FIU Magazine - Summer 2013 - The healed becomes the Healer

M A G A Z I N E SUMMER 2013 VOLUME 27

The healed becomes the

HEALER

8:00 a.m. - Our FIU Every morning there is a moment. Before the buzz of leaf blowers fills the air. Before parking becomes a sport. Before the fountains blur the reflections on our beautiful lakes. Before the flip flops and eager minds have arrived. This is the calm before the bustle.

The moment to reflect. How many lives have been altered, how many dreams fulfilled?

Photo by Eduardo Merille ’97, MBA ’00 II | SUMMER 2013

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LIVING WITHOUT ABSOLUTES

Inspired by their Jain faith, an alumni couple seek to establish a center for interreligious dialogue at FIU.

MUSEUM OF IDEAS GOES DIGITAL

The eclectic collection of the Wolfsonian-FIU will soon be accessible to the whole world.

ON THE AIR

A journalism class taught at Miami’s public radio station gives students a chance to create stories for everyone to hear.

ON THE COVER The Healed Becomes the Healer

Florida’s first liver transplant recipient makes news again as she and 32 classmates become the first graduates of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

SATURDAY NIGHT TEXT Researchers send targeted messages to teens in attempts to decrease underage drinking.

GONE TO THE USA

FIU’s move to Conference USA means tougher competition and a lot more exposure.

MAGAZINE.FIU.EDU ONLINE-ONLY STORIES, VIDEOS AND PHOTOS

SKY CHOI, THE WUNDERKIND WHO STARTED AT FIU WHEN HE WAS 12, has found his passion and a career to match as he graduates at age 16.

THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AT FIU LIBRARIES hold a treasure trove of goodies – from rare records and books to historic documents and intriguing artwork.

The Contenders Are you ready for a new conference? Get the facts about all 16 Conference USA teams in our interactive map.

Student Voices Hear the stories produced

by FIU students and aired on WLRN, the South Florida affiliate of National Public Radio.

The Jain Faith FIU grad student Shivani Bothra explains the Jain festival Paryushan.

WHENEVER YOU SEE THE PLAY BUTTON, VISIT MAGAZINE.FIU.EDU TO GET MORE WITH OUR ONLINE VIDEOS AND PHOTO GALLERIES •

See a recap of the 2013 Torch Awards, honoring our outstanding alumni.

•

Watch our researchers sound off on the potential of texting as an intervention for teenage drinking.

•

Flip through a slideshow of notable FIU scholar-athletes.

•

Meet two-time All-American guard Jerica Coley, a threat on and off the court.

GET 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.

FIU MAGAZINE Division of External Relations

Lourdes Balepogi ’00 President of Luly B

Sandra B. Gonzalez-Levy

Fred Blevens Professor and Honors College Fellow School of Journalism and Mass Communication

FROM THE EDITOR

Gisela Casines ’73 Associate Dean College of Arts and Sciences

When I first met Johnathan Cyprien in spring 2010, he’d played one season of football at FIU and was already a rising star. We featured him on the cover of the FIU Magazine at the start of the historic 2010 season.

When we made that photograph we had no idea what great things would follow Johnathan: a Sun Belt Conference Championship and the university’s first bowl win. He graduated six months early with a degree in hospitality and tourism management as the football program’s all-time leading tackler. We chose him back then because he embodied the best of our student-athletes: honor roll academic performance, hard work, positive attitude and raw talent. Once he spoke to me

do that now – at the post-game press conferences. In April, Johnathan

Emmett Young Assistant Director Marketing & Communications Frost Art Museum Paul Dodson Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations

Jacksonvile Jaguars selected him first in the second round.

Playing pro is Johnathan’s dream come true. “I invested a lot

#25

Jonath

eating something, working out every day, training instead of

an Cyp

rien

sleeping in. It’s been a lot of work.”

Many FIU students arrive with a dream that amounts to a long shot. The dream may be Johnathan’s – to make the most of your athletic gift on a fiercely competitive

Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 Editor

Alexandra Pecharich Managing Editor

Doug Garland ’10

Lazaro Gonzalez Marketing and Branding Strategist Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management

Digital Media Manager

Senior Multimedia Producer

Susan Jay Director of Development College of Engineering and Computing Nicole Kaufman Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations Division of University Advancement Andra Parrish Liwag Campaign Communications Director University Advancement Larry Lunsford Vice President for Student Affairs University Ombudsman

Angeline Evans Magazine Intern Silvia Rodriguez

Writers JoAnn Adkins Eric Barton Mari de Armas ’02 Elizabeth Hanly Ryan Jones Robyn Nissim

Photographers Douglas Hungerford Eduardo Merille ’97, MBA ’00 Christopher Necuze ’11 Josh Ritchie Angel Valentin

FIU Board of Trustees

Duane Wiles Executive Director Alumni Association

better on the football field, whether it was not going out or not

Karen Cochrane

Art Director

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

throughout my life to play football, giving up certain things to do

Vice President

Stephen Fain Professor Emeritus College of Education

Heather Radi-Bermudez ’06, MS ’12 Marketing Coordinator School of Journalism and Mass Communication

M A g A z i 2010 n e

Terry Witherell

Aileen Solá-Trautmann

Rafael Paz, Esq. Associate General Counsel FALL

Senior Vice President

Director News and Communications

Maureen Pelham Director of Clinical Trials Division of Research

of wanting a career where he could “wear a suit.” He will have plenty of opportunity to

became the highest draft pick in FIU Football history when the

FIU MAGAZINE Editorial Advisory Board

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

Michael M. Adler Sukrit Agrawal Cesar L. Alvarez Jose J. Armas Jorge L. Arrizurieta Robert T. Barlick, Jr. Marcelo Claure Mayi de la Vega ’81 Liane Sippin Gerald C. Grant Jr. ’78, MBA ’89 C. Delano Gray Albert Maury ’96, ’02 Claudia Puig

Ruben Rivero Communications Manager College of Law

national stage. The dream may be to become a celebrated poet, even if you are an engineer like Richard Blanco ’91, MFA ’97. The dream may be to heal people, as it was for liver transplant recipient Trine Engebretsten MD ’13 on our cover.

Here, that long shot draws ever closer through each hour of relentless effort. Daily training sessions at dawn. Countless drafts and rewrites.Years poring over books. This university doesn’t deliver dreams in a eureka moment. Rather, FIU does the hard work right alongside the dreamers, cheering for them all the way.

Until next time,

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

Copyright 2013, 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 305348-7235.

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-FIUALUM. 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.

12839_01/13 FIU Magazine is printed on 30% PCW recycled paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council

SUMMER 2013 | 3

Some 4,700 students earned degrees at the end of spring semester, and 3,500 of those – among them Carolina Garces, Daina Ortega and Yeleine Ruisanches, each of whom graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing – crossed the stage during commencement ceremonies to receive their diplomas.

Photo by Doug Garland ’10

PRESIDENT’S CORNER MARK B. ROSENBERG

FIU is committed to student success. As such, we are giving our

Our efforts are having an impact because we are tracking results to

students the tools to get ahead through our Graduation Success

understand what factors affect student academic success and using

Initiative (GSI), which has transformed how we administer the

that information to improve our policies and practices.

undergraduate curriculum. Through this high-tech/high-touch effort,

For example, we’ve discovered that college algebra, which had

we aim to improve retention and help our students graduate in a

a high failure rate among our students, was a powerful predictor of

timely manner.

on-time graduation. If students passed this course, they were 75

Having their diplomas in hand will give our students the ability

percent more likely to graduate on time, regardless of their major,

to launch careers where they will earn, on average, $1 million more

than students who failed the course. This led to two grant-funded

in their lifetime than their peers who do not complete a university

projects that allowed us to change the way we approached the

education.

teaching of the course. The Wal-Mart Grant and the Title V Grant

GSI is an extensive, multi-year project, but we’re excited about the accomplishments we’ve had so far: • •

•

•

computer instructional techniques, including our Mastery Math Lab.

Our on-time graduation has increased 6 percent in just

As a result, pass rates in college algebra have jumped 20 percent

one year.

and are expected to reach 70 percent!

Ninety-five percent of our entering freshman class in the fall

We are working to apply our understanding of which courses and

declared a major. This is important because we know that early

the way in which they are taught might affect the progress of students

identification of an appropriate major aids in timely graduation.

in other areas. Our next priority is to tackle the general chemistry

As part of the admission process, students now use the online

course, which will benefit our students majoring in Science Technology

MyMajorMatch to identify their career interests and the specific

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

FIU majors that correspond to those interests.

•

have funded a new teaching model that involves peer-assisted and

Once our students graduate, their achievements – which attract

All FIU students now have a professional advisor assigned to

attention for FIU and reinforce the excellence of our academic

them, who will follow them through their academic careers and

offerings – enhance the value of an FIU degree for all. Every student

guide them to success.

counts at FIU, and through GSI we are making sure that every

Our students now use the online MajorMaps, which offers a

student succeeds.

clearly defined path to graduation by stating the sequence of required courses, and My-eAdvisor, a communications tool that gives immediate feedback when a student veers from the stated best path and also alerts his or her professional advisor.

4 | SUMMER 2013

President Mark B. Rosenberg

Be WorldsAhead

ON THE PROWL

SCIENTISTS: Shark population taking a nosedive

FIU marine scientist Mike Heithaus displays a milk shark he is preparing to tag as part of an ongoing research project in Shark Bay, Australia, that is investigating the ecological consequences of declines in shark populations.

FIU researchers and their colleagues

“In working with tiger sharks, we’ve seen that

The biggest culprit in the population

elsewhere have come to a deadly conclusion

if we don’t have enough of these predators

decline is a combination of a global boom

about the world’s shark population: It is

around, it causes cascading changes in the

in the fishing of sharks – often for their fins

declining at an alarming rate. Perhaps 100

ecosystem that trickle all the way down to

alone, which in China are used in soups and

million or more sharks are lost every year,

marine plants.”

traditional cures – and the relatively slow

according to a recent study. While sharks are

The changes could potentially impact other

growth and reproductive rates of sharks.

