fulfilling our - Alumni - DePaul University

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12 School OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS Web-based computer-animated figures created by members of CTI’s American Sign Language Project help healthcare professionals communicate with their deaf patients. DePaul team gives ‘invisible minority’ a voice Imagine you’re in a country where you don’t know the language. You’re sick and need a doctor; only the doctor doesn’t speak a word of English. How confident would you feel about the care you would receive? This is the scenario faced by many of an estimated 1 million deaf Americans — right here in their own country. That’s because American Sign Language (ASL), not English, is the first language of the deaf community. In fact, the average reading level — in English — of those born deaf is third or fourth grade, and just 5 percent are considered fluent in English. “The deaf are an invisible minority in our society,” says Rosalee Wolfe, a professor at DePaul University’s School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI) who specializes in human-computer interaction. “How can doctors and other health professionals communicate information about medical diagnoses or treatments if they can’t even communicate on a basic level with their deaf clients?” Bridging this gap is the mission of Wolfe and fellow researchers and students at CTI. As part of the American Sign Language Project — directed by Wolfe and colleague John McDonald — they are using computer technology and linguistics research to create a pioneering software program to train medical professionals in ASL. The program features an animated onscreen figure demonstrating various signs, from simple words to complex medical terms. It is unique for its 3-D perspective, including views from the front, side and top. This makes it a valuable tool not only for learning ASL but for practicing it, which is the biggest hurdle to fluency. Funded in part by a $10,000 grant from the Michael Reese Health Trust, the DePaul team works in consultation with the Sinai Deaf Access Program in Chicago to ensure the signs are accurate and effective. “We didn’t consider how integral facial expressions were to sign language, for example,” says Jerry Schnepp, a DePaul doctoral candidate. “We tested the program with deaf patients at Mt. Sinai Hospital, and they said our signs looked realistic but without facial expressions they were more difficult to interpret.” After some further finessing, the program will be implemented throughout the hospital as a pilot. The collaborative nature of the CTI project, with each team member contributing different skills and expertise — artificial intelligence, database technology, computer graphics and more — is what appeals to Schnepp. “My experience with this team has been so exciting that it has changed the course of my professional life,” he says. A musician who enrolled in CTI to learn more about production programs, Schnepp now studies how nonmanual “signs,” such as facial expressions and even body language, affect meaning in ASL. He plans to continue working with the deaf community. Besides the high-level technology education CTI is known for, the students on the project have benefited tremendously from the real-life involvement, including interviewing medical professionals and members of the deaf community, working with them to fine-tune the program and even exhibiting at trade shows. “The ASL Project offers a rich learning environment in an area that benefits an underserved population,” Wolfe says. “That is the very essence of the DePaul experience.”
EGAN HOPE Scholars Offering more than just tuition Since its inception in 1993, the Egan Hope Scholarship program has provided money and encouragement to more than 70 DePaul students who otherwise might not have had the means to attend college. Named for Monsignor John “Jack” Egan, a renowned social activist who directed DePaul’s Office of Community Affairs from 1987 until his death in 2001, Egan Hope Scholarships are awarded to academically promising students from Chicago’s underserved neighborhoods. In addition to receiving full tuition, “Egans” receive intensive academic and social support from DePaul’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA), with resources ranging from a textbook lending library to help in applying to graduate school. Scholarship recipients must share Egan’s “heart for service” and special consideration is given to candidates who would be the first in their families to graduate from college, says Jeff Brown, assistant director of the OMSA. That pretty much sums up Egan Hope scholar Samuel Morgan’s story. Raised in South Chicago, Morgan (pictured above) fell in love with accounting while attending high school at what is now called the Chicago Career Academy. As a student he also