By Rebecca Renshaw

If you talk to Dr. Kevin Dorsey for more than a few minutes, you’ll recognize that his life passion is reflected within the mission of SIU School of Medicine, which he led for 14 years. That mission is “to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community.”

Dorsey, who has been with the school since the early 1970s, says it was founded to improve the health of central and southern Illinois residents.

“We recruit and admit students from those regions, educate them and hope that, after they complete their training, they will return back to central or southern Illinois because the people in those areas need physicians,” he says.

Dorsey’s other commitment is to total community health.

“I’m pretty passionate about community health and service,” he says. “It’s just not enough to create physicians to go back to our Illinois communities. We must get out into the community to improve poverty and education and housing. Social determinants of health are critically important.”

He says the new generation of doctors will make a difference.

“Our students are great,” he says. “They are more committed to social justice, they have a strong conscience and they want to do good in the world. We need to enable their success, which is why I decided to initiate the SIU School of Medicine ‘Alumni Class Challenge.’ ”

As his parting act as dean and provost of the School of Medicine, Dorsey issued an SIU School of Medicine “Alumni Class Challenge” in 2015. He challenged each class to collectively raise at least $25,000 to endow a scholarship in honor of their class. Matching grant funds totaling $500,000 would be available to double the gifts or pledges received by Dec. 31, 2015.

The result was a resounding success. Most notably, gifts in honor of Dorsey’s leadership established the J. Kevin Dorsey Endowed Scholarship. This is the School of Medicine’s largest endowed scholarship fund, and it will assist several students each year for generations to come.

The need for the scholarships might be a surprise to some, but not to Dorsey.

“One thing you must understand about our students is that, coming from central and southern Illinois, they are in the lower parental income brackets,” he says. “However, medical students across the nation tend to be from the top 20 percent in parental income.

“When you look at the average indebtedness of an SIU School of Medicine graduate, he or she comes out with an average accrual of roughly $180,000 in debt. That figure is significantly higher compared to other medical schools that can offer huge scholarships to students. The Alumni Class Challenge will help more students with more scholarships to assist them in their medical studies.”

Dorsey came to SIU School of Medicine as one of its founding faculty members, arriving with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and teaching the first two classes in the school’s history. Dorsey then became a student in the third class and obtained an M.D. degree from SIU. He completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Iowa before returning to southern Illinois to practice rheumatology.

“While I had obtained a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin and a postdoctoral fellowship in cell biology at Johns Hopkins a few years before, I recognized that a career in bench research just wasn’t going to do it for me,” he says. “I wanted to directly and immediately make a difference in people’s lives.”

As the end of his tenure as dean and provost in December 2015, more than 2,600 medical students had graduated from the School of Medicine.

The school offers an M.D., a master’s degree and doctoral degree in various biomedical sciences, including a master’s degree for physician assistant students, as well as advanced training in clinical specialties (17 residencies and 13 fellowships). There also is a small number of SIU students each year who pursue combined degree programs in law and medicine, or in medicine and public health.

When asked what he wants his legacy to be, his answer is simple: “I tried to fulfill the mission.”

Reflecting on his parting gift as dean and how others could contribute, Dorsey says, “Whatever anyone can contribute – whether it is time, talent or resources – all of it is valuable and important.”

By Rebecca Renshaw

The first thing you notice about Roy and Marianne Abrahamson is the distinct twinkle in their eyes. Married 56 years, they share a life rich in art, laughter and the art of giving.

“Art is transformational,” says Roy Abrahamson, an SIU art education professor for 31 years until his retirement in 1996. “Art is the ability to transform what one sees into an artistic formation according to one’s inner holistic view.”

The transformational power of art led the couple to establish the Dr. Roy E. Abrahamson Art Education Endowed Scholarship to help students afford an education – so the students, in turn, can contribute to the artistic transformation of others.

“Roy is the type of artist that doesn’t sit and sketch what he sees,” Marianne Abrahamson says. “Instead, he takes in the scene and records it with an inner eye.”

The gift of expression is evident throughout the Abrahamsons’ home in Carbondale. The artwork that adorns their walls and coffee tables reflects Roy Abrahamson’s fascination with multiple types of art – from temperas, to oils, to caseins, to acrylics, to watercolors and wood sculptures.

Roy Abrahamson’s love of art has taken him from one coast to the other. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in art education from the University of Minnesota, he studied with Henry Schaefer-Simmern at the Institute of Art Education in Berkley, California. After obtaining a master’s degree in elementary and secondary education from San Francisco State University, he served three years in the Army during the Korean War.

Following his military service, he taught public school in San Francisco. In 1960, Roy and Marianne married, and in 1963 they moved to New York, where Roy Abrahamson earned a doctoral degree in art education at Columbia University. In 1965, he joined the School of Art and Design faculty at SIU, teaching art education to hundreds of students during his tenure.

