At the annual Founders Day celebration Saturday, Nov. 7, the University’s distinguished faculty and alumni as well as its best citizens are being honored by the Alumni Association.
Last week, the Record profiled four faculty members who will be receiving Distinguished Faculty Awards.
This week, the focus is on six alumni who will be bestowed Distinguished Alumni Awards as well as the recipients of the Robert S. Brookings Award, presented to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary generosity to the University.
This year’s Brookings Awards will be given to John Biggs, Ph.D. (GR ’83), and Penelope Parkman Biggs, Ph.D. (GR ’68, GR ’74); and to Wilfred Konneker, Ph.D. (GR ’50), and Ann Lee Konneker.
Alumni being honored this year are: John D. Beuerlein (GB ’77), Edward Jones executive; Anita Diamant (LA ’73), author; Mary Ann Lazarus (GA ’78), HOK architect; Lewis A. Levey (GB ’67), real estate developer; Ronald M. Rettner (LA ’72), real estate developer; and Gary M. Sumers, J.D. (LA ’75), Blackstone Group executive.
The event, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel-St. Louis Riverfront, also features acclaimed historian David McCullough as keynote speaker.
For information about tickets, call 935-7378.
Distinguished Alumni Awards
John D. Beuerlein
Beuerlein’s career with the investment firm Edward Jones began in 1977 as a graduate student enrolled in the MBA program. From modest beginnings as an intern, he rose through the ranks quickly and became a full partner in 1980.
In his 34-year career with the company, Beuerlein has served in a variety of capacities, including managing the syndicate department; directing the equity and marketing division; handling market development for the East Coast division; and presiding over advanced sales training.
Currently, he is responsible for the company’s global customer experience program. In addition, he leads Edward Jones’ programs for strengthening communications and company culture among its more than 30,000 associates.
He serves his profession by chairing the national membership committee of the Securities Industry Association and by serving on the board of directors of the St. Louis Society of Financial Analysts.
At WUSTL, Beuerlein has been active in the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, having served as acting National Committees chair and as the Danforth Circle Committee chair.
He also was a member of the Alumni Board of Governors. In addition to sponsoring two scholarships at the Olin Business School, he is actively engaged in recruiting students to Olin and in promoting internships with Edward Jones.
Beuerlein earned a bachelor’s degree from Drury University in Springfield, Mo., and chairs its board of directors.
Anita Diamant
The prolific and popular author of a dozen books graduated from WUSTL with a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature in Arts & Sciences in 1973. She went on to earn a master’s degree in English from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
The Boston native began her writing career as a journalist, contributing articles to local publications and then to national magazines such as Self, Parenting, Ms. and McCall’s. At the same time, Diamant’s advice on Jewish practice and customs was being picked up in publications such as Reform Judaism and Hadassah.
Her first book, “The New Jewish Wedding,” was published in 1986; several guidebooks to Jewish life followed, including “The New Jewish Baby Book,” “Living a Jewish Life,” “Jewish Traditions, Customs and Values for Today’s Families” and “How to Be a Jewish Parent.”
But it was her first work of fiction, “The Red Tent,” that put Diamant on the literary map. The 1997 novel became a best-seller, with translations in 20 languages. Three novels have followed: “Good Harbor,” “The Last Days of Dogtown” and “Day After Night.”
Diamant also is the founder and president of Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center, a resource center dedicated to exploring the ancient traditions of ritual immersion and to enriching Jewish life.
Mary Ann Lazarus
The groundwork for Lazarus’ commitment to environmental sustainability was laid during her graduate years at WUSTL.
After earning a master’s degree in architecture in 1978, she joined Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc. (HOK), where her interest in creating sustainable architecture was cultivated.
As HOK’s first global director of sustainable design, Lazarus leads company initiatives to embed positive environmental practices into its projects. This role includes developing a network of global sustainability leaders, overseeing the creation of training and resources and reducing HOK’s carbon footprint. These efforts contributed to the firm being named “top green design firm” in 2008 and ’09 by Engineering News Record.
Active in her profession, Lazarus has served on the executive committee of the St. Louis Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and directs programming for the steering committee of Greenbuild, the USGBC’s annual international conference.
Lazarus lectures at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and chairs its National Council. In 2005, she was honored with the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award. That same year, the St. Louis Business Journal acknowledged Larazus’ contributions to the community with the “Most Influential Business Woman” award.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in Russian studies from Mount Holyoke College in 1973 and then received a fellowship from the Five Colleges, a consortium of colleges located in western Massachusetts that provides fellowships for extensive academic and administrative collaborations among the campuses.
She also studied at the Boston Architectural Center before attending WUSTL as an Olin Fellow.
Lewis A. Levey
Since 1973, when Levey co-founded Paragon Group Inc., he has been a leader in the real estate development industry.
Under his direction, Paragon grew into a fully integrated, self-managed real estate development trust, with locations in 18 states and an investment portfolio of almost $1 billion.
In 1999, when Paragon merged with Camden Property Trust, Levey was named the company’s lead independent trust manager and served on its audit and compensation committees. He also joined Enhanced Value Strategies Inc., a real estate consulting firm, as chairman.
Since earning a master’s degree in business administration from WUSTL, Levey has remained committed to the advancement of the business school. He is active in the Olin Alumni Association, serves as president of its executive committee and leads its Eliot Society Speaker Series.
In addition, Levey is a longtime member of Olin’s National Council. He received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. With his wife, Leslee, a 1967 alumna of Arts & Sciences, he has established several annual scholarships. The Leveys also are fellows of the Eliot Society.
