News

• The Alumnus Behind the College's Largest Single Gift
  
• College Unveils New Marketing Campaign
• Professors Appointed to Endowed Chairs
• Morse Library Exhibits Early Texts on Natural History
• Campus Landmark Restored
• 8 Class Presidents, 32 Editors, and a Puffin Mascot
• Inaugural PLUS Students Welcomed at Beloit
• Dancers Win International Competition
• New on Campus This Fall: Shiny Bicycles
• Beloiter Nabs Major Graduate Scholarship
• Four Elected to Athletic Hall of Honor
• Candidate Kerry Makes Beloit Stop
• Thanks, Readers, for Your Opinions

The Alumnus Behind the College's Largest Single Gift

Photo courtesy of Carol Carlson

Richard Nystrom'43 in his ROTC uniform, shortly before he enrolled at Beloit. Nystrom's bequest is the largest single gift in College history.

This fall, the College received a bequest from Richard Nystrom'43 of Pacific Palisades, Calif., who died last year. The $2.54 million - the largest single gift in college history - will be used to establish an academic chair in support of the fine arts. "This gift will have a great and lasting impact on the College's outstanding fine arts programs," said President John Burris, when he announced the news during fall convocation.

Richard Nystrom was a professor of art and architectural history for Los Angeles Valley College for 36 years. He also practiced architecture, designing or consulting on several campus buildings where he taught, and accepting residential commissions in California. He invested wisely in commercial and residential real estate and published articles on architecture. Early in his career, he spent six months in South America, tracing and mapping the ancient Inca roads through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. He traveled extensively and was also interested in the sacred buildings of Bhutan and the archaeological sites of Egypt.

As an infant, Nystrom was found on a family's doorstep in Dixon, Ill., and was adopted by Freeda and Ernest Nystrom, of Rockford, Ill. He came to Beloit with the class of 1944 but accelerated his studies when Pearl Harbor was bombed during his sophomore year. He studied physical chemistry so that he could qualify for an elite officer training program in the U.S. Navy.

After his service, he continued to pursue his education, changing his area of focus from chemistry to art and architecture. He earned a second bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a doctorate, all from the University of California. He maintained that his most valued Beloit experiences were inspired by Professor of Art Philip Barrows Whitehead'06.

Nystrom also had a substantial family connection to Beloit through his first cousins, three siblings who were all Beloiters - the late Shirley Peterson-White'47, Fred Peterson'51, and the late Mary Peterson Keefer'55. Earlier, Nystrom established a Beloit scholarship fund named for Peterson-White.

In correspondence spanning decades, Nystrom gave unwavering credit for all accomplishments to Ginger Nystrom, his wife of 56 years who died in 2000. The academic chair will be named the Richard and Ginger Nystrom Professorship.

College Unveils New Marketing Campaign

Beloit retired the "Invent Yourself" theme in recruitment materials when a new set of publications for prospective students debuted this summer along with a redesigned Web site, which went online in early fall.

The "Invent Yourself" slogan has been replaced by "Beloit. Otherwise known as life," a concept that relates the diverse opportunities at Beloit to the all-encompassing, complicated realities of life.

"While 'Invent Yourself' has been a transforming, powerful message, it is one that has been in use for a number of years," says Nancy Monnich, vice president for enrollment services. "In those intervening years, the demographics of college-bound students have changed and so have the marketing strategies of colleges and universities.

"Through focus group research with high school juniors in suburban Chicago and Washington, D.C., we learned that today's students have become increasingly cynical about materials that are glowingly positive," she explains. "They also want to know that their college education will not be experienced in a vacuum and that the liberal arts in particular are relevant to today's world."

The new publications and Web site take a light-hearted swipe at the canned presentations typical in many college promotional pieces. They also feature stories about faculty, current students, and recent graduates that demonstrate the potential of a Beloit education to transform and inspire.

