VIRES Spring/Summer 2017

VIRES

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A Pu b l i ca t i o n of t h e F l o r i d a S ta te Un i ve rs i ty A l u m n i Asso c i a t i o n S p r i n g /S u m m e r 2017 Vo l u m e I X , I ss u e 1

The Birth of a University Florida State celebrates 70 years of coeducation

The Moment Friday, March 17, 2017 11:01 a.m.

THE BIG REVEAL: With his National Resident Matching Program “match letter” in hand, former FSU football All-American and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle (B.S. ’08, M.D. ’17) – a spring graduate of the College of Medicine – learns he will enter residency training with the Harvard Medical School neurosurgery program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Rolle joined his fellow graduates at the college’s annual residency training Match Day ceremony, held on the third Friday of March at the nation’s 155 medical schools. Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post

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A MAN IN DEMAND: Writer/director Barry Jenkins (B.F.A. ’03, B.A. ’03), who won this year’s Academy Award for Best Picture for his film “Moonlight,” participates in an audience Q&A in Ruby Diamond Concert Hall before a special screening of the movie March 31. College of Motion Picture Arts Professor Frank Patterson, left, hosted the event, “An Evening with Barry Jenkins.” Photo by Adam Cohen For more about FSU’s Oscar-winning alumnus, read Ten Questions on Page 22 and his Class Notes entry on Page 55.

VIRES

VIRES is the first torch in the university seal and represents strength of all kinds: physical, mental and moral.

VIRES

®

A Pu b l i ca t i o n of t h e F l o r i d a S ta te Un i ve rs i ty A l u m n i Asso c i a t i o n S p r i n g /S u m m e r 2017 Vo l u m e I X , I ss u e 1

The Birth of a University Florida State celebrates 70 years of coeducation

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Cover: The Legacy Fountain on Landis Green, created by artist and sculptor Edward Jonas (B.F.A. ’71), pays tribute to our 1947 evolution from a women’s college to a coeducational university. In this depiction, bronze male students beckon female counterparts to cross a wall of water representing that landmark year. To read about the 70th anniversary of the institution’s transition, “One Day in May,” see Page 16. Photo by AJ Abellera

Contents

Departments Catching Up With ...

University News Ten Questions Association News Seminoles Forever Class Notes

In Memoriam Parting Shot

7 8 22 38 46 48 60 64

Features

16

One Day in May How Florida State’s past and future converged on May 15, 1947

25

Calculated, Curious and Unconventional

Judy Schmeling’s rise at HSN and Cornerstone Brands

30

Getting the Hell Out of Hell

Attorney David Ward guides thousands of refugees from a war zone

to hope and a new home Vires 3

THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Edward E. Burr, Chair Leslie Pantin, Vice Chair Maximo Alvarez Kathryn Ballard William Buzzett Emily Fleming Duda Susan Fiorito Mark Hillis Craig Mateer Kyle Hill Bob Sasser Brent W. Sembler

What’s in a name?

Financial stability to advance FSU’s greatness while enriching the lives of the Seminole family Beyond revenue provided by loyal members and trusted corporate partners, the FSU Alumni Association is working to build a significant, permanent endowment by offering once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for alumni to give their names to some of our most prominent assets.

These naming opportunities include: Alumni Center Complex. Situated on 19 acres, this highly visible tract bordering the north side of campus is home to Alumni Hall, built in 2004, and the Pearl Tyner Welcome Center, the university’s original presidential home dating back to 1947.

Grand Ballroom. Voted the No. 1 banquet venue in Florida’s capital city by Tallahassee magazine, this ballroom hosts the annual Homecoming Awards Breakfast and other high-profile university events, as well as wedding receptions, conferences and weekly Rotary luncheons.

Alumni Plaza Courtyard. Canopied by old-growth live oaks, this outdoor room connects Alumni Hall and the Pearl Tyner Welcome Center and serves as a beautiful space for weddings, cocktail parties and numerous Alumni Association events.

FSCW Sign. This state of Florida marker, which designated the campus of the Florida State College for Women, is now a historical artifact located on the grounds of the Alumni Center Complex.

For more information on these and other naming opportunities, contact Scott Atwell at 850.644.1255.

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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Committee Steve Pattison, Chair Thomas V. Hynes, Immediate Past Chair Max Oligario, Vice Chair Craig T. Lynch, Chair-Elect Robert Cox, Treasurer John “J.D.” Doughney IV, Secretary Tom Jennings, Vice President for University Advancement and Foundation President Scott Atwell, Association President and CEO Jean C. Accius Samuel S. Ambrose B. Dan Berger James J. Bloomfield Flecia L. Braswell David Brobst Stephen T. Brown John Crossman Tracie Domino Kyle R. Doney Mark Ellis Eric Friall Samantha K. Garrett Michael G. Griffith Ritesh A. Gupta Jennifer M. Guy-Hudson Thomas C. Haney Marion Taormina Hargett Maura Hayes Ronald H. Hobbs Clay Ingram Sandra K. McMandon Bruce W. McNeilage Eric Muñoz Rose M. Naff Laura C. Russell Michael J. Sweeney James F. Thielen Heather C. Turner Will Whitmire Scott Wiegand Allisson Yu

VIRES

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A PUBLICATION OF THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 1030 West Tennessee Street Tallahassee, FL 32304 850.644.2761 | alumni.fsu.edu

PUBLISHER: Scott Atwell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jeffery Seay DESIGNER: Jessica Rosenthal COPY EDITOR: Ron Hartung EDITORIAL ASSISTANT:

Marquis Washington

FROM THE PUBLISHER Over the years, I’ve spoken to many alumni parents whose kids were not admitted to the university, and this year was no different. I totally get the desire of our grads who want the FSU legacy to continue with their children. After all, 98 percent of our alumni rate their time at FSU as either “excellent” or “good.” In many ways, Florida State provides the quintessential college experience: great academics and great extracurricular opportunities set against the backdrop of a movie-set campus. And all of it at a bargain price. But the word is out, and since 1990 the number of freshman applications has doubled.

The accepted students are academically talented: Scott Atwell The 2017 class is our brightest ever, with an average high school GPA of 4.1 (yes, I said average) and an average ACT score of 29. What this adds up to is extraordinary pressure on supply and demand, which gets me back to the phone calls. Thankfully, our admissions leadership has a ready reply for unhappy alumni parents, along with guidance about a path their children can follow to increase their odds of attaining an FSU diploma.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Amanda McCorquodale University Communications ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STAFF: Scott Atwell Louise Bradshaw Valerie Colvin Keith Cottrell Dawn Cannon Jennings Adam Kabuka Chance King Elina Kopylov Kristen Lemire Melissa McClellan Michael McFadden Torri Miller Nancy Minev David Overstreet Kaylee Parent Whitney Powers Jessica Rosenthal Jeffery Seay Angie Standley Jennifer Tobias Marquis Washington Aimee Wirth

It is human nature to want our children to do better than ourselves, but it’s also true that we want our alma mater to be better tomorrow than it is today. Consider our recent fivespot jump in the U.S. News rankings – up to No. 38 among publics. That’s due in part to the increase in the academic profile of our incoming students, who help both our retention rate and our graduation rate (now ranked among the top 15 in the nation).

We should all be proud about the increase in the equity of our FSU diplomas, even if it means some growing pains within our own Seminole family.

Scott Atwell (M.S. ’15) President & CEO FSU Alumni Association

THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS

The FSU Alumni Association extends a special thank-you to FSU Photography Services and others for allowing VIRES to use their photographs.

VIRES is a registered trademark of the Florida State University Alumni Association. All rights reserved. © 2016

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JONNY DIAZ (B.S. ’05) Contemporary Christian artist Following in the baseball-playing footsteps of older brothers Zach and Matt, Jonny Diaz came to Florida State in search of stardom. He found the spotlight, but followed a different path.

Diaz’s Seminole baseball career didn’t last even one semester after he felt a calling to put down his bat and pick up the guitar. “I not only gave my heart to God, but I decided to give my life to him as well,” said Diaz, now 33 and a star in the Christian music world. “That was a big turning point in my walk.”

At FSU, Diaz (pronounced DYE-ez) became a worship leader for Campus Crusade for Christ and also found eager audiences at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “FSU was instrumental in launching my music career because it was an encouraging environment,” said Diaz, who recorded two albums as a student before graduating with a degree in marketing. “Every morning I would pop 10 CDs in my backpack on the way to class, and by the time I came home in the afternoon all 10 were gone. That was exactly what I needed because I can get easily discouraged or insecure, as we all can. It was important to have those people say, ‘Hey, you’re good at this – you should keep doing it.’”

Diaz’s major-label debut album, “More Beautiful You,” was released in 2009, with the title cut rising to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. He’s followed up with a pair of one-word-titled hits, “Joy” and “Breathe.” Living in Nashville with his wife and 2-year-old daughter, Diaz is about to pick up his pen again, seeking a satisfaction he never found through sports.

“I’ve never had anyone say, ‘I think about that homerun you hit every single day,’ but I do have people tell me they listen to my songs every day to help them get through something.

Through music, I’m able to make more of a lasting impact.”

For more: jonnydiaz.com

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UNIVERSITY NEWS

FSU AT A GLANCE Highlights

Climbing In National Rankings FSU moved up seven spots to No. 29 out of 499 public institutions in the Business First rankings of academic excellence, affordability, diversity and economic strength.

That jump reflects Florida State’s continuing upward momentum in national rankings. The university jumped five places to No. 38 in the 2017 U.S. News & World Report rankings, which represented the greatest gain among the nation’s top 50 public universities.

Two deans and a vice president This spring, FSU promoted Ronald E. “Reb” Braddock (M.F.A. ’91) to dean of the College of Motion Picture Arts and Timothy S. Chapin to dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. In addition, FSU hired Amy K. Hecht (B.S. ’01) as vice president for Student Affairs.

Design program remains powerhouse For the fifth consecutive year, the graduate program of FSU’s Department of Interior Architecture and Design has been ranked second in the nation

by DesignIntelligence, the journal of the Design Futures Council. The ranking reflects a survey of academic deans and chairs of most-admired programs across the nation.

High-scoring online programs Reb Braddock

Tim Chapin

Amy Hecht

• Braddock has worked for the Film School since the Legislature established it in 1989 and has served twice as interim dean.

• Since joining FSU in 1999, Chapin has served as a faculty member and chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and as the college’s associate dean for development.

• Hecht will lead about 1,000 employees and oversee the services they provide, including Housing, Health Services and the Career Center.

Climate scientist named 2017 Lawton Professor Jeffrey Chanton, an acclaimed climate scientist who has also done extensive work investigating the effects of the BP oil spill, has been named the 2017-2018 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor, the highest honor given by the university’s faculty to one of its own. Chanton, a 29-year veteran of the university and a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, is the John Widmer Winchester Professor of Oceanography.

FSU’s online programs are among the best in the nation – including five graduate programs ranked in the Top 20 and three in the Top 10 – according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Best Online Programs.

FSU’s Top 10 online graduate programs are:

(No. 3), criminal justice (No. 7) and non-MBA business (No. 9). The online MBA program jumped 28 spots to No. 16 in the education

latest rankings, while online graduate programs in information technology

(No. 11) and nursing (No. 43) also made double-digit gains.

Stay updated: fsu.edu, news.fsu.edu

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Randy Hanna

Lifelong learning OLLI at FSU: An alma mater for the garnet and golden years

By Fran Conaway The first time Susan Wallick Yelton sat down in Professor Jim Jones’ Civil War history classroom was in 1960.

Fast-forward to 2014. After 57 years of fulltime teaching, the newly minted professor emeritus was ready to take on a different sort of classroom — one full of eager, nontraditional students over 50. And Yelton (B.A. ’62, M.S.W. ’72), retired after a career in child welfare, was ready to sit back down in Jones’ classroom for another look at Civil War history.

The two classes may have had the same title, but there were big differences. Although the subject matter hadn’t changed, the instructional approach was different: no grades, no tests, no required homework – just learning for the love of learning.

The 2014 Civil War class was offered through an organization founded at FSU in 1991 as The Senior Connection: Academy for Resourceful Retirement.

In 2016 the program, now known as the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida State University — OLLI at FSU for short — celebrated its 25th anniversary.

During its first semester, the Academy offered two classes to nine members.

The fledgling organization grew steadily, and today OLLI at FSU — now a part of the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy’s Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy — is a scholarly, wide-ranging program that each year offers nearly 90 classes, as well as a variety of clubs and activities. Membership is open to all area residents over 50.

Susan Yelton, left, and Jim Jones.

Photo by FSU Photography Services

OLLI aims to help its 1,200 members keep their minds active and their social lives vibrant — key ingredients associated with successful longevity. FSU’s OLLI is one of 120 organizations supported by the Bernard Osher Foundation at colleges and universities across the country.

The curriculum offers a wide range of intriguing and challenging classes in history, the arts, science, technology, current events, health, personal enrichment and more.

Jones continues to offer classes on the Civil War and World War II. In contrast to

many traditional undergraduate classes, “these students are glad to be here,” Jones said. Yelton agreed: “With a lifetime of wisdom providing confidence, older students aren’t afraid to ask questions or offer opinions.”

Among Jones’ perennial students are FSU President Emeritus Sandy D’Alemberte and his wife, Patsy Palmer. D’Alemberte, a longtime admirer of Jones, said taking OLLI classes with the celebrated teacher “has been a great intellectual experience for me.”

(Continued on Page 10)

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UNIVERSITY NEWS Lifelong learning (Continued from Page 9)

Other familiar names on OLLI’s membership rolls are FSU President John Thrasher and his wife, Jean. Former President Eric Barron and his wife, Molly, were also OLLI members, fitting music appreciation classes into their busy schedules.

The OLLI faculty includes current and emeritus FSU instructors, as well as talented FSU graduate students. While Yelton and Jones’ early connection is unusual, it’s not unique. Other long-term FSU faculty members have taught OLLI classes to their Nole students of decades ago.

Yelton joined in 2004 and has been an active OLLI volunteer, including serving as member

president in 2010-11. Under her leadership, OLLI met the criteria for its first milliondollar endowment from the Bernard Osher Foundation. She was also instrumental in winning a second million-dollar Osher endowment. She currently serves as chairman of the Curriculum Committee.

An active alumna and member of the Emeritus Alumni Society, Yelton is a generous contributor to Florida State, a member of the Alumni Association and an enthusiastic supporter of women’s basketball.

Many OLLI members have connections to the university as alumni, employees and parents of students, but others are new

to FSU. Nonetheless, all consider OLLI their alma mater for their garnet and golden years.

Information about OLLI membership, classes and activities is available at olli.fsu.edu.

Fran Conaway served as president of OLLI at FSU in 2015-16. A retired employee of the Division of University Relations, she served as speechwriter for three FSU presidents, director of special projects for University Communications and special assistant for University Relations.

THE CREDIT UNION THAT SUPPORTS FSU ALUMNI ›

Endowed athletic scholarship

›

Career Center and College of Business partnerships

›

Nearly $500,000 in committed giving to FSU-affiliated organizations

›

All executives and directors of are proud FSU grads

›

Since 2013, more than $125,000 donated to local charities through Borrow 4 Less, Give Back More program

All FSU Alumni are eligible to become members Alumni Association members automatically qualify for the FSUCU Alumni Advantage Checking Account and platinum account status.

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850.224.4960 | www.fsucu.org Federally Insured by NCUA

OFFICIAL CREDIT UNION OF FSU ATHLETICS

RESEARCH Biomathematics Type 2 diabetes cure?

New research by FSU mathematics Professor Richard Bertram has reactivated oscillations in insulinproducing pancreatic beta cells — one of the first necessary steps to resurrecting the dormant cells and restoring the production of insulin.

Bertram is excited about this trendsetting research — published in the journal PLOS Computational Biology with FSU graduate student and lead author Joseph McKenna — because it takes another step toward the goal of finding a cure for Type 2 diabetes.

Bertram’s research involves mathematical models, brought to life using unique, precision “microfluidic devices” dreamed up and built by Michael Roper, an associate professor in the FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

The devices, about the size of a credit card, are etched with microscopic channels that can deliver perfectly measured and controlled amounts of a glucose liquid solution to dormant pancreatic beta cells to test how they get turned off and whether they can be reactivated.

Read more: gonol.es/FSUType2Cure

Opera Legendary composer returns to FSU

With “Prince of Players,” his 13th opera, Floyd has earned the record for creating operas over the lengthiest timespan — 67

(FSU Photography Services)

English Carlisle Floyd

Shakespeare and Marlowe Gary Taylor, a distinguished research professor in the FSU Department of English, and a hand-picked team of New Oxford Shakespeare researchers have decided that 16th-century playwright Christopher Marlowe should get credit for co-writing William Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” plays.

Carlisle Floyd’s latest opera, “Prince of Players,” made its collegiate premiere with a four-day run this spring in FSU’s Opperman Music Hall.

The event was a homecoming for Floyd, 90, who became a world-renowned opera composer after his first show, “Susannah,” premiered at FSU in 1955. Floyd was on the faculty of the College of Music from 1947 to 1977. “Susannah” was an instant hit and went on to become an internationally famous, iconic American opera glimpsing rural Appalachian life.

Michael Roper, left, and Richard Bertram use a mix of math and technology in searching for a cure for Type 2 diabetes.

years. The National Endowment for the Arts has described Floyd as “the most important American opera composer and librettist (text writer) in the nation’s history.”

Read more: gonol.es/CarlisleFloyd

Gary Taylor

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TOTALLY RAD Thank you for supporting student scholarships for the past 30 years.

Your continued support means more students will be given the opportunity to be successful in their future. Proceeds from license plate sales fund scholarships at Florida State University. Visit us online at fsu.edu/mytag for information on purchasing your FSU license plate and rebates for first-time buyers.

Biological Science The decision is historic. It’s the first time that Marlowe has been officially recognized as a co-author of the three plays, which are believed to have been written around 1591.

Taylor has used the whirlwind of international media attention to teach people why Shakespeare matters, why literature matters and why the past matters.

“I think the plays will be more studied by scholars and critics, and they will be more likely to be featured in college classrooms and graduate seminars,” Taylor said.

Read more: gonol.es/Shakespeare-Marlowe

National MagLab Mini-magnet packs punch A magnet that fits in the palm of your hand has claimed two world records.

Made of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) tape, it reached a magnetic field of 11.3 teslas (or T, a unit of magnetic field strength) while inside a larger, 31.2-T resistive magnet.

Operating as one 42.5-T hybrid magnet, it achieved two records at once: the highest field in which a superconducting magnet has ever operated and a world record for an HTS magnet operating within a background field.

The new record is within striking distance of the MagLab’s 45-tesla hybrid magnet, which has held the Guinness World Record for any continuous-field magnet since 1999.

