Bill Fellows '76
With an undergraduate degree in environmental sciences and a master's in public health
from Boston University, Bill Fellows '76 joined UNICEF nearly 30 years ago and since has served in many of Africa's hotspots, including post-Idi Amin Uganda and post-genocide Rwanda.
Now he is stationed in another hotspot in the headlines-Iraq.
As senior program officer for UNICEF Water & Environment Sanitation, Fellows is struggling to get that war-torn country's water and sanitation systems up and running. Years ago, he discovered that the deadliest enemy is often an unseen epilogue to hostilities-the microbes that contaminate the water and sanitation systems.
Far from his home in Maine, where his wife and three children live (he cannot have his family at his current post), he says his current challenge is like “herding cats.”
He must contend with the Kurds, Turks, Shiites, returned Iraqi exiles, members of Iraq's internal Saddam resistance, former Iraqi government coalition authorities, the military, other UN organizations, non-governmental organizations-some 60 different groups altogether, all with different goals and agendas. Fellows is trying to make them see that no matter what their agenda, safeguarding the health of all Iraqis by getting the water and sanitation systems back online must be everyone's first priority.
Although it was not included in mainstream news stories, Fellows said in mid-August that a quarter of Baghdad's streets were covered by raw sewage. Teams of engineers, including highly-skilled Iraqi engineers, have been working even as bombs were falling, he said.
Fellows noted that the most startling aspect of the looting, which began “when the statue fell,” were reports that a number of civilians took empty containers from a nuclear power site to use for domestic purposes. Some of those people now have radiation sickness. Fellows was shocked to discover that the nuclear facilities had not been secured by the allied forces, although the Oil Ministry had guards and a razor-wire perimeter set up almost immediately.
The U.S. State and Defense Departments currently “run” Iraq-and not without a degree of tension between the two. Add shaky coalition partners and the tension between civilians and the military, and one can understand the difficulties of creating a new government and developing systems, policies, and regulations.
At the outset of the “new” Iraq, the country's systems and infrastructure may be “overly centralized, overly public sector, but let's get it running,” he said. Then, over time, they can “slowly begin to privatize,” he said.
But first, he added, “Things have to stop blowing up.”
Bill Fellows sent us the above photo on Sept. 12 with the following note: “My supervisor and very good friend was killed in the blast so that was a bit of a shock. I am currently the only UNICEF international professional in Iraq so I have been pretty busy. We are trying to increase security but right now I am operating out of an Army base. Work in the field continues as we have the most dedicated local staff I have ever been honored to work with.”
Jack Pitney '77
It was an ordinary day in mid-September-ordinary, except that Jack Pitney '77 is on two phones and his computer, simultaneously fielding requests for information and opinion about the California recall election.
Everybody wants the latest from Pitney, who is professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and a much-in-demand expert commentator these days.
Asked what's it like out there during this unique political drama, Pitney says, “You hear people talking politics in line at the supermarket, at the playground where I take my little boy, and at the gym. In California, you don't usually hear politics in such places.”
Pitney gave 200 interviews over several weeks to media ranging from NBC, CBS, and National Public Radio to the Canadian Broadcasting Co. “I've been flooded with calls, and it's because of Arnold Schwarzenegger's celebrity.”
Pitney's major interest in politics and the press got its start as a student at Union, when he did an independent study on the politics of the press. He wrote his senior thesis on presidential press conferences, and after a year of grad school at Yale, he went to work for New York State Senator John R. Dunne. He then returned to Yale for two master's degrees and a Ph.D.
After graduate school,
Pitney was a Congressional Fellow for the American Political Science Association (he worked for then-representative Dick Cheney, preparing briefing material for House Republican
Policy Committee, which Cheney chaired). He was then a senior domestic policy analyst for the House GOP Research Committee, preparing background papers and public statements on a variety of domestic and economic issues. He also served as legislative assistant for environmental issues for then-New York Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
Pitney has since become
a prolific writer, an award-winning teacher, and a popular speaker and commentator. He's author of
The Art of Political Warfare (University of Oklahoma Press, 2000), and is currently working on a book, with Joseph M. Bessette, titled
American Government: Democracy and Citizenship, to be published next year by Wadsworth.
Could a recall like California's happen again elsewhere? “I doubt it,” says Pitney. “Only eighteen or nineteen states have a recall provision. And some of these have strict conditions under which a recall can occur. It's relatively easy to get your name on the ballot in California, and there are no limits on grounds for asking for a recall. Gray Davis's unique unpopularity is another factor. We also have a
millionaire Congressman, Darrell Issa, who was
willing to bankroll the recall drive.”
