American magazine: March 2016

WALL STREET MEETS
DIGITAL HIGHWAY
p. 22
IT’S ALL AN HONOR TO
ALLISON SILBERBERG
p. 26
SPREADING THE
LOVE IN CHARLOTTE
p. 32
UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

BOEING AVIATION HANGAR AT THE UDVAR-HAZY CENTER IN CHANTILLY, VA, COURTESY OF THE SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

An AU insider’s
perspective on next page

Kristen Horning
CAS/MA ’15
This is how dedicated Kristen Horning is to studying the
HISTORY OF EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY
FEMALE PILOTS: high over a small airport in
Gaithersburg, Maryland, she assumed the controls of a Piper
Arrow 4 and (briefly) steered the plane through the sky.
“In order to understand and write about women aviators,
I wanted to experience what it was like to fly,” says the San
Diego native, who hopes to earn her pilot’s license.
In the meantime, Horning will continue working as an
aeronautics intern at the SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL
AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. She first visited the
country’s most popular museum in 2008 during her inaugural
trip to DC. Immediately, she knew it was the perfect place to
combine her passions: museums and the history of flight.
Her main project has been cataloging navigational
instruments and methods invented by US Navy officer Philip
Van Horn Weems. It’s not hard to get excited about your job
when legendary aircraft like the WRIGHT FLYER AND
SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS hang just outside your office.
“What I really like about this museum is that it combines
HISTORICAL RESEARCH WITH INNOVATION. So
it’s not only looking to the past, but also to the future.”
DOWNLOAD the American magazine app
for 12 questions with Kristen Horning.
18 22 26 28
COVER: TAYLOR CALLERY
Hacking the
security game
Reimagining an
iconic newsroom
Call her Madam
Mayor—or just Allison
AU Archives far more
than dusty relics

AMERICAN
American University magazine
Vol. 66, No. 3
MANAGING EDITOR
Adrienne Frank, SPA/MS ’08
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Amy Burroughs
STAFF WRITER
Mike Unger
32 1 POV
Tragic love story has
hopeful ending
WRITERS
Amy Burroughs
Adrienne Frank
ART DIRECTOR
Maria Jackson
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeffrey Watts
CLASS NOTES
Traci Crockett
VICE PRESIDENT,
COMMUNICATIONS
Teresa Flannery
ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT,
CREATIVE SERVICES
Kevin Grasty
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,
CONTENT STRATEGY
Laura Garner
4 4400 Mass Ave
Ideas, people, perspectives
16 Metrocentered
34 Your American
Connect, engage, reminisce
American is published three
times a year by American
University. With a circulation
of 130,000, American is sent
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of the university community.
Copyright©2016.
An equal opportunity, affirmative
action university. UP16-003
For information regarding the
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of American University, please
visit american.edu/academics.
Special collections
Two hundred twenty-six.
My three-year-old son Owen’s collection of Matchbox
cars numbers—gulp—226 (not counting the 10 that are
stuck behind the radiator, the 4 awaiting repairs, and the
forklift that met an unfortunate end in the toilet).
I say “collection” because it’s clear to me that every
tiny truck is special to my son. (He’s still mourning
the forklift.)
During Snowzilla, Owen lined up all his snow
removal vehicles on the windowsill as he watched the
flakes fall. When we read a book about even the most
obscure vehicle, he runs to his room, rifles through
the box of 226, and races back with a pile driver or
articulated dump truck that he clutches in his little
hand while we finish our story.
Every time he adds to his collection, he asks me the
name and purpose of the vehicle and files the information
away in his mental encyclopedia of things that go. I still
remember the shock on my mom’s face when a two-yearold
Owen handed her a sleek black car (or is it a truck?)
with flames and informed her, “That’s an El Camino.”
AU psychology professor Laura Duval says people
collect things for two basic reasons: extrinsic motivation
(the Matchboxes will be worth something one day—not
likely) and intrinsic motivation (the tiny cars are cute and
fun; amassing all of them, heaven help us, breeds a sense
of achievement; they offer a connection with other kids).
Although collectors can have multiple motivations,
most fall into the second category. “As with many
things, the value of a collection is probably in the eye
of the beholder,” Duval says.
And although most collections, whether comic books,
stamps, baseball cards, or snow globes, don’t end up in a
museum, a rare few are preserved for their educational,
historical, and cultural value. This issue, writer Amy
Burroughs delves into the University Archives to share
some of the more unusual collections—first editions
of Charles Dickens and sixteenth-century math texts—
that have been donated to AU. These treasures, says
University Archivist Susan McElrath, “tell all kinds of
different stories for all kinds of audiences.”
Owen’s fleet of Matchbox cars will never a museum
exhibit make. But they do tell the story of his childhood—
of a curious, smart, vehicle-loving boy who most
certainly knows the difference between a Chevy El
Camino and a Ford Ranchero.
Adrienne Frank
Managing Editor
Send story ideas to afrank@american.edu.

service
ACROSS AU-VILLE, the cries
they came, one candle two candle
red candle blue candle! March 2, the
most special of days, 100 plus 12,
our dear Theodor Geisel would’ve
been. Hold onto your sandals, you
don’t know that name? Why, it’s
Dr. Seuss, of course, master of
anapestic tetrameter (say what,
Peter?) and author beloved by all,
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or
Henrietta Hall. With more than 600
million books sold by the time of
his passing, there’s no writer
mightier, no illustrator greater,
no better tickler of tongues and
splitter of sides and gifter of
giggles—friend, it’s unequivocal.
But how do we celebrate? Sam
suggests green eggs and ham;
Horton wants a cake baked with
sugar and shortin’, yes ma’am. But
will they rate, will they resonate?
Seuss’s rhymes sent generations of
kids to sleep with a smile, and the
parents who loved him? Well, shoot,
they line up for miles. The best way
to show the good doctor we care is
to share.
So across the Capital City our
50 student volunteers go, a pop
in their hop, the Cat’s hat atop
their mop—to introduce Seuss
to a gaggle of grade-schoolers.
“Reading is fun,” they proclaim,
“open the pages of a book and life
will never be the same. Just ask
my pal Lorax, literacy couldn’t
be cooler.”
Organized by the Center for
Community Engagement and Service
(oh rats, I’ll give you a dime for
anything that rhymes with that), AU’s
been participating in Dr. Seuss Day
for more than a decade. Even the
Grinch can’t deny, that’s a lot of new
Seuss fans made.
ILLUSTRATION BY PHILIP WRIGGLESWORTH
4 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

expert
3 MINUTES ON . . . The Second Amendment
Jamie Raskin
Constitutional Law Professor
Washington College of Law
Three-term Democratic Maryland State Senator
Everything about
there being a popular
for self-defense, hunting, and
front of the
the Second Amendment is
contested, beginning with
its grammar. The text is: A well
regulated Militia, being necessary
to the security of a free State, the
right of the people to keep and bear
Arms, shall not be infringed.
Conservatives
read the prefatory clause as a
kind of throat-clearing
introduction, language
that is logically disconnected
from the definition of the
substantive right. Liberals
believe that the clause
crucially informs the
meaning of the so-called
operative clause so that
the individual’s right to possess
weapons must be linked directly
to participation in militia service,
which is what we call today the
National Guard.
The historical
dispute follows the
lines of this argument.
Conservatives say that, while
people may have originally
possessed weapons as a result of
militia, a broad
popular
right to gun
ownership became
entrenched in the culture of the
colonies. Liberals are skeptical
of that claim and argue that gun
possession was much more
closely tethered
to participation in the militia.
Some historians argue that
the real motivation behind the
Second Amendment was to
guarantee that the
federal military would
not try to disarm local
militias called out to
put down slave insurrections.
In the 5-4 Heller decision of
2008, the Supreme Court
majority
adopted
the conservative
position and found that the
Second Amendment right goes
far beyond militia
service. It took the position that
there is a broader and historically
rooted right to individual arms
recreation, as well as the
traditional purpose of
participation in militia
service. In the decision,
the court struck down
Washington, DC’s handguncontrol
ordinance, which
was the strictest in
the country, as a
violation of the population’s
right to armed selfdefense
in the home.
As polarized as debate is over
the Second Amendment,
there is in fact a huge
area of common
ground we can work with
to make social progress. Both
sides agree that
the right must be
subject to reasonable regulation.
Indeed, every right in the
Constitution is subject to
reasonable
regulation,
including speech.
We allow reasonable
time/place/manner restrictions
for speech. You can protest in
White House, but
not at 2:30 in the
morning with a
bullhorn. You
have a right to
free exercise of religion,
but not if your
beliefs entail
human sacrifice or child slavery.
Even the majority in the Heller
decision, which gave the most pro-
NRA interpretation of
the Second Amendment in
Supreme Court history,
said the Second
Amendment right
does not extend to
felons, to the mentally
ill, to gun possession
in public buildings, and so on.
There’s simply nothing
absolute about
the right, even in the
strongest pro-gun
gloss ever given the
document.
Raskin is a Democratic candidate
for Maryland’s Eighth District
Congressional seat.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 5

Most of the AU community
enjoyed a cozy, long weekend
when Snowzilla dumped 20
inches of snow on the District
in late January. But the work
didn’t stop for hundreds of AU
employees and contract workers,
from Public Safety officers to
Campus Life staff, who kept the
campus humming.
Among them: sixty facilities
staffers moved 1,200 cubic yards
of snow using 35 shovels, 8 snow
throwers, 6 plows, 6 tractors,
3 backhoe loaders, and a dump
truck. Eight salt rigs dumped
10,000 pounds of magnesium
chloride and 8 tons of salt to keep
sidewalks and roadways clear.
Meanwhile, a skeleton crew of
18 Aramark and Dining Services
employees served up more than
12,000 meals—a hearty task that
usually requires a staff of 90.
Snowzilla, which dumped
up to three feet of snow across the
metro area, is the fourth largest
storm in Washington history.
It was game on during the annual Indie Arcade: Coast to Coast
on January 16 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
A gallery might seem an unlikely venue for a round of Donkey
Kong, but according to Chris Totten, game designer in residence
at AU’s innovative Game Lab (one of the event’s sponsors),
the space underscores gaming’s place in our cultural lexicon.
Presenting games such as Pac-Man alongside celebrated pieces
by photographer Ansel Adams and painter Georgia O’Keeffe
establishes them as expressive works of art in their own right.
“In the Game Lab, two of our driving questions are: How
do games fit into the context of art, media, and other cultural
artifacts? And how can game makers help leading cultural
institutions address games? Working with organizations like the
Smithsonian and the International Game Developers Association—
leaders in expanding the cultural impact of games—is vital for
answering these questions,” Totten says.
Nearly 12,000 people turned out for the event, which featured
classic arcade games along with a variety of 2016 Independent Game
selections. Game Lab director Lindsay Grace’s “affection” game, Big
Huggin’, was a favorite among kids and kids at heart. Players give
a 30-inch teddy well-timed “bear hugs” to help the on-screen bear
jump over various obstacles.
DC GRIDLOCK (AND WE’RE NOT TALKING TRAFFIC)
SPA’s Distinguished Professor James Thurber has coedited a new book on the causes,
characteristics, and consequences of partisan polarization in US politics. American
Gridlock brings together the country’s preeminent political scientists, including SPA’s
Jennifer Lawless. “The two parties are in two different universes, totally talking about
different things,” Thurber says. “No one is coming together in dialogue.”
MAD MONEY
An AU team of four savvy investors took third place in TD Ameritrade’s
collegiate trading competition, posting an enviable 110 percent gain
and beating out more than 450 other teams of would-be Wall Streeters.
Team Clawed Z. Eagle earned $10,000 for AU and $1,000 each in a TD
Ameritrade brokerage account.
6 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

news
When the mechanical engineerturned-TV-personality
known
simply as “the science guy” took
the stage at Bender Arena on
February 9, students who grew up
on reruns of his PBS show broke
into rapturous applause and
chants of “Bill! Bill!”
Sporting his signature bow tie,
Bill Nye made an impassioned
case for science and knowledge,
weaving insights about the
universe with his personal
stories. The DC-born Nye spoke
fervently about climate change,
evolutionary theory, and space
travel during the lecture, sponsored
by AU’s Kennedy Political Union.
“Space exploration brings
out the best in us. It’s inherently
optimistic,” said Nye, who took
a college course with legendary
astronomer Carl Sagan and now
serves as CEO of the Planetary
Society, founded by Sagan in
1980. “If we discover evidence
of life on another world, it will
utterly change this one. It will
change the way everybody feels
about being alive.”
Bill Nye the Science Guy
enjoyed a 100-episode run from
1993 to 1998. The show mixed the
serious science of everyday things
(genes, gravity, germs) with fastpaced
action and humor.
Eureka! In the 100th-anniversary year of Albert Einstein’s theory
of relativity, scientists—including a team from AU—announced they
have proved it.
Researchers at the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-
Wave Observatory (LIGO), of which AU is a member, measured
gravitational waves, a ripple in the fabric of space caused by the
collision of two massive black holes far out in the universe. In a
single second, the black holes converted a mass three times the size
of the sun into energy, sending out a ripple in space that arrived
at Earth at 5:51 a.m. EST on September 14, 2015.
The discovery not only confirms a major prediction of Einstein’s
general theory of relativity, it also opens an unprecedented new
window onto the cosmos.
“The detection of gravitational waves marks the beginning of a
new way of observing the universe,” says Gregory Harry, AU physics
professor and one of the authors of the detection paper published
in Physical Review Letters. “Now that physicists have evidence that
LIGO detectors can detect gravitational waves, it is exciting to think
about how much we will likely learn about the nature of gravity.”
Harry and his team helped fine-tune the optical materials
used in the LIGO detectors, developing a coating that allowed for
greater sensitivity. Since 2011, more than 10 undergrads have also
participated in LIGO research at AU.
The AU team, including (from left) Jonathan Newport, Jessica Uscinski,
Gregory Harry, and Louis Gitelman, helped fine-tune the optical materials
used in the LIGO detectors.
A CLIMATE FOR CHANGE
AU joined more than 200 colleges as a signatory to the White House’s
American Campuses Act on Climate Change, underscoring “our dedication to
public service, and global outlook,” says President Neil Kerwin. AU signed the
pledge to demonstrate support for strong climate action by world leaders at
last November’s 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
College graduation marks an end and a beginning. In his new book, Now What,
Grad? Your Path to Success After College, SOC professor Chris Palmer offers tips
to help students succeed in the “real world,” after they collect their diplomas.
Topics include how to ace a job interview, run a meeting, and manage stress.
Proceeds from the book will fund scholarships for SOC students.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 7

tribute
RADIO AND ED WALKER were
meant for each other. At 10 years
old, Ed operated a low-powered radio
station in his basement, dreaming
of a career in broadcasting. The
first blind student admitted to AU,
Walker, SOC/BA ’54, helped establish
WAMU-AM—the predecessor to
today’s 88.5 FM station. For the next
60-plus years, he devoted his voice
and his heart to the medium. Not
even cancer could silence Walker.
Two weeks before he passed away
on October 26 at the age of 83, he
recorded his final Big Broadcast, the
WAMU show he hosted for a quarter
century, from his hospital bed.
“Goodbyes are very hard to do,
especially when this has been a labor
of love,” said Walker, who listened
to his final show surrounded by his
family, just hours before he died.
“More than anything else, my thanks
go out to all the people at WAMU
who’ve helped me over the years.
Once again, I thank you so much for
enjoying the show and being a part
of it over these 24 years.”
Joy boy
Walker, who was born blind, often
spoke of a Christmas present that
sparked his interest in radio.
“My parents got me a phonograph
oscillator, which meant that you could
play a record or something like that
without hooking any wires to your
radio,” he said. “And I hooked an
antenna onto this thing and I went
down the street to somebody’s house,
and lo and behold I could hear it down
there. That’s when I was eight years
old. I said, ‘Someday, I want to be on
the air.’”
That opportunity came in 1952,
when Walker met Willard Scott,
CAS/BA ’55. The duo started a
weekend radio show called Going
AWOL, and three years later they
launched the comedy show Two at
One, which would become the
Joy Boys.
“We were like brothers,” Scott,
who would go on to become the
weatherman on NBC’s Today show,
told the Washington Post. “I never
had a better friend.”
In the late 1950s, the Armed
Forces Radio and Television
Service began broadcasting the
Joy Boys to service members
around the world. The program
continued until 1974. Walker went
on to host many more shows and
was inducted into the National
Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.
“Things come and things go,”
Walker said on his final broadcast,
his voice weakened but still
smooth and soothing. “And right
now it’s time for me to go.”
PHOTO BY MARCUS YAM/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES
8 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

