Class Notes
Lukas P. Samuels of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., ’02 BSBA, was presented with the CVS/Casemark’s President’s Club Award at the company’s national sales meeting. Samuels, a regional business manager Lukas P. Samuels for a CVS Specialty Division, was recognized for top sales performance in his division, transplant and cardiopulmonary diseases. Dr. Matthew Gugliotti of New Middletown, Ohio, ’03 BS in education, has joined Poland Medical Center as a family practice physician. He graduated in 2007 from Wright State University School of Medicine Matthew Gugliotti in Dayton and completed his residency in family medicine at St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown. Joseph Latess of Cranberry Township, Pa.,’03 EdD, was named superintendent of the Highlands School District. He joined the district in June 2009 as assistant superintendent, and before that was assistant superintendent in the Shaler Area School District. Latess earned Joseph Latess his undergraduate and master’s degrees in education at Slippery Rock University. Michael R. Valiski of Johnston, Ohio, ’03 BE in industrial engineering, has completed the requirements to be named an ASQ-Certified Quality Engineer. Valiski is employed as a quality engineer at Treemen Industries in Boardman. Jarrod Davis of Medina, ’05 BA and ’07 MA, both in computer information systems, is a business solutions provider for Antares Management Solutions in Strongsville, Ohio. He has been promoted several times, is now ranked as a level 3 administrator and was recently awarded the company’s Shining Star certificate. Davis is also in his third year as assistant men’s and women’s track and field coach at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. His wife, Lindsay (Cobey) Davis, also earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education at YSU in 2007. Adam Fill of Canfield, ’07 BS in Education, is starting his fourth year as a business technology teacher at David Anderson Junior/
Alumna’s Weight Loss Victory Featured on TV Special
Erica Perna
Weight issues had always been a struggle for Erica Perna of Niles, ’99 BA in English, but she reached a turning point two years ago when her weight reached an all-time high of 240 lbs. Determined to set a better, healthier example for her infant son, she created her own diet and intense exercise routine and dropped more than 100 pounds in 16 months. Perna, now an avid bodybuilder who is employed as a fitness instructor and personal trainer, was one of five success stories featured in a TLC television special, “How I Lost 100 Pounds,” broadcast nationally in August. TLC learned about her story through one of several bodybuilding and weight loss blogs that Perna used to chronicle her lifestyle changes. Perna, who earned an MA in English at the University of Toledo after completing her undergraduate work at YSU, said she taught herself about nutrition by reading every available book and researching online. Bodybuilding is her new passion, and she’s working with a diet coach to help her prepare for competition. Perna’s one tip for staying in shape? “I change my workout every three months,” she said. “Nothing changes if nothing changes.”
Senior High School in Lisbon, Ohio. He also serves as head baseball coach and assistant basketball coach at the school, and he was assistant football coach in 2009. Jason S. Kelly of Cache, Okla., ’07 BA in telecommunications studies, graduated from the Defense Information School in Fort George G. Meade, Md., where he studied digital multimedia. Kelly is the art director for Jason S. Kelly the Office of Strategic Communications at the U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence in Fort Sill, Okla. He was commissioned as a U.S. Army officer through YSU’s ROTC program in December 2007. Marina Hanes of Canfield, ’08 BA in professional writing and editing, owns a home-based business called Cat’s Eye Editing, LLC, and recently had her fiction writing published in 6S, The Green Bike Stories, an anthology of flash fiction. Hanes has also published a children’s
book, Ling Ling, The Kitten Who Changed Her Ways, available on Amazon.com. Harmony N. Ramunno of Cleveland, ’08 BSBA in marketing management, recently joined Chancellor University’s Jack Welch Management Institute as an admissions adviser, and she began studying for an MBA there this fall. Previously, Ramunno was an admissions Harmony N. Ramunno counselor and recruiter for Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy. Zachary Brown of East Liverpool, Ohio, ’10 BA in philosophy and political science, was named the Ellsworth C. Dent Man-of-theYear by YSU’s Beta Gamma chapter of Sigma Tau Gamma. The award was established to recognize the chapter’s distinguished graduating seniors.
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