people and news

GEORGE LOWREY will be developing and expanding the role of Personnel Development Specialist with the Office of Recreation and Park Resources at the University of Illinois. He has formerly served as the undergraduate and graduate program director with the University of Illinois. Prior to coming to Illinois he directed the recreation curriculum at Texas Women's University. Previous experience was with the San Antonio and Austin Recreation Departments in Texas. Lowrey is a former president of the Texas Recreation Society and served as a trustee with the NRA board. He holds degrees from Southwest Texas State College, the University of Texas and the University of Illinois.

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D. JAMES BRADEMAS has been appointed Chief of the Office of Recreation and Park Resources at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus. Mr. Brademas, formerly President of City Planning Associates, South Bend, Indiana, also served as Superintendent of Recreation in Rockford, Illinois. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois and is currently a Ph.D. candidate.

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MICHAEL G. WADE has been appointed Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Recreation and Park Administration at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus. Dr. Wade will continue as a research scientist at the Motor and Leisure Behavior Research Lab in addition to his new duties. Dr. Wade's research is in the area of motor performance and play behavior of both normal and retarded children. He received his undergraduate training at Loughborough College in England and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois.

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RICK CRANDALL has joined the Motor and Leisure Behavior Research Laboratory of the Department of Recreation and Park Administration at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Campus. He received his undergraduate training at the University of California, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan in social psychology. He teaches research methods and is investigating social psychological aspects of leisure.

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KARL M. NEWEL is currently an Assistant Professor in Recreation working in the Children's Research Center, University of Illinois. Karl received most of his formal education in England, graduating in 1964 from Loughborough College of Education with an honors diploma in physical education. After two years of teaching high school physical education and recreation, he came to the University of Illinois in 1969 to study for a graduate degree. His four year stay culminated in a Ph.D. in 1973, with his area of specialization being motor skill acquisition. After one year in England, Newell returned to the University of Illinois in August 1974 to take up his current position. Newell's current research interests focus primarly on the assessment of motor impairment in children, and the implications that motor ability tests have for therapeutic recreation. Additionally, Karl continues his research on the learning of motor skills.

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Resignation of GUNNAR A. PETERSON. executive director of the Open Lands Project, was announced by Farwell Smith, president of the board of directors of the Chicago-based agency concerned with the preservation of open space.

Mr. Peterson will leave Chicago to assume a new position in the Province of Nova Scotia (Canada) as its first coordinator of outdoor recreation. His office will be based in Halifax.

Peterson has served as chief administrative officer of the Project since its inception in 1963, and is widely known here and across the country in the fields of recreation and conservation. In 1967 he was one of four Americans who spoke at the Third World Congress on Parks and Recreation in Brighton, England. Mr. Peterson served as the first chairman of the National Trails Council formed to coordinate trail activities throughout the United States. He also assisted in the establishment of the Institute for Environmental Awareness at George Williams College in 1973 and the training program at the College for National Park Service rangers.

In 1968 Mr. Peterson was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from George Williams College; in 1969 the Great Lakes Chapter of the Sierra Club

Illinois Parks and Recreation 32 March/April, 1975

awarded him its annual citation as Conservationist of the Year; and, in 1970, he was awarded an Honorary Life membership from the Illinois Association of Park Districts in recognition of loyal and valuable service.

Peterson currently serves as a consultant to the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, as a board member of the Illinois Park and Recreation Foundation and the Fund for the Advancement of Camping.

Before joining the Project, Mr. Peterson served as director of outdoor education for the Community Renewal Society, as a faculty member at George Williams College and Syracuse University, and as a YMCA executive.

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DALE HENCH has moved from Long Range Planning to administrator of the Department of Conservation's Federal Aid Section, according to Tony Dean, Department director. Hench is responsible for all of Federal Aid's programs and activities, including the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, the state Open Space Lands Acquisition Grant Program, the Federal Aid to Fish and Wildlife Restoration grants program, and the commercial and anadromous fish programs.

Hench has been in Conservation's Division of Long Range Planning since 1971, where he served as coordinator of the Illinois Historical Sites Survey, administrator of the National Park Service's historic preservation grant-in-aid program, and as Department representative on the interagency bikeway task force. In these capacities, Hench has been involved with Illinois' participation in the National Register of Historic Places, the review of environmental impact statements and the development of the historic preservation plan and the state's comprehensive outdoor recreation plan.

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JOE OPALSKI has been appointed Superintendent of Parks for the Roselle Park District, Roselle, Illinois. Previously Joe was employed by the City of Aurora, Colorado's Department of Parks and Recreation as a Recreation Leader, co-ordinating special events. Joe received his Bachelor's degree in Recreation from the University of Maryland, and was the 1973 NRPA summer intern.

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The Franklin Park Park District announces that JOHN MILANO has taken the position of Athletic Supervisor with their Park District. Mr. Milano is a recent graduate of Western Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation and Park Administration. Mr. Milano's background includes working as a recreation leader for the Memorial Park District in Bellwood, Illinois as a YMCA athletic leader for the McComb YMCA. He has also completed a term of professional field work with the Elmhurst Park District. Mr. Milano's duties with Franklin Park include running an established year round athletic program as well as coordinating many special event programs.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 33 March/April, 1975