LOCAL NEWS

Philosophy of deanship

As a philosopher, Paul Benson says he will bring imagination to the task of leading the College of Arts and Sciences as its new dean.

When Paul Benson steps into his new role as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Dayton on June 4, he will rely on some of the traits he has developed as a teacher and scholar of philosophy.

Benson, who has served as associate dean for integrated learning and curriculum at UD since 2005, will lead more than 50 undergraduate and graduate programs and 240 full-time faculty in his new role.

His philosophical training, he said, has taught him to appreciate multiple perspectives and to approach others from a standpoint of empathy. ''You begin by listening to what the other person is saying and why they find their beliefs to be reasonable,'' he said.

Benson also thinks that philosophers bring imagination to the task, ''the ability to see beyond the immediate appearance of things and to conceive of alternatives that hadn’t been considered."

Benson has put those qualities to work throughout his 22-year career at the University of Dayton, where he has served as Core program director, humanities base assessment coordinator and philosophy department chair.

He also participated in the inaugural class of Marianist Educational Associates, a corps of lay faculty and administrators dedicated to preserving UD's Marianist heritage. In addition, he chaired the Marianist Education Working Group, which has recommended ways to redesign the undergraduate curriculum.

''My primary love as an academic is teaching and writing philosophy,'' said Benson, whose articles and book chapters have earned him an international reputation. He specializes in ethics and moral psychology.

Benson received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Olaf College in 1979. He was awarded a four-year Danforth Graduate Fellowship and a one-year Whiting Foundation Dissertation Fellowship to pursue doctoral work at Princeton, where he received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1984. He taught at Virginia Tech and the University of Vermont before coming to the University of Dayton in 1985.

Benson succeeds Mary Morton, who will become provost and vice president for academic affairs at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., after a three-year stint as dean.

Benson, who grew up in the Chicago area, lives in the Oregon District in Dayton.

Contact Paul Benson at 937-229-2602.

Simply the best

The Greater Dayton Advertising Association has named the Media Production Group the area’s best video, film and post-production company at the association’s Mercury Awards presentation.

The Greater Dayton Advertising Association has named the University of Dayton’s Media Production Group the area’s best video, film and post-production company at the association’s Mercury Awards presentation.

AT&T, the Dayton Daily News, Standard Register, the Dayton-Montgomery County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Children’s Medical Center are among the Media Production Group’s clients.

“From the moment the UD Media Production Group is contacted to quote a job, to additional requests after a project is completed, there is professionalism and attention to quality and detail that you just don’t find these days,” said Lesley Sprigg, Standard Register’s director of corporate communications. “It ‘s a joy to work with the group knowing that my project is as important to them as it is to me.”

The Media Production Group was created in 1988 within UD’s School of Business Administration as a University resource. Soon, the group’s production of videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs and web-based animations caught the attention of companies outside the University.

Mike Kurtz, who recently was named one of the top 35 video producers in the nation by AV Video and Multimedia Producer magazine, directs the group that has won more than 20 awards since 1999. The Mercury Awards were presented Thursday, May 17.

For media interviews, contact Shawn Robinson at 937-229-3391.

Dayton Early College Academy celebrates first graduation May 30

Seven students of the 2007 graduating class of the Dayton Early College Academy, a partnership between the University of Dayton and the Dayton Public Schools, will pick up two diplomas this year – high school and college – earning a two-year head start on four-year degrees.

Graduation is scheduled for 7 p.m., Wednesday, May 30 in the Boll Theater at Kennedy Union on the University of Dayton campus. Tickets are required and limited to student family and friends.

Dual graduate Alexis Ponder, who is headed to Xavier University to study neo-natal nursing, said being part of DECA’s first class has been difficult. As a start-up school, students were challenged by constant transition and change. But she stuck it out.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” she said. “I learned from my parents’ mistakes.” Ponder was quick to point out that her family is wonderful and very supportive, but with limited education, opportunities have also been limited.

She said she did well taking college classes while in high school, because she can handle an independent environment. “I think DECA is a great place for some people, people who are determined, willing to work hard and open to help. If you aren’t willing to take that support, you won’t do well here.”

The rest of the first graduating class of the innovative public high school is also sprinting toward higher education: overall the senior class has taken 70 college classes and will earn 1,252 college credits. Each of the 32 graduates is planning to attend college or continue post-secondary education; 10 students will attend UD.

