Tim Russert '72, '97H is an American icon and one of the most trusted figures in the media. The senior vice president for NBC News has, since 1991, been a magnetic presence as the host of Meet the Press, the longest running, most popular and most influential of the Sunday morning political talk shows.
Russert is a dominant force in the news media. When people remember the Bush/Gore cliffhanger in November 2000, most of them see Russert's face and hear his voice as he guided the nation through that thicket.
Son of the now-famous “Big Russ,” a Buffalo, N.Y., truck driver, the younger Russert was president of the Student Union at John Carroll, and a respected campus figure during a tumultuous era characterized by Vietnam War protest. He won the Robert Beaudry Man of the Year Award in his senior year and received an honorary doctorate in 1997.

He loves John Carroll and has been an alumni stalwart who supports his alma mater in a wide variety of ways, including a special appearance in Cleveland last year to raise funds for John Carroll’s scholarship initiative for low-income families.

“I am proud that my alma mater, John Carroll University, has made another strong commitment to educating young men and women in Cleveland. Tuition assistance for Cleveland students is a vital investment in the future of Northeast Ohio,” Russert said.

Don Shula '51, '73H has been called him the most successful NFL coach in history by Sports Illustrated… “a man whose mastery of the game spans four decades." He coached 347 victories in the National Football League, was head coach in the most Super Bowls, had the only perfect (17-0) season ever, enjoyed the best win/loss percentage and, as The Miami Herald editorialized, left with "a legacy of integrity, honesty and respect."

Shula was a star Blue Streak running back, a superb NFL defensive back, and a remarkable coach with the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins. He was elected to the pro football Hall of Fame in 1997.

When he endowed a professorship in philosophy at the university, Shula said: "I had four great years at John Carroll. I feel very blessed and fortunate to have been able to go here."

Dr. Martin Schreiber Jr. '72, a member of the class of 1972, is chair of the Department of Nephrology and Hypertension in the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Schreiber went to medical school at Wake Forest University. He did his internship and residency at the Cleveland Clinic. He subsequently held fellowships at the Clinic and also at Renal Unit and Pathology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston. He was appointed to the staff of the Cleveland Clinic in 1982. His areas of medical specialization are: hypertension, diabetic renal disease, home dialysis, and acute kidney injury.

Dr. Schreiber was honored as the Kidney Foundation’s Man of the Year for 2007. The citation referenced “his outstanding leadership and commitment to serving the renal healthcare community.”

“Every year, the Kidney Foundation honors someone who embraces our mission of serving individuals and families suffering from kidney failure. Marty was an obvious choice because his dedication and selfless commitment to the community are evident every time you speak to him,” said Alex Fuerst, Kidney Foundation chair.

Dr. Schreiber and his wife, Margaret, ’84 are the parents of three children, and the family resides in University Heights. The Schreiber’s son Martin is a Jesuit studying at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California and will be ordained in June’ 09.

John Boler '56, '96H is the president and CEO of The Boler Company, one of the world's largest suppliers of truck suspensions and other vital components for the transportation industry. The industrialist from Marion , Ohio , was overseeing three factories for the Clevite Corporation when he was a shade over 30. After the Gould Corporation swallowed Clevite, Boler became a vice president for administration for Gould. He had big dreams, though, and in 1977 acquired eight companies and integrated them into his privately held The Boler Company.

His is a great American success story and just as uplifting is the generosity John Boler and his wife, Mary Jo, have demonstrated toward John Carroll and other cherished institutions. The $10 million challenge gift the Bolers made to the university in 1996, was only the largest of the couple's many philanthropies. John Carroll's business school is named after the Bolers and the D.J. Lombardo Student Center honors Mary Jo's father. Recently, the Bolers gave $20 million to Rush University Medical Center in their adopted Chicago area. John Boler has won both the university's Alumni Medal and an honorary doctorate.

Cable television pioneer Charles Dolan '52, '96H is widely recognized as one of the leaders of that industry. Dolan created Home Box Office (HBO) as a nationwide pay-television service several years before organizing, in 1973, Cablevision Systems Corporation, one of the nation's largest cable operations.
Dolan was one of the first to believe in cable sports programming and 24-hour news channels. His portfolio includes such creative elements of the nation's entertainment as American Movie Classics (AMC), Bravo, and the Independent Film Channel (IFC). He has been on the technological cutting edge with developments like fiber optics, and he and Cablevision are also important forces in professional sports since their holdings include Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers.

Charles and his wife, Helen, were the joint commencement speakers and each earned an honorary degree from his alma mater in 1996. In February 2000, the couple made the lead gift of $20 million, which resulted in the creation of John Carroll's splendid Dolan Center for Science and Technology.

Kathleen O'Neil '74 was executive vice president and advisor to the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the most important branch of the world's foremost central bank. She left the Federal Reserve to become IBM's general manager of global markets infrastructure. In that post, she led a team that focused on helping financial institutions capture e-business opportunities by providing them with next-generation systems for payment, clearance, settlement, and electronic marketplaces.

When she left IBM, she started her own company, Liberty Street Advisors, LLC, based in Riverside, Connecticut. O'Neil and her husband, Joseph Incorvaia, are the parents of Moira, Megan and Brendan.

O’Neil is a native of Akron, Ohio, who was editor of the Carroll News in her days on campus. Currently, she is immediate-past vice chair of John Carroll's Board of Directors.

Dr. Monique Ogletree '96G is a product of the Cleveland and East Cleveland schools, who became an outstanding cardiovascular researcher, first at the Cleveland Clinic and now at the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, the nation's largest pediatric facility. Part of Ogletree's achievement is her discovery that heart failure is not irreversible. She and the team of Dr. Chris Moravec '78 at the Clinic worked with failed hearts extracted for transplant. With Ogletree as the lead researcher, the team established that heart muscle regained some functionality if its work load was temporarily assumed by a ventricular- assist device.

Ogletree says her success had much to do with her experience as a graduate student at John Carroll. Her biology professor, Dr. Cyrilla Wideman, "communicated that mediocrity is not acceptable. I learned important lessons about empowerment." She had other mentors at the university, and observed: "I achieved a lot without them, but it's just phenomenal what I achieved with them."