2017 CAA Recipients

George M. Weiss ’63

College of Arts and Sciences

George M. Weiss is the founder and CEO of Beechtree Capital, LLC, a private-investment firm operating in New York, Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Silicon Valley for almost a quarter century. Weiss is an accomplished board member, attorney, entrepreneur and management adviser with more than 40 years of senior management and investing experience. A company founder, officer and board member, he also is a senior adviser to CEOs and top-level executives in high-growth industries around the world.

Weiss’ investment and management expertise has contributed to the growth and success of numerous companies. He was a co-founder, a board member and an early investor in the primary predecessor of American Tower Corporation; a senior adviser and a private investor in the predecessor of Rogers Cable; the initial institutional investor and board member of Nexsan Technologies and XOS Digital; and he has served as an investor and board member of numerous other publicly and privately held companies. Weiss also served as a liquidating trustee of two related AMEC companies, and he and his primary Beechtree partner have personally led or participated in more than 100 equity and debt transactions involving more than
$1 billion.

Prior to launching Beechtree Capital, Weiss practiced corporate securities law with the New York City firm of Rubin, Baum, Levin, Constant & Friedman where he became a senior partner and member of the firm’s six-person management committee. Through a merger, the firm is now a major part of the New York office of Dentons, the largest law firm in the world.

In addition to his business ventures, Weiss has served at a high level within the National Football Foundation, Inc., a highly respected institution promoting athletic and academic excellence, and the Play It Smart Foundation, a creator and overseer of innovative educational and athletic programs for inner city youth. He also has worked with the Global Hunger Project, a strategic organization working to end hunger and provide basic human rights. Weiss also is an active member of the United States Naval Academy Foundation, and he served for many years as a member of the Silicon Valley division of Business Executives for National Security.

Weiss earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Arts degree and a Juris Doctorate degree with honors from New York University. He is the recipient of many awards, principal among which is the National Football Foundation’s highest honor, its Gold Medal.

William D. McCleave ’82

Schmidthorst College of Business

Bill McCleave is a Findlay, Ohio, native, who earned a Bachelor of Science in human resource management from Bowling Green State University in 1982 and a Master of Business Administration from Houston Baptist University in 1987. After joining Marathon in June 1982 as a contract and division order analyst, McCleave held various non-supervisory and supervisory positions within the finance and administration organizations. From 1992 until 1998, he served as a trader within crude and feedstock acquisition, and in 1998 assumed the position of advanced senior trader within the supply, distribution and planning organization.

He subsequently held a variety of management positions within marketing and in 2003 was transferred to London as manager of international risk management and trading. In July 2006, McCleave was assigned to the position of manager of terminal, transport and marine, and in January 2008 he was appointed to director of brand marketing.

McCleave has participated in various Marathon Leadership programs, and is a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management program and the Oxford Institute for Energy. He served as the executive director of the 2008 Marathon United Way Campaign and on the executive committee and the board of directors for the Boy Scouts of America. He currently is serving on the United Way of Hancock County Board of Directors and the BGSU Schmidthorst College of Business Leadership Council.

Bill and his wife, Hope, have two daughters, Lea and Halle.

William K. Northrup ’65

College of Education and Human Development

A native of Rocky River, Ohio, William K. Northrup graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science in education. He later earned a Master of Education in history and a Master of Education in school administration from Kent State University.

Northrup was a history teacher and coach in three Ohio school districts from 1965 to 1980 before becoming a high school principal. In 1998, he entered educational sales with Design Group Architects before starting his own firm, Conrath, Northrup and Minor Educational Consulting, in 2001. He also was a consultant and associate director for AdvacEd as well as a  consultant for the International Center for Leadership in Education and Kids Come First Educational Consulting.

