“We didn’t retire to knit and eat bonbons,” Ellen Feldman says, speaking of herself and her husband, Matthew. “Our goal is to make more of a difference.”
Much like the attractive force of gravity, a college campus has a way of connecting kindred spirits. In the case of Ellen (WRC ‘75) and Matthew (WRC ‘75) Feldman, Case Western Reserve brought two students together as a couple—and since then, their affinity for their alma mater has only deepened.
The connection took some time. Ellen and Matthew arrived on campus in 1971, but it wasn’t until two years later that they found themselves working together as volunteers for first-year orientation—and being paired up on one assignment after another. Within a few months, the two were dating and inseparable. (It didn’t hurt that they lived close to each other in the North Residential Village. “He lived in Cutler House,” Ellen says, “and I was in Hitchcock House—literally a stone’s throw away.”)
The couple made good use of their last two years on campus, hanging out at Wade Lagoon, sipping coffee at the Olive Tree and sharing time together in the law library—Ellen, an economics and math major, would work through math problems while Matthew, a history major, buried his nose in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
Ellen also took the opportunity to volunteer as an usher at Severance Hall.
“I was always interested in music, but that time really developed my love of classical music and going to the symphony,” she says. “Plus, I could bring a guest.”
“And I was the guest,” Matthew says, laughing.
More than four decades later, their appreciation for their campus experiences continues—as does their loyalty to CWRU.
After making regular gifts to the university over the years, the two decided the time was right for a larger gesture. So, through a $2 million estate gift to Case Western Reserve—and a challenge gift established under President Emerita Barbara R. Snyder—the couple created a scholarship for undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Feldman Family Endowed Scholarship Fund will have the potential to support multiple students annually, with a preference for students from populations that are underrepresented on campus.
“We want students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to access a quality education at Case Western Reserve to obtain one and have a full and successful life,” Matthew says. “It’s not more complicated than this.”
Joy K. Ward, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says she is humbled by the generous gift from the couple, who have been supportive and engaged for so many years. Both Ellen and Matthew have served on the college’s Visiting Committee, and Ellen is still a member.
“We know that to be excellent, we must be diverse,” Ward says. “By providing opportunities to our students, Ellen and Matt are helping us increase the college’s diversity and achieve our mission.”
For the Feldmans, the gift is also an extension of the work they’ve done in their careers, and more recently in retirement, to advance underserved communities, especially near their home outside Chicago.
Before retiring in 2020, Matthew led the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago as CEO for over a decade. During his tenure, he worked to reshape the culture of the wholesale bank—diversifying its board and recruiting top talent that reflected the communities the bank was intended to serve, particularly Black and Latinx populations. The experience opened his eyes to inequities not often seen or addressed by C-suite leaders.
“When I retired,” he says, “I decided I was going to devote a meaningful piece of my retirement to elevating racial equity.”
Ellen echoes her husband’s desire to extend their community service beyond their careers. A former executive in several industries, including higher education, she says they entered this phase of their lives prepared to leave a mark.
“We didn’t retire to knit and eat bonbons,” she says. “Our goal is to make more of a difference.”
In addition to their philanthropic endeavors, the couple is active in their synagogue and engaged in the community. Ellen volunteers on the board of The People’s Music School in Chicago—the nation’s oldest tuition-free music school, which serves students and families across a diverse spectrum of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.
For his part, Matthew is treasurer of the Evanston Community Foundation, working with local leaders to address long-standing civic issues. In 2019, Evanston’s city council became the first in the country to pass a resolution on reparations. Matthew sees it as an important step and is lending his financial expertise to the city’s ongoing efforts in this area.
Today, the Feldmans are grateful for the opportunities they’ve had—in part because of their time as students at Case Western Reserve.
“Look at what we got out of it,” Ellen says. “We got each other.”
Adds Matthew, “How can we not acknowledge that?”
Anthony Fossaceca is Case Western Reserve’s executive director of development and alumni communications.
By Carey Skinner Moss
From left: Edward Wang and his sister, Katharine, celebrated with their parents, Ju-Yun (Julie) Li and Shaomeng Wang, when Katharine graduated from Yale University.
