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A L B I O N O T E S
Republican strategist Robert Teeter dies Robert Teeter, ’61, died of cancer on June 13, 2004, at his home in Ann Arbor. President of the Ann Arborbased Coldwater Corp. at the time of his death, Teeter was a pioneer in the development and practice of modern public opinion research. Shortly after graduating from Albion, Teeter joined George Romney’s Michigan gubernatorial campaign. This experience led him in 1967 to a position at Market Opinion Research (MOR), where he first was director of the political research division and then president. In 1989, Teeter founded Coldwater Corp., a business consulting and research firm that conducts the NBC News/Wall Street Journal national polling program, in addition to providing strategic planning consultation to senior executives. Teeter served in a senior position in the presidential campaigns of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, and as the national campaign chairman for President George H.W. Bush in 1992. Nearly half of the nation’s incumbent Republican governors and U.S. senators were also among his clients. He was a member of the Board of Directors of UPS, Visteon Corp., Kaydon Corp. and the Bank of Ann Arbor, and of the
executive committee of the Albion College Board of Trustees. Teeter received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree at Albion’s commencement this past May. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Carter Teeter, ’63, a son, John, a daughter, Katherine, and two brothers, Philip Teeter and John Teeter, ’67.
Machek
department. He has clearly been a mentor to us all. We look to him to help us find middle ground, and he always has a solution for us when we need one. We all respect him as an artist, but also as a teacher.” As a young faculty member learning the ropes when Machek was department chair, Chytilo noted that Machek was the “perfect mentor.” “He was always available to talk yet he never imposed anything on you,” she says. “He let me make my own mistakes, and I was able to learn from them.” Machek will not be at a loss for things to do in retirement. He will pursue his art, as well other interests including carpentry, woodworking and photography. Machek has restored two historic homes in Marshall, and might be persuaded to do more. His travel plans include trips to Prague and southern France. For the past 20 years, he has served as the zoning administrator and a planning commissioner for Eckford Township, where he lives with his wife, Ann. Machek says his art will continue to grow. He has always been interested in textures in art, and in the last few years he has become more involved in creating abstract art by importing base images to his computer, manipulating them in Photoshop, and then working them over in color pencil, graphite and ink. Machek, who has completed more than 50 portrait commissions and countless other drawings and paintings over the years, says, “I’m never bored. . . . I’ve always done work, and I always will.”
(continued from p. 12) probably never would have done that. I think that’s helped me, as well as offered something to the students.” Pinpointing students as the greatest dynamic in his decades at Albion, Machek says that in the 1970s students entered college knowing they wanted to major in art, and art classes were in great demand across campus—so much so that the Art Department held its own pre-registration. Then, he says, art became less popular as a major, and students became majors only after they had taken the classes and enjoyed the experience. Thanks in part to strong recruiting efforts in the past few years, students now are entering with more commitment to art—submitting portfolios and applying for art scholarships. “I think they are more practical and careeroriented now than students were in the late 1960s and ’70s,” he says. “They want to see what the specific reward is going to be for an endeavor. . . . But our students are still hardworking.” Mentoring generations of artists and art majors has long been a hallmark for Machek. Less visible is the mentoring he has done for his department colleagues. As an accomplished portraitist and the one constant at Bobbitt almost since the building opened its doors, the dean of Albion art professors has earned the strong admiration of his colleagues. “Frank has great guidance and wisdom, and we all benefit from that,” says Lynne Chytilo, professor and chair of art and art history. “Frank is the driving force of the
To honor Bob Teeter’s long service as a trustee and Visiting Committee member for the Gerald R. Ford Institute for Public Policy and Service, the Visiting Committee has established the Robert M. Teeter Student Research Fellowship Endowment in the Ford Institute. For more information, contact: Ben Hancock, vice president for institutional advancement, 517/629-0242, or e-mail bhancock@albion.edu.
