FIU Magazine - Fall 2014 - A vision of the future

Magazine FALL 2014 VOLUME 30

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FIU doctor on the front lines of Ebola crisis

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Setting new standards for Florida building codes

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New provost talks work, ​parenting twin FIU freshmen

High tech on display FIU came on strong at the inaugural eMerge Americas Techweek conference in Miami Beach, a gathering of global technology leaders held in May. From its anchor position on the exhibit floor, FIU showcased its most promising research. Among the big draws: a live conversation between conference participants and two professors stationed on the ocean floor in FIU’s Medina Aquarius Reef Base, the world’s only underwater research facility. FIU researchers and students also demonstrated a prosthetic arm, showed off brain-mapping research and presented the Discovery Lab’s TeleBot, a robot designed to put disabled veterans to work. Even the crop-sniffing dog Buddy, who works in tandem with an FIU-developed drone to ferret out deadly fungi, made an appearance. And during one of the conference’s featured panel discussions, President Mark Rosenberg drove home FIU’s strength when he spoke on the topic of innovation and technology in education reform.

Photo by Doug Hungerford

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RHYME FOR A REASON

Scott Cunningham invites all of Miami to discover the joy of verse.

ON NATIONAL DISPLAY A replica of FIU’s Wall of Wind wows museumgoers in Washington, D.C.

Leading the charge One man’s hard work pays off in a new military museum.

On the COVER EXPANSION WITH A PURPOSE

FIU seeks additional land as the university looks to meet community needs.

DESIGN DIVA

Commercial interior designer Marlene Liriano builds a reputation for style and innovation.

Alumnus of the year Gerald Grant’s rags-to-riches story and generosity inspire the community.

Trainers make the difference

Injured FIU student-athletes get high-tech, high-touch help.

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magazine.fiu.edu Online-only stories, videos and photos

Panther Life gives intellectually challenged young adults a college experience that helps them grow and succeed.

On national display An exhibit of FIU’s Wall of Wind at the National Building Museum is capturing the attention of fans from around the country, as seen on our cool video.

A look back Alumnus Anthony Atwood shares a slide show of artifacts slated for his South Florida-based military museum.

Graduate architecture students spent six months ensconced in a messy process that, ultimately, ended with a successful, one-ofa-kind multimedia art installation.

Retooling for action See for yourself how pro athletic trainers get injured student-athletes through rehab and back onto the active list.

Whenever you see the play button, visit magazine.fiu.edu to get more with our online videos and photo galleries •

Read an extended interview with FIU men’s soccer head coach Scott Calabrese, a seasoned veteran new to the Panther program, at go.fiu.edu/calabrese.

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Hear alumnus Scott Cunningham recite his original poetry as an invitation to get others thinking about verse.

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Read about FIU’s academic program to train the trainers, a master’s program in athletic training.

Be featured on Facebook! Send us a photo of yourself reading FIU Magazine - at home, at work or on vacation - and we will share it on our Facebook page! Email photos to magazine@fiu.edu.

In previous issues of FIU Magazine, we brought you the story of GLOWS, or Global Water for Sustainability, the largest USAID grant at FIU. This $80 million project set out a decade ago to make an impact on the global water crisis by developing a new model of university-directed, scientifically guided, collaborative development work.

Ten years later, as the work of the GLOWS program scales down on four continents, FIU has distinguished itself as a global solution center for one of the most urgent environmental and public health problems on the planet. FIU is one of just a handful of universities leading such wide-reaching global development efforts. The project involved FIU hydrologists, ecologists, biologists, public health and legal experts, as well as graduate students doing research on waterrelated issues.

Heather Bermudez ’06, MS ’12 Marketing Manager South Beach Wine & Food Festival

FIU Board of Trustees

Lori-Ann Cox Director of Alumni Advocacy​ University Advancement Paul Dodson Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Amy Ellis Assistant Director of PR and Marketing Office of Engagement Stephen Fain Professor Emeritus College of Education Lazaro Gonzalez Marketing and Branding Strategist Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management

management. In some places, there is not enough

The solutions delivered by FIU are sustainable,

Andra Parrish Liwag Campaign Communications Director University Advancement

communities, regions and governmental organizations. drinking water and proper sanitation systems.

Watch our mini-documentary to learn about FIU’s role in solving the global water crisis

Through targeted educational campaigns, thousands

Alexandra Pecharich Managing Editor

Aileen Solá-Trautmann Art Director

Doug Garland ’10

Senior Multimedia Producer Digital Media Manager

Writers

JoAnn Adkins Eric Barton Joel Delgado ’12 Dan Grech MFA ’12 Robyn Nissim

Magazine Intern

Mark Williams Chair, Department of Health Policy and Management Stempel College of Public Health

Thousands of families now have access to safe

Terry Witherell

Angeline Evans

Duane Wiles Executive Director Alumni Association

locally managed and integrated across

Senior Vice President

Deborah O’Neil MA ’09

Mary Sudasassi Director of Public Relations Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences

but poorly managed.

Sandra B. Gonzalez-Levy

Nicole Kaufman Editor Assistant Vice President for Engagement

Rafael Paz, Esq. Associate General Counsel

fresh, clean water. In other places, water is plentiful

Albert Maury ’96, ’02 (Chair) Michael M. Adler (Vice chair) Sukrit Agrawal Cesar L. Alvarez Jose J. Armas Jorge L. Arrizurieta Robert T. Barlick, Jr. Alexis Calatayud Marcelo Claure Mayi de la Vega ’81 Gerald C. Grant Jr. ’78, MBA ’89 Claudia Puig Kathleen Wilson

Vice President Susan Jay Assistant Vice President of Development Karen Cochrane Director and Assistant Dean for Medical News and Communications Advancement Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

Maureen Pelham Director of Clinical Trials Division of Research

multifaceted problem of supply, access and

Mark B. Rosenberg

FIU MAGAZINE Division of External Relations

Larry Lunsford Vice President for Student Affairs University Ombudsman

The global water crisis is a complex,

management plans that protect natural resources.

FIU President

Gisela Casines ’73 Associate Dean College of Arts and Sciences

from the Editor

Communities are now following customized water

FIU Magazine Editorial Advisory Board

Emmett Young Assistant Director Marketing & Communications Frost Art Museum

Ray Boyle

Photographers

Douglas Hungerford Tim Long Josh Ritchie Ivan Santiago ’00 Roldan Torres ’85 Angel Valentín

of schoolchildren now have understanding of basic hygiene, which will reduce the incidence of deadly waterborne illness. Local men are now trained to build pumps and can bring their skills to other communities.

The GLOWS program is emblematic of FIU’s growing visibility as a globally engaged research university. As FIU expands its reach around the world, you can expect to see us leading the way as a solutions center for issues that matter most to our children’s future.

Until next time,

Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 P.S. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook: facebook.com/FIUMagazine

Copyright 2014, Florida International University. FIU Magazine is published by the Florida International University Division of External Relations and distributed free of charge to alumni, faculty and friends of the university. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. To reach us, call 305-348-7235.

Alumni Office: Write to Office of Alumni Relations at MMC MARC 510, Miami, FL 33199 or call 305-348-3334 or toll free at 800-FIU-ALUM. Visit fiualumni.com.

Change of Address: Please send updated address information to FIU Office of Alumni Relations, MARC 510, Miami, FL, 33199 or by email to alumni@fiu.edu.

Letters to the Editor: FIU Magazine welcomes letters to the editor regarding magazine content. Send your letters via e-mail to alumni@fiu.edu, by fax to 305-348-3247 or mail to FIU Magazine, Division of External Relations, MMC PC 515, Miami, FL, 33199.

Letters may be edited for length and clarity. All letters should include the writer’s full name and daytime phone number.

Alumni, please include your degree and year of graduation.

13970_09/14 FIU Magazine is printed on 30% PCW recycled paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

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Ninth-graders do the honors at the Dick Ortega, center,high receives hisatCollege opening of a public school FIU’s of Law degree May while flankedMark by, from Biscayne BayinCampus.

President left,Rosenberg, faculty member Anglade, B. center, Michele and Miami-Dade President MarkSchools Rosenberg, College of County Public Superintendent Law Dean Alexander faculty Alberto Carvalho, left,Acosta in blueand tie, joined member Christine Rickard. Having overcome the community to celebrate MAST@FIU, struggles a youngster, atremendous magnet school in theas tradition of the the two-time FIU alumnus represents the kind highly respected Maritime and Science of high-potential students thatBiscayne.

FIU serves Technology Academy on Key every day.

Photo by Kristen M. Rubio ’11

President’s Corner Mark B. Rosenberg

On September 12, 1962, at Rice University, President John F. Kennedy announced his goal to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win,” he said.

With these words, President Kennedy led the charge and was able to turn the impossible into the inevitable.

At FIU, we too have our “moon,” the challenge we must take on, for the betterment of ourselves and our community.

As you may know, we are looking to expand Modesto A. Maidique Campus into the adjacent land currently occupied by the Miami-Dade County Fair. The current campus footprint will be built-out in the next three to five years.

We have many students and alumni whose successes underscore the important role we play in providing opportunities to make their dreams reality. Just look at recent FIU College of Law graduate Dick Ortega. In 1994, 6-year-old Dick, his mom and his sister boarded a raft in hopes of making it from Cuba to the United States. The family was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and taken to Guantanamo U.S. naval base, where Dick celebrated his seventh birthday.

His family eventually came to the U.S. Dick’s mom worked day and night to give her children a chance at a better life. Today, Dick is a double FIU alumnus. In 2011 he received his undergraduate degree in criminal justice, and in May he was salutatorian of his law school graduating class. Dick has a job waiting for him in Washington, D.C. That is what FIU is about. We are a beacon of hope for our community. We are a solutions center. To continue contributing to the prosperity of our community, we must grow.

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Compared to our sister state universities, our FIU has the smallest main campus. Yet, by enrollment, we’re the second largest public university in Florida with 53,000 students.

Since Fall of 2010, we have been working with Miami-Dade County and The Fair leaders looking for a win-win-win solution so that the Fair can move and we can put those 64 acres to work for the future of our youth and our community.

This expansion would mean an estimated $900 million in construction with an economic impact of $1.8 billion. We anticipate $541 million in annual recurring economic impact. It also would mean thousands of new jobs created in our community.

On that land we would promote the academic and research missions of the university. In short, we will do what we have always done but with potentially greater capacity to achieve our goals: provide a world-class education to a growing number of South Floridians and serve as a solutions-center for our local community and beyond.

Today, we need you, our Panthers, to help us get to our “moon” as we strive to continue to be a beacon of hope and opportunity. We need you to be our advocates for expansion by telling your FIU story and the stories of our extraordinary students. Be the voice for the good work FIU is doing in our region.​ Now is the time!

P.S. For more information, see pages 20-21.

Be WorldsAhead

OnOn The The Prowl Prowl

FIU doctor fighting Ebola in Africa FIU College of Medicine Professor Dr. Aileen Marty crisscrossed Southern Nigeria for 31 days this fall, leading an international team under the auspices of the Nigerian government to rapidly contain and extinguish the Ebola outbreak within the country’s borders.

Marty, an infectious disease expert, was called on by the World Health Organization in August to join the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network team on the ground in West Africa. The Ebola outbreak is the largest in history, affecting multiple countries.

In Nigeria, where Marty was assigned, international health

campaign to encourage citizens who might have been infected

experts moved quickly to prevent the disease from spreading

to come forward. Treated as soon as possible after becoming

into the densely populated, urban impoverished areas. Her task

symptomatic, patients can and usually do survive Ebola, she noted.

as the World Health Organization’s lead on the international Points

After a month, Marty felt confident the EOC team had largely

of Entry team was to empower Nigeria to secure air, land and

contained the outbreak in Nigeria and helped to create a legacy

seaports to ensure no one infected with Ebola entered or exited.

that will prevent the future importation or exportation of dangerous

Working from dawn to almost midnight every day in challenging

diseases in Nigeria. “Even though the numbers weren’t big in

conditions, Marty trained screeners, doctors, nurses and others

Nigeria, Ebola affected every Nigerian,” said Marty, who added

to recognize potentially infected persons. She also developed

that efforts there helped stem the disease before it turned into a

processes and secured needed equipment and resources.

national crisis. “I feel very good about the work we did

Marty also worked at the Ebola Emergency Operation Center

there. We made a difference.”​

contributing to multiple projects including a public awareness

Treasures: Head of Buddha The nearly 2,000-year-old Head of Buddha is an Indian stone sculpture. The work shows influences of Roman Hellenistic ideas about naturalism in art as captured in the smoothness of the skin, roundness of the cheeks, arched lips, almond-shaped eyes and Roman-like nose. The elongated earlobes, minus earrings, and As FIU prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding—with a year of festivities and commemorations in 2015—FIU Magazine invites you to share your stories and photos. Go to fiu.edu/memories to tell us in which course you met your spouse, where on campus you hung out with friends, the name of the professor who changed your life and anything else that left an impression on you as a student. We’d love to hear from you.

cropped hair are representative of Siddhartha’s renouncing of his palace life. The bump on top of the head symbolizes advanced spiritual knowledge. The “third eye” centered on his forehead symbolizes wisdom and divine vision. Sixteen inches high, the sculpture is part of The Frost Art Museum’s permanent collection and was displayed this summer as part of an exhibition of works that depict the human face. It was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. C. Ruxton Love.

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On The Prowl Researcher restores endangered orchids When Florida’s largest and showiest

FIU was recently named among the top universities in the

native orchid began disappearing,

country in terms of engagement and contributions to its

Professor Hong Liu, of the Department of

community.

