Class Notes—Summer 2015

From The Sites:

SHU—Battle Creek

1995
Tom Martin recently was credited in helping to save the life of an 11-year-old boy due to his autism safety training. Martin, the chief of the South Haven (Mich.) Police Department, received a call about an autistic boy who walked away from his home. Due to his training, he suggested that police check the shore line, since those with autism are drawn to water. Police found the boy on the end of a pier and safely returned him home to his parents. Martin is currently planning additional autism safety training for his entire force.

2003
Sara Morgan Clark is employed as a 911 dispatcher, group leader and CTO with the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Department of Public Safety. She resides in Portage, Mich.

SHU—Lansing

2005
Chad Tackett was named the chief of the Texas Township (Mich.) Fire Department in September 2014. He has 13 years of experience working for the Michigan State Police’s Emergency Management Homeland Security Training Center and was the former chief of the Otsego (Mich.) Fire Department.

2014
Nick Kogut recently accepted a position with the Ingham County Child Protective Services.

From the Heights—Summer 2015 Campus News

Issa Lecture Series Features Sustainability Expert

Sustainability advocate and Stanford University scholar Dr. Mark Jacobson was the featured speaker at the William Issa Endowed Lecture Series on April 15. Jacobson’s topic was “Wind, Water and Solar Power: Roadmaps to a New Energy Future.” According to Jacobson, global warming, air pollution and energy insecurity are three of the most significant problems facing the world today. He has a plan for converting the U.S. and 139 other countries to energy infrastructures powered 100 percent by wind, water and sunlight (WWS). He received the 2005 American Meteorological Society Henry Houghton Award and the 2013 American Geophysical Union Ascent Award for his work on black carbon climate impacts. A reception followed the presentation. The event was organized and presented by SHU’s Sustainable College Committee.

Ross Presents Brain Research at Conference

SHU Assistant Professor of Education Julie Ross presented at the National Consortium for Health Science Education Conference Oct. 15-17, 2014, in Denver, Colo. She presented on brain research and served as one of the keynote speakers. Originally a classroom teacher of the hearing impaired, Ross became a teacher consultant for a variety of students with special needs after getting her master’s degree in learning disabilities. During her more than 30 years in K-12 education, she also served as a literacy consultant, a classroom systems specialist, and an instructional coach. She became interested in the educational applications and implications of brain research nearly 20 years ago. She has made hundreds of presentations to students, staff and parents, which led to her being dubbed “The Brain Lady.”

Leading from the Front

Chad Grant ’99 Named President and CEO of McLaren Oakland

Chad Grant believes work ethic and the drive for excellence can overcome many obstacles. Including age. He’s living proof.

The 40-year-old Grant has risen quickly up the corporate ladder since starting his career in health care with the Detroit Medical Center in 1995. He became one of the youngest executives in DMC history when he was named chief operating officer (COO) of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in 2012.

In December 2014, Grant was appointed to his current position as President and CEO of McLaren Oakland, a subsidiary of the 10-hospital McLaren Health Care system.

“Even at an early age, I was always the youngest, so I had to work harder to really maintain within my peer group,” Grant said. “Even with the 10 CEOs of McLaren, I am by far the youngest. I need to work hard and learn. I think that work ethic has helped.”

The 1999 graduate of Siena Heights University’s Southfield campus said his education also set the stage for his success.

“Education is the foundation of the knowledge that I use, especially at Siena Heights,” said Grant, who received a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in nuclear medicine. “I focused on as many finance classes as I could. For me, that’s what really separates me from everyone else in my career. I took advantage of the instruction and (expertise) of the instructors at Siena Heights. … They helped me connect the dots. I use a lot of the skills even to this day.”