Winter 2009 Women are good at math and science imaginethe impact you can make Your gift to the Annual Fund provides scholarships and fi nancial aid to students like Alyse Lucas ’10 as a fi rst-year Gained a new perspective in Intermediate Spanish with Dr. Gerald Gingras as a sophomore Studied abroad in Seville, Spain to broaden her view of diverse people and diff erent cultures as a junior Served as a liturgical minister with Campus Ministry and volunteered at a daycare center for underprivileged Hispanic families as a senior Completed her senior comprehensive on family-centered therapy for autistic children, while applying to graduate programs to pursue a degree in family and child counseling Saint Mary’s students are dynamic women determined to change the world. Saint Mary’s provides the academic foundation and spiritual focus they need to build a better tomorrow. Read more about Alyse at saintmarys.edu/alyse-lucas You can give our Saint Mary’s students the scholarships and fi nancial aid that sets it all in motion, just like you did for Alyse. you make education possible for our students. Please make a gift to the Annual Fund for scholarships and fi nancial aid. Visit us online at saintmarys.edu/give or call 800-SMC-8871. The Annual Fund volume 84, number 4 table ofcontents winter 2009 The Saint Mary’s College Courier (USPS 135-340) is published four times a year by Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, features IN 46556-5001. Periodicals postage paid at the Post Offi ce at Notre Dame, IN 46556 and at additional mailing 3 The Madeleva Society offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Alumnae Relations, Saint 30th Anniversary Mary’s College, 110 Le Mans Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001. Its history and impact Copyright 2009 Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN 46556. 4 Women are Good at Math Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without written permission. and Science The opinions expressed are those of the authors or their subjects and are At Saint Mary’s, we’ve always known that not necessarily shared by the College or the editor. 8 Chemical Attraction Shari Rodriguez Vice President for College Relations Professor pioneered women’s entrance [email protected] A true pioneer for women into chemistry Karen Zagrocki McDonald ’76 Page 8 Acting Assistant Vice President 10 It All Adds Up Integrated Marketing Communications [email protected] Supporting student math learning Courier Staff Ann Jacobson 12 Earthly Focus Interim Editor [email protected] Environmental studies require an Natalie Davis Miller interdisciplinary lens Staff Writer Shannon E. Brewer ’03 14 Worth the Challenge Staff Writer Saint Mary’s Dual Degree in Engineering program Joya Helmuth Graphic Designer 18 Daly Dose Matt Cashore Janet Graham Zara Osterman Nursing student and her family administer hope John Tirotta Nursing student gets hands-on experience and healing in Honduras Photographers Page 18 Letters 20 Been There Send letters to the editor to: Courier Editor Alumnae Association Board off ers tips and Saint Mary’s College connections to students 303 Haggar College Center Notre Dame, IN 46556 or email [email protected] Class News Send alumnae class news to: departments Alumnae News Editor 110 Le Mans Hall 2 Inside Saint Mary’s Saint Mary’s College Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001 16 Bookshelf or email [email protected] 21 In Memoriam Alumnae Association Staff Kara O’Leary ’89 22 Avenue News Director of Alumnae Relations 24 Published and Presented [email protected] Students and alumnae connect Jessica Stuifbergen ’99 26 For the Record Assistant Director of Alumnae Relations Page 20 28 Club News [email protected] The Mission 31 Class News Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic, residential, women’s college in the 41 Excelsior liberal arts tradition. A pioneer in the education of women, the College is an on the cover academic community where women develop their talents and prepare to Clockwise from left: Rose Lopez Jones ’80, MD, chemistry make a difference in the world. major; Ewa Misiolek, MSCSE, assistant math professor; Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Morgan Light ’10, cellular biology major; Taylor Miller, age Cross in 1844, Saint Mary’s promotes a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic 13, LaSalle Intermediate Academy student, South Bend, appreciation, religious sensibility, and Ind., and daughter of Staff Writer Natalie Davis Miller. social responsibility. All members of the College remain faithful to this Photo by Janet Graham and John Wright mission and continually assess their Cover design by Curt Sochocki response to the complex needs and challenges of the contemporary world. insidesaintmary’s The Alumnae Association Board of Directors Honorary President Carol Ann Mooney ’72 President Elizabeth Bermingham Lacy ’66 505 