Dinosaur egg hatch time

Geology Mainak Mookherjee

A human typically gives birth after nine months. An ostrich hatchling emerges from its egg after 42 days. But how long did it take for a baby dinosaur to incubate?

Groundbreaking research led by an FSU professor establishes a timeline of anywhere from three to six months depending on the dinosaur.

In an article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, FSU biological science Professor Gregory Erickson and a team of researchers break down the complicated biology of these prehistoric creatures and explain how embryonic dental records solved the mystery of how long dinosaurs incubated their eggs.

“Some of the greatest riddles about dinosaurs pertain to their embryology — virtually nothing is known,” Erickson said.

“Did their eggs incubate slowly like their reptilian cousins — crocodilians and lizards?

Or rapidly like living dinosaurs — the birds?”

Is there water under Earth’s surface?

Water covers about 70 percent of Earth’s surface, but scientists also want to know how much lies inside the planet. A mineral called brucite may hold part of that answer.

Seungyong Hahn

In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, FSU geology Assistant Professor Mainak Mookherjee reports that water exists far deeper in Earth than scientists previously thought.

Gregory Erickson

Mookherjee and Andreas Hermann from the University of Edinburgh estimate that in deep Earth — roughly 250 to 370 miles into the mantle — water is stored and transported through a high-pressure form of the mineral brucite.

Read more: gonol.es/DinoEggHatchTime

Seungyong Hahn

“We are this close,” said Seungyong Hahn, the new magnet’s designer. “It’s really good motivation for the next attempt.”

“We didn’t think water could be stored by hydrous minerals such as brucite at these depths,” Mookherjee said. “But now that we know it’s there, we need to figure out how much water could be effectively stored inside it.”

Read more: gonol.es/Mini-magnet

Read more: gonol.es/DeepEarthWater

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UNIVERSITY NEWS Criminology and Criminal Justice Target-rich environment: Retirement can be a minefield littered with unscrupulous fraudsters

By Jeffery Seay (B.A. ’91) People spend their lives planning for retirement so they can enjoy their golden years living in a specialized community where the weather is good and the living is easy. For many retirees, however, life involves navigating — and sometimes getting burned by — a constant barrage of attempts to scam them.

SCAM ALERT!

representative — a retired police detective — had thoroughly investigated the scam, he delivered bad news to the veteran and his wife: “You’re not going to be able to get your money back.”

Beginning to weep, the veteran replied, “It’s not the money. I just feel so embarrassed and ashamed that I fell for a scam.”

Every year, about 8 million senior adults fall victim to elder financial exploitation at a cost of $36 billion. For senior adults who have begun to recognize their increasing physical and mental limitations, the sting of getting scammed becomes even sharper, according to Thomas Blomberg, dean of the FSU College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.

“Whether they get scammed a little or a lot, what it does to the psyche of an elder citizen can be devastating,” Blomberg said.

“It shatters their sense of who they are and the belief they have in their abilities to handle their own affairs.”

The fraudsters are so slick that anyone can fall victim, even a highly decorated World War II veteran, not someone people typically think of as a dupe. One such vet responded to an advertisement for tickets for unlimited cruises, promising fun in the sun for himself and his wife.

But after paying nearly $4,000, the only thing he received was the runaround.

Getting nowhere after repeated calls to the “cruise line,” he eventually reported what had happened to Seniors vs. Crime, an advocacy project of the Florida attorney general. After the Seniors vs. Crime

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The nation’s fastest-growing population is 65 and older and, unfortunately, elder fraud is growing right along with it. To combat the problem — a grim convergence of unscrupulous opportunism with the vulnerabilities of old age — Blomberg investigated the factors in play.

Working in partnership with Merrill Lynch and Seniors vs. Crime, Blomberg and researchers Julie Mestre Brancale, a criminology doctoral student at FSU, and George Pesta, director of the college’s Center for Criminology and Public Policy Research, embarked on an exploratory study to begin to understand the scope of elder financial exploitation.

Conducting their research in The Villages, the nation’s largest active-living retirement community, they found that the majority of incidents involved home services and disputes with contractors.

“The difference in levels of trust and honesty between the generations and the false sense of security projected by idyllic retirement communities create a ripe environment for scams to flourish,” Blomberg said.

As a result, trusting and naïve seniors were more likely to become victims of fraud involving high-pressure sales, misleading advertisements and lottery scams. Conversely, seniors who were naturally more skeptical were much less likely to be defrauded.

“I never thought I would stand in front of an audience of 300 people in The Villages and say, ‘Don’t trust people,’ but it’s good advice,” Blomberg said. “Don’t listen to their words; watch their actions. Don’t pay until the job is done. Be skeptical, and don’t think a handshake means something.”

In addition to the scam itself, seniors are made more vulnerable to fraudulent schemes by life’s natural turning points.

Isolation is a bad thing and, over time, social bonds can be weakened by divorce or the death of a spouse, moving to a new location and changes in physical or mental health.

“There are so many factors that prevent people from being able to handle things that they could at an earlier time in life,” said Blomberg, even pointing to the act of moving to a retirement community.

“Something that is thought to be a joyful and exciting transition can actually be a stress-filled, detrimental setup for elder financial exploitation,” he said.

When they move, senior adults face major shifts in their social networks, including having to find new doctors, financial planners, banking locations, lawn maintenance companies and home repair and automotive service providers. They leave behind family members, longtime co-workers, friends and neighbors who were trusted and relied upon for support, advice and security.

“Even as ties to new people are developed, they usually are not as strong or as trusted,” Blomberg said.

What’s more, retirement communities may not be inclined to warn their new residents of these pitfalls because the knowledge could hurt sales.

Retirement communities should get proactive about the problem, said Blomberg, by establishing community service centers staffed by a mix of residents and professionals from Seniors vs. Crime, the Better Business Bureau and law enforcement agencies. The staff would act as a surrogate family and support network, providing advice and assistance to retirees living in a new community.

“These service centers would allow retirement communities to show that they actually care about their residents,” Blomberg said. “The centers would give senior adults an obvious place to find a shopping buddy or report fraud.”

Seniors also should be vigilant in protecting themselves, suggested the researchers, by staying educated about financial exploitation and resolving to rely on the counsel of a trusted family member or friend when financial decisions must be made. @FSUResearch

Researchers George Pesta, left, Julie Mestre Brancale and Thomas Blomberg. With the completion of their study, Blomberg hopes to work toward establishing an institute for research and public policy on elder abuse and financial exploitation within the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Photo by FSU Photography Services

UNIVERSITY NEWS Vires 15

On May 15, 1947, Gov. Millard Caldwell signs legislation establishing coeducation at the all-male University of Florida and the all-female Florida State College for Women.

One Day in How Florida State's past and future converged on May 15, 1947

By Gerald Ensley (B.A. '80)

First, legislators wanted to call it the University of Florida at Tallahassee.

That didn’t fly.

Then they considered calling it the Florida State College for Women but still allowing men to enroll. That made no sense.

But 70 years ago this spring, the Florida Legislature eventually got it right: It converted Florida State College for Women to the coeducational Florida State University.

Countless good things have happened since.

“We’ve come a long way in 70 years _ expanding our enrollment tenfold and establishing the university as one of the top public research institutions in the nation,” said FSU President John Thrasher (B.A. ’65, J.D. ’72). “When the Florida State College for Women became coeducational and was renamed Florida State University, it marked a defining moment in our rich history.”

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1851 Florida State University came into being May 15, 1947, when Florida Gov. Millard Caldwell signed legislation that allowed men and women to attend both state universities for white students: the menonly University of Florida in Gainesville and the Florida State College for Women in Tallahassee.

Florida A&M University, established for blacks in 1887, has always been coed.

In 1905, Florida was one of the last states to provide same-sex public universities – and in 1947 it was one of the last to switch back to coeducation.

It was a game-changer.

For 42 years, FSCW had been well-regarded but essentially second-class in an era that began before women had the right to vote. Despite producing two generations of well-educated schoolteachers, wives and mothers, it attracted little attention outside the realm of women’s colleges.

As FSU, however, the school would go on to rank among the nation’s best-known universities.

FSU has produced more than 350,000 graduates since 1947 and has an annual enrollment of more than 40,000. It has produced four Rhodes Scholars and has attracted six Nobel Prize winners to its faculty. Its award-winning sports programs include three national football championships.

In 1962, Maxwell Courtney became the first black student to enroll at FSU, graduating in just three years – and laying the foundation for FSU’s commitment to diversity. In a 2017 national study of nearly 700 universities by The Education Trust, FSU was identified as a top performer for black student success, with one of the highest graduation rates among African-American students.

In 2016, U.S. News and World Report ranked FSU No. 38 among public universities and No. 92 among all universities. Only the larger University of Florida (No. 14 public, No. 50 overall) is ranked higher among the state’s 12 public universities.

And only FSU and Florida have “preeminent” status, which allows the Legislature to fund their national aspirations.

“We’re still a young university,” Thrasher said.

“But it’s our youthful energy and innovative spirit that continues to drive us to even higher national prominence.”

That’s a source of delight to those who were there at the beginning.

“I can’t tell you what a fabulous experience it was to go to an all-girls school, then be there when it became coed and all the men came in,” said Bridget McPherson Chandler (B.A. ’48), 90, a Tallahassee resident who graduated with FSU’s first coed class. “It’s been so rewarding to see all that’s been accomplished.”

Birth of a seminary FSU’s history began long before 1947 – and its origins were in coeducation.

In 1851, the Florida Legislature authorized two schools of higher education: a Seminary East of the Suwannee River and a Seminary West of the Suwannee River. From that bill would come – eventually – UF and FSU. Three cities vied for the West Florida Seminary: Marianna, Quincy and Tallahassee. The effort in Tallahassee was led by Francis Eppes, a planter, businessman, grandson of Thomas Jefferson and six-time mayor of Tallahassee.

In 1854, Eppes and his supporters persuaded the city to build a school at Gallows Hill – a hilltop on College Avenue at Copeland Street, named for the 1830 hanging of a woman who had killed her baby.

The school opened in 1855 as the Florida Institute, a secondary school for boys.

The presence of that two-story wooden structure with columns – called “the handsomest edifice in town” – plus the city’s promise of $2,000 a year in funding persuaded the Legislature. On Jan. 1, 1857, Gov. James Broome signed the bill awarding the West Florida Seminary to Tallahassee.

7 4 9 1 FSU’s 70th anniversary as a coeducational research university is an incredible milestone. It is only the most recent part of the institution’s storied 166-year history, which includes the following events.

1851 - Legislative bill authorizes seminaries west and east of Suwannee River.

1857 - Tallahassee wins competition against Marianna and Quincy, and West Florida Seminary opens in Tallahassee as a boy’s school.

1862 - West Florida Seminary name changes to Florida Collegiate and Military Institute, to reflect military training, which began in 1859. After Civil War, name reverts to West Florida Seminary.

1882 - Women start attending classes with men at West Florida Seminary.

1901 - West Florida Seminary becomes Florida State College.

1905 - Buckman Act merges numerous state schools into three: University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida Female College in Tallahassee and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College for blacks in Tallahassee.

1909 - Florida Female College becomes Florida State College for Women.

1946 - FSCW creates separate Tallahassee Branch of University of Florida for men.

1947 - Legislature creates Florida State University, allowing coeducation at FSU and UF.

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In 1901, the Legislature changed the name of West Florida Seminary to Florida State College. The newly dubbed FSC fielded FSU’s first football team.

Playing without pads or helmets – and occasionally on fields interrupted by tree stumps – Florida State College went 2-1 its first season (1902), then 3-2-1 (1903) and finally 2-3 in its final season (1904).

The state’s higher education system continued to evolve when the Legislature passed the Buckman Act of 1905. Led by state Rep. Henry Holland Buckman, an attorney from Jacksonville, the act eliminated all but three schools, designating a men’s school in Gainesville, a women’s school in Tallahassee and continuing the school for blacks in Tallahassee.

Florida State College was renamed the Florida Female College, and in 1909 re-christened Florida State College for Women (FSCW).

Above: Memorabilia from the institution’s transition from

The TBUF stop-gap

By World War II, coeducation of Florida’s universities was a familiar topic.

FSCW to FSU includes a headline from the May 9, 1947, Florida

Flambeau, photos of men on the newly coeducational campus and the men’s dorm at FSCW’s Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida, and a spring 1947 FSCW diploma, issued by FSU.

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In 1944, Congress passed the GI Bill, promising a college education to every man who served in the military. Though the bill’s provisions seem modest today – $65 a month for single men and $90 a month for married men – they were sufficient to pay tuition, books, room and board at most public universities. And the men coming back from war – few of whom had previously thought they could afford college – embraced the bill in droves.

They overwhelmed the state’s only public college for men. Change was needed.

Unsuccessful bills for coeducation had been submitted in all five biennial legislative sessions from 1937 through 1945.

In 1945, a poll of FSCW students found 90 percent of the women in favor of coeducation – even if a similar poll at UF found 58 percent of the men opposed.

Indeed, most opposition in the state came from UF supporters who feared a second college for men would cut into their funding.

According to an editorial in the Gainesville Sun in 1947: “(Coeducation is) a trumped-up plot by the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce to destroy the University of Florida.”

Even so, something had to be done. In summer 1946, with the war over and military veterans clamoring for a college education, UF had space for 6,200 students – but received applications from 8,400 men.

With the Legislature then meeting only in oddnumbered years, there was no opportunity to rewrite the 1905 Buckman Act. But FSU President Doak Campbell, at the urging of Gov. Millard Caldwell, crafted a solution: Campbell offered to admit up to 1,000 male students at FSCW in a separate division named the Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida.

UF quickly consented to the arrangement, dubbed TBUF. The male students, many of them married, were housed in the former barracks of Dale Mabry Field, an abandoned World War II military base in Tallahassee. They took classes at the old military field and on the main campus.

Ultimately, 954 men enrolled at TBUF – and they were grateful for the opportunity.

“I didn’t worry about (attending a women’s college); I was just concerned about getting my education,” said Bill Tomlinson (B.S. ’48), 93, a retired oil and insurance executive in Atlanta who had attended UF for two years before the war and graduated from FSU in 1948. “I was married; I felt responsible. I was no playboy anymore. This was serious business.”

Fourth bill was the charm The Legislature wasted little time when it convened in Tallahassee in April 1947. Four of the first bills submitted proposed coeducation at Florida’s two state universities for white students.

Amid spirited debate, the first three bills failed – for a variety of reasons.

The first bill was drawn almost entirely from “Education and the Future of Florida,” a report assembled by a committee of the FSCW School of Education. That report called for coeducation at the two schools, a state university chancellor and a new board to replace the 1905-founded Board of Control – with the last two provisions finding little support.

The second bill called for coeducation and renaming the two schools the University of Florida at Gainesville and the University of Florida at Tallahassee. Though a similar naming practice was later adopted by other states, it found little support in Tallahassee.

On May 6, 1947, that fourth bill passed 80-7 in the House of Representatives. Gainesville Rep. Ira Carter voted for it, while Gainesville Rep. Joe Jenkins abstained. Tallahassee Rep. Wilson Carraway and Rep. Payne Midyette voted for the bill.

The next day, the Florida Senate unanimously passed the House bill in 20 minutes. And on May 15, 1947, Caldwell signed it into law.

FSU women students received the announcement with glee.

“My longtime boyfriend was one of those who came,” said Artie Leonard (B.M. ’47), 92, a retired music teacher who now lives near Asheville, N.C. “We later realized we weren’t meant for each other and married other people. But it meant a lot at the time. The boys added so much to the social life.”

Men bring big changes In 1930, FSCW enrolled a record 2,663 women.

Though enrollment tapered off in the late 1930s, it began swelling again in the 1940s, reaching 3,428 students in spring 1947 (including the 954 men enrolled at TBUF).

Above: William Tomlinson as a sophomore from the 1946

In 1947-48, the first year of full coeducation, FSU enrollment passed 4,400, including more than 1,000 men. (UF enrolled a record 8,647 that fall, including 540 women.)

Flastacowo yearbook and from a recent edition of his church’s membership directory.

Artie Leonard from the late ‘40s and attending a family wedding in 2015. Leonard’s graduate certificate, issued by the Florida Department of Education, granted the FSU alumna authorization to teach music in elementary and secondary schools.

The third bill allowed for coeducation – but retained Florida State College for Women as the name of the school in Tallahassee. The idea failed to gain traction.

Finally, the fourth bill – co-sponsored by Rep. Richard Simpson of nearby Monticello – called for coeducation at both schools and renaming FSCW as Florida State University.

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Below: Bridget Chandler as a senior from the 1948 Tally Ho; with a group of friends, front row at right; and at the FSU Alumni Center this spring. Bottom left: The 1947

The arrival of men at the former FSCW brought changes. The Flastacowo yearbook and Camp Flastacowo were immediately renamed The Tally Ho and Camp Tally Ho. (The yearbook name changed in 1973, and Camp Tally Ho is now the FSU Reservation.)

Indeed, many women were grateful for the change.

Student organizations changed. The Spirogira and Esteren honor societies for women were replaced

by Gold Key (men) and Garnet Key (women), then later merged into a single Gold Key. The Florida Flambeau newspaper was inundated with male reporters and editors. Men took over the top student government posts.

Changes became evident in the classroom, where men often were more assertive. Tomlinson remembers going up after class to apologize to a woman professor for having asked several questions about her lecture.

“We were excited because we knew the restrictions would be lifted,” Chandler said. “We knew men would have to have cars. And if men had cars, they had to let women have cars.”

Flastacowo, the final yearbook of FSCW, and the 1948 Tally Ho, the first yearbook of FSU. Bottom right: Nell Cunningham as a senior in the 1948 Tally Ho and with her family during Thanksgiving 2013. They are, from left, Sara Nell “Sally” Cunningham (B.S. ’79, M.S.W. ’80), Austin C. Cunningham (B.S. ’16), Clint Cunningham (attended FSU from 1980 to 1982) and Christian G. Cunningham, a junior at FSU.

“There was a hard-core batch (of women) that wanted it to stay a women’s college,” said retired FSU history professor Robin Sellers (M.A. ’90, Ph.D. ’95), author of “Femina Perfecta,” a history of FSCW. “And there were some big students on campus who resented the men taking over. But for the most part, women felt a traditional role; they said, ‘The men are here, let them take over.’ It surprised me (during her research) but the more I thought about it, the more I realized, ‘Well, that’s the way it was (in 1947).’”

“I said, ‘I’m sorry I interrupted, but you were talking about some things I didn’t understand, and I needed to know what you were talking about,’” Tomlinson said. “She said, ‘I’m glad you did. Ninety percent of (women students) don’t understand but don’t comment on it.’ I think that was something odd for (FSCW instructors), having men interested enough to question what they were saying.”

