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.

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.

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.

Cosby honored with Marian Anderson award

Temple’s own Bill Cosby has been named the winner of the 2010 Marian Anderson Award for his humanitarian work, and will be honored at the Kimmel Center on April 6. He’s only the second Philadelphia-born recipient of the award and the first Temple grad to achieve such an honor.

Read more in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer, which also features a front-page story about Temple’s rising admissions standards and master plan for Main Campus.

Team Spirit

The Temple football team’s commitment to community service often continues long after graduation. For example, Raheem Brock, SBM ’08, defensive tackle  for the Indianapolis Colts, and several current members of the team recently took 45 school-aged children on a shopping spree funded by Brock.

Owls of Distinction in the Philadelphia Business Journal

When it comes to Owls, leadership should be as signature a characteristic as is wisdom. For example, both Elaine Thompson, CHPSW ’85, and Nilda Ruiz, SBM ’86, were included on Philadelphia Business Journal‘s 2009 list of  the region’s “Women of Distinction,” published Nov. 30.

Thompson is president of Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pa., and earned a master’s degree from the College of Health Professions and Social Work.  Ruiz is president and CEO of Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, an organization that aims to improve the quality of life for Latinos in the greater Philadelphia area.  She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Fox School of Business.

Legal Eagle

As if law firms didn’t already have a reputation for being fiercely competitive, a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on the increasing pressures faced by the law industry.

For an example of grace under pressure, to whom did the Inquirer turn? To an Owl, of course. The story focuses on Christina Norland Audigier, LAW ’05, a lawyer with Duane Morris in Philadelphia.

‘Psycho’ About Hitchcock

For fans of Alfred Hitchcock, 2010 will be a landmark year. The classic suspense film Psycho celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2010, which also is the 30th anniversary of the director’s death.

It also will be a banner year for John W. Law, SCT ’88, author of Alfred Hitchcock: The Icon Years. Law’s book will be released by Aplomb Publishing in January.