SPRING 2021

River of Hope
Inside the New
LA River Master Plan

Ad Astra, President Cramb

Diversity by Design
COVID-19 Transmission Aboard
the Diamond Princess
Letter from
the President

“Sic Itur Ad Astra”

(“Thus One Journeys to the Stars”)
—Virgil, from the Aeneid, Book IX

PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER

I WANT TO TELL YOU that dreams really do come true. While I will remain at Illinois Tech as a faculty
When I first entered into academic administration at member, I will always recall special moments from my
Carnegie Mellon University in the 1980s, I told my wife, time as president: working with chairmen Bud Wendorf
Anna, that I aspired to one day become a university and Mike Galvin; addressing students and their families
president. Even with that goal in mind, I could never at Commencement; traveling to visit our alumni in the
have imagined that I would succeed one of my great United States and around the world; celebrating with
mentors, John L. Anderson, whom I met at Carnegie members of our community who were dressed in Scarlet
Mellon, when he and I would serve as president Hawk red as we broke ground for the Ed Kaplan Family
and provost, respectively, at Illinois Institute of Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship;
Technology. When President Anderson retired as Illinois connecting with alumni at Illinois Tech’s first-ever virtual
Tech’s eighth president in 2015, the members of the global gathering event; and recognizing the donors
university’s Board of Trustees placed their confidence who helped us renovate the Robert A. Pritzker Science
in me by naming me as the ninth president of this Center, the John T. Rettaliata Engineering Center,
great institution. Cunningham Hall, and George J. Kacek Hall.
These past nearly six years in which I’ve been As I look at the faces of our students and faculty, I
honored to serve as your president, working together will also remember the important research that resulted
with our trustees and the entire Illinois Tech community, from the Nayar Prize I, and all of those individuals who
have indeed fulfilled my dream on so many levels. In worked to open the College of Computing and Lewis
my first letter as president, I stated that my vision College of Science and Letters. My successor will now
for Illinois Tech includes that our university becomes have the opportunity to continue the work begun on
a place where there is a strong focus on education the Power the Difference: Our Campaign for Illinois Tech
and the development of new knowledge; that values fundraising effort, which will support student success
creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial activities; and advance our standing as the leading tech-focused
and whose culture is inclusive, its people diverse, and university in Chicago.
its accomplishments more than the sum of its parts. One of my most important goals as incoming
We have done much to further growth in each of these president was to ensure that Illinois Tech valued all of
areas. its people—from the faculty to the staff to the students.
While reflecting on everything that I’ve been through, Above all else, I hope that I have accomplished that.
I have to once again recognize the recent remarkable Thank you for your support, your partnership, and your
efforts of our staff and faculty during the 2019 polar belief in our university and its students. Never doubt
vortex and one of the greatest operational challenges in that you each have the ability to make your own dreams
the history of our university—the COVID-19 pandemic. a reality.
Their continual commitment and devotion to our
students and community members is commendable and Sincerely,
characterizes Illinois Tech’s hallmark traits of creativity,
persistence, and care. I extend my sincere gratitude and
appreciation for their resilience and dedication.
Alan W. Cramb
 ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE Spring 2021
Vice President for External Affairs
Jess Goode

Director of Content
Chelsea Kalberloh Jackson

Managing Editor
Marcia Faye

Editorial Contributors
Andrew Connor Linsey Maughan
Joe Giovannetti Simon Morrow
Steve Hendershot Laura Schmitt

Art Director
Scott Benbrook

Design 18
Scott Benbrook Travis Rothe
Joseph Goforth Marty Schalm

Photography
Damon Casarez David Ettinger
Olivia Dimmer Tony Rinaldo

Copyeditor/Writer
Andrew Wyder

Web Edition
Brian Bailey
Peter Beltemacchi
Abbey Vargas
12 22
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Marketing and Communications. © 2021

Illinois Tech Magazine is printed on FSC-certified recycled

paper. Read it, share it, recycle it.

Send Letters to Illinois Tech Magazine

Office of Marketing and Communications 8 18 Departments
10 West 35th Street, 13th Floor From commencements Industrial designer
Chicago, IL 60616 to COVID-19, Alan W. Stephen Burks (DSGN 2 Letters / On Campus
or email [email protected] Cramb leaves his role ’92) discusses his Chicago 4 Research Briefs
Send alumni news to [email protected]
as Illinois Tech’s ninth influences, the importance 7 Athletics
Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, is a president with memories of craft, and his efforts 26 Philanthropy News
private, technology-focused research university. Based in the global
metropolis of Chicago, Illinois Tech is the only university of its large and larger. to make the design
27 Alumni News
kind in the city. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in world more inclusive.
engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences,
applied technology, and law. 12 22
36 Rewind
One of 21 institutions that comprise the Association of Independent
C OV E R STORY
Technological Universities (AITU), Illinois Tech provides an Water has always been a His findings on COVID-19
exceptional education centered on active learning, and its graduates
lead the state and much of the nation in economic prosperity.
part of the life of Jessica transmission in projects
At Illinois Tech students are empowered to discover, create, and Henson (ARCH ’08), who, such as the Diamond
solve, and thus uniquely prepared to succeed in professions that
require technological sophistication, an innovative mindset, and an
as OLIN’s new partner, is Princess cruise ship are
entrepreneurial spirit. now contributing to the propelling Parham Azimi
Mission Statement LA River Master Plan. (Ph.D. ENVE ’16) into the
To provide distinctive and relevant education in an environment stratosphere of expert air-
of scientific, technological, and professional knowledge creation
and innovation 16 quality researchers.
2020 Professional
24
Armour College of Engineering Institute of Design
Chicago-Kent College of Law Lewis College of Science
Achievement Award
College of Architecture and Letters Read Illinois Tech
College of Computing Stuart School of Business winner USMC Brigadier Chi Hwan Lee (ME Magazine online at
ADA Statement General Len Anderson ’07), head of Purdue magazine.iit.edu
Illinois Institute of Technology provides qualified individuals with (STC ’93) combats violent University’s Sticktronics
disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in university
activities, programs, and services. Such individuals with disabilities extremism on the web. Laboratory, would like
requiring an accommodation should call the activity, program, to get personal with
or service director. For further information about Illinois Tech’s
resources, contact the Illinois Tech Center for Disability Resources your health care needs
at [email protected]. through his peel-and-stick
biomedical devices.
 ON CAMPUS

Letters
A Circuitous Journey
Forum ’76 Draws Black-Tie Celebs As a kid, Andy de Fonseca (AE 3rd Year) brought her
“I took note in your article ‘Twentieth-Century Celebrities Come
to Campus’ that your reference was Irene Macauley’s book The telescope to school as a prop for picture day. But without
Heritage of Illinois Institute of Technology, published in 1975. high marks in her high school science classes, de Fonseca
“You may be interested to know that in 1976, I and a small felt like space could only ever be a hobby for her.
group of alums created Forum ’76, a black-tie dinner held at Bob
Pritzker’s downtown Chicago Hyatt Hotel. In honor of the Unit-

PHOTO: OLIVIA DIMMER

ed States bicentennial and with the help of Maynard P. “Pete”
Venema, the chairman of [the Illinois Institute of Technology]
Board of Trustees and his friend Don Rumsfeld, the U.S. Secre-
tary of Defense, we invited President Gerald Ford to give a major
policy speech on technology. (It was the pre-internet days, when
we thought you could get to anyone with three phone calls. My
call to Venema and his to Rumsfeld somewhat confirmed that
simple networking adage of the day.)
“For the occasion, my committee and I designed and created
the Henry Heald Award, which I understand to this day remains
the university’s highest award.
“Unfortunately, in May 1976, President Ford was busy prepar-
ing for his upcoming election. He accommodated our event by
sending an official from NASA to be our featured speaker.
“In 1977 I once again chaired the Forum Dinner, at which we
presented the first Heald Award to R. Buckminster Fuller, the Instead, she pursued other interests, getting degrees in
inventor of the geodesic dome. Our principal speaker that eve- theater, cinematography, and history. De Fonseca worked in
ning was Jonas Salk, creator of the Salk polio vaccine. My fellow marketing and as a photographer, and she even published a
alums who were instrumental in cultivating my Forum Dinner
science fiction novel with real scientific theories woven into
idea were Fred Roberton (DSGN ’51), Bruno Conterato (ARCH
a fantastical world.
’48), Hal Bergen (EE ’50), and Joe Fern (FPE ’43).”
Then, de Fonseca started volunteering at Chicago’s
Clar Krusinski (ARCH ’63) Adler Planetarium.
“The scientists were all incredibly supportive and encour-
aging,” she says. “They helped me feel that I actually could
Looking at Machine-Learning Internet Tests
After reading “Breaking the Cycle” in the fall 2020 issue of Illinois do something in science.”
Tech Magazine, Robert John Zagar (M.S. PSYC ’75), a Chica- First, de Fonseca founded the Chicago branch of The
go-based psychologist, shared his views and referred to a paper Planetary Society, growing it into the second-largest branch
he co-authored titled “Implications of Machine-Learning Inter- in the world. Then, in 2016, while on maternity leave, de
net Tests to Save Lives and Money: 7-Point Violence Profile” Fonseca watched SpaceX’s Falcon 9 land on the Of Course
published in the Review of European Studies (Vol. 11, No. 1, 2019). I Still Love You drone ship. “It was the coolest flippin’ thing I
The authors conclude that “there is hope for a safer world and a had ever seen,” she says. “I had to be part of that world.”
peaceful next generation, because with probability models, She started with some community college courses.
namely actuarial assessments, there is the potential for violence When they went well, she enrolled at Illinois Institute of
prediction or forecasting because one collects the full informa- Technology. Beyond overcoming her fear of math, the past
tion in a MLIT [machine-learning internet test].” couple of years haven’t been easy. Last year de Fonseca
In his letter to Illinois Tech Magazine, Zagar adds that was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Now, with the COVID-19
“147,023+ high-risk youth got a job mentor and anger manage- pandemic, de Fonseca has been working from home with
ment in a program started under Mayor [Richard M.] Daley her 4-year-old daughter and ended up spending her winter
[Culture of Calm] and continued by Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel [One break finishing an incomplete fall course. But, she says,
Summer Chicago], saving 620 lives. “even at my lowest, darkest point, quitting is worse
“Your article does not highlight how the Second Chance Act than failure.”
actually gives many former offenders an opportunity to start a De Fonseca is pursuing her degree through the Acceler-
new life,” says Zagar. “I don’t think releasing violent offenders is
ated Master’s Program and has earned several competitive
the answer as so many have advocated. Given machine-learning
awards including the Brooke Owens Fellowship, which
internet tests we can determine who can be released and who
she received in January. As she did with her childhood
might just have to serve out their sentences.”
telescope, de Fonseca has her sights set beyond Earth.
Send letters to Illinois Tech Magazine
“I want to help get humankind to a point where people
10 West 35th Street, 13th Floor can say, ‘I don’t want to live on this planet anymore,’ and
Chicago, IL 60616 then be able to help them go live on another planet.”
Email: [email protected] —Simon Morrow

2 SPRING 2021
 The Rice Stuff
Yuta Katsuyama (M.Des.+M.B.A. Candidate) saw a prob-
lem—the lack of the Japanese staple snack food onigiri,
PHOTO: ANNA OLSZTYNSKA
rice balls filled with meat and vegetables, in Chicago—that
he thought he could solve with design. Through trial and
error, and using the knowledge he gained in Institute of
Design courses, Katsuyama found a solution: creating his
Will Work for Tail Scratches
own business, Onigiri Shuttle Kororin, which launched in MOST DAYS of the year, Grover, a 7-year-old
July 2020.—Andrew Connor black bassador (Labrador retriever-basset hound
mix), spends his time romping around on a 10-acre
farm in Peotone, Illinois, with his extended family

Onigiri 101 of horses, donkeys, cows, goats, laying chickens,

a turkey, a pony, and five other dogs. As Illinois
Institute of Technology’s therapy dog, Grover
Shape: Mountain (triangle) began his position in 2019 and is certified by
the national nonprofit animal-assisted interven-
tion organization Pet Partners. He also earned
Ingredients: Various rices the Canine Good Citizen designation from the
(usually white) and fillings American Kennel Club. As such, Grover visits with
(cheese, salmon, mushrooms,
students, faculty, and staff as a doggy-do-gooder
and more)
through the Office of Student Life and the Stu-
dent Health and Wellness Center. For example,
Occasion: Day to day, Grover helped an Illinois Tech student who was
handheld eating, from terrified of dogs.
breakfast to dinner “By the end of the session, she was really
petting him and giving him treats,” says Cindy
A.K.A.: Omusubi Chaffee, Illinois Tech’s director of environmental
health and safety, and Grover’s owner. “He even
Pair with miso soup or daikon radish pickles laid on his side, keeping his head down, to show
and unsweetened green tea or a Ramune her a submissive position. Later, when we saw the
lemon-lime beverage for a complete meal. student on campus, she would come by to say hi
Courtesy of Onigiri Shuttle Kororin to him. That was a big turnaround for her.”
Before the pandemic altered life on Mies Cam-
PHOTOS COURTESY OF YUTA KATSUYAMA

pus, Chaffee brought Grover to Illinois Tech twice

per week and more often during finals. Students
were not his only fans.
“I started bringing in Grover for the students,
but what I noticed is that the staff and faculty
really appreciate it,” says Chaffee, noting that she
hopes that Grover will have regular “office hours”
in the fall. “They ask for him as much as the stu-
dents do.” —Marcia Faye

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 3

 RESEARCH BRIEFS

Illinois Tech Headliners

Making Waste Useful

PHOTOS: DAVID ETTINGER

“It was an ideal tool for women
because the pots symbolized
their femininity. But it also was a
statement about the lack of food.”
Professor of History Margaret Power, in an article in the
Washington Post (originally in Vox) about the use of pots
and pans as a traditional form of protest for women from
Latin American to Asian countries.