Just as Shaomeng Wang (GRS ‘93, chemistry) was finishing his doctorate at Case Western Reserve University, he met his future wife, Ju-Yun “Julie” Li (GRS ‘95, chemistry), as she was working toward the same degree.
“It’s amazing because she’s from Taiwan and I’m from mainland China,” said Wang. “Those regions didn’t have much interaction at the time—but we were able to meet in the U.S.”
Today, they live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Li raised their two children full time following years in information technology. Wang is the Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor in Medicine and a professor of internal medicine and pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School. In addition, he is a professor of medicinal chemistry in the university’s College of Pharmacy and director of the Michigan Center for Therapeutic Innovation.
During the 20 years he’s been at University of Michigan, Wang’s research on small molecule therapeutics has led to the creation of five startup companies and the clinical development of nine new cancer drugs.
With the help of royalties and the sale of some of these companies, the couple has now been able to give back to the place where it all began, making a gift of $250,000 to the CWRU Department of Chemistry.
Their gift is divided among three priorities: faculty and graduate student research prizes; an annual department luncheon or dinner; and Frontiers of Chemistry, a lecture series the couple enjoyed as students.
“Frontiers of Chemistry exposed students and faculty to cutting-edge innovation and world-class research by top scientists,” Wang recalls. “It had a very positive impact on us, and we want to see it continue.”
The lectures also made a strong impression on one of Wang and Li’s late professors, Gheorghe Mateescu (GRS ‘71, chemistry), who collected dozens of the series’ printed programs from his days as a doctoral student.
Gheorghe D. Mateescu posed for a photo in his chemistry lab in May 1979. Courtesy of University Archives.
A pioneer in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance and magnetic resonance imaging, Mateescu launched his career in his native Romania before immigrating to the United States in 1967. After earning his doctorate from Case Western Reserve, he joined the faculty. Among other prizes, he won CWRU’s John S. Diekhoff Award for Distinguished Graduate Student Teaching..
After he died in January 2021, his widow, Claudia G. Mateescu, gave $150,000 to Case Western Reserve in his honor.
“The university meant very much to my husband. He was almost 40 when he moved here from Romania; it was very difficult,” says Claudia Mateescu, who met Gheorghe in the U.S. after also immigrating from Romania later in life. “When you find a place where you feel useful, you are very proud and you are very, very happy. For him, Case Western Reserve was like a second home.”
The Mateescus previously endowed two student awards in chemistry and one in biomedical engineering. Claudia’s latest gift adds to this legacy, establishing two new endowed funds.
The Gheorghe D. Mateescu PhD ’71 Memorial Lecture in Chemistry will bring renowned speakers of the highest caliber to the Frontiers of Chemistry series.
The Gheorghe D. Mateescu PhD ’71 and Claudia Mateescu Graduate Student Professional Development Fund will help promising graduate students in chemistry attend important professional activities, such as the annual American Chemical Society meeting and the Experimental Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Conference
“We are thrilled that our alumni look back fondly on their time at the university, and we take tremendous pride in their achievements,” says Gregory Tochtrop, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry. “Shaomeng’s contributions to cancer research have been extraordinary, and Gheorghe was an influential member of our chemistry faculty.
“We are deeply grateful to Shaomeng and Julie and to Claudia for supporting Frontiers of Chemistry, which brings world-class scientists and researchers—including Nobel laureates—to campus and strengthens our ties to the broader chemistry community,” Tochtrop continues. “And we’re equally grateful for their commitment to expanding opportunities for our remarkable students.”
Carey Skinner Moss is the university’s senior development and alumni communications specialist.
“Developments” highlights recent philanthropic support for the College of Arts and Sciences from alumni, friends, corporations and other constituents.
An anonymous donor created the Opportunity with Distinction Scholarship through a pledged estate commitment of $1 million. The scholarship will be awarded to undergraduates in the college, with a preference for students majoring in math or physics.
Philip Fung, Molly Fung-Dumm, Bryan Dumm, and their friends and family created two funds—the Lorna Fung Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Speech Language Pathology and the Fung Family Memorial Fund for Speech Language Pathology Initiatives—in support of SpeakEasy, a community-oriented initiative conducted by the Communication Sciences Program in the Department of Psychological Sciences. SpeakEasy addresses the needs of adults with acquired neurogenic communication disorders by offering education, support and treatment at no charge.
