May 21, 2023 |
Congratulations to the recipients of 2023 scholarships and awards. The undergraduate and graduate students recognized within these pages have shown outstanding dedication and creativity in the pursuit of their personal and professional goals. We are very proud of your achievements. Click the link to read the PDF program.
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Oct. 22, 2022 | Anna Flanagan
Three graduates who received this year’s alumni awards from AHS have amassed impressive accomplishments for themselves while keeping a professional eye on others.
A college president who thinks the best part of leadership is facilitating the achievements of colleagues. An attorney who makes sure companies that provide communications and media services are making them accessible to people with disabilities. A young entrepreneur who makes it his business to help other entrepreneurs succeed.
The three University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates who received this year’s alumni awards from the College of Applied Health Sciences have amassed impressive accomplishments for themselves while keeping a professional eye on others.
AHS Distinguished Alumni Award
Dr. Trevor Bates is the president of Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio. While completing his master’s degree in kinesiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he served a pre-doctoral fellowship in athletic training (a program in the Department of Kinesiology at the time) and provided clinical athletic training to student-athletes in the wheelchair athletics program of the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES). Of his time in DRES, he said, “It was exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to learn about new and different kinds of injuries, and that’s exactly what happened. I learned that the impact of an injury on the life of a person who uses a wheelchair is a lot different.”
Bates completed his PhD in health sciences through A.T. Still University, with a concentration in leadership and organizational behavior. He is a licensed athletic trainer in Ohio and is nationally certified in athletic training.
Under his leadership, Wilmington College has developed and implemented a five-year strategic plan; introduced its first fully online graduate program; and launched two new graduate programs in organizational leadership and occupational therapy. What he enjoys most about leadership, he said, is seeing other people win. “It is a lot of fun to see my former students become program directors or leaders in organizations, or the people around me experience success as a result of work that we’ve done together,” he said.
Prior to joining Wilmington College, Bates served as vice president of academic affairs, dean of faculty, and professor of health sciences at Mercy College of Ohio, founding associate dean of the Division of Health Sciences and chair of athletic training at Heidelberg University, assistant professor of exercise science and sport at Millikin University (where he earned his bachelor’s degree), and athletic trainer at Decatur, IL, Memorial Hospital.
Committed to promoting and ensuring the advancement of opportunities for underrepresented people, Bates is a strong advocate for the proactive recruitment, retention, and development of high-quality students, staff, and faculty who contribute diverse perspectives and backgrounds that represent the global community. His commitment to underrepresented students is partly selfish, he explained, saying, “I was that student.” He grew up in a neighborhood in Chicago where going to college was not an expectation or common occurrence.
He said, “My mother and father both pushed the value of education and how it can give you broader opportunities. Once I was exposed and began to see the benefits, I understood that there were a lot of people like me whom I wanted to expose to what was possible.”
Bates was honored by the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association with the 2017 Linda Weber Daniel Outstanding Mentor Award and the 2018 Professional Service Award. He also received the 2020 Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association’s Dedicated Service Award in recognition of contributions to the athletic training profession at the state, regional, and national levels.
On receiving the AHS Distinguished Alumni Award, Bates said, “It is extremely humbling to be recognized by the College of Applied Health Sciences. When I received the notification, I was quickly reminded of my mother’s advice. She said, ‘Make a difference. Work hard when no one important is watching.’ Knowing there are countless alumni who have also done outstanding work in their fields, I feel truly blessed to be the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient.”
Harold Scharper Award
Michal Nowicki is an associate attorney with Marashlian & Donahue, located in the metropolitan Washington DC area. He completed his law degree in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Law in 2018. During law school, he served as staff writer and notes editor for the Illinois Business Law Journal. He wrote two notes for the journal, both of which were published.
He recalls his law school days fondly, saying, “I was very fortunate to be part of a law school class that bonded closely, especially during the first year when there is no flexibility in choosing schedules. We were in it for the long haul. It was a difficult year. We stuck together and I developed several lifelong friendships as a result.” He enjoyed working with the college’s renowned faculty, who helped him understand the broad array of options available to someone with a law degree.
