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The Susquehanna 150

Susquehanna University will mark its 150th year in 2008. Susquehanna Today continues to herald the university's sesquicentennial by counting down the top 150 people, organizations and events in the university's history, as determined by Professor Emeritus of History Don Housley. His study of the institution, Susquehanna University, 1858-2000: A Goodly Heritage, will be published in spring 2007.

150-131, published in Spring 2006.
130-111, published in Summer 2006.
110-91, published in Fall 2006.
90-71, published in Spring 2007.
70-56, published in Summer 2007.
55-41, published in Fall 2007.
40-26, published in Spring 2008.

130-111

130. Bernard Krapf, University Administrator, 1952-1964.
A Lutheran pastor who was a crusty but careful overseer of the university's finances under the G. Morris Smith and Gustave W. Weber administrations, he guided the construction of many buildings in the early 1960s.

129. Jacob Yutzy, Member of the Faculty, 1896-1904.
He was pastor of the “college church,” Trinity Lutheran Church on South Market Street. He taught Greek and German part-time at the college and then became a full-time professor in the seminary in 1896. He built and lived in the house which is now the University Health Center.

128. “Flag Scrap,” 1900-1913.
This was the first kernel of inter-class hazing to occur at Susquehanna. The freshman class hung a pennant in their class colors at the top of a campus tree, daring the sophomore class to take it down. A literal and quite physical scrap ensued. The “flag scrap” was replaced under faculty pressure by a no-less rugged “tie-up.”

127. Harvey Surface, Member of the Faculty, 1920-1931.
He had a varied background before joining Susquehanna's faculty, including the position as Pennsylvania's zoologist. A real character, in order to keep the attention of his students, on occasion Surface would pull specimens, including live mice, from under his hat.

126. William Ullery, Athletic Coach, 1928-1934.
He graduated from Penn State, where he participated in four sports, and then played professional football and baseball. He was the most successful football coach at SU until James Garrett, having an overall record of 21–20–1 from 1929 to 1934.

125. Campus Trees
Large trees of various species dot SU's campus. Many were planted by senior classes as part of Arbor Day exercises. For example, the large beech tree between Steele and Seibert halls was planted by the Class of 1915. The smelly Ginko trees lining Kurtz Lane in the middle of the campus were planted in 1935 as part of a larger re-configuration of the south campus.

Georgianna "Toby" Brodisch '63 Skinner

Georgianna "Toby" Brodisch '63 Skinner

124. Georgianna “Toby” Brodisch '63 Skinner.
Among the finest of women athletes to wear the Orange and Maroon, she was a star on both the field hockey and basketball teams when these sports first acquired the intercollegiate status long enjoyed by men's sports.  

123. Thomas Dornblaser 1868.
He came to the Missionary Institute after service during the Civil War, part of it during General William Sherman's famous “March to the Sea.” He embodied much of the original mission of the school, training as a minister in the theological department and then moving to the West as a missionary pastor. For many years he was Susquehanna's oldest living alumnus.

Debra Horner '74 Douglas

Debra Horner '74 Douglas

122. Debra Horner '74 Douglas.
She was a political science major who became the first woman to be elected president of the Student Senate, serving from 1975 to 1976. After graduation, she earned an MBA and pursued a business career in Florida.

121. Viet Rock Theatrical Production, 1969.
An experiment theatrical exercise, Viet Rock was an example of free-form social and political protest particularly aimed at the Vietnam War. Directed by Professor Robert Schanke and presented several times on campus, it expressed the turmoil of that troubled time and the participation of at least a fraction of the Susquehanna community in it.

Robert Dunmoyer '68

Robert Dunmoyer '68

120. Robert Donmoyer '68.
A student who helped the Debate Club attain much of its success in intercollegiate contests, he designed the modern form of the Student Senate in 1966, and served as its first president. He participated in events culminating in the student boycott of compulsory chapel in the spring of 1966.

119. Hans Feldmann, Member of the Faculty, 1969-1998.
He was long the department head in English and developed the Writing Center which eventually was transformed into Tutorial Services. Later he served as acting dean of arts and sciences and editor of the SU Press.

Richard Young '54

118. Richard Young '54.
He was among the best quarterbacks to represent Susquehanna on the gridiron. Coached by Amos Alonzo Stagg, Sr., “the grand old man of football,” who shared coaching duties with his son from 1947 to 1952, Young led the 1951 team to an undefeated and untied season, the best in SU's history until 1986.

117. Sell Memorial Lab, 1897-1929.
Built in 1897, the lab was Susquehanna's first scientific laboratory built in a small preexisting cottage just across the road from where Hassinger Hall's front porch is now located. It was converted to the dormitory “Sleepy Hollow” in 1912 and moved in 1929.

116. Therodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, Student, 1939-1941.
After he left Susquehanna in 1941 to join the Army Air Force, he served as navigator of the Red Gremlin , which carried General Eisenhower to Portugal to oversee the allied invasion of Africa in 1942. Van Kirk also was navigator of the Enola Gay , which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945.

115. The Rev. Joseph Flotten, Chaplain, 1964-1968.
Susquehanna's first Chaplain, he played a crucial role in solving problems arising from the student campaign against compulsory chapel in the spring of 1966. During his short stay at Susquehanna, he created many programs and activities now identified with the Chaplain's Office, including the Chapel Council.

114. Susquehanna Football, 1940.
The 1940 football team was undefeated and tied once. It was led by Blair Heaton, Steve Zeravica, John Zuback, and Larry Isaacs, who averaged 9.9 yards per carry as halfback; at season's end, the team was feted at an all-campus celebratory dinner sponsored by a grateful President G. Morris Smith.

113. Kenneth O. Fladmark, Member of the Faculty, 1961-1992.
Long a professor of business administration and department head in business, in 1970 he initiated the Evening Program at Susquehanna, which became a cornerstone of the Continuing Education Program. A pioneer of student-faculty collaboration, he was the first faculty member appointed a Charles B. Degenstein Distinguished Professor.

112. Claude Buss '24.
After receiving a master's degree from Susquehanna in 1924 (among the last such degrees granted by the school), he earned a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in international relations and mixed academic and diplomatic work for the rest of his life. As a representative of the United States, he surrendered Manila to the Japanese after that country's attack in December of 1941 and became a prisoner of war.

Larry Isaacs '43

Larry Isaacs '43

111. Larry Isaacs '43, Board Member 1966-Present.
As a student, he starred in football, basketball and baseball. After a stint with the submarine service during WWII, Isaacs became a successful businessman and then lent his expertise to his alma mater through service with the Alumni Office, as a faculty member, and as an active member of the board of directors.

Susquehanna University Last reviewed by Paul Novack, Office of Communications
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