mastery
As a forensic anthropologist, Kathy Reichs,
CAS/BA ’70, studies human skeletons—bones—
in hopes of identifying victims and pinpointing
their cause of death. After decades at the
forefront of a relatively small field, Reichs—
inspired by a wealth of intriguing, tragic, and
sometimes downright creepy stories—crafted
her first novel in 1997. Eighteen books and one
long-running television show later, Reichs’s
Temperance Brennan protagonist is among
the most beloved characters in the world of
murder mysteries.
2001
Deployed to the World
Trade Center after 9/11
by the Disaster Mortuary
Operational Response
Team. Worked 13-hour
shifts identifying human
remains at the Twin Towers
and Staten Island landfill.
“WHEN WE FOUND
HUMAN REMAINS
WE WOULD BAG IT
AND TAG IT BECAUSE
IT HAD TO BE
IDENTIFIED BY DNA.
THAT WENT ON FOR
YEARS.”
2005
First episode of Bones,
based on her Temperance
Brennan novels, aired
on Fox. Today, it’s the
longest-running scripted,
non-animated show in the
network’s history. Reichs
is a producer and cowrites
one screenplay a year with
her daughter, Kerry.
ILLUSTRATION BY PETER HOEY
1970
Moved to Washington
when her husband was
transferred to the Court
of Military Appeals and
enrolled at AU to finish
her undergraduate
degree. Went into labor
in an anthropology
course; delivered her
first child, daughter
Kerry, at Bethesda
Naval Hospital.
Saw her first human
remains at the
Catoctin River basin.
“MY DIGGING
PARTNER AND
I CAME ACROSS
A BURIAL. I WAS
FASCINATED.”
1974
Named assistant
professor at Northern
Illinois University.
1957
Wrote—by hand—two
books, a mystery
and a romance.
“NEEDLESS TO
SAY, THEY’RE
HIDEOUS.”
1986
Became one of only 111
people certified by
the American Board of
Forensic Anthropology.
1983
Consulted on her first
case: a murdered 5-yearold
girl, whose bones
were discovered months
after her disappearance.
“EVEN THOUGH THE
CASE WAS NEVER
PROSECUTED, I WAS
COMPELLED TO
CONTINUE WITH THE
FORENSIC WORK.”
1989
Went to Montreal on
a national faculty
exchange. Started
working for Quebec’s
central crime and
medicolegal lab.
Continues to consult
for the lab to this day.
1993
Consulted on the case
of Serge Archambault,
who murdered at least
three people in Quebec.
Theorized killer was a
butcher or orthopedic
surgeon, based on his
knowledge of anatomy.
“TURNED OUT HE
WAS A BUTCHER.”
1994
Intrigued by the
Archambault case, began
writing her first novel.
“MOST PEOPLE
HADN’T HEARD
OF FORENSIC
ANTHROPOLOGY—I
WANTED TO BRING
THE SCIENCE
TO A BROADER
AUDIENCE.”
2000
Helped exhume a mass
grave near Lake Atitlan in
the highlands of southwest
Guatemala. The experience
inspired her fifth book,
Grave Secrets. “A LOT
OF THE VICTIMS
OF THAT CIVIL
WAR WERE WOMEN
AND CHILDREN; A
LOT WERE MAYAN
PEASANTS.”
1999
Hired by the United Nations to
testify at a war crimes tribunal
in Rwanda. Case involved a
man accused of killing and
burying 29 people on his
property in Kigali.
1997
Published Deja Dead, the
first of her 18 Temperance
Brennan novels.
2009
Cowrote Virals, her first
young adult novel, with her
son, Brendan, a “recovering
attorney.” The pair has
written six in the series.
2016
Writing her first non-
Temperance Brennan
novel. “I’M CREATING
A WHOLE NEW
CHARACTER. SHE’S
NOT A PRIVATE
INVESTIGATOR,
BUT SHE AGREES
TO TAKE ON THIS
PARTICULAR CASE
BECAUSE OF HER
DARK PAST. I
WANTED ANOTHER
STRONG FEMALE
HEROINE, BUT SHE’S
A LITTLE DAMAGED,
THIS ONE.”
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 9

play
“I said yes and then I didn’t
know what time of the game it
was or where I was,” she says,
laughing. “I started walking back
to the bench and no one’s there.
I was disoriented.”
Eventually she made it into the
locker room, where the players
had already vowed to win for
their coach.
“There was a
split second
in my mind
when I was
thinking, ‘Oh
Talk about a halftime adjustment.
When the second quarter of the
AU women’s basketball team’s
January 30 game ended, Assistant
Coach Tiffany Coll was single—
and singularly focused on how
her team could extend its fivepoint
lead.
When the third quarter began,
she was engaged.
“The horn goes off, and
they’re holding back all of our
players, telling them to stay on
the bench,” she says. “They
told me we had a presentation,
so I told our players, ‘Listen
guys, forget this presentation,
don’t worry about it. Focus
on our defense right now.’
I was trying to make some
adjustments, and they’re like
no, you have to walk out there.
You’re in the presentation. So
I walk out there, and I see Dan
come out in a suit from behind
the cheerleaders. I’m like, ‘You
gotta be kidding me.’”
Dan is Dan McKenna—Coll’s
former boyfriend and freshly
minted fiancé. And no, he was not
kidding. The two met on Match.
com three years ago, and in recent
months she had been wondering
if and when he planned to pop
the question.
His original idea was to don
the Clawed costume and surprise
his sweetie with a ring, but that
proved problematic. It’s against
mascot code for the person
wearing the getup to remove
the head. So he huddled with
athletics department staff and
came up with a Plan B: surprising
Coll during halftime of the game
against Colgate.
When he emerged from
behind the cheerleaders, they
unfurled a seven-foot banner that
read, “Tiff, Will You Marry Me?”
McKenna, a former baseball
player, dropped to one knee at
midcourt and proposed.
“I remember her saying
something along the lines
of, ‘Please tell me this isn’t
happening right now,’” he says.
“There was a split second in my
mind when I was thinking, ‘Oh
gosh, am I in trouble now?’”
He wasn’t. The smile on her
face and the roar of the crowd
told the story.
gosh, am I in
trouble now?’”
—Dan McKenna
“They were excited for me but
pretty under control,” she says.
“They know how intense I am.
Some were like, ‘Where’s that
ring?’ but others held off until
after the game.”
The Eagles went on to win, a
good omen for the couple’s future.
They plan to marry in late summer
or early fall—definitely before the
next basketball season begins.
“In a lot of ways, a relationship
is like being on a sports team
together,” McKenna says. “And
we’re great teammates.”
HALL OF FAMERS
SHARP SHOOTER
Three Eagles who were standouts on their teams in the early 2000s
were inducted into the Stafford H. “Pop” Cassell Athletics Hall of Fame
on February 13. Field hockey’s Javiera Villagra, track’s Sean O’Brien, and
volleyball’s Karla Kucerkova became the hall’s 47th class. Together,
they accounted for nine All-America awards during their time at AU.
Former men’s basketball star Andre Ingram won the NBA Development League’s
three-point shooting competition for the second time on February 13 in Toronto.
AU’s fifth all-time leading scorer is a member of the Los Angeles D-Fenders. He
defeated Westchester Knicks guard and former BYU standout Jimmer Fredette
after putting up 26 points in the first round and 27 in the final.
10 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

news
When Charles Lewis founded
the Center for Public Integrity
in 1989, it was only the second
journalism nonprofit in the United
States. Today, there are 120 of
them, including AU’s Investigative
Reporting Workshop (IRW),
which Lewis also started.
Now in its eighth year, the
institute, housed in the School
of Communication, landed an
unprecedented $2.44 million in
grants in December, solidifying its
status as the largest universitybased
reporting center in the
country and the only one in
the Washington area.
“It’s an incredible
affirming moment about
what the workshop
represents—a melding
and a mentoring of the next
generation of journalists with
premium, high-quality content
that is of great interest to the
commercial media, from the New
York Times to the Washington Post
to the New Yorker to Frontline,”
says Lewis, who serves as IRW’s
executive editor. “To me, a crusty
veteran, this is startling and
wonderful.”
The money comes in the form
of a five-year, $1.5 million general
support grant from the MacArthur
Foundation, $40,000 from the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and
$900,000 for a three-year project
grant from the Logan Foundation.
Those funds will be earmarked for
a massive data organization project
Lewis says will create a userfriendly
database of millions of
government data for the first time,
“in a way that makes it accessible
to the public and journalists.”
IRW publishes in-depth stories
at investigativereportingworkshop.
org about government and
corporate accountability, ranging
widely from the environment and
health to national security and
the economy. It pairs experienced,
professional reporters and editors
with graduate students and
copublishes with mainstream
media partners and nonprofit
newsrooms. Four other SOC
faculty members are vitally
involved in the workshop’s
projects: Managing Editor Lynne
Perri, Data Editor David Donald,
Senior Editor John Sullivan, and
Executive Producer Larry
Kirkman.
Since its inception, more
than 100 students have worked
on more than 70 investigative
journalism projects. Among
this year’s highlights: a report
that found about 90 percent
of those charged with
assaulting a police officer in
Washington were black, and
nearly two-thirds of people
arrested for assaulting an
officer weren’t charged with
any other crimes.
“Half the commercial
journalists have lost their jobs in
the United States,” Lewis says. “As
the watchful eyes of journalists
looking at power and government
and companies has diminished,
what has also been substantially
hurt is the most expensive, timeconsuming
type of journalism:
investigative reporting. And so
foundations realize that if you
don’t have information, including
sometimes critical analysis about
society, it hurts communities.
It’s crucial to have enterprise
investigative reporting.”
The protests focused on racial diversity
and sensitivity staged last year on college
campuses from the heartland to the Ivy
League were a painful but necessary step
forward. At AU, President Neil Kerwin has
outlined a plan to create a more inclusive
academic community, identifying five
areas for immediate action:
• Establish a presidential council to
provide oversight on these plans,
monitor institutional progress, and
make new recommendations.
• Work with the Faculty Senate to
introduce a mandatory course, by fall
2017, on diversity and inclusion for all
first year and transfer students, and
address the subject matter in at least
one other required course. A pilot
in 2016–17 will inform the content of
these courses. In the interim, AU will
enhance the content of the diversity
and inclusion session in the 2016 Eagle
Summit and orientation programs for
new students.
• Revise and elevate awareness of
campus discrimination policies,
and enhance avenues of support
to members of the community who
experience bias or threats.
• Reallocate five tenure or tenure track
faculty positions to ensure that AU hires
more minority professors.
• Develop programs to cultivate inclusive
classrooms, including an entry program
for newly appointed faculty and dialogue
sessions for current faculty.
“Our founders endowed us with core
values of equality, diversity, justice,
human rights, and public service that
have shaped our mission and influenced
our actions to this day,” Kerwin says.
“At this time in our history, when
communities across the nation are
confronting the legacy of slavery and the
evidence of continuing racism in all its
forms, there is perhaps no institution better
suited than The American University to
reflect the nation’s population, strive for
its highest ideals, and lead a path toward
greater diversity and real inclusion.”
RUCKSACKS TO BACKPACKS
Vets thrive at AU, according to Victory Media, which named
the university a 2016 Military-Friendly School. The group
praised the student-run AU Vets, the newly opened Veterans
Lounge, and AU’s participation in the Yellow Ribbon program.
About 3 percent of current students are veterans.
KOGOD ON THE CLIMB
Kogod’s full-time MBA checks in at No. 58 on
Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2015 list of top
programs. Poets & Quants also ranked the
program No. 78 on its list of top full-time MBA
offerings—up five spots from 2012.
A GLOBAL CLASSROOM
Nearly 59 percent of AU undergrads study abroad—more than at any
other DC-area university. AU ranked eighth in the Institute of International
Education’s 2015 Open Doors report. Although the number of US students
who study abroad has more than tripled in the last 20 years, only about 10
percent of undergrads nationwide study overseas before graduation.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 11

department
THESE NEW SPACES ARE LITERALLY DESIGNED TO
INSPIRE EVEN HIGHER LEVELS OF ACHIEVEMENT, AND
TO COMMUNICATE TO FACULTY, STUDENTS, AND STAFF
THAT THESE SURROUNDINGS REPRESENT THE VALUE
WE PLACE ON THEIR WORK.” —AU PRESIDENT NEIL KERWIN
12 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

department
If Ellen and Emma could see us now.
In 1896, Ellen Spencer Mussey and Emma Gillett convened the first Woman’s Law
Class, which two years later became the Washington College of Law (WCL)—the first
law school in the world founded by women. (Mussey was the school’s inaugural dean,
serving for 16 years before Gillett took over.)
One hundred twenty years after Mussey, Gillett, and three female pupils first
gathered in a tiny office at 470 Louisiana Avenue NW, WCL has a new home befitting
one of the country’s top law schools—a pioneering institution founded on the
principles of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor.
Perched off Tenley Circle—one block from the Metro—the sprawling, sparkling,
312,000-square-foot campus features five courtrooms. The most magnificent, the
Stephen S. Weinstein Courtroom, is housed in the chapel erected by the Immaculata
Seminary in 1905. The state-of-the-art campus also offers 37,000 square feet of
classroom space for WCL’s 1,450 students and 10 clinical programs and an upgraded
Pence Law Library with seats for nearly 850 students.
At the February 12 ribbon cutting, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
paid tribute to WCL’s founding mothers.
“Mussey and Gillett, in succession, were the first women in the United
States to serve as law school deans. When the Bar Association of the District
of Columbia persisted in excluding women, this law school’s first deans
didn’t waste time on anger or self-pity. They became charter members of the
Women’s Bar Association of DC,” said Ginsburg, the high court’s second-ever
female justice, appointed to the bench in 1993.
“Graduates of Washington College of Law should take just pride in the
school’s origin. And, even more, in what the college has become.”
Dean Claudio Grossman, for whom the conference facility is named,
remarked on the use of light inside the new facilities.
“This light is both a metaphor and a catalyst for learning, for the
encouragement of ideas, and for the use of transparency and openness in
the pursuit of knowledge and justice. Let us never forget that this campus
is to house a community,” said Grossman, who will step down as dean this
year after 21 years at WCL’s helm.
“Look at what we have built together.”
THIS MAY JUST SEEM LIKE A BUILDING, BUT THESE WALLS OF BRICK
AND MORTAR SYMBOLIZE PERSEVERANCE, RISING PRESTIGE,
AND TRANSFORMATIVE POWER.” —WCL STUDENT AMANDA MOLINA
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 13

syllabus
AMONG THE ARMY of pundits
and journalists who descended on
New Hampshire in the days leading
up to the Granite State’s first-inthe-nation
primary were a group of
students as ambitious and bright as
they were unseasoned.
When the roughly 40 undergraduate
and graduate students from the
School of Communication and
School of Public Affairs returned to
Washington following victories by
Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders,
they weren’t exactly grizzled
veterans, but they were no longer
rookies, either.
“On primary day, we got to do a
bit of informal exit polling, and it was
really neat talking to different voters
and getting their insights about who
they voted for and what issues drove
them to come out,” says Veronica
Bonilla, SOC/MA ’16.
Primary objective
Based in Manchester, the students
fanned out across the state covering
events and rallies for the candidates.
They posted stories and videos to
nh16.org and on various social media
sites. Although many of them are
interested in journalism, Bonilla, 27,
wants to work in communications
for issue-based campaigns.
“From a campaign standpoint
it is amazing to see what Trump
has done,” she says. “He’s kind
of [changed] how we think of
campaigning. He hasn’t had as much
of a ground game; he’s sort of gone
outside the lines and done his own
thing. It will be interesting to see if
that’s replicated by any candidates in
the future or if it’s a one-time thing.”
14 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

