Information

Connect

Education & Travel

Events & Programs

Benefits

Volunteer & Contribute


  GRAPHIC:  AA Logo   GRAPHIC:  Association
LINK:  Home LINK:  FAQ LINK:  Search LINK:  Contact form Alumni Services
     
   
IMAGE:  Award Winners 2003
2004 Alumni Award Winners with President Don Michael Randel

Alumni Awards Winners 2004

The Norman Maclean Faculty Awards
The Young Alumni Service Citations
The Alumni Service Citations
The Public Service Awards

The Professional Achievement Awards
The Alumni Service Medal

>> Back to Alumni Awards


The Norman Maclean Faculty Awards
The Norman Maclean Faculty Awards were given for the first time in 1997. Named for Professor Norman Maclean, PhD'40, who taught English at Chicago for 40 years, the awards recognize emeritus or very senior faculty members who have made outstanding contributions to teaching and to the student experience of life on campus.


PHOTO:  Eugene GoldwasserEugene Goldwasser, SB’43, PhD’50, has provided nearly sixty years of continuous service to the University of Chicago and its students. As a member of the faculty in the Department of Biochemistry, he has taught and mentored many generations of undergraduates, graduate students, medical students, and post-doctoral fellows through his teaching and outstanding research program. Professor Goldwasser is one of the finest biochemists in the world. His research led to effective therapies for patients suffering anemias, especially those due to kidney failure. This has been one of the great therapeutic achievements of the twentieth century, and few other scientists can claim to have touched so many lives through their research.

During his years of groundbreaking research, Professor Goldwasser has carried on his role as mentor and intellectual leader on campus. Former students describe him as a unique combination of brilliant scientist, insightful and clear-thinking researcher, and vitally engaged teacher. He listens to his students and treats them as equals, inspiring them to respect one another and to further science. One former student wrote, “He taught me that laboratory investigation was really working out of love of people and love of scientific and medical inquiry, and not for any other reason.” Professor Goldwasser is known for letting students develop their own ideas and try these ideas in the laboratory, allowing them to gain strength and confidence in their abilities and to learn scientific and technical methods first hand. One former student recalled, “We each had our own distinct project, the literature, our own mind and ingenuity, and as much of Gene’s advice and guidance as was required for optimal productivity. I only fully realized how important and beneficial that training was when I subsequently evolved into an independent investigator.” While stressing independence in the laboratory, Professor Goldwasser developed strong friendships with his students. He treated his Fellows as members of his extended family and invited them to his home for holidays and celebrations. Through his inspiration, patience, and creativity, Professor Goldwasser has mentored generations of academic leaders in research and teaching.

“I have been fortunate in being educated at and by the University of Chicago. My professional career relied on learning and doing science under conditions that encouraged and supported risk taking. An equal component of my education came through teaching undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows. These students taught me by asking hard questions and by not being satisfied with easy answers. In addition, even in retirement I continue to be educated, now by my faculty colleagues in a variety of fields. The University of Chicago must take the responsibility for all this.”

PHOTO:  Takeshi OkaA renowned spectroscopist, Takeshi Oka came to the University in 1981 after a distinguished career at Canada’s Herzberg Institute, the center of spectroscopic studies. The move was motivated by his desire to teach and work with students, and in the years that followed he clearly relished the opportunity to mentor both undergraduates and graduate students. His class lectures showed an ability to distill even the most complicated topics down to their essence, and he was as effective in teaching first-year undergraduates as he was in providing insights to his advanced graduate students. Professor Oka has been a great supporter of women in science. During a period when the attrition rate of women graduate students in chemistry was particularly high, half of his research group was female, as well as many of his postdoctoral students.

In his research laboratory, Professor Oka’s management style was to give students complete freedom to pursue whatever research caught their fancy (he modestly felt it would be presumptuous of him to tell a bright student what to do), but at the same time he provided sage advice and guidance whenever a student asked for it. He enjoyed working with students in the lab, coming in every afternoon to help out with whatever was needed—no matter how menial the task. Although he disliked committee work in general, he made an exception for those committees that would benefit students and served frequently on the admissions committee, the student shop committee, and others related to student life. He urged his students to get regular exercise, and for many years his lab fielded a team in the Physical Science Division’s summer softball league. An avid marathoner, he told one student, “if you can run a mile, you can run a marathon.” The student concluded that he was talking about more than just running. He encouraged his students to become good citizens in their communities—both scientific and social. At his retirement 2003 symposium, nearly all of his former students and postdocs returned to Chicago, many from the other side of the globe, to honor his contributions to their personal and professional lives.

“I came to this University from a Canadian research institution in the middle of my career. I wanted to work enthusiastic students and the wish has been amply fulfilled. I love this University and I am excited to be among brilliant faculty members. Being in the Regenstein, Crear and Eckhart Libraries is heavenly. But what I value most is working with students in the laboratories, observatories, and classrooms. Receiving this Norman MacLean Faculty Award is a great honor and is most gratifying for me since I am nominated by former students and selected by the University Alumni Board of Governors.”