The interaction also showed women another side of men.

Nell Gray Cunningham (B.A. ’48), 89, graduated from FSU’s first fully coed class. She spent a long career as a popular schoolteacher in Chattahoochee, Florida, and is a member of the FSU Emeritus Alumni Board. She remembers an FSU speech class in which a male student was terrified by public speaking.

“Here were these boys who had been in the war and seen people die, but they couldn’t give a speech; their knees were just shaking,” Cunningham said. “I felt so sorry for them.”

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She also remembers how men changed the tenor of classes. She remembered a psychology class in which “all the women were virgins; in my day, you were a virgin when you got married.” But then “the class was filled with all these cute men, and one day the professor just threw out the question, ‘What do you think of sex before marriage?’

“Well, all the women said no, that’s not right,” Cunningham said. “But this one guy said it was like going to dinner. You don’t want to go to a banquet and not know what to do. All the girls ridiculed him. He got up, walked out and never came back.”

Economic impact The switch to coeducation delighted Tallahassee.

No small part of that excitement was football.

Within days of men arriving on campus in September 1947, more than 100 players signed up. Physical education Professor Ed Williamson was persuaded to serve as head coach; his lone assistant was Jack Haskin, who would become more famous as the founder of the FSU circus.

Officials quickly assembled a five-game schedule.

The first game was played Oct. 18, 1947, against Stetson before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 8,000 fans at Tallahassee’s Centennial Field baseball stadium. Stetson claimed a 14-6 victory. Though FSU would go 0-5 that first season, and it would be three more years before a stadium was built, it had started on the road to national stardom.

Tallahassee’s other delight was the economic impact of more than 4,400 students and a growing faculty and staff of more than 300. Tallahassee had always recognized the financial value of the women’s college. But the legislative bill increased FSU’s biennial budget from $1.7 million to $3.5 million.

It also authorized $3 million in new construction.

Above: FSU’s football team at practice in 1947.

The Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce speculated if each student and faculty member spent $200 a year in Tallahassee, there would be a $1 million impact. Chamber officials also noted the 1,600 students at Florida A&M “would further contribute to the place which school spending has in the city’s economy.”

Today, the U.S. has 39 women-only colleges, though Sellers notes several of them went coed, then reverted to women only.

“Once women proved they could have it both ways, they were happy to have it their way,” Sellers said. “Many of them didn’t need to go coed; they just wanted to show they could do it.”

In Florida, it seems obvious FSU needed to go coed. And those who have been a part of it swell with pride at the results.

Left: A mockingbird, the state bird of Florida, perched atop the historical marker commemorating FSU’s campus as

“We thought a coed university was better. It seemed more rounded, more prestigious than a girls’ school,” said Chandler, who has donated lavishly to her alma mater. “I am so amazed at all that has happened. But I am also proud.”

the former location of Florida State College for Women. The marker stands beside the Pearl Tyner House at the FSU Alumni Center. Photo by AJ Studios Photography

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Photo by Jeff Minton

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TEN QUESTIONS B

arry

FSU’s film school grew into adulthood on Feb. 27, 2017, when alumnus Barry Jenkins, director and writer of the film “Moonlight,” captured Hollywood’s Holy Grail: the Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of three Oscars won by Jenkins and his team (including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor). In the afterglow, we sat him down in his director’s chair to answer Ten Questions from our own Scott Atwell.  How did you discover film as your FSU major? To be honest, I came to FSU with a bunch of friends from back home, most of us a step too slow to be scholarship athletes at FSU. Still, we knew a bunch of athletes and we knew they had a cafeteria in the stadium with tastier food than what was served in the student union. I kept going through the stadium to go to the training table on Fridays, walking by a sign that said FSU Film School. I got curious about film school. That’s really how it happened.  What was the genesis of “My Josephine,” a film about a Muslim laundromat owner washing American flags for free? 9/11 had happened, and it was on my mind as something I wanted to make a film about. At the time, people were saying being a Muslim or an Arab was “the new black.” So I decided to take my experience of feeling like an “other” as a black man in the South, and use that as a way to empathize with these characters. There was a laundromat in Tallahassee run by a Muslim couple, and they had a sign in their window that said “Will clean American Flags for free.” I was fascinated by it. That’s where the idea originated. In making the film, I discovered that there was a different way to approach the form, and it all came together in that short, which … it changed my life.  At FSU you became a foreign film aficionado. What role has that played in your career? Foreign film has always kind of been the foundation of my aesthetic approach to filmmaking. At FSU, within the classroom it was all practical instruction, the literal tools of filmmaking. The theory was up to us, but the school had a terrific library of foreign films and, because I don’t mind showing my age, there were actual video stores where you could walk in and physically browse the shelves for movies you were interested in. I was drawn by how unique and specific the filmmakers’ voices were in foreign films.  What’s more important: critical success or commercial success (and why)? They go hand in hand and, depending on the film, one can be more important than the other (a movie with a nine-figure budget needs to be commercially successful – the critical success becomes secondary). I think it’s more important that a filmmaker be proud of her or his work.  You’ve said that “Moonlight” is about the life you knew growing up in Miami. How long has the “Moonlight” story been on your mind? It’s more Tarell McCraney’s story than mine, so the actual story of “Moonlight” has only been with me a few years. The idea of making something in Miami, however, has been on my mind since the earliest days of film school.

Jenkins

(B.F.A. ’03, B.A. ’03)

 Why did you bring along so many FSU grads to work on the film?

Nobody believes in me the way my FSU classmates do. Even with the extended time that passed between films, I never doubted that they would be there for me when it was finally time to make another film. Now, none of us had any clue that film would win Best Picture. But it’s never been about that with kids from FSU. There’s just a trust and a belief in one another that can’t be manufactured or transferred. Going to film school binds you together like few things I’ve experienced in life.  The “Moonlight” cinematography was a critical part of its success.

How did you frame the look of the film? Cinema is a little over 100 years old, and a lot of what we do is built around film emulsion. Those things were calibrated for white skin, for white suburban families to buy Kodak film to document their kids’ birthdays. On film sets, we’ve always put powder on skin to dull the light, to keep fair skin from becoming even brighter, thus forcing us to calibrate the emulsion for highlights. My memory of growing up in Miami is this moist, beautiful black skin, more toward the shadow end of the spectrum. So we used oil rather than powder and built a look that was squarely calibrated for darker skin. From there, James Laxton and I had a simple rule: The visual aesthetic of the film would be motivated by the consciousness of the character and not the conventions of the genre.

Everything more or less flowed from those two principles.  “Moonlight” came at a time when the film industry seemed to have a conscious yearning for the African-American voice.

How important is timing?

Timing is everything. Anyone who saw the last five minutes of the Academy Awards can attest to that.  You will be forever linked with the greatest snafu in the history of the Academy Awards. What’s the takeaway? still processing it. I can’t say that I have anything cogent to take away from how things transpired at the end. No matter what happens for the rest of my life, I’ll be linked to “Moonlight,” to this particular moment, to “La La Land” and Warren Beatty.

I have no idea what to take away from it beyond the thought that, when I was sitting in film school, the notion of the preceding sentence having anything to do with me or something my classmates and I had made was unthinkable. itz rav fK f e s/J age ty Im t e G y I’m Photo b

 How has “Moonlight” changed your life? It reignited my love of filmmaking. When you go so long without doing something, as I did between “Medicine for Melancholy” and “Moonlight,” you start to question your passion for it. Like, “If I really love this, why am I not actively doing it?” With “Moonlight,” it became very clear to me, very early in the process of making it, that I’m the same kid who found inspiration in a Tallahassee laundromat way back in 2001. It’s a bit meta, but the change I feel is in this wonderful acceptance of how much of me remains the same.

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Top left: Judy Schmeling “wasting away” with music legend Jimmy Buffett, one of her all-time favorite entertainers. The two are pictured on a specially built Margaritaville set at the HSN Studios during the network’s collaboration with Buffett in summer 2015. Top right: Schmeling celebrates graduation from FSU with her mother, Bethany Sutherland. Middle right: Schmeling with her son, Michael, at his senior prom in spring 2016.

Bottom right: The Schmelings celebrate Michael’s junior ring ceremony and induction into the National Honor Society in spring 2015.

Pictured, from left, are Michael, Lucas, Judy and Don. The couple’s other son, Derek, is not pictured.

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In addition to Judy Schmeling, three other FSU Women of Distinction will receive a 2017 Inspire Award, sponsored by the FSU Alumni Association, The Women for FSU and the Tampa Bay Seminole Club®.

MELANIE SHOEMAKER GRIFFIN (B.S. ’03, M.B.A. ’06, J.D. ’06) Griffin, a rising commercial litigation attorney, is the Tampa office managing shareholder of the Dean Mead law firm.

Three years ago, Griffin was asked to establish a Dean Mead office in Tampa – the firm’s fifth Florida office – after making a name for herself within the firm’s Orlando office for her impressive courtroom and settlement victories. Griffin holds the Preeminent AV rating by Martindale Hubbell, was named an Outstanding Commercial Litigation Lawyer for 2017 in The Best Lawyers in America, and was recognized by Florida Trend as a Legal Elite “Up and Comer” and/or Outstanding Commercial Litigation Attorney from 2010 to 2017. Beyond her professional life, Griffin’s passion for mentoring led her to found Spread Your Sunshine. The organization empowers women to break the glass ceiling and achieve their dreams. Griffin’s definition of success is positively impacting the lives of others to inspire their journeys and motivate them to “pay it forward” for the benefit of the next generation.

STACIE BENE HARRIS COX (B.S. ’02, J.D. ’05) Cox, a prominent attorney in the fight against human trafficking, is an assistant United States attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, serving as deputy chief of the major crimes division and human trafficking coordinator. In recognition of the significant impact she has made on the issue of human trafficking, from successfully prosecuting complex cases to supporting law enforcement in its work and raising public awareness about the issue, Cox received the 2013 Prosecutor of the Year Award from Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi. In addition, Cox is an active participant in the Central Florida Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Clearwater/Tampa Bay Area Task Force on Human Trafficking, both of which investigate and prosecute minor and international sex trafficking crimes.

SUSAN ANN MacMANUS (B.A. ’68, Ph.D. ’75) MacManus, Florida’s most-quoted political scientist, is a distinguished professor of public administration and political science in the department of government and international affairs at the University of South Florida. She has served as the political analyst for WFTS-TV, Tampa’s ABC affiliate, since 2016. Prior to that, she was the political analyst for WFLA NewsChannel 8, Tampa’s NBC affiliate, during election cycles since 1992. She has been a featured columnist on the political website sayfiereview.com since 2008 and has given commentary to television and radio networks and national and international newspapers. In addition, MacManus serves as a director at the Thomas R. and Joan G. Dye Foundation, an organization that funds scholarships in political science at Pennsylvania State University and FSU. Vires 29

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Asked to put his life on hold to guide thousands of refugees through a tumultuous war zone toward new homes and fresh hope, David Ward said yes — and never looked back

By Barbara Pierce Photo by AJ Studios Photography

David Ward (B.A. ’11, J.D. ’15), a fifth-generation Floridian, double Seminole and Jacksonville resident who had spent little time outside the Sunshine State, was far from home indeed: a Kurdish-held region of northern Iraq near the ravaged city of Mosul.

“I was traveling with a team of Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers to see the results of ISIS incursions in the area,” Ward said, “and getting briefed along the way. They said, ‘We’re going to a town near the front lines. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go.’”

David Ward

But Ward, in the grip of a powerful adrenaline rush, was in no mood to turn back. Entering the town, the group climbed onto the roof of the village church to look around. “My translator, Ahmed [not his real name], pointed to a water tower a mile or so away and said, ‘That is Daesh [ISIS].’”

That was the moment Ward realized he was inside an active war zone. “The town seemed empty, but soldiers were clearing buildings and kicking down doors,” he said. “There was a 50-50 chance that bullets could be fired in our direction. Suddenly I got goose bumps and realized the gravity of where I was. This wasn’t playing cowboy — this was real life on the edge of the world.”

What made the moment all the more surreal was how suddenly it had eclipsed Ward’s previous accomplished, commendable but distinctly less dramatic life as a freshly minted attorney making his way in the corporate world.

Left: Displaced people from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the Islamic State in Sinjar, walk toward the Syrian border.

Photo by Rodi Said/Reuters

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Answering the call Just a few days earlier, in June 2016, Ward had been in his office at iMobile3, a small Jacksonvillebased technology firm owned by a fellow FSU alumnus with whom he worked as general counsel, when he got a call from an old friend.

“He said he was in Amman, Jordan, and needed me on a plane there the next day.”

The friend was Peter Marocco. The two had met while Ward, then still in law school, was doing a gubernatorial fellowship in Tallahassee, and they had stayed in touch.

“I knew Pete was doing some humanitarian work in the Middle East, but that was it,” said Ward. “All he told me was, ‘I need someone whom I can trust – and who can synthesize information from a lot of different sources and help me make sense of it.’”

Understandably apprehensive as well as intrigued, Ward said he was “70-30 for saying no.” But his then-girlfriend (now fiancée), Ashleigh Lollie (J.D. ’16), who had just earned her own law degree from FSU, was having none of it. Even though the two were just beginning to build a life together, “she told me it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and she didn’t want me kicking myself years later that I’d passed it up.”

With a current passport, a provocative call to action and his sweetheart’s encouragement, Ward decided to go for it. “My CEO said, ‘Are you serious?’ And I said, ‘I’ll be back next Monday.’”

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By the final leg of his circuitous journey from Jacksonville to Queen Alia Airport in Amman, Jordan, Ward was the only Westerner on the plane.

When the pilot announced that he was rerouting the flight to avoid Syrian air space, Ward began to realize what he’d got himself into.

Meeting up with Marocco in the city, Ward got his first marching orders and got to work. And what he had envisioned as basically a highly unusual long weekend would stretch into an extraordinary seven months.

Peter Marocco is not the sort of guy young attorneys typically hang with. Somewhere in his early 40s, he is one of those resolute types who embrace risk as enthusiastically as most of us avoid it and has the impressive, somewhat mysterious résumé to prove it. Formerly an operative with Marines in Force Recon, Marocco is now a contractor with Patriot Group International (PGI), a global enterprise that provides intelligence, defense and private services on six continents – including, as the PGI website puts it, “austere and high-threat locations.”

The blasted terrain, viciously disputed territories and devastated towns across which the Syrian refugee crisis was playing out certainly fit that description.

Project with no playbook Marocco had been approached a few months earlier by a group of wealthy Americans seeking to help out at least some of the estimated 11 million Syrians who had been displaced by their nation’s grinding and grisly civil war.

To be sure, there were already many intergovernmental organizations on the scene, including UNICEF, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the European Commission’s ECHO (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations). Also in the mix were high-profile nongovernmental organizations such as the International Red Cross and World Vision, as well as religious entities such as the Vatican and the Greek Orthodox Church and local Muslim, Jewish and Yazidi leaders.

But the size and scope of these overlapping rescue efforts meant that many people were falling through the cracks. “These big groups are great for major rollouts, such as setting up a camp in Jordan or Lebanon for 5,000 refugees,” Ward said.

“But where do these people go next? They have been displaced from destroyed homes and cities and stuck in limbo for years. They have no way to make a living. And they don’t have a clear path to resettlement in a safe country.”

Scrutinizing the crowded, chaotic chessboard of rescue operations, Marocco had determined that an off-the-books approach was needed to get thousands of Syrian and Iraqi refugees resettled in Australia – the goal his American investors had specifically chosen to support.

All of the families on whom he and his team would focus had family members in Australia – a requirement for the country’s so-called “family stream” Syrian immigration visa program – so the process may have seemed, at first glance, fairly straightforward.

Opposite top: David Ward and Peter Marocco at work in Jordan. Opposite bottom: Ward with his translator in Amman, Jordan. (The face of the translator has been blurred to protect his identity.) Center: A broken window reveals the destruction dealt by the Islamic State in an abandoned town in northern Iraq. Below: A refugee camp in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

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In reality it was, in Marocco’s words, “a project with no playbook.”

Guiding these desperate refugees through a bureaucratic and logistical no-man’s-land to safety was more like playing a frenetically paced survival game set in a hall of mirrors, where the rules of engagement changed second by second and slip-ups could have deadly consequences.

Then there was Australia’s wellmeaning but massive immigration bureaucracy to contend with.

“We had to work through a plethora of paperwork, sometimes 50 or 60 pages’ worth,” Ward said.

If we failed,

trust would be nearly

impossible to rebuild,

Of course, like the immigration infrastructure of every other country, Australia’s required that refugee resettlement visa applications include passports. “But what if they had fled their now-destroyed or ISIS-occupied homes without their passports in the middle of the night?”

and our next efforts would be infinitely

“From one week to the next, people and resources you relied on are suddenly not in the same place,” Marocco explained. “For example, you may be on your way to an airstrip when you find out that the local government just imposed new departure procedures, taxes or security checks. So you need to be constantly taking calculated risks and updating contingencies, because the best-case scenario never unfolds the way you planned.”

more difficult.

Below: David Ward and Peter Marocco, wearing a blue shirt, in Kurdistan, in territory recently wrested from ISIS control. On that day, the two were surveying the current state of refugee needs and movements so they could best assist those most in need as they fled ISIS.

Sometimes the only way out was through territory controlled by groups, such as Hezbollah, that were viewed as adversarial. “If you were to say that this area was absolutely ‘off-limits’ due to the perceived dangers,” Marocco said, “you would likely miss an opportunity to save several lives.”

Untangling knots — and lining up trucks That’s where Ward came in. Marocco had already begun assembling a skilled team that knew its way around the Mideast and military-style logistics when he reached out to his young friend from Florida. “He was determined to operate in a nimble way to get these people resettled,” Ward said. “And who is more nimble than special forces guys?

“I am certainly no military asset,” he readily noted. “But if you need someone with the skills to quickly scan and accurately summarize a 50-page document, think on his feet and negotiate with an embassy official, I’m your guy.”

Ward’s first big test came within days after he arrived.

Marocco’s first rescue mission was ramping up, and other players on the ground, from NGO officials to exhausted refugees, were watching closely.

“They wanted to see if we would succeed and keep the commitments we had made to this family,” Marocco said. “If we failed, trust would be nearly impossible to rebuild, and our next efforts would be infinitely more difficult.”

Diving into the fray, Ward allocated the necessary assets, untangled a series of bureaucratic knots and arranged the family’s departure in a span of 17 hours. “Thanks to David,” said Marocco, “our very first mission became a proof of concept for our process that met the highest standards of integrity.”

