Alumni Notes

  1. Robert L. Hampton

    is president of York College of the City University of New York. Hampton, 55, was appointed as the fifth president of York College in June 2003. He holds a BA degree in Sociology from Princeton University and an MA and PhD in Sociology from Michigan. Prior to his appointment, he was the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.

    Hampton's extensive administrative experience includes 16 years as a senior administrator, nine at the University of Maryland, College Park, and seven as Dean of the College at Connecticut College. Throughout his distinguished career in higher education he has been committed to the core mission and values that distinguish higher education, serving as a champion of innovative academic programs, increased support for faculty research and teaching and programs that encourage civic responsibility in contemporary American society.

    Hampton has published extensively in the field of family violence, as lead editor for six books, including Preventing Violence in America, Healthy Children 2010: Establishing Preventive Services, Substance Abuse, Family Violence, and Child Welfare: Bridging Perspectives, and Family Violence: Prevention and Treatment. His most recent work is titled Promoting Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Understanding and Reconciliation in the 21st Century.

  2. Michael Tauber

    has opened his own firm, Michael Tauber Architecture, in San Francisco. The firm's focus will be on single family and multifamily affordable housing, commercial projects particularly water quality laboratories. He will build on the number of award winning, published projects in those building types that he has designed and managed while at other firms over the past 14 years. He welcomes hearing from UM alumni, particularly classmates, at michael@michaeltauberarchitecture.com.

  3. Susan Spierling Smith

    is a Special Education Teacher in the Flint District. She reports: "I have taught there since graduating from the University of Michigan – Flint in 1987. My college education has opened doors of opportunity in so many ways. In the summer of 1997, I taught in Wuhan, Hubei,China. I returned to China for three more years to teach in the Universities. In 1998, I began an after school program I called China Club for a culture awareness for the students who were interested. I have always loved to write and through the years have written several stories. In August of this year, 2004, I published a children's book called Katie's Wish. I am very excited because it is a way to encourage students to write and to fall in love with writing. If anyone would like to contact me my e-mail is suesmith26_@hotmail.com. I welcome your comments and would love to talk to students about writing."

  4. Peter M. Barach

    has been in the private practice of clinical psychology in Cleveland since 1983. In addition, he has served as an expert witness in civil cases, and recently accepted a part-time position with the Court Psychiatric Clinic in Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Court of Common Pleas. He has specialized in dissociative disorders, and has authored several papers in that field. He has won numerous awards for his professional contributions. Barach recently delivered the Third Annual Pierre Janet Memorial Lecture at the annual conference of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD). He formerly was President of ISSD, and has participated in the development of treatment guidelines for the dissociative disorders. In addition, he is the coauthor of "The Therapist's Internet Handbook." He received his PhD from Case Western Reserve University.

  5. Mark Cory

    is owner/operator of Franchise Network (FranNet) Detroit, www.frannet.com. Cory works with aspiring entrepreneurs in southeast Michigan to help them find the right franchise fit from the 100+ pre-screened franchise companies that he represents in a multitude of industries. Through a questionnaire and face-to-face interview, he compliles a business model for his clients which takes into account their goals, skills, preferences, personality, budget, etc., and then he strategically guides the client through the due diligence process as they explore one or more potential fits. His fee is paid entirely by the franchisor once he is successful in making a match. Cory also conducts free seminars on a regular basis to help people determine if franchisng could be for them, and if so, what steps need to be taken to find the right fit in a safe and professional environment. Prior to starting FranNet Detroit, he was Senior Vice President for Olympia Entertainment, Inc., management company for Joe Louis Arena, Cobo Arena, Fox Theatre, The Second City, Hockeytown Cafe and other entertainment, restaurant and retail establishments.

  6. Terri A. Sams

    , a global manager at AT&T in Chicago, IL, was named to AT&T’s Leader’s Council for exemplary job performance during 2003. Sams, who works out of AT&T’s Chicago office, is responsible for sales, strategic execution and management of a multi-million dollar portfolio for voice and data services of Chicago corporate-based accounts. Presented annually to top business sales performers (top 2% worldwide), the AT&T Leader’s Council award is the company’s highest honor for account team professionals. This year’s AT&T Leader’s Council winners were recognized at a 4-day AT&T awards event held at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, CA. She resides in Munster, Indiana.

  7. A.J. Smith

    , a prominent figure in the history of competition soaring, died in Tecumseh, Mich. on Sept. 5, at the age of 80. Smith left 25 acres for a new city park to his hometown as part of his bequest.
    Smith began soaringin the 1950s with his friend Dick Schreder, with whom he often competed in soaring contests. The two friends began in soaring organizations in Lenawee County and Toledo but eventually competed internationally. Smith quickly focused on competition soaring and proceeded to modify each of his sailplanes for enhanced performance.
    He won the Open Class Nationals from the early 1960s to 1980. Smith represented the United States on four international teams: England '65, Poland '68, Marfa, Texas '70, and Yugoslavia '72. In 1968, he was inducted into the Soaring Hall of Fame.

    Smith was equally successful in his vocation of architecture. He was the founder of the architectural firm Smith and Gardner that designed many award-winning structures from airport terminals to major office complexes across the United States.

    Smith grew up in Tecumseh and graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1942. After high school, he began working for the predecessor to the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) as a model builder at Langley Field, Va. He then served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, flying Corsairs off aircraft carriers for two years in the Atlantic Ocean.
    From 1946 to 1951, he attended the University of Michigan, acquiring an architectural engineering degree.

    Smith's engineering knowledge of sailplane aerodynamics, enabled him to design an extremely efficient racing airplane in the early 1980s, which rocked the racing world of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). The plane, the AJ-2, was designed to compete in a new efficiency race-the Oshkosh 500-sponsored by the EAA. The plane is now headed to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

  8. Jamal A. Cooks

    is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Education at San Francisco State University. His research interests include literacy development in sports and using popular culture as a teaching tool to improve literacy skills. Recently, he was awarded the San Francisco State University Mini Grant and the Cultivating New Voices Fellowship Among Scholars of Color sponsored by the
    National Council for Teachers of English for his work examining how the literacy practices of athletes may be applied to school for academic success. As a state winning high school coach track coach for the past five years,
    Cooks is interested in finding ways to help student athletes identify the literacy parallels inside and outside of school as a means to increase the academic achievement of student athletes.
    His most recent piece is an article on using hip-hop in the classroom is titled “Writing for Something: The nexus among essays, raps, and expository writing.” which builds on his dissertation. He is in the process of updating an
    innovative website called The Hip Hop Circuit (www.hiphopcircuit.com) that assists teachers how to use hip hop as a teaching tool.

  9. John Wingard

    has received four awards from the editors and judges of Graphic Design USA in Honolulu. The American Graphic Design Awards for Excellence in Communication and Graphic Design were presented to John Wingard Design after an annual competition among 11,000 invitees from US-based advertising agencies, graphic design firms and publishers. With over 20 local, national and international awards, John Wingard Design provides marketing, advertising, web design and graphics-based communication to a diverse clientele throughout Hawaii and the mainland. Visit www.johnwingarddesign.com to learn more.