YEAR IN REVIEW
YEAR IN REVIEW
NEW ACADEMIC CENTER,
TWO SCHOOLS NAMED
Announced as “Breaking News” in the fall issue of
Ventures, the new, state-of-the-art, 200-000-square-foot
building that opened at the start of the fall semester
officially has been named the Kevin J. Manning Academic
Center. During the Aug. 30 opening of the Center, it also
was announced that the University had received naming
gifts for two of its Schools.
The naming of the Center honors Stevenson’s
president, who will be retiring in June 2017 after 17
years of leading the institution.
“Kevin Manning is the visionary who took us from
Villa Julie College to Stevenson University,” says James
Stradtner, Esq., CFA, Chair of Stevenson’s Board of
Trustees and Senior Advisor for Century Equity Partners.
“It is only fitting that we name this signature building
in recognition of all that he has accomplished.”
The first naming gift, from Malcolm and Sandy
Berman, created the Sandra R. Berman School of
Nursing and Health Professions, named in honor of
her dedication to philanthropic work toward improving
healthcare and education.
Married for nearly 60 years, the Bermans have
shown their commitment for supporting a wide range
of institutions and causes. Sandy Berman began her
tenure on Stevenson’s Board of Trustees in 2013. She
has worked to help ensure that the greater Baltimore
community has a qualified pool of capable and welltrained nurses and healthcare professionals. One of
these efforts was the establishment of an endowed
fund at Stevenson to provide scholarships to nursing
students.
“The nurses I’ve met at area hospitals I’m associated
with who graduated from Stevenson are extremely
compassionate and knowledgeable,” Sandy Berman
says. “I can tell that they’re getting a great education.
I took a few classes when the University was known
as Villa Julie College, and to see how it has expanded
through the years is remarkable.”
Malcolm Berman made the donation because of
his wife’s involvement on the Board of Trustees and
the University in general. “She loves her activities on
the Board, and she’s actively involved with Stevenson
because healthcare and education are important issues
to her. I’m just so very proud of all that she does.”
The second gift, from the Beverly K. and Jerome M.
Fine Foundation, under the direction of its trustees
Louis and Phyllis Friedman, created the Beverly K. Fine
School of the Sciences, also housed in the new Academic
Center.
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VENTURES/WINTER 2016-2017
STEVENSON’S NEW OLYMPIC CONNECTION
As trustees of the Beverly K. and Jerome M. Fine Foundation, the
Friedmans decided that the opportunity to name the School of the Sciences
in memory of Jerome Fine’s wife, Beverly, was the right decision for the
philanthropic interests of both the Fines and the foundation.
“Opportunities like this rarely present themselves, and Phyllis and I were
both delighted to be able to reflect the wishes of the Fines in naming the
School of the Sciences for Beverly,” says Louis Friedman, Mr. Fine’s attorney
for many years. The Fines lost their daughter, Diane, at an early age; she
was an English professor and adjunct professor at Villa Julie College, which
created the connection to Stevenson, says Phyllis Friedman.
“This was an incredible opportunity to memorialize Beverly by naming a
school targeted to young people who will obtain the knowledge and skills
necessary to prepare them for jobs in our new workforce,” she adds. “This
gift expresses in a most positive way Beverly’s concerns for society that the
foundation and its mission reflect.”
The Friedmans, as Trustees of the Emmert Hobbs Foundation, have also
committed funds for the naming of the Emmert Hobbs Foundation SoLVE
Center at Stevenson. The SoLVE Center (Solutions for Learning in a Vibrant
Environment) offers an innovative cooperative learning support program
for students studying the sciences and nursing at Stevenson.
At the opening ceremony, Manning said, “This day has been a dual
honor for me as president. The naming of the Academic Center is certainly
humbling, but the generosity of the Bermans and the Fine Foundation also
gives confirmation to the goals that we collectively set forth more than a
decade ago: to complete our transformation into a university. We could not
have reached this point without the dedication of many employees as well
as friends and supporters of Stevenson.”
The University’s new Head Coach of Men’s Volleyball, Aldis Berzins,
brings with him the shine of Olympic gold, having medaled with the
1984 United States men's volleyball team.
"With the success that our men's volleyball program has
enjoyed recently, it was important to us to select a coach that
would keep the positive momentum going," says Director of
Athletics Brett Adams. The Stevenson men's volleyball program
reached the semifinals of the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's
Volleyball Championship this past spring after capturing the
program's first Continental Volleyball Conference (CVC) title.
The Mustangs finished 26-8 overall.
Berzins competed for the United States as a member of the
men's volleyball team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los
Angeles. The United States defeated Brazil to earn gold, marking
the first time the U.S. had won gold in the sport. He was the MVP
Did You Know?
Aldis Berzins isn’t Stevenson’s only coach to seen have the Olympic
spotlight—he shares that honor with Laurel Martin, Head Coach of Field
Hockey.
The 1996 Olympian and member of the United States Field Hockey
Association Hall of Fame, Martin began her sixth season as the head
field hockey coach at Stevenson in 2016. During Martin's tenure, the
Mustangs have steadily improved to become one of the top teams
in the region. In 2015 Stevenson reached the MAC Commonwealth
championship game for the first time in program history and also
advanced to the ECAC Mid-Atlantic championship game for the second
straight season.
A 1991 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Martin was a
three-time All-American and played on the 1989 national championship
team. In 1990, she was named team captain before competing in the
World University Games (Sheffield, England), the Pan-American Games
(Havana, Cuba), and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (Auckland, New
Zealand) in 1991.
In 1994, Martin played for the U.S. National Team in the World Cup
held in Dublin, Ireland. She returned to the Pan-American Games, this
time in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1995. In 1996, she became a United
States Olympian in the Atlanta games.
of the men's national team in 1983. An All-American collegiately
at Ohio State, Berzins was also an assistant coach on the 1996
United States women's volleyball Olympic team. From July 2001
until December 2015, he served as Senior Director of Sports
Development and Coaching Education for Special Olympics
International based in Washington, D.C.
“In Aldis Berzins, we have someone who has played, won, and
coached at the highest level, and his experience and connections
in the volleyball community will make him an asset to Stevenson
University and our men's volleyball program,” Adams added.
Berzins is excited about this new chapter in his life. “I look
forward to building on the success that the program has already
had, and to share my lifelong experiences in playing and coaching
volleyball to continue to grow the program."
Of Stevenson’s 27 Division III athletic teams, 17 are
Olympic sports, 16 of them for the summer gam es
and two for the winter games. Here’s the breakdown:
Summer
Basketball (men’s and women’s)
Beach volleyball
Field hockey
Football (our soccer teams, men’s and women’s)
Golf (men’s and women’s)
Swimming (men’s and women’s)
Tennis (men’s and women’s)
Track and field (men’s and women’s outdoor)
Volleyball (men’s and women’s)
Winter
Ice hockey (men’s and women’s)
STEVENSON.EDU
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