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As the team’s operations continued over the following months, Ward’s passport accumulated a blizzard of seals, stamps and visas as he moved back and forth among Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel. He also spent about six weeks in Australia, working with local nonprofit and church groups to organize welcome procedures for the incoming refugees. And he was doing it all on an average of four hours’ sleep a night.

Ward’s tireless work ethic and prodigious abilities with people and paperwork so impressed Marocco that he was soon named the team’s director of operations. Not that Ward could share the news of his promotion with his family. “When I spoke with Ashleigh and my folks,” he said, “all I could say was, ‘I can’t tell you where I am right now or what I’m doing, but I’m safe.’”

What he was doing would have been nearly impossible to explain anyway. Over the course of just about any 24-hour period, Ward found himself handling tasks ranging from nuanced negotiations with government officials and religious leaders to lining up trucks and vans to get families across the desert.

“There’s no Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Kurdistan,” Ward said. “So you have to think about the ins and outs of every little thing, because they won’t get solved unless someone spends half a day working on it.”

‘Shock to the senses’ Though he never would have envisioned putting his degree from FSU’s College of Law to this particular use, Ward found himself calling on some of the things he had learned there. “We were taught the importance of critical thinking and of being concise, clear and crisp in interpersonal communication.

“Looking back on it,” he said with a wry smile, “FSU law prepared me for coming to terms with a tribal chief in Iraq.”

Ward especially treasures his memories of the small human moments he shared with his charges.

“I had tea on a Tuesday with a family who had been living for years in a concrete compound in Beirut with nothing but a few suitcases before we stepped in,” he recalled. “The following Saturday, I met them at the airport in Melbourne.”

Many reminded Ward of his own family. “I met people who were writers, teachers, doctors,” he said. “But they had simply been stripped of that sense of place that comes from having a home, and it was heart-wrenching.”

Yet another layer of anguish was palpable among the young women, members of a distinct Kurdish religious group known as Yazidi, who had been sexually brutalized by ISIS and, sometimes with the team’s help, narrowly escaped with their lives.

Above: The day before they were resettled in a country thousands of miles away, David Ward meets with a Syrian family in their home in Lebanon.

(The faces of minors have been blurred to protect their identities.)

Over afternoon tea, they discussed travel logistics and checked that all last-minute documentation had been obtained. Ward usually visited with a family in their home on a daily basis.

“They were just in a daze,” he said. “Looking into the face of someone who has been through such hell that they are saying they wish they had died — it was just a complete shock to the senses.”

But there were also lighter moments and expressions of gratitude that needed no words.

One evening, a refugee with whom Ward and Ahmed were chatting offered Ward a cigarette. “I shook my head, meaning ‘No, thanks,’ because I don’t smoke,” Ward said. “So he offered me the cigarette again. I refused again, and he offered again. He was clearly exasperated, maybe even offended. So I asked Ahmed to please tell the gentleman that I didn’t smoke.

“Ahmed talked with him for a few moments, then turned to me and said, ‘He’s offering you a cigarette because, other than his passport, that is all he has.’ So I smoked a cigarette with him.”

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I would hardly call myself an expert on the Mideast refugee crisis now, but I have a new depth of understanding.... It opened my eyes, informed my personal politics and forever changed my view of the world.

New view of the world Jobs like these don’t come with standard performance reviews, but Marocco is profuse in his praise of Ward’s contributions. “David was a phenomenal asset to the program,” he said.

“He brought incredible attention to detail and could spot dangerous discrepancies on the spot.

He stayed positive and productive in a rapidly changing environment.

“There’s no question in my mind that had we not brought David on the team, I would have had to bring three people on to accomplish what he did.”

What Ward, Marocco and their teammates, who wound down their rescue efforts late last year, accomplished was impressive indeed. When the dust settled on their mission, more than 4,000 people, including many families with young children, were resettled in Australia.

Working to reconcile the dreamlike texture of the past several months with the near-miraculous results he helped make possible, Ward is still processing the experience.

“I would hardly call myself an expert on the Mideast refugee crisis now, but I have a new depth of understanding,” he said. “It was a real paradigm shift for me. It opened my eyes, informed my personal politics and forever changed my view of the world.”

In addition to returning to his work at iMobile3, Ward now operates a corporate consulting firm appropriately named Vires Strategy. When friends and business acquaintances find out how he spent the last year and the inevitable questions arise, the one most consistently asked is what comes next.

While Ward remains in touch with Marocco and the two talk from time to time, “my business partner and boss would hurt me if I left again,” he said with a laugh. “And I’m in no hurry to spend large blocks of time away from my loved ones anytime soon. So, at least for the foreseeable future, I plan to stay here at home in Florida.”

Above: A family reunites with their loved ones after a three-year odyssey to start a new life in Sydney, Australia.

That said, Ward is definitely not the same man who got on that plane in Jacksonville last June. “I came back with a lot more compassion and empathy for what other people have been through,” he said.

“That is something I now strive for every day.”

Barbara Pierce is a writer and marketing communication consultant in Miami.

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1 LEADERSHIP WEEKEND During the FSU Alumni Association’s Leadership Weekend April 7 and 8, club and chapter leaders built relationships, learned about FSU programs and discovered new ways to serve their fellow Seminoles.

1. Seminole Club® and Chapter leaders gather on the courtyard behind the Pearl Tyner House at the FSU Alumni Center. 2. Jessica Gonzalez (B.A. ’13) and Karol Vargas (B.S. ’05, M.A. ’09) of the Miami Seminole Club® and Dianne Phillips (B.S. ’69) of the Madison County Seminole Club® participate in the succession planning breakout session. 3. Participants link arms during an activity to help them get to know each other better.

Photos by Steve Chase

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ASSOCIATION NEWS CLUBBIES The Clubbies – the Alumni Association’s recognition for outstanding Seminole Clubs® and Chapters – were awarded April 8 during Leadership Weekend. Clubs were recognized for their various efforts to promote the university, community involvement and alumni unity with awards for Best Academic Event, Best Kickoff Party and Best Game-Watching Party, among others.

1. The Tampa Bay Seminole Club® received the 2017 Seminole Clubs® CARE Award for its support of FSU’s Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement. 2. The Chattanooga Seminole Club® and the 3. Seminole Club® of Greater Orlando both received Best Seminole Service Day honors.

The Chattanooga club volunteered at the Pet Placement Center to socialize with animals and clean kennels. The Orlando club volunteered with Clean the World, sorting and organizing hygiene items and assembling hygiene kits for locals in need. Photos by Steve Chase

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SEMINOLE CLUBS® AND CHAPTERS This spring, the association’s more than 80 Seminole Clubs® and Chapters continued to unite Seminoles across the country and strengthen alumni ties to Florida State by participating in the 6th Annual Seminole Service Day. From cleaning up beaches to stocking food bank shelves, 55 clubs and chapters comprising more than 600 FSU alumni gave more than 1,400 hours of service to complete a wide array of community projects.

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4. A member of the Los Angeles Seminole Club® helps with beach cleanup at Will Rogers State Beach in Santa Monica, California. 5. Members of the Seminole Club® of Greater Washington, D.C., volunteer with the Washington, D.C., Department of Parks and Recreation to clean up the King Greenleaf Recreation Center. 6. A member of the Seminole Club® of Broward County plays basketball with a young friend at the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Lauderdale, where club members provided dinner for its residents. 7. Members of the San Diego Seminole Club® volunteer at the distribution warehouse of the San Diego Food Bank to label, package and distribute food.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

CIRCLE OF GOLD Seven FSU first ladies were inducted into the FSU Alumni Association’s Circle of Gold during an April 12 ceremony attended by 150 prominent members of the FSU community.

Along with current first lady Jean Thrasher, wife of President John Thrasher (B.S. ’65, J.D. ’72), the Circle of Gold honor was given to former first ladies Molly Barron, wife of Eric Barron, 2010-2014; Patsy Palmer, wife of Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, 1994-2003; Marilyn Lick, wife of Dale Lick, 1991-1994; Greta Sliger, wife of Bernard F. Sliger, 1976-1991; Shirley Marshall, wife of Stanley Marshall, 1969-1976; and Mary Champion, wife of John E. Champion, 1965-1969.

Former first lady Virginia “Ginger” Wetherell was inducted in 2014 in recognition of her contributions to the planning and design of the “new” President’s House, which opened in 2007. With the induction of the seven, the total number of Circle of Gold honorees stands at 257.

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1. Four of the seven first ladies attended the ceremony, from left: Jean Thrasher, with John Thrasher; Patsy

Palmer, with Sandy D’Alemberte; Marilyn Lick, with Dale Lick; and Shirley Marshall with Steve Pattison (B.S. ’79), chair of the FSU Alumni Association National Board of Directors standing behind. 2. Past Circle of Gold honoree Jesse Solomon (B.S. ’85) and first lady Jean Thrasher. 3. Retired Dean of the Faculties Ann Rowe (B.A. ’67) with past Circle of Gold honorees Sandy Johnson (B.S. ’90, M.S. ’94) and Shirley Moore (B.S. ’64).

4. Marilyn Lick, left, with retired educational leadership Associate Professor Fancy Funk and former President and past Circle of Gold honoree Dale Lick. 5. Former FSU Alumni Association President and past Circle of Gold honoree Jim Melton, left, with Greta Sliger Mustian (M.S. ’89, Ph.D. ’97), Sten Sliger (B.S. ’84, J.D. ’94) and past Circle of Gold honoree Patrick W. Hogan (B.S. ’55). Photos by Steve Chase

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ASSOCIATION NEWS 5

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HOMECOMING 2017

NETWORKING NOLES The FSU Alumni Association held networking events this spring in Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale and Jacksonville to let alumni meet and build professional relationships with other Seminoles who live nearby. Each event featured panel discussions with FSU alumni who were involved as students with FSU’s Center for Academic Retention and Enhancement (CARE). The center supports traditionally underrepresented students disadvantaged by educational or socioeconomic circumstances.

1. Ryan McDonald (B.S. ’12, M.S. ’14) and Eric Neumann (B.S. ’12) at the Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. 2. FSU student Carlos Rodriguez, Miami Seminole Club® President Karol Vargas (B.S. ’05, M.A. ’09), Lauren Franquiz (B.A. ’15) and Christopher Pitts (B.S. ’05) at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. 3. Inaki Bent (B.S. ’03), Pedro Gassant (B.A. ’09) and Christopher Pitts (B.S. ’05) serve on the alumni panel at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. 4. Shawn Weaver (B.S. ’03), Michele Weaver (B.S. ’07) and Javi Garcia-Tunon (B.S. ’07, M.B.A. ’09) at the Biltmore.

JOIN US FOR HOMECOMING 2017 AND THE EMERITUS ALUMNI SOCIETY REUNION HONORING THE CLASS OF 1967 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

FRIDAY, NOV. 17 9:30 a.m. | Campus Tour Bus/Walking tour of the campus

SATURDAY, NOV. 18 8:30 a.m. Doors Open│| 9 a.m. Program│| Homecoming Awards Breakfast FSU Alumni Center Ballroom

11:30 a.m.│| Welcome Luncheon Champions Club

3.5 hours before game time│| President’s Tailgate President’s House

2 p.m.│| Homecoming Parade Parade viewing location – corner of College and Copeland

Time TBD│| Delaware State vs. FSU football game Doak S. Campbell Stadium

5 p.m.│| Happy Hour FSU Alumni Center Courtyard

SUNDAY, NOV. 19 10 a.m.│| Class of 1967 Induction Brunch and EAS Awards Ceremony FSU Alumni Center

Visit FSUreunion.com for the latest information. Questions? Contact the FSU Alumni Association at 850.644.2765 or alumni@fsu.edu.

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5. At the Biltmore, Karen Laughlin, dean of undergraduate studies at FSU, discusses the benefits that students gain from their involvement with CARE and the national recognition the program’s success has brought to FSU. 6. CARE student Danisha M. Carrasco tells her story at the Biltmore. 7. Mark Bennett (B.S. ’03), Peter Miller (B.S. ’94), President John Thrasher (B.S. ’65, J.D. ’72), Monique Williams (B.A. ’00) and Ingrid Sherles (B.S. ’96) serve as panelists at the River Club in Jacksonville.

8. Lezita Caldwell (B.S. ’09) and Mamie Davis (B.S. ’77) at the River Club. 9. Bobby Siddell (B.S. ’07), a board member of the Jacksonville Seminole Club®, at the River Club.

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Show your SEMINOLE PRIDE anywhere and everywhere!

FSU Alumni Association Members: Purchase exclusive alumni apparel, tailgating accessories and more from the FSU Alumni Reward Zone!

Log on to alumni.fsu.edu/rewards to purchase items.

ASSOCIATION NEWS GRADUATION CELEBRATION Accompanied by proud family and friends, FSU’s newest alumni took time to savor the successful completion of their studies during the Alumni Association’s Graduation Celebration May 5 and 6 at the Alumni Center.

Graduates enjoyed photo ops and champagne in the Alumni Center Courtyard and a meal in the Grand Ballroom. Photos by Steve Chase View more photos of recent Alumni Association events: gonol.es/AlbumsSpring17

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latest flag e th e v a h Don’t rder yours O t? e y n desig SU Alumni from the F ne Reward Zo u/reward d .e u fs i. n alum

Spirit flags ’round the world Over the past three years, we’ve mailed thousands of our exclusive Osceola and Renegade spirit flags to FSU Alumni Association members. In return, we’ve received amazing photos of these flags being proudly displayed by Florida State alumni around the world.

There are many more destinations featured on our interactive map at alumni. fsu.edu/flag. Take your spirit flag on your summer travels and submit your photos via social media with #FSUFlagEnvy or send it to us at alumni@fsu.edu.

#FSUFlagEnvy Dingle, Ireland Valerie Strickland-Smith (B.S. ’82) and daughter, Carlin Smith

#FSUFlagEnvy Miami Dolphins team charter Jacksonville, Florida Capt. Tom Hynes (B.S. ’80)

#FSUFlagEnvy Mount Rushmore, South Dakota Juan Escalante (B.S. ’11, M.P.A. ’15)

Giza, e Great Pyramids #FSUFlagEnvy Th ler Va ie ith (B.S. ’71) and Egypt Terry Sm • Smith (B.A. ’71)

FOLLOW US ONLINE Facebook /FSUalumniassociation | Instagram @FSUalumni Pinterest @FSUAA | Twitter @FSUalumni | YouTube /FSUAlumniAssn

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#FSUFlagEnvy ABC7 studios, Los Angeles, California Dallas Raines (B.S. ’76) #FSUFlagEnvy Mount Solaro Naples, Italy Mark Whibbs (B.S. ’07)

#FSUFlagEnvy Pagosa Springs, Colorado Tom Vlasak (B.S. ’66) and Evelyn Vlasak (B.S. ’69)

Thank You to Our New Life Members The following alumni and friends recently* became Life Members of the FSU Alumni Association. Their support creates opportunities for our students, alumni and members who are and will always be #SeminolesForever.

Find out more about alumni membership: alumni.fsu.edu/join Derrick L. Alexander (B.S. ’99) William R. Ashlock (B.S. ’85) and Mary Z. Ashlock (B.S. ’84, M.S. ’86, Ph.D. ’89) Adam E. Babington (B.S. ’01) and Bethany Babington Foster P. Bachschmidt (B.S. ’16) Sharon H. Beaumont (B.S. ’69, M.A. ’93) and Gregory J. Beaumont (M.A. ’92, Ph.D. ’99) Benjamin J. Biard (B.S. ’00) Louise J. Bradshaw (B.S. ’02, M.S. ’12) and Kevin Bradshaw (B.S. ’93) Oberley A. Brown (B.S. ’44) Kaela M. Burgess (B.S. ’11) and Matthew R. Burgess Richard J. Chichetti (B.A. ’72) and Jo Ann Chichetti Anthony J. Coney (B.S. ’76) and Cynthia D. Coney (B.S. ’76) James L. Cook (B.S. ’88) and Cristi Cook Lawrence C. Cotton (B.S. ’95) Charles J. Craig (B.S. ’63) and Lea A. Craig Austin C. Cunningham (B.S. ’16) and Christian G. Cunningham Steven D. Curtis (B.S. ’84) and Debbie A. Curtis Deborah A. Drew (B.S. ’81) Danielle Durrance (B.A. ’14) and Jacob S. Durrance (B.S. ’16) Corey Dyke (B.S. ’12) and Megan Dyke Philip L. Ennen (B.S. ’84, M.P.A. ’87) and Mary M. Ennen Herbert W. Fiss Jr. (B.S. ’85) Kelly A. Flannery (B.S. ’02) and James E. Flannery IV (B.S. ’05) Amanda R. Foster (B.A. ’04)

Ruth J. Fountain (B.S. ’58) John W. Gabriel (B.S. ’89) and Susan E. Gabriel (B.S.N. ’89) Brian L. Gallagher (B.S. ’94) and Beth Gallagher Alyssa I. Gerlack (B.S. ’09) Joseph M. Gillice Jr. (B.S. ’92) and Holly L. Gillice (B.S. ’92) Judson K. Goodman (B.S. ’95) and Tina Goodman Jim W. Henderson (B.S. ’69) and Carole R. Henderson Donna L. Hodgson (B.S. ’96) and Carlos A. Burns Victor F. Hultstrand (M.D. ’06) and Hillary O. Hultstrand Shirley G. Jackson (B.S. ’58) Robert M. Jimeson III (B.S. ’02) Catherine M. Johnson (B.S. ’76) and Richard E. Johnson (B.S. ’74) John R. Johnston (B.M.E. ’81, M.S. ’85) Raymond A. Jones (B.S. ’73) and Bonnie L. Jones (B.S. ’71) Rebecca Jones (B.S.W. ’74, M.S.W. ’76) Kirsten M. Kinsley (B.S. ’93, M.S. ’95, Ed.S. ’95, M.S. ’99) Douglas B. Kline (B.S. ’71, M.B.A. ’72) and Delores C. Kline (B.A. ’70) Devon M. Lay (B.S. ’05) Stephanie C. Lee (M.D. ’06) and Matthew C. Lee (B.S. ’02, M.D. ’06) Clifford D. Leitch (B.S. ’69) and Helen R. Leitch William J. Lewis (Ed.D. ’72) and Anna Jean Lewis Annelise Leysieffer (B.A. ’93, M.A. ’03, Ph.D. ’07) James M. Luffman (B.S. ’77) Janet L. Malzone (B.S. ’89) William E. McConnell (B.S. ’89) and Misty J. McConnell Robert E. McDonald (B.S. ’81) and Donna M. McDonald (B.S. ’81) Nancy McKay (B.S. ’78) and Richard D. McKay Jayne H. Mittan (B.S. ’79) Rebecca C. Montague (B.A. ’66, M.A. ’68) and John S. Montague (B.A. ’66, M.A. ’68) Brandon J. Packard (B.S. ’05)

Milton Parris Jr. (B.S. ’91) and Chiffon R. Holiday (B.S.N. ’90) Philip H. Porter (M.B.A. ’14) and Tanya J. Porter Anita C. Pryor (J.D. ’88) Sally B. Rhoden (B.S. ’68, M.S. ’70) Robert G. Richardson (B.S. ’63) and Dorothy M. Richardson Heather P. Rodriguez (B.A. ’95, B.S. ’95, J.D. ’98) and Woody Rodriguez (B.A. ’92, J.D. ’95) Lauren A. Miller Rogen (B.F.A. ’03) and Seth Rogen Cheryl M. Rosenfield (B.S. ’79) Helen Rothstein (B.S. ’60) Daniel A. Silva (B.S. ’11) Jerome M. Sporich III (B.S. ’71) Rhonda E. Sturdivant (B.S. ’03, B.S.W. ’06, M.S.W. ’07) Lewis V. Swezy Jr. (B.S. ’80) Timothy W. Traud (B.S. ’88, M.Acc. ’89) and Elizabeth B. Traud (B.S.N. ’89) Joshua A. Tyler (B.S. ’02) and Julie M. Tyler (B.A. ’01) Kiran Varanasi (M.S. ’96) and Radhamani Varanasi Brenda A. Washington (B.S. ’96) Scott A. Wenger (B.A. ’09) and Christopher Wenger Christopher J. West (B.S. ’97) and Shelley A. West (B.S. ’02) Craig S. West (B.S. ’79) and Nancy West Bobbie J. Wilfork (B.S. ’76, M.P.A. ’78) and Brittany J. Phillips (B.A. ’08) William R. Wilson V (B.A. ’05, M.A. ’07) Kristin M. Winer (B.S. ’96) and Jonathan H. Winer (B.S. ’96) John G. Wood Jr. (J.D. ’77) Latika L. Young (M.A. ’07)

Friends Patrick C. Letellier Jorge Rivera

*This list includes individuals who joined the FSU Alumni Association as Life Members between Oct. 1 and March 31.

