Alumni Notes
Updates from CLASmates
Keep in Touch with CLAS
We want to hear from you!
Send your update to: Editor, PO Box 117300, Gainesville FL 32611. Please include your degree (BA, MA, PhD, etc.), major/minor, graduation date and e-mail address if you have one. Photos are welcome too!
You can also e-mail your update to editor@clas.ufl.edu or visit http://clasnews.clas.ufl.edu/news/alumninotes/updates.html to fill out an online update form.
We look forward to hearing from you.
1942
Charles D. Sherman, Jr. (BS, Chemistry) was one of four recipients of the
2005 Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Distinguished Medical Alumnus
Award. Since its creation in 1981, 50 outstanding members of the Johns Hopkins
medicine family have been honored. Sherman earned his doctor of medicine degree
in 1945 from Johns Hopkins.
1957
Stuart D. Scott (BA, Anthropology) has published a true historical narrative,
To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation: Americans and Canadians Transported
to Tasmania in the 1840s. The book chronicles the fate of men who were sent
to a Tasmanian penal colony after staging an ill-fated revolution against British
rule in 1837 Canada.
Scott also earned an MA from the University of Arizona in 1959 and a PhD in 1963. He began teaching in 1964 in the anthropology department of the State University of New York at Buffalo, from where he retired in 1997.
1969
Ouida Crozier (BA, Psychology) is celebrating a decade as the Coordinator
for Diversity for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. She has received
two achievement awards for her work. Before joining the office, she worked as
a computer programmer in several state information management systems. She also
was licensed as a psychologist in Minnesota for 14 years and had a private practice
during most of that time.
1972
Kitty (Morgan) Simmons (BA, Library Science) has been appointed library
director at La Sierra University Library in Riverside, California, after having
served as interim director since January 2003. She has worked as a librarian
for 30 years at the university, chairing the library’s technical services
department since 1976.
1976
C. Herbert Gilliland (PhD, English; MA, Speech, 1965; BA, English, 1964)
has received the John Lyman Award from the National Association for Oceanic
History for his recently published book, Voyage to a Thousand Cares: Master’s
Mate Lawrence with the African Squadron 1844–1846. He is an English
professor at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
1978
Charles “Chuck” M. Sheehan (BA, Political Science) has been
a licensed massage therapist in Palm Beach County, Florida for 23 years with
his own private practice. He also has been director of marketing for ProCraft
of South Florida in West Palm Beach for the past three years. ProCraft is a
home improvement company specializing in permanent exterior coatings for residential
homes.
1982
Karen Bigos (BA, Interdisciplinary Studies) has been selling residential
real estate in the Short Hills, New Jersey market for 20 years. In 2003,
she was ranked number one for sales in her entire company, Burgdorff ERA Realtors.
She also ranked number two in the nation out of the 27,000 ERA agents in America.
With her partner, she closed more than $60 million in sales for 2003 and recently
crossed the $300 million sales mark for her career.
Cristina Marchetti (PhD, Physics) is a recent recipient of a William R. Kenan Jr. Professorship at Syracuse University. The Kenan Charitable Trust has endowed more than 200 professorships at colleges and universities.
Marchetti joined Syracuse University as an assistant professor in 1987 and was promoted to associate professor in 1992 and then to full professor in 1997. Her research in theoretical physics, which is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, is in the fields of condensed matter physics and statistical mechanics.
1985
US Army Lieutenant Colonel Jose Betancourt (BS, Psychology) is serving
a one-year tour of duty in Kabul, Afghanistan, as the Chief Medical Planner
for the Office of Military Cooperation until May 2005. He serves as the primary
adviser to the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) Surgeon General on all matters
pertaining to medical support for the Afghan Army. The ANA is currently rebuilding
the country’s National Army to a force of 70,000 soldiers following more
than 23 years of conflict.
Betancourt also earned a master’s degree in management from Troy State University, an MA in strategic intelligence from the Defense Intelligence College, and a PhD in public health from The George Washington University.
Joseph L. Scarpaci (PhD, Geography), a geography professor at Virginia Tech, received the Carl O. Sauer Distinguished Scholarship Award from the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers at the May 2004 meeting in Antigua, Guatemala. He also received Virginia Tech’s Alumni Award for International Education last fall.
Scarpaci studied under UF Professor Emeritus of Geography Cesar N. Caviedes from 1980–1985, during which time he served as an instructor of geography and Spanish.
1987
Kate DiCamillo’s (BA, English) first children’s book, Because
of Winn-Dixie, was made into a movie that premiered in theaters nationwide
on February 18. The 2001 book was a New York Times bestseller and received the
2001 Newberry Medal, an annual award given by the Association for Library Service
to Children to the author who made the most distinguished contribution to American
literature for children.
DiCamillo also has written The Tiger Rising, a National Book Award finalist,
and The Tale of Desperaux, which won the 2004 Newberry Medal.
Because of Winn-Dixie tells the story of a lonely young girl growing up in a
small Florida town who adopts an orphan dog she names Winn-Dixie, after the
supermarket where she found him. Actors Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson, Dave Matthews,
Eva Marie Saint and Annasophia Robb star in the film.
