Alumni Magazine 2004

NON-PROFIT ORG.US POSTAGE

PAIDANN ARBOR, MIPERMIT NO. 144

Rackham AlumniMAGAZINEThe University of MichiganThe Horace H. RackhamSchool of Graduate Studies915 East Washington StreetAnn Arbor, Michigan 48109-1070

U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n

The Regents of the University of Michigan

David A. Brandon, Ann ArborLaurence B. Deitch, Bingham FarmsOlivia P. Maynard, GoodrichRebecca McGowan, Ann ArborAndrea Fischer Newman, Ann ArborS. Martin Taylor, Grosse Pointe FarmsAndrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe ParkKatherine E. White, Ann ArborMary Sue Coleman (ex officio)

The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicablefederal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination andaffirmative action, including Title IX of the EducationAmendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the RehabilitationAct of 1973. The University of Michigan is committed to apolicy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for allpersons regardless of race, sex, color, religion,creed, nationalorigin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation,disability, or Vietnam-era veteran status in employment,educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiriesor complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director ofInstitutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator,Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative ServicesBuilding, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, (734) 763-0235,TTY (734) 647-1388. For other University of Michiganinformation call (734) 764-1817.

Rackham Alumni Magazine

Published annually by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies

Steven L. KunkelInterim Dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies,

and Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs - Graduate Studies

Jill McDonoughAssistant to the Dean for Development and External Relations

Kathryn D. HolmesSenior Development Officer

Editor: Elyse RubinWriters: Jeffrey Mortimer and Eve Silberman

Designer: Rose AndersonCover Photo: Marcia L. Ledford

Contributing Photographers:D.C. Goings, Tyler Gillett, Bob Parzych, Alex Quijano, Bill Wood

Rackham Alumni Magazine welcomes your comments. Please send correspondence to Elyse Rubin, Editor

915 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1070 or e-mail: elyserbu@umich.edu

Rackham Executive Board Steven L. Kunkel, Chair, Rackham Graduate School Interim Vice Provost for

Academic Affairs — Graduate Studies, and Interim Dean of the Horace H.Rackham School of Graduate Studies

Susan E. Alcock, Professor, Classical Archaeology and Classics Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Professor, Education Catherine Brown, Associate Professor, Romance Languages John R. Chamberlin, Professor, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and

Department of Political Science Brian Coppola, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry, Associate Chair for

Curriculum and Faculty Affairs, Department of Chemistry Alec D. Gallimore, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering John Kuwada, Professor, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Vahid Lotfi, Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Programs and Research,

UM-Flint Charlotte Otto, Professor, Natural Sciences, UM-Dearborn Marianetta Porter, Associate Professor, School of Art and Design Jessica Schwartz, Professor, Department of Physiology Michael D. Uhler, Professor, Biological Chemistry, Medical School Gregory H. Wakefield, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and

Computer Science Alford Young, Jr., Associate Professor, Center for Afroamerican and

African Studies and The Department of Sociology Mikhail Zolikoff, President, Rackham Student Government (RSG) Brighid Dwyer, Student Representative, Students of Color of Rackham (SCOR)

Rackham Board of GovernorsMary Sue Coleman, President, University of Michigan Chair, Board of GovernorsSteven L. Kunkel, Interim Dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate

Studies, and Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs - Graduate StudiesRobert Weisbuch, President, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship FoundationMelvin Oliver, Professor and Dean of Social Sciences, University of California,

Santa BarbaraRoberta W. Gutman, Principal, Roberta Gutman Consulting, LLC

Photo by Bill Wood

C O N T E N T S

Campaign for Rackham 5

Jennifer Gates 10

Dan Lipschutz 11

Herman Kamil 12

Marsha Holmes 13

Peri Stone-Palmquist 14

Karen Van Weelden 15

Will Sutton 16

Caren Deming 17

Allison Miller 18

Andrew De Rocco 19

“If one cares to

preserve and nurture

the academy, can

there be a better way

than to ensure the

metamorphosis of

able students into

provocative

scholars?”

By Jeff Mortimer

Andrew G. De Rocco’s first glimpseof the Rackham Building in the fall of1951 was, quite literally, a moment ofdéjà vu. “I’d seen it before,” he says,“because, as a boy, I’d seen theblueprints that were employed tocreate the main portals.” The granitefrom which they were carved camefrom a quarry in Westerly, R.I., that hisfather, a builder, was familiar with. Buthis experience at Michigan, while lesspalpable than the portals, was moreprofound.

“I think I was a decentundergraduate, but my sense of thescholarly life was awakened andnurtured in Ann Arbor,” De Roccosays. As just one example, he recalls aphilosophy professor who agreed tomeet with him and a handful of othergraduate students for an informalweekly seminar to “debate the natureof logical empiricism, or theconsequences of what the quantumview of the world might be. What thatdid, in a way, was permit those of uswho had been trained in the naturalsciences to be educated in thehumanities.”

Experiences like that comprised“such a gift that it’s unmeasurable inmaterial terms,” he says. “One tries to

provide some measure of, if you will,compensation, but there’s no metric forhaving such an opportunity presentedto you.”

After earning his Master’s and Ph.D.at the University of Michigan, DeRocco was for many years a professorof molecular physics at the Universityof Maryland, but he was also one ofthe first academics to teach courses inAfrican American literature andwomen’s issues. He was dean offaculty at Trinity College, then becamepresident of Denison University. Healso served from 1992 to 1999 as thestate of Connecticut’s commissionerfor higher education.

The seeds of such breadth wereplanted early: not long after hispassion for science was awakened by achance encounter with a schoolmate’schemistry set on a rainy afternoon inhis home town of Westerly, R.I., heformed a jazz band that he led untilgoing off to Purdue for hisundergraduate work. He chose tocontinue his studies in Ann Arborbecause several professors that hefound “particularly impressive” as anundergraduate were Michigan alumni,leading him to conclude that“something must be going on in thatcitadel.”

In his “retirement,” he teaches musicclasses in Trinity’s Academy ofLifelong Learning, hosts two onlineradio programs (one classical, onejazz), chairs the board of theConnecticut Academy for Education inMathematics, Science and Technology,is a member of the boards of theConnecticut Early Music Society, theUniversity of Hartford School of Art,and the Educational LeadershipProgram, which offers seminars forschool officials from the kindergartenthrough university levels. “In short,”he says, “I’m off the streets, and I’mtrying to be useful while beingplayful.”

“The persistence of a scholarlyculture depends, as it always has, onthe imaginative powers of eachsucceeding generation,” he says. “Ifone cares to preserve and nurture theacademy, can there be a better waythan to ensure the metamorphosis ofable students into provocativescholars?”

He is doing his part by serving aterm on the Rackham Board ofGovernors and is currently a memberof the Rackham Dean’s AdvisoryBoard. He has made a major gift tosupport the renovation of Rackham’sWest Counsel Room which fittinglywill be renamed in his honor. �

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Photo by Bob Parzych

Andrew De Rocco

T R A N S I T I O N S

The things people said from the podium about Earl Lewis at hisfarewell party in June sounded more like the rave reviews on a bookjacket than praise for a departing dean:

“He transformed graduate education not only here but across the nation”(University President Mary Sue Coleman).

“In 16 years, we’ve never had a cross word. He’s a great role model as afriend, colleague and father” (Columbia University Professor Robin D.G.Kelley, renowned scholar of African-American history and a Lewiscollaborator).

“He has been a reformer, revamper, and redefiner of what it means to geta graduate education” (University Provost Paul N. Courant).

“He has been a consummate master teacher for me and countless othersin this room” (University Vice President for Student Affairs RoysterHarper).

After 15 years at the University of Michigan and six as Rackham’s Dean,Lewis accepted the position of Provost and Vice President of AcademicAffairs at Emory University on July 1. His going-away gala in Rackham’ssecond floor reading room was a fitting finale to his tenure, attended byeveryone from staff to current students to alumni to administrators fromother schools to the guys he played basketball with to deans, vicepresidents, regents and President Coleman, all of them sharing laughter,tears, hugs and warm memories.

As Steven L. Kunkel, Professor of Pathology and Associate Dean ofRackham who will serve as interim dean until a successor is named,pointed out later, “Not every dean or director gets a going-away party.”Suffice it to say that Earl Lewis was not every dean. The gorgeously

restored building where the party was held is but one monument to the fruits of his vision, tenacity, wisdom and grace.“Earl positioned Rackham as an important player to engage different schools in moving issues that are important to all of them but

that it would not behoove the University to locate in any particular one,” said Kunkel. “Michigan has placed interdisciplinarity on themap. A lot of other universities look at us with envy, wishing they would have these initiatives.”Lewis himself said he would like to be remembered “for being willing to take intelligent risks, for believing in trying to suggest to

others that there is no incompatibility between excellence and diversity, for pushing on several items that I thought were important,including building a top program in African-American history—and we built the number-one program, by some accounts—formaking sure that the Graduate School provided access to students from all over the world and, finally, for looking for a range ofissues and concerns that seemed not to have gained complete focus and then bringing focus to those items. It is my hope that wehave reestablished that the Graduate School is an important part of the overall fabric of this institution.”

Lewis’ management style played a key role in his successes. “My goal was to let people know that I knew they were doing a goodjob but to allow them the flexibility along the way to make a mistake or two,” he said. “Because that’s how you learn. If you neveradmit to or engage your mistakes, that means you took no risks. I would always encourage staff to take a few risks.”

He was renowned for according equal respect to each member of the enterprise. “At the meeting when Earl announced that he wasleaving, there were a lot of misty-eyed people in the room,” said Kunkel.

More tangible evidence of the staff’s feelings for him surfaced at his going-away party, when it was announced that the Earl LewisEndowment Fund had been established … and that the staff had already contributed $4,000.

Their fondness for him is mirrored in his affection for Michigan. “All that was asked of me was to be imaginative andcollaborative in an institution that supports imagination and collaboration,” he said. “It was a place that gave me the space andfreedom to grow, as a scholar, as a mentor and as an administrator. I will forever be deeply indebted to the University of Michigan. Iwill also always be a part of the University of Michigan, and it will always be a part of me.”

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by Eve Silberman

Allison Miller recalls her first yearin graduate school at the Universityof Michigan as a time of intellectualfreedom. The Program in BiomedicalSciences (PIBS) gave students thechance to take classes and do labwork in different disciplines beforechoosing their major concentration.“You had an opportunity to explorewhat you really wanted to do asopposed to guessing,” says Miller,who ended up concentrating inpathology.

Now a newly minted Ph.D., Millerspent most of her time at U-M in thelab, doing work aimed at betterunderstanding the disease process ofrespiratory syncytial virus (RSV),believed to be linked to thedevelopment of childhood asthma.Miller studied the role a chemokinereceptor (a protein involved in theimmune response to RSV infection)named CXCR2 might play in themucus production caused by RSVinfection of mice. She found thatRSV-infected mice with the CXCR2protein produce more mucus than domice without the protein. “Our workwould suggest that using a drug to

inactivate CXCR2 during RSVdisease may prevent mucusproduction and possibly wheezing,”she says.

Development of such a drug couldprove especially important to infantsand very young children. “One of thebiggest problems these children haveis that they can’t breathe properly.Their airways are so small andthey’ve got too much mucus in theirlungs,” she points out. “By gettingrid of mucus, proper oxygenexchange between the lungs and theblood could be restored.”

She cautions that experiments inmice don’t always produce the sameresults in humans. Still, she’soptimistic because several companieshave developed drugs to inactivateCXCR2, although they have not yettested for the drugs’ ability toregulate mucus production. She says,“It’s exciting to feel like you foundsomething that is relatively easy totranslate into drug development andtherapy.”

Miller was able to complete herdissertation research on CXCR2 andRSV with the help of a RackhamPredoctoral Fellowship. “I wasthrilled to receive it,” she says. A side

benefit was hearing about the breadthof research powered by graduatestudents across the UM campus.

A New Jersey native who did herundergraduate work at the Universityof Rochester, Miller has been hookedon science since she had anespecially dynamic teacher in theninth grade. She wants to be anacademic scientist, although sheknows there are risks. “You get tochoose what area you research, ratherthan work for a company where theytell you what to study,” she says.“The scary part is that your wholecareer is dependent on whether a lineof research works well or doesn’t.”

Miller took great satisfaction incompleting her dissertation.“Seeing a couple hundred pages thatrepresent the years of work you’vedone in the lab – it was a wonderfulsense of accomplishment. It allowedme to examine my work from abroader perspective, and to betterunderstand how my findings in thelab have significantly contributed tothe research that is being done in thefield.” �

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“It’s exciting to feel like

you found something that

is relatively easy to

translate into drug

development and therapy.”

