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Duquesne alumni from all walks of life live the University’s mission in a variety of ways. This commitment is recognized through the Mind, Heart and Spirit Awards, presented annually by Duquesne University Alumni Association and Office of Alumni Relations.
The program emphasizes the five pillars of Duquesne’s mission—academic excellence, moral and spiritual values, ecumenism, service and world concerns. One recipient is selected to represent each of the pillars, and for 2009, an additional award is being presented to a distinguished alumna whose life and work exemplifies all five aspects.
The 2009 Mind, Heart and Spirit Award winners include:
Cynthia F. Muehlbauer, Ed.D.
Graduate Education 1990, 2000
Academic Excellence
An administrator with the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Muehlbauer is recognized for dramatically improving students’ academic performance in her schools. In four years as principal at a school in Hazelwood, test scores soared from passage rates between six and eight percent (the lowest in Pennsylvania at the time) to the 80 percent range, with many students reaching advanced levels in reading and mathematics. After that school was closed in a district reorganization, she achieved similar results in her new assignment at a school in Mount Oliver. She shares her passion for education in urban settings with Duquesne student teachers, actively serving as a guide and mentor to aspiring educators.
Jon R. Perry, Esq.
Law 1991
Moral and Spiritual Values
Perry, with his wife, Joni, founded the Pennies from Heaven Keeping Families Together Fund, a charity that helps to ease the financial burdens facing parents with children who require prolonged hospital stays. In eight years, Pennies from Heaven has raised nearly $1 million and assisted more than 6,000 families. Perry, a partner in the law firm of Rosen Louik and Perry, is a four-time honoree as a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer” and was listed in the 2008 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his work in medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability litigation.
Marie Martin, Ed.D.
Graduate Education 2007
Ecumenism
Martin taught modern languages for more than 20 years before becoming International Officer with the Western Education and Library Board, a district comprised of 300 schools in Northern Ireland, in 1995. She is currently an educational consultant to Classroom 2000, the body responsible for educational technology infrastructure throughout the country’s 1,200 schools. Her work in distance learning has transcended the historic divide between Catholics and Protestants in the war-torn nation, and has exposed Northern Irish students to cultures around the world, most notably through online exchanges between young victims of the 1998 Omagh bombing and the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Martin initiated a joint master’s degree in distance education that was offered by Duquesne and the University of Ulster in 2001-02.
Barbara M. Carlin, Esq.
Law 1982
Service
Carlin is the resident legal advisor to the United States Embassy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and previously served in the same position at the embassy in Macedonia. A former federal prosecutor, she trains judges and attorneys in writing and enforcing criminal laws and procedures, and is responsible for programs combating human trafficking. A recognized expert on establishing and improving legal systems in emerging democracies, Carlin has presented more than 1,000 workshops and seminars on topics including war crimes, cybercrime, tax evasion, crime scene investigation, plea bargaining and trial advocacy. She was also worked in Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, Cyprus, Croatia and Turkey.
Yvonne E. Keairns, Ph.D.
Graduate Arts 1980
World Concerns
Keairns has been associated with the Arsenal Family and Children’s Center in Pittsburgh since 1980 and currently serves as the center’s emeritus executive director. A scholar and psychologist, she devoted her career to advocacy for the healthy development of young people, and fostered supportive relationships between parents and their children. Her international work includes service as chief researcher for “The Voices of Girl Soldiers,” a two-year project conducted by the Quaker United Nations. Keairns’ research examined the experience of young girls conscripted as soldiers in such places as Angola, Colombia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, not only exposing this barbaric and little-known practice, but also helping victims to demobilize and reintegrate themselves into civilian society.
Kate Fletcher
Education 1967
All Five Pillars of the Mission
After her husband’s death in 2001, Fletcher literally followed the Biblical directive, “Sell everything, give to the poor, and follow me.” After volunteering for several years with orphans in Nairobi, Kenya, she sold her home and possessions to establish Hekima Place. Using her own resources and donations from friends and churches, Fletcher houses, feeds, clothes and educates orphaned girls, many of whom lost their parents to HIV and AIDS and would otherwise be destined for life on the streets. Fletcher’s work provides unimaginable opportunities in an impoverished nation where just 65 percent of girls attend elementary school and fewer than 30 percent of girls enroll in high school.
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