AZ Chapter 12 - Alpha Zeta Club

A History of the Alpha-Zeta Chapter of Kappa Sigma
Chapter 12
The Twenty-First Century: 2000-2009
The decade, the century, and the millennium all began for Alpha-Zeta with the initiation
of the fall pledge class in January 2000. Thirteen men included Jakob D. Buikema of Battle
Creek; Ross F. Di Marco of Pittsburgh; Arrash E. Fard of San Diego; Clark T. Johnson of Ann
Arbor; Bryan C. Kilbane of Saline; Brian L. Miller of Westland, Michigan; Matthew C. Moeser of
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan; William T. Morgan of Ann Arbor; Mark E. Outslay of East Lansing;
Allan C. Pearce of Okemos, Michigan; Craig S. Poster of Sterling Heights; Ivan B. Signorelli of São
Paulo, Brazil; and Scott L. Weiss of West Bloomfield. Two prospective members depledged.
The officers were Grand Master Aaron Saito (AZ 1999), Grand Procurator Anand Patel
(AZ 1999), Grand Master of Ceremonies Patrick Van Hull (AZ 1999), Grand Scribe Simon Lee (AZ
1999), and Grand Treasurer Michael Crotty (AZ 1997).
Getting off to a quick start, the chapter pledged five more men at the end of January
and initiated them in April: James W. Bratton of Ann Arbor; Jeremy A. Chassen of New Rochelle;
New York; Tyrone John of St Albans, New York; Thomas B. Laughlin of Ann Arbor; and Todd M.
Rosenthal of Short Hills, New Jersey. Two prospective members depledged.
Adam Pence (AZ 1997) wrote an Honors Thesis in English entitled “David Copperfield’s
Agnes: Negotiating an Ideal.” Nihar Singhal (AZ 1999) spent the year abroad at the London
School of Economics and Political Science. Avram Turkel (AZ 1999) worked on the Michigan
Daily.
In the Caduceus for Spring 2000, Branch P Kerfoot, Jr. (AZ ’47) was recognized as a
member of the Silver Scroll Club in the McCormick Circle, and William B. Retallick (AZ ’43) was
honored as a member of the Heritage Society. Walter J. “Skip” Eichhorn (AZ ’57) was a donor to
the Joint Development Program, and thirty-six Alpha-Zeta brothers were thanked for having
paid their alumni dues.
Howard Meinke (AZ ’47) was President of the North Fork Environmental Council on Long
Island. Dr. George Kling (AZ ’53) retired as Professor and Chair of Radiology at Wayne State and
Radiologist in Chief at the Detroit Medical Center. Jim Isbister (AZ ’55) became the Chairman of
the Board at Advancis Pharmaceuticals. Over the next decade, he received more than fifty
patents, mostly for antibiotics and other medicines. Thomas Kressbach (AZ ’55) retired after
thirty-five years as City Manager of Grosse Pointe. He was honored in a resolution of the
Michigan Senate. Charles Cnudde (AZ ’57) edited Choices: An American Government Reader
(2001).
Ralph Kleinedler (AZ ’59) was elected president of the University of Michigan Club of
Greater Flint for 2000-01. John Hawley (AZ ’60) began teaching Computer Science at Alma
College in Michigan. James M. King (AZ ‘60) was promoted to Senior Vice President of Planning
and Business Development for Aloha Airlines. Tom Renfrow (AZ ’61) was named the Chief
Information Officer and Manager of the Institutional Computing and Information Services Office
at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Steve Frechtling (AZ ’65) was appointed Vice President of
Cincinnati Life. Doug Wozniak (AZ ’67) became an attorney with Cox, Hodgman & Giamarco. In
2003, he opened his own office. Tom Armstrong (AZ ’68) co-edited Occupational Ergonomics:
Work Related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Limb and Back (2000).
Rob Bossemeyer (AZ ’71) left Ameritech Science and Technology to form his own
consulting business, Speech Technology Applied Research in St Charles, Illinois. He had over
fifty patents for call waiting, caller ID, text-to-speech conversion, and so on. Matt Caputo (AZ
’73) left Savage Associates to form his own company, Caputo & Associates in Toledo. He also
became an agent for Ohio National Financial Services and On Investment Management Co. Jim
Stodolak (AZ ’78) became President of his own company, Focus Consulting in Idaho. Brian
Pearson (AZ ’78) became Clinical Director of Still Waters Counseling in Michigan. Jeff Richards
(AZ ’78) became an Associate Professor of Naval Science at the University of Kansas.
Mike Maizland
Dirk Stamp
Ron Gutt (AZ ’81) joined McDonald, Hopkins, Burke & Haber as an intellectual-property
attorney. Sean Robbins (AZ ’81) became President of Robbins Enterprises. Jerry Dywasuk (AZ
’83) was elected Supervisor for Orion Township in Michigan in November 2000. Mike Maizland
(AZ ’83) was the CTO for Mother Hen Software. In 2001, he became the CIO for Shanghai
OnStar. Rob Wesley (AZ ’86) became Senior Software Engineering Specialist at Rational
Software. Apu Mody became an Associate Partner at Whitman Hurt. Chip Lin (AZ ’86) was an
Assistant Vice President at Mizuho Corporate Bank. Dirk Stamp (AZ ’86) bought the Wine Seller,
a shop in Monument, Colorado. Mark Holzhauer (AZ ’86) became Team Leader at Conquest
Solutions Group. Dave Rice (AZ ’86), a.k.a. Del Villareal, organized Swing-A-Billy Sundays at the
Blind Pig in Ann Arbor and then the Elbow Room in Ypsilanti. Jon Quigley (AZ ’86) became the
Director of Program Management at Altair Engineering. Parag Mody (AZ ’86) became a Staff
Engineer at Sun Microsystems. Greg Rea (AZ ’88) became Lead Engineer at SaarGummi
Americas. Sean Johnson (AZ ’88) became the Manager of Corporate Financial Development at
Forecourt Communications. Derek Vanderlaan (AZ ’88) became Interactive Art Director at
Performance Communications Group. Erik Vining (AZ ’89) became a Consultant at Accenture.
David Rosewater (AZ ’89) became an Associate with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison.
Jonathan Colwell (AZ ’90) became the Manager of Information Systems Reporting and
Business Analysis at US Cellular in Chicago. He completed his MBA at DePaul in 2001 and
became Manager of Performance and Analysis in Reporting in 2004. Andrew Fortin (AZ ’90)
completed his Law degree at Catholic University of America and served as Acting Chief of Staff
for Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R-Michigan). Jason Springel (AZ ’90) became an Account
Executive with Apple. Todd Pearce (AZ ’90) moved back to Boston as Manager of Projects and
Research for Gillette; he became Manager of Capital and Projects in 2001 and Cost Accounting
Manager in 2003 in Atlanta. Andrew Hwang (AZ ’91) became Regional Manager of the Great
Western Shipping Line and then Account Manager at APL. David Siegel (AZ 1992) became a
Project manager for MachineWeb. Mark Kang (AZ 1992) completed his MD at the University of
Hawaii. Peter Jost (AZ 1994) completed his MD at the University of Virginia. David Nightingale
(AZ 1995) became a Research Assistant for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and then a lobbyist
with Navigant Consulting. Nick Garcia (AZ 1996) became a Sales Manager for Interep in New
York and Atlanta, and then a Senior Account Executive for Radio One in Detroit. Michael
Krautner (AZ 1996) completed a Master’s in Industrial and Operations Engineering at Michigan.
Christian Spencer (AZ 1997) started as Lead Development Engineer at Altair. Christopher
Tkaczyk (AZ 1997) started as a reporter for Fortune magazine in New York.
Robert E. Waldon (AZ ’50) of Franklin, Michigan passed away at age 70, as did Samuel C.
Wartinbee (AZ ’48) at age 75 in Ann Arbor. He served in the Korean War and worked as a civil
engineer in Ann Arbor until retiring as a Managing Partner of McNamara, Porter and Seeley in
1983. He was President of both the Michigan Society and the National Society of Professional
Engineers, and he was Chairman of Professional Engineers in Private Practice. George E.
Sheldrick (AZ ’32) of High Point, North Carolina also passed away at age 86. Bill Hornett (AZ ’49)
died at age 72 in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He was a commercial architect in California.
William F. Caruthers (AZ ’39) died at age 80 in Irwin, Pennsylvania. He had graduated
from Dickinson College Law School and had served as President of the Westmoreland Bar
Association, President of the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, Assistant District
Attorney in Westmoreland County, and Vice President of Irwin Bank and Trust.
In memory of an Alpha-Zeta brother initiated in 1926, Wayne State University and
Children’s Hospital of Michigan created the Frank Bicknell, MD Endowed Chair of Pediatric
Urology. The Grosse Pointe Historical Society sponsors the Frank Bicknell Lectures, and the
American Urological Association arranges the annual Bicknell Lecture.
The actives painted the windows crimson and emerald. The chapter’s grade-point
average was above that of all fraternities in the fall of 2000.
Eleven pledges were recruited in the fall of 2000 and initiated in January 2001. They
included Michael J. Brauman of Rye Brook, New York; Eric E. Carter of Ann Arbor; Eric A. Dobkin
of Washington Township, Michigan; Jeremiah T. Driansky of Mount Kisco, New York; Nathan S.
Furman of West Bloomfield; Adam L. Hoipkemier of East Lansing; Andrew D. Lockton of Santa
Monica, California; Carlos J. Remedios of Ponce, Puerto Rico; Matthew S. Stockton of Ann
Arbor; Ryan K. Thomas of Canton, Ohio; and Jordan W. Wyatt of East Lansing.
The officers were GM Jake Buikema, GP Mark Outslay, GMC Bryan Kilbane, GS Arrash
Fard, and GT Clark Johnson.
One of the newly initiated brothers violated the fraternity’s alcohol policy. He was
suspended by the Supreme Executive Committee in April 2001. Christopher D. Farley
(Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1991) was appointed Alumnus Advisor. The new District Grand Master
was Eric N. Frey (Michigan State 1995). The Supreme Executive Committee requested that he
investigate alleged activities of Alpha-Zeta.
H. Robert Reynolds (AZ ’53) retired from the University of Michigan
Symphony Band. He had been Director of Bands for twenty-six years. The
Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California established
the H. Robert Reynolds Professorship in Wind Conducting. In 2001, the
American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) gave
Reynolds an award for contributions to contemporary American music.
James Bader (AZ ’63) contributed chapters to a couple of books,
Diagnosis and Management of Dental Caries (2001) and Dental Caries
(2003). He had also published many articles in Pediatric Dentistry, the
Journal of Public Health Dentistry, and the Journal of the American Dental
Association. He was a Professor of Dentistry and a Clinical Associate
Professor of Public Health at the University of North Carolina.
Bob Reynolds
Dr. James Bader
Rich von Luhrte (AZ ’64) was named Architect of the Year by the Denver Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects. He became President of RNL Design in 2002, Director of the
University of Michigan Alumni Association in 2003, and winner of the Alumni Recognition
Award from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2004. Greg Drutchas (AZ ’68) chaired the
Council of Health Law Section for the State Bar of Michigan.
Jerry de Gryse
In 2001, Jerry de Gryse (AZ ’71) had a six-month appointment
as H. W. S. Cleveland Professor of Landscape Architecture at the
University of Minnesota. The position had been created to enable
practitioners to teach and to conduct research. De Gryse was
considered one of the most influential landscape architects in
Australia in the 1990s. He regarded Tasmania as a case study in
environmental planning and design, and he acted as “a vocal
ambassador for Tasmania and for the efforts to which we’ve gone to
protect our corner of the planet.”
Pete Tedeschi (AZ ’78) became Principal of his own company in San Francisco. Clay
Harrell (AZ ’79) became a Community Outreach Organizer for the Presidio Trust, also in San
Francisco. He had a Bachelor’s in Economics from the University of Colorado and an MBA from
the University of San Francisco; he had been a Financial Analyst for Montgomery Securities. In
2002, Clay served as Field Representative for a California Assemblywoman.
John Wilson (AZ ’80) published Evelyn Waugh: A Literary Biography, 1924-1966 (2001).
He also edited Diary of an Army Baker: Quartermaster Corps, Southwest Pacific, 1942-1945
(2001), by his father, Jack Wilson (Bucknell ’47). He accepted a position as Assistant Professor
of English at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania. Pete Kavanaugh (AZ ’81) became a
Consultant with the Segal Company in Chicago. Chris Rozof (AZ ’82) became the Director of
Estimating for Berghammer Construction in Milwaukee. Craig Pascoe (AZ ’84) was promoted to
lieutenant colonel in the Air Force. Bill Roberts (AZ ’84) became Director of the Applied Energy
Research Laboratory at North Carolina State. Rich Reich (AZ ’85) became Senior Vice President
at Marsh Global Environmental Practice. Jim Murray (AZ ’86) became Assistant Treasurer for
Credit Acceptance and later Vice President for Business Intelligence and Senior Vice President
for Loan Funding. George Kallander (AZ ’88) won a Fulbright Award to do research in Seoul,
Korea. In 2002, he became Visiting Lecturer at the National University of Mongolia. Chris
Kitchen (AZ ’88) completed his MBA at Michigan. He became Account Manager and then
Program Manager at FreeMarkets, which was acquired by Ariba, where he became Operations
Manager. Chris was also an officer in the Naval Reserve. Derek Vanderlaan became Creative
Director at TruePoints.
Paul Meyer (AZ ’90) joined the law firm of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in San Francisco.
Over the next two years, he published articles in Fundamentals of Patent Prosecution, Hong
Kong Lawyer, PharmaVoice, and Pharmaceutical Executive. David Judice (AZ ’91) completed his
MBA at NYU. David Shirey (AZ ’91) left his job as a commercial loan officer at Comerica and
retired. Chelsea White (AZ 1994) became a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical
Technician. Mike Huff (AZ 1995) was in Treasury/Corporate Finance with Compass Bank. Ethan
Schafer (AZ 1995) completed his Master’s in Psychology at Case Western Reserve University.