FINDING WAYS to utilize fly ash is of interest to a variety of stakehold-

ers in the United States, both from an environmental standpoint and as
an attractive alternative for the concrete industry. Assistant Professor
of Civil Engineering Matt Gombeda received a nearly $1 million grant in
October to examine methods to incorporate fly ash in high volumes as a
“With cut fruits and vegetables, you supplementary cementitious material (SCM) for precast concrete appli-
may only have one piece that actually cations. Here's a look at the reasons why:
has, say, salmonella or listeria on it. But,
when you cut it up and start mixing it, Why Precast Concrete: Precast concrete products,
it now cross-contaminates the entire which are generally used in buildings and other
contents of your mixing bowl.” structures in the form of prefabricated products
such as concrete beams, slabs, and columns, offer
Professor Robert E. Brackett, director of the Institute
for Food Safety and Health, in HuffPost, on why high quality control and rapid fabrication
consumers should be cautious regarding the purchase and installation.
of pre-cut vegetables and fruit.
Why Fly Ash: As of 2017, power plants in the
United States produced more than 38 million tons
of fly ash, a fine powder coal byproduct, according
to the American Coal Ash Association. The U.S.
“This isn’t just a Detroit Department of Energy is interested in its potential
problem; this is a national uses for two main reasons—economic opportunities
problem that is contributing to and environmental benefits.
the racial wealth gap.”
How Does It Work: Incorporating fly ash, which
Professor of Law Bernadette Atuahene on the WDET
101.9 FM radio show “Detroit Today,” discussing a
is already done at lower levels, into concrete can
#BlackHomesMatter event in Detroit and the city’s make creating precast concrete products more
continued housing crisis. difficult, so Gombeda and his collaborators are
working to develop novel concrete mix designs
consisting of next-generation high-volume fly
ash binders. This effort will be done by first re-engineering the binders’
hydration mechanisms, then scaling up the most effective binders
to feasible concrete mix designs, and, lastly, demonstrating proof of
concept via full-scale experimental testing of precast components.
—Andrew Wyder
“If they’re able to get some significant victories
Acknowledgment: “This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award
and negotiate some good contracts they can build Number(s) DE-FE0031931.”
momentum, [and] they can point to those as they Disclaimer: “This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States
organize workers at other facilities.” Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes
any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness,
Professor Martin H. Malin, co-director of the Institute or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not
infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade
for Law and the Workplace at Chicago-Kent College of Law, name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recom-
in an article in the Chicago Tribune on potential mendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors
unionization within the Illinois cannabis industry. expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.”

4 SPRING 2021
Using Artificial Intelligence to Reduce Medical Radiation
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER engineering professors Miles Wernick and Yongyi Yang landed $6 million in National
Institutes of Health grants for their research using artificial intelligence to find health abnormalities in medical
imaging scans taken with lower radiation doses, which will allow patients to get life-saving care through safer

1
procedures. —Simon Morrow

A scan of the

IMAGES: MILES WERNICK AND YONGYI YANG

cross section of 1 2
a heart ventricle.
A healthy heart
would show a nice,
complete ring. This
scan looks blobby mostly
because of “noise”—an
outcome of the physics
of the imaging process—
which is present because
the image was taken
using a radiation dose
that is reduced eight
times compared to what
would typically be used.

2 The same scan after image processing using Wernick and Yang’s
artificial intelligence method. The processing has identified
and removed the noise, revealing a ventricle with coronary artery
disease, as shown by the incomplete ring.

Fountain Sleuths
Voltage [mV]

“I love writing with fountain pens because they are a unique combination of
beauty, tradition, and dexterity. In addition, they are ‘green,’ unlike ballpoints,
where the refill must be discarded. A bottle of ink lasts for years!”
—Professor Sohail Murad, Chair of the CHBE Department 100ms
200mV

Time [ms]

Q. A.
Why does my
fountain pen leak?
Since the first mass-produced
fountain pens appeared in the 1880s,
A poorly designed ink and air flow mechanism
the instruments have suffered from
from the ink reservoir in the pen to its nib
leakage issues. A paper co-authored
contributes to an ink/air capillary flow
by Illinois Tech professors Alex Nikolov, Sohail Murad,
imbalance, thereby causing an erratic flow of ink
and Darsh Wasan, and Pingkeng Wu (Ph.D. CHE ’19) in
to the pen nib. —Marcia Faye
the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science (October 15,
2020) looked inside the cartridge apparatus for a solution
to the problem.

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 5

 RESEARCH BRIEFS

COVID-19 Inhalant Therapies in the Pipeline

PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER

How It Works

CROWNase

Oscar Juarez

AN INHALANT THERAPY—
CROWNase—developed by Illinois SARS-CoV-2
Institute of Technology research-
ers shows the potential to limit
COVID-19 infection and is patent
pending. Associate Professor of
Biology Oscar Juarez conceptual-
ized the project, with support from CROWNase could also
faculty members David Minh and be administered as
Karina Tuz. CROWNase works by removing the human-derived coating a nasal spray, tablet,
The team is now writing a paper from the spike glycoprotein that covers the SARS-CoV-2 injection, suspension,
detailing its preliminary results virus particles. It then exposes the protein component of drops or ointment for
as well as working to advance the the spike to the person’s immune system and stops the the eyes, or orally.
project to further stages of testing virus from infecting human cells. CROWNase also includes
and development. the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor,
which helps the inhalant bind to viruses. The therapy targets
the human side of the interaction between the virus and
the immune system, rather than targeting the virus itself.

PROFESSOR DAVID MCCORMICK, pres- angiotensin-converting enzyme 2,

PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER

ident and director of IIT Research Insti- providing non-cellular targets in the
tute, is heading another inhalant therapy person’s respiratory tract to which
effort. He received $597,893 from the the virus will bind, according to
National Cancer Institute to perform the McCormick. This reduction in viral
research project “Inhalation Studies of binding to human cells will reduce
Recombinant Human Angiotensin Con- infectivity and disease severity.
verting Enzyme 2.” The inhaled therapy Since October 2020 IITRI has been
will soon advance to the United States awarded more than $7.8 million for
Food and Drug Administration and, if the development of biotherapeutic
approved, will advance to clinical trials and therapeutic agents as well as
led by the National Institutes of Health. the performance of studies focused
This inhalant therapy administers on COVID-19. —Linsey Maughan

Funding for the inhalation study reported in the IITRI article was supported by National Cancer Institute contract
75N91019D00013 (Task Order 75N91020F00002). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not
necessarily represent the official views of the NCI.

6 SPRING 2021
ATHLETICS illinoistechathletics.com

Training
Tabled
Never did Chapin Wehde imagine
what the next year would entail
when the reality of the COVID-19
pandemic struck home in March 2020.
Illinois Institute of Technology’s head
athletics trainer, assistant director
of athletics, and senior women
administrator, Wehde spent 11-plus
months organizing, writing protocols,

PHOTO: OLIVIA DIMMER

and doing all that she and her team—
which includes assistant athletic
trainers Sarah Wegrzyn and Evyn
Nolette—could do to keep Scarlet
Hawks student-athletes healthy. It
was, in Wehde’s words, “so unreal.”

Here’s a snapshot of what the past year looked like for Wehde and her team.

March 12, 2020 and I] were doing physical ther- Fall 2020
Illinois Tech announces that all apy sessions via Google Meet and Socially distanced workouts begin,
courses will go online, followed by Zoom. We were trying to write up with the hope that all of the fall
the announcement that it is indef- some workouts and protocols for semester student-athletes will
initely postponing all athletics student-athletes to follow to try have the chance to play in the
events. One day later the North- to maintain some physical fitness, spring. In December 2020 Illi-
ern Athletics Collegiate Conference just in an effort to prevent injuries,” nois Tech announces that only
(NACC) postpones athletics events Wehde says. teams that play in the spring
for the remainder of the 2019–2020 would return to sports action.
academic year. “All of a sudden I’m July 27, 2020
having to tell [students] that we’re The NACC postpones fall confer- February 20, 2021
ending their season early,” Wehde ence competitions and champi- For the first time since March 10,
says. “We don’t know when we’re onships through at least the end 2020, Illinois Tech competes in an
coming back.” of the calendar year; a little more athletics competition, a 3–0 men’s
than a week later, the NCAA can- volleyball loss at Benedictine Uni-
Summer 2020 cels all Division III fall champion- versity. Still, the game was a tri-
Wehde balances her time between ships. Illinois Tech student-athletes, umph after nearly a year of work
understanding metrics and pro- who had returned to campus to recalibrating and preparing for a
tocols related to COVID-19—from begin training before the NACC and return to play.
sources as varied as the National NCAA decisions were announced, “It [was] extremely exciting for
Collegiate Athletic Association quarantine in their apartments and all of us….We were testing [the
(NCAA) to the City of Chicago to dorm rooms for a month. “I was volleyball] team multiple times to
the State of Wisconsin, as well as impressed with the maturity of our make sure that they were safe for
coordinating with university admin- student-athletes when the deci- travel,” she says. “We communi-
istrators—while trying to keep Illi- sion was made,” Wehde says. “For cated directly with the other school
nois Tech student-athletes in shape. more of them than I thought, their for what their needs are when we’re
She advises them to use what is response was, ‘I get it. It’s the right on their campus, what their rules
available and to follow recom- thing. I may not like it, but if this are, as well as what ours are for our
mended health guidelines, be it in is what we need to do for now, teams.” —Andrew Wyder
an open field or on couches, tables, we understand.’ ”
or chairs in their homes. “[Sarah

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 7

 Leaving His Mark
as Leader, and as Friend

BY MARCIA FAYE
I n his first interview for the winter 2009 issue of Illinois Tech
Magazine, Alan W. Cramb, then the new Illinois Institute of
Technology provost and senior vice president for academic
affairs, shared his vision for adding to student potentiality.
“A combination of undergraduate depth with professional-
level sophistication can result in a new type of graduate—one that is a
technical leader who is culturally and globally sophisticated, and a great
communicator with a significant knowledge of a broad spectrum of issues,
from law to design,” he said.
Alan would go on to succeed John L. Anderson as Illinois Tech’s
ninth president, and this summer, he will retire from his position as
the university’s top academic administrator. Even as he remains on the
faculty of Armour College of Engineering, Alan will continue to provide
students with opportunities to grow and to excel within Chicago’s only
tech-focused university.
University Regent Bud Wendorf (ME ’71), chairman of the Illinois
Tech Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2018, led the assessment team that
considered Alan’s advancement to the role of president in 2015. Bud
says that “there was such a groundswell of support for him moving into
that slot from his successes as provost”—successes that included Alan’s
constant emphasis on the student body.
“What struck me was that a president of a university has a lot of
constituencies to deal with. But I was awestruck that no matter what
the issues, Alan always had a global view of what had to be done—and
he was always focused on students,” says Bud. “Alan always remained
true to being an educator and what had to be done to make the
students successful.”
While Bud stresses that Alan is “all business” when it comes to
university matters, he has also been a fun and personable pal. In a phone
call from his home in Arizona, Bud recalls the time that Alan visited him
there for a golf charity fundraiser. As they approached the 15th green, a
bobcat appeared, stalking some rabbits.
“It was kind of funny because neither Alan nor I are really great
golfers, so that was a big story for us to talk about—instead of discussing
our birdies, we were discussing the bobcat!” says Bud, who also shares
a passion for Formula One racing with Alan. Bud says that his own
personal allegiance to the university runs deep. But Alan, who emigrated
from Scotland to enter into the Ph.D. in materials science program at the
University of Pennsylvania, follows suit.
“The university is my alma mater, but, for him, well, he adopted us. He
really thinks the world of Illinois Tech; he lives and breathes it,” says Bud.
“It was such a pleasure working with him because he takes the university
seriously, and he did so many great things to try to make it better.
From the perspective of the trustees, he is, and always has been, highly
respected for the effort he has put forth. He is truly a quality person.”

