Heritage Award 2016

Rosalyn R. Bullock, Friend
Rosalyn Bullock is a philanthropist and former music teacher from Springfield, OH. Her late husband, Willis, was passionate about engineering and mathematics, but unable to pursue a post-secondary education due to the passing of his father and assumption of responsibility of the family farm. In her late husband’s honor, Mrs. Bullock chose to support Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation (EI), the Whiting School’s 4-week STEM education program for rising high school juniors and seniors. Initially, through Mrs. Bullock’s generosity, five Clark County, Ohio students came to Baltimore to attend the 2014 EI program on the Homewood campus. In 2015 and 2016, Mrs. Bullock made a significant gift to enable Clark State University to offer the Johns Hopkins EI summer program to local high school students in Clark County, Ohio. She has committed to funding the program in subsequent years until her death. Most importantly, Mrs. Bullock has documented a bequest to WSE to fully endow EI and name it the Bullock Engineering Innovation program.

Carol Cannon, Peab '67
Dr. Carol Cannon (BM ’67, Voice) has been a dedicated volunteer for Peabody and Johns Hopkins for almost 30 years. From 1986 through 1991, she served as Peabody Alumni Representative in Texas for the Admissions Office. She was appointed to the Society of Peabody’s Executive Committee in 1992, has served as an officer in two different capacities for 4 terms, and is currently working on her 50th reunion activities as part of the Reunion Committee. Though Carol graduated from Peabody before it was part of Johns Hopkins, she has embraced the merger, representing Peabody on the JHU Alumni Council from 2004-2010 (two terms). While living in Texas she was also very active in the JHU Alumni chapter there. Distance has never been an issue for her. She has rarely missed a meeting despite living in Texas and now in South Carolina. In addition to meetings, she has helped host the annual Student/Alumni Holiday party and regularly attended the annual lunch with student leaders. In addition to service, Carol has been a regular donor, and last year established an endowment for voice scholarship at Peabody. Carol received an MM from University of Maryland; and a Doctorate from East Texas State University. She is Artist-in-Residence for the states of Texas and South Carolina and continues to perform extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and Canada.

William G. Day, Jr., Engr '66
Bill Day is a retired naval architect and marine engineer for the U.S. Navy, as well as a curator for the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Earlier in his career, he also held the position of a naval architect for the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Mr. Day holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering mechanics from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in engineering mechanics from George Washington University. Mr. Day is an active member of the Johns Hopkins alumni community. He is currently serving on the Hopkins Engineering Alumni Leadership Committee (former member of the Society of Engineering Alumni Advisory Council) and served on the Alumni Council from 2001-2007 and 2008-2014. During his time on the Council, he was an active member and participated in the marketing and communications committee, the life-long learning committee, and the student grants and program committee. He often travels to campus to attend events and mentor current students. Mr. Day continues to support the Whiting School of Engineering through the Dean’s Leadership Fund. In the past, he has supported the Engineering Centennial Scholarship, Engineering Annual Fund, the Hopkins Fund, and the Kimmel Cancer Center.  Mr. Day and his wife Trudy are also members of the Johns Hopkins Legacy Society and the Whiting School Legacy Circle.

Mindy Farber, A&S '74
As you might know, Mindy as a student founded the JHU Women's Center, was Vice President of Omicron Delta Kappa, was on the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee, and managed to graduate at the top of her class, Phi Betta Kappa. Mindy co-wrote two speeches for her graduating class, one speech directed against the waning War in Vietnam, and one on behalf of the women graduating from the first co-ed class. Mindy was the first Johns Hopkins graduate to win the prestigious Root-Tilden Scholarship for service and academics that led her to receive three free years at NYU Law School. Mindy has had an illustrious legal career, and her civil rights practice was featured in The Legal Times, the ABA Magazine, The Washington Post, and The National Law Journal. She litigated ground-breaking cases that led the District of Columbia to change its epilepsy laws and the US to change its accommodations regarding transgenders. She won overtime pay for the police of Montgomery County, and she was a groundbreaker in the Federal courts deciding that English should not be a requirement in the workplace when the worker did not need to speak English to perform well. She was National Legal Advisor to the National Organization for Women, the National Cancer Society, the American Association of University Women, and the National Epilepsy Foundation. Locally, she was Vice President of the American Civil Liberties Union, a Commissioner on the Commission for Women, a Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission, and president of her civil association.  She was President of the women' s bar and on the Executive Committee of the larger bar association. She is on the Board of Pet Connect Rescue and saves countless at risk dogs nationally all week long. She has given testimony that led to a law in Montgomery County and Delray Beach, FLA (where she has a second house) forbidding pet stores from selling dogs, and was written up for that work in newspapers and on television as well.  It is her lifetime work for Johns Hopkins that truly shines. She was one of the first members of the Second Decade Society, and served on its first executive committee. She was President of the Parents Association for all four years that her daughter Emilie '06 attended Hopkins. Mindy eloquently introduced President Brody to the parents for all four years at the Parents Weekend. She greeted parents at a breakfast or lunch all those years. She organized the ground-breaking reunion of the first women undergraduates in 2013, with 42 of the surviving 45 attending, leading to those women founding a scholarship in their name. She founded her own scholarship in the name of her parents, when her mother retired as a New Jersey councilwoman. Mindy hosted 10 send-off parties at her house in a row, with more than 100 students and parents attending every year.  She was on the Executive Committee of the DC alum group, and hosted readings, concerts, and lectures at her house for Hopkins alumni for many years. Mindy taught undergrads about the law for five intersession classes in a row.  Mindy was Chair of perhaps the most successful college reunion in history, her class's 40th, that broke records for attendance and fundraising.

