Model coach

Looking back, the three-piece suit was probably the slam dunk.

Just when Bearcat fans thought weekly rankings were getting pretty depressing, Coach Huggins locked up the No. 1 spot in the country. Of course, you might have overlooked it, since the honor came on the Fashion Power Index.

That's right. Huggins' fancy duds won him the distinction as the best dressed college basketball coach in February. And though he couldn't maintain the national distinction in March, his threads went unmatched among fellow Conference USA coaches as tournament play began.

"The three-piece suits vaulted Huggins to the top of the charts," says Angela Lento, who started the FPI on the Internet. "The mock turtleneck look is a distant memory."

Well endowed

UC's endowment reached a significant milestone last August, eclipsing the $1 billion mark for the first time. The total market value of the University of Cincinnati's endowment, annuities and life income reached $1,004,900,000 on Aug. 31.

The university's endowment, constantly fluctuating with the market, ranks 40th in the United States among all colleges and universities and 10th among public institutions. Income from the funds contributed nearly $28 million to the university's fiscal budget, decreasing somewhat the dependence on state funding and tuition.

Patent income from faculty inventions also continues to rise, earning $3.9 million last year and ranking the university 31st among 94 research schools in revenue received from patent licensing agreements.

Manna in Reading

It isn't every day that someone hands the university a gift valued at $100 million. In fact, it has never happened before. So when Aventis Pharmaceuticals donated its 23-acre research facility to the UC Medical Center, President Joseph Steger equated it with a miracle.

"It was like manna that dropped out of heaven for the university," he said, referring to UC's urgent need for lab space. The 360,000 square-foot facility in Reading, Ohio, will allow UC to recruit some of the nation's top scientists to research cures for cancer, heart disease and childhood illnesses. The gift is a major step toward the medical center's goal to double its biomedical research efforts.

Shaky ground

Civil engineers at UC are taking on one of the most powerful forces on earth, a severe earthquake. The College of Engineering recently opened a Large-Scale Test Facility off campus, allowing researchers to test a building or bridge to see if it can withstand high winds and earthquakes.

Among the top 10 of its kind in the world in both size and capability, the structure is reinforced by a 4.5-foot thick floor and equally stout walls. In it, engineers will be able to test a two-story building and full-size bridge components instead of using the traditional quarter-scale or half-scale models. The facility was funded largely by the Ohio Board of Regents.

Only at UC

Merging the expertise of the College of Engineering and the College of Medicine, UC has created a new department that will produce biomedical engineers. The interdisciplinary department is the first of its kind at a public university in Ohio.

By integrating disciplinary strengths across campus, students, beginning in the fall, will learn to rebuild and repair damaged tissue, analyze the human genome and improve imaging technology.

"The University of Cincinnati has an excellent opportunity to become a leader in biomedical engineering," says Donald Harrison, senior vice president and provost for health affairs. The department will enhance existing strengths at UC in both medicine and engineering, he says.

The Whitaker Foundation, a national leader in supporting biomedical engineering, awarded the UC biomedical engineering department a three-year grant worth nearly $1 million.

Fewer dropouts

Early results of an effort designed to reduce attrition among black freshmen look good. Of the 45 students who started the program in September, not one had dropped out midway through winter quarter.

Sponsored by the African American Cultural and Research Center, the Transitions program allows students to make a smoother transition to college by bringing them together with mentors and other participants for weekly meetings, study sessions and training programs.

The average dropout rate for black UC students following their first year of college (1989-98) was 35.7 percent in UC's selective-admissions colleges, compared to 26.2 percent for all students. Freshman losses for the same period for open-access colleges was 45.7 percent for black students and 40.4 percent for all students.

Singing for someone else's supper

Although CCM alumnus Lee Roy Reams [above right] often draws a crowd, this New York audience didn't come to hear his melodious Broadway voice. More than 100 people came to the 21 Club to pay tribute to Jerry Berns, A&S '29, a man whose impact on the city has been nearly as profound as his impact on the university.

In 1930, Berns and his brother built the club, a landmark that grew to be called "New York's favorite club." Among UC alumni, however, the restaurant at 21 W. 52nd St. was known as "UC's clubhouse," because they so frequently met there and often recruited students there. Jerry, [above left] pictured with his wife, Suzanne, who passed away suddenly the next month, was a staunch UC booster, serving as a founding trustee for The University of Cincinnati Foundation, regional vice president of the Alumni Association and chairman of the New York alumni chapter. In recognition of his philanthropic leadership, the event raised money for the New York Scholarship Fund, established in his honor.
Photos/Philip Goldberg

Above the rest

Bragging rights go to UC, again, for honors at the bar, on the Web, in the classroom and the "real world."

