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Alumni Awards Winners 2003 The Norman Maclean Faculty
Awards The Norman
Maclean Faculty Awards 
Saunders MacLane, AM’31, the Max Mason Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics, has been an active mathematician and teacher for more than six decades — all but the first spent at the University of Chicago. His work played a major role in several areas of mathematical research and his textbooks on abstract algebra, homological algebra, and categorical theory have influenced a host of graduate and undergraduate students, both at Chicago and worldwide. He co-authored A Survey of Modern Algebra, the textbook that made it possible to teach undergraduate courses on abstract algebra. He undertook seminal work in algebraic topology and is considered to be a founder of both homological algebra and categorical theory. In addition to his mathematical research, Professor MacLane was a leader of several professional organizations and also chaired the University’s Department of Mathematics. In retirement he continued to help organize, attend, and present at mathematical conferences until just a few years ago, when he became too frail to travel from his home in California. Amid his demanding research and professional duties, Professor MacLane always had time for students. Former students recall the joy he took in teaching. Wrote one, “…it was evident that he would become thrilled as he saw a student begin to understand a difficult concept.” Another wrote, “MacLane was unsurpassed in his ability to engage the student in dialogue about the concepts under discussion. He did not teach mathematics so much as lead the process of discovering it. He especially impressed upon the student the beauty, elegance, and profundity of the subject. MacLane brought to the modern student the legacy of his own rigorous and deep classical training and helped make the student part of the continuum of centuries of mathematical progress.” He was an inspiring mentor and advisor and was unusually supportive of women students at a time when this was not the norm. He was also known for his delightful sense of humor and his openness to unconventional, exotic, or challenging ideas. One of his former doctoral students echoes the sentiments of all who wrote on his behalf, “To this day, I view my association with him as the highlight of my education and academic career and consider it a great privilege to have been his student.”
 Herman
L. Sinaiko, AB’47, PhD’61, is Professor in the Division
of the Humanities and the College and former chair of the Committee
on General Studies in the Humanities. He has taught at the University
of Chicago for 49 years, winning both the Quantrell Award for Excellence
in Undergraduate Teaching and the Amoco Foundation Award for Distinguished
Contributions to Undergraduate Teaching. He has published essays on
his teaching methods and written two books, Love, Knowledge, and
Discourse in Plato: Dialogue and Dialectic in the Phaedrus, Republic,
and Parmenides, and Reclaiming the Canon: Essays on History,
Philosophy, and Poetry, as well as numerous articles on themes
both classical and modern. From 1982-86 he served as Dean of Students
in the College.
Professor Sinaiko’s students, from graduates of past decades to those of the past year, all extol his ability to kindle the excitement of close reading and inspire them to believe in their intellectual capacities. One former student, now a professor in New York, wrote: “He was a master at encouraging us to believe that our insights were valid, not just for the moment but as elements in a deeper search for meaning. He drew us all into the discussion, he emboldened us to aspire for the best thinking we were capable of. I see him now in the corner of my eye as I stand before my students.” Another professor wrote, “Herman Sinaiko inspired me, and many others, to engage with texts as living things, in the Socratic tradition that his teaching style so well reflected.” Outside the classroom, Professor Sinaiko continued his pedagogical mission. “As both an advisor and professor, he was always available to counsel me and my peers about the trials and tribulations of being a U of C student in the 60s as well as about intellectual matters,” recalled a former student, “During turbulent times… he stood as a person of great integrity, both principled and compassionate, and neither arrogant nor patronizing.” He was instrumental to the growth of University Theater and recently helped bring the Festival of the Arts (FOTA) back to campus. Moreover, Professor Sinaiko continues his relationship with Chicago students long after they leave campus. He is one of the most popular faculty lecturers to alumni groups across the country and serves gladly as a reunion speaker year after year. The Young
Alumni Service Citations
Dereje (Reggie)
Ambatchew, AB’88, during his campus years was a loyal and
supportive participant in all of the activities planned by his broad
circle of friends and classmates. After graduation and moving to New
York, he became involved in the NYC alumni club. Although he began as
a regular participant it was not long before he moved into the role
of planning summer events for alumni. In the mid-1990s he organized
Chicago’s first NYC Alumni Softball Team, managed to obtain a
permit to play in Central Park — quite a coup — and organized
games against alumni from Brown, University of Michigan, Washington
University, Duke, and University of Virginia. His next innovation was
to organize alumni gatherings in conjunction with the annual Maroon
men’s and women’s basketball games against New York University.
