2005

William L. Bernard
BSChE '49, MSChE '50
Alumni Achievement Award

William L. Bernard was awarded a one-third tuition scholarship to Washington University in 1943, but his education was interrupted by World War II. In 1946, he returned to the University by means of the G.I. Bill. He began his career as a heat transfer design engineer at the Trane Company in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. In 1955, he joined Stanley Lopata as a sales engineer at Process Engineering and Equipment Company.

In 1959, William started Technical Service Corporation as a manufacturer's representative, serving on the "rep council" for four manufacturers. He retired in the early 1990s.

William is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), past chairman of the St. Louis Section, and a founding member of the AIChE marketing division. A lifetime member of the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, he also was a contributor during the creation of the National Bureau of Standards voluntary product standard "PS-15-69."

For the past 40 years, William has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America and received the Distinguished Commissioner Award in 1999. William is a founding member of the St. Louis Table Tennis Club and currently is a member of USA Table Tennis, certified as a level-one coach and club umpire. He won 11 gold and five silver medals for table tennis in the St. Louis Senior Olympics during the past 16 years.

William was a founding member of the Century Club and has been a member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society since 1981. He is a member of the Science Center, the St. Louis Academy of Science and an emeritus member of the Missouri Athletic Club.

Thomas J. Feichtinger
BSCS '86
Alumni Achievement Award

Long before he attended Washington University, Thomas J. Feichtinger demonstrated an aptitude for computers. In high school, Thomas was named a "Computer Whiz Kid" by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, worked as a computer programmer and operator at First Bank, and volunteered at the American Red Cross to help its staff implement computers for the first time. Upon graduation from Washington University, Thomas joined Arthur Andersen & Company (now Accenture), where he led the team that received a U.S. patent for solving the "traveling salesman" problem.

In 1995, Thomas joined Computer Sciences Corporation in St. Louis, where he was nominated for the Technology Excellence Award for his innovative approach to architecture design and deployment at MasterCard International. Then, he became vice president of the southwest region for Braun Consulting. Under his direction, the region grew from less than $2 million in revenue with under 25 employees to more than $17 million in annual revenues and over 150 people in three offices. In 2000, Thomas moved to Michigan to serve as vice president and chief technology officer of Optate, a small "dot com" that provided a benefits portal to employers to help their employees make informed benefit choices.

In 2001, Thomas joined General Motors Corporation as one of six architects for information systems. He was promoted to global director for common systems architecture in 2003. As GM's chief architect, Thomas and his team focus on keeping over 500 active projects on track while charting the path for future architectural investments.

Thomas is married to Charlotte Partridge, a senior architect at Hitachi Consulting. As staunch supporters of environmental and community organizations, as well as Washington University, both invest their time and money to make a difference.

Howard M. Nelson, Jr.
BSChE '56
Alumni Achievement Award

Upon graduation from Washington University, Howard Nelson joined Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation. Starting as a chemical engineering trainee at the Baton Rouge alumina refinery, he became operational statistics supervisor within a year. Howard developed some of the first mathematical models of the plant processes, which allowed optimization of process conditions for varying bauxite raw materials inputs.

Howard was promoted to corporate headquarters in Oakland, California, in 1959. From there, he played a leading role in the development of Australia's Cape York bauxite reserves, moving to Melbourne in 1961. As planning manager for Comalco, Howard helped create that fully integrated aluminum producer, today one of Australia's major enterprises.

Howard returned to St. Louis in 1966 as general manager of Mesker Brothers, an architectural products manufacturer. In 1967, he returned to Kaiser and became vice president and general manager in 1970.

Subsequent assignments included running Kaiser's Refractories and Aluminum Divisions. Howard is now retired and lives in Alamo, California, with his wife, Dorothy Ann. The Nelsons are life members of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society.

Gregory A. Sullivan
BSSM '81
Alumni Achievement Award

An accomplished professional musician and student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Gregory A. Sullivan transferred to Washington University and received a Bachelor of Science degree in systems science and mathematics in 1981. With a vision for how the microcomputer would impact the world, he created his own company, G. A. Sullivan. His goal was to provide custom software to businesses using the then fairly new IBM PC.

In 1992, the growth of the Internet prompted Gregory to restructure his company into what he called an "e-business solution provider." The company aligned its services to Microsoft products solely, considered by many a significant risk at that time. His business took off, growing from five employees to more than 360 with offices in seven U.S. cities and one in the Netherlands. In 1999, he was named the United States Small Business Administration National Small Business Person of the Year, and in 2000, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He sold G. A. Sullivan in 2004 and currently works as a consultant. He remains active in many St. Louis regional civic and charitable organizations.

Among his civic accomplishments are serving as Vice Chairman of Science and Technology for the St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association and leading an effort to advance the region's technology-based economy through Technology Gateway, for which he was the founding chair. A founding member of the Regional Business Council, Sullivan serves on the board of directors of the Magic House, the Missouri Historical Society, and Junior Achievement.

