The Magazine of St. Ambrose University | Summer 2013

Focus on FitnessALSO INSIDE: SAU’s Major Impact on QC Economy

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14SceneThe Magazine of St. Ambrose University

Summer 2013 | Volume XXXIX | Number 2

Managing Editor

Linda Hirsch

Editor

Craig DeVrieze

Staff Writers

Jane Kettering

Emilee Renwick

Staff Assistant

Darcy Duncalf ’12

Contributing Writers

Sara Clifton ’13

Steven Lillybeck

Dustin Renwick ’10

Ted Stephens III ’01, ’04

Designer

Sally Paustian ’94

www.sau.edu/scene

scene@sau.edu

Photo and illustration credits:

Greg Boll: pages 3; John Mohr Photography: inside front

cover, pages 4, 5, back cover; Kevin Schmidt: page 10;

Dan Videtich: front cover, inside front cover, pages 1, 2, 7,

12, 15–19, 21–22, .

Scene is published by the Communications and Marketing

office for the alumni, students, parents, friends, faculty and

staff of St. Ambrose University. Its purpose is to inform and

inspire through stories highlighting the many quality people and

programs that are the essence of St. Ambrose’s distinguished

heritage of Catholic, values-based education. Circulation is

approximately 23,000.

St. Ambrose University—independent, diocesan, and

Catholic—enables its students to develop intellectually,

spiritually, ethically, socially, artistically and physically

to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.

St. Ambrose University, 518 W. Locust St.,

Davenport, Iowa 52803

2 Under the OaksThe Engineering and Occupational Therapy

Departments team to bring assistive technology to

Brazilians in need; Ambrosians rally to help an ailing

faculty member and his family; a former ski coach finds

a fit in the Kinesiology Department; and guess who once

guarded an NBA star?

Features

12 Working it OutSince Play Hall opened in 1888, St. Ambrose has made

a priority of providing students a place to stay healthy

and well.

14 A Tight FitSt. Ambrose students are defying a generational trend

by working hard to stay fit, but does the 31-year-old PE

Center still fit their needs?

17 Lessons in MotionReflecting the growing interest in health science careers,

the Kinesiology Department needs room to grow, too.

20 Major ImpactA recent study shows St. Ambrose University’s impact

on the local economy is significant. And behind the

numbers, real people benefit.

Alumni Profile

24 Cross TrainerTim Dempsey ’85 developed a talent for athletic training

while earning a degree in sociology. He has combined both

disciplines to help Paralympians and Wounded Warriors

through cross-pattern training.

26 Alumni NewsSt. Ambrose classmates become travel mates; retired faculty

and sta� find a way to stay Always Ambrosian; classes are

building their own Homecoming reunions; and McCarthy

Hall will be named in honor of a community leader.

30 Class Notes

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Phi Eta Sigma Leader Wins National Scholarship

With a double major in chemistry and biology and a minor in psychology, St. Ambrose senior Averi Wilson hopes to enroll in medical school after graduation.

Having served a prestigious summer internship at the Perinatal Research Center at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, Colo.,

Wilson has a potential head start on her desired career in obstetrics.

Those kinds of ambitions and accomplishments are among the criteria the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society considers when selecting scholarship winners from across the country. Wilson’s active agenda as 2012–13 president of the SAU Phi Eta Sigma chapter also helped her develop a winning application.

Wilson was one of 35 national undergraduate winners of a $6,000 scholarship awarded in the spring by the national Phi Eta Sigma organization.

As president of the SAU chapter, Wilson led the group’s e�orts to assist King’s Harvest Ministries in its work for the homeless in Davenport. E�orts included donating food and litter to the King’s Harvest pet shelter program and working monthly shifts at the Saturday morning breakfasts for the poor. The chapter also raised $400 to contribute to the shelter.

As assistant director of the SAU Dance Marathon this year, she hopes to help exceed the $40,000 raised in 2012–13 for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. “I’m very excited to take on the challenge,” she said.

DPT Program Will Celebrate 20th AnniversaryThe Physical Therapy Department at St. Ambrose will turn 20 this fall, and a Homecoming Weekend celebration is planned around a continuing education course built for SAU graduates.

The program will take place Sept. 28 at the Center for Health Sciences Education at Genesis. It will include six hours of continuing education focused on ways that physical therapists can use outcome measures to guide patient management, said Michael Putho�, PT, PhD, program director.

More than 500 program alumni also have been invited to a reception afterward to visit with former professors, former classmates and friends from other classes.

Tours of the Center for Health Sciences Education, which opened in 2010, will be included. “Many of our alumni have not had the opportunity to see our facilities,” Putho� said.

St. Ambrose welcomed its first cohort to what was then a Master of Physical Therapy program in 1993. In 2004, St. Ambrose graduated the first class of students with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. It was the university’s second doctoral program and a sign of growth, both for St. Ambrose and the importance of physical therapy.

“As health care expands and knowledge of the importance of the rehabilitation process gets larger, the preparation that goes into training physical therapists increases,” Putho� said. “We have to make sure they are prepared for all that is expected of them.”

Read more about the Doctor of Physical Therapy program and its

2oth anniversary celebration at sau.edu/scene.

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he pack of 800-meter runners spread three lanes wide down the home stretch at

the NAIA National Track and Field Championships in May, and less than a second

separated fourth through eighth place.

“I was thinking, ‘You have a chance to win.’ It was a matter of who sprinted a

little faster,” John Darmody ’12 remembered of his final collegiate race.

A seventh-place finish initially brought disappointment for the St. Ambrose

University standout. Later, the greatest distance runner in SAU history forgot

about that unsuccessful sprint, and viewed his historic career from a distance.

“Talking to the coaches and to my dad, they were very reassuring, putting the

entire season and my entire career into perspective,” Darmody said. “I don’t think

I could have even imagined everything I’ve done five years ago when I was a

freshman.”

That “everything” amounts to a remarkable lot. Paired with an eighth-place finish

in the 1500 meters earlier in the May meet, the seventh-place run in the 800 made

Darmody the only seven-time All-American in St. Ambrose history. Only six SAU

athletes have been three-time All-Americans.

Darmody, who earned his undergraduate degree in 2012 and took graduate

classes this past school year, left St. Ambrose for law school at Indiana University in

June holding 11 St. Ambrose records in indoor and outdoor track and cross country.

Darmody spent his final season in the spotlight. He won Midwest Collegiate

Conference Athlete of the Year honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor

track—a triple-crown feat never before accomplished in the MCC.

He represents the new bar for St. Ambrose athletes, said Dan Tomlin ’05,

’10 MBA, men’s and women’s head track coach. “When you look at the history of

St. Ambrose athletics, it starts with John Darmody,” Tomlin said.

Darmody said lessons he learned in cross country and track reflect the values of

the university, something exemplified by the March selection of the men’s indoor

team for the NAIA Champions of Character team award, a school first.

“I definitely don’t think I would be the athlete I am if I hadn’t come here,”

Darmody said. “The things that the coaches expected of me are the same things

the teachers expect.

“A lot of it is not taking any opportunity you have for granted. Coach Tomlin

talks about that a lot. You can look at going to class or going to practice or

competing as something you have to do or something you get to do.”

Decorated Darmody Succeeds in the Long Run

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COMMENCEMENT

Choose what is life-giving. Be wise. Be loving. This is my prayer for you. Congratulations.”Those concluding words of the Spring 2013 Commencement address delivered by Sister Barbara Moore, CSJ, PhD, summed up so many of the life lessons learned by the nearly 680 degree candidates who gathered for the pomp and circumstance of commencement on May 11.

online extra: photo galleries at sau.edu/scene

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On Oct. 28, Albert Chan, PhD, su�ered a major stroke while teaching his philosophy class. Students, faculty and medical personnel responded swiftly, and his life was saved.

By early November, a St. Ambrose “meal train” had been organized for the Chan family, who live

in Iowa City. That’s where Chan spent two weeks in intensive care at University Hospitals before being transferred to a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rehabilitation facility.

“I think it’s a natural response, to feed people,” said Sherri Erkel, director of First Year Experience. Erkel and others wanted Chan’s wife, Cora, and daughters, Sharla and Kayden, to be free of that concern. “Literally, every major, every department contributed,” said Erkel. “The calendar filled up immediately.”

Erkel, who also lives in Iowa City, delivered home-cooked meals or pizza gift cards each night on her way home from work. “I had a cooler in my o�ce and Cora had one on their porch,” she said.

St. Ambrose faculty, sta� and administrators visited Chan in the hospital. Students stopped by Erkel’s o�ce to ask about him. Cards of encouragement were sent. Rides

were provided for the Chans’ out-of-town relatives. When their family car broke down, a retired faculty member contributed three-quarters of the $4,000 repair bill.