His thesis was entitled “Interpersonal Schemas, Empathy, and Social Behavior in Boys.” Joshya
Schleman (AZ 1995) became a Hedge Fund Accountant with Lazard Freres. William Earls (AZ
1997) became a Technologist at the University of Michigan, then a Network Planning Analyst
and a Data Security Analyst. Jonathan O’Day (AZ 1998) started as a Field Engineer for General
Electric.
The musical tradition of Alpha-Zeta made a comeback in the early years of the twentyfirst century.
Pledges rehearse for
serenade, below, and
brothers create
atmosphere for a
Hawaiian party, right.
The 2001 Michiganensian reported that
Kappa Sigma took pride in the diversity amongst its members. Together, the
members made meaningful contributions to the community, socially and through
community service and charity work. While making those contributions, Kappa Sigma
members continued forming close relationships within their fraternity. With 56
members, the Kappa Sigma brothers made a point to include other members in all
activities.
The fraternity typically admitted 20 new pledges per year and nurtured life-long
friendships. “Everyone in here is tight,” LSA sophomore Pat Seidel said. “It’s not just
about moving around as a group. We can chill with anybody here on a Tuesday night;
there doesn’t need to be anything special happening.”
With planned events happening from formal date parties to rock ‘n’ bowling, the
brothers of Kappa Sigma continued to have many defining experiences while attending
the University. “More than anything, we’re about unity,” stated LSA sophomore Dave
Melton. When asked how that unity affected him LSA sophomore James Bratton
declared “Kappa Sigma has made me the man I am today.”
The twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed and the Pentagon was
damaged in terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Kappa Sigma lost six brothers but none
from Alpha-Zeta.
Deaths in 2001 included Past Grand Master Hamilton W. Smith (AZ ’28) of San Juan
Capistrano, California; former basketball player George I. Ruehle (AZ ’39) at age 81 in Pinellas,
Florida; Charles R. Foote (AZ ’48) at age 74 in Groton, Connecticut; Robert Dennis Arno (AZ ’55)
at age 65 in Vero Beach, Florida; and architect James E. Maltby (AZ ’56) in Washington, DC.
Seven pledges from the spring were initiated in September 2001: Michael A. Baldwin of
Grand Blanc; Jonathan R. Byrum of Huntington, New York; Anthony J. Cabanero of Redford,
Michigan; Alexander J. Duchnowski of Saline; Richard A. Mojica of Bogota, Colombia; Jon I.
Monger of Cincinnati; and Daniel J. Terry of Grand Rapids.
The actives’ grade-point average was above the all-men’s average in the fall of 2001.
Eleven pledges from the fall became brothers in March 2002: Leonid Bronshteyn of
Brooklyn, New York; German M. Chaves of Ponce, Puerto Rico; Christopher J. Courbier of
Miami, Florida; Ryan C. Gall of Oxford, Michigan; Oran J. Isaac-Lowry of Lexington, Kentucky;
Rishi Kapoor of Rockville, Maryland; Marc A. Levin of Beverly Hills, California; Justin C. Messer
of Northville, Michigan; Justen Y. Palmer of Sandy, Utah; Vivek Sachidanand of Scarsdale, New
York; and Brian M. Schulz of Long Valley, New Jersey. Four prospective members depledged.
Two more pledges were initiated in April: Michael C. Bryant of Ortonville, Michigan and
Shawn D. Burgdorf of Haslett, Michigan.
The entry in the 2002 Michiganensian follows:
With more than fifty members, the Alpha-Zeta chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity
thrived by promoting a strong social and athletic foundation for their bonds of
brotherhood, following the fraternity’s motto of fellowship, leadership, scholarship, and
service.
With Rush events such as Monday Night Football and beach volleyball, the
chapter showed potential members that Kappa Sigmas took sports seriously. The
chapter aggressively participated in the fraternity league of intramural sports, taking top
honors at the wrestling match and placing second in both flag football and soccer.
Throughout the year, the chapter maintained a ranking in the top three of fraternities
across all IM sports.
The chapter’s house, at 806 Hill Street, was home to more than twenty
members. Social events included Casino Nights and pre-football game parties.
The fraternity was also concerned with philanthropy, participating in Greek
Week as part of Team 9 with Alpha Phi sorority and Theta Chi fraternity. Additionally
Kappa Sigma members promoted My Brother’s Keeper, the fraternity’s national alcohol
awareness and education program aimed at preventing youth addictions.
Patrick Van Hull (AZ 1999) was named Intramural Athlete of the Year. Mike Baldwin
spent the summer as an Advanced Space Academy Counselor at the U.S. Space and Rocket
Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Alpha-Zeta in 2002
Front Row: Bryan Kilbane, Craig Poster, Leonid Bronshteyn, Jeremiah Driansky, Eric Dobkin,
Arrash Fard, Michael Baldwin, Anand Patel, James Bratton, Andrew Lockton. Row #2: Todd
Rosenthal, Jacob, Justen Palmer, Ryan Thomas, German Chaves, Marc Levin, Alexander
Duchnowski, Jakob Buikema, Clark Johnson, Daniel Terry, Christopher Courbier. Back Row:
Anthony Cabanero, Jonathan Byrum, John Doe, Mark Corbin, Brian Schulz, Justin Messer, Vivek
Sachidanand
With Alpha Phi and Theta Chi, Kappa Sigma dressed as cowboys and took third in the
variety show during Greek Week. In the following year, 2003, Kappa Sigma teamed with Delta
Delta Delta sorority and Zeta Beta Tau fraternity to perform a punk version of “Sk8er Boi.”
Dr. Bruno Dattilo (AZ ’51) retired from the Division of Medical Assistance and Health
Service in New Jersey. Dr. Richard Nichols (AZ ’55) retired after thirty years as Chair of
Otolaryngology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He continued to practice in Lakeland, Florida.
Samuel Jones (AZ ’61) won the Chartered Financial Analysts’ Daniel J. Forrestal III
Leadership Award for excellence in ethics. In 2004, he became the Governor of the CFA
Institute. Stephen Reading (AZ ’62) wrote “Don’t Expect ATC to Know Much about Your
Destination” in AVWeb. He was a commercial pilot in Ann Arbor. Herb Jensen (AZ ’65) was
elected Secretary of the Michigan Architectural Foundation. Robert Merchant (AZ ’65) was
appointed to the Board of the City of Calgary. He also served as Vice President of the Alberta
Association of Architects. Mike DiCuirci (AZ ’68) made a recording, Cedarville University Jazz
Band Live (2002), followed by another, Brass and Ivory (2005).
Brad Groom (AZ ’73) co-wrote Wing Chun Wooden Dummy (2002); his wife Laura took
the photographs. Mark Golaszewski (AZ ’74) obtained a patent for a Computer Telephony
Integration Server. Dr. Donn Schroder (AZ ’77) served as President of the Academy of Surgery
for Detroit. Rev. Dave de Vries (AZ ’78) became Senior Pastor and Head of Staff at Christ
Presbyterian Church in Canton, Ohio. Paul Gelhausen (AZ ’79) became Chief Technical Officer
at Air Vehicle Integrated Design (AVID) in Virginia.
Tom Barzyk (AZ ’84) became Principal at BB&E Consulting Engineers. Apu Mody became
Senior Vice President for Consumer Products with Del Monte Foods. Mark Holzhauer moved on
to Jockey International as IT Manager and then Wachovia Securities as Vice President of
Application Development. Dr. Mick Dutcher (AZ ’88) became the Michigan Import-Export
Veterinary Medical Officer with the USDA in East Lansing. In 2003, he became the Michigan
Area Assistant Veterinarian in Charge. Sean Johnson became Manager of Blue Ridge Partners.
Erik Vining became a Black Belt at Bankers Life & Casualty in Chicago. He moved up to Assistant
Vice President for Distribution Operations Support in 2004 and Sales Unit Supervisor in 2005.
David Rosewater became a Partner with Schulte, Roth & Zabel in New York.
Ashok Bhatia (AZ ’90) became a Research Analyst with Strong Advisors. Andrew Fortin
became Vice President and General Counsel for the National Club Association. Monik Sanghvi
(AZ ’90) became Director of Strategic Solutions at AOL. Paul Rzepecki (AZ ’91) was a Finance
Consultant for the University of Michigan. James Wooll (AZ 1993) completed Law School at the
University of Colorado, where he was founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal on
Telecommunications and High Technology Law. He Joined Featherstone Petrie DeSisto in
Denver. Scott Bernstein (AZ 1996) graduated from Law School at New York University. Sean
Crotty (AZ 1996) completed Law School at Rutgers and served as Managing Editor of the
Rutgers Law Journal.
George W. Breslauer (AZ ’63) published Gorbachev and Yeltsin as Leaders (Cambridge
University Press, 2002). He was a Professor of Political Science and Dean of Social Sciences at
the University of California, Berkeley. He also co-edited Russia in the New Century: Stability or
Disorder? (2001).
Rob Lowe (AZ 1993) completed his PhD in Business and Economics at Berkeley. His
dissertation was entitled “Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship: The Commercialization
of University Research by Inventor-founded Firms.” Rob became a Professor of
Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon, CEO of Wellspring Worldwide in Chicago, and CEO of
Pittsburgh Pattern Recognition.
Omar Wang (AZ 1993) worked as Assistant Athletic Trainer at Mercer University in
Macon Georgia and completed an MBA. He became Director of Sports Medicine at the
University of Detroit Mercy. Brad Hendrick (AZ 1994) completed a Law degree and an MBA at
the University of Colorado. Jeff Singer (AZ 1997) became the Assistant Manager of the Vero
Beach Dodgers in Florida. Andrew Smith (AZ 1998) completed Law School at the University of
Detroit Mercy. Patrick Van Hull became a Process Engineer and Planner at Dell. Jake Buikema
started as a Systems Engineer at TRW.
Kappa Sigma named the fraternity’s All-Century
Team in 2002, and it included Ed Slaughter (AZ ’25) at
guard for the 1920-39 era. Slaughter had been AllAmerican in 1923 and 1924, and Grantland Rice had
named him to the All-Time All-American Team in 1953.
A photograph of Slaughter appeared on the cover of
the Caduceus for Fall 2002.
In September 2002, a group of thirty-four
brothers initiated between 1952 and 1958 gathered for
a reunion in Ann Arbor. They enjoyed a barbeque and
watched the Michigan-Notre Dame football game on
television.
The brothers were Lee Allgood (AZ ’52), Dave
Livingston (AZ ’52), Bob Tuck (AZ ’52), Dick Brehm (AZ
’53), Bob Busha (AZ ’53), Tom Clark (AZ ’53),Carl
Constant (Ohio Wesleyan ’53), Bill Diamond (AZ ’53), Denis Harbath (AZ ’53), George Kling (AZ
’53), Bob Porter (AZ ’53), Dave Swanson (AZ ’53), Glen Thomet (AZ ’53), Phil Davis (AZ ’54), Dave
Wheeler (AZ ’54), Ed Bernreuter (AZ ’55), George Davidson (AZ ’55), Jim Isbister (AZ ’55), Tom
Kressbach (AZ ’55), Dave Rorabacher (AZ ’55), Stan Sabik (AZ ’55), Bill Barlow (AZ ’56), Karl Berg
(AZ ’56), Bruce Budde (AZ ’56), John Cowlin (AZ ’56), Bruce McRitchie (AZ ’56), Ray Bernreuter
(AZ ’57), Howard Russell (AZ ’57), Dave Davis (AZ ’57), Skip Eichhorn (AZ ’57), and Wayne Muller
(AZ ’58).
The next issue of the Caduceus, Winter 2003, included an open letter to Kappa Sigma
alumni by F. David Swanson (AZ ’53). Entitled “If you plan it … they will come,” the letter
explained that the reunion had been organized partly in reaction to the death of Denny Arno.
Many brothers of that era were having health problems, and they decided to get together,
though most had not seen each other in fifty years.
Swanson sent notices of the “Unauthorized Kappa Sigma Reunion” in November 2001
and April 2002, but response was slow. In August 2002, he sent another letter threatening that
those who did not respond would have to pledge all over again. Suddenly the brothers started
to answer.
The brothers from the 1950s played golf on Thursday and Friday and attended the pep
rally. They visited the fraternity house on Saturday, and “It was discovered that appearances
had changed but that our personalities and character had remained constant.” There was a
banquet that evening for fifty-four brothers and guests, who sang, told stories about Sherman
Bates, and ate a huge cake with a Kappa Sigma emblem. Swanson encouraged other chapters
to organize similar reunions.
“100 Years Ago,” a regular column in the Caduceus, recalled “the inspiring leadership of
WGM Mark Sands” (AZ 1892).
The actives were once again above the all-men’s average in the fall of 2002, and they
received a certificate for intramural participation from Kappa Sigma. Tom Laughlin was the
Scholarship Chair and the Webmaster.
In December 2002, Alpha-Zeta conducted six pledges through the gates of Kappa Sigma:
Daniel L. Floyd of Grand Rapids; Michael Hwang of Okemos, Michigan; Derek W. Rothhaar of
Midland, Michigan; Adam D. Rubin of Rancho Santa Fe, California; Brandon J. Tironi of Grand
Haven; and Benjamin P. Widseth of Rancho Santa Fe.
Joseph J. Matricia (AZ ’35) died at age 87 in Lawrenceville, Illinois in 2002. Colonel
Robert G. W. Brown (AZ ’39), US Army Reserve (Retired), passed away at age 81 in Ellington,
Connecticut. He had been Commandant of the 1050th US Army Reserve School and after
retirement had worked as an engineer for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft. He had also been a
scoutmaster for twenty-five years. Stacey E. Kortes (AZ ’43), a veteran of the US Army Air
Forces in the Second World War, died at age 78 in Plainwell, Michigan. Daniel A. Wood (AZ ’61)
died at age 60 in Maine. He had been a naval captain in the Vietnam War.
Elected to leadership were GM Ryan Thomas, GP Dan Terry, GMC Justin Messer, GS
Mike Bryant, and GT Tony Cabanero.
In April 2003, Alpha-Zeta initiated five pledges: Michael J. Lasher of Grand Ledge,
Michigan; Nicholas A. Liveris of Midland, Michigan; Aaron S. Russell of Durham, North Carolina;
Jason Z. Velkovski of Rochester Hills, Michigan; and Brian D. Weinbaum of Oak Park, Illinois.