This has grown into a happy tradition drawing alumni and their families
to cheer Chicago’s student athletes and enjoy pizza and a U of
C raffle between games. Tracy Yuen, the current club president, describes Mr. Ambatchew as a true missionary for the University and its NYC club who “unites alumni from different ages, professional backgrounds, ethnicities, and interests.”
Joan S. Friedman, AM’91, came to the University to earn an advanced degree in English Language and Literature. Her time on campus developed in her a deep commitment to the institution and to serving its alumni. For more than a decade she has taken a leadership role in two alumni clubs and has helped build bridges between the University and its California-based alumni. After earning her master’s, Ms. Friedman moved to San Diego where she served as president of the local alumni club for four years, bringing enthusiasm, energy, and fresh ideas that invigorated the group and its programming. During her years in San Diego, she also volunteered to interview prospective students as a member of the Alumni Schools Committee. When she relocated to the San Francisco area to work for the Stanford Alumni Association, Ms. Friedman joined the board of the Bay Area alumni club. She is currently co-chair for programming, planning educational, cultural, social, and service activities, and she acts as a volunteer greeter at events. One supporter commented, “She is always out front, always greeting people and introducing them to one another. She attends almost every alumni event in the San Francisco area and is always among the first to step forward to take responsibility and get things done.” In addition, Ms. Friedman is the designated contact for alumni new to the area, helping them get connected to the alumni network. Ms. Friedman brings her professional experience and understanding of alumni perspectives to the task of analyzing the success of club events. She also shares her insights and expertise with other alumni and students as a volunteer contact for the online Alumni Careers Network. The Alumni
Service Citations
Thomas C. Berg, AB’72, is an energetic and influential supporter of the University who has provided volunteer leadership for more than a decade. He chaired the class gift committee for his twentieth reunion in 1992 and last year chaired the planning committee for the class of 1992’s twenty-fifth reunion. As one of the founding members of the Class Agent program in the early 1990s, Mr. Berg served diligently to promote giving among his classmates. In recent years he has also participated through Career and Placement Services in the annual student interviews for Metcalf Internships, an important alumni service to students in the College. In the mid-1990s Mr. Berg became actively involved with the University of Chicago Club of Metropolitan Chicago (UC2MC), joining the club board in 1997. He served as club vice president from 1999 to 2000 and was elected president for a three-year term in 2000. Under his leadership UC2MC has undergone numerous positive changes. He was instrumental in fostering an expanded volunteer program so that alumni can maintain a connection to the University through service, and he helped to streamline operations, making the board a far more efficient and productive body. Most impressive was his leadership in efforts to broaden the club’s services by eliminating membership dues. His positive attitude and strong leadership helped the club to make a critical change from a group with fewer than 2,000 members to an inclusive organization now committed to serving the more than 30,000 alumni in the Chicago area. The University is a family affair with Mr. Berg, his wife Melanie (also a graduate of the College), and their son Michael, who earned his AB in 2002. In the past two years, the Bergs have opened their home for summer send off parties for new and returning Chicago students.
Ms. Fultz Hollis recognized the crucial role that alumni from different age groups play within the University community. By identifying, engaging, and mentoring alumni volunteers from a variety of age and interest groups she has increased the pool of potential club leaders and created a vital and active board to carry on building the Los Angeles alumni group. Robert Kreiser, AM’65, PhD’71, has made significant and lasting contributions to the University of Chicago Club of Washington, DC, and is currently the club member who has provided the longest continuous significant service to the club. Mr. Kreiser was club treasurer for ten years during the 1980s and early 1990s, performing the various detail-oriented tasks of this largely invisible role with dedicated attention and accuracy. His most significant volunteer contributions have been as member and chair of the club’s Professional Achievement Award committee. The Washington, DC alumni club is the only University of Chicago alumni group in the nation that bestows an annual award for professional excellence on local alumni. For the past fifteen years, Mr. Kreiser has been central to the selection of the recipient and presentation of the award, and he has chaired the committee for the past nine years. He has taken responsibility for researching potential candidates and building extensive files on their accomplishments. He also hosts the selection meetings each year and makes the formal awards presentation. During the past year, the awards committee faced a crisis when through a series of misunderstandings the annual awards dinner was not scheduled. Mr. Kreiser was both tireless and creative in working to find another occasion during which to present the award, and his tactful intervention allowed the awards program to regain its place among club events. Other club members believe the award and Mr. Kreiser’s work raise the respect and admiration for the professional excellence that Chicago produces and also build a sense of pride among DC alumni. One club member wrote, “in running the Professional Achievement Award program over such a long period of time, Bob has done more for Chicago community-building in metropolitan Washington than anyone else.”
