BGSU Centennial Alumni Awards

BGSU Centennial alUmni awardS

100 of the moSt Prominent alUmni

SatUrday, aPril 24, 2010 lenhart Grand Ballroom, Bowen-thomPSon StUdent Union

100100 Years | 100 People

Alma Mater (written by Edith Ludwig Bell ’51)

Alma Mater, hear us

As we praise thy name.

Make us worthy sons and daughters

Adding to thy fame.

Time will treat you kindly,

Years from now you’ll be

Ever dearer in our hearts,

Our University.

From your halls of ivy,

To the campus scene,

Chimes ring out with gladness

For our dear Bowling Green.

When all is just a mem’ry

Of the bygone days,

Hear our hymn, dear Alma Mater,

As thy name we praise.

During 2010, the faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends of Bowling Green State University are proudly celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of BGSU. It is most fitting during this Centennial year that the University recognize 100 of its most prominent alumni. We’re pleased to celebrate the many diverse achievements of our alumni, and we are glad you could join us for this special celebration.

Let us be among the first to congratulate you on your accomplishments and to thank you for your service and dedication to your profession and to your community.

This distinction celebrates your accomplishments and celebrates an institution committed to developing culturally literate, socially conscious and productive citizens and alumni. Your achievements tell the world BGSU has succeeded in fulfilling that commitment. By mentoring a fellow graduate, volunteering with your local alumni group or supporting BGSU programs and initiatives, you help to carry out the University’s vision and values.

This is your night! Congratulations and thank you again for your dedication to BGSU!

Carol A. CartwrightPresident

B G S U C E n t E n n i A L A L U m n i A w A r d S

message from the President

Program Reception

Introduction of Centennial Alumni Award Honorees and Award Presentation

“Alma Mater” and “Orange Sky” University men’s Chorus

Welcome Jerry Anderson, Master of Ceremonies

Dinner

Celebration of BGSU’s Centennial

Introduction of President Cartwright Sundeep mutgi, President, Undergraduate Student Government, 2009-10

A Legacy of Excellence | A Future Without Limits President Carol A. Cartwright

Celebrating 1910-1969

Performance by the HeeBeeBGs

Celebrating 1970-2010

Champagne Toast montique Cotton Kelly ’94, ’04, BGSU Director of Alumni AffairsJan ruma ’86, ’92, Chair, BGSU Alumni Board of Directors

Closing Remarks Jerry Anderson

This program is being videotaped.

Tonight’s Master of Ceremonies is television anchor Jerry Anderson, an Emmy Award-winning anchor at WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio. He began his broadcasting career at WFOB radio in Bowling Green in 1974 and started his television news career in Toledo in September 1980.

In June 2008, the Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters named him “Best News Anchor.” In June 2009 he earned his 6th and 7th Emmy nominations from the Cleveland region of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). In June 2001, Anderson won the Emmy for Outstanding News Anchor in the NATAS region. He also won two Edward R. Murrow awards in 2001 and 2009. The Press Club of Toledo honored Anderson in 2007 with its prestigious “Golden Touchstone” award for his “substantial, positive impact on journalism in the Greater Northwest Ohio region.”

Anderson is very active in his community with a busy schedule of appearances as a master of ceremonies or celebrity auctioneer. In 1992, he earned his Ohio Auctioneer’s license for the sole purpose of conducting charity auctions legally.

During his career, Anderson has covered four national political conventions, three presidential inaugurations, Pope John Paul II’s visit to Detroit and an in-depth series comparing the lives of Japanese and American autoworkers. He and his wife, Teri, have three grown children.


master of Ceremonies

Celebrating Generosity Commemorative glassware The wine glasses commemorating BGSU’s Centennial year were donated to the University by Libbey Inc. in honor of John F. Meier ’70. Mr. Meier is chairman and CEO of Libbey Inc. and has been selected as one of the most prominent alumni of BGSU. The glasses were etched by Custom Deco as a gift to BGSU. Guests at tonight’s dinner are welcome to take the glasses as souvenirs of this special evening.

trees to plant for the next century Bowling Green State University is committed to sustainability and to helping the environment. Trees manufacture five pounds of pure oxygen per day, reduce fossil fuels used for heating and cooling, collect pollutants from the air, reduce noise pollution, provide homes for birds and small animals, and prevent soil erosion. As part of the Centennial year, the University will present trees to guests at Centennial events and at other special programs. Guests at tonight’s dinner recognizing 100 of the University’s most prominent alumni will be presented with a “Colorado Blue Spruce.” For complete planting instructions, see www.greenworldproject.net.

A taste of Africa Harvested from Kiamara Estate in Kenya, Africa, the coffee and tea served this evening are gifts of Centennial Alumni Award honoree James Karugu ’62.

Centennial (Event) Sponsors:

Carroll and Mabel Cheek

Bill and Bev Dallas

BGSU Graduate College

BGSU Office of Student Affairs

William and Phyllis Evans

Susan Finn

George Mylander

William Primrose Jr.

Randolph Rowe

Otto Schoeppler

Bob and Linda Sebo

Family of Franklin “Gus” Skibbie

The Learning Channel

Wilcox Financial

Wilcox Sports Management

Decade (Table) Sponsors:

Theresa Popp Braun and Ray Braun Congratulations to all the Centennial Alumni Award Recipients and Happy 100th birthday BGSU!

Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Al Dyckes

Gleaner Life Insurance Society

Keith Grass

William Harper

Iris Jones

David Kennedy

Sharon and Jimmy Light

Ed and Linda Reiter

Family of David Sokol

Sherideen Stoll

Dorothy M. Tucker and James Tucker Jr. Jim and Dottie thank their friends and family for their support.

Fran and Marty Voll

Philip and Kate Weller

Willie and Pamela Young


Special thanksThe BGSU Alumni Association thanks and acknowledges all of the donors who have supported the Centennial Alumni Awards.

Selection Committee The Alumni Awards are made possible by the efforts and contributions of several alumni and friends. The BGSU Alumni Association wishes to thank those who nominated this year’s recipients, as well as the awards and selection committees of the BGSU Alumni Board of Directors.

Alumni Centennial Awards Selection Committee Cheri Copeland-Shull, ’88, ’96 Tom Dawson ’66 Bernie Gosky ’80 DuWayne Hansen Tim Koder Larry Miles ’56 Denise Olson ’88 Jeff Rader ’87, ’98 Lesley Ruszkowski Ernie Savage ’76 Traci Tigue ’03 Jared Wadley ’89 Deanna Vatan Woodhouse ’94

How to nominate The Alumni Awards honor individuals who personify the University’s tradition as an institution of excellence. The next awards ceremony will be held in spring 2011. For more information or to nominate, please visit bgsualumni.com/award. Nominations will be accepted until July 30, 2010. Previous recipients of other BGSU awards are eligible for nomination. Posthumous and self-nominations are welcome.

About the honoreesIn addition to their short biographies, many honorees have provided comments about their favorite BGSU memories and professors. Individuals, families and organizations also had the opportunity as sponsors to provide a special message to the honorees.

One hundred years ago, plans for a teaching college in northwest Ohio were set into motion. Legislation was passed in 1910 that led to the founding of Bowling Green Normal School—an institution that offered the promise of a quality education for area prospective teachers.

Weathering the economic storms of the Great Depression and the turbulent years of the Second World War, BGSU continued to develop to meet the changing needs of an expanding student population. New areas of study called for new programs in health care, the sciences, and the humanities, as well as in education.

Through the years, the name has changed—from BG Normal College to State College to State University—yet the mission of providing a quality education has remained.

Today, BGSU graduates gifted scientists, principled business leaders, creative artists and great educators among other fields. As BGSU prepares for its second 100 years, it continues to pair academic excellence with a campus-wide commitment to educating critical thinkers, ethical leaders and skilled communicators.


John nelson Abrams ’72 John Nelson Abrams helped build the modern military.

Nelson, a retired four-star Army general who commanded the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command from 1998 to 2002, was one of the primary architects of the “Army of the 21st Century.” That initiative used new technology and the information age to equip the Army for the future.

The son of former Army Chief of Staff Creighton Abrams, he was born September 3, 1946, at Fort Knox, Ky. He received his commission through Officer Candidate School in 1968 after enlisting as a tank crewman in 1966. Over the next 36 years he rose from private to four-star general. He led Armored Cavalry Units in combat during the Vietnam War, commanded the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment on the border of East and West Germany during the fall of the Iron Curtain, and commanded Joint Task Force Kuwait following Desert Shield and Storm. He also commanded the 2nd Infantry Division along the Korean DMZ and the 5th Corps in the Balkans.

His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal (oak leaf cluster), Silver Star Medal (oak leaf cluster), Legion of Merit Medal (2 oak leaf clusters), Bronze Star Medal with combat distinguished device (3 oak leaf clusters), Air Medal (2 oak leaf clusters) and the Purple Heart Medal.

After retiring, Abrams became a military analyst for The Associated Press. He is also president and CEO of Abrams Learning & Information Systems Inc., a consulting and technology firm.

richard Allen ’71 Richard Allen has spent the last 40 years helping businesses grow.

As founder and CEO of The Allen Group, he guides the company’s strategic directions and identifies new business opportunities for commercial development projects across the United States. It’s a continuation of the skills he learned from his family’s five businesses. After his graduation from BGSU he joined Imperial Cup Corporation, the newest family business. He then became president of the Holiday Division, with plants in Milwaukee and Fullerton, California. After growing to more than 800 employees, $100 million in sales and establishing manufacturing plants in five states, the family company was sold in 1989.

After the sale, Allen founded The Allen Group and began purchasing key building and land positions throughout the western United States. That company was acquired by Kilroy Realty (NYSE: KRC) and in 1997 Allen joined the KRC Board of Directors. Following that sale, Allen founded Allen Development (office and industrial parks) and Allen Homes (condominiums, single-family homes and apartments). After Allen Homes developed residential properties in 20 cities it was sold in 2001.

Under his direction, The Allen Group began developing major industrial projects adjacent to rail and intermodal facilities. In 2003 he began acquiring land for what has become the largest new logistics park in North America, the Dallas Logistics Hub, and also developed the logistics park outside of Kansas City. He has become a frequent speaker on the emerging trend of industrial development around rail and intermodal infrastructure.

Currently Allen serves on the board of The Allen Family Foundation and the California Polytechnic State University President’s Cabinet.


david Anderson ’51, ’52, ’05 (Hon.) David Anderson may be retired from his academic career in American literature, but his love for teaching has taken him beyond this country’s borders.

After earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from BGSU, Anderson earned his doctorate from Michigan State University and honorary doctorates from Wittenberg University and BGSU. He was a professor at Michigan State University for 33 years, receiving the Distinguished Faculty Award and the rank of University Distinguished Professor. He was a Fulbright Professor at the University of Karachi, Pakistan, chaired the University’s Humanities Coordinating Committee for international affairs, and served as European American studies coordinator.

In 1971 Anderson founded the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature and is currently its executive director. He is the author or editor of 35 books and more than three hundred published articles, essays, short stories and poems. He is a recognized expert on author Sherwood Anderson. In 2009 he received the Ohioana Career Award, given to a native Ohioan for contributions to the arts and humanities. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in American Literature at Michigan State.

He received the BGSU Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1976 and is a member of the BGSU 500 Club. He is also listed on Jerome Library’s BGSU Wall of Fame. He earned five battle stars in World War II service, and he continues to serve on the literature nomination committee for the Nobel Prize Institute. Currently, he is preparing two books for publication.

“Drs. Emerson Shuck, Rhea McCain, Glendon Steele, Bob Hubach and Alma Payne helped me to discover my abilities that gave me purpose and led to a career in literature and writing that I have enjoyed every day of my life. BGSU will always hold a special place in my heart because that is where I met my wife and best friend Patricia Ann Rittenhour.”

daniel Ayalon ’83Daniel “Danny” Ayalon is in the business of peace.

Ayalon served as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States from 2002-06, during which relations between the two countries reached an all-time high. Ambassador Ayalon played a leading role in securing the agreement for $10 billion in U.S. grants and loan guarantees to Israel; the Roadmap to Peace, which included an historic Exchange of Letters between President Bush and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and bilateral trade that reached $20 billion.

Prior to his ambassadorship, Ayalon served as foreign policy advisor to Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, and as chief foreign policy advisor to Sharon. As a member of Israel’s Foreign Service he represented Israel as consul in Panama and as a member of Israel’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

He is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and labor studies, and holds a master’s degree in business administration from BGSU. He is currently deputy foreign minister for Israel. He and his wife, Anne, also a BGSU graduate, have two daughters.


James Bailey ’67Jim Bailey has spent a lifetime working with numbers.

After graduating from BGSU in 1967, he received a master’s degree in mathematics from New York University. He quickly found a home at Citibank, where he spent 28 years of his career. His duties at Citibank included serving as executive vice president responsible for North American Consumer Bank, and helping to grow Citibank’s credit card business from one million cards in 1977 to more than 20 million cards in 1990. He retired as executive vice president of Citibank in 2000 but continued to work as a consultant, including leading a team that reviewed and recommended a restructuring of the Bank of China before China entered the World Trade Organization.

From 2003-07 he was chief operating officer of U.S. Trust and a member of the executive committee of Schwab. He was responsible for product management, operations and technology, private banking, marketing and institutional business. He has served on several boards, including the Bowling Green State University Foundation Board. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Student Loan Corporation.

He and his wife, Judy, have two daughters and reside in New Canaan, Conn., and Naples, Fla. His interests include baseball, college football, golf, travel and American history.

“Among my favorite math professors were Richard Eakin and Bruce Vageli who developed and encouraged my interest in mathematics.”

ned Baker ’50, ’09 (Hon.) Ned Baker has spent his career keeping the public healthy.

After graduating from BG with a biology degree, he began his career as chief sanitarian for the Wood County Health Department. That was the first in a long line of public health positions. Before his retirement in 1992, Baker was director of the Northwest Ohio AHEC Program at the Medical College of Ohio. He has received several awards for his public health service, and also holds a Masters of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan and an honorary doctorate in public health from BGSU.

In 1992 he was instrumental in forming the National Association of Local Boards of Health, which works to support local boards of health through training and promotion of effective health policy. He was elected its first president in 1992, and was appointed its first executive director in 1995.

In 2000 the National Association of Local Boards of Health and the BGSU College of Health and Human Services began the Ned E. Baker Lecture Series in Public Health. The series recognizes Baker’s service and his vision of governance of public health policy through local boards of health.

Baker, an adjunct faculty member of the College of Health and Human Services, also serves on the advisory committee for the Masters of Public Health degree program, a consortium that includes BGSU, the Medical University of Ohio and the University of Toledo. He also served on a national committee that developed public health goals and objectives for 1990, which set the precedent for the National Healthy People 2000 Program, and was an active member of the Wood County Board of Health.

“All of my biology professors from 1947 to 1950 were great. And watching the men’s basketball team in 1948-49 was among my favorite memories.”


russell A. Barkley ’75, ’77Dr. Russell Barkley is a leading expert in the field of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

After serving in Vietnam with the United States Air Force he received a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, and his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from BGSU. He joined the Department of Neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Children’s Hospital. He then moved to the University of Massachusetts Medical School where he served as director of psychology for more than 15 years and established research clinics for both child and adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. He is now a clinical professor of psychiatry with the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

He is a diplomate in three specialties: clinical psychology, clinical child and adolescent psychology, and clinical neuropsychology. He has authored or edited 13 books and clinical manuals, as well as more than 230 articles and book chapters related to the nature, assessment and treatment of ADHD and related disorders. He has created seven videotapes on ADHD and defiant children that have won national awards. He has presented more than 700 workshops around the world, and has appeared on news shows including “60 Minutes” and “CNN.”

Barkley has won several professional awards, including the Dissemination Award from the American Psychological Association for his career efforts to educate the public and other professionals about the science of ADHD.

“The graduate clinical psychology faculty provided significant training and guidance to me while there, but especially Dr. Douglas G. Ullman, who was my supervisor, mentor and friend. I enjoyed the faculty-graduate student potluck dinners and dances, the intramural psychology department softball team and BGSU hockey games.”

mark Berman ’74, ’76 Mark Berman is an international financial services consultant, a former U.S. and U.K. regulator and a Hall of Fame member and former international manager, coach and athlete in Great Britain.

Berman began his career in financial services with Merrill Lynch. He was a senior lawyer with the Division of Corporation Finance and the Division of Market Regulation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He was also a senior lawyer with the London Stock Exchange.

He founded and is CEO of CompliGlobe Limited, a London-based firm that advises and conducts training programs for hedge funds, investment managers and other officials in Europe and Asia on SEC practice outside the U.S., and cross-border regulatory and compliance issues. He also has written several books and speaks internationally on those topics at SEC Regulation Outside the United States, an organization he founded and chairs. Berman is a trustee emeritus of the SEC Historical Society and a member of the society’s advisory council. He served on the task force for the SEC’s 75th anniversary in 2009.