Two prospective members depledged.
The chapter was, however, delinquent in reporting pledges and initiates, and the
Supreme Executive Committee noticed a high number of accounts receivable. The SEC
requested that Alpha-Zeta appear at a meeting in July 2003 with charter and check book in
hand. Alpha-Zeta did not appear.
David A. Testa (Michigan State 1998) and Kaal M. Christiansen (Michigan State 1999)
were appointed Assistant Alumnus Advisors. Testa then became the Alumnus Advisor.
Terry McDonald (AZ ’56) became a Clinical Professor of Dentistry at the Oregon Health
and Science University. In 2004, he won the James E. Brophy Distinguished Service Award from
the American Association of Orthodontists. Terry had been the Chair of the AAO’s Council of
Communications; he had also chaired the Oregon State Board of Dentistry Specialty
Examination in Orthodontics. He was the past President of the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Dental
Society, the Mid-Valley Independent Practice Association, the Oregon State Society of
Orthodontists, the Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, and the Northwest Component of the
Edward H. Angle Society.
Charles Miel (AZ ’57) began to serve his second six-year term as Judge of the Eighth
Circuit in Michigan. He became the Chief Judge and retired in 2008. Terence Pokela (AZ ’59)
started working part-time in the Admissions Office at Michigan. Richard Gilpin (AZ ’60) became
the Compliance Officer at the University of Maryland’s Biotechnology Institute. Edward Roeber
(Ohio Wesleyan ’63) became the Senior Executive Director of the Office of Educational
Assessment with the Michigan Department of Education; he retired in 2007 and became an
adjunct professor at Michigan State. Ray Rigles (AZ ’66) obtained three patents, for a Voltage
Measurement Circuit (2003), a Transfer Curve Tester (2003), and a Balanced Bi-Directional
Current Source (2003). Tom Armstrong won the IOE Outstanding Faculty Award at Michigan.
He was also a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna.
Knowledge of the Bononia Docet must have come in handy. The Pontifical Institute for Foreign
Missions honored Anthony Frabotta (AZ ’69) for twenty-five years of service. Anthony
dedicated a chapel in the name of his father in Manaus, Brazil. Randy Galluzzi (AZ ’69) became
the National Manager of Toyota University near Toronto.
Michael Gantos (AZ ’73) became Vice President of Sales and General Manager of
Professional Services at Lawson Software near San Francisco. Steven Kovac (AZ ’74) was a
Supervisor for Worth Township in Michigan. He earned a Master’s in Theology at Baptist
College of America, closed his family business, and built Gospel Light Baptist Church. Jeff
Richards became Senior Naval Science Instructor Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh,
Kansas.
In the fall of 2003, John Wilson organized the Evelyn Waugh Centenary Conference at
Oxford University in England. Fifty scholars from eleven countries attended.
Sean Robbins completed a Master’s in Project Management at the University of
Maryland. He became a Project Engineer for Alaska Interstate Construction. George Zemlicka
(AZ ’83) completed an assignment as a geologist for Exxon Mobil in Aberdeen, Scotland. Rob
Wesley completed his MBA at Otterbein University and became Senior IT Specialist at IBM.
Steve Cameron (AZ ’86) was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in Manaus, Brazil. Greg Rea became
Senior Engineer at Metzeler Automotive. Tim O’Kronley (AZ ’88) became a Transactional Buyer
for Ford in Dearborn. Dave Derr (AZ ’88) became Regional Gifts in Kind Director at World Vision
in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ryan Schreiber (AZ ’88) became Director of Real Estate at Lerner
New York, a specialty retailer of private-label women’s apparel and accessories. Ryan was living
in Livingston, New Jersey. Dan Cushing (AZ ’88) completed an MBA
at Mercer University in Georgia and became a Partner with Ernst &
Young. Derek Vanderlaan became Art Director at Socrates Media.
Mike Tschirhart (AZ ’88) became Customer Marketing Manager with
Visteon. Rich Cadicamo (AZ ’89) earned a Master’s in Information
Systems Management at Carnegie Mellon. He became Global
Application Sustain Manager at GM. John Wabshall (AZ ’89) became
Senior Chemical Engineer at Eastman Chemical Co. in Franklin,
Dave Derr
Virginia.
David Siegel became Manager of Operations for Moneris Solutions in Chicago. Ryan Vos
(AZ 1993) completed a Master’s in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at Bastyr University. He
purchased White Jade Acupuncture and practices in Freeland, Washington. Matthew Daniels
(AZ 1995) completed his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan. His dissertation
was entitled “Phase, Microstructure, and Chemistry of AlCuFeCr and AlCuFe Quasicrystalline
Wear Coatings Produced via Physical Vapor Deposition.” Michael Crotty (AZ 1997) graduated
from Law School at Villanova; he was Editor-in-Chief of the Villanova Environmental Law
Journal, and he won the Student Advocacy Award from the International Academy of Trial
Lawyers. Adam Dorenter (AZ 1997) became Principal Design Engineer with Verizon Wireless in
Branchburg, New Jersey. Jonathan Malen (AZ 1997) completed a Master’s in Nuclear
Engineering at MIT. Christian Spencer entered Vehicle Program Management at the Nissan
Technical Center of North America; later he went into Vehicle Performance Development. Zach
Abrams started as a Marketing and Merchandising Assistant with Strategic Orient Sourcing. He
later became a Business Development Associate with Classic Ltd and then a Research Assistant
with the Coalition for Clean Air in California. Aaron Saito (AZ 1999) completed a Master’s in
Accounting at Michigan; he became an Assurance Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in
Portland, Oregon. Nihar Singhal became Project Coordinator for the Civic Entertainment
Group. Avram Turkel became Legislative Director for a New York City Councilman.
Ivan Signorelli started as an Assistant Brand Manager for Procter & Gamble in Brazil.
Later he became Brand Manager in Australia and then switched to the same position with
Colgate Palmolive. Tom Laughlin started as a Software Engineer for Catalyst Information
Technologies in Georgia.
Deaths in 2003 included Willis Rumble Jones (AZ ’27) at age 94 in Paducah, Kentucky;
John F. McCune (Vanderbilt ’39) of Pleasant Ridge, Michigan; Edward A. Carter (AZ ’64) of
Raleigh, North Carolina; and James A. Skurka (AZ ’64) at age 58 in Lanark, Illinois.
Casimir F. Sojka (AZ ’39) died at age 86 in New Rochelle, New York. He had served as a
lieutenant, junior grade in the US Navy during the Second World War. He completed law school
at Boston University, specialized as an attorney in immigration, and became Commander of the
American Legion in New York State.
John P. Veen (AZ ’47) of Grand Rapids passed away at age 75. He had been President
and Owner of Klise Manufacturing Co., which specialized in molding and other wood products.
Horace W. Diamond, Jr. (AZ ’53) of Encinitas, California also passed away. He worked for
Morton Salt in Chicago and served as President of the Solution Mining Research Institute.
Stephen Shlanta (AZ ’54) died at age 67 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He had a master’s
in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a doctorate in Physical Pharmacy from Michigan, and he
taught at Oregon State, the University of Texas at Austin, and South Dakota State.
J. Anderson Ashburn (AZ ’37) of Tarrytown, New York passed away at age 84. He served
in the Army during the Second World War and as a captain in the Ordnance Corps during the
Korean War. He worked on McGraw-Hill’s American Machinist magazine for forty-five years,
half of those as editor-in-chief. As a Trustee of the American Precision
Museum, Andy Ashburn started the Machine Tool Hall of Fame. He was a
Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and won its Distinguished
Contributions Award. He served two terms on the National Research Council
and two years as President of the American Society of Magazine Editors. He
won American Business Press Neal Awards for articles and editorials.
Andy Ashburn, 1940
Nine pledges from the fall made their way through the gates in January 2004: Eric M.
Boujo of Valley Village, California; Richard R. Capote of East Amherst, New York; Andrew S.
Kligier of Santa Monica, California; Matthew D. Kogan of Solon, Ohio; Benjamin D. Lazarus of
Tampa, Florida; William J. Montague and John W. Nanry, both of Beverly Hills, Michigan;
Christopher J. Negrelli of Solon; and Gregory D. Ross of New York City. Five prospective
members depledged.
Brian Schulz presided as GM, with GP Adam Rubin, GMC Jason Velkovski, GS Marc Levin,
and GT Jonathan Byrum.
Matt Stockton was inducted into Eta Kappa Nu (Electrical and Computer Engineering).
Jordan Wyatt was Creative Director of Consider Magazine. Sasha Duchnowski was on the
Michigan Men’s Rowing Team and in Delta Sigma Pi (Business).
In April 2004, the actives participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
During Greek Week, Alpha-Zeta teamed with the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma and walked
for twenty-four hours to raise funds for cancer research.
Times had obviously changed: there were only half as many fraternities on campus as
there used to be, and Greek societies were expected to justify themselves through
philanthropy. That word was hardly mentioned in the first ninety years of Alpha-Zeta.
Three more pledges became brothers in April: Geoffrey A. Easton of Alpena; John C.
Eggleston of Glen Ridge, New Jersey; and Jason A. Rhode-McGauley of Chapel Hill, North
Carolina. One prospective member depledged.
David Testa became Assistant DGM for Brothers in Action and Ritual; Kevin A. Smith
(Michigan State 1998) became ADGM for the Champion Quest. Jeremy R. Potts (Tulane 1997)
was appointed Assistant AA for the GP at Alpha-Zeta. Testa became the DGM later in 2004.
In the Caduceus for Fall/Winter 2004, Adam Rubin and Matthew Kogan were both
recognized as Champions of Recruitment. Each brother had recruited five pledges in one
semester. Rubin and Kogan were again recognized as Champions of Recruitment in the
Caduceus for Summer 2005.
H. Howard Stephenson (AZ ’47) purchased the Alpha-Zeta plaque for the Chapter Room
in Kappa Sigma’s new International Headquarters. Leslie H. Cox (AZ ’47) was recognized as a
donor to Kappa Sigma’s Renaissance Campaign.
James A. McCullough (AZ ’53) attended the 50th reunion of the Clinton (Iowa) High
School Class of 1952. Four other graduates in the same class also became Kappa Sigmas, and
three attended the reunion. McCullough’s father, William A. McCullough (BP ’21), was a Kappa
Sigma at the University of Iowa.
Claude Hulet (AZ ’40) remained active. He was the subject of an article in the UCLA
newsletter, “Claude Hulet: Plotting
the Course of the Great Worlds
Explorers,” and an article in the Los
Angeles Times, “An Acute Case of
‘Topophilia,’” both in 2004.
Tradicões Portuguesas: Portuguese
Traditions in Honor of Claude L.
Hulet was published in 2006. In
2007, Hulet gave the Fourth
Rebecca Catz Memorial Lecture at
UCLA: “Presumable West African
Routes Created by the Portuguese Explorers, including Vasco da Gama.”
Thomas B. Case (AZ ’51) was a Volunteer Consultant with the Executive Service Corps of
Chicago. In 2004, he won the Hall of Fame Award for having donated 1500 hours. Ray Peterson
(AZ ’53) had a farm in Chester, South Carolina. Stephen Staich (AZ ’61) was an engineer with
Northrop Grumman Space Technology in California. He presented at the American
Astronautical Society’s Rocky Mountain Guidance and Control Conference in Breckinridge,
Colorado in 2006. Joel Grover (AZ ’65) obtained a patent for Dot Application Scheduling in
Inkjet Printers (2004). John Whitehead (AZ ’69) became a Project Engineer for Affiliated
Engineers in Gainesville, Florida.
Ed Farrell (AZ ’81) started working as a Coach for the Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest.
Ken Knister (AZ ’83) obtained a patent for the Manufacture of Floor Panels. In 2005, he became
the Director of Operation Strategy, Product Complexity Reduction, at Steelcase in Grand Rapids.
In 2007, he became the Director of Corporate Strategy Projects. Ed Lutz (AZ ’85) became
Engineering Design Manager at Visteon. Rich Reich completed a Master’s in Environmental
Management at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Trent Tappe was an Associate at Shearman
& Sterling in New York, but he left to join Warner Music. Bill Jue (AZ ’86) became Sales
Manager for Hayes Lemmerz International. Greg Maki (AZ ’86) became Principal of his own
company in Fenton, Michigan. John Hajel (AZ ’86) earned an MBA at San Francisco State and
became Sales Applications Manager at Trilliant Networks. Parag Mody became Manager of the
Landmine Detection Project for Benetech. Greg Rea was Senior Product Engineer at JYCO
Sealing Technologies, where he later became Product Engineering Manager and Laboratory
Manager. Dr. Mick Dutcher became the USDA’s Bovine Tuberculosis Program Manager in
Riverdale, Maryland. George Kallander was an Adjunct Instructor at Queens College in New
York. Ryan Schreiber became Vice President and General Counsel at New York & Co. Sean
Johnson became Vice President of Corporate Finance at Ritz-Carlton in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Todd Pearce became Controller for Continental Tire in the Americas in Charlotte, North
Carolina. Michael Corbett (AZ ’90) became Regional Vice President for USAllianz Investor
Services. Monik Sanghvi became Senior Vice President for Strategy and Analysis at Digitas. He
had earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. Andrew Hwang completed his MBA at the
University of California, Irvine, and became Import Sales Manager for the Western Region for
CP Ships. Brandon Riordan (AZ 1992) was an Internal Audit Intern for Ford in Brazil. Jason
Pitcole (AZ 1992) became a Marketing Manager for BASF. Jake Kobrick (AZ 1992) completed a
Master’s in US History at Villanova. Stephen Busch (AZ 1995) was an engineer in Grand Rapids.
Ethan Schafer completed his PhD in Child Clinical Psychology at Case Western Reserve. His
dissertation was entitled “Use of a Pretend Play Intervention for Anxious Children Undergoing
Outpatient Surgery.” Nick Garcia became the Account Director for NRS Media in Atlanta.