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1967-69

CLASS NOTES

Paul F. Hill (B.S. ’68, J.D. ’71), the Florida Bar’s general counsel and head of governmental relations since 1987, retired in January after more than 40 years of service. He worked previously as the Florida Bar’s communications director (1981-1994) and as associate editor of the Florida Bar Journal and the Florida Bar News (19761981). During his tenure at the Bar, Hill served as president of the state of Florida General Counsel Association (2001-2002) and was chair of two separate sections of the National Association of Bar Executives: The Section on Communications & Public Relations (1988-1989) and the NABE’s Governmental Relations Section (2005-2006).

David A. Skup (B.S. ’74, M.S. ’04), the chief financial officer for Guarantee Insurance Co., was appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to a three-year term on the Florida Board of Accountancy.

Diahann W. Lassus (B.S. ’76), president of Lassus Wherley, was reappointed to the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

Melinda H. “Lindy” Benton (B.S. ’77, M.S. ’78), president and CEO of Vyne, received a 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award from the FSU College of Education.

1980s

Indicates FSU Alumni Association Life membership

Sarah Clemmons (Ph.D. ’80) was named president of Chipola College by its district board of trustees. Clemmons previously served Chipola as senior vice president of instruction.

Indicates FSU Alumni Association membership

EMERITUS

Raymond R. Schroeder (B.S. ’65), president of Interim HealthCare of the Upstate in South Carolina, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network for his career-long devotion to ensuring that spiritual care is part of whole-person care.

Rudy “Chip” Vucelich III (B.S. ’80) won an Emmy and a Golden Globe as a producer on the FX miniseries “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” (2016).

▲ Paul F. Hill Maureen Lucy O’Connell (B.A. ’68) wrote and directed a play, “The Civil War Remembered,” which ran at The Eclectic Company Theatre in Valley Village, Calif.

1970s Cecelia Bonifay (B.A. ’71, M.S.P. ’76, J.D. ’84), a partner in the Orlando law firm Akerman LLP, was appointed secretary-treasurer of the Orlando Economic Development Commission for 2016-2017.

▲ Raymond R. Schroeder

Mary McKay (B.S. ’66, M.S. ’69), former director of the National Center for Hydrogen Research at the Florida Institute of Technology, was inducted into the 2017 class of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. She was inducted with her husband, T. Dwayne McKay, as the first-ever “scientist couple” nominated to the hall. Together, the McKays hold 15 joint U.S. patents in the area of metallurgical engineering.

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Raymond Ealy (B.A. ’81), as executive director and founder of STEAM:Coders (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), received the Nonprofit of the Year Award in the 7th Annual Congressional Leadership Awards competition, an event that recognizes the diverse leadership and volunteerism in the cities of California’s 27th Congressional District.

Paul G. Greenwood (M.S. ’83, Ph.D. ’87) was named dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences at the University of Tampa. ▼ Gene Moran

Gregory Gromek (B.S. ’71), an attorney and partner with Plunkett Cooney, was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 23rd edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Carol A. Bocan (Ph.D. ’73), a lifelong dog person, was featured in the January 2017 issue of Guideposts, discussing how faith and prayer played into her adoption of a shelter cat — and not just any cat, but the perfect cat — to enrich her life.

James “Tim” Moore (B.S. ’74), who led the Florida Department of Law Enforcement from 1988 to 2003, was inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Officers’ Hall of Fame.

Gene Moran (B.S. ’84), president of Capitol Integration, was named executive director of the Florida Defense Contractors Association.

CLASS NOTES

RONALD O. HARRISON (B.S. ’60) In October, a new National Guard readiness center in Miramar, Florida, was named after retired Maj. Gen. Ronald O. Harrison. It honors his legacy of commanding Florida’s National Guard, securing the role of the Guard in the armed forces and responding to community needs.

Not long after he took command as adjutant general of Florida in March 1992, Harrison mobilized the Guard’s 10,000 soldiers and airmen for 13 weeks in Homestead after Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida. Two months before he retired in November 2001, the Sept. 11 attacks once again showed the essential role of the Guard, as it took over security at Florida’s airports and prepared to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of the U.S. Army.

Harrison also worked with Congress as president of the Adjutants General Association and chairman of the board of the National Guard Association when budget cuts threatened Guard resources. “I’m very proud to say that we maintained the Guard’s high level of manpower, equipment and training, all of which were very needed once 9/11 happened,” Harrison said.

As adjutant general, Harrison also developed community programs such as the Florida Youth Challenge Academy, a voluntary boot camp-style alternative high school for at-risk teenagers; About Face, a program in which at-risk youth meet tutors at the state’s armories; and Forward March, in which adults learn life skills.

Now retired, Harrison works as a consultant, advising the Guard on the national level. While an FSU undergraduate, he was commissioned through the Army ROTC and now serves on the advisory board for the FSU Student Veterans Center and as chairman of the FSU Veterans Alumni Society. “I reconnected with FSU after I was inducted into the FSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997,” said Harrison, whose sprinting skills earned him Male Athlete of the Year for Track and Field in 1960.

Top: Ron Harrison and his wife, Mysie, at the Florida Army National Guard Readiness Center named in his honor in Miramar, Florida. Bottom: The plaque designating the center’s naming in Harrison’s honor includes his years of service as adjutant general of Florida.

Ronald C. Thomas Jr. (M.S. ’84) was named executive director for Union Institute & University’s Florida Academic Center, responsible for the headquarters in Hollywood and statewide offerings. ▼ John F. Carbone

Gregory L. Parkes (B.S. ’86) has been serving as bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, since January. In this capacity, Parkes leads nearly a half-million Catholics throughout Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.

C. Alan Lawson (J.D. ’87), chief judge of the 5th District Court of Appeal, was chosen by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to serve as the 86th justice of the Florida Supreme Court. The appointment makes him the second person — Justice Ricky Lee Polston being the first — from the FSU College of Law Class of 1987 to serve on the high court.

John F. Carbone (B.S. ’86) was named chief of police of the Barre, Massachusetts, Police Department. In addition, Carbone graduated from the Southern Police Institute Command Officers Development Course, 76th Session, at Louisville University, August 2016.

Curtis B. Hunter (B.S. ’86) joined the law firm Becker & Poliakoff in the Corporate and Securities Practice Group.

Elam S. Stoltzfus (B.S. ’88) and Nic Stoltzfus (B.S. ’12) produced “Great Florida Cattle Drive: Unbroken Circles,” a film about the Great Florida Cattle Drive of 2016 and the history of Florida's heritage cattle breed, how they almost went extinct and what is being done to preserve Florida’s cow culture for future generations. A coffee-table book written by Nic Stoltzfus accompanies the film.

Betsy J. Hill (M.M. ’89) performed as a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band at the 58th Inauguration of the President of the United States on Jan. 20. Hill, a master gunnery sergeant, plays principal flute in the band.

Sherrill Foltz Norman (B.S. ’89) was confirmed as the state of Florida’s auditor general by the Florida Senate and House of Representatives. She is the first woman in Florida history to serve as auditor general.

1990s Wendy Clark (B.A. ’91), president and CEO of DDB North America, was named 2017 Executive of the Year by Ad Age magazine, which published a profile of her Jan. 23.

Chris Hardgrave (B.S. ’91), an Air Force colonel, retired in September with more than 24 years of service. Over his career, he flew F-15s and F-16s, served as a commander of the First Alert Fighter Squadron, which protects the U.S. Capitol, and served as Continental NORAD Region Interagency Liaison in Washington, D.C., coordinating a multiagency response on issues affecting Operation Noble Eagle and Homeland Security.

He flew overseas combat sorties during Operation Southern Watch and Operation Enduring Freedom.

He received the United States First-Alert Fighter Pilot of the Year Award, among other awards.

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CLASS NOTES ▼ Sharon E. Reed

Jonathan G. King (M.F.A. ’92) served as executive producer of “Deepwater Horizon” (2016), which was nominated for two Oscars, Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects, at the 89th Academy Awards.

J.D. Taylor (B.F.A. ’93) is serving as executive producer of the documentary series “Faces of the Forgotten Coast,” which celebrates the rich culture and generational heritage of residents of small fishing villages in the Big Bend or “Forgotten Coast” of Florida.

Savage Bell (B.F.A. ’94) has been performing in the Emerald Coast Theater Company’s Family Comedy Improv Troupe since May 2016.

Derrick Brooks (B.S. ’94), president of the Tampa Bay Storm arena football team, was named Tampa’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the Tampa Metro Civitan Club. Brooks, a former member of the FSU Board of Trustees, co-founded Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School and founded Derrick Brooks Charities.

Sharon E. Reed (M.A. ’91), the founder and leader of the Global Girls Project, won the Athena Leadership Award in Service in recognition of her professional excellence, the time she devotes to improving the lives of others and the ways she helps women realize their full potential as leaders.

The award was presented by Athena International of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ernest Goodly (M.F.A. ’92) is working as the global video traffic manager for IBM.

▲ Jonathan G. King Erik Jambor (B.F.A. '93) began his second year as festival programmer for the BendFilm Festival in Bend, Oregon.

Matt Lopez (B.F.A. ’93) is serving as creator, executive producer and lead writer of “Gone,” a new TV series starring Chris Noth.

▲ Derrick Brooks

EDWARD STAROS (B.S. ’72) Edward Staros, vice president and managing director of the Ritz-Carlton, Naples, was one of the six founders of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., established in 1983. After graduation, Staros was selected for Hyatt’s first corporate management training course, climbing the ranks over 10-plus years.

“I was able to work with iconic hoteliers, such as Colgate Holmes and Horst Schulze. When they were tapped to start a new hotel company, they brought me along,” Staros said. “Ultimately, we created standards that revolutionized luxury hospitality.”

Ritz-Carlton now operates 96 premier resorts and luxury hotels worldwide.

While Staros served as vice president of operations, the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded RitzCarlton the illustrious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for excellence in service not once, but twice. “It was validation that although we were rapidly expanding, we were steadfast in our commitment to product and service excellence,” he said. After traveling 5 million miles opening Ritz-Carlton hotels across the globe, Staros left his corporate position in 1999 to take over the RitzCarlton in Naples in order to spend more time with his family.

Edward Staros

Staros is passionately grateful for the well-rounded education he received at FSU. “At the time, hospitality students were required to pair each hospitality course with a business class such as risk management, insurance, accounting, economics, finance and real estate,” he said. “That kind of exposure to all aspects of business was instrumental to me as we grew the Ritz-Carlton Co.” Staros said he is also indebted to Peter Dukas, thenchair of FSU’s Department of Hotel and Restaurant Management. “As a slow reader, I didn’t have the test scores for admission into FSU,” Staros said. “But Peter sponsored me for a semester as long as I could earn a 3.0. My first semester I earned a 3.9 and never looked back.”

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CLASS NOTES Catherine Hurd (M.F.A. ’94) wrote the book/lyrics for “Zuccotti Park,” a musical about the inception of the Occupy movement. The musical opened in Raleigh, North Carolina, in February.

Jeffrey Lerner (M.F.A. ’94) joined Acme Trailer Co. as senior vice president for content creation.

Sarah J. Mooney (M.S.W. ’94) was named chief of police of the West Palm Beach Police Department. Mooney, a 22-year veteran with the 400-person department, is its second female chief.

John Rito (BFA ’94) has joined Aspect Creative Advertising Agency as head of post-production.

Steven P. Samanen (B.F.A. ’94) is working as a graphic designer on the HBO series “Veep.”

Christopher M. Howell (B.S. ’95) was admitted as a shareholder of Thomas Howell Ferguson, joining eight other shareholders as owners of the certified public accounting firm.

Russel Lazega (J.D. ’96), an attorney with Florida Advocates, won the Readers’ Favorite International Book Award and the Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award for “Managing Bubbie,” a biography about his grandmother’s incredible escape from the Nazis and her family’s struggle 40 years later to keep her from escaping from nursing homes. The book was recorded as an audiobook

read by Linda Lavin and Gavin MacLeod, and it is in development to become a movie.

Dale Stanhope (M.F.A.’97) opened a professional sound studio and is working as a voice actor.

Catherine E. Morgen (B.A. ’96) was named a partner of the law firm Morris, Manning & Martin LLP. She practices in the areas of commercial real estate development and finance and hospitality.

Christopher Alender (B.F.A. ’98) served as executive producer on “Southbound” (2015), which was included in Rolling Stone’s list of 10 Best Horror Movies of 2016.

Melissa Carter Newman (M.F.A. ’96) served as executive producer and a writer for the TV series “Queen Sugar,” which premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network in September. In addition, Newman signed a multiyear deal with Warner Horizon Television to develop new scripted programming for cable and streaming services.

Blaise Provitola (B.S. ’96), a clinical representative for surgical robot manufacturer Intuitive Surgical, played a significant role in establishing the Institute for Defense Robotic Surgical Education (InDoRSE). It is a joint venture between the Department of Defense and Intuitive Surgical that will be the official training center for all DOD robotic surgery. InDoRSE was founded and is directed by Air Force Maj. Joshua Tyler (B.S. ’02), chief of colon and rectal surgery at U.S. Air Force Medical Center Keesler.

Charles Willett (D.M. ’96) performed as a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band at the 58th Inauguration of the President of the United States on Jan. 20. Willett, a master gunnery sergeant, plays clarinet in the band.

▼ Ritesh Gupta Ritesh Gupta (B.S. ’98) won a 2016 YouTube Ad of the Year in the “Ad That Goes Straight to the Heart” category for “Budweiser/Chicago Cubs 2016 World Series Champions/Harry Caray’s Last Call/ Fly the W.” The spot was produced by AnheuserBusch InBev, VaynerMedia and MediaCom. (Go Cubs!) Gupta is a director of the FSU Alumni Association’s National Board of Directors.

ALLISON JOLLY (B.S. ’78) For Allison Jolly, Olympic gold medalist and 2016 Florida Sports Hall of Fame inductee, sailing has powered the winds of change in her life multiple times over.

“I transferred into FSU after I spent so much time sailing my freshman year that my parents couldn’t reason paying for an Ivy League education at Columbia, where I was studying chemical engineering,” Jolly said. Although the University of Florida had an engineering school, it didn’t have a competitive sailing team, which was a deal-breaker for Jolly. Instead she studied chemistry at FSU and was active in the sailing club.

After graduation, a fellow sailor tipped her off about a computer programming job in Los Angeles. There she attended the 1984 Olympics. A month later, it was announced that women’s sailing would debut in the 1988 Olympics. She trained for three years, and even though weather forecasters predicted that the winds on the Sea of Japan would be light, Jolly and

her team practiced in the windiest conditions. As it turns out, the 1988 games were the windiest to date, and Jolly brought home the gold.

After 20 years in California designing business systems, her love for sailing never diminished. She returned to her hometown of St. Petersburg in 2004 and was hired as head coach of the University of South Florida sailing team. Since then, Jolly has led the program to the national finals in four of the past five years and top 10 rankings in 2012 and 2013.

“I’m drawn to sailing because it combines the abilities of a sound mind and body,” she said.

“You not only have to be athletic, but you have to understand the physics and math of the intersection of the wind, the water and your boat.”

Top: Allison Jolly out on the water. Bottom: Jolly celebrates her gold medal win for sailing at the 1988 Olympic Games in Korea.

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CLASS NOTES Ryan Holbert (B.A. ’98) was named a partner of CohnReznick LLP, an accounting, tax and advisory firm.

Roberto Vargas (J.D. ’98), a shareholder with Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs, was named to the South Florida Legal Guide 2017 list of “Top Lawyers” in the areas of corporate and business litigation and intellectual property litigation.

Michelle Eisenreich (B.F.A. ’99) joined Double Negative, Vancouver, as a senior video effects producer.

William Guzman (M.S. ’99), director of the Dr. Lee F. Hagan Africana Studies Center at New Jersey City University, completed a 14-month term on Florida’s Task Force on African-American History.

In addition, he was awarded the C. Calvin Smith Book Prize by the Southern Conference on AfricanAmerican Studies for his book, “Civil Rights in the Texas Borderlands: Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon and Black Activism” (2015).

Kelsey Scott (M.F.A. ’99) served as the guest speaker at Florida A&M University’s fall 2016 convocation. In addition, Kelsey joined the cast of “Fear the Walking Dead,” a web series, as Sierra.

2000s Amy Ellison (M.F.A. ’00) produced an independent film, “We Believe in Dinosaurs,” which tells the

story of the American conflict between science and religion by following the planning and construction of the $100 million, 510-foot replica of Noah’s Ark built in Hebron, Kentucky.

Ryan Sparkleberry Lynch (B.S. ’00, M.F.A. ’02) is working as chief lighting technician on the TV series “Silicon Valley,” Season Four.

