Case Champions

Alumni of distinction will be honored at Homecoming 2018

Some are leaders in their fields. Some are just getting started. All have exhibited an eagerness to serve and to share. At Homecoming and Reunion Weekend October 11-14, the Case Alumni Association and the Case School of Engineering will honor nine alumni who bring honor to the university as graduates of distinction.

The pantheon includes a Silver Bowl recipient, Tom Kicher, who will be recognized for a lifetime commitment to the Case School of Engineering. Here are the 2018 honorees and a summary of why they are worthy of our thanks and admiration.

CASE’S ELDER STATESMAN EARNS A SILVER BOWL

Life was limited in Johnsonburg, a one-mill town in a sleepy corner of Pennsylvania. “Success,” explained Tom Kicher ’59, MS ’62, PhD ’65, “was a pickup truck, a fishing rod and a six-pack on Saturday night.”

He wanted more. A bright and curious youth, a math whiz, he wanted to learn about the wonders of the world.

“Everyone kept saying, ‘You ought to be an engineer,’” he recalled. “I didn’t even know what that was.”

But he had heard of the Case Institute of Technology, even “the Case family,” a fellowship of scientists and engineers a world away in Cleveland. Little did he know, when he arrived a wide-eyed freshman in 1955, he would come to lead that family as a professor, mentor and dean.

Today, Kicher, the Armington Professor Emeritus of Engineering, is the elder statesman at the Case School of Engineering. Retired since 2005, he still makes regular visits to campus to lend his insight to committees, to welcome new staff and faculty, to dabble in research. Case Quad is where he soared and where he belongs.

Kicher earned three engineering degrees from Case, including a doctorate, then stayed to teach for 40 years. He served as dorm counselor, thesis advisor, department chair, mentor, teacher and colleague to generations of students and faculty. He led the committee that wrote the white paper that created today’s Case School of Engineering, in 1992, then served as the school’s first dean.

“I figure I’ve held more and varied positions on this campus than just about anyone,” he observed recently.

This fall, he will be honored at Homecoming with the Silver Bowl, an award given only occasionally to recognize a person whose contributions to Case are deemed to be outstanding and lasting.

Jim McGuffin-Cawley, the interim dean of the Case School of Engineering, said Kicher’s impact on the school has been profound. He described him as the “steady hand” who guided the Case Institute of Technology into a new era, under the umbrella of Case Western Reserve University.

“He’s a very patient person. He’s very collaborative,” the dean said. “He looks out for the students. He looks out for the young faculty. He certainly was the right leader when the school began.”

Kicher says Case gave him more than he could ever repay.

“I was introduced to a lot of things I’d never been exposed to,” he said. “Arts, culture, the sciences. I could approach almost anyone and ask questions. It was an ideal place for a young boy from a small town. Case changed my life.”

He met his wife, Janet, at Case. All three of his children earned Case degrees. He became a favorite of the international students, who sensed a kindred spirit and sought out his guidance.

Lately, he’s been delving into Case history, hoping to fathom and explain the personality of the university, which he says has always attracted bold faculty and uncommonly curious students.

Students like him.

CASE PUT THE WIND AT HIS BACK; TOM BAKER NEVER FORGOT

Before he invented the technology that changed the way companies worldwide manage their supply chains, Tom Baker ’64, MS ’66, PhD ’68, was a young sailor from Shelby, Ohio, whose dad docked his sailboat at Cedar Point.

He sailed Lake Erie through three degrees at the Case Institute of Technology in the 1960s, including a PhD in systems engineering. He credits Case with putting a new wind at his back.

“I felt like there was a lot of freedom to pursue what I wanted to pursue,” said Baker, now retired and living on Vashon Island off Seattle. “I got interested in designing and building an autopilot for my father’s boat. And I got a lot of support at Case.”

That project sparked his interest in process control, which led to a career in operations research. He rose to become the global coordinator of operations research at Exxon. In 1982, he decided he was ready to launch his own shop.

Chesapeake Decision Sciences changed supply chain management by pioneering interactive modeling software. Many of its concepts are still used today.

Baker sold the company in 1998, bought a sailboat and became a world traveler and philanthropist. He sank millions into a foundation that supports education, including scholarships for students of the Case School of Engineering. He also serves on the Silicon Valley Think Tank, which helped design the school’s computer science program.