Northrup is active in the community, serving nine years as the president and vice president of the Friends of the Worthington Libraries Board and 12 years as a member of the Partners for Citizenship and Character Board. He also has volunteered for PCC’s Grandparents Circle and Hilltop House, and is member of Linworth United Methodist Church. He has worked on multiple houses for Habitat for Humanity, and supports several regional and national organizations, including the Columbus Symphony, Museum of the American Revolution, Gettysburg Foundation, and American Wildlife Foundation. He is a sustaining member of the Bowling Green State University Education Scholarship Fund.

During his career, Northrup was a presenter at several conferences, including the National Association of Secondary School Principals National Conference, Ohio Association of Secondary School Principals Fall Conference and Bowling Green State University Educational Summit. Under his leadership, Thomas Worthington High School received many recognitions, including being named Ohio’s Top Technology High School by Governor Voinovich in 1991. Northrup also was selected by Voinovich to deliver his State of the State annual address in 1994.

Northrup lives in Worthington with his wife of 51 years, Gretchen. He has three children and six grandchildren.

William M. Tuttamore ’74, ’76

Firelands college

William Tuttamore began his 40-year career in finance in 1976 shortly after graduating from BGSU. In 1992, he started his 25-year tenure at The Marblehead Bank, as vice president of Loans. After serving in various capacities, Tuttamore was appointed a bank director in 1998. He was promoted to president and CEO of the bank in 2010.

Tuttamore graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science degree in communication after receiving an associate degree from BGSU Firelands in 1974. He also received advanced banking education certificates from the American Institute of Banking and Ohio Banking Schools. He has taught financing, banking and economic classes at BGSU Firelands, OSU Lima, The American Institute of Banking, and Ohio Banking Schools.

During his career, Tuttamore has been recognized with the Northwest Ohio Bank Auditors Association’s Founding President Award, American Institute of Banking President Award, Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce President Award, the Kirkpatrick Award for Community Service and many other honors.

He has served on the BGSU Firelands advisory board and on a fundraising committee for a new nursing facility on the Firelands campus. While at BGSU Firelands, Tuttamore was president of the broadcasting club, a student senator, a campus newspaper sports editor, and a basketball TV announcer.

Tuttamore has continued to broadcast local high school sporting events for the past 40 years and also serves as a deacon for Truth Ministries. He and his wife, Lois, live in Lakeside-Marblehead. They have raised four children and enjoy spending time with their eight grandchildren.

Do Khac Nguyen ’75

Graduate College

Do Nguyen was born in central Vietnam and attended school in the Quang Tri province. In 1974, he traveled to the United States and attended Bowling Green University. Unable to return to Vietnam when the new government took over in 1975, the newly married Nguyen struggled but was finally reunited with his wife and infant daughter in the United States.

After settling in northern Ohio, Nguyen started several small businesses and became active in community affairs. He joined Maumee Rotary in March 1995. In 1998, he was invited to follow leaders of the Maumee Rotary Club to Mazatenango, Guatemala, to evaluate and dedicate an orphanage for sexually abused girls. He later returned to Guatemala on two additional mission trips with fellow Maumee Rotarians.

In June 1999, Nguyen and other Maumee Rotarians went on a fact-finding trip to Vietnam and he attended his first Rotary International Convention in Singapore. In January 2000, Nguyen and other Rotarians formed the DOVE Fund, a non-profit charity organization in Vietnam. The DOVE Fund has since built 50 schools, four medical facilities, three water systems, 150 latrines and many other humanitarian projects in Vietnam. In February 2002, Nguyen participated in a delegation to Vietnam, and he was in charge of distributing 100 wheelchairs to people in need in the country.

Nguyen’s term as president of Maumee Rotary Club in 2004-2005 coincided with the Rotary’s centennial anniversary, and was marked with myriad international projects in Honduras, Guatemala and Vietnam. Nguyen was selected as group study  exchange program team leader for South Korea in 2011. He also visited Cambodia in 2011, 2012 and 2013 to set up, monitor and evaluate a matching grant to provide water, sanitation and health education training for an elementary school in Siem Riep, Cambodia.