Earth and Environment, joined a national

Liu, right, with student Jason Downing

FIU earns top ranking for giving to the community

According to recently released rankings of national

restoration team working to boost its

universities by Washington Monthly, Florida International

population in forested swampland along

University placed 24th out of 277 higher education

20 miles of Florida’s west coast.

institutions. The university also ranked 38th in federal

Liu is conducting experiments to determine the optimal conditions for the

work-study funds allocated to service, 47th in graduation rate and 16th in community service participation and

survival and growth of transplanted cyrtopodium punctatum, or cigar orchids.

hours served. This marks a steady climb since 2009

That information is critical to the work of botanists at the Atlanta Botanical

when the university ranked 177.

Garden, which began cultivating the species in 2006. Mature plants are now being

The publications’ rankings take into account:

transported to Fakahatchee State Park in hopes they will take root on cypress and

Social mobility: graduating low-income students

ash trees and reproduce. Survival rates have ranged between 50 and 85 percent.

Research: producing cutting-edge scholarship

“Orchids are one of the most beautiful elements of our biodiversity,” Liu said.

“Some orchids you see for sale at markets and flower shops were nourished artificially in nurseries, but others are collected directly from the wild. Many are over-harvested and become endangered in nature.”

and Ph.D. graduates Service: encouraging students to give back “It gives me great satisfaction to see FIU being recognized for the work we do in our community,” FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg said. “FIU is a university with a soul. We are a solutions center and a beacon of hope for our community.”

Teaching kids to code This summer FIU’s School of Computer Science invited local day campers—enrollees in the local Girls Who Code immersion program, part of a national organization committed to attracting women to computing-related fields—for tours of research labs and a workshop on how to build a web-based mapping app. And during the school year, FIU faculty and volunteers lead Sunday afternoon sessions for 8- to 17-year-olds at Miami’s Frost Museum of Science, where they learn coding basics using a kidfriendly programming language. Teaching children how to use programming code at an early age is key to developing their interest, explains Steven Luis, a director in the school. “We need to empower them with the capability to manipulate the digital world, where information lives, and that capability is programming,” he says. “’I’ve seen kids do amazing things with very little training.”

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Questions with The New Coach

By Joel Delgado ’12 | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

As the World Cup dominated television screens around the globe this summer, FIU Magazine caught up with new men’s soccer coach Scott Calabrese. He was introduced as the sixth head coach of FIU men’s soccer, but the program has been on his radar for years – since 1996, to be exact. That was when Calabrese, playing professionally at the time, made a trip to Richmond, Va. to watch the NCAA Tournament Men’s Soccer Final Four, featuring an FIU team that came up one win shy of a national championship. As East Tennessee State’s head coach for the last six years, he helped lead the Buccaneers to two conference championships and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Now he will try to do the same at FIU.

1. What are you enjoying the most about life in Miami?

I like that Miami has a high level of diversity. Soccer is such a diverse sport in and of itself. It’s an international game, this is an international city and FIU is an international university.

2. How have you seen the game of soccer grow in the United States?

When I was growing up there was no professional league and there was very little attention and coverage given to soccer. In my 30-plus years of involvement with the sport, things have changed drastically. I went to a national team game when I was around 12 or 13 years old, got the tickets the same day and there were about 10,000 people watching. Now they are packing stadiums with 80,000 people in them. The U.S. Men’s National Team is a huge focus of attention for this country to rally around. The quality of the players we produce has also improved and we have gained respect worldwide from other soccer-playing countries that are more established.

3. What should fans expect from FIU men’s soccer on the field this fall?

We have quite a few South Florida players so the style we play will be conducive to their talents. We’re going to be an attacking team, trying to take chances and score goals. One thing I would like to see is a blue-collar mentality behind the technical and attack-based aspects of our game.

4. What makes soccer the “beautiful game” for you?

Ultimately, there has to be passion in it. One of the things that attracts people to any sport, and soccer is no different, is that when people play with passion and emotion, it’s inspiring.

5. What have you learned about coaching over the years?

Coaching is much more about human beings than Xs and Os.

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Travels: Japan Eighteen students and four FIU architecture professors spent two weeks in Toyko and nearby Yokohama this past summer to experience contemporary design in the world’s most populous metropolitan area. The group visited both single-family dwellings and skyscrapers to better appreciate current trends, which include technological innovation even while harkening back to traditional Japanese techniques and forms.

“The Japanese have a very different way of looking at space,” explains Professor Alfredo Andia, “and a new way to look at what the human experience is.” The approach emphasizes customization over standardized floor plans and a strong interest in how the individual moves his or her body through space. “It’s a completely different concept of architecture and how people interact,” Andia says.

Much of the housing the group toured was extremely tight by Western standards but still functional and serene, he recalls. “It was crowded but peaceful.”

NeighborhoodHELP

honored for improving health care system FIU’s Green Family Foundation NeighborhoodHELP initiative recently won $60,000 and a Sapphire Award from the Florida Blue Foundation, a recognition of its proven success in helping the most underserved members of the community.

A recent study published in the Southern Medical Journal reported that among households that participated in the program there was an

Grant to help FIU make STEM intro courses more interactive FIU has received a $1.5 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to develop strategies to improve the graduation completion rates of science, technology, engineering and math majors. About 60 percent of all U.S. undergraduates in those majors do not complete their degrees. Among minorities, the number jumps to 80 percent.

Because most dropouts occur in the first two years of college, when students are taking

increased use of preventive health measures such

introductory courses in chemistry, math and biology, FIU will use the dollars to reform its

as blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, Pap

foundational courses.

smears, mammograms and colonoscopies. The

“Our project will establish a culture of best teaching practices across the science and

report also showed a 35 percent decrease among

mathematics areas,” said Laird Kramer, director of the FIU STEM Transformation Institute.

those same households in use of the emergency

“This means that professors will incorporate active learning in their courses, where

room on a regular basis.

students engage in activities during class instead of learning by themselves at two in

NeighborhoodHELP, which stands for Health

the morning.”

Education Learning Program, is the cornerstone of the medical curriculum of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, which sends student teams to visit patients in their homes. The program offers a range of services including education, support and primary health care provided through a Mobile Health Care Center that is staffed by physicians and nurses from the medical school.

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The FIU College of Law’s ranking on the 2014 Best Law Schools for Hispanics list​, by HispanicBusiness

The Center for Leadership’s ranking among leadership development programs at educational institutions, by the publication Leadership Excellence

#1

Left: Mary Brickell Right: Carmen Petsoules holding a photo of Brickell

Library collection links two Miami legends The death this year of Miami historian Carmen Petsoules reminded the FIU community that the civic activist and tenacious researcher several years ago made a priceless donation to the university. The Mary Brickell Collection comprises architectural plans, estate and property records, leases, photographs and other material related to the woman whom many consider an underappreciated founder of Miami and one who wielded more power than often recognized. Petsoules made it her mission to

Nicholas Espinosa Suazo champion the overlooked Brickell, whoVanessa bucked early-20th-century convention by taking on the traditional male roles of landowner and developer while promoting business and tourism

Lessons in LIFE

and supporting the rights of

For three weeks in May, 14 collegeaged young people with intellectual Perhaps influenced by her idol, Petsoules over the years disabilities came together to live at FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus. worked to save Miami’s historic banyan trees from the chainsaw and stop local Enrolled in the first Panther LIFE Residential officials’ talk of altering the pedestrian-friendly nature the neighborhood Program, theyofsettled in at the University Tower residence hall and participated Brickell herself designed. Said FIU Libraries Special Collections Head Althea in classroom discussions and activities Silvera of the determined Petsoules, whom she befriended, “Wedevelop used to independent tease designed to help them living skills.

They studied nutrition, fitness, that she was channeling Mary Brickell.” resumé writing, communication styles and relationship issues. Guided by FIU staff, among them FIU students who serve throughout the year as dormitory resident assistants, the young adults learned to create budgets and shopping lists, accomplished chores and cooked their own meals. They even tackled the infamous Team Ropes Adventure Challenge at Biscayne Bay Campus. FIU Magazine accompanied the group and documented its journey. Watch a video of the Panther LIFE program at magazine.fiu.edu.

the public.

Krystal Bury

Carolina Puig

Photos by Tim Long

Adam Petrillo

Tyrone Harris

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Love is everything though o course, love dies leaving you agony and then you die and ononaworms LITERARYcrawl in and ou a UPRISING your skull.But the alternati Alumnus worse—mope turns Miami around, hate intoand a hip then die. Worm yourself poetry poetryhub. hub will still crawl in and out o your skullwhether or not yo stood on top of the White Mountains to watch the sun explode into the Sea of Cret or tasted the skin of a wom soaked in sweat and wine.

The invitation, in true P. Scott Cunningham style, was irresistible.

ODE

He’s He’sthrowing throwing anan “old-fashioned “old-fashioned book book party” party” in in honor honor of of poet poet

Adrian AdrianMatejka, Matejka,and and you’re you’re invited. invited.

If you If you didn’t didn’t know know Cunningham, Cunningham, you youmight mightread read“old-fashioned” “old-fashioned” and and think think this this was was a poetry a poetry reading reading straight straightout outofofDownton Downton Abbey, Abbey, with with cocktails cocktails served served byby coattailed coattailed

waiters waiterssurrounded surrounded byby leather-bound leather-bound books. books.

What What Scott, Scott35, meant meant byby “old-fashioned” “old-fashioned”was was the the opposite: opposite: hip, hip, retro retro, andand notnot to be to be missed. missed.

Respond Respondsoon, soon,Scott Scottsuggested suggestedininthe theinvite. invite.“The “Theguest guestlist listisis pretty prettytight.” tight.”

“The “TheBig BigBook BookParty” Party”last lastNovember Novemberdid didnot notdisappoint. disappoint.It Itwas was

held heldininthe thebackyard backyardofofa a1920s 1920shome homenear nearthe theWynwood Wynwoodand andDesign districts Design that districts havethat driven have Miami’s drivenarts Miami’s explosion. arts explosion.

Some SomeofofMiami’s Miami’stop topliterary literarylights lightswandered wanderedunder underthe thetree tree

canopy, canopy,munching munchingononboxes boxesofofCracker CrackerJacks.

Jacks.They Theygathered gatheredaround anaround outdoor anboxing outdoorring boxing for the ring main for the event: main Two event: professional Two professional boxers

slugged boxers itslugged out, Scott it out, andScott his fiancee and hisread fiancé a poem read athey poem wrote theytogether, wrote then Matejka took the ring to read from Smoke, The Big hisSmoke, poetic together, then Matejka took the ring toThe readBig from

dramatization his poetic dramatization of Jim Crow-era of Jim heavyweight Crow-era heavyweight champion Jack champion Johnson.

Jack MacArthur Johnson. “genius” grant-winning poet Campbell McGrath,

Scott’s MacArthur teacher and “genius” mentor grant-winning at FIU, marveled poet Campbell from the sidelines.

McGrath,“This isScott’s not something teacher and I taught mentor him,” at he FIU, said. marveled from the sidelines.

“This Thatisnight not something someone offered I taughtMcGrath him,” hethe said. perfect description of

Cunningham’s That night someone body ofoffered work, which McGrath ranges the perfect from whimsical description poetry of

journals Cunningham’s to over-the-top body of literary work, which eventsranges to a month-long from whimsical poetry poetry

By Dan ByGrech Dan Grech MFA ’12 YR Photos by Angel Valentín

extravaganza journals to over-the-top literaryO,events to“Scott a month-long every April called Miami: has the poetry soul of a

extravaganza Broadway producer everytrapped April called in the O,body Miami: of a“Scott poet.”has the soul of a Broadway producer trapped in the body of a poet.”

5 5 MFA ’08 went from FIU The story of how P. Scott Cunningham

graduate The story student of how to Miami P. Scott poetry Cunningham, impresario 35,dates wentback from to FIU2006,

Hear Scott Cunnigham recite original verse at magazine.fiu.edu

when graduate Scottstudent and some to Miami classmates poetry from impresario FIU’s Creative dates back Writing to 2006, MFA program when Scott met and Campbell some classmates McGrath forfrom beers FIU’s on Creative Lincoln Road Writing in MFA Miami program Beach. met Campbell McGrath for beers on Lincoln Road in

Miami Beach.

“As soon as we all sat down, Campbell, out of nowhere, declared

that it“As was soon the as first wemeeting all sat down, of the Campbell, ‘Miami Poetry out Collective,’ of nowhere,”declared that it was the first meeting ofit,the Poetry ” to Cunningham said.

“By naming he‘Miami gave us a kindCollective,’ of permission

goCunningham do stuff.” said. “By naming it, he gave us a kind of permission to goDo dostuff, stuff.” they did. The Miami Poetry Collective began setting up

Do stuff, theytodid.

Theimprovised Miami Poetry Collective began setting up on street corners write poems-to-order on manual typewriters. on street corners They hawked to writeaimprovised self-published poems-to-order zine of the collective’s on manual

work typewriters. for a fewThey pennies. hawked Theya hosted self-published readings zine at bars of theand collective’s collaborated work for a few withpennies. anyone They that was hosted game. readings at bars and

collaborated In some ways, withCunningham anyone that has waspursued game. the traditional route

toward In some ways,a Cunningham has pursued the MFA. traditional route becoming professional poet.

He got his He’s landed

a toward good two becoming dozen poems a professional in literarypoet. journals.

He got He’s hisnow MFA.looking He’s landed for a

publisher a good two for his dozen firstpoems book ofinpoems. literary journals. He’s now looking for a publisher But his grassroots for his first encounters book of poems. from the Miami Poetry Collective

10 | FALL 2014

Continues

of u in

ut of ive is

“I really wanted to create the literary community that was in my head. I wanted to do things that were community-based and right for Miami.�

ms of ou

n te man FALL 2014 | 11

Continued – such as the time he was asked to write a

and should be out in the community. I had a

traditional poem, but he’s also interested in

personalized poem for a couple to read at

conventional notion, and he blew it up.”

what else it could be. He’s always pushing the

their wedding – permanently altered the way Cunningham thought about his poetic project.

