Saint Louis University to Honor 2018 Outstanding Alumni
Twelve alumni from Saint Louis University have been recognized for their achievements and will receive this year's Alumni Merit Award. Additionally, for the second year the University will be presenting the Pioneer Award.
The National Alumni Board, Development Division, leadership and faculty from 10 schools and colleges across the University selected this year’s winners. The awards dinner on Thursday, Sept. 27, kicks off Homecoming and Family Weekend.
This year's honorees are:
Darryl Jones - College of Arts and Sciences, Class of 1977
Darryl Jones graduated from Saint Louis University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. The St. Louis native is the managing partner of D&D Concessions, LLC, managing partner in JHL Concessions, LLC, and principle of TRI-TEC, Inc., all based in St. Louis, Missouri. Jones is an active member of SLU’s Black Alumni Association (BAA) and has been instrumental in initiating and fundraising for the “Pioneers of Inclusion” scholarship for urban first generation St. Louis youth.
He is an active member of numerous community boards including the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis; Mers/Goodwill St. Louis, Missouri; and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.
Bruce Wolfe, M.D. - School of Medicine, Class of 1967
Bruce Wolfe, M.D., graduated from Saint Louis University in 1967. He is a bariatric surgeon who has devoted his career to surgical nutrition and the treatment of obesity. Wolfe began his research career in surgical, nutrition and bariatric surgery during his residency at SLU. He has made tremendous contributions over the years as a research scientist in the fields of obesity, comparative effectiveness and clinical research design methodology. Wolfe is a longtime advocate for the surgical care of the treatment of obesity in both California and Oregon, and chairs an NIH-funded research consortium studying the clinical, epidemiological and behavioral outcomes of bariatric surgery, known as the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS).
In 2016, he established the Bruce M. Wolfe, M.D. Endowed Scholarship at Saint Louis University.
Valerie Davisson - Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, Class of 1987 & 1992
Valerie Davisson graduated from Saint Louis University in 1987 with an Honors Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and in 1992 with a Master of Accounting. She is the president of West Newton Consulting, LLC, a firm that offers outsourced CFO and strategic financial consulting to privately held and venture-backed companies. Davisson serves on SLU’s National Alumni Board where she represents the New England area and serves on the development committee. The primary purpose of her work on the National Alumni board is to establish alumni scholarships for New England area students to attend Saint Louis University.
In 2011, she endowed the Valerie A. Davisson Career Resource Center in the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business. She is a past board member of AANE, the Asperger/Autism Network of New England.
Father Robert Flannery - School of Education, Class of 1979
Father Robert Flannery graduated from Saint Louis University in 1979 with a Master of Arts in Education. He is currently chaplain at the Newman Catholic Student Center at Southern Illinois University - Carbondale and continuing Pastor at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Carbondale, Illinois.
Father Flannery has many accomplishments as a pastor, community and diocesan leader, as well as a state, national and international leader in various vocational ministries and ecumenical and interreligious matters.
Sheila Haas - School of Nursing, Class of 1968
Sheila Haas graduated from Saint Louis University in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She is dean and professor emeritus of the Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing at Loyola University of Chicago.
Haas developed the nursing administration major and the dual degree master of science in nursing and business administration at Loyola as well as the undergraduate non-nursing health care administration major. She held a joint appointment to the Loyola University Chicago Graduate School of Business. Haas was an exceptional educator and is a well-recognized expert in multiple areas of nursing. She is known for her work in advanced education, translational research, care coordination and ambulatory care nursing. Her research interest in productivity, patient acuity systems and clinical ladders led to the discovery that research was lacking on those topics for ambulatory care.
Haas is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, has served on editorial boards, task forces and on the board of directors of numerous professional organizations, including a term as president of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing and the National Federation of Specialty Nursing Organizations.
Vasilikitsa Antonopoulos - Doisy College of Health Sciences, Class of 2002 & 2004
Vasilikitsa (Kitsa) Antonopoulos received a Bachelor of Science in Communication Science and Disorders in 2002 and a Masters in 2004, both from Saint Louis University. After graduating, she gained extensive experience in pediatric outpatient hospitals, early childhood programs, private practices and autism clinics.
In 2010, Antonopoulos founded the Step by Step Care Group, which transitioned in 2016 to Lumiere Children's Therapy, a pediatric therapeutic practice focusing on a multidisciplinary approach to children's therapy, including speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, social work and behavioral therapy. Antonopoulos developed and implemented a customized therapeutic preschool program that is designed to support children and families who do not fit into traditional pre-K programs. She also added programming in the form of therapeutic playgroups which support children’s overall developmental needs while focusing on social function, emotional intelligence and skill development.
She regularly accepts SLU occupational therapy and speech therapy students for clinical practicum and fieldwork training opportunities at Lumiere Children's Therapy.
Antonopoulos is licensed and certified in the state of Illinois for speech pathology and with the Illinois Early Intervention system in assessment and therapy. She received her certificate of clinical competency in 2004. She is also a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, Illinois Speech-Language Hearing Association, Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences, the Jesuit Honors Society and a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization.
Miguel Paniagua - College for Public Health and Social Justice, Class of 1992
Miguel Paniagua, M.D., Ph.D. (’92) is a general internist who was dedicated to primary care practice in an underserved area of Southern Illinois until 2005, and subsequently both with the Department of Public Health in Macoupin County, Illinois, as well as with correctional medical services until 2017.
