2009 Winter Saint John's Magazine (Alumni Magazine)

              MAGAZINE WINTER 2009
The Heart of the Matter
Finding New Answers through
Biomedical Research
F E A T U R E S
20 Schnobrich ’01 Wins
Bronze
Eleven years after he pulled his first oar
on the Sag at SJU, Matt Schnobrich
rows to a Bronze in Beijing.
8 From Lab Rats to Leading
Researchers
Former denizens of SJU science labs
are looking for, and finding, better
ways to treat major diseases through
biomedical research.
22 Adviser to Obama
Denis McDonough ’92 named deputy
assistant to President Obama for stra-tegic
communications for the National
Security Council.
D E P A R T M E N T S
2 From the President
4 Behind the Pines
18 Cloister Walk
24 Service to the Church
28 Advancing the Mission
30 Johnnie Sports
32 Alumni Connection
38 Milestones
44 Inspiring Lives
1
Led by the monks of Saint John’s chanting
psalms, mourners process from the Abbey
Church to the cemetery after the Mass of
Christian Burial for Br. Dietrich Reinhart,
OSB. (Photo by Cass Mackert)
Dear friends,
As interim president, it is an honor to greet you from
these pages and welcome you to the current issue of the
Saint John’s Magazine.
Our community has been through a very difficult
time in recent months. We first coped with the news of
Br. Dietrich Reinhart’s illness in late September, then ac-cepted
his resignation as president in October. Ultimately,
we mourned his passing in December after his valiant
effort to beat metastatic melanoma.
On the facing page, you’ll find excerpts from Ab-bot
John Klassen’s homily as well as my eulogy to Br.
Dietrich, delivered at his Mass of Christian Burial in
January. If you were unable to attend this moving event,
there is a video of it on the alumni Web site (sjualum.
com/videos). In addition, we’ll be celebrating his life at
Saint John’s Day on April 17, here in Collegeville. All are
welcome. You’ll be hearing more about this, but in the meantime, mark your calendars.
Br. Dietrich left us a thriving institution. Nowhere is this more evident than in the vibrant
life of this university and its graduates. From laboratories in major research institutions to the
Olympics to the White House, Johnnies continue to make their mark on the world and for the
world.
Our cover feature brings you the story of seven prominent alumni in the biomedical sciences
at work in laboratories, medical schools, hospitals and businesses. Their work with heart disease,
cancer, diabetes, obesity and AIDS holds out great hope for humanity.
Thom Woodward ’70 visited with Matt Schnobrich ’01, our first Johnnie Olympic Medal-ist,
last October for the inside story on Schnobrich’s journey to the Bronze. To complement
Schnobrich’s inspiring story, we also profile four Johnnies who have achieved significant amateur
athletic goals of other kinds, from shotputting to mountain-climbing.
You may not have picked him out amongst the throngs at President Obama’s inauguration,
but Denis McDonough ’92, a senior foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign, was there.
Al Eisele ’58 talked to McDonough just before the festivities began and writes about his new
appointment with the National Security Council and, of course, his Johnnie football record.
We also introduce a new section called “Service to the Church,” in which we profile gradu-ates
of the Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary. Kristi Bivens, a 2008 alumna, shares her
experiences as a pastoral associate in a clustered parish and her insights into the challenges and
joys of this new structure.
Br. Dietrich was fond of saying, “The best is yet to come.” I couldn’t agree more.
Sincerely,
Daniel A. Whalen ’70
Interim President
The Magazine of
Saint John’s University
Winter 2009
Editor
Jean Scoon
Editorial Team
Rob Culligan ‘82
Glenda Isaacs Burgeson
Troy Fritz ’88
Greg Hoye
Jon McGee ’84
John Young ’83
Contributors
Rose Beauclair
John Biasi
Rob Culligan ’82
Al Eisele ’58
Michael Halverson ’01
Michael Hemmesch ’97
Mary Heer-Forsberg
Troy Fritz ’88
Ryan Klinkner ’04
Franklin Knoll ’62
Jean Scoon
Josie Stang
John Taylor ’58
Thom Woodward ’70
John Young ’83
Joe Young ’73
Editorial Assistant
Julie Scegura
DESIGN AND Production
Greg Becker, Karen Hoffbeck
Editor Emeritus
Lee A. Hanley ’58
University Archivist
Peggy Roske
is published in the fall
and winter and
CSB/SJU Magazine
is published with the
College of Saint Benedict
in the spring.
Addres Changes
Saint John’s University
P.O. Box 7222
Collegeville, MN 56321
rathmann@csbsju.edu
Contact
320-363-2591
800-635-7303
www.csbsju.edu
Leters
Saint John’s Magazine
Office of Institutional Advancement
P.O. Box 7222
Collegeville, MN 56321
E-mail
jscoon@csbsju.edu
2
FROM THE PRESIDENT
3
The Mass of Christian Burial for Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, presi-dent
emeritus, was celebrated at Saint John’s Abbey Church on Janu-ary
6, 2009. Abbot John Klassen presided and Dan Whalen, interim
president, delivered the eulogy. In memory of Br. Dietrich’s passing,
we include excerpts from the Abbot’s homily and Dan Whalen’s eulogy
below. Readers will find full scripts of the homily and eulogy, as well as
a video of the Mass, at sjualum.com/videos.
Abbot John Klassen, OSB:
“During these past three months, Dietrich struggled to live in
the tension of accepting the tough prognosis of Stage IV mela-noma
– and his deep desire to use his remaining time to jumpstart
the Benedictine Institute. He had a fierce desire to live, to beat
the odds. Sometimes he struggled with his temper, looking for pa-tience.
As president Dietrich was used to having control over many
things but wily, creative melanoma does not yield to typical con-trol
strategies. It was difficult for him to believe that his time might
be short, not because he lacked courage or the passion to live, but
because the disease is so tough. Ultimately, Dietrich was able to
step into that new future with God that our faith promises.”
Daniel Whalen ’70:
“Dietrich had a remarkable capacity to see a future, to capture a
dream, to get the big picture. And, simultaneously, he could grasp
all the intricate details that needed doing to make the dream come
true. It was as if he was aided by a magical eyepiece or optical
instrument, able to see far off into remote galaxies like a telescope,
while also able to see sub-atomic particles like an electron micro-scope.
“Br. Dietrich felt that he was 100 percent responsible 100 per-cent
of the time. If he dreamed a thing or was asked to take on an
assignment, he believed that he was required to see it through no
matter what. There was no stopping him from relentlessly moving
forward. He did so with patience and grace, grounded in confi-dence
and aided by willing collaborators that he carefully recruited.
I was one of those collaborators. I daresay that many, if not most
of us gathered here today were his joyful and willing collaborators.
Or perhaps I should say unindicted co-conspirators.
“Br. Dietrich was passionate about Saint John’s – every bit of
Saint John’s: the Abbey and his confreres of nearly 40 years, the
Prep School, Liturgical Press, Collegeville Institute, Boys Choir,
Arboretum, and more.”
In Memoriam
Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB
May 17, 1949 – December 29, 2008
4
csbsju.edu/news
Behind the Pines
Whalen ’70 Named Interim President of Saint John’s
SJU Board of Regents Chair Jim Frey ’78 announced the
appointment Oct. 21 of alumnus Daniel Whalen as interim
president.
“I am confident that Dan will diligently tend to the mission of
Saint John’s with particular focus on the priorities the Board of
Regents has outlined for his term,” said Frey. “I am certain that
Dan’s leadership will inspire the trust and confidence of everyone
in the Saint John’s community.”
Whalen replaced the late Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, president
emeritus, who announced his resignation on Oct. 16.
“Dan is a remarkably kind and generous man,” said Reinhart.
“His willingness to serve as interim president of Saint John’s
University reflects a deep love and gratitude for the educational
community that has nurtured his heart and fired his desire to make
a difference in the world. The leadership of Saint John’s could not
be in better hands!”
From Minnesota to D.C.
Whalen grew up in Argyle, MN and East Grand Forks, MN,
where, after attending Saint John’s Preparatory School for one year,
he graduated from Sacred Heart High School. In the mid-1960s,
Whalen, his mother and his siblings moved to St. Cloud, MN.
Whalen majored in government at SJU.
Following graduation, he worked on a factory assembly line,
attended the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Affairs,
served as a policy analyst at the federal government’s Admin-istration
on Aging, managed George McGovern’s presidential
campaign in Minnesota’s sixth congressional district, was a policy
analyst with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy
of Sciences, worked as a management consultant in Washington,
D.C., was director of health planning for New York state and
served as a health policy specialist for Governor Jay Rockefeller of
West Virginia.
From Stanford to Business Success
After Whalen earned MBA and MA degrees from Stanford
University in 1980, he worked at AT&T as a business marketing
manager and as the first director of cellular telephone operations
in New York state and New England, served as vice president of
operations of Cellular One in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
and was executive vice president and member of the board of
directors of Tetra Tech, a publicly traded engineering company.
Whalen founded or co-founded five telecommunication industry
companies including Whalen & Company, an international cel-lular
telephone development company that he headed for 10 years.
Whalen is presently principal investor and executive chairman of
Vello, Inc., a start-up teleconferencing company.
A Record of
Philanthropy
In addition to
Whalen’s academic
and professional
achievements, he
is a philanthropist
who truly embod-ies
the spirit of
giving. Whalen has
extended his gener-osity
to Saint John’s
University and Ab-bey;
the College of
Saint Benedict; Saint
Benedict’s Mon-astery;
Laketrails,
a summer camp in
northern Minnesota;
The Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota; Anna
Marie’s, a shelter for battered women in Saint Cloud, MN, named
for his mother; a number of projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
Saint-Martin-in-the-Fields in London; Boys and Girls Clubs
of Oakland, CA; Girls Inc. of northern California, the Diocese
of Oakland, CA; Redwood Day School in Oakland, CA.; Lick-
Wilmerding High School in San Francisco; Tulane University;
Center for Early Intervention on Deafness in Berkeley, CA; the
University of California at Berkeley; the Positive Coaching Alli-ance;
and Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
The Whalens and Saint John’s
Whalen’s financial generosity is matched only by his willing-ness
to share his time and talents. Whalen has been a member of
the Saint John’s Board of Regents since 1997, serving as its chair
from 2004-07, and was campaign chair for the recently completed
capital campaign One Generation to the Next, which secured $168
million against a goal of $150 million and has been the largest and
most successful capital campaign in the University’s history to date.
Whalen also serves on the advisory board of the University of
Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and as trustee of
Holy Names University in Oakland, CA, Redwood Day School in
Oakland, CA, Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco and
Laketrails Base Camp at Oak Island, MN.
Whalen lives in Oakland, CA with his wife, Katharine, and their
three children, Matthew, Anna and Michael.
The Board of Regents has initiated a search for the 12th presi-dent
of Saint John’s University.
Dan Whalen ’70, at the announcement of his
interim presidency
Photo by Michael Becker
5
csbsju.edu/news
Academic Profile and Diversity Increase
SJU welcomed 461 new Johnnies into the fold last August.
With 519 new entering students at CSB, the class of 2012 num-bers
980.
The academic profile of the new class improved from last year’s
entering class and is more racially and ethnically diverse. In total,
American students of color and international students make up
nearly 12 percent of the new entering class this fall, the highest
number and percentage in the colleges’ history.
SJU and CSB together enrolled 3,965 students, which marked
the third straight year total combined undergraduate enrollment
has exceeded 3,900 students.
It is the second largest combined enrollment at CSB and SJU,
only behind the 2007 total of 3,966 students.
SJU has an enrollment of 1,897. CSB’s enrollment is 2,068, its
highest enrollment.
Overall retention of continuing students remained very high.
Retention of students from the first year to the second year totaled
90 percent, a retention rate that ranks among the highest in the
country.
School of Theology Numbers Rise
Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary saw its number of
enrolled students rise to 147 this fall, which continues an upward
trend for the school. This is the most students enrolled in the
School of Theology•Seminary since 2005 and is up from the 139
students enrolled in the fall of 2007.
Of these 147 students, 57 are full time, 75 are new to the school,
and 42 are living on campus, the largest number in six years.
They include 18 international students, the most enrolled in a fall
semester in the last 12 years, representing 10 different countries.
Benedictine men and women are also strongly represented, with 13
women and 12 men coming from 16 different communities.
Gagliardi Honored with Stagg Award
Legendary SJU football coach John Gagliardi received the
Amos Alonzo Stagg Award – the highest award given by football
coaches to a fellow coach – on Jan.13 at the 2009 convention of
the American Football Coaches’ Association. Previous recipients
include Paul “Bear” Bryant (1983), Woody Hayes (1986) and Joe
Paterno (2002). The late Bill Walsh received the award posthu-mously
last year.
“The Amos Alonzo Stagg Selection Committee, and our board of
trustees, felt that no one deserved his honor more than you,” wrote
Grant Teaff, AFCA executive director, in a letter to Gagliardi last
May. “…You are one of the great humanitarian leaders in our na-tion,
and you have done our game and our profession proud. John,
your enthusiasm, integrity and zeal for the
game is deeply appreciated by the AFCA.”
Gagliardi’s 60 years of collegiate coach-ing
is the most in college football history,
surpassing the prior record of 57 years
held by Stagg. Gagliardi broke Robinson’s
NCAA record for the most games coached
(588) Sept. 20 against Concordia College-
Moorhead in Collegeville.
The first active head coach to be inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame (Class
of 2006) and the 2007 Liberty Mutual Division III Coach of the
Year, Gagliardi has a 461-125-11 (.782) collegiate career record
and a 437-119-10 (.781) record at SJU. Gagliardi tied the all-time
collegiate win record of 408, held by the late Eddie Robinson,
long-time Grambling coach, on Nov. 1, 2003, and broke the all-time
record a week later on the way to a perfect 14-0 season and
an NCAA Division III championship.
Goodman ’09 Finalist for Global Student Entrepreneur
Award
Jon Goodman ’09,
founder of JGoods
Custom Shoes, was
a finalist for the
2008 Global Student
Entrepreneur Awards.
The awards program
is the premier award
for undergraduate
students running
companies and is
considered a catalyst
that inspires students
to start and grow entrepreneurial ventures. The annual competi-tion
this year attracted 1,000 collegians from more than 300
universities in 11 countries.
Goodman founded JGoods Custom Shoes in 2002 when he was
a sophomore in high school. JGoods Custom Shoes is a Web-based
company that began by providing hand-painted custom sneakers
for clients worldwide. As interest in the company grew, Goodman
developed a Shoe Customization Kit that makes it possible for
individuals to customize their own shoes as long as the shoes are
leather.
Goodman’s work can be seen in stores from Minneapolis to
Japan. Some of his famous clients include Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams,
Joe Mauer, Paul Wall and Cam’Ron.
John Gagliardi
Jon Goodman ’09, founder of JGoods Custom
Shoes
Photo by Steve Woit Photo by Michael Crouser
6
Behind the Pines
csbsju.edu/news
Nobel Laureate Maathai Receives Dignitas
Humana Award
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai received the
10th Dignitas Humana Award from Saint John’s School of
Theology∙Seminary on Sept. 30. Following the presentation of the
award, Maathai gave a lecture, “Environment, Democracy, and
Peace: A Critical Link.”