While some sharks are protected through

one of the oldest vertebrate groups on the

species. With fewer sharks feeding on their

planet, the population decrease is causing

traditional prey, other species could increase

national and international agreements, the

international worry.

in numbers and consequently deplete the

team of researchers – which includes those

“This is a big concern because the loss of

marine life on which they – and often humans

from the University of Miami, as well as

sharks can affect the wider ecosystem,” said

– feed. This may negatively affect commercial

Stony Brook University in New York and the

Mike Heithaus, executive director of FIU’s

fisheries, according to Heithaus, who also

University of Windsor and Dalhousie University

School of Environment, Arts and Society and

serves as a marine sciences professor in the

in Canada – suggests legislation should be

coauthor of a recent paper on the subject.

Department of Biological Sciences.

expanded to cover more species.

Treasures: Peek-a-boo Picasso With a stylized face painted on one side and accents of deep blue throughout, this unusually shaped white earthenware vessel is a playful, eye-catching piece. It is one of four objects in the FIU Libraries Special Collections – the others are plates – that feature the artwork of Pablo Picasso.

From 1947 to 1971, the artist spent time in the Madoura workshop in the south of France, View other treasures in the Special Collections where he frequently turned pieces of pottery that he then painted. He allowed many of these to be magazine.fiu.edu reproduced by shop artisans who would copy his work in limited numbers by hand.

Continuously on display in room 422 of the Green Library – open to visitors weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Pichet a glace, or ice pitcher, stands just over one foot high and dates to 1952. Donated to FIU in 2007 by Patricia Phillips in memory of Hanna Saxon and Maria Lee, it bears the official marks of authenticity and is number 67 of the 100 made.

SUMMER 2013

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ON THE PROWL NEW ONLINE HEALTHCARE MBA DEBUTS IN FALL M A G A Z I N E VOLUM

SPRING 2012

A new online healthcare MBA starts up in the fall – with registration taking place now – that

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M A G A Z I N VOLUME E

FALL 2012

relevant experience. The degree can be completed in 18 months and includes two brief visits Simula

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to meet with university personnel and healthcare executives who will discuss opportunities within the industry, as well as travel to a healthcare conference.

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“The program will catapult participants’ careers,” says Joyce Elam, vice provost in charge Ranger Larry on Burmese Pythons

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10 Years of FIU Footb all

9/14/12

1:56 PM

FIU MAGAZINE GARNERS PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS FIU Magazine has gone head to head with

of FIU’s online offerings. “The healthcare field continues to grow, and the potential for welleducated individuals to take leadership roles is limitless. We believe our program will position successful graduates to take those positions.”

Those interested in this or other fully online programs should go to fiuonline.com.

some of the nation’s top university magazines – and won!

The nonprofit Council for Advancement and Support of Education earlier this year announced the winners of its annual district awards. CASE is an international association of universities and aims to help members develop communications to enhance alumni and donor relations.

FIU participates and competes in District III, the largest of eight districts, which comprises more than 3,500 institutions in nine Southeastern states.

Thirty-two entries were submitted by members in the category of university

MIAMI TODAY NAMES FORMER FIU PRESIDENT A “LIVING LEGEND” Former FIU President Modesto A. Maidique has been recognized as one of 30 individuals who represent “legendary leaders who have given back to this community” during the past three decades.

The newspaper Miami Today, which covers issues related to business and government in the local area, honored Maidique and the others in March.

Maidique’s contributions to education in South Florida – during his 23 years at FIU’s helm he saw the young university grow into one of the largest in the nation – earned him a place on a list that includes movers and shakers in every area of civic life. Today Maidique is executive director of FIU’s Center for Leadership in the College of Business.

magazines with circulations of 75,000 or

Among those honored were major donors to FIU during Dr. Maidique’s presidency. Through

greater. This is a category that takes into

their contributions, individuals such as Paul Cejas, Amando Codina, Phillip and Patricia Frost,

account all elements of a magazine – writing

Jorge Perez and Sanford Ziff helped shape the growth of the university.

and editing, art direction and design, professional execution, technical quality and creativity. FIU Magazine garnered the Grand Award, the top place. The award is the highest ever earned by the publication.

FIU Magazine also received two other prizes. In the category of illustration, the

More than 500 people cheered Cuban activist Yoani Sanchez in April as she received FIU’s first-ever Medallion of Courage. An outspoken critic of the

foldout spread “Thirsty Planet” – which

Cuban government, Sanchez writes the

accompanied a story on FIU’s largest research

Generation Y blog that is translated into

project, Global Water for Sustainability – won

20 languages and each month is read

a Grand Award for New York freelance artist

by 15 million people around the globe.

Chris McAllister’s stylized renderings of people

“The virtual Cuba is influencing, directly

across the globe engaged in water use. The

and definitively, the real Cuba,” she told

design of the winter 2011-12 cover – which

the crowd. “The Internet is helping us explain to the world what is happening inside our country.”

featured work by Miami photographer Angel Valentin – earned an Award of Excellence (second place).

6 | SUMMER 2013

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Questions

WITH GISELA VEGA

By Marianela de Armas ’02 | Photo by Doug Garland ’10

Recently, Gisela Vega became the associate director of LGBTQA Initiatives within the Division of Student Affairs. In this new position at FIU, Gisela spearheads the development and implementation of programs for FIU’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer/ questioning, and ally community.

1. What kind of services does your office offer students?

We connect students with academic, financial, health and social services. We also offer programs to develop their academic and leadership skills. And, we provide educational programs and workshops to combat heterosexism and run the Safe Zone program.

2. What do you mean when you say combat heterosexism?

The way you combat heterosexism, which is discrimination and prejudice based on the thought that legal and civil rights should only be given to those in opposite-sex relationships, is to create awareness of these issues and educate students on how to protect their rights.

3. Certain offices are designated as “Safe Zones,” what are those?

Safe Zones are places that have been designated on campus where students can go and speak openly about any sexual orientation issues or gender identity questions they may have.

4. Do you also work with straight students?

Absolutely, the A in LGBTQA stands for our allies. What we do is provide resources, education and programming for those interested in understanding the needs of our LGBTQ students. The work of social justice in the LGBTQ community cannot be done without our allies.

5. How do you approach straight people who are not your allies?

I approach non-allies with openness and compassion for their point of view. At the same time, I help them empathize with the basic core sentiment of the LGBT movement, which is people having the right to love who they wish. This is an issue of love and acceptance so if we can help people understand this, I believe we can change their hearts and minds.

6. What’s your favorite color of the rainbow?

I am partial to red and purple on the flag. Red represents courage, as it takes a little courage to do my job, and purple is the color of warmth, beauty and friendship.

7. Has media exposure of gays and lesbians helped this generation of LGBTQA students?

We tend to think that it’s getting better because there’s more exposure, but the reality is that our students are still suffering. And that’s one of the reasons I’m most glad that this position exists. Within the first few months of establishing this office, I’ve had about a dozen students who were in great need physically, emotionally and academically. I’ve dealt with students that have been kicked out of their SPRING 2013 | 7 homes for being gay. I’ve had students with great academic potential, but because they were ostracized by their family, had to drop out.

So, on the one hand, there is more awareness, but on the other, there are a lot of issues we still need to bring to the forefront to best help our students be successful.

SUMMER 2013 | 7

SNAPSHOTS IN EXCELLENCE FROM U.S. CENTURY BANK ARENA

Ready to engage the community

FIU welcomed new men’s basketball coach Anthony Evans this spring. Recognizing passion in his players, Evans promises to capitalize on the high energy the student-athletes exhibited on the court during the past year. We look forward to supporting Evans and his players as he leads the growth of FIU’s men’s basketball program.

Florida International University and

Partners in Education

ON THE PROWL

Travels: Papua New Guinea In a remote corner of Papua New Guinea, the FIU scholar known internationally as the “British Indiana Jones” is tracking a global phenomenon of tribal people identifying themselves as a Lost Tribe of Israel. Religious Studies Professor Tudor Parfitt and five FIU students recently returned from a 12-day expedition to the Pacific island where they studied the Gogodala tribe. Accompanying them were FIU Magazine Editor Deborah O’Neil and External Relations filmmaker Tim Long.

Thousands of Gogodala, shown left, welcomed the FIU delegation when they arrived in the village of Balimo. Parfitt, shown addressing a group of Gogodala on the island of Kimama, has been studying Judaizing movements around the world for 30 years. In August, FIU Magazine will bring you more photos and stories from the extraordinary journey to Papua New Guinea.

Photos by Deborah O’Neil MA ’09 and Tim Long

PANTHER CAMP WINS RECOGNITION Panther Camp – FIU’s off-campus summer program geared to helping new students get acclimated to college life – has been recognized nationally as a “best practice.” PaperClip Communications, which provides information resources for education administrators, highlighted FIU’s version for incoming transfer students as an “orientation innovation.”

SUMMER 2013 | 9

Photo by Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

Listen to the poet read his historic work go.fiu.edu/blanco

Sparking imaginations around the country, alumnus Richard Blanco read his original poem “One Today” at Barack Obama’s second inauguration in January. Catapulted into the public spotlight virtually overnight – he is the first Cuban-American, first homosexual and youngest person to have served as inaugural poet – Blanco can claim another special distinction: the only FIU alumnus to hold both an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a master’s in creative writing.

One Today

By Richard Blanco ’91, MFA ’97

One sun rose on us today, kindled over our shores, peeking over the Smokies, greeting the faces of the Great Lakes, spreading a simple truth across the Great Plains, then charging across the Rockies.

One light, waking up rooftops, under each one, a story told by our silent gestures moving behind windows.

My face, your face, millions of faces in morning’s mirrors, each one yawning to life, crescendoing into our day: pencil-yellow school buses, the rhythm of traffic lights, fruit stands: apples, limes, and oranges arrayed like rainbows begging our praise. Silver trucks heavy with oil or paper— bricks or milk, teeming over highways alongside us, on our way to clean tables, read ledgers, or save lives— to teach geometry, or ring-up groceries as my mother did for twenty years, so I could write this poem.