John Augustin (AZ 1996) became a Business Analyst and Project Leader with ACE
Resource Solutions in Atlanta, then returned to Bank of America as a Technical Project
Consultant. Later he became a Data Analyst, a Group Operations Manager, and a Workplace
Planner in Charlotte, North Carolina. Alan Hanash (AZ 1996) completed his MD and PhD at the
University of Miami in Florida. His dissertation was entitled “Facilitation of Allogeneic
Hematopoietic Engraftment by Donor CD4 + CD25 + T Cells.” Adam Pence earned a Master’s in
English at Indiana University. Steven Porentas (AZ 1997) became an English teacher at Bear
Creek High School in Lakewood, Colorado. Jeff Singer was appointed Director of the Youth
National Team for USA Baseball. Doug Hoye (AZ 1998) graduated from Medical School at
Wayne State. Andrew Waldman (AZ 1999) became a Human Metrics Analyst for Goldman
Sachs. He completed a Master’s in Organizational and Social Psychology at Columbia and
became Manager of Human Capital at Deloitte. He played lead guitar for the Deloitte Rock ’n’
Roll Band and performed around the country at corporate functions. Andrew also published an
essay in the Journal of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
Jake Buikema became a Manufacturing Engineer for Denso, then an Engineering
Consultant for Ford in Livonia, and then entered the Operations leadership Development
Program at Lockheed Martin. Bryan Kilbane started as a Marketing Analyst for Cardinal Health;
he moved up to Associate Marketing Manager, Project Manager, and Research Sales Specialist.
Mark Outslay completed a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at Michigan and became a
Manager at Accenture. He co-authored articles in Biomaterials and the Journal of Material
Resources. Craig Poster co-authored articles in the Car Crash Journal, the Annual Proceedings
of the Association of Advanced Automotive Medicine, and the Journal of Trauma. Eric Dobkin
started as a Software Engineer for ADVICS North America. Jeremiah Drianksy started as a Test
Engineer for Good Housekeeping. Jordan Wyatt started as a Project Architect for Baxt Ingui in
New York. Ryan Thomas started as an Internal Consultant for ACL Acquisition Corporation in
Chicago; later he became a Sales Representative with Philips. Jon Byrum started as an
Associate Product Manager for Microsoft, then became a Product Manager and went into
Product Strategy. Jacob Isaac-Lowry started as a Senior Product Development Manager at
Buggies Unlimited.
Deaths in 2004 included Robert F. Bacher (AZ ’23), the distinguished physicist, at age 99
in Montecito, California; John H. Morrison (AZ ’43) of Advance, North Carolina; and Robert J.
Porter, CPA (AZ ’53) of Glen Arbor, Michigan.
John A. Barbour (AZ ’47) died at age 75 in Del Mar, California. He was nominated for the
Pulitzer Prize, and he wrote narratives for documentary films.
William J. Cowlin (AZ ’50) died at age 72 in Crystal Lake, Illinois. He served in the U.S.
Army and worked as a State’s Attorney and a banker.
George Kircos (AZ ’53) also died at age 70 in Bloomfield Hills. He served as a captain in
the US Air Force, and he worked as an attorney for Ford Motor Co. and as a professor at the
University of Detroit Mercy School of Law.
Brien R. Winkley (AZ ’41) of Vicksburg, Mississippi passed away at age 75. He was the
Chief of the Potomology Section for the US Corps of Engineering, and he wrote numerous
reports: Influence of Geology on the Regimen of a River (1970), River Regulation with the Aid of
Nature (1972), A River Basin’s Response to Man’s Activities (1972), Metamorphosis of a River: A
Comparison of the Mississippi River Before and After Cutoffs (1973), Preliminary Investigation of
the Effects of Gravel Mining in the Mississippi River (1973), River Morphology, River Engineering
and Potomology (1976), Man-made Cutoffs on the Lower Mississippi River: Conception,
Construction and River Response (1977), and River Training through Geometric Alignment
(1981). He also wrote Our Ancestral History: A Genealogy of the Winkley Family (1992), cowrote Rivers as Dynamic Systems: ASCE Task Committee Report (1972), and co-edited The
Variability of Large Alluvial Rivers (1994).
Kappa Sigma had record numbers of pledges and initiates in 2004 and 2005, surpassing
previous highs in the late 1980s. In 2005, Kappa Sigma had more than 11,500 actives, and there
were 239 chapters and colonies.
Ten pledges from the fall were initiated in January 2005: Brandon R. Barnett of Ann
Arbor; Andrew J. Geye of Aurora, Illinois; Christopher M. Kline (X) of Lambertville, Michigan;
Vijay C. Krishna of Brentwood, Tennessee; Joshua P. Nussbaum (X) of Oak Park, Illinois; John P.
Powers of Solon, Ohio; Jeffrey H. Robbins of San Diego; Jamie R. Schefman of Bloomfield Hills;
Jack C. Stewart of Caldwell, New Jersey; and Christopher M. Ting of Lexington, Massachusetts.
Kline and Nussbaum were later expelled; Kline became an engineer with BP.
Jack Warren (AZ ’66) once again became Alumnus Advisor. Eric M. Leung (Michigan
State 2000) was appointed ADGM for Volunteer Development.
In February, the SEC noted that Alpha-Zeta had failed to comply with the 60-Day
Program Policy. They fined the chapter $2500 and sent a letter of warning. Alpha-Zeta asked
that the fine be waived, but the SEC denied the appeal in March.
Four more pledges came through the gates in April: Gregory M. Benedict of Ottawa
Lake, Michigan; Patrick T. Gubry of Canton, Michigan; Daniel R. Hohs of Mundelein, Illinois; and
Daniel J. Stockwell of Frankenmuth. One prospective member depledged.
The officers were GM Adam Rubin, GP Brian Weinbaum, GMC Mike Lasher, GS Eric
Boujo, and GT Jason Velkovski. Ben Widseth was the Philanthropy Chair. Andrew Kligier served
as Social Chair, Rush Chair, and Historian. He spent the 2005-06 school year abroad at Griffith
University in Australia.
The fall pledge class consisted of eleven men initiated in November 2005: Brian K.
Aldrich of Ann Arbor; Adam P. Beachnau of Dewitt, Michigan; Kevin M. Hughes of Novi; Michael
A. Jones of Oxford, Michigan; Benjamin D. Megargel of Weston, Massachusetts; David R. Nelson
of Kenilworth, Illinois; Charles K. Ortmann of Glen Ellyn, Illinois; Thomas A. Peter of Oxford;
Kevin P. Schmidt (X) of Ann Arbor; Patrick T. Sheehan (Brother #1400) of Samaria, Michigan;
and Alex M. Was of Ann Arbor. Schmidt was later expelled. One prospective member
depledged.
Robert Van Norstrand (AZ ’43) wrote Reaching the Unreachable: Devotions for
Alzheimer’s Patients and their Caregivers (2005). Thomas Kressbach won the John M.
Patriarche Distinguished Service Award from the Michigan Local Government Management
Association. Karl Berg (AZ ’56) was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in Denver,
and he chaired the Award Committee for Firm of the Year. Jack Houck (AZ ’57) retired as a
systems engineer after forty-two years at Boeing. Tom Armstrong won the College of
Engineering Research Excellence Award at Michigan.
Michael Simonian (AZ ’69) continued to publish in the Journal of Biomolecular
Techniques and Proteome Science. He also contributed to Current Protocols on four different
subjects: Protein Science, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Toxicology. He was a Senior Staff
Scientist at Beckman Coulter in California.
Dick Kipley (AZ ’76) became Vice President for Human Resources at WorldatWork in
Scottsdale, Arizona. Dan Kageff (AZ ’77) became Technical Specialist for Embedded Software
Architecture at Takata.
Sean Robbins became Project Controller with NANA Worley Parsons in Alaska. Mark
Davis (AZ ’83) became General Manager of the Shanghai Division at Methode Electronics. Steve
Cameron published “Conservation Units: A New Deforestation Frontier in the Amazonian State
of Rondônia, Brazil” in Environmental Conservation. Jeremy Wise (AZ ’87) became a Forecasting
and Business Analyst with the Shaklee Corporation. Jon Munger (AZ ’87) was a Senior Partner
with Kemp, Klein, Umphrey, Endelman & May in Troy, but he left to establish Munger &
Associates in Clarkston. Bill Boettcher (AZ ’88) published Presidential Risk Behavior in Foreign
Policy: Prudence or Peril? (2005). He was promoted to Associate Professor at North Carolina
State, where he had won an award as an Outstanding Teacher in 2002. Curt Schroeder (AZ ’88)
became a Plant Manager for Honeywell in Torrance, California. Tim O’Kronley became a
Sourcing Leader for GE Healthcare in Cleveland. Chris Kitchen became Regional Transportation
Manager for Miller Brewing. Mike Tschirhart became Product Marketing Manager and then R
& D Manager at Visteon. Will Thompson (AZ ’89) became Plant Controller for the Orange
County Container Group in California.
Dr. Jonathan Becker (AZ ’90) joined the faculty at the University of Louisville’s School of
Medicine. Jason Springel became a Curriculum Account Executive with Pearson and then a
National Strategic Solutions Engineer. Marc Tamres (AZ ’90) went into Product Management
and Vertical Marketing at Tellme Networks. Paul Meyer joined the law firm of O’Melveny &
Myers in San Francisco. Andrew Hwang became Assistant Sales Manager for Hyundai Merchant
Marine and then Vice President and Managing Partner of Genius Tools in California. Paul
Rzepecki became a Financial Specialist at the University of Michigan. Brandon Riordan
completed an MBA and a Law degree at the University of South Carolina and became an
Internal Audit Supervisor at Ford. David Nightingale completed Law School at DePaul
University, where he was President of the Student Body and Social Chairman. He also worked
on the DePaul Business and Commercial Law Journal, and he became Founder and Editor-inChief of Maize n Brew, a blog devoted to U of M sports. Joshua Schleman completed an MBA at
the University of Texas, including an exchange at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
He became a Senior Fund Accountant and Client Service Specialist with Spectrum Global Fund
Administration and then a Senior Analyst with Bank of America. Michael Krautner completed
Law School at Michigan. Jonathan O’Day became Project Manager of US operations for A3
Integration. Matt Chaiken (AZ 1998) completed Law School at Suffolk University in Boston and
went to work in Compliance for John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance. Patrick Van Hull became a
commercial real-estate broker; later he worked as an Acquisitions Analyst for Argus Realty
Investors and then as a Production Planner for Rio Tinto Minerals.
Mike Brauman started as Managing and Product Director at Strategy Mobile in New
York City. Mike Baldwin completed a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech; he
became a Systems Engineer and then a Project Engineer at Lockheed Martin. He also earned a
Master’s in Systems Engineering at Cornell. Tony Cabanero started as a Senior Analyst at
Cerner Corporation. Leonid Bronshteyn started as a Technical Director at Overseas Media in
New York City and later became a Non-Linear Editor. Christopher Courbier started as an
Analyst at Merrill Lynch; he later became an Associate at Lazard. Justin Messer started as a
Trader for Quicken Loans. Justen Palmer started as Director of Operations for It Factor, then
Webmaster at Riviera Broadcast Group, President and CTO at Webceleb, and Instructor at Platt
College in San Diego. Vivek Sachidanand started as a Research Analyst for Great Point Capital,
then a Credit Analyst for CIFC.
Deaths reported in 2005 included Jack R. Merrill (AZ ’34) at age 90 in Saginaw; Eugene C.
Caldwell, Jr. (Hampden-Sydney ’35) at age 88 in Richmond, Virginia; Earl D. Bennett (Louisiana
Tech ’49) at age 81 in College Station, Texas; and William D. Heath (AZ ’50) at age 75 in Banning,
California. Arthur D. Foley (AZ ’40) died at age 85 in Washington, DC; he had worked for the US
State Department. Stanley J. Sabik (AZ ’55) passed away at age 68 in Largo, Florida.
Hugh L. Baker (AZ ’30) of Decatur, Illinois passed away. He worked in sales, engineering,
and product development for Mueller Co., and in 1977 he won the Sertoma Club’s Service to
Mankind Award.
Robert Eckelberger (AZ ’34) died at age 87 in Johnson City, New York. He served as a
Special Agent in the FBI during World War II and then practiced as an attorney. He was a past
President of the Broome County Bar Association, President of the Johnson City Rotary Club, and
a Justice of the Peace.
Judd G. Vear (Purdue ’42) died at age 82 in Moraga, California. He flew P-51 fighters in
Europe during the Second World War. Jerome F. Parenteau (AZ ‘43) passed away at age 81 in
Olathe, Kansas. He was a veteran of the US Army Air Forces in Asia during the Second World
War and an executive for thirty-three years with ConChemCo and Valspar.
In the spring of 2006, the pledge class numbered seven, and they were initiated in April:
Michael A. Haigh of Howell, Michigan; Kenneth J. Kokko of West Bloomfield; Stephen J. Oldham
of Livonia; Gregory A. Rozen of Lincolnshire, Illinois; Nicholas J. Rubis of Venetia, Pennsylvania;
and Eric A. Sorenson and Justin D. Yaroni, both of Ann Arbor.
John Powers led the chapter as GM, supported by GP Jeff Robbins, GMC Greg Ross, GS
Brandon Barnett, and GT Dan Stockwell. Thomas Peter served as Philanthropy Chair.
Brandon Riordan (AZ 1992) and Sean Crotty were appointed Assistant Alumnus Advisors,
Riordan for the GT, Crotty for the GMC. Adam J. Merillat (Tulsa 2002) became ADGM for
Brothers in Action and Ritual.
Several brothers entered the Chapter Celestial in 2006. William Pritula (AZ ’42) died at
age 83 in Ann Arbor. He served as an engineer in the US Army Air Forces in the Philippines
during the Second World War and returned to start on the undefeated 1947 Michigan football
team. He worked as an engineer for General Motors and earned a Master’s degree from
Michigan in 1967.
Robert Mettler (AZ ’47), age 81, of Bradenton, Florida and Steve A. Crist (formerly
Niblock, AZ ‘60) of Glenview, Illinois also passed away.
