80th Anniversary, Newman celebrates alumni from the junior college to the university

Elaine (Doll/Aaron)Hemmen ’51
Sacred Heart Junior College

Elaine (Doll/Aaron) Hemmen is the mother of a deaf daughter who realized the need to enhance the liturgy for persons with special needs. She championed the cause of the hearing impaired long before the Catholic Diocese of Wichita launched its ministry for persons with disabilities. Thanks to her efforts, Masses at several Wichita parishes have included sign language interpreters since 1970. Hemmen has said that the addition of interpreters has allowed the “music” of the words of the Gospel to be accessible to people who have special needs.

Hemmen was a church organist for more than 40 years and a piano teacher for 56 years when she retired. Hemmen received the Beata Netemeyer Service Award for her efforts in 2009. She lives in Wichita.

Mary Lu (Coffey) Tuthill ’63
Sacred Heart College

Mary Lu Tuthill is manager of Coldwell Banker Previews International of Brentwood, Calif. Born and raised in Wichita, Tuthill’s first job out of college was as at IBM as a systems engineer. Tuthill was well-suited for the job as she has an analytical mind and is a consummate problem solver. At IBM she was trained by some of the best salespeople of late 1960s era. The skills she learned from them combined with her analytical mind and problem-solving skills served her well when she moved to the real estate industry.

Tuthill is known as a master at matching buyers to properties by combining an in-depth knowledge of her product with a charming sales ability. She is admired by her clients and peers for her integrity, professionalism and passion for her chosen profession, and her loyalty and faithfulness to her clients. Tuthill is the oldest of six children. Her family remains very close and supportive. Tuthill says she owes her success to the loving discipline, high expectations and nurturing support of her parents. She and her husband Gordon live in the Los Angeles area and have two grown children.

Tom Stolz ’80
Kansas Newman College

Tom Stolz was a student of Professor of Biology Surendra Singh, Ph.D., who had planned to enter the field of forensics. He joined the Wichita Police Department to work in a forensic science lab, but ended up staying more than 30 years for the department in several positions. He worked in undercover operations, and was instrumental in developing and implementing community policing, which fosters trust, cooperation and collaboration with community residents. Stolz was also responsible for the unit on reducing teen gang activity. He eventually rose to investigation division deputy chief. He often served as the spokesperson for the Police Department.

After his “retirement” from the WPD, he became director for the Sedgwick County-City of Wichita Inspection and Code Department, largely due to his problem-solving and leadership skills. Stolz and his wife Diane ‘80 have five grown sons and are members of St. Catherine of Sienna parish. Stolz credits Dr. Singh as the most influential teacher in his life who helped him develop the skill set he uses in his work today.

Todd R. Martz ’00
Newman university

Todd Martz is assistant professor and Benedek Chair in Ocean Sensor Science at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, at the University of California-San Diego. His work focuses on development of autonomous sensors for the aqueous CO2 system parameters in the ocean, and the design, construction and calibration of integrated sensor packages used in carbon cycle studies. Since joining SIO in 2009, his group has constructed more than 100 “SeaFET” sensors, which measure seawater pH, and “SeapHOx” sensors, which measure dissolved oxygen and conductivity. The SeapHOx is used by 20 different laboratories. The SeaFET has since been commercialized by Satlantic Inc.

At SIO and UCSD, Martz teaches marine chemistry, geochemistry, instrumental methods, and quantitative analysis. He is currently mentoring four doctoral students. For more information on Martz and his work, visit http://www.fondriest.com/news/scripps-builds-custom-sensor-package-tailored-to-biogeochemical-ocean-monitoring.htm