“That’s very impressive for a start-up urban school of this type,” according to Thomas J. Lasley II, dean of UD’s School of Education and Allied Professions and one of the founders of the experimental high school. “We won’t really know how successful we are for a few years, but we are very pleased with the achievements and the transformations of our first graduating class.”

Early college high schools are based on the ideas that many students are ready for rigorous academic work at a younger age and research that shows students who earn college credit while still in high school graduate from college at a higher percentage, earn higher grade point averages and complete their degrees sooner, according to DECA Principal Judy Hennessey.

Founded four years ago with start-up funds from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, DECA focuses on preparing urban students for college – academically, socially and personally. It is the first high school of its kind in Ohio and in the vanguard of similar schools nationally to graduate its first class.

DECA focuses on first-generation college students, predominately from low-income or minority families, as well as those who might not be successful in a traditional classroom, according to Hennessey.

“We’re creating a different way of going to high school with a singular focus on preparing students for the rigor of college,” Hennessey said. That focus surrounds students with intensive instruction to correct academic deficiencies, programs and assignments to cultivate self-awareness and maturity, and extensive community service requirements to expose students to career possibilities.

Students must pass six “gateways” of requirements and make a final presentation to faculty on their achievements of specific criteria achievements to graduate.

The Dayton Daily News chronicles the days leading up to DECA's first graduation with a video presentation: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/mplayer/features/18385

For interviews contact Cilla Bosnak Shindell at shindell@udayton.edu or 937-229-3256.

Romero winner named foreign minister

Bernard Kouchner, co-founder of Doctors Without Borders, accepted the award that honors humanitarians before giving the Stander Symposium keynote address April 18. The symposium is UD's end-of-year display of student research and scholarship.

Newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy named Bernard Kouchner, the most recent recipient of the University of Dayton's Romero Award, France's foreign minister.

Kouchner, co-founder of Doctors Without Borders, accepted the award that honors humanitarians while he was in town April 18 to deliver the keynote address at UD’s Stander Symposium. The symposium is an end-of-year display of student research and scholarship.

“Kouchner once remarked that the suffering of mankind belongs to all of mankind,” said Mark Ensalaco, UD’s Roesch Chair in the Social Sciences and founder of UD’s human rights program. “The University recognized him with the Romero Award because we share that belief at the University of Dayton.”

The Oscar Romero Award for Leadership in Service to Human Rights at UD is named for the Salvadoran archbishop slain 25 years ago while officiating Mass because of his outspoken opposition to his country’s war and U.S. support for it. The award is presented to “an individual or organization that has earned distinction for the promotion of the dignity of all human beings and alleviation of the suffering of the human community.”

Past winners of UD’s Romero Award include: Juan Méndez, former director of America’s Watch and president of the International Center for Transitional Justice and United Nations special representative on the prevention of genocide; Casa Alianza, which operates programs to help homeless and abandoned children in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua; Radhika Coomaraswamy, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women; and Juan Guzman, the Chilean judge responsible for indicting former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

The University of Dayton is one of the country’s top 10 Catholic universities and home to the nation’s first undergraduate program in human rights.

For more information, contact Mark Ensalaco at 937-229-2750.

New leadership

Attorney Jack Proud will chair the board of trustees at the University of Dayton, his alma mater. Two other UD graduates, Steve Cobb and Bro. Ed Brink, S.M., join the board.

Jack Proud, an attorney with Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur and a University of Dayton trustee, has been named to chair the board at his alma mater.

Proud, who begins in July, succeeds R. Daniel Sadlier, who steps down after a decade on the board, the last four as chair.

In addition, UD has appointed two new trustees: Steve Cobb, president and CEO of Henny Penny Corp. in Eaton, Ohio, and Brother Ed Brink, S.M., newly named assistant for education for the Marianist Province of the United States in St. Louis.

Proud, a two-time University of Dayton graduate, rejoined UD's board of trustees in 2004 after serving a three-year term from 1998-2001, when he was president of UD's National Alumni Association.

Prior to joining Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur where he specializes in business and estate law, he served as president of Monarch Marking Systems Inc. and spent more than 28 years in various roles at the Reynolds and Reynolds Co., most recently as a division president. He graduated from UD with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1970 and a law degree in 2004.

