2000 Distinguished Alumni Awards

On May 19, 2000, we celebrated the achievements and generosity of six award recipients, who each represent the best aspects of a Washington University liberal arts education.

Meet The 2000 Recipients

Ted Drewes, AB ’50

Any St. Louisan with a sweet tooth knows the name Ted Drewes. This Washington University alumnus, who graduated just 50 years ago, owns the beloved local business, Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, which was founded by his father in 1929. Mr. Drewes donates frozen custard to local fundraisers; he gives away “mistakes” to Boy’s Hope, a Catholic charity; and he actively supports Shriner’s causes and children’s hospitals. Among the college students who work for him, he is well known for his generosity, offering $3,000-a-year scholarships—on top of regular wages—to encourage his employees to stay in school.

An economics major in Arts & Sciences, he is a strong supporter of Washington University as a member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society and occasional grand marshal of the Homecoming parade. In 1999, he won the “Gentleman’s Award” from his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon. When Mark Wrighton became chancellor, Mr. Drewes created a mocha-flavored frozen custard in his honor and called it the “Mocha Mark.”

Carol Tucker Foreman, AB ’60

In 1999 Ms. Foreman became a distinguished fellow and director of a new Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), an organization that includes some 260 nonprofit groups representing more than 50 million Americans. From 1973 to 1977 she served as CFA executive director, becoming a lead spokesperson for consumers on food issues, particularly meat safety.

Between her two positions at CFA, Ms. Foreman spent four years as assistant secretary of agriculture in President Carter’s administration. In this position, she earned a reputation for tackling—and winning—thorny political battles: expanding the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women’s, Infant, and Children (WIC); broadening food stamp coverage for the poor; and developing landmark “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” Next she founded, then coordinated, the Safe Food Coalition, which persuaded the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update its meat and poultry inspection system and to upgrade inspection of domestic and imported produce. She also founded her own consulting firm: Foreman, Heidepriem & Mager, Inc.

A political science major at Washington University, she has been active in alumni affairs, including service on the Alumni Board of Governors in 1996 and on class reunion committees. Ms. Foreman, who has been a member of the Washington University Board of Trustees, received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1978.

John L. Gianoulakis, AB ’60

John Gianoulakis, a partner in the St. Louis law firm of Kohn, Shands, Elbert, Gianoulakis & Giljum LLP, is a highly respected trial lawyer and a fellow of the American College of Trials Lawyers, an invitation-only group that includes just one percent of the nation’s attorneys.

Mr. Gianoulakis' practice has consisted primarily of civil work: representation of public school districts, defense of employment discrimination cases, and business litigation. From 1983 to 1999 he served as negotiator, then lead attorney, for St. Louis county schools in the voluntary interdistrict desegregation case, the largest transportation case of its kind in the United States. He has been president and board member of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, and one of three general counsels in this region for the American Civil Liberties Union. He and his wife, Dora, are now active in their Missouri River Bluffs community near Spanish Lake.

Mr. Gianoulakis, a political science major and 1963 Harvard Law School graduate, is a strong supporter of Washington University. He chairs his upcoming 40th class reunion; serves on Campaign, Scholarship, and Capital Resources committees for Arts & Sciences; supports the Arts & Sciences Annual Fund; and sponsors a student scholarship.

Winifred Bryan Horner, AB ’43

Winifred Bryan Horner has been described as a “heroine in rhetoric and composition.” Before her second retirement in 1996, she had a distinguished career at two universities as master teacher, expert on 18th- and 19th-century Scottish rhetoric, and author of 13 books and many articles. For these accomplishments she has received 15 awards, including “Rhetorician of the Year” in 1997 from the Young Rhetoricians’ Society.

Dr. Horner built her career gradually while her four children were growing up. In 1961, she received her master’s in English literature from the University of Missouri at Columbia, then began climbing the academic ladder at that institution. At age 50, she embarked upon doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, receiving that degree in 1975. In 1985, after retiring from the University of Missouri as a full professor, she accepted the Radford Chair of Rhetoric and Composition at Texas Christian University, where she later became Cecil and Ida P. Green Distinguished Emerita Professor. She has a strong record of service for many professional organizations, such as the Modern Language Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. At Washington University, Dr. Horner is a member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society and a supporter of the Century Club.

Jeffrey H. Mantel, AB ’70

Dr. Mantel has been a successful senior executive with expertise in global business management, product development, systems design, and risk or derivatives trading management for a number of international firms: Mocatta Group; Phillips Brothers; Mase Westpac; Deutsche Bank/Sharps Pixley; FNX, Ltd.; and Infinity Financial Technology. Last year Dr. Mantel became vice president of product management for a California-based Internet start-up company— Buckaroo.com—an electronic exchange for trading manufactured commodities.

Preparation for his financial career came in part at Washington University, where he majored in mathematics, then went on to earn a doctorate in mathematics at Northwestern University. After college, he also played semi-professional soccer for three teams, including the Chicago Mustangs, and worked as a professional soccer referee full-time before taking a job as a commodity derivatives trader on Wall Street.

A loyal and active Washington University alumnus, he has organized the Dean’s Luncheon series in New York City and served on building committees for McDonnell Hall and the Psychology Building. Dr. Mantel, a member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, has also endowed an Arts & Sciences scholarship in mathematics.

Richard A. Roloff

In recent years Washington University’s Hilltop Campus has been transformed by the construction or renovation of many buildings. The Medical Campus is also in the midst of sweeping construction. All these projects fall under the purview of Richard A. Roloff, who heads a talented team of employees and outside experts—recruited by him—who bring these projects safely to fruition. Additionally he oversees the entire administrative function of Washington University, from lawn maintenance and trash pickup to investment and finance—everything needed to support academic life.

A 1951 Washington University graduate with a degree in industrial engineering, Mr. Roloff began his career in the private sector, operating a home construction business in south Texas. President of the Merchants Marine State Bank from 1958 until 1969, he then moved to St. Louis to become executive vice president of the Alfred H. Mayer Company, a residential development firm. Later he spent 18 years as president of Capitol Land Company, the developer of Plaza Frontenac, The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis, and some 20 other commercial and residential projects throughout the St. Louis area.

Before joining the University’s administration in 1991, he was a member of the Board of Trustees, where he served on the Executive, Building and Grounds, and Real Estate Committees. He has also headed the major gifts committee for the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Elizabeth Gentry Sayad, AB ’55

A musician by training, Elizabeth Gentry Sayad is a devoted civic leader and volunteer, with a special focus on the arts. Over the years she has received awards to recognize her achievements, particularly the Missouri Arts Award in 1991 and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Woman of Achievement award for civic responsibility in 1976.

She has led the arts community in various roles: founding president of the New Music Circle, charter member of the Missouri Arts Council and the Regional Arts Commission, and advisory commissioner of the Saint Louis Art Museum. She was chairman of a 1976 national festival, Bicentennial Horizons of American Music and the Performing Arts, and founding president of Les Amis, a French colonial heritage support group. Mrs. Sayad has chaired or co-chaired festivities for the Loretto Hilton Repertory Theatre, Powell Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (as Missouri chair), and Mallinckrodt Center at Washington University. In 1991 she published a book, A Scarlet Thread: Collected Writings on Culture and the Arts.

Mrs. Sayad has been an active supporter of Arts & Sciences as two-time president of the Century Club, member of the Friends of Music and host of this group’s events, host of the Nemerov Poetry Reading, and member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society