IWU Magazine - Summer/Fall 2023

SUMMER/FALL 2023

Handmade Miracles

BRENDA LESSEN KNOLL ’89

SAVE THE DATE FOR YOUR MILESTONE REUNION

Reunite with friends and classmates for your milestone reunion during Homecoming & Family Weekend! If your class year ends in 3 or 8, this year's Reunion celebrations are all about YOU!

GET INVOLVED

• Join your Reunion Facebook group

• Make a gift to help your class reach its Reunion giving goal

• Attend your Reunion events during Homecoming & Family Weekend

For more details on how to get involved, visit iwu.edu/reunion. We look forward to seeing you in October!

2023 ALUMNI REUNIONS

Class of 1973

Class of 1978

Class of 1983

Class of 1988

Class of 1993

Class of 1998

Class of 2003

Class of 2008

Class of 2013

Class of 2018

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

VOLUME 32 | NUMBER 3 | SUMMER/FALL 2023

ON OUR COVER: Brenda Lessen Knoll ’89 performs her physical therapy treatment, PIOMI, with 12-hour old premature infant Remi Audeman.

FEATURES

14 Handmade Miracles

Brenda Lessen Knoll ’89 was completing her doctorate when she developed a groundbreaking new physical therapy. Now it's implemented around the world to help premature infants grow using only a caregiver's hands.

18 A Chance to Cure

Dr. Ann Stroink ’76, winner of the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award, has mastered one of medicine's most demanding fields — neurosurgery. She has saved lives and trained a new generation of surgeons, for whom she advocates as a leader in national organizations. From

Page

DEPARTMENTS

From the President’s Desk

The academic year, opening with the promise of new possibilities in the fall and closing with the pride of accomplishment at Commencement, structures life on a college campus. Traditionally, the summer vacation has been a relatively quiet time. Faculty have the opportunity for research, reflection, perhaps planning a new course. Those of us with administrative responsibilities close the books on another year and take up the familiar and welcome tasks of preparing for orientation and the arrival of new students. This summer is decidedly not a quiet time.

The outward signs of activity are everywhere, as construction crews carry out work on multiple projects. The major renovation of Munsell Hall is proceeding very well. The deadline is tight, since all must be ready for firstyear students to move in. Work began literally the day after Commencement, and the project is even a bit ahead of schedule. On the other side of Memorial Hall, multiple trenches have been opened up around East Street, to enable infrastructure work in preparation for the Petrick Idea Center — on which we expect to break ground in the spring of 2024 and open for occupancy in the summer of 2026.

Signs of physical renovation and construction are very evident. Less visible is a great deal of academic creativity and innovation that many faculty and staff are engaged in this summer. In the School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Amber Kujath and her colleagues are strengthening our existing nursing program and considering next steps, as we develop more opportunities for our students in Health Sciences. For our business programs, Bryan McCannon and his colleagues are proceeding with the 3-year process of obtaining full accreditation as a business school, which we began this year.

Planning for the construction of the Petrick Center facility continues, even as many Petrick Center programs are already available for students, such as the Titan New Venture Challenge (an opportunity for students to make a pitch for start-up funding of up to $5,000). The Petrick Center also hosted this year a national (and international) conference for high school entrepreneurs — a great way to raise awareness among prospective students that IWU is a place where creativity and innovation flourish.

Other developments in the academic area include exploring or finalizing plans for a number of new majors, including Quantitative Finance (made possible by our new Yess Bloomberg finance lab) and Criminology (an interdisciplinary collaboration). Faculty are also exploring majors in Communications and Film Studies.

I concluded my last letter in this publication by noting the large attendance at Admitted Students Day. That preliminary indicator of enrollment has proven reliable — at this point we’re looking forward to an especially robust Class of 2027 to join us in the fall. I’m pleased to say that, during their years on campus, these students will experience many opportunities that will add even more value to their Illinois Wesleyan education.

S. Georgia Nugent Illinois Wesleyan University President

“This summer is decidedly not a quiet time.”

PRESIDENT S. GEORGIA NUGENT

IWU MAGAZINE STAFF

EDITOR

Chris Francis ’13

GRAPHICS EDITOR

Ellie Harman

CONTRIBUTORS

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Ann Aubry

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Julia Perez

MANAGER OF DIGITAL STRATEGY

Kristen Buhrmann

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNICATIONS

John Lock

VIDEOGRAPHER/PHOTOGRAPHER

Adam Day

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Katie Gonzales

Office of Communications

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FEATURED NEWS, EVENTS AND VIEWS FROM THE IWU CAMPUS

Three New Majors Added for 2023-24

Three new courses of study will be available to Illinois Wesleyan University students beginning in the fall of 2023.

Students can pursue degrees in any one of the following new majors, in addition to more than 80 majors, minors and concentrations currently available.

Public Health

This interdisciplinary program will provide students the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to local, state, national and global public health initiatives in a wide variety of settings. The Public Health program adheres to Council on Education for Public Health standards and is firmly rooted in the scientific exploration of public health.

The program combines academic offerings from courses in the areas of English, economics, chemistry, environmental studies, health, philosophy, political science, psychology and sociology.

Assistant Professor of Public Health David Remmert said research has found that those in the public health workforce with an undergraduate degree jumped by more than 1,100% between 2001 and 2020.

“[This] reflects the mounting interest in public health fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Remmert. “The pandemic underscored the vital importance of the work and the dire need for more public health professionals in a time of crisis.”

Protection efforts such as the science behind the development of vaccines, health policies that provided legal authority for the widespread distribution of vaccines worldwide, and the coordination of mass vaccination campaigns are all examples of how public health works across many fields of study to ensure the health of populations.

Quantitative Finance

The quantitative finance major at Illinois Wesleyan is a unique combination of finance theory and application, mathematics and data science. With the vast amount of available financial data, there is an ever-growing need for thoughtful professionals to evaluate such data to solve important financial issues such as valuation of instruments, portfolio management and optimization, pricing of derivatives and risk management.

Assistant Professor of Finance Mikhail Munenzon said quantitative

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(Above) Students utilize a Bloomberg Terminal in IWU's Greg Yess '82 Bloomberg Finance Lab in State Farm Hall, which houses 12 full-access Bloomberg Terminals and two live stock tickers.

(continued from page 3)

finance is a relatively new and rapidly growing focus in the field of finance.

“The field requires not just a deep grasp of finance theory and application, but also a solid understanding of mathematics and data science techniques,” said Munenzon.

State-of-the-art financial instruments are also available to students at Illinois Wesleyan, such as the Greg Yess ’82 Bloomberg Finance Lab which houses 12 full-access Bloomberg Terminals and two live stock tickers.

By combining quantitative skills with a strong liberal arts foundation, Munenzon noted this crossdepartmental program will make graduates attractive to employers — leading to a variety of careers such as a quantitative researcher or modeler, risk manager or systemic trader.

Professional Sales

Professional salespeople play a critical role in the marketing of goods and services, representing firms that produce resources while connecting with other firms. The new professional sales major equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary for career success.

Associate Professor of Business and Marketing David Wallace said professional salespeople are required in every industry, and workforce demand in Professional Sales is projected to grow more quickly than average.

“Our program is unique in that it both requires and further develops skills that are hallmarks of the rigorous liberal arts education provided by Illinois Wesleyan University, including both oral and written communications, critical thinking, and teamwork,” said Wallace.

Dakesa Piña Selected as IWU’s First DEI Leader

DakesaPiña has been selected to serve as Illinois Wesleyan University’s inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, effective July 1.

Piña was previously the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Illinois State University College of Education, where her work focused on systemic and sustainable change through evidence-based practices specifically regarding influence, communication, accountability and relationships.

“I am excited to join the Illinois Wesleyan community in its efforts to provide the most enriching, progressive, vibrant and welcoming community possible for its students, faculty and staff,” said Piña.

During her time at ISU, Piña has been repeatedly recognized for her DEI work. Most recently, she was named the first recipient of the Higher Education Diversity Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award from the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE).

Piña earned a Ph.D. in marriage and family therapy at Texas Tech University, a master's in marriage and family therapy at Indiana State University and a bachelor’s in psychology at Bowling Green State University. Prior to her current role, she served as a Staff Counselor at Student Counseling Services at ISU; was a Countering Domestic Violence Adult Counselor at Mid Central Community Action in Bloomington; and directed clinical services at the Children’s Advocacy Center of the South Plains in Lubbock, Texas.

As a trained therapist, Piña is an expert at coaching individuals and groups through conflict resolution, identifying personal bias, and building empathy, compassion and humility.

Illinois Wesleyan President S. Georgia Nugent said creating a cabinet-level position devoted to diversity has been a key priority as the University continues to work toward realizing the aspirations of the IWU mission.

(Above) Dakesa Piña

(Above) Assistant professor of finance, Mikhail Munenzon, spearheads the field of quantitative finance at IWU.

Lincoln Land Community College and Illinois Wesleyan Announce Guaranteed

Admissions Agreement

Lincoln Land Community College (LLCC) and Illinois Wesleyan University have adopted a Guaranteed Admissions Agreement that will ease the process for students transferring from one institution to another.

“This partnership is beneficial for both institutions and will advance the educational vitality of our region,” said Illinois Wesleyan President S. Georgia Nugent. “We look forward to welcoming Lincoln Land transfer students into our Titan community and providing them with the resources and support they need to thrive academically, personally and professionally.”

The admissions agreement allows students with diverse interests to continue their education at Illinois Wesleyan through a variety of course plans.

“This agreement is of great benefit to those of our students seeking to transfer to a high quality, private university to complete their bachelor’s degree. We know that the opportunities, wraparound supports, beautiful campus and high quality facilities that we offer our students will also be found at Illinois Wesleyan,” said Jason Dockter, interim vice president of academics at LLCC.

Lincoln Land Community College students are guaranteed admission to Illinois Wesleyan University under the following criteria:

1. IWU will guarantee the acceptance of all transferable credits earned from the Lincoln Land transferoriented degree programs and no distinction will be made by IWU between the completion of these courses and those offered at Illinois Wesleyan University.

2. Students may have to take additional prerequisite course requirements specific to certain majors.

3. Students who complete their Associate's at Lincoln Land with a 3.0 grade point average or higher on a 4.0 scale, apply to IWU and submit an official transcript from Lincoln Land are eligible for guaranteed admission to Illinois Wesleyan.

LLCC students choosing to transfer to Illinois Wesleyan will work with their LLCC success coaches to ensure they complete the courses that align with the agreement. Illinois Wesleyan counselors will also be available to assist them in the transfer and enrollment process.

Illinois Wesleyan Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing LeAnn Hughes added, “Our collaboration with LLCC eases the transfer process for students seeking to continue their education. We are excited to offer this experience and welcome Lincoln Land students to the Illinois Wesleyan campus.”

LLCC is a public community college whose district serves students from all or parts of 15 counties in central Illinois with college transfer and workforce development degree and certificate programs along with shortterm career training and community education.

(Above) Jason Dockter, interim vice president of academics at Lincoln Land, and Georgia Nugent, president of Illinois Wesleyan, signed a Guaranteed Admissions Agreement to create a seamless student transfer process between the two institutions

Bryan McCannon ’98 Named Director of New School of Business and Economics

Bryan C. McCannon

’98 has been selected as the new director of Illinois Wesleyan University’s School of Business and Economics, effective July 1, 2023.

