Class Notes
1960s
Sheldon 鈥淪helly鈥 Brodsky, BBA 鈥64, MBA 鈥70, Beachwood, Ohio, is recently retired and has filled in the gap between 1964 and 2020 with the following careers: US Navy Supply Officer, President and COO Cleveland Cliffs Steamship Company, CEO of The Leader Mortgage Company, and part-time adjunct faculty at Case Western Reserve University, Ursuline College, Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College. He has been married to Beverly for 54 years, and they have two adult children.
Walter Yingling, BS 鈥65, MEd 鈥67, PhD 鈥71, Columbus, Ohio, wrote, 鈥淢y memories of May 4, 1970, appeared in our weekly Friendship Village Update. After 麻豆影院 State, I went on for a career as an elementary principal in Ashtabula, Ohio, Washington, D.C., and Boardman, Ohio. I was also one of the five founders of the Ohio Elementary School Administrators Lobbying arm and was VP until I retired. We lobbied for the students. (鈥業f they don鈥檛 get a good start, the rest may be difficult,鈥 I told my PhD committee.) I could not have asked for a better experience than my years at KSU, especially for my PhD that I was so blessed to have.鈥
Phil Hathaway, BA 鈥67, Owosso, Mich., wrote, 鈥淢y book, A History of the Shiawassee River, was published in May 2020. It covers the geologic and geographic influences that fostered Native American life and early Euro-American enterprise based on water power. The history proceeds to the use of river water for industry, the degradation of the resource, and its recovery from the early 1970s鈥 environmental legislation. Quality of life and navigation enter into the final chapter with observations about our connection to history. After a career in urban planning, the Shiawassee River has consumed my retirement, with volunteerism for improved water quality and recreational access.鈥
David Duda, BS 鈥68, Cooper City, Fla., was elected onto the Board of Directors of the International Swimming Hall of Fame in May 2019.
Terrence O鈥橠onnell, BA 鈥68, Rocky River, Ohio, has joined Brouse McDowell, a business law firm based in northern Ohio, on an Of Counsel capacity focusing on alternative dispute resolution and appellate matters. Justice O鈥橠onnell served on the Supreme Court of Ohio from 2003-2018 and is one of Ohio鈥檚 longest-serving justices. During his time on the Court, he led statewide efforts to promote integrity and professionalism in law, leading the creation of a nationally recognized Lawyer-to-Lawyer Mentoring Program. Justice O鈥橠onnell also served on the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for 14 years and the Eighth District Court of Appeals for eight years.
Barry Lubetkin, PhD 鈥69, New York City, is the director and founder of The Institute for Behavior Therapy in Manhattan in 1971. Board-certified in both clinical psychology and behavioral psychology, he is the author of numerous academic and popular articles as well as two popular self-help books: Bailing Out and Why Do I Need You to Love Me in Order to Like Myself?. He also has recorded the popular insomnia treatment CD set 鈥淒r. Barry's Sound Asleep.鈥 His article, 鈥淐OVID-19: Will You Feel Guilty That You Did Nothing?鈥 was posted on PsychologyToday.com in May. (See .)
1970s
Michael Chanak Jr., BS 鈥71, Cincinnati, Ohio, LGBTQ+ activist and former Proctor and Gamble employee, appears in the short film They Will See You: LGBTQ+ Visibility in Advertising, created by P&G in partnership with Great Big Story. The film explores the history of LBGTQ+ advertising and highlights the inspirational people whose lives have been impacted by seeing their stories represented on screen. (See .)
In May 2020, Chanak was part of a P&G/CNN virtual press conference with Kate Bolduan, CNN moderator; Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of GLAAD; Brent Miller, P&G LGBTQ Global Equality Leader; and Marc Pritchard, P&G Chief of Brands, where the film was introduced.
He was one of the people profiled in the June 2020 issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine in a P&G spread for Pride month. P&G also asked him to contribute his perspective on their website in response to the June 15, 2020 ruling by the US Supreme Court, which states that an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (See .) And he was listed in 鈥淭he Moments that Shaped Cincinnati鈥檚 LGBTQ History鈥 in the June 2020 issue of Cincinnati Magazine. (See .)
