YSU Magazine Fall 2016 Issue by Youngstown State University

FALL 2016

A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS

A New Penguin Football Tradition Faculty Research That Serves Rescuing Refugees

Y O U N G S T O W N S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

FALL cover:

2016

Penguin fans love to celebrate touchdowns, and we've enjoyed some great gridiron traditions over the years. Starting this fall, YSU is adding an exciting new football tradition, as depicted in this cover illustration, thanks to the hard work and ingenuity of five Mechanical Engineering Technology grads. Read about it, starting on Page 9.

YSU President

Y SU Board of Trustees Chair Vice Chair Secretary Student Trustees

James P. Tressel Carole S. Weimer, ’89 Leonard Schiavone Charles R. Bush, ’71 Delores Crawford, ’68 David C. Deibel, ’75 Samuel W, Grooms, ‘81 John R. Jakubek, ’79 James Roberts, ’70 Franklin S. Bennett Jr. Samatha Anderson Allan Metz

ssociate Vice President, Shannon Tirone, ’94 A University Relations Director, Office of Catherine Cala Alumni Engagement

——————————— Public Information Officer

Magazine Editor

Photographer

Sports Contributor

Layout Design

Ron Cole Cynthia Vinarsky Hixenbaugh Joel Lewis Trevor Parks Mary Ann Bodnark, ’80 Renée Cannon, ’90 Rachell Joy Renée Vivacqua, ’98 Maureen Wilson, ’00

Go Penguins! Former Penguins Head Football Coach Jim Tressel, at center, joins jubilant members of YSU's 1991 football team and coaching staff as they celebrate the university's first NCAA Division I-AA National Championship victory, an achievement that inspired community pride across the region. We mark the 25th anniversary of that memorable day in YSU history with more photos and a retrospective by Bob Hannon, the radio voice of YSU football, on Pages 12-13.

Youngstown State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association. Youngstown State University – A Magazine for Alumni and Friends (ISSN 2152-3746), Issue 24, Fall 2016, is published twice a year by the YSU Office of Marketing & Communications.

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WE WANT TO

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For address changes, letters to the editor, ideas and comments: Call .......................... 330-941-3519 Email ...................... universitymagazine@ysu.edu Or mail to ............. Youngstown State University Office of Marketing & Communications One University Plaza Youngstown, OH 44555

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Send your letters to: universitymagazine@ysu.edu or YSU Office of Marketing and Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

in this

issue

Introducing Milton Lessner – At 102, the San Diego resident is YSU’s most senior alumnus.

Philanthropy: Mega Millions – The YSU Foundation celebrates its silver anniversary by announcing $4 million in new gifts.

6 9 12

Research Outside the Lab – YSU faculty members are getting outside their laboratories for clinical trials and other community-based research. Sound of Celebration – Mechanical Engineering Technology majors put their heads together to create a new Penguin football tradition that debuts this fall: The Spirit of Youngstown. When Christmas Came Early – YSU marks the 25th anniversary of Penguin football’s first national championship in 1991.

14 20 22 24 28 YSU Magazine, a Two-Time National Collegiate Advertising Award Winner

Gridiron Glory – A photographic tour of football memorabilia on display in the Thomas F. Mosure Hall of Gridiron Glory in Stambaugh Stadium.

NextYSU – Get a glimpse of construction projects planned for the YSU campus. Rescuing Refugees – A 2007 graduate feeds and cares for thousands of refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos. Alumni Spotlight – We profile three exceptional Penguins: Tim Womer, an Engineering alum and plastics industry expert who holds multiple patents; Rochelle Robinson, the first woman and first African American to serve as mayor of Douglasville, Ga.; and Ryan Johnson, a recent Art graduate, now creating for theme parks and museums worldwide. Trees: Our Precious Resource – Read about some of the unique and historic trees on YSU’s beautiful “Tree Campus USA.”

DEPARTMENTS 2 President’s Message 16 Around Campus 19 Letters to the Editor

30 Student Success Stories 32 Alumni News 34 Class Notes

www.ysumagazine.org & fill out the email notification form.

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Championships, Centenarians and Connections Time. It’s a funny thing. As a child, an hour can seem like forever. Very quickly, though, life speeds ahead – school, careers, family, good times, hard times, and before you know it, 25 years have passed. In this issue of YSU Magazine, we take a moment to reflect on YSU’s first national football James P. Tressel President

championship that happened 25 years ago this year. Wow, how time can fly. It was truly a blessing to have been a part of that historic season. Speaking of time, be sure to read about Milton Lessner (Page 3) and Angelina Searles (Page 33) in this issue. At 102 years old, Milton is YSU’s oldest living alumnus, graduating from Youngstown College in 1933 – and he is still working. Angelina is 101, graduated from YSU in 1966 and is a retired schoolteacher. What amazing people they are, and what a pleasure and privilege it was meeting them both this past summer. Also in this edition, check out the inspiring story of alum Ashley Anderson, who shares her experiences as a humanitarian first-responder in Greece, helping refugees from Syria and other countries arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesvos. Ashley is another example of how YSU Penguins are unselfishly volunteering their time and talent and making their marks across the globe. And finally, take a moment to read our story on faculty members who are engaging local residents in their research. These community-based clinical initiatives connect our YSU faculty and their students with the greater Youngstown region, many times resulting in improved healthcare and other services for all. As the stories across this issue of YSU Magazine attest, your alma mater is a bustling, dynamic and progressive institution that seeks, day in and day out, to increase excellence in everything we do. We help change lives, start careers and form individuals who go from here to lead in their communities, raise families and make a difference in the world. Enjoy this issue – it certainly will be “time” well spent.

Go Penguins,

James P. Tressel, President

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At 102, He’s YSU’s

Oldest Alum Milton Lessner has done a lot

Lessner was just 21, had already completed a master’s in Psychology from Ohio State University and was working toward of living since he graduated from a PhD when a serious case of pneumonia interrupted his studies. Youngstown College in 1933 – He came back to Youngstown briefly and taught psychology at and at age 102, he remembers it Youngstown College – in lieu of a salary, he arranged to have a all in vivid detail. younger brother’s college tuition paid for. But even after earning four But Lessner’s health had been compromised by the pneumoadvanced degrees from other nia, and doctors advised him to move to a warmer climate, so universities, including two doche settled in San Diego. In the years that followed, he earned a torates, and living most of his life second master’s degree in Social Work, counseled soldiers in the on the West Coast, Lessner still USO during World War II, then owned and operated a successful considers YSU his favorite wholesale fabric company for 35 years. alma mater. Milton Lessner “But I always wanted to continue my education,” he said. “At In April he wrote a letter to YSU President Jim Tressel to express his Penguin pride and to mention 58, when most people are thinking about retirement, I started that he just might be YSU’s oldest surviving alumnus. We checked working on my first doctorate.” He earned two PhDs from Alliant International University in the alumni database and confirmed that Lessner is, indeed, our San Diego – one in Human Behavior, a second in Professional Psymost senior graduate. (Read his letter on page 19.) chology – and shared a counseling practice with his wife for more Tressel was so impressed with the letter that he telephoned than 30 years. Now semi-retired, he still offers him, then arranged to visit Lessner’s home in psychological evaluation services, pro bono, San Diego as part of a California trip he had to a family member with a social work pracscheduled this summer. “It was such a thrill to tice, and oversees some rental properties. His hear from Mr. Lessner, and when he said that son and daughter are 75 and 72, respectively; he’s ‘semi-retired’ at 102, I just had to meet he has seven stepchildren, five grandchildren him,” Tressel said. and five great-grandchildren. Lessner grew up just east of Youngstown, Lessner stays active – he walks twice a day where he and his two brothers helped their in his neighborhood, always with Rudi, his mother run the family’s small neighborhood Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, by his side – grocery store. He was just 16 when he gradthe dog has helped him get acquainted with uated from Rayen High School and enrolled all his neighbors. at Youngstown College – classes were at the Milton Lessner with President Jim Tressel Lessner uses a walker to steady himself, Youngstown YMCA in those early days –to but Rudi doesn’t mind. “He’s 14 – that means he’s about as old as earn a BA in Biology. I am,” he said with a quiet laugh. “We’ve been together all his life. As a student, he remembers a run-in he had with Howard We’re very bonded, let’s put it that way.” Jones, the university’s first president. “Mr. Jones was a very religious man, and unfortunately, I was not,” Lessner said, describing Editor’s Note: We are sad to report that YSU Magazine learned, shortly the monthly faith-based programs that Jones required all stubefore press time, that Mr. Lessner’s dog, Rudi, passed away. dents to attend. “I didn’t go, and that irked him. He called me into his office and cautioned me. After that, I certainly did attend.”

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hilanthropy

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Four More $1 Million Donors – A Record High In the spring issue of YSU Magazine, we bragged about the university’s unprecedented feat of receiving three, $1 million gifts in a four-month span. Well, here we are in the fall, and that accomplishment has been topped already. Not sure who said it – Yogi Berra? LeBron James? – but records are meant to be broken. In the months of May and June, YSU announced four additional $1 million gifts – a new high in the university’s fundraising chronicles. Under the leadership of President Jim Tressel and the restructured and expanded YSU Foundation, the university raised $20.5 million in private gifts for the fiscal year ending June 30. By comparison, the university collected $13 million in the same period in 2015 and $6.2 million in 2014. “The generosity of our donors and alumni across the country is incredible and very humbling,” Tressel said. “We cannot thank everyone enough for their continued support for the university and our students.” Elba and Flor “Shorty” Navarro; and in larger “Shorty” and Elba Navarro Flor “Shorty” Navarro was photo above, YSU student employees that attended the press conference announcing 14 years old when in 1951 the Navarro gift. he immigrated to Youngs4

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town from Puerto Rico. Within two years, he purchased a gas station. He later joined the Marine Corps, then began selling used cars and eventually opened and operated his own car dealership, which grew to 11 franchises. He and his wife, Elba, a retired Youngstown school teacher who earned two degrees from YSU, have donated $1 million to fund a scholarship endowment and also for a new endowment to increase the number of campus jobs for students. “YSU is a pillar of the community; as YSU goes, so goes the Mahoning Valley,” Mr. Navarro said. “We are excited about President Tressel’s leadership and the future of the university, and we look forward to even bigger and better things to come.”

Don Constantini

Don Constantini The Don Constantini Multimedia Center will be built atop the east side of Stambaugh Stadium with a $1 million contribution from the 1966 alum. “Youngstown State is the gem of the entire Mahoning Valley region,” said Constantini, founder of Falcon Transport and Comprehensive Logistics Co. in Youngstown. “I am happy to support an institution that continues to positively impact the lives of thousands of people every year.”

hilanthropy The Multimedia Center will house classrooms and laboratories for the Department of Communication, as well as game-day activities for all Stambaugh Stadium events. In addition, the center will include space for YSU’s Sports Broadcasting program and the new Constantini Classroom, which will host hundreds of students enrolled annually in mandatory introductory Communication courses. “We bring in top-notch professional faculty from around the region to teach our students; individuals who have worked for ESPN, Fox Sports and SportsTime Ohio,” said Adam Earnheardt, chair, Communication. “Now we’ll have a facility that matches the needs of the professionals teaching in our program.”

Mr. Watson, former president of Youngstown Welding and Engineering Co., is a former YSU trustee and one of the original members of the YSU Foundation Board of Trustees. The Watsons have two daughters, Janet Stephens and Ellen Tressel, and four grandchildren. Their son, David, is deceased. Ellen, a YSU alumna, is married to Jim Tressel, YSU president.

