Five new board members have been named to the Monogram Club
administration and will serve three-year terms to 2005. The new board
members include: Dave Bossy (hockey, '77), Jim Brocke (football,
'65), Elizabeth (Bathon) Brown (fencing, '80) and former Irish
baseball players Dick Nussbaum ('74) and Rick Pullano ('79).
BOSSY is nearing the 20th anniversary of co-founding Mid-America Real
Estate Corporation, with the company growing to dominate the
Chicagoland market (100 employees in Illinois and Wisconsin) while
expanding to include an investment and development company and an
asset management service.
As president of Mid-America, Bossy works primarily in the acquisition
and development of shopping centers throughout the Midwest. He also
has helped develop and execute the expansion plans of several
national chains (most notably OfficeMax and CompUSA) and has been
involved in the marketing and property disposition for several
national chains, including The Home Depot.
A 1977 Notre Dame graduate with a degree in finance, Bossy worked for
Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services from 1977-83. The Chicago
Sun-Times named him its "retail broker of the year" for 1997.
The Montreal native - who also was a two-year football team walk-on -
left Notre Dame after his junior season to pursue a pro career with
the WHA's Quebec Nordiques, before returning after his only pro
season to complete his degree requirements.
Bossy recently served as grand marshal for the city of Homewood's
Fourth of July parade, in recognition for his work in coordinating a
massive redevelopment of Washington Square Mall.
Cousin of hockey legend Mike Bossy, he married the former Deborah
McNamara (Saint Mary's '76) and the couple resides in Hinsdale, Ill.,
with their five children - including Saint Mary's senior Lauren and
11-year old Sean (who just attended his first Notre Dame hockey camp).
BROCKE completed a standout prep career at Crown Point High School in
Northwest Indiana, after moving from his native Wilmington, Del. Bob
McBride, former offensive line coach under Frank Leahy, solidified
Brocke's desire for Notre Dame vs. the scholarship offer from Ara
Parseghian (then at Northwestern). Brocke went on to have the unique
experience of playing under three head coaches - Joe Kuharich, Hugh
Devore and Parseghian - while earning a monogram in his senior season
(1964), as an offensive tackle.
After graduating from Notre Dame in 1965 with a finance degree,
Brocke joined the fifth-largest member of the N.Y. Stock Exchange as
a securities broker in Chicago. He and his family moved in 1980 to
Carmel, Ind., where he established a fee-based financial planning
firm, filed its registration with the S.E.C. and then sold it in
1985. He later purchased Mass Financial Group of Indiana, an
independent registered investment advisor organization from two
principals of Mass. Mutual Life (he and his partner still own the
organization).
Brocke credits his Notre Dame background as a reason for why he
educates clients on using charitable trusts and legacy planning to
care for family members. In addition to being a licensed certified
financial planner, he has been a yearly qualifier for MDRT (Million
Dollar Round Table).
Brocke was president of the Northwestern Indiana ND Alumni Club and
was a part of the University's Alumni Senate when women were voted to
be accepted to the student body. He has been a Monogram Club
representative for the Indianapolis ND Alumni Club and president of
the Carmel School Board, a nationally-recognized system of 11,000
students. He and wife Marianne have two sons, one daughter and two
granddaughters.
BROWN - a 1980 graduate in pre-professional science - attended Notre
Dame Law School for one year before transferring to Iowa, where her
future husband and fellow 1980 ND grad Stephen Brown was enrolled in
medical school. The couple was married in 1982 and she received her
law degree in '83, two weeks before the birth of her son Patrick (a
freshman at Notre Dame in the fall).
Brown taught courses at Iowa and went on to pass the bar in Iowa,
Ohio and Indiana. The Hanover, Pa., native has served on various
school boards, the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocesan Endowment Advisory
Board, and is a past president of Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne.
A three-time letterwinner as a walk-on foilist in the early days of
the women's fencing program, the former Liz Bathon and her teammates
shared the gym with some of the most accomplished men's fencers in
Notre Dame history - 
under the watchful eye of legendary coach Mike
DeCicco. She travelled with the Irish women's team to the 1979
national championships in San Jose.
Liz and Stephen Brown reside in Fort Wayne with their five sons and
two daughters, ranging in ages from nine to 19.
NUSSBAUM was a four-year baseball letterwinner before graduating in
1974 with a degree in English, and again in '77 from the Notre Dame
Law School. He has been a partner since 1996 with South Bend-based
Sopko, Nussbaum and Inabnit, a general practice firm in which he
handles the majority of the real estate transactions. He also has
served since 1998 as the general counsel for Indiana lieutenant
governor (and former Notre Dame catcher) Joe Kernan.
The Pittsburgh native previously worked in 1998 for the city of South
Bend's Corporation Counsel, as the head of the city's department of
law. He also signed on in 1991 (and remains in the capacity) as
secretary and league counsel for the Midwest Baseball League. He
worked for the St. Joseph County Prosecuting Attorney's Office from
1979-88, as a felon trial deputy and lead counsel for 60 widereaching
trials, and was a 20-year partner of the general practice firm
Krisnor and Nussbaum ('77-'96).
Nussbaum led the 1973 Irish baseball team in batting as a junior
(.333) and totaled just four career errors while patrolling center
field. He is part of one of the most successful father-son
combinations in the 110-year history of Notre Dame baseball, as his
son Matt played a number of positions with the Irish and was a
two-year starter, in addition to serving as a senior captain in 2000
(when he also received Notre Dame's Francis Patrick O'Connor Award,
see p. 10).
Nussbaum has served as chairman of the Drug Free Council of the
Healthy Community Initiative and was president of the ND Club of St.
Joseph County in 1995-96. He and wife Pat are the parents of sons
Matt and Dan and daughter Kathryn.
PULLANO also has parlayed his undergraduate experience - including
success on the diamond - into a legal career. A 1979 graduate in
finance, he earned his law degree from DePaul in 1982 and has been a
practicing attorney in Chicago for nearly 20 years, concentrating his
practice on civil jury trials in the last 14 years.
Pullano - who opened his own law firm in 1998 - has successfully
litigated and negotiated a number of multimillion-dollar verdicts and
settlements. He also has served since 1990 as an adjunct professor at
DePaul and he lectures extensively on topics relating to tort
litigation - even appearing as a guest speaker on the Oprah Winfrey
Show. His career began in the Cook County State's Attorney Office,
where he tried over 100 cases in the felony trial courts and gang
crimes unit.
Pullano was the first player since 1904 to captain the Notre Dame
baseball squad in consecutive years, also earning team MVP in those
'78 and '79 seasons. As a junior, he struck out just three time in
132 at-bats - still good for first in the ND record book with a ratio
of 44 ABs per strikeout. A .338 career hitter, Pullano started the
final 150 games of his career (all at shortstop).
He received seven letters in baseball, basketball and football at
Holy Cross High School in River Grove, Ill. As a little leaguer, he
was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" after
striking out all 18 batters he faced in a no-hitter.
Pullano and his wife Candace are the parents of son Michael (11) and
daughter Olivia (6). He is the manager of Michael's baseball team
that recently qualified for the National USSSA World Series in
Overland Park, Kansas. The family resides in Glenview, Ill.
