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of Nursing have been selected
as 2010 American Academy
of Nursing Fellows—Alumna
Mary Jo Gilmer, associate
professor at Vanderbilt University;
Jeanette Klemczak,
fi rst chief nurse executive for
the state of Michigan and an
adjunct faculty member in the
MSU College of Nursing; and
Ardith Doorenbos, assistant
professor at the University of
Washington School of Nursing
and former post doctoral
student at the MSU College
of Nursing.
MSU is the first four-year
institution in the country to
earn full certification from the
National College Testing Association.
MSU’s Testing Office
administers more than 500
different “high-stakes” exams to
15,000 people each year.
NEW FACES ON CAMPUS
Mark Burnham, associate
vice president for governmental
affairs in Washington, DC,
has been named vice president
for governmental affairs. He
succeeds Steven Webster, who
is now CEO and chairman of
Prima Civitas Foundation, a
non-profit organization serving
the state of Michigan.
Mark Haas, chief deputy
treasurer of the State of Michigan
since 2007, has been named
MSU assistant vice president
for Business. He will serve as
MSU’s chief financial officer. In
his previous role, Haas oversaw
more than 1,300 employees and
a budget of $1.6 billion.
Denise B. Maybank, senior associate
vice president for Student
Affairs and Services and director
of Student Life, has been named
MSU interim vice president
for student affairs and services.
Maybank succeeds Lee June,
who returns to the faculty.
Sue Petrisin, assistant director
for human capital management,
Residential and Hospitality Services,
has been named associate
director for alumni programs of
the MSU Alumni Association.
Michael Rush, director of the
Rose Art Museum at Brandeis
University, has been named the
founding director of MSU’s Eli
and Edythe Broad Art Museum.
The co-founder of the
Contemporary Art Museum
Directors Association, Rush was
previously director of the Palm
Beach Institute of Contemporary
Art and hosts an Internet radio
program, “Rush Interactive,” on
Art International Radio.
SPARTANS ARE NEVER BEATEN
By Scott Westerman, III, ’78
Executive Director
The last time I looked, there
were over 400,000 of you who
have a degree from Michigan
State University. There are just
Page 8
about as many women in our
country who are living with
ovarian cancer.
And my wife, Colleen is one
of them.
Colleen was lucky. We discovered
that she had the BRCA
gene, a predictor of ovarian cancer.
She had no symptoms. Most
ovarian cancers don’t present any
until it’s too late. But she decided
to have a proactive hysterectomy
anyway.
That’s when we found out.
It was just four weeks later that
I became your head servant at
the MSU Alumni Association.
And as I started my new job, she
started a course of chemotherapy.
The drug she used was invented
at Michigan State University.
You’ll read in this issue how that
drug—carboplatin—has saved
millions of lives since it was first
discovered by a Spartan. Colleen
is one of those lives.
By April of last year, she was
pronounced in total remission.
As this issue went to press, we
had another of those regular,
scary visits to the doctor that all
cancer survivors have. We got
good news. She’s still cancer free.
It’s easy to focus on the high
profile things that MSU does
well. We win basketball and
football games. Our on-campus
living experience, from our
neighborhood dormitories to the
breathtaking culinary experience
at the new Brody Square cafeteria
are rated among the best
anywhere. Every year we turn
12,000 new Spartans loose into
the world. Because of their excellent
education they are likely to
get good jobs, even in this tough
economy. And the statistics say
that they can look forward to
long and rewarding careers.
But beyond all that, stories
like Colleen’s remind us of the
critical importance of MSU’s
world-grant mission. At this
moment, there are more than a
dozen research projects under
way on campus that have
world-changing potential—from
protecting the safety of the food
we eat to protecting our soldiers
from improvised explosive devices,
Spartan research teams are
discovering new solutions. And
Spartan alumni are applying
those solutions to expand knowledge
and transform lives.
In a world desparately in need
of peaceful warriors who use
their MSU knowledge to fight
for a better future for all of us,
Spartans are never beaten.
My wife is living proof.
Spring 2011 MSU Alumni Magazine