wonk
American asks four wonks
to weigh in on a single topic.
THIS ISSUE: BALANCE
AIMEE
CUSTIS
SPA/MPP ’10
CAROLINE
SPARNO
SIS/BA ’18
DON
WILLIAMSON
CHRISTINE
HAAS
CAS/MS ’04
ILLUSTRATIONS BY TRACI DABERKO
Smart growth is about balancing
competing interests. We
want nice places to live, but
we also want to preserve our
environment. It would be easy
to slap down subdivisions in
undeveloped areas. But, as a
society, we have decided to value
open, rural spaces. So let’s build
in the city: places where people
can live, work, and play within
a five-minute walk. At its best,
smart growth creates a network
of walkable neighborhoods.
Places that are out of balance
tend to be divided: you’ve got
homes and subdivisions over
here and you have to drive 30
minutes to the grocery store in
the strip mall. For the last 50 to
75 years, we have reshaped our
built environment around the
automobile, so people take for
granted that we spend hours
every day in our cars. Smart
growth is about giving people
choices—walking, riding the
bus, taking the train, biking,
or driving.
Custis is communications manager for the
Coalition for Smarter Growth in Washington, DC.
Balance stems back to the idea
of body awareness, which is
important in gymnastics.
I compete on floor exercise,
still rings, and uneven bars.
Whether you’re doing a handstand
on floor or a flyaway on bars, if
you don’t know where your body
is at some point in the air or
during the skill, there’s no way
you can balance yourself. If you
have good body awareness, it’s
easier to balance and eventually
nail the skill.
Gymnastics is about repetition.
You do a skill over and over
again and fail many times in
the process. Because you are
building up muscle awareness,
you can usually find that balance
point automatically, but there
are times when you’re not getting
the skill perfectly and you need to
be able to center yourself in the
air or mid-skill. Sometimes you
have to think about balancing
a little more.
Sparno is copresident of AU’s club
gymnastics team.
You need a balanced budget in
order to have a balanced life.
If you fall behind on the credit
cards or other bills, you dig
yourself into a financial hole that
can create incredible stress in
your relationships.
Today there’s a sense of
immediacy to life. You’ve got to
have it now. There’s no deferred
gratification. I see it particularly
in younger people. While there
are some things you’ve got to
go into debt for—the house, the
car, and even school—you need
to be aware of your credit card
balances and any other lines
of credit.
Balance doesn’t always mean
50-50. When you try to do too
much with too little, that’s when
something is going to give. When
you start going into debt, that
means your balance has to shift
to pay your bills, because you’ve
fallen behind—you’ve fallen out
of balance.
Williamson is executive director of the Kogod
Tax Center and director of the master’s in
taxation program.
When I see patients, I’m always
thinking, how can I help them be
more at peace?
Often, the way people handle
food says a lot about how they
handle their whole life. If people
feel out of control, they might
eat to comfort themselves, or
they might restrict their eating
because that gives them a sense
of power.
We teach patients to approach
eating in a balanced way, with
structure, portion control, and
realistic exercise goals. We also
teach people to find other outlets
to reward themselves, like going
to get your nails done instead of
reaching for a cupcake.
We’re seeing all these diets:
Paleo, Atkins, Whole 30. People
can get stuck in an all-or-nothing
mentality. That’s not balanced. In
life, we’re going to go out to eat,
we’re going to have birthday cake.
Food is everywhere, so finding a
balance is really important.
Haas is a licensed nutritionist and president
of the Washington Nutrition Group.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 15

Sonya Gavankar,
SOC/BA ’99
Manager of
public relations,
Newseum; cofounder,
HerExchange.com
Andrew LaRos, SPA/MS ’15
Operational support technician,
Federal Bureau of Investigation

Caitlin Miller, CAS/MA ’13
School and youth groups assistant,
National Building Museum
Jenna Ogilvie, CAS/MFA ’13
Research associate, National
Academy of Sciences
Ben Fall, SOC/BA ’17
Production assistant intern, Newseum
Lynn Bowersox, SOC/BA ’85
Assistant general manager for
customer service, communications,
and marketing, Washington
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
An urban playground. A laboratory for learning. A professional hub.
A vibrant collection of neighborhoods—and neighbors. Washington’s
got it all. And for our alumni, students, and faculty, Metro is their
ticket to ride, connect, and explore AU’s backyard.
Which Metro stop is the center of your world? Share your story: magazine@american.edu.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 17

Hackers, criminals, nation-states, and
the cybersecurity pros who fight them
ILLUSTRATION BY TAYLOR CALLERY
BY
ADRIENNE
FRANK
On a snowy February morning in 2015,
US Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper sat before the Senate Armed Services
Committee to discuss the most pressing threats
to American national security. Although
President Obama’s top intelligence official
discussed a range of dangers—from ISIS to
al-Qaeda, Russia to North Korea—it wasn’t
terrorism or espionage or nuclear weapons that
topped Clapper’s “grim litany.”
“Again this year, I’ll start with cyberthreats.
Attacks against us are increasing in frequency,
scale, sophistication, and severity of impact,”
Clapper said. “Cyber poses a very complex
set of threats, because profit-motivated
criminals, ideologically motivated hackers
or extremists, and variously capable nationstates
like Russia, China, North Korea, and
Iran are all potential adversaries, who, if they
choose, can do great harm.”
The boogeyman of the twenty-first
century, it seems, is a tech-savvy hacker; his
laptop and Internet connection, the new
weapons of mass destruction.
Tech historians generally agree that
1988’s Morris Worm—the handiwork of Ivy
Leaguer Robert Tappan Morris—marked the
first Internet breach.
The worm used weaknesses in the UNIX
system Noun 1 and quickly replicated itself,
infecting computers across the United States
and rendering them too slow to use. Morris,
who claimed he was just trying to gauge the
expanse of the World Wide Web, became the
first person convicted under the Computer
Fraud and Abuse Act. He was sentenced
to three years of probation, 400 hours of
community service, and a $10,050 fine. Today,
the “reformed” Morris is a tenured professor
of computer science and artificial intelligence
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Although curiosity and ego drive some
hackers—a few simply revel in the challenge of
testing their skills and have no clue what to do
once they’ve scaled the firewall—most breaches
are driven by malice and greed. “Almost all
company assets today are digital, which means
everything is exposed. It’s not like we lock the
Coca-Cola formula in a safe,” says Professor
William DeLone, director of the Kogod School
of Business’s new Cybersecurity Governance
Center, which opened in October.
Globally, 1 billion records were
compromised in 2014, according to security
firm Gemalto, proving that no one, from
children (VTech Toys) to government
workers (Office of Personnel Management)
to adulterers (Ashley Madison), is safe.
According to Time magazine, breaches
cost the United States $300 billion a year;
worldwide that figure is nearly $450 billion—
or 1 percent of global income. And what price
tag do companies put on creditability, brand
reputation, and trust among customers,
shareholders, and employees?
Morris might’ve been a nerd with too much
time on his hands, but today’s cyberattackers
are criminals—terrorists in their own right. Our
“new normal,” the same terminology applied
after 9/11 to full-body scans at the airport and
bomb-sniffing dogs on the subway, consists
of phishing scams, corrupted hard drives, and
offers for free credit monitoring services after
a seemingly benign trip to Target.
“Cyberwar is the battlefield of now,” Geoff
Livingston, author and president of Tenacity5
Media, said in a 2014 Pew Research Center
report on cyberattacks. “Don’t kid yourself.
Battlefields in Sudan, Afghanistan, and Syria
are real, but there is a new battlefield and
every day wars are won and lost between
individuals, businesses, and countries.”
Craig Stronberg, CAS/BA ’95, CAS/MA ’96,
is on the front lines of this new war, which is
being fought not with pulls of a trigger, but
with strokes of a key.
Stronberg, director at
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in McLean,
Virginia, is a trained historian who spent 20
years in US intelligence before landing at
PwC in 2012. He led the 10-member team
that developed the digital Game of Threats,
which simulates a real-time cyberattack.
Aimed at C-suites (CEOs, CIOs, and
the like) and boards of directors, the game
is the only security solution of its kind on
the market. Written for the least technical
person in the boardroom, Game of Threats
was born out of executives’ desire to do more
than just talk about the ever-snowballing
problem of cyberattacks.
According to PwC’s 2015 US State of
Cybercrime report, 76 percent of the 500
business executives, security experts, and
government officials surveyed admitted they
are more concerned about cyberthreats now
than in the previous 12 months—up from
59 percent in 2014. And for good reason: 79
percent of respondents said they detected a
security breach in the last year.
“People know there’s a problem and they
want to understand it. PowerPoint is not
enough. You need to take clients through
an experience to help them understand it
at a visceral, human, emotional level,” says
Stronberg, one of Fast Company’s “most
creative people in business” in 2015.
The game, played by more than 125
companies worldwide since its 2014 release,
lasts 20 to 25 minutes (brevity is key to holding
participants’ attention). Two teams of five—
one plays the threat actor, the other, the
unassuming Acme Corporation—battle for 12
rounds. Each team has 90 seconds to make a
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 19

move, such as beefing up IT staff or deploying
funds for antivirus software. Feedback—a
crashed server or a disgruntled customer’s
tweet—pops up instantly on the shared screen,
and competition is encouraged by Stronberg,
who often moderates the sessions.
“There is an emotional distance that
exists between human beings, even human
beings that work together every day. When
you sit down at a conference table, it’s there,”
Stronberg says. “The game evaporates that
distance immediately because people are
invested in winning. I have seen boards that
are far better educated than me trash talk each
other like they’re back in junior high school.
That’s what we want—the entertainment
value is increasing the learning.”
The game’s intense pace and ticking
clock are intended to replicate the pressure
companies feel in the midst of a breach. If a
team can’t reach a consensus by the time the
clock runs out, they lose a turn, making it
difficult to win the game. (“It’s a reminder that
if you have a misstep while fighting a breach,
you’re not likely to be forgiven.”)
Speaking of “winning,” Stronberg says
victory is never clear-cut—in the Game of
Threats or in the face of a real one.
“If you’re the threat actor and you lose by
points but throughout the course of the game,
you’ve embarrassed the company publicly,
taken critical intellectual property, stolen
credit card information, and all of that becomes
public—who won that game? In my mind, the
company lost.
“Conversely, the threat actor may win
on points but they don’t embarrass the
company, they don’t actually steal anything,
and throughout the course of the game, the
company makes some critical decisions.
They’ve laid the groundwork for a good, longterm
solution. If the game was 24, 36 rounds,
the company would win. It’s not just the points
that matter, it’s the impact of the attack. What’s
the level of damage that you can sustain?”
Game of Threats is based on table-top,
small-group exercises that Stronberg, then an
analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency,
began conducting with senior government
executives nearly 20 years ago. The goal: to
ensure the country’s top brass entered no
crisis unprepared.
“It’s not a
matter of if
or even when.
It’s a matter
of yes.”
-Professor
William DeLone
“Imagine your crisis du jour. The president,
secretary of state, secretary of defense—they
have all gone through that crisis. They have
played the threat actor, they have won, they
have lost, and they turned out OK.
“When that crisis actually hits, they have
a degree of confidence about what to do
and where the forks in the road are, which
increases their reaction time and the likelihood
that they’re going to lead us out of it properly.”
Although games designed around warfare
or a cyberattack have far graver implications
than a round of Monopoly (where the worst
you can do is go bankrupt), all are examples
of social impact play.
According to Lindsay Grace, director of
AU’s Game Lab, an innovative collaboration
between the School of Communication and
the College of Arts and Sciences, games can
augment our understanding of complex
situations within a safe space. Chess, for
example, frames war; Simon Says helps
children develop impulse control; and flight
simulators train pilots to land planes without
actually crashing one.
Social impact play—or gaming, the focus
of Grace’s research—builds on the
educational benefits of play and nudges
people toward certain behaviors (think
MindLight, a video game that helps kids
overcome fears and anxiety—not Minecraft).
These kinds of games can also harness
elements of cooperation and competition to
promote creative problem solving.
“The goal is to design a game you’d
want to play, even if you weren’t learning
something,” Grace says. “Rather than make
the learning more palpable, you design an
engaging experience from the start.”
Grace likens social impact play to chewable
vitamins, basically a healthier version of
gummy bears. And Stronberg’s Game of
Threats is loaded with benefits.
“The game often leads to long time-outs
when we’re able to talk about how things
happen in the real world,” Stronberg says,
noting that it’s not uncommon for players
to go three hours without touching their
iPhones—a true measure of engagement. “The
‘aha’ moments that come with gaming, they
happen every single time we do this.”
When it comes to a cyberattack, damage
can take forms far beyond the financial.
On November 24, 2014, Sony Pictures
employees fired up their computers to find a
picture of an ominous red skull and a warning
that the Hollywood studio’s “top secrets”
would be spilled if unspecified demands
weren’t met.
Over the next few weeks, hackers calling
themselves the Guardians of Peace (GOP)
leaked confidential Sony data, including
170,000 emails, executive compensation,
celebrities’ contact information, and copies
of unreleased films. The company’s Twitter
account was hijacked and the GOP warned
of a 9/11-style attack if Sony released The
Interview, a buddy comedy about a plot to
assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Sony canned the film—its big picture of the
Christmas season—and sent the flick straight
to digital release.
Soon after, the FBI officially fingered
North Korea, calling the cyberattack
unprecedented in its “destructive” and
“coercive” nature. (The North Koreans have yet
to take credit for the attack, which cost Sony
an estimated $35 million.)
“Sony changed the game,” says Kogod’s
DeLone. “Not only did they steal information
and embarrass company officers, but they
destroyed everything left behind. In the old
days, people would come and rob your house.
Now they rob your house and burn it down.”
And the flames are nipping, no matter
where you turn.
You picked up a new grill at Home Depot:
your credit card information has been
20 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

compromised. You visited one of 30,000
websites corrupted daily: your computer’s
infected with botnet crimeware. You applied
for a secret clearance: your mental health
history and fingerprints are now in the hands
of criminals. You went for an annual check-up:
your Social Security number has been stolen.
(And forget about Facebook. In 2011,
the social network said it was the target
of 600,000 cyber attacks per day. The
admission garnered so many dislikes from
users that the company has ceased publicly
reporting those figures.)
San Diego–based nonprofit Identity
Theft Resource Center (ITRC) compiles
an annual report of US breaches across a
variety of sectors: banking, retail, education,
government, and health care. From Main
Street (Main Street Federal Credit Union,
300 records compromised) to Wall Street
(Morgan Stanley, 350,000 records stolen),
ITRC estimates that 169,068,506 records
were exposed in 2015—at an average cost to
the company of $154 per record.
And those are just the numbers we know.
Browse ITRC’s online database, all 197
pages of it, and you’ll discover that most of
the breaches—Citibank, Safeway, American
Airlines, Rite Aid, Cigna—list the number
of records exposed as “unknown.”
“The breaches that we know about are the
tip of the iceberg,” DeLone says. “We tend to
focus on those breaches that reveal citizens’
data and credit cards, but there are many
more that aren’t publicized.
“It’s not a matter of if or even when. It’s
a matter of yes.”
It might seem an unwinnable war, but the
Chicago-born Stronberg isn’t easily deterred.
“[Cyberattacks] have been a problem as long
as we’ve had networks. On the flip side, more
companies are aware than ever before of the
danger and the risk. Archduke Ferdinand was
assassinated in 1914 and African leaders were
assassinated in 2010, but a bullet still killed
them,” says Stronberg, ever the historian.
“This is technology that evolves extremely
rapidly and it can be very difficult for
companies to keep up with vulnerabilities.”
Difficult. But not impossible.
It’s not enough to understand today’s
threat. Companies need to anticipate
tomorrow’s threat. Game of Threats, Stronberg
says, helps them move from reactive to
proactive in their approach to hackers,
insiders, criminal organizations, and even—
gulp—nation-states. (Lest you think that
cyber espionage is just the stuff of a Bourne
flick: according to Time, China is responsible
for 70 percent of America’s corporate
intellectual property theft and Russia employs
a 400-person “troll army” under the umbrella
of its Internet Research Agency, which waged
a huge misinformation campaign in support of
its invasion of Ukraine.)
“Threat actors in the real world can be
defeated if you anticipate where they are
going,” Stronberg says. “The game can teach
you how to make the place really secure
so that by the time the threat actor gets
there, every door is locked and the cost of
picking the locks is too high. It’s as much
about people and processes as it is about
the technology.
“Companies can be proactive, but it’s a
different way of thinking that isn’t natural.
People aren’t like me, they don’t walk
It’s not
enough to
understand
today’s
threat.
companies
need to
anticipate
tomorrow’s
threat.
around thinking game theory all day,” he
continues with a laugh. “But they begin to
think proactively and they see it’s possible to
outfox people that they thought were pretty
unbeatable. It can be done.”
stronberg—now head of gaming
innovation for PwC—and his team of
computer experts, ex-military, and hackers are
hard at work on new games around an array
of business issues, some crises, some not.
“We have found something as a firm that
the market really likes and that they want to
keep doing,” he says. “Gaming is hard. Taking
an issue and breaking it into its component
parts is a challenge that I like very much. It’s
not one that I anticipated as a historian, but it’s
tapped into this nexus of business, analysis, and
technology that’s interesting and fun.”
It’s also scored major points with
Stronberg’s 10-year-old son Mateo.
“I did counterterrorism for a long time.
I did some pretty heavyweight stuff and he
could not have cared less,” Stronberg laughs.
“I walked into school last year to pick him up
and a second grader came up to me and said,
‘Did you make Call of Duty?’”
President Obama proposes allotting $19
billion for cybersecurity in 2017—a $5 billion
increase from the current budget. Research
firm Gartner estimates global spending on
information security will top $100 billion by
2018. In that time, the threat actors will grow
more savvy and more sinister, their ranks
deeper and their damage more catastrophic.
Maybe.
Last year, Stronberg and his team brought
Game of Threats to a Midwest company. At
one point, the CEO made a move that he
immediately realized was a mistake.
“We stopped that game and had an
impromptu discussion about what they’d
really do if this happened, and they realized
they didn’t know,” Stronberg says. “If not
for that one move in one round of one game,
they might not have figured that out until the
breach happened. They’re now aware they
have a gap in knowledge and they’re fixing it.”
Stronberg is working hard to stay one
step ahead of the bad guys in this high-stakes
game that he knows isn’t really a game at all.
Every day in the shadowy cyberworld, war
rages on.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 21