Before his stroke, Chan, a volleyball aficionado, had practiced with the Fighting Bees JV team and played on the faculty/sta� team along with Lindsay (Miller) Schaefer ’05, English instructor and graduate writing coordinator. “After the stroke we all wanted to honor him—and his fight,” Schaefer said.

A March men’s varsity volleyball game at the PE Center was transformed into a fundraiser and morale-booster. Chan, who by now had been transferred to a rehabilitation center, was able to watch online. The stands were filled with Ambrosians wearing “Fight Like Albert” t-shirts. The team won its match, and the Chan family was presented with a $3,000 check from T-shirt and ra�e ticket sales.

Chan, who is now walking, continues to improve and gain strength. The Chans plan to move back to California this summer, to be closer to family as Albert Chan continues his rehabilitation.

“We are so indebted to St. Ambrose for such a generous and gracious response to our family,” said Cora Chan. “There have been so many angels that have helped us in so many countless ways, even now. It is a testimony of God’s love.”

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Ambrosians Help Albert Fight

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Andy Milton has a master’s degree in sports administration—and a passion for staying active. His mom says he was always on the go as a child. Now he is SAU’s director of Campus Recreation.

So What’s Campus Rec?Club sports, exercise classes, intramurals, wellness

programming, and a surprisingly high level of student

employment (more than 40 on staff). “We’re providing

opportunities for students to learn something new or

continue something they already enjoy,” said Milton.

“It’s about helping them develop awareness, tools and

lifelong healthy habits.”

A Typical DayNo such thing, according to Milton.

“That’s one of the things I like about the job,” he said. “Lots

of planning, programming, building relationships—and putting

out fires. I’m active, moving, doing different things; I have to be

resourceful and ready for anything.”

Milton in Three Words“Energetic, outgoing and young-hearted,” responded campus rec

student worker Shelby Gruntorad.

Embarrassing Moment: A Ref in ‘Capris’Milton, who officiates for NCAA Division III games, showed up for

an out-of-town basketball game without his black officiating pants.

“I had to borrow the football coach’s pants,” said the 6-foot-3 Milton.

They were about six inches too short and despite pulling up his black

socks “as high as they could go,” colleagues were quick to text and

picture-message Milton’s plight.

Milton Tidbits:> Right-handed, but a leftie at Frisbee and shooting pool

> Used to be a huge professional wrestling fan as a kid and teen

> Once guarded (“or at least attempted to guard”) future NBA Hall

of Famer Kevin Garnett in a high school basketball game

> If he wasn’t directing campus rec, he’d probably be a veterinarian

“I have to be resourceful and ready for anything.”

Who is SAU? Andy Milton

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That’s when Donnelly felt his own internal hug. “You kind of felt something inside to see it work so well,” he remembered. “I can’t imagine what it was like for him to always be seeking out that hug, that touch. It was just kind of amazing.”

Amazing stories like that have become the norm since Urish and Prosise created this Study Abroad partnership that represents a natural synergy between the Occupational Therapy and Engineering Departments at St. Ambrose.

Healthcare for the indigent is lacking in Ilheus and Itabuna, a pair of Quad Cities-sized communities located in northeastern Brazil.

Urish began trips there to provide occupational therapy assistance in 2005, and ultimately recognized a keen need in clients like Max for a�ordable adaptive assistance.

Enter Prosise, who was completing her doctoral thesis in biomedical engineering when she joined the St. Ambrose faculty in 2009.

“I went into biomedical engineering because I wanted to do stu� to help people,” she said. “One of the draws for me coming to St. Ambrose was the strength of the health science programs.”

As it happened, Urish was assigned as Prosise’s faculty mentor. Prosise’s interest in creating an engineering study abroad trip merged with Urish’s interest in developing adaptive solutions for under-served Brazilians.

The partnership with Sweet Briar’s engineering program already had been formed, and faculty at that women’s college were eager to launch an engineering trip abroad that addressed medical needs as well.

The engineering-OT partnership works like this: Urish will travel to Brazil with OT students in even years. While there, she will identify adaptive needs that engineering students might be able to meet.

“I take pictures, I take video and I come back and share with Jodi,” Urish said. “We talk about options,

It was a feeling Chris Donnelly ’12 still can’t quite put into words.Like a virtual hug, perhaps?As a St. Ambrose engineering major, Donnelly

traveled to Ilheus, Brazil, in the summer of 2011, in the company of Christine Urish, PhD, a professor of occupational therapy, Jodi Prosise, PhD, an assistant professor of engineering, and fellow St. Ambrose

engineering and OT students.They took with them a

compression vest Donnelly and others had developed through the Program for Assistive Technologies for the Underprivileged (PATU), a course of study taught by Prosise in collaboration with Urish and the engineering science program at Sweet Briar College near Lynchburg, Va.

The vest was meant for Max, a 15-year-old Brazilian with severe autism, and it was designed to address Max’s constant desire

to be hugged. “He absolutely craved hugs,” Donnelly remembered. “He was kind of hyperactive unless he was being hugged.”

Donnelly and his partners developed the vest without ever having met Max, and then traveled to Ilheus, a sister city to Davenport, to present the device. “We put the vest on Max and it was instantaneous,” he said of the calming e�ect of the mechanical embrace.

Engineering, OT Programs Team to Fill A Need

The takaway is that it is really nice to use knowledge to help people and make a positive change.”

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she turns them over to students, and they choose their projects.”

This year, Chris Lorenzon, a senior engineering major from Bettendorf, Iowa, went to Brazil with Prosise. There, he delivered a third iteration of an eye-blink communication board designed to help Emanuelle, a 15-year-old girl with severe cerebral palsy, communicate basic needs to her parents and caregivers.

For Lorenzen, as for Donnelly, the reward is learning while creating something that solves a real human need. “The takeaway is that it is really nice to use knowledge to help people and make a positive change,” he said.

The June trip also resulted in promising preliminary discussions about involving engineering students from the Universidad Estadual de Santa Cruz, who served as hosts to the SAU-Sweet Briar traveling contingent, in ongoing assistive technology projects in the region.

Read a blog about this year’s trip to Brazil, and learn more

about engineering, occupational therapy and study abroad at

St. Ambrose at sau.edu/Scene

A Project Built to SustainCreating a generation of Ambrosians

committed to the cause of Sustainability

is the aim of the St. Ambrose University

2013–14 academic project.

“This has to be the age of sustainability,”

said Rev. Robert “Bud” Grant ’80, PhD,

coordinator of a campus-wide initiative led

by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Although Sustainability represents a

number of ideas and approaches, SAU

primarily will focus on the “green” side,

Fr. Grant said. Most of the lectures have been

set and 13 courses will be taught that tie in

with the theme.

First Year Experience will make the book

Living Downstream required reading, and

author Sandra Steingraber will visit SAU for a

public reading on Oct. 22.

Ideas beyond the podium and the

classroom have been proposed by GreenLife,

SAU’s student environmental club. From

staging a “don’t drive in” movie night to

hydroponic gardens, the club hopes to

introduce activities that get students in the

habit of being green.

Fr. Grant said raising awareness of current

and looming environmental issues and

encouraging students to reflect on the topic,

are key focuses of the project. The final hope

is to change behavior.

“That last step can’t be forced, it can’t be

required,” Grant said.

Read more about the Sustainability Project and

scheduled lectures and events at sau.edu/scene.

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by Craig DeVrieze

Coaching Students to Endure, Succeed

Somewhere in the middle of a 50-kilometer cross country ski race, the hands and feet begin to sting from the cold, the lungs ache from exhaustion, the hamstrings scream from the exertion, and any sane person begins to question the wisdom of pushing on.

Life—and school—can sometimes feel like an endurance race, as well.

In each case, Darla Baumgarten—a former competitive cross-country skier and coach and a current assistant professor of kinesiology at St. Ambrose—exhorts her students to endure. To push on. To succeed.

Eight years into a career in higher education for which she said she always felt destined, Baumgarten carries an established reputation as a knowledgeable and engaging instructor, as well as a compassionate and perceptive student adviser.

“Darla is loved by the students,” said Suzanne Wiese, the Kinesiology Department’s administrative assistant. “She is just really all there for the students’ success.”

Mark Brauweiler ’13 graduated cum laude in May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and human performance and fitness. He said Baumgarten brings her endurance coaching mentality to the classroom. And, as his adviser, he

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particularly remembered her coaching him through the challenging process of applying to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, which he will begin at SAU this fall.

“I might not have made it into the DPT program if it hadn’t been for her,” Brauweiler recalled. “Where there is a problem, she will say ‘OK, let’s work through this.’”

Sara Lopata ’11 recognized Baumgarten’s “all there” passion for students long before she needed it most. But when the young student su�ered a serious brain injury from a single-

car accident in the summer of 2008, Baumgarten was chief among the SAU faculty and sta� who helped her battle back to gain a degree.

“There were times when I was hardcore struggling and her personality helped keep me motivated,” said Lopata, who, as a brain injury specialist in West Des Moines, Iowa, now strives to inspire her therapy clients with a similar “push-through” brand of positivity.