10 | SUMMER 2013

All of us as vital as the one light we move through, the same light on blackboards with lessons for the day: equations to solve, history to question, or atoms imagined, the “I have a dream” we keep dreaming, or the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain the empty desks of twenty children marked absent today, and forever. Many prayers, but one light breathing color into stained glass windows, life into the faces of bronze statues, warmth onto the steps of our museums and park benches as mothers watch children slide into the day.

One ground. Our ground, rooting us to every stalk of corn, every head of wheat sown by sweat and hands, hands gleaning coal or planting windmills in deserts and hilltops that keep us warm, hands digging trenches, routing pipes and cables, hands as worn as my father’s cutting sugarcane so my brother and I could have books and shoes.

The dust of farms and deserts, cities and plains mingled by one wind—our breath. Breathe. Hear it through the day’s gorgeous din of honking cabs, buses launching down avenues, the symphony of footsteps, guitars, and screeching subways, the unexpected song bird on your clothes line.

One sky, toward which we sometimes lift our eyes tired from work: some days guessing at the weather of our lives, some days giving thanks for a love that loves you back, sometimes praising a mother who knew how to give, or forgiving a father who couldn’t give what you wanted.

Hear: squeaky playground swings, trains whistling, or whispers across café tables, Hear: the doors we open for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom, buon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días in the language my mother taught me—in every language spoken into one wind carrying our lives without prejudice, as these words break from my lips.

We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home, always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop and every window, of one country—all of us— facing the stars hope—a new constellation waiting for us to map it, waiting for us to name it—together

One sky: since the Appalachians and Sierras claimed their majesty, and the Mississippi and Colorado worked their way to the sea. Thank the work of our hands: weaving steel into bridges, finishing one more report for the boss on time, stitching another wound or uniform, the first brush stroke on a portrait, or the last floor on the Freedom Tower jutting into a sky that yields to our resilience.

“One Today: A Poem for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration January 21, 2013,” by Richard Blanco, © 2013. Reprinted by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Photo by Rob Carr, Getty Images SUMMER 2013 | 11

S

Experience the rituals of a Jain festival magazine.fiu.edu

Inspired by their Jain faith, alumni couple Gitika and Sapan Bafna work to expand religious understanding in South Florida

By JoAnn Adkins | Photo by Angel Valentin

&&&&&&&&

outh Florida’s small, tight-knit Jain

the FIU Department of Religious Studies

community built a Jain temple in

they found a welcome environment for their

Sapan grew up in India in the city of Indore.

2009. In this holy space where a

ideas. In 2010, Jains from around the world

Upon graduating with a finance degree at the

marble likeness of the Swami Mahavir smiles

came together with FIU to create the only

age of 22, he left India for the first time in his

benevolently, families gather to teach their

endowed professorship devoted to the study

life, bound for the United States.

children the richness of their ancient culture

of Jainism in the western hemisphere. The

and religious heritage.

Bhagwan Mahavir Professorship of Jain

family having immigrated after she graduated

The Weston temple gave them a place to

Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences is

from high school. The youngest of three

congregate, but it did little to foster a deeper

named for the 24th and last Jain tirthankara,

children, Gitika always exhibited an aptitude

understanding among the larger South

or spiritual fathers of Jainism, who lived from

for math and science, so in 1995, she

Florida community. The Jain community

599-527 BCE.

enrolled in FIU’s College of Engineering and

decided to shift its focus to education.

Now, the Bafnas are guiding another

Leaders tapped married FIU alums Gitika and

initiative to establish an interdisciplinary

Sapan Bafna to help guide the vision.

center for religious pluralism at FIU.

The couple, firmly rooted in the Jain

Gitika points out that the goal is not to

Gitika was already living in the U.S., her

Computer Science.

The pair had known each other for several years – Gitika’s sister had married Sapan’s brother in 1993. Their families had long been

principle of non-absolutism – the belief that

convert others to Jainism, but rather to

friends. When Sapan boarded that flight to

no human thought can represent ultimate

develop a mutual understanding.

the U.S., his plan was to marry Gitika, work

truth – wanted to develop an education

“We have many shared values and if others

on his MBA at FIU and eventually return to

program that encourages conversations

can learn about us, and what guides us, we

India. He fulfilled most of his plan. But instead

and celebrates spiritual understanding. In

hope it will have a positive impact,” she said.

of returning to India, he and his wife have

12 | SUMMER 2013

brought a part of India to Miami.

Now the parents of two children, they have found a work-life balance. Gitika is an

Katz specializes in the religions of India, and

convincing. He agreed to help, reaching out

teaches a variety of courses in Jainism and

to the broader Jain community nationally and

related topics.

internationally to support the initiative.

engineering auditor for AT&T. Sapan is a vice

Most importantly, Charitra Prajna was

president for CoreLogic Inc., which provides

teaching at FIU in 2009. Prajna is a samani,

from FIU was exceptional. Your alumni are

consumer, financial and property services to

a member of the Jain clergy. Up until the

your ambassadors of a university,” Dipak

business and government clients.

1990s, the samanis were not permitted to

Jain said. “Sapan and Gitika were not in it for

They celebrate their religion in every

“It helped that the support we received

travel out of India. But as more members of

themselves, but for others. Sapan was willing

aspect of their life, from the pursuit of

the Jain community emigrated out of India,

to carry the torch.”

education to family values to career.

Jain leaders saw a need for samanis to

The Jain Education and Research

“It’s hard to explain, but our religion is

provide spiritual guidance in other parts of

Foundation was formed to lead the initiative,

very much a part of who we are,” Sapan

the world. FIU computer science professor

and Sapan was named the founding

said. “It guides our

president. The

food choices. We

Bhagwan Mahavir

“Our religion is very much a part

are vegetarians because we believe in non-violence. We

of who we are. It guides our food

Studies in the College

because we believe in non-violence.

established and Katz

choices. We are vegetarians

welcome others’ ideas because we

We welcome others’ ideas because

believe in non-

we believe in non-absolutism.”

absolutism. We also

Professorship of Jain

— Sapan Bafna

believe in non-greed.

That doesn’t mean

of Arts & Sciences was was named to the post.

Since that time, the Jains have shifted their focus to funding the proposed center.

we can’t have nice

“It was really

clothes or cars. It simply means that those

and Jain Jai Navlakha encouraged Katz to

amazing how so many people rallied in such

things don’t define us. We are defined by who

bring a samani to FIU. Katz loved the idea

a short period of time,” said Arts & Sciences

we are and how we treat others.”

and eventually, Samani Charitra Prajna joined

Dean Kenneth G. Furton. “This whole process

the faculty as a visiting professor.

has been inspiring to me as dean, and it offers

&&&&&&&& At least 100 Jain families reside in South

The first time Gitika and Sapan saw a

Florida. Many have a shared determination

samani on U.S. soil, they admit “it was

to create a world where their children can be

inspiring to the core,” Sapan said.

understood and respected for their beliefs, respected for who they are.

South Florida’s Jain community found

great learning opportunities for our students.”

As Gitika and Sapan look back on the past few years, they are just now beginning to realize the full depth of the impact

inspiration in Prajna’s FIU presence, as well

they have had on their alma mater. They

as her passion for teaching. A decision was

have helped foster a dialogue of broader

right place to help make that happen and

made among the Jain community to do more.

mutual understandings throughout the FIU

by 2009, they knew it was the right time. To

Sapan reached out to Dr. Dipak Jain, dean

community. When reminded of this, they both

start, several FIU faculty members are Jains.

of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School

simply offer up smiles. Humility is another

FIU Religious Studies Professor Nathan

of Management at the time. He required little

principle that helps guide them.

The Bafnas knew their alma mater was the

n

Jainism Around the World Origin: Ancient Indian religion, most recently taught by Bhagwan Mahavir in the sixth century BC.

Practices: The path to liberating the soul includes meditation, penance, charity, renunciation and pilgrimage

Followers: 4.2 million, mostly in India, also U.K. and U.S.

Founders: There have been 24 Tirthankaras, or Jain teachers who achieved ultimate liberation

Teachings: Three basic teachings: (1) non-violence or ahimsa, (2) non-absolutism of all formulations of truth or anekantavada, and (3) non-greed or aparigraha

Text: Voluminous collections of agamas, or Jain scriptures

SUMMER 2013 | 13

The Wolfsonian-FIU leaps into the future with a hefty grant and a plan to put its entire collection online

digiti replaces looking at a real object,” Leff says.

the other reason for promoting digitization:

“But there are other experiences. It’s about

You can pore through the stuff, you can

toward helping The Wolfsonian-FIU share its

access, about access to information, to

explore, you can sort of roam the collection in

collection with the world.

images, to knowledge.”

a way that was never possible before.”

By Alexandra Pecharich

Five million dollars will go a long way

That amount represents the largest grant

Leff is talking about the digital age, which

Building connections

ever received by the 18-year-old Miami

The Wolfsonian has embraced unequivocally.

Beach museum and the single biggest award

The museum has undertaken a painstaking

promised to any organization in 2012 by the

process of photographing the museum’s

collection fully online to help users find items

prestigious Knight Foundation, a champion of

120,000 or so objects and then bolstering the

of value to them – is the impetus for The

community engagement and the arts in South

accompanying data – the name of the artist

Wolfsonian’s digital push.

Florida. The grant will make a vast amount

or manufacturer, the year and place of origin,

of the museum’s collection accessible in

the media from which it was

information and then not knowing

the next five years, at no charge, to anyone

created, etc. – that goes along

what will happen once you do that,”

around the globe with an Internet connection.

with each image to make online

Annually, FIU’s internationally renowned museum sees some 35,000 visitors,

catalog searches productive.

“It’s a fascinating challenge,”

That thrilling potential – to put the

“It’s about sharing knowledge and

Leff says. “When you put groups Learn more about objects in the Wolfsonian collection magazine.fiu.edu

of scholars with different interests together a lot of new and interesting

welcomes about 200 researchers and

says digital asset manager Derek Merleaux,

ideas and projects and research comes out

presents several dozen lectures and

who is overseeing the process.

of that. So we want to create a type of online

exhibits. Those numbers will explode as The Wolfsonian begins a transformation.