By Mike Unger

Will the Fed raise rates or won’t it?
In the midtown Manhattan
newsroom of one of the world’s most iconic
dailies, that is the question upon which
future headlines—not to mention web stories,
blog posts, infographics, video clips, tweets,
snapchats, and whatever new platform has
emerged since we printed this story—ride.
On this September morning, a day before the
Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce
whether it will adjust short-term interest
rates, the Wall Street Journal’s executive editor
ponders the possibility, but does not obsess
over it. Journalism at the Journal is no longer
just a daily exercise; it’s a minute-by-minute,
and sometimes second-by-second endeavor.
But inside the mind of Almar Latour, the tall,
slender Dutchman whose easy-going manner
conceals his weighty intellect, thoughts on
today’s big stories must jostle for position with
Big Ideas for tomorrow.
papers that use its branded content, it trails
only USAToday, according to the Alliance for
Audited Media’s most recent report). In
an industry whose very existence remains
on shaky ground, the Journal has never lost
its footing.
Why then did its stewards feel compelled
to so radically reimagine its newsroom, the
backbone of its business?
“The easy thing to say is we’re already
pretty big and it’s a comfortable situation,
so let’s just perpetuate the situation,” says
Latour, who in January was promoted to
publisher of the Dow Jones Media Group.
“The harder thing to say, even when you’re
relatively well-off, is that everything is
changing, things might not be the same
tomorrow. How do we reinvent ourselves?”
Journalists love posing questions, but
they’re not so crazy about answering them.
In Latour, however, the Journal found a
“We’ve created a single global newsroom,
and this is the beating heart,” he says,
pointing to the expansive maze of desks
where hundreds of reporters, editors,
and now, thanks in large part to Latour’s
reorganization, graphic designers, data
scientists, and software engineers sit. “We
have mini-replicas of this in Hong Kong
and London, so it’s a 24/7 operation.”
Two days earlier the company launched
redesigned Asian and European versions of
the print paper that mirror the American
one. A mammoth video board that hangs
above the Hub, as the nerve center of the
newsroom is called, displays a live feed of
WSJ.com and the preliminary design of pages
for tomorrow’s dead tree edition. Save for a
few exceptions, the workspaces are entirely
open, including a “hot spot” section where
employees plug their laptops into a different
desk depending on the project they’re
Inside the mind of Almar Latour, the tall, slender
Dutchman whose easy-going manner conceals his
weighty intellect, thoughts on today’s big stories must
jostle for position with Big Ideas for tomorrow.
ILLUSTRATION BY KEITH WITMER
Three years ago Latour, SOC/MA ’96, was
tapped to transform earth’s financial paper of
record into the world’s “premier digital news
organization.” For a 127-year-old publication
that didn’t run photos until the twenty-first
century, that’s a miniscule period of time
in which to implement a seismic shift. Yet
Latour, 45, has been able to mold the paper
into a leaner, less fractured reportorial force
that puts as much effort into mining data
as gathering quotes; as much thought into
designing its homepage as laying out page
one; and as much emphasis on hiring software
engineers as reporters.
It hasn’t always been easy. Even at
dying companies change often is met with
resistance or outright rebellion, but by all
accounts the Journal always has been quite
virile. A cog in Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corp. empire, it is America’s second-highest
circulating paper (with a total of more than
2.2 million readers of its print products,
digital subscriptions, and material in other
leader with a reporter’s penchant for
spotting problems and a manager’s acumen
for solving them.
“That’s extremely rare,” says Alan Murray,
Latour’s first boss at the Journal and now
editor of Fortune magazine. “Almar’s very
focused and he’s very determined. There’s
not a lot of nonsense or drama.”
Which is not to say that the paper’s
transformation under Latour hasn’t
been dramatic.
Dow Jones, which publishes the Wall
Street Journal and other financial news
products, occupies four floors of 1211 Avenue
of the Americas, a skyscraper about a block
from Times Square that houses News Corp.
and some of its other subsidiaries, including
Fox News and the New York Post. Journal
visitors take an elevator to the seventh floor,
which is where the 6-foot-4 Latour, wearing
a black sport coat but no tie, met me.
working on at the time. In case they need
privacy or a break from their coworkers,
there’s a modern incarnation of a phone booth
where they can work in blissful silence.
This proximity, however forced it may
be, encourages collaboration and the sharing
of information, which haven’t always been
strengths at the Journal, Latour says. He’s
sitting at the conference table in his office,
which has floor-to-ceiling windows looking
out on the newsroom. It’s a utilitarian space
with almost no personal touches—because he
travels so much, he says he’d rather people
feel comfortable using it for meetings.
Latour is a long way from the village of
Welten in the Netherlands, where he was born
the son of teachers and raised by his mother
after his parents divorced. Coming of age in
Cold War Europe, he harbored a fascination
with the power and influence wielded by the
United States. Toward the end of high school,
he got a job doing color correction in the photo
lab of a regional Dutch newspaper, which just
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 23

happened to be where the Journal printed
its European edition at the time. He arrived
in America as an exchange student at Indiana
University of Pennsylvania in 1990, and after
his first year, decided to stay.
“I had a professor who said, ‘You’re a
professional journalist when you get your first
paycheck,’” Latour recalls. “I made it my goal
that year to have a paycheck, and I got that.”
It came from the Tribune-Review, a
Pennsylvania newspaper for which he wrote
a story on a student protest in the state capital.
Still, Latour wasn’t entirely sure that his
future lay in journalism. When he enrolled in
graduate school at AU, he was a student in the
School of International Service. An internship
at the European Parliament convinced him
that a life of diplomacy wasn’t for him, so he
switched to the School of Communication,
where he landed another internship, at the
Wall Street Journal.
Review. A year later, he was assigned to
Stockholm, where he covered everything from
the oil industry to the Nobel Prize to playing
ice golf in the Arctic Circle. He also began
reporting on subjects like mobile technology
and the Internet, introducing companies like
Nokia and Ericsson to Journal readers. After
a stint in London, he moved to the technology
bureau in New York, where he broke the story
of the indictment of WorldCom’s CEO. He
was quickly promoted to bureau chief—the
youngest at the Journal at that time—before his
path once again crossed his mentor’s.
“When I was asked to take over the digital
operations of the Journal [in 2007], I needed
a managing editor for the website,” Murray
says. “I was a fan of Almar’s, so I walked into
his office and said, ‘If you ran the Wall Street
Journal website, what would you do?’ For the
next 30 minutes he laid out for me exactly
what needed to be done. It was as if he had
initial task in his new role will be to lead the
integration of Newswires [another Dow Jones
entity] and the Journal, a mission he has already
accomplished with skill and dispatch in Asia.”
Soon he’d add a North America feather
to his continental cap. But Latour, who has a
passion for the “architecture” of the industry,
was just getting started.
As Latour strolls through the sparsely
populated halls (a newsroom at 10 a.m.
is not usually a beehive of activity) clutching
a disposable cup of coffee, he greets almost
everyone by name. When you’ve spent nearly
your entire adult life working for a single
company, getting to know colleagues beyond
a professional level is one of the perks.
Perhaps that’s a reason Latour was
the perfect man to lead the Journal’s
transformation.
The rhythm of a newsroom used to crescendo as the
day progressed, peaking when the next day’s paper
was put to bed. No longer. Now, it’s about the now.
“We worked on little green computer
terminals with their own messaging system,”
he says. “Editing would often be done on
printouts on dot-matrix printers. The story
that got me hired was a lengthy one on
the media industry in Europe. I remember
printing out this big stack of papers, then
I showed it to the editor. He rolled it out,
scrolled through it, and when he got to the
end he said, ‘If you want to stay in journalism
you can really have a career in it.’”
The Journal hired him in 1995 as a news
assistant in its Washington bureau, then
run by Alan Murray. At first the rookie was
shoveled the grunt work that the “real”
reporters thumbed their noses at. Among his
assignments: counting the number of applause
lines President Clinton drew during a State
of the Union address.
But Latour’s talents emerged quickly, leading
to meatier assignments. After about 18 months
he moved to the paper’s Brussels headquarters
to write for the Central European Economic
a strategy paper in his head. I knew he was
a good manager and extremely competent,
but what blew me away was his ability to
lay out a vision for the website without any
preparation. I walked into his office out of the
blue, and I walked out convinced that he was
the guy that I wanted.”
Latour was appointed managing editor of
WSJ.com at age 36. He hired the site’s first photo
editor, ramped up its interactivity, and oversaw
a complete redesign that debuted on September
16, 2008—one day after Lehman Brothers
filed for bankruptcy. The coverage included
a prominent photo of a trader in despair and
a graphic detailing the stock market spiral.
Neither could have run prior to the redesign.
He went on to lead the Journal in Asia, before
Editor-in-Chief Gerard Baker appointed him
executive editor of the Journal, Dow Jones, and
Market Watch in December 2012.
“Almar is a Dow Jones veteran who has
played a crucial role in creating the modern
Journal,” Baker said in a memo to the staff. “His
“He understood the digital world, but he
had earned his chops so he had the respect
of the journalists,” Murray says. “They knew
he was a great reporter, they knew he could do
the kind of work that they were accustomed
to doing, but he also understood how they had
to change to succeed in the digital world.”
Latour saw his job as threefold. First,
he aimed to create a newsroom that was
primarily digital. This essentially flipped the
journalistic model that had been the norm at
the Journal for more than a century.
“At one point most people read the Wall
Street Journal on a mobile device,” he says.
“It’s easy to say print is dead, but I think
print has become one platform instead of
the platform. It’s not going to be the largest
platform in terms of readership and daily
interaction. That’s already vanished.”
Signs of this are everywhere in the
newsroom. Aside from the large screen above
the Hub, four others on a prominent wall
display real-time metrics from WSJ.com.
24 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

The number of people logged on, how much
time they’re spending on the site, which
links they’re clicking on, whether they’re a
subscriber . . . nothing’s a mystery. In addition,
unifying the newsroom into a single, albeit
massively large, global unit has created
new work flows that (generally) emphasize
digital in the mornings, when more people
are online. The rhythm of a newsroom used
to crescendo as the day progressed, peaking
when the next day’s paper was put to bed. No
longer. Now, it’s about the now.
Next, Latour wanted to globalize. That a
world-class news organization was operating
essentially in silos just a few years ago sounds
strange, but in many cases at the Journal,
that was the case. The paper had separate
mergers and acquisitions reporting groups in
Hong Kong, London, and New York before
Latour unified them. So while not all of its
1,800 editorial staffers work in the same
without readers noticing,” Latour says. “In
general, media companies, when you switch
from an analog world to a digital world, one
of the things you have to accept is that the
cost structure changes. There are benefits—
distribution costs go way down—but the
revenue dynamic is different, and different
skill sets are needed.”
Which leads to Latour’s third charge:
stressing specialization. Reporters come to
the Journal from all different walks of life.
Some were trained as journalists, others have
a background in business or finance, a few
are simply deep thinkers and terrific writers.
Today you’ll find more than one Journal
scribe working alongside a PhD or a person
with a degree in computer science.
“If you think of journalists as experts
rather than just reporting day-to-day events,
data and data analysis are becoming part of
our storytelling,” he says. “We’re building
That’s what we’re trying to unlock. In the past
you would do that for one effort, for one story.
Now you can create a mini-universe in which
there are many stories.”
Another time, a Journal team examined
the accuracy of central bank officials’
predictions about the economy. A relatively
unknown woman came out on top. That
ace prognosticator, Janet Yellen, went on to
become Fed chief. If only picking winning
stocks was so easy.
At its core, the Wall Street Journal remains
the Wall Street Journal. If you’re looking for
analysis of marquee offerings from the world’s
biggest hedge funds or you’re wondering how
the dollar is faring against the euro, there’s
no better source. When Yellen made her big
announcement (“Fed Delays Rate Liftoff,”
which really wasn’t so big), the paper ran four
stories in the print edition and several others
on its various platforms.
“We’re building algorithms for sweeping through huge swaths of
information and coming to new conclusions that we couldn’t come
to before. Data is not just important. A serious media company
can’t fully function without it.” –Almar Latour
hemisphere, organizationally, now they’re all
part of the same team.
“That’s something unique we can offer
that we haven’t fully leveraged before,”
Latour says. “In the past, if you were a foreign
correspondent, writing an article would be
like writing a letter home to a good friend
and saying, ‘Here’s what it’s like in the Czech
Republic.’ Whereas now what’s happening in
Tokyo might be very much part of the story
here in the US.”
The reorganization didn’t come without
a price. In June, Editor-in-Chief Baker
announced the elimination of a few dozen
positions (hundreds of people shifted jobs
and new positions will be created, Latour
says), the closing of bureaus in Prague
and Helsinki, the elimination of the smallbusiness
coverage group, and the death of
several blogs.
“Having analyzed the workings of the
newsroom, I thought there were certain
things we could step back from or diminish
algorithms for sweeping through huge swaths
of information and coming to new conclusions
that we couldn’t come to before. Data is not
just important. A serious media company
can’t fully function without it.”
To promote that idea, the paper flew in
people from all over the world to work with
data scientists for an internal “datathon.”
“We locked them up for a couple of days,
and we came out with stuff that just didn’t
exist before,” Latour says. “We had a Middle
East reporter who did analysis on hacking
efforts by Iran. You can report on that, and
you’re quoting people—that’s one thing. But
they took data sets that were publicly available
but very impenetrable and did some really
sophisticated analysis on it. They reverse
engineered some of the data sets and drew
some conclusions, then created a timeline of
actual hacking attempts into US companies,
and then mapped the timeline to negotiations
with Iran over the nuclear issue. To me that’s
new because it has so many dimensions to it.
But the Journal also is attracting a new
generation of readers through whimsical
articles (“I’ll Be Darned, Wearing Socks With
Sandals Is No Faux Pas”); pop culture coverage
(its “Speakeasy” blog is wildly popular); its
flashy, fashion-heavy monthly magazine; and
new ways of telling the “same old” financial
stories that its most loyal readers demand. The
paper won its first Pulitzer in eight years for
a 2015 series exposing abuses in the Medicare
system. In a Journal story about the prize,
Investigations Editor Michael Siconolfi cited
the work of, among others, six members of the
paper’s graphics teams, and Latour points to
data mining as a key to the series as well.
“We’re in a leadership position in print,
we were and still are in a leadership position
in digital subscriptions, so the question is,
how do you retain that?” Latour says.
Another tough question lobbed by a
reporter and editor who’s made a career of
posing them. Almar Latour just might have
the answer to this one.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 25

BY MIKE UNGER
“I don’t think we’ve met before. Hi, I’m
Allison.”
The new mayor of one of America’s most
revered historic towns has just walked into
the second-floor suite that houses her office in
Alexandria, Virginia’s stately city hall. Before
she even removes her coat or pours a cup of
coffee to warm up from the February chill,
she spots a city employee and extends her
arm. Thomas, a worker in the mail services
department, meets her hand with his, and
the two chat for a moment about the recent
blizzard from which the city is still digging out.
People call Allison Silberberg, SIS-CAS/
BA ’84, a lot things these days: Madam Mayor,
Mayor Silberberg, Her Honor. But true to
her Texas roots and politician-for-the-people
approach, she prefers folks simply use Allison.
“For me, it’s an incredible honor to be
sitting here,” she says from behind the large,
dark wooden desk in the spacious office she’s
occupied for less than a month. Save for a few
office supplies and a stack of business cards it’s
basically barren, as are the walls that have been
freshly painted white.

