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John Gagliardi, A&S: '97 Risky Business
Donald Schwarz, Med '81, SPH '82: Tougher Times, Bigger Safety Net
Shelf Life
Baltimore Scholars Hometown, Homewood, and Beyond
Philip Green, Engr '58: An Inspired Inventor
Homecoming & Reunion 2009
2009 Alumni Association Awards
Newsmakers


John Gagliardi, A&S: '97 Risky Business

When John Gagliardi finished his course work at Johns Hopkins, he could have played another season for the Jays, the result of a medical red shirt as an underclassman. He would have been welcomed back: In his senior year, he was a first team All-American and widely considered to be the best defender in college lacrosse.

"He liked to take some risks," says men's lacrosse head coach Dave Pietramala, who was the Jays' defensive coordinator when Gagliardi played. "Fortunately, he was a talented player who could take those risks and profit from them."

John Gagliardi prepares to drive out a University of Maryland attackman in front of fans at Homewood field.
Photo by Johns Hopkins Sports Information

But after dominating two seasons at Homewood, Gagliardi was restless to move on. He went to New York to work for what was then Solomon Smith Barney. He played club lacrosse for the New York Athletic Club and joined the National Lacrosse League, playing indoors for New Orleans and Philadelphia. When Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was founded, he became one of the charter players of the Long Island Lizards. With them, he won national championships in 2001 and 2003 and became a six-time all-star. At the 2006 World Championships, he was named to the All-World team.

"When he was in college he was very flashy; he had some unique checks," says Mark Dixon, A&S '94, a lacrosse analyst with ESPN. "He was a gambler on the field. He's still a risk-taker, but his game has matured. He's always had a great stick. Truly, he's one of the best close defensemen in the world. In fact, John is one of the best lacrosse players in the world."

In 1999, while still playing and working in New York, Gagliardi started No Limit Lacrosse Camps with Paul Carcaterra, a friend and brother of Johns Hopkins all-American goalie Brian Carcaterra, A&S '00. The business grew as the sport did — fast. Last summer, No Limit had 1,250 kids participating at camps in five locations along the East Coast.

The next step was to find a way to expand. "I wanted to start my own company," says Gagliardi. He realized that he had a built-in audience in his youth camps. He also noticed what the kids were wearing. "We all loved snowboarding," he says. "We'd get out and do it every winter. At the same time, we saw that lacrosse was growing everywhere, and kids were playing in nontraditional areas — the West Coast, up and down the East Coast. There was less preppiness and more edginess."

He tapped into that edginess when he founded Maverik Lacrosse, an equipment and apparel company, in 2004. "One of our guys had worked with Burton, the snowboard company," he says. "The look that we came up with, and the philosophy, was natural for us. It was about a lifestyle." That look, surf-meets-snowboard, is a familiar one to anyone with a relative under age 15. But within the tight confines of lacrosse traditions, it was entirely fresh. Maverik shafts are decorated to look more like skateboard decks than the staid white and aluminum that has dominated the sport since the shift from wood.

The point is to be different, and it seems to work. "That's the story we try to sell — be successful doing what you love to do," says John Gagliardi. "We work with designers who know what's hot and com-ing up in snowboarding, skating, and surf-ing," Gagliardi says. "We're using dif-ferent materials, ideas from different sports. We brought in engineers who have knowledge from hockey, for example." The point is to be different, and it seems to work. "That's the story we try to sell — be successful doing what you love to do."

Maverik has some other strong Johns Hopkins ties. Lou Braun, A&S '05, and Matt Bocklet, A&S '08, both work for the company. And now, three-time first-team All-American Blue Jays midfielder Paul Rabil, A&S '08, the first pick overall in the MLL draft, is helping to design and promote a signature line of Maverik equipment.

For his part, Rabil says he likes being part of another Johns Hopkins tradition. "To know any very successful alum from Hopkins is always a pleasure, especially someone who has been a student-athlete. I wear Maverik gloves, shoulder pads, arm pads, and use their shafts and heads. John's a unique entrepreneur."

"You can't play lacrosse forever," says ESPN's Dixon. "It's cool to see some of these guys pursuing what they love and turning it into a business."
— Tristan Davies, A&S '87 (MA)


Donald Schwarz, Med '81, SPH '82: Tougher Times, Bigger Safety Net

Forget Wall Street bonuses and vanishing 401(k) funds. For nearly 20 percent of people in cities like Philadelphia, tough economic times mean not having enough to eat.