“We’re absolutely delighted to have Dr. McCannon return to his alma mater as the leader of our new School of Business and Economics. He is an accomplished economist with a broad understanding of not just economics and the business disciplines — he understands and fully embraces the liberal arts as well,” said IWU Provost Mark Brodl. “He brings with him powerful insights from a range of institutional and program types that will both inspire innovation and support the ongoing strengths of our current programs.”

McCannon was previously an associate professor of economics at West Virginia University, where he also directed the Center for Free Enterprise. Before joining WVU, McCannon served on the faculties of Saint Bonaventure University, Wake Forest University and Elmira College.

“I have found quite a bit of pleasure in the leadership experiences I have had previously and have been craving to take on a more substantial role. I just would never have believed that this opportunity would come at my alma mater. I feel incredibly fortunate,” said McCannon.

After graduating from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1998 with a bachelor of economics and business administration, McCannon earned a Ph.D. in economics from Pennsylvania State University. While studying at IWU, McCannon recalls the rigor, passion and energy he and his peers received from faculty.

McCannon will be leading the newly formed School of Business and Economics, a program that he said stands out among other business schools in the country due to the commitment toward a well-rounded, liberal arts education — “something that provides broad exposure to ideas, perspectives and subjects.”

Second Novel by Newman '06 Headed to Big Screen

Best-sellingauthor and Illinois Wesleyan alumna Torri “T.J.” Newman ’06 recently found her upcoming novel caught in a bidding war for film rights between top producers like Nicole Kidman, M. Night Shyamalan and Steven Spielberg.

With the book set to be released on May 30, Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 is a thriller about a plane crash in the ocean with passengers enclosed in the cabin and the rescue mission that ensues. Ultimately it was Warner Bros. who secured rights to bring Drowning to the big screen with a $1.5 million deal and an additional $1.5 million on the first day of production.

Newman is no stranger to movie deals. Her debut book Falling is about a kidnapper who demands a pilot crash a plane full of passengers to save his family. Released in 2021 and narrated by actor Steven Weber on audiobook, the novel also caught the eyes of Hollywood producers after it reached a top spot on the New York Times bestsellers list. Universal Pictures purchased rights to the film adaptation for $1.5 million, among bids from Jason Bateman and Matt Reeves.

Newman’s inspiration for her suspenseful stories comes from her experience as a former flight attendant. She wrote Falling aboard red-eye flights while passengers slept. She recalls the moment where the idea for Drowning was born, while on a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles.

(Above) A new novel titled Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by Torri “T.J.” Newman ’06 will release on May 30. Warner Bros. has purchased film rights to the book and Newman will serve as executive producer for the film.

(Above) Bryan McCannon ’98

Students Network with Major Finance Firms in Chicago and St. Louis

In addition to that, we got to see the inside of their stateof-the-art downtown offices, which blew my mind away,” said Duff.

“These trips are building connections that lead to recruiting relationships between the high-level employers and IWU students pursuing finance careers, with students already getting internships and full-time positions at such firms due to unique skills and training they bring to their employers,” said Professor Munenzon.

He added that IWU finance graduates stand out to employers due to their “exposure to fields and perspectives outside of finance” from a liberal arts education, as well as their access to The Greg Yess ’82 Bloomberg Finance Lab.

During the spring semester, members of two registered student organizations at Illinois Wesleyan University had the opportunity to network with professionals at top-tier finance firms during trips to Chicago and St. Louis.

Students with the Women in Finance RSO and Investments/Trading Club visited Chicago on March 24 where they explored three nationally and internationally recognized finance firms: BMO Harris, Northern Trust and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. On April 14, the groups traveled to St. Louis to meet with NISA Investment Advisors, one of the largest investment firms in the U.S.; and Edward Jones.

The trips, funded in part by supportive alumni, were coordinated by Assistant Professor of Finance Mikhail Munenzon who serves as the faculty advisor for both RSOs.

“Students were very engaged and happy to experience what high-level finance professional careers, environments and expectations might look and feel like, instead of just talking about it with me,” said Professor Munenzon.

During the visits, students attended presentations and spoke with senior and junior staff, floor traders and heads of departments. Finance major William Duff ’25, co-founder of the Investments/Tragin Club said “it was phenomenal” to interact with senior staff members from several of the banks while on the Chicago trip.

“Hearing about their career path and being able to ask them questions on what intrigued them to pursue a career in finance was exactly what we were looking for.

“Bloomberg-based training provides unique, experiential, state-of-the-art finance learning. Bloomberg Terminals are used by top investment and financial institutions to analyze, research, trade and invest in markets around the world. Very few universities have a Bloomberg Lab because of the expense involved, though they are invaluable for real-life industry knowledge,” said Professor Munenzon.

Klaudia Wyszynski ’23, co-founder of the Women in Finance RSO, said it was a fulfilling experience to speak with leaders in the reputable finance companies — and she hopes to use those connections to expand her professional network.

She is also eager to see campus groups collaborate more often on shared interests and passions.

“I hope both RSOs continue to work together to strengthen their relationship, as I know they both offer extraordinary experiences to their members,” said Wyszynski, finance major.

(Above) Illinois Wesleyan students with the Women in Finance RSO and Investments/Trading Club visited the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

(Above) IWU students spoke with vice presidents of finance firms, floor traders and heads of departments.

Four Titans Earn Academic All-America Honors as IWU’s All-Time Tally Hits 150

sixth individually, with the program’s best score at the national tournament all-time. Jim Ott ’91, the CCIW Coach of the Year, was named a finalist for the Division III Dave Williams Coach of the Year Award.

Onsrud Garners Second Team All-American Status, Women’s Golf Places 12th at NCAA Championship

The Titan women’s golf team concluded the season with a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championship. Emma Thorman ’24 paced the Titans as she tied for 22nd. Thorman along with Lexi Onsrud ’24, and Macy Ludwig ’25 were tabbed WGCA PING All-Region, while Onsrud went on to earn Second Team All-American honors.

Men’s Lacrosse Sweeps CCIW Championships, Advances to Second Round of NCAA Tournament

Four Titan student-athletes continued Illinois

Wesleyan Academic All-America success as Ethan Lowder ’24, Lexi Onsrud ’24, Sarah Gleason ’23, and Quinn Clifford ’25 were all recognized by the College Sports Communicators. Lowder was a Third Team Academic All-America pick on the men’s swimming team, while Clifford represented the men’s golf team on the Academic All-America At-Large Third Team. Onsrud, the only women’s golfer in school history to earn the accolade, was recognized for the second straight year. Onsrud was an Academic All-America At-Large First Team honoree, while Gleason (women’s lacrosse) landed on the third team.

Men’s Golf Wins 11th Straight CCIW Title, Ties for Ninth at NCAA Championship

Bobby Beaubien ’24 was voted GCAA PING All-American Honorable Mention, while Juney Bai ’26, Jackson Hulsey ’26, Quinn Clifford ’25, and Griffin Pohl ’25 were GCAA PING All-Region picks. After winning the program’s 11th straight conference title behind five All-CCIW showings, including Clifford’s medalist performance, IWU tied for ninth at the NCAA Championship. Beaubien led the Green and White, tying for

The men’s lacrosse team swept the CCIW Championships after an unblemished record in CCIW action. The Titans secured the outright regular season title for the fifth straight season before going on to win the program’s fifth CCIW Tournament Title. IWU earned its fifth NCAA Tournament bid and went on to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Head Coach Zach Iannucci was named CCIW Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, while seven Titans received all-conference honors. Iannucci and his staff were also tabbed as the

Ethan Lowder ’24

Sarah Gleason ’23

Bobby Beaubien ’24

Quinn Clifford ’25

Lexi Onsrud ’24

Carson Kiichhle ’23

2023 Men’s Golf

INSIDE IWU

2023 Men's Lacrosse Post ’26, Ava Khoury ’25, Bailey Turner ’24, Jen Kuhn ’25, and Madison Moore ’23 were First Team All-CCIW selections, while Casey Wissmiller ’26 and Nina Mardjetko ’23 garnered second team status. Tiffany Prager and her staff were voted the CCIW Coaching Staff of the Year. Moore and Khoury went on to receive NFCA All-Region honors.

Baseball Advances to CCIW Tournament Championship

Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Region 5 Staff of the Year for the first time in program history. Three Titans were named to the IMLCA All-Region Teams, as Carson Kiichle ’23 and Gage Black ’24 were cited on the first team, while Nick Schroeder ’25 earned second team honors. Kiichle and Black also garnered United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-America Honorable Mention honors.

Adriana Crabtree and Lauren Wong Represent Women’s Track and Field at Nationals

The Titan women’s track and field team concluded its outdoor campaign with two student-athletes competing at the NCAA Championships in Rochester, New York. Adriana Crabtree ’26 became the first Titan freshman to qualify for the national meet since 2019 having competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase where she finished 16th overall in a time of 10:58.50. Crabtree is an All-Region honoree in the event with her school record breaking performance of 10:43.33. After becoming the indoor triple jump conference champion and sweeping the outdoor horizontal jumps titles, Lauren Wong ’24 made her first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championships in the triple jump where she finished just shy of the podium in 11th-place with a leap of 39’0.25” — the second-best jump in IWU history. A champion on the track and in the classroom, the AllRegion honoree also adds Academic All-CCIW and College Sports Communications Academic All-District awards to her resume.

Softball Wins CCIW Regular Season Championship

Illinois Wesleyan’s softball team won the CCIW Regular Season Championship for the first time since 2019, sharing the league title with a conference record of 14-2. The Titans finished the year with a 27-16 overall record and saw seven players earn All-CCIW accolades. Claire

In his 36th season leading the squad, Dennis Martel and the baseball team advanced to the CCIW Tournament Championship after battling through the entire elimination bracket. Louis Perona ’24 produced a dominant season, as he became the first Titan since 2019 to receive D3baseball.com All-Region 8 honors. Perona was cited on the second team, along with also being tabbed American Baseball Coaches Association All-Region.

Titans Athletic Roundup

The women’s lacrosse team saw four Titans earn All-CCIW honors. Jennie Hubbard ’23 and Mia Fiandaca ’25 were named to the first team, while Britney Maldonado ’24 and Devon Hanson ’26 garnered second team honors. … The men’s volleyball team collected a program record 11 wins. … Bowling broke every statistical program record in its third year of competition. … Ian Turnbull ’26 represented the men’s tennis team with Second Team All-CCIW honors. … The women’s tennis team landed one on the CSC Academic All-District team, as Andie Wilson ’25 represented the Titans … Men’s track and field compiled 23 All-CCIW showings at the outdoor championship, led by CCIW pole vault champion, Christian Gatsos ’23 who swept the indoor and outdoor titles this season. Runner-up finishes came from Isaac Whitaker ’26 in the pole vault, Davis Nguy ’23 in the decathlon, Jahari Scott ’26 in the long jump, and Evan Lowder ’26 in the 200-meter dash. The program landed 16 student-athletes on the Academic All-CCIW list while J.D. Barrett ’23, Brooks Johnson ’25, and Sam Okewole ’25 were named CSC Academic All-District.

Gage Black ’24

2023 Women's Softball

BOOKS

Dave Kindred ’63 is the author of the upcoming book My Home Team: A Sportswriter’s Life and the Redemptive Power of Small-Town Girls Basketball published by PublicAffairs. As a legendary sports writer who has covered many Super Bowls and was a friend of Muhammad Ali, Dave’s memoir reflects on the coverage of his hometown's Lady Potters, the women’s high school basketball team in Morton, Illinois.

