2017 Annual Report

The generosity of two successful UT alumni will provide another boost to helping UT accounting students succeed as leaders in the business world.

A $1 million gift from Alan Barry (Bus ’66) and his wife, Karen A. Barry (UTCTC, ’64) has established The Alan H. and Karen A. Barry Endowed Professorship in Accounting. The endowed professorship will support bridge or pilot research projects, faculty and staff development costs, curriculum development, a fellowship program, and related specialized equipment.

The Barrys have a history of philanthropy at The University of Toledo. In 2014, the University named a new accounting lab in Mr. Barry’s honor. At the time, it was the first lab nationwide to have a certified management accountant (CMA) license, in which students could access free CMA review material from Wiley, a leading provider of educational programs for professionals and students preparing for the CMA exam. The lab’s services include free income tax preparation assistance for qualified, low- to moderate-income individuals and families in the Toledo area.

The couple also endowed the Alan and Karen Barry Scholarship Fund, which provides support for UT accounting students, based on both merit and need.

The Barrys’ interest in supporting the Accounting Department grew out of a nostalgic return to campus.

“I was invited back to the University about 15 or so years ago,” said Mr. Barry, now an active member of UT’s Alumni Association and Blue Key organization, as well as a trustee on the UT Foundation Board. “I hadn’t been on the campus for a long time, and I guess I kind of fell in love with the place for the second time.”

Mr. Barry, a certified public accountant and the retired president and chief operating officer of the Fortune 200 company Masco Corporation, said giving back to UT students is a pleasure for him and his wife, Karen. “The accounting background I got at the University was beneficial to me throughout my career. I’ve always been a supporter of the University, and once I was in a position to do so financially, I felt pretty good about giving back to the University that gave me the opportunity to succeed.”

“UT’s College of Business and Innovation has benefited greatly from the generosity of Alan and Karen Barry through their many gifts, which have supported both the management and accounting departments,” said UT President Sharon L. Gaber.

“Their donations have helped our business faculty prepare UT students to enter the accounting and management professions with the necessary critical-thinking skills and core business principles to succeed as leaders in today’s competitive marketplace," said Dr. Gaber. “This newest gift adds another level of support, ensuring that our students are receiving the best possible education in accounting, and that our faculty have the resources they need to deliver an education of excellence. The University is deeply grateful for Alan and Karen Barry’s generous gift and all that they do to support UT students.”

For more information on supporting UT’s College of Business and Innovation, contact Dan Stong, senior director of development, at daniel.stong@utoledo.edu or 419-530-5525.

When Dr. Bodo Diehn was 15, a classmate in Germany showed him a textbook on chemistry, a subject he wasn’t scheduled to study until the following year. He had no inkling it would lead him on the path to a multifaceted career and ultimately result in his making a major gift to The University of Toledo.

“At 15, I was a jaded veteran of the usual hobbies,” Dr. Diehn said. “Within six weeks I understood chemistry at the elementary level at which the book presented it, and decided that I had to see these exciting transformations taking place.” He set up a laboratory in his apartment attic and started to make compounds which, to the “consternation and mystification of innocent bystanders and schoolteachers,” included bromoacetone—also known as teargas.

Seeing chemistry as a career with “the appeal of mysteries waiting to be discovered,” he received his undergraduate degree at the University of Hamburg before moving to the United States and eventually receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.

Joining the faculty of The University of Toledo in 1966, Dr. Diehn rose through the ranks to professor in 1975. An outstanding teacher of chemistry and researcher in the field of biophysical chemistry, he focused on the effect of environmental agents on the visual systems of simple organisms. He was nominated for UT’s Outstanding Teaching Award in 1977 and was named the first Sigma Xi Outstanding Researcher at the University in 1978. In recognition of his achievements, the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics awarded him the title of Distinguished Scholar of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

His extraordinary career includes serving as director of the Legislative Science Office of the Michigan Legislature, as well as establishing The University of Michigan’s Michigan Research Corporation to assist faculty in bringing their inventions to the marketplace. He also served in several positions in the state of Arizona, specializing in environmental protection and focusing on the control of hazardous materials, risk assessment and management, and regulations.

Yet nearly 40 years after leaving The University of Toledo, his time at UT remains memorable.

“I spent my short academic career, a dozen years only, entirely at The University of Toledo,” he noted. With a concentration on research, he was “stunned” when he was awarded both the Atomic Energy Commission grant in hot-atom chemistry and the National Science Foundation grant for photomovement in microorganisms.

While also teaching at UT in his field of expertise, he decided he should learn more about instructional theory. “I took classes in the College of Education, did six weeks of student teaching at Whitmer High School, and got my secondary teaching certificate,” he said.

Besides his rewarding research and teaching endeavors, he also recalls his time at UT for other professional and personal accomplishments, including becoming a U.S. citizen and beginning his first foray into what he referred to as the “steam-engine era of computing."

Wanting to give back for what his tenure at UT provided him, Dr. Diehn recently created a full scholarship, the Dr. Bodo Diehn Scholarship in Chemistry, for a University of Toledo student majoring in chemistry.

“In my own studies, I had a free ride all the way to my Ph.D.,” he noted, “and I want a UT chemistry student to benefit from the same.” In addition, his scholarship fund will include a $500 monthly stipend for the student’s miscellaneous needs.

“By supporting an outstanding undergraduate,” he said, “I also hope to burnish our institution's and department's name with top-tier universities where the scholarship recipient may go for graduate studies.”

For more details on supporting students or programs in UT’s College of Natural Sciences and Math, contact Nick Butler, director of development, at nick.butler@utoledo.edu or 419-530-5413.

Sometimes, taking a couple steps back is what it takes to move a giant leap forward.

Jessicca Angelov took a six-year hiatus from college before moving back to Toledo to finish her undergraduate degree at UT. Once she returned and was working at the UT Medical Center while pursuing her degree, she encountered health issues that prompted her to leave her job. At the same time, she also began reconsidering her career objectives.

“As a nontraditional student, a clearer picture of my future emerged, and I had the benefit of being more mature and focused,” she said.

Her current interdisciplinary program through University College combines environmental, business (entrepreneurial studies), and religious/philosophical studies. “My degree will include the new sustainability minor offered by the University. I plan to have one foot in academia and one foot in agriculture and environmental sustainability,” she noted. “These are my top passions, and within my holistic view, I see them, as they exist, together.”

The environmental sustainability focus includes her ideas for sustainable business startups and initiatives and plans for mid-scale farming. “I want to help society find a way back to living in a way that considers the generations that follow us as well as the health of our world and humanity,” she said.

Ms. Angelov has already gotten a jumpstart on helping society. She has been actively involved in a lengthy list of campus and community organizations. “All the things I do I see as necessary to build the world I wish to see and to live in a way that encourages others,” she said.

Without income or any family assistance, and wanting to avoid incurring debt, she applied for every scholarship possible while focusing on her studies and her campus and community involvement. Her efforts have paid off through academic achievement (a cumulative 3.9 GPA as she enters her senior year) and aid through several UT scholarships.

Her scholarships through the UT Foundation have included the KeyBank Diamante Scholarship, University Women’s Commission Scholarship, Virginia L. Kline Memorial Scholarship, Elaine and Amos Patterson Scholarship, Dr. Patricia J. Metting Scholarship, and Susan M. Beilstein Scholarship.

“The scholarships I've received throughout my time at The University of Toledo have hugely impacted my life and have assisted me in being able to focus solely on my studies and extracurriculars that complement them. I am extraordinarily grateful to receive, be recognized, and become a part of the communities that provide such great opportunities,” she said.

“God willing,” she added, “I look forward to giving back in the near future."