Purdue News
Purdue News
The Old Masters program was established in 1950 so working professionals could share their experiences and observations with students preparing to finish their college careers. During their stay on campus, the Old Masters visit classrooms and residence units, attend informal breakfasts, luncheons and dinners, and engage in candid discussions with Purdue students.
All the Old Masters will participate in an all-campus reception at 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, in Hillenbrand Hall. The reception is open to the public. Those with concerns about accessibility to the reception should contact Linda Ewing, associate dean of students, at (765) 494-1252.
The program is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of Students, with the student-run Old Masters Central Committee arranging program details. More information about the Old Masters program is available at the organization's Web site, https://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~omcc/
This year's Old Masters are:
Gen. Roy Bridges Jr., Cape Canaveral, Fla. , director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's John F. Kennedy Space Center. He is a retired Air Force major general with more than 31 years of service. He held command positions at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. He has logged more than 4,400 hours in aircraft and spacecraft. He piloted the space shuttle Challenger on the Space Lab 2 mission in July-August 1985. He received his bachelor's degree in engineering science from the Air Force Academy in 1965 and his master's degree in astronautical engineering from Purdue in 1966.
Deborah Durham, Topanga, Calif. , president and owner of the Spokesperson Plus Network. Durham's company provides expert spokespeople for consumer marketing campaigns. Before starting Spokesperson Plus Network, Durham represented numerous Fortune 500 companies on network and nationally syndicated television shows including "Today," "Good Morning America," "CBS This Morning" and "Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee." The first firm of its kind, Spokesperson Plus Network provides credentialed, media-savvy spokespersons for companies including Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Quaker Oats, S.C. Johnson Wax and STP. Durham holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Purdue in home economics and communications. In 1966 she was named a distinguished alumna by the School of Consumer and Family Sciences.
Richard Hazleton, Midland, Mich. , chairman and chief executive officer of Dow Corning Corp. Hazleton earned bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from Purdue before starting to work at Dow Corning, a $2.5 billion manufacturer of specialty chemicals and materials with operations in more than 30 countries. He has served in the financial, manufacturing and general management departments, including two assignments in Brussels, Belgium. Hazleton has served as president of both the United Way and Junior Achievement boards of directors in Midland, Mich., as well as chairman of the 1996 Midland United Way fund drive. In 1994, he was honored as a distinguished engineering alumnus by Purdue.
John Hoffner, San Diego, Calif. , senior vice president and chief financial officer of the Sweet Factory Inc. He is responsible for finance, accounting, merchandise control and distribution functions for the specialty candy retailer, which operates 220 stores in 36 states. His 23-year career in retail finance and administration began at Procter and Gamble and includes stints at Federated Department Stores, Dayton Hudson and Lucky Stores. Hoffner has been active in community organizations and in fraternity service both as president of the National Council of Acacia Fraternity and director of the National Interfraternity Conference. He earned his bachelor's degree in industrial management from Purdue and his master's in business administration from Xavier University.
Suzanne Jenniches, Baltimore, Md. , vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Automation and Information Systems. A former high school biology teacher who chose engineering as a second career, Jenniches has spent 24 years with Westinghouse Electric Corp. and Northrop Grumman. She served as operations manager for the offensive radar development of the B-l bomber. For the last seven years she has developed nonmilitary business operations for the large defense corporation, which has grown to $150 million in annual sales. She has been active in the Society of Women Engineers, serving as national president in 1988-89. She earned her engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Gayle Johnston, Rochester, N.Y. , president of the Thin Film Technology Division of Bausch & Lomb. Her responsibilities include establishing a strategic direction for the division and maintaining the division's efforts to remain the low-cost provider of technologically sophisticated thin film coatings. Johnston joined Bausch & Lomb in 1992 as group product manager for the personal products division. Previously, she held various marketing and operations management positions with the Mead Johnson Division of Bristol-Myers-Squibb, the Whittaker Life Sciences Division of Whittaker Corp. and the Scientific Products Division of Baxter International. She received a bachelor's degree in microbiology and a master's in management from Purdue.