Skiing drew Baumgarten from her native Colorado to Marquette, Mich., where an average of 200 inches of snow

falls each year. After competing for a time on the national cross-country ski circuit, she earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Northern Michigan University. She also served as a graduate assistant coach of an NMU women’s cross-country ski team that finished second in the nation.

Baumgarten taught grade school physical education for a couple of years before spending 13 years as an exercise physiologist at Marquette General Hospital. After her husband’s work brought the family to the Quad Cities, she

learned of an opening in the St. Ambrose Kinesiology Department, where her clinical experience proved to be a welcome asset.

At SAU, Baumgarten has watched the exercise science field grow in stature and the school’s Kinesiology Department expand from two full-time faculty members to six.

Now in the process of completing her doctoral dissertation, Baumgarten expects the need for exercise and fitness specialists will continue to rise as baby boomers become senior citizens and a generation

“I am passionate about the field of kinesiology, and

I teach them to be passionate as well.”

facultyPROFILE

of far-too-sedentary American grade schoolers comes of age.

Baumgarten looks forward to preparing future kinesiology students to help both groups shape up. “I am passionate about the field of kinesiology, and I teach them to be passionate as well,” she said.

One of her passions has necessarily cooled. Baumgarten doesn’t get much long-distance skiing done in the Quad Cities, and her original hope to launch a junior cross-country skiing club here melted long ago. “The snow doesn’t stay down long enough,” she said. “You can’t count on it.”

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Being Fit Isn’t Play Today

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he first gymnasium on the St. Ambrose

campus was called Play Hall.

Built in 1888, the building measured a cozy

25 feet by 50 feet. It was replaced in 1909 by

a larger exercise space in the lower portion

of a new addition to Ambrose Hall. That was

bigger, but not big enough.

LeClaire Hall—with its (then) expansive

state-of-the-art gymnasium, basement

swimming pool and balcony running track—

came along in 1917, built to fit the college’s

growing needs and expanding student body.

And in 1982, that finally outdated facility

made way for the PE Center.

Rev. William Hannon, the fourth president

of St. Ambrose, stressed at the LeClaire

Hall dedication: “ We must not forget that

our mental training is as important as our

physical development.”

That admonition never has been forgotten

at St. Ambrose, where, from the outset,

the physical and mental development of

Ambrosians each have been viewed as

essential elements of the school’s mission.

What the builders of Play Hall, LeClaire

Hall and even the PE Center could not have

foreseen, however, is how intertwined those

once seemingly separate mission elements

would become in the 21st century.

In 2013, an important segment of our

student population is here specifically

to learn how to enhance the physical

development of others through our

expanding health sciences curricula.

Meanwhile, St. Ambrose students and

prospective students of all educational

disciplines are keenly interested in truly

modern recreational facilities, where they

can work to stay or become physically fit

through all the means modern exercise

science can provide. That desire is keener

still in athletes.

The construction of a new health and

wellness center to meet the expanding

needs of the modern student and our

growing university has been designated as

the highest priority on a 10-year Master Plan

approved by the Board of Trustees.

Both the need and the value are clear.

A Tight Fit

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by Craig DeVrieze

It is a trend that has paralleled the growth in undergraduate and graduate programs o�ered through the College of Health and Human Services.

“I think this is really important for recruitment,” Halligan said. “The interest in wellness has increased.”

This is good news. Yet, it also amplifies a significant campus need.

The PE Center was built in 1982 to accommodate the growth at that time of both varsity athletics and general enrollment at St. Ambrose.

It was not built to accommodate the substantial growth that is happening in the present.

“They built what they could a�ord back in 1982,” said Mike Poster ’88, vice president for finance at St. Ambrose. “It was a huge improvement from what they had at the time, but our on-campus population has probably grown by a factor of four since then, and we are still in that same building.”

Cramped, yet spread outActually, not everyone who ideally would be in the

building is. The PE Center’s cramped quarters have forced more than two-thirds of the SAU athletic sta� into o�ces in Davis and Ambrose Halls or, in the case of football coaches, to an annex a mile from campus.

Football players have had their own weight room in that annex since 2010, a change that was made to ensure the on-campus workout room would be available to other students most hours of the day.

The PE Center also o�ers limited locker room space, forcing a majority of athletes to use lockers in the basement of LeClaire Hall or to dress in their residence hall rooms.

Then there is the matter of making use of the one

Kate Ross didn’t come to St. Ambrose to get fit. She arrived that way. Still, a date with a set of barbells or a treadmill is a routine part of the sophomore’s weekday agenda.

“Monday and Thursday are arm days,” said the nursing major from Champaign, Ill. “Tuesday and Wednesday are leg days.”

Ross—who weighs 125 pounds, but can lift 160—spends an hour-and-a-half each of those days in the very busy weight-lifting and elliptical workout facility on the second floor of the PE Center, continuing a passion she developed as a high school track and field competitor.

“When I got to college, I bumped it up a notch,” she said of her workout routine. “I think it boosts my self-esteem and it really brings me into an atmosphere where everyone else is passionate about lifting, working out, and sports. It is a good community.”

It also is a large and growing community.Although national studies show the current

generation of American collegians are less fit and fitness-focused than preceding generations, that isn’t necessarily true at St. Ambrose.

More than 750 of the 3,500-plus students who enrolled at SAU for the 2012–13 academic year were athletes, and 40 percent of all undergraduate students participated last year in intramural sports and recreational activities.

Meg Halligan ’89, assistant vice president for admissions, said prospective St. Ambrose students and their parents increasingly are interested in knowing what amenities the school has to o�er that can help students stay strong and healthy.

Fitness-focused Ambrosians Show Need to Grow

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gymnasium on campus. The volleyball teams have been known to practice as late as 10 p.m. on basketball game nights. And, to accommodate women’s basketball, the men’s hoops team routinely stages its afternoon practices at the Beyond the Baseline facility on the former Marycrest College campus.

“A lot of it just comes down to needing more space,” said Ray Shovlain ’79, ’82 MBA, the men’s head basketball coach and SAU athletic director. “If we could practice three teams at the same time in the same building, it would free up more time for general student use.”

Student use of the gymnasium is, indeed, another piece of the puzzle. To accommodate the 40-plus volleyball teams and more than 55 basketball teams that participated in intramural leagues this past year, Recreation Director Andy Milton had to become a circus-worthy juggler.

Ross, the sophomore nursing student, played intramural volleyball and said she was on the court as late as 11 p.m., which was not exactly helpful when it came to acing a pop quiz in an 8 a.m. biology course. “We get to bed pretty late some times after games,” she said.

Milton said that is a problem.“To me it’s a customer-service issue for the

students,” he said. “At the same time, I will tell you campus recreation is just as big a cause for the overcrowding at the PE Center. When we are in there, that thing is booked from 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. There is no time for that informal game of pick-up basketball or volleyball or badminton.”

Since Milton became director six years ago, the campus recreation o�erings have grown extensively. Last year, three club sports were added to the campus activity roster. In August, that number will grow to 10.

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Also growing in popularity, especially among female students, are aerobic dance activities such as Zumba. Space constrictions at the PE Center have forced Milton to schedule those classes, some of which number 50 students, in the ballroom at the Rogalski Center. And that, of course, is subject to the ballroom’s availability.

“It’s a strain,” Milton said of attempting to fit a fitness-driven student body into currently available space.

Which means it is past time to grow.

New Wellness Center High PriorityConstruction of a new health and wellness center

was identified as the highest priority in a 10-year Master Plan approved by the Board of Trustees in the fall of 2011.

“A building like this is an absolute necessity,” said Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, university president. “It will complete the outstanding range of new and renovated facilities available to serve our students.”

Preliminary plans call for a new building to be constructed just west of the PE Center, utilizing space that currently is used as a practice football field.

Poster said the new building could be as large as 100,000 square feet. It ideally would include three to four basketball courts, an indoor running track, and an expanded cardio workout and weight-lifting center.

In conjunction with the reconfigured space in the PE Center, the addition would allow Kinesiology

Department classrooms, labs and o�ces—most but not all of which are currently located in Hayes Hall—to find a common home.

Additional locker room space and an expanded sports medicine area also would be accommodated. And the men’s and women’s basketball teams could practice—on campus—simultaneously, while accommodating a more customer-friendly student recreation schedule as well.

A detailed construction plan, a final budget, and a definitive timetable are pending, Poster said, but ideally the new facility would be completed within the next five years.

That won’t be a minute to soon, according to Shovlain.

The longtime coach said he frequently visits suburban high schools with larger and more modern workout facilities than he can show recruits here. He said many of the colleges that SAU coaches compete against on the recruiting trail also have better facilities.

Shovlain, Halligan and Poster all said the state-of-the-art residential halls and an expanding catalog of first-class academic o�erings at St. Ambrose have been major assets in recruiting athletes and non-athletes alike.

