Michigan State University • Summer 2010 • Vol. 27, No. 3 THE MSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION IN THE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA Cover: With the current surge in social media, the MSUAA has leveraged the new communication strategy to become a lifetime network for alumni. 14 SPARTANS THRIVE IN SOCIAL MEDIA Many MSU alumni have emerged as players in the newly emerging social media, a phenomenon that is revolutionizing traditional notions of marketing, communication and social relationships. This icon denotes content 22 in the magazine that relates to MSU’s celebration of SOCIAL MEDIA SOLUTIONS FOR MAJOR SOCIETAL ISSUES Arts & Culture. Keeping up with the rapid surge of social media, MSU researchers are exploring the use of new technology to address major issues confronting society. 28 DEPARTMENTS President’s Perspective 4 In-Basket 5 Around Circle Drive 6 Sports 34 Alma Matters 40 State’s Stars 46 Obituaries 50 Lasting Impressions 56 MSU Alumni Magazine Michigan State University Governance Robert Bao President: Board of Trustees: Dianne Byrum Editor Lou Anna K. Simon Joel I. Ferguson Colleen M. McNamara Donald W. Nugent Dave Giordan Chairman Faylene Owen Publication Design Melanie Foster Coordinator George Perles Vice Chairperson Diann Woodard Linda Dunn Lois Furry Chris Schaffer Michigan State University Alumni Association Copy Editors National Board of Directors Executive Board Officers Beverly Burns Michael McDonald Christopher Horner Laura Casey Michael Morrow President Kendra Cleary Martha Moyer Letters to the Editor Sue Hansen, April Clobes Erika Myers Editor, MSU Alumni Magazine Vice President Dee Cook Kevin Ohl 242 Spartan Way Veronica O’Connor Brian Cullin Don Patten East Lansing, MI 48824-2005 Secretary David Dieterle Gregory Pittman Robert Pawelski Stan Eichelbaum Joel Ring Include name, address, phone, e-mail Treasurer Thomas Emling Jeffrey Rivard and MSU degree/year (if applicable). James Goodheart Steven Rothwell Executive Board Members Letters may be edited. Barry Gray Janel Rutzen Terry Denbow Michael Hanak Val Schnable Via Fax: Tara Harrison Kelly Holdcraft Ryan Schram (517) 432-7769 Jeff Hicks Margaret Holtschlag Kathleen Schwartz Bob Hornik Via e-mail: Curt Hoopingarner Allyn Shaw Shane Smith, SAF President [email protected] Brian Hopkins Jeffrey Smith Glenn Stevens George Johnson Richard Sternberg Robert Ulrich Richard Knoblock Megan Stirrat Kelley Wall Bonnie Knutson Kevin Stotts Steve Webster Robert Kriss Jacqueline Taylor Karin Wurst David Kutsche Timothy Unger Advisory Council Jacob Lestan David Vargas Henry Balanon Richard Lewis Rich Whipple Thomas Benner Carole Lick Kenneth Williams John Black Nicole McCallen Stephen Wong Peter DeLong Advertising Manager Advertising (517) 355-8314 College Alumni Officers/Constituency Alumni Liaisons [email protected] Kathryn Reed Marci Muller Elizabeth Wheeler College of Agriculture & College of Human Medicine College of Natural Science COPYRIGHT 2010 Natural Resources MSU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Linda Conradi Kim Camp Rick Seguin College of Music College of University Advancement College of Arts & Letters Pam Schoen Osteopathic Medicine MSU Alumni Association Connie Lawson College of Nursing Vicki Essenmacher Michigan State University Eli Broad College of Business Andrea Kovac College of Social Science 242 Spartan Way Cassandra Book College of Communication School of Social Work East Lansing, MI 48824-2005 College of Education Arts & Sciences Amie Kemppainen (517) 355-8314 College of Veterinary www.msualum.com Mary Mertz-Smith Kim Allan College of Engineering James Madison College Medicine MSU is an affirmative-action, Katie Cable Dan McKean equal-opportunity employer. Honors College Lyman Briggs College Page 2 Summer 2010 MSU Alumni Magazine William Lukaskiewicz Audrey Martini & Candy Curtis Mary Meyer Kathy Grace U.S. Armed Forces/R.O.T.C. School of Criminal Justice School of Labor and School of Packaging Barb Anderson Lena Loeffler Industrial Relations Scott Witter Department of Forestry School of Hospitality Business Ellen Rzepka School of Planning, Design Medical Technology Program and Construction Michigan State University Alumni Association Staff Members Scott Westerman John Hill Regina Cross Laurie Robison Executive Director Director of Alumni Career Services Event Coordinator/ Assistant Director, Marketing Claire Brender Kim Kittleman Travel Programs and Membership Services Director of International Director of Alumni Engagement Jennifer Decker Sarah Skilling Alumni Relations Tim Bograkos Executive Staff Assistant Project/Event Coordinator Peter DeLong Student/Young Alumni Brenda Haynes Barbara Susa-Fineis Director of Sales and Sponsorships Coordinator Lifelong Education Assistant Administrative Assistant Cheryl Denison David Brown David Isbell Duferia White