“The whole world is changing,” says

The collection represents the art and design associated with the height of the industrial revolution, in the mid-1800s, to the end of

Wolfsonian Director Cathy Leff, summing up

World War II and includes such things as the

why the time to act is now.

first mass-produced home appliances, early

Brave new digital world “I think that museums still need to be physical spaces. There’s nothing that

14 | SUMMER 2013

environment that fosters these intersections and connections and networks.”

Figuring out just how to make all that happen will require help.

A digitized collection on its own “has

movie cameras, modernist dinnerware and all

absolutely no importance on the world,”

manner of visually arresting propaganda.

says Richard Saul Wurman, founder of the

“There are these huge drifts of material

TED Conference. He recently visited the

within the collection that are virtually

museum to discuss with Leff and others how

unexplored,” Merleaux says, “which is, I think,

to encourage use of the digital resource for

Radio, c. 1935 American Glass, chrome-plated metal, wood

that are embedded in objects?”

Elizabeth Heath, a history professor at FIU, recognizes the challenge. “This is a classic problem,” she says. “As historians, we’re very well trained to read texts critically, but how do we turn a similarly critical gaze toward the visual arts, toward material culture? I think

ize

The Wolfsonian’s collection provides the perfect place to engage students in those kinds of questions.”

And while the digital future looms large

– “There will be students from high schools and colleges everywhere that will be turning toward The Wolfsonian,” Heath predicts – the physical collection remains the institution’s

Armchair, c. 1899 Norway Painted wood

bedrock and will continue to feature prominently in upcoming activities.

knowledge creation, content generation, sharing and dissemination among usergroups, even creative production.

The ultimate goal, he explains, is to help

Money to grow on For example, while FIU faculty already take

advantage of what the museum has to offer

users “answer their questions.” How The

– several professors teach courses there and

Wolfsonian’s digitized collection puts users

others require students to visit the exhibits

at its center to “engender their joy, their

or archives to complete course assignments

curiosity-that’s the interesting problem.” How

– the museum also invites scholars from

The Wolfsonian might best do that, even

elsewhere to use its holdings by awarding

Wurman cannot say definitively right now,

research fellowships. With the Knight funds in

but a proposed technology advisory board

hand, this opportunity will expand.

– which will include leaders in the world of

The grant likewise will make possible

information technology – is currently being

planned changes at the museum’s historic

assembled to address that very question.

Art Deco building, including removal of a few

Poster, c. 1936 Workers! Read the Newspaper of the Revolution!

Barcelona, Spain

walls and installation of new display cases to

A museum of ideas The drive to engage a broader audience –

show off more of the permanent collection.

And the funds will underwrite an “ideas

one based on interest rather than geography

festival” that, Leff says, will “connect the

– comes out of The Wolfsonian’s mission

objects in our collections to the issues and

to encourage individuals to explore “the

events of our times.”

persuasive power of art and design” so as to

Ultimately, The Wolfsonian is preparing

better understand “the social, political, and

for the years ahead precisely because its

technological changes that have transformed

collection reflects a past full of enduring

our world.”

significance.

Says Leff, “We are more than a collection

“Yes, these are historical artifacts,” Leff

of objects. We’re a museum of ideas, and

says, “but they also speak as much today

that’s really what it boils down to: How do

about our culture and our times as they did

you get people to understand all the ideas

about their own.”

n

Sculpture, 1933 Continuous Profile of the Duce Italy Bronzed terra cotta

SUMMER 2013 | 15

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication partners with WLRN public radio to give students real-life reporting lessons

By Eric Barton | Photos by Doug Garland ’10

T

he class is gathered around a

recognizing that this is something reporters

idea of WLRN employees teaching students,

conference table in the newsroom

everywhere are asking themselves in the

but he also hoped FIU’s journalism students

shared by The Miami Herald and

changing environment of newsrooms.

might help the station. WLRN re-launched its

WLRN, South Florida’s public radio station.

The answer is part of what the students will

Internet site last fall, adding web-only articles

On the screen in front of them is a reporter,

learn in “Radio Storytelling in a Digital Age.”

and radio scripts rewritten for the web. Grech

John O’Connor, connected via Skype. This

The undergraduate course represents a first-

hoped the students, who had grown up on

class often covers how multimedia platforms

of-its-kind partnership between FIU’s School

social media, could help WLRN employees

are taking over newsrooms, so it makes

of Journalism and Mass Communication and

learn how to best tell a story on the web.

a media outlet.

sense that today’s speaker is

The idea came about one

streaming live from the Internet.

O’Connor is the Tampa-based education reporter for StateImpact Florida, a joint project between local

Hear the stories students produced for WLRN magazine.fiu.edu

morning as Raul Reis, the school’s

“The students have a lot to teach us about digital platforms, and it becomes something of collaboration,” Grech says.

dean, was in his car. “One day I

The result of the partnership is a class in

was commuting to work, listing

which the students learn how to report and

public radio stations and National Public

to WLRN, as I often do,” he recalls. “It

produce a radio segment that may air on the

Radio. He’s talking about how all of his stories

occurred to me that we really ought to

station. They also produce a web version

need to have a statewide angle so they can

partner with them.”

of the article and plan how to promote it on

run on public radio stations across Florida.

Reis called Dan Grech, radio news director

social media.

That’s when FIU student Maria Camila Bernal

at WLRN-Miami Herald News. Reis asked

raises her hand.

if the station might be willing to help put

lessons. The students may not end up

together a class on radio storytelling.

working in radio, but the communication

“If I have a story based on my school in my town,” Bernal says, “how do you make that local story a statewide story?”

“Good question,” O’Connor says, 16 | SUMMER 2013

Grech used to teach at FIU and has had

For Reis, those are important practical

skills they learn can be used in many

several FIU students serve as interns at the

professions. “It gets them thinking about

station over the years. He says he loved the

their voice and thinking about time,” Reis

FIU student Brittny Valdes took part in the new Radio Storytelling class offered at the Miami Herald-WLRN newsroom.

says. “Now, if you go to a newspaper office,

Barbara Corbellini Duarte says she took

During O’Connor’s Skype chat with the

they have radio and TV studios, and print

the class because she’s trying to decide in

students, he paused a moment when asked

reporters have to know how to record their

which news medium she would like to focus.

how to add a statewide angle to a local story.

stories. This gets them ready for that step.”

A 25-year-old native of Brazil, Duarte says

Then he replied: “Data. Go out and find data

Reis hopes the partnership with WLRN is

that the course has given her the skills to

that can show whether what you’re seeing at

pursue work in radio.

the local level is a trend elsewhere.”

the first of many for the journalism school.

He’d like to see students trained in multiple

“I had no idea of how to do a radio piece,

It’s a lesson Bernal used on the story she

newsrooms, ready for all facets of the quickly changing industry.

The results of the

had pitched. Her idea was to

“Although I don’t plan to go into public radio, I think the skills that I am

report on the required college counseling program at Broward County high schools. Similar

partnership with WLRN

learning will be helpful for any field in

were featured at a University

media because, in the end, it comes

counties, and Bernal, a 22-year-

of Oregon School of

down to producing a good story.”

old native of Colombia, wanted

Journalism conference in April titled, “What is Radio?

—journalism student Maria Camila Bernal

programs aren’t offered in other

to find out if it gave Broward students an advantage.

Exploring the past, present

“I feel like I am really learning

and future of radio.” Grech and Reis hope

and now I feel confident enough to do one

how public radio is supposed to be,”

their presentation will inspire other universities

100 percent by myself,” Duarte says. “You

Bernal says of the class. “For me, it is

and media outlets to partner together.

have a chance to learn from reporters,

extremely beneficial to have these skills,

journalists and editors who are in the market

and although I don’t plan to go into public

Sammy Mack, who begins by explaining

right now. They are teaching you, and they

radio, I think the skills that I am learning will

what reporters do every day, how they report

also want your help and your input.”

be helpful for any field in media because

The class at WLRN is taught by producer

to their editors and the ways they pitch their

For a homework assignment, Duarte

story ideas. The next step is to teach the

reported a story about students who rallied

students how to use radio-quality recording

for immigration reform in Tallahassee.

equipment. Finally, the students come up

She wound up partnering with WLRN’s

with their own ideas for radio stories and

Tallahassee bureau chief to produce a longer

make their case to Mack, who will give the

feature that aired as part of the station’s

final go-ahead.

2013 legislative-session coverage.

in the end, it comes down to producing a good story.”

n

Eric Barton is a freelance writer in Fort Lauderdale. You can usually find him on his paddleboard, perusing South Florida’s best ethnic restaurants, or with a cafecito, pinkie finger extended.

SUMMER 2013 | 17

HE LED

The healed becomes the

HEALER

By Elizabeth Hanly | Photo by Josh Ritchie

Meet a few other recent FIU med school grads magazine.fiu.edu

18 | SUMMER 2013

Photo by Doug Garland ’10

DR.

‘‘

Trine’s on track to fulfill her dream... to become a liver transplant surgeon.

Doctors saved Trine’s life and, thanks to her FIU education, she will save hundreds of lives as well.

”

— FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg, during remarks at the inaugural commencement of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

Trine Engebretsen bristles at the

stuff of Frankenstein. “How can you even

mere hint of anyone expressing

consider making a monster out of your

sympathy for her – something she makes clear

daughter?” was the typical response – from

when strangers ask about her story.

family and close friends, no less – to the

After all, Engebretsen’s entire life has been one display after another of fortitude.

“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue,” she states, calling upon a quote. “Realize the strength, move on.”

A recent graduate of the Herbert Wertheim

mother’s decision to seek a liver transplant for her daughter. At age two, Trine underwent the surgery. Predictions for success back then: 30 percent chance of surviving six months.