That puts even greater pressure on public health experts like Donald Schwarz, Philadelphia's deputy mayor of health and opportunity and the city's health commisioner. "We know that one in five Philadelphians reported on a recent survey that they have missed a meal in the past week because they did not have enough money," Schwarz says. "By working together with other public and private agencies, we are trying hard to forge a safety net of places for people to go and get help with food."

Donald Schwarz is helping the most vulnerable citizens in the City of Brotherly Love. Schwarz, who earned medical and public health degrees from Johns Hopkins, has spent much of his career specializing in adolescent

medicine and providing care to at-risk city youths and mothers, both at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (where he was vice chair of pediatrics) and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Named deputy mayor and health commissioner in January 2008, Schwarz is currently in charge of four departments, including health, hu-man services, homeless services, and behavioral health.

One of his biggest challenges these days is figuring out how to get fewer dollars to a greater number of at-risk citizens. "We have to make some very difficult decisions about how to support the most vulnerable people in this city," he says. One solution: New practices on helping the homeless transition to treatment and housing have meant that the city's homeless numbers have remained steady — a net win given the city's 8.9 percent unemployment rate as of early 2009. Federal recovery funds are also now flowing into cities, adds Schwarz, which should enable Philadelphia to help even more citizens.

Despite such trials, Schwarz has no regrets about taking a tough job in the nation's sixth most populous city during grim fiscal times. "I've spent 24 years in Philadelphia, and the new mayor [Michael Nutter] is fantastic," he raves. "It's a good time and a very good place to be."
— Geoff Brown, A&S '91


Shelf Life

Reading Lips: And Other Ways to Overcome a Disability, edited by Diane Scharper, A&S '72 (MA), and Philip Scharper Jr. (Apprentice House, 2008)
Five years ago, the Helen Keller Foundation called for memoirs "about overcoming disabilities." The 29 responses distilled herein often are as inspiring, even eloquent, in their disparate ways as the blind woman whose life so inspires the sighted. "But what if touch could see?" asks the poet of the title piece. "Introspection is a gift that the disabled are offered to help overcome their handicaps," says a physician crippled at birth. An accident victim, now volunteer: "Regaining a fully functioning memory is a slow, tough climb up a mountain.... I am still on the lowest slopes of Mount Everest." The book is published by students of Baltimore's Loyola College Communication Department.


Why Don't Your Eyelashes Grow? Curious Questions Kids Ask About the Human Body, by Beth Ann Ditkoff, Med '89 (Avery, 2008)
They do, but slowly, and they randomly fall out. The didactic Doctor Ditkoff has the answers to her two daughters' ques-tions, and she up-braids some old wives' tales in the telling. Eight eight-ounce glasses of water per day is too much. TV up close doesn't hurt the eyes, but too much can ill-dispose a child. Why do we yawn? We don't know. Over all, Mother knows best.
— Lew Diuguid, SAIS '63



Baltimore Scholars Hometown, Homewood, and Beyond

When a Baltimore businessman made a bequest in 1873 to establish a university and hospital, he forever changed the landscape — and the future — of his hometown. From their very inception, the Johns Hopkins Institutions have been woven deeply into the fabric of the city, making Baltimore synonymous not only with crab cakes, the Orioles, and the Inner Harbor, but with world-class patient care, scholarship, and research.

Last month, the relationship between Johns Hopkins and its community deepened further with the graduation of the inaugural class of Baltimore Scholars, a group of 15 new alumni who are now continuing the commitment to community that is at the heart of the program.

Jessica Turral, A&S '09, for instance, grew up just six miles from the Homewood campus and studied psychology in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. While she has her short-term sights set on law school, she says she hopes to eventually create a community program to help Baltimore youth with incarcerated parents obtain internships with local businesses, law firms, and other organizations.

"I just want to dedicate my life to helping others — starting with those in Baltimore," says Turral, who as an undergraduate was active in numerous service projects and initiated a program to introduce Johns Hopkins students to Charm City. "I want to help my home, my city, my heart. Until every child in Baltimore has an equal opportunity at life, my work is not done."