David and Helga Ives David Ives spent more than three decades in Youngstown as a professor of Humanities, earning the nickname “Mr. Greece.” Now, more than two decades after his Frank and Norma Watson death, his legacy grows. Frank Watson’s ties to YSU trace The estate of Ives and his wife, back to 1949, when he graduated Helga, has donated $1 million from Youngstown College. to expand several scholarships “It has been our privilege to watch and to establish the David and YSU evolve and grow into the Helga Ives Distinguished Visiting respected institution of higher Humanities Scholar at YSU. education that it is today,” he says, “Professor Ives was an outnearly 60 years later. standing scholar and teacher, a Frank and his wife, Norma, have champion for the university and David and Helga Ives donated $1 million to support the a respected member of the comdevelopment of a new Student munity,” President Jim Tressel said. Success Center on campus. Ives died in 1991; Mrs. Ives died in 2015. “The Center will help thousands “Helga and David were committed to the university and to the of students reach their educational classics and the humanities,” said Scott Schulick, a co-trustee of goals and will serve as a lasting the Ives’ estate. “This gift will allow those passions to live forever Frank and Norma Watson legacy of the Watsons’ lifelong deat YSU.” votion to YSU,” said Paul McFadden, president of the YSU Foundation.

YSU Foundation’s Half-Century Marked with Many Successes The year is 1966. Gasoline goes for 32 cents a gallon. The Beatles and Beach Boys top the charts. Miniskirts are in. A half-million American troops are in Vietnam. “Star Trek” debuts. Pampers introduces disposable diapers. And in Youngstown, Howard Jones sets into motion a process to create what would become the YSU Foundation, one of the most successful university endowments in the region, if not the nation. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the YSU Foundation now has more than $210 million in assets – the largest endowment of any of the public universities in Northeast Ohio. In turn, the Foundation provides more than $8 million in scholarships and program support every year. “That’s a phenomenal benefit for our students in these times of rising costs and student debt,” said Paul McFadden, YSUF president. “And Howard Jones started it all.” In 1966, Jones was concluding his 35th and final year as the first-ever president of Youngstown College/Youngstown Uni-

versity and was in negotiations to transition from a private institution to the new, public Youngstown State University. To protect the university’s $13.5 million in private endowment funds, Jones established the Youngstown Educational Foundation, a private, independent enterprise. Naturally, Jones was the Foundation’s first president, succeeded by William Roesti in 1975, C. Reid Schmutz in 1989 and McFadden in 2012. The Foundation’s name was changed in 1983 to the YSU Foundation. Two years ago, the YSU Board of Trustees and the YSU Foundation Trustees reached an agreement that transferred all of the university’s development and fund-raising functions to the Foundation, which now has 13 employees with offices in Melnick Hall on campus. The agreement, along with the work of President Jim Tressel, has resulted in record fund-raising this fiscal year.

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RESEARCH YSU faculty conducting clinical research with human volunteers are meeting community needs along the way.

Concussion is the research focus of Jessica Wallace, an assistant professor in Exercise Science, and she's created a free concussion screening program for 1,400 area high school and college athletes.

hen Jessica Wallace joined YSU’s faculty last fall, the chance to do clinical research on sports-related concussions was at the top of her “to do” list. Now, just a year later, the assistant professor of Exercise Science is working with 12 student co-investigators on a gargantuan task: providing free, baseline concussion testing for every studentathlete at YSU and at eight area high schools – that’s 1,400 students. Later, they’ll also provide follow-up testing for any that suffer a concussion. “We’re making sports safer. Concussions are a treatable injury, with the right care and the right testing, but a lot of schools don’t have the money to provide it, ” said Wallace, who spent five years as a high school and college athletic trainer before earning her PhD. “Globally, the data we’re gathering will help us, as scientists, to understand concussions better. There’s so much we don’t know.” Wallace’s community-based concussion study is one example 6

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of the clinical research YSU faculty are conducting outside the laboratory involving human volunteers. Often, in addition to their research findings, they’re meeting community and individuals’ needs in the process. Joseph Mosca, dean of the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services, said community-based clinical research is key to YSU’s mission as an urban research university that serves. “What the university is about, and what our college is about, is making a difference,” he said. “When our faculty and students get involved in research projects off campus, it’s one more way that the college, and the university at large, can have a lasting effect on the community.”

Do Sports Benefits Outweigh Risks? For many sports fans, especially parents, the risk of concussionrelated brain injuries has become a concern, and a quandary. We know kids can get hurt, but sports are good for them, right?

Wallace, also director of YSU’s new Master of Athletic Training degree program, firmly believes that the benefits of athletics, including football, outweigh the risks. However, she disapproves of sending students from low-income school districts to play rough-and-tumble sports without providing them with the same standard of health care that those in affluent schools receive. By testing students in suburban and urban, private and public high schools, she aims to eliminate any disparity. The non-invasive baseline testing she and her student assistants are providing free of charge will include information on normal brain activity, visual tracking, motion and balance. Any time an athlete is diagnosed with a concussion over the next year – if parents agree – the athlete will be tested again, and the results compared to the student’s unique baseline test results. That comparative data can be used by clinicians to customize the student’s rehabilitation plan, Wallace said, and by coaches and athletic trainers to determine when the athlete can safely return to play. She plans to continue offering the testing in the future, but the task will get easier. Students’ baseline results are determined the first year and the data retained, she said, so only new athletes will have to be tested in subsequent years.

Concussion Researcher Offers Free Testing All student-athletes at the following Mahoning Valley high schools and at YSU are getting free, baseline concussion testing as part of a community-based research study by Jessica Wallace, assistant professor, Exercise Science, and 12 student co-investigators: • Austintown Fitch High School • Boardman High School • Cardinal Mooney High School • East High School, Youngstown

• • • •

Liberty High School Lowellville High School Struthers High School Warren G. Harding High School, Warren • YSU

Research Switch: From Mice to Men Like Wallace, Associate Biology Professor Jill Tall is involved in clinical research now, working with human volunteers. For her, the change to community-based research came after spending the first part of her academic career immersed in preclinical work – the kind involving rats, mice and cells in a petri dish. “I went from mice, to men,” said Tall, who is also coordinator of YSU’s Certificate in Anatomy and Physiology program. "I’ve always conducted research that ultimately helps to improve human health, but this new chapter is allowing me to have a more direct and positive impact on people.” Over the years, because of her affinity for research, Tall has become a regular presenter for young doctors beginning residency training for Mercy Health, a large regional healthcare provider. She advises them on how to start a biomedical research project, which is required for physicians in training. Through those interactions with Mercy Health doctors, she discovered the idea for her first clinical investigation: studying the efficacy of ambulance backboards, the kind used to transport accident victims. “The ER docs said they think the backboard is overused and archaic,” she said. In the study, funded through a $3,000 grant from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Tall worked with a team of BS/ MD pre-med students at YSU to evaluate the backboards, interviewing ER patients and student volunteers. Preliminary results seemed to show that, if the patient has a pre-existing respiratory condition, the boards can negatively affect breathing – she expects to publish results of that study soon. Working with ER residents on the backboard study, Tall became aware that many were struggling to budget time for their mandated research projects. “They are already working such long, grueling schedules,” she said. “They’re called ‘residents’ because they literally live in the hospital.” She also knew that YSU pre-med students, pursuing a range of medical careers including dentistry, respiratory therapy, veterinary medicine and pharmacy, were scrambling to find more research opportunities. “I was looking for a way to meet the needs of both.” In response, Tall developed a two-semester program that the Department of Biological Sciences is launching this fall, the new Certificate in Biomedical Research curriculum. The program is a

Associate Biology Professor Jill Tall still spends time on laboratory research, but her work with Mercy Health is creating new clinical research opportunities off campus for her and for her students.

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partnership between YSU’s pre-med program and Mercy Health’s ER residency program. Open only to Biology majors, the certificate program will enroll pre-med students to serve as co-investigators on biomedical research projects. Medical ER residents at Mercy Health’s Youngstown and Warren hospitals will design and direct the research projects, BS/MD students in the certificate program will be “in the trenches,” she said, collecting data, in addition to completing coursework on campus. Mercy Health attending physicians will supervise each project; Tall will coordinate the program. “I’m so excited about this because it will result in many more research opportunities for our pre-med students while providing the ER residents at Mercy Health with the research help they need,” Tall said. The first-year program has eight pre-med students enrolled this fall. Over time, Tall hopes to expand the certificate program, adding more pre-med researchers, assisting medical residents in additional specialties and involving more faculty members.

Clinical Trial Studies Neck Pain When Physical Therapy faculty members Ken Learman and David Griswold reached out to YSU employees last spring to recruit participants for a clinical trial on neck pain, their phones started ringing right away. Neck pain is a common complaint for adults in general – up to 80 percent have it at some point – and folks who spend their workdays hunched over computers can be especially vulnerable. So far, Learman and Griswold have recruited 40 Mahoning Valley participants – YSU employees and volunteers from the community at-large – and nine other clinical sites in five states have signed on to participate in the clinical trial. “Getting clinicians from other regions involved is our version of crowd-sourcing,” Learman explained. “It makes the study more geographically meaningful and makes the findings more generalizable to the population at large.” The study compares the effectiveness of two commonly used manual therapy treatments for neck pain: joint mobilization, involving gentle movement of the joints; and joint manipulation, which is comparable to chiropractic adjustments, which involves a high-velocity manipulation of the joints. “What’s special about this trial is that we allow clinicians to provide the treatment the way they do in a real, clinical scenario,” Griswold said. “Both options are very safe, but the form of manual therapy used for each patient is determined by randomization software.” He said the study is also controlling for “clinical equipoise,” a concept where the researcher is more likely to see the results they expect to see. “Very few clinical trials have ever controlled for this known confounding variable.” Patients are carefully screened before treatment begins; locally, all treatment is provided free of charge and performed

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Above, David Griswold, a licensed physical therapist and faculty member, treats a patient for neck pain as part of a clinical trial. Left, Physical Therapy faculty Ken Learman, left, and Griswold are recruiting community volunteers for their clinical trial on neck pain.

by physical therapists – Griswold and Learman are both licensed physical therapists with advanced certifications in orthopedic manual therapy. Students from the Physical Therapy program are also gaining experience by participating in data collection. Griswold has already completed and published a similar, smaller study involving 20 subjects that served as a pilot for the current one. This larger trial, funded by a $3,000 grant from the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy, will ultimately involve 136 participants and 18 clinicians at nine sites, including two in Pennsylvania and Alaska and one each in Oregon, South Carolina and Texas, plus YSU. Clinical research comes with problems that laboratory researchers may not face, such as scheduling issues, exercise compliance and subject attrition. “Working with human beings creates some unique challenges,” Griswold said. “We learn to be very adaptable.” Griswold and Learman are still recruiting participants for their neck pain study. For more information, or to be considered, contact Griswold at dwgriswold@ysu.edu or 330-701-5353.

By Cynthia Hixenbaugh

ENGINEERING A NEW FOOTBALL TRADITION:

The Spirit of ‘

YOUNGSTOWN’ S H I F T

W H I S T L E

By Andrea Tharp

Creators of YSU’s new shift whistle are, from left, Adrian Heston, Kelsey Kridler, James Neiheisel and Kyle Henshaw; Garrett Mathias is not pictured but also part of the team. All five are 2016 Mechanical Engineering Technology grads.

