MR. FOOTBALL

D E A R A L U M N I A N D F R I E N D S ,

I’m giving you fair warning: I’m about to ruin the end of one of thestories in this magazine.

OK, so it’s not like walking into “The Sixth Sense” knowing that BruceWillis is dead. Still, I don’t normally like to use this space to rehash whatyou’ll find elsewhere in the magazine. But this little nugget is so good, Icouldn’t resist.

The Donor Report on the other side of this issue includes an article about realestate developer Roy Johns Jr., whose foundation donates $10,000 every year toRMU for an endowed scholarship. One of that scholarship’s recent recipients, juniormarketing major TomWaterfield, says he hopes one day to follow in Johns’ philanthropicfootsteps, and give money so that the next generation can have a shot at success.

“I think the best way to thank him (Johns) would be to succeed. That’s definitely part ofmy motivation to succeed: to help pay back everyone who has helped me,” Tom says.

In two sentences, Tom sums up everything that we are trying to do at Robert Morris University. We are in thebusiness of changing lives: Namely, changing the lives of our students so that they can use their success tochange the lives of others. After all, we can rarely pay back in kind the people who have helped us get wherewe are. Take our parents, for example. We might take care of them in their old age. If we are fortunate, maybewe’ll have the money to lavish them with nice things – perhaps a house or a car. But does that come close torepaying all that they did for us? No, and they don’t expect it to. We pay them back by doing for our childrenwhat our parents did for us.

Similarly, as the president of a university, I see evidence every day of people who pay back the peoplewho helped them by making sure help is there for others. At this spring’s scholarship luncheon, RichardHarshman ’78, a member of our board of trustees, recounted how he wouldn’t have been able to afford tofinish his degree were it not for an additional $1,000 in financial aid RMU gave him before his senior year.Rich, now the chief financial officer at Allegheny Technologies, is the first alumnus to donate $1 million toRMU. That includes a scholarship fund in honor of his parents, to whom he credits much of his success.

Of course, there are plenty of other ways to give back besides money, as our students demonstrate everyyear by volunteering thousands of hours of community service. Some choose to make communityservice their life’s work, as you will see when you read the article on page 12 about alumni EileenGroetzinger Wilhelm ‘85, John Denny ’85, and Dan Horgan ‘02. I’d tell you more about them,but I wouldn’t want to spoil the end.

Sincerely,

G R E G O R Y G . D E L L ’ O M O , P H . D .

P R E S I D E N T

02 <CAMPUS REPORT

>08 SCOREBOARD27 <CLASS NOTES

>33 UPCOMING EVENTS

DEPARTMENTS

CREDITS

EDITORMark Houser

CONTRIBUTORSValentine J. Brkich, Aubrey DiVito ‘08James Duzyk M’00, David Brown

ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNERAmy Joy

PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATIONSFront Cover: Provided by Joe WaltonDonor Report Cover: Terry ClarkOther Photos: Jason Cohn, Kevin CookeSteve Dowell, Mark Houser, Mitch Kramer ‘08,Dawn Pogany

PRINTINGRR Donnelley Hoechstetter Plant

Foundations (ISSN 1934-5690) is published threetimes a year by the Office of Public Relationsand Marketing in conjunction with the Office ofInstitutional Advancement and mailed free ofcharge to alumni, donors, trustees, faculty, staffand friends of Robert Morris University. Theopinions expressed in the magazine do notnecessarily reflect the official policies ofRobert Morris University.

Contributions to Class Notes and addresschanges may be sent to:Office of Alumni RelationsRobert Morris University6001 University BoulevardMoon Township, PA 15108-1189Phone: (412) 397-2586Fax: (412) 397-2142E-mail: rmualum@rmu.edu

It is the policy of Robert Morris University to provideequal opportunity in all educational programs andactivities, admission of students and conditions ofemployment for all qualified individuals regardlessof race, color, sex, religion, age, disability, nationalorigin and/or sexual preference.

FALL/09

10 Questions . . . . . . . . . . 32When accountant Laurie Roberts M’04, M’05 has to tacklea difficult problem at work, we hope the PittsburghPassion player doesn’t take it literally.

Foundations

18Gifts from the Heart . . . . . . . . 12From helping Bangladeshi girls learn to read to gettingphilanthropists more involved in their charities, thesethree RMU alumni give a lot more than money.

From Residence Hallsto the Halls of Power . . . . . . . 16Sen. Richard Kasunic ‘67 used his degree as a steppingstone to Harrisburg. But he still remembers tobogganingon campus and shooting pool at the old barn.

Up Close & Personal . . . . . . . 22Aprofessor who brings international students to her house everyyear for trick-or-treating. A transfer student who’s become a realstar on stage. Meet two of the people who make RMU special.

Entrepreneurs of aDifferent Kind . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Adecade after the university launched its first doctoral program,

we offer a glimpse of some successful alumniof the D.Sc. from RMU.

OXFORDOXFORD

> AColonial Goesto EnglandAsemester in Japan through an RMU exchangeprogram was the first time outside thecountry for Michael Wahl ’06, M’08.His second trip abroad is even moreauspicious: Wahl has been acceptedto the University of Oxford, wherehe plans to earn a doctorate insocial anthropology.

Beginning this fall at thelegendary British institution,Wahl will focus his research onhow employees from differentcountries and different traditionswork together in multinationalfirms. The topic first captured hisimagination during his time in Osaka,in classes discussing the differencesbetween Japanese and Americanbusiness culture.

Wahl eventually wants to become aprofessor. “I’m always shooting forsomething higher,” he says. “I thinkOxford can help me push my limitsto see how far I can go.”

>Make That Two Colonials…Valerie Powell, Ph.D., university professor of computer and information systems, gave a presentation atOxford Brookes University in Oxford, England, in July. Her talk concerned methods of integrating clinicaldata in computer medical and dental records, and drew upon a three-year British study that discoveredsome significant patient risks when records are not properly coordinated.

CAMPUS REPORT

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> Ready, SET, Go!“Engaged learning” is the hallmark of an RMU education, and

this year the university is taking a big step towardsmaking this true for every student. The freshmanclass is the first to participate universally in theStudent Engagement Transcript, which waslaunched last year. The SET documents eachstudent’s participation in activities outsidethe classroom, such as community service,professional experience, and study abroad.Potential employers who request a graduate’stranscript will also receive copies of the SET.

Shari Payne, Ed.D., recently named RMU’sfirst dean of engaged learning, oversees theprogram. She says she has heard from officialsat other universities who want to create similarprograms. “We are definitely at the forefront of abig trend in engaged learning,” Payne says.

> Encouraging New LeadershipThe Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh held its third Black Male LeadershipDevelopment Institute on the RMU campus in June. The event, codirected byfaculty member Rex Crawley, Ph.D., brought together 50 high school studentsfor a week-long residential program with the theme of “Aspire to Greatness.”Led by successful mentors from various fields, participants attended workshopsand other activities designed to instill good communication, leadership, andpersonal management skills.

Crawley’s research is in intercultural communication with a focus on blackmasculinity. He was recently selected as a member of the Minority ResearchPolicy Group of Southwestern Pennsylvania, which will investigate waysto assist local minority communities.

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> Experts

Assistant professor of educationShellie Hipsky, Ed.D., hasauthored DifferentiatedLiteracy andLanguage ArtsStrategies forthe ElementaryClassroom.The book is Hipsky’s third, and it looksat classrooms where educators are usingvarious research-based methods forteaching children how to read and write.

At the 10th Conference onCommunication andEnvironment in Mainethis summer, Ann Jabro,Ph.D., university professor of

communication, presented herpaper, “Application of Crisis and

Emergency Risk Communication Modeland Integrated Model of OrganizationalLearning for Crisis Management toScaled-Up Emergency Response Drills.”

Derya Jacobs, Ph.D., dean of the Schoolof Business, is an invited speaker atthe AACSB International ContinuousImprovement Conference in Baltimorelater this month. AACSB Internationalis the premier accrediting agencyfor collegiate schools of business,and RMU recently receivedAACSB accreditation forits business school.

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDAT IONS • 3

> Faculty FactsEighteen faculty members receivedpromotions this year, includingtwo new university professors:Dean Manna, Ph.D., professorof marketing and head of thedepartment of marketing, andMurat Tiryakioğlu, Ph.D.,professor of engineering.

The School of Communicationsand Information Systems has filledthree leadership positions: Peter

Draus, Ed.D., is now head of thedepartment of organizational studies,Rex Crawley, Ph.D., is assistant dean, and

David Wood, Ph.D., is associate dean.

Angela Macci Bires,Ed.D., is nowhead of the newdepartment ofhealth sciences in theSchool of Nursing and Health Sciences. Bireshas been at RMU since 2006 as director ofthe nuclear medicine technology program.

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> BusinessWomanof theYearAssistantprofessor ofmanagement DariaCrawley, Ph.D., wasnamed Business Womanof the Year by the OnyxWoman Network,a Pittsburghcommunicationscompany forAfrican-Americanprofessionals. Crawley,who joined the RMU faculty in 2005,was honored for her business educationcareer and for her volunteerism. She ischairwoman of the WQED communityadvisory board.

