2009 CFS Alumni Award Recipients
Outstanding Young Professional
This award recognizes CFS alumni age 35 or younger who have demonstrated outstanding career development, support of the profession, and involvement in professional organizations, CFS alumni activities, and/or the community.
Community Service
This award recognizes alumni for demonstrated leadership ability in their communities, either by developing or making significant contributions to private or public programs that enhance the quality of life for families and communities.
Friend of Purdue
This award honors those who have made significant contributions to the enhancement of CFS through personal or professional influence, service, or financial support.
Tim McEnery
HTM, BS '99
CEO and Founder
Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants
Roselle, Illinois
Tim McEnery opened his first Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant in Orland Park, Illinois, at the age of 29. As the founder and CEO of Cooper’s Hawk, he now has three additional wineries and restaurants located in Burr Ridge, Wheeling, and South Barrington, Illinois.
Each one combines an upscale casual restaurant, full-service bar, winery, wine tasting room, and retail gift store. When the first location opened in March 2005, it was one of only three establishments of its kind in the country.
Prior to opening his first winery and restaurant, McEnery consulted with professors to review and analyze his unique upscale dining concept. He says Purdue was instrumental to his success.
"Purdue provided me with the tools, relationships, degree, and confidence to be successful both personally and professionally."
Within its first year of operation, Cooper’s Hawk entered four wines into the International Taster’s Guild Competition — winning gold, silver, and bronze medals. To compliment his handcrafted wines, McEnery developed a signature menu for his restaurants with a variety of dishes that pair perfectly with the winery’s creations.
"Although we’ve built a great 4-unit restaurant and winery company, I feel like we’re just getting warmed up," he says. "I’m thrilled about the future of the company and am having the time of my life!"
Throughout the year, Cooper’s Hawk participates in many local fundraisers and charity events such as the Annual Chef Auction for Breast Cancer Awareness and the Taste of Orland Park Days. In January 2009, Cooper’s Hawk had the honor of pouring the First Lady’s toast at the Illinois State Society’s Inaugural Gala in Washington, DC.
Danny Sizemore
HTM, BS '00
Partner, RHI Solutions
Renton, Washington
Co-founder, Skillet Street Food
Seattle, Washington
Working out of a gutted 1962 Airstream trailer, Danny Sizemore serves up bistro-style food on the streets of Seattle, Washington. Described as "the best $10 meal you’ve ever had" by Seattle Weekly, the menu is edgy, eclectic, and seasonal.
Sizemore is a chef and co-founder of Skillet Street Food. After outfitting the classic silver trailer with a full commercial kitchen, they began their bistro-on-wheels business in August 2007. Traveling from neighborhood to neighborhood, they dish out breakfast and lunch to an increasingly devoted following. Skillet’s restaurant concept and cuisine, which helped start the latest trend in street food, has been featured in numerous publications including USA Today, Time, Food & Wine, and Sunset magazine.
"Running Skillet is like opening a restaurant for the first time every day," says Sizemore, who enjoyed cooking at the HTM CafÈ and at the President’s Residence under Chef Behnke’s direction while attending Purdue.
In addition to running Skillet, Sizemore is a skilled territory sales representative with eight years experience in the sales and service of commercial foodservice equipment. He currently works for RHI Solutions as an independent manufacturer representative for more than 20 companies.
When he isn’t devoting himself to RHI and his roving restaurant business, Sizemore contributes to FareStart, a culinary job training and placement program for homeless and disadvantaged individuals.
Sizemore sees education as a great foundation for life-long learning. "Establishing relationships with students and staff at Purdue prepared me to begin and build relationships with others in the business world."
Erin Taylor Slater
CDFS, BS '02
CEO
College Mentors for Kids Inc.
Indianapolis, Indiana
As a freshman majoring in youth, adult, and family services, Erin Taylor Slater founded the Purdue chapter of College Mentors for Kids in 1998. The organization pairs youth with local college student mentors for weekly activities that expose youth to the opportunities of higher education.
"Through my mentoring experiences at Purdue, I was able to see firsthand what providing children with positive opportunities can do to their self-esteem and their desire to learn," she says.
