Non-Profit U.S. Postage Alumni Relations PAID Towson University Towson University 8000 York Road Towson, MD 21252-0001 Change Service Requested UNIVERSITY FALL 2017 Pass along any duplicate copies to a friend and advise us of error by sending back your mailing label. Thank you. Parents: If this issue is addressed to a son or daughter who no longer maintains an address at your home, please send the correct address to Alumni Relations, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252-0001. TOWSON UNIVERSITY PRESENTS The THE ZOO ZOOM 8K RUN NOVEMBER 12, 2017 • 8:30 a.m. Trailblazers Whether you have the speed of a cheetah or pace of a tortoise, join The Maryland Zoo for this wildly popular annual event– Marvis Barnes ’59 and Myra Harris ’59 sponsored by TU—with an all new course. Choose from either the 8K race or 1 Mile Family Walk/Fun Run. Both courses run overcame segregation to become the first black right through the center of the zoo alongside the animals. graduates of the State Teachers College at Towson. Registration includes all-day admission to the zoo. ENTRY FEES VARY FROM $20 TO $45 TU faculty, staff and students receive a $5 discount. Use code TowsonZoom Registration and details: www.marylandzoo.org/zoozoom FOLLOW US: towsonalumni towsonalum @towsonualumni Towson University Alumni BIG PICTURE PHOTO OP Assemble 2,771 freshmen, 2,330 transfer students, 560 graduate students and President Kim Schatzel and you literally get TU. Students from one of the largest freshmen classes, the most diverse and academically prepared took a group photo on the Unitas Stadium field during Convocation ceremonies. Seventy-nine percent of TU’s freshmen hail from Maryland with the others coming from 25 states and 14 countries. STUDENT SPOTLIGHT FEATURES “Goalball can bridge DEPARTMENTS “the gap between the sighted and those with PRESIDENT’S LETTER | 4 vision impairments.” NEWS & NOTES | 5 WE ASKED | 10 GOALBALL ROLLS INTO TU Vincent Thomas about his art and his mission to introduce men to the joy of dance. Tim Utzig and Muhammad Waheed brought their vision of a new club sport to TU. ALUMNI NEWS | 26 The duo started goalball, a sport Distinguished Alumni and designed for blind athletes, which Deans’ Recognition Awards both played while attending the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1967 Maryland School for the Blind. “Goalball is like their college John Schuerholz ’62 Inducted into Wildlife photographer National Baseball Hall of Fame 12 | GORILLAS IN HER MIDST football team,” Utzig explains. Kathleen Hertel Ricker ’04 captures animals in their natural habitats. “Everyone comes out to see it.” Now, when TU spectators watch PHILANTHROPY | 33 the sport, he says “it’s really cool Paws for Thanks to see their reactions.” John Yingling ’71 Gives to Athletics Anyone can play because all 17 | THE ROOTS OF TU SCIENCE Partners in College Readiness participants wear a blindfold. Tactile George LaTour Smith laid the foundation for markings on the court allow players and Environmental Justice the study of the sciences at the Maryland to determine their location as they State Normal School; The new Science Facility try to throw a ball embedded with CLASS NOTES | 37 will expand that legacy to support the next bells into the opponent’s goal. The Humanity of Expression Silence is imperative so opposing generation of TU science students. players can hear the ball and try No Excuses to block it. Begun in 1946 to help visually impaired WWII veterans, goalball 18 | THE TRAILBLAZERS has been played in the Paralympic Marvis Barnes ’59 and Myra Harris ’59 Games since 1976. overcame segregation to become Utzig and Waheed got the the first black graduates at the State goalballs rolling at TU by partnering Teachers College at Towson. with Campus Recreation; Disability Support Services stepped in to buy the equipment. Waheed is overwhelmed with the university’s support. What’s more, he’s grateful for the opportunity to play a sport that can, he says, 23 | ROAD WARRIOR “bridge the gap between the Greg Slater ’97 keeps sighted and those with vision Marylanders moving. impairments and encourage more vision-impaired students to go to college and get involved.” 2 3 Muhammad Waheed PRESIDENT’S LETTER National Honors Fisher College receives $1 million from the Howard TOWSON FIVE FACULTY IN HEALTH Hughes Medical Institute There is nothing like fall on Towson UNIVERSITY PROFESSIONS RECOGNIZED GRANT WILL TRANSFORM UNDERGRADUATE, MINORITY STUDENT University’s campus. I loved scooping SUCCESS IN STEM Rita’s Italian Ice for new students and their parents during move-in weekend, cheering on the Tigers at football games, “Research shows that undergraduates SUMMER 2017 ISSUE Towson University Jess and Mildred Fisher and watching the leaves turn colors over College of Science and Mathematics faculty engaged in authentic research are more historic Stephens Hall. members Laura Gough, Matthew Hemm likely to persist in science and math classes, This fall has been an especially