As for wellness and athletics facilities? “We have worked around it,” Halligan said.

That is getting harder to do.“It’s the third leg of recruitment,” Poster said. “And

we don’t feel we have as quality a facility as a lot of other schools. Our board members who have taken their sons and daughters on college trips would say those are things that really are noticed when you are visiting a campus.

“If we can make a new structure include all the things that would be important to students and to student-athletes, it is certainly going to improve our recruiting.”

See an SAUtv video of student reaction to health and wellness

facilities at sau.edu/scene.

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Through 41 years of teaching at St. Ambrose,

Barb Walker, PhD, has seen her share of

growth and expansion.

A college became a university. A campus

practically doubled in size, and student

enrollment grew with it. A curriculum

founded upon the liberal arts was broadened

to include one of the most extensive and

respected ranges of health science programs

in the Midwest.

Yet, even Walker cannot help but marvel

at the rapid growth of one such health

science-related program—the Kinesiology

Department chaired by the longtime

educator herself.

“The growth we’ve experienced in the past

few years has truly been incredible—going

from 50 students four years ago to nearly

400 today,” she said. “Things just keep

moving on up for us.”

Kinesiology in Motion > > > > > > > > >Creatively adapting space and programs has allowed health science programs to flourish

by Ted Stephens III ’01, ’04

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It only makes sense that the Kinesiology Department

is moving forward. Kinesiology, after all, is the study of

human motion—or human “kinetics.”

“Kinesiology isn’t just about physical activity or how

we move, but about the impact the way we move has

on our lives,” Walker said. “Many students aren’t exactly

clear what kinesiology is, but they are resolute in their

desires to make an impact on the lives of others and

feel like they can do that through a career in the health

sciences.”

This year, St. Ambrose will welcome some 60 new

students who have declared interest in one of the four

majors within the Kinesiology Department—physical

education, sports management, human performance

and fitness, and exercise science. Walker said the latter

two are especially popular with incoming students.

Many new students will have hopes of earning a cov-

eted spot in SAU’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program,

which continues to be recognized as a top program in

the country. This year, more than 500 students applied

for one of 36 seats in the DPT program. Other under-

graduate kinesiology students will go on to careers

in physical fitness, coaching or training, among many

others.

Meanwhile, undergraduate enrollment in other

health-related fields of study, such as nursing, biology

and chemistry, as well as the number of graduate

school applicants for physical therapy and occupational

therapy, have noticeably spiked in the past four years.

It is growth that could be attributed to America’s

renewed emphasis on physical fitness—from First Lady

Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to television

shows like The Biggest Loser.

“But I also think it has to do with the fact that kids

have been involved in athletics throughout their lives,”

Walker said. “And even though some of their athletic ca-

reers may end after high school, their ambitions to help

themselves and others lead a healthy life do not.”

Early and intense athletic specialization also is leading

to injuries at a younger age. As a result, children are

being exposed to the type of care that a professional

athlete might get from a physical therapist. “They expe-

rience firsthand what physical therapy can do, and they

think, ‘I want to do that,’” said Michael Puthoff, PT, PhD,

director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

Sandra Cassady, PhD, dean of the College of Health

and Human Services, said the growing interest also

results from an awareness young adults gain by watch-

ing their parents and grandparents get older—real life

experiences and challenges that continue to reinforce

the importance and need to live a healthy life.

Then, too, a number of students simply want to help

people.

“Much satisfaction can come from helping others

obtain optimum health and fitness,” Cassady said. “This,

coupled with our strong service commitment across

the university, is a good match for many of our new

students.”

Adapt: The Ambrose WayGrowth of the health science programs has forced St.

Ambrose to adapt and expand.

“As long as I can remember, we have been creatively

using the facilities available to us, whether that is turn-

ing a racquetball court in the PE Center into a dance stu-

dio, or a classroom in Hayes Hall into a fully functioning

kinesiology lab,” Walker said. “We make it work. We do

whatever it takes to make things good for our students.

It’s the Ambrose way.”

That includes opening the three-year-old Center for

Health Sciences Education at Genesis in Davenport. It is

home to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program, as well

as the Master of Occupational Therapy and undergradu-

ate nursing program, and it offers more laboratory space

and access to the technology that students will use after

they graduate. The proximity to the Genesis Medical

19

Center-West Campus facility, as well as to the St. Am-

brose Children’s Campus across the street, also means

that students have opportunities to learn in real-world

settings.

This summer, a 13,000-square foot addition is under-

way at the Center for Health Sciences Education, mak-

ing room for the Master of Physician Assistant Studies

program that plans to seat its first class next fall.

Meanwhile, Cassady and others hope the expanding

kinesiology program soon will find a home in the form of

a new health and wellness center on the main campus.

“Expanding space for recreation will not only serve

our health science programs, but will help us in further-

ing the mission of the university,” said the dean. “The

integration between what we teach in the classroom and

what we offer our students outside of it must always go

hand-in-hand.”

A new facility would help the Kinesiology Department

build on core strengths that are common denominators

across the SAU health sciences curricula—outstanding

faculty members working together in innovative and

ever-adaptive ways.

“Time and time again we survey the applicants to our

DPT program, and what continues to be reinforced is

that the reason they want to get into our programs is

the faculty,” said Puthoff. “They see and hear, or have

experienced firsthand, how our faculty members are

responsive to student needs, and are experts in this

field. They understand how current they are in health

and wellness practices of today.

“Ultimately, that’s why they come here.”

Read more about the Kinesiology Department and College of

Health and Human Services at sau.edu/scene.

“Much satisfaction can come from helping others obtain optimum health and fitness”

20

SAU strengthens local economy, lifts QC peopleby Steven Lillybeck At the heart of St. Ambrose University beats an economic powerhouse. And

the beat of that heart is felt throughout the Quad Cities.Consider the numbers: According to an independent study conducted by

the Strategic Economics Group, Des Moines, Iowa, St. Ambrose accounted for $188 million in business spending and $73 million in personal income for the Quad City area in 2012. Campus construction alone created 118 jobs and $5.8 million in personal income.

Consider this impact: In 2008, in the face of a worldwide recession, St. Ambrose built the $10 million Center for Health Sciences Education at Genesis in Davenport, providing jobs and incomes for dozens of workers and families who might otherwise have been without.

Not only is St. Ambrose a major economic force, the university adds more—much more—to the local community. Many St. Ambrose alumni choose to stay in the Quad City area, supplying local businesses, manufacturers and health care providers a steady stream of educated, skilled and motivated young people ready and willing to go to work.

Thousands of SAU alumni work, pay taxes, raise families, buy food and contribute significantly to the well being of the Quad Cities. They are a

living, breathing asset in every sense of the word.Behind the numbers are faces; real people working real jobs and spending

real money; sharing the benefits of their St. Ambrose education with the community in which they live.

major {impact}

21

Here, in their own words, is testimony

to the economic vigor of St. Ambrose University

and its impact on the people who live, work,

play and learn in the Quad Cities.

Builds Opportunity$90 million was spent on construction

in the past decade.

Steve TobinJobsite Superintendent, Estes Construction

“The health sciences building was a very important job for us as the recession hit, and it was important for the community. It kept us, and a lot of sub-con-tractors, busy during a very slow time. It was easily one of biggest projects during a time when there were not a whole lot of projects around—big or small.

“Beyond that, the health sciences building gives the community something special. It meets the needs of the community for nurses, physical therapists and other health-care professionals.

“St. Ambrose is a very important customer for Estes, and they are a pleasure to work with. We’ve done a lot of projects for them over the years and they make us feel like we are part of the family.”

In 2012, St. Ambrose created 1,913 Quad City area jobs.

Mike PosterSt. Ambrose Vice President for Finance

“The figure that really stood out to me is the 1,900-plus jobs generated by the university. The fact that another 1,300 jobs were created beyond our 600 employees is a very significant number when it comes to economic activity. The money generated from those jobs continues to ripple through the economy.

“The other thing I believe deserves attention is what the university did during the recession. We did not lay anyone o�; we powered right through the recession. We continued to build.”

Creates Jobs

22

Nearly 82,000 visitors per year attend St. Ambrose events.

Dan HuberPresident/Co-Owner, Frontier Hospitality Group

“The amount of business we do with and because of St. Ambrose is significant. We started partnering with St. Ambrose a little more than a year ago when the Best Western Plus SteepleGate Inn in Davenport was named their preferred hotel provider. It has been an incredibly positive business relationship. We are fortunate to host their guests when they are visiting the university.

“We take our relationship with St. Ambrose very seriously. It’s more than just transacting business. We feel that it’s imperative that we are invested in the St. Ambrose mission and reflect the core values of St. Ambrose in terms of how we take care of their guests.

“St. Ambrose is one of the more vital and important institutions in our community. We will do everything we can to support their growth and overall success. We live here, we have a business here, and our employees reside here. We know what St. Ambrose means to Davenport and the Quad City community as a whole.”