The Young Alumni Service Citations
The Young Alumni Service Citations-awarded for the first time during the 1992 University Centennial-acknowledge outstanding volunteer service to the University by individuals aged 35 and younger.


PHOTO:  Julianne MigelyJulianne Sawyier Migely, AB’91, AM’02, has been a consistent and engaged volunteer for the University ever since her graduation. She has served on the College Dean’s Executive Committee, co-chaired both the fifth and tenth reunions for the Class of 1991, helped lead Chicago’s Young Alumni Task Force, and volunteered with students for the University’s Career and Placement Services.

As co-chair of her ten-year class reunion, Ms. Migely set new standards for both programming and fundraising. Not only did she recruit the largest class committee of the year, but she made sure that each committee member had a well-defined role in contributing to the success of the reunion. She was instrumental in arranging a special class party at Chicago’s trendy Le Passage that turned out to be one of the best attended class events of the weekend, and in fact the Class of 1991 won the prize for highest overall attendance at reunion. Determined to break the tenth-year reunion giving record, Ms. Migely spearheaded a massive committee effort to persuade classmates to join the College Fund Dean’s Circle with contributions of $1,000 or more. She also organized a silent auction during the class dinner. Her efforts paid off in a record-breaking gift of $75,000 with higher participation than ever before. Ms. Migely continued a tradition of success—her class still holds the record for fifth-year reunion gift and participation.

Ms. Migely has maintained her volunteer commitment outside of reunion years, working both to engage young alumni in the life of the University and to help choose students for the University’s growing number of Jeff Metcalf internships. She consistently promotes the University of Chicago in the outside world—both in the business and the philanthropic communities.

“I always welcome returning to the University of Chicago campus because it feels like I am returning home. From my first day on campus, I felt that I was in an environment where I could truly be myself. My experiences fostered in me a continued desire to always challenge myself and to develop an innate love of learning and intellectual curiosity. I was and continue to be deeply influenced by my professors—notably the late Edward Shils. My U. of C. experience will always be an integral part of who I am thanks to my lifelong friendships formed there, long family association with the University, and profound educational experience.”

>> Back to top


The Alumni Service Citations
Created in 1988, the Alumni Service Citations are awarded for outstanding volunteer work on behalf of the University through service in alumni programs, on advisory committees, and through efforts made to ensure the welfare of the institution.


PHOTO:  John  Phelps DaveyOver the years, John Phelps Davey, AB’61, JD’62, has been instrumental in building support and sustaining alumni interest in athletics at the University of Chicago. A lifelong member of the University community (he was born at Lying-in Hospital), Mr. Davey won the Stagg Medal in 1961 for his star performance on the University’s basketball team. Mr. Davey cares deeply about the athletic program and about the students who represent Chicago on the playing field. A Hyde Park resident, he never misses a varsity basketball game and instituted a one-man campaign to encourage alumni attendance. From 1996 to 2003, Mr. Davey served as President of the Graduate Order of the C. During his tenure, he initiated a number of successful new programs that have invigorated the group and benefited the athletics program, including a careers night for student athletes.

Mr. Davey was a driving force behind the establishment of the Athletics Hall of Fame, inaugurated in May 2003 with the opening of the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center. During a three-year effort, he served on the guidelines committee and then chaired the committee that selected the first Hall of Fame inductees. Mr. Davey performed his job as chair with wisdom and grace, shepherding the committee through a long and difficult selection process. He was also central to the fundraising effort in support of the extremely successful Hall of Fame Dinner that drew more than 300 alumni and friends and raised more than double the original goal for the event. Mr. Davey has also remained engaged with his fraternity, Psi Upsilon, has served on the Visiting Committee to the College, and volunteered for his College reunion planning committee.

“Discussion Method Retried—I still find it difficult to respond to my friends’ efforts to commence a Socratic dialogue –
Q: Describe your memories of the University?
A: Having remained in the area, past through present is just a blend.
Q: What is it like to live in the University community?
A: Since I always have – I am unqualified to render a comparative opinion.
Q: How has the undergraduate program changed?
A: It is larger – but so am I.
Q: Do you recall Hutchins’ suggested motto for the University?
A: Was it Huxley’s “Softly singing in the West, I hunker down in Hyde Park”?
Q: Other comments?
A: From a career in the mortgage business, I have enjoyed the conceptual and practical beauty of “compounding interest.” It is a similar consequence that makes it difficult to square one’s account for the continuing benefits of a Chicago education.
Q: Anything else?
A: Yes, please remember to capitalize the “t” in The University.

PHOTO:  Elaine Spiesberger FrankElaine Spiesberger Frank, AB’38, began adding to the cultural life on campus as an undergraduate when, beginning in her first year and for seven years thereafter, she sang in the Rockefeller Chapel Choir. An alumna of the Hutchins College era, she has been constant and generous in her support of the University. She served on the Visiting Committee for the School of Social Service Administration for more than 20 years, and has been an active member of the University’s Women’s Board since 1981.

