Tobi Williams will graduate from UMSL on May 18 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. A 2009 graduate of the highly successful Bridge Program for high school students, Williams credits Bridge and UMSL for pointing her in the direction of a successful career. (Photo by August Jennewein)

When her mother proposed a program that included Saturday morning classes, Tobi Williams reacted like many high school sophomores.

“I said I was 100 percent against the idea,” said Williams, now 22, and about to graduate from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. “But the UMSL Bridge Program ended up being a really great experience for me in so many ways.”

Located at UMSL, the Bridge Program offers a Saturday Academy for ninth through 12th graders designed to build strong academic proficiency in math, science, writing and other areas critical for the successful transition to college. Founded 27 years ago, 100 percent of Bridge students are admitted to college.

“I was attending a private high school for girls and the curriculum was college prep,” Williams said. “But Bridge helped me learn what college was really going to be like. I learned about time management and how to get things done.”

Williams also learned a lot about herself.

“I had always gone to private, predominantly white schools,” she said. “I was one of the only African American kids for a long time. Bridge, which serves predominantly African American students, gave me a different perspective.”

What she discovered at Bridge were classes filled with good students, who were hard working and successful, just like her.

When she graduated from high school, Williams headed off to the University of Missouri–Columbia. But after two years, she returned to St. Louis. She enrolled right away at UMSL.

“I loved the smaller classes, and my grades improved,” she said. “My mother graduated from here, has earned several degrees and now is a school principal”

In a program known for its standouts, Williams will do exceptionally well in life, according to those who have worked with her.

“Self-motivation, accountability and commitment are key factors placed upon students that participate in Bridge,” said Natissia Small, assistant dean of students and head of precollegiate programs. “Tobi is a wonderful example of a student who met the program’s expectations. I am certain that she will obtain her master’s degree and overall achieve lifelong success.”

Williams will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology on May 18, right on time.

“I’m very proud of myself for doing it in four years,” she said.

She plans on going to graduate school, hopefully in California. She’s going to take this next year to perhaps work for Teach for America. She has her goals set. She’s looking at marriage and family counseling or sports psychology as possible professions.

“I’m really close to my family, and I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned from them with other people,” she said.

Vicki Sauter is a professor of information systems at UMSL. (Photo by August Jennewein)

When Vicki Sauter was 18 years old, her father fell victim to an attempted armed robbery on the street outside her family’s Chicago-area home. He fought back but during the struggle was shot once in the head and later died from the injury. Neighbors witnessed the attack, but did nothing. At the funeral, one neighbor told Sauter she was sorry, and if she’d known it was Sauter’s father, she would’ve helped.

“That conversation set the stage for much of my life,” said Sauter, professor of information systems at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. “That’s why I get involved. I never want to give an apology to anyone for not helping out.”

In late April, Sauter, of Creve Coeur, Mo., learned she’s being honored by the four-campus University of Missouri System with the UM President’s Award for University Citizenship (Service). The award recognizes Sauter’s more than 30 years of leadership, mentoring and service to students, UMSL’s College of Business Administration and the field of information systems.

“Vicki has been a leader in community outreach in many directions,” Keith Womer, dean of the business college, wrote in a nomination letter for the award. “She inspires others to be involved, and the result is a web of outreach activities that captures students, business leaders and academics and has them working together for the betterment of all.”

Sauter joined UMSL’s College of Business Administration faculty in 1980 and became the first woman in the college to earn tenure. She has been a member of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences for more than 35 years, and she has held several elected positions and received numerous awards for her service to the institute.

In 2004, Sauter opened Grace’s Place, a museum named in honor of Grace Murray Hopper, a pioneer in the computing field. The museum is on the second floor of Express Scripts Hall and teaches visitors about the evolution of computing through the display of old computers and computing equipment.

In 2008, Sauter held the first Xtreme IT! Summer Academy, a precollegiate program that introduces information technology to a younger generation. The summer program enables high school students to live in the UMSL residence halls for a week while attending workshops and visiting St. Louis-area businesses to learn about information technology. At the end of the camp, students give presentations on the Web pages they developed using the knowledge and skills they gained during camp.

Sauter also started the Information Systems Advisory Board, which meets quarterly to advise the Department of Information Systems on curriculum and fundraising. She also serves as the chair for the UMSL Library Committee.

“Receiving the award is a great honor,” Sauter said. “Knowing that my passion for helping and getting involved is recognized means a lot, and I hope it inspires others to do the same.”