''Serving the University of Dayton and my fellow trustees in the chair's role is a labor of love for me,'' Proud said. ''The entire UD community is united in devotion to our great university and the Catholic and Marianist education it delivers to help develop the next generation of servant-leaders."

Both Cobb and Brink also graduated from UD. Cobb, who received an MBA in 1986, has served at the helm of the food service equipment company since 1996. He is part of a group of investors who owns the Cincinnati Reds. Brink, who received a bachelor's degree in engineering technology in 1982, has served as director of UD's Center for Catholic Education since 2005. Since 1998, he has directed the center's Lalanne program that places education graduates in urban Catholic schools, where they live in community and take classes at UD to earn their master's degrees. For 13 years, he worked at Chaminade-Julienne High School as a teacher, campus minister, assistant principal and principal.

Cobb and Brink replace Sadlier and the Rev. Joseph Lackner, S.M., director of developing regions for the Marianist Province of the United States.

The University of Dayton is the largest private university in Ohio and is recognized as a top-tier national university. Founded by the Society of Mary (Marianists) in 1850, the University of Dayton ranks among the 10 best Catholic universities in the nation.

Contact Lynnette Heard, executive director of the president's office, at 937-229-4122.

A taste of hope

Student fighting cancer offers The Taste of Hope with a cookbook that's raised $3,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Sidelined by leukemia and chemotherapy, University of Dayton student Jamie Baker started cooking dinner for her family. Her compilation of family recipes and suggestions turned into a cookbook that has raised more than $3,000, all of which she will donate to the American Cancer Society.

Baker, from Fort Thomas, Ky., started compiling the cookbook in March. It includes her story about her fight with cancer, inspirational quotes and Bible verses. She initially printed 150 books, but those sold out in a week. Anyone interested in obtaining a cookbook for a minimum donation of $15 can e-mail Baker at bakerjac@notes.udayton.edu.

“Most people say they try to start reading, but they can’t finish it because they get emotional,” the chemical engineering major and environmental engineering minor said about The Taste of Hope. “They say I’m a huge inspiration. When they get flustered at work, they realize it’s not a big deal. Knowing your life has benefited someone else is one of the best feelings.”

Baker also realized during her battle that she can work to benefit others by being an engineer. When asked whether the thought of using her chemical engineering background to help develop cancer-fighting drugs crossed her mind, she said, “It hasn’t, but I care more.

“I got into environmental engineering because of global warming. As I study more and see environmental concerns that cause some cancers (her form is not caused by environmental factors), I’m more interested in that.”

Before her illness, Baker said, “It wasn’t clear to me how closely engineering and service are related. Now it’s more common sense. Engineers are typically the start of any project and the first line of making sure those projects keep people safe.”

As a student, Baker already has done work to make sure people are safe. She helped monitor compliance with EPA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations at GE Aircraft Engines in Evendale, near Cincinnati.

Doctors diagnosed Baker with acute myelogenous leukemia last October. She went into remission after a month of intense treatments and has been in remission ever since. Her doctors told her there is a 50 to 60 percent chance the cancer could return to her body. If it doesn’t return before February 2009, she can say she is cured.

“I’m getting through this with the love, support and prayers of family and friends, especially my UD friends including my boyfriend, Jonathan Rausch,” Baker said.

Some of that support includes free printing and binding of some of the cookbooks courtesy of the parents of a UD classmate. Amy Tiedge, Rausch’s stepsister and a UD student, is selling wristbands that say “I Will” for $5. Proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Baker said hundreds of family members and friends have been wearing the wristbands that imply “I will beat this.” Anyone can order wristbands by e-mailing Baker.

Baker, a junior, resumed classes this summer after missing the 2006-07 school year.

For interviews, contact Shawn Robinson at 937-229-3391.

Searching for African-American roots

Kathleen Henderson, director of first-year student engagement for the University of Dayton, may learn a lot more about her ancestors if her family is selected for a national television program that traces the histories of African-American families.

As a child, Henderson spent a lot of time while her hair was braided, listening to her great-grandmother and great-aunts “talking about family business,” telling stories of family, faith, love and survival, and, in the process, creating the love for genealogy that led Henderson to submit her family for the research project.

Producers for the PBS series African American Lives recently notified her that her family was one of 10 finalists out of 2,000 applicants for the next series. The series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., debuted in 2006 and was rebroadcast earlier this year.

