November 2001
Grads made good -- playwright, director, nuclear scientist
Florida State has named a playwright, Susan
Zeder; a television director, Chip Chalmers; and a nuclear scientist,
Paul Robinson, as this year's "Grads Made Good." All
three have developed important careers under public scrutiny.
They will be honored during FSU Homecoming this month.
Susan Zeder
Suzan Zeder is a playwright who, critics say, has revolutionized literature for children.
Instead of presenting conventional themes in children's plays-happy endings and simple thoughts-Zeder appeals to children's abilities to understand complex realities of life.
A native of Greenwich, Conn., she grew up near Broad-way in New York City, with nurturing parents, she said, who exposed her early and often to the stage.
Zeder earned a doctorate at Florida State in 1979.
Her long list of awards and accomplishments includes three wins of the Disting-uished Play Award, given by the American Alliance of Theatre and Education.
She is the first holder of an endowed chair in Theatre for Youth at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches today.
Her most recent play is "The Taste of Sunrise: Tuc's Story."
Chip Chalmers
Chip Chalmers first aspired to be an actor, but took a detour that led to success and public acclaim. He graduated from Florida State's School of Theatre in 1976 and headed to Los Angeles to become a star.
But he discovered that he had talent as a director, and since then others have realized his talent. He has been named one of the leading directors by the Directors Guild, and in an informal Greatest Director poll on the Internet of about 40 TV directors, Chalmers ranked in the top ten.
He made his name directing popular television episodes, including "Melrose Place" and "Beverly Hills 90210." He has worked with actors ranging from Charlton Heston to Alan Alda. Among his credits are "Star Trek" shows. He also directed episodes of "Mortal Kombat," "Pacific Palisades," "Malibu Shores," "Burke's Law" and "Super Force."
Chalmers has returned to FSU to inspire future directors and actors. FSU student Steven Sears tells the story that Chalmers offered to talk to him, if he ever made it to Los Angeles. Sears made it, and Chalmers arranged for him to visit the set of "M.A.S.H." while Chal-mers directed.
"It was a great experience that I'll never forget," Sears said. "Just being around the excitement made me want to be a part of the business."
Today, Sears is a writer and producer of television shows and has his own list of successes.
Paul Robinson
Robinson is far removed from the world of make-believe. But his work is continually under critical public scrutiny: the watchful eye of the taxpayer and voter.
Robinson is a nuclear scientist who received his doctorate at FSU and today is the president of Sandia Corporation. He operates Sandia National Laboratories at Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, Calif, for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Robinson oversees the spending of millions of tax dollars on non-nuclear parts for nuclear weapons.
For the past 35 years, he has been involved in almost every aspect of the nuclear weapons industry.
In 1967, soon after he earned his doctorate at FSU, Robinson began his career as a physicist in the Nuclear Test Division of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
U. S. presidents have called on Robinson for his expertise
in the state of nuclear weaponry.
- Dana Peck
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