8 SPRING 2021
 “It’s rare in tertiary institutions for the provost to be appointed as

PHOTO: MICHAEL GOSS

president from the same institution. In Alan’s case at Illinois Tech, it
was the easy decision for the board. Alan’s performance as provost
validates his ability to make difficult and much-needed decisions in
a cordial, appropriate, and collegial manner. The trustees knew he
earned the respect of faculty, staff, and the student body. His ability
to work closely with all stakeholders, including President Anderson
and the trustees, was equally well received by alumni, donors, and
community leaders. When you marry this mutual trust and respect
to his proactive/visionary strategy and proven ability to successfully
implement, it’s easy to understand why his tenure as president has
been so successful.”

—Craig J. Duchossois, University Regent

[Left to right] Illinois Tech President Emeritus John L. Anderson joins Alan W.
Cramb and then Illinois Tech Board of Trustees Chairman Bud Wendorf (ME ’71)
at Alan’s inauguration as ninth Illinois Tech president.

“Alan further demonstrated his leadership agility and vision during the surprising and
confounding COVID-19 pandemic shutdown/slowdown. On the one hand, Alan was able
to inspire the faculty, staff, and students to convert overnight and safely to a new, more
online approach to advancing together so that all students were able to be moved along
and graduate without compromising Illinois Tech’s distinct quality standards. On the
other hand, while Alan had to cultivate further consensus for the tough, sophisticated
adjustments to right-size the institution’s budget during this crisis, he had the vision
to know that the university had to continue making select investments even in such a
challenging budgetary environment, including making investments in student community
life and hiring top-notch talent.
“We were all lucky to have been able to serve with and support Alan in his prodigious
accomplishments as provost and then, as president. Alan is a gifted leader and an even
better friend.”

—Michael P. Galvin (LAW ’78), Current Chairman of the Board of Trustees

PHOTO: MICHAEL GOSS
PHOTO: BONNIE ROBINSON

“How does one describe Alan? An engineer, and

a very good one. A Scotsman with more than
the usual pipe music. An experienced university
PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER

administrator with the courage to face hard

problems. A somewhat old-fashioned male with the
wit to marry a woman with more pizzazz. A good
leader and a good friend.
“Jeanne and I have enjoyed many evenings with
Alan and [his wife], Anna, both in Chicago and
in Naples [Florida]. He is always open, realistic,
and optimistic at the same time. He represents
perfectly what is called the Stockdale paradox: the
courage to face grim realities and the optimism to
be sure of surviving them. That spirit has brought
Illinois Tech through COVID-19. His leadership has
been one of the largest factors in the contributions
that Jeanne and I have made to Illinois Tech. We
only hope his successor has such virtues.”
[Above] [Left to right] Alan W. Cramb with former Illinois Tech Board of Trustees Chairman Bud Wendorf
—John W. Rowe, University Regent and Chairman
(ME ’71) and Michael P. Galvin (LAW ’78), current chairman of the board. [Below] Mr. President, the DJ,
spinning vinyl at the A. Sidney Katz Radio Studio of WIIT 88.9 FM, Illinois Tech's student radio station of the Board of Trustees 2006–2013

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 9

 Highlights
from Alan W. Cramb’s Tenure
as President PHOTOS: BONNIE ROBINSON

Successfully led the university through the pandemic,

ensuring that all students could graduate on time

Construction and opening of the Ed Kaplan Family

Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship,
the first academic building on campus since the 1970s

The renovation and renaming of the Robert A.

Pritzker Science Center, the John T. Rettaliata
Engineering Center, and George J. Kacek Hall,
plus the current renovation of Cunningham Hall,
significant investments in both student life and
[Left to right] Illinois Tech presidents emeriti Lew Collens
educational priorities and John L. Anderson join Alan W. Cramb and then Illinois
Tech Board of Trustees Chairman Bud Wendorf (ME ’71)
The purchase of both IIT Tower and onstage at Alan’s presidential inauguration.
Jeanne and John Rowe Village

The refinancing and reduction of university debt

while increasing liquidity, leading to a very positive
financial future for the university and improved
ratings from Moody’s

The initiation of the campaign Power the Difference:

Our Campaign for Illinois Tech and raising more than
$350 million while president

The launch of the Ocient Computational Center

Partnership with MCM Development Group (Armour

Institute, LLC) to secure the future of Main Building

The implementation and renewal of Illinois Tech’s

five-year strategic plan

The debut of the first undergraduate degree program

in artificial intelligence in the Midwest

The launch of the College of Computing

Students at a recent M. A. and Lila Self Leadership Academy retreat listen
Co-chair of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher to a presentation by Alan W. Cramb.
Education and Immigration, a national organization
focused on issues of our undocumented and
international students
“President Cramb has been so great to work with through the
The formation of the Staff Advisory Council and President’s Student Advisory Council (PSAC). Through the many
the Student Advisory Council, to create a more meetings I have had with President Cramb through PSAC, he was
direct connection between staff, students, and always very open to listening to and discussing issues, concerns, and
the president ideas of the student body, and always had the students’ best interest
in mind. He always, at every single meeting, encouraged us to come
The transition of university sports participation
up with ideas to improve the student experience at [Illinois Tech]. And
to NCAA Division III and subsequently joining the
the fact that he met with us and valued the importance and goal of
Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference
PSAC is a testament to how much he cares.”

—Natalia Gielczowski (CHE, M.S. ENVE ’21), PSAC Secretary

10 SPRING 2021
 PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER
New Illinois Tech President Alan
W. Cramb [left] shares a photo
with his friend, then Illinois Tech
Board of Trustees Chairman Bud
Wendorf (ME ’71) [right], at Alan’s
inauguration as ninth president
of Illinois Tech.
PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER

“My 13 years in leadership at Illinois Tech, first as provost and then as president, have been the
highlight of my time in academia. Working with our faculty, staff, and students has been a joy.
They are unique and outstanding, allowing the university to weather some stormy times and
arrive at this transition where Illinois Tech’s future is very bright. We can see the end of the
pandemic and a return to our strengths in experiential learning, the development of the leaders
of the future, and our making a difference in the world through our graduates.

“No leader leads on their own. My accomplishments are the result of a great leadership team that
toiled to make me successful—Peter Kilpatrick, Mike Horan, Anthony D’Amato, Sandra LaPorte,
PHOTO: BONNIE ROBINSON

Bruce Watts, Jess Goode, Mike Gosz, Darsh Wasan, Nick Menhart, and Ernie Iseminger. I thank
them for their efforts, teamwork, and willingness to always focus on the best interests of the
university. I also would like to thank my board chairs, Bud Wendorf and Mike Galvin, for their
support and aid during my time as president, and also to the university regents, four very special
people without whom the university would not be where it is today.

“Finally, I’d like to recognize my wife, Anna, who allowed me to be your president through her
sacrifice and willingness to share her life and my life with others. She was always there to listen,
give sage advice, turn up when necessary, and share the positives and negatives of a leadership
position. My successes were only possible because of her support and love.

“Ad Astra.”

—Alan W. Cramb, President, Illinois Institute of Technology 2015–2021

Alan W. and Anna Cramb

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 11

12 SPRING 2021
 By Andrew Connor

I
n 1993 brigades of volunteers, working alongside the United
States National Guard, hastily filled sandbags to create
makeshift dikes as flood water overtook the riverside town of
Warsaw, Illinois—among them, then 8-year-old Jessica Henson
(ARCH ’08). Heavy rainfall and colder than normal tempera-
tures had led to above-average soil moisture, causing hundreds of
miles of the Mississippi River to swell and the ensuing flood to result
in billions of dollars in damage. Known as the Great Flood of 1993, it
remains as one of the worst floods in U.S. history.
Though Henson vividly remembers the floods destruction, she
also recalls, more fondly, the land around the area teeming with
wildlife, and playing with her brother along the many streams that
branched from the river.
“Life centered around the river where I grew up. We lived by the
heartbeat of the Mississippi River, right at what is historically known
as the Des Moines Rapids and Lock and Dam 19, and, gosh, we loved
it,” says Henson. “But what the river was doing at any given moment
was very present. My dad worked in a corn syrup refinery along
the river, and when the river was low, it had implications for their
cooling processes. When the river was high, it impacted getting to my
grandma’s house because the bridges would close.”
Living so close to the Mississippi River instilled in Henson a love of
nature and the outdoors that stays with her today, and as she grew
up, she acquired a passion for architecture as well. To test whether
architecture was really the path for her daughter, Henson’s mother
signed her up for Experiment in Architecture at Illinois Institute of
Technology, a summer program for high school students interested
in the profession.
“I think my parents sent me to that two-week program to determine
that it was wrong for me,” says Henson. “But it was so perfect; I had
probably the best two weeks of my life. It was all the things that I had
wanted to do, bringing together art and creativity with my interest in
math and engineering.”
Initially, Henson wasn’t planning to attend Illinois Tech. The Exper-
iment in Architecture program was great, but she says the lack of
nature in Chicago intimidated her. Still, she applied, and when she
received the Camras Scholarship that provided a full ride, she couldn’t
pass up the opportunity. Henson initially gravitated toward structural
engineering, going so far as to minor in it. But in her fourth year, to fill
a requirement, she took a course on the history of the Prairie School
and landscape architecture, which changed everything.
“If architecture felt perfect already because of the combination of
things, landscape architecture was one step further; it brought
Photo: Damon Casarez

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 13

 in my love for the environment,” says
Henson. “Those landscape architects
working in the Midwest, like Jens Jen-
sen and O. C. Simonds, had all these
conversations about the prairie rivers
and the limestone. They were thinking
about that as designers and as stew-
ards of a larger environmental and
regional context. In that, I started to
think a lot about the landscape that I
had grown up in.”
After graduation Henson enrolled in
the Master of Landscape Architecture
Program at the University of Pennsyl-
vania and began working for OLIN, the
renowned landscape architecture firm
founded by Laurie Olin, whom Hen-
son likens to “a modern-day Frederick
Law Olmsted.” She began research-
ing and teaching courses about the
Mississippi River and its surrounding
context at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, ultimately lead-
ing to the creation of the book on
which she serves as co-editor, Fresh
Water: Design Research for Inland
Water Territories, which analyzes the
implications of design interventions in
Midwestern waterways, including the Master Plan Sites Map
Upper Mississippi River. Images: Courtesy of LA River Master Plan 2020, LA County Public Works, OLIN, Gehry Partners, Geosyntec

the field with workers, in group work which spans Los Angeles County and
sessions, and in public forums; her 14 surrounding cities, and varies from