All of this might have remained little more than an old news story – Engebretsen, now 32,

College of Medicine – she is one of 33

made huge headlines as Florida’s first liver

courageous, newly minted doctors who cast

transplant recipient – were it not for her decision

their fate with the school as part of its historic

to enter FIU’s fledgling medical school.

first class – Engebretsen came into this world with a failing liver and beat the odds.

Experts at a dozen institutions promised her

NEW MEDICAL SCHOOL Just over four years ago, before

desperate parents no more than the means

welcoming to campus their first students

to make their infant girl comfortable. Recalls

in the fall of 2009, a small cadre of recently

Engebretsen’s mother, Mary Ann Lunde, “It

hired faculty began the process of accepting

took me time to realize that what the hospitals

applications and developing a curriculum.

were offering was palliative care until what

“Nobody was sure we could pull this off,”

they viewed as my daughter’s inevitable

says Dr. J. Patrick O’Leary, who heads the

death. Perhaps because I was so young and

college’s Department of Clinical Affairs. “All

naive, this simply was not acceptable.”

of us had come to this project after very

Lunde continued her search for hope and eventually found a Pittsburgh physician doing what in the early 1980s was considered the

successful careers. We adopted a saying, ‘I didn’t come this far to fail.’”

Continues SUMMER 2013 | 19

‘‘

This College of Medicine was created through the tireless efforts of dozens, no, make that hundreds of people... who believed, who rose to the challenge and who knew how to beat the odds.

”

— FIU President Emeritus Modesto A. Maidique, during whose tenure the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine was established

College of Medicine class of 2013

Photo by Doug Garland ’10 Continued

A PERFECT MATCH All members of the Class of 2013 received placement in their residency programs of choice and will continue training in their areas of specialty at prestigious institutions around the country.

Hanadys Ale, M.D., Pediatrics, Miami Children’s Hospital, Miami, Fla. Dillon Arango, M.D., Orthopedic Surgery, Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, Pa. Edilberto Benitez, M.D., Internal Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, Fla. Tanya Bogle, M.D., Family Medicine, USF Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Fla. Alexander Bolanos, M.D., Internal Medicine, UF College of Medicine-Shands, Gainesville, Fla. Daniel Castellanos, M.D., Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif.

Trine Engebretsen, M.D., General Surgery, Medical Center of Central Georgia/Mercer SOM, Macon, Ga. Nicholas Figueroa, M.D., Preliminary Surgery, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Fla. Miguel Flores, M.D., Diagnostic Radiology, Florida Hospital Medical Center, Miami, Fla. MedicinePreliminary, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL João Fontoura, M.D., Medicine/Pediatrics, USF Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, Fla. Molly Garland, M.D., General Surgery, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, N.C. Gillian Generoso, M.D., Internal Medicine, NY Hospital Medical Center of Queens, Cornell University Medical College, Flushing, N.Y. Michael Hann, M.D., Psychiatry, Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, Calif.

Eric Heckert, M.D., Emergency Medicine, Florida Hospital Medical Center, Orlando, Fla. Boris Hristov, M.D., General Surgery, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Brooklyn, N.Y. Kailee Imperatore, M.D., Pathology, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Fla. Anupama Kotha, M.D., Obstetrics/Gynecology, Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio

20 | SUMMER 2013

Anisha Kshetrapal, M.D., General Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pa. Patricio Lau, M.D., General Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas Peter Leahy, M.D., Pediatrics, University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C. Eric Liss, M.D., Ophthalmology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. Transitional, Riverside Regional Medical Center, Newport News, Va. Edward Maharam, M.D., Internal Medicine, B anner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Phoenix, Ariz.

Scott Mariouw, M.D., Psychiatry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Ill. Christine Matthews, M.D., Family Medicine, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Jacksonville, Fla. Robyn Monckton, M.D., Family Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C. Diana Morlote, M.D., Pathology, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, Fla. Ariel Moses, M.D., Internal Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, La. Kenji Ogura, M.D., Anesthesiology, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, Calif.

Rohit Raj, M.D., Internal Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio Anit Rastogi, M.D., Diagnostic Radiology, UF College of Medicine-Shands, Gainesville, Fla. SurgeryPreliminary, St. Barnabas Medical Center Program, Livingston, N.J. Michael Syme, M.D., General Surgery, University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas City, Miss.

Gabriel Thornton, M.D., Internal Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio Kaiming Wu, M.D., Diagnostic Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.

Transitional, Reading Hospital Medical Center, Reading, Pa.

The admissions committee sifted through 3,606 applications to fill 40-some spots. Those who accepted the invitation to attend FIU’s untested program were pioneers, O’Leary says, “who had embraced adventure as a part of their lives.”

And those pioneers worked hard. They had no upperclassmen to ask questions of and continually helped the administration reevaluate courses and procedures. (Missteps in how certain rotations were set up and how histology was taught, to cite two examples, were brought forward by students and quickly addressed.) Some even harbored worries about whether they were receiving the type of education that would fully prepare them to enter the medical profession.

Those fears melted away earlier this year, in March, when medical students across the country learned where they would spend the next few years as residents, the doctors lowest on the totem pole but for whom every moment is a learning opportunity. All 33 FIU students matched to one of their chosen residencies, besting the national rate of 93 percent. That success came on the heels, in

February, of news that the medical school

her adult years. Next came an opportunity

at the time was concerned for her health.

had earned full accreditation – in the shortest

to join a friend in Sydney, Australia, for

“But Trine more or less demanded that we

time frame possible – thereby allowing it to

a summer adventure that led to a public

treat her as we would any other student.”

confer medical degrees.

relations job with that country’s national organ

She kept up her rotations deep into her ninth

transplant organization. Returning home to

month, and soon afterward Andersen, a

South Florida, she went back to a local organ

healthy baby boy, arrived.

PAYING IT FORWARD Engebretsen, who will complete a residency at Medical Center of Central Georgia, hardly grew up thinking about

recovery agency where she had previously been employed.

This history of service, in part, is what

SURGEON IT IS The last thing Engebretsen wanted was to

becoming a doctor. She did, however, early

helped Engebretsen earn a spot in FIU’s

be a surgeon. She had seen her share as a

on exhibit a knack for fearlessly teaching

medical school in the first place. “Trine is the

child. None, as far as she could tell, had the

others about transplantation.

kind of student we had been hoping to attract

time or energy for a family. A young mother as

as we developed a program so committed to

well as (almost) a doctor, she had committed

classmates found themselves discussing one

addressing social need in the community,”

herself to emergency medicine – a specialty

of the feature stories in the Weekly Reader.

says Dr. John Rock, the founding dean.

that has a set schedule of hours – and had

In the third grade, little Trine and her

It focused on transplants, and the kids were not buying the far-fetched idea. “Impossible,” they claimed, even as Trine interrupted, “I have a transplant.”

Despite her insistence, nobody believed her.

already dismissed taking up surgery, which

LIFE WORTH LIVING At the time working and going to school to earn an MS in biomedical science,

was the only rotation she had yet to complete as part of her studies.

Soon after she started, doctors at Miami’s

Engebretsen was also facilitating an online

Baptist Hospital, where she was taking the

And so she picked up her pretty dress and

chat room for those living with liver disease

surgery rotation, began talking about the

held it high over her head. “See,” she pointed

and their families. She connected with a

student with “good hands,” medical speak

to her scar.

certain young man online who as an infant

for the manual dexterity needed to handle

Engebretsen loves that story. She tells it

underwent surgery to correct a birth defect

surgical instruments with precision. And then

mostly as an appreciation of her mom “who

in his bile ducts. One thing led to another,

one night she came home to her husband

created an environment where I felt precisely

and the young man – Ryan Labbe – made

still grinning and excited after participating in

that normal.” (Engebretsen’s beloved father, a

a trip to South Florida to meet the woman

several transplant surgeries over the course of

ship’s captain, was lost at sea when she was

who, eventually, would become his wife.

21 hours. Could these signs mean something?

13.) She goes on to talk about teenage years

Life together looked so promising – until,

Engebretsen consulted O’Leary, a surgeon

filled with gymnastics and cheerleading and

that is, Labbe’s liver showed signs of

himself, and initiated a conversation about

even water polo.

chronic damage.

the possibility of a change of direction. She

Less expected, during that same time

After 25 years of excellent health, Labbe

believes that her mentor was responsible for

Engebretsen agreed to enroll in a controversial

would require a life-saving transplant. The

opening both her eyes and important doors.

study that aimed to help transplant recipients

operation was complex and difficult. Success

He helped her understand that a surgeon can

permanently get off of medications, including

was hardly assured. “I was all yellow in our

have a personal life, and he wrote letters of

those that prevent organ rejection. Her doctor

engagement photos,” he laughs now, six

strong recommendation to the physicians that

approached her with the idea and, defying

years later.

run the rigorous residency program that was

well-established medical wisdom, Engebretsen

Having seen her husband through the

her first choice. She starts this summer.

took the chance. Again she beat the odds and

worst, Engebretsen in turn relied on his

has been free of medication ever since.

support as she started at FIU’s medical

Engebretsen on her new path. “When a doctor

school. Before long, she would rack up

is as gifted as Trine,” he says, “there is an

kept up what she calls “paying it forward,”

yet another first. Hardly making life easy

inner voice whispering about a direction she

giving something to others out of consideration

on herself, she became the program’s first

needs to take.” Over time, he adds, “that

for what she received so many years earlier. In

pregnant student – and half of the world’s only

voice gets louder and louder.”

high school she won a Silver Knight award for

known dual-liver transplant couple to achieve

a program she created that educates students

a successful pregnancy together.

And all through those years Engebretsen

about organ donation, work she continued into

“Of course we worried,” says O’Leary, who

But O’Leary takes no credit for setting

n

Elizabeth Hanly is an adjunct professor in the Honors College who happens to know all the words to all of Bob Dylan’s songs.