The Academic Affairs Office at the UM System administers a total of six UM President’s Awards. The annual, systemwide awards are open to faculty from UMSL, the University of Missouri–Columbia, the University of Missouri–Kansas City and Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

In addition to Sauter, four UMSL faculty members won a UM President’s Award this year: Rita Csapó-Sweet, associate professor of media studies, for cross-cultural engagement; Susann Farberman, associate teaching professor of nursing, for inter-campus collaboration; Dawn Garzon, teaching professor of nursing, for inter-campus collaboration; and Carl Hoagland, the Emerson Electric Endowed Professor of Teaching and Learning, for innovative teaching.

Sauter and her colleagues will receive their awards June 13 at a celebration in Columbia, Mo.

Jean M.K. Miller will begin serving as dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at UMSL on July 1. (Photo courtesy of the University of North Texas in Denton)

Jean M.K. Miller has been named dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Miller, who will begin the position July 1, currently serves as associate dean of administrative affairs in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas in Denton. She oversees the Design Research Center in Dallas, and she’s served as acting dean of UNT’s Toulouse Graduate School.

“I was attracted to UMSL and the College of Fine Arts and Communication as both an administrator and an artist,” Miller said. “A diverse and talented faculty, staff and student body, strong programs and being acknowledged by the Carnegie Foundation as an institution that is truly engaged with St. Louis and metro-area communities were just a few of my considerations.”

Before joining UNT, Miller was chair of the Department of Art and Design, Art History and Art Education at Towson University in Maryland. Prior to that, she was chair of the Department of Art and Design at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts-painting at St. Cloud University in Minnesota. After graduating with a master of fine arts degree in painting from California College of the Arts, she began her career as a professor of studio art at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, where she headed the painting programs for 10 years.

UMSL Provost Glen Cope said Miller will be a great asset to the university.

“She’s an excellent academic and administrator,” Cope said. “I am pleased that she will join us to build on the fine work of John Hylton and James Richards in moving our College of Fine Arts and Communication forward.”

Richards, professor of music at UMSL, has served as interim dean of the college since August 2010, when Hylton stepped down after serving as dean for eight years and returned to his position as a professor of music.

The College of Fine Arts and Communication was established in 2001. It comprises four departments: art and art history; communication; music; and theatre, dance and media studies. Hylton was named dean of the college in 2002 after serving as interim dean from the college’s inception.

Media coverage:
St. Louis Business Journal 

Tom George, chancellor of UMSL, is on hand with Ann Steffen, associate professor of psychology at UMSL, during an award ceremony last month in Jefferson City, Mo. Steffen won the 2013 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education.

Described by fellow faculty members as a “teacher’s teacher,” Ann Steffen is a passionate and committed educator and respected researcher. In honor of her work, the associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri–St. Louis was presented the 2013 Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education.

“I love being part of the process of discovery for students as they gain skills and confidence in their ability to learn,” said Steffen, of Webster Groves, Mo. “Although understanding specific content is a key aspect of a university education, developing as a lifelong learner is even more important and requires an environment that values scholarship.

“UMSL’s integrated teaching and research mission drew me to this campus in 1994 and keeps me here today. Our campus teaching resources are excellent and play a vital part of my work with students. I feel very fortunate to be a part of our Department of Psychology, which is full of talented scientist-educators, and I’m grateful for their support and for this award.”

Steffen’s colleagues wrote in an award nomination letter that she has an outstanding commitment to teaching and improving the classroom environment. And on top of her research, classroom teaching and service obligations, she continues to mentor students and younger faculty members.

Steffen is the director of the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at UMSL. She oversees the Women’s Health Behaviors and Aging lab, and from 2003 to 2006, she was the director of the university’s Gerontology Program.

Steffen earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Indiana University-Bloomington.

The annual Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education honors outstanding faculty from 15 post-secondary public schools, colleges and universities in Missouri. The award criteria are effective teaching and advising, service to the university community, commitment to high standards of excellence and success in nurturing student achievement.

The 2013 awards were presented last month at a ceremony hosted by Gov. Jay Nixon in Jefferson City, Mo.

UMSL alumnus T. Christopher Peoples is president of Pitzman’s Company of Surveyors and Engineers. He was honored in February by the St. Louis Business Journal as one of the newspaper’s “40 Under 40″ for making an impact in business before the age of 40. (Photo by August Jennewein)

The daily commute from his home in north St. Louis to his high school in Kirkwood, Mo., was an opportunity for T. Christopher Peoples to contemplate. The student’s mind often juxtaposed the two communities.

“Kirkwood was nice and beautiful, kind of like Pleasantville,” he says. “But no one was really fixing up places in the city of St. Louis.”