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MillerAllison

(Continued on next page)

By Jeff Mortimer

Earl Lewis Bids Farewell

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Taking the helm now is Rackham’s Interim Dean Steven L. Kunkel. Kunkelreceived his B.S. degree from North Dakota State University and his Ph.D.from the University of Kansas. He served his post-doctoral fellowship at theUniversity of Connecticut Health Center. Joining the University of Michiganfaculty in 1980 in the Pathology Department of the Medical School, he rosethrough the ranks to Professor of Pathology in 1991. He was appointedEndowed Professor of Pathology in 1997.

Kunkel’s impact in the field of immunology and inflammation is impressive.He has co-authored over 475 peer reviewed manuscripts, contributed numerouschapters to different books in his field, served as the editor for four books,presented over 150 lectures as a visiting professor/lecturer in the past ten years,and maintained continuous funding of five major National Institutes of Healthgrants for a number of years.

Kunkel has been actively involved in teaching at the Medical School sincehis arrival at the University more than two decades ago. He has lectured in thehost defense component for first year medical students and in various coursesfor graduate students in both the Immunology and Pathology GraduatePrograms. On a daily basis, he is engaged in teaching and mentoring activitieswith undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and juniorfaculty members.

During the past ten years, Kunkel has served the University in theadministration of academic, research, and teaching activities. In 1994, he servedas Interim Associate Vice President for Research. In 1995, he became anAssociate Dean of the Rackham Graduate School where he currently overseesgraduate study in the basic sciences at the University and works closely withPh.D.-granting multidisciplinary programs in the Biological and HealthSciences. In this position, he is actively involved in interdisciplinary activities,diversity issues, and creative funding packages for the various programs.

As an Associate and now Interim Dean of the Graduate School, Kunkel sees Rackham’s critical role in the University as not onlyproviding graduate student services but also engaging the different schools and colleges to act on important academic issues. Ofparticular interest to Kunkel is interdisciplinarity—the ways in which scholarly topics cross traditional boundaries to involveresearchers and teachers from across the campus. “Research is no longer a vertical enterprise,” according to Kunkel, “but ahorizontal one in which important questions need to be studied by colleagues with a variety of perspectives.” Interdisciplinarity isalso a useful instructional tool—multi-faceted approaches in the classroom can create a more exciting and more meaningful learningenvironment for both faculty and students.

In May 2004, Kunkel co-chaired the Rackham Summer Interdisciplinary Institute with June Howard, Associate Dean forInterdisciplinary Initiatives at the Graduate School. The six-week institute brought together faculty and graduate students fromacross the university. As co-leaders of the institute, Kunkel and Howard—professors of pathology and English, respectively—themselves demonstrated the value of scholars talking across disciplines to achieve a larger educational purpose. “June and I wantedto encourage the participants to think of interdisiciplinarity as a tool that can help them in their different research areas,” saysKunkel. “At one session, for example, we had medical doctors, musicians, and literary scholars working together to definecreativity—what benchmarks do they use to define a creative success? What can they learn from each other that will help them withtheir own research and teaching?”

Over the next year, Kunkel plans to uphold Rackham’s long tradition of successful interdisciplinary initiatives. “We field anumber of inquiries every year from other institutions looking to emulate our success. Interdisciplinarity is a powerful tool, andRackham is in a great position to encourage our colleagues from the humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences to cometogether, learn from one another, and apply those lessons in their own teaching and research.” �

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By Eve Silberman

“Studying television has been arespectable endeavor for only about20 years. In academic terms, that isreally short,” reflects Caren Deming,who earned four U-M degrees in the1960s and 1970s and today is aprofessor of media arts at theUniversity of Arizona. “It’s exciting tome that television studies is maturingat a time when I can be a part of it.”

Deming, who taught at SanFrancisco State before going toArizona in 1986, has researched andwritten extensively about television inAmerican life, her subjects rangingfrom the roots of family situationcomedy to the portrayal of women onTV. Deming has a particular interestin the pioneering series TheGoldbergs, which was on the air from1949 to 1956. She is now researchingand writing a new book about actressGertrude Berg, who played thematriarch Molly Goldberg. Bergproduced as well as starred in the

show; “her powerful role in the earlydays of television is too oftenoverlooked,” says Deming. TheGoldbergs opened the door for betterknown family series such as Leave Itto Beaver and Father Knows Best, anda study of the show, Deming believes,reveals “important developments inbroadcasting and in society—suburbanism, consumerism, youthculture. These are just a few of thecurrents visible in the series.”

Obtaining old tapes of TheGoldbergs is a constant challenge, butit’s hardly the only one in Deming’sbusy life. In addition to research andteaching (she’s won several awardsfor excellence in teaching), she playsa key role in the Arizona InternationalFilm Festival, which is a big supporterof independent films. And since 2000she has served U-M as a member ofthe Dean’s Advisory Board atRackham. Deming enjoys the chanceto connect again with U-M, where shegot her B.A. in English in 1965, herM.A. in English in 1970, a second

M.A. in communication in 1971, andher Ph.D., also in communication(with a Radio-Television-Filmconcentration), in 1976.Communication faculty encouragedher interest in a burgeoning area, sherecalls. “The field of television studieswas not yet well developed and itseemed as though there was plenty ofwork to be done.”

Deming recalls with gratitude that,as a graduate student, she won theFord Foundation Rackham PrizeFellowship, which allowed her towork full-time on her dissertation fortwo years. That experience was on hermind when she decided to bequeath aresearch and travel fund for graduatestudents in film and video studies. “Ido feel the sense of a certain personalobligation,” she says, “not to repay somuch as to help future generations. Ican’t think of a worthier legacy thanto help, in whatever way, thedevelopment of the minds that are socrucial to the future of the planet.” �

Caren Deming

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T R A N S I T I O N S

“I can’t think of a worthier

legacy than to help, in

whatever way, the

development of the minds

that are so crucial to the

future of the planet.”

Steven L. Kunkel Named Interim Dean

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CA M P A I G N F O R T H E R A C K H A M G R A D U AT E S C H O O L : O U R G R A D U AT E S M A K E T H E D I F F E R E N C E

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By Jeff Mortimer

Everyone knows aboutSilicon Valley, but whatabout the Gallium NitrideValley? The prospect givesus some idea of whatWilliam Sutton is up to,and why it matters. Siliconwas, in a sense, the magicingredient in theminiaturization revolutionin electronics because of itsabundance, consistency andthe extent to which itsconductivity can bemanipulated. But it’s nomore perfect than anythingelse; there are applicationswhere, for example, it can’tconduct sufficient power atthe optimum frequencies todo the job.

Enter gallium nitride.Maybe. That’s whereSutton’s research comes in.“Let’s say you have a ruggedwireless system, or you mayneed to monitor very hightemperature engines, maybein space electronics, wherethere’s a lot of hard radiationexposure,” he says. “Galliumnitride is a very attractivealternative to othersemiconductor materials. Itcan put out a lot more power atcomparable frequencies.”

But a lot more work has to be donefirst. “The basic research part has beengoing on for a couple of decades,” saysSutton. “Now we’re getting intocommercial products. Here is thechallenge: this is an unproven and stillimmature technology. Not only arethere things in the material we don’tfully understand, but there aredifficulties in making the transistorswell and in making it repeatable andinexpensive compared to othertechnology. For military applications,cost may be no issue, but forcompanies, cost is the issue. If it’sgoing to be more expensive thanstandard technology, it needs to havemuch greater performance to justifythe extra cost.”

Sutton grew up in Kalamazoo,graduated magna cum laude in physicsfrom Kalamazoo College, and was

moved to continue his education atMichigan after hearing ElectricalEngineering Professor Herbert Winfulgive a talk on his research. “He was areally big inspiration to me, veryclassy, very intelligent, verypersonable,” says Sutton, “and he wasvery encouraging to everyone involvedto apply for graduate study anywhere,but especially at Michigan. He wasone of the main reasons I decided toapply to U-M.”

He says the support he’s received,financial and otherwise, has validatedhis decision. “I’ve primarily beenfunded by Rackham itself through aRackham Merit Fellowship,” he says.Sutton also won a prestigiousMotorola Fellowship to help fund hisresearch, but “the Merit Fellowship iswhat allowed me to stay here.” That,and a supportive environment. “Eventhough it is a large university,everyone here at U of M and theCollege of Engineering and Rackham

are very much like family,” he says.“Everyone wants you to succeed. It’snot only monetary support, butwhenever any issues come up, thepeople in my department as well asRackham are more than helpful inresolving them. It is competitive. Youare expected to do good work. But thewhole belief is ‘we want you tosucceed. As long as you do your part,we’ll do our part.’ ”

The part that Sutton envisions forhimself in the future is in commercialresearch and development. “I’m goingto go from device work to a little bit ofcircuit-making,” he says. “I want to domore circuit design, maybe developwhole gallium-nitride systems, groupsof circuits that have a common task todo.”

And maybe find that valley alongthe way. �

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“I want to do more circuit design, maybe developwhole gallium-nitride systems, groups of circuitsthat have a common task to do.”

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Will SUTTON

At the University ofMichigan RackhamGraduate School, the pathsof alumni, faculty, staff,friends, and currentgraduate students begin andstill converge. Sinceconferring its first doctoraldegree in 1876, theUniversity of Michigan hasadvanced the value of

graduate education in meeting society’s needs. We haveused our individual skills and training to mentor, teach,inspire, discover, invent and lead as we transform ourglobal community in thousands of ways throughout theworld.

In 1935, Mary Rackham worked with PresidentAlexander Ruthven to endow the Graduate School with themeans to support graduate education at Michigan. Today,we are housed in the magnificent and newly restoredRackham Building and joined by the rigors of academicpursuits in over 120 graduate programs across the depthand breadth of the University. Our heritage of excellencecontinues to draw exceptional faculty and graduatestudents from around the world to the University ofMichigan, and each year the process of training futurecitizen-scholars begins anew.

The Rackham Graduate School provides funding forgraduate students, departments and programs at theUniversity of Michigan; information and services relatedto admissions, orientation and degree requirements;workshops to help graduate students succeed in theirprograms; student honors and awards; and a nationalplatform to help shape public debate about graduateeducation.

The Rackham GraduateSchool has changeddramatically since ourfounding in 1935 although,most importantly, weremain the largest singlesource of graduate studentfinancial aid. Almost twothirds of our annual budgetis designated for studentsupport, a critical source of

fellowships and grants for nearly 7,000 students. We arecommitted to recruiting and retaining the best-qualifiedstudents from diverse communities in the US and abroad,and financial aid is an important tool in that effort. Ourability to continue to attract the best and brightest toMichigan increasingly depends upon our ability tocompete with our peer institutions in terms of fellowshipsupport.

At the same time, the way in which we support andnurture graduate students and programs extends beyondfinancial aid. We offer services and programs that enrichgraduate students’ experiences. Cutting-edgeinterdisciplinarity is given a home through over 35Rackham Interdepartmental Programs, such asNeuroscience and Classical Art & Archaeology. A range ofpublications, including How to Get the Mentoring YouWant and The Dissertation Handbook are in demand byour students and by other universities. We recognize andhonor student recipients of Outstanding Graduate StudentInstructor Awards, Distinguished Dissertation Awards andRackham Predoctoral Fellowships. Rackham StudentGovernment, Rackham Students of Color and TheGraduate Student Forum provide a proactive way forgraduate students to have a voice and create change.Through participation in the Andrew W. MellonFoundation’s Kalamazoo-Oberlin Exchange, newly mintedPhD students gain valuable teaching experience byexchanging places for a year with senior faculty at anearby liberal arts college.

Support of

Graduate

Studies

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Our

Tradition of

Excellence

Nationally, Rackham isrecognized as a leader inthe growing and excitingdialogue regarding thefuture of graduateeducation. We workedwith the National ResearchCouncil to define themethodology for theirupcoming assessment of allgraduate programs in the

US. We have worked with our colleagues at the AmericanCouncil on Education, the American Association ofUniversities, and the Council of Graduate Schools toprovide testimony to Congress on the importance offederal support for graduate education. Perhaps the mostprovocative discussion about graduate education has takenplace inside the Responsive PhD Project. A consortium offourteen top research universities, including the Universityof Michigan, the Responsive PhD addresses thediscrepancies between the kinds of training graduatestudents receive and the careers available to them. Amongthe consortium’s recommendations are new paradigms fortraining citizen-scholars to reach their full potential forsocial good throughout all areas of study.

The RackhamSchool of GraduateStudies is a powerfulpartnership. Throughachievements largeand small, theRackham community— now 85,000 strong— continues to leadthe way in highereducation, research,the visual andperforming arts,

business and industry, science and engineering, and publicpolicy and service.