Call the Office of Admissions at 1-800-9-BELOIT to request a view book.

Professors Appointed to Endowed Chairs

Two senior faculty members have been appointed to fill endowed professorships at Beloit. These appointments constitute the highest recognition for academic performance at the College.

Nancy McDowell, professor of anthropology, has been named the William S. Godfrey, Jr. Professor of Anthropology, and Donna Oliver, professor of modern languages and literatures, has been appointed to the Martha Peterson Chair for Distinguished Faculty Service.

McDowell received her B.A. in anthropology from the University of Illinois-Urbana and her M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from Cornell University. In 1994, after more than 20 years of teaching at Franklin & Marshall College, where she also served as associate dean of the college, she came to Beloit as vice president for academic affairs/dean of the College and professor of anthropology. Under her leadership, the College completed a curriculum review and re-accreditation assessment and increased the size of the faculty and the number of minority faculty. In 1997, McDowell returned to full-time teaching in the anthropology department.

Oliver earned her BA in Russian and international studies from Indiana University and her MA and Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literatures from Northwestern University prior to joining the Beloit faculty in 1989. She was promoted to associate professor in 1995 and to full professor in 2001. In 2004, she was one of two Beloit recipients of the Underkofler Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, which is based on student nominations and given only to five faculty members at private colleges annually throughout Wisconsin.

Morse Library Exhibits Early Texts on Natural History

From The Birds of America by John James Audubon.

For several days this fall, an extraordinary collection of rare science books took up residence at Beloit. On loan from the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology in Kansas City, Mo., the collection included books on 20 of the most significant scientific contributions throughout history, including Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man, and John James Audubon's The Birds of America.

Natural history was a popular subject for the earliest printed books, which are important not only for recording breakthroughs in science, such as the first description of what was seen under a microscope, but also for their intricate engravings.

Bruce Bradley, the Linda Hall Library's historian of science and special collections, delivered a keynote address called "Four-Footed Beasts and Forest Trees: A Tour Through Five Centuries of Natural History Books" as part of the program. Bradley visited classes, and students in the museum studies program assisted him in installing the exhibit.

The Linda Hall Library is the largest privately owned science library in the country with more than 40,000 titles in its collection. Included are landmarks of science and technology that are recognized for their groundbreaking ideas, presentation of discoveries, and seminal influence.

This was the first time such a collection has been loaned by the Hall Library. Arthur Elman'66, a member of Beloit's board of trustees, is past president of the Friends of the Linda Hall Library, and he was instrumental in arranging the loan for Beloit.

Jim Lyga

8 Class Presidents, 32 Editors, and A Puffin Mascot

This fall, Beloit welcomed 332 first-years and 38 transfer students who hail from nearly every corner of the United States and 21 countries. The class of 2008 enters with a strong academic record: the average ACT score is 27, and about 40 percent graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class. The new students as a group are also beginning to reverse a gender trend where women were increasingly outnumbering men students at Beloit. The new class is made up of 54 percent women and 46 percent men. Approximately 10 percent of new students are American under-represented minorities, another 10 percent come from outside the United States, and, in all, 17 percent are citizens of countries outside the United States.

Numbers only tell part of the story: Who are they?

The Class of 2008

Interests:

Some have already either studied abroad or participated in volunteer programs in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Spain, Thailand, and Wales. More than 40 percent plan to play varsity sports while at Beloit. Others have already played on a curling team, started a record company, assembled a rocket payload for NASA, figure-skated competitively in Russia, earned a black belt in karate, rowed in Boston's Head of the Charles, and donned a puffin costume as mascot of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md.

Home countries:

Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Russia, Syria, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States.