“My siblings and I grew up so close to so many relatives that we heard many of the family stories over the years,” Henderson said. “Some of those stories came to life when we would go to Middletown, Ohio, to decorate family graves each Memorial Day – a tradition that continues today. Those experiences helped connect us with family who had gone before us.”

Henderson said the series previously has featured well-known African-Americans including Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Quincy Jones. She responded to a “casting call” for the second season, which will select a not-so-well- known family.

Gates, W.E.B. Du Bois professor of the humanities and chair of African and African-American studies at Harvard University, and his team of researchers interview family members, pore over written records and even take DNA samples to trace family origins and place a family’s journey into the context of American history. Tracing the ancestry of African-Americans is particularly challenging because often records were not kept or were destroyed over the years.

Henderson, who will be notified around June 1 if her family is selected, is particularly interested in finding out whether one family story is true.

“My mother’s family name is Woodbridge. For years we were told that ‘when Poppa was freed, he left the plantation determined to leave everything of the master’s behind —including his name. As he struck out from the plantation he came across a wooden bridge and decided that Woodbridge would be his—our—new name,’” Henderson related.

“It's a nice tale. However, as I became an adult, I learned of Woodbridge, Virginia, and suspect that this might be our American roots,” she said. “Now that I don’t have to worry about a spanking from the elders, I'd like help to either confirm or refute my thinking.”

For interviews, contact Kathleen Henderson at henderson@udayton.edu or 937-229-3774.

Taking care of business

For the second straight year — seven of the last eight — a UD School of Business Administration team won the Ohio Graduate Business Student Case Competition.

The University of Dayton’s graduate business students continue to prove they are the people to turn to for that winning small business plan. For the second straight year — seven of the last eight — a UD School of Business Administration team won the Ohio Graduate Business Student Case Competition.

UD’s team of Lyalya Esadova, Amy Smith, Connor McCracken, Eric King and Chris Thunander won on the strength of its plan for Hearthstone Country Inn in Cedarville, Ohio. The team won $3,000 for its winning presentation made last month in Columbus.

“They did an absolutely sterling job that will help that small business into the future,” said Joe Schenk, a UD executive-in-residence.

Schenk and Tom Winning, another UD executive-in-residence, advised the team along with Mike Bodey from the Small Business Development Center at Wright State University.

The competition is open to all Ohio colleges with graduate business or accounting programs and students pursuing a master’s in business administration, master’s of science of management or master’s of accounting degree. Judges evaluate teams’ oral presentations, case studies and solutions for Ohio Small Business Development Center clients.

The Ohio Department of Development hopes the competition provides graduate business students an opportunity to work on practical business problems, contributes to Ohio’s economic development and enhances links between Ohio’s graduate business programs and business and industry.

Small Business Development Centers of Ohio, Small Business Administration, Palo Alto Software and Kent State University sponsored the competition along with the Ohio Department of Development.

For more information, contact Joe Schenk at 937-229-3116.

Urban revitalization

The University of Dayton and the city of Dayton will hold a public meeting May 22 to discuss a $3 million Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grant proposal to remediate approximately 26.5 acres of largely vacant former NCR Corp. land between Brown and Main streets.

The city of Dayton will submit an application on behalf of the University of Dayton for a $3 million Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) grant. If approved by the Clean Ohio Council, the grant will enable the University to clean up approximately 26.5 acres of largely vacant former NCR land between Brown and Main streets.

The city and the University of Dayton will hold a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, on the fourth floor of the College Park Center, 1529 Brown St., to discuss the project and solicit public input.

The proposed project, known as the University of Dayton Research, Education and Development Initiative (UD-REDI), includes both remediating the soil and renovating the 477,000-square-foot College Park Center into a combination of facilities for research and development, commercial, University and secondary education purposes.

UD shared details about the proposed project at a meeting with community leaders and neighborhood residents on March 28. The public meeting will include a presentation on the history and assessment of the site, explanation of how the funds would be used, a description of the proposed development plan and a review of the CORF application schedule. The public will be invited to ask questions. The application can be viewed at the Dayton Metro Library, East Branch, 2008 Wyoming St.

''The scale of the UD-REDI project undoubtedly will be enormous over time. Based on current projections, total development costs on the full 50-acre site should exceed $200 million,'' according to the application. ''The UD-REDI site will provide a unique setting for the largest private investment in the city of Dayton in many years.''