When not in the office, or travelling with his wife and family, Berman is active in fast-pitch softball. He represented Great Britain internationally as a player, coach, manager, manager emeritus and chairman of selectors in five European championships and two world championships. He participated as a player, coach and manager in three Maccabiah Games and was a bronze medalist in 2001. In 2007, he was inducted into the British Softball Federation Hall of Fame and in 2008 his uniform #2 was retired, making him the only person in the history of British baseball or softball national teams to receive both honors. Currently, Berman is a member of the European Softball Federation Legal Commission and the International Softball Federation (ISF) Legislative Commission. In February 2010, he was named deputy counsel for the ISF.

“Bruce Bellard brought me to BG and gave me confidence to succeed, and with the help of Fred Eckman and Phil O’Connor I learned how to write and earned my MFA.”


Ashel Bryan ’46, ’86 (Hon.) A long-time resident of Bowling Green, Ashel Bryan has been a business and community leader since his graduation from Bowling Green State University in 1946.

Following his graduation, Bryan joined the locally owned Mid-American National Bank, serving as chairman and chief executive officer from 1950-85. During that time, he, along with his late wife Dorothy, became instrumental in the growth and development of the city, region and state.

One of their interests was Bowling Green State University. He served as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 1965-76, serving as president for two of those years. He is a director emeritus of the BGSU Foundation Board of Directors and served as president from 1986-89. He and his wife had a special interest in the arts and are long-time supporters of the Moore Musical Arts Center, the Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery in the Fine Arts Center, the Bryan Chamber Series and the Gish Film Theater. They also helped promote Medici Circle, Pro Musica and Friends of the University Libraries. In addition, a University Professorship in Finance is named for Bryan. In recognition of their efforts, Bryan was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1982, was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in 1986, and both were named honorary members of the University’s chapter of Golden Key National Honor Society. In 1994, the Bryans received the Ohio Arts Council Governor’s Award for the Arts and the Outstanding Philanthropist Award from the National Society of Fundraising Executives.

Their interest in education also extended to the Medical College of Ohio where they were recognized by the establishment of the Dorothy and Ashel Bryan Commons. His other interests and development activities include numerous community and state organizations. Those activities include Buckeye Boys State, which through his efforts has made Bowling Green and BGSU its “home” for the past several decades.

“We enjoyed dancing the jitterbug at the (Falcon’s) Nest and dancing to the jazz and big band music of Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman.”

Julie Callens ’89If you fly internationally, Julie Callens might be the voice you hear from the cockpit.

Callens is currently a First Officer for United Airlines, flying the company’s Boeing 757 and 767 models on international routes. She has been based at Washington’s Dulles Airport since 1996.

While at BGSU she majored in aerotechnology and was president of the Alpha Eta Rho aviation fraternity. She was a member and coach of the BGSU Flying Team. She began her career as a flight instructor at Suburban Aviation in Toledo before becoming a night freight pilot for Castle Aviation in Ravenna. Her big break came in 1993 when she was the pilot on the Jetstream 3200 aircraft for Atlantic Coast Airlines/United Express before joining United Airlines in 1996.

In 2006 she was named United Airlines First Officer of the Year for the Dulles Domicile. She is also active in helping the next generation reach the skies, as the Pilot for Kids Washington, D.C., coordinator and a volunteer for United’s Fantasy Flights. She also volunteers her time at the National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center Discovery Station.

“My favorite instructor, Hank Lehrer, was a corporate jet pilot who brought real world experience to the classroom. I also remember my first solo flight. My heart raced. My palms were sweaty. I was terrified that I wasn’t ready to fly solo. What followed were 30 of the best minutes of my life – a culmination of years of desire and months of intense studying and hours of practice.”


william Carl ’63*

William Carl is one of the fathers of the Golden Corral restaurant chain.

After graduating from BGSU he moved to Florida to work for Burroughs Corp., where he met North Carolina native James Maynard. The two opened a family steakhouse in Fayetteville in 1972 called the Golden Steer, later renamed Golden Corral.

The company operates and franchises about 470 family dining restaurants throughout the United States. In addition to a buffet, the restaurant offers a Brass Bell Bakery serving fresh baked goods. More than 350 of the restaurants are operated by franchisees, with the rest owned by the company.

Prior to his death Carl had been president of Multifoods Corporation and co-founder and director of Investors Management Corporation/Golden Corral Family Restaurants.

*Deceased

Bernard t. “Bernie” Casey ’61, ’66 Artist, athlete, actor. Bernie Casey is a true Renaissance Man.

After attending BGSU on a football scholarship from 1957-61, he was selected by the San Francisco 49ers as the ninth draft pick in the first round of the 1961 draft – the highest a BGSU player has ever been drafted in the NFL. Before retiring from the NFL, he also played for the Los Angeles Rams. He was selected to play in the Pro Bowl, and was named All-Pro Wide Receiver and Football All American. He was also inducted into the Mid American Conference and BGSU Athletic Halls of Fame.

During pro football’s off-season, he returned to campus to pursue a master’s degree in fine arts to complement his bachelor’s degree in art education. He has held 40 individual art exhibitions around the world to showcase his paintings, and has exhibited work in many galleries including the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., and the John Bolles Gallery in San Francisco. He has also had his poetry and other writings published by Doubleday & Co.

His acting debut came in the film Guns of the Magnificent Seven, and since then has had roles in more than 55 films. He starred on television in “Bay City Blues” and “Harris & Company,” and during his acting career has worked with Burt Reynolds, Eddie Murphy and John Travolta.

Casey was inducted as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1979 and served as commencement speaker in 1989. He is also a 1997 member of the BGSU Alumni Wall of Fame. He serves on several boards and organizations, including past chairman of the board of trustees of the Savannah College of Art and Design and chairman of the advisory board for the Minority Health Institute.

“Willard Wankelman was my mentor and a wonderful inspiration to me. I was proud to be a part of the football team that won the national college football championship.”


Carroll w. Cheek ’47, ’89 (Hon.) Carroll Cheek has done a little bit of everything in the business world.

He was a senior partner in Cheek & Company, certified public accountants in Ohio and Illinois, founded in 1949 and headquartered in Findlay. Before retirement, Cheek was involved with dozens of businesses. He was chairman of CWC Companies, whose affiliates include Great Scot and Community Markets supermarkets. He was founder, director and chairman of Bowling Green Banking Company, also known as Mid American Bank & Trust. He was owner of Bowling Green’s University Club, as well as director and president of Bowling Green Lumber Co., which later merged with Gordon Lumber Company.

He is a founding member of the Presidents Club and member of the Falcon Club. In 1975 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award, and received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree in 1989. He is a past director of the BGSU Development Board, past president of the Alumni Board, and past director and chairman of the Foundation Board. In 2002, he was named a director emeritus of the Foundation Board. He is also a member of several boards and organizations near his Florida home.

As a combat flying officer during World War II, he completed 33 combat missions and earned several decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with one cluster, the Air Medal with Four Clusters, and other battle stars and citations.

“BGSU was good to me. I had many wonderful professors and administrators (B.L. Pierce, Gilbert Cook and Ralph Harshman) who were intellectually challenging and were legal and financial advisors to me. My memories span the years from when I was a prospective student and then a student seeking employment opportunities on campus to my post-graduate affiliation as an instructor, Alumni Association president and founding Presidents Club member. My fondest memory is meeting my wife Mabel, with whom I’ve enjoyed almost 68 years of marriage.”

We are forever grateful for our education and challenges received at Bowling Green State University, which culminated in a wonderful, successful life for us. Thanks BGSU!

Scott Clark ’75 Scott Clark doesn’t let a silly thing like borders bother him. As a sportscaster for WABC-TV in New York City, he has followed sporting events around the world.

In his 30 years of television work Clark has traveled to Tokyo for Major League Baseball’s historic season opener with the New York Mets, and England to cover the Wimbledon tennis championships. At home in New York, Clark has several popular weekly segments that include “Out of This World,” “Highlight Zone” and “Armchair Quarterback.”

The Emmy award-winning sportscaster has also entertained his viewers with wacky exploits against professional sports personalities. He signed on and played with a professional football team. He has stood at home plate to bat against Doc Gooden and Goose Gossage. He played basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters. If that wasn’t enough, he’s been a drag racer, skydiver and bronco buster. A turn at bull riding earned him a week’s stay in the hospital.

Off the air, Clark serves as vice president on the board of directors for the Alcoholism Council of New York. He also serves on the advisory board of the National Sportscasters Association and the board of trustees of the Starlight Foundation, where he is a member of its Hall of Fame.

New York’s 1988 Big Brother of the Year also loves to play golf, and has helped raise more than $1 million for charity by hosting his own golf tournaments over the years, the “Out of This World” open.

“Dr. Harold Fisher enlightened me to this business of broadcast journalism and taught me how to deal, not only with the business, but with life. My favorite memory was streaking in 1972.”


robert B. Clasen ’66, ’69 If you enjoy watching great movies on television, you can thank Robert Clasen.

Clasen served as chairman and chief executive officer of Starz LLC, which oversees the country’s largest provider of premium movie channels including Starz and Encore until his retirement at the end of 2009. He also oversaw other areas of the media company, including animation studios and film production companies.

During his 30-year international career, he has served in a variety of senior positions in the cable television, telecommunications and new media industries. During his time as president of Comcast Cable Communications, that company increased five-fold in a six-year period and grew to the third largest cable operator in the country. As divisional president for McCaw Cellular Communications (now AT&T), he developed interests in the Southwest, with a customer population of more than 25 million.

He has also held a variety of positions with companies that provide interactive television, digital transmission for satellite and broadband systems and interactive game content development, including assignments in Toronto, Canada, and London, England. Clasen has received national recognition from several organizations including Industry Week Magazine and Television Week. In 1988 Cable Television Business and a Convergence Pioneer by Cable World named him Executive of the Year in 2000. He was inducted into the Cable Pioneers in 2001.

Before he became a media mogul, he was an admissions officer at BGSU and director of student services at Firelands from 1966-74. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in counseling psychology, both from BGSU. He is married with three children, and enjoys running, skiing, golf and tennis.

“Dr. Stuart Givens was a wonderful student and teacher of history. My time at the Sigma Chi fraternity house provided some of the best-learning and most sacred experiences. Fun, management, compromise, planning, relaxing and sports were part of the great composite experience.”

thomas d. “tim” Conway ’56 Go ahead and laugh in Tim Conway’s face. He’ll take it as a compliment. That’s because the internationally known actor has made a life out of making people laugh.

After graduating from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in speech and two years in the Army, his career began in earnest as a sidekick to Ernie Anderson on “Ernie’s Place.” As his career continued, he quickly became the sidekick who stole the show with his Everyman reactions.

He was the bumbling Ensign Parker on “McHale’s Navy,” which aired from 1962-66 and earned him an Emmy nomination. In 1964 he starred in the movie version of “McHale’s Navy.” He went on to host his own television show. He worked as a staff writer for several seasons on the “Carol Burnett Show” before joining the cast. He, Burnett and Harvy Korman have teamed up again in a 90-minute review that revives some old beloved characters such as Tudball and Wiggins, the Old Man and the Dentist.

His movie credits include The World’s Greatest Athlete, The Apple Dumpling Gang and The Billion Dollar Hobo. He’s also known as “Dorf,” the pint-sized sports enthusiast who is the star of several home videos. He has won five Emmys, a Golden Globe and Cleo Award, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

He has been a University Circle member and been instrumental in the BGSU Popular Culture Library. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1966 and was named to the BGSU Alumni Wall of Fame in 1997.


Bill dallas ’77 Bill Dallas’ business is helping other businesses grow.

Dallas began his entrepreneurial journey as the co-founder of First Franklin which, over 26 years, became one of the nation’s largest lenders through partnerships with DLJ Merchant Banking, Bank of America and National City Bank. Along the way his company, Dallas Capital, helped launch two California banks and several financial services companies.

Dallas also helped Fox Sports launch Fox Sports Grill, which is one of the nation’s largest independent restaurant companies. He has helped celebrities Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen manage their capital and expand Dualstar Entertainment. Dualstar is home to the marykateandashley brand for tweens and teens, as well as the brands for Elizabeth and James and The ROW.

Outside business, he and Scott Hamilton are helping the next generation of entrepreneurs at the Dallas/Hamilton Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at BGSU. He is a founder and grand patron of “Alliance for the Arts” in Thousand Oaks, and is founder and board member of Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village.

He is currently chairman of Skyline Financial and partners with technology provider Ellie Mae to create one of the top retail mortgage lenders in America. He is married and the father of five children.

“I recall with fond memories winning ‘Superstars on Campus,’ and interacting with President and Mrs. Hollis Moore and my history professor Dr. Len Savoy.”

Steve demos ’70 Steve Demos could be considered the man who brought soy to the masses.

After graduating in 1970 he started a natural nut butter company called Naturally Nuts and operated a retail vegetarian deli called The Cow of China. In 1977 he found his true passion in his apartment kitchen – that’s where he made his first batch of tofu using $500 he borrowed from a neighbor to start his company, White Wave Tofu. For the next 20 years the company made various soy-based products, and is now the largest soy foods and soymilk company in the world. Its Silk brand soymilk is the number one soymilk in America, and more than 96 percent of the country’s supermarkets carry White Wave products.

Demos has won several honors for his work, including being named to Inc., Magazine’s 2001 list of the top 500 fastest-growing companies in America. Demos has been featured on the cover of The Wall Street Journal, as well as in Forbes Small Business, USA Today, CNN Financial News and Success Magazine.

Demos’ most recent venture is NextFoods Inc., which produces GoodBelly, a line of stomach-soothing probiotic juice products aimed at aging baby boomers.


Frank dick ’49, ’51 Frank Dick has had a lasting influence on schoolchildren in northwest Ohio through his 28 years of leading local school systems.

Dick began his education career in 1950 as superintendent of 180 students in the Portage Township Schools, while studying for his Master of Science degree at BGSU. He moved on to shepherd the 600-student Pandora-Gilboa School District for four years. In 1957 he moved to Sylvania City Schools, with 6,000 students. By 1965 he was in charge of more than 63,000 students in the Toledo City School District.

Along the way, his peers and community have honored the Cygnet native. He received the Ohio Congress of Parents and Teachers Award in 1974, and was inducted into the Toledo City Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996. He received the Alumnus of the Year award for BGSU in 1997, and Boy Scouts Citizen of the Year in 1999.

He is past president of several school administrator organizations, including the American Association of School Administrators in 1976. He is a former director for the BGSU Foundation Board, and is currently a member of the Adrian College Board of Trustees and the chairman emeritus for the Gleaner Life Insurance Society.

He is a veteran of the 80th Combat Infantry Division (1944-46) and has been awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge. He recognizes his wife Shirley for her support through their years together. They have one daughter, Reide who was an educator for 34 years.

“Dr. Walter A. Zaugg was an outstanding speaker and demonstrated genuine concern for each student. The warm and personal attention of BGSU to a GI student and his family gave me the courage and determination to meet the academic challenge to earn my bachelor’s and master’s degrees.”

Thank you for being one-of-a-kind and for your extraordinary leadership of the Toledo Public Schools as former superintendent (1965–1978) and current vice president of the Toledo Public Schools Foundation.

– Toledo Public Schools Foundation Board

Anthony doerr ’99Anthony Doerr has the write stuff.

His 2002 collection of short stories, The Shell Collector, won the Barnes & Noble Discovery Prize, two O. Henry Prizes, the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy in Rome, and the Ohioana Book Award. Many of the stories take place in Africa and New Zealand, where he has worked and lived.

He is also the author of the novel, About Grace, featuring a hermetic handyman who looks for his presumed-dead daughter, and a memoir about living in Italy for a year with newborn twins called Four Seasons in Rome. In July Scribner will publish his fourth book, Memory Wall, a collection of stories about memory.

In 2007 the British literary magazine Granta placed Doerr on its list of 21 Best Young American Novelists. He also writes a science column for The Boston Globe, and is currently writer-in-residence for the State of Idaho.

He holds a Master of Fine Arts from BGSU. He lives in Boise, Idaho, with his wife and two sons.

“Wendell Mayo was an amazing teacher—very rigorous and dedicated. I’ve never known a teacher to spend so much time giving feedback on students’ work—before, or since BGSU. I loved going to the evening readings in Prout Chapel where graduate students, undergrads, faculty and the public all turned out to celebrate writers.”


Albert E. dyckes ’53, ’58 Keeping Ohio healthy has been a big part of Albert Dyckes’ life.

After serving as an Army sergeant and high school social studies teacher, Dyckes became the deputy director of the Ohio Department of Health in 1963. He then went on to be associate coordinator of the Ohio Regional Medical Program at Ohio State University, where he was responsible for administration and supervision for 73 counties around Columbus. After serving as deputy director of the Mid-Ohio Health Planning Federation, where he worked with the General Assembly to enact the first training standards for emergency medical technicians (EMT) and paramedics, he was named senior vice president for the Ohio Hospital Association where he was responsible for legislative liaison with federal and state governments.

In 1996 he initiated two Albert E. Dyckes Healthcare Scholarships at BGSU, awarded each year. The Ohio Hospital Association awards the Albert E. Dyckes Healthcare Worker of the Year from nominations by Ohio’s hospitals. His awards include the Executive Order of the Ohio Commodore and the Ohio Hospital Association Distinguished Service Award.

He holds degrees in education and liberal arts, and a master’s of education degree from BGSU. He is married and has five sons.