SUMMER 2013 | 21

Jean Hannan, ’87, MS ’01, Ph.D. ’10 Assistant Professor College of Nursing and Health Sciences

PILOTING MY CAREER When I graduated from high school, my father insisted I become an

airline

pilot like he was. But growing up, I had seen him threatened with unemployment several times, and I knew that was not the life for me. I learned that there was a

demand

for nursing professionals and so decided to study nursing at

FIU, which had – and still does – a very

intense program. After earning

an undergraduate degree and while working at Jackson Memorial Hospital, I enrolled in FIU’s nurse practitioner program, which back then offered a certificate. Later, while juggling grueling 12-hour shifts as a pediatric NP – carrying patient caseloads just like physicians do – and raising three children, I came back for a master’s and, more recently, a Ph.D. Today I am a professor of nursing at FIU, where I teach and conduct research. My current project is funded by the National Institutes of Health and follows low-income

first-

time mothers with little or no access to healthcare. My study examines if nurse practitioners’ calling or texting these mothers can improve maternal and infant health while decreasing healthcare costs. As for my father, he passed away recently but not before expressing pride in my having earned a P.hD. and the title of

“Dr. Hannan” that comes with that. He also said he wished he had supported my decision, years before, to chart my own flight plan. I just said, “Daddy, if you had, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten this far.”

Be WorldsAhead 22 | SUMMER 2013

Photo

by Angel Valentin Photo

by Angel Valentin

23 | SPRING 2013

SUMMER 2013 | 23

Juntos con Nicaragua

By Mari de Armas ’02 | Photos by Christopher Necuze ’11

“Changing the world, one break at a time” is the mission of Alternative Breaks, FIU’s largest, year-round, service-learning program offered by Tag along to Nicaragua with FIU go.fiu.edu/Nicaragua2013

Student Affairs’ Center for Leadership and Service. This spring break, five groups traveled to Nicaragua, the second-poorest country in the

Western Hemisphere, to improve the lives of Nicaraguans by working on issues that ranged from health advocacy to reforestation.

Amy Diaz, a member of the pre-med honor society, worked with her fellow students to provide care for villagers in remote areas in northern Nicaragua.

Alexandra Dupont traveled to Nicaragua with students from Leah Santos was among the students from BBC who built a classroom in the rural town of Los Fierros.

MMC to work with the children of the village of Santa Julia.

Honors College students (from left to right) Manuel Borobia, Stephanie Freiria, Sahar Members of the International Business Honors Society committed to work with Santa Julia’s co-op to help develop a business plan for their coffee plantation. From left to right, Tatiana Medina, Carlos Medaùa ’93, Bibi Moghani and Maria Aguirre.

Naqvi, Daniel Irigoyen, David Aviles, Adriana Mercado and Francesca Bacarossi on their way to a reforestation project in Ometepe. The mud on their skin serves as a natural mosquito repellent.

Find out what the experts have to say magazine.fiu.edu

26 | SUMMER 2013

Texting could help reduce teen drinking BRB

By Robyn Nissim

Fourteen-year-old Sophia, an eighth-

underage drinking. FIU’s project will send

messages. They will also help determine the

texts out in both Spanish and English and

timing of the pre-scheduled texts.

grader in Miami-Dade County, sends her

focus on a particularly high-risk group:

first text at 7:30 a.m. On school nights, her

Hispanic adolescents.

phone is turned off at 10:30 p.m. In those

“We’re adjusting the text messages to fit best with the kids’ experiences,” Wagner

“This study is specifically targeting

says. “The kids will give us feedback on what

15 hours, she sends or receives upwards of

Hispanic kids, who are at particular risk for

the texts should say and when they should

150 messages.

underage drinking,” Wagner says. “We’ve

be going out. Once we have that done, then

taken this whole set of English-language

we’ll perfect our materials and then conduct

with friends every 15 minutes that he or

texts that have been published in previous

clinical trials.”

she is awake – up to 60 texts per day. Text

research, and we’ve translated them into

messaging is, for many, a critical activity of

Spanish for those kids who might prefer to

everyday life. Researchers are hoping to use

receive texts in Spanish.”

The average teenager exchanges texts

that dedication to instant communication to curb teenagers’ risky behaviors.

According to a comprehensive 2012

FIU’s Community-Based Intervention

study, Hispanic teens

Research Group (C-BIRG), in collaboration

report more underage

with Miami Children’s Hospital, has

drinking – as much as 35

embarked on a new research study

percent more in 8th grade

that tests the potential effectiveness of

and 7 to 35 percent more

scheduled text messaging to reduce

in 10th grade – than their

underage drinking.

non-Hispanic white and

Adolescence is a difficult, yet critical, time to try to reach children, note C-BIRG

African-American peers.

The clinical trial will consist of a random

d

selection of adolescents receiving targeted

“The kids will give us

texts over the course of 14 weeks, with messaging

feedback on what

aimed to “reduce their

say and when they

attention to things that

the texts should

should be going out.

Wagner also notes that in Miami-Dade

­–– Professor Eric Wagner

drinking or at least to pay would reduce their harm

from drinking,” Wagner says.

C-BIRG researchers

believe that, ultimately,

the adolescents assigned

to alcohol prevention texts will show

greater reductions in alcohol use and other

researchers. Teenagers are not worried

County, girls are more likely than boys to

negative behaviors than the adolescents in

about drinking and driving because either

report alcohol use. “Girls’ higher rates of

the control group. They will also be looking at

they don’t drive or they underestimate

alcohol and other drug use during middle

other aspects of the study, such as whether

the risks inherent in drinking and driving.

school is particularly problematic since

the texts are more effective in younger or older

Broadly speaking, they are not worried

adolescents who use substances at earlier

children and what percentage of the children

about their own habits. This is why public

ages are more likely to develop substance

prefer Spanish language texts versus English.

health advocates are looking for alternate

abuse and dependence problems.”

ways to positively influence teenagers.

Adds Michelle Hospital, assistant

“One of the exciting things about this project is that if we find a lot of the kids do

professor with C-BIRG, “Hispanic

prefer to receive communications in Spanish,

intervention that we think might be a very

adolescents are underserved and

we can start applying this in other countries

effective way of broadly covering kids at

underrepresented in healthcare services

that are predominantly Spanish speaking,”

risk for underage drinking, and reducing the

and underrepresented in research, and we

Hospital says.

likelihood that they and their families and

are excited to be able to bring this kind of

society will suffer harm from their drinking,”

prevention to this population.”

“Text messaging is a low-cost

says Eric Wagner, FIU professor of social work and director of C-BIRG. Wagner notes that previous studies have suggested that text messaging can reduce

Conducted in two phases, the first part of

“Cell phones have become ubiquitous in South and Central America, and people use it as their primary form of communication. So if

the study begins with the messaging itself.

we can get the groundwork on this research,

Teenage volunteers will serve as a focus

we may be able to extrapolate this to other

group for the content and style of the text

countries in a culturally sensitive way.”

n

SUMMER 2013 | 27

John McKibbon III ’75 Chairman, McKibbon Hotel Group and Hotel Management Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

MacAdam J. Glinn J.D. ’07 Vice President of Aviation, Skanska USA Building College of Law

Conchy P. Argiz ’75 Community Philanthropist Shannon Ford ’99 Regional Human Resources Manager, BDO College of Education College of Arts & Sciences Charles E. Perry Young Alumni Visionary Award 28 | SUMMER 2013

Reinaldo Jaffet ’81, ’94 Director of Rehabilitation and Assistant Athletic Trainer, Miami Heat College of Nursing and Health Sciences

Dianne Festa ’84 Director, NBC News School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Mario Trueba MBA ’87 CEO and President, Sabadell United Bank College of Business

Adalio T. Sanchez MBA ’87 General Manager, IBM’s System x Server Unit College of Business Outstanding Achievement Award

The 2013 Alumni Association Torch Awards reminded everyone of the impact FIU graduates are making in virtually every industry and facet of life. Leaders in their respective fields, they exemplify the best in all of us. For the first time, the annual gathering – which raises money for the First Generation Scholarship Fund and the Alumni Center Building Fund – featured a charity casino that allowed Panthers to do two of their favorite things at once: enjoy a good time with their fellow alumni and friends, and contribute to an important cause.

Catch the excitement of the 2013 ceremony go.fiu.edu/Torch2013

With the support of presenting sponsor City National Bank, the evening shined a spotlight on some very special individuals while ensuring the future for worthy students to whom we will one day pass the torch.

FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg Carol Novak ’91 Founding Board Member, Kristi House Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work

Beth D. Davalos MSW ’94 Coordinator of the Families in Transition Program, Seminole County Public Schools Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work Community Leadership Award

Digno Caballero ’88 Mike Tomás ’90 Vice President of Operations, Bacardi USA President & CEO, Bioheart College of Arts & Sciences College of Arts & Sciences Community Leadership Award

Albert Lorenzo ’74 Principal, Quantum Results, Inc. Athletics Teresita Fernández ’90 Artist College of Architecture + The Arts Joel Gandara ’03 President, Underwear Station The Honors College

Hilary Landorf, Ph.D. Associate Professor, College of Education Director, Global Learning Initiatives Outstanding Faculty Award Jorge Munilla ’97 Founder and President, MCM College of Engineering and Computing

SUMMER 2013 | 29

FIU Moves to Check out FIU’s new C-USA rivals magazine.fiu.edu

T

here’s an undeniable sense of

leap from the Sun Belt Conference to

substantially more money coming from TV

“survival of the fittest” in the mad

Conference USA was as much about

broadcast rights, which Garcia acknowledges

scramble of college conference realignment.

opportunity as necessity. The goal, Garcia

is “what drives all these deals” – there is

In abandoning long-held rivalries and

says, is not simply to survive, but to thrive.

another, less obvious one. Take location: With

partnerships for newer, bigger and more

“The vision here, from our president to

most C-USA schools situated near a major

lucrative affiliations, the wealthiest leagues

our trustees to myself, in everything we do,

airport, Panther teams will spend less time on

and universities in recent years have

is to continually get better,” Garcia says.

buses and connecting flights, and thus less

generally gotten richer – often much richer

“That goes for the law school, the medical

time out of class.

