University of Northern Iowa UNI ScholarWorks UNI Today UNI Alumni Association Winter 2004 Northern Iowa Today, v88n1, Winter 2004 University of Northern Iowa Alumni Association Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/alumninews Part of the Higher Education Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits oy u Recommended Citation University of Northern Iowa Alumni Association, "Northern Iowa Today, v88n1, Winter 2004" (2004). UNI Today. 36. https://scholarworks.uni.edu/alumninews/36 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by the UNI Alumni Association at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNI Today by an authorized administrator of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. th Northern Iowa Today, we work to paint a picture of what's W:happ ning here at the univ r ity, a well as what' going on m the lives of our extended family of alumni and friends. With this issue, we are particularly bles ed with n ws about our alumni. It seems you're interesting people. For a primary feature of the magazine, we wanted to take a look at alumni with interesting jobs: (1) people with the type of job you'd expect them to get, giv n th ir educational bent, but at perh~ps a national level; and (2) people with a job related to their major, but with a unique twist. We wanted to know how it happened. What influenced th m? Were there forks in the road? Did they fe 1 fate or chance at work? Obviously, we know that a degree from U I is just part of the mix. We titled the feature "The tart of omething Great," because a degree really i a car er launching experience. Yet we know that our students come to us with talents, values and common sen e. We also know they have typically been well prepared by th ir teachers and their familie , many of whom also have a I connection. A word about what we are not trying to do with this feature: We are not t1ying to write a definition of th ucce sful U I alum. Hopefully, I helped all of us develop and aspire to our own ideas of succ . Likewise, we are not suggesting that one must move out of Iowa to be uccessful. One mu t, however, probably move out of Iowa to do many of the jobs we happen to b featuring. It's a big world. It is a real source of pride that something like 70 percent of our graduates get their first job in Iowa. We're simply looking at some example that people have referred to us as interesting. Since we made our initial selection, more have rolled in. You'll be eeing Iowans in future issues. We do not, however, mind if your impre sion from this feature is that people who combin growing up in Iowa with a degree from U I have ome good things going for them. It' kind of like being smart and fast on your feet. A person could get a worse start in life. The idea for this feature came from the clippings and class notes we receive about our alumni. The items all are valuable in their way, but some just make a per on want to know more - more about tho e individual and the ways they made their U I experience work for them. Most of us will not lead a company, join a Marine band or play in the FL, but all of tho e featured make observations with which we can identify, and think, "It's good to be from U I." The University of Northern Iowa magazine Volume 88, umber 1 Winter 2004 The start of something great 2 Seven notable alumni share their stories Editor: Gerald Anglum Copy Editor: Melissa Barber Using technology to improve teacher quality Art Director: Elizabeth Conrad LaVelle 9 College ofEducati'on implements JnTime resources Photography: Gerald Anglum, Randy Darst, Matthew Knight Cover photo: Randy Darst Science programs launch a new era 10 Mccollum Science Hall addzlion benefits Other Contributors: tacey Christensen, Gwenne C ulpepper, Denton Ketels, James chemistry and biology students O'Connor, Dewayne Purdy, Mary Taylor Class Notes Editor: Kathy Calhoun Alumni Profile: Roger Polark Words' for the wise Director of Alumni Relations: 12 Nor en He rmansen orthern Iowa Today, listributed t o a ll alumni, parents, faculty and staff, and other Faculty Profile: David Hakes friends of UNI, is published two times Defining moments a year in the ummer and w inter by the 13 Office of University Marketing & Public Relations, 127 Gilchrist Hall , niversity of orthern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614- 0017 a nd the Divi ion of Development. College & University The O ffice of University Marketing & Public 14 Relations (319) 273-2761 invites sugge tions News from around campus and contributions for articles and cla s notes. Campaign Update end address changes to orthern Iowa