“Dr. Grover Platt of the history department was a great lecturer and very challenging professor. When I wasn’t in class, I enjoyed visiting with fellow students in the Falcon’s Nest .”

william Easterly ’79 For William Easterly, numbers make a difference in the lives of many people.

William Easterly is professor of economics at New York University, and co-director of its Development Research Institute, which won the 2009 BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge in Development Cooperation Award. He is the author of two best-selling books: The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Harm and So Little Good (2006) and The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (2001). He has also published 56 peer-reviewed academic articles.

In 2008 and 2009, Foreign Policy Magazine named him among the Top 100 Global Public Intellectuals. He also ranks among the top 100 most-cited academic economists worldwide. His writings have appeared or been covered in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNN, PBS, ABC, and other media outlets. He is co-editor of the Journal of Development Economics and directs and writes the Aid Watch blog. He was born in West Virginia and grew up in Bowling Green, Ohio.

“Dr. Leo Navin was my mentor in economics and a neighbor to my childhood home in BG. My memories of BGSU start in the 1960s when I accompanied my father (N. William Easterly) to his biology lab, to my own graduation summa cum laude in 1979.”


Crystal w. Ellis ’57, ’75, ’93 Crystal Ellis, a BGSU Hall of Fame member, is a long-time Toledo, Ohio, educator and leader.

From 1957-69, he served as an education director at the Toledo YMCA. In 1969 he began a teaching and coaching career at Libbey High School. By the time he retired in 1996, he had become the superintendent of Toledo Public Schools, the first African-American to hold the top administrative position. He was superintendent or deputy superintendent for more than 11 years, but along the way he also served as principal of four Toledo schools.

Since his retirement he has returned to five of the Toledo public high schools to serve in various roles, including principal, director of a program to intervene and help suspended junior high school students and chief of staff. He also served as an educational consultant for Toledo-Lucas County Children Services.

“Harold Anderson was my mentor and coach in that order!”

If we ever fully understand the complexities of whale and dolphin communi-cation, we have Bill Evans and his fellow marine mammalogists to thank.

Evans is a world-renowned marine mammal acoustician and ecologist. He was one of the first scientists to work with the United States Navy’s Marine Mammal Program in the 1960s. During his 10 years with the program, his primary area of research was marine mammal communication and echolocation. The result was a special research platform for recording and observing dolphins underwater called “Sea See.”

He went on to be the head of the Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute and continued his remote sensing studies and their use in oceanography. Before leaving federal service he was Presidentially appointed chairman of the Marine Mammal Commission, promoted to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association associate administrator for Fisheries, followed by his appointment as the U.S. commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, and Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans. He recognized the need for science majors to have a university-level course focusing environmental policy and management, and taught such a course at Texas A & M for 10 years. He is currently an adjunct professor of biology at the University of Notre Dame. He retired as managing editor of American Midland Naturalist after finishing the journal’s centennial issues. His most recent research has concentrated on the study of the history of international environmental policy and how it affects the conservation of threatened and endangered species.

Evans is the author of several books, the most recent (2008), an autobiography, 50 years of Flukes and Flippers. He was named an Outstanding Alumnus for BGSU in 1985 and received an honorary doctorate of public service from BGSU in 1988. He is married to his Falcon sweetheart Phyllis Roberts Evans ’52 and they have two sons.

“The people who were significant to me included President Frank Prout; Dr. Mel Hyman, chair of speech and hearing who was instrumental in getting me into the graduate program at Ohio State University and theatre faculty members F. Lee Miesle and Eldon Smith.


william Eugene Evans ’53, ’88 (Hon.)

“My experience at BGSU contributed to my education in three ways: I learned how to focus and study, I learned how to communicate my ideas to others and now I realize that theater training can translate to the many roles a person plays in a lifetime. Shakespeare was right when he said, ‘All the world’s a stage.’”

Gary Fahle ’86 Gary Fahle is currently the director of the Microbiology Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md.

After graduating from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in medical technology and microbiology, he worked as a medical technologist in the microbiology departments of St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo and Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He began his career at NIH in 1989 as a medical technologist and then as a supervisor in the Clinical Center Microbiology Laboratory before entering molecular diagnostics research.

Fahle has published in more than 20 professional journals, mostly notably The New England Journal of Medicine, and has received both the NIH Director’s Award and the Clinical Center Director’s Award. In his spare time he enjoys running and has completed nine marathons, including the Boston Marathon in 2004.

“Dr. Robert Harr, Dr. Roudabeh Jamasbi, Dr. Judy Adams and the rest of the staff in the medical technology department provided me with a sound foundation on which to build my career.”

Edward J. Ferkany ’59, ’60 Edward Ferkany started out a teacher but became a business leader.

After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from BGSU he taught high school science and coached high school football. He then worked as an assistant football coach at Western Michigan University, the United States Naval Academy and Ohio State before joining Worthington Steel in 1974.

He rose through the ranks and in 2001 he was named president of Worthington Steel. During his presidency the company built five plants and had joint ventures with U.S. Steel and Armstrong World Industries. Throughout his career with Worthington Industries the company grew from $36 million in sales to $2.5 billion. Ferkany is currently CEO of Steel Consulting Services in Columbus, and semi-retired.

Ferkany served on the BGSU Board of Trustees from 1997-2005 and became a member of the BGSU Presidents Club in 2000. He has received the Glenn Sharp Award from BGSU. He served on BGSU’s National Campaign Steering Committee, and has also hosted a BGSU luncheon in Naples, Fla., for eight years.

He has served on the boards of Spartan Steel Coatings, Hysla, Worthington/Armstrong Venture, Worthington Specialty Products, Rouge Steel and Flat Rock Medal in Michigan. He also served on the Board of Trustees for the Easter Seal Society of Central Ohio and was the top VIP fundraiser for five years.

Ferkany’s wife Jeanne is a BGSU (1959) graduate, as are his son Tom, daughter Cheryl and granddaughter Lindy Bobbitt.

“My mentors like Russ Coffey, Bob Kemp and Doyt Perry inspired me with the BG spirit that still lives today.”


Susan Finn ’66 Susan Finn is an acknowledged leader and a respected communicator in the field of nutrition and health. Her commitment to improving the well being and quality of life of people at all levels of society is recognized in both the public and private sectors.

Finn is a past president of The American Dietetic Association (ADA), the world’s largest group of nutrition professionals. In 1998, ADA gave her its highest honor, the Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Award. In recognition of her achievements, Finn was appointed to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Currently, Finn is president and CEO of the American Council for Fitness & Nutrition, a nonprofit organization committed to fighting childhood obesity by teaching school children how to balance food and activity. She has authored several books, many articles and is in high demand as a speaker.

From 1974 -2003, Finn was employed by Ross Products (now Abbott Nutrition) in Columbus, Ohio. As director of nutrition services and public affairs, she designed multifaceted campaigns to advance nutrition support, particularly for women and the elderly.

Finn holds adjunct appointments in the College of Medicine and College of Human Nutrition at The Ohio State University (OSU). After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Bowling Green State University, Finn earned a Master of Science degree in public health nutrition at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She was awarded a doctorate degree in nutrition science from OSU State University in 1972. Finn received BGSU’s College of Education Distinguished Alumni of the Year award in 1992.

“Dr. Doris Williams, whom I have seen over the years, was a great teacher and mentor. I recall having my first brush with BGSU greats Bernie Casey and Nate Thurmond. Bernie Casey taught my art history class and I learned what tall really was by standing next to Nate Thurmond.”

Carolyn L. Forche ’75 Carolyn Forche believes the written word has a powerful role in the march toward social justice.

After receiving her master of fine arts degree from BGSU in 1975 she taught at several universities including the University of Virginia, Skidmore College, Columbia University and George Mason University. She is currently director of the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice at Georgetown University, where she also holds the Lannan Chair in Poetry.

Over the years she has found her calling using poetry to chronicle political violence and war. She is the author of four books of poetry including The Country Between Us, which commemorates two years spent working with human rights advocates in El Salvador. She compiled and edited Against Forgetting: Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness, which assembled the works of 150 poets marked by war or devastation. Her most recent book is the memoir, The Horse on Our Balcony. She also plans two more collections.

Forche has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and a Lannan Literary Award for Poetry. She is also a trustee for the Griffin Poetry Prize. She appeared in the Ken Burns Oscar-nominated documentary “The Statue of Liberty” in 1985.


Ollie Glass Jr. ’52* Ollie Glass’ love of football followed him throughout his life.

He was a graduate of Elyria High School where he excelled in golf, baseball, basketball and football. He was a member of the school’s undefeated 1947 football team, and was named All-Conference, All-District and All-State of that 9-0 team. He was inducted into the high school’s sports hall of fame in 1981.

At BGSU, Glass graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education. While at school he lettered in football and played center and linebacker positions. Glass was the first African American athlete at BGSU. He was selected captain of the 1951 team, and was named to the All-MAC team that same year. He was a member of the Varsity Club and the Lorain County Chapter of the Alumni Association.

After graduation, he began teaching in the Lorain Public School System, and was a teacher, head of the Occupational Work Experience program and football coach at Southview High School until his retirement. He had also taught and coached football and basketball at Admiral King High School.

*Deceased

thomas E. Gouttierre ’62, ’01 (Hon.) Thomas Gouttierre is an expert on one of the world’s hotspots, Afghanistan.

Before becoming dean of International Studies and Programs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, he lived and worked for almost 10 years in Afghanistan. While there, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer, a Fulbright Fellow and executive director of the Fulbright Foundation. He also coached the Afghan National Basketball Team.

The U.S. Department of State then tapped him to serve as senior political affairs officer on the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission to Afghanistan in 1996 and 1997. He has served on several international committees related to Afghanistan refugees and related issues.

He has testified on Afghanistan-related topics and human rights before many different bodies, including the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, committees of the British Parliament and French National Assembly, and the UN Select Committee on Human Rights. He has also conducted orientation programs for U.S. military forces assigned to Afghanistan, and is regularly called upon for his expertise. In the first 10 months after 9/11, he did more than 2,000 presentations and interviews. He has also been instrumental in garnering humanitarian and educational aid to post-war Afghanistan.

Gouttierre speaks, reads and writes Afghan Persian (Dari), Iranian Persian (Farsi) and Tajikistani Persian. His publications include numerous articles about Afghanistan society, culture and politics. He was the project director for the development of the 23,000-word Dari-English Dictionary.

In 2001 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of international relations from BGSU, and in 2005 was named a Distinguished Alumnus. Also added to Gouttierre’s list of accomplishments is master baker. As a student attending BGSU, he worked full time at his family’s bakery in downtown Maumee.

“Several BGSU faculty members mentored and inspired me, stimulated my interests in languages and cultures and taught me to question my assumptions. I loved being at BGSU!”


Keith B. Grass ’78Keith Grass sees money in metal.

As president and CEO of The David J. Joseph Company in Cincinnati, Grass is responsible for 2,000 employees for the $5 billion scrap metal brokerage and processing company. He is also executive vice president of Nucor Corporation, the company’s owner.

After graduating from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in finance, Grass worked at trading offices in Chicago, Detroit and Omaha. In 1996 he joined the operational staff for SHV in Utrecht, The Netherlands, DJJ’s shareholder at the time. The following year he became president of the International Division of the Joseph Company. In 2000 he became president and CEO of the entire company, and sits on its board.

He has been a board member for Gemini Recycling in Cincinnati, Audubon Metals Recycling in Henderson, Ky., Systems Alternatives in Maumee, TSR in Germany, and the U.S. Bank Advisory Board in Cincinnati.

“Raj Padmaraj had a good teaching style. Most of my memories involved my time with Delta Upsilon and Greek Week.”

martina Hanulova ’08Martina Hanulova may be a native of Slovakia, but she considers herself a citizen of the world.

Hanulova came to the United States as an exchange student at Rossford High School. She returned to northwest Ohio to study French and international studies at BGSU. During that time she found her interests focusing on world peace.

Among her international travels has been a three-month stint as an English teacher at a private school in Burkina Faso, Africa. She has helped raise $10,000 from Rotary clubs in Toledo and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, toward building a school in a poor village there.

Hanulova was one of the first recipients of a Stuart R. Givens Memorial Fellowship, a $6,000 award, which allowed her to travel to Ghana where she worked at a Liberian refugee settlement. In Ghana, she helped organize and run daily reconciliation meetings in hopes of rebuilding relationships among the country’s different ethnic groups. In addition, she taught literacy skills to a group of single mothers.

After graduating from BGSU in 2008, Hanulova moved to Washington, D.C., where she is currently studying international development at American University. In 2009, she traveled to Sierra Leone to work for the United Nations Development Programme. In Sierra Leone, she helped manage a project called Open Government Initiative that aimed to strengthen good governance. Hanulova will graduate from American University in May 2010.

“As an advisor and friend Barbara Blair always supported my dreams and decisions, and I would not have come to BGSU without the help and support of Dr. Jeffrey Grilliot. I believe I am where I am today because the University gave me experiences that no other university in the United States would have given me.”


william P. Harper ’76Bill Harper took a detour from chemistry to major in compassion.

He was majoring in chemistry at BGSU when he volunteered at a drug abuse hot line. Listening to those calls for help convinced him to focus on social work instead of science. He now serves as executive director of the Summit County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board, overseeing a $76.5 million budget and 30 agencies in the Akron area.

After switching his major to social work and graduating, his first job was as a social worker at Lima State Hospital. Before beginning his administrative career, he was an assistant professor for social work at BGSU from 1986-94.

Prior to the Summit County position, he was the assistant director for the Ohio Department of Mental Health. He also was executive director of several agencies, including the Lorain County Board of Mental Health; Mental Health Recovery Services of Warren and Lincoln counties, and Four County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services in Archbold. He has been honored twice as the Administrator of the Year by the Ohio Advocates for Mental Health.

In 2002 he was named an Accomplished Graduate of the College of Health and Human Services.

“There was not just one favorite professor: Evan Bertsche helped me make the commitment to social work; Judy Kiser left an indelible impression on me about responsibility to clients, and Dorothy Hamilton was a tremendous role model whose kindness and strength inspire me to this day. Meeting my wife of 33 years, Pam (Gledhill), at a May Day celebration is my all-around favorite BGSU memory.”

To my beautiful wife and Falcon Flame, Pam (Gledhill) Harper, Class of 1975, thank you for your love and support.

John L. Hayes ’70You really do need a weatherman, sometimes, to know which way the wind blows, or when it’s going to snow, sleet or rain. And at that point, you need Jack Hayes.

Hayes has been director of the National Weather Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), since 2007. He oversees more than 4,500 employees responsible for weather forecasts and warnings for the country. He has also served NOAA in several executive positions, and played a key role in orchestrating the service’s response to Hurricane Katrina, overseeing operations that supported opening the sea-lanes into the Port of New Orleans and the cleanup of oil spilled from refineries into the Mississippi River. In 2005 he received the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, recognizing his contributions to the NWS’ weather forecast and warning mission.

Before becoming NWS director, Hayes was a senior executive at the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for the cooperative production and exchange of weather forecasts among 189 member nations. And as an executive for Litton PRC, he was responsible for the development and deployment of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, a billion-dollar information processing system used for all NWS weather forecast and warning operations for the United States.

He began his professional career in the United States Air Force, advancing from a weather forecast officer to senior Air Force Weather leadership positions, including command of the Air Force Weather Agency, which is responsible for weather forecast services for Air Force and Army operations worldwide. In 1998 he was inducted into the Air Force Order of the Sword by the Air Force Weather enlisted corps, one of only 230 officers so recognized.

“I met the love of my life, my wife Sharon Ciprian, at BGSU; we would bicycle to campus on dates from her apartment, until my bike blew a tire. I also learned about integrity and hard work from Major Jimmie Nelson.”


Helen Eunice (Crom) Henderson ’15*

Helen Crom Henderson led a life of firsts.

She was a member of the first graduating class in 1915 of what was then Bowling Green Normal School. The school’s goal at the time was to train elementary school teachers. Not only was she a member of that first class, a feat in itself during a time when not many women went to college, she was president of her class. While on campus she enjoyed collecting photos of her classmates, professors and BG buildings. A copy of her book is in the BGSU Library Center for Archival Collections.

After teaching for a number of years, she continued her interest in education and BGSU by participating in “The Little School House Project.” Today the refurbished schoolhouse with contents of an earlier time in “schooling” is located on campus by the current Education Building. She returned to campus for the 50th anniversary of her historic college graduation, along with four other classmates. Pictures of the luncheon she attended are also included in the archives.

She was married to Charles A. Henderson, a reporter for Toledo newspapers, and the mother of three sons.

“I was so proud to be a Bowling Green graduate and president of the first graduating class, and it was an honor to return to campus for the 50th anniversary of my graduation.”

*deceased

Jennifer Higdon ’86Jennifer Higdon began her musical career late in life – at age 15, when she taught herself to play the flute.

Her formal music studies began at BGSU at the relatively late age of 18 and her flute professor, Judith Bentley, is responsible for having Higdon compose her first work at age 19. Given these ages, she could be considered a late bloomer. But Higdon can point to her 2010 Grammy Award, among other honors, as proof that talent knows no age limit.

Earlier this year she won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her “Percussion Concerto.” It’s the latest award for Higdon, who has also been honored by the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and ASCAP.

