The Parkway Alumni Association (PAA) welcomes its third class of graduates to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this fall. They represent a broad spectrum of professions, locations and areas of success. What they have in common, however, is a drive not only to fulfill their potential, but a commitment to share their talents with their communities and the world.
All the inductees will be honored at a gala event and dinner at the Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel on Sat., Nov. 15, 2008 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for $55, payable by check or charge. Call the PAA at 314-415-8074 for reservations.
This group is a beautiful testament to the schools that educated them. Some of the graduates attribute their ability to succeed in school or their career choice to a special teacher or administrator who motivated them to do more. The solid foundation they received in Parkway was certainly instrumental to their success, although the rewards they have earned have been the result of hard work and dedication.
So what have these people been doing since they took off their graduation caps and gowns? A more in-depth report can be found on the PAA Web site: http://www.parkwayalumni.org/. Photos of the event will be featured on the Web site in late November.
Four years after graduating from Iowa State University, photojournalist Charles A. Barthold [West '69] filmed a tornado that destroyed Jordan, Iowa. His footage proved scientifically important and earned him the prestigious Peabody Award in 1976. Since 1979, he has covered the news at KARE-TV in Minneapolis. He also has received several awards from the National Press Photographers Association (Region 5), as well as an Upper Midwest Regional Emmy.
Dr. Andrew Brown [West '82] is a lieutenant colonel and a surgeon in the U.S. Air Force Reserve at Ft. Belvoir, Va. For his efforts during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, he received numerous awards and decorations. He holds clinics at Ft. Myers, Va., for the Old Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. Before graduating from medical school at Mizzou in 1991, Brown was a Pew Medical Fellow at Rockefeller University in New York- the first Pew Fellow ever granted from the Midwest.
Br. David Buer, ofm [West '71] has helped provide countless people with shelter, food and other assistance in his vocation as a Franciscan brother. He has established shelters for the homeless in cities such as Chicago and Las Vegas, where the city council passed a proclamation in his honor. He now lives at Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, where he continues to advocate for people in need.
Since December 2006, August A. Busch IV [West '82] has manned the helm of the Anheuser-Busch Cos. as president and CEO. The corporation includes not only the brewery operation, but also theme parks and industries related to the brewing operation. He serves on several boards, including the Beer Institute Industry Trade Association (chairman), the Muscular Dystrophy Association and Cardinal Glennon Hospital.
Students at every level in the U.S. since the 1970s have benefitted from the writing, editing or teaching expertise of Jeffrey Copeland, Ph.D. [Central '71]. A respected education author and professor at the University of Northern Iowa, he has prepared more than 2,000 language arts teachers and taught thousands of other students during his career. His book, "Inman's War: A Soldier's Story of Life in a Colored Battalion in WWII," was published in 2006 and nominated for five national awards.
With six patents to his name, Richard Coughlin, Ph.D. [West '73], is a pioneer in the field of biomedical research. He is founder, CSO and president of Sequela, a company in Scarborough, Maine, which has developed a diagnostic test for people with high blood pressure. His past research into disease-causing bacteria attracted millions of dollars of funding.
Kimberly (Cook) Davis, Esq. [South '92], is an attorney for U.S. Steel Corp. in Dallas. She worked for several years in St. Louis as general counsel/director of subcontractor diversity for Clayco, handling contracts which totaled more than $6 billion. While in St. Louis, she volunteered countless hours in Parkway and Pattonville, serving as a role model and mentor for students. Additionally, she was a truancy court judge, a guardian ad litem and board member of the Herbert Hoover Boys and Girls Club.
Steve Dinan [West '72] is known as the premier automotive tuner in the U.S. for BMW. His company, Dinan Engineering, customizes the engines, suspensions and interiors of the luxury automobiles, which are then known as "Dinan cars." There are 180 Dinan sales locations in the U.S. He is also involved in automobile racing, providing engines and other support.
In addition to being a successful executive at Proctor & Gamble for 10 years, Suzy (Zucker) Esstman [North '81] was a founding member of the Jewish Community Center in Chesterfield and an active Parkway volunteer. She created the annual "Walking on Sunshine" event to raise money- $27,000 in its first year- for brain tumor research. She is remembered for her warmth, creative energy, positive outlook and devotion to her family and community. She passed away in 2007.
Dr. Charles Gillam [West '78] has used his skills as a dentist to help people in remote areas of the world. Trained as a Blackhawk helicopter pilot, he spent eight years on active duty in the Army and was awarded the Bronze Star for Meritorious Achievement during Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Gillam later provided treatment to American Indians and Eskimos for the Public Health Service/Indian Health Service, which twice presented him with the Isolated Hardship Award. Now a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, he practices in Jacksonville, Fla.