During the early 1990s, Mrs. Frank was a leading volunteer for the University’s Centennial Campaign. She attended numerous committee meetings to develop and execute strategies for communicating with Hutchins College alumni and engaging them in the University’s goals for the future. She contacted alumni from her era, urging them to support the campaign, and she hosted events on the North Shore. Her committee work culminated in a large and very successful party she held at her home for College graduates of the Hutchins Era to meet with University President Hugo Sonnenschein. Her leadership was instrumental in making the Hutchins Era campaign a great success, and her continuing efforts to contact her peers have helped to expand the network of alumni engaged in support of the College.

Mrs. Frank is the matriarch of a family that has been extremely dedicated to the University as a whole, and especially to the Division of the Biological Sciences. She has hosted numerous gatherings in her home to bring the Biological Sciences Dean together with prospective donors. With her son Jim Frank she funds the Frank Scholars, a program that provides scholarships for students in the University’s MD/PhD program, enabling exceptional students to acquire doctoral training while becoming physicians. For more than four decades, Mrs. Frank has been an energetic, creative, and inspiring volunteer—a vital force for good within the University community.

“Coming from an all-girls school from first grade through high school, I found co-education exciting and stimulating. I had excellent rapport with a number of my professors as well as the group leaders. Most importantly, I was well prepared to enter the business world, having received my B.A. degree from the business school. I worked for many years in my husband’s business, bookkeeping and charting future trends. I also found my college background very helpful in running social service agencies as a volunteer.”

PHOTO:  Leah LehrerLeah Lehrer, PhD’68, is the perfect example of a dedicated volunteer who loves the University and does whatever is in her power to support it. A New York City resident, she has been a leader of the New York alumni club for a quarter century. Ms. Lehrer served as club treasurer for more than two decades and has steered the club in a fiscally sound manner with unrelenting loyalty, service, and good sense. Over the years she has maintained an almost perfect record of attendance at the monthly club meetings. Always meticulous at managing the finances of the club and collecting payments for club events, she prepared financial reports for every meeting and encouraged efficient pricing of events and programs. Moreover, Ms. Lehrer was always a great facilitator at the planning meetings, offering level-headed advice and common-sense thinking in difficult moments. Her commitment to University causes and openness to newcomers influenced other alumni to join and become involved.

Ms. Lehrer often volunteers at club events, welcoming and registering guests. She has even attended the annual Phoenixphest for young alumni because she wanted to be on hand to welcome and assist the newest generation of alumni to the New York area. In addition, she has sponsored and organized many events herself over the years. She especially enjoys organizing dinners at various ethnic restaurants in the city. These special dinners have attracted a different segment of the alumni population in New York—those who do not generally attend the lectures, happy hours, athletic or cultural events most often offered by the club. Her long service to the University and her steadfast commitment to the alumni in the New York City area are remarkable. Ms. Lehrer has helped to make the New York alumni club one of the strongest and most active in the country.

“Near my apartment the U of C had an off-site campus. I enrolled for one course to check it out. The instructor was the Dean of Students in the Human Development Department. At the end of the course, which I thoroughly enjoyed, the Dean suggested we celebrate by going out to dinner – there were 10 of us. I volunteered to cook the dinner at my apartment. It turned out to be a huge success. So much so that the Dean offered me a full scholarship to continue towards a Ph.D. degree, saying that: “someone that is so well organized and accomplished must have something on the ball.” The degree has helped tremendously in my career—which involves understanding people’s needs.”

PHOTO:  Ken LevinKenneth C. Levin, AB’68, MBA’74, has contributed his talent and energy to a variety of different volunteer roles on behalf of the University. In the early years after earning his MBA, he served as a fundraiser and alumni program volunteer for the Graduate School of Business (GSB). He was the GSB’s delegate to the University’s Executive Council (forerunner of the Alumni Board of Governors) and devised strategies for improving College reunion attendance by offering events focused around housing units and cluster reunions. In the early 1990s, Mr. Levin served as president of the Chicago area alumni club (UC2MC), bringing to this role a result-oriented business style that helped the club grow and create a popular array of programs to engage local alumni. He also laid the groundwork for better program planning and financial stability and increased volunteer morale. The University also enjoyed the benefits of Mr. Levin’s planning abilities as a member of both the Visiting Committee to the Social Sciences Division and the Alumni Board of Governors.

Mr. Levin took a leadership role in reunion planning for the College Class of 1968. He chaired the program committee for his twentieth reunion and co-chaired the committees for the thirtieth and the thirty-fifth, which took place during Alumni Weekend. For the most recent reunion, he helped to oversee the planning of a well-attended class dinner, organized a comprehensive committee networking effort, and developed fundraising tactics with the reunion gift chairs. Dedicated to including all his classmates in the celebration, he wrote engaging letters, made phone calls, and did the investigative work needed to locate those for whom the University had no address information. One classmate who had been “lost” for more than twenty years was delighted to be brought back in contact with the College. Mr. Levin’s devotion to the University and its values is exemplified in his continued dedication.