Maathai, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, is an envi-ronmentalist
and advocate for human rights around the world.
Weinstein Featured at 2008 Heritage Day
Author, environmentalist and chef Jay Weinstein was the fea-tured
speaker at the annual Heritage Day festivities at CSB/SJU in
September.
This year’s theme for Heritage Day was “Stewardship and the
Family Table.”
Weinstein, who most recently wrote The Ethical Gourmet
(Broadway, 2006), spoke on “Serving up a Brighter Future: Sus-tainable
Foods for the Family Table.”
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with a degree
in journalism from New York University, Weinstein is a protégé of
restaurateur and author Jasper White. He has written two cook-books,
and his articles have appeared in The New York Times and
Travel + Leisure magazine.
The first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize,
Maathai was recognized for her holistic approach to sustainable
development, which embraces democracy and human rights,
particularly women’s rights.
The Dignitas Humana Award annually recognizes and encourag-es
the efforts of individuals who do exceptional work on behalf of
the poor and disenfranchised. It honors those who exemplify the
Judeo-Christian values of service, respect, kindness and compas-sion
in their work to advance the dignity of human persons.
(L to R) Dr. William Cahoy, dean of the School of Theology·Seminary; Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, Dignitas Humana Award recipient; and Abbot John
Klassen at the 2008 Dignitas Humana Award ceremony.
Jay Weinstein, chef, author and environmentalist, during Heritage Day.
Photo by Andra Middlestaedt
7
Behind the Pines
csbsju.edu/news
SJU Graduates Join Benedictine Volunteer Corps
Ten SJU 2008 graduates have joined the Saint John’s Benedic-tine
Volunteer Corps (SJBVC).
Saint John’s Abbey initiated the SJBVC in 2003. Its mission
is to provide SJU students or alumni with nine to 12 months of
volunteer service at a Benedictine monastery while participating in
the monastic life of that community. The volunteer corps supports
the life and apostolic work of the host monastery.
While one volunteer is serving at Saint John’s Abbey in Col-legeville,
the rest of the 2008 group are spread around the world,
including at the Colegio Sant Anselmo in Rome, Italy; Saint
Maur’s Abbey in Hanga, Tanzania, Africa; Abbey of the Dormition
in Tabgha and Jerusalem, Israel; La Abadia de Jesu Cristo Crucifi-cado
in Esquipulas, Guatemala; and the Manquehue Community
in Santiago, Chile. Class of 2008 SJBVC volunteers in front of the Abbey Church. L to R,
back row: Mike Bancks, Brady King, Phil Hanson, Cole Woodward, Ben
Demarais. L to R, front row: Charlie McCarron, Joe Weichman, Mike Leither,
Theo Eggermont, Charlie Sawyer.
Fine Arts Programming Events
Minnesota Orchestra
Sunday, April 5, 2:00 p.m.
Petters Auditorium, CSB
Hubbard Street Dance II
Saturday, April 18, 7:30 p.m.
Petters Auditorium, CSB
Perla Batalla
Saturday, April 25, 8:00 p.m.
Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, SJU
Visit www.csbsju.edu/finearts or call
the box office at 320.363.3577 or
320.363.5777 for more information.
8
In 2006, a group of Saint John’s alumni, led by Steve Nelson ’84 and Dr. Dan Garry ’80, came together to
establish an endowment at Saint John’s in honor of their beloved professor, Fr. Cyprian Weaver, OSB. Their
ultimate goal is to endow a chair in biomedical science in Fr. Cyprian’s honor. In this feature story, we pro-file
seven alumni who are playing leading roles in the biomedical sciences today.
Steve Nelson
’83 is among a
group of alumni
leading an initia-tive
to establish a
Saint John’s Chair
in Biomedical Sci-ences
in honor of
Fr. Cyprian Weaver,
OSB.
According to Nelson, former “lab rats” and students of
Fr. Cyprian who are helping establish the endowed chair
include Dr. Daniel Garry ’80, Dr. Chris Longbella ’81, Dr.
Bernie Long ’80 and Pete Long ’85.
Nelson has been a key promoter and fundraiser. The goal
is to raise $2 million, and they are about a third of the way
there. Although Nelson’s career is in finance, he was a natural
science major and has maintained a love for science, fostered
in part by Fr. Cyprian, who was his freshman-year faculty
resident.
“Fr. Cyprian is a man of faith and a man of science,”
Nelson explains. “He is living proof that faith and science
are complementary. That message resonates with all those he
touches. We ‘lab rats’ see him as Fr. Cyprian but also as Dr.
Cyprian, who has two Ph.D. degrees. He has had a tremen-dous
impact on so many of us, and at the request of the
Archbishop, Cyprian even helped establish a medical school
in Taiwan.
“The university had a powerful example in Br. Dietrich
[and his battle with cancer] of the need for biomedical
advances,” adds Nelson. “Br. Dietrich embraced the project
of establishing the biomedical chair. It will ensure that bright
young men and women at Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s are
able to pursue careers in science and medicine.”
The field of biomedical science has experienced explosive growth
in recent years. Fueled by technology and a global scientific com-munity
that is more collaborative than competitive, it is comprised
of scientists who are committed to working together to solve
increasingly complex problems of disease and human health.
With a strong science tradition at SJU, it’s not surprising that
there are Johnnies at the forefront of research and innovation in a
number of areas within the biomedical sciences. The past successes
and current research Saint John’s graduates are pursuing are likely
to produce results that impact the global medical community well
into the future.
Dan Garry ’80, Joe Metzger ’80, Chris Longbella ’81, Steve
Fling ’82, Matthew Ogle ’94, Manu Chakravarthy ’95 and Aaron
Mohs ’02 are just a few of the outstanding alumni working in
the biomedical sciences – as practitioners in clinics and hospitals,
teaching in medical schools, conducting laboratory research and
clinical trials, and leading and innovating at biomedical businesses
and biotech firms. They are working to develop treatments and
cures for some of the world’s biggest health challenges – heart and
cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and obesity and AIDS.
They are all leaders in their fields with lengthy resumes high-lighting
patents for medicines and devices, published research
Finders, Seekers:
Fr. Cyprian Weaver and Steve Nelson ’83
Chair in Biomedical Sciences
Discovering New Answers through 9
findings, and awards
for teaching, mentor-ing
and advancements
in their fields. None
of them, however, are
resting on their laurels.
All seven profiled here
demonstrate a passion for
inquiry, discovery and in-novation,
and a genuine
dedication to advancing
medical knowledge that
improves the human
condition and ultimately
improves the lives of
their patients.
In all, these gradu-ates
are just a sampling
of the many SJU and
CSB alumni pursuing an
interest in and love for
science that was fostered
by their professors and
honed in the laboratories
and classrooms on campus. One graduate explained that when he
was at Saint John’s 25 years ago, most science majors either went
to medical school, dental school or became science teachers. Today,
however, career options for science majors are much broader.
Many can bridge the gap between the laboratory and the clinic
with positions that allow them to do research and patient care. The
health professions now include programs for physical therapists
and physician’s assistants; biotech and bioengineering firms also
offer a variety of positions in research and development for science
graduates. And according to these graduates, a few emerging areas
within biomedical sciences
include bio-informatics,
bio-engineering and phar-macological
genomics.
Biology is the most
common major leading to
a career in the biomedical
sciences and is the third
most popular major
for current Saint John’s
students. Specific areas of
study within the bio-medical
sciences include
genetics, biochemistry, im-munology,
cell physiology,
neuroscience and mo-lecular
biology. According
to Mani Campos, CSB/
SJU associate professor of
biology, there is growing
student interest in cellular
and molecular biology,
which follows trends of
biology overall. The biol-ogy
department recently added a molecular immunologist and
neurobiologist to the faculty.
“We value being able to offer a wide variety of courses in all
areas,” explains Campos. New developments in the field and
research findings make it necessary for faculty to update syllabus
and course selections every semester. A new requirement for biol-ogy
majors is a course titled Bio-Seminar, which ensures that stu-dents
achieve a level of mastery in reading and analyzing scientific
journal articles – articles they may one day soon be writing.
Saint John’s is committed to maintaining a high quality
through Biomedical Science by Mary Heer-Forsberg, CSB ’83
program, requiring top-notch facilities,
well-equipped laboratories and good in-strumentation,
such as the new automated
DNA sequencer. It’s important for today’s
science majors to gain experience conduct-ing
research and using the latest instru-mentation.
Many of them hone these skills
pursuing individual research projects with
their professors.
According to Campos, “Student research
at Saint John’s is meaningful and is intend-ed
as a tool to teach students the process
of science, how to think, how to work in
10
the lab, how to use different equipment.
It’s also a unique form of learning through
which students get regular one-on-one in-teraction
with their professor,” he adds. In
addition to school year projects under the
guidance of professors, students can apply
for a 10-week summer research fellowships
funded by grant monies.
“This is really an exciting time in
biomedical sciences,” explains Campos.
“We’re not just finding ways to treat
diseases, but we’re researching the causes in
order to alleviate the disease. What’s excit-ing
and amazing to our students is that
they can really contribute to the study and
treatment of these diseases.”
Read on and learn how Saint John’s
alumni are helping make huge strides to
combat some of the leading threats to hu-man
health and well-being. These men are
tenacious problem-solvers with longterm
visions of what they hope to accomplish.
And despite the scientific terminology they
use to describe their work, each expresses
a core desire to help and heal people as his
ultimate goal.
Tackling the “Epidemics” of
Diabetes and Obesity
Having grown up in India, enrolling at
Saint John’s as an undergraduate was un-usual,
but Manu Chakravarthy ’95, M.D.,
Ph.D. says “it was one of the best decisions
I ever made. At Saint John’s I got a very
good liberal arts education, and my profes-sors
were very instrumental in shaping the
course of my career.
“Those initial seeds that developed my
passion for research were planted at Saint
John’s,” says Chakravarthy. “I had great
experiences working with Fr. Cyprian
Weaver in the lab.” He also completed two
summer research projects. Chakravarthy
says that one of the keys to his success has
been having good mentors along the way,
starting at SJU. “Four years there were
critical and formative years for me in every
way,” he adds.
Today, Chakravarthy is the associate
director of clinical research in the Division
of Experimental Medicine with Merck
Research Laboratories in New Jersey. His
work bridges basic “bench” research and
clinical medicine, focusing specifically on
developing treatments for diabetes and
obesity.
Chakravarthy recently joined the staff of
Merck Research Labs. Prior to this he was
an instructor in the Washington Univer-sity
Department of Medicine’s Division
of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid
Research after completing his fellowship
there. He earned his combined M.D./
Ph.D. at the University of Texas Medical
School and the M.D. Anderson Cancer
Center in Houston.
He enjoyed the academic environment
at Washington University, which facilitated
innovation and discovery, and is excited
about the potential of his new position
with Merck. “I am deeply passionate about
utilizing my expertise in the basic sciences
of metabolism to help develop the next
generation of highly effective therapies to
combat diabetes and obesity to significant-ly
decrease the burden of these epidemics,”
he explains.
Chakravarthy’s work with Merck focuses
on diabetes. “We’re trying to understand
how to address this problem, control it,
cure it and find better ways to prevent
diabetes and obesity,” he explains. “But the
problems are so huge that one solution is
insufficient.” A combination of approaches
is needed, such as finding out how to
intervene to curb appetite in a way that’s
healthy, a project he’s working on.
Thanks to technology,
Chakravarthy notes, biomedi-cal
science has been able to
make much larger strides in
diagnosing, treating and curing
diseases like diabetes. “The Worldwide
Web has transformed how we collabo-rate
and made a huge impact on science
and how we access information. The world
is a smaller place, one in which it’s easier to
collaborate.
“Overall it’s a privilege to be able to
work on this and make a difference for
people. The nature of the profession is
that you’re constantly learning and your
successes enrich the people around you,”
he says. “I find the greatest satisfaction in
taking care of people with diabetes and
obesity and getting to know them on a
personal level. The most gratification for
me is on the faces of my patients.”
Manu Chakravarthy ’95, M.D., Ph.D., studies diabetes. He notes that the Web has had a huge impact
on scientific research, making it much easier to collaborate than it used to be.
11
12
Entrepreneurial Spirit Fueled by
Scientific Problem Solving
1994 graduate Matt Ogle’s successful
career as an innovator, problem solver and
entrepreneur with a passion for scientific
discovery was inspired in part because of
an important relationship he had with a
pioneer in biomedical sciences early on in
his career.
“During the first three years of my
career I was able to work with industry
‘legend’ Dr. Walt Lillehei at St. Jude Medi-cal.
I was able to sit in his office, get his ad-vice
– it was just an amazing opportunity
early in my career.” Lillehei is considered
the premier innovator in the world of
heart research, and was St. Jude’s founding
medical director.
At the time, Ogle was a research sci-entist
in the heart tissue valve unit at St.
Jude Medical. He worked in the Cardiac
Surgery Division for ten years, helped
launch five products, filed 32 patents,
and earned the Hendrickson Technical
Achievement award for “inventorship and
development.” During that time, Ogle
also completed his master of science from
the University of Minnesota in chemical
engineering and materials science.
Today, Ogle is president and CEO of
Lumen Biomedical in Plymouth, MN, a
biotech firm he co-founded in 2003 after
leaving St. Jude. Lumen Biomedical makes
devices for cardiac surgery and proce-dures.
The company now has three FDA
approved products for treating vascular
disease, heart problems and stroke—“three
of best devices in the market” says Ogle.
Ogle invented his firm’s FiberNet
Embolic Protection System which ensures
continuous blood flow to patients follow-ing
heart surgeries by safely removing de-bris
or obstructive materials that had been
dislodged during surgery that could poten-tially
cause neurological damage. In 2006
Lumen Biomedical won an award from
the Minnesota High Tech Association for
an emerging medical device company.
Ogle is please that his company recently
completed a large pivotal clinical trial with
very successful results for patients—cutting
in half the number of strokes.
In recent years, Ogle also founded other
biotech firms such as MedCity Medical
Innovations, and he will likely continue
to do so. Recognizing his entrepreneurial
ventures, the University of Wisconsin
recently appointed him Entrepreneur in
Residence at Madison’s School of Biomedi-cal
Engineering.
Ogle can trace his well-honed research
skills and intuition back to the start he
got in the laboratories at Saint John’s. As
an undergraduate he took advantage of
opportunities to do research on campus
and secured a summer research fellowship
at Oak Ridge National Laboratories in
Tennessee.
“I spent a lot of time in the lab at Saint
John’s and did quite a bit of research with
Professor Brian Johnson in inorganic
chemistry. I was able to present my results
at state and regional conferences, which
had a phenomenal impact on me,” he says.
“It was a very professional environment
in which to develop my skills and build
relationships to start my career.”
Matt Ogle ’94, M.S., scientist and medical
device entrepreneur
13
Making Strides in the Lab to Fight
Cancer and Now AIDS
For years, 1982 graduate Steve Fling,
Ph.D., intended to become a professor and
teach undergraduate science at a college
like Saint John’s. “I wanted to be a Dr.
