YSU Alumni Magazine - Welcome Jim Tressel

O N T H E COVER James P. Tressel, who was installed as Youngstown State University’s ninth president on August 18, stands outside the iconic Jones Hall on Wick Avenue.

YSU President

James Tressel

YSU Board of Trustees

Chair Carole S. Weimer, ’89

Vice Chair Leonard Schiavone Delores Crawford, ’68 David C. Deibel, ’75 Sudershan K. Garg James B. Greene John R. Jakubek, ’79 Harry Meshel, ’49 James Roberts, ’70

Secretary Franklin S. Bennett Jr.

Student Trustees Bryce A. Miner Eric Shehadi ———————————

Magazine Editor

Public Information Officer

Cynthia Vinarsky Ron Cole

Executive Director of Marketing Communications

Mark W. Van Tilburg

Layout Design Artist

Renée Cannon, ’90

Photographer

Bruce Palmer

Director, Office Jacquelyn LeViseur, ’08 of Alumni and Events Management

Sports Contributor Trevor Parks

Youngstown State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association.

Youngstown State University – A Magazine for Alumni and Friends (ISSN 2152-3746), Issue 20, Fall 2014, is published three times a year by the YSU Office of Marketing Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Youngstown State University, Office of Marketing Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555. Direct letters to the editor, comments or questions to the address above, call 330-941-3519 or email universitymagazine@ysu.edu.

Youngstown State University is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, or identity as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era, in respect to students and/or to applicants for employment, and to organizations providing contractual services to YSU. 8-001

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A student displays his completed Build-a-Penguin mascot.

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Take Home a Penguin The Build-a-Penguin table always attracts long lines of students, whatever the weather, during YSU’s annual Welcome Week festivities. Participants get to create their own penguin mascots and dress them in YSU T-shirts. Welcome Week traditionally begins a few days before the first day of classes, with activities and events on and off campus designed to help students familiarize themselves with the university and the surrounding community.

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Around Campus – YSU awarded more academic degrees in the 2013-14 academic year than it had in three decades. The story leads this issue’s campus news pages.

COVER STORY: Introducing Jim Tressel, YSU’s ninth president – The university’s new president discusses the career path that brought him back home and shares his ideas and plans for leading YSU forward.

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Student Success Stories – A regular feature highlighting the achievements of YSU students.

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Tea for Ten: Savoring the Pleasures of Turkey – Two YSU faculty members, a writer and a photographer, recount their adventures as part of a faculty group touring Turkey.

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Alumni Spotlight – We feature four exceptional alumni: educator Holly Welch, ’08; TV journalist Rena Sarigianopoulos, ’96; artist Maple Turner III, ’99; and business executive Don Lewis, ’86.

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Harry Meshel: ‘A Scholarship Is the Most Lasting Tribute’ – How the YSU trustee and former president of the Ohio Senate established scholarships to honor seven members of his family.

Classic Restaurants of Youngstown – A book co-authored by two YSU alumni takes a look at the region’s ethnic food heritage, including some past and present university hangouts.

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President’s Message Philanthropy at YSU Alumni News Penguin Sports News Class Notes

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Pete’s Pride: For the betterment of our university and our students It has been such a thrill for Ellen and me to return to the YSU campus, a place that has so many good memories for both of us. Meeting old friends, making new friends, feeling the excitement of the campus, engaging with students, renewing relationships, experiencing the renaissance of the city, mingling with community supporters – it’s all been an extraordinary experience.

James P. Tressel President

We also have had the opportunity to open up the Pollock House – the university’s beautiful presidential residence – to folks from throughout the region. We even served more than 1,200 hot dogs during a series of picnics in August for all university employees. Ellen and I see the Pollock House as a tremendous asset for the university and the community, and we plan to use it fully to celebrate university successes and to spread the Penguin spirit far and wide.

Speaking of which, we have introduced a new initiative on campus – called Pete’s Pride – designed to improve connections with our dedicated and talented alumni and friends as we work to attract new students to campus, foster the success of current students and better engage recent graduates with their alma mater. With nearly 200 already signed up, our goal is to have 1,000 members of Pete’s Pride by June 2015.

The idea of Pete’s Pride is to provide alumni, friends, parents and community members the opportunity to contribute their time and expertise to further YSU’s mission, recruit new students and mentor current students and recent graduates. Volunteers may choose to work at our regular admissions visitation events on campus, speak to student organizations, help students with resumes, attend networking gatherings, visit classes, assist graduates with job placement or participate in university/community events like Streetscape and the Day of Caring. The options are endless. There are no set hours. No money. No meetings. Volunteers decide how much time they have. I have met so many people over the years – and particularly in the last few months – who love YSU, remain deeply connected to the campus and are looking for ways to help.

Pete’s Pride brings all of them together for the betterment of the university and, in particular, our students. So, I encourage all of you to visit the Alumni Relations website today at www.ysu.edu/alumni to learn more about Pete’s Pride and to complete an interest form.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Meanwhile, we start a new academic year in a very challenging time. You may have already heard one of our mottos: Macte virtute. It’s Latin, an imperative, that means: “Increase excellence.” It’s imperative that we set our goals high and increase excellence in everything we do. We are committed to that – for our faculty, for our staff, for our students, for our alumni and for our community. We are Penguin proud.

Sincerely,

James P. Tressel, President

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Degrees Hit 29-Year High If commencements this past academic year looked a little crowded, well, they were.

YSU awarded 2,147 degrees in the 2013-14 academic year. That’s the most since 1985-86, nearly three decades.

Jack Fahey, vice president for Student Affairs, said the high number is a reflection of increasing enrollments that the university experienced in the first decade of the 2000s. But he pointed to two other key factors.

First, the number of veteran graduates is growing.

YSU awards “patriot cords” to graduates who are military veterans. Those numbers have grown from 27 two years ago to 47 this past academic year, and university officials expect to see the numbers continue to rise with the opening of the new YSU Veterans Resource Center.

Secondly, enrollment in the Bachelor of General Studies program has soared. Jane Kestner, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, said the BGS was introduced in 2005 as a “completer degree” for individuals who had earned a high number of credit hours but, for one reason or another, did not complete a degree. “We thought we might get 10 students the first year, but the response was overwhelming,” she said. “We have consistently had between 130 and 180 students in the program.” The BGS is also attractive to students who fail to gain entry into their original program of choice. The program has been a major factor in retention and degree-completion initiatives.

Since its start nine years ago, the program has awarded more than 700 degrees and is now the third most populous degree on campus, behind only criminal justice and nursing. In the last two years, the number of BGS degrees has increased by nearly 33 percent. For more information, visit http://web.ysu.edu/class/genstudies.

White House Shines Spotlight on YSU Initiative YSU’s new Launch Lab, an initiative that combines engineering and art, was among the programs highlighted at the first White House Maker Faire this summer in Washington D.C. Martin Abraham, dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, was at the White House to represent YSU. The Faire, which President Obama attended, featured makers, innovators and entrepreneurs using cutting-edge tools to bring ideas to life.

Abraham was invited to the White House to share information about Launch Lab, a joint initiative of the STEM College and YSU’s Department of Art. Abraham said the lab, which is still under development, will allow science and engineering students to work collaboratively with art students to make cutting-edge and appealing products.

“Today’s electronic devices and products must look good, feel good and have some expressive meaning to them,” added Bryan DePoy, dean of the College of Creative Arts and Communication.

“Launch Lab will be the place where form meets function.”

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HONORING THOSE WHO SERVED Remembering the service of deceased military veterans and working to better serve veterans returning to college continued to be a major focus at YSU this summer as the Vietnam Traveling Wall came to campus and construction of the new Veterans Resource Center neared completion.

Thousands of veterans, families and others visited the American Veterans Traveling Tribute/Vietnam Traveling Wall on campus in May. The 360foot long wall, an 80-percent scale version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., was open for viewing around the clock for five days.

Events included opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a candlelight vigil.

The university’s annual Reading of the Names Ceremony was also held at the wall. The ceremony remembers YSU employees and students who died while on active military duty. YSU’s annual Armed Forces Appreciation Luncheon followed in Kilcawley Center on campus.

Meanwhile, construction of the YSU Veterans Resource Center on Wick Avenue was nearing completition as YSU Magazine went to print. The 6,000-square-foot, two-story center located between the Pollock House and Melnick Hall on Wick Avenue will house the YSU Office of Veterans Affairs and is designed to help improve and expand services to military veterans and service members transitioning to student life at YSU.

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Surprise!

Bliss Gallery Named to Honor Donor Judith Rae Solomon, left, reacts to the surprise announcement that the art gallery in Bliss Hall was being named the Judith Rae Solomon Gallery in her honor. Her brother and sister-in-law, Martin and Susan Solomon, made a major contribution in April to create an endowment for programming for the College of Creative Arts and Communication, as well as for physical improvements for the gallery. Judith Rae Solomon, a native of Youngstown, is a prominent architect, art enthusiast and a member of the advisory board for YSU’s McDonough Museum of Art.

Al Bright, John White Receive Heritage Awards

Gov Appoints Members to Board of Trustees

Two respected, long-time faculty members – Al Bright and the late John White – received Heritage Awards for major contributions to the university.

Bright is an internationally renowned artist, trail-blazing African Al Bright American educator and founder of the Black Studies (Africana Studies) Program at YSU. He is a professor emeritus of art, earned his undergraduate degree in art education from YSU, and was the first African American full-service faculty member at Youngstown University in 1965, White was a professor and chair John White emeritus of anthropology and a prolific writer and researcher whose archeological digs spanned locations from Mill Creek Park in Youngstown to Israel.

He died in 2009.

Gov. John R. Kasich has reappointed Dr. John R. Jakubek of Canfield to a nine-year term on the YSU Board of Trustees and has appointed Bryce A. Miner of Columbiana, Ohio, to serve as a student member of the board. John Jakubek Jakubek, who earned a bachelor of science degree summa cum laude from YSU in 1979 and is a 1982 graduate of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, initially was appointed in 2009 to fill the unexpired term of Dianne Bitonte Miladore, who stepped down after being appointed to the board of trustees at Northeast Ohio Medical Bryce Miner University. Jakubek’s new term will end in 2023.

Miner, a 2011 graduate of Columbiana High School, is a political science major at YSU and will serve two years as a student trustee.

Boyds Establish Scholarship for Minority Students A new scholarship to assist qualified minority students who have an interest in pursuing a degree in clinical laboratory science has been established by Dr. Joan J. and Willard L. Boyd.

Joan Boyd is a full professor at YSU and was granted emeritus status this year. She began her tenure in the Department of Allied Health in 1977, after completing seven years as a professional clinical laboratory scientist at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center. While at YSU, Boyd published more than 17 scholarly articles and was recognized three times as a Distinguished Professor. Willard L. Boyd earned a bachelor's degree from YSU in 1976. He served as postmaster in the Youngstown Postal Services for 14 years.

For more information on the scholarship, contact the YSU Foundation or the YSU Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid. Joan and Willard Boyd

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Bow-Wow: Canine Officer Joins YSUPD Four legs, two years old, a native of Holland and a powerful sniffer. Meet Gino, a Belgian malinois bomb detection dog and the latest crime fighter to join the YSU Police Department.

Ohio Homeland Security, a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, donated the explosive detection dog to the university this summer. When the agency announced plans to offer the dogs to Ohio’s public universities, ODPS Director John Born said, YSU was the first to step forward. “Gino will be a working asset for the university and the community as well,” he said.

OHS created the pilot program to aid in response to bomb threats at Ohio universities and their surrounding communities.

Federal grants cover the purchase, training, veterinarian bills and any necessary equipment.

Gino’s handler is YSU Police Officer Mark Mehley, who earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from YSU and graduated from the YSU Peace Officers Training Academy in 2010.

“This is yet another example of how we can make campus, the city and the region a safer place to live and work,” said John Beshara, YSU police chief.

Officer Mark Mehley and Gino, the latest addition to the YSUPD.

YSU Police Academy First in Ohio to Offer Rifle Training YSU’s Peace Officer Training Academy continues to make its mark, becoming the first academy in Ohio to provide training to certify cadets in the safe use of rifles.

“This is a big step toward making YSU the premier police academy in the region and the state,” said Ed Villone, Academy commander.

“This allows us to better prepare our cadets for the kinds of situations they will confront as working law enforcement officers,” said Patricia Wagner, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences.

To provide the training, 11 M-16 rifles were given to the YSU academy by the Austintown and Howland police Cadet Khaled Abu-Ghannam shoots at the Hubbard Gun Range as part departments through the Ohio Law Enforcement Support of the YSU Peace Officer Training Academy's new rifle course.

Office. Villone hopes to receive an additional 19 rifles so each of the academy’s 30 cadets will have a firearm with which to train.

Earlier this year, the first group of cadets began training on the rifles, including eight hours of classroom instruction on everything from safety and cleaning the weapon to site alignment and shooting stances. After the training, cadets are officially certified to use the weapons.

Villone said for many years police have carried shotguns in cruisers. Today, however, with the proliferation of highpowered rifles, law enforcement agencies are regularly replacing or supplementing shotguns with rifles, he said. But rifle training and certification are not required for officers to complete basic peace officer training. That means that graduates, once hired, must get the additional training after they are on the job.

“With the addition of rifle training at the YSU academy, our cadets will be trained and can be placed in a cruiser with a rifle on day one without any additional training,” Villone said.

The YSU academy has graduated more than 800 cadets since opening in 2000. The 15-week program certifies cadets to work as police officers in Ohio.

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Navarros Honored as Friends of the University Shorty and Elba Navarro, leaders and generous philanthropists of the Mahoning Valley for nearly half a century, received YSU’s 2014 Friends of the University Award this summer, recognizing their contributions to YSU and the community.

Flor “Shorty” Navarro came to the United States with his parents from Puerto Rico when he was 14.

At the age of 16, with his father as a co-signer, he purchased a gas station on Wilson Avenue, and today he is a leader in the automobile business.

Elba earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Spanish, reading and Shorty and Elba Navarro education from YSU. She is a retired Youngstown City Schools teacher.

