Team Player

As the 2009-2010 Temple women’s basketball team charged through the postseason A-10 Tournament, former Owl Candice Dupree, CHPSW ’07, became a member of the 2010-2012 USA Basketball Women’s National Team. She was the first female player at Temple to be drafted by the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), and also was the first to be drafted by the Chicago Sky, the WNBA team for which she currently plays.

Preserving Heritage

Jay Nachman, SCT ’81, recently told me that he and two other Owls–Irv Hurwitz, LAW ’84, and Jannine Medrana, CLA ’00–work in prominent positions in the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) in Philadelphia. Hurwitz is the director of institutional advancement, Medrana is the director of donor relations and Nachman is the director of public relations.

Business Deal

The Fox School of Business has announced a new 5 percent scholarship, now offered to alumni of Temple’s undergraduate programs who will begin earning MBA degrees in fall 2010.

Temple Idol

Tyler Grady, a sophomore Honors student majoring in psychology in the College of Liberal Arts, has been selected as one of 24 contestants to compete on the hit singing competition, American Idol!

Show your Temple pride by watching the show on Fox on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and by voting for Grady when he performs. You also can track his progress by joining Grady’s Facebook page.

The Owls of Madagascar

On February 14, The Philadelphia Inquirer featured a story on Robert Schooley, SCT ’86, and Mark McCorkle, SCT ’85. The two television and film majors are now executive producers for the popular Nickelodeon program The Penguins of Madagascar. The International Animated Film Society honored Schooley and McCorkle with an Annie Award.

An Owl on Idol

Due to the sheer discomfort of witnessing people’s hopes dashed on national television, I can’t watch the hit  TV show American Idol. But fans of Idol might recall Claire Fuller, a student from Philadelphia who auditioned in Boston. Fuller is a senior in the School of Communications and Theater at Temple–and she made the cut.

Engineering Research Goes National

When Temple Review featured the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering on the cover of the fall 2009 issue, I wondered why Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering Michel Boufadel–who has been studying the long-term effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill since 2007–wasn’t getting more attention from the national media. But this week, the Associated Press and The Washington Post, The New York Times, Reuters and many other news outlets reported on his incredible research.

Fashion Guru

Philadelphia Fashion Week will take place in Center City in October.  At least one Owl’s attendance is guaranteed: Kristie Bergey, TYL ’97,  is serving as executive director of the four-day event that will celebrate Philadelphia fashion and culture.

Key Performance

Here’s an entertaining way to catch up with fellow Owl Marc-Andre Hamelin, MUS ’83: The renowned pianist will perform at the Kimmel Center on Wednesday, January 13. A graduate of the Boyer College of Music and Dance, Hamelin has released more than 50 recordings and has been nominated for eight Grammy awards.

For tickets and more information, visit the web site of the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

Citizen of the Year

Marsha Levick, LAW ’76, co-founder, deputy director and chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center has been named The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s 2009 Citizen of the Year, along with Lourdes Rosado, the center’s associate director. Last year, the two attorneys uncovered a juvenile detention center scandal that compromised the legal rights of minors in Luzerne County, Pa.

The Juvenile Law Center was initially founded by Levick and three other alumni of the Beasley School of Law: Robert Schwartz, LAW ’75, Judith Chomsky LAW ’75, and Philip Margolis, LAW ’75.