FALL 2015 UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE NEWS MAKERS BEHIND THE SCENES WITH TAMRON HALL, SMC ’92, AND KEVIN NEGANDHI, SMC ’98, HON ’15 CLA ’14 From the television studio to the emergency room, Owls show their relentless spirit. In this issue, two broadcast Ryan S. Brandenberg, journalists make a demanding role look easy; student job seekers shine; community teens learn business-savvy app design; and hospital staff respond heroically to tragedy. TEMPLE2 Letters 3 From the President 4 Campus Voice 5 News 10 Alumni News 37 Class Notes 52 The Last Word 16 22 32 ALUMNI RESEARCH STUDENTS LEADING THE CONVERSATION RAPID RESPONSE BEHIND THE BILLBOARDS Get an inside look at the lives and routines It was a typical night at Temple University Meet the resourceful, accomplished students of two Owls who host national morning Hospital’s busy emergency room. Then an featured in a Temple ad campaign. 26 television programs. Amtrak train derailed. COMMUNITY CODE PHILLY 12 IN PURSUIT OF HARMONY: Two alumnae honor a trailblazing choral music professor. A Temple program gives high school students programming skills and an entrepreneurial outlook. COVER PHOTO: Joseph V. Labolito FALL 2015 1 LETTERS FROM THE PRESIDENT It’s always a pleasure to get my VOL. 69 NO. 1 / Fall 2015 @TempleUniv alumni magazine in the mail, IN THIS ISSUE Vice President for Strategic Marketing and Communications Every day, I find a new reason to take pride all the way in #Japan. #TempleMade Karen Clarke @erikj03 in Temple University. In this issue of Temple, Joseph Labolito V. Kobe, Japan Associate Vice President of Communications you’ll find several examples of why we WHAT DO YOU THINK? Emily Spitale should all be proud of this great institution. Readers share anecdotes, memories, praise and tweets inspired by Director of Content Strategy The cover story is about two Temple OWLS ONLINE Maria Raha alumni who are thriving in the world of the spring issue. media. Each morning, people throughout Art Director Trish Brown the country wake up to Tamron Hall, SMC ’92, and Kevin Negandhi, SMC ’98, HON ’15, stars Designers of NBC’s Today and ESPN’s SportsCenter, SPRING 2015 UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE 1948 FOOTBALL ‘MATCH’ Trish Brown, Robert Frawley, Rhiann Irvine respectively. Both Tamron and Kevin are Correspondence enthusiastic and engaged alumni; in fact, Bell Building, 3rd Floor, 1101 W. Montgomery Ave., both of them spoke at graduation ceremonies Philadelphia, PA 19122 during the past academic year. Email Tamron and Kevin demonstrate how a [email protected] Temple education prepares students for the Website real world. That’s a theme taken up in our temple.edu/templemag Hire an Owl campaign, which is helping Janelle Croissette, a biochemistry major in employers learn about our amazing Temple In 1948, my girlfriend, a fellow Temple the Class of 2017, posted this image to Temple is published by Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education. students and graduates. If you have hired student, and I attended the Temple vs. Instagram with the caption “']['U PRIDE © Copyright 2015 by Temple University or can hire an Owl for an internship or a full- Boston University football game. I can’t around the world.” care team in the wake of that tragedy have Temple University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all time role, I encourage you to let us know at in every aspect of its operations. The university has pledged not to dis- won praise from local, state and national remember which team won, but my girl- temple.edu/takecharge. criminate on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, officials, but I was not surprised. That’s the For the Birds friend accepted my proposal for marriage. sexual orientation, marital status or disability. This policy extends to 25 OWLS TO FOLLOW ON Giving young people the skills they need During Christmas semester break, we took all educational, service and employment programs of the university. kind of devotion the Temple community Twitter to excel in their careers is one of our top pri- shows every day. the train to Washington, D.C., and here we orities. You can see that in our Urban Apps + We would love to know what makes you are, happily married 66-plus years later! Maps Studios, where Temple undergradu- John William and Lillian Wohlfarth proud to be a Temple Owl. I invite you to ates and local high school students partner Cloverdale, California share your thoughts at facebook.com/ to develop startups that address urban AN EARLIER ‘BIRD’ TempleU. challenges. The program shows the Temple I laughed when I saw the title of the Temple community is entrepreneurial, dedicated magazine I just got in the mail. “For the EXCELLENCE ALL AROUND and socially conscious. Birds” caused a huge flutter at the Medical Jeremy Kusnir, SMC ’07, Philadelphia, My