In 2001, the Navarros established at $100,000 scholarship fund to benefit Hispanic students attending YSU. Mr. Navarro also gifted a new facility to the Organizacion Civic y Cultural Hispana Americana and, as a veteran of the Marine Corps, he also contributed $100,000 to the construction of the new Veterans Resource Center at YSU.

IN MEMORIAM… To say Carl Chuey loved trees would be an understatement.

So, when Chuey died in April at the age of 70, it was appropriate that a tree was planted on campus in his memory.

Chuey was an associate professor of biology at YSU since 1967 and curator of the YSU Herbarium, one of the largest herbaria in the state of Ohio. The YSU Board of Trustees approved a resolution this summer naming the facility the Carl F. Chuey Herbarium.

Dominic A. Bitonte died in March at the age of 89. Bitonte had a distinguished career as a dentist, a volunteer and a philanthropist. In 1999, YSU renamed the Dr. Dominic A. and Helen M. Bitonte College of Health and Human Services in their honor.

Dorothy M. Kennedy, professor of Nursing for 25 years, passed away in March at the age of 82. Kennedy was a staff nurse at Sharon General Hospital, a school nurse at Duquesne University and director of nursing education at Sharon General before joining the YSU Nursing department in 1969.

Frank A. D’Isa, retired professor of Engineering, died in February at the age of 92. D’Isa earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Youngstown College in 1943. In 1947, he joined the engineering faculty at YC and nine years later was named chair of Mechanical Engineering, a position he held until retiring in 1992.

Campus workers plant a tree outside Ward Beecher Hall in memory of Carl Chuey.

Zbigniew Piotrowski, professor of Mathematics and Statistics, died in January at the age of 61. A native of Poland who came to the United States in 1981, Piotrowski had been a YSU faculty member for 30 years and had published more than 70 scholarly articles in the field of Topology and Real Functions.

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Jim Tressel –

‘ We’re Here to Serve Others’ Crisp autumn mornings, the rhythmic sound of Marching Pride drummers rehearsing outside his office window and book-laden students rushing to class – it’s all rekindled a flood of memories for YSU’s ninth president, James P. Tressel.

He and his wife, Ellen, felt like they were coming home when they moved this summer into the Pollock House, YSU’s recently-refurbished presidential residence.

After all, Tressel spent 15 years here as the renowned and beloved head football coach who led the Penguins to four Division I-AA national championships.

But his fond recollections of college life go back to his boyhood – he was raised on a college campus. His father, the late Lee Tressel, was a longtime head football coach, athletic director and a professor of health and physical education at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

“In those days at a small liberal arts college, they didn’t pay you a whole bunch but they had a lot of campus housing, so we had a house right next to the stadium,” Tressel recalls. “From the time I was six years old until I was in high school, my dad would get up in the morning, walk across the street and go to work.

So it’s almost surreal for me now, that I get to wake Jim Tressel up in the morning and walk across the street to work, the same way my dad did. Today is Wednesday, and I haven’t been in my car yet.”

Tressel was the youngest of three sons born to Lee Tressel and his wife, Eloise. All three, like their father, pursued careers in education. His brothers are both retired – the eldest, Richard, lives in St. Paul, Minn., where he served 23 years on the faculty and was head football coach at Hamline University; the middle brother, David, retired from the Berea Schools, where he taught for 35 years, and now serves on the Berea Board of Education.

“It’s almost ... surreal for me now, that I get to wake up in the morning and walk across the street to work, the same way my dad did.”

Jim and Ellen Tressel

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Jim and Ellen Tressel took advantage of several opportunities to meet with students, faculty and staff during their first weeks on campus.

Growing up, Tressel was gifted in math and football – he was quarterback on his high school and college teams.

For a time, he considered a career in engineering, but in his senior year in high school, observing his father’s delight in his work as a coach and educator, he made up his mind to follow that same career path.

“I watched my dad, and I saw the impact he had on kids. It was very obvious that he was much more than just a coach, and that seemed very honorable to me,” he said.

“So many times in my childhood, I’d see students come back to the house and expound to my mom and dad on what a difference they made. To me, if there was one universal truth in our home, it was that we’re here to serve others.

That was the way both my parents lived their entire lives. I grew up thinking that that’s what you do.”

Tressel’s strong work ethic had become legendary during his football coaching days at YSU, and he’s continued to build a reputation for working long hours since he assumed his duties as president. He began informal “listening” sessions with the YSU Board of Trustees, faculty, retired faculty, university administrators and community leaders just days after his hiring was approved in May, even though he wasn’t officially scheduled to take office until July 1.

Now, on a typical workday, Tressel walks across the street to his office in Tod Hall at around 7 a.m., and unless he has an evening event or meeting to attend, leaves the office for home at 8 or 8:30 p.m. He lunches at his desk and has given student employees his standing carryout sandwich order: turkey, ham and provolone on honey oat bread.

“I grew up in a family of hard workers,” he said, describing childhood visits to his father’s family farm.

“You got up early, milked the cows and worked for two

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hours before you had breakfast. It’s a hard-working culture.”

But Tressel’s strong drive to succeed and achieve also contribute to his habit of keeping his office lights on long after colleagues have gone home for the night. “I always tell young people that goals create energy,” he said. “If you’re trying to be successful and trying to excel and trying to compete, you’ve got to find some energy to do that, or the outcome won’t be what you’re hoping for.”

He began pursuing his personal career goals to become a teacher and coach in 1975 when, as a new Baldwin Wallace College grad with a BA in education, he landed his first professional job as an assistant football coach and physical education instructor at the University of Akron. He went on to earn an MA in education at UA, and then worked in a succession of assistant football coaching positions at Miami University of Ohio, Syracuse University and Ohio State before accepting the head coaching job at YSU in 1986, later also serving as director of Athletics.

His highly successful tenure coaching the Penguins opened new doors, and in 2001 he moved to Columbus as head football coach of the Ohio State University Buckeyes.

His OSU teams won the national championship in 2002, took home seven Big Ten championships and appeared in eight BCS post-season bowl games.

But Tressel’s coaching career ended abruptly in 2010 when he was forced to resign from Ohio State over a tattoo scandal involving student athletes.

“You learn a lot from the experiences you have in life, those that nobody knows about, and those that become very public,” he said of the circumstances he encountered at OSU. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned is, when you get excited and want to go very quickly and get a lot done and be very engaged, you have to be careful that you don’t get distracted from what you should be taking care of. Any

We gave our Twitter followers the chance to tweet a special message to YSU’s new President Jim Tressel using the #WelcomePrezTressel hashtag. Check out a few of the well wishes we collected— and be sure to follow the president on Twitter @JimTressel5!

@AnthonyDiPiero7 Good luck to @youngstownstate’s new president, @JimTressel5! Excited to see what’s in store for the YSU community. #WelcomePrezTressel @AllisonArmeni So excited to have you here as a YSU Penguin again @JimTressel5!!! #WelcomePrezTressel

time in my life that things didn’t go the way I’d hoped, I can usually trace back to a situation where I was going in too many directions, I wasn’t being as thorough as I should have been.”

Tressel had always planned to eventually retire from coaching and return to the classroom as a teacher, but his coaching career ended much sooner than he expected.

Determined not to react quickly, even though headhunters were calling and would-be business partners were contacting him, he set a new, private goal. “I’d always wanted to read, and I didn’t want to rush into things, so I decided to read 100 books,” he recalled.

He had just completed his 30th book when a friend, Jim Caldwell, then coach of the Indianapolis Colts, asked Tressel to work at home as a game film consultant. The task reawakened his passion for football, and he found himself putting aside the reading exercise to focus on his new consulting role.

Around that same time, Tressel said, he received presidency interest from two small, liberal arts colleges.

Another administrative opportunity in higher education opened up a few months later when Luis Proenza, then president of the University of Akron, sought his advice for hiring a new football coach. Their meeting turned to a discussion of Tressel’s future plans, and soon after, Proenza proposed creating an administrative post for him at UA – he was named vice president for Strategic Engagement in May 2012 and promoted to executive vice president for Student Success in December 2013.

“As I assessed the situation, I thought that if I’m going to get into higher education administration, I’d rather go and study somewhere for a while before I could think I could be president,” Tressel said. “So I took the job in Akron, and I promised to stay two years and to do whatever he wanted me to do to earn my keep. One thing led to another, and here I am.”

@AFHSDrumMajor Had a great time at lunch to welcome @JimTressel5 on his first official day at YSU! #WelcomePrezTressel #pride @AdamRogers #WelcomePrezTressel There’s a lot of work to do.

Make us proud! @AForbes87 I had no doubt that @JimTressel5 would return. Once a penguin, always a penguin! #WelcomePrezTressel @Anthohknee7 Can’t wait to see what Jim Tressel brings to the table for YSU and Youngstown #WelcomePrezTressel @osuholly Welcome home Jim Tressel! We are so happy to have you back in our community! Congratulations! #WelcomePrezTressel @Jose_Milarinho Welcome home Mr. President. I can not wait to see what you can do with this already growing university #WelcomePrezTressel @iambobbye #WelcomePrezTressel looking forward to seeing how your specific brand of excellence and leadership takes hold and creates change! @YSU_FYRE Housing & Residence Life and YSU FYRE would like to #WelcomePrezTressel on his first day! First of many great days! @YSUPhysics-Astr Welcome Pres. and Mrs. Tressel. Thanks for breakfast! #WelcomePrezTressel Stop and see the stars at YSU!

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He believes the Akron position gave him the time and Tressel said he’s noticed many parallels between opportunity to study the challenges that higher education is coaching and administration. “The main things are exactly facing and to consider solutions. “You never know why or the same: keeping the focus on the students, surrounding how things happen, but sometimes you look back and you yourself with good people who care about others and say, ‘Now I know why I was there,’” he said. “I know now understand the team concept,” he said. “The difference that, had I not had those two years, I would have had no is, the scale is so much larger and more complex. Instead chance to be helpful here and now at Youngstown State.” of working with 100 guys and a dozen coaches, here Tressel was near the end of his promised two years we’re working with more than 13,000 students and 1,500 at Akron when YSU employees.”

President Randy J. And just as he kept a Dunn shocked the close eye on the scoreboard university community during his coaching by announcing that days, the new president he would resign to said, he’ll be watching a take a job as president different set of numbers of Southern Illinois and metrics to evaluate the University. Dunn success of the university. left in March, after Enrollment numbers are just seven months as key, of course, but he’s also president, Provost Ikram looking at retention – the Khawaja assumed number of students who the presidency on an continue, year to year – and interim basis, and the degree completion. State YSU Board of Trustees subsidies are now based on began a national search degree completion, not on with the assistance of enrollment numbers as they AGB Search Inc. of once were.

Washington, D.C. “We need to improve Tressel was one the important metrics. We’d of 37 applicants for like to attract more and better the top job and one students, and we want to of three finalists who grow our enrollment,” he visited campus in early said, “but more important May for meetings and than that, the students that presentations with the choose YSU are expecting us board, faculty, staff and to help them succeed. Did we students. On May 9, prepare them for this very YSU Trustees voted competitive world? Did we unanimously to offer help them achieve the hopes the presidency to and dreams they had when Tressel. they invested their hardBoard president earned money with us?”

Sudershan Garg A search process is announced the decision underway for YSU’s next with the following provost, with plans to Jim Tressel statement: “After fully have that position filled by examining each and year’s end. Tressel said he’s every candidate and looking forward to working reviewing the input with the person selected from hundreds of individuals across the campus and the for that position to lead the university’s effort to offer and community, the Board of Trustees believes Mr. Tressel is the maintain strong academic programs that will prepare students right individual at the right time to lead Youngstown State for an ever-changing economy and the careers of the future.

University. Mr. Tressel has the personality and leadership “We have many more points of pride than we have skills, in addition to widespread community support, to problems,” he said, “hundreds of points of pride that we dramatically raise YSU’s profile and prominence across Ohio don’t brag enough about. And we have achieved excellence, and the nation.” but we must continue to increase our excellence,” he said,

“The students that choose YSU are expecting us to help them succeed. Did we prepare them for this very competitive world? ”

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referring to a Latin phrase that he has made the theme of his after a similar project he created at UA that grew to include presidency: Macte Virtute, meaning “increase excellence.” more 1,000 alumni volunteers.

Tressel said he and Ellen have been impressed with On weekends, the Tressels like to spend time with their the physical changes and improvements on campus since four adult children, all living outside the area. Their marriage their last stint here from 1986 to 2000. New buildings is the second for both, and they share a blended family – “just added since then like the Brady bunch,” include the Williamson he quipped. Son Zack, College of Business is a pharmacist at Administration, the Riverside Hospital Andrews Student in Columbus; Recreation and Wellness daughter Carlee is Center, the Watson and newly married and Tressel Training Site a freelance writer; (the Tressels and Ellen’s son Eric is a cardiac parents, Frank and nurse at the Cleveland Norma Watson, donated Clinic; and daughter $1 million toward Whitney is a freelance construction of the photographer who WATTS) and the nearlyrecently completed complete Veterans projects for National Resource Center.

Geographic, Esquire The Pollock and United Airlines.

Jim Tressel chatted with prospective students and their parents attending a House renovation was The couple also Crash Day open house on campus in July. also finished in the enjoys their two, Tressels’ absence, and seven-year-old fluffy he sees the board’s decision to restore the historic home as white Maltese dogs, Scarlett and Gracie. The pups attracted a “tremendous investment” for the university. He and Ellen crowds of admirers and remained remarkably calm when the intend to use the Pollock House often, entertaining students, Tressels welcomed hundreds of faculty, staff and students to prospective students, faculty, staff, prospective donors and the Pollock House for a series of events on the president’s friends. They’ve hired and trained a small group of students, first day. at their own expense, Ellen’s Guins, who will assist in As for hobbies and interests, Tressel said he enjoys hosting events, offering tours of the home’s restored first reading and relationships. “People are always calling me for floor. “When people come to the Pollock House,” he said, advice, or asking for a recommendation or wanting me to “we want them to meet students.” make a phone call. I’ve got more than 3,000 names in my Tressel is also creating an alumni volunteer force, in phone,” he said with a grin. “One of my colleagues at Akron partnership with YSU’s Office of Alumni and Events, that used to tell me that I have the largest unpaid consulting will encourage alumni to contribute their talents and services business in America.” on campus. Called ‘Pete’s Pride,’ the initiative is modeled Story by Cynthia Vinarsky

President Tressel welcomed 900 YSU faculty and staff to the Pollock House for a series of lunchtime picnics in late July and early August. In all, with the help of a volunteer crew of supervisor grill masters, the kitchen crew served 1,200 hot dogs, 54 pounds of baked beans, 55 cases of chili sauce and 50 mega-bags of potato chips.

