Category Archives: Alumni News

Alumni News, Fall 2017, Feature 4

Where RU? Fall/Winter 2017

1950s

Ira Berkow Portrait

Ira Berkow

Ira Berkow (ND, ’59) has written another book, It Happens Every Spring, featuring 50 years of some of baseball’s most memorable moments. This Pulitzer Prize-winner and former New York Times columnist shares anecdotes, memories and moments capturing the comedy and drama of America’s favorite pastime.

1960s

Richard Wills (BS, ’65) taught high school math for three years. He then accepted a systems engineering position with IBM. Starting in Chicago and later in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Los Angeles, he worked with customers designing and installing computer systems. From Los Angeles he moved to Dallas, where he developed computer-based instructional programs. Currently he is doing freelance editing and enjoys tutoring students in math at a local community college.

1970s

Roberta “Bobbie” L. Raymond

Roberta “Bobbie” L. Raymond, (BA, ’70) has written several children’s books. Her first book, Amy and the Amaryllis, is sold out. She is proud to release a new book titled, Three Sea Tales. “Roosevelt gave me a lot of confidence to pursue many interests,” Raymond said of her academic experience.

1980s

Tom Benz (MPA, ’86) recently won the Serena McDonald Kennedy Fiction Award for a collection of short stories; he has a forthcoming book published by Snake Nation Press in the fall.

1990s

Frank Martinez (BS, ’92) is the president and CEO of La Unica Realty Advisors LLC, which acquires single-family homes and multi-family buildings, and renovates them for sale and rental. He also currently serves as an executive board member for the Leukemia Research Foundation and is an advisory board member for Roosevelt’s Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate.

2000s

Jeri Bingham

Jeri Bingham (BA, ’97; MA, ’03) was recently promoted to the position of vice president, marketing and enrollment management for Resurrection University, College of Nursing & College of Allied Health in Chicago, after working three years as the director of marketing and communications. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in higher education leadership from National Louis University.

Kathie Kane-Willis (BA, ’01; MA, ’06) is the director of policy and advocacy at the Chicago Urban League, which she joined in November 2016.

Ricardo Trachtman (BA, ’02) is a principal and consulting actuary at Milliman in Chicago. His modeling experience includes economic capital analysis, stochastic modelings, and traditional deterministic pricing and financial modeling. Trachtman is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a member of the American Academy of Actuaries, and was recently elected chair of the Predictive Analytics and Futurism Section of the Society of Actuaries.

Ricardo Trachtman

Ricardo Trachtman

Stephanie Schmitz Bechteler (BA, ’04) is vice president and executive director of the Research and Policy Center at the Chicago Urban League. She has been with the League for four years and served as executive director for one year.

Dr. Matthew Amidon (BS, ’09) completed his pediatric residency at Advocate Children’s Hospital and matched into a Pediatric Critical Care Fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

Alex Hernandez (BA, ’09) published “Muslim, Latina, and attacked from all sides” in the March 16, 2017 issue of the Chicago Reader. Hernandez was recently hired as the assistant editor of In These Times, a Chicago-based independent, nonprofit magazine dedicated to advancing democracy and economic justice.

2010s

Anthony Conte (BA, ’12) recently received his master’s degree in education and now teaches middle school social studies at Detroit Public Safety Academy.

Pawel Fosciak (BS, ’13) has worked for ING Bank in Poland for four years. His responsibilities include cooperating with other organizational units of the bank to complete complex client offers and ensure their efficient operation, as well as supporting corporate clients’ advisors in the sale of banking products and services.

Angela Jones (BA, ’13) received a Minority Fellowship Program award from the American Psychological Association. Jones is completing her master’s degree in clinical psychology counseling practice at Roosevelt.

Manuel Talavera III (BA, ’13) received a master’s in public administration from the University of Illinois Springfield in 2015. Since then, he has worked for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, helping make college more accessible and affordable to students by providing free college and career planning. Since June, he has assumed the role of regional manager for Illinois GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), which provides college planning services to middle school-age students.

Evan F. Moore (BA, ’14) recently accepted the position of associate editor at Sigma Chi Magazine.

Evan F. Moore

Evan F. Moore

James Romney (BFA, ’14) will make his Broadway debut in the premiere of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The CCPA graduate has also appeared in Theo Ubique’s Fly By Night. 

James Romney

Jake Cashman (MBA, ’16) started as a digital marketing specialist at Praxair, a Fortune 300 global atmospheric gas company. His responsibilities include managing sales leads and developing plans for search engine optimization, email marketing and Google Analytics in the USIG food-marketing sector.

Jake Cashman

David Gomez (BS, ’16) was accepted into the doctoral program at the Illinois College of Optometry. Gomez is a first-generation college student and will be the first in his family to obtain an advanced degree.

Yasmeen Lipprand (BA, ’17) has accepted a full-time position as an account coordinator with RPM Advertising, after completing her internship with the Auditorium Theatre. She is grateful to Roosevelt for its support in working on her resume and providing career development resources.

Rachel Ornstein (BA, ’17) was accepted into the coordinated nutrition master’s program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Kornelia Skowron (BS, ’17) was accepted into the medical chemistry PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy, with full funding.