Attracts VisitorsSt. Ambrose’s $63 million

in payroll, benefits and expenses, generated another

$53 million of indirect economic activity in 2012.

John Byrne, PhD

St. Ambrose Professor of Marketing“I’ve always felt that St. Ambrose is

an important part of the community, but when I saw the numbers from the study I was blown away. I was thrilled. It confirmed the thoughts I had long held about the impact of the university on the community.

“And the impact is more than just dollars. Look around the Quad City community and you will find people everywhere who are St. Ambrose grads, occupying positions of leadership.”

Employs Quad Citians

23

SAU operations resulted in $356,000 in 2012 sales taxes and

$2.8 million in property taxes.

Randi RockwellSt. Ambrose Coordinator of Young Alumni and Philanthropy

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to attend college at St. Ambrose, but I never anticipated everything I would get from coming here. This is a special place and it’s something you carry with you your entire life.

“My husband and I recently purchased a new home, and, fortunately, we have a financial cushion. We don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck. We can provide for our daughter, and we just bought a new swing set for her.

“St. Ambrose is more than just a degree. St. Ambrose taught me to think in a di�erent way and because of that, I can contribute to my job in a completely new way.”

Creates tax revenue

Students annually spend $31 million beyond campus borders.

Dan BushOwner of two Jimmy John’s franchises, one a block from campus

“St. Ambrose is a very important to us. When their students go on break, we see a sales drop of 10–15 percent, and we definitely plan our scheduling around that. They are absolutely a big part of our business. At the beginning of the semester, on move-in day, and at the end of the semester, on move-out day, we see a big boost in business.

“But not only are they great as customers, they also provide us with an important part of our employee base. St. Ambrose students make great employees. We are very happy with St. Ambrose students who work for us. They are easily some of our best employees.”

Each student spends an average of $5,800 yearly outside the university.

Luke StaudtJunior Management and Marketing major

“As a student, I don’t have a lot of disposable income, but on the weekend my friends and I like to branch out, get o� campus and visit local restaurants. We also like to attend local sporting events, like the Mallards and River Bandits. I don’t track my spending as well as I should, but typically I spend between $10 to $15 when I go out.

“In addition to my studies, I also work in the Admissions O�ce as a campus tour guide and as a tutor in the Student Success Center.

“I knew the moment I stepped on the St. Ambrose campus that this was the place where I wanted to go to school. St. Ambrose is an amazing place. I knew instantly I would be able to learn and grow and be cared for during my four years in school.”

Read more about SAU’s economic impact at

sau.edu/scene.

Supports local economy

Supports business

24

Dempsey has found a niche where weaving two concepts becomes an everyday adventure. “We’re moving personal training into the medical profession,” he said.

In the past few years, Dempsey has started working with wheelchair athletes—Paralympians, and wounded war veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan who have experienced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or e�ects of traumatic brain injuries (TBI).

He has explored a cross-pattern training regimen that has gained notoriety in the sports and medical disciplines. The technique forces athletes to complete exercises by working across their bodies and can activate muscles that might be atrophying in wheelchair athletes.

He recently presented the early results of his techniques at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado, and is working with researchers at Stanford University to explore how to rigorously test the benefits of cross-pattern workouts.

Sharing a trait with wounded warriors who have hidden scars helps him to help them heal, he said.

During his senior year at St. Ambrose, Dempsey struggled with severe depression. He credited the concerned and attentive faculty and the intimacy

Tim Dempsey ’85 specializes in combinations. He sees overlaps that others might miss.

Such crossovers have been part of Dempsey’s life since he started as a college student at the former Marycrest College yet competed for the St. Ambrose club track team.

Lured by a work-study opportunity as an assistant football trainer, Dempsey decided to transfer to St. Ambrose just before the 1983 school year. Within three days, he’d moved into the dorms and begun work with the football team. “I got so much responsibility with athletic training at St. Ambrose,” he said.

He graduated with a degree in sociology, but has made personal training his vocation. He said the mix fits well.

“You learn how to listen to people, deal with people from all walks of life,” said Dempsey, who worked in Mexico for several years.

Now at Riekes Center for Human Enhancement in Menlo Park, Calif., he brings his sociology-sports blend to a workplace that represents his “dream situation.”

by Dustin Renwick ’10

Tim Dempsey crosses disciplines

to train bodies, heal hearts

25

alumniPROFILE

that comes with attending a small school for helping him overcome it. Similar to the athletes with whom Dempsey now works, he also found healing in sports.

He can recall one day when a runner, someone from town, joined the mid-distance crew on a training run. The man didn’t stay long.

“He says, ‘Is this a group therapy session or are you the St. Ambrose track team?’” Dempsey remembered. “When you weren’t pushing the pace, you had in-depth conversations with those guys. We were very close. The physical exercise and the conversations, that was my only outlet.”

“We’re moving personal training into the medical profession.’’

Dempsey now serves as a resource for people who might need such an outlet, even if they only think of him as their strength and conditioning coach. What his athletes get is someone who knows not only the toughness needed for sports, but also the fortitude necessary to keep an open mind for new ways to train.

Crossing those two will keep anyone busy.

26

Ambrosian Alumni Enjoy Vacationing TogetherSting Breaks

above: “The Girls of Third Floor South Hall” at right: “The Girls from 2020 Gaines”

alumniNEWS

2727

In October, Dolly Grupalo ‘59 and fellow nursing grads will reunite in the Napa Valley region of California. The 23 alumnae plus spouses will hail from 11 states and stay within walking distance of each other in the small town of Yountville, where Grupalo lives. The itinerary includes a ride on the Napa Valley Wine Train, a private bus trip to a 12th-century-style castle winery, and a Western barbeque at Grupalo’s home.

“We’ve always been in contact with each other,” said Grupalo. “It’s the camaraderie, the joy of being together. To celebrate where we’ve been; to be who we are. There are always a lot of laughs—and some tears too.”

This is not their first trip. “There was the Florida cruise; Arizona in 2007; the 50-year reunion at St. Ambrose in 2009; and San Antonio, Texas, in 2011,” Grupalo recalled.

A group of more recent graduates who have scattered across the country also have kept a busy, common travel log, said Jessica (Leonard) Holberton ’02.

The “Girls from 2020 Gaines” (an address they all shared while at St. Ambrose) have come together at the customary weddings, and bridal and baby showers. But for various members of the group, there also were treks to SeaWorld in Florida, New York City, Las Vegas, and, three years ago, a nostalgic trip “home” to St. Ambrose, where all six were present for a new picture, sitting on the stoop of 2020 Gaines once again.

What transforms classmates into travel mates?“It’s about deep friendship,” Foley said. “There’s

something about that Ambrose bond. The connection, like none I’ve ever known. We take care of each other and say, ‘Keep me in your prayers.’ Whatever happened those magical four years have stayed with us our entire

life.”

Read more about alumni vacation trips and view a photo album at

sau.edu/scene.

Sunning on a Florida beach in March of 2012, Lori Foley ’80 and three fellow members of the “Girls of Third Floor South Hall” at first stood out as a curiosity amid the clusters of college students reveling in

spring break.Before long, they were an inspiration.“It was the most amazing trip,” Foley said. “At first,

we felt a bit odd in and amongst the spring-breaking college students. In the end, they gravitated toward us, fascinated that we were former college friends still spending time together.”

Foley and her fellow, fun-loving Class of ’80 Ambrosians—Cheryl (Mason) Lunardi, Terri (Reid) Zumbahlen and Sandy (Larson) Bahe—dubbed the inaugural vacation “Sting Break,” and immediately planned another trip for 2013.

Those trips were the result of an enduring relationship the classmates established at St. Ambrose.

“We lived together, nursed each other, shared heartbreaks,” said Foley, whose group also has gathered at one another’s homes for girls weekends several times a year since 1980. “It’s a bond like no other friendship I’ve ever known.”

Many St. Ambrose alumni feel the same way and have made certain not to let miles and years keep them apart.

Chad Driscoll ’08 is part of a group that has traveled to be together each summer, starting with back-to-back summers highlighted by classmate’s weddings. “Then the third summer came and we said, ‘Oh, no one is getting married this summer,’” Driscoll recalled. “But we really enjoyed our time together, so we decided not to wait for another wedding.”

Meeting mid-point in Des Moines, Iowa, the past several years, the group has gathered at the state fair, played disc- and mini-golf, shared meals, and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

It’s the camaraderie, the joy of being together.To celebrate where we’ve been; to be who we are.

by Jane Kettering

Ambrosian Alumni Enjoy Vacationing Together

28

alumniNEWS

Theatre Alum Acts to Save Junior ProgramA proud graduate of the St. Ambrose University theatre program and holder of a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Connecticut, Daniel DP Sheridan ’05 is equally proud of the program that gave him his first taste of the spotlight.