That spark grew into O, Miami, a Knightfunded annual poetry festival held every

boundaries.”

“Anyone selling poems for four cents on

April since 2011. It has the modest goal of

a street corner and shouting poems from a

literary journal or writing something for two

exposing all 2.5 million people in Miami-

Lamborghini on Ocean Drive and dropping

people that will be part of their lives forever?”

Dade County to a poem during National

poems from the sky has a little bit of P.T.

Cunningham said. “It made me realize that

Poetry Month.

Barnum in them,” said Ibargüen. “But it’s

“What’s cooler? Getting published in a

trying to impress people who already love

O, Miami has featured its share of big

poetry is not important to me. We are creating

names, such as actor-poet James Franco,

a new audience.”

singer-poet Patti Smith, and Obama

all in the service of this cause, which is art and poetry.”

Cunningham said his mission is simple:

inauguration poet and FIU alumnus Richard

“O, Miami has taught Miami that poetry is not

as so often happens in Miami, members of the

Blanco ’91, MFA ’97. It has sponsored

dead. It’s a living genre, and it’s more dynamic

collective began peeling off to pursue careers

crowdsourced poetry contests with The Miami

than people give it credit for.”

In 2008, Scott was nearing graduation, and

in writing or teaching in other cities.

“When I was graduating, I knew I wasn’t

Herald and local NPR station WLRN. This

leaving Miami,” said Cunningham, who grew

former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass and

up in Boca Raton. “I really wanted to create

National Book Award-winner Nikky Finney.

the literary community that was in my head

5

year’s festival kicked off with readings from

But O, Miami distinguishes itself with

Cunningham has these words tattooed in a cursive script on his arm. “I will die in Miami in the sun.”

They’re the opening lines of a poem by

in Miami. I wanted to do things here that

the unconventional and the buzzworthy.

were community-based and that were right

Cunningham and his collaborators have

Miami-born Donald Justice, one of the poets

for Miami.”

sewn poems into thrift-store threads, flown

that has most influenced Cunningham.

Then Cunningham caught a break.

poetry banners behind planes, snuck poems

Cunningham’s published poems evince

onto drink coasters and placed poetry

a verbal flair and a wry humor. They can

Foundation and a fellow alumnus of

parking tickets on cars. He rained poems

take a nostalgic tone. They reflect some

Wesleyan, had seen Cunningham selling

written in vegetable ink on biodegradable

of his obsessions, such as his ode to NBA

poems around town and asked if he wanted

paper from a helicopter. He even belted out

basketball player Zydrunas Ilgauskas, or the

to put together a poetry festival.

poems using a bullhorn while driving a red

series he’s written about composer Morton

convertible Lamborghini on Ocean Drive in

Feldman.

Alberto Ibargüen, president of the Knight

“My thought is we’d have readings by

But he has yet to capture his greatest

Seamus Heaney and get repetitive stress

South Beach.

injury patting ourselves on the back,”

“Scott capitalizes on the absurd, flashy Miami

obsession and his muse on paper.

Ibargüen said. “Scott said poetry is part of life

image and projects it onto something that’s

“I’ve really failed as a Miami poet so far, in

completely without flash,” said Arlo Haskell,

my opinion,” he said. “I think of my own tiny

incoming executive director of the Key West

Miami poems and I get depressed.

Literary Seminar. “Scott is a genius marketer.

“But here’s the thing,” he added. “Even

He makes poetry and literature fun. He makes

though I grew up in Boca, so South Florida

it a collective experience.”

is in my DNA, I’ve only lived in Miami since

“Scott doesn’t believe that poetry is bound

2005. So to me, my Miami-ness is still in

by the borders of the page it’s written on,”

formation. I still have time to write an epic

said Campbell McGrath. “Scott can write a

about the Venetian Causeway.” n

A tougher

Code FIU research enhances Miami-Dade building codes

By Robyn Nissim

T

he National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast El NiĂąo conditions in the Atlantic this year, predicting fewer than average hurricanes in 2014. But the

overwhelming consensus among scientists worldwide is that storms are still going to keep increasing in both frequency and severity over the middle and long runs. And even a small storm can inflict huge losses if structures are not strong enough.

Continues

FALL 2014 | 13

Not a Winning Formula:

H (hazards) + E (exposures) x V (vulnerability)= Risks Add more exposure in terms of the number of people and economic assets that are subject to hazards, and the equation becomes:

Risk + Time = 1. At the least, an emergency 2. Potentially a disaster 3. Or, worst case scenario—a catastrophe

Continued Building code provisions, particularly for

Since the code mainly targets mid-level

where we need to tweak things,” says

the Miami-Dade High Velocity Hurricane

hazards, like a Category 3 hurricane, this

Gascon. “This is the science and the research

Zone, have been revised and tightened in

means buildings and homes are inherently

to show where it is necessary.”

the last two decades based on lessons

at risk from anything stronger. Just because

learned from previous storms. But until FIU’s

something is “built to code” doesn’t mean

Laboratory for Wind Engineering Research,

International Hurricane Research Center

that it’s necessarily going to be safe or

says WOW is testing new ways to ensure

(IHRC) introduced the Wall of Wind (WOW),

secure in a higher intensity event. And, as a

that structures survive natural catastrophes.

the largest and most powerful university

hurricane is so often a “multi-hazard event,”

“It is not enough to test winds straight on,”

storm research facility, it was impossible to

it is the combination of wind and storm surge

he says. “We are looking at different wind

gauge just how South Florida construction

that has the most devastating impact.

directions combined with wind-driven rain

would fare in the face of a major storm. By

“The second part of the problem is that the

Arindam Chowdhury, director of IHRC’s

to see where there are vulnerabilities in a

the fall of 2014, the Wall of Wind and Miami-

events appear to be changing,” Olson notes.

building and whether prescriptive code

Dade County will have completed tests on

“So that basically means you’re getting sliced

guidelines are actually effective.”

how well different building products hold up

from two sides of the same sword. Code isn’t

under different natural disaster scenarios.

what people think it is and the hazards are

Currently there is a mandatory building

increasing. So the code either has to increase

These distinctions will be critical in the many storm seasons to come.

After all, South Florida knows well that the

code, a negotiated, consensus–based

or we have to have a moving target so that

NOAA 2014 forecast does not necessarily

minimum for the level of hazards and risk that

‘code plus’ evolves upward.

equate to calm conditions in this tropical

a community faces, explains Richard Olson, director of FIU’s Extreme Events Institute and

Miami-Dade County official Jaime Gascon

climate. There were El Niño conditions in

recognized the level of uncertainty even

1992 when Hurricane Andrew blew through

the IHRC. The problem is in the “minimum.”

in brand-new construction so he began

the region and led to a new building code

And “the general public thinks they’re safe

working with IHRC and the WOW to create an

in Miami-Dade County. A quiet season can

if the building or their home is built to code.

enhanced building code “isolating the products

morph into a disastrous one virtually overnight.

But that begs the question: safe against

and the conditions that people will face.”

As the saying goes in hurricane country, “It

what?” Olson asks.

14 | FALL 2014

“We want to see what is working and

only takes one storm if it’s a direct hit.”

n

Take a tour of the exhibit at magazine.fiu.edu

Wall of Wind takes national stage in Washington, D.C.

By Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 California braces for inevitable and all-toosudden earthquakes.

Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico battle seemingly unstoppable wildfires.

of Wind, or WOW, is a prominent feature

increase the wind speeds and, literally, try to

of a new exhibit in Washington, D.C., at

blow the roof off the house.

the country’s largest museum dedicated to engineering and design.

The 15-month exhibition Designing for

“To have our FIU Wall of Wind so prominently featured brings home to every visitor our university’s cutting-edge research

Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas seek refuge

Disasters, on display through Aug. 2, 2015,

capabilities,” said Richard Olson, director

against the unpredictable wrath of tornadoes.

at the National Building Museum, examines

of FIU’s Extreme Events Institute and the

solutions, innovations and historical

International Hurricane Research Center.

Carolina, June to November is spent on the

responses to national disasters that strike the

“The exhibit is striking and highlights that we

lookout for hurricanes.

United States. The WOW exhibit spotlights

need not be passive in confronting risks of all

FIU’s role as a national leader in hurricane

kinds, including hurricanes. We are honored

mitigation research.

to be contributing to the Museum’s public

And in Florida, South Carolina and North

No state on the U.S. map is immune to natural disasters. That point is underscored in the 2014 White House National Climate

FIU’s WOW is the only research facility in

awareness efforts.”

Assessment, which documents a significant

the world capable of generating wind speeds

rise in extreme weather around the country.

of Category 5 hurricanes, like Katrina and

positioned to bring a message of disaster

Among other hazard dynamics, the report

Andrew. FIU wind engineering researchers

mitigation awareness to the general public, said Executive Director Chase Rynd.

The National Building Museum is uniquely

projects an increased number of the

are advancing the understanding of hurricane

strongest hurricanes, Categories 4 and 5, in

impacts on buildings and other structures,

the next several decades.

while also developing innovative damage

together the experts—from engineers,

mitigation products and techniques.

to architects, to teachers,” he said. “The

As the conversation on disasters increasingly centers on mitigation and

Museum visitors will see firsthand how the

“We are the neutral forum that can bring

museum provides the public a look at the

preparation at every level, FIU is taking the

WOW works through an interactive replica

best practices and best thinking that’s out

national stage. The university’s one-of-a-kind

that generates five wind speeds directed at

there on how to make our world safer and

hurricane mitigation technology, the Wall

a small-scale residential building. They can

stronger.”

n

FALL 2014 | 15

LOVE &

New museum a labor of

WAR

See what’s inside the museum at magazine.fiu.edu

Alumnus leads effort to open the South Florida Military Museum

By Eric Barton | Photo by Josh Ritchie 16 | FALL 2014

T

he U.S. airship K-74 spotted a dot on its radar just after midnight on July 18, 1943. It was almost certainly a German submarine thousands of miles from home, cutting through the Florida Keys.

The K-74 was one of about 200 zeppelins the U.S. military used to patrol coastlines during World War II. It had arrived days earlier from the Goodyear factory in Ohio. That night it would be one of two blimps patrolling the South Florida coast. They were searching for German subs that had been sinking merchant ships.

Lt. Nelson Grills, the K-74’s pilot, ordered his 10-man crew to battle stations. Built for scouting, Blimps weren’t supposed to start a fight. But there were merchant ships nearby, and Grills figured he had to act.

The moon was half full, and the pilot needed to use it to cover his approach. He angled the blimp to keep the moon in front of him so that they wouldn’t be silhouetted in the sky. He pressed down on the helm, and the 250-foot airship went nose first toward the mysterious ship. The dot on the radar was eight miles out.

There wasn’t much to protect the blimp.

It had a .50-caliber machine gun, but the bullets would bounce off the reinforced deck of a German U-boat. Grills also had a .45-caliber handgun under his seat.

Petty Officer Isadore Stessel manned a handle that would release 500-pound bombs. They were set to go off after sinking 50 feet in the water, right where U-boats usually traveled.

Stessel wasn’t supposed to be there that night. Before the blimp set off from its base south of Miami, Stessel had been a lastminute replacement for a regular crewman.

The bombs he controlled were the only chance they had to sink a U-boat, so the whole mission now rested on a substitute bombardier.

As the zeppelin dipped down to 250 feet above the calm waters, the crew could see the sub was riding on the surface.

Moonlight lit up its wake. Grills told his crew to sit tight. If the vessel ended up being one of theirs, it wouldn’t fire at the passing blimp. If it began shooting, they’d know they were in for a fight.

The crew saw the muzzle flashes before they heard them, bright yellow explosions like blinking lights on the deck of the sub.

One struck the K-74’s windshield, others peppered the balloon above them.

It was almost surely a suicide mission now. Blimps had no chance of surviving a fight with a U-boat, which had a pair of anti-aircraft guns on its deck.

The K-74 returned fire from its .50-caliber machine gun. Grills ordered Stessel to begin dropping bombs. But nothing happened.

The petty officer may not have heard the pilot over the blasting machine gun. Grills repeated the order. Drop the bombs, now.

That encounter, at just about midnight off the Florida coast, is the only known battle between a submarine and a zeppelin. It made headlines in papers across the globe, but it was soon just another forgotten battle between two mismatched crews.

Then came Anthony Atwood, a historian and Navy veteran, who earned a Ph.D. in history from FIU in 2012 writing his dissertation on the history of World War II in Florida.

When he found out about the battle with the U-boat—and the harrowing and ghastly night the crew spent afterward—he became obsessed.

First, his fixation was to document the battle, to put it down on paper like never before. The forgotten piece of history eventually became his master’s thesis. Then he took inspiration from the fight to do something bigger. It became his starting point for an effort that should’ve been done a long time ago.

Anthony Atwood looks the part of career Navy. The 53-year-old is stocky, with a mess of gray hair that matches a thick moustache.

He speaks like he’s giving an order to a petty officer, with short, declarative sentences that you can hear down the hall.

He joined the Navy after graduating from the University of Miami in 1981, climbed the enlisted ranks to chief yeoman or E7, and then earned a promotion to chief warrant officer, or officer grade. He spent plenty of time at sea and part of his service as a recruiter. “I handed out fliers

at airshows,” he likes to say. It’s modesty, considering he also served during Desert Storm on the USS Blue Ridge command ship as it patrolled the Indian Ocean.