Forty years ago in Youngstown, amid the blast of furnaces, the clang and clank of steel being tested and worked, pipes hissing steam songs that sang out like church hymns to the ears of every worker and local alike, one call took precedence. Three times a day, every day – 7 a.m., 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. – the bellow of the shift whistle sounded two distinct messages to the men clocking in and clocking out, the mantra of the steel town and its people: tiiiiiiime to work; tiiiiiiime to celebrate another job well done. Youngstown may think it’s heard the last of its shift whistle, but this football season brings the familiar call back to the Ice Castle as a permanent tradition, thanks to a team of five Mechanical Engineering Technology graduates who have found a new way to capture the voice of the city.

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Remaking the Memory

‘ Spirit ’ SPECS

Material: Stainless Steel Power Source: Steam Length: 18 inches Diameter: 6 inches Whistle Note: C Ornament: Emperor Penguin

When Kelsey Kridler started her senior capstone class last spring semester, the Mechanical Engineering Technology major knew it had to be outstanding. “Our professor said we could do whatever we wanted – but it had to be good,” she stressed. The five-student team, including Garrett Mathias, Adrian Heston, James Neiheisel, Kyle Henshaw and Kridler, wanted their “good” to mean something that would last. They decided to focus their 16-week class project on recreating a recognized symbol of Youngstown’s historic past, the steel mill shift whistle, to be installed as a game-day accessory in Stambaugh Stadium. “It makes perfect sense for Youngstown,” said President Jim Tressel, who was approached by the MET students early in the process. “The whistle will get fans excited because it relates to the history of the community and becomes a tradition within the stadium. And it could end up benefitting the Penguins,” he added. “It’ll drive visiting teams crazy.” With financial support and encouragement from Tressel, Head Football Coach Bo Pelini, and STEM Dean Wim Steelant, the team got to work researching, designing and building a replica of the 1970s Youngstown shift whistle. “We had a welder and a machinist working with us, and everyone put their individual skills toward it,” said Kridler. “We had it built in just a few weeks.” The project wasn’t free from hiccups, however. One of the first challenges the seniors ran into was a lack of recorded information on the whistle’s mechanics. “They wanted to make this an authentic piece,” said Daryl Gross, instructor for YSU’s MET department and the team’s capstone class. “So they used their research as the backbone for their design and were able to fill in the gaps knowing the theory behind building it.” Henshaw also pointed out the difficulty in determining the true pitch of the shift whistle, explaining that length adjustments had to be made to the whistle through the summer to achieve the correct C pitch and octave. But support for the project outweighed the snags. From materials donations to testing locations to tuning advice, the MET students found help not only

Penguins Football Traditions throughout the Years While the game-day shift whistle being installed this season at Stambaugh Stadium will bring a fresh element of excitement to the stands, it will also begin a new tradition for Penguins football. From the penalty flag to tailgating to Pete-on-a-Stick, the program and its fans have cherished rituals old and new for the last 78 years. President Jim Tressel recalls many traditions of the famed 1990s while he was Penguins head coach. “Boy that was a long time ago,” he said, and then without missing a beat, “Winning – that was one.” For YSU’s current head coach, Bo Pelini, tradition is all about the people. “The alumni, the fans, the former players, the community. We want them involved in the program to embrace the great tradition that’s been around here for a long time.” 10

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Here are the stories behind a few more of our favorites:

The Penalty Flag Dwight “Dike” Beede, the first head coach of Penguins football, is credited as the inventor of football’s yellow penalty flag in 1941. Originally Youngstown red and white, the flags were first used at a Youngstown College vs. Oklahoma City football game. They had been crafted from old Halloween costumes by Beede’s wife – known as the “Betsy Ross of football”– and are stored in Stambaugh Stadium. The penalty flag was formally introduced at the 1948 Pacific Coast Conference for American Football Coaches.

Red and White Game The first annual Red and White scrimmage took place on May 12, 1973, under Head Coach Rey Dempsey. The Penguins were divided into two groups, the Reds and the Whites, for a full-scale, intra-squad scrimmage. The game is still an anticipated public event each spring.

Penguin Ice Breakers What’s Penguins football without our Marching Pride? In addition to spirited halftime shows, the band presents its Penguin Ice Breakers musical pep rallies near the Rec Center before each home kickoff. Inspired by the Ohio State marching band’s pregame “Skull Sessions,” former YSU band director Chris Heindenreich brought the tradition to Youngstown in 2007, and fans have enjoyed the performances from the talented Dana School of Music students ever since.

from YSU, but also from local companies and professionals, including Youngstown Thermal, Trumbull Manufacturing, Eagle Mechanical, Dearing Compressor and many others. “We were lucky because companies in the area were so willing to help us out,” Kridler said. “Youngstown came together to make this happen.”

“When there’s a big play, when somebody on the field is doing what they need to be doing. Fans will know when they hear it, it’s time to get excited.” Gross added, “We wanted to make an impact on the spirit of the game that is consistent with the spirit of the community.” He, along with Pelini, is highly impressed by the students’ 2.186 final product. “They did an amazing job with this, from the 1.783 .250 machining to the hand-polishing. I’m proud of them. It’s reflective of the quality of students and graduates we turn out at Youngstown State.” To top off their project, the team plans to cast a stainless steel emperor penguin as a final touch. It will sit atop the whistle, ever ready to sound the call.

Meet ‘The Spirit of Youngstown’ After weeks of building and testing, The Spirit of Youngstown was born, named to reflect the city’s storied past and prevailing identity. It is steam-powered, stainless-steel bodied – and loud. “The shift whistle was specifically made to create a booming noise that would remind workers that it was time to start or finish their day,” Kridler explained. “Ours is just as booming; it’s a sound you can feel in your chest.” Heston described how, during the team’s testing phase, the whistle was heard clear across town. With a tone that falls between the sound of a ship’s deep fog horn and a tea kettle’s shrill cry, its presence will definitely be felt by fans on game day. Despite its compact size – six inches in diameter and just under two feet in length – fans will also be able to see the whistle from the stands. It will be mounted on a pole at the south end of the stadium, so spectators sitting in the home stands will be able to view it to their right. Its location is near the university’s central utility plant steam lines, the whistle’s power source, and offers maximum vibration to the crowd. “We’ll be using the whistle strategically,” said Coach Pelini.

More Than a Capstone

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If you’ve seen a YSU football 2.186 game in the last 29 years, 1.783 you’ve seen the Hive. A tradition .250 started in the spring of 1987 by Assistant Coach Bob Stoops, ”the real Bob Stoops,” as Coach Tressel and his staff used to call him; the second Bob Stoops is his nephew and current head coach of the 5 1.925 3.12 Oklahoma Sooners – the Hive formation consists of the football team entering and exiting the field shoulder-to-shoulder, arms locked, banded together. “We started it as a sign of unity,” President Tressel remembers. “Every time you entered the field and every time you left, you did it in the Hive, together, and you created that energy bonded to one another.”

Pete-on-a-Stick was created in 1987 by a group of fans who would bring a stuffed Pete the Penguin mascot attached to a large stick to football games, waving and passing it from fan to fan to rally the crowd. Soon a YSU staple, Pete-on-a-Stick was featured in local newspapers, attended championship games, and was believed by fans and players alike to be a symbol of success. Campus police banned the bird in 1997, claiming it DATE E obstructed fans’ views, but it returnedNinAM2010 after : IFIED Coach Eric Wolford to bring back its Ccampaigned N E SPE RAW RWIS OTHE SS Pete-on-a-Stick E S legacy. isDnow perched in the south L E D H N U INC ECKE H IN C E R NS A PPR. games. ENSIO for endDIMzone all to see during home A : S G E EN RANC ND BE TOLE ONAL H TI FRAC LAR: MAC IMAL U C L ANG LACE DE A P ECIM TWO PLACE D E THRE IC METR GEO R: E PRET INTER NCING P A R TOLE RIAL MATE

ROTC Cannon and Push-Ups Dedicated in 1988, the “Pen-Gun” cannon is fired at home football games with each Penguins score. The idea developed when Coach Tressel and YSU ROTC alumnus Carl Nunziato were brainstorming for ways to add more excitement to games. YSU’s Army ROTC cadets continue to fire the Pen-Gun in the southeast corner of Stambaugh Stadium to this day, and the unit has added the tradition of performing push-ups in front of the student section for each Penguin point scored.

Now graduates of the MET program, Kridler, Henshaw, Heston, Neiheisel and Mathias are excited to see their whistle as a new staple for Stambaugh Stadium and the Mahoning Valley. “It will tie in with the identity of Youngstown, the tradition of the city,” said Pelini. “I appreciate their effort on it.” What began as a capstone assignment will become a permanent fixture in the community, a highly visible symbol of 00 R1.1MET the program's continuing success, with 1,000 alumni and a 100 percent graduate placement rate. hard 1.450“The Engineering Technology professors at YSU work 5 to get students real-world experience, to get them to feel like they’ve done work that really means something outside of the classroom,” said Kridler. “I was lucky enough to be one of those students.”

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Spaghetti Bowl

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The secret of the Spaghetti Bowl was kept FINISH ING RAW between Coach Beede ALE D and his players. Each N O OT SC USED DO N season he would pick out 3 one tough game, the ON CATI team to beat, and designate that game as the LI P P A “Spaghetti Bowl.” If the Penguins won, Beede 4 would treat the squad to a spaghetti banquet with all the trimmings that he would prepare and pay for himself.

On Dec. 21, 1991, in Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga., YSU’s football team won the NCAA Division I-AA Championship and started a decade-long and unprecedented run of dominance, including four national titles. But it was about more than football – it was about restoring community pride and a winning spirit to a region that had seen more than its share of hardship. It was Bob Hannon’s third year as the radio voice of Penguins football. On the 25th anniversary of that remarkable season, we asked Hannon – who now enters his 28th year as the Penguins’ play-by-play broadcaster – to share his memories:

By Bob Hannon Radio voice of YSU football While it has been a quarter of a century, I still can vividly remember the 1991 championBob Hannon ship season, and those that followed, like it was yesterday. What really stands out the most for me is the pride that YSU brought to our community. We were still coming off the closing of the steel mills, and we needed a boost. YSU football gave us that lift. The Penguins’ 1991 run was not only unexpected, it appeared their postseason was going to end in the first round. Trailing Villanova by a single point with less than two minutes to play, YSU mounted an improbable 17-16 comeback win, capped by a game-winning field goal by Jeff Wilkins to jump-start what would be a four-game journey to the title. Former head coach Jim Tressel and the late former assistant coach Bob Dove. 12

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The championship game itself was somewhat surreal, since we went into the playoffs with an 8-3 record and were one of the lower seeds of the 16-team field. But once we made it to Georgia to face Marshall in the title game, there was a feeling this was a team of destiny. For much of the game, Marshall outplayed us and was leading 17-6 in the fourth quarter, but there was never a sense of desperation from Coach Jim Tresselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s team. A touchdown run by seldom-used Ryan Wood gave the Penguins the lead for good at 18-17, and All-American Tamron Smith added a 5-yard score to complete the 19-point fourth quarter rally and a 25-17 victory. What I remember most about that day was the return to the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport and the hundreds, but what felt like thousands, of fans who were waiting to greet us, many dressed in YSU red and white, and many with tears of joy. Nobody wanted to leave. It was as though Christmas had come early for the YSU football program. None of us could have imagined this season would be only the beginning of one of the most dominant decades of football by any college football program in any division in the history of college football. YSU would go on to play in four straight championship games, six in a nine-year span, winning four.