For the eighth consecutive year, the University of Cincinnati is first in the state in passage of the Ohio Bar Exam. UC's 93 percent pass rate for first-time test takers is seven percentage points higher than graduates of any other law school in the state. If all test takers are included, UC's passage rate still tallies 90 percent, or six percent higher than other schools.

The College of Business Administration was honored last winter in an "Academy of Management Journal" article ranking programs in 700 accredited U.S. business schools. CBA's production/operations management program is one of the country's best with a No. 4 rating. Among combined international business/insurance/real estate programs, UC stands No. 15, with CBA's marketing program ranking 28th in the nation. The MBA program took 40th among all U.S. business schools.

Not surprising, then, that author Michael Viollt chose UC for his new national college guide. The birthplace of cooperative education, UC appears prominently as one of nine Ohio schools in "The Best 201 Colleges for the Real World: Get In. Get Out. Get a Job."

Meanwhile, MSN, Microsoft's Internet voice, has named UC's Web site one of America's top seven college sites. The other six are Duke, Florida State, Johns Hopkins, Michigan State, University of Alabama-Birmingham and University of Florida.

Curing an island

UC will be a kind of "big brother" to the first modern medical school on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. UC has agreed to collaborate with Intercollege, the young republic's largest institution of higher learning, to develop and implement the new school, set to open in the year 2002.

"We stand to learn a tremendous amount about medicine and medical education in other countries," says Dr. John Hutton, dean of UC's College of Medicine. "In turn, our faculty, staff and students will help educate those at Intercollege and serve as mentors in building their program."

Planners hope the new medical school will attract students from both the Greek and Turkish communities that share the island, as well as from southern Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. Intercollege organizers believe the program, in addition to providing excellent medical training, will contribute toward peace-building in the region.

Winning isn't everything, but it is very satisfying

• DAAP fashion design junior Cynthia Hamilton brought home $500 and a lot of prestige as the U.S. winner of the Year 2000 International Young Fashion Competition in Paris last December. She was one of 130 top student designers.
• Industrial design students David Domanski and Tommie Lucas, DAAP seniors, took first place in a national contest for their 2000 model of a pedal-powered lawn mower. The Association of Professional Model Makers, Austin, Texas, presented the award.
• Four UC aerospace engineering students won top honors in the undergraduate student design competition sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Foundation. Team members John Weber, Alex Daewood, Jodie Theis and Ed Matlak were judged both on project management and their entry, "Acme 2000-SX4."
• Materials science professor Wim Van Ooij claimed his second "R&D 100" innovation award last fall for GalvGard, a longer-lasting, nontoxic and energy-saving material used in galvanizing metals. Van Ooij's prize is the fourth in three years received by UC's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
• Essays by three UC faculty who teach English and comparative literature are among the 200 best published in the United States in 1999, according to Houghton Mifflin Publishing.
  • Two of professor Andrew Hudgins' essays were among the ones selected: "Half-Answered Prayers," published in "American Scholar," and "The Secret Sister," published in "The Hudson Review" (winter, 1999).
  • A "confession" piece, "My Parents' Religion," by associate professor Erin McGraw appeared in "Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion" (winter/spring 1999). Associate professor Josip Novakovich's experience taking his young son to his first College-Conservatory of Music concert, "A Sip of Music," was published in "Boulevard Magazine" (fall 1999).

Youth moves

Scott Caudill, A&S '83, is used to throngs of frenzied fans, but organizing 3,000 of them on the Super Bowl field at halftime was a new challenge. His job at MTV required Caudill to have 3,000 teen-agers screaming and swooning at rock stars during the highly publicized halftime show in Tampa, Fla.

Caudill, an administrative manager for MTV Networks in New York City, handles logistics for various network channel projects. So when producers of the 'N Sync and Aerosmith halftime concert needed a massive following from Music Television's most faithful, he went to work. The challenge: Recruit teens from area high schools. Bus them to the stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. Get them on the field by halftime and back home again safely.

Caudill coordinates dozens of events each year for MTVN. Other challenging behind-the-scenes projects have been MTV's 25-city Campus Invasion Tour, MTV's Music Awards and Nickelodeon's Kid Choice Awards. Caudill said he landed a crucial internship with NBC after graduation from the University of Cincinnati when he contacted a writer for David Letterman's show.

Saving faces

For a group of Filipino children and their families, the world is more beautiful this spring. Dr. Kevin Yakuboff and his volunteer medical team know why.

