STEWARD RESOURCES
_____
Steward and generate resources for strategic initiatives
Number of alumni worldwide and growing
Dollars raised
Scholarship/fellowship recipients
Priority funds donations (an increase of 38% from 2023-24!)
New donors
Faculty/staff support
Generosity Repaid
Scholarship Established to Benefit Education Study Abroad Students
BY TOM HANLON
Imagine receiving a check for $100,000 as a birthday gift. And turning it down.
That’s what happened to Michele Shoresman, ’71, Ed.M. ’74, Ph.D. ’89 ED.
The gift came from Qiumei Yang, M.S. ’92, Ph.D. ’96 BUS, who in 1990 came to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with less than $100 to her name. Her travel expenses were paid as a gift from Shoresman.
The two had met in summer 1988, when Shoresman was in Beijing, China, doing research for her dissertation. Yang, a graduate student at Peking University at the time, was assigned to translate for Shoresman and assist her as needed.
“At the end of Michele’s visit, she said I was such a bright student, and I should come to study in the United States for a Ph.D.,” Yang recalls. “But I just smiled and said I didn’t have the money to study abroad.
“I had never even dreamed of going to the U.S.,” she says. “Even to take the GRE, it cost $40. I told Michele I couldn’t even afford to take the test to get into grad school.”
“Well, you can now,” replied Shoresman, digging into her purse and fishing $65 out. She plunked the money into Yang’s hand and said, “There you go. Now go take the test.”
Journey to America
Yang took the GRE and the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams and applied for and received a scholarship to Illinois.
“At this point,” Yang says, only half-jokingly, “I knew if I didn’t come to the U.S., I would never be able to pay her back. But Michele just wanted to help me get here.”
Once in Champaign, Yang took an ESL (English as a Second Language) class, connected with other international students, and started to acclimate to a very different culture—thanks again in part to Shoresman.
“I was so lucky to have Michele here to help me,” Yang says. “She taught me about life, about cultural things. She gave me clothes. As a friend, as a person, as a mentor, Michele was everything for me.”
A Brilliant Career
Yang earned both her master’s degree and her Ph.D. in economics from Illinois and has gone on to a highly successful career that has spanned academia, regulatory bodies, and financial institutions.
She is a managing director and advisor to the CEO at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), a stock exchange operator akin to the NYSE or NASDAQ in the U.S. Yang has held significant positions in Chinese securities market regulation. She was also a member of the Hang Seng Index advisory committee, contributing her expertise to one of Asia’s most influential stock market indices. And she taught economics as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
That career, she notes, couldn’t have happened without her education at the U. of I.
Establishing a Scholarship
And that education, of course, would not have happened were it not for the generosity—and tenaciousness—of Michele Shoresman.
“All of my life, I’m grateful to Michele,” Yang says. “She opened the door for me. She was my family, my mom, my hero. She was everything to me—a strong woman with a warm heart who did everything she could to help me understand U.S. society and the university.”
And that sentiment prompted the $100,000 surprise birthday gift, which Shoresman insisted should go to the College of Education at Illinois and is now, officially, the Michele I. Shoresman Study Abroad Scholarship Fund.
Note: Dr. Michele I. Shoresman passed away on January 18, 2025, at age 75, after this original story was written and published.
Qiumei and Michele shortly after they met.
Qiumei on the Illinois campus.
Goldstick Initiative Amplifies Voices in Special Education
BY TOM HANLON
Caryn Zelinger and Gale Goldstick-Cohen in front of a plaque honoring their parents.
Phil and Bev Goldstick
Goldstick Scholar Michele Schutz
Phillip C. Goldstick, who passed away in February 2025, is remembered as a force for good within several University of Illinois circles. In the College of Education, he and his wife Beverly Kramer Goldstick are most remembered for their endowment that launched the Goldstick Initiative in 2005.
The initiative is an ongoing, three-pronged effort that features an annual lecture, scholarships, and fellowships to support research that enables children with communication disorders to live as independently as possible.
Phil and Bev, who passed away in 2018, were interested in funding research, education, and training because their granddaughter, Marissa Zelinger, has Rett syndrome—a genetic disorder that occurs primarily in girls and impairs motor abilities, including language and fine and gross motor abilities. There is no known cure for Rett syndrome.
“My parents created a wonderful marriage between what they wanted to accomplish and the university and College of Education,” says Caryn Zelinger, Marissa’s mother. “They wanted to emphasize best practice in education so that students can go out in the world and be great educators in special needs and in communication.”
The Goldstick Initiative includes a Goldstick Family Scholar, charged with providing leadership to the annual Goldstick Family Lecture Series on Communication Disorders. This year, Michele Schutz, assistant professor in Special Education, became the fifth faculty member to receive the honor.
“Caryn and I are committed to supporting and facilitating the legacy that our parents started,” says Gale Goldstick Cohen. “The venue that we have through the university is a robust one, with people who are as committed to this as we are. We plan to continue what our parents began.”
