UMass MAGAZINE SPRING 2007 VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 Marty Meehan’s Bold New Vision: ‘The Critical Time Is Now’ Page 16 Dear Alumni, Parents and Friends: It has been my great honor and privilege to serve as your interim chancellor for the past year. I will always treasure the many new friends and colleagues that I have had the pleasure of getting to know during this time. UMass Lowell was literally created and built under the strong and wise leadership of former Chancellor Bill Hogan. Under the leadership of the next Chancellor Marty Meehan, I am sure that the University will experience a renaissance with renewed energy and a new spirit of unity and commitment. During my year at the helm, I have striven to maintain the momentum from the Hogan epoch and to prepare the way for the Meehan era. I set out 14 goals for this year last fall and, with the steady support of the faculty, staff and students, we have been able to achieve the majority of them and made progress on all of them. My number one goal was to improve the student experience, principally through the initiation of a freshman convocation to start the school year. This event was enthusiastically attended and highly motivational. It led to the great pumpkin carving event and participation in a new world record! Other important accomplishments have been a reform of the campus budget process along with a necessary belt-tightening; the preliminary design and siting of the nano- and bio-manufacturing building; start of the reconstruction of the IT infrastructure; continuation of the renovation of key areas; important progress on the campus transformational plan; and establishment of a plan to resolve Title IX issues. Unfortunately, during this year, we have seen a number of tragedies on campuses throughout the nation, most terribly at Virginia Tech, and we have not been immune. The campus was saddened and deeply affected by the loss of several students. I pray that everyone has learned lessons that will help prevent future misfortune and heartache. The most significant thing that I have learned this year is what a strong and vibrant place UMass Lowell is. This University is truly a miracle, providing a rigorous and trans- forming experience to our students, many of whom would otherwise be denied such an opportunity if we did not exist. Everyone in our community should be proud of our great accomplishments. I know that I am very uplifted by all that you do and will always cherish my time at UMass Lowell. Sincerely, David J. MacKenzie Interim Chancellor Tableof Contents SPRING 2007 VOLUME 10 NUMBER 2 SPRING 2007 Campus News Page 16 Volume 10, Number 2 Arts & Sciences . .2 The UMass Lowell Alumni Magazine is published by: Engineering . .6 Publications Office Health . .7 University of Massachusetts Lowell One University Avenue Outlook . .7 Lowell, MA 01854 Outreach . .11 Tel.(978) 934-3223 e-mail: [email protected] Research . .13 People . .15 Executive Director of Alumni Events . .34 Communications In Memoriam . .37 Patti McCafferty Class Notes . .40 Vice Chancellor for University Advancement John Davis Cover Story Page 20 Director of Publications and Editor Marty Meehan’s Bold New Vision: Mary Lou Hubbell 16 ‘The Critical Time Is Now’ Director of Programs and Alumni Services Diane Earl Feature Stories Page 32 Director of Regional Those Championship Seasons Alumni Programming 20 Twenty-Five Years Later: the Legacy Deme Gys of a Team and a Coach Alums Reminisce About a Staff Writers Little Greek History Geoffrey Douglas 24 Jack McDonough Remembering an ‘Incredible Contributing Writers 32 Education,’ and Passing on Its Lesson: Renae Lias Claffey ‘It’s Your Turn to Give Back’ Jennifer Hanson Elizabeth James Kristen O’Reilly Face of Philanthropy Sandra Seitz Roy Zuckerberg: From Textile Design Apprentice to Wall Street… Page 38 Shilale Design 38 The University of Massachusetts Lowell is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action, Title IX, H/V, ADA 1990 Employer. Page 24 Lowell Textile School • Massachusetts State Normal School • State Teachers College at Lowell • Lowell Textile Institute Lowell Technological Institute • Massachusetts State College at Lowell • Lowell State College • University of Lowell UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE SPRING 2007 1 CampusNews Colleges - Arts and Sciences $27 Million Funding Goes to Submillimeter-Wave Technology Out on the battlefield, the radar shows you something’s there. But what is it? You should know before you shoot. Answering the question—“What is it?”