The inaugural class of Baltimore Scholars (some of whom are pictured, top) graduated last month. The program, offering full-tuition scholarships to undergraduates coming from Baltimore City public schools, is supported in part by philanthropists like Susan Ginkel and Christopher Lee, A&S '74 (below).
Photo by Will Kirk

Turral's goal lines up with that of the Baltimore Scholars program, a progressive initiative the university founded in 2005. The program offers full-tuition scholarships to Baltimore City public school graduates accepted by Johns Hopkins for undergraduate studies, and is designed to enable some of the city's finest students to pursue higher education in their hometown.

Launched with university funding, Baltimore Scholars has since attracted the attention of private philanthropists, who have started to build toward the $50 million required to endow the program. Among the most generous supporters are Christopher Lee, A&S '74, and his wife, Susan Ginkel.

Lee, who studied history at Johns Hopkins, is the founder and managing partner of Highstar Capital, a leading independent infrastructure investment firm. Ports America, one of Highstar's portfolio companies, is a major operator in the Port of Baltimore, employing more than 1,500 people. Lee says that his university experience taught him to be self-motivated and to aim high. When he and his wife sought a way to help young people obtain a similar higher education, they were in-spired by the Baltimore Scholars program.

"It's a tremendous idea — bringing kids from the city to Johns Hopkins University and strengthening ties to the community," Lee says. "The program really has an impact in three ways: It helps students, it helps Baltimore, and it helps Johns Hopkins. What could be better?" With their $1.1 million commitment, Lee and Ginkel have helped ensure that Johns Hopkins will be able to continue the program.

"It's a real milestone," says Matthew Crenson, A&S '63, a political science professor emeritus in the Krieger School who was involved with the program from the start, and who himself came to Johns Hopkins out of Baltimore's public schools. "It's not just that the first class is graduating — it's that they did so well."

One of the class's many standouts is Ryan M. Harrison, Engr '09. An experienced researcher at 21 and an active figure on campus over the past four years, Harrison finished the requirements for a degree in biomedical engineering from the Whiting School of Engineering a semester early. Instead of graduating last month, he has taken a yearlong sabbatical to explore broader interests beyond science. Since January, he has been working for a delegate at the Maryland State House, preparing testimony and analyzing policy. In August, he will head to Copenhagen for a semester abroad before graduating.

"Hopkins gave me the freedom to get the most out of my undergraduate experience," says Harrison, who also interned at the Baltimore City Health Department and spent summers working on research projects in New York, Japan, and Seattle. "I found many opportunities to do things I found interesting and, at the same time, give back to my city."

Like many of his Baltimore Scholars colleagues, Harrison made it a point to return to his high school to talk to younger students about the program, the value of higher education, and Johns Hopkins.

For Tierra Strange, A&S '09, that opportunity was a key part of her university experience.

"Talking with younger students in the city schools about Baltimore Scholars can change their perspective," says Strange, who majored in the Writing Seminars and focused on preparing for medical school, serving as a research assistant in a lab and working closely with doctors at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "We can help them see college as a possibility, or make them say, 'Maybe I can go to Hopkins.'"

That is, in fact, one of the program's broader goals: to show local students that a distinguished higher education, be it at Johns Hopkins or elsewhere, can be a reality for anyone — a message Turral took to heart. As a high school student, she thought a Johns Hopkins education seemed "unreachable" and "too expensive." The Baltimore Scholars program put it within her grasp.

"Hopkins has helped me to realize the value of Baltimore," says Turral. "I saw that I love my city, that I am proud of my city, and that I could dedicate my life to making it amazing."
— Karen Rivers, with research by Marianne Amoss


Philip Green, Engr '58: An Inspired Inventor

No word describes Philip Green better than "inventive." Green is credited with major developments in two fields of medical technology — ultrasound imaging and "robotic" minimally invasive surgery. And, most recently, he designed and now sells take-apart travel guitars.

Engineer Phil Green, pictured with his latest invention, a take-apart travel guitar, was recognized for his professional achievement this year with the Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Photo courtesy Phil Green
Green's family settled in Baltimore when he was a teen. He soon headed to Homewood, where, as an undergraduate, he worked on imaging systems at Johns Hopkins Hospital's Radiology Department. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering, Green went to Stanford University, where he earned a master's in the same discipline.

In the late 1960s, after joining the Stanford Research Institute (SRI), Green helped perfect ultrasound imaging as a medical tool when he took an image of a human fetus in vitro. That groundbreaking photo helped secure the National Institutes of Health grants that would launch ultrasound as a medical diagnostic and imaging tool.