High school accomplishments:

National Honor Society members: 112
Class presidents: 8
Team captains: 27
Varsity letter-winners: 117
Editors of student newspapers/literary magazines: 32
Community service project participants: 225
Eagle Scouts/Girl Scout Gold Award winners: 11
Valedictorians: 9

Inaugural PLUS Students Welcomed at Beloit

Liz Woolery'06

(From left) Lina Gomaa of Egypt, Marah Alabweh of Jordan, Kamel Hubail of Bahrain, Mohammed Quazzani of Morocco, and Numa Ali of Syria (not shown) will complete their final two years as undergraduates at Beloit through the Partnership for Learning in Undergraduate Studies program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State.

Students from Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco enrolled at Beloit this fall, part of an inaugural group of students in the "Partnership for Learning in Undergraduate Studies" (PLUS) program, a new U.S. Department of State program for North African and Middle Eastern undergraduates. Part of the Partnerships for Learning initiative of the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the program has brought a total of 71 students to study at 10 select American universities and colleges with strong liberal arts philosophies.

The expectation is that the students will reach a "greater understanding of the U.S. political system, society, and culture" while finishing their baccalaureate degrees.

Outstanding students who finished their first two years of undergraduate work in their home countries were selected by bi-national committees to participate in the program, which offers full scholarships. The program is designed for students in the liberal arts, humanities, and social sciences from underserved regions and social groups that have demonstrated leadership potential. Each student has also demonstrated a strong commitment to returning to their home country to make a difference.

Beloit is one of the smallest of the U.S. institutions to host students in this premier class. Others include the Universities of Alabama, Arkansas, and Nebraska; state colleges in Montana, Oregon, and New Jersey; and Sweet Briar, Juniata, and Denison colleges.

Daniel Smith'04

Dancers Win International Competition

Twelve Beloit students, under the direction of Profs. of Dance Chris Johnson and Margaret Rennerfeldt, won the Laureate Grand Prix - the top prize - at the seventh annual "Festival of Dance Collective: The Unity of Russia," an international youth dance festival in Moscow, Russia, in June. Prof. Johnson was also recognized with a special citation for examining universal human events for "Wreath of Memories," a dance piece she choreographed about children during the Holocaust. The dance was originally performed in the Chelonia dance concert, but it has received encore performances in Russia and in Washington, D.C., at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

New on Campus This Fall: Shiny Bicycles

As a first-year student, Christopher Wintrode shipped his bike to campus from his Eagle River, Alaska, home, only to have it stolen when he forgot to lock it one day later that year.

As he looked for economical ways to replace the bike, he found his only option was to spend more money on a new one.

In his predicament was the nub of a great idea.

It led him to start Beloit College Rentals, a student-run business that rents new bikes for the year for only $50.

N. Marie Dries'92

Christopher Wintrode'06 (left) and Craig Hadley'06 are behind the resurgence of bicycling on campus.

Now a junior, Wintrode is running one of the first student-operated businesses to come out of the Center for Entrepreneurship in Liberal Education at Beloit (known by its acronym, CELEB) and is among the first to receive a grant from the Coleman Foundation, as well as funding and accessories from the local WalMart.

The business started full force this fall with a fleet of 60 bikes. Only a couple of weeks into the semester, Wintrode and his associate, Craig Hadley, a junior from Indianapolis, Ind., had put their entire inventory into service.

"We realized there really wasn't a resource for bikes, and without them, there's no way students can be spontaneous and go places off campus," Wintrode says.

First-year and international students have rented most of the bikes, but students of all ages and members of the Beloit community can arrange for a rental on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wintrode first took his idea for the rental business directly to College President John Burris and Director of Residential Life John Winkelmann. After finding initial encouragement, he says everything fell into place once he attended an informational meeting about CELEB last year.

"I went there because I was curious about what the College was doing downtown," he explains. "After hearing about the incubator for new student-run businesses, I was really interested, so I joined a planning committee of students who helped decide how different aspects of it would run," he says. "After that, I knew I wanted to be involved."

After working out the viability of his idea with Prof. of Economics and Management Jerry Gustafson, who directs the center, he completed his business plan.