He also is fiercely protective of that Davenport Junior Theater program, which is why he returned to his hometown after obtaining his MFA in 2008.

“The program had been deteriorating and was on the verge of being cancelled,” said Sheridan, who stepped in as the program’s coordinator and brought it back to life. “A world without Davenport Junior Theater did not compute. It was too important to let go.”

That’s not a concern any longer.Under Sheridan’s direction, the 61-year-old Davenport

program, the second-oldest junior theater program in the United States, has grown from 350 enrolled students when he arrived to 1,500 and counting.

“I hired more sta� and we took everything back to the basics,” Sheridan said. “Theater classes and main stage performances. We eliminated some programming. We wanted to grow.”

His sta� includes close to 10 St. Ambrose graduates or current students, and a few of his junior actors have gone on to pursue degrees at SAU. Sheridan likes to call that “a circular progression,” and he credits theater professor and department chair Cory Johnson, PhD, for teaching him true Ambrosian lessons he works to pay forward.

“We are always asking ‘what are we doing for the kids now and what aren’t we doing that we could be?’” Sheridan said. “We want it to keep growing and changing with the needs of the kids.”

A recent addition to the program, Spectrum Theater, will aim to help children with autism through their participation in theater. “I have learned to never count a student out,” Sheridan said. “Seeing students make discoveries in themselves or in the play… seeing that light go on. That’s the most rewarding part.”

HO

MEC

OM

ING

201

3Build Your Own ReunionWhile classes with a few more years between themselves and

their St. Ambrose experience made use of more formal settings

two floors above them this past October, the Class of ’02 was

perfectly content to celebrate its 10th reunion in the former game

room on the lower level of the Rogalski Center.

They called it “The Kid’s Table.” And loved every minute,

especially when members of those older classes crashed their

party as the night rolled on.

“We were glad it was open and something people felt

comfortable coming to as Ambrosians,” said Matt Ehlman, who

helped plan the party over the span of two months along with

four fellow ’02 classmates.

Paul Thompson, the former senior class president, led a

weekly teleconference with Ehlman, Dorothy (Anello) Lange,

Kylene Canham and Julie Kronlage. As members of the class, they

assumed ownership of their reunion in a manner SAU Alumni

Director Anne Gannaway applauds.

Gannaway hopes “Reunion Volunteers” can help the Classes

of ’63, ’73, ’88, ’03 and ’08 put together similarly self-constructed

reunions for this year’s Sept. 27–29 Homecoming celebration. “We

are trying to help it be more alum-to-alum interaction, a personal

connection that is different from being invited by a staffer,” she

said.

One thing planners of the ’02 reunion set their sites upon early

was inviting faculty members and administrators who had been a

part of their SAU experience. That proved to be a big draw for the

turnout of between 50 and 60 class members.

Joined by additional class members as the planning continued,

the reunion committee also chose the music, collected donations

for an open bar, and contacted other class members to encourage

attendance. At the reunion, class members pledged to raise an

additional $75,000 by 2017, matching what the group had donated

to the university since graduation.

Thompson said group members invested perhaps an hour each

week over the course of two months to make the party their own.

“I think it is a good template going forward for any class,” he said.

It is indeed an “own your reunion” approach that Gannaway

hopes will spread. And it just might. David Burke ’73 is among

the volunteers who began working this past spring to make their

September reunions a success.

Read more about Homecoming 2013 at sau.edu/scene.

29

At the dedication of the St. Ambrose Health Sciences Education Center at Genesis three years ago, St. Ambrose honored McCarthy’s contributions to the Quad City community by naming the new building’s student commons area in his honor.

In August, his legacy at St. Ambrose will be further celebrated when West Hall is renamed McCarthy Hall.

“He probably would have hated that his name was on a building,” Callas said, “but we hope the students who pass through its doors will understand that success in life has everything to do with a genuine connection

with people, loyalty, honor, and putting your head down to do the work. That’s who Dick was.”

Ed Littig, PhD, former vice president for advancement at St. Ambrose, described McCarthy as a strong, intelligent man, a “quiet force” with a variety of interests who never wanted to be the center of attention. “But that quiet force was a force to be reckoned with,” Littig said.

McCarthy practiced law in Rock Island County for more than 60 years, first as assistant state’s attorney and assistant attorney general. He was a founding member of McCarthy, Callas and Feeney, where he worked until his death.

McCarthy’s financial gifts to St. Ambrose—in excess of $2 million—came as legacy gifts, which he planned for in his trust. In recent years, gifts from will and estates have composed more than 20 percent of the philanthropic support received by SAU, said Sally Crino, assistant vice president for advancement.

“Legacy gifts allow the donor to shape how they want to leave a mark on a community—it can be for an academic program or scholarship or for a building,” Crino said “In Dick’s case, he was interested in helping the university grow while also o�ering financial assistance to veterans from Rock Island interested in attending St. Ambrose.”

Read more about McCarthy Hall and Planned Giving at sau.edu/scene.

alumniNEWS

Mac’s LegacyTo hear John Callas talk about Richard McCarthy ’46 is to hear a son tell stories about his father. Because to Callas, that is exactly what McCarthy was. A father. A confidant. A friend.

“When Tom Brokaw talks about the Greatest Generation, he’s talking about people like Dick McCarthy,” Callas will tell you. “He grew up during the Great Depression—which meant he grew up hungry. For food, yes. But really, hungry for life. It is the way he lived every single day.”

Though he never married and had no children of his own, McCarthy, who passed away in 2008 at age 85, considered Callas his son. He hired Callas right out of law school and mentored him into the “attorney I am today,” Callas said.

“Dick was like a rabbit. He was in the o�ce by 6 o’clock every morning, was already full throttle by 7, and always had some commentary about the previous evening’s Larry King Show the minute I walked in the door,” remembered Callas. “His clients knew that if they wanted to see Dick, it was best to drop by first thing in the morning because by 8 he would have three di�erent clients in three di�erent o�ces.”

Illinois Supreme Court Judge Thomas Kilbride, who credited McCarthy with helping him rise to his current rank, called the early morning whirlwind The McCarthy Tornado.

“It was amazing what he could juggle—and do so with accuracy and attention and integrity,” Kilbride said. “Even when he had those three di�erent clients in three di�erent o�ces, you had his full attention. To this day, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

A veteran of World War II, McCarthy earned a Purple Heart and four Bronze Stars—honors most of his friends didn’t know about until shortly before his passing. He participated in the invasion of Europe at Utah Beach and fought at the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, he enrolled at the DePaul University School of Law, where he sold peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during lunch to pay for school.

The Gift of Giving

McCarthy Hall Dedication Wednesday, Aug. 14 at 4 p.m.

Open to the public

Reception and tours following

SAU campus, Gaines at Lombard

30

classNOTES

50The Fifties

Thomas McGinn ’51 was inducted

into the Newman Central Catholic

High School Hall of Fame in his

native Sterling, Ill. He worked 36

years for GE before founding the

Thomas A. McGinn and Associates

human resources consulting firm.

He taught business and manage-

ment courses at the University of

Virginia and Piedmont Community

College and co-authored a book,

Harassed—100 Women Describe

Inappropriate Behavior in the Work-

place. He now is retired in Arizona.

Vincent O’Neill ’58 was named the

2013 Irish Person of the Year by the

Fr. Abram J. Ryan Division of the

Ancient Order of the Hibernians,

Louisville, Ky. O’Neill also served as

the grand marshal for the St. Pat-

rick’s Day parade. O’Neill is a certi-

fied insurance counselor and senior

account executive for Neace Lukens

insurance agency. O’Neill and his

wife, Jane, live in St. Matthews, Ky.

Lawrence Smith ’58 retired from

the Upjohn Co., Portage, Mich., as a

business communications manager

in 1998. In retirement, Smith is

spending time with his grandchil-

dren, traveling, volunteering and

practicing his hobbies of photog-

raphy and woodcarving. He and

his wife, Babbette, celebrated their

50th wedding anniversary in 2009.

70The Seventies

Thomas Abel ’75 is a pastor at the

Santo Nino Catholic Church in El

Cajon, Calif.

In May, Ray Shovlain ’79, ’82 MBA

was inducted into the Quad City

Sports Hall of Fame.

80The Eighties

Patrick Peters ’81 is the chief

executive officer of the Guthrie

County Hospital in Guthrie Center,

Iowa. Peters was previously the

president and CEO of Mount

Graham Regional Medical Center in

Stafford, Ariz.

Scott Johnson ’82 works for Fleet

Advantage in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.,

as vice president business develop-

ment.

Advanced Business Systems, Inc.,

Davenport, has hired Richard Kohl

’82 as a sales specialist.

Michael Smith ’82 is Centrue

Bank’s new vice president/regional

business development officer in

Princeton, Ill.

Tina Schindler ’85, Bettendorf,

Iowa, is manager of employee

services in the human resources

department at Modern Woodmen

of America.