Onyx founder and RMU trustee OlaJackson ’87 said Crawley is “greatlyadmired for being a crucial influence tothe students at RMU, as well as a rolemodel for up-and-coming professionals.”

Crawley is an expert on diversity and hasresearched public policy legislation for amember of the British Parliament. She isformer director of research for the Centerfor Organizational and LeadershipEffectiveness, and previously workedat Transamerica Corp.

4 • W W W.RMU . E D U

> Strength and SmartsTrack and field standout Tara Maxwell ’09 can wing a discus and heavea shot put with the best of them, but she doesn’t leave it all on the field.The manufacturing engineering major graduated with a 3.99 cumulativeQPA, earning her the title of Northeast Conference Female Scholar-Athleteof the Year.

The athletic conference also honored two RMU teams for earning thehighest average QPA in 2008-09. Women’s tennis athletes finished withan average 3.52 in the past year, and the softball team members posteda 3.63, the highest team QPA of any sport in the league. In all, nearly 65percent of all RMU’s student-athletes earned a 3.0 or higher QPAlast year.

Maxwell is the second RMU female student-athlete in three years to behonored with the individual award. Former volleyball player Lisa Jaszkawon the inaugural NEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2007.

Maxwell is now working as a manufacturing engineer forPhilips Respironics, where she already is overseeing thetransfer of several new product assembly lines to thecompany's Murrysville plant.

> Sticky Feetby the Foot

An article about “gecko tape” by Arif Sirinterlikci, Ph.D.,associate professor of engineering and director ofengineering laboratories, was published

this summer in the journal of the Society ofManufacturing Engineers. The tape, developed atU.C. Berkeley, sticks by use of tiny hairs, similar tothe way a gecko’s feet adhere to glass.

>Giving Up forthe Greater GoodThe union representing RMU facultymembers voluntarily gave up half theirpromised annual raise for this academicyear to allow the university to shiftanother $180,000 to scholarships.The contract called for a 2.75%raise for the union’s 145members in 2009-10,but with the difficulteconomic climate leadingPresident GregoryG. Dell’Omo,Ph.D.,to freezestaff salariesin March, professorsoffered to help.

“We wanted to make a contribution to thecampus community. It is gratifying forus to do something to help students,” saidFaculty Federation President Seth Finn,Ph.D., a professor of communications.

RMU staff generated another $570,000for student scholarships by foregoingtheir pay increases this year. Theuniversity’s total pool of financialaid in 2009-10 is about $16 million,with 90% of students receiving somesort of assistance.

>Nursing in NicaraguaCarl Ross, Ph.D., university professor of nursing, led another group ofstudents to Nicaragua this summer to care for needy families at a barrioclinic in Managua. Lee Folk, a senior nursing student, has written a movingaccount of the trip. Here is an excerpt:

At that moment, the door opens. It is the wife, and she has broughtalong their daughter. She is nineteen years old, and nine months pregnant.Eddie’s grandchild is due to arrive in less than two weeks. She is here toconvince her dad to go to the hospital. “Please, Dad. Come to thehospital. They can help you,” she tells him. The door opensagain. The cab is waiting out front. Someone needs to decide. Itis Eddie who finally relents. He will go to the hospital.

Dr. Ross begins dispensing orders to the crew. The room emptiesquickly. As Eddie is wheeled out, he takes my hand and sayssomething to me softly in Spanish. I look to the translator.“He said, ‘God bless you.’” Then he is gone.

The Pepto Room is empty now. I am sitting aloneon the exam table. The only sound is the steadyhum of the air conditioner. And now it is myturn to cry.

Read the whole story at Foundations online.

THEHOSPITAL.THEY

CANHELP

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“PLEASE, DAD. COME TO

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Name: Robert MorrisEmail: foundations@rmu.edu

> > ARE YOU A FRIEND OF ROBERT?

>How Cities areMapped OutThe Society for American City and Regional Planning Historynamed John McCarthy, Ph.D., assistant professor of history, as itsexecutive secretary. The professional organization, which will holdits biennial conference in Oakland, Calif., next month, focuses onboth scholarly research and the actual practice of urban planning.McCarthy is also a member of the organization's board ofdirectors, which includes faculty from Harvard, Penn and MIT.

> AlumnaSpeaksClass of '81 alumna Susan M.Kapusta, Ph.D., delivered thecommencement address for theRMU graduate ceremony in May.Kapusta is general manager-communityaffairs for United States Steel Corporation andpresident of the United States Steel Foundation Inc.

>New Dean for Engineering,Mathematics and Science

Maria Kalevitch, Ph.D., has been named interim dean of the School of Engineering, Mathematicsand Science. A professor of science, Kalevitch came to RMU in 2001; most recently, she created

the university’s pre-medicine concentration. She has a Ph.D. in biology/microbiology fromthe highly regarded Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Kalevitch replaces WinstonErevelles, who left RMU for St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.

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>Next Generationfor NonprofitsAmerican Humanics, a national programaimed at training leaders for nonprofitorganizations, awarded stipends to threeRMU students this summer to allow themto pursue nonprofit internships.

The university recently startedan American Humanics studentorganization. Students seeking AmericanHumanics certification must, amongother things, complete 300 hours ofinternship at a nonprofit organization.

Recipients of the $4,500 NextGen stipendswere Jennifer Phillips, a hospitality andtourism management major who internedat Mercer County United Way; AndreaBeats, an accounting major who internedat YWCA of Greater Pittsburgh; andJoseph Kramer, a marketing majorwho interned at YMCA of Sewickley.

> Simulation CenterGets GrantThe Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry awarded a$500,000 grant to RMU to create a simulation laboratory that can

serve as a regional health care training center.

The university is designing a new building for the School ofNursing and Health Sciences to house the center, whichwould include high-fidelity simulation mannequins thatcan respond in a lifelike way to the various treatmentsand procedures students employ. The 23,000 square-foot simulation center is tentatively scheduled to becompleted in 2011.

“Robert Morris University has proven itself as a leader inthe use of simulation to provide clinical training to healthcare workers,” said state Rep. Mark Mustio, who helped to

secure the grant. “Health care is our region’s largestindustry, but it faces a critical shortage of skilledprofessionals, so this is will be a powerfulworkforce development tool.”

“Robert Morris University has an outstandingreputation for health care education,” saidstate Sen. John Pippy. “Using innovativetechnology, through simulation, to furtherdevelop and advance RMU’s health careeducation will ensure that the future of ourregion’s health care will be a positive one.We are pleased to provide this grant for theuniversity and its students.”

>ABusiness Teacher’sBusiness TeacherThe OBTS - Teaching Society for Management Educators, a professional organizationthat publishes the Journal of Management Education, elected professor of managementNell Hartley, Ph.D., to its board of directors this spring. Read more about Hartley,

an accomplished professor and a longtime fixture in the university, on page 22.

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDAT IONS • 7

ANOUTSTAN

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recycle this magazineGive it to a neighbor who’s in high schooland help spread the word about RMU.

> LACROSSEA 9-8 overall record earned the

women’s team its first winning season.The team tied for fourth in the NEC at 5-3

under the direction of coach Katy Phillips, just missing out on theconference tournament after a 10-9 loss at Monmouth. Senior defenderMary Kate Egan, the school’s career leader with 70 caused turnovers,made All-NEC First Team; so did senior midfielder Kara Blakeley,who led RMU with 39 goals. Senior attack Ashley Levering,named to the All-NEC Second Team, shattered the NEC single-season record with 51 assists, giving her an average of 3.0assists per contest, which ranked third in the nation.

> ALL-AMERICANSFour female student-athletes were picked for ESPN The MagazineDistrict II Academic All-America teams by the College SportsInformation Directors of America. Seniors Susan Perich (elementaryeducation, 3.73 QPA) and Brooke Panepinto (marketing, 3.61 QPA)and sophomore Annie Dubovec (mathematics, 3.97 QPA) garneredthe honors in softball, while senior Mary Kate Egan (nursing,3.95 QPA) was an at-large selection for the sports of fieldhockey and lacrosse.

> OUTDOORTRACK & FIELD

MEN > The team, under coachMichael Smith, took home eighthplace at the Northeast Conference

Championships in West LongBranch, N.J., with 47 points. Senior

Kevin Argauer claimed the lone individual trophy for the Colonials,winning the hammer throw with a toss of 185’4”. Senior Sherrod Evers,junior T.J. Green, sophomore Charles Gladman, and freshman IanMelhorn finished second in the 4x100-meter with a time of 41.84,earning All-NEC honors. WOMEN > The Colonials finished fifth at theNEC Championships with 70.33 points, also under Smith’s tutelage.A trio of Colonials claimed individual championships at the meet:junior Erica Schmidt won the pole vault with a 10’10” leap, sophomoreSamantha Simile broke the tape with a time of 1:04.03 in the 400-meterhurdles, and freshman Gabriella Rinehart’s 161’06” hammer throwmade her one of only two freshmen to win an event. Senior TaraMaxwell and junior Ashley Turici also earned All-NEC honorswith second-place finishes, Maxwell with a discus throw of 130’09”,

and Turici with a javelin toss of 130’07”.

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> TIMKO

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> SOFTBALLFreshmen Alexa Bryson and Jaci Timko made a big impact in theirfirst season of Colonials softball.

