WEIGHTY MATTERS 8 Keith Ahrens ’85 dropped more than 200 pounds from his 414-pound frame and saved his life. His tale underscores the dangers of obesity…and the rewards of wellness. FEATURES DOG’S BEST FRIEND 12 Nancy Johnson ’75, a canine foster mom, turns tales of abuse and neglect into stories with happy endings. LAND OF OPPORTUNITY 14 Wooded parcel means TU can have a field day conducting research in the great outdoors. GEORGIA STATE ON HIS MIND 18 Mark P. Becker ’80 is leading Georgia’s second-largest university to distinction. SUPER MEN 22 Two former Tiger football players are now Saints and winners of Super Bowl XLIV. PRESIDENT’S LETTER 2 NEWS AND NOTES 3 ALUMNI NEWS 26 Meet the Board Los Angeles and Santa Monica Receptions DEPARTMENTS Sarasota and Naples Receptions Towerlight Alumni Reunion PHILANTHROPY MATTERS 33 Preserving Asian Art and Judaica Powerful Ingredients Matt Jennette, CLASS NOTES 37 a master’s student, Miss Adventure gets the opportunity Honorary Degree Bestowed for hands-on research at the 228-acre Field Station in Monkton, Md., thanks to a partnership between TU and landowners Al ’66 and Suzie Henneman. to our readers Published three times a year by the Division of University Advancement for Towson University’s alumni, faculty, staff and friends. Please send comments and contributions to Towson, University Relations, Towson University, 8000 ith a productive and successful academic York Rd., Towson, MD 21252-0001. year behind us and a summer promising Telephone: 410-704-2230. Please send address W changes to Alumni Relations, Towson University, to be just as busy, many new and exciting develop- 8000 York Rd., Towson, MD 21252-0001. ments are on the horizon for Towson University. Robert L. Caret Square-foot by square-foot, our campus landscape President is quickly changing, but with a thoughtful eco-friendly Gary N. Rubin approach. By fall 2011, three campus construction Vice President, University Advancement projects will be open with Leadership in Environmen- Ginny Cook tal and Energy Design (LEED) silver certification. The Editor second phase of what will become the campus’ largest Lori Armstrong classroom building, the College of Liberal Arts, will Associate Vice President, Alumni Relations add 300,000 square feet of new academic space. The Lori Marchetti Art Director/Designer second phase of West Village housing will provide 650 additional campus beds and will be finished at the Kanji Takeno Staff Photographer same time as the West Village Commons, a building large enough to be a second student union that will Assistant Photographer Desirée Stover provide much-needed office and meeting spaces, and On August 1, Designers additional dining options. TU will become Kate Bateman, Pat Dideriksen, Chris Komisar, “ Recognized for our environmentally conscious Kathy Malanowski and Eleni Swengler Maryland’s efforts, Towson University is proud to be included in Contributors first smoke-free The Princeton Review’s Guide to 286 Green Colleges. Shannon Arehart, Daniel Fox, Emily Koch, The book lists the nation’s most environmentally Melissa Kviz, Jan Lucas and Stuart Zang four-year conscientious campuses that have taken a comprehen- Office of Alumni Relations institution, sive look at green building, energy conservation and 410-704-2234 or 800-887-8152 banning waste reduction. Towson University’s policies, programs and activities Taking our award-winning Go Green campaign a comply with federal and state laws and University System smoking on of Maryland regulations prohibiting discrimination on step further, campus-wide efforts have extended to the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, sex, disability and sexual orientation. any university foster a healthy campus environment from recycling www.towson.edu property. initiatives to clean air. On August 1, TU will become www.towsonalumnimagazine.com Maryland’s first smoke-free four-year institution, banning smoking on any university property. The end of the academic year also brings sobering ECO BOX legislative news. When the Maryland General Assembly concluded, Towson saw a $12.6 million cut to its fund Using this combination of papers balance with the knowledge that a minimal tuition saves the following: ” increase and employee furloughs are imminent. WOOD USE: 7 TONS Towson University is growing a smarter, healthier NET ENERGY: 15,000,000 BTUs and welcoming campus atmosphere. Please plan to GREENHOUSE GASES: 4,680 LBS CO2 visit us this summer to experience all of the campus WASTEWATER: 22,541 GALLONS changes. SOLID WASTE: 1,369 POUNDS The Towson text pages Bob Caret are printed on forest-friendly Utopia Dull paper. The cover is printed on Utopia Gloss using Eco-Pride inks. Environmental impact President, Towson University estimates were made 2 towson SUMMER 2010 using the Environmental SUMMER 2010 towson 3 Defense Paper Calculator. news & notes Published three times a year by the Division of University Advancement for Towson University’s alumni, faculty, staff and friends. Please send comments and contributions to Towson, University