“Even after thirty years, my education at the University of Chicago continues to enrich my life every day. Chicago's world-renowned programs in economics and finance have given me a knowledge base that still influences my professional decisions. At the same time, my education in the College and the Graduate School of Business also has helped me to think critically, communicate effectively, and face new situations with curiosity and confidence. Together with my wife, who is also a Chicago graduate, I maintain a connection with the University through alumni programs, campus cultural events, and continuing education courses. Our niece will receive her degree from the College this quarter, and we encourage other young relatives and family friends to explore the extraordinary education that Chicago makes possible.”


PHOTO:  J. Douglas RichardsJ. Douglas Richards, AB’77, attended the University of Chicago on Stagg, University, and National Merit scholarships and graduated with honors. He made Order of the C in wrestling and football, in addition to serving as social chairman of the rugby club and being one of the famous male cheerleaders for the women’s basketball team. As a student he was also a member of the Maroon Key Society and an officer of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Friends who met him on campus thirty years ago remember him as a source of wisdom and guidance. He has kept in touch with his campus friends and engaged with the University in many areas since graduation. Although his career has based him in New York, Mr. Richards has maintained a constant volunteer presence for Chicago. A stong supporter of student athletes, has made significant contributions himself and also raised funds to build the new Ratner Athletic Center. A successful litigator, he has provided internships for students interested in law through the Metcalf Fellows program, and is a volunteer contact in the Alumni Careers Network.

In 1992 Mr. Richards organized an informal reunion at Lake Tahoe for former residents of Shorey House and other College friends that laid the groundwork for a successful affinity reunion in 2003, which he also helped plan. In 1999, he and his wife Patty AB’76, PhD’81, MD’82, hosted a dinner to honor Nobel Laureate Robert Lucas after he spoke to alumni in New York. Mr. Richards also co-chaired the campaign to raise the class gift for his twenty-fifth reunion in 2002. In these and many other ways, Mr. Richards has been a constant source of positive energy and engagement, drawing his large circle of University friends and acquaintances closer to one another and to the institution.

"The University of Chicago gave me fulfilling outlets for my interest in sports without compromising the more important project of developing my mind. The habits of independent thinking that the College teaches so well helped me to strive for the ideal of a life balanced between the physical and the intellectual, even in a school where many others felt that the latter should overwhelm the former. I am gratified to see the University accommodate current students with a desire for that balance between the physical and the intellectual, by building as beautiful and graceful an athletics facility as the new Ratner Center. I am proud to have rallied some support from alumni for that resource. I do believe that worthwhile lessons can be taught on Chicago's playing fields as well as its classrooms, and am gratified to see the University create more room for that point of view.”

>> Back to top


The Public Service Awards
The Public Service Citations honor those alumni who have fulfilled the obligations of their education through creative citizenship and exemplary leadership in service that has benefited society and reflected credit on the University.


PHOTO:   Walter KahnWalter Kahn, MD’59, has made notable contributions to the field of Ophthalmology. A skilled surgeon with decades of experience in ophthalmic surgery, he still trains to keep abreast of the latest advances and technologies in laser eye surgery. He has performed a variety of surgeries, including the high-tech excimer laser surgery that can painlessly restore vision to those who are nearsighted or astigmatic. He was one of the pioneers of the new LASIK excimer surgery, which he went to China to learn. He teaches Ophthalmology at Hahnemann Medical School in Pennsylvania and has taken leadership roles in the Medical Society of New Jersey and the American Medical Association.

Dr. Kahn’s work is not limited to his private practice. For the past twenty years, he has made regular trips to developing countries to perform operations and share his knowledge and skill as a volunteer for ORBIS International. ORBIS is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to saving sight worldwide through hands-on training for eye care professionals, public health education, and technical assistance to improve access to quality ophthalmic services. Its programs focus on the developing world to make quality eye care, education, and treatment available to every human being. Since its founding in 1982, ORBIS has trained more than 54,400 doctors and restored or preserved the sight of 24,000 people. Dr. Kahn’s first medical mission was in 1984 to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He has continued his important work over the years with the group’s “flying eye hospital” and in the local hospitals in the Philippines, West Africa, Haiti, India, Mongolia, China, Latvia, and Uzbekistan. He has trained well over 1,000 local physicians, leaving behind knowledge and ability to continue the work of saving sight.

“My exposure to innovative teaching, research, and my close ties with a superb faculty and fellow classmates at the University of Chicago have continually steered my career. There is not a day that goes by that I fail to reflect on the best four years of my education at the University, and none of this would have been possible if the University had not helped finance my education at this critical time.”

PHOTO:  Rochelle LeeRochelle Lee, AM’67, is an educator, a storyteller, a librarian, and a prominent non-profit leader. Early in her career as a teacher and librarian in Chicago’s inner-city schools, she discovered that the children she met seldom had books in their lives and were hungry for stories. She determined that reading was the key to every child’s learning, that children learn to read and to enjoy reading by becoming engaged with books, and that children need to be surrounded by books and by teachers who appreciate the power of reading. During the next three decades, she put her beliefs into practice. Her library at Oscar Meyer elementary school became a model for Chicago city schools that was central not only to children’s lives but to parents, teachers, and students from the neighboring DePaul University. Author Studs Terkel, who made her a subject of his book Coming of Age wrote. “At a time when reading itself is under siege, she has made reading very exciting….As school librarian…she abolished all the bureaucratic restrictions and made the place one of welcome and delight.”

