Networking Symposium Goes Virtual

Westminster’s Professional Networking Symposium—the successful annual networking event for alumni and students—may have gone virtual this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but that didn’t diminish its impact. In fact, it meant more enhanced offerings for students and opportunities for alumni from across the globe to participate.

The two-day virtual Zoom event in September featured a career fair, breakout panels and networking opportunities for students on the first day, while the second day’s events were specifically geared for alumni looking to network with industry professionals from around the world.

“The digital approach allowed us to involve alumni from across the world as panelists and attendees without the traditional barriers of distance and travel costs,” said Westminster’s Senior Director of Alumni Engagement Kara Montgomery.

Even with a five-hour time difference, Bryan Greig ’16, an alumnus from Northern Ireland, was excited to be one of those far-reaching participating alumni.

“I wanted to take part in the symposium because of how useful and inspiring I found the event while I was a student,” said Greig. “I am a very proud alum of WC. I view the College as a place that took a chance on me and I want to give back however I can.” (See Greig’s profile at right.)

The symposium was founded by Dr. Daniel Fischmar, professor of economics emeritus, and alumni Dr. Christie Nelson ’06, assistant research professor for the Professional Science Master’s Program along with a Department of Homeland Security Research Center (CCICADA. org) at Rutgers University, and Benjamin Nelson ’06, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody’s Investor Services.

Bryan Greig ’16 B.S., Business Administration Belfast, Northern Ireland

Alumni Q&A

When Bryan Greig ’16 was seeking his undergraduate degree at Westminster, he could often be seen somersaulting his way across campus, usually with a GoPro camera attached to his body. Not afraid to take risks, Greig’s energy and passion have guided him in his entrepreneurial pursuits, through the air as a skydiver and even now as he seeks new career opportunities. Greig—one of this year’s alumni participants in the annual Professional Networking Symposium—talks about his student experience with the Symposium.

What impact did the Professional Networking Symposium have on you?

The Professional Networking Symposium was the first time I had seen the power of alumni. In Northern Ireland and the U.K. in general we don’t really connect with our university beyond graduation. At Westminster I saw all these wonderful alumni giving their time and energy to help those coming after them. I realized that people actually cared. Then you add on the personal growth that naturally comes from meeting and talking to new people, some who may be in industries you are interested in—the Professional Networking Symposium just should not be missed!

What were some of the symposium’s highlights for you?

I was able to get personalized feedback on my résumé from people working in industries I was interested in. I loved attending the different seminars and listening to the clearly very knowledgeable and intelligent people there. I ended up leaving the symposium with a job offer for the summer.

What are you doing with your life now?

After graduating from Westminster, I attempted to start my own tech company and somehow ended up being nominated for “U.K. Young Entrepreneur of the Year.” I pitched for and won some funding from venture capitalists and set up a company called Guzzl, a smartphone-based food and drink ordering service. Ultimately, the business was not a success, unfortunately. Then I got into the weird world of indoor skydiving/bodyflight where I helped set up and run commercial vertical wind tunnels in the U.K. and the United States. I recently started my post-grad in software engineering and data science at Ulster University.

What advice do you have for students getting ready to go into the job market?

Don’t be afraid of failure. The fastest and best way to learn is to fail. Be proud of it. Figure out who you look up to and read their biography. I promise you they will have failed, too.

IN MEMORIAM | Titans we will miss.

Word has reached us of the passing of the following alumni and friends of Westminster College. To submit information for the In Memoriam section, please provide a complete obituary notice (if available) to the Office of Alumni Engagement.

ALUMNI

HENRY HERCHENROETHER JR. ’42 of Sherwood Oaks

Retirement Community, formerly of Ben Avon, Dec. 17, 2019. RUTH DEHAVEN ’47 of Cranberry Township, Sept. 9, 2017. THE REV. JAMES GEORGE ’49 of Neshannock Township, Jan. 14, 2020. LEONARD HARDING ’49 of Quincy, Mass., Oct. 8, 2020. LOIS “KAY” SCOTT BARNES ’49 of Helena, Mont., Sept. 1, 2020. EMMY LOU SCHULTHEIS DRYLIE ’49 of Hilton Head, S.C., Feb. 15, 2020. ELLEN GILLILAND BALL ’50 of New Wilmington, June 8, 2020. THE REV. FREDERICK “FRED” MCKNIGHT ’50 of Plain City,

Ohio, Oct. 27, 2017. THE REV. JAMES “JIM” CLINEFELTER ’52 of St. Petersburg, Fla.,

