May 26, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
2011-12 Monogram Club Board of Directors
The Notre Dame Monogram Club has announced that Tom Arkell ’94, ’97 (hockey), Carolyn Cooper ’06 (volleyball), Bryan Fenton ’87 (manager), Byron Spruell ’87 (football) and Chris Stevens ’74 (basketball) will join the organization’s board of directors in June to serve three-year terms through 2014. The class of directors was approved by Monogram Club members in attendance at the organization’s Annual Mass & Meeting on Apr. 16.
In addition, board advisor Kevin O’Connor ’93 (lacrosse) has been named the Club’s second vice president and will serve as the president of the Monogram Club from 2015-17, while longtime Alumni Association executive director Chuck Lennon ’61, ’62 (baseball) will join the board as an advisor.
“This class of directors is one of the most talented groups we’ve ever welcomed to the Monogram Club board,” Monogram Club president Dick Nussbaum ’74, ’77 (baseball) said. “I am confident with their leadership and guidance, our organization will continue to grow and function at an extraordinarily high level over the next three years.”
Tom Arkell ’94, ’97 J.D. (hockey) – Director, 2011-14
Arkell is a partner in the law firm of Dunn, Willard, Arkell, Bugg, Patterson & Herr, LLP, focusing in the areas of employment law and business immigration, primarily representing institutions of higher education. He serves as Counsel to the Board of Trustees of a state university in Illinois.
A native of Vernon, British Columbia, Arkell comes from an athletic family, as his father, Ken, is a retired B.C. Supreme Court Justice who played professional football for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League.
Before coming to Notre Dame, he played in the British Columbia Junior Hockey League for the Nanaimo Clippers where he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1988-89. With the Irish, Arkell served as a defenseman from 1990-94 and became the first ever monogram winner from British Columbia after earning the award his freshman season. He received the team’s academic excellence award for the 1992-93 season – the same season the team traveled to Switzerland.
After graduating in 1994, Arkell received his law degree from Notre Dame in 1997.
In his spare time, Arkell volunteers as a youth travel hockey coach and is on the board of directors of a youth hockey association in Bloomington, Ill.
Arkell and his wife, Tracey, have three children: Katy, Dawson and Delaney.
Carolyn Cooper ’06 (volleyball) – Director, 2011-14
Cooper is a marketing coordinator for Nelligan Sports Marketing, specializing in the corporate sponsorship account for Princeton University athletics. She oversees sponsorship sales, manages marketing requirements and develops client relationships for all 38 Tiger sports. In addition to creating stadium signage and coordinating radio broadcasts and hospitality events, she also manages game-day marketing operations for football and men’s basketball and develops proposals and contracts for prospective clients.
Cooper joined Nelligan in 2010 after spending two years as the event coordinator for the 2010 NCAA men’s basketball first and second round games hosted by Providence College at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I.
A middle blocker/outside hitter for the Irish, Cooper earned four monograms in volleyball under head coach Debbie Brown from 2002-05. The team captured BIG EAST titles and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of Cooper’s four seasons on the court. Her nine kills and eight blocks against Northwestern in the second round of the 2005 NCAA championship helped the Irish advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 1997 season.
Cooper graduated from Notre Dame in 2006 with a dual degree in marketing and psychology. After spending a year as a strength & conditioning coach at the University of Cincinnati, she earned her master’s of science in sport management from the University of Tennessee in 2008, where she served as a strength & conditioning graduate assistant while completing her degree.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Cooper resides in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Bryan Fenton, ’87 (manager) – Director 2011-14
Fenton holds a bachelor’s of business administration in marketing from the University of Notre Dame, where he served as the senior personnel manager for head football coach Lou Holtz during the 1986 season.
Originally from Seymour, Tenn., Fenton was commissioned as an officer into the United States Army upon graduating from the University in 1987. A career Special Forces officer, he has served in various locations in the United States and overseas, participating in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and numerous other military operations. His military decorations include Bronze Star Medals, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Master Parachutist badge, Military Free Fall Parachutist badge, Special Forces Tab, and Ranger Tab.
Fenton holds a master’s of military arts and science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and served as the 2009 Army Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Fenton and his wife Dawn have two daughters: Nora Frances and Cecilia Collins. They live in Mount Vernon, Va., with their dog, Anjie.
