classnotes
Class notes 1944
1955
and her husband, Bob, celebrated 67 years of marriage in July. Helen taught art and also served as a student teacher supervisor. Bob worked at the Weather Bureau of the Department of Commerce as a forecaster and taught physics and mathematics. They live in Boulder, Colo.
and his wife, Donna, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a reaffirmation of vows on Aug. 13 in Carthage. Dan was an educator for 42 years in Missouri and Florida and a veteran of 36 years of the U.S. Army. Donna
HELEN BOYERSMITH DAVIS
DAN BARGER
was an elementary school teacher and retired from the Florida Department of Employment and Security. They have two daughters, live in Joplin and will travel to Germany in December.
is credited with leading the college to recognition as one of the leading business programs in the country.
J.D. HAMMOND ◆
is a Missouri state representative and was selected to lead the chamber’s Higher Education Committee in 2011. A teacher, administrator and coach before taking over the Fourth District
has been named an honorary alumnus by the Penn State Alumni Association. He served as dean of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business from 1989 to 1999 and
1968
MIKE THOMSON (MASTER’S ’71)
National Geographic publishes O’Donnell, Buffett book
F
Jeannie O’Donnell ’91 was often considered a “ghost” by those she photographed in the remote villages of Africa.
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or Jeannie O’Donnell ’91, her career can be defined as being in the right place at the right time and consequently forever changing her life. O’Donnell has worked with billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s eldest son, Howard G. Buffett, on several occasions through the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. With Buffett, O’Donnell has traveled the world perfecting her photography skills and accumulating once-ina-lifetime experiences along the way. O’Donnell was presented with the opportunity to work with Buffett completely by chance. She was conducting a photo shoot for her husband’s employer when a picture in the office of four African boys in war paint caught her attention. The photograph was taken by Buffett, and because of her interest in it, the employer gave O’Donnell’s name to Buffett. Within the week, Buffett had contacted O’Donnell and invited her to travel the world with him and photograph the devastation and
NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE
triumphs third-world countries encounter. Their work resulted in the book “Fragile: The Human Condition,” a 320-page pictorial display of the places Buffett and O’Donnell traveled as well as a chronicle of the lives they touched. The book was published with the support of National Geographic Missions. “The book is definitely one dimensional and does not do the actual experiences justice,” said O’Donnell, who lives in Omaha, Neb., with her husband and four children. “You can’t hear the people crying, and you can’t feel the heat. The temperature was a stifling 124 degrees in Sudan, and it took my breath away.” The differences in culture were evident when Buffett and O’Donnell were greeted by individuals in some of the remote tribes of Africa. “Some of the villagers living there have never seen a Caucasian person before,” O’Donnell said, “When we’d arrive at villages like these they often greeted us by calling us ghosts.” Despite the challenging conditions and differences in culture, O’Donnell said she and Buffett became captivated by the experiences. “We experienced the living hell that these people go through every day of their lives,” she said, “and then the reality sets in that this is their life, yet it’s only a trip for us.” n