Ace pitcher Bryson, from Latrobe, was Pennsylvania’s Gatorade Playerof the Year in softball her senior year and led the league in strikeouts.Timko, a Chartiers-Houston grad and the career home run queen inWestern Pennsylvania high school softball, is from a family of athletes– most notably her aunt, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton.

The pair helped RMU pull out a wild 6-5 win against Butler duringthe team’s annual trip to Florida in March. In Bryson’s fourth start,the Colonials trailed the Bulldogs 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh.But Timko led off with a bunt single, then scored on a double bysenior Brooke Panepinto to send the game into extra innings.

After giving up an uncharacteristic three-run homer in thetop of the eighth, Bryson recovered, striking out her

last two batters. The Colonials then bailed herout with a four-run rally. Timko saved the dayagain, driving in the tying run with another buntsingle before the Bulldogs gave up the game-winneron a fielding error.

The victory was part of a surge that saw RMU winthree of its final four games in the Sunshine State. Itwas the third win for Bryson in what would stretchto a nine-game streak.

“That game was important because it allowedour veterans to mesh with the freshmen, who inessence were under the microscope at a veryearly stage in their careers,” said coach CraigColeman, M.D. “I think it gave our youngstersconfidence as well that they could playat this level of Division I softball.”

The Colonials finished secondin the NEC with a 12-6 league

record and 25-21 overall record. Timkorecorded a .396 batting average – the third-highest single-season average in team history– with 61 hits, 32 RBI, and 10 home runs. Bryson madeAll-NEC Second Team with a 2.47 ERA, striking out 193 batterson the way to a 19-7 record, including 22 complete games. AndPanepinto made All-NEC Second Team, finishing her careerwith a .345 batting average, which ties the school record.

> TENNISUnder the guidance of coachJeff Layman, the men finishedwith an overall record of 3-17,

while the women posted anoverall record of 3-19. Both teams

fell in the quarterfinals of the NECChampionships. Junior David Pintoled the Colonials, winning eight singlesvictories. Senior Maria Olausson andfreshman Ekaterina Rudneva eachearned four singles victories to pacethe RMU women, and they alsoteamed up for four doubles victories.

> GOLFMEN > The squad under coach Jerry Stoneearned its best finish at the NECChampionships since 2005, placingfourth with a three-day team score of915 at Champions Gate Golf Club inOrlando, Florida. Sophomore C.G.Mercatoris earned All-NEC SecondTeam honors and placed sixth overall afterleading the tournament with an openingday 4-under par 68. Mercatoris finished inthe top 10 in six of the nine tournamentsRMU played in 2009, averaging justunder 75 per round. He placed fourthat the Western Pennsylvania GolfAssociation Amateur Championship atAllegheny Country Club in June, witha score of 212. WOMEN > The team, alsoled by Jerry Stone, had its best showingever in the NEC Championships at theHershey Links Golf Club, finishingfourth with a three-day total

of 978. Senior Melanie Icefinished seventh with

236. Junior JacquelineJurinko was the only

women’s golferfrom the NECnamed

a National GolfCoaches Association

All-American Scholar in 2009;the actuarial science majorcarries a 3.50 QPA.

> MERCATORIS9

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> LEADING BYEXAMPLEFor Mary Kate Egan, the term student-athlete is one she takes seriously.

A four-year starter on defense in two sports,Egan was a leader and captain for both theColonials field hockey and women’s lacrosseprograms. Her abilities on the field earnedher a pair of Most Valuable Player awardsthis year, one for each sport.

Egan, who now is working at an oncologyunit at Shadyside Hospital, earned All-Northeast Conference honors twice inwomen’s lacrosse, including first teamthis year. She holds the school record with70 caused turnovers, while her 83 groundballs ranks sixth in RMU history. And Eganwas named to the 2009 ESPN The MagazineDistrict II Academic All-America At-LargeTeam after carrying a QPA of 3.95 asa nursing major.

While her exploits on the field and in theclassroom are well documented, Eganproved what an all-around student-athleteshe was with her community service. Thisspring she led a women’s lacrosse teampartnership with Girls Hope, an organizationthat works with at-risk youths. Teammembers cooked brunch for the girls,participated in breakdance sessions, spentan evening ice skating with the group atthe RMU Island Sports Center, and finallyhelped the girls move into a new homein Coraopolis.

Time management is a challenge for anystudent. Egan passed with flying colors.

WRITTEN BY JAMES DUZYK M’00PHOTO BY JASON COHN

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A bolt of inspiration strikes without warning,often in unexpected places. For three RobertMorris University alumni, inspiration has putthem on paths of helping others.

For EILEEN GROETZINGER WILHEM ‘85, it happened thisspring on a charity mission to Bangladesh, where she met ayoung girl who swam a flooded river rather than miss a day atschool. “It was a defining moment in my life,” says Wilhem,who overcame obstacles of her own, growing up poor onPittsburgh’s North Side.

On a cold night last winter, JOHN DENNY ‘85 huddled withothers under a bridge and felt the tug of heartstrings that bindseven strangers to a moment of shared emotion. The right-handman to prominent philanthropist and political power brokerElsie Hillman, Denny was part of a candlelight servicerecognizing homeless people who died that year. “Therewere eulogies given by some of the street people. The storieswere just unbelievable,” Denny says.

DANIEL HORGAN ’02 had a revelation too, about how simpleactions can have profound effects. It came thanks to a volunteerfor the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, who toldHorgan how she’d helped an elderly woman afford to buyher own groceries by giving her a donated TV toreplace the one she was payingeach month to rent.

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horses, Wilhem put her financial expertise to work as aconsultant for local and international charities, helpingdeveloping marketing campaigns and strategies.

Less than two weeks after Wilhem got the news abouther bank job, Geneva Global, a philanthropic consultinggroup based in suburban Philadelphia, called to see ifshe would be willing to travel to Bangladesh as aconsultant. The organization is a partner of the Norway-based Stromme Foundation in a project to supportseveral schools for girls in Asia. Venturing to one of thepoorest nations on Earth seemed daunting, and whenher husband of 41 years expressed concerns about hersafety, Eileen asked for a week to consider it.

At the time, she was reading Three Cups of Tea by GregMortenson, a chronicle of his work to build schoolsin remote, impoverished lands. A passage describing

All three RMU alumni share a passion for work thatinspires volunteerism and philanthropy. And they eachfind value in becoming directly involved in projectsthey promote.

“Robert Morris made a big difference in my life,” saysWilhem, who studied banking and finance and was thefirst person in her family to receive a higher education.She always had a craving for knowledge. “As soon as Iwas old enough for a library card, that was my first realadventure,” she says. “I come from a poor family. Irecognized our financial circumstances but everyone elsein the neighborhood was in the same boat, so it was OK.What my parents did give me was the belief that I coulddo anything. “She attended night classes in order towork during the day and parlayed her education into a38-year career as an executive with several top banks.

Until recently, she was managing director of Bank ofAmerica’s wealth management philanthropic group,where she helped people make smart financial decisionswhile giving away about $300 million a year. But inJanuary, when the bank acquired Merrill Lynch, theresultant shuffle and reorganization eliminated Wilhem’sjob. Rather than retire on her 28-acre ranch in Pinnacle,N.C., where she and her husband, Joe, raise show

Denny, director of community relations at theHillman Company, has a kaleidoscopic range ofstories relating to his activities. Some, like thememorial under the bridge, are sad. Others havebrighter endings — Pittsburgh Social VenturePartners, for example.

“I was really intrigued with the idea of venturephilanthropy,” says Denny, explaining how he cameto organize PSVP in 2000 after hearing about a modelof it in Seattle. It’s also called engaged philanthropyand has spread to several cities in the U.S., Canada,and Japan. Engaged philanthropy invests in buildingup nonprofits and making them better able tocarry out their mission. Denny rounded up severalprogram officers of local foundations and a handfulof venture capitalists, corralled them in a room,placed the concept on the table, and the result wasa new brand of philanthropy in the region.

“We are a dual-mission organization, applying theventure capital model to strengthen nonprofits thatare working to prevent child abuse and neglect inAllegheny County,” Denny says. “The second partof our mission is to build a whole new generation ofengaged philanthropists.” Denny is chairman of thegroup, which currently consists of 45 partners. Eachpartner makes a commitment to donate $5,000 ayear over two years, and also their own time andexpertise as consultants for the nonprofits.

The impact PSVP has had on curbing child abuseand neglect is difficult to measure. But the effort isimpressive. PSVP has invested in 11 nonprofitorganizations serving at-risk kids since 2001,including $763,000 in grants and more than 4,000hours of professional, hands-on consulting work tostrengthen business operations within the nonprofits.Denny accompanied his son Patrick, 13, on achurch mission to Haiti in June. The weeklong trip,coordinated by the Pittsburgh-based Haiti H2O

Mortenson’s experiences in Bangladesh convincedWilhem that much can come of the work of “oneindividual with a lot of passion.” She called back thenext day to accept the assignment, and in March shegot on a plane. (Mortenson will be at Heinz Hall onApril 28 for the Pittsburgh Speakers Series, sponsoredby Robert Morris University.)