Michael Avgenackis ’86 MBA is the

senior vice president at Triumph

Consulting in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Avgenackis will oversee all staffing,

compensation and outplacement

client services.

Lorie (King) Rupp ’87 is the chief

accounting officer for First Citizens

Bank, based in Raleigh, NC.

Doug Tripp ’88 is the senior

director of safety and security for

Orange County Public Schools in

Orlando, Fla. Tripp is responsible

for all health, fire safety, life safety,

police safety and security services

for the 10th largest public school

system in the nation.

Steve Collins ’89 is the senior busi-

ness relationship manager for Wells

Fargo in the Quad Cities.

90The Nineties

Carolyn Ehlert Fuller ’90 MBA,

Milan, Ill., has been reappointed

to the Western Illinois University

Board of Trustees.

Terry Seligman ’91 MBA was

recognized by Continental Who’s

Who as a Pinnacle Professional in

the field of health care. Seligman is

the president and CEO of Navitus

Health Solutions, LLC, Monona,

Wis.

Jeff Nelson ’93 has been promoted

to sergeant in the Bettendorf

(Iowa) Police Department. Nelson

is assigned as the crime prevention

officer in the field services division.

Reagan (Natrop) Rossi ’94 has

been promoted to assistant athletic

director for the College of Idaho,

where she also serves as the head

women’s basketball coach. Rossi

resides in Caldwell, Idaho, with

her husband, Rudy, and their twin

daughters, Darby and Maggie.

Logan College of Chiropractic/

University Programs, Chesterfield,

Mo., has named Clay McDonald ’97

MBA as the college’s president.

Mary (Keith) Combs ’98 graduated

with a Master of Educational Policy

and Organizational Leadership de-

gree from the University of Illinois

in May.

Christina (Taylor) Henzen ’98 is

the director of project of manage-

ment for Triumph Consulting in

Bettendorf, Iowa.

Dennis McDaniel ’98 has been

named to the Des Moines Business

Record’s 2013 Top Forty Under 40,

an award given to young profes-

sionals in the Des Moines area who

are recognized as leaders in their

field. McDaniel is the police chief in

Windsor Heights, Iowa.

Jarod Powell ’98, Bettendorf, Iowa,

chief operating officer of Powell

Financial Group, was given the

Member of the Year award at the

National Association of Insurance

and Financial Advisors Quad Cities

chapter annual awards banquet.

In February, Kathryn Kell ’99

MBHA was inducted in the

Davenport West High School

Hall of Honor. Kell has a private

dental practice and teaches and

holds leadership positions in the

World Dental Association and the

Women in Dentistry Division of the

International Federation of Dental

Education Collaboration.

31

classNOTES

00The Zeros

Vicki (Van Herzeele) Carrington

’00, ’04 MBA received a Master

of Science in Contract Manage-

ment from the Naval Postgraduate

School in Monterey, Calif. In 2012,

she received certification as a

federal contracts manager from the

National Contract Management As-

sociation. Carrington is employed

at the Rock Island Arsenal as a

contracting officer.

Amy (Hoover) Jones ’02 has been

named the 2013 Young Professional

of the Year by The Network,

a program of the Quad Cities

Chamber of Commerce.

Central State Bank of Musca-

tine, Iowa, has promoted Trista

(Calvert) Sotelo ’02 to assistant

vice president. She has been with

Central State Bank since 2003.

Lori Sundberg ’03 DBA was

recognized by Knox College,

Galesburg, Ill., with an Alumni

Achievement Award at the college’s

2013 Founder’s Day Convocation in

February. Sundberg is president of

Carl Sandburg College, Galesburg.

Michael Weipert ’03 has joined

Northwest Bank and Trust Compa-

ny as a commercial lending expert.

Sr. Mary Anthony (Jennifer)

Worrell ’04 professed first vows

toward becoming a member of the

Franciscan Sisters of Christ the

Divine Teacher at St. Alphonsus

Church in Davenport in Aug. 2012.

Retired Ambrosians Stay ConnectedFor many graduates, former professors such as Jim Van Speybroeck ’60, PhD, are the most enduring link to their collegiate past.

Van Speybroeck, a professor emeritus of business, is among a growing group of retired faculty and sta� members who are eager to maintain their own links to St. Ambrose.

Always Ambrosians, a year-old organization consisting of 35 SAU retirees, plans to more actively work to keep the school’s history alive in the 2013–14 academic year.

Working with Margaret Babbitt from the Advancement and Alumni Relations o�ce, Always Ambrosians will begin enlisting the memories of former campus icons such as Michael Kennedy ’60, theatre professor emeritus, Ed Henkhaus ’64, SAU’s longtime vice president for finance, and Richard Geiger, a professor emeritus of history. The plan is to capture in detail the history of growth and change that occurred while those retirees were here—and, in many cases, occurred because they were here.

“We will videotape people who have been here so many years and ask ‘What about the St. Ambrose story?’” said Van Speybroeck, who taught at St. Ambrose from 1963 until his retirement in 2011. “There are a lot of people who have done innovative things on this campus. We want to find those peo-ple and document their history.”

For the retirees, Always Ambrosians provides an opportu-nity to maintain a connection that always was about much more than work. “It’s di�erent than retiring from the typical 9 to 5 job,” Van Speybroeck said. “There is such a personal con-nection.”

Because that connection leads back to former students, Van Speybroeck said Always Ambrosian members will plan to be present at more alumni events this coming year. According to Sister Joan Lescinski, CSJ, PhD, the president of St. Ambrose, that is among many ways this group can serve the university.

“Our retired sta� and faculty are a treasured part of St. Ambrose University,” Sr. Lescinski said. “They truly are and always will be Ambrosians.”

Yvonne Savala ’05, Moline, was

appointed to the Western Illinois

University Board of Trustees. Savala

is the operations director at the

Midwest Intellectual Property

Management Institute.

Matt Stinocher ’06 has been hired

as a police officer for the city of

Bettendorf, Iowa.

Matt MacCrindle ’07 is a math

teacher at Crystal Lake (Ill.) Central

High School, where he also serves

as the head sophomore football

coach and an assistant varsity track

coach.

Emily Balestri ’08 DPT has earned

certification in ASTYM through Per-

formance Dynamics Inc. With this

certification, Balestri will focus on

identifying and treating abnormal

soft tissue conditions. She is an em-

ployee at St. Margaret’s Center for

Physical Rehab in Spring Valley, Ill.

Emily Olson ’08 graduated from

the College of Osteopathic Medi-

cine at Des Moines University in

May. Olson will begin a residency in

psychiatry in July and will complete

a geriatric psychiatry fellowship.

Erica (Pence) Bell ’09 is a case

manager for Big Brothers Big

Sisters of Knox County (Ill.). She

recruits and enrolls volunteers for

the program.

Nicole Lindstrom ’09 works as

a public services librarian for the

Newton (Iowa) Public Library. Lind-

strom received a Master of Library

Sciences degree from the University

of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

MBA-Packing Intern Was On the BallInterning after you have obtained your Master of Business Administration degree isn’t the normal order of things.

Of course, 2007 and 2008 were not the best years to be entering the job market, no matter your credentials. And, besides, the passion Alyse LaHue ’04, ’07 MBA has for the sport of soccer is just a little out of the ordinary as well.

Still, LaHue said her o�er to intern for the start-up Chicago Red Stars women’s pro soccer team in the fall of 2007 caught even the Red Stars owner and general manager o� guard.

“The first thing they asked was ‘Why,’” she said. “I was very honest with them. I said I wasn’t getting called back for any interviews and I needed to start somewhere. I thought this would an interesting thing to do.

“So there I was, an MBA grad interning for a start-up sports league. I guess I made it work out.”

It would seem so. Six years later, at the age of 31, LaHue is the general manager of the Red Stars, a team whose roster includes Olympians from Mexico, Canada and last summer’s gold medal-winning US team.

She still is not making the kind of money she might command in the corporate world, but LaHue is fairly certain she is having more fun.

“I played soccer at St. Ambrose, so it has always been a passion,” said LaHue, who also served as a graduate assistant coach for the Queen Bees while pursuing her MBA degree. “I just feel there is a need for me to be working where I am, and trying to make this women’s pro soccer thing work.”

That’s no small challenge. The Red Stars this spring were back in a new league, the National Women’s Soccer League, after seeing two other leagues fold since 2007.

LaHue believes the new league’s partnership with the three North American Olympic programs gives it a fighting chance. She also said watching young girls with a love for soccer interact with their Olympian idols steels her resolve.

“It makes all this worthwhile,” said the former intern. “I am exactly where I want to be right now.”

32

Kelsey Marquard ’09 received a

Juris Doctorate with distinction in

2012 from the University of Iowa

College of Law and has joined the

law firm of Lane & Waterman LLP,

Davenport, as an associate.