Rodell,” he said, referring to Dr. Chuck
Rodell, CSB/SJU professor of biology.
Instead, Fling has enjoyed a 20-year
career in the medical research sector (both
profit and nonprofit), devising vaccines,
treatments, and therapies for a variety of
diseases. “I will forever be indebted to
Chuck Rodell for the love of teaching and
genetics that I ‘inherited’ from him,” he
said, leading to what’s been an exciting
and satisfying profession. Today Fling has
what he says is his most exciting position
yet, heading up an international effort to
develop a vaccine for the AIDS virus.
Fling is currently Project Director for
the Neutralizing Antibody Consortium
(NAC), an international consortium of sci-entists
at 16 leading academic and research
institutions – including Cornell, Harvard,
Oxford – that are working collabora-tively
to develop a vaccine for HIV. The
consortium is a project of the International
AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Fling
directs the team that coordinates the col-laborative
research of NAC and serves as
a liaison between IAVI management and
the scientific investigators. In addition, he
was recently named Project Director of the
newly established NAC Vaccine Center
at Scripps Research Institute in southern
California, the world’s largest private,
nonprofit research organization.
“I’m excited about working for IAVI
because AIDS is a very important global
medical and social issue, and it’s also a very
difficult and challenging scientific prob-lem,”
Fling explains. “The lessons learned
from this project will potentially apply to
vaccines for other diseases. And on a per-sonal
level, this work will exploit my intel-lectual
interests as well as my background
in immunology and genetics.”
Fling’s post-doc experience studying the
genetics of immunology is what launched
his career in research. Working with Dr.
Don Pious at the University of Wash-ington,
he explains “I made a surprising
discovery while using genetics to study
the function of human immune response
genes and identifying a novel function of
the HLA-DM locus … it opened an en-tirely
new area of immunological research.”
That discovery was published in the
journal Nature in 1995 and propelled him
into the research field. For ten years, he
conducted vaccine development research
with the biotech firm Corixa in Seattle and
later with GlaxoSmithKline. He developed
vaccines and garnered several patents for
ovarian cancer diagnosis and therapies
and treatment and diagnosis of sexually
transmitted diseases.
Fling is pleased that the opportunity
with IAVI presented itself and that his
experience up to that point put him in
the position to tackle the challenge. “I
was interested in taking my professional
experiences into the nonprofit sector and
in particular into work that could benefit
the third world, values I’m sure were also
nurtured at Saint John’s. I feel extremely
fortunate to have come to a role that
bridges all these interests,” he says.
Steve Fling ’82, Ph.D., heads up an international
effort to develop a vaccine for the AIDS virus.
14
1980 Saint John’s classmates Daniel
Garry, M.D., Ph.D., and Joe Metzger,
Ph.D., never expected to find themselves
on the same team. But since last spring,
the two are combining their expertise,
national reputations and passions for
medicine, and bringing more innova-tion
and cutting edge investigations to an
internationally recognized cardiovascular
program at the University of Minnesota
Medical School.
Garry leads the University’s Cardio-vascular
Division and currently holds
the St. Jude Medical Endowed Chair in
Cardiovascular Disease. He is also the
first director of University’s Lillehei Heart
Institute, established to honor Dr. Walt
Lillehei, a pioneer in cardiology and the
“father” of open heart surgery. Metzger
joined the medical school faculty just
recently as Chair of the Department of
Integrative Biology and Physiology and
the Maurice Visscher Endowed Chair in
Physiology. Garry describes his colleague
and former classmate as “an internationally
recognized molecular physiologist who has
distinguished himself in the study of heart
disease and muscular dystrophy.”
Prior to joining the University of Min-nesota
staff in 2007, Garry was Director
of Cardiac Regeneration and the Stem
Cell Center and was the Gail Griffiths
Hill Chair in Cardiology at the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical School.
Garry’s interest in research was fueled
when, as an undergraduate, he worked
with Father Cyprian Weaver in the lab. He
earned his M.D./Ph.D. at the University
of Minnesota. “I chose to pursue a dual de-gree,
because I wanted to be associated with
discovery-based work. It was appealing and
gratifying for me to be able to do patient
care, research and teaching,” he says.
Garry joined the University because of
its “very rich environment for cardiology
research” and its international reputation.
“Heart disease remains the number one
killer, yet our knowledge about it is very
limited,” he says. “My focus is on cell
therapy and molecular genomics—deter-mining
which genes make people suscep-tible
to heart disease. The new frontier in
heart disease research is children,” he adds.
“We’re looking for ways to modify their
Daniel Garry ’80, M.D., Ph.D., is the first
director of the Lillehei Heart Institute at the
University of Minnesota.
Garry and Metzger Team Up to Elevate a 15
risk factors, adding medication to prevent
future problems.”
As the Lillehei director, Garry hopes to
continue to grow the Institute’s investiga-tive
team, bringing in more researchers
and collaborative partners like Metzger.
Metzger joined the Minnesota staff after
more than a decade at the University of
Michigan Medical School as a professor
and Associate Chair of Molecular and
Integrative Physiology and Director of the
Center for Integrative Genomics. Metzger
earned his doctorate in Biology and Physi-ology
at Marquette University. Both he
and Garry have earned several professional
honors and awards for their research and
teaching and published numerous research
findings.
Metzger’s current research focuses on
cardiovascular performance in health and
disease that features genetic and chemical-based
therapies spanning from molecule
to whole animal. “We seek to use experi-mental
gene therapies to prevent, halt and
ultimately reverse heart disease in animals
and humans,” he explains. His most
notable work was inventing the molecular
“band-aid” for the failing heart (cited in
a 2005 paper published in the journal
Nature). “This work spans from molecu-lar
cardiology to the potential for direct
clinical application in patients…. We hope
to advance to clinical trials of our mo-lecular
band-aid treatment to protect the
heart function in children with muscular
dystrophies.”
Metzger believes integrative biology
and physiology are at the leading edge of
discovery of the biomedical sciences in the
21st century. He feels gratified to be work-ing
in the field. “I really didn’t know this
career existed when I was a Saint John’s,”
says Metzger. “It is both highly rewarding
and very challenging, making it exciting
and fun. I feel I am the luckiest guy in the
world to have this position and to interact
daily with brilliant scholars from all over
the world.”
Both Johnnies are clearly motivated by
the “thrill of discovery” and the potential
in their field. “I believe that what we now
know about health and medicine is just
the tip of the iceberg,” Garry explains. “It’s
a rapidly moving field that is revolution-izing
and reinventing itself.”
Joe Metzger ’80, Ph.D., invented a molecular
“band-aid” for the failing heart.
Photo by Steve Woit
High Profile U of M Cardiology Program
16
Seeking Cancer Treatments
through Nanotechnology
When Aaron Mohs ’02 finished his
doctoral program in pharmaceutics and
pharmaceutical chemistry at the University
of Utah, he was looking for a post-doc
experience where he could do new and
innovative research. He found it at the
Emory University-Georgia Institute of
Technology Center for Cancer Nanotech-nology
Excellence (CCNE), where he is
currently a Distinguished Fellow.
“The role of our work at CCNE focuses
on making cancer therapies more predict-able
and more personalized for individual
patients,” he says. Using nanotechnology
and nanoparticles – extremely small mol-ecules
– Mohs’ investigations seek ways to
more effectively administer cancer drugs,
targeting them to specific tissues, and
ultimately creating more specialized cancer
therapies.
“One of the major concerns with nano-technology
is the safety of nanoparticles
themselves,” says Mohs. A major area of
my research is devoted to understanding
the unique biological interactions of nano-particles
with the body. By understanding
these interactions, we can not only design
the most efficient therapeutics, but also do
it safely.”
In addition, Mohs is collaborating with
a surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania
to develop nanoparticles that effectively
light up tumors and surrounding cancer-ous
tissues during surgery so surgeons can
more easily see what to remove. They are
also developing optical instrumentation to
make this possible.
Mohs appreciates the ability to work
with and talk to the “end user” at Penn on
this project. “Collaboration and under-standing
between multiple areas of science
are necessary in order to solve complex
problems of disease,” he says. “I am
constantly interfacing and working closely
with chemists, biologists and engineers
to produce interdisciplinary results. Our
ultimate goal is to improve the quality of
life for people with cancer and improve the
success rate of therapies. That’s not some-thing
any scientist can tackle alone.”
Mohs values the multidisciplinary
nature of his post-doc experience but can
appreciate an even bigger picture view
in the industry today. “We also need to
work with people outside of the sciences.
Outstanding new technology can lead to
entrepreneurial ventures,” he explains. “It’s
important to effectively communicate the
significance and implications of your in-novations
to people who don’t necessarily
have a technical or scientific background
but who will be instrumental in getting
the technology into the market where
people will benefit from your discoveries.”
Throughout his educational experience
at Saint John’s and the University of Utah,
Mohs says he benefited tremendously
from excellent faculty mentors. One of
his favorite roles in graduate school and in
his fellowship has been mentoring senior
undergraduates and graduate students in
biomedical science and engineering. As
a graduate student he received the Wolf
Prize for excellence in teaching and men-toring.
“Being able to help someone else
achieve success in the biomedical sciences
field is very gratifying,” he says.
Mohs is amazed by the pace and scope
of inquiry and discovery in the biomedical
sciences. “I could have never anticipated so
much of what is going on in science today
– I’m doing things I was never exposed to,”
he says. “And clearly, I never anticipated
doing research in nanotechnology.”
Aaron Mohs ’02, Ph.D., is investigating the use of nanotechnology and nanoparticles to create more specialized cancer therapies.
17
Keeping up with technology, con-tinually
learning and keeping focus
on patients
“I never envisioned using something
like this,” Chris Longbella ’81 says of the
DaVinci “robot” he uses to do laparo-scopic
surgery. “Surgically, technology
is always changing,” Longbella explains.
“Juggling the instruments with my hands
the old-fashioned way was in a sense like
playing Twister. Now I use a robot to do
laparoscopy sitting at a console five to 10
feet away from the patient using hand and
foot controls. I am more precise, have bet-ter
vision, and have four robotic arms that
don’t get tired and don’t have tremors.
“The newest surgical technologies are all
about making surgical procedures accom-plish
more in a minimally invasive way”
he adds. “With a robotic laparoscopic ap-proach
the procedures can still be difficult,
but it’s much easier for a surgeon to do,
and a much, much easier procedure for the
patient to have.”
Longbella is an obstetrician/gynecologist
with the Marshfield Clinic in Eau Claire,
WI. The rapidly changing landscape of
medicine is one thing that he loves about
his profession. “I’ve never had a day when
I didn’t want to get up and go to work. I
enjoy medicine, its incredible variety, and
really enjoy the people I serve. It has been
challenging, which I expected, but I didn’t
fully understand the opportunity it would
give me to be a lifelong learner. Physicians
need to be dedicated to asking why, to
continuing to learn. I’m constantly fitting
new information and experiences into my
framework of understanding, trying to get
better at what I do.”
His love for learning was developed
at Saint John’s under the Benedictine
influence, he says. After graduating with a
degree in natural science, he taught science
at Saint John’s Preparatory School for four
years before moving on to medical school
and a residency at the University of Min-nesota.
As a practicing physician, Longbella
says he is compelled to keep up with the
latest findings, methods, instrumentation
and technology. In addition to patient care
and surgery, Longbella is also involved in
teaching medical students and residents
as a clinical professor through both the
University of Minnesota and University of
Wisconsin Medical Schools. He enjoys the
potential to combine patient care, educa-tion
and research (through the clinic’s
research foundation) that his current posi-tion
allows.
For several years Longbella was the
medical director of the Western Divi-sion
of the Marshfield Clinic system. As
both a director and physician leader, he
helped grow the Marshfield Clinic system
in western Wisconsin. “Being involved
in the growth of the clinic, leadership of
physicians and the day-to-day work in
our specialty has been rewarding, fun and
exciting,” he says.
Though the Marshfield Clinic has
always been aggressive about using the
latest technologies, Longbella cautions
that practitioners need to make sure those
technological upgrades work as well for
the patients as they do for the medical
community. “Nothing should replace or
interfere with the personal interaction you
have with the patient,” he says.
“Today there is so much in science
and technology that we have in our bag
of tricks it can be distracting. The art of
medicine is learning how to take all that
wonderful information and technology
and then be a true partner and resource
for the patient in applying it in a way that
meets their unique needs. The key is listen-ing,
understanding their position, their
perspective; helping them make decisions,
helping them understand; emphathizing,
sympathizing. Practicing that art is the
most important part of what we do.”
Mary Heer-Forsberg, CSB ’83, is a Twin
Cities-based writer and communications
consultant.
Chris Longbella ’81, M.D., cautions that
practitioners have to balance science and
technology with the “art” of medicine.
18
“Where are our roots?” can be a hard
question to answer these days. We are a
transitory society. Job changes require
relocations and commuting, retirees move
to warmer climes and generations of
children and grandchildren settle all over
the country.
But for many Johnnies, the answer
comes easily. They have deep roots right
here, at Saint John’s, where they spent their
college years. Saint John’s is the place they
reconnect with old friends and former
professors, attend football games, hike the
woods or watch their children and grand-children
receiving their own Saint John’s
diplomas.
Given the strong, stable connection to
place that Saint John’s provides for John-nies
and their families – and responding
to many alumni requests – the Abbey
recently opened a cemetery section for
alumni and friends. With nearly 150 years
of experience in the cemetery ministry, it is
well aware of the importance of remem-bering
those who have been a part of this
community.
After Bruce Gasperlin ’78, chief finan-cial
officer of a media firm in the Twin
Cities, read about the expanded cemetery
and discussed it with his wife, Bonnie,
they purchased Saint John’s cemetery space
as part of their estate planning.
“It’s a perfect place for us,” says Bruce
Gasperlin. “From my first day at Saint
John’s, I experienced the legendary Johnnie
hospitality, when students who didn’t even
CLOISTER WALK
Alumni Served by Abbey Cemetery Expansion
By Josie Stang
Photo by George Heinrich
Saint John’s Abbey recently opened a cemetery section for alumni and friends. The entrance, above, is south and east of the monastery section.
19
know me invited me along to lunch.” That
first day led to lifelong friendships and
connections to a place that is “as close to
heaven as you can get on earth,” he says.
“Saint John’s holds a very special place
in our hearts. In addition to attending the
university, Bonnie and I grew up nearby.
It’s where we got engaged, and where our
girls, Emily and Anna, attend summer
camp. And perhaps they’ll go to college
some day at CSB.”
The Gasperlins planned ahead, but for
others, the need comes more suddenly.
Last winter, Donald Thene ���52, retired
and living in Arizona, lost his wife, Joan.
“I had to decide what to do with Joan’s
cremation remains, and when Fr. Eric
Hollas suggested Saint John’s Cemetery,
I thought, ‘Why not?’ I don’t mean that
flippantly, but death is overwhelming.
Saint John’s has always been a special place
to me, to both of us really. Those are good
memories,” he says.