While at BGSU, she also studied conducting with Mark Kelly and Robert Spano, who is considered one of the foremost conductors of his generation. Although more than 150 conductors have performed her music, Spano is still considered one of Higdon’s champions.

Her works have been performed by most of the country’s major orchestras, and she has been a featured composer at festivals including Vail, Norfolk, Winnipeg and Cabrillo. Higdon was the first woman to serve in that role at the famous Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival. Her orchestral work, blue cathedral, is one of the most performed orchestral works by a living American composer.

Higdon’s works have been recorded on more than two dozen CDs, including four that have received Grammys. She currently holds the Milton L. Rock Chair in Composition Studies at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.


“Judith Bentley taught me more than music; she actually taught about living in today’s world as an artist as well as being a good citizen. My most cherished memories include walking across campus in the snow in full moonlight after a concert in Moore Musical Arts Center or after a movie at the science center.”

Brenda Joyce Hollis ’70Brenda Joyce Hollis has always tried to keep the peace.

She was first a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal and Niger, West Africa from 1968-69. After being commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force in 1971, she first worked as an Intelligence Officer and later worked within the Air Force’s judicial system, retiring with the rank of Colonel in 1998.

In 1994, while a member of the Unites States Air Force, she and other U.S. government attorneys and investigators were “loaned” to the Office of the Prosecutor for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). She worked there as a legal officer, engaged in the first investigative missions into the former Yugoslavia, and as co-counsel in the Tadic case, the first litigated war crimes prosecution before an international tribunal since World War II. After retiring from the Air Force, she continued to work in the Office of the Prosecutor for the ICTY, acting as lead counsel in a number of prosecutions, including the preparation of the case against Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic. She also supervised 29 legal officers and trial attorneys.

In 2001 she became an expert legal consultant on international criminal law and procedure, training judges, prosecutors and investigators in several countries, including Indonesia, Iraq and Cambodia. In 2002, she began working for the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), participating in the first investigative missions and acting as principal author of the first indictments, including that against then Liberian President Charles Taylor. She has recently been appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to be the prosecutor of the SCSL, and also serves as the principal trial attorney, SCSL, presenting the case against former President Taylor, who is accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Sierra Leone.

“Dolores Black shared her exuberance with her students. She was a professional who was interested in all subjects.”

Paul J. Hooker ’75Two years after graduating from BGSU, Paul Hooker was on his way to becoming a true entrepreneur.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, he and a partner bought SFERRA, an Italian linen maker that had annual sales of $250,000 at the time. Now the company has sales of $30 million and is a worldwide leader for fine Italian linens for the home. It has grown from a one-room office on Fifth Avenue to a 35,000-square foot distribution facility in New Jersey. In 2006 he became sole owner.

In his quest to expand business, he has traveled extensively to find the finest linens around the world.

His company created a home textiles licensee for Tommy Bahama Fine Island Linens and more recently crafted a home license with design diva Kelly Wearstler for SFERRA. A SFERRA Luxury Hospitality Division was launched in 2006 catering to five star properties worldwide, and the print-driven brand for the Gen X’ers, 1891 by SFERRA, debuted in 2007. SFERRA is currently in negotiation to become the very first home licensee of Ralph Lauren Home.

In 1990, he and his wife Margo founded Challenged Youth Sports Inc., a non-profit sports program for children with disabilities. The couple, who met at BGSU, has also helped raise funds to build two accessible playgrounds, allowing children in wheelchairs the ability to soar to new heights by traversing the playground on ramps.

Hooker coached high school baseball for seven years, leading Red Bank Catholic High School to the NJ State Parochial B Baseball Championship in 1997. That same year, the Asbury Park Press, named him Coach of the Year. He is the father of three children.

“I will never forget my experiences in the many intramural teams and other extracurricular activities that helped to round me as a person and gave me a physical outlet from studies. My most cherished memory is proposing to my wife on campus as we drove along Poe Road–not the most romantic place in the world; she accepted and for 35 years I’ve been married to my best friend.”


michael Hoskins ’77Michael Hoskins grew up in northwest Ohio and attended Bowling Green State University from 1973-77 (his father was a professor in the College of Business Administration, running the international business programs). After enrolling as a computer science major his freshman year, he later shifted to business, and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a specialization in finance.

After graduating, he started his career with IBM’s agent in Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a systems programmer in the IT organization from 1978-82. In 1982 the entrepreneurial bug bit him, and he struck out on his own, founding his first business: SaudiSoft. He spent the next five years growing the company from start-up into the top homegrown software company in the region. SaudiSoft remains one of the leading software companies in the Middle East.

In 1987, Hoskins sold his stake in SaudiSoft, and moved to Austin, Texas, where he joined a software startup, Data Junction. He became president in 1988 and helped build the company into a premier global data integration software provider. Hoskins is proud that Data Junction was built entirely by bootstrap methods - no debt or external funding was used.

In 2003, he helped engineer the sale of Data Junction to Pervasive Software, a publicly traded company, also in Austin. The transaction was completed Dec 3, 2003 for approximately $60 million. All of the selling shareholders, more than 90, were Data Junction employees.

Hoskins now is chief technology officer of Pervasive Software, spearheading the company’s technology direction and Innovation Labs. He is also the general manager for Pervasive Integration Products. He is considered a thought leader in the integration industry and speaks worldwide on innovations in data management and integration.

Hoskins has received numerous awards including the AITP Austin chapter’s 2007 Information Technologist of the Year Award, and the BGSU Distinguished Alumni Award in 2008. He was inducted into the Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame in 2009. He remains committed to the success of BGSU and its students, most recently funding a series of study-abroad scholarships for College of Business Administration students.


Andrew Housholder ’55Andy Housholder has taught generations of students how to sing.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music education, Housholder went on to earn a master’s degree from Potsdam State University in 1965. He has taught choral and orchestral classes in New York public schools, and was a choral conductor at New York University, Dowling College, Nassau Community College and Ithaca College. He conducted more than 40 All-State Choirs in Ohio, New York and New Jersey. He has conducted at Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in New York. He took 13 choirs on world concert tours from 1971-88, and encouraged more than 70 of his students to attend BGSU.

He is a board member of the College of Musical Arts’ Pro Musica, and has also served as vice president. In 2004 he co-chaired the concerto competition dinner fundraiser, and provides an annual luncheon for CMA faculty. He is a member of the Falcon Club. He has been an advisor to the Air Force and Army ROTC faculties for seven years, and organized a fundraiser to purchase the cannon used at football games. He has served on a number of Alumni Association projects, and received the Alumni of the Year Award in 2006.

In the Bowling Green community he is involved with many projects, including sponsoring the annual “Andy Open” golf tournament for young people at the Bowling Green Country Club. Benefitting parks and recreation, it has grown to more than 100 participants.

william ingram iii ’72Bill Ingram knows a thing or two about a good burger.

As president and CEO of White Castle Systems, Ingram is the head of White Castle Hamburgers and its famous hamburgers. He began working for the family company in high school, and, after graduating from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics, he trained as a counter clerk. From there, he moved into the accounting department.

He was elected White Castle’s assistant treasurer in 1975, and was named CEO in 1979. He succeeded his father in running the Columbus-based chain, which was started by his grandfather more than 75 years ago.

He is currently vice president for the Ingram-White Castle Foundation and, via the foundation, established the Ingram-White Castle Scholarship Fund at BGSU. He also supports many BGSU programs including the Student Union Capital Improvements Endowment Fund and the Fund for BGSU. He is a Presidents Club member and a charter member of the Dean’s Council for the College of Business Administration. He also served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Foundation Board and the Alumni Advisory Council.

iris Jones ’74Iris Jones is a business development strategist at one of the nation’s oldest international law offices.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from BGSU she earned a law degree from Texas Southern University. Her first job after law school was as an assistant attorney general of Texas in 1978. From there she worked as the director of the law department for the City of Austin and then went into private practice as a shareholder with two prominent Austin law firms before establishing Iris Jones & Associates PC. She practiced law for more than 23 years. As an instructor at the WJF Institute in Austin, Jones trained and coached hundreds of senior-level partners in global law firms on client development and relationship management. In 2003, she joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP as the client services advisor.

In 2007 she was named the chief business development and marketing officer at Chadbourne & Parke LLP in New York City. She works closely with the leadership to grow the firm’s business and enhance client services.

She is a frequent public speaker on law firm business development, and is vice president for business associates for the World Jurist Association.

“Dr. Bill Spragens was always fair, accessible and creative in the delivery of his lessons. He provided unique learning opportunities including a field study trip to the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami, which was one of the most enlightening experiences of my life. I also enjoyed my part-time job in the library at the reference desk, where my supervisors (Bob Heidler, Ruth Hoffman and Angela Poulous) taught me so much about research. Their life lessons of generosity and unwavering support have never been forgotten.”


James B. Karugu ’62James Karugu’s desire to become a lawyer was inspired in part by following the proceedings at Kapenguria trial of Jomo Kenyatta.

Growing up in a grass-thatched house in Kenya, he attended Catholic schools. After graduation and while working for Standard Vacuum Oil Company, he began researching American universities. In order to buy a one-way ticket to BGSU, his father sold some land.

One of the first African students at BGSU, he became president of the International Students Society. He also won an athletic scholarship after being challenged to race across Rodgers Quadrangle. To make ends meet he worked a variety of jobs, including snow shoveling and construction work. He also babysat future Olympian Scott Hamilton when his father, then head of BGSU’s biology department, offered Karugu free room and board for the academic year.

After graduating law school in England, Karugu returned to Kenya and was appointed Crown Counsel in what was still a British colony. Once Kenya became a Republic in December 1964, he assumed the status of State Counsel, then the public prosecutor for a very long time before and eventually attaining the position of the Attorney General. One of his memorable cases was that of Bob Astles, cohort of former Ugandan president Idi Amin. Karugu oversaw his extradition to Uganda to face prosecution after Amin was dethroned.

He also didn’t forget his father’s court case. Upon returning to Kenya with a law degree, he looked up the lawyer who won the civil case against his father years earlier. Karugu faced him in a case for the state, in those proceedings he won the case and felt that justice was not only done, but it was seen to have been done.

Karugu has retired as a farmer.

“Like Psalms 23 where the good Lord leads one to green pastures, I shall be eternally grateful for being led to greener pastures of Bowling Green. If not for Bowling Green and the guidance of Dr. Abcarian, Dr. Claflin and Jim Galloway, the foreign student advisor, I would not be sitting where I am sitting right now.”

Ginger Kathrens ’68If you want a documentary filmmaker who is passionate about using her craft to make a difference, come to Ginger Kathrens.

Kathrens is an Emmy Award-winning producer, cinematographer, writer and editor. Her documentary filmmaking trips have taken her around the world and across the United States. Three of her documentaries currently air on PBS/Nature, including Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions, which premiered in October. She has also written three companion books about her 15-year journey with Cloud, a pale palomino wild horse stallion in Montana.

She was the co-producer and cinematographer of Spirits of the Rainforest, a two-hour special for the Discovery Channel that won an Emmy for Best Documentary. In addition to other Discovery Channel projects, she produced more than 25 segments of the Wild America series for PBS, and has filmed for National Geographic and BBC. She has also produced sports documentaries, including one for the United States Olympic Committee.

Kathrens was also a political media consultant for candidates and issues for 20 years. She worked with Presidents Reagan, Ford, George H.W. Bush and others. She is the founder and volunteer executive director of the Cloud Foundation, dedicated to the preservation of wild horses and burros on public lands.

A native of Bowling Green, she received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from BGSU in 2006 and a year later was commencement speaker.

“As a child, I went to the “experimental school” in University Hall until the sixth grade. In college, I remember pledging Gamma Phi and winning the Mud Tug in conjunction with Sigma Nu. I traveled to France for a spring semester with Dr. Janis Pallister’s group, which was a great experience for all of us. And my favorite professor was Dr. Donald Ungurait whom I followed to Florida State University where he started one of the finest film schools in the country.”


david E. Kennedy ’76, ’81David Kennedy parlayed an on-air announcing gig into cutting-edge entertainment technology.

Kennedy is the CEO of Flycast Inc., founded in 2006 to create advanced IP-based mobile delivery technology for smartphones and other mobile digital media devices. The company’s downloadable FlyCast application offers users over 1,500 channels of entertainment, delivered to their smartphone over wireless connections. In addition, its “appMobi” developer toolkit permits any web developer to create and deploy customized applications for the iPad, smartphones and other mobile devices.

Prior to his work at Flycast, he was CEO/vice chairman of Interep National Radio Sales in New York, and also served as CEO of Susquehanna Media Co. in York, Pennsylvania, one of the largest major market radio, cable and internet companies in the United States. During the 1970s, while working on his degrees from BGSU, Kennedy held various on-air and management positions at Toledo radio stations WMHE and WLQR until being promoted in 1983 to vice president of planning and research for Susquehanna Radio Corp. In August 1989, he was named senior vice president and assumed direct responsibility for several Midwest stations while managing group planning and research operations for all Susquehanna stations.

Kennedy has chaired, actively participated in, and received numerous accolades from the National Association of Broadcasters, Radio Advertising Bureau, John Bayliss Broadcast Foundation and the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation, among many others. His community work includes chairing local United Way, Red Cross and Community Foundation boards. He and his wife, Bev, have three children and five grandchildren.

Cheryl L. Krueger ’74Cheryl Krueger turned cookie baking into big business.

Krueger started Cheryl & Co. with one cookie store in Columbus, Ohio, and it grew into a $50 million corporation. In 2005 the cookie, gourmet dessert and gift basket retailer was sold to 1-800 Flowers with Krueger remaining CEO until her 2009 retirement.

She began her career in fashion retail, working in sales and management for Burdines Department Store, Chaus Inc., and The Limited. She founded Cheryl & Co. with her college roommate Caryl Walker until Walker was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 1986. Cheryl & Co. went on to start several new divisions; its products have been featured on QVC, The Food Network, CNN and talk shows including those of Rachael Ray and Ellen DeGeneres. She recently founded KRUEGER + CO. Consulting Inc., which helps companies develop creative marketing and sales strategies and improve financial performance.

Krueger serves on the boards of several organizations, including The James Cancer Hospital and the OSU Foundation Board. She was recently appointed to serve on The Ohio State University Medical Center Board, and was asked to be a co-chair for Project ONE, the upcoming capital campaign for the OSU Medical Center and James Cancer Hospital.

She is a member of the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame, and was selected as Female Entrepreneur of the Year by Working Woman Magazine. She has also helped raise funds for non-profit groups and travels to Appalachia each year with her church to help families in need.

“Dorothy Hamilton taught me to think outside of the box and helped me to view challenges from various perspectives. I was the first generation of my family to go to college. My father burst into tears during a graduation breakfast at President Hollis Moore’s house because he was so proud that I was graduating from college.”


Charles F. Kurfess ’51Chuck Kurfess has spent more than 50 years serving Ohio.

After serving in the Army Counter Intelligence Corps in the Far East during the Korean Conflict, Kurfess returned to earn his juris doctor degree from Ohio State University. He practiced law in Wood County from 1958-91 when he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas and served 12 years.

He was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1956 while a student in law school, (then the youngest member of the General Assembly). He served 11 consecutive terms representing Wood, Henry and Sandusky counties. He was Speaker of the House from 1967-72, and then Minority leader for six years. In December 2009 the Ohio State Bar Foundation presented him the Honorary Life Fellowship Award for a lifetime of service to the public, and integrity, honor, courtesy and professionalism.

While a leader in the Ohio legislature, Kurfess was active in the national effort to improve the legislatures’ role in state government. Involved in the State Legislative Leaders Association, he also served as president of the National Legislative Conference and was a founder of the National Association of State Legislatures. He served on the executive committee of the Council of State Governments and was appointed by Presidents Nixon and Ford to the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

He has served on many business and civic boards, including the board of directors of the BGSU Alumni Association. In 1967 he received the BGSU Distinguished Alumnus Award. He and his wife, the former Helyn Rudolph, a 1953 BGSU alumna, are lifelong members of St. Johns Lutheran Church, Stony Ridge, and members of the BGSU Falcon Cub and Presidents Club. They also are the proud parents of three children and five grandchildren.

“BGSU holds many memories for me from professor Charles Barrell’s interest in political science and Dean Kenneth McFall’s friendship and postgraduate counsel to the BG basketball win over Chicago Loyola and the foremost religious leaders who would be on campus for the annual “Religious Emphasis Week.”

Stanley Kutler ’56If you want to understand Watergate and recent American history, Stanley Kutler is the man to ask.

His books include The Wars of Watergate and Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes, a book that resulted from his successful lawsuit against the National Archives and Nixon himself, forcing the release of the tapes. His other major books include The American Inquisition, winner of the ABA’s Silver Gavel Award, Privilege and Creative Destruction: The Charles River Bridge Case, among others. He has written more than half a dozen text books covering different areas of American history, and edited several major reference works including the third edition of the Dictionary of American History, a 10-volume work, which was awarded the American Library Association’s Best Reference Book Award and The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, also cited by the ALA.