Professionally, Lewis Levey has held leadership roles with the Urban Land Institute and the National Multi Housing Council. He recently was recognized by the Missouri Growth Association, which bestowed upon him its highest honor, the Eads Award.
Ronald M. Rettner
Rettner earned an undergraduate degree in political science in Arts & Sciences in 1972 before returning to New York.
He continued his education, earning master’s degrees in business administration and in urban planning from Columbia University. While in graduate school, he managed his family’s real estate business. Later, he attended law school, juggling work as a securities analyst and as a real estate firm manager while also busy establishing The Vitamin Shoppes.
Currently, he presides over Rettner Management Corp., a commercial real estate and investment company, in addition to being a partner in Baron Associates, a real estate investment, finance and management firm.
Dedicated to a number of civic and charitable causes, Rettner has directed the Morris B. Rettner Foundation, a philanthropic organization founded in memory of his father, for more than 30 years. He also has been involved with the New York City Day Care Owners Association, having served as its co-chairman, as well as the New Rochelle Downtown and Economic Development boards and other agencies involved in redevelopment projects.
An ardent booster of the University, Rettner serves on the Arts & Sciences’ National Council, the Law School Building Committee and the New York Regional Cabinet. He has co-chaired his class reunion three times and is a life benefactor of the Eliot Society.
For his contributions, he received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Arts & Sciences in 2007 and was presented with the Alumni of the Year Award from the New York Regional Cabinet in 2009.
Family donations have supported the Ronald Rettner Earth & Planetary Sciences Library, the Karen and Ronald Rettner Gallery in the Laboratory Sciences Building, and the Morris and Marcelle Rettner Career Services Suite at the School of Law in addition to two endowed scholarships.
Gary M. Sumers
As a history major in Arts & Sciences, Sumers had a distinguished tenure: He was a member of Pi Sigma Alpha and the American Political Science Association. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1975, he entered law school at Northwestern University, graduating in 1978. He also attended the London School of Economics before embarking on a career practicing law at the Chicago firm Altheimer & Gray.
Later, Sumers became in-house counsel for JMB Realty Corp. and then served as the company’s director of asset management. From there, he joined General Growth Properties as chief operating officer for the large, publicly traded regional mall real estate investment trust.
Since 1995, Sumers has held management positions with the Blackstone Group, a leading global alternative asset management and financial advisory firm. He is senior managing director and chief operating officer for its real estate division, with responsibilities that cover leading the strategic management group and overseeing financial reporting activities as well as handling property dispositions.
Since joining Blackstone, Sumers has served on the company’s Real Estate Investment Committee. He also sits on the boards of several real estate portfolio firms.
His commitment to WUSTL includes providing annual scholarship support. In memory of his mother, he recently established the Joan Sumers Scholarship in Arts & Sciences. He also serves on Arts & Sciences’ National Council. He is a sustaining charter member of The Danforth Circle Chancellor’s Level and a life patron of the Eliot Society.
Robert S. Brookings Awards
John and Penelope Parkman Biggs
The Biggs’ association with the University began in 1977, when John Biggs left General American Life Insurance Co. to become vice chancellor for administration and finance.
John and Penelope Biggs each earned a bachelor’s degree in classics at Harvard University — his from Harvard College in 1958 and hers from Radcliffe College the following year.
They earned graduate degrees from WUSTL — he a doctorate in economics from Arts & Sciences and she master’s and doctoral degrees in comparative literature, also in Arts & Sciences.
In 1985, John Biggs became president and chief executive officer of Centerre Trust Co. Four years later, he was named president and chief operating officer of TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest pension fund. He retired in 2002 and now teaches finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Penelope Parkman Biggs’ career as an educator began at Mary Institute, where she taught Latin. Later on, she taught classics and English literature at Lindenwood University.
They have combined their dedication to the study of classics with their support for WUSTL by providing an annual residency in classics as well as a distinguished professorship in the department. Additionally, the Biggs have established a distinguished professorship in economics. They are life members of The Danforth Circle Dean’s Level.
John Biggs is an emeritus trustee of the University and serves on Arts & Sciences’ National Council. He received the Dean’s Medal in 2005.
Wilfred and Ann Lee Konneker
Will and Ann Lee Konneker have been great supporters of WUSTL since he entered the doctoral program in nuclear physics shortly after World War II.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and mathematics from Ohio University in 1943, Will Konneker entered the military and was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Manhattan Project. After the war, he returned to Ohio University to complete a master’s degree in physics in 1947, just one year after Ann Lee graduated.
After earning a doctoral degree in 1950, he and Ken Morganstern opened a consulting firm called Nuclear Consultants Corp. One of the first of its kind, the company helped usher in the era of nuclear medicine and the development of radiopharmaceuticals for the diagnosis and treatment of numerous diseases.
The company expanded with labs in several major American cities. In 1966, the company merged with Mallinckrodt Inc., and Will Konneker served as vice president of its diagnostic division. Eventually, he left Mallinckrodt to help grow startup companies.
Will and Ann Lee Konneker have sponsored annual scholarships in Arts & Sciences and have established a distinguished professorship in physics.
The Konnekers are Brookings Partners, members of The Danforth Circle Chancellor’s Level and life patrons of the Eliot Society.
Will Konneker served as a member of the Board of Trustees for 17 years and is a charter member of Arts & Sciences’ National Council. He served two terms as chair for the Alumni Board of Governors. In 1991, he was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award. For Ann Lee Konneker’s contributions to Ohio University, she received its Baker Award in 1998.
The Konnekers are generous in their support of many local civic and cultural organizations, among them the Saint Louis Symphony, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Center of Contemporary Arts.