Bruce R. Paxton died in March 2006. His obituary appeared in the Caduceus for Summer
2006 and the Alpha Zetalum for Fall 2006:
Bruce Paxton was initiated into the Alpha-Zeta Chapter in 1947. He served as an
inspiration to the chapter and the Housing Corporation for nearly sixty years.
Brother Paxton earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at
the University of Michigan and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering at Wayne
State University. He served in the United States Army in the 179 th Regimental Combat
Team during the Korean conflict. He narrowly missed serious injury when a mortar shell
landed near his position.
Bruce became Supervisor of Plant Engineering at the General Motors Fleetwood
Assembly Plant. In 1963, he joined the Hoover Ball and Bearing Company, where he was
ultimately elected CEO and President as the company was renamed NSK Bearing. After
retiring in 1986, Bruce remained active as a consultant.
Bruce was also appointed Executive-in-Residence at the College of Business at
Eastern Michigan University. Bruce served on the Board of Directors of Junior
Achievement of Southeastern Michigan and the Development Council of St. Joseph
Mercy Hospital. In Saline, he served as a trustee on the Board of Education. He helped
to start and became the first President of the Foundation of Saline Area Schools, a
nonprofit that annually awards grants for innovative projects in classrooms.
Bruce was married to Edith “Bonnie” Bonfardin for 44 years. Bruce and Bonnie
had three children, Reid, Craig, and Krista, and two grandchildren.
Brother Paxton was a trustee of the Alpha-Zeta Housing Corporation and served
the fraternity by organizing numerous alumni activities. He was Chairman of Alpha-Zeta
Centennial Celebration in 1992.
Eric Boujo, Matthew Kogan, and Adam Rubin won $500 Scholarship-Leadership Awards
from Kappa Sigma. Five brothers built a retaining wall along Hill Street. The Alpha-Zeta Club
had the first floor refinished, the walls painted, and the sidewalk replaced to meet the city’s
code. In intramural sports, Alpha-Zeta did well in basketball and mini-soccer and finished
seventh out of thirty-one fraternities in overall standings for the 2005-06 year. Brian Aldrich
coached at Clague Middle School in Ann Arbor.
In the fall of 2006, the chapter recruited ten pledges and initiated them in December:
Alexander F. Barnett of Grosse Pointe Farms; Adam E. DeSantis of Troy, Michigan; Daniel H.
Freeman of Ann Arbor; Brian N. Lerner of Winter Haven, Florida; Jeffrey R. May (R) of Omaha,
Nebraska; Nathaniel W. Morton of East Lansing; Donald E. Parpart of
Howell, Michigan; Robert W. Weishar of Highland, Indiana; Matthew
C. Yarber of Howell; and Sean N. Zelda (X) of Troy. May later
resigned and became a concert promoter in Ann Arbor. Zelda was
expelled.
In the Alpha Zetalum for Fall 2006, George Breslauer
appealed for generous donations to the chapter to repair the house.
He had become the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the
University of California, Berkeley.
The Alpha-Zeta Club elected new
officers: President Stephen Siddall (AZ ’78), Vice
President Don Swancutt (AZ ’48), Treasurer
Tom Schafer (AZ ’88), and Secretary and
Alumnus Advisor Jack Warren. The trustees
were Bill Moilanen (AZ ’69), Piet Lindhout (AZ
’78), Brandon Riordan, and Sasha Duchnowski.
Twenty-eight alumni contributed $2625 to
support the chapter in 2005-06.
George Breslauer
Alpha-Zeta Club, 2005: Don Swancutt, Steve Siddall,
Tom Schafer, Bill Moilanen, Jack Warren
Among the alumni of the 1940s, LeRoy A. Engelhardt (AZ ’42) was retired in Wisconsin
Rapids, and Howard Stephenson had retired as CEO of the Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu. Leslie
Cox was also retired but still active in the Boy Scouts and his church in Great Neck, New York.
William Harrison (AZ ’47) was a retired doctor in Chickasha, Oklahoma and served on the board
of the local hospital. Don Swancutt had retired in 1989 but was still active in volunteer
organizations in Dearborn.
Alumni of the 1950s included John (Jack) Ray (AZ ’50), who had retired from Standard
Federal Bank in 1996. He spent summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and winters in Florida, and
he was active in the Salvation Army, the Detroit Advisory Board, the Kiwanis Club, the
Birmingham Senior Men’s Club, and the Economic Club of Detroit. Frank Swanson (AZ ’53)
started Full Flower Foods. John H. Moore (AZ ’54) was the Chairman of the American Council
on Science and Health. Edward M. Bernreuter was still using U of M stationery in San Antonio,
Texas. H. Howard Russell was the Public Works Director for the Association of Poinciana
Villages in Florida. He had been elected to life membership in the Florida Association of County
Engineers Superintendents. Walter (Skip) Eichhorn had retired from General Motors but still
worked as a realtor with Century.
Don Hurst, Alumni Cheerleader
Don Hurst (AZ ’52) earned a Diploma and Gold Medallion as a Worldloppet Gold Master
for having completed ten cross-country ski marathons around the world. Don had developed
asthma in his fifties, but he completed five more marathons.
Richard C. Marsh (AZ ’62) was a retired attorney who had missed only three football
games in forty-four years. Robert Cox (AZ ’63) had retired in 2004 after thirty-eight years with
Deloitte & Touche. Bill Moilanen was a dentist. Alan Peterman (AZ ’69) was a litigation partner
in a law firm in Syracuse, New York.
Gary Brumo (AZ ’63) and Russell W. Blake (AZ ’64) planned a reunion for brothers from
the 1960s in the fall of 2006. Blake had majored in Civil Engineering and had earned an MBA
from Western Michigan University. Since 1975, he had been City Manager of Pocomoke City,
Maryland. The Governor had appointed him to the Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas Commission
in the 1980s, and he had served for ten years. He had been honored as Local City Manager of
the Year in Maryland, and the City Managers Association chose him for professional exchanges
with England and New Zealand. He was serving as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the
Community College in Salisbury, Maryland.
Pete LaFond (AZ ’63) continued to receive patents while working at Honeywell: Quartz
Tuning-Fork Resonators (2006), Low Vibration Rectification in a Closed Loop (2006), two for
High-Performance MEMS Packaging Architecture (2006 and 2007), MEMS Performance
Improvement (2007), Mechanical Isolation for MEMS Devices (2007), two for Z Offset MEMS
Devices (2007 and 2009), two for MEMS Vertical Comb Drives (2007 and 2008), and a Wafer
Level Packaged MEMS Device (2009).
Walt Sandrowicz (AZ ’73) was an IT Auditor for Accretive Solutions. John Bielawski (AZ
’76) became Analog IC Design Consultant and Faculty Member at Silicon Valley Polytechnic
Institute in San Jose. In 2007, he became Design Consultant for Layout Services and Training at
Noel Technologies in Campbell, California. Phil Holm (AZ ’76) was a high-school counselor, and
Piet Lindhout directed Lindhout Associates Architects in Brighton, Michigan. Jeff Richards
completed his Doctorate in Education at the University of Kansas. Mike Benore (AZ ’79)
became Managing Director with Deloitte Consulting. Clay Harrell worked as a Campaign
Consultant and Lead Organizer for the California Democratic Party in San Francisco.
Joe Goode (AZ ’80) joined the faculty of the Nurse Anesthesia Program at the University
of Pittsburgh and immediately became the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists’
Outstanding Didactic Instructor of the Year. He was PANA’s Clinician of the Year in 2004. Eric
Gutt (AZ ’80) worked with his blood brother Ron Gutt (AZ ’81) at Beacon Builders in North
Carolina. Bill Gioutsos (AZ ’84) became Plant Controller at Collins & Aikman; he assumed the
same position with Magna in 2007. Ed Lutz became Supplier Development Engineering
Manager with Automotive Components Holding. Todd Tappe (AZ ’85) was a legal office
manager for soldiers in Kuwait; he later deployed to Afghanistan to uphold legal rights of
terrorists in detention reviews. Rob Wesley became Software Engineering Consultant and
Owner at BlueGear Software Services. Chip Lin was a Sales Finance Analyst with Google. John
Romig (AZ ’86) started Troy Puzzles. Steve Cameron became an
Instructor at Lansing Community College. Parag Mody became the Chief
Technical Officer for Green Wifi and later the Director of Engineering at
Green Plug. George Kallander completed his PhD at Columbia and was
appointed Assistant Professor of Modern East Asian History at Syracuse.
Joe Kory (AZ ’88) became General Operations Manager at PACCAR Inc.
Glenn Klecker (AZ ’88) became Senior Design Engineer for DCI
International. Tim O’Kronley became Strategic Sourcing Manager at
George Kallander
Gamesa near Philadelphia. Derek Vanderlaan became Art Director for Hildebrand Creative
Group in Chicago. Mike Tschirhart completed his PhD in Cognitive Psychology at Michigan. His
dissertation was entitled “The Effects of Cue Inconsistency in Quantity Judgment.” Mark Sims
(AZ ’89) became the Principal at Brulant. Tom Dawson (AZ ’89) earned an MBA at the
University of Washington and became a Marketing Manager with Microsoft. John Wabshall
remained Senior Chemical Engineer at Eastman but moved to Columbia, South Carolina. He
became Principal Chemical Engineer in 2007.
Andrew Fortin became Vice President for Government and Public Affairs with the
Community Associations Institute. Tong Kim (AZ 1993) had completed his MBA at Michigan
State University and had become Platform Manager for TRW Occupational Safety Systems in
Michigan. Omar Wang became Business Analyst and Consultant for ERP Visions in Oak Park,
Illinois. Marshall Brown (AZ 1994) had been promoted to Senior Counsel at Foley & Lardner in
Chicago. Dr. Peter Jost was an emergency-room physician in Scripps Hospital in San Diego.
Neal Sharma (AZ 1995) was a teacher in Westfield, New Jersey. Mike Huff managed Fixed
Income Structured Products and Derivatives for Principal Global Investors. Nihar Singhal
completed a Master’s in Sports Business, Finance and Development at NYU; he became an
Analyst for Inner Circle Sports and then went into Leveraged Finance with Barclays Capital.
Later he became an Associate with Roundtable Partners. Sasha Duchnowski was an Associate
Consultant at Bain & Co. in Chicago. Brian Schulz started as an Associate at CB Richard Ellis in
New York and New Jersey; later he joined the Investment Properties Institutional Group in New
York.
Jeremiah Driansky became a Risk Analyst for First Financial Funding & Investment
Corporation in New York, then a Senior Risk Analyst and an Assistant Manager. Matt Stockton
became a Software Security Engineer for GE Healthcare and then Senior Software Engineer for
Stark Investments in Milwaukee. Derek Rothhaar became an Account Manager at Dow
Chemical in Houston. Adam Rubin started as a Research Associate at Brandes Investment
Partners. Ben Widseth started as an Assistant Account Executive with Team Detroit; he later
became an Account Executive with Leo Burnett. Nick Liveris started as an Analyst in Public
Finance at Merrill Lynch, then became an Analyst in Investment Banking. Brian Weinbaum
started as a Project Engineer for Walsh Construction on projects in Florida, Illinois, and Indiana.
He later became an Assistant Project Manager in Los Angeles.
Alpha-Zeta had forty-five brothers, and seventeen were living in the house. The actives
again participated in the Relay for Life and raised $2000 for the American Cancer Society.
The Alpha-Zeta Club made a request to be included in Kappa Sigma’s liability insurance
program. In November 2006, the SEC denied the request, since the club was not recognized as
a housing corporation.
In the winter of 2007, Adam Beachnau took over as GM. Other officers included GP
Thomas Peter, GMC Andrew Geye, GS Kevin Hughes, and GT Justin Yaroni. The Social Chair was
Jeff May (R), with Intramural Sports Chair Kevin Hughes, and Rush Chairs Alex Barnett and Kyle
Ortmann. Beachnau, Peter, Benjamin Lazarus, and Christopher Ting all won Kappa Sigma
Scholars Awards for maintaining grade-point averages above 3.50.
Adam Merillat became the new DGM, and Bill Moilanen was appointed AAA for the GT
of Alpha-Zeta.
The chapter planned to team up with their old rivals, Pi Lambda Phi, to organize
“Winterfest,” an all-Greek competition. Brothers raised more than $2500 for the American
Cancer Society through Relay for Life, and they participated in Dance Marathon to raise money
for children’s hospitals. Alpha-Zeta finished second in three events during Greek Week and
sixth overall. Actives also painted the house, installed new locks, and repaired a door.
In February 2007, for the first time in several years, Alpha-Zeta celebrated Founders’
Day. It was the 115th anniversary of the chapter. Brothers gathered for dinner at the Michigan
League and adjourned to Crisler Arena to see Michigan play Minnesota in basketball.
On March 31, 2007, brothers from Alpha-Zeta participated in the installation of the
Omicron-Rho Chapter at the University of Michigan-Flint.
Two pledges were initiated in April: William P. Stone of Reston, Virginia and Jeremiah J.
Walton of Chelsea, Michigan. Three prospective members depledged.
In intramural sports in 2006-07, Alpha-Zeta won championships in broomball and minisoccer and finished eighth out of thirty-one fraternities in the overall standings.
In scholarship, Alpha-Zeta had a grade-point average of 2.91 in the winter of 2007. With
grade inflation, however, the chapter finished twenty-second out of twenty-eight fraternities.
George Breslauer’s appeal had an effect in 2006-07, as sixty-one alumni contributed
$7724, a ten-year high.
Alumni from the 1940s included William Retallick, who was retired in West Chester,
Pennsylvania but still consulted on the Plant Design Course at Penn. Dick Allen (AZ ’47) owned
Allen Tenant Services in Phoenix; he had worked for the well-known developer David Murdock.
Leslie Cox had won the God and Service Award from the Boy Scouts and his church. Charles W.
(Bill) Norman (AZ ’48) had retired as a City Manager, and he lived in the Upper Peninsula but
wintered in Florida. John Piazza (AZ ’49) had been home-schooling his fifteen-year-old
grandson, and Anthony R. Palermo (AZ ’49) was a lawyer in Rochester, New York. He
represented senior lawyers in the ABA House of Delegates.