Today the University of Michigan faces intensecompetitive pressure from peer institutions which aredirecting unprecedented financial support to graduatestudent recruitment and retention. This challenge,combined with the high cost of graduate education and theongoing need for advanced learning technologies, calls fora strong and unified response from all of us in theRackham community.

The University of Michigan has just kicked off the mostambitious fundraising campaign in our history. TheMichigan Difference seeks to raise $2.5 billion in support

of students, faculty, facilities, programs and research. TheGraduate School’s part of this campaign goal is $35million. Funds raised will enable Michigan to maintain itseminence as a center of graduate education by providingample support—in the form of grants, fellowships andstate-of-the-art resources—for our graduate students andprograms.

Graduate students occupy an important niche in theUniversity community. By examining difficult questionsin new and exciting ways, graduate students challengeassumptions and push intellectual frontiers. TheUniversity’s ability to recruit and retain the best faculty istied inextricably to the quality of the graduate studentswho will work with them on cutting-edge research.Graduate students enhance the quality of theundergraduate experience at Michigan by demonstratingexceptional ability and creativity as teachers and mentorsin their own classrooms. To sustain the excellence of aMichigan education, we must provide sufficient supportfor our graduate students.

We invite you to joinwith us in this endeavor.Your gift to TheMichigan DifferenceCampaign may bedesignated for directsupport of Rackhamgraduate students.Every gift received willbe a wise and urgentlyneeded investment notmerely in the best in graduate education, but in the futurewell-being of our society and the world. Today, asalways, a well-educated citizenry and a well-trained workforce are crucial for human survival and progress. Just asthe world currently benefits from your skills and talents,so the world will need the same from future generations ofMichigan graduate students.

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By Jeff Mortimer

Karen Van Weelden is committed tobringing the Rackham GraduateSchool and Los Angeles area alumnicloser together. Last year, VanWeelden organized a lunch and paneldiscussion on one of the nation’s mostimportant issues before the USSupreme Court: Michigan’s case onAffirmative Action. Rackham DeanEarl Lewis, Professor Sylvia Hurtadoof the School of Education, andUniversity Assistant General CounselJonathan Alger presented legal,historical and educational perspectiveson Michigan’s case. Of course, aspirited question-and-answer sessionamong 70 Michigan alumni andfriends followed. “This was held afterthe case was argued at the SupremeCourt, but before the decision wasannounced, so there was a lot ofexcitement,” says Van Weelden. “Itwas a very gratifying experience forme to participate, and to find theUniversity interested in the idea. Theseare busy people, and for them to comeout to California for lunch … thankyou very much!”

Van Weelden has Michigan roots,attending Kalamazoo College as anundergraduate, then receiving herMasters in Urban Planning from theUniversity of Michigan. After fiveyears working in several governmentjobs in Washington, D.C., she was

ready for a change. “I was ready forthe next step in my life,” she recalls,“so I wrote a letter of introduction tothe CEOs of the hundred largest firmsin the Fortune 500. I figured even if Ididn’t get a job offer, I’d learnsomething along the way.”

She did both. A senior executive atUnocal (known as Union Oil ofCalifornia until 1983) got her letter,interviewed her and hired her to fill anewly created position as thecompany’s government relationscoordinator. She rose through theranks to become vice president ofexternal affairs during a 25-yearcareer.

Currently retired, she lives in LosAngeles with her husband Paul andfifteen-year-old son, Jake. For a whileafter retiring “it felt good to do what Iwanted to do when I wanted to do it,”she says. And then a phone call fromRackham inspired a moment like theone that led to her leavingWashington. “I thought to myself, I’mretired, I have time to spend and Ihave knowledge and experiences thatcould be useful,” she recalls. “MaybeI’ll just call back and offer to help inthe LA area. It was sort of likesending those 100 letters out. I didn’tknow what kind of response I’d get.”

What she got was an enthusiasticthanks and “yes you can help” fromRackham. She is now a member ofthe Rackham Dean’s Advisory Board.

And she feels it is very important todevelop and nurture the connectionbetween the Graduate School andalumni far away from the University.She wants to make “LA LearningLunches” a fixture for Michigan’sCalifornia contingent.

Aware that her longevity with onecompany would be an anomaly intoday’s employment landscape, she isnow interested in presentingUniversity expertise on the topic ofjob offshoring. “It is of great interestnationally. When I was in school, thethinking was you’d get a good jobwith a corporation and it would lastforever. That’s no longer the case. I’dlike to bring some Michigan expertsout to Southern California to presentand discuss this topic. How is theUniversity responding to this trend?What is higher education doing ingeneral to prepare students for thisfuture?”“It is important for alums in Southern

California to hear what Michigan isthinking and doing about current,critical issues, and for us on the westcoast to have an opportunity toprovide feedback and participate inthese important discussions. I reallyenjoy working with the people atRackham and I hope to stay involved.To the extent that I can bring Rackhamand west coast alumni together, I’dlike to do that.” �

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KAREN VAN WEELDEN

“When I was inschool, thethinking was you’dget a good jobwith a corporationand it would lastforever. That’s nolonger the case.”

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Our GraduatesMake theDifference:The RackhamCampaign Join the

Campaign!

Leadership

in Graduate

Education

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“It was all about how

zero tolerance and

policies like that are

contributing to kids

ending up in jail or

detention facilities.

That just struck a

nerve in me.”

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By Jeff Mortimer

A couple of epiphanies have markedPeri Stone-Palmquist’s path.

The first came between her juniorand senior years at North ParkUniversity in Chicago, when she spenta month attending a journalismprogram in Washington, D.C. “I knewI loved to write and I wanted to findout more about it,” she says. “I just fellin love with newspaper reporting thatsummer. It confirmed that was what Iwanted to do with my life.”

The second came when she wasreasonably well established in that partof her life, working full-time as aneducation reporter for The Ann ArborNews, taking classes part-time at theGerald R. Ford School of PublicPolicy, and enjoying the symbioticrelationship between her journalisticskills and academic interests. Whenshe learned of the School-to-PrisonPipeline Conference at Harvard, itseemed like an opportunity to furtherenhance that relationship.

“It was all about how zero toleranceand policies like that are contributingto kids ending up in jail or detentionfacilities,” Stone-Palmquist says. “Thatjust struck a nerve in me.”

She attended the conference duringthe spring of 2003. Ruth Zweifler,former director of the Ann Arbor-basedStudent Advocacy Center of Michigan,attended the conference as well.During one of their conversations, theidea arose of Stone-Palmquistconducting an independent study onthe issue. “I would be interviewingkids who have been expelled and findout what happens to them after theexpulsion,” she says. “In Michigan,students who are permanently expelledare expelled from all public schools inthe state. It’s up to the parents tosecure educational services for theirkids. School districts may or may notgive you references, but it’s totally upto the parents to find something. I hadanecdotally heard it was hard forparents to find something, but therewas no research, no one had reallylooked into that.”

She began reading and designing theresearch. She also began to realize thatshe had to make a choice between hertwo worlds. “It was becoming clear tome that a daily newspaper wasn’t agood fit for me,” she says. “Having towrite three or four stories a week wasmaking me not like writing anymore.”

When she secured a position as agraduate student staff assistant,

Stone-Palmquist left the newspaper tobecome a full-time student. Butcovering the expenses associated withher study remained problematic. “Thensomeone at Rackham mentioned thatthere was discretionary funding,” shesays. “I turned in my application. I justcouldn’t believe how quickly Rackhamgot back to me. I felt so supported.”

Some of the money went towardtransportation costs—she’s driving allover southeast Michigan to interviewstudents and their parents—but thebulk of it will pay for publishing herreport. “I always hoped to find a wayto publish it but Rackham is makingthat possible,” Stone-Palmquist says.“Without that money, I could do allthat research and no one would findout about it.”

What’s next? “I’m trying to figurethat out,” she says. “I know that in mydreams I would love to do exactlywhat I’m doing right now, which isreally practical research that’s going tohelp come up with some policysolutions. I’d love to find a way tocombine my writing and reportingskills from journalism and my policytraining at the Ford School.” �

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Peri Stone-Palmquist

(Continued on page 8)

“I thought my whole lifedepended upon going tograduate school. I knew Ihad to have more educationfor the pure intellectual joyof pursuing knowledge inmy chosen field, and togain an academicperspective and the professional skills, self confidence andcredentials I needed as a woman in the 1930s to be takenseriously.

The problem was I had no money. It was the depths of theDepression, and there were no scholarships available to womengraduate students.

I was able to go, finally, because of a generous gift with nostrings attached from a man who graduated from the Universityof Michigan in 1894. I never forgot his generosity and thewhole course of my future life depended on that graduatedegree.

It was a joy, through my gift to Rackham, to make it possiblefor another highly motivated graduate student who neededfinancial assistance to receive help at a critical point in heracademic career. I believe in giving money without conditions,but I was especially happy to learn my gift supported TaSharabecause I identify so closely with her career goals. She seemsto me like an extension of myself into the next generation.”

Willie Grace Campbell, MA, Sociology, 1939

“The Willie Dickins and John A. Campbell Fellowship isenabling me to reach a long time dream and goal—thebeginning of my doctoral degree program. Ms. Campbell’scareer serves as a compelling example of how women cantransform our society using the research training they havegained at the University of Michigan. I hope to replicate herexample some day by assisting future Rackham students.”

TaShara C. BaileyFirst Year Doctoral StudentSchool of Education Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education

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by Eve Silberman

Although John Wesley Holmes spenthis career as an executive in thecorporate world, he “was really alwaysan academic at heart,” says his widow,Marsha Evans Holmes. At the time ofhis death from a heart attack at age 56,in 2002, Holmes was exploringopportunities to teach in the collegeclassroom.

Higher education held specialmeaning for Holmes, an AfricanAmerican, who was the son of arailroad employee and a domesticworker in LaPorte, Indiana. Coming ofage in the civil rights era, heunderstood the value of his U-Mgraduate degrees in securing a placefor himself in the corporate world.After receiving his Master’s degreefrom U-M in 1972, and his Ph.D. in1976, both in economics, (he receivedhis B.A. in math from PurdueUniversity in 1968), he spent twenty-seven years, almost his entire career, atExxonMobil Corporation where he

retired as general manager of supplyand distribution. Most of his career wasspent in the company’s internationalarena. “He had the sameresponsibilities for all the countries, butthe cultures were very different,” saysMarsha Holmes. “He found it veryrewarding that he was able to besuccessful in different cultures.”

Holmes’s success at ExxonMobilhelped lead to his selection as a WhiteHouse Fellow in 1980-81. He workedfor a year in the Office of Managementand Budget. “It was a very upliftingexperience for him,” says MarshaHolmes. “He was enlightened to seejust how government works.”

Both at ExxonMobil and in theWhite House, Holmes looked out foryounger people climbing the careerladder. “It was amazing, after his death,how many letters I got, ” says MarshaHolmes, “from African Americans,Caucasians, co-workers from Europe,Asia and South America. They talkedabout how he mentored them.”

Marsha Holmes reflected upon her

husband’s desire to mentor others whenshe wanted to pay tribute to him afterhis untimely death. Before he died, hehad started to give money to aidunderrepresented graduate students atU-M, particularly those working onPh.D.’s. He was concerned, MarshaHolmes says, that the percentage ofblack Ph.D.’s is disproportionately low.To continue his work she and otherfamily members and friends havecreated the John W. Holmes EndowedFellowship Fund at Rackham.“Education was very important to him,and supporting others in attainingadvanced degrees is the best way Iknow to honor him,” she states. Still inthe planning stages, the fund willemphasize help for African Americangraduate students.

Holmes herself, a former vice-president at Verizon Communications,is deeply committed to encouragingothers in higher education. “The valuein giving back to your college oruniversity is something John and I bothshared.” �

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and supporting others in attaining

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RackhamEnrichmentFundYour gift of anyamount, combinedwith contributionsfrom others, will helpsupport our graduatestudents’ educationalor emergency medicalneeds.

Research & Travel AwardA $5,000 gift creates a named award to enable a mastersor doctoral student, from one of Rackham’s over 120programs, to travel anywhere in the world to collaboratewith scientists, attend conferences, study original art andmanuscripts, or participate in archeological digs.

Internship SupportA $5,000 gift creates a named award to support, forexample, a Museum Studies student’s required summerinternship in an archive, zoo, museum, botanical garden,film institute, or science center around the world.

Predoctoral FellowshipAn expendable gift of $25,000 creates a prestigious namedfellowship for an outstanding student who is completinghis or her dissertation.