time at Temple was one of the highlights Few events have made me prouder to be a School in the 1960s. Waldo Nelson, chair of responded on Twitter. KEY TO SCHOOL AND COLLEGE CODES of my life. What an excellent school, cam- part of this community than the way people the Department of Pediatrics and the pre- @TempleUniv It’s not Italy, but Owls are Neil D. Theobald pus, experience and education. Temple con- BYR Boyer College of Music and Dance across the university came together to aid eminent pediatrician in the U.S., and perhaps also on the top of Turtlehead Peak at Red College of Liberal Arts President, Temple University tinues to improve and be a wonderful CLA victims of the Amtrak Train 188 derailment the world, was publishing the next edition of Rock in Las Vegas. CPH College of Public Health attribute to the city and region. It will always in May. The dedication and compassion his pediatric textbook. According to scuttle- CST College of Science and Technology > To learn more about President Theobald, visit hold a special spot in my heart, and I really shown by our first responders and medical butt, he recruited his daughter to help orga- DEN Kornberg School of Dentistry president.temple.edu. look forward to your magazine. It is so pro- College of Education nize the index. In those days, it was all done CORRECTION EDU fessional, relevant and interesting. I love being ENG College of Engineering using 3 x 5 cards (ever heard of those?), and informed about the ways Temple is expand- Tom Heffner,FOX ’74, of Eldersburg, FOX Fox School of Business there were hundreds (1,500-plus?) of entries. ing and advancing. Keep up the great work! Maryland, wrote in to correct an error. In HON Honorary Degree Follow Temple! When the book was published, the index Beasley School of Law Julie Maillie, SMC ’07, ’11 the spring 2015 edition of Temple, we mis- LAW was perfectly alphabetized and organized, MED School of Medicine Newtown, Pennsylvania identified the medal that Richard V. facebook.com/TempleU twitter.com/TempleUniv and there in the “B” section was the entry Washington, FOX ’55, received. It was the PHR School of Pharmacy POD School of Podiatric Medicine “Birds, for the,” written by the only person Congressional Gold Medal, not the SED School of Environmental Design who could have gotten away with that Congressional Medal of Honor. SMC School of Media and Communication “impertinence”—his daughter. It was a FROM THE TWITTERVERSE SSW School of Social Work If a Temple Owl sends a message on Twitter, instagram.com/TempleUniv Temple University Alumni Group priceless comment on her take on her famous TFM Division of Theater, Film and Media Arts father’s work. We laughed for days. And is it called a hoot? To share your opinions with the Temple staff, THM School of Tourism and Hospitality Management decades later, seeing the phrase makes us @PopCultureFreak TYL Tyler School of Art email [email protected] or send a letter laugh again. Philadelphia to Temple magazine, Bell Building, 3rd Floor, Gwen Gentile, MED ’62 youtube.com/TempleUniversity plus.google.com/+TempleUniversity 1101 W. Montgomery Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19122. Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and Brooklyn, New York 2 TEMPLE FALL 2015 3 CAMPUS VOICE TRUE CLA ’14 TECH Ryan S. Brandenberg, You could say Abby Sydnes, Class of 2017, has science in her genes. The daughter of two engineers who met while working for IBM, she remembers watching her father build computers. And before she was in middle school, she had become interested in hard- ware development. During her sophomore year, Sydnes led a team of students who competed in Brown University’s ABBY SYDNES Robotics Olympiad. With DEGREE: BS, electrical and computer engineering, College of Science and Technology, Class of 2017 the help of James Novino HOMETOWN: Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and Jake Holohan, both with the lead professor to revo- Class of 2016, Sydnes built What were your responsibilities STEM-related fields, women as a NASA intern? lutionize the class with new tend to support each other. a robotic micromouse My main project involved work- projects and hopefully attract Our president of Temple’s meant to navigate a maze ing to combine integrated radio more women to the field. chapter of the Institute of and optical communication sys- Electrical and Electronics (also see “Smart Design,” tems into a hybrid for use in How do you see the environment Engineers is a female, and my Page 7). Though the robot deep space. for young girls in STEM- division chief at NASA was related fields? didn’t find its way out in female. The dynamic in the What does the fall semester In most of my electrical engi- workforce and the classroom is the allotted time, the team hold in store for you? neering classes, there are about definitely changing.