There have been 31 previous attempts to recall governors, but none of these actually reached the ballot. Until now. “Believe it or not,” says Pitney, “there are no statistical models that fit this situation.”
Pitney called the situation “a huge mess. Californians may laugh, till they consider what this is all going to cost. It's fair to say the process will be contentious and expensive.”
Nicole Beland '96
Nicole Beland '96, an English major and magna cum laude graduate, certainly has a way with the mother tongue. Her excellence in writing won her the College's Hale (“best essay written by a sophomore”) and Brind (“outstanding senior student in English”) Prizes. It is no surprise that her talents opened doors at
Mademoiselle and Cosmopolitan magazines, where she was a senior editor.
However, her current gig as sex and relationships columnist for Men's Health magazine-she's the woman behind Ask the Girl Next Door-has really created a sensation. Her descriptors include “blunt,” “acid tongued,” “brazen,” and “edgy.” Her style is straightforward and refreshingly honest.
Beland is the author of two books, Ask the Men's Health Girl Next Door: Sexy Answers to Your Most Intimate Questions and
The Cocktail Jungle: A Girl's Field Guide to Shaking and Stirring. The Houston
Chronicle profiled her; the New York Post's Page 6 featured her; and that master of sexual intimidation, Howard Stern, didn't faze her.
Characterizing herself as “someone who likes to cut to the chase,” the freewheeling Beland says she “never minded talking about personal and embarrassing topics.” Her experience as a magazine editor included reams of research on a wide range of provocative topics. From this she discovered that most of the questions asked are universal in substance. “Everyone wants to be loved, understood, and turned on,” she says.
Check out Beland's column at www.menshealth.com (click on the word “sex”) for answers to all the
questions you would never dare ask the real
girl next door.
Kevin Rampe '88
As lower Manhattan rebuilds in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Kevin Rampe '88 holds one of the most important posts -president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC).
Rampe has participated in the revitalization of the twin towers site by overseeing the day-to-day operations of the LMDC as executive vice president and general counsel. His appointment as agency president was announced in June by New York
Gov. George Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Rampe is treading uncharted ground in his new role. Just as the terrorist attacks were unprecedented, so, too, is the mission of the agency he now heads. Since the design for the new World Trade Center was selected, the work to implement that design into bricks and mortar reality begins in earnest.
Rampe has been involved in the rebuilding effort from the start, and he says he is “honored to help the city recover in the wake of a national tragedy.” In February 2002, he helped establish the LMDC's structure and implement its policies and procedures. He also recruited a team of executives to aid in the rebuilding effort and negotiated agreements with partner agencies.
Before joining the LMDC, Rampe was first deputy superintendent and chief operating officer of the New York State Insurance Department, managing the leading insurance
regulatory agency in the country. Previously, he was Gov. Pataki's senior legal advisor on insurance, banking, civil justice, worker's compensation, and labor matters.
Before joining the Pataki administration, he was a litigator at the New York law firm of Sherman and Sterling; after the 1991 Gulf War, he represented the government of Kuwait in preparing claims against Iraq arising from environmental and health damage suffered by the people of Kuwait.
A cum laude graduate with a B.A. in political
science and psychology, he earned his law degree magna cum laude at Albany Law School.
Paul Nickelsberg '82
In Paul Nickelsberg's office, perhaps alongside the schematics, can be found a volume of Robert Frost or some other literary great. Not so unusual for this right-brain/left-brain thinker who relishes a work by a great writer as much as a technical challenge from a client. The 43-year-old electrical engineer established Orchid Technologies Engineering & Consulting, Inc., in the early 1990s. Now located in Maynard, Mass., OTEC specializes in the design and production of unique electrical products. Among those creations are a portable electrocardiogram,
a battery-powered portable defibrillator, an EEG that monitors operating room anesthesia, and an embedded microcomputer to control elevator operation.
OTEC serves clients world-
wide, although the majority are in New England. What they often share is a project with a very special requirement-and they need it completed by yesterday. Nickelsberg loves the
challenge; as his website (www.orchid-tech.com) says, “Orchid will work with your idea, perform detailed design, construct prototype units, refine the prototype design, and manufacture your electronic product. Fast.”
Out of the office, Nickelsberg will switch gears by reading a great literary masterwork; playing the trumpet; enjoying classical music, digital photography, and collecting fine art; or rooting on his lifelong passion, the Boston Red Sox.
Despite, or maybe because of, OTEC's continuing success, Nickelsberg remains a hands-on leader. “What still turns me on is the challenge of the projects we're involved with. While the list of clients has grown, the types of projects have become much more sophisticated. That's where the exhilaration lies-that's what makes it exciting to come to work every day.”