Yakuboff, associate professor in UC's Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, led the team to the Philippines in January to provide free reconstructive surgery for children with disfiguring injuries and congenital deformities such as cleft palate. The physician, who also is chief of plastic surgery at Cincinnati's Shriners Hospital, has led several similar trips since 1991, under the sponsorship of Interplast, a nonprofit organization.

Another UC associate professor, Dr. David Billmire, helped Yakuboff lead this year's volunteers, all pediatric specialists from Shriners, Children's Hospital Medical Center and/or the UC College of Medicine. Billmire teaches surgery at the medical college and is chief of pediatric plastic surgery at Children's.

Weekends count

No more excuses. Now there is a new Weekend Degree program at UC's Raymond Walters College to help working adults earn a degree in their free time.

This past spring, the UC branch initiated a new associate's degree in pre-business administration, offering all required courses on Saturdays. The accelerated format allows a student to carry as many as 12 credit hours each academic quarter, making it possible to complete the associate's degree in just eight quarters.

For adults who want more than an associate's degree, those RWC credits will transfer to weekend bachelor's degree programs at UC's main campus. Because of Raymond Walters' lower tuition rates, the weekend program can mean a savings of as much as $3,000 for those first two years of college expenses.

Weekend College Web site

Stars come out

Star gazing is always more fun when the stars are UC alumni. And it was never easier than during 2001 because they were everywhere: on your TV, on Broadway, on tour and on stage at the College-Conservatory of Music this summer.

The easiest star to catch is Rodney Van Johnson, Ed '85 -- right on your own TV, appearing as a hot-tempered high school athletic coach in the NBC soap opera "Passions." His prior television credits include "The Young and the Restless," "Grace Under Fire" and "Babylon 5."

Although much is happening on stage, the biggest news for CCM alumni was the opening of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical "Seussical" [pictured above] late in 2000. Responsible for bringing the world of Dr. Seuss alive on stage were Stephen Flaherty, CCM '82, composer, co-writer and co-conceiver; actress Michele Pawk, CCM '85, in a leading role; and actress Sara Gettelfinger, CCM '99.

Across the river in New Jersey, Leslie Kritzer, CCM '99, starred in the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of "Funny Girl," followed by Matt Bogart, CCM '94, who is starring in the Playhouse's production of "Carousel." And for something closer to home for some, Aaron Lazar, CCM '00, toured the nation with "The Scarlet Pimpernel."

But nothing could be more convenient for those who live in Cincinnati than to catch two impressive CCM alumni on campus during the 20th anniversary season of CCM's Hot Summer Nights. CCM's first musical theater graduate Pamela Myers, CCM '69, will showcase her Tony-nominated talents in the title role of "Hello, Dolly!" while Patricia Linhart, MA (CCM) '76, a veteran of the inaugural Hot Summer Nights season and current faculty member, stars in "Once Upon a Mattress."

Both plays will show all summer long in repertory with "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

CCM Box Office or phone 513-556-4183.

Wyler a trustee

Entrepreneur and long-time university supporter Jeffrey Wyler, BusAd '65, is the newest member of the UC Board of Trustees, following his appointment by Ohio Gov. Bob Taft.

Wyler, president and CEO of Jeff Wyler Automotive Family since 1973, has a long record of service to the university. He is a frequent guest speaker in the College of Evening and Continuing Education and has served on executive levels of the UC Foundation Board of Trustees since 1987. Other board service includes UCATS, the CBA Goering Center, UC Alumni Association and Engineering Alumni Association.

Honors earned by the new trustee include the Carl Lindner Medal for Outstanding Business Achievement, 1992; the Order of the Black Blazer from UCATS, 1998; and the CBA Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, 2000.

Building respect

Continuing to build upon its reputation as an architectural hot spot, the University of Cincinnati and one of its prominent alumni are reaping more awards.

In June 2001, the American Institute of Architects will bestow an Honor Award, its highest achievement for outstanding architecture, on the new College-Conservatory of Music Campus Village, designed by nationally renowned architect Henry Cobb.

In honoring individuals, the AIA chose alumnus Michael Graves, DAAP '58, to receive its Gold Medal. The medal gets added to Graves' collection of more than 120 other awards and brings him into the ranks of past AIA recipients such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry.

On the local level, the Cincinnati AIA chapter gave a Merit Award for design to Raymond Walters College's Science and Allied Health Building and handed two Honor Awards to a team consisting of associate planning professor Brenda Scheer and adjunct assistant professor David Scheer for two design projects, the Corryville Recreation Center and the Center City Project in downtown Terre Haute, Ind.