Byron Spruell ’87, ’89 MBA (football) – Director, 2011-14
Spruell is a Principal in the New York office of Deloitte LLP serving as the managing director of Global Financial Advisory with responsibility for 8,500 practitioners throughout the world. He was formerly the Chief of Staff to the US CEO, Barry Salzberg where he was involved in areas across the enterprise including operations, communications, strategy, regulatory/policy, talent, clients/markets and global.
Prior to his stint in New York, Byron worked in the Chicago office where he served as the Midwest Regional Managing Principal for Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP. In that role, he specialized in the areas of dispute/litigation consulting, business insurance consulting and complex damage claims analysis.
While at Notre Dame, Spruell earned four monograms in football from 1984-87 as an offensive lineman, serving as co-captain of the 1987 team under head coach Lou Holtz. During his career, Spruell received several forms of recognition for his on the field and off the field performance. He was a two-time winner of the Toyota Leadership Award (1986, 1987), garnered Academic All-American honorable mention accolades in 1987, and earned a Ford Foundation post-graduate scholarship in 1988.
Spruell received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University in 1987 and became a Double Domer after earning his MBA from Notre Dame in 1989.
He has written several articles and often speaks on topics regarding business disputes and the quantification of economic damages. He also serves as a speaker at numerous industry conferences, firm recruiting events and diversity functions. He is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants and the National Black MBA Association.
Byron has served on a number of boards and committees in the communities in which he and his family have resided including The Salvation Army, the Center for Houston’s Future, Houston 2012 Foundation, the Notre Dame Club of Houston and the Houston Center Club’s Athletic Committee. He currently serves on the boards of Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago and the Jackie Robinson Foundation in New York. He is also active in various organizations and charity events including the United Way, Junior Achievement and College Summit.
Byron and his wife Sedra reside in Warren, N.J., and have two children: Devyn and Aleah.
Chris Stevens ’74 (basketball) – Director, 2011-14
Stevens is the Vice President of Corporate Relations for Keurig Premium Coffee Systems, responsible for the company’s public relations, communications, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. He is one of the four inventors of the Keurig system and has helped the organization grow over the past 13 years from its beginnings to the company’s current position as the top coffee brewer in America.
Prior to his time at Keurig, Stevens spent seven years as a brand management and district manager for Procter & Gamble and worked as president of the August A. Busch Co. for nine years. He’s also held positions as executive vice president of United Liquors and as the executive director of the Sports Museum of New England.
Stevens earned two monograms in basketball during his playing career with the Irish, competing under head coach Digger Phelps from 1971-74. Stevens started as a sophomore and helped the Irish end Marquette’s 81-game winning streak as a junior in 1973. During his senior season, Notre Dame compiled an impressive 26-3 record, earned a No. 3 ranking in the final AP poll, and famously ended UCLA’s fabled 88-game winning streak on Jan. 26, 1974.
Stevens served as vice president of his senior class and graduated in 1974 from the University with a degree in economics. He later completed the executive education program at Columbia University.
In addition to his career work, Stevens serves as a pro bono motivational speaker and has lectured at Notre Dame, MIT, Northeastern and Boston College. His annual course taught at Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business is the top-ranked inter-term course as rated by students of the school.
Stevens co-owns three commercial websites, a real estate company based in Washington, D.C., and a production company in Hollywood. He is the executive producer of a soon to be released film “Three Days,” and also serves as a part-time actor and voice-over specialist. He has worked for 10 years as a play-by-play broadcaster for the Wellesley Cable Channel, covering local football, basketball and soccer.
He is an ardent supporter of research to fight ALS, cancer and Huntington’s Disease. Stevens recently wrote a book in 2009 titled “Fighting to Give,” which chronicles his Notre Dame classmate Jimmy Culveyhouse’s battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). 100 percent of the book’s proceeds will be donated to ALS research in Culveyhouse’s name, cancer research in the name of Stevens’ late wife, Marian, and Huntington’s disease in the name of his two brothers who died of the disease.
Stevens resides in Wellesley, Mass., and is the father of five children.
