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2006 Alumni Award Winners with |
Alumni Awards Winners 2006
The Alumni Medal
The Alumni Service Medal
The Norman Maclean Faculty Awards
The Young Alumni Service Citations
The Alumni Service Citations
The Public Service Citations
The Professional Achievement Citations
The
Alumni Medal
Created in 1941, the Alumni Medal is awarded to recognize
achievement of an exceptional nature in any field, vocational or voluntary,
covering an entire career. It is the highest honor the Alumni Association
can bestow. Because the value of the medal is defined by its recipients,
it has been given sparingly. The medal is awarded to no more than one
person each year and need not be awarded on an annual basis.
JAMES
Q. WILSON
James Q. Wilson, AM’57, PhD’59, is and has been for several
decades one of the most influential political scientists in the nation.
His scholarship has illuminated a range of topics, from crime and crime
prevention to marriage and childrearing, from poverty and welfare policy
to bureaucracy and leadership, from civil rights and civil liberties
to the education of character and the foundations of human morality.
In his successive positions as Harvard professor, director of the Harvard-MIT
Joint Center for Urban Studies, University of California-Los Angeles
professor, and now as Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University,
Mr. Wilson has maintained his intellectual connection to the University
of Chicago where his academic training and first important research
took place.
Mr. Wilson has written books and monographs that stimulated rethinking of basic assumptions, both in the academic community and by the informed public. His insightful books on practical policy issues include Political Organizations, Thinking about Crime, and Varieties of Police Behavior. Widely known for his “broken windows” theory of crime (neglect, public disorder, and police acceptance of low-level crime creates a cycle of deterioration that may lead to higher crime rates), Mr. Wilson’s work has influenced public policy regarding police administration and crime prevention. More recently, he has turned his attention to pressing ethical and moral issues of current political thinking with books that include On Character, The Marriage Problem: How Our Culture Has Weakened Families, Moral Judgment, and The Moral Sense. He has also written and published multiple editions of American Government, a leading text in the field.
As a policy analyst and government advisor, Mr. Wilson has served on a number of national commissions. He is chairman of the Board of Academic Advisors of the American Electric System and was a director of State Farm Mutual Insurance Company, Protection One, and the RAND Corporation. At the time of his appointment at Pepperdine, Mr. Wilson was the president of the American Political Science Association, which has honored him with three awards: the James Madison Award for a career of distinguished scholarship and lifetime achievement award, the Charles Merriam Award for work on public policy, and the John Gaus Award for exemplary scholarship in the fields of public administration. He has received honorary degrees from six universities and the 2003 Presidential Medal of Freedom, this nation’s highest civilian award.
“My graduate years at the University of Chicago were a transforming experience. I enrolled in 1956, seeking a PhD so that I could teach political science at some small college where I would repeat what I learned from my professors. I thought that was what professors did: skillfully recite their learning.
Then I met real scholars: Edward C. Banfield, Leo Strauss, Hans Morgenthau. What they did was not recite, but study; not repeat, but learn; not echo, but explore.
These men, and this university, taught me what it meant to be a scholar. I hope I have not disappointed it, and them.”
The
Alumni Service Medal
The Alumni Service Medal was established in 1983 to honor a lifetime
of achievement in service to the University.
WAI-KEUNG
CHENG
Wai-Keung Cheng, MBA’73, Chairman of the Board and Managing
Director of Wing Tai Holdings Limited, has been an untiring champion
of Chicago’s intellectual ideals and standards in Singapore
and across East Asia. A businessman who built a multi-million dollar
conglomerate of property, builders, and lifestyle companies, Mr. Cheng’s
entrepreneurial resolve and determination to benefit his community
embody the strength and values of a Chicago education. He is a well-known
and respected figure throughout Southeast Asia, not only in the business
community but in civic and government circles as well. After receiving
his MBA from the University, Mr. Cheng joined Wing Tai, the garment
manufactory founded by his father. In 1978, under his leadership,
Wing Tai expanded into a business whose presence spans southern Asia
and extends to Madagascar and the United Kingdom. Mr. Cheng is Chairman
of the international commercial property management company Raffles
Holdings Limited and Neptune Orient Lines Limited, the world’s
seventh-largest container shipping and logistics company, and he is
a director of several private and public companies. For his service
on several Singapore government committees and boards he has been
awarded two Public Service Stars. He was reappointed Justice of The
Peace by the President of the Republic of Singapore in the year 2005.
