Member News

Burton E. Voss (Burt) died peacefully on Monday, January 13 at Glacier Hills at the age of 97 years. He was born in Fulton, IL on November 22, 1927 to Jennie and Charles Voss. Burt grew up on the banks of the Mississippi where his interest in science began. He attended Central College in Pella, […]

On the final day of the month our club had 199 Active Members. All membership information is pulled from ClubRunner statistics. Attendance for November’s meetings was 39% (down 5% from last month). Average attendance at each meeting was 78 members and 5 guests. Our Engagement Ratio for the month was 53% (down 1% from last […]

Elizabeth A. Nissen (aka Beth/Nis/Becky) died at home on January 7, 2025, three days after her 71st birthday. She was a veteran news, war, sports science, and arts correspondent who worked in network television with ABC News (“World News Tonight” and “Nightline”), cable news (CNN “NewsNight”), public television (WGBH “Nova Science Now”), online (CNN.com, NBCLearn.com), and […]

New Year Resolutions for 2025* New beginnings, fresh starts, reaffirmation of love and promises for a brighter future all come to mind as we ring in a New Year. There are the superficial, yet purposeful promises we make to ourselves. We resolve to get in shape, lose weight, improve career paths and the like. Then there […]

Condensed from history.com. Click here for the full link. On December 9, 1979, a commission of scientists declare smallpox has been eradicated. The disease is the only infectious disease afflicting humans that has officially been eradicated. Something similar to smallpox had ravaged humanity for thousands of years. In 1796, the English scientist Edward Jenner discovered […]

Soo K. Eaker (Sponsors: Carolyn Hiatt and Kate VanHorn) Soo Kim Eaker was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to the U.S. as a child. She was raised and lived most of her life in Houston, Texas. She earned a degree in MIS (Management Information Systems) and a Master’s in IT before spending six […]

The Rotaract Club at the University of Michigan started up in 2000 and officially was chartered on January 18, 2005. It gets together each fall to celebrate its chartering by welcoming new students to membership. On Tuesday evening, December 2, 21 Rotarians joined 12 Rotaractors at Knight’s On Liberty for this year’s iteration of this […]

The polio vaccine is “safe, effective, and potent.” With these words on April 12, 1955, Dr. Thomas Francis Jr., director of the Poliomyelitis Vaccine Evaluation Center at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, announced to the world that the Salk polio vaccine was up to 90% effective in preventing paralytic polio. Dr. Francis […]

President Joyce Hunter rang the bell to bring the meeting to order at 12:30. We sang My Country tis of Thee, accompanied by Jody Tull. Arthur Williams read some meaningful quotes from Nelson Mandela. Dave Koesaian, dressed in his Hawiian shirt, led us in singing Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific. President Joyce introduced guests […]

RCAA member John Barrie is traveling to Guatemala to install solar power and water filters on the homes of families having babies and families with very young children. The region of Guatemala where John will be working is “beyond the last mile”, where tools and equipment must be carried by hand through the mountains to […]