Education is about the only escape frompoverty in Bangladesh, where 84 percentof the people live on less than $2 a day.For cultural and financial reasons, girlshave limited access to schools, andfewer than half of Bangladeshi girlscomplete primary school. Wilhemmet with villagers in homes madeof sticks and grass, and touredseveral schools of similarly modestconstruction. The StrommeFoundation’s model is to providesome money, while requiringthe villagers themselves to supplysome of the funds and materials.The foundation-supported schoolsteach adolescent girls basiceducation, hygiene, and job skills.

One teenager became the talk of hervillage after swimming a flood-swollen river. “She had to go to classin wet clothes, but she couldn’t missthis program and the difference itmade in her life,” Wilhem says.“It just moved me. I will never,

ever forget these girls,”she says. “I owe itto those girls totell their story asmuch as I can.”

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why I full-heartedly believe in The Pittsburgh Caresmission, because if you can make it easy for people,they will do it.”

Karen Zimmerman, community relations coordinatorfor the regional behavioral health care and child welfareagency, praises Horgan for his willingness to getinvolved at the ground level of worthwhile projects.

“The Bradley Center has been the beneficiary of awonderful volunteer leader in Daniel Horgan,”Zimmerman says. “His insight into the needs of ourorganization are phenomenal. Not only does he see thepaint and weeds that require attention, he gets throughto the hearts of our young residents through arts andcrafts therapy. Making the right connection, bringingvolunteers into our facility who yearn to make adifference in the lives of the young boys and girls, andproviding the materials and guidance to complete vitalprojects has endowed The Bradley Center with much –needed support over the years.

"There are touches of Daniel throughout our center,”she says.

WRITTEN BY DAVID BROWN

ILLUSTRATIONS BY DAWN POGANY

organization, introduced members of the Fox ChapelPresbyterian Youth Group to a country plagued withintense poverty. Most of the visit was in rural areasof Haiti, whose nine million residents live in thepoorest country in the Western Hemisphere.“The people are very friendly and welcoming,always willing to talk and receive any help offered.Although most find happiness in small ways, it wasapparent to me that they know just how miserablethings are for them in Haiti,” Denny says.

Horgan, who graduated summa cum laude witha degree in corporate communication, is executivedirector of Pittsburgh Cares, a nonprofit dedicatedto encouraging volunteerism and maximizingthe impact of regional nonprofit organizations. Heappreciates the value of partnering. Horgan teamedwith Denny recently to help start PSVP-Kids, anoffshoot of PSVP that engages elementary andmiddle school children in projects raising moneyto improve their schools and neighborhoods.

While he was a freshman, Horgan started anoutreach program for students wanting to dovolunteer service. That campus calling soonexpanded significantly, when Horgan created theAllegheny County chapter of America’s Promise, anational youth development and advocacy groupformed by retired Gen. Colin Powell. Theorganization supports programs to ensure allchildren have caring adults, safe places, a healthystart, effective education, and service opportunities.Horgan was recognized by Powell and George W.Bush for his commitment to youth and civicleadership, and was selected for the organization’snational board when he was only 19.

That zeal for volunteer work makes Horgan anatural fit at Pittsburgh Cares. “So many people arewilling to give back, but so many times they justdon’t know where to start,” Horgan says. “That’s

ROB ER T MORR I S U N I V E R S I T Y F OUND A T I O N S • 1 5

It was only the first year Robert Morris students came to classin Moon Township. But even in 1964, the intramural rivalrieswere heated, according to Pennsylvania state Sen. RichardKasunic, who was a freshman in that inaugural year.

“You talk about intensity,” he says. “It got real intense. And itwasn’t just hall versus hall; it was floor versus floor in somecases.” Kasunic also fondly recalls tobogganing in the winterand hanging out at the old barn that served as the studentunion. “That’s where I learned to play pool,” he says.

What he appreciates most about his college days are the close-knit ties he had with his professors. “Your instructors knewwho you were,” he says. “You felt so comfortable. Youweren’t just another number.“

Kasunic was born in 1947 in the Fayette County coalminingtown of Monarch. His father, Walter, worked in the mines formore than 40 years. His mother, Gertrude, was a homemakerand took care of him, his two sisters, and younger brother.

After graduating from Dunbar Township High School,Kasunic earned an associate’s degree in business from Robert

FROM RESIDENCE

HALLSTO THE HALLS OF

POWER

16

Morris, then got his bachelor’s degree from Youngstown StateUniversity. He served in the Pennsylvania National Guardfor six years, then came home and took an office job with thecounty commissioners, working his way up to chief assessor.It was there that he got his first taste of politics, working onelection campaigns for the commissioners and row officers,district judges, and some Democrat statewide races.

When a national brewing company came to Fayette Countylooking for a location for their new brewery in the early 1980s,it seemed to Kasunic like a great opportunity for the county.But the company realized there was no suitable water sourceor major highway nearby, and the deal fell through. “It lit afire in my belly,” he says. “Here was this golden opportunityfor several hundred jobs and we weren’t prepared.” Kasunictook it upon himself to get involved and work for change.“If you want to see change, if you want to see somethinghappen, you better roll up your sleeves and do somethingabout it. Just don’t sit around and grouse about it.”

Kasunic was elected to the Pennsylvania House ofRepresentatives in 1982. He represented the 52nd LegislativeDistrict for six terms before being elected to the PennsylvaniaSenate. Now he is in his fourth term representing the 32ndSenatorial District, principally Fayette and Somerset counties.

“I love the outdoor opportunities that we have here inPennsylvania,” he says. “Anytime I have the opportunity,I like to get out and do a little hunting or fishing.”

Well known in Harrisburg as an avid outdoorsman,Kasunich is minority chairman of the Senate Game

and Fisheries Committee. In additionto being a lifetime member of the

National Rifle Association,he is a member of the

Dunbar Sportsman’sClub, the South

Connellsville

Sportsman’s Club, and the Ruffed GrouseSociety, a conservation group that improveshabitats for the official Pennsylvania state bird.

Kasunic has focused much of his legislativeefforts on highway construction and conservation.He’s also secured millions of dollars in funding for waterand sewage projects. “I’m a firm believer that, if we use goodjudgment and common sense, we can provide the jobs thatpeople need and at the same time be the protectors andstewards of our environment.”

The one thing Kasunic wants people to know is that, despitehis 27 years in office, he’s still just the same person who grewup in the coalmining patch of Monarch. “I still live theretoday, as a matter of fact,” he says. “I’m just the commonguy who never forgot where he came from.”

WRITTEN BY VALENTINE J. BRKICH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE DOWELL

“JUST DON’T SIT AROUND AND GROUSE ABOUT IT.”

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDATIONS • 17

Sitting across the desk from Joe Walton, inside thestadium that bears his name, I watch a smile growacross his face as he recalls his first year as head coachof the RMU Colonials.

“Our first field was the old softball field behind JohnJay,” he says, chewing on an unlit cigar, “and it wasonly 80 yards. The grass would only last a couple daysof training camp before it was a dust bowl; when itrained it was mud.

“We definitely had some things to overcome, but Iknew that coming in.”

PLAYING TIGHT END FOR THE NEW YORK GIANTS,JOE WALTON MAKES A LEAPING CATCH.

MR. FOOTBALL

WRITT

ENBY

VALENTINE J. BRKICH

R O B E RT M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N DAT I O N S • 1 9

He got a football scholarship to the University ofPittsburgh and started at tight end for three seasons.He was twice an All-American with the Panthers,setting records of 14 touchdown catches in a careerand eight in a single season. Walton also was anAcademic All-American his senior year.

In 1957, he was drafted in the second round by theRedskins, his dad’s old team, and played tight end.He ended his impressive professional playing careerwith the New York Giants, finishing with 178receptions for 2,623 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Walton spent some time in the moving business, but hewas soon drawn back into football. In 1967, he landeda position as a special scout for the Giants beforetaking over as a coach of receivers. Then, in 1974, hereturned to the Redskins, rising eventually to offensivecoordinator. It was during this time that he groomed afuture Hall-of-Fame quarterback named Joe Theismann.

The New York Jets gave Walton his first head coachingjob in 1983. Over the next seven seasons, he led theJets to an overall record of 54-59-1 with three playoffappearances. He was let go after a disappointingseason in 1989. The following year, he served asoffensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelersunder Chuck Noll. When Noll retired in 1991, anew staff came aboard, and Walton was once againout of football.

When RMU decided to start a football program, one oftheir first tasks was finding the right man for the headcoaching job. University trustee Charles L. “Corky”Cost had played with Walton at Pitt and felt he’d be agood fit for the position. It was the perfect challenge fora man who felt he was too young to quit coaching.Walton’s wife, Ginger, put it best during the team’sinaugural season in 1994: “He missed it,” she said.“Something was wrong, and I could tell it was toughon him. Then along came Robert Morris, and everyone

Overcome they did. That first season in 1994, Waltonled a team of 64 freshmen to a 7-1-1 record. They wontheir first game just 21 days after the start of trainingcamp and went on to win the next four in a row. Notbad for a school that had gone 73 years without a team.

This fall Walton will begin his 16th season as the headcoach of a team he started from scratch. He has led theColonials to two NCAADivision I-AA non-scholarshipnational championships, five Northeast Conferencetitles, and two Eastern College Athletic ConferenceBowl victories. But this kind of success isn’t such asurprise when you have a man like Joe Walton at thehelm. After all, football’s been a part of his life for aslong as he can remember.

