Santa Clara University

Table of contents

Tim Russert, NBC newsman, and Ned Barnholt, chairman emeritus of Agilent Technologies, are SCU commencement speakers
New artwork in Benson Memorial Center
Locatelli wins community leadership award
Congratulations to faculty
Valley of the Gods
SCU in the news
Campus events

Tim Russert, NBC newsman, and Ned Barnholt, chairman emeritus of Agilent Technologies, are SCU commencement speakers

Tim Russert

Approximately 1,200 undergraduate degrees will be conferred from the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of engineering and business on the Saturday morning, June 11, undergraduate commencement in Buck Shaw Stadium. The graduate commencement will be held Friday, June 10, in the Leavey Center. It will be the second commencement in the remodeled athletics arena.

Russert is the managing editor and moderator of “Meet the Press” and political analyst for the NBC Nightly News and the “Today Show”. He anchors “The Tim Russert Show,” a weekly interview program on CNBC and is a contributing anchor for MSNBC. Russert also serves as senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News.

Russert was born in Buffalo, New York on May 7, 1950. He is a graduate of Canisius High School, John Carroll University and with honors from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Russert took over the helm of “Meet the Press” in Dec.1991. Since then, “Meet the Press” has become the most watched Sunday morning interview program in America and is the most quoted news program in the world.

Russert has interviewed every major figure on the American political scene. In 2001, Washingtonian Magazine named Russert the best and most influential journalist in Washington, D.C. describing “Meet the Press” as "the most interesting and important hour on television." He has won numerous awards for his interviews, including the Radio and Television Correspondents’ highest honor, the Joan S. Barone Award and the Annenberg Center's Walter Cronkite Award for the election 2000 interviews with George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Ned Barnholt

Barnholt joined HP in 1966 in the company's former Microwave Division, applying engineering and business expertise to positions that successively included research-and-development engineer, marketing engineer, and product manager. In 1973, he became product marketing manager for the Stanford Park Division, and then marketing manager for the Santa Clara Division in 1976. In 1980, he was promoted to general manager of the Spokane, Wash., Division for the Microwave and Communications Group, and then to general manager of the Electronic Instruments Group in 1984.

Barnholt was elected as vice president in 1988, and in 1990 was appointed general manager of the Test and Measurement Organization. His appointments to senior vice president and then executive vice president followed in 1993 and 1996. He was named president and chief executive officer of Agilent Technologies in March 1999 and was announced chairman of the Board of Directors in Nov. 2002. Barnholt retired from his posts on March 1, 2005.

New artwork in Benson Memorial Center

In 1996, Kelly Detweiler, (art and art history) and Matt Cameron, director of the Benson Memorial Center, began a partnership that identified graduating seniors’ pieces of artwork. The core purpose of the collaboration is to make purchases that add beauty and grace to Benson Memorial Center. During the last nine years, more than 20 pieces representing a variety of formats and techniques have been added to Benson’s permanent collection. In the past year, four pieces have been installed for display in Shapell Lounge, two of which represent the first purchase and/or donation from the campus community.

This past fall two black and white photographs, one of Cesar Chavez and the other of Carlos and Deborah Santana, (Michael Collopy), were donated following the University’s recent Globalization Institute. Also displayed is “Brown Cloud” (oil on wood) by Wei Weng, ‘02. Finally, in March, the center’s first purchase of artwork by a staff member was hung. This graphite drawing by Richard Rodgers of the Drahmann Advising and Learning Resources Center, called “Hard Bop,” is a portrait of legendary jazz trumpeter, Clifford Brown.

Locatelli wins community leadership award                                 

Paul Locatelli, S.J.

Event co-chairpersons are William R. Hambrecht, founder of the investment group WR Hambrecht & Co; Donald L. Lucas, Silicon Valley venture capitalist; Irwin Federman, venture capitalist and founder of many tech companies; and Larry Sonsini, of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich and Rosati, the preeminent legal firm in Silicon Valley. Dr. Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems will also receive 2005 Exemplary Community Leadership Award.

"Education is arguably the single most important way of raising society's quality of life, which includes freedom from fear of cultural, religious, and ethnic oppression," said Locatelli.  

Tickets for the event are $250 each. A hosted cocktail reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner and presentations in the Imperial Ballroom afterward. For more information on sponsorship or attending, call Kate Torkaman at 408-286-9663 ext. 327.