June 27, 2020. THE REV. THOMAS “THOM” PROSSER ’52 of Emlenton, May 27, 2020. ELEANOR SLOAN COATES ’52 of Neshannock Township, Aug. 27, 2020. GEORGE “KEN” GORDON ’53 of St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 26, 2019. NANCY ZANGRILLI LYON ’53 of Strasburg, June 6, 2019. JOHN LIKO ’54 of Cary, Ill., June 17, 2020. RICHARD HUMMEL M’55 of Ross Township, Feb. 4, 2020. THE REV. LAURENCE MCCULLOCH ’55 of Duarte, Calif., March 1, 2020. SAMUEL SHANE JR. ’55 of Springfield, Delaware County, May 15, 2020. NANCY PETSINGER OLIPHANT ’56 of Ashburn, Va., Jan. 12, 2020. ALICE WAGNER SCHMIDT ’56 of Elgin, Ill., June 20, 2020. CLAIRE SODE ’58 of Rogers, Ariz., Aug. 28, 2020. SARA PORTNER TREINEN ’59 of Des Moines, May 17, 2019. JOHN NELSON ’60 of Ludington, Mich., Aug. 22, 2020. JANET “JAN” MCGRATH CARR ’61 of Wylie, Texas, formerly of

Grove City, Aug. 26, 2020. DAVID KOVACK ’61 of Nokomis, Fla., Sept. 1, 2019. SUE BEVERIDGE ’62 of Kersey, Nov. 16, 2019. JOHN “RUSTY” COLES II ’62 of Brentwood, June 4, 2020. JAMES “JIM” DEAL ’62 of New Wilmington, Aug. 22, 2020. WILLIAM HENNON ’64 of Orchard Park, N.Y., July 27, 2020. MICHAEL MANIOS ’64 of Warren, Ohio, June 26, 2020. HENRY MILLER JR. M’64 of Youngstown, Ohio, July 18, 2020. RAY PEACOE ’64 of Bainbridge Island, Wash., Sept. 9, 2020. DAVID SCHRECENGOST ’64 of Moorpark, Calif., June 7, 2020. WILLIAM “BILL” WANATOSKY M’64 of New Market, Md., June 17, 2020. MABEL WIMER ’64 of Delray Beach, Fla., July 10, 2020. THOMAS GOETTMAN JR. M’65 of Rochester Township, Oct. 11, 2020. JAMES GOLUBICH ’65 of Farrell, July 4, 2020. MARY JANE SCHEIDHAUER CARPENTER ’65 of Edgartown,

Mass., Aug. 19, 2020. LOIS BALPH M’67 of New Wilmington, March 18, 2019. HAROLD “DUANE” LUCAS M’67 of Union Township, Aug. 7, 2020. DR. DONALD HALL ’67 of Wadsworth, Ohio, June 28, 2020. ELIZABETH “BETH” MYERS LINS ’67 of Springfield, Va., June 19, 2020. THOMAS GREGORY III ’69 of Flowery Branch, Ga., Aug. 18, 2020. GREGORY GELETKA ’70 of Palm City, Fla., Feb. 27, 2018. J. TIMOTHY “TIM” CARR ’72 of Pittsburgh, Oct. 2, 2020. STELLA SAVA RUMMEL ’74 of Sharpsville, Sept. 10, 2020. LEATRICE BARR WRIGHT M’76 of Poland, Ohio, July 24, 2020. JAMES COSENTINO ’76 of Metuchen, N.J., Dec. 13, 2019. MARYANN MELCER GALIANO M’80 of New Castle, June 29, 2020. STEPHEN PETRARCA ’81 of Plano, Texas, Aug. 5, 2020. JAYNE GREENWOOD-HINZE ’82 of Lilburn, Ga., Aug. 12, 2020. DOUGLAS “DOUG” WILLIAMS ’85 of East Grand Rapids, Mich.,

Aug. 20, 2020. RICHARD “SCOTT” KIRSCHLER JR. ’88 of Pittsburgh, Oct. 9, 2020. MARGARET “MARGIE” BARNHART ’91 of Perry Township, June 27, 2020. KIMBERLY KERR MCCORMICK M’93 of New Castle, July 25, 2020. ANDREA WRENN ELLIS M’95 of Canfield, Ohio, Sept. 3, 2016. GEORGE AUSTIN ’06 of New Castle, Sept. 30, 2020. SEAN ROSS M’08 of Lexington, Ky., formerly of Bentleyville, Aug. 4, 2020.

FRIENDS & CAMPUS FAMILY

RODERICK “ROD” DORMAN MAY 5, 2020

Brother of former Westminster College President Dr. Richard Dorman, ROD DORMAN earned his law degree from the University of Miami and went on to a celebrated career in private practice and was recognized as one of the nation’s leading intellectual property litigators by numerous legal publications.

JOSEPH “JOE” STEIGHNER AUG. 11, 2020

A member of Westminster’s Board of Trustees from 19931994, JOSEPH STEIGHNER was elected to the House of Representatives 11th Legislative District, where he spent 16 years representing Butler County. He founded and was president of Joseph A. Steighner and Associates, a consulting and lobbying firm in Harrisburg.

DR. JAMES SEWALL ’49 SEPT. 28, 2020

Originally from New Wilmington, DR. JAMES SEWALL spent several years teaching Spanish and French across many cities. He returned to New Wilmington and Westminster—where he had studied for two years— to become a member of the Department of Foreign Languages. In 1987 after 25 years with the College, Señor Sewall was named associate professor of Spanish emeritus.

SANDRA “SANDY” SHEARER OCT. 6, 2020

A familiar face on campus, SANDY SHEARER began her career at Westminster in 1980 and retired in 2012 as manager of the College Bookstore.

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