While at SIU he also served as president of the Illinois Art Education Association, and was a member of the National Art Education Association and the International Society for Education through Art. In addition, he wrote and published many research articles in professional journals. He also took part in a research grant program involving student teachers and mentally handicapped children and organized annual hands-on art sessions for children from southern Illinois schools.

Perhaps one of Roy Abrahamson’s greatest achievements came after his retirement from SIU. He was asked by the widow of his late mentor Schaefer-Simmern to co-edit a book titled “Consciousness of Artistic Form.” A copy of the book sits prominently in the couple’s living room.

Marianne Abrahamson says they recently saw an opportunity to give back to the university that was such a significant part of their lives.

“Being a native of Germany myself, and both of us growing up during WWII, the experiences of that time formed our outlook,” she says. “While we never had much money back in the early years, we knew how to make the most of what we had. And now that we have the funds, we want to help deserving students in art education get their education.”

“Throughout my career and throughout our lives, it’s always been about helping students demonstrate art that is true to their inner being,” Roy Abrahamson says. “Marianne and I established the scholarship to help students who could not otherwise afford an education. It is a good feeling to have.”

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Ralph E. Becker wants to make sure that Southern Illinois University Carbondale continues to go “onward and upward.”

A $1 million gift by the SIU Carbondale alumnus will be used to renovate and expand the boat house and pavilion on campus lake.

The SIU Board of Trustees today (Dec. 8) approved the project, which includes a classroom, new and additional site lighting, and creating a patio space for outdoor performances, lectures, dinners and community events. The Ralph E. Becker Pavilion will include an 850-square-foot classroom named in honor of Becker’s mentor and friend, the late Frank Stanton, who was president of CBS from 1946 to 1971, and the network’s vice chairman from 1971 until his retirement in 1973.

The boat house and boat dock buildings were built in 1958-59, and many of the existing materials, including structure and plumbing systems, are 54 to 55 years old. The renovation and addition will bring the facilities up to date with building codes and standards. The work is expected to be completed by spring 2018.

“Campus lake and its surroundings are a point of pride for generations of SIU students, faculty, staff and community members, and Mr. Becker’s support of this project will revitalize this beloved and significant landmark,” SIU Interim Chancellor Brad Colwell said. “We are deeply grateful for Mr. Becker’s extension of his long-time support of his alma mater.”

Becker, a 1955 graduate in speech communications, is considered by many to be among the pioneers of the university’s radio-television program. In a broadcasting career that spanned more than six decades, Becker relied on hard work and his business acumen to own numerous television stations and be a media investor.

The Carbondale native maintains a strong affinity for SIU, the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, and the community.

“I would not have been successful had I not attended SIU and it is a place where I call home. It served as the foundation for what I was able to accomplish in life,” said Becker, whose broadcasting career started as an intern with KMOX radio in St. Louis in 1949 while he was still in high school.

He continued with numerous broadcasting jobs while at SIU from 1951 to 1955, including writing a radio-television column for the Daily Egyptian. After graduating, Becker taught as a lecturer for a year before going into the U.S. Air Force to fulfill his ROTC commitment.

Becker returned to SIU in 1959 to continue his graduate studies and manage then WSRV-FM, now WSIU-FM radio. After college, Becker later expanded his expertise into producing and directing radio and television programs in markets including Peoria and Washington, D.C., working on numerous advertising and marketing campaigns, and serving as president and CEO for a group of television stations. He was later involved with media investing, where his group found poor-performing TV stations and implemented changes to improve their operations.

Becker lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., and he has been a generous supporter of SIU Carbondale. Becker’s philosophy is once a goal is set, to work hard and set additional goals. He views the donation as a “form of a challenge” to others, and a desire to “leave a legacy of hard work and opportunity.”

“I want to challenge everyone to give back to others and to what is important to them,” Becker said. “It is extremely important to challenge others to do bigger and better than what I am able to accomplish. That is the only way progress will be made. Throughout my life, I challenged my employees and I challenged my children to do better.”

Becker received the SIU Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award for the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts and was the radio and television department’s “alumnus of the year” in 1985. He endowed one of the college’s largest scholarships, the Ralph E. Becker Scholarship, given annually to a radio-television student whose primary focus is in management and marketing research. Becker was the then-College of Communications and Fine Arts commencement speaker in 1987, and in 1995, received a medallion and clock from the college. In 1997, Becker donated the Obelisk sculpture, which is the centerpiece of the college’s courtyard.

“If we aren’t generous, a lot of good things would never occur and a lot of creativity would not happen,” he said. “There are things that can still be invented and risks that can still be taken. I just want to make sure SIU goes onward and upward.”

Stanton, Becker’s mentor and friend, worked with CBS founder William S. Paley. He was significantly involved in freedom of the press issues — ranging from the 1954 McCarthy hearings to the network’s coverage of the Vietnam War and a 1971 investigative report on the Pentagon. Stanton’s other activities included serving as chair of the American Red Cross for six years. Stanton earned five Peabody Awards and was elected to the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1986. Stanton died in 2006.