“DRES really topped things off very well,” he continued. “They consistently provided reliable accommodations so that I could focus on academics and not have to fight for what I needed, as too many people I have known, unfortunately, have had to do in their academic endeavors.”
Nowicki focuses his practice on helping clients comply with a wide range of telecommunications laws. His primary area of expertise centers on laws requiring access for people with physical, sensory, and other disabilities to telephone relay services and other forms of telecommunications, video content and equipment, and other digital products and services. Of his work, he said, “My focus on representing clients in accessibility-related matters is not just to help them comply with accessibility laws, but also to understand and take full advantage of the commercial benefits of incorporating accessibility into every state of product and service design, thereby tapping into a market of millions of people who have not allowed their disabilities to hold them back.”
Nowicki is keenly interested in the 21st-Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and other accessibility laws. He helped the National Federation of the Blind convince the FCC to deny Amazon’s petition for a permanent exemption from CVAA accessibility requirements for e-book readers. He also worked closely with Comcast and DirecTV to ensure that both companies comply with FCC regulations requiring audio description for blind and low vision customers. Nowicki recently responded to the FCC’s request for public comments on how audio description rules have been implemented, hoping that the FCC will expand the requirements to cover video-on-demand programming and television broadcasts delivered over the Internet.
In 2020, he co-hosted a unique webinar highlighting the wide range of business opportunities arising from making digital products and services accessible to customers with disabilities, presenting alongside the Chief of the FCC Disability Rights Office and the top product designer at Poly, which makes various communication devices. He also provided a highly interactive, in-depth overview of audio description requirements under the CVAA, Americans with Disabilities Act, and Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act at the 2021 Jacobus tenBroek Disability Law Symposium; shared his experiences with online conferencing platforms at an American Bar Association-sponsored webinar on disability access to virtual courts; and delivered an informative presentation on the current state of U.S. video accessibility laws.
Nowicki is a proud leader in the National Federation of the Blind of Illinois (NFBI), with which he has been involved for over a decade. Since November 2020, he has served as the organization’s elected treasurer, preparing its annual budget, strategically allocating grants to attract future donations, and managing tax obligations, among other responsibilities. Mr. Nowicki also co-chairs two important NFBI committees focused on helping blind Illinoisans live productive and independent lives and shaping official NFBI policies on a wide range of blindness issues.
AHS Young Alumni Award
Manu Edakara majored in community health as an undergraduate because his parents wanted him to be a doctor, and he thought it would be the best avenue for preparing for that role. He did not become a doctor, however. Instead, he founded the award-winning iVenture Accelerator, one of the top educational entrepreneurship programs in the country. Still, he thinks his education in AHS prepared him well for his entrepreneurial role.
“I credit my discipline, positive outlook, and holistic approach to leadership and management to my deep understanding of health and wellness and how much it matters,” he said. “I am a healthy leader, and I take pride in that, and often inspire others to live healthier lives.”
As an undergraduate, Edakara worked as a personal trainer for Campus Recreation and became an emergency medical technician. He worked in a hospital cardiac rehabilitation center, helped to train the wheelchair basketball team and Paralympians in the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services, did research in the Exercise Psychology Lab, and worked with veterans with severe mental and physical disabilities at the Jefferson Center for Veterans Affairs.
As director of iVenture Accelerator, Edakara provides a startup ecosystem across the three University of Illinois campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield. Part of a statewide economic development initiative, iVenture Accelerator supports students’ innovative ideas for economic and educational transformation. Its portfolio companies have raised more than $100 million, created more than 600 full-time jobs around the world, and received prestigious international recognition. Edakara serves as the main strategic advisor for all teams on mission, vision, hiring, leadership, raising money, storytelling, operations, and marketing.
“I’m in the line of work I’m in because I believe that business that works is business that solves a problem,” he said. “Good business solves a problem, which helps people. I’m in the business of helping people.”
Edakara also is the co-instructor for the Topics in Entrepreneurship seminar offered by the Gies College of Business,. The seminar attracts students from all colleges, majors, and academic standings across the entire University of Illinois system and Illinois Innovation Network, and is consistently ranked in the top four percent of courses at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His young changemakers have been featured on Amazon Prime documentaries and received Thiel Fellowships from the Society of Women Engineers.