Clarence M. (Turk) Turley, Jr.
BSCE '50
Alumni Achievement Award

Clarence M. (Turk) Turley, Jr., worked with his father at Turley Corporation, a commercial real estate firm in downtown St. Louis until he was called to active duty in the Air Force as a civil engineer. This was the only applied engineering work he did in his career. In 1953, Turk rejoined Turley Corporation as a broker and property manager. Over 54 years, Turley represented large and small companies as their agent.

Turk worked with many real estate, civic, and charitable groups. He served as president of the St. Louis Real Estate Board, director and member of the executive committee of the National Association of Realtors, and board member of Downtown St. Louis, Inc., as well as the Boy Scout Council of St. Louis. Turk is a former chairman of the Washington University Alumni Board of Governors. He also served as board member and chairman of Roosevelt Bank.

In 1972, Turley Corporation and Martin & Associates merged their talents, starting with a staff of 30. Today Colliers, Turley, Martin & Tucker employ 1,000 and has offices in eight Midwestern cities and 98 shareholders.

The following transactions handled by Turk illustrate his accomplishments over his career: assembling the site of the downtown Famous Barr garage (1950s); acquiring campus sites at St. Louis Community Colleges—Forest Park, Meramec, and Florissant Valley (1960s); and directing the leasing of Metropolitan Life's million-square-foot skyscraper, Metropolitan Square (1980s). Recent accomplishments include leading the team that found the site for J. S. Alberici's world headquarters at Page Boulevard and I-170, and finding the United Way in St. Louis a new headquarters location downtown.

Turk and his wife, Janet Schubert Turley, LA'50, have been William Greenleaf Eliot Society members since 1986.

I. E. Millstone
BSAE '27
Dean's Award

A pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete, I. E. Millstone founded Millstone Construction, Inc., at age 22. Although best known as the builder of such St. Louis architectural monuments as Busch Memorial Stadium, Mercantile Tower, and the Federal Building, Millstone Construction helped develop Laclede's Landing and various neighborhood revitalizations. Many of the area's highways, parks, and other infrastructure developments have been built by Millstone's company, along with the first two suburban shopping centers in St. Louis (Crestwood Plaza and Northwest Plaza).

Millstone Construction also built Sever Hall as well as residence halls and the Wohl Center in the University's South 40. The company's architectural influence extends beyond the metropolitan area and as far as Israel, where I.E. helped plan housing for the influx of settlers after World War II. I.E. remains active as president of K & M Investors and the Millstone Charitable Foundation.

A life trustee of the Washington University Board of Trustees, I.E. is an enthusiastic supporter of University scholarships. Annually, more than 60 University students benefit from Millstone's generosity.

The University has felt the impact of Millstone's philanthropy in other ways. The Athletic Complex's Millstone Pool is one of three in the region that bear the former championship swimmer's name. In addition, Millstone Plaza and Millstone Lounge recognize his support.

The lifelong St. Louisan recalls Washington University's former days as a "streetcar" university and how he earned his tuition—$200 annually—by lifeguarding in the summer at the Fairgrounds Park pool for $90 a month. Millstone has remained a staunch supporter of his native city, lending his support to many local cultural, education, and religious institutions. He received an honorary Washington University degree in 1994.

Cynthia A. Gruensfelder
MSME '90
Young Alumni Award

Cynthia A. Gruensfelder graduated from Washington University in 1990 with a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois. Cynthia is now a team leader for the Boeing Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) Program Advanced Design Group.

In her role on the J-UCAS program, Cynthia leads a multi-disciplined engineering team in developing and evaluating all future air vehicle configurations for both the Air Force and Navy. She manages all cost, schedule, and technical performance as well as supplier development activities.

In addition to her current assignment on the J-UCAS Program, Cynthia has been privileged to support many Boeing platforms including the F/A-18, F-15, AV-8B, and Joint Strike Fighter as well as many Phantom Works development programs. In the F/A-18 Program Office, she led all systems engineering activities, including requirements, technical performance measurements, obsolescence assessments, best practice and configuration audits, trade studies, and program directives.

Early in her career, Cynthia had the opportunity to lead an aggressive Phantom Works development group in exploring revolutionary technological developments in air vehicle design. During this time, she was personally granted seven technology patents. In 2002, one of her patents, "Leading Edge for an Aircraft," was selected out of thousands of patents to receive the prestigious Boeing Special Invention Award.

Cynthia and her husband, Donn Gruensfelder, an electrical engineer, have four children: Jacob, Joshua, Hannah, and Sarah. The entire family enjoys water and snow skiing as well as many competitive sports, including soccer, baseball, golf, and swimming. Cynthia is an active volunteer in her church and her children's school. As an outlet to her creative and inventive nature, she produces numerous toy inventions, children's books, screenplays, and musical scores.