Knox Fund Exceeds Goal, Alumni Participation on the Rise

On June 28, 2006 -- two days before the end of the fiscal year on June 30 -- the Knox Fund reached and surpassed its 2005/2006 fundraising goal of $2.495 million. At the close of the fiscal year, the Knox Fund raised more than $2.6 million, beating its goal by more than $190,000. "I'm thrilled with the support the Knox Fund received from the Knox community throughout the year," says Molly Mannino, director of the Knox Fund. "Alumni, parents, and friends made a wonderful year-end for the College."

In addition to exceeding its monetary goal, Knox's alumni giving rate also is on the rise, moving from 28 percent last year to a projected 29 percent this year. Special challenges to classes from the 1970s, 1990s, and 2000s helped increase participation rates. "We are pleased with this year's increase and are confident we can raise rates again next year," says Mannino.

All Around Great Year
Thanks to the multi-million dollar gift from the estate of Walter Hobbs '25, as well as increased giving from Knox alumni and friends, the College received more than $16 million during the 2005/2006 fiscal year, the most money raised in a single year in the history of the College. "This outstanding year reflects the value Knox alumni and friends place on a liberal arts education," says President Roger Taylor '63. "Knox can't count on receiving gifts as large as the Hobbs gift every year, but the tremendous support the College received this year shows that more members of the Knox community recognize the importance of giving to the College."

The more than $16 million received during the 2005/2006 fiscal year is comprised of gifts to the Knox Fund, gifts to the endowment, bequests, and grants and matching gifts from corporations and foundations. Without the Hobbs gift, Knox would still have exceeded last year's total fundraising result ($5,234,303) by more than $2 million.

The Hobbs gift wasn't the only significant gift Knox received this year. An anonymous donor has begun to build a $1 million endowment to establish the R. Lance Factor Professorship in Philosophy. Ellie Hartog '66 committed $100,000 to establish a student travel fund in the Center for Global Studies. Through a $500,000 bequest in his estate, Dr. Frank J. Jirka, Jr. '44 established endowed scholarships for Knox students pursuing medical or nursing careers, as well as additional support for pre-medical sciences at Knox. And the Class of 2006 raised more than $20,000 for the Senior Challenge, more than doubling the previous record.

"From a record number of applications to record-setting fundraising, the events of the past academic and fiscal year give the entire Knox community reason to celebrate," says President Taylor. 

Trevor Field Under Renovation

As part of the Fitness & Athletics Initiatives, the College is currently renovating Trevor Field, Knox's outdoor track and field venue, to create a first-class facility for intercollegiate athletics and an attractive space for faculty, staff, and student fitness activities. The renovation will showcase a purple track located in the heart of the Knox campus; expand the track from six to eight lanes, enabling the College to host home meets, including the Midwest Conference Championships; add a steeple chase pit to the west end of the track; relocate and enhance the spaces dedicated for events, including high jump, long jump/triple jump, javelin, shot put, pole vault, and discus/hammer. The renovation is scheduled to be complete in time for fall term in September.

 See current photos of the Trevor Field renovation . . .

On the Road Again . . . with Colleges that Change Lives

As the third edition of Loren Pope's Colleges that Change Lives hits the bookstores in August 2006, Knox will hit the road with the 41 other schools included in this widely-read guide to America's best colleges for undergraduate students. "Colleges that Change Lives (CTCL) is one of the best things to happen to Knox," says Paul Steenis '85, vice president for enrollment and dean of admission. "The book has helped to raise Knox's visibility across a broad spectrum of people. It has put a stamp of approval on traditional liberal arts colleges."

Knox hit the road with the CTCL Tour for the first time in 1997 and, most recently, in March 2006, when it participated in CTCL's first international tour of South and Latin America. The tour will go to 21 cities across the United States during the 2006 and 2007. The Colleges that Change Lives Tour may come to a city near you. Don't miss your opportunity to learn more about Knox -- or to support your alma mater!
August 5, Seattle, Washington * August 6, Portland, Oregon * August 7, San Francisco, California * August 8, Walnut Creek, California * August 9, Anta Ana, California *

Read more about Colleges that Change Lives. . .