Among brothers from the 1950s, R. Jackson Kinnel (AZ ’51), a lawyer, was recognized for
having served twelve years on the Planning and Zoning Commission in Park Ridge, Illinois.
Robert G. Busha (AZ ’53) in Ohio and Wayne Muller (AZ ’57) in Grand Rapids were both retired,
and Howard Russell planned to retire in Florida in 2008. Fred DeHaven (AZ ’58) retired after
thirty-two years as Music Director of Christ Church in Grosse Pointe. He became Director of the
Oakland Choral Society and Adjunct Professor of Music at Oakland University. Ralph Kleinedler
(AZ ’59) had also retired in Michigan. John Wilhelm (AZ ’59) represented several children’s
book publishers, chaired the Scholarship Committee of the Atlanta Alumni Club, traveled with
Friendship Force, and played USTA senior tennis.
Rudy Seichter (AZ ’60) had retired but still consulted with a software company and
raised funds for a Catholic school in Michigan. Jim King (AZ ’60) had become the Regional
Director of Marketing at Boeing in Washington State. Charles Kelly (AZ ’61) owned Howland
Research in Ann Arbor. T. Mark Healy (AZ ’61) had a dental practice and a log home on Mullet
Lake, and he loved listening to Dick Marsh bellyache at Michigan games. Martin Herbenar (AZ
’66) was elected to the Boards of the Northeast Florida Chapter of the National Association of
Industrial and Office Properties and the Jacksonville Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects. Jack Warren was semi-retired but still consulting and supporting events for
Chrysler. Peter Burkey (AZ ’67) had retired from high-school teaching after thirty-three years
and had started teaching astronomy at Hope College and volunteering for Habitat for
Humanity. Glen Bowler (AZ ’67) headed Altaquip Co. in Ohio. F. Ray Shaver (AZ ’68) had retired
from Chrysler Engineering in 1968 and assisted the chapter in the quest for new furniture.
Gregory Drutchas (AZ ’68) was an attorney in Bloomfield Hills, Phil Stroebel (AZ ’68) was part of
a cardiology group in Connecticut, and Donald Lambert (AZ ’69) was a tax accountant in Florida.
Robert Tamosaitis (Widener ‘69) was an entrepreneur in laser and optics companies with
operations in California and Montana.
David L. Foster (AZ ’71) was a high-school math teacher, Doug Hartwell (AZ ’72) was in
construction management, and George Solomon (AZ ’72) was a construction supervisor, all in
Michigan. Dolf Kahle (AZ ’73) was CEO of Visual Marketing Systems in Ohio, and Robert E. Lee
(AZ ’73) was a Vascular Surgeon in Michigan. Matt Caputo won the International Management
Award and served as President of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors
in Toledo. David Carbery (AZ ’73) obtained the first of three patents for Composite Material
Placement in aircraft. He was a Structural Engineer at Boeing. Dewey Jones (AZ ’74) was an
application software consultant in Missouri, and he created a web site for Alpha-Zeta alumni,
www.alphazetaclub.org. Dave Martin (AZ ’75) was Director at a YMCA camp in Northern
Michigan. Clay Harrell was a Regional Organizer for Together California and Project Coordinator
with Small Business for Affordable Healthcare.
Brothers from the 1970s had established a tradition of getting together at Fosty’s Cabin
in Michigan. The usual suspects included Dick Peters (AZ ’71), Dave Hazlett (AZ ’72), Dave
Foster, Doug Hartwell, Brad Groom (AZ ’73), Dewey Jones, Bob Lee, Byron Brandon (AZ ’74), Jim
Iwanski (AZ ’74), and Dolf Kahle.
Mark Smith (AZ ’80) was the Project Manager of New Product Development at Eli Lilly in
Indianapolis. Mark Whitman (AZ ’80) became Director of the Supply Chain at Amerinet in
Cincinnati. He had an MBA from Xavier, and he had been a health-care consultant with McFaul
& Lyons and Director of Management Engineering at a hospital. He had also published articles
in Hospital Materials Management, Healthcare Purchasing News, and Materials Management
in Healthcare. George Zemlicka had moved to BHP Billiton, and he presented “Depth Imaging
of the Drake Structure in the Ultra-Deep Shelf Play of the Gulf of Mexico” at the meeting of the
New Orleans Geological Society. Chip Lin became a Manager in the Office of the Vice President
for Administration in New York City. Steve Cameron became a Visiting Professor of Geography
at Western Michigan. Jeremy Wise became a Forecasting Manager for Timberland and then a
Planner for Apple in California. Dr. Mick Dutcher became the USDA’s Wisconsin Area
Veterinarian in Charge in Madison. Karl Seichter (AZ ’88) worked for
Chrysler Financial Services in India. Mike Tschirhart became a Lecturer
at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Mark Sims became the Director
of Global Business Transformation at Scott’s Miracle-Gro near Cleveland.
Erik Vining became Director of Territory Operations at Bankers Life &
Casualty in Chicago. Will Thompson became Plant Controller for
Mike Tschirhart
Ingersoll Rand in Chino, California.
Keith Ranieri (AZ ’90) became a Naval Architect and Chief Design Engineer for Everglades
Boats. He also started Ranieri Marine Design in Edgewater, Florida. Marc Tamres became the
Director of Product Management at Microsoft. Michael Corbett became Regional Sales
Specialist at AAA Life Insurance. David Judice became Director of Traditional Strategies
Research at Smith Barney. Jake Kobrick (AZ 1992) was working on a PhD in History at the
University of Maryland. Thomas Huie (AZ 1993) had earned his MBA at Michigan State in 2006
and had become a Senior Marketing Analyst at Northwest Airlines in Minnesota. Sean Crotty
(AZ 1996) was an attorney in Ann Arbor, and Nick Garcia (AZ 1996) was the General Sales
Manager for Clear Channel Radio in Miami. Jake Kurily (AZ 1998) became Assistant to the Vice
President for Development and Production at Atlas Entertainment in Los Angeles. He soon
became Creative Executive and then Director of Development.
Brothers of the new millennium included Jake Buikema, a Supply Chain Engineer at
Lockheed Martin. He earned an MBA at the University of Maryland and became a Senior
Project Engineer and Team Leader, then a Project Engineering Manager in Fairfax, Virginia.
Tyrone John obtained a patent for mixed-metal oxide particles. Benjamin Widseth was an
Advertising Account Coordinator, and Jason Velkovski was a Financial Advisor, both in Michigan,
and Brian Weinbaum was a Project Engineer in Chicago. Nathan Furman completed Law School
at the University of Miami and began to practice in Nashville. Richard Mojica finished Law
School at DePaul and became an attorney-advisor with US Customs and Border Protection in
Washington, DC. Eric Boujo started as a Project Manager at Artwerks @Pulp Studio in Los
Angeles. He later became an Account Executive with the Wasserman Media Group and the Los
Angeles Avengers in arena football, and then an Account Executive with the LA Dodgers.
Andrew Kligier started as a Graphic Designer for Colorblind Creative and a Treatment Designer
for radical media.
Recruitment in Kappa Sigma’s Michigan District improved 65% during the 2005-07
biennium, tenth among all districts in the fraternity.
James Finn Garner (AZ ’80) published Recut Madness: Favorite Movies Retold for Your
Partisan Pleasure (2007).
James Rogers (AZ ’49) was an Associate Editor of the AAPG Bulletin, published by the
American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He had been President of the AAPG Division of
Professional Affairs, and he published numerous essays, such as “New Model for an Old Oil
Field: Garfield Conglomerate Pool, Pawnee County, Kansas” (2007).
Don McEwen (AZ ’50) was inducted into the University of Michigan Men’s Track and
Field Hall of Fame in 2007.
Mark Ferrelli (AZ ’53) served as an Adjunct Professor at the
University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. He would also teach at Bryant
University, Providence College, and Stonehill College. David Rorabacher (AZ
’55) celebrated fifty years on the faculty at Wayne State University. He was
a Professor of Analytical Chemistry. Jim Haselwood (AZ ’61) had retired
from Chrysler and lived in New Baltimore, Michigan.
David Rorabacher
Jack Schmidt (AZ ’62) retired after thirty years with Procter &
Gamble, where he had been Managing Director of Worldwide Strategic
Planning in Hair Care and Manager of Health Care in Latin America. After
graduation, he spent three years in the Navy and earned a Master’s
degree from Michigan. He was appointed a Director of Lenox Wealth
Management in Cincinnati, and he worked with the Business School at
the College of William and Mary. John Jarpe (AZ ’69) was appointed
Superintendent of Brandywine Community Schools in Niles, Michigan.
John Jarpe
John Heaphy (AZ ’73) joined the law firm of Harrison & Held in Chicago. Dr. Adam
Flanders co-edited Spinal Trauma: Imaging, Diagnostics, and Management (2007). Jack Darby
(AZ ’85) became Senior Vice President for Global Sales and Marketing at AGA Medical in
Minnesota. Jim Todoroff (AZ ’86) completed his MBA at Michigan and became Vice President
of Purchasing and Supply Chain at Paulstra in Grand Rapids. Karl Seichter (AZ ’88) became
Vender Relations Manager for Mercedes-Benz Financial in Dallas. Mike Misiak (AZ ’88) was a
Manufacturing Engineering Manager at Tecumseh Products, but he left after twenty years to
become Engineering Manager at Tenneco. Ray Bonwell (AZ ’89) earned a Master’s in Divinity at
Princeton Theological Seminary. He became the Director of Programs at the seminary’s Erdman
Center of Continuing Education, and its Science for Ministry Institute. Andrew Lockton became
a professional tri-athlete in California. Marc Levin started as a Senior Corporate Account
Manager at CDW in Chicago. Jason Rhode-McGauley started as a Manufacturing Engineer at
Sun Microsystems in Hillsboro, Oregon.
The Alpha Zetalum for Fall 2007 reproduced the 1968 composite, which mimicked the
cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the famous album by the Beatles. Carl “Chip”
Goodwin (AZ ’65) and Dick “Spider” Ingersoll (AZ ’65), members of the “Big Ten” pledge class,
wrote the accompanying article and appealed for alumni support.
Forty-five alumni appeared for Homecoming in October 2007 and watched Michigan
defeat Purdue. Many brothers were initiates of the 1960s, back for a reunion organized by Pete
La Fond (AZ ’63) and Russ Blake. John “Bull” Hawley (AZ ’60), Rudy Seichter, Mark Healy, Chuck
Kelly, Dick Marsh, Gary Brumo, George Breslauer, Dale Ehresman (AZ ’64), Rich Von Luhrte (AZ
’64), Jim Lawson (AZ ’65), Jeff McCullagh (AZ ’65), and Jack Warren all made appearances. Vic
Bolles (AZ ’66) returned for his first visit to the chapter house in decades.
William Retallick was the senior member present. Bob Lee, Piet Lindhout, and Brad
Groom were also on hand. The house looked better, with improvements in carpeting, paint,
and drywall.
In the fall of 2007, Alpha-Zeta recruited eleven pledges and initiated them in
December: Erik W. Anderson of Oxford, Michigan; Scott R. Brimacombe of Bend, Oregon;
Andrew C. Campbell of Lansing; Gregory S. Carmody of Grosse Pointe Park; Evan D. Christensen
of Vernon Hills, Illinois; Kyle M. Cole of Westland, Michigan; Christopher P. Johnson of
Chalmette, Louisiana; Mark K. Peter of Oxford (blood brother of Thomas, AZ 2005); Steven K.
Petroff of Bay City; Paul G. Sokolik of Grosse Pointe; and Benjamin G. Trachman of Potomac,
Maryland.
Also in the fall, scholarship improved considerably: the chapter’s GPA was 3.04, ninth
out of twenty-seven fraternities. Thomas Peter won a $500 Scholarship-Leadership Award, and
Adam Beachnau won a Certificate of Merit. The chapter participated in “Step Out to Fight
Diabetes” and raised more than $2500 for the American Diabetes Association. One of the
brothers had diabetes. Forty brothers belonged to the chapter, with seventeen living in the
house.
Dr. James C. Johnson (AZ ’60) died in 2007. He had
earned a PhD in Psychology from the University of Minnesota
and had taught at the University of Tennessee in the early
1970s. He became director of the Research Division in the
Tennessee Department of Personnel. Johnson also served as
Co-Director of the Southeastern Personnel Assessment
Regional Consortium from 1975 to 1980 and President of the
International Public Management Association Assessment
Council from 1994 to 1995. He received the Clyde Lindley
Exemplary Service Award in 1997 and the Stephen E. Bemis
Memorial Award in 1999.
James C. Johnson
Other deaths in 2007 included Merton J. Bell (AZ ’28) at age 98 in Bloomfield Hills. He
had been President of the Student Council at Michigan, and he had retired in 1970 as Vice
President and Treasurer of C. J. Glasgow Co. A Michigan Marching-Band scholarship is named
for him and his wife.
Lt. Col. George S. Jones (AZ ’33), US Army (Retired), died in Fort Wayne, Indiana. John S.
Aldrich (AZ ’40) passed away at age 86 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He served in the Army,
earned an MBA at Michigan, and started Aldrich Rentals in 1959.
Robert A. Vibbert (AZ ’41) died at age 86 in Sun City Center, Florida. He served as a
flight engineer aboard B-29 bombers in the Second World War, remained in the Air Force
Reserve for fourteen years, and worked as a food broker for Acme Co. in Detroit.
William Longstaff (AZ ’42) died at age 84 in Houston. He had transferred to the
University of Missouri, where he became a member of Alpha Zeta, the agriculture society.
Robert F. Plank (Purdue ’43) passed away at age 82 in Midland, Texas. He served as an
Executive Officer aboard minesweepers in the US Navy during the Second World War. He
earned a Master’s in Geology at Michigan in 1949 and worked for Exxon, where he became
Division Manager for the Gulf Coast and Southern States.
John C. Wagner (AZ ’50) died at age 76 in Bethesda, Maryland. He was a captain in the
USAF Reserves, Deputy General Counsel at the Consumer Products Safety Division, and Director
of the Foreign Business Practices Division in the Department of Commerce.
Howard F. Russell (AZ ’57) died in St. Cloud, Florida. J. Kirby Thomas (AZ ’60) died in
Granville, Ohio. He co-wrote Passenger Car and Truck Signaling and Marking Research: I.