Dr. Bruce Harry [Central '68] is a staff psychiatrist at Missouri's Fulton State Hospital, and occasionally is the acting medical director for the hospital's Biggs Forensic Center. At the University of Missouri, he is an assistant professor of psychiatry, director of the Forensic Psychiatry Division, and an adjunct faculty member at the university's school of law. He also has been an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Harry's research interests include serial killers and violent behavior among mentally disordered persons.
Hockey fans are familiar with the voice of John Kelly [North '78], who has provided play-by-play announcing for the St. Louis Blues on FOX Sports Midwest and KPLR-TV for the past several years. John also has announced for the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. A native Canadian, John assists numerous not-for-profit organizations, including the Dan Kelly Memorial Golf Tournament, benefitting the American Cancer Society and the St. Louis Blues 14 Fund.
ROBERT KINBERG, ESQ. [Central '66], is an attorney practicing intellectual property law in Washington, D.C., where his early career included positions with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Departments of Navy and Air Force, and NASA. In 1998 he joined Venable LLP, and headed up the firm's Patent Prosecution Practice Group for a number of years. He represents clients all over the world.
When Google was just a baby, Keith Kleiner [Central '96] was there to nurture it by configuring its infrastructure and overseeing hardware operations for the fledgling internet company. Keith has since left the company and now passes on his considerable knowledge as a high school science and math teacher in San Mateo, Cal. He and his wife generously support Oprah Winfrey's Giving Challenge.
Dr. Monica (Hutchingson) Kleinman [West '80] is the clinical director of the Medical-Surgical Intensive Care Unit and the Critical Care Transportation Team at Children's Hospital Boston. She has helped develop guidelines for pediatric resuscitation and transport, as well as drug therapy for children afflicted with progeria, a premature aging disease. She has received many awards for her excellence as a teacher and as a physician.
Capt. Kevin Little [West '73] is the U.S. Defense and Naval Attaché in Madrid, Spain. He serves as the senior military advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Spain, and he is the senior military representative for the U.S. Department of Defense in Spain. During his career as a pilot (see cover photo, bottom right), he has had 966 aircraft carrier landings and was always in the top one percent of pilots for grades. During his flying years, he was assigned for two years to Washington, D.C., as the Navy jet assignments officer.
Bill Milnes [Parkway '64] is president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont and The Vermont Health Plan (its affiliate HMO), and chairman of Comprehensive Benefit Administrators. The companies under his direction were designated as among the top 50 health plans in America by U.S. News & World Reports in 2006 and 2007. In 2003, he was awarded the BCBS Association's Turnaround Award. Additionally, he is chairman of the Vermont Caring for Children Foundation.
Jan (Wall) Misuraca [North '76] is the executive director and driving force of the PAA, which she has nurtured since its inception in 1993. Through innovative programs that she has developed, Jan has enriched lives in every facet of the Parkway community. She is a local and national speaker on the benefits of public school alumni associations. She is pursuing her master's degree in nonprofit management and is active in many charities.
Aaron Roodman, Ph.D. [West '81], is an associate professor of physics at Stanford University, where he researches particle physics at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. He is recognized by the international scientific community as an authority on experimental elementary particle physics, fundamental symmetries and CP violation in the B-meson.
Dr. Mark Sauer [West '73] is best known for his groundbreaking work in establishing pregnancies in women following natural menopause. More recently, Saur has been successful in assisting HIV-positive men with fathering healthy children without infecting their spouses or infants. He is chief of reproductive endocrinology and vice chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.
Voted "most talented" as a high school senior, Paul Schankman [Central '78] has established himself as a news reporter with integrity at KTVI-FOX 2 in St. Louis. Schankman has won numerous awards, including the Edward R. Murrow Award for writing, 16 regional Emmy awards and Dartmouth College's Champion-Tuck Award for economic reporting. Among his many on-location assignments have been the Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks.
She has hung up her championship softball cleats, but Kristina Schmidt [Central '84] still covers the bases on her job in the U.S. Secret Service. Among the various jobs Schmidt has held at the agency has been the task of providing security for President George W. Bush as a special agent in the Presidential Protective Division. In the early 1990s, Schmidt won gold medals at the Pan American Games and Softball World Championships, and was an assistant softball coach at Mizzou.
Bill Thompson [West '73] is a co-founder and managing director of the Real Estate Private Fund Group of Credit Suisse (formerly DLJ). The group is the largest real estate private fund placement agency business in the world, with offices in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He and his 34-member team have raised over $35 billion for more than 70 real estate investment firms worldwide since 2000.
Jill (Harlan) Youse [West '96] pioneered the revolutionary, nonprofit International Breast Milk Project in 2006. The Minneapolis-based company sends donated breast milk from mothers in the U.S. to South African orphanages. More than 1,000 women have donated to the project, nourishing babies orphaned by disease and poverty. She is now pursuing her master's degree in nonprofit management.
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