Congratulations to faculty

Mark your calendars to celebrate the promotion of faculty from 4:30-6:30pm on May 13 at the Adobe Lodge. “All of these faculty are outstanding teaching scholars who greatly enhance our academic quality as Catholic, Jesuit university.  All of us are proud of their extraordinary achievements,” said Locatelli.

The following faculty received tenure and were promoted to associate professor

• Cynthia Baker (Religious Studies)
• Aldo Billingslea (Theatre)
• Juliana Chang (English)
• Lisa Kealhofer (Anthroplogy and Environmental Studies)
• Tammy Madsen (Management)
• Michelle Marvier (Biology)
• Nancy Unger (History/Environmental Studies and Women and Gender Studies)
• Byron Walden (Mathematics)
• Yahia Mahamdi received tenure only; he already held the rank of associate professor

Faculty who were promoted to full professor are:

• Terry Beers (English)
• Janice Edgerly-Rooks (Biology)
• Marilyn Fernandez (Anthropology/Sociology)
• Manoochehr Ghiassi (Operations Management and Information Systems)
• John Hawley (English)
• Ed Schaefer (Mathematics)
• Paul Soukup, S.J. (Communication)
• Fred Tollini, S.J. (Theatre)
• Alex Zecevic (Electrical Engineering)

Valley of the Gods

In an effort to gain a better understanding of the rich diversity of religious beliefs in Silicon Valley, how they interact and influence each other as well as local society, the religious studies department at SCU has developed the Local Religion Project (LRP).

“The Local Religion Project is an effort to develop a resource for people wanting to teach or learn about religion in the valley,” explained Philip Boo Riley, director of the LRP and religious studies professor. To help advance the dialog on religion, the LRP is offering a series of free lectures by regional religious leaders, open to the public, entitled “Valley of the Gods: Religious Encounters in the Bay Area.”

Each presenter will comment on “the way in which they understand themselves in relation to other religions, talk about their roots, and engage with the audience about their role in the Valley,” Riley said. Each talk will be framed and moderated by an SCU faculty member, and typically include a presentation, interaction with the faculty, and questions from the audience.

The series runs on Thursdays through June 2, from 4-5 p.m. in Daly Science 206. No registration is required. For more information, or if you’re interested in getting involved as a resource to help document the religious landscape in the Bay Area, e-mail Riley at priley@scu.edu.

Thomas Plante, professor of psychology and editor of two books on sexual abuse by clergy wrote an op-ed for the San Jose Mercury News on March 20, “Church, hemorrhaging cash, can't afford this type of healing.” Plante wrote: The crisis ultimately will make for a better Catholic Church, where children and families will be safe from abuse, but I'm worried that the only people to benefit will be lawyers. Read the article.

Tom Beaudoin, assistant professor of religious studies and the author of "Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy'' wrote an article on March 27 for the San Jose Mercury News Perspective section on the Terri Schiavo issue. “As newly minted celebrity, 'Terri' makes ideal political icon.” Read the article.

SCU’s Residential Learning Communities were featured in the online newsletter Connections. Connections is published by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). Read the article.

Larry Nelson, (philosophy) was on the NBC 11 local news show March 22 and March 23 to comment on the Terry Schiavo case.

Bradley Joondeph, law professor was featured as a constitutional law expert on KCBS, KLIV, and KQED on the constitutionality of state laws prohibiting same sex marriage. More SCU in the News.

Orradre Library invites you to celebrate National Library Week:

• April 12, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.: Spring Book Sale, in the front of Orradre.
  
• April 13: Book of the Quarter, Noon-1 p.m., Boland Reading Room. The books of the quarter are two plays by August Wilson, "7 Guitars" and "The Piano Lesson." The discussion will be led by Aldo Billingslea, Theatre and Dance.
  
• April 14, Noon-1 p.m.: Literary Cuisine, Williman Room. In concert with Bon Appetit Dining Services, the library will feature a conversation and luncheon based on the works of Amy Tan. Juliana Chang, English professor will comment on Tan's works. 

Staff Assembly Council presents an open forum on SCU building upgrades, construction as well as an overview and progress of the Campaign for Santa Clara Sobrato Commons, April 8 from 11.30 a.m.-1 p.m. Refreshments will be served. More SCU events.