Six alumni will be honored for their service to and support of their alma mater at the University’s Founders Day event, scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.
They are: Jon H. Feltheimer (LA 72), co-chairman and chief executive officer, Lionsgate Entertainment; Marylen Mann (LA 57, GR 59), chairman and founder, The OASIS Institute; Gordon W. Philpott (MD 61), professor emeritus of surgery, Washington University School of Medicine; James E. Schiele (LA 52, GR 85), former chairman, St. Louis Screw & Bolt Co.; James D. Weddle (GB 77), managing partner, Edward Jones; and George Zimmer (LA 70), chief executive officer and chairman, Men’s Wearhouse Inc.
(The Oct. 26 Record profiled the four faculty members receiving the Distinguished Faculty Awards; the Nov. 9 edition will feature recipients of the Robert S. Brookings Awards.)
Jon H. Feltheimer
After more than 30 years as a leader in several Hollywood entertainment companies, Feltheimer took the helm of Lionsgate, the successful independent film entertainment company. During the past six years as its chief executive officer, he grew the small studio into a giant of the industry, with revenues that have increased from approximately $150 million to nearly $1 billion.
Lionsgate’s feature films have generated more than $300 million in domestic box office revenues in each of the past two years. It has produced a wide range of films that include the Academy Award-winning film “Crash” and modern horror favorites, such as “Saw II.” The highly diversified company also is responsible for producing 12 prime-time cable and broadcast network series.
Feltheimer’s degree in economics failed to help him become a famous musician, which was his goal at the time. After settling in Los Angeles, he worked as an investment broker while trying to break into the music business. Three years later, he realized that his entrepreneurial talents also could serve his passion for music and started a management company for singers and songwriters.
Soon after, his business expertise was noticed by New World Entertainment Ltd., where for eight years he served as chief executive officer and president, presiding over its domestic and international distribution. Under his direction, the company launched its television divsion, which he managed, as well as its Marvel Productions and Learning Corp. of America units.
He moved on to Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), where he engineered the creation of TriStar Television; he also took the reins of the Columbia TriStar Television Group and served as executive vice president of SPE. During his tenure with Sony, Feltheimer oversaw the development of major television hits such as “Mad About You,” “Dawson’s Creek” and “The King of Queens.” In addition, he handled the syndication division and SPE’s arrangement with the Spanish network Telemundo.
Marylen Mann
Back in the 1970s, few people were thinking about the need for educating and keeping active the minds of older adults; one of the few was Mann. In 1974, she spearheaded the creation of Arts for Older Adults, and that program led to a model curriculum for aesthetics education. In 1982, she saw the need to extend the program further and created OASIS to “nurture the mind, health and spirit of adults aged 50 and up.” It was begun on a shoestring, with private and public support coming from the May Department Stores Co. (now Federated Department Stores) and a $184,000 grant.
From its inception in 1984 until 2003, as it grew from a local enterprise to a national network of 26 cities, Mann served as president of The OASIS Institute.
Today, OASIS serves more than 360,000 adults, has an annual network funding base of $22 million and is the largest education and volunteer service organization for mature adults in the United States.
Before discovering the groundbreaking concept of OASIS, Mann used her bachelor’s degree in philosophy and her master’s degree in education from WUSTL to teach elementary education. In 1962, she joined its faculty in the Department of Education in Arts & Sciences. In 1972, she joined the faculty at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but returned to WUSTL as a faculty member from 1984-2003.
Her lifelong passion for community service has greatly benefited the St. Louis region. She serves as a director for the Contemporary Art Museum and as a trustee for the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Louis Science Center and the Whitaker Foundation.
In 1998, she received the Woman of Valor Award from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, as well as the Woman Who Makes a Difference Award from the International Women’s Forum.
In 2003, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the St. Louis Older Women’s League; in 2004, she received the Trail Blazer Award from the St. Louis Forum.
Mann has been an enthusiastic supporter of her alma mater both as a member of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work’s National Council since 1988 and as former chair for the Community Advisory Board for the University’s Center for Aging.
In 2002, she received Arts & Sciences’ Distinguished Alumni Award. An active alumna, she is helping organize her 50th reunion for 2007. She and her husband, Franklin Jacobs, are longtime members of the University’s Eliot Society.
Gordon W. Philpott
With the exception of a two-year stint with the National Institutes of Health, Philpott’s teaching, research and practice have been devoted to the University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital. His mark remains throughout the school.
Philpott taught at the School of Medicine for more than 30 years, retiring in 1999 as the Harry Edison Professor of Surgery, and now enjoys emeritus status. In 1994, he received a joint appointment as a professor of radiology. For 11 years, he directed Jewish Hospital’s surgery department and also served as assistant dean for curriculum.
In his clinical and laboratory work, he has participated in many breakthroughs for the improved treatment of malignant diseases. Notable among these is the establishment, with colleague Barbara S. Monsees, M.D., professor of radiology, of the Breast Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish, which is now part of the Siteman Cancer Center. His work in radiology has led to improved diagnosis and treatment for patients suffering from colon cancer.
