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On Campus - Stories
May 4, 2001 - Vol. 53, No. 41


Drake to hold 3 commencement ceremonies
Michael Gartner Bruce B. Pfeiffer

A total of approximately 930 students will be honored at Drake University's commencement ceremonies, which will start at 7 p.m. Friday, May 11, with the Law School Commencement Ceremony in the Drake Knapp Center.

Attorney and journalist Michael Gartner, now chairman and principal owner of the Iowa Cubs, will give the commencement address. He has written extensively on First Amendment issues and is a member of the bar of New York and of Iowa. His speech will focus on the legal concept of "Attractive Nuisances."

Gartner also will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the 120th Drake Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony, which will start at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 12, in the Drake Knapp Center. An honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree will be awarded to Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, founder and director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Gartner and Pfeiffer will make brief remarks after receiving their honorary degrees. Also speaking at the undergraduate ceremony will be Drake President David Maxwell as well as Christopher Fennell and Sheila McCoy, both recipients of the Oreon E. Scott Award -- the top honor for Drake seniors.

Provost Ronald Troyer will give the commencement address at the 120th Drake Graduate Commencement Ceremony, which will start at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in the Drake Knapp Center.

Gartner has been a lifelong journalist. Over the years, he has been page one editor of The Wall Street Journal, editor and president of The Des Moines Register, editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, general news executive of Gannett Co. and USA Today, and president of NBC News.

In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for the editorials he wrote for The Tribune of Ames, Iowa, where he then was the editor and co-owner. At the beginning of 2000, Gartner was named one of the 100 most influential business journalists of the 20th century and one of the 10 most influential Iowans of the present.

He was appointed by Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack as chairman of Vision Iowa, a board the Legislature established to oversee grants to Iowa's tourist attractions and to disburse up to $300 million to help Iowa communities build major recreational or cultural facilities.

Pfeiffer, the nation's most knowledgeable authority on the architecture and life of Frank Lloyd Wright, is responsible for cataloging and preserving drawings, manuscripts, artifacts, and a wide variety of documents of Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, as well as for providing access to the archives' resources. He is also a prolific editor and writer.

Publications on Frank Lloyd Wright bearing Pfeiffer's name include five edited volumes of Frank Lloyd Wright: Collected Writings; 12 volumes containing the complete works of Frank Lloyd Wright; eight volumes of Frank Lloyd Wright Selected Houses; Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks; Frank Lloyd Wright: Treasures of Taliesin: Seventy-six Unbuilt Designs; Frank Lloyd Wright in the Realm of Ideas; and a three-volume collection of Wright's letters to apprentices, clients and architects.

Pfeiffer has been praised by many Wright scholars. Neil Levine, the Emmet Blakeney Gleason professor of fine arts at Harvard, wrote in the preface to The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright that the work was inspired in part by the accessibility of the Archives of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation at Taliesin West. "For this," he wrote, "we are all indebted to Bruce Pfeiffer, whose energy, wisdom, care, and professionalism have made the study of Wright a completely different sort of matter from what it was 20 years ago."
Late-night breakfast planned

Faculty and staff volunteers are needed for the Finals Week Midnight Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, May 6, in Hubbell Crossroads. Volunteers, who will receive a free breakfast, will report at 10:45 p.m. To volunteer, call Leah Neese at x2961.
Donors break ground for Kragie Newell Agora
From left: Jack Kragie, Liz Newell, Robert H. Helmick, David Maxwell and Benjamin B. Ullem dig in at the groundbreaking as Madelyn Levitt watches.


Saturday's groundbreaking for the Kragie Newell Agora in Helmick Commons marked the start of a major beautification project for the west side of campus. Like the original Greek agora that served as a gathering spot for the populace, the Kragie Newell Agora will provide an attractive area where students can congregate.

The agora is made possible by a $200,000 gift from former advertising executives Liz Newell, LA'69, and Jack Kragie, LA'65.

"Jack and I had wonderful years at this University," Newell said. "Drake prepared us for a very productive and rewarding life in building a company and allowing us to make the agora possible."

Two leaders of the Class of 1996 also participated in the ceremony: Renee Ahrens, PH'98, GR'98, and Brian Palmer, AS'96. They chaired the Senior Gift Committee that came up with the idea for the agora and raised money for it.

