Miami Magazine | Fall 2014

Liv ing throug h Cancer  |  Maga zine Memor ies  |  A rchitectura l A id

MIAMI THE UNIVE RSIT Y OF MIAMI MAGAZIN E  |  FALL 2014

At the Top of Their Games Students in UM’s award-winning Interactive Media Program take their fun seriously—coding, scripting, and gaming for a brave new world.

P O W E R E D

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P H I L A N T H R O P Y

Impactful Research From measuring one of the world’s fastest currents in the Indian Ocean and its impact on the global climate, to investigating new, dramatic discoveries to fight the debilitating disease of diabetes, to expanding knowledge and exploring the human experience, the University of Miami is among the top research universities in the country.

Your generosity to the Momentum2 campaign enables students to work with world-renowned scholars in these endeavors, and allows the U to attract and retain outstanding faculty.

To make a gift or for more information about Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami, visit miami.edu/m2 or call 305-284-4443.

Contents miami.edu/magazine

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Volume 21 Number 1 | Fall 2014

D E P A R T M E N T S Inbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 University Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 R+D Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Bottom Lines

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Eye on Athletics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Faculty Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 On Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Student Spotlight

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Alumni Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 In Memoriam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Alumni Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

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F E A T U R E S

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Transformational Designs School of Architecture students collaborate with nonprofits, neighborhoods, and entire communities to improve their surroundings and impact quality of life.

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Gaming the System The Interactive Media Program at the School of Communication scores big with innovative games that are designed to positively affect human behavior, social interaction, and, in some cases, public policy.

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Changing the Face of Cancer See why the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center is poised to bring South Florida its first National Cancer Institute-designated facility.

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A Window and a Mirror Take a look back at a quarter-century of evolution at the University of Miami, as documented and celebrated by this magazine since 1989.

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On the cover: Toma el Paso gives young immigrants a playful way to learn about their rights. COVER PHOTO BY ANDREW INNERARITY

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Inbox

COMMENTS AND OPINIONS FROM UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

Lifelong Subscription I just received the Summer 2014 magazine, and I was surprised to learn that I am still on your mailing list. I am 93 years old and enjoyed reading the issue. The “Citizen ’Cane” interview of Jack Diamond, ’48, was very interesting to me because I am also a WWII veteran and had an “H” (for “Hebrew”) on my dog tag as well. I gave up my rights to be a prisoner of war and joined the Office of Strategic Services. In the “In Memoriam” section, I was surprised to learn of the death of Solomon S. Lichter, B.Ed. ’50, M.Ed. ’51. He was one of my principals and a friend when I lived and worked as an educator in Miami Beach.

Sidney H. Cooper, B.Ed. ’62, M.Ed. ’69 Wellington, Florida

Plate with a Purpose I was never a student at UM. However, I had the privilege of working there for 42 great years. I am now married to alumnus Richard

Cote, B.B.A. ’67. I have fond memories of Jared Anton, J.D. ’82 (Inbox, “Fighting for Sebastian,” Summer 2014). We worked diligently to get 10,000 signatures for the UM license plate. I still have mine and always will renew it. I ordered one of the first ones—or close to it. It reads “UM4ME” and still has Sebastian on it. I’ve even seen it on some of the ads in the magazine, which I enjoy reading. You and your staff are doing a great job!

more simple times. The thing that enters my mind is not so much the many who achieved success but rather students who tried and perhaps failed in their life’s quest. So here’s to all who didn’t make a wall of fame, didn’t get to own the Rolls Royce, didn’t make a million dollars a year, but gave their best and helped so many in ways we never read about. I give thanks and know that the deeds that go unspoken

Phi Sigma Delta was nonsectarian. The rest is history. Howard and I continued to enjoy years of friendship and maintained a loving, lifelong relationship that anyone would admire. Howard was a beloved teacher, usually third grade, and reading was his specialty. He remained active as a cyclist and devoted fan of music, having lived and worked on Oahu for many decades. He was a gentle,

are heard by so many who have benefited from friendship, romance, and just caring about their fellow man.

kind soul who received the first Good Heart Award, created by Chicago businessman Sam Goldfarb, to honor the person most involved in kind, humanitarian endeavors. Everyone liked Howard. He was self-sacrificing and empathic to the fullest. Where is his kind today? So, Howard, thanks for the memories. It was an honor to have known you, and UM has much to be grateful to you for.

Bunny (Anika) Cote Cape Coral, Florida

Don’t Go, Sebastian! I just read Jared Anton’s “Fighting for Sebastian” letter (Summer 2014), and I am in total agreement. My husband and I are both UM alumni, Class of ’77. The removal of Sebastian from the UM license plate seems so wrong to us! Would UF remove their Gator logo? Would FSU remove Chief Osceola from their plate? I sincerely doubt it! We are not the only “U” in the country, but we are the only one with Sebastian the Ibis. By trading Sebastian for a nondescript “U,” we’ve lost an identifiable and charismatic mascot, and traded it in for just one “U” among many. We also intend to keep our Sebastian plates for as long as we own a car!

Lynn Guarch-Pardo, B.Ed. ’77 Coral Gables, Florida

Grateful Grad As a UM grad, I enjoy looking back and remembering

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Bernard Silver, A.B. ’67 St. Petersburg, Florida

Kindhearted Man My Phi Sigma Delta fraternity brother, Howard A. Lyons, B.Ed. ’60 (“In Memoriam,” Spring 2014), died peacefully at his home in Oahu, Hawaii, on January 23, 2014. Howard was my “mentor” when I first arrived at UM in the winter of 1957. That first week, at a Hillel House function, Howard encouraged me to join Phi Sigma Delta. When I informed him that I tended not to affiliate with any organizations that were not open to all, Howard replied that it was no problem because

Leon J. Hoffman, A.B. ’61 Chicago, Illinois

Tribute Reaches Daughter My father, Harold B. Probes Jr., A.B. ’64, passed away in October 2012. A family friend recently shared a tribute she found in Miami magazine

(Inbox, “Friend Till the End,” Spring 2014) with my mother, who scanned and emailed it to me not long ago. The day I read it happened to be my father’s birthday. I was very touched. It was a lovely piece by Joseph S. Wand, B.S. ’65, M.D. ’68, of Santa Rosa, California. I’d like to thank Joseph for his kind words and hear more of his stories about my father. Your inclusion in the magazine of this tribute truly warmed my heart. Thank you for the work you do.

’Cane Reconnected

Karen Louise “Lou” Probes Brooklyn, New York

Linda Sheetz, A.B. ’63 St. Petersburg, Florida

I am a University of Miami alumna and am interested in receiving Miami magazine by mail. I had lost touch with the University but was prompted to seek UM connections again when I was musing over my husband’s Princeton alumni magazine. I thought, how nice that he is still connected with his school and how sad I am not with mine. I look forward to receiving and reading the UM magazine.

Editor’s Note: Your magazine is on the way, Ms. Sheetz. A Miami subscription is one of many ’Cane for Life benefits. Visit miami.edu/alumni or call 1-866-UMALUMS for more information. WRITE TO US Letters should be fewer than 300 words and may be edited for length and clarity. Please include contact information. ADDRESS LETTERS TO: Inbox, Miami P.O. Box 248105 Coral Gables, FL 33124 EMAIL: miami.editor@miami.edu.

From the Editor Back to the Future

Miami: The University of Miami Magazine shares its 25th anniversary with a humble little creation known as the Internet. When this publication launched in 1989, the World Wide Web was just coming to life. With the birth of the Web, the world of communications embarked on a journey whose course no one could predict. As both the Internet and UM evolved at the approximate speed of a luge barreling down an icy track, many talented editors, designers, writers, artists, and photographers kept pace, nimbly steering the University’s flagship publication through its first quarter-century. Chief among them was Jerry Lewis, who, as Miami’s founding editor, was kind enough to pen the retrospective on page 30 in the midst of his career transition from vice president for communications at University of Texas Arlington to senior vice president for communications and public affairs at Emory University. Thank you, Jerry! Reviewing each of Miami’s first 56 issues, I saw a larger story emerge from the awe-inspiring people, places, and events that have come together at just the right moments during this past 25 years to cement UM’s enduring legacy. Two particularly notable covers came back to back in 2001: The first praised President Edward “Tad” Foote II’s legacy as he signed off after 20 years of noble and notable leadership. The next ushered in the University’s fifth and first-ever female president, Donna E. Shalala. Now, after more than a decade of dynamic stewardship from President Shalala, we are reporting on her plans to step down and on the University’s search for its sixth president (see page 4). There will be much more on both of those topics in future issues. Another milestone heralded in this issue (page 24) is the advancement of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Forty years ago the center initiated Florida’s very first Cancer Control Research Program. Within a decade it had secured significant support and prominence. Since 1986, its devoted physicians and scientists have served as the first line of defense for more than 100,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients while contributing groundbreaking research. Now, under the leadership of renowned oncologist Stephen D. Nimer, Sylvester is poised for the next big step in its mission “to reduce the human burden from cancer”—NCI designation. Much as the Internet exploded 25 years ago, interactive media is exploding today. Our cover story on page 20 shows how UM is harnessing that growth for the good of students and society. —Robin Shear, editor

MIAMI

The University of Miami Magazine

­ Assistant Vice President for Communications and Marketing

Todd Ellenberg

Executive Director for Communications and Marketing

Peter E. Howard Editor

Robin Shear Associate Editor

Robert C. Jones Jr. Creative Director and Art Director

Scott Fricker

Assistant Art Director

Sau Ping Choi

Production Manager

Angie Villanueva, A.B. ’12 Editorial Contributors

Maya Bell Robert S. Benchley Meredith Camel, M.F.A. ’12 Tim Collie Barbara Gutierrez Jerry Lewis Megan Ondrizek, B.S.C. ’08 Melissa Peerless Catharine Skipp, A.B. ’79, M.A.L.S. ’13 Joshua Stone, ’15

­

President

Donna E. Shalala Vice President for University Communications

Jacqueline R. Menendez, A.B. ’83 Senior Vice President for University Advancement and External Affairs

Sergio M. Gonzalez

Associate Vice President of Alumni Relations and Individual Giving

Donna A. Arbide, M.B.A. ’95

­ Miami is published by the University of Miami Division of University Communications. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Distributed free of charge to alumni and friends of the University. Postmaster and others, please send change of address notification to Miami, Office of Alumni Relations, P.O. Box 248053, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-3410; telephone 305-284-2872. Contributions of articles, photographs, and artwork are welcome; however, Miami accepts no responsibility for unsolicited items. The comments and opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Miami or the staff of Miami. Copyright ©2014, University of Miami. An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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UniversityJournal

NEWS, PEOPLE, CULTURE, AND RESEARCH FROM CAMPUS AND BEYOND

Shalala Announces Final Year as President Donna E. Shalala maintains strong ‘Momentum’ at the U after 13 years and counting

JENNY ABREU

“I can’t believe I’m going to do this,” said chairman and chief executive officer political science and health policy.
One University of Miami President Donna of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. This of the most honored academics of E. Shalala, quickly adding, “OK!” With will be an inclusive process and will her generation, she has been elected the crowd cheering her on, she stepped seek valuable input from the greater to seven national academies, includaway from the podium, removed her University of Miami community.” ing the Institute of Medicine and glasses, and tossed aside her shoes. With Shalala at its helm, UM rapidly the American Academy of Arts and Grinning from ear to ear, she stepped ascended to the top tier of American Sciences.
Under the Clinton adminisinto an inflatable kiddie pool before higher education institutions, curtration, she served as U.S. secretary her best friend at the of Health and Human U, Sebastian the Ibis, Services for eight dumped a pail of cold years, the longestwater onto her. serving HHS secretary Her very public in U.S. history. In acceptance of the ALS 2007, President George ice bucket challenge W. Bush appointed took place on August 21, her to co-chair with during ’Canes Kickoff to Senator Bob Dole welcome students. the Commission on Three weeks after Care for Returning the dousing, Shalala Wounded Warriors. announced a decision to Shalala received the the entire ’Canes comPresidential Medal of munity that was as bracFreedom, the highing as that icy splash: est civilian award in The 2014-15 university the United States, in year would be her last as 2008 and the Nelson UM’s popular president. Mandela Award for Leaders inside and Health and Human outside of the University Rights in 2010. She responded to the news Taking the plunge: Donna E. Shalala boldly kicks off her final year as UM president. is currently chair of by citing Shalala’s the Atlantic Coast impact since her arrival in June 2001. rently ranked No. 48 by U.S. News & Conference Council of Presidents and “President Shalala’s tenure as the World Report. In the end, her time here was recently named to the Presidential University of Miami’s fifth president will boast an extraordinary $3 billion Leadership Scholars Advisory has been a fortuitous and celebrated philanthropic legacy and oversight of $2 Committee by former presidents Bill circumstance of the right leader at the billion of new University construction Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and George right place at the right time,” notes that has transformed the University and W. Bush. Stuart A. Miller, J.D. ’82, chair of the South Florida. In the letter announcing her plans, University of Miami Board of Trustees “She’s a competitor,” says Hurricanes Shalala praised the UM family of stuand CEO of the Lennar Corporation. “As football coach Al Golden. “She’s brildents, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, we look ahead to building on President liant, she can cut through it and makes supporters, and donors: “Collectively Shalala’s significant accomplishments, things simple, and she is obviously we have accomplished what we set out we have appointed a Presidential Search somebody who will be missed here.” to do—secure the University of Miami’s Committee to be chaired by Richard Though her role will change, Shalala place as the next great American D. Fain, vice chair of the Board and plans to remain at UM as a professor of research university.” 4 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

R+D Update

Brain Gains The human brain, Deborah Mash, Ph.D. ’84, likes to tell people, is the next biological frontier. The director of the Miller School of Medicine’s Brain Endowment Bank also would like us to know that we have the opportunity to be pioneers, to help explore what goes wrong when autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or other disorders alter the brain. Not right now, of course. Not when we are using our brains. But we can pledge now to donate this vital organ after death. The brain bank recently received $8 million from the National Institutes of Health to become a repository for brain tissue to support research for new treatments and cures for brain disorders. Just one brain would keep hundreds

of researchers busy. Yet demand exceeds the supply. “We have new tools to study brains, but not enough tissue to study,” says Mash, recipient of the Jeanne C. Levey endowed chair in the Department of Neurology. To pledge today to become an explorer, call 1-800UM-BRAIN or visit brainbank.med.miami. edu. As Mash notes, your children and grandchildren could benefit from your pioneering spirit.

Kingly Find In the course of helping to identify 400 items in the pre-Columbian collection of the Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science, professor Traci

Ardren and students Joe Stevenson and Juan Pablo Sanchez-Williams made an incredible discovery: six Classic Maya ceramic vessels, all in excellent condition, made between 600 and 900 C.E. “No one realized the significance

of the bowls,” says Ardren, chair of the Department of Anthropology at UM. “In fact, they were thought to be possible forgeries because they were so perfect and beautiful.” Most rare is a bowl decorated with hieroglyphs that definitively link it to Wak Chan K’awiil of Tikal, one of the most famous ancient kings, who led ambitious though ultimately unsuccessful battles against other leaders of his time. Ardren says it’s the kind of bowl the king might have used to drink a foamy chocolate beverage enjoyed by the Maya elite. “There are likely less than a dozen ceramic vessels known to scholars that mention this king,” she says. A specialist in Maya epigraphy at the University of Helsinki confirmed the bowl’s royal provenance.

associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, who leads the RoboCanes project alongside a group of computer science students. He noted overall improved movement quality and longer and higher kicks. The 3-D Simulation League focuses on team cooperation and strategy. The RoboCanes placed second of 12 teams. In the Standard Platform League—in which all teams use identical robots—they earned a perfect score in the technical audio challenge, responding to a series of defined sounds, such as a whistle being blown. UM has taken part in the RoboCup since 2010. The RoboCanes placed second in 2012 as well, when the event was held in Mexico City.

First Soccer, Then the World The RoboCanes—autonomous, soccer-playing robots from the College of Arts and Sciences—were in João Pessoa, Brazil, in July 2014 to compete in an international robot soccer tournament, played on the heels of the FIFA World Cup. The RoboCanes, which can make real-time decisions and communicate as a group, took second place at the 2014 RoboCup, billed as the world’s largest artificial intelligence and robotics event. “This group showed a big jump in quality this year,” says Ubbo Visser, an

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UniversityJournal

Gift of $50 Million Names New UM Health Facility When the University of Miami Health System’s 206,000-square-foot outpatient center opens on the Coral Gables campus in fall 2016, it will have a name that resonates across the South Florida and University community. In anticipation of that day, a ceremonial groundbreaking event for The Lennar Foundation Medical Center took place at the University of Miami on October 23. The Lennar Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the Lennar Corporation, one of the nation’s largest builders of quality homes, gave a lead gift of $50 million to name the UHealth at Coral Gables ambulatory center, to be located at 5550 Ponce de Leon Boulevard. “Lennar was born 60 years ago, in 1954, building homes in the South Dade community,” said Marshall Ames, chair of The Lennar Foundation. “Our first office was in a home we built on Coral Way and SW 87th Avenue. Our roots, and our home office, have been here for all of those 60 years. Our founder, Leonard Miller, for whom the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine is named, created The Lennar Foundation in 1989 with the express purpose of giving back to the communities where we have built homes, the communities that helped us become the company we are. It is therefore somewhat full circle that today, at The Lennar Foundation Medical Center, we can help the residents of South Dade receive quality medical care right here in their community.” The medical center will deliver the premier services of the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine and the University of Miami Health System, including from the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Future plans entail moving the UM Student Health Center from the academic core of the campus to the new UHealth Coral Gables facility, giving students, employees, and the neigbhoring community convenient access to medical specialties ranging from urgent care and sports medicine to radiation oncology and ophthalmology under one roof. 6 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

JENNY ABREU

The Lennar Foundation Medical Center slated to open fall 2016

Breaking ground, from left, are The Lennar Foundation trustees Waynewright Malcolm; Allan Pekor; Marshall Ames, who also chairs the foundation; and Shelly Rubin; UM President Donna E. Shalala; Lennar Foundation trustee Stuart A. Miller, who chairs the UM Board of Trustees; Pascal J. Goldschmidt, senior vice president for medical affairs, dean of the Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of UHealth; Joe Natoli, UM senior vice president for business and finance and chief financial officer; and Thomas J. LeBlanc, UM executive vice president and provost.