The Teeter legacy Some of Robert Teeter’s colleagues and friends offer their remembrances below. Bob Teeter embodied the commitment to civic engagement that is at the core of the liberal arts tradition. He used the critical thinking and problem-solving skills he learned as an undergraduate both to forge a life of meaning and purpose and to improve the quality of life for others. There’s no question that his pioneering work in public opinion research set the standard in his field. His contributions as a
wise counselor to our nation’s top leaders, including four U.S. presidents, are welldocumented. Less well known, but equally valued within our campus community, was his sage advice as a member of our Board of Trustees. Bob Teeter was a role model for me and all Albion alumni, a true citizen of the world. Peter Mitchell, ’67 President, Albion College I had the good fortune of knowing Bob Teeter as a fellow trustee of Albion College and as a consultant to me and the External Affairs leadership team at NYNEX (now Verizon), and, I’m proud to say, we became very good friends. His commitment to excellence was evident in all of his relationships. You could count on Bob’s loyalty and on counsel that was always measured, direct, based on fact and logic, and ethically sound. Bob helped shape so many strategies and policies in politics, business and at Albion, yet he seldom stood in the limelight. His ego didn’t demand personal attention. He was a team player dedicated to the mission. Since Bob’s passing, people have commented on how down-to-earth he was even though he worked with some of the most important people in the world. They credit the Midwestern values that he never lost. I believe that Bob’s Albion education helped those values mature and become the solid foundation for a life we now praise and honor.
One of democracy’s great American practitioners was lost last week with the death at age 65 of Bob Teeter. . . . A product of a classic Midwest small town, Coldwater, Mich., equipped with a first-class liberal arts education from Albion College, he was as brimming with idealism as many political operatives are drenched in cynicism. He also had a sunny disposition and a sense of humor that savored the rich, feisty characters in politics more than the grim strivers. . . . Over the years we probably shared as many dinners and conversations about politics as I enjoyed with any operative in either party. Every time, my perspective was changed—and improved—by something he said. . . . For him, what counted was good government—and the integrity of the candidates he helped. . . . He searched for and found people who cared about public service and not just about enhancing a career. David Broder Syndicated Columnist, Washington, D.C. (From the Washington Post) Bob Teeter was one of my closest friends. We have known each other and worked together for more than 30 years, and he will be sorely missed. Bob Teeter has been the single most important Republican strategist for many of us who have spent a career in public life. He was a wise and thoroughly decent man; our political system works better today because Bob was part of it.
William Ferguson, ’52 Trustee, Armonk, N.Y.
Richard Cheney Vice President of the United States Washington, D.C. (From the Detroit News)
O’Kennon
President’s Advisory Council on Intercultural Affairs Award for her contributions to promoting diversity on campus. “What made Dr. O’Kennon an exceptional professor for me was her excitement not only about mathematics but about life,” says Michelle Hribar, ’91, a professor of computer science at Pacific University. “She always had some new topic she was eagerly investigating. . . . I think she encouraged that in all of her students.” “I had no intention of majoring in mathematics,” continues Hribar, who recalls that many of her classmates decided to become math majors after studying calculus with O’Kennon. “I think all of us remember that 8 a.m. class very fondly and owe Dr. O’Kennon much gratitude for her excellent teaching!” In retirement, O’Kennon looks forward to continuing her translation program development—and will keep up with a new hobby that has gained significant local interest. Reviving a childhood passion for paper and scissors, O’Kennon has spent the past two years creating “pop-ups” –elaborate 3-D paper still lifes, landscapes, and Escher-like worlds that leap out of a flat card. Although she intended the pop-ups solely as something to do in the evenings, O’Kennon now offers them for sale in downtown Albion. “It wasn’t just a matter of style which made Martha such a wonderful educator for me. It was also her interests in so many fields,” says statistician David Barber, ’97, who worked with O’Kennon to move her translation programs to a Web-based language. “Without a doubt she has been one of the most memorable professors Albion College has had.”
(continued from p.12) college-bound African students. She decided to teach herself Xhosa in order to better do her job and learn more about the culture. “I started putting little sentences in the computer,” O’Kennon says. “Every time I’d learn a sentence pattern I’d put that in the computer, too.” By the time she got to South Africa her “little sentences” became the basis of research into computerized language translation that has occupied her time for the last 12 years. Along with the Xhosa translator, which O’Kennon continues to improve, she has established a computer translator for the Native American languages Ojibwe/Odawa, and is starting a project to work on the African languages Pulaar/Fulfulde. While no computer translator is perfect, she says, “you can write a pretty good one, one that’s useful.” Some of the languages O’Kennon works with are “endangered,” and that motivates her as well. “I like the idea of helping to preserve communication,” she says. “These languages are all so different, and if we lose these unique ways that people have learned to communicate, we’re losing a lot.” Closer to home, O’Kennon’s tenure at Albion has been marked by a similar excitement about the diversity of the campus community. She served as the first adviser to the College’s Asian Awareness Group, and has advised the Jewish Student Union (now Hillel) and the Star Trek Club. An enthusiastic supporter of the Gerstacker International House and international students for many years, O’Kennon received this year’s