May 19, 2008 Issue

Emeriti Honor Wall Dedicated

Immediately following Friday’s Faculty Honors Convocation, the new Emeriti Faculty and Administrators Wall of Honor was officially dedicated in the Doy and Dee Henley Reading Room on the second floor of the Leatherby Libraries. President Doti, Dr. Charlene Baldwin, dean of the library; and Dr. Glenn Pfeiffer, president of the Faculty Senate; did the honors, with an official unveiling of the three wall elements carried out by an array of emeriti. Among the faces in the large crowd were many familiar and beloved emeriti—we spotted Joe Matthews, John Koshak, Dave Weatherill, Ken Tye, Stan Califf, the irrepressible Jim Miller and many more. Three panels on the wall pay tribute to Chapman’s emeriti—both faculty and administrators—who have achieved that honored status (“emeritus” and “emerita” professors and administrators are entitled to retain their title and rank after they retire). If we had room in this very crowded issue of Happenings, we’d list them all—but we’d instead like to encourage you to visit the Leatherby Libraries, head up to the second floor and experience the Wall of Honor for yourself. It’s a capsule history of Chapman and a great many of the distinguished people who have made our university what it is today!  

It Takes Two ... to Win a Tango

After completing his third Boston Marathon a few weeks ago with a time of 4:10 and last week coming in second place among 20 two-man teams in an Irvine Lake Adventure race with his son Adam, President Jim Doti came up with something even more challenging. The battleground: the Assistance League of Newport Mesa’s May 10 “Dancing With the Stars” competition at the Westin South Coast Plaza, before a sold-out crowd of 530. As the stars do on the famous TV show, President Doti teamed with a professional dancer, Oksana Kalinuka, who coached him and worked with him in the grueling weeks before the contest.

And the competition was tough: chief among the many rival celebrity dancers was the lovely and talented Julia Argyros, who danced the bolero and salsa. Julia ended up winning the best female dancer award, but it was our own president and his partner who carried off the night’s top prize, the audience favorite award, with their two-minute-apiece tango and quick step. “Doing a 2-minute tango was tougher than climbing a mountain or running a Boston Marathon qualifier, and a 2-minute quick step was even harder than that,” the president says. “Major reason: Mountain climbing and running are rather mindless physical challenges. Dancing requires incredible mental focus. Thankfully, I had Oksana, a patient and gifted pro, teaching me. Now I want to take up break dancing so I can put out a hat for donations and entertain lunch crowds at the Attallah Piazza.” Hmm – or maybe we’ll see a little tango in this fall’s American Celebration?

The Faculty and Staff Newsletter Chapman Happenings is published by the
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