Wintrode and Hadley want to see the business continue long after they've graduated. They hope to build it up and then pass the reins to the next generation of students.

"It's spurring some cool things," Wintrode says of the service, "like a new bike club on campus, and the College has plans to install new bike racks. Suddenly, there are bikes everywhere."

Beloiter Nabs Major Graduate Scholarship

Nana Sarkoah Fenny'04 (below, center) received a coveted Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, one of the most competitive and generous graduate scholarships available today.

Bob Rashid

Of 1,226 applicants, she was one of 39 to win the scholarship, which she is using to pursue an M.D. degree at the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine.

Worth as much as $300,000 for graduate study, the scholarship provides full financial support of up to $50,000 per year for as many as six years.

At Beloit, Fenny compiled a 3.86 GPA, earned honors in biochemistry, and graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Her senior thesis described the use of kinetic isotopes and pH effects in evaluating mutations in bacterial enzymes.

Fenny, 25, says her career goals were influenced by her early experiences, when she lived in a remote Ghana village amid tropical diseases that ran rampant.

At the University of Chicago, she is working toward a combined MD and master of public health degree. After she completes the program, she plans to return to her native Ghana to provide medical services in rural areas.

Jack Kent Cooke left his fortune to establish the graduate scholarships, which are as competitive as the Rhodes, Marshall, and Truman scholarships.

"We developed this program to offer outstanding individuals the financial freedom to pursue their highest calling through advanced education," said Dr. Matthew J. Quinn, the foundation's executive director and a former college president. "In this group, we have found 39 of the finest students in America, and we expect they will make tremendous contributions to their professions and communities."

Four Elected to Athletic Hall of Honor

The gridiron, pool, diamond, and hardcourt are sports venues dominated by four Beloiters who will be inducted into the College's Athletic Hall of Honor on Saturday, Jan. 29.

The 2005 inductees are: Steve Dixon'94 of Walworth, Wis., all-American running back and all-time Buccaneer leading rusher; Karen Walker Proesel'93 of Chicago, Ill., all-conference selection in both basketball and softball; Jon Reitman'86 of Rockford, Ill., all-American swimmer and undefeated sprinter in dual-meet races, and Tom Snapp'84 of Bristol, Tenn., all-conference basketball player and standout on three consecutive league championships.

Their induction at an on-campus dinner following a basketball doubleheader with Knox will increase the shrine's membership to 99. The oldest in Wisconsin, the Beloit Hall of Fame was founded in 1963.

Having gained 4,792 yards, Dixon finished his career as the fourth best rusher in NCAA Division III history and tops among all-collegiate runners in Wisconsin. He was a four-time all-conference selection, and as a senior was the Midwest league's North Division Offensive Player of the Year. He also became only the third NCAA III player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons. In leading the Bucs to three straight conference divisional titles and a 26-13 record, Dixon received Champion All-America honorable mention as a junior and senior.

Proesel was a four-year starter in basketball and a three-year regular in softball. On the hardcourt, she was a three-time team MVP who scored 1,110 points and became the career leader in assists (532), steals (292), and free-throws made (335) as the Bucs posted a 58-32 record. She won all-conference recognition three times, being named to the first-team twice. In softball as a senior, she was all-conference and Beloit's Defensive Player of the Year and co-captain.

Reitman was a free-style sprinter who won All-American ranking by placing ninth nationally as a junior and 12th as a senior in the 100 yards and also competing in the national 50-yard event both years. The sprint specialist was Midwest Conference champion and record holder in the 50 and 100 as a junior, and a repeat titlist in the latter as a senior. He was the runner-up in the league in the 50 to a swimmer who broke the NCAA III record.

Snapp was a patient, team-oriented 6-4 forward who totaled 1,000 points and 420 rebounds and helped the Bucs to a 76-23 record. In addition to the three conference crowns, Beloit participated in three consecutive NCAA III regional tournaments. Snapp earned all-conference honors in his last two years. As a junior, he was team MVP; as a senior, he was co-MVP and Defensive Player of the Year and finished second in both scoring and rebounding.