Diala Suwwan (BA, ’17) has started her career as a first-grade teacher at Al Huda Academy. She will earn her master’s in teaching English to speakers of other languages through Concordia University’s online program.

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Edward Oldfield
Alumni News, Fall 2017, Feature 4

Pharmacy Award Winner Saves Lives

Before Edward Oldfield (PharmD, ’17) studied for pharmacist licensure exams, he was already making a difference in caring for patients.

Winner of the College of Pharmacy’s 2017 Enlightenment Award, Oldfield recently saved lives and moved fellow health care professionals to take action while he was a student pharmacist at the CGH Medical Center in Sterling, Illinois.

Edward Oldfield

Edward Oldfield (PharmD, ’17)

“This is someone who taught me what it really means to be a pharmacist,” said Anne Blackwell, a staff pharmacist who supervised Oldfield’s rotations from November 2016 through February 2017 at the Sterling hospital. “He reinforced for me the idea that in the end, being a pharmacist is more about caring for patients than it is about having relationships with co-workers or a specific doctor.”

During 12 weeks at CGH, Oldfield visited the hospital room of a religious patient who refused medications, consulting the Bible to find a way to reach the patient on the importance of accepting the aid.

He also visited the room of a new mother who refused to take her medication for fear during breastfeeding that it would harm the baby. Taking her hand and rubbing her back as he sat, Oldfield answered questions and supported her during administration of the medication, pledging to return to lend support when she needed another dose. On still other occasions, he convinced doctors to change prescriptions that he felt were not the right fit or dosage for patients.

“[Oldfield reinforced for me the idea that in the end, being a pharmacist is more about caring for patients than it is about having relationships with co-workers or a specific doctor.”

– Anne Blackwell, Sterling Hospital Pharmacist

“I truly think in at least one case the patient would have returned to the emergency department in a coma or a body bag had Edward not intervened,” Blackwell said.

The new graduate is more confident in himself thanks to Roosevelt’s Pharmacy program, the only one of its kind in the Midwest to graduate doctoral students in three years as opposed to the traditional four.

“The person I am now is not the person I was when I became a student in the College of Pharmacy (COP),” said Oldfield, who received instruction at COP in a pharmacist’s vital three Cs: competence, compassion and commitment.

“I am so proud of Edward and all that he’s achieved at Roosevelt,” said Melissa Hogan, COP dean. “He is a stellar example of the kind of pharmacist that graduates from our program.”

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Damon Gillespie
Alumni News, Fall 2017, Feature 4

Breakout Theatre Alumnus Damon Gillespie to Star in NBC Drama Series ‘Rise’

Damon Gillespie

Damon Gillespie

Like many students in Roosevelt University’s Theatre Conservatory, Damon Gillespie dreamed of one day becoming a star.

The lightning speed of his success in achieving that goal has yet to sink in for Gillespie, a 2012-14 musical theatre major who will star in the upcoming NBC drama series Rise, premiering March 13.

“I always wanted to be on TV someday, but thought it would happen for me when I was 35 or 40 years of age,” said Gillespie, 23.

Gillespie plays Robbie Thorne, a football quarterback who reluctantly takes theatre at his working-class high school, discovering along the way his love for acting, dancing and singing.

“We knew from the beginning that Damon had talent. He had the look, the physique and ability to get acting gigs early on as a Roosevelt student,” said Sean Kelley, director of the Theatre Conservatory and associate dean of Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA).

Gillespie left Roosevelt in summer 2014 to join a national tour of the Tony award-winning musical Newsies, and at the last moment replaced an ensemble member in the Broadway version of the show.

“[Kelley] told me, “Keep on going on the path that life is taking you. Take the road that God has given you. Don’t follow. Lead your dream.’ It’s been good advice, because I love performing.”

– Damon Gillespie, (’12–’14)

He also played Chino in Carnegie Hall’s production of West Side Story that was staged at the Knockdown Center in Queens, New York, and joined the casts of Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway and The Prom in Atlanta later that year.

About six months later, he auditioned for Rise, earning the role in the drama series set to debut in spring 2018.

“My professors at Roosevelt University helped me to open up and not be afraid to look ugly, cry or be vulnerable when I’m performing,” said Gillespie, who aims to be a natural in the role that he believes mirrors his own life.

“I played football in much of my childhood,” said the Chattanooga, Tennessee native. “Then my mom put me in a performing arts high school and I had to make a decision about football or theater. I chose theater.”

Written by Jason Katims of Friday Night Lights and produced by Jeffrey Seller of Broadway’s Hamilton, Rise is based on the true story of a high school teacher, played by How I Met Your Mother‘s Josh Radnor, who takes over the school’s failing theater department, galvanizing faculty, students and an entire working-class community.

“I wish I could have finished two more years at Roosevelt,” Gillespie said. “I wanted to be the first in my family to receive a college degree, but my career took me other places.”

In his decision to stay the career course, Gillespie followed the advice of Kelley, who to this day is one of the young actor’s mentors.

“He [Kelley] told me, ‘Keep on going on the path that life is taking you. Take the road that God has given you. Don’t follow. Lead your dream.’ It’s been good advice because I love performing,” Gillespie said. “Every day I try to lead my dream.”

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