Category Archives: Congrats

Congratulations Illinois 8A State Football Champion Coach Mike Stine ‘84

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stineWhen someone reaches the pinnacle of their profession it’s certainly worth noting and one of our own, Mike Stine ’84 did that this past weekend. Mike is the Head Varsity Football Coach at Naperville Central High School and his team won the Illinois State 8A Football Championship on Saturday. The Redhawks had an incredible year fighting through the DuPage Valley Conference, arguably the toughest in the state, and then proceeding to win four straight in the playoffs against the best teams in Illinois to win the prestigious 8A crown (largest school class in Illinois).Continue reading→

Rob Kneupfer, Jr. 1974 Dennison recognized with Order of Merit from Hungary

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Knuepfer“…to have no narrower limits within which to work together for the elevation of man than the outlines of the world…”

We all know those words from the ATO Creed but few exemplify them better than Robert C. Knuepfer, Jr. 1974, Dennison. Normally, we reserve reporting here for Gamma Zeta News and Rob wasn’t a Gamma Zeta. But, his grandfather, Russell S White 1917 was GZ Worthy Master in 1916/17 and his uncles, Robert L. White 1946 and David N. White 1954 are Gamma Zetas. Also, Rob served as Gamma Zeta Chapter Consultant and went on to be National Worthy Grand Chief… so, we’ll proudly claim him.

On Friday, November 22 at a reception in Chicago, Rob was honored with the Order of Merit of Hungary by Zswolt Nemeth, Deputy Foreign Minister. Rob was recognized for his years of service to Hungary and in large part for his efforts in helping Hungary transition from socialism to capitalism. Just to put Rob’s influence in perspective, he also oversaw the opening of Baker & McKenzie offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tashkent, Baku, Warsaw and Prague, and helped bring high-profile U.S. companies to Hungary, including General Motors, Ford, General Electric and Pepsi.

Here’s a link to an article in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin which provides a great deal more detail about Rob – “A knight-like recognition” – http://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/Articles/2013/12/02/Amicus-Curious-Knuepfer-12-2-13.aspx

Bob Simonds (Gamma Zeta ’46) was invited to represent ATO at the reception honoring Rob. Bob was unable to attend so he invited John Aymond ’80 and Dane Luhrsen ’77 to stand in for him and they were honored to represent ATO in support of Rob at the reception.

Bob Simonds’ 47 raises over $54,000 for ALS research

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simonds walkOn September 22, Bob Simonds, Gamma Zeta ’47 led thousands of walkers along the Chicago lakefront as the family chairman for this year’s Les Turner Foundation ALS Walk4Life. The 2013 event has raised over $700,000 for ALS research and it was Bob and his team that led the way from the very start. Bob’s team was the #1 team with over $54,000 raised and Bob was the #1 individual fundraiser at over $36,000 raised alone. Within those numbers are over $10,000 from Gamma Zeta undergrads from their Mom’s Day event last spring and over $10,000 from Gamma Zeta Alumni and the event last weekend at the Soldier Field Illini vs. Washington football game.Continue reading→

Bob Simonds ’43 Surpasses $60,000 Goal for Les Turner ALS Foundation Fund Raising

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simonds alsALS has put Bob Simonds ’43 in a wheelchair unable to walk, talk or eat on his own but he didn’t let that stop him from achieving an incredible goal of raising over $60,000 for ALS research this year. Bob initially set a “stretch” goal of $50,000 which was significantly higher than last year’s achievement. However, with strong contributions of over $11,000 from Gamma Zeta undergraduates and their Mom’s Day fund raiser last spring and over $11,000 from Gamma Zeta Alumni from the program initiated by John Aymond ’80 at the Illini vs. Washington football game at Soldier Field in September, he raised the bar again to $60,000. Andy Daniels, ATO Tulane ’75 (our own Stu Daniel’s son and grandson) agreed to pitch in another $1000 to put Bob over the top if he could get to $59,000.Continue reading→