Uml Mag Fall 2012
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FALL 2012 UMass Lowell MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS India’s Merc hant of Light Alumnus Harish Hande is Going Door to Door to Change the World p. 28 Page 22 Finding Arno Page 36 The Company We Keep Page 38 The Education of Gordon Halm Page 44 Face of Philanthropy Page 65 Report of Gifts Fall 2012 The UMass LoWell Alumni MagaZine is published bY: A Message From Office of Public Affairs UniVersitY of Massachusetts LoWell Chancellor Martin T. Meehan ’78 One UniVersitY AVenue LoWell, MA 01854 978-934-3223 [email protected] It is one thing for a UniVersitY to saY it prepares students for Work, life and Chancellor the World; it’s another thing to actuallY accomplish it. At UMass LoWell, Martin T. Meehan ’78 We haVe leVeraged our strong foundation in teaching, research and engagement to build a dramaticallY transformed campus that is propelling Executive Vice Chancellor Jacqueline MoloneY ’75, ’92 both the campus and our students to neW leVels of achieVement. Vice Chancellor of There are manY factors contributing to our success: a talented and dedicated facultY; top-notch University Relations Patti McCaffertY research facilities; a commitment to diVersitY and globaliZation; strong partnerships With industrY and communitY; and academic programs that address the challenges facing the World todaY. Vice Chancellor for University Advancement But the oVerriding factor in our success is the entrepreneurial spirit that permeates eVerYthing EdWard Chiu We do. We haVe reVamped our management strategies and organiZational structure and enhanced Director of Publications reVenue efforts to attain financial stabilitY and to reallocate resources to markedlY improVe and Publisher student life and students’ academic eXperience. MarY Lou Hubbell Director of Alumni Relations We haVe enhanced eVerY academic program With an eYe toWard teaching students to find Heather MakreZ ’06, ’08 solutions, build relationships and harness creatiVitY. Communications Manager Nichole Carter As Robert Eggers, founder of DC Kitchen, told incoming freshmen during opening Week Editor this fall: “Make this UniVersitY Your laboratorY. If You haVe an idea, this UniVersitY Wants to Sarah McAdams Corbett help make it a realitY. This is a rare eXperiment.” Staff Writers We place innoVation, entrepreneurship and eXperiential learning at the core of all student EdWin Aguirre Karen Angelo eXperiences so that theY Will become the difference-makers the World needs. GeoffreY Douglas Sheila Eppolito You Will read about our DifferenceMakers program in this issue of the UMass LoWell MagaZine, Jill Gambon along With a look at the historY of innoVation on this campus and hoW We are pushing the Julia K. GaVin Christine Gillette concept to greater leVels of achieVement. EliZabeth James RYan MacInnis I inVite You to peruse these pages, to go to uml.edu to learn more Jack McDonough about What We are doing and, best of all, drop bY the campus DaVe PerrY Sandra SeitZ and see the changes and feel the eXcitement. uml.edu/alumni facebook.com/umasslowellalumni Martin T. Meehan ’78 twitter.com/umasslowellalumni Chancellor Please send address changes to: UniVersitY of Massachusetts LoWell CALENDAR OF EVENTS Office of UniVersitY AdVancement SouthWick 250, One UniVersitY AVe., Annual Alumni Appreciation Night and Hockey Game: Saturday, Dec. 1, Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 6 p.m. reception LoWell, MA 01854-2882 in the Club Rooms (behind section 112), 7 p.m. game. Reconnect with UMass Lowell while watching the River Hawks hockey [email protected] team vs. University of New Hampshire Wildcats. Cost: $5. 978-934-2223 Reception and Dinner in Mumbai, India: Wednesday, Dec. 5, for alumni, parents and friends, location and time TBD. Sigma Phi Omicron Reunion and Hockey Game: Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 5:30 p.m. reception UMass LoWell is an Equal in the Talon Club, 7 p.m. game. Reconnect while you watch the River Hawks vs. Boston University Terriers. Cost: $5. OpportunitY/ AffirmatiVe Action, Title IX, H/V, ADA 1990 EmploYer. Delta Kappa Phi Reunion and Hockey Game: Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013, Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 5:30 p.m. reception in the Talon Club, 7 p.m. game. Reconnect while you watch the River Hawks hockey team! Cost: $5. Alumni Dinners in Hong Kong and Tokyo: February 2013, more information to come. UMass Lowell Comes to Florida: March 2013, more information to come. Join us for coast-to-coast events, including Red Sox spring training, a St. Patrick’s Day parade and a golf tournament. Learning with Purpose FALL 2012 UMass Lo we ll MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS VOLUME 15 NUMBER 2 CAMPUS LIFE ALUMNI LIFE 3 OUR WORLD 47 EVENTS 14 LAB NOTES 51 CLASS NOTES 16 STUDENT SCENE FEATURES Finding Arno 22 An inside look at the journey of world-renowned photographer Prof. Arno Minkkinen Power to