Peoples, 33, is now the president and chief executive officer of Pitzman’s Company of Surveyors and Engineers in Maplewood, Mo., but he says it was that car ride in high school and the disparity he observed that turned on his interest to engineering.

“I thought, ‘What can I do, and what can I go to school for that would allow me to make my neighborhood like Kirkwood?,’” he says.

He eventually enrolled at the University of Missouri–St. Louis as a civil engineering major. Through a partnership with Washington University in St. Louis, UMSL offers an engineering program in which students take pre-engineering and general education courses at UMSL and upper-level engineering courses at WUSTL.

“You basically get a Wash U engineering education for UMSL prices,” Peoples says. “I felt UMSL was offering me everything I needed.”

Almost all of the engineering classes are taught in the late afternoon or evening – a schedule that worked for Peoples who was a part-time student, full-time worker and a single parent.

“Despite having to attend school part time and at night, I still felt like I was getting an equal education,” he says. “I didn’t feel like I was being cheated out of any opportunities.”

Peoples completed a bachelor’s degree in 2008. But while he was still a student, he applied for an entry-level surveying position at Pitzman’s Company. Roy Leimberg, the owner at the time, hired the 20-year-old.

“I was only his second African American employee ever,” Peoples says. “He took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity, and for that I was extremely grateful and tried to work as hard as I could for him.”

Since joining Pitzman’s Company, Peoples has held every position there. In 2010, he purchased a majority stake in the firm and became president and CEO.

This story was originally published in the spring 2013 issue of UMSL Magazine.

Three generations of Brenda Scott’s family have called UMSL home. Scott (left), her granddaughter Jessica Lake (center) and Scott’s daughter Deborah Lake each earned a bachelor’s degree at the university. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Jessica Lake has spent the past seven years at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The 25-year-old graduate student says UMSL feels like home and for good reason.

“I was actually on the UMSL campus before I was even born,” Lake says with a smile. “My mom was working on her degree in psychology when I was born. She even had to miss a few finals to have me.”

Growing up at UMSL isn’t unique to Lake, who earned a bachelor’s degree in social work here in 2010 and is pursuing master’s degrees in social work and public policy administration. The university celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and boasts more than 85,000 alumni and more than 500 families that include multiple generations of alumni.

For Martin Leifeld, vice chancellor for advancement at UMSL, two and three generations of family members choosing and graduating from the university is, perhaps, the best indicator of UMSL’s success and strength.

“It demonstrates the impact we’ve had throughout the region and that we’re doing what we were created to do,” Leifeld says. “We – UMSL and St. Louis – have grown up together.”

The Scott-Lake family: 3 pathways for 3 women

Jessica Lake’s mother is Deborah Lake, BA psychology 1989. Deborah’s mother and Jessica’s grandmother is Brenda Scott, BSN 1990. And despite being part of a family with three generations of UMSL alumni, the notion of a legacy family was one that Deborah says she hadn’t considered.

“I guess we really never thought about being a legacy family,” she says. “We’re very proud of, and thankful to, UMSL for making each of us successful in our given paths.”

Those paths started to form in the 1960s when Scott began taking nursing courses taught by UMSL instructors at St. Louis City Hospital, a site that now houses the Georgian Condominiums on Lafayette Avenue.

“We really were the last of the Florence Nightingales,” Scott says. “We wore starched uniforms and hats. We practiced strict hand washing to prevent transfer of disease. In addition, we had strict curfews.”

After taking a few UMSL courses and earning a registered nursing degree at the city hospital, Scott began working as a registered nurse and says she was in no rush to complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She continued to work, got married and started a family.

But when her daughter Deborah began working toward a bachelor’s degree in psychology in the 1980s at UMSL, Scott says she decided it was time to go back to school and complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

“Deb was going to school, she got married and was pregnant with Jessica,” Scott says. “She had Jess and graduated in 1989. I then earned my BSN in 1990.”

Deborah went on to earn a law degree from Saint Louis University in 1993 and has practiced law ever since. She focuses on family law.

Jessica says knowing her mother and grandmother had found a home at UMSL made the decision to pursue her first degree here easy.

“Choosing UMSL for the second time was also right for me, because I wanted to study both social work and public policy administration,” she says. “These two departments had an overlapping concentration – nonprofit management and leadership, which helped me to combine the two programs into one that met all my educational goals.”

The Steimel family: love and marriage, twice

Norman Steimel grew up in Black Jack, Mo., the oldest of 11 children. After graduating from Rosary High School in Spanish Lake, Mo., in 1972, he was the first of his siblings to attend college.