When Mrs. Lee retired in 1988, her many colleagues and parents of students established the Rochelle Lee Fund to Make Reading a Part of Children’s Lives (RLF) to carry on her work. RLF seeks to develop readers, children who not only know how to read, but do, in fact, read fluently, frequently, and willingly. The fund does this through intensive teacher training and creating classroom libraries. In 2002-2003 alone, RLF supported 507 teachers in 187 Chicago public schools and reached 13,288 children, purchasing 55,428 books for CPS classrooms. Mrs. Lee once wrote, “I was an A student throughout school, but I first learned how to read for deeper meaning at the University of Chicago.” Her vision, passion, inexhaustible energy, and good works have brought reading into thousands of Chicago’s children’s lives.

“This award is particularly meaningful because our classes for teachers at the Fund incorporate what I learned at the U of C especially in Allan Bloom’s seminars. Our discussions in our Reading for Meaning classes take me back to my U of C days.”

PHOTO:  Marc PollickMarc Pollick, AB’75, studied for his AM in Social Science at the University of Chicago and then continued his education in Boston, completing two additional degrees in Holocaust Studies under the direction of Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. He worked in academic Holocaust Studies for seventeen years, founding a Holocaust Memorial Center in Miami, working on the US Holocaust Museum in Washington and at the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard. He also created the Elie Wiesel Institute for Humanitarian Studies as a vehicle to institutionalize Wiesel's advocacy for human rights around the world.

Working with Wiesel, Mr. Pollick came to appreciate the unique power and opportunity inherent in leveraging celebrity and wealth on behalf of philanthropy. He formulated the idea for an organization that would work with celebrities to use their fame for the common good, and in 1997 he established The Giving Back Fund (GBF) to provide philanthropic management and consulting to professional athletes and entertainers. By concentrating on celebrities, Mr. Pollick sought to diversify the typical donor base to include people of color, women, and young people, groups often underrepresented in traditional philanthropy. Among the Fund’s donors are singers Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake and athletes Elton Brand, Jalen Rose, Magic Johnson, Doug Flutie, and Nancy Kerrigan. Mr. Pollick has enlisted the help of several University of Chicago alumni to serve on the GBF Board. Current programs include CPP, a $268 million project to cure Parkinson's disease within 5 years; TWS, a program which builds bridges between future business leaders in China and the US; and the American Philanthropy Hall of Fame that will annually recognize and acknowledge those who dedicate their lives and resources to helping others. Mr. Pollick’s vision is best expressed by the Winston Churchill quote on his business cards: “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” A dedicated philanthropist, Marc Pollick has used his vision and creativity to enlarge the sphere of philanthropy in the world.

“For me, the University of Chicago was not just a college. It was the impetus for a radical shift in my life's direction. Every assumption I had prior to arriving in Hyde Park was challenged—from what is important in life, to what constitutes an educated person. As an undergraduate, I discovered role models who would become lifelong heroes—in the persons of Jonathan Kozol, Jesse Owens (who tutored me in the long jump!), Rabbi Harold Kushner, and Elie Wiesel. I learned not only how to think, but how to employ that thought process to produce significant actions. I vividly remember coming to college as a freshman knowing that I wanted to change the world but not having a clue where to start. Without a doubt, the relationships I developed at UC and the influences I absorbed have directly equipped and enabled me to fulfill my freshman goal of wanting to make the world a bit better. I was profoundly altered by my UC education—in the classroom, on the athletic field, and in the dorms. The Giving Back Fund is the professional manifestation of that treasured experience.”


PHOTO:  Alfred RosenbloomAlfred A. Rosenbloom, Jr., AM’53, has spent more than 50 years in service to the visually impaired persons. As a founder of Low Vision Rehabilitation Services at the Chicago Lighthouse for People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired, he has had a profound impact on the lives of thousands of children and adults by providing them with the means to lead independent, self-sufficient lives. Those who come to the clinic for rehabilitation have typically exhausted all surgical and medical remedies. Optometrists conduct comprehensive testing to determine which of a variety of new technologies can enhance the patients’ residual vision.

Dr. Rosenbloom has fostered a close relationship between the Chicago Lighthouse and the Illinois College of Optometry, where he served terms as Dean and President. This collaboration has provided the opportunity for hundreds of optometric students to rotate through the Lighthouse Low Vision clinic and learn the latest techniques in caring for the visually impaired. He has been a leader in establishing Low Vision Clinics throughout America and in many foreign countries, a result of Dr. Rosenbloom’s pioneering efforts and tireless advocacy. A distinguished Professor at ICO, he conducts seminars on geriatric vision care. While Dr. Rosenbloom maintains a full schedule serving Low Vision patients at the Chicago Lighthouse, he also travels internationally through the Volunteer Optometrists Serving Humanity to provide medical care in developing world countries. A recipient of numerous leadership and service awards, Dr. Rosenbloom is a contributing author to several texts and is completing, as editor, the third edition of the noteworthy text Vision and Aging.