The University’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) owes its Singapore campus in large part to Mr. Cheng’s tireless efforts and generous support. In addition to committing his company’s landmark property, the House of Tan Yeok Nee, as the site for the new facility, he personally introduced the deans of the GSB to Singaporean government leaders whose involvement was critical. His company completed the refurbishments to this property that were required to make it into a state-of-the-art educational facility. Following the opening in 2000 of the Singapore campus, Mr. Cheng has continued to promote and support its programs and profile and, by extension, to enhance the global reputation of the University of Chicago.
In the words of GSB Dean Edward Snyder, “Wai-Keung Cheng is a dedicated advocate of the intellectual rigor and global expansion of Chicago GSB and continues to tirelessly support the interests of the University within all levels of government and business communities in Singapore. His accomplishments and contributions, both corporate and civic, faithfully denote the University of Chicago philosophies of excellence and service.”
“What I’ve learnt about the quantitative approach in business analysis during my time at University of Chicago Graduate School of Business has had a profound influence in my working life. Even though there was no opportunity to apply the mathematical model after graduation, the underlying theories have helped me to successfully steer my business ventures in the last 30 years.
I still vividly remember the first finance course I attended, which was conducted by Professor Eugene F. Fama. His teachings left a lasting impression on me and subsequent knowledge gained from his book The Theory of Finance, particularly the Expected Value, Utility Curve Theory and The Random Walk model has been the guiding principal behind every business decision that I’ve made in my career.
Even though I had my undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the U.S., it was the time spent at GSB that has benefited me the most. It shaped the fundamentals of how I’ve arrived at critical business decisions and provided me with a firm foundation for my role in the global business community.”
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 the University 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.
BERTRAM
COHLER
Bertram Cohler, AB’61, LAB’57, is the William Rainey Harper
Professor in the Social Sciences Division and Professor in the Divinity
School and in the Departments of Comparative Human Development, Psychology,
and Psychiatry. Twice he has been awarded the Quantrell Prize for
Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, powerful testimony to a gift
for teaching that is matched by his dedication to students. In the
words of a former student, “he creates not just intelligent,
independent minds, but an army of alumni who want the world to be
a better place and are active with their convictions.”
Professor Cohler’s teaching exemplifies the interdisciplinary tradition that distinguishes the University. He has been singularly committed to the Core curriculum, teaching the Social Sciences sequence Self, Culture, and Society for thirty-five years. His research examines lives over time and within their social contexts from multiple perspectives including psychology, anthropology, sociology, biological sciences, economics, and social work. His work has illuminated facets of human development from childhood through adolescence, adulthood and aging, and has shed light on the topics of homosexuality, families, parenthood, social rehabilitation of chronically mentally ill people, late-life-onset schizophrenia, and late-life chronic mental illness. Professor Cohler is a licensed clinical psychologist and a grate psychoanalyst and member of several professional organizations, including the American Psychoanalytic Association, American Sociological Association, and National Council on Family Relations.
Professor Cohler is also a dedicated alumnus of the University who served on his third Reunion Committee this year and has long been active in planning alumni weekends, College Dean’s Circle dinners, and parties for Young University of Chicago Chicagoans. Inside the classroom and out, his passion for the University has proved infectious. As one former student wrote, “Professor Cohler is a treasure of the University of Chicago.”
“My commitment to teaching was shaped by my undergraduate experience with faculty who shared with us their own enjoyment of learning. General education courses offered carefully considered readings providing new ways of understanding controversies in the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences. Remembering the pleasure of sharing ideas with our instructors over coffee in the C-Shop, I consider these informal meetings with students an important aspect of my teaching. I have often been asked how I have been able to teach the same year-long course (Self, Culture and Society, I, II, III) for more than three decades. My response is that it is never the same course. Each year students bring new ideas to our discussions and help me to see texts in new ways which contributes to my own scholarly work.”
JANET
ROWLEY
Janet Rowley, LAB’42, PHB’45, SB’46, MD’48,
the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Molecular
Genetics and Cell Biology at the University’s Medical Center,
is a pioneering researcher whose discoveries of recurring chromosomal
translocations in leukemia cells transformed research on cancer and
cytogenetics, established the field of molecular oncology, and had
a major impact on patient treatment. Dr. Rowley’s work provided
the first clear evidence that cancer is a genetic disease and paved
the way for newly effective treatments and diagnostic methods. In
1998, President Clinton presented Dr. Rowley with the National Medal
of Science, the nation’s highest scientific honor, citing the
critical importance of her research as well as her application of
basic discoveries to clinical practice and her leadership in the oncology
and biomedical communities. The same year, she was awarded the Albert
Lasker Clinical Research Award, the most prestigious American award
for medical research.
