Classnotes

1950s

Theodore “Ted” Brown
(CHEM ’50), Bonita Springs, Fla., is the founding director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Boris Stern
(CHEM ’50), Tampa, Fla., is a former WWII infantry squad leader. Stern is now known as “The Cookie Man” or “The Ice Cream Guy” at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, where he volunteers.

Ted Erikson
(CHE ’52, M.S. CHEM ’59), Chicago, presented at the Chicago Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers in fall 2015 at Roosevelt University.

Roy Grundy
(IE ’52), Naperville, Ill., recently attended the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the British Machine Gun Corps in Grantham, England. Grundy’s father was a member of the corps during WWI, and Grundy is now an honorary member.


1960s

John King
(EE ’60, M.S. ’65), Bloomfield Hills, Mich., celebrated his 50th reunion at Illinois Tech in 2000 and returned last fall for the 50th anniversary of receiving his master’s degree. He and his wife have nine children and 20 grandchildren.

Norbert Pointner
(ARCH ’61, M.S. CRP ’62), Wheaton, Ill., presented planning workshops for the Village of Bartlett and the Village of Clarendon Hills and made a presentation for the Village of Homer Glen. He has authored four published papers.

Frank Melchior
(LAW ’63), Allendale, N.J., is retired and serves as a volunteer mentor at SCORE, providing free professional business counseling.

Ronald Waller
(PS ’63), Richmond, Va., is a part-time tour guide at the Virginia State Capitol.

David Rogers
(EE ’64), Fargo, N.D., is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Dakota State University. He and his wife have been married for more than 50 years and have one son.

Celso Aurelio
(ARCH ’65), Chicago, has spent most of his career as an architect in Chicago. One of his best experiences was attending a speech given by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Aurelio has two children and three grandchildren.

Raymond Barnett
(CHEM ’65, M.S. SE ’69), Lisle, Ill., retired in 2002 after a long career as a high school chemistry teacher. He and his wife, Lois, will celebrate their 50th anniversary this year. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.

Andrew Bosma
(CE ’65), Orland Park, Ill., worked as an engineer at United States Steel Corporation, Sargent & Lundy, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and the Village of Orland Park. He has been married to his wife, Judy, for 56 years. They have five children, 13 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren expected this year.

George Bradburn
(ARCH ’65), Nîmes, France, has spent most of his career outside of the United States, the last 26 years in Europe.

William Christiaanse
(EE ’65), Westport, Conn., began his career working on engineering computer applications before becoming a financial advisor. He and his wife, Carol, have two children.

Donald Finan

Donald Franklin

(ME ’65), Palos Park, Ill., worked for 37 years in the industrial gas industry. He and his wife of 50 years, Kathy, have three children and seven grandchildren. Finan still enjoys the annual Illinois Tech Pumpkin Launch. He also participates annually in the MS 150 Ride, where his 2015 team raised more than $40,000 to fight muscular dystrophy.

Don Finan (ME ’65) [left] with his son-in-law Chris White, Illinois Tech’s vice provost for academic affairs and professor of physics [middle], and Finan’s son Don Finan Jr. [right] at the 2013 MS 150 Ride.

Donald Franklin
(ARCH ’65), Chicago, is “mostly retired” from a career as a corporate management planner and consultant and now spends his time volunteering. An avid bicyclist, Franklin, and his wife, Joyce, have been married for 45 years.

Robert Hoekstra
(CRP ’65), Swansea, Ill., spent his early career as a city and regional planner, later becoming a real estate appraiser. He and his wife have two sons.

Richard Hogan
(ME ’65, M.S. MAE ’69), Chicago, had a career in the electrical utility industry. He now enjoys traveling and visiting Adler Planetarium and other local museums.

Sheldon Marcus
(Ph.D. CHEM ’65), Chicago, spent 34 years as a research manager at Amoco (now BP), where he managed a diverse, international group of scientists, engineers, technicians, and administration staff members.

Thomas Michalek
(CHE ’65), Pittsburgh, attended law school and still maintains a civil law practice today. He is married and has three grandchildren.

Keith Miller
(ME ’65), Vero Beach, Fla., worked for 35 years in manufacturing management for Procter & Gamble, where he helped to design a $60 million decaffeinated instant coffee plant and managed it for seven years.

Edward Minieka
(IE ’65), Chicago, was professor of information and decision sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago for 26 years. He is a professional antiquarian, sourcing and selling European antiques for clients and collectors. Minieka received the Silver Circle Award for teaching in 1997.

William O’Brien
(ME ’65), Burr Ridge, Ill., held various jobs in manufacturing businesses and became an internal consultant in organizational and leadership development.

Walter Parduhn
(BE ’65), Palos Heights, Ill., spent his career in the manufacturing industry and founded and led Ceramic Fiber Specialties for 34 years. He and his wife have been married for more than 50 years.

Suresh Pinjarkar
(CE ’65, Ph.D. ’69), Glencoe, Ill., worked at several local consulting firms as a structural engineer before starting his own firm in 2003. He performed dynamic load testing and evaluation of the CTA elevated train tracks that run through the Illinois Tech campus and other areas of the city.