Joseph Frank Walton was born on December 15, 1935,in Beaver Falls, a bustling steel town where it seemedalmost everyone worked in the local mill. “It was afabulous place to grow up,” says Walton, “a great placefor kids. In the summer we’d play baseball, in the fallwe’d play football, and in winter we’d play basketball.That’s all we did.”

One of the kids he played against regularly was TitoFrancona, who would later hit 125 home runs in themajor leagues. To hear Francona tell it, Walton helpedhim with a career decision. “I liked football so much,”says Francona. “But playing against Joe… he turnedme into a baseball player.”

Walton knew that he was destined for a life on thegridiron. “Football was always different. It wasserious,” he says. His father Frank had played guardfor the Washington Redskins and coached football atFort Indiantown Gap, Pa. With the Beaver Falls Tigers,Joe Walton played end, fullback, and halfback. In hisjunior year in 1952, he led all Beaver County playersin scoring with 120 points, and the next year hewas named to the all-state team.

HE HAD A KNACK FOR BEING AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME. EVERY TIMETHERE WAS A FUMBLE, I’D GO FOR IT AND JOE WOULD BEAT ME.

CHARLES L. “CORKY” COST | FORMER TEAMMATE AT PITT, RMU TRUSTEE

I REMEMBER HIM TELLING ME, “YOU’RE BIG ENOUGH TO PLAY IN THE NFL, YOU’RE STRONGENOUGH, BUT YOU’VE GOT TO WORK HARD. YOU HAVE TO WORK HARDER THAN ANYONEELSE WHO GOES TO THESE BIG SCHOOLS.” AND THAT’S WHAT I DID.

HANK FRALEY | CLEVELAND BROWNS

Radakovich retired last year, and John Banaszak,a former member of Pittsburgh’s legendary “SteelCurtain” defense, stepped up to take his place asassistant coach. After his pro career ended, Banaszakhad a successful stint coaching at Washington &Jefferson College before Walton invited him to RMU.“When I think of Joe Walton, I think of the relationshipthat he has with our student athletes,” Banaszak says.“The respect that those kids have for Joe and theprogram is tremendous.”

For ten years the Colonials played their home gameson the Moon Area High School field, about a mile fromcampus. That changed in 2005, when the universityunveiled its $10 million stadium and sports complex.An anonymous donor offered to contribute $1.5 millionunder one condition: It had to be named Joe WaltonStadium. The team played their first true “home”game on September 17, 2005, when they defeatedButler 49-13.

Walton has led the Colonials to an impressive 96-61-1record in 15 seasons. His 2000 team finished a perfect10-0, the first undefeated season for any program atRMU. He has seen three former Colonials move up to

was so enthusiastic about this. There are going tobe a lot of excited young men wanting to play forJoe Walton.”

First Walton had to build a program from the groundup, hiring coaches, purchasing equipment, andrecruiting student-athletes. Walton’s first appointeewas Dan Radakovich, offensive line coach for thePittsburgh Steelers during their 1974 and ’75 SuperBowl seasons and a former member of Walton’s NewYork Jets staff. Radakovich had coached at Penn Stateand other universities and knew a lot about collegefootball. “One of the best things we did was bringin Rad,” says Walton.

During that first year, they had only budgeted for 60football players. They got 150. “We had to readjust toget more uniforms, and it was a big adjustment for thecafeteria for training camp. So I would always just goto Ed (former RMU president Ed Nicholson) and hewould say, ‘Bring’em in. We’ll feed them somehow.We’ll get it done.’”

ROBERT MORRIS IS VERY FORTUNATE TO HAVE JOE AS THE HEAD COACH. FOR HIM TO HAVESTARTED THE PROGRAM FROM ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WHERE IT IS TODAY IS CERTAINLYAN AMAZING FEAT.

JOHN BANASZAK | RMU ASSISTANT COACH, FORMER “STEEL CURTAIN” LINEMAN

2 0

© Topps Company, Inc.

R O B E RT M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y F O U N DAT I O N S • 2 1

the NFL: running back Tim Hall (OaklandRaiders), offensive lineman Hank Fraley(Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns),and defensive back Robb Butler (SanDiego Chargers).

With all his success on the field, Waltonsays fostering strong students gives him thegreatest reward. “I really enjoy the kids, theirenthusiasm, their desire to learn,” he says. Hiswife Ginger, who passed away in 2007, told himshe could see he was happiest at RMU. “Iremember she used to say to me, ‘You should havebeen coaching college all the time, your wholecareer,’ because she knew I enjoyed the atmosphere,the people,” says Walton.

“The best thing I ever did was come here.”

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY JOE WALTON

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY BYMITCH KRAMER ‘08

Check out Foundations online to see interviews withJoe Walton’s former teammates and fellow coaches.

HE’S ONE OF MY BEST RECRUITERS. PLAYERS’ FATHERS ARE BIG FANS OF WALTON’S. BY THETIME THEY LEAVE JOE’S OFFICE, WE USUALLY HAVE THEM SIGNED.

MIKE RICE | RMU MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH

JOE WALTON

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

JOE WALTONHEAD COACH

22

www.rmu.edu

For Nell Hartley, Ph.D., teaching isn’t just talking – it’s showing.That’s true whether she’s delivering a classroom concept or helping

foreign students understand the American phenomenon of Halloween.

“If you’re going to teach organizational behavior and things like trust,leadership, and respecting diversity, then you’d better be real,” says Hartley.“The best way to teach these topics is to model them.” So every year she and herhusband, Tom, a retired architect, throw a Halloween bash in their big Victorianhouse in Sewickley and invite RMU’s international students to help them passout candy. Meanwhile she hides out on the porch, draped in a moose pelt andbear mask, popping out to spook trick-or-treaters.

Hartley came to RMU as a part-time instructor 30 years ago, andsoon became the first female full-time professor at the School ofBusiness. Her teaching bona fides are impressive. Her 2006paper, “Management History: An Umbrella Model,” was oneof the most widely downloaded papers on the Internet afterit was published in the Journal of Management History. Anoccasional corporate trainer and consultant in addition toher university work, Hartley was recently named to theboard of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society,an international educators association.

Both her daughter, Britt, and her son, Robert – whopassed away from cancer in 2005 – studied at RMU.Hartley says she tries to treat every student she meetswith kindness and care. “I truly, truly love and respectthe students here,” she says. “I’ve been offered other jobs,but I’ve chosen to stay because Robert Morris over the yearshas allowed me to be who I want to be with my students.”

Joel Stafford '87, a manager for a Maryland health carenetwork, brings his family to visitwith the Hartleys each year. "Hergenerosity is tremendous, and herdesire to hear how I am doing isgenuine," he says. "She is a realjewel for RMU."

WRITTEN BYMARK HOUSER

UP CLOSEFACULTY PROFILE

NellHartley

23

As a child, she may have been more comfortable in the stands, but today Maria Mauti wantsnothing less than center stage. On a trip to Cedar Point, Mauti’s godfather pushed her to gointo a mock recording studio. When her recording wound up being played over the parkloudspeakers, it was her first step into the limelight, fueling a passion for performing.

A car accident spoiled her plans to study dance in college. After a year at Point ParkUniversity as a musical theatre and ballet major, Mauti took the advice of her dad, JosephMauti ’78, and transferred to RMU last year. She soon landed a lead role in the schoolproduction of Elton John’s remake of Aida, followed by roles in High School Musical andGodspell with the Pittsburgh Musical Theater, which is headed by RMU professorKen Gargaro, Ph.D.

“It wasn’t until I came to RMU that I had the confidence and freedom I needed in order totruly follow my dreams,” Mauti says. “When Ken Gargaro looked at me and said, ‘You’rea star!’ I realized the potential I had here. He really became likemy musical dad and gave me the experience I needed toknow that anything is possible.”

Her younger brotherDaniel was adopted fromCambodia, and twice Mariahas gone there as a volunteer.She taught English in PhnomPenh and helped at an “AIDSvillage,” where families go toreceive treatment for the diseasetogether rather than beingseparated. Cooking, singing,

and playing guitar for thechildren, Mauti gained a

new perspective on herfuture dreams to

manage a charityor nonprofit

organization.

WRITTEN BY AUBREY DIVITO ‘08

ANDPERSONALSTUDENT PROFILE MariaGabrielleM

auti

Kohun was bred to tackle such a tough challenge. His father,who had fled the Soviet Union as a teenager, made his sonread Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina in Russian. Kohun studiedpsychology, then history, then economics,before homing in on the emerging fieldof information systems –a marriage of computerprogramming andsystems analysis gearedtowards solving concretebusiness problems.

“I now realize that wewere entrepreneurs of adifferent kind,” says JerylSchreiner D’02, a memberof Kohun’s first RMUdoctoral cohort. She is acofounder of Pittsburgh’s IdeaFoundry, a nonprofit incubator foryoung high-tech companies, and alsopresident of her own entrepreneurialconsulting firm, WillowRock Inc.

The three-year D.Sc. program, in which the entire cohortmeets for intense classroom sessions for one full week

It was ten years ago this fall that computer and informationsystems professor Fred Kohun, Ph.D., spent an anguishedweekend, wondering what to tell the 14 people whohad signed up for Robert Morris University’s firstdoctoral program.