Robert H. Fisher
Robert H. “Bob” Fisher is the Executive Vice President and Chief Finance Officer at Saint Xavier University (SXU). He received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1970 and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1972. Mr. Fisher, along with his wife Margaret, are the parents of two Johns Hopkins Krieger School alumni (Class of 2004 and 2008). Prior to Saint Xavier University, Mr. Fisher was the Vice President and CFO of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. He previously held positions as the Vice President of Finance at US Robotics, the CFO for Woodhead Industries, Inc., and the CEO for Rockwell Electronic Commerce. Mr. Fisher has been a supporter of Johns Hopkins for many years and has been back to campus countless times over the years. He currently serves on the Alumni Council and has been on the Executive Committee since 2012. He is the chairperson for the Development Committee and has also served on the Communications and Outreach and Marketing committees. Mr. Fisher is also a member of the Hopkins Engineering Alumni Leadership Committee and is the Chicago representative for the Whiting School's Campaign Leadership Committee. Mr. Fisher served on his 40th and 45th Reunion Committees as well as the Society of Engineering Alumni's Executive Committee, where he was an active member of the Career Mentoring Committee. In 2010, he created the “Robert, Scott, & Brian Fisher Scholarship” in honor of his and his family's dedication to JHU to support underprivileged students in the School of Engineering. In addition to offering financial support to his scholarship recipients, Mr. Fisher often meets with the Fisher Scholarship recipients throughout the year and beyond their college experience to offer guidance and mentoring.

Diane E. Griffin, BSPH Faculty
Professor Diane Griffin, MD, PhD, has been a remarkable leader of both Johns Hopkins Medicine and Public Health since first arriving here over 40 years ago. After rising to full Professor of both Neurology and Infectious Disease, in 1994, she became chair of what is now the Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Infectious Disease at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. She radically strengthened the department by her exemplary research, recruitment, and fundraising. She brought it further prominence by convincing Mike Bloomberg to invest in creating the University's "Malaria Research Institute," the most prestigious center of its kind at any academic institution, which she built and directed for more than 10 years before recruiting Peter Agre, returning from Duke, to succeed her. She recently stepped down after chairing her department for 20 years; Distinguished Bloomberg Professor Arturo Casadevall became the subsequent chair. She has contributed inestimably to the prestige of Johns Hopkins through her professional accomplishments and leadership, her unstinting service on numerous university committees, and her continued active academic career at Johns Hopkins—while also serving as Vice President of the National Academy of Science, an extraordinarily prestigious position. How she can be so successful in so many domains, continuing to serve as an inspiration to faculty, staff, students and alumni from across the entire University, is astonishing. Few individuals have shown so much commitment and brought so much to the success and standing of Johns Hopkins University.

Natalie Kauffman, Ed '85
Ms. Kauffman graduated from the School of Education with a Master’s in Applied Behavioral Counseling in 1985.  Upon graduation, she has been a highly involved alumna.  She is a member of the Cerulean Society, the Women in Business affinity group, and recently finished her three-year term on the Alumni Council where she was deeply involved in the career outreach goals of the Student Engagement Committee.  She has been a highly involved alumni volunteer within the student and alumni activities at the School of Education, the University and central alumni relations for the past twenty years.  She has volunteered and donated her time, knowledge, and experience at student/alumni career networking events, panel discussions and workshops held multiple times a year.  On many occasions she has donated or paid for out-of-pocket for door prizes, gifts and supply items for student organizations networking events.  She is also an alumni mentor for the School of Education’s student-alumni mentorship program and dedicated supporter of the Student Counseling association and Chi Sigma and Chi Sigma Iota an Honor Society.  She owns a career consulting business, KauffmanNcareers.  She provides many consulting services and web training services for the federal government.