In 2020, Edakara was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. He is a certified personal trainer, emergency medical technician, and formerly competed in men’s bodybuilding. He has been training in kalaripayattu, believed to be the oldest surviving martial art in India, since he was a child.
“I’ve accomplished everything that I set out to do when I graduated college,” he said. “I’m very happy and fulfilled where I am. I’m very grateful for where I am and very humbled. I’m doing what I want and every day is really good.”
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July 25, 2024 | Sam Rink
Pivotal. That is how Julie Simmons, chief operating officer and co-founder of Paragon Marketing Group, described her experience earning a master’s degree in Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The experience not only influenced her successful career in sports marketing, but also led her to where she is now, continually offering her generosity to the community that fostered her professional growth.
“When you truly learn and you really take to heart the lessons from your college experiences, I think you naturally want to give back to and support the institution that shaped you,” Simmons said.
Simmons has spent much of her career giving back to her alma mater, opening Paragon’s doors to current students in the form of mentorship and scholarships. The company sponsors four scholarships—one within Illinois’ own RST program as well as at Northern Illinois University, Illinois State University and DePaul University.
For years, Paragon has also facilitated a number of internships with students in RST, as well as from other area universities.
“We strive for diversity in our recruitment, but supporting institutions within Illinois is particularly important to us,” Simmons said. “And because many of these applicants are local, it reduces the financial burden of internships and makes these opportunities more accessible.”
Internships at Paragon offer hands-on experience with sports marketing, priming students to work on a wide variety of client projects. According to Simmons, interns are exposed to different areas of the business including strategy, event logistics and planning, providing them with a broad understanding of the industry.
“For us, it’s about providing interns with a positive, real-world experience that equips them with the knowledge they need to pursue a career in sports marketing,” she said.
But Simmons didn’t want to stop at simply providing internships and scholarships. She is now part of the College of Applied Health Sciences’ Board of Visitors, an advisory board of volunteer alumni who aim to assist and advocate for the college’s goals. Simmons was nominated to the board in January of 2024 by Jean Driscoll, the assistant dean for advancement, who said “her [Simmons’] experience, leadership, and passion for service make her a wonderful addition to the board. Her accomplishments are too numerous to name, and the BOV will be a beneficiary of her talents and ideas.”
“I’m truly excited and honored that Jean nominated me for this position,” Simmons said. “For me, this is another way to give back to a place where I experienced tremendous growth.”
Simmons not only has her own professional expertise and experience on the corporate side of scholarships to offer the board, but also her unique experience as a woman owner in a male-dominated industry.
“When I started out, I was often the only woman in a room full of men, and that’s still often the case,” she said. “One of the most important things I learned was the value of finding advocates for myself and other women. Building that support network is crucial. When I worked at the University of Illinois in the athletic environment, I was the only woman on the promotions team for quite a while. Despite that, everyone was welcoming and open, showing me that you can coexist and support each other.”
Those experiences of positive mentorship are a large part of Simmons’ motivation to join the Board of Visitors, but she has yet another personal connection that draws her toward supporting an institution of learning. Simmons, being the first person in her family to go to college, has a particular appreciation for the privilege of higher education, especially for going on to receive her master’s degree from Illinois.
“If I didn’t have others helping me along the way, great mentors to guide me and people encouraging me to expand my horizons, I wouldn’t be where I am today. That’s what I want to do, as well. I want to provide others with the information they need, whether it’s about the sports industry, being a woman business owner or the importance of education. It’s all about paying it forward.”
Simmons reflected on the impact of a positive learning environment on her career and how it has influenced her and her peers to continue working with the university, recalling her time working with Michael Raycraft, a clinical associate professor in RST, and Stephen Staples, a member of the board.
“That’s why it was pivotal for me, and that’s why I feel very passionate about trying to give something back to something that really helped me.”
When it comes to her future on the board, Simmons expressed her excitement to join the Nominating and Governance Committee.
“I’m excited to be able to bring my background and experience,” she said. “I look forward to contributing substance and value to our initiatives. I’m excited to get some more meat on the bones.”