A tireless supporter of his homeland, Nguyen and his wife, Theresa, play a key role in organizing annual visits to Vietnam. As a founding member of the DOVE Fund, and former vice chair for Vietnam Projects, Nguyen also serves on several DOVE Fund committees.

Do and Theresa have been married for 45 years. They have two daughters and three grandsons.

Thomas J. Ullom ’93

College of Health and Human Services

Tom Ullom began his career in federal law enforcement in 1993. Ullom has worked with the U.S. Marshal’s Service as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the Chicago field office, as a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in the Detroit field division and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, Chicago field office. In 2011, Ullom was promoted to assistant special agent in charge for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, Chicago Regional Investigations. In June 2015, he was promoted to special agent in charge in the same region.

Throughout his law enforcement career, Ullom has worked investigations related to domestic and international drug  trafficking, fugitive apprehension and various complex fraud schemes.  He currently leads an office conducting fraud, safety and hazardous materials investigations in 11 states relating to various U.S. DOT-funded transportation systems.

Ullom’s leadership skills date to Basic Training Academy when he was voted outstanding graduate and class president/representative in the U.S. Marshal’s and DEA’s basic training academies. He has also served as deputy in charge of the U.S. Marshal’s general operations and asset forfeiture program, as well as serving as the district recruiting officer and public affairs officer. At the DEA, Ullom routinely worked as a team leader for surveillance activities and the execution of arrest and search warrants and was a member of the Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team. At the Department of Education, he investigated complex financial fraud schemes and routinely mentored agents with their case work and case development. In 2012, Ullom received DOT/OIG’s Leadership Award.

Ullom grew up in Cleveland and graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice. He lives in Naperville, Ill., with his wife and three sons. 

Joëlle C. Khouzam ’85

Honors College

Now in her 25th year of practice, Joëlle Khouzam, a partner with Bricker & Eckler LLP’s Employment and Labor group, counsels and defends management clients on complex employment issues. She also conducts in-house training to help clients avoid litigation, and is a frequent author and speaker on developing employment-law topics. She also has testified before Ohio House and Senate committees on various employment-law bills. 

Khouzam’s academic and life experiences, including countless friendships with BGSU international students, have informed her perspectives and life philosophy. As chair of her firm’s diversity and inclusion committee, Khouzam fosters conversations and education about how our unique gifts can collectively advance community goals and the practice of law. Khouzam also makes time for pro bono cases and serves on law-related boards and non-profit boards in central Ohio, also making time to mentor students and aspiring lawyers.

Khouzam has been named among the top 100 Ohio lawyers, top 50 Columbus lawyers and top 25 women lawyers. She is consistently awarded the top peer rating of AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and is on its Bar Register of Preeminent Women. She is named in “Best Lawyers in America,” and is listed in the International Who’s Who of Management Labour & Employment Lawyers. Khouzam has received the Columbus Bar Association’s Community Service award, the Ohio Diversity Council’s Most Powerful and Influential Women in Ohio award, and the Northwest Rotary’s Woman of the Year award.

Khouzam’s Bowling Green State University education has played a vital role in her career. To this day, her freshman Honors classes rank among her fondest BGSU memories. Sophomore year abroad helped Khouzam earn majors in political science and German, paving the way for a second year abroad as the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship. Following a job at the House of Representatives while attending Georgetown University, and two years in the legal department of Owens-Illinois, she eventually gravitated to law.

Jonathan D. Iten ’78

University Libraries

Jon Iten grew up in Orrville, Ohio, and always has had a J.M. Smucker jam or preserve jar in his refrigerator (this allows him to see “Orrville, Ohio” on the label).  He entered Bowling Green State University in the fall of 1975 and by the end of his first month at BGSU was already a sophomore, thanks to the University’s experimental studies program, which rewarded students who did well on standardized tests. 

Iten designed his own major at BGSU through its individualized planned program option, focusing on computer science with side concentrations in business and political science.  While at BGSU, he worked at the computational services office, serving as a consultant to faculty in their use of BGSU’s mainframe computers. Iten graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1978.