10The Teens

Ven. Somnieng Houern ’10 re-

ceived a Master of Public Admin-

istration degree from the Kennedy

School of Government at Harvard

University in May.

The Universal Therapy Group’s

West Burlington clinic announced

Karla Steffensmeier ’10, ’11 DPT

has joined the staff as a physical

therapist.

Air Force Airman Alex Stevenson

’10 has graduated from basic mili-

tary training at Lackland Air Force

Base, San Antonio, Texas.

Andrew Benson ’11 is a theatre art-

ist at the St. Croix Festival Theatre

in Saint Croix Falls, Wis.

Kewanee Hospital announced the

addition of Breanne Christiansen

’11, ’12 DPT to the Rehabilitation

Services and Sports Medicine staff.

Christiansen will work with the

rehab team and area physicians to

provide preventative and rehabilita-

tive services.

Mary Therese Krueger ’11, ’12 DPT

is a physical therapist at Advocate

Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn,

Ill.

classNOTES

�Marriages

Heather Dewey ’97 and Nicholas

Schmidt, Peterstown, Ill.

Andrew Stamer ’01 and Marie Pot-

ter, Davenport

Joel Porch ’02 MBHA and Casandra

Wagner, Hartland, Ill.

Ryan Holtmann ’04 and Lynn

Truitt, Columbus, Ohio

Dan Tomlin ’05, ’10 MBA and Mar-

geruite Day, Moline, Ill.

Bradley Johnson ’05 and Kassondra

Keller, Keosauqua, Iowa

Kendall (Haskins) Leonard ’06, ’07

MOT and Jeffrey Leonard, Visalia,

Calif.

Nicholas Edwards ’09 and Barbara

Fleming-Wiegand ’11, Davenport

Angie Guy ’10 DPT and Sean

Stender, Davenport

Tamara Killion ’10 and Emmanuel

Rivera ’10, Geneseo, Ill.

Taylor Bryant ’11 and Allyson Hol-

liday ’11, Davenport

Courtney Cosley ’12 and Diego

Cevallos, Rockford, Ill.

�Births

Krista (Matug) Yock ’99 and her

husband, Patrick, welcomed daugh-

ter Elizabeth Mary to their family

on March 23, 2013. Elizabeth was

welcomed home by siblings Patrick

and William.

Lizzie (Irmen) Sander ’00 and

her husband, Ryan, celebrated the

classNOTES

birth of son Owen on April 19, 2012.

Owen is younger brother to Sidney

and Isaac.

Kristie (Rogers) Porter ’03, ’04

MOT and her husband, Michael,

announced the birth of their son

Gavin, born March 24, 2013. Gavin

was welcomed home by siblings

Kayla and Brendan.

Douglas Neumann ’03, ’04 MAcc

and Kristin (Kelchen) Neumann

’04 are the proud parents of Elliott

Ambrose, who arrived on Jan. 25,

2013. Elliott is little brother to Isaac.

Matt MacCrindle ’07 and his wife,

Amy, are the proud parents of son

Cooper, born on Feb. 10, 2012.

Sarah (Neece) Redman ’09 and her

husband, Zachary ’09, celebrated

the birth of son Elijah on Sept. 21,

2012.

�Deaths

Frank Day ’37, Rock Island, Ill, April

16, 2013

Carl Stahler Sr. ’42. , Davenport,

April 7, 2013

Joseph Sbuttoni Sr. ’43, Nashville,

Tenn., Jan. 8, 2013

Terrence Lenaghan ’47, Rock

Island, Ill., Feb. 14, 2013

Bartholomew Vogel Jr. ’47, Silvis,

Ill., March 21, 2013

John Goodall ’48, Davenport,

March 4, 2013

Elmer Mapes ’49, Bettendorf, Iowa,

May 23, 2013

Thomas Hughes ’50, Rock Island,

Ill., March 5, 2013

33

Burton Malone ’50, Milwaukee,

Wis., Sept. 12, 2003

James “Jim” McGrath ’50, Phoenix,

March 7, 2013

Rev. M. Joseph Rogers ’50, Daven-

port, March 3, 2013

Orrin R.J. Stribley Jr. ’50, Colorado

Springs, Colo., Aug. 24, 2008

Richard Ijams ’51, Clearwater, Fla.,

Dec. 29, 2012

Robert Huyvaert ’52, West Palm

Beach, Fla., Oct. 27, 2011

Adolph Gebel ’53, Peachtree City,

Ga., Aug. 7, 2008

Albert Roels ’53, Rock Island, Ill.,

Nov. 7, 2012

Lester Starner ’53, Liberty, Mo.,

March 29, 2013

F. Sullivan “Sully” Greaber ’54,

Sandy Springs, Ga., March 12, 2013

Glen Hutcheson ’54 Academy,

Davenport, April 7, 2013

Eugene Smith ’54, Omaha, Neb.,

Feb. 20, 2013

Rev. Robert Mann ’55, Sun City

West, Ariz., March 19, 2013

Frank Coulon III ’56, Covington,

Ga., Oct. 3, 2007

Leonard Malloy ’56, Pasadena,

Calif., March 3, 2013

Gerry Riemersma ’56, LaGrange

Park, Ill., April 23, 2010

John Zack Jr. ’58, Aurora, Colo.,

April 30, 2009

Benjamin Beh ’62, Goleta, Calif.,

May 8, 2013

Richard Marriott ’62, Elk Grove

Village, Ill., May 21, 2013

Barbara (Rogers) Bronemann ’64,

Tucson, Ariz., Aug. 6, 2012

Robert “Bob Bob” Granack ’65,

Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 14, 2013

Gary Hall ’65, Rock Falls, Ill., April

22, 2013

Joseph Krippel Jr., ’65, Montgom-

ery, Texas, April 22, 2013

Frank Ortman ’65, Northville,

Mich., Jan. 2, 2010

Gerald “Cowboy” Hageman ’66,

Henry, Ill., April 17, 2013

John Schaffner ’66, Altoona, Iowa,

March 1, 2013

James “Jim” Leu ’67, Iowa City,

Iowa, Feb. 4, 2013

Michael Leginski ’68, Wadsworth,

Ill., Jan. 24, 2013

James “Jim” Moore ’68, ’91 MBA,

Scottsdale, Ariz., Jan. 29, 2013

Hon. Joseph Beatty ’70, Rock

Island, Ill., April 14, 2013

Curtis Carlson ’72, Punta Gorda,

Fla., June 1, 2012

Michael Murphy ’72, Chicago, Feb.

15, 2013

William Roberts ’72, Naperville, Ill.,

April 21, 2013

Mark Kentner ’73, Mt. Pleasant,

Iowa, Feb. 9, 2013

Patrick “Fred” Winne ’78, Peoria,

Ill., Nov. 8, 2012

Kevin Smith ’79, Jacksonville, Fla.,

April 7, 2013

Paul Yellman ’79, Clinton, Iowa,

March 2, 2013

Steve Lunn ’84, Chicago, April 25,

2013

Jan (Kuehl) Robinson ’84, Daven-

port, May 8, 2013

Paul Becker ’85, Davenport, April

27, 2013

Mark Polaschek ’86, Davenport,

March 25, 2013

Caroline Toohey ’94, Davenport,

March 28, 2013

Derrek Drexler ’10, Dubuque, Iowa,

March 23, 2009

Sarah Garvey ’11, Chicago, May

13, 2013

Staff

Corinne Potter, Rock Island, Ill.,

March 23, 2013

Honorary Degree recipients

Jane Folwell ’01 (Hon.), Davenport,

May 6, 2013

Sr. Mary Virginia Smith ’87 (Hon.),

Clinton, Iowa, March 10, 2013.

What’s New? Let us know what

you’ve been up to! Drop us a note

at Alumni Relations, St. Ambrose

University, 518 W. Locust St.,

Davenport, Iowa 52803 or go online

to share updates. Include your full

name, class year and phone num-

ber or email where we can contact

you to verify your information.

online extra: tell us what’s new at

sau.edu/Scene/keepintouch

Non-Profit Organization

US Postage

PAID

Rock Island, ILPermit No. 85

518 West Locust Street

Davenport, Iowa 52803

This year’s reunions will

celebrate the Classes of 1963,

1973, 1988, 2003 and 2008.

Highlights include a Friday

night lecture by acclaimed

environmentalist Winona

LaDuke, then Saturday

morning’s Killer Bee run/

walk, followed by the Bumble

Rumble, Taste of St. Ambrose

and the annual Homecoming

football battle.

Read more about the

Homecoming 2013 schedule at

sau.edu/scene.

Help us clean up our mailing list Do we need to update your

contact information? Are you

receiving a duplicate? Do

you have a winter address

to share? Do you wish to be

added or removed from our

mailing list? Contact us at:

800/SAU-ALUM

alumni@sau.edu

HOMECOMING 2013Rekindle your college memories Sept. 27–29