For over 40 years, Paniagua has steadfastly maintained his connection with SLU both in his weekly attendance at Internal Medicine Grand rounds, his ongoing adjunct clinical instructor appointment in the School of Medicine (SOM) and his long-standing weekend commitment to the SLUSOM students at the Health Resource Center clinic, where he regularly wins the James Drake award for physician of the year from the student leaders.
Jose Lopez - Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, Class of 1969
Jose Lopez graduated from Saint Louis University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering. He is a retired Air Force reserve officer and engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the aerospace industry. Lopez spent most of his career with the Raytheon Company (legacy Hughes Aircraft Company) and Lockheed-Martin.
He is currently a part-time instructor in the Aviation and Aerospace Science Department at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. In 2010, Lopez established Rocky Mountain BEST (Boosting Engineering Science & Technology) in Colorado. He now serves as the executive director.
Rudolph Roeslein - Institute of Technology, Class of 1971
Rudolph Roeslein grew up in south St. Louis after immigrating to the United States from Austria with his parents in 1956. He attended Saint Louis University where he jokes that he majored in soccer and minored in engineering. Before Roeslein & Associates, he worked for an engineering group at Container Corp, a can manufacturing company where he first saw the potential and many opportunities that modular concepts offered. Soon after, in 1990, he started Roeslein & Associates where he and his employees designed, built and shipped entire systems globally. Today, Roeslein & Associates is a global engineering, modular fabrication and construction company that is home to more 400 employees with offices across the U.S, Europe, and Asia, and has had projects across six continents and 50 countries. In 2012, led by his true passion for wildlife and prairie restoration, he founded Roeslein Alternative Energy, an operator and developer of renewable energy production facilities that convert agricultural and industrial wastes, along with renewable biomass feedstocks, to renewable natural gas and sustainable coproducts.
Keith Willis, Sr. - School for Professional Studies, Class of 2002
Keith Willis, Sr. graduated from Saint Louis University in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Studies. He is a father of five children, husband, entrepreneur, and marketing and sales veteran. Currently he is vice president of sales for the Who’s Who Diversity in Color Directory and also hosts a community affairs weekly talk show, “Community Connections,” on Praise 95.1. He is a native of Columbus, Ohio, and a proud graduate of Saint Louis University. Willis also served on the Alumni Advisory Board of the School for Professional Studies for eight years.
Jason Sengheiser - School of Law, Class of 2003
Jason Sengheiser, J.D., graduated from Saint Louis University in 2000 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in German Studies and Environmental Science. After completing his undergraduate degrees, he went on to attend SLU’s School of Law and graduated with his Juris Doctor in 2003. Sengheiser is currently a Circuit Court Judge for the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court. He is a dedicated volunteer in both the local St. Louis community and at the national level. He serves on the Board of Directors of Paraquad and the Saint Louis University Prison Program, and has served on the Board of Directors for Amnesty International USA and the Young Friends of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. Sengheiser also serves on the Board of Governors of the Missouri Bar and the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and is very active in the American Bar Association. He also coaches a local youth hockey team.
Patrick Dreiling - Center for Advanced Dental Education, Class of 1965 & 1970
Patrick M. Dreiling, Sr., DDS, graduated from Saint Louis University in 1965 with a Doctor of Dental Surgery and in 1970 with a Masters in science in dentistry and orthodontics. He is a retired orthodontist who currently resides in Kansas City, MO with his wife, Mary Mermis-Dreiling. Dreiling was active in local, regional and national orthodontic associations. On a national level, through the American Academy of Orthodontics, Dreiling and Terry Duncan, DDS, combined their pledges to designate the Robert M. Ricketts Sunflower Orthodontics Fellowship Award. Additionally, with the generosity of Dreiling’s substantial pledge, others followed and the Center for Advanced Dental Education’s new building was established. Located in Dreiling-Marshall hall, the school now offers four state-of-the-art treatment clinics - orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics and pediatric dentistry. The St. Louis community continues to benefit from the Dreiling - Marshall hall by receiving millions in care at substantially reduced fees.
Pioneer Award - Lubna Somjee
Principal of Lubna Somjee, Ph.D. since 2005, Somjee is a psychologist and executive
coach passionate about change, growth and the power of collective strength. As an
executive coach, she works to maximize professional, or leadership, growth for those
at varying stages of their career or business. She also works with organizations by
helping to create robust, vibrant teams and organizations. Somjee is a licensed psychologist
and provides psychotherapy. Additionally, she has a subspecialty in health psychology
working with people managing chronic medical issues.
Somjee speaks to audiences regarding the workplace, leadership, psychology and integrative
health. She has been featured in media outlets from NPR and Fast Company to the Poughkeepsie
Journal where she had a column for 13 years. She volunteers with various organizations
to promote leadership and workplace development, diversity and inclusion, integrative
health, and healthcare legislation and reform.
Somjee obtained her BA in psychology from Saint Louis University, her Ph.D. in clinical
psychology from the University of South Dakota, and two postdoctoral fellowships from
Yale School of Medicine.
Saint Louis University established the Alumni Merit Awards in 1955 to recognize outstanding alumni and acknowledge the notable success of the University’s alumni.
Those selected for the award are alumnae and alumni who have lived the mission of Saint Louis University in daily life and who have achieved outstanding success in civic leadership, professional and social welfare activities, intellectual and cultural pursuits and have a continued interest and service toward supporting the enhancement of Saint Louis University.