THE MAN BEHIND THE VOICE | DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDS | ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY FOR MODERN LIFE | OLGA PIERRAKOS SUMMER 2018 THE MAGAZINE OF WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY FEATURES 2 CAPITAL VIEWS By Susannah Rosenblatt (’03) Photography by Ken Bennett Students immersing themselves in the swirl of our nation’s capital for a “study abroad” semester find peak experiences through the Wake Washington Center. 20 38 MEET THE PROFESSOR: THE MAN BEHIND THE VOICE OLGA PIERRAKOS By Kerry M. King (’85) By Maria Henson (’82) Jason Benetti (JD ’11) has turned the gift of The founding chair of the Department of a big voice into his dream career as a sports Engineering loves the nontraditional elements announcer in the big leagues. comprising the new degree program. 24 88 ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY FOR CONSTANT & TRUE A MODERN LIFE By Amy Dotson (’98) By Carol L. Hanner Wake Forest’s Casa Artom opened magical Three professors share tips on good doors to Venice, and my love affair has living from classical Greek and Roman continued. philosophers. 30 DEPARTMENTS SO YOU WANT TO BE IN THE 52 Commencement 58 Philanthropy NEW YORKER? By Cherin C. Poovey (P ’08) 54 Distinguished Alumni Awards 60 Class Notes As early as grade school, Emma Hunsinger (’13) 56 Around the Quad aimed for cartooning as her livelihood. WAKEFOREST FROM theh PRESIDENT MAGAZINE this issue of wake forest magazine heralds last fall’s opening SUMMER 2018 | VOLUME 65 | NUMBER 3 of Wake Washington, the academic program that immerses undergraduate stu- dents in classes and internships, and the Wake Washington Center at 1 Dupont Circle, where the program is housed and other Wake Foresters will visit. It is a ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT AND EDITOR-AT-LARGE Maria Henson (’82) splendid location for the Wake Forest network to connect. MANAGING EDITORS Washington has become Cherin C. Poovey (P ’08) Carol L. Hanner such a hub for Wake Forest people — graduates who SENIOR EDITOR work there, families who Kerry M. King (’85) send their students here, a DEPUTY EDITOR place that young graduates Abby Pentz want to go. Wake Forest CREATIVE DIRECTOR people are involved in the Hayes Henderson important institutions of government and other DESIGNER Julie Helsabeck professions. I have seen a wonderful team effort to PHOTOGRAPHER draw upon those resources Ken Bennett and establish an academic STUDENT INTERN program that will rely on that network. We have had great leadership by the cen- Elise Dean (’18) ter’s executive director, Jennifer Richwine (’93); Dean of the College Michele PRINTING Gillespie; Professor of Politics and International Affairs Katy Harriger, the first The Lane Press, Inc. academic director; Provost Rogan Kersh (’86) and others. Based at the headquarters of the American Council on Education in the center of Wake Forest University Magazine (ISSN 0279-3946) the nation’s capital, Wake Washington has been an absolute home run. The is published three times a year in the Spring, Summer response of the students couldn’t be better. and Fall by Wake Forest University, P.O. Box 7227, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7227. It is sent to alumni, donors and friends of the University. The magazine In downtown Winston-Salem, Olga Pierrakos, the founding chair, and her team is part of University Advancement, led by Vice are building the new engineering department in the Innovation Quarter. The President Mark A. Petersen. wonderful thing about starting a new program is, aside from accreditation stan- dards, you have a blank slate. You can be very thoughtful in creating the program. [email protected] magazine.wfu.edu Olga and her faculty are doing just that. A foundation interested in entrepreneur- twitter.com/wfumagazine ial engineering sent staff to see the program, and they were impressed with what is facebook.com/wakeforestmagazine happening: the engineering program is deeply connected both to the liberal arts instagram.com/wakeforestmagazine wakeforestmagazine.tumblr.com and to biomedical science opportunities in the adjacent Wake Forest School of Medicine. Look for a Q&A with Olga in this issue. Send address changes or cancellation requests to: Wake Forest Magazine Alumni Records You also will want to read about Distinguished Alumni Award winners and the P.O. Box 7227 Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7227 many ways that people can live lives that matter under the rubric of Pro Humani- [email protected] tate. Julie Coyne’s (’89) way has been to reach people in serious need and find cre- 1.800.752.8568 ative ways to educate children. Alfred Adams (’68, JD ’73, P ’01), a real estate lawyer, © 2018 has been deeply involved in the development of downtown and in giving back as a model citizen and model Wake Forest graduate. The late John Medica (MBA ’83) left Wake Forest and became a star in technology. You could see John as a tough businessman — successful, aggressive, innovative, on the cutting