Kung-Yee Liang, BSPH Faculty
Dr. Liang is an intellectual leader in statistical inference with applications to genetic epidemiology and longitudinal studies. He has developed ground-breaking statistical theory for inference in the presence of nuisance parameters. As President of National Yang-Ming University of Taiwan, he is an international leader of biomedical research and education. Dr. Liang has had two remarkable phases to his career. In the first, he was among the most important and most often cited biostatisticians of his generation. He developed seminal theory for conditional likelihood inference, inference on the boundary of a parameter space, and estimating equations. He co-developed a widely used regression method called GEE for correlated responses from genetic, cohort, and sample survey studies. He was a leader in psychiatric and genetic epidemiology. In a second phase, he served for three years as Vice President for the National Health Research Institute (Taiwan's NIH) and then became president of National Yang-Ming (medical) University, a remarkable accomplishment for a non-physician. Dr. Liang was instrumental in educating Taiwan’s medical leadership as a precursor to the creation of a National Health System. His Center for Health and Welfare Policy Research is now an Asian leader in evidence-based health policy.  Dr. Liang has a passionate commitement to teaching and to mentoring students and junior faculty at Hopkins.  He has been recognized by his peers for his contributions to statistical methodology and is one of the world’s most respected biostatistiacians.  Dr. Liang returned to Hopkins after his stint at NHRI where he continued to be an outstanding researcher and teacher.  He dedicated and tireless efforts to advance the Johns Hopkins Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, and University.  Dr. Liang also made highly distinguished contributions to scholarship in genetic epidemiology and mental health science.

David M. Paige, BSPH '69 and Faculty
David Paige, MD, MPH ’69 is Professor of Population, Family and Reproductive Health at the School of Public Health with joint appointments in International Health and in Pediatrics in the medical school. Dr. Paige is an expert on infant health and nutrition whose research brought the issue of lactose intolerance into the national spotlight and resulted in important policy changes to the federal school lunch program to better serve the needs of lactose intolerant children. His work with the Maryland Food Committee and the Baltimore City and Maryland state health departments to establish nutrition assistance programs in the early 1970s became a primary model for the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program. As an expert consultant on maternal and child health and nutrition to Congress, the USDA, NIH, the U.S. Agency for Children, Youth and Families, and a wide range of other state and federal agencies, he has been instrumental in shaping WIC at the local, state, and federal levels, which today serves almost half of all U.S. infants and one-quarter of children aged 1 to 4. Dr. Paige and colleagues also conducted pathbreaking research and played key advocacy roles that led to the incorporation of breastfeeding support services as a central element of the WIC program. Additionally, as a Bloomberg School faculty member since 1969, Dr. Paige has made signal contributions to the development of two of the school’s flagship education programs, as former director of the General Preventive Medicine residency program and of the Master of Public Health program from 1984 to 1990. His teaching was recognized with the Bloomberg School’s Golden Apple Award. Dr. Paige has advised and mentored many dozens of Bloomberg School doctoral students.

Mark J. Paris, Peab '84
Mark joined the Peabody National Advisory Council (PNAC) in 2010. He became Vice Chair in FY11 and Chair in FY13. In FY12 he led a task force to examine the role of the PNAC.  The work of this committee had a major impact in revitalizing the PNAC and its membership.  He has also been one of the campaign’s co-chairs. Within four years, he has truly reenergized the PNAC, working closely with staff, Hopkins leadership, and Peabody’s leadership volunteers to build bridges.  These years have been a challenging time of leadership transition at Peabody. He has been a thoughtful advisor and advocate throughout everything and was instrumental in hiring our new Dean, Fred Bronstein.  Mark is currently Venture Partner with Urban.US, which invests in early stage start-ups focused on solutions that address the needs of cities. As a financial products and capital markets banker for several decades, in healthcare, higher education and the public sector, Mark works now works partnerships like Urban.us that have unique access to ideas and technologies that may address key issues, such as global warming, citizen engagement and institutional transparency.

Walter D. Pinkard, Jr., Med Trustee
The success of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is inextricably linked to the vision, advocacy, philanthropy and vision of Wally Pinkard. Wally was a JHU trustee for almost twenty years, and he currently chairs the Nursing Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and serves on the board of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Whether personally or through one of the many nonprofits for which he serves as an officer/trustee, Wally has been an agent of change, voice of wisdom and guiding force in advancing various disciplines, departments and programs throughout both the Johns Hopkins University and Hospital. Financially, Johns Hopkins has benefited greatly through Wally’s personal philanthropy and the support received from the foundations for which he holds leadership roles. Born and raised in Baltimore, he has been active in the commercial real estate business for four decades and his commitment to the city has never faltered.  He has an enduring desire to improve the lives of those in the Baltimore community, and has done so in key roles through the France-Merrick, Baltimore Community and Hippodrome Foundations. His grandfather, Robert G. Merrick Sr., served as a JHU trustee, as did his mother, Anne, for whom the School of Nursing building is named. Anne also became the first woman elected as a full member of the board of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and received the JHU Heritage award in 2004.