He got out in 1998 and entered the Navy Reserves. It wasn’t long until he found what he’d be doing next. He was at a Veteran’s Day event at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, next door to Zoo Miami southwest of Kendall. He was standing

at the edge of the property when a fellow veteran pointed through a chain link fence.

“Wouldn’t that make a great history museum,” the man said.

Atwood considered the fact that there isn’t a museum recognizing the sacrifice of soldiers anywhere in South Florida.

“Bottom line, I was called to this project,” Atwood says. “I was motivated to pay it forward for those who didn’t come back.”

Atwood looked out over the weeds poking through an old parking lot. Beyond it was a two-story, colonial-style building that looked ready to collapse. Part of it had been burned off and large sections of the siding were missing.

But the building also had Navy in its DNA, with large columned entranceways

and three stately dormers looking out from the roof.

Atwood researched the building and discovered that it had served as the CIA base for training anti-Castro fighters, an Army Reserve center, and a Marine Corps Reserve center. All of that came after its original purpose, as headquarters of Naval Air Station Richmond. During World War II, three colossal hangars stood behind it, each one long enough to hold ten football fields. In them, blimps were prepped for their scouting missions.

So it was right there, where Atwood had been standing that Veteran’s Day, that the K-74 had launched for its night-time patrol.

Atwood formed a nonprofit and began raising funds for a firstever South Florida military history museum. In 2000, the Florida Legislature gave his organization $41,000 in seed money.

The next year, Atwood enrolled at FIU to get his master’s degree in history, irrevocably intertwining the twin efforts to document one of the war’s forgotten battles and to open a new museum to tell that story and many more from Florida military history.

As the K-74 lumbered its way down to the ocean below, the U-boat’s guns went oddly quiet.

The zeppelin had been spraying the deck with machine gun fire. The airship’s gunner had already gone through an entire belt of ammunition and reloaded the .50-caliber for another volley. And while the U-boat’s hull was thick enough to stop the rounds, there was no protection for the men manning the guns on the deck.

It’s likely the K-74 had taken out a couple of them.

As the zeppelin passed directly above the U-boat, Grills shouted again for his replacement bombardier to pull the handle.

This time, Stessel heard his pilot. He released one bomb. Then another. Two drum-shaped cannisters dropped into the water below and exploded 50 feet down.

The U-boat’s guns opened fire again.

They struck the blimp’s engine and sliced Continues FALL 2014 | 17

Continued

through the balloon. Fuel cells came dislodged and dropped to the ocean. The change in weight sent the blimp skyward, straight up. The crew was tossed around the cabin.

They climbed to 2,500 feet before the K-74 had enough. Luckily for the crew, it had enough helium left in the balloon to make a slow, gentle landing on the ocean.

Grills ordered his crew to inflate the life raft. But nobody was holding the rope as they threw it from the cabin; they watched it quickly drift out of reach. They dove into the Florida Straits. Stessel misjudged the jump and gashed his leg on the way out.

Grills placed classified documents into a weighted box and tossed it overboard.

Water filled the cabin. He was almost ready to jump when he remembered the gun under his chair. If the U-boat returned, they may need to fight to keep from becoming prisoners of war. He sloshed through the ankle-high water and pulled the .45 from its hiding place.

By the time Grills returned to the door, his crew had floated away. He shouted but heard nothing in response. The airship was sinking, and he could wait no longer. The pilot jumped in. Alone, he decided the only thing he could do was swim to shore.

Islamorada was 25 miles away.

In January 2002, Anthony Atwood found himself in his own little corner of the Caribbean. Just as things had been heating up on his military history museum project, and most of the way through his master’s thesis, the Navy called up the Naval Reservist for full-time duty.

They sent him to Gitmo, that prison on the island of Cuba for the War on Terror’s worst. Atwood, a chief yeoman, patrolled the waters in case al Qaeda decided to come for a rescue mission. “Most of the time, we were just telling French tourists in sailboats to stay away,” he says, that modesty coming through again. “Luckily, al Qaeda never showed up.”

When he returned in October 2002, Atwood went headlong into his master’s thesis. On July 18, 2003, he published An incident at sea: The historic combat between U.S. Navy Blimp K-74 and U-Boat 134. In 130 pages, he documented not only the battle, but the circumstances 18 | FALL 2014

that led to it and the aftermath.

In 2007, Atwood convinced the Department of Defense to sell the old airbase building next to the zoo for $1. Then he got Miami-Dade County government to chip in $3 million, and the state later added $500,000, part of a Building Better Communities initiative to improve Zoo Miami into a world-class destination. At that point, he was halfway to the $6 million he would need to open the South Florida Military Museum.

“At that point, they were so sick of me coming around asking for money,” Atwood jokes. “They were calling me Mad Mr. Atwood. Now that I have a Ph.D., they will have to call me Mad Dr. Atwood.”

Isadore Stessel was bombadier on the K-74 blimp. A one-time civil engineering major at Clemson University, he dropped out to serve his country and died in action in 1943.

Atwood needed to get the building off U.S. government property. So in 2010, the historic building was fitted with 96 airplane tires. Workers then slowly moved the building a half mile to where it sits now, just next to the train museum on countyowned land. A host of dignitaries were there, including Congressman Mario DiazBalart and Miami-Dade Commissioner José “Pepe” Diaz, who helped pull on the ropes. The building is the biggest historic structure ever moved in Florida, Atwood notes. It has become an engineering feat

– the largest historic preservation project underway in the state.

Once in place, the work was really just beginning. Atwood needed to have a crew rip out asbestos. The entire interior would need to be gutted. And then every inch of the building would be refurbished.

He also had a big job before he could get the museum opened. He needed to figure out how to raise another $3 million.

While the K-74’s pilot swam to shore, the other nine crewmen held hands so that they wouldn’t drift apart. The flat seas that they had seen when they set out at dusk were being replaced by whitecaps. And among the waves, they spotted dorsal fins.

The blood from Stessel’s wound was likely attracting the sharks. The men had three pocket knives among them, and they pointed the blades out in front of them, even though they knew they would do little to fight off the predators.

At 7:45 in the morning, a Navy seaplane spotted them bobbing in the water. In response, a World War I-era destroyer tied up near Mallory Square in Key West fired up its steam engines. The USS Dahlgren was being used for training exercises. If the U-boat spotted it, the destroyer would have little chance to fight back.

It had taken the zeppelin the entire night to deflate. By about 8 that morning, it finally sunk. When it reached a depth of 50 feet, its final two bombs burst. By then, the men had drifted far enough from the wreckage to avoid the explosions.

It was about then that Stessel lost his grip. He drifted away from the other men.

They shouted for him to swim back. But he was pulled under. He surfaced once more before the sharks dragged him down for good.

The rest of them huddled, back to back, clutching the pocket knives.

The Dahlgren reached them at 9:45.

They had been in the water for nearly 10 hours. The destroyer’s crew spotted dorsal fins circling. The captain steamed forward, dangerously swamping the sailors in the boat’s wake, chasing off the sharks. The Dahlgren’s crew pulled up some of the men, while another boat nearby saved the others.

Eight of them were safe, but their pilot was still missing.

The Navy diverted a small flotilla in an effort to find Grills, pulling ships from as far as the coast of Cuba. He was spotted just before nightfall, 12 miles from the sight of the crash. He had made it nearly halfway to Islamorada. Sharks had circled him the whole way. His life jacket had cut into him as he swam, causing a severe slash on the back of his neck. He was dazed, sunburned, and dehydrated.

Things didn’t get better for the crew. A naval inquiry stopped short of concluding that Grills erred in attacking the sub, but none of the men were commended for their actions. The report also incorrectly claimed that the crew failed to drop bombs. In the official record, it was as if their attack had done nothing but lead to the destruction of a blimp and the gruesome death of Stessel.

The K-74 finally found deserved credit from an unlikely place. German military records released more than a decade after the war included communications sent from U-boat No. 134. They reported a battle with a zeppelin off the coast of the Florida Keys. The blimp had dropped bombs on the U-boat and caused damage to the sub’s ballast tanks. It was proof that the K-74’s crew had done its job that night by inflicting damage to the U-boat.

Allied ships chased U-boat 134 for the rest of that summer. Nobody can say for sure, but the K-74’s bombs likely weakened the sub. By September 1943, the German Navy declared U-boat 134 missing in action. It was never heard from again.

In 1960, the United States Board for the Correction of Naval Records reopened the inquiry into the battle. The board amended the official record to show that the crew dropped two bombs on the U-boat. The Navy awarded Grills, who had become a lawyer in Indianapolis, a Distinguished Flying Cross. The surviving members of his crew received a Navy Commendation Medal.

But the board overlooked the crew’s substitute bombardier. Stessel, the crewman who had been eaten by sharks, received no credit. After a petition from his cousin, the Navy in 1996 finally awarded Stessel a Purple Heart, the Navy Commendation Medal, the American Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal.

In his thesis, Atwood writes that the

Circa 1946: A blimp lands at the airbase that today is the site of the South Florida Military Museum. The structures pictured here are what remained following a fire the year before.

battle embodies military sacrifice. “Its crew made a hopeless sacrifice attack, knowing they would go down. What bigger, easier target is there than a blimp at point-blank range? Where less inviting to enter than into mid-ocean at midnight? Still they went into the crucible of combat.”

Atwood stood on the temporary plywood floor of the future 12,000-square foot South Florida Military Museum recently and began an imaginary tour.

“You’re standing where a person comes in, and they’re directed right here, into the gift shop,” he said, moving through a two-byfour frame that will one day be a doorway.

Inside, the building was still nothing more than plywood and studs. But outside, workers had reconstructed the intricate wooden entranceways and patched the termite-eaten siding. Signs of the fire were gone, and the asbestos had long ago been removed. Newly installed windows still have tags on them.

He continued through the rooms to come, each dedicated to a war in which South Floridians served.

“This picture,” he said, presenting a portrait in the future Vietnam room, “this is Bruce Carter. He was killed in Vietnam. Fell on a grenade and saved four others. He got the medal of honor.”

Upstairs will be the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis rooms. Across the hall, Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s those young veterans Atwood thinks about most. “This is for them,” he says again and again.

Atwood always exudes energy, but here,

on this virtual tour of his space, is when he truly becomes animated. He gesticulates to the future display cases and offices.

He imagines a museum with several staff members, including a professor, a librarian and a secretary. Maybe they’ll add a postgraduate FIU fellow and a team of interns.

To get there, he’ll need more money.

This year, the Legislature sent Atwood another $1 million. But he’ll still need another $1.4 million to get the doors open.

“Where am I going to get that from?”

Atwood says. “I don’t know where. I have a lot of things in the fire and a lot of pledges, so we’ll see. We’ll see who comes through.”

He doesn’t worry, though.

“No, I don’t lose sleep,” he says, finishing the tour with a quick dash down the temporary stairwell. “I’ve already died and went to heaven so many times out of worry. So I don’t die anymore.

“It’s a freaking hoot to see this come together.”

Downstairs, Atwood has a makeshift office set up with picture books laid out.

They include photos of the building when it served as a headquarters for zeppelins.

When he worries if he’ll have the money to finish construction, Atwood just needs to look at the photos of the airfield that once held the K-74 and imagine when it set off on its final flight.

After all, Atwood did all of this for guys like Grills, who swam 12 miles in shark-infested waters. And Stessel, that backup bombardier who never returned from the ocean.

That memory is enough to keep Mad Dr. Atwood going. n FALL 2014 | 19

A vision of

FROM THE COVER

FIU seeks strategic growth to meet community need

FIU is looking at ways to expand its physical space and grow strateg fairground land immediately adjacent

New location for the Fair:

Current Tamiami Park and fairgrounds map A. 64 acres for FIU potential development

C

A

D

SW 107th Avenue

FIU is proposing a no-cost-to-the-county relocation of the Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo that will not affect Tamiami Park nor its activities.

FIU has been meeting regularly for nearly five years with Miami-Dade County and the Fair to help identify and secure a new location that respects the legacy of the annual community event. More than 20 potential sites have been identified, and FIU will cover the $45-50 million in anticipated relocation costs.

B. 22 acres remaining with Tamiami Park/ fairgrounds C. 26 acres returned to the park for development D. improvements to Tamiami Park

B SW 24 Street (Coral Way)

No cost to county and students: 20 | FALL 2014

$0 $0

FIU will finance the Fair’s move; Miami-Dade County funding will not be used.

FIU will not raise tuition to cover the cost of expansion.

f the future

ds: To continue to serve the ever-growing South Florida community,

gically. One option currently under consideration involves adding the to the Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

​ IU has less than half the footprint of F any other Florida public university with comparable enrollment. *FIU 584 Acres

*USF 1,642 Acres

*UCF 1,766 Acres

53K Students

48K Students

60K Students

Boost local economy:

$1.8 billion

initial economic impact

An independent consultant estimates the FIU expansion will have a recurring economic benefit of $541 million a year and create thousands of jobs. This is in addition to the $8.9 billion in annual impact FIU currently provides to the local economy.