“We have inherited this jewel, and
everything that I am focused on is about
what’s in the best interest of our beloved
historic city, and what’s in the best interest
for generations to come. I take it very
seriously. I pinch myself all the time.”
Who can blame her? It’s been a whirlwind
year for the 53-year-old Silberberg, who in
June used a careful-and-thoughtful-growth
platform to defeat the standing mayor, William
Euille, in the Democratic primary by a scant
312 votes. Five months later she cruised to a
much more comfortable win over the fourterm
incumbent, who mounted a write-in
campaign. She attended “new mayor’s school”
at Harvard University and in January was one
of 10 mayors invited to the White House to
meet with senior administration officials in
advance of the United States Conference of
Mayors. In between, this lifelong tennis player
tore her Achilles tendon on the court, a serious
injury from which she is still rehabbing. Still, it
wasn’t enough to keep her on the sidelines; she
ditched heels for sneakers and crutches and
kept moving down the campaign trail.
“You have to have enthusiasm about life,”
Silberberg says, her voice brimming with it.
“That’s the way I’ve always been. I don’t know
any other way.”
◆ ◆ ◆
Dinnertime conversation at the Silberberg
household in Dallas, Texas, where Allison
was born and raised, usually centered on the
political issues of the day.
“I often watched Walter Cronkite with my
parents. I’ve been a history and news junkie
since I was a little kid,” she says.
One of Silberberg’s earliest memories is
stuffing envelopes for Adlene Harrison, a
legendary Lone Star politician who in 1976
became the first woman and the first Jewish
person to serve as Dallas’s mayor. Silberberg’s
mother, Barbara, also had a long history of
public service, including working as the
Dallas campaign manager for former Texas
governor Ann Richards. It’s no wonder then
that Silberberg became managing editor of
her high school newspaper, the Hillcrest
Hurricane, and that when it came time to go
to college, she headed to Washington.
At AU she earned degrees in international
studies and history, but took classes in
philosophy and Shakespearean acting as well.
“She always stood out as ethical,
authentic, down-to-earth with a quirky
laugh that is infectious,” says her friend Luby
Ismail, SIS/BA ’84.
Silberberg also served as president of the
AU College Democrats and interned for the
late Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy,
an experience she calls an “honor.” It’s a word
she uses often, and not casually.
After graduating, she was one of a
handful of students accepted into UCLA’s
prestigious School of Theater, Film and
Television, where she interned for renowned
film director Sydney Pollock while earning
a master’s degree in playwriting. She went
on to write an episode of the TV show
Mama’s Family before deciding to move
back east to combine her writing and public
policy interests.
But where to live? She wanted to be near
the water, and easy access to the Kennedy
Center was a must. After considering
Annapolis, Georgetown, and Capitol Hill,
in 1989 she chose Alexandria.
She’s never left.
“It has a sense of community, and its history
has always fascinated me,” Silberberg says of
the 267-year-old city of about 150,000. “I just
had an instinct about it.”
◆ ◆ ◆
A communications consultant and writer who’s
authored several books, including Visionaries
In Our Midst: People who are Changing our
World, which spent time at No. 1 on Amazon’s
philanthropy and charity best-seller list,
Silberberg dived into local politics, working
with the Alexandria Democratic Committee
and the Democratic National Committee,
and serving for eight years on Alexandria’s
Economic Opportunities Commission. In
2011 she wrote an op-ed for the Washington
Post advocating for a compromise regarding
the city’s waterfront development plan. The
piece attracted a lot of attention, and got her
thinking about running for office.
“I was just a citizen reaching out,” she says.
“Our beloved city was kind of in the middle
of this debate. I thought we ought to be very
careful about how we develop.”
As the top vote-getter in the 2012 city
council race, she became vice mayor, a post
in which she sometimes clashed with then-
Mayor Euille. Using a grassroots campaign that
highlighted her desire for smart, measured
growth, four years later she unseated him.
“I believe the city of Alexandria needs
someone like Allison to completely change
the dialogue with citizens and build
greater trust in government,” says Eileen
Cassidy Rivera, SIS/BA ’85, Kogod/MBA
’90, a longtime friend of Silberberg’s and a
fellow Alexandria resident. “She invests a
lot of time in getting to know people, and
surrounds herself with experts with the
wisdom, experience, and perspectives on
issues she cares about.”
Those include ethics and transparency
in government. One of Silberberg’s first
proposals—beefing up the city’s ethics
standards—was passed by the council in
January, but not exactly in the form she
envisioned. Still, she says the measure is a
good step forward in her quest to transform
Alexandria into a national leader in the matter.
Increasing the city’s tree canopy from
about 33 percent to 40 also is a priority.
“I know that Allison will succeed because
she perseveres,” says Suzanne Skillings, a SIS
undergraduate counselor who has known
Silberberg since she first advised her in 1981.
“Allison is all about people. She listens to
people and thinks about what she hears, and
she works hard. I think she has her own clear
vision for the city, but will always take the
views and needs of others into account.”
A month into a job she repeatedly
describes as an “honor”—there’s that word
again—Silberberg already has navigated
perhaps the greatest political obstacle any
mayor can. Beginning January 23, a storm
dubbed “Snowzilla” dumped 22 inches of
snow on Alexandria—50 percent more than
the city usually sees all winter. Along with the
city manager and department heads, Silberberg
oversaw an operation of 80 snowplow crews
and dozens of other city workers who worked
around the clock for days.
“There are some things that we’re going
to tweak a little bit, and we’re certainly taking
input from the public, and we’re going to do an
after-action review, but I think considering the
amount of snow, my hat is off to the crews and
the staff,” says Silberberg, adding that she was
extremely proud of residents who checked on
elderly neighbors and cleared snow from fire
hydrants. “It was a huge team effort.
“All of us are temporary stewards of this
national treasure called Alexandria.”
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 27

Visitors to Bender Library often don’t realize that it’s a veritable
treasure trove. Tucked in the third-floor Archives and Special Collections
are thousands of rare and fascinating objects: sixteenth-century math
books, first editions of Charles Dickens, Japanese board games, shows
from the Golden Age of Radio . . . and the list goes on.
University Archivist Susan McElrath has been managing these
collections for 12 years. She says that’s both a huge responsibility and
a “fabulous opportunity—I get paid to play with this stuff.” She also
encourages students and faculty to take advantage of the collections
for primary-source research.
The collections, many fragile with age, most often serve the needs of
researchers and historians. But they are far more than dusty relics of
another age. Several, like the collections of William Causey and Charles
Nelson Spinks, represent the lifelong pursuit of a passion, whether for
books, Japanese art, stamps, theater, political activism, or autographed
William Faulkner novels. They are rich with history, but also personal.
The Peace Corps Community Archives reflects the wide-ranging
experiences of returned volunteers, told through their diaries,
photographs, letters, and scrapbooks. Scholars’ collected papers
reflect groundbreaking work in education, environmentalism, war, social
activism, and women’s equality.
Primary sources like these can take the dry bones of history and make
them come alive. “It allows you to tell all kinds of different stories for
all kinds of audiences,” McElrath says.
So step in to the treasure trove, and step back in time.
—BY AMY BURROUGHS
This flier, announcing Statehood Day in the District on October 5, 1974,
is from the PATRICK FRAZIER POLITICAL AND SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS COLLECTION. By day, Frazier was a Library of
Congress reference librarian, but his avocation was documenting DCarea
protests and social justice activism of the 1960s and 1970s. He took
photos and collected fliers, posters, and handbills. “It’s a nice snapshot
of social protests, covering everything from the Vietnam War to the
Nixon impeachment to gay rights and women’s rights,” McElrath says.
28 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

In 1870, when Charles Dickens wrote The Mystery of Edwin Drood,
readers received the story in serial form, one section at a time.
However, Dickens died before completing the novel, so readers
still don’t know how the story ends. These first editions are from
the WILLIAM F. CAUSEY COLLECTION, 2,000-plus
books donated to AU by Bill Causey, SPA/BA ’71. “This is an
intriguing piece, both because it shows the history of printing
and publishing and because it is one of many people’s favorite
authors,” McElrath says.
This scrapbook from Terry Kennedy, a
1960s-era Peace Corps volunteer, belongs
to the FRIENDS OF COLOMBIA
ARCHIVES AND THE PEACE
CORPS COMMUNITY ARCHIVES.
Photos, letters, and other mementos tell
the compelling stories of volunteers’
experiences—a complement to their official
reports in the National Archives. Some 40
volunteers have donated memorabilia to the
Peace Corps Community Archive.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 29

The JOHN R. HICKMAN COLLECTION
has more than 10,000 recordings of vintage radio
programs, including reel-to-reels and wax cylinders
(like those shown here) of Gunsmoke, Dragnet,
and other favorites. Hickman, CAS/BA ’66, began
collecting as a teenager, launched a WAMU radio
program in 1964 (it continues today as the Big
Broadcast), and worked in radio throughout his
life. “Radio is an ephemeral medium and unless
someone actually recorded a program, once it’s
aired, it’s gone,” McElrath says.
This drawing is one of many pieces of artwork
collected by Jack Child, SIS/PhD ’78, who taught
Latin American studies at AU from the 1980s
until 2011. A scholar interested in the power of
visual imagery, he commissioned student drawings
to use in his classes. THE JACK CHILD
COLLECTION also includes stamps, course
materials, manuscripts, and research. “You get
a sense of the man and a sense of his teaching
style,” McElrath says.
The Disarmament Coloring Book was created by WOMEN STRIKE
FOR PEACE, founded in 1961 to protest the nascent nuclear
movement. AU houses records of the organization’s legislative arm
and Washington, DC, branch, including a “massive subject file on
every topic you could think of related to disarmament and women’s
peace,” McElrath says. This coloring book—its subject matter unusual
by today’s standards—was created so children could color images of
soldiers and weapons of mass destruction.
The ARTEMAS MARTIN COLLECTION may be the
oldest in the library. Martin was a teacher, farmer, and dedicated
problem solver: he loved math so much, he amassed an impressive
collection of books on the subject. The top book is a 1488 edition
of Boethius’s Arithmetic, which includes the first printed
multiplication table. The book below is the first English translation
of Euclid, dated 1570; some pages allowed the reader to convert
flat illustrations into three-dimensional shapes. “The collection’s
real strength is in American math textbooks,” McElrath says. “We
have one of the largest collections in the United States.”
30 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

This nineteenth-century board game from
the CHARLES NELSON SPINKS
COLLECTION is an example of sogoruku, a
Japanese board game whose detailed, intricate
illustrations are artwork in their own right.
Spinks, who served in Japan for many years
with the Foreign Service, developed a love for
the country’s history and culture. His collection
includes illustrated books and Ukiyo–e style
prints, a style of Japanese art, some of which
date back to the seventeenth century.
The SALLY L. SMITH PAPERS include
this unpublished manuscript for a children’s book,
one of two by the ahead-of-her-time educator and
longtime professor in the School of Education.
Smith’s lasting legacy, however, was founding in
1967 the Lab School of Washington, an arts-based
program for students with learning disabilities.
At the time, the curricula Smith developed was a
brand-new approach to education for children with
special needs. The school and AU continue their
partnership to this day.
These diaries from the BISHOP JOHN FLETCHER HURST
COLLECTION recorded the thoughts of the young man who would
go on to found AU—and have Hurst Hall named in his honor. Hurst, also a
scholar and leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in 1834.
The collection includes diaries, correspondence, and sermons dating
from 1849 to 1903, when he died.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 31

he’s Beloved,
she’s Dearest.
Love note No. 1: Dearest, Hi. I’m not asking
much, just a partner for a bike ride, a buddy so
I’m not alone. –Beloved
Hyong Yi, SPA/BA ’94, SPA/MPA ’95,
met Catherine Zanga in church one divine
Sunday morning in August 1999. He was
smitten by her razor-sharp smarts and her
drive; her beautiful brown eyes and crazy
curly hair didn’t hurt. But the woman who
became the love of his life was a reluctant
first date.
No. 2: Beloved, I’m not interested in dating,
but I am new to DC. OK, I’ll go. Will there be
food? –Dearest
There was. Sushi became their favorite.
They rode bikes along the C&O Canal, sipped
wine at vineyards in her native Virginia, and
were regulars at the opera. Not that there
weren’t hiccups along the way. He took
a job in Boston, while she stayed back in
Washington to practice law. Long-distance
romances are rarely easy, but they managed.
No. 17: Dearest, Having covered so much
distance, I’m beginning to understand my place
in the world. I think it’s beside you. –Beloved
Then one late Friday night in 2001, he
dropped to one knee by the Tidal Basin and
asked her to marry him.
No. 24: Beloved, yes. It’s yes. From the
beginning, it was always you. –Dearest
Life came next. They had a daughter,
Anna, and a son, Alex, whom Zanga quit her
job to raise. Charlotte, North Carolina, where
he is an assistant city manager, became home.
No. 49: Dearest, Everything you do, you do
for us. Everything I do, I do for you. These are
our daily acts of love. –Beloved
Following a summer vacation in the
mountains out west, Zanga had trouble
breathing. They thought it was a lingering
cold. The cold turned into bronchitis,
which eventually became pneumonia. The
pneumonia required an X-ray, which sent
them to the nearest hospital. Further tests
revealed the worst. Ovarian cancer.
Agony ensued.
No. 72: Beloved, I’m tired and in so much
pain. I know the drugs are not working.
I have no strength to fight and I’m scared.
–Dearest
No. 75: Dearest, Hold still. I have to drain
fluid from your chest. It’s with the greatest love
32 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