First Year Recruitment FellowshipAn expendable gift of $50,000 creates a named fellowshipto help us compete with our peer institutions and attractthe very best graduate students to the University ofMichigan.

Endowed Named Research AwardA gift of $100,000 establishes an endowment to providean annual named research award for a masters or doctoralstudent in one of over 120 Rackham programs.

Endowed Named Candidacy AwardA gift of $250,000 establishes an endowment to support adoctoral student who is completing his or her dissertation.

Endowed Named FellowshipA gift of $750,000 establishes an endowment to providean annual named fellowship to be awarded to a student inone of over 120 Rackham programs. The endowed namedfellowships will be Rackham’s most prestigious awards,for those students who are making significant contribu-tions in their fields.

How You Can SupportGraduateStudents

Outright Gifts Are Immediately Useful for Graduate Students

� Cash or securities — immediately useful for students� Online credit card gift — www.giving.umich.edu� Five-year Campaign Pledge — spread payments over the duration of

the Campaign

Life Income Gifts & Estate Gifts Benefit Future Generations

� Charitable Gift Annuity— if you are over 50, receive income for life� Charitable Remainder Unitrust — avoid capital gains, multiple beneficiaries

possible, take advantage of investment performance� Bequest — a simple and straightforward legacy through your will� Retirement Assets — a tax advantageous gift from your estate

How to MakeYour Gift

Campaign for Rackham(Continued from page 7)

MARSHA

Gerald A. AndersonGroup Senior Vice PresidentInformation Technology SolutionsGroup, SAICCarlsbad, California

Kenneth M. ColemanSenior Research Analyst,Market StrategiesFaculty Associate, Institute forSocial ResearchUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan

Caren J. DemingProfessor, Department of Media ArtsUniversity of ArizonaTucson, Arizona

Andrew G. De RoccoPresident Emeritus,Denison UniversityHartford, Connecticut

Alfredo D. GutierrezManager, North Bay Equity PartnersCoconut Grove, Florida

Cheryl HurleyPresident, Library of AmericaNew York, New York

Joan B. KesslerPresident, Kessler & KesslerA Law CorporationLos Angeles, California

Marcy H. MaguirePresident and CEOMaguire Automotive GroupPrinceton, New Jersey

Robert MaguireOwnerBob Maguire ChevroletPrinceton, New Jersey

Douglas W. MarshallPrincipal, Blitz & AssociatesGrosse Pointe, Michigan

Milton M. MorrisManager, Atrial Therapy ResearchGuidant CorporationMinneapolis, Minnesota

Michael T. NettlesExecutive DirectorCenter for Policy Studies and Research, ETSPrinceton, New Jersey

Pamela Newman KatesExecutive Vice PresidentAon Risk ServicesNew York, New York

William E. SavageDirector, UMI DissertationsPublishingProQuest Information and LearningAnn Arbor, Michigan

Karen S. Van WeeldenFormer Vice President,External AffairsUnocal CorporationLos Angeles, California

Sean X. ZhangManaging Director, Microsoft(China)Research and Development CenterBeijing, China

CONTACT THERACKHAM

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Please let us know how youwould like to make thedifference for a graduate studentat the University of Michigan.Please contact us and we will behappy to answer questions andprovide further information.

Jill McDonoughAssistant to the Dean forDevelopment & ExternalRelations734-615-2133jillmcd@umich.edu

Kathy HolmesSenior Development Officer734-647-4572kdholmes@umich.edu

David Emery-PeckDirector of Annual Giving734-764-5536dempeck@umich.edu

Shirley LeeAdministrative Assistant734-764-1125sjlee@umich.edu

Rackham Graduate SchoolDevelopment Office915 E. WashingtonAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1070734-764-1125 tel734-936-2848 fax

RACKHAM DEAN’S ADVISORY BOARD

12

by Jeff Mortimer

Herman Kamil grew up in a familyof retailers in Uruguay, so his earliesttraining and interest in economics wasnot academic. Although it has sincebecome so—as he completes his Ph.D.in economics, he’s working as avisiting scholar at the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank in Washington,D.C.—he means to maintain the linkbetween his research and its societalapplications.

“For me, it’s a top priority to blendthe academic and policy work,” hesays. “Bridging these two areas is theoverarching goal in my work as aneconomist.” His dissertation fills thebill nicely: in seeking to understandhow business enterprises in LatinAmerica are affected by the suddencurrency devaluations that haveplagued those nations’ economies, hehopes to help them craft informedremedies.

“Latin American countries have twocurrencies, the dollar and the localcurrency,” he explains. “When thedomestic currency depreciates vis-à-visthe dollar, it creates huge problems for

these economies.” Afirm whose income islocal and denominatedin pesos but whose debtis foreign anddenominated in dollarscan suddenly find itselfwhipsawed intoinsolvency.

“I want to develop acore of knowledge that

will help policy makers devisefinancial instruments to allow firms tohedge better,” says Kamil. “In thiscontext, that means to be able to matchthe currency in which your financialcost is denominated with the currencyin which your income is denominated.”

To develop that core, “I need tocollect detailed information on thefinancial structures of the firms,” hesays. “These data are not system-atically reported, so you not only haveto go to the balance sheets of eachcompany but to the footnotes on thebalance sheets. It’s a hugeundertaking.”

It’s also expensive, entailing thepurchase of datasets from multiplecountries. Kamil says receiving the Dr.Dean Bowman Award from Rackhamwas crucial to that endeavor. “Withoutit, I couldn’t have undertaken even halfof the project,” he says. He alsoobtained financial support from theDepartment of Economics and theBusiness School, and the RackhamPredoctoral Fellowship is providingassistance as he finishes his disser-tation. “I feel grateful and lucky tohave obtained all this financialsupport.”

His work has already turned upsome suggestive contrasts. “In Chileand Brazil, firms which are exporterstend to have dollar debt and firmswhich sell only domestically have pesodebt, so they are matched,” saysKamil. “In Argentina and Uruguay,they are not. This can explain whyrecent post-devaluation experiences inLatin America have varied markedlyacross countries.”

Kamil hasn’t yet decided what he isgoing to do after completing hisdegree. But he knows he wants toeventually return to Uruguay to teach:“I envision being able to lecture out ofmy own research,” he says. “Asidefrom the natural satisfaction andexcitement that comes from sharingyour own work, teaching from one’sresearch provides a unique opportunityto bring students a sense of thedynamism of the field and what itmeans to be part of a researchcommunity.” In 2003, Kamil receivedthe University’s Outstanding GraduateStudent Instructor Award recognizingexceptional creativity as a teacher,advisor and mentor.

He will take with him a strongattachment to his alma mater. “I notonly met new people but new ways ofthinking, new ideas,” he says.“Michigan really embraced me as astudent, and not only financially. Whatmatters here is the person; they trust inyou and your abilities. I really feelgrateful.” �

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“. . .teaching from one’s research provides aunique opportunity to bring students a sense ofthe dynamism of the field and what it means to bepart of a research community.”

HermanKamil

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by Eve Silberman

Jennifer Gates, a doctoral student inclassical art and archaeology, hasworked on archaeological digs inEgypt’s Eastern Desert in both thewinter and the summer. She saysshe’ll take the winter, anytime. Onesummer in the sands it was so hot thather shoes melted.

Living in tents and escorted byBedouin, Gates finds things can getrugged on excavations; but she enjoysexperiences such as being awakenedby the brightness of the Milky Way.The real thrill, however, comes fromexcavating a little exploredarchaeological site. “It’s prettyexciting to be able to contribute to anarea that hasn’t been done to death,”she says. Although she studies mainlypottery, she notes, “I’ve seen almosteverything come out of the ground--human remains, emeralds, weapons,you name it.”

Gates’ research is concerned withshedding light on the ancient world ofthe Eastern Desert, hours away fromEgypt’s big cities. Her specialty is thePtolemaic period from 323 to 31 BCE(Ptolemy, a Macedonian general,served under Alexander the Great andlater ruled Egypt). Through study ofthe desert settlements, Gates hopesshe can achieve a better understandingof the agenda of the Ptolemaicmonarchs “who would have beeninterested in the gold, elephants, andother materials that were beingshipped out of and through thedesert.” She also hopes to learn moreabout those doing the transporting.“What kind of materials did they havewith them, and what do these objectstell us about their social status, levelof material prosperity, andrelationship with cities and towns inthe Nile Valley?”

The sites along the trade routes, sheexplains, were “like ancient gasstations—only water stations, wherepeople camped and rested on their tripthrough the desert.”

A native of Mississippi, Gates firstgot the archaeology bug while a highschool senior in Virginia when she didan internship with an archaeologiststudying Colonial Williamsburg. Aftergraduating summa cum laude inanthropology and archaeology fromthe University of Virginia, she waseager to come to Michigan—she saysU-M has “the very best program forclassical archaeologists in thecountry”— but says she couldn’t havedone so without the generousfinancial assistance she’s been given,including a Rackham PredoctoralFellowship. “I definitely would not behere without the support I’ve hadthrough Rackham,” she states.

“I’m the first person in my familyto pursue a graduate degree. It justwasn’t possible for them to support it.Rackham’s support made all thedifference.” She has M.A. degrees inboth classical art and archaeology,and in Greek, from Rackham.

Gates is amused by theromanticizing of archaeologiststhrough media characters such asIndiana Jones and Lara Croft,nicknamed “Tomb Raider,” the sexystar of films and video games. Sheonce gave a talk to a Girl Scout troopcalled “Who Wants to Be Lara Croft?Archaeology in the Real World.” Hermessage was, “Sure, archaeology canbe glamorous, but it’s also dirty, hardwork that involves more brainpowerand thoughtful collaboration thanfilms like Indiana Jones or TombRaider would have us believe.” �

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by Eve Silberman

Dan Lipschutz, M.D., was movedbut not surprised when his wife, Susan,diagnosed with advanced lymphoma,told him she wished to establish amemorial fund at Rackham for womengraduate students. He knew that Susan,then University of Michigan AssociateProvost in the Office of AcademicAffairs, had greatly enjoyed herprevious stint as Senior AssociateDean at Rackham. “She would comeinto contact with people all over theUniversity who were doing interestingthings,” Dan Lipschutz recalls. Then,too, Susan was sensitive to the specialproblems a woman scholar might face.In addition to salary inequities (shehad once taught at a college inColorado for a smaller salary than thatof a less qualified male facultymember), she was concerned withwomen balancing familyresponsibilities with conductingresearch, teaching and committeework; all important considerations inachieving tenure.

To Dan Lipschutz, who still lives inAnn Arbor, the Susan S. LipschutzAward for Women Graduate Studentshonors both his late wife’s wish and

the memory of a gifted woman whodied too soon, at age 53, in 1997. TheFund provides annual financial supportto a woman doctoral student who hasdemonstrated exceptional scholarlyachievement, a delight of learning, asense of social responsibility and alively interest in her academiccommunity. Every year Lipschutzderives much satisfaction from meetingwith the Susan Lipschutz Awardrecipients. “Michigan graduatestudents are very good to begin with,”he says. “Students who win thesecompetitive awards are brilliant,articulate, astonishing women withincredible research interests. If moreRackham supporters could meet withour current students, they would havetremendous satisfaction in knowingtheir gifts are being well used. It hasbeen especially heartening for me tofollow the academic careers of some ofthe early recipients.”

Dan and Susan Lipschutz had beenhigh school sweethearts who marriedwhile still in college (at Amherst andSmith). While Dan attended medicalschool at Michigan, Susan earned herPh.D. in philosophy in 1969. (Thetimes were so turbulent in Ann Arbor,Dan recalls, that on Susan’s oral exams

she was asked what she thought aboutthe antiwar teach-ins.) Dan and Susanlived in Colorado for a time, but theyeventually returned to Ann Arbor.Susan started her U-M career in 1981as assistant to then President HaroldShapiro, and Dan, who specialized inthe complexities of kidney disease,joined a group practice in nephrology.

While busy with their careers, Danand Susan raised a son, David, and adaughter, Deborah. Dan, who majoredin violin performance at Amherst,found time to be active in the AnnArbor Symphony, where he served aspresident. Now retired from medicine,he continues in the symphony as asubstitute violinist. Remarried to nurseand equestrienne Lynn DeTurk, Danand Lynn spend a lot of time traveling.They frequently visit their fourgrandchildren in New York andVirginia. When home in Ann Arbor, heappreciates the exceptionalopportunities afforded by theUniversity of Michigan. “Whether it’sgoing to a faculty recital featuring aWilliam Bolcom violin sonata or asymposium on The Art of St.Petersburg, it still awes me--the breadth and scope of thisUniversity.” �

“If more Rackham supporters could meet with ourcurrent students, they would have tremendoussatisfaction in knowing their gifts are being well used.”