Stevan Resan
(CHEM ’65), Cross Junction, Va., spent the first half of his career in product development and then served as a primary patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The French and Indian War Foundation recognized Resan for outstanding contributions to the preservation of French and Indian War heritage.

Lee Sheridan
(CHE ’65, M.S. ’67), Kildeer, Ill., worked primarily in research and development at various companies, including the Amoco Chemicals Corporation, Rubbermaid, and Illinois Tool Works.

Carlo Testa
(M.Des. ’65), Blandford, Nova Scotia, Canada, has designed environments for educational facilities and hospitals around the world, including Africa and Asia. He and his wife have one daughter.

Gordon Thomson

Gordon Thomson
(PHYS ’65), Salt Lake City, received his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1972 and was a physics professor at Rutgers University for 29 years. He is now a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Utah and holds an endowed chair. Thomson and his wife, Tricia, have one son, Alexander.

John Vomastic
(CHE ’65), Manitou Springs, Colo., served in the United States Navy for 24 years, later joining the Westinghouse Electric Corporation as a program manager. He has run in the Pike’s Peak Ascent vertical race for the past nine years.

Henry West
(ME ’65), Lake Forest, Ill., was an operations executive at various companies, serving as executive vice president at The Marmon Group for the past 22 years. West and his wife have been married for 53 years and have two children and four grandchildren.

Nick T. Thomopoulos
(Ph.D. IE ’66), Burr Ridge, Ill., Professor Emeritus of Management Science at Stuart School of Business, recently had his 10th book published, Elements of Manufacturing, Distribution, and Logistics (Springer International Publishing 2016). Four of his five family members are Illinois Tech alumni: wife, Elaine Thomopoulos (Ph.D. PSYC ’74), and daughters Marie Sussman (M.B.A. ’93), Melina Collins (M.B.A. ’95), and Diana Patterson (M.B.A. ’05).

David C. McKinney
(ARCH ’67, M.S. CRP ’68, Ph.D. ’76), Fallbrook, Calif., is president of Westcliff University.

John O’Connor
(LAW ’67), Oak Forest, Ill., retired from his firm, John J. O’Connor & Associates.

Joanne Gucwa
(CRP ’68), Des Plaines, Ill., published three of the BioFables series of children’s tech-based stories.

Frank MadsenFrank Madsen
(DSGN ’68), Delavan, Wis., recently closed his exhibition planning and design company after 28 years and plans to run an antique toy business.


1970s

Fred Michaels
(M.S. SOC ’70), Scottsdale, Ariz., is executive consultant at Michaels & Associates, assisting companies in creating custom online training. After attending a Phoenix-area luncheon with Lewis College of Human Sciences Dean Christine Himes, Michaels reconnected by email with Walter Davis (M.S. SOC ’70), professor of sociology at Tougaloo College. Among other memories from their time as students, Michaels and Davis recall a dinner in 1968 at Michaels’s parents’ home in Chicago when they all received the news of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Michaels and Davis are looking forward to reconnecting in person in the near future.

Edward Resner
(CE ’71), Spring Grove, Ill., launched the 10th volume of the Schaumburg Scribe Group’s chapbook, Celebrations.

Tsuyoshi Okuyama
(MAE ’74), Warren, Mich., worked at White Cap following graduation, then moved to Japan to work for Nissan Motor Company, for which he held various positions in both Japan and the United States throughout his career. Okuyama now teaches Japanese martial arts and is a Grand Master in both Aikido and Iaido. He works as a technical translator in the automobile industry.

Christine Stypka
(BIO ’77), Chicago, has taught at St. Paul of the Cross school in Park Ridge, Ill., since 2002. She has promoted engineering by sponsoring a team of seventh- and eighth-grade students in the Future City Competition for the past nine years.

David Brezina
(LAW ’78), Chicago, has been fighting lymphoma for the past year and competed in the 2015 Leukemia Cup Regatta. He and his shipmates including Chris Novak (LAW ’03) won the Tartan 10 class.

Deborah Korell
(MGT ’78), Bradenton, Fla., is a trustee for the Bayshore Gardens Parks and Recreation District.

Richard Shreve
(Ph.D. BE ’78), Boynton Beach, Fla., has been selected as the Chemistry Cluster Chair for the current academic year at Palm Beach State College.

Michael Slifka

Michael Slifka
(ARCH ’78), Geneva, Ill., retired in 2010 as president of PFS Corporation and now focuses on consulting as a fire protection engineer, fire forensics investigator, and expert witness.

Jonathan Jaffe
(MGT ’79, M.S. OTM ’97), Gallatin, Tenn., was awarded his eighth patent in July 2015, has another patent in its third year of review, and has three more in development.


1980s

Richard Jozefiak
(ME ’82), Madison, Ala., received the Earl Pearce Professional of the Year Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Greater Huntsville Section last May for extraordinary dedication, creativity, and leadership over his 33-year career.

