Astronaut Kevin Ford ’82 piloted the space shuttle Discovery in August on a mission to bring supplies to the International Space Station. Among the items delivered were a freezer, storage racks, a new sleeping compartment and the Colbert Treadmill, named after TV comedian Stephen Colbert. . . . Martha Larzelere Campbell ’73M.A. is the new ambassador to the Marshall Islands. Previously, former Indiana congressman and member of the 9/11 Commission Tim Roemer ’81M.A., ’85Ph.D. was named ambassador to India and Miguel H. Diaz ’92M.A., ’00Ph.D., a professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, was appointed ambassador to the Vatican . . . Mark W. Yusko ’85 and his wife, Stacey Miller Yusko ’86, have made a gift of $35 million to the University to establish the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program, described as a “comprehensive merit scholarship and enrichment initiative.” . . . Rob Nabors ’93, former staff director of the U.S. House of Representatives’s Appropriations Committee, has been named deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. . . . The Associated Press has named Katherine Corcoran ’81 to the new position of enterprise editor for Latin America and the Caribbean. Formerly Corcoran was an editor at the AP’s Latin American desk and taught journalism at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. . . . Sara Gretter Gorman ’96 is the author of the recently published book, Despite Lupus: How to Live Well with a Chronic Disease, which chronicles her personal battle with the disease. . . . In July, the University of South Dakota honored John A. Day ’64MFA, dean emeritus of the school’s college of fine arts, by naming the university’s main art gallery after him. The sculptor and educator has served the university for more than 30 years. . . . John Eriksen ’97 is the new superintendent of schools for the diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. The 34-year-old is believed to be the youngest Catholic schools superintendent in the country. . . . Robert Bennett ’62, chancellor emeritus and member of the New York State Board of Regents, has been named a distinguished professor of educational leadership in the Canisius College Graduate School of Education and Human Resources. . . . Cincinnati Bengals’ strong safety Chinedum Ndukwe ’07 was featured in an episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks documentary series about the NFL team’s 2009 summer training camp. The scene features an autograph session at a Whole Foods store. . . . Henry A. Cardinali ’70 , the former manager of the U.S. Navy’s Naval Reactors Laboratory Field Office, received the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award from Secretary of the Navy Raymond E. Mabus, and the National Nuclear Security Agency Gold Medal for distinguished service in the national security of the United States from NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino. . . . Stephen R. Miller ’80, ’83J.D., ’89M.A., an attorney with more than 25 years experience in construction law, has been named to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. . . . Will Koch ’84, president of Holiday World, is having the world’s largest water coaster built at the amusement park in Santa Claus, Indiana. The raft water attraction is one-third of a mile long and features seven hills and three tunnels. . . . Norman Plate ’83, an associate professor at Michigan’s Cooley Law School, has been named executive director of Scribes, the American Society of Legal Writers. . . . Danny White ’03, former associate athletic director for development at Fresno State University, has been named chief development officer in the University of Mississippi’s athletic department. . . . Attorney James Domagalski ’87, who is chairman of the Erie (Pennsylvania) County Republican Committee, was named managing partner of the 210-attorney Buffalo, New York, law firm Hiscock & Barclay. . . . In 1957 Walter Dray ’40 lost his class ring at the bottom of a lake in Wisconsin. Fifty-two years later the son of the man who found the ring with a metal detector located Dray through the alumni association and returned the ring. The son of the finder explained that the jewelry had sat in his mother’s closet for years after his father had died. . . . Frank T. Connor ’82, a former Goldman, Sachs & Co. corporate finance executive, has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Textron, Inc., a global aircraft, defense, industrial and finance business. . . . Carl Segneri ’80 was recently appointed vice president, programs and technology for ComEd in Chicago. ComEd is one of the nation’s largest utilities with 5.4 million customers. . . . Tina Patton ’93MBA, vice president and director of information technology with Indiana Trust and Investment Management Co., is a new member of the Ivy Tech Community College North Central regional board of trustees. . . . Kevin A. Lally ’91, an assistant U.S. Attorney in California, was named Prosecutor of the Year by the Los Angeles Bar Association. Lally was cited for his work in the investigation, indictment and conviction of Anthony Pelicano, a notorious private investigator who had illegally wire-tapped many celebrities. . . Dr. Kevin Miltko ’91 is the newly elected president of the Montana Dental Association. . . . John G. O’Brien ’68, an Arlington Heights, Illinois, real estate attorney, was installed in June as president of the Illinois State Bar Association. . . . Matthew Waynee ’95 is the creator and director of PSA: The Series, an online comedy show about a group of people filming public service announcements. The series is viewable at funnyordie.com/waynee. . . . James King ’77’s first novel, Bill Warrington’s Last Chance, won the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award. The story, about an elderly man who reconnects with his children and grandchildren after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, will be published next summer by the Penguin Group. . . . Thomas Mulinazzi ’64, professor of civil, environmental and architectural engineering at the University of Kansas, was one of three recipients of the 2009 Steeples Service to Kansas Award presented to UK faculty for outstanding service to the state of Kansas. . . . Dr. Joseph S. Coselli ’74, professor and chief of the division of cardiothoracic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, was one of four physicians to receive the University of Texas Medical Branch Ashbel Smith Distinguished Alumnus Award. . . . Dan Haugh ’78, president of PTI Securities and Futures, wrote the article “Diversification is Not Enough,” in the June 2009 issue of Stocks, Futures, Options, a national investment trade magazine. . . . Mike Mitchell ’82 has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Inc., a subsidiary of Nestle, USA. . . . Former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano ’75J.D., who is a judicial analyst for Fox News and host of Freedom Watch on Fox, was featured in the summer issue of The Voice, a Christian life and culture magazine. . . . Edward A. Hjerpe, III ’84M.A., ’85Ph.D., was named president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. . . . 1Well.org, a nonprofit organization founded by Dan Morrison ’95 that links social venture capitalists with critical life-sustaining projects in needy countries, was featured in the Express, a publication of The Washington Post. The organization has funded drinking water and irrigation projects in India.
John Monczunski is an associate editor of Notre Dame Magazine.