“I began my professional career as an optometrist. As an optometric educator and clinician, I soon became aware of the complex interrelationship between vision impairment and reading achievement. In 1952 I entered the graduate program in the Department of Education. It was a learning experience without peer! I had the rare opportunity to study with two individuals who represented the highest level of scholarship and research commitment. Dr. William S. Gray, Professor of Education and Dr. Helen M. Robinson, Professor of Education and Director of the Reading Clinic were my mentors and role models. This unique graduate experience has made a significant contribution to the effectiveness of my professional life as a clinician, administrator, and educator in the field of optometry.”

>> Back to top


The Professional Achievement Awards
The Professional Achievement Citations were established in 1967 to recognize alumni who have brought distinction to themselves, credit to the University, and benefit to their communities through their vocational work.


PHOTO:  Marshall HartmanMarshall J. Hartman, AB’54, AB’57, JD’57, has served the indigent and disadvantaged through the Public Defender movement for more than four decades. He has represented clients in juvenile court, misdemeanor cases, felony cases, death penalty cases, and appellate and post-conviction cases in the Appellate and State Supreme Courts and before the United States Supreme Court. He has also held a variety of administrative positions including head of the Lake County Illinois Public Defender Office; head of the Criminal Defense Consortium; and chief operating officer of a not-for-profit firm providing technical and training assistance to the public defender offices nationwide. He has also served as National Director of Defender Services for the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. From 1991 to 2003, Mr. Hartman led the Capital Litigation Division of the Illinois State Appellate Defender. In addition, Mr. Hartman evaluated and provided technical assistance to numerous public defender offices to raise their standards of representation for the poor. Upon his retirement, he was honored by being elected president of the National Equal Justice Library in Washington, DC, which houses the papers, documents, and records reflecting the history of the public defender movement and legal services for the poor in America.

An acknowledged expert on constitutional law and criminal procedure, he has taught at both the University of Illinois’ Criminal Justice Department and the IIT Chicago Kent College of Law. His co-authored Constitutional Criminal Procedure Handbook has benefited both law students and practitioners across the country. Throughout his career, Mr. Hartman has used his vision, training, and gift for leadership to transform the concept of how the public defender should function. His career has touched the lives of thousands of citizens across the country who now have a better chance of receiving equal justice than ever before thanks to his work.

“I entered the University under the Hutchins plan in 1950 and remained there until 1957, earning a BA from the College and a JD from the Law School. The most important thing that I acquired was a skeptical and inquiring attitude toward traditional wisdom. Both at the College and at the Law School the teachers taught us not to accept anything without questioning and debate. This critical approach to knowledge certainly influenced my career. The first criminal case that I helped win in the United States Supreme Court required asking that Court to overrule the Illinois reviewing courts. It never would have occurred to me to challenge the judgment of the Illinois Court system, had I not been trained throughout my university career to examine all hypotheses and to not accept any ‘truth’ without critical research and analysis.”

PHOTO:  Barbara MertzBarbara Mertz, PhB’47, AM’50, PhD’52, the best-selling author of more than 75 books, has brought her millions of readers an awareness and appreciation of how important it is to preserve the past. Under the pen names Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels, she has spread her knowledge of Egyptology (earned at the University’s Oriental Institute) through engaging mystery and suspense novels such as the enormously popular Amelia Peabody series. Archaeologists regard her mysteries with respect, affection, and gratitude for broadening general interest in ancient Egypt, and generations of scholars were initially inspired to study Egyptology through meeting the ancient world in her novels. Her nonfiction books, including Red Land, Black Land and Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs, which have never gone out of print, are a staple of introductory Egyptology courses. (Indeed, the time-traveling archaeologist in the popular film Stargate packs a copy of Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs as a reference for his trip.)

Ms. Mertz was one of the first women in the U.S. to earn a doctorate in Egyptology. Her dissertation on Egyptian queens is still considered to be a ground-breaking study and has been cited in all subsequent works on the subject. Her solid scholarship shines through her novel writing, and she has been said to transcend the genre with meticulous research and depictions of historical characters and events as the backdrop for her fiction. Ms. Mertz has used proceeds from her writing to support vital archaeological and research work throughout Egypt. She has been a major supporter of the Oriental Institute’s Epigraphic Survey for more than a decade. She has served on the Board of Directors of the American Research Center in Egypt and is considered one of the cornerstones of Modern American Egyptology. Of course, she is also recognized as one of the great mystery writers of our time, and in 1998 Mystery Writers of America gave her its highest honor by naming her Grand Master.

“Attending the University of Chicago in the late ’forties and early ’fifties of the past century was, to say the least, an interesting experience. Under Robert Maynard Hutchins the undergraduate programs had taken on a unique form. They were both exhilarating and bewildering, but in the long run I think those of us who survived feel that the experience was a worthwhile challenge. My graduate studies at the Oriental Institute still bring back fond memories.”