“This extraordinary gift will enable us to provide world-class health care in a convenient location for our community, employees, and students,” said UM President Donna E. Shalala. The LEED-certified outpatient facility, designed by architects Perkins+Will, will be connected to an adjacent 1,000space parking garage by a covered pedestrian bridge. “This gift from The Lennar Foundation will impact health and medicine across all of South Florida,” said Pascal J. Goldschmidt, senior vice president for medical affairs, dean of

the Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of UHealth. “This facility will host the best doctors and nurses in the region, and they will deliver the most advanced health care for South Florida and beyond.” The gift is part of Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami. “We are grateful to The Lennar Foundation for this commitment to improve health care for the community as well as the University community,” said Sergio M. Gonzalez, UM senior vice president for university advancement and external affairs.

Bottom Lines

“There’s no reason for anyone in South Florida to panic.” Pascal J. Goldschmidt, senior VP for medical affairs, dean of the Miller School of Medicine, and CEO of the University of Miami Health System, with Jackson Health System CEO Carlos A. Migoya in an October 9 op-ed in The Miami Herald, addressing concerns about the Ebola virus

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Years in a row the U has ranked in the top 50 in U.S. News & World Report’s annual “Best Colleges” issue. UM was No. 48 in the “Best National Universities” category for 2015.

31,608 Applicants who vied for 2,077 freshman spots in 2014. That’s a 9 percent increase over 2013 in total applicants and a 21 percent increase over last year in foreign student applications.

“If it can work for a fidgety, skeptical, news anchor like me, it can work for you.” Nightline co-anchor Dan Harris, speaking as part of the UMindfulness Research and Practice Initiative on September 17 about the practices detailed in his New York Times bestseller 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help that Really Works—A True Story

38,000 Gallons held by a one-of-a-kind wind-wavestorm surge simulator in the newly dedicated Alfred C. Glassell Jr. SUSTAIN Building in the Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater Complex at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

$4.5 Million

“You don’t want one of these things going after you.” Kevin McCracken, Kushlan Chair in Waterbird Biology and Conservation in UM’s College of Arts and Sciences, on the aggressive steamer duck, which can weigh up to 10 pounds, in Wired’s October 3 “Absurd Creature of the Week” blog

Check given by The Pap Corps, Champions for Cancer Research to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Miller School in May 2014. It’s the nonprofit’s largest annual gift in its 62-year history.

1st Comprehensive digital Holocaust Theater Catalog was launched at the U on October 7 by UM’s Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies and George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies, and the National Jewish Theater Foundation.

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‘Places & Spaces’ Will Change How People See the World Exhibition conveys big data in new, visually exciting ways

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of Information Science at Indiana University, is intended to “inspire cross-disciplinary discussion on how to best track and communicate human activity and scientific progress on a global scale.” Börner, who spoke at the UM opening on September 4, pioneered Places & Spaces back in 2005 with 10 visualizations and a grant from the National Science Foundation. It has since traveled the nation, growing to its current and final size of 100.

PHOTOS: JC RIDLEY, ’94

When Patricia Van Dalen looked at the motherboards and microprocessors in storage at the University of Miami’s Center for Computational Science (CCS), she didn’t see an electronics graveyard.
“I saw a ‘liveyard’ with endless possibility,” recalls the Miami artist.
The components are remnants of CCS’s first IBM-built Pegasus supercomputer, disassembled in 2013 to make way for Pegasus 2, which is five times faster than its predecessor. Now the hardware enjoys a second life as part of Data Hall, an art installation that adds color and kinetic energy to CCS’s main office on the sixth floor of Gables One Tower. Sawsan Khuri, CCS director of engagement and assistant research professor in the Department of Computer Science, recommended Van Dalen for the project, which was installed in August, after taking note of her approach to mapping connections in science and nature. Van Dalen returned to campus October 2 to speak on a panel with fellow artists Nela Ochoa and Xavier Cortada, A.B. ’86, J.D. ’92, M.P.A. ’92, about how science inspires their art. The panel is one of many events taking place on the Coral Gables campus this semester as part of Places & Spaces: Mapping Science, a visualization exhibition that explores the meaning of data and the art of infographics. The exhibition’s 100 works offer aesthetically masterful visual guides for everything from where our federal tax dollars go, to how all the verses of the Bible relate to one another, to “a global agenda to end poverty.” The collection, says Katy Börner, the curator of Places & Spaces and professor

Curator Katy Börner opens Places and Spaces at UM. At left are two of the show’s maps— from National Geographic and the World Bank (top) and by Jess Bachman (bottom).

UM is the first place to display the decade-long project in its entirety. “Much of what my center is doing is developing tools that empower anyone to convert data into insights,” she says. “Some of these maps are excellent examples of how you can lift somebody up and let them see a much more global, holistic picture.” Khuri says the works are inspiring and hopes they will “be a catalyst for

creative, innovative data visualization work throughout all UM campuses.” CCS, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Communication collaborated to bring Places & Spaces to UM, working closely with the Otto G. Richter Library, which is displaying half of the visualizations plus all of the 3-D and interactive elements, and the School of Architecture, which has the remaining 50 works on view at Stanley and Jewell Glasgow Hall, where many of the events related to the exhibit are being held. A parallel exhibition at the Richter Library features maps and diagrams by local talent. These events and talks by worldrenowned visualization designers and researchers continue through December 11, when UM’s Ju Hong Park, assistant professor of architecture, and visualization expert Alberto Cairo are scheduled to speak. “Our goal is to transform the University of Miami into a major center for data visualization, infographics, and information design in the southern United States,” says Cairo, an assistant professor at the School of Communication and director of the Visualization Program at the CCS. “Places & Spaces will help us achieve this goal.” Visit visualization.miami.edu for more information.

Finishing What They Started It never showed up on a coach’s chalk talk, but it was always part of Octavia Blue’s personal game plan. Once she’d grabbed her last rebound, blocked her last shot, or scored the final three-pointer of a professional basketball career that spanned nine years, she would earn the one thing that would help sustain her for the rest of her life. “For me to attain some of the goals I wanted in life, I needed a degree,” says Blue, who was drafted 15th overall by the Los Angeles Sparks in 1998, becoming the first University of Miami women’s basketball player to make the WNBA. “It’s a great league, but it’s not one where I was going to be filthy rich and wouldn’t have to work again. I owed it to myself to get my degree.” Blue, A.B. ’07, did just that. With assistance from the UM Athletics Degree Completion Program, which offers tuition reimbursement for former UM scholarship athletes, she earned her sociology degree. Blue was then hired as an assistant on the Miami women’s basketball squad, where she works with head coach Katie Meier and inspires other young women to use their education to advance. Since UM President Donna E. Shalala began enthusiastically supporting the Athletics Degree Completion Program in

2006, at least 18 other ’Canes in all sports, from football to track and field, have come back to finish their studies. Many have been baseball players, like current return student Charles Johnson, a catcher who left UM two decades ago for the Major Leagues, eventually helping the Florida Marlins win a World Series. “While we want our student-athletes to compete at the highest level, we also want them to achieve academically,” says David Wyman, associate athletic director for academic services and assistant dean of undergraduate education. “A future in professional sports is guaranteed to no one. Only a select few make it, and when they do, it doesn’t last forever. They must be able to transition into something else, and a college degree gives them that opportunity.” Blue knows that as well as anyone. She wanted to go into coaching after her pro career but needed a bachelor’s degree to land a job with a Division I program. She emailed Shalala, who “stepped right in and helped make it all happen,” says Blue. This program, notes Wyman, solidifies UM’s already strong reputation as a school committed to helping its studentathletes succeed on and

JC RIDLEY, ’94

Eye on Athletics

Octavia Blue, A.B. ’07, top, and Audra Cohen, A.B. ’09, came back to UM for their degrees.

off the playing field. Last year, Miami recorded a 92 percent graduation success rate for its athletes, placing it 10th among the roughly 125 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions. Director of Athletics Blake James calls the initiative a trendsetter at a time when the NCAA and schools are criticized for not doing more for student-athletes. “We’re definitely at the forefront,” he says. “Given everything that is going on publicly regarding scholarships, potential pay for play, and

all the things playing out in the court system, we’re seeing more and more institutions step up and provide this opportunity for their student-athletes, which is such a great credit to the vision and commitment President Shalala has had for student-athletes at the University of Miami for so many years.” Audra Cohen agrees. After leaving Miami to turn pro in 2007, the former NCAA singles champion and No. 1-ranked collegiate women’s tennis player reenrolled to earn her psychology degree. “Without President Shalala’s initiative in helping me, I would be three steps behind in life,” says Cohen, A.B. ’09, now the head women’s tennis coach at the University of North Florida. “I am forever grateful for what Miami has helped me accomplish.” —Robert C. Jones Jr.

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UniversityJournal

Hey Norm! Legendary ’Cane Norman C. Parsons Jr. receives a fond farewell with tropical flair

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Teams, Parsons coached Men’s Golf from 1980 to 1988. He provided the leadership to build the Herbert Wellness Center in 1996 and the subsequent addition that opened in 2011. Last fall, he added the Miller School of Medicine’s UHealth Fitness and Wellness Center to his executive director responsibilities.

Bridge at its entrance, dedicated to those who fell in love at the U. The Herbert Wellness Center staff announced that the annual intramural golf tournament is now renamed the “Norman C. Parsons Jr. Intramural Golf Scramble.” With his characteristic humility and grace, Parsons gave credit to his staff and many others for their dedication

PHOTOS: JC RIDLEY, ’94

Looking dapper in his ’Canes-themed bow tie and cummerbund, Norman C. Parsons Jr. greeted each person who attended his retirement party on September 17 the same way he greeted people over the past 43 years—with a genuine smile and warm handshake, followed by “How are YOU,” his hands forming the U. Transformed into a tropical paradise, complete with a steel drum band, the Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center’s basketball gymnasium held hundreds of ’Canes who gathered to honor the man they call “Mr. P.,” “Mr. Wellness,” or “Hey Norm!” The guest list was a who’s who of UM history, including President Emeritus Edward “Tad” Foote II, former Provost Luis Glaser, and the vice president for student affairs at the time who hired Parsons as intramural director in 1972— William “Bill” Butler. Also among the crowd were Terry Williams Munz, B.B.A. ’77, recipient of the nation’s first female athletic scholarship, granted in 1973 by then-golf coach, Mr. P., as well as a tapestry of Iron Arrow jackets. Parsons, who refused to accept his Iron Arrow invitation until women were invited to join, later served as the honor society’s advisor from 1995 to 2010. Several speakers addressed why Parsons is one of the most beloved Hurricanes of all time. “Norm has been here longer than most of the buildings on campus,” quipped Sergio Gonzalez, senior vice president for University Advancement and External Affairs. “Norm, you’re a transformational leader, an icon to thousands of students. You’ve touched the lives of so many people that the world is a better place because of you.” After coaching the 1977 and 1978 National Champion Women’s Golf

Clockwise from top: Parsons with his staff, past and present; with the man who hired him, Bill Butler; with fellow Iron Arrow members; and as a bobblehead doll throwing up the U.

President Donna E. Shalala called Parsons an “extraordinary citizen of our community” and thanked him for keeping us healthy. It was Parsons, in fact, who introduced the term wellness to the U in the late 1980s, making sure everyone knew—and lived by—his motto: “You get an education at the University of Miami, but you get a life at the Herbert Wellness Center.” Patti, B.B.A. ’57, and Allan Herbert, B.B.A. ’55, M.B.A. ’58, recounted how Parsons’ friendship and leadership garnered their support for the center that bears their name, as well as the Love

and teamwork over the decades before introducing the new executive director of wellness and recreation, Scott Levin. Parsons noted that the U also led him to his true love, wife Linda McDonald, M.Ed. ’78, whom he met on the competition circuit while she was a women’s golf coach at Broward Community College and he was coaching the Lady ’Canes. As he teared up, Parsons told a Hawaiian shirt-clad Sebastian to deliver a bouquet of flowers to his “best golf partner.” And to Bill Butler, he said, “Thank you for hiring me in 1972. You took a hell of a chance on me, and I hope it paid off.” —Meredith Camel, M.F.A. ’12

DONNA VICTOR

Faculty Files

Into the Storm: Discovery amid the Unexpected Chidong Zhang has devoted his career to understanding weather patterns in a changing climate. But despite his reverence for scientific order, if there’s one thing the professor of meteorology and physical oceanography at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science has come to realize as a researcher, it’s to expect the unexpected— “and be prepared to deal with it,” he says. Most recently that meant ensuring the safety of his team when protests and demonstrations turned into violence in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, where he was leading an investigation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation,

a little-known but globally significant weather phenomenon. Zhang and his leadership team made the call to end the study about a month early but says they still came away with a sizable amount of data that could improve long-range weather forecasts and enable scientists to refine computer models for global climate. “We got the best data we could ever hope for from that region—a lot of new results that were sometimes mind-boggling, so we’re still sorting things out,” says Zhang, a fellow of the American Meteorological Society. While he always excelled at math and science, it was not those academic

disciplines that made Zhang want to study meteorology, but a brilliantly illustrated book of landscapes he found in his home as a little boy growing up in China. “The book made me realize that there are so many wonderful things on Earth I’d like to know about,” he says. Zhang continues to explore the world’s wonders as an avid traveler, cyclist, and shutterbug who has documented natural and man-made beauty everywhere from the Everglades to Burkina Faso to Oaxaca. His next major research project will carry him to the South Pacific—near Papua New Guinea and Australia— to study what he calls one of the world’s hot spots for torrential downpours

and thunderstorms. “The area is a crossroads for Asian monsoons, with the Madden-Julian Oscillation passing through it,” says Zhang. “So what happens there definitely doesn’t stay there; it influences weather all over the world.” Why would anyone go to such lengths to study weather and climate, living in remote areas of the planet for weeks to months at a time? Zhang has the perfect answer. “Show me one person in the world who is not affected by weather,” he says. “Weather and climate have affected everyone in every single corner of the Earth since the dawn of human beings and probably will until the end.” —Robert C. Jones Jr.

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UniversityJournal

Matriculating in Cyberspace The University of Miami is on track to kick off the new year with two new, fully online degree programs: a master’s in finance and a master’s in sport administration. These offerings join online degree programs rolled out by UM’s Frost School of Music in August and represent some of the innovative efforts underway at UM to meet the evolving needs of students and working professionals around the world. “Online learning is part of UM’s strategic plan to expand access to our faculty and educational programs and the ’Canes family,” says Thomas J. LeBlanc, executive vice president and provost. The online master’s in finance offered by the School of Business Administration focuses on real-world business challenges with two tracks of study: corporate finance and financial decision-making. It is designed for working professionals in the field, but prior finance experience is not required. Students can complete this accelerated program in about 16

WESLEY BEDROSIAN

Options for earning UM degrees online are expanding

months, earning certificates in each track as they progress. The online master’s in sport administration, offered by the School of Education and Human Development, will position graduates for career advancement in a range of fields, from

sport communications and law to professional athletics administration. It takes about 20 months to complete, with courses that cover leadership, globalization, sponsorships, marketing, fiscal management, and law. Enrolled students will start in January 2015, pending course approval by UM’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) Commission on Colleges. The SACS commission previously approved courses for Frost Online, a set of fully online degree programs developed by the University’s Frost School of Music. The first two master’s degree programs—Arts Presenting and Live Entertainment Management (AP Live) and Music Business and Entertainment Industries—launched in August, with a third, in music therapy, slated to start in early 2015. Interested students can test-drive Frost Online by taking a massive open online course (MOOC) called “Entrepreneurship for Musicians.” Visit online.miami.edu or frostonline.miami.edu for more information.