A Note from the Editor

Not the Same Ol' Homecoming!
What do you think of when you think about Knox Homecoming? Old friends? The football game? Fall leaves on campus? The Variety Show? If you answered yes to all but the Variety Show, you haven't been to Homecoming lately!

Don't  miss your chance to catch-up with old friends and cheer on the Prairie Fire and catch some of the new Homecoming events, including the Homecoming Variety Show, the "Taste of Galesburg" All-Class Reception, the Homecoming Celebration & Hop, featuring the popular Galesburg band Second Mortgage, and much more. Look to your Homecoming 2006 brochure or online for more information. Register today!



Alumni News

Alumni Trustees Fill Leadership Posts
The Knox College Board of Trustees filled four leadership positions at its meeting June 2006. Janet M. Koran '71 of Chicago was elected chair of the Board. Koran replaces Diane Smatlak Rosenberg '63, who stepped down after serving five years as Board chair. The Board also elected three trustees to its Executive Committee -- Ralph Walter '69 of Los Angeles was elected vice chair for finance; Charles F. Smith '84 of Winnetka, Illinois, was elected secretary; and Laurel Andrew '86 of Las Vegas, Nevada, was elected an at-large member.  "The trustees chose generous and dedicated individuals as the new Knox Board chair and Executive Committee members," said Knox College President Roger Taylor '63. "Jan Koran will build on the work Diane Rosenberg began to move Knox forward. It will be a treat to work with Jan and the rest of the new Board leadership." Read more . . .

Morton Weir '55 Awarded Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation
Morton Weir '55, chair emeritus of Knox College and chancellor emeritus of the University of Illinois, was recently awarded a Foreign Minister's Commendation from Foreign Minister Tara Aso of Japan for his work promoting friendship and understanding between Japan and the United States. Since 1975, Weir has promoted Japanese arts and culture, especially through Japan House of the University of Illinois. Read more . . .

Margery Rosen Kraus '67 named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Margery Rosen Kraus '67, president and chief executive officer of APCO Worldwide an independently-owned global communication consultancy, received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 Award for Greater Washington in the services category on June 22, 2006. The award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic and growing businesses. As the Greater Washington Award winner, Kraus is now eligible for consideration of the Ernst & Young Entreprenuer of the Year 2006 national program. National award winners will be announced in November 2006. Read more about the award . . .

William Colby '77 on C-SPAN
William Colby '77, the author of Unplugged: Reclaiming Our Right to Die in America, was featured on C-Span's Book TV on Sunday, July 16 .Unplugged explores the legal, social, and personal repercussions of recent, astounding advances in life-extending medical technology. Colby represented the family of Nancy Cruzan in the first right-to-die case heard by the United States Supreme Court. He also received an Honorary Degree from Knox College in 1995. He discussed the history of how organ transplants, break-through procedures, miraculous machines, and the fate of three young women -- Karen Ann Quinlan, Nancy Cruzan, and Terry Schiavo -- blur the line between life and death.

Alumni Notes

V.R. (Swede) '51 and Martha Jacobson Roskam '52, who have returned more than a dozen of the 50+ dog tags that they purchased in Vietnam to veterans and/or their families, were recently featured in the magazine Guideposts.

David Lunde '63 and co-translator Mary M.Y. Fung published their translation of the collected poems of twentieth-century Chinese poet Bian Zhilin, The Carving of Insects, in January 2006. The book was published by the Research Centre for Translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Poems from this collection have recently appeared in the journals Apostrophe, Poetry Network, and Renditions. Lunde and Fung are now translating a collection of Chinese Zen poetry. Lunde's translations of poems from Provençal and Old French have been published recently in International Poetry Review and Literary Imagination.