Director of Alumni Services Assistant Director Alumni Groups Career Services Coordinator Clerk/Receptionist and Programs Michelle Burnett Karen Moser Dan DiMaggio Special Events Assistant Membership/Magazine/ Director of Student Louise Cooley Legacy Assistant Alumni Foundation Assistant Director Lifelong Education Alumni Interest Groups State News Alumni Association Making the Michigan State University MSU Alumni Band Jeremy Steele - (517) 214-2434 Connection: Gordon Spink - (517) 349-1826 To join or renew, change your address or MSU Telecasters Alumni Club obtain benefit information, contact the MSU Black Alumni Pamala Saunders - (586) 246-0959 MSUAA office. Richard Lewis - (517) 694-0544 Regional Clubs 242 Spartan Way MSU Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, There are regional clubs nationwide and Michigan State University and Transgender Alumni around the globe. You can find information East Lansing, MI 48824-2005 Brian Cullin - (313) 665-7494 about these regional clubs at our Web site: (877) MSU-ALUM (678-2586) Residence Hall Association www.msualum.com (517) 355-8314 Derek Wallbank - (517) 230-8388 (517) 355-5265 - fax Kevin Newman - (517) 282-0291 www.msualum.com Click RightRight Through Through for for MSU MSU www.msualum.com www.msualum.com PagePage 3 PRESIDENT’SPERSPECTIVE ome of us more generationally challenged Spartans recall when the phone rang and you always knew S where it was—and it was 99.99 percent reliable and you could hear a pin drop. Well, progress comes in fits and starts, and nobody values mobile connectivity more than me. Our options today for social interaction and networking are so much broader, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sparty now has a little device pocket in his armor, though he probably would be all thumbs. Many Spartans are early adopters, and I’ll simply point to the MSU Alumni Association’s Scott Wester- man. Scott was leveraging Twitter and other social media for fun and profit before most of us even knew what it was. Now, of course, he’s doing it for MSU. We’ve formed a relationship with enterprise social networking company INgage Networks to enhance our MSU Extension services and facilitate other projects, including work with our academic communications researchers. A number of our College of Communication Arts and Sciences faculty study social networking media, and they’ll have close access to INgage staff working in the building. Increasingly, social media are the subject of academic inquiry, in particular their impact among young people. For those who aren’t early adopters, we’re offering a New Media Driver’s License course again this summer taught by Richard Cole of our Department of Advertising, Public Relations, and Retailing and two digital enterprise executives. Social media provide another world-flattening set of technologies. You saw the first images of a jet landing in the Hudson River and scenes of strife on the streets of a curtained Iran via social media. Whether you’re embracing it or ignoring it, electronic social media are a force for transformation, and that’s where Team MSU works. At MSU, we have social media channels to communicate with alumni, students, and the public. Our university-level Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube links are now highlighted on our Web pages for easy access, and they’re complemented by posts, tweets and links from our colleges, departments, faculty and students. You can follow the work of researchers in remote Kenya and China and yes, if you’re a Spartan sports fan, there’s an iPhone application for you. We’re using social media and digital channels to draw us closer together and also to connect with those outside of Team MSU. Remember our three core values? Quality, inclusiveness and connectivity all work together to make a difference. At Michigan State, there really is an app for that, employing technology that doesn’t change what we do so much as help us to do it better. We saw it at the Spartan TweetUp last January at the International Center to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief. We see it as our researchers explore how to use social media to improve the rate of organ donation. We see it in the work that Career Services Network does with students and graduates to tap online channels to form their own career and social networks. So alumni, stay in touch. Sincerely, Lou Anna K. Simon, Ph.D. President, Michigan State University Page 4 Summer 2010 MSU Alumni Magazine INBASKET PROACTIVE APPROACH women, like Dora basketball program in the Outstanding cover story Stockman, and I hope country in the past decade. about “How Michigan State that Spartans will visit That was an assessment the is Shaping the Future.” our museum to learn sportswriter made before MSU What keeps MSU ahead more about all of them! went to its sixth Final Four in of these