Everywhere you went throughout the region, YSU T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats were being worn. Our fan base was growing. At times on the road we would have several hundred fans, even at locations that were not the easiest to reach. Meanwhile, Jim Tressel became a larger-than-life celebrity. He always made time for those who wanted him, whether it was a speaking engagement, visiting local hospitals or making an appearance at the Canfield Fair. During this remarkable run, many other schools began pursuing Coach Tressel to lead their programs. The fact that he turned them all down gave us a sense of pride that he wanted to be here and part of our community. Tressel said no to major programs like Maryland and Cincinnati. Then the Ohio State job opened up. I believe to this day, that Ohio State is the only job he would have left YSU to pursue. The memories I cherish the most are not the games and championships, but the friendships. I still often see many of the players from those days. Coach Tressel has supported me and my family in more ways than I could ever begin to express. He is the definition of what a leader should be; it is awesome to see him doing remarkable work as YSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president. It has truly been an honor and blessing to be calling YSU football games on the radio for the past 27 seasons. Go Penguins!

Photos courtesy of The Vindicator.

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GRIDIRON GLORY Penguin Style!

It could be Stambaugh Stadium’s best-kept secret: The Thomas F. Mosure Hall of Gridiron Glory, with its historic collection of Penguin football memorabilia. Located on the Ice Castle’s fourth level concourse, the museum was created to celebrate YSU’s gridiron history, with mementoes dating back to the 1930s and 1940s, and to permanently memorialize Mosure, a 1956 civil engineering grad and a standout Penguin halfback in the 1950s who continued to support YSU and Penguin sports throughout his life. The Hall of Gridiron Glory is open to fans on game days, and by appointment.

Game programs, at right, for an Oct. 6, 1939 Youngstown College football contest against St. Francis University were priced at just 15 cents. Games were played at South High School Stadium then. At far right, a football trophy the Curbstone Coaches presented Head Coach Dwight “Dike” Beede in 1960 to celebrate his 100th win.

Penguins quarterback Frank Beck wore the letterman sweater at left, when he played in the mid-1950s. Football shoes from the early 1960s, and a well-worn helmet, circa 1950s, below, are also part of the collection.

YO U N G S TO W N S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Marking YSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 1997 NCAA National Championship, the crystal trophy at left was presented to the Penguins by Sears that year as a permanent memento. The championship ring pictured above is one of several on display.

Opening game tickets for the first contest played at Stambaugh Stadium, above, are dated Sept. 4, 1982.

A wooden paddle, above, was the prize exchanged in a football rivalry between Youngstown College and Kent State University that ended with a YC victory in 1947. Below, samples of the maroon and yellow beanies and varsity letters that Penguin cheerleaders wore in 1938.

Penguin football coaches had their own uniforms in the 1970s: checked red and white polyester pants, worn with matching shirts.

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Sculptures on Campus Three bronze sculptures, including “Break Time,” near the Beeghly College of Education (lower left), and “Girl on a Bench Reading with Cat” near Tod Hall, were installed on campus this spring. YSU alumnus John Irving, ’66, gave the art pieces to the university in memory of his wife, Daneen Julio Irving, also an alum, her parents and his parents. “We thank John for this special gift that enhances the beauty and culture of our campus,” said YSU President Jim Tressel.

NEA Grant Among Largest in the Nation The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded YSU a $100,000 grant to launch a public arts project in Youngstown – the largest NEA grant YSU has ever received and among the largest of 64 NEA Our Town grants awarded nationwide. “The fact that our proposal was funded at this level is a stamp of approval for the goals we have set for arts engagement in our community,” said Mike Crist, former interim dean of the College of Creative Arts and Communication and one of the authors of the grant application. NEA Our Town grants support creative projects to transform communities into places with the arts at their core. YSU application themes include technology, parking, green infrastructure and lighting.

Roger and Gloria Jones: Friends of the University Fireline Inc. founders Roger and Gloria Jones of Youngstown were presented YSU’s 2016 Friend of the University Award in May, recognizing their leadership and significant contributions to YSU and the community. Long-time YSU supporters, the Joneses have endowed two university scholarships in their names – one for students in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and a second for students in the College of Creative Arts and Communication. Their previous support of YSU has been diverse and farreaching, including contributions to the STEM College, the College of Creative Arts and Communication, the Dana School of Music, the Friends of Music Scholarship, the YSU Foundation Reaching for Tomorrow’s Stars Scholarship, 88.5 WYSU-FM and the YSU English Festival. 16

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Ward Beecher Planetarium Gets NASA Funding YSU’s Ward Beecher Planetarium will receive $650,000 in funding via a NASA cooperative agreement to support development of full-dome video and 3D animation materials that will be distributed for free to planetaria across the globe. “Our participation in this project is a clear indication of the Ward Beecher Planetarium’s national reputation as a respected and notable science facility,” said Patrick Durrell, YSU associate professor of Astronomy and planetarium director. He said YSU will use the funds to hire a content designer to create videos and images, upgrade the planetarium’s computing facilities and purchase a new high-resolution fulldome video camera system. The YSU funding is part of an $11.5 million, five-year NASA Cooperative Agreement that will bring together scientists, educators and software developers from eight collaborating institutions. Founded in 1967, the Ward Beecher Planetarium kicks off a celebration of its silver anniversary with new programming this fall. The planetarium’s 50th Anniversary Fundraising Dinner and tour are scheduled March 18. Visit www.wbplanetarium.org for details.

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ENROLLMENT GROWS, Freshman Class is Tops in Academics C

YSU’s Fall 2016 freshman class, 6 percent larger than last year and boasting the highest standardized test scores and high school grade point averages in YSU history, lines up to form a “Y” in Stambaugh Stadium. Overall enrollment was up by 426 students for a total of 12,801 when classes started in August, and residence halls were filled to capacity, including the new, privately owned and operated University Edge apartments on Rayen Ave. This year’s freshman class has representatives from 23 states, 459 high schools and 51 Ohio counties.

$4M Share of America Makes Grant is YSU’s Largest for Research YSU and the University of Dayton Research Institute are partners in a $10.8 million research project funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory that will use 3-D printing to improve the efficiency of part replacement for U.S. aircraft. YSU will receive $4 million – the largest research grant in the university’s history. The funds were awarded in July to America Makes – National Additive Manufacturing in Youngstown, the first project under its new, five-year cooperative agreement with the Air Force Research Lab. YSU is co-leader of the technical efforts; Dayton’s Research Institute is the principal research leader. Other members of the project team include: the Youngstown Business Incubator, the 910th Airlift Wing, M-7 Technologies, Humtown Products and Case Western Reserve University.

Governor Appoints Grooms, Metz to Board of Trustees Samuel W. Grooms

Allan Metz

Gov. John Kasich has appointed Samuel W. Grooms of Westerville, Ohio, chief executive officer of Hy-Tek Material Handling Inc. in Columbus, as a member of the YSU Board of Trustees. Grooms earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from YSU. He will serve a nine-year term ending April 2025, replacing Harry Meshel, whose term on the board has expired. The governor also appointed Allan Metz of Warren as a student trustee. Metz, YSU Magazine wants to hear from you! a Biology/Pre-Med major at YSU, plans to attend medical school and become a physician. His two-year term expires in April 2018.

Oregon Educator Named CCAC Dean Phyllis Paul, former associate dean in the University of Oregon’s School of Music and Dance, started work July 1 as dean of YSU’s College of Creative Arts and Communication. The college has 900 Phyllis Paul students enrolled in the departments of Art, Communication, Theater and Dance, and the Dana School of Music. Selected for the position after a national search, Paul has a bachelor’s degree from Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C., a master’s degree and a PhD, both from Florida State University. She is the third dean appointed at YSU this year. Wim Steelant became the new dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in March, and Kristine Blair became the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in May.

Stephen Hanzely, Louis Zona receive YSU Heritage Awards Louis Zona, professor emeritus of Art and the long-time executive director of the Butler Institute of American Art, and Stephen Hanzely, professor emeritus of Physics and Astronomy and a former Fulbright Scholar, received the Heritage Award at YSU’s Faculty Recognition Awards banquet this spring. The Heritage Award, founded in 1981, is considered the highest honor former YSU faculty and staff can receive.

Louis Zona

Stephen Hanzely

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Kyle Myers is YSU’s First PhD Graduate

Kyle Myers likes getting his hands dirty, working with practical science – that’s what the Sharpsville, Pa., alumnus liked most about YSU’s new PhD program in Materials Science and Engineering. In May, Kyle Myers in a lab in he made history as the university’s first PhD YSU's Moser Hall. graduate. Myers holds a BS from Pennsylvania State University and an MS from YSU, both in Chemistry. Throughout his graduate and PhD studies at YSU he gained practical work experience as a research assistant for Fireline, a Youngstown manufacturer of ceramic products. While the PhD program in Materials Science and Engineering is the university’s first and only PhD YSU President Jim Tressel, left, and mascot Pete the Penguin program, YSU has two other doctorate degree programs stand with staff and Barnes & Noble representatives inside YSU's campus bookstore. – the Beeghly College of Education offers an EdD, a doctorate in education, and the Physical Therapy Department offers a DPT, a doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Barnes & Noble College to Manage Campus Bookstore

The university’s new partnership with Barnes & Noble College to manage the YSU bookstore could eventually lead to construction of a standalone Barnes & Noble College store on campus. “We believe the agreement with Barnes & Noble College will enhance the visibility of the bookstore on campus and improve the book-buying experience of our students,” said Neal McNally, vice president for Operations and Finance. He said the company was chosen after a national selection process that involved students, faculty and staff. While no firm plans are in place, the partnership may eventually result in the bookstore, now located in Kilcawley Center, being moved to a new, standalone Barnes & Noble College store and café on campus. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble College, which currently manages 751 campus bookstores nationwide, will manage the existing campus store, which previously was operated by the university.

Culture of Community Aims to Break Down Barriers A 72-member committee met for the first time this summer to advance the university’s new Culture of Community initiative. The Culture of Community Collaborative – comprised of 27 staff members, 23 students, Sylvia Imler 17 faculty members and four community members – is charged with modeling a culture of respect and well being, inclusion and awareness, spirit and tradition, and excellence through engagement across the campus. Sylvia Imler, YSU chief diversity officer and executive director of Multicultural Affairs, spearheaded the initiative and leads the group with a nine-member council charged with advancing diversity on campus. “We want to position YSU as one of the leaders of diversity and inclusive excellence locally, statewide and nationally,” President Jim Tressel said. 18

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Holocaust Survivor Testimonies Archived on Campus Videotaped testimonies of Holocaust survivors from the Mahoning Valley are now available at YSU’s Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies, a gift from the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation. YSU is the only place in Ohio, and one of only a handful of universities across the nation, with access to such oral histories. “This collection means that YSU’s Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies will become a central point for researchers and scholars from around the nation and the world,” said Kristine Blair, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The testimonies will be permanently housed at YSU to facilitate a research project being carried out by the Center for Judaic and Holocaust Studies and the History Department. The public can access the collection through public terminals at Maag Library.

In Memoriam….

Joe Edwards, 73, of Poland, Ohio, died April 4. He was dean of YSU’s former College of Fine and Performing Arts and director of the Dana School of Music, joining the faculty in 1969. Memorial tributes to the Dean Joseph Edwards Memorial Scholarship Fund may be sent to: YSU Foundation, 606 Wick Ave., Youngstown, Ohio 44502. YSU Trustee James Greene, 74, of Canfield, died March 13. A retired Compco Industries executive, Greene was appointed to the YSU Board of Trustees in 2012; his term was to expire in 2021. He also previously served as president of the YSU Penguin Club. Sharon Shipton, 62, of Grove City, Pa., died in January. Shipton retired in 2010 after 32 years at YSU, where she was a professor and director of the Master’s Program in Nursing. George E. Sutton, 93, of Barboursville, W.Va. formerly of Struthers, died July 27. He was a retired dean of YSU’s former College of Engineering and Technology.

