Foundation
Fireline Scholarship
Encouraging Innovation Developing new materials and processes has always played a crucial role in the success of Fireline, Inc. Now the Youngstown manufacturing firm has created a scholarship to support and encourage YSU students who share that interest in material innovations. The renewable scholarship, awarded for the first time last fall, was established by Fireline under a long-term agreement with the YSU Foundation. The company intends to award $2,000 per semester to a qualified junior or senior in YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Roger and Gloria Jones are the owners and founders of Fireline, which manufactures ceramic components used in aerospace and other industries. A long-time research partner with YSU, the company has also provided engineering internships for YSU students for many years. “We had given bits and pieces over the years,” said Gloria Jones, treasurer of the company’s board of directors and chair of its charitable contribution committee. “We decided our goals would best be met at YSU by giving a scholarship to encourage development of new materials and to encourage interest in manufacturing. We believe in manufacturing, and we believe Fireline TCON general manager Mark Peters, left, and scholarship recipient Devin Wilmouth, it is important for the future of this area.” a YSU senior engineering major, at the company’s production plant in Youngstown. Devin Wilmouth of Cortland, now a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, was the first recipient of the Fireline scholarship. Mark Peters, general manager at Fireline’s subsidiary company, Fireline TCON, Inc., said Wilmouth and another engineering major, senior Eric Wojcik of Cortland, are also working as research interns at the plant. The company planned, at first, to limit the award to engineering students but decided to expand eligibility to juniors and seniors in Physics, Chemistry and other STEM fields that involve material research and development. Jones said development of new materials and processes and excellent quality production have been priorities at Fireline since she and her husband founded the company in their basement 45 years ago. The ceramic components production field was dominated then by giant, billion-dollar businesses, she said, but Fireline managed to thrive, now with about 100 employees, annual sales of more than $13 million and a worldwide customer base. Applicants for the Fireline scholarship must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average in their major courses, must demonstrate financial need and be residents of a five-county area that includes Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio, Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania. For more information, contact the YSU Foundation, 330-941-3211 or foundation@ysufoundation.org.
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Youngstown State University
Scholarships Encourage Excellence By Reid Schmutz, YSU Foundation President
YSU’s long tradition of open enrollment has been consistent through six administrations, but Howard Jones, the university’s first president, also recognized the need to encourage outstanding student achieveReid Schmutz ment. He created a scholarship program to reward excellent academic performance. In the 1990s, then-president Leslie Cochran ratcheted up this goal by establishing the University Scholars program, providing 40 full-ride scholarships to qualified new freshman each year. Eligibility for the prestigious awards is determined by test scores, class rank and academic performance. This highly-competitive scholars program has been sustained under YSU President David C. Sweet’s administration, paving the way for scores of exceptional students to complete their undergraduate studies at YSU. University Scholar Nicole McElroy, for example, was recently awarded a Fulbright grant to teach English in Germany, one of many in the program who have brought honor to themselves and the university. Dr. Paul Sracic, professor and chair of Political Science and the Rigelhaupt Pre-Law Center, was also named a Fulbright Scholar and will be lecturing and teaching in Tokyo during the 2009–2010 academic year. The Scholarships for Excellence program, which includes University Scholars, has a 42-year history as the YSU Foundation’s largest program. It continues to grow, thanks to generous alumni and friends’ contributions to the YSU Foundation General Scholarship Fund. For more information about University Scholars and other scholarship programs, call the Foundation at 330-9413211. Contributions to the YSU Foundation General Scholarship Fund can be mailed to: YSU Foundation, 606 Wick Ave., Youngstown, OH 44502.
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Forté on the Fifty
Western Pa. Band Features Four Dana School Grads
Four graduates of the Dana School of Music brought their musical talents back to the YSU campus this summer when they performed at the annual Forté on the Fifty celebration as members of 2nd Avenue Project, a popular Western Pennsylvania band. Alumni Steve Dalrymple, John Onufrak, John Rindy and Nick Yoho make up half of the eight-member ensemble, which shared the Stambaugh Stadium stage July 11 with the Dana All Star Band. The music was followed by a fireworks display presented by B. J. Alan’s Phantom Fireworks, which co-sponsored Forté on the Fifty with Fox 17/62 and Handel’s Ice Cream. Members of 2nd Avenue Project have been performing together for more than a decade. They’ve played fundraising concerts for national charities, charity balls, civic events and summer concerts in Ohio and Pennsylvania. DVDs and CDs of their induction concert backup performances for the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in Sharon, Pa., are still being sold worldwide. All four of 2nd Avenue’s YSU alumni members have managed to balance professional careers with the band’s busy performance schedule.
The 2nd Avenue Project, which includes four YSU alumni, shared the stage with the Dana All Star Band at this year’s Forté on the Fifty celebration July 11. YSU alumni members of 2nd Avenue are, from left, Steve Dalrymple, John Rindy, Nick Yoho and John Onufrak; other members, continuing from left, are Jeff Sweigard, Kari Thormodsgard, Buddy White and Terry McDonald.
Dalrymple, who plays trombone, spends his workdays as plant manager at Phillips Manufacturing in Niles, Ohio. His musical experience included a stint with the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros. Circus Orchestra, and he also performed with the Modernaires and Manhattan Transfer. Dana alumni John Onufrak and Nick Yoho are both music teachers in the New Castle, Pa., school district. Onufrak, who plays the trumpet and keyboard, has performed with several nationally-known artists and is a prolific songwriter and musical arranger. Yoho plays saxophone and has played with popular recording artists such as The Temptations and Tony Butala of The Lettermen. John Rindy, lead male vocalist who also plays percussion and keyboard for 2nd Avenue, is a dean of educational outreach at Thiel College in Greenville, Pa. He’s worked opening shows and backups for a host of popular acts in the United States and Canada.
Terrace Dinners: You’re Invited
Make reservations to attend one or more Alumni Terrace Dinners, held 90 minutes before each home football game on the Stambaugh Stadium Terrace, weather permitting. In case of inclement weather, dinners are inside Stambaugh Stadium. Call 330-941-3496 for more information.
YSU vs. Pittsburgh Floating Tailgate Party Tasting Virginia Wines YSU’s Alumni Society sponsored a wine tasting event in Arlington, Va. that drew about 30 alumni and friends to the Hotel Palomar in late May. Guests sampled several Virginia wines, then rated and discussed their favorites, expanding their wine knowledge while getting to know fellow alumni. YSU has about 750 alumni living in northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and southern Maryland. D.C.-area alums are creating an online listserv to help participants keep in touch and to plan future alumni events. Any D.C.-area alumni interested in joining the listserv can do so by sending an e-mail to: habelgin@ysu.edu.
Make plans to attend the Floating Tailgate Party when YSU faces the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 5 in Pittsburgh. A pre-game buffet on the Gateway Clipper will give alumni and friends a fun, convenient location to prepare to cheer on the Penguins, and three Floating Tailgate Parties will accommodate YSU fans. The cost is $15 per person and the reservation deadline is August 28. Reservations are required. For details contact the Office of Alumni and Events Management, 330-941-3497. Game tickets can be purchased through the Athletic Ticket Office, 330-941-7466.
Summer 2009
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