Dr. Rowley has more than 450 publications, has lectured around the globe, holds honorary degrees from institutions including Oxford, UCLA, and Dartmouth, and sits on several advisory boards including the President’s Council on Bioethics. In the midst of an active research career, Dr. Rowley is a patient and devoted mentor. At a time when the School of Medicine had a “quota” of only three women, Dr. Rowley was breaking down barriers to the bench and bedside for female doctors. Since then she has become an advocate for women in science and medicine at the University and nationally. Her laboratory employs postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduates, and even high school students. She is known for treating them all equally and for her kindness, wisdom, and energy in teaching and guiding young scientists. She is also a dedicated alumna of the University, now celebrating her 60th College Reunion, who has contributed her time as a BSD Alumni Council member, College Reunion volunteer, and co-chair of the Hospitals 75th Anniversary Symposium.
About Dr. Rowley’s groundbreaking impact on scientific knowledge, a colleague writes, “Her remarkable ability to discover and rapidly implement new technologies has made it possible to describe and identify many genetic changes that cause human cancer … Her discovery of recurring chromosome translocations was a landmark event that caused a major shift in the paradigms relating to cancer biology in the 1970s.”
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.
MICHAEL DODGE
Michael Dodge, AB’93, has brought great enthusiasm and energy to
the many leadership roles he has assumed on behalf of the University over
the past decade. As co-chair of his 10th reunion gift committee, Mr. Dodge
helped raise a record-breaking 10th year gift while displaying a warmth
of spirit that brought out the best in his fellow volunteers.
As chairperson of the Bay Area Leadership Committee, Mr. Dodge used his infectious passion for Chicago to recruit new volunteers, many of whom had not been involved with the University since graduation. As a member of the Alumni Schools Committee, he has spoken eloquently to students and their parents about the transformative power of a Chicago education, and has thereby helped recruit dozens of Bay Area students to the College. Mr. Dodge is also a volunteer for Career Advising and Planning Services and has eagerly shared his professional experience in the financial industry with Chicago students and recent graduates. In all these roles, he has been and inspiring and effective liaison between volunteer leaders and officers of the University, someone always willing to pitch in as needed.
Mr. Dodge recently moved to Los Angeles and quickly offered his time and talents to the Los Angeles Regional Annual Giving Committee. While alumni in the Bay Area regret his loss, they have described him as an exemplary leader on whom they have patterned their own leadership style.
“Each time I visit the campus, I see impressive modern upgrades … nicer dorms, state-of-the-art athletic facility, a hip bookstore, etc. But when I talk to the students, I realize that one thing has not changed. Chicago is still a place where it is ‘okay to be a geek.’ The amazing environment that supports intellectual curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge is the enduring quality that makes Chicago so unique.”
KENNETH
MONAHAN
Kenneth Monahan, AB’95, is a dedicated, energetic, and motivated
volunteer whose work has been instrumental in keeping the College Class
of 1995 engaged with the larger alumni community. As vice chair of his
5th and 10th reunions, Mr. Monahan planned a series of successful events
to draw his classmates back to campus. Most impressively, he led his class
gift committee to surpass their target goal by more than 50%, raising
a total of $77,618. Fellow alumni attribute this achievement to Mr. Monahan’s
remarkable ability to mobilize previously uninvolved individuals by speaking
thoughtfully and convincingly about the importance of supporting Chicago.
A member of Deutsche Bank’s equity division, Mr. Monahan is currently working to launch the company’s derivatives operations in the Middle East and divides his time between New York, London, and Dubai. Despite a demanding schedule, he has made his vast professional knowledge accessible to young alumni by serving as a Career Advising and Planning Services contact since 1999. One supporter wrote that he chose his own career path in the financial industry “largely based on Ken’s helpful analysis and recommendation.”
In all of these endeavors, Mr. Monahan has maintained his active involvement with the University across continents and time zones, juggling personal and professional commitments to attend reunion events and volunteer events in Chicago. One friend wrote, “Ken sets the standard for ongoing giving, fundraising, and participation,” while another described him as the embodiment of “the sense of sharing and thoughtfulness that we wish all alumni had.”