A win-win-win for the community: The proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Miami-Dade County and FIU sets a deadline of March 2015 to select a site for the Fair relocation. Other highlights of the MOU include:

What the county could gain

What FIU could gain

• 320-acre Bird Basin for a passive park • 22 acres remaining with the county or

• 64 acres currently occupied by the Fair following relocation (see “A” on map)

Fair/park for exposition space (see “B” on map)

• 26 acres of undeveloped land

• Opportunity for joint programming at Tamiami Park

adjacent to the Fair site would become • Support from the county in favor of FIU’s expansion as a state legislative available for park development funding priority (see “C” on map)

• $20 million from FIU, which the

county will use for Tamiami Park improvements (see “D” on map)

academic and research space •

classrooms, teaching and technology labs, faculty and staff offices

•

wet and dry research laboratories

•

emphasis on facilities that support and expand programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)

•

expansion of research capacity within the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, the Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences and the Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work (Academic Health Center)

incubator, entrepreneurship and data center

* Includes all campuses

$

Proposed uses of 64 acres:

•

innovation and entrepreneurship space to focus on community economic development

•

university research incubator

•

data center to support university research and teaching technology

undergraduate student housing facilities •

approximately 2,000 beds

•

student meeting, study and recreation space

support space •

student services

•

exercise, health, wellness and recreational facilities for students

•

food service facilities

•

administrative support and meeting space

•

parking garages

•

pedestrian pathways and green space​ FALL 2014 | 21

Meet The New Provost

A research scientist and father of two FIU students, Ken Furton aims to enhance the value of an FIU degree

By JoAnn Adkins | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

22 | FALL 2014

A

s a young chemist in 1988, Kenneth G. Furton faced a career-defining decision. After completing post-doctoral research work in nuclear science at Swansea University in Wales, Furton returned to the United States where he was recruited by industry and academia.

Two job offers were of particular interest.

The first was Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company.

The second was FIU. “I asked my mentor, Professor Howard Purnell, what he thought I should do. There was no doubt in his mind,” Furton said. “He knew I would want the freedom to dream big and pursue my own research. Once I realized he was right, the decision became easy.”

When Furton arrived on campus, FIU had eight buildings and 17,000 students. He helped to grow the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, first as an educator, later as department chairman. All along, his true passion has been his research.

Furton found a niche in forensic chemistry and, in particular, scent detection. His career’s work has produced more than 700 journal articles and presentations on drugs, explosives and human scent detection while guiding the careers of more than 100 students who have worked in his lab. His findings have influenced policies worldwide involving canines in law enforcement.

Along the way, he founded the International Forensic Research Institute at FIU, the first approved by the State of Florida to assist law enforcement.

By 2001, the seasoned chemist moved into the administrative offices of the College of Arts & Sciences. Six years later, he was named dean. Without hesitation, he changed the face of FIU’s largest and most diverse college, organizing it into three thematic schools that address some of the most critical issues facing society today.

And now, Furton will lead the academic future of the university that recruited him nearly 26 years ago. In April of this year, President Mark B. Rosenberg appointed Furton FIU’s new provost. Writer JoAnn Adkins sat down with Furton to talk about his new role as FIU’s chief academic officer.

As provost, what are some of your big ideas for FIU? My top priority is to lead the development and implementation of a bold new strategic plan for the university. There are four focus areas— improving student success, highlighting preeminent programs, expanding FIU’s financial base and attaining the top Carnegie research classification. My overarching goal is to ensure that the quality of an FIU education and the value of an FIU degree constantly improve.

What plans do you have to expand FIU’s research agenda?

I believe strongly that FIU should strive for Carnegie Very High Research classification, the premier classification in academia. Our scientists are already performing cutting-edge research. If you look at what we’re doing with sea level rise, nanotechnology, ADHD in children and transportation, you realize FIU takes its role as Miami’s public research university very seriously.

Nationally, much focus has been put on STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] education. What does that mean for FIU? For the social sciences and humanities?

STEM education is critical to America’s innovation success, but the U.S. is being outperformed by other countries. As a result, it’s become a national priority, which creates a real opportunity for FIU. We’ve made an effort to develop more innovative STEM courses and educational programs to help students excel. Plus, the diversity of our student population is a generation ahead of most of the rest of the country, so FIU can serve as a national lab for STEM transformation.

Having said that, the humanities and social sciences are more important than ever, because employers want well-rounded employees. We split the College of Arts & Sciences into three schools to ensure the humanities and social sciences were integrated with the natural sciences so we could provide innovative interdisciplinary programs. The integration of these disciplines is the key to graduating critical thinkers, team workers and effective communicators.

With your twins, Robert and Courtney, entering their sophomore year at FIU, what insights on FIU have you gained as a parent?

It’s been very insightful, actually. Through their eyes, I’ve seen areas where I know we can improve as a university. It’s helped me to think more about the actual student experience and how we can do things to give the students a clearer roadmap to success.

You think you really know everything you need to know about a job, but as a father, I’m learning new things about FIU every day. ​ re people surprised when they find out A you are still a practicing forensic scientist?

Probably. I have testified as an expert witness dozens of times including in high profile capital murder trials. My research was also recently cited in the Supreme Court decision affirming the use of drug dogs for probable cause to search vehicles. I’ve actually expanded my focus to include birds and elephants in recent years. It’s definitely been a challenge to maintain an active research group and be dean, but it’s also very satisfying.

You’re often sporting some unusual neckties. Just how many do you own?

It’s definitely in the hundreds. My favorite is my Rolling Stones tie. I actually proposed to my wife, Debby, at a Rolling Stones concert.

What is something about our new provost that might surprise the FIU community?

I was a thespian in high school. I actually joined the drama club because my older sister, Karen, was a thespian and we were very competitive. My favorite performance was playing Anne Sullivan’s dead brother in “Miracle Worker.” Anne Sullivan was Helen Keller’s governess. Karen played Helen Keller.

Playing a spirit, I had to deliver all my lines offstage. I thought I gave the performance of a lifetime but to this day, my parents and two other sisters still rave about Karen’s performance though she didn’t have to deliver a single line! The rivalry still continues.

What is your favorite spot on campus?

The Graham Center, during lunch in front of Bustelo. It captures the essence of FIU. n FALL 2014 | 23

W

hat do the mayor of Broward County, the University of South Carolina men’s head basketball coach and a Univision Network news anchor have in common? Aside from having graduated from FIU and making an impact on the world, they all received recognition at the 2014 Torch Awards. This year’s winners—15 alumni

and one professor—work in the White House, Abu Dhabi, the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands, among other locales.

Collectively, they reinforce that FIU has graduates making a difference in virtually every corner of the globe.

Along with the fun and excitement of a charity casino that raised scholarship funds, the ceremony included something new for 2014: the conferral of the first Alumnus of the Year Award, which went to longtime FIU volunteer and donor Gerald C. Grant Jr. ’78, MBA ’89. Read his story on page 28, and learn more about winners Marlene Liriano ’89 on page 26 and Greg Bossart Ph.D. ’95 on page 41.

24 | FALL 2014

Roldan Torres ’85 Pictured above, from left to right:

Abraham S. Ovadia, Esq. ’09 Shareholder Florida P.I.P. Law Firm, P.A. College of Law Pamela Silva Conde ’03, MBA ’12 News Anchor Univision Network School of Journalism & Mass Communication Gregory Bossart, Ph.D. ’95 Senior Vice President and Chief Veterinary Officer Georgia Aquarium College of Arts & Sciences Carlos A. Duart ’94, MS ’99 Chairman and CEO Duart Enterprises Inc. College of Engineering & Computing

Gerald C. Grant Jr. ’78, MBA ’89 Branch Director of Financial Planning AXA Advisors, South Florida College of Business Alumnus of the Year Katherine Vargas ’04 Director of Hispanic Media The White House College of Arts & Sciences Louis Stervinou ’87 Managing Director and Partner Eastdil Secured Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg Ernie Diaz ’89 Florida Regional President TD Bank College of Business

Ana Menéndez ’92 Docent Maastricht University The Honors College Gustavo Roig, Ph.D. Professor College of Engineering & Computing Outstanding Faculty Award Dr. Vivian Obeso ’94 Assistant Dean for Curriculum and Medical Education Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Barbara M. Sharief ’97, MS ’00 Mayor and District 8 Commissioner Broward County, Florida Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences

Marlene M. Liriano ’89 Vice President and Director of Interior Design HOK Miami College of Architecture + The Arts James S. Rosa ’78 Director of Staff United States Liaison Office College of Education Timothy E.D. McLaughlin-Munroe MPH ’02 Public Health Surveillance Officer and Deputy National Epidemiologist Public Health Department-Health Services Authority College of Public Health and Social Work Not pictured: Francisco Martin ’93 Head Men’s Basketball Coach University of South Carolina College of Education FALL 2014 | 25

A MASTER OF FO R M FUNCTION

&

Torch honoree Marlene Liriano’s work at FIU showcases contemporary trends in commercial interior design

By Alexandra Pecharich | Photo by Josh Ritchie

I

nterior designer Marlene Liriano ’89 remembers the lady who cried at the YMCA. Liriano and her team had taken a “sick” 40-year-old space— one that lacked proper ventilation and contained flooring and furniture today known to be made with toxic components—and turned it into a multi-functional community center in a low-income neighborhood. With a concierge-style reception area featuring podiums instead of a traditional desk, child-centered classrooms and a dedicated play area, in addition to plenty of natural lighting and access for the disabled, the end result wowed users.

“Here enters this woman with two kids,” Liriano recalls of the grand opening. “She comes in, looks around and drops to her knees. She was overwhelmed by emotion because, for the first time, her kids could go to a facility and be safe and be healthy.”

And while not all of her jobs end with such a dramatic display

26 | FALL 2014

of approval—Liriano works mostly with corporate clients such as Sabadell United Bank and Bacardi, as well as FIU—she recognizes that feeling figures prominently in every project.

“I think most people don't realize the power that we have as designers to influence the way people learn, the way they work, the way they live,” says Liriano, today the vice president and director of interior design for the Miami-based Florida practice of HOK, a global architecture and engineering firm. “Whether it's a museum, whether it's a university space, whether it's an American Airlines Admiral’s Lounge, there’s an emotion that happens when you walk in.”

And that happens by design. “Most clients want their physical space to showcase who they are, and it's not just a sign on the wall,” says Liriano, an Alumni Association lifetime member.

Her ability to give physical expression to how a company perceives itself or, more importantly, wants to be perceived, has propelled her locally within the industry. During her 30-year career she has landed big projects and developed long-term relationships that have brought her repeat business.

TODAY’S TRENDSETTERS In the last several years, Liriano has witnessed the downsizing of the corporate footprint. More interesting, however, is a trend that involves those closest to the bottom of the corporate ladder: millenials, the 20- and early-30-somethings who have redefined the workplace of today by literally breaking down walls—for which they have little need in the digital age.

“Baby boomers like me and clients my age still tend to want enclosed spaces. Millenials want to be able to pick up their laptops and work anywhere,” says Liriano, 50, who, with a daughter that graduated from FIU in December, enjoys direct knowledge of the demographic. (She and her husband also have a son in high school.) “They want much more open, much more collaborative areas.”

In HOK’s own Miami offices, on the ground floor of a refurbished warehouse in the Wynwood Arts District, that reality hits home: open cubicles with access to daylight from expansive windows; free-standing work stations available to visitors; walls covered with architectural plans and design renderings. Nothing is hidden. And inhabiting the place: young FIU graduates. Fully half of the 12-person staff hold FIU degrees. Their presence—in an urban space that also sports the exposed brick, stainedconcrete floors, visible ductwork and clean, modern lines one might expect at such a firm—backs up Liriano’s observations about what the up-and-coming value in a workplace.

“The younger generation wants vibrant, really cool spaces to work in,” she says. “If they walk into a space and it looks dreary, and it's not very attractive, they don't want to work there.”

Emotion rearing its head again.

The structure features floor-to-ceiling windows and, inside, open interior stairways and transparent office walls that allow natural light into every corner and views of virtually all activity.

“Students need daylighting. It's proven,” Liriano says of the new emphasis on sunshine for all. “The more daylighting they have, the more they learn, the more vibrant they are, just their physical being inside the room is different.”

Upholstered couches and chairs, small meeting tables and wall-mounted dry-erase boards fill the building’s common spaces in support of group studying and team projects. Exterior stairway landings feature outdoor furniture that turns a pass-through into a gathering space. And throughout the teaching areas, flexibility reigns.

“The last is part of what FIU appreciated very much, to be able to look at a footprint for a classroom and see how many different ways they can reconfigure that room,” Liriano says. “Students and professors no longer want classrooms lined up with tablet armchairs. They want group learning where students are engaged with their classmates and professors.”

Now working on the College of Business’ $35.7 million MANGO building, Liriano talks about “student streets”— active spaces for meeting friends and interacting with classmates. These will exist along open bridges that connect the two halves of the building. The lack of enclosure overhead and inclusion of a food court on the ground floor—an area left to the individual vendors to outfit—will ensure that the buzz of community fills the air.

“Vibrancy is not just about color. It's also sound,” Liriano says about what young people appreciate. “I don't think students want quiet spaces unless they're inside a classroom. They really, really want these student streets to support who they are and what they're doing. It’s the learning environment of the future.” n

THE NEW INTERIOR OF FIU With FIU in the midst of another building boom, Liriano has had opportunities to develop creative study spaces for young adults. The $57.5 million Academic Health Center 4 at MMC, on which she worked while with her previous company, is a catalog of the ways in which architecture and interior design have together responded to the demands of youth.

FALL 2014 | 27

BOLDMoves

Torch Alumnus of the Year Gerald Grant Jr. washed dishes, spun records and worked on a loading dock to get through school. He now sits on the Board of Trustees and is FIU’s first African-American graduate to donate $1 million to his alma mater.

By Eric Barton | Photo by Ivan Santiago ’00

I

t’s hard to imagine Gerald Grant Jr. 78, MBA ’89 with a Jamaican accent. But he had one, back when he was 9, when his family first moved to Miami. And the kids at school, they were relentless at making fun of it.

So that summer he gave himself a task: he would lose the accent. He did it mainly by watching TV. He’d mimic the plain American accent he heard, enunciating every syllable to get it just right. When school started in the fall, Gerald Grant Jr. sounded just like another American kid.