Authors and the Arts

David Goss ’70 is the author of From Spectacle-Making Trade to Scholarly Profession: A History of Optometry in the United States published by Pacific University Press. In his new book, David covers the span of optometry history in the United States, examining its path from spectacle making to its current status as an academic profession integrated into today's health care system. The book also considers the honing of optometric examination into an efficient procedure and the expansion of optometry education as a health discipline.

Megan Sholar ’00 is the author of Chasing Equality: Women’s Rights and US Public Policy published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. Megan examines the history of women’s gains toward social equality and how they have been slowed, even reversed, through the lens of national policy. Megan is a professor emeritus of political science at Loyola University Chicago.

Jac Jemc ’05 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her career as an author and educator. Jac wrote her first novel, My Only Wife, while she was a senior English major at IWU, and her most recent book, Empty Theatre, was an Editor’s Choice in the The New York Times She currently teaches creative writing at UC San Diego where she is also the faculty director of the Clarion Writers Workshop.

Torri “T.J.” Newman ’06 is the author of Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 published by Avid Reader Press. Her new novel is a follow-up to her debut novel, Falling, which reached number two on the The New York Times bestseller list. In Drowning, a team of rescuers must save the twelve passengers trapped within the cabin of a plane sinking to the floor of the Pacific Ocean only minutes after takeoff. A Hollywood bidding war broke out over the rights to adapt Drowning into a screenplay soon after it was released.

Emily Buhrow ’15 is the author of From Ruff to Riches. This personal memoir recounts Emily’s experience as a foster parent caring for dogs with her wife Stephanie. They have now fostered over 60 animals together.

ARTICLES, ESSAYS AND PAPERS

Denise (Hallberg) Hammer ’86 and Brenda (Ward) Drury ’85 published a journal article in Neonatal Network titled “Keeping Families Close: A Hospital-Sponsored Boarder Program That Facilitates Parents’ Presence at the Infant’s Bedside.” It describes the Boarder Program, a program designed to keep a mother and her infant together when the mother has been discharged but her infant requires additional medical attention and hospitalization. Brenda is an assistant professor of nursing at IWU.

MUSIC AND PERFORMANCES

Robert “Bob” Riseling ’59 performed “Sapphire Song” in March 2023. This piece was written for him by Donald Steven for the opening of the art exhibition “By Their Light We Shall Know Them,” which features selected drawings of Alan Torok. Robert was the subject of two of the exhibited drawings.

Jack Waddell ’63, the internationally famous singer and actor, played the starring role in Journey to Freedom at Illinois State University. The play tells the story of John W. Jones, an escaped slave and Underground Railroad operator. All proceeds from the performance went to the John W. Jones Museum in Elmira, New York.

James Sutorius ’67 premiered his one-man play, My Life With Will: An Evening with Will Shakespeare and James Sutorius, in early May at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solona Beach, California. The 75-minute production chronicles the award-winning actor's career with Shakespeare. The evening included nostalgic memories of James' title-role performance as Hamlet in 1965 while he was a student on the McPherson theater stage.

INSIDE IWU

Amanda ReCupido ’07 wrote and produced the musical parody Sex and the Windy City, which was staged at Chicago’s iO Theater and came in second in the Best Musical category in Chicago Reader’s “Best of Chicago Awards.” She also wrote How We Heal presented by OpenDoor Playhouse.

Kirsten Chambers ’97 starred in a production of Beethoven's Fidelio with the St. Petersburg Opera in Florida. Kirsten took on the role of Leonore (which the play was originally titled), a woman who disguises herself as a man, calling herself Fidelio, to infiltrate a prison where her husband is being held. The opera was sung in the original German with English subtitles projected on a screen.

Anthony Michael Lopez ’08 had his Broadway debut playing Sir Dinadan in Camelot at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Previously, Anthony had performed in Off-Broadway shows including a production of Othello that starred Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo.

PODCASTS

Tommy Geary ’05 started a new podcast called The Durable Dad, which aims to teach listeners brain-based tools that will help them be more productive and less stressed at work and with their families. He and his wife were inspired to create the podcast after they started a business together.

Landis Wiedner ’06 started a new podcast about epilepsy called What the EF?, which she created as a means of sharing what she has learned after being diagnosed with epilepsy six years ago. She was interviewed about the podcast on CBS News Chicago.

Scott Moreau ’01 reprised his role as Johnny Cash in the production of Million Dollar Quartet at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Scott was a member of the original cast of the Tony Award winning musical. He played the role of Johnny Cash in the show’s third and fourth years of touring in 2013 and 2014.

Katie Brokaw ’02 created “Shakespeare in Yosemite” with a troope, partly consisting of park rangers, reinterpreting Shakespeare’s plays with environmental messages performed in the national park. Katie, who is a professor of English at UC Merced, told the online magazine Datebook, “We have birds landing onstage, squirrels running across stage. One year we saw a bear backstage… We weren’t doing Winter’s Tale, so we’re like, ‘Wrong play. But thanks for coming.’”

ARTValeria Viteri-Pflucker ’22 had her painting, which she created while she was an IWU student and which won Best in Show at the 2022 Physics Congress, featured as the cover image for the Society of Physics Students Magazine. Valeria studied physics, math, religion and history at IWU.

COMMENCEMENT CLASS OF 2023

Illinois Wesleyan University celebrated the graduation of the class of 2023 on May 7. The ceremony returned to an indoor venue this year, being hosted in the Shirk Center, but the weather didn’t stop graduates from celebrating on the quad.

(Above) President S. Georgia Nugent opens the ceremony.

(Above) Hanna Hagerty ’23 and Michael Votaw ’23 sit down for a well-earned break after graduating.

(Above) Jakobe Raber ’23 poses for a photo with his family, proudly holding his brand new degree.

(Above) Josephine Corrao ’23 waits excitedly with classmates.

(Above) Madeline Hall ’23 celebrates with hugs from friends and family.

(Above) Dale Brooks Appelt ’23 takes a photo with his design, technology, and entreprenuership professor Tara Gerstner ’01

(Above left) Carson Schaefer ’23 smiles for the camera outside the Shirk Center. (Above right) Jillian Rayes ’23 gets some help with her sash from a friend.

(Above left) Jacob Nuti ’23 celebrates with a fellow graduate.

(Above right) Mishwa Bhavsar ’23 delivered opening remarks as class president.

(Above) Charles David McGee ’23 smiles after completing the commencement ceremony.

(Above) Weather forecasts brought the 2023 commencement ceremony inside the Shirk Center where the class of ’23 gathered with family and friends to celebrate their accomplishments.

HANDMADE MIRACLES

Story by CHRIS FRANCIS

Brenda

was completing her doctorate

of Molecular & Clinical Medicine expanded to cover 1-year-old toddlers who were born prematurely.

“[Those who received PIOMI therapy] scored higher on fine motor, gross motor, social-personal interaction and language skills,” Brenda said.

For years, PIOMI has been adopted worldwide as an effective treatment for premature infants.

HANDMADE MIRACLES

Illinois Wesleyan that she discovered neonatal intensive care.

“I’ve always had an infatuation with little things, and with growing things,” Brenda explained. As a child, her neighbors would bring her abandoned baby animals that she would care for, and as a nursing student in the IWU orchestra, she played the E flat soprano clarinet — the smaller sibling of the common B flat.

Brenda Lessen Knoll '89 is a scientist, but when she first read about the neurological milestones of premature infants treated with Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI), her groundbreaking physical therapy meant to help vulnerable newborns learn to feed, she was overcome with emotion.

Among the now more than 50 studies, and counting, that expand on her work, “Somebody decided to test the neurological development after discharge of preemies who got PIOMI versus those who didn’t, even though PIOMI is just meant to develop feeding skills while in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), and they found that the babies who got PIOMI scored higher on every single element of the neurological battery at 6 months of age,” Brenda said, citing results published in the American Journal of Perinatology in 2020.

“That’s when it hit me. This little therapy goes way beyond feeding skills. My husband came home from work and found me bawling. Just bawling. It’s really incredible,” she said.

Another study published two years later in the European Journal

With this research, it was even more certain that the treatment, administered with only the caregiver’s fingers, worked better and in more ways than Brenda had ever imagined.

Brenda, the daughter of a practicing nurse and nursing instructor, had always planned to go into medicine. It was when she came to

“One of our faculty ran an immersive clinical at the NICU in Peoria as an elective,” Brenda said. She credits that opportunity for landing her the first nursing position with the same NICU at St. Francis Medical Center.

When Brenda eventually returned to IWU as an adjunct nursing faculty member herself in 2002, the immersive clinical she had completed no longer existed, so she recreated it. And she expanded the research she was beginning as a Ph.D. candidate into something that would grow exponentially, from a dissertation she never thought would leave the University of Illinois Chicago’s archives into a best practice used worldwide.

Brenda first developed PIOMI as a simple form of newborn physical therapy when she was earning her doctorate from the University of Illinois Chicago in 2008. But she was interested in creating something she could perform on much smaller preterm infants than had been done before. No one had ever attempted to deliver oral motor therapy safely to a 2.5 pound baby.

As Brenda explained, “While a baby is in utero, its mouth is filled with amniotic fluid, which helps their tongue and cheeks build range of motion and strength against gentle resistance. There’s all the sensory

Lessen Knoll ’89

when she developed a groundbreaking new physical therapy. Now it's implemented around the world to help premature infants grow using only a caregiver's hands.

(Above) Brenda Lessen Knoll ’89 has devoted her career to healthcare and research regarding neonatal intensive care. (Opposite page) Brenda has turned her office into the global hub for reasearch and training on PIOMI.

HANDMADE MIRACLES

input that goes to their brain telling them ‘my tongue is here, my palate is here.’” But when infants are born prematurely they are cut off from all that sensory input, and the neurological "training" in the womb ends. Instead, they have to rely on caregivers to help them develop the skills they need to feed.

“Days turn into weeks and sometimes months where they don't have any of those inputs that activate neurons to form their brain architecture for feeding,” Brenda said. Because premature infants are extremely sensitive to stimulation, too much of which can cause their breathing and heart rates to slow drastically, caregivers try to stay as hands-off as possible. But Brenda explored whether she could adapt feeding therapies for healthy newborns into a safe regimen for premature infants.

It turned out she could.

Mostly with the use of the caregiver’s pinky finger, “We move their tongue around. We stretch their cheeks, we roll their lips, we press on their gums and palate, all of these things to wake-up the pathways

in their brain,” Brenda explained. The initial results were promising with premature infants learning to feed more efficiently and being discharged about a week sooner than those without PIOMI, with no drawback or risk to the patient.

When Brenda’s research was first published in 2011, it exploded. She quickly received emails from caregivers asking her to train them on the therapy, so, after additional studies were published confirming her earlier results, she developed a three-hour PIOMI training seminar series, complete with instruction tools and demonstration videos.

Initially, the key to her method’s utility and popularity was in the speed of a newborn’s discharge. NICUs involve some of the most expensive treatment a hospital provides, where daily costs add up quickly, so moving a patient out of the NICU as quickly as is safe and possible is paramount.

The latest of the research into NICU costs, published by Frontiers in February 2023, comes from the University of Toronto. They found that the median cost for a single

NICU admission, spanning days to weeks, was estimated to be more than $77,000, and that’s in Canada. The same treatment costs far more in the U.S., where premature triplets made The New York Times’ headlines in February 2020 for their $4 million hospital bill.

Studies have shown that PIOMI results in up to a 14 day reduction in the length of their hospital stay. Cutting just a week of treatment would not only send babies home to their families sooner, but it would save at least thousands of dollars. Achieving that with nothing but a caregiver’s fingers is both a miracle and a no-brainer, especially for preterm infants born in countries and regions with fewer health care resources.