William R. Webb (B.S. ’00), a branch manager with Secure Mortgage Co. in Houston, and Cara N. Webb (B.A. ’00), western regional manager for Hartmann & Forbes, flew the FSU Alumni Association flag at the Cape Reinga Lighthouse in New Zealand, where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge.

Britt Bradford (B.S. ’01) was promoted to senior vice president of Tilson PR, a full-service public relations firm. Bradford, who has been with the firm for 10 years, will oversee the staff, manage client relations and promote the agency’s growth.

Ian S. Tan (M.F.A. ’01) was nominated by the Hollywood Professional Association Awards in the “Outstanding Editing-Television” category for his work on the TV series “Underground” in the episode “The Macon 7.”

Bradley Doyle (B.S. ’02) and Shannon O’Malley founded Brick Street Farms, an urban farm based on contemporary high-tech agriculture in St. Petersburg, Florida.

MacKay Jimeson III (B.S. ’02), senior director of corporate affairs for Pfizer, was named to PRWeek’s 40 Under 40 list for 2016.

Scott Knapp (B.S. ’02), a partner in Broad and Cassel’s Fort Lauderdale office, received the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 40 Under 40 Outstanding Lawyers of South Florida award.

Jennifer Levine (B.F.A. ’02) joined the Paramount Domestic Marketing Team as trailer supervisor.

Stefan Lyhne-Nielsen (B.A. ’01, M.S. ’03) was named director of the Trumbull, Connecticut, Library System.

John J. Mula (D.M. ’01) performed as a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band at the 58th Inauguration of the President of the United States on Jan. 20. Mula, a master gunnery sergeant, plays clarinet in the band.

Adele Romanski (B.F.A. ’02), who served as a producer for “Moonlight” (2016), was part of the movie’s production team that won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards.

DAN ASHE (B.S. ’79) During the six years that Dan Ashe directed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), its conservation efforts were so effective that it removed more species from the Endangered Species List than all prior administrations combined. Also under Ashe’s leadership, FWS established Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the largest permanently protected area ever designated — making FWS’ 850 million acres the largest total system of protected land and waters on Earth.

Ashe worked with President Obama to ban domestic sales of items such as elephant ivory and rhino horn, and persuaded China to do the same. “FWS is charged with protecting America’s natural treasures such as wildlife and habitats,” Ashe said, “but it also supports a multibillion-dollar wildlife-related economy that is larger than both the oil-and-gas and pharmaceutical industries.”

Ashe grew up around the ocean, spending summers traveling with his father — who worked for FWS, buying land for wildlife refuges. As a junior, Ashe transferred into FSU for its marine biology program, met his wife at Strozier Library and later attained a graduate degree in marine biology from the University of Washington. “I always had a concern

Dan Ashe

for the environment, and so I thought the best way to do something about that was to get involved with policymaking,” said Ashe, who also did graduate work in economics, law and public administration.

He then followed in his father’s footsteps and worked at the FWS for 16 years before being confirmed as director by the U.S. Senate in 2011. His term ended on Inauguration Day, but Ashe will continue to work toward safeguarding wildlife as the new president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which ensures that such institutions meet the highest standards possible, particularly for animal care. “I’m deeply indebted to FSU,” he said, “for nurturing my passion for science, preparing me for graduate work and teaching me professionalism.”

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CLASS NOTES

SEMI

Alumni from around the country showcase their knowledge in every academic discipline and throughout the limitless spaces of imagination by writing works of nonfiction and fiction.

If you’ve written a book published by a traditional publisher, let us know at fsualum@alumni.fsu.edu and send a high-resolution image of the book cover so that we can add it to our Seminole Shelf.

NOLE

SHELF

Budd Titlow (B.S. ’70) wrote “Protecting the Planet: Environmental Champions from Conservation to Climate Change.” Titlow reviews the contributions of past environmental heroes and introduces today’s generation of heroes who are leading the charge in combating climate change.

Jessica Wallace McBride (B.S. ’93) wrote “Almost a Statistic: The Remarkable Story of Drs. Vickie and Maurice McBride.” It is a memoir about a mother and son who earned their doctorates together despite her past as a teenage parent and his as a high-school dropout.

Shawn Anthony Christian (B.A. ’95), an associate professor of English, African-American and American studies at Wheaton College, wrote “The Harlem Renaissance and the Idea of a New Negro Reader,” about the efforts of black writers, publishers and editors to foster readership among African-Americans during the 1920s.

Michelle D. Commander (M.S. ’02) wrote “AfroAtlantic Flight: Speculative Returns and the Black Fantastic.” The book traces how post-civil rights black American artists, intellectuals and travelers envision literal and figurative flight back to Africa as a means to heal the dispossession caused by the slave trade.

Ann M. McCutchan (B.M. ’73) wrote “Where’s the Moon? A Memoir of the Space Coast and the Florida Dream.” A coming-of-age story set in the 1960s, the book — McCutchan’s fifth — also addresses the music of the day.

FSU PRESIDENTS

Kim Turrisi (B.S. ’81, M.S. ’83) wrote “Just a Normal Tuesday,” a poignant story about a 16-year-old girl who must deal with the suicide of her older sister. It is Turrisi’s debut work of fiction for young adults.

Stephen D. Engle (Ph.D. ’89) wrote “Gathering to Save a Nation: Lincoln and the Union’s War Governors.” Engle examines how these governors were pivotal in securing victory during the Civil War. John Crossman (B.S. ’93), president of Crossman & Company, wrote “Career Killers/ Career Builders: The Book Every Millennial Needs to Read!” Based on one of his most requested speeches, “The Top 5 Ways to Keep from Being Fired,” Crossman points out careerruining life choices that college students and young professionals should avoid.

He is a director of the FSU Alumni Association’s National Board of Directors.

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Mariann Grantham D’Arcangelis (M.A. ’10) wrote “Eat Less, Get More: Achieve Health Through Mindful Eating.” D’Arcangelis offers suggestions to help people change their eating habits through a technique called “mindful eating” — being aware of their food and truly enjoying it as they eat it.

Laurie Watkins (B.S. ’03) wrote “Go from Stressed to Strong: Health & Fitness Advice from High Achievers.” Watkins describes how she rebounded from burnout and got serious about taking charge of her health by establishing routines, embracing healthy eating and the value of reflection and relaxation.

Asha Fields Brewer (B.S. ’08) wrote “Eat, Drink, Do: 3 Basic Principles for Health by the Bible.”

Fields, who was FSU’s 2007 Homecoming Princess, writes about wellness through the lenses of faith, Scripture and practical application.

Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, president emeritus of FSU, wrote the second edition of his book “The Florida State Constitution,” part of a series of Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States. This edition includes updated commentary focusing on the many court decisions rendered since the 1990s. It also summarizes the state’s current jurisprudence and the increasing use of Florida’s many methods of amending the constitution.

Find books to read by fellow Seminoles at goodreads.com/FSUalumni

Is your book not on the list?

Send us a copy, and we’ll add it to our office alumni author bookshelf and to the list online!

CLASS NOTES

ERIN HORAN (B.A. ’07)

On a Friday night in November 2015, a series of coordinated attacks terrorized Paris, leaving 130 dead and 368 wounded. The following Sunday, “60 Minutes” aired a segment on the harrowing experiences of survivors and how the attacks unfolded.

“These are the types of stories you wish you didn’t have to cover,” associate producer Erin Horan said of the segment that recently won an Emmy for Outstanding Coverage of a Breaking News Story in a News Magazine. Horan was part of the New York team that supported her colleagues on the ground in Paris. She helped with logistics, gathered breaking news elements and fact-checked the story in a short two-day turnaround.

Horan, who has a master’s degree in journalism with an emphasis in international reporting, recalls the thrill of associate-producing other “60 Minutes” stories such as extreme sports in the Swiss Alps with Anderson Cooper and co-producing a soccer story on the U.S. Women’s National Team’s fight for equal pay. Horan said her role often involves coordinating

the shoots, gathering video elements, setting up interviews, researching, writing questions, factchecking and collaborating in the editing suite to put the story together. “I’m inspired by listening to people’s stories,” she said. “Often the best part of my day is talking with someone new.”

Horan came to “60 Minutes” after working in the national news division and interning with CBS News while in graduate school. At FSU, she interned with the Travel Channel as part of a study-abroad program in London and worked at WFSU-TV in Tallahassee.

“I got to witness incredible teams produce amazing stories” she said. “It motivated me to graduate after only three years. Once I figured out what I wanted to do, I wanted to go out there and do it.”

Right: Erin Horan at the offices of “60 Minutes” in New York.

Nat Sanders (B.F.A. ’02), who served as one of the film editors of “Moonlight” (2016), was part of the movie’s production team that won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards. In addition, Sanders was nominated for the Oscar for Best Film Editing. Sanders also won the Best Editing award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Mengna Su (M.S. ’02, Ph.D. ’12), a researcher and academic administrator, was named president of Fujian Hwa Nan Women’s College, China.

Josh Tickell (M.F.A. ’02) and his wife, Rebecca Harrell Tickell, co-directed a film, “Good Fortune,” which documents the life of Austin, Texas, billionaire John Paul DeJoria. FSU Film School associate teaching professor Paul Cohen served as the film’s executive producer.

Maj. Joshua Tyler (B.S. ’02), chief of colon and rectal surgery at U.S. Air Force Medical Center Keesler, founded and directs the Institute for Defense Robotic Surgical Education (InDoRSE). It is a joint venture between the Department of Defense and Intuitive Surgical, a manufacturer of surgical

robots, and it will become the official training center for all DOD robotic surgery. Blaise Provitola (B.S. ’96), a clinical representative for Intuitive Surgical, played a significant role in establishing InDoRSE. Stephen Broussard (M.F.A. ’03) served as executive producer of “Dr. Strange” (2016), which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Visual Effects at the 89th Academy Awards.

Barry Jenkins (B.F.A. ’03, B.A. ’03) wrote the screenplay for and directed “Moonlight” (2016), a film about a black gay youth growing up in a rough neighborhood in Miami.

Jenkins was part of the movie’s production team that won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards. In addition, he and Tarell Alvin McCraney won the Oscar for Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay, and he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Directing. At the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Jenkins won the award for Best Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Director as well as the Robert Altman Award.

Michael Kalifeh (B.S. ’03, M.A. ’04), a certified public accountant with Thomas Howell Ferguson, was named to CPA Practice Advisor’s “40 Under 40” list.

James Laxton (B.F.A. ’03), who served as director of photography for “Moonlight” (2016), was part of the movie’s production team that won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards. In addition, Laxton was nominated for the Oscar for Best Cinematographer.

Laxton also won the Best Cinematographer award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Joi McMillon (B.F.A. ’03), who served as one of the film editors of “Moonlight” (2016), was part of the movie’s production team that won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards. In addition, McMillon was nominated for the Oscar for Best Film Editing. McMillon also won the Best Editing award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Matt Olmon (M.F.A. ’03), a producer at Moving Picture Co., worked on commercials for Disney, Pizza Hut, Ford and Wonderful Pistachios that aired during Super Bowl LI. Vires 55

CLASS NOTES Lauren Miller Rogen (B.F.A. ’03) and her husband, Seth Rogen, were profiled in the Oct. 16, 2016, issue of Forbes magazine for their work with Hilarity for Charity (HFC), an organization they founded to engage millennials in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

Ryan Spindell (B.S. ’03, M.F.A. ’08) won the James Gunn Independent Filmmaker Award at the San Jose International Short Film Festival for “The Babysitter Murders,” a short film he wrote and directed.

Kyle R. Doney (B.A. ’07), deputy director of the Native Learning Center, was appointed to the Council of Trustees of United National Indian Tribal Youth Inc. (UNITY). Doney is a director of the FSU Alumni Association’s National Board of Directors. ▲ Kyle R. Doney

Allison R. Carter (B.F.A. ’04) served as line producer on “American Honey,” a film about open highways and free spirits.

Sylwia Dudzinska (M.F.A. ’09) is serving as the assistant to the second assistant director for Season Nine of the TV series “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”

Gregory R. Broege (B.S. ’05) was promoted to partner with the law firm Ajalat, Polley, Ayoob & Matarese. Broege practices in the areas of property tax, sales and use tax, city business taxes, documentary transfer tax and franchise tax.

April Billingsley (B.F.A. ’06) – who co-founded Act for a Change, a nonprofit that produces an evening of one-act scenes – opened its first show, “Step Out of Your Comfort Zone,” in January at the Village Theatre in Atlanta. The show and silent auction benefited Beloved Atlanta, a two-year residential home and program for women surviving prostitution, trafficking and addiction.

Julian Dozier (B.S. ’05, M.Acc. ’06), director of Thomas Howell Ferguson’s assurance services department, was selected to participate in the 2016 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Forensic and Valuation Services Standing Ovation Recognition Program.

Nicole Emanuele (B.F.A. ’07), scripted development manager for YouTube Originals, was named to the Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Gen Execs 2016: Hollywood’s Up-and-Comers 35 and Under” list, which features the industry’s rising stars in film, television and digital who may one day become the next studio chief or media mogul.

Courtney Heidelberg (M.S. ’07) joined Brightway Insurance as public relations and communications manager.

Arturo Yepez (M.F.A. ’07) served as producer of the film “Sin Muertos No Hay Carnaval” or “Such Is Life in the Tropics,” a thriller selected by the Ecuadorian Cinema Council as the Ecuadorian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.

Iman Zawahry (M.F.A. ’09) is producing the new season of “The Blockbuster Buster,” a web series that features a movie critic interacting with characters from films.

Jamie Kassler (M.F.A. ’09, M.F.A. ’11), a filmmaker and missionary to Japan, moved to Kyoto to lead film production for EE Japan and Kyoto International Church. Kassler’s work focuses on bringing hope to the local community and empowering pastors to combat homelessness and the high rate of youth suicide.

Matthew T. Barnette (B.A. ’10, B.S. ’12, M.F.A. ’12) wrote a sci-fi/Western pilot, “Starfall,” which placed in the second round of the Austin Film Festival’s Teleplay-AMC screenplay competition in the onehour pilot category.

Daniel R. Connors (B.S. ’10) was named chief executive officer of NuVista Living at Hillsborough Lakes, a premier short-term skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility.

Darren Hoffman (B.F.A. ’06) launched Guava Records, a recording studio and label.

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Courtney Marcilliat (B.F.A. ’09) served as editor of “Don’t Fall,” one of four short films in “XX” (2017), an all-female-directed horror anthology. Other FSU alumni to work on “Don’t Fall” were Christopher Alender (B.F.A. ’98) and David A. Smith (B.S. ’99), executive producers; Kaley Lankenau (B.A. ’12), post-production supervisor; and Dylan K. Chase (B.F.A. ’15) and Lauren N. Hammond (B.F.A. ’16), visual effects and graphics.

2010s

Andrew Hevia (B.F.A. ’06), who served as a co-producer of “Moonlight” (2016), was part of the movie’s production team that won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Drama at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar for Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards.

Zana Bochar (B.F.A. ’07) spent more than four years serving as the film editor of a documentary, “Muppet Guys Talking: Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched,” which premiered at the SXSW conference and festival. Bochar had the opportunity to work closely with legendary producer Frank Oz during the project.

Jason Ambler (B.F.A. ’09), who works for Falcon’s Creative Group, assisted with multiple aspects of the planning and design of IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world’s largest indoor theme park in Dubai. In addition, he served as executive producer of four hours of custom media content for the Kennedy Space Center’s “Heroes and Legends” exhibit that includes the U.S. Astronauts Hall of Fame.

Edward Borrego (B.S. ’09) was named chief operating officer of Jackson South Community Hospital.

Thomas Hoffer (J.D. ’04) was named partner and will lead the litigation group of the Matthews & Jones Law Firm.

Amy C. Burns Baruch (B.A. ’06) rejoined Burr & Forman LLP as an associate in the firm’s commercial litigation practice. She also will serve in its financial services practice.

Jamaal Walton (B.A. ’08) was named associate athletics director for external operations at the College of Charleston.

▼ Joseph Mahshie Joseph Mahshie (B.S. ’08), who served as first lady Michelle Obama’s trip coordinator, was profiled by GQ magazine in “The Bros of Michelle Obama’s Office.”

William M. Doerner (M.S. ’10, Ph.D. ’12), an employee of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, was appointed to the Prince George’s County Planning Board and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

Stephen Griffin (M.F.A. ’10) served as the editor of “Rose,” a film starring Cybill Shepherd, James Brolin and Pam Grier.

CLASS NOTES

VINCENT CACACE (B.S. ’13) LEYDA HERNANDEZ (B.A. ’09) Forbes named two FSU alumni to its 2017 30 Under 30 in Marketing and Advertising, a who’s-who collection of the best and brightest in the industry.

One such game changer is Vincent Cacace (ca-CAche), an advertising pioneer in the virtual reality market. In 2015, Cacace founded Vertebrae, a technology platform that enables branded content to appear in VR apps and games that simulate users’ physical presence in an environment or experience.

“We’re exposed to over a thousand ads every day, but how many do we actually remember? VR offers a unique sense of depth, emotional engagement and presence that are as valuable for advertisers as they are for storytellers,” Cacace said.

For Lionsgate’s “Blair Witch” sequel, Vertebrae helped create the first-ever VR teaser trailer that proved to be as entertaining as the VR game it preceded. “More than half the users opted to replay the ad experience, which was full of triggered jumpscares, and 25 percent played it at least twice,” he said. “We’re helping monetize content, which will ultimately allow the VR industry to grow.”

Vertebrae just received $10 million in Series A funding to further develop its technology, user engagement analytics and content creation. Cacace also worked with the Interactive Advertising Bureau to create and standardize the first VR ad units in the emerging market.

“Ultimately, my interest in VR came from my background in analytics,” said Cacace, who developed data analytics and business intelligence at General Motors for two years before founding Vertebrae.

“I wanted to solve the VR industry’s monetization challenge while also providing advertisers a uniquely creative advertising experience.”

Looking back, Cacace credits his computer science minor at FSU with giving him an edge in the business analytics world, and cites management Professor Ronald L. Frazier’s business plan competition for fueling his interest in startups. “I still see Ron at entrepreneurship events like SXSW,” he said, “and he’s visited our Santa Monica office.”

Leyda Hernandez, director of marketing for iSpot.tv, a TV advertising analytics company, was also tapped as a young marketing innovator by Forbes.

“Until now, TV has been a perplexing black box: Clients know it takes a huge amount of their marketing budget but are not sure whether it’s working or not,” Hernandez said. “That’s where iSpot.tv comes in.” Hernandez and her team provide analytics on every aspect of commercials: content, budget, airing frequency, how versions compare and viewer engagement. “The Super Bowl is like our Olympics,” she said. “Our data has become the gold standard to measure, for example, how the ‘Puppy Monkey Baby’ Mountain Dew commercial performed in last year’s digital landscape, while examining how politically inclined ads like Budweiser’s shifted views and engagement this year.”

