to best connect with others, made the Weavers ideal recipients of the award. Alton Longenecker ‘66, San Jose, Costa Rica, currently volunteers locally as a reading tutor and assists North American work teams helping with various construction projects. His wife, Lois Moyer ‘66 Longenecker, volunteers in the library of Universidad Biblica Latinoamericana. She catalogs books in the library and assists patrons. Helen Kraybill ‘66 Miller, Lancaster, Pa., retired from teaching math at Lancaster Mennonite School in 2007. Currently, she spends her time tutoring, serving as treasurer for the Landis Homes Auxiliary and Mennonite Women of Lancaster Conference, and being an excited and involved grandmother to her two precious grandchildren. Harry King, class of ‘66, Malvern, Pa., retired from administering cash payments, food stamps, and medicaid to low income families through the local welfare office in 2002. He currently takes care of lawns, plows snow part time, and volunteers in the eligibility section of a local free medical clinic. J. Daniel (Dan) Martin ‘67, York, Pa., will assume the newly created position of director of instructional improvement for Lancaster Mennonite School (LMS). This position will focus on developing new tools for the evaluation of instruction, including student and parent surveys, and establishing baselines that will provide a structure for increased instructional effectiveness. Dan was first employed at the Kraybill Campus of LMS as a special education teacher in 1999. He has since been the assistant principal of the middle school. Gary Smucker ‘67, Alexandria, Va., volunteered in the fall of 2012 with Cross Cultural Solutions in a school in Villa El Salvador, a neighborhood of Lima, Peru. He additionally traveled to Paraguay and Bolivia to visit Mennonite colonies during his time in South America. Bruce ‘68 and Anne Landis ‘68 Hummel, formerly of Millersburg, Ohio, are choosing to spend their retirement in service and volunteer work in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Mary Jane Seitz ‘69 Melhorn, Lewisberry, Pa., though she majored in home economics at EMU, currently works part time as accounts payable assistant at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., and part time as office manager and bookkeeper for Melhorn Builders, Inc. Wilbur (Will) Bontrager ‘69, MA ‘99 (conflict transformation), Shortsville, N.Y., was selected to receive the 2013 Community Service for Peace Award by the Center for Dispute Settlement in Canandaigua, N.Y. The award is given to a local citizen who, by word and deed, has promoted the causes of peace and nonviolence, civility and conciliation. Will’s passion for restorative service
work has led him to volunteer with both Mennonite Central Committee in Africa, providing refugee assistance, and Alternative to Violence Project, offering assistance in local correctional facilities. He founded the Finger Lakes Restorative Justice Center in 2000, now Partners in Restorative Initiatives, and currently serves on its advisory board. He also serves on the board of directors for the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and is active in his faith community’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee.
1970-79
Richard (Rich) Garber ‘70, Eagle, Idaho, has dedicated his entire career to the promotion and advancement of Idaho and U.S. agriculture. For 20 years, Rich was the third generation owner/ operator of his family’s diversified row crop farm just outside of Nampa. From farm and production agriculture, he moved to the agriculture management and policy arena. He established Garber Associates and for eight years provided association management, consulting, and lobbying services to several Idahobased commodity associations. For the past 12 years, he has been employed by the University of Idaho, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as director of industry and government relations. Jonas ‘70 and Barbara (Barb) Wenger ‘70 Borntrager, Harrisonburg, Va., were nominated and chosen to receive one of eight Everence Regional Journey Awards. The award recognizes people who model Christian stewardship, focusing on their use of resources, including time, talent, money, and health given to better serve others. Everence will make a $500 donation to a charity of their choice. Melvin (Mel) Lehman ‘71, New York, N.Y., is the director of Common Humanity, a nonprofit organization with an all-volunteer staff operating on a shoestring-thin budget which seeks to build friendship, respect, and understanding with the Arab and Muslim world. Most recently, they’ve been attempting to aid Iraqi and Syrian refugee artists by opening exhibits displaying their works of art. The exhibits are extraordinarily beneficial, not only monetarily, but psychologically and academically as well. Esther Kniss ‘72 Augsburger, Harrisonburg, Va., traveled to Albania in October 2012 to visit the Lezha Academic Center and stimulate an interest in an art program there. She traveled with her husband, Myron ‘55, who was asked by Virginia Mennonite Missions to meet with local church leaders and speak in churches. In the two weeks there, the Augsburgers enjoyed how easily and excitedly the students took to exploring various art mediums and were impressed with the dedication and strong faith of the leaders and members of the four churches with whom they worshipped.
Mathematics professor Deirdre Smeltzer has been named vice president and undergraduate dean at EMU. (Photo by Cody Troyer)
Smeltzer Succeeds Heisey as V-P and Undergrad Dean Mathematics professor Deirdre L. Smeltzer ’87, PhD, has been named vice president and undergraduate dean of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU), beginning July 1, 2013. “Deirdre brings a wealth of experience as an outstanding teacher, scholar, and department chair,” said Provost Fred Kniss in an email announcing the appointment to the campus community. “She knows EMU well, having served on the faculty since 1998. She has the skills and dispositions necessary for leading the undergraduate programs into their next stage of growth and development.” Since joining the EMU faculty, Smeltzer has held positions with increasing responsiblily, including chair of the mathematical sciences department, 2005-12. During 2012-13, Smeltzer had dual roles as a faculty member and director of EMU’s extensive cross-cultural programs. Smeltzer has been a member of EMU’s strategic planning council, faculty senate and undergraduate council executive committee. Prior to coming to EMU, she served for four years on the faculty of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. She has taught courses on more than two dozen topics in her field and is author or co-author of a number of peer-reviewed articles and a textbook. “Deirdre is known by her colleagues for her excellent problemsolving and strategic-thinking skills, and for her commitment to high academic standards,” said Kniss. Smeltzer majored in mathematics and minored in Bible at EMU, graduating in 1987. She earned her MS and PhD in mathematics at the University of Virginia. As a scholar, Smeltzer has published articles on topics such as “Edge bounds in non-hamiltonian k-connected graphs” and “Exploring Loci in Geometry” (both with her EMU colleague Owen Byer, PhD) and has given presentations on “applications of circular and spherical inversions,” among other topics. She, Byer and a third mathematician, Felix Lazebnik, are authors of a textbook on Euclidean geometry, published by the Mathematical Association of America in 2010. A second book is in the works. Fulfilling commitments made before her new appointment, Smeltzer will be co-leading an EMU cross-cultural to China in the fall of 2013. She did a sabbatical in China in 2006, where she taught and wrote. Smeltzer succeeds Nancy Heisey, PhD, who wished to return to her previous role of Bible and religion professor. Smeltzer and husband Sherwyn, a 1986 graduate in accounting, are the parents of Meg, a senior at EMU, and Claire, enrolled at Eastern Mennonite High School. — BPL www.emu.edu | crossroads | 55