By Rebecca Renshaw

The College of Engineering received two checks for $10,000 each from a longtime supporter of the university.

Dr. Mike Murray, trustee of the George A. Bates Memorial Foundation, presented Dean John Warwick with a $10,000 check to go toward the George A. Bates Memorial scholarship.

“We greatly appreciate the ongoing support by the Bates Foundation for these undergraduate scholarships,” Warwick said. “These scholarships are important to our college, and we are deeply grateful to the Bates Foundation for their history of partnering with SIU.”

Murray also presented Dr. Bruce DeRuntz with a $10,000 check to support the College of Engineering’s Leadership Development Program. Based in the College of Engineering, the LDP is designed to mold students into future executive leaders in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) by providing leadership training, mentoring and community service opportunities.

The LDP began with a donation from Dick Blaudow, an SIU engineering alumnus. Blaudow, along with his wife, Brigitte, established the program as a way to help develop the next generation of America’s technical leaders. DeRuntz, professor of technology who leads the LDP, said the program truly transforms these students into leaders.

“To achieve success, these students must prepare for success,” DeRuntz said. “This program gives them the tools to do so.”

DeRuntz said the foundation’s donation will go toward bringing in guest speakers to the program. The funds will also help fund the annual team-building week at SIU’s Touch of Nature, during which new students meet their more experienced teammates to learn about the program’s culture and history.

Bates was a successful stock market investor and avid big game hunter. He was born in 1903 in the Chicago area, and resided in Cary until his death. The Bates Foundation was formed when he passed away in 1989. The foundation provides funding to numerous charitable organizations, as determined by its board of trustees. Along with SIU, the foundation supports The Hope Light Project, a cancer awareness organization, also located in southern Illinois.

“Mr. Bates believed in supporting education,” Murray said. “It has been an honor to be a trustee for the George A. Bates Memorial Foundation, and it was a privilege to deliver these checks.” Other local organizations the foundation has supported include Brehm School, SIH Cancer Institute, the Poshard Foundation, Saluki Kids Academy, and Lead SI. The foundation supports eight different charities and has donated $3 million dollars in the last 10 years. A total of $6 million has been donated since its inception.

Murray was instrumental in securing funding from the Bates Foundation. As a former close friend and confidant of Bates, Murray was aware of Bates’ philanthropic tendencies. He submitted a proposal for support in 1997 while working as a central development officer for the SIU Foundation. Now, as a Bates Foundation trustee, he is able to continue to provide funding to scholarships at the College of Engineering. To date, the foundation has provided about $400,000 to SIU for scholarship funding.

The foundation looks for two things when deciding to support an organization: Dedication by the organization to the mission and passion for the cause of those representing the organization.  “I know the dean, and I know professor DeRuntz very well,” Murray said. “I have no doubt this money will be put to good use.”

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By Drew Novara

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Monday marked the inaugural celebration of the Charles Helleny Tip-Off Classic as the Salukis took on Buffalo at SIU Arena. In honor of the event, a special pre-game ceremony took place to rename the East Lobby of the arena as the “Charles Helleny Pavilion.” In September, Helleny donated the fourth-largest gift in Saluki Athletics history.

In honor of Helleny’s gift, the first Division I men’s basketball home game each year will be known as the Charles Helleny Tip-Off Classic game.

“I don’t want to take anything away from the game itself,” Helleny said. “I am embarrassed, but honestly this is a great honor, as I love SIU. We have had our ups and downs and we have always remained competitive.”
Helleny said his history with Saluki Basketball goes back to the Walt Frazier era, and he gets excited recalling the many signature home wins, such as the 2001 victory over eventual national runner-up Indiana and the thrilling battles with arch-rival Creighton. Those memories help fuel his desire to give back to SIU.

“Giving to the SASF is a commitment – not just a one-time donation — but a lifetime commitment,” he explained. “Donors help offset the budget for the department and help secure funding for scholarships, trips and recruiting.”

The Charles Helleny gift will continue to help support the SASF and the scholarship costs for 350 student-athletes in 17 intercollegiate sports, and will also help toward the Forever SIU campaign.

“The Charles Helleny Tip-Off Classic is a great way to honor Charles – a special and unique partnership created by Saluki Athletics and the Helleny family,” SIU Associate Athletic Director Jason Fairfield said. “Charles has a long history with SIU and we wanted to be able to honor his legacy with something that will live on forever.”

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by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale served as the launch pad for Clara Kridle’s successful accounting career, so when her colleagues created a memorial scholarship in her honor, they and her family chose to help propel future Salukis toward successful careers in the world of business by establishing the Clara J. Kridle Memorial Scholarship Endowment.