Regulations, Intensity Requirements and Color Filter Characteristics (1973) and Factors
Influencing the Effectiveness of Automotive Rear Lighting Systems (1975).
Robert R. Elder III (Lafayette ’66) of Annapolis, Maryland passed away. He graduated in
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, served as an officer aboard the USS Guam, and
became Senior Project Engineer at John J. McMullen Associates.
Leslie Cox, Howard Stephenson, and Alexander Duchnowski
were all recognized as members of the Model Chapter Room Society in
Kappa Sigma’s Renaissance Campaign.
An Alpha-Zeta brother was the subject of a monograph, The
Forgotten Physicist: Robert F. Bacher, 1905-2004, by Allan B. Carr (Los
Alamos Historical Society, 2008).
Alpha-Zeta celebrated Founders’ Day with dinner in the
Vandenberg Room of the Michigan League on February 16, 2008.
Brothers also attended the Michigan hockey game at Yost Ice Arena.
In the 2007-08 academic year, officers included GM Adam DeSantis, GP Nathaniel
Morton, GMC Nicholas Rubis, GS Alexander Barnett, GT Robert Weishar, Rush Chairman Donald
Parpart, Pledge Education Chairman John Powers, and Alumni Relations Chairman Thomas
Peter. Alpha-Zeta won championships in intramural football and broomball and finished fifth
out of twenty-seven fraternities in the overall standings. The chapter also ranked fifth in
academic performance. Chris Ting was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
Robert Murray made his debut as chef. He would serve the chapter for many years to
come.
The SEC had heard of an alleged violation of the Code of Conduct at Alpha-Zeta. In
March 2008, DGM Adam Merillat reported that no such violation had occurred. The SEC
nevertheless imposed three sanctions: Alpha-Zeta had to participate in a session of My
Brother’s Keeper, had to revise the pledge-education program, and had to receive an Area
Recruitment Manager in the fall.
Four pledges were initiated in April 2008: Patrick J. Alger (R) of Livonia; Shawn Gulati of
Bloomfield Hills; Sean G. Paliganoff (X) of White Pigeon, Michigan; and Kyle M. Sullivan of Byron
Center, Michigan. Alger later resigned; he became a Tax Associate at PwC in Detroit. Paliganoff
was expelled. One prospective member depledged.
Scholarship continued to improve: in the spring of 2008, Alpha-Zeta had a GPA of 3.24,
sixth out of twenty-seven fraternities. The chapter did very well in the 2008 Kappa Sigma
Scholarship-Leadership Awards. Adam DeSantis won the Henry A. Zuberano Award and $2500,
Adam Beachnau and Jeffrey May (R) won $1000 awards, and Kevin M. Hughes received a
Certificate of Merit.
For fifty-five years, Don McEwen held the record for the two-mile race in dual meets
between Michigan and Ohio State. When Sean McNamara of Michigan finally broke the record
in February 2008, McEwen said “I’m just glad he wasn’t an Ohio State guy.”
Rich von Luhrte was named Architect of the Year by the
Colorado Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2008.
The City and County of Denver also named him one of 150
Unsung Heroes. He was an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at
the University of Colorado at Denver, and he designed Coors Field
and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.
Richard Cook (AZ ’66) resigned after twelve successful
years as President of Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. The
college gave him an honorary doctorate and the title of President
Emeritus. He joined Lahti Search Consultants and became a
Senior Fellow of Second Nature.
Rich von Luhrte
John Wilson organized the Evelyn Waugh Conference at the University of Texas at Austin
in 2008. He wrote the entry on Waugh for the Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, and he
won the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship to do research at the Harry Ransom Center
on the UT campus.
In the fall of 2008, Adam DeSantis continued as GM. Other officers included GMC Chris
Johnson, Scholarship Chairman Andrew Campbell, Intramural Sports Chairman Evan
Christensen, Rush Co-Chairmen Greg Carmody and Mark Peter, Philanthropy Co-Chairmen
Benjamin Tachman and Scott Brimacombe, and Brotherhood Co-Chairmen Thomas Peter and
Mark Peter. Ben Megargel spent the year abroad at King’s College London.
Alpha-Zeta teamed again with Kappa Kappa Gamma to organize a clothing drive for
battered women. The brothers again walked to raise money for diabetes, and they volunteered
for the NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition for youths aged eight to fifteen. The chapter also
raised over $1000 for Kappa Sigma’s Fallen Heroes.
The actives recruited ten pledges. Hazing had been eliminated and replaced with
brotherhood development. There were pledge dinners every week, and pledges were required
to organize two projects, philanthropy and house improvement.
The chapter house was once again painted, and the kitchen was reopened after one
year of disuse. In intramural sports, Alpha-Zeta won the championship in softball.
Alcohol caused more problems, however. On October 4, 2008, an alumnus, identified
only as “Bill from the 80s,” bought a keg for the house. Times had indeed changed, and this
action violated the fraternity’s Code of Conduct. To quote from The Star and Crescent,
“Investigations also revealed the presence of beer pong tables on the Chapter’s front lawn.”
No fewer than nine sanctions were laid down at the SEC meeting in December.
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)
The DGM was to charge the GM for allowing the keg and the GP for drinking from it.
“Bill from the 80s” was to be disciplined upon identification.
Alpha-Zeta was to remain alcohol-free for the rest of the academic year.
A $2500 fine had to be paid within 90 days of receiving a letter of sanctions.
80% of actives and all alumni volunteers had to attend a Code of Conduct session
conducted by the DGM and AA.
The Alpha Zetalum had to publish an article on the Code by February 1, 2009.
Alpha-Zeta had to review alumni communications and expand them.
Alumni or the DGM/ADGM had to attend 80% of chapter meetings.
Alumni and the chapter officers had to meet at least once a month for the rest of
the academic year.
The incident may seem mild compared with the liquor bust of 1931, but the SEC is
largely concerned with discipline, and they have to reduce liability. The chapter had, moreover,
already been in trouble several times in the early 2000s.
Forty alumni contributed to the Alpha-Zeta Club in 2007-08, led by blood brothers
Melvin Engelhardt (AZ ’42) and LeRoy Engelhardt (AZ ’42).
Doug Wozniak (AZ ’67) was elected Shelby Township Trustee. He also served on the
Planning Commission and as Vice Chair of the Northern Macomb Republican PAC. Michael
Holmes (AZ ’67) published “A New Era of Video Competition in Michigan” in the Michigan State
Bar Journal.
David Ferworn (AZ ’71) became a general contractor in Vancouver, Washington. Detlef
Rohleder (AZ ’73) retired as an Automotive Engineer at General Motors. Mike Grunthaner (AZ
’75) was the Manager of Instrument Manufacturing at Nanosphere near Chicago. Lt. Cmdr.
Dave Wierenga (AZ ’79) retired from the Coast Guard.
Lou Cares (AZ ’80) obtained two patents for Exterior Portions of Boat Canopies. Rob
Wesley became Software Engineering Lead for Battelle Medical Device Solutions. Apu Mody
became CEO at the Brand Accelerator. Curt Schroeder became Operations Director for the
Division of Precision Castparts at SPS Technologies. In 2009, he became Sales and Engineering
Director. Joe Kory became Vice President of Global Distribution Operations at Navistar in
Chicago. Glenn Klecker became the Owner of Klecker Knives in Portland, Oregon. Chris Kitchen
became Reverse Logistics Manager at MillerCoors in Denver. Tom Dawson became Global
Project Manager for Microsoft.
Brandon Riordan became a Cash Analyst at Ford. Christopher Tkaczyk (AZ 1997) cowrote Inheriting Beauty (2008); he was also an Artistic Supernumerary with the Metropolitan
Opera. Jonathan O’Day completed an MBA and a Master’s in International Relations at the
University of Pennsylvania. He became an Associate with ProLogis and later with Prosperitas
Investimentos. Aaron Saito went to Dublin, Ireland as an Assurance Manager for
PricewaterhouseCoopers. Patrick Seidel (AZ 1999) earned a degree from the Ave Maria School
of Law in Florida and became an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County, New York. Avram
Turkel earned a degree from the Brooklyn School of Law and joined the firm of Borstein &
Sheinbaum in New York.
Adam Hoipkemier completed Law School at the University of Georgia and worked on
the Georgia Law Review. He began to practice at Andersen, Tate & Carr in Atlanta. Jon Byrum
became Senior Product Manager at Socrata. Rishi Kapoor completed Law School at Fordham
and went to work for Venable in New York. After working on various political campaigns in
2007 and 2008, Ben Lazarus became an Analyst at Myers Research in Washington, DC. Chris
Negrelli completed a Master’s in Accounting at Michigan and became a Tax Accountant with
Ernst & Young in Chicago. Brandon Barnett started as an IT Analyst for Cisco Systems in Raleigh,
North Carolina; he later became an Associate for Urban Science in Detroit and then Director of
Data Services for Echo Solutions Group in Sterling, Virginia and Milwaukee. Andrew Geye
started as a Recruiter for Insight Global, then became Lead Sterile Processing Technician at
Edward Hospital. Jeff Robbins worked as a Healthcare Business Consultant for Huron
Consulting Group in Los Angeles, but he also became the CEO and Co-Founder of Revolution
Landscape in San Diego. Jack Stewart started as a Financial Analyst at Lehman Brothers three
months before they declared bankruptcy, then became an Associate at Neuberger Berman.
Chris Ting started as a Consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and moved up to Senior Consultant
after a year. Patrick Gubry worked as a member of the Water and Energy Conservation Crews
with the Mile High Youth Corps in Colorado; he later became Irrigation Auditor for the Center
for ReSource Conservation in Boulder. Nick Rubis started as a Senior Engineer at Westinghouse
Electric Co. in Pittsburgh.
Jack Warren continued to serve as Alumnus Advisor, with Bill Moilanen, Brandon
Riordan, and Sean Crotty as AAAs. The new DGM was Michael Benson (Northeastern 2004).
In 2008, Alpha-Zeta lost Karl “Hash” Richardson (AZ ’28) at age 98
in Estero, Florida. Leonard L. Ferguson (AZ ’48) died at age 84 in
Lafayette, Louisiana. He spent four years in the US Navy playing in the
Seabee Band. He earned an MBA from LSU and formed a band, the
Crawford-Ferguson Night Owls. He also played percussion with the New
Orleans Symphony and the New Orleans Opera Orchestra. He retired as
a marketing representative for Delta Airlines. He remembered AlphaZeta in his will; his gravestone says “Jazz Musician.”
Karl Richardson
G. Wayne Powell MD (AZ ’42) died at age 85 in San Diego. Roy Tidman (AZ ’42) died at
age 87 in Columbus, North Carolina. Kurt Soehngen (AZ ’49) passed
away at age 81 in San Jose, California. He served as a technician in
the US Army during the Second World War and as a corpsman in
the US Air Force in the Korean War. He worked as a mechanical
engineer for Lockheed and owned Soehngen Plumbing and
Construction Co. He was also active in Jews for Jesus.
Richard G. Knight (AZ ’48) passed away at age 82 in
Alameda, California. He worked for the famous architect Eero
Saarinen from 1957 until Saarinen’s death in 1961, then formed his
own architectural firm. He moved to San Francisco in 1981. He
published Saarinen’s Quest (2007), and the Cranbrook Art Museum
organized an exhibition, Richard Knight: Photographing Saarinen, in
2008. Richard was also a well-known sculptor.
Richard G. Knight
E. Bruce Kleber (AZ ’41), Howard Stephenson, Leslie Cox, and Alexander Duchnowski
were all recognized as Jackson’s Men, a group of Kappa Sigmas who had contributed to the
Scholarship-Leadership Awards.
The fall pledges were initiated in January 2009: Michael P. DiCenso of Bloomfield Hills;
John R. Fernbacher of Orinda, California; Bryan M. Fraley of Vermilion, Ohio; Kyle J. Hager of
Lansing; Paul A. McCrory of Waterville, Ohio; Matthew J. Miller of Escanaba; Andrew S. Moll of
Oxford, Michigan; Jay L. Patel (X) of Stockbridge, Georgia; Jason R. Schneider (R) of Barrington,
Illinois; and Evan B. Taylor of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Patel was later expelled. Schneider
resigned; he became a Project Engineer at AVL in Ann Arbor. Two prospective members
depledged.
The officers were GM Greg Carmody, GP Mark Peter, GMC Ken Kokko, GS Ben
Trachman, and GT Evan Christensen.
The Alpha-Zeta Club reorganized early in 2009. The new officers were President Dewey
Jones, Vice President Tong Sop Kim, and Secretary John Wilson. Tom Schafer continued as
Treasurer for the seventeenth year in a row. Jim Stodolak (AZ ’78) served as the Events Chair,
Dave Hazlett as Membership Chair, Greg Drutchas as Legal Advisor, Jason Velkovski as Housing
Chair, and Doug Hartwell and Sasha Duchnowski as Building Co-Chairs. Ray Shaver took charge
of Maintenance and Security.
David Testa was appointed ADGM for Volunteer Development, and Eric Leung became
ADGM for Brothers in Action and Ritual.
The club decided to devote a substantial amount of money to renovation of the house.
In 2009, they were able to refinish the floor and to buy a new range for the kitchen, new
furniture for the dining room, and new lights and drapes for the living room.
In February 2009, Founders’ Day was once again celebrated with dinner at the Michigan
League and a hockey game afterward.
Daniel Hohs was on Michigan’s Water Ski Team, and he participated in the Dance
Marathon. Ben Megargel worked on the Michigan Daily and Chill Magazine. Greg Rozen
completed seventy pages of stories for his senior thesis in English. Justin Yaroni joined Chi
Epsilon (Civil Engineering) and completed a Master’s in Construction Engineering and
Management at Michigan as he completed his Bachelor’s in Civil and Environmental
Engineering. Ben Trachman, Alexander Barnett, Scott Brimacombe, and Jack Fernbacher all
rowed for Michigan Crew.
