Graduate Schools
Graduate Schools
Accountancy Class Secretary — Kim Talianko;
ktalianko@alumni.nd.edu
Architecture
Congratulations to William J. Bates ’75 FAIA, Homestead PA, who took office as the 2019 president of the over 95,000-member American Institute of Architects (AIA). To my knowledge, Bill is the first ND alumnus to hold that national office. He has served as a member of the AIA board of directors since 2011, serving as elected VP and various chairs over the years until he was VP/president-elect in 2018. He served two terms as president of Pennsylvania AIA in 1991 and 2010 and as president of Pittsburgh AIA in 1987. In his professional career, he is VP of real estate at Eat’n Park Hospitality Group Inc. and is an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon U. Congratulations also to Joseph J. Istvan ’78, Freeport NY, on receiving the 2018 AIA Rochester Medal of Distinction. After 30 years with Bergmann Assoc. Architects, Engineers and Planners of Rochester NY, Joe retired as a principal of the firm last June. He was recruited by the firm in 1988 to create the architecture group and was also responsible for creating the firm’s scholarship that recognizes a student in an architecture program. He has won numerous awards for his projects including the RTS Downtown Transit Center, The Bergmann Headquarters tower and the East Aurora Fire Station. In early December if you clicked on ND’s “Saint of the Day” reflection you would have seen an illustration of St. John of Damascus (aka John Damascene) drawn by Matthew G. Alderman ’06 KM, Concord MA. He is employed by the architectural firm of Cram and Ferguson in Concord on ecclesiastical projects all over the country. He is also an illustrator and heraldic designer whose works can be found at Matthewalderman.com. Ronald B. Blitch ’76, FAIA, FACHA, of Blitch/Knevel in New Orleans, has been recognized for the design of the new University Medical Center in New Orleans by the AIA Modern Healthcare Design Awards program. The national honor completes a landmark effort to replace the Katrina damaged Charity Hospital facility with a new, modern and sustainable facility. Key to the creation of the new campus was Blitch/Knevel’s preparation of an in-depth assessment of damages for the State of Louisiana that ultimately resulted in FEMA giving the full replacement value of $477 million, which became the catalyst for the final $1.2 billion replacement. LaTonya Whitfield-Horhn ’96 AIA is the associate VP/project manager at CannonDesign, a Los Angeles Healthcare Group. Michael T. Mercadante ’79, Cambridge MA, is president of Main Street Design, Inc. and senior exhibit designer with the firm specializing in museum, zoo, and aquarium design. He was recently elected international board president of the Themed Entertainment Association (TSA) which helps to educate, grow and improve the attraction focused industry. Ricardo Arosemena ’98, ’05MArch and wife Andree' Soundy ’98, ’05MArch live in Panama. They originally created and worked in the firm together but Andree' eventually developed a separate art career. The firm “designs healthy neighborhoods for everyone.” Whether he’s designing dwellings for a scenic oceanside town in Costa Rica or partnering with developers to revamp an economically depressed neighborhood in Panama City, he creates vibrant communities that enrich the lives of people who live in them. He continues to work on developments that are ecologically sustainable and accessible to people from various income levels. To read more about his work, visit the We Are ND website at weare.nd.edu. Mark A. Hinchman ’83, Lincoln NE, wrote to tell me that the Letters of Colin Rowe was recently published. Prof. Colin Rowe taught at ND while on leave from Cornell, 1980-1981, and was a prolific letter writer. The book includes correspondence with many ND students and faculty. Mark is a professor in the interior design program, College of Architecture, U of Nebraska. Adding to the 2017 gold medal I received at the end of last year for lifetime achievement from AIA New York State, my local AIA Long Island Chapter presented me with their lifetime achievement award, an engraved crystal sculpture. — Orlando T. Maione, FAIA, FACHA, NCARB; 27 Bucknell Lane, Stony Brook NY 11790-2521; 631-246-5660, omaione@optonline.net
Biological Sciences
Once again, it would be nice to hear from the younger alumni. Young people starting their careers beyond Notre Dame tend to move more frequently so it’s important to let your contemporaries know where you are relocating. While writing a chapter on “Gnotobiotics and the Microbiome” for the next edition of The Laboratory Rat your correspondent (PBC) was required to reconnect with an especially illustrious part of the history of the department. In the early 1930s, several young alumni, James A. “Art” Reyniers Jr. ’30, ’31MS, ’67DSc. (h.c.), Philip C. “Trex” Trexler ’34, ’36MS, ’84DSc (h.c.) and later, Julian R. Pleasants ’39, ’50MS, ’66PhD developed the technology to allow mammals and birds to exist in an environment without germs. This was something Louis Pasteur had argued would be impossible. With Trexler’s death in 2014, one month short of his 103rd birthday, these three are now deceased. Trexler is buried in Notre Dame’s Cedar Grove Cemetery, probably the only person with a tombstone bearing the word “Gnotobiology,” the field that these biologists and