Spring 2024

Bradley’s Rankings Bradley University has made its mark on the prestigious U.S. News and World Report 2024 Best Colleges List. The university has secured multiple rankings in various categories on the annual list, released last fall.  Bradley’s commitment to academic excellence, innovative programs and a supportive community has resulted in noteworthy placements on the 2024 Best Colleges list, in the Princeton Review and Money Magazine. Readers Respond

My BU Experience with Dawn Garcia Dawn (van Hoorebeke) Garcia ’82 has been a geologist for more than 35 years, and she fondly recalls her time spent in the labs in the basement of Bradley Hall. My connection to Bradley was rooted in the very active geology department when I was a student. There were 40 of us in the major when I started in 1978, which was a boom time for geologists due to… Read Full Post

5 Questions with paige dean Grad student and communications instructor, Paige Dean, has been studying the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and is an advocate for CSA prevention. Last December, she unveiled four large-format advocacy posters that were on display at the Heuser Art Center Gallery. 1. How does your work tie into studying the long-term effects of CSA? When I started discussing the potential of grad school with my colleagues in the… Read Full Post

Founder’s Day recognizes and celebrates university staff, faculty, alumni and others who have carried on the traditions of Lydia Moss Bradley. These awards honor their excellence and success for various achievements both on and off campus. 2023 Centurion Society Inductees Tami L. Lane ’96 is a special effects and make-up professional who has brought characters to life in more than 25 films and television shows. She has won several industry awards, including an Academy Award… Read Full Post

Alumni Authors ONE-ROOM SCHOOLS OF WOODFORD COUNTY, ILLINOIS Karen Ludwig Fyke ’60 For 150 years the children in rural Woodford County were educated in one-room country schools. This book documents a collection of memories from past students and includes historical information about the schools. Dying for a Decoration Cindy Sample ’72 When a six-foot-tall elf arrives at Laurel McKay Hunter’s detective agency, it can only mean trouble. Then her eccentric grandmother refers her to an… Read Full Post

passages 1930s Frances Rector, ’39, Dec. 13, 2022, Allen, Tex. 1940s Kenneth Borland, ’47, Sept. 19, 2023, Peoria James B. Cation, ’48, Nov. 22, 2023, Milan, Ill. Joan Gray Reider, ’48, July 27, 2023, Peoria Shirley Bacon Schwab, ’48, June 14, 2023, Peoria 1950s Quentin Thompson, ’48, Nov. 7, 2023, East Peoria, Ill. Warren Zeigle, ’48, April 8, 2023, Prescott, Ariz. Mildred Janssen, ’49, Nov. 8, 2023, Roseville, Minn. Gordon W. Nugent, ’49, Aug. 19,… Read Full Post

Around the World and Back Again A love of learning and travel inspires generous endowment from two former Bradley professors By Emily Potts Mike and Peggy Lane met at Bradley University in 1991, when both were faculty members. Mike taught accounting and Peggy taught business computer classes. “We were part of a big group of faculty that socialized together, including weekly dinners,” Peggy explained. “One week, we were the only two that showed up, and… Read Full Post

Class Notes 1950s and 1960s Chuck Cunningham ’62, with the trumpet and Dick Schermer ’56, still blowing after all these years! Attorney Igor Ellyn ’68 received the 2023 Law Society Medal for excellence in the legal profession in Ontario, Canada. Jeff Bogart, ’69, a retired attorney, will be lecturing about trial practice at his law school alum, University of Toledo College Of Law. Jan Nothdurft Freeland ’68 (Tuna), Jim Freeland ’68 (Ross), Bob Alusic ’68… Read Full Post

Characters You’ll Love and Hate Bestselling author of the novels The Boat Runner and Tiny Americans, Bradley English professor Devin Murphy, released his third book, Unbend the River in January. The collection of short stories are geographically linked along a forested stretch of land between Lake Erie and the upper Allegheny River in Western New York where Murphy grew up. “I wanted to write an honest love letter to the place by looking at it… Read Full Post

Huberman Retires “My great fortune in being at Bradley is that I had the opportunity to work with the most extraordinary group of people who embodied those qualities of imagination, creativity and communication.” After an incredible 38-year journey at Bradley University, Dr. Jeffery Huberman, the much-loved Dean of the Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts, bid farewell at the close of the 2023 fall semester. “Dr. Huberman not only gave me career guidance, he… Read Full Post