In the spring of 2009, Alpha-Zeta raised $550 for Kappa Sigma’s Military Heroes
Campaign. The chapter also hosted “Hoops of Hope,” a free-throw marathon that raised $1500
for medical facilities in Zambia. At the Grand Conclave in San Antonio in the summer, the
actives received the Chapter Intramural Achievement Award.
The chapter initiated three pledges in April: Shane A. Henry of Hastings, Michigan; Kevin
S. Sooch (R) of Austin, Texas; and Jason P. Sosnik of Merrick, New York. Sooch later resigned.
In the fall of 2009, Alpha-Zeta was listed as one of the “Beat Your Best” chapters in the
Caduceus. The chapter’s largest recent pledge class had been twelve, but the actives had
pledged thirteen men.
The pledge class arranged a bowling event for charity, and the actives adopted two
families for Christmas and purchased gifts for them.
Front: Brumo,
Healy, Cox, Papalas.
Back: Lawson,
McCullagh,
Drutchas, Marsh,
Blake, Cook,
LaFond, Boyle, Kelly,
Vallin, Warren
Homecoming was a success, as brothers from the 1960s came back for more. Gary
Brumo, Mark Healy, Bob Cox, Tony Papalas (AZ ’61), Michael Boyle (AZ ’62), Jim Lawson, Jeff
McCullagh, Greg Drutchas, Dick Marsh, Russ Blake, Rich Cook, Pete LaFond, Chuck Kelly, Dick
Vallin (AZ ’66), Jack Warren, Harry Carlson (AZ ’66), Ray Shaver, John Hawley, Al Peterman, and
Rudy Seichter all showed up to see Michigan defeat Indiana on a last-minute touchdown.
Kahle, Lee, Groom, Jones, Hazlett
William Retallick was once again the senior
member on hand. Brothers from the 1970s who
enjoyed another reunion included Dave Foster, Dave
Behnke (AZ ’71), Bob Lee, Doug Hartwell, Dave
Hazlett, Dolf Kahle, Brad Groom, Dewey Jones, Donn
Schroder (AZ ’77), Jim Stodolak, and Brian Pearson (AZ
’78). The other alumni were Jere Brophy (AZ ’52), Jim
Stevens (AZ ’81), Ed Farrell, Larry Day (AZ ’83), and
Ted Pastor (AZ ’88). Everyone agreed that the
appearance of the house had greatly improved.
The actives participated in a Walk for Alzheimer’s and sponsored a family for the holiday
season. Through the two programs, the brothers raised almost $1400. In intramural sports,
Alpha-Zeta defended the championship in softball. Sixteen brothers obtained certificates in
ritual proficiency.
Greg Carmody won a Kappa Sigma Scholarship-Leadership Award worth $1000. Mark
Peter, Robert Weishar, Evan Christensen, and Brian Lerner also won $1000 awards, while Paul
Sokolik and Scott Brimacombe won $500 awards. Chris Johnson, Ben Trachman, Shawn Gulati,
Andrew Campbell, and Jack Fernbacher all received Certificates of Merit. It was the best
performance in Alpha-Zeta history.
Initiation of eleven men took place in December: Vishal A. Chandawarkar (R) of
Marlboro, New Jersey; Nicholas G. Hadjicharalambous of Monroe Michigan; Timothy J. Kipen
(R) of Jenison, Michigan; Christian A. Mehregan of Monroe; Jake R. Meyers (X) of Troy,
Michigan; Michael J. Raher of Woodridge, Illinois; Michael D. Render of Richmond, Michigan;
Robert B. Rogerson (R) of East Lansing; Daniel D. Seitz (R) of Grandville, Michigan; Kevin J.
Sturino of Darien, Illinois; and Douglas M. Watkins of Grand Junction, Michigan. Meyers was
later expelled, and Chandawarkar, Kipen, Rogerson, and Seitz all resigned. Chandawarkar
became an Assistant Account Executive for Mullen in Boston. Kipen became a Production
Engineer for Dow Chemical in Ann Arbor. Two prospective members depledged.
Twenty-seven alumni contributed $6300 to support the chapter in the fall of 2009.
Through a membership drive, the Alpha-Zeta Club increased the number of brothers registered
on the web site from 99 to 160. Brothers renewed contacts after years or even decades of
separation.
Chuck Kelly’s Howland Research concentrated on digital analysis of variant texts and
considered the theory that Shakespeare revised his plays. A publishing division, Triple Anvil
Press, brought out A Reproduction in Facsimile of Hamlet from the First Folio of 1623 and won
the Independent Publishers Bronze Medal for the Book Arts in 2008. Chuck also published
Echoes and Shadows in the Texts of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2007) and The Evidence Matrix for
the 1st Quarto of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2008), and he co-edited The Hamlet Text Research
Stage Director’s Edition (2008) and The Hamlet 3x2 Text Research Toolset (2008). He collected
rare books, and he was past President of Detroit’s Prismatic Club. He also served on the
Steering Committee of the Library Society for the University of Chicago and the English Advisory
Committee for the University of Michigan. He sailed out of the Bayview Yacht Club.
Bob Cowan (AZ ’71) had married and had three children, but he could not get traveling
out of his system. He and his wife Stina took the children out of school in 2009, traveled
around the world, and covered 40,000 miles in six months. Somehow Bob retained his job as
Director of Facilities at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
Patrick Rode (AZ ’75) was an attorney and owner at Wilson Rode, PLLC in Michigan. He
had a master’s degree in History and a Law degree from the University of Michigan. Jim
Stodolak was the owner of Focus Consulting in Idaho.
Pat Rode
Owen Medd
Jim Stevens
Owen Medd (AZ ‘79) was Senior Product Architect at Siemens Software and president of
InterGuide Communications. He earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix.
Eric Scott (AZ ’80) was Area President at Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance in Florida. Kevin
O’Connor (AZ ’80) was CEO of Acumen Advisors in North Carolina. Ed Farrell was the CEO and
founder of CrowdJuice Corporation in Ann Arbor. Jon Zieselman (AZ ’81) was a consultant in
Massachusetts. Pete Kavanaugh (AZ ’81) was a consultant in Chicago. He had an MBA from
DePaul University. Jim Stevens (AZ ’81) was an attorney in Michigan and Adjunct Professor at
the University of Detroit Law School. He co-wrote Cases and Materials on Patent Law, Including
Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks (2006).
Patrick Mitchell (AZ ’82) was a Social Worker for the Department
of Corrections in New York. Fred Gutt (AZ ’82) was an FBI agent in
Seattle, Washington. Ben Regen (AZ ’83) was an attorney in Tennessee.
Mike Webb (AZ ‘84) became a Software Development Engineer at
Mentor Graphics in Portland, Oregon. Palit “Pek” Bhirom-Bhakdi (AZ
’84) was Executive Vice President of Boonrawd Trading Co. in Bangkok,
Thailand, brewers of Singha Beer. Paul Maleszyk (AZ ‘85) was an
engineer at General Motors in Detroit. Dr. Michael Keefe (AZ ’85) was
an oncologist and hematologist in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Pek Bhirom-Bhakdi
John Bayon (AZ ’86) was National Health-Care Coordinator for InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship in Michigan. He completed a Master’s at Moody Theological Seminary, and he
volunteered for the Alpha-Zeta Club. Bob Dillman (AZ ’86) was an Assurance Manager at
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. Bill Jue was in Sales and Business
Development at TRW Automotive in Michigan.
Ted Pastor was General Manager at the Alro Group in Michigan. Greg Rea became a
Mechanical Engineer at the US Consumer Product Safety Commission in Maryland. Mark Sims
became Director of Enterprise Risk Management and Operations Integration at Scott’s MiracleGro. Sean Cannon (AZ ’89) had his own law firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. His Law degree came
from Arizona State.
Jonah Arcade (AZ ’90) was Vice President for Compliance at J. P. Morgan in New York.
He earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. Tong Sop Kim was Senior Program Manager at
Autoline Industries in Michigan.
Thomas “Jerry” Mitchell (New Mexico ’35) died at age 92 in Albuquerque. After serving
as a colonel in the Marines in the Second World War, he worked as an engineer for Standard Oil
in China and India. He returned to Albuquerque in 1959 and worked for the Bureau of Indian
Affairs.
William F. Grier (AZ ’38) of Bloomfield Township passed away at
age 93 in November 2009. During the Second World War, he served as
a captain and battery commander of the Field Artillery Battalion with
the 93rd Infantry Division in the Southwest Pacific. After the war, Bill
became a Regional Vice President with the National Association of
Manufacturers. Bill retired in 1987 and served as chief fundraiser for
the Detroit Executive Service Corps.
William F. Grier
Alpha-Zeta also lost Austin R. Woodard (AZ ‘39) at age 89 in Steubenville, Ohio. He had
served in the US Army in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War and had worked for
thirty years as an industrial engineer in the steel industry. George C. Diamond (AZ ’80) died at
age 48 in Grosse Pointe Park. James Finn Garner wrote: “From the first time I met George in
college, his good humor, dedication and love of life always inspired me. I was very sad to hear
of his death, but a spirit like his will live in all our hearts forever.”
Leroy Bostian MD (AZ ’43) passed away at age 85 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. He was a
psychiatrist who practiced in Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, South Dakota. David F. Dunkle (AZ ’46)
also passed away at age 82 in Irving, Texas. He had been a lieutenant commander in the Navy,
and he had worked for forty-one years as an engineer at LTV Corporation. Delance Hyde (AZ
’51) died at age 78 in Edmore, Michigan. He had won two letters on the Michigan track team.
Santo Ponticello (AZ ’54), an engineer, died at age 75 in Estero, Florida. Philip Hettinger (AZ ’55)
passed away at age 74 in Thousand Oaks, California.
Charles Federspiel (AZ ’47) celebrated his fiftieth year as a faculty member at the
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He was a Professor of Biostatistics.
Dr. Charles Federspiel
Anthony Frabotta
Anthony Frabotta won the Wayne State School of Business Distinguished Alumnus
Award in 2009. He was the Chair and CEO of UHY Advisors Michigan in Sterling Heights.
Jim Isbister published The Isbisters at the Hall of Gorn: A Glimpse of 19th-Century Orkney
(2009). Samuel Jones retired from Trillium Asset Management.
Dr. Donn Schroder (AZ ’77) was elected President of the
Midwest Surgical Association. He was a General Surgeon in Grosse
Pointe Woods and Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at Wayne
State. He also served on the editorial board of the American Journal of
Surgery. Jim Stodolak became Manager of Special Projects for
MedAssets. Joe Flynn (AZ ’78) obtained the first of two patents for
Biodiesel Production Methods. He worked for B & P Process
Equipment in Saginaw.
Dr. Donn Schroder
Mark Davis became Project Manager for Methode Electronics in Chicago. Craig Pascoe
became Functional Program Manager for Planned Systems International near Washington, DC.
Jeff Vanden Beukel (AZ ’84) was the Director of the TIROS (satellite) Program at Lockheed
Martin in California. Todd Tappe was at Fort Hood, Texas as a criminal prosecutor with the 1 st
Cavalry Division when Nidal Hasan was arrested for mass murder. Mark Birac (AZ ’89)
completed his MBA at Michigan.
David Judice became Director of Non-US and Growth Strategies Research at Morgan
Stanley Smith Barney. Brad Hendrick joined the firm of Caplan & Earnest in Boulder, Colorado.
Mike Huff became a Senior Derivatives Trader for Genworth Financial in New York. He had an
MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Hugo Vera (AZ 1996) earned a Doctor of Musical
Arts from the University of Kansas; he also had a Master’s in Music from Kansas. In the fall of
2009, he started a series of seasons singing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Jonathan Malen (AZ 1997) completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of
California, Berkeley. His dissertation was entitled “Energy Transport and Conversion in OrganicInorganic Hybrid Materials.” He became an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at
Carnegie Mellon University. Adam Pence (AZ 1997) completed Law School at Indiana
University. He was in the Order of the Coif and Managing Editor of the Indiana Law Journal.
Ryan Gall finished Law School at Florida State and joined the long line of Alpha-Zeta lawyers in
Chicago.
Arrash Fard finished Medical School at the University of Sydney in Australia. Clark
Johnson completed his MD at Wayne State. Bryan Kilbane became Regional Sales Manager at
diaDexus. Mat Stockton completed a Master’s in Computer Science at the University of Illinois
and received a patent for Detection of Abuse of Patient Data. He started to develop iPhone
applications in his spare time. John Nanry completed a Master’s in Industrial & Operations
Engineering at Michigan and became an Associate with McKinsey & Co. Daniel Hohs started as
an Industrial Engineer at De Jong Duke. Adam Beachnau started as a Financial Analyst for Forex
Desk Capital Markets with Microsoft in Redmond, Washington. Alex Was started as a Systems
Engineer for AREVA. Michael Haigh started as a Network Engineer for Cisco in North Carolina.
Eric Sorenson started as an Actuarial Analyst for Mercer in Detroit. Justin Yaroni became an
Assistant Project Manager at Pointe Developers in Hoboken, New Jersey.
By the end of 2009, Alpha-Zeta had initiated 1459 brothers, with 142 added in the
2000s, the fourth highest total in the history of the chapter.
Seven initiates were expelled, however, and eight resigned, some in response to a
problem that flared in the coming decade. Two members were also suspended, the first in the
history of the chapter. That yielded an attrition rate of twelve percent, even higher than that of
the 1980s.
Alpha-Zeta goes through periodic booms and busts. The first decade of the 2000s was
similar to the 1980s: the chapter recruited large numbers but lost about ten percent. Likewise,
the 1990s were comparable to the 1970s: the numbers were smaller but very few brothers
were lost to resignation or expulsion.
Alpha-Zeta cannot completely control the number and quality of men who decide to
pledge. Attitudes on campus, the influence of family, the condition of the house, and other
variables all play a part. Only in hindsight do patterns become evident, though there is always
pressure to recruit the next pledge class. Thus the chapter can hardly settle on a strategy, such
as rushing a few men of character, or trying to attract more men of uncertain value. Character
often remains unknown, even after a term or more as a pledge or, indeed, as a brother.
What history does show, perhaps, are the costs of getting rid of brothers less than fully
committed to the fraternity. Those costs, financial and fraternal, became even heavier in the
coming decade.