EAST LANSING, Mich. - Three MSU alums will share the secrets of their success while taking a walk down memory lane when they participate in the College of Arts and Letters' second annual Alumni Leaders Program at Michigan State University.
The program invites MSU graduates who have achieved personal success in academia, the arts, business or community service to renew their connections to the university and speak to students about the paths they've taken in life. A panel presentation, open to all College of Arts and Letters students and faculty, will be held on Friday, Feb. 9, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the MSU Union, Parlor C.
This year's alumni include: Jack Epps Jr. (B.A., English, 1972); Juli Betwee (B.A., Justin Morrill College, 1969); and John Scott (M.A., Art, 1965).
Epps, co-writer of the box office hit "Top Gun," has returned to campus numerous times over the years to visit with Jim Cash, a relationship that developed when Epps took Cash's screenwriting class at MSU. During his MSU years, Epps was director of the first Midwest Film Festival and also wrote and produced several award-winning short films including "Throwing Off," "From Dusk" and "The Pigs vs. The Freaks."
Epps and Cash wrote 24 screenplays together and had seven feature-length motion pictures produced including "Top Gun," "Legal Eagles," "The Secret of My Success," "Dick Tracy," "Turner and Hooch," "Anaconda" and "Viva Rock Vegas."
"I've always felt that MSU, particularly the English department, played such a major role in my life that I feel fortunate for the opportunity to give something back," Epps said from his Santa Monica, Calif. home. "I am really looking forward to talking and sharing with the students, perhaps setting them on a path where imagination, creativity and successful collaborations will be a part of their lives."
Epps also will be the featured lecturer for the College of Arts and Letters Lecture in Writing or Film, in memory of Jim Cash. He will speak on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the Big Ten Room of the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.
Betwee is president and founder of Betwee and Co., San Francisco - a management consulting firm to leaders in business and industry. Her career spans 25 years of work within emerging technology and Fortune 500 companies.
She has co-authored the book "Building Strategic Relationships: How to Extend Your Organization's Reach Through Partnerships, Alliances and Joint Ventures." Betwee also serves on the Board of Directors for the MSU Foundation and is a member of the screening committee for the Business Enterprise Trust.
"Over the past 10 years, I have worked with companies in California's Silicon Valley and I've learned a fair amount about innovation and the skills, abilities and work style associated with an emerging industry. I have also had exposure to old economy companies," Betwee said. "I hope I can share some of this experience in ways that are meaningful to the students.
"I am also very interested in knowing how today's students think about work and how they will balance their professional and personal lives."
Scott, a professor of art at Xavier University of Louisiana, has been to campus numerous times either as a lecturer, a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient (1999) or to receive his honorary Ph.D. from the College of Arts and Letters (1995).
He has been a visiting artist/professor at numerous colleges and universities; has published work in "Art in America," "Artweek," "The New Orleans Art Review" and "Art News;" and serves on both the Audubon Institute Artist Selection Panel and the Board of Directors of the Southern Arts Foundation.
"An artist has a responsibility beyond the walls of the studio," Scott said. "These days, so many youth are focused on themselves. It's not just them though, it's society and the whole idea of 'me-ism.' The artist is part of the community and has responsibilities to the community.
"People gave a lot to me when I was a student at MSU and I believe that tradition needs to continue."
As guests of Dean Wendy Wilkins, alumni will tour campus, interact with students, dine with faculty, take in the Department of Theatre's "Comedy of Errors" and tour the Kresge Art Museum's "Masterpieces of 19th Century American Painting: From the Simple to the Sublime."
For more information, contact the College of Arts and Letters at (517) 355-1905.