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s t u d e n t

success S T O R I E S

Highlighting the Achievements of Exceptional YSU Students

Math Major Interns with Homeland Security

New Grad Wins Prestigious Fulbright Award After studying abroad in Argentina last year, Kaitlin Hankins knew she wanted to spend more time traveling and teaching. Now, thanks to the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student program, she will spend a year in Brazil teaching English.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program, offering opportunities for students and young professionals to study, conduct research and teach abroad.

Hankins is the second person from YSU’s foreign languages department to receive this award over the past decade.

A Spanish Education major from Sparta, Ohio, Hankins will start the Fulbright program in March 2015. In the meantime, she’ll spend the fall semester in Chile with the organization English Open Doors, teaching conversational English to children in grades five through 12.

Hankins, a May graduate, would like to attend graduate school for a degree in speech language pathology after completing her teaching assignments abroad.

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Senior math major Kristi Yazvac of Boardman would like someday to work for a federal agency, and she made a good start by serving a summer internship with the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute.

Yazvac spent 10 weeks in Washington, D.C., researching what is referred to as “big data,” a collection of information too large to analyze by hand. The Department of Homeland Security offers internships to junior and senior university students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “This is going to open up more doors than I can ever imagine,” she said of the internship. “What matters is the experience that you have.”

Yazvac is enrolled in a 4 + 1 program at YSU, meaning that she will graduate with her bachelor’s in applied math in spring 2015 and will complete her master’s in economics by spring 2016.

A University Scholar, her extracurricular activities include serving as a STEM representative in the Student Government Association, as a member of the College in High School advisory board, playing in YSU’s symphonic band and chamber orchestra and tutoring at the Center for Student Progress.

Summer at Nissan Offers Work Experience Greg Brooks wants to work with audio equipment after he graduates, but that didn’t stop him from making the most of an electrical planning internship with Nissan this summer.

A sophomore electrical engineering major from Cleveland, he was one of 20 interns chosen to work at Nissan’s Technical Center in Farmington Hills, Mich. He spent most of his time in product management, conducting an initial quantity survey comparing Nissan automobiles to vehicles produced by competing carmakers.

Over the course of his 14-week internship, Brooks used his free time to learn more about the audio department at Nissan. “This was a really great learning experience,” he said. He worked with Nissan engineers and was given a company car to use during his time there.

While at YSU, Brooks has been active with the NAACP and Be the Bridge.

Sophomore’s Internship Teaches Healthy Living Sam Anderson of Poland, a sophomore finance major, learned the benefits of a farm-to-table lifestyle firsthand through a summer internship with Grow Youngstown.

As program coordinator of the Prep and Preservation Program Coordinator, Anderson organized classes on cooking and nutrition for the agency, a nonprofit that aims to promote the use of locally grown food sources. Even before starting her internship, Anderson helped found a Grow Youngstown Student Organization at YSU. A member of the Student Government Association and communications officer of the University Scholars Trustees, Anderson is also involved in the Adventure Rec Club and Engineers without Borders. She hopes to attend law school after graduation.

Football Conference Honors Senior for Academics

Senior finance major Nate Adams of Newark, Ohio, a Penguin football tight end, won top honors from the Missouri Valley Football Conference for his academic achievements.

Adams was awarded the President’s Council Academic Award, which requires a 3.5 cumulative GPA through the fall 2013 semester, along with participation in athletics for a minimum of two years. The award is given only to studentathletes who are within 18 hours of graduation.

A graduate of Newark Catholic where he played football, baseball and basketball, Adams has played three years and earned three letters in football as a Penguin. He played all 12 games in the 2013 season and caught 15 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns.

Religious Studies Major Learns Sanskrit Dustin Hall of Hubbard spent the summer immersed in another language. The senior religious studies major completed two semesters of intermediate Sanskrit in just eight weeks through the South Asian Summer Language Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

After an intensive application process, Hall was accepted into the program and granted a full scholarship. His advisor, Michael Jerryson, assistant professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, recommended that he look into the Summer Language Institute, and even taught Hall’s first year of Sanskrit through directed studies, since it is not offered at YSU currently.

Sanskrit is a written language, used primarily as the liturgical language of Hinduism, and as a scholarly literary language. Hall is applying to graduate programs to continue his studies in South Asian religions, focusing on Hinduism, Sanskrit and Sanskrit literature, so this program is a natural fit for him.

As a student at YSU, he serves as the spiritual chair of the Religious Studies and Philosophy Club, is a member of YSUnity, sits on the Safe Zone Advisory Council and works as a student tutor at the Writing Center.

Profiles by Rebecca Brown

Engineering Grad Trains with GE AJ Grayson has been interested in the way things work since he was small boy. “I’ve always liked anything that moved,” he said.

Now he’s working with one of the biggest movers in the world, General Electric. Grayson of Cortland, Ohio, has begun a two-year training program with the company as an operations management leadership program associate in Erie, Pa., where he will spend six-month rotations learning different aspects of the job. Trainees are offered positions, based on need and the skills they have demonstrated.

Previously, Grayson interned at a GE Transportation locomotive production facility in Grove City, Pa., and at the Delphi Automotive Technical Center in Champion, Ohio.

He graduated in May with a BE in mechanical engineering.

“I loved YSU because there’s such a sense of community between professors and students,” he said. “You really get a broad image of what’s out there.”

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‘Classic Restaurants of Youngstown’

ALUMNI AUTHORS TRACE VALLEY’S CULINARY ROOTS

Ask anyone who’s ever lived in Youngstown to list their top 10 restaurant dishes and you’re likely to hear about Brier Hill pizza and wedding soup, Jay’s hot dogs and Kravitz bagels, Strouss’ malts and Spinning Bowl salads.

They’re all Youngstown originals, menu items created by Mahoning Valley restaurateurs or adapted for their menus from the region’s traditional ethnic home cooked dishes.

YSU alumni Tom Welsh and Gordon Morgan Jr. reveal the backstories on some of those best-loved culinary specialties in the new book they co-authored, Classic Restaurants of Youngstown, a historical overview of the city’s restaurant industry.

Welsh was commissioned to create a retrospective on Youngstown’s restaurants in early 2013 by History Press, a British company that published one of his earlier books. “The publisher was thinking lost restaurants – everything that’s gone – but I wasn’t happy with that,” he said. “Instead, we decided to do it as symmetry. We opened with a vibrant downtown in 1945 and ended with today, all the new restaurants downtown and the redevelopment.

We had to delay finishing the book because there were so many new restaurants opening.”

Released this spring, the authors’ 225-page book includes 78 photos, most provided by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society and by family and friends of past and present restaurateurs. Welsh said they examined the valley’s restaurant industry in the context of what was going on historically across the region and how some restaurants had to reinvent themselves to survive.

Cassese’s MVR, for example, now a popular restaurant and university hangout on North Walnut Street a block from the YSU Tom Welsh

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Gordon Morgan, Jr.

Photos by Nea Bristol

This early photo inside Cassese’s MVR was taken sometime in the 1930s when the business was a neighborhood bar serving the Smoky Hollow area. Expanded and renovated but still at the same location near campus, the MVR has has become a popular dining destination.

campus, started out as a neighborhood bar in the 1930s, one mozzarella, Welsh explained, it was affordable for immigrant of several businesses serving the old Smoky Hollow area. families living on tight budgets.

When the neighborhood began to deteriorate in the 1960s, Tracking the ups and downs of downtown restaurants, YSU officials decided to acquire the land and raze some of from the bustling ‘40s through the ‘60s, the authors found the abandoned homes and businesses, probably saving the that Youngstown College students frequently patronized MVR from extinction. downtown eateries, such as The Sweetland and The Clock Bar, “The decision to tear down those old houses helped to in those early years. That changed by the 1970s because most stabilize the neighborhood around the MVR, so people didn’t downtown restaurants had had been shuttered by then, and think it was a dangerous place to go,” Welsh explained. a growing number of eating spots found homes closer to the “When we interviewed (the late) Carmine Cassese, he campus. Inner Circle Pizza, still operating on Lincoln Avenue, said the MVR would have never become a Youngstown was the pizza chain’s first when it opened in 1972. The Beat destination without the university.”

Coffeehouse, also still in business in a Victorian-style home The Wickwood was another campus hotspot that thrived on Lincoln, was the setting for musical performances, art in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ’60s, but it did not survive. A 24exhibitions and poetry readings when it opened in the 1990s. hour eatery at the corner of Wick and Wood streets about But redevelopment and a host of new bars and restaurants a block from Jones Hall, it was a are bringing more students downtown these popular lunchtime destination for days, the authors say, along with YSU Youngstown College faculty and faculty and staff. “The symbiotic relationship students. There was a second-floor between the downtown and the university meeting room where downtown seems to be returning,” Welsh said, listing business owners would gather to newer downtown eating places, such as make business deals over afternoon Suzy’s Dogs and Drafts, Roberto’s Italian pinochle card games, said Welsh, Restaurante and V-2 Wine Bar Trattoria. “It’s and the nighttime clientele included come full circle.” a mix of steelworkers and mobsters.

Welsh, ’93 MA and ’86 BFA in English Greek-American owner Greg Speero language and literature, holds a PhD in Sr. didn’t mind, the authors learned, cultural foundations of education from because the gangsters kept the “street Kent State and is pursuing a certificate in thugs” out. The Wickwood closed in applied history at YSU. An independent the late 1960s. scholar, writer and editor, he also authored Besides researching Historical Closing Chapters: Urban Change, Religious Society archives, Morgan said, Reform and the Decline of Youngstown’s the authors interviewed 15 local Catholic Elementary Schools and corestaurant owners – he shared in authored Strouss’: Youngstown’s the research and interviews, while Dependable Store.

Welsh did most of the writing. “My Morgan, ’12 MA in ‘We had to delay finishing favorite part of the process was talking to the professional writing restaurateurs, hearing about how much they love and editing, ’85 BA the book because there what they do and how they were influenced by in psychology, is also were so many new their families and their lives growing up,” he a freelance writer and restaurants opening.’ said. “I’d go in for a 15 minute interview and end works in maintenance at – Tom Welsh up talking for an hour or more.”

The Vindicator. A Civil War The “Steel Valley,” as the region was known when buff, he’s program director for the steel industry was in its heyday, was home to thousands the Mahoning Valley Civil War Round of immigrant families who brought along their rich culinary Table and edits its newsletter, Drum and Bugle Call. traditions. That explains, said Welsh, why Youngstown area Welsh and Morgan are already at work on a second restaurant menus often include a surprising ethnic variety – collaborative project, a book on the Good Humor Ice Cream stuffed cabbage, pasta with marinara sauce and barbeque, all Company and its founder, Harry Burt, that’s scheduled for on the same page. release in fall 2015. Burt was a Youngstown entrepreneur who He said people who have traveled to Italy tell him that created the chocolate-coated Good Humor Bar, believed to Youngstown’s Brier Hill pizza, which was named after be the first commercial ice cream-on-a-stick confection. He an Italian neighborhood on the city’s west side, is “real” also introduced neighborhood ice cream vending trucks to the Italian pizza. Topped with tomatoes, green peppers, garlic region, and the idea took off nationwide. and sprinkled with Romano cheese instead of the usual Story by Cynthia Vinarsky

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Tea for Ten: Savoring the Pleasures of Turkey

Story by Kelly A. Bancroft Photos by Joy Christiansen Erb

Men dash through crowded cafes, carrying trays of tulipshaped glasses filled with tea. Shopkeepers arrange counters lined with tea-filled glasses decorated with nazar boncuğu, the evil eye said to deflect negative energy. Women in their homes greet guests by pouring from stacked pots filled with the fragrant liquid.

In Turkey, it’s all about the tea, or çay (pronounced “chai”), a sign of friendship and hospitality. It is both the presence and the spirit of çay that remain a rich memory of my trip to this ancient country.

It’s been almost three months since my return to Youngstown with my traveling companions from YSU’s College of Creative Arts and Communications. For a week and a half, our faculty group explored Turkey under sponsorship of the Niagara Foundation, an organization that aims to foster civic conversations and sustained relationships among people of different cultures and faiths.

Our host, Murat Gurer, executive director of the foundation’s north Ohio branch, ferried us by plane, boat and bus as far south as Sanliurfa and as far west as Izmir, beginning and ending in Istanbul. The goal of our travel was simple: To foster goodwill between our cultures. We did so over meals and çay with families and new friends, during visits to schools and homes, and through the unexpected alliances we made with many strangers.

Everywhere we went, the people we met were friendly and curious. A young boy trailed us at Sanliurfa’s Pond of Sacred Fish, birthplace of the prophet Abraham, his English surprisingly good. “Why aren’t you in school?” we teased.

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

He laughed, knowing exactly what we meant. Children and teachers at an elementary school invited us into their music class and scrambled to be photographed with us, especially with the two tallest of our group who were regularly mistaken as pro-basketball players.

“I was pretty surprised by their perceptions of us,” said Adam Earnheardt, associate professor and chair of Communications. “I had this notion that there would be some animosity toward Americans, especially when we got out of Istanbul. But I was totally wrong. They seemed interested in building lasting, meaningful relationships with us, in education, business and beyond.”

For me, the warmth of çay and the hospitality of the Turkish people were highlights of our visit, along with the unseasonably mild weather and the constant sense of being far removed from our own culture.

