Mother Fair Honors Her Own During Homecoming

Westminster Alumni Award Citations and the Young Alumni Award are presented to those alumni who have made significant contributions, achieved success and served their communities well.

This year’s honorees made their marks in various fields—early childhood education, medicine and military service, research— but each started out at the same place. From the inspirational and empowering liberal arts education to the relationships they formed, skills they developed and new experiences the gained, their years at Mother Fair were foundational and life changing.

“I received the individualized attention that I needed to excel in challenging coursework while developing the personal accountability to continue to succeed in medical school and beyond,” said David Dado ’09. “The smaller class sizes make you feel like an individual rather than a number and allow you to build real relationships with your classmates and professors. I got to know my professors on a personal level and therefore they were able to challenge me and hold me accountable.”

Danielle Clark ’09 said Westminster challenged her and pushed her to excel, encouraging her to explore her own capabilities in her search for success.

“Westminster College has a standard and expected greatness from everyone that steps foot on campus, no matter the diverse backgrounds we all bring to the Titan community. I am currently a first-grade teacher and my classroom is comprised of diverse socioeconomic needs, emotional needs, academic needs and family dynamics. Keeping my students’ pertinent histories in mind, I still expect greatness for them and will not settle for anything less because I know each of them is bound to excel and I will make sure I spend time cultivating their uniqueness,” she said.

Alina Clough ’18 said the College’s liberal arts approach to learning allowed her to pursue a wide range of fields and interests.

“The multidisciplinary environment showed me how to combine methods of inquiry in ways that transferred well to the real world rather than staying confined to my major,” she said. Clough says she’s also grateful for the solid Westminster alumni that’s in place. “The best thing about the Westminster experience is probably the fact that our alumni network makes it feel like you never totally left,” she said. “I don’t go a day without speaking to Westminster alums, which isn’t something a lot of people can say. Whether they’re friends, networking contacts, or now even my coworkers, it’s a really unique campus that can create something that lasts your whole life.”

Westminster presented Alumni Award Citations, the Young Alumni Award and the Rising Titan Award as part of the 2022 Homecoming & Reunion Weekend.

Award winners from left, David Dado, Alina Clough, Darnelle Clark, Baylee Horvath and Adel Abdul-Malek.

Young Alumni Award Alumni who graduated within the past 10 years and are making significant contributions as they build careers and serve their communities or the College

ALINA CLOUGH '18

Alina Clough is a public service technologist designing software for NASA’s small business procurement program. A 2018 international politics graduate, she earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. While at Westminster, she was a young professional ambassador to Germany, volunteering to resettle Syrian refugees and working on technology and startup policy in the government. As a United Nations volunteer, she digitized drone maps to help Tanzanian girls escape child marriage. While living in New York, she worked on election and voter registration technology. At Harvard, she was founding designer of PathCheck Foundation, a nonprofit privacy-preserving COVID contact tracing solution. She is a frequent contributor to the Westminster’s Analyst Program and Professional Networking Symposium efforts. She lives in Washington, D.C., where she is the vice president for the local chapter of the American Conservation Coalition.

ADEL ABDUL-MALEK ’62

Born and raised in Cairo, Egypt, Adel Abdul-Malek spent a year at the American University of Beirut before arriving at Westminster. After graduating in 1962 with a degree in chemistry, he continued his studies in physics and chemistry at Princeton University. After earning his Ph.D. he worked for Standard Oil Company of Indiana—subsequently Amoco Oil Company and more recently part of British Petroleum—as a research scientist, advancing through the ranks to manage his own team of Lubricant Additives Research, retiring in 1997. He has been a dedicated and strong supporter of Westminster scholarships, contributing annually to various campus initiatives and has served as a signatory for annual fund outreach. He and his wife, Diane, make their home in Sarasota, Fla.

DARNELLE CLARK ’09

After receiving her undergraduate in psychology, Darnelle Clark turned towards early childhood education and earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Youngstown State University. Currently a first-grade teacher in the Liberty (Ohio) Local School District, she is also the creator and founder of Clark’s Cozy Corner, a YouTube channel born out of the pandemic and viewed in 33 countries. By educating and entertaining children and their families, she aims to make all of her viewers feel valued, safe, loved, seen and heard. She is involved in local and national civic groups, has a variety of leadership roles in her church and received the Game Changer Award from the City of Youngstown for her positive impact on her community. Sidelined by COVID and extended hospitalizations, her plans to start doctoral work and teach at the university level are on hold. Clark has supported Westminster through donations and her time. She resides in Warren, Ohio.

DAVID DADO ’09

Following Westminster, David Dado received a U.S. Air Force Health Professions Scholarship to attend the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, from which he graduated with honors. He was promoted to captain, entered active-duty military service and completed residency in internal medicine at Wright State University/ Wright Patterson Air Force Base and subspecialty training in nephrology at UT Health San Antonio. He has served as staff nephrologist and medical director for hemodialysis at the San Antonio Military Medical Center and chief of nephrology/ hemodialysis at Keesler Medical Center. He also worked for a nephrology practice along the underserved Mississippi Gulf Coast. He received two U.S. Meritorious Service Medals and a U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service. He was honorably discharged with the rank of major in July and accepted a clinical academic position at Malcolm Randall Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Gainesville, Fla., where he lives with his wife, Megan, and daughters.

Rising Titan Award Honoring up-and-coming students who showcase the ability to be leading alumni

BAYLEE HORVATH '22

A senior from Murrysville, Pa., Baylee Horvath is majoring in business administration, marketing and professional sales and sports management. She was a member of the women’s swimming and diving and championship women’s golf teams and is the outgoing president of the Student Athletic Advisory Club. She is president of Titan Guides and is a member of the Sports Promotion Club and the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. Baylee completed her practicum in the Office of Alumni Engagement and launched the “Inside the Huddle” virtual series during COVID. She most recently completed an internship with Amazon in Phoenix as an area manager. “Westminster gave me so many experiences that I know I can go into the real world and succeed. Westminster helped me secure an internship with one of the largest companies in the world, and I am forever grateful for that.” Horvath will graduate in December.