Category: Alumni

Bryan Ptak, JO'96, and Nolan Mitchell, AS'95, are encouraging fellow alumni and friends to join Team Drake and participate in the International Triathlon Union / Hy-Vee World Cup Triathlon to be held in Des Moines on June 17, 2007.

Drake University and the Greater Des Moines Partnership have teamed up once again to offer fascinating speakers for the spring 2007 Let's DU Lunch speaker series.

The distinguished Hubbell name invokes all the hallmarks of a generous family deeply committed to the growth of the community. James W. Hubbell III, chairman of Hubbell Realty Co., continues his family's legacy as the newly elected chair of the Drake University Board of Trustees.

Val Campero, a single mother of three boys under the age of 8, has always wanted to be a teacher. She's making steady progress toward realizing her dream, thanks to the Teacher Quality Project developed by Drake, the Des Moines Public Schools and Des Moines Area Community College.

Psychology professor Scott Wood, who taught and conducted research at Drake for 36 years, died of cancer Nov. 23 at Kavanagh House. He was 65. "It is difficult to imagine this department operating without Scott Wood," said Steven Faux, chair of the Psychology Department. "We have suffered a great loss."

When Todd Evans, professor of electronic media, developed the syllabus for his Podcasting and Blogging course that premiered this fall, he didn't predict the virtual explosion of online video media -- like Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube, for starters -- that has since transpired.

Lawrence K. Fish, JO'66, attributes his alma mater with instilling in him a strong sense of conviction that helped launch his enormously successful career in business. Fish is chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group, the nation's eighth largest commercial bank-holding company.

Earlier this semester, 10 Drake students from the department of art and design participated in a weeklong workshop, "Organic Bending," instructed by internationally acclaimed artist Shih-Chieh "CJ" Huang. The intensive, hands-on workshop took place Oct. 27 through Nov. 2 in Drake's Studio Arts Hall.

The Harlan, Iowa, native played four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and earned the reputation as one of the NFL's top kickoff men with his high, hanging kickoffs that helped the Cowboys hold opponents to a league-low 17.5-yard kickoff return average in 2004.

This past October, Kansas City alumni gathered with the Maxwells to celebrate Drake's 125th birthday.