"The agora -- marketplace -- is a symbol of people coming together," Palmer said. "More than a symbol, though, this is a space to be used. As students, we envisioned a space for bands, for reading, for discussions, for food, for outdoor classes, or for filling with soap suds. We trust that current students will make this space theirs, mindful of its rich symbolism."
Drake appoints human resources director
Venessa Macro


Venessa Macro, a graduate of Drake Law School, has been selected as Drake University's human resources director, effective Monday, May 7. She had been assistant general counsel of Meredith Corp., where she was an integral member of the company's human resources team.

"Drake is lucky to hire someone with Venessa's experience and vision," said Vicky Payseur, vice president for business and finance at Drake. "She has significant experience in employment law and its practical application."

Macro succeeds Barbara Q. Decker, LA'72, GR'83, LW'00, who left Drake in February to pursue a legal career.

"I look forward to once again being a part of the Drake University community," Macro said.

Macro received her law degree with honors from Drake Law School in 1992. She also holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Northern Iowa.

Prior to joining Meredith Corp. in 1994, she was an associate attorney with the Washington, D.C., firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Field as well as a law clerk for Judge Ronald E. Longstaff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

At Meredith Corp., Macro assisted in the development of personnel, benefit and hiring policies and initiatives. She served as a member of the company union negotiating team and served on the company's security task force.
Dvorak's descendant studies here

Marketa Dvorakova of the Czech Republic, great-great granddaughter of Antonin Dvorak, the internationally renowned Czech composer, sang in the Drake University/Community Chorus Thursday, May 8. Despite her relation to the extraordinary composer, the junior international business major at Drake considers herself to be a very ordinary young woman.

"Before I came to the United States, my relation to Dvorak never played a major role in my life," she said. "I think the musical genes skipped me."

However, Aimee Beckmann-Collier, director of choral activities, disagrees with that assessment. "Marketa has been a wonderful addition to the Community Choir," she said. "She brings skill and experience to the rehearsal process, and most importantly, her spirit, intensity and joy."

When Dvorakova first set foot on American soil in 1993, she did not anticipate the excitement her family name would bring to citizens across the nation. The young teen knew only that she, along with her parents, grandfather, uncle and younger brother, were bound for Spillville, Iowa, where Antonin Dvorak spent several summers and composed several legendary works.

Dvorakova and her family are the only descendants of Dvorak to carry his name. They originally traveled to Spillville to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dvorak's summer in the town.

She returned to Iowa last fall to study for one year at Drake as a recipient of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship. "This has been the most amazing year of my life," she said.
Historic preservation is a family affair for the James clan
Standing near the Kinney house are Larry James Sr., Jennifer Irsfeld James and Larry James Jr.


Drake University has donated the historic Kinney house at 1318 27th St. to the James Development Group Inc., which plans to move the house to a vacant lot at 1056 26th St. The house, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will then be renovated as a single-family residence.

The officers of James Development Group have close ties to the University and the Drake area. President Larry James Jr. and Vice President Larry James Sr. are both third-year students at Drake Law School. Larry James Jr. also serves as vice president of the Drake Neighborhood Association. His wife, Jennifer Irsfeld James, serves as secretary and treasurer of James Development Group, plus she's history chair of the Drake Neighborhood Association and editor of the association's newsletter.

Last year James Development Group worked closely with the University to acquire and move a house from the site of the new Walgreens store to a vacant lot on 26th Street. The house on 27th Street is scheduled to be moved this summer. Once it's been renovated, Larry James Jr. and his wife plan to move into the house.
Open house set for Friday

Enjoy refreshments, meet new staff and learn about new services and new programs during an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday, May 11, at the Drake Small Business Development Center and the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, 2429 University Ave. For reservations, call x2655 by Wednesday.
Drake to honor 9 alumni May 12

Faculty and staff are invited to salute nine outstanding Drake alumni at the All-Alumni Reception and Alumni Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 12, in Olmsted Center's Parents Hall. The reception begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. The cost is $25 per person. For reservations, call x3147 ASAP.

The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to W. Andrew Wright III, BN'69, and Elaine M. Hanna Wright, ED'69.

Michael A. Peterson, LA'75, will receive the Alumni Loyalty Award and the Young Alumni Loyalty Award will be presented to Bryan Moon, ED'84, GR'94. Matthew C. Crowl, LA'84, will be honored with the Young Alumni Achievement Award.

Two Alumni Achievement Awards will be presented. Winifred "Wynn" Hubler Speece, FA'39, will receive one. The other award will be given posthumously to William Wagner, GR'58.

In a special presentation, James H. Ewoldt, BN'58, and Jo Ann Geiger Ewoldt, ED'59, will receive the Drake Medal of Service.

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