The University of Notre Dame Alumni Association will present awards to six graduates during ceremonies this fall.
The Distinguished Alumnus award will be presented to Maj. Gen. Frederick Roggero, U.S. Air Force Chief of Safety and a 1976 graduate, during halftime ceremonies at the Notre Dame-Washington State football game Oct. 31 (Saturday) in San Antonio.
Commander of the Air Force Safety Center, Roggero develops, executes and evaluates all aviation, ground, weapons, space and system mishap prevention and nuclear surety programs to preserve combat readiness. He also manages, develops and directs all Air Force safety and operational risk management education courses.
A command pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours, Roggero commanded the 905th Air Refueling Squadron, the 319th Operations Group and the 22nd Air Refueling Wing, and air refueling units in operations Deny Flight, Southern Watch and Vigilant Warrior.
Roggero taught national security affairs at the Air Command and Staff College and served at the Department of State and the Joint Staff. He also was a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and served as director of public affairs in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Prior to his current assignment, he served as director of Air, Space and Information Operations.
Dr. Ronald Zamber, a 1983 graduate and co-founder of International Vision Quest (IVQ), will receive the Harvey G. Foster Award on Nov. 5 (Thursday) for distinguished involvement in civic and University initiatives.
In 2001, Zamber and his wife, Suzan, founded the non-profit organization that provides free eye care to people in developing countries, and provides financial resources to entities that care for children living in poverty.
The Zambers also funded, organized and participated in medical and surgical mission trips to Ecuador, Nepal, Malawi and Costa Rica, and during these trips Zamber performed free sight-restoring surgeries and sight-preserving medical care on thousands of impoverished adults and children. These experiences inspired the founding of IVQ, which helped fund the Rotary Netra Rural Eye Hospital in Vizag, India; supported the Malawi Children’s Village in Africa; and has provided donations for more than 100,000 meals for destitute children through the Feed My Starving Children Organization.
In addition, IVQ has contributed funds to the O’Hana Heritage Foundation to aid construction of a respite home for medically fragile children in South Bend, Ind.Zamber was voted a member of the “Best Doctors in America” for 2009-10 and was featured in Ophthalmology Management Magazine for his humanitarian work.
The Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, C.S.C., Award will be presented Nov. 5 (Thursday) to Marc Maurer, a 1974 graduate and president of the National Federation for the Blind (NFB), for outstanding contributions in the field of public service.
Maurer earned his law degree from Indiana University in 1977 and began focusing on representing blind individuals in the courts. He was blinded as an infant when he received too much oxygen after his premature birth, and his wife Patricia lost her sight in the same way.A member of the Bar in Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Maryland and the Bar of the Supreme Court, Maurer is one of the most experienced lawyers in the field of civil rights and discrimination against the blind.
As president of the NFB, Maurer joined President George W. Bush in the Oval Office in 2001 to celebrate the organization’s Everest Exhibition, and was present for Bush’s signing into law the Help America Vote Act of 2002. He has promoted new technology for the blind, including the Kurzweil—NFB Reader Mobile, a cell phone device that scans and reads aloud most printed material, and the prototype vehicle for the Blind Driver Challenge. He has overseen the massive expansion of the NFB Research and Training Institute, which was conceived for and by the blind and is developing new methods, technologies and services to support independence for the world’s blind.Paul Geary Jr., a 1965 graduate, will receive the Richard A. Rosenthal Award Nov. 6 (Friday) for his exemplary support of the Alumni Association.
Geary is a former president of the Notre Dame Club of Philadelphia and served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1988 to 1991, on the Notre Dame Senior Alumni (NDSA) Board of Directors from 2000 to 2005, and as chair of the NDSA Board for two years. Geary returned to the Alumni Board in 2003 as the senior alumni director.
Geary currently serves on the board of directors for the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), and has been working with the Alumni Association on a partnering arrangement with the CLI. He and his wife, Ann Marie, endowed the Chuck and Joan Lennon Family Eucharistic Lecture Series within the Alumni Association.
The Gearys are the parents of six children, four of whom are Notre Dame graduates: Paul III, 1988; Sean, 1990; Brenda, 1994; and Brendan, 2002. Their daughter Missy is a 1993 graduate of Saint Mary’s College.
Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan, a 1980 graduate and commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command, will receive the Rev. William Corby, C.S.C., Award for distinguished military service during halftime ceremonies at the Notre Dame-Navy football game Nov. 7 (Saturday).
Shortly after he was graduated from Notre Dame, Brogan was assigned as an assault amphibious platoon commander at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. From 1984 to 1987, he served as a guard platoon commander, operations officer, guard officer and executive officer in the Marine barracks at the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Va. In 1989, he assumed command of Company A, which was part of Task Force Ripper during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. In addition, he spent four years working on the Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle program before returning to the 1st Marine Division to command the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion. In 2004, he became an expeditionary fighting vehicle program manager.
Brogan’s military education includes the Assault Amphibian Officer’s Course, Advanced Communications Officer Course, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Defense Systems Management College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
The Rev. Arthur S. Harvey, C.S.C., Award will be presented Nov. 27 (Friday) to Theodore “Ted” Robinson, a 1978 graduate and longtime sportscaster, for his outstanding achievements in the performing arts.
A two-time Emmy Award winner, Robinson has announced games for the NFL , Major League Baseball, the PGA Tour, Olympics, college football and basketball, swimming and boxing. He has announced major-league baseball for more than 20 years—nine seasons covering the San Francisco Giants as the play-by-play radio and TV announcer, six seasons as the TV play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Twins, four seasons covering the New York Mets as the radio and TV announcer, and three seasons as the TV announcer for the Oakland Athletics.
In addition, Robinson worked for The Baseball Network for two years, worked four years on NBC Sports’ “Major League Baseball Game of the Week,” and spent several years as a play-by-play voice for CBS Radio’s “Game of the Week.” In 2007, he teamed with Steve Stone to call the American League Division Series for TBS.
Since 2000, Robinson has worked as the lead announcer for NBC’s coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon. He also broadcasts for the Tennis Channel and the USA Network and has called play-by-play coverage of the Olympics for the last six games—three Winter Olympics and three Summer Olympics—most recently covering diving at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Currently, Robinson is the radio play-by-play voice of the San Francisco 49ers.
Originally published by at newsinfo.nd.edu on October 20, 2009.