I
n 2014 Olin received a call from grasp of technical detail as well as the human-made concrete channels, levees,
Frank Gehry—the star architect big picture of the environmental and and dams—the product of the U.S.
behind such buildings as the Gug- social issues facing our nation and the Army Corps of Engineers’ effort that
genheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and world today; and her energy, initiative, ramped up in 1938 to control the river’s
the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los and ability to work with a wide diver- flow and reduce flooding—to natural
Angeles—whom the nonprofit orga- sity of people and situations led to her soft-bottomed reaches.
nization River LA tapped to explore rise within the firm.” “As Los Angeles grew, transportation
how the 51-mile-long Los Angeles River For the first two years the work was corridors and rail lines continued to
could be improved through architec- mostly pro bono with some grant fund- hem in the river, leading to greater and
ture. Gehry and Olin assembled an ing, but in 2016 the County of Los Ange- greater risk during floods. As floodplain
interdisciplinary team composed of les voted to update the river’s master development expanded and as Los
OLIN landscape architects and plan- plan for the first time in 25 years. Angeles became more important to the
ners, Gehry Partners architects, and “We were so uniquely positioned to national economy, huge investments
engineers from Geosyntec. Henson slot into there and when we interviewed were made to improve the conveyance
became a part of that team, serving as for the project with the county, they’re of flood flows away from the city and
an associate and one of the project’s like, ‘Wow, you’re already two years into into the Pacific,” says Mark Hanna, a
managers, contributing to her recent the data,’” says Henson. “The way we Geosyntec engineer and one of the
rise to partner at the firm. wrote the scope with the county for leaders of the master plan. “Today,
“Continuing to teach, Jessica moved the LA River Master Plan is how you because it is a calculation of risk and
to Los Angeles to organize, manage, would approach an academic research competition for dollars, flood infra-
and coordinate our office team with project, multidisciplinary and based on structure cannot be designed to protect
the architects, engineers, other consul- the best data.” against all flooding, while at the same
tants, Los Angeles County public Released as a public draft by LA time, there are other community needs
agencies, citizen forums, and partici- County Public Works earlier this year, such as access to park space, commu-
pation, which she has done brilliantly,” the plan is a sweeping but holistic nity connectivity, ecosystems, and
says Olin. “Her hands-on manner—in vision for the future of the waterway, water-supply increase. The equation

14 SPRING 2021
just gets more complex with the real couple years ago, where they had two ing much-needed ecological and educa-
threat of climate change.” back-to-back 500-year storms, that tional opportunities. Expanded trails,
The master plan attempts to recon- makes a clear argument for the need to bridges, and pedestrian plazas would
cile the complex mishmash of engi- think about community resilience.” create more recreation and social
neering, environmental, and social spaces for local residents. Off-channel
factors that have caused pervasive sites could host community centers
flooding, pollution, limited access to and affordable housing complexes.
public spaces, and disenfranchisement Native plantings would create green
“We knew things would
among surrounding communities. It spaces for people and wildlife alike,
be expensive. It’s big, it’s
aims to do so with social equity in while remediating polluted soil.
mind and was informed by community long, and we did not want Implementation of the plan’s compo-
engagement sessions. That is why the to leave anything as a nents will require the partnerships of
plan goes so far to include affordable ‘someone should.’ I think a Los Angeles County, the surrounding
housing—meant to mitigate the gentri- lot of planning documents cities, and other entities. But crucially,
fication that often follows high-pro- forgot to think about funding, Henson says that every definitive
file projects—along with proposals for leadership, governance, action within the plan is tied to a county
flood mitigation and improved hydrau- department and potential fundrais-
and implementation.”
lics. But environmental issues such as ing streams, providing a clearer path
—Jessica Henson
flooding and pollution tend to have a to implementation than you would
harsher impact on the most economi- typically see in a master plan.
cally vulnerable, and they are becoming “We knew things would be expen-
increasingly pervasive as a result of sive. It’s big, it’s long, and we did not
climate change, Henson says. The river’s length, diversity of its want to leave anything as a ‘someone
“The number of people near the conditions, and array of issues at should.’ I think a lot of planning docu-
southeast [part of the river] who live in play make the LA River Master Plan ments forgot to think about funding,
a 500-year floodplain is remarkable— immensely complex, with no one-size- leadership, governance, and implemen-
not in a good way. It also happens to be fits-all solution. But there are recur- tation,” says Henson. “We didn’t want
one of the most polluted, underserved, ring themes and strategies in the that, so we made a rule in our brain
and economically depressed areas,” says plan’s aims. Side channels that relieve trust that there would be no ‘some-
Henson. “When you think about some- pressure off the main channel could one should’ in the plan, because that
thing like what happened in Houston a reduce the risk of flooding while creat- becomes ‘no one ever will.’ ” ●

Compton-Paramount Connector
The Compton-Paramount Connector is an example of a potential project that could be located at one of the proposed project sites identified in
the LA River Master Plan. It creates new connections across the LA River and the 710 Interstate with a platform park and a pedestrian bridge.
The platform offers a variety of program and habitat areas, as well as a unique elevated view of the LA River.

MORE ONLINE
LA River Master Plan: larivermasterplan.org

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 15

 By Laura Schmitt Photo: Jacob Osborne

O
ver the last 28 years, United States Marine Corps Brigadier General Len Anderson (STC ’93) has graduated
from the Navy’s premier fighter pilot TOPGUN training school, participated in NATO-led airstrikes that
helped end the Bosnian War, flown combat sorties over southern Iraq, and performed gravity-defying aerial
moves with the Blue Angels precision flying team at airshows nationwide.
As if that’s not enough, he also spent several years in Hollywood pursuing his lifelong interest in acting, landing
roles in action-adventure flicks such as Captain Phillips and 13 Hours, and the television show The Brink.
Today, Anderson leads a team of about 250 Marines, other military personnel, and civilian cyber experts in battling
the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). As deputy commanding general of Joint Task Force ARES under U.S. Cyber
Command, Anderson and his team have provided intelligence to coalition forces in combat, and they have reduced the
quantity and quality of ISIS media, which has disrupted and degraded the extremist group’s influence and power.
“His professional journey has never been done before and will most likely never be repeated,” says longtime
friend and former Illinois Tech fraternity brother Brian Ippolito (AE ’92), president and chief executive officer of
Orbis Technologies, Inc. “In short, General Anderson is an inspiration—he knows no fear and believes anyone can do
anything. He is proof that morals, hard work, education, and passion are the ingredients to success.”

16 SPRING 2021
What role did ARES play in destroying the ISIS caliphate?
When U.S. Cyber Command stood up our Joint Task Force in
2016, the Islamic State was winning the information battle.
Using ubiquitous technology like cell phones and internet
access, they were demoralizing Iraqi troops, recruiting
adherents from afar, and inspiring global jihad. JTF-ARES
was part of the U.S. military’s solution to fight the Islamic
State’s global information system. Our approach leveraged
both physical and informational aspects of military power in
close coordination with other joint, interagency, and allied
forces. Through relentless, combined application of physical
and informational power—within and outside the combat
zone—we were able to reduce the quantity and quality of
Islamic State media, which in turn degraded their ability to
coordinate with and gain new followers. We also provided
support for kinetic strikes and ground maneuvers.

How does your ARES team disrupt ISIS’s funding

and recruiting?
ISIS depends on an international network of enablers,
supporters, and affiliated groups as its proto-state has
crumbled. We identify and disrupt the operations of their
enabler networks, such as their propaganda and logistics
support capabilities. Their physical defeat was accelerated
because the Joint Task Force either helped remove resources
that sustained Islamic State combat forces or identified
connections between those forces and their supporters that
could be used to create internal strife in the organization.

Think of all the things that drive you crazy about today’s
technology—slow downloads, dropped connections, access
denied, program glitches. Now imagine how the ISIS forces
would feel with these kinds of problems. In some instances,
we’ve created tension between ISIS media members who’ve
spent days editing videos only to see their final release and
distribution fail. Creating confusion from the inside out can
really impact their credibility and reputation, which leads to
less support and less followers.

Has any of your military cybersecurity work translated

into improved cybersecurity in the civilian sector?
While my task force is focused on operations against
violent extremist organizations, there’s not a day that goes
by where we don’t learn something new about cyberspace
or information operations. We work closely with mission
partners, which include federal cybersecurity organizations,
to share our technical and tradecraft lessons learned.

I think the most important trend I’ve seen after overseeing

JTF-ARES operations is phishing and poor cybersecurity
hygiene continue to be top vectors for compromised
computer networks. You wouldn’t believe how often hackers
find usernames and passwords in unprotected locations. ●

Read the complete interview with USMC BG Anderson,

recipient of an Illinois Tech 2020 Professional Achievement
Award, and his experiences as a cyber warrior, fighter pilot,
and movie actor at magazine.iit.edu.

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 17

 SELF
MADE
BY ST EV E H E N D E RS H OT

T
here was no college recruitment battle for Stephen Burks
(DSGN ’92). He applied to just one school, Illinois Institute
of Technology, though it was more like applying to a single
building: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s S. R. Crown Hall.
Burks wasn’t a globally renowned industrial designer back then,
just an art-obsessed teen. As a pre-teen, he made his first solo trek
on the “L” from his South Side home to the Art Institute of Chicago;
by the time he finished high school, he knew both the Art Institute
of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago inside
and out, along with the city’s architectural history. And Crown Hall
pulled at him like a magnet, not only because he considered it to be
“a temple of architectural education,” but also because he loved the
building itself, and the triumph of design that it represented.

18 SPRING 2021
Photos: Courtesy of Stephen Burks

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 19

 “Something about the proportions and the way the
milky white glass abstracted the light was so uplifting
and essential that it made an indelible impression on
me,” Burks says.
But something peculiar happened once Burks arrived
on campus. As he absorbed the lessons of Bauhaus and
began to find his own creative voice, he moved away
from the aesthetic that drew him to Crown Hall in the
first place. He dropped architecture in favor of product
design and the multidisciplinary design education of the
New Bauhaus that would later inspire him to gravitate
toward a less-heralded aspect of the Bauhaus tradition:
its emphasis on craft.

T
hat shift in focus has helped to propel Burks
to global acclaim. After moving to New York to
attend graduate school at Columbia University,
Burks broke through in the early 2000s with
projects for major Italian design houses Cappellini and
Missoni. His work was distinct because it incorporated
textiles and other references rooted in his early work in
countries such as Senegal and South Africa. Those early
collaborations also helped Burks forge a creative identity
that was fresh and well-suited to the cultural moment,
even as it was strongly rooted in the century-old Bau-
haus tradition.

20 SPRING 2021
 “He’s played this incredible, pioneering role [as
“Everyone is capable of dreaming; a breakthrough American designer of color],” says
therefore, everyone is capable of Adamson, author of the 2021 book Craft: An American
History. “He’s not old enough to be an elder statesman,
design, and everyone should have but a lot of people have that kind of respect for him,
access to the possibilities of design.” simply for having broken through that barrier.”
Next up for Burks is a midcareer retrospective exhi-
—Stephen Burks
bition at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where
Curator of Decorative Arts and Design Monica Obniski
“Stephen is a true inheritor of the Bauhaus tra- is drawn to the diversity of Burks’s work. She plans to
dition, but instead of the steel-and-glass version of present his craft-oriented projects alongside more com-
that legacy, it’s the deep, process-led, aspect of it,” mercial products, such as his Grasso seating collection
says design historian Glenn Adamson, former direc- for BD Barcelona, which earned Burks recognition as
tor of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. the first American to win a Furniture of the Year award
“He’s connecting to one of the founding principles of from Spanish design association ADI-FAD.
modernism, which was later lost—to be flexible and “When you see the products of these two disciplines
attentive to locality and cultural specificity.” side by side, it becomes clear that they actually have
Burks has stayed true to that concept, and his more in common than we think,” says Obniski. She
career has flourished. In 2015 he became the only notes that Burks “comes at design from this architec-
African-American to win the National Design Award tural and industrial design background, but it’s filtered
in Product Design from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithso- through this creative lens that you don’t see from a lot
nian Design Museum, and in 2019 he became a Loeb of designers, which is his devotion to the handcrafted.”
Fellow at Harvard University. Burks has excelled not The frayed connection between craft and design
only while working from his Brooklyn studio, Stephen seems odd to Burks. After all, his Bauhaus-inspired
Burks Man Made, and while teaching at both Harvard training taught him that that relationship to craft is not
and Columbia, but also as a globe-trotting traveler, only natural, but imperative. So now, through his words
who has worked with artisans around the world, from and his work, Burks seeks to demonstrate his “belief
India, Ghana, Australia, and the Philippines, to stu- that the closer the hand gets to the act of making, the
dents at Berea College in Kentucky. more potential there is for innovation.” ●
Amidst that sustained success, 2020 marked an
inflection point for Burks. It was the year of the
pandemic as well as of America’s national reckoning
over racial justice. As perhaps the world’s foremost
African-American industrial designer, Burks was a
natural fit to help his peers grapple with racial issues
in their industry.
“This past year was traumatic but also galvanizing,”
says Burks. Over the last year, he seized on oppor-
tunities to speak out against inequality and a lack of
inclusion in the design industry. While his message
necessarily has racial and cultural implications, Burks
has even broader ambitions when it comes to break-
ing down barriers in the rarified world of design.
“Everyone is capable of dreaming; therefore, every-
one is capable of design, and everyone should have
access to the possibilities of design,” Burks says.
“There is enough space for everyone to have a seat at
the table, if we’re open to more pluralistic approaches
to what we make and how we make it.”
Burks also has become a sort of journalist during
the pandemic, co-hosting with Adamson a Zoom con-
versation series called Design in Dialogue, through
New York gallery Friedman Benda. The series began
early in the pandemic, and once racial justice joined
MORE ONLINE
COVID-19 as the top issues of 2020, Adamson invited
Stephen Burks Man Made: stephenburksmanmade.com
the collaborative and inquisitive Burks to join him.

