Tag Archive | "Momentum2"

Faculty and Staff Support the U: Chemist Makes a Difference on the Oceans and on Campus

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Faculty and Staff Support the U: Chemist Makes a Difference on the Oceans and on Campus


millero-frank

Frank Millero, Ph.D.

In his 48 years at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), Frank Millero, professor of marine physical chemistry, has made significant scientific contributions to understanding the chemistry of seawater. He also has made generous philanthropic contributions to support RSMAS, athletics, the arts, and other areas close to his heart at the University of Miami.

Early in his career, Millero developed equations that are still used today to measure properties like density and salinity at varying ocean temperatures and pressures. After publishing more than 500 works with his colleagues—and several generations of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students—Millero is focusing on the role that oceans play in global climate change.

“About 40 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) we generate goes into the ocean, where it affects the world’s climate,” he says.  To gather more data, his research teams have traveled across the world measuring COlevels at different ocean depths in a project the National Science Foundation has funded for the past 20 years.

Millero grew up in Ohio and earned his undergraduate degree at The Ohio State University. Deciding to pursue a career in science, he earned a doctorate in chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he tended bar for spending money and met his wife, Judith. They have three children: Marta Millero-Quincoses, B.B.A. ’95, a South Florida accountant; Frank III, who teaches at Pratt Institute in New York; and Anthony, who works in merchandising in New York.

“After taking a job with Esso in New Jersey, I decided to get back into academics,” he recalls. “I saw an article in Chemistry Engineering News about the University of Miami’s marine lab, flew down for the interview, and told my wife to pack up because we were moving to Miami.”

Soon after joining the UM faculty, Millero bought season tickets for Hurricanes football games and has renewed them every year. He also has remained active in sports. “I’ve run marathons, played football and volleyball, and still try to swim every day,” he notes.

He is just as committed to advancing the University, and has been a steady donor to the football team, the Lowe Art Museum and other arts programs, and the annual United Way campaign. “I think giving through the United Way is a great way to support your favorite UM school or program,” he says. “Our financial contributions really do make a difference.”

Read about other faculty and staff who support the U.

 

 

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Faculty and Staff Support the U: Alumnus Invests in His Home Away from Home

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Faculty and Staff Support the U: Alumnus Invests in His Home Away from Home


Tariq Syed

Tariq Syed

Now a subject matter expert for Enterprise Resource Planning on the Coral Gables campus, Tariq Syed, A.B. ’04, M.B.A. ’12, has been part of the University of Miami community for as long as he can remember. “My mother, Zeenat Akhtar, works in the disbursements department. My sister and I would come here whenever we got a chance—there were many days spent at the University Center’s bowling alley and arcade room,” he says, adding that his father, Syed Shameem Akhtar, is a retired banker

After high school, Syed enrolled at UM and earned a degree in Spanish. As a student, he discovered that the University’s student organizations and sporting events offered a unique opportunity to bond with peers outside of the classroom. Even today, he enjoys the camaraderie of UM games. “I still stay in close touch with my friends,” says Syed. “We enjoy tailgating at Hurricanes football games and look forward to homecoming as well as other alumni events. In winter and spring, we look forward to ’Canes basketball.”

Because of his affinity for sports, Syed supports the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. He also contributes to the University through the United Way and provides donations to benefit the College of Arts and Sciences. With six years of consecutive giving to the University, Syed is a Loyalty Society member, and he encourages other staffers to give as well. “It’s like making an investment in your home away from home,” he says. “You can contribute throughout the year, and every dollar helps build our University.”

With his UM degree in hand, Syed initially went to work in the University’s payroll department. He then moved to purchasing as a buyer, and was promoted to senior buyer. While still working at UM, he went back to school in 2010 and earned his graduate business degree in December 2011 through the M.B.A. Program for Working Professionals. Now, he is busy in the UM Information Technology (UMIT) department contributing to the implementation of Workday, the University’s new HR, payroll, and finance system. In his spare time, he co-advises the Federación de Estudiantes Cubanos (Federation of Cuban Students), an organization dedicated to keeping the Cuban culture alive and present in the University community.

Looking back on his academic and professional career, Syed says he’s very proud of the advances the University has made in the past decade. “It’s exciting to see UM move up in the national rankings to become a top 50 school,” he says. “You can look around anywhere on campus and see how much we have progressed. That’s one of my motivations for giving back to the ‘U’—I want us to continue moving forward.”

Read about other faculty and staff who support the U.

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Gala Raises More than $350,000 to Serve  Autism Community

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Gala Raises More than $350,000 to Serve Autism Community


Special to UM News

CARD Executive Director  Michael Alessandri and Phil McCabe, associate chair, honor Ropn Wellens, chair of the Department of Psychology, for his support.

CARD Executive Director Michael Alessandri, left, and Associate Chair Phil McCabe, right, honor Ron Wellens, chair of the Department of Psychology, for his enduring support.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (May 15, 2014)—The University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (UM-NSU CARD) hosted its 12th annual Tropical Nights gala on May 10, raising more than $350,000.

More than 500 guests joined event co-chairs David Pike and Mary Palacio-Pike, from Crystal Academy, to celebrate CARD’s excellence in serving South Florida’s autism community. This year’s gala honoree was Rod Wellens, chair of the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, which is home to CARD.