Oct. 18, 2019 | Anna Flanagan
A bilingual speech-language pathologist who has helped train and place bilingual clinicians throughout the United States and a woman who began her career at Illinois as a graduate student and ended it as the director of the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services were honored for their achievements during a ceremony on October 18.
In accepting the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Applied Health Sciences, John Consalvi said, “The best thing about receiving an honor like this is feeling that you are part of something special, something greater than yourself. What a tremendous gift.”
John completed his master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 1991. He became a bilingual clinician in the Chicago Public Schools system, an enormous system with thousands of students who were native Spanish speakers and only six bilingual speech-language pathologists. He founded Bilingual Therapies Inc. to train bilingual clinicians and place them in schools, growing the company into a nationwide staffing provider in 10 years. He recently launched SPEDXchange, an online resource that facilitates connections among those in the special education community, including special education teachers, speech- language pathologists, occupational therapists, school psychologists, school district administrators, and all staff that serve special education students and their families.
John received the 2018 Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Recent Clinical Achievement from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation. He is a Fellow of the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association, which awarded him Honors of the Association in 2017.
Dr. Patricia Barrett Malik received the 2019 Harold Scharper Award from the Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services. Pat completed a master’s degree (1982) and Ph.D. (1988) in what is now the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism, focusing on therapeutic recreation. Her graduate assistantship was with DRES, then under the direction of its founder Tim Nugent.
Pat held a tenured position at Illinois State University until 1998, when she resigned to help her husband Ron Malik grow a community rehabilitation business that changed the model for group homes. In 2005, she returned to the University of Illinois as director of the Beckwith residential program within DRES and assumed the leadership of DRES in 2014. Pat oversaw many efforts to advance accessibility and inclusivity at Illinois, including the development of a wireless remote control that makes campus elevators more user-friendly for students with severe physical disabilities and an innovation technology project with the Toyota Foundation that made it to the top 10 international entries.
Among the things she learned at Illinois, she told the audience at the event, was that making mistakes is part of living life. “The greatest mistake one can make in life is to be afraid of making mistakes,” she said.
March 08, 2019 | Anna Flanagan
Mannie Jackson has been lauded for his sharp business sense and entrepreneurial spirit. Of All his many achievements, however, Mr. Jackson says his most important is being a philanthropist.
Mannie Jackson has been lauded for his sharp business sense and entrepreneurial spirit. Of All his many achievements, however, Mr. Jackson says his most important is being a philanthropist.
Mannie Jackson was born and lived for three years in a boxcar in Illmo, Missouri. After moving to Edwardsville, Illinois, he became a stand-out player in basketball and earned a full scholarship to the University of Illinois. He and his best friend Govoner Vaughn were the first African American starters for the Fighting Illini and the first to earn varsity letters. Mr. Jackson also was the first African American team captain.
He went on to work and play for the Technical Tape Corporation, which had a team in the National Industrial League, before joining the Harlem Globetrotters. He followed his basketball career with a successful career in business, working first for General Motors and then for Honeywell, from which he retired as international senior vice president of marketing, administration, and logistics. At the time of his retirement, Mr. Jackson was serving on the Board of Directors of six Fortune 500 companies.
Mannie Jackson returned to the world of professional basketball after retiring as the first African American owner of a major sports franchise when he bought the nearly-bankrupt Harlem Globetrotters. He not only restored the team to international fame and fortune but also made it a leader in charitable giving.
Mr. Jackson endowed the Mannie L. Jackson Illinois Academic Enrichment and Leadership Program (I-LEAP) in the College of Applied Health Sciences, which provides academic and personal support services to first-generation and underrepresented college students. His gift to Lewis and Clark College helped to establish the Mannie Jackson Center for the Humanities.
In accepting the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award, Mr. Jackson said, “I like being called a philanthropist. When you decide to be a philanthropist and you help others and improve the world when you go, the legacy and the memory of what your family meant to the world and what you tried to accomplish lives forever.”
Mr. Jackson is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as an owner and as a player. He was named Laureate in the Order of Lincoln, the State of Illinois’ highest honor. He also received the NCAA’s highest honor, the Theodore Roosevelt Award, and the University of Illinois Alumni Achievement Award, the highest honor bestowed upon alumni by the University of Illinois Alumni Association.
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