2002 Distinguished Alumni

Frank S. Buzard A.B. '43
Colonel Frank “Buzz” Buzard’s 29-year career in military communications has earned acclaim. When he left the Air Force in 1972, he was honored with the nation’s highest noncombat award, the Distinguished Service Medal. In 2001 he was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame.

After having completed the advanced ROTC program and graduating from Washington University, Col. Buzard began his service to the country during World War II. Col. Buzard earned a postgraduate engineering degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Illinois, then joined the Air Force’s first satellite reconnaissance program. He managed the integration of all Air Force and contractor activities supporting the Discoverer/CORONA operations and oversaw the launching and performance of 62 Discoverer satellites.

Following a fleeting retirement, Col. Buzard accepted an associate professorship in systems management in the University of Southern California’s Institute of Safety and Systems Management in 1974. He stayed for 17 years. Today he and his wife, Patricia May Buzard, A.B. ’43, are active Washington University alumni, including membership in the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, as well as dedicated volunteer teachers in the public schools.

Leslie F. Loewe A.B. '42
Mr. Loewe joined Angelica Corporation, a uniform-manufacturing company in St. Louis, in 1947 after having earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Washington University and his master’s degree in business from Harvard University. In 1973 he was appointed one of two executive vice presidents of the company; in 1980 he became chairman and chief executive officer—positions he held until his retirement in 1990.

Mr. Loewe’s service to Washington University includes years of participation in the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy, membership in the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, and funding for the Les and Carol Loewe Scholarships in Business. In 2000 he established a charitable gift annuity to Washington University, a gift prompted in part by happy memories of the University and his pride in the stature it has achieved.

Marylen Mann A.B. '57, M.A. '59
Ms. Mann is co-founder and president of the OASIS Institute (Older Adult Service and Information Systems), a nonprofit organization established in 1982 to nurture the mind, health, and spirit of independent, active adults primarily in their 60s and 70s. Her efforts have earned her the Surgeon General’s Bronze Medal Award.

Her work with older adults has been part of 19 research projects, has received dozens of grants from funders including the National Endowment for the Humanities, and has been the subject of numerous scholarly publications and workshops. Through much of her career, Ms. Mann has also taught teacher-training curriculum development. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum, the National Council of Schools of Social Work, and dozens of other professional and community-service organizations. Ms. Mann is also active in the new aging effort at Washington University. The wife of Franklin A. Jacobs, she is the mother of Robert Mann and John Mann, M.B.A. ’96. 3

Melvin Lee Oliver M.A. '74, Ph.D. '77
Melvin Oliver is a first-generation college graduate whose working-class parents made higher education a mantra at home in Ohio. After earning his master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology at Washington University, Dr. Oliver turned to rigorous research, teaching, and professional service on behalf of social justice. From 1977 until 1999, he taught at the University of California–Los Angeles, where he helped build the interdisciplinary program in African-American studies, directed the Center for the Study of Urban Poverty, and was honored for distinguished teaching.

His landmark work, Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Equality (New York: Routledge, 1995), written with Thomas Shapiro, is one of only two books in the history of American sociology to win the profession’s distinguished scholarship award and an award from the activist Society for the Study of Social Problems. In this empirical study of differences in blacks’ and whites’ assets in the United States—disparities greater than the divide between incomes—he shows how inequities accumulate and can result from ongoing social policy. The work is distinguished by its inclusion of realistic public policies. As vice president for the Ford Foundation’s Asset Building and Community Development Program, Dr. Oliver implements his ideas about the importance of asset building for poverty reduction by supporting national and international programs and policies.

Russell S. Schwartz A.B. '77
At AOL Time Warner’s HBO Independent Productions (HIP), he is executive vice president for creative affairs, business, and planning. He has overall business and creative supervision for the primarily comic shows—such as Everybody Loves Raymond—HIP produces for the major networks. Mr. Schwartz is also senior vice president for merchandising and licensing for all HBO Original Productions programs, from The Sopranos to Six Feet Under.

Born in Manhattan, Mr. Schwartz graduated at 16 from Bronx High School of Science. At Washington University, he sampled disciplines, majored in history, was active in campus life, and had “a wonderful time.” After earning his law degree from Cornell University, he rose to partner in the Chicago firm of Sachnoff and Weaver. Eventually he abandoned corporate securities and moved with his wife, Susan Goland, to Los Angeles, where they live with their six-year-old daughter, Nora. A member of the Arts & Sciences National Council and the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, Mr. Schwartz co-chairs his regional campaign committee. He and his wife sponsor two annual scholarships and an endowed scholarship, both of which honor his beloved humanitarian grandmother, Ida Siwoff. With a strong sense of “an obligation to give back,” he is past president of his synagogue, philanthropic community supporter, fundraiser for his daughter’s school, and more.

Dean's Medal
James W. Davis
Teacher, mentor, scholar, writer, colleague, leader, and guide, Professor Davis has taught or team-taught courses in five schools on the Hilltop Campus: Arts & Sciences, Business, Engineering, Social Work, and University College (in the Master of Liberal Arts program). He has been associate provost (1978–80); associate dean for the College of Arts & Sciences (1978–70); vice chancellor (1980–86) responsible for student affairs and admissions; and acting dean of the School of Fine Arts (1989). He is a faculty associate in the newly constructed small-group housing on campus, and he led the advisory committee that developed the project’s guidelines. In 1997 he received a Distinguished Faculty Award at Founders Day. As director of the Teaching Center, Professor Davis oversees assistance, consultation, and services that enhance the teaching skills of graduate teaching assistants and faculty members.

One of the Hilltop Campus’ finest teachers, he received the Award for Teaching Excellence from the Council of Students of Arts & Sciences in 1997. Professor Davis teaches an undergraduate survey of American politics, a course on the American presidency, and a communications course in the business school. Other subjects he has taught include military history, politics and the media, government and business, and national security and defense policy. In all his classes, he focuses on active learning, involving the students in discussing ideas in groups, solving problems, thinking, and writing in order to learn.

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