Class Notes
STEM College Honors Outstanding Alums Three exceptional alumni were among the honorees at the annual YSU College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Awards Dinner in February.
Jared Bilas
Jared Bilas, a product design engineer for MAC Trailer in Alliance, Ohio, who has also served as an assistant professor at Mount Union University, was named an Outstanding Young Alumnus. He is a 2010 graduate of YSU’s Mechanical Engineering Technology program.
Gary DiLisio of Youngstown, ’07 BSEd in Middle School Education, ’10 MSEd in Counseling, was named senior academic program advisor in the Dietrich College Information Systems department Gary DiLisio at Carnegie Mellon University. He serves as the primary advisor for students pursuing a major in Information Systems and advises students minoring in Global Systems and Management. Previously, he worked with Carnegie Mellon students who had not yet declared a major. Jessica Rees (Yarter) Naughton of Weirton, W.Va., ’07 BSEd in Physical Education, is a physical education teacher in the Hancock County Schools in Weirton. She has been teaching girls soccer at Weir High School, first Jessica Rees (Yarter) Naughton as an assistant coach and now as head coach. In her eight years, the team made it to state tournament four times and ranked twice as state runners-up. Naughton also earned a master’s degree from West Virginia University.
’10s Janet L. Gbur of Canfield, ’08 BE in Materials Science and Engineering, ’11 MSE in Mechanical Engineering, has co-authored her first paper, titled "Fatigue and Fracture of Wires and Cables for Biomedical Applications," and published in International Materials Review. Gbur is a doctoral candidate studying Materials Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University, and she also holds a BS in Biology/Pre-Medicine from Kent State.
John Hamley, who manages the Radioisotope Power Systems Program in Cleveland for NASA Space Flight Systems, was named Outstanding Alumnus. Hamley earned his undergraduate degree at YSU in 1985 and went on to pursue master's degrees John Hamley in Electrical Engineering and Business Administration from Cleveland State University. He serves on YSU’s Electrical Engineering Department Industrial Advisory Board.
Bijan Hosseininejad
Bijan Hosseininejad, an engineering supervisor and lab operations team leader with the Babcock & Wilcox Research Center in Barberton, Ohio, was named an Outstanding Young Alumnus. He earned a BE in Electrical Engineering in 2010 and an MSE from YSU and is pursuing an MBA.
Fraternity Honors 1950 Graduate Betty Wanda Juanita (Greene) Armstrong, ’50 AB in History, was the guest of honor when the Youngstown Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity met to recognize her and to award two scholarships in honor of her late husband. As a student at Youngstown College, she was elected the Kappa Betty Wanda Juanita (Greene) Armstrong Alpha Psi “Sweetheart,” and her husband, Herbert Louis Armstrong, was a life member of the fraternity. She earned a master’s degree in Library Science from Case Western Reserve University and worked for 33 years as a periodicals librarian for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, retiring in 1986. Her husband was the first African American principal to serve in the Youngstown City Schools. Lyndsie Hall of Cincinnati, ’12 BSEd in Middle Childhood Education, is a fourth-year doctoral student in the School Psychology program at the University of Cincinnati and began her pre-doctoral internship this summer at the Boys Town National Headquarters in Omaha, Neb. She had been a graduate teaching assistant at the university. After completing the internship she expects to graduate with a PhD in School Psychology.
Nick Savage of Starkville, Miss., ’13 BS in Exercise Science, was named head strength coach for the Mississippi State Bulldogs football team, where he had been serving as assistant strength coach for the past two seasons. Previously, he interned at Bowling Green State and at Ohio State and served as a graduate assistant at the University of Toledo. He joined the Mississippi staff in 2014. Rees Todd Linville of Indianapolis, ’14 BS in Criminal Justice, is director of Central Operations for the Tau Kappa Epsilon international fraternity’s professional staff. He joined the organization a year ago as a traveling consultant and was promoted to his present position, serving all of the fraternity’s chapters and colonies. Linville is also responsible for volunteer training conferences, working with interest groups, interfacing with chapter officers during crises and visiting groups that need special on-site assistance.
Chelsea LaRoche of Bellaire, Ohio, ’12 BSBA in Finance, is a client coordinator for McKinley Carter Wealth Services, a firm ranked by CNBC as a top fee-only registered investment advisory firm. Since joining the firm in 2014, she has earned the Registered Paraplanners designation and Uniform Investment Adviser credentials. She will enroll this fall in the Certified Financial Planner program.
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