His bosses wanted the new D.Sc. in information systems andcommunications to be an applied, professional degree, akinto a J.D. or M.D., not theoretical like a Ph.D. The programhad to appeal to aspiring executives, not just with convenientscheduling but in its subject matter and coursework. Insteadof a dissertation, students would take a problem from thebusiness world and research it with a field project.

“I was panic stricken,” recalls Kohun, associate dean ofgraduate programs and associate provost for research,accreditation, and program support. “I’d struggled allsummer trying to figure it out. I was ready to give themtheir money back and say, ‘Come back next year.’”

Instead, he stayed up until 2 a.m. before that first Mondayof classes, reworking the curriculum, trying to graft a researchmethodology and structure onto students’ existing expertisein communication and information systems. He succeeded,

and the formula he devised is still largelythe one being followed today.

Entrepreneurs of a Different Kind

Ro b e r t Mo r r i s U n i v e r s i t y FOUNDAT IONS . 25

home from commencement and they had ‘Welcomehome, Dr. Grandma’ on a sign in the yard,” she says.

Jerry Macioce D’03 got to come home thanks in part to his doctorate.For years the Shaler native was a network infrastructure andIT consultant in Washington, D.C., and he commuted fromthe capital to RMU.

He had at least one astounding story to share with his cohort:Macioce was walking down a Pentagon corridor on 9/11when the hijacked plane hit, and he quickly had to evacuatehis staff to safety.

Westinghouse Electric hired Macioce in December asdirector of systems enterprise integration, and this springthe Pittsburgh nuclear energy powerhouse promoted himto chief information officer, putting him in charge of thecomputer systems used by the Westinghouse’s 13,000global employees.

The doctorate played a big part in helping him land the top-level corporate post, Macioce says. “It just makes you unique.To be an executive, youhave to be successfuland unique,” he says.“You have to standout among your peers,because everybody canwrite a business case.”

and then threesubsequent weekends

each semester, has graduatedmore than 100 professionals in its

first decade. Here is a sampling:

A longtime senior-level administrator invarious federal posts, Marie SavoyD‘09 found out about the programfrom a coworker, who had heard

Kohun extolling it during a visitto the capital.

Two weeks before she earned the degreethis spring, Savoy was named associate

director for management for the Board ofGovernors of the Federal Reserve. She is nowin charge of all administrative operations for

the agency that governs the country’s central bank,and she says RMU paved the way for her promotion.

“This is a highly skilled, highly educated group. I come tothem as a peer, able to talk to them about complex issues,”Savoy says. “They were very happy here that I was gettingmy doctorate, and they told me so.”

Savoy’s big family, which includes five children and 21grandchildren, gave her a memorable celebration. “I got

therapist ChristopherSpannD’08 formed hisown group. LifeboatMinistries, based in Homewood,connects volunteer mentors with young peoplewho are referred by parents or school counselors.

“I believe in the kinetic energy ofhuman beings trying to help eachother,” Spann says. “If I help out20 kids, that’s 20 less that thecriminal justice system has toarrest. If they learn skills to helpout others, those 20 may help outan additional 20.”

Most of his prior experience is in drugcounseling. But Spann’s doctoral field project wentin a different direction, examining how visiting onlinechat rooms can be detrimental to those trying to overcomesexual addiction.

“At graduation, when they announced the title of myproject, people kind of went ‘Ewww,’” Spann says.But the project taught him valuable lessons, which hehopes to share by publishing a version of it later thisyear for other counselors to use.

As communications coordinator for the Allegheny CountyDistrict Attorney, KarenPaullet ’02, M’05, D’09 helps prosecutors

assemble cases into digital presentations they can show to a jury. Thatcan include video footage from surveillance cameras, crime

scene photographs, 3-D maps and diagrams, even primerson how experts analyze fingerprints or bloodspatter patterns.

It’s not something Paullet, whose backgroundwas in finance, ever expected to be doing.Now she speaks about forensics at high schools

throughout the region, and also teaches computerclasses as an adjunct professor at RMU.

Paullet says when she was in high school she alwaysdreamed of getting a doctorate. This spring her dream cametrue. “It’s the first time that I actually feel like, oh my

gosh, I’ve actually done something important,” she says.

WRITTEN BYMARK HOUSER

Read more alumni profiles at www.rmu.edu/foundations.

When U.S. Steel needed to buy zinc for its galvanized steel lines,Michelle HoughD’02 was the person who made the calls. As amember of the first cohort, she arranged for her classmates totour the London Metals Exchange. Hough had plans of oneday heading the corporation’s IT operations, until somethingKohun said inspired her to radically switch gears.

“I remember Fred saying in class one day, ‘If you want todo something, find a way to do it.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ The RMUprogram opened up a lot of windows for me to change mylife from the path I was on. It really had the effect of shakingme up and making me see things differently.”

So Hough went into teaching. Now she is a Penn Stateprofessor specializing in business strategy. This springHough traveled to Malta to teach for a semester on aFulbright Scholarship – her second, after havingreceived one to teach in Denmark.

When he began to doubt government agencies’ ability to steer youthsfrom broken homes along a straight path,

28 . WWW.RMU. EDU

1970sPATRICIA FANNING CROUSE ’76is the exhibit and graphicconsultant at ExhibitStudios/Nimlok CentralPennsylvania, providingcompanies with visual marketingsolutions. Pat and her husband,Mike, live in Mt. Joy, Pa.

RONALD J. MOCK ’78 was namedto the board of directors ofAllegheny Valley Bancorp Inc.He is managing partner of MockBosco & Associates P.C. andCEO of Independent ControllerServices Inc. in Pittsburgh.

1980sEARL MARTIN ’81, a formerNational City executive, isnow with First CommonwealthFinancial Corp. as a senior vicepresident and small business areamanager. Martin will handle thesouth Pittsburgh region andwill be based in Whitehall.

CHARLES PAGE ’81 is proprietorof Page’s Dairy Mart on the

South Side of Pittsburgh. Fourgenerations have helped runthe ice cream stand since 1951.Chuck took over the operationfrom his father in 1986.

DEBORAH A. GRABE ‘85 isgeneral manager of processedproducts for U.S. Steel. She hasbeen with the company formore than 20 years, andrecently spent two years as aprocurement manager at U.S.Steel’s operations in Kosice,Slovakia, before returningthis year. Deborah resides inSewickley.

CAROL HARRITY ’85 has beennamed vice president ofstrategic business managementfor Computer Sciences Corp.’sNorth American Public Sectorline of business. Carol residesin Springfield, Va.

COLLEEN A. REDSHAW ’86 isthe owner of Redshaw SolutionsLLC, a supply chain ande-business consulting firm.Colleen resides in Canonsburg.

STEVEN FLICKINGER ’87 won theArchie League Medal of SafetyAward for heroic flight assists.An air traffic controller at theRoanoke Regional Airport, Stevesuccessfully guided the pilot of aPiper Cherokee to a safe landingthrough 70 mph headwinds andlow visibility last fall. Steve andhis family reside in Salem, Va.

JEFF BELSKY ’87, M’96 serves asvice president of strategy for thePittsburgh Technical Institute.JOHNENE BELSKY ‘07 is anemergency room nurse forSt. Clair Hospital. The Belskysreside in Moon Township.

KEVIN AMOS ’88 was namedCIO of the Year by the PittsburghTechnology Council, winning inthe growth category. Kevin isvice president for technologyat the Green Tree search engineoptimization firm Impaqt, whichwas recognized by ForresterResearch as one of the world’stop search marketing companies.

RANDY BELANSKY ’88 hasbeen named to the board ofSouthwinds Inc., a nonprofitagency that provides qualityresidential care and life skillstraining for adults withdevelopmental challengesthroughout Allegheny County.Randy is the owner of RandyBelansky LLC in Coraopolis.

SANDRA FANTINI ’88 ofPapernick & Gefsky LLC wasrecently named president of the2009 board of the ProfessionalServices Marketing Association.Sandra lives in Swissvale.

GARY HUGHES ’88 is seniorpastor at the Antioch BaptistChurch in Sewickley. Garywas associate pastor and seniorprogram director at Mt. Araratin East Liberty, and had assistedin other parishes. Prior to hiscall to ministry, he worked asan accountant. He and his wifeDenise live in Mars, Pa.

1990sJAMIE FALLONE SCARANO ’90is the director of workforceinclusion strategy at UPMC,focusing on employeerecruitment and development.Jamie resides in NorthHuntingdon.

MICHELLE DAVISON ’90 is aguest services representative atthe Beaver Falls Holiday Inn.She resides in New Brightonwith her daughter, Sydnee.

JOHN SWIATEK M’92 joinedGSP Consulting in Pittsburgh todirect the newly formed sports,entertainment, and marketing

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDAT IONS • 2 7

CLASS NOTES

> Golden Grads Return to CampusSeveral distinguished alums joined us for spring commencement. From left:MATTHEW BLISTAN '53, EDITHBRYEN '43, BETTY RADOSH BUCHIN '49,WANDA PREVITALI MAGONE '43, KATHRYN STOFFEL CARRIER '53,JOANN MOYER MATEER '50, SHIRLEY WIELAND BACON '44, EDWARD VIROSTEK '62 and VALENTINE DEPACE '48.