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DAN LIPSCHUTZ

Jennifer Gates

by Eve Silberman

Jennifer Gates, a doctoral student inclassical art and archaeology, hasworked on archaeological digs inEgypt’s Eastern Desert in both thewinter and the summer. She saysshe’ll take the winter, anytime. Onesummer in the sands it was so hot thather shoes melted.

Living in tents and escorted byBedouin, Gates finds things can getrugged on excavations; but she enjoysexperiences such as being awakenedby the brightness of the Milky Way.The real thrill, however, comes fromexcavating a little exploredarchaeological site. “It’s prettyexciting to be able to contribute to anarea that hasn’t been done to death,”she says. Although she studies mainlypottery, she notes, “I’ve seen almosteverything come out of the ground--human remains, emeralds, weapons,you name it.”

Gates’ research is concerned withshedding light on the ancient world ofthe Eastern Desert, hours away fromEgypt’s big cities. Her specialty is thePtolemaic period from 323 to 31 BCE(Ptolemy, a Macedonian general,served under Alexander the Great andlater ruled Egypt). Through study ofthe desert settlements, Gates hopesshe can achieve a better understandingof the agenda of the Ptolemaicmonarchs “who would have beeninterested in the gold, elephants, andother materials that were beingshipped out of and through thedesert.” She also hopes to learn moreabout those doing the transporting.“What kind of materials did they havewith them, and what do these objectstell us about their social status, levelof material prosperity, andrelationship with cities and towns inthe Nile Valley?”

The sites along the trade routes, sheexplains, were “like ancient gasstations—only water stations, wherepeople camped and rested on their tripthrough the desert.”

A native of Mississippi, Gates firstgot the archaeology bug while a highschool senior in Virginia when she didan internship with an archaeologiststudying Colonial Williamsburg. Aftergraduating summa cum laude inanthropology and archaeology fromthe University of Virginia, she waseager to come to Michigan—she saysU-M has “the very best program forclassical archaeologists in thecountry”— but says she couldn’t havedone so without the generousfinancial assistance she’s been given,including a Rackham PredoctoralFellowship. “I definitely would not behere without the support I’ve hadthrough Rackham,” she states.

“I’m the first person in my familyto pursue a graduate degree. It justwasn’t possible for them to support it.Rackham’s support made all thedifference.” She has M.A. degrees inboth classical art and archaeology,and in Greek, from Rackham.

Gates is amused by theromanticizing of archaeologiststhrough media characters such asIndiana Jones and Lara Croft,nicknamed “Tomb Raider,” the sexystar of films and video games. Sheonce gave a talk to a Girl Scout troopcalled “Who Wants to Be Lara Croft?Archaeology in the Real World.” Hermessage was, “Sure, archaeology canbe glamorous, but it’s also dirty, hardwork that involves more brainpowerand thoughtful collaboration thanfilms like Indiana Jones or TombRaider would have us believe.” �

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“I’ve seen almost everything come out of the ground — human remains, emeralds, weapons, you name it.”

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by Eve Silberman

Dan Lipschutz, M.D., was movedbut not surprised when his wife, Susan,diagnosed with advanced lymphoma,told him she wished to establish amemorial fund at Rackham for womengraduate students. He knew that Susan,then University of Michigan AssociateProvost in the Office of AcademicAffairs, had greatly enjoyed herprevious stint as Senior AssociateDean at Rackham. “She would comeinto contact with people all over theUniversity who were doing interestingthings,” Dan Lipschutz recalls. Then,too, Susan was sensitive to the specialproblems a woman scholar might face.In addition to salary inequities (shehad once taught at a college inColorado for a smaller salary than thatof a less qualified male facultymember), she was concerned withwomen balancing familyresponsibilities with conductingresearch, teaching and committeework; all important considerations inachieving tenure.

To Dan Lipschutz, who still lives inAnn Arbor, the Susan S. LipschutzAward for Women Graduate Studentshonors both his late wife’s wish and

the memory of a gifted woman whodied too soon, at age 53, in 1997. TheFund provides annual financial supportto a woman doctoral student who hasdemonstrated exceptional scholarlyachievement, a delight of learning, asense of social responsibility and alively interest in her academiccommunity. Every year Lipschutzderives much satisfaction from meetingwith the Susan Lipschutz Awardrecipients. “Michigan graduatestudents are very good to begin with,”he says. “Students who win thesecompetitive awards are brilliant,articulate, astonishing women withincredible research interests. If moreRackham supporters could meet withour current students, they would havetremendous satisfaction in knowingtheir gifts are being well used. It hasbeen especially heartening for me tofollow the academic careers of some ofthe early recipients.”

Dan and Susan Lipschutz had beenhigh school sweethearts who marriedwhile still in college (at Amherst andSmith). While Dan attended medicalschool at Michigan, Susan earned herPh.D. in philosophy in 1969. (Thetimes were so turbulent in Ann Arbor,Dan recalls, that on Susan’s oral exams

she was asked what she thought aboutthe antiwar teach-ins.) Dan and Susanlived in Colorado for a time, but theyeventually returned to Ann Arbor.Susan started her U-M career in 1981as assistant to then President HaroldShapiro, and Dan, who specialized inthe complexities of kidney disease,joined a group practice in nephrology.

While busy with their careers, Danand Susan raised a son, David, and adaughter, Deborah. Dan, who majoredin violin performance at Amherst,found time to be active in the AnnArbor Symphony, where he served aspresident. Now retired from medicine,he continues in the symphony as asubstitute violinist. Remarried to nurseand equestrienne Lynn DeTurk, Danand Lynn spend a lot of time traveling.They frequently visit their fourgrandchildren in New York andVirginia. When home in Ann Arbor, heappreciates the exceptionalopportunities afforded by theUniversity of Michigan. “Whether it’sgoing to a faculty recital featuring aWilliam Bolcom violin sonata or asymposium on The Art of St.Petersburg, it still awes me--the breadth and scope of thisUniversity.” �

“If more Rackham supporters could meet with ourcurrent students, they would have tremendoussatisfaction in knowing their gifts are being well used.”

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DAN LIPSCHUTZ

Jennifer Gates

Gerald A. AndersonGroup Senior Vice PresidentInformation Technology SolutionsGroup, SAICCarlsbad, California

Kenneth M. ColemanSenior Research Analyst,Market StrategiesFaculty Associate, Institute forSocial ResearchUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan

Caren J. DemingProfessor, Department of Media ArtsUniversity of ArizonaTucson, Arizona

Andrew G. De RoccoPresident Emeritus,Denison UniversityHartford, Connecticut

Alfredo D. GutierrezManager, North Bay Equity PartnersCoconut Grove, Florida

Cheryl HurleyPresident, Library of AmericaNew York, New York

Joan B. KesslerPresident, Kessler & KesslerA Law CorporationLos Angeles, California

Marcy H. MaguirePresident and CEOMaguire Automotive GroupPrinceton, New Jersey

Robert MaguireOwnerBob Maguire ChevroletPrinceton, New Jersey

Douglas W. MarshallPrincipal, Blitz & AssociatesGrosse Pointe, Michigan

Milton M. MorrisManager, Atrial Therapy ResearchGuidant CorporationMinneapolis, Minnesota

Michael T. NettlesExecutive DirectorCenter for Policy Studies and Research, ETSPrinceton, New Jersey

Pamela Newman KatesExecutive Vice PresidentAon Risk ServicesNew York, New York

William E. SavageDirector, UMI DissertationsPublishingProQuest Information and LearningAnn Arbor, Michigan

Karen S. Van WeeldenFormer Vice President,External AffairsUnocal CorporationLos Angeles, California

Sean X. ZhangManaging Director, Microsoft(China)Research and Development CenterBeijing, China

CONTACT THERACKHAM

DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Please let us know how youwould like to make thedifference for a graduate studentat the University of Michigan.Please contact us and we will behappy to answer questions andprovide further information.

Jill McDonoughAssistant to the Dean forDevelopment & ExternalRelations734-615-2133jillmcd@umich.edu

Kathy HolmesSenior Development Officer734-647-4572kdholmes@umich.edu

David Emery-PeckDirector of Annual Giving734-764-5536dempeck@umich.edu

Shirley LeeAdministrative Assistant734-764-1125sjlee@umich.edu

Rackham Graduate SchoolDevelopment Office915 E. WashingtonAnn Arbor, MI 48109-1070734-764-1125 tel734-936-2848 fax

RACKHAM DEAN’S ADVISORY BOARD

12

by Jeff Mortimer

Herman Kamil grew up in a familyof retailers in Uruguay, so his earliesttraining and interest in economics wasnot academic. Although it has sincebecome so—as he completes his Ph.D.in economics, he’s working as avisiting scholar at the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank in Washington,D.C.—he means to maintain the linkbetween his research and its societalapplications.

“For me, it’s a top priority to blendthe academic and policy work,” hesays. “Bridging these two areas is theoverarching goal in my work as aneconomist.” His dissertation fills thebill nicely: in seeking to understandhow business enterprises in LatinAmerica are affected by the suddencurrency devaluations that haveplagued those nations’ economies, hehopes to help them craft informedremedies.

“Latin American countries have twocurrencies, the dollar and the localcurrency,” he explains. “When thedomestic currency depreciates vis-à-visthe dollar, it creates huge problems for

these economies.” Afirm whose income islocal and denominatedin pesos but whose debtis foreign anddenominated in dollarscan suddenly find itselfwhipsawed intoinsolvency.

“I want to develop acore of knowledge that

will help policy makers devisefinancial instruments to allow firms tohedge better,” says Kamil. “In thiscontext, that means to be able to matchthe currency in which your financialcost is denominated with the currencyin which your income is denominated.”

To develop that core, “I need tocollect detailed information on thefinancial structures of the firms,” hesays. “These data are not system-atically reported, so you not only haveto go to the balance sheets of eachcompany but to the footnotes on thebalance sheets. It’s a hugeundertaking.”

It’s also expensive, entailing thepurchase of datasets from multiplecountries. Kamil says receiving the Dr.Dean Bowman Award from Rackhamwas crucial to that endeavor. “Withoutit, I couldn’t have undertaken even halfof the project,” he says. He alsoobtained financial support from theDepartment of Economics and theBusiness School, and the RackhamPredoctoral Fellowship is providingassistance as he finishes his disser-tation. “I feel grateful and lucky tohave obtained all this financialsupport.”

His work has already turned upsome suggestive contrasts. “In Chileand Brazil, firms which are exporterstend to have dollar debt and firmswhich sell only domestically have pesodebt, so they are matched,” saysKamil. “In Argentina and Uruguay,they are not. This can explain whyrecent post-devaluation experiences inLatin America have varied markedlyacross countries.”

Kamil hasn’t yet decided what he isgoing to do after completing hisdegree. But he knows he wants toeventually return to Uruguay to teach:“I envision being able to lecture out ofmy own research,” he says. “Asidefrom the natural satisfaction andexcitement that comes from sharingyour own work, teaching from one’sresearch provides a unique opportunityto bring students a sense of thedynamism of the field and what itmeans to be part of a researchcommunity.” In 2003, Kamil receivedthe University’s Outstanding GraduateStudent Instructor Award recognizingexceptional creativity as a teacher,advisor and mentor.

He will take with him a strongattachment to his alma mater. “I notonly met new people but new ways ofthinking, new ideas,” he says.“Michigan really embraced me as astudent, and not only financially. Whatmatters here is the person; they trust inyou and your abilities. I really feelgrateful.” �

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by Eve Silberman

Although John Wesley Holmes spenthis career as an executive in thecorporate world, he “was really alwaysan academic at heart,” says his widow,Marsha Evans Holmes. At the time ofhis death from a heart attack at age 56,in 2002, Holmes was exploringopportunities to teach in the collegeclassroom.

Higher education held specialmeaning for Holmes, an AfricanAmerican, who was the son of arailroad employee and a domesticworker in LaPorte, Indiana. Coming ofage in the civil rights era, heunderstood the value of his U-Mgraduate degrees in securing a placefor himself in the corporate world.After receiving his Master’s degreefrom U-M in 1972, and his Ph.D. in1976, both in economics, (he receivedhis B.A. in math from PurdueUniversity in 1968), he spent twenty-seven years, almost his entire career, atExxonMobil Corporation where he

retired as general manager of supplyand distribution. Most of his career wasspent in the company’s internationalarena. “He had the sameresponsibilities for all the countries, butthe cultures were very different,” saysMarsha Holmes. “He found it veryrewarding that he was able to besuccessful in different cultures.”

