Milne School Hall of Fame

The following Milne alumni and supporters
have been included in the Milne School Hall of Fame.

April 2008

Our first Hall of Fame honoree (recommended by Jack Freele, '71) is Tara VanDerveer, a member of the Milne Class of '71.  According to Jack, "Tara . . . has been the Head Coach of the Women's Basketball program for the Stanford Cardinal since 1985. Setting aside her many substantial accomplishments, including Olympic Gold in 1996 in Atlanta, her current Stanford team is in the NCAA Women's Final Four. According to the April 8th Albany Times Union, Tara was the Milne boys' basketball team mascot in seventh grade . . . but preferred to watch the game.

Tara is described as one of basketball’s most accomplished coaches at www.womenssportsfoundation.com and one of the United States’ finest coaching talents at washingtonpost.com. In addition, http://gostanford.com states that she is regarded in the profession as one of the most well-respected and dynamic coaches in the country. (Note: Each of these links contains further information about Tara's professional background.) Tara has been inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, Indiana University Hall of Fame, the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame, and the Greater Buffalo Hall of Fame.

Congratulations, Tara, for earning such high recognition.

Coincidentally, on April 8th I received an email from Doug Sherman, WRGB Sports Director, asking for information about Milne to include in an 11 o'clock sports segment about Tara that related to the national championship game (which, unfortunately, Stanford lost to Tennessee). Since I was in Albany at that time (awaiting the birth of our grandson), I was able to view the sports report. It was wonderful to hear Milne mentioned on TV!

June 2008


Credit: Ryan K. Morris
National Science and Technology Medals Foundation

 Mary Welch, Class of 1971, has nominated Dr. Robert S. Langer, Class of 1966, as our newest Hall of Fame member. Bob is a chemical engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an international leader in cancer-treatment research. He was recently interviewed on the CBS Evening News regarding his accomplishments, and there will be a three-network (ABC, CBS, and NBC) special hour-long program on September 5th focusing on raising money for this important area of medicine.

The links included in the information below include a great deal of information regarding Bob's achievements. (Please note that I have no idea how long these links will remain on the Web.)

President George W. Bush awarded the 2006 National Medal of Science to Bob for his revolutionary discoveries in the areas of polymeric controlled release systems and tissue engineering and synthesis of new materials that have led to new medical treatments that have profoundly affected the well being of mankind, according to the National Science Foundation website.

Bob has received over 130 major awards, including the Charles Stark Draper Prize from the National Academy of Engineering in 2002. This award is considered to be the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for engineers and the world's most prestigious engineering prize ( http://nano.cancer.gov/programs/mit/investigators.asp?invesId= 0).

According to http://web.mit.edu/langerlab/langer.html, Dr. Langer has written over 950 articles. He also has more than 600 issued or pending patents worldwide, one of which was cited as the outstanding patent in Massachusetts in 1988 and one of 20 outstanding patents in the United States. See the above link for further information regarding Bob's outstanding accomplishments.

Bob Langer is described on the Forbes.com website as an architect in plastic whose remarkable work may one day let you grow a new heart or replace a bone and on the Millennium Technology Prize website as one of history's most prolific inventors in medicine.

Time Magazine and CNN (2001) named Langer as one of the 100 most important people in America and one of the 18 top people in science or medicine in America. Parade Magazine (2004) selected Langer as one of six Heroes whose research may save your life.

A hearty "Thank you!" to Bob for his important contributions to medical research and technology and congratulations to him for his impressive honors!

January 2009

 Coach Bob Lewis nominated Dr. Theodore H. Fossieck to the Milne School Hall of Fame. Judy Jenkins Young, '56, suggested that I look for Dr. Fossieck's obituary to find biographical information. As a result, I am able to provide the following comprehensive background information regarding Dr. Fossieck's very full life.

Dr. Fossieck was born in Granite City, IL, where he attended the Community High School. He received a bachelor of philosophy degree from Shurtleff College in Alton, IL, in 1936. He was granted a master of arts degree in education from Washington University, St. Louis, MO, in 1941; a second master of arts degree in 1947; and a doctorate in education in 1949 from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Dr. Fossieck joined the faculty of the New York State College for Teachers at Albany in 1947 as Director of Guidance for the campus school and Assistant Professor of Education in guidance. The following year he became Principal of the Milne School and remained in that position until retiring as Professor of Education (Emeritus) from the State University of New York at Albany in 1972.

Professional activities included membership in the New York State Association of Secondary School Principals, for which he was Chairman of District #16 and also Chairman of the Association's College-High School Relations Committee in the 1950s. A member of the National Association of Laboratory School Principals for 20 years, he served on its Board of Directors and as Chairman of its Constitution Committee. He was a member of the National Society for the Study of Education, the National Education Association, and the New York State Teachers Association. Since its inception in 1949, he was a member of the Jenkins Memorial Scholarship Committee of the New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers.

After his retirement, Dr. Fossieck continued an active association with the University. He served as Coordinator of the School of Education Retirees at [what is now called] the University at Albany. In 1994 the Alumni Association named him its Citizen of the University, and prior to that he became a member of the University's Heritage Circle and President's Club. In 1994, the University further honored him by naming the former library of the Milne School as the Theodore H. Fossieck Milne Alumni Room.Dr. Fossieck established an annual scholarship to the University at Albany for a student who is a descendent of a Milne School graduate or faculty member.

