Michael T. Good '84, '86M.S., who joined NASA's astronaut program in 2000, has been
named a member of the space shuttle crew that will be launched in 2008 to repair the Hubble
Space Telescope. The Air Force colonel is the second Domer astronaut; former astronaut James
D. Wetherbee '74 flew on six shuttle missions. . . . Michael Holston '84, a partner in the law
firm Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, LLP, was the lead counsel for Hewlett Packard Company in
all matters regarding the federal government's investigation of the company's probe of
boardroom leaks to the press. The investigation of the boardroom spying operation led to the
ouster of H-P's chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, and four felony indictments against her. . . . The late Paul M. Murphy '61, a lay member of the Miles Jesu religious community who died of a brain
tumor in 1975, could become the first lay ND alumnus to be named a saint. The former Phoenix,
Arizona, architect, who was active in the Cursillo retreat movement, recently was given the title
Servant of God by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Last June, Phoenix
Bishop Thomas Olmsted approved a "Prayer for the Intercession of Servant of God Paul
Murphy" (milesjesu.com/vocations/vocations-paulmurphy1.html). Anyone with information that
may relate to Murphy's case for sainthood is asked to contact Rev. Christopher Foeckler, M.J.
(602-276-6098). . . . John W. Glynn '62 and his wife, Barbara, donated $10 million to the
University to expand the joint honors program in the College of Arts and Letters and the College
of Science. Through the gift, 400 Glynn scholars will participate in the Glynn Family Honors
Program, which offers gifted students individual mentoring, small discussion classes and the
opportunity to engage in original research during the summer. . . . Michael Strilchuk '01MBA was awarded 12 medals in the 2006 Canadian Transplant Games, which showcase high-level
athletic competition among recipients of major organ transplants. Strilchuk, who had leukemia
and received a bone marrow transplant from his sister in 1996, took gold medals in his age group
for nine swimming events. Additionally, he won a silver in volleyball and a silver and bronze in
track and field. . . . Kent Durso '67 won his fourth masters world championship at the Scottish
Highland Games at Inverness, Scotland, last July. The games, which require competitors to
throw a variety of heavy objects including ball-and-chain weights and the caber, a long wooden
pole tossed end-over-end, date back to the 10th century. Durso, who was the captain of Notre
Dame's weightlifting team as a student, was awarded a crystal whiskey flask for his Highland
achievements. . . . Phillip Iapalucci Jr., Rick Shalaby, Kevin Monaco, Brian Harrington and
Don Madda, all '91MBA, appeared in a recent Today Show segment on "mancursions," which
might be described as a "vacation with the guys" (man + excursion = mancursion). While the
business school friends have been getting together annually for 12 years, gender-specific
holidays for groups of friends have become the hot new trend in the travel and leisure industry.
The NBC program filmed the Notre Dame buddies shooting the rapids of South Bend's East
Race in a rubber raft. Seeing a business opportunity in the fad, Harrington has developed a
website, imin.com (which stands for "I'm in"), helping groups communicate and plan their
outings. . . . In a similar vein, Darren Hitz '99 has begun a business, HitzAdventures.com, that
offers such adventure-based trips as cattle drives, shark hunts and sky dives for groups. . . . John
Abijah Davis '28, the oldest Notre Dame alumnus living in Maryland, was the guest of
Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley at last October's Notre Dame-Navy game in Baltimore's M
& T Bank Stadium. The Indianapolis native turned 100 on January 4. . . . Former NBA and Notre
Dame basketball standout LaPhonso Ellis '92 has become a radio commentator for the Irish
men's basketball team. . . . Sister Rita Kartavich, RSM, '85MSA was among 62 people in the
diocese of Erie, Pennsylvania, to receive the Papal Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award last
November. The honor, from Pope Benedict XVI, recognizes the Mercy sister for her
"extraordinary and exemplary public witness to the Catholic faith." She is director of outreach at
DuBois (Pennsylvania) Regional Medical Center and a councilor for the Leadership Team of the
Regional Community of Erie. . . . Trappist Brother Patrick Hart '66, the onetime secretary to
the famed monk Thomas Merton, is the editor of A Monastic Vision for the 21st Century. Brother
Patrick has been secretary to the last four abbots of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. . . . Father Richard Vosko '75M.A., an Albany, New York, diocesan priest who has his own
architectural design consultant business specializing in houses of worship, is the author of God's
House Is Our House, which details the lessons he has learned while working on more than 300
churches, synagogues and other houses of worship. . . . Robert Latiff '71, '73M.S., '74Ph.D., who retired as a major general in the Air Force, is now the chief engineering and technology
officer for Science Applications International Corporation's geospatial intelligence business unit.
The unit, which has 2,000 employees operating in 25 locations throughout the United States, is
involved with airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, space control, operational support to the
warfighter, along with geospatial intelligence collection and exploitation. . . . Madan Bhasin
'64Ph.D., a senior scientist with the Dow Chemical Company, was awarded the Herbert H. Dow
Medal Award, which is the highest honor the company bestows on its scientists and engineers.
Bhasin was cited for his research that led to the development of new catalysts which improve
efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. . . . Ryan Liebl '97 and his wife, Katherine,
were interviewed for an August 8, 2006, New York Times story about overcoming racial barriers
in adoption. The story discusses the fact that the Liebls, who are white, have become friends
with a black family who adopted siblings of their adoptive black son. "We feel like we struck
gold," Ryan Liebl said in the story, referring to the fact that his son will know his siblings.
(January 2007)
