 8, 2013, in Washington, D.C. Melanie is a program manager for an international public health nongovernmental organization, and Fred is pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass.

Claire Thomas (BA ’05) and Kim (Cobb) Newcomer (BSBA ’98) of Fort Collins, Colo., have founded Slate Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in creating connections between organizations and their communities. Prior to starting Slate Communications, Claire and Kim were part of the Communications and Public Involvement Office in the city of Fort Collins.

2006Ahmed Amonette (BA ’06) has joined Lewis Baach PLLC as an associate. He

will practice in the areas of litigation and international disputes. Based in Washington, D.C., Lewis Baach is a premier firm for insurance and reinsurance, international financial disputes and global commerical litigation.

Karly (Campbell) Koth-mann (BA ’06) of New Braunfels, Texas, and her husband, Tanner, welcomed a new baby, Asher Chanslor Koth-mann, on Oct. 1, 2012. Karly is a counselor at River Bend Counseling.

Ladd Solomon (BSBA ’06) of Chicago is vice president of Rothschild Investment Corp. He passed the Certified Financial Planner Examination in March 2013.

2007Bryan Comer (BA ’07) received an MFA in creative writing from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in May. Bryan taught English and creative writing at the university while pursuing his degree.

Matthias Edrich (IMBA ’07, JD ’07) of Denver moved from Peck, Shaffer & Wil-liams to Kutak Rock, where he continues his practice as tax attorney in the firm’s public finance department. Matthias recently pub-lished TouchTax, a tax code and regulations application for Android and Apple tablets and phones.

Nicole Singleton (MAC ’07) of Parker, Colo., in April was named president and CEO of the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce. She had held the position in an interim capacity since January. Prior to join-ing the chamber, Singleton served as presi-dent of the Third Eye Group, an association management company that provides services for national and international professional societies and trade organizations.


Contact usName (include maiden name)

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Address

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Employer Occupation

What have you been up to? (Use a separate sheet if necessary.)

Question of the hour: What concerts do you remember seeing during your time at DU?

Post your class note online at www.alumni.du.edu, email [email protected] or mail your note to: Class Notes, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816.

Tell us about your

career and personal

accomplishments, awards,

births, life events or

whatever else is keeping

you busy. Do you support

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any hobbies? Did you just

return from a vacation? Let

us know! Don’t forget to

send a photo. (Include a

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envelope if you would like

your photo returned.)

2009Christina Huszcza (BSBA ’09, MBA ’09, JD ’12) of Littleton, Colo., has joined the law firm of Tucker Ellis LLP as an associate, working in the medical and pharmaceuti-cal liability group.

Brad Kopitz (BSBA ’09) of Grosse Pointe, Mich., is director of marketing at Active-Junky.com, an Internet startup he founded with fellow alumnus Kevin McInerney (BSBA ’06).

2010Kalvin Brann (BS ’10, MBA ’10) and Leah White (BA ’11, BSBA ’11, MBA ’11) were married in August. They reside in Denver.

Geoffrey Burgess (MBA ’10) of Wheat Ridge, Colo., was promoted to group facil-ity administrator with DaVita, where he is responsible for multiple outpatient dialysis centers in the Denver metro area.

Talia Davis (MPS ’10) of Denver married Daniel Haykin on March 10, 2013. Talia is market-ing senior manager for Allied Jewish Federation

of Colorado, and Daniel is an investment adviser.

Antoinette Gomez (MSW ’10) was part of a panel discussion on black youth, children, and mental health at a Brother Jeff Community Health Initia-tive conference held in

May at Shorter Community African Ameri-can Episcopal Church in Denver. Antoinette owns Harmony Counseling Services, a provider of counseling for children, youth, families and couples. Allison Grenney (BA ’10) of Sedalia, Colo., started her own tote bag business, EduKate, which donates profits to girls living in areas of need, to help support their secondary education.

2011Sara Meagher (BSAC ’11) is a CPA with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Denver.

Carissa Stidge (BSBA ’11) of Denver will marry Clayton Cruse in October. Carissa is a personal trainer and recreation instructor.

2012Andy Blair (MA ’12) launched MajoredIn.com, a job-search website for college students

to find entry-level jobs and internships by their major.

Kristin Frevert (PsyD ’12) was designated a certified consultant by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, the international professional organization of sport and exer-cise psychology. A staff psychologist and ath-letics liaison for student counseling services at Illinois State University, Kristin provides individual and group counseling to male and female students, with special emphasis on eating disorders and body image issues. She also provides mental health and performance counseling to student-athletes through the university’s athletic department.

Theresa Munanga (MA ’12) of Mesa, Ariz., wrote an interactive book for iPads called “Welcome to America! Online Resources for New U.S. Residents.” The free book provides online resources to new immigrants, students and visitors to the U.S. to help them learn about and succeed in their new country.

Austin Orphan (BSBA ’12) of Denver is a software developer for Financial Healthcare Systems in Greenwood Village, Colo.

Let us know Post your class note online at www.du.edu/alumni, e-mail [email protected] or mail in the form below.