On Course Magic City Immersion

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to the multicultural metropolis surrounding their university. “It is important for them to have an experience of the city, to have their own insights,” says Kanai, assistant professor of geography and regional studies. “It’s a chance for them to know the city beyond The Shops at Sunset Place, Dadeland Mall, and the Grove.” The class also explores downtown Miami from a development perspective. Weekly lectures offer views of the city through the lenses of history, global aspirations, culture, race and ethnicity, transportation, and more, even addressing the area’s starring roles in film and TV. Back at Azucar, one of Kanai’s students, Alejandro Lamas, orders a flavor called mantecado, a Cuban version of vanilla that’s supposed to taste kind of like eggnog. But for Lamas, who moved to the U.S. six years ago from Cuba, the frozen dessert tastes a lot like home. —Robin Shear ROBIN SHEAR

Not long after their bus gets stalled behind the monthly cross-city bicycle caravan known as Critical Mass Miami, J. Miguel Kanai’s Urban Studies class finds sweet respite. At the corner of 15th Avenue and the famous Calle Ocho, they duck into Azucar. The neon-lit ice cream parlor in the festive heart of Little Havana reflects the tastes of a neighborhood known for its Cuban culture: the flavors go beyond chocolate and vanilla, aiming to please palates attuned to the tropics—flavors such as mamey, coconut flan, café con leche. This shop is a scheduled stop on the class field trip to the Viernes Culturales (Cultural Fridays) event, one of two outings built into Metropolitan Miami (URB 201). About 40 UM students roam around Calle Ocho, passing Domino Park and watching a troupe of flamenco dancers draw a crowd. Some of the students are Miami natives but have never been to this part of town. Others hail from different parts of the world, strangers

ANDREW INNERARITY

Student Spotlight Jacob Rudolph understands the power of media. When a video of him coming out to more than 300 classmates at a high school awards assembly went viral, he didn’t shy away from the limelight. Instead, the teen from Parsippany, New Jersey, got busy, sharing his story of truth and acceptance via television, radio, and newspaper outlets around the nation. “Because of all the support I had from friends, family, and coworkers, I was inspired to be the best youth advocate I could be,”
says Rudolph. A year later he was making headlines again—this time at the University of Miami. As outreach chair for UPride, the undergraduate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) organization then known as SpectrUM, Rudolph helped bring actor and activist George Takei— Sulu from the original Star Trek series—to speak on campus. In the spring of 2014, Point Foundation, the nation’s largest scholarship granting organization for LGBT students of merit, selected Rudolph from a pool of more than 2,100 Point Foundation applicants to be the 2014 Rim-Freeman Point Scholar for his demonstrated excellence in LGBT leadership. This makes him UM’s first student ever to receive an award from the foundation, which is devoted to empowering LGBT students. “Through Point Foundation, I hope to do

Standing Out UPride’s Jacob Rudolph has plenty to be proud of.

all that I can to continue giving young people a voice in our society and enable others to live the lives they love,” says Rudolph. “The University of Miami has truly become a second home to me, and I cannot wait to use my status as a Point Scholar to continue to improve life on campus by making it a more diverse and accepting place.”
 Over the summer, he attended the Point Scholar and Alumni Leadership Conference, which honored Brooklyn Nets basketball player Jason Collins, the first openly gay athlete in professional sports. He also interned with the national advocacy organization GLAAD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Now a sophomore majoring in public advocacy at the School of Communication, Rudolph is eager to share what he’s learned by serving as president of the newly named UPride. He and his executive board say the name change will enable the organization to live up to what they see as its full potential and impact. “We had to evolve and be more visible because when you are visible, that’s how you start to effect change,” says Rudolph. “By fostering pride through education, advocacy, awareness, support, and involvement, we can create a campus that accepts all people regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.” —Megan Ondrizek, B.S.C. ’08

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Students in Professor Rocco Ceo’s design studio presented ideas for revamping space along the Metrorail.

Transformation From a street corner in Miami’s Allapattah, to a North Miami home for residents with developmental disorders, to a group of communities connected by rapid transit, School of Architecture students are honing their design prowess amid an evolving urban laboratory.

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al Designs Community involvement has long been a hallmark of the University of Miami’s School of Architecture curriculum. Through design-build studios and charrette projects, students regularly contribute to real-world transformational efforts both locally and internationally. This year three of those projects hit close to home, lending hope and design power to ambitious Miami efforts to improve the lives of the disabled, maximize economic development in a struggling neighborhood, and bring a linear park mirroring New York’s High Line to a 10-mile stretch of land beneath the Metrorail.  n “The UM School of Architecture has a disproportionate presence in Southern Florida,” says Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury. “From big ideas that have transformed our cities and suburbs to small actions that continue to shape our neighborhoods, the traces of this school are pervasive and unmistakable.”

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Answering Their Prayers It’s been the only home 24-year-old H. B. has ever known—a one-story dwelling in North Miami that sits behind a 7-Eleven and Valero gas station. Aside from the week he stayed at a local hotel in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, he’s rarely been away from the home for extended periods, spending most of his days in bed or in a wheelchair. H. B. has cerebral palsy, and the Golden Glades Baby House, where he has lived since he was an infant, shelters 14 other residents with developmental disorders. They are all well cared for, but their home is ailing. A den that was intended to be a music hall is now a storage space for wheelchairs and oxygen tanks. Bedrooms are too small and hallways much too narrow, making it difficult for nurses at the facility to move residents from their beds to special bathing tubs, even with the aid of hydraulic lifts. And while 16 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

three air-conditioning units are capable of keeping the home cool during South Florida’s hot summer days, they sometimes break down. Now, thanks to a team of University of Miami School of Architecture students using their talented design skills, residents of the Golden Glades Baby House could soon be getting more spacious and efficient living quarters—new digs that the current home’s director, Carol Montiel, says would “answer all of our prayers.” The proposed home would include a therapy room, where visually impaired residents like 15-year-old E. A. (Montiel asked that only the residents’ initials be used because they are unable give consent for being written about or photographed) could listen to music and touch objects; larger doorways and bathrooms, making it easier for caregivers to move residents about; a recreation area to accommodate the home’s

unused piano; and, most important, the critical storage space needed to stow equipment while it’s not in use. “We focused on trying to make this a home in the true sense of the word rather than an institution, and on giving the residents everything they need to be comfortable,” says Angelica Tavarez, one of 11 architecture students who made drawings for a new Baby House as part of a semesterlong project in faculty member David Trautman’s upper-level design studio. Because some of the Baby House residents are blind, Tavarez and her team

Below opposite, Carol Montiel, director of the Golden Glades Baby House, displays a rendering designed by UM School of Architecture students; behind her, from left, are executive administrator Viola Gibbs, nurse Mercedes Grullon, and child care worker Martha Kelly. David Trautman, far right, looks over some of the design specifications for a new Golden Glades Baby House with his students Angelica Tavarez and Iñigo Cazenave, B.Arch. ’14.

came up with the idea of incorporating distinctive sounds residents would associate with being in certain areas within the structure. For now the home exists only on paper. But a project design team led by professional interior designers Maria Elena Holguin and Carolina Rey has been working year round to make it a reality, assisting the UM architecture students, working closely with Montiel to make sure the design meets her clients’ needs, and organizing fundraising efforts to pay for the home’s anticipated $1.2 million price. There couldn’t be a more critical need for it, says Montiel, because the existing Baby House has outgrown its usefulness. Originally a duplex for family occupancy, the house was converted 35 years ago into a facility for young ventilator residents from Miami Children’s Hospital. It eventually transitioned into a site for residents with developmental disorders. But the Baby House name never changed, despite the fact that clients ranging in ages from 15 to 60 now live at the home.

“It’s no longer practical,” explains Montiel. “We have no storage space here. Everything is piled up, and we’re constantly moving equipment back and forth.” Solving those storage issues was one of the sternest challenges the architecture students faced when they tackled the design project in the spring of 2014. Students Iñigo Cazenave, B.Arch. ’14, and Georgia Sofos Meunier, B.Arch. ’14, wanted to design a structure that not only addressed space issues but was also sustainable, so they included features like rooftop solar panels and a water collection system that would funnel rainwater to a cistern for irrigation use. Their design topped all others. But before the project could begin in earnest, the students had to figure out how to design for a special-needs clientele they knew little about. To learn more about Baby House residents, students read as much as they could about cerebral palsy on medicalrelated websites to better understand the disorder. They also met with

Holguin and other members of the Baby House Design Team and attended a lecture by New York architect Sara Caples, who is known for designs that cater to special-needs clients and the underserved. In the end, though, what helped the students most was visiting with the residents and the workers who care for them. “We realized we were designing incorrectly,” says Cazenave. “The way we perceive things is not the way the residents perceive things.” So he and Meunier scrapped their original design and devised a dwelling that would be built to suit the residents’ functionality, adding intricate patterns on the ceiling because many Baby House residents spend their days in bed looking up. During their visits, students met several residents, including one woman who, when she arrived at the home, was severely malnourished but is now at a healthy weight and free of the bedsores she once had. They saw firsthand how the facility’s cramped quarters make living and working conditions difficult. About 40 employees assigned to different shifts staff the home. Nurse Mercedes Grullon has cared for residents at the Baby House for 18 years. “We give them two baths a day, but the rooms are too small,” she explains, pointing to a narrow bathroom with a washing table that takes up most of the space. “At the end of the day most of our clients can’t hug or kiss us,” says Montiel, “but we read their expressions and know that we’re making a difference in their lives.” Trautman, who proposed the idea of building a new house instead of renovating the existing one, says, “Something I hope my students take from this studio is that we, as architects, can make an impact in the world.” The existing Baby House would be demolished, with residents temporarily relocated while their new home is built on the same site. Trautman has no doubt that it will happen. “It’s going to be state-of-art,” he says, “and hopefully a prototypical facility people can learn from and, if necessary, duplicate in other parts of the country.” –Robert C. Jones Jr. miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 17

Renaissance in Little Santo Domingo Chuck Bohl’s voice is barely audible over the traffic whizzing by this busy corner of Northwest 36th Street during Friday rush hour. But the director of the School of Architecture’s Master of Real Estate Development + Urbanism program (MRED+U) doesn’t seem to mind. After all, he’s on this corner in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood to show, not tell. If the cars slowed for a moment, they might see the black and white stripes of a zebra and the bold colors of tropical birds—all part of a vibrant mural that adorns a portion of the Sarraff Store Fixtures and Equipment building’s façade. Two weeks ago this mural didn’t exist. Now, it’s not only a new visual stimulant for a corridor dominated by storefront businesses, but a key cog in an initiative

spearheaded to revive Little Santo Domingo—a section of Allapattah known for its large Dominican population. One of the initiative’s primary goals includes creating a Main Street atmosphere, giving the community “more art, more entertainment, more culture—but in an incremental way so that more of the local mom-and-pop businesses can continue to thrive,” says Bohl. Last May, MRED+U partnered with other School of Architecture programs and UM’s Office of Civic and Community Engagement to stage a five-day charrette where residents joined students and faculty to hash out a plan for Allapattah’s renaissance. Open-air markets with kiosks, rehabilitated industrial properties for mixeduse development, and a beautification From left, Chuck Bohl, of the UM School of Architecture; artist Ariel Cruz; and Rudy Duthil, chair of the Dominican American National Foundation unveil the first mural to come out of a community charrette UM staged for Allapattah’s residents.

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project to bring more public art to the area were among the ideas discussed. Murals like the one that now graces the Sarraff building are already appearing on more and more storefronts. “I wanted to give this community something that reminds people of what we can do to beautify this area,” explains Ariel Cruz, an artist of Dominican descent who was commissioned by the School of Architecture and the Miamibased Dominican American National Foundation (DANF) to paint the mural. “It’s our beautiful corner of Allapattah,” says DANF chair Rudy Duthil, referring in English to the mural’s official name of La Bella Esquina de Allapattah. Bohl says continued interdisciplinary collaboration is key to realizing the charrette’s major recommendations. “We’ve seen other areas catch fire and get the attention of developers,” he notes, pointing to Miami’s Wynwood and Design District. “That’s why it’s so important to identify the ingredients of local talent, culture, and character that can contribute to a distinctive identity and sense of place, and come up with strategies and incentives for local residents and business owners to stay in the neighborhood and participate in that success.” —Robert C. Jones Jr.

A Linear Park with Long-Range Promise Another group of architecture students has tackled a project spanning several municipalities that have been linked by Florida’s only rapid transit metro system for the past 30 years. From gardens and grottos to soccer fields and bike paths, the designs the students created in a spring 2014 architecture studio helped to launch an effort to transform the 10-mile stretch of underutilized land beneath the Metrorail into Miami-Dade County’s longest urban linear park and trail. The Underline project, as it is known, boasts formal endorsements from several of the cities it would help connect, including Miami, Coral Gables, South Miami, and the Village of Pinecrest, plus a number of biking groups, says Meg Daly, an entrepreneur who was inspired by New York’s High Line park to spearhead the idea. “We had a lot of people involved from day one, giving input constantly,” says Professor Rocco Ceo, who led the studio course with Arquitectonica designer and visiting critic Raymond Fort. “The students were tasked with envisioning and laying out the project, and each student was assigned a mile of the 10-mile [path]. It was a challenge, but they came up with great ideas.” Their creative solutions for turning Metrorail’s M-Path corridor, which runs from Dadeland South to the Brickell station, into an ideal area for pedestrians and bicyclists included an art gallery, a sculpture garden, an elevated park, a soccer field, and plenty of luscious landscapes and bike paths for residents to enjoy. In April 2014, they presented those ideas to 100 community leaders, government officials, and professors in the school’s Korach Gallery. Among those in attendance were Daly, who leads the nonprofit Friends of the Underline, as well as Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason, South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, members of the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department, and Miami-Dade Transit. For second-year graduate student

James Harris, the major challenge was how to build around Metrorail for his assigned stretch from Vizcaya Station to Simpson Park, where the raised tracks actually descend to ground level. He proposed constructing a pathway above the train, with elevated ramps that would lead to a children’s park, a soccer field, and enclosed plazas, enabling pedestrians “to look at the trains in a way that cannot be experienced in any other way.” Working on a portion of the path that included Vizcaya Station, Andrea Gonzalez-Rebull drew inspiration from Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, incorporating galleries for sculpture and art to be connected by a plaza. She also added a roof garden that would give pedestrians a chance to reflect and feel a connection to Vizcaya. Another student, Stephanie Graziano, tackled the challenging space near the Miami River, where the Metrorail’s

elevation rises from 17 to 56 feet high, by using suspended passages to help lead the foot traffic. She also placed a sunken garden of ferns and vines where bicyclists and pedestrians could relax, a limestone grotto that could double as a bus stop, and a building with an overhanging open-air room—possibly a restaurant—overlooking the Miami River. “The biggest challenge was the size of the project,” she says. “We had to concentrate on what would have the biggest impact for the pedestrians and the community.” In a letter expressing her “strong support” for the project and its potential to “connect transit, parks, people, and communities, and attract visitors from Miami and beyond,” UM President Donna E. Shalala wrote, “We are proud that the University of Miami School of Architecture dedicated a studio class to jump-start this initiative.” —Barbara Gutierrez

Art, landscaping, and pedestrian paths characterize Andrea Gonzalez-Rebull’s “after” design (below) for land near Miami Metrorail’s Vizcaya station. The entire linear park would span from Brickell to Dadeland South.

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DONNA VICTOR

Interactive media student Franklin Zhang works on his video game The Way of a Monk. 20 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

A new program at the School of Communication makes promoting social change on serious issues look like child’s play.

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BY OUTRAGE OVER SOCIAL INJUSTICE OR MORAL WRONGS, SOME MAY WRITE NOVELS WHILE

others may shoot a film or pen a protest song. n Lien Tran and Clay Ewing turn grievance into a game. n Leading thinkers in the field of social gaming, these assistant professors of interactive media take issues like immigration reform and public health and use them to create low- and high-tech games designed to stimulate thinking, glean insights, forge consensus, and solve problems. n One of Tran’s creations, Toma el Paso (Make a Move), deals with immigrant youth who are about to be released from detention and the various paths they could take through our complicated legal system (see page 23). Another of her board games—this one intended for adults—addresses how public policy can have dire consequences on public health; Cops & Rubbers has players take on the roles of sex workers to grapple with challenges to their health and human rights, such as the fact that in some places just possessing condoms is used as evidence of prostitution. BY TIM COLLIE

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DONNA VICTOR

Like a journalist, Tran researches these games deeply, working alongside experts in medicine, immigration law, and a host of other fields. Like a playwright, she creates characters and weaves them into plotlines that can change and evolve with each choice the player makes. “It’s definitely a form of storytelling—when you’re looking at issues, there’s usually a story to be told,” explains Tran, who has designed social impact games for the World Bank, the Open Society Foundations, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. “Games are also systems, a system of thinking, and the world is made of systems. We’re not From left, Adam Edelstein, Ebby Wahman, B.S.E.E. ’13, and Franklin Zhang share their work with Clay Ewing, standing, who created Atlantis, left, with students Zhang and Rebekah Monson (not pictured). Atlantis is an official IndieCade Conference selection.

just creating entertainment with games. We really want people to understand that there’s critical thinking involved in solving our world’s problems, and one way of working at it is through games.” Welcome to the cutting edge of 21stcentury communication, where emerging disciplines like Web design and computer programming are merging with more traditional fields like journalism, filmmaking, social advocacy, and public relations. That’s the thrust behind the University’s new Interactive Media graduate degree program, unveiled for Fall 2013 by the Department of Cinema and Interactive Media. (For undergraduates, the department also offers a course in gaming and a minor in interactive media.) All of these options are housed at the School of Communication—an important distinction from many other gaming programs that seek backgrounds in computer programming and Web design. Techies are certainly welcome, but here the ability to write code is optional. UM faculty stress that they want to teach game design as a way of thinking that is applicable to many disciplines. 22 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

“The graduate courses we’re offering in game design are purely non-digital,” says Ewing. “We allow people to program if they can, but you can come in the class and have no computer skills at all and still make a game. Making a card game requires creating a system, but it doesn’t require anything other than a desire to learn.” Tran and Ewing, who both came to UM in 2012 from Parsons The New School for Design, have collaborated on a number of games, including Vanity, aimed at teaching teenagers about the risks of indoor tanning; Extreme Candy Photo Bomb Scavenger Memory Saga, which won Best Overall Game and Best Candy Game at the Miami location for the Global Game Jam in 2014; and Humans vs. Mosquitoes, intended to help kids understand the implications of insect-borne diseases and climate change. “The fact that you can teach people to design games that are about society, about ideas and social impact—and not just about entertainment—that’s very exciting to students when they first hear the concept,” said Ewing, who has also created games for international organizations such as Oxfam America. “In the School of Communication, when we first pull the Ph.D. and master’s students into our games, you can see their

minds begin to work. They see it as a whole new way to create interventions.” Visitors stepping inside Ewing’s lab need to rethink their concept of what a story or a game—or even a movie—really is. The work being produced here ranges from Zoo Rush, an adventure video game designed to raise awareness about sickle cell anemia, to Atlantis, which its creators envision will be played in a cinema where dozens of participants will control characters through personal mobile devices. “In many ways games are becoming the movies of the future,” says Kim Grinfeder, A.B. ’94, who directs the Interactive Media Program. “They allow you to interact with complex, long-form storytelling, and have a multitude of characters that the viewers themselves control. I think games can be applied to anything, really. You can use games in education. You can use games in advertising. You can use games to promote social causes. The School of Communication is really the perfect place to teach this.” And Miami may be a promising market for program graduates to find a job or launch a start-up. Already widely known as the entertainment gateway between the U.S. and Latin America, the city is home to a small but growing number of game entertainment companies. And the global video gaming

won a Silver Award from the 2014 International Serious Play Awards. Zhang also is involved in building the cinematic multiplayer game Atlantis and a more traditional entertainment action game called The Way of a Monk. “At first, I came here thinking I wasn’t going to get a lot of inspiration from classmates or the professors for game ideas, but it’s been the opposite,” says Zhang. “There’s a real emphasis on using games to help others see things from different perspectives. It’s very

important in game design—something I didn’t even realize coming in. “That’s the most fascinating thing about this program—the collaboration, the teamwork, getting to know these other students who come in from all kinds of different backgrounds,” Zhang continues. “It’s not just, ‘I’m the programmer, I’ve created this game, and nobody else is going to touch it.’ This culture is very collaborative. Gaming is very collaborative. That’s where the creativity comes from.”