McLeod Center reac Today, Office of Alumni Relations, 204 20 hes main goal, continues oITIJnons, niversity o f orthern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50614-0284. Third class postage paid at Cedar Rapid , Iowa. Alifetime of learning The niversity of orth rn Iowa is a 21 Centenarian alumna recalls her college experience memb r of CA E, the Council for the Advancement and upport of Education. UNI is a n equal opportunity educator and employer with a comprehensive plan for affirmative action. Alumni World 22 Alumni Association activities and Class Notes Art in bloom Visit the university via the 32 Spring brings a full calendar World Wide Web: www.uni.edu of arts events to campus 1 - ~ ,, I ri \; The start of somethi rifflt reat accomplishments t the end of his senior year, Bill haw wa already employed b y are a regular occurrence in a cookware company a nd totally focu ed on his sales career. He G the careers o f UNI alumni. A became the company's international sales manager after only one The volume of compelling year and its youngest division m anager by age 24. It wasn't long lting, a fi rm that helped l arge companies do success stories is s imply overwhelming. before he started Shaw Consu things lik consolidate acquisitions into billion-dollar enterprises. What distingui hes these stories from In 1988, Bill decided to further hi education by pursuing a g raduate each other is not so much level of degree at the niversity of Wisconsin. It was then that he di covered achievement as the remarkable ways in how focu ed on work he had been a decade earlier. "They told me I had which our graduate ' careers u nfold. an incomplete on m y undergraduate transcript," Shaw said. "I knew I'd Many I graduate excel in areas missed a couple o f final at I, but I thought I'd graduated. It wa ki nd of directly related to their undergraduate embarrassing." degrees. In ome ca tho tal n ts Nearly 10 years after his find o utlets in unique jobs and graduation ceremony, Shaw retook six fa cinating a rena . Other alumni have Bill Shaw cla hours a nd offi cially completed taken calculated r isks, eized upon I hi double major in marketing and timely opportunities or made c ritical business education from UNI. "The re g reat in helping decisions at crossroad in their careers. people at I we me get that done," he aid. Both exampl s demonstrate th value Shaw proceeded t o excel in of a s trong educational fo undation. va rious sale and manufacturing Hence, Louis Pa teur's a e rtion that capacities, but it was a business model chance favors the p repared mind. that he developed in his spare time In this is ue we vi ir with alumni that turned heads. It was so good whose career paths a re models of that Southern Progress Corporation, those criteria. Their individual route to a T ime Warner Company, bought success are quite different. Yet, clearly the intellectual p roperty right from apparent i a common belief in the Shaw in 2001. Today, the b randing value of education and a commitment phenomenon known as Southern to lifelong learning. Living at Home i approaching a 2 00 million company. haw i i ts vice president of marketing a nd business development. " outhern Living a t Home is o ne o f the most successful start-up businesses in recent memory at Time Warner, Inc.," ays an internal company memo. by Denton Ketels Indeed. Revenues of 1 33 million during 2003 ensure the validity of that statement through 2004. haw says the company's products had "instant credibility" with outhern Living magazine readers-mo tly upscale fe males- who had been a k ing w here they could buy item shown in the fashionable '·I had a freshman marketing class periodical. Meanwhile, outhern Living a t Home' Web-based with a professor named Gordon Pomeroy. marketing strategy was backed b y solid capital investment. early 100 He'd say · ever give direction to the percent of SLAH's o rders a re coming via t he Internet, placed by 32,000 marketplace. Instead, take direction from sales representatives. Operating costs a re lower and delivery is faster. the marketplace.' I've never forgotten that. "It' a n old-fashioned, fundamental bu iness practice," haw said. If you take your direction from what people "We use technology not to replace people, but to e mpower them and want, it will make your life a lot easier." increase productivity." More start-ups may be on the drawing board, but Shaw wants to try the vocation h e had in mind w hen h e first went to To s-tudevrts -tad~ college, before his attention was diverted b y the need to work "Try to come away with a big i ea from each his way through school.