“We are triply blessed to honor Clara Kridle through this memorial scholarship,” Terry Clark, dean of the College of Business, said. “We are honored because she was one of our own, who came to us and blossomed into a young professional, ready to take on the world.

“Then, after entering into that professional world, we observed her rise among the best professionals on earth at Pricewaterhouse Coopers,” Clark added. “But most of all, we are deeply touched and blessed to see the kind and generous affection with which her colleagues at PwC held her in that they chose to honor our Clara Kridle with a scholarship in her name and memory here at SIU’s College of Business. This scholarship will make it possible for other young people to be trained up and prepared for success, just as Clara was. Thank you, Clara. Thank you, PwC.”

Kridle joined the accounting firm after SIU graduation

Clara J. Rigoni Kridle, originally from Lombard, completed her bachelor’s in accounting degree at SIU in 1980 and initially worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield in Chicago before joining what was then known as Coopers and Lybrand in 1984. Through subsequent mergers, the firm went on to become Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC).

A CPA, she became a principal of the firm in 1997.

PwC Charitable Foundation Inc. created endowment

Kridle, of Naperville, passed away on May 9, 2017. The PwC Charitable Foundation Inc. has now established the scholarship at SIU’s College of Business in her honor and in recognition of her 33 years of service to their firm.

In presenting the $150,000 memorial scholarship endowment, the PwC board of directors and principals recognized Kridle not only for her “considerable contributions to the success of the firm,” but also noted that she was held in high regard by her clients, partners and staff, was a leader in mentoring and coaching, exemplified partnership and teamwork and was patient and sought after for advice and help.

“Clara was a credit to her profession and to this firm,” the resolution notes. “She will not be forgotten.”

Kridle connection to SIU is extensive

The Kridle family’s affiliation with SIU has several layers. Clara and husband Kevin, also a 1980 graduate in journalism, first met at the university. They were friends on campus, living in the same apartment building and enjoying long talks when they ran into one another in the hallway.

But, they didn’t date. At commencement, she wrote her phone number on the back of the program, but Kevin said he didn’t call. All these years later though, he still treasures that book and insists that “Fate played a big part in things.”

A few months after graduation, the two happened to meet on the street again in downtown Chicago; Kevin was working as an executive for a publishing company located near her employer. He was actually dating someone else and didn’t score points with his girlfriend by promptly comparing Clara to singer/songwriter Carly Simon, a likeness Clara heard about throughout her life. Soon they were dating, then married and the parents of two children – Kristen and Nickolas.

“It was definitely an SIU love story,” Kevin said. “If not for SIU, we never would have met. It was meant to be. It was a great marriage.”

Kristen is also a graduate of SIU, completing her marketing degree at SIU. She is now an assurance associate for PwC in Oregon. Nickolas is a recent graduate of Indiana University and works in the corporate office of Ford Motor Company in Texas.

Clara Kridle was generous in and out of the office

The Kridles have lived in Naperville for 31 years, raising their children there and being active in the community. Clara Kridle freely gave her time and assistance both at her workplace and in her private life, Kevin said.

She served on the board of directors of CARA, an organization that helps people affected by poverty develop the necessary skills and confidence to obtain jobs; was on the community advisory board for Loaves & Fishes Community Services, an anti-poverty, hunger-relief agency; and was active in her church and supportive of Sharing Connections, an organization that connects families in need with gently used furniture and household items and at which her children volunteered.

At work, too, she cared deeply for her associates, focusing not just on her own success, but mentoring colleagues and doing everything she could to help them succeed, Kevin said. In fact, he said he truly came to realize the profound affect she had had on those around her during the six months she was ill and after her passing, as there was barely a day that went by during which someone didn’t reach out and tell via notes, calls, emails, texts, letters, flowers or other means how much Clara meant to them.

He said he and her children are touched and appreciative to PwC for honoring Clara with a scholarship, which he’s sure she would be surprised and humbled by.

Will be awarded to a business student annually

It’s “only natural” that the Clara J. Kridle Memorial Scholarship be awarded at SIU, Kevin said. “SIU is a special place for us,” he said. “Through time, it has grown in a lot of ways we can be proud of.”

The endowment from PwC calls for award of a scholarship each year to a junior or senior Illinois business student with a GPA of 3.5 or above and who has demonstrated financial need. The recipient will also have a history of community service or involvement in an initiative illustrating their social responsibility. Juniors who receive the scholarship can reapply for their senior year if they continue to meet the requirements.

Plans call for the first scholarship award from the SIU Foundation in spring 2019.

