Laurie Leshin, 40, ’87 B.S.

Space scientist

To say that Laurie Leshin has stars in her eyes isn’t quite right — although it’s possible some meteorite dust has lodged there after many years studying them, most recently as the director of the Center for Meteorite Studies at ASU. Leshin’s professional passion as a scientist has been deciphering the chemical trails left by objects in our solar system. And her new passion — bringing scientists from many disciplines to solve planetary puzzles — has led Leshin to her latest position, as director of sciences and exploration for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington, D.C.

Leshin will guide and unify a variety of scientists, with specialties ranging from astrophysics to cosmobiology, who work at Goddard, one of two NASA operations dedicated primarily to unmanned space flight. Upcoming projects for the center include building a robotic orbiter that will map future moon landing sites, and caring for its current crop of Earth-orbiting satellites.

Leshin, who was also a member of President Bush’s Commission on Implementation of Space Exploration Policy, said she’s excited to be joining NASA at such a crucial time in its history.

"It’s an extraordinarily interesting time right now,” she said. “We stand on the threshold of answering the question, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’ The next few decades are going to help us see our place within the entire universe.”

Hagy Belzberg, 40, B.S. ’87

Designs with distinction

California’s tides change frequently, and fashion trends take on break-neck speed. But the architectural structure of existing homes doesn’t generally change as rapidly – unless you’re award-winning architect Hagy Belzberg B.S. ’87. His home is also his laboratory, metamorphosing architecturally every few months.

"I try ideas first on my house, then try them elsewhere,” he laughs. “It’s a catastrophe in terms of conflicting construction conditions, but it is really a wonderful place to learn and make mistakes.”

Few would associate mistakes with Belzberg, 40. His Santa Monica-based firm, Belzberg Architects, boasts a list of awards expansive enough to cover a good chunk of wall space inside the breathtaking Los Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall, an area with special meaning to Belzberg. In 2002, he was chosen from a nationwide competition to design the interior’s 12,000 sq. ft. of restaurants, cafés and retail stores.

His firm also designed the Sun’s Platinum Club in the Phoenix-based America West Arena, and Belzberg was one of four invited to present work at a recent prestigious Monterey Design Conference. He describes his firm’s style as exploratory and requires his young team to work as apprentices at commercial and residential building sites, with hammers and nail guns in hand. “That really came from ASU,” says Belzberg, recalling an ASU course that took architecture students to construction sites – something he considered invaluable.

Belzberg is currently designing the underground Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and The Art Lab, an art museum in Denver, Colo. When he’s not riding the cutting edge of architectural design, he can be found riding the California surf.

Joanne Cacciatore, 39, ’02 B.A., ’05 M.S.W.

Grief worker

Cacciatore, 39, found her life’s purpose in the midst of what many consider one of life’s cruelest challenges: the death of a child during the birth process. She said that when her daughter Cheyenne died while being born in 1994, she was plunged into “an existential crisis.”

The first impetus to change things came a few months after Cheyenne’s death, when, during the throes of excruciating grief, Cacciatore called the phone numbers of five local support groups — and found all five were disconnected. She became focused on providing better support to parents and siblings who had lost a child or family member.

By 1996, the former stay-at-home mother of four other children had founded the MISS (Mothers in Sympathy and Support) Foundation, which is dedicated to providing crisis support and long-term aid to families after the death of a child from any cause. The all-volunteer organization has more than 70 chapters around the world, and facilitates nine local and 27 online support groups.

Cacciatore notes that while parental grief is painful, it also contains the seeds of a deep compassion. “This experience reduces people to human survival,” she said. “It’s very powerful to connect people who’ve gone through this to one another.”

Christina Marín, 35, ’05 Ph.D.

The play’s her thing

Not every university faculty member involved in theater sees herself as a “social change agent,” but Christina Marín does. Her goal is to travel the world, “working in a global community.”

Marín, originally from New York City, received her B.S. in Theatre from Northwestern University. She has worked in children’s theatre in New York City and as a teacher in Colombia before coming to ASU for her doctorate.

Marín taught Theatre for Social Change and Academic Balance for Fine Arts Majors at ASU and her dissertation involved using theater as a way of exploring the identity of Latina adolescents. Marín’s Ph.D. dissertation focused on new field research methods, “using theatre exercises to get teens to examine their identities.” She believes that theater should entertain, but her primary focus is “theater for social change and social justice.”

"I think it’s about combining education and entertainment together,” said Marín. “By using theater, we reach a broader audience, and I think that’s one of the most important educational tools.”

Marín also worked in theater companies beyond ASU’s campuses. She directed a production of “Las Mujeres de Juarez” for the bilingual theater company Teatro Bravo. The play, which was initially performed in Phoenix, was invited to several cities in the United States and Mexico.

After graduating in May, Marín headed back east to begin a career as an assistant professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education.

Rosa Mroz, 40, ’86 B.S.,’93 J.D.

She’ll be the judge

Standing in an immigration ceremony at the age of 18, Rosa Mroz felt the presiding judge’s words strike her heart like a thunderbolt. As a naturalized citizen you have an obligation to keep America great, the judge told her. He was an immigrant himself, and he said a legal career was among the noblest ways to serve.

That sparked a desire in Mroz that burned in her for 10 years, through four years of college, marriage and a short career as an accountant. Today the law is her passion, and last year she was appointed a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge.

Mroz was born in Taiwan and lived all over the world as the daughter of a diplomat. She came to the U.S. from Panama as a child, following President Nixon’s decision to sever ties with Taiwan and her father’s concern for his family’s safety if they returned to their homeland. She lived in New York and Florida, enrolled at ASU at 19, and received her law degree nine years later.

She earned her stripes at two large law firms, working in commercial litigation, and also did a stint at the County Attorney’s Office where she prosecuted everything from burglaries and car thefts to sex crimes. Later she defended insurance cases for the state at the Attorney General’s Office. She said it was good preparation for the complex family law cases that now fill her days.

"The law is involved with every aspect of a person’s life,” she says. “And by being a judge, you can help a whole lot of people in a nonbiased way. As a judge, I don’t take sides. I do what I believe is right.”

Profile credits:
Leshin and Cacciatore written by managing editor Liz Massey.
Belzberg written by Phoenix freelance writer Melissa Crytzer Fry
Marin written by Phoenix freelance writer Michael Hammett
Mroz written by Sarah Auffret, assistant director of ASU media relations.

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Laurie Leshin

Hagy Belzberg

Joanne Cacciatore

Christina Marin

Rosa Mroz