the People 28 Harish Hande ’98, ’00 embodies the University’s pledge to change the world one innovative idea at a time. 62 IN MEMORIAM The Company We Keep 36 19 SPORTS UPDATE UMass Lowell and EMC: A partnership written in the clouds 34 INNOVATION NATION The Education of Gordon Halm 38 Among the 2,900 graduates at 2012 Commencement, a 51-year-old Ghanaian stands out. Editor’s Note Face of Philanthropy 44 Please send comments to Frank McKone ’56, ’00 (H) is a top supporter of the alma mater he calls Editor Sarah McAdams Corbett ‘as fine as they come.’ at [email protected]. Submit class notes to: Class Notes Editor, SouthWick 250, 1 UniVersitY AVe., LoWell, MA Donor Report of Gifts 2012 65 01854 or WWW.uml.edu/ad - 42 COMMENCEMENT Vancement/classnotes. LOWELL TEXTILE SCHOOL • MASSACHUSETTS STATE NORMAL SCHOOL • STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE AT LOWELL • LOWELL TEXTILE INSTITUTE LOWELL TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE • MASSACHUSETTS STATE COLLEGE AT LOWELL • LOWELL STATE COLLEGE • UNIVERSITY OF LOWELL FALL 2012 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZIN E 1 Inside... 3 OUR WORLD 14 LAB NOTES Ca mpus Li fe 16 STUDENT SCENE 19 SPORTS UPDATE In September, male students participated in the annual “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event on campus, which raises awareness to help prevent sexual and gender violence. 2 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE FALL 2012 Ourwo rld CAMPUS NEWS Senate Debate Puts UMass Lowell on National Stage The Oct. 1 U.S. Senate debate betWeen Sen. Scott BroWn (R) and EliZabeth Warren (D) put the candidates under the spotlight and UMass LoWell on the national stage. The race Was one of the most closelY Watched political contests in the countrY as the outcome had the potential to tip the balance of the Senate’s partisan diVide. (Warren ended up Winning the NoV. 6 race.) Demand for tickets to the UMass LoWell/Boston Herald eVent Was unprecedented. A full house of more than 5,000 filled the Tsongas Center at UMass LoWell, With hundreds of thousands more tuning in from all oVer the globe. RepresentatiVes of international, na - tional, regional and local media coVered the eVent—eVerYone from the SWiss dailY Le Temps toTthe DaYtime, the student neWspaper of DaY Middle School in NeW - NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell broadcast live from campus for “The Today Show.” ton, Mass. NearlY 150 members of print, netWork and local teleVision, radio and C-SPAN and listened on Boston-area radio stations WBZ-AM and online media Were in attendance, from WRKO-AM. Massachusetts and NeW Hampshire neWs The debate Was also liVe-streamed at uml.edu, on BostonHerald.com outlets to national netWork TV like NBC and Via the Associated Press, Whose feed Was VieWed around the globe, NeWs, Which broadcast liVe from the With more than 155,000 total streams in the U.S., Canada, MalaYsia, eVent. Japan, Korea, BraZil, ItalY, France, South Africa and the Russian Journalists from national print and Federation, among other places. online outlets like The NeW York Times, The neXt daY, “The TodaY ShoW” and MSNBC NeWs broadcast liVe from LoWell With recaps of the debate. Esquire, Bloomberg NeWs, The Huffington NBC’s David Gregory, host of Post, The Nation and Politico Were also “Meet the Press,” moderated “We’re thrilled and grateful to haVe hosted such a successful eVent— at the Tsongas for the debate. the debate. and With the incredible VieWership all oVer the World,” saYs Chancellor About one in four households in the MartY Meehan. “And bY alloWing students to sit on the stage, and eVen Boston market—or 338,000 VieWers—Watched, crushing the competition ask questions of the candidates, We Were able to giVe them a rare on other stations. Thousands more Watched broadcasts on NECN and opportunitY to engage in the electoral process.” Ⅲ FALL 2012 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZIN E 3 Ourwo rld THE COMING: Stephen King Stephen King’s words have thrilled and chilled fans for three decades, but opportunities to hear those words spoken by the author himself are rare. For one night only, the author will take to the stage at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, offering fans the chance to hear King read his work, ask him questions and listen to him discuss his passion for writing and his advice for aspiring authors. “A Conversation with Stephen King”—set for Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m.—will be moderated by Andre Dubus III, bestselling author and Profs Win Largest-Ever GSE Grant professor in UMass Lowell’s English Department, The National Science Foun - Chen of the UMass School applications, haVe the the program’s co-sponsor. dation aWarded a $2.2 mil - of Marine Sciences, DaVid potential to grab people’s “Writing requires not just a creative mind and lion grant to a team of re - Rabkin, director of current attention. And he eXpects some good ideas, but also dedication to the craft.