For his valuable contributions to medicine, Philpott has received many honors, including election to Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society, the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Fellows Award and in 1996, the medical school’s Alumni Achievement Award.
He also is the recipient of a James IV Traveling Fellowship in surgery and a research fellowship in developmental biology at the National Institutes of Health.
As an active alumnus, Philpott gives his time and talents to WUSTL, most notably as a member of the Alumni Board of Governors (he served as chair in 2003), the medical school’s National Council and the Siteman Cancer Center community advisory committee. He and his wife, Susie, belong to the Danforth Circle of the Eliot Society.
Additionally, Philpott is active in a number of St. Louis institutions, including the Metropolitan Association of Philanthropy, American Rivers and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. He helps manage the Philpott Family Foundation, which he began with his wife in 1998. He is especially interested in supporting environmental and wildlife concerns, such as The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund.
James E. Schiele
As several family members before him, Schiele attended WUSTL. He graduated in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in history in Arts & Sciences. More than 30 years later, he earned a master’s degree in liberal arts from University College in Arts & Sciences.
Between these two degrees that bracket his matriculation, Schiele earned a distinguished reputation for service to our country as a U.S. Air Force navigator, and for his 43 years as a business leader for the family-owned St. Louis Screw & Bolt Co., a major manufacturer of industrial fasteners. It was sold in 1999, with Schiele remaining as a consultant.
His service to the University has been equally distinguished. For more than three decades, he has provided voluntary support to the Weidenbaum Center in Economics, Government and Public Policy, for which he currently serves as Eliot Society membership chair.
He also chairs the Gifts Committee for several reunion celebrations and is a former member of the Alumni Board of Governors. Next year, he will chair his 55th reunion event.
For Arts & Sciences, Schiele is active in its Scholars program and its Eliot Society membership committee. In addition, he devotes considerable time and resources to the International Advisory Council for Asia, the Endowed Scholarship Committee and the Athletic Department’s support organization, the W Club, for which he is executive chair.
Schiele and his wife, Joan, are Life Eliot Society members and have recently made a commitment for an endowed scholarship in Arts & Sciences. Earlier this year, they donated their rare collection of 19th-century American prints to the University Libraries’ Special Collections, also providing an endowment to support it.
As a native St. Louisan, Schiele remains dedicated to the community. He has served as a director of Commerce Bank of St. Louis since 1983 and is a director of the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute.
Honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Weidenbaum Center and the John Burroughs School Distinguished Service Award.
James D. Weddle
For Weddle, a chance meeting at a School of Business career day in 1976 set a course toward a life-long career with Edward Jones, one of the largest financial services firms in the nation.
At the time, he was a student in the master’s of business administration program when he learned about the brokerage industry from an Edward Jones representative. Intrigued, he set his sights on a career as a stock analyst and was hired as a research intern for the firm.
After he graduated from the University, Weddle became an investment representative and opened Edward Jones’ 200th branch, in Connersville, Ind. A succession of advancements followed, and in 1984, he was named a principal. He took on a number of leadership roles, including the mutual fund sales and marketing department. From there, he was appointed an area partner, expanding Edward Jones’ presence on the East Coast.
Under Weddle’s direction, the firm grew from 250 offices to more than 1,000, and he oversaw all financial branch office operations. Just shy of a decade later, Weddle became Edward Jones’ fifth managing partner.
The native Illinoisan graduated from DePauw University; he also is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School Securities Industry Institute.
Weddle’s dedication to the St. Louis community and to higher education includes serving Webster University as a board member of the Daniel Webster Society.
For Washington University, he serves on the John M. Olin School of Business National Council. In addition, he has been a member of the board of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis and is a past board president of Focus St. Louis.
George Zimmer
It’s no coincidence that the rise of the men’s retail clothing giant, Men’s Wearhouse Inc., mirrors the rise of its leader.
Zimmer opened the first retail outlet in 1973, in Houston. Today, it operates more than 700 stores with more than $1.5 billion in annual sales. It is the largest retailer of men’s dress and casual wear in the U.S. and Canada, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has been named in Fortune Magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For six times in the last seven years.
He attributes much of the company’s dramatic growth to a distinctive corporate culture that emphasizes honesty, sincerity, integrity, responsiveness, authenticity, mutual goodwill and mutual caring.
These values shine through in the company’s commitment to social responsibility, which includes operating the Zimmer Foundation to provide scholarships for employees and their children.
Equally generous with his time and resources to his alma mater, Zimmer established annual scholarships for Arts & Sciences more than a decade ago and continues to support the University in a variety of ways, including assistance for the American Culture Studies Program in Arts & Sciences.
Readily recognizable as the pitchman for the Men’s Wearhouse television commercials, he made his signature sign-off, “You’re going to love the way you look. I guarantee it,” a household phrase.
The native New Yorker graduated from WUSTL with a bachelor’s degree in economics in Arts & Sciences.