Now with 56 published studies on PIOMI, 13 of which were completed since the beginning of 2023, the benefits granted by PIOMI to premature infants’ long-term development are becoming ever clearer.

“Right now I’m pushing for PIOMI to be thought of as a kind of prehabilitation, rather than rehabilitation,” Brenda said — “We need to

(Above) Brenda administers PIOMI to Remi Audeman, a 12-hour old premature infant born at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington.

(Above) PIOMI consists of gently stimulating and stressing an infant's mouth.

get in there early to leverage neuroplasticity and train their brains to feed before they are required to actually do the task of feeding.” And it turns out that that early “brain bending” as Brenda calls it, sets up a foundational brain architecture for development in other areas. Far more than an intervention that optimizes efficiency of feeding, it is a therapy that makes vulnerable infants more healthy overall well into their early childhood.

That’s the thought that often makes Brenda feel overwhelmed with emotion.

In the 2010s, Brenda traveled all over the world to both teach and expand PIOMI, including a version of the therapy accessible to parents that she developed with colleagues in Italy. As far as Brenda is aware, there are NICUs in 45 countries where PIOMI is implemented as best practice. But, as Brenda notes, the therapy requires no equipment purchased from her or anyone else, it can be taught to nurses, therapists and even parents in a few hours, and it is completely free to use. There’s no reliable way to estimate how far it might have spread, and it can spread very easily.

Anecdotes she has gathered suggest that PIOMI has traveled much farther around the world than she has been able to confirm, and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed even more to this outcome.

Brenda happened to be planning a redesign for her PIOMI website just before March 2020, and the pandemic made it clear where she should pivot. She had done virtual training in the past, but she didn’t anticipate how simple, and even preferable, it would be to offer PIOMI training through an entirely

virtual program.

“The webinars are incredibly rich,” Brenda said. In an online training seminar, she can see each face on screen while participants practice the steps on their own or a partners’ mouths, “I can see them demonstrate everything back to me much better than in a huge room.”

Brenda still schedules onsite in-person training with NICUs, and has personally trained hundreds of people on PIOMI, now with online seminars that can accommodate as many as 70 attendees about once a month.

As PIOMI expands across the world with more research done by a wider range of nurses, doctors and scientists, Brenda has become the matriarch of the method, helping to foster and direct what PIOMI might become next as more researchers contact her to design and co-author new studies.

Brenda admits that when she developed PIOMI for her dissertation work, she was not sure the therapy would even work, and was just happy to complete the study and graduate with her PhD. “The expansion of PIOMI from a little idea to a best practice model used across the world was not something I planned” Brendad

said. But, as Brenda sees it, “I’m just hiding out here in the cornfields of the Midwest watching it grow.”

She believes it was her education at IWU that most enabled her achievements. “I think IWU prepares us to think big,” she said. “We say we’re preparing students to be global citizens, so it’s natural to go beyond our borders and immerse ourselves in different cultures of care.”

IWU has reciprocated the praise, granting her the Excellence in Scholarly Work Award in recognition of her research on PIOMI at the beginning of the fall 2023 semester.

“We’re also always talking about how in nursing one must practice within a very interdisciplinary model,” Brenda continued. “We collaborate with lots of different healthcare disciplines, which makes it natural for me to create something that moves between nursing and physical therapy, which isn’t my original discipline.”

She concluded, “PIOMI is a perfect example of a truly interdisciplinary intervention that ended up weaving itself throughout the globe, and it all started at IWU.”

(Above) PIOMI is now a best practice implemented at NICUs in at least 45 countries.

Dr. Ann Stroink ’76 has mastered one of medicine's most demanding fields — neurosurgery. She has saved lives and trained a new generation of surgeons, for whom she advocates as a leader in national organizations.

Themargin of error for Ann Stroink ’76 is pretty much zero. If she’s a millimeter or two off, to the right or the left, it can mean the difference between life and death, between newfound mobility and paralysis, between continued intractable pain and relief.

Ann’s patients are in good hands. Each can be sure, knowing she has more than 25 years of experience as a celebrated neurosurgeon who is the founder of Central Illinois Neuro Health Sciences. Not to mention, Ann was the first woman to enter the neurosurgical residency program at the Mayo Clinic. She was the only woman in the program during her

entire time there.

“I’m a little bit OCD [Obsessive Compulsive Disorder],” Ann says with a smile, as if that explains everything. She insists that her operating rooms, equipment, supplies, records, everything, be just so. “I’m very demanding in that way,” she adds.

But precision only takes you so far in a field that also requires fierce intelligence, critical thinking, drive, stamina, an ability to stay abreast of rapidly emerging technology and, perhaps most of all, a sense of adventure.

Ann’s upbringing in Bloomington was a rigorous one. Her moth-

A CHANCE TO CURE

Story by NANCY STEELE BROKAW ’71

Dr. Ann Stroink ’76 Distinguished Alumni Award

er, Victoria, taught her a lot but it was her German-born pathologist father, Hans Stroink, who asked the demanding questions — with the expectation that his daughter’s answers would make perfect sense.

From fifth grade on, Ann worked in her dad’s pathology lab after school and on weekends. When it came time to choose a college, the elder Stroink determined “a big, state school” was the most sensible choice for his daughter and, accordingly, young Ann was dispatched to the University of Illinois.

“I had no professors,” only teaching assistants, Ann said. “I didn’t like it; I wanted to come back to Illinois Wesleyan for second semester,” despite what her father believed.

The decision paid off for Ann. “I remember the day I found out I got into medical school,” she recalled. “I was sitting in the library, looking out the window, and here comes Dr. [Biology Professor Bruce] Criley, almost at a run. ‘Ann, Ann,’ he says, ‘you got into medical school!’”

After medical school, it was time to convince her father again — this time that her choice of a medical specialty made sense. “My dad poured a glass of German white wine,” Ann said. “He had just raised it to his lips after saying, ‘So, you have finally decided what you want to be?’”

“Yes,” Ann replied. “I want to be a neurosurgeon.”

The elder Stroink spilled his wine, then made a quick recovery. He promptly suggested neurosurgical pathology.

“No,” Ann told her dad. “I don’t want to see a tumor I could have taken out.”

Her father’s balking at the idea was warranted. The inhumanly intense workload is one reason that the number of doctors in her field

shrunk dramatically in the past two decades. There are now fewer than 3,700 neurosurgeons in the U.S. and fewer than 150 in Illinois. “We’ve lost a lot of neurosurgeons,” Ann said. “It’s just too demanding.”

Ann's commitment to improving her profession motivated her to help found the Bloomington-based Central Illinois Neuroscience Foundation over 20 years ago. Ann saw a need to bring a neurosurgery resident program to Central Illinois to help alleviate the burgeoning needs for neurosurgical patient care and also to provide an educational resource to health providers, the community and medical students and residents.

“Our residency program brings in the best young minds out there,” she said.

Is it hard for her to keep up with those agile young minds?

“They have to keep up with me,” she said with an ardent gleam in her eye. “I’m very competitive; you should see me whip through journals.”

“I try to teach them to think critically,” Ann continued. “It’s important not to assume anything but to think on your own.”

The foundation keeps expanding in new ways. Jennifer (Johns) Troyanovich ’94 was there almost from the beginning and became executive director. Now she is the coordinator of Carle Hospital’s neurosurgical residency in Champaign, Illinois.

“Dr. Stroink motivates and inspires her colleagues, associates and staff with her commitment to excellence, genuine goodwill and frank enthusiasm” Jennifer said. She described her involvement in the foundation — and keeping up with the fast pace of Stroink’s schedule — as “a very wonderful adventure.”

Keith Kattner was Ann’s neurosurgical partner, being a co-founder of Central Illinois Neurohealth Sciences until he retired from the profession in 2010. “Residents love working with her,” he said. “She’s a strong educator,” likening Stroink to “the tough teacher you loved.”

Ann considers teaching doctors to be one of the most essential, and one of her favorite, parts of her job.

In 2008, Ann cut back her hours to 95 a week to become president of the Illinois State Neurological Society. She was until recently president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. “From a national perspective,” Kattner said, “she’s among the most powerful women in neurosurgery. ... She’s widely respected and well-known.”

(Above) Ann Stroink ’76 was the keynote speaker for the class of 2010's commencement ceremony. (Opposite page) Ann was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree during the commencement ceremony in front of Stevenson Hall.

ALUMNI AWARDS

Steve ’73 and Deb Wannemacher ’74 Loyalty Award

do so and made the financial stretch to send them.

The two met in October of 1970. They married after the first semester of Deb’s senior year. Their Greek connections helped bring them together with Steve being a Sigma Chi and Deb a Sigma Kappa.

Champion Federal. He eventually went into elder care administration with Heritage Enterprises. Deb was a small business owner and later worked at Country Financial.

Steve’73 and Deb Wannemacher ’74 have been a part of IWU ever since Steve’s Uncle Earl started taking him to IWU basketball games when he was a grade schooler in the 60s. At the same time, Deb’s father was broadcasting the IWU basket-

“We took a three-day honeymoon to Saint Louis,” Steve remembered. Upon return the couple became temporary house parents for Sigma Kappa while Steve began work at State Farm. They raised two daughters together, Allison and Sarah. Steve and Deb will have been married for 50 years in February 2024. They have three grandchildren.

Illinois Wesleyan has been a big part of the Wannemacher’s life. They have enjoyed being a part of a vibrant network of current and former administrators, staff, and alumni. Most of all, they are grateful for the breadth of the liberal arts education they received from their time at IWU that has stretched into a lifetime.

Deb says, “I feel a liberal arts education is a good foundation for any career. There's such a need for Wes-

“IWU graduates launch into life with tremendous potential. They have acquired the learning and social skills that predict success as a human being and a good citizen. It is a privilege to do our part and carry it forward.”

ball games for local radio, building relationships with the University’s athletics staff and bringing Deb along to campus as well.

Both Steve and Deb are the oldest siblings in their families, and they were both first generation college graduates. Like many post war families their parents were eager for their kids to take advantage of the educational opportunities they didn't have. Both of their parents believed in IWU as a great place to

“Right from the beginning we belonged to what was then called the Century Club,” Steve said. The Century Club included anyone who gave a $100 donation to the university, though for new graduates you could still count as a member by giving $25 each year for four years. “That was a lot of money to us back then. It really was a sacrificial gift.”

Since then, Steve says he was very fortunate to have a growing career in finance and insurance at

leyan students to absorb the wisdom and knowledge as well as social skills and values of this institution. It is critical to the graduates we send forth as citizens into a world hungry for their leadership.”

As Steve notes, “IWU graduates launch into life with tremendous potential. They have acquired the learning and social skills that predict success as a human being and good citizen. It is a privilege to do our part and carry it forward.”

STEVE WANNEMACHER ’73

ALUMNI AWARDS

Colleen O'Connor ’14

Robert M. Montgomery Young Alumni Award

“We used writing and other forms of expression to shed light on the painful stories that people needed to share in order to move forward,” Colleen said. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery expanded Colleen’s program, and by the time she left, multiple branches were implementing her curriculum.

mal. After successfully piloting the program in 2016, she expanded the program to serve all twenty standard, public junior high schools and high schools in the county.

Colleen

O’Connor ’14 came to IWU as a psychology major. Having burned herself out on writing in high school, she didn’t plan to pursue English any further until she took one of Professor Mike Theune’s classes as a general education requirement.