HAN CHANG

industry is expected to earn $111 billion next year, according to Gartner, a technology research firm. Mobile games, those played from phones and other portable devices, are projected to nearly double in revenue from $13.2 billion in 2013 to $22 billion in 2015. Earlier this year, UM’s program earned a prestigious top 25 ranking on The Princeton Review’s 2014 list of the best graduate schools to study video game design. The ranking was based on a survey of 150 programs at institutions offering video game design coursework or degrees in the United States, Canada, and some countries abroad. “The program touches a lot of bases in the digital world—game design, graphic design, the philosophy behind gaming systems—and that’s what I found so interesting,” says Joshua Vega, one of 25 graduate students currently enrolled in the Interactive Media Program. Like many millennials, Vega grew up playing games across many platforms, but he never learned to write code. In one of his first UM classes he created a game called Crappy Boss. The idea is to give students a taste of what the real world is like—especially with a bad boss—after you graduate with a prestigious degree but without any idea of what workplace dynamics are like. “It’s very loosely based around working in an office site,” explains Vega, who has an undergraduate degree in finance. “You can get suspended from work for doing a poor job, or win more rewards by getting your work done on time. But you have to deal with the ‘crappy boss,’ of course, and things like workers spreading rumors about you and damaging your reputation.” Student Fan “Franklin” Zhang was looking for a program that would combine visual design with his formidable programming skills. He has a more traditional background in software engineering but finds the teamwork in classes with liberal arts students to be one of the more exciting elements he’s encountered. So far he’s worked with Ewing and Ebtissam “Ebby” Wahman, B.S.E.E. ’13, on Zoo Rush, a project commissioned by the Miller School of Medicine that

From Detention to Comprehension Assistant professor Lien Tran created Toma el Paso (Make Assistant professor Lien a Move) to educate young unaccompanied immigrants to Tran trains staff at a facility the United States about the U.S. legal system. Designed for immigrant youth to play with the help of an immigration attorney and translated a game that explains the into Spanish, the board game is now being used in South U.S. legal system. Florida in conjunction with a University of Miami-helmed program called the Immigrant Child Affirmative Network, a collective of faculty, students, and community agencies who are working with undocumented and unaccompanied minors being held at a juvenile facility in Miami Gardens. The gaming board depicts a juvenile facility, where all players begin their journey. First, players must “meet” with a case manager, who explains their three release options: reunification with a U.S. sponsor, federal foster care, or voluntary departure back to the homeland. Players roll the dice and land on various spaces representing a case manager, a lawyer, a phone, or specific documents to collect requisite cards. Each card, which has information on the particular step in the process, then goes into a packet. The object of the game is to collect enough cards to fill a submission packet and ultimately be released from the detention center. Tran says children at the Miami Gardens facility have enjoyed playing the game. “The overall goal is to bridge the information gap these undocumented and unaccompanied immigrant minors face due to their status and lack of resources,” Tran says. “Because they’re not citizens, they do not have access to legal representation, and have to face a complex legal situation by themselves. It’s hard enough for an educated adult, let alone a child who may have had a transient life.” —Joshua Stone, ’15

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Lifesaving research, patient-centric care, and access to the latest trials and technology are just a few reasons Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center director Stephen Nimer is bullish about scoring South Florida’s first and only National Cancer Institute designation.

Changing the Face of Cancer CRISTINA ESPINAL WAS AN ENERGETIC 14-YEAR-OLD IN COLOMBIA WHO NOTICED A strange bump on her leg. Carolina Williams, a fit 27-year-old Dallas schoolteacher, woke one morning so bloated she couldn’t button her pants. Miami mortgage broker Eddy Fernandez, an athletic 44-year-old, began needing to nap between meetings. For Matilde Rasco Torres, 68, walking and gardening around her Miami home suddenly became such a chore she thought she had heart problems. Though strangers to one another, these four individuals share a common bond: They were all diagnosed with cancer, received treatment at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and have since returned to active lifestyles. Stephen D. Nimer, Sylvester’s director, says stories like theirs should change the way people in South Florida, and elsewhere, are thinking about cancer—and where to go to have it treated. His outlook is upbeat. “We are making great strides,” he says. “In the past two years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved 25 to 30 new drugs for treating cancer. We are turning cancer into more of a chronic disease, so people can live with cancer. We are also beginning to cure some cancers that we were never able to cure before—and that’s the real promise.”

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WALKING TALL When 14-year-old Cristina Espinal found a strange bump above her right knee, she went to her family doctor in Medellín, Colombia. The physician thought it might be osteosarcoma, the most common type of pediatric bone cancer. Knowing Espinal’s parents also had a home in Miami, he advised them to take her to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. After a multidisciplinary team at Sylvester confirmed the diagnosis of osteosarcoma, John M. Goldberg, assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics, used chemotherapy to shrink the tumor enough for surgical removal, which saved Espinal’s leg from amputation. A thoracic surgeon then removed some spots on her lungs, a common occurrence with osteosarcoma, says Goldberg. “I was scared, but the doctors and nurses calmed me down,” Espinal says. “They were always so positive.” Espinal’s battle with cancer became the focus of her life. She was at Sylvester for tests, treatments, or checkups more than 100 times in a single year. The result, however, was worth everything she and her family endured. “Medically, Cristina is considered in remission,” says Goldberg, her doctor. “But with each year that passes, the surer we will be that she can look forward to a complete recovery and a normal life.” Ironically, Espinal’s diagnosis came the same day that her brother, Jorge, was accepted to enroll at UM as a student. Now 16, she wants to follow his footsteps and hopes she’ll be returning to the U soon—this time as a freshman. “My leg is perfect,” Espinal says. “I can do anything.” Two years after Cristina Espinal was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a common form of bone cancer in young people, the teenager is in remission. Her oncologist, John Goldberg, is also director of the Pediatric Oncology Early Phase Clinical Trials Program at Sylvester.

Nimer was one of the world’s premier leukemia and stem cell transplant researchers and clinicians at New York’s famed Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center when he came to UM in 2012, drawn by a promise that he would have the support needed to gain a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation for Sylvester. “President [Donna E.] Shalala and Dean [Pascal J.] Goldschmidt described their commitment to taking Sylvester to the next level,” he says, “and I realized that I could have a huge impact on the lives of the patients who come here. The notion is that we can be an amazingly patient-centric cancer center while doing research that matters—research whose ultimate goal is to bring discoveries in the laboratory to patients as quickly as possible.” That combination of clinical 26 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

empathy, a dedication to science, and a commitment to the community is what Dean Goldschmidt sees as the cancer center’s strength. “Sylvester is unique in South Florida in that our extraordinary physicians and scientists are collaborating every day to develop new therapies, improve those already in use, and get them all to our patients as quickly as possible,” he says. “Bringing that research to the people in our region means our patients receive the most advanced university-based cancer care without leaving home.” Now Sylvester, South Florida’s sole academic cancer center, is gearing up to apply for NCI designation in 2017. The designation would mean that Sylvester’s work in basic laboratory research; clinical research; and prevention, control, and population-based research is of the highest quality and meets prescribed

NCI standards. It would also mean Sylvester has demonstrated substantial transdisciplinary research across those areas. “In research, the way to show that you work together is to publish together,” explains Nimer. “The research itself takes a couple of years, and then it takes about a year to get it published, so we’re moving quickly.” Community impact is also crucial to demonstrate. “Part of that is how many people are on clinical trials,” says Nimer, who is also a professor of medicine, biochemistry, and molecular biology at the Miller School. “Over the past 30 months, our enrollment onto clinical trials that involve testing cancer therapies has increased substantially, by roughly 40 to 50 percent each year.” The NCI designation is more than a prestigious label. It helps the best

centers become even better by unlocking doors to additional federal funding and research partnerships. Even the prospect of designation can attract top researchers. These days a savvy generation of patients asks about NCI designation when weighing treatment options. The halo effect spreads farther still. The Washington Economics Group estimates that the NCI designation for Sylvester would have a $1.2 billion impact on South Florida’s economy over five years and create 200 high-quality jobs. Those numbers are not lost on Governor Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature, who recently approved a five-year, $300 million budget to

support cancer research throughout the state. Of that, Sylvester will receive at least $16 million annually. The funding, which is already helping Nimer hire another 20 to 30 top physicians and researchers, is a significant and deliberate assist in the NCI application process. “Currently there are 41 NCIdesignated comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S.,” Nimer says. “Florida, with a population of more than 19 million—we’re now the third-largest state by that measure—should have three. Instead, we have one—and it’s not in densely populated South Florida. New York, which our state just surpassed in population, has six.” Compounding the math is the intersection of disease and demography

in the Sunshine State. Though No. 3 in overall population, Florida has the nation’s highest percentage of residents over 65—17 percent according to the U.S. Census Bureau—and seniors are cancer’s most frequent targets. The American Cancer Society estimates that Florida will report 114,560 new cancer diagnoses and 42,740 cancer deaths (both No. 2 nationally) for 2014. The Florida Cancer Data System, housed at Sylvester since 1978, projects that around 60 percent of those diagnoses and 70 percent of the deaths will be of people 65 and older. Nimer likens leading Sylvester to running a basketball team, and his strategy is similar: Recruit the best players and focus on your best plays.

PUTTING CANCER TO SLEEP Under five feet tall and barely 100 pounds, former Texan Carolina Williams describes herself as “a firecracker.” Yet on January 6, 2006, her spark fizzled. The recently married schoolteacher woke up so bloated she couldn’t button her pants. “I looked pregnant,” recalls Williams, then 27. On her first day back to work after the Christmas break, she felt so ill she had to leave early. When her husband got home, she was passed out on the bathroom floor. A CT scan at her local hospital revealed an eight-pound mass that doctors there thought was an ovarian cyst. The initial misdiagnosis led to attempts to puncture and drain the abdominal mass. It was then surgically removed. A pathologist declared the mass benign, but two weeks later a second pathologist determined it was a form of sarcoma called a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, or GIST. It was through a GIST support group in Dallas that Williams met Sylvester oncologist Jonathan C. Trent, who was in town to receive an award from the group. “I asked if he would take me on as a patient, and he agreed,” says Williams. “I thought I’d be traveling from Dallas to see him, but my husband got a new job in Miami the following week.” Trent, professor of medicine, director of the Sarcoma Medical Research Program, and associate director for Clinical Research at Sylvester, monitors Williams’ progress on Gleevec, a drug she’s been taking for eight years to eradicate any residual cancer cells. In that time two other drugs have become available— Gleevec was once the only choice—but Williams will stay on Gleevec as long as it continues to keep her cancer at bay. Since 2000, says Trent, the average life expectancy for people with metastatic GIST has increased from months to years. “I have patients with metastatic GIST who are alive and doing well 14 years later,” he says. “With perseverance, our laboratory and clinical research into GIST will lead to a better understanding of its cause and, hopefully, result one day in a cure.” A chance meeting in Dallas with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center specialist Jonathan Trent has given Carolina Williams, here with son Antonio, hope for continued management of her disease.

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In just two years, he hired nearly 50 top physicians and scientists from leading institutions, mixing them in with the star players he’d inherited to achieve wins as quickly as possible. His “best plays” strategy is based on the recognition that cancer is not one but 100 different diseases and that Sylvester’s wins hinge on a realistic playbook. “We have to get very good at a few things first, then add on, as opposed to having 20 different programs, all of which are getting a little bit better,” he says. Nimer’s choices include leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma; sarcoma; genito-urinary cancers (prostate, kidney, and bladder); tumors of the eye and

brain; gastrointestinal cancers; head and neck cancers, which includes lung cancer; and breast cancer. He points out that Sylvester already offers world-class treatment in several of those areas and is achieving five-year survival outcomes that are significantly better than the national average for acute myeloid leukemia (54 vs. 21 percent), late-stage breast cancer (61 vs. 44 percent), and early- and late-stage colon cancer (90 vs. 73 percent and 42 vs. 33 percent, respectively). “Sylvester’s better outcomes are due, in part, to the fact that we have super-specialized doctors,” says Nimer. “We’re also smaller than some of the other cancer centers, so it’s a little

easier to pay attention to all the right details, avoid making any mistakes, and make sure patients are treated optimally.” It may offer little comfort for people who have already lost loved ones, but the statistical truth is that the battle against cancer is slowly being won. In raw numbers, new diagnoses and deaths continue to grow, but that’s because the U.S. population continues to grow, and with it an increasingly large percentage of seniors. According to American Cancer Society statistics, the average five-year survival rate for all cancers, races, and ages in the U.S. has risen from 49 percent in the 1970s to 68 percent today. Those numbers

A WINNING ATTITUDE “My daughter Alana, now 5, was only seven months old when I was diagnosed,” says mortgage broker Eddy Fernandez. “She was one of the reasons I was able to battle this.” “This” is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL. “It’s most common in children, where it’s highly curable,” says Fernandez’s oncologist, Krishna V. Komanduri, who holds the Kalish Family Chair in Stem Cell Transplantation and is director of the Sylvester Adult Stem Cell Transplant Program. “It’s much more challenging in adults. Eddy had the Philadelphia chromosome-positive version of ALL, which has a poor prognosis and is not curable with chemotherapy alone.” Fernandez didn’t look like a candidate for serious illness. A careful eater, fitness enthusiast, and triathlete when he wasn’t selling mortgages, he suddenly found he had to take naps between meetings. During his last marathon, in October 2009, Fernandez barely made it across the finish line. His doctor admitted him to the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital for tests. However, he needed urgent treatment and didn’t emerge for months. When the ALL was discovered, UM’s hematology-oncology division chief Joseph Rosenblatt, the William J. Harrington Chair in Hematology, told Fernandez’s wife, “We’re going to hit him with everything we’ve got.” That meant chemotherapy, radiation, and, in April 2010, a stem cell transplant. Komanduri, a professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology, has overseen Fernandez’s transplant and post-transplant care, which has been a marathon of healing—including a bout with graft vs. host disease. But Fernandez, now 49, who once was so weak he couldn’t carry a dinner plate, can finally hold Alana in his arms. He is even strong enough to train for triathlons again. “In addition to my doctors, I thank God, my family, and my fitness at the time for seeing me through it,” Fernandez says. “All I want now is to cross the finish line.” Fernandez completed his comeback triathlon on September 14. Eddy Fernandez has met the challenge of a lifetime with a support team that includes his family and faith, along with a treatment strategy overseen by oncologist Krishna Komanduri.