Holmes’s success at ExxonMobilhelped lead to his selection as a WhiteHouse Fellow in 1980-81. He workedfor a year in the Office of Managementand Budget. “It was a very upliftingexperience for him,” says MarshaHolmes. “He was enlightened to seejust how government works.”

Both at ExxonMobil and in theWhite House, Holmes looked out foryounger people climbing the careerladder. “It was amazing, after his death,how many letters I got, ” says MarshaHolmes, “from African Americans,Caucasians, co-workers from Europe,Asia and South America. They talkedabout how he mentored them.”

Marsha Holmes reflected upon her

husband’s desire to mentor others whenshe wanted to pay tribute to him afterhis untimely death. Before he died, hehad started to give money to aidunderrepresented graduate students atU-M, particularly those working onPh.D.’s. He was concerned, MarshaHolmes says, that the percentage ofblack Ph.D.’s is disproportionately low.To continue his work she and otherfamily members and friends havecreated the John W. Holmes EndowedFellowship Fund at Rackham.“Education was very important to him,and supporting others in attainingadvanced degrees is the best way Iknow to honor him,” she states. Still inthe planning stages, the fund willemphasize help for African Americangraduate students.

Holmes herself, a former vice-president at Verizon Communications,is deeply committed to encouragingothers in higher education. “The valuein giving back to your college oruniversity is something John and I bothshared.” �

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and supporting others in attaining

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RackhamEnrichmentFundYour gift of anyamount, combinedwith contributionsfrom others, will helpsupport our graduatestudents’ educationalor emergency medicalneeds.

Research & Travel AwardA $5,000 gift creates a named award to enable a mastersor doctoral student, from one of Rackham’s over 120programs, to travel anywhere in the world to collaboratewith scientists, attend conferences, study original art andmanuscripts, or participate in archeological digs.

Internship SupportA $5,000 gift creates a named award to support, forexample, a Museum Studies student’s required summerinternship in an archive, zoo, museum, botanical garden,film institute, or science center around the world.

Predoctoral FellowshipAn expendable gift of $25,000 creates a prestigious namedfellowship for an outstanding student who is completinghis or her dissertation.

First Year Recruitment FellowshipAn expendable gift of $50,000 creates a named fellowshipto help us compete with our peer institutions and attractthe very best graduate students to the University ofMichigan.

Endowed Named Research AwardA gift of $100,000 establishes an endowment to providean annual named research award for a masters or doctoralstudent in one of over 120 Rackham programs.

Endowed Named Candidacy AwardA gift of $250,000 establishes an endowment to support adoctoral student who is completing his or her dissertation.

Endowed Named FellowshipA gift of $750,000 establishes an endowment to providean annual named fellowship to be awarded to a student inone of over 120 Rackham programs. The endowed namedfellowships will be Rackham’s most prestigious awards,for those students who are making significant contribu-tions in their fields.

How You Can SupportGraduateStudents

Outright Gifts Are Immediately Useful for Graduate Students

� Cash or securities — immediately useful for students� Online credit card gift — www.giving.umich.edu� Five-year Campaign Pledge — spread payments over the duration of

the Campaign

Life Income Gifts & Estate Gifts Benefit Future Generations

� Charitable Gift Annuity— if you are over 50, receive income for life� Charitable Remainder Unitrust — avoid capital gains, multiple beneficiaries

possible, take advantage of investment performance� Bequest — a simple and straightforward legacy through your will� Retirement Assets — a tax advantageous gift from your estate

How to MakeYour Gift

Campaign for Rackham(Continued from page 7)

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zero tolerance and

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By Jeff Mortimer

A couple of epiphanies have markedPeri Stone-Palmquist’s path.

The first came between her juniorand senior years at North ParkUniversity in Chicago, when she spenta month attending a journalismprogram in Washington, D.C. “I knewI loved to write and I wanted to findout more about it,” she says. “I just fellin love with newspaper reporting thatsummer. It confirmed that was what Iwanted to do with my life.”

The second came when she wasreasonably well established in that partof her life, working full-time as aneducation reporter for The Ann ArborNews, taking classes part-time at theGerald R. Ford School of PublicPolicy, and enjoying the symbioticrelationship between her journalisticskills and academic interests. Whenshe learned of the School-to-PrisonPipeline Conference at Harvard, itseemed like an opportunity to furtherenhance that relationship.

“It was all about how zero toleranceand policies like that are contributingto kids ending up in jail or detentionfacilities,” Stone-Palmquist says. “Thatjust struck a nerve in me.”

She attended the conference duringthe spring of 2003. Ruth Zweifler,former director of the Ann Arbor-basedStudent Advocacy Center of Michigan,attended the conference as well.During one of their conversations, theidea arose of Stone-Palmquistconducting an independent study onthe issue. “I would be interviewingkids who have been expelled and findout what happens to them after theexpulsion,” she says. “In Michigan,students who are permanently expelledare expelled from all public schools inthe state. It’s up to the parents tosecure educational services for theirkids. School districts may or may notgive you references, but it’s totally upto the parents to find something. I hadanecdotally heard it was hard forparents to find something, but therewas no research, no one had reallylooked into that.”

She began reading and designing theresearch. She also began to realize thatshe had to make a choice between hertwo worlds. “It was becoming clear tome that a daily newspaper wasn’t agood fit for me,” she says. “Having towrite three or four stories a week wasmaking me not like writing anymore.”

When she secured a position as agraduate student staff assistant,

Stone-Palmquist left the newspaper tobecome a full-time student. Butcovering the expenses associated withher study remained problematic. “Thensomeone at Rackham mentioned thatthere was discretionary funding,” shesays. “I turned in my application. I justcouldn’t believe how quickly Rackhamgot back to me. I felt so supported.”

Some of the money went towardtransportation costs—she’s driving allover southeast Michigan to interviewstudents and their parents—but thebulk of it will pay for publishing herreport. “I always hoped to find a wayto publish it but Rackham is makingthat possible,” Stone-Palmquist says.“Without that money, I could do allthat research and no one would findout about it.”

What’s next? “I’m trying to figurethat out,” she says. “I know that in mydreams I would love to do exactlywhat I’m doing right now, which isreally practical research that’s going tohelp come up with some policysolutions. I’d love to find a way tocombine my writing and reportingskills from journalism and my policytraining at the Ford School.” �

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Peri Stone-Palmquist

(Continued on page 8)

“I thought my whole lifedepended upon going tograduate school. I knew Ihad to have more educationfor the pure intellectual joyof pursuing knowledge inmy chosen field, and togain an academicperspective and the professional skills, self confidence andcredentials I needed as a woman in the 1930s to be takenseriously.

The problem was I had no money. It was the depths of theDepression, and there were no scholarships available to womengraduate students.

I was able to go, finally, because of a generous gift with nostrings attached from a man who graduated from the Universityof Michigan in 1894. I never forgot his generosity and thewhole course of my future life depended on that graduatedegree.

It was a joy, through my gift to Rackham, to make it possiblefor another highly motivated graduate student who neededfinancial assistance to receive help at a critical point in heracademic career. I believe in giving money without conditions,but I was especially happy to learn my gift supported TaSharabecause I identify so closely with her career goals. She seemsto me like an extension of myself into the next generation.”

Willie Grace Campbell, MA, Sociology, 1939

“The Willie Dickins and John A. Campbell Fellowship isenabling me to reach a long time dream and goal—thebeginning of my doctoral degree program. Ms. Campbell’scareer serves as a compelling example of how women cantransform our society using the research training they havegained at the University of Michigan. I hope to replicate herexample some day by assisting future Rackham students.”

TaShara C. BaileyFirst Year Doctoral StudentSchool of Education Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education

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Your Support

Makes a

Difference

Nationally, Rackham isrecognized as a leader inthe growing and excitingdialogue regarding thefuture of graduateeducation. We workedwith the National ResearchCouncil to define themethodology for theirupcoming assessment of allgraduate programs in the

US. We have worked with our colleagues at the AmericanCouncil on Education, the American Association ofUniversities, and the Council of Graduate Schools toprovide testimony to Congress on the importance offederal support for graduate education. Perhaps the mostprovocative discussion about graduate education has takenplace inside the Responsive PhD Project. A consortium offourteen top research universities, including the Universityof Michigan, the Responsive PhD addresses thediscrepancies between the kinds of training graduatestudents receive and the careers available to them. Amongthe consortium’s recommendations are new paradigms fortraining citizen-scholars to reach their full potential forsocial good throughout all areas of study.

The RackhamSchool of GraduateStudies is a powerfulpartnership. Throughachievements largeand small, theRackham community— now 85,000 strong— continues to leadthe way in highereducation, research,the visual andperforming arts,

business and industry, science and engineering, and publicpolicy and service.

Today the University of Michigan faces intensecompetitive pressure from peer institutions which aredirecting unprecedented financial support to graduatestudent recruitment and retention. This challenge,combined with the high cost of graduate education and theongoing need for advanced learning technologies, calls fora strong and unified response from all of us in theRackham community.

The University of Michigan has just kicked off the mostambitious fundraising campaign in our history. TheMichigan Difference seeks to raise $2.5 billion in support

of students, faculty, facilities, programs and research. TheGraduate School’s part of this campaign goal is $35million. Funds raised will enable Michigan to maintain itseminence as a center of graduate education by providingample support—in the form of grants, fellowships andstate-of-the-art resources—for our graduate students andprograms.

Graduate students occupy an important niche in theUniversity community. By examining difficult questionsin new and exciting ways, graduate students challengeassumptions and push intellectual frontiers. TheUniversity’s ability to recruit and retain the best faculty istied inextricably to the quality of the graduate studentswho will work with them on cutting-edge research.Graduate students enhance the quality of theundergraduate experience at Michigan by demonstratingexceptional ability and creativity as teachers and mentorsin their own classrooms. To sustain the excellence of aMichigan education, we must provide sufficient supportfor our graduate students.

We invite you to joinwith us in this endeavor.Your gift to TheMichigan DifferenceCampaign may bedesignated for directsupport of Rackhamgraduate students.Every gift received willbe a wise and urgentlyneeded investment notmerely in the best in graduate education, but in the futurewell-being of our society and the world. Today, asalways, a well-educated citizenry and a well-trained workforce are crucial for human survival and progress. Just asthe world currently benefits from your skills and talents,so the world will need the same from future generations ofMichigan graduate students.

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15

By Jeff Mortimer

Karen Van Weelden is committed tobringing the Rackham GraduateSchool and Los Angeles area alumnicloser together. Last year, VanWeelden organized a lunch and paneldiscussion on one of the nation’s mostimportant issues before the USSupreme Court: Michigan’s case onAffirmative Action. Rackham DeanEarl Lewis, Professor Sylvia Hurtadoof the School of Education, andUniversity Assistant General CounselJonathan Alger presented legal,historical and educational perspectiveson Michigan’s case. Of course, aspirited question-and-answer sessionamong 70 Michigan alumni andfriends followed. “This was held afterthe case was argued at the SupremeCourt, but before the decision wasannounced, so there was a lot ofexcitement,” says Van Weelden. “Itwas a very gratifying experience forme to participate, and to find theUniversity interested in the idea. Theseare busy people, and for them to comeout to California for lunch … thankyou very much!”

Van Weelden has Michigan roots,attending Kalamazoo College as anundergraduate, then receiving herMasters in Urban Planning from theUniversity of Michigan. After fiveyears working in several governmentjobs in Washington, D.C., she was

ready for a change. “I was ready forthe next step in my life,” she recalls,“so I wrote a letter of introduction tothe CEOs of the hundred largest firmsin the Fortune 500. I figured even if Ididn’t get a job offer, I’d learnsomething along the way.”

She did both. A senior executive atUnocal (known as Union Oil ofCalifornia until 1983) got her letter,interviewed her and hired her to fill anewly created position as thecompany’s government relationscoordinator. She rose through theranks to become vice president ofexternal affairs during a 25-yearcareer.

Currently retired, she lives in LosAngeles with her husband Paul andfifteen-year-old son, Jake. For a whileafter retiring “it felt good to do what Iwanted to do when I wanted to do it,”she says. And then a phone call fromRackham inspired a moment like theone that led to her leavingWashington. “I thought to myself, I’mretired, I have time to spend and Ihave knowledge and experiences thatcould be useful,” she recalls. “MaybeI’ll just call back and offer to help inthe LA area. It was sort of likesending those 100 letters out. I didn’tknow what kind of response I’d get.”

What she got was an enthusiasticthanks and “yes you can help” fromRackham. She is now a member ofthe Rackham Dean’s Advisory Board.

And she feels it is very important todevelop and nurture the connectionbetween the Graduate School andalumni far away from the University.She wants to make “LA LearningLunches” a fixture for Michigan’sCalifornia contingent.

