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In the following pages, Southern Alumni Magazine proudly shares seven of these stories as we highlight the achievements of the recipients of the 2007 Distinguished and Outstanding Alumni Awards. All were recognized at an awards ceremony held on Oct. 26 in the Michael J. Adanti Student Center. The Distinguished Alumna Award, the highest honor given by the Alumni Association to a Southern graduate, was presented to Col. Adele E. Hodges, ’77, who was the first woman to lead the U.S. Marine Corps base Camp Lejeune. In addition, six alumni — one graduate from each of the university’s six schools — were presented with Outstanding Alumnus/a Awards. The honorees included Trudy Stefanov Dujardin, ’67, ASID, award-winning designer and founder of Dujardin Design Associates, Inc. (School of Arts and Sciences); Farrukh Farid, ’96, co-founder of Edible Arrangements and owner of an Edible Arrangements franchise (School of Business); Krista M. Brunson, ’93, senior editor of NBC News, (School of Communication, Information, and Library Science); Linda K. Froschauer, ’94, a leader in science education and the 2006-2007 president of the National Science Teachers Association (School of Education); Paula Nirschel, ’80, founder of The Initiative to Educate Afghan Women (School of Health and Human Services); and Catherine Otto Montgomery, M.S. ’78, founder and president of the American Institute of Stuttering (School of Graduate Studies).
It was a homecoming in the warmest sense of the word for Distinguished Alumna Col. Adele E. Hodges, ’77, who joined with President Cheryl J. Norton in honoring Southern’s student soldiers on campus last fall. Cheered on by the Southern community at the Homecoming football game, Dr. Norton and Col. Hodges, as well as a group of student soldiers who had returned safely from overseas, were escorted onto the field by the U.S. Marines Honor Guard, two of whom are Southern students. Recognizing the commitment and sacrifice of Southern’s student soldiers was a fitting honor for Col. Hodges, who in the summer of 2005 became the first female commander of Camp Lejeune, the largest Marine Corps base on the East Coast. She was also the first colonel to hold the position, which has historically been assigned to two-star generals. “It was definitely a historic event,” says Col. Hodges. “I’m honored to have been the first.” Having relinquished her command in February, Hodges is now based in the Inspector General’s Office at Headquarters Marine Corps in Arlington, Va. A Bridgeport native, Col. Hodges majored in recreation and leisure studies at the university, then known as Southern Connecticut State College. Although she originally planned to become a physical education teacher, her career aspirations shifted markedly in 1979 when she enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. Increasingly responsible positions followed, with assignments based throughout the United States and overseas. She deployed with the Headquarters Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, to Desert Storm, and was executive officer for the Brigade Service Support One during its preparations and deployment for Operation Natural Fire 2000 in Kenya. In August 2003, the Colonel served at NATO Joint Headquarters North in Stavanger, Norway. While serving as commander of Camp Lejeune, Col. Hodges was responsible for overseeing the welfare of the 143,000 Marines, sailors, family members, and other civilians who call the base home. Commenting in The Globe, the official newspaper of Camp Lejeune, Col. Hodges said, ‘“This has been probably the greatest tour of my career … This is the greatest community in the world — Marine Corps Base, Jacksonville, and Onslow County — and I’m glad to have been a part of it.”’
Before entering college, Trudy Dujardin, ’67, made a deal with her father. “I wanted to be a painter,” she recalls. “My father didn’t think I could make a living through art. Ultimately, we agreed that I would major in art education so I could teach.” Dujardin, who was crowned Southern’s 1964 Homecoming Queen, excelled at the university, graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Following her initial plan, she worked for the Darien Public School System as an art teacher, while taking graduate classes at New York University and painting for clients. “While I loved the creativity it afforded me, it was much too isolating,” she says. “I knew I loved being with people and giving back to the community. I had to figure out how to combine all of my talents to do something I love.” Such soul-searching ultimately led to a career in interior design. Today, Dujardin, ASID, operates Dujardin Design Associates (DDA), a full-service interior and sustainable design consulting firm. DDA specializes in providing eco-friendly interior alterations that cause minimal impact on the environment and are sensitive to clients’ and contractors’ health concerns, including allergies. “An eco-friendly lifestyle is no longer a niche interest or merely a chic trend, but a crucial and right choice for responsible citizens,” says Dujardin. “In a holistic way, it’s not just for the end-user of the house. It’s also for the health of the people working on the house and the people in the factory producing the products.” An active member of the American Society of Interior Designers’ Sustainable Design Board, Dujardin was invited to teach about eco-friendly designs to interior design students at Purdue and Fairfield University. “I’d also like to come back to Southern and see how I can contribute,” she says. “Funny, how life goes full circle. I’m back teaching again.”