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your Letters. z

YSU Magazine wants to hear from you! Send your letters to: universitymagazine@ysu.edu or YSU Office of Marketing & Communications, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

Editor,

I greeted the spring 2016 issue of YSU Magazine with enthusiasm, amazement and some nostalgia. In retrospect, I go back to a time when Youngstown College occupied one building on Wick Avenue facilitated by the YMCA. I graduated in 1933, completed my master’s degree in psychology at Ohio State University, earned a graduate degree in social work from UC Berkeley, and eventually, at age 60, obtained my PhD degrees at United States International University, now Alliant U., in San Diego. I congratulate President Tressel, your faculty and student body for the signal achievements and progress you are making. I am probably one of your oldest living alumni – I will be 103 this year. My sentiments tell me that Youngstown State has always been my alma mater. I am proud to be identified with your magnificent educational institution, and I salute you for a job well done. Milton Lessner, PhD, ’33 AB San Diego, Calif. EDITOR’S NOTE: Lessner is correct – he is YSU’s oldest living alumnus. Read more about him on Page 3.

Editor,

I am saddened to inform you that my dear friend, Judge Laura Liu, passed away today, April 16, after her five-year battle with breast cancer. Thank you so much for featuring Laura and me in YSU Magazine. I’m so glad we were able to share our story. She was a great YSU alum and will be sadly missed. I thought you might want to know. Judge Mary Schostok, ’79, ‘82 Chicago

Judge Laura Liu

EDITOR’S NOTE: Chicago-area Appellate Court Judges Liu and Schostok were among five YSU alumnae judges featured in the spring 2015 edition of YSU Magazine. The magazine staff sends condolences on behalf of the entire YSU family.

Editor,

Just received my YSU Magazine through campus mail, and when I saw the “Success Is Brewing” article on alumni working the craft beer business, I just had to give a shout out to my nephew, Tim Ward, a YSU engineering grad. Tim lives in Columbus where he started a brewing company called North High Brewery, and they sell their craft beers in many retail and bar outlets throughout the area. So, if you’re ever thinking about another story on beer or how one changes career paths, he’s the person to call. Check out the company’s Facebook page. Thanks. Mary Dota, ‘79 Business Manager, The Jambar Canfield

Editor,

Perhaps you remember me from days gone by. I was a professor of Physics and Astronomy at YSU until 2011, when I moved to Maryland to work at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. I’ve always enjoyed YSU Magazine and recently came across a copy and noted the “Take Pete Along” feature in the Alumni News section. It’s a cool idea, actually, and reminded me of my own unsuccessful attempts to introduce something similar back in 2008/2009 (see photos above). It was disappointing that I was unable to get any traction on that concept, though I did get to show some of the photos in a 2010 presentation to an alumni group in Naples, Fla. In any event, it will be interesting to see more of Pete’s travels in the future. James “Jeff” Carroll, PhD Physicist and Team Leader, U.S. Army Research Laboratory Adelphi, Md.

Editor,

Thanks for the spring 2016 edition of YSU Magazine. There are several references to new and existing buildings. Could we include a one-page campus map in the back of future magazines, so us oldsters could visualize the new campus? Thanks. David Gildersleeve, ’74 AB, ’81 MBA Jefferson, Ohio EDITOR’S NOTE: Space is tight in the magazine, so we can’t include a map in every issue, but there is a campus map available on the YSU website. Visit www.ysu.edu and search for “campus map.”

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NextYSU - A New Look fo

he YSU campus is about to get a bit of a facelift, with increased student housing, spruced-up major thoroughfares, an enhanced bookstore and a new center to help ensure student success. The plan, called “NextYSU: A New Look for a New Era,” also envisions creation of a new Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center as well as more retail establishments on and around campus – how about a Starbucks on Wick Avenue? “We are at an important crossroads in the history of YSU,” President Jim Tressel said this spring as he unveiled the plan to faculty, staff, students and the community. “As the higher education landscape continues to evolve, as resources become more scarce, as the demographics of the Mahoning Valley region continue to change, it is imperative that YSU has in place the campus infrastructure that will allow us to build and sustain growth for the years ahead.” 20

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One of the projects that will draw the most immediate attention is the expansion of student housing. The 162-bed, privately-developed University Edge apartments on the West Side of campus opened this fall semester, to be followed by a second, 220-bed phase in Fall 2017. Add to that plans for two additional private apartment complexes on Wick Avenue, including street-level retail stores, and the campus housing stock could increase to more than 2,000 beds. “We need to widen our enrollment footprint and our recruiting territory, and to do that, we need more and better student housing,” Tressel said. Also in the works are major improvements to Wick and Lincoln avenues, including new paving, traffic patterns, lighting and sidewalks. Utilities along Wick will go underground, eliminating unsightly utility poles and droopy cables lining the street.

“Traffic can get hectic, crowded and chaotic,” said John Hyden, executive director of Facilities. “These upgrades will make our roadways safer, and also much more attractive.” Another project on the drawing board is a new vision for the university bookstore. In the spring, Barnes & Noble assumed operations of the store in Kilcawley Center. Plans call for the possibility of a stand-alone Barnes & Noble location on Fifth Avenue. “NextYSU” also calls for consolidating all services related to student retention and success in a new Student Success Center on the third floor of Jones Hall. Eventually, the center would expand into Maag Library via a connector linking the two buildings. “The success of our students, from admission to graduation, is paramount to our future, and we believe this is yet another step to help make that happen,” Tressel said.

r a New Era

NextYSU

Also in Jones Hall, the university is establishing a center to house the Division of Multicultural Affairs, which oversees the day-to-day implementation of diversity and inclusion initiatives. Another part of the plan is the Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center that would include educational and research space, as well as state-of-the-art manufacturing laboratories.

President Jim Tressel’s vision for the YSU campus includes a variety of projects aimed at improving the student experience. In the landscape photo above is a rendering of planned retail space on the southwest corner of Fifth and Lincoln avenues. On the right of the rendering is the second phase of the University Edge student apartment complex. At the top of the page is a rendering of another private student housing development on Wick Avenue, and to the left is a rendering of the proposed Mahoning Valley Innovation and Commercialization Center, a facility that would include state-of-the-art manufacturing laboratories.

“We firmly believe that this new center will provide a unique environment in which innovation and entrepreneurship can thrive,” Tressel said. “It’s an important vision.” Editor’s note: Watch President Tressel’s “NextYSU” presentation on YSU’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/youngstownstate.

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Rescuing Refugees where I could someday be involved in making significant changes.” Anderson completed her YSU undergraduate degree in 2007, and then took a caseworker position with Trumbull County Children’s Services, banking most of her salary. After a little over a year, she left her job to volunteer for the Childline India Foundation, Ashley Anderson stood on a nonprofit agency working the rocky shore of the Greek with homeless children on island of Lesvos, peering the streets of India – by toward the horizon in the then she had stashed away predawn light, when she enough cash to live for first caught sight of a boat. awhile without a paycheck. As the crowded vessel drew Over time, Anderson closer to land, she heard the realized that she needed refugees on board shouting more education to fulfill and cheering with joy. her goals. She went on At that moment, the to complete an intensive boat hit a jagged rock Spanish language training underwater, and the jubilant in Argentina, earned a scene turned to chaos. master’s degree in Public The vessel crumbled and Administration with a focus began to sink, tossing its on human rights from 150 occupants into the – Ashley Anderson the Monterey Institute of sea. Ashley and three other International Studies in volunteers plunged in, California and an additional fully clothed, scrambling MIIS Certificate in Project YSU alum Ashley Anderson holds a refugee child on the Greek island of Lesvos. to rescue the babies and Management at the children first. More than once, she was American University of Cairo. “I can’t solve a problem in totality, but I pulled underwater by panicking victims Her break into the UN came in the last can make a bucket of soup and feed 2,000 year of her graduate studies, when she and nearly drowned – but in the end, to people; I can find donations to get baby the rescuers’ amazement, every one of the traveled to Malawi, Africa, and then to diapers. There’s something any one of us Syrian refugees on the boat survived. Geneva, Switzerland, to complete research can do.” That harrowing experience last for her master’s thesis. She accepted For Anderson, the road to a career in December culminated the YSU graduate’s an invitation to complete an internship international service began when, as an four-month mission as a humanitarian there with the UN’s International Labour 18-year-old freshman at YSU, she signed first-responder in Greece. Working with Organization and then was offered a up for a Protestant Campus Ministries other volunteers from around the world, position as an ILO consultant working mission trip to a Russian orphanage. Anderson helped to rescue, clothe and to protect the rights of migrant workers She was shocked at the conditions in feed literally thousands of desperate and victims of forced labor and human the government-run facility. “That trip people who had been forced to flee war trafficking. changed my world view,” she said. “I was and violence in their home countries In her two and a half years with the UN very naïve. It gave me a new awareness of of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia and in Geneva, Anderson became painfully how differently people live in some other Somalia, often with no more than the aware of the refugee crisis developing in parts of the world.” clothes on their backs. Greece, where thousands of desperate She changed her major from Pre“What I’ve learned, what I want others people were crossing the Mediterranean Veterinary Medicine to Psychology, with a to know, is that these people are just like daily, risking their lives to escape from minor in Foreign Affairs, and set her sites you and me; they’re running from things ISIS, war and other violence. Knowing on working for the United Nations. “It’s that any of us would run from, and one that few humanitarian relief agencies a neutral entity that oversees the world person really can make a difference,” said had established operations there yet, condition. I thought it might be a place Anderson. Anderson decided she had to go.

A 2007 graduate takes a break from her work as a United Nations consultant to feed and care for refugees.

“One person really can make a difference.”

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UN consultants are independent contractors, with assignments that typically range from three months to a year, she explained. In August 2015, she left Geneva for Lesvos, Greece, to become an independent humanitarian first responder for the crisis that was unfolding there. Working with other volunteers like herself who came from all over the world to give aid, Anderson helped to create a feeding program with donations and volunteer labor that served 2,000 refugees twice a day. “We just used our common sense,” she said. “People are hungry. How do we feed them? Many have lost everything. How can we provide their needs? The beautiful thing was, there was no bureaucracy. No red tape, and so, no delay.” In her four months on the island, Anderson and two fellow volunteers made international news when they helped to reunite an Iraqi refugee family with its lost pet cat, Kunkush, through a social media campaign. When The Guardian, a British newspaper, picked up the story, it went

after many weeks of rescuing and caring for desperate refugee families, she needed a break herself. Anderson remains on the UN’s consultant list and expects to return to her work there soon, but for now she’s “on sabbatical” living in Peru – a country she likes because of the low cost of living and laid-back lifestyle. Not surprisingly, she has not been idle. She’s creating a website that would allow artisans around the world to support themselves by selling their goods online globally, with no middleman. Eventually, she hopes the site will help her raise funds for other humanitarian causes and will additionally provide a source of income for refugees like the ones she worked with in Lesvos. Anderson’s father lives in Florida now; other family members still reside in the Youngstown area. “I have a lovely family, they’re learning a lot from my experiences, and they’ve been very supportive,” she said. “They accept what I’m doing. They just ask me to be careful.”

global, and a Japanese television program called “Unbelievable” even flew reporters out to interview Anderson and the refugee family, now settled in Norway. “It was more than just a story about a cat – it was a symbol of hope,” she said. “We really thought it was important to reunite that family with their pet.” Anderson saw heart-rending sights and situations daily throughout her time on the island, and she was especially touched by the needs of the elderly, the disabled, young mothers with babies and small children. “My heart, soul and mind were completely invested in the island,” she said. “I just couldn’t leave.“ But the boat rescue in December traumatized her. She soon realized that,

Story by Cynthia Hixenbaugh

In photo above, crowds of refugees line up for food prepared by YSU alumna Ashley Anderson and other volunteers; at left, Anderson dishes out hot soup; and below, refugees struggle to reach land after their boat hit a rock and sank off the coast of Greece. Anderson, at center in pink coat, was one of four volunteers who jumped into the water to rescue them.