Aware that her longevity with onecompany would be an anomaly intoday’s employment landscape, she isnow interested in presentingUniversity expertise on the topic ofjob offshoring. “It is of great interestnationally. When I was in school, thethinking was you’d get a good jobwith a corporation and it would lastforever. That’s no longer the case. I’dlike to bring some Michigan expertsout to Southern California to presentand discuss this topic. How is theUniversity responding to this trend?What is higher education doing ingeneral to prepare students for thisfuture?”“It is important for alums in Southern

California to hear what Michigan isthinking and doing about current,critical issues, and for us on the westcoast to have an opportunity toprovide feedback and participate inthese important discussions. I reallyenjoy working with the people atRackham and I hope to stay involved.To the extent that I can bring Rackhamand west coast alumni together, I’dlike to do that.” �

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“When I was inschool, thethinking was you’dget a good jobwith a corporationand it would lastforever. That’s nolonger the case.”

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Our GraduatesMake theDifference:The RackhamCampaign Join the

Campaign!

Leadership

in Graduate

Education

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CA M P A I G N F O R T H E R A C K H A M G R A D U AT E S C H O O L : O U R G R A D U AT E S M A K E T H E D I F F E R E N C E

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By Jeff Mortimer

Everyone knows aboutSilicon Valley, but whatabout the Gallium NitrideValley? The prospect givesus some idea of whatWilliam Sutton is up to,and why it matters. Siliconwas, in a sense, the magicingredient in theminiaturization revolutionin electronics because of itsabundance, consistency andthe extent to which itsconductivity can bemanipulated. But it’s nomore perfect than anythingelse; there are applicationswhere, for example, it can’tconduct sufficient power atthe optimum frequencies todo the job.

Enter gallium nitride.Maybe. That’s whereSutton’s research comes in.“Let’s say you have a ruggedwireless system, or you mayneed to monitor very hightemperature engines, maybein space electronics, wherethere’s a lot of hard radiationexposure,” he says. “Galliumnitride is a very attractivealternative to othersemiconductor materials. Itcan put out a lot more power atcomparable frequencies.”

But a lot more work has to be donefirst. “The basic research part has beengoing on for a couple of decades,” saysSutton. “Now we’re getting intocommercial products. Here is thechallenge: this is an unproven and stillimmature technology. Not only arethere things in the material we don’tfully understand, but there aredifficulties in making the transistorswell and in making it repeatable andinexpensive compared to othertechnology. For military applications,cost may be no issue, but forcompanies, cost is the issue. If it’sgoing to be more expensive thanstandard technology, it needs to havemuch greater performance to justifythe extra cost.”

Sutton grew up in Kalamazoo,graduated magna cum laude in physicsfrom Kalamazoo College, and was

moved to continue his education atMichigan after hearing ElectricalEngineering Professor Herbert Winfulgive a talk on his research. “He was areally big inspiration to me, veryclassy, very intelligent, verypersonable,” says Sutton, “and he wasvery encouraging to everyone involvedto apply for graduate study anywhere,but especially at Michigan. He wasone of the main reasons I decided toapply to U-M.”

He says the support he’s received,financial and otherwise, has validatedhis decision. “I’ve primarily beenfunded by Rackham itself through aRackham Merit Fellowship,” he says.Sutton also won a prestigiousMotorola Fellowship to help fund hisresearch, but “the Merit Fellowship iswhat allowed me to stay here.” That,and a supportive environment. “Eventhough it is a large university,everyone here at U of M and theCollege of Engineering and Rackham

are very much like family,” he says.“Everyone wants you to succeed. It’snot only monetary support, butwhenever any issues come up, thepeople in my department as well asRackham are more than helpful inresolving them. It is competitive. Youare expected to do good work. But thewhole belief is ‘we want you tosucceed. As long as you do your part,we’ll do our part.’ ”

The part that Sutton envisions forhimself in the future is in commercialresearch and development. “I’m goingto go from device work to a little bit ofcircuit-making,” he says. “I want to domore circuit design, maybe developwhole gallium-nitride systems, groupsof circuits that have a common task todo.”

And maybe find that valley alongthe way. �

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Will SUTTON

At the University ofMichigan RackhamGraduate School, the pathsof alumni, faculty, staff,friends, and currentgraduate students begin andstill converge. Sinceconferring its first doctoraldegree in 1876, theUniversity of Michigan hasadvanced the value of

graduate education in meeting society’s needs. We haveused our individual skills and training to mentor, teach,inspire, discover, invent and lead as we transform ourglobal community in thousands of ways throughout theworld.

In 1935, Mary Rackham worked with PresidentAlexander Ruthven to endow the Graduate School with themeans to support graduate education at Michigan. Today,we are housed in the magnificent and newly restoredRackham Building and joined by the rigors of academicpursuits in over 120 graduate programs across the depthand breadth of the University. Our heritage of excellencecontinues to draw exceptional faculty and graduatestudents from around the world to the University ofMichigan, and each year the process of training futurecitizen-scholars begins anew.

The Rackham Graduate School provides funding forgraduate students, departments and programs at theUniversity of Michigan; information and services relatedto admissions, orientation and degree requirements;workshops to help graduate students succeed in theirprograms; student honors and awards; and a nationalplatform to help shape public debate about graduateeducation.

The Rackham GraduateSchool has changeddramatically since ourfounding in 1935 although,most importantly, weremain the largest singlesource of graduate studentfinancial aid. Almost twothirds of our annual budgetis designated for studentsupport, a critical source of

fellowships and grants for nearly 7,000 students. We arecommitted to recruiting and retaining the best-qualifiedstudents from diverse communities in the US and abroad,and financial aid is an important tool in that effort. Ourability to continue to attract the best and brightest toMichigan increasingly depends upon our ability tocompete with our peer institutions in terms of fellowshipsupport.

At the same time, the way in which we support andnurture graduate students and programs extends beyondfinancial aid. We offer services and programs that enrichgraduate students’ experiences. Cutting-edgeinterdisciplinarity is given a home through over 35Rackham Interdepartmental Programs, such asNeuroscience and Classical Art & Archaeology. A range ofpublications, including How to Get the Mentoring YouWant and The Dissertation Handbook are in demand byour students and by other universities. We recognize andhonor student recipients of Outstanding Graduate StudentInstructor Awards, Distinguished Dissertation Awards andRackham Predoctoral Fellowships. Rackham StudentGovernment, Rackham Students of Color and TheGraduate Student Forum provide a proactive way forgraduate students to have a voice and create change.Through participation in the Andrew W. MellonFoundation’s Kalamazoo-Oberlin Exchange, newly mintedPhD students gain valuable teaching experience byexchanging places for a year with senior faculty at anearby liberal arts college.

Support of

Graduate

Studies

(Continued on page 6)

Our

Tradition of

Excellence

Taking the helm now is Rackham’s Interim Dean Steven L. Kunkel. Kunkelreceived his B.S. degree from North Dakota State University and his Ph.D.from the University of Kansas. He served his post-doctoral fellowship at theUniversity of Connecticut Health Center. Joining the University of Michiganfaculty in 1980 in the Pathology Department of the Medical School, he rosethrough the ranks to Professor of Pathology in 1991. He was appointedEndowed Professor of Pathology in 1997.

Kunkel’s impact in the field of immunology and inflammation is impressive.He has co-authored over 475 peer reviewed manuscripts, contributed numerouschapters to different books in his field, served as the editor for four books,presented over 150 lectures as a visiting professor/lecturer in the past ten years,and maintained continuous funding of five major National Institutes of Healthgrants for a number of years.

Kunkel has been actively involved in teaching at the Medical School sincehis arrival at the University more than two decades ago. He has lectured in thehost defense component for first year medical students and in various coursesfor graduate students in both the Immunology and Pathology GraduatePrograms. On a daily basis, he is engaged in teaching and mentoring activitieswith undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and juniorfaculty members.

During the past ten years, Kunkel has served the University in theadministration of academic, research, and teaching activities. In 1994, he servedas Interim Associate Vice President for Research. In 1995, he became anAssociate Dean of the Rackham Graduate School where he currently overseesgraduate study in the basic sciences at the University and works closely withPh.D.-granting multidisciplinary programs in the Biological and HealthSciences. In this position, he is actively involved in interdisciplinary activities,diversity issues, and creative funding packages for the various programs.

As an Associate and now Interim Dean of the Graduate School, Kunkel sees Rackham’s critical role in the University as not onlyproviding graduate student services but also engaging the different schools and colleges to act on important academic issues. Ofparticular interest to Kunkel is interdisciplinarity—the ways in which scholarly topics cross traditional boundaries to involveresearchers and teachers from across the campus. “Research is no longer a vertical enterprise,” according to Kunkel, “but ahorizontal one in which important questions need to be studied by colleagues with a variety of perspectives.” Interdisciplinarity isalso a useful instructional tool—multi-faceted approaches in the classroom can create a more exciting and more meaningful learningenvironment for both faculty and students.

In May 2004, Kunkel co-chaired the Rackham Summer Interdisciplinary Institute with June Howard, Associate Dean forInterdisciplinary Initiatives at the Graduate School. The six-week institute brought together faculty and graduate students fromacross the university. As co-leaders of the institute, Kunkel and Howard—professors of pathology and English, respectively—themselves demonstrated the value of scholars talking across disciplines to achieve a larger educational purpose. “June and I wantedto encourage the participants to think of interdisiciplinarity as a tool that can help them in their different research areas,” saysKunkel. “At one session, for example, we had medical doctors, musicians, and literary scholars working together to definecreativity—what benchmarks do they use to define a creative success? What can they learn from each other that will help them withtheir own research and teaching?”

Over the next year, Kunkel plans to uphold Rackham’s long tradition of successful interdisciplinary initiatives. “We field anumber of inquiries every year from other institutions looking to emulate our success. Interdisciplinarity is a powerful tool, andRackham is in a great position to encourage our colleagues from the humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences to cometogether, learn from one another, and apply those lessons in their own teaching and research.” �

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17

By Eve Silberman

“Studying television has been arespectable endeavor for only about20 years. In academic terms, that isreally short,” reflects Caren Deming,who earned four U-M degrees in the1960s and 1970s and today is aprofessor of media arts at theUniversity of Arizona. “It’s exciting tome that television studies is maturingat a time when I can be a part of it.”

Deming, who taught at SanFrancisco State before going toArizona in 1986, has researched andwritten extensively about television inAmerican life, her subjects rangingfrom the roots of family situationcomedy to the portrayal of women onTV. Deming has a particular interestin the pioneering series TheGoldbergs, which was on the air from1949 to 1956. She is now researchingand writing a new book about actressGertrude Berg, who played thematriarch Molly Goldberg. Bergproduced as well as starred in the

show; “her powerful role in the earlydays of television is too oftenoverlooked,” says Deming. TheGoldbergs opened the door for betterknown family series such as Leave Itto Beaver and Father Knows Best, anda study of the show, Deming believes,reveals “important developments inbroadcasting and in society—suburbanism, consumerism, youthculture. These are just a few of thecurrents visible in the series.”

Obtaining old tapes of TheGoldbergs is a constant challenge, butit’s hardly the only one in Deming’sbusy life. In addition to research andteaching (she’s won several awardsfor excellence in teaching), she playsa key role in the Arizona InternationalFilm Festival, which is a big supporterof independent films. And since 2000she has served U-M as a member ofthe Dean’s Advisory Board atRackham. Deming enjoys the chanceto connect again with U-M, where shegot her B.A. in English in 1965, herM.A. in English in 1970, a second

M.A. in communication in 1971, andher Ph.D., also in communication(with a Radio-Television-Filmconcentration), in 1976.Communication faculty encouragedher interest in a burgeoning area, sherecalls. “The field of television studieswas not yet well developed and itseemed as though there was plenty ofwork to be done.”

Deming recalls with gratitude that,as a graduate student, she won theFord Foundation Rackham PrizeFellowship, which allowed her towork full-time on her dissertation fortwo years. That experience was on hermind when she decided to bequeath aresearch and travel fund for graduatestudents in film and video studies. “Ido feel the sense of a certain personalobligation,” she says, “not to repay somuch as to help future generations. Ican’t think of a worthier legacy thanto help, in whatever way, thedevelopment of the minds that are socrucial to the future of the planet.” �

Caren Deming

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T R A N S I T I O N S

“I can’t think of a worthier

legacy than to help, in

whatever way, the

development of the minds

that are so crucial to the

future of the planet.”

Steven L. Kunkel Named Interim Dean

T R A N S I T I O N S

The things people said from the podium about Earl Lewis at hisfarewell party in June sounded more like the rave reviews on a bookjacket than praise for a departing dean:

“He transformed graduate education not only here but across the nation”(University President Mary Sue Coleman).