Camilla Neri '65 was recently listed as one of the top 100 female financial advisors in the country. The top 100 list is compiled by The Winner's Circle, an organization of the securities industry's outstanding financial advisors. The list was featured in Barron's magazine and The Wall Street Journal.

Carolyne Swanson McPherson '68 is the CEO of Information Development  Consultants, Inc. (iDC), in Chicago. iDC is the recipient of an Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Grant for Technology in the Homeland Security area.

Ed Novak '69 received national attention when he became the legal representative for former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley. Grimsley is accused of being a distributor of human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing drugs.

John Podesta '71, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, recently spoke at the 2nd Annual Campus Progress National Student Conference. The conference provided students from across the country with opportunities to network, participate in skill seminars and issue discussions, and hear from a diverse group of notable speakers. Illinois Senator Barrack Obama, 2005 Knox College honorary degree recipient, delivered the conference's keynote address.

Richard Burke '75 was recently selected as an Illinois Super Lawyer for 2006 by Law & Politics. The Super Lawyer designation is only given to the top five percent of lawyers practicing in Illinois. The designation is based upon an extensive nomination and peer review process conducted by Law & Politics.

Timothy Bopp '78 was elected the new president of Holy Trinity High School in Chicago. He was previously the school's vice president of institutional development.

Ted Tourlentes '80 recently had his prairie photographs displayed at Ryerson Woods in Deerfield, Illinois. The exhibit was part of the 2006 Summer Series "Sights and Sounds at Ryerson Woods." See Tourlentes' photographs . . .

Jonathan Turley '83, professor of public interest law at George Washington University Law School, was a guest on National Public Radio's The Diane Rehm Show on Thursday, July 6, 2006. Turley discussed the rights and responsibilities of the press in wartime. Listen to the show . . .

Susan Pietrzyk '88, an anthropology Ph.D. student at Binghampton University, received a Fulbright Fellowship to undertake her dissertation fieldwork in Harare, Zimbabwe. Her research will focus on HIV/AIDS, gender, and sexuality.

Timothy M. Neja '88 was recently appointed to the Georgia Commission for Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood Research and Medical Treatment. Neja is one of 15 individuals appointed by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. He is senior director of laboratory operations at CryoLife Inc. and a member of the Autism Society of America-Greater Georgia Chapter and the American Association of Tissue Banks.

Justin Hoye '01 was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph on June 3, 2006. He received his master's of divinity from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in May.

Samuel Veague '05 won the Award for Excellence for Technical Communication, given by Washington University's Dual Degree Program in Engineering and Applied Sciences. Veague was honored at the school's annual Engineers' Honors Ceremony.



Campus News

More than 4,500 People Attend Commencement

Five members of the Class of 1936 attended Commencement to celebrate their 70th Reunion: (L-R) Margaret Beard Hatfield, Helen Scharfenberg Peters, Ethel Margaret Gillmor Bohan, and Irene Bowman Landis. Not pictured: Nanthea Wallace Keller.

One of the largest crowds in Knox College Commencement history -- more than 4,500 people -- gathered under sunny skies on the South Lawn of Old Main on Saturday, June 3, 2006, to celebrate the conferring of 250 bachelor of arts degrees and to welcome comedian Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central's acclaimed The Colbert Report to the Knox College campus.

Colbert received an honorary doctor of fine arts and delivered the Commencement address. Shirley E. Barnes, former United States Ambassador to Madagascar, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, and Diane Smatlak Rosenberg '63 were also honored during the ceremony. Barnes received an honorary doctor of laws; Wales an honorary doctor of laws; and Rosenberg an honorary doctor of humane letters. Timme Professor of Economics Roy Andersen was awarded the Caterpillar Faculty Achievement Award, presented by Knox trustee Sid Banwart, vice president of Caterpillar, Inc. The Senior Class speaker was Brent Jacob Aronowitz of Neenah, Wisconsin. 

