DePauw Stories

During this year’s Old Gold Weekend celebration, four alumni were honored for their achievements and service to DePauw. The ceremony, held in the Union Building ballroom, was attended by an enthusiastic crowd and presided over by President Lori White and Vice President of Development and Alumni Engagement Amy Kwas ’93.

 The Old Gold Goblet was awarded to Dr. Tom Mote ’74.

Dr. Mote received his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University and is currently an anesthesiologist at Indiana University Health. Late in his career, his passion for education and global health led him to pursue a master’s in public health from Harvard University. In addition to teaching a global health course at DePauw, he has also taught at Butler and IUPUI and lectured at Harvard Summer School and has given Grand Rounds on global health at three IU Health Hospitals. He has served as a multi-year board member and one-year chair of Citizens Health Center, a federally qualified community health center in Indianapolis. He has been a multi-year board member of the Indianapolis Medical Society. Since its inception in 1990, he has been a board member of the Old Northside Foundation and served as president for the first 10 years. While serving as president, projects included a pocket park (Great Oak Commons), a 16-acre children’s soccer complex (Old Northside O’Bannon Soccer Park), a street clock, historic street lighting, promotional brochures and the Central Avenue Public Art sculpture project. Also included is the restoration of a number of homes and redevelopment of the College Corners portion of the Old Northside historic neighborhood in Indianapolis. This month he donated an electronic carillon to the Landmarks Center of Indiana.

Dr. Mote has provided numerous contributions to DePauw, including the iconic Mote Family Tiger Statue at Blackstock Stadium. Twenty-eight of Dr. Mote’s relatives have attended DePauw, including his daughter Meghann, Class of 2012, and his son Jackson, Class of 2016. A member of Phi Kappa Psi during his time at DePauw, he has served as a Home Corporation member, symposium speaker, faculty rep and financial award administrator. He also came up with the idea and managed installation of the street clock which commemorates Phi Psi’s 150th year on campus. He taught DePauw’s Introduction to Global Health course as an adjunct professor in 2006 and 2007 and again in 2012 with Professor Sharon Crary. Through the class and the DePauw Global Health Initiative that he started, he brought many prominent speakers to campus. In 2012 he endowed an award at DePauw for the senior who has done the most to promote public and global health.

He founded Tumaini Global Health, a not-for-profit foundation that supports global health education at Butler, DePauw, Rose-Hulman, Thomas More, Wabash, Allegheny, Berry, Carleton, Macalester, and St. Olaf. He accompanied DePauw students on a 2004 Winter Term health project in Ghana and accompanied DePauw students on a Winter Term Timmy Foundation public health trip to Ecuador. Dr. Mote also served on the Class of 1974’s 50th reunion committee and donated a display cabinet to the Phi Psi house featuring illustrious alumni for inspiration.

The Young Alumni Award was presented to Adam Gilbert ’10.

Adam Gilbert graduated from DePauw with a bachelor of musical arts majoring in vocal performance and communications. He went on to attend the University of Chicago Booth School of Business while working full-time from 2013-2015. His concentrations included economics, statistics and econometrics, marketing, and operations management. Adam has made his career in the advertising and media industry with a secondary career as a real estate entrepreneur and co-owner of Brae & Bay Retreats. He has served DePauw as the elected student representative on the Board of Trustees, as a member and president of the GOLD Alumni Board, and as a member of the Alumni Board of Directors. In Chicago, he performs in and manages the Chicago Red Line theater group and is a board member of the non-profit Imagination Theater.

Chuck Brooks ’79 and Renee Predmore Wynn ’85 were honored with Alumni Citations.

Chuck Brooks serves as President of Brooks Consulting International with over 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, emerging technologies, marketing, business development and government relations. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in the cyber risk management program, where he teaches graduate courses on risk management, homeland security and cybersecurity. Chuck has received numerous global accolades for his work and promotion of cybersecurity. Recently, he was named the top cybersecurity expert to follow on social media and one of the top cybersecurity leaders for 2024.

Renee Wynn is a leader with over 30 years of experience in environmental policy, global information technology and cybersecurity operations, supply chain risk management and ESG. She led programs at the Environmental Protection Agency and served as the CIO at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Renee currently serves as an independent board member for Axonius, a cybersecurity company. She serves on the Board of Advisors at MITRE, Interos, Dataminr, MESH Experience and Level6 Cybersecurity. To continue a lifetime in service to others, Renee serves on the Board at The Women’s Center, a Virginia and Washington, DC-based non-profit organization dedicated to improving the community’s mental health and well-being through counseling, education, support, and advocacy. She also serves on the Board of the Virginia Tech – Applied Research Corporation.

Brittany Hizer ‘04 was also chosen as an alumni citation winner this year. She was not able to attend the ceremony and will be recognized in 2025.