Katrina Lofgren Vidal, AB’78, and Eduardo R. Vidal, AB’78, JD’81, are unique as volunteers because of the depth, breadth, and uninterrupted tenure of their service to the University. They are willing and able leaders, reliable foot soldiers, trusted advisors for the College Dean and staff, and generous and loyal donors of their time and resources. Their service has brought support to the institution, new students to the College, and drawn alumni closer to the University and to one another. Soon after graduating from the College, the couple became active in the University of Chicago Club of Metropolitan Chicago (UC2MC); they volunteered for the Presidents’ Fund; and Ms. Vidal served as a member of the Alumni Cabinet. They were on the Class Gift committee for their tenth reunion and chaired the fundraising efforts for their twentieth reunion, which broke all records for both gift total and percent of class participation. This year they have chaired the Class Gift committee for their twenty-fifth class reunion. The Vidals have served on the Visiting Committee to the College, advising the Dean on matters of importance to students. As part of the Alumni Schools Committee for Westchester, NY, which Ms. Vidal has chaired for many years, they have interviewed at least two hundred prospective students. They have also been active in giving career advice to alumni and students. Mr. Vidal spoke at an internship event for students in New York last year, and he regularly recruits for his firm at the University’s Law School. Each year they help organize the summer send off party for new and returning students, and they were members of the committee that helped launch the Chicago Initiative campaign in New York last year. A fellow volunteer wrote, “Ed and Katrina always create excitement about the University and continue to inspire academic curiosity among the individuals around them. They are truly outstanding ambassadors for the College in their community.” The Public
Service Awards
Esther Nieves-Garibay, AM’87, has used her training and expertise in service to the Latino community and in forwarding immigrant rights. As Executive Director of Erie Neighborhood House she has been in the forefront of efforts to improve the lives of low-income families, especially those who reside in the West Town and Humboldt Park communities. Under her leadership, Erie House expanded its programs in citizenship and education for immigrants, day care and after-school care for children of working parents, and academic mentoring for high school students. In addition she worked closely with Erie House’s program directors to expand the agency’s computer literacy and technology resources. Erie House developed a model program that prepares women to become licensed daycare providers and teaches them how to use technology resources to manage their businesses effectively. She has reached out to political powers on behalf of the entire Latino community, establishing excellent working relationships with local and national government. Time and again she is the voice of the powerless, advocating on behalf of the needs and concerns of Latinos and Chicago’s growing immigrant population. In 1997, Ms. Nieves-Garibay was one of thirty-eight individuals nationwide selected by the Kellogg Foundation for its National Leadership Program. She used her three-year grant to focus on the development of conflict resolution skills and competencies of emerging women leaders in promoting peace and reconciliation. Through the fellowship, she was able to travel in the U.S. and abroad. She was also a delegate to the United Nations’ Fourth Women’s Conference in Beijing, China. In recognition of her community service and advocacy, Ms. Nieves-Garibay has received various awards for her community service including the City of Chicago Department of Human Services 1997 Hispanic Award for Distinguished Service.