“He said ‘Colleen, what are you doing? You need to be an English major!’ So I figured out how to make it work,” Colleen said.

Now Colleen uses her training in both psychology and communication to help young people who are at-risk for suicide and mental health issues.

Her passion for mental health education began years before she arrived at IWU. Colleen started struggling with her mental health when she was in elementary school, and has based her career on the desire to provide the kind of information and support that she wishes that she received when she was young.

She first combined these skills in a professional setting when she received IWU’s Re-Centering the Humanities scholarship. She used the funding to design a creative expression curriculum for the Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery, where she worked after graduating.

In 2016, Colleen joined Project Oz, a non-profit organization in McLean County that focuses on supporting youth and families. She began as a substance use prevention education specialist, but her legacy at Project Oz centers on suicide prevention.

While teaching, Colleen focuses on preparing students to recognize the warning signs of mental health challenges, reach out for support, use healthy coping skills, and start important conversations with their friends and families. She also shares her own story of hope in order to reduce stigma and show students that they are not alone. She has directly linked thousands of struggling students with resources and support.

“I realized that many schools didn’t provide suicide prevention or mental health education, and many teachers were interested in providing it, but didn’t know where to start.”

COLLEEN O'CONNOR '14

“I realized that many schools didn’t provide suicide prevention or mental health education, and many teachers were interested in providing it, but didn’t know where to start,” Colleen said. “I wrote a grant that focused on youth education as a volunteer with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and it turned into a partnership with Project Oz.”

This brought NAMI’s national suicide prevention program, Ending the Silence, to Bloomington-Nor-

Colleen also provides suicide prevention and mental health education for other groups, including school staff and parents, and she has worked with neighboring communities to help them start mental health education programs. She has also collaborated with over a dozen local community members to help them share their stories of hope.

Colleen has educated over 25,000 students and adults. Reaching about 3,000 each year, she plans to help many more.

HOMECOMING AND FAMILY WEEKEND

Academic Excellence Receptions

Friday, October 6 | 3:30 - 4:30pm

Join alumni, students, parents, families, and supporters in celebrating IWU’s academic communities as we kick off Homecoming & Family Weekend! These receptions offer a great opportunity for the Titan community to connect with faculty, engage with fellow alumni, and begin the weekend reminiscing and learning together.

College of Liberal Arts: Tommy’s Restaurant, Hansen Student Center

School of Nursing & Health Sciences: Center Court, Hansen Student Center

School of Art and Design: Atrium, Ames School of Art and Design

School of Business and Economics: 3rd Floor Lobby, State Farm Hall

School of Music: Chorus Wing, Presser Hall

School of Theatre Arts: Ames Terrace, Ames Library

Natural Science Departments: Atrium, Center for Natural Sciences

Join us for Illinois Wesleyan University’s Homecoming and Family Weekend, Friday, October 6 to Sunday, October 8, 2023! We are so excited to welcome all our alumni, parents,

Alumni Awards Ceremony: Best of Illinois Wesleyan

Friday, October 6 | 6 - 8pm

Join the Alumni Association Board of Directors for a reception honoring our distinguished roster of 2023 Alumni Award winners, new Golden Titans from the Class of 1973 and others from the Titan community.

TGOE Fest & CAB Pizza Taste

Friday, October 6 | 6 - 8pm

Join friends, family, and alumni on Commencement Plaza of State Farm Hall for an evening of fun, activities, student recognition, and celebrating our Titan Pride! This event brings in several local pizza chains from the Bloomington/Normal area. Students and families are welcome to try a sample from each participating restaurant and vote for their favorite!

Rain Location: Hansen Student Center

1850 Vendor Market

Saturday, October 7 | 10 - 3pm

Be sure to make time for this inaugural event. Small businesses, local shops, food trucks and makers will be set up on the university quad with goods to purchase and eat. Apply for a booth at iwu.edu/homecoming.

Family Fun

Saturday, October 7 | 10 - 3pm

Enjoy a day of joy and laughter as families gather on the Quad, taking in a wide array of activities and creating unforgettable memories. Face painters, inflatables, balloon artists and more available to enjoy.

Titan Tailgate & Football Game

Saturday, October 7 | 11 - 1pm Tailgate

1pm Football

Celebrate your Titan spirit with friends and family before the football team takes on Washington University on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Tucci Stadium.

Tommy’s Trivia

Saturday, October 7 | 6 - 9pm

Join us for a thrilling night of trivia, hosted by Twin City Trivia, where you can put your knowledge to the test! Gather your family & friends, form a team, and prepare for a fun-filled evening of brain-teasing questions, laughter, and friendly competition.

Reunion Weekend

Saturday, October 7 | Various Times

Reconnect with your classmates through special class events. Classes honored this year are: 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018. More information at iwu.edu/reunion

5 - 7pm — Golden Titan Dinner

Turfler Room, Memorial Center

5:30 - 8:30 pm — 50th Reunion Dinner

Young Main Lounge, Memorial Center

7 - 9pm — Class of 1978 45th Reunion, Class of 1983

40 th Reunion, and Class of 1988 35th Reunion

Maguire’s Bar & Grill, 220 N. Center St., Bloomington, IL. 61701

7 - 9pm — Class of 1993 30 th Reunion, Class of 1998

25th Reunion, and Class of 2003 20 th Reunion

Fat Jack’s Bar, 511 N. Main St., Bloomington, IL. 61701

7 - 9pm — Class of 2008 15th Reunion, Class of 2013

10 th Reunion, and Class of 2018 5th Reunion

Elroy’s, 102 W. Washington St., Bloomington, IL. 61701

Plan Your Stay

Host hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton is ready to greet you in Titan Green. Hotel blocks are available at www.iwu.edu/ homecoming/plan-your-stay. Various locations and prices available.

For a complete schedule of events and registration visit iwu.edu/homecoming or call (888) 498-2586 for more information.

Alumni Update

NEWS, WORKS AND CELEBRATIONS OF IWU ALUMNI & FRIENDS

1943

Mary Winn and her late husband Jim Winn ’41 are being honored by Clinton Community College through a scholarship in their name, which will support the school’s next generation of music students. Mary and Jim met while studying music at IWU.

1958

Oliver Lee Jackson was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from the University of Iowa for his creative and scholarly works. Oliver is an accomplished artist whose paintings, sculptures and prints are included in the permanent collections at the National Gallery of Art and regional art institutions around the country. He has also taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, San Francisco Art Institute, Harvard University, University of Hawaii and the University of Iowa, where he earned his MFA in 1963.

1963

Dave Kindred and his career were featured in an article published by Louisville’s (Kentucky) Courier Journal. The article details Dave’s career as a sports journalist who was inducted into the

Basketball Writers Hall of Fame and the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame. Dave played basketball at IWU before beginning his career at The Pantagraph. He is originally from Louisville.

1972

Tom Wetzel received the Silver Beaver from the Pathway to Adventure Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which represents Chicago and its suburbs. The award is the highest given by a council to adult volunteers for their distinguished service to youth and their community. Tom has been active in scouting for more than 25 years having served in many leadership positions.

1974

Thomas (Allen) Christensen is retiring from practicing law with Marshall & Melhorn in Toledo, Ohio, after 45 years as an estate planning and tax attorney in Ohio and Michigan.

1975

John Wilson retired as professor emeritus at San Francisco State University in 2020. John is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and was an assistant

professor at Stanford University for nine years before joining the faculty of the Theatre Arts Department at San Francisco State University where he taught for 23 years. He lives in San Francisco with his partner and husband of 35 years.

1977

Jack Sikma is the proposed namesake of a segment of IL Route 1 passing through St. Anne. The Illinois State House of Representatives voted to pass the bill. Once the bill is passed in the State Senate, the stretch of country highway will be renamed the “Honorary Jack Sikma Road.” Jack, from a small town

north of St. Anne, was a sevenfoot-tall seven-time NBA All-Star in the 1970s.

1980

Carl Teichman has taken on a new role at the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council as its business retention manager. His move comes after more than 40 years as a member of Illinois Wesleyan’s administrative staff, most recently as director of government and community relations. During that time, he has been an active public servant, being chair or president of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission, the McLean County Chamber of

Jeff Parkhill ’85

Carl Teichman ’80

Tom Wetzel ’72

ALUMNI UPDATE

Commerce and the board of the Westminster Village retirement community. He was named Normal Citizen of the Year in 2017.

1982

Gregory Lucas will retire soon after 37 years of ministry with the United Church of Christ and 19 years at the Crystal Lake parish. The church held a celebration of his career on May 21.

1985

Don Mizerk was profiled by Crain’s Chicago Business, answering a Q and A about his career as a lawyer representing generic pharmaceutical companies trying to get new products to market. The interview covers Don’s focus on patent litigation and other intellectual property related to medicine, including chemical manufacturing more broadly and ergonomic product design. He is extensively experienced as a trial lawyer, and he is a board member for The Night Ministry organization, where he chaired a capital campaign to relocate a homeless youth shelter to a new facility in Chicago.

Jeff Parkhill was elected to the City Council for Wayzata, Minnesota, in Nov. 2022. Jeff was previously appointed to the Wayzata Planning Commission where he served four years, the last being as chairman. Jeff studied accounting at IWU before starting his career as a CPA in Denver, Colorado. On campus, he was an active Sigma Chi member who served as rush chairman, homecoming chair and as a fraternity representative on the Student Council.

1988

Victoria (Lewis) Olds was chosen as the Nez Perce County magistrate judge. She was unanimously selected by the Second District Magistrate Commission

of Idaho. Previously, Victoria was the presiding magistrate judge in Lewis County. At IWU, she studied English and history before studying law at the University of Idaho.

1990

Debbie Stroud was made executive vice president and COO of the Southwestern regional fast food chain Whataburger after serving as senior vice president of Starbucks for five years and spending more than 30 years in the restaurant and retail industry. She has also been a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum.

1993

Mark Denzler was featured in Decatur’s (Illinois) Herald & Review as president of the Illinois Manufacturer’s Association. As a Decatur native, the profile covers Mark’s career, beginning with his time at IWU, where he intended to study biology but switched to political science as a first-year student and launched his career as a political aide in Illinois and Washington, D.C.

1995

Kimberly (Branshaw) Shafi was a member of a panel hosted by the international semiconductor

manufacturer ASM. The panel, titled “Women in Semiconductor Engineering,” featured the panelists answering questions and describing their experience in various jobs and levels of seniority in the semiconductor industry. They also offered advice to young women looking to enter the industry. Kimberly is a senior process engineer at ASM.

1996

Deidre Dyer was appointed as the Cook County (Illinois) circuit judge. Deidre was previously deputy supervisor of public corruption, financial crimes, money laundering and consumer fraud, as well as the chair of the Benefit Fraud Committee, at the Cook County State’s Attorney Office. She is the first judicial appointment of Justice Joy Cunningham of the Illinois Supreme Court.

your news to IWU Magazine, P.O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702, iwumag@iwu.edu, or via our website, at iwu.edu/magazine.

Vickie Folse ’86 and Sara Rodriguez ’97 shared the stage at Ripon College’s presidential inauguration. Folse, former head of the nursing department at IWU who led the University’s pandemic response, was appointed as Ripon College’s new president. The Wisconsin school invited the state’s newly elected lieutenant governor, Rodriguez, to speak at the ceremony, creating the perfect photo op for a pair of highly accomplished IWU alumni.