But he wasn’t, really. Gerald Grant Jr. was another American kid who also happened to have the drive of ten men. Maybe that sounds like an exaggeration, but not if you’ve met Grant, the 58-year-old statesman and gentleman FIU named its first ever Alumnus of the Year at the March 2014 Torch Awards. Not if you’ve seen the bold persistence that characterizes everything he does, whether it’s his morning workout or the million dollars he promised to his alma mater.

Grant says he developed that intense work ethic back in Kingston, surrounded by a family that talked a lot about working harder than anybody else. His dad was a cobbler and had a good shoe repair business going. “We were not necessarily wealthy, but 28 | FALL 2014

when you don’t realize you don’t have funds, you don’t really miss it,” Grant said.

Then his mom came back from a visit to Miami with plans to relocate there. So they moved in with Grant’s aunt and uncle, and his dad got a job as a security guard. It was a struggle for a while, but his parents saw that sacrifice as worthwhile if Grant went to college and did well.

“We came to the United States, and it gave me an opportunity for a good education. That one thing changed my life,” Grant says.

Grant began his working life as a dishwasher on the weekends at Dunes Motel on Miami Beach. Soon, Grant was the short-order cook. His pay: $2 an hour.

It was through Junior Achievement in high school that Grant met someone from the department store Burdines. Grant took a part-time job there on the loading dock, and the company saw they had someone with ambition. They put him in the management training program and quickly moved him up.

It was about that time that Grant’s family had a talk about avoiding debt. His parents didn’t want him to take out student loans and walk away from college under water.

When he started at Miami-Dade College, he would figure out a way to pay as he went.

Grant had a coworker at Burdines who kept talking about her friend, Jennifer Adger, and how much Grant would like her. Grant agreed to call her and they met at Jennifer’s mother’s house for their first date. Two years later they were married and eventually had two children, Jasmin, 27, and Gerald Grant III, 23.

It was during those years at Burdines that Grant picked up a little side business, in addition to everything else. He started by spinning records at friends’ parties, weddings and events, and sometimes on chartered yachts. Grant built up a party-starting record collection and even developed a DJ name: The G-man.

Grant earned his associate’s degree at Miami-Dade College, but he never considered stopping there. He moved on to FIU to study business. That’s where his upward trajectory, his constant steps in the right direction, almost ended.

His first semester at FIU, Grant just couldn’t seem to juggle it all. His grades were horrible, and he had no idea how he was going to fix it. This was his crossroads, the moment where maybe he failed out or maybe figured out how to get past it.

Business professor Lynda Raheem, who’s now retired, sat him down and explained he had options. “She told me, ‘Look we have resources that can help you.’” Grant signed up for tutoring, and it changed everything. The fact that Grant was paying for college himself—working three jobs to do it—meant that every class had true value. “There was no opportunity for me to take a class over. I had to do it the first time.”

Meanwhile, Burdines had moved Grant into the finance division and realized he had a penchant for numbers. It wasn’t just accounting. By paying his way through college, Grant had learned firsthand how to budget, save and manage money. He shared what he learned in his first book, published in 2010, Bold Moves to Creating Financial Wealth.

After earning an MBA at FIU, Grant eventually went to Great Western Bank and Citibank before landing the job he was working toward all along.

He started at AXA Advisors in 1995 as a financial planner, and met his mentor, Ron Hicks, a retirement benefits specialist in Buffalo. “We hit it off like brothers,” Hicks recalls. “He took what I gave him as a mentor and just ran with it. Now he is the mentor, and the roles are reversed.”

Hicks learned about his friend’s dedication to everything. Grant wakes up at 3 or 4 every morning, has a strict workout routine, and then has his day scheduled to the minute, all the way to dinner at home at 9. “He starts his day when we are all snoozing,” Hicks says. “Gerald is very driven, and he enjoys what he does.”

Grant also began volunteering for FIU on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Foundation Board of Directors, and also served as president of the Alumni Association. When Duane Wiles started 11 years ago in the alumni office, Grant called to welcome him. Grant told Wiles he had a plan: he wanted to be the first African-American alumnus to donate a million dollars to FIU. “Ultimately, he’s just a good man. Gerald has always wanted to give back to his alma mater,” says Wiles, now FIU’s associate vice president of Alumni Relations.

And give back he has. The Alumni Association lifetime member sits on the university’s governing board, the Board of Trustees. This year, he founded and led FIU’s first Panther Alumni week, successfully bringing more than 100 FIU grads back to campus to speak to students during one week in February.

The million dollars he spoke of was a bold dream 11 years ago, but Grant soon climbed up within AXA. He became a vice president, in charge of teaching other financial advisors, and then director of financial planning.

And late last year, just as he had promised more than a decade ago, Grant became the first African-American alum to give FIU a million dollars. With the gift, the school created the Gerald C. Grant Jr. and Jennifer Adger Grant Scholarship Fund, which will provide scholarships in FIU’s College of Business.

Grant sees the scholarship helping students just like him—students who are maybe not A students but the ones who need some financial help, and the ones willing to work hard to make that money worthwhile.

He isn’t slowing down just yet, but Grant has a plan for after retirement. He’s going to break out that LP collection in the closet of his home office. He’s going to revive The G-man.

Occasionally, maybe when he’s playing dominoes in the back yard or spinning reggae in his office, he lets a bit of that Jamaican accent come out. n

FALL 2014 | 29

Assistant athletic trainer Bailey Mintz, right, works with injured soccer player Chelsea Leiva.

30 | FALL 2014

Training toWIN

By Joel Delgado ’12 | Photo by Josh Ritchie

Get a look inside the training room and read an interview with FIU’s team physician.

W

hen doctors suggested that Emily Podschweit call it quits from sand volleyball, she was having none of it.

The sophomore sand volleyball player just underwent her second reconstructive

knee surgery in less than a year, but walking away from the sport she loved was not a thought she was willing to entertain.

“That wasn’t even an option. The decision was easy,” said Podschweit, an international business major who is fighting to make a comeback for the 2015 season.

The external pressure facing Podschweit is strong. Coaches want her back on the court as quickly as possible. So do her teammates.

But in order to get back on the sand, she needs to push those pressures aside and put her rehabilitation in the hands of Head Athletic Trainer Gabe Casanova ’02, MS ’07 and the FIU athletic training staff.

“I need to block out what my coaches, my teammates, and my family want and focus on what I need,” Podschweit said. “I can see the growth of my rehab because of my trust in the athletic trainers.”

Led by Casanova, a two-time FIU alum who holds a graduate degree in physical education and a bachelor’s in exercise and sports science, the staff’s main goal is to get Podschweit and other athletes like her back on the playing field safely and quickly.

“You can’t take away the drive and work ethic of a person,” Casanova said.

“The average person might not be able to get through it, but someone who comes in twice a day is going to have a different outcome. That person is going to take themselves to a level where they are not the average person.”

Continues FALL 2014 | 31

Head football athletic trainer Dave Ahouse, in background, works on shoulder mobility with FIU football player Jonnu Smith.

Continued

EXTENSIVE COVERAGE FIU has made a significant investment into expanding care for its student-athletes.

The high demands and stresses on the bodies of student-athletes in their respective sports, from quarterbacks getting sacked

For instance, he uses video games to help recovering athletes.

He came up with the idea of retrofitting a

At the heart of their operation is the

by 290-pound defensive linemen to the

Wii controller inside of a baseball bat to help

4,500 square-foot athletic training center,

unnatural act of throwing a baseball at

replicate an actual baseball swing during

where athletes from each of FIU’s 18 sports

90-miles-per-hour, make them especially

a batting practice simulation. It’s useful for

programs have been receiving treatment since

susceptible to injuries.

players who injured a part of their body that

its completion in 2006.

Nestled toward the back of the FIU

That’s why a majority of student-athletes – about 75 percent of them, according to

Arena, it features a hydrotherapy room with

Casanova – end up receiving treatment at the

underground hot and cold plunge pools

facility during their collegiate careers.

and a therapy pool with an underwater

“We are as basic as a scraped knee and

affects their swing, like a broken finger.

The Wii Fit can also be used to treat athletes recovering from concussions by combining mental exercises (such as working out math questions that flash up on a screen)

treadmill, a functional training area where

sniffles and as complicated as full dehydration

with physical activity (raising a barbell to

student athletes can perform various training

with an IV and post-operative rehabilitation.

one of three different heights, each of which

exercises and a rehabilitation area with 12

We are pretty much the one-stop shop for

corresponds to a multiple-choice answer).

treatment tables.

healthcare for the athletes,” Casanova says.

This simultaneously helps student-athletes

“It’s really fun because everything is constantly

work on muscle development while improving

with just about any injury. Off the field they

changing… it keeps you on your toes.

their cognitive function during recovery.

handle nearly every aspect of care for the

There are a lot of different opportunities and

athletes – from pre-participation physicals and

challenges that arise.”

On the field, they are prepared to deal

preventive care to first response and postsurgery rehabilitation.

32 | FALL 2014

Casanova also uses creativity to keep athletes engaged with the healing process.

“It’s extremely important to think outside the box. You want to create techniques that are realistic and sports-specific for the athletes,” Casanova says.

The athletic training staff includes six athletic trainers, including Casanova, and six graduate

management from FIU in 2013.

When FIU baseball player Aramis Garcia,

would have her out for six months. Working with Casanova and his team, coming in

assistants who are working toward attaining

drafted this summer by the San Francisco

twice a day, nearly every single day during

a master’s degree at FIU, usually in sport

Giants, suffered an oblique-muscle injury

the rehab process got her back on the court

management or physical education: sports and

late in the 2014 season, Head Coach Turtle

in just three.

fitness studies.

Thomas was hoping to have him back on

“He cares about every single athlete here

the field as soon as possible. But he also

and that’s something in the end that’s just as

staff who works with softball and women’s

understood that the best thing he could do

important as him being good at what he does,”

soccer players, experiences many of the

was let the athletic trainers do their work.

Rosado says.

Mick Thompson, a graduate assistant on

demands that come with the profession every day.

From never knowing when a catastrophic

“They do a great job taking care of them and

In the decade he has spent treating FIU

they are great at getting players back to us as

athletes, the players have become more than

fast as they can,” Thomas said. “It’s important

just patients or part of the job.

injury will occur to managing the expectations

for us to listen to them and work with them.”

of coaches with a manageable recovery time,

Working with Casanova and assistant

“People always ask me ‘Do you have kids?’

I say I have two at home and 434 at school,”

athletic trainer Tim Vigue, Garcia received

Casanova jokes. “They do things that take

the help he needed to pull through some of

you to the boiling point and then they do

pressure to get them back on the field and to

the frustrating moments of the rehabilitation

things where you absolutely fall in love with

get the athletes healthy,” Thompson says. “The

process.

them. There are athletes here that I would

the job can take a toll.

“It’s a high stress job, there’s a lot of

work ethic of these athletes always impresses

“The hardest part of that was not being

me and pushes me. This is everything to them,

able to be there for my teammates at such a

and I want to work just as hard as they do. It

pivotal point during the season,” said Garcia,

goes both ways.”

who went on to become the Conference USA

BEYOND THE PHYSICAL

Player of the Year. “What they do physically

love for my own kids to be like because they’re pretty awesome.”

ROAD TO RECOVERY – AND SUCCESS

for us is just a part of what they do. I’d tell

And while the athletic trainers are often

Tim, ‘It sucks not to be out there,’ and he

there for some of the most difficult times in

to tend to sprained ankles or broken

helped me stay positive throughout the

an athlete’s collegiate journey, they are also

fingers. Their care often extends well

process. To me, how you help an athlete

there for the high points as well.

beyond the physical.

mentally is the most important part.”

But athletic trainers are not just there

For Casanova, watching his athletes

Little can be more devastating for an

After sitting almost a month, Garcia was

succeed on the playing field and overcome

athlete than suffering an injury that forces

able to return to the lineup just in time for the

doubts due to a serious injury make all the

them to sit on the sidelines and endure an

conference tournament and was drafted by the

extra hours and long days worthwhile.

often painful rehab process – and there

San Francisco Giants in the second round of

is often an emotional toll that the athletic

the 2014 MLB First-Player Draft shortly after

catastrophic situation and we get them back

trainers witness firsthand.

the season ended.

from a major surgery or a major injury where

“Whenever I have someone with a

Casanova, along with the rest of the

the thought was they might not ever come

therapy or the triage care but we’re here to

athletic training staff, has earned the trust

back… Every time I see them get back on

help kids balance out their emotions on how

of the athletes. They trust him with their

the field, my eyes water,” Casanova says.

they’re feeling and why they’re not playing

health, with their recoveries and with their

“That outweighs everything else.”

or not healing as fast as they thought,”

overall wellbeing.

“We’re not only here just for the physical

Casanova says. “It’s heartbreaking at times.

“Gabe always lives up to his word. If he says

In 2010, Casanova was on hand to witness FIU baseball’s magical run through

You’re their rock and you’re what they got. It

something and he guarantees it, it’s going

the Sun Belt Tournament in Murfreesboro,

can get pretty intense.”

to get done no matter what,” says Jessica

Tenn., as the team won its first conference

Mendoza, a senior sports education major on

championship in over a decade.

That makes it even more important for the athletic trainers to be encouraging during the

the sand volleyball team. “We know he has our

discouraging moments of a student’s recovery.

back and that he’s going to look out for us.

game, seniors Junior Arrojo and Corey

He’s trying to benefit us for our future and help

Polizzano presented him with the trophy

us be healthy for life.”

privately to show their appreciation for the

“We have to be positive with them, greet them with a smile and keep rooting them on.

