T he B oston C ollege
Chronicle MAY 26, 2011
9
PARTING THOUGHTS REFLECTIONS FROM 2011 RETIREES
NAMES: Peter and Rita Olivieri YEARS AT BC: 42 (Peter), 33 (Rita) POSITIONS: Associate Professor for Information Systems, Carroll School of Management (Peter), Associate Professor for Adult Health Nursing, Connell School of Nursing (Rita) Peter: “My favorite memory at BC is the day I received a call from a Kathy Nash, asking if she could bring her 11-year-old son to my lab. She had heard about the EagleEyes system that Professor Jim Gips and I invented that allows you to move the cursor on the computer screen using your eyes. Her son, Michael, was paralyzed from the neck down with cerebral palsy and he was diagnosed as having the mentality of a three year old. She did not believe it. “We set Michael up with the EagleEyes system and put two buttons on the computer screen. One indicated YES, the other NO. Michael, to everyone’s amazement, slowly moved his eyes to the right buttons and started correctly answering questions about things his family had talked about over the last 11 years. A quite bright mind was liberated from a body that refused to function. I still get chills recalling that special day. By the way, Michael graduated with his class from high school.” Rita: “The awesome part of teaching in the clinical setting was that I was able to share in the students’ excitement of ‘experiencing and connecting with the nursing role.’ This happens in different ways and at different times during the course of the semester. Sometimes it was the connection that they had with a special patient, sometimes it was the caring and empathy that they showed for a patient in a complex and difficult medical situation, and sometimes it was simply their high level of motivation to learn the clinical reasoning necessary to be a nurse. The lasting memory for me is the joy of observing the transformation from
BC student to BC nursing student.”
Retirees, 25-Year Employees to Be Honored on June 1 Administrators, faculty and staff who have retired or are marking 25 years of service to Boston College will be honored June 1 at a special dinner to be hosted by University President William P. Leahy, SJ. Retiring this year are Joseph Appleyard, SJ, Michael Callnan, Ruth Chobit, Mary Lou Connelly, Esther Duray, Celeste Finison, Judith Kissane, Thomas Owens, Catherine Toran, Barbara Viechnicki, Harvey Egan, SJ, Walter Haney, G. Ramsay Liem, Ritchie Lowry, Charles Meyer, Sandra Mott, C. Peter Olivieri, Rita Olivieri, John Steczynski and Judith Wilt.
Olivieris By the Numbers Combined totals for Peter and Rita Olivieri, their three children and their children’s spouses Years working at BC: 120 years Years as students at BC: 33 Total time family associated with BC: 153 years Number of BC degrees: 12
Twenty-five year administrators, faculty and staff are Jenny Baglivo, Frances Bates, Janet Bates, Giovanni Buonopane, James Clements, Jeffrey Cohen, Stephanie Coleman, David Corkum, Mary Crane, James Cronin, Mary Cronin, Mary Devlin, June Dunkley, Margery Ferry, Samuel Graves, Robert Gross, Stuart Hecht, Fr. Robert Imbelli, Richard Jefferson, Carolyn Jupiter-McIntosh, Mary Keane, Paul Kerrigan, Jose Martinez, Francisco Martins, Christopher Matthews, Joana Maynard, Joanne McAulay, James McInnis, Gil Miranda, Michael Mitsukawa, Elizabeth Napolitano, Rita Nicholson, Marcela Norton. Also marking 25 years are Cidalia Pereira, James Repetti, Elizabeth Rhodes, Janet Ringuest, Jeffrey Ringuest, John Sachs, Kevin Saffo, Kenneth Schwartz, Laurie Shepard, Robert Sherwood, Luisa Sical, Sergio Sical, Laurie Simard, Howard Singer, Carlos Sousa, Mark Sullivan, Lisa Taddeo, Albert Travaglini, Victoria Varno, Sandra Waddock, Gerald Wall, Scott Washburn and Lamar Wright. —Office of News & Public Affairs
Photos by Lee Pellegrini
NAME: Harvey Egan, SJ YEARS AT BC: 36 POSITION: Professor of Theology, College of Arts and Sciences “I have good memories of the quality of my undergraduate and graduate students. A special gift to Jesuits (and to their universities) is the opportunity not only to teach students, but also to be of priestly service to them: their marriages, baptisms, anointing of the sick, and the like --to be involved not only in their academic life but also in their spiritual-liturgical lives.”
NAME: Mary Lou Connelly YEARS AT BC: 37 POSITION: Secretary to University Vice President William B. Neenan, SJ, for last 30 years “I’ve had some interesting conversations with faculty over the years, and met some fascinating people through Fr. Neenan. I’ve also gotten some good reading suggestions through Fr. Neenan’s ‘Dean’s List’ [his annual list of recommended books]; my favorite was Kristin Lavransdatter, which I probably never would have thought to read if not for his recommendation. Fortunately, my granddaughter will be coming to BC this fall as a freshman, so I’ll still be around.”
NAME: G. Ramsay Liem YEARS AT BC: 40 POSITION: Professor of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences “It’s difficult to imagine leaving Boston College after so many years. Much has changed since I came to be part of an innovative graduate program applying psychological theory, research, and practice to issues of social and racial inequality. But the university ethos of education for social justice and service to others has always attracted faculty, graduate students, undergraduates, and administrators and staff with whom it has been my fortune to collaborate and I am grateful for their colleagueship. I look forward to continuing many of these relationships through part-time teaching in the Psychology Department
and the Asian American Studies Program, and joining the Center for Human Rights and International Justice as a visiting fellow.”
relationship that has developed between the Lynch School and Holy Family.”
NAME: Ritchie P. Lowry YEARS AT BC: 45 POSITION: Professor of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences “I’ll miss teaching and interaction with the students. I can still read, do research, write, and attend meetings, but I will not have the opportunity to experience the views and perspectives of different generations of young people. Teaching is also a matter of learning from your students. I have loved teaching for other reasons as well. At my age (85) I have experienced and lived through World War II, the Cold War, McCarthyism, the Civil Rights Movement, opposition to the Vietnam War, and much more. I have been able to share these experiences with my students and use social theory and perspectives to help them understand what happened and the implications for current society. BC students are generally among the most committed to social and economic justice issues, and they have responded very well to the ideas I have shared with them. I will miss them both on the graduate and undergraduate level.”
NAME: Walt Haney YEARS AT BC: 29 POSITION: Professor, Department of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, Lynch School of Education “I will miss the people, the wonderful, wonderful people. Working with talented and eager graduate students. There are many I couldname, but mention now just one: Cengiz Gulek. He was brilliant, incredibly hard working and funny. Even as he was dying, he reached out to tease me.” [Editor’s Note: Cengiz (James) Gulek PhD ’99 died of cancer in January of 2010 at age 41.]
NAME: John Cawthorne YEARS AT BC: 23 POSITION: Associate Dean for Undergraduate Student Services, Lynch School of Education “I will miss watching the students grow into mature and responsible young women and men. My favorite memory is the 14-year partnership with the Holy Family School in Natchez, Miss., and the
NAME: Judith Wilt YEARS AT BC: 33 POSITION: Newton College Alumnae Professor in Western Culture, English Department, College of Arts and Sciences “I’m still working with five PhD students who are doing exams or writing dissertations, and I hope to teach one course a year in the English department for a few more years, since I’d like to be connected with the University during its 150th year anniversary celebration. But I will miss that day to day sense of involvement in the lives of scores of new young people every year, and especially the sense I developed over the past 33 years of being to a degree responsible for and a participant in the development of a grand institution with a profoundly important history.”