As an FSU undergraduate, Hernandez interned at the school board, a policy-focused public relations firm, a web development company and even an international relations department in Valencia, Spain, as part of the FSU study-abroad program. “My internships were invaluable because they offered a real-time reflection of how digital was transforming communication in the business world,” she said.

Another pivotal moment came after graduation, when she was working at an internet company and Google made a big change in how it generated search results. “It really changed what companies needed to do to stay competitive,” said Hernandez, who went on to study integrated marketing communications in graduate school.

In addition to her role at iSpot.tv, Hernandez teaches scalable marketing systems, analytics and strategy at NYU, FIT and General Assembly. “Ultimately, I’d like to scratch my entrepreneurial itch and perhaps become chief marketing officer at a multinational organization where I can contribute something good,” she said, “not just to the company’s bottom line, but to the bottom line of society.”

Vincent Cacace, top, and Leyda Hernandez were named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Marketing and Advertising for 2017.

Another FSU alumna, Rachel Rossin (B.F.A. ’09), was named to Forbes’ 2017 30 Under 30 in Arts and Style as well as Artsy Magazine’s Top Emerging Artists of 2016.

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CLASS NOTES A CHAMPION FOR FSU STUDENTS: Beloved administrator Mary B. Coburn (B.A. ’74, M.S. ’76, Ed.D. ’92), who served as vice president for Student Affairs for 14 years, was celebrated for her leadership and humanity during a retirement reception April 7 on Westcott Plaza. Among the tributes given to Coburn were a set of commemorative brick pavers that will be installed on the plaza in her honor by the FSU Alumni Association. They were presented by Student Alumni Association President Will Whitmire. Coburn began her tenure in the administration of former President T.K. Wetherell (B.S. ’67, M.S. ’68, Ph.D. ’74), pictured in the background with his wife, Ginger Wetherell. Coburn, a prominent member of the FSU community, was inducted into the Alumni Association’s Circle of Gold in 2004. Photo by FSU Photography Services/Bill Lax

Terence Harris (B.S. ’10) was selected to participate in the JetBlue Airways Gateway Select Program, a program that trains people with little flight experience to become professional airline pilots within four years.

Rebeca Marques (B.F.A. ’10) joined “Hollywood Today Live” as an assistant to the senior producer.

William T. Sampson (B.F.A. ’10) served as cinematographer on “Still Breathing,” a music video from Green Day’s album “Revolution Radio.”

Chris Amick (B.F.A. ’11) joined the TBS animated sci-fi comedy series “Final Space” as a staff writer.

Briana Frapart (B.F.A. ’11) creatively directed and produced her first “K-pop” (Korean pop) video for High4, a four-member South Korean boy band.

Christa J. Genre (B.S. ’11) was promoted to senior in the tax services department of Thomas Howell Ferguson.

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Nicholas R. “Nick” Gilpin (B.S. ’11, M.Acc. ’13) was promoted to senior in the tax services department of Thomas Howell Ferguson.

Andrew J. Hall (J.D. ’12) joined the law firm ShuffieldLowman in the Orlando real estate department.

Nicole Groton (B.F.A. ’11) won the Comedy Grand Prize for her screenplay, “Marrying Kinds,” in the New York Screenplay Contest.

Courtney Harmstone (B.F.A. ’12) served as production manager of the film “Jellyfish” (2017).

Andrew J. Mauk (Ph.D. ’11) was named interim associate provost of the Office of Institutional Planning, Analytics and Effectiveness at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Ben Mekler (B.F.A. ’11) joined the TBS animated sci-fi comedy series “Final Space” as a staff writer.

Tracey Paddock (D.M. ’11) performed as a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band at the 58th Inauguration of the President of the United States on Jan. 20. Paddock, a master sergeant, plays clarinet in the band.

Paola C. Blackburn (B.S. ’12) joined Thomas Howell Ferguson as a senior in the tax services department.

Angela J. Massol (B.S. ’12) joined Eckerd Kids as the annual giving manager.

Rakan Shaker (B.F.A. ’12) helped create “Four Walls,” a documentary-style video about the Syrian refugee crisis that was filmed in Lebanon for the International Rescue Committee.

Josh Smooha (B.F.A. ’12) wrote and directed “B Is for Balls,” a video for “Sesame Street.” It aired in February. Smooha was assisted in the production

by Idan Menin (B.F.A. ’12), cinematographer; Aaron Pagniano (B.F.A. ’12), first assistant camera and gaffer, in charge of camera focusing and lighting; Taylor Slingerland (B.F.A. ’13), production designer; and Spencer Frankeberger (M.F.A. ’15), production assistant.

CLASS NOTES Teresa Sutherland (M.F.A. ’12) won the Television Pilot Comedy Empire Award for her screenplay, “Ginger,” in the New York Screenplay Contest.

Stephanie Williams (M.F.A. ’14) served as postproduction coordinator on Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2” (2017).

Morgan D. DeLoach (M.Acc. ’16) joined Thomas Howell Ferguson as a staff accountant in the assurance services department.

Tiffannie S. Walker (M.D. ’12) joined Holy Cross Medical Group practicing obstetrics and gynecology for patients in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Benjamin Wilson (B.F.A. ’14) wrote three original songs for “Missy’s Musical Misadventure,” a film production of Gerald Jackson (M.F.A. ’04).

Yiding Ma (M.F.A. ’16) served as assistant editor of a Rolex commercial featuring James Cameron.

In addition, Ma served as assistant editor for the Bravo TV series “Summer House.”

Myroslava Bune (M.Acc. ’13) was promoted to senior in the assurance services department of Thomas Howell Ferguson.

Ryan A. Barnes (B.S. ’15) was promoted to senior in the assurance services department of Thomas Howell Ferguson.

C. Tyler Capo (B.F.A. ’13), who works for Falcon’s Creative Group, assisted with multiple aspects of the planning and design of IMG Worlds of Adventure, the world’s largest indoor theme park in Dubai. In addition, he served as the key editor and researcher of four hours of custom media content for the Kennedy Space Center’s “Heroes and Legends” exhibit that includes the U.S. Astronauts Hall of Fame.

Brandon C. Cook (B.F.A. ’15) joined Lytro as a computer graphics generalist.

Spencer Frankeberger (B.M. ’13, M.F.A. ’15) served as supervising producer for “Sparkles and the Black Weeping Woman,” a play that ran in fall 2016 at the McCadden Place Theatre in Hollywood.

Ben Fredman (M.F.A. ’13) worked as the focus puller in the production of the title sequence for the Amazon TV series “Goliath,” starring Billy Bob Thornton.

Ryan F. White (B.S. ’13) joined Thomas Howell Ferguson as a staff accountant in the assurance services department.

Annushka Almendros (B.A. ’14, M.F.A. ’16) was part of a three-person team that achieved semifinalist status in the Walt Disney Imagineering “Imaginations” Project Challenge.

Phillip Focaracci (B.S. ’14, B.S. ’15), a member of Thomas Howell Ferguson, received his certified public accountant license.

Dana Fytelson (M.F.A. ’14) served as the key grip on the film “Band-Aid.” In addition, she served as director of photography on a pilot for a TV series directed by George Reasner (M.F.A. ’04).

Stacy Milbourn (M.F.A. ’14), an assistant in postproduction for Herzog & Company, finished a TV series, “The History of Comedy,” which aired on CNN this fall. The program featured interviews with comedians such as Judd Apatow, Keegan-Michael Key and Larry David.

Tyler Montgomery (B.S. ’14), who founded Mont Motorsports in 2015, received a Governor’s Young Entrepreneur Award from Florida Gov. Rick Scott. The company fabricates, builds and sells aftermarket automotive parts. Montgomery is the third recipient of the award in the last 18 months to have a business degree from FSU.

Seth J. Grantham (B.S. ’15, M.Acc. ’16) joined Thomas Howell Ferguson as a staff accountant in the tax services department.

William C. Groom (B.S. ’15, M.Acc. ’16) joined Thomas Howell Ferguson as a staff accountant in the tax services department.

Jennifer A. Hostetler (J.D. ’15) joined Winderweedle, Haines, Ward & Woodman, practicing in trust and estate planning, probate, trust administration and corporate law.

Yingxiang Huang (M.F.A. ’15) served as assistant editor on the film “Cold War II,” produced

by William King, the famous Chinese producer best known for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000). In addition, Huang is working as the director of an animated web series about a group of youths who raid items from ancient tombs in a quest to discover the secrets of immortality.

Nicholas M. O’Donnell (B.S. ’15) received a Governor’s Young Entrepreneur Award from Florida Gov. Rick Scott. O’Donnell founded the Sarasota-based startup Terraform Design, where he creates furniture, light fixtures and unique, precisely carved wooden products using parametric design.

Margaret Wilson (B.S. ’15) completed a year of AmeriCorps service at Providence Children’s Museum in August 2016. Wilson worked to instill a lifelong love of learning in children, especially in those with limited exposure to rich educational experiences.

Alexandrina Andre (M.F.A. ’16) joined Archer Entertainment Group as a screenwriter.

Jesse Marks (B.A. ’16) received the highly competitive Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship, which provides recent college and graduate school alumni with funding and the opportunity to work with seniorlevel policy experts. Marks will spend at least six months at the Stimson Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan institute in Washington, D.C.

Sergio M. Puerta (B.S. ’16) was promoted to claims department risk manager with Senior Life Insurance Co. Pascal Wagner (B.A. ’16) co-founded Walkthrough, a company that takes 3-D scans of houses to make virtual tours for potential homebuyers. Based in Denver, the company is expanding to San Francisco.

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Vires 59

IN MEM O RIA M 1930s Elizabeth (née Anthony) Peacock (B.A. ’33) Dorothy (née Borden) Gooding (B.A. ’37) Kathleen (née Robinson) Pacetti (B.A. ’37) Idella (née Baumstein) Lichter (B.S. ’38) Louise (née Mays) Searcy (L.Instr. ’39)

1940s Helen (née Turner) Grissett (B.A. ’40) Lillian (née Fleet) Mendelson (B.S. ’40) Pauline (née Flake) Smith (B.A. ’40) Sonia (née Mitchell) Connors (B.S. ’41) Mary A. (née Henry) O’Neall (B.S. ’41) Barbara M. (née Trafford) Pearson (B.A. ’41) Mary F. (née Adamo) Robertson (B.S. ’42) Elizabeth (née Griggs) Strickland (B.S. ’42) Marjorie (née Baker) Kwartler (B.S. ’43) June M. (née Durnell) Ritter (B.S. ’43) Margaret L. (née Perkins) Brown (B.A. ’44) Harriet (née McWhorter) Shanklin (B.S. ’44) Sarah J. (née McRae) Bozard (B.A. ’45) Audrey W. (née Perry) Perry-Ward (B.A. ’46) Sue (née Kuebler) Diamond (B.S. ’47) Esther (née Dale) Ivey (B.S. ’47) Loyce (née Johnston) Lilly (B.A. ’47) Anne (née Lewis) Nolan (B.A. ’47) Betty E. Redd (B.S. ’47) Ondina (née Lombardero) Wise (B.A. ’47) Sarah (née Hale) Eagle (B.A. ’48) Betty (née Tayloe) Scott (B.A. ’48) Lillian E. (née Brown) Trotta (B.A. ’48) Arthur S. Adams Sr. (B.S. ’49, M.S. ’50) Meda (née Morris) Buchanan (B.S. ’49) Charles H. Darsey (B.A. ’49) Patricia (née Dillard) Ervin (B.A. ’49) Brantly W. Helvenston III (B.S. ’49) Paul A. Johnson (B.A. ’49) Sarah A. (née Brameister) Nelson (B.M. ’49) Natalina (née Rogolino) Rodriguez (B.A. ’49, M.A. ’50)

JOHN PATTERSON (B.S. ’48) Retired Miami attorney John Howell Patterson III, the first man to enroll at FSU, died May 6, 2017, at age 92.

Admitted to Florida State College for Women in September 1946, Patterson was one of 954 male students at the college’s Tallahassee Branch of the University of Florida. When legislation transformed the college into a coeducational university in 1947, President Doak Campbell declared Patterson to be the first man to enroll at FSU. Patterson served in the Navy during World War II and earned a law degree from the University of Miami in 1953.

60 Vires

Emma J. Smith (B.S. ’49) Virginia (née Vogt) Thompson (B.S. ’49) Langdon G. Williams (B.S. ’49)

1950s Jean (née Henderson) Ackerman (B.S. ’50) Betty (née Ross) Albright (B.S. ’50) Arthur D. Albritton Jr. (B.S. ’50, M.S. ’51) Hilliard (née Cameron) Daugherty (B.S. ’50, M.M. ’52) Lewis V. Eckhart (B.S. ’50) John T. Elkins Jr. (B.S. ’50) Anne M. (née Flournoy) Galloway (B.S. ’50, M.S. ’76) William L. Peebles Jr. (B.S. ’50) Laura (née Dorsey) Simpson (B.S. ’50) Ann D. Gainey (M.M. ’51) Frederic L. Howell (B.S. ’51, M.S. ’59) Florence (née Partin) Mierzejewski (B.S. ’51) Doris (née Johnson) Sharp (B.A. ’51) Don E. Strickland (B.S. ’51, M.S. ’52, Ph.D. ’73) Thomas M. Cumbie (B.S. ’52) Marlene (née Lenz) Kennedy (B.S. ’52, M.S. ’61) Opal (née Faulkner) Lewis (B.A. ’52) Betty (née Dlugos) Nettles (B.S. ’52) John P. Sandiford Jr. (B.S. ’52) S. Scott Sheffield Sr. (B.S. ’52) George M. Spencer (M.S. ’52, Ph.D. ’55) Howard G. Stephens (B.S. ’52) Glenda (née Swann) Irby (B.S. ’53) Leonard Pepper (M.S. ’53) William J. Reitter (B.S. ’53) Marcia L. (née Faircloth) Shuler (B.S. ’53, M.S. ’59) Betty (née Brown) Strickland (B.S. ’53) Yvonne (née McCarthy) Dunson (B.S. ’54) Ralph E. Hicks (B.S. ’54) Charlotte (née Howie) Mooney (B.S. ’54) Eva (née Benson) Nesbit (B.S. ’54) Betty (née Peters) Pierce (B.S. ’54) Lucene (née Kirkland) Birch (B.M.E. ’55) John K. Brown II (B.S. ’55, M.S. ’56) John W. Burgeson (M.S. ’55) Dona (née Heil) Cox (B.S. ’55) Gwendolyn (née Loy) Guy (B.S. ’55) Irene (née Hall) Lehman (B.S. ’55) Jay Schwarzman (B.S. ’55) Oliver S. Woollard Jr. (B.S. ’55) Richard M. Basila (B.S. ’56) Roy F. Carter (B.M.E. ’56, M.S. ’60) Irma L. (née Disharoon) Henshall (M.S. ’56) Gloria (née Simmons) Luker (B.S. ’56) Mary (née Schaap) McConnell (M.A. ’56) Daniel Sears Dearing (B.A. ’57) Clara (née Bevis) Fulton (B.A. ’57) Roy W. Harrell Jr. (M.S. ’57) Talmadge O. Harrison (B.S. ’57) Roland C. Ulmer Sr. (B.S. ’57, M.S. ’60, Ed.D. ’65) Daniel A. Ball (B.S. ’58) Dolores (née Hart) Ceraso (B.S. ’58, M.S. ’68) Oliver W. Green (B.S. ’58) Thomas H. Hafner (B.S. ’58) Charles E. Joiner (B.S. ’58) Joyce E. (née Suter) Niedenthal (M.S. ’58) William F. Pace (B.S. ’58) Nancy (née Carson) Parker (B.M. ’58)

Thomas J. Turpin Jr. (B.S. ’58) Elaine M. (née Belvin) Ussery (B.S. ’58) Cynthia A. (née Sapp) Brunner (B.S. ’59) Charles W. Hackney (B.S. ’59) Ollie M. (née Adams) Hutchison (B.S. ’59) Kenneth R. Johnson (M.S. ’59, Ph.D. ’66) Jerry L. Miller (Ph.D. ’59) Janiece (née Andre) Rydell (B.S. ’59, M.S. ’60) Harry D. Scott (B.S. ’59) John C. Wright Sr. (B.S. ’59)

1960s Donald R. Baggett (B.S. ’60) Rosalie (née Maynard) Bowen (B.S. ’60) Margery (née Gladding) Connally (B.A. ’60) Nancy R. (née Trimble) Faga (B.S. ’60) James L. Fox (B.S. ’60) Jamye A. Green (M.S. ’60) Virgil L. Hinote (B.S. ’60) Sandra (née Seay) Reeves (B.S. ’60) Joyce (née Combs) Schaffer (B.S. ’60) Robert F. Sturgeon Jr. (B.S. ’60, M.S. ’62) Linda (née Roberts) Taylor (B.A. ’60) Gerald E. Andress (B.S. ’61) John M. Byrd (B.S. ’61) Sidney Hsu-hsin Chang (M.S. ’61) Nola (née Williams) Heath (B.S. ’61) James L. Hollis Sr. (B.S. ’61) Robert A. Hugli (B.S. ’61) Jean C. (née Wright) Quincy (M.S. ’61) Sandra (née Calhoun) Touchton (B.S. ’61) Elizabeth (née Scudder) Woodward (M.S. ’61, Ph.D. ’66) Ernest A. Brown (B.S. ’62) Thomas M. Fisher (B.S. ’62, M.S. ’63) Gertrude (née Gaskill) Johnson (B.S. ’62) Gale R. (née Jacoby) Petronis (B.S. ’62) Farrell Wahlquist (B.S. ’62, M.S. ’72) Beverly M. Zicheck (B.S. ’62) Frank W. Bennett Jr. (B.A. ’63) Richard J. Jakiel (B.S. ’63, M.A. ’65) Miriam A. Mattingly (M.S. ’63) David G. Robinson (Ph.D. ’63) James W. Baird (B.S. ’64) John D. Crothers (B.S. ’64) Linda (née Burrell) DuMond (B.S. ’64) Joseph P. Fuller (B.S. ’64) John F. Hannigan Jr. (M.S. ’64) Margaret (née Edenfield) Hunt (B.S. ’64) Carolyn (née Sackhoff) Khalid (B.A. ’64) Howard S. Kutzer (B.A. ’64, M.A. ’65) Carmen (née O’Rork) Miller (B.A. ’64) James W. Pelham (B.S. ’64) John R. Pridgen (B.S. ’64) Stanley I. Reither (M.A. ’64) Alfred M.L. Sanders (M.S. ’64) Margaret C. (née Flagg) Suarez (B.S. ’64) William J. Tolar (M.A. ’64) Raymond P. Carson (Ed.D. ’65) Erman G. Douglass (B.S. ’65) Tann (née Hammond) Hunt (M.A. ’65, Ph.D. ’72, J.D. ’82) Raymond C. Jones (B.S. ’65) Michael E. Moriarty (B.S. ’65) James R. Ripley (B.S. ’65)

NICK MENACOF (B.S. ’60)

If you attended an FSU football game during the Dynasty Years, then you know his voice as the voice of victory. Nick Eugene Menacof, who provided public address at Doak S. Campbell Stadium for a quarter century, died April 17, 2017, at age 81.