that I cause you pain. I want you to breathe.
I want you to live. –Beloved
They tried to remain positive, but cancer
is a pessimist. Chemotherapy proved no
match, and Zanga began planning a future
for her family without her. She ordered socks
for her husband, a subscription to Amazon
so household necessities would be delivered
regularly, and planned the details—readings,
songs—of her funeral. At 8 p.m. on November
20, an ambulance took her to a hospice care
center. Five hours later, Yi got a call from the
nurse, who told him to rush back. From the
darkest hours of the night until just before
dawn he talked and talked and talked to her,
before exhaustion overwhelmed him and he
dozed off by her side.
No. 89: Dearest, I am so sorry I fell asleep. I
did not see you go. I carry the guilt of not saying
good-bye. –Beloved
No. 90: Beloved, Hold your head high. Be
proud. No woman could have asked for more.
I left while you slept to ease your burden.
–Dearest
Catherine Zanga was 41. But her story was
far from over.
weeks, and months
following Zanga’s funeral, Yi lost himself in
caring for the kids, concentrating on his
work, and trying to survive each day. He was
lonely, to be sure, but that was easy to ignore
compared to the immense sadness and anxiety
he began feeling as an anniversary he had never
even considered he’d have to mark approached.
“By the time I got to September, the
problem I had was I could count down the
number of days to the anniversary of her
death,” he says. “It very much felt like a
hurricane had built out in the Atlantic, it was
going to come ashore and hit me, and there
was nothing I could do except hold on and deal
with the wreckage. I thought, what can I do to
turn this around? How can I make this, instead
of a day of mourning, a day of celebration?”
It took two weeks for the epiphany to
strike. He’d take pen to paper and write little
love notes to his wife. So he began scribbling
on a scrap sheet or on the back of a random
receipt, telling her things he knew she knew,
and others he never got the chance to say
during their 15 years together. But 50 short
stanzas in, something felt wrong.
“Half of them actually sounded like
Catherine,” he says. “It occurred to me that
this is really a conversation between the two
of us about our time together.”
His project evolved until he had written 50
notes from Beloved to Dearest, and 50 from
Dearest to Beloved, then organized them into
a comment/response format. The first 60
tell the story of their time together—meeting,
dating, marrying, working, parenting.
Living.
The next 30 deal with cancer—fighting,
fearing, succumbing.
Dying.
The last 10 are even more conceptual.
In those, Yi imagined how his wife would
respond to his grief, to his anger, to his loss,
to his new reality.
No. 98: Beloved, You’ve shed enough tears.
Live fiercely. Live completely. Don’t ever forget
you are never alone. -Dearest
Recording his thoughts and emotions,
and what he imagined Zanga’s would be, was
therapeutic for Yi. Yet he still felt vaguely
unfulfilled, until a second, somewhat more
out-there idea struck. He would distribute his
love notes to strangers.
“It was important to me not just to
recognize Catherine and the love we had, and
to share that story, but to build community by
spreading love,” he says. “What I wanted to do
was try to get people to take time to reflect on
the love in their life, because I know what it
feels like to not have it anymore. I want people
not to take it for granted.”
That’s how it came to be that on the
morning of November 20, 2015, 364 days after
Zanga passed away, Yi, Anna, and Alex took
to the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets
in the heart of downtown Charlotte to hand
out love notes to total strangers. Each package
also contained a blank card with a plea from
Yi for the recipient to write their own note to
a loved one.
One or two pedestrians didn’t break stride,
but most paused to accept. A few stopped
to read on the spot, and more than one
approached Yi to offer condolences, tears in
their eyes.
The family was trailed by several local
television news crews, and it didn’t take
long for the story to go viral. Good Morning
America, the Today show, the Huffington Post,
BuzzFeed, Upworthy; traditional and new
media ate it up. It seems love translates to
all mediums.
And in all languages. Pieces soon ran in
France (amour), Italy (amore), Spain (amor),
Croatia (ljubav), Vietnam (than ai), Finland
(rakkaus), Germany (liebe), The Netherlands
(liefde), Turkey (ask), South Korea, China,
Japan, Brazil, the Bahamas, Australia, and
New Zealand.
Yi started a website (100lovenotes.com),
a Facebook page, and a Twitter hashtag
(#100lovenotes) where people began sharing
their own stories of love and grief. He intends
to write a book and, come November 21, be
out on the streets of Charlotte again, this time
with as many people as he can gather, passing
out love notes and asking each recipient to
take a moment to tell someone special how
they feel about them.
All of which begs the question, why?
“Love is universal,” he says. “Everybody
understands it regardless of what country,
culture, language you’re from. Whether
it’s your parents, or your siblings, or your
spouse, or even a pet dog or cat, everybody
understands love. Everybody has a love story.
Everybody. There’s no exception to that.
Some people may say they don’t; it just means
they haven’t really thought about it long
enough. People understand love, and this is a
love story. It is not about death, or cancer. It
resonates with people, because it’s not just my
love story. They empathize with it, and then
they can reflect on the love in their life, and
what that means.”
Like many among us, Hyong Yi loves his
job, his children, and always and forever, his
wife. But like only the luckiest few, Hyong Yi
also is in love with love.
FOLLOW US @AU_AMERICANMAG 33

“It took an act of Congress, but children are finally welcome to sled down
#CapitolHill,” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) tweeted on January
23, as winter storm Jonas descended on DC, dumping more than two feet
of powder. But kids weren’t the only ones who headed to the Hill in the
wake of Snowzilla. AU students (from left) Bryan White, Melanie MacKenzie,
Dana Foley, and Becca Downey—kids at heart—were among the hundreds of
sledders who celebrated the lifting of the 140-year-old ban.

PHOTO BY ABBY NEWBOLD
1950s
Stanley Grogan, SOC/BS ’50,
SOC/MA ’55, received a
Silver Jubilee award from the
International Institute of
Security and Safety
Management
for his 25 years
of service in
the fields of
security, safety,
and fire safety
management.
He helped create
the largest training
institute of its kind in
South Asia.
1960s
Gene Rainey, SIS/PhD, ’66,
was awarded the Order of the
Long Leaf Pine by the North
Carolina governor and the Martin
Luther King Humanitarian
Award for his work in bringing
races together. He was also
elected to two terms on the
Asheville City Council and two
terms as chair of the Buncombe
County Commissioners in
North Carolina.
1970s
Janet Gibbs, CAS/BA ’72, wrote
a historical romance book, So
Much More.
KNOW
ABOUT UPCOMING
EVENTS. VISIT
AMERICAN.EDU/
ALUMNI/EVENTS.
Eugene Goldman, SPA/BA ’73,
was appointed to the Board for
Professional and Occupational
Regulation by Virginia Governor
Terry McAuliffe. He is a partner
at McDermott Will & Emery LLP
in Washington, DC.
Michael Wager, SPA/
BA ’73, returned
to practicing law
and teaching,
following his
campaign for
US Congress
(Ohio–14) in 2014.
He is the national
chair of the Business
and Finance Group at Taft,
Stettinius & Hollister LLP and an
adjunct faculty at Case Western
Reserve University in Cleveland,
Ohio.
Daniel Quinn, CAS/MA ’77,
appeared at a Cultural Crawl
book signing on October 9, 2015.
1980s
Daniel J. Hilferty, SPA/MA ’81,
received the Insurance Society
of Philadelphia’s Distinguished
Leadership Award.
Nancy Vaughan, SOC/MA ’82,
of Vaughan Communications in
Phoenix received the Society
of American Travel Writers’
lifetime achievement Marco
Polo Award. The award is
presented to an individual who
has provided extraordinary
service to SATW, making major
contributions to the growth and
development of the organization
for at least 10 years.
Charles Tolbert, CAS/BA ’87,
was elected to the Board of
Trustees at Adelphi University
in Long Island, New York.
Shane Sorenson, WCL/JD
’89, published A Butterfly’s
Revolution, which has been
considered for a motion picture
by New Line Cinema.
-1982-
TIME
CAPSULES
TOP TUNE
“Physical,” Olivia Newton-John
TOP-GROSSING FLICK
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
IN THE NEWS
Equal Rights Amendment fails
ratification; Michael Jackson releases
Thriller, selling more than 25 million
copies; MRI (magnetic resonance
imagining) diagnostic machines are
introduced in Britain
FROM THE AU ARCHIVES
Baby Dumpling, a 7-year-old bulldog,
becomes Letts Hall’s newest resident,
sleeping under the front desk.
AT THE HELM
Peter Scher was 1982–1983
Student Confederation president.
He’s now executive vice president
and head of corporate responsibility
at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
It’s certainly
not something
you like to think
about, but what
if you did get
hit by that
proverbial bus?”
—Sandra Tisiot,
SPA/MA ’90, on
MyLifeLocker, which
helps individuals store
personal information
to be passed on to family
and executors
1990s
Sandra Tisiot, SPA/MA ’90,
published A Year of Living
Gratefully: A Remarkable Way
to Make Your Child Happier and
More Grateful. Her first book,
MyLifeLocker, helps individuals
store personal information
to be passed on to family and
executors.
Michael Beckelhimer, SIS/
BA ’92, created Pushkin Is Our
Everything, which premiered at
the Russian Documentary Film
Festival in New York.
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 35

class notes
An alumni magazine is not the first place
I’d look for great reporting on the 70th
anniversary of the nuclear bombing of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but that’s what
the November issue delivered. In “After
the Flash,” Mike Unger wove together
several compelling contemporary and
historical narratives about the events. I
loved the article’s use of AU connections
(alumna Koko Kondo’s survival experience
and Professor Peter Kuznick’s student
trips to the city) to get at a story that
is much bigger than the university. The
illustrations with the story and cover
also were striking. Well done!
Kara Newhouse, CAS/BA, ’09
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
I wandered into the AU theater department
after taking a speech course with Jack
Yokum in the summer of 1958. I asked if
a non-thespian could try out for one of
the productions. In fall 1958, I appeared in
Our Town. There were some very talented
actors in the production and I was lucky
enough to get the part of Simon Stimson,
the choir director. After the show, I was
hooked on theater. I had other supporting
roles, worked in other aspects of
production, and graduated AU in 1960.
Fifty years later in Fernandina Beach,
Florida, I served as choir director in
our local community theater’s production
of Our Town. In between the two
performances, I did 28 years in the Air
Force and 20 years as an instructor at
Valdosta State University. I’m retired
but I remain active in the theater.
This is the short version of the 50
years of performances. I was also in the
original “cast” of the Vietnam build-up
in 1965. I also performed at the Omaha
Community Playhouse in How the Other
Half Loves in 1975.
Burton Bright, Kogod/BSBA ’60
Fernandina Beach, Florida
I have been receiving the AU magazine
for quite a while. I usually browse through
the magazine fairly quickly, check up on
the alumni, and then discard it. On rare
occasions there may be an article of
interest to me.
The November issue was different.
Most of the articles were interesting and
informative. I especially liked the articles
about the National Building Museum’s
Beach and the objects and ideas teetering
on extinction. The layout and quality of
the magazine were on par with many
professional publications.
I look forward to receiving the next
edition.
Charles Rodman, WCL/JD ’70
Ossining, New York
I’m old. Old enough that the November
American’s Class Notes section mentioned
only two alums—both of whom graduated
after I did—from the decade in which I
attended AU. So I think I’m qualified to
offer a bit of perspective regarding Amy
Burroughs’s provocative piece about
potentially extinct objects and ideas.
In my experience, technological and
social changes have always been embraced
by some people and excoriated by others;
conflict between “progressives” and
“conservatives” is an essential element of
human nature. I suspect (I’m old but not
that old) that the wheel was viewed with
alarm by some of our ancestors who
thought it would accelerate the accustomed
pace of life to an unsupportable level
of frenzy.
So while I can write in cursive script (of
such historically questionable quality that
my sixth-grade teacher, in a humorous
holiday gift list, wished me “anyone else’s
handwriting”), I’m typing this note on a
computer keyboard. And emailing rather
than snail-mailing it. I’m also composing it
using “proper grammar,” quite aware that
the definition of “proper” changes with
every generation. Do we write like Bill
Shakespeare? Or Tom Jefferson?
Here’s my message to Amy, and to
others who lament the passing of the old
methods and mores: you can observe and
critique the changes, but you can’t stop
them. People do what individually and
collectively “works for them.” Your only
reasonable choice is to adopt the novelties
that are useful to you and learn to tolerate
the others.
Now, I’m going to text (who’d a thunk
that would ever be a verb?) my
granddaughter—because she doesn’t
answer the “old-fashioned” telephone.
Bernie Weiss, SPGA/BA ’64
West Hartford, Connecticut
UPDATE
YOUR CONTACT
INFORMATION AT
ALUMNIASSOCIATION.
AMERICAN.EDU/
UPDATEINFO.
Latanya Sothern, SOC/BA ’92,
released her first book, The Birth
of an Advocate, about the highs
and lows of giving birth to a baby
with special needs.
David Jaffe, WCL/JD ’93,
received the American Bar
Association’s 2015 Meritorious
Service Award, which recognizes
individuals who have made
significant contributions to law
students’ mental and physical
wellness.
Anne Tait, CAS/MA ’97,
participated in an exhibition
at the Doug Adams Gallery in
Berkeley, California. She also
spoke at the New York Chapter
Association for Gravestone
Studies and presented “Making
Sense of Memorials” at the Mid-
Atlantic Popular and American
Culture Association’s 2015
conference in Philadelphia.
Kathleen Murphy, CAS/BA ’99,
was reelected to the Virginia
House of Delegates.
2000s
Gregory Gadren, SPA/BA
’00, SPA/MPP ’02, married
Andrea Browning, SIS/BA ’04,
CONNECT
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AmericanUAlum
36 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

on October 11, 2014, in Cherry
Hill, New Jersey. Alumni in
attendance included Anthony
Macri, SPA/BA ’02, SPA/MA
’04, Lisa (Smith) Richard,
Luke George, SPA/BA ’02,
Erin (Hinchey) George, SPA/
BA ’05, CAS/PhD ’13, Jennifer
Stair, SPA/BA ’01, Andy Strait,
’02, Kevin Malecek, SPA/
BA ’01, SPA/MA ’02, Edward
Wozniak, SOC/BA ’99, Christine
(Canavan) Jones, CAS/BA ’04,
Alicia Pimental, SOC/BA ’06,
Michael Rosellini, SOC/BA ’01,
Sonia Kim, and best man David
Gadren, CAS/BA ’04. The couple
lives in Washington, DC, where
Andrea works for the National
League for Nursing and Greg
works for the Department of
the Navy.
PHOTO BY AMANDA STEVENSON
-1994-
TIME
CAPSULES
TOP TUNE
“The Sign,” Ace of Base
TOP GROSSING FLICK
The Lion King
IN THE NEWS
Nelson Mandela is elected president
in South Africa’s first interracial
national election; O. J. Simpson is
charged with the murder of his ex-wife
and her friend; Nirvana frontman Kurt
Cobain commits suicide at age 27
FROM THE AU ARCHIVES
Domino’s Pizza launches an ironic weight
loss program to help students fight the
“freshman 15,” giving away free pies to
those who maintain their weight.
AT THE HELM
Jesse Heier was 1994–1995 Student
Confederation president. Today he’s
executive director of the Midwestern
Governors Association.
ADAM RITTER, SOC/BA ’86
The Major League Baseball (MLB) At Bat app has a CAL RIPKEN-ESQUE STREAK going.
For six straight years (through 2014), it’s been the TOP-GROSSING SPORTS APP on Apple’s
iTunes store. While he’s not quite as famous as the Iron Man, Adam Ritter has played a crucial role
in MLB Advanced Media’s success. When he joined the company, owned by each of MLB’s 30 clubs,
in 2005, the idea that fans would be able to follow games in real time—let alone watch them live—on
their (then mostly flip-style) cell phones was laughable. But Ritter, 52, has always been BLESSED
WITH FORESIGHT WHEN IT COMES TO TECHNOLOGY. A restauranteur in his native
Philadelphia after graduating from AU, he sold his eateries in 1998 and headed to New York when “I
saw this Internet thing starting to gain steam.” After a stint at a startup, Ritter joined MLB Advanced
Media. BASEBALL WAS THE FIRST MAJOR SPORT TO UNDERSTAND THE
POTENTIAL OF THE INTERNET. It streamed the first professional sporting event online
in 2001, and when the iTunes store launched in 2008, At Bat was ONE OF THE FIRST 500
APPS AVAILABLE. Now, MLB Advanced Media has expanded beyond the baseball diamond,
streaming live and video-on-demand content for HBO. Ritter, senior vice president of wireless, and
his team also built World Wrestling Entertainment’s over-the-top network, and in January began
delivering the National Hockey League’s mobile apps and subscription video products. But his eye
has remained primarily on baseball. Specifically, on TRYING TO ANTICIPATE THE NEXT
MEDIUM on which the sport will be able to deliver its content. “How will wearables resonate with
consumers?” says Ritter, who’s always worked in managerial roles but has picked up technological
know-how along the way. “The opportunities for baseball to use the mobile device as a utility device
for buying tickets, to get into the ballparks, to order food and beverage are there. We do all of these
things today, but the FUTURE IS ABOUT EVEN MORE ADOPTION.”
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 37