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SPOTLIGHT

C E L E B R AT I N G A C C O M P L I S H E D G R A D U AT E S

Meet Three Standout Penguin Alums Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re proud to introduce: Ryan Johnson, a recent Art and Education grad who creates lifelike figures for amusement parks and other venues; Rochelle Robinson, the first woman and first African American to serve as mayor of Douglasville, Ga.; and Tim Womer, a Mechanical Engineering Technology grad, inventor, business owner and recognized expert in the plastics industry.

Ryan Johnson

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alumni SPOTLIGHT

Scenes and Sculptures: Shaping a Successful Art Career Ryan Johnson From Pink Floyd-themed rooms to popular character sculptures, Ryan Johnson has been crafting larger-than-life pieces for high-profile clients all of his young career. The 26-year-old alum from Colonie, N.Y., has already made a name for himself in a niche field as a production artist for LifeFormations Creative Group, a Cincinnati company that produces sculptures, animatronics and environments for theme parks and museums around the world. With a client list that includes Disney, Sony Pictures and more, the company is one of the country’s few to offer artists the opportunity to create hyper-realistic figures of some of the most beloved characters of all time. Johnson, who graduated in 2014 with a BFA in 3D Studies and a BSEd in Art Education from YSU, is one of those artists. Working in a sculpture shop with a team of other artists, he’s responsible for taking 3D-printed prototypes and hand-crafting them into characters and environments to be installed in different attractions. His main job is to sculpt and paint the figures before and after they’re cast in plastic and structurally reinforced, but he’s also had a hand in welding and mold-making work. “It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here five months and have already worked on properties for Columbia Pictures, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Universal Studios,” Johnson said. “I’ve always been a fan of theme park environments; now I have a job creating them.” With inspiration from his high school art teachers and ties to the Mahoning Valley – the New York native’s mother, Shirley, is a Penguin alum and originally from Warren – Johnson enrolled in YSU’s Art Education program in 2008. But after taking a sculpture class his sophomore year, he fell in love with three-dimensional artwork and decided to double major.

“The sculpture program at YSU is a gem,” he said. “One of the main things I took away was experience in creative problem-solving. You wouldn’t believe some of the obscure and almost ridiculous requests I’ve had to figure out how to make work.” Possibly the most interesting of these requests came during Johnson’s senior year. Two clients were in the market for artists to transform a building they owned into a themed showcase for their classic rock memorabilia. “Let’s just call them ‘super fans,’ ” Johnson said, smiling. He was their first hire and spent two years creating scenes themed around music legends like Pink Floyd and Elton John. One of his rooms even got the rock-on stamp of approval from its muse – the clients showed his finished sanctuary to members of the band Kansas. Best of all, the work Johnson produced in that first freelance assignment gave him the perfect prerequisite experience needed to land his current position. “LifeFormations contacted me within six hours of applying for the job,” Johnson remembers. “They said to find someone who already had experience in making theme-park quality work is rare.” While he’s already immortalized rock stars and cartoons alike, Johnson is aiming for even more; one of his chief after-hours pursuits is developing his own toy line. “I’m teaching myself digital techniques, and I invested in my own 3D printer,” said Johnson, whose apartment has become a makeshift digital and sculpting shop all his own. “I’ve learned every step of the process, from concept art to modeling to mold-making and casting. “I’d love to bring some of my own characters into the world some day.” Profile by Andrea Tharp

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alumni SPOTLIGHT Rochelle Robinson

Making History: From CIA Agent to Small-City Mayor Rochelle Robinson On the day she won her hard-fought battle to be the first woman and the first African American elected mayor of Douglasville, Ga., Rochelle Robinson felt a connection to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks. Her victory came on Dec. 1, 2015, the 60th anniversary of Parks’ history-making refusal to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus. “I cried when I realized the significance of that day,” Robinson recalled, “and I knew that I was standing on Rosa Parks’ shoulders. What a legacy!” She took office a month later as mayor of the fast-growing bedroom community near Atlanta, population 35,000. Beating out an incumbent mayor with 62 percent of the vote was especially sweet for Robinson because she narrowly lost her first attempt to win the seat in 2011. The former Rochelle Martin grew up on Youngstown’s South Side and enrolled at YSU in the early ‘80s with plans to become a nurse. Later, she changed her major to Communication and planned a broadcasting career with two classmates – Madonna Chism Pinkard, now communications director for WFMJ-TV in Youngstown, and Sharon North, a public relations manager for the city of Richmond, Va.

Plastics Guru Has Screw and 3D Print Patents Timothy Womer In the iconic 1960s film “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman’s character gets this succinct career advice from an old family friend: “I want to say one word to you, just one word … Plastics.” YSU grad Tim Womer loves that line. The two-time YSU Mechanical Engineering Technology grad is a worldrenowned expert in the field of plastics, specializing in the design of industrial-sized extrusion screws. We’re not talking hardware store nuts and bolts. The screws Womer designs, and for which he holds multiple U.S. patents, would be too large to fit in an average-sized business office. Typically composed of metal and ranging in length from 5 to 40 feet, he says plasticizing screws are used to melt and mold plastic for a wide range of products we use every day, from water jugs and garbage bags to plumbing pipes and bottle caps. “The screw is the heart of the machine,” he explained, “and most people don’t know that the region between Cleveland/ Akron and New Castle, Pa., is the mecca of screws.” The son of a coal miner and the first in his family to

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go to college, Womer came to YSU in the late 1970s as a nontraditional student, working full time as a machinist while pursuing his undergraduate degree. He remembers how department chair William O. Barsch, who has since retired, encouraged him to share his practical work experience in Timothy Womer class. “He took an interest in me as a working student. That’s the most memorable part of going to school here, having an adviser that I really connected with.” He completed a YSU associate degree in 1980 and a bachelor's in 1982. Since then, Womer’s 40-year career has included a succession of leadership positions with major plastics companies, most recently as corporate technology officer for the global Xaloy Inc. In 2010 he formed his own consulting firm, TWWomer & Associates LLC in Edinburg, Pa.,but being self-employed doesn't mean semi-retirement for the company founder and president.

alumni SPOTLIGHT

But the Central Intelligence Agency had other plans for Robinson. She was a senior and an Ohio Army National Guard veteran attending college on the GI Bill when she met CIA recruiters at a university job fair. A YSU cheerleader, longtime runner and gymnast, Robinson was well equipped for the physical rigors of CIA training, and she already had military security clearance. Soon after, in 1986, she accepted a commission as a federal law enforcement officer, trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers and began an eight-year run with the CIA. Based in Washington, D.C., she traveled the world – including some time in Helsinki, Sweden, the one location she’s permitted to mention. She lived under an assumed name and was often out of contact with friends and family for months at a time. “I did some VIP security, that’s all I’m free to say,” she said. All that changed in 1994 when Robinson visited a church in Atlanta to attend the christening of a friend’s infant and met a young pastor there. A year later, she moved to Georgia, left the CIA and married the pastor, the Rev. Mr. Jeff Robinson. Following the example her mother had set for her while growing up in Youngstown, Robinson became involved as a volunteer in Douglasville, her new city of residence, joining numerous community boards and committees and eventually winning election to city council. “I would say that it is phenomenal for me to be the first African American woman to be mayor, but it happened

organically,” she said, describing how years of community service helped her to develop wide-ranging support and recognition. In her first nine months in office, she helped fund a decorative street lighting program to beautify the downtown and advanced collaboration by combining the city and county community development offices. She met with city council members to insist that they stop bickering at public sessions and treat each other with respect – and so far, it’s working. “One council member asked me: ‘Are you the mama?’” she said. “Well I guess I am.” In addition to her mayoral duties, Robinson and her husband have three children, all in their teens. Also an ordained minister, she co-pastors a church with him in nearby Rex, Ga.

“The industry won’t allow me to retire,” he said with a grin. “But I’m not complaining. Plastics has always intrigued me. I never get tired of it. ” Womer’s phone is always ringing because he is one of only a dozen engineers in the world who can create custom designs for extrusion screws, and he has designed thousands of them. His latest passion, and what he considers the most exciting development in plastics, is 3D printing. Womer has 17 active patents and three that are pending, two of which deal with 3D printing, and his company has a 3D consulting contract with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, a massive U.S. Department of Energy lab. He helped Oak Ridge to produce the first 3D printed automobiles for display at 2014 auto shows in Detroit and Chicago. Womer travels frequently in the U.S. and around the world, speaking for technical seminars, leading training sessions and workshops, and troubleshooting design and manufacturing problems. “It never stops,” he said. Womer has a long list of awards and honors from the plastics industry, including induction into the Plastics Hall of Tim Womer displays a steel device used for mixing plastic polymers, one of 17 inventions for which he holds a U.S. patent – Fame in 2012. He served as president of the Society of Plastics and more are in the works. Engineers in 2006 and won its most prestigious honor the following year. After hours, the YSU grad celebrates his German heritage by singing in the Pittsburgh and New Castle, Maennerchors, and he enjoys outdoor activities such as hunting and chopping firewood. Womer and his wife of 38 years, Barb, are parents of two adult children. Their son, Brock, is also employed as a plastics engineer; daughter Brianna graduated from YSU in May with a doctorate in Physical Therapy and expects to complete an MA in Biology next year.

Profiles by Cynthia Hixenbaugh

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Our Trees YSU’s PRECIOUS COMMODITY For those of us connected to YSU one way or another, there are many points of pride – Pete the Penguin, our successful alumni all around the world, and of course, our football. And then there are the trees. In the midst of Youngstown’s urban setting, the YSU campus offers an oasis of green rolling hills, flowering shrubs and, oh yes – 1,822 trees representing 78 different species across 145 acres. “Our trees are a precious commodity,” said Dave Ewing, YSU associate director of Grounds. So precious, in fact, that the Arbor Day Foundation has designated YSU as a Tree Campus USA for seven consecutive years. Out of nearly 4,000 universities nationwide, only 245 achieve such status. The designation is due, in part, to the YSU Campus Beautification Initiative, started in 2008. Since then, YSU has planted 177 new trees, many through commemorative purchases by alumni and friends of the university.

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Sassafras A grove of Sassafras trees flourishes by DeBartolo Hall. The trees are an ancient species that survived the ice age – in the same or similar form as documented in fossil records dating back millions of years.

So, let’s celebrate the trees.

Buckeye What would an Ohio campus be without the state tree – the Buckeye? YSU boasts seven Buckeye trees – two Ohio Buckeyes, one Bottlebrush Buckeye, one Autumn Splendor Buckeye, one Red Buckeye and two Horsechestnuts.

Ash axed In 2012, YSU boasted 11 Ash trees. Then the emerald ash borer came on the scene. Within three years, the half-inch long beetle infested all the Ash on campus, and they were cut down.

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In memory

Dozens of memorial trees have been planted across campus. This Silver Linden memorializes Cazimir Szmaj, who emigrated from Lodz, Poland, to Youngstown in 1950 and earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1961. He worked more than 30 years at McKay Engineering and Wean United and passed away in 2007. Szmaj’s four children, all YSU alums, honored their father with the tree near Moser Hall.

Flowering Crabapple Most populous tree on campus with 278. Other popular trees: Pear (160), Locust (150) and Maple (150).