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in Military Intelligence in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1938, he retired as a full Colonel in 1968 and remained active in the Reserve Officers Association and the Retired Officers Association. His active duty in W.W. II included service as Post Public Relations and Intelligence Officer at Fort Custer, MI, from 1941 to 1943 and as Assistant A.C. of S., G-2 and Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment Commander for the XV Corps in the United States and Europe from 1943 to 1945, during which time he received the Bronze Star and four battle stars. Returning to the Reserves in 1945 as a Lt. Colonel, Dr. Fossieck was active in the Reserves in Albany until 1968, when he received the Army Commendation Medal on his transfer to the Inactive Reserve. His assignments included staff positions with the U.S.A.R. School in Schenectady and the 1189th Logistical Command in Albany, which he commanded at the time of his retirement, as well as staff and faculty positions in the 1st United States Army Area Intelligence School. His military education included the Counter Intelligence Corps Schools in Chicago, IL, and Fort Holabird, MD; 1st Military Government School at Fort Gordon, GA; and the command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS.

Dr. Fossieck's interest in Colonial America led him to the New York State Archives, where he had been indexing its Revolutionary War Manuscripts collection. In addition to being a member of several local historical associations, he served on the Boards of the Friends of Schuyler Mansion and the Albany County Historical Association; was a member of the Albany Institute of History and Art, the New York State Historical Association, and the National Society for Historic Preservation; was a founding member of the Mohawk-Hudson Community Foundation; and was associated with the Capital City Rescue Mission, the Torch Club of Albany, and the Second Milers Club of Delmar. Dr. Fossieck established the Janice Dorr Fossieck and Theodore H. Fossieck endowment to provide annual lecture and library materials in the field of American Colonial History.

A member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Dr. Fossieck served two terms on its Vestry.

Dr. Fossieck was the husband of the late Janice Dorr Fossieck, who died in 1985.

June 2010

 Our newest Hall of Fame member is John Fulenwider, Milne Class of 1946. The following is just a summary of John's many accomplishments.

John Fulenwider was a pioneer in the development and application of fiber optics to CATV, telephones, FM, and data communications. His original ground-breaking paper presented in 1972 gave directions for the growth of fiber-optic technology from its infancy in that era. His publications combined the large system applications of CATV, telephony, and data with foresight as to how fiber optics, then in the laboratory, could be applied to these beneficial uses. Later publications pointed the way, from a techno-economic point of view, for applying optic fibers in interoffice telephone trunks. He wrote on using optic fiber for linking CATV, FM, telephone, and data service from the serving center to the home.

John invented a hand-held tool for use by installers for making fiber-optics cable splices. Tools of this design were used in GTE's pioneering interoffice optic-fiber installation in Long Beach, CA, in 1976.

He has patented inventions in the areas of optical transducers, acoustic transducers, and optical switching, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

3,777,292 Linear motor relay
3,871,743 Optical Crosspoint Switching Matrix for an Optical Communications System
3,947,708 Apparatus for, and Method of Converting From a digital signal into an acoustic wave using piezoelectric transducers 
3,958,237 Acoustic to Pulse code Transducer
4,016,556 Optically Encoded Acoustic to Digital Transducer
4,071,753 Transducer for Converting Acoustic Energy Directly Into Optical Energy
4,016,556 Optically Encoded Acoustic to Digital Transducer
4,071,753 Transducer for Converting Acoustic Energy Directly Into Optical Energy

John worked for the firm of Arthur D. Little, Inc., as Senior Consultant from 1978 until he retired in 1990. He was the primary investigator in a series of client cases spanning the gamut from large systems design to component manufacturing. U.S. domestic clients needed answers to "How do these various new technologies impact my business, and how can we get into them?" Client locations were in the USA, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Colombia, Uruguay, Italy, and Germany. John stated that he found that his most memorable work was performed in Egypt.

As Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at Northeastern University, Dedham, MA, for several years, John taught the course Fiber Optics Communications Systems. In addition, he taught Fiber Optics Communications Systems Design at University of Boulder, CO, in the 1975 and 1976 Optical Communications Seminars

John received Laser Focus World's "Commendation For Excellence in Technical Communications" in December 1990. He was cited in the book City of Light, The Story of Fiber Optics, by Jeff Hecht, Oxford University Press 1999, pages 181, 218-219, and 229. And he was elected to Eta Kappa Nu, Electrical Engineering Honor Society, in 1960, and to Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Society, in 1960.

As you can see, John's contributions have aimed at filling a need where fiber-optic technology could be used.

John's current interests are in promoting the use of renewable energy technologies, such as wind turbines and solar arrays. As a consultant to the firm of DanWin Associates of Big Rapids, MI, he developed the plan design for the 30-wind turbine farm near Elkton, MI, which was completed in the fall of 2007 and went on-line in January 2008, delivering up to 60 megawatts of peak wind power. For about one year, until the economy forced a cutback, he worked part-time as an engineering consultant at a startup that aids clients in obtaining Federal Grants in the greenhouse gas emission-reduction arena.

For three years ending last fall (2009), John volunteered at the Holland Boys and Girls Club, tutoring students in math and science. John is now consulting pro bono with a company that is attempting to remediate PCB contaminated soils using various naturally occurring microbes and fungi.

We Milne alumni are certainly proud of John's accomplishments.