President CLIFF led us in the inspiration, drawing on a great pneumonic developed by his daughter using the letter of the Bowman family last name. The ever-smooth GARY HIRSCH and MIKE PELLER led us in the pledge and song: “America the Beautiful”.
TED FORSBERG celebrated his birthday with a remembrance of his sponsor HUGH THOMPSON, as did RICHARD WHITE, remembering JOHN DUVAL.
Past President JONI CONDIT introduced our newest member, ALICE MILTON. ALICE has had a wide variety of past professions, including environmental law where she helped bring about Sweetwater on Tucson’s west side, and she is a true native Tucsonan, having ridden her horse to school in the early years of the Vail School District. Welcome ALICE!Past President SCOTT VAUGHAN again did a great job with visitors and guests (is this a possible permanent appointment for SCOTT?) We again had many many guests which we hope will become permanent members. Sergeant at Arms DALE BERG had a light day, with only announcements to wrangle:
- President CLIFF announced the March Madness finalists: Past President PHIL GUTT and MARGARET HIGGIN’s teams.
- Past President DAVE GALLAHER reported that 30 Rotarians showed up to help pack 60,486 lbs. of food for the Food Bank, and reminded us of the Triangle Y Ranch Project April 6-7.
- The ever-hospitable JOHN LEWIS announced for the 44th time our upcoming Home Hospitality week (hosts still needed). All members & guests must sign up on the home page.
- LIZ BAKER offered a Happy Jackson to invite members to donate prizes for the SARSEF Science Fair.
- … and finally, President Elect CHUCK SAWYER reported on our Tree Planting project in the Garden District: 236 out of a target of 250 planted so far! Great work CHUCK!
Past President DON ROLLINGS and his wife presented a Paul Harris award to University of Arizona President Robert Robbins.
President Elect Nominee BOB LOGAN introduced our speaker: University of Arizona President Robert Robbins. President Robbins is a native of Mississippi who led the 50 hospital network of the University of Texas Medical Center from 2012 to 2017. President Robbins spoke about building on the strengths of the university (astronomy, optical sciences, environmental sciences) and the importance of building student retention and graduation rates. He noted that our goal is not necessarily to be the biggest university, but to build the quality, student success, and research capabilities of the U of A. He noted that new initiatives such as micro-campuses in Lima, China, and Vietnam, a new campus for the Honors College, and ground-breaking research such as using acoustics to transport drugs across the blood brain barrier are all key to this effort. President Robbins signed a book for our lending library: “Bailey Cat, What’s Your Favorite Favorite?”President CLIFF finished with an appropriate toast as always, followed by an exhortation to “Bear Down”.