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 21

 The research laid bare what a growing
number of scientists who studied indoor air
believed: aerosol transmission of COVID-19
was not just possible, but was likely a key
transmitter of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Photo: Tony Rinaldo

22 SPRING 2021
Among them was Parham Azimi (Ph.D. ENVE ’16), a research estimate the contribution of different pathways in trans-
fellow at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, mission of COVID-19.”
who led a team of scientists whose study of COVID-19
transmission on a cruise ship was among the first to show Azimi says the initial plan was to run 12 scenarios, but they
that aerosol transmission was a concern that needed to be ended up running more than 20,000. The results showed
taken seriously. that aerosol transmission—small droplets that hang in
the air—likely accounted for more than 50 percent of the
Public health organizations such as the Centers for Disease COVID-19 transmission on the Diamond Princess.
Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization
pushed back at the notion of aerosol transmission, only Azimi’s modeling programs allowed scenarios to simultane-
begrudgingly acknowledging its possibility after more than ously look for transmission though droplets and aerosols,
200 scientists, including two of Azimi’s mentors, argued for transmission beyond six feet, and transmission through
it in a letter to the WHO and as more research, including contaminated surfaces. Most modeling programs look solely
that done by Azimi’s team, poured in about its reality. at airborne transmission, Allen says. The research brought
the idea of aerosol transmission of COVID-19 to the public
Never expecting to spend his career and was noteworthy enough to earn
researching infectious diseases, Azimi publication in the New York Times in
found himself frustrated by the push-
back. Settling into this career field,
 ow that we
N late July 2020, well before its publica-
tion in the Proceedings of the National
one focused on educating the public to
help people stay safe, he saw the two
have a COVID Academy of Sciences in February 2021.

public health organizations diluting

the message.
vaccine, what “The modeling work is really quite
sophisticated, and it is a credit to

“[The public] really cares about their

happens in 10 Parham’s skill,” Allen says. “The real
power of the model is for what it can
health,” Azimi says. “I saw that [schools
and restaurants he consulted for] want-
years? –PARHAM AZIMI become. Yes, we were interested in
understanding the disease dynamics
ed to have a healthier environment. on the Diamond Princess, but it’s a
They were cleaning surfaces every hour. And they were model that can be used for other infectious disease models
injecting disinfectants into the air. They didn’t know that the going forward.”
right way to do it is increasing ventilation.”
That’s what drives Azimi, helping to keep the public safe
Azimi began his infectious disease transmission research as from infectious diseases like COVID-19. He wants them to
Illinois Tech Professor of Architectural Engineering Brent understand that they simply can’t wait for a vaccine; they
Stephens’s first doctoral student in 2012, with a project have to understand the importance of indoor air and venti-
studying the impact of HVAC filters on limiting the risk of lation. It’s the only way to prepare for whatever comes next.
influenza transmission in indoor environments. It contin-
ued at T. H. Chan, where one of his early projects focused “I’m a member of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, with a
on finding a way to control the 2019 outbreak of measles focus on ventilation. We wanted to suggest what is the re-
among children. His experiences modeling the transmission quired or desired ventilation for indoor environments,” he
of infectious diseases proved indispensable when the po- says. “We are working on that, too, making suggestions to
tential enormity of COVID-19’s impact started to hit home homeowners and building managers to tell them know how
in January 2020. they can find out if their building is safe. Is it reducing the
number of the people that are there or increasing the ven-
A member of the research team led by Joseph Allen, an as- tilation? What are the mitigation techniques that they are
sociate professor of exposure assessment science at T. H. taking, and how it would be help them to reduce the risk?”
Chan and director of the Harvard Healthy Buildings Pro-
gram, Azimi was tasked with studying COVID-19 transmis- Azimi adds, driving home the point: “We had a measles
sion. The team, which included Stephens and Azimi’s wife, vaccine, and the influenza vaccine is safe and cost effective,
Zahra Keshavarz, among others, recognized the importance but there are outbreaks of that….Now that we have a COVID
of studying a controlled environment. The COVID-19 crisis vaccine, what happens in 10 years? If we have another dis-
aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan (where ease, are we ready for that? We have to make our buildings
one infected passenger turned into more than 700 infect- and built environments ready for another pandemic.” ●
ed) in early 2020 immediately jumped to mind.

“We knew that it was just one infector,” Azimi says of the
outbreak on the vessel. “We knew how many days he was MORE ONLINE
there. And then, approximately, we knew how people inter-
“Aboard the Diamond Princess, a Case Study in
acted on that cruise ship and how many people got infected Aerosol Transmission”: nyti.ms/3836oAu;
during that time. We used that case study to be able to Harvard Healthy Buildings Program: forhealth.org

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 23

 Biomedical Engineer at Work:

Making
Sticker-Like
Sensors
By Simon Morrow

Learn what one Illinois Institute of Technology

Chi Hwan Lee (ME ’07) is known for alumnus is doing to improve medical monitoring.
bringing people—and ideas—together. WHO: Chi Hwan Lee, assistant professor of
“He’s a social guy,” says Young Kim, an associate biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering,
professor of biomedical engineering at Purdue University. Purdue University
“He brings people out of their offices.”
Lee’s friendly proactiveness spills over into his WHAT HE DOES: Lee developed a printing technology—
research. He spent his first year at Purdue giving a Sticktronics—that turns any thin film into a sticker that
seminar about his research building solar cells in sticker- can be stuck onto any surface as easily as a temporary
like thin films, called Sticktronics, to an unexpected tattoo. Now he is using Sticktronics to develop wearable
group: Purdue’s medical researchers. In doing so, medical devices based on clinical needs.
Lee formed new connections, and now his lab uses
Sticktronics to revolutionize medical monitoring by WHY HE CAME TO ILLINOIS TECH: Lee started college
designing wearable bioelectronic devices. as an industrial engineering student at Ajou University

24 SPRING 2021
 and his colleagues developed a flexible, sticker-like
sensor that a patient can easily put on in the comfort
of their home. The sensor attaches directly to a
patient’s neck and sends their doctor all the necessary
information to monitor their chewing and swallowing. In
clinical trials, the little sensor sticker performed as well
as the sensor contraptions that most patients currently
need to visit a hospital to use.
Lee is also working on a smart contact lens project
that provides ocular health monitoring. Adding
electronics into a material that has to be transparent—
and wet—has unique design challenges. While
companies such as Google have attempted smart contact
lens projects, they have tended to make the contacts
using plastics that are easy to add electronics into but
not very wearable, drying out the eye or depriving it of
oxygen. Instead, Lee and his colleagues have developed
a way to build the sensors directly into the standard
commercial hydrogel soft contact lenses that many
people already comfortably wear. Lee’s Purdue colleague
Hugh Lee, associate professor of biomedical engineering,
says, “None of the advances in wearable sensors and
other devices will matter if people do not actually wear
them. His technology enables this.”

GREATEST CHALLENGE: The problems his research

takes on, Chi Hwan Lee says, are too big for just
one researcher. The multidisciplinary teams he has
formed are essential to the success of his research.
However, Lee says, “for general engineers, doctors use a
completely different language,” which means identifying
and understanding actual clinical needs is the most
difficult yet most important step in his research process.

WHAT’S NEXT: Lee says he wants to focus on

progressing his contact lens design into a next-
generation wearable medical device. “For translational
research, it’s important to put a lot of effort into the
commercialization of technology. I’m really eager to
Photos: Courtesy of Purdue University
bring these technologies out of the university, and I
believe these wearable devices can help actual patients
manage disease in the near future,” says Lee. ●

in Suwon, South Korea, and then took advantage of the

university’s dual-degree partnership with Illinois Tech to
complete a mechanical engineering degree in Chicago.
While he came to Illinois Tech with plans to make a
career in industry, Lee says Illinois Tech introduced
him to a new culture of innovation, entrepreneurship,
and ambition, ultimately convincing him to continue his
education as a graduate student at Stanford University.

NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Every year Sticker-like

approximately 9.4 million adults in the United States electronic sensors
alone experience swallowing disorders. Treatment for cut from thin film
a patient with persistent problems requires frequent can be adapted
monitoring that may involve making trips to a hospital to fit a variety of
surface areas.
multiple times per week for rehabilitation. In 2019 Lee

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 25

 PHILANTHROPY NEWS

But his proudest achievement

PHOTO: MARIAN QUIRK

began at his dinner with Claybrook.

Maatman knew that even though
auto insurance rates seemed high
to consumer advocates, rates were
actually undervalued in many states.
Regardless, as a former government
official in the Carter administration,
Claybrook could use her influence
in Washington, D.C., to put insurers
into regulatory hot water.
Maatman had the data to prove
that the fatality rates of automobile
accidents, not insurance rates,
were the problem. He proposed
the formation of Advocates for
Highway and Auto Safety, a lobbying
organization dedicated to highway
safety. Maatman recruited eight
other insurers to fund the enterprise,
Jeanne and John Rowe Endowed Professor in the College of Architecture John Ronan [left] while Claybrook recruited eight other
with Gerald “Jerry” Maatman (FPE ’51) public interest groups to staff AHAS

Making a Big Swing

and work on policy proposals.
The organization, still active today,
has had tremendous success in shap-
for Illinois Tech Athletics ing public policy. It lobbied for man-
datory airbags and rollover cages in
automobiles, mandatory motorcycle
IN 1988 GERALD “JERRY” MAATMAN clouting the Scarlet Hawks’ first home helmets, and other safety standards,
(FPE ’51) invited his industry’s most run of the season, the first of many including a 0.08 percent blood alco-
powerful critic out for dinner. Joan school newspaper reports on “Jerry hol limit for motor vehicle operators.
Claybrook, president of Public Maatman, Star Outfielder.” Much as he had shown in
Citizen, was a lobbyist with a thick After graduation Maatman went baseball, Maatman possesses the
Rolodex and a grudge against auto to work for the Illinois Inspection and qualities of an ideal teammate: he is
insurers such as Kemper National Rating Bureau, which had funded selfless, serious, high-achieving, and
Insurance Company, where Maatman his education with a scholarship. He creative. These qualities are what
had recently been appointed chief enjoyed his time there, but by 1958, spurred his success, from center
executive officer. Maatman returned to Illinois Tech, field to the C-suite, and are those
Maatman took a big swing that for what turned out to be another big that his former coach Ed Glancy saw
day, one that he hoped would help swing, as an associate professor and that convinced him to put a 16-year-
insurers and public interest groups chair of the fire protection engineering old first-year student on the Scarlet
bury the hatchet for good. By the department. Around the same time, he Hawks roster.
time Maatman and Claybrook had was summoned to Chicago City Hall to “I’ve always been proud of having
finished their meal, they had formed a meet with Mayor Richard J. Daley. been an engineering student at
partnership that would go on to save “He felt it was time to overhaul [Illinois Tech],” says Maatman.
hundreds of thousands of lives. Did the fire protection codes for the “[Illinois Tech] goes out of its way
he have any idea the conversation entire city,” Maatman recalls, “in part to offer a high-quality education
would go so well? because he was irritated that New for outstanding students, some of
“Hell no,” says Maatman, with his York had a better rating than Chicago.” whom otherwise might not go to
characteristic candor and humility. Daley hired him as a consultant and college at all.”
But big swings have always been adopted many of his suggestions to Maatman’s planned gift will ben-
Maatman’s specialty. update fire safety standards to make efit the Illinois Tech baseball team,
Born in Chicago’s Roseland buildings and their occupants safer. supporting the same proving ground
neighborhood, Maatman was a bright By 1966 Maatman ended his where he learned to take big swings.
student who finished high school at teaching career to join Kemper as chief Students will have the opportunity to
16. As a first-year student at Illinois engineer, responsible for providing develop the same qualities of integ-
Institute of Technology, he went out fire safety guidance as a service to rity, excellence, and collaboration
for varsity baseball. He was featured policyholders; he retired from the that Illinois Tech Athletics nurtured
in Tech News that same year for company in 1995 as chair and CEO. in Jerry Maatman. —Joe Giovannetti