“Dr. Rod Wellens welcomed CARD into the Department of Psychology in 1993 and has embraced the program’s vital role in the community for the past 21 years with enthusiasm and pride,” said Michael Alessandri, executive director of CARD. “Without his support, CARD might not have thrived and blossomed as it has.”

The evening highlighted, via video, five culturally diverse families who have moved to South Florida to receive CARD services. Determined to get help for their children with austism spectrum disorders, the families came to the Miami area from as far away as Lebanon and Russia to access CARD’s expertise.

Faces in the crowd included Robert Cambo and Patricia Menendez-Cambo; Miami-Dade County School Board member Raquel Regalado; Tom and Marie-Ilene Whitehurst; Andrea Travaglia; Phil McCabe, professor and associate chair, UM Department of Psychology, and his wife, Sylvia; Leonidas Bachas, dean of the UM College of Arts and Sciences; Jeffrey Brosco, professor of clinical pediatrics at the UM Miller School of Medicine, and his wife, Maria; Dan and Diane Hennelly, of The Tire Choice; and Mary Partin and Michael Marino, of the Dan Marino Foundation.

Corporate sponsors included Bacardi USA; Value Store-It; The Tire Choice; Greenberg Traurig LLP; Bilzin, Sumberg, Baena, Price & Axelrod; Setnor Byer Insurance and Risk; Premier Beverage Company; and many more. Media sponsors included Brickell Magazine and Key Biscayne Magazine.

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Faculty and Staff Support the U: Library Leader Finds Joy in Finding—and Providing—Resources for Students


Ann Campbell

Ann Campbell

Ann Campbell enjoys her work as library supervisor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Library. “We have an excellent collection of resource materials, and since we are a small library, we get to know our students on a first-name basis,” she says. “It’s a pleasure to help them find the information they need for a research project or a dissertation.”

But Campbell also donates regularly to the University of Miami, through the annual United Way campaign, as well as the Momentum2 campaign website. Her contributions have supported general University scholarships, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), and UM libraries, among other areas. As she notes, “I don’t have a lot to give back, but I know that every gift counts.”

An avid reader whose personal tastes include science fiction and fantasy, Campbell worked in a few bookstores and at Cox Communications in Gainesville, Florida, before joining the University a decade ago. She was a staff associate in the dean’s office at RSMAS before taking the library position five years ago. “My mother, Sue Ann Campbell, had just retired from the UM law library, and encouraged me to apply when I moved back from Gainesville,” she says. “I’ve always loved books, so this is a great position for me.”

A native of Philadelphia, Campbell moved to Florida at age 15 and graduated from Miami Southridge High School. She studied at Miami Dade College, took a job in Gainesville and moved back to Miami in the early 2000s. She’s now finishing the courses for a sociology degree at UM. In her spare time, she enjoys water sports, including paddle boarding, and spending time with her young godchildren.

Campbell’s dedication to UM extends well beyond her own donations. “I encourage other employees to support our University even if you can only give $5 or $10. It’s a way for us to help our fellow ’Canes.”

Read about other faculty and staff who support the U.

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Faculty and Staff Support the U: Grateful Alumna and Mom Gives Thanks by Helping Students and Building a Better U


Nancy Ryan

From left, Nancy L. Floyd Ryan, her son, Sean, his girlfriend, Kandice “Candy” Calvete, and Darlene Sapp, Nancy’s girlhood friend, show their spirit before the UM/FSU game in Tallahassee last October.

For the past 35 years, Nancy L. Floyd Ryan has spent her days helping University of Miami students. As executive assistant to Patricia Whitely, vice president for student affairs, she answers questions, points students in the right direction and, from time to time, serves as an informal counselor.

“It brings me joy to see our students succeed,” Ryan said. “I watch them grow from their freshman year until they cross the stage at graduation, and go out in the world with the values and experiences they gained at our University.”

Among those students is her son Sean, 24, an undergraduate in the College of Arts and Sciences who, like his parents, has a deep allegiance to the U. Back in 1989, Ryan and her husband, Robert, consulted a doctor at the School of Medicine for fertility treatments. Although Ryan had only a 50 percent chance of having a child through treatment, she became pregnant the very next month.

Today, Ryan gives back to the institution that she says played such an integral role in her life—personally, professionally and educationally—by donating to the University through the United Way campaign, as well as directly to the Division of Student Affairs and the Patti and Allan Herbert Wellness Center.

“I am forever indebted to the University,” Ryan said. “Sean practically grew up on campus, as one of the first Mini-Cane Camp attendees, and is now a ’Cane loving his experience at the U. Our little family definitely bleeds orange, green, and white!”

A native Floridian who grew up in Hialeah, Ryan pursued an associate degree at Miami Dade Community College before marrying and moving to England and Texas. In 1979 she returned to Miami, taking a position at UM as executive assistant to William R. Butler, then vice president for student affairs. When Butler retired 19 years later, she continued in that role with Whitely.

During the 1980s, Ryan took night classes at UM, earning her bachelor’s degree in business administration while working her day job. In 1999 she was tapped into the Iron Arrow Honor Society.

“My job has given me the ability to help students and has allowed me to work in a great environment,” Ryan said. “Now, it’s my turn to give back and make a difference in others’ lives. I want to keep our University moving forward and help build a better world for our children.”

Have you made a commitment to support the University of Miami, or know a colleague who has? Share your story or nominate a UM faculty or staff member here, and you will be entered for a chance to win a special gift.

 

 

 

 

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