FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 26, 2002

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

PAQUETTE FAMILY FUNDS NEW DRAKE LECTURE SERIES

The family of the late J. William Paquette, long-time director of career planning and placement at Drake, recently presented the university with a gift of $25,000 to fund a new lecture series.

The J. William Paquette Lecture Series, which will help students learn about employment issues, begins Thursday, Oct. 3, with a presentation on "Finding Career Success in Today's World." The speakers will be Phil Gardner, director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University, and Larry Routh, director of career services at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Bulldog Theater in Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue. Gardner will talk about the college labor market, economy and workforce demographics, and key skills for achieving success. Routh will respond by identifying strategies for developing these skills, and by highlighting how students should prepare for this new workplace.

"These men are major, national leaders in the placement world," says Don Adams, executive assistant to Drake President David Maxwell for community and alumni affairs. "There isn't a university in the nation that wouldn't love to bring these speakers to its campus. It's a big coup to have them come to Drake."

For the past 16 years, Gardner has conducted research on college labor markets, the transition from college to work and the acquisition of necessary skills for success in the workplace. He holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.

Routh, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, has worked in human resources for a Fortune 500 company and also has served in higher education as a counselor, researcher, teacher and administrator.

The lecture will be followed by Career Expo 2002, an annual event that brings representatives from businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations together to visit with students about their future plans and employment opportunities. The Career Expo will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. in Olmsted Center.

Paquette, who died May 11, 2000, at age 73, was director of career planning and placement at Drake from 1961 to 1979, when he accepted a similar position at the College of Commerce at the University of Illinois.

After retiring from the U of I, he turned his efforts to the Midwest College Placement Association, where he had served for more than 30 years, including terms as president and executive treasurer. To recognize Paquette for his service, the association named their leadership award in his honor. In 1992, the award was presented to Routh.

"Bill was one of the most respected career planning and placement directors in the nation, and he and his wife were deeply respected by faculty, staff and students, not only on the Drake campus but in the Des Moines community as well," Adams said.

In addition to building relationships between employers and the campus communities of the Greater Des Moines area, Paquette, along with his wife, Joyce, GR'71, worked to support the arts, their Catholic parish and to raise their seven children. Two of their sons, Peter and John, attended Drake and two of their daughters are Drake graduates: Mary Paquette Abt, LA'72, and Patricia Paquette Davis, ED'72, GR'78. Davis' son, Adam, is a first-year student at Drake this fall. Mary Paquette Abt is married to Jeffrey Abt, FA'71, GR'79.