Carla Vigue was included in the list of Wisconsin’s 33 most influential Native American leaders for 2023, published by Madison365. Carla tops the list as the recently appointed director of tribal relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before her new position, she was director of communications, events and community engagement for the National Council of Urban Indian Health in Washington, D.C.

1997

Gregg Bush ran in an election to represent the fifth ward of Columbia, Missouri, on April 5. He was defeated by Don Waterman. Gregg has lived in Columbia since 2006 where he is a registered nurse. He studied theater arts at IWU.

Sara Rodriguez, the new lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, was profiled by WGLT radio in Bloomington-Normal. She was inspired to enter politics during the pandemic and originally won

Mark Denzler ’93

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEWS

My Fellow Titans, The Power of (THIS) Place

This year’s educational theme asked us to consider the power of place by critically examining how we shape and are shaped by the places in our lives. As we welcome the class of 2023 into our alumni family and as I complete my term as President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors (AABD), I couldn’t help but reflect on how IWU has shaped not only my life but the nearly 20,000+ living alumni of this great institution.

Whether IWU provided you the opportunity to fulfill your family’s dream of becoming a first-generation college graduate, changing the trajectory of your and your family’s future, or whether you honed your leadership skills through participation in an RSO, Greek Letter Organization, as a student athlete or as President of the AABD. Whether you discovered a newfound passion that provided for a life of continuing education and happiness in a career that you never thought possible, or whether through your authentic voice, advocacy and philanthropy, you educated our communities and advanced positive changes in the places you lived. Whether you made lifelong friends or found your loving spouse or started a business with a classmate or made that alumni connection that opened the door for your first career opportunity, the Power of (THIS) Place is palpable.

I complete my term as I began it with the guiding principle my parents instilled in me — which is to leave a place better than I found it. I don’t know if any of us can ever give back to IWU what IWU has given to us, but I hope that our alumni continue to do good and give of our time, talent and treasure in an attempt to repay the Power this Place has instilled in us!

Go Titans!

Get Involved

IWU Regional Alumni Chapters

Whether you've moved across the state or across the country, regional alumni chapters are here to help you stay connected! Join a chapter to find, network, and socialize with other Titans.

• Atlanta, Georgia

• Champaign, Illinois

• Chicago, Illinois

• Dallas, Texas

• Denver, Colorado

• Los Angeles, California

• McLean County, Illinois

• Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota

• New York City, New York

• Phoenix, Arizona

• Peoria, Illinois

• Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina

• San Francisco, California

• Seattle, Washington

• Springfield, Illinois

• St. Louis, Missouri

• Washington, D.C.

Dirk Behrends ’87 President, Alumni Association Board of Directors

Through engagement efforts, alumni can make a great impact on the IWU family — whether it be by leading alumni groups, sharing experiences with future students, mentoring current students, or giving to your alma mater. There are so many ways to make a difference. Wherever and whenever you have time and talent to share, there is a way for you to contribute. See all the ways to engage at iwu.edu/alumni/engage/volunteer.html.

Join an Affinity Group or Committee

Do you have a passion close to your heart? Affinity groups and committees each engage with the university in meaningful, unique ways.

• Alumni of Color Collective

• Council for Women

• International Alumni Network

• Pride Alumni Community

• Wesleyan Fund Committee

• Young Alumni Council

Take Part Virtually

Titan Talks: Webinar Series features IWU alumni, friends, supporters, faculty and staff who are leaders in their field, faculty with insight on their research, and staff with updates on their respective areas. Speaker suggestions are always welcomed and encouraged.

We are recruiting the best and brightest students to become a part of the Titan Family and graduate with an Illinois Wesleyan University degree. And who better than our alumni to assist in the recruitment efforts led by the Admissions team. Titan Alumni Ambassadors write letters to prospective students and share your enthusiasm about Illinois Wesleyan, congratulate students who commit to attend and connect with your recruited students during their first year to offer support and encouragement.

Assist the Hart Career Center

It is essential that our alumni assist us in providing/ identifying internship and employment opportunities within their organizations. We are always looking to identify new opportunities, whether they be immediate needs or relationships that we can develop with organizations through your support.

Titan Alumni Ambassadors

ALUMNI UPDATE

a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2020 before becoming Governor Tony Evers’ running mate. Sara told WGLT that she loved her time at IWU where her professors, “really encouraged you to figure out what you wanted to do, to really look at what you’re good at, but what do you really enjoy, and to pursue different classes.”

1999

Melissa (Arms) Van Dyke was promoted to senior vice president of global customer experience and insights at Creative Group, a 50-year-old company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. Melissa leads 160 talents who execute over 400 meetings and incentives experiences in more than 50 countries. Globally, they serve over a hundred clients and send over 150,000 participants all over the world every year. At IWU, Melissa created her own major in economics and international studies with a concentration in developmental economics.

Erik Sgariglia joined the Chicago-based tech startup Trala as their vice president of operations. The company’s mission is to make world-class music education accessible around the world with thousands of hours of music education provided every month by Trala’s part- and fulltime music teacher staff. Erik began his tech startup career with

Rocket Travel, whose operations he helped build until after its acquisition. At IWU, Erik studied biology and Spanish, and, while he was a graduate student at San Diego State University, he was a winner on Wheel of Fortune.

2000

Jeremy Daniel was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Jeremy’s career includes working as an associate with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP and as a law clerk for the bench he now occupies. He is also a Marine Corps veteran.

Kate Hertz was hired as the assistant principal of the Sycamore High School, where she earned her high school diploma. After graduating from IWU, Kate got her master’s degrees in educational leadership and teaching from Aurora University and became an English teacher at Geneva High School, where she was most recently an instructional coach.

2001

Amy McCabe is the first female trumpet player to achieve the position of principal trumpet in the 225-year history of “The President’s Own” Marine Band. Her new appointment and career was profiled on the official website of the United States Marine

Corps. At IWU, Amy appreciated the high-level performing ensembles she played with, including the wind and jazz ensembles, symphony orchestra and Titan Band. She believes her education was enriched by being among a small cohort of talented students.

2002

Ebony Murell delivered a talk on behalf of The Land Institute, where she is the lead scientist of crop protection ecology. The talk, titled “New Roots for Fallowed Ground: Developing Sustainable Perennial Grains Agriculture,” provided an overview of the research conducted by The Land Institute and global partners on perennial grains systems.

Megan Neely was made the new chief of primary care with the Marion (Virginia) Veterans Administration Health Care System. She oversees a staff of physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners in improving the care offered by the VA hospital in Marion.

2003

Steve Messina, serving as assistant vice president at CCS Fundraising, led a historic capital and endowment campaign for the Diocese of Toledo (Ohio) raising over $100 million dollars on an initial $65 million goal. The campaign will fund parishes,

schools and charitable ministries in Toledo’s 19-county diocese.

2004

Kwabena Appenteng was made the new office managing shareholder of the Littler law firm’s office in Chicago. Littler counsels and represents employers in labor and employment law, originally in Illinois, and now expanded nationally. Kwabena has been a leader at the firm championing their mentorship and recruitment efforts.

Abby Reel spoke to The Pantagraph about her business, The Barn III Dinner Theater and Event Center, ahead of being the featured speaker at a Barn Keepers of Central Illinois meeting in May. Abby bought the business, where she formerly worked when it was “The Barn II” prior to sustaining damage in a 2015 tornado, and has run it since 2017. She estimates that it receives about 25,000 visitors every year.

2005

Colleen Lawless was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a new federal judge in the central district of Illinois. Colleen was one among three judges who were recommended by Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. Previously, Colleen had been an associate judge in Sangamon County.

Kwabena Appenteng ’04 Zach Hooper ’07

Melissa (Arms) Van Dyke ’99

Erik Sgarlglia ’99

2006

Joan (Teitelman) Cinquegrani was accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program — a 12-week intensive business growth course funded by Goldman Sachs. She will join the 35th Cohort of Scholars out of the Chicago site. Since 2010 she has successfully run her business, Five Grain Events, planning and executing both social and corporate events as well as non-profit fundraisers throughout the Chicagoland area.

Kelly (Goodpaster) Fuller joined Type A Events as senior manager, incentives & conferences. In her position, she supports clients in selecting, planning and operating incentive trips, sales meetings and other corporate programming worldwide. She also continues to be involved in the event planning industry as a member of the Society of Incentive Travel Excellence.

2007

Zach Hooper was selected by the seven justices of the Illinois Third District Appellate Court to serve as clerk of the court. Zach has worked for the appellate court since 2011 and previously served as the court’s Director of Legal Research. He also serves as the court's liaison to the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts, other courts and the general public. While at IWU, Zach

ALUMNI UPDATE

Andrew Herrington-Gilmore ’09 and Lauren (Giannini) Herrington-Gilmore ’08, founders of The Gilmore Family Foundation, recently had a very successful fundraising gala in Chicago. At this gala, there were 300 attendees, more than 20 sponsors and nearly 70 IWU alums. They raised over $250,000, all of which will go to the Rare Disease Program at Children’s Wisconsin to “support both the infrastructure required to provide coordinated clinical care and provide opportunities for ongoing research collaboration in pediatric rare diseases.”

received honors for researching “poison pill” use in the banking industry. Zach was a member of the Titan Law Club and played saxophone in the Jazz Lab Band.

Matt Maxwell has been selected as the superintendent of Central Community Unit School District 4 starting in the fall 2023 semester. Currently, Matt is the principal at Grant Park (Ill.) Middle School and Grant Park High School, where he has been for six years and where he forged partnerships that would allow students to earn college credit through Olivet Nazarene University and Kankakee Community College.

2008

Lindsay Orr was named manager of customer onboarding at Fastpath Solutions. Lindsay is an experienced manager in higher education and B2B industries. She studied environmental studies and music at IWU.

2009

Karlin Sangdahl was promoted to partner at Reed Smith LLP at the firm’s Chicago office. She is a member of the Global Commercial Disputes Group where she represents clients in contract disputes, business torts, unfair competition and product liability. She also takes on class actions re -

garding breach of warranty, consumer fraud and contract-based claims. She earned her J.D. in 2013 from Chicago-Kent College of Law at the Illinois Institute of Technology. At IWU Karlin studied German and history.

2011

Jessica (Hinterlong) Schaeffer was featured during a segment on ABC 7 Chicago on professional development and growth within careers. Jessica is the vice president of the LaSalle Network, a national talent recruiting firm based in Chicago.

Matt Neylon was listed as one of the Top 40 under 40 inspiring innovators in Atlanta’s Best Self Magazine. As the chief talent & experience officer for The Mount Vernon School in Atlanta, Matt enjoys working in an innovative environment where students are given opportunities to do real-world work with Fortune 500 companies, use design thinking to solve human-centered problems and reimagine the employee experience for a team of over 250 talented educators and administrators.

Michelle Ponschke was promoted to supervise the Trace Evidence Unit of the Michigan State Police Lansing Forensic Laboratory. She has been a mem-

ber of the unit since April 2013 after earning a master’s degree in forensic science from the University of Illinois Chicago. Michelle is also the copy editor for the Journal of the American Society of Trace Evidence Examiners.

2012

Eunis Wu represented the Lyric Chamber Music Society of New York at the 86th Kosciuszko Foundation Annual Dinner & Ball in New York City. The dinner celebrates the legacies of Polish music legends, alongside world-renowned musicians and promising young leaders in the world of Polish music. Eunis is a board member for the Lyric Chamber Music Society.

2013

Nicole (Schneider) Hayes was promoted to executive director at the Carle Health Center for Philanthropy - Greater Peoria. Nicole has been working in health care administration since she joined Unity Point Health in Peoria, Illinois, in 2015.

