Margaret “Muggsy” Bade Mason earned a B.A. in Health and Physical Education from BW in 1959. As a student at BW, she was a member of Delta Zeta and played basketball. Her BW education prepared her for a teaching career in Cleveland’s western suburbs. She also served as the physical education department office assistant for the Athletic Club at CWRU. Muggsy has served BW as a class representative for almost 60 years, building relationships with donors to the Annual Fund. She also served as a vice president and long-time active member of the BW Women’s Club, raising funds for scholarships awarded to female BW students. Muggsy’s volunteerism extends beyond campus to many other Cleveland-area organizations, among them College Club West, Alpha Delta Kappa, Lakewood Hospital, Great Lakes Theater Women’s Committee, West High School Reunion Committee, Gallery Group Inc., the Robert Page Singers, Rocky River Junior Women’s Club, Boy Scouts, Beck Center and the Eliza Jennings Retirement Home. For 37 years, she has been the official scorekeeper for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Cleveland State University. In addition to the Alumni Merit Award, BW honored Muggsy with induction to the Athletic Hall of Fame for basketball in 1998.
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Nicole M. Bell Mitchell earned her B.A. in business administration from BW in 2004. She later earned an MBA in human resources/management from Cleveland State University in 2010. In April 2018, she became the national manager for diversity and corporate social responsibility for Kia Motors America after leading the Honda Manufacturing of Indiana’s (HMIN) office of inclusion and diversity. She also served on the HMIN Community Engagement Committee and Sponsorship committees where she helped direct strategy and funds for community projects. Nicole’s first major leadership role was executive director for The Presidents’ Council Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, a nonprofit focused on research and entrepreneurial education in Northeast Ohio’s African-American community. Nicole has made many professional and service contributions to the BW community as a a key influencer in introducing many prospective students to campus and an energetic, driving force behind the Diversity Alumni Network to engage alumni of color. Several boards and advisory councils have benefited from her insights, including Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, the 500 Festival, the Indianapolis Chamber Hispanic Business Council and the Indiana Conference for Women. In addition to the Alumni Merit Award, Nicole has been recognized as an accomplished young professional by the Indianapolis Center for Leadership Development, Kaleidoscope Magazine, and Crain’s Cleveland Business. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and The Links, Inc. and lives in downtown Long Beach, California, with her husband Nate Mitchell ’04.
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Dr. David O. Norris earned a B.S. in biology at BW in 1961 and later earned a Ph.D. at the University of Washington. From 1966 to 2012 he taught at the University of Colorado where he is now Professor Emeritus in the Department of Integrative Physiology. Dr. Norris’s interests involve the study of the neuroendocrine and reproductive functions of fishes and amphibians, including the role of environmental factors such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. He also conducts basic research and consulting work in forensic botany. In recent years, he has published the fifth edition of his textbook Vertebrate Endocrinology and co-authored Forensic Plant Science, which applies forensic botany to legal cases. Dr. Norris holds memberships in civic, law enforcement, church and singing groups in his community. The Alumni Merit Award adds to his many honors including the Robert L. Sterns Award from the University of Colorado, a NASA pre-doctoral fellowship, the Citation of Achievement in Science award from BW, the Irving Geshwind Memorial Lecturer award, and election to the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. His high school alma mater, Ashtabula, inducted him into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2005, and in 2018 he was selected to present the 2018 Howard A. Bern Memorial Lecture by the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology.
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Helen and Tom Rathburn both graduated from BW in 1966 with degrees in music education and business administration, respectively. As a student, Helen was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta and several arts and academic honoraries, a frequent cast member of Berea Summer Theatre productions and a White Rose Ceremony participant. Tom was member of Theta Alpha Phi theatre arts honorary and attended graduate school in speech and theater at Bowling Green State University. Helen worked in public relations for BW beginning in 1983, retiring as associate director of college relations in 2006. Tom’s career was as a CPA and vice president and senior manager of trust tax for Key Bank. In retirement, Helen and Tom have served together in multiple volunteer capacities on campus, including the campaign to make the BW Conservatory an All Steinway School and in support of the Friends of the Conservatory, of which Helen is currently president. Helen has also interviewed many alumni for the BW Archives’ oral history project. Together they have contributed many volunteer hours to greater Cleveland arts organizations including Playhouse Square and Western Reserve Theatre Organ Society (Tom), Berea Arts Fest (Helen) and the Strongsville Community Band (Helen and Tom), among others. Helen and Tom are members of BW’s Heritage Society, and Tom has also been a frequent Red Cross platelet donor in the last 25 years. In addition to the Merit Award, their family of proud BW graduates was celebrated with the Family Heritage Award in 2010, including their daughters, Alison Rathburn Whitney ’94, Molly Rathburn Kraynik ’97, and their son-in-law John Whitney ’93.
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