– while the rest have been left to fight over

school and the athletic teams winning

the scraps. For a relatively young program

championships.”

like FIU’s, where the athletic history is being

By any conceivable measure, the move

As Garcia says, “For us, there really wasn’t any downside to the move.”

The folks in the conference offices in

written every day, it’s a landscape with

to C-USA – which becomes official on July

suburban Dallas are saying the same thing.

many threats and few guarantees.

1 – seems to fit that vision perfectly. In

For Conference USA, the addition of FIU

ending its 15-year affiliation with the Sun

means extending its reach into the greater

possibilities. That’s an optimistic outlook,

Belt, FIU joins a league with greater name

Miami media market, the league’s biggest

perhaps, but – given FIU’s growth in recent

recognition, more financial might, a superior

outside of its home base of Texas. That

years – one that seems entirely appropriate.

academic reputation and a bigger and

translates into more exposure for all of

As Pete Garcia, executive director for sports

broader fan base.

the league’s teams – a particular boost for

It’s also an environment filled with

and entertainment, sees it, the Panthers’

30 | SUMMER 2013

For every obvious benefit of the move – like

football recruiting in talent-rich southern

The switch gives growing athletics programs a chance to thrive

By Ryan Jones

Florida. Recruiting is the lifeblood of all top

game as a full conference member (with the

claim can’t be made. That’s the eventual

collegiate athletic programs, and as C-USA

exception of the men’s soccer team, which

positive outcome that eases the uncertainty

looks to contend with the established BCS

joined C-USA as an affiliate member in 2005),

of the change itself, the scary, seemingly

conferences, adding Miami to major talent

the Panthers are already reaping benefits.

out-of-control upheaval that hangs over

bases like Dallas and Houston is invaluable to the league’s prospects for continued success.

The benefits of C-USA membership

all these moves. Late last year, Banowsky

extend well beyond the revenue sports. Turtle

acknowledged that when he told reporters

Thomas, in his sixth year as head coach of

that conference realignment is “disturbing

reinvent the conference going forward, we

the FIU baseball program, has no trouble

to a lot of people because it’s so volatile…

wanted to identify the next generation of

rattling off the pluses of joining the league.

change may be the new norm in our industry.”

great universities and great athletic programs,

“The RPI for baseball in Conference USA last

and we wanted to be associated with large

year was fifth in the country, and they had

universities in large markets,” says C-USA

four teams make NCAA regionals,” Thomas

and be proactive,” Garcia says. “If you sit

Commissioner Britton Banowsky. “And for a

says. “It’s a pretty darn good conference,

back and wait for things to happen, you’ll be

university that’s young and growing, with so

with a little more of a national scope. It’s just

left behind. If your vision is the status quo,

many new alumni every year, you can project

a good move for us.” Adds longtime women’s

that’s where you stay.”

10 years and just imagine what the passion

basketball coach Cindy Russo, “It’s an

will be for a school like FIU.”

exciting challenge, and definitely a step up.”

“When we focused on how we wanted to

The move is more than two years in the making, and even without having played a

Garcia says there’s no doubt about it.

“You’ve got to accept it, be ready for it

As in everything, FIU’s mantra is “keep moving ahead.”

n

There arguably isn’t a sport on FIU’s ever-growing campus for which a similar

Ryan Jones is a freelance writer in Pennsylvania.

SUMMER 2013 | 31

FIU 2013-’14 Alumni Association Board Executive Committee

FROM THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT

Gonzalo Acevedo ’91, MBA ’10 President Frank Javier Peña ’99 Vice President Elizabeth Cross ’89

Dear Friends and FIU Alumni:

Secretary

“We lit that torch.”

Sharon Fine ’99, MSF ’11 Treasurer Eduardo Hondal ’88, MS ’00 Parliamentarian Joaquín “Jack” F. González ’97 Past President

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

FIU President Mark Rosenberg uttered those words during remarks at the recent Torch Awards Gala. He reminded all of us that FIU was born out of a grudging compromise and established in an old airport field. Under those less-than-ideal circumstances, our founders “lit that torch,” the spark that would lead to what we know today as one of America’s great universities.

President Rosenberg also challenged the Alumni Association and its members to “step up” FIU through our growing community, which, he said, “is more important than ever.”

Well, the Torch awards brought our FIU community together in an unprecedented way, and you lit that Torch! It was our largest gala in history with more than 600 of you in attendance to recognize 17 of our most distinguished alumni and faculty.

It’s an honor to be serving a Panther Network of more than 200,000 alumni living in every state and more than 30 countries. There has never been a better time to join and get connected to fellow Panthers. We have so many wonderful programs and events being planned to keep you engaged and excited about your alma mater.

So far this quarter we: • Launched a new alumni e-newsletter, “Your Panther Insider,” with distribution to 72,000 alumni.

• Enhanced our membership benefits options to include more than 100,000 new member discounts nationwide.

• Hosted our largest Torch Awards Gala to date In the coming year we plan to: • Launch an FIU Legacy Program engaging the sons and daughters of our alumni • Launch a new alumni online magazine, “Impact,” and redesign our web site • Launch an online store • Introduce an FIU Traditions Book for incoming freshmen Don’t forget to save the date as we want to see you at Homecoming on Saturday, October 12. And stay tuned for early 2014 as we are planning an inaugural weeklong event called “Panther Alumni Week,” or PAW, during which alumni will visit the campuses to share life-after-college experience with students inside the classroom.

As always, stay connected and keep lighting that torch!

Gonzalo A. Acevedo ’91, MBA ’10

32 | SUMMER 2013

2014 FIU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PANTHER GETAWAY TOURS Discover the world with fellow Panthers and friends See Roary travel the world with our alumni at Facebook.com/ FIUMagazine.

Enrich your travel experience with exclusive events • Extend your lifelong learning Return home with memories for a lifetime • Start planning your Panther Getaway today

All smiles Down Under: A group of 32 FIU alumni and friends enjoyed a cruise to New Zealand and Australia in March, which included private receptions and FIU-exclusife shore excursions.

And it’s not too late to take the vacation of your dreams in 2013! Limited space remains available for this unique trip.

EPICUREAN DELIGHT 2014 FIU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PANTHER GETAWAY TOURS* March 9-30 • France From $5,390 ($250 p/p discount exp. 8/27/2013) Provence, Lifestyles Explorations Three weeks in central Old Town in a traditional apartment; excursions to Luberon Valley, Avignon and Châteauneuf-du-Pape March 12-19 • Ireland From $2,494 (includes air) St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland Visits to Galway, Cork and Dublin Hosted by George Corton, assistant vp of University Advancement May 15-26 • Central Europe From $4,154 (includes air) Croatia and Slovenia: The Old World Adriatic Visits to Dubrovnik, Split, Plitvice, Zagreb and Ljubljana; optional excursions to Kotor and Montenegro

June 6-17 • Alaska Cruise from $719 (cruise & land tour from $1,899) Alaska Cruise and Denali National Park Visits to Vancouver, Inside Passage, Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Hubbard Glacier, Seward and Denali National Park Hosted by Duane Wiles, executive director of FIUAA June 11-18 • Italy From $3,290 ($250 p/p discount exp. 12/10/2013) Italy’s Magnificent Lake District Cruise on Lakes Orta, Maggiore and Como Visits to Stresa, Bellagio, Como, Milan and Switzerland’s Ascona June 22-July 2 • The Danube Cruise from $2,775 (land and cruise tour from $3,435 $250 p/p discount exp. 8/31/2013) Danube Riverboat Cruise and Land Tour Visits to Prague, Nuremberg, Passau, Linz, Melk, Vienna and Budapest Hosted by Bill Draughon, associate vp of University Advancement

August 1-5 • Jamaica From $563 per room/night (hotel stay all inclusive) Jamaica Alumni and Friends Getaway Beaches Ocho Rios Resort & Golf Club October 10-21 • Nat’l. Parks From $2,799 (includes air) Albuquerque Balloon Festival and U.S. National Parks Witness the world’s largest hot air balloon festival; visits to the National Parks of Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Grand Teton and Yellowstone September 16-29 • China From $3,695 ($250 p/p discount exp. 10/1/2013) China and The Yangtze River Visits to Beijing, Xi’an, Chongqing, Dazu, Shanghai, and cruise the Yangtze December 3-10 • Germany Cruise only from $1,439 (cruise and land tour from $1,759) ($250 p/p discount exp. 2/28/2014) Christmastime in the Heart of Germany Riverboat Cruise and Land Tour Visits to Prague, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, Wertheim, Miltenberg and Frankfurt

Northern Spain • October 1 – 10 $4,920 (includes all excursions and most meals) Hosted by FIU Senior Vice President of Advancement and Foundation President Howard Lipman Discover the food and wine – along with the history and culture – of Spain’s Basque and Rioja regions while enjoying insider access to renowned wineries, a selection of the best restaurants and private cultural tours, all guided by experts, among them FIU Professor Chip Cassidy, a noted wine authority. This exclusive small-group experience will include wine and tapas tastings, a cooking class led by a professional chef, culinary walking tours, a grape-harvesting opportunity and much more. Guests will lodge in 4- and 5-star hotels.

*Contributions will be made to the First Generation Scholarship Fund based on tour participation.

All tour dates and prices are subject to change until reservations are made. Pricing is based on double occupancy. For more information go to the FIUAA travel webpage at fiualumni.com/travel or contact Bill Draughon at 305-348-3961 or Draughon@fiu.edu.

SUMMER 2013 | 33

CLASS NOTES 1970s

Paul Skrobot ’84 is the director of

Tony Argiz ’74, chairman and CEO, Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC, was featured in the article “3 Leaders Offer Tips” in the February 2013 issue of Florida Trend.

1980s Jim Beley ’81 has been general manager of the Umstead Hotel and Spa near Raleigh, N.C., for the last four years. He and his wife Ellen have four children.

John Koster ’81 is a regional president, Northern Nevada for Caesars Entertainment in Nevada.

Frank S. Rappazzo ’81 has joined the Miami-based Professional Bank, which provides personal and business banking services tailored for professionals and others. Rappazzo will lead the expansion of the bank’s residential lending department.