2014

Matt Hohmann was promoted to director of production services at audio/visual production equipment company PRG Gear in Chicago. In this position, Matt oversees a team of production

Karlin Sangdahl ’09

ALUMNI UPDATE

HART CAREER CENTER HAPPENINGS

Illinois Wesleyan’s Hart Career Center is constantly engaging with alumni and connecting them with current students in fun and enriching ways. Do you want to assist students to ensure their career success? Does your organization have internships or employment opportunities for Titans? Contact the Career Center staff at ccenter@iwu.edu or (309) 556-3095 Here’s how others are getting involved.

Finding your Fit in the Workplace

Logan Servin ’21, Brady Rose ’19, Esther Niedert ’20, Eva Nautiyal ’20 and Chris Sawicki ’20

Careers in Publishing with Sourcebooks

Todd Stocke ’93

Law School Admissions 101

Ryan Mellske ’99

Careers in International Development with Chemonics International

Will Keller ’02

Environmental Career Panel

Tatum DeMay ’15, Amanda Solliday ’06, Jay Truty ’96, John Haugen ’07 and Andy Nelson ’07

Careers in Financial Services with BlackRock

Gail Hoye ’96

Careers in Political Science — Sponsored by Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society

Patrick Urich ’91, Sofia Papoutsis ’22 and Matthew Galvan ’22

Demystifying Professional Sales

Paul Vranas '00 and Kristen Hranicka '10

Financial Literacy 101

Kevin Kuebler — Friend of the university

Additional Programming

Bob Gulino ’97, Kerri Johnson ’09, Greg Dulaney ’00, Jim Duff — Parent of IWU student, Paul Mucci ’22 , Elizabeth Cummings ’22 and Kelly Kitahata ’22

(Above) Ryan Mellske ’99, Founder of Flex Arbitri PLLC and Senior Lecturer at Duke University School of Law, presented to students on law school admissions. Ryan is pictured with Claire Martin ’23.

(Above) Will Keller ’02 , Senior Vice President - Nigeria Country Operations with Chemonics International, shared information on careers in international development. Will is pictured with Joelle McMillan ’25 and Valeria Suarez ’26.

(Above) Todd Stocke ’93, Senior Vice President/Editorial Director with Sourcebooks, presented on careers in books and publishing. Todd is pictured with Abby Nytko ’23.

managers in the corporate events group. He originally was an intern at PRG while studying at Illinois Wesleyan, and PRG was his first employer out of college. At IWU, Matt studied theater design and technology with a specialty in lighting, and he was a student employee with IWU’s IT department.

Zach Meyer, the owner of Minonk Chocolate Company, was recently featured in The Pantagraph. The article details the history of the business, which was founded over 100 years ago in the small town of Minonk, Illinois, north of Bloomington where Zach was raised. Despite the name, he specializes in caramel with his chocolate-caramel treats being his bestsellers.

2015

Jordan Collins graduated from Saint Louis University with a doctorate in clinical psychology and a concentration in sport psychology. Jordan was a member of the Titan track and field team, and his research focuses on the utility of athletic values in college athletes. Jordan is currently completing a year-long internship at the University of Southern California, and he has previously worked as a homeless outreach specialist and as assistant director of SLU’s Sport Psychological Sciences and Consultation Lab.

Hannah Dhue, as senior manager of TV mastering at Disney, was given the company’s North Star award, which is granted to Disney employees who “stay the course in pursuit of a goal to improve business performance.” Hannah is co-chair of an industry women’s networking group and a participant in Disney Pride. Hannah studied theater at IWU, where she directed her first production as a sophomore.

Joe Ruskey joined the corporate & securities group within Minneapolis law firm Maslon LLP. Joe represents strategic investors, private equity funds and public and private companies providing outside general counsel services and guiding clients through mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and other general business issues. Joe earned his juris doctor from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. At Illinois Wesleyan he majored in English Writing, and he wrote and staged his first theatrical play.

2017

Tyler Crawford recently started a new job as sales and marketing manager for PWR North America.

Haley and Cam Loyet ’18, owners of Honeymoon Chocolates in St. Louis, are expanding their business to offer alcoholic products. This includes choco -

late-based beverages and local drink pairings with their signature chocolates.

Faculty, Staff and Friends

Courtney Turnbull was elected as a school board member for

Tiny Titans

Bloomington’s District 87 in April 2023. In an extraordinarily close race, Courtney and the two other candidates running for two open seats all came within half a percentage point of each other in the final count.

Kelly (Goodpaster) Fuller ’06 and Doug; Emma Lynn Fuller, born Sept. 8, 2022

Adam ’09 and Claire (Goble) Cordray ’08; James Elliott Cordray and Juliette Anne Cordray, born Sept. 15, 2022

Mitch ’09 and Nicole (Pilotte) Carmen ’09; Conor Gregory Carmen, born Dec. 5, 2022

Megan Bennet ’09 and Edward; Zachary James Bennett, born July 25, 2022

Nicole (Schneider) Hayse ’13 and Collin; Emerson Mark Hayse, born Nov. 11, 2022

Lisa (Peltekian) Skaff ’13 and Phil; Valerie Anne Skaff, born May 19, 2023

Kristina (Arns) Bren ’18 and Justin; Mackenzie Lynn Bren, born Aug. 22, 2022

All submitted content received by May 22, 2023. The submitted content deadline for the Winter 2023-24 issue of IWU Magazine is October 16, 2023. Submissions may be edited, directed to other communications and/or preserved in IWU archives.

Michelle Ponschke ’11

Matt Neylon ’11

Matt Hohmann ’14

Hannah Dhue ’15

Titan Celebrations

IWU Magazine considers for publication photos of IWU people at celebrations and reunions of alumni. Please send your Titan Celebration photos to IWU Magazine, at iwu.edu/magazine, via email at iwumag@iwu.edu, or by mail at P.O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702. All submitted content received by May 22, 2023.

(Above) Tyler Dunkel ‘16 and Taylor (Daum) Dunkel ‘15 were married on Aug. 13, 2022 at Hornbaker Gardens in Princeton, Illinois, with many alumni in attendance.

(Above) David Esterquest ‘16 and Rachel Zarchy-Esterquest ‘17 were married on May 20, 2023 in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. Alumni guests included Carlos Medina ‘16, Jackson Wietecha ‘18, Jennifer (Burns) Capone ‘16, Matthew Capone ‘18, Alexander Mueller ‘16, Michael Kozdronkiewicz ‘16 and Amy Dunn ‘16

(Above) Zac Birch ‘09 married Allyse Jerome, the granddaughter of Bob Rebmann ‘56 and Ginny Rebmann ‘59 in Carpentersville, Illinois. In attendance were Zac’s classmates Anjie (Swidergal) Sorenson ’09 and Marcus Mitchell ’09

(Above) Three generations of IWU graduates attended the senior art show of Gabby Rogers ‘23. Visiting campus were her mother, Lori Verkuilen Rogers ‘93, and her grandmother, Nancy Kettelkamp Verkuilen ‘65. Great-grandparents Helen Purvines Kettelkamp ‘36 and Rudolph Kettelkamp ‘37 were alumni as well.

In Memory

The family of Dave Petrick ’67, who died December 2, 2022, held a celebration of life ceremony in August 2023.

ALUMNI UPDATE

doctorate in the field from the University of Illinois. He became a faculty member at San Jose State University in California followed by a move to Bowling Green State University in Ohio where he remained for the rest of his career. He was a member of math, science and research societies and of the Optimist Club of Bowling Green. Ralph is survived by his wife, two children and a grandchild.

Joan Harden ’54 died March 4, 2023. She was 90. At IWU, Joan studied education and went on to become a teacher in Champaign, Illinois, and Aurora, Colorado. She is remembered as a kind and caring teacher who remained committed to her students’ success after they left her classroom. She loved reading, movies and crossword puzzles.

John O'Bannon ’55 died Jan 18, 2023. He was 89. John was born in rural Edgar County, Illinois. He graduated from Paris High School in the class of 1951. He then graduated from Illinois Wesleyan with a degree in music education. John was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity. Upon graduation, John auditioned for and was accepted to the Marine Corps Band with plans of working with their studio production corps. Afterward, he pursued a career in electronics.

Faculty, Staff and Friends

Gary Hicks died April 11, 2023. He was 67. Gary was a man of devout Catholic faith and a lover of music who sang and played the harmonica with local and national bands including Recreational Bones, Uptown Rulers and Stumpwhoopt. He contributed to the Illinois Wesleyan community as a food service worker and manager for 20 years. Gary is survived by his wife and mother.

Alumni

Mary Selk ’43 died April 15, 2023. She was 101. Mary was born in 1921 in El Paso, Illinois, and she came to Illinois Wesleyan to study music education. She earned her master’s degree from Illinois State University. Mary taught vocal music for K - 12 students in Illinois before spending her career teaching and becoming director of music activities for Bloomington’s District 87. In 1997, she received the Harold A. Decker Choral Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Bloomington Public Schools.

Nancy Baumgart ’50 died May 31, 2023. She was 94. Nancy married her high school sweetheart, Phillip, while she was a student at Illinois Wesleyan. She and her husband settled near Lake Bloomington where they lived for many years. Nancy is survived by two children and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Donald Scott ’51 died June 18, 2022. He was 93. Dan came from a farming family in Kempton, Illinois. At Illinois Wesleyan, he was a member of the TKE fraternity and graduated with a BA in philosophy. He then served in the military for two years during the Korean War. For many years Don worked for Prudential Insurance in Davenport, Iowa, leading his staff to receive many awards for outstanding sales and service. After retiring, he spent most of his time in Florida where he enjoyed tennis, golf, fishing and visits from family and friends. Don is survived by his wife, two children, including Sherrill Scott ’75, and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Ralph Townsend ’53 died April 26, 2023. He was 91. Ralph studied mathematics at Illinois Wesleyan before going on to a master’s and

Paul Lewis II ’57 died July 31, 1935. In his youth, Paul moved around the Midwest before coming to Illinois Wesleyan. He was drafted into the army during the Korean War and returned to finish his education at Bryant College. While on leave, he met his wife, who he got to know by volunteering as an interim house mom for her sorority while the official house mom went missing on a bender. Paul was a lover of animals, music and history and was quick to tell jokes and laugh.

Martha “Marty” Wetzel ’52 died Jan. 28, 2023. She was 92. Marty was born in Carlinville, Illinois, to William and Isabel Coolidge ’19. She met her husband, J. Janvier Wetzel ’50, while studying elementary education at Illinois Wesleyan, where she was a Sigma Kappa. Both were the children of IWU alumni. Marty became an elementary school teacher in the San Gabriel Valley in southern California, and, after retiring from teaching in 1981, she co-owned and operated several Diet Center locations. She was an active member of her community, participating in Pasadena Showcase House, Calvary Presbyterian Church and South Pasadena Beautiful. Before serving as a member of the IWU Board of Trustees, Marty and her husband were co-presidents of the IWU Los Angeles Regional Alumni Association. She is survived by three children, seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Ann Holub ’60 died March 8, 2023. She was 86. Ann studied biology at IWU and got an advanced degree in medical technology, but she had a wide range of interests she pursued in her life. She won state awards as a percussionist and played in an all-girls band, she went to a radio broadcasting school for an extra degree and was the first female DJ at WJBC radio in Bloomington. She also became a realtor and an avid golfer.

