Class Notes
1940’s
Daniel A. Saunders '48
Bedford, OH
Daniel celebrated his 90th birthday in August 2017.
1960’s
Rudolph O. Karsch '66
Vesuvius, VA
Rudy organized and led a medical team to Nepal in February and March 2017, bringing relief to survivors of the April 2015 earthquake. The team set up three clinics and treated more than 1,000 patients.
Michael Lubin ‘68
New York, NY
Michael was invited to speak at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Rome on whether connectivity should be a human right. An executive in the telecommunications and semiconductor industries for some 40 years, he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics at Case Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in physics at Yale University.
During the 1980s, he was a leader in the development of Ku-band VSATs, a satellite communications system for home and business users. A company he founded patented a cellphone with an Internet Protocol (IP) address—a device some regard as the first smartphone. Since 2005, Lubin has been vice president–corporate development and senior advisor at ViaSat, where he is involved with emerging uses of broadband connectivity.
Jim Treleaven ’69, PhD ‘90
Glen Ellyn, IL
Jim, the President and CEO of Via Strategy Group, has many years’ experience advising boards of directors and top executives on growth and turnaround strategies, especially when the CEO must be replaced. Now he’s sharing his uncommon insight in a new book, X-Formation: Transforming Business through Interim Executive Leadership. It’s on sale via Amazon.com.
1970’s
Marc E. Milstein '72
Austin, TX
Marc joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as vice president of information resources and chief information officer.
Dominique M. Durand MS '76
Shaker Heights, OH
Dominique, the Elmer Lincoln Lindseth Professor of Biomedical Engineering, was featured on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering website for his article, "Carbon Yarn Taps Nerves for Electroceutical Treatments and Diagnostics."
William D. Gropp '77
Urbana, IL
Bill is Director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rebecca S. Williams (Strosser) '79, MBA '93
Cary, NC
Rebecca is president of Lord Corp.’s Aerospace & Defense Industry Group. The company develops and manufactures high-performance adhesive products.
1980’s
Daniel A. Singleton ‘80
College Station, TX
Daniel, the Davidson Professor of Science and professor of chemistry at Texas A&M University, received a 2018 Distinguished Achievement in Research Award from the university’s alumni association.
John P. Vourlis ‘84
Wickliffe, OH
John is the director of Breaking Balls, a documentary about the game of bocce ball and its place in Italian American culture. The film premiered at the 2017 Cleveland International Film Festival and is now available on DVD and from digital streaming outlets.
Gina K. Beim P.E. MS'87, MSM '04
Shaker Heights, OH
Gina received the 2017 Outstanding Civil Engineering Award from the Cleveland section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She founder and president of MCDA Consulting, LLC, a marketing and decision-support consultant for companies in the engineering and manufacturing industries,
Scott Hotes ‘87
Freeport, ME
Scott was named chief technology officer at TeenSafe, a software firm whose products enable parents to monitor their children’s smartphone use.
Patricia Hubbard ‘89
Olmsted Township, Ohio
Patricia has been appointed senior vice president and chief technology officer at Cabot Corporation in Boston.
Michael Jirousek, PhD '89
Boston MA
Michael, the Chief Operating Officer of Frequency Therapeutics, was recently named the Department of Chemistry's Outstanding Alumnus. Prior to Frequency, he co-founded Catabasis Pharmaceuticals and served as Chief Scientific Officer, where his contributions helped create several potential new therapeutics and guide the company to an IPO in 2015. During his almost 30-year career, Michael has overseen hundreds of R&D programs and has brought more than 15 new therapeutics from discovery into clinical study to address muscular dystrophy, dyslipidemia, cancer and a variety of metabolic diseases.
Victor Ryzhov , MS ’96, PhD ‘98
Dekalb, IL
Victor, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Illinois University, received a 2017 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award.
Amrou Salahieh '89
Palo Alto, CA
Amrou is the founder and CEO of Shifamed LLC, a privately held medical device incubator in Silicon Valley. Shifamed announced that Boston Scientific had purchased one of its portfolio companies, Apama Medical, for $175 million in cash up-front and a maximum of $125 million in contingent payments based on achievements of clinical and regulatory milestones.
1990’s
Sunniva R. Collins MS'91, PhD'95
Cleveland Heights, OH
Professor Sunniva Collins is the 2019 recipient of the Albert Sauveur Award from the ASM Philadelphia (Liberty Bell) Chapter. The Sauveur award recognizes "outstanding achievement in the Science of Materials” and service to the field. In November, Sunniva will deliver the annual Sauveur Lecture, based on her research, to the annual Sauveur Night meeting of the chapter.
Jon Goldsby PhD ‘96
Avon, Ohio
Jon was honored as Senior Technology Fellow of the year during the annual BEYA STEM Conference this spring, becoming one of the few NASA employees to be a two-time Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) winner. In 2012, he received the Outstanding Technical Contribution Award at BEYA for research on jet and turbine engine ceramic and metals.
Since he joined NASA in 1990, Jon he has served as a role model for minorities and women and worked with mentoring and educational programs that promote STEM careers, including the United Negro College Fund. In 1996 he earned his doctorate in materials science and engineering from the Case School of Engineering.
Andrew M. Rollins MS'97, PhD'00
Cleveland, Ohio
Biomedical Engineering Professor Andrew Rollins has been selected for entrepreneurial training through I-Corps@Ohio, an Ohio Department of Higher Education initiative created to advance research from the lab to market. He is the principal investigator on a research team that has developed a new method, based on optical coherence tomography, to detect and map corneal mechanical properties that requires no contact or disturbance of the cornea.
Colin K. Drummond, PhD MBA'97
Lakewood, Ohio
Colin Drummond, professor and assistant chair in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, authored Financial Decision-Making for Engineers from Yale University Press.
2000’s
Micah A. Litow '04, MEM'05
Evanston, IL
Micah is chief marketing and business development officer of Preora Diagnostics, Inc., a medical technology company developing cancer-screening tests.
2010’s
Emily Hoffman '11
Brooklyn, NY
Emily received the Society of Women's Engineers' (SWE) Outstanding Collegiate Member award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to SWE, the engineering community and a college campus. She helped found the graduate SWE group at Northwestern University and serves as programming coordinator for GradSWE. She was also active in SWE at CWRU.
Luis Solorio PhD '12
University Heights, OH
Luis helped create a lifelike cancer environment out of polymer to better predict how drugs might stop its course. He worked in Agata Exner's Lab in the Department of Radiology of the School of Medicine.
Junliang (Julian) Tao PhD ‘13
Akron, OH
Junliang, an assistant professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Akron, received a National Science Foundation CAREER award, which recognizes and supports young faculty deemed likely to become academic leaders of the 21st century. He leads a research team awarded $500,000 for a five-year study of the burrowing mechanisms of animals to guide design for underground construction technologies.
Ye (Sara) Sun PhD ‘14
Houghton, MI
Ye, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University, received a National Science Foundation CAREER award, which supports young faculty deemed likely to become academic leaders of the 21st century. She leads a team awarded $330,500 to study strategies to enhance the reliability and precision of wearable electronics with healthcare applications.
Olga V. Eliseeva '16
Houston, TX
Olga is one of three graduate students on the board of trustees for ASM International, a professional organization for materials scientists and engineers.
Michaela B. Cooley '17
Canton, OH
Michaela, a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) candidate, won the Student Research Award from the Society for Biomaterials Drug Delivery Special Interest Group.