1920sAlma Petersen (CWC ’21), San Francisco, 10-11-11

1930sJohn Lof (BS ’38), Stors, Conn., 4-10-13Robert “Bob” McWilliams (BA ’38, JD ’41), Denver, 4-10-13

1940sRoger Henn (BA ’40), Ouray, Colo., 1-17-13Marian Smith (BA ’42), Portland, Ore, 12-28-12Robert Francis (BSEE ’47), Saratoga, Calif., 6-4-12William “Floyd” Allred (MBA ’48), Greenwich, Conn., 2-1-13Charlene (Brainard) Rich (BA ’48), Longmont, Colo., 3-1-13Loraine Seastone (BA ’48), South Park, Colo., 4-17-13Robert Griffin (BSBA ’49), Omaha, Neb., 2-1-13Anna Smyth (BM ’49), Aurora. Colo., 4-12-13

1950sWalter Burdick (BS ’50), Twin Falls, Idaho, 6-7-13George Lee Jr. (JD ’50), Colorado Springs, Colo., 10-18-12 William Collister (JD ’51), Denver, 2-11-13Charles Fangman (BS ’51), Peoria, Ill., 4-28-13Richard “Dick” Burkey (BA ’53), Santa Fe, N.M., 3-6-12Harl Petty (BS ’53), Sun City, Ariz., 1-30-13Jeanette Brush (MA ’55), Des Moines, Iowa, 1-14-13Robert Hanson (MA ’57), Wayzata, Minn., 5-7-13Carlton Jones (MA ’55), Ellabell, Ga., 4-26-11James Owen (BA ’56, MA ’60, PhD ’67), Reno, Nev., 10-1-12 John Agee (LLB ’57), Colorado Springs, Colo., 12-31-12Charles McAnally (BSBA ’58), Celina, Texas, 1-30-13

1960sPhyllis Drennan (BS ’60), Greeley, Colo., 4-21-13Perrie Row (BSBA ’60), Loveland, Colo., 11-2-12 Bert Brook (BSBA ’61), Pleasanton, Calif., 12-9-12John “Jack” Nixon (MA ’61), Lindon, Utah, 5-1-13Kathleen Mahar (MA ’64), Los Altos, Calif., 10-27-12 Marcia Nichols Wright (MA ’65), Wright, Wyo., 12-22-11

1970sAnne Beaman (MSW ’71), Atascadero, Calif., 1-18-13 John Graham (BA ’71), Stuart, Fla., 11-24-12Leo Goto (MBA ’74), McDonough, Ga., 3-3-13Philip London (MA ’74), Golden, Colo., 2-8-13Emily Dangel (BA ’75), Centennial, Colo., 11-10-12

1980sStephen Melvin (MACC ’81), Port Saint Lucie, Fla., 1-5-12Scott Amdur (BSBA ’83), Evergreen, Colo., 3-5-13

1990sJody Trilling Shragg (BA ’92), Golden Valley. Minn., 4-4-12

2000sVictor Fernandez (BSBA ’01) Parker, Colo., 11-21-12

StudentsWilson King, second-year business major, 4-12-13Jesse Ricks, graduate student in the Morgridge College of Education, 4-22-13

Faculty and StaffRaymond Freeman, Office of Admissions, 1-10-13Francis Jamison (JD ’56), professor emeritus in Sturm College of Law, February 2013Neil Littlefield, professor emeritus in Sturm College of Law, 11-7-12Florence Millsap, widow of Kenneth Millsap, professor emeritus in political science department, 5-18-12Nancy Pleiman, psychology professor, 11-23-12Marilyn Mae Skelton, former professor in School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, 5-22-13Rabbi Stanley Wagner, founder of the Center for Judaic Studies, 2-23-13

Deaths

Pioneer picsDavid Coats (BA ’04) wore his trusty DU hoodie for this photo of him and his son, Charles

Fyodor, taken in front of Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Russia. “My first job out of college was in Russia, and I got it through my involvement with a student organization at DU,” Coats writes. “Since then I’ve lived here on and off for a total of six years. The hoodie I am wearing is the same one I bought my first month at DU as a freshman in 2000. It went with me to PiRock, and I wore it when I played on the club lacrosse team. It’s been all over the world with me, and despite my wife’s protests and the safety pins holding it together, I plan on never parting with it.”

As you pioneer lands far and wide, be sure to pack your DU gear and strike a pose in front of a national monument, the fourth wonder of the world or your hometown hot spot. If we print your submission, you’ll receive some new DU paraphernalia to take along on your travels.

Send your print or high-resolution digital image and a description of the location to: Pioneer Pics, University of Denver Magazine, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816, or email [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name, address, degree(s) and year(s) of graduation.

Homecoming & Family Weekend and

Alumni SymposiumOctober 24-27, 2013

Join us in celebrating Homecoming & Family Weekend and Alumni Symposium. With events like Taste

of DU, PioneerFest, hockey and faculty-led classes, there is truly something for everyone. Register now

at alumni.du.edu/homecoming2013 or contact the Office of Alumni Relations for more information –

303-871-2701 or [email protected].

Go Pioneers!


Frederic “Fritz” Howard (BA ’39) started building model airplanes in 1926, encouraged by his maternal

grandmother, who was fascinated by the Wright brothers. After getting his degree in mathematics from DU,

Howard began creating museum-quality aircraft models, many of which are housed in a special room devoted

to Howard at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver’s Lowry neighborhood.

MiscellaneaIn plane sight

Wayne Arm

strong

Documents

University of Denver Magazine Fall 2013