“The funeral home sent Joan’s ashes to
Saint John’s after the funeral. This past
summer, our whole family came for a
blessing at the cemetery, led by Fr. Eric.
My sister sang, my son read the Gospel,
and we all sprinkled holy water on Joan’s
urn. It was beautiful looking out at the
lake and remembering Joan. It brought
closure for me – and for our family – dur-ing
a very difficult time.”
When the Gasperlins share their plans
with friends, they receive varied reactions.
Some consider it prudent. Others are
astounded by such long-range planning.
“But either way, it gets them thinking,
‘Hmm. That��s not a bad idea,’” says Bruce
Gasperlin. “And I know that if an accident
or untimely event happens, our family
won’t have to make emotional, rushed
decisions.”
Both Bonnie and Bruce describe feeling
a sense of peace knowing that their earthly
remains will rest across the road from Lake
Sagatagan, amidst the glorious changing of
the seasons, near the cross keeping silent
vigil – “about as close to heaven as you can
get on earth.”
Josie Stang is cemetery manager of
the Saint John’s Cemetery. For more infor-mation,
contact her at 320.363.3434 or
jstang@csbsju.edu or visit www.saintjohnsab-beycemetery.
org
THE SAINT JOHN’S CEMETERY
1869: Saint John’s Abbey’s first cemetery is established on land in front of the present Simons Hall.
1875: Plans are made to move the cemetery a quarter mile south of the monastery across from Lake Sagatagan.
1953: Monastery’s cemetery is renovated; Frank Kacmarcik, Obl.S.B., designs the distinctive Saint John’s granite markers and cross.
2007: Saint John’s Abbey approves addition of new alumni and friends cemetery section.
2008: Alumni and Friends section, just to the south and east of the monastery cemetery section, is officially opened and blessed.
Bonnie and Bruce Gasperlin ’78 stand in the new section of the cemetery, overlooking Lake Sagatagan.
Photo by Josie Stang
20
Schnobrich ’01 Earns
Olympic Medal
The opening heat for the U.S. eight-man
boat didn’t go as planned at the
Beijing Olympics last August. After
competing with 29 other honed athletes
to get selected for the premier spot on the
American rowing team and training for
five months in the South Carolina heat,
the team was out of synch almost as their
oars hit the water. They had a good plan,
but it wasn’t executed. They covered the
2,000 meters in 5:29.6 minutes – 3.71 sec-onds
behind Great Britain. The Americans
realized they would have to come back and
excel in the repachage (a type of consola-tion
race) if they wanted to be among the
six boats going for the Gold.
Through it all, Matt Schnobrich ’01 had
the confidence he and his teammates could
win an Olympic medal. In 2004, the U.S.
men’s eight won the Gold Medal. Three
of those Gold Medal winners were beaten
out for a place in the 2008 boat by strong
newcomers, Schnobrich among them. The
current squad was posting better times
over the 2,000-meter course. It was no
slow boat to China for these guys.
It all started for Schnobrich as a fresh-man
at Saint John’s University in 1987
when the resident assistant on his dorm
floor suggested that, at 6-4, he was the
ideal size for a rower. The directive was
simple: “Go on down to the boathouse
tomorrow morning.”
So as many elite American collegiate
rowers were getting scholarships and ex-pert
coaching at Harvard, the University of
Wisconsin, the University of Washington
and the like, Schnobrich was testing the
waters on Lake Sagatagan. (His Olympic
teammates would chuckle years later when
he told them that the lake on Saint John’s
campus was too short for a full 2,000 me-ters.
It was figure eights on the Sag.)
Schnobrich had followed a familiar fam-ily
path to Saint John’s. Upon graduation
from St. Thomas Academy, he enrolled
at his father’s and his grandfather’s alma
mater. Like Dana ’75 and Gerald ’51, he
planned to study sciences and become an
engineer.
He figured afternoon labs would preclude
The U.S. Olympic Men’s Eight Rowing Team, which won the Bronze in the Beijing Olympics 2008. Matt Schnobrich is second from left.
By Thom Woodward ’70
Photo courtesy Schnobrich family
21
him from playing varsity sports as a John-nie.
So rowing for 45 minutes at six in the
morning would fit his schedule just fine.
“Rowing was something new, differ-ent
and easy to do,” Schnobrich says.
“Those mornings on Lake Sag were cool,”
he fondly recalls. “There’s a mist hanging
about 10 feet above the water, and then
the sun comes up and you hear the bells
ring. It was quite picturesque.”
Schnobrich kept improving as he en-tered
graduate school at the University of
Minnesota, now training five times a week.
This next directive was simple, too: “Go
out to the East Coast if you are going to be
serious about the sport.”
Schnobrich landed a job with AR-CADIS,
an engineering firm which placed
him in Philadelphia. Perfect! The Penn
Athletic Club Rowing Association on
Boathouse Row on the Schuylkill River
provided even better training with others
interested in making the national team.
Training was up to 12 times a week but his
employer approved of his two-year plan to
try to get to the level of elite world rowers.
A reduced workload would mean Schno-brich
could go for it.
In Spring 2005, Schnobrich and his
partner finished second in the national
pairs race. Later that year in Japan, they
took 13th in the world championships.
Schnobrich gained more experience the
following two summers competing in the
U.S. four-man boat in England and in
Germany. By the fall of 2007, he had his
sights on the Beijing Olympics.
Thirty athletes were selected for the
five-month training camp at Clemson,
S.C. Soon that number was cut to 20.
Their prize was one of 14 places on the
American team: the pair, the four- or the
prestigious eight-man boat. During the
week-long trails selection in June, Schno-brich
and his partner, having won the na-tional
pairs championship, were named to
the eight-man boat. He was an Olympian!
“The honor was to make the team,”
Schnobrich says. “A medal would be a
bonus.”
On August 11, the Brits won the
first eight-man heat and automatically
advanced to the Olympics finals; the
Canadians won the other and they, too,
were in. The U.S. team, third fastest in the
heats, had to finish in the top four in the
two consolation races the following day to
make the finals. Finding their rhythm early
in the 2,000-meter race, Schnobrich and
mates won their repachage by 1.36 sec-onds.
On to the Medal race six days later.
Schnobrich had ample time to enjoy
China and the Olympic experience. As a
tourist, he found the Chinese hosts to be
warm and hospitable. As a fan, he watched
track, volleyball and other championship
events. As an athlete, he found the com-petition
exhilarating. “What I learned,” he
said, “is that it’s not necessarily genetics.
These were people who liked to train and
to compete.”
It finally came down to one last race,
the Men’s Eight Finals in the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. “Some teams shout or pound
their chests just before the start,” Schno-brich
said. “Or splash water. We just sit
there, thinking about the task at hand.”
Schnobrich was in the second seat from
the bow, rowing on the starboard side.
The two Americans in the front and the
two in the back were each about 6-4 tall,
lean, with long arms and legs. The four in
the middle were 6-8 or 6-9, and weighing
about 230 pounds. “This was the engine
room,” Schnobrich says.
The Canadians took off like a shot, as
expected, Schnobrich says. At the front of
the U.S. boat, he could see them pulling
away. At the 500 meter mark, the Ameri-cans
were dead last, 2.30 seconds behind
the Canadians. But he had them out of the
corner of his eye…stroke…which meant
his teammates in the back DID NOT…
stroke…they had no idea how big a lead
Canada had opened up…stroke. Schno-brich
was hoping the team would keep to
the game plan at 36 strokes a minute and
not panic.
Halfway through at 1,000 meters, the
U.S. had pulled into fourth place – the
worst place to finish, one spot away from a
medal. The Canadian lead was up to 3.93
seconds. And the Americans kept to their
game plan.
As the three-quarter mark neared, the
corner of Schnobrich’s eye caught the back
of the Canadian boat. The Americans were
gaining. Now he could see two seats, and
three. The difference was down to 2.60
seconds as the U.S. team moved past the
Netherlands into third place.
Over the last 500 meters, the Ameri-cans
had the fastest time. The race wasn’t
long enough, to slip past Great Britain in
second or run down Canada who claimed
Gold with a 1.45 second advantage.
“Whenever I see an athlete get a
medal,” he said, “I get teary. I know what
they’ve been through. I was teary as the
flags were raised at the podium. United
States. Great Britain. Canada.”
He was teary, too, as the Olympic
Bronze Medal was draped around his neck.
In the grandstand, his parents and grand-parents
and fiancée were, too.
Since Beijing, Matt has married and
moved to Kentucky. The medal is now
back in Kentucky in his sock drawer.
A triumphant Schnobrich, center, with teammates, wearing newly won Bronze Medal.
Photo by Row2K
22
As if John Gagliardi hasn’t won enough
honors in his coaching career, he can now
claim that one of his former players is the
first Saint John’s graduate to work in the
White House.
That would be Denis McDonough ’92
who helped Gagliardi’s Johnnies compile
a 28-4-1 record while winning two MIAC
titles as a hard-hitting strong safety on the
1989, ’90 and ’91 gridiron teams.
But the 39-year-old Stillwater native
is playing in a much tougher league now
after being named deputy assistant to
President Barack Obama in charge of
strategic communications for the National
Security Council (NSC).
McDonough, who was a senior foreign
policy adviser for Obama’s presidential
campaign, heads a staff of about a dozen
people in the office of the president’s
national security adviser, retired Marine
Gen. James Jones. As such, he will play a
major role in defining the Obama admin-istration’s
national security and foreign
policy agenda, just as he did during the
campaign.
His influential role was evident when he
was quoted, just two days before Obama
took the oath of office as the nation’s 44th
president, in a New York Times article
exploring the challenges facing Obama,
including how he can avoid being misled,
in dealing with Iran, by the kind of faulty
intelligence that predicted Iraq dictator
Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of
mass destruction.
“He approaches the intelligence reports
the same way he approaches a lot of the
things he reads, whether it is the New York
Times or a report from the ground,” said
McDonough, whom the newspaper de-scribed
as “a longtime foreign policy aide
who is often charged with finding answers
to questions Mr. Obama raises.”
(The same article also quoted an anony-mous
official who, it said, “is widely re-ported
to be headed for a senior position”
defending Obama from those who criti-cized
his willingness to engage the Iranians
in direct talks, unlike President Bush.
Insisting that this “was the right thing to
do,” the unnamed official predicted that
“if the Iranians don’t come to the table,
he’s prepared to talk about cutting off their
gasoline and squeezing them on sanc-tions.”
The words sounded suspiciously
like McDonough’s, whose new job had not
been announced at the time.)
Whether it was or not, McDonough
is clearly a player in the new administra-tion.
“My job is to make sure we have a
very clear message about what we hope to
accomplish for national security and the
country, and to tell the American people
about it,” McDonough told me as he pre-pared
to move into his office in the West
Wing of the White House in late January.
McDonough compares his worldwide
responsibilities to playing in one of the
Johnnies’ big games. “It’s a great honor,
and I very much look forward to working
in the White House, but I can’t help but
feel the pressure,” he said. “Like any big
game, if you don’t feel the pressure, you’re
probably not ready to play to the best of
your ability.”
It’s a pretty good bet that McDonough
will bring his best game to his new job,
given his foreign policy expertise, whose
origins he traces to his time in Collegeville
before he graduated summa cum laude as a
history major in 1992.
He says it was Ken Jones, CSB/SJU
professor of history, “who really got me in-terested
in history, and especially modern
U.S. history.” And it was Thorpe Run-ning,
CSB/SJU professor of Spanish and
a scholar on Argentine writer Jorge Luis
Borges, who sparked his interest in Latin
America, where he traveled extensively
after graduation and taught high school in
Belize.
McDonough credits the late SJU Presi-dent
Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, for spurring
his curiosity in the world beyond Stearns
County and Stillwater, as well as his
exposure to Gagliardi’s renowned coaching
philosophy, which he says fired his sense of
competition. “You cannot get into politics
and public policy debates and not be a
competitive person,” he declares.
But two other Saint John’s graduates
“probably got me most interested in for-eign
policy,” he recalls.
One was Mike Zumwinkle, a football
star who graduated in 1986 and is now an
executive of Cargill, Inc., and the other
was the late Cleveland Cram, who was
At Home in the West An Interview with Denis McDonough ’92
By Albert Eisele ’58
McDonough with children Addie, on his shoul-ders,
and Liam. (Not pictured are his wife, Kari,
and youngest son, Teddy.)
Photo courtesy McDonough family
23
a top official in the Central Intelligence
Agency before retiring in 1975.
Zumwinkle, who was working at the
State Department, took McDonough un-der
his wing when he came to Washington
to study at Georgetown University, where
he earned a master’s in 1996. Zumwinkle
played an even more important role in
McDonough’s life when he introduced
him to his future wife, Kari, with whom
he lives in suburban Maryland with their
three children, Addie (7), Liam (4) and
Teddy (1).
Cram, the avuncular former CIA station
chief in London, Amsterdam and Canada
and a confidant of the late Sen. Eugene
McCarthy, wrote the still-secret 12-volume
history of U.S. counterintelligence. Mc-
Donough still keeps in close touch with
Cram’s daughter Vicki, a lobbyist for the
city of Seattle.
But McDonough owes his most impor-tant
connection to two other people –
former Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle of South Dakota, for whom he
was senior foreign policy adviser after
working on the House International
Foreign Relations Committee staff, and
the person he calls his “best buddy,” Mark
Lippert.
Proving once again the Washington ad-age
that it’s not what you know but whom
you know, he became friends with Lippert
after Daschle, one of Obama’s earliest
supporters, was defeated for reelection in
2004.
“I got to know Barack then, when he
was first elected to the Senate, through
Mark Lippert, who advised Obama on
Latin American policy,” McDonough
says. When Lippert, a Navy reservist, was
deployed to Iraq in 2007, he brought Mc-
Donough on as a foreign policy adviser to
Obama’s presidential campaign. The rest,
as they say, is history.
Lippert returned from Iraq last July and
is now the NSC chief of staff and Mc-
Donough’s nominal boss. Their standing
among Washington’s new power brokers
was certified by the New York Times Maga-zine
on Jan.18 when it published a “Who’s
Who” series of photographs of 52 key
people around Obama.
McDonough was number 24, looking
like he’d just done an all-nighter, with dark
bags under his eyes and a pencil tucked
behind his right ear. On the page directly
across from him was a somber-looking
Lippert, followed by their boss, former
Gen. Jones. In Washington, that kind of
attention is as good as having the Pope
give you his imprimatur.
If McDonough needs help in navigating
the Byzantine byways of the Washington
bureaucracy, he can always call on two of
his former bosses. There’s Daschle, and he
can also reach out to the new secretary of
Interior, former Sen. Ken Salazar of Colo-rado,
for whom he was legislative director
after Daschle’s defeat. In fact, McDonough
appears to be as well-positioned as anyone
in the Obama White House.
And while McDonough may find him-self
wondering, in the months ahead, how
he ended up in such a powerful position,
he is confident that Obama, virtually a
political unknown only four years ago, will
live up to the high expectations surround-ing
his presidency. “Knowing what I know
about him, I wasn’t surprised that he got
elected. I’m obviously elated and ecstatic,
because I think his election is a sign that
the country is ready for change, and hope-fully,
we’ll deliver it.”