Welwyn Road Richmond, VA 23229-8105 (804) 741-5301 • [email protected] Vice President Lisa Maxbauer Price ’99 63 Sealund Road College’s sciences follow precedent set by Sisters Quincy, MA 02171 (917) 518-4345 • [email protected] Secretary of the Holy Cross a century ago Mary Sue Dunn Curry ’85 5434 Flowering Dogwood Lane Charlotte, NC 28270-3729 by Dorothy M. Feigl, Denise DeBartolo York Professor of Chemistry, (704) 814-7967 • [email protected] Department of Chemistry and Physics Directors Christine M. Bodewes ’87 4696 Snow Hill Road Salisbury, MD 21004 Th ey are called STEM disciplines. It could have been METS (217) 971-0923 • [email protected] or TEMS, or SMET, but STEM—the acronym for Science, Sarah Brown ’05 150 2nd Avenue South, Apt. 230 Technology, Engineering, Math—suggests a kind of supportive, Nashville, TN 37201 (202) 413-5083 • [email protected] nourishing, essential element, and that is how we in math, Jill Moore Clouse ’99 the sciences, and engineering like to think of our disciplines. 3202 North Paulina Street, 2S Chicago, IL 60657 One of the many attractions of Saint Mary’s is a history that (773) 348-2124 • [email protected] establishes a central role for STEM education—a surprising Nora Barry Fischer ’73 U.S. Post Offi ce and Courthouse situation perhaps, at a Catholic College for women, a College 700 Grant Street, Suite 5260 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 that proudly emphasizes its commitment to the liberal arts. judgenorabfi [email protected] Surprising or not, the Sisters of the Holy Cross established Angeline Johnson ’07 the precedent more than a century ago. A 1903–04 listing 701 North Saint Louis Boulevard South Bend, IN 46617 of available “collegiate courses” begins: “astronomy, calculus, [email protected] botany, trigonometry, analytic geometry, advanced physics, pharmacy, chemistry, zoology, Linda Kawecki ’79 6948 Lakeshore Drive geology…” Walk the corridors of Science Hall and you will see displays of elegant wood and Dallas, TX 75214-3550 (214) 327-9355 • [email protected] brass instrumentation from the turn of the last century—the best that European instrument Sara Bateman Koehler ’70 makers had to off er—available to our students. 944 Spannwood Road Indianapolis, IN 46228 When I came to Saint Mary’s in the late 1960s, the United States was in a feverish race to (317) 253-4494 • [email protected] reach the moon before the Soviet Union, having just lost the race into space to that competitor/ Kathryn Wiedl Mettler, M.D. ’63 715 Registry Lane NE foe. It was a heady time for the STEM disciplines, which were seen as fundamental to Atlanta, GA 30342-2865 (404) 262-7454 • [email protected] returning this country to the lead position. Women’s colleges and Saint Mary’s in particular Priscilla Karle Pilon ’86 had a special role to play because we were disproportionately eff ective at encouraging and 5478 Doliver Drive Houston, TX 77056 preparing women to pursue careers in mathematics and science, areas in which women were (713) 622-3438 • [email protected] seriously underrepresented. What goes around comes around. We started the 21st Century in Dawn Parker Santamaria ’81 2 Gravel Hill Road a comparable “race,” only now it is with our economic competitors. Again, STEM education is Asbury, NJ 08802-1347 (908) 735-6716 • [email protected] ascendant, or at least, receiving more attention. Monica Stallworth Kolimas, M.D. ’74 And again, Saint Mary’s is both prepared and preparing to play its part. I am impressed daily 20361 Kings Crest Boulevard Hagerstown, MD 21742 by a cadre of talented faculty bringing their enthusiasm for their subjects and their expertise as (240) 527-3220 • [email protected] teachers to students with ambitious agendas: careers in engineering, medicine, basic research… Susan M. Suchy ’89 future entrepreneurs, future teachers, and future leaders. Whether working side-by-side on 1322 South Prairie Avenue, Unit 1813 Chicago, IL 60605 a SISTAR project or in a “non-traditional” classroom, or for that matter, in a traditional (312) 945-0089 • [email protected] classroom, students and teachers establish educational partnerships that convince me there is no Barbara Wolfston Urrutia ’74 423 Bark Drive better place to teach or learn. Redwood City, CA 94065-1101 (650) 593-4958 New technologies and new classroom environments support increasingly diverse and creative [email protected] approaches to teaching and learning. To get a sense of this 21st-Century environment, you Phyllis Sullivan Van Hersett ’62 10507 Jaguar Drive need only visit the College’s new Spes Unica Hall or the newly refurbished Madeleva Hall, Littleton, Colorado 80124-5200 (303) 790-9265 • [email protected] which houses the math department’s extraordinary new facilities. I say that with a touch of Abby Van Vlerah ’04 envy. We in Science Hall are still in the planning stages for the redesign of our facilities. We 95 Beekman Avenue, Apt.