Relations, Towson University, 8000 York Rd., Towson, MD 21252-0001. Starting with a Bang Telephone: 410-704-2230. Please send address NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING COSMOLOGIST DELIVERS LECTURE AT GRAND OPENING OF TU’S DIGITAL PLANETARIUM changes to Alumni Relations, Towson University, 8000 York Rd., Towson, MD 21252-0001. Robert L. Caret the Big Bang; Mather’s team was the first to While waiting for a planetarium show, President discover them. visitors also enjoyed telescope viewings, learned Gary N. Rubin He connected with the audience at Towson how to make pocket solar systems or watched Vice President, University Advancement by filling his talk with humorous stories and space-themed movies. Later this year, a new Ginny Cook cartoons, says James Overduin, assistant profes- 16-inch telescope will be installed, which will Editor sor, Department of Physics, Astronomy and be wired to the planetarium projector for Lori Armstrong Geosciences, who introduced the Nobel laure- indoor viewing. Associate Vice President, Alumni Relations Lori Marchetti Art Director/Designer The $50,000 planetarium renovation is the first Kanji Takeno Staff Photographer since the facility’s construction in 1965. Assistant Photographer Desirée Stover ate. Mather also illustrated the Big Bang by not The redesigned planetarium and telescope Designers Kate Bateman, Pat Dideriksen, Chris Komisar, illustrating it at all, Overduin adds. Instead, he facility will act as lab space for many courses Kathy Malanowski and Eleni Swengler presented a blank slide explaining, “The event in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Fluctuations in microwave background light, evidence of the Big cannot be pictured except by going to higher Geosciences. It will also continue to serve the Contributors Bang discovered by Mather and COBE, are represented in TU’s Shannon Arehart, Daniel Fox, Emily Koch, renovated planetarium. dimensions and looking down from outside,” community as a venue for shows and stargaz- Melissa Kviz, Jan Lucas and Stuart Zang something that cannot be done. ing, with free events for the public scheduled Office of Alumni Relations The friendly skies of TU’s planetarium The evening also included five consecutive on the third Friday of every month during the 410-704-2234 or 800-887-8152 twinkled with excitement on March 27 when shows in the updated planetarium. The $50,000 academic year. Towson University’s policies, programs and activities Nobel laureate John Mather opened the newly renovation is the first since the facility’s comply with federal and state laws and University System Mather’s talk is available at http://mediasite2. of Maryland regulations prohibiting discrimination on renovated Watson-King Planetarium with a construction in 1965, and includes a state- towson.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=91273d0411 the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, of-the-art projector, new sound system and sex, disability and sexual orientation. bang—a lecture on the Big Bang to be exact. f2460db3ac83d36d01b81a a redesigned seating layout that centers the www.towson.edu Mather, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel www.towsonalumnimagazine.com Prize in physics for his critical role in confirming audience in the room rather than around the the Big Bang theory, spoke to a packed house. perimeter as in a traditional planetarium space. More than 300 people filled Smith Hall’s largest The new equipment and seating arrangement ECO BOX auditorium with another 100 listening to his allow the audience to become more immersed talk, “From the Big Bang to Life and the End of in the show, says Alex Storrs, associate profes- the Universe,” in a nearby classroom with a live sor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy video feed. and Geosciences. Mather led the 1992 Cosmic Background “Our fisheye-lens projector and the arc shape Explorer (COBE) satellite experiment that of the seats now allow us to put people right detected minute variations in the brightness in the middle of the dome, where the illusion of of light left over from the formation of the the sky is best,” says Storrs. A centrally linked universe. Researchers had been looking for computer allows astronomers to zoom and pan TOWSON—the alumni magazine— such phenomena for decades as evidence of through an astronomically accurate night sky, now delivered online. Please visit from the rooftop of Smith Hall to the limits of www.towsonalumnimagazine.com the known universe. 2 towson SUMMER 2010 SUMMER 2010 towson 3 news & notes testing security systems. Nature of Nutria cutter that would eat The TU students success- unwanted vegetation,” A 1953 ad from Popular fully fended off two days she explains. Science Magazine (below) Computer Sentries of attacks, earning a victory But soon, there was hooked Lauren Tucker that sent them to San little market for nutria When it comes to com- into studying how a furry Antonio in April for the fur and the animals at puter security, TU has the finals of the National A-team on its side.