July 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – John L. Wroan III, a retired Bloomington contractor and businessman, has donated $1 million worth of stock to Illinois Wesleyan University and University High School, both in Bloomington-Normal.

A graduate of IWU and U-High, Wroan allocated $500,000 worth of stock to Illinois Wesleyan for an endowment to support student scholarships. He is also donating $500,000 worth of stock to U-High to support the remodeling of its Vocational Arts area into an Engineering/Technology Center – the very building Wroan’s company built in 1964.

“The importance of supporting education cannot be stated enough,” said Wroan. “These gifts are a challenge to everyone who can lend a hand in strengthening education in our community. I consider these gifts to be a ‘pay back’ for all the support Bloomington-Normal has give to me over the years.”

A native of Deer Creek, Ill., Wroan transferred to U-High his junior year, where he played football and basketball and ran track. After graduating from U-High in 1945 and spending one and one-half years in the service, he attended Iowa State University for one year and then transferred to Illinois Wesleyan, where he played basketball under famed coach Jack Horenberger. “I have a soft spot for U-High and Illinois Wesleyan,” said Wroan, who graduated from IWU in 1951 with a degree in business administration.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In a snapshot from the Bahamas, Will Jaeckle stands in the traditional proud fisherman’s pose, arm held high to display his prized catch.

However, hanging from his raised hand is not a magnificent adult sport fish, but a tiny pipette containing three swordfish in their larval stage. For the associate professor of biology from Illinois Wesleyan University, the swordfish weren’t a fisherman’s triumph, but a byproduct of the nets and collection bottles that were cast deep into the ocean from the deck of the R/V F.G. Walton Smith during a recent research voyage. The intended targets included larvae of bottom-dwelling invertebrates, which spend their lives in the water column, and cyanobacteria (microscopic photosynthetic bacteria) upon which the larvae may feed.

Jaeckle, along with Illinois Wesleyan biology majors Oluwakemi Onajin ‘09 and newly graduated Sarah Lewis ‘07, were joined by counterparts from the University of Oregon on the first leg of a four-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. The opportunity proved illuminating for both students.

Jaeckle’s group is studying the invertebrate larvae from deep-sea species to learn how these developmental stages get the necessary sustenance to complete their developmental cycle. The cyanobacteria that are hypothesized as a potential food source are the research interest of grant collaborator Michelle Wood, a biologist from the University of Oregon. Specimens were captured at controlled depths starting 1,000 meters below the surface and then sorted and identified while being viewed through microscopes during 16-hour work days.

Knowledge about the development of deep-sea creatures is limited, Jaeckle said. “We’re just trying to understand how these developmental stages of deep-water organisms make their living. We are somewhat ignorant of what processes occur at depths that we can only see by towing cameras or using submarines. Even then we’re only getting a narrow snapshot.”

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