26 SPRING 2021
ALUMNI NEWS

Class Notes Value When you Get There,

which was independently
1990s Gina Arquilla DeBoni
(LAW ’02), Glenview,
published in 2020. Rachel Cowen Ill., received the Illinois
1950s (LAW ’93), Chicago, was State Bar Association
Francis Patrick Murphy recognized as one of the Elmer Gertz Award, which
Theodore Brown (LAW ’75), Chicago, Crain’s Chicago Business focuses on human rights.
(CHEM ’50), Bonita Springs, was named to the 2020 2020 Notable Women in Law.
Fla., co-founded the new Lawdragon 500 Leading Jeffrey Greenspan
nonprofit, SWFL RESET Lawyers in America ranking Eric V. Fullilove (LAW ’02), Highland Park,
Center, devoted to addressing for the 11th year. He was (EE ’94), Chicago, Ill., was named to the
environmental issues also named to the 2020 joined the Illinois Tech board of directors of the
arising in southwest Florida. Lawdragon 500 Leading Alumni Association Center for Enriched Living,
Initiatives are focused Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers Board of Directors. a nonprofit organization
on clean water, systemic ranking for the second year. serving teens and adults
reforms in agricultural Larry Rogers with intellectual and
practices, implementation Gail Bley (LAW ’94), Chicago, was developmental disabilities.
of new technologies in (LAW ’79), Northfield, Ill., installed as the 67th
food production and was recognized as one of president of the Illinois Thomas Wendt
distribution, and advocating the Crain’s Chicago Business Trial Lawyers Association. (LAW ’02), Marathon,
for the rights of nature. 2020 Notable Women in Law. Wis., was appointed
Shannon Hassler professor at Northcentral
1960s 1980s (LAW ’96), Sandy Springs, Technical College in
Ga., was named a Wausau, Wisconsin.
John K. Harasciuk Brad Krygier principal consultant for
(ARCH ’61, M.ARCH (MGMT ’80), Savannah, Yardstick Management. William Gibbs
’63), San Diego, founded Ga., was named director (LAW ’04), Chicago,
of finance and operations, Phuong Thuy Vu was named to the 2020
the nonprofit CRISIS
Memorial Health Partners (CHE ’96), New Orleans, Lawdragon 500 Leading
(Community Resources in
at HCA Healthcare. recently professed her Plaintiff Consumer
Support of Institutional
initial vows to become a Lawyers ranking.
Services) to serve and
Carol Gilden Dominican Sister of Peace.
support private and public
(LAW ’83), Lake Forest, Ill., Jessica Kimbrough
institutions with financial Shanita Baraka Akintonde
was recognized as one of (LAW ’04), Chicago, was
and professional resources. (M.B.A. ’97), Chicago,
the Crain’s Chicago Business named the chief diversity,
2020 Notable Women in Law. joined the Illinois Tech equity, and inclusion officer
H. C. Potter
Alumni Association for United Airlines.
(PHYS ’63), Hermitage, Mo.,
Cynde Munzer Board of Directors.
wrote the book The God Knot:
(LAW ’83), Highland Park, Antonio Caldarone
Undone by Religionosity Brian Friedman
Ill., was recognized as one of (LAW ’05), Oak Park, Ill.,
Origins and Cycles, which (LAW ’97, M.B.A. ’02),
the Crain’s Chicago Business was named to the 40 Under
was published by Dorrance Deerfield, Ill., joined the
2020 Notable Women in Law. Forty for 2020 ranking by the
Publishing Co. in 2019. William Blair Equity Capital Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
Michael McGreal Markets investment
Gerald Bepko
(FPE ’85), Denver, is a fire banking team in Chicago. Linda Fine
(LAW ’65), Naples, Fla.,
protection engineer with (LAW ’05), Lake Zurich, Ill.,
was recognized as an 2000s
the Denver Fire Department co-founded Buckley
“influential person” by
after running his own fire Fine, LLC.
the Indianapolis Business Amy Antoniolli
protection engineering and
Journal for the publication’s (LAW ’00), Chicago, Lilianna Kalin
code consulting business
40th anniversary. contributed to the book (LAW ’05), Woodridge, Ill.,
in Chicago for 27 years.
Distributed Generation Law: was promoted to general
Timothy Skvarenina
James Adelman A Guide to Regulations, counsel for the College of
(EE ’69, M.S. ’70), San Policies, and Programs, the
(LAW ’86), Bel Air, Md., DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Antonio, received the 2020 first to take an in-depth
joined the Maryland Office of
Meritorious Achievement look at the history and Joseph Moore
Attorney General and is now
Award in Accreditation regulatory journey of the (LAW ’05), Crown
assigned to the Maryland
Activities by the Institute of developing technology of Point, Ind., joined Segal
Health Benefit Exchange.
Electrical and Electronics distributed generation. McCambridge Singer &
Engineers Educational Isaac K. Gamwo Mahoney as a shareholder
Activities Board. (M.S. CHE ’87, Ph.D. ’92), Mark Radtke in the Chicago office, as
Murrysville, Pa., received the (LAW ’01), Chicago, part of the Litigation and
1970s 2020 American Institute of joined Cozen O’Connor’s Catastrophic Insurance Claim
Chemical Engineers Minority Bankruptcy, Insolvency, Defense practice groups
John Grillos
Affairs Committee’s Eminent and Restructuring practice for Illinois and Indiana.
(MATH ’70), Sonoma, Calif.,
Chemical Engineers Award. in the Chicago office.
wrote the book The Art of
the Exit: Choosing Your
Exit Path and Maximizing

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 27

 ALUMNI NEWS

Calling All Lifelong Learners

With seven colleges, four the chance to hear first-
research institutes, and $56 hand about what’s new on
million in annual research campus, with town halls
volume, Illinois Institute featuring two of Illinois
of Technology continues to Tech’s newest leaders, Ed
make a difference through Kaplan Family Institute for
its groundbreaking work. Innovation and Tech
New this year, Alumni Entrepreneurship Executive
University offers alumni the Director Maryam Saleh and
opportunity to “come back Kenneth T. Christensen,
to class”—virtually—for a the Carol and Ed Kaplan
glimpse into how our faculty, Dean of Armour College
staff, and researchers are of Engineering.
making a real-world impact
Your student days might be
every day.
behind you, but for Illinois
Since January alumni have Tech alumni, learning is
participated in lectures just a lifelong pursuit. Stay
for them on fermentation, connected, explore new
landscape architecture, and frontiers, and gain insight
cutting-edge diabetes into how Illinois Tech
research. They’ve also had makes a difference.

Join us for these upcoming Alumni University lectures:

Monday, June 14, 2021, 5:30–6:30 p.m. CDT Wednesday, July 7, 2021, 5:30–6:30 p.m. CDT
Beating the Stigma of Mental Illness Dolly Ludens: Why American Girl Dolls Play Video Games

Patrick Corrigan Carly A. Kocurek

Distinguished Professor of Psychology Associate Professor, Digital Humanities
Research at Illinois Tech has shown and Media Studies
that the stigma experienced by American Girl presents dolls with often
people with mental illness can be as lavish accessories—the catalog includes
troubling as the illness itself. doll kitchens, bedroom sets, and even a
In this presentation, Distinguished bowling alley—and Courtney, the brand’s
Professor of Psychology Patrick most recent historical doll, is no exception.
Corrigan will review his research describing the impact The character’s Pac-Man obsession is a fun bit of nostalgia for
of mental illness stigma and effective ways to combat it. classic arcade games, and the doll-sized arcade cabinet certainly
One such way is to promote interaction among people made a splash. But, why, exactly, is a doll playing video games? Join
with the lived experience of mental illness and the rest of Department of Humanities Associate Professor Carly A. Kocurek for a
the population. talk about dolls playing games and what American Girl’s vision of the
1980s can tell us about our past and present.

Learn more and sign up at iit.edu/alumniuniversity

Have an idea for a speaker or topic you’d like to see? Let us know at [email protected].

28 SPRING 2021
ALUMNI NEWS

Speaking of Lifelong Learners…

In Cutting the Cord: The Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity,
Martin “Marty” Cooper (EE ’50, M.S. ’57), “father of the cell phone,”
recounts his storied career and the innovations that led to his invention
of the world’s first practical cellular phone in 1973.

Though that tale alone could fill a book,

Cooper goes a step further, laying out a vision
for the future of mobile communications
technology, including how our thinking and
policy on health care, education, and poverty
reduction can all benefit from that ingenious
device in your pocket.

Pick up your copy of Cutting the Cord: The

Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity
at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Official Bookstore (iit.bncollege.com)
Martin Cooper (EE ’50, M.S. ’57) and other retailers.

Sam Nemanich Aura Lichtenberg Olurotimi “Timi” Akindele

(BME ’06), Shorewood, Wis., began (LAW ’11), Chicago, was named to the (PS ’15), Chicago, joined the Illinois Tech
a tenure-track faculty position in 40 Under Forty for 2020 ranking by Alumni Association Board of Directors.
the Department of Occupational the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
Therapy at Marquette University. Matthew McElwee
Crystal Trauner (LAW ’16), Chicago, announced
Heather Kissling (ME ’11), Johnson City, Tenn., the launch of the RM Law Group
(LAW ’07), Chicago, was joined the Illinois Tech Alumni in Chicago, a firm he co-founded
selected as a Managing IP’s Top Association Board of Directors. with Jared Reynolds (LAW ’15).
250 Women in IP 2020.
Christopher Griffin Benjamin Van Airsdale
Emer Simic (LAW ’12), Chicago, joined (LAW ’16), Ada, Mich., joined Carter
(LAW ’08), Chicago, was named to Swanson, Martin & Bell’s Chicago & Tani, a franchise and business
the 40 Under Forty for 2020 ranking office as an associate. law firm in Wheaton, Ill., joining
by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. Christine Tani (LAW ’77) and
Carlos Vera Alissa Carter Verson (LAW ’16).
2010s (LAW ’12), Chicago, was named to
the 40 Under Forty for 2020 ranking Kwanwoo Lee
David Doyle by the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. (LAW ’17), Chicago, was elected to
(LAW ’10), La Grange, Ill., joined the board of the Asian American
Cozen O’Connor’s Bankruptcy, Bradley Puklin Bar Association of Greater Chicago
Insolvency and Restructuring (LAW ’12), Palatine, Ill., joined for a second two-year term.
practice in the Chicago office. Swanson, Martin & Bell’s Chicago
office as an associate. Taylor Brewer
Dana Popish Severinghaus (LAW ’19), Chicago, is an
(LAW ’10), Chicago, was nominated by Philip Micha associate at Kopon Airdo.
Governor J. B. Pritzker to be the director (LAW ’14), Wilmington, Del., joined
of the Illinois Department of Insurance. Richards, Layton & Finger in 2019 in Nicholas Saveas
the Environmental, Commercial Real (CS ’20), Shorewood, Ill., is a data
Alexis Douglas Estate, and Litigation practice groups. engineer for Vertical Trail, a cloud-
(LAW ’11), Chicago, was elected to based solutions company.
partnership at the global law firm of Sultan Felemban
K&L Gates in 2020, and focuses her (M.B.A. ’14), Saudi Arabia, has been
intellectual property practice on a promoted to manager and nominated Share Your News!
variety of transactional and litigation as a board member for the Riyad We want to hear from you. Send us your class
matters related to trademarks, domain Taqnia Fund, one of the earlier venture note by visiting alumni.iit.edu/class-notes.
names, social media, and copyrights. capital tech funds in Saudi Arabia. Submissions may be edited for style and brevity.

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 29

 Alumni Awards 2021
Since 1946 the Alumni Awards have been presented to Illinois Institute of Technology’s most accomplished, innovative,
and influential alumni. Alumni Award winners add to the university’s rich history of visionaries who make the Illinois Tech
community proud. Join us during Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2021 (September 17–18, 2021) to celebrate these
outstanding award recipients.