class notes
Q. WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND THE EAGLE’S
APRIL FOOLS’ DAY ISSUES?
A. No joke: With a handful of exceptions, AU’s student newspaper,
the Eagle, has put out an April Fools’ issue every year since 1964.
Publishing under a variety of pun-derful names—the Ego, Beagle,
and Bagel—the special
issues poked fun at
campus happenings and
world affairs. Headlines
included “Dread plague
sweeps campus” (1967)
and “Gone!! Artemas Ward
stolen; campus in turmoil”
(1995). Normally neurotic
editors also fiddled with
issue dates; in 1986, the
paper was dated March 32.
Students have also
produced a number of
humor publications,
including the Beak and
the Bald Eagle, which
split sides from 1959
to 1965.
EMAIL QUESTIONS for AU history wonk Susan McElrath to
magazine@american.edu.
Laina Lopez, WCL/JD ’01, made
partner at her law firm, Berliner
Corcoran & Rowe LLP.
Sarah Moss, SOC/BA ’01, sang
with her former boss Colorado
Governor John Hickenlooper and
“The Hick-Tones” in the Denver
Press Club Gridiron political
satire show on October 2.
Nicole Joseph, CAS/BA ’03,
was featured as a guest on
NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show
discussing “Using Brain Science
to Understand Terrible Teens.”
Christopher Malagisi, SPA/
BA ’03, began working for the
Conservative Book Club as its
editor in chief in late
2014. He is also an
adjunct professor
at AU and
president of
the Young
Conservatives
Coalition.
Mike Shubbuck,
SOC/BA ’03, SOC/
MA ’09, and Tara
Shubbuck, SOC/BA ’07,
KEEP
YOUR FRIENDS IN
THE LOOP. SEND
YOUR UPDATES TO
CLASSNOTES@
AMERICAN.EDU.
Followers of our journey lived vicariously
through us, saying, ‘I wish I could do
that!’ And we responded, ‘You can!’”
—Mike Shubbuck, SOC/BA ’03, SOC/MA ’09, and Tara Shubbuck,
SOC/BA ’07, on the impetus for a book chronicling their two-year
“extended honeymoon”
published a travel book, Create
Your Escape: A Practical Guide for
Planning Long-Term Travel. The
couple quit their jobs in 2012 to
travel the world on an “extended
honeymoon.”
Joy Bailey Bryant, CAS/MA ’04,
has been named US managing
director for Lord Cultural
Resources, a consulting firm that
works with clients to connect
people to arts and culture.
Christopher Abbott, SPA-SIS/
BA ’05, joined Weil, Gotshal
& Manges LLP as an associate
in the firm’s global antitrust
and competition practice in
Washington, DC.
Eric Rohter, SOC/BA ’08, won
the global Art Directors Club
Young Guns Award.
Joseph Alfred, SPA/BA ’09, selfpublished
The Immortal: How
Far Would You Go to Save the One
You Love?
Elizabeth Horsley,
SPA/BA ’09, SPA/
MS ’13, married
Clayton Massa,
SIS/BA ’09, SIS/
MA ’10, in her
hometown of
Seattle on July 24,
2015. In attendance
were bridesmaids Sunny
Massa, SPA/BA ’16, and Lacey
Steward, SIS/BA ’08, SIS/MA ’09.
Dorothy Mejia-Smith, SPA/BA
’09, accepted a position as a major
gifts officer at Penn Medicine
in Philadelphia, supporting the
Abramson Cancer Center and
the University of Pennsylvania
Health System.
-2012-
TIME
CAPSULES
TOP TUNE
“Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye
TOP GROSSING FLICK
Marvel’s The Avengers
IN THE NEWS
Hurricane Sandy pummels New Jersey,
New York, and Connecticut; gunmen storm
the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya,
killing four; US swimmer Michael Phelps
collects his 19th Olympic medal, becoming
the winningest Olympic athlete of all time
FROM THE AU ARCHIVES
In November, the Army Corps of
Engineers demolishes a Spring Valley
home—owned by AU—that sits atop a
former World War I defense site.
AT THE HELM
Sarah McBride, SPA/BA ’13, was 2011–2012
Student Government president. Today
she’s campaigns and communications
manager of the LGBT team at the Center
for American Progress.
38 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

top picks
PHOTO BY JOY ASICO
Kathy Hollinger likes to
eat out. A lot. As president and
CEO of the Restaurant Association
of Metropolitan Washington, she
leads an organization charged
with promoting the growth and
development of its more than
950 members. Come dinnertime,
she often heads to one of those
restauranteurs’ establishments.
“What’s great about DC
is that we have a range of
global cuisine, and then
we have homegrown, creative
endeavors and concepts across
our neighborhoods that are many
times internationally inspired,”
says Hollinger, SOC/BA ’92.
She travels frequently for both
work and pleasure, and food is
a major focus of her trips.
“When I travel I start at the local
markets, then find places that the
locals recommend.”
At this point Hollinger’s eaten
at so many renowned restaurants
in her favorite cities, like Miami,
Los Angeles, and her hometown
of Philadelphia (let alone in DC,
where she can’t pick favorites),
that she could publish her
own version of Zagat. If
she did, here’s a peek into some of
what would be inside.
Believe it or not, in the
lobby of the Fairmont
Miramar Hotel and
Bungalows, there’s
this great restaurant
that serves the most
amazing, buttery,
homemade, warm
chocolate chip
cookies.
AVENTURA
I’ve always been intrigued by
juiceries. This place is owned by
three young guys committed
to a raw food lifestyle, who
introduced me to a berry
called the aronia berry. It
has the highest number of
antioxidants of any berry in
the world. Who knew?
LOS ANGELES
This hole-in-the-wall is as authentic as it gets—
they don’t allow for any modifications. Their
pork is fantastic and their tacos are served on
homemade tortillas, of course.
SANTA MONICA
VENICE
Gjelina is very rustic,
very chic. Their New
American food is
incredible—they use
very fresh seasonal
vegetables. I love
the eggplant with
tahini sauce.
HOLLYWOOD
Whenever I’m in Miami
I go here. It’s not the
most spectacularlooking
place, but it has
to-die-for sushi. The
tuna inside-out roll is
one of my favorites.
I love the crispy Brussels
sprouts at this innovative,
New American restaurant.
Israeli with a twist,
Zahav is smallplates-oriented.
I leave it to the
server to identify
the chef’s favorites,
and I’ve always been
very pleased here,
especially with the
fried cauliflower.
There are definitely cheesesteak wars in
Philadelphia, and I grew up with Dalessandro’s.
I’m not a Cheez Whiz fan; I like provolone and
tightly diced—almost like ground beef. I like
to pick one up and eat it in
my car.
NOODLE BAR
Their pork buns are incredible, and
they’re now open in DC!
MONTREAL
I have a big sweet tooth, and Patrice is an
incredible bakery. They do this delicious
pastry that’s warm and flaky, and
inside is fresh banana with chocolate.
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 39

NORTHERN VIRGINIA—NOVA
TO THOSE IN THE KNOW—IS
THE PERFECT mix of
metropolis and suburbia. The
area, which radiates south and
west from DC is home to more
than 2.8 million people and a
plethora of powerful organizations
with three-letter acronyms (CIA,
DEA, DOD). NOVA is affluent,
highly educated, and seeped in
history and cultural diversity.
More than half of the
Commonwealth’s Fortune 500
employers, including Northrup
Grumman, General Dynamics,
and Gannett, are headquartered in
NOVA, a magnet for professionals
who want a high-profile job and a
house in the ’burbs. The federal
government is also a big employer.
Nestled just west of the
Potomac, NOVA is a tourist
destination in its own right. Every
year, millions of visitors flock to
Great Falls for fresh air, Tysons
Corner for retail therapy, and the
Washington and Old Dominion
Rail Trail (the longest paved path
in the United States) for a run.
Mount Vernon and the area’s
Civil War battlefields are
also big draws.
What besides a
love/hate relationship
with the Silver Line
do Northern Virginians
share? The insider’s
knowledge of DC, gained
while studying at AU. Get
to know some of our 6,350
NOVA neighbors here.
AU president
Neil Kerwin will host
a reception for NOVA
alumni, parents,
and friends on April 7.
For details, visit
american.edu/
alumni.
ADAM EBBIN, SPA/BA ’85
VIRGINIA STATE SENATOR, 30TH DISTRICT
Virginia’s General Assembly was established
nearly four centuries ago, making it the
nation’s oldest continuous lawmaking body.
Yet until Adam Ebbin was elected to
the House of Delegates in 2003,
it had never had an openly
gay member.
Ebbin is understandably
proud of that accomplishment,
but it doesn’t come close to
telling the whole story of his
time in the legislature. His core
objectives are making it easier to
vote, protecting the rights of immigrants,
and “standing up for the underdog.”
“Politics is a way of helping people,” he
says. “It also is a way to put your values,
and hopefully the values you share with
the community, into action.”
Ebbin’s district includes Ronald
Reagan National Airport, Mount Vernon,
and Old Town Alexandria, where he’s
lived since 1989. He came to Washington
from his native Long Island with an
interest in politics, which was only stoked
when he worked on Gary Hart’s 1984
presidential campaign.
Then-Virginia governor Mark Warner
appointed him to serve as chief deputy
commissioner of the Department of Labor
and Industry in 2002, and when a House
seat opened a year later, he threw his
hat into the ring. In the hotly contested
Democratic primary, he emerged the
victor—by 43 votes.
In 2011 he was elected to the Senate,
where he serves on the general laws and
technology; agriculture, conservation,
and natural resources; and local
government committees.
“Northern Virginia is made up of diverse
communities of progressive citizens,” he
says. “I feel like I can make a real difference
in people’s lives.”
FLIGHTS OF FANCY
There’s no better museum—plane and simple—
than the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly (see POV).
“I love walking through the hangar and seeing the collection of air and
space crafts,” says Seth Wyngowski, SIS/BA ’12, foreign affairs officer at
the US Department of State. “I find something new each time I go.”
PUTT, PADDLE, PLAY
Need a break from the hustle and bustle of city life? Lake Accotink Park
boasts a beautiful 55-acre lake, carousel, paddleboats, and even a putt-putt
course. The Fairfax County park is “great for kids as well as for fitness, with a
nice, wide path around the lake,” says Kathy Thompson, SOC/BA ’98, SOC/MA
’02, director of media relations at Northern Virginia Community College.
40 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

where we are
Rhonda Davis,
Key Executive Leadership
Certificate ’08
HEAD OF THE OFFICE OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION,
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Rhonda Davis describes the benefits of diversity in
terms of team. Bring together people from differing
backgrounds who have different thought processes
and perspectives, and not only will the team be
stronger, but it will be quicker in solving problems.
“Having people who don’t think alike, act alike,
or look alike taking on the complex problems that we
have to take on today, it’s so much more of an
advantage,” she says.
As head of the National Science Foundation’s
Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Davis is charged
with helping lead the organization’s nondiscrimination
policies. Created by Congress in 1950, NSF has an
annual budget of $7.5 billion and employs roughly 1,700
people. It’s Davis’s job, in part, to make sure they all
get a fair shot.
An Arkansas native, she came to the Washington
area in 1997 to join the US Department of Agriculture.
She landed at NSF six years ago and has worked in
her current role since November.
Davis not only works at the foundation’s headquarters
in Arlington, she also lives in the town. Not surprisingly,
she loves the area for its diversity—of restaurants,
recreational activities, and people.
“Being an African American and having an
understanding of some of the challenges women and
minorities may experience in trying to break the glass
ceiling or develop themselves in a manner that they
can achieve whatever they want to achieve in life,
I’ve seen those struggles,” she says. “I’m aware of
them so I’m sensitive and in tune to making sure that
I try to pave a way in a manner that all individuals
feel included.”
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
“The name couldn’t be more accurate,” says Joe Vidulich, SPA/BA ’08.
“Stomping Ground is the breakfast hangout of the Alexandria faithful.”
Vidulich, vice president of the AU alumni board and manager of state
and government relations at Capital One, says the Del Ray eatery’s
biscuits and gravy are worth waiting in line for.
HANGIN’ ON THE MONKEYBARS
When spring has sprung, Christine Gettings, SIS/BA ’02, SIS/MA ’08, Jeremy Woodrum,
SIS/BA ’99, and their kids, Gabby and Jack, head to the Lee District Recreation Center.
The sprawling, fully accessible complex—home to a playground, spray park, treehouse,
and picnic grounds—is the Alexandria family’s favorite place to meet friends, many of
them AU alumni.
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 41

2010s
Maxwell Friedman, SPA/BA
’10, and Meredith Greenberg,
CAS/MFA ’14, were married
on May 24, 2015, in Brookfield,
Connecticut. They were joined
by Julia Irion Martins, CAS/BA
’15, Noah Friedman, SOC/BA ’14,
Ben D’Avanzo, SPA/BA ’10, Sara
Santner, CAS/BA ’10, Barbara
Greenberg, WCL/JD ’85, Judith
Meritz, SPA/BA ’73, Lawrence
Muenz, SPA/BA ’73, and Mandy
Cooper, CAS/MFA ’15.
Brooke Marshall, Kogod/
MBA ’11, and Michael Moran,
Kogod/MBA ’12, were married
on September 19. Andrew
Boutros, Kogod/MBA ’12, was
in attendance.
JOSEPH HOUSE, SIS/MA ’11 +
DAMON CALLIS, KSB/BS ’06 +
LYSETTE HOUSE, SPA/BA ’09, SPA/MS ’11
Like creating a great wine, there’s an art to building a great team—both require precise ingredients,
favorable conditions, and a TOUCH OF SERENDIPITY. Damon Callis and his wife Georgia,
owners of the Urban Winery in downtown Silver Spring, are creating both. Georgia’s father Bole,
a Greek immigrant carpenter and amateur winemaker, began teaching her the VINTNER’S
CRAFT when she was a little girl. In fact, when she first brought Damon home to meet her
father, Bole put him to work making wine. By 2012, the Callises were starting their own family and
READY TO PURSUE THEIR DREAM: opening an urban winery and wine bar. They made
business plans, jumped through bureaucratic hoops, and prepared the winery’s Georgia Avenue
home. A former kickboxing studio, it is now a welcoming space with tables and stools made from
REPURPOSED WINE BARRELS and wine-bottle light fixtures—all of which Damon made
by hand. Through a large glass window, visitors can see where they CRUSH, PRESS, AND
FERMENT GRAPES in barrels of French and Hungarian Oak. “We’re bringing the wonder and
the science of winemaking so people can enjoy it and learn about it,” Damon says. A week after the
June 2015 opening, the Houses—who share the Callises’ AU TIES AND LOVE OF WINE—
stopped by to ask if the winery would donate a few bottles for the Silver Spring Library’s grand
opening. “And now they can’t get rid of us,” Lysette laughs. Today, she is the winery’s office and
event manager, and husband Joe does everything from IT to ROLLING SILVERWARE
TO CRUSHING GRAPES. “It’s great to be working in a place where I get to spend my time
with friends and family,” Joe says. The winery, not quite one year old, remains a labor of love—
ONE THAT IS AGING NICELY, LIKE A FINE WINE.
Carolyn Williams, SIS/BA ’12,
attended the Global Forum on
Youth, Peace, and Security in
Amman, Jordan, as part of the
United Nations Population Fund
Delegation.
Margaret Piece, CAS/BA ’15,
moved in October to Boston,
where she works for Dun &
Bradstreet/NetProspex.
IN MEMORIAM
Bernard Wilder, Kogod/BA ’51, October 6,
2015, Palm Beach, Florida
Lucien Johnson, CAS/BA ’57,
June 22, 2015, Aiken, South Carolina
Martha Smoot Chidsey, CAS/MA ‘77,
December 3, 2015, Salt Lake City, Utah
Frank Connolly, CAS/PhD ’85, professor
emeritus of computer science, August 15,
2015, Gaithersburg, Maryland
Jacob Kaskey, SPA/BA ’04,
August 27, 2015, Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Monica Wells Kisura, SIS/PhD ’09,
October 24, 2015, Hyattsville, Maryland
David Kabakow, Kogod/BA ’15, October 23,
2015, Westfield, New Jersey
42 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

memories
DID YOU
start your law
career at WCL?
Email magazine@
american.edu.
1896
Washington attorneys Ellen
Spencer Mussey and Emma
Gillett planted the seeds of the
Washington College of Law when
they agreed to teach aspiring
female attorneys—a progressive
move at a time when most DC law
schools didn’t admit women. The
first Woman’s Law Class convened
February 1 in Mussey’s law office;
three women attended. By fall,
there were six students. Tuition
was $5 per month. When WCL
incorporated in 1898, it became
the first law school founded and
led by women.
1920
WCL’s first permanent location
was 1315 K Street, once the home
of prominent attorney and orator
Robert Ingersoll. The move was
welcome, as the fledgling WCL
had relocated frequently. Previous
students had met in an E Street
mansion with faulty furnaces
and a landlord who was fond of
imbibing and “auditing” classes.
WCL then moved to an Eighth and
F Street location where students
often stumbled in the poorly
lit halls and stairways. It took
another three moves before WCL
settled on K Street.
1963
Fourteen years after WCL’s
1949 merger with AU, officials
broke ground for the John
Sherman Myers Building on
campus. “Without a doubt, the
idea of the law school on the
uptown campus is one of the
greatest ideas of the university,”
Dean Myers exclaimed. A time
capsule, to be opened in a
century or so, was buried in
the new building’s cornerstone,
containing a DC Women’s Bar
Association yearbook, a WCL
catalog, copies of the Eagle,
and other treasures.
1996
After outgrowing the Myers
Building, WCL doubled its
space by moving to 4801
Massachusetts Avenue. The
Eagle reported: “After 11 years
of searching for the site, four
lawsuits pending and recent
attacks of vandalism, the new
Washington College of Law
building was opened Tuesday
night.” The building boasted
a “classroom for the future,”
with technology that allowed
professors to access students’
computer workstations to display
their documents on a screen.
2016
More than 200 people attended
the June 2013 groundbreaking of
WCL’s new Tenley Campus digs,
sipping “Tenley Tea” and enjoying
a post-ceremony barbecue. In
February 2016, Supreme Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was
the guest of honor at the ribboncutting.
WCL’s 312,000 square feet
include classrooms, courtrooms,
clinical space, a law library, a
dining hall and café, and a large
courtyard. If WCL’s founders could
see how far that first Woman’s
Law Class has come, they would
rightly be proud.
Photos (clockwise from left): Early WCL students attended class at 2000 G Street NW; students at work in the Myers Building;
the Myers Building’s exterior; WCL’s first permanent home at 1315 K Street.
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 43