—is where the Submillimeter-wave Technology Lab (STL) makes itself use- ful—so useful that the U.S. Department of Defense has appropriated $27 million to fund its research for five years. “We and our government sponsors are the only research program that uses tera- hertz frequency measurement systems to collect real-world radar signature data,” The new “Vision” sound mixing console enables the SRT program to remain at the forefront says Dr. Robert Giles, STL director and of audio education. professor of physics, in explaining the lab’s unique position. SRT Program Installs New ‘High End’ Audio Console The STL is a member of the Expert The Music Department’s Sound The new unit, which has been Radar Signature Solutions consortium, Recording Technology program has installed in a refurbished room on the developed by the Army’s National installed a new analog mixing con- second floor of Durgin Hall, replaces Ground Intelligence Center. sole—which looks like it belongs in the one that was bought in 1989 and Radar signatures collected at STL are Starship Enterprise—that will offer which, Moylan says, “was showing its high quality and low cost. But “low cost” seniors and graduate students what very advanced age.” is a relative term when dealing with Prof. Will Moylan calls “cutting edge” Named “Vision” by its manufacturer, sophisticated equipment and extraordi- education. the new console has some old technol- nary precision. Made by API (Automated Processes, ogy that is used in very progressive Inc.) of Jessup, Md., this new piece of ways. It also can be interfaced with dig- equipment with its myriad of colored ital technologies. lights, switches and dials is more than “It’s also the only analog device seven feet long. The cost, including that’s been designed for mixing sur- installation and options, was slightly round sound. That’s very significant. more than $300,000. Surround sound has become a very “We’ve chosen to stay with analog important part of the film industry and technology because of its sound quality multi-media experiences. So it’s very and its applications for teaching and important for our students to have research,” Moylan explains. “There’s advanced skills in that area.” more flexibility in this kind of high-end This new console and surround analog console —which is high-end to sound capability “is one more way that a factor of three or four compared with the SRT program is staying at the fore- where the technology had been in pre- front nationally in audio education— vious iterations. It allows us to explore and one more way that we’re things in graduate courses and some positioning ourselves to assist industry undergraduate courses that we couldn’t in the further development of on a digital-audio computer platform.” technology and recording techniques,” Guy Demartinis, one of STL’s radar engineers, evaluates the high-resolution terahertz says Moylan. imagery of a scaled aircraft. 2 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE SPRING 2007 CampusNews For 25 years under the direction of Online Database Helps weed through mounds of data to find Dr. Jerry Waldman, now science Companies Switch to Safer safer cleaning products,” says Marshall, advisor to the STL, researchers have Chemistries TURI manager of Laboratory Testing. engineered and constructed scale ver- “If companies can view hard data on sions of all types of radar systems and It’s not easy to change. It’s even how safer industrial and janitorial models of actual targets, then measured harder in a manufacturing setting. products perform, then they are more and analyzed the radar scattering to The hazardous chemicals may be likely to pilot test alternatives and produce the characterizing signatures of doing a good job. Switching may affect replace the toxic chemicals they may ships, tanks and other tactical vehicles. product quality. What if the alternative be using.” The submillimeter, or terahertz, wave is is even worse for the environment and workers? The database provides access to the to the scale models as radar is to the results of more than 10 years of clean- real target in battlefield conditions. This was the challenge that ing performance testing conducted in The model fabrication operation, Jason Marshall took on when he the TURI Laboratory. This information for example, converts tactical target created the Toxics Use Reduction is married with risk screening based photos and computer images into Institute’s Laboratory database called on global warming potential, ozone high fidelity scale models—with scaled CleanerSolutions. The free database is depletion potential, volatile organic welds, bolt heads, track links, lug nuts, available at www.turi.org. content, flammability/reactivity and rust and battle damage, and non-metal- “The reason I developed the acute toxicity. For manufacturers, this lic parts like rubber pads, fiberglass database was because I couldn’t imag- combination of data is the key to and canvas. ine manufacturers taking the time to making a switch. Martin Receives NSF CAREER Award Fred Martin says science is messy and chaotic—and students should learn the truth about it. “Traditionally, the scientific method is taught in middle schools as something orderly, and experiments are done simply as confirmation of known answers,” says Martin, assistant professor of computer science. “Science is rigorous, but not orderly.” Now a $600,000, five-year CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation is helping Martin bring a little chaos to middle- school science education.