Martin Koldyke, Chicago , founder and chairman of Frontenac Co., a venture capital firm, and founder and chairman emeritus of the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching. Koldyke is a former vice president of Dean Witter and Co. Inc. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. Koldyke serves on the boards of Rand McNally and Co., American Healthcorp Inc., Corporate Family Solutions, and Northwestern University. Recent awards include the Jane Addams medal from Hull House Association and the Youth Service Award from the Scholarship and Guidance Association. He earned his bachelor's degree from Purdue in 1954.
Dale Reed, San Leandro, Calif. , chairman and chief executive officer of Buran and Reed Inc., the parent company of Acme Scale and Empire Scale Cos., distributors of industrial scales; Acme Medical Scales, a developer and manufacturer of patient-weighing scales; and Acme Scale Systems, a developer of customized scale system software. In 1984, Reed, together with several other northern California business leaders, founded CivicBank of Commerce, one of the largest independent business banks in northern California. He currently serves as director. He is an adviser to Plowshares, a company working with the Russian government to convert missile complexes into farms and housing. He received his bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from Purdue in 1953.
Ronald Rice, Cincinnati , senior vice president and president of manufacturing for Kroger Co. Rice starting working for the dairy division of Kroger after graduating from Purdue in 1957. He worked in various positions until April 1992, when he assumed his current position. He has responsibility for 27 plants producing the most diverse food product line in the United States. He also has responsibility for the corporate food technology group, which includes research and development and quality assurance groups for all Kroger label products. He is founder and former chairman of the International Dairy Foods Association. He received a distinguished alumnus award from the School of Agriculture in 1994 and is active in raising money to equip the new Food Science building.
Kathi Seifert, Neenah, Wis. , group president of North American Personal Care Products for Kimberly-Clark Corp. She is responsible for the infant, child, feminine and adult care sectors, the safety and quality assurance team, U.S. consumer sales, and Canadian sales and administration teams. Before joining Kimberly-Clark in 1978, Seifert held positions at Procter & Gamble, Beatrice Foods and Fort Howard Paper Co. Seifert joined Kimberly-Clark as a product manager in the Service and Industrial Sector and went on to hold various marketing positions in the company's household products and feminine care businesses before becoming marketing director of feminine care products in 1989. She was promoted to president of the feminine care sector in 1992, group president of feminine and adult care in 1994, and to her present position in 1995. She is a 1971 graduate of Valparaiso University. Dolores Cooper Shockley, Nashville, Tenn. , professor and chairwoman of the Department of Pharmacology at Meharry Medical College. She was the first African-American woman in the United States to receive a doctoral degree in pharmacology and the first to chair a medical school department of pharmacology. Her primary research area is central nervous system pharmacology with a focus on pharmacology for drugs of abuse. Shockley earned master's and doctoral degrees in pharmacology from Purdue. She did postdoctoral training on a Fulbright fellowship at the Pharmacology Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and was a visiting professor at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. She is involved with outreach programs to encourage middle school children to pursue careers in biomedical sciences.
Cheryl Williams, Costa Mesa, Calif. , founder and president of Communications Works! Her company focuses on organizational communications, training and development and intercultural communications research. Williams spent the previous 23 years in human resources management positions with the Florida Commission on Human Relations, KCBS-TV, Hewlett Packard, and State Farm Insurance Cos. Williams received her bachelor's and master's degrees in speech communications from Purdue and a doctorate in speech communication from Florida State University. In 1991, Williams was recognized by Ebony Magazine as one of America's top 100 most promising black women in corporate America. She is a member of the School of Liberal Arts' Dean's Advisory Council and in 1994 was awarded the school's distinguished alumnus award.
Sources: Anne McEvoy, Old Masters publicity co-chair, (765) 496-2223
Linda Ewing, (765) 494-1252; e-mail, lhewing@odos.purdue.edu
Writer: J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Black-and-white photographs of most of the Old Masters are available from Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2096.
