Distinguished Alumni

The following alumni are being recognized for significant career advancement, long-term leadership within their chosen profession, and noteworthy professional accomplishments.

Sharon A. Burns
CSR BS'81, PhD '88
President/Owner
Boiler Development
Columbus, Ohio

Sharon Burns has focused her career on helping people achieve financial success and freedom. As a self-employed CPA and financial advisor, she specialized in helping women obtain fair alimony settlements in divorces. She has provided negotiation, consultation, and expert testimony in over 500 cases in the past nine years.

In her current endeavor as president and owner of Boiler Development, she develops and owns the trademark, copyright, and distribution rights to eight software products that help individuals develop financial plans. The premiere product, Allocate™, is used in the largest county court and the three largest domestic relations firms in Ohio.

In addition, she is the executive director of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education, a role that includes oversight of an accreditation/certification program and an annual conference.

Burns began her career as an extension specialist, lecturer, and fee program coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She joined Eastern Illinois University as an instructor in the School of Home Economics. In 1988, she joined the faculty in family resource management at The Ohio State University and in 1994 opened her own CPA and financial advising firm.

She is involved with several community organizations, including Southeast, Inc., a mental health facility, and Franklin County Children's Services. She is a member of the Ohio Society of CPAs and serves as treasurer of the Purdue Club of Central Ohio and is a board member of the Women's Philanthropy Institute. She established the Sharon Burns Scholarship for students in the School of Consumer and Family Sciences and is co-chair of the Inspiring Families, Building Communities planned giving campaign steering committee.

Tami Heim
CSR BS '80
President
Borders Books
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Tami Heim, president of Borders Books and Music Stores and Borders.com, has been in love with the world of retail for as long as she can remember. As a child, her favorite toy was a cash register and corrugated cardboard grocery store and her favorite thing to do was "play store." She remembers being excited when her mother would order clothes from the Sears catalog. "As soon as the order arrived, I would set up store with all the new clothes and invite my friends over to shop," Heim says.

Upon graduating from Purdue, Heim accepted a position with Federated as the department manager of misses sportswear and at 24, she became the youngest individual to be promoted to divisional group manager. In 1985, Heim realized her dream of managing a large department store when Federated bought Blocks in downtown Indianapolis. During her time with Federated, Heim held several key positions including regional vice president for stores in Indiana and Kentucky, the position she held prior to joining Borders.

President of Borders Books and Music Stores and Borders.com since January 2000, Heim is responsible for more than 300 stores as well as the Borders.com e-commerce site. She joined Borders in 1996 as territorial vice president with responsibilities for store operations in the western half of the U.S. When she was promoted to senior vice president in 1999, she supervised sales and marketing, new product development, cafŽ operations, and store design.

Susan Thurston Kern
HE MS '72, PhD '74
Vice President, University Advancement
Illinois State University
Bloomington, Illinois

Serendipity has played a large role in her professional career development, says Susan Kern, vice president for university advancement at Illinois State University. "My career path has been opportunistic rather than deliberate," she says. "It has been filled with risk-taking and transitions to areas where learning was more important than experience; performance more important than planning and process; dreams more inspiring than strategic initiatives."

In her current position, which she has held since 1998, Kern manages and is responsible for more than 65 staff and a budget of more than $5.6 million. She oversees development activities, alumni services, media relations, university communications, university events management, and community relations.

According to Kern, her success comes with assistance from others. "I have always benefited from associations with individuals who saw in me more than I saw possible in myself. The confidence they displayed provided the springboard I needed to seize opportunities I would have otherwise dismissed."

Kern's career path at Illinois State is long. Prior to becoming vice president, she held such prestigious positions as assistant to the president and director of community and governmental relations, executive officer and director of governmental relations, assistant to the president, and assistant to the dean in the College of Applied Science and Technology. In addition, she has been an associate professor of home economics since 1978.

Esther McAfee Maddux
PhD '79
Retirement Planning Specialist
VALIC
Athens, Georgia

Esther Maddux began her career as an extension management specialist and assistant professor at the University of Georgia in 1980. She retired from her position as professor and planned giving officer in 2000 to begin a new career as a retirement planning specialist with VALIC.

During her tenure at the University of Georgia, she developed, implemented, and evaluated financial management programs to help youth and adults develop self-reliance. She has written three 4-H manuals that have been used in 19 states. In addition, Maddux wrote portions of the study manual for the Accredited Financial Counselor designation exam by the Association for Financial Planning and Counseling Education.