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A SECOND OPINION GIVES A SECOND CHANCE While vacationing with her husband, Luis, in Georgia in 2012, Matilde Rasco Torres, then 68, began to feel weak and short of breath. “I thought it might be my heart,” she recalls. But a visit to her family doctor back in Miami revealed a low hemoglobin level. A local oncologist put her on an oral medication for myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a type of cancer in which the bone marrow does not make enough blood cells. “Instead of getting better, I quickly began getting worse,” says Torres. She and her husband went to Sylvester for a second opinion. There she was placed under the care of Ronan T. Swords, who is the Pap Corps Endowed Professor in Leukemia. After analyzing her bone marrow cells in much greater detail than the original exam, Swords estimated that unless her course of treatment was changed, Torres had only four or five months to live. He recommended a medication called Vidaza. After four treatments, she was in remission. “Vidaza is not a cure,” emphasizes Swords. “The remission can last from weeks to months, but the MDS will come back, so I recommended that we do a bone marrow or stem cell transplant.” Lazaros J. Lekakis, assistant professor of clinical medicine, supervised Torres’s care before, during, and after her bone marrow transplant. Now 70, she’s able to enjoy taking walks and gardening again, and is even considering doing volunteer work. “The doctors at Sylvester were always available, kept us informed, and they really cared,” says Torres. “I never knew we could have such wonderful relationships with our doctors. I’m convinced I would not still be alive if we hadn’t come to Sylvester. To beat a disease like cancer, you need this kind of support.” Matilde Rasco Torres and her husband of 43 years credit Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center physicians Ronan Swords, pictured, and Lazaros Lekakis with having saved her life.

bear out what Nimer has seen in his own clinical practice. “Multiple myeloma, a disease I treat, is a great example,” he says. “If you developed it 10 years ago, your average life expectancy was three or four years. Now it’s five to eight years, so it has doubled in a decade. While that’s clearly not good enough, it is important progress, especially because the treatments have become much less difficult.” There are also more cancer survivors than ever before—14.5 million, according to the American Cancer Society—a number expected to exceed 19 million by 2024. To speed translational results, Sylvester has begun research collaborations with Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Nimer’s former institution, and with the giant University of Texas MD Anderson

Cancer Center in Houston, from which a number of his star recruits have been drawn. Inside the Miller School, Sylvester is working with the Diabetes Research Institute, the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, the Department of Neurological Surgery, and the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics. The Miller School’s Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics now includes the newly created Cancer Epigenetics and Genomics Program. Elsewhere within UM, Sylvester is teaming up with the School of Nursing and Health Studies and the School of Communication to improve its health disparities outreach programs and messaging to affected populations. Sylvester is also expanding its service regionally by opening satellite

clinics, most recently in the Broward County cities of Plantation, Hollywood, and Coral Springs. Still to come is The Lennar Foundation Medical Center, a large outpatient facility slated to open in 2016 on the Coral Gables campus. Nimer says he enjoys his role at the helm of all these transformative initiatives. “Leadership positions give you a wonderful way to help others,” he says. “It’s a great responsibility, but we’re gearing up to do great things.” Departing from his earlier basketball imagery, Nimer concludes, “We want to be thought of as the Tiffany’s of cancer care. When you come here, you know you will get a wonderful product.” Robert S. Benchley is senior editor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 29

The founding editor of Miami reflects on the award-winning magazine that, for 25 years, has brought the U to you. Its first 56 covers mirror the journey. BY JERRY LEWIS

A Window

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and a Mirror

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IT WAS AN INAUSPICIOUS START. We were pretty sure the University of Miami was ready for a magazine, and a small team of us in University Communications was eager to start one. Yet, there was no roadmap, no guidelines, no compulsion, and no overwhelming urgency. It just seemed like the right thing to do and the right time to do it. Call it intuition. The sad fact is that many magazine start-ups fizzle out—sometimes quickly, sometimes excruciatingly slowly. I’ve been involved in numerous magazine start-ups and relaunches. You can tell after the first couple of issues if there’s a dedication to continuing with it or if you’re simply creating a one-issue wonder.

32 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

There was never any question about it with Miami. The University of Miami magazine was strong out of the gate in 1989 and continued to gain momentum over the years. Today, it would be difficult to imagine the University, especially the alumni community, without this incomparable magazine.

Magazines, particularly this one, almost always develop their own personality. For that very reason, they tend to attract highly creative people who bring a lot of their own character to the mix. We were fortunate to have some amazingly talented staff members and freelancers working on the magazine from issue number one. The magazine’s masthead has boasted a virtual who’s who of editors, art directors, writers, designers, photographers, and illustrators. Some, like P. David Johnson and Susan May, were involved in the inaugural issue and would be associated with the magazine for years to come. David, who led and cajoled the magazine for almost 20 years, came up

tackled some tough topics that mirrored the issues facing South Florida and the nation at the time. There were feature stories on the many facets of homelessness, Miami’s struggles to overcome drugs and crime, the ills of censorship, the ravages of HIV and AIDS, and the tragedy of drug-addicted newborns. We set out to create a magazine that not only captured the full depth and breadth of the University’s impact but that also was quite simply a good read—a good magazine, not just a good university magazine. Without question, the magazine’s success all these years is attributable to the extraordinary ability of the editorial and design teams to look beyond the safety of straightforward

topics—to probe the depths and complexities of stories that illuminate the incredible work of the faculty, students, and alumni. Miami magazine has always been a window into the soul of the University and a most flattering reflection of our many friends and supporters.

COURTESY UT ARLINGTON

with the arresting “Actual Size” cover that depicted a premature infant photographed at actual size. As an editor, Susan chronicled her most personal experiences with in vitro fertilization at the University’s medical center. While the two of them were putting together a story about a marine science researcher at the Rosenstiel School, they risked their lives in a harrowing, rain-soaked, all-night adventure in a tiny motorboat in sharkinfested waters off the coast of Bimini. Risk was a unifying thread from the very beginning and continues to keep the magazine fresh and compelling. Stepping outside the comfort zone has served the magazine well through these past 25 years. From the beginning, we

Jerry Lewis is the founding editor of Miami magazine and a former vice president for communications at the University of Miami. He is currently senior vice president for communications and public affairs at Emory University.

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Alumni Digest

Alumni Digest

NEWS AND EVENTS OF INTEREST TO UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ALUMNI

Off-Field Battles Forged Hall of Famer Jim Kelly Cancer free, quarterback returns to the U as grand marshal of Alumni Weekend and Homecoming

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Jim Kelly, B.B.A. ’83, takes charge at Homecoming 2014, right, and inside the Orange Bowl a few decades earlier.

who took us from being ready to drop football to being a national championship contender and having prominence again. He was such a tough guy and such a leader. He always wanted to fight and scrap.” For the past year and a half, Kelly has battled a challenge unlike any of the stout and sturdy defenses he so expertly dismantled as the star quarterback of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills from 1986 to 1996 and of the USFL’s Houston Gamblers for two seasons before that. In March 2013, the UM and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback was diagnosed with oral cancer and underwent surgery to remove part of his upper jawbone.

But the cancer returned, and Kelly endured several rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. Now, he is declared cancer free—and “Kelly Tough,” a phrase he coined and has lived by. Long before battling cancer, Kelly’s fortitude was tested—two plates and ten screws in his back, a plate and six screws in his neck, a double hernia. But that all pales in comparison to the 2005 loss of his son, Hunter Kelly. Born on Valentine’s Day like his father, Hunter suffered from Krabbe disease, a rare degenerative disorder of the nervous system. In 1997 Kelly and his wife, Jill, established Hunter’s Hope Foundation, which has raised millions for research on Krabbe disease and other neurological disorders. “To see a little boy fight and live to be 8 when he was given no more than 14 months to live, I can’t complain about anything I’m going through,” says Kelly. “It doesn’t compare. “I admired his strength, his courage. He’s made me the man I am today. Each day I wake up, I know I probably wouldn’t have been able to fight this battle [against cancer] had it not been for a little boy named Hunter James Kelly.” Kelly, who led the Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances, also credits the support of his wife and daughters, Erin and Camryn. “They’ve been there every step of the way,” he says. Kelly served as grand marshal for UM’s 2014 Alumni Weekend and Homecoming festivities and as honorary captain at the Homecoming football game where UM beat the University of North Carolina 47-20. —Robert C. Jones Jr. JENNY ABREU

for rescuing the University of Miami football program and athletic department as anyone,” says former teammate and current UM offensive line coach Art Kehoe, B.B.A. ’83. “So many people have been important to this program, but Jim Kelly was a guy

UM SPORTS MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE

It was the game that put Miami Hurricanes football on the map—a November 1979 road matchup against powerful Penn State. Making his first collegiate start at quarterback for Miami was Jim Kelly, a kid from East Brady, Pennsylvania, who grew up dreaming about playing for the Nittany Lions. “I went into that week as the backup QB,” recalls Kelly, B.B.A. ’83, a four-year letterman at UM from 1979 to 1982. “Coach [Howard] Schnellenberger told me after the pregame meal that I was going to be the starter. I was shocked. But I knew it was an opportunity to show that I could play. Coach gave me that opportunity, and I made the best of it.” Indeed. In front of more than 77,000 fans packed inside Beaver Stadium, Kelly, who was so nervous before the game that he threw up, passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns to lead unranked Miami to a 26-10 victory over a Penn State squad replete with future NFL stars. Kelly’s heroics continued. During the 1980 season, the 6-foot, 3-inch field general led Miami to its first bowl game in 14 years—a Peach Bowl victory over Virginia Tech in January 1981. He would go on to defeat Penn State again, knocking off the then-No. 1-ranked Nittany Lions 17-14 in the Orange Bowl on October 31, 1981. Kelly concluded his Miami career with 406 completions, 5,233 passing yards, and 32 touchdowns. “Jim Kelly is as much responsible

All in the Families Seven percent of the University of Miami’s 2,000-plus-member freshman class represents a legacy admission, meaning a parent and/or grandparent attended the U before them. The UM Legacy Program aims to recognize the commitment and support these families have given their alma mater. UM currently has 1,400 legacy students enrolled, and the tradition is growing stronger each year, says Erica Arroyo, B.S.C. ’03, M.A.L.S. ’08, senior director of alumni engagement. “Even though UM is a relatively young university, we are starting to see thirdgeneration legacies,” she adds. On August 19, more than 260 students, alumni, parents, and friends mingled in the Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center for the ninth Annual Legacy Reception. Among the crowd was incoming freshman John Ghannam, who was

JENNY ABREU

UM Legacy Program welcomes second- and third-generation ’Canes

Donna Arbide, M.B.A. ’95, associate vice president of alumni relations and individual giving, presents a scholarship award to legacy ’Cane John Ghannam.

presented with a $5,000 scholarship at the event. “When I received the letter informing me of the scholarship, I was beyond shocked and ecstatic,”

says Ghannam. “I was already content with just being accepted to UM, but receiving this gracious award as well made me believe that all the hard work to get to this point was well worth it.” Ghannam’s sister Suzanne Ghannam is a senior at UM, and his mother, Mary Sawaya, M.D. ’86, is a Miller School of Medicine alumna. Ghannam recalls attending football games in the Orange Bowl as a youngster and, later on, getting an insider’s view of campus from his big sister. “I visited my sister several times at UM and fell more in love with the school with every visit,” Ghannam says of his decision to apply. “I saw my family’s legacy here, and I wanted to be a part of it.” Visit miami.edu/alumni/umaa/ legacy.htm to learn more about the UM Legacy Program.

COMING ATTRACTIONS University of Miami alumni, parents, and friends, join us for a weekend celebration in Beverly Hills, California, June 4-6, as we give you access to exclusive tours/experiences, screen films from top students at the School of Communication, and celebrate our alumni stars and leaders of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Friday, June 5, 2015

Saturday, June 6, 2015

• Backstage access tour

• Alumni Board of Directors meeting (for members only)

• Exclusive alumni experience in Beverly Hills

• ’Canes Film Showcase • Alumni networking reception

• Regional Alumni Awards Ceremony

For more information on how you can participate, or become a sponsor, contact Erica Arroyo, B.S.C. ’03, M.A.L.S. ’08, Senior Director, Alumni Engagement, at earroyo@miami.edu.

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Alumni Digest

RESULTS-Oriented Distinguished Alumni Lecture ‘Reclaiming Our Democracy’ author to share insights and strategies from his book’s anniversary edition A graduate of the University to stopping hunger and of Miami’s Frost School of poverty globally. There are Music, Sam Daley-Harris, now 100 RESULTS groups B.M. ’69, M.M. ’75, spent 12 in the U.S. and 40 more in years as a percussionist for six other nations. Daleythe Miami Philharmonic. He Harris is also a leading also taught and composed. But advocate for micro­finance. during that time he remained The Microcredit Summit consumed with questions Campaign he co-founded in about his purpose in life. 1997 surpassed its goal of On January 15, 2015, Sam Daley-Harris, B.M. ’69, reaching 100 million of the Daley-Harris will give the M.M. ’75 world’s poorest families in Distinguished Alumni Lecture 2007. at the Robert and Judi Prokop Daley-Harris’s aha moment in activNewman Alumni Center. The author of ism came from speaking to 7,000 high Reclaiming Our Democracy: Healing the school students in Miami and Los Angeles Break between People and Government in 1978 and 1979 about world hunger for will discuss “Making the Difference an organization he volunteeed with at the You’ve Always Dreamed of Making” and time. He asked the students if they knew share his own path from artist and contheir congressperson’s name and found cerned citizen to internationally known that fewer than 3 percent of them did. advocate in the fight against poverty. “RESULTS started out of that gap beIn 1980, Daley-Harris launched tween the call for the political will to end RESULTS, a citizens’ lobby dedicated hunger on the one hand and the lack of

basic information about who represented us in Washington on the other,” he has explained. Daley-Harris has since led millions of people to effective action. His Center for Citizen Empowerment and Transformation, launched in 2012, works with other organizations on training their members to create champions for their causes in Congress and the media. The 20th anniversary edition of his seminal book, Reclaiming Our Democracy, was released in September 2013 by Camino Books with a foreword by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus and a new chapter about the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a fast-growing group Daley-Harris has mentored since its start in 2007. Mouse-click advocacy isn’t enough, Daley-Harris warns. Real change requires doing homework on the issues about which we care most. “We have to deeply educate ourselves,” he has said. “You’re not dangerous until you’re articulate.”

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AND TOPPEL CAREER CENTER

Alumni Career Webinar Series

2014-2015

The University of Miami Alumni Association and Toppel Career Center are pleased to offer a webinar series with top career authors and experts on best practices in the career development process. To participate, all you need is a computer and an Internet connection. Register online to join these interactive presentations—go to miami.edu/alumni/career and click on “Career Webinars,” where past sessions are also archived. Webinars begin at 8 p.m. EST. NOVEMBER 5, 2014

JANUARY 7, 2015

Let LinkedIn Market Your Skills & Experience

Master the Art & Science of Interviewing

PRESENTER: VIVEKA VON ROSEN

PRESENTER: JOHN KADOR

LinkedIn Marketing an Hour a Day

301 Best Questions to ASK on Your Interview

Grab Your Keys And Drive Your Career

Proven Strategies to Build a Network That Works For You

PRESENTER: LOS ELLIS

PRESENTER: MIKE FISHBEIN

Keys to Life Business Success FUTURE SESSIONS: March 4, April 1, May 6, and June 3, 2015.

36 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

How to Build an Awesome Professional Network

DECEMBER 3, 2014

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Advancing Higher Education It’s been an especially busy year for Donna A. Arbide, M.B.A. ’95. In October 2013 she added oversight of the University’s individual giving programs to her longtime roles as associate vice president of alumni relations and executive director of the UM Alumni Association. Several months later, she was nominated and subsequently elected to chair the Commission on Alumni Relations for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), an international association serving more than 3,600 educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf. A week before kicking off Alumni Weekend and Homecoming 2014 on Halloween night, Arbide was in Washington, D.C., to lead her first commission meeting. Chairing the commission means she also serves as a trustee-at-large for CASE, which has nearly 74,000 individual members in 82 countries. Her three-year term continues through 2017. In this national leadership spotlight, Arbide joins Sergio M. Gonzalez, UM’s

JENNY ABREU

Head of UM Alumni Association tapped for national commission

promote creativity and innovation in policy implementation that will be to the betterment of the overall student and alumni experience.” Arbide, who was previously a faculty member for the CASE Summer Institute in Alumni Relations, says she looks forward to building on the good work of her

“ We’re such an entrepreneurial institution. It’s the reason I’ve stayed so long.” senior vice president for university advancement and external affairs, who has been a trustee-at-large for CASE since 2011, and Patricia A. Whitely, Ed.D. ’94, vice president for student affairs, who is the current board chair for another prestigious professional organization called NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education). “Both Donna and Pat have a clear understanding of the importance of enhancing the student experience and developing lifelong alumni of higher education institutions,” says Devang Desai, A.B. ’97, J.D. ’03, an executive committee member on the UM Alumni Association Board of Directors. “In their respective leadership roles, they bring new perspectives and will continue to

predecessor in conveying the importance of cross-training alumni relations professionals. “When it comes to communications, fundraising, development, and alumni relations,” she explains, “donors don’t think of us in compartmentalized ways. I’ve built a relationship with this person through their involvement and so we also talk about giving. And donors call me about major University issues, so we become the PR face as well. That kind of flexibility is a reality of our world.” During her term, Arbide says she would also like to focus on developing best-practices checklists for alumni engagement that acknowledge the diverse needs of CASE educational institutions around the globe—from public research universities to community colleges.

Arbide hopes to promote more dialogue about “the value proposition of higher education,” as well. “CASE and all of its commissions should address this,” she says. “We’re in that culture of people asking, ‘What are you going to give me for $60,000?’ vs. another perspective that says, ‘How do you put a price tag on better-educated people?’” A proud UM alumna and parent who has worked at the U since 1986, Arbide continues to draw inspiration from the ’Cane spirit. “We’re such an entrepreneurial institution. It’s the reason I’ve stayed so long,” she says. “I bought into the idea that I have ownership in building this place. Nobody ever said, ‘We’ve been doing it this way for 200 years, so you can’t change it.’ This is the kind of place that says, ‘If you have a good idea that’s not the same as another model, go ahead and try it.’ That’s exciting.”

KNOW YOUR BENEFITS Did you know that being a card-carrying ’Cane could save you money this holiday season? Members of the University of Miami Alumni Association can save up to 30 percent on shipping, including UPS Express air and international shipments. Visit the website savewithups.com/umalumni for details.

miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 37

Alumni Digest

“I joined UBS”

“I lived in Hecht”

“I worked at Richter”

“I am a music lover” “I was in the band”

“I’m a ”

“I’m a nurse” “I loved education”

Lake Osceola

“I was on RAB” “I was a Calling ’Cane”

“I played

“I was in Category 5”

club sports” “I studied architecture”

“I was an honor student”

“I love Hurricane hoops!”