In June 2005, UD purchased 49 acres of land and buildings from NCR Corp. for $25 million. Later, UD bought an additional acre, bringing the project area to 50 acres. Most of NCR's manufacturing facilities on the site were removed in the 1970s, and the property has remained largely unused since then.

Burt Hill, an international design, architecture and engineering firm, is currently developing a master plan for all 259 acres of campus, including the new land. UD's board of trustees is expected to approve the master plan in October.

The transformation of an urban brownfield, the largest developable parcel in the city of Dayton, has received the support of campus, community and political leaders.
In March, UD received approval from the Ohio EPA for an Urban Setting Designation, which will allow UD to remediate and redevelop the entire site from Brown Street to the Great Miami River safely and in a cost-effective manner. UD has pledged to clean up the soil in accordance with the requirements of the Ohio Voluntary Action Program, Ohio's brownfield redevelopment law. In December 2005, the city of Dayton received $2.54 million from the state's Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund for the UD Riverfront Redevelopment Project to remediate 11 acres of the land facing the river.

"The University of Dayton stands at a crossroads. We are poised to embark on the largest expansion of campus in our history -- and, with that, we have an opportunity to spur development in the city of Dayton,'' said Daniel J. Curran, UD president. ''As a community partner, we face an unparalleled opportunity to build UD's campus for the 21st century, while driving economic development in a region that needs new jobs."

In the past five years, UD has completed $168 million in campus construction projects, some with private developers. UD officials plan to recover part of the land purchase price through some commercial development.

Written comments on the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund application will be accepted through May 25. Comments and questions should be directed to Gwen Eberly, City of Dayton, 101 W. Third St., Dayton, OH 45402, 937-333-3805, Gwen Eberly.

The Clean Ohio Council is expected to meet July 25 to allocate $43 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund grants to projects around the state.

Contact Ted Bucaro, UD's director of government and regional relations, at 937-229-4158.

Alumnus dies in Daytona Beach accident

Garrett Loiselle, who participated in last week's spring commencement ceremony, died today in Daytona Beach following an accident.

Garrett Loiselle, 22, a recent University of Dayton graduate from Normal, Ill., died early this morning in Daytona Beach, Fla.

According to information from the Volusia County Medical Examiner's office, he died after apparently falling and hitting his head inside his hotel room. It appears to be an accidental death. An autopsy will be performed.

''I'm greatly saddened by this tragic accident,'' said Daniel J. Curran, UD president. ''Our prayers and sympathy are with the family and all of Garrett's UD friends. This is a very close community, and a death like this touches us all deeply. In times like these, we come together to support each other."

Loiselle graduated from UD with a bachelor's degree in finance on Sunday, May 6, according to UD's commencement list. His sister, Lauren, just finished her second year at UD.

Officials from Breakaway Tours are meeting with all ''Dayton to Daytona'' tour participants today to share facts, alleviate rumors and provide grief counseling services. Student Government Association officials are arranging a prayer service at a local Catholic church. In addition, Curran; the Rev. Christopher Wittmann, S.M., director of campus ministry; and Carol Cummins-Collier, assistant vice president for student development, plan to travel to Daytona Beach today to offer the University's support to the students and hold a special Mass on Sunday.

Approximately 2,500 participants, mostly University of Dayton students and recent graduates, signed up for the Breakaway Tours ''Dayton to Daytona'' trip May 8-14. They make their own travel arrangements, reserve rooms through the tour company and participate in various tour-sponsored activities.

''The thoughts and prayers of the entire Breakaway Tours team are with Garrett, his family and friends,'' said T.J. Donnelly, president of Breakaway Tours. ''Thirty of our team members have been traveling with these students in Daytona Beach, Fla., and have actively engaged since the accident this morning. We're doing everything we can to help students, friends and family cope with and respond to the tragedy."

Friends remember Loiselle as quiet and courteous. ''He was one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met,'' said Brendan O'Grady, a recent UD graduate who made the trip.

Funeral arrangements are pending. UD plans to hold a campus memorial service, but a date hasn't been set yet. The Dayton Flyers baseball team will offer a moment of silence in Loiselle's memory before its noon home game at Time Warner Cable Stadium on Sunday.

Contact Rachelle Khalaf, Breakaway Tours, at 416-625-1808 or Teri Rizvi, University of Dayton, at 937-229-3255 or 367-2878.