Just as a ‘normal’ student, we make sure they

For Camila Rosado, a senior psychology

After the Panthers won the championship

role he played in helping the team get to

are going to class, doing their homework,

major on the sand volleyball team, the

managing their time well, taking care of their

personal investment made by Casanova into

bodies, making sure they’re eating properly

their lives is just as important as the skills and

you have to have your best players on the

and staying hydrated properly,” says assistant

expertise they possess.

field,” Thomas said of the baseball team.

athletic trainer Bailey Mintz, who received her master’s degree in recreation and sport

Rosado suffered a torn labrum in her shoulder that doctors originally thought

experience that moment.

“For us to be successful as a program,

“We wouldn’t be able to do that if it wasn’t for this staff.”

n

FALL 2014 | 33

FIU 2014-’15 2013-’14 Alumni Association Board Executive Committee GonzaloFrank Acevedo ’91, Peña ’99MBA ’10 President Frank ’99 EddieJavier HondalPeña ’88 ’00 Vice President Maria Garcia ’05 ’89 ’08 Elizabeth Cross Secretary Secretary Benjamin Sardinas ’01 Sharon Fine ’99, MSF ’11 Treasurer Treasurer Enrique Piñeiro ’03 Eduardo Hondal ’88, MS ’00 Parliamentarian

Parliamentarian Gonzalo Acevedo ’91 ’10 Joaquín “Jack” F. González ’97 Past President Past President

New Alumni President

sets sights high Fifteen years ago Frank Peña ’99 was an FIU undergraduate with a big dream to lead the Student Government Association. So to announce his campaign for SGA president, he landed a helicopter on Modesto A. Maidique Campus in between the Graham Center and the Chemistry & Physics building.

It was an unforgettable spectacle. One that would probably never be allowed today. While it did not win him the election, he is quick to add, “It was a LOT of fun.”

Today, 38-year-old Peña again has high hopes of leading his peers. The new incoming president of the Alumni Association didn’t rent a helicopter this time, but he still has dreams for the future of the university he never really left. Peña, a franchise development manager for Wyndham Hotels, is one of the four diehard FIU fans affectionately known as “The Four Horsemen.” He and his wife Samantha

Officers Officers Gabriel Albelo ’93 JuanGabriel CarlosAlbelo Alexander ’93 ’04 Juan Carlos Alexander Gus Alfonso ’02 ’08 ’04 Gus Alfonso ’02, MSF ’08 Nicolas Bardoni ’12 Nestor Caballero ’95, MS ’97 Nestor Caballero Tony E Crapp Jr.’95 ’95’97 Elizabeth ’89 Isabel C. Cross Díaz ’01 Anastasia Garcia Isabel Diaz ’01 ’89 Maria D. Garcia ’05, JD ’08 Sharon Fine ’99 ’11 Jorge F. Hernández ’95 Garcia ’89MPA ’11 MichaelAnastasia A. Hernández ’04, Abhishek Hawaldar ’05’90 Samuel C. Jackson MPA Miguel Larrea ’96 ’95 Jorge Hernandez Jaime N. Machado ’01,’04 MBA Michael Hernandez ’11’10 Michael P. Maher ’97 Miguel Larrea ’96 Gabriela Martin-Brown ’96 Jaime Machado ’01’10 Ana L. Martínez MAcc ’92 Alberto Padrón ’98, MBA Michael P. Maher ’97 ’09 Pedro Pavón ’04 Ana Martinez ’92 Enrique Piñeiro ’03 Gabriela Martin-Brown ’96 Aslynn Rivera-Tigera ’98 Marcel Monnar ’03 ’12 Colleen Christina Robb ’00, ’03 AliciaAlberto M. Robles de la Lama Padron ’98 ’09 ’98 MA ’03 Ralph Rosado ’96,’04 Pedro Pavon Benjamin Sardinas ’01 Alex Pereda ’97 A. Celina Saucedo ’99, MPA ’11 Aslynn Rivera-Tigera ’01’01 Sergio Arturo Tigera’98 Colleen Robb ’00 ’03 Erick Valderrama ’95 Ralph Rosado ’96 ’03 _________________________________ Celina Saucedo ’99 ’11 Sergio Tigera Duane Wiles’01 Erick Valderrama ’95 Executive Director Alumni Association _________________________________ Duane Wiles Executive Director Alumni Association

Peña ’07 are also new parents to daughter Reagan, who turned one in September.

Soon after his May 2014 installation, he sat down with FIU Magazine editor Deborah O’Neil to talk goals, community and expansion.

Congratulations! What’s top of mind

That’s a lot. How are you going

as you begin your term?

to make it all happen?

There are so many opportunities and so many

There are a lot of goals, but we have the team

good things. It’s necessary and it is time that we

to do it. The FIU family really believes in who we

rev up. FIU has over 20,000 Alumni Association

are. If it’s one, two or three people wanting to

members. We are a huge university of 54,000

make all these things happen, it’s never going

students. FIU is now the big player here in South

to happen. But if it’s 20,000 or 200,000 alumni

Florida and we need to act that way. People

saying we really want the FIU footprint to grow

need to know the services we provide and the

and be a bigger part of South Florida, we can

difference we make.

make it happen.

What’s on your agenda as president?

What kind of leader do you want

The youth fair is my No. 1 priority. FIU has no place else to grow. We need it because it’s going

to be known as?

I want to be known as a doer, as someone

to serve the community. We also need to be very

who doesn’t leave a stone unturned. We can’t sit

involved with community events like eMerge or

around on our laurels. There’s no reason we can’t

the Job Creators Network. I am also focused on

accomplish the things we are talking about.

the capital campaign. First, we really want to see the alumni center built. The time is now because I think the right people are going to step up.

What’s your FIU story?

I grew up in Miami and went to Columbus High.

First generation scholarships are the second

I wanted to go up north to a big football school

priority. Over 50 percent of our students are first

and have a college experience. Early on at FIU, I

generation college students and that speaks

learned that we are the ones that were making FIU

volumes about what we are to South Florida.

big time. As a student I was on the committee that voted for a fee increase to establish the football

34 | FALL 2014

Continues

[

]

“There are so many opportunities. People need to know the services FIU provides and the difference we make.�

FALL 2014 | 35

Alumni Association Board annual meeting: (Left to right) Anastasia Garcia ’89, Gabriela Martin-Brown ’96, Celina Saucedo ’99 ’11, Sharon Fine ’99 ’11, Nicolas Bardoni ’12, Eddie Hondal ’88 ’00 (Vice-President), Miguel Larrea ’96, Duane Wiles, Enrique Piñeiro ’03 (Parliamentarian), Alberto Padron ’98 ’09, Frank Peña ’99 (President), Sergio Tigera ’01, Elizabeth Cross ’89, Erick Valderrama ’95, Jorge Hernandez ’95, Gus Alfonso ’02 ’08, Juan Carlos Alexander ’04, Ralph Rosado ’96 ’03, Michael Hernandez ’04 ’11

team. One day, when FIU is playing in a

What motivates you

national championship, I will be able to say

to do so much for FIU?

I was one of the students who helped bring football to FIU. I had a great time at FIU.

What motivates me is the opportunity to build a legacy at FIU and leave something behind where I’m helping to make our

14th Annual Charity Gala

Honoring FIU’s Most Outstanding Alumni

Save the Date Saturday, March 28, 2015

The new Alumni Association vice

community a better place.

president is Eddie Hondal and I know you two go way back.

Eddie was the director of the Alumni Association when I was a student here.

So in a way you’re doing it for your daughter?

I am. She will bleed blue and gold. She

Back then, Eddie and I were the only ones

was born on Thursday and on Friday, Sept.

who would call sports radio and want to talk

6, FIU was playing UCF and the week before

about FIU sports. Sometimes they would be

we were in Maryland. I missed both those

nice and let us on the air. Now Eddie and I

games. I expect her to be at least athletic

are working hand-in-hand to help lead the

director of FIU one day to make up for it.

Alumni Association once again.

Look into the future and tell me What challenges do you see ahead?

Convincing people that everything I

how you see FIU. Where are we going?

I answer that by where I see South Florida.

believe is possible IS possible. If I do my

South Florida is already a capital of Latin

job, I can convince them that together we

America and in the future will be even more

can get a lot done.

of an economic engine of the Western Hemisphere. FIU will be at the forefront in

FIUalumni.com/torch To reserve a table or to learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Paulina Muñoz at 305-348-4486 or Munozpau@fiu.edu.

What do you think alumni want

terms of business, trade and what we give

from the association?

back to the community. If you can balance

They want value. FIU is such a diverse place

being a corporate leader and serving the

and we have so many different generations

poor, you have a great balance. I see it

that value is defined differently for different

happening soon. n

people. Everyone is looking for networking opportunities. I think people are looking for career development, educational development and growth and continuing education. I also think they want a sense of belonging.

2015 PANTHER GETAWAY TOURS See Roary travel the world with our alumni at Facebook.com/ FIUMagazine.

Discover the world with fellow Panthers and friends by taking part in an Alumni Association Panther Getaway. The trips offer a unique opportunity to extend lifelong learning and create memories for a lifetime.

FIU alumni and friends show their Panther Pride on world tours.

March 12-19, 2015

June 27- July 4, 2015

Aug. 26-Sept. 3, 2015

Oct. 6-15, 2015

Ireland From $2,524* (air included from Miami) Week in Ireland: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day FIUAA host: Assitant Director Amanda Wood Visits to Galway, Cork and Dublin

Switzerland, France, Germany & Holland From 2,646* ($500 pp promo ends 10/31/14) Romantic Rhine river cruise Avalon Waterways FIUAA host/lecturer: Professor David Rifkind Visit Basel, Strasbourg, Speyer, Heidelberg, Mainz, Rüdesheim, Rhine Gorge, Koblenz, Cologne and Amsterdam

Scotland From 2,995* Featuring the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a stunning international musical and cultural performance Visit Edinburgh, Stirling, Loch Lomond, Trossachs, Perth and St. Andrews

Italy From $4,395* Tuscany wine, art and architecture tour Exclusive to FIU Alumni and friends FIUAA host: Sr. VP Howard Lipman Visit Florence, Chianti region, Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano, Montalcino, Montepulciano

Sept. 3-12, 2015

Dec. 3-10, 2015

Switzerland, Austria & Bavaria From $2,199* Discover Alpine Wonders Visit Bern, Chateau de Chillon, Montreux train ride, Gstaad, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Salzburg and Oberammergau

Czech Republic & Germany land & river cruise From $2,106* ($200 pp promo ends 3/31/15) Christmastime in Germany Avalon Waterways Visit Prague, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, Miltenberg and Frankfurt

April 9-17, 2015 Holland & Belgium From $2,196* ($500 pp promo ends 10/31/14) Tulip Time River Cruise - Avalon Waterways Special beer-tasting departure Visit Amsterdam, Keukenhof Gardens, Veere, Middleburg, Ghent, Antwerp and Maastricht May 6-12, 2015 Paris, France From $2,794* (air included from Miami) Paris: The City Experience May 25-June 1, 2015 Italy (Archaeology Tour) From $2,495* Pompeii & Herculaneum Visit Naples, Paestum, Pompeii, Pozzuoli, Phlegraean Fields, Cumae, Herculaneum, Summit of Mt. Vesuvius

July 18-24, 2015 Turkey, Greece & Italy Cruise From $1,467* (includes taxes) Celebrity Equinox cruise FIUAA host: Assistant VP George Corton Visit Istanbul, Mykonos, Athens, Valletta, Catania, Amalfi Coast and Rome July 18-23, 2015 Spain From $2,794* (air included from Miami) Barcelona: The City Experience

Sept. 16-27, 2015 Utah, Colorado, Wyoming & South Dakota From $3,119* (air included from Miami) America the Beautiful: Moab to Mt. Rushmore Visit Moab/Canyonlands, Salt Lake City, Jackson/Grand Tetons, Cody/Yellowstone, Sheridan, Rapid City/Mt. Rushmore and Denver

For more details or questions visit FIUalumni.com/travel or contact Bill Draughon at 305-348-3961 or draughon@fiu.edu. *Pricing based on double occupancy - prices, tours and dates subject to change - FIU host dependent on minimum number of reservations

Class Notes 1970s

1990s

Douglas Browne ’78 was promoted to

Michael Whelan ’92, MS ’94 was

president of Peabody Hotels while continuing to serve as the general manager of the iconic Peabody Memphis.

1980s Maria Elena González ’80 is the newest assistant professor in sculpture at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Keith Pierce ’83 has been appointed to the 2014 executive committee of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He is currently the executive vice president for brand operations at Wyndham Hotel Group.

Chris Hansen ’88 has been tapped to open and manage the new Loews Hotel in Chicago.

Julio C. Jaramillo ’88 is president-elect of The Florida Bar Foundation, a statewide charitable organization with a mission to provide greater access to justice. A founder of the Colombian American Bar Association, Jaramillo has served as president of the Colombian American Service Association and worked pro bono for the Dade County Bar Association’s “Put Something Back” program.

named 2014 Engineer of the Year by Northeast Florida Engineer’s Week Committee. Whelan works as the assistant director of waterfront engineering at Taylor Engineering, Inc.

Monica Marulanda ’94 was featured in the article “5 Hispanic shop creatives you need to know” by Digiday, an online magazine for the digital media, marketing and advertising community.

Gregory R. Singleton MS ’95 received the Alumni Award of Distinction from the North American Interfraternity Conference for his work with the Kappa Alpha Order National Fraternity and also received the Morlan-Bishop Award from Omicron Delta Kappa for work at Austin Peay State University.

Suria Plante ’96 will be general manager at the soon-to-open Residence Inn by Marriott at the Fort Lauderdale Airport.