good Kim Schatzel and their team will receive $1 million over to graduate and to pursue STEM careers,” one for TU. Last month, we earned one President five years from the Howard Hughes Medical says David Vanko, dean of the college. of our highest spots ever in the U.S. News Institute (HHMI) “The Howard & World Report rankings, placing in the as part of their Hughes Inclu- top 10 public regional universities in the Ginny Cook inaugural sive Excellence north and coming in first among the six Editor Inclusive grant provides regional USM institutions. We welcomed Excellence us with an an incoming freshman class that is one of Lori Armstrong initiative. opportunity to the largest, most academically prepared Associate Vice President, The TU truly transform and most diverse in TU history. And we Alumni Relations proposal was how we encour- gladly accepted incoming transfer and one of over 500 age and engage graduate classes that are 10 and 12 percent Marlene Riley received the first Emerging submissions, students in larger, respectively, than just a year ago. Lori Marchetti and Innovative Practice Award from the one of 90 invit- undergraduate Did I mention our projected fall 2017 Art Director/Designer American Occupational Therapy Associa- ed full propos- research.” “We welcomed enrollment is now 22,700 students—its tion (AOTA). The clinical associate professor als and one of The initia- highest ever? Yes, it’s been a very good fall. Kanji Takeno was one of only six occupational therapists just 24 grants tive’s broad You will find more good news in this an incoming Staff Photographer in the nation to earn the honor, which awarded. objective is to issue, including a $1 million grant from the “recognizes occupational therapy practi- Gough’s help colleges freshman class Howard Hughes Medical Institute, national tioners … who have developed innovative and Hemm’s Fisher College associate professor Matthew Hemm, one of the and universities honors for four College of Health Professions Lauren Castellana and/or non-traditional occupational therapy team aims to lead investigators on the grant, instructs students in his lab. encourage that is one of the faculty, and TU research to save millions of Assistant Photographer practices for underserved populations…” implement the participation dollars for U.S. agriculture. Riley has helped develop two service- Towson University-Research Enhancement and cultivate the talent of students in the You can also read a feature on two largest, most Contributors learning courses and directed students Program (TU-REP) to bring authentic re- natural sciences, particularly those of people that personally inspire me. Myra Alison Armstrong ’09/’13, in outreach programs that serve at-risk search experiences to a large, diverse group diverse backgrounds and pathways. Harris ’59 and Marvis Barnes ’59 were the academically Megan Bradshaw, children and adults. of students early in their undergraduate “The Fisher College of Science and Mathe- first black students to earn bachelor’s Ray Feldmann ’77, Kyle The AOTA also recognized four others in science careers. The program will recruit matics is strongly committed to the success degrees at Towson University. Their story prepared and Hobstetter, Joseph Hockey the College of Health Professions. Faculty students—specifically transfer students and of our minority students and those who of leadership and resilience contains and Jan Lucas members Roxanne Castaneda, Lisa Crabtree, members of underrepresented minorities— are the first from their families to attend most diverse important lessons for all of us as we Barbara Demchick and Sonia Lawson were who are interested in science; create a cur- college,” Vanko adds. “Without every stu- embark on a new season and new academic named AOTA fellows. riculum and support system that promotes dent succeeding, we can’t easily deliver on in TU history.” year. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Office of Alumni Relations This distinction recognizes “occupational participation in multiple authentic research our obligation to provide a qualified STEM 410-704-2234 or 800-887-8152 therapists who through their knowledge, projects; and provide assistance in continu- workforce for Maryland. This grant will expertise, leadership, advocacy, and/or ing research at TU and beyond. move us closer to our student success goal.” guidance have made a significant contribu- tion over time to the profession with a mea- VISIT US ONLINE sured impact on consumers of occupational therapy services and/or members of the Kim Schatzel Association.” TOWSON UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT towson.edu magazine.towson.edu He Minds the Maggots USDA GRANT FUNDS TU RESEARCH TO STOP CROP LOSSES Each year the sugar beet maggot causes Alkharouf and his colleagues will Published three times a year by the Division millions of dollars in losses to U.S. agricul- pinpoint genes within sugar beets that can of Marketing and Communications for Towson ture.