1989
Lori Stewart Gonzalez (PhD, Communication Sciences and Disorders) has
been named dean of the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences. The
appointment was effective January 1. Gonzalez has taught at UK since 1991, and
served as associate dean for academic affairs in the college until her recent
promotion. She is a professor of communication disorders and has been a member
of many university committees, including the Faculty Senate and the planning
committee for the college’s rehabilitation sciences doctoral program,
established in 2000.
1990
Jamie S. Gartenberg (BS, Chemistry) is a clinical assistant professor
of endodontics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.
He also has a private practice in Howell, New Jersey. Gartenberg earned his
Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from Columbia University in 1994 and a specialty
certificate in endodontics from New York University in 1997.
Jason Baird Jackson (BA, Sociology) is an assistant curator of ethnology at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History and an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma. He recently published a book, Yuchi Ceremonial Life Performance, Meaning, and Tradition in a Contemporary American Indian Community, which examines the historical role of the Yuchis, one of the least-known tribes of Native Americans in the southeastern US.
1991
Sanford A. Wallack (BA, Political Science) has opened a law office in
Atlanta after practicing criminal defense in the area for 10 years. A graduate
of Emory University’s law school, he specializes in criminal trials and
appeals in state and federal court. He also maintains a modest civil trial practice
with an emphasis in civil rights violations and animal law.
1992
Kelley Wood (BA, Political Science) married Keith Frohlich (BS, Business
Administration, 1996; MBA 2002) on August 7, 2004. She is the director of development
and alumni affairs for UF’s Frederic G. Levin College of Law.
1993
Matthew Cole (BA, American Studies) and Alex Patton (BA, Political
Science, 2001) have formed the Gainesville area’s first media buying agency,
Ozean Media, Inc. The pair will specialize in media placement.
Cole worked for five years at the Walt Disney Company in the Orlando and Paris theme parks.
Patton worked for six years at the publicly traded corporate insurance agency
Brown and Brown, Inc. He then returned to his hometown of Gainesville as the
sales manager for Cox Media before co-founding Ozean.
Rebecca L. Harris (BA, Anthropology and Classics) has been a social science
instructor at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon since 2003. She teaches
courses in anthropology, geography and sociology. She also serves on the board
of directors for the Clatsop County Historical Society.
2000
Jeffrey Hill (BA, Political Science) married Maurine Mullady (BA,
Political Science, 2001) on July 5, 2003. He is marking his fourth year at C.H.
Robinson Company, while she just received her law degree from the Stetson University
College of Law.
2001
Diedra Jaye Kelley (BA, English) lives in Los Angeles and is an assistant
to Joel Gallen, the producer of the 2003 television series “Pepsi Smash”
and the red carpet segment of the 2000 Academy Awards broadcast. Kelley is a
writer and aspiring actress.
2002
Kathleen Dow (MA, Linguistics) is teaching English at Asia University
in Tokyo. She also published a short story in the Tokyo Notice Board, a classified
ad magazine for foreigners, called “Weirdo Beacon.”
Rhemila Smith (BA, English) recently joined Miller, Legg & Associates,
Inc., a statewide consulting services firm, as a recruiter/trainer in the firm’s
South Florida office. She is responsible for the recruiting efforts of staff
at all levels, as well as managing the firm’s training programs for the
supervisory staff. Previously, she held a program position with the Community
Partners Program of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Smith earned a Master of Science degree in human resource management from Nova
Southeastern University in 2004.
2003
Randall J. Stephens (PhD, History) won the M.E. Bradford Dissertation
Prize given by the St. George Tucker Society, an interdisciplinary Southern
studies group aimed at promoting discussion across disciplinary, ideological
and topical lines among Southernists. The award is given annually by the society
for the best dissertation in Southern studies and carries a stipend and expenses
for attending the society’s annual meeting in Augusta, Georgia.
Stephens completed his dissertation, “The Fire Spreads: The Origins
of the Southern Holiness and Pentecostal Movements,” in December 2003
under the direction of History Professor Bertram Wyatt-Brown.
2004
Asher Lohman (BA, Political Science) is currently working for the M.M.
Grinnan Company in Jacksonville, Florida as an account executive. The advertising
specialties company produces logos for businesses and organizations.
New Faces in the Development Office Director of Development Cody Helmer (BA, History, 2000) transferred to the office in January, having worked at the UF Foundation since 2000 in a variety of positions, including assistant director of annual giving and director of regional development. In his current position, he is working with the basic sciences departments. Norman Portillo also joined the office in January as a director of development and is working with the social sciences departments. Portillo previously worked at Lexmark International on the vendor relations staff. The new members join Cynthia Butler, senior director of development, and support staff, Luz Mieses and Shirl Raulerson. |
 From left to right: Cody Helmer, Mary Matlock, Luz Mieses, Cynthia Butler, Shirl Raulerson and Norman Portillo. |
Photos:
Jane Dominguez