Kevin O’Connor ’93 (lacrosse) – Second Vice President, 2011-13
O’Connor, former Associate Attorney General of the United States – the third-ranking official at the U.S. Department of Justice – and United States Attorney for Connecticut, is a partner in the Connecticut and New York offices of Bracewell & Giuliani. O’Connor’s practice focuses on the representation of companies and individuals in government investigations. O’Connor also conducts internal investigations and advises clients on compliance and corporate governance matters.
As Associate Attorney General, O’Connor was responsible for overseeing the work of thirteen components in the Department of Justice, including the Tax Division, Antitrust Division, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Civil Rights Division, Civil Division, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Information and Privacy, Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and the United States Trustees.
As the United States Attorney for Connecticut, the state’s chief federal law enforcement officer, a position he held for more than five years, O’Connor’s office garnered a reputation for the prosecution of environmental crimes, public corruption and corporate fraud matters. O’Connor personally prosecuted or litigated many of those cases, appearing in court on behalf of the government and negotiating deferred prosecution agreements.
During his recent government service, O’Connor also served as Chief of Staff to the United States Attorney General, Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States and Chair of the Department’s Intellectual Property Task Force. Mr. O’Connor’s broad experience with the Department of Justice in both Washington, D.C. and the field included testifying before Congress on tax, intellectual property and other matters, participation in numerous national and international law enforcement forums as a panelist and speaker and litigating matters on behalf of the United States in both federal district and circuit courts.
Prior to joining the Department of Justice, O’Connor served as Senior Counsel with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, as Corporation Counsel for the Town of West Hartford, Connecticut, and as a litigation partner and associate in private law firms in New York and Connecticut.
O’Connor served as a law clerk to Judge William H. Timbers of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1992-93.
A three-time Monogram winner in lacrosse, O’Connor competed with the Irish from 1986-1989, appearing in 41 games. He picked up 78 career ground balls and served as captain of the 1989 squad, earning All-Great Lakes Conference and All-Midwest First Team honors as a senior.
O’Connor resides in West Hartford, Conn., with his wife, Kathleen, and their four children.
Chuck Lennon ’61, ’62 M.A. (baseball) – Advisor, 2011-13
A member of the Notre Dame community for 51 years, Lennon has served as the executive director of the University’s Alumni Association since 1981. He will retire on June 30, 2011, after 30 years of service to the more than 128,000 members of the organization.
Under Lennon’s leadership, the Alumni Association has earned a national reputation for innovation in programming. It was among the first to offer continuing education programming–including the Hesburgh Lecture Series and Excellence in Teaching Conference–and to initiate community service programs that have been emulated throughout American higher education. Yale and Stanford Universities are among those with community service programs modeled on Notre Dame’s.
Lennon also led in the creation of the Black, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific, and Native American alumni groups and expanded the roles for women, senior and Young Alumni, and international graduates within the Alumni Association.
A native of Joliet, Ill., Lennon received his undergraduate degree from Notre Dame in 1961 after earning two monograms in baseball and serves as president of his class. He earned a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from the University in 1962 and served as an assistant basketball and baseball coach until 1967. He also served two years as the University’s coordinator of research and sponsored programs.
After leaving the University, Lennon held executive directorships with the Mental Health Association of St. Joseph County, the South Bend Model Cities Program, the community Development Agency, the Department of Redevelopment, and the Housing Allowance Office. He was president of the St. Joseph Insurance Agency from 1978 to 1981 and completed 13 years as a member of the South Bend Community School Board, and served in all officer positions.
Lennon has taught a management course at the graduate and undergraduate levels in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. He received the Alumni Association’s Armstrong Award in 1989 and the Notre Dame Presidential Award in 1993. In 1992, he was presented with the Irish Clover Award by the Notre Dame student body. He received the Professional Development Award for Mentoring Minorities in 2001 from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Lennon was named executive director of the Alumni Association in 1981. The surprise announcement of his promotion to associate vice president of university relations was made by then-president Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., in front of 3,500 alumni at the 1999 Alumni Reunion.
Lennon and his wife, Joan, have five children, three of whom are Notre Dame graduates: Sean, Molly, Brian, Colleen and Kevin. They also have 16 grandchildren.
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