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.
HERBERT
CAPLAN
Herbert Caplan, AB’52, JD’57, has provided enthusiastic
volunteer leadership on behalf of the University for more than three
decades. In addition to helping with planning of at least six reunions
for the College Class of 1952, Mr. Caplan served as chair of both his
40th and 45th reunion committees. For his 45th reunion, he issued a
successful challenge that generously matched the gifts of fellow alumni
with his own contributions. On the eve of his 50th reunion, Mr. Kaplan
has diligently worked to persuade his classmates to increase their giving.
He has also served tirelessly as a board member of the Chicago-area
alumni club (UC2MC), one of whose members describes him as “a
fount of good ideas and their implementation.”
As a member of the Alumni Emeriti Committee, Mr. Caplan has spoken eloquently about the Hutchins Era and has spearheaded efforts to create the Hutchins Legacy Fund. In his many volunteer roles, Mr. Caplan has used his skills as a trial lawyer to craft compelling appeal letters on behalf of the University, described by one colleague as “masterpieces that combined nostalgic reminiscences with pitches one couldn’t refuse.”
Mr. Caplan’s volunteer service extends beyond the University. As a volunteer with the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago, he teaches constitutional law to children in the Chicago Public Schools. A supporter wrote that Mr. Caplan “has contributed to building a better society by expanding the ideas of what is possible and what can be done, and has provided organizational skills and service that reflect greatly upon the University.”
“The award of a full tuition scholarship to the University of Chicago was literally my ticket out of town from the minor leagues to the majors. It opened up for me the unlimited world of the intellect for exploration and the opportunity to pursue careers never before contemplated. I arrived on campus having little understanding about what to study or how best to prepare myself for the future. At that time the core curriculum of the Hutchins College, uniquely in the academic world and unlike the smorgasbord curriculum of most colleges, had as its goal a conscious guiding of the untrained mind to the broad classical liberal arts education and the discipline of careful study and analysis of seminal original texts not secondary textbooks. The University of Chicago was characterized by its reliance upon small discussion classes led by distinguished professors who were not mere teaching assistants. The only star qualities of the college that really counted were brilliant ideas and insightful thinking, not football scores or fraternities of family status. The student body, as well as the faculty, was wonderfully diverse and full of bubbling promise. It has always been a distinction of the University of Chicago that a graduate of the school enjoys reflexive public acknowledgment of possession of true scholarship and achievement. It is also a distinction that every graduate feels the University of Chicago has intimately shaped their life and values and provided the tap to go forward and excel.”
MAURICE
MANDEL
Maurice Mandel, AB’56, AB’57, began his service to the University
as an undergraduate, when he was president of the Delta Upsilon fraternity,
worked on the yearbook staff, and participated in several other extracurricular
activities. On a campus notorious for fierce academic competition, he
was widely regarded as a kind, supportive classmate who made others
feel at ease. His time at the University was one of major curricular
transition; Mr. Mandel elected to receive both an AB from the Hutchins
College in 1956 and an AB from the Business School in 1957. In the five
decades since his graduation, Mr. Mandel has effectively doubled his
service to the University by volunteering on the reunion committees
of both classes and serving as chair for both the 45th and 50th reunions
for the College Class of 1956.
As a member of the New York Leadership Cabinet, Mr. Mandel has employed his passion for the University to recruit new fundraising volunteers and encourage generous giving by fellow alumni. His dedicated work has been indispensable in the University’s efforts to increase alumni engagement and expand the breadth of the University community in the New York area. Together with his wife Carolyn, he graciously hosted a luncheon for President Randel during which he impressed several prospective donors with his enthusiasm for the University. One supporter wrote, “Maury’s love for the University and his devotion to helping sustain its excellence are truly exemplary and make him an inspiration to the entire University community.”
“My greatest debt to the University of Chicago is for bringing me together with Carolyn Kiblinger (AB’59), now my wife of 47 years. Beyond that, the combination of an incomparable liberal arts education with subsequent Graduate School of Business training gave me entrée to Wall Street. For breadth and depth of interests, for cherished lifelong friendships and for providing the foundation on which I built a very satisfying career, I am grateful and indebted to the University.”
