Detroit attorney Robert Battista '61 was appointed
chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency
that investigates and attempts to remedy unfair labor practices
by employers and unions. . . . Claire C. Gordon '76
was promoted to senior research scientist at the Army's soldier
systems center in Natick, Massachusetts. Senior scientists are
civilians but they are accorded the same military courtesies as
brigadier generals. She becomes one of only 33 senior scientists
in the Army and the only woman. Her specialty applying biostatistical
measurements of the human body to ensure that protective clothing
and equipment, workstations, and shelters designed for soldiers
accommodate all body sizes and shapes. . . . Former Wendy's executive
Charles W. Rath '58 was named to the new position
of executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Value
City Department Stores Inc. . . . Zimbawean Callistus
E. Madavo '65, '67M.A., '69Ph.D. is vice president of
the World Bank for the Africa Region. He has been with the bank
since 1969. . . . Chris Rohrs '71 is president
of the Television Bureau of Advertising, which promotes the purchase
of advertising on TV. . . . Tab Baldwin '81 coached
New Zealand's national team to the semifinals of the World Basketball
Championships in Indianapolis last September. After upsetting
China and Puerto Rico, the Kiwis lost the bronze medal to NBA
star Dirk Nowitzki and Germany, 117-94. . . . When a 20-year-old
defendant charged with marijuana possession told an Orange County
Superior Court judge last year that the drug made him play basketball
better, the judge, Marc Kelly '82, challenged
the assumption by challenging him to a game of one-on-one. A few
weeks later the defendant returned to court to show proof he had
attended a substance-abuse class, and afterward they faced off.
Kelly, 42, a sub for the Irish from 1979-82, beat the 20-year-old
10-3. According to press reports the young offender did not smoke
before the game. . . . Steve Leahy '78M.A. is
the new president and chief executive officer of the Greater Seattle
Chamber of Commerce. . . . Ralph Horgan '82 is
executive director of the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, an independent,
for-profit agency whose resources include the city's approximately
8,000 parking meters. . . . John Cavanaugh '77M.A.,
'78Ph.D., provost and vice chancellor of the University
of North Carolina Wilmington, is leaving to become president of
the University of West Florida. . . . Daniel J. Buckley
'77, '80J.D. was appointed a judge of the Los Angeles
County Superior Court. . . . John J. Hargrove
'64, '67J.D. was appointed chief judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court for the Southern District of California. . . . Ethna
Bennert Cooper '80J.D. was appointed judge of the Hamilton
County (Ohio) Municipal Court. . . . Former Arizona Supreme Court
Justice Frederick J. Martone '72J.D. has become
a federal judge in Arizona. . . . John J. Coyle Jr. '68J.D.
was named a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court. . . . William
Klatt '81J.D., former chief legal counsel to Ohio Governor
Bob Taft, was elected judge of the 10th District Court of Appeals
in Franklin County. . . . Daniel J. Buckley '77, '80J.D.
was appointed a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
. . . William E. Weber '96J.D. joined the staff
of the U.S. Senate as counsel for the Governmental Affairs Committee,
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring
and the District of Columbia. . . . . Attorney Patrick
A. Salvi '78J.D. of Waukegan, Illinois, won a $4.1 million
jury verdict for the survivors of a patient whose physician failed
to diagnose an abdominal aneurism. . . . USA Today
profiled Mario "Motts" Tonelli '39, a star fullback
for the Irish in the 1930s who later survived World War II's Bataan
Death March and slave labor camps in Japan. In the last of the
camps he was issued prisoner number was 58, his uniform number
at Notre Dame. But his most amazing experience occurred during
the death march. A Japanese soldier demanded Tonelli's class ring
under threat of execution, and Tonelli grudgingly handed it over.
A few minutes later a Japanese officer returned it, telling him
to hide it somewhere. The officer said he had gone to USC and
had in fact seen Tonelli beat the Trojans in 1937. "I know how
much this ring means to you, so I wanted to get it back to you,"
the officer said. Tonelli says he always thought the compassionate
officer would look him someday, but he never did. He assumes the
man didn't survive the war. . . . The NCAA hired Abe Frank
'84J.D. to be director of federal relations for the organization
in Washington, D.C. . . . Creighton Miller '44,
the All-American halfback who later helped organize the
National Football League Players Association as its lawyer, died
last May at age 79. In 1943 Miller led the nation in rushing as
the Irish ended the season No. 1. He was the son of 1908 team
captain Harry Miller and nephew of Don Miller, one of the Four
Horsemen. Another uncle, Ray, became mayor of Cleveland in the
1930s. Creighton finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting
in 1943. The winner was the late Angelo Bertelli '44,
his quarterback. . . . The winner of the 1949 Heisman,
Leon Hart '50, died in September at age 73. He was an
end on both offense and defense and played in 38 straight games
for the Irish without a loss. His grandson Brandon was a reserve
tight end on this year's team, and Grandpa Hart attended the first
two home games before being hospitalized in South Bend. . . .
Two weeks after the passing of Leon Hart, his co-captain on the
1949 national championship team, Jim A. Martin '50,
died at age 78. A decorated war hero with the Marines in World
War II, Martin was 21 when he enrolled as a freshman in 1946.
Like Hart he starred at end, but he was shifted to tackle his
senior year. Although Hart won the Heisman Trophy, it was Martin,
the campus heavyweight boxing champion, who won the George Gipp
Award as the school's finest athlete their senior year. He went
on to a 14-year NFL career during which he was reunited with Hart
on great Detroit Lions teams in the 1950s.
(January 2003)