One of my favorite recollections is of a businessman who invited us to his private establishment late one night for çay. Following him through shadowy passages barely wide enough for motorcycles, we soon stepped through a doorway opening to a vast seventh-century palace transformed into a café. The owner and his family proudly showed us the former underground wine cellar and bathhouse before serving çay in an intimate space adorned with carpets and pillows.

Though they spoke little English – we spoke even less Turkish – we enjoyed each other’s company for a long time that evening.

“I was completely blown away by the generosity and and underground cities of Cappadocia. Some of us wrote enthusiasm of the people of Turkey,” said Jeffrey Tyus, personal requests on scraps of paper and tucked them into the associate professor of Communications. He remembered “wishing wall” beside the Catholic and Muslim shrine where meeting two staff members from a Turkish school at a the Mother Mary purportedly spent her last days. combination guesthouse/school dormitory where the YSU And while we sipped çay among carpet makers and faculty group was staying. “We spent the next four hours potters, educators and children, in living rooms, guesthouses attempting to communicate,” he said. “Showing images on and cave cafés, we imagined what future educational and the iPad helped to bridge cultural exchanges might our communication happen between YSU and barriers. To this day, the Niagara Foundation. we communicate with Certainly, our visit one another every day demonstrated how warmth via Facebook – a longand hospitality can become distance friendship that fertile ground for growing I hope we can sustain dynamic conversations and until we meet again.” relationships.

Randall Goldberg, This was the third trip an assistant professor of for a YSU faculty group Music, recalled another under the auspices of the meeting with educators Niagara Foundation, and I at a private Turkish know it won’t be the last. I school that inspired am certain, too, that the next the traveling faculty YSU group lucky enough to members to consider travel to Turkey will enjoy a return trip with their cup after cup of çay as they YSU students. “It would form lasting remembrances.

YSU faculty who traveled to Turkey under the auspices of the Niagra be amazing for our I thought I’d conclude Foundation are, from left: back row, Kelly Bancroft, Randy Goldberg, Adam students to experience with Associate Dean Cary Earnheardt, Jeff Tyus, Christine McCullough, Stephanie Smith; middle row, Leslie Brothers, Cary Wecht, Michael Crist; front row, host Murat Gurer and life there,” Goldberg Wecht’s comments, because his wife, Seyma Sri. (Not pictured, Joy Christiansen Erb.) said. “It was particularly she captured the beauty magical. It felt like we and emotional impact of were in some place really different from America. It wasn’t our trip so well. “My memories of Turkey are dream-like, hot, but the sun magnified all the historic sites we visited.” filled with the tastes of fresh tea and perfumed foods, the Exploring the cities, tasting the delicious, authentic smells of the spice bazaar, musty caves, fresh pottery, and cuisine, shopping at bazaars and watching coppersmiths, roasted chestnuts,” she wrote. “Exotic images linger of grand leather workers and bakers at work are all favorite memories mosques, magnificent rock and land formations, ancient art for Joy Christiansen Erb, associate professor of Art. “It is and ruins, pristine coastlines, and undulating cityscapes with hard to describe the experience,” she said, “but ‘glorious’ and their noble minarets against the night sky. I hear the beautiful ‘enlightening’ are two words that come to mind.” prayer calls, luring shouts of market vendors, and the We sailed the Euphrates, where we could see the laughter of my colleagues. What a lovely dream it was.” remains of a flooded city beneath the turquoise waters, and a few climbed the steps of the 25,000-seat Great Theatre Editor’s Note: Kelly A. Bancroft teaches composition in YSU’s English Department and at the English Language Institute; Joy Christiansen Erb of Ephesus. We touched the blue tiles of the Sultan Ahmed is an associate professor of Photography.

Mosque and wandered along the moon-like landscape

For more photos from the faculty trip to Turkey. Visit www.ysumagazine.org

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alumni

SPOTLIGHT

C E L E B R AT I N G A C C O M P L I S H E D G R A D U AT E S

High Impact: YSU Graduates’ Achievements Earn Accolades In this edition of Alumni Spotlight, you’ll read about four proud Penguin graduates who are making a splash in their diverse career fields. Educator Holly Welch has earned state and community accolades for her work in the Youngstown City Schools; Maple Turner III retired from a prolific career as an artist in New York and Paris with plans to teach art to local youth; TV journalist Rena Sarigianopoulos won a prestigious national award for her reporting on the plight of homeless teens; and Don Lewis is president of an international business with 8,000 employees and more than $3 billion in annual sales.

Holly Welch

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

Setting Standards High for Inner-City Youth Holly Welch,’08 MSEd

When teacher Holly Welch agreed to create a biotechnology program for Choffin Career and Technical Center in Youngstown, the task seemed daunting. She and her six students started out in a small, windowless room in the basement – no sinks, no lab tables and just one electrical outlet.

But Welch didn’t waste time complaining. She spent the next year researching what the new biotech lab would need and raising $250,000 in grants and school district funds to pay for it. Her students? “I took them everywhere with me, made every decision with their help, because I wanted the program to be student driven,” she said. “They were my pioneers.”

Now, eight years later, Choffin’s biotech facilities rival many college science labs, the program she created has maxed out at just over 50 students per year, and there’s always a waiting list. “I told the administration when we started that if we built it, they would come,” Welch says with a grin.

High school juniors and seniors enrolled in the advanced science program can earn up to 19 hours of college credit through an articulation agreement with YSU, and 90 percent or more of her biotech students go on to college.

The ingenuity and determination that Welch displayed when she was asked to create Choffin’s now-flourishing biotechnology program are among the qualities that helped her to achieve four major career milestones over the past year.

Last fall, she was promoted to curriculum supervisor at Choffin, a newly created administrative position. In January, she was chosen as one of four finalists in Ohio’s prestigious Teacher of the Year Award competition, and in February she was one of 25 honorees in the region’s 25 Under 35 Awards Program.

Finally, in May, she was recipient of the Youngstown area’s 2014 ATHENA Award, chosen from a field of 20 female professionals recognized for career excellence, community service and mentoring of other women.

Welch likes her new administrative job at Choffin, providing support and professional development for teachers, but it was hard to make the move. “I couldn’t imagine ever leaving the classroom. I feel like I was born to be a teacher, and it was the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” she said.

She sees the change as a way to expand her circle of influence beyond the classroom, and the teachers have been receptive. “They know I’ve been teaching for the past 12 years and I’ve walked in their shoes,” she said. “This gives me what the kids call ‘street cred.’ Instead of taking care of the students, now I’m taking care of the teachers.”

Born and raised in Beaver, Pa., she earned her undergraduate degree in biology and a teaching certificate at Geneva College in 2000, then landed her first job as a teacher at the former Wilson High School in Youngstown.

She earned her master’s degree in educational administration at YSU in 2008.

Welch said she’s surprised at how often she’s asked if she’s fearful, working in the inner city schools. “I’ve never been afraid. These students love their teachers, and they will do anything for us,” she said. “Some have stories that would make you cry, but they come to school to learn. I have high expectations for them, and they want the same thing for themselves. I’ve never, ever had a problem with discipline.”

Welch and her husband, James, a Youngstown police officer, live on Youngstown’s West Side. She has three stepchildren and enjoys doing volunteer work for the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley, First Night Youngstown and other community nonprofits.

“They know I’ve been teaching for 12 years, I’ve walked in their shoes … Instead of taking care of the students, now I’m taking care of the teachers.”

Profile by Cynthia Vinarsky

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alumni SPOTLIGHT

Having a Heart for Homeless Teens A casual question led TV journalist Rena Sarigianopoulos to the news story of her career.

A reporter and weekend anchor for KARE 11-TV in Minneapolis, the YSU grad was covering a church blood drive when she asked directions to the restroom. The answer: “Down the hall, next to the youth food pantry.”

She asked why a church needs a food pantry for teens, and the response was a shocker. Homeless teens wandering the city streets used the free food to barter for a place to sleep – an alternative to selling themselves into sexual slavery.

“I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach,” she remembers. “How could I go about my everyday life after that? I had to do something.”

Sarigianopoulos began to investigate. She learned that, on any given night, 2,500 kids between the ages of 15 and 20 spend their nights on the street in the state of Minnesota – homeless shelters often had beds for adults and younger children, but few for teens. She also found people working on solutions, setting up networks of caring families willing to offer temporary or long-term homes.

Her report on teen homelessness won KARE 11 a prestigious national Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence

in hard news reporting in 2012. “It was probably the pinnacle of my career,” Sarigianopoulos said. “I think I’ll always have a soft place in my heart for those kids.”

She spent her own childhood in Boardman and Campbell, where her father recently retired from his longtime position as chief of police, and chose YSU mainly for financial reasons. Paying her way through school with a job at Chick-Fil-A, she emerged debt-free with a BA in telecommunications.

Painfully shy at the time, she credits the late Tom Holden, a well-known Youngstown television news personality and YSU instructor, for launching her career.

At his urging, she tried out for an on-air student job reading editorials on WKBN-TV, and her 60-second piece on Ohio’s conceal carry gun law drew fire from the NRA. “They wanted it pulled,” she recalls. “It was the first time I realized that you have to stand up for people who don’t have a voice.”

She did an internship at WKBN and then, after graduation, landed her first job at the station as a producer.

But Sarigianopoulos was no longer content to work behind the scenes. She accepted a TV reporting job in Dubuque, Iowa. “I took a pay cut, but money didn’t matter to me,”

Teaching Art to a New Generation Maple Turner III, ’99 BFA

Rachel Sieman Maple Turner III

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When Maple Turner III surveys the 18 vacant lots he bought recently on Youngstown’s East Side, he envisions an open-air art studio where he can teach young artists to paint under a canopy of shade trees.

At 60, the YSU alumnus has returned home to retire after a prolific career as a painter and sculptor, including several years working and exhibiting his art in New York and Paris. “I’ve been given this talent, it’s a gift, something that comes from inside me,” he said.

“I feel like it’s time now for me to give back.”

alumni SPOTLIGHT

Rena Sarigianopoulos, ’96 BA in Telecommunications she said. “I wanted to be a reporter, to meet people, to learn something new every day.

That’s what I wanted to be doing.”

Since then, her career has taken her to progressively larger markets: Madison, Wis.; Milwaukee; and now the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area.

Currently, she has two full-time jobs in broadcasting and works seven days a week – loving every minute of it. Besides her role as a weekend anchor and reporter for KARE 11, a Gannett company and NBC affiliate, she also hosts a morning drive radio program weekdays on 96.K-TWIN, a radio station owned by the Minnesota Twins baseball club.

Despite her full work schedule, Sarigianopoulos makes time to run four times a week for health and fitness and enjoys giving back to the community by hosting charity events in the Twin Cities.

Her mother and stepfather have relocated to Minneapolis, and she feels at home there, but she’s also proud of her roots.

“Youngstown will always be my home,” she said. “I’m proud to be from there.”

TV anchor Rena Sarigianopoulos, right, working on location in London.

He bought the art studio site – a group of contiguous, tax-delinquent residential lots – with the assistance of the Mahoning County Land Bank. He’s already cleaned tires and other debris from the property and plans to pay for other improvements by selling some of his oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings and ceramic sculptures. An art dealer in Dallas has been hired to broker the sales.

Turner started painting when he was very young. His father, himself an avid art collector, ignited his son’s artistic talent by giving him a set of watercolor paints for his sixth birthday. As a student, Turner III won many awards and accolades for his art, but after graduating from East High School, he put aside dreams of an art career to take a wellpaying job as a laborer at LTV Steel.

Eleven years later, when he and tens of thousands of others were left jobless by the shutdown of LTV and other Youngstown steel mills, Turner enrolled at YSU as a nontraditional student majoring in art and theater.

He was one of the first two recipients of University Theater Scholarships and went on to earn six more academic scholarships at YSU. He completed his BFA here in 1999, followed by an associate’s degree from Parsons School of Design and a MFA from City College, both in New York.

Turner said he has created more than 4,000 paintings and sculptures over his career – many of them feature landscapes, neighborhoods and portraits created while he was living in Paris and New York. This past February he packed the gallery

at Bliss Hall in February with a sampling of 200 of his works as part of YSU’s African American History Month observance.

There’s an African theme to many of Turner’s creations, including his ceramic fetish sculptures embellished with nails – in fact, nails and birds are a common element in most of his pieces. But the artist wants to be known for a variety of ethnic art styles. “I don’t just do African art,” he says. “I do Asian images. I did a Jewish series. I do batik, fashion drawings and historical art. I like to cross cultures in my work.”

His paintings have sold for as much as $5,000 apiece, but Turner said he’s also worked at a variety of day jobs to support himself over the years. “I nearly starved to death in Paris, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for the world,” he said, remembering the year he spent sketching and painting the landscapes and the people in France. Besides 11 years as a steelworker, he also worked his way up to grill supervisor at a McDonald’s restaurant and was a pastry chef for a catering business in New York. He’s still working part time for his family’s janitorial company and volunteers as an art instructor for a nonprofit neighborhood center.

Turner returned to the Youngstown area to help care for his aging parents, Maple Turner Jr. and Doris Jean Grant Turner, who recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. He has two sisters: Brunilda Turner, who has created the Northwood Golf Academy for children near the future site of Turner III’s open-air art studio; and Kusana Turner, a 1980 YSU alumna, who lives in the Dallas, Texas area.

Profiles by Cynthia Vinarsky

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alumni SPOTLIGHT

Travel and Tissues: At the Helm of a Global Paper Company Don Lewis, ’86 BSBA Don Lewis

If you told Don Lewis 30 years ago that he’d one day become president of a multi-billion-dollar company, the YSU marketing student would have probably said the only thing he was currently interested in managing was Professor Hashmi’s international business course.

“International business was my favorite class at YSU, but I had no idea I’d end up with a career in it,” said Lewis, president of SCA Americas, a division of a global hygiene and forest products company. “You don’t really know what world is out there when you’re in college.”