For five brothers of modest means growing up in West Haven, Conn., the thought of founding a multi-million-dollar franchised business seemed beyond the realm of possibility. But living the American dream has become a reality for the founders of Edible Arrangements, whose imaginative product line — consisting of fresh fruit that has been artfully cut to resemble flowers — is a growing powerhouse in the gift market. In 2006, the company was ranked fourth on Inc. magazine’s list of 500 of the fastest-growing private companies in America, with revenues of $45.6 million and a three-year growth rate of 4,383 percent. Born in 1973 in the small city of Sahiwal, Pakistan, Farrukh Farid, ’96, had humble beginnings. In 1981, the Farid family immigrated to the U.S., where Farid’s father simultaneously held several jobs to support his children, five sons and a daughter. Farrukh and his brothers did what they could to help the family, delivering papers, raking leaves, cutting lawns, and shoveling snow. In 1986, hoping to better his family’s life, Farid’s father bought a flower shop, which he renamed Farid’s Flowers. Through hard work and creative marketing, the enterprise grew to include three successful florist shops in New Haven County. Inspired by his family’s demonstrated commitment to expanding the business, Farrukh attended Southern, graduating with a degree in business management. Three years later, Farrukh and his eldest brother, Tariq, designed their first fruit arrangement, which they marketed with tremendous success. By the end of 1999, they had named the business Edible Arrangements and were on their way. In 2001, the company began franchising. Today, Edible Arrangements has evolved into one of the nation’s fastest-growing franchise businesses. Composed of 800 franchises, the company is opening new stores around the world, including in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and England. Today, Farrukh operates an Edible Arrangements franchise in Waterbury, Conn.
Fans of the “Today Show” and “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” can credit senior editor, Krista Brunson, ’93, for ensuring that their favorite newscasts are interesting and timely. Charged with helping these programs present compelling news coverage, Brunson juggles a host of responsibilities, including assigning correspondents and organizing field teams. Brunson first entered the communication field as a Southern student, working as a news intern at NBC affiliate WVIT in West Hartford. “I was able to take what I learned at Southern and use it in the real world,” she says. “The professors provided a wealth of knowledge that really prepared me for a career in television news.” Her supervisors at WVIT agreed, hiring Brunson as a producer after she graduated. Later, as director of news operations for NBC’s Television Stations Division, Brunson was responsible for coordinating news coverage for 10 NBC-owned stations across the country. Among her key projects was managing news coverage at the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. Brunson also was co-executive producer for “The Olympic Zone,” a program that aired on more than 100 NBC stations in the United States during the 2006 Olympic Games. Brunson’s work has garnered professional accolades, as well. While working as an executive producer, Brunson won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award for live coverage of the Republican National Convention. As for the future, stay tuned.
While working toward her 6th year degree in Educational Leadership—Curriculum and Supervision at Southern, Linda Froschauer, ’94, found herself at a turning point. “I changed the way I started thinking about education,” says Froschauer, who was then serving as the K-8 Science Department chair and a mentor and science teacher in the Weston Public Schools. “My school principal was also studying at Southern,” she says. “It was an enriching experience, because during our commute together we were able to strategize about implementing some of the things we learned in class.” In the ensuing years, the dedicated educator has become a driving force behind the effort to enhance science education. In June 2006, Froschauer was elected president of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), the largest professional organization in the world dedicated to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching. “The position was traditionally held by university professors or education consultants,” she says. “It was unusual for a classroom teacher to be elected. I had something unique to contribute and was the voice of the classroom teacher.” Having completed a one-year term as president of the NSTA, which represents more than 55,000 science teachers, scientists, and other members, Froschauer has returned to the Weston School System where she currently serves as the Math and Science Curriculum and Instructional Leader for grades K-5. A Connecticut Science Educators Fellow, she was named Weston Teacher of the Year in 1999 and received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 1993. Froschauer also has been actively involved in Project 2061, a national effort to improve science education sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “Project 2061 continues to be radical and visionary,” Froschauer said of the initiative, “producing tools and models that can be used by others and expanding the nation’s and the world’s capacity for reform.”