edge of tech- nology. When you looked at his whole life, what came through was how caring he was. Tributes to him made clear he will be remembered for how he treated people and nurtured young leaders. All three award winners are deeply admirable alumni. With all best wishes, ON THE COVER Illustration by Lauren Tamaki 210 WAKEWAKE FOREST FOREST MAGAZINE MAGAZINE FEATURES FEATURES How Wake Forest planted its flag at 1 Dupont Circle and launched its new ‘study abroad’ program in Washington, D.C., city of monuments and dreams BY SUSANNAH ROSENBLATT (’03) ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN TAMAKI PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN BENNETT SUMMER 2018 3 clattering down marble corridors and shuffling across red carpets, Annette Barile is a long way from Winston-Salem and an even longer way from home. The junior education policy major grew up in Tokyo and Hong Kong. These days, she pops backstage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts or strolls by the National Symphony Orchestra’s rehearsal room on any old workday, operatic arias punctuating the labyrinthine walk to the cubicle where she interns four days a week. Barile is one of 16 students living, working and learning together as part of Wake Washington’s inaugural fall 2017 “study abroad” class. The Wake Washington program immerses students during one semester in full-time internships — in Congress, think tanks, nonprofits and beyond — followed by rigorous Wake Forest courses in the evenings. 4 WAKE FOREST MAGAZINE FEATURES The students I connected with in their Barile is exactly where she wants to fall semester commute by Metro from WORKDAY HUSTLE be. “The experience I’m having here is their Chinatown apartment building to such a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” VIP lectures, tours and visits. Cameos Barile, who created her own major, Barile said. “I’m growing so much as a this past fall included former U.S. spends her days bringing arts educa- person, I can already tell.” Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, tion to underserved students across the Her fellow Deacons are scattered conservative activist Grover Norquist country to help boost their academic across the city, each immersed in and NBC News correspondent Andrea success through the Turnaround Arts real-world work that matters. Like Mitchell, along with visits to the White program. During school visits, Barile classmate Savannah Baber: the junior House, Pentagon and Mount Vernon. helped manage celebrity appearances English and politics/international af- The academic program is housed by singer Paula Abdul and actor fairs double major is Native American, at the gleaming new Wake Washington Elizabeth Banks, and she assisted her mother from the Lumbee Tribe Center, a 4,300-square-foot space during a video shoot with cellist Yo-Yo of North Carolina and her father centrally located at 1 Dupont Circle, Ma. She captures multimedia content from the Chickahominy Indian Tribe where students learn and network, to keep the program’s website fresh, of Virginia. So her work for the U.S. alumni gather and connect, and Wake and she analyzes data from schools Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Forest has planted a gold and black to help develop education programs. exemplifies the lessons she took to flag firmly in the nation’s capital. Barile is passionate about policy and heart as a child. “We offer at Wake Forest this works with a professional mentor “My parents were very adamant amazing core liberal arts education, from the National Parent Teacher about raising me in my culture with and we’re using the world as a learning Association, Director of Government knowledge of my historical heritage laboratory,” said Dean of the College Affairs Jacki Ball (’98). Between those and modern affairs — being a native Michele Gillespie at an open house opportunities and her constitutional woman in the 21st century and being for the Center. “D.C. is a crossroads of law and policymaking classes with able to navigate that identity,” Baber political and intellectual exchange — it Politics and International Affairs said. Today, she is working alongside really is powerful for us.” Department Chair Katy Harriger, other native people to negotiate SUMMER 2018 5 Annette Barile (’19) worked in Washington with the Turnaround Arts program for underserved students. 6 WAKE FOREST MAGAZINE FEATURES “IT’S REALLY WONDERFUL FOR OUR STUDENTS TO SEE GENERATIONS OF WAKE FORESTERS HAVING AMAZING CAREERS, THE relationships between tribal leaders and to point to stories in the news.” To the U.S. government. Breathless with prepare for the class’ first U.S. Supreme OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE excitement, Baber says her semester Court simulation pitting President with Wake Washington has surpassed Donald J. Trump against international THESE ALUMNI ANSWER every expectation. “I got here and refugees, Baber says the class is refer- thought, ‘Wow, all these people that encing Twitter as much as Supreme QUESTIONS.