After serving as the student organization’s president for four years, she continued with College Mentors for Kids after graduation as program director. She oversaw 13 college chapters and initiated seven new chapters. After being promoted to vice president of development in 2004, she secured funding for the $1.2 million budget and brought in the organization’s first gift of $50,000.
Named CEO in 2007, Slater now oversees nearly 1,000 college student volunteers and 1,000 at-risk children at 20 colleges and universities across the state and one in Illinois. In just two years as CEO, Slater has increased staff capacity, secured the organization’s first $100,000 gift from an individual donor, and increased service by 17 percent from 2007–08.
In 2008, Indianapolis Business Journal recognized her in their "40 Under 40" class, and she received the Torchbearer Award in Youth Mentoring from the Indiana Commission for Women. In 2007, she received Indianapolis’ Best and Brightest Award in the Education and Non-Profit category.
Slater says who she is today and what she has achieved is founded in student leadership.
"Purdue was a truly transformational experience," she says. "I would never have dreamed that I would one day be the CEO of the nonprofit organization that I became involved with as a student at Purdue."
Debbie Myers Cook
FN, BS '67
Independent Financial Consultant
Financial Network Investment Corp.
Carmel, Indiana
Debbie Myers Cook uses her financial planning skills to enhance the lives of others. As a certified financial planner, she believes that each client’s peace of mind and financial security must be her ultimate goal.
After graduation, Cook used her foods and nutrition degree at the National Dairy Council and in product development at Fantasy Flavors and Universal Flavors. As a single parent with three daughters to educate, Cook decided to pursue a second career as a financial planner in 1984 — a time when few women held positions in banking and finance.
Cook recalls interviewing at Dean Witter. "After reviewing my resume, the senior vice president had a few reservations about hiring me. He asked, ‘What makes you think you can do this?’ I told him, ‘I believe in myself, and I know I can talk to women about money.’ "
While working as a stockbroker at Dean Witter and then as a bank investment officer, she completed a two-year program to earn the certified financial planner designation in 1989. Today, she is an independent financial planner, helping her clients with their financial goals focusing on retirement and estate planning.
"My CFS degree gave me a start in the food industry and accommodated my change into the financial world."
A leader and volunteer, Cook’s involvement includes the Indiana 4-H Foundation Board, Mortar Board of Central Indiana, and she is the past president of the Financial Planning Association. She is a member of Purdue’s Center for Families Advisory Council and served on the College of Consumer and Family Sciences Alumni Board from 2002–08.
Gerald Paul
HDR '98
Co-founder and CEO Emeritus
Paul Harris Stores
Indianapolis, Indiana
At the age of 30, entrepreneur and German immigrant Gerald Paul co-founded Paul Harris Stores with partner Earl Harris in 1954. What followed was the beginning of a retail legend.
"The story of Gerald Paul’s founding and growing a major national retailer is the story of America," says Richard Feinberg, a professor in the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing. "He came to the United States for freedom and found that with freedom came economic opportunity for him and others."
With his oversight and hands-on approach to merchandising and management, Paul Harris Stores continuously evolved and expanded to become one of the leading specialty retailers of women’s apparel and accessories. Paul believed women in the Midwest needed access to apparel that made them look and feel better without having to travel to New York or Chicago. At its peak in 1990, there were 378 stores in 37 states. Although Paul Harris Stores are no longer in the malls, the impact of Paul Harris lives on in the national chains that adopted Paul’s retail strategy.
Paul retired as CEO of Paul Harris Stores in 1995 but continues to share his retail experience and knowledge with students as an adjunct professor in the Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing. He and his wife, Dorit, also have established an undergraduate scholarship for a retail management student.
For his many contributions to the nation, Indiana, and Purdue, the University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1998. His book, My Business Life Cycle: How Innovation, Evolution, and Determination Made Paul Harris Great, was published by Purdue University Press in 2007. Recently, Paul was inducted to the Central Indiana Junior Achievement Hall of Fame for his business leadership and contributions to the cultural life of Indianapolis.