Kutler has been the E. Gordon Fox (Emeritus) Professor of American History and Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin. He has held several prestigious fellowships and chairs abroad, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. He has written op-ed pieces and reviews for major publications including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He also worked as a consultant on a number of film projects, including historical advisor for the Emmy-winning BBC documentary “Watergate,” and as advisor for the Showtime film “The Day Ronald Reagan Was Shot.” Prop Theatre in Chicago will produce his play, I, Nixon, in 2010.

“I had inspiring teachers, such and Grover and Virginia Platt and Charles Barrell, whose wisdom and inspiration have stayed with me through the years.”


Jimmy Light ’60Dr. Jimmy Light is an organ transplant pioneer.

After graduating from the University of Michigan Medical School, he trained in surgery, transplantation and immunology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and became a member of the newly formed transplant program there in 1971. In 1977 he was appointed professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Medical School, where he combined the transplant programs of the Army and the Navy.

After leaving military service in 1983 he became director of transplantation services at the Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. Under his leadership the program grew to become the dominant program in the region and the ninth largest kidney transplant program in the nation.

He is a founding member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, and was the founding secretary and later president of the South-Eastern Organ Procurement Foundation, the premier organ-sharing network of the time. Today he is an at-large member of the successor organization, the United Network for Organ Sharing.

Light has been a leader in kidney transplant research and advocacy for patients with End Stage Renal Disease. Most recently he has been among the leaders espousing the wider use of living donors in kidney transplants, including donors who are incompatible with their intended recipients.

He has written more than 600 abstracts and articles and serves on the editorial boards of all the major transplant journals. He continues to lead the transplant program at Washington Hospital Center.

“I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for Ashel Bryan, who influenced my life to go to BGSU and to continue on to medical school. Also Dr. Joseph E. Weber of the chemistry department was my pre-med advisor and friend, and we stayed in touch until his death.”

richard d. mathey ’71Richard Mathey has made music his life’s work.

He began his music education career in the Columbus public schools. For 32 years he was on the faculty at BGSU, where he became director of choral activities and professor of music. During 2002 he was an adjunct professor at Ohio University in Athens, and during fall 2007 he was interim director of choral activities at Ball State University.

His university choirs have appeared at state, regional and national conventions of the Ohio Music Education Association, the Music Educators National Conference, the American Choral Directors Association, the Ohio Choral Directors Association and the Michigan Music Educational Association. In addition, he has conducted All-State choruses in Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia. In 2011 he will conduct the All-State Male Chorus in Georgio, and is beginning his 40th year as a choral/vocal adjudicator for the Ohio Music Education Association.

In 1997 the Music Educators National Conference and the Harmony Society honored him for his service to music education. Capital University honored Mathey with the 2004 Alumni Achievement Award, and the Ohio Choral Directors Association in 2007 awarded him a service award for choral education. In 2009 the Barbershop Harmony Society inducted him into its hall of fame and presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award. He can be heard on the CD “Without A Song,” recorded with his son and operatic tenor Shawn Mathey.

“I recall the summer tours by the various choirs, and I admired Dr. James Paul Kennedy who was truly a musician’s musician.”


Harold J. “Hal” mcGrady Jr. ’54Before retiring in 2002, Harold McGrady spent more than 45 years studying and teaching in the areas of communication disorders and learning disabilities. He most recently served as executive director of the Division for Learning Disabilities, a national organization that is part of the International Council for Exceptional Children.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing therapy, he served as an officer in the United States Army. In 1957 he became the first speech and hearing therapist for the Marietta City Schools. He has held professorships at several universities, including Emory, Northwestern and Virginia Tech. In addition, he has held school district administrative positions in Arizona and Virginia.

McGrady testified before Congress on behalf of the Learning Disabilities Act of 1969, was invited to a White House conference on learning disabilities at the request of President Gerald Ford in 1975, and in 2000 met with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton regarding the Initiative for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. His articles have been published in several professional journals and texts. McGrady has held leadership positions and made numerous presentations at local, state, national and international levels.

He is also proud to have been selected by the U.S. Curling Association to participate in a special curling competition against Scotland in 2001 and to play a part in developing new curling clubs throughout he United States.

He has two sons and lives in Arizona.

“Dr. Elden Smith was an outstanding professor, administrator and head of the Huron Playhouse who cast me in my biggest drama in college. I worked hard and got so much enjoyment as a member of the production company at Huron Playhouse in the summer of 1952.”

George mcPhee ’82George McPhee is a leader both on and off the ice in the world of hockey.

Before attending BGSU he led his hometown Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Guelph Platers to the 1978 National Championship. At BGSU he was a four-year letter winner, and won the 1982 Hobey Baker Award, given to the top player in college hockey. He was the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s Rookie of the Year in 1979, and he was the first player to be named to the CCHA’s All-Academic Team for three consecutive seasons.

After college he signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers and started his NHL career during the 1992 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After playing seven years with the Rangers and New Jersey Devils, he earned his law degree from Rutgers University in 1992. After law school he joined the front office of the Vancouver Canucks, helping guide the team to the playoffs, a division championship and a trip to the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

He was named general manager of the Washington Capitals in 1997 and helped engineer the team’s first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals his first season. Under his leadership the team has won three Southeast Division Championships, had four seasons of 40 or more wins, and had a 102-point season in 1999-2000. McPhee became a U.S. citizen in December 2009.


John F. meier ’70John F. Meier has been chairman and chief executive officer of Libbey Inc. since the company went public in 1993.

From 1990-93 Meier served as vice president of Owens-Illinois Inc. and executive vice president and general manager of its subsidiary, Libbey Glass. Since joining Libbey Inc. in 1970, Meier served in various marketing and sales management positions, including a five-year assignment in Belgium.

Meier is a director of Applied Industrial Technologies Inc., since 2005. He has been a director of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. since 1997 and its lead director since 2007. He has served as past campaign chairman of the United Way of Greater Toledo, and is also an emeritus trustee of Wittenberg University. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wittenberg and his MBA from BGSU.

John is married to his wife, Ann, a 1970 BGSU alumna with a master’s degree in speech pathology. They have two grown children.

nick J. mileti ’53, ’75 (Hon.)Nick Mileti is still a big part of BGSU years after his graduation.

Bowling Green has awarded Mileti its Distinguished Alumnus Award, an honorary doctorate degree, its Community Service Award and honorary membership in Omicron Delta Kappa. The alumni center is named the Mileti Alumni Center in his honor and he served on the University’s Board of Trustees for over seven years following his appointment by the Governor of the state.

Mileti is considered one of the founders of the BGSU Cleveland alumni chapter. He was one of the first major donors to the University and throughout his career made it a priority to hire fellow BGSU graduates. For more than 30 years, Falcon fans have enjoyed the center scoreboard in Anderson Arena, also a generous gift of Mileti.

Mileti has made an indelible mark on his hometown of Cleveland. During his career as a prosecutor and a housing consultant for the elderly, he co-founded the Lakewood Hometown Band Concerts and the Cuyahoga Valley Historic Steam Railroad Line. In 1968 he purchased the 10,000-seat arena and the Barons of the American Hockey League. Later, he brought the professional Hockey Crusaders of the World Hockey Association to Cleveland. In 1970, Mileti brought major league basketball to the city by creating the Cleveland Cavaliers. In an equally significant move, Mileti purchased the Cleveland Indians baseball team from Vernon Stouffer to save them from being moved to New Orleans. In 1974, Frank Sinatra opened Mileti’s 22,000-seat Richfield Coliseum.

Mileti is also an author, having written three books to date. He has received innumerable prestigious national awards over the years.

“ I loved all the people at BGSU, especially President Frank Prout who was down to earth and accessible, and my Theta Chi Fraternity brothers.


mary minnick ’81Mary Minnick is a partner of Lion Capital, a leading private equity firm that focuses on consumer-based companies.

Before joining Lion Capital, Minnick was an executive with The Coca-Cola Company for 23 years. She served in a variety of global executive positions, ranging from general management to marketing. In her last role at Coca-Cola, she was corporate executive vice president and president of marketing, strategy and innovation. She also served as chief operating officer of Asia, responsible for operations in 38 countries.

She serves as a board director for Target Corporation and Heineken beverage company. She received a bachelor’s degree in business from BGSU and a master’s degree in business administration from Duke University.

Betty montgomery ’70Betty Montgomery has had a career of firsts.

She was Ohio’s first woman attorney general and auditor of state. When elected Wood County prosecutor she was the only female prosecutor in the state. She also served as a state senator and in other legal positions in the state of Ohio during her public service career.

As Wood County prosecutor, she directed a 250-percent increase in felony conviction rates. As state senator, she drafted legislation including Ohio’s first Living Will law, first brownfields legislation and Ohio’s first Victim’s Rights Law. As attorney general, she rebuilt Ohio’s crime labs, created the DNA lab and DNA data base, brought modernized lab and crime scene technology to the office and earned accreditation from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (only 4 percent of law enforcement agencies earn such accreditation).

During her time as attorney general, her office received national recognition in many areas.The consumer section was recognized in 2000 by the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators as the top consumer protection agency in the country. Her Senior Citizen Initiative was one of five agencies – and the only public agency – recognized by the American Bar Association with the national “Pro Bono” award in 2002.

“I enjoyed my Ancient Mesopotamian history class taught by Mr. Daily, and my most compelling memory was following the Kent State killings. I was so impressed how adroitly the administration handled it with large campus gatherings and skillful handling of students, avoiding wide-scale rioting.”


George Mylander is a 1951 graduate of Sandusky High School and a U.S. Army veteran, serving the 3rd Infantry Divisions. For service to his county and community he was enshrined in the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1999.

He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in education from BGSU. In 2003 he was given an honorary doctorate degree in public service by his alma mater. He was a 15-year member of the BGSU Foundation and served two years as its chair.

He worked 27 years in the Sandusky City Schools as a teacher and administrator. Upon his retirement from the schools in 1987 he established the Mylander Foundation. Among the annual designated non-profit recipients are the Sandusky City Schools and the BGSU Foundation, Inc. More than 150 scholarships have been granted to students on the main campus and at BGSU Firelands. In 1999 the Toledo Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals named him the Outstanding Philanthropist of Northwest Ohio.

In 1979 he was elected to the Sandusky City Commission and served 16 years, six years of which he was ex-officio mayor. Under his leadership two business parks were started and progress was made in the improvement of the Sandusky Bay shoreline.

A tireless worker for good health facilities, he worked hard to unite three Sandusky area hospitals into one, Firelands Regional Medical Center, of which he has been a board member for 40-plus years and currently is chair emeritus. He has been recognized by local, state and national organizations for his work in health care. In 2006 he was recognized by the Ohio Hospital Association with the Donald R. Newkirk Award, the association’s highest recognition as the most outstanding hospital trustee in the state.

“Three days following my discharge from the U.S. Army I found myself at BGSU. What a sudden change from Army to civilian life. President Frank Prout’s advice: ‘Whatever you end up doing, make sure you find enjoyment,’ ended up being right. My 27 years as a teacher and administrator were some of the most enjoyable and rewarding in my life.”

George L. mylander ’58, ’70, ’03 (Hon.)

“For fifteen years it was my pleasure to serve on the BGSU Foundation Board and to meet so many wonderful and generous people committed to the University now and in the future.”

Hiroko nakamoto ’54, ’92 (Hon.)Hiroko Nakamoto is an international designer whose works are influenced by her native Japan.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from BGSU, she studied Interior design at Pratt Institute in New York. During the practical training period, she worked at B. Altmans & Co. as a merchandising trainee, and William Stephenson, AIA in Beverly Hills, Calif. On her return to Japan after studying interior design in England, France, Italy, Germany, Lebanon and Iran, she was appointed to become an advisor to Takashimaya, Ltd. in Tokyo. In 1966, she established Hiroko Nakamoto Interior Design Studio in Tokyo. She is a pioneer for the interior design field in Japan.

At BGSU, she is a member of the President Club and the BGSU Foundation Board. She established the Hiroko Nakamoto Japanese Studies Scholarship. She created the Japanese Ceremonial Tea Room in the Fine Arts Building as well as the Japanese Study Room in Offenhauer West Resident Hall on campus.

She was the first international student to receive a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1973. The honorary doctorate degree in Fine Arts was bestowed upon her by BGSU in 1992.

“Willard Wankelman filled the art building with his joyful spirit every day. His wit and jokes made me laugh all the time. I remember our house mother’s saying, ‘Girls, Gracious Living’ meant we had to dress up for Sunday dinners.”


George L. mylander ’58, ’70, ’03 (Hon.)

Shantanu narayen ’86While Shantanu Narayen may not be a household name, virtually everyone with a computer knows his company.

Narayen is president and CEO of Adobe Systems Inc., one of the world’s largest software brands and the company behind Adobe® Photoshop®, Adobe Acrobat® and Adobe Flash® Player, which is on 98 percent of all desktop computers and delivers 75 percent of all video content on the Web. Since joining the company in 1998, he has held a variety of key executive positions, including, most recently, president and chief operating officer. Before joining Adobe, Narayen was a co-founder of Pictra Inc., an early pioneer of digital photo sharing over the Internet. Prior to that, he held management positions at Silicon Graphics and Apple Computer.

Narayen holds five patents and is a frequent speaker at key industry and academic events. Outside of Adobe, he serves on the board of Dell Inc.; the advisory board of the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, and is president of the board of the Adobe Foundation, which funds philanthropic initiatives around the world. In his free time he enjoys golf, tennis and travelling with his wife and two sons. He and his wife, Reni, met while both attended BGSU.

Narayen received a master ‘s degree in computer science from BGSU and is a member of the San Francisco Area Chapter of the Alumni Association.

“The pursuit of education at BGSU was profitable in more ways than one. Dr. Larry Dunning and Dr. Ron Lancaster instilled in me a desire to learn, and on my first day at BGSU, I saw my future wife.”

richard r. nedelkoff ’80Richard Nedelkoff has rejoined Eckerd Youth Alternatives, a national non-profit where he was formerly chief operating officer. Recently, he served as conservator of the Texas Youth Commission where he was appointed by the Governor of Texas to initiate major reforms of an agency in receivership. He oversaw a $350 million juvenile justice agency with more than 4,000 employees.

Nedelkoff has had a long and distinguished role in public service, including appointments by several governors and the President of the United States. He was appointed by the President to oversee 26 federal criminal justice grant programs and a $6 billion funding portfolio. He has worked diligently to reduce bureaucracy, implement innovative programs, produce measureable results and find solutions to problem situations.

He has provided national leadership and assistance in support of local criminal justice strategies to achieve safe communities. Additionally, as an administrator in five states, he has created juvenile justice and criminal justice programs that serve as models for agencies across the country.

Nedelkoff has also provided consulting services to several states across the country on a variety of juvenile justice reform projects, criminal justice information system improvements and other management consulting engagements.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from BGSU. He later earned a Master of Science degree in the administration of justice from the University of Louisville where he graduated with high honors. Additionally, he received his juris doctor degree from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio.

“I remember the subzero temperatures and the snow drifts to the second floor during the Blizzard of 1978. I also remember that it was Dr. Gerald Rigby who provided me with a desire to learn more.”


don nehlen ’58Don Nehlen knows how to win.

Nehlen is one of the winningest coaches in NCAA football history and piled up 202 victories in 30 years patrolling the sidelines for West Virginia University and Bowling Green State University. During his tenure at the helm of the Mountaineer and Falcon programs, Nehlen notched two undefeated seasons, coached in 13 bowl games, was named the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year, mentored 28 All-Americans and saw 51 of his student-athletes go on to play in the National Football League.

Nehlen is most widely heralded for his stint at WVU, where he coached the 21-year span from 1979-2000 and led the Mountaineers to 15 winning seasons, two Lambert Trophies and the 1993 Big East Championship. During that time, West Virginia posted a 149-93-4 record to make Nehlen the school’s all-time wins leader.

In 1968, Nehlen accepted the head coaching position at BGSU and turned in a 53-35-4 mark in nine seasons with the Falcons. While guiding Bowling Green on the gridiron, Nehlen led the Falcons to major victories over Syracuse, Purdue and Brigham Young to earn the title of “Master of the Upset” from the BGSU fans.

Nehlen left BGSU in 1977 to join Bo Schembechler’s staff at Michigan and worked as a recruiting coordinator and quarterback coach for two years, before taking the head coaching position at West Virginia.

In 2005, Nehlen was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Since retirement he has been a spokesman for the coal industry. He also published a book called Don Nehlen’s Tales from the West Virginia Sideline, which recounts Nehlen’s greatest moments, players and other memories from his 21 years as head coach.

“I remember one of our first football games of the year when I was coaching at BGSU, we beat Purdue who was in the top 15 teams in the country. I also remember Dr. Russell Coffey because he cared.”

Eileen O’neill ’90Eileen O’Neill knows what people want to watch on television – and she gives it to them as president and general manager of The Learning Channel.

As part of the internship requirement for BGSU’s popular culture graduate degree, O’Neill arrived at Discovery Communications, parent company of TLC. Twenty years later she leads TLC. Under her direction TLC has added popular reality series including “Cake Boss,” “19 Kids and Counting,” “Say Yes to the Dress” and the special “Brace For Impact” (the story of Captain Sullenberger who landed the plane in the Hudson River). O’Neill was the original developer of “Jon & Kate Plus 8” which broke cable rating records in 2009.