Previously he worked in top positions within the residential and commercial mortgage lending divisions of an array of global and local banks in South Florida.

Holly Ward ’82 is the accounting manager at the Resort at Fairfield Harbour in North Carolina.

Richard O.B. Makopondo ’84 is the associate dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the Kenya Polytechnic University College in Nairobi, Kenya.

operations for Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. He was a board member of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Broward Chapter until mid-2012.

Anthony Leone ’91, president of Energy Kitchen, just opened his 15th restaurant and his first in South Florida, on Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables.

Brian Weston ’84 now owns 20 Hooters restaurants following the opening of his newest outlet in Phoenix, which seats more than 450.

Hussein Shawbaki ’91 is the operations manager of the royal palaces, home to members of the Jordanian royal family of the Royal Hashemite Court.

Bertila Soto ’86 was named chief judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida in February. She is the first woman, first CubanAmerican and first FIU graduate to serve as chief judge of the circuit.

Pedro Cevallos ’92 was named executive

Eric Schwartz ’87 is based in Philadelphia, where he serves as an account executive with Singer Equipment Company, the fourth largest equipment and supply distributor to the food service industry in the U.S.

Constantino Papadopulos ’93 is general manager of Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Hialeah-Miami Lakes.

John Masi ’88 is a professor at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. His consulting business, Hospitality Performance Partners, recently completed the development of a formal wine and spirits training course for crewmembers who work on international yachts.

1990s Jan Rozenveld ’90 is general manager of the Ace Hotel in New York City.

Michael Internoscia ’91 was named director of sales for the Marina Palms Yacht Club & Residences in January.

director of College Bridge last summer. A graduate of FIU’s College of Education, he earned his MS from Penn State and Ph.D. in educational leadership and entrepreneurship from UCLA.

Jose E. Cueto ’96 was named senior vice president of the corporate banking team of First Bank.

Christian Dammert ’96 is director of operations for Shula’s Steak Houses.

Adriana Para-Simon ’96 is director of sales & marketing for Holiday Inn Coral Gables.

Tim Andriola ’97 and Rodrigo Martinez ’90, the masterminds behind Timo restaurant in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., are working on another eatery just two doors away.

Stephanie S. Thomas ’99 was the recipient of the 2013 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Scholarship-South Florida Chapter. Thomas is pursuing her Master’s of Science degree in Health Informatics and Management Systems at FIU.

Build something larger than yourself.

This is what it means to be a member of the FIU Alumni Association.

Give Back.

Connect.

Enjoy. fiualumni.com/join • 305-FIU-ALUM

34 | SUMMER 2013

2000s

Paint City: The College of

Andreas Schreiner ’00 and his business

Architecture + The Arts recently held

partners have opened their third Pubbelly restaurant on South Beach, this one focused exclusively on steak.

an exhibition of paintings by five distinguished artists – all alumni – at FIU’s Miami Beach Urban Studios, a

Melissa Tapanes Llahues ’00 has been named

location in the heart of the Art Deco district that supports the work of

a full partner and shareholder of the firm Bercow Radell & Fernandez. She is among the youngest female equity partners in South Florida. In addition, she serves as chairwoman of the City of Doral’s Design District steering committee and chairwoman of the FIU President’s Council World’s Ahead Faculty Award Committee.

She was recently named to Brickell Magazine’s “20 under 40” list.

design and performance students.

On exhibit were compositions by

Aramis O’Reilly ’89, MFA ’01, John Bailly ’90, Yolanda Sánchez ’91, Marcos Valella ’04 and Harumi Abe MFA ’08.

Matthew W. Slotkin ’01 has become director of insurance recruitment for American Recruiters. He leads a team in finding and working with the top 20 percent of insurance professionals to help them find increasingly better opportunities within the field. He is married to Heather and has three children, Nathanael, Josephine and Sarahbeth.

Left: “134 days and 21 hours”

by Harumi Abe, above

Art Davis ’02 is a broker and the owner of Platinum Plus Realty in Miami.

Holly Ursino ’03 is the senior sales manager at The Ritz-Carlton New York at Battery Park in lower Manhattan.

Claudia S. Santiano ’04 became the vice president of the client management group for Professional Bank. In this role she leads the bank’s new-business development efforts.

Before joining Professional Bank, she served as assistant vice president and sales director and in other top executive roles for other local banks.

Juan D’Arce ’05 has been named cochair for the Corporate Social Responsibility Subcommittee of the Adecco Group North America. The group will develop local and national partnerships with community leaders, organizations, schools and business in the communities served by his company.

D’Arce is a member of the Leadership Miami Committee and a teaching fellow of the Florida Supreme Court Teaching Institute.

Kevin Codorniu ’05 is assistant executive housekeeper for Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort.

Alumni Association Member

Jesille Peters ’05 is the marketing officer for

Onica Charles ’07 led FIU students

the division of tourism and transportation for the island of Tobago.

during spring break in March on a mission in her native Guyana, where the group helped spruce up a nursery school. The next month she took a separate, non-FIU group to Durban, South Africa, to assist with outreach at a health clinic. Charles is the founder and CEO of International Children’s Outreach, a charity that caters to youngsters around the world.

Elena Balsinde ’06 and Cesar Martinez ’08 were married on June 30, 2012, at St. Agatha Catholic Church followed by their reception in the Graham Center Ballrooms at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

Carlos Carranza ’06 was named real estate analyst with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler.

Previously he was an analyst at Rialto Capital Advisors.

Diana Beltran ’07 is working on a master’s degree in sustainability management at Columbia University in New York City.

She manages environmental programs for Wyndham Hotel Group and Wyndham Worldwide.

David Irizarri ’07, MS ’11 recently began working as director of information technology and services for Northwest Medical Center in Margate, Fla. Previously he served as associate director of IT for Plantation General Hospital.

Michelle Jean ’07 is recruitment and placement specialist for Club Med. Michael Macias ’07 was named small business relationship manager for TD bank in Coral Gables. Previously he was business banking relationship manager at SunTrust Bank and small business banker at Fifth and Third Bank.

SUMMER 2013 | 35

Kristina Sanchez Luis Garcia ’08 is the director of ’07 and Christopher operations at the Villas at Doral, a Marriott Vacation Club hotel not far from FIU’s Mur ’10 were married on March 23 after an almost eight-year courtship that began at FIU. Kristina is the production manager in FIU’s publications office and pursuing her master’s degree in English. Christopher is a technical support engineer at Pace Americas.

Angie Fajardo ’08, a journalist in West Palm Beach, and her husband Leo are working to get the Grabit Robot into general production and distribution. They funded their creative project through Kickstarter and are hoping their multi-purpose holder, useful for either home or office, will take off.

Modesto A. Maidique Campus.

Angelica M. Lagunas ’11 works as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at South Miami Hospital, where she is launching a project to help decrease the need for early blood transfusions in pre-term babies.

Lagunas is also enrolled in a dual degree graduate program from which she will earn both master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing with a focus on neonatal care.

Sanjeev Udhnani ’12 served as an intern in FIU’s Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C., during the spring term.

He has also interned in the FIU Office of the Treasurer and with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This summer he is planning to bike ride from California to the nation’s capital on behalf of Push America, which raises awareness of and funds for children with disabilities.

IN MEMORIAM: Ann Showell Mariner ’76 passed away on January 27 at the age of 61. A graduate of the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, she returned to Ocean City, Md., where she spent her entire professional career working in the family business, the Castle in the Sand Hotel.

She became a co-owner of the business and saw its expansion into the Bahamas as the Green Turtle Club. She and husband A. Reginald Mariner II also created Mariners Country Down in Berlin, Md., a seasonal venue for weddings and other events.

Alumni Association Member

Support FIU’s Future. Leave a Legacy.

Make a philanthropic investment that will benefit generations to come and secure your legacy through a planned gift to FIU. Learn about the many ways that you can make a difference, provide for the future and save taxes. Call us at the FIU Planned Giving Office at 305-348-6298 and visit us at

36 | SUMMER SPRING 2013 2013

.

SPRING 2013 | 36

VIP:

Very Important Panther

Tina Vidal-Smith ’02, MIB ’04 • Pacer Health Corporation, vice president of Business Development • Brick Mountain Billing, vice president of Business Development • ML Management, co-founder and manager, Mixed Martial Arts • Bachelor’s in international business and marketing • Master’s in international business • Lifetime member FIU Alumni Association

Q. As an undergraduate, you had a double business major and graduated from the Honors College. What was that like?

A: It was really difficult handling everything. I had to work almost full time to pay for school and living expenses. I would take a 6:45 a.m. class, go to work and finish up with classes at night.

The Honors College is something really special at FIU. It gave me exposure to various cultures, religions and subject matter. It helps expand your knowledge base and really grow as a person.

Q. You have attained a level of accomplishment that often takes years to achieve. To what do you attribute your fast rise at such a young age?

A: Being willing to do anything it took. If someone needed me to take out the garbage or get coffee, I did it. When they needed someone to work nights or travel for weeks at a time, I did it. Finally, when they needed a CEO [an interim position she held at Pacer Health Corporation], I did it. For years I worked 14- to 18-hour days and traveled Monday to Friday every week to prove myself.

Q. You served on the FIU President’s Council and currently are the chair of the Honors College Community Advisory Board. Why invest the time?

A: A few years ago I felt compelled to help those that allowed me to get to where I am. FIU and the Honors College are a huge part of my success. I wanted to help other students along their path, and getting involved is the only way to do that.

Q. What advice would give young entrepreneurs?

A: Work hard every day and you will succeed. And don’t run away from your failures; run toward them. It is through failure we learn and grow. Nine out of 10 new businesses fail, so if you fail at first, just keep moving and eventually you will succeed.

Q. What does someone with her hands so full do for fun?

A: When you work hard, you have to play hard! I love to compete in half marathons. I really enjoy the beach and going out on the boat.

But my absolute favorite is to get together with friends. There is nothing like being around people you enjoy.

Photo by Douglas Garland ’10 SUMMER 2013 | 37

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