He was on his own to fund his education, so Steimel searched the St. Louis area and says UMSL was the right fit for him. He started his first classes and continued to work part time.

In fall 1973, after struggling through several semesters of college preparatory mathematics in high school, Steimel says he needed to find an alternative to math to fit his general education requirements. He enrolled in French 101.

“After the first test, I spied a big red A on the paper of a petite blonde in the first row,” Steimel says. “A plan to successfully get through the course began to hatch in my mind. It involved me stopping that comely classmate to suggest that she and I study our French lessons together. The rest, as they say, is history.”

That unsuspecting classmate would become Libby Steimel, BA psychology 1975, when the two were married in 1978. Norman went on to graduate that same year with a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He’s an associate circuit judge for the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in St. Charles County, Mo. The couple had nine children between 1979 and 1993.

“I consider Norm the best thing that ever happened to me and that happened at UMSL,” Libby says.

When it was time for Nathan, the Steimels’ oldest child, to attend college, his parents encouraged him to look into UMSL, and he did.

While taking business courses here, Nathan met Melissa Shumate. The two began dating and were later married. Nathan earned a bachelor’s degree in finance in 2002. He then attended law school and now has a private practice in St. Charles, Mo. Melissa earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems in 2001. She’s a stay-at-home mother to the couple’s three small children.

Libby says, “It is very touching to me to have met Norm at UMSL and have that common history, then to have Nathan and Melissa meet in similar fashion and have that further common history.”

Following in the footsteps of the older Steimels, six of their nine children attended UMSL.

Susanna Steimel Stark earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and French in 2010. She works at FM Global, an international insurance company in Creve Coeur, Mo.

Jason Steimel enrolled in 2004. He then enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for six years, including two combat tours in Afghanistan. He returned to UMSL and completed a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management in 2012. He and Amber, his wife, have a son and are expecting their second child this summer.

Kathryn Steimel completed several semesters at UMSL in the College of Nursing. She was on schedule to complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2012, but after enlisting in the U.S. Navy, her orders took her to Great Lakes, Ill., for training before her final semester was complete. She’s an electronics technician in the Navy and says she plans to finish her degree once her naval training is complete.

Norman and Libby Steimels’ two youngest children are also students at UMSL. Marissa, a junior communication major, and Priscilla, a sophomore nursing major, say they almost didn’t choose UMSL specifically because of their family’s history with the university.

“It was both an easy and a hard choice,” Priscilla says. “On the one hand, I knew it would be cool to be going to the same university as my parents and siblings because that would create an even stronger bond or connection between us all. On the other hand, I wanted to be unique and not just be another Steimel.”

Marissa agrees. She wanted to make her own mark, but after touring campus, she says she was hooked.

“I chose UMSL, because I loved the atmosphere here when I first visited,” she says. “I immediately felt welcomed. Everyone was willing to talk to me and make me feel like part of the UMSL community. It just felt right.”

This story was originally published in the spring 2013 issue of UMSL Magazine.

(GLVC photo-Jeff Smith)

Junior Joe Atkisson (pictured), of the University of Missouri–St. Louis men’s golf team, claimed medalist honors at the 2013 GLVC Championship on Tuesday, winning a playoff hole against Rockhurst University’s (Kansas City, Mo.) Tanner Buleski at the Otter Creek Country Club in Columbus, Ind. 

Atkisson is the first player in program history to be named individual GLVC champion. He birdied the first playoff hole to earn the honor.

In the playoff, Atkisson opened by striping a drive off the 528-yard, par-5 first hole, while Bulejski blocked his drive right of the cart path, forcing a punch out to the fairway where the ball came to rest approximately 220 yards from the hole. Noting after the playoff that he could not resist the temptation to go for the green in two based on where he lay, Atkisson made the attempt for the first time this week and scorched a 235-yard fairway metal right in line with the flagstick, coming to rest in the back fringe, some 20 feet away. Bulejski needed five shots to get to the putting surface, but after a chip that nestled five feet away from the pin, Atkisson dropped in the birdie putt to secure the title. 

Atkisson, an international business major, shot a 54-hole school record 214 en route to the title, firing rounds of 70, 73 and 71. He is the second player in program history to earn conference medalist honors as UMSL Sports Hall of Famer David Rhoads won the 1993 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association  individual title.

Atkisson’s play helped the UMSL Tritons to a field-best team score of 877 (293-292-292). That score also set a new school mark for 54 holes of competition.