THERE’S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT WASHINGTON.
MORE THAN 42 PERCENT OF EAGLES DON’T FLY
FAR FROM AU, SETTLING THROUGHOUT THE
DMV (DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, MARYLAND, AND
VIRGINIA) AFTER COLLECTING THEIR DEGREES.
AND ALTHOUGH AU ALUMNI ARE LOUD AND
PROUD IN THE MID-ATLANTIC, THE UNIVERSITY’S
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR IS REFLECTED IN THE
HUNDREDS OF OTHER LOCALES—FROM AUSTRIA
TO ZAMBIA—THAT GRADS CALL HOME. SO
WHETHER YOU’RE IN THE 202 OR THE SEYCHELLES
(LUCKY YOU!), AROUND THE CORNER OR AROUND
THE WORLD, YOU’RE NEVER FAR FROM 128,990
FELLOW EAGLES. By Adrienne Frank
BORROW A CUP
OF SUGAR
Whether granulated, brown, or confectioners, it’s no
surprise the UNITED STATES is your best bet if you
need a cup of the sweet stuff. Americans consume
an average of 127 grams of sugar per day—2.5 times
the World Health Organization’s recommendation.
Germany (104 grams) is a distant second.
RUN
LATE
With its overseas territories, FRANCE boasts a dozen
different time zones. That means, if you’re running
behind in French Guiana, you’re still on time in Martinique.
22,336
741
395
FRIENDS &
Where in the world are AU alumni?
2,378
2,368
392
721
19,530
391
2,190
698
12,767
9,664
344
1,608
660
339
7,396
1,606
614
BE ON
TIME
130
116
TOKYO’S subway system is notoriously packed (an
astonishing 8.7 million people use the two networks
each day). It’s also incredibly reliable. Most trains,
which serve 285 stations and 13 lines, run on time,
with delays averaging just 18 seconds.
165
132
128
SNUGGLE UP WITH
A GOOD BOOK
What a novel concept: BUENOS AIRES is home to more
bookstores—25 per 100,000 people—than any other city.
Economics plays a role in Buenos Aires’s love affair with
books, which are exempt from the whopping 21 percent
sales tax.
SOAK UP
SOME SUN
Hawaiians might object, but according to Condé Nast
Traveler, the most beautiful beaches in the world (for
the second year running) are in EL NIDO, PALAWAN,
PHILIPPINES. “The water is so blindingly blue it makes
the Caribbean Sea look murky in comparison, and the
sunsets? They’ll ruin you for life.”
US
TERRITORIES
287
Puerto Rico
68
Virgin Islands
10
Guam
9
Northern Mariana
Islands
2
American
Samoa
ARMED
FORCES
141
Europe
43
Pacific
27
Americas
COUNTRIES
389
Japan
361
China
257
United
Kingdom
255
Thailand
201
France
199
South Korea
171
Canada
161
Saudi Arabia
153
Germany
143
Panama
130
Indonesia
125
Mexico
Turkey
107
Colombia
105
India
104
United Arab
Emirates
102
Taiwan
98
Israel
93
Spain
92
Brazil
Switzerland
70
Italy
69
Venezuela
62
Kuwait
56
Argentina
Belgium
Chile
55
Bahrain
Dominican
Republic
53
Ecuador
Egypt
51
Netherlands
47
Jordan
Russia
46
Peru
44
Greece
42
Costa Rica
41
Nigeria
40
El Salvador
Kazakhstan
37
Australia
35
Hong Kong
34
Honduras
33
Philippines
31
Bolivia
Singapore
Trinidad and
Tobago
30
Cyprus
Malaysia
Pakistan
29
Sweden
26
Morocco
Vietnam
24
Kenya
Lebanon
22
Haiti
16
Ghana
15
Bulgaria
Denmark
South Africa
44 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

NEIGHBORS
A better question: where aren’t they?
ENJOY A HEATHLY
LIFESTYLE
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, SINGAPORE
is the healthiest place on the planet (with a
population of 1 million or more, that is). The tiny
island nation garnered an overall health grade
of 89.45 percent; criteria included life expectancy,
causes of death, smoking, high cholesterol, and
immunizations.
6,275
1,530
6,230
5,954
3,954
2,760
MEET FOR
COFFEE
It makes us jittery to learn that FINNS consume
an average of 2.64 cups of coffee per day. Coffee
(generally light roast) is consumed all day, every day,
in this Nordic nation; coffee breaks are even required
by most labor unions. And don’t dare ask for decaf—
it’s practically nonexistent in Finland.
582
315
527
298
1,291
515
964
229
802
427
500
224
777
395
177
ENJOY A LITTLE
ALONE TIME
MONGOLIA, which is 10,000 times as big as DC with
half the population, is the least densely populated
country on the planet. If you’re looking for peace and
quiet, head for the rolling plateaus and mountains of
this East Asian nation, which has a mere 4.3 people per
square mile.
EAT A SLICE
OF PIZZA
Americans might consume the largest amount
of pizza in the world (350 slices per second), but
NORWEGIANS eat the most pie per person. The
Nordic state’s 5.5 million people eat about 11 pounds
of cheese and pepperoni each year.
115
90
53
52
21
THROW BACK
A BEER
The average CZECH consumes 143 liters (or nearly
38 gallons) of beer per year, narrowly edging out
Ireland, where Guinness lovers lubricate themselves
with 131 liters (35 gallons) each year.
14
Nicaragua
Norway
13
Austria
Nepal
Oman
12
Qatar
Uruguay
11
Bahamas
Cameroon
Guatemala
Iran
Senegal
Serbia and
Montenegro
Tanzania
Zambia
10
Bangladesh
Ivory Coast
Poland
9
Ethiopia
Jamaica
New Zealand
Paraguay
Portugal
Romania
8
Cambodia
Czech Republic
Republic of
Ireland
Tunisia
Uganda
Ukraine
7
Bermuda
Kyrgyzstan
Palestine
6
Croatia
Finland
Hungary
Uzbekistan
5
Azerbaijan
Botswana
Lithuania
Mongolia
Myanmar
Netherlands
Antilles
Slovakia
Syria
4
Albania
Aruba
Iceland
Kosovo
Luxembourg
Namibia
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Yemen
3
Algeria
Armenia
Barbados
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Burkina Faso
Dominica
Latvia
Mali
Moldova
Monaco
Saint Kitts
and Nevis
Saint Vincent
and Grenadines
Suriname
Swaziland
British Virgin
Islands
Zimbabwe
2
Cayman Islands
Republic of the
Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
Democratic
Republic
of Congo
Gabon
Grenada
Guinea
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
North Korea
Togo
Turkmenistan
1
Belarus
Angola
Antigua and
Barbuda
Belize
Central African
Republic
Chad
Comoros
Cuba
Curacao
East Timor
Eritrea
Estonia
Federated
States of
Micronesia
Fiji
Gaza Strip
Georgia
Greenland
Iraq
Isle of Man
Macau
Macedonia
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Niger
Northern Ireland
Palau
Papua New
Guinea
Rwanda
Saint Lucia
Sao Tome and
Principe
Serbia
Seychelles
Slovenia
Tajikistan
West Indies
Federation
LEARN A NEW
LANGUAGE
PAPUA NEW GUINEA is known for its picturesque
beaches, but its cultural diversity is even more
impressive. The Pacific island’s 7 million residents
speak 820 languages—about 12 percent of the
world’s tongues.
EXPERIENCE
FEMALE RULE
RWANDA is home to more female parliamentarians
than anywhere else in the world. Women hold 64
percent of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 39
percent of Senate seats.
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 45

“Having access to state-of-the-art
production equipment makes the
students’ educational experience
more dynamic, relevant, and fulfilling.”
—Alec Shapiro, president of Sony’s Professional Solutions of America
IT’S COMMON FOR CORPORATIONS AND UNIVERSITIES TO HAVE VENDOR-
CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS, but rare for them to enter into a strategic
partnership. Since 2013, that’s precisely the kind of connection American
University and Sony Electronics have enjoyed.
The idea was facilitated by School of Communication dean Jeffrey
Rutenbeck and Roberta Cohen, AU’s assistant vice president for strategic
partnerships. Thanks to a timely introduction by James Kennedy,
SOC/MA ’77, then an executive at Sony, AU and Sony began crafting an
innovative partnership.
When SOC moved into the renovated McKinley Building in 2014,
Sony provided solid advice and state-of-the-art equipment—including
a revolutionary 4K projection system for the Malsi Doyle and Michael
Forman Theater.
“I can’t imagine a better partner for SOC than Sony,” Rutenbeck says.
“Their technologies and expertise are supporting a transformation in the
world of media, and we are excited that our students and faculty can be
a part of it.”
In the last year, the collaboration has deepened and Sony is now
the solutions provider, system integrator, and equipment provider
for university-wide projects including the Don Myers Technology and
Innovation Building on the new East Campus and the development of
a mobile tour for the Welcome Center.
“American University is positioning itself at the forefront of technology
and education,” says Alec Shapiro, president of Sony’s Professional
Solutions of America. “Having access to state-of-the-art production
equipment—the same equipment used by professionals—makes the
students’ educational experience more dynamic, relevant, and fulfilling.”
In addition, Sony is sponsoring graduate students in its National
Association of Broadcasters Student Experience Program; placing students
into its summer internship applicant pool; donating used equipment to
undergraduate, student-run organizations; and providing industry experts
for select workshops, lectures, and demonstrations.
“Sony has chosen AU as a showcase for some of its most exciting
innovations in higher education,” says Courtney Surls, AU’s vice
president of Development and Alumni Relations. “As partners, Sony and
AU share a commitment to providing AU students with an exceptional
collegiate experience.”
FOR INFORMATION ON CORPORATE AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS,
contact Roberta Cohen, assistant vice president for strategic
partnerships, at 202-885-3415 or robertac@american.edu.
ILLUSTRATION BY BRUCE MORSER
46 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

thank you
CARMEN NEUBERGER, CAS/MED ’73, CAS/EDD ’77, WCL/JD ’83
Alumna (three times over) and longtime administrator—Carmen
Neuberger’s connections to American University run deep.
The mother of five daughters, Neuberger received a
returning woman’s fellowship in 1972 to pursue her master’s
degree in student personnel and higher education while
working in the international student office and then with the
vice provost for academic administration, Nina Roscher.
Over the next 14 years, the Philippines-born Neuberger
advanced both her education and her career at AU. She earned
a doctorate in education and a law degree from the Washington
College of Law. In 1977, she was named dean of students,
overseeing student conduct and activities, multicultural affairs,
and wellness programs. A decade later, she was named acting
vice president of Campus Life. “My education and work at AU
went hand in hand; one enabling the other, providing context
and meaning to both,” says the Washington, DC, resident.
To ensure all new students make a smooth transition from
high school to AU, Neuberger created the university’s summer
orientation for students, known today as Eagle Summit. Now
retired after leadership stints at Dickinson College, George
Washington University, and the American College Personnel
Association, Neuberger wanted to further enhance student
development at AU and to assist those who might not
otherwise be able to participate in Eagle Summit. Through
current support and a provision in her estate plans, Neuberger
established a travel grant for students needing financial
assistance to attend. She has also supported WCL over the
years and named the law school a charitable beneficiary in
her will.
“Carmen’s generosity will ensure that first-year students
at AU have the opportunity to participate in Eagle Summit,
which helps them connect with classmates and develop an
understanding of college life before classes begin—activities
that strongly contribute to first year success,” Gail Hanson,
vice president of Campus Life, says. “Her dedication to AU
students will be deeply felt for years to come.”
FOR INFORMATION ON HOW YOUR VISION CAN CREATE A LEGACY at American University through a sound charitable estate plan,
contact Kara Barnes, director of planned giving, at 202-885-5914 or kbarnes@american.edu, or visit american.edu/plannedgiving.
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 47

must haves
2
4 10
13
1 6
12
3
7
11
5
8
9
14
*master’s student, arts management, College of Arts and Sciences
1. Air cushion compacts are new to
the United States, but they’ve been
around in Korea for five or six years.
I love IOPE, a Korean brand that’s a
moisturizer, foundation, and sunscreen.
2. I bought these antique snips for $10
during our anniversary trip to Northern
Neck, Virginia. I use them to take out
seams, remove buttons, or snip threads.
3. A friend gave me the Secret Garden
adult coloring book for my birthday.
I’m having fun chipping away at it.
4. I start out with coffee in the morning,
then at 3 p.m. I have a shot of Coke.
5. I can’t read textbooks on the Metro bus;
I prefer something light that I can easily
put down. My latest guilty pleasure is
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.
6. I’ve always done knitting, crocheting,
and sewing and I recently took up
needlepoint. I’m a kinesthetic learner—
the motion helps me focus. So, I’ll work
on this during meetings.
7. We rescued Ollie Bear from a shelter in
North Carolina. I always have treats for
him—that’s why he loves me most.
8. You never know who you’re going
to meet!
9. I found this Rilakkuma planner in
Koreatown soon after I moved to
Arlington. Rilakkuma is a cute Japanese
character that means “relax bear.”
10. Clothing measurements aren’t
standard. You should know your
measurements so you always buy the
right size—in spite of what the tag says.
11. I’m in my second semester in the arts
management program. As the next
generation of nonprofit administrators,
we’re learning how to stay true to an
organization’s mission and vision while
still challenging people and beliefs.
12. This Betsey Johnson wallet was a
gift from my sister. It’s whimsical and
makes me happy. People can tell a lot
about you by what choose to wear. My
style’s eclectic; I love color and texture.
13. One of the many fobs on my keychain
gets me into my internship at Theatre
Washington. My duties include cleaning
up the development database and
helping with the Helen Hayes Awards.
1 4. I go to two or three productions
a month. I’m a huge fan of Woolly
Mammoth Theatre in DC; they have
such bold, dynamic shows.
48 AMERICAN MAGAZINE MARCH 2016

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US POSTAGE PAID
BURLINGTON, VT 05401
WASHINGTON, DC 20016-8002
PERMIT NO. 604
Address Service Requested
For information regarding the
accreditation and state licensing of
American University, please visit
american.edu/academics.
FRONTAL LOBE
In charge of
personality and
higher reasoning
PARIETAL LOBE
Controls sensory
perception and input
OCCIPITAL LOBE
In charge of visual
processing
THE AVERAGE ADULT HUMAN BRAIN weighs just under three pounds, yet
it’s the most powerful organ in the body. Nicole Joseph, CAS/BA ’03, a
psychologist in private practice in Northern Virginia, knows that well. For
seven years she’s been seeing patients ranging from elementary school
students to adults approaching retirement. A pre-med major at AU, she was
always fascinated by the brain and decided that “psychology would afford
me more of an opportunity to have a longer term, more personal relationship
with my patients.”
Just how the brain works remains largely a mystery. We know that about
80 percent of the contents of the cranium is brain matter, while equal amounts
of blood and cerebrospinal fluid, the clear liquid that buffers neural tissue, make
up the rest, according to the website Live Science. The brain is made up of more
than 100 billion nerve cells, each connected to about 10,000 other cells, giving
the brain approximately 1,000 trillion neural connections.
That’s some mind-blowing stuff.
CEREBRUM
The largest part of brain;
controls higher brain
functioning
TEMPORAL LOBE
Controls auditory
processing
SPINAL CORD
Connects the
nervous system
to the brain
CEREBELLUM
Coordinates sensory
systems and voluntary
movements
Wrap your brains around the trivia question below and enter to win
a one-year subscription to Luminosity, an app that uses games to
improve cognitive abilities. Email answer to magazine@american.edu or tweet
us at @AU_AmericanMag by April 30.
The average human brain accounts for roughly 2 percent of body weight,
while using what percentage of the oxygen in our blood?
A) 2
B) 20
C) 50
D) 90