Thomas J. Friel, BBA 鈥71, Augusta, Ga., wrote, 鈥淚 volunteer at Golden Master's Table every week to help the needy. We feed 250 to 300 people each day.鈥
Marjory M. Pizzuti, BA 鈥72, Columbus, Ohio, who has served as president and CEO of Goodwill Columbus since 2005, announced her plans to retire in August. Pizzuti鈥檚 executive leadership experience in the community spans 40 years. Prior to joining Goodwill, she served for a decade as senior vice president of strategic marketing and community development at Nationwide Children鈥檚 Hospital and held key leadership positions for more than 20 years in economic development and tourism marketing, communications and public affairs for the State of Ohio and City of Columbus.
During her tenure at Goodwill, Pizzuti has guided the agency through the most significant growth in its 80-year history. She will continue serving in her current role through the completion of the search for her successor, which is anticipated to happen in the first quarter of 2021.
Carter Strang, BS 鈥73, MEd 鈥79, Shaker Heights, Ohio, partner in the law firm Tucker Ellis, was elected chair of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) Board of Directors effective July 1, 2020. He is a member of CCWA鈥檚 education committee and a longstanding participant in CCWA鈥檚 programs. CCWA鈥檚 mission is to inspire engagement in international affairs and world cultures through education, citizen diplomacy and civic dialogue.
Gary Fincke, PhD 鈥74, Selisgrove, Pa., wrote the essay, 鈥淎fter the Three-Moon Era,鈥 which originally appeared in the Kenyon Review (see ) and has been selected to appear in Best American Essays 2020. A story, 鈥淭he Corridors of Longing,鈥 has been chosen to appear in Best Small Fictions 2020. His ninth collection of stories, The Sorrows, was published early this year, and his fourteenth collection of poems, The Mussolini Diaries, will be published in late 2020.
Daniel Gallik, MEd 鈥74, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, recently had his second novel, Love on Blue Waves, published by Halo Press. The book, which explores what love is really about, takes place in the Buckeye section of Cleveland in the sixties. His first novel, A Story of Dumb Fate, is about a child with disabilities who lived in the same neighborhood. Both novels are for sale at amazon.com. Gallik once attended seminars and poetry readings at the Kiva.
Michael N. Oser, BA 鈥75, Columbus, Ohio, is proud to announce that, after 30 years as a divorce attorney, he is also known as Marriage Mike, the publisher of Marriage Mike e-books 2021, with the intent of helping people avoid marital disharmony and follow a positive path towards happiness. Although his career as an attorney practicing criminal defense, juvenile and family law includes terminating marriages, he is now reflecting on what he has learned about keeping harmony in marital relationships from sociology professors at 麻豆影院 State, professional experiences, his first marriage and divorce, and his current marriage of 35 years. He is working on an e-book, A Guide to an Irish Wedding. If you have pictures, articles, or stories of an Irish wedding鈥攜ours or someone else鈥檚鈥攑lease email him at marriagemikeebooks2021@yahoo.com.
David J. Bronczek, BBA 鈥76, Johns Creek, Ga., has been appointed to the board of directors of Tyson Foods as of May 2020. Bronczek is the recently retired president and chief operating officer of FedEx Corporation, the global logistics and transportation company. He was part of FedEx for more than 40 years, starting as a courier and progressing into the company鈥檚 management ranks. His roles included leading FedEx Express in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and later serving for 17 years as president and CEO of FedEx Express. A native of Ohio, he also has experience as an independent public company director, previously serving on the board of International Paper, and he served as United Way Mid-South Board Chairman.
Edward R. Canda, BA 鈥76, Lawrence, Kan., retired as Professor Emeritus at the end of 2019 after 33 years as a social work professor, the last 30 at the University of Kansas. He also has an MA in religious studies (University of Denver) and MSW and PhD degrees (The Ohio State University). His work focused on two main areas: 1) creative responses to crisis, chronic illness and disability; 2) international perspectives on social welfare, with many collaborations in East Asia and Central Europe.
He established a life-long special interest in South Korea due to his Fulbright Award and Graduate Fellowship at Sungkyunkwan University, 1976-1977, arranged by his KSU advisor, Dr. Gerard Kennedy (in memoriam) and encouraged by the Honors College. He has more than 200 publications and more than 200 presentations.
