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The University of Minnesota cardiac researcher whose scientific breakthrough generated international acclaim earlier this year will be the keynote speaker at the 2008 University of Minnesota Alumni Association Annual Celebration May 29.

Doris Taylor recently led a team that created a beating heart by removing all of the cells from an animal cadaver heart and reseeding it with live cells. Within eight days, the new heart was pumping. “Going forward, our goal is to use a patient’s stem cells to build a new heart,” says Taylor, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Repair and Medtronic Bakken professor of medicine and physiology.

Alumnus Earl Bakken (B.S. ’48), founder of Medtronic and inventor of the world’s fi rst wearable battery-powered pacemaker, will introduce Taylor.

Plan now to take advantage of this exceptional opportunity to hear from one of the University’s world-class researchers. A reception and dinner begin at 5:30 p.m. on Northrop Mall. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. in Northrop Auditorium.

Tickets are available for the dinner and program or the program only. Cost for a table of 10 is $600 for Alumni Association members ($750 for nonmembers) and single tickets are $70 for members ($85 for nonmembers). Program-only tickets are $30 for members ($40 for nonmembers) and student tickets are $10. Tickets may be purchased at www.alumni.umn.edu/AC08 or 612-624-2345.

More than 300 University alumni and friends gathered at the McNamara Alumni Center January 23 for the annual Legislative Briefing, which unveiled details of this year’s $225.5 million capital request.

The evening’s theme was storytelling; President Bob Bruininks emphasized that the future of the state is intimately tied to the future of the University and urged participants to put a face on the University by sitting down with legislators and telling about how the U has helped shape their lives. “We know the U makes a difference, and that’s something we need to tell,” Bruininks said. In this photograph Douglas Williams, a junior political science major at the University of Minnesota–Morris, shared his story of coming to the University from his hometown of Suffolk, Virginia, and discovering a passion for social policy and political science.

The cornerstone of the University’s request is $100 million in funds to address safety and maintenance issues in the U’s 800-plus buildings and 28 million square feet of building space. The funding would help replace or renovate obsolete classrooms and laboratories, upgrade technology, fix roofs, windows, walls, and mechanical and electrical systems.

Classes Yes, Quizzes No

Few topics generate as much passion and debate these days as global climate change and the development of biofuels. Doug Tiffany (B.S. ’74, M.S. ’77), research fellow in applied economics at the University of Minnesota, asserts that we are entering a time when policymakers are concerned not only about the development of alternative fuels, but also ensuring that environmentally friendly processes are used to make them. The 2007 Energy Bill, for example, effectively banned further construction of coal-fired ethanol plants due to the high amounts of greenhouse gases released in the production and use of ethanol from such plants. Corn ethanol plants, he says, are capable of using cornstalks and other biomass instead of fossil fuels to meet their energy needs and reduce their carbon footprint.

Tiffany will be the keynote speaker at the 2008 Classes Without Quizzes on April 5, the popular half-day public event hosted by the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences Alumni Society. For the past 13 years, Tiffany has worked on energy-related topics, including the economics of using biodiesel to reduce emissions in underground mines, ethanol plant economics, and the impacts of the Kyoto Accord on Midwestern agriculture.

Other sessions will cover honeybees, the survival of trout streams, landscape plants, and the intricacies of making chocolate. Classes Without Quizzes begins at 8:30 a.m. on April 5 on the St. Paul campus and preregistration is required. For more information and to register, go to www.cfans.umn.edu/cwq.

Peggy Craig (B.S. ’43, M.D. ’45), the first woman to serve as national president of the Alumni Association and a former University of Minnesota Regent, died on January 13 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, at age 86. Craig served as president from 1977 to 1978.

A pediatrician who was also the first woman to be president of the medical staff at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Craig was one of three women to graduate in her medical school class. She was also the first female president of the Minnesota Medical Association.

But she insisted she was no pioneer. The University presented her with its Outstanding Achievement Award in 1995.

Set aside a couple of Tuesday evenings for some lively conversation. The 2008 Great Conversations next program is May 13 with a conversation on “Defending Human Rights” between Kerry Kennedy, an international human rights activist and author, and Barbara Frey, director of the Human Rights Program in the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts.

The June 3 conversation, "Revenge of the Right Brainers,” will feature best-selling business book author Daniel Pink and Darlyne Bailey, dean of the College of Education and Human Development. The conversations take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on the West Bank. Single tickets for Alumni Association members are $23.50; all others pay $28.50.

Alumni of the School of Public Health have been helping students gain valuable experience through the school’s mentoring program for more than a decade. Now, its alumni society board is asking alumni to support students’ educational pursuits by contributing to the School of Public Health Alumni Scholarship, a new endowed scholarship initiative.

To kick off the effort, the School of Public Health is hosting an Alumni and Friends Scholarship Gala on April 10 at the Nicollet Island Inn and Pavilion in Minneapolis as part of National Public Health Week. A reunion begins at 3 p.m., major-specifi c social hours at 5 p.m., and the gala fundraiser—featuring keynote speaker Richard Carmona, U.S. surgeon general from 2002 to 2006—at 6 p.m. Tickets are $55, and proceeds will benefi t the Alumni Scholarship fund.

The alumni society board hopes to raise enough money to apply for the President’s Scholarship Match, a University-wide program that matches scholarship dollars, doubling the impact for students. To purchase tickets, and for more information, go to www.sph.umn.edu/carmona.

TEE TIME

Golfers and would-be golfers can take advantage of the discounted rates Alumni Association members receive at the Les Bolstad University of Minnesota Golf Course, one of the most beautiful public courses in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area. A 2008 season pass for members is $1,145, a savings of $155. The pass includes greens fees for the season and the ability to reserve weekend tee times prior to the general public. Mondays are U Day at the golf course, and Alumni Association members receive $9 o- the regular $28 Monday single-round rate.

Lined with majestic trees and dotted with strategic sand and water hazards, the 6,100-yard course near the St. Paul campus provides golfers with great opportunities to hone their skills.

Alumni Association members are also eligible to join the University of Minnesota Men’s Golf Club, which welcomes women and o- ers its members the opportunity to play competitively. Tournaments, most of them handicapped fl ighted, are held every two weeks from late April to early October at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.

According to membership chairperson Scott Stanley (B.S. ’99), the club is one of the largest in Minnesota, with more than 400 members, providing ample opportunity to compete at your desired level. A new one-year membership is $75 for the public, $50 for U staff, and $35 for U students. For information, visit www.umn.edu/golfclub, or call 612-627-4000.