News

When most people sign a document, they just scribble their signature and don’t give it a second thought. Not so for Drew V. Max, a person who gives signatures a lot of careful consideration.

Max is among an elite few in the nation who actually are court qualified and board certified as handwriting experts. He is retained by law firms, businesses, banks, casinos, and government agencies to serve as a forensic document examiner in legal cases. He also is one of only a handful of people in the nation who is an expert examiner of historical documents and autographs.

It’s the perfect profession for Max, a self-professed history buff and a 1982 UNLV history graduate. “While I was still in high school in the late 1970s, I got a job working as a runner for the state of Nevada Gaming Control Board,” Max remembers. “It was a fascinating place to work, especially because it was during that time period that issues were being raised about documents related to the Howard Hughes estate. It just really piqued my interest.”

But it wasn’t until a few years after college that Max began pursuing a career as a handwriting expert. “After graduating from UNLV, I worked as a credit manager for a building material company,” Max says. “One day a legal document came across my desk, and I could just tell that the signature on it was a forgery. Our company took the document to our attorney who in turn gave it to a handwriting expert who confirmed that, yes, it was indeed a forgery. That’s when I fully realized that I had a real knack for recognizing signatures and got serious about training myself to work in the profession.”

Max bought every book he could on the subject and traveled across the United States to attend lectures and seminars. With no degree programs in the field, training is still largely done through the time-tested method of apprenticeship. After training almost three years as an apprentice, Max got his first big break.

“It is up to the courts and judges to decide if you are qualified to be an expert,” Max explains. “So it was just a huge relief when I began to have courts and judges certify my credentials after years of working so hard to get qualified.”
Max quickly built his reputation in legal circles when he got his second big break – this time accepting an advanced apprenticeship under Howard C. Doulder, a grandmaster of handwriting experts.

“Doulder has a prestigious national reputation and is court qualified in over 40 states and jurisdictions,” Max says, explaining why although he was experienced, he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to train under Doulder. “He is a past Federal Employee of the Year award recipient for giving expert testimony on organized crime in court and before the U.S. Senate.”

The years of intense training are finally paying off for Max. He has acquired a national reputation as an expert on autographs and legal documents and now is the sole proprietor of his own business. He also works as a partner with Marc Goldman in their company A.A.U. (Authentic Autographs Unlimited).

While Max credits his apprenticeships with giving him much of the specific knowledge for how to do his job, he says that his history degree from UNLV plays an important role in the forgery and autograph cases that he works on, especially those that deal with historical documents.

“I examine all aspects of a document very carefully,” Max explains. “What is the paper stock that was used? Does the postmark fee on it match the type of stamps that were used during that time period? What type of writing instrument was used? Ballpoint pens were not available before 1945, so if a letter is dated 1910, then it better not be signed with a ballpoint pen.”

In a recent case, Max was retained by a collector to determine the authenticity of John F. Kennedy’s signature on a campaign letter dated May 14, 1960. In the letter addressed to the editor of a West Virginia publication, Kennedy thanked the community for supporting his drive for the presidency.

“I approached this the same way I do all of my cases,” Max explains. “One of the first things I do is collect numerous samples of the person’s signature that are as close as possible to the date that appears on the document. The reason being is that a person’s signature tends to evolve over time. That is certainly the case with John F. Kennedy, whose signature changed dramatically from the time he was in his late 20s to the time that he was assassinated.”

Max determined that the signature was not an authentic original, but instead was made by an Autopen, a machine that duplicates signatures. Many politicians and celebrities use these devices, Max explains, which then lessens the value of the document.

Max takes pride in knowing that he chose a profession that is unique and has so much history wrapped into it.
“It is so rewarding to be able to combine my interests and skills into a profession that I love and enjoy doing,” Max says. “And, it is especially gratifying to know that my degree from UNLV is helping me to provide an important service to so many people.”

— By Betty Blodgett

Karen J. Wagner, ’82 BA Business Administration , died Sept. 11, 2001, in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. A fourth-generation soldier, Wagner was promoted to lieutenant colonel just one month before her death. She was the deputy chief of staff for medical personnel with the Army surgeon general’s office at the Pentagon.

Wagner exemplified everything an officer should be – intelligent, proactive, athletic, and dedicated – but what really stood out was her energizing sense of humor, says Stanley Jasiczek, ’83 BA Communication Studies. He went through UNLV’s ROTC program and the Army’s cadet training with Wagner.

“Karen was one of the finest people I ever met,” Jasiczek says. “And she was absolutely hilarious. No matter how dirty or tired you were after a day of training, you couldn’t be around her for more than a few minutes without a laugh.”

Wagner was commissioned in the Army after graduating from UNLV. She earned a master’s degree in health services administration at Webster University and was a graduate student at Old Dominion University when she died.

While in training at Ft. Lewis (Wash.) Army Base, Wagner’s leadership traits were evident, Jasiczek says. Her peers in training voted her one of the top cadets. “You could just tell she was going to be a leader,” he says. “She was always one step ahead of everyone else. And she was always ready to volunteer for a challenge.”

Her previous assignments included duties as adjutant for the 85th Medical Evacuation Hospital at Fort Lee, Va.; executive officer and company commander at Fort Sam Houston, Texas; chief of personnel for the 57th Evacuation Hospital in Wurzburg, Germany; and chief of the personnel services branch at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

She was laid to rest at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. She was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart, and the Order of Military Medical Merit.