Among her accomplishments, Maddux has authored a six-lesson, home-study series for families with young children with incomes of $30,000 or less. In two years, 94 counties offered the course to 1,774 participants. She also developed a home-study course designed to motivate new investors to establish a savings and investment program. Adopted statewide by extension services at the University of Florida, Purdue University, and The Ohio State University, these home-study programs were selected by the National Extension Service for recognition in an annual competition in 2000.

A prolific author and lecturer, she also has served as a principal resource person in financial management for professionals and the public throughout Georgia.

Mary Ellen McMahon Zabik
F&N BS '59
Retired Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition
College of Human Ecology
Michigan State University
Williamston, Michigan

In September 2000, Mary Ellen Zabik completed 30 years as a Michigan State University faculty member in the food science and human nutrition department and retired as associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Human Ecology.

A leader in her field, Zabik is one of only 64 faculty members at Michigan State who have earned the prestigious title of university distinguished professor. In addition, she has received numerous other awards including the honor of Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists and Distinguished Faculty Member designation from the Michigan Association of Governing Board of State Universities.

Zabik's research provided a better understanding of the influence of food processing and preparation on contaminants that enter foods. Her research determined that cooking foods can dramatically reduce levels of PCBs, dioxins, pesticides, and animal drugs.

An authority on the reduction of halogenated hydrocarbons in fish and other food, additional research interests include the functionality of ingredients in food and food safety. Her research has been instrumental in the development of fish consumption advisories in the U.S. and Canada. These advisories target reducing consumption of contaminated fish by women in their childbearing years.

Outstanding Young Professional
The following alumna is being recognized for her outstanding career development, support for the profession, and involvement in professional organizations, school alumni association, or community activities.

Krista Kraemer
CDFS BS '95
Family Resource Center Coordinator
Indian Trail Elementary
Louisville, Kentucky

Prior to her current position, Krista Kraemer was a teacher at The Family Place: A Child Abuse Treatment Center and was an "on-call" child life specialist at Kosair Children's Hospital.

She contributes to a number of professional organizations at the local, state, and national levels. As program accreditation validator for the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, she conducts site visits to early childhood programs to determine if standards for national accreditation are met.

Kraemer is an active member of the local chapter of the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children as well as the national chapter of the organization. The NAEYC is the nation's largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade. For the state organization, she successfully co-wrote a grant to address minority issues.

Her dedication to service includes participation in the Child Life Council, Association for the Care of Children's Health, and Purdue's Louisville alumni chapter. "She has been exceptionally helpful to the department in recruiting students and helping inform professionals about Purdue resources and programs," said Douglas Powell, head of child development and family studies.

Community Service
The following alumna is being recognized for demonstrated leadership ability in the community, either by developing or making significant contributions to private or public programs that enhance the quality of life for families and communities.

Patricia Ayers Gallucci
HE BS '51
Retired Community Activist
Los Angeles, California

For more than 40 years, Patricia Ayers Gallucci has been a dedicated volunteer working in a variety of capacities at the state and local level. As a teen, Gallucci helped her parents with Republican fundraising events during elections. Throughout her adult life, she has served on a number of committees including the Women's National Republican Club of Chicago, the Board of the Illinois Federation of Republican Women, and the Republican State Central Committee.

In 1972, she was the chairman of correspondence for California's committee for the reelection of President Richard Nixon. Gallucci attended both Nixon inaugurations as well as those of former President Ronald Reagan.

In addition, Gallucci has been very active in community and charitable activities. She served on the department of consumer affairs advisory board of the state of California for nearly 10 years, serving two of those years as chair. She also served on the Los Angeles County Federation of Republican Women's Speaker's Bureau for 15 years and the Red Cross Board of Directors.

An avid gardener, she is a charter member of the Southern California Daffodil Society. In addition, she served on the board of directors of the American Daffodil Society for six years.

Friend of Purdue

Daniel F. Finn
Director of Human Resource Change Management
Marriott International
Washington, D.C.

Dan Finn, a 1972 Purdue graduate with a bachelor's degree in industrial management, is the director of human resource change management at Marriott International in Washington, D.C.

He was instrumental in bringing Marriott into the CFS Corporate Adoption Program. The mentoring program is designed to introduce students of color to top corporations in the country. As a program participant, Finn speaks on campus every semester and takes all of the students in the program to dinner.

"Dan's contribution is a leading example of the type of relationship that we want all of our corporate sponsors to have with the students they adopt," says Adrienne Coffey in her nomination letter of Finn. "He truly believes our students are the future and does everything he can to help in their personal and professional development."

Finn's exemplary leadership skills go beyond his professional career Ñ he has coached youth soccer for 16 years. In addition, he is a founding member of the non-profit Maryland Soccer Foundation which developed a $20 million soccer complex in Montgomery County. He also created a youth sports program at his church that has grown to include six sports and more than 400 children.