The time

From football games to nights at

of Your Life Should Last

a Lifetime

the Rat, talent shows to student government campaigns—tell us about the faces and places, activities, and events that made your University of Miami experience special. To begin, visit miami.edu/alumni and complete our Alumni Affinity Program form online. Tell us about your special interests! We’ll use those

“I’m a ’Cane for life”

details to help you reconnect and reunite with fellow ’Canes who share your affinities.

For more information, please contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 1-866-UMALUMS (1-866-862-5867) or alumni@miami.edu. 38 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

Class Notes 1940s

1960s

Stories of U

’49, M.Ed. ’73, served MiamiDade County Public Schools for more than 30 years as a teacher, curriculum writer, and principal. One of the many UM classes she audited in retirement led to writing six books: fiction, nonfiction, and instructional. Her most recent, Hope for the Holy Land, is historical fiction for young adults that spans the War of Independence to present-day Israel. Royalties benefit the group Heartland Jerusalem.

of Greenwich, Connecticut, has been honored by his home state’s legislator with a certificate of commendation for his work in music and with young people. A professional conductor and educator, he is president and CEO of Music USA. Dave Rothfield, B.Ed. ’61, of Apopka, Florida, is president of Creative Sales + Management Inc. He was appointed Executive in Residence at Stetson University, where he creates and conducts business development workshops. Howard Rubin, B.B.A. ’62, is vice president of Rossignol Essentials North America for Canada-based Rossignol Ski Company. Robert Jason, B.M. ’69, produces albums for independent artists and conducts songwriting workshops through his company Robert Jason Productions. Songwriting credits include a No. 1 song recorded by Alabama, “She Ain’t Your Ordinary Girl,” and cuts by Reba McEntire, Barry White, and more. He has produced 14 No. 1 singles and sung more than 100 national and regional TV commercials. His vocals have been in dozens of television shows, feature films, and albums.

In His Own Words: Troy Roberts, M.M. ’07

Mona Pastroff Goldstein, B.Ed.

1950s

Larry Wilde, A.B. ’52, celebrated in April the occurrence of National Humor Month, which he founded in 1976. Wilde, director of The Carmel Institute of Humor, says, “Since April is often bleak and grim and taxes are due on the 15th, it can be one of the most stressful times of the year. Besides, it’s the only month that begins with All Fool’s Day— which has sanctioned frivolity and pranks ever since the 1500s.” He is the bestselling humor author of all time with 53 titles. His “Official” Joke Books series has sold more than 12 million copies. Wilde lives in Carmel, California, with his wife, the author Mary Poulos Wilde. Ed Robin, B.S.E.E. ’57, took part in the Clearwater Festival, an annual environmental and musical celebration in Westchester County, New York, with his solar energy demonstration booth generating power for laptops, iPads, and other mobile devices on site in Croton Point Park. Abbott Wainwright, A.B. ’57, M.B.A. ’68, has written and selfpublished How to Solve Crosswords: A Handbook (2014).

Joseph Leníado-Chira, B.M. ’61,

1970s

Jimmy H. Morris, M.M. ’70, of Revere, Pennsylvania, is a retired trombonist, most recently of the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra from 1983 to 2000. He was a teacher in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, from 1974 to 2002 and now plays the Irish fiddle. Rebekah Poston, A.B. ’70, J.D. ’74, established The Linda Dakis, J.D. ’74, Memorial Scholarship as a tribute to her former Miami

I guess what made me want to play the saxophone was I went to a family friend’s high school graduation concert. Their high school big band was playing and the guy got up and did his sax solo. I didn’t even know what it was called, but I thought it looked cool. I nagged my parents to get me one. My parents always had great music playing in the house— jazz, Miles Davis, Art Blakey. I thought I hated jazz because as a kid I was into hip-hop, Bon Jovi, Poison, Def Leppard. I liked this one song, Art Blakey’s “Moanin’” and I took that disc into my room and listened to that one track, but I still “hated jazz.” Then I liked Miles Davis’s “So What,” so I took that CD [Kind of Blue] into my room. I still hated jazz, but I liked those two tracks. Then I liked the whole album. That happened more often, and I realized I loved jazz. I began my Bachelor of Music degree at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts. I did my last semester of undergrad on exchange at the University of Miami. I did not want to leave home, but it turned out to be the best thing because I built all these relationships I didn’t know were relationships at the time. It’s where I met Gary Keller and Whit Sidener and all these amazing music professors at the University of Miami. After I graduated, I had to go back to Australia—I had visa issues. I recorded one important album The XenDen Suite, which I wrote for jazz quartet and string quartet. In 2009 I came back to UM and recorded two albums while I was back in Miami, Nu-Jive and Nu-Jive 5. My first gig after moving to New York was in Herbie Hancock’s launch of the first-ever International Jazz Day. I was very lucky to perform on stage at the United Nations with Tineke Postma, Wayne Shorter, Vinnie Colaiuta, Tarek Yamani, and Zakir Hussein. It was an incredible time. Jazz has always been kind of an underground thing. Some people’s goal is to make music for the masses. I’m not too bothered about the masses because I really don’t think that’s what this art form is about. It’s a tough world out there, especially in the economic times of today, and my proudest moment is that I’m making a living being a musician. It’s a tough thing to do, and I’m doing it. —As told to Stories of U You can watch the video this piece was excerpted from at storiesofu.com/videos/troy-roberts-m-m-07. miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 39

Class Notes Law roommate and lifelong friend, Linda Dakis, A.B. ’70, J.D. ’74, an administrative judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Domestic Violence Division, who died in 2006 from a cerebral brain hemorrhage. Sandy Karlan, A.B. ’71, administrative judge for the Family Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, is immediate past president/director of the Florida chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. She presented “Multiculturalism 101” at the College of Advanced Judicial Studies. Mort Laitner, A.B. ’71, published A Hebraic Obsession (Transitional Press, 2014), his memoir of growing up the son of a Holocaust survivor who narrowly escaped the concentration camp gas chamber. A South Florida resident, he teaches law and ethics at Florida International University and Barry University. Previously he spent 39 years as the chief legal counsel of the Miami-Dade County Health Department. Anthony C. Musto, B.G.S. ’72, was elected to chair the Florida Bar Public Interest Law Section and serve on the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Council. He was also appointed to the American Bar Association Youth at Risk Advisory Commission. George F. Knox, J.D. ’73, was recognized as a “Living Legend” at the 2013 ICABA Honors at Florida International University. He was the first African-American Miami City Attorney and is currently a visiting professor of law and director of Non-Litigation Advocacy Programs at FIU. Carolyn Lamm, J.D. ’73, was named on The National Law Journal’s list of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America. Paul Levine, J.D. ’73, is the author of the Jake Lassiter mystery series. State vs. Lassiter (Nittany Valley Productions, 2013) is his

latest installment. Curtis Rayam Jr., B.M. ’73, a City of Orlando and ONYX Magazine Black History Honoree of 2014, is a lecturer at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach and an adjunct professor of voice at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He belongs to the National Opera Association and National Association of Teachers of Singing. Octavio A. Santurio, B.Arch. ’73, of Coral Gables, received the Society of American Registered Architect’s Gold Medal for extraordinary service and dedication to the profession of architecture on October 11, 2013. Roy Berger, A.B. ’74, wrote and self-published The Most Wonderful Week of the Year (2014) about his love of fantasy baseball camps. His first was in 2010 with a team he’d idolized since youth, the Pittsburgh Pirates, which was celebrating the 50th anniversary of its 1960 World Series title. Chucha S. Barber, A.B. ’75, won a 2014 Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation for Outstanding Local/ Regional Producer for her work documenting Florida’s 500-year history for the Florida Department of State’s Viva Florida 500 initiative. Raul Alvarez, B.B.A. ’76, a UM President’s Council member, was appointed to the board of directors for Realogy Holdings Corp., a publicly traded real estate franchising corporation. Raymond Angelo Belliotti, M.A. ’76, Ph.D. ’77, Distinguished Teaching Professor of philosophy, SUNY Fredonia, published his 15th book, Jesus the Radical: The Parables and Modern Morality (Lexington Books, 2013). Andru Volinsky, A.B. ’76, a shareholder in the Manchester, New Hampshire, office of Bernstein Shur, is recognized as a Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation 2014. Mirtha T. Shideler, A.B. ’77,

40 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

Mixed Media Peter Pan LIVE! Musical theatre grad Alanna Saunders, B.F.A. ’14, plays Tiger Lily in the NBC musical production Peter Pan LIVE!, set to air December 4 at 8 p.m. (EST). She appears in the three-hour holiday Broadway event with actors Allison Williams (Peter Pan) and Christopher Walken (Captain Hook).

A Cup of Water Under My Bed The first-generation American child of a Colombian mother and Cuban father, Daisy Hernández, M.F.A. ’13, longed to find her place in the chasm between Spanish and English, between superstition and truth, and between women who desire respect and those who command it. In her lyrical memoir, A Cup of Water Under My Bed (Beacon Press, 2014), Hernández confronts the complexities of language, sexuality, culture, and class with a poetic voice and the confidence of a woman who speaks to audiences across the nation about race, feminism, and media representations of women of color.

Mango Florida may be best known for citrus, but the mango is still South Florida’s signature summer treat. Jen Karetnick, M.F.A. ’96, who lives on a historic mango plantation, shares her love of this mighty fruit with award-winning recipes and expert tips in Mango (University Press of Florida, 2014). Karetnick’s prolific year also includes poetry: Brie Season (White Violet Press, 2014) and the chapbook Prayer of Confession (Finishing Line Press, 2014).

Ordinary Lives Saxophonist Aaron Irwin, M.M. ’02, is getting kudos for his third album, Ordinary Lives (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2014). He and his ensemble put forth ten original tunes that made Christian Science Monitor’s “Top Picks.” “For anyone who treasures the elegant line of the solo sax,” CSM wrote, “this album is a lovely treat.”

M.S.Ed. ’93, served as secretary to UM football coach Lou Saban from 1977-79 and worked for several airlines before becoming an educator. She retired from teaching in 2007 and lives in Georgia. Harry G. Tangalakis, M.B.A. ’77, CBRE senior vice president and a leading industrial broker in South Florida, received the Dave Haggerty Leadership Award, the highest honor bestowed upon a CBRE industrial services professional in the Americas.

1980s

Federico Moreno, J.D. ’80, a United States District judge, received the 2013 Justice Harry Lee Anstead Award from the Florida Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization & Education. Luis de la Aguilera, A.B. ’81, was promoted to CEO of South Florida’s TotalBank. He was previously president and chief marketing officer. Nan A. Markowitz, A.B. ’81, has been elected to the Orange Bowl Committee and was appointed to serve as a member of the Coral Gables Cultural Development Board. A resident of Coral Gables, she is also the Bond Program coordinator for Miami-Dade County and is on the board of directors of Foster Care Review, Inc. William J. “Bill” Mullowney, B.B.A. ’82, J.D. ’85, LL.M. ’89, Valencia College vice president for policy and general counsel, was elected chair of the board of directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Robert Seitz, A.B. ’82, served as a police officer and a Federally Credentialed United States Customs Marine Boarding Officer. He went on to open My Support Services Group, an IT company. Edith Osman, J.D. ’83, was honored with the 2013 David W. Dyer Professionalism Award by the Dade County Bar Association.

She is a shareholder at Carlton Fields, a director of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Women of Achievement, and a member of the Anti-Defamation League, Florida Association of Women Lawyers, and the Commonwealth Institute. Robin Supler, A.B. ’83, J.D. ’86, was named vice president for compliance and chief integrity officer for Nova Southeastern University. She is responsible for strategic management and oversight of compliance relating to health care services, patient privacy, and the conduct of research and sponsored programs. She is also the chief privacy officer for NSU Health Care Centers, and she serves as the privacy liaison to NSU’s Institutional Review Board for human subject research. Lee A. Sweetapple, A.B. ’83, released his third novel, Templar Codes (2014), through his own company, Eclectic Manor Publishing. It is a political thriller set in Europe. Raul J. Aguila, J.D. ’85, was named city attorney for the City of Miami Beach. Jorge R. Duyos, B.S.I.E. ’85, M.S.I.E. ’88, a director for the UM Alumni Association board, is president of Miami-based industrial engineering firm JRD & Associates. JRD was named 2013 American Express Open Teaming Contractor of the Year for its success in teaming with small and large businesses in federal government contracting. Brenda M. Brown, B.B.A. ’86, director of financial aid at the University of Miami School of Law, was interviewed in the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators “Most Valuable Professional” series. Helen C. Costa, B.S.N. ’86, is a partner at the law firm of Costa & Associates PA, practicing family and real estate law, as well as a registered nurse. As an adjunct

Citizen ’Cane Financing Her Own Future While other teens were flipping burgers and babysitting, Kourtney Ratliff, B.B.A. ’03, was helping to build one of the nation’s premier financial institutions. During high school breaks, she commuted 70 miles from her native Racine, Wisconsin, to Chicago to intern at Loop Capital, the bank her cousin James Reynolds Jr. founded in 1997. Today, Ratliff is a partner and head of the Global Equity and Transition Management divisions at Loop, the nation’s largest minority-owned investment bank and the sixth largest U.S. municipal bond underwriter. “At 16 years old, the allure was absolutely the pay,” recalls Ratliff, who recently moved back to Miami and sits on the University of Miami’s Alumni Board of Directors. “I knew nothing about investment banking, but I did know minimum wage was maybe $5 an hour, and my cousin was paying me $10.” In the late ’90s, the Internet was revolutionizing banking and commerce. Ratliff jumped on board by starting Loop’s email extensions, helping to create and design its first marketing materials and PowerPoints, and, working with senior bankers, running models for bond underwriting opportunities. “I definitely wasn’t going and getting coffee—though I would have if that’s what they needed,” she says. Ratliff, an honors student and captain of her high school cheerleading squad, turned down free rides at the University of Wisconsin and other top schools to become a ’Cane. Though she enrolled pre-med with dreams of being a pediatrician, she soon gravitated back to banking and life as an entrepreneur. A scholarship from Morgan Stanley and a Wall Street internship only fueled her passion. “I really loved growing a business—starting something and seeing it come to fruition. The education I got at Miami played into that,” says Ratliff, 33. “I had a teacher who was a hedge fund manager who flew in from New York City to teach us finance for the real world. I had friends at Duke and Yale—none of them had that experience.” Drawn back to Miami by its diverse business community, its culture, and her alma mater, Ratliff has established Loop’s second office in Florida and first in Miami—as well as a selffunded, need-based scholarship fund for African-American students in UM’s School of Business Administration. “I got to experience more as a Miami undergrad than most people will in a lifetime or two,” she says. “Being part of the University, sitting on the alumni board, participating in the school’s growth—it’s something that really makes me happy.” —Tim Collie miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 41

Class Notes professor of the Law Department of Miami Dade College, she received the college’s ServiceLearning Faculty Rookie of the Year recognition. In January 2013 Costa was one of 30 attorneys of the National LGBT Bar Association sworn in to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar Association, marking the first time gay lawyers were admitted as a group to the Supreme Court bar. She has completed two successful samesex adoptions in Florida. Laird A. Lile, LL.M.E. ’87, of Naples, is serving a fifth consecutive term on the Board of Governors for the Florida Bar and was reappointed to the Florida Courts Technology Commission. Mary Anne Cousins, LL.M.E. ’88, lives in Bangor, Maine, with her husband, John, and their pets. From 2012-13 she self-published four books in her Gildevon Chronicles series: Touch Not a Wilde Scottish Cat, Moonlight Again over Scotland, Come Away in Ye Wilde Highland Princess, and Angels of Scotland Can Do No More.

Fred E. Karlinsky, B.S.C. ’89, an internationally recognized insurance regulatory attorney and shareholder with Colodny, Fass, Talenfeld, Karlinsky, Abate & Webb, P.A., was appointed general counsel to the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office.

1990s

John Fournier, B.M. ’90, M.M. ’94, is the composer and lyricist of the original play The Life & Death of Madam Barker, which premiered at Red Tape Theatre in Chicago this past fall. Dorothy J. Harden, J.D. ’90, an attorney in Islamorada, Florida, and founder of Go-Get-’EmGirls!, was elected to the 2013-14 executive board of the American Business Women’s Association, Tri-County Council. James G. Vickaryous, A.B. ’90, was named race chair for the 2014 Rescue Run Corporate 5k held in Lake Mary, Florida. Funds go to the Rescue Outreach Mission, Seminole County’s only homeless outreach and shelter,

’C A N E I N T H E AC T

Ellen (Stein) Itzler, J.D. ’83, and Peter Itzler, J.D. ’83, completed Ride the Rockies in June 2014. “Over a six-day period, we rode 471 miles and climbed 33,495 feet,” writes Ellen. A month later the law school lovebirds were back in the saddle for Colorado’s Double Triple Bypass, which took place over the weekend of their 28th wedding anniversary. In two days they rode 240 miles and climbed 20,000 feet. Email a high-resolution photo that shows you living your passion to miami.editor@miami.edu, subject line: ’Cane in the Act.