She is survived by her mother, Mattie S. Wagner of San Antonio; sister, Kim J. Wagner; brothers, Warren E. and Karl V. Wagner, and numerous other relatives.

Two years ago Ryan Bledsoe played soccer against a backdrop of the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Today his playing field is inside the solid, weighty buildings of the federal government.

Bledsoe, starting goalie for the UNLV men’s soccer team during the 1999 and 2000 seasons, earned a B.A. in economics in August 1999 and an M.A. in economics the following year. Now working for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, better known as the Fed, he was promoted to assistant economist in August. Bledsoe works in the research and statistics division of the Fed. Before his recent promotion, his principal assignment was the triennial Survey of Consumer Finances, which collects and analyzes data on the distribution of wealth in households across the nation (see www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/scfindex.html). This brings him into contact with other divisions, such as monetary affairs and international finance, when they need to use data from the survey.

“Fortunately for me,” Bledsoe says, “my position allows me to work on several different projects at the board.”
His work goes beyond assembling the data for the Fed’s use. “I also work on every aspect of preparing and presenting the survey data to the public.”

Proficient in a number of computer languages, he writes computer programs to analyze and present the data. He is currently authoring a paper that he will present at the 2002 American Statistical Association meeting in New York and that later will be published in the meeting’s proceedings.

Has he met Alan Greenspan, the board chairman, whose remarks about the economy can send the stock market’s numbers soaring or diving? “No. As with any institution’s leader, he speaks at our Christmas party,” says Bledsoe. “I have sat in on a few meetings where the Board of Governors was briefed about research projects I have worked on. That has been the extent of my interaction with the chairman.”

One of those relatively rare individuals who was actually born in Las Vegas, Bledsoe attended Eldorado High School and as a senior was named Athlete of the Year by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Bledsoe succeeded both on and off the field. With a 3.98 undergraduate GPA and a 4.0 as a graduate student, he was named by the NCAA to the 2000 GTE (Verizon) Academic All-America team.

Coach Barry Barto says, “Ryan Bledsoe is the student-athlete you dream about during the recruiting process. He has demonstrated the highest degree of excellence both in the classroom and on the field. It has been a privilege to have coached him as our ambassador for UNLV men’s soccer.”

As Bledsoe pursues his career, soccer remains one of his hobbies. “I am currently assistant coach at Thomas Jefferson High School in Fairfax, Va.,” he reports. “I play for a local coed soccer team with some of my good friends, and every Friday I join 15 of my coworkers on the national mall to play soccer during my lunch break.”

He credits a strong work ethic for his success. “The work ethics that have made me successful in school and at work also made me successful on the soccer field.”

Clicking at Carnegie Hall: Michael Cundari, '99

At Carnegie Hall in New York, the 2,000 people in the audience stand and applaud at the conclusion of an inspiring Easter Sunday performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria. Beaming with pride from the audience is Michael Cundari, who as director of the Franklin Middle School concert choir in Nutley, N.J., has spent three months planning the collaborative performance with the White Middle School concert choir in Henderson.

Cundari, who received his bachelor of music degree from UNLV in 1999, was a student-teacher at White and worked with Randy Pagel. “Pagel directs one of the most accomplished school choirs in the country,” Cundari says. “We have kept in close touch since I graduated. When he was invited by MidAmerica Productions to come to Carnegie Hall and conduct his choir with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, he suggested that we collaborate.”

Mentor and protégé spent countless hours on the phone working out the details. At the Sheraton Hotel in New York two days before the performance, their choirs finally joined forces. And, just hours before taking the stage, the combined choir of 247 singers practiced for the first time with the ensemble and two professional vocal soloists.

Says Cundari, “Gloria is a difficult piece for junior high school students because it’s in Latin and contains 12 contrasting movements that are filled with passionate phrases, staggered entran-ces, and pulsating rhythms. It challenged the kids and pushed me as a teacher, but as Jocelyn Jensen, one of my former UNLV choral directors, used to say, ‘No risk, no art.’”

Cundari took a circuitous path to concert choirs. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1994, a stint at the Rainbow Room in New York convinced him that a career as a chef wasn’t for him. He enrolled in UNLV’s College of Hotel Administration to study restaurant management, but still floundered for direction.

“I sometimes sought comfort by finding a piano in a practice room in the music department,” he recalls. “Carol Stivers, who is the piano department’s coordinator, heard me play and encouraged me to audition for a scholarship. I didn’t need much convincing.”

Cundari, who describes himself as a “music generalist,” never had much interest in singing, but his scholarship required participation in a choir. “I went from being a cut-up in class to the guy who, three years later, directed the university choir when choral director David Weiller had a conflict,” says Cundari.

He credits Weiller for turning his focus to choral studies. “The high when I’m part of a choir that is clicking is unexplainable, and it’s something I wanted to pass on to kids. I couldn’t be happier doing it.”

The Nutley schools couldn’t be happier to have him. In three years, Cundari’s middle school choral groups have grown from 50 to 285 students – just under half of the school’s entire population. He also started an acclaimed madrigals group and directs the high school choir, which performed in the second half of the Carnegie Hall program.

“Concert choir teaches music, but it also teaches discipline, focus, and teamwork and provides a tremendous sense of accomplishment,” explains Cundari. “I feel that kids leave my classes as better people, and what could be more satisfying than that?”

Fall 2002 | Vol. 10, No. 2

n Alumni Profiles