By Rebecca Renshaw

Wayne Braden isn’t an SIU alumnus, but he certainly has the heart and spirit of a Saluki. Braden recently donated $25,000 for an endowed scholarship and made a $1 million planned gift commitment to honor his parents, Don and Edith Braden, who were from rural southeastern Illinois. The scholarship is to be awarded to a student who graduated from Thompsonville High School or Hamilton County High School in Illinois.

Braden’s parents grew up in Hamilton and Franklin counties in the early 1900s. Both attended one-room schools, but Edith was not able to attend high school as the nearest school was too far for her to travel on horseback or foot. Don was a good student and his father intended for his son to attend SIU and had even saved to begin his education. Unfortunately, the stock market crash of 1929 caused their bank to fail and all of Don’s college funds were wiped out. Don and Edith married, and they eventually settled in Detroit where they worked in auto factories.

“Even though their circumstances were beyond their control, my parents deeply regretted not receiving a higher education,” Wayne said. “I think that is why it was important to them that my sister Judy and I got college degrees. Turns out, we both went on and achieved advanced degrees.”

A few years ago, after the Bradens had both passed away, Wayne and Judy began looking for a way to honor their parents and their commitment to education.

“Our attorney suggested that many people establish scholarships in the name of their parents to honor them and we thought that was an excellent idea,” he said. “My dad would have chosen to go to SIU, and he had plans to study engineering. We all know how SIU serves the Southern Illinois region where my parents grew up, so it just made sense to choose SIU for a scholarship in their name. I figured that if we gave a scholarship to a young person from McLeansboro, it would be as if we were looking out for my parents’ neighbors. Looking out for your neighbors was important to my folks, so I wanted to continue looking out for their community.”

Wayne said he has donated to charitable organizations much of his adult life and has been involved with the Salvation Army for several years.

“Charitable gifts are wonderful, and everyone should give back,” he said. “This scholarship in honor of my parents means so much more than just giving to an organization. I recently did a conference call with the young man who is the recipient of my parents’ scholarship. Realizing I was helping him accomplish a very important goal felt deeply satisfying.”

Wayne Braden currently lives in Portland, Oregon, and his sister, Judy Braden Armstrong, resides in Maryville, Michigan.

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By Jeff Wilson

Dr. James M. Rosser is thankful for the opportunity presented to him by SIU, and he has been sure to pay it forward at every turn.

“I was very fortunate,” said Rosser BA ’62, MA ’63, Ph.D. ’69. “SIU gave me a new lease on life.”

Raised in East St. Louis, Rosser was the youngest of eight children and the first in his family to attend college. He came to SIU on a basketball scholarship. He was an honor student and earned degrees in health education and microbiology. Now, he’s honoring that experience by establishing a $1 million scholarship for Saluki Men’s Basketball. It’s the single largest endowed scholarship for any Saluki Athletics program.

“I want to help lift men’s basketball back to where it should be and give Coach Bryan Mullins a real leg up,” he said. “In today’s world, major revenue sports are attractive to prospective students.”

Rosser combined two previously established endowments to create a single million-dollar scholarship that will be directed to a men’s basketball player who maintains a 3.0 grade-point average in the field of science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM).

“This scholarship is not about me,” he said. “It’s about the institution that inspired me to achieve. I want to inspire other people of modest means to create opportunity for those who come after us.”

Part of SIU history

Coming to SIU in the late 1950s, Rosser has fond memories of his time in Carbondale. He was mentored by some of SIU’s most storied faculty and administrators and friends with some of the university’s most well-known Salukis.

“Don Boydston, the athletic director at the time, set a high standard for us, and he closely monitored our progress,” Rosser said. “I was roommates with Charles Vaughn. Walt Frazier was a very good friend of mine. I was in graduate school when he was playing at SIU.”

One of Rosser’s closest friends from his time at SIU is Dr. Harold R. Bardo. The two men speak on the phone almost daily to this very day.

“I met Jim in 1958. He’s the ultimate example of what can happen for students when they’re given the opportunity. He was able to stay in school and get three degrees from SIU,” said Bardo, who earned three degrees from the SIU System, including his bachelor’s from SIU in 1962, a master’s from SIUE, and a doctorate from the SIU College of Education.

Bardo sees the potential impact of a gift of this magnitude, especially when it’s made by someone of Rosser’s background and stature.

“I know Jim has a lot of really good thoughts about SIU,” Bardo said. “This is a university that has traditionally offered opportunities to all people, particularly those from underrepresented communities. Jim is the ultimate example of what great things can happen. Many people will take pride in that example.”

A distinguished career

Rosser began his career as a member of the faculty at SIU and founded the Black American Studies program in 1968. He received the Alumni Achievement Award in 1982, the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2003. An Honorary Doctor of Laws degree was conferred by Pepperdine University in 2005.