He said he’s repaying a debt.

“I had a scholarship,” he said. “If you added up the compound interest, I probably still owe money. I’m paying it back, in a way.”

His sailing exploits in the Caribbean inspired his book, “A Sea Story.” But he does not have as much free time as he once did. A few years ago, he helped to launch another startup in the supply chain sector, Atlantic Decision Sciences. Ever the entrepreneur, Baker said, “It’s pretty exciting what you can do today on the web.” He will receive the 2018 Gold Medal Award—the highest honor bestowed annually by the Case Alumni Association.

FROM QUIET COED TO LEADER OF A FELLOWSHIP

Susie Nagorney ’76, a math major from Parma, was one of only a handful of women attending Case Institute of Technology in the early 1970s—and the only female in her Calculus 1 class.

The first time she answered a question, she recalled, everyone in the room turned to look at her. She kept mum the rest of the semester.

The image of a quiet, timid Susie Nagorney would surprise people who know her today. She’s one of the more active, affable and outspoken leaders in the Case Alumni Association, even if she says so herself.

“I’ve grown into myself,” she said. “I’m going to say what I think. And people know it.”

They also know she cares. Nagorney is a familiar presence at the JuniorSenior Scholarship receptions, where she greets and engages students, especially the young women.

“Sometimes they ask me about raising a family and pursuing a professional career—which it is possible to do,” she said.

A career educator—and the longtime coordinator of the math department at Cuyahoga Community College—Nagorney raised three children and has been married to her husband, Frank, for 43 years.

Alumni leaders elected her the first female president of the association in 2006. This fall, she will receive the 2018 Samuel H. Givelber ’23 Award, which honors an alumnus who promotes fellowship in the Case tradition.

BRINGING NEW ENERGY TO CAMPUS AND THE WORLD

When the Case School of Engineering launched its Great Lakes Energy Institute in 2008, Thomas Esselman ’68, PhD ’72, was one of the first alumni to offer his expertise. He had carved out a stellar career in the energy industry as a nuclear engineer, company founder and CEO. He liked the idea of pursing advanced energy research from Case Quad.

“Energy really has the ability to reach across the whole university and bridge many different disciplines,” he said. “It’s been effective in attracting research dollars. And it’s really been an effective way to show professors who are interested in energy that there’s an institute that can help.”

Esselman, the founder and former president of engineering consultants Altran Corp., has served on the GLEI advisory board since its inception, including three years as chair. When he returns to campus for Homecoming, he’ll celebrate his 50th class reunion— and about as many years of service to his alma mater.

“You never really leave that foundation and that training that you got at Case,” he said. “It’s a great time to look back and reflect.”

He’ll do that as a recipient of the 2018 Meritorious Service Award.

A FORMER PAPER BOY KNOWS THE STRUGGLE OF PAYING FOR COLLEGE

Joe Fakult ’90 loved science and engineering as a child, so he was thrilled to be accepted to Case Western Reserve University. But with nine brothers and sisters, he would have to pay the tuition bill himself.

Fakult, a senior engineer for Safron Power, did it the old-school way—with a paper route. He delivered more than 200 copies of The Plain Dealer door to door each morning, then rushed off to school.

“Those early-morning classes in the winter were the toughest,” he said, adding that he often fell asleep in class.

When he decided it was time to give back to his alma mater, Fakult picked a duty that resonated. He joined the selection committee of the Junior-Senior Scholarship Program, which helps promising students to pay their tuition.

“There’s really no more direct way to make use of our funds than to help students much like myself,” he said.

Before stepping down this spring, Fakult served for 10 years on the scholarship committee, eight as chair, and interviewed an estimated 1,400 students on their aspirations. He will receive the 2018 Meritorious Service Award.

A MONEY MANAGER SHARES HIS SKILL

Though he earned two engineering degrees at Case, W. Todd Martin ’96, MS ’98, found his passion in the financial services industry. He’s the managing director at CapitalWorks LLC, a private equity firm in Cleveland.