42 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

where Vickaryous also serves as board president. Shari Ronkin, A.B. ’91, J.D. ’94, and Joel Ronkin, B.S. ’88, J.D. ’92, who met on the Coral Gables campus and later married, established the Ronkin Family Scholarship to provide tuition assistance to Miami Law students who excel academically. Julie E. Friedman, M.D. ’92, and Gregg L. Friedman, B.S. ’81, M.D. ’85, celebrated their 22nd wedding anniversary. Andrew Jackson, A.B. ’92, is U.S. President Barack Obama’s appointee to be Assistant Secretary for Management, Department of Education. He has been deputy assistant secretary for technology, information, and business service at the Department of the Interior since 2009. Previously Jackson served as Hewlett-Packard Company’s senior counsel. L.A. Perkins, B.B.A. ’92, an attorney and mediator in the Boca Raton-based L.A. Perkins Law Firm PLLC, serves on the South Palm Beach County Bar Association Board of Directors. Lucilo Ramos Jr., J.D. ’92, joined Avila Rodriguez Hernandez Mena & Ferri LLP as senior counsel. Patrick J. Dwyer, M.B.A. ’93, was recognized on the Financial Times “Top 400 Financial Advisors” list and on the Barron’s “America’s Top 1,200 Advisors: State-by-State” list. Margaret “Meg” Kerr, J.D. ’93, of South Miami, was appointed Compensation Claims Judge by Florida Governor Rick Scott. She is with the law firm Arrick, Peacock & Kerr. Sabrina R. Ferris, B.S. ’94, J.D. ’00, co-hiring shareholder of the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, serves on the board of directors of the Honey Shine Mentoring Program. Nicole Hunt Jackson, J.D. ’94, is an associate with Lesser, Lesser, Landy & Smith, PLLC. Also an adjunct professor at Palm Beach State College, she lives in West

Palm Beach, Florida, with her husband and three daughters. John E. Lewis, Ph.D. ’95, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, presented the TEDxMIA talk titled “The Future of Health Is Here Today,” tedxmiami.com/ bio/john-lewis-ph-d. He is the principal investigator of several nutrition, dietary supplement, and exercise studies. Victoria Méndez, A.B. ’95, M.P.A. ’99, J.D. ’99, was selected as Miami City Attorney by the Miami City Commission. She previously served as deputy city attorney. Bernardo Navarro, B.B.A. ’95, president of Benworth Capital Partners LLC, was named by Florida Governor Rick Scott to the Miami Dade College District Board of Trustees. He also chairs the Latin Builders Association Construction and Business Management Academy. Christopher Powell, M.M. ’95, is in his 13th season as music administrator at Pittsburgh Opera. He was selected to take part in the 2013 OPERA America Leadership Intensive program in New York City and was a guest speaker at the OPERA America Conference 2013 and the Chautauqua Institute summer opera program in Jamestown, New York. He earned his M.B.A. from Point Park University in Pittsburgh in 2013. Jaret L. Davis, A.B. ’96, J.D. ’99, School of Law Alumni Association immediate past president and co-managing shareholder in the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, was named the 2013 legal professional of the year by ICABA, an organization dedicated to recognizing and supporting black professionals. Raquel “Rocky” Egusquiza, A.B. ’96, is vice president of Community Affairs, Hispanic Enterprises & Content, at NBCUniversal, Inc. Cecilia M. Fernandez, M.A. ’96,

had her first book published, Leaving Little Havana: A Memoir of Miami’s Cuban Ghetto (Beating Windward Press, 2013). Jason M. Goldman, B.S. ’96, M.D. ’98, was named the 2013 Internist of the Year by the Florida chapter of the American College of Physicians. He is in private practice in Coral Springs, Florida. Jeffrey R. Margolis, J.D. ’96, a partner with Berger Singerman, was named to the board of directors for the Florida Atlantic Building Association. Annie Reisewitz, B.S. ’96, and Kim (Moffie) McIntyre, B.S. ’99, founded Strategic Ocean Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in global ocean management solutions. David W. Brubeck, D.M.A. ’97, was named chief educational officer for Tromba-The Ultimate Plastic Trombone brand. His method for the instrument has been translated into Spanish and Polish and is to be included with all Tromba trombones. Céline Hardan Gladwin, B.Arch. ’97, was appointed to the Georgia National Register Review Board. Her term coincides with dual appointments to the City of Valdosta Historic Preservation Commission and the Greater Lowndes County Planning Commission. She lives in Valdosta, Georgia, with her husband, Randy, a professor at Valdosta State University, their daughter, Randa, 5, and son, Jebran, 2. Her architecture firm, BFB Gladwin Architects, is in downtown Valdosta. Daniel E. Greenleaf, M.B.A. ’98, was named president and CEO of Home Solutions, a Denverbased national specialty infusion company serving approximately 14,000 patients annually. Greenleaf was a U.S. Air Force captain and navigator who served in Operation Desert Storm. He serves on the University of Miami’s Health Sector Management and Policy Board. Kendra Preston Leonard, M.M.

’98, is the American Musicological Society’s representative to the Coalition on the Academic Workforce. She is the author of Louise Talma: A Life in Composition (Ashgate Publishing, 2014). She was also an invited speaker at the 2014 George Washington University symposium “Global Shakespeares: Mapping World Markets & Archives” and scholarin-residence at the 2014 City University of New York Graduate Students in Music conference. Mark D. Marin, B.S. ’98, is a member of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, P.A., in the New York City office. Reuben A. Doupé, B.B.A. ’99, was recognized as a Fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Michael Grieco, J.D. ’99, a criminal defense attorney, won his first bid for office when he was elected to the Miami Beach City Commission in November 2013. Frank S. Hong, J.D. ’99, is a partner in the Shanghai office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP.

2000s

Nicole R. Henry, B.S.C. ’00, winner of the 2013 Soul Train Award for Best Traditional Jazz Performance for “Waiting in Vain,” made her first appearance as a jazz singer at the Blue Note in July 2013. She lives in New York. Timothy A. Kolaya, B.S.C.E. ’00, J.D. ’08, an associate in the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, serves on The Florida Bar Judicial Administration and Evaluation Committee, the National Parkinson Foundation’s South Florida Advisory Council, and the University of Miami Law Alumni Association Board of Directors. David Mullings, B.S. ’00, M.B.A. ’03, and Robert Mullings, B.B.A. ’01, M.B.A. ’03, brothers and co-founders of Keystone Augusta, a diversified holdings company, acquired 80 percent of Apptitude Mobile, a mobile application

Citizen ’Cane Alert Anesthesiologist on the Case Berton Forman, B.S. ’74, with a 21-year career as an anesthesiologist behind him, was reviewing hospital records on behalf of an insurance company for his company, Rockville Recovery Associates Ltd. in 2010. What he discovered was hospitals, by using separate billing codes, were double and triple billing for anesthesiology—once for the doctor and again for the hospital. Forman designed and patented a software application to track the billing associated with each patient and was able to expose the widespread and costly practice. He then became the driving force behind a pair of lawsuits involving millions of dollars in what he claimed were fraudulent anesthesia billing claims. Though some of the hospitals had no-audit clauses in their contracts with the industry—and Forman had no standing to bring suit being neither a patient nor a provider—the State of California allows anyone to bring suit if the damage affects citizens of the state. The whistle-blower case was settled in 2013 for a record $46 million between the defendant hospitals, the State of California, and Forman and his attorneys. Forman, who earned a chemistry degree from UM before attending medical school, brought his passion for addressing systemic wrongs to his alma mater, meeting with Marni Lennon, J.D. ’95, M.S.Ed. ’99, Miami Law’s assistant dean for public interest and pro bono and director of its HOPE Public Interest Resource Center. “We talked about the essence of ethics, and I’ve never really heard that coming from a law school or any lawyers before,” Forman says. “That impressed me.” Now living in South Florida, Forman has contributed funds to support a Miami Scholar in the Public Interest Program for 2014-15. “I want to be a resource for the University of Miami and not just a one-trick pony with regard to the whistleblower case. But because of the case, and because I had a business as an anesthesiologist for 21 years, I also have the perspective of what it’s like to be a clinician on the front lines. I want to be able to pass on my multidisciplinary insight not just to law students, but to business students and medical students too,” he says. Lennon expresses gratitude for Forman’s support. “He will serve as an example of how one can do the right thing amidst pressure to do otherwise,” she says. “We are thrilled to partner with him to impart this lesson to our students.” —Catharine Skipp, A.B. ’79, M.A.L.S. ’13 miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 43

Class Notes development firm based in Tampa, Florida. Kathleen S. Phang, J.D. ’00, was honored as a “Top 40 Under 40 Rising Star” by the Daily Business Review newspaper in South Florida. William Simonitsch, J.D. ’00, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, was named to the 2014 Lawyers of Color’s Third Annual Power List. He is a partner in the Miami office of K&L Gates. Chené M. Thompson, J.D. ’01, a member of The Florida Bar and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, has joined the Pavese Law Firm in Fort Myers, Florida. In her personal time, she enjoys horseback riding, drag racing, and volunteering.

Shameka (Gainey) Walker, A.B. ’01, was married in Washington, D.C., in October 2013. In attendance were Illena Antonetti, B.S. ’02; Alana Bates, B.B.A. ’01; Marcelyn Coley, B.S. ’02; Carmen Curley, A.B. ’02; Farrah Fontaine, B.S.C. ’02; Denitra Henry, B.S.C. ’01; and Katherine Malek, A.B. ’01. Brian Bandell, B.S.C. ’02, an award-winning South Florida reporter, had his first novel, Mute, a Florida-based detective story, published by Silver Leaf Books in 2013. He was invited to read at the Miami Book Fair International and Books & Books. Joe Bayen, B.B.A. ’02, is the CEO and founder of ICS Mobile Inc. and FreeGameCredits.com, based in Santa Monica, California. Daniel D. Best, B.G.S.C. ’02, M.S.Ed. ’12, was elected Teacher of the Year at South Dade Middle School before retiring in June 2014. He currently serves as an advocate for abused and neglected children through the Guardian ad Litem program. Javier A. Blanco, B.B.A. ’02, took part in the 2013-14 class of Leadership Miami, sponsored by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. Raymond Ownby, M.B.A. ’02,

is a professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. He received NSU’s 3rd Annual Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award in 2013. Richard Bec, J.D. ’03, joined the law firm of Concepcion Martinez & Bellido as an associate. Miguel Angel Rodriguez Caveda, M.A. ’03, is president for Europe and CEO for Spain at 3A/Worldwide, a multinational media buying and public relations company headquartered in Miami with offices in Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, and Madrid. Cynthia Lehr, A.B. ’03, spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bulgaria before earning an M.Ed. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A. from Middlebury College. She is now married with a daughter, and is a National Board Certified high school teacher in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. David Kassler, D.M.A. ’04, a professor at Rochester Community and Technical College, received a McKnight Foundation Established Artist grant to have his chamber music compositions performed. Julie Napear, B.S.C. ’04, owns a wedding and portrait photography company, Julie Napear Photography. Her photos and photo tips were recently featured in an e-magazine about destination weddings.
 Scott Goodman, B.S.C. ’06, president of YourListen.com, launched YourListen Generation 2, another user-generated music and audio content platform. Justin B. Kaplan, J.D. ’06, was named partner at Miami-based firm Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, P.L. Erin Lewis, A.B. ’06, J.D. ’13, and Rob Collins, J.D. ’11, both public interest attorneys, were married on December 31, 2013. Tania C. Mastrapa, Ph.D. ’06, is a specialist in Communist and

44 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

post-Communist property reform in Europe and Latin America, a research professor in Cuban and Latin American Studies at The Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., and founder of Mastrapa Consultants, which focuses on the areas of privatization and confiscated property in Cuba. Daniel I. Pedreira, B.A.I.S. ’06, had his first book published, El Último Constituyente (Aduana Vieja, 2013), a biography on former Cuban Senator Emilio “Millo” Ochoa, the 1940 Constitutional Convention’s last living member. Jesse Adams, J.D. ’07, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps, was named Command Services Attorney of the Year in 2013 for his work as a staff advocate at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. Jason Stein, M.F.A. ’07, was named to Forbes Magazine’s annual “30 Under 30” list of young influencers in media. Founded two years ago, his company, Laundry Service, a social media agency, has more than 30 employees in New York and Los Angeles, and has worked with major brands, including Disney and Amazon. Stein is also a founding partner in Windforce Ventures, which invests in early-stage social media and mobile technology start-ups, and is a contributor to CNBC. Lauren Book, B.S.Ed. ’08, M.S.Ed. ’12, received the top National Women of Worth recognition from L’Oréal Paris, which awarded Book $35,000 to support her work with Lauren’s Kids. Her organization is committed to preventing sexual abuse through public awareness, education, and political advocacy. Luis E. Piñol, B.S.C. ’09, is a partner in Bailout Printing Co. and Blender Design Co. in Miami. Julie C. Stroh, M.A.L.S. ’09, was promoted to associate vice president of Alumni Programs at Ball State University and president of the Ball State University Alumni

Association in Muncie, Indiana.

2010s

Andrew Bryant, B.S.C. ’10, Stephen Interrante, ’09, Austin Lazek, B.S.C. ’08, Peter Saroufim, B.S.C. ’09, Adam Severi, B.S.C. ’09, and Mark Zuckerbrow, B.S.C. ’07, premiered their futuristic, neo-noir TV pilot D-TEC at the 2013 New York Television Festival and more recently in Los Angeles. The series includes content programmed to run simultaneously on a secondary mobile device to enhance the viewing experience. Adam B. Guercio, B.B.A. ’10, joined Porter Wright’s Corporate Department as an associate in the law firm’s Naples office. Keon Hardemon, J.D. ’10, a MiamiDade assistant public defender, was 30 years old in November 2013, when he became the City of Miami’s youngest commissioner. Hatthalay T. Phetsanghane, J.D. ’10, joined the law firm of Zimmerman Kiser Sutcliffe, P.A. James Field Jr., A.B. ’12, is a member of the National Pro Golf Tour. He was named a member of the newly created Young Ambassadors Council of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Florida House on Capitol Hill, the only domestic “embassy” in the nation’s capital. Field lives in Pinecrest, Florida. Mark A. Gotlieb, LL.M.I. ’12, joined the Miami office of Arnstein & Lehr as an associate. Gary “David” Bonnewell, B.S. ’13, is in Germany on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant to instruct students in English language and culture. Walter Franco, M.B.A. ’13, originally from Arequipa, Peru, is an emerging markets finance specialist at Gottbetter Capital Markets LLC in New York City. Catie Staszak, B.S.C. ’14, was the University of Miami’s Honors Day Convocation speaker in May. The accomplished equestrian and sports journalist is now a TV host and reporter for Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Florida.

In Memoriam* Robert L. Humphrey, B.B.A. ’40 Harry Estersohn, A.B. ’41 David S. Gay, B.B.A. ’41 Stephen R. Slager, B.B.A. ’47 Robert I. Bender, B.B.A. ’49 Thomas H. Canady, B.B.A. ’49, M.A. ’50 Arthur J. Kline, J.D. ’49 Harold E. Petrey B.S. ’49 Arnold F. Wilpon, B.B.A. ’49 James C. D’Antonio, B.S.I.E. ’50 Edward H. Schoedinger, B.Ed. ’50 Arthur G. Cohen, B.B.A. ’51 Roger A. Dixon, B.B.A. ’51 Robert H. Gaines, B.Ed. ’51 Bernard S. Mandler, J.D. ’51 Richard C. Sorgini, B.B.A. ’51, J.D. ’51 Norman W. Stevens, A.B. ’51 Thomas F. Ardito, B.B.A. ’52 Claud C. Armstrong, B.B.A. ’52 Henry A. Daniels, B.S.C.E. ’52 David M. Furman, A.B. ’52 Gael R. Georgeson, A.B. ’52, J.D. ’54 Randolph M. Guthrie, B.B.A. ’52 Thomas W. Paterniti, J.D. ’52 Armand A. Vari, B.Ed. ’52 Sima G. Gebel, B.S.N. ’53, C.N.P. ’76 Marvin Harris, B.S. ’53, M.D. ’58

Solid Philanthropic Foundation For more than half a century, Gumenick Properties scion Jerome “Jerry” Gumenick, B.B.A. ’52, carried on his parents’ legacy of real estate development and philanthropy around South Florida and Richmond, Virginia, where he was born in 1929. Following his graduation, Gumenick joined the family business, around the time his father, Nathan Gumenick, built Miami Beach’s first high-rise apartment complex, the 15-story Southgate. Gumenick later took the company’s helm while continuing the family tradition of generous support for cultural, religious, health, and educational institutions, including his alma mater and Miami Beach’s Mount Sinai Medical Center. UM President Donna E. Shalala called Gumenick, who was a founding member of the UM President’s Council, a “dear friend to the University” and “loyal alumni supporter to many areas across the University.” Gumenick’s son Jeffrey H. Gumenick, B.B.A. ’86, also serves on the President’s Council, and Roland T. “Chip” Brierre, B.S.C. ’14, one of Gumenick’s seven grandchildren, is a ’Cane. Gumenick belonged to UM’s Iron Arrow Honor Society and the U’s earliest recognized donor group, the Society of University Founders. He died on September 30 at the age of 85.

Roger J. Nederveld, B.B.A. ’53 Jerome J. Reppa, J.D. ’53 Elwood P. Safron, J.D. ’53 Clinton G. Cooper, B.Ed. ’54 Sheila T. Gispert, B.M. ’54 Lloyd W. Jabara, J.D. ’54 Elizabeth F. Loughlin, A.B. ’54 Ellin L. Heilig, B.Ed. ’55 Bennie Horowitz, B.B.A. ’55

Edward J. Krehbiel, B.M. ’55 Jay H. Linn, B.B.A. ’55, J.D. ’62 William A. Luther, B.Ed. ’56 William J. Baltaks, J.D. ’57 Herbert Z. Marvin, B.B.A. ’57, J.D. ’59 Theodore S. Mase, B.B.A. ’57 Robert W. Milner, B.S.E.S. ’57 J. E. Prieto, B.B.A. ’57

Real Estate Renaissance Man Walter Etling, A.B. ’48, was in the Navy’s V-12 program for officers during World War II when he first came to the University of Miami. He later returned on the G.I. Bill, majoring in economics. The New Jersey native went on to lead The Walter Etling Company to great heights in Miami real estate and property management, including brokering the deal that gave Richard Nixon his “Winter White House” on Key Biscayne, helping Joe Robbie with the site plan for what would become the Dolphins’ stadium, and securing and managing the old Miami News Tower for the Government Services Administration. He even bestowed the latter building’s Freedom Tower moniker, notes his son, Russell Etling, B.F.A. ’77. Christina Banner, B.S.N. ’73, also attended her father’s alma mater. Etling, who remained involved with UM for much of his life, died at age 88 in Gainesville, Florida, on April 25. A trustee of the UM Alumni Association from 1971-74 and 1977-80, Etling served as UMAA board president from 1969-70. Named 1971 Alumnus of the Year, he also helped develop the popular U logo with artist Bill Bodenheimer and publicist Julian Cole. As a student, Etling played the saxophone and was a drum major in the Frost Band of the Hour. He was in Kappa Sigma Epsilon Beta Chapter (grand master) and the Iron Arrow Honor Society. His “Miami Homecoming” sketch graces the Newman Alumni Center.

