Mark Calvin Yontz ’72 and Sandra Ward Yontz ’72 welcomed the birth of their grandchild Calvin Christopher Duke on September 8, 2015. Calvin joined parents Chelsea ’05 and Jamie Duke and big sisters Grace and Caroline.
George McGee is the 2015 recipient of the John Walker Manning Mentor and Teaching Award at Georgetown College in Kentucky where he is Professor of Theatre and Film. The Award is presented annually to a faculty member who has demonstrated leadership in mentoring and counseling students in their academic course work and who has shown excellence in teaching. Students make nominations and have a significant voice in selecting the Manning Award winner each year. McGee, who holds an MFA from Florida Atlanta University, has been a member of the faculty at Georgetown College since 1984.
Family and friends helped celebrate the marriage of Cheryl Larea Portwood-Peden & Noah Emery on October 17, 2015 in Homewood, IL. Cheryl also welcomed the birth of her first grandchild, Milan Amari Rogers on July 8, 2015.
Tony-award nominated actor Frankie Faison ’71 speaks extensively about his experience as an actor, his creative process, his start in the church, and his love of theatre in the Youtube series “Stay Regular.”
A link to the video can be found here.
Elgin Courier-News reporter Dave Gathman ’74 looks back on the joys and challenges of a long career in journalism.
For a link to the entire article, click here.
Rick Harrison ’75 completed his first book December 2009, Jacob Shall Be a Fire, a Catholic theological novel. Jacob presents a modern concept of how end times prophecy might play out in an entertaining novel and explores the Catholic view of prophecy in 150 pages of theological commentary that follows the story. Two more books are in the works, a 600 page review of the intelligent design evolution debate (available free in draft at Rick’s Web site, http://matthew1026.com), and an analysis of the UFO phenomena, still in the early phases of composition. Update, October, 2015: the novel has been removed from publication for extensive revision, nearly complete, and can be read free on the Website.
Having spent 17+ years leading Herbalife’s regulatory and government affairs team during a period of robust international expansion, John Venardos (’74) moved from Manhattan Beach, CA to Boise, Idaho where John now serves as Vice President, Global Compliance for BodyBuilding.Com. John and his wife Ann made the transition end of August after getting their second son, Alex, settled into college in Malibu. Their other son, Peter, and his wife are also attending college near Portland, OR.
THANK YOU to all of our fiscal year 2015 donors! Illinois Wesleyan University‘s alumni participation rate has increased for the third year in a row thanks to the generosity of donors like you! Your support helps to ensure IWU is stronger and more affordable for current and future generations of Titans. You’ve done well, and you’ve done good! Go Titans!
I retired in December of 2014 after 30 years with the State of Illinois, 25 of those years with the Department of Public Health, the last 10 as the agency’s Administrative Rules Coordinator. I am enjoying reading, quilting, race-walking, singing in local choral groups, and participating in DAR. Retirement will also allow us to visit our daughter, Dr. Katherine Meister Cheng (IWU 2004), who is a dentist in the US Navy, stationed in Okinawa. She and her husband Jerry have a daughter, Julia, who was born in December of 2013.