Alumni Medal International Award of Merit Laboratory. The core of his research within
Theodore “Ted” Brown (CHEM ’50) is the Molecular Foundry has been the use of
Managing Director of Atristain Financial advanced electron microscopy techniques to
a professor emeritus of chemistry at the Advisors, Ramiro Atristain (M.S. FIN ’93)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, elucidate the role of structure and bonding
is an executive-in-residence and adjunct at surfaces and interfaces of materials.
where he began working in 1956. Co-author professor at Dominican University in River
of Chemistry: The Central Science, Brown was Ciston is the recipient of several industry
Forest, Illinois. He has volunteered as a awards in diffraction data and microscopy.
named a fellow of the American Chemical mentor for Stuart School of Business students
Society in 2010. He received Illinois and is also the host of a weekly podcast Rashi Khurana (M.S. ITM ’09) is vice
Tech’s Professional Achievement Award SPR y Tu Dinero on Spanish Public Radio. president of engineering at Shutterstock,
in 1992 and has given back significantly where she leads the technical teams
to the university’s chemistry students. Jongsub Moon (Ph.D. CS ’91) is a professor for the e-commerce site and the front-
at the Sejong Campus of Korea University. end platform. Khurana previously led
Alumni Service Award He has been instrumental in expanding the contributor experience team at
Illinois Tech’s alumni base and reach in South Shutterstock. She also serves on the Ithaca
Jim Albrecht (FE ’53, M.S. ’55) worked for
Korea and has also served as a mentor and College Cybersecurity Advisory Board
McCormick & Company for more than 40
point of contact for alumni living in Asia. and was featured by WeAreTechWomen
years. He was a founder of the World Trade
Center Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, as an Inspirational Woman in 2020.
John J. Schommer Honor I Award
and has had a lifelong commitment to
youth education and global issues. At A standout student-athlete in swimming Professional Achievement Award
Illinois Tech Albrecht has a passion for while at Illinois Tech, James McMahon (MET Piyush Desai (M.S. EE ’04, Ph.D. ’09) is
connecting with students, mentoring ’81) worked at Abbott Laboratories for more the co-founder and vice president of motor
dozens of students in Interprofessional than 31 years before retiring as a quality design for the Software Motor Company,
Projects (IPRO) Program courses as well manager. He volunteers as president of the now Turntide Technologies. He holds several
as supporting IPRO faculty and staff. board of directors of Manzanita Ranch, which granted and pending patents in the United
serves cancer and post-traumatic stress States and internationally. Desai’s research
Collens Merit Award disorder patients through equine therapy. and experience focuses on electric motors,
Illinois Tech Board of Trustees member Lifetime Achievement Award drives, controls, and photovoltaic solar.
Mayari Pritzker (Ph.D. PSYC ’01) is president
Madhavan Nayar (M.S. IE ’68) founded Kumbakonam Rajagopal (M.S. MAE ’74) is
of the Robert and Mayari Pritzker Family
Unitech Systems in 1982, which evolved into a University Distinguished Professor at Texas
Foundation. She consults with various
the multi-million dollar company Infogix, A&M University, where he holds the J. M.
organizations worldwide, specializing
Inc. He later established Illinois Tech’s Nayar Forsyth Chair in Mechanical Engineering and
in the areas of leadership assessment,
Prize, encouraging and challenging faculty, joint appointments in other departments.
selection, and development. Pritzker
staff, and students to develop breakthrough, Rajagopal is also a senior research scientist
has championed the mission and values
innovative projects that will produce at the Texas Transportation Institute and
of the university as well as contributed
meaningful results with a societal impact. has written three books on mechanics.
transformative gifts in many academic areas.
Although Nayar passed away in 2019, he
leaves a lasting legacy at Illinois Tech. Robert “Bob” Surrette (LAW ’97) is
Galvin Award president and a shareholder of the law firm
James Hill Jr. founded his own accounting McAndrews, Held & Malloy. His practice is
Outstanding Young Alumnus/
firm in 1972, becoming Hill, Taylor Certified focused on intellectual property dispute
Young Alumna
Public Accountants, which merged with resolution and technology-related disputes.
Gerald J. Bekkerman (LAW ’07) is a Surrette has also served as president of the
Mitchell & Titus in 2009. Hill is a member
trial lawyer at Taxman, Pollock, Murray Chicago-Kent Alumni Board of Directors.
of numerous professional organizations,
& Bekkerman. With a history of success
including the Illinois CPA Society and the Mae Whiteside (CE ’99) is the founder
representing plaintiffs in personal injury
National Association of Black Accountants. He and president of CKL Engineers, a civil,
cases, he was named to the Chicago Daily
has served as a board member of community environmental, and structural engineering
Law Bulletin’s 40 Under Forty ranking
organizations including the Better Government firm. She is also involved in philanthropic and
in 2018.
Association, the Chicago Economic Advisory political endeavors, and is the founder of the
Committee, and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. James “Jim” Ciston (AE, ME ’04) is a staff Women STEM Entrepreneurs Breakfast Club,
At Illinois Tech, Hill is a Life Trustee, having scientist at the National Center for Electron which advocates for women business owners.
served on the board since 1991. Microscopy at Lawrence Berkeley National

30 SPRING 2021
Spotlight

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SARA GLADE

Following the Life-Giving Flow

SARA GLADE (CHE, M.S. ENVE ’15) says that she took for the design of ECAR used in the India context needed to
granted having accessible, safe, and affordable drinking be modified before testing in the United States.”
water as a normal part of daily life until she visited Haiti Glade designed, implemented, and field tested the
and Nicaragua through the Engineers Without Borders modified treatment technology on a farm in the historical-
USA Illinois Institute of Technology Student Chapter as ly Black community of Allensworth in California’s Central
an undergraduate. Valley. While the region is considered to be one of the
She won multiple water-related awards and scholar- most agriculturally productive in the world, many of its
ships while at Illinois Tech, and upon entering the Ph.D. communities, such as Allensworth, where the farmwork-
program in environmental engineering at the University ers live and their children go to school, have to ship in
of California, Berkeley, she received a National Science expensive bottled drinking water because the tap water is
Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. As a member filled with arsenic and other groundwater contaminants.
of a team headed by Berkeley’s Ashok Gadgil, professor “Our results showed that we were able to successfully
of civil and environmental engineering, she was able to remove arsenic from initial concentrations of [about] 150
explore an affordable method to remove arsenic from micrograms per liter to below the Environmental Protec-
drinking water. tion Agency Maximum Contaminant Level of 10 micro-
“In California, many small, low-income communities grams per liter,” says Glade. She also assisted testing in
are disproportionately impacted by arsenic-contaminated Allensworth a next-generation version of ECAR known
drinking water, because they lack access to treatment as Air Cathode Assisted Iron Electrocoagulation, which
solutions,” says Glade. “The technology I investigated in significantly decreases the purification time.
my research is called ElectroChemical Arsenic Remedi- Glade graduated from Berkeley last December and was
ation (ECAR), a technology studied extensively in the accepted as a postdoctoral associate at the University of
Gadgil Lab at UC Berkeley and previously implemented in Colorado Boulder, where she is working on projects within
India. ECAR has potential as a technology lower in cost the Resilient Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity
and easier to manage than existing alternatives; however, interdisciplinary research theme. —Marcia Faye

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 31

Bridge for Future
Generations

Doris Jean Oldham (CE ’76) always which inspired a new dream:
dreamed of building bridges. A to encourage more women to
registered nurse by the time she embrace engineering careers.
was 21, she used her own savings Oldham’s bequest to the
to enroll at Illinois Institute of university established the
Technology, graduating at 31 with Doris Oldham Endowed
a 4.0 grade-point average and Scholarship fund for female
a degree in civil engineering. engineering students, which
While achieving her goal of is building a different kind of
becoming a civil engineer, Oldham bridge for future generations
experienced gender-based of strong and determined
discrimination in the workplace, women, much like Oldham.

Benefits of an Estate Gift in Your Will or Trust

• Help ensure Illinois Tech’s future. • Reduce any potential estate tax.
• Leave a legacy of giving back. • Retain control of your assets during your lifetime.
• Give without affecting your current cash flow. • Direct your gift to a particular purpose.*

*Please check with us to make sure the gift can be used as intended.

If you have named Illinois Tech as a beneficiary in your estate plan through your will, trust, IRA, retirement plan, or
insurance policy, please let us know so that we may acknowledge your generosity and include you in the Gunsaulus
Society, which offers exclusive university events, lectures, and luncheons as well as member recognition in
university publications.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Marian Quirk at [email protected] or 312.567.5017.

An Update from
the Alumni Board Chair
Sherrie Littlejohn

Over the last year, I think it’s safe to say we’ve all
become used to confronting daily change. These
changes have come in all varieties: anticipated change,
unexpected change, change we’ve hoped for, change
we’ve feared, and some of which we’re still processing.
President John F. Kennedy once said, “Change is
the law of life. And those who look only to the past or
present are certain to miss the future.” As a trustee of
our alma mater and the chair of our Alumni Association
board, I have a goal to help keep our entire alumni
community firmly aware at this moment, recognizing nity, and with industry leaders. Additionally, the work of
that we get to make the change we want to see. It is the our African American Alumni Association (4A) is taking
renewed thinking and conscious, intentional actions that a prominent role in helping to shape our DEI conversa-
we take today that will allow the best future to emerge tions under the leadership of 4A Chair Lester McCarroll
for all of us. Jr. (EE ’83) and 4A Chair Emeritus Michael Hill (CS ’82).
Among the many changes at Illinois Tech this year These conversations among other cultural dialogues are
is the retirement of Illinois Tech’s ninth president, Alan stimulating actions for desired change yielding more
W. Cramb. As we enter this transitional period between inclusiveness and belonging.
President Cramb and his successor, I want to share my President Cramb will also pass the baton to our next
gratitude to President Cramb for his leadership through- president to steward what we’re calling The Chicago
out his tenure. He has demonstrated his commitment Difference. This initiative includes Illinois Tech’s newly
to our entire community, traveling the world to connect formed integrated skills, scholarship, and support for
with alumni, improving Illinois Tech’s financial standing, students from underrepresented backgrounds, including
and stewarding students, faculty, and staff through an women and people of color, with a special focus on
unprecedented shift to remote learning and working young people from Chicago’s South Side and West Side.
thoughtfully, safely, and gracefully. By cultivating and retaining homegrown local tech talent,
I am also appreciative of the groundwork laid by Illinois Tech will activate its commitment to diversity,
President Cramb and others over the past several years, while simultaneously realizing our vision of propelling
which our next president will have the opportunity to the city of Chicago to realize its future as a global
build upon. The last two years in particular have yielded technology leader.
the establishment of the College of Computing and As Illinois Tech alumni, we all share in Illinois Tech’s
record-breaking fundraising. Both have set the stage journey to this point, including more than a century
for what, I believe, will be the beginnings of new and of making change. No matter what other changes we
exciting opportunities for Illinois Tech, our communities, encounter this year, I am optimistic about our path
and the industries who will benefit from our students forward, and I’m glad to share the journey with my
and faculty excellence. fellow Scarlet Hawks.
Our 10th president will also have the opportunity
to build upon our university’s commitment to diversity, Sincerely,
equity, and inclusion (DEI) in several critical, concrete
ways. One of the first hires made by our next president
will be the newly created position of vice president for
diversity, equity, and inclusion. This will ensure a robust Sherrie Littlejohn (M.S. CS ’82)
partnership between the president’s offices and our Trustee, Board of Trustees
ongoing DEI work across our university and our commu- Chair, Alumni Association Board of Directors

*Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: iit.edu/president/commitment-diversity-and-inclusion