Catherine Rodriguez ’88, MBA ’90, M.Acc ’91 was recently promoted from foreign service specialist to director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Missions in Miami.

Ralph Rosado ’96 MA ’03 was appointed assistant city manager for North Miami Beach in April 2014.

Iris Escarra ’97 has been named co-chair of the Land Development Practice Group at Greenberg Traurig in Miami.

She works to develop the firm’s land use, zoning and real estate development practice in Miami-Dade County.

Patricia Acosta ’98 has been appointed to the board of The Florida Bar Foundation, a statewide charitable organization with a mission to provide greater access to justice. A long-time advocate for the legal rights of the working poor, Acosta has received numerous awards recognizing her commitment to public service and outstanding pro bono legal representation.

2000s Nate Delinois ’02 and Diana Contreras ’05 were recently featured by Channel 10 News and Complex Art + Design Magazine for their mural of Jay-Z and Beyonce at Speaker Boxx Miami in Carol City, FL.

David Monter ’02 has been hired as vice president, controller for Miami-based Professional Bank. In this role, he will manage the accounting department, oversee regulatory reporting and assist the CFO in asset management and financial reporting.

CONNECT. GIVE BACK. ENJOY. CONNECT. GIVE BACK. ENJOY.

Membership dues help create scholarships and alumni programming, whichdues in turn a stronger and Membership help help createbuild scholarships andFIU alumni ultimately increases the value of your degree. programming, which in turn help build a stronger FIU and ultimately increases the value of your degree.

Plus, members enjoy more than 100,000 discounts from our more than 100,000 from our PantherPlus, Perkmembers Partners,enjoy a free subscription to discounts our Panther Perk Partners, a free subscription to our award-winning FIU Magazine, and more. award-winning FIU Magazine, and more.

Don't forget visittoour website, FIUalumni.com, and follow forget visit our website, FIUalumni.com, and followus us Don'tto online soonline you can learn about exclusive events and special so you can learn about exclusive events and special offers. You canYou also touch withwith us by FIUALUMNI offers. canstay alsoinstay in touch us texting by texting FIUALUMNI to 313131. to 313131.

Weyou hopejoin youthe joinFIU the Alumni FIU Alumni Associationtoday! today!

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Hai Zhang M.Arch ’02 opened his first

2002 Jennifer Bound ’14 saw her

solo art exposition, Everywhere – Nowhere, at the Luise Ross Gallery in New York.

spice rub land on grocery store shelves this

Michael W. Weissberg MS ’03 was

summer. As a student in the Chaplin School

named full professor and director of the associate’s degree program in crime scene and the bachelor’s degree program in forensics at Keiser University.

of Hospitality & Tourism Management in December of 2013, she created the winning recipe for a competition hosted by the Badia

Cristina Rosell ’05 married Erik Lyngved on May 30, 2014, in New Orleans. Sisters Carla Rosell ’03 and Gabriela Rosell ’10 served as bridesmaids during a ceremony at Holy Name of Jesus Parish, after which the newlyweds and some 150 guests feasted on traditional local dishes and danced the night away. Following a honeymoon in Greece, Cristina and her husband are home in Baton Rouge, La., where she is currently working toward a Ph.D. in English at Louisiana State University.

Diana Beltran ’07 is Wyndham Hotel Group’s new Learning and Delivery Manager for Latin America. She previously worked at Wyndham Worldwide Corporate services as the Sustainability and Innovation Manager.

Mary Benevente ’07, MS ’08 was recently promoted to senior vice president and chief financial officer of Professional Bank, a Miamibased boutique bank tailored to business professionals.

Priscilla Anne Ortega ’07 MA ’14 and Michael Jesus Baluja were married in Waterford, Ireland, on March 11, 2014. Their destination wedding was held at Waterford Castle where they were joined by 15 of their closest friends and family while others watched the ceremony in a live-streaming broadcast.

Juan P. Espinosa ’08 was honored at the 2014 Florida State Thespian Festival in Tampa. His original play “Amygdala” was chosen to represent Florida at the Education Theatre Association’s Thespians Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Eric Anderson MS ’09 and Mengyuan Chen MS ’12, who met in the events management class at the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, were wed in December 2013.

Eric is at Royal Caribbean in Global Tour Operations and Mengyuan is working for ABTS Convention Services.

Alumni Association Lifetime Member

spice company. “Holy Smokes” debuted at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival the following February and hit stores in 86 countries just a few months later. A portion of all sales goes back to FIU. Jennifer currently works for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

2013

Evan Rosenberg ’09 and his wife Kimberly Rosenberg welcomed their first child on May 20, 2014. Ashlyn Leigh Rosenberg was born in Boca Raton, Florida, and weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

Maria Trujillo ’09 self-published her first novel, Lost in the City of Flowers. It is a timetravel adventure for young-adult readers that takes place in 15th century Italy.

2010s Lis-Marie Alvarado ’10 participated in Al Jazeera America’s show Borderland, during which she retraced the steps of migrants who died along the U.S.-Mexico border.

She is an avid immigrant rights defender and community organizer in Miami with the organization WeCount!

Myka Figueiredo ’10 was named chair of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce’s HYPE (Helping Young Professionals Engage) Committee and will sit on the chamber’s board of directors.

Rebecca Rodriguez ’10 was appointed by the American Bar Association as a member of the Steering Group for the Customs Law Committee.

Gabriela Rosell ’10 earned a law degree from the University of Miami in May 2014. She is currently studying for the Florida bar exam.

Natali Aguero ’12 and Allen Feliz ’12 were married January 17, 2014, in Key West and later celebrated with friends in Cozumel, Mexico.

Jacqueline Failer MIA ’12 recently presented her paper “Seeking the Spiritual Self within the Interior Environment: Analyzing the Work of Heidegger to Define the Human-Object Relationship” at the Architecture, Culture and Spirituality Forum at the University of Toronto.

Erin Harrelson MS ’14 was hired by UHZ Sports Medicine Institute in Miami as an athletic trainer and recently traveled to Costa Rica to provide medical care and instruction to children and the elderly.

Austin LaPoten ’14 was accepted into the prestigious Sofitel School of Excellence Management Training Program in Munich, Germany.

__________________________

In Memoriam: William “Bill” Winston ’79 passed away July 13, 2013, at the age of 57.

After earning his degree from the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, he started a 24-year career with Hilton Worldwide, first with the quality assurance and operations department and, eventually, in a role that had him supporting affiliate brands. Always passionate, he worked well beyond business hours, including weekends and evenings, to give his all to the team members, customers and others with whom he interacted – a quality that earned him great admiration and the title “King of Customer Service.” He was an active member of the Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham, Ala., and a supporter of the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

FALL 2014 | 39

Unlocking the keys to a lifetime of career success

Thinking ahead and taking small steps will lead you to the big goal, explains alum Poor grades in high school threatened to sink the hopes of attending college for David Van Rooy. During those days of uncertainty, the value of planning his future and working incrementally toward his goals began to dawn on him. Twenty years later, the successful human resources professional not only holds the bachelor’s degree that once seemed so elusive, but he went on to earn a master’s and Ph.D. in organizational psychology from FIU. While Van Rooy has certainly seen the fruits of his own strategic calculations pay off, he has also interacted with employees and leaders to help him better understand how some get ahead and why some don’t. He encapsulates what he has learned in the recently published “Trajectory: 7 Career Strategies to Take You from Where You Are,” brief excerpts of which appear here.

By David Van Rooy MS ’03, Ph.D. ’05 In my career I have been extremely fortunate to work at some of the most recognizable and influential companies in the world, including Walmart, Marriott International and Burger King. Over time, as I was growing my own career and contributing to these organizations, I was able to identify essential factors that lead either to career prosperity or disappointment. I quickly realized that employees are most concerned with their current jobs, and some about the next job.

In either case, they focused primarily on the short term.

People often have not considered how their current job will prepare them for the next one, and the next one, and so on. I knew that if I wanted to give valuable advice, I would have to address the long term. I want to help people chart their personal and professional courses in an exciting, invigorating way that’s intuitive. Your trajectory is the path you create for yourself.

The Power of Feedback Quite simply, people are not good judges of their own skills, particularly ones in which they are not strong. In conversations with your boss, focus less on the ratings you receive, and push to get to the deep feedback that you need. When you let go of numbers, you open yourself up to receive substantive feedback that you can actually use.

Do not let success preclude you from seeking feedback. In particular, pay attention to feedback relating to those shortcomings 40 | FALL 2014

that you have been able to mask because of success in other areas. Seeking the right type of feedback will enable you to solidify your strongest areas and embark on a journey to improve those areas that others deem weaknesses. Think of feedback as a compass—something that when used frequently and correctly will keep you on track. And how you react to feedback is critical. Do not rationalize the feedback or explain it away. Do not get angry.

Persistence as a Differentiator A compelling body of research has explored the factors that underlie successful performance, which can be explained via a straightforward equation: Ability x Persistence = Performance. Persistence will continue to stand the test of time as a differentiating characteristic that the most successful people possess.

The elements underlying the significance of persistence are closely connected to motivation. Motivation, though, can be shortlived if the reasoning behind it is faulty. If you are motivated for the right reasons—driven by what you love doing—it will become much easier to remain persistent, even when confronted with adversity.

Persistence also requires preparation. More than 2,000 years ago the Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Luck is where the crossroads of opportunity and preparation meet.” This reasoning still applies. When opportunity arises, you will become your own worst enemy if you have not prepared for it. You must enter the situation knowing that you have done everything within your power to seize that moment.

Think Big, Act Small, Move Quick The best path to reach your big goals is often through small actions and quick moves.

Over time, you will be able to accomplish what you seek by tackling one mountain at a time. Each mountain will come with challenges, but when you break these into the respective pieces, it will become easier for you to meet and overcome each one—and to do so quickly.

As you chart your trajectory, you must consider the importance of ensuring that you set goals that are specific and attainable yet difficult. If you have no goals, it will be very hard to have any idea of what you need to work on. If you have a broad goal, such as wanting to open a business, you don’t know where to start. If you have an easy goal, you run the risk of selling yourself short. You therefore need to create a plan that includes a series of goals.

When you follow the BSQ approach, you will feel yourself gaining momentum. You will feel that something that seemed difficult is actually very manageable. You will have the confidence to get there. Your accomplishments will grow, as will your belief in yourself. As this transpires, you will find that you are almost unknowingly thinking bigger and bigger as you take on new challenges in your life and career.

Adapted from Trajectory: 7 Career Strategies to Take You From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be © 2014 David L. Van Rooy.

All rights reserved.

Published by AMACOM Books www.amacombooks.org Division of American Management Association 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

VIP:

VIP:

Very Important Panther

Photo by Ann States

Very Important Panther

Gregory Bossart, V.M.D., Ph.D. ’95 • Senior Vice President of Animal Health, Research and Conservation, Georgia Aquarium • FIU Doctorate in Biology (Immunology) • Alumni Association Lifetime Member • 2014 FIU Torch Award Recipient Q: You’re a man of science, but many might see instead a lucky guy who gets to work with beautiful creatures. Which of these descriptions best fits you?

A: I think the second. Whether working at Georgia Aquarium with whales or in Florida with our stranded-dolphin program, I feel blessed to be around these animals, even 30 years into my career.

Q: What started you down this career path?

A: My interest in becoming a veterinarian took root at age 3 or 4 while growing up in rural western Pennsylvania. We had various pets – dogs, cats, hamsters and, later, raccoons, birds and rattlesnakes – and my mother encouraged me by taking me to zoos and aquariums.

Q: And how did you get where you are today?

A: As a veterinarian in Miami, I became interested in what causes diseases in animals. That led to four years of postdoctoral comparative pathology training at University of Miami School of Medicine as a National Institutes of Health Fellow. I then became interested in how disease relates to immune function, which led me to FIU. My dissertation work there on marine mammals was pivotal in my landing the job at Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the world.

Q: Tell us about your research activities.

A: Much of my present research involves bottlenose dolphin health assessment studies in the Indian River Lagoon off the Atlantic coast of Florida. That work has morphed into using dolphins as sentinels for the health of oceans and even human health, which is like using dolphins as the proverbial canary in the coalmine. Frankly, we haven’t been very good stewards of the ocean environment, and I believe that is starting to catch up with us. It is in our own best interest to investigate all wildlife health patterns that could potentially affect our own wellbeing as three-fourths of all emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in wildlife.

Q: People often think of aquariums as tourist destinations. Why do we need such places?

A: Modern aquariums and zoos provide transformative life experiences and inspire children and adults alike. I am a living example. And besides the education they offer, aquariums and zoos conduct critical research and conservation programs. For example, our team at Georgia Aquarium is working with coral reefs in the Florida Keys, whale sharks in Mexico and endangered penguins in coastal South Africa, among other projects.

Q: Tell us about your animal friends.

A: My favorites include Florida manatees. They are amazing creatures with a remarkably responsive immune system. My wife and two young daughters just got a new Labrador puppy called Sunshine. We have a ball python named Sammy and two macaws, Griffin and Caleb. They all are important members of our family.

FALL 2014 | 41

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID Miami FL PERMIT NO 3675

Division of External Relations Modesto A. Maidique Campus, MARC 510 Miami, FL 33199-0001 Change Service Requested

Having extinguished her cigarette, librarian Gilma H. Soto in August of 1972 updates by hand the index cards used to keep track of books in the Athenaeum— today known as the Green Library at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. More than four decades later, the FIU Libraries on both campuses together hold some 1,629,000 printed volumes in addition to nearly 330,000 electronic titles, among them government documents, streaming video and music, images, databases, more than 80,000 journals and more than 140,000 ebooks.

See more images at go.fiu.edu/historyphoto