“In 16 years, we’ve never had a cross word. He’s a great role model as afriend, colleague and father” (Columbia University Professor Robin D.G.Kelley, renowned scholar of African-American history and a Lewiscollaborator).

“He has been a reformer, revamper, and redefiner of what it means to geta graduate education” (University Provost Paul N. Courant).

“He has been a consummate master teacher for me and countless othersin this room” (University Vice President for Student Affairs RoysterHarper).

After 15 years at the University of Michigan and six as Rackham’s Dean,Lewis accepted the position of Provost and Vice President of AcademicAffairs at Emory University on July 1. His going-away gala in Rackham’ssecond floor reading room was a fitting finale to his tenure, attended byeveryone from staff to current students to alumni to administrators fromother schools to the guys he played basketball with to deans, vicepresidents, regents and President Coleman, all of them sharing laughter,tears, hugs and warm memories.

As Steven L. Kunkel, Professor of Pathology and Associate Dean ofRackham who will serve as interim dean until a successor is named,pointed out later, “Not every dean or director gets a going-away party.”Suffice it to say that Earl Lewis was not every dean. The gorgeously

restored building where the party was held is but one monument to the fruits of his vision, tenacity, wisdom and grace.“Earl positioned Rackham as an important player to engage different schools in moving issues that are important to all of them but

that it would not behoove the University to locate in any particular one,” said Kunkel. “Michigan has placed interdisciplinarity on themap. A lot of other universities look at us with envy, wishing they would have these initiatives.”Lewis himself said he would like to be remembered “for being willing to take intelligent risks, for believing in trying to suggest to

others that there is no incompatibility between excellence and diversity, for pushing on several items that I thought were important,including building a top program in African-American history—and we built the number-one program, by some accounts—formaking sure that the Graduate School provided access to students from all over the world and, finally, for looking for a range ofissues and concerns that seemed not to have gained complete focus and then bringing focus to those items. It is my hope that wehave reestablished that the Graduate School is an important part of the overall fabric of this institution.”

Lewis’ management style played a key role in his successes. “My goal was to let people know that I knew they were doing a goodjob but to allow them the flexibility along the way to make a mistake or two,” he said. “Because that’s how you learn. If you neveradmit to or engage your mistakes, that means you took no risks. I would always encourage staff to take a few risks.”

He was renowned for according equal respect to each member of the enterprise. “At the meeting when Earl announced that he wasleaving, there were a lot of misty-eyed people in the room,” said Kunkel.

More tangible evidence of the staff’s feelings for him surfaced at his going-away party, when it was announced that the Earl LewisEndowment Fund had been established … and that the staff had already contributed $4,000.

Their fondness for him is mirrored in his affection for Michigan. “All that was asked of me was to be imaginative andcollaborative in an institution that supports imagination and collaboration,” he said. “It was a place that gave me the space andfreedom to grow, as a scholar, as a mentor and as an administrator. I will forever be deeply indebted to the University of Michigan. Iwill also always be a part of the University of Michigan, and it will always be a part of me.”

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by Eve Silberman

Allison Miller recalls her first yearin graduate school at the Universityof Michigan as a time of intellectualfreedom. The Program in BiomedicalSciences (PIBS) gave students thechance to take classes and do labwork in different disciplines beforechoosing their major concentration.“You had an opportunity to explorewhat you really wanted to do asopposed to guessing,” says Miller,who ended up concentrating inpathology.

Now a newly minted Ph.D., Millerspent most of her time at U-M in thelab, doing work aimed at betterunderstanding the disease process ofrespiratory syncytial virus (RSV),believed to be linked to thedevelopment of childhood asthma.Miller studied the role a chemokinereceptor (a protein involved in theimmune response to RSV infection)named CXCR2 might play in themucus production caused by RSVinfection of mice. She found thatRSV-infected mice with the CXCR2protein produce more mucus than domice without the protein. “Our workwould suggest that using a drug to

inactivate CXCR2 during RSVdisease may prevent mucusproduction and possibly wheezing,”she says.

Development of such a drug couldprove especially important to infantsand very young children. “One of thebiggest problems these children haveis that they can’t breathe properly.Their airways are so small andthey’ve got too much mucus in theirlungs,” she points out. “By gettingrid of mucus, proper oxygenexchange between the lungs and theblood could be restored.”

She cautions that experiments inmice don’t always produce the sameresults in humans. Still, she’soptimistic because several companieshave developed drugs to inactivateCXCR2, although they have not yettested for the drugs’ ability toregulate mucus production. She says,“It’s exciting to feel like you foundsomething that is relatively easy totranslate into drug development andtherapy.”

Miller was able to complete herdissertation research on CXCR2 andRSV with the help of a RackhamPredoctoral Fellowship. “I wasthrilled to receive it,” she says. A side

benefit was hearing about the breadthof research powered by graduatestudents across the UM campus.

A New Jersey native who did herundergraduate work at the Universityof Rochester, Miller has been hookedon science since she had anespecially dynamic teacher in theninth grade. She wants to be anacademic scientist, although sheknows there are risks. “You get tochoose what area you research, ratherthan work for a company where theytell you what to study,” she says.“The scary part is that your wholecareer is dependent on whether a lineof research works well or doesn’t.”

Miller took great satisfaction incompleting her dissertation.“Seeing a couple hundred pages thatrepresent the years of work you’vedone in the lab – it was a wonderfulsense of accomplishment. It allowedme to examine my work from abroader perspective, and to betterunderstand how my findings in thelab have significantly contributed tothe research that is being done in thefield.” �

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“It’s exciting to feel like

you found something that

is relatively easy to

translate into drug

development and therapy.”

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(Continued on next page)

By Jeff Mortimer

Earl Lewis Bids Farewell

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Rackham Alumni Magazine

Published annually by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies

Steven L. KunkelInterim Dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies,

and Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs - Graduate Studies

Jill McDonoughAssistant to the Dean for Development and External Relations

Kathryn D. HolmesSenior Development Officer

Editor: Elyse RubinWriters: Jeffrey Mortimer and Eve Silberman

Designer: Rose AndersonCover Photo: Marcia L. Ledford

Contributing Photographers:D.C. Goings, Tyler Gillett, Bob Parzych, Alex Quijano, Bill Wood

Rackham Alumni Magazine welcomes your comments. Please send correspondence to Elyse Rubin, Editor

915 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1070 or e-mail: elyserbu@umich.edu

Rackham Executive Board Steven L. Kunkel, Chair, Rackham Graduate School Interim Vice Provost for

Academic Affairs — Graduate Studies, and Interim Dean of the Horace H.Rackham School of Graduate Studies

Susan E. Alcock, Professor, Classical Archaeology and Classics Deborah Loewenberg Ball, Professor, Education Catherine Brown, Associate Professor, Romance Languages John R. Chamberlin, Professor, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and

Department of Political Science Brian Coppola, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry, Associate Chair for

Curriculum and Faculty Affairs, Department of Chemistry Alec D. Gallimore, Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering John Kuwada, Professor, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Vahid Lotfi, Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Programs and Research,

UM-Flint Charlotte Otto, Professor, Natural Sciences, UM-Dearborn Marianetta Porter, Associate Professor, School of Art and Design Jessica Schwartz, Professor, Department of Physiology Michael D. Uhler, Professor, Biological Chemistry, Medical School Gregory H. Wakefield, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and

Computer Science Alford Young, Jr., Associate Professor, Center for Afroamerican and

African Studies and The Department of Sociology Mikhail Zolikoff, President, Rackham Student Government (RSG) Brighid Dwyer, Student Representative, Students of Color of Rackham (SCOR)

Rackham Board of GovernorsMary Sue Coleman, President, University of Michigan Chair, Board of GovernorsSteven L. Kunkel, Interim Dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate

Studies, and Interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs - Graduate StudiesRobert Weisbuch, President, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship FoundationMelvin Oliver, Professor and Dean of Social Sciences, University of California,

Santa BarbaraRoberta W. Gutman, Principal, Roberta Gutman Consulting, LLC

Photo by Bill Wood

C O N T E N T S

Campaign for Rackham 5

Jennifer Gates 10

Dan Lipschutz 11

Herman Kamil 12

Marsha Holmes 13

Peri Stone-Palmquist 14

Karen Van Weelden 15

Will Sutton 16

Caren Deming 17

Allison Miller 18

Andrew De Rocco 19

“If one cares to

preserve and nurture

the academy, can

there be a better way

than to ensure the

metamorphosis of

able students into

provocative

scholars?”

By Jeff Mortimer

Andrew G. De Rocco’s first glimpseof the Rackham Building in the fall of1951 was, quite literally, a moment ofdéjà vu. “I’d seen it before,” he says,“because, as a boy, I’d seen theblueprints that were employed tocreate the main portals.” The granitefrom which they were carved camefrom a quarry in Westerly, R.I., that hisfather, a builder, was familiar with. Buthis experience at Michigan, while lesspalpable than the portals, was moreprofound.

“I think I was a decentundergraduate, but my sense of thescholarly life was awakened andnurtured in Ann Arbor,” De Roccosays. As just one example, he recalls aphilosophy professor who agreed tomeet with him and a handful of othergraduate students for an informalweekly seminar to “debate the natureof logical empiricism, or theconsequences of what the quantumview of the world might be. What thatdid, in a way, was permit those of uswho had been trained in the naturalsciences to be educated in thehumanities.”

Experiences like that comprised“such a gift that it’s unmeasurable inmaterial terms,” he says. “One tries to

provide some measure of, if you will,compensation, but there’s no metric forhaving such an opportunity presentedto you.”

After earning his Master’s and Ph.D.at the University of Michigan, DeRocco was for many years a professorof molecular physics at the Universityof Maryland, but he was also one ofthe first academics to teach courses inAfrican American literature andwomen’s issues. He was dean offaculty at Trinity College, then becamepresident of Denison University. Healso served from 1992 to 1999 as thestate of Connecticut’s commissionerfor higher education.

The seeds of such breadth wereplanted early: not long after hispassion for science was awakened by achance encounter with a schoolmate’schemistry set on a rainy afternoon inhis home town of Westerly, R.I., heformed a jazz band that he led untilgoing off to Purdue for hisundergraduate work. He chose tocontinue his studies in Ann Arborbecause several professors that hefound “particularly impressive” as anundergraduate were Michigan alumni,leading him to conclude that“something must be going on in thatcitadel.”

In his “retirement,” he teaches musicclasses in Trinity’s Academy ofLifelong Learning, hosts two onlineradio programs (one classical, onejazz), chairs the board of theConnecticut Academy for Education inMathematics, Science and Technology,is a member of the boards of theConnecticut Early Music Society, theUniversity of Hartford School of Art,and the Educational LeadershipProgram, which offers seminars forschool officials from the kindergartenthrough university levels. “In short,”he says, “I’m off the streets, and I’mtrying to be useful while beingplayful.”

“The persistence of a scholarlyculture depends, as it always has, onthe imaginative powers of eachsucceeding generation,” he says. “Ifone cares to preserve and nurture theacademy, can there be a better waythan to ensure the metamorphosis ofable students into provocativescholars?”

He is doing his part by serving aterm on the Rackham Board ofGovernors and is currently a memberof the Rackham Dean’s AdvisoryBoard. He has made a major gift tosupport the renovation of Rackham’sWest Counsel Room which fittinglywill be renamed in his honor. �

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Photo by Bob Parzych

Andrew De Rocco

Alumni Magazine 2004

NON-PROFIT ORG.US POSTAGE

PAIDANN ARBOR, MIPERMIT NO. 144

Rackham AlumniMAGAZINEThe University of MichiganThe Horace H. RackhamSchool of Graduate Studies915 East Washington StreetAnn Arbor, Michigan 48109-1070

U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n

The Regents of the University of Michigan

David A. Brandon, Ann ArborLaurence B. Deitch, Bingham FarmsOlivia P. Maynard, GoodrichRebecca McGowan, Ann ArborAndrea Fischer Newman, Ann ArborS. Martin Taylor, Grosse Pointe FarmsAndrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe ParkKatherine E. White, Ann ArborMary Sue Coleman (ex officio)

The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicablefederal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination andaffirmative action, including Title IX of the EducationAmendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the RehabilitationAct of 1973. The University of Michigan is committed to apolicy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for allpersons regardless of race, sex, color, religion,creed, nationalorigin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation,disability, or Vietnam-era veteran status in employment,educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiriesor complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director ofInstitutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator,Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative ServicesBuilding, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, (734) 763-0235,TTY (734) 647-1388. For other University of Michiganinformation call (734) 764-1817.