Like many YSU students in that post-steel era, Lewis put himself through school, working full-time for Stambaugh’s, a local hardware chain, and taking night classes. Graduating with a BSBA in marketing and a wealth of real-world experience, Lewis began a progression of business roles for different companies that would eventually help him land his first big opportunity.

The offer came in 1992 from start-up paper company, Encore in New York. Lewis took the company’s sales from zero to $100 million in 10 years and advanced to executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Shortly after, Encore sold its company to SCA and Lewis became part of a $14 billion global company overnight.

He now manages sales, marketing and manufacturing for all of SCA’s tissue (napkins, bath tissue, etc.) and hygiene businesses in North and South America – the division produces $3 billion in annual sales.

“One of every two napkins you use away from home – in restaurants and stadiums, for example – is ours,” said Lewis, who noticed SCA’s napkins at eateries on the YSU campus.

Working on two continents, in four languages and with 8,000 employees at 23 sites, Lewis says there’s “absolutely no typical day.” In a matter of hours, he can go from a merger and acquisition meeting with an investment banker in New

York to an executive team meeting in Sweden. For him, traveling is a fact of life.

“How do I balance?” asked Lewis. “First, I have a wonderful wife – I could never do it without her. Second, I’ve always worked really hard to spend individual time with everyone in my family when I’m home. It’s not uncommon for me to fly home for three hours just to make a soccer game or band concert.”

The traveling does have its perks. Lewis has covered the Austrian Alps on a snowmobile, raced the Grand Prix track in Monte Carlo, spoken in the renowned Nobel Hall in Sweden and stood on the Equator.

“You get to do a lot of really wonderful things, but it also comes with a fair share of altitude sickness, jetlag and layovers,” Lewis said with a laugh.

It seems like a life that would challenge anyone, but Lewis has never been a stranger to hard work. He says YSU taught that virtue from the beginning and advises today’s business students to take note. “Work hard. Don’t feel limited. Take some risks after school,” he encourages.

Since Lewis joined SCA, the company has received prestigious awards for sales and service, sustainability and ethics excellence. Lewis was also recently honored by YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration with an Outstanding Alumni Award in 2013.

“I usually focus on the business getting the recognition, not me,” said Lewis. “It made the WCBA award special; I really appreciated that.”

Lewis holds dual residences in Canfield and Philadelphia. His wife of 29 years, Leslie, is also a Penguin graduate and “the best thing YSU could have given me” says Lewis. They have three young adult children: Donnie, Lauren and Brett.

Profile by Andrea Tharp

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hilanthropy

Y O U N G S T O W N S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y

Harry Meshel: ‘A Scholarship Is the Most Lasting Tribute’

Take a close look at YSU’s In each case, he fashioned the scholarship to compliment historic photos of the day a 10-ton the interests or talents of the honoree: philosophy, Greek rock marker was installed in front of and ancient history for his father; social work for his mother, iconic Jones Hall, and you just might Rubini, who always gave generously to the needy; art for spot a young, dark-haired Harry his artistic brother, George; computer science for his math Meshel in the background. whiz brother, Philip; psychology, to honor his sister Mamie’s Now best known as a YSU knack for working with people; voice for sister Flo, who trustee and former president of the loved to sing; fashion design and merchandising for sister Ohio Senate, Meshel was student Despina, always known for her fashion sense; and jazz to Harry Meshel council president and vice president commemorate his own lifelong love for jazz music. of his senior class in 1949, the year Meshel said he never took home large salaries during class leaders agreed to gift Youngstown College with the his years as a legislator, but he made some very successful rock. That boulder, later used to mark YSU’s evolution from real estate investments in the 1970s and 1980s that gave college to state university, also marked the start of Meshel’s his philanthropic dreams a boost. “The market went crazy 65-year legacy of service and giving to his alma mater. and I made a wholesome profit. I’d never had that kind of “Sheet and Tube brought the rock over, and we were so money before,” he recalled. “The first thing I did was call my proud,” he said, remembering the day he stood in the crowd accountant to ask how much I could give away, and I gave it as the stone was placed at the corner of Wick and Lincoln to YSU.” avenues. “It was the first identifying mark of any kind for Growing up on Youngstown’s East Side, Meshel served Youngstown College.” three years with the Navy Seabees during World War II, Meshel, who celebrated his 90th birthday in June, is spending two of those years stationed in the South Pacific. completing the seventh year in a nine-year term on the YSU He earned a BSBA at YSU and a master’s degree in urban Board of Trustees. He served five terms in the Ohio Senate, land economics from Columbia University. Meshel taught advancing to president and chair of the finance committee, business, political science and sociology courses at YSU and secured nearly $150 million for building projects, capital for more than 20 years and was an adjunct professor at improvements and programs at YSU – in 1986 the university Ohio University while in the state senate. He was awarded named its new technology center Meshel Hall in his honor. honorary doctoral degrees by YSU, Ohio University and the But the longtime legislator is most proud of his own Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. philanthropic gifts to the university valued at more than $350,000, including three jazz musician sculptures he donated to the Dana School of Music.

He established endowed scholarship funds to honor both of his parents, Greek immigrants who settled in the Mahoning Valley in 1916, and each of his five siblings.

“I just think a scholarship is the most lasting tribute a person can give in the name of a loved one,” he said. “You’re helping people to succeed; you’re helping the university; and you’re helping our country to succeed. It’s bigger than we are.”

He began with two, $50,000 scholarship endowments – one to honor his father, Evangelos, and another in his own name. A $500 award he had established in 1964 for Greek students, the first of its kind at YSU, was converted into a second endowed scholarship Harry Meshel was part of the crowd of observers when Youngstown Sheet and Tube in his father’s name, and he created six more workers positioned the stone marker in front of Jones Hall. He was a leader in the class $10,000 endowments to honor his mother, three of 1949 that donated the rock to Youngstown College. sisters and two brothers.

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Philanthropy YSU Foundation Allocation to YSU Hits New Record The YSU Foundation is allocating a record $7.4 million in scholarship support to the university for the 2014-15 academic year, reducing college costs for thousands of deserving students.

Over the past three years, the foundation’s scholarship allocations to the university have increased by $2.6 million, from $4.8 million in 2011-12 to $7.4 million in 2014-15.

“During this time of increasing costs, we are pleased to raise the amount of financial support available to students pursuing their educational goals at YSU,” said Tom Fleming, chair of the YSU Foundation Board of Trustees.

The foundation board recently completed a five-year strategic plan that included changes in the way the foundation distributes money to the university. In the past, only the income from the foundation’s endowment holdings was distributed, but the board’s new plan allows for 4 percent of a three-year rolling average of the endowment’s market value to be distributed annually to the university. The change is the primary reason for the increase in available funds over the past two years, along with the growth of the foundation’s assets.

Nearly 3,000 YSU students received scholarship funding from the YSU Foundation in the 2013-14 academic year. “Generous support from the YSU

Foundation will be integral to attracting, retaining and increasing the number of highly-qualified students who can be successful at the university,” said Gary Swegan, associate vice president for Enrollment Planning and Management at YSU. Established in 1966 by long-time Youngstown College President Howard Jones, the YSU Foundation has assets of $215 million and is the largest foundation between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The foundation is independent from YSU yet exists solely to support the university and its students.

“So many of our board members, like me, are YSU graduates and remember the days of financing their college education,” said Garry Mrozek, vice chair of the foundation board. “Generous donors make it possible for the foundation to help students reach their educational goals, despite the increasing cost of higher education.”

Fiscal Year

Distribution Amount

Increase

%

$ Increase

2014-2015

$ 7,444.201.00

8.52%

$ 584,420.00

2013-2014

$ 6,859,781.00

32.99%

$ 1,701,746.00

2012-2013

$ 5,158,035.00

8.31%

$ 395,535.00

2011-2012

$ 4,762,500.00

—

—

Alumni Couple Endows Scholarship YSU alumni Alan and Sandra Baxter considered including an endowed scholarship in their estate plan, but the New Castle, Pa., couple decided not to wait. They donated $100,000 to create a scholarship fund in their name now, allowing them to see the immediate impact of their philanthropy.

The Baxters grew up in western Pennsylvania and both graduated from New Castle High School in Lawrence County. Sandra earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in 1971 from YSU, then enjoyed 33 rewarding years of teaching in the Austintown Schools.

Sandra and Alan Baxter Alan earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from YSU, in 1966 and 1972 respectively, worked as a teacher and school administrator in Trumbull County, then embarked on a successful business career as a tax and financial advisor. He earned licenses as a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner.

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The couple considered adding a scholarship to their estate plan after reading of another YSU alumni who did the same, then revised their plan to start awarding scholarships now. “We attribute much of our success to the education that we received at YSU,” Alan Baxter explained. “We established this endowed scholarship to help others obtain a quality education from our alma mater.”

Candidates for the Alan and Sandra Baxter Scholarship must be graduates of a high school located in Lawrence County, Pa., or Mahoning or Trumbull counties in Ohio. The scholarship will be awarded annually to students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in education or business administration.

“This scholarship exemplifies the life journey of Alan and Sandra, on behalf of the generations of students that will benefit from their generosity,” said Paul McFadden, president of the YSU Foundation.

Philanthropy Fund Established to Replace MARCHING PRIDE Instruments Everyone loves a marching band, and few campus organizations have as much impact on so many as the YSU Marching Pride.

This dedicated group of musicians, majorettes and members of the color guard create an inspiring presence at Penguin football home games. For the campus community, the drumline’s outdoor rehearsals represent a joyful harbinger of the fall season.

However, practicing and performing outdoors, season after season, has taken its toll on the band’s instruments.

The Marching Pride Instrument Fund has been established to assist with timely maintenance of band equipment.

Replacement of the drumline instruments is the most urgent need, said Brandt Payne, director of athletic bands.

“Our drumline instruments are more than eight years old

and are severely compromised,” he said, noting that the equipment was originally designed for indoor use.

“New drums will greatly enhance the sound of our drumline, and thus, the band,” Payne said. “Even more important are the opportunities for success our students will experience by performing on appropriately maintained and sized equipment.”

For information on supporting the Marching Pride Instrument Fund, contact Catherine Cala, director of development, at 330-941-2752 or cacala@ysu.edu. To make a gift online, visit www.ysu.edu/givetoysu, select “Other” from the designation menu and type in Marching Pride Instrument Fund; or mail your check to YSU Marching Pride, University Development, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

University Employee Groups Support Scholarships Over the past decade, YSU faculty and staff have contributed to a wide range of university initiatives and campaigns – giving $1.2 million over that time span.

Employee groups have also established the following five scholarship funds to demonstrate their support for YSU’s mission and the overall success of its students: Faculty Scholarship Fund – Created in 2009 by YSUOEA (Ohio Education Association), this fund has awarded one need-based academic scholarship annually. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or better and be able to demonstrate a combined family (applicant, parent, sibling, grandparent, or child) union affiliation of five years or more. ​YSU-ACE Union Endowment Fund – The Association of Classified Employees created this scholarship for full-time students employed by YSU in student positions.

Awards are based on financial need, academic standing, current and continued employment in a student position, an essay and two letters of recommendation. One scholarship is awarded yearly.

YSU-APAS Scholarship Endowment – The Association of Professional and Administrative Staff is working to endow a scholarship, to be awarded annually. First preference will be given to an APAS dependent. Through individual gifts and a restaurant fundraiser, APAS has raised $5,766 toward its $10,000 fundraising goal.

YSU Retirees Association Scholarship Fund – The YSURA established its scholarship endowment in 2012, funded by donations from retired faculty, staff and administrators. The retiree group awarded its first $500 scholarship in 2013-14 and has awarded two scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year.

YSU Women’s Club Scholarships – Scholarship support is among the club’s primary goals, and scholarship funds are generated from dues, donations and a silent auction.

Scholarships are awarded annually based on academic performance and financial need.

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alumni news

Penguins Join Streetscape Effort

Forty proud Penguin alumni and friends joined this year’s spring Streetscape event in downtown Youngstown, comprising the largest group of volunteers in the annual city beautification effort. The group had breakfast at Joe Maxx Coffee Company on East Federal Street, worked together on mulching, cleaning up and planting spring flowers along the main city thoroughfares, and then joined other volunteers for a picnic lunch hosted by Youngstown Cityscape. The YSU group included, from left: kneeling, first row – Jennifer Leugers ’01; Heather Belgin, Alumni/Events; Casey Leugers; Brady Leugers; Ron Garchar ’73; Rory Schuler; Halle Schuler; YSU President Jim Tressel. Second row: Marie Roller ’88; John Africa ’62; Bianca Koup ’14; Sarah Poulton ’11; Penny Pavelko ’71; Ana Torres; Susan Albanese; Heather Chunn, YSU Foundation, ’99, ’03; Aiden Chunn; Barb Howley ’87; Carrie Ramos; Shelly LaBerto ’90; Tom Ramos ’65, ’77; Keith Evans ’65; Mousa Kassis ’94, ’96; Jackie LeViseur, Alumni/Events, ’09. Third row, Chris Buccino ’91, ’02; David Moore ’75, ’78; Andy Danus ’74; Walter Zuhosky ’05, ’11; Tiffany Buck ’07; Kim Jenkins ’08, ’11; Dominic Albanese ’68; Ed Brannan ’79; Scott Brand ’14; Ed Howley ’75, ’86; Phil Pabst ’82; Tyler Pabst.

Vets and ROTC Alumni Plan Reunion in October Tours of the university’s new Veterans Resource Center building on Wick Avenue will highlight the third annual YSU Veterans and ROTC Alumni Reunion, set for Oct. 10-11 on the YSU campus.

Members of the reunion planning committee include, from left, first row, John Marino ’69; Rick Williams, Veterans Affairs Coordinator; Heather Belgin, Events Coordinator; John Pierog; Carl Nunziato ’61; (second row) Harold Hutzen ’68; Jim Fairbanks ’69; Irv Maurer ’69; Pat Billett ’94; and Bernie Kosar, Sr. ’59. Missing from the photo are Janel Rice ’94 and Captain Stephanie Crawford, Recruiting Operations Officer, YSU ROTC. The two-day event will begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10, with a networking reception, buffet dinner and program at the Williamson College of Business Administration atrium. On Saturday, Oct. 11, alumni and friends will get a first-hand look at the university’s new Veterans Resource Center, with a picnic and building tours starting at 5 p.m. That evening, a block of tickets will be reserved for the YSU vs. Western Illinois football game, which begins at 7 p.m.

