Class Notes

Dick was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 for his landmark work over the last 50 years, ranging from particle physics to nuclear nonproliferation. He still actively speaks at the youthful age of 88! At a White House ceremony on Nov. 22, President Barack Obama presented the award to Dick, alongside 20 other recipients. Ever since he was a Cleveland kid tinkering with his father’s movie projectors, Dick never met a problem he didn’t want to solve. Reconnaissance satellites, the MRI, GPS technology and the touchscreen all bear his fingerprints. Dick has advised nearly every president since Eisenhower. Enrico Fermi, also a pretty smart guy, is said to have called Dick the only true genius he ever met.

Lionel has been included in Marquis Who’s Who. Widely regarded for his knowledge and skill in academic administration, Lionel served National Technological University for more than a decade prior to his retirement in 2000. He initially created the university in 1984 after leaving his role as the dean and professor of the College of Engineering at Colorado State University. After he retired from NTU, Lionel served as a founding consultant, then director and treasurer of the African Virtual University in Nairobi, Kenya. Although Lionel is now retired, he maintains active involvement with numerous scientific organizations, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, IEEE and the National Society of Professional Engineers. In addition, he is a fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education, as well as a chairman of the Engineering Deans Council.

Michael retired from the active practice of law at the end of 2016, after 45 years of a satisfying and productive career. He will continue as counsel through Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP in certain active cases, and will otherwise serve independently as an arbitrator and mediator for technology, intellectual property and business cases. Michael recently was named a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

A lifelong board game enthusiast, Philip was quoted in a Cleveland.com article saying “classic board games like Monopoly, Clue and Scrabble are more popular than ever before.”As the former director of creative development and senior vice president of research and development at Parker Brothers, Philip has spent nearly 50 years creating, playing collecting, and cherishing games of skill and strategy. He also wrote four books on Monopoly, and serves as chief judge and dispute-resolver at national and global Monopoly tournaments. Philip co-founded Winning Moves Games (www.winning-moves.com), which strives to preserve and re-introduce classic games from Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley, as well as create new games.

Case School of Engineering Dean Jeffrey Duerk, the Leonard Case Professor of Engineering, will be inducted with the 175-member class of 2016 National Academy of Inventors Fellows on April 6 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum in Boston during NAI’s annual conference. NAI Fellows are nominated by their peers for outstanding contributions to innovation in such areas as patents and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society and support and enhancement of innovation

In September 2016, Jack was named partner at TPG Capital, a private equity platform of global alternative assets firm. He most recently served as a partner and managing director in the principal investment area of the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs Group, leading the U.S. Industrials Private Equity team.

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Laura was named president and chief executive officer of Foster Farms, the West Coast’s leading poultry producer, effective August 2016. She most recently served as president of the ConAgra Foods Snacks Division, one of North America’s leading suppliers of packaged foods.

Brian accepted the position of software engineer, tools and infrastructure at Google in Washington State. He most recently worked at Rockwell Automation in Cleveland as a software project engineer.

Hillary moved to North Carolina to take a new job as director of operations, content with Relias Learning. She most recently worked at MRI Software in Cleveland as director of professional services and support.

Christine, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Columbia University, won the Presidential Early Career Award, the highest honor the U.S. government gives to young scientists and engineers. Christine, who develops innovative medical imaging instruments for use in surgery and breast cancer detection, was one of 102 researchers from across the nation named by President Obama. Hendon has earned numerous honors for her groundbreaking work: in 2015 she won a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award; in 2014 she received a National Institutes of Health New Innovator Award; in 2013 she was named to both MIT’s prestigious list of 35 Innovators Under 35; and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of game changers in science and health care.

Joseph was recently named to Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty Under 40 list. He is an aerospace engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center. He received his master’s degree from the Case School of Engineering in 2009, majoring in systems and control.

John launched a new virtual mentoring venture called Wisr, which is now being implemented at Case Western Reserve University. He stepped down as chief executive officer of Decision Desk in September, but will remain on the company’s board of directors.

Carlin earned a spot on Crain’s Cleveland Business Twenty in their 20s list this past August. He owns an IT consulting company and studied both software development and finance while at Case.

Felipe is the founder and chief executive officer of FGC Plasma Solutions, a Cleveland-based company that is developing a novel fuel injector for jet engines and gas turbines. He is one of four innovators nationally to participate in a new two-year entrepreneurship program at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, starting in February 2017. Felipe has previously been recognized as a rising energy innovator in Forbes “30 under 30” and honored at the White House as an emerging global entrepreneur by President Barack Obama.

The recent graduate and tennis player was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for his stellar academic and athletic accomplishments. C.J. is the first-ever Case Western Reserve University men’s tennis player to win the award. He is the 24th overall recipient of the award in CWRU athletics history.