ANDY PLISKO
Andy Plisko, SB’78, has been an instrumental force in the development
of the alumni community in the Los Angeles area. As a chair of the Alumni
Schools Committee for Southern California, Dr. Plisko oversees the interview
process for more than 200 applicants to the College each year. In this
capacity, he has been responsible for recruiting and training more than
90 alumni interviewers and keeping them informed and engaged. Despite
his busy career as a cardiac anesthesiologist, he has taken the time
to personally interview dozens of applicants, making recommendations
to the admissions office to ensure Chicago maintains its strict academic
standards. Together with his partner, Cathy Wills, Dr. Plisko has generously
hosted annual summer sendoff parties for new students and their parents,
welcoming them into the Chicago community. In all of his contact with
new students and their parents, he is an ideal representative of the
University, personifying the social grace, intelligence, and spirit
of inquiry that are the hallmark of a Chicago education.
A dedicated and loyal volunteer, Dr. Plisko belongs to the Alumni Club of Los Angeles board. At meetings his genial demeanor is known to calm the most heated discussions. He has consistently been willing to take on new challenges to meet the growing needs of the alumni community. Currently he is developing a Great Books Club for alumni of Orange County, California. One supporter wrote, “As Los Angeles plays an ever increasing role in the University’s growth, Andy will be one of the principal players that we will have to thank for it.”
“Attending college at the University of Chicago was challenging, yet exciting, and intellectually provocative. This experience became a touchstone for a lifetime of continuing education and critical thinking.
As an Alumni Schools Committee chair, I regularly encounter a cross section of the University of Chicago family. I interact with fellow alumni interviewers, whose ongoing dedication to the ASC cause proves inspirational. I work with an admissions office that relentlessly strives to admit a diverse group of the best and brightest students. I belong to the local alumni board that has been unwavering in its support of the ASC. Most importantly, I come in contact with incoming and current students who will soon become the University’s intellectual progeny. Their energy, curiosity and enthusiasm for learning make me feel (or at least think) forever young.”
GERI YOZA & MIGUEL ARIAS
Geri Yoza, AB’81, MBA’87, and Miguel Arias, AB’81,
MD’85, met in their first year on campus. After College, they
earned professional degrees at Chicago and went on to successful careers
— Ms. Yoza as an executive at Toyota and Dr. Arias as a psychiatrist
— serving the University all the while. They recently co-chaired
the 25th reunion planning committee for the College Class of 1981. However,
their service to the University extends back two decades.
Ms. Yoza’s dedication and creativity as a past president and board member of the Los Angeles alumni club has made it one of Chicago’s most successful regional groups, boasting a wide range of innovative programming that attracts a diverse alumni community. As a member of the Alumni Board of Governors, she chaired both the marketing and nominating committees and the reunion task force. Her exceptional leadership helped create a new logo and branding for the Alumni Association and was instrumental in transforming Alumni Weekend into a major campus event. Recently she has been involved with students, participating in career panels for “Taking the Next Step,” hosting student externs for three of the past four years, and serving as an alumni contact for GSB. She is also a member of the Los Angeles Regional Giving Committee. Dr. Arias has been her partner in strengthening alumni activities in Los Angeles. As a phonathan volunteer, he has proved himself to be a skillful advocate for the University. He served with his wife as Reunion Chair for their 15th College Reunion, and has been involved in local alumni programs and events.
Together, as co-chairs of their 25th reunion committee, Dr. Arias and Ms. Yoza have inspired their classmates around the world to reconnect with the University. In honor of their reunion they have also made a generous pledge to endow a scholarship at the College, a gift made over and above their leadership annual gift. One supporter summarized, “Geri and Miguel are a wonderful Chicago love story, a wonderful Chicago success story, and a wonderful example of the kind of alumni that deserve our recognition.”
“I am fortunate and grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the College and the Graduate School of Business. They were critical in providing an ‘education for life’ that has had a tremendous impact on me. I have had and continue to enjoy a very rewarding experience through my volunteer work for the University, especially the interaction with students, faculty, staff, and fellow alums, many of whom have become good friends. Thank you, for all the wonderful years and for the years to come.” (Geralyn Yoza)
“The University of Chicago has become a warm and blurry mixture of memories that continue to influence how I wander about. During my studies at Chicago, I mostly focused on what it took to achieve career goals. I had no clue how the tasty side dishes that Chicago insisted I sample such as Art and Civilization studies would greatly influence me. I’m amazed at the continual pleasure I have experienced in regard to artwork and travel. Thank you Chicago for making sure I got an ability to appreciate the beauty in our world in addition to the formal education I had set out on. (Miguel Arias)
The Public
Service Citations
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.