The College of Business also plans to posthumously present a Gary N. Parish Business Excellence Award to Clara Kridle in spring 2019.

By Ron Reeves

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Saluki Athletic Scholarship Fund announced on Wednesday that James (Jim) Rosser, a three-degree alumnus of SIU (B.A. 1962, M.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1969) and the SIU Athletics Campaign Chair for the Forever SIU campaign, has established the Dr. James H. Rosser Men’s Basketball endowed scholarship. Rosser was a member of the Saluki Men’s Basketball team from 1960-62.

“We are so appreciative of what Dr. Rosser has done for our program,” said Director of Athletics Jerry Kill.  “He has not only endowed a scholarship, but as athletics chair of the Forever SIU campaign, he has challenged others to do the same. ”

During his distinguished career in higher education, Rosser served as president of California State University, Los Angeles, from 1979 to 2013, and was named president emeritus in 2013. Prior to becoming president at Cal State Los Angeles, he was the vice chancellor of the Department of Education of the State of New Jersey. Earlier he served on the faculty at Southern Illinois University and founded the SIU Black American Studies program in 1968. Rosser was a recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award in 1982, the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2003.

In addition to the men’s basketball endowed scholarship, Rosser previously endowed the James H. Rosser Scholar-Athlete Scholarship at SIU.

“I was extremely grateful for the scholarship from Dr. Rosser,” said SIU football player Malik Haynes, the 2016-17 recipient of the James H. Rosser Scholar-Athlete Scholarship. “As a freshman, the scholarship helped support me through my first year in college.”

Rosser knows the importance of athletics and the development of student-athletes on and off the field. For those reasons, he continues to the importance of the Forever SIU campaign.

“My best memories center on diverse friends, teammates, faculty, administrators and staff,” said Dr. Rosser. “SIU athletics played a major role in my development and subsequent success as a professional. SIU has been and must continue to be a major contributor for educational attainment, economic development, social mobility and social justice.”

Rosser’s leadership and endowed scholarship will continue to support the Saluki Athletics Scholarship Fund (SASF), which helps cover scholarship costs for 350 student-athletes in 17 intercollegiate sports.

“What he has done for our university and our athletics department – he’s someone who has a true love for SIU,” Kill said.

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By Ron Reeves

CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Saluki Athletic Scholarship Fund (SASF) is excited to announce the fourth-largest gift in Saluki Athletics history, which was given by Charles Helleny (Class of ’57). Helleny is a proud Saluki season-ticket holder and donor, and a top contributor to the program for more than 60 years.

“Charles has been loyal to SIU since the day he walked into this place, he never misses a game, he supports every program, he’s a special person,” said SIU Director of Athletics Jerry Kill. “I don’t know if I’ve ever met a more giving guy than Charles. I appreciate the tremendous gift, because not many people are willing to step up and do that, and the more who can, the more we can solve problems.”

In honor of Helleny’s gift, the first Division I men’s basketball home game each year will henceforth be known as the Charles Helleny Tip-Off Classic game. This year’s matchup will take place versus Buffalo on Nov. 12 at SIU Arena.

“I don’t want to take anything away from the game itself,” Helleny said. “I am embarrassed, but honestly this is a great honor, as I love SIU. We have had our ups and downs and we have always remained competitive. This year we are primed for top-two finishes in all sports in the conference.”

Helleny said his history with Saluki Basketball goes all the way back to the Walt Frazier era, and he gets excited recalling the many exciting home wins, such as the 2001 victory over eventual National runner-up Indiana and the thrilling battles with arch-rival Creighton. Those memories help fuel his desire to give back to SIU.

“Giving to the SASF is a commitment – not just a one-time donation — but a lifetime commitment,” he explained. “Donors help offset the budget for the department and help secure funding for scholarships, trips and recruiting.”

The Charles Helleny gift will continue to help support the SASF and the scholarship costs for 350 student-athletes in 17 intercollegiate sports, and will also help toward the Forever SIU campaign.

“The Charles Helleny Tip-Off Classic is a great way to honor Charles – a special and unique partnership created by Saluki Athletics and the Helleny family,” SIU Associate Athletic Director Jason Fairfield said. “Charles has a long history with SIU and we wanted to be able to honor his legacy with something that will live on forever.”

Faifield said Saluki Athletics will have more announcements to come from the Charles Helleny gift in the coming months.

“Charles is very passionate about lifetime giving and is a big reason why we have been successful over the years,” Fairfield added. “Supporters like Charles have helped us not only support the lives and scholarships of our student-athletes – but help us continue to build the rich traditions of SIU athletics.”

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