The Tritons were seeking their first-ever GLVC Championship, but lost to Lewis University (Romeoville, Ill.) in the semifinals. UMSL won MIAA team championships in 1992 and 1993.

Senior Chase Smith, who sat atop the leader board after the first two rounds, tied for third place and earned All-GLVC honors. Smith carded rounds of 71, 69 and 77 to finish with a score of 217.

Also for the Tritons, junior Warren Crow placed 16th with a 224 (75-73-76), while freshmen Colby Yates (77-77-71 – 225) and David Abolt (78-79-74 – 231) tied for 17th and 41st place, respectively.

(Photo by Danny Reise)

Sophomore Tim McLarty (pictured), of the University of Missouri–St. Louis men’s tennis team, has been selected to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference team, as announced tonight by the league.

McLarty, an economics major, owns a team-best 15-7 singles record, playing mostly at No. 3. He was 4-1 in GLVC matches.

In doubles action, McLarty is 11-11, including a 10-11 record with sophomore Nils Mueggenburg, playing mostly at No. 1. The duo went 3-2 in league matches.

UMSL, which finished the regular season with a 9-6 record, competed in the 2013 GLVC Tournament last weekend in Indianapolis, Ind. The UMSL Tritons, seeded No. 2 in the West Division, ended its season losing to No. 3 seed in the East Division University of Indianapolis in a quarterfinal match.

(Photos by Danny Reise)

Junior Louisa Werner (pictured left) and freshman Renee Verboven (pictured right) of the University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s tennis team have been selected to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference team, as announced last week by the league.

Werner, who is majoring in finance and international business, earned the honor for the third straight season. She owns a 19-6 singles record, playing at Nos. 1 and 2. She was 3-1 in GLVC matches.

Verboven, who is enrolled in the Pre-Engineering Program, also went 3-1 in GLVC play and owns an 18-7 singles record, splitting time at Nos. 1, 2 and 3.

In doubles action, Werner and Verboven teamed together to record a team-best 18-4 mark at the No. 1 position, which included a 3-2 GLVC mark. 

UMSL, which finished the regular season with an 11-6 record, competed in the 2013 GLVC Tournament last weekend in Indianapolis. The Tritons, seeded No. 3 in the West Division, ended the season losing to No. 2 seed in the East Division, University of Indianapolis, in a quarterfinal match.

(Photo by August Jennewein)

Optometry awards line the hallway leading to Dr. Karen Rosen’s office. She was one of Vision Monday magazine’s 50 most influential women in optical, the 2006 St. Louis Optometrist of the Year and one of the St. Louis Business Journal’s most influential business women.

“Optometry has been my life,” Rosen (pictured) explains.

But before 1980, that wasn’t the case. Rosen had worked a few jobs, including teaching. It’s not that she hadn’t considered optometry as a career. After all, her husband was an optometrist, and she had the perfect background for the profession with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Indiana University Bloomington. Rosen simply had yet to choose the optometry path.

So with some encouragement from her peers, she applied to the budding optometry program at UMSL. Dr. Jerry Christiansen, the first dean of what was the School of Optometry at UMSL, recruited her over the telephone, and her answer was yes.

In fall 1980, Rosen started classes in Marillac Hall, a former convent turned optometry school. She says she remembers the long days in a single classroom where professors rotated teaching the first cohort of 32 students.

“We were a tight-knit class,” Rosen says.

And they had to be with a more intensive curriculum, 23 hours a semester, pre-clinics and limited rotation opportunities. All of this was complicated by the lack of optometry teaching materials and tools. She joked about what became a common phrase for her professors.

“We often heard, ‘If we had this tool, then you would do it like this,’” Rosen says. “Back then the school was feeling its way.”

Her fourth and final year wrapped up in spring 1984. By then, she was teaching pre-clinic to students in their third year of coursework, and she completed an optometry degree as a member of the College of Optometry’s first graduating class.

“The education I got from UMSL was terrific,” Rosen says. “Absolutely top-notch.”

She spent the first 25 years of her career working at LensCrafters as an independent contractor. She and her husband now run Rosen Optometry, their private practice in south St. Louis County.

Besides her work in the states, Rosen has gone on 19 international missions to developing countries, where she conducted examinations for people in need. She helped bring new and recycled eyeglasses to people in India, Ecuador, Mexico, Tunisia, Chile and Thailand.

“I like taking care of patients,” Rosen says. “You only get one set of eyes and you have to take care of them. I want to make sure that patients can see for as long as possible and hopefully the rest of their lives.”

This story was originally published in the spring 2013 issue of UMSL Magazine.