Ernest Badia, B.S.E.E. ’58 James D. Hanson, M.D. ’58 Laurie S. Holtz, M.B.A. ’58 David T. Kennedy, J.D. ’58 Mark S. Krohn, B.B.A. ’58 James W. Laskoskie, M.Ed. ’58 Barbara H. Perlberg, B.Ed. ’58, M.Ed. ’70 Judith S. Greene, M.Ed. ’59 Andrew J. Greenhut, A.B. ’59, M.A. ’61 Wesley K. Irons, B.B.A. ’59 Barbara R. Jensen, B.Ed. ’59 Neal H. Schneider, B.Ed. ’59, M.Ed. ’69 Seymour Tetenman, B.B.A. ’59 Margot J. Wittenberg, A.B. ’59 Lewis A. Fraser, B.B.A. ’60 Gene L. Chilton, B.B.A. ’61 Harry R. Colfax, B.B.A. ’61 William J. Cullen, B.B.A. ’61 Alfred K. Dangel, B.Ed. ’61 Harvey O. Patrick, B.S.M.E. ’61 James B. Craven, M.D. ’62 Sheila M. Kassewitz, B.Ed. ’62 Walter F. Kelly, A.B. ’62 Ellen S. Pollens, A.B. ’62 Thelma J. Rieless, B.Ed. ’62, M.Ed. ’70 Alice J. Vitatoe, B.Ed. ’62 Harry P. McCall, B.B.A. ’63 Angus D. Grace, A.B. ’64, J.D. ’67 Paul F. Hodge, B.S.M.E. ’64

miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 45

In Memoriam

King of Condo Law Known as a preeminent practitioner of community association law, Gary A. Poliakoff, J.D. ’69, founding principal of South Florida-based Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., helped to conceive and draft the laws that govern shared ownership housing in Florida and published prolifically on the subject. He even coined phrases such as “prescription pets” (referring to emotional support animals). He served as his firm’s managing shareholder from 1973 until 2008. It was at the University of Miami that he met his wife of 47 years, Sherri Poliakoff, B.Ed. ’69, and business partner, Alan Becker, J.D. ’69. In 2000, Poliakoff turned his attention to municipal law, spearheading efforts to create the Town of Southwest Ranches, for which he served as Town Attorney from 2000 to 2010. Poliakoff died on August 4 after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 69.

Gilbert H. Johnson, B.B.A. ’64 William S. Bazley, M.D. ’65 Sixto L. Ferro, M.B.A. ’65 Julia I. Law, B.S.N. ’65 Fred H. Wilde, B.Ed. ’65

Claud A. Boyd, M.D. ’66 Mary A. Hester, B.S.Ed. ’66 Florence S. Perretta, B.M. ’66 Robert L. Reon, B.Ed. ’66 Millard M. Roberts, M.D. ’66

UM_AlumniCtr_8.5x5.5.indd 1

46 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

Eugene D. Traganza, Ph.D. ’66 Diana C. Williams, A.B. ’66 Richard F. Zahn, A.B. ’66 Margarita B. Chambers, A.B. ’67 Barbara J. Mofsky, A.B. ’67 Alicia J. Zachman, A.B. ’67, J.D. ’70 Joan M. Abess, B.S.N. ’68 Edward E. Goldman, M.D. ’68 Karen C. Dreyfuss, A.B. ’69 Dorene G. Kaplan, B.Ed. ’70 Cynthia H. Zoeller, B.Ed. ’70 John P. O’Hara, B.B.A. ’71 Ralph J. Anthony, M.Ed. ’72 Marion E. McDermott, B.Ed. ’72 Roy P. Meyers, B.B.A. ’72 Janet M. Capparelli, B.Ed. ’73 Barry Duke, B.B.A. ’73 William H. Dalton, LL.M. ’74 Glen W. Groezinger, B.S. ’74 Charlotte M. Avchen, B.S.N. ’75 William J. Bruckel, J.D. ’76 Donald C. Chavous, M.D. ’76 Karen R. Snow, B.S.N. ’76 Mark L. Shumaker, J.D. ’77 William F. Woods, M.S. ’77 Barry W. Finkel, J.D. ’78 Thomas D. Shiekman, J.D. ’78

William E. Aylsworth, M.A. ’82, J.D. ’95 Mona Chanouha, B.B.A. ’83 Martin D. Fox, Ph.D./M.D. ’83 Arnold L. Goodman, M.D. ’83 Vance B. Moore, J.D. ’83 Bruce M. Wilpon, M.A. ’84, J.D. ’84 Steven J. Baines, B.B.A. ’85, J.D. ’88 Dale L. Gelber, J.D. ’87 Francisco O. Loriga, A.B. ’87, J.D. ’90 Mary A. Carbonell, B.S.N. ’89 Robert T. Davis, M.M. ’89 William J. Wester, B.B.A. ’89 Gillian M. Coggan, A.B. ’90 Norman M. Kane, Ph.D. ’90 Giselle C. Dove, A.B. ’91, M.S.Ed. ’95 Eric S. Tenner, B.B.A. ’92 Patricia A. Rieman, M.S.Ed. ’96 Bryce D. Dion, M.F.A. ’04 Andrew J. Cowen, M.S.Ed. ’06 Rahul Maheshwari, B.S. ’12 Rosebud L. Foster Joanne E. Manees Edward N. Moylan Edgar S. Spizel Rose T. Watson Jean T. Yehle *As of October 20, 2014

3/11/14 10:50 PM

ALUMNI LEADERSHIP

305-284-2872 or 1-800-UMALUMS n miami.edu/alumni

Board of Directors Executive Committee

John Calles, A.B. ’89, J.D. ’92, President

Dany Garcia-Rienzi, B.B.A. ’92, Immediate Past President

Alumni Trustees

Doyle Beneby, M.B.A. ’97 Michael “Pete” Piechoski, B.B.A. ’76

Regional Directors

Guillermo de Aranzabal Agudo, M.B.A. ’84 Robert Cohen, B.B.A. ’84 Larry King, Jr., A.B. ’83, M.B.A. ’93 Robert J. Munch, A.B. ’73 Kourtney Ratliff, B.B.A. ’03 Doug Weiser, A.B. ’78, J.D. ’82 Erica Zohar, A.B. ’92

Directors

Taghreed Al-Saraj, B.F.A. ’99, M.S.Ed. ’01 Suzanne M. Block, A.B. ’81 Cristie A. Carter, B.S.C. ’95 Victoria A. Colon, M.B.A. ’98 Santiago Corrada, A.B. 86, M.S.Ed. ’91 Jose “Pepi” Felix Diaz, A.B. ’02 Jorge Duyos, B.S.I.E. ’85, M.S.I.E. ’88 Bill J. Fisse, B.B.A. ’75, M.B.A. ’77 Martin J. Ganderson, B.B.A. ’73 Cynthia Hudson, A.B. ’84, M.A. ’97 Brian L. Itzkowitz, B.B.A. ’90 Camilo Lopez III, M.B.A. ’82 Noelia Moreno, B.B.A. ’86, J.D. ’89 Andrew F. Potter, M.B.A. ’04 Winston Warrior, B.B.A. ’93, M.B.A. ’96

Faculty Representative

Manuel A. Huerta, M.S. ’67, Ph.D. ’70 Shawn Post, B.Ed. ’73, M.Ed. ’74, Ph.D. ’78, Delegate, Faculty Senate

Brenda Yester Baty, B.B.A. ’90, President-Elect

Devang B. Desai, A.B. ’97, J.D. ’03, Vice President

Student Representatives

Casey Rea, Alumni Ambassadors Alessandria San Roman, Student Government

Alumni Network ’Canes Communities

Atlanta John Fenton, B.B.A. ’80, M.B.A. ’82, jjfenton1@gmail.com Austin Dayna Chettouh, A.B. ’78, M.B.A. ’81, canesmiami@gmail.com Boston Stephen Frederico, A.B. ’12, stephenfrederico@gmail.com Brazil Ric Scheinkman, ’01, ricscheinkman@gmail.com Broward Daniel Markarian, B.S.Ed. ’86, M.S.Ed. ’89, markaria@nova.edu Charlotte Judson Dry, B.B.A. ’07, judsondry@yahoo.com Chicago Brian Kidder, B.S.E.E. ’03, b.kidder@umiami.edu Cincinnati Karin Johnson, B.S.C. ’08, karinjohnson@wlwt.com Cleveland Diego Perilla, B.S. ’06, M.P.A. ’10, M.B.A. ’12, perilld@ccf.org Colombia Oscar Paez, B.B.A. ’03, M.A. ’05, ospaez@gmail.com Dallas Bryan Dolgin, B.S.C. ’97, bryandolgin@yahoo.com Denver Alicia Montoya, A.B. ’05, alicia.m.montoya@gmail.com Detroit Christina Hajj, A.B. ’08, christinahajj@gmail.com Houston Nikki Chun, B.S.C. ’03, M.S.Ed. ’06, niilani@yahoo.com

Victoria Corrigan Fine, B.S. ’80, M.B.A. ’81, Vice President

Frank Jimenez, B.S. ’87, Vice President

Indianapolis Danielle Bruno, B.S.B.A. ’10, danielleevabruno@gmail.com Jacksonville Catherine Lewis-Tubre, M.S. ’98, clewis-tubre@comcast.net Las Vegas Rebecca Chura, B.S.C. ’87, rchuraum87@gmail.com London Gustavo Pifano, B.B.A. ’08, g.pifano@gmail.com Los Angeles Emerson Davis, B.S.C. ’08, emerson.davis5@gmail.com Louisville Clifford “Dean” Furman, A.B. ’90, um@lawdean.com Middle East Reyadh Al-Rabeah, B.S.I.E. ’87, alrabeahr@gmail.com Nashville Ben Bruno, B.M. ’07, benbruno305@gmail.com New Jersey Michael Solomon, B.B.A ’98, J.D. ’01, solomon.michael@gmail.com New York Asgar Ali, B.B.A. ’05, asgaraali@gmail.com Orlando Adrian Burrowes, M.D. ’00, adrianmd2000@hotmail.com Palm Beach Jared Lighter, M.B.A. ’93, jared.lighter@gmail.com Philadelphia Annette R. Ponnock, A.B. ’07, annetteponnock@gmail.com Phoenix Jason Hutzler, J.D. ’10, jhutzler@hotmail.com Richmond Molly R. Manuse, B.S.C. ’08, m.manuse@gmail.com San Diego James Mullaly, B.S.B.E. ’07, james.mullaly@gmail.com San Francisco Samantha Ku, B.B.A. ’10, sku920@gmail.com Sarasota Sam Waldron, B.S. ’09, s.waldron212@gmail.com

Oti Roberts, B.B.A. ’03, Vice President

Linda Steckley, M.B.A. ’87, Vice President

Savannah Eugene Bloom, M.D. ’60, ecbloom60@gmail.com Seattle Salvatore Russo, M.B.A. ’01, srusso44@gmail.com Southwest Florida Adam Guercio, B.B.A. ’10, aguercio@porterwright.com Spain Daniela Martinez, B.S. ’11, d.martinez18@umiami.edu St. Louis Ethan Silverman, B.B.A. ’01, esilver47@gmail.com Tampa Cori Pecoraro, B.S.Ed. ’00, coriross@aol.com Washington, D.C. Rachel Papeika, B.S.B.E. ’05, J.D. ’09, M.S. ’09, rachel.papeika@gmail.com

Special Interest Groups

Black Alumni Society Vanessa Lerouge, B.S.C. ’03, v.lerouge@umiami.edu Band of the Hour Joseph E. Bagierek, B.M. ’03, M.B.A. ’07, jbagierek@gmail.com Public Health Alumni Association Vanessa Cutler, A.B. ’06, M.F.A. ’08, M.P.H. ’12, vanessajcutler@gmail.com UM Sports Hall of Fame K.C. Jones, ’97, kc.jones@canesfish. com, and Gerard Loisel, B.S. ’76, goldensounds@hotmail.com

School and College Groups

College of Engineering Tamara Ali, B.S.I.E. ’04, M.B.A. ’06, M.S.I.E. ’09, t.ali@umiami.edu

Donna A. Arbide, M.B.A. ’95, Executive Director

School of Law Patricia A. Redmond, A.B. ’75, J.D.’79, predmond@stearnsweaver.com, and Edward Shohat, A.B. ’69, J.D. ’72, ed@slsdefense.com Miller School of Medicine Jeffrey S. Block, M.D. ’82, docblock@bellsouth.net, and Vicky Egusquiza, A.B. ’83, M.D. ’87, mve510@aol.com School of Nursing and Health Studies Sonique Sailsman, B.S.N. ’00, s.sailsman@umiami.edu Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Erica Towle, B.S.M.A.S. ’10, etowle@rsmas.miami.edu Alumni records of the University of Miami are kept strictly confidential. Directory information is released only to other members of the alumni community unless an alumnus or alumna has requested complete privacy. On a very limited occasion and only at the approval of the UM Alumni Association Board of Directors, directory information is shared with outside vendors who are in a joint relationship with the University. Should you not wish to release your name to any outside vendor and/or other members of the UM alumni community, please notify the Office of Alumni Relations in writing at P.O. Box 248053, Coral Gables, Florida 33124-1514.

Nominate Top ’Canes for the UM Alumni Association’s 1st Regional Awards Ceremony Your Alumni Association is seeking your recommendations for outstanding West Coast alumni living in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Visit miami.edu/alumni/awards/descriptions.htm to see critera for the awards. Go to miami.edu/alumni/umaa/awards/submit.htm and fill out the submission form by January 15, 2015 to nominate fellow ’Canes or yourself for the awards. Awards will be announced at a ceremony to be held in Los Angeles in June 2015. Regional Award Nominations For more information, contact Erica Arroyo , B.S.C. ’03, M.A.L.S. ’08, senior director, Alumni Programs Office of Alumni Relations 1-866-UMALUMS or 305-284-1724 earroyo@miami.edu

miami.edu/magazine      Fall 2014 MIAMI 47

Big Picture A SNAPSHOT OF THE U TODAY

Heart and Solar Architect Yann Weymouth, who designed the Salvador Dalí Museum, created the sleek new Patricia Louise Frost Music Studios with the environment in mind. Nearing completion, the light-harvesting complex of 73 state-of-the-art music studios will boast solar panels, energy-efficient windows, and a LEED rating. It is the first of three buildings expected to rise at the Patricia and Phillip Frost School of Music.

SCOTT FRICKER

Email photo submissions to miami.editor@miami.edu.

48 MIAMI Fall 2014    miami.edu/magazine

Sound

Investment, Lasting

Legacy

An accomplished performer, writer, arranger, and instrumentalist, Devin Marsh, B.M. ’91, M.M. ’04, D.M.A. ’07, has toured internationally with his Caribbean band, Nori Nori. He composes, records, and produces music for films, commercials, ballets, dance groups, and other artists while managing The Chill Lodge, his Miami-based commercial recording facility. Dr. Marsh is also an educator in the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music’s Media Writing and Production program. Every day, he shares his considerable energy and experience in the music world with his students. But he yearns to do more. “That’s why I designated the University as the beneficiary in my will,” he says. “In that way, my planned gift will help provide financial assistance to talented music students in the future.” Dr. Marsh, who serves as director of broadcasting, sound, and recording at the Arthur & Polly Mays 6-12 Conservatory of the Arts—one of several schools benefiting from the Frost School of Music’s MusicReach mentorship program—says that music can help young people develop their sense of responsibility and take pride in their accomplishments. Reflecting on those themes, he says UM employees and alumni can take pride in contributing to their school, department, institute, or program. “With a planned gift,” he notes, “you can help ensure the future of our great University.”

“ My planned gift will provide financial assistance to talented music students in the future.”

— University of Miami Frost School of Music faculty member and triple alumnus Dr. Devin Marsh

Any gift, no matter the size, can make a lasting impact for generations to come. To learn more about making a planned gift, please visit our website at miami.edu/plannedgiving or contact Cynthia Beamish, Office of Estate & Gift Planning, at 305-284-4342 or um.plannedgiving@ miami.edu.

MIAMI

The University of Miami Magazine

University of Miami Division of University Communications Post Office Box 248073 Coral Gables, Florida 33124-1210

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UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS 1 4-040

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE U! As a ’Cane, you know It’s All about the U. Now with the new University of Miami license plate, you can flash the U wherever you go! Available at any Florida tag agency for just $25 above the cost of a regular plate, the new U plate prides your ride while supporting University of Miami Alumni Scholarships for UM students. The only requirement is that you must be a Florida resident with a vehicle registered in the state.

Pride your ride with the new University of Miami license plate today!