Twenty years later, Green would undertake his second major medical invention after learning about early attempts to manipulate objects in virtual space. "In those days, people were building head-mounted displays with hand

instrumentation that would let people walk around in a [virtual] room and perform tasks. I thought, 'Wouldn't it be useful if we could operate at a distant site as if we were really there?'"

That insight led to the creation of the precursor technology of the da Vinci surgical system, a large, two-section device that allows a surgeon to remotely operate a laparoscopic surgical device from any distance — across the operating room or even in another time zone. After an initial grant from the federal government, SRI founded Intuitive Surgical to develop and market the device, now a fixture in hospitals across the globe, including Johns Hopkins.

In 1998, Green founded a new company, Miranda Technology. Miranda developed a couple of endosurgical ideas, but now primarily produces guitars that can be broken down into small cases for transport yet still produce great sound. Green's inspiration? "I traveled a lot while with SRI," he says. "And I always wished I'd had a guitar with me."
— GB


Homecoming & Reunion 2009

Photo by Bill Denison All Roads Lead to Homewood!
More than 4,000 alumni were "Homewood Bound" during the 2009 Homecoming and Reunion Weekend in April. After a week of pouring rain in Baltimore, the sun shone brightly during alumni college sessions taught by renowned faculty highlighting institutional research initiatives; the traditional crab cake lunch and a 12-7 Blue Jay men's lacrosse victory over Navy; and class dinners, a film screening, and the battle of alumni bands. The annual Senior Class Dinner, sponsored by the Alumni Association, capped the weekend by bringing the Class of 2009 one step closer to graduation and joining the Johns Hopkins alumni family.



Everyday Impact University President Ron Daniels delivered his first formal address to the alumni community, issuing a charge for renewed philanthropic support for undergraduate scholarships. Alumni from 11 classes celebrating reunions, ranging from 1934 to 2004, joined students from the Class of 2009 to present Daniels with contributions in honor of their reunion years. The funds, raised through the reunion class giving program, totaled $19.9 million.
Except where noted, all photos by Robert Smith Photography Staff

Daniels addresses the crowd of alumni families at the traditional crab cake lunch.

The Class of 1989 brought back Johns Hopkins band of legend, Buttsteak, who returned to rock the Mattin Center.

Neil Grauer, A&S '69, the creator of the original Blue Jay, sports his true Johns Hopkins colors at the crab cake lunch.

The Class of 1999 reconnects with friends on the Shriver Hall patio.

Members of the Class of 1959 hold their banner with pride at the start of the 50th reunion class parade.
Photo by Bill Denison


2009 Alumni Association Awards

The Alumni Association Awards program honors alumni who exemplify the tradition of excellence that defines Johns Hopkins. Through service to the university and success in their professional lives, these alumni carry the Johns Hopkins name proudly in all their endeavors. Two new awards — the Johns Hopkins Recent Graduate Award and the Knowledge for the World Award — were created to recognize the achievements of our most recent alumni and our alumni around the world. To learn more about each alumni award winner and to see the names of past recipients, visit alumni.jhu.edu/awards.

Knowledge for the World Award

Honors alumni who exemplify the Johns Hopkins tradition of excellence and have brought credit to the university and their profession in the international arena through their professional achievements or humanitarian service.

Bharati Chaturvedi, SAIS '07 (MIPP)
Gerard J. Dubois, SPH '73
Byeong Woo Lee, Peab '98 (GPD), '00 (GPD)
Zeid Ra'ad, A&S '87

Outstanding Recent Graduate Award

Honors alumni who have received their Johns Hopkins degree in the last 10 years and have demonstrated outstanding achievement or service in their professional or volunteer life.

Manisha Bharti, SPH '05
Achamyeles K. Debela, SPH '07
Felix C. Hell, Peab '07 (AD), '08 (MM)
Zara Husain, Ed '08 (MS)
Bryan McMillan, Bus '00, '02 (MBA)

Heritage Award

Honors alumni or friends of Johns Hopkins who have contributed outstanding service over an extended period to the progress of the university or the activities of the association.