As a student at FSU, Menacof majored in sports management within the College of Education. In addition, he was a member of the basketball team and the track and field team.

Menacof ’s first job as a football public address announcer was at Marianna (Florida) High School football games. In 1984, he was chosen to be the voice of Campbell Stadium during FSU football games. Over the next 25 years, until he retired from the job in 2009, he never missed a home football game. Menacof also served as the voice of FSU baseball for 16 years and the voice of FSU basketball for 10 years.

In addition to his public-address duties, Menacof served Seminole athletics by supervising the student-athletes who lived in Burt Reynolds Hall, which was originally built to be the football dorm. He also worked as part of a local crew of football officials who provided officiating for FSU’s practices and high school football games.

Former FSU Athletics Director Randy Spetman, left, presents Nick Menacof with a framed FSU football jersey to mark his retirement in 2009 after 25 years as the “Voice of Doak Campbell Stadium.” (Courtesy FSU Sports Information) Janice M. Wynne (B.S. ’65) Patricia (née Sessions) Davis (B.A. ’66) Carl W. Franklin (M.S. ’66) Joyce A. Graham (B.M. ’66) Howard J. Gregory (B.S. ’66) Billy L. Harris (M.S. ’66, Ph.D. ’68) Arthur F. Helf (B.S. ’66) Jerry F. O’Donnell (Ph.D. ’66) Marilyn M. Presnall (B.S. ’66) Martin Sobol (B.S. ’66) Richard J. Shropshire (B.M. ’66) Brenda S. (née Kinsey) Stephens (B.S. ’66, M.S. ’69) Judy (née McDaniel) Steverson (B.S. ’66, M.S. ’69) Rodney R. Voss (B.S. ’66, Ph.D. ’82) Homer J. Walton Jr. (M.A. ’66, M.S. ’68) Martha (née Swindle) Braxton (B.S. ’67) Charlotte V. Fontana (B.S. ’67) Frank Ross Hooper (M.A. ’67) Earl E. Moore Jr. (B.S. ’67) Linn J. Leitner (M.S. ’67) Harry W. Moffett (B.S. ’67, M.S. ’69) Patricia (née Stoltz) Riggan (B.S. ’67) Robert L. Vogt (Ph.D. ’67) Morris W. Abbott Jr. (B.A. ’68) James E. Banta Jr. (B.S. ’68) Carl M. Brown (B.A. ’68) Don L. Collins (M.M.E. ’68, Ph.D. ’70) Charles A. Gallagher (M.S. ’68, D.B.A. ’71) Kenneth H. Harris (B.M.E. ’68) Von A. Klink (B.A. ’68, M.A. ’74) Thomas W. Love (B.S. ’68) Nancy V. Menan (M.A. ’68) Richard G. Pincus (M.S. ’68) Roger W. Yates (B.A. ’68) Anthony C. Anderson (B.A. ’69, M.A. ’71) James De Benedictis (B.S. ’69, M.B.A. ’77) John D. Byers (M.S. ’69) Stephen M. Conner (B.S. ’69) Carol (née Cundy) Crawford (B.A. ’69) Thomas F. Girardeau (B.A. ’69) John T. Langford (B.A. ’69) Jeffrey V. Luther (M.S. ’69)

Helen M. Manning (B.A. ’69, M.S. ’71) Barbara J. (née Roseburr) Molette (M.F.A. ’69) Paul E. Monroe Jr. (B.S. ’69) Eugenia (née Neff) Mordue (B.S. ’69) Nancy (née Pav) Standley-Burt (Ph.D. ’69) Hilda S. (née Mattox) Walden (B.S. ’69)

1970s Mildred A. Burns (B.A. ’70) Ralph A. Carnley Jr. (B.S. ’70) Donald L. Foulk Jr. (B.A. ’70) May L. (née Fulkerson) McBrayer (M.S.W. ’70) Charles M. Mihalich (B.S. ’70) Nancy (née Lee) Sofge (B.S. ’70) Edgar N. Stone (D.M. ’70) William C. Tubb (M.S. ’70) Lora Abcarian (B.A. ’71, M.A. ’72) Dale T. Beerbower (M.S.W. ’71) Linda A. Dower (B.A. ’71) Michelle (née Raim) Hassler (B.S. ’71, M.S. ’79) Allen F. Kerns (M.S. ’71) Leonard D. Rife (B.S.W. ’71, M.S. ’72) Virginia E. (née Fielder) Sebring (B.A. ’71) George P. Seery (M.A. ’71) Judith D. (née Carroll) Taylor (B.S. ’71) Richard C. Trollope (B.S. ’71, J.D. ’79) Sundy Allcorn (B.S. ’72, M.S. ’73) George H. Carswell Jr. (B.A. ’72) Jake J. Cox III (B.S. ’72) James H. Felton (B.S. ’72) Mathew E. Hauer Jr. (B.S. ’72) Lauren G. (née Ivy) Helmstetter (B.S. ’72) Mary (née Bailey) Markin (M.S. ’72, Ph.D. ’78) Nancy (née Whittaker) McCully (B.S. ’72) James T. Richardson (M.S.W. ’72) Joseph T. Schenck (B.S. ’72) Joseph C. Schwantes (B.S. ’72) Katherine (née Powell) Stanley (B.A. ’72) Juliana (née Hebb) Zimmerman (B.S. ’72, M.S.W. ’91, M.S.N. ’00) Wallace E. Bell (Ph.D. ’73) Velma L. Blackwell (Ph.D. ’73) William D. Brewer (M.S. ’73, Ph.D. ’76)

Beverley H. Durrett (B.S. ’73) William E. Gilliam Jr. (B.S. ’73) David E. Goldberger (B.S. ’73, M.S. ’74) Wallace H. Hannum Jr. (Ph.D. ’73) John E. Hudson (B.S. ’73) Mark E. Lamb (B.A. ’73) Torres F. LeBrun (B.S. ’73) David N. Ligler (B.S.W. ’73) Kenneth D. Panton (B.S. ’73, M.S. ’75) Kenneth E. Passmore (B.S. ’73) Frederick R. Swearingen Jr. (B.S. ’73) Mamie R. Wiggins-Taylor (B.S.W. ’73) Donald B. Bailey (B.S. ’74) Thomas D. Davis (B.S.W. ’74) Andrew T. Dozier (B.S.W. ’74, M.S. ’80) Richard A. Dubberly (B.S.W. ’74) Kathleen A. Gage (B.A. ’74) Mary L. (née Arrington) May (B.S. ’74) Donna M. (née Moss) McAteer (B.A. ’74) Candace C. McMahon (B.S. ’74) Laura M. (née Weeden) Moffett (M.S. ’74) Caroline C. Mueller (J.D. ’74) Gary C. Potter (M.A. ’74) Phyllis D. (née Baker) Sharpe (M.S.W. ’74) Ralph C. Cottrell III (M.S. ’75) Marilyn M. Disher (M.S. ’75) Deborah D. Harrison (B.F.A. ’75) Ronald W. Light (B.S. ’75) Peggy A. Long (Ph.D. ’75) Sarah (née Collins) Neeley (M.S. ’75) Matthew O. Potter (B.S. ’75) Phyllis J. (née DeVliegher) Sloyer (B.S. ’75, M.P.A. ’90) Catherine (née Hess) Stickler (B.S. ’75) Michael R. Whiteley (B.A. ’75) Dorothy L. (née Flowers) Williams-Flowers (B.S. ’75) Edward G. Cole (B.A. ’76) Wallace J. Dees (B.S. ’76) Arnett M. Flowers (B.S. ’76) Jerry C. Green (B.S. ’76) Wilsie (née Greene) Jenkins (Ph.D. ’76)

Vires 61

Nancy S. Rudland (B.S. ’76) Dianne (née Taylor) Falvo (B.S. ’77) Danny R. Gardner (B.S. ’77) Janet D. (née McCall) Henderson (B.S. ’77) Virginia L. Langston (Ph.D. ’77) Margaret (née Williams) Lewis (Ph.D. ’77) Catherine S. (née King) Dix (B.S. ’78) Randall E. Hagler (B.S. ’78) Joseph Harrison (M.S. ’78, Ph.D. ’86) Susan E. (née Broom) Kilmer (M.S. ’78) William R. Kochan (Ed.S. ’78) Raymond Paternoster (Ph.D. ’78) David P. Wenzel (B.S. ’78) Robert J. Hassmiller (Ph.D. ’79) Finith E. Jernigan (J.D. ’79) John H. Moore (B.S. ’79)

George B. Aparicio (M.A. ’81, Ph.D. ’88) Michael D. Blake (B.S. ’81) Francis J. “Monk” Bonasorte (B.S. ’81) Harvey J. Carrouth (B.S. ’81) Marlene J. (née Holweger) Jones (B.S. ’81) Barry A. Reik (M.S. ’81) Alfonzo P. Sparks Jr. (B.S.N. ’81) Louila (née Watson) Van Horn (B.S. ’81) John G. Covington (B.S. ’82) Stanley A. Gravenmier (B.S. ’82) Susan E. (née Leffler) Iwaniw (B.A. ’82) Allie (née Callaway) Kilpatrick-Hill (Ph.D. ’82) Donnie E. Moore (B.S. ’82) David B. Pechman (M.S. ’82) John D. Weston (B.A. ’82) Walter R. Wood (B.A. ’82)

Jerald L. Peterson (B.S. ’84) Terri (née Jones) Williams (B.S. ’84) Gail E. (née Nyberg) Marion (M.S. ’85) Rodney P. Smith III (B.S. ’85) Marc R. Trychel (M.S. ’85) Patrick T. Carothers (B.S. ’86) Bruce L. Helmich (J.D. ’86) Kelly C. (née Murray) Bennett (B.S. ’87) Karl J. Easton (B.S. ’87) Marie J. (née Drake) Foxworthy (B.S. ’87) Enrico G. Gonzalez (B.A. ’87, J.D. ’90) Ronald M. Koenig (B.S. ’87) James E. Preston Jr. (B.S. ’87) Lawrence D. Stone (B.A. ’87, M.S. ’96) Gregory L. Wylie (B.S. ’87) Lisa A. (née Howse) Brown (B.S. ’88)

MONK BONASORTE (B.S. ’81)

Francis J. “Monk” Bonasorte, a beloved athletics administrator and former athlete at FSU, died Nov. 20, 2016, at age 59.

Bonasorte began his career at FSU as a student in 1977, majoring in criminology. In addition, he was a prominent member of the football team, starring on one of the toughest defensive units in FSU history in 1979 – the first year the Noles went undefeated in the regular season.

Bonasorte earned All-America Third-Team honors from the Associated Press in 1979 and All-America Second Team honors from Football News in 1980. He ranks second in school history with 15 interceptions, and his single-season total of eight interceptions in 1979 also ranks as the second-highest in school history.

The university recognized Bonasorte’s outstanding achievements by inducting him into the Seminoles’ Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.

Bonasorte joined the executive staff of the university’s athletics department in 2008 as senior associate director of athletics. He was responsible for the department’s internal operations with oversight of the equipment, athletic training, coaches video, and strength and conditioning departments. In addition, he oversaw the 2013 National Championship football and 2014 National Championship women’s soccer programs.

Prior to working for the athletics department, Bonasorte spent 13 years as president and executive director of the FSU Varsity Club.

He is survived by his wife, Beverly, and two sons, T.J. and Rocky.

1980s Owusu-Ansah Agyapong (B.S. ’80, M.S. ’81, Ph.D. ’88) Scott W. Campbell (B.A. ’80) Loretta G. Gilbert (B.S. ’80) Leo P. Mahoney (M.B.A. ’80) Ransom R. McClung Jr. (M.S. ’80) Council L. Pickels (B.S. ’80) Ann (née Garten) Shaw (M.S. ’80) James R. Webb (J.D. ’80) 62 Vires

Edward H. Criser (B.S. ’83) Carol J. (née Lewis) Jakes (B.S. ’83) Omar O. Parada (Ph.D. ’83) Callie (née Wise) Patsy (B.S. ’83, M.S. ’01) Karl K. Rohrbach Jr. (B.S. ’83) Dennis A. Washburn (B.S. ’83) Samuel L. Williams (B.S. ’83) Cody F. Davis (J.D. ’84) Sarah J. (née Snider) Lestrange (B.S. ’84)

Peter G. Gioia (J.D. ’88) Brian V. Hill (B.S. ’88, M.S. ’94) Michael C. Karkowski (B.S. ’88) Kevin E. Mangum (B.S. ’88, J.D. ’91) Julia E. (née Latimer) Reed (B.S. ’88) Kimberly B. (née Southard) Southard-Morris (B.A. ’88) Eddie L. Angleton (M.S. ’89) James O. Legel (B.S. ’89)

RICHARD PORTMAN

Richard Portman, an Oscar-winning sound editor and a sound professor with the FSU Film School, died Jan. 28, 2017, at age 82.

Portman received the Academy Award for Best Sound for his work on “The Deer Hunter” (1978). Over his career, he was nominated 10 other times, including two nods in 1973 for “The Godfather” and “The Candidate,” and two nods in 1974 for “Paper Moon” and “The Day of the Dolphin.”

In addition, he mixed the sound for the iconic movie “Star Wars” (1977). And he helped develop the overlapping, natural style of dialogue prominent in famed director Robert Altman’s films.

Portman joined the fledgling College of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts (later shortened to Motion Picture Arts) in 1995 and had the distinction of being the first Academy Award winner on its faculty. Portman taught Barry Jenkins (B.F.A. ’03, B.A. ’03), the Oscar-winning writer and director of “Moonlight” (2016).

Portman is survived by his wife, Jackie, and his daughter, Jennifer.

1990s Derrell P. Bowden Jr. (B.S. ’90) Andrew C. Ellis (B.S. ’90) James C. Hurst (B.S. ’90) Ronald C. Toifel Sr. (Ed.D. ’90) John S. McCurry (B.S. ’91, M.S. ’15) Teresa (née McCormick) Valasek (B.S.N. ’91) Bruce M. Dana (M.S. ’92) Jade (née Bigger) Green (B.S. ’92)

Alisa J. (née Butler) Kinsaul (B.S. ’92, M.S. ’01), who served as director of campus communications at FSU Panama City from August 1995 to January 2004 and received a Notable Nole Award in 2004, died Jan. 17, 2017, at age 47.

William M. Pierce (B.S. ’92) Louis R. Rossi Jr. (B.S. ’92) John P. Weiland (B.S. ’92) Deborah E. Mekeel (M.S. ’93) Willys G. Michel (B.S. ’93) David D. Kern (B.S. ’94) Robbie (née Wilson) Carson (M.S.N. ’96) Maria C. (née Duran) Duran-Carpenter (B.S. ’96) Lori (née Hall) Gillis (M.S. ’96) James M. Cahill Jr. (Ed.D. ’97) Deborah D. Holton (J.D. ’97) Kelly L. (née Goddard) McLanahan (B.S. ’97) Elizabeth A. (née DeGroof) Forsyth (M.S. ’98) Bradley H. Slaughter (B.S. ’98) Rhonda J. (née Young) Young-Keith (B.S. ’99)

2000s Christopher M. Farris (B.S. ’01) Frances W. Fisher (Ph.D. ’01) Candace D. Wells (B.S.N. ’01)

Travis N. Brunelle (B.S. ’02) Chris R. Alexander (B.S. ’04) Cathy L. (née Fast) Keys (M.S. ’05) Jill M. (née Yadao) Pope (B.S. ’05) Roland T. Rondeau Jr. (B.S. ’05) Kenneth L. Thaxton (B.S. ’05) Linda A. Harrell (Ph.D. ’07) Jeremy L. Herrmann (B.F.A. ’09) Paula A. (née Webster) Morrissey (B.S.W. ’09)

2010s Nathan D. Bowerman (B.S. ’10) Matthew T. Wittman (B.S. ’12) Marlon R. McPhatter (Ph.D. ’15) Edward H. Neuse (B.A. ’15) Jennifer Grisales (B.S. ’13, M.P.A. ’16) Bonnie R. Stanley (B.S. ’16)

Faculty-Staff William E. Bennett Jr.

JoAnn (née Clark) Blackwell, who served as President Sandy D’Alemberte’s executive assistant from 1994 to 2003, died Jan. 4, 2017, at age 80. Earlier in her FSU career, she worked in the psychology and chemistry departments, then worked as D’Alemberte’s assistant during his tenure as dean of the College of Law. Marie E. Bracco Margret B. (née Krug) Burgess John J. Carey Edward D. Crane III Sallie M. Davis Harvel N. Dawirs Garrett R. Foster Edward Gaines Sr.

Lev P. Gorkov, FSU physics professor and a leading theorist at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, died Dec. 28, 2016, at age 87.

He was a founding member of the MagLab. A native of Russia, Gorkov also was co-founder and department head of the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Franklin T. Hardee III H. Maurice Hartsfield William S. Hindle David J. Kangas Bertha L. (née Chambers) McFadden Myrtle (née Freeman) McGilvary Dock P. McGriff Emanuel L. Melvin Jerry L. Messec Robert Mesterton Cornelia (née McClyde) Mitchell Alton B. Muse Ronald M. Pavalko Ruthie F. Poole Richard R. Portman Charles B. Reed

Robert A. Riedel, an associate professor in FSU’s Dedman School of Hospitality, died Feb. 3, 2017, at age 93. Prominent in the nation’s hospitality industry, Riedel operated hotels in numerous states and served as president of both the Florida Hotel and Motel Association and the American Hotel and Motel Association.

Barbara (née Stewart) Sayes Johnny L. Scott Nina Slaughter Vires 63

64 Vires

AN OTHER MAY, A NOTHER DAY On May 15, FSU commemorated the signing of the landmark legislation that enacted coeducation in Florida, transforming Florida State College for Women into Florida State University. During the event, Caldwell McCord Jr. (B.S.N. ’14) points to the signature of his great-grandfather, former Florida Gov. Millard Caldwell, on an enlarged copy of the original bill, signed May 15, 1947. Photo by Steve Chase

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