American Elm

Disease has decimated American Elms nationwide. In response, the Men’s Garden Club of Youngstown donated two American Elms in 2015 that were planted near the Veterans Resource Center.

New and Old

The newest tree on campus is a Black Gum planted in Spring 2016 near Stambaugh Stadium. The oldest? We’re not quite sure, but we suspect the White Oaks by Maag Library, which have trunks measuring nearly 4 feet in diameter.

Trees and Benches Osage Orange Orange trees in Youngstown? Well, yes – Osage Orange. Early Americans often planted the tree in rows as a natural fence. The tree was planted on campus so Biology students can study its unique, inedible and ugly fruit.

You can honor a family member, friend or employee – and help preserve campus trees and green spaces for future generations – through the YSU Campus Beautification Initiative. Contact Catherine Cala at 330-9412752 or cacala@ysu.edu.

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success S T O R I E S Highlighting the Achievements of Exceptional YSU Students

Scholarships Awarded to Accounting Majors Andrew Morgan

Engineering Society Honors Senior Tau Beta Pi, the world’s largest engineering honor society, has awarded senior Andrew Morgan of Fowler, Ohio, a $2,000 scholarship. He is double majoring in Electrical Engineering (Computer Digital Option) and Computer Science, with a minor in Mathematics and expects to graduate in May 2017. Morgan was also named a Goldwater Scholar earlier this year and is a first-year engineering teaching assistant. He’s a member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the Pi Mu Epsilon National Mathematics Honor Society, and is active in YSU Student Government, Academic Senate and the YSU Honors College.

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Two Accounting majors in the Williamson College of Business Administration, Amanda Macinga of Struthers and Nicole Pavlansky of Boardman, have been awarded Institute of Management Accountants Ohio Regional Council Scholarships. Macinga, a junior who received a $2,500 award, will serve as chapter secretary for IMA this fall. She is also active in the WCBA Business Leader Program, Enactus and the Emerging Leaders Program. Pavlansky, a senior, received a $1,500 scholarship. She is a member of IMA and Beta Alpha Psi, and her volunteer focus is raising funds to supply clean water for Uganda. IMA scholarships are awarded to accounting majors attending Ohio universities based on academic merit, IMA participation and outside recommendations. Amanda Macinga, left, and Nicole Pavlansky.

Nursing Majors Intern for Akron Children’s Hospital

Nursing students serving Akron Children’s Hospital internships are, from left, Jamie Apa, Grace Thayer, Jasmine Harrison, Kyle Marshall, Marsha Drabenstadt and Sandra Sterchi.

Six YSU Nursing majors spent the summer working as full-time interns for Akron Children’s Hospital as part of the Assuring Success with a Commitment to Enhance Nurse Diversity program, which aims to recruit traditionally underrepresented groups to the nursing profession. Students participating, all seniors from the Mahoning Valley, were: Jamie Apa, Brookfield; Marsha Drabenstadt, Struthers; Jasmine Harrison, Youngstown; Kyle Marshall, Canfield; Sandra Sterchi, Girard; and Grace Thayer, Campbell. The 10-week internship included a $5,000 stipend. Nancy Wagner, Nursing chair, said the selection process was competitive. The interns worked with mentors on pediatric units in Akron Children’s Akron and Boardman hospitals.

student SUCCESS

Intern’s Goal: Get YSU Employees Moving It’s in the news every day: sedentary desk jobs can be hazardous to your health. That’s why senior Emeka Obinnakwelu Jr. spent his spring semester on campus, helping YSU employees to get more active. An Exercise Science major serving an internship in the university’s Employee Wellness Program, he devised an eight-week lunch hour campus walking regimen, serving as advisor, encourager and exercise consultant for the 41 faculty and staff particiEmeka Obinnakwelu Jr. pants. Obinnakwelu, of Union, N.J., is on track to complete his YSU BSAS in Exercise Science this fall and plans next to pursue a doctorate in Physical Therapy. He’s looking into several schools that offer the program, but YSU is at the top of his list. “I really like it here,” he said. “It’s my home away from home.”

Senior Featured on YouTube Broadcast Telecommunication Studies major Lincoln Williams is gaining plenty of on-camera experience as host of YSU’s “Penguin Rundown,” a YouTube program showcasing YSU athletics. Students created the YouTube show several years ago, focusing on general YSU news, but the program faltered. Last year, Williams and a team of other telecommunication students decided to “reboot” the concept, concentrating on all Penguin sports in a weekly format, and it’s been successful. Now a cooperative venture involving Telecommunication Studies and YSU Sports Information, “Penguin Rundown” returns on Fridays this fall with Williams as the host. Williams was also an early participant Lincoln Williams in #Ytakeover, a YSU Marketing and Communications program that uses social media channels to show prospective students what a typical day might be like for a YSU student. “I know it’s a cliché to say to get involved, but it’s the truth,” Williams said, describing his philosophy as a student. “Take a leap of faith. If you work hard, you will be successful.”

Jasmyne Huckaba

Sophomore Awarded Study Abroad Scholarship Jasmyne Huckaba, a double major in Psychology and Sociology, was awarded the prestigious Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad. She studied in Chiang Mai, Thailand, this summer. Huckaba is the 17th YSU student since 2012 to be selected as a Gilman Scholar – in total the program has awarded YSU recipients more than $50,000 in scholarship funds. The Gilman Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Gilman scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply toward their study abroad or internship program costs. The program aims to diversify the students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions they visit.

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alumni NEWS YSU ALUMNI SOCIETY

Membership Numbers Grow, New Benefit Added YSU’s Alumni Society saw membership numbers increase by 33 percent over the past year, for a total roster of 3,270. There are members in 47 states, and 1,490 are Life Members. A robust Alumni Society helps to develop and foster lifelong involvement between YSU and all alumni. Membership funds help to support outreach efforts, such as reunions, chapter development, Homecoming and the Half Century Club. Memberships benefit future alumni too – Alumni Legacy Scholarships are awarded annually to children of society members, and society members present YSU Alumni pins to graduating YSU seniors at every commencement. David J. Moore, ’75, ’78, society president, said the ceremonial pinning of graduating seniors is one of his favorite duties as a board member. The newest society benefit, added this year, is eligibility to

purchase a special, limited-hours membership to the Andrews Student Recreation & Wellness Center. Other benefits include: • College-aged children of members may apply for a YSU Legacy Scholarship. • YSU Maag Library and OhioLINK access with borrowing privileges. • Networking opportunities. • A 10 percent YSU Bookstore discount on YSU apparel. • A 50 percent discount on University Theater and Dance season tickets. • Free admission to “Youngstown Steel Museum”. • Hotel and car rental discounts and much more. Membership fees range from $30 for a single one-year membership to $300 for a single life membership; joint, fouryear, and sustaining life rates are also available. Graduating seniors may apply for a one-year free membership or a twoyear discounted membership, subsidized through Alumni Engagement. For more information, visit ysu.edu/alumni.

Alumni Legacy Scholarships: A Family Affair

Recipients of this year’s YSU Alumni Legacy scholarships, photographed with their YSU alumni parents, from left: Melanie Shoaf, ’98, with son, freshman Criminal Justice major Zachary Shoaf, of Bristolville; Jamie Giambattista, a junior Nursing major from Canfield, with her mother, Jackie Giambattista, ’87; senior Marketing Management major Sydney Metzel of Boardman, with her mother, Cheryl Metzel, '89; and sophomore dietetics major Claire Tevis of New Castle, Pa., with her father, Michael Tevis, ’89. YSU students who are children of current Alumni Society members are eligible to apply for one of four, $1,000 YSU Alumni Society Legacy Scholarships awarded annually. Applications are available on the Financial Aid website, www.ysu.edu. The next deadline is February 17, 2017. Traveling alumni took YSU’s beloved Pete the Penguin mascot to Ireland and Africa in recent months, continuing our “Take Pete Along …” feature as a popular YSU Magazine tradition. Teresita (Sanderson) Hartz of Youngstown, ’71, ’73, far left, and her husband, Gregory, brought Pete to Northern Ireland last fall for the Ulster Project International Leadership Conference. Their three-week trip included the Dunluce Castle that is pictured, plus the cities of Belfast, Londonderry, Armagh, Omagh and Dublin. Hartz is retired from the Youngstown City Schools. Athena DiIullo, ’03, ’06, (left) and Kelly Ballestra, ’06, both of Arlington, Va., included Pete on their journey across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Their trip included safaris, visits to Cape Town, Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls and the Boulders Beach penguin colony in South Africa that is pictured. 32

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(Email your “Take Pete Along” photos, with your name, graduation year, city of residence and information about your trip, to universitymagazine@ysu.edu.)

alumni NEWS

Reunion Celebrates Class of ’66, Honors 101-Year-Old Alumna

Saturdays, Oct. 1, 15, 29 and Nov. 12 – YSU Showcase before each home football game in the main tailgate lot, featuring Penguin spirit items, information on YSU alumni events.

Celebrating the induction of the Class of 1966 into YSU’s Half Century Club, in top photo, President Jim Tressel and first lady Ellen Tressel congratulate Angelina Searles, 101, a 1966 alumna. A retired Sebring Local Schools teacher, she was an honored guest at the event. Other 1966 honorees attending, in lower photo, from left: kneeling, President Jim Tressel; first row: Mary Lee Lightner, Diane Setterberg, Patricia Ceglie, Elizabeth Muir and Angelina Searles; second row: John Dyckman, Marjorie Hovis Dyckman, Carole Donlin, Gerald Santagata, Harry Janke and Joyce Wiggins; third row, James DeCarlo, Karen Jordan, William Jordan, Gwendolyn Majernik and Katherine Shipka; fourth row, Robert Milich, Ronald Rhinehart, Louis Zona; fifth row, Stephen Garasic and Alan Baxter.

Friday and Saturday, Oct. 14-15 – Fifth Annual Veterans and ROTC Alumni Reunion. Dinner Friday; reunion picnic Saturday, followed by YSU Football vs. Northern Iowa. Invitations to be mailed. Contact habelgin@ysu.edu or call 330-941-1591. Friday, Oct. 28, 6 p.m. - Williamson College of Business Administration 2016 Fall Alumni Banquet, WCBA Atrium. Make reservations online at www.ysu.edu/wcba. Saturday, Oct. 29 - Alumni Society Homecoming Tailgate. Campus tours at 1 p.m., parade at 2 p.m., tailgate at 2:30 p.m. and YSU vs. Indiana State at 4 p.m. Invitations will be emailed to Alumni Society members. Contact emgoist@ysu.edu or call 330-941-2753. Sunday, Feb. 19 - “Youngstown Day” at the Hyatt Sarasota. The largest Youngstown area reunion in the Sunshine State. Invitations and registration forms will be mailed to Florida alumni in December. Saturday, Feb. 25 – Third Annual Newman Center Elegant Dinner, DeBartolo Stadium Club. Invitations to be mailed. Contact cacala@ysu.edu or 330-941-2752.

Record Numbers Attend Tau Kappa Epsilon Event

For the latest information on events visit ysu.edu/alumni and search for “Alumni Engagement Events.” Dates and venues are subject to change, so please check our online calendar as the event approaches.

The 60th anniversary reunion of Tau Kappa Epsilon drew record numbers to campus May 21. With 170 alumni and guests attending, it was the largest TKE reunion in YSU history and the largest nationwide. Those attending included, from left: front row, Bill Elias, ’64; Stephen Olenick, ’72; Ken Zavatsky, ’69; Ray Talbot, ’67; Skip Davis, ’73; and Nick Genova, ’71; second row, Mike Stephany, ’74; T.R. Rogers, ’67; David Madacsi, ’65; and Lynn Slagle, ’65; top row, Joe Ameen, ’68; Tom Ameen, ’68. In the photo at far right, Dennis Gartland, ’64, and Dale Paden, ’69, examine YSU’s original TKE scroll, which includes the signatures of every member since the fraternity was founded at YSU. The scroll has been donated to Maag Library Archives.