West Wing Foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough ’92 accompanies President Obama as he leaves a meeting
last November.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
24
“Twinning, combining, reconfiguring, restructuring, cluster-ing
– are understandably ominous words for many Catholics,”
says Kristi Bivens. “They evoke uncertainty about the future of the
basic unit of the church: our parish.”
Bivens, a 2008 graduate of Saint John’s School of Theology·
Seminary, deals daily with this new future as pastoral associate for
the twinned parishes of Saint Thomas Catholic Church in Kent,
MN, and the Church of Saint Mary of the Presentation in Breck-enridge,
MN.
Saint Thomas and Saint Mary’s, 12 miles apart, have been
twinned since 2004 and share a single pastor. They are among
109 parishes that have been twinned or clustered by the Diocese
of Saint Cloud in response to the declining number of priests.
“People have all kinds of questions,” says Bivens. “They ask
‘what will become of the place where we pray, hear the word of
God, receive the Eucharist. Where our children learn the faith;
where we are baptized, married and buried? What will become of
our local traditions, our preferred Mass time?’ This uncertainty can
stir up feelings of anger, loss, even resentment.” For Catholics in
and around Kent and Breckenridge, Bivens says, “It’s still kind of
new. There are some real, and, I suppose, legitimate fears.” In this
environment, she adds, efforts to work together do not always arise
organically, so cooperation has to be planned and continuously
encouraged.
“It’s a lot to undertake, but it’s not something you’re going
to do overnight,” she says. “You have to allow people the time
and space to deal with the pain they may be experiencing in the
change, while also encouraging them to see the gifts and opportu-nities
that can come with an expanded community of faith.”
Parish life and church ministry are changing, not only in rural
Minnesota but around the country. The number of active priests
in the United States has declined significantly over the past few
decades, a trend that is expected to continue, while the number of
Catholics has risen. This has challenged the understanding of what
it means to be a parish, how ministry in the parish is done and,
most visibly, who does it.
Bivens is one of a growing number of lay ecclesial ministers,
professionally trained to do much of the non-sacramental pasto-ral
and educational work previously done by priests and sisters.
The School of Theology·Seminary has been a pioneer in prepar-ing
people for this work. For more than 40 years it has taught lay
students together with seminarians. “If lay ministers are going to
do the work once done by priests,” notes Dean Bill Cahoy, dean,
School of Theology·Seminary “our parishes need them to have the
Kristi Bivens: At the Photo by Steve Woit
Kristi Bivens (L) consults with Barbara Sutton (R), Saint John’s School of Theology•Seminary director of ministerial formation and field education.
SERVICE TO THE CHURCH
25
same quality education as the priests.”
The role of a priest is significant and irreplaceable, but the
work of lay ministers is increasingly important to the continued
vitality – in some cases even the continued existence – of Catholic
parishes.
“The rise in lay ecclesial ministry partially comes from that Vati-can
II ideal that lay people are part of the Body of Christ and the
ministry of the Church,” explains Bivens. “But at this point there’s
going to be a need for lay ministers to help out so that priests will
be more available for sacraments and counseling and those parts of
a priest’s job that lay people can’t do.”
As a student at Saint John’s, Bivens researched and wrote about
the future of parishes in the U.S. Her article, “Where Two or
Three are Gathered: Clustered Parishes Are Our Future,” in the
spring 2008 issue of the School of Theology·Seminary journal
Obsculta explored a process for clustered parishes to follow in order
to work together more closely. Additional copies of the article have
been repeatedly requested by readers, bearing out the increasing
importance of the topic to parishes nationwide.
Bivens’s position at Saint Mary’s and Saint Thomas has enabled
her to put her research to work. She particularly sees a chance for
increasing cooperation in the youth ministry programs of the two
Forefront of Change
parishes. “Kids are open, and so the more opportunities they have
to gather, the happier they are,” Bivens points out. “I think it’s a
good place to start. No one wants to deny kids the opportunity to
gather as faithful people.
“I have to admit, when I started here I thought ‘Oh, I’m never
going to be ready for this job, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ But
it amazed me. There hasn’t been anything here that I haven’t had
experience with in my time at Saint John’s.”
As she looks to the future, she sees “an opportunity to cre-ate
new traditions, to grow in faith, to trust that this church has
been here for 2,000 years, and it will be here for another 2,000. It
doesn’t look anything like it did when it first started. It doesn’t look
like it did 50 years ago before Vatican II. We just have to have faith
that the church is growing and changing as God envisioned.”
Now, as a full-time pastoral associate for twinned parishes, Biv-ens
sees the relationship of her two parishes, and similar arrange-ments
in parishes around the country, as a good thing. “I feel like
it’s an opportunity for growth in the church. Clustering gives me
hope.”
For a copy of Bivens’s article “Where Two or Three are Gathered:
Clustered Parishes Are Our Future,” contact the editors of Obsculta at
obsculta@csbsju.edu or call 320.363.3924.
Parishes without a resident priest pastor
Parishes where a bishop has entrusted
the pastoral care of the parish to a dea-con,
religious sister or brother, or other
lay person
Since 1965, the number of Catholic priests in the U.S. has been declining while the Catholic population has increased (Center for Applied Research in the
Apostolate). This has led to the combining of parishes and an increased role for trained lay Catholics like Kristi Bivens, pastoral associate, in the life of
today’s parishes.
By Rose Beauclair
John Brandl ’59, a former Minnesota legislator, Distinguished
Professor of Public Policy at Saint John’s University and professor
and former dean of the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the
University of Minnesota, passed away last August.
A Giant in Minnesota Politics and Economics
The Brandl Scholars Program celebrates John Brandl’s life-long
commitment to mentorship and scholarship in higher
education, public policy and politics. The endowment will
fund summer public policy research projects conducted by
students and faculty. These collaborative research projects
will range from local to international policy arenas, reflect-ing
Dr. Brandl’s diverse career and CSB/SJU’s commitment
to ethical leadership and the common good. The Brandl
Scholars will participate in a broad range of experiential
learning opportunities under close faculty mentorship.
John Brandl ’59, educator, legislator and civic leader
“John Brandl was a giant in Minnesota politics and econom-ics,”
said Br. Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, marking the passing of
this distinguished alumnus. “He combined a brilliant mind for
scholarship with an unusual ability to apply theory and research
as a public servant in numerous policy-making positions, both in
Minnesota and at the national level.”
“The Benedictines at Saint John’s opened up the world to a kid
born and raised in Stearns County,” said Brandl in an interview
in 2002. He graduated cum laude with a degree in economics and
went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D in economics from Harvard
University. “I majored in economics at Saint John’s University
because the great Fr. Martin Schirber saw potential and challenged
me to do so.” Fr. Martin Schirber ’31, OSB, taught economics at
Saint John’s from 1939-79.
Brandl held positions at the federal level in the U.S. Office of
the Secretary of Defense, Office of Economic Opportunity, the
Economic Development Administration, and as Deputy Assistant
Secretary, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
He served in the Minnesota Legislature for 12 years. In addition
to faculty positions at alma maters Saint John’s University and
Harvard University, he held teaching position s at Boston College,
the University of Wisconsin, the University of the Philippines and
the University of Sydney. He served as president of several national
and regional groups and received many civic honors and awards.
Brandl was the author of numerous books, monographs, articles
and reviews.
John Brandl Scholars
Dan Whalen ’70, interim president of
Saint John’s, and his wife, Katharine,
have made a generous gift to the
Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public
Policy and Civic Engagement to
endow the John Brandl Scholars.
Photo courtesy of the Humphrey Institute
26
Editor’s note: Franklin Knoll
’62, retired district court judge,
former Minnesota state represen-tative
and senator from District
61, wrote a moving letter to
the editor of the Minneapolis
Star Tribune (Aug. 26, 2008)
on Brandl’s passing, which we
reprint below.
“Since his death last week,
much has been said about the
impact of John Brandl’s life on our community, our state and,
indeed, our nation; all appropriate, all true. John was a great public
servant and a towering intellect. The enduring memory I will have
of him, however, will be that he was always teaching us.
I had the privilege of knowing John for almost 50 years as a
family friend, neighbor and legislative colleague. We both grew up
in St. Cloud, attended Saint John’s University and went on to rep-resent
successively the same south Minneapolis district in the State
legislature. ( John took my House seat when I went to the Senate
and then my Senate seat when I became a District Judge).
We carpooled to and from the Capitol during legislative sessions
and it was then that I had the opportunity to experience on a
regular basis John’s great mind and his gentle persuasiveness. He
“John Brandl’s accomplishments as educator, legislator and civic
leader serve as a model for all of us. I can think of no better
way to honor him than to encourage today’s students to learn
from his example through the John Brandl Scholars program.”
– Dan Whalen ’70
“John was a great public servant and
a towering intellect. The enduring
memory I will have of him, however,
w ill be that he was always teaching us.”
Franklin Knoll ’62
District Court Judge (Ret.)
possessed a genuine belief that
this world could be made a
better place. We talked about
everything: our families,
books, tax policy, theology,
presidents, governors, good
and bad politicians, our
legislative proposals, Stearns
County dialects and most
often, his obsession,
public education. He was
always teaching; I was always
learning.
Shortly before he died, I went to see him in the hospital to say
goodbye. I went with some apprehension, knowing there would
be tubes and beeping monitoring devices and that John would be
looking frail. I was afraid I might say something inappropriately
maudlin or sentimental and perhaps add to his discomfort. When
I entered his room, though, he immediately put us both at ease,
saying simply, “I love you, Frank. Thanks for coming over to
help me die”. We hugged each other, I told him I loved him and
we proceeded to chat about fishing and growing up in Stearns
County. I left him with an overwhelming sense of peace.
It seemed John was always teaching us, even teaching us how to
die.”
27
Community Center Named in Honor of McKeown ’52
Saint John’s University received a leadership gift commitment
from the McKeown and Cullen families to name the new com-munity
center being built in Flynntown after alumnus Thomas W.
McKeown ’52.
“We are greatly honored that members of the McKeown and-
Cullen families have provided this leadership gift to Saint John’s,”
said Dan Whalen, SJU interim president. “Since his graduation,
Tom has amassed a remarkable history of service and support for
Saint John’s. We’re delighted that his family has recognized Tom’s
60-year relationship to Saint John’s past and his faith in our future.
I am certain that the McKeown Center will be a valued addition to
our community and campus life for many years to come.”
“Dad’s legacy from his volunteer work in St. Paul is around
community building,” said Dan McKeown ’85. “The McKeown
Center is a perfect example of community building at SJU that
completes the circle of Dad’s decades of volunteering. Our father
has set an example for all of us to serve others. This building sym-bolizes
his six decades of service to the community of SJU.”
“Community has always been a core element of the Saint John’s
mission,” said Michael Connolly, SJU dean of students. “The
McKeown Center in Flynntown will be an example of the mission
in action. The center will provide a gathering point for students
on the lower campus and is designed as a destination point to help
them strive academically and recreate casually with their fellow
classmates.”
Saint John’s broke ground for the 7,500-square-foot environ-mentally
designed McKeown Center last July. At the ground-breaking
ceremony, the late Br.
Dietrich Reinhart, OSB, SJU
president emeritus, praised
the new housing as “a meeting
grounds where life and learn-ing
intersect, self-knowledge
and leadership quicken, and
friendship grows.”
The McKeown Center is
scheduled to open in August.
28
Advancing the Mision
Tom McKeown, in whose honor the new community
center is named, attended Saint John’s Prep School
and graduated from Saint John’s University in 1952.
He was director of university relations at Saint John’s
from 1955 to 1960 and was the first lay person to hold
that position. He received the prestigious Fr. Walter
Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1993.
McKeown is a former member of the Saint John’s
University Board of Regents and served as the chair
from 1987 to 1992. He is also a past president of the
Saint John’s Alumni Board. He has served on the
Board of Overseers of the Hill Museum and Manu-script
Library at Saint John’s and currently serves
on the Board of Overseers of Saint John’s School of
Theology•Seminary.
Tom McKeown ’52
Lindmark Endowment for
Corporate-Business Ethics
Thanks to Roger Lindmark ’74,
Saint John’s University recently
received $250,000 from a $350
million legal settlement. The gift
has been designated to the Lind-mark
Endowment for Corporate-
Business Ethics. Lindmark’s client
in Los Angeles was a plaintiff in
a class action lawsuit filed against
Sempra Energy, the major Califor-nia
gas company, alleging the company conspired with El Paso Gas
in the late 1990s to restrict the supply of natural gas to California,
resulting in higher costs for the consumer. The class of California
gas and electric customers were millions of state citizens. The class
action alleged that the conspiracy to fix energy prices contributed
to California’s energy crisis of 2000-01.
“When we reached a settlement of my portion of the case I
asked the judge for a cy pres donation to compensate society,”
Lindmark explains. “I suggested that a donation ought to be desig-nated
for the Lindmark Endowment for Corporate-Business Ethics
at Saint John’s. Actually, required donations of this kind are quite
common in class action law suits as gifts to charities as further
punishment. I encourage Johnnies attorneys who are involved in
such cases to keep in mind that cy pres donations can be directed to
Saint John’s and designated to this endowment.”
About four years ago, Saint John’s University received a cy pres
distribution from another class action lawsuit which Lindmark
worked on in California. This launched the Lindmark Endowment
for Corporate-Business Ethics, which provides resources to fund
programs and activities in the field of corporate-business ethics.
To coincide with Saint John’s newly established common cur-riculum
course requirement in ethics for all students, this endow-ment
will fund two Lindmark Fellowships annually. Lindmark
Fellows will be selected from a pool of applicants. Each will
conduct a summer-long research project in ethics culminating in
a major academic paper. The generous fellowship award will allow
Johnnies to complete this work in lieu of summer employment.
They will present their work at the annual Celebrating Scholarship
and Creativity Day the following spring and hopefully publish
their research papers in national academic journals.
“I am proud to lend my name to the creation of the Lindmark
Fellows as a key component of this endowed fund,” says Lind-mark.
“The fact that these students from all academic disciplines
will have an opportunity to have their research published will ben-efit
them in their graduate school applications or employment as
well as help put Saint John’s on the map of corporate ethics. Sadly,
we see a breach of ethics across all facets of society, so this endow-ment
is more critical and relevant now than ever before.”
29
Roger Lindmark ’74
“I’m honored and humbled to have a
building named after our family, and
I’m extremely proud of our children for
making this possible. I’ve had a 60-year
relationship with Saint John’s. It’s been
my second family. The Benedictines have
had a profound and important influence
on my life.”
–Tom McKeown ��52
30
Johnie Sports
gojohnnies.com
If your idea of wrestlers comes from those loud, illiterate-sound-ing
guys on television – meet Grant Eustice ’09 and reconsider.
This well-spoken, serious, 174-pound psychology/Spanish double
major is captain of the Johnnie wrestlers.
A running back, wrestler and rugby player at Mounds View,
High School in Minnesota, you might not have expected Eustice
to choose wrestling at SJU – his dad, Brad Eustice ’77, was on the
1976 national football championship team. But Eustice says that
although his dad brought him and his siblings to SJU football
games, he didn’t impose sports or college decisions on them.
