Behind the Scenes with Patti Payne

Phil Condit, former head of Boeing, and his wife, Geda, were honored at a recent event at the University of Washington for their significant gift to the university’s College of Education.

The gift amounts to $500,000, when state matching funds and a $100,000 addition from Boeing are factored in. With that gift, the UW celebrated the installation of the first Geda and Phil Condit professorship of science and math education.

The recipient of the first award from the fund is Philip Bell, an associate professor in the learning sciences, who will now head the UW’s new Institute for Science and Mathematics Education. Bell recently testified before Congress on the topic of informal science education.

“(The Condits’ gift) is already making a huge difference in the College of Education,” says Margaret Ann Bollmeier, assistant dean for advancement at the UW College of Education. “Because one of the greatest needs in our state is improving math and science education, their gift hugely increases the work we are doing.”

Also celebrated at the event was UW professor John Bransford, who received the Shauna C. Larson professorship in learning sciences. He is the co-director of a major education center funded by the National Science Foundation.

“The reason that both Geda and I are really interested in this is because the UW is trying to prepare teachers to do a much better job of teaching math and science and will get much better results,” Condit says. “I believe this is vital to our future and we’re trying to do something to help.”

Holly Martinez, wife of baseball icon Edgar Martinez, was among the guests at the low-key event. The couple’s foundation is funding fellowships and scholarships for minority students who want to become teachers.

Speaking of the Martinezes, their Kirkland-based embroidery and promotions company, Branded Solutions by Edgar Martinez, was selected by the Seattle Mariners and Major League Baseball as a recipient of the first annual Jackie Robinson “MVDBP” (Most Valuable Diverse Business Partner) award recently.

Meanwhile, Condit has helped raise almost $1 million for Boy Scouts of America with his annual autumn campouts, this year being camp-out No. 11. In September, a group of local business and community leaders will gather at the Western Pleasure Guest Ranch in Sandpoint, Idaho, for a number of classic Boy Scout events, including a challenge course, patrol competitions and more. The money raised goes to Scoutreach, a program to fund and attract at-risk kids into Boy Scouts.

Coffee talk

– Oprah featured two Seattle entrepreneurs on a recent Friday show. Justin Esch and Dave Lefkow are the former techies who quit their jobs to follow their passion for all things bacon. Dubbed “bacontrepreneurs,” they are the inventors of Baconnaise, the jiggly spread that has spread into a craze. They insist their product contains no bacon and is vegetarian and kosher. Oprah and her buddy Gayle King taste-tested it, cautiously biting into giant BLTs, sans bacon, but with Baconnaise Light. They drooled over it, saying it tasted just like bacon, and contained only 30 calories per serving. Right. So out I went. Three stores had sold out already. These guys are making a killing. I did find it at QFC in Bellevue. Only a few jars remained. Sorry, Oprah. We disagree with each other on this one. It tastes more like “swineaise” to me. Perhaps the full-calorie version is better. Esch and Lefkow have other bacon products, including a lip balm which they say is their best seller so far. Moral of the story? Come up with a great idea and people will bite — recession or not.

– Studio 54 came to life recently as Seattle party man JJ McKay teamed up with Leslie and Jonathan Fram — she the author of “How to Marry a Divorced Man,” he a partner at Seattle-based Maveron. The threesome threw a Studio 54-themed bash at the Frams’ Southern California home. Two hundred people came. A contingent of Seattleites flew down for the occasion, among them Fredda Goldfarb, Michelle Quisenberry, Patti Savoy, Kathy Casey, Steve Kutz and Courtney Womack, Elizabeth Coppinger, and Brian Schleicher. People danced poolside until the wee hours of the morning. “One of the best parties I’ve ever been to,” said Quisenberry, co-owner of Volterra restaurant in Ballard and capable of putting on great parties herself. LA guests included writers, actors, interior designers, producers — quite a list. “More than ever people need a reason to be happy and joyous,” says McKay, whose next big private party will be an end-of-summer, beach blanket affair at a certain landmark garden store in Woodinville. “My mother taught me long ago it’s good to make people happy,” says McKay, who does her proud.

– The USO Puget Sound says 55 military wives will get their hair done for free this Sunday at the Vidal Sassoon hair salon in Seattle. Some 200 women applied for this generous, first-come, first-serve offer. One unsuspecting woman will be connected by webcam to her husband in Kuwait or Iraq.

– Overlake Medical Center’s annual Bandage Ball took an emotional tone this year, concentrating on the nurse residency program, which costs approximately $20,000 per nurse. The gala raised $600,000, to the delight of Overlake President and CEO Craig Hendrickson. “It was truly inspirational,” he says. Evening co-chair Patty Edwards “raised her paddle” at the $50,000 level, which was matched by Kemper and Betty Freeman, setting the tone for the evening. Among the nearly 500 guests in attendance were gala co-chair Ozzie Traff, Rob and Marilyn McKenna, Vic and Mary Odermat, Bob and Joan Wallace, Doug and Mary Smith. Some emotional moments were felt when four nurses occupied the four corners of the stage in the middle of the darkened, cavernous ballroom at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Dressed in scrubs, each stood next to a volunteer in evening dress. Illuminated by a pinpoint spotlight, the volunteers read excerpts of letters from grateful patients: “You bathed me, you brushed my teeth and you fed me and you never compromised my dignity. ... We send our heartfelt thanks to our nurses. ” After reading each note, the volunteer turned to the nurse standing near her and said, simply, “Thank you.” The audience was clearly moved. There were only seven live auction items. “It worked well,” says Hendrickson. “I think it’s a good model to tell the wonderful story of Overlake.”

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