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class notes

Judge Nathaniel Jones of Cincinnati, ’51 AB, ’56 JD, was presented the 101st Annual Spingarn Medal in July at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 2016 Convention. The medal recognizes Jones, an Judge Nathaniel Jones attorney and retired U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, for his commitment to equality and civil rights. Jones served as general counsel for the NAACP from 1969 to 1979 and worked with Nelson Mandela and the post-apartheid South African government to help draft a new constitution for that country in 1993. The Spingarn Medal, named after an NAACP founder, is awarded annually. Other recipients include Sidney Poitier, Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey and Martin Luther King Jr.

’70s Dr. Philip V. Marinelli of Spring Hill, Fla., ’70 BA in Pre-Medicine, recently retired as medical director of the Pediatrix Medical Group, concluding a long and successful career in medicine that included Dr. Philip V. Marinelli serving as Chief of Neonatal Services at Tri City Medical Center in Oceanside, Calif., and at Texas Health Resources in Denton, Texas. A summa cum laude graduate of YSU, he earned his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and trained at Walter Reed Medical Center, served in Germany and Italy as Chief of Pediatrics and completed a fellowship in Neonatal Perinatal Medicine. Marinelli is quadruple board certified, the author of multiple publications and has held faculty appointments at the University of Washington and Michigan State. He was an early proponent of designing and establishing community-based Neonatal Intensive Care Units. Dr. Roy J. Sartori of Sharpsville, Pa., ’72 BS, was named University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Horizon Hospital’s Outstanding Physician for 2015, recognizing him for 35 years of exemplary service and Dr. Roy J. Sartori leadership. Sartori earned his medical degree at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and joined the staff of UPMC in 1980. He served on numerous boards and committees, including 31 years 34

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as chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, 18 years on the UPMC Horizon Board, 14 years as assistant program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program, and five years as a hospitalist at the hospital’s Greenville and Shenango campuses. Pete Karpyk of Weirton, W.Va., ’74 BA Psychology, received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math, Science and Technology, the highest honor available recognizing an outstanding Pete Karpyk science teacher in the United States. Karpyk is retired from the Hancock County Schools. As part of the award, Karpyk traveled to Washington, D.C., where he participated in discussions, attended receptions and met President Obama. He received a certificate signed by the President and a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation. Marie Schiffhauer Morrill of Boonville, Mo., ’76 AB, has completed the requirements of the Professional Service Coordinator Certificate Program, developed by the American Association of Service Coordinators in partnership with the Ohio State University’s office of Geriatrics and Gerontology. Morrill is a service coordinator with Housing Residential Management Services and works at two Missouri apartment complexes.

Doctor of Humane Letters Presented to Grace Dr. Darrell Lynn Grace of Youngstown, ’75 AAS in Nursing, ’87 BS in Health Science, was presented a Doctor of Humane Letters by the School of Osteopathic Medicine at A.T. Still University in Mesa, Ariz., where she was keynote speaker for the spring commencement ceremony. She earned her medical Dr. Darrell Lynn Grace degree from Michigan University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and is a hospitalist at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown. Grace helped establish Grace Place Medical Service, a clinic in Youngstown for the uninsured and underinsured, and has worked with Heart to Heart International, providing medical care to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans and earthquake victims in Haiti. She was featured in a cover story, “YSU Alumni: Working to Change the World,” in the Summer 2012 edition of YSU Magazine.

Dr. Sally Radovick of New Brunswick, N.J., ’77 AB in Biology and Chemistry, ’78 MS in Theoretical Chemistry, has been named professor of pediatrics and senior associate dean for clinical and translational research at Dr. Sally Radovick Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J. She earned her medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University and previously served as the Lawson Wilkins Professor of Pediatrics, director of Endocrinology and vice chair for research in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is an expert researcher in pediatric growth and development disorders. Jeffrey M. Ferezan of Columbus, Ohio, ’78 BSBA in Industrial Marketing, was named a Robert L. Bailey award winner during Franklin University’s commencement ceremony in May. More than 100 Jeffrey M. Ferezan faculty members are nominated by graduating students each year – the top two vote-getters are chosen. Currently teaching the master’s-level managerial psychology course, Ferezan has a long history with the university, which is located in Columbus, previously serving as the program chair for Business Administration and director of its Graduate School of Business. Last year he received the university’s Teaching Excellence Award. He has a doctorate in Leadership Skills and Systems from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati and an MBA in International Management and Finance. Lisa Nagy-Baker of Annapolis, Md., ’79 AAS in Court/Conference Reporting, is employed as an official reporter in the U.S. House of Representatives after accepting a position there in 2014. She also founded a freelance courtreporting firm in Youngstown that services the Youngstown-Warren and Columbiana County areas. The firm is still operating after more than 37 years with a staff that ranges from three to eight employees.

The YSU Magazine staff wants to share your career news in Class Notes. Visit ysumagazine.org, the magazine website, click on the “Tell Us Your Story” icon and complete the form online. Or, mail your news to: YSU Magazine, Marketing and Communications, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555. Please include your degree, graduation year, and an email address or telephone number.

Class Notes

’80s Terry Chapin of Cortland, Ohio, ’80 BSAS in Engineering Technology, was recognized for his 25 years as a continuing education instructor at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. He is Terry Chapin employed as a senior material engineer at Delphi Automotive in Warren and has extensive experience in rubber molding and processing. Peyman Givi of Pittsburgh, ’80 BE, was recently designated Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Engineering. Givi is a Peyman Givi professor of Petroleum Engineering and co-director of the PhD Program in Computational Modeling and Simulation. In honor of this designation, Givi delivered a lecture on the Pitt campus in February, entitled, “Exascale HPC, Big Data, and Quantum Computing in Rocket Science.” He joined the UP faculty in 2002. Givi also holds a master’s degree and a PhD, both from Carnegie Mellon University. Gregory Pysh of Midland, Texas, ’80 BM in vocal performance, was awarded the 2016 Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award, presented to students who have completed a bachelor’s degree and request support for additional professional Gregory Pysh or personal learning objectives. Pysh is minister of music for the First Presbyterian Church of Midland. He will use the award to study sacred choral music in Venice, Italy, followed by a concert tour of Italy with the Midland-Odessa Symphony Chorale, in which he serves as conductor. He also holds a master’s degree in choral conducting and voice performance from Bowling Green State University. Dave Petro of Fairview Park, Ohio, ’81 BE in Industrial Engineering, has joined ClosingCorp, a provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technology, as head of sales and business development. Previously, he developed outsourcing and consulting engagements for Accenture and held a progression of senior sales and account management positions with CoreLogic. He has an MBA from Cleveland State University.

Alumnus Gets One-on-One Interview with President Facebook was buzzing when YSU alumnus Chris Geidner, ’01 BA in Political Science, interviewed President Obama in May for a broadcast aired live on the social media site. Geidner, who is also an attorney, met one-on-one with Obama in the White House, discussing the presidential race and the impact the election will Chris Geidner seated with President Obama have on future appointments to the Supreme Court. It was the first Obama interview to be broadcast on Facebook. Geidner, who lives in Washington, D.C., is legal editor for BuzzFeed, an Internet news service. He was featured in an Alumni Spotlight profile in YSU Magazine, Fall 2015.

Jill Kolesar of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, ‘82 BS in Sociology, is the new CEO of Akron Area YMCA and the first woman to lead the organization in its 145-year history. She has been running the day-to-day operations of the Y since early 2015 as its president, and she will retain that title as well. She started with the Y as a volunteer in 1988 and since then has held a succession of leadership positions, most recently as vice president and chief operating officer.

Diane Bargiel of Queensbury, N.Y., ’85 BM in Clarinet Performance, was awarded a 2014-15 State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities. She Diane Bargiel is director of the music program and associate professor of Music at SUNY Adirondak. She also serves as principal clarinetist of the Sage City Symphony in Bennington, Vt. Besides her YSU degree, Bargiel holds an MM in Clarinet Performance from Michigan State University, certification in Music Education from Carnegie Mellon University and a certificate in Arts Management from New York University.

Dr. Fredric E. Wondisford of New Brunswick, N.J., ’83 BS in Biology and Chemistry, was named professor of medicine and chair of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and chief of the department Dr. Fredric E. Wondisford of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Previously, he was a professor of medicine, pediatrics and physiology and director of the metabolism division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is a medical researcher and holds two U.S. patents. He earned his medical degree at Northeast Ohio Medical University.

Catherine Cardwell of St. Petersburg, Fla., ’85 BA in English and French, was named dean of the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. Previously, she served as director of Libraries at Ohio Wesleyan University and, before that, was a librarian and administrator at Bowling Green State University. Cardwell also holds a master’s degree in French language and literature from the University of Pittsburgh, and a master’s degree in Library Science from Kent State.

Charlotte Anderson of Kingsport, Tenn., ‘85 BA in Creative Arts and Communication, is a voice music teacher who works with vocal and instrumental performers, actors and public speakers at her studio in Kingsport. She earned a doctorate in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Johns Hopkins University and has served on the faculties of several universities. She has made numerous teaching technique presentations at venues such as the West Coast Clarinet Congress in Honolulu, the University of Tennessee Opera Program, the International Suzuki Flute Institute and the Barter Theatre in Virginia.

Giulia Utz of Edison, N.J., ’85 BM in Vocal Performance, is a voice teacher and performer in the New York City region who recently appeared as Mama Lucia in “Cavalleria Rusticana” with the Opera of the Hamptons. She is a regular soloist with the New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra and many other venues. Her voice instruction business, Inner Diva Singing, teaches students an innovative breathing technique she learned with her current teacher and coach, former Metropolitan Opera soprano Atarah Hazzan. She also holds an MFA in Early Music Performance from Sarah Lawrence College.

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Class Notes

Don Lewis of Canfield, Ohio, ’86 BSBA, has been named president of SCA’s Away from Home Professional Hygiene Business Unit, responsible for business in North America and Europe. Previously, he served as the company's president of SCA Americas since 2012. SCA is a global hygiene and forest products company, with North American headquarters in Philadelphia. Lewis has nearly 29 years of paper industry experience, serves on the company’s global leadership team, and has received prestigious awards for excellence in sales and service, sustainability and ethics. In 2013 he was presented the Outstanding Alumni Award by YSU’s Williamson College of Business Administration, and he was featured in YSU Magazine in Fall 2014. Donald Stanley Pearson Jr. of Columbus, Ohio, ’86 BS in Mathematics, was presented an honorable mention award by the Academic Library Association of Ohio Continuing Education Grant program, which paid most of his expenses to attend the joint meeting of the Medical Library Association, the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des Bibliothèques de la santé du Canada and the International Clinical Librarian Conference, held in Toronto in May. Pearson, a student pursuing a master’s degree in Library Science at Kent State University, co-presented a paper at the conference. He is employed as a library technology specialist at Mount Carmel Health Sciences Library in Columbus.

Kimberly Calhoun of Niles, Ohio, ’87 BSAS, is a licensed social worker, employed in the bereavement department at Hospice of the Valley, Mercy Health. She provides bereavement services and support, facilitates grief support groups for Kimberly Calhoun adults and children, organizes a children's grief camp and provides educational opportunities for other professionals. A social worker for 27 years, she joined Hospice of the Valley nine years ago. Beth Slagle of North Hills, