Scenic Success WINTER/SPRING 2017 in THIS ISSUE FEATURES and ARTICLES
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Scenic Success WINTER/SPRING 2017 IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES AND ARTICLES 3 President Glassman commends EIU’s successes; targets growth through “vitalization” Alumni Association Board of Directors 4 Newly discovered plant species named after 2016-2017 EIU professor President 6 EIU Foundation celebrates its 2016 award Terry Prillaman ’81 Champaign, IL recipients Vice President Christopher Swing ’03, ’04 Lerna, IL 8 EIU, Rural King partner on “mobile Secretary/Treasurer billboards” Michelle Ochs ’03 Carpentersville, IL Past President (ex-o cio) EIU student honored by Lincoln Academy of 11 Tom DuBois ’78, ’85 Spring Grove, IL Illinois Executive Director (ex-o cio) 9 Taylor, made for the news Steve Rich ’06 Sedgwick makes “Splash” as magazine art Directors director Ken Baker ’72, ’73 Charleston, IL Campus News Gary Ballinger ’99 Indianapolis, IN 10 Ron Deedrick ’05 Pinckneyville, IL 11 System updates: EIU to boot up graduate Matt Ewald ’98 Naperville, IL cybersecurity program next fall Chelsey Gerstenecker ’99, ’04 Urbana, IL Timothy Hamann ’00 Chicago, IL 12 EIU sees spikes in graduate enrollments Mary Anne Hanner ’72, ’74 Oakland, IL Gary Hull ’85, ’87 Tarpon Springs, FL International enrollments skyrocket at EIU Marty Morgan ’92 Lake Blu, IL 16 Nick Owens ’03 Conroe, TX 13 EIU now offers dedicated public relations Kenneth Spells ’01, ’03 South Bend, IN major Peggy Stankoven ’82 St. Louis, MO Julie Sterling ’76, ’77 Charleston, IL 14 Eastern Illinois University’s 10th Annual Bonita Tillman ’80 St. Louis, MO Kids’ Day Out Alan Zuber ’78, ’83 Paris, IL Carol Zuhone ’83 Savoy, IL 15 EIU alum Goebel shares enthusiasm for physics with high school classes Design Haley Ahlers ‘04 Chemistry strengthening its research bonds Editorial/Photo Contributions 16 Prairie City Bakery: Putting the EIU in Alumni Services DELICIOUS Center for Academic Technology Support 25 University Marketing and Communication 18 Charleston business benefits from Cubs Various Other EIU Colleges, Departments, Areas and Alumni World Series win 19 Panther Praise: New logo earns national recognition Editorial correspondence should be addressed to: [email protected] 20 EIU celebrates its 2016 Alumni Award recipients 23 Homecoming 2016 Recap 24 EIU family’s tree takes center stage in the Big Apple 25 EIU honors Woodall with trail dedication 26 Panther Athletics Recap 27 Ilunga-Matthiesen sprinting toward success 28 Class Notes Photo by Cheryl Birkhead FOREVER EIU 1 PRESIDENT commends EIU’s successes; targets EIU RANKS GLASSMAN growth through “vitalization” in Illinois... Again! In his second annual State of the University “By measure of the abundant opportunity to fully re-imagine ourselves address, EIU President Dr. David Glassman accomplishments of our university’s divisions and vitalize our campus,” Glassman celebrated the university’s many successes, and our faculty, staff and students, we are continued. “The time for us to craft a plan applauded its dedicated faculty and a very strong university,” he said. “Yet, we of strategic solutions to vitalize our campus staff, reafrmed its mission and shared also have denite challenges that must be is right now…and we must follow up by # a collaborative vision for securing EIU’s overcome going forward.” implementing these solutions in a prudent, yet timely manner.” 1 brightest future. Those challenges, he said, would best be “I asked university leaders to provide a list addressed by strategically energizing the “From a broad and comprehensive of the most notable accomplishments that university through modernized programs assessment, there is absolutely no doubt that occurred within their division this past year… and student services—an effort he and the EIU is a strong and vibrant university poised the list is extensive and meritorious,” he EIU Board of Trustees have branded “The to move forward in its Pathway to Success,” remarked. “What a privilege it is to boast Vitalization Project.” The goal of the project is Glassman concluded. “I ask the entire campus of our world-class faculty who assist our to proactively involve the campus community community to embrace this time of great students in reaching their goals, aspirations in innovative thought, discussion and action opportunity with positivity and excitement.” and dreams.” that will continue to move Eastern Illinois The Vitalization Project’s framing document University in a positive direction. Plans He also encouraged everyone associated provides additional details about the project. include enhancing EIU’s academic programs with the university to share their positive EIU It is available at www.eiu.edu and will be and student life services to attract more experiences with all who would listen. continuously updated throughout the process. prospective students, increasing operational “EIU can no longer afford to be the best- efciencies, and repositioning EIU in the kept secret in Illinois higher education,” increasingly competitive higher education he declared. “It’s time to get the word out marketplace to recruit a more diverse that academic excellence, blended with a segment of learners throughout central supportive, safe and nurturing environment Illinois and beyond. exists in Charleston, Illinois. We all know how Glassman noted that several departments good EIU is, let’s shout it out to others!” already have become very innovative During his remarks, Glassman also reinforced in program development, and are now the university’s collective mission. “Our realizing increased success through strategic, Eastern Illinois University continues to be the highest-ranking Illinois students have come to EIU to become lifelong incremental growth. school among the Midwest’s top public regional universities, according to learners and gain the knowledge, skills “Whether they are new academic programs U.S. News and World Report’s annual college ranking. and abilities to navigate through difcult or modications to existing programs, they challenges encountered during their lives, and The university also remains listed in the top 40 among all Midwestern regional are being strategically developed to meet to be adaptable to multiple career paths,” he institutions offering a full range of undergraduate majors and master’s the needs or interests of greater numbers said. “Our success is predicated solely on the programs*. EIU is the highest ranking public university in Illinois on that list in of prospective students,” he shared. “The success of our students.” the magazine’s 2017 edition of “Best Colleges.” ability for departments to adapt to the new Glassman then turned his attention to the higher education environment is key to EIU’s The rankings rely heavily on EIU’s focus on personal attention, ongoing state budget impasse before detailing success, vitality and sustainability.” how EIU would traverse the challenges those including a low student-faculty ratio, small class sizes, and the “We have the ability and circumstances present. highest freshmen retention rate (77 percent) and graduation rate (58 percent) among all Illinois public universities in its class. The rankings additionally recognize Eastern’s commitment to military “We have the ability and opportunity to fully re- veterans, listing the university once again as a “Best College imagine ourselves and vitalize our campus... From for Veterans” among public and private Midwestern regional a broad and comprehensive assessment, there is institutions. absolutely no doubt that EIU is a strong and vibrant university poised to move forward in its Pathway to *Eastern Illinois University’s Region encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Success.” Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Rankings are based on schools’ academic reputations, student selectivity, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources and alumni giving. 2 FOREVER EIU FOREVER EIU 3 Newly discovered plant species named after EIU professor Gordon Tucker doesn’t remember doing so, but his mother said he often reached from his stroller and playpen to touch nearly any plant he could get his hands on. Decades later, Tucker is now a skilled botanist and long-time faculty member at Eastern Illinois University who continues to “reach out” in his study of plants. Known primarily as a vascular plant systematist, Tucker specializes in what is known as the sedge family—owering plants that outwardly resemble grasses and rushes. The family is large with some 5,500 known species, many of which can be found in Asia and South America. Since entering the eld of professional botany in the late 1970s, Tucker has published dozens of papers and monographs on the sedges of North America, Venezuela and Brazil. Working in collaboration with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Chinese National Academy of Sciences, he conducts research for the Flora of China, a scientic publication aimed at describing plants native to China. He has also extensively studied the native plants of Illinois in collaboration with EIU students. Along with fellow Eastern professor Zhiwei Liu, he co-teaches a study abroad course called Plant Usage and Culture in China. It’s no wonder, then, that Tucker was excited to learn earlier this year that not only had another new species in the sedge family been discovered, but that the botanists who made the discovery had decided to name the plant—Fimbristylis tuckeri—after him. The ofcial announcement Fimbristylis tuckeri was made in the Kew Bulletin, a leading international journal for the botanical community and published by the Royal Botanic Garden near London. Tucker explained that a group of botanists discovered the plant while exploring the Western Ghats, an Indian mountain range. They suspected it was a newly discovered species, but didn’t have the expertise in that family of plants to conrm those suspicions. Fortunately, having done extensive work in that eld, Tucker did. “A nd like this is not so unusual,” he said. “Over 1,000 new plant species worldwide were identied in 2015.” Differences between plant species may be subtle. It could be the slightest variance in the DNA, or looks, of a plant—in the stem, the leaves, the owers—that is detected only through magnication via a dissecting microscope.