Sandra S. Angell, Nurs '69, '77, A&S '89 (MLA)
William A. Baumgartner, Med Faculty
Louis M. Brown Jr., Engr '65
Charles I. Clarvit, A&S '78
William A. Crawley, Med '79
Harry C. Dietz, Med '92 (PGF)
William M. Ginder, Bus '54
Linda G. Goodwin, Peab '76, '89 (MM), '97 (GPD)
F. Stuart Hodgson, Engr '67
Dong-Won Kim, A&S Faculty
Norman W. Lavy, A&S '52
Nancy McCall, A&S '76 (MLA)
W. Tabb Moore, Med '59
David P. Nolan, A&S '71
Ronald M. Nordmann, A&S '63
Barry S. Strauch, A&S '62, Med '65
Patrick C. Walsh, Med Faculty
Ethan L. Welch, Med '57
Warren E. Wilhide Sr., Engr '58

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Honors alumni who have typified the Johns Hopkins tradition of excellence and brought credit to the university by their personal accomplishments, professional achievement, or humanitarian service.

Hewes D. Agnew, Med '63
Richard G. Bennett, Med '82
Paula E. Boggs, A&S '81
John W. Brantigan, Med '70
Patrick E. Brookhouser, Med '66
Denice Cora-Bramble, '99 (Cert), Bus '03 (MBA)
Nancy E. Davidson, Med '82 (PGF)
David B. Fankhauser, A&S '71
David C. Gakenheimer, Engr '65
John P. Gearhart, Med '82 (PGF)
Gena D. Glickman, Ed '76 (MS)
Philip S. Green, Engr '58
Gertrude J. Hodges, Nurs '59
Andrew S. Klein, Med '79, Bus '99 (Cert), '02 (MBA)
Charles D. Miller, A&S '49
Heather H. Murren, A&S '88
Marlene K. Rankin, Ed '74 (MS)
Karen J. S. Rosenbaum, A&S '73 (PhD)
Louis M. Sardella, Engr '69
Michelle L. Singletary, Bus '93 (MS)
Myron L. Weisfeldt, Med '65, A&S '62

Woodrow Wilson Award

Honors alumni who have brought credit to the university by their current or recently concluded distinguished service to the public as elected or appointed officials.

Marlene Haffner, SPH '91
Kuan-Teh Jeang, A&S '79, Med '82, '84 (PhD)


Newsmakers

JHU Alumni Storm Washington, D.C.

The new Obama-Biden administration is tapping into the rich talent pool of JHU alumni. Recent appointments and nominations include:

Aneesh Paul Chopra, A&S '94, appointed chief technology officer. As Virginia's secretary of technology, Chopra led the state to leverage technology in government reform and to foster technology-related economic development.

Jeffrey S. Crowley, SPH '94, appointed director of the Office of National AIDS Policy. Crowley most recently was a senior research scholar at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute and senior scholar at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center.

Philip Gordon, SAIS Bol '86, SAIS '87, SAIS '91 (PhD), nominated for assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department. Gordon has served at the Brookings Institution and at the National Security Council, and has held teaching and research posts at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Shin Inouye, A&S '01, named director of specialty media at the White House. He was most recently a spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee and, prior to that, the constituency communications coordinator for the Obama for America campaign.

Ray Mabus, A&S '71 (MA), nominated as secretary of the Navy. The former governor of Mississippi, who was a Woodrow Wilson fellow at Johns Hopkins, served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia in 1994 and later joined the Obama campaign as unpaid adviser on the Middle East.

Robert O. Work, SAIS '94, nominated for undersecretary of the Navy. Currently vice president of strategic studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, Work had a 27-year career in the Marine Corps, serving in command, leadership, and management positions.

Other Newmakers

William I. Brustein, SAIS Bol '70 (Cert), SAIS '71, will become the vice provost for global strategies and international affairs at Ohio State University on July 1. Brustein is currently serving as the associate provost for international affairs and director of international programs and studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has also served as the chair of the Department of Sociology and director of the Center for European Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Peter Agre, Med '74, joined President Barack Obama on stage for the March 9 signing of the Stem Cell Executive Order and Scientific Integrity Presidential Memorandum. In 2009, Agre, who serves as the director of the Johns Hopkins Mal-aria Research Institute, was inducted as the 163rd president of the American Associa-tion for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the nation's largest scientific organization.

Victor K. Barbiero, SPH '77, SPH '83 (PhD), who is serving in the Peace Corps in Malawi, has become Peace Corps country director as of March 2009.

Heather Harvison, Ed '97 (MAT), was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and on the Today Show in March for her work with My Sister's Circle, the nonprofit she founded in East Baltimore that mentors young women. The segment was part of the NBC Making a Difference series and is available for viewing on the NBC Web site.

Return to June 2009 Table of Contents

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