Reservations for all weekend events are required. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Heather Belgin, 330-941-1591 or habelgin@ysu.edu.

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New Series Offers Inside Look at Downtown Development Ever wondered what those historic downtown Youngstown buildings looked like before they were renovated?

Or wished you could check out the city’s newest downtown eateries?

History West Federal Street, downtown Youngstown. and Hotspots, a new event series sponsored by the YSU Alumni Society, will offer alumni those kinds of opportunities, and a chance to be engaged in the revitalization of downtown. Participants will interact with community leaders, visit the hottest new restaurants and gain a better understanding of redevelopment plans.

Alumni attending the inaugural event of the series July 17 sampled desserts from the new One Hot Cookie bakery, toured the restored Erie Terminal Place apartment building on West Commerce Street, met with Youngstown Mayor John McNally and finished the evening at Suzy’s Dogs and Drafts on North Phelps Street.

A second event on August 13 included a visit to Friends Roastery on West Federal Street, a tour of the Tyler History Center and a presentation by Bill Lawson, executive director of the Mahoning Valley Historical Society. A networking reception at Roberto’s Italian Ristorante completed the evening.

e v a S Date!

THE

Fall Lectures on Campus Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m. – Medal of Honor recipient Sal Giunta, author of Living With Honor, presented by Centofanti Symposium and YSU. Event is free, tickets required.

Tickets available now at the Stambaugh Auditorium Box Office.

Oct. 3, 2 p.m. – Stephen Snyder-Hill, author of Soldier of Change: From the Closet to the Forefront of the Gay Rights Movement, LGBT History Month speaker. Event is free, Chestnut Room at Kilcawley Center.

Oct. 7, 7 p.m. – Blake Mycoskie, founder and “chief shoe giver” of TOMS shoes, sponsored by the Thomas Colloquium and YSU. Event is free, tickets required, available September 15.

Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. – Wally Lamb, author of four New York Times best-selling novels, twice selected for Oprah’s Book Club, his fifth novel is We Are Water. Event is free, tickets required, available October 1.

For information about any of these events, contact Jackie LeViseur, 330-941-2136 or jmleviseur@ysu.edu.

Sept. 6. – Terrace Dinner season kicks off at 2:30 p.m., Stambaugh Stadium. Join us for this indoor tailgate before every home football game.

Sept. 13 – University Scholar alumni reunion, Stambaugh Stadium, 2 p.m. tailgate, 4 p.m.

YSU football game.

Oct. 2 – Alumni Society Life Member Reception, 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 18-19 – YSU Homecoming weekend festivities include special recognition for those celebrating their 50-year reunion at Terrace Dinner Saturday and luncheon honoring the class of 1964 on Sunday; optional campus tours to follow.

For more information on any of these events, visit www.ysu.edu/alumni or call 330-941-3497.

Alumni Cheer on the Tribe Nearly 70 YSU alumni and friends gathered to cheer on the Tribe at an early August event sponsored by the YSU Alumni Society. Among those attending the Cleveland event were, from left, Kimberly Jenkins, ’11, Tiffany Buck, ’07, and Joyce Martin, ’09. Alumni from the Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown areas participated, and for many it was a first chance to meet YSU’s new president and first lady, Jim and Ellen Tressel. The weather was ideal, and the Indians even pulled off a win.

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alumni news

Take Pete Along …

We invited YSU alumni to take Pete the Penguin along on vacations, and we continue to receive fun photos like these: Estelle and Greg Konya,’73 and ’69, of Westerville, Ohio, in top photo, took Pete to Nevada to visit the beautiful Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area near Las Vegas. Greg retired in 2004 as a middle school guidance counselor and Estelle retired in 2011 as a first grade teacher.

In lower right photo, alumnus Ryan Cmil, ’04, of Boardman, dressed up as Sparky, the Youngstown Phantoms hockey team mascot, before taking Pete out on the ice with him. Our Penguin mascot probably felt right at home.

And in lower left photo, YSU graduate Mike Migliore, ’87, and his wife, Amy, also of Westerville, took Pete up to 14,000 feet when they vacationed recently in Pikes Peak, Colo. Migliore earned a degree in electrical engineering; Amy also attended YSU. To participate in “Take Pete Along,” take your photo with any version of our Pete mascot at a vacation landmark and email the photo to mahartup@ysu.edu, along with your name, graduation year, city of residence, and information about the photo.

‘Pete’s Pride’ Seeks Volunteers

Pirates and Penguins YSU’s Alumni Night at the Pirates drew a crowd this season, with more than 150 alumni and friends attending the event in Pittsburgh. President Jim Tressel greeted guests, including, right, Gianni DiNello, ’07, and his wife Elissa, of Pittsburgh.

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YSU alumni, we need you!

YSU’s Office of Alumni and Events is looking for graduates and friends willing to join the university’s recruiting, mentoring and networking efforts.

If you are interested in helping YSU attract new students, foster current ones and engage recent graduates, contact our office to get details about our new “Pete’s Pride” volunteer program. You’ll also find more information in the ad on the inside back cover of this publication.

To learn more or to sign up, visit www.ysu.edu/ alumni or contact Heather Belgin, habelgin@ysu.edu or 330-941-1591.

penguin sports news

Celebrating their firstever conference championship are members of the Penguin women’s tennis team and its coaching staff, from left: assistant coach Jonathan Berhane, assistant coach Vince Mayes, head coach Mickael Sopel, Dominika Lackova, Carolyn Jesko, Margarita Sadovnikova, Gimena Puppo, Annina Brendel, Marta Burak, Nehel Sahni and Victoria Ferry.

Penguin Teams Celebrate Six Conference Championships The 2013-14 Penguin sports season brought plenty of State and co-league champions Milwaukee and Cleveland cause to celebrate, with six YSU teams earning Horizon State. The tennis team ended a long winning streak by League crowns.

University of Illinois at Chicago, which had won every “Our student-athletes put in a tremendous amount of previous conference title since 1996. hard work, and we were happy to see that pay off with a The men’s outdoor track and field team also terminated very successful year,” said Ron Strollo, executive director of a winning streak for Milwaukee, which had won the last 10 collegiate athletics. outdoor Horizon League crowns.

The Penguins’ winning ways began in The YSU baseball team beat Valparaiso, November when the women’s cross country team Milwaukee and Wright State twice to win its took home the conference crown, and in March first championship since 2004, and then put a “It has taken a lot cherry on top of the year with a win in the the women’s indoor track and field team won of effort by a a Horizon League championship as well.

NCAA Regionals over Indiana State in the In April, the women’s tennis team Bloomington, Indiana, bracket. talented group of won its conference title, and in May the Individually, student-athletes set people to reach the career, women’s outdoor track and field team, the season and game records in almost level we did in men’s outdoor track and field team and the every sport. YSU had All-Americans in 2013-14.”

Penguin baseball team won Horizon League Bobby Grace (indoor and outdoor track and titles – in all, Penguins grabbed four conference field) and Conner Neu (outdoor track and Ron Strollo championships in a span of 30 days. field). Grace placed third in the country at the Strollo said “behind-the-scenes personnel” – NCAA Indoor Championships in the shot put. head coaches, assistant coaches, athletic trainers and strength The Penguin men’s cross country team and men’s indoor and conditioning staff – deserve much credit for developing track and field contingent finished second in the Horizon YSU’s young athletes, along with the academic advisors who League, while the women’s and men’s golf teams placed provide support and encouragement. third at the league championships.

“It has taken a lot of effort by a talented group of people The softball program won more than 30 games for just to reach the level we did in 2013-14,” Strollo added, “and the the second time in school history and played on campus for support of the community and our alumni have been a key the first time since 2002, placing third in the regular season. component as well.”

The football team won eight of its first nine games, posted Victory was especially sweet for the women’s tennis its longest winning streak in seven seasons, and set a school team, which earned its first-ever title by defeating Wright record by winning eight MVFC in a row.

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penguin sports news

Student-Athletes Shine in the Classroom

Student-athletes hit the books and earned regional and national accolades for their academic performance in 2013-14, making it YSU’s best year ever for studentathlete academic accomplishments.

On the individual level, men’s basketball senior Kendrick Perry garnered the highest recognition by being voted Second-Team Academic All-America.

Women’s basketball junior Heidi Schlegel was one of two Horizon League student-athletes to repeat as a scholar-athlete of the month, and senior Samantha Hamilton became a nine-time Academic All-Horizon League selection after earning the distinction in the cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field seasons.

Women’s basketball senior Liz Hornberger was awarded the Horizon League’s inaugural Post-Graduate Scholarship, and football senior Kurt Hess was named to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team.

As a group, student-athletes registered the best cumulative GPA in department history this spring, a 3.17; 61 percent achieved at least a 3.0, also a record.

Previously, in the fall semester, Penguin athletes posted a 3.07 GPA and a record 47 earned a perfect 4.0 GPA. There were 91 Penguins on the Horizon League Academic Honor Roll in the fall, the number rose to 93 in the spring, and 43 football players were named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference Honor Roll.

Twenty-four student-athletes graduated with honors in the spring, and 78 former and current student-athletes earned their bachelor’s degrees at the summer, fall and spring commencement ceremonies.

Perry

Schlegel

Hamilton

Hess

2014 Football Schedule The YSU Penguins football squad has seven home games scheduled at Stambaugh Stadium this season.

August 30 at Illinois Sept. 6 vs. Duquesne Sept. 13 vs. Butler Sept. 20 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) Oct. 4 at Missouri State Oct. 11 vs. Western Illinois Oct. 18 vs. Southern Illinois Oct. 25 at South Dakota State Nov. 1 vs. South Dakota Nov. 8 at Illinois State Nov. 15 vs. Indiana State Nov. 22 at North Dakota State (Home games are listed in bold.)

Hornberger

PA

Penguin Club Celebrates Record-Setting Year THE TEAM OF T R

B

HI

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S

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IN U G N PEE CLUB N D T H E TE A

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

YSU’s Penguin Club finished 2013-14 with membership revenue at an all-time high.

As the “team behind the teams” enters its 40th year, here are some highlights: • Penguin Club assets, including scholarship endowment, tripled over the past decade.

• Basketball Courtside Coaches Club membership revenues up 13.63 percent.

• Football Gridiron Club membership revenues up 11.07 percent.

• Penguin Club and/or Football Alumni members live in over 40 percent of the 50 states.

• Scholarship Ring Banquet raised more than $1 million in scholarship table sponsorships over the last 18 years.

• Penguin Club Scholarship Golf Outing was most successful ever, and attendance was at an all time high.

• Jamboree Reverse Raffle and Auction raised more than $250,000 over four years, and attendance also at all-time high.

For more information or to join the Penguin Club, contact Tom Morella, 330-941-2351 or tmorella@ysu.edu.

class ’50s

notes

Saul Lerner of Hammond, Ind., ’58 AB in History, a professor of history at Purdue University Calumet, presented the university’s fifth annual Faculty Lecture this spring. Lerner discussed inequality Saul Lerner in America in a presentation titled “Inequality in Modern America: Causes, Consequences, and Future Prospects.” He has served in various faculty and administrative capacities since joining Purdue Calumet in 1967, including chair of the Department of History and Political Science and associate dean of the graduate school. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Kansas.

’70s Tom Reardon of Poland, Ohio, ’74 BS in mathematics, ’80 MA in mathematics education, was honored recently as Outstanding Education Partner

by YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Tom Reardon Engineering and Mathematics. Now employed by Texas Instruments, Reardon taught math at Austintown Fitch High School for 35 years and continues to provide independent counseling services to school districts.

Elizabeth Nocera Davis of Medina, ’75 BS, a partner and attorney with Roetzel & Andress LPA in Akron, has Elizabeth Davis been named a 2014 Ohio Super Lawyer by Ohio Super Lawyers Magazine.

She earned her law degree from the University of Akron School of Law. Cheryl Strother of Warren, ’76 AAS, ’92 BSN, was presented the Shero of Health Award for outstanding community service by the Ohio Commission of Minority Health.

Strother, who holds a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University, has served as director of nursing at the Warren City Health Department since 2008. She was also Cheryl Strother inducted this year to Warren’s African American Achievers Association Hall of Fame.

Terry Burke of Avon Lake, Ohio, ’77 BSBA, is a senior account executive for Life Systems International.

Meg Benke of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., ’79 BSBA, has been inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame. Benke is a professor and mentor at the State University of New York Meg Benke Empire State College School for Graduate Studies where she has served as acting president, provost, vice provost and dean of the college’s Center for Distance Learning. Previously employed at Ohio University and Antioch College, she has a master’s degree and a doctorate in student personnel education, both from Ohio University.

’80s John S. Gulas of Los Alamos, N.M., ’80 AB, was named chief executive officer and president of Trinity Capital Corp., CEO of Los John Gulas Alamos National Bank, a Trinity subsidiary, and a board director for both. Previously, Gulas was president and chief executive officer of Farmers National Banc Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Farmers National Bank of Canfield. Gulas has more than 26 years experience in bank management.

After completing his undergraduate degree at YSU, he earned a law degree from the University of Toledo.

Michael Hudak

Terrence Finn

Michael J. Hudak of Canfield, ’80 BSAS, and Terrence S. Finn of Akron, ’84 BE, both partners and attorneys with Roetxel & Andress LPA in Akron, have been named 2014 Ohio Super Lawyers by Ohio Super Lawyers Magazine. Hudak earned his law degree

… It All Started on the Radio Bill Evans of Dayton, Ohio, ’56 BSEd, has retired as associate dean of business and professor emeritus at Wright State University, completing a 44-year career in education. Evans enrolled at Youngstown College in the early 1950s after serving four years in the Air Force during the Korean War and soon met his future wife, Sally McGranor, also a freshman. They were both active in the Religion In Life organization on campus and participated in the RIL Radio Caravan program on radio station WBBW.

