Distinguished Alumni Program Brings Eleven Honorees to Campus April 27-28
Eleven alumni will visit campus April 27 and 28, 2012, to be recognized for their career success and volunteer service to IUP. They will take time to share their experiences with students.
Bonnie (Harbison) Anderson '80, Francie Brown '82, Nancy (Vetakis) Keene '72, Florence Mauchant M'85, Gary Olson D'80, Monica Rizzo '87, Tracy Settle '80, and Marla (Prizant) Weston '80 will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award. Jim Wansacz '87 will be recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award for Service and during the weekend will receive the Friend of Higher Education Award, an honor for which he was chosen last fall by IUP and the local chapter of APSCUF. Audrey DeLaquil Madia '70 and Bill Madia '69, M'71 will receive the Volunteer of the Year Award. A list of the alumni, what college each represents, and brief biographical information appear below.
In addition to several invitation-only events, including a black-tie gala, the alumni will make scheduled classroom visits to speak with students. Keene, Mauchant, and Audrey Madia, along with alumna Marla Sabo '79, currently partner in a private equity firm and former retail executive who is a previous Distinguished Alumni Award winner, will present a panel discussion about women in business.
The recipients also will be inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi honors society.
"The Distinguished Alumni Awards program is a true reflection of what IUP stands for. Our alumni leave IUP and make great strides in their respective industries or have a grand impact on society, and honoring them at an event not only reflects well on our university, it also gives us the chance to tell them how proud we are of them," Mary Jo Lyttle, director of Alumni Relations, said. "Of course, IUP can't survive without the volunteer support and generosity of our alumni, and so being able to honor those who have helped us also is an honor and joy to us."
Over the past 30 years the Alumni Association has honored 322 alumni with the Distinguished Alumni Awards. Members of the university community are invited to nominate alumni for the award and can find nomination materials on the Office of Alumni Relations website.
2012 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners
Bonnie Harbison Anderson '80, College of Health and Human Services. She is cofounder and chief executive officer of Veracyte, a molecular diagnostics company.
Francie Brown '82, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, a dialect coach who has worked with actors from films such as Remember the Titans, Fight Club, Holes, The Chamber, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Blind Side, The Fighter, and Inception.
Monica Rizzo '87, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, senior writer, People magazine. Television is her main beat, and Dancing With the Stars is just one of the programs she covers.
Nancy (Vetakis) Keene '72, College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She is founder of the Perfect Fit, a blog and corporate leadership consultancy, and developer of the Changeometer (TM), a framework for strategic decision-making.
Florence Mauchant M'85, School of Graduate Studies and Research. She is managing director of HT Capital Advisors LLC.
Gary Olson D'80, School of Graduate Studies and Research. He is a professor in the department of English and Philosophy at Idaho State University and writer for the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Tracy Settle '80, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology. He is a colonel in the U.S. Army and chief of International Engagements, National Guard Bureau.
Marla Prizant Weston '80, College of Health and Human Services. She is chief executive officer of the American Nurses Association, which represents more than 3 million nurses nationwide and is instrumental in developing the standards and scope of practice for registered nurses.
Distinguished Alumni Award for Service
Jim Wansacz '87, who has served as president of the IUP Alumni Association Board of Directors. A former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a current Lackawanna County commissioner, he also will accept the IUP/APSCUF Friend of Higher Education Award during the weekend's festivities.
Volunteers of the Year
Audrey DeLaquil Madia '70, who operates an interior design firm, and Bill Madia '69, M'71, chairman of the Board of Overseers and vice president for the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University, will be recognized for their volunteer support of IUP, which includes organizing and hosting alumni events on the West Coast, as well as providing career expertise by speaking with current students at IUP.