John Busterud '76
When John Busterud '76 was at Union, he distinguished himself on the baseball diamond. Since then, he's left his imprimatur on many other fields, including law and the military. Last winter, as the country geared up for the war in Iraq, he and the Army Reserve 351st Civil Affairs Command, where he has attained the rank of major, were called to serve.
In civilian life, Busterud is a corporate attorney for Pacific Gas & Electric. But after receiving the call, he changed out of his three-piece suit and into military desert “chocolate chips” fatigues. Along with other highly-trained professionals such as police officers, firefighters, and administrators, he has skills that the military can use. In Iraq, such professionals oversee the restoration of water and electrical services and deal with the logistics of food distribution and medical services for large civilian populations.
For 12 years in the reserves, Busterud was a judge advocate general (JAG) officer, serving as a judge at military tribunals and instructing commanders in military law. Now, with the Civil Affairs Command, his job, as he told the San Francisco
Chronicle, is to help secure the peace.
“I am now someone who helps get the mission done,” he said.
Janet Thorpe '75
During the perennial debate on the implementation of the Establishment Clause [Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof], a lawsuit in Florida concerning that doctrine dominated front pages nationwide.
When a Muslim woman refused to remove her veil to have her driver's license photo taken, she charged the state was violating her Constitutional rights to free expression of religion. Judge Janet Thorpe '75, playing the roles of Hammurabi and Solomon, ruled that public safety trumped the complainant's right to practice her religion.
Even Florida's ACLU, which backed the woman's case, commended Thorpe's steady demeanor and thoughtful adjudication. Old friends and neighbors back in Pennsylvania were not at all surprised by Thorpe's performance. “You knew early on that Janet was going to make
a difference,” one recalled in a story in her home-town newspaper. “She's brilliant and she's very, very fair,” he said.
As one of six siblings, Thorpe grew up honing her skills in debate, compromise, and conflict resolution as second nature. “I'm basically a problem solver,” she said in the same article. Another high school friend said, “Janet was always a leader…she knew what she was doing in life…
knew where she was going. She studied, had goals and vision.”
Thorpe earned a degree
in American history and political science, and her law degree is from Emory University. Following law school, she was the regional attorney for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency of U.S. Treasury's Atlanta office. She was general counsel for SunTrust Banks for nearly 15 years, and Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her to the state circuit bench in 1999. Her judicial career began with juvenile dependency court, hearing heart-rending cases involving child abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Although the number of children in foster care was reduced by 50 percent during her tenure, the only true “highlights” in that setting, she recalled, were the adoptions.
Chris LeDuc '97
When Chris LeDuc '97 was studying for her biology degree, she probably did not see herself talking to animals. But for the last three years, that's what she has done at Sea World in San Diego-and has loved every minute of it. After graduation, LeDuc worked for a biotech company in Massachusetts, but quickly realized that 40 hours a week was a long time to spend in a windowless lab in front of a computer analyzing data. After a short internship at Walden Pond, where she conducted children's education programs and developed environmental programs, she moved to San Diego and soon joined Sea World's education department.
She began by giving tours and hosting birthday celebrations. About two years ago, she moved to the animal training department, where she had to swim nearly as well as one of the animal performers.
Most of Chris's experience has been with California sea lions, river otters, and Pacific walrus, and she has also worked with red-tailed hawks, black vultures, Eurasian eagle owls, and parrots. During the busy summer season, Sea World stages as many as ten sea lion, eight dolphin, and six killer-whale shows on busy days. Because of the tight schedule, Chris says, there is little time
to train for “new behaviors.” Most of the “new” training
is during the other seasons. “Summer is for finding creative ways to maintain behavior criteria show after show after show.”
Last April, Chris debuted onstage. She found being the straight man to a sea lion “certainly a challenge, but much more exciting than I anticipated.
“Although I went to school for biology, my job requires a strong understanding of psychology/animal behavior-why an animal reacts a certain way to a given stimulus and how to increase a desired behavior through positive reinforcement,” she says. “The best part about work is that it is never predictable. Every day is unique. Working with animals certainly is challenging, but it is also very rewarding.”
Allen Sessoms '68
On July 1, Allen Sessoms '68 began his most recent journey in
his multi-faceted career, becoming the ninth president of Delaware State University.
After Sessoms completed his degree at Union, he earned two master's degrees (physics and philosophy) from the University of Washington and Yale University, and then a
doctorate in physics, also from Yale.