In 2003, the KSU Honors College conferred him with the Honors College Alumni Award for Excellence in Scholarship. In 2013, the national Council on Social Work Education conferred him with the Significant Lifetime Achievement in Social Work Education Award.
Paul M. Hedeen, BA 鈥76, Monroe, Mich., wrote, 鈥淎fter taking my BA in English and a short stint in business, I returned to graduate school for an MA and PhD in English from the University of Akron and Northwestern University respectively. I went on to teach at the University of Maine at Fort 麻豆影院 (1990-1994) and Wartburg College (1994-2012) before finishing my career as an academic dean at Monroe County Community College. I won three teaching awards. I am also an award-winning writer (poetry and fiction) and a Fulbright scholar. My critical and creative writing has appeared in numerous magazines and journals including The North American Review, Confrontation, Rosebud, Philosophy and Literature, and many others.
鈥淚n addition to my most recent novel, The Butterfly (BHC, 2019), which is a 2019 Foreword INDIES Book Awards finalist, I have also published the novel The Knowledge Tree (Wide Water, 2013). I am the co-editor (with DG Myers) of the essay collection Unrelenting Readers: The New Poet-critics (Story Line, 2004), and I authored two poetry collections: When I Think 麻豆影院 Rain (Final Thursday, 2009) and Under a Night Sky, (Final Thursday, 2016).
鈥淚 began at KSU in Fall of 1971. Because the Vietnam War was not yet lost, KSU was a place full of active debate of and resistance to government policies. I worked at the Student Center with Mr. Dean Kahler, and I remember him as an articulate and courageous critic of the war and a defender of freedoms for which he鈥檇 already made a profound sacrifice. Like many young people, I was just beginning to understand these freedoms often come at a terrible price. I was lucky to be at KSU, a great school just beginning to shoulder its burden of history.鈥
David Schwartz, BA 鈥76, Cleveland, has spent the last 30 years in LA as a director/artist/writer in television animation. He has worked on numerous animated series, including Darkwing Duck, Johnny Bravo, The Simpsons, Rugrats and Bugs Bunny. He has spent most of his career at the Walt Disney Company and Warner Brothers Studios, but he has also worked at Dreamworks, the Cartoon Network, and drawn comics for DC and Marvel, among others. He retired last year and is currently an adjunct professor in the animation department at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Charles Lance Mathess, BS 鈥77, MPA 鈥78, Cody, Wyo., served over 30 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol having retired in 2009 after attaining the rank of Staff Lieutenant in the Strategic Services Section at General Headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. After retirement, he and his wife, Dianne, moved to Cody, Wyoming, where he served over nine years with the Park County Sheriff鈥檚 Office as their Public Affairs Officer and Search and Rescue Coordinator. He retired for good in February 2020. Says Mathess, 鈥淚 felt public service was my calling in life, and I am proud to have served over 40 years in law enforcement.鈥 He is an avid outdoorsman, hiker and hunter. He and Dianne have two grown children.
David Swartzlander, BA 鈥77, Seward, Neb., was inducted into the John A. Boyd Hall of Fame by College Media Association (CMA) at its National College Media Convention in November, 2019, in Washington, D.C. Swartzlander, an associate professor of practice in journalism at Doane University in Crete, Neb., served as vice president and president of CMA from 2009鈥2013. He also has served on various committees within the organization and presented numerous times at conventions. The award is the most prestigious honor given by CMA, recognizing longtime members whose dedication, commitment and sacrifice have contributed to the betterment and value of student media programs of both the campus and nation.
Swartzlander is one of 40 advisers to be honored in the organization's 66 years. He has taught journalism at Doane University for 22 years. He advised the student newspaper, yearbook and magazine for 21 years. He advised the website since its inception more than 15 years ago. Before Doane, Swartzlander worked as a journalist for daily newspapers in Ohio, Florida, New York and Nebraska. He retired in May 2020 from teaching at Doane University.