Read more about the 161st Knox College Commencement . . .

Catch on Fire!
For the third year in a row, Knox College's student literary journal has been selected as one of the 10 best college literary magazines of the year in an international competition. Catch was named a finalist last month for a 2005 Pacemaker Award, sponsored by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP). The magazine features poetry, fiction, and art by Knox students.

The ACP Pacemaker competition draws entries from colleges and universities of all sizes, from throughout the United States and Canada. Knox is by far the smallest of the 10 finalists. The other finalists this year are California State University at Fullerton, California Institute of Technology, Columbia College of Chicago, Drake University, Harvard University, Syracuse University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of South Carolina, and University of Wyoming. Read more . . .

$300,000 for Alumni Hall
Thanks to Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the Alumni Hall renovation project will receive $300,000 to develop permanent exhibits of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and the Underground Railroad. The funding was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on June 29, 2006, and is included in a $26.1 billion funding bill for the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies.  Read more . . .

Caterpillar Renews Global Studies Center Support
Caterpillar Inc. has agreed to renew its support for the Knox College Center for Global Studies with a three-year grant of $75,000. The grant will fund the annual Caterpillar Distinguished Lectureship series, which has included Senator George Mitchell and journalist Richard Longworth, as well as other visiting speakers, scholars-in-residence. The grant will also provide support for faculty and student research in projects relevant to Global Studies. Read more . . .



Student News

Junior Megan Butler One of 15 Students in Nation to Receive EPA Fellowship
Megan Butler is more than concerned about the environment -- she's actually doing something about it! Butler, a junior environmental studies major, was one of 15 undergraduate students in the nation to receive a fellowship from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The fellowship, which is open to all colleges and universities, provides her with monetary support for her junior and senior years of undergraduate study and an internship at an EPA facility during the summer between her junior and senior year. The total value of the fellowship, including a yearly stipend, tuition scholarship, research expenses, and an internship allowance, is $41,500. The fellowship is part of the EPA's Greater Research Opportunities program.

Not only is Butler pursuing an environmental studies major, but she also is a member of KARES (Knox Advocates for Recycling and Environmental Support), which is currently working on implementing sustainable energy practices on campus. She is one of a small group of students who lives in the campus's new "eco-house." The eco-house will work to implement sustainable living guidelines and promote campus and community awareness of environmental issues. Thanks to the EPA fellowship, Butler can tailor her Knox experience to her personal goal, which, she says, "is to promote public education and appreciation for natural resources and enforce sustainable resource management techniques in areas of high ecological risk."

Sophomore Daniel Hoffman Selected as Kemper Scholar
Daniel Hoffman '08 has been selected as a 2006 Kemper Scholar. The program, sponsored by The James S. Kemper Foundation of Chicago, selects outstanding students at an elite group of liberal arts colleges to promote the development of leadership and service in the areas of business and administration.  "This summer, I am doing research and working with an advisor from the Kemper Foundation, to select a non-profit organization in the Chicago area where I'll be employed next summer," Hoffman said. He will receive scholarships for the next three academic years, and a stipend for the summer following his sophomore year. Read more . . .

First Knox Woman Wins Midwest Conference Sportsmanship Award
Monyca Fisher, a sophomore softball player from Zion, Illinois, was named the 2006 Midwest Conference (MWC) Female Sportsmanship Award Winner. Selected by the MWC Awards and Recognition Committee, the MWC Sportsmanship Award honors the top female during the past academic year for consistently demonstrating good sportsmanship and ethical behavior throughout their intercollegiate participation during the season. Read more . . .

All Midwest Conference Honors
Twenty-three Knox student-athletes made the Midwest Conference's Academic All-Conference list. Candidates for Academic All-Conference must have a sophomore standing, a cumulative 3.2 GPA, and have lettered in a spring sport. Read more . . .