A former kindergarten teacher, Proesel is an assistant basketball coach at Maine South, her high-school alma mater.

All three men are in public service: Dixon is a law-enforcement officer with the Harvard (Ill.) police department; Snapp an FBI special agent, and Reitman a member of the Rockford Fire Department's fire prevention bureau and former firefighter and paramedic.

Current Buccaneer athletes also will be recognized at the dinner. Interested alumni and friends of the College should contact the Alumni Office (800-331-4943 or email armitage@beloit.edu) for reservations and more information.

Candidate Kerry Makes Beloit Stop

Presidential candidate John Kerry visited the city of Beloit in August as part of a two-week tour of 21 states that followed on the heels of the Democratic National Convention. Held at the Edwards Pavilion and Sports Complex in Telfer Park, the event was billed as an invitation-only town meeting, attended by about 1,000 people.

Bob Rashid

Prof. Ann Davies (political science) takes questions from journalists after hearing John Kerry speak in Beloit last August.

College President John Burris, former College President Victor E. Ferrall, Jr., and Ferrall's wife, Linda Smith, a close friend of Teresa Heinz Kerry's, were all in the pavilion audience. For Heinz Kerry, who accompanied her husband, it was a return visit to Beloit. In 1992, she delivered the Beloit College Commencement address, which focused on environmental issues. At the time, she was both vice chair of the Environmental Defense Fund and chair of the Howard Heinz Endowment. The College awarded Teresa Heinz an honorary degree that day, alongside poet Li-Young Lee, former Beloit College President Roger H. Hull, and Trustee Elbert H. Neese.

Ann Davies, associate professor of political science, was also in the audience to hear Kerry's remarks. She offered analysis and commentary to members of the local and regional media for several days following the event.

Kerry was the first presidential hopeful to make a stop in Beloit since 1988, when Michael Dukakis spoke to a crowd of townspeople and Beloit College students. John F. Kennedy included Beloit among his campaign stops in 1960, as did his opponent, Richard Nixon, who returned to Beloit before the 1968 election.

Thanks, Readers, for Your Opinions

Beloit College Magazine thanks everyone who responded to our recent reader survey. A total of 1,500 readers, chosen in a random sample, were asked to give opinions about the magazine over the past year, and a respectable 12 percent responded to our questions. The results:

. 94% said they felt better informed about the College after reading the magazine.
. The section most widely read in its entirety was the news.
. Of the past three issues, the most popular feature story was On Hallowed Ground, an article about the campus Indian mounds by William Green, director of the Logan Museum of Anthropology.

We also asked respondents to rank the magazine for:

Overall content
90% ranked it very good or good

Quality of writing
91% ranked it very good or good

Design
88% ranked it very good or good

Photography
95% ranked it very good or good

In an open-ended request for feedback, we received many hand-written comments about the magazine. Overall, these responses were very positive and offered everything from story ideas to compliments to suggestions for improvement. Some readers requested more articles about current students, contemporary campus life, and stories by more alumni authors. Others wanted to see fewer wedding photos, but more substantive class notes. Most said they enjoyed reading the class notes entries for their class year and the years surrounding it, and they wished that more would be submitted and included. Others were hungry for controversy. "It's all so rosy," one reader wrote. "That's good, but I also get the Brown University magazine, and at least one article gets people riled up enough to write in to the editors. Aren't there any more radical thinkers at Beloit?"

We welcome comments about the survey or about anything else you read in Beloit College Magazine. Write to belmag@beloit.edu; or to Beloit College Magazine, Office of Public Affairs, 700 College St., Beloit, WI 53511. Letters for publication must be signed and may be edited for length, style, and clarity.

EMAIL:

Susan Kasten - Editor, Beloit College Magazine