Giving Inspiration: The Colleague Whose Advice Changed His Life
Keith Slaughter is honoring his former PLATO colleague, Bonnie Anderson Seiler, with an endowment geared toward students in the CS + Education program.
BY TOM HANLON
Above and Below: Keith Slaughter and Bonnie Anderson Seiler, then and now.
Background: PLATO IV from 1974, courtesy of The Grainger College of Engineering
Keith Slaughter, LAS ’75, walked into a bar on Green Street at the University of Illinois one evening in 1973. When he walked out, the course of his life had changed. All because of a conversation with Bonnie Anderson Seiler, Ed.M. ’73 EPSY.
They worked together on numerous PLATO programs, with Slaughter developing and programming games for elementary students to learn math.
Slaughter admitted that he had been thinking of leaving school, but was really enjoying working with everyone at the lab and designing educational programs for students.
“Well, Keith,” Anderson Seiler said. “You know you could do this for a living, right?”
“That was the first time I’d actually thought that I could do computer programming for a career and have a social impact.”
Slaughter did make a career out of computer programming. He worked as a computer programmer and manager at the University of Illinois, at Control Data Corporation in Minneapolis, at the University of Delaware (with Anderson Seiler), and at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream. His work has had a lot of impact on countless numbers of people.
And that impact will continue, as he has established the Bonnie Anderson Seiler Scholarship Endowment in honor of his colleague.
“The endowment is intended to support the Department of Curriculum & Instruction within the College of Education,” says Jana Zollinger, director of advancement for The Grainger College of Engineering. “Its primary purpose is to provide undergraduate scholarships for students in the CS + Education program with an emphasis on learning sciences.”
“I believe this program is helpful for undergraduate students interested in a career involving computer technology in education to get a head start in learning fundamental teaching and educational design principles alongside computer-related implementation skills,” Slaughter says.
In creating the endowment, Slaughter says he wanted to leave a legacy that would benefit others beyond his lifespan.
Kayla (left) and a friend at the College’s first-year student welcome event.
Alumni Couple Establish New Fund to Support Students
Illinois alumni Daniel, ’68 MEDIA, and Nancy Prickett, ’69 ED were greatly helped by their Illinois education.
“I don’t think there’s anything better you can do for a child than give them a good education. And you have to have good teachers to do that,” Nancy says. “Hopefully this gift will help someone, or several people, to cross that bridge and become a great teacher.”
Kayla Wong is a junior from Schaumburg, Illinois and a 2025 recipient of the Prickett scholarship. She is majoring in Middle Grades Education: Mathematics with an ESL endorsement. "I am honored to receive the Prickett Scholarship and so excited about the future," Kayla says. "Because of the Prickett’s generous support of future educators, this scholarship allows me to focus entirely on my pursuit to be an impactful teacher and leader, and worry less about the financial aspects of college.”
Smith
New Scholarship Fund Highlights the Art of Giving
Former College of Education professor Ralph A. Smith and his wife, Christiana M. Smith, enjoyed long and impactful careers at Illinois. A bequest made in their wills ensures that their impact and legacy will live on for a long time. The Ralph A. and Christiana M. Smith Scholarship Fund will provide scholarships to support undergraduate students in the College.
Heather Zorn, the College’s assistant dean for advancement, notes that the size of individual scholarships will depend on students’ financial situations. “The Smith’s investment in future educators is itself incredible. This fund allows the flexibility to support students at various levels, which is even more advantageous.”
Pride & Joy
Alumnus Ronald Rochon, Ph.D. ’97 EPOL, president of California State University, Fullerton, delivered the keynote address at the College of Education’s 2025 Convocation Ceremony on Sunday, May 18. Ron had a core memory moment, hooding his son Ayinde Rochon, Ed.M. ’20, Ph.D. ’25 EPOL, now a two-time College of Education at Illinois alumnus himself.
“I’m extremely proud of the work Ayinde has done during his time in the College,” says Ron. “I cherish our connection through the Illinois experience that we’ll always be able to share.”
Above: Ron and a young Ayinde. Photo provided by the Rochons.
Ron Rochon (right) hooding his son, Ayinde, along with mentor Christopher Span.
A Doctoral Dream Fulfilled
As graduation approached in May 1975, Diane Wilen, an Educational Psychology Ph.D. candidate, had to make a gut-wrenching decision. She and her husband Barry were living in Florida, and a trip to Champaign to attend her graduation ceremony wasn’t feasible.
Barry surprised her 50 years later, working with the College to see Diane finally be recognized for her doctoral degree. Added bonus: Diane’s son Craig, an associate professor at Yale University, ceremonially hooded her. “It’s truly never too late in life to celebrate big accomplishments,” Diane says.
The Wilens have created the Diane Kriger Wilen Educational Psychology Graduate Award Fund to support graduate summer research awards and pay for students’ research expenses related to their education and coursework.
Diane and son Craig at the 2025 Convocation Ceremony.