PHOTO:  Robert MooreRobert Y. Moore, MD’57, PhD’62, is recognized internationally as a leading neuroscientist and clinician. Best known for his research on the neural basis of circadian rhythms in mammals, he was the first to identify that a distinct cell group at the base of the brain is an internal clock that establishes the daily rhythms in sleep and waking, hormonal activity, and many other bodily functions. His research represents a combination of anatomy, neurochemistry, and physiology that is unique in breadth and integration of multiple scientific disciplines relating to the study of the nervous system. His laboratory has also made important contributions to our understanding of the brain systems involved in Parkinson’s disease, stress, cognitive disorders, and brain plasticity after injury.

Besides his prodigious research accomplishments, Dr. Moore has had major impacts on the institutions he has served. While at the University of Chicago, he established the Section on Pediatric Neurology in the Department of Pediatrics. During his eleven years as chairman of the Department of Neurology at SUNY-Stony Brook he brought that department to national prominence. Since moving to the University of Pittsburgh, he has headed the Center for Neuroscience, the Alzheimer Disease Research Center, the Center for Functional Brain Imaging, a National Parkinson Foundation Center of Excellence, and a Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. He also served a term as chair of the Department of Neurology. Now the Love Family Professor in Neurology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he is credited with fostering the renaissance of the neurosciences at that institution. Reflecting his international reputation, Dr. Moore has served as an advisor to several agencies. He chaired the boards of scientific counselors of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and of the National Institute of Mental Health, is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Sleep Foundation, and has served as chair of the external advisory committee of the University of Chicago’s Brain Research Institute.

“In my time as a student at the U of C, the medical curriculum was so flexible that I could complete all requirements for the M.D. and Ph.D. in five years. I was then encouraged to do residency training in neurology and simultaneously hold a faculty position in anatomy where I was given my own laboratory. With this, I developed a strong research program while completing my clinical training. My residency was prolonged but this background provided credentials sufficient for me to receive tenure only two years after completing the residency, and to continue with a long and productive career.”


PHOTO:  Bradley PattersonBradley H. Patterson, AB’42, AM’43, is one of the nation’s foremost authorities on the organization and functioning of the White House staff. In the immediate aftermath of World War II when the State Department was expanding rapidly, he was a member of Secretary Acheson’s Executive Secretariat. In 1954 he helped design an executive secretariat for the White House and was then invited to join President Eisenhower’s White House staff as the Assistant Cabinet Secretary, a new position in which he served until 1961. Under President Nixon, Mr. Patterson was Executive Assistant to Leonard Garment. In this role he worked to develop and implement a new policy of self determination and strengthening of tribal government for Native Americans and was a central negotiator for peaceful change during the Alcatraz, BIA building occupation, and Wounded Knee crises. In the last of his fourteen years on the White House staff, Mr. Patterson served as an Assistant Director of the Office of Presidential Personnel under President Ford. In a very real sense, much of the structure of the modern White House Staff Secretariat and Cabinet Secretariat offices is Mr. Patterson’s handiwork. He is author of two books about the White House staff, the most recent being The White House Staff: Inside the West Wing and Beyond, published by the Brookings Institution Press in 2001.

Mr. Patterson made contributions in several other public capacities. He was appointed the Executive Secretary of the Peace Corps in 1961, and in late 1962 he transferred to the Treasury Department as one of the national security affairs advisers in the Office of the Secretary. From 1977 through 1988, he was a senior staff member of the Brookings Institution. He was elected National President of the American Society for Public Administration, is a Senior Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and belongs to the American Political Science Association.

“For me, the unique value of my undergraduate, ‘common core’ curriculum and my graduate (Social Thought) studies was the emphasis on the interconnectedness—of the fields of human knowledge and of the arenas of human action. As the Assistant Cabinet Secretary at the White House; attending Cabinet meetings was like being on the University campus: the issues and problems—in academia and at the acme of government—are all interrelated. Politics, economics, national security, law, science, history, and religion are the intertwined components of every question which comes up to the president. Academic life at Chicago and a career in public service in Washington are complementary parts of the same challenging world—the former an ideal preparation for the latter.”


PHOTO:  Norman PhilipsNorman Phillips, SB’47, SM’48, PhD’51, has made major contributions to the prediction of weather and climate using computer-based numerical models. His pioneering studies led to the first computer models of weather and climate, as well as to an understanding of the general circulation of the atmosphere, including the transports of heat and moisture, that determine the Earth’s climate. His leadership fostered the development of effective methods for using observations in data assimilation systems. A theoretical meteorologist, Mr. Phillips was among the first to show that weather prediction with numerical models was feasible, and the numerical predictions that followed transformed weather forecasting from a highly individualistic effort to one in which teams of experts could develop complex computer programs.