Mary Reed ’61 died March 3, 2023. She was 84. Mary was a member of the last graduating class of the downtown Decatur High School. She studied sociology at IWU and social work at the University of Illinois, leading her to become the executive director of Planned Parenthood in Decatur from 1972 until she retired in 1997. The Decatur Planned Parenthood library was named after her following her retirement. Mary is survived by her husband and two children.

Richard Wiedey ’61 died recently. Richard studied biology at IWU before graduating from Northwestern Dental School with a degree in dental surgery. Following his education, he remained at Northwestern to teach in the Department of Oral Diagnosis before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force where he became a captain and commander of the Hospital Dental Clinic at Amarillo Air Force Base in Texas. He was married to his wife, Janice, for 60 years. Richard is survived by his wife, two children and grandchildren.

Linda Cozzolino ’62 died April 23, 2023. She was 83. Linda studied education at IWU to become an English teacher for Springfield’s District 186, after which she earned her master’s degree in counseling from the University of Illinois, Springfield. She was the founder and director of Problem Design with the Problem-Based Learning Institute, from which she retired in 2002. She loved traveling to Chicago and California with her husband, Jim. Linda is survived by her husband, four children and two grandchildren.

Richard “Dick” Burwell ’62 died May 1, 2023. He was 83. Dick was an accomplished athlete at Illinois Wesleyan where he played baseball, football and basketball, and he went on to pitch for the Cubs. He met and married his wife of 62 years, Susan Wallace ’63, at IWU. After his career in baseball, Dick’s family moved to Idaho to run the logistics company Magic Valley Distributing, and he became an active member of the Twin Falls Chamber of Commerce. Dick is survived by his wife, two children and five grandchildren.

Denny Groh ’61 died April 22, 2023. He was 83. Denny was a high school and college football player who studied history, participated in student government and was a member of the Acacia fraternity at IWU. After graduating, he attended Garrett Seminary and became an ordained pastor at Sumption Prairie Methodist Church in South Bend, Indiana. He was an elder in the United Methodist Church before receiving his doctorate from Northwestern University, and he became a renowned scholar of early Christianity, having studied excavated ruins in Italy, who returned to IWU as a member of faculty and administration. He was both a professor of humanities and archeology and the IWU university chaplain. Denny is survived by his wife, four children and five grandchildren.

James Keeran ’63 died April 19, 2023. He was 82. James was a lifelong Bloomington resident who became an award-winning journalist with The Pantagraph. At IWU he studied theater, and, two years after graduating, he began his first job as a reporter in BloomingtonNormal. James spent his entire career at The Pantagraph where he earned multiple Associated Press Awards. He was also a local actor and director. James is survived by his partner, two children and six grandchildren.

Ronald Stephens ’64 died March 30, 2023. He was 81. Ron was a Pantagraph Scholar at IWU and a star athlete, writing for the newspaper while playing basketball. As a young professional, he worked for Caterpillar and served in the U.S. Army Reserves. He eventually settled in San Diego and founded a successful business operating preschools until he retired in 2007. He enjoyed traveling and playing golf, and he served as a volunteer docent on the USS Midway Museum. Ron is survived by two children and a grandchild.

Albert Carnine ’65 died May 2, 2023. He was 79. Albert was a lifelong learner earning degrees from Illinois Wesleyan, Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas, Austin. He was a choral director, coordinator of vocal music and a professor of music during his career as a music educator. Albert is survived by his wife and three children.

James Herbison ’67 died March 3, 2023. He was 78. James grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, before coming to IWU and meeting his wife of 54 years Joyce (Gannon) Herbison ’67. He earned his advanced degrees from the University of Illinois and Northern Illinois University before enlisting in the U.S. Navy from 1969 to 1972 and advancing his career to become president of Fibers Inc. He was a board member for many organizations and a member of Hope United Methodist Church. James loved golf, fishing and rooting for his teams: the Fighting Illini, White Sox and Packers. He is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren.

Virginia Witt ’67 died Jan. 4, 2022. She was 77. Virginia came from Evanston, Illinois, to attend IWU. She ran the company Kusel Hardware

with her late husband and was a member of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Homer Glen, Illinois. She is survived by her partner.

Vicki Cox ’70 died March 21, 2023. She was 74. While at IWU, Vicki was an active member of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity. She taught music in Delavan, Illinois, for eight years before working for Freeman United, P.J. Hoerr, Peoria Black Top and Mitsubishi from 1998 to 2010 when she retired. Throughout her life, Vicki’s passion was music starting with piano as a child. She was most recently a percussionist with the Peoria Area Senior Citizen Band in 2022. She served as choir director and in the bell chorus for First United Methodist Church in East Peoria directing their Christmas Cantata.

Jon Etcheson ’71 died May 15, 2023. He was 73. Jon grew up in El Paso, Illinois, but came to stay in Bloomington after graduating from IWU, where he played basketball. He became an active community member and entrepreneur opening the Etcheson Spa and Pool in 1980. He was on the Central Illinois Girl Scouts Council Board and a Sunday school teacher at Northside Church of Christ. He maintained an active lifestyle via camping, boating, skiing, golfing and coaching. Jon is survived by his wife, three children and five grandchildren.

Linda Amstutz ’72 died May 4, 2023. She was 74. Linda was a woman of devout faith who attended IWU, Moody Bible Institute, and Daley Community College. She was a writer and photographer for her educational institutions as well as Pacific Garden Mission. She was also a nurse with the U.S. Army and an employee at World Missionary Press. In her free time, she enjoyed flower gardening and crafting.

Peggy Elliott ’75 died March 15, 2023. Peggy graduated from Illinois Wesleyan with a major in English and minors in theater and American history. She missed her commencement ceremony as she was enroute to Seymour, Australia, to begin her 44 years in education. At each of her positions in Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the United States, she immersed herself in the subjects and students she taught, the friendships she formed and the culture she experienced.

Georgia Daly ’78 died recently. Georgia studied nursing at IWU, which launched her career with the U.S. Navy as a nursing corps officer. She met and married her husband, Joe, while assigned to Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C., and the two moved around the country serving various tours. She retired as a Navy commander in 2007. Though the couple didn’t have children, they helped raise Georgia’s three nephews. Georgia is survived by her husband.

Bruce Lininger ’79 died April 11, 2023. He was 65. After attending IWU, Bruce earned two master’s degrees from the University of Missouri. He worked as a math instructor at Missouri until he began his career as a data analyst at State Farm. He had many interests including sports, rooting for the Missouri Tigers and Chicago Cubs, and he was a member of his local tennis club. He is survived by his wife, mother, seven children and many grandchildren.

Armand Jackson ’88 died February 22, 2023. He was 57. Armand moved between high schools as a child, where he was an honors student multiple times over. At IWU he studied theater where he also sang and played the trombone and guitar. He first worked as an actor in the Chicago theater scene before beginning his career in advertising with Leo Burnett. He later left to become an independent IT contractor. He was an enthusiastic musician, singer and comic book collector.

Rebecca “Becky” (Blomquist) Duchene ’91 died March 31, 2023. She was 53. At IWU, Becky met and married her husband Cary Duchene ’91 the year they graduated. She studied to become a teacher while playing French horn. After she and Cary started a family, she homeschooled her children and became a volunteer for adoption ministries. She is survived by her husband, parents and six children.

Kristi Myers ’98 died June 4, 2023. She was 47. Kristi studied English at IWU and went on to earn a master’s in English from Iowa State University in 2011. She became an English teacher, starting with middle schoolers and eventually returning to Iowa State as an instructor. She had a deep love for teaching that drove her career. Kristi is survived by her husband and child.

Laura “LJ” Hachmeister ’02 died April 4, 2023. She was 42. LJ graduated from IWU with a degree in nursing, but she split her career between being a registered nurse and a published author who recently published an anthology of sci-fi short stories with a collection of other successful authors. LJ was a lover of animals who devoted herself to rescuing dogs and was a sponsor of Lifeline Puppy Rescue.

Editor’s Note: IWU Magazine runs obituaries of alumni based on information received from our readers. Please include full name of deceased; IWU class year; date and place of death; essential biographical information; and survivors, including the names of relatives of the deceased who are IWU alumni. Send to IWU Magazine, P.O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702, iwumag@iwu.edu, or at www.iwu.edu/magazine.

IWU GIFT CLUBS

Gift Clubs at Illinois Wesleyan University are a longstanding tradition. Through our gift clubs, we’re able to pay homage to important IWU landmarks, people, and traditions of the past, while honoring the donors of today. The generosity and continued support of Gift Club donors enables Illinois Wesleyan University to remain one of the premier institutions in the nation. Visit iwu.edu/ giftclubs to learn more about the history behind each name and to join a Gift Club today!

PINEAPPLE CLUB $100-$249

The pineapple represents prosperity, hospitality, and friendship. All IWU graduates touch the ceremonial pineapple at the end of the commencement stage, acknowledging the friendships they formed on campus and the University’s pledge they are always welcome back.

JOHN WESLEY POWELL CLUB $250-$499

John Wesley Powell was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, and a founder of the National Geographic Society. He joined Illinois Wesleyan's faculty in 1865. Two years later, he took IWU students to Colorado's mountains, one of the first expeditions of its kind in the history of American higher education.

ASPIRATION CLUB $500-$999

Formerly known as: University Fellows

Home to many fond IWU traditions, Aspiration Fountain is a landmark on the Egbers Quadrangle funded by the Egbers Family. Gary Egbers ‘72 served as an officer of the Board of Directors and president of the Wesleyan Associates. During Turning Titan, incoming students write their goals for their time at IWU in chalk around Aspiration Fountain. At commencement, faculty and staff write each graduate’s name to symbolize their ambition and achievement.

OLD NORTH SOCIETY $1,000-$2,499

Formerly known as: President’s Club

Old North Hall was the first and only building on IWU's campus for 15 years. It was built in 1856 and served for 110 years before it was removed in 1966 to make way for Sheean Library.

HANNAH SHUR SOCIETY $2,500-$4,999

Formerly known as: Quadrangle Club

Hannah L. Shur was the first female graduate of IWU, who received her diploma in 1872. She was the 74th student to receive a diploma from the university.

PHOENIX GATES SOCIETY $5,000-$9,999

Formerly known as: Phoenix Grove Society

A set of gates welcoming students, faculty, staff and visitors to campus. These gates are named after the Phoenix Family who sold the land to Illinois Wesleyan University over 165 years ago.

BUCK FAMILY FELLOWS

Formerly known as: Hedding Fellows

$10,000-$24,999

Martha Buck became IWU’s first female member of the Board of Trustees following the death of her husband, Rev. Dr. Hiram Buck, in 1892. IWU’s first free-standing library holds the family’s name as a lasting memorial to their contributions of time and money.

REV. PRESTON WOOD, SR. FELLOWS

$25,000-$49,999

Reverend Preston Wood, Sr. was an invaluable member of the Board of Trustees and served on its finance committee starting in the 1870’s. Rev. Wood’s fundraising prowess and financial astuteness gave the university a strong financial foundation from the beginning.

HEARTS AFLAME FELLOWS $50,000+

The opening line to our school song, Alma Wesleyana, proclaims “From hearts aflame our love we pledge to thee.” English Professor, W.E. Schultz, wrote Alma Wesleyana in 1935, and it’s been sung at IWU Commencement every year since.

Club levels are determined by the total dollars given to the University during our fiscal year (Aug. 1 through July 31).

P.O. Box 2900, Bloomington, IL 61702-2900

constitutional scholar

Political science major Rachel Williams ’23 was invited to present her original research on supreme court litigation at a national conference in Washington, D.C.