Amy E. Scharf, A&S '90
A member of the Krieger School Class of 1990, Amy Engel Scharf, has been a volunteer for her alma mater for many years. Amy chaired the Social Policy Advisory Council, which partnered with the Krieger faculty and dean in shaping the social policy undergraduate program and minor. The Council offered real world feedback on proposed curriculum as well as spearheading needed professorship support to make the program a reality.  Based on her success in that role, Amy was asked to co-chair the Krieger School's Campaign Committee for the Rising to the Challenge Campaign, inspiring others to give by her terrific example of leadership and philanthropy.

Phyllis Bryn-Julson and Donald Sutherland, Peab Faculty
Phyllis Bryn-Julson Sutherland and Donald Sutherland will have collectively devoted 75 years of teaching to Peabody when they officially retire at the end of the 2016-17 school year.  Though it is unusual to nominate faculty members, these two are extraordinary. They have each received the JHU Excellence in Teaching Award. They are dedicated to their students and equally dedicated to alumni. They are also regular Friedberg Society donors to the school. Since they have had such a strong positive impact not only on their own students, but students from many other disciplines as well, the Society of Peabody Alumni is planning a special celebration in their honor as part of the reunion activities spring 2017. Phyllis’s performance career has been marked by major contributions to 20th Century music including countless premiers and recordings of important works, including two Grammy nominations.  She has been the recipient of the Paul Hume and Amphion awards; an honorary doctorate from Concordia College and the Distinguished Alumni award from Syracuse University. Similarly, Donald also has been the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award of Syracuse University.  His performance career has included international appearances in solo recitals; keyboardist for the former Theater Chamber Players at the Kennedy Center; and 28 years as Director of Music Ministries at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Maryland.

Thomas B. Tesluk, SAIS '82
Tom Tesluck, ’82 earned his SAIS MA degree in 1982 after spending his first year at SAIS Europe (at that time called the “Bologna Center”) in 1981. He has always underscored that the program, with one year in Bologna and one year in Washington, DC, was a unique education and personal experience that has been crucial for his intellectual development as well as his career. He has always had a strong desire to “give back,” focusing his engagement on advocating the incomparable SAIS experience both in Bologna and Washington, DC. As a member of the SAIS Europe Advisory Council since 1990, and Chairman since 2008, Tom has been indefatigable in organizing and promoting its work. He has provided impressive leadership of the Advisory Council and, through this capacity, has been a source of great input to the administration of SAIS Europe over the years. Tom and his wife Kathleen – a SAIS alumna herself, ’83 – started supporting the University 24 years ago, and their support for SAIS, and for Bologna in particular, continues. As leader of the Bologna Class of 1981, Tom stimulated support from his classmates, and on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the class, they were able to raise $135,000 as a donation towards the Bologna Center building campaign. In 1998, he also established the Henry Tesluk Fellowship in honor of his father, which as of today has supported 16 students at the Bologna campus. Tom continues to facilitate connections with alumni and major donors, encouraging them to support the SAIS mission. In 2007 Tom founded the alumni group Amici di Bologna, an association of SAIS Europe alumni staffed by volunteers and funded entirely by alumni donations. The Amici di Bologna mission is two-fold: to support SAIS Europe and to help SAIS alumni who attended SAIS Europe maintain their ties to each other and to the school. Starting in 2008, and under Tom's guidance, Amici di Bologna has organized yearly alumni events in the U.S., using a consistent format of an academic panel followed by a dinner. The Amici event boasts an average attendance of 170 alumni per year, attracting guests from across the U.S. and around the world. The Amici events cover their costs thanks to a ticket fee and additional contributions from sponsorships and donations. Usually held in New York City, this year the event took place in Washington, DC, at the Italian Embassy, in celebration of the SAIS Europe 60th Anniversary. The event was attended by a record 270 guests and generated a profit, which will be used to provide financial support to four first-year students in Bologna, as well as four second-year students as they continue their studies in Washington DC. In addition, part of the surplus will fund an additional networking event in Washington for current students and alumni that will take place in April 2016 at the time of the traditional SAIS Europe alumni reception. Tom is also very engaged with SAIS Europe students, visits the SAIS Europe Bologna Center twice per year, and regularly organizes career sessions with current students, offering useful professional advice. He is a great asset to our recruitment efforts; he personally contacts many of the applicants and encourages them to accept admittance to the program.