CHARLES R. BAUMBACH
Throughout his career, Charles R. (Chuck) Baumbach, AB’55, MBA’56,
JD’61, has served as an inspiring and effective advocate for the
economically disadvantaged. His half-century of dedication to equality
and justice has established both principles and institutions to provide
access to affordable housing and legal services to people in need.
Shortly following his graduation from the University’s Law School, Mr. Baumbach settled in California and became active in setting up poverty law centers in San Francisco that employed members of the local community in various capacities and acted independently of local bar associations. He set up hearings for the national Hunger Project that surveyed poverty, nutrition, and attendant medical problems in America. His work was integral in ushering in an era of legal aid that focused not only on the provision of individual legal services but on collective representation of the poor and their interests. Later he played a lead role in organizing Alaska’s Legal Services program, aiding native peoples in pursuing the repatriation of tribal lands. He effectively restructured a Milwaukee Legal Aid program that had been the subject of widespread calls for reform. He originated the idea behind the U.S. Department of Education’s highly successful Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO) program, which since 1968 has recruited, trained, counseled, and placed minority and low-income students who want to attend law school and enter the legal profession. The CLEO Summer Institutes, only one of many CLEO programs, have oriented more than 7,000 students toward law school. Mr. Baumbach himself is a gifted teacher whose successes in the classroom include the creation of a master’s degree program on community development and public service and an elementary school course on writing and storytelling.
“The Hutchins College turned this budding nuclear physicist inside out. Instead, I found history, art, sociology, philosophy, and ORIGINAL SOURCES. The University served up an endless feast of ideas and methods which feeds and bonds alumni for life.
A history professor from Cambridge inspired me about O’Neill’s amazing History Handbook. Joe Segall taught the dismal science (economics) with kindness and humor based on real experience. Bernie Meltzer made labor law interesting and helped avert a strike.
I never discovered myself, but ‘there must be a pony in there somewhere.’ My to-do list now is longer than ever. Maybe in the next 50 years …”
NICHOLAS
MELAS
During a long and distinguish career in public service, Nicholas Melas,
PhB’46, SB’48, MBA’50, has made an indelible mark
on the city of Chicago. His leadership and vision have benefited the
environment, improved the daily lives of Chicagoans, and helped assure
the city’s long-term livelihood. Before entering the College,
Mr. Melas served with the U.S. Army in Southern France during World
War II and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Mr. Melas’s
career in public service began in 1954 as administrative assistant to
Sheriff Joseph Lohman, whom he met at the University of Chicago. He
also held appointments as Supervisor of Collections and Commissioner
of Weights and Measures before being elected to the Metropolitan Water
Reclamation District (a position he held for 30 years).
Mr. Melas served as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago from 1962 to 1992 and as President of the Board of Commissioners from 1975 to 1992. Under his leadership, the agency constructed the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (Deep Tunnel), the landmark engineering project that protects the region’s drinking water, guards the city from flooding, and has transformed the city’s lakefront and riverfront. Deep Tunnel was named the Outstanding Civil Engineering Project of 1986 by the American Society of Civil Engineers and is looked to as a model for urban water management worldwide. Currently Mr. Melas is a member of the Illinois Pollution Control Board. He continues to be an active member of the University of Chicago community through his involvement with the Order of the “C,” Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, and the Chicago-area alumni club.
“I was extremely fortunate to have attended the University during the Hutchins Era. Especially having come from an inner-city high school, the four comprehensive courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Biological Sciences and Physical Sciences had a big influence on me. I gained a new perspective on the broad sweep of human thought and culture from the days of antiquity to the present. The small, intensive discussion sessions taught me to think through the material and be able to articulate my ideas in the give and take with fellow students and the instructor. That experience has helped me throughout my life.”
The Professional
Achievement Citations
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.
