ESU Honors Four Distinguished Alumni

Emporia, KS (09/30/2024) — Four Emporia State University graduates will receive Distinguished Alumni awards at the Black & Gold Gala on Oct. 4 as part of Homecoming 2024. The award is the highest honor bestowed to alumni and recognizes outstanding accomplishments in their careers.

Candidates nominated for the award by ESU alumni and faculty are evaluated by a joint committee, with recommendations for award recipients given to the Alumni Association Board of Directors for final approval. Distinguished Alumni represent leaders across the spectrum of professions who have contributed significantly to the rich heritage of ESU.

Without the slightest hint of ego, Dennis Brockman (BSB 87 - Business Administration) recalls how a former supervisor once told him something remarkable: "He said, 'Dennis, I've never met someone who has the ability to hold people accountable, but yet inspire them to do more than they ever thought they could do.'"

Brockman, senior vice president of U.S. Retail Operations for Starbucks Coffee Co., has built his substantial corporate career as much on leadership skills as he has on the technical intricacies of selling cups of Pike Place Roast. That focus is by design, he says, given the inspiration he still gets from his late mother, Judy Brockman, and his personal desire to constantly present the best version of himself.

An example appears in his rock-solid belief in being on time. It's a commitment to punctuality and respect for other people's time that came from his mom. His chief of staff at Starbucks often explains that if you're in a meeting with Brockman, don't be late.

"When you go to work, when you go to church, whatever it is, when you make a commitment, fulfill that commitment," Brockman said. "That's a leadership quality. When you say what you're going to do, do it. If you're not going to do it, don't say it."

A native of Kansas City, Kansas, Brockman participated in ESU's Associated Student Government and was a resident advisor on campus. Since earning his degree and embarking on a career that has included management roles at Josten's, Wendy's and Aramark, he's remained an unabashed supporter of ESU and champion of the quality of education Hornet graduates receive. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the ESU Foundation. His wife, Evonna Brockman, is also an ESU graduate.

"In light of his outstanding achievements, leadership and service, Mr. Brockman stands as an exemplary candidate for the Distinguished Alumni Award," Bethany Tegtmeier, vice president of development for the ESU Foundation, wrote in her nomination letter for Brockman. "Recognizing Dennis with this prestigious honor not only celebrates his individual accomplishments but also serves as an inspiration for current and future students to emulate his commitment to excellence and community engagement."

Though it's been nearly four decades since he completed his degree, Brockman remains as steadfastly appreciative of his time in Emporia as ever. Time hasn't diminished his support for his alma mater.

"ESU has prepared me to compete, not only at Starbucks, but also at every company I've been with," he said. "I go into every company, every position, with the confidence that I can do this job just as well as anyone else. I take pride in telling people that I'm a graduate of ESU."

Not only has Dr. David E. Gussak always loved art, he was motivated to become an art therapist and later teach art therapy to future clinicians because he benefited so much from making his own art as a young man. It steadied his life path, he says.

"I didn't believe I was a great artist, nor did I want to ever become one; however, I really enjoyed making art, and it was one of the few classes I really enjoyed in high school and actually did well in. I found that doing art was a way for me to maintain a semblance of control and get a sense of self-efficacy. Quite frankly, I felt better after creating art."

Today, Gussak is a professor for the Florida State University (FSU) Graduate Art Therapy Program, where he has taught with distinction for more than 20 years. He's also the coordinator of the FSU/Florida Department of Corrections Art Therapy in Prison Program, in which he develops strategies and guides art therapists and trainees as they assist inmates with frustration tolerance, problem solving and re-establishing a sense of identity and self. An internationally recognized expert in his field, Gussak was named an Honorary Life Member of the American Art Therapy Association in 2022.

Gussak's research interests are forensic art therapy and art therapy in correctional settings, which has led him to assist aggressive and violent adult populations, both in civilian life and in prisons, and juvenile justice populations. He has presented and published extensively internationally and nationally, including, among others, "Art on Trial: Art Therapy for Capital Murder Cases" (2013), "Art and Art Therapy with the Imprisoned: Re-Creating Identity" (2019), "The Frenzied Dance of Art and Violence" (2022) and co-edited "The Wiley Handbook of Art Therapy" (2016).

Art, Gussak says, "is a way to capture and contain emotions, work through transitions and use the art as the language of communication when words are not available. There are so many different ways that art can be expansive and used in various therapeutic levels."

Originally from New York, Gussak's education and work experience has taken him to campuses across the country, but his ties to Emporia State University run deep. He previously worked as an art therapy instructor and assistant professor at ESU and served as director of its graduate art therapy program (1998-2001). He also received his Ph.D. in Library and Information Management from ESU in 2001.

"My heart is with ESU, quite frankly," he said. "Not only did I get my doctorate there and have a great relationship with my colleagues and a number of the faculty, but it gave me my start. It really launched my career."