Rosser served as president of California State University, Los Angeles, from 1979 to 2013, and was named president emeritus in 2013. Prior to his appointment at Cal State LA, he served for five years as vice chancellor of the State of New Jersey Department of Higher Education and served as acting chancellor in 1977. Earlier in his academic career, he was senior associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Kansas, where he was also a tenured faculty member in the School of Pharmacy and the School of Education.

For three years early in his career, he was a research bacteriologist for Eli Lilly and Company. Over the ensuing decades, he promoted science and engineering education, and he sought ways to galvanize the synergies between science and engineering education, research, technology, and industry.

“My hope is that this scholarship will inspire incoming student-athletes to achieve at the highest level,” Rosser said. “I want to encourage them to aspire to be great and effective role models.”

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The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale received a $10,000 grant from Ameren Illinois to expand its “Illinois Authors” speaker series statewide.

The institute started “Illinois Authors” in August to meet the writers who bring the Prairie State to life. The series builds on the institute’s “Illinois 101” essential reading guide, for which several Illinois leaders recommended histories, biographies, novels, or essays to provide a deeper understanding of the state.

The funding from Ameren Illinois will allow the institute to host a series of public events in 2022 in Carbondale and other Illinois communities.

“The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is very grateful to Ameren Illinois for this generous grant,” John Shaw, institute director, said. “It will help the Institute expand our ‘Illinois Authors’ program, which seeks to deepen our understanding of Illinois through compelling conversations with Prairie State authors. This grant will be instrumental as we present these conversations throughout Illinois.”

The grant funds were made available through the Ameren Cares program. Brad Kloeppel, regional director of natural gas operations for Ameren Illinois, said the key focus of the Ameren Cares program is to connect the company with the communities it serves to help empower and improve the quality of life in Ameren Illinois’ service territories.

“Illinois has such a rich history and we’re happy to support the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute as it helps expose students and the community to its literature as a way to successfully move forward,” Kloeppel said.

Bill Sahlin has lived and worked all over the world, but he hasn’t forgotten the role SIU played in his life over 50 years ago.

“I enjoyed my experience at SIU tremendously. Coming from urban Chicago to a small-town beautiful environment was refreshing. I worked at Neeley Hall as a maintenance manager at night and took classes during the day. Between that job and the scholarship I received, I managed to make ends meet,” said Sahlin.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the SIU College of Business, Sahlin went to Loyola University and received an MBA. Sahlin spent many successful years working for TransUnion Corporation headquartered in Chicago as an accountant. He ultimately worked for the U.S. Department of Defense as a senior auditor and retired from there in 2013.

During his professional career, Sahlin worked all over the world in such countries as Saudi Arabia, China, Taiwan and Thailand. It was during his time in Hong Kong when he met and married his wife Kim. Together, they recently established the Bill and Kim Sahlin Endowed Accounting Scholarship to the SIU College of Business and Analytics. This scholarship will be funded through an estate gift of $62,500.

“I know I never would have received a four-year college degree had it not been for the scholarship I received,” said Sahlin.

“SIU is a good place to go, especially for people like me. Like so many who attended SIU, I was a first-generation student. SIU provided people like me with a good education and it was a great choice. I just want to help a young person who is in the same boat as I once was so many years ago.”

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Meet Peter Renz, ’97, who majored in Fire Science Management through SIU’s extended campus’ program, now known as Public Safety Management. Renz received his SIU degree at the off-campus location of Quinn Fire Academy with the Chicago Fire Department. He also earned a master’s degree in Non-Profit Administration from the University of Notre Dame in 2001. Peter is a retired fighter from South Holland, Illinois, with a career that spanned 27 years working as an Engineer/Paramedic.

Renz currently works as an instructor, recruiter and as an advisor for the SIU’s Public Safety Management program. He is currently teaching public safety management, research, and risk reduction.

Renz says he receives great satisfaction in working with people from the first handshake all the way to their graduation from the program.

“It is very satisfying to see a student that you first met at a recruiting event or through word of mouth, and then to see them graduate and to see how happy their families are at graduation. After graduation, you can see the gratitude they have for us helping them succeed with a bachelor’s degree or their master’s degree,” said Renz.

Renz credits the SIU Extended Campus Program for allowing him to get his bachelor’s degree and appreciates the help he received from his classmates.

“If it wasn’t for this program, I would not have gone to college. The flexibility of this program allows a student to be successful. I also liked the comradery in the classrooms. Everyone was helping others if they were struggling. I especially enjoyed the labor relations, grant writing, and legal and budget courses,” he said.

Renz says that the courses he took during his time as a student in the SIU Extended Campus Public Safety Management allowed him to apply what he learned directly to his career.

“The labor relations course that I took in college helped me start our firefighter’s union, Local 4109 in South Holland. When I served as a school board president, I was able to negotiate one of the more difficult bargaining sessions, which I also learned from that course. Everyone involved was grateful at the ease of which the contract was hashed out. The grant writing course SIU offered me helped in an innovative way to give raises and fund special projects at the fire department,” said Renz.

Renz says one of the aspects of the extended campus program he enjoys most is that he gets to interact with students all over the country.

