photograph courtesy of chris gingrich
mileposts
chris Gingrich, Phd, stands in front of a typical small retailer involved in Tanzania's efforts to distribute malaria nets (visible stacked on the upper shelf) using vouchers-for-discounts supplied by Mennonite Economic Development Associates. Gingrich, an EMU professor of economics and business, and his three researchercollaborators are part of a worldwide debate on how to arrest malaria in Africa. For more information, please read the article posted at www.emu.edu/crossroads/gingrich.
Faculty and Staff
Ed Martin of Akron, Pa., has been named director of EMU’s Center for Interfaith Engagement, previously known as “Abraham’s Tent.” It provides a place for people from a variety of faith traditions to dialogue on areas of common understanding. Ed most recently served with the American Friends Service Committee as the Quaker international affairs representative for Iran, building connections between Iranian institutions and the United State, and providing resources for public education and advocacy regarding Iran and the United States. Earlier, Ed worked 18 years with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) as director for Central and Southern Asia and the Middle East. He holds a PhD in agricultural economic development from Cornell University.
Laura A. (Glick) Yoder, an assistant professor of nursing at EMU, was awarded the “excellence in nursing instruction” by the Virginia Student Nurses Association. Laura was nominated by her students for the award. She is a 1997 nursing graduate of a sister school of EMU’s, Goshen College in Indiana. Laura holds a master’s degree in nursing from the University of South Florida. An EMU faculty member since 2003, she has been accepted into a doctoral program in nursing at the University of Virginia. Laura has clinical experience in medical-surgical nursing and progressive care-telemetry nursing and is a primary care adult nurse practitioner.
1920-49
Paul Kniss ’49 and G. Edwin (Ed) Bontrager ’63, Bachelor of Divinity ’66, both of Harrisonburg, Va., led a group of 30 persons from eight states to India, Feb. 7-22, 2011, to visit Mennonite missionary sites, including the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) office in Kolkata, as well as tourist attractions.
1950-59
Arthur (Art) Kennel ’53, Rochester, Minn., reports completing his autobiography, Life, Love, Llamas and Laughs, My Story, to be published by Masthof Press of Morgantown, Pa.
1960-69
David D. Yoder ’62, Auburn, Pa., began his role as an advancement associate with Virginia Mennonite Missions (VMM) on April 1, 2011. David was president of VMM from 1991 to 2002. For an additional year, he worked in development. In earlier years, David and his wife, Shirley, class of’ 62, served several terms as missionaries in Mexico. Martha Ann Burgard, class of ’66, Gadsden, Ala., earned a second degree black belt in Taekwondo and became
a certified instructor in this Korean-style martial art three years ago. In 2006, she was named Ms. Senior Etowah County. More recently, Burgard became a certified master gardener through Auburn University’s County Extension Program. In 1985, Burgard was instrumental in setting up an endowed scholarship fund in the name of her deceased father, Michael Burgard. Since then, 39 full-time undergraduates who met the selection criteria of the endowment have benefited from the annual earnings provided by it. David (Dave) J. Miller ’64, Goshen, Ind., has retired from Goshen College. He served Goshen as a biology professor from 1988 to 2011 (chairing the biology department for the last four years) and as program director at the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center from 1988 to 2008. He helped establish the environmental science major, helped plan the master’s in environmental education, and conducted field research at Merry Lea by developing significant insect and plant collections. He established an official bird-banding program with The Institute for Bird Populations. Dave holds a doctorate from Michigan State University.
Faculty and Staff Alumni The entries for faculty and staff who are alumni of EMU can be found under their class years: Kenton Derstine ’72, Dorothy Jean Weaver ’72, Douglas Hertzler ’88, Patience Kamau ’02, and Michael Zucconi ’05.
Calvin L. Miller ’66, Abingdon, Va., an ophthalmologist with the Johnson City (Tenn.) Eye Clinic, has devoted more than a dozen years to short-term volunteer service in Mexico with Medical Ministry International, usually doing cataract surgery. Calvin also serves with Remote Area Medical – doing health screenings over three-day weekends – in Wise, Va., and Bristol, Tenn. Calvin earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia and did his residency in ophthalmology at the University of Kentucky, where he was chief resident. He founded Eye Physicans of Southwest Virginia in the early 1980s, where he worked for decades. He joined the Johnson City practice in 2010. Lowell E. Bender ’67, Bittinger, Md., reported in the March 2011 issue of the Brotherhood Beacon of the Conservative Mennonite Conference about his two-year experience (1961-63) as a Pax volunteer with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), constructing new houses for families whose homes were destroyed in Germany, Austria and Greece during WWII. Lowell has been dean of continuing education at Garrett College, a community college in McHenry, Md., chair of the Garrett County Community Action Board, vice president of the Small Business Development Center, and a member of Western Maryland Workforce Investment Board and the Economic Development Corporation. He holds an MBA from Frostburg State University in western Maryland. Milford Lyndaker ’68, MA ’87 (church ministries), Wardensville, W.Va., and his
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