Four
outstanding alumni will be honored at spring recognition ceremonies
presented by the Music, Theatre and Dance
Department and the School of Nursing.
The 13th Annual MaTilDa Awards, presented by the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance, will take place at the Royal Park Hotel on April 16 and will honor alumni Brian Dambacher and Mary Bischoff Devitt for their achievements in theatre and dance, respectively.
Brian Dambacher is currently an assistant professor of technical direction and show control at Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre. He received his B.A.P.A. (bachelor of arts in performing arts) from OU’s College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) in 1997 and holds a master’s of fine arts from the Yale School of Drama, where he specialized in scenic automation and stage machinery.
Mary Bischoff Devitt is a company member and rehearsal director for the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Michigan’s Premier Contemporary Dance Company. Her specialties include ballet and contemporary dance, and she has been teaching in the Detroit Metropolitan area for more than 13 years. She is a 2004 graduate of the CAS with a bachelor’s degree in dance.
The 24th Annual Nightingale Awards for Nursing will be held on May 10 at the San Marino Club in Troy. Alumna Cathleen Solecki is receiving the Distinguished OU Alumni Award for Nursing. Cathleen is a 2011 graduate of the masters in nursing program at OU and currently serves as the nurse lead for the Beaumont Grosse Pointe Hospital and Beaumont Health System Neuroscience Center of Excellence.
The alumni award runner up is Michelle Wallace, who will also be honored at the event. Michelle is a 1984 graduate of the School of Nursing and has served as a nurse clinician in the Radiation Oncology Department at Beaumont Health System in Royal Oak since 2001.