“I get to interact with students from a geographically wide range of locations. You quickly realize that every fire department shares many of the same issues from coast to coast,” he said.

Renz also enjoys the variety of his work and his interactions with a wide range of people.

“Depending on where I am on any given day, I may be meeting with the Commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department, or the over 5000 members of the department, to the newest candidates at the academies. I also meet with the union leaders, officers, engineers and firefighters of many departments in the Chicago region,” said Renz.

Renz credits his wife for his success throughout his career.

“My wife, Lori and I were going to college at the same time. She would push me from time to time. She is the smartest person I know. I also learned from others around me that taught me how to do something and how not to do something. You can learn from others’ mistakes,” he said.

As a donor to the SIU Public Safety Management department, Renz gives back because he believes the program has developed him into someone that can make a difference.

“Being a Saluki has taught me to look out for others and to help where I can. You know, I’ve often wished that if I had a $1,000 to give to the program, I would like to start a lending library of public safety management textbooks. We have some students that struggle when it comes to the cost of books. I try to offer alternatives. A $1,000 would be a nice start. My hope is that others will help me give back to such a wonderful SIU program as the SIU Extended Campus,” he said.

To learn how you can donate to SIU Extended Campus, click here.

By Rebecca Renshaw

The College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics received two checks for $19,000 each from a longtime supporter of the university.

Dr. Mike Murray, trustee of the George A. Bates Memorial Foundation, presented Dean Xiaoqing “Frank” Liu with a $19,000 check to go toward the George A. Bates Memorial scholarship.

“We greatly appreciate the ongoing support by the Bates Foundation for these undergraduate scholarships,” Liu 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 $19,000 check to support the College of Engineering’s Leadership Development Program. Based in the College of Engineering, Computing, Technology, and Mathematics, 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.”

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.

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.”

Brad Choate ’79, ’84 and his wife, Julie, are one of the university’s most devoted supporters. Their recent $1 million estate gift will provide funding for undergraduate scholarships and other key priorities.

The Choates, who reside in Georgetown, Texas, wanted to place SIU in their estate and help SIU remain strong for generations to come. The money will establish an endowed scholarship.

“I am so proud of SIU, and I thought this was the right way to give back to an institution that changed my life,” Brad Choate said. “While I am a first-generation alumnus, my parents drilled into my head at a young age that I would attend college. SIU just made sense as it was in the backyard of Marion, Illinois, where I grew up. I have to thank my parents for pointing me in a direction that would change my life.”

Choate is a veteran leader in the advancement industry, having served over 40 years as a fundraiser. He has served as president and CEO of the Minnesota Medical Foundation, vice president at the University of South Carolina, vice chancellor at the University of Arkansas as well as leadership positions at Penn State and Ohio State. He currently serves as special advisor to the vice president for development at the University of Texas at Austin. He and Julie, who is an accomplished artist, are also dedicated volunteers in their community.

“SIU is grateful to the Choates for their generosity and outstanding leadership,” said Matt Kupec, CEO of the SIU Foundation. “They demonstrate the values that we seek to instill in every SIU graduate.”

Choate said establishing the endowment through their estate just made sense, both financially and charitably for his family.

“I have seen the impact on both the donors and the students when a scholarship is created,” he said. “The impact positively affects our society and country at large.”

Raised in rural Carbondale and attending high school in Marion, Choate’s parents taught him the value of hard work, integrity, and giving back. “My parents had a clear vision of what they wanted for me so there was no doubt that getting a college degree was going to happen. I will be forever grateful to them for their direction,” he said.

Southern Illinois has a special place in his heart, largely because that is where he met Julie.

“I will never forget. I first laid eyes on her at the Dairy Queen in Marion. I was sitting at a picnic table with a friend one night, and this red Firebird drove up, and this beautiful girl jumped out,” he said. “She came over and we were introduced. I took her to Carbondale to see the sights, and we’ve never looked back since. We’ve been married 43 years.”

Choate’s Southern Illinois roots go back even further as his great uncle was Clyde Choate, a politician from Anna, Illinois, and a soldier. Choate served 30 years in the Illinois House of Representatives and during World War II, received the U.S. military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for single-handedly destroying a German tank.

“SIU was always important to my Uncle Clyde. Even after he retired from the Legislature, he went to work for SIU to continue helping the university,” Choate said. Julie’s mother, Colleen Norman, has three degrees from SIU and taught at SIU and the university’s campus in Japan.

The Choates raised three children, Brent, Lauren, and Lindsey.

“Brent graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and became a fighter pilot. Lauren is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin who works in marketing for a commercial insurance company in Texas, and Lindsey earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Arkansas and runs a prep school in Austin,” Choate said. “Julie and I are so blessed that all three of our children have grown up well and thrived in the world. Now, we want to ensure that other young people have the same opportunities as our children did.

“You don’t have to be phenomenally wealthy to help people. Lots of people can make an estate gift and really help others with a gift to SIU. It is our hope that we inspire others to do the same as we have done,” he said.

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