volunteered with a Chicago Youth Centers drug abuse prevention program. It was while he was working there that another volunteer encouraged him to apply for the scholarship program. Morgan credits the Egan Hope program with helping him survive the academic rigors of college. “I had never really had to study before, so it was a bit overwhelming,” he says. “My academic advisor met with me regularly, monitored my grades and kept in contact with my professors. I met weekly with a senior, who acted as my mentor. OMSA even helped me find my first on-campus job.” Morgan received his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2004. Three years later, he is assistant director for credentialing in DePaul’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. He is currently preparing to take his CPA certification exam, with plans to someday seek an MBA and perhaps pursue a teaching career. 2006–2007 New Endowments The Fred Arditti Risk Management Center Endowed Fund The Barat Scholars Scholarship in Honor of Gerald A. Avery, Jr. Nina I. DelMissier Bassiouni Memorial Endowed Scholarship Gerald A. Beeson “Success Through Scholarship” Endowment Kathy Booker Endowed Scholarship for Women’s Basketball Briefs-Waters Memorial Endowed Scholarship Mary Jane Krump Cascino & Jerome Cascino Endowed Scholarship Circle of Finance Opportunities Endowed Scholarship Fred and Leona Conforti Endowed Scholarship George & Mary Heerey Cucich Memorial Endowed Scholarship Marie Culjak-McGuckin and Charles McGuckin Endowed Scholarship Fund DePaul University Vincentian Studies Institute of the United States Endowed Gift Fund Maggie Dixon Women’s Basketball Endowed Scholarship George & Rita Flynn Endowed Scholarship General Endowment Fund in the College of Law Hon. James A. Geroulis Foundation Endowed Scholarship Dr. Toby A. Glicken Memorial Endowed Scholarship Edward A. & Mary C. Goglin Endowed Award in Accountancy Hanson Endowed Real Estate Center Fund Michael J. Horne Chair in Real Estate Institute of Business & Professional Ethics Endowment Fund Kalt Endowed Scholarship Christopher L. Keeley Endowed Chair in Investment Management Alexander Kirstein Foreign Student Endowed Fund Joyce Kohler & Barbara Hanks Endowed Basketball Scholarship Alice Kolnick Memorial Endowed Academic Enhancement Fund LaSalle Bank Endowed Scholarship Elizabeth Ann Lavaty Endowed Scholarship Lighting Design Endowed Scholarship Loan Repayment Assistance Program Endowment Fund Jack Markay Memorial Endowed Scholarship for Part-Time Science Students Marie A. Monahan Class of 1981 Memorial Endowed Loan Repayment Fund O’Brien Family Dean’s Development Endowed Fund Barb Atsaves Pabst Women’s Basketball Endowed Scholarship Anna Payne Memorial Endowed Community-Based Nursing Practice Fund Helen & Frank Pekny Endowed “Success Through Scholarship” Fund Hon. Lawrence X. Pusateri Endowed Fellowship in Public Interest Law Constantine Pyshos & Josephine Richter Pyshos Memorial Endowed Scholarship Peggy Roach Memorial Endowed Scholarship for Social Change Alice C. and Stephen B. Rudolph Endowed Award George L. Ruff Endowed Professorship in Real Estate Leo V. Ryan Center for Creativity & Innovation Endowment Fund Mary & James Schaefer Endowed Scholarship in Liberal Arts & Sciences School of Music General Endowed Scholarship Gift in Kind Fund Bertram L. Scott & Elizabeth A. Fender Distinguished Lecture Series Endowment Charles F. Shelby Endowed Scholarship in Science Charles F. Shelby Endowed Scholarship in Science Gift in Kind Joseph Slowik Endowed Scholarship in the Theatre School Miriam Earls Smith Scholarship in Honor of Grace Peck Earls Lawrence & Geraldine Sullivan Scholarship Kathleen & John Vitanovec “Success Through Scholarship” Endowed Fund Robert H. Weitzman Endowed Scholarship Ernest R. & Mimi D. Wish Endowed Scholarship 2006–2007 New Planned Gifts James Denny Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust in Music Planned Giving Revocable Bequest: Beverly Shane Felisian Endowed Scholarship Planned Giving Revocable Bequest: Robert Felisian Endowed Scholarship Ellin M. Kelly Gift Annuity Jean Masterson Gift Annuity Dr. Dominic G. and Helen T. Parisi Charitable Remainder Gift Annuity Trust 13
Page 1 and 2: fulfilling our VISION OFFICE OF ADV
Page 3 and 4: Letter from the PRESIDENT Dear Alum
Page 5 and 6: Financial HIGHLIGHTS In Thousands A
Page 7 and 8: School OF MUSIC Community Music Div
Page 9 and 10: College OF LAW Legal profession rul
Page 11 and 12: Richard Niedziela, chemistry depart
Page 13: School OF Step into Melinda Wilson
Page 17 and 18: The generous support of the followi
Page 19 and 20: * $100,000+ lifetime giving + Donor
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* $100,000+ lifetime giving + Donor
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Board of Trustees Chair John B. Sim
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