ARMAND ALIVISATOS
Armand “Paul” Alivisatos, AB’81, has made groundbreaking
contributions to nanotechnology. Known affectionately as “the
king of nanoparticle synthesis” for his work in synthesizing quantum
dots from solution, he has opened new and exciting fields of applications,
both in solar technology and medical imaging. After earning his doctorate
from the University of California at Berkeley, Mr. Alivisatos became
interested in nanotechnology as a postdoctoral fellow at AT&T Bell
Labs. He joined the Berkeley faculty in 1988, and serves as the Associate
Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences at Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory. He is also the founding director of the Molecular Foundry,
designed to provide the industrial, scientific, and academic research
communities access to interdisciplinary expertise and technology at
the cutting edge of nanoscience. Grateful former students attest that
Mr. Alivisatos leads a diverse and vibrant research group and still
finds the time to be a kind and conscientious mentor.
The author of more than 200 scientific papers (one of which has received more than 2,000 citations), Mr. Alivisatos is the founding editor of Nano Letters, the leading journal on nanotechnology. His honors include the Presidential Young Investigator Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellowship, the Coblenz Award and the Rank Prize. He is a fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
BRADY DOUGAN
Brady Dougan, AB’81, MBA’82, has risen to a position of
international leadership and influence in the business world as the
chief executive officer of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), where
at age 46 he is the youngest CEO on Wall Street. The son of a railway
dispatcher, Mr. Dougan was raised in a small town in Illinois and attended
the University of Chicago on a scholarship. After graduating from the
College, he completed the professional option program at the Graduate
School of Business, where he earned his MBA at age 22. After graduation,
he worked at Bankers Trust, where he was put in charge of the bank’s
Asian derivatives business. In 1990 he joined CSFB and began to rise
steadily through the company’s ranks. Prior to his current appointment,
he served as co-president of institutional securities. As CEO, Mr. Dougan
has led the charge to make CSFB as profitable as its competitors despite
daunting odds, for which he was named one of Business Week’s “Managers to Watch” in January 2005.
Throughout his career, Mr. Dougan has been a champion of philanthropic causes, both at the University of Chicago and at other nonprofit educational organizations. He was an early and strong supporter of Chicago’s Metcalf Interships for College students and he spearheaded an effort that raised $1.25 million from alumni at his firm to name the Credit Suisse First Boston classroom in the GSB’s Hyde Park Center. Regarding Mr. Dougan, Edward A. Snyder, Dean of the GSB, wrote, “his accomplishments and contributions — both in the corporate arena and in the civic realm — well and truly represent the University of Chicago ethos of excellence and service.”
MIRIAM
ELSON
Miriam Elson, AM’42, is a renowned clinical scholar, educator,
and writer on the use of psychoanalysis in social work. After earning
her master’s degree at the University’s School of Social
Service Administration (SSA), she developed a model field placement
program for the Illinois Children’s Home and Aid Society, paving
the way for the agency’s later success. She subsequently worked
at the University’s Student Counseling and Resource Center, giving
vital support to generations of students, and taught clinical social
work at SSA, inspiring students with her scholarship, compassion, and
fearless intellectual honesty.
Ms. Elson’s work played an extremely important role in establishing the field of clinical social work and the acceptance of social workers as co-equals with psychiatrists and psychologists who practice psychotherapy. Her two classic books, The Kohut Seminars and Self Psychology in Clinical Social Work introduced Heinz Kohut’s “psychology of the self,” a perspective within psychoanalysis emphasizing the understanding of the self in relation to others, and greatly expanded the reach of social workers and their abilities as mental health practitioners. In 2000, the Society for Self Psychology recognized Ms. Elson with its Lifetime Achievement Award. “Miriam Elson,” a colleague writes, “is among the most generative and significant clinical scholars writing on the use of psychoanalysis in the social field. Universally beloved, admired, and treasured as therapist, teacher, and advocate for those who are less fortunate in their circumstances, Miriam has made the world a better place as a result of her efforts.”
“The University of Chicago and its unique School of Social Service Administration provide a setting for students and faculty to shape ideas to enlighten minds, and to ensure commitment to service. My own interest in human development was inspired by a faculty whose work in the field of social work and other related areas was in the forefront of research, writing and thought.”
FRANCES KELSEY
Frances Kelsey, PhD’38, MD’50, won worldwide acclaim when
her investigation and actions blocked the distribution of the drug thalidomide
in North America during the 1960s. In her first month with the Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), she resisted concerted pressure from
the drug company and insisted on further testing after reading findings
in a British medical journal that hinted at dangerous side-effects.
News of thalidomide-induced birth defects in Germany soon vindicated
her caution, and in 1962 she received the President’s Award for
Distinguished Federal Service. In the words of President John F. Kennedy,
“Her exceptional judgment … has prevented a major tragedy
of birth deformities in the United States. Through high ability and
steadfast confidence in her professional decision she has made an outstanding
contribution to the protection of the health of the American people.”