She is credited with launching the Planet Green network from the ground up in less than 12 months. One of her premier series was “Greensburg.” Produced with Leonardo Dicaprio, the series chronicled the comeback of Greensburg, Kansas, as a green city after a devastating tornado destroyed the town.

She also served as executive vice president and general manager of Discovery Health Channel, which earned record ratings under her watch. In 2004 O’Neill produced the first Discovery Health Channel Medical Honors, recognizing national health and medical pioneers. She also helped develop the National Body Challenge, which over five years has helped Americans lose nearly 500 tons.

She was named a 2009 Wonder Woman by Multi-Channel News; Hollywood Reporter’s Power 100 Women in Entertainment -- Number 38 (May 2009); Cable Fax 100 - “The Fixer’ - Number 57 (December 2009); Hollywood Reporter’s “Reality Power List” (2008); 2008 Woman To Watch by Women in Cable Telecommunications.

“For my master’s in popular culture, I was fortunate to learn from Dr. Jack Nachbar, Dr. Mike Marsden, Dr. Snyder and Dr. Chris Geist.”


donald E. Percy ’55Donald Percy pursued multiple executive careers in the fields of research, higher education, finance, health and human service, and management consulting.

After graduating from BGSU with a degree in political science, he did graduate work at American University in Washington, DC, while working in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He progressed through research administrator positions in Princeton and later at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. His subsequent university career path concluded with his service as executive/senior vice president of the 27-campus University of Wisconsin System, along with teaching and research activities in the UW-Madison’s schools of business, medicine and education.

After taking leave from the university to serve as Cabinet Secretary of health and social services under two Wisconsin governors, he was later chosen to be president and CEO of the Jackson Multispecialty Medical Clinic in Madison. He subsequently created and headed The Management Group – TMG, a management-consulting firm. His final career stop in yet another career field was serving a decade as president and CEO of the University of Wisconsin Credit Union.

He currently serves as managing principal of The Bardish Group, a consulting firm specializing in CEO coaching and board of director education and training.

Chuck Perry was a playmaker and a rainmaker for Bowling Green State University.

As a student, he was a member of the football team for four years under Coach Doyt Perry (no relation). After graduation he served as an admissions counselor, director of admissions and assistant to the president. Additionally, Perry was the first director of development at BGSU.

He was actively engaged in fundraising for the Falcons, particularly in establishing the Falcon Club and the University Athletic Endowment. He also gave the keynote speech “Bowling Green State University’s Greatest Asset...Its People” at the 75th Anniversary of the University in 1985. In 1998, he was honored by having the Charles Perry Fieldhouse named for him.

After working at BGSU, he spent one year as special assistant for education under the direction of Florida Governor Claude Kirk Jr. The following year, he was assistant chancellor for the State University System of Florida. In 1969 he was named founding president of Florida International University, which has since named a building in his honor.

Once the university was on solid footing, he embarked upon a 17-year business career that included being president and publisher of Family Weekly Magazine, president and CEO of Golden Bear International (in partnership with golfer Jack Nicklaus), chairman and CEO of Worldvest and Western Trading and Management, and president and CEO of Friedkin Companies.

In retirement he was the founder and owner of Buffalo Creek Golf Club in Rockwell, Texas, still owned by the Perry Family, and later returned to academia as the dean of the University of Dallas, Graduate School of Management.

“Coach Doyt Perry, Jim Hof and former President William T. Jerome were always among my favorite people at BGSU.”

*Deceased


Charles E. Perry ’58, ’59, ’61, ’70 (Hon.)*

doyt L. Perry ’32*

Doyt Perry can be considered the patron saint of BGSU football.

His relationship with his alma mater and its athletic program began as a student. Before he graduated in 1932 with a bachelor’s degree, he had lettered nine times in football, basketball and baseball. After graduation he started coaching high school basketball and track, before beginning a football team at Lorain Clearview. In six years, he guided his teams to four league championships. Perry also served as football coach at Upper Arlington, where the Bears won or shared the Central Buckeye title four times.

In 1951 Perry joined the Ohio State University football staff as backfield coach under the legendary Woody Hayes. Three years later, Perry helped the Buckeyes win the 1954 Big 10 Championship and a Rose Bowl berth.

Perry returned home to BGSU in 1955 as head football coach. In 10 years, his teams posted a record of 77-10-5 for a winning percentage of .855, a figure topped only by Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. Perry’s Falcons won five MAC Championships and a 1959 national college division title. Outside the MAC, Perry’s record was near perfect – 31 wins in 32 regular season games. Perry was selected as Ohio Coach of the Year in 1956 and 1959. Thirty-four of his players gained All-Ohio and All-MAC honors with two players – Bob Zimpfer and Bernie Casey – being named All-Americans.

He became BGSU’s athletic director for six years after retiring from coaching in 1964. Several of his former players and assistant coaches went on to become great coaches themselves, including BGSU graduate Don Nehlen at West Virginia University and Moe Ankney, former head BGSU football coach and now defensive coordinator at Missouri.

He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, and in 1966 the university’s athletic facility was named Doyt L. Perry Stadium.

*Deceased

James Pickens Jr. ’76James Pickens Jr. has conquered stage, screen and television in a variety of acting roles.

He started acting at the Karamu House, the oldest African-American theater in the United States, located in his native Cleveland. After moving to New York, Pickens performed in the 1981 production of Charles Fullers’ “A Soldier’s Play” at the Negro Ensemble Company with fellow cast members Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. He was a member of the Circle Rep/Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of “Balm in Gilead” and starred in the 25th anniversary revival of A Raisin in the Sun.

In 1990 he moved west and has appeared in movies including Traffic, Nixon and Bulworth. He portrayed slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Ghosts of Mississippi and also had a featured role in How Stella Got Her Groove Back.

He is well known to TV audiences for his recurring roles on series including “NYPD Blue,” “The X-Files,” “The Practice,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Six Feet Under” and “The West Wing.” He starred opposite Rob Lowe in “The Lyon’s Den” and with William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman in “A Slight Case of Murder.” He received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Drama Ensemble and two NAACP Image Awards nominations for his current role as Dr. Richard Webber on Grey’s Anatomy.

He returned to Karamu House as executive producer of the musical review Gospel, Gospel, Gospel, which will be performed around the country. He is also a member of the United States Team Roping Championships, roping cattle on horseback at events across the country.


martin d. Porter ’81Martin Porter believes in bringing music to the next generation.

Porter is the founding director of Toledo School for the Arts (TSA). He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Wittenberg University and a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from Bowling Green State University. Porter served as a music educator at Southeastern Local Schools prior to graduate studies at BGSU. He was director of public events for the BGSU College of Musical Arts and executive director of the Lima Area Arts Council before coming to TSA. Porter is an active performer with the Toledo Symphony and the Toledo Jazz Orchestra. As a freelance musician, he has performed with various artists including the Tower Brass Quintet, the Northwood Orchestra, Doc Severinsen and the Four Tops. Porter has served on the board of several area arts organizations, including the Toledo Jazz Society and Toledo Ballet Association.

In 2007 TSA was identified as one of the leading charter schools in the nation and featured in the U.S. Department of Education publication, Innovations in Education. TSA was also named the 2007 Outstanding Charter School of the Year by the national Center for Education Reform and was awarded the 2007 Ohio State Superintendent’s School of Promise designation. Also that year, TSA was the first charter school in the nation to receive the Title 1 School of Distinction award. Recently, TSA has been nominated as a National Blue Ribbon School and named an EPIC Silver-Gain High School, one of four across the nation. TSA has received an Excellent rating from the State of Ohio Department of Education for the last two years and has been recognized as a top performing school by the Ohio Coalition for Quality Education. The school was also a third-time national finalist for the Grammy Signature Schools Award and was named a Bronze Medalist in U.S.News and World Report’s “2008 Best High Schools Search,” placing TSA in the top six percent of schools nationwide.

william Primrose Jr. ’42Bill Primrose’s relationship with BGSU didn’t end at graduation. If anything, that relationship has become a big part of his professional and personal life.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in marketing research, Primrose began work at Dickey-Grabler, a steel stampings manufacturer. His father started working at the business in 1923, and by 1986 the company was owned by the family. Primrose later retired as chairman and turned control over to his son. Along the way he also served on the Board of Directors of Independent Steel Co., and as a member of the Precision Metalforming Association Voice of the Industry Committee.

While at BGSU Primrose was involved with track, band, Varsity Club, Key staff, YMCA and Commoners Fraternity (predecessor of Pi Kappa Alpha). He met his wife Mary Catherine Stahl, also a 1942 grad, on campus. Both his children are alumni, and his son also met and married a BGSU grad. All are members of the Presidents Club.

He is director emeritus of the Foundation Board, and established the William J. Primrose Scholarship, the William and Mary Catherine Primrose Endowment and the Primrose Family Professorship in Accounting. He has also served on the University Development Council, Foundation Board of Directors, Alumni Association Board of Directors, Dean’s Alumni Advisory Council in the College of Business Administration and several search and selection committees.


Geoffrey radbill ’68Geoffrey Radbill retired in 2004 as senior vice president and chief operating officer of retail distribution at AXA-Equitable, having held numerous managerial positions with the company for 36 years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Bowling Green State University. Currently at BGSU, he is chairman of the development committee for the BGSU Foundation Board of Directors. He is also a member of the finance department’s advisory board, an executive-in-residence for the finance and management departments, and a member of BGSU’s Presidents Club Advisory Council. Additionally, Radbill volunteers his time and shares his passion for BGSU with the Office of Admissions working to increase freshman enrollment from the New York City metropolitan area. He was honored as a BGSU Accomplished Graduate in 2006. In addition to his involvement at BGSU, he is active with the New York City chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, having previously served as development committee chairperson, vice president of the board and president-elect of a local chapter.

Radbill also participates in fund raising and client service consulting for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Previously he was a Registered Investment Adviser, Registered Representative and a Registered Securities Principal of the NASD, a member of the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters and Chartered Financial Consultants, and the Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way. He and his wife, Linda, reside in Long Beach, N.Y. and New York City.

“BGSU gave me a great education as a springboard to my career, thanks, in part, to many caring professors and administrators who taught me accountability, business ethics, leadership and time management through priority setting and a focused work ethic.”

A people’s history is sometimes best told through individual stories. Arnold Rampersad has made it his life’s work to tell the African-American story through the lens of biography.

A noted scholar, critic and biographer, and a former senior associate dean for the humanities at Stanford University, Rampersad is now the Sara Hart Kimball Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at Stanford. Most recently he returned to BGSU as the President’s Visiting Scholar in the Humanities. His presentations have included discussions on biography, sports, American literature and the humanities.

His life’s work of interpreting the African-American experience through biography includes The Art and Imagination of W.E.B. Du Bois; The Life of Langston Hughes (two volumes); Days of Grace: A Memoir, co-written with Arthur Ashe; Jackie Robinson: A Biography, and Ralph Ellison: A Biography. He has also edited several volumes, including Collected Poems of Langston Hughes and a major revised edition of Richard Wright’s Native Son. He was also co-editor of the Race and American Culture book series published by Oxford University Press.

Rampersad grew up in Trinidad. After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from BGSU, he earned a doctorate in English and American literature from Harvard. In 1991 he was awarded a five-year, $300,000 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, known as the “genius award,” to further his research. He was also awarded BGSU’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1992 and an honorary doctorate from the university.


Arnold rampersad ’67, ’68, ’95 (Hon.)

Edward J. reiter ’62If Edward Reiter’s community needs him, he is there.

Reiter, retired senior chairman of Sky Financial Group, has been involved with dozens of boards and capital campaigns in northwest Ohio. He has been involved with the BGSU Alumni and Foundation boards, the COSI Board of Directors, the Toledo Community Foundation Board, the Toledo Symphony Board and the United Way. He is a former Board of Trustees member for Owens Community College, Lourdes College, Davis College, the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, Cherry Street Mission and the Boys and Girls Club of Toledo. Reiter is a founding member of the University of Toledo Center for Family Business, was the general chair of northwest Ohio fund raising for the United Negro College Fund, and chair of the Toledo Area Regional Growth Partnership. That’s only a small sampling of the civic activities that have kept Reiter busy over his banking career.

After graduating from BGSU, he served in the U.S. Army from 1962-64. He taught for several years in area high schools before joining Mid American National Bank and Trust Company. He worked his way up to chief executive officer of Mid American, and served as senior chairman of Sky Financial (formerly Mid American) from 1998-2005. He currently serves on several corporate boards.

Along the way he received awards for his business and civic activities. His BGSU honors include the Alumni Community Award in 1991, the Business Education Distinguished Alumni Award in 1992 and the Doyt Perry Award in 2000. He’s also been honored as Executive of the Year for Northwest Ohio, Outstanding Citizen by the city of Bowling Green, New Hope Christian Foundation Lifetime Award for ethics in business, National Bronze Award for “Financial World’s” CEO of the year, along with two honorary doctorate degrees and numerous hall of fame awards. In retirement he continues to be active in mentoring, speaking, and helping those in need. He is married, with two children and six grandchildren.

“I met Linda, my wife of 49 years, at BGSU. Dr. Mearl R. Guthrie was a favorite professor of business education, and is still a close personal friend.”

randolph m. rowe ’85Randy Rowe helps make industry hum.

As a vice president for Ingersoll-Rand Co. in Missouri, Rowe helps run a company that provides the latest HVAC technology for commercial buildings and provides for a safe global food chain through transport and retail refrigeration applications to companies around the world.

After graduating from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing technology, Rowe went on to receive a master’s in business administration from Xavier University. He began his professional career with GE Aircraft Engines and worked his way up the GE ladder before joining Ingersoll-Rand in 2007 as vice president of Global Supply Chain.

At BGSU, he was a member and first vice president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and a member of the Management Club and Order of Omega. He was also a founding member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, contributed to Union Activities Organization, lead campus tours as a tour guide and lettered in football. He received BGSU’s Accomplished Graduate Award for the College of Technology in 2001.

He and his wife, Diane, also a 1985 graduate, have a daughter, Courtney, attending college in Georgia and were blessed with a son, Kyle, who passed away in 1996.

“Dr. Victor Repp was passionate about teaching and making a difference with the students. I also met my future wife, Diane Conner at a sorority-fraternity ‘tea.’ Besides receiving an excellent education, the BGSU sports teams won more than 10 MAC or CCHA championships, plus the 1984 NCAA hockey national championship – what a great place!”


Eugene t. w. Sanders ’80, ’85, ’92Dr. Eugene T.W. Sanders, chief executive officer, author, educator and administrator, is a nationally recognized leader in urban school leadership. He earned his reputation as a successful school CEO by guiding two of Ohio’s largest urban school districts toward unprecedented academic achievement. Sanders was named Ohio Superintendent of the Year by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation and earned the NAACP’s Daisy Bates Award for his leadership in raising graduation rates and moving his district to meet federal guidelines for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and closing the achievement gap.

He was named CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in 2006, and currently oversees the education of more than 50,000 students. Before that, Sanders served for six years as the superintendent of Toledo Public Schools. His education service began as a social studies teacher at Sandusky High School and assistant principal for Lorain’s Southview High School and Oberlin High School.

Sanders, a former tenured professor at BGSU, served on the BGSU faculty from 1993-2000.

Among his numerous honors is the State of Ohio’s recognition for Educational Excellence through the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance. In 2009, the Sandusky, Ohio, native was inducted into the Erie County Chamber of Commerce’s “Gallery of Achievers,” At the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Black Heritage Celebration, Sanders was presented the organization’s “Black Achievers of Ohio” Award.

“When I was in the eighth grade, I visited campus with my big brother. I fell in love with BGSU as a 13-year-old and couldn’t wait to be a student. Once here, I appreciated professor Bill York, who was a mentor and colleague who observed my leadership capacity early in my career.”

Dr. Sanders, you are an inspiration to all you have touched as an educator, author and leader.

- Your proud staff in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Eva marie Saint ’46, ’82 (Hon.)Eva Marie Saint has become an icon in the theatrical world.

She has appeared in more than 40 films since starting in show business in the early 1950s, most notably On the Waterfront, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1954. Since then she appeared in North by Northwest, Exodus and Nothing in Common. Recent credits include Superman Returns, Because of Winn-Dixie, I Dreamed of Africa, Time to Say Goodbye? and My Antonia.

At BGSU she was the Skol Sweater Swing Queen, Pi Kappa Alpha Dream Girl, The Key Beauty Queen and May Queen. She was sophomore class president and senior class secretary, and participated in several organizations and clubs including Delta Gamma Sorority.

In 1970, she received some of her best reviews for Loving, co-starring as the wife of George Segal. Saint returned to television and the stage in the 1980s, where she appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies and played the mother of Cybill Shepherd on the hit television series “Moonlighting” over a three-year period. She received an Emmy nomination for the 1977 miniseries “How the West Was Won” and a 1978 Emmy nomination for “Taxi.”

The main auditorium in BGSU’s University Hall was renamed the “Eva Marie Saint Theatre.” She was presented an honorary doctorate degree of performing arts and the BGSU Distinguished Alumnus Award, both in 1982. In 2002, she and her husband, Jeffrey Hayden, returned to campus for a scholarship benefit performance of ‘Love Letters.’