their ND colleagues created. A Laboratory of Bacteriology was formed within the Department of Biology using the acronym “LOBUND.” It took several years for the scientists in this unit to ascertain the nutritional requirements needed to raise the animals, not only to adulthood, but to also reproduce. Both Reyniers and Trexler were given ND honorary degrees for their achievements. Through the 1930s, ’40s, and half of the 1950s, animals were maintained germ-free in large, expensive stainless steel “isolators,” limiting their use internationally. Trexler successfully developed a way to use plastic for isolation units, greatly expanding the use of gnotobiotic technology in hospitals as well as laboratories worldwide. The eponymous “Trexler” isolator was used to protect the “Boy in the Bubble” in Houston from infection where Brother Raphael Wilson, CSC, ’48, (now Rev. Joseph Wilson), and the late Patricia M. Bealmear ’65PhD, served as part of the medical team. In this 50th anniversary year of the moon landing, it is an interesting fact that, before NASA allowed humans to land on the lunar surface, “moon dust” from an earlier mission was tested for the possibility of unknown infectious agents by exposing LOBUND germ-free rats to the specimens. Descendent, Jon P. Reyniers ’79PhD, studied under Julian Pleasants and has pursued a career in higher education. — Joan Smith Carter ’71MS and Philip B. Carter ’67, ’71PhD; 12916 Barsanlaw Drive, Raleigh NC 27613-6400; res 919-848-2192; phil@ncsu.edu
History Class Secretary — Mary Linehan ’91PhD;
maryline113@yahoo.com
Mathematics Class Secretary — Patti Strauch;
255 Hurley Hall, Notre Dame IN 46556; bus 574-631-7083; strauch.1@nd.edu
Master of Nonprofit Administration
The campus is bustling with activity and beauty and I was blessed to be there several times last fall. While attending my final meeting on the Mendoza College of Business Alumni Board, I had a chance to catch up with Angela R. Logan PhD, St. Andre Bessette Director of Nonprofit Professional Development, Cynthia Proffitt, MNA program manager, and Joan McClendon the operations program director. Our MNA alumni continue to shine. Last summer featured music accomplishments for Katie Madonna Lee ’17. A musical composition trio for violin, flute and piano, “The Immigrants” had a world premiere at Mostly Modern Music Festival in Saratoga Springs NY. “They Are Gone but You Are Here” premiered in Chicago at Roosevelt U. Mike Benson ’11 and his co-author, Hal R. Boyd released a new book, A Case for Higher Education in American Democracy, published by the U of Kentucky Press. The book’s forward states, “Benson and Boyd present a convincing case for why higher education needs and deserves public support. From practical examples, they demonstrate how investment in higher education enables a society to rise to the opportunities presented by the future. Their argument is focused on Kentucky, but its lessons are as applicable to the United States as a whole.” Congratulations to Ray Camosy ’72, ’12MNA who received the Recent Alumni Award recognizing a graduate business alumnus who graduated within the past seven years and has demonstrated commitment to the College of Business or to the Mendoza mission of “Ask More of Business” through service to the community. Ray has made service to nonprofits a lifelong commitment. Camosy served on industry boards, higher education boards and boards for religious institutions. He decided to attend the Master of Nonprofit Administration program at Notre Dame in part to become a better, more qualified board member for these institutions. In 2015, he moved to South Bend simply to be closer to the University he loved. He is now an adjunct professor at Notre Dame, teaching construction management, a subject in which he has great expertise from his time serving as president and CEO of his family’s firm, Camosy Construction. Since moving to South Bend, his board service continues, as Ray is now a member of the board for the Forever Learning Institute. “First of all, I view becoming a recipient of Mendoza’s Recent Alumni Award to be a distinct honor,” Camosy stated. “Secondly though, I have to admit that such an honor as this one carries with it a parallel feeling of humility because of the many remarkable accomplishments of my fellow Notre Dame alumni who are past recipients of these awards.” All MNA alumni are encouraged to submit news for upcoming Class Notes. You may email me directly at the address below. — Betsy Quinn ’12; 2110 Brummel St., Evanston IL 60202; 847-733-0557; betsyquinn@alumni.nd.edu
Political Science Class Secretary — Charlie Kenney;
455 W. Lindsey, Room 205, Norman OK 73019; 405-325-3735; ckenney@ou.edu
Graduate Degrees
Shelley Kendrick ’10MNA has been named president and CEO of Ecumen. She joined Ecumen in 2012 after more than 20 years of experience in senior services as COO and vice president of operations. Ecumen, established in 1862, is one of the country’s largest nonprofit senior housing and service providers. Prior to joining Ecumen, Kendrick led the Minneapolis Veteran’s Home, where she advanced the quality of care for Minnesota veterans in need of housing and healthcare. Previously she managed operations for several health care facilities in Ohio and Minnesota for 15 years. — Marvin J. LaHood ’58MA, ’62PhD English; 93 Parkhaven Drive, Amherst NY 14228; 716-691-4648; mlahood@roadrunner.com