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News and Events

News & Events Recaps

January 2006

  • Pepperdine’s Center for the Arts presented Sing! Sing! Sing!, a tribute to Benny Goodman starring clarinet virtuoso and prolific recording artist Ken Peplowski. Benny Goodman’s 1938 Carnegie Hall concert opened the door for jazz to be appreciated as a true American art form. Revisiting this famous concert with original charts, Peplowski and the Kingdom of Swing Big Band performed such hits as “One O’clock Jump,” “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” “Don’t Be That Way,” and the climactic finale, “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

  • Acknowledging his achievements as an athlete, coach, and upstanding citizen, Terry Schroeder, men’s water polo coach, was honored with the 2006 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. Regarded as one of the world’s outstanding water polo players, Schroeder is at the heart of Pepperdine’s program, serving first as a team member and then as head coach for 20 years. Given to only six recipients per year, the Silver Anniversary Award recognizes former student-athletes who complete successful collegiate careers and excel in their chosen professions. Previous honorees include Senator Jack Kemp, Anita DeFrantz, Jack Nicklaus, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

  • The Second Annual Frank Pack Distinguished Christian Scholar Lecture Series and the Seaver Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series hosted J. D. G. Dunn, Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham, England. He presented a series of lectures titled “Jesus Remembered (The Making of Christianity).”  Dunn is a New Testament scholar widely known for writings on the Holy Spirit, St. Paul and Jesus, as well as for his studies of the evolution of the historical critical method and the relation between Christianity and Judaism in the first century.

  • Former All-American Michael Putnam, who enjoyed one of the most decorated careers of any student-athlete in Pepperdine history, was presented with a plaque commemorating his selection as the 2005 recipient of the prestigious Byron Nelson Award during a halftime ceremony of the men's basketball game against Oklahoma State.  Putnam, who was a three-time All-American, received the award from Gregg Grost, president of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) along with Mike Dunphy of the Cleveland Golf Company, the award sponsor. Pepperdine head coach John Geiberger and John Watson, director of athletics, also presented.

  • Jim Smith, Graziadio School alumnus and former Fortune 500 company executive, spoke to the Academic Forum at the West Los Angeles graduate campus about flawed ethics. His discussion was titled “Unwise Business Decisions, Unanticipated Consequences.”

  • During the past two years, Pepperdine students have responded to tragedies such as the Tsunami in Asia, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Region, and the California wildfires with tremendous compassion and generosity. This generosity continued as the Class of 2006 voted for Senior Challenge funds to go to creating additional funds which will help the Volunteer Center partner with students, staff and faculty to assist victims of future disasters.

  • The Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art presented AOR, a solo exhibition of new works by Los Angeles artist Lita Albuquerque.  Albuquerque has made art that investigates connections between the earth and the cosmos since the 1970s, when she participated in the California Light and Space Movement.  The various components of AOR explored themes of becoming and emerging.

  • University Libraries and Great Books presented a poetry reading by Kay Ryan. Ryan has published six books of poems, most recently The Niagara River. Her work has been selected three times for The Best American Poetry and included in The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988-1997.

  • Pepperdine senior Christin Wismann won the National Opera Association (NOA) vocal competition held at NOA’s convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Competing with singers from colleges and conservatories across the nation, Wismann was awarded the $2,000 Nicolas Vrenios Award, the top prize in the category for singers 24 and under. In addition, she received a scholarship to the prestigious American Institute of Musical Studies, a training program for young singers held each summer in Graz, Austria. Only one week after winning the top prize at the competition in Michigan, Wismann returned home to win the Discovery Artist competition sponsored by the New West Symphony. As the top vocal prize, Wismann was awarded a contract to sing as a soloist with the symphony next season.

  • Lois Frankel lectured on “The Truth About Getting and Keeping the Job You Want: 10 Things They Don't Teach You in College or Graduate School.”  Frankel has human resources experience at a Fortune 10 oil company and founded Corporate Coaching International. Her list of clients includes The Walt Disney Company, Proctor & Gamble, and Amgen. She has been featured on the Today Show, CNN, CNBC and in the New York Times.

  • Pepperdine’s Institute on Law, Religion & Ethics presented UCLA professor Paul Bergman who discussed ethical dilemmas in the context of everyone’s favorite television or movie courtroom dramas.

  • President of the Disney-ABC Television Group and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, Anne Sweeney, spoke at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management’s Dean’s Executive Leadership Series at Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. Sweeney is the highest-ranking female executive in The Walt Disney Company and was recently named the Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter, one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune, one of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes and one of The Top 50 Women to Watch by the Wall Street Journal. With oversight of a business that spans that spans five continents, she shared her insights on how to remain entrepreneurial in an established industry.

  • Steve Hass from World Vision led a discussion in the Fireside Room on the worldwide AIDS pandemic, the political effects of suffering as it relates to lack of resources, access to affordable aid, and the struggles of women and children suffering from the AIDS epidemic in impoverished parts of the world.

  • During the Week of Peace, Hope and Justice, events were held to promote awareness regarding human rights issues pertaining to women and children. Among these exciting events were a Fair Trade Coffee Bar, a Nonprofit Fair and a World Vision HIV/AIDS Education Program.

  • The Seaver Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series continued with Neal Lane, former director of the National Science Foundation. He presented “America’s Future in Science and Technology—Some Storm Clouds on the Horizon” in Smothers Theatre. Lane served as the assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from August 1998 to January 2001. Lane, a professor at Rice University, also holds appointments as senior fellow of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

  • Dan Caldwell, distinguished professor of political science at Seaver College, and Robert Williams, associate professor of political science at Seaver College, published Seeking Security in an Insecure World, in December 2005. The book offers a thorough introduction to contemporary security studies. With clear and lively prose, compelling examples, and solid scholarship, it engages students and general readers who wish to gain a better understanding of what security means today and how it can best be achieved.

  • The Center for the Arts presented Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist Christopher Cross in concert at Smothers Theatre on the Malibu campus. For music lovers, the name Christopher Cross conjures up a wide variety of images: the hard-rocking narrative of “Ride Like the Wind”; the delicate introspection of “Sailing” and “Think of Laura”; the classic pop sounds of “Arthur's Theme” and “Never Be the Same.”

  • Pepperdine’s Volunteer Center sponsored a 5K run/walk race at Pepperdine's Stotsenberg Track to benefit students participating in Project Serve, Pepperdine's Spring Break volunteer service campaign.

  • The 2005-06 Modern Languages and Literatures Lecture Series resumed with Phil Thomason. He spoke about “Teaching Culture and Civilization Abroad: Madrid as Laboratory.”

  • The Institute of International Education has ranked Pepperdine University No. 2 in the nation for the percent of undergraduate students participating in study abroad programs. The ranking compares Pepperdine with other doctoral/research institutions such as Duke, Notre Dame and Stanford. More than 60 percent of Pepperdine's undergraduate students participate in some form of study abroad. Last year, Pepperdine was ranked No. 5 in the nation.

  • The Expressionists literary magazine accepted submissions of poetry, fiction, essays and visual art from faculty, staff and students for publication in its next issue. They also held a competition for cover art for the next magazine. The theme of the competition was “East Meets West,” in consideration of the Tsunami in Asia and the domestic hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast.

  • Pepperdine’s Fine Arts Division Theatre Department presented The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams in the Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre. There was a talk-back with the actors and director following the Friday evening performance. This production marked the Pepperdine directing debut of Bradley Griffin, assistant professor of theatre at Seaver College.