Graduate Degrees

Accountancy Class Secretary — Kim Talianko; ktalianko@alumni.nd.edu

Architecture
Air Force Lt. Col. Brian D. Weidmann ’89 of San Antonio concluded his 24-year military career after returning from a deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan. After graduation, he served on active duty within the military civil engineering career field in both command and staff positions in Kuwait, Florida, the Pentagon, Korea, Qatar, Japan, Italy and California. Before deploying to Afghanistan last winter, he was able to take in the 2012 Stanford game, participate in the Air Force ROTC Detachment 225’s Career Day and meet up with brother Kurt J. Weidmann ’86, project manager/estimator, The Gap Foundation, Vitton Construction Co., San Leandro, CA, and Kurt V. Zimmerman, AIA, ’86, VP/principal senior design architect for Zimmerman Architectural Studios, Milwaukee. A new architecture building is on the way at ND. Thanks to a recently announced $27 million gift by the co-chairman of Walsh Construction Co., Matthew W. Walsh ’68 and wife Joyce, the new building will be named after them. The gift will provide the needed expansion of the architecture, graduate, historic preservation and real estate development programs as well as providing a state of the art, 60,000-square-foot facility. Walsh Family Hall of Architecture is expected to be built on the southern edge of campus. Matt is a ’68 graduate in Arts and Letters and he and his wife have been members if the school’s advisory council since 1992. Matt has been the group’s chairman since 2004. Mary C. Fishman ’80 of Chicago has produced and directed a documentary film, Band of Sisters, which presents a look at Catholic nuns and their activism in social movements. The 90-minute film was the official 2012 selection of the St. Louis International Film Festival and premiered last September at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. Since then, it has had screenings across the country. The film was co-produced by Mary’s sister, Regina Wilkinson, a Notre Dame Law School graduate with a practice in Michigan City. It was filmed by Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Bill Glader. Congratulations to Kara Kelly on her new position as director of communications, Office of the Mayor, City of South Bend. Kara had been head of media and public relations for the School of Architecture since 2003. Alan E. Turner ’76 is president of the architectural firm of Hawley, Peterson, Snyder in Mountain View CA. I was notified in September that I had been elevated as a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) and was honored at the Healthcare Design 2013 fall conference convocation ceremony in November. Fellowship is the highest honor bestowed on a certificate holder by the ACHA and is granted to ACHA board-certified architects specializing in healthcare who have shown distinction as determined by the college’s Council of Fellows. I was an invited founding member of the college in 2001 and one of the nation’s first board-certified healthcare architects. — Orlando T. Maione, FAIA, FACHA, NCARB; 27 Bucknell Lane, Stony Brook NY 11790-2521; 631-246-5660; fax 631-751-7598; omaione@optonline.net

Biological Sciences Class Secretary — Joan S. ’71MS and Philip B. Carter ’67, ’71PhD; 12916 Barsanlaw Drive, Raleigh NC 27613; 919-848-2192; fax 919-848-3166; Phil@ncsu.edu

History

Daniel F. Curtin ’83MA is the former executive director of the Chief Administrators of Catholic Education (CACE) at the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and is currently a consultant for Catholic education in the Diocese of Arlington. Dan received the F. Sadlier Dinger Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to Catholic education and is presented annually by publishers William H. Sadlier, Inc., in conjunction with the NCEA Convention and Expo. Prior to serving as CACE executive director, Dan served for 14 years on the personal staff of the late James Cardinal Hickey as secretary for the Catholic Education for the Archdiocese of Washington. He continues to teach a course on the history of Catholic education as part of the graduate education leadership program at Marymount U in Arlington VA. Dan reports that he occasionally makes it back to campus for a conference or a game and enjoys catching up with Father Blantz, “an outstanding professor whom I recall with great admiration.” Dan is not alone in admiring Father Blantz. Every time I teach the presidents, I strive to be like Father. Kathleen Sprows Cummings ’99PhD is the new director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at ND. She had an article in the Oct. 28 issue of America. “A Promising Path” is her reflection as a scholar, mother and feminist on Pope Francis’ call for a theology of womanhood. Kathleen is also co-editor, with Scott Appleby, of Catholicism in the American Century, which was published in 2012 by Cornell. Here is my own Catholic education story: Thirty years after I started the PhD program, Suellen Hoy is still there answering my questions, focusing my research, and prodding me along. I’ve had some pretty big breaks this year and it’s thanks to Suellen’s generosity that I know what to make of them. Who from the program fills that role for you? Wouldn’t it be great to have a column that’s just happy memories of outstanding mentors and professors? Write me. Finally, prayers are working, but still requested. Please keep our ailing friend in your thoughts and prayers. — Mary Linehan ’91 PhD; mlinehan@uttyler.edu

Mathematics

Recently retired college professor Mary Ann (Corbo) Connors ’67MS led a career that is internationally known and was built around her passion for using technology as a tool to teach math. On June 8, Seton Hill presented Mary Ann with the university’s Distinguished Alumni Leadership Award. This award is given to people who have demonstrated outstanding achievements and leadership in one (or more) of the following areas: education, business and professions, science and technology, arts, voluntary services and philanthropy. Mary Ann graduated in 1959 from Altoona Catholic and was among the first groups of laywomen to earn a master’s degree in mathematics from the University. She went on to receive a doctorate in education from the U of Massachusetts Amherst in 1995 and was among the first group of civilian women mathematics professors at West Point in 1997. Mary Ann retired in May from Westfield State U, Massachusetts, as professor of mathematics. — Patti Strauch; 255 Hurley Hall, Notre Dame IN 46556; bus 574-631-7083; strauch.1@nd.edu

Master of Nonprofit Administration

Congratulations to the August 2013 MNA graduates: Karen Chang, Brenda Hunsberger, Eamon Ladewski, Maureen O’Neill and Anna VanOverberghe. We look forward to soon receiving exciting career updates from all of you. The MNA family expanded in September when Justin Dunton ’11 and wife Tricia welcomed their son, William Browning Dunton. Patrick Britton ’09 and wife Katie welcomed Eleanor Marie Higgins Britton on Sept. 13. Zeenah Haddad ’13 took a job with Promedmail as a project manager. Promedmail is a nonprofit organization that is part of the International Society of Infectious Diseases. My classmate Ed Cortas ’08 was named the director of consulting services for The Center of Nonprofit Excellence in Louisville KY. Kelly Jentzen Thompson ’10 officially began her work as a staff attorney at Catholic Charities for the Archdiocese of Washington. Kelly will use her MNA degree while assisting the senior program manager of the legal network with administrative projects and tasks. She will assist low-income residents with their legal issues and help recruit pro bono attorneys to take on cases. After seven years of making a difference in North Carolina, Andrea Voissard Feay ’06 returned to Indiana and resides with her family in Indianapolis. Andrea and I met in Indianapolis to watch the Navy game and reminisced about our old friends from our cohort. — Anne Hayes; 105 Main Building, Notre Dame IN 46556; ahayes2@nd.edu

Political Science Class Secretary — Charlie Kenney; 2724 Meadowbrook Dr., Norman OK 73072; 405-360-2090; ckenney@ou.edu

Graduate Degrees

Not so long ago, ND and I received many notices of accomplishments of persons with graduate degrees from the University. The numbers have gradually dwindled down to none for this issue. Unless we are notified of significant achievements of our graduate degree holders, this column will cease to exist. Can you help us? — Marvin J. LaHood ’58 MA, ’62PhD, English; 93 Parkhaven Drive, Amherst NY 14228; res 716-691-4648; mlahood@roadrunner.com