In her letter nominating Gussak for the Distinguished Alumni Award, Dr. Gaelynn Wolf Bordonaro, director of ESU's art therapy program, praised the breadth of Gussak's work in such a specialized and rewarding field.

"Emporia State University's very own Dave Gussak is a pretty amazing one-man show, but he fully appreciates the trailblazing work that scaffolding of ideas, talents, and strengths make possible," she wrote. "He seeks opportunities to appreciate and recognize the contributions and expertise of other leaders in the field of art therapy."

Dr. George Poole's adoration for mathematics started decades ago in a traditional place - a high school classroom - where a geometry teacher in Miami opened his teenaged eyes to the scientific study of numbers and gained the confidence he'd carry throughout his career in education.

"He was a superior teacher who I locked into, and in just a few weeks, I became the top student in his class," Poole said. "From that point on, I said, 'Oh, I can do mathematics. I can enjoy mathematics.' That's when I really got my first start. I've been privileged."

Retired since 2017 as a professor of mathematics at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Poole's place among this year's class of Distinguished Alumni at Emporia State University is rooted in bedrock principles of education: a passion for a given subject and an appreciation for those who teach it. His national expertise as a research mathematician is just as intense.

ESU holds a prominent space in Poole's life. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the university in 1964, and he served as a mathematics professor and chair of ESU's math department before moving on to similar roles at Lamar University and ETSU.

Acting on advice he received at Texas Tech University, where he earned his Ph.D., Poole embraced mathematical research. Not only did that advice lead him to focus on multiple mathematical disciplines instead of a single field of study, it provided him widespread recognition for his scientific contributions on topics such as geometry (worm problem of Leo Moser); matrix theory (generalized inverses); and numerical linear algebra (Rook's pivoting strategy).

Poole's career focus pivoted in 2001 when he attended an international conference on the training and preparation of elementary teachers and watched a video that included teachers confessing they were not good at mathematics themselves. He immediately redirected his focus.

"I don't know what's going on between kindergarten and sixth-grade mathematics," he remembers thinking, "but I want to find out. I want to help these teachers overcome their fears and create a classroom environment where their kids are no longer afraid of mathematics I want them to know that they're in control of mathematics, they're in control of the mathematical world."

He believes working with elementary teachers represents the highlight of his five-plus decades in higher education. Though retired from ETSU, Poole has remained in the classroom by earning certification as a high school math teacher and accepting teaching positions in South Carolina. His love of mathematics and working with students hasn't waned.

"It's a challenge, but it's been a joy for me," he said. "I don't know when I'm going to retire."

Though Dr. Jackie Vietti's public higher education experience has touched several campuses in Kansas and Missouri, it is her personal and professional relationship with Emporia State University that is among her most treasured and ongoing memories.

Now a facilitator at the Kansas Community College Leadership Institute, Vietti notably served as ESU's interim president in 2015. In her letter nominating Vietti for the university's Distinguished Alumni award, Dr. Mary Shivley, dean of the Honors College, wrote that "under (Vietti's) six months of leadership, ESU found new energy and embraced challenges of the future with confidence. Jackie Vietti is a transformational leader. It is rare to have a conversation with Dr. Vietti and not end the interaction feeling better about yourself, the situation and the future."

Vietti's ESU connections first formed in 1958 when her mother earned a master's degree in French from the university. Thirteen years later, Vietti received her secondary teaching certificate from ESU before earning a master's and doctorate from Pittsburg State University and Kansas State University, respectively. One of her daughters also holds a master's from ESU in library science. In the years since, Vietti has enhanced her ESU connections by serving on the ESU Foundation Board of Trustees and the 2022 University Presidential Search Committee. She also serves on the board of directors for the National Teachers Hall of Fame located on the ESU campus.

"I will always, always, always hold a teaching certificate from Emporia State as one of the best across the nation," Vietti said. "Few, if any, colleges and universities better prepare students to enter the noble profession of teaching than does Emporia State."

Nearly half of Vietti's four decades in public higher education has been spent as president of Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. As the college's first female president, Vietti helped increase enrollment by 21 percent and oversaw several campus capital projects. She also has worked as dean of instruction and interim president of Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas, and dean of Arts and Sciences instruction at Crowder College in Neosho, Missouri. From 2017 to 2018, she served as acting president at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

The common thread that weaves through those positions is leadership - both in the classroom and as a higher education administrator. She's adamant that transformational leaders can't succeed without the assistance of others; solo efforts don't work, she said.

"I don't know that I have ever associated the word transformational with my leadership style," Vietti said. "I do know I am not one to march in place. I am not an unwavering proponent of the status quo, because it is my belief that no matter how good things are, everyone affiliated with any college or university should be on a quest to make things better for students, faculty and staff. If that translates into my being a transformational leader, I will accept that moniker."

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