Gerald Canton, BA 鈥79, MA 鈥98, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, was reelected in November for a second term of office as a member of South Russell Village Council. He is also a member of the Chagrin Falls Village Schools substitute teaching staff. Canton and his wife, Darleane, who retired from KSU as an administrative assistant, enjoy visiting the 麻豆影院 Campus and attend sporting events and performing arts throughout the year. They are the parents of seven children and eleven grandchildren.
Donald Funk, BArc 鈥79, Canton, Ohio, wrote, 鈥淚n October of 2019, KSU Architecture Class of 1979 held their 40th Class Reunion in 麻豆影院. Events included a campus tour conducted by Marti Ring, a reception and state of the college talk by the dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design and a dinner downtown. It was attended by more than 30 returning classmates. Many of us had spent part of our fourth years in Florence, Italy, and traveling all over Europe. We plan on having our 45th Reunion in Fall 2024.鈥
Ronna S. Kaplan, MA 鈥79, Cleveland, was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) Board of Directors. In 1988, she began her clinical career at the renowned Cleveland Music Settlement, where she developed programming and treatment plans for children and families as part of an interdisciplinary team. She also lent her expertise to supervising interns and practicum students while undertaking community and medical setting research. Never one to shrink away from a challenge, Kaplan quickly assumed expanded responsibilities at the Settlement鈥攁s senior staff supervisor, quality assurance coordinator, director of the Music Therapy Department, and ultimately chair of the Center for Music Therapy, where she remained until her retirement in 2019.
Kaplan鈥檚 volunteerism for music therapy is as phenomenal as her clinical work. Regional highlights include president of the Association of Ohio Music Therapists & Ohio representative to the Great Lakes Region (GLR) board, editor of 鈥淰oices of the Lakes,鈥 GLR Assembly delegate, and GLR vice president. In addition, she served as scholarship chair for the Ohio Federation of Music Clubs. Nationally, she established and co-chaired the Early Childhood Music Therapy Network in 1994, while continuing to serve on the assembly.
In 2004, she was elected AMTA vice president elect, and went on to become vice president, president elect, president and past president on the Board of Directors. Kaplan has also contributed to AMTA in a wide array of other capacities including the Financial Advisory Board, Wilson Trust Advisory Committee, Diversity Task Force, MLE Subcommittee, and the Autism Task Force, in addition to serving on the CBMT Continuing Education Committee. She has gone on to chair the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA) and is presently an associate editor of Music Therapy Perspectives.
Connie Schultz, BA 鈥79, Cleveland, recently published a New York Time鈥檚 bestselling debut novel, The Daughters of Erietown. The novel, which explores the evolution of women鈥檚 lives during the second half of the 20th century, opens with a prologue set in 1975 as the college-bound protagonist is on a road trip to 麻豆影院 State, accompanied by her parents and younger brother.
On August 18, 2020, Schultz took part in 鈥淎 Conversation about Writing鈥 on the Zoom platform with fellow professor and author Jacqueline Marino discussing her latest novel, writing careers and advice for students and alumni. (See .)
Schultz won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2005 for her column in the Plain Dealer, as well as such prestigious awards as the National Headliner Award for Commentary, the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Commentary, the Batten Medal, the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Social Justice Reporting and more.
In 2016, she joined the 麻豆影院 State College of Communication and Information and teaches as professional-in-residence in the newly named School of Media and Journalism. Currently she is a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate and teaches courses in the journalism sequence.
She is the author of two previous nonfiction books, a collection of her columns, Life Happens: And Other Unavoidable Truths and the memoir 鈥nd His Lovely Wife documenting her time campaigning with her husband, US Senator Sherrod Brown.
Sara Lukose-Silver, MEd 鈥79, PhD 鈥83, White Plains, NY, wrote, 鈥淪ince 2001, I have been a senior research associate at Measurement Incorporated in White Plains. I manage longitudinal evaluation studies in education (K-16), labor, health, and public policy for local, state and federal agencies. Before 2001, I managed school-to-work programs for local educational agencies and also served as assistant professor at several universities. Today, as I approach the tail end of my career, I mentor junior researchers, write grant proposals and provide professional development. I am available to KSU graduates for pro-bono career counseling. Write Saralukose5@yahoo.com.鈥