Otto Schoeppler ’47, ’79 (Hon.)Otto Schoeppler’s life work has been to unite Germany and America through commerce.

A graduate of BGSU in 1947, his studies were interrupted by nearly three years of military service. During World War II he served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Europe, and was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Croix de Guerre.

Following graduation he joined the Insurance Co. of North America and became general manager of its operations in Germany. He later joined Chase Manhattan Bank and, after becoming its manager in Germany, resigned to become a partner in a German private bank. He rejoined Chase in 1974 and was named president of Chase Manhattan Capital Markets Corp. and chairman of two subsidiaries in London and Hong Kong. After his 1985 retirement, Schoeppler continued as chairman of Chase Manhattan Ltd. in London and Chase Bank A.G. in Germany.

He has served on several company boards and has been president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany and the Council of American Chambers of Commerce in Europe. He received an honorary doctorate degree from BGSU in 1979 and was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1980.

“Following my discharge from the U.S. Army, I remember returning to campus to see my then-sweetheart Eva Marie Saint at the DG House. I also have positive memories of President Frank Prout because he empathized with the students for their problems as well as their achievements.”

J. robert Sebo ’58If you get a paycheck, chances are Bob Sebo’s company processed it.

After serving as district sales manager of the Cadillac Motor Division General Motors in western New York, he started working with Paychex, which at the time only had two employees. In 1974 Sebo began Paychex Inc of Ohio, concentrating on the area from Salem to Cleveland.

Paychex became a public company in 1982 and Sebo served as senior vice president for Paychex Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., and is now retired. The company processes the payrolls of about 700,000 clients, making it the second-largest payroll-processing firm in the United States.

Sebo received his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1958. At BGSU he is currently chair of the University Board of Trustees, a member of the Presidents Club, Heritage Society, Falcon Club and Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He provided the lead gift for construction of the Sebo Athletic Center. He also established the Bob Sebo Football Scholarship, the Bob Sebo Endowed Scholarship in Jazz Studies and the Bob Sebo Lecture Series in Entrepreneurship in the College of Business Administration. Among his awards are the Salvation Army Spirit of Service to Others Award in 2003; BG Doyt Perry Award and GMAC’s Champion of Life, both in 2004; Kappa Sigma Fraternity John G. Tower Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005, BGSU’s Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Salem Museum Person of the Year in 2009.

He is an active member of the Salem Elks Lodge, Emmanuel Lutheran Church and the Saxon and Italian Clubs, all of Salem, Ohio. Additionally, Sebo is a patron of the Salem Community Theater as well as the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Rochester, N.Y. He and his wife, Linda, reside in Salem, Ohio.

“I first saw the fabulous “Four Freshmen” in concert at BGSU during my freshman year in 1955 and have been an addicted fan and have been to at least one concert a year for the past 55 years. Professors Balogh, Cooke, Jichs, Yeager and Bonawitz each had their own way to make class interesting.”


I can’t think of another University I’d rather be associated with. I love Brown and Orange. GO FALCONS!

– Bob Sebo

Charles E. Shanklin ’51*

Chuck Shanklin may have moved away from BGSU after graduation, but he never really left.

Shanklin served as chairman of the board of Crestview Aerospace Corp. in Florida before his death in 2009. He grew the company from 13 employees when purchased by the family to more than 1,200 employees in 2005 before it was sold.

After graduating from BGSU with a degree in political science, Shanklin earned a law degree from Ohio State University. Before becoming involved in various businesses, he was an attorney at Baker and Hostetler in Columbus, where he specialized in litigation, anti-trust, labor and corporate law.

For Shanklin, the Falcon roots were deep. Five of his six children attended or graduated from BGSU. He established the Charles E. Shanklin Award for Research Excellence in 1984, a competition for graduate students. He also established the Bernice R. Shanklin Music Scholarship Fund, in honor of his wife, in 2002.

A member of The Presidents Club since 1974, Shanklin was on the Board of Trustees, including two years as chair. He was also president of the Alumni Board of Directors, and was a director emeritus of the BGSU Foundation Board. He received the Alumni Service Award in 1972 and was speaker at the 50th reunion luncheon for 2001 Homecoming.

*Deceased

Franklin “Gus” Skibbie ’26*

Gus Skibbie’s life was not bounded by limits. While he stayed in northwest Ohio, his careers ranged from teacher and sports official to mayor.

As a student at Bowling Green Normal College, he won 14 letters in football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis – a school record that still stands. He captained, at least once, every major team then in existence. He captained the school’s first championship football team and scored the school’s first touchdown. After graduating and getting a master’s degree from Columbia University Skibbie taught for 38 years, but also coached basketball and football.

He started officiating football and basketball in 1930, and officiated in 752 football games and the state basketball finals five times. He was a football official in the Ohio Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Eastern Collegiate Conference and the Big Ten. In 1963 he was chosen as one of two football officials sent to U.S. military bases in Europe to discuss officiating rules.

His political career began with his election as councilman at-large in Bowling Green, and was followed by 12 years as mayor. During his time as mayor, he has said, one of his proudest accomplishments was helping to quell the unrest after the deaths of four Kent State students on May 4, 1970. He allowed a peaceful student protest march through the streets of downtown Bowling Green.

He was a member of several organizations and a championship amateur golfer. His honors include the BGSU Alumni Community Award. He was also one of the first six individuals inducted into the BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

*Deceased


The extended family of Gus Skibbie truly appreciates the opportunity to see our Dad-Grandfather-Great Grandfather-Uncle honored by the University.

Hugh Kash Smith ’91, ’94Hugh Kash Smith is one of America’s most recognized tenors, having performed in all the “big houses” in the United States and in many important venues in Europe.

He made his debut in “Madame Butterfly” in Naples, Italy, after winning the Pavarotti competition in 1995. Early in his career he won competitions spanning the Metropolitan Opera to Mario Lanza International. Smith since has become an internationally acclaimed dramatic tenor singing in the world’s major opera houses and concert halls including Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Kennedy Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Lyric, San Francisco Opera, San Diego, Opera of Paris, Chatelet of Paris, Bologna, Lithuania, Brussels, Croatia, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Wales, Warsaw, Tokyo and many others.

His travels have taken him to sing operatic repertoire ranging from Alban Berg to Zemlinsky specializing in Strauss, Verdi, Puccini and Wagner. He has worked with Maestri Asher Fish to Antonio Witt including Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev and Sir Andrew Davis all in leading or title dramatic tenor roles. Recently he has worked under the direction of Maestro Placido Domingo and this spring Maestro James Levine. His discography includes “Die Liebe der Danae” by Richard Strauss and “An American Requiem” by Richard Danielpour on Telarc. Recent highlights include the title role of Don Carlo with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic and a tour of Beethoven’s 9th with the Israel Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Ettinger to South America celebrating the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1991 and a master’s degree in 1994 from BGSU and attended the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where he received a master’s degree of fine arts in 1998.

david m. Sokol ’84As president of Garland Industries, David Sokol has grown the company ten-fold while still keeping its family culture.

When Sokol joined the company in 1990, following career moves that included a stint as an instructor and marketing communications coordinator at BGSU, there were 50 employees and revenue less than $25 million. Today the company employs more than 500 people, with annual sales approaching $250 million. Across its various business units, Garland Industries has grown about 12 percent a year while still winning honors for being one of the top places to work in northeast Ohio.

In addition to business activities, Sokol is active in his community. He became one of the Vermillion Yacht Club’s youngest commodores in 2004. He has coached his children’s baseball teams. He also assumed voluntary leadership of the Spirit Group at Olmsted Community Church when its youth director left in 1996, and led more than 1,000 junior high students through the program during his 11 years of service.

Sokol received the President’s Award from BGSU in 1984, and in 2008 received the Accomplished Graduate Award. He is married with three children.

“I was encouraged by a hall director to become an RA and by a professor to run for president of a student organization. Though I couldn’t believe anyone would think I would be a good choice for such demanding jobs, I developed leadership skills that I continue to use today, and I learned if you believe in yourself you can always do more than you might think is possible.”


Dave, we are so proud of your accomplishments and success. Your hard work, passion and dedication are admired by us all.

– Mom, Sherry, Jessica, Katelyn and Matthew

robert m. thompson ’55, ’06 (Hon.)Bob Thompson believes in sharing the wealth.

He is the retired president and former owner of the Thompson-McCully Company, Michigan’s largest asphalt and paving contracting company. In 1991 he sold the company for $422 million. After the sale, he gave $128 million of his gains to his 550 employees. His unorthodox profit sharing plan awarded $2,000 per year of service to workers with retirement plans; those without plans received between $1 million and $2 million depending on seniority and merit.

He has also shared his wealth, both financially and in time spent, with his alma mater. He is a Presidents Club member and was honorary chair of the National Campaign Steering Committee. He is also a member of the Foundation Board and Heritage Society, and received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2006 along with his wife, Ellen, a 1954 graduate.

He established, with a $6.7 million pledge, the Thompson President’s Leadership Academy Fund for Detroit-area inner city students showing strong leadership skills. He also endowed the Robert and Ellen Bowen Thompson Scholarship in 1981. It is awarded annually to one or more juniors who are enrolled full-time, demonstrate financial need and academic merit, and employed by BGSU for at least 10 hours a week. Both Thompsons worked while attending BGSU and see the scholarship as a way to thank the university for helping them and to encourage working students.

Robert and Ellen presented a $3 million dollar gift to expand and renovate the student union, renamed in their honor during its 2002 reopening.

“My favorite memory was meeting Ellen (Bowen), my wife of 54 years. Also, when I arrived in the locker room for pre-season practice, surrounded by people who were huge, I knew I was no match for them. However, I needed the scholarship. Football coach Bob Whittaker allowed me to keep my scholarship for four years even though I never played in any game.”

nate thurmond ’63Considered by many to be one of the best defensive centers ever to play pro basketball, intimidating the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain, Nate Thurmond honed his skills playing for the Falcons.

The 6’ 10” Thurmond lettered in basketball and was declared an NCAA Basketball All-American at BGSU, where he was known as “The Pride of Bowling Green State University” for his collegiate career stats. Upon graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education, he was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors and started a heralded 14-year pro career.

With the Warriors Thurmond was named to the 1964 NBA All-Rookie Team and still holds the regular season record for rebounds in a quarter of 18. He averaged 21.3 and 22 rebounds per game in the 1966-67 and 1967-68 seasons, stats exceeded only by Bill Russell and Chamberlain in NBA history. He was traded to the Chicago Bulls, and in his first game he rallied for 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots–the first player in NBA history to record a quadruple-double. After being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he helped lead the Cavs to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In 1996 he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, and he remains one of the greatest rebounders and shot blockers in league history. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star, and was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. His jersey number, 42, was retired by the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is a member of several sports halls of fame, including those of the NBA and BGSU.

Today Thurmond owns and operates Big Nate’s Barbeque in San Francisco, and he is involved philanthropically with the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation in Washington, D.C.


John r. tozzi ’66John Tozzi is president and CEO of Cambridge Investments Ltd., which currently has in excess of $500 million under management and is predominantly concentrated in the energy industry. Tozzi founded the investment company in 1981 and has served as president and CEO since its formation.

From 1973-81, Tozzi was a founding senior partner and member of the executive committee at Montgomery Securities. Before that, he managed the institutional department of Lehman Brothers and was an institutional associate at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

Tozzi earned a bachelor’s degree from BGSU, was a Rodkey Fellow and received his MBA cum laude from the University of Michigan. He is a former trustee of and economics instructor at the Branson School.

He is a board member of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. He is also chairman of the Yellowstone National Art Trust and the Jackson Hole Community Center for the Arts.

dorothy m. tucker ’58Dorothy Tucker is BGSU’s unofficial official cheerleader.

In her personal life she has spent many years co-leading alumni efforts to encourage more interest among alumni. She spearheaded homecoming events for African-American alumni and co-founded the Black Pioneer Scholarship Fund with fellow alumnus Berton Keith. She recently joined the BGSU Alumni Board and in 2000 received the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Professionally, she is a licensed psychologist, a police psychologist and a consulting professor with Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. She is also currently a psychologist for the Los Angeles Police Department. She has consulted with corporations and governments around the world, including General Electric and the U.S. Department of Defense. She is past president and governing board member of the California Psychological Association, a former director of National Training Labs and a founding member of the Black Women Forum. She is also a former member of the State Bar Board of Governors and has served as president of various organizations and committees, including the United Negro College Fund.

“Dr. Willard Wankelman was a great teacher who was inclusive, dynamic and patient. His patience stimulated and inspired my creative side. I remember the importance of when fraternities and sororities for black students were established, and when the University president apologized to black alumni for exclusion and past actions.”


James tucker Jr. ’57Jim Tucker spent his career at Ford Motor Company helping to open the door for others.

After graduating from BGSU and serving in the U.S. Army, he began with Ford in 1961 at the Ford Motor Engine Plant at Lima, the first salaried African-American employee at Lima. He was eventually promoted to the Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan., where he was coordinator of local negotiations and a member of the Ford National Bargaining Team. He retired from Ford in 2001 as the director of UAW-Ford Joint Programs.

His real passion, however, has been social and corporate change, which he worked for from within Ford. He represented Ford on the National Urban League’s Black Executive Exchange Program, a role that included teaching at historically black colleges. He was a member of Ford’s committee to assist in the divestment of Ford operations in South Africa and negotiated the cooperative agreement with Operation PUSH, which encouraged Ford to provide equal opportunities for minorities and women. He coordinated Nelson Mandela’s visit to Ford Rouge in Detroit in 1990 and was instrumental in helping to make Ford a more diverse company.

He was one of the first African-American students to graduate with a business degree from BGSU. He later established a scholarship in honor of his father and mother, James and Cleo Tucker. He is a founding member of Alpha Kappa Omega, the first black fraternity at BGSU. He was a member of the Alumni Association Board for two terms and a member of the Foundation Board. He was also a member of the Capital Fund Campaign Committee, Cornerstone Club and the Building Dreams Campaign. He is a life member of the NAACP and listed in Who’s Who in Black America.

“There were many professors and administrators who were committed to providing opportunities for all BGSU students. During a game with Marshall in 1955, I was refused service at a restaurant. The team ordered steak dinners and left them on the table in protest of the restaurant’s action, and Coach Harold ‘Andy’ Anderson led the protest.”

Shawn Ulreich ’80Shawn Ulreich has spent her career providing leadership to various healthcare organizations.

As chief nurse executive and vice president of patient care services for Spectrum Health Hospital Group, she is responsible for nursing practice at four hospitals, and associated urgent care centers and clinics. She is also responsible for AeroMed, a medical transportation service. She has oversight of more than 3,000 nurses and staff in the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Spectrum group. She is the chairman of the West Michigan Nurse Advisory Council, sits on several community advisory boards and is currently the local event chairman for the Go Red for Women Campaign of the American Heart Association.

Through her leadership, Ulreich has guided two organizations to the achievement of Magnet status, a prestigious award designated to healthcare organizations for excellence in nursing practice. She also serves as a Magnet appraiser with the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Before joining Spectrum Health, Ulreich served as chief nursing officer and chairman of the division of nursing for The Cleveland Clinic.

She obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from BGSU, earned a Master of Science degree in nursing from Kent State University and will begin doctoral studies in the fall at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She began her career as a staff nurse caring for medical-surgical and oncology patients at St. Vincent Hospital in Toledo.

“Dr. Mary Beth Hayward had a calm and deliberate approach with students, taking time with us and recognizing our anxieties. I remember the adventure of melting snow to wash our hair during the Blizzard of 1978, serving as a BGSU hostess for football games and enjoying Sunday brunch in the Strawberry Patch.”


ron Van Lieu ’63Ron Van Lieu has helped generations of actors perfect their craft.

After graduating from BGSU, Van Lieu attended the graduate theatre program at the University of Iowa, and later became a resident actor at Vassar College. In 1966 he attended the acting program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where his mentors included Lloyd Richards and Olympia Dukakis. After a brief stint with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre he returned to New York and became a founding member of the Lion Theatre Company.

In 1975 he began teaching in the graduate acting program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he remained for 29 years as Master Teacher and eventually program chairman. With Zelda Fichandler, he built the program into the premiere actor-training conservatory in the United States, and in 1993 was awarded the NYU Distinguished Teaching Medal. Upon his retirement an endowed scholarship was established in his name.

He is also a founding faculty member of The Actors’ Center in New York City, where he has taught actors and acting teachers for the last 12 years. Since 2004 he has also been at the Yale School of Drama, where he is the Lloyd Richards Professor and Chair of Acting. His students have won every major drama award, including Academy Awards, New York Film Critic Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, Tonys, Emmys and Golden Globes. He was the founding acting teacher of The Shakespeare Lab at the New York Shakespeare Festival, which he headed for 10 years.

Fran Voll ’68Fran Voll not only coaches teams, but also builds them.

He started his career at BGSU, simultaneously holding the positions of head women’s basketball coach and associate director of athletics. As coach he had a 71 percent win-loss record, the best record in the Mid-American Conference, and was selected MAC Coach of the Year for two seasons. He held the second longest win streak in the nation of 21 consecutive wins in the 1986-87 season and had a 22 game win streak during the 1987-90 season. His teams earned four consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.