In this 1953 photo, Youngstown College alumnus Bill Evans, front left, is part of student group presenting a weekly program on radio station WBBW. His wife, the former Sally McGranor, is standing, second from right.

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Class Notes

from the University of Akron School of Law; Finn earned his law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. Abe Neemeh of Doha, Qatar, ’81 BE in civil engineering, ’86 MSE in engineering management, has been awarded the National Engineers Week Award of Excellence by Parsons Corp., an international engineering and construction firm. Neemeh is a program director for Parsons and now manages The Expressway Programme in Doha, a project that will provide transportation links across Qatar.

He is a registered professional engineer in the state of Florida and has 32 years of engineering experience.

Jim Blair of Hermitage, Pa., ’82 MBA, has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of Hynes Industries, a supplier and processor of strip steel, roll formed shapes and flat wire in Youngstown. He is the company’s former vice Jim Blair president of finance and corporate treasurer and has overseen its finance, information and human resources functions. Blair joined Hynes Industries seven years ago and has decades of previous experience in the metals industry.

He has a BA in accounting from Slippery Rock University.

Mark Cornman of Austintown, ’82 BSBA, ’88 MBA, has joined the leadership team at Hynes Industries in Youngstown as director of finance and human resources. He also holds degrees from Kent State and Walden University, and previously was employed by Canfield Metal Coating.

William C. Kennedy Jr. of Poland, Ohio, ’85 BE in chemical engineering, was honored this year as an outstanding alumnus by YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. He is president of Redex Industries, a familyowned business founded by his parents and siblings that produces Udderly Smooth skin care products.

Denise Seachrist

34

Denise Seachrist of Rootstown, Ohio, ’85 MM in vocal performance, was named interim dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State University’s Stark County campus. She has served as director

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

of KSU’s Hugh A. Glauser School of Music since 2008 and holds the rank of professor.

Seachrist received her PhD in musicologyethnomusicology from KSU and holds a BM from Heidelberg College.

She has served as interim associate provost, interim dean for Academic and Student Services, Regional Campuses and interim assistant dean of Kent Trumbull.

Tom Serenko of Westerville, Ohio, ’85 BS in geology, is division chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Celebrating Silver Tom Serenko Geological Kelly Wilmouth Battoglia of Rochester, N.Y., ’88 Survey. A professional geologist for BSN, recently celebrated her 25th wedding more than 25 years, he also holds a anniversary with her husband Rich Battoglia, master’s degree from the Colorado whom she married Sept. 3, 1988. She is School of Mines and earned his PhD employed as a nurse at Genesee Valley OB/GYN. in geology from Imperial College in London. Serenko has worked as a geologist in Chile, Switzerland, and Tajikistan and recently served as a manager at Nevada Cement Company in Fernley, Nev. Lisa C. (Cicciarello) He was honored this year by YSU’s College Andrews of Cincinnati, of Science, Technology, Engineering and ‘89 BSAS in food and Mathematics as an outstanding alumnus. nutrition dietetics, is self-employed as the Andrea Patton of Youngstown, ’86 BSEd, ’91 owner of a nutrition MSEd, is one of two educators recognized as consulting business, 2014-15 Teacher of the Year by the Youngstown Sound Bites Nutrition City Schools. She and fellow honoree Andrea LLC. She recently Elberty are intervention specialists who teamresigned her position teach autistic students at the William Holmes Lisa Andrews as a clinical dietitian McGuffey Elementary School. She is a 28-year with the VA Medical Center where she had veteran of the school district. been employed for 23 years.

John “Jack” Janoso Jr. of Poland, ’87 BSAS, ’90 Christopher T. MBA, was named the Garvin of Cortland, Williamson College of ’89 AB in speech Business Administration’s communication, is Outstanding MBA a recipient of the Alumnus for 2013. He 2014 Five Star Wealth is president and chief Management Award. executive officer of The award is presented Sharon Regional Health John Janoso by an independent System in Sharon, Pa. marketing firm Christopher Garvin based on objective David Ramunno of criteria and only nine percent of those Milford, Mich., ’87 BE in nominated this year were selected. Garvin mechanical engineering, is a registered representative and financial has been promoted to adviser with New England Securities. He product line architect for joined the Brennan Financial Group in 2000 new business growth for and has more than 27 years experience PKC Group. Ramunno has working with area businesses. been with the company for 23 years.

David Ramunno

Class Notes

Susan Moorer of Youngstown, ’89 AB in speech communication, was honored in January as recipient of the 2014 MLK Diversity Award for Mentorship, and in March she was presented the 2014 Susan Moorer Diversity Leadership Award for Community Leadership. Moorer, who also earned an MS in organizational leadership from Geneva College, is coordinator of Outreach and College Access in YSU’s Beeghly College of Education.

Grads Are Partners in FirstLight Franchise Three YSU graduates – Dave Stewart, ’99 MBA, ’85 BS, ’81 AAS; Mike S. Senchak, ’89 MBA, ’79 AAS in Nursing, ’75 BSBA; and Michael R. Senchak, ’12 BSBA – are business partners in a new FirstLight HomeCare franchise in Austintown. The business, which has four full-time employees and more than 39 caregivers, provides non-medical homecare such as meal preparation, transportation, light housekeeping and personal care to help clients remain independent.

Mike Senchak and his son, Michael, have a long family history in Mahoning Valley health care. Stewart is also an adjunct faculty member at YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration. FirstLight HomeCare has more than 80 franchises nationwide.

’90s Dr. Anita Hackstedde of Columbiana, ’90 BS, has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Salem Regional Medical Anita Hackstedde Center, formerly Salem Community Hospital. She had served as interim president/CEO since last August and has been actively involved in the planning and construction efforts for the hospital’s new patient private-room tower and the recent opening of its occupational health program in Columbiana. Hackstedde has held a succession of leadership positions since joining the hospital in 2006. In addition to her YSU undergraduate degree she holds a medical degree from Ohio State University College of Medicine.

She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics.

Andrea Elberty of Canfield, ’91 BSEd, ’96 MSEd, is one of two educators recognized as 2014-15 Teacher of the Year by the Youngstown City Schools. She and fellow honoree Andrea Patton are intervention specialists who team-teach autistic students in grades 2-6 at the William Holmes McGuffey Elementary School. She’s a 23year veteran of the school district.

Jay Williams, ’94 BSBA in finance, was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to serve as assistant secretary of commerce in the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Jay Williams Administration.

Williams was elected mayor of Youngstown in 2005, the city’s first African-American mayor and the youngest mayor in its history.

Before that, he served as Youngstown’s

Dave Stewart

Michael Senchak

community development director. He moved his family to Washington, D.C., in 2011 to head the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers for the U.S. Department of Labor, a position he was appointed to by the U.S. Secretary of Labor.

Jennifer Thomas Anspach of Medina, Ohio, ’93 BSBA, was promoted to assistant vice president of human capital by Safeguard Properties in Valley View, Ohio.

In her new position, she is responsible Jennifer Anspach for the company’s national workforce of approximately 2,000 employees. She joined the company in April 2009 as a manager of accounting and finance and a year later was promoted to director.

Edward Dray of Uniontown, Ohio, ’95 BE in mechanical engineering, has been promoted to vice president of operations for Fives Bronx, Inc. in North Canton, Ohio. He is responsible for the Edward Dray success of industrial capital equipment projects from the start in engineering to the completion at installation. Dray has been employed in the steel industry for 23 years, 12 of them with Fives Bronx.

Mike Senchak

Dawn Hays of Columbus, Ohio, ’96 AB, has been named director of the Employers Resource Association’s Columbus office and association counsel. She has more than 13 years legal experience in all areas of employment law and has taught legal education courses.

After completing her undergraduate degree at YSU, Hays earned a law degree from the Dawn Hays Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 2001. She also previously served in the Army Signal Corps and was voted an Ohio Super Lawyer Rising Star in the 2005-2012 editions of Law & Politics magazine.

Kerry S. (Dumas) Pettit of Canfield, ‘96 AB in psychology, was named executive director of the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County.

Previously, she served as animal control operations supervisor for the Henderson Police Department in Henderson, Nev., where she was instrumental in rewriting that city’s municipal code Kerry Pettit pertaining to pet care and permits for animal-related businesses.

Pettit has completed specialized training for animal control officers, including investigation of animal cruelty cases.

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35

Class Notes

Robert Cicchillo of Indianapolis, Ind., ’98 BS in biology, ’00 MS in organic chemistry, was honored as this year’s Outstanding Young Alumnus

by YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. A biochemist and research and development manager at Dow AgroSciences, he Robert Cicchillo also has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Penn State. He has authored many research publications, most recently in the journals Science and Nature.

Robert J. Hamer of Macedonia, Ohio, ’98 BSBA, has been promoted to district human resources manager for The Home Depot, responsible for HR and associate relations functions for 10 stores and 1,500 employees in Northeast Ohio.

’00s Kendra Huff of Huntington, W.Va., ’00 MSEd, has joined the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP as an associate practicing in the areas of commercial litigation, consumer financial services, insurance coverage and bad faith, and employment litigation. Previously, she worked as an attorney for a Michigan law firm. She earned her law degree from Michigan State University College of Law and holds a BA in psychology from Marshall University.

Ginny Pasha of Kinsman, Ohio, ’00 BSAS, has been named president of United Way of Trumbull County.

In her first year in the position, she led UWTC to surpass its 2013 campaign goal and implemented a new literacy initiative in Trumbull County dedicated to Ginny Pasha helping students pass the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.

Previously Pasha was president of Junior Achievement of the Mahoning Valley and Youth Employability Solutions.

Angela M. Guzman of Columbus, Ohio, ’02 AB in Spanish, has been promoted to director of operations at Apprisen, a nonprofit credit-counseling agency. She joined the agency six years ago.

36

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

Jim White of Virginia Beach, Va., ’02 BSAS in food and nutrition, is a registered dietician and is self-employed as owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios. He also serves as spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and as sports dietitian for Old Dominion University. White is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a health fitness specialist and is on the nutrition & fitness advisory board for Men’s Fitness, Oxygen and STACK magazines.

Steven Mowry of Aurora, Ohio, ’03 BSBA in finance, recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary with Merrill Lynch and achieved the titles of first vice president and senior resident director. He and his wife, Natalie, lead an Ohio-based wealth management practice serving individuals, families and businesses.

Kevin Owens of Youngstown, ’04 BSBA, was recognized as an Outstanding Recent Alumnus by YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration. He is a sales management and business development consultant for Public Insight in Hudson, Ohio.

Ryan Pastore of New Castle, Pa., ’04 MBA, was named an Outstanding Recent Alumnus by YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration. He is director of client and community relations and a vice president with the PNC Financial Services Co. Previously, he was employed at RMI Titanium in Niles.

Brian Stevens of Pittsburgh, ’05 MSEd in school administration, has earned a PhD from Northcentral University in education specializing in e-learning and educational technology. He is employed by the Plum Borough School District.

Alumni Couple Founds Nonprofit for Children Team Sanders Inc. is a nonprofit that William Sanders Sr., ’05 AB, and Kiisha Warfield Sanders, ’06 AB in communication studies, have founded to provide coaching, mentoring and tutoring for children. William serves as president of the Warren, Ohio-based agency and is employed as an intervention specialist for the Warren City Schools. He is pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration at YSU. Kiisha is the full-time executive director for Team Sanders. They were student-athletes while attending YSU; William played football and Kiisha played softball.

Amanda Gerstnecker of Freedom, Pa., ‘06 BSBA, a corporate attorney with Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP in Pittsburgh, has been elected to the board of directors for the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Amanda Gerstnecker Education Network of Pittsburgh. The nonprofit network promotes safe educational environments free of harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. Gerstnecker earned her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Andrea Arnio of Girard, Ohio, ’07 BE in mechanical engineering, was honored as this year’s Outstanding Young Alumna by YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Arnio is employed by Novelis Corp. in Warren where she manages a team of 22 employees based at seven locations across North America.

Joseph B. Kendrew of Salem, Ohio, ’07 BSBA in finance, recently earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst designation awarded by the Investment Management Consultants Association. Kendrew is a vice president, wealth management advisor and retirement benefit consultant for Merrill Lynch, based in the company’s Canfield office.

Mary (Armstrong) Louk of Youngstown, ’07 BSBA in Management, ’09 MBA, is employed as a credit underwriter for small businesses at First Place Bank. She

Class Notes

also operates A Call Fur Help, a 501 C (3) nonprofit corporation she founded in 2013 for charitable and educational animal assistance. There are three YSU alumni at its helm: Louk is president and director; her husband, Terrence Louk, ’07 BSBA in finance, is treasurer; and Rachel Baird, ’07 AB in English, is vice president.

Pamela Murchison of Pittsburgh, ‘07 MM in music, has been named executive director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.

Murchison holds performing and leadership Pamela Murchison positions in the Akron Symphony, West Virginia Symphony, and Ohio Valley Symphony orchestras.

She is a licensed Kindermusik teacher and specializes in teaching pre-school piano.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in flute performance at Duquesne, Murchison earned a Masters degree from YSU and is completing a doctorate at West Virginia University.

Eric J. Merkel of Warren, ’08 MS in police administration, was sworn in as Chief of the Warren Police Department in June 2013. Merkel, also a 2006 graduate of the FBI National Academy, joined the department in January 1995.

Gregory Waller of Cleveland, formerly Gregory Yakubov, ’08 AB and ’10 MA, both in history, recently joined Western Reserve Partners, a Cleveland-based investment bank. He earned a law degree and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Eric Merkel

Jeremy Adkins-Hill

Dynamics GP team at Kraft Enterprise Systems. He will be assisting clients with GP software support, project management, and writing financial statements.