More than three million Americans stutter, a statistic Catherine Otto Montgomery, M.S. ’78, a practicing speech-language pathologist, attacks head-on. An internationally recognized leader in the field of speech disorders, Montgomery has helped thousands of individuals who stutter, serving clients from 28 states and 15 foreign countries. In 1997, after almost 20 years in private practice, she founded the American Institute for Stuttering (AIS) Treatment and Professional Training. The only nonprofit organization of its kind in the United States, AIS offers cutting-edge treatment for children, teens, and adults who stutter. The organization also provides clinical training programs and supports public education and advocacy. Montgomery earned a graduate degree in communication disorders at Southern while working as a speech pathologist in the public school system. “I was able to bring what I learned at Southern to my job, and my experience on the job to my studies at Southern,” says Montgomery. “It was a win-win situation.” Soon after graduation, she joined a private practice based in Manhattan. Six years later, dissatisfied with the direction of the firm, Montgomery came to work prepared to resign and open her own practice. But fate intervened and before Montgomery had the chance to resign, the principals asked if she would like to buy the practice. Her response? “Let me think about it … Yes!” Today, Montgomery is one of the few board-recognized specialists in fluency disorders in the United States. She is also an adjunct instructor, providing graduate student internships with several universities in the United States, Europe, and Canada. But the impact of her commitment to helping people who stutter is, perhaps, best seen at the personal level. Consider a testimonial from a client, Gianni Jacklone, who went on to star in a television commercial for Apple Computer. Jacklone writes, “You do not have to remain in the dark indefinitely; there are people and places that can help. The American Institute for Stuttering is one such place.”
In the aftermath of Sept 11, 2001, Paula Nirschel, ’80, read numerous books on Afghanistan with a hope of gaining greater understanding behind the tragedy. “I began losing sleep over the state of the women of Afghanistan,” says Nirschel, referring to the extreme human rights abuses that women and girls suffered under the reign of the Taliban. In 1998, the Taliban prohibited girls over the age of eight from attending school, with devastating results. According to The Human Rights Watch, the rate of illiteracy among girls in Afghanistan soared to more than 90 percent before the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Responding to such statistics, Nirschel spent one year developing a nonprofit organization, The Initiative to Educate Afghan Women (IEAW). Her goal was to help educate women from Afghanistan and prepare them to serve as leaders and role models in their home country. In the fall of 2002, IEAW helped four Afghan women attend college in the United States. Today, IEAW is educating 42 women at 18 colleges across the country. An additional seven have graduated. Students return to Afghanistan during the summer and after earning their degrees. “I wanted a group of women to come to America to experience the freedom of education and to strengthen their self-worth, then return home and teach others what they learned in the United States,” says Nirschel, who is married to fellow Southern alumnus, Dr. Roy J. Nirschel, ’74, president of Roger Williams University. Reflecting on her own college experience, Nirschel, who graduated with a degree in social work, fondly remembers the diversity of Southern’s campus. “Southern provided the freedom for anyone to become educated,” she says. “I lived in New Haven. Like many, I had to take out loans to put myself through school. Southern made it possible for me to earn a degree.” Nirschel, in turn, has made it possible for a growing number of Afghan women to continue their education. Zahra Noor, an Afghan woman who is attending Mary Washington University through IEAW, comments, “This is a significant step toward reaching my potential and working for a brighter future for me, my family, and my country.” |
In fall 2004, on the eve of her inauguration as president of Southern Connecticut State University, Dr. Cheryl J. Norton spoke about the relationship between the university and its alumni. “We have nearly 80,000 alumni,” she said, “each of whom has a Southern story. I hope they will be proud to tell it.” 