2 8 • W W W.RMU . E D U

CLASS NOTESa special counsel with theU.S. Securities and ExchangeCommission in Washington, D.C.Kristina is now residing in Presto.

BONNIE ANDRES DELUCA ’97and her husband Mike had ason, Benjamin, on July 29.Bonnie is the director ofaccount management at BenefitCoordinators Corp in Pittsburgh.Bonnie and Mike also have adaughter, Isabella, 3; they livein Sewickley.

JULIE J. HERSTINE ’94, M’97 hasreceived her Pennsylvania CPAlicense. She is an auditor withCottrill, Arbutina ProfessionalServices in New Brighton. Julieresides in Monaca.

York this June for her book, Peace,Love and Lemonade: A Recipe toMake Your Life Sweeter. Nancy isowner of Silver Lining Solutionsand lives in Pittsburgh.

KRISTINA A. FAUSTI ’97has moved back to westernPennsylvania and will serve asdirector of legal and regulatoryaffairs for Fiduciary360, a globalfirm that trains investmentmanagers. Kristina had been

Edward Jones. Colleen waspreviously associated withWachovia Services.

GINO RIZZA M’95 became theborough manager of Dormont inMay. Previously he operated hisown construction company, andhe has worked as an accountantand auditor with local financialinstitutions. Gino is a lifetimeDormont resident.

NICHOLAS NAVARI M’96 ofFederated Investors is serving asvice president of the PittsburghStock and Bond Association for2009. Nick resides in Gibsonia.

NANCY STAMPAHAR ’96 won abronze medal at the IndependentPublisher Book Awards in New

team. John formerly waspresident and managing partnerof the Washington Wild Thingsminor league baseball team.

MARK DODDS M’93 is an assistantprofessor in sport managementat State University of New YorkCortland, where he has receivedthe department’s Excellence inTeaching Award and the CivicEngagement Leadership Awardfor charitable fundraising. Markand his wife, Jeannine, live inCortland, N.Y., with their son,Spenser, and daughter, Quinn,who was born on March 31.

COLLEEN M. MITCHELL ’95 recentlyrelocated to Randleman, N.C.,and is a financial advisor for

>

WEBEXCLUSIVERON ANTONUCCI '74 and

PAUL LAMPING '73 arrangeda reunion of the Eta Lambdachapter of Pi Kappa Alpha

this summer at thePittsburgh Marriott Northat Cranberry Woods. Morethan 30 brothers came fromas far away as California.

For photos from thisand other online

exclusives, check outwww.rmu.edu/foundations.

MAY 2010

SEE THE EMERALD ISLE IN STYLEJoin RMU President Gregory G. Dell'Omo, Polly Dell'Omo,

and a band of merry travelers on an unforgettable tour of Ireland.

Your guide will be Professor James Vincent, noted raconteur and expert on Irish literature,history, culture, and legend. All arrangements by Gulliver's Travels of Shadyside.

For details, call Jay Carson at (412) 397-5870 or email carsonj@rmu.edu.

DR. CHARLES MANCE D’04 becamevice president for informationtechnology at CaliforniaUniversity of Pennsylvania inMarch. He previously was withBayer Business and TechnologyServices as director of security,quality, and systems integrity.

PAUL MAVRINAC M’04 waselected president of thePittsburgh chapter of thePennsylvania Institute ofCertified Public Accountants.Paul is a senior manager atMcCrory and McDowellin Pittsburgh.

MARCIE HAGER ’05 serves ascontroller for Guardian StorageSolutions in Pittsburgh. Marcielives in Brentwood.

manager for FedEx and Abby is asales representative with Cintas.

AMANDA FUNKHOUSER ’04 andher husband, Craig, became theproud parents of Evie May onFebruary 22. Amanda is anaccountant with Goff, Backa,Alfera and Co. Amanda andCraig also have a son, Colin, 3;they live in Imperial.

MICHAEL HEPLER ’04 marriedDana Fink on June 20. TheHeplers work for the Departmentof Defense, Office of the InspectorGeneral, where Michael is asenior auditor. After ahoneymoon in St. Lucia, theyreside in Columbus, Ohio.

2000sMICHAEL J. CERCHIARO ’00 isdirector of admissions andcommunication at Our Lady ofthe Sacred Heart High School inCoraopolis. He resides in Crafton.

JAMES HALL M’01 was electedsecretary of the chapter ofPennsylvania Institute ofCertified Public Accountants.James is manager of taxadministration for PittsburghGlass Works, and he lives inWest Mifflin.

KRISTIN BROWN ’02 is directorof development and marketingfor The Early Learning Institutein Pittsburgh.

SCOTT BENZEL ’03 and his wife,Cyndi, became the proud parentsof Baylee Rose on April 7. Scott isan assistant coach for the RMUColonials football team.

GERARD MACIOCE D’03 wasappointed chief informationofficer for Westinghouse ElectricCo. He was the company’sdirector of systems enterpriseintegration for nuclear powerplants. Jerry resides in Gibsonia.

GALEN MOORER ’03 was electedto the board of the North Side/North Shore Chamber ofCommerce. Galen resides onthe North Side of Pittsburgh,where he owns a Rita’s iceand custard franchise.

JEREMY TORRENCE ’04 andABBY ELINE TORRENCE ’04 havemoved to Beaver after five yearsin Florida. Jeremy is a service

BOB O’KORN ’97 joinedBenchmark Financial Network asa financial advisor. He previouslyworked for Charles Schwab. Boband his wife, Caron, have twochildren, Joshua and Mary Alice,and are residents of the SouthHills of Pittsburgh.

HOPE VACCARO ’97 (aboveright) is diversity recruitmentmanager for Pittsburgh atBNYMellon. In June the localchapter of the American LiverFoundation, where Hope servesas director, honored her fororganizing the highest-contributing teams in theorganization’s fundraising walks.Hope and her husband, David,reside in South Park.

GARTH ERICSON ’98 is the directorof parks and recreation forManchester Township, Pa. Hewas previously assistant directorof student life for intramuralsand club sports at RMU. Garthresides in York.

THOMAS GENEVRO M’99 wasnamed vice president of humanresources for Butler HealthSystem. Tom previously worked13 years at St. Clair Hospital inPittsburgh, where he mostrecently was director ofperioperative services.

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDAT IONS • 2 9

CLASS NOTES>

3rd ANN

UAL

REGISTRATION/SPONSORSHIP DEADLINEMONDAY, SEPT. 14

For more information about registration andsponsorship opportunities, contact the RMU Alumni

Relations Office at (412) 397-2586 or rmualum@rmu.edu.

ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITYPRESENTS

ALLEGHENY COUNTRY CLUBALLEGHENY COUNTRY CLUBSEWICKLEY, PASEWICKLEY, PA

THURSDAY, OCT. 1THURSDAY, OCT. 1

ALLEGHENY COUNTRY CLUBSEWICKLEY, PA

THURSDAY, OCT. 1

3 0 • W W W.RMU . E D U

CLASS NOTESALVIN HILL ’08 is an accountexecutive with PLS LogisticsServices in Rochester. Alvinlives in New Kensington.

TIMOTHY HUGHES ’08 is a claimsanalyst with PLS LogisticsServices in Rochester. Timothylives in New Wilmington.

CHRISTIE L. WELSH ’05, M’08married Nicholas W. Liadis onNovember 1, 2008. Christie worksin the retired employee servicesdepartment at U.S. Steel. Thecouple lives in Oakdale.

STEPHANIE JAVORSKI ’08 waspromoted to manager ofmarketing and sales for chemicalsat the Pittsburgh firm Koppers.Stephanie lives in Brentwood.

CAITLIN LIEBAU ’08 is theassistant marketing managerof McFadden’s Restaurantand Saloon on Pittsburgh’sNorth Shore.

muscular dystrophy research.Merett resides in Crafton.

COURTNEY J. BLUMLING M’07is office manager for MetalicoPittsburghInc. Sheresidesin Aliquippa.

ASHLEY M. DESJARDINS ’07 isemployed with the CarnivalCruise Lines as a teen activitiesdirector. Ashley lives inSalisbury, Md.

LAURA GAWRYLA ‘07 and TYLERGETHING ’06 became engagedin March. Laura is an associateproducer at WPXI-TV and a TVstudio technician and studentsupervisor at Point ParkUniversity. Tyler is camera andaudio operator for Azcar TrainingSystems in Canonsburg and headeditor for “Joe’s WildsideAdventures,” an outdoors showon Fox Sports Net Pittsburghand The Sportsman Channel.Laura and Tyler reside in theSouth Hills of Pittsburgh.

LEE TERBOSIC ’07 is a corporatecomedy magician, and heperformed his show recently atthe Pittsburgh Improv comedyclub as a fundraiser for theCystic Fibrosis Foundation.

DEANNA L. GILKEY M’06 andEric Schmuck were married onMay 30. Deanna is an instructorat the Bidwell Training Centerin Pittsburgh, and Eric is aCMU graduate. They live inMonroeville.

DANIEL NARDOZZI M’06 is ageneral engineer for the NationalEnergy Technology Laboratoryin Morgantown, W.V. Daniel,his wife, Angela, and theirthree children reside inMoon Township.