Jonathan Shearer of Brookfield, Ohio, ’09 BFA in studio art/graphic design, was recently promoted to associate director of web development at Thiel College. Shearer joined Thiel in 2011 and previously served as a web specialist. In February he was presented with the school’s Distinguished Innovator Staff Award.

Dong-Hyun Son of Tecumseh, Kan., ’09 MM in choral conducting, is starting a new faculty position this fall as director of choral music at Dong-Hyun Son Ottawa University in Kansas. Son came to YSU from his hometown of Pusan, South Korea, after earning his undergraduate degree in music at Pusan National University. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Kansas in 2013.

’10s Jodi Bowlen of Austintown, ’10 BSAS in criminal justice, an Ohio State Trooper, was named the Lisbon Post 2013 Trooper Jodi Bowlen of the Year. She joined the patrol in 2010 and served at the

Gregory Waller

Kelly Bearer of Middlefield, Ohio, ’09 MSEd in educational administration, has been appointed principal of the elementary and intermediate schools in the Cardinal Schools, Geauga County. She earned a baccalaureate in middle school education at Lake Erie College and worked for more than nine years as a language arts and social studies teacher in the Painesville City Schools before joining the Cardinal Schools.

Jeremy Adkins-Hill of Brentwood, Tenn., ’09 BSAS in computer information systems, has accepted a position on the Microsoft

Bucyrus post before transferring to Lisbon a year later. Every trooper post in Ohio selects a Trooper of the Year, and the nominees compete for the titles of District Trooper of the Year and State Trooper of the year.

Heather A. (James) Davis of Canfield, ‘10 BS in biology, has joined Comprehensive Physician Associates, a family medical practice in Youngstown, where she is employed as physician assistant. She earned a master’s degree in physician assistant studies from Mount Union University and is nationally certified and state licensed to practice medicine with the supervision of a physician.

Kyle Seth Muir D.C., of Murrysville, Pa., ’10 BS in biology, graduated from Sherman College of Chiropractic in Spartanburg, S.C. in March and passed his national board exams in Kyle Muir chiropractic. He is now an associate with Tressler Chiropractic in Murrysville. While at Sherman College, Muir served on a mission trip in the Dominican Republic, was named the college’s Intern of the Month in 2013 and served as its patient education intern from 2012-2014.

Wilson Okello of Oxford, Ohio, ’10 BSEd, a first year advisor at Miami University, was named a 2014 NASPA Outstanding New Professional Award winner by Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

The award is presented to outstanding new professionals in student affairs and services who have worked 1 to 4 years in the student affairs field and have contributed in various ways to the student culture on campus.

Okello has an MS in college student personnel from the University of Rhode Island.

ROTC Grad Heads for Hawaii

After graduating in the top 10 percent of all ROTC members in the nation, Lorin Delgros of Hermitage, Pa. is headed for Hawaii. Delgros, ’14 BE in industrial and systems engineering and an ROTC second lieutenant, was assigned to the 25th ID Tropic Lightning Combat Aviation Brigade at Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii after completing the Quartermaster Officers Basic Course. As a student, she was president and vice president of the YSU Institute of Industrial Engineers, was an active member in engineering sorority Phi Sigma Rho and served internships at the Toys “R” US distribution center and Treeman Industries. Her engineering capstone design project was selected and presented at West Point Military Academy.

Lorin Delgros

FALL 2014

37

Class Notes

Danielle Long of Cleveland, ’11 BSBA in marketing, is assistant manager for Edelman Plumbing in Westlake, a wholesaler of luxury kitchen and bath products. She is responsible for inventory, warehousing, sales, marketing, event planning and more. Previously Long was employed with Simon Roofing, ShowClix and Ryan Homes.

Skyler O'Donnell of Kinsman, Ohio, ’12 BSEd in integrated social studies, is employed at The Rich Center for Autism at YSU. O’Donnell has written and published several books, including How to Survive Getting Your Bachelor’s Degree and How to Survive Student Teaching, and previously taught at Joseph Badger Local Schools.

Our Newest Graduates Daniel Catello of Austintown, ’14 BS in mathematics and BA in economics, has joined Nationwide Insurance as a pricing analyst in the company’s Cleveland office.

Luis Cestou of Monroeville, Pa., ’14 BFA in graphic design, has joined Rinovum Women’s Health in Monroeville as a graphic designer.

The company is privately held and provides women’s health products.

Alexis D. (Allen) Weber of Austintown, ’12 AAS in food and nutrition, is employed as an office assistant in YSU’s Department of Physical Therapy and owns her own business, The Cake Baker, a specialty cake designing company based in her Alexis Weber home. She also earned an associate degree in pastry arts and a bachelor’s degree in culinary management, both from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts.

Jeramy Eckenrode of Canfield, ‘13 AB in chemical engineering, ‘08 BS in political science, was named a technical service representative for the coatings division of Chromaflo Technologies in Ashtabula.

alumni

Scott Johnson

Ryan Joseph Hill of Erie, Pa., ’13 MSEd in student affairs leadership and practice, is employed as an assistant director of residence life and student conduct at Mercyhurst University. Hill also earned a baccalaureate in biology from Thiel College.

Susan Skrzynski of Youngstown, ’13 AA, was one of five female military veterans featured in a panel discussion in Ohio’s Statehouse earlier this year. The event was sponsored by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services in honor of Susan Skrzynski Women’s History Month.

Skrzynski is a 25-year Army veteran who served in Panama, Alaska, Japan, Germany and Iraq, retiring as a Sgt. 1st Class (E-7). She is executive director of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission.

38

YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

Daniel Catello

Patrick Pacalo

Alyson R. Ellis of New Braunfels, Texas, ’14 DPT, ’11 BSAS in Exercise Science, is beginning a residency in outpatient orthopedics at Texas Physical Therapy Specialists in San Antonio. She was personally offered the position by Drs. John Childs and Andrew Bennett, nationally-known clinicians and researchers in the physical therapy discipline.

Larry Frangos of Campbell, Ohio, ’14 BE in electrical and computer engineering, has accepted a position as an associate manufacturing engineer for General Motors. He will be working at GM’s Lordstown Assembly Plant.

authors

Alumnus and author Scott P. Johnson released his latest book, The Faces of Lee Harvey Oswald: The Evolution of an Alleged Assassin, in time to mark the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The book, a comprehensive scholarly analysis of Oswald’s role in the JFK assassination,was published by Lexington Books. Johnson is a professor and coordinator of Law and Society at Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Md., where he teaches classes in American politics, constitutional law and criminal justice. He earned his undergraduate degree from YSU in 1987 and holds a master’s degree from the University of Akron and a PhD from Kent State.

Patrick Pacalo of Youngstown, ’95 MA in history, has completed his sixth book on the Cold War, Papers on that War: Cold Warfare VI, published by Americastarbooks.com. The book examines Nicaragua and China during the Cold War. He teaches political science online and in the classroom at Trumbull Business College in Warren, Ohio. In addition to his MA from YSU, Pacalo holds a PhD in history from Lacrosse University, a BA in political science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, an AAS in paralegal studies, a post graduate degree in alternative medicine, and is working toward a graduate certificate in national security studies. Pacalo was recently nominated for the Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award, which is awarded annually by the Society of Professional Journalists. He also served in the National Guard from 1980-94 and coauthored Industrial Accident Investigation Techniques Manual. His books are available in bookstores and online at http://www.coldwartruth.com.

Lou Palumbo of New Castle, Pa., ’67 AB in psychology and sociology, has been writing a monthly column for Classic Toy Trains magazine for more than two decades. Now he’s created a collection of some of his best columns in a new book, I Never Met a Train I Didn’t Like: The Art and Enjoyment of Collecting Toy Trains, published by Windy City Publishers. The book is available on Amazon.com and at Palumbo’s retail train shop, The Underground Railroad Shoppe in New Castle.

Class Notes

AJ Grayson of Erie, Pa., ’14 BE in mechanical engineering, has been hired as an operations management leadership program associate for General Electric – Transportation in Erie.

Chris Kamykowski of Orcas, Wash., ’14 BFA in ceramics, is working as a designer at Corbé Company, a ceramics and design studio in Orcas. He will be developing new designs for the company using 3D CAD software and traditional methods.

Calie Makoski of Poland, ’14 MSEd in clinical Chris Kamykowski mental health counseling and school counseling, was offered a position as a medication assisted treatment counselor for Meridian Community Care in Youngstown. As a student, she was president of ETA Chapter, Chi Sigma Iota, the counseling academic honor society.

Carl Parke of Salem, ’14 BSAS in information technology, Brian Yorlano of Salem, ’13 BSAS in networking, and John Leslie of Boardman, ’13 BSAS in networking, ’08 BGS, co-founded an information technology company, Digital Ninjas IT. The company started as a computer repair service and now offers a wide range of services, including computer and business infrastructure installation, maintenance and support for consumers and businesses.

Chris Scheckelhoff of Canfield, ’14 BSAS in mechanical engineering technology, has been offered a position as a management trainee in General Electric’s highly-competitive two-year training program.

Evan Sobinovsky of Youngstown, ’14 BFA in graphic design, has been hired as lead interactive designer for Prodigal Media: Branding, Marketing and Interactive Services in Boardman.

Evan Sobinovsky

Tiffany Varney of Youngstown, ’14 MSEd in clinical mental health counseling, ’11 BGS, has accepted a position as a prevention/alcohol and drug specialist at Compass Family and Community Services.

Penguin at YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

How We Met…

Since the summer of 2013, YSU Magazine has been asking married YSU couples to share their love stories for our Penguin Mates column. We’re introducing the couples that wrote us most recently here, and we invite you to visit ysumagazine.org to see each couple’s complete story and their photos.

Richard T. Price, ’74 BE in chemical engineering, and Perin Linpisal Price, ’74 BE in chemical engineering, were married June 29, 1974.

They live in Los Angeles.

Bruce Cooper, ’81 BM in music education, and Debbie Stare Cooper, ’81 BM in music education, were married December 13, 1980. They live in Newton Falls, Ohio.

Shawn Aker, ’05 BSAS in exercise science,’08 Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Heather Baltic Aker, ’07 BSAS in forensic science, were married August 4, 2013. They live in Columbus, Ohio.

If you and your spouse are YSU graduates, you could be featured in Penguin Mates. Tell us your love story in 300 words or less, and send a current photograph and/or wedding photo.

Photos should be close-up, head-and-shoulders shots; if emailed, please send a high-resolution .jpg, at least 3.5”x 5” and 300 dpi. Be sure to include your degrees, graduation years, marriage date, city of residence, email address and phone number. Send to: universitymagazine@ysu.edu or Editor, YSU Magazine, YSU Marketing Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Help YSU Magazine share your career news in Class Notes. You can visit ysumagazine.org, click on the “Tell Us Your Story” icon and fill out the form online. Or, mail your news to: YSU Magazine, YSU Marketing Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Please include your degree, graduation year and an email address or telephone number.

FALL 2014

39

Ikram Khawaja: ‘The Institution’s Interests Have Always Been Paramount’

o understand the reserved wisdom and stability that Ikram Khawaja has displayed in his nearly five decades at YSU, you have to go back more than 60 years to Pakistan.

Khawaja was only five years old when, in 1947, he and his parents, siblings and other family members left India and migrated to the newly established Republic of Pakistan. In the years that followed, after-dinner family discussions often turned into spirited debates on the politics of the day.

“I would sit in the back just listening, observing, and sometimes it would get very heated,” Khawaja remembers.

“It was then that I learned something very important – you speak only when you have something to say of value.”

That’s an approach that Khawaja maintained throughout a YSU career that started in 1968 as a rookie faculty member in the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences and, more than 40 years later, landed him in the corner office of Tod Hall.

“I guess you would say that I’m not rattled easily,” he says.

Appointed YSU’s interim president on March 21, Khawaja retired June 30 when Jim Tressel took over the university’s top job. The interim presidency was yet another step in a YSU career that, if anything else, again proved Khawaja’s willingness and ability to step up when the university needed him most.

“To me, the institution’s interests have always, always been paramount,” Khawaja says.

“If we can’t keep the focus on that – on the interests of the university, first and foremost – then we’re all going to miss the boat.”

Keeping that focus has been a hallmark of Khawaja’s career. After coming to the United States at the age of 22 in 1964 and earning a PhD in geology from Indiana University, Khawaja answered an advertisement for a faculty position at YSU. “I got in my car, drove here, interviewed, two or three days later got an offer, and it was done,” he says.

Seven years later, he became chair of the Ikram Khawaja department, a position he held for 17 years. He was director of Faculty Relations from 1997 to 2000 and then served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, retiring from the university in December 2002. He returned in 2005 to serve two more years as interim A&S dean and then became interim provost after the drowning death of Provost Robert Herbert in 2007. Three years later, he accepted the provost position on a permanent basis and then ascended to interim president when Randy Dunn resigned in March.

While he has stayed closely connected with his homeland – including a three-year stint volunteering at Fatima Jinnah Women University, the first women’s university in Pakistan – Khawaja never seriously considered leaving YSU. “I’ve always, from the very start, felt very welcome here,” he said. “I’ve also always had a great sense of loyalty.”

Khawaja, now 72 years old, and his wife, Susan, kicked off retirement with a month-long family vacation to Sicily. The couple plans to maintain their home in Youngstown while also spending time with their daughters in Philadelphia and Connecticut. And, of course, they’ll make frequent trips back to Pakistan.

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YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY

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Scholarships in Their Honor, 1930 YSU Trustee Harry Meshel’s parents, Evangelos and Rubini Michelakis, emigrated from Greece to the Youngstown area in 1916. They changed their name to Meshel soon after to make it easier for Evangelos to find work and raised their five children on the city’s East Side. Meshel, a YSU alumnus, longtime state legislator and former president of the Ohio Senate, honored his parents and siblings by endowing YSU scholarships in each of their names. This formal portrait shows Harry Meshel’s family sometime in the 1930s.

They are, from left: standing in back, brother Philip, sister Mamie and brother George; front row, Harry, his mother Rubini, sister Despina, his father Evangelos and sister Florence. See Page 25 for more on Harry Meshel’s philanthropy.

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