With the U.S. State Department for 14 years, he was a senior technical advisor for its Bureau of Oceans & International Environmental and Scientific Affairs and then director of the bureau's Office of Technology & Safeguards. He was posted in Paris for two years,
serving as a counselor for
Scientific and Technological Affairs, and then went to Mexico, where he was
minister counselor of political affairs and later deputy ambassador.
He then moved into higher education. He has been vice president of academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts; president of Queens College, where he oversaw some $160 million in building construction and renovations, and established international programs with Latin America, Europe, China, and Japan; and a Fellow and lecturer of public policy at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. In the latter post he called upon his diplomatic experience in Mexico to teach about that country and guide research in international relations, national security, science/
technology, and energy research/development.
Kathy Magliato '85
One of only 10 female heart transplant surgeons nationwide, and one of only five who perform transplants of mechanical and artificial hearts, Kathy Magliato '85 has come a long way from her hometown of Newburgh, N.Y., to world-renowned Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center in Los Angeles.
Magliato is an expert in the highly-specialized field of heart failure cardiology and heart failure surgery as well as in the nascent field of ventricular assist device implantation. She provides heart-failure patients with hope when she implants one of these so-called “bridge” devices that keep these perilously-ill patients alive until a suitable organ donor is found.
Magliato also performs a new procedure that is now in clinical trials. A mesh-like jacket is wrapped around the damaged heart of a patient who is suffering from advanced heart disease and who would not be a viable transplant candidate. These patients' disease-enlarged hearts continue to get larger and weaker as their condition deteriorates, and such patients are so debilitated that they have difficulty performing even routine activities, such as showering or getting dressed. The flexible polyester fiber jacket is believed to slow or reverse the process by stabilizing or reducing heart size and improving heart function.
“The device may help extend and improve quality of life,” she explains.
Magliato received her B.S. degree cum laude, with departmental honors in biology. She earned her medical degree with
honors from Case Western Reserve University and was chief surgical resident at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio. She also trained in cardiothoracic surgery at Loyola University in Illinois.
She has received numerous awards, including the Milton B. Schweid Memorial Award for Excellence in Cardiovascular Diseases. Her articles are widely published, and she is a much sought-after guest speaker.
Dick Killeen '51
How many people have read the complete, unabridged version of the Declaration of Independence?
That question prompted Dick Killeen '51 to honor Independence Day by delivering about 40 copies of the historical document to his neighbors. “I've done it in the past, but it's usually on a scroll,” he said. “I thought [the unabridged version] was well worth reading. Every year
I get older, I learn how much I don't know.”
He also added a note offering to replace any neighbor's worn-out American flags. In recognition of Veterans Day, Election Day and Memorial Day, Killeen distributed dozens of miniature American flags that now decorate neighborhood lawns and mailboxes.
Since moving from Long Island in 2001 with his wife of 52 years, Patricia, Killeen has kept his community abreast of patriotic holidays. “It feels good driving in the road and seeing flag after flag in front of mailboxes,” he said.
The Schenectady native and World War II veteran served in the Pacific. After graduation, he joined New York Telephone, traveling statewide while climbing the corporate ladder. Forty years later, he retired as Northeast corporate director for personnel and administration.
“I sometimes get sad when you mention Armistice Day and a young clerk doesn't know what you're talking about,” he says. “Our national heritage and history is something that we can be proud of. I'm extremely proud to have served.”
Throughout his professional career, Killeen wore another hat at home-fundraising for the Red Cross, Salvation Army, YMCA, United Way, mental health organizations,
and Union. Plaques from myriad organizations
decorate his home office walls. “I believe in civics, the community, education, and health,” Killeen said. “The need never stops. You have to keep after it, year after year.”
Melissa Stewart '90
A lifelong love of science and nature compelled Melissa Stewart '90 to declare a biology major when she came to Union, but it was her senior research project with Prof. Karen Williams of the Biology Department that charted her career. Williams showed Stewart
a research-related article in Discover magazine and told her, “You could have written this.” That simple gesture was like lighting a lamp
on a darkened path-“Everything just fell into place,” Stewart says. By the following weekend, she was driving to New York University to enroll in its master's program in science and environmental journalism.
The Massachusetts native was a science editor for nearly 10 years before turning to full-time writing. She is the author of more than 50 science/nature-themed, award-winning children's books and a
regular contributor to a variety of related publications. She also makes time to teach writing courses.
Ever the explorer, Stewart roams the natural areas near her home in eastern Massachusetts as well as the more exotic environments of Europe, Africa, the Galapagos, and Mexico. She also designs and leads field trips for school groups and is a frequent guest speaker and workshop presenter.
Her most recent book
is Life in a Wetland, part
of the Ecosystems in Action series for grades five to eight from Lerner Publications.