Talk about a Gamma Zeta ATO through and through, listen to this resume…

• Pledged during informal rush first semester of freshman year
• Moved into the house second semester freshman year and lived in the house through graduation
• Served terms as Social Chairman, Rush Chairman and as a Senior was President of the Senior Advisory Committee, a small group of seniors who served as mentors to the younger members of the fraternity, particularly focused on redirecting some hazing practices that had gotten out of hand
• Was awarded the prestigious Thomas Arkle Clark Award as a Senior as the top Senior ATO in the country
• Met his wife Lynn through an ATO brother
• Introduced his sister to brother Doug Ausnehmer and they later married
• Nearly 20 years after graduation, still counts among his best friends, guys he lived in the ATO house with such as Doug, Dan Tarpey, Quinton Bailey, Matt Menna and Jay Nuttal to name a few
• Describes his ATO experience as “fantastic” and the guys in the house at the time then and now a “strong and tight group”

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We’d like to thank Matthew Massucci ’96 for participating in this month’s alumni Q&A:

Where did you grow up and can you tell us a little bit about your childhood family, interests and activities?
I grew up in Barrington, and graduated from Lake Zurich High School.

Why did you choose the University of Illinois? What did you study?
I visited my older sister (Amanda) several times at Illinois several times and loved it. I never really considered any other schools. I was an Accounting major.

What was rush like at the time and why did you choose ATO?
I rushed in the fall of 1992 with my roommate (Al Strobl) and suite-mate (Dan Vanderweit). My roommate was a wrestler, and I definitely rode his coattails through the rush process. Ironically, Dan and I both went through pledgeship, but Al dropped out midway through (and later flunked out of school). I was one of the last pledges and I was definitely impressed with the pledge class that was in place.Continue reading→

From the moment he first rushed Alpha Tau Omega, the fraternity stood out above all others and Donald Ainsworth ’42 knew it would be the fraternity for him. Now, some seventy years later, Ainsworth reflects fondly on his college years with the fraternity and continues to be involved with the organization as an alumnus.

“Being an ATO has been a tremendous plus in my life,” Ainsworth said. “If I could go back, I wouldn’t want to relive just one moment- I would want to relive all four ATO years.”

While reliving his college years is not a viable option, Ainsworth enjoys being able to stay active within the fraternity organization that he says has done so much for him.

“The best thing about my alumni experience has been the opportunity to stay in touch with many of my Illinois ATO brothers and to meet many ATO’s from other chapters via our monthly luncheons,” Ainsworth said.

The monthly luncheons are held on the third Tuesday of each month at the Greenbriar Hills Country Club in Kirkwood, Missouri. Ainsworth strongly encourages members to take advantage of opportunities such as these.

“I would encourage not only ATO’s, but members of all fraternities to make their fraternity membership a life-long experience,” Ainsworth said.

Ainsworth graduate from Illinois in 1942, after which he served as an FBI agent and a cryptographer for the U.S. Navy. He then graduated from the Washington University Law School and went into the insurance business, where he served as the insurance commissioner for the State of Missouri. In addition, he has served on the Kirkwood, Missouri City Counsel, as president of the Kirkwood Chamber of Commerce and various other boards and committees.