Before that, Martin worked on buyouts, takeovers and reorganizations in the global industrial and healthcare sectors. He has lent his considerable knowledge of company operations and high finance to the Case Alumni Foundation. As chairman of the investment committee, Martin has helped the foundation to achieve steady growth in an endowment that recently surpassed $68 million in valuation.

He will be honored at Homecoming with the 2018 Meritorious Service Award.

NEVER TOO YOUNG TO BE AN ACTIVE ALUMNUS

A few years after graduating from the Case School of Engineering with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, Hillary Emer ’07, MSE ’08, was back on campus, sharing her insight on job searches with undergraduates as part of a Career Mentor Series.

Four years ago, she joined the board of the Case Alumni Association, becoming one of its few young professionals.

From her home in Cary, North Carolina, where she works for the online training company Relias while pursuing an MBA at Duke, she remains engaged with her alma mater and willing to share her time.

“I see it as a way to give back,” Emer said, explaining that a Junior-Senior Scholarship helped her to focus on school and achieve her goal of earning two engineering degrees. Plus, Case introduced her to many great friends and a husband, Jeff Taggart ’06.

“I also want to represent my generation and my gender,” she added. “The board’s great. But there’s a lot of older white gentlemen, retired,” she said, laughing.

They appreciate her spirit and her willingness to help. At Homecoming this fall, she will be honored with the Young Alumni Leadership Award.

A MAKER’S SOUL, A HEART OF GOLD

Barry Romich III ’67 grew up on a farm near Creston, Ohio, where his dad built or fixed or welded most everything they needed. He arrived at the Case Institute of Technology in the mid 1960s with the soul of a maker, and found his calling.

On Case Quad, he discovered the “student shop,” where he could tinker with electronics and mechanical devices. On a research project at the old Highland View Hospital, he met Ed Prentke, an engineer and an alumnus three times his age. They shared a concern for the disabled and a knack for innovation.

While still a student, Romich partnered with his mentor to launch the Prentke Romich Co., which develops technology for people with disabilities. Today, the Wooster-based company employs about 250 people devising products that allow people with paralysis and other handicaps to more fully participate in life.

“It’s been an ongoing blessing in my life,” Romich said.

He has shared the good graces. In 2010, Romich donated $1 million to help launch Sears think[box] and create the largest maker space on an American college campus. He has continued to donate his time, talent and money to today’s “student shop,” and to send school groups through on tours.

“The successful students will be the ones who get their hands on things,” he said on a recent visit. “This is a place that allows that to happen.”

That’s thanks in large part to Barry Romich. He will receive the Lifetime Service Award from the Case School of Engineering.

THE ‘DEAN OF INNOVATION’ LEAVES LASTING IMPRESSION

On a return to campus in May, Jeffrey Duerk, PhD ’87, visited one of his most visible accomplishments, Sears think[box], and greeted the staff like old friends.

The acclaimed maker center rose during his tenure as dean of the Case School of Engineering. While Duerk is quick to credit a team effort, and heap praise on faculty and alumni who contributed ideas and money, someone had to execute the vision.

That someone was a dean with a passion for innovation.

“I was one of those kids who took everything apart,” Duerk recalled. “I had a record player, I must have rebuilt it a hundred times.”

That curiosity and knack for invention followed him into academia, where he earned some 40 patents, mostly for innovations in medical imaging, a science he advanced in campus labs.

Duerk spent 30 years at Case as student, professor and dean. He earned his doctorate in biomedical engineering, went on to chair the department and became dean in 2012. When he left in 2017 to become vice president and provost at the University of Miami, Sears think[box] was open in the Richey Mixon Building and a spirit of innovation was in full bloom.

“This is a singularly special space,” Duerk said as he looked across the collaboration floor, just starting to stir on a Saturday morning. “It’s not just a physical space. It’s a collaborative and intellectual space. That’s what makes it so special.”

Much the same can be said about the Case School of Engineering, thanks in part to Jeffrey Duerk. He will receive the Lifetime Service Award.

Awards will be presented Friday, October 12, at the 133rd Annual All-Classes Celebration: Innovation ShowCASE and Case Alumni Association Awards Presentation. It runs from 5 to 8 p.m. at Sears think[box]. Admission is $50. Find registration information at casealum.org.

Questions or comments on this story? Email Robert.Smith@casealum.org