Hedy M. Ratner, AM’74, is a visionary, an advocate, a motivator, and a catalyst for change indefatigable in her efforts to achieve a better society. She is co-founder and co-president of the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), the largest, oldest, and most comprehensive women’s business assistance center in the U.S. An activist for women’s issues for more than thirty years, Ms. Ratner is recognized as a national leader on those issues that empower women and as a respected advocate for minority and women’s entrepreneurship. Ms. Ratner has long been involved in spearheading initiatives to enhance women’s economic power, developing relations with leaders in media, government, and the private sector that have led to substantive reforms and initiatives to foster women and minority business growth and success. She has served on advisory councils for U.S. presidents, Illinois governors, and the mayor of Chicago. WBDC provides counseling and entrepreneurial training along with financial, certification, and procurement assistance for women entrepreneurs and advocacy for women’s economic empowerment. Established in Chicago in 1986, WBDC has served more than 35,000 women and helped develop fourteen women’s business centers in six states. Since the founding of WBDC, women-owned businesses have grown in number from only eight percent of all small businesses to more than forty percent of small businesses in the U.S. One admirer wrote: “Countless women’s lives have been changed because of Hedy’s vision and her work to create a powerful economic revolution wherein women reach their dream of prospering through business ownership.” Ms. Ratner expects to continue her fight for women’s economic and employment equity, access to health care, reproductive rights, and equal educational and economic opportunities.
 William
F. Schulz, AM’74, is the Executive Director of Amnesty
International USA,an organization with approximately 320,000 members
and a staff of more than 150. He travels the world, meeting with those
whose rights have been violated, encouraging activists, challenging
government leaders to understand the importance of human rights, and
bringing international pressure to bear on those who consistently violate
them. In 2002 a writer for The New York Review of Books stated,
“William Schulz has done more than anyone in the American human
rights movement to make human rights issues known in the United States.”
In addition to his political work, Dr. Schulz is an eloquent speaker and a gifted writer whose essays appear regularly in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Christian Science Monitor, and The Nation. In 2001 he published In Our Own Best Interests: How Defending Human Rights Benefits Us All, and he is currently writing a book about human rights and terrorism. From his early career as a minister and then President of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations to his leadership of Amnesty International, Dr. Schulz has championed efforts to abolish the death penalty and led programs to support women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, and racial and ethnic justice. Amnesty International has worked for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, has supported passage of the Human Rights Information Act, has led campaigns to free political prisoners throughout the world, and is working to protect the rights of those detained after September 11. At the conclusion of his book In Our Own Best Interests Mr. Schulz states the conviction that has shaped his work: “if we would live in the world with honor, we must not let misery go unmet.” The Professional
Achievement Awards
During the years since graduation, Mr. Auburn has maintained contact with the students at Chicago. He has been an encouraging mentor, coming back to visit University Theater and Off-Off Campus groups, participating several times in Taking the Next Step (a career conference for third year students), and offering advice to students interested in writing and the arts.
As Research Curator and Curator of Primates at Brookfield Zoo from 1970 to 1982, Mr. Beck was a principal in the design and construction of “Tropic World,” one of the first large-scale mixed species tropical forest exhibits. As General Curator and Associate Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoological Park since 1983, he has designed the innovative free-ranging golden lion tamarin exhibit, and was project executive for “Think Tank,” a pioneering exhibit on animal thinking that opened in 1995. Mr. Beck helped to negotiate the loan of a pair of giant pandas from China to the National Zoo in 2000, and coordinated the Zoo’s giant panda research and training program from 2000 to 2002. This year, he was appointed Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Biology, University of Maryland. He currently chairs the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Reintroduction Advisory Group and advises the management groups of the Gorilla and Orangutan Species Survival Plans, the Great Ape Taxon Advisory Group, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Dr. Beutler is the author of ten books, including the premier textbook of hematology, and more than 800 scientific articles. He was the founder of the first journal that was both Web- and print-based. His early interest in computer programming and technology led him to write the program “Reference Manager,” bibliographic software that is now widely used in the scientific community. He has received many honors, including election as president of the American Society of Hematology and membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Association of American Physicians.
In 1966, Professor Bowman joined forces with child psychologist Maria Piers, social worker Lorraine Wallach, and philanthropist and business leader Irving B. Harris to establish the Erikson Institute, now a preeminent institution for the study of early childhood development. She taught at the Institute from its founding, and she served as its president from 1994 to 2002. Close to a thousand students have earned graduate degrees from Erikson Institute, and they have become leaders in the care and education of young children across the nation.