KARA MOSTOWY RUTOWSKI ’91,M’06 executive director of The

Early Learning Institute inPittsburgh, is vice presidentof education on the 2009board of the Pittsburghchapter of the Associationof FundraisingProfessionals.

MERETT BALLOU ’07works in marketingand customerservice for PublicLabel Brand/PLBSports. She alsoactively campaignsfor the Ballou SkiesCharity to raisefunds for Duchene

JONATHAN KENDRICK ’05 isdirector of alumni affairs atMadonna High School inWeirton, W.V., where he alsolives. Jonathan was a physicaleducation and health teacherand is the head track coachand assistant football coach.

LUCAS RIHELY ’06 has receivedhis Pennsylvania CPA license.He is an accountant with Cottrill,Arbutina Professional Servicesin New Brighton. Lucas livesin Beaver.

HARVEY COLE ’06 was promotedto major in the PennsylvaniaState Police, where he is nowdirector of the Bureau of Patrol.Harvey joined the state policein 1982, and previously was thecommanding officer of Troop A,Greensburg. Harvey and hiswife, ELAINE VENABLE COLE ’04,reside in Penn Hills with theirtwo sons.

>

>

> Colonials inthe Big AppleHobnobbing at a New York alumni chapter party inMay. When is your local chapter getting togethernext? Call 412-397-2586 to find out.

Class Notes would love to hear from you.

ADAM COUSLEY ’09 is a deductionanalyst with Eaton Corp. inMoon Township. Adam isfrom Greenville, Pa.

DeathsLAWRENCE R. BOYD ’30 ofWashington, Pa., passed awayon March 22 at the age of 100.He was believed to be theoldest living alumnus of RMU.

HARRY J. ALVERSON ’38 of Plumpassed away on May 22

June 14 at the age of 86. Heworked as a trust officer forPittsburgh National Bank for46 years, retiring in 1992.

LLOYD D. DAVIS ’62 of NewFlorence, Pa., passed away onMay 24 at age of 67. He wasin the real estate andinsurance business.

CHARLES KOHL ’73 of MoonTownship passed away onMarch 30 at the age of 61. Hewas employed with RMU forover 20 years in the informationtechnology department. He is

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDAT IONS • 3 1

CLASS NOTESsurvived by his wife, BETSY ’81,and son, BENJAMIN ’08.

IRA WESSLER, former professorof marketing at Robert MorrisUniversity, passed away onMarch 16. He was a memberof the faculty for 24 years.

MELISSA ANN BARONE '03of Freedom passed away onJuly 19. Melissa was employedwith Coventry Health Care ofCranberry Township and alsovolunteered with AnimalFriends in Ben Avon.

at the age of 92. A native ofMcKeesport, he went to workduring the Great Depression asa clerk with Firth Sterling Steeland retired 30 years later as the

company’spresident.

He had a second career as chieffinancial officer at Salem Corp.,a steel industry service companyin Carnegie.

ARTHUR R. WITHROW JR. ’48 ofNeville Island passed away onJanuary 13 at the age of 84.

WILLIAM M. HENDERSON ’50of Fox Chapel passed away on

E-mail us at rmualum@rmu.edu.

COME CHEER ON THE COLONIALS AS THEY TAKE ON THE BRYANT BULLDOGS!

Free burgers, hot dogs, chips, and pop at the RMU Alumni Association cookout tent, opening at 10:30 a.m.Kids can enjoy balloon animals, caricatures, t-shirt painting, and more before the game.

Set up your own tailgate party. Call (412) 397-2424 to for rules and space availability.

KICKOFF AT NOON— DON'T MISS IT!

Laurie Roberts M’04, M’05 may look like a mild-mannered accountant,but don’t let that fool you. In addition to working at EG Conley’s NorthHills office, she is also a fullback for the Pittsburgh Passion. The teamhad a strong season this year, going 7-1 in theIndependent Women’s Football League before fallingto the D.C. Divas in the playoffs in June. Roberts hasbeen in the league four years, and also playsGaelic football for the Pittsburgh Banshees.

A Troy Hill native and graduate of PerryTraditional Academy, Roberts receiveda bachelor’s degree from AlleghenyCollege and then earned master’sdegrees in business administrationand taxation from Robert MorrisUniversity. When she’s not workingor playing football, she alsovolunteers at the Sarah HeinzHouse, a Boys & Girls Club onPittsburgh’s North Side that providessports, recreation, and leadershipprograms for children and teenagers.

Did you play pickup football withthe boys in Troy Hill, and did youbeat them up? I remember playing sportswith my brother, David, and my sisters,Jennifer and Rebecca. There was a groupof about 10 to 15 kids that we playedwith. We were pretty competitive andaggressive, but it never came to blows.

Who were your favorite players as akid? Who doesn’t love the Steelers growingup in Pittsburgh? The first players Iremember watching were Louis Lipps andRod Woodson. Of course, stories of the Steelergreats of the ‘70s, like Franco Harris and MeanJoe Green, were relived each season. I wish Icould make a play like the Immaculate Receptionbefore my career is over.

How have your RMU degrees helped you inyour accounting career? My degrees were essential tomy career. My undergrad was in mathematics, so I needed theaccounting and tax classes in order to even sit for the CPA exam.

How do you find time for football practice during taxseason? Fortunately, EG Conley is very supportive of thePassion and my playing football, and they allow for someflexibility in my schedule. Last year, when our practices

were in the early evening, I would leave work, head to practice on theSouth Side and go back to the office to put in a few more hours beforeheading home. My brother and dad help with things around the house,from shoveling my walk and driveway when it snows to fixing

anything around the house that would otherwise be brokenuntil April 15th.

Have you ever tackled anyone in the office?Not yet. But there is a manager who playedlinebacker in college who’s asking for it.

Have you applied anythingfrom your master’s degreesin business administrationand taxation to the footballfield? We did a lot of groupwork at RMU, which made me a

better team player and more adaptedto working with various personalities and

backgrounds. I worked full time while attendingthe grad programs at RMU, and that helped to

further develop my time-management skills.

Your nickname is Rojo and RMU’s mascot’sname is RoMo? Are you, by chance, related?Is RoMo is trying to steal my thunder? Just kidding!

What the heck is Gaelic football? It’s the nationalsport of Ireland. It’s kind of a mix between soccer,basketball, rugby, and volleyball. It’s pretty physicaland fast paced, and it requires a lot of the skills usedin soccer. It was a good fit for me since I played soccerfrom rec leagues growing up through college.

What do you find most rewarding aboutvolunteering at the Sarah Heinz House? Sarah HeinzHouse was like a second home to me when I was growingup. The staff and volunteers had a very positive impact on mylife. Heinz was the first place I played organized sports orwas a part of a team. It’s nice to be able to give back to anorganization that has done so much for me. I especially enjoyworking with the teens, hoping that they see me as a positiverole model that they can relate to.

Do you have a special accountant-esque type ofcelebration dance when you score a TD? Maybesomething involving a calculator? Like the NFL, our leaguefrowns upon the use of props in touchdown celebrations. However,I’ve had to take my ten-key to games to keep track of all the pointswe rack up on our opponents.

WRITTEN BY VALENTINE J. BRKICH | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN COOKE

10Q WITH LAURIE ROBERTS

32 • WWW.RMU.EDU

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MAIL THIS COMPLETED FORM TO: Office of Alumni Relations, Robert Morris University, 6001 University Boulevard,Moon Township, PA 15108-1189. Or, send your news via e-mail rmualum@rmu.edu or fax (412) 397-2142.

FOR MORE INFORMATION on these and other upcoming events, contact the Office of Alumni Relations at (412) 397-2586 or rmualum@rmu.edu.

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y FOUNDAT IONS • 3 3

RMU ALUMNI ON THE ROADJoin us at our pregame receptions atthese men’s basketball road games:

NOVEMBER 12At Syracuse Orangemen

NOVEMBER 16At Penn State Nittany Lions

DECEMBER 12At Duquense Dukes

DECEMBER 15At Cleveland State Vikings

30 Colonial Theatre presents“Rent” Through Oct. 4Massey Theater, 8 p.m.

> OCTOBER1 RMU Colonial Golf ClassicAllegheny Country ClubSewickley Heights

1 Career Expo,Sewall Center Arena12:30–4 p.m.

14 Pittsburgh SpeakersSeries: Jean-Michel CousteauHeinz Hall, 8 p.m.

> SEPTEMBER18 RMU NightPirates vs. PadresPNC Park, 7 p.m.

23 Irish singer Sean TyrrellMassey Theater, 7 p.m.

26 Homecoming WeekendFootball vs. Bryant U.Joe Walton Stadium, Noon

30 Pittsburgh SpeakersSeries: Pervez MusharrafHeinz Hall, 8 p.m.

15 Alumni LeadershipOpen Meeting, Holiday Inn-Moon Township, 6 p.m.

22 Alumni NetworkingLuncheon, Wright’s SeafoodInn, Heidelberg, Noon

> NOVEMBER5 Women of RMU Luncheon,Omni William Penn, Noon

11 Colonial Theatre presents“Sweeney Todd” ThroughNov. 15, Massey Theater, 8 p.m.

23 Pittsburgh SpeakersSeries: Laura BushHeinz Hall, 8 p.m.