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 33

 Obituaries
Joel T. Daly Norman G. Lederman
(LAW ’88), La Grange Highlands, Illinois, was a notable Wakefield, Rhode Island, was an internationally recognized
Chicago WLS-TV news anchor who worked at the ABC7 leader in and advocate for the field of inquiry-based
station for nearly 40 years before retiring in 2005. He mathematics and science teacher education. He and his
was one member of the well-respected “Eyewitness News” wife, retired Illinois Tech faculty member Judith Sweeney
team that also included Fahey Flynn, John Coleman, and Lederman, established the former Mathematics and
Bill Frink. Daly and his co-anchor Flynn are credited with Science Education Department at Illinois Tech in 2001,
bringing the concept of conversation into news delivery. and in 2008, were selected by Perspectives Charter
After his retirement, Daly worked as a legal analyst and Schools to help launch the Perspectives/IIT Mathematics
consultant. He was inducted into the Chicago Journalism and Science Academy. A prolific researcher and mentor,
Hall of Fame (2001) and the National Academy of Television Lederman was named Distinguished Professor in 2011
Arts and Sciences Silver Circle Chicago/Midwest Chapter and received numerous awards, including fellowship in
(2002), and received the first Pioneer Award from the the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Illinois Broadcasters Association (2008) and five Emmy and the American Education Research Association, as well
Awards from the Television Academy. as the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education
through Research Award from the National Association for
William M. Hannay III
Research in Science Teaching.
Barrington, Illinois, was an adjunct professor at Chicago-
Kent College of Law. A graduate of Yale University and David McKinney
Georgetown Law, he had a career that included a clerkship (ARCH ’67, M.S. CRP ’68, Ph.D. ’76), Fallbrook, California,
for retired Supreme Court of the United States Justice Tom was provost and chief academic officer at Westcliff
C. Clark and U.S. Appellate Judge Myron H. Bright. Hannay University in Irvine. He also co-owned the Golden Garden
was also an assistant district attorney in New York and assisted living facility in Fallbrook with his wife, Catalina.
became a partner in the Chicago office of Schiff Hardin. Before joining Westcliff, McKinney worked on the Model
Hannay enjoyed acting and singing, and he was a member of Cities initiative in Chicago and then as an architect for
the Barrington Village Singers, among other vocal groups. Clark Construction. In Indianapolis, he was a serial real
estate entrepreneur, developing single-family home
Narinder S. Kapany,
communities, and served on the Pike Township School
Redwood City, California, was a physicist and entrepreneur
Board, helping to make soccer a high school varsity sport.
who was considered to be the “father of fiber optics.” From
the time he was in high school in Dehradun, India, Kapany James “Jim” Nagle
aimed to prove that light rays can be bent and went on to Chicago, was a member of the “Chicago Seven,” a group
demonstrate in 1954 the transmission of light in bundles of seven influential architects who in the 1970s held a
of connected thin glass fibers, in part, establishing the series of exhibitions and symposia that questioned the
beginning of fiber optics communications. In the late 1950s architectural status quo. He was a founder of what is now
Kapany and his wife moved to Illinois, where he joined Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects, with offices in Chicago
the faculty of Illinois Institute of Technology. In 1960 they and London. An American Institute of Architects fellow,
relocated to California, where Kapany began the company Nagle received the Illinois AIA Gold Medal for outstanding
Optics Technology to commercialize his research and lifetime service, among numerous other honors. He taught
focus on product development. He later founded two more at the university’s College of Architecture for a period of
companies, Kaptron and K2 Optronics. time, served on its Board of Advisors, and established the
Nagle/Hartray Scholarship.
Marilyn Kouba
(CHEM ’50, M.S. ’63), Schaumburg, Illinois, credited her Brigitte Peterhans
university education for her more than 35-year career (M.ARCH ’61), Stuttgart, Germany, was an architect with
as a chemistry and physical science teacher at Harold Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, where she was considered
Washington College and other schools within the City to be a design leader. She joined SOM in 1970, became
Colleges of Chicago, beginning in the 1950s. She supported an associate in 1973, and advanced to associate partner
women in the science, technology, engineering, and six years later. Peterhans contributed to such notable
mathematics fields through her longtime participation in the projects as Willis Tower, Baxter Travenol Laboratories, and
Delta Zeta international college sorority. A member of the the Hilton Cairo World Trade Center. She was preceded
American Chemical Society for more than 50 years, Kouba in death by her husband, the noted photographer Walter
was active in the Chicago Section. Peterhans, whom she met at the College of Architecture,
where he was on the faculty.
Robert J. Krawczyk
Batavia, Illinois, joined the College of Architecture in Roy Sahlstrom
1983 and retired as professor in January 2020. He held a (ME ’45), Elmhurst, Illinois, had a long career as a
number of administrative roles at the college over the years, manufacturer’s representative specializing in equipment for
including director of the Architectural CAD Lab (1988–1996), power and process applications, eventually owning his own
director of the undergraduate program in architecture company, BellTech Utility. During World War II Sahlstrom
(2006–2011), and director of the art@IIT Gallery (2004–07). worked full-time on the glider bomb program at Tonopah,
Before coming to Illinois Tech, Krawczyk worked at the Nevada. He was elected a life fellow of the American
former C. F. Murphy Associates, Benkert Associates, Society of Engineers and was active with the organization
and Burnham and Hammond. A recognized artist in the throughout his life. He was passionate about his time at
field of computer-generated art work, Krawczyk owned Illinois Tech and wrote in an essay for the 50th anniversary
BitArtWorks, a digital art studio in Batavia. of his graduation, “Looking back is a kaleidoscope of
beautiful memories.”

34 SPRING 2021
In Memoriam
Alumni Robert J. Thompson FPE ’61
Ruth W. Johnson M.S. HE ’62
Lawrence W. Johnson FPE ’45
Edward C. Jones Jr. PHYS ’62
Marvin L. Nussbaum CHEM ’46, M.S. ’48
Robert H. Leach B&E ’62
William Thomas Gregg FPE ’48
James A. Ulrich CHE ’62
Lun Lee Yuan M.S. CHE ’48, Ph.D. ’51
Richard W. Dombroski EE ’63
Thomas P. Mertes EE ’49
Carl L. Schutt ARCH ’63
James E. Quinlan ME ’49
Francis Monroe Fawcett B&E ’64
Shaheen Azeez Shaheen B&E ’49
Clifford W. LaBelle LAW ’64
Harvey Y. Weinstein CE ’49
Herbert Kohn Ph.D. PSYC ’65
Robert C. Wiese CHE ’49
Menelaos J. Reckas EE ’65
Edward R. Fencl ME ’50
Frank J. Ryan ME ’65
Robert R. Holmes CHEM ’50
Anne M. Berry M.S. ID ’66
John J. Scott Sr. CE ’50
Robert F. Nussbaum LAW ’66
Kenneth Losch PHYS ’51
Ronald H. Porzak LAW ’66
Robert F. Nootbaar M.S. CHE ’51
Ronald L. Eshleman Ph.D. MAE ’67
Robert W. Ritchey CHEM ’51
Thomas E. Linnenbrink EE ’67
Kwang Tzu Yang ME ’51, M.S. ’52, Ph.D. ’55
John Medige Ph.D. MECH ’67
Frederick A. Antonelli CE ’52
James G. Stine ARCH ’67
Richard G. Fisk ME ’52
Jeffrey M. Shimada EE ’68
James R. Dowdall LAW ’53
Thomas J. Leuthner MAT ’69
William F. Homer EE ’53
James T. Allen MAE ’70
J. J. Kaganove MAT ’53
Wayne S. Cartwright CHE ’70
Juele Marie Blankenburg (née Hughes) HE ’54
Ramesh C. Gupta M.S. EE ’70
James Corwith Jr. ME ’54
John W. Braski PSYC ’73
Lawrence J. Hubacek IE ’54
Beatrice A. Takeuchi ID ’73
Arthur F. Kunst Sr. B & E ’54, IE ’68
Robert A. Burch METE ’74
Arthur Robert Michaels ME ’54
Walt Fabian PHYS ’74
Charles H. Stillwell CE ’54
Robert W. Soelter PSYC ’74, LAW ’78
Richard K. Sutz METE ’54
Paul Chen ID ’75
Edwin G. Vogl ME ’54
Edward C. Brooks M.P.A. ’76
Roger J. Gendron ME ’55
Thomas W. Good LAW ’76
John G. Page UNK ’55
Judith W. Munson LAW ’76
Joseph S. Yudelson Ph.D. CHEM ’55
Doris J. Oldham CE ’76
Henry J. Zoubek CE ’55
Robert J. Rillie LAW ’76
Karl F. Gengler LAW ’56
Barbara D. Salmeron LAW ’79
Henry J. Grimme EE ’56
Timothy J. Holmes Ph.D. EE ’80
Sylvan Silberg EE ’56, M.S. EE ’62
James E. Courtney Ph.D. PSYC ’83
Norbert C. Zyk ME ’57
Gregory A. Hansen CHE ’83
Belén Cámara Brown M.S. CHEM ’58
Martin Chmura LAW ’84
Jon Russ Cooley B&E ’58
G. P. Green M.P.A. ’87
Arthur O. Cromer PSYC ’58
Sue Roberts-Kurpis (née Clouse) LAW ’92
Robert W. Postma ME ’58
Kathleen C. Halpin LAW ’95
Luigino J. Sartor ARCH ’58
Georgette F. Garcia-Kaufmann LAW ’98
Edward J. Starostovic Jr. ARCH ’58
Pradeep Nayar M.S. CS ’02
Arnold Loeb EE ’59
Leonard R. Nelson EE ’03
Calvin M. Love CHEM ’59
Kenneth E. Quinn Jr. EE, CE ’06
Arthur C. Schlicht CHE ’59
Richard L. Gulling ARCH ’10
Wayne W. Schurter EE ’59
Melissa B. Anderson LAW ’11
Bernard G. Staib ME ’59
Michael T. Grover M.A.S. STE ’12
Daniel Gary Wise EE ’59
John R. Fox LAW ’17
Robert J. Arado CE ’60
G. S. Krishnamurthy Ph.D. CHEM ’60
Richard H. Pertel Ph.D. CHEM ’60
Attended/Non-Degreed
Christopher Bohus ME ’61
Philip A. Balkas
Dale Eugene McDaniel FPE ’61

ILLINOIS TECH MAGAZINE 35

 REWIND

PHOTO: COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, PAUL V. GALVIN LIBRARY, IIT

The Original were enrolled at Illinois Tech in 1973,

the year that Thomas was named
head of minority affairs. He retired
from the university as assistant vice

Influencer
assistant director of co-op education. president of external affairs in 1988.
The General Electric Company made While Martin could not attend
a $25,000 grant to the university to Thomas’s tribute in 2009 for health
begin an underrepresented minority reasons, he sent a letter acknowledg-

T
engineering co-op program, which ing Thomas’s impact:
welve years ago this Thomas set in motion. By 1974, 39 “It’s a little simplistic, but the
June, some 200 Illinois underrepresented minority first-year university admissions process is a lot
Institute of Technology students enrolled at Illinois Tech like prospecting for gold, only univer-
alumni (including the and 52 underrepresented minority sity ‘gold’ is called ‘intellectual talent,’
newly formed African American high school seniors entered into the and [Illinois Tech] was in competition
Alumni Association), among them new Early ID Program, with the goal with all of the best universities in
engineers, Fortune 500 leaders, of providing access and support to mining the same traditional places
educators, and even a Broadway young aspiring engineers, computer for the same limited supply of intel-
entertainer, gathered on Mies scientists, architects, and medical lectual talent,” said Martin. “Nate was
Campus to honor and welcome back experts from diverse backgrounds. unique in prospecting for gold in the
a man who was their guiding career Because of Thomas’s innovative areas that no one else thought about,
star: Nathaniel “Nate” Thomas. vision and approach to recruitment, and then using tools and techniques
Founder of Illinois Tech’s Early Illinois Tech President Thomas Lyle uniquely appropriate to those lodes.
Identification Program for under- Martin Jr. promoted him to director He was a pioneer and was appro-
represented minority recruitment, of admissions that same year. priately nationally recognized as a
Thomas passed away late last year. After serving as the executive leader. I am proud to have worked
According to documents from director for the Committee on alongside him at [Illinois Tech], but
Paul V. Galvin Library University Institutional Cooperation and the more importantly, in leading the way
Archives and Special Collections, Midwest Programs for Minorities in in developing a new mother lode of
only nine underrepresented Engineering from 1977–1980, Thomas intellectual talent for our country.”
minority engineering students returned to Illinois Tech to serve as —Marcia Faye

36 SPRING 2021
Before You Go
Alan W. Cramb concluded his
presidency not with the fanfare
of a brass band, but with the
crackle and hiss of vinyl
records playing some of the
music of his “personal history.”
On March 5 from 7-8 p.m., Cramb
served as a guest disk jockey at
the A. Sidney Katz Radio Studio
of WIIT 88.9 FM, Illinois Tech’s
student radio station. This
gig came one year after Cramb’s
WIIT DJ debut on April 3, 2020,
to kick off a 60-hour COVID-19
stay-at-home dance party.

PHOTO: DAVID ETTINGER

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Save the Date

for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2021
Friday and Saturday, September 17–18
Spend the weekend reconnecting and celebrating with your Illinois Institute of Technology community!

Reunion
Gatherings
Exclusive events for members
of the Class of 1971 including
induction into the Golden
Society. Do you want to host a
reunion? Contact [email protected]
and let us know!

Alumni Awards
Since 1946 Alumni Awards have been presented to Illinois Tech’s
most accomplished, innovative, and influential alumni. Join us in
recognizing our 2021 awardees!

Come Back to Where It All Started

Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2021 will feature campus tours,
lectures, and learning opportunities. Don’t miss out on these and
many more activities during this special Illinois Tech event.

Mark your calendars and join us for Homecoming & Reunion Weekend 2021!
iit.edu/homecoming