Peter M. Koliopoulos
(ARCH ’86), Paradise Valley, Ariz., has expanded Circle West Architects, the planning and design firm he founded in 1992, into the Denver market.

Lisa Mueller

Lisa Mueller
(ME ’87) [center], Kihei, Hawaii, and her uncle, [right] Richard Misiorowski (CHE ’56), will both be in attendance at her son [left] Tyler Seppala’s graduation from Illinois Tech this May. Mueller’s stepbrother Jeffery Szekely (CPE ’03) rounds out three generations of Mueller family members to have IIT as their alma mater.


1990s

Joy Robinson
(M.A.S. METM ’91, M.S. TCID ’09, Ph.D. TCOM ’14), Huntsville, Ala., is an assistant professor in technical writing and new media at the University of Alabama.

John Sennett
(M.S. CS ’92), Schaumburg, Ill., is co-authoring the book The 5th Evangelist. Sennett is also raising his son, Elias, 6.

David Wiatrowski

David Wiatrowski
(M.S. EE ’93, CER COMM ’04, M.A.S. ECE ’08), Woodstock, Ill., [center] received the 2015 Motorola Solutions Business Patent of the Year from Motorola Solutions, Inc. He has been with the company since 1987 and is a distinguished member of the technical staff. Wiatrowski holds 163 patents in 14 countries, with another seven inventions pending patent grants.

Elie Merheb
(CHE ’94), Broadview Heights, Ohio, is president of Kent Adhesive Products Company.

Louis Storino
(CHE ’94, M.S. ENVE ’96), Chicago, was elected president of the Illinois Water Environment Association for 2015–16.

Jennifer Burke
(LAW ’95), Chicago, was reappointed to the Illinois Pollution Control Board in 2015. Her husband, James Murphy (LAW ’95), is a judge in the Domestic Violence Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. The couple has four sons.

Mark Kopiec
(CE ’96), Lansing, Ill., has retired from his job as a civil engineer at the Illinois Department of Transportation, where he worked for 30 years.

Lawrence Jordan
(EE ’98), Bolingbrook, Ill., and Michael Heilmann (M.B.A. ’04) received the 2015 Daily Herald Business Ledger Entrepreneurial Excellence Award in the Innovation category. In 2004 Jordan and Heilmann co-founded Wi-Tronix, a leading provider of remote monitoring solutions for high-value mobile assets.

Santosh Vijay
(M.A.S. TSEC ’99), Bangalore, India, recently joined Beckman Coulter. He was previously with Philips Healthcare for five years and GE Healthcare for eight years.


2000s

Maribeth Whitfield
(LAW ’04), Chicago, continues to serve as general counsel for the Suzlon Group. She and her husband, Jason, have two children, Helena and Jude.

Jacqueline Anderson
(PSYC ’05, M.B.A. ’14), Chicago, wrote the feature article “Change Is Constant So Embrace It: Four Misconceptions Challenging Change in Higher Ed,” in The Evolllution, discussing the importance of introducing change in university culture.

Yared Akalou
(M.Des. ’06) Houston, was granted a patent for co-inventing a software service he developed while employed at CareFusion. The service tracks data usage of infusions administered to patients.

Lauren Joyce Hensel
(PTC ’06), Chicago, began her graduate program at Stuart School of Business and became associate director of admissions at Morgan Park Academy last October.

Ravi Panchumarthy
(M.A.S. ITM ’09), Tampa, Fla., is a doctoral candidate in computer science and engineering at the University of South Florida.

Karthik Sudhir
(M.A.S. TSEE ’09), Chicago, is an engineer at Apple and has invented a touch protocol that improves iPhone security. Apple has since applied for a patent for his invention.

Anne Szkatulski
(LAW ’09), Chicago, is counsel and director of government affairs at the online eye-examination company Opternative.

Omer Onar
(Ph.D. EE ’10), Knoxville, Tenn., has been working at the United States Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2010.

Julia Rybakova

Julia Rybakova
(BAAS ’10), Northbrook, Ill., was recently promoted to associate at Much Shelist, P.C. in the business and finance practice group. She is also a registered patent attorney.

Kathryn Weissman
(CE ’10), Chicago, is a project manager at ComEd in the transmission project management department.

Keenan Gottschall
(PS ’11), Wixom, Mich., was elected to a four-year term with the Wixom City Council.

Angela Ng
(CE ’11), Chicago, officiated at the wedding ceremony of Jessica Fong (ARCH ’12) and Robert Veitch (CS ’12) on September 5, 2015.

Amanda Zhang
(TCID ’11), North Bergen, N.J., is a digital asset librarian in the Global Technology Services Division of Craft/McCann Worldwide in New York City.

Carey Lee
(ITMF ’13), Chicago, works at Illinois Tech as an information technology coordinator.

Nazanin Tondravi
(LAW ’13), Naperville, Ill., is associate director of the Regulatory Compliance Division at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Katherine (Peters) Johnson
(PTC ’15), Chicago, married Zephan Johnson (CS 5th year) in Colorado on August 2, 2015.

Mehal Shah
(BME ’15), Naperville, Ill., is in his first year of medical school at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Indianapolis.