Iten received a law degree from Stanford Law School in 1981, and later that year began the practice of law in Columbus at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, becoming a partner in the firm in 1986. Across his 33-year career in law, Iten focused on technology transactions and electronic commerce. He also served for 22 years as the legal counsel to the Ohio Library Council. He retired from the practice of law in 2014.

Iten has served on BGSU’s University Libraries Leadership Council since 2005. He is a trustee of Crane Hollow Preserve in Hocking County, and currently is serving as the vice chair of New Albany’s Architectural Review Board.

Iten’s wife, Beth McNellie, is a Miami University graduate, but has redeemed herself by gladly attending multiple BGSU events and football games. The Itens have one child, Benjamin, who is studying engineering as a sophomore at Harvey Mudd College in California.

Gregory Ruffer ’87, ’95

College of Musical Arts

Gregory Ruffer is president and CEO of the Boston Center for the Arts, which nurtures the development of art and artists across the visual and performing arts spectrum. He oversees a campus that has four theaters, 50 visual artist studios, two restaurants, the Mills Art Gallery, Boston Ballet and Community Music Center of Boston, along with the historic 1884 Cyclorama.

Most recently, Ruffer served as the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in Milwaukee, where he created diverse programming that enabled the organization to operate on a 70 percent earned-income business model. Through ambitious fundraising programs, strategic community partnerships and a renewed enthusiasm from staff and faculty, Ruffer reversed more than a decade of deficit spending to balance the budget within his first three years.

Recognized as an entrepreneur with a strongly collaborative spirit, Ruffer has led the Patel Conservatory at the Straz Center for the Arts in Tampa, Fla., as its music department chair, built the vocal music degree program at the College of Central Florida where he was the director of choral activities and applied voice, and founded the Orlando Chorale and the Orlando Chamber Singers, where he became a leader in the commissioning and performance of music by living composers. Additionally, he has served as chorus master for Opera Tampa, music director for Orlando Ballet and conductor of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C.

As a conductor, Ruffer has appeared on the stages of the Kennedy Center, Constitution Hall, Atlanta’s Symphony Hall, San Francisco’s Masonic Auditorium, Tivoli Gardens (Copenhagen), and the University of Oslo, among others. He is a voting member for the Grammy Awards with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences following his part in the recording “Of Rage and Remembrance” with the National Symphony Orchestra, the 1996 Grammy winner for Best Classical Recording.

Ruffer holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in music education from Bowling Green State University, and has completed the coursework for a Doctor of Education in college music teaching from Columbia University Teachers College in
New York.

Craig L. Anderson ’79

College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering

Craig L. Anderson is the Global Director for Marketing and Sales, Oil and Gas Engineering, for Gates Corp. in Houston.  He oversees a newly established oil and gas global business unit responsible for expanding and integrating products and services offering while managing all phases of commercial engagement through key relationships and sales channel management. Previously, he was vice president of marketing and sales of the Australia-based RYCO Hydraulics in Houston, directing customer service, sales and marketing for North and South America.

Anderson spent more than 30 years with the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland, where most recently he was the senior business unit manager for the engineered manifold systems division in Houston. Before that, he was the general manager of Parker Hannifin’s global energy products division for six years, implementing a corporate strategic plan through in-depth client engagement and human capital optimization. He also was the business unit manager of the global oil and gas business unit of the Parflex division, where he had previously served as the product sales and market manager. He started at the company as a territory manager, serving accounts in the Southwest. Anderson got his start at Brown & Root, Inc., a division of Halliburton, as a construction project engineer.

A native of Sidney, Ohio, Anderson graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in engineering technology and management. He served on the BGSU University Alumni Board of Directors, and is a Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity Alumni Board member. Anderson also is on the board of directors at the Riverbend Country Club in Sugar Land, Texas, is the executive leader of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night Walk” in Houston, and is a current association member of the Water Jet Technology Association Board.