By Rebecca Renshaw

“Live long and prosper.” Most people are familiar with the Vulcan greeting of Mr. Spock in the television series “Star Trek,” which debuted in 1966 and went off the air just one month before Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. Growing up in Decatur, Illinois, Robert Dennis was fascinated by “Star Trek” and its vision of outer space and space travel.

Both the reality of the moonwalk and the fantasy of “Star Trek” fueled Dennis’ desire to be an astronaut. Unfortunately, poor eyesight and a growth spurt dashed his hopes of physically traveling in outer space.

But he could still dream about it.

“I realized right then that if I couldn’t get into space as an astronaut, then maybe I could go to California and make a movie about space,” he says.

To do that, he would have to do more than dream. He would have to learn the art and science of cinematography.

So Dennis set his sights on SIU.

During his first few days on campus, two things surprised him. The first was a professor who announced to a room full of new students that “if you are in this class to get a job in Hollywood, you may as well walk right out the door.” At that defining moment, Dennis decided that not only would he go to Hollywood, but that he would become a success as well.

The other surprising revelation was that filmmaking had little resemblance to the shows he had watched growing up.

“Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, I now know that SIU gave me a deeper appreciation for film – especially experimental, documentary and independent filmmaking,” he says. “SIU opened my mind to a whole world of filmmaking that had nothing to do with my childhood dreams of ‘Star Trek.’ ”

Upon graduating from SIU, Dennis got his master’s degree from the University of Southern California, a widely respected film school that also claims George Lucas as one of its most accomplished alums. Dennis soon met his wife, Patricia, also a USC alum who now serves as senior vice president for The CW television network.

Dennis’ career included working at Lucasfilm, becoming elected as president of the Large Format Cinema Association and serving as a director of post production for HBO Pictures. Dennis also served on a post supervision team for film restoration and preservation at Walt Disney Studios as well as overseeing the 70mm “IMAX” laboratory services at Technicolor. While he and his wife forged successful careers in the challenging world of filmmaking, the couple also shares a strong commitment to the power of education.

That brings us back to Mr. Spock’s desire that others “live long and prosper.”

While Robert and Patricia Dennis have certainly fulfilled that goal, they understand that others may need a hand to do the same. Several years ago, the couple established the Robert Dennis Filmmaking Award, which is given to an outstanding SIU student filmmaker for his or her accomplishments in cinematography.

This past spring they began revamping their wills and recognized it made the best financial sense to establish a revocable family trust. With no children of their own and no extended family members to provide for, the couple determined that they wanted to see most of their estate gift go to youths who really need the help.

They both immediately thought of SIU.

“Patricia and I understand how tough this business can be for young people,” Dennis says. “Patricia listened to my stories about SIU, and the important part it played in my life. We both decided to give back to SIU and encourage students with financial help who need it to continue their filmmaking education.”

The Dennis’ estimated $1.3 million gift is the largest estate gift in the history of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.

“When we finalized the trust, we sent off a note to the SIU Foundation announcing our decision – and the reaction was amazing,” Dennis says. “We often ask ourselves, ‘How is it that we turned out to be the people who have pledged this amount to the school? Why haven’t others done the same?’ We’ve already set aside resources for others. It is just the right thing to do to help kids out who can use it more than us.”

WICHITA, Kan. (Nov. 17, 2016) – Cessna Aircraft Company, a subsidiary of Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, today announced it has selected the following university partners for the 2017 Top Hawk program: Eastern Kentucky University, The Ohio State University, Auburn University, Southern Illinois University and Louisiana Tech University. Each university will take delivery of a new, custom branded Cessna Skyhawk 172 aircraft in early 2017 to support flight training, recruiting efforts and promotional activities at their respective universities throughout the year.

“Each year, the Top Hawk program continues to expand its reach and we are excited to grow the program with five university partners this year,” said Doug May, vice president, Piston Aircraft. “These universities are renowned for their innovative aviation programs and we are confident they will represent the Top Hawk program and Cessna brand very well as we work together to provide students state-of-the art resources and empower them to choose a rewarding career in aviation.”

Textron Aviation continues to seek top aviation programs to collaborate with and support the advancement of general aviation and the modernization of aircraft training fleets. The company currently works with several universities, training organizations and flight schools throughout the world to support the next generation of aviators and the Top Hawk program plays a vital role in this strategy.

In addition to the aircraft, the top students from each of the five universities will be chosen for a Textron Aviation summer internship. These students will receive valuable exposure beyond flight training to include real world experience from various corporate departments such as sales, marketing, flight operations, integrated supply chain and engineering to promote a career in aviation.

About the Cessna Skyhawk 172
The Skyhawk is the world standard for pilot training and is renowned for offering the best combination of modern features, including the Garmin G1000 avionics system and proven dependability. The aircraft’s high-wing design enables superior flying characteristics ideally suited for pilot training. More Skyhawks have been delivered to customers around the world than any other type of aircraft, with more than 43,000 in service since 1955.