2011 Sent Forth Award Recipient
Sara Meslow '92
Meslow is the founder and executive director of Camp Odayin. As a lifelong camper and heart patient, she discovered her calling in founding the only camp in the Midwest for children with heart disease. Meslow has a bachelor's degree in social work and communication, as well as a master's in youth development leadership from the University of Minnesota. She served as an elementary school social worker in Forest Lake, Minn., and volunteered at a summer camp for heart patients in California before her mother suggested she start her own in Minnesota. Camp Odayin, founded in 2001, serves more than 350 people annually. Meslow believes in the positive impact summer camp can have on everyone, especially children with special health concerns.
2011 Alumni Achievement Award Recipients
Maj. Gen. Michael Ennis ‘71
Maj. Gen. Michael Ennis, Oakton, Va., graduated from Concordia with a burning desire to utilize the language skills he learned in French and Russian. Then Uncle Sam stepped in and Ennis was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps. Over the next 37 years, he served as a translator on the Washington- Moscow “hotline” for President Reagan; as a liaison to the Soviet Forces in Potsdam, East Germany; as an inspector on the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty; as an attache in Moscow; and finally as the deputy director of operations at the Central Intelligence Agency.
Clint Hill ‘54
Clint Hill, Arlington, Va., was a Secret Service agent assigned to the White House and served Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. He was in the motorcade in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, assigned to protect Mrs. Kennedy when President Kennedy was assassinated. He is credited with saving her life. After leaving Concordia, Hill entered the U.S. Army and served as an intelligence agent. He was discharged in 1957 and entered the Secret Service. Hill’s career and actions have been recognized worldwide. He retired in 1975 as an assistant director. He and coauthor Lisa McCubbin are writing a book titled “Mrs. Kennedy and Me,” which will be published in spring 2012 by Simon & Schuster.
Estelle (Johnson) Spottiswoode ’46
Estelle (Johnson) Spottiswoode, London, has dedicated her life to music and the arts. After Concordia, she attended Julliard Summer School where she studied with opera star Maggie Teyte. Teyte recommended that Spottiswood study the Jean de Reske method of singing with Grace Vernon. When Vernon returned to the U.K, Spottiswood followed her. She has given numerous recitals and sung in operas, including the second televised opera broadcast in the U.K. At age 70, she focused on drawing and painting in her studio and gave her first one-woman show two years later. She celebrated her 85th birthday with a recital of Grieg, Debussy and Hahn.
Dr. James Westgard ‘63
Dr. James Westgard, Madison, Wis., is co-founder and principal in Westgard QC Inc., a small business providing tools, technology and training for laboratory quality management. He is also an emeritus professor in the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. His life work has been improving the accuracy and precision of clinical laboratory work used to make what can be life and death decisions.