Mr. Mansueto’s sense of mission and his entrepreneurial nature have been nurtured by his University of Chicago ties. He believes firmly that if one hires people with a solid liberal arts background one can teach them the finance. Virtually all of Morningstar’s senior managers have been promoted from within, and many of them are University of Chicago alumni. He has put the somewhat theoretical vision of how a Chicago education will benefit a person throughout life to a very practical application. Mr. Mansueto’s company may be the best example of the value of a liberal education in the business world.
In addition, Dr. Sarnat and his wife Rhoda are world-class philanthropists, having endowed chairs in craniofacial biology at both the University of Chicago and UCLA, as well as several lectureships. He has been a member of many scientific and professional organizations, serving as president of several, and has lectured extensively in America and abroad. His honors include a Pioneer in Medicine Award, the International Alpha Omega Award, and both the Distinguished Service Alumni Award and the Dallas B. Phemister Professional Achievement Award from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Colleagues admire his erudition and integrity.
After a brief time teaching at Oberlin College and Pomona College, Professor Slive joined the Harvard University faculty in 1954. One former student recalls his work as combining, “the deepest and most meticulous refinements of scholarship with a rare ability to communicate… the excitement and enduring human significance of art.” Beginning in 1974, he also assumed the directorship of Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum, and his leadership provided the impetus that built the Sackler Museum at Harvard. Professor Slive also cares deeply about the value of the arts for non-university audiences. Since retiring from teaching at Harvard, he continues to be engaged in critical debates about the relationship of the museum to the general public. The Alumni
Medal
In 1980, Dr. Atkinson became the fifth chancellor of the University of California at San Diego. During his fifteen-year tenure the university doubled in size, gained record research funding, and improved its standing as one of the nation's premier research universities. Dr. Atkinson took office as the seventeenth president of the University of California on October 1, 1995. California Governor Gray Davis wrote that Dr. Atkinson has “continued to build his record of success as President of the University of California. He has played an instrumental role in implementing reforms and developing exciting new programs and initiatives.” Governor Davis also remarked on Dr. Atkinson’s interest in serving California’s diverse populations and insuring that all students have the opportunity to attend college. One of his greatest accomplishments has been the reform of standardized testing in college admissions. In 2001, he sparked a nationwide debate when he called for the use of a test that assessed students learning in specific academic subjects rather than ill-defined notions of aptitude. As a result, the College Board, sponsor of the SAT, announced that it would revise the 76-year old test in fundamental ways by tying it to the college prep curriculum and by adding a written essay and a more rigorous mathematics section. The
Alumni Service Medal
In the following years, despite his busy schedule as one of Chicago’s top estate lawyers at Gardner, Carton, & Douglas, Mr. McClure took on a variety of volunteer responsibilities. He served as president of the village of Oak Park, president of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, and chair of the board of McCormick Theological Seminary. He is also a member of the American Law Institute, the Leadership Council on Metropolitan Open Communities and the Metropolitan Planning Council, and he is a long-time board member and supporter of Erie Neighborhood House. Mr. McClure’s volunteer activities on behalf of the community won him two Public Service Citations from the Alumni Association. Mr. McClure was appointed to the Development Council for the Law School in 1974 and has worked to raise support of the institution for the past five decades. In addition to his service as a major gifts volunteer, Mr. McClure has been a key volunteer in reunion planning, both for the College and the Law School. In recent years, he served on the committee for his fiftieth College class reunion and subsequently served as vice-chair for his fifty-fifth class reunion. In 2001 Mr. McClure was a key leader, along with his friend David Green, in raising the class gift for the Alumni Emeriti group — a record $2.6 million. He has also been active in the successful effort to raise money for construction of the Ratner Athletics Center. Friends and fellow volunteers attest to his competence and determination and the respect he has earned from the community.
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Kate
Fultz Hollis, Lab’78, AB’82
David
Auburn, AB’91
Benjamin
B. Beck, PhD’67
Ernest
Beutler, PhB’46, SB’48, MD’50
Barbara
T. Bowman, AM’52
Joe
Mansueto, AB’78, MBA’80
Bernard
G. Sarnat, SB’33, MD’37
Seymour
Slive, AB’43, PhD’52