While at BGSU he helped recruit a record number of athletic sponsors and negotiated contracts with regional commercial stations for two weekly TV shows. He also worked with local auto dealers in the “Wheels of Falcons” project. Voll then went on to be the head women’s coach at Central Michigan University, before becoming president and principal of Marion Catholic High School where he remains.

He is a member of the BGSU Board of Trustees and a past member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is a past member of the boards of directors for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Marion, the Marion Area YMCA and the Rotary Club of Marion, as well as past campaign chairman of the United Way of Marion County.

“As Dean of Students, Ray Whittaker handled the students well during a time of transition. Among my favorite memories are when the women’s basketball team defeated Cincinnati in an NCAA game in Anderson Arena, and when I was able to witness my three sons graduate from BGSU during my tenure as coach and Falcon Club director.”


John J. Voorhees ’60John Voorhees is a leading professor and researcher in dermatology, focusing on psoriasis and premature aging.

He is the Duncan and Ella Poth Distinguished Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School, where he is chair of the dermatology department. He began his UM career as an instructor in 1969, after graduating summa cum laude from the medical school and doing his internship and residency at the same place.

Voorhees divides his time among medical research, patient care and doctor training. His research has demonstrated that psoriasis is a disease treatable by immunosuppressive drugs. He and his colleagues have unraveled the mechanisms by which UV light and the passage of time destroy the skin’s collagen support and have provided insight into the treatment and prevention of premature aging.

He has been on the editorial board of eight scholarly journals and has authored 604 full publications. His publications have been quoted in medical literature more than any other dermatologist in the world. He has given invited lectures in the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia, South America and China. He is an honorary member of 16 foreign dermatological societies

He has received many awards and honors. He is the only person to have received the Taub International Memorial Award for Research in Psoriasis twice. He was also honored with the Master Dermatologist Award of the American Academy of Dermatology at this year’s annual meeting.

“I was very appreciative of my chemistry professor and being able to get a four-year degree in three years, which enabled me to spend my fourth year in medical school at the University of Michigan.”

Kevin C. webb ’79, ’82Kevin Webb has been a medical professional and expert in healthcare administration for more than 25 years.

After earning a degree in speech pathology and audiology from Miami University, he earned a master’s and doctorate degrees from BGSU. Early in his career he was an audiologist and manager at The Toledo Hospital and Lima Memorial Hospital. During the next nine years he held various management positions culminating in being named corporate director of business development for ProMedica Health Systems in 2000.

Later that year Webb was appointed president of Flower Hospital in Sylvania, and in 2008 he was named president of The Toledo Hospital and Toledo Children’s Hospital. As president of ProMedica Health System’s largest acute care hospital and the region’s leading tertiary care facility, he leads two hospitals that provide care to 30,000 inpatients, 85,000 emergency room patients and 15,000 surgical patients each year. Toledo Children’s Hospital is one of only six children’s hospitals in Ohio. The two hospitals combined employ more than 4,500 healthcare workers and more than 1,000 physicians.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the Ohio Hospital Association. He has been president of several organizations, including the Ohio Council of Speech and Hearing Administrators, Lima Sertoma Club, Westside Swim and Racquet Club and the Sylvania Area Chamber of Commerce. Currently he is a board member of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and a member of the Toledo Rotary Club.

“Fred Pigge made statistics understandable and easily applicable. When I was in school, I remember feeding binary punch cards into the computer at the Health Sciences Library late at night in order to run statistical analyses, and then the data would be printed on green-line paper the next morning.”


Stephen L. weber ’64More than 33,000 students at San Diego State University call Stephen Weber “Mr. President.”

As the seventh president of San Diego State, Weber oversees one of the largest state universities in the country. He initiated a “Shared Vision” initiative, setting forth a road map for the university’s future that has successfully addressed academic excellence, student nurturing, diversity and social justice, stewardship and global programs.

Weber earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from BGSU and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He was an award-winning faculty member at the University of Maine. Before becoming president at San Diego State in 1996, Weber was the president of the State University of New York, Oswego, and the interim provost of the 64-campus SUNY system. Prior to that, he was dean of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University and academic vice president at St. Cloud State University.

Weber has chaired the board of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. He has been on the board of directors of the Perez Center for Peace and of several local organizations including the San Diego Foundation, the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Corporation of San Diego. He has served on the Division 1-A Board and Executive Committee of the NCAA. Weber is the author of dozens of articles featured in professional and scholarly journals.

He was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2004. He has also received awards from the San Diego Education Association, Beijing Capital Normal University, San Diego Press Club and the YMCA. In 2008, Weber received the Diogenes Award by the Public Relations Society of America, recognizing his honesty and forthrightness.

Weber and his wife, Susan Keim Weber, met as undergraduates at BGSU. They have been married 44 years and have two adult sons, Richard L. and Matthew K. Weber.

“Sherman Stange was a great teacher who was politically aware and active. He taught existentialism, which became my favorite course to teach. I also met Susan (Keim), my wife of 44 years, at BGSU.”

Philip d. weller ’70Phil Weller is a well-known real estate practitioner in Texas.

Managing partner of DLA Piper’s Dallas office, he has been involved in structuring equity investment, forming REITs, financials, development, acquisitions and dispositions of properties, planned community development, project finance and mortgage finance. He counts among his clients, developers, banks and insurance companies.

Weller is immediate past president of American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), and is also a member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, the Anglo-American Real Property Institute and the Urban Land Institute. In 2008 the State Bar of Texas appointed him chair of its standing committee on real estate forms. Before joining DLA Piper, Weller was a partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP for 25 years.

He has been named a top real estate lawyer by several professional publications, including Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America. In 2007 Lawdragon named him among the 500 Dealmakers in America.

He served as co-counsel to the Pasadena Trails Resident Owned Community Inc., a corporation formed by the residents of a manufactured housing park in Texas who joined together to purchase the park and then manage it. The summer 2009, Texas C-BAR Bulletin hailed DLA Piper’s efforts in the Pasadena Trails matter and its commitment to pro bono work.

“Dr. Karl Rahdert of the College of Business Administration was a true gentleman at all times and his classes were wonderful interactive group exercises. My best BGSU memory is from April 3, 1971 when Kate (Kathy Deucker ’71) and I were married in Prout Chapel.”


Jon Fredric west ’74, ’07 (Hon.)Jon Fredric West has established himself as the world’s foremost interpreter of the title role of Tristan in Tristan und Isolde, and both Siegfrieds in Wagner’s Ring of the Niebelung. He most recently sang the cycle at The Metropolitan Opera under the baton of maestro James Levine. His Siegfried, part of a new production of the cycle in Stuttgart, was recorded and released on DVD through EuroArts and Naxos USA, winning the Best Ring Cycle Award, Best DVD and listed on the German Critics Top Ten List for 2004.

West has distinguished himself in the title role of Tristan and hailed by Klaus Geitle in Die Welt “as the kind of Tristan you seldom hear with any comparable balance of presentation.” He was chosen to sing the role for the re-opening of the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the first American to have received this honor.

Recent notable operatic engagements include the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, La Monnaie in Bruxelles, Deutsche Opera Berlin, the Bayerische and Vienna Staatsopers, La Scala, San Francisco and Salzburg Festivals as well as The Chicago Lyric Opera and The Royal Opera of Covent Garden. He has performed with leading conductors and orchestras in concert and recital, among them the New York Philharmonic, the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the BBC and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A native of Dayton, West attended BGSU on full scholarship and earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance degree. He went on to post-graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School of Music. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of musical arts from BGSU in 2007.

“I learned the joy of singing and music, as well as professionalism, discipline and performance techniques from Dr. James Paul Kennedy and Dr. Ivan Trusler. I always enjoyed walking to and from the music building (which is now West Hall) and seeing the beauty of the central campus.”

ronald r. whitehouse ’67Ronald R. Whitehouse, now retired, is past chairman of the board for HQ Network Systems Inc. in San Francisco, and is the former CEO and owner of HQ affiliates in Chicago, Florida, Indianapolis and San Diego. The company provides a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional office leasing for Fortune 100 corporations, small- to mid-size companies and independent entrepreneurs.

He is also former CEO and owner of Whitehouse Industries Inc. and Johnston Boiler Co., as well as an advisor and investor in a number of small entrepreneurial companies.

As a student, Whitehouse was a three-year letter winner on the University golf team, a justice on the student court, and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa men’s honorary society, Phi Delta Theta fraternity and Phi Eta Sigma freshman men scholastic honor society. As an alumnus, he was co-chair of BGSU’s successful Building Dreams Centennial Campaign, which raised more than $146.5 million. He also has served on the BGSU Foundation Board of Directors, and the Sebo Athletic Center and Intercollegiate Athletics steering committees. He was inducted into the Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame in 2008, of which he is currently a member of that steering committee, and was named an Accomplished Graduate for the College of Business Administration in 2004. He also is a past trustee for the Grand Haven (Michigan) Area Community Foundation.


michael r. wilcox ’75Mike Wilcox might be a financial advisor, but he first made his mark on the lacrosse field at BGSU. In addition, he served as Undergraduate Student Trustee, and IFC president and led the student committee to approve and build the BGSU Student Recreation Center.

Wilcox is chairman and CEO of Wilcox Financial, a diversified financial services company, and Wilcox Sports Management, a leader in sports representation and financial management. He is a 35-year veteran of the financial services industry and has spoken to audiences in more than 25 countries.

Prior to beginning his professional career, he was a two-time captain of BGSU’s nationally ranked lacrosse team and played on the hockey team for two years. He was a two-time Most Valuable Player and a three-time all American in lacrosse and elected to the BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame as well as the Ithaca High School Hall of Fame, the Peddie School Hall of Fame and the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame. In 2008 he received the GMAC Bowl Champions of Life Award, and in 2009 he was selected to BGSU’s Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame.

He served a nine-year term on the BGSU Board of Trustees and served as chair for a term. Currently he serves as chairman of the U.S. Lacrosse Foundation and is a board member of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Hospital Foundation, the Lou Holtz Hall of Fame and The Culver Academies.

Both his wife Jan and son Ben are also BGSU graduates. Wilcox and his family reside in Toledo, Ohio.

“Coach Mickey Cochrane was truly the best! I also was proud of my involvement in the creation of the Student Recreation Center which was achieved by students and for students.”

mary t. wolfe ’68, ’07 (Hon.)Mary Wolfe helps companies understand art.

As a corporate art consultant and interior designer for Kingston HealthCare Company, Wolfe is responsible for the look and feel of corporate properties. It’s an artistic eye she first honed at Wellesley College and later BGSU, where she graduated with a master’s degree in the history of art and painting.

In 1968 she began her academic career at BGSU as an instructor of art, teaching classes that included early and late medieval, Northern Renaissance and classical art. In addition to teaching she has worked at several museums, including the McFall Center Gallery at BGSU, where she was director from 1977-82. Along the way she worked as an art reporter and interviewer, set designer and drafting apprentice.

At BGSU, she is a member of the University Foundation Board and the advisory committee for “Arts Unlimited.” She is a member of the Medici Circle Board, and recipient of the “Il Magnifico” award for service. She also received an honorary doctorate in 2007.

Wolfe is also a member of several boards and committees, including the Ohio Arts Council, Metropolitan Museum of Art, International Curators Inc., the Board of Trustees of the Toledo Symphony and the Apollo Society of the Toledo Museum of Art.

“My favorite professor was Paul Running¬–a good painter and teacher.”


david James wottle ’73Dave Wottle might be nicknamed “The Throttle” for his Olympian feats, but he is recognizable by the golf cap that he wore while running.

Wottle took up running after a family doctor suggested he do a sport that would encourage strength. At BGSU he finished second in the mile run at the 1970 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He was hampered by injuries in 1971, but in 1972 he won the 1500-meter at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. At the 1973 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships he won the mile in a time of 3:57.1, an NCAA record that still stands.

At the 1972 Olympics 800 meter final, Wottle immediately dropped to the rear of the field and stayed there for 500 meters, when he started to pass runner by runner to win dramatically by just .03 seconds. He earned the nickname “The Head Waiter” and “The Throttle.” At the medal stand he forgot to remove his golf cap during the national anthem and later apologized, but the cap became his signature for the rest of his running career.

Wottle also competed in the 1500 meter at the 1972 Olympics, but was eliminated in the semi-finals. He is the first BGSU graduate to win a gold medal and remains the only one to win a non-team medal. He was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1978. After a short professional stint he retired and went on to become a college track coach. He is currently dean of admissions and financial aid at Rhodes College.

“Coach Mel Brodt believed in me and what I could accomplish even before I believed in myself. He sent a note to my parents and said: ’Dave can be the best in the world as far as I’m concerned—if he wants to be!’ This was a comment made a full 10 months before the Munich Olympics and for a runner who had yet to even win an NCAA national title, let alone a world title. He inspired me to seek greatness.”

Kenneth Yontz ’71It took Ken Yontz nearly 10 years to earn his business degree from BGSU, but that investment paid off as his business career took off.

He began classes in 1962 and continued as a nontraditional student while working at Ford Motor Company and raising a family. He has received the Accomplished Graduate Award from BGSU Firelands. As he worked his way up at Ford, he earned his business degree and later went on to other companies before joining Sybron Dental Specialties as CEO in 1986. Under his leadership, Sybron acquired more than 90 companies or product lines, and the company’s market value grew to more than $4 billion during his reign. His current business activity involves investing in start-up companies and dealing in the private equity marketplace.

He is on the board of directors of several organizations, including Rockwell Automation, Berg Electronics Corp. and AMN Healthcare Services. He is also a philanthropist, donating to many arts, medical and social and political organizations.

In 1996 he donated $1 million and helped raise more to establish the Karen Yontz Women’s Cardiac Awareness Center at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee. It is named for his wife, Karen, who died at age 48 of heart disease. The Yontzes credited her care from St. Luke’s with helping her survive eight years after her 1986 heart attack.


willie J. Young ’72, ’73 Willie J. Young has had the pleasure of devoting his professional career to serving and enriching the lives of students both on and off campus.

He has worked tirelessly challenging and supporting students over the past 37 years at five different colleges and universities. In addition to his current position, he has been a vice president of student affairs, dean of students, assistant dean of residence life, counselor and athletic director.

He is currently senior director of off-campus student services at Ohio State University, where he is responsible for working with the 46,000 students that live off campus and commute.

In 2000, he received BGSU’s Community Service Award. In 2008, he was named an Accomplished Graduate of the College of Education and Human Development. At Ohio State he received the Distinguished Staff Award in 2003. His professional organizations have acknowledged his achievements through presenting to Young the highest awards offered for distinguished and lifetime service.

Young has held leadership roles in several professional organizations including the Association of College and Universities Housing Officers-International, National Association of Student Affairs Professionals and Phi Delta Kappa.

Young is involved in the community through various organizations, including the Central Ohio Diabetes Association, Columbus Parks and Recreation, Springfield Civic Theatre and St. Raphael Church where his ministries include Eucharistic minister, lector and usher.

“My hall director, Daniel R. Nagy, took a chance on me and hired me as a Resident Advisor (R.A.) in Anderson Hall. That single act set my student course and my professional life. I will be eternally grateful for his courage.”

Willie (Yo), we applaud you and recognize your gratefulness to BG for the bed, connections, mentors, people and ongoing opportunities.

- Dr. Pamela Cross Young ’74

Sheldon Zedeck ’69Dr. Sheldon Zedeck is professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley and vice provost for academic affairs and faculty welfare.

He has been at Berkeley since 1969 when he completed his Ph.D. degree in industrial and organizational psychology at BGSU. He served as chairman of the department for several years and, prior to this administrative position, he was the director of the campus’ Institute of Industrial Relations.

Zedeck has written numerous journal articles on moderator variables, selection and validation, test fairness, performance appraisals, and work and family issues. He is the co-author of four books, and has served on the editorial boards of many professional journals, including being the editor of the premiere journal in his field, the Journal of Applied Psychology. He is also the co-founder and former editor of the journal, Human Performance. Currently he is editing a three-volume Handbook of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, which will be published by the American Psychological Association, and will also be chief editor for a forthcoming APA Dictionary of Statistics and Research Methods.

He has been active in the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and in 1986 was president of the society. He has also consulted with private and public sector organizations and has served as an expert witness in employment discrimination cases. He recently completed a nine-year researched project with Marjorie M. Shultz, sponsored by the Law School Admission Council, on developing tests and standards that can be used to complement the Law School Admission Test and that can predict lawyer effectiveness.

“Professors Patricia Cain Smith and Robert M. Guion taught me how to ask questions, conduct research and contribute to the field and society in terms of presenting and implementing research. BGSU was in stark contrast to my hometown of Brooklyn, New York. However, I discovered the educational environment made up for the lack of entertainment opportunities. The faculty was terrific and supportive. And there was a new library–air conditioned and open for long hours-–where I spent the majority of my time studying and reading.”


Thank you to our prominent alumni and guests for sharing in the celebration of Bowling Green State University’s centennial anniversary.

BGSU Office of Alumni and development Division of University Advancement Mileti Alumni Center Bowling Green, Ohio 43403

888-839-2586 bgsualumni.com


A Legacy of Excellence A Future Without Limits

Documents

BGSU Centennial Alumni Awards