Not only did Dr. Kelsey’s courage and vigilance avert tragedy,
they resulted in major legislation stipulating more rigorous testing
of drugs in this country and a shift in the culture of the FDA.
Born in British Columbia, Dr. Kelsey studied at McGill University before attending the University of Chicago, where she earned a PhD in Pharmacology (the first such degree granted by the University) and her MD. She taught at the University of Chicago and the University of South Dakota and practiced medicine before joining the FDA in 1960. She continued to work at the FDA until 2005 when she retired at age 90. In 2000, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and in 2001 she became a Virtual Mentor for the American Medical Association.
ANDREW
W. MARSHALL
Andy Marshall, AM’49, has been Director of the Office of Net Assessment
for the United States Department of Defense since the 1970s. He is a
leading defense strategist of the U.S., with responsibility for assessing
political, budgetary, diplomatic, and military resources and constraints
and exploring overall strategies based on all of these considerations.
Revered for his abilities as an unconventional long-term strategic thinker,
he is credited with playing an instrumental role in the winning of the
Cold War and the architecture of post-Cold War defense planning. His
anticipation of the impact of technology and the Information Age on
the way the wars of the future will be fought is widely influential
today throughout the U.S. and NATO military establishments.
After earning his master’s degree in economics at the University, Mr. Marshall began his career at the Rand Corporation, the premier American think tank of the Cold War era. His work for Rand drew the notice of Henry Kissinger, who brought him to Washington to work on the National Security Council from which he went to found the Office of Net Assessment, the Pentagon’s internal think tank. There he has built a lasting legacy, personally mentoring generations of defense intellectuals as well as influencing what is taught at the National Defense University. His work, says one friend, demonstrates the “passion for research, intellectual integrity, analytical rigor, sense of enduring values, independent mindedness, and zeal to teach others inculcated by the University of Chicago.”
“I started at Chicago a few weeks after the end of World War II in September 1945. I did not have a bachelor’s degree, but based on about two year’s undergraduate schooling and an examination that had been sent to me, I was admitted to the Graduate School in the Economics Department. Wonderful flexibility, I thought. One of the courses introduced me to the rapidly developing field of mathematical statistics. Also, the Cowles Commission was then at Chicago, and I became interested in Econometrics. Jimmie Savage arrived and began teaching statistics in the Mathematics Department. All this led, through Allen Wallis, to my going to the Rand Corporation in January 1949, which has shaped the whole rest of my life.”
DAVID
TATEL
During his distinguished legal career, David S. Tatel, JD’66,
has participated in many of the landmark cases and events that implemented
the school desegregation policy mandated by Brown v. Board of Education.
For the past 12 years, he has served as a judge on the United States
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, described as
second in influence only to the Supreme Court because it determines
many federal policy issues. Judge Tatel began his career as a lawyer
for Sidley and Austin in Chicago, participating in a school desegregation
case on behalf of the Chicago Urban League. He became the first director
of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law in
1969 and later directed the national organization. During the Carter
Administration, Judge Tatel was appointed to head the Office for Civil
Rights in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, where he
revitalized the agency and directed important federal desegregation
proceedings at both the elementary and secondary and higher education
levels. Returning to private practice at Hogan and Hartson in Washington,
D.C., he directed the firm’s pro bono program and then founded
and directed the firm’s education practice. In 1975 he helped
establish the Legal Services Corporation.
Judge Tatel, who lost his vision early in his career as the result of a progressive congenital disease, Retinitis Pigmentosa, was nominated by President Clinton to the position vacated by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the D.C. Circuit. Judge Tatel’s accolades include awards from the National Legal Aid and Defenders Association and the National Association of College and University Attorneys. He has also served on a number of boards, including chairing the Board of the Spencer Foundation from 1990 to 1997 and now chairs the Board of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He and his wife Edith have four children and three grandchildren.
“To me, the University of Chicago means intellectual discipline, fine teaching, ethical standards of the highest order, and lifetime friends. In every aspect of my work as a federal judge, whether listening to oral arguments, drafting opinions, or debating with my colleagues, I find myself thinking and writing in ways I learned over four decades ago at law school. And to top it off, while attending the University, I met my wife of 40 years, and two of our four children were born at Billings.”