The Jesse Dee and Marjorie Franks Endowment Fund, established by Stephen and Kaye Franks, will provide support for geological sciences in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.
Simucase and Continued made a gift of $25,000 in support of IMPACT, a yearlong mentoring program for communication sciences students from backgrounds underrepresented in the professions of speech language pathology and audiology.
In memory of her husband, Margaret Robinson established the D. Keith and Margaret B. Robinson Postdoctoral Fellowship. Recipients will devote a year of research to the Data Science in Art project led by Elizabeth Bolman, the Elsie B. Smith Professor in the Liberal Arts and chair of the Department of Art History and Art, and Kenneth Singer, the Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics.
For more information on these funds or to make your own gift, contact collegesupport@cwru.edu or 216.368.4415.
With Dean Joy K. Ward looking on, Jeremy Rodrigues accepted his degrees at Commencement in May 2021.
Jeremy Rodrigues (CWR ’21; GRS ’21, military ethics) is the first graduate of Case Western Reserve University to be named a Schwarzman Scholar.
This highly competitive honor was conferred this year on 151 awardees from 33 countries and 106 universities. The scholars will do graduate work and participate in a leadership program at Schwarzman College, on the campus of Tsinghua University in Beijing.
While earning a Master of Global Affairs degree, Rodrigues will interact with foreign ministers, political leaders and entrepreneurs. He will also fulfill his dream of studying abroad—something he didn’t find time to do as an undergraduate.
During his four years at CWRU, Rodrigues juggled majors in economics, political science and philosophy, minors in mathematics and ethics, and ROTC commitments—not to mention the master’s degree in military ethics he completed his senior year.
“I chose everything,” Rodrigues says with a laugh. The Pittsburgh native decided to attend Case Western Reserve because it was the only university he knew of that would let him pursue three different majors at once.
“I wasn’t studying three diametrically opposed things—the subjects complement each other,” Rodrigues explains. “What you learn about economics applies to politics, and much of philosophy borders political science.”
Now a second lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve, Rodrigues has deferred acceptance to Yale Law School until 2023 while he completes the Schwarzman Scholars program. He has set his sights on a career in public service; over the coming years, he hopes to gain experience at the intersection of global economic development, national security and public policy.
—Carey Skinner Moss
Marilyn Sanders Mobley (GRS ’87, English), Case Western Reserve’s former vice president for inclusion, diversity and equal opportunity and emerita professor of English, was appointed to the National Advisory Council of Highmark Health/AHN Equitable Health Institute.
Kumar Srinivasan (GRS ’92, chemistry) was named executive vice president and chief business officer of Turning Point Therapeutics, a San Diego-based firm that develops targeted cancer treatments.
Anupama Hoey (GRS ’98, biology) was named chief business officer of Fountain Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Francisco. She holds a Master of Science degree in molecular biology.
Erin Clair (CWR ’99), associate professor of English at Arkansas Tech University, received the Association for General and Liberal Studies’ 2021 Jerry G. Gaff Faculty Award in the Emerging Campus Leader category.
Christopher Bedford (GRS ’03, art history) was named director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Megan Lykins Reich (GRS ’05, art history) was named the Kohl Executive Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, located in University Circle. She holds a Master of Arts degree in art history and museum studies.
Emma Adebayo (CWR ’09) was appointed executive director of admissions at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.
David McCormick (GRS ’11, music) was named executive director of Early Music America, a nonprofit that supports the performance and study of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. McCormick holds a master’s degree in historical performance practice.
Tobili Hatcher (CWR ’20) joined the Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University as assistant director of alumni engagement. She plans to complete a Master of Business Administration degree at Cleveland State University this spring.
School and Degree Abbreviations
CWR Undergraduates, 1989 and after
GRS School of Graduate Studies
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The notes in this section are compiled from news releases, other publications and messages from alumni like you. We want to hear about milestones in your life. Please send your updates, with your graduation year, to artsci@cwru.edu.