Cheryl L. Portwood-Peden Emery ’74 gave a Titan Career Chat: Experiences in the Spanish Caribbean. Presented virtually, the power-point photo slide presentation helped students learn how Cheryl’s cultural immersion experiences during her IWU Study Travel Seminar to Puerto Rico inspired her. Cheryl earned her B.A. from IWU in Spanish leading to a rewarding and satisfying teaching career in Spanish; Spanish Bi-lingual/E.S.L., and Special Education that has spanned 38 years. Cheryl retired from teaching in the Chicago Public Schools in 2012.

David McCord ’75  is retiring in May. After six years practicing law, he was a professor at Drake University Law School for thirty-six years. He plans to enjoy life with his wife Laura (‘75), their three children, and their grandson. He plans to do volunteer work with his church and other nonprofits.

Debbie wished to give the following message:

Hey There, COVID Weary Titans!

Congratulations to Lucy Carmody Simkins on her second children’s publication! The Summer Kitchen Bully summary reads

“Cocooned within a field of cornstalks rests Farmer’s homestead. An ancient summer kitchen inhabited by a group of field animals sits just steps away from the main house. Inside this primitive kitchen, fierce threats from Flame, the tomcat, scare the field mice, Jasmine, the spiders and others. Bullying is something everyone needs to learn how to deal with, and the ways these animals learn how to counter and defuse bullying offers solutions to anyone!”

Jay Payleitner has published his 29th book! The Prayer of Agur ponders and unpacks the only prayer in the Bible’s book of Proverbs. The unexpected prayer by an overlooked minor prophet reads in part, “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread” (Proverbs 30:8). With sales of more than half a million copies, Jay’s earlier books tackled family and life issues from a Christian perspective. All his books are available on Amazon and jaypayleitner.com.

Congratulations on your achievements!

We extend our deepest condolences to fellow alumna, Birda (Buzan) Ferguson ’75. Her husband, Glenn Ferguson (not an IWU grad) died January 19th, just three weeks after their 40th anniversary.  Our thoughts are with Birda and her family.

Greg Poland ’77, who is leading Mayo Clinic vaccine research, addresses COVID vaccine misconceptions.  Read more here.

Norm Eash ’75 has been featured in a Pantagraph article about enduring a full year without football games. Read it here.

As the results of late-stage clinical trials for a coronavirus vaccine are announced, Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group director Dr. Gregory Poland ’77, an Illinois Wesleyan University alumnus, is being called upon by national media outlets to provide an expert analysis.

Poland, one of the nation’s leading vaccinologists, recently appeared on NPR’s Here and Now to discuss the promising results of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine trial. According to early data, Moderna announced that its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective. This news came a week after Pfizer announced that its vaccine is more than 90% effective.

“As a physician and a scientist, you always want to temper your enthusiasm,” Poland said during the Nov. 16 episode of Here and Now. “On the other hand, for a COVID-weary world, this looks like a home run. To have a vaccine 95% effective is a big deal in the world of vaccinology.”

Although Moderna’s data has yet to undergo peer-review, and mass distribution of any vaccine is likely months away, Poland said he has hope that widespread public vaccination could begin around the spring or summer of 2021.

Despite the promising development, Poland emphasized that news of a forthcoming vaccine should not make Americans complacent, and that it will take a combination of a vaccine and current public health measures to curb the spread of the virus.

“The efficacy measures that we have are, if you will, vaccine plus masks plus social distancing. What happens when it’s the vaccine alone? That’s something we’ll see and come to understand over time.”

The Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, studies the efficacy and genetic drivers of novel vaccines through funding from the National Institutes of Health. Since founding the group in 1989, Poland’s research in vaccines for measles-rubella-mumps, smallpox, influenza and other viral infections has contributed greatly to the field of immunogenetics and public health.

Read the full article here.