Mr. Phillips was first acquainted with weather prediction during World War II, when he was assigned to the Azores as an Army Air Force weather forecaster. While earning his doctorate at Chicago, he developed a two-layer computer model considered to be the first weather model that predicted changes in surface pressure. He expanded on his model and began creating similar models for the global climate. His work created the foundation from which organizations such as the General Circulation Research Section of the US Weather Bureau and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory could be established and begin accurate weather predictions. After joining the faculty at MIT in the 1950s, Mr. Phillips rose to be the head of the meteorology department. He then joined the US Weather Service as a principal scientist in 1974 where he stayed until 1988. In 2003, Mr. Phillips was recognized for his contributions to the field of meteorology by the Franklin Institute when he received the 2003 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Environmental Science.

“The post-WWII period was an unbelievably stimulating time. Students in the Meteorology Department benefited greatly from Professor C.G. Rossby’s efforts to gather visiting scholars from around the world and restore the international exchange of ideas that had been interrupted by the war. As a result the Department played a leading role in converting meteorology into a science. Advances in prediction of weather and climate, and the use of radar and satellites in observing the atmosphere came from work performed at Chicago in those years.”

>> Back to top


The Alumni Service Medal
The Alumni Service Medal was established in 1983 to honor a lifetime of achievement in service to the University.


IMAGE:  Robert and Joan FeitlerIt is a rare privilege for the University when two people share a true lifelong passion to serve their alma mater. Both Robert Feitler, Lab’46, EX’50, and Joan Feitler, AM’55, have demonstrated vision, leadership, and unwavering devotion to the University and the greater Chicago community.

Mr. Feitler began first grade at the University’s Laboratory Schools in 1935 and ultimately left the College in 1948. His involvement in the Lab Schools has included helping to design and build the new Kovler Gymnasium, recruiting prospective students, and serving on the planning committee for his fiftieth high school reunion in 1996, also the Schools’ Centennial. He is an avid proponent of the progressive educational program offered by the Lab Schools for more than 100 years.

Mr. and Mrs. Feitler’s interests extended beyond primary and secondary education and into the arts. In 1974 the couple was instrumental in establishing the Smart Museum of Art, in memory of Mrs. Feitler’s uncles, David and Alfred Smart, the founders of Esquire Magazine. Mr. Feitler continues to serve on the Board of Directors at the Museum and remains very active in its governance. In 1997 the Feitlers endowed the Dana Feitler Smart Museum Directorship in memory of their beloved daughter. Their support of the museum has been critical in its success and phenomenal growth during the past three decades. The Feitlers are also members of the University’s Visiting Committee on the Visual Arts, which Mr. Feitler has chaired.

In 1991, Mr. Feitler joined the University’s Board of Trustees and continues to serve as a Life Trustee. As a member of the Board of Trustees, Mr. Feitler co-chaired the committee that developed the Campus Master Plan in 1998. His particular interests include development, finance, campus life, and alumni relations. Since 1992, Mr. Feitler has also been a Trustee of the University of Chicago Medical Center. His ability to be both direct and diplomatic coupled with his keen intellectual and business acumen make Mr. Feitler an invaluable member of both boards.

Mrs. Feitler received a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Division of the Social Sciences in 1955. Since completing her Master’s program, she has consistently been an ardent supporter of the University. She has served on the Women’s Board Steering Committee since 1993 and in 2000 was elected Chair of the Women’s Board. During her tenure, the Board has raised a record-breaking $1.25 million to support projects benefiting student life, faculty research and teaching, and outreach programs to the Hyde Park community. Mrs. Feitler has also served on the Court Theater Board and the Social Sciences Visiting Committee. Her contagious enthusiasm and excellent communication skills have improved the effectiveness of these committees.

Besides their family, the Feitlers consider the University of Chicago to be one of their most important commitments, and they are eager to share their enthusiasm and excitement with everyone they meet. They are always willing to open their home to University groups and they attend countless campus events. A great university is dependent upon the works and commitment of its trustees, faculty, and alumni. The University of Chicago has benefited in profound ways from the Feitlers’ leadership and support.

Joan Feitler:
“Returning to my home city of Chicago after graduating from college, I was accepted in the master’s degree program in Sociology at the University of Chicago. Sociology was then and is now rated number one in the country. I wrote my master’s thesis on the status of the woman lawyer in Chicago in 1954. This experience was rewarding beyond description.

My University connection led to a fascinating job at a company called Social Research Inc. which was made up of University of Chicago graduates doing a very specialized type of market research. Fast forward to the mid-‘90s. I told this story when introducing myself at the Social Science Visiting Committee. Several years later Noel Salinger discovered a Ph.D. student in Sociology who wrote his thesis about Social Research Inc. This resulted in a reunion of this wonderful group, who gathered from Paris, Cambridge, and New York fifty years later for a two-day meeting on our campus.”

Robert Feitler:
“The University of Chicago experience has had a profound impact on my life from childhood through today as I enjoy my 70s. Critical thinking and analytical skills developed at the Lab School prepared me to enjoy both business school and law school as well as to participate in the dramatic and visual arts in the communities in which I live. In addition, the University’s remarkable architecture sparked my lifelong interest in landscape photography and architecture. Lastly, when Joan and I returned to Chicago after forty years, our interests have centered around the University. I have been truly enriched by the experiences late in life and by feeling that the people we meet through the University are interesting and inspiring.”

>> Back to top