Elomaa Conducts Summer Research with the Help of McNair Program
Those who know Knox College senior Heather Elomaa might say that she is always on the move. And this summer is no exception. Just weeks after completing a study abroad program at the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, Italy, Elomaa, a Latin and Greek major, set off on yet another journey. This time her voyage was to Philadelphia where she is working with a top scholar at the University of Pennsylvania in Roman Antiquities to conduct research on the treatment of prostitutes in Roman satire. Her project is supported by the McNair Fellowship Program, a program designed for eligible students who plan to pursue a Ph.D. in hopes of becoming professors.



Faculty & Staff News

Science Faculty Host Second Girls Summer Science Camp

Emily Jackson '08, left, helps two students with a robotics project at Knox during the Knox Summer Science Camp for girls. Reprinted with per- mission of The Register-Mail. Photo by Kent Kriegshauser.

For the second year in a row, Knox College science faculty hosted the Girls Summer Science Camp on June 12-16, 2006. Made possible by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant, which Knox received in 2004, the camp was offered free-of-charge to selected girls in junior high and introduced them to the world of scientific inquiry. Twelve girls from around the country attended this year's science camp and participated in hands-on science projects in Knox's science laboratories and at the Green Oaks Biological field station. John Dooley, associate professor of computer science, Judy Thorn, associate professor of biology, Mary Crawford '89, associate professor of chemistry, and Peter Schwartzman, associate professor of environmental studies, participated in the camp. Read more . . .

Muelder Book on Underground Railroad to be Published
Years of researching and writing have paid off for Owen Muelder '63, director of the Galesburg Colony Underground Railroad Freedom Station at Knox College. His book, The Western Illinois Underground Railroad: Lights in the Sky, Lamps on the Prairie, which traces the history of the Underground Railroad in Western Illinois, including Galesburg and Knox College, will be published by McFarland Press of Jefferson, North Carolina. "I am delighted and gratified to know that the neglected story of the Underground Railroad in Western Illinois and the important connections it has to Knox College and Galesburg will be more widely known," says Muelder. Read more about the Galesburg Colony Underground Railroad Freedom Station at Knox College . . .

Walden Accepts Position at St. Ambrose
Kevin Walden '01, sports information director and assistant men's basketball coach, accepted a position as an assistant coach at St. Ambrose University, a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II school in Davenport, Iowa. In his new position, which begins in August, Walden will serve as the assistant varsity and head junior varsity men's basketball coach, while also pursuing his master's degree in Organizational Leadership. Read more . . .

Faculty & Staff Notes

On May 28-31, 2006, Carol Chase, professor of modern languages, attended a special conference on medieval and 16th-century Romance, held in Jerusalem, Israel, where she presented a paper entitled "Links in Time in the Lancelot-Grail Cycle."

Karen Kampwirth '86, associate professor of political science, recently returned from Nicaragua, where she traveled as part of The Nicaragua Network's delegation of academics and representatives of human rights and solidarity groups. The delegation investigated the role of the U.S. government in Nicaragua's presidential election scheduled for November 5, 2006.


Advancement News

Look to your mailboxes . . . for the next issue of Knox Magazine!
The Fall 2006 issue of Knox Magazine is set to arrive in your mailboxes in early August. Don't miss this latest issue, which focuses on Knox and the Middle East and is guest edited by Professors Roy Andersen, Robert Seibert '63, and Jon Wagner. Read about the eighth edition of the acclaimed textbook Politics and the Middle East, diplomats Joseph Sisco '41 and Ismat Kittani '51, 2005 graduate Mike Boettcher's travels in the Middle East, and alumni currently serving in the armed forces.

If you haven't received your Fall 2006 issue by early September, it's more than likely that Knox doesn't have your current address. Please contact the editor or the Advancement office in order to update your address.

Read Knox Magazine online . . .


Contact Us
Submissions or responses to the Gizmogram should be made to the editor at gizmogram@knox.edu. Submissions may be edited for space.

Editor
Megan Scott '96

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