Bob Sebo ’58, ’13 (hon)

    
Philanthropist Bob Sebo ’58 of Salem, Ohio, was surprised and thrilled to be recognized with an honorary doctorate, the highest honor bestowed by the University, during commencement exercises in May.

Sebo is known as one of BGSU’s most generous supporters, investing more than $5 million to educate students through athletic and music scholarships, enhancing athletics with a lead gift to build the Sebo Athletic Center, and fostering regional business development through 10 years of the Sebo Series in Entrepreneurship events.

He concluded a nine-year term on the BGSU Board of Trustees in 2011 and was inducted into the Dallas-Hamilton Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame at BGSU in 2008.

Sebo credits BGSU with helping to prepare him for a leadership role at then-startup payroll accounting firm Paychex. The company enjoyed a “storybook rise,” Sebo said, growing quickly to become the second largest payroll service in the nation. When Sebo retired as senior vice president of Paychex, dozens of managers and administrators he had hired and mentored were enjoying Paychex’s success as millionaires.

He continues to help others achieve success. When seventh- and eighth-graders visit campus to learn more about managing money during the BGSU Falcon Millionaires program each summer, Sebo goes out of his way to spend time with them and answer their business questions.

Sebo said he enjoyed the “surprise of a lifetime” when he learned he would receive the honor, and likes to joke with pals about his new nickname: “Dr. Bob.”

“‘Doctor’ relates to me a very deep commitment to education, to study and work hard,” Sebo said. “So from the academic standpoint, it knocked my socks off. Having a doctorate bestowed upon me never crossed my mind.”

Tom Egan ’95

President and CEO, Esperança

Tom Egan ’95 changed his major twice before he landed in Dr. Elizabeth “Betsy” Rice Allgeier’s psychology classroom, where he realized his urge to help people and participate in the global movement to alleviate poverty. He admired Rice Allgeier for her global perspective, and her recollections of contracting a tropical disease as she researched African tribal groups early in her career.

Now that Egan is leader of Esperança, an Arizona-based nonprofit that provides public health services, food and clean water to three of the world’s most impoverished nations, he credits his BGSU education and inspiration from faculty emerita Rice Allgeier for helping him to realize the major impact he might have in the world.

As head of Esperança, Egan manages missions of volunteers from the United States and Canada to provide medical care and help facilitate the development of food and clean water resources in Nicaragua, Bolivia and the African nation of Mozambique. The organization is named for the Portuguese word for hope.

The charity has evolved since its founding more than 40 years ago, when volunteers would fly in to build something and neglect to involve the indigenous people in the process. Instead, the organization now pushes “to find local solutions to local problems,” Egan explained. Esperança also provides health services in rural areas for those
who might otherwise rarely visit a medical professional.

Sarah Rath ’02

Associate producer, HBO’s “The Newsroom”

  
After a decade working behind the scenes of several popular television programs, WBGU-TV alumna Sarah Rath ‘02 enjoyed the first red carpet recognition of one her shows as the associate producer of HBO’s “The Newsroom.”

Rath is in charge of all post-production for “The Newsroom,” which earned nominations for two Golden Globe Awards for its first season. The show will air its third season in July on HBO. Though the show failed to capture the first major awards for which it was eligible during the Golden Globe ceremony Jan. 13, cast and crew are optimistic that additional award nominations will come this year, Rath said.

Rath oversees the arduous process that transforms digital camera footage into the one-hour program viewers enjoy. After teams of video and audio editors sweep the footage, another group of visual editors must perfect the footage by color correcting each of the 24 frames per second of video — which is more than 85,000 frames per episode.

As a telecommunications major, she first had the opportunity to handle a professional video camera through her involvement in the student-run broadcast news organization, BG-24 News, and WBGU. Rath believes she owes credit to the mentors she had at WBGU where she became confident whether working on the studio floor running camera and lights, behind the scenes editing video, or up in the control room operating the switcher or directing a production.

“I’ve moved up the ranks quickly, and I think that (WBGU) is a big reason why,” she said.

Photo: Sisters Emily ’04 and Sarah ’02 Rath celebrate Golden Globe nomination of “The Newsroom.”

Alan Heathcock ’96

Writer

Alan Heathcock left Bowling Green State University in 1996 with his Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing. He returned to speak at the Winter Wheat Festival of Writing in November and to read from his collection of short stories, “Volt.”

The book, which took him about 10 years to write, was named a “best book” of 2011 by national newspapers and magazines, was acclaimed by The New York Times and earned him many awards, including the recent Whiting Award in Writing, which also made him a good deal richer — the honor comes with a $50,000 prize.

The creative writing program has nurtured an extraordinarily successful group of alumni, Heathcock said, among them authors Anthony Doerr, Seth Fried and Joanna Howard. He remains a close friend of Doerr, who has also gone on to national success as an author. “We held each other accountable and kept working and pushing. I still feel we compete in the best possible way—if he gets an award, I feel my team has won. He inspires me to dig in and get it done,” Heathcock said.

Part of the alchemy of his BGSU time was the number of outstanding faculty who inspired and challenged him, Heathcock said. Now that his success has placed greater demands on his time but also allowed him more freedom, he is taking a break from teaching to work on new projects including writing for film and magazines. Though a bit daunted by having free time after so many years of disciplined work, “I’m excited by the prospect of just writing,” he said. 

Lori Steele ‘86

Chairman and CEO, Everyone Counts 

 
When the unlikely results of a recall election turned a movie star into California governor in 2003, BGSU alumna Lori Steele ’86 recognized a business opportunity that changed her career. She is founder, chairman and CEO of Everyone Counts, a company that develops software for balloting and has facilitated Web-based elections around the world.

Though most often the company deals with governments to streamline their election processes, Everyone Counts is now earning widespread attention with its latest high-profile client: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

As a student at BGSU, Steele expected that her psychology major would shape her career. Instead, it was a job as a receptionist at an investment brokerage in San Diego during a year she took off from studies.
She changed her major to business, and returned to the firm as an executive assistant after graduating from BGSU. Steele ultimately acquired an Australian voting company and found ways to further its reputation for security and transparency. Steele’s business is booming, and online elections are absolutely the future of voting for governments and private organizations worldwide, she said.

2013 College Alumni Awards

BGSU alumni received well-deserved recognition in March at the 2013 College Alumni Awards. With an honoree from each of the University’s seven colleges, BGSU celebrated accomplished alumni for their service to their professions, their communities, and to the University.

From left to right: Anthony Rucci ’72, ’76, ’78, College of Arts and Sciences; Jennifer Winstel ’90, College of Business Administration; Dr. Pamela Cross Young ’74, College of Education and Human Development; Richard Jeffrey ’70, Firelands; Tom Stofac ’81, College of Health and Human Services; William G. Zurkey ’77, College of Musical Arts; and Brad Brown ’81, College of Technology.