“I never visited the coach prior to coming to Saint John’s,” says
Eustice. “I showed up on the first day of wrestling practice and had
to introduce myself to Coach Novak.”
During his SJU career, Eustice has been able to wrestle, main-tain
a 3.5 GPA and spend a junior-year semester in Chile.
“I found that Chile, and living with a family that was not my
own, was the most challenging period in my life. My class in social
psychology came to life.
“I observed racism and stereotyping all around me, particularly
toward the poor. Although I attended classes with Bennies and
Johnnies, I went home to my host family each day, so I was pretty
immersed. I also had the opportunity to be a volunteer, teaching
English to 14-year olds.”
Eustice has had several internships in business. Enough, he said,
to convince him that this is not what he wants to do with his life.
“I love teaching and helping. This past summer I was a volunteer
at the Hennepin County Medical Center, working with Spanish
speaking adolescents who had psychological or medical issues. I
would love to do something along those lines.”
The Grappler: Grant Eustice ’09
By John Taylor ’58
Photo by John Biasi
Grant Eustice ’09, captain of the Johnnie wrestlers, goes head to head with Justin Bain of St. Olaf.
gojohnnies.com
FOOTBALL (8-3, 6-2 MIAC) earned its MIAC-record
30th conference championship, the 26th
title under head coach John Gagliardi, and the
13th in the last 18 seasons. The Johnnies earned
a berth in the NCAA Division III playoffs for the
fourth consecutive season and 19th overall
(23rd post-season appearance overall) but fell in
the first round to defending national champion
Wisconsin-Whitewater, 37-7. Offensive lineman
Dan Gamache ’09, kicker/punter Russell Gliadon
’09, defensive lineman Mike Schumacher ’09,
defensive back Derek Stifter ’09 and linebacker
Ryan Wimmer ’10 were named to the 2008 All-
MIAC first team. Running back Jeff Schnobrich ’09
was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic
All-America college division second team. Legend-ary
head coach John Gagliardi,
the winningest coach in college
football history, finished his
60th season with
a 461-125-11
(.782) career
record and
a 437-119-
10 (.781)
record in 56
seasons
at SJU.
SOCCER (11-6-1, 6-3-1
MIAC). Jason Daly ’09, Levi
Lowell ’09 and Chris Schultz ’09
were named to the 2008 All-MIAC
first team. Head coach Pat Haws
completed his 31st season at
the helm of the Johnnies’ soc-cer
program with a 336-129-
48 (.702) career record.
CROSS COUNTRY finished fifth at the MIAC
championship and second at the NCAA Central
Regional to earn its fourth consecutive invitation to
the NCAA Division III Championship. The Johnnies
finished 22nd out of 32 teams at the national
meet. The race was the Johnnies’ 24th appear-ance
at the NCAA Championship and the 20th
appearance under head coach Tim Miles, who
completed his 30th season this fall.
GOLF won its fourth MIAC Championship in
the last five years this past October. The two-time
defending national champion golf team will make
its 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division III
Championship May 12-15 at Port St. Lucie, FL.
Joe Schoolmeesters ’09 claimed medalist honors
for the second time in his career with a three-day
total of 218 (+2). Schoolmeesters finished the fall
season atop the MIAC with a 71.8 stroke average,
while fellow team member Joe Daly ’09 finished
second with a stroke average of 73.6. Seven of
the top 10 stroke averages in the MIAC are held
by Johnnies.
CLUB SPORTS
RUGBY, a five-time defending state champion
and 15th ranked team in the nation, sponsored
two teams this year: the A side in Division II and
the B side in DIII. The A team won the Minnesota
Final 4 in Eagan with wins over MSU Mankato
(52-5) and UM Duluth (41-14). They went on to
defeat Marquette (23-17) in the first round of the
Midwest Round of 16 Iowa Falls, IA and beat
the University of Iowa (14-12) in 30 m.p.h
winds. At the Midwest Final Four in Elkhart,
IN, the Johnnies were defeated by Miami-
Ohio (36-10), ending a 12-game winning
streak.
LACROSSE (12-4, 9-1 conference)
lost the quarterfinal game in the 2008
Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associa-tion
National Championship to the University of
Dayton 17-9. Jon Ongjoco ’09 notched six points
(5 goals, 1 assist). Captain Brian Strauss ���10,
junior, attack; Tony Donna ’12 first year, defense;
Captain Michael Freeman’10, defense; and Brian
Kubovec ’11, defense were named All Conference.
Six others, including Ongjoco were named to the
second team.
ROWING competed in three regattas this
season: the Death Row in Duluth, MN, the Head of
the Des Moines, IA, and the North Star Challenge
in Minneapolis. They rowed against collegiate and
non-collegiate clubs and varsity teams, ranging
from Division I to Division III. A highlight of the
season was the hosting of former Johnnie rower
Matt Schnobrich ’01, a bronze medalist in the
2008 Olympics.
WATER POLO won every game in its
last tournament at Macalester (Knox, St.
Mary’s, Carleton and Monmouth),
before falling to #1-ranked Mon-mouth.
Water polo’s Heartland
Division championships were
hosted at SJU.
31
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Each year over 100 alumni converge
at Saint John’s in May for the Alumni
Volunteer Summit hosted by the Alumni
Association Board of Directors and the
Alumni Office. The Summit is a gather-ing
of alumni from around the country
who serve in a variety of leadership roles
with class committees, alumni chapters,
the alumni-in-education project, Fellows
Society, the Alumni Board past presidents’
group and the Alumni Association Board
of Directors.
For many alumni, giving back to alma
mater and the Saint John’s community has
become a way of life, full of enthusiasm
and purpose. They are eager to offer their
time, talent and leadership to explore
ways to build class camaraderie, create and
expand alumni chapters worldwide and
support today’s students through career
mentoring and internships. The Summit
gives these volunteers an opportunity to
develop a common vision to serve our
Events Calendar
March 19, 2009
St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Naples, FL
April 17, 2009
Saint John’s Day: Celebrating Br. Dietrich Reinhart
Collegeville, MN
May 15-16, 2009
Alumni Volunteer Summit
Collegeville, MN
October 2, 2009
Alumni Association Homecoming Banquet
Collegeville, MN
October 2-4, 2009
Homecoming and Reunions
Collegeville, MN
Alumni Volunteer Summit: Johnnies in Action
Get Connected, Stay Involved
All alumni are invited to the annual
Alumni Volunteer Summit on May 15
and 16. Activities Friday include Mass,
a social and dinner. Working sessions
on Saturday are interspersed with
meals, campus tours and networking.
Registration is free. Remember: The
Johnnie fellowship is second to none!
alumni and students, learn and socialize,
and explore the wonders of Saint John’s.
The Alumni Association would like to
extend an open invitation to alumni inter-ested
in giving back to alma mater through
service and time. If you’re interested in
mentoring a student, participating in an
existing chapter or starting one in your
area, the Summit will give you the tools
you need to get started. If you serve on a
class committee or want to get involved to
help plan your next class activity or class
reunion, then the Alumni Volunteer Sum-mit
is the right destination.
For more information on the Alumni
Volunteer Summit, Friday night and Sat-urday,
May 15 and 16, go to sjualum.com
and click on Events.
33
sjualum.com
HOMECOMING/REUNION 2008
Alumni gathered from near and far to renew and enjoy their connection to Saint John’s
last September.
ALUMNI CONNECTION
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ALUMNI CONNECTION
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The late Jon Hassler ’55 and
Saint John’s were featured in Ameri-can
Magazine in a November article
titled “The Last Catholic Novel-ist,”
by Andrew M. Greeley. In
the article Greeley maintains that
Hassler “produced at least a half
dozen novels that would belong in
any course on Catholic fiction …
In fact, they may define the genre.”
He goes on to say that “St. John’s pervasive and unique influence
on the church in this country, in particular, demands more intense
study. The environs and culture of Staggerford, Rookery College,
the Abbey Press, Bad Battle River, Pluto, Ostrogothinburg (St.
Cloud?) the Clementine Fathers, Godfrey Diekmann and Lake
Wobegon seem to demand more coordinated and more intense
investigation.”
Tim Marx ’79 was interviewed by the
St. Paul Pioneer Press in October as he
prepared to leave his position as commis-sioner
of the Minnesota Housing Finance
Agency to become executive director of
Common Ground, a New York-based
housing and community development
nonprofit. When asked to reflect on his
more than 20 years in public service and
civic involvement in St. Paul and Min-nesota,
Marx had special thanks for Saint John’s University and
professor John Brandl ’59 (dec). He quoted both the Rule of Saint
Benedict and Brandl in his comments.
Marcellus Hall ’86, New York-based artist, illustrated the cover
of the Dec. 15 issue of the New Yorker magazine. The cover is
titled “Green Christmas.” Hall’s first cover for the New Yorker was
published in 2005. His work has also appeared in the Wall Street
Journal, the Atlantic Monthly and Time, among other publications.
George Maurer ’88, musician
and composer, won a $10,000
grant from the American Com-posers
Forum (ACF) to become
composer-in-residence at St.
Edward Catholic Church and
Emmanuel Lutheran Church,
both in Princeton, MN. During
the 18-month residency, Maurer plans to create “innovative and
inspiring” works for both churches and their ensembles, as well as
combined works that will be performed jointly. “I look forward to
getting down to observing and learning about the personalities of
these two faith communities, and letting them influence my musi-cal
voice,” said Maurer. The ACF was founded in 1973 to support
composers through programs and services, including commissions,
performances, readings and fellowships.
Mark Sullivan ’89, chef and partner of
Spruce Restaurant in San Francisco, CA, ap-peared
in Esquire magazine’s best restaurants
ranking of 2008. Spruce was ranked one of
the 20 best restaurants in the country.
Dan Bieurance ’92 was featured in both the Star Tribune in
October and “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on CNN in December for his
work in uncovering Medicaid insurance fraud at Walgreen’s Phar-macy,
where he worked as a pharmacist. Brian Wojtalewicz ’72,
one of the lawyers who handled the case filed against Walgreen’s,
was also mentioned in the article. The case resulted in a $9.9 mil-lion
settlement, according to the Star Tribune.
Mark McGowan ’93, Shaun John-son
’94 and fellow members of Tonic
Sol-Fa, an a cappella group founded
by McGowan and Johnson as students
at Saint John’s, were honored by the
City of Minneapolis on Dec. 13.
Mayor of Minneapolis R.T. Rybak de-clared
Dec. 13th Tonic Sol-Fa Day in
honor of the group’s success. KARE-
11 Television presented them with a
proclamation marking the occasion.
Tonic Sol-Fa has sold more than a million CDs worldwide in its
12-year career and has shared the stage with Garrison Keillor, Jay
Leno, Jeff Foxworthy, Lonestar, Montgomery Gentry and others.
Fr. Columba Stewart, OSB, director of
the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library
(HMML) at SJU, was featured on “Speaking
of Faith” on Minnesota Public Radio in Jan-uary.
Show host Krista Tippett interviewed
both Fr. Columba and Getatchew Haile,
curator of HMML’s Ethiopian collection,
about HMML’s work, its collections and the
relevance of ancient manuscripts to the present.
Johnnies in the Media
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ALUMNI CONNECTION
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The Breakfast Club
Bob Hendrickson ’79 claims a number
of lifelong friends from the 1-3-5 Breakfast
Club. Before their 8 a.m. biology class on
Days 1, 3 and 5 during freshman year,
they had breakfast together, compared
notes on upcoming tests and, unknow-ingly,
began to forge a connection that
would span decades. When Hendrickson
made a cardboard “1-3-5 Breakfast Club”
table tent, other freshmen with similar
class schedules joined in. For one of the
guys, the friendship led to marrying a
friend’s sister.
“Although we see each other only a
few times a year,�� Hendrickson says, “we
remain good friends.” He and his wife,
Kathy (Molitor CSB ’79), are closest to
Greg ’79 and Beth Lambert Engel (CSB
’80); Jim ’79 and Nancy Jarvis; Bill ’79
and Janice Hamilton; Tim ’79 and Monica
Engel Marx (CSB ’81 and Greg’s sister);
and Tom ’79 and Cindy Hoffman. They
all live in the Twin Cities. Hendrickson
stays in email contact with John ’79 and
Sue Carpenter McHale (CSB ’80) of
Council Bluffs, IA and Bob ’79 and Mary
Gonderinger of Omaha, NE and occasion-ally
sees other Johnnies from the refectory
breakfast table.
Another tradition for Hendrickson,
Engel, Hamilton and Jarvis: an evening
out each year at a University of Minnesota
basketball game.
Jarvis recalls that after graduation,
several lived together while starting careers
or professional school. “We had a num-ber
of occasions to wear tuxedos at our
friends’ weddings,” he says. “We’d lose a
roommate, but another Saint John’s friend
would move in. We’ve stayed in touch as
careers went different directions or when
life had its ups and downs.”
Jarvis has been organizing the group’s
fishing trips since 1990. He hosted the ex-cursion
at Pelican Lake this past summer.
“It’s always fun,” he says.
• A common class schedule for one group of Saint John’s University students grew into annual fishing
trips to Canada or Voyageur’s National Park or other points Up North.
• A Johnnie intramural softball team plays “old-timer games” at summer reunions 35 years later, although the grand-children
are now working their way into the Cold Ducks lineup.
• Another group of alumni keeps meticulous records of their yearly gatherings. After all, bragging rights are a big part
of the Peg ‘n’ Keg cribbage tournament that started in 1975.
• Younger alumni, too, are establishing a connection to one another and to Saint John’s that likely will rival the monthly
lunch meeting (no agenda allowed) of a group of Johnnies from the 1940s and ‘50s.
As Time Goes By…
It started with breakfast in the Saint John’s refectory 20 years ago. Now members of the 1-3-5
Breakfast club get together for breakfast on an annual fishing excursion. From left are Bob
Hendrickson ’79, Greg Engel ’79 and Jim Jarvis ’79.
Tell us about your Johnnie connection,
and we’ll post it on the Alumni Associa-tion
Web page. Pictures are welcome,
too. Send your story to johnemail@
csbsju.edu .
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ALUMNI CONNECTION
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On the Diamond
with the Cold Ducks
The Cold Ducks bonded when they
played intramural softball together in the
early 1970s and they haven’t missed a
summer get-together yet. Denny Smid ’73,
one of the original six Cold Ducks, says
they rotate chairing the reunion with a
formal hand-off of a book passed from one
chair to the next.
There’s even a ritual to get the invita-tions
out.” In addition to two cruises,
reunions have been held in Omaha,
Collegeville, Milwaukee, Chicago, Twin
Cities, Granville, IA, northern Wisconsin
and back on campus.
The original Ducks included three
classmates from Granville, Daryl Beckman
‘73, Dale Goergen ’73 and Smid along
with Jim Welch ‘73, Bill Hawn ‘73 and
Greg Carlson ‘73, friends from Tommy
Hall 3 Long. Freshman year they formed a
softball team that included George Lyons
’73, Vince Carco ’73, who was also Smid’s
debate partner, and Mike McCarthy ’73.
They later added Joe Dirksen ‘73, Tom
Mahoney ‘73, Steve Armstrong ‘73, Jim
Nolan ‘73, Jon Witt ‘73, Bob Schneeweis
’73, Bob Cocker ‘74, Steve Conroy ’74,
honorary members Mike Meyer ’72 and
Randy Penning ’74, and Kevin Hauer
’73, who gained notoriety as The Animal
– he’d strip to a final pair of underwear
as unsanctioned halftime entertainment
at Johnnie home basketball games. The
Ducks won the 1972 intramural softball
championship as juniors in the last year
of Saint John’s Old Gym and repeated
as seniors in 1973 in the first year of the
Warner Palaestra.
In 1976, Welsh organized a team re-union
in Chicago. In ’77, they won a soft-ball
tournament back in Granville. They’ve
been getting together – generally 15 of the
expanded team roster – at least once a year
ever since. And of course, spouses, children
and grandchildren are now central to the
reunions.
Smid points out, “The children have
even gotten together on their own – even
those who went to St. Thomas instead of
SJU and CSB. One daughter had children
of Ducks in her wedding party.” Eleven of
the 15 Ducks were at Carlson’s daughter’s
The Cold Duck team in 1973:
(Front, L to R) Bob Cocker ’74, Daryl Beckman ’73, Jim Welch ’73, Kevin Hauer ’74, Steve Conroy ’74. (Middle, L to R) Jim Nolan ’73, Dale Goergen ’73), Greg
Carlson ’73, Bill Hawn ’73. (Back, L to R) Denny Smid ’73, Bob Schneeweis ’73, Steve Armstrong ’73, Joe Dirksen ’73. Not shown: Tom Mahoney ’73, Jon
Witt ’73, Mike Meyer (honorary - ’72), Randy Penning (honorary - ’74)
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ALUMNI CONNECTION
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wedding in Milwaukee this past fall. “Joe
Dirksen’s daughter, Erin, even keeps a
Web site for the Ducks, coldduckreunion.
blogspot.com,” he adds, “to keep everyone
up to date.”
“The Cold Ducks are one of the nicest
things that every happened to me,” Smid
says.
Peg ’n Keg, Anyone?
About the time the Cold Ducks were
hitting the diamond, another group of
Johnnies found cribbage to be the com-mon
denominator. It still is.
“We played a lot of cribbage as stu-dents,”
John Forsythe ’74, recalls, “but we
never organized an actual tournament to
decide once and for all who was the best
of the best. So, in April 1975, 16 partici-pants,
10 Johnnie upperclassmen and four
recent graduates, held the inaugural Peg ‘n’
Keg Cribbage Tournament.
“Dave Hartmann ’75 and Phil Johnson
’75 stood alone,” Forsythe recalls, “hav-ing
bested Hank Foehrenbacher ’77 and
Larry Forsythe ’76 in a bitterly contested
championship match as the keg gave up
its final pint.” Forsythe has organized 33
succeeding annual tournaments – despite
the fact he and his partner, Dan McCon-nell
’76, lost every single match that first
year “amid considerable finger-pointing,”
Forsythe adds.
“Our one-time event found eternal life
when I found myself working at Saint
John’s,” Forsythe says, “first in the Abbey
Woodworking Shop and later in admis-sions.”
Founder of BoDiddley’s Deli in
St. Joseph and St. Cloud, Forsythe has
remained in the area and continued as the
tournament organizer. Scott Furey ’74 has
kept the score for 32 of the past 33 years.
The second “Peg ‘n’ Keg” grew from 16
to 32 players, and the venue went from the
Frank House study lounge to the Alumni
Lounge to the newly-opened BoDiddley’s
in 1981. The tournament expanded to its
current size of 32 teams of two as it moved
across the street to the LaPlayette. “We’ve
continued with the same core of 64 players
and half a dozen spectators,” Forsythe says.
The date has been fixed as the first Satur-day
in February each year.
“What started out as a fairly competitive
cribbage tournament has evolved into a
reunion of friends who share that special
Saint John’s – Saint Ben’s connection with
cribbage as a backdrop,” he says. “I’ve al-ways
felt that there is no substitute for the
bond of shared time and share experience.
“As students at a highly residential uni-versity
such as Saint John’s, in a gorgeous
rural setting free from distractions, we
simply had more share time and experi-ence
than students at almost any other
college I know of. Our closest classmates
were like family members for nine months
out of four years. That is why the bond is
so strong. Organizing this tournament,”
Forsythe says, “is a highlight of my year
knowing that the event is helping continue
and strengthen that connection that began
for us some 30 years ago.”
The Back Room at Coopers
Bob Danielson ’99 and a group of class-mates
are 10 years into the process. They’ll
celebrate a class reunion at Homecoming
Oct. 2-4. Prior to the big weekend, how-ever,
they’ll be together at other occasions
in the coming months.
“Our group is smallish,” Danielson
says, “with seven of us at the core and a
few add-ons as we’ve kept going. Mostly
we started out as Tommy 4 guys fresh-man
year and adopted in another friend
sophomore year. Our gatherings these days
have picked up a few other Johnnies and
Bennies, but our main reasons for gather-ing
these days are Homecoming, baptisms
and weddings. A smaller group of us tend
to get together for happy hours periodi-cally,
too, as three of us work in downtown
Minneapolis.
“It definitely shows,” Danielson say,
“that your friends of freshman year will
likely be your friends in years to come.”
Danielson and buddies are following a
model established by Jack O’Connell ’42
and two deceased friends who overlapped
as student-athletes at Saint John’s, Vern
McGree ’38 and Jim Roche ’40. The three
of them began having occasional lunches
together some 30 years ago “to find
out what’s new with one another, share
news, discuss politics and current issues,”
O’Connell says. “After a while, we called
others to join, guys who were at Saint
John’s after World War II. Sen. Eugene
McCarthy ’35 would join us from time to
time. We normally would have 12-15 guys
together, and as many as 21. The numbers
are dwindling now.”
O’Connell, a former vice president on
the SJU Alumni Association Board of
Directors and recipient of the Fr. Walter
Reger Distinguished Alumnus Award in
1985, says the group never talks business.
Discussions about Saint John’s would be
about athletics and alumni events, “but
never fund-raising.
“We’ll discuss how great we were,” he
kids, “and we’re even better now that fewer
can dispute what we say!”
All are welcome to their lunch gather-ings
each first Monday of the month in the
back room at Cooper’s in Eagan, but there
better not be any mention of business,
O’Connell insists.
“It definitely shows that your friends of freshman year
will likely be your friends in years to come.”
Bob Danielson ’99
38
Milestones
Marriages
’68 Vicki Lansky to Stephen Schaefer ’68,
May ’08
’80 Julianne to Tim Buttweiler ’80, Aug. ’08
’96 Carla Bishop to Luke Froehle ’96, May ’08
’97 Marcy to David Camarotto ’97, Sept. ’07
’97 Kelli to Brian Sontag ’97, Nov. ’08
’98 Rikki Bush to Joe Mortl ’98, Aug. ’08
’98 Rachel Stang to John Rossman ’98,
Oct. ’08
’99 Heather (Butkowski ’99) to Dan Hinrichs
’99, Apr. ’08
’99 Tina Wenzl to Jason Velinsky ’99, July
’08
’00 Krista to Brian Huot ’00, Sept. ’06
’00 Taryn (Good ’02) to Adam Randall ’00,
Oct. ’07
’00 Julie Fill to Jeff Stueve ’00, Sept. ’08
’01 Amy (Bowen ’00) to Michael Halverson
’01, June ’08
’01 Karine (Nelson ’01) to Tom Lewandowski
’01, July ’07
’01 Sarah (Welter ’00) to Matthew Michels
’01, Sept. ’08
’01 Michelle (Koch ’01) to Mike Rose ’01,
July ’07
’01 Megan (Qvale ’02) to Dan Stepaniak ’01,
Aug. ’08.
’01 Sarah (Sutton ’01) to Jeremy Sutton ’01,
May ’08
’02 Briana Lovering to Ross Benson ’02,
Aug. ’08
’02 Andrea (Schlenner ’04) to Paul Friend ’02,
July ’06
’02 Kirsten to Jesse Jennissen ’02, Mar. ’08
’02 Tammy Tuckosh to Daniel O’Neill ’02,
Feb. ’08
’02 Susan (Wimmer ’02) to Chris Sexton ’02,
May ’08
’02 Heather (Hinnenkamp ’01) to Chris
Stanley ’02, June ’07
’03 Kelly (Shroyer ’03) to Anthony Anderson
’03, Aug. ’07
’03 Stephanie (Casey ’03) to Ryan Bielat ’03,
May ’08
’03 Megan (Sand ’06) to Charlie Carr ’03,
July ’08
’03 Diane (Pelant ’05) to Brian Connelly ’03,
Aug. ’08
’03 Emily Kennedy to Jeff Donnay ’03,
July ’08
’03 Megan to Timothy Fredrickson ’03,
Oct. ’07
’03 Abnita (Munankarmy ’01) to Ry Larrand-son
’03, June ���08
’03 Natalie (Willis ’02) to Jim Mulrooney ’03,
Feb. ’06.
’04 Gretta (Ecker ’04) to Brian Eder ’04,
Sept. ’08
’04 Lori Van Meeteren to Barry Folkens ’04,
June ’08
’04 Maggie Donohue to Ryan Green ’04,
May ’08
’04 Jessie (Bares ’04) to Andrew Hachiya
’04, Aug. ’08
’04 Erin (Troutfetter ’04) to Alexander Jude
’04, Oct. ’08
’04 Jill (Podgroski ’04) to Nate Kopetka ’04,
Aug. ’08
’04 Amy Zierden to Joshua Meyer ’04,
Aug. ’08
’04 Tammy Tuckosh to Jack Moore ’04,
Feb. ’08
’04 Mary Beth (Gleason ’04) to Peter Mueller
’04, May ’08
’04 Brigette (McKenzie ’04) to Adam Pettit
’04, Oct. ’08
’04 Rachel (Wermager ’05) to Travis Rajdl
’04, June ’08
’04 Marie Tax to Scott Schmitz ’04, Apr. ’08
’04 Alissa (Keene ’04) to Josh Theis ’04,
July ’08
’04 Jennifer (Scarrella ’07) to Matthew Vos
’04, May ’08
’05 Tamara (Yost ’05) to Eric Anderson ’05,
Sept. ’08
’05 Danielle (Schiffler ’05) to Adam Benjamin
’05, Oct. ’08
’05 Tara (Boyer ’05) to Andrew Brigham ’05,
June ’08
’05 Patricia (Canik ’05) to Damien Dumon-ceaux
’05, July ’08
’05 Colleen (Niznik ’05) to Joseph Federer
’05, Dec. ’07
’05 Susan Diffley to Nathan Haasken ’05,
Oct. ’08
’05 Angela (Haen ’05) to Ari Palczewski ’05,
Oct. ’08
Paul ’59 Keeps on Pedaling
With head down and legs churning, Cyril Paul, 78, was on a
2,600-mile mission this past fall. He rode his bicycle from his home
in Bloomington, MN, to California to raise funds for the CSB/SJU
Cyril Paul Endowed Scholarship for West Indian Students. Paul wants
to increase the fund from $80,000 to $250,000 so more students can
pursue environmental studies and apply their learning in his native
Trinidad and Tobago and other island countries in the region.
As a student, Paul was a popular musician who introduced Calypso
music to Central Minnesota and set records on the track team. He
continues to front Cyril Paul and the Calypso Monarchs at concerts,
wedding receptions and other events across the Twin Cities. The retired
educator leads workshops where he discusses culture, peace and justice
issues. Paul also serves on the music liturgy team at Joan of Arc Parish
in Minneapolis. Along with biking, he runs marathons. For more
about Paul, his music and his scholarship, see www.cyrilpaul.com.
Cyril Paul with his wife, Pam, at the kickoff
of his 2,600-mile bike ride from Minnesota
to California.
39
’05 Patricia (Hobday ’01) to Ryan Strack ’05,
Sept. ’08
’05 Lori to Adam Vander Poel ’05, Oct. ’08
’05 Amanda (Scholz ’06) to Bob Willenbring
’05, July ’08
’06 Deborah (Williams ’07) to Michael Conrad
’06, July ’08
’06 Maria Stark to Jon Daniel ’06, Aug. ’08
’06 Erin (Saupe ’07) to Brian Finley ’06,
July ’08
’06 Heather (Johnson ’07) to Michael Kruk
’06, May ’08
’06 Kelly (Webster ’07) to Terrell Ormson ’06,
July ’08
’06 Emily (Felton ’06) to Samuel Pearson ’06,
Aug. ’08
’06 Mary Beth (McCarney ’06) to Mike
Plucinski ’06, Aug. ’08
’06 Cassie (Benson ’05) to Maxwell Smith
’06, June ’08
’06 Megan (Kuhl ’06) to Seth Stennes ’06,
Aug. ’08
’06 Katie (Mueller ’05) to Eric Stinson ’06,
Aug. ’08
’07 Jesse (Miller ’07) to John Brine ’07,
Oct. ’08
’07 Megan (Tiegs ’07) to Nick Forliti ’07,
Sept. ’08
’07 Erin (Fogle ’07) to Ben Lauer ’07,
Aug. ’08
’07 Sarah Ehrlich to Matthew Lovgren ’07,
Sept. ’08
’07 Maggie (Reisdorf ’07) to Ethan McCallum
’07, May ’07
’07 Vanessa (Denardo ’07) to Kevin McNa-mara
’07, Oct. ’08
’07 Kellie (McQuade ’07) to Todd Perry ’07,
July ’08
’07 Shaina (Crotteau ’08) to Richard Raile
’07, May ’08
’07 Anna (Scheil ’07) to Morgan Skidmore
’07, June ’00
Births
’88 Annmarie & Christopher Kraker ’88, boy,
John, Mar. ’08
’88 Lisa & John Nathe ’88, girl, Victoria,
Jan. ’08
’89 Lisa (Klaphake ’91) & Scott Zipp ’89, girl,
Hannah, July ’08
’90 Jill & John Boucher ’90, boy, James,
Sept. ’08
’91 Donald McCabe ’91, girl, Sierra, Jan. ’08
’92 Kristen & Gerry Marthaler ’92, girl,
Gabrielle, Sept. ’08
’92 Jennifer & Joe Moore ’92, boy, Jack,
May ’08
’93 Kassi & Pat Grove ’93, boy, Brennan,
Aug. ’08
’93 JoDee & Jeff Haubrich ’93, boy, Colton,
Oct. ’08
’93 Kate (Halverson ’93) & Matt O’Connell
’93, girl, Hanorah, May ’08
’93 Leslie (Drahozal ’93) & Dan Page ’93, girl,
Flannery, May ’08
’93 Sandy & Jim Wenner ’93, girl, Rose,
Jan. ’08
’94 Heather (Herron ’93) & Don Christenson
’94, boy, Peter, May ’08
’94 Maren (Bassett ’96) & William Farniok
’94, girl, Avery, June ’08
’94 Joy (Hanson ’94) & Chris Fischer ’94, girl,
Evelyn, Sept. ’08
’94 Leah & Robert Frascone ’94, boy, Luca,
Aug. ’07
’94 Kelly (Stockwell ’99) & Eric Hanson ’94,
girl, Emma, Apr. ’08
’94 Lisa & Dick Heydet ’94, girl, Lilly, Aug. ’08
’94 Kathy (Keppers ’94) & Mark Lutgen ’94,
twin girl & boy, Abigail & Daniel, July ’07
’94 Amy (Hergott ’93) & Bart Meath ’94, girl,
Kate, Apr. ’08
’94 Megann & Todd Sauer ’94, twin boy and
girl, Peter & Margaret, Aug. ’08
’95 Carley & Andy Crook ’95, boy, Cutler,
May ’08
’95 Julie & Jamie Dukowitz ’95, girl, Violet,
May ’08
’95 Heidi (Wolak ’97) & Todd Faber ’95, boy,
Ian, June ’08
’95 Shannon & Patrick Glynn ’95, boy, Ethan,
May ’07
Walsh ’61 Traces His Family Ruts
The Old West has long been a part of Bill Walsh’s fabric. Last
August, he walked in his great-grandfather’s cowboy boots. Make that
rode in his wagon ruts.
One of 100 outriders on horseback, Walsh rode back 130 years in
time last summer to retrace the Ft. Pierre to Deadwood Trail, accompa-nying
a 51-wagon train for the 200-mile, 17-day trip. Tom Callahan,
Walsh’s great-grandfather, drove wagons on the original route.
Walsh is a long-time resident of Deadwood, SD, noted for its role
in the Black Hills gold rush of the 1870s, and for being the place
where Wild Bill Hickock was gunned down. Walsh helped revive the
community in the 1980s. As owner of The Historic Franklin Hotel, he
restored the 1903 landmark and lobbied to bring back legal gambling
to the area, a boon to Deadwood businesses. His dedication to local
commerce, business development and tourism earned him induction
in 2007 in the “historical category” to the South Dakota State Hall of
Fame. Bill Walsh retraced the 200-mile Ft. Pierre to
Deadwood trail on horseback last summer.
40
MILESTONES
’95 Mary & Andrew Haeg ’95, boy, Dexter,
Nov. ’07
’95 Tara & Jason McLellan ’95, boy, Jay,
July ’08
’95 Emily (Fischer ’95) & Jason Roering ’95,
girl, Claire, Aug. ’08
’95 Heidi (Moulzolf ’93) & P. John Ruth ’95,
boy, Henry, May ’08
’95 Colleen (Swift ’95) & Greg Winn ’95, boy,
Alexander, Mar. ’08
’96 Faith & Steve Bruce ’96, girl, Kylie,
June ’08
’96 Kay (Kofstad ’96) & David Bruni ’96, girl,
Sienna, Aug. ’08
’96 Angela & Chad Ericson ’96, boy, Payton,
Oct. ’07
’96 Helen & Chad Mountain ’96, boy, Har-rison,
July ’08
’96 Melissa (Prom ’99) & Chad Passe ’96, girl,
Audrina, Feb. ’08
’96 Andrew & Brendan Stevenson ’96, girl,
Harper, June ’08
’96 Genevieve & Aaron Thul ’96, boy, Caleb,
Feb. ’08
’97 Jenny (Meseraull ’96) & Jamie Beach ’97,
girl, Gabriella, Dec. ’07
’97 Marcy Lang & David Camarotto ’97, boy,
Holden, July ’08
’97 Tabatha & Kipp Christianson ’97, girl,
Clover, July ’08
’97 Becky & Brian Deters ’97, boy, Thomas,
Mar. ’08
’97 Morgan & Steve Espeland ’97, boy, Henry,
May ’08
’97 Julie & Tom Ferguson ’97, girl, Lauren,
May ’08
’97 Molly & Dan Haske ’97, boy, Louis,
Apr. ’08
’97 Michelle (Kelash ’02) & Michael
Hemmesch ’97, boy, William, Aug. ’08
’97 Martha & Dan Koshiol ’97, girl, Katherine,
Sept. ’08
’97 Elizabeth & Nathan Mathews ’97, boy,
Peter, Mar. ’08
’97 Sarah & Todd Shomion ’97, boy, Kade,
Mar. ’08
’98 Summer & Paul Ayotte ’98, boy, Luke,
Jan. ’08
’98 Tamara (Moore ’05) & Christian Breczin-ski
’98, boy, Andrew, Jan. ’08
’98 Dawn & Brent Cobb ’98, girl, Lucy,
Aug. ’08
’98 Angela (Broskoff ’98) & Cory
Klemmensen ’98, girl, Attley, Apr. ’08
’98 Wendy & Paul Letendre ’98, boy, Jack,
Sept. ’08
’98 Shannon (Erikson ’99) & George Marten-son
’98, girl, Noelle, Sept. ’08
’98 Robin & Pat Marushin ’98, boy, Benjamin,
Aug. ’08
’98 Alison & Jimmy Schneider ’98, girl,
Addison, Apr. ’08
’98 Sara (Weisbeck ’96) & Ryan Schreier ’98,
girl, Lillian, Sept. ’07
’98 Mary (Van Tassel ’98) & David Williams
’98, girl, Brynn, June ’08
’98 Alison (Cavanna ’98) & Chris Yeamen ’98,
boy, Spencer, June ’07
’99 Leah (Huesing ’99) & Robert Anklam ’99,
boy, Owen, June ’08
’99 Katrina (Lusty ’00) & Daniel Buetow ’99,
boy, Trey, Aug. ’08
’99 Angela & Heath Carter ’99, girl, Macken-zie,
May ’08
’99 Jody (Stueve ’00) & Michael Durand ’99,
girl, Sophia, Apr. ’08
’99 Jayme & Peter Fanucci ’99, boy, Luca,
Feb. ’08
’99 Tamara & Ian Ferguson ’99, boy, Ichiro,
Mar. ’08
’99 Karey & Scott Frieler ’99, girl, Rebekah,
Aug. ’08
’99 Jamie & Jeremy Lach ’99, girl, Alexandra,
Apr. ’08
’99 Jenny & Todd Lang ’99, boy, Jack,
Mar. ’08
’99 Susan (Switras ’97) & Carl Meyer ’99, girl,
Iris, Sept. ’07
’99 Alanna & Kevin Monn ’99, boy, Ethan,
May ’08
’99 Dana & Shane Pemrick ’99, boy, Grady,
Mar. ’08
’99 Karrie (Schimtz ’99) & Dave Rasmussen
’99, girl, Molly, Mar. ’08
’99 Erica & Jeremy Scegura ’99, girl, Afton,
June ’08
’99 Rebecca (Maly ’99) & Chris Schimming
’99, girl, Sadie, July ’08
’99 Angela (Probst ’99) & Paul Trobec ’99,
boy, Michael, Apr. ’08
’99 Jen (Eisenzimmer ’99) & Hans Weyandt
’99, boy, Elliott, Oct. ’07
’00 Melissa (Menke ’00) & Chad Belling ’00,
girl, Zoe, May ’08
’00 Lori & Matthew Byrne ’00, boy, Liam,
June ’08
’00 Erin & Keith Cornell ’00, boy, Brock,
June ’07
’00 Andrea & Christopher Daly ’00, twin
boys, Matthew & Zachary, Jan. ’08
’00 Kimberly & Kristopher Dorn ’00, girl,
Kayla, Apr. ’07
’00 Heather (Schmitt ’00) & Michael Johnson
’00, girl, Hallie, June ’08
’00 Jill (Beyer ’00) & Paul Kieser ’00, girl,
Annika, Sept. ’08
’00 Heidi (Leadens ’99) & Joe Linhoff ’00, girl,
Muller ’71 Emerges as Two-Time National Masters Champion
A basketball and track-and-field star as a college student-athlete, Tim Muller’s competitive
juices and prowess are still evident at age 58. Muller successfully defended one national champi-onship
and claimed another last August in the USA Masters Track and Field meet in Spokane,
WA. He repeated in the shot put in the Men’s 55-59 age category with a heave of 48.01 feet,
taking the gold medal by a foot. He won the discus event with a throw of 153.07 feet, beating
the runner-up by nearly 30 feet.
Muller got involved in Masters Track in 1998 when he entered the World Games in Eugene,
OR. He came home with a silver in the shot put, losing only to a former Czech Olympian; a
fourth place in the discus; and the knowledge he could compete on a high level.
The 6-6, 260-pound Scottsdale, AZ, resident now competes annually in six to eight meets in
Arizona, the Southwest regionals and the U.S. Nationals. In 2007, Muller won bronze in the discus and finished
seventh in the shot put at the biannual World Masters Championships in Italy. He concentrates on the shot put
and discus in training but also throws the javelin, hammer and weight.
“I have a great passion to compete and have goals and records to shoot for,” says Muller. “This year my goal is
to break the American record for the discus for my age group. I need about 13 feet better than my personal best to
reach it.”
Tim Muller competing
in the discuss event at
Nationals last August.
41
MILESTONES
Mackenzie, May ’08
’00 Jessica (Lessard ’01) & John Maslow ’00,
girl, Madeline, Aug. ’08
’00 Erin (McEllistrem ’00) & Alex McEllistrem
Evenson ’00, boy, Elliot, Sept. ’08
’00 Katie (Rothstein ’01) & Tony Minnich ’00,
boy, Oliver, June ’08
’00 Jennifer & Brian O’Neill ’00, girl, Lora,
May ’08
’00 Jennifer & Kevin Peterson ’00, boy,
Zander, June ’07
’00 Alison & Jeff Rahman ’00, girl, Madeline,
Oct. ’08
’00 Anne (Panian ’00) & Gabriel Sinna ’00,
boy, Andrew, Apr. ’08
’00 Anne (Carlin ’00) & Jeremy Skramsted
’00, girl, Rachel, Mar. ’07
’00 Erin & Dale Streit ’00, boy, Nathan,
Apr. ’08
’00 Debra & Bill Weber ’00, girl, Julie, Oct. ’07
’01 Melanie & Ken Dalley ’01, girl, Lexi,
Oct. ’08
’01 Theresa & Lucas Ferkinhoff ’01, girl,
Alaina, Sept. ’08
’01 Melinda (Noll ’01) & Matthew Jungbauer
’01, boy, Michael, May ’08
’01 Kelli & Matt McGovern ’01, boy, Simon,
May ’08
’01 Jennifer (Sexton ’99) & Aaron Miller ’01,
boy, Isaac, Dec. ’07
’01 Jenn & Brad Neznik ’01, girl, Ava,
May ’08
’01 Elizabeth & Mike Omann ’01, girl, Alexis,
May ’08
’01 Katie (Studer ’02) & Brian Roers ’01, boy,
Charlie, Feb. ’08
’01 Emily (Yanez ’01) & Chris Suedbeck ’01,
boy, Anthony, Nov. ’07
’02 Polly (Kulas ’02) & Chuck Berendes ’02,
boy, Everett, May ’08
’02 Theresa (Brine ’02) & Scott Hennis ’02,
girl, Cecelia, Aug. ’08
’02 Christine (Welle ’02) & Kris Hokanson ’02,
boy, Isaac, Aug. ’08
’02 Kristen & Jesse Jennissen ’02, twin girl
and boy, Brynn & Grady, June ’08
’02 Kara (Richter ’01) & Adam Lomen ’02,
girl, Lauren, May ’08
’02 Aimmeejean & Eric Moscho ’02, girl,
Hayden, July ’08
’02 Kris (DePauw ’02) & Josh Noble ’02, twin
boy and girl, Colton & Ava, May ’08
’02 Carissa (Johnson ’02) & Mark Ridenour
’02, boy, Braeden, Feb. ’08
’02 Lora (Harris ’02) & Brandon Smith ’02,
girl, Addie, Jan. ’08
’02 Laura & Kevin Vallez ’02, boy, Ethan,
July ’08
’03 Ann (Cushman ’03) & Gabriel Berendes
’03, boy, Edward, July ’08
’03 Michelle (Barlau ’03) & Ben Goodman
’03, girl, Clara, Feb. ’08
’03 Bonnie & Daniel Hushagen ’03, girl,
Norah, June ’07
’03 Shantelle & Marty Kane ’03, girl, Avery,
July ’08
’03 Stephanie (Meyer ’04) & Steve Malisze-wski
’03, boy, Charles, Apr. ’08
’03 Mary McManus ’03 & Michael Mc-
Manus ’04, boy, Vincent, Apr. ’08
’03 Katie & Lonnie Provencher ’03, boy,
Jonah, Aug. ’08
’03 Emily (Mages ’02) & Brennen Rath ’03,
boy, Owen, Apr. ’08
’03 Stephanie (Frame ’03) & Michael Reier-son
’03, girl, Hannah, June ’08
’04 Sally (Soulek ’04) & Shane Jensen ’04,
boy, Caden, Sept. ’08
’04 Mary (O’Neill ’03) & Michael McManus
’04, boy, Vincent, Apr. ’08
’04 Sara (Larson ’03) & Charlie Sawdey ’04,
boy, Sawyer, Aug. ’08
’04 Claire (Callahan ’05) & Christopher
Stocker ’04, girl, Corinne, Sept. ’08
’04 Jen (Hitzemann ’05) & Jerry Thamert ’04,
girl, Audrey, Apr. ’08
’04 Megan (Hubley ’04) & Brian Vetter ’04,
boy, Maxwell, Sept. ’08
’05 John & Julie Ludwig ’05, girl, Samantha,
Oct. ’08
’05 Patricia (Nolan ’06) & Shaun Meling ’05,
boy, Nolan, July ’08
’05 Christian (Breczinski ’98) & Tamara
Moore ’05, boy, Andrew, Jan. ’08
’06 Shalin & Mike Carney ’06, boy, David,
July ’08
Deaths
’31 Caroline Ryan, spouse of deceased Joe
’31, mother of Mike ’57, Jim ’62 and
deceased John ’62, Oct. ’07
’34 Edward Kalinowski, brother of deceased
Rev. Walbert Kalinowski, OSB ’34, May ’08
’34 Margaret Klasen, spouse of deceased,
George ’34, May ’08
’34 Raymond J. Krebsbach ’34, Oct. ’08
’37 Faye Lang, spouse of deceased Norb ’37,
June ’08
’38 Austin McCarthy ’38, brother of deceased
Eugene ’35, June ’08
’39 Margaret Tembrock, spouse of deceased
Raymond ’39, mother of Joseph ’62,
James ’66, and Paul ’74, May ’08
’40 Paul H. Morgel ’40, July ’08
’41 Frank Gerlach ’41, Oct. ’08
’42 Donald Fitzpatrick ’42, brother of de-ceased
James ’41, July ’08
’42 Tom Novak ’42, July ’07
’42 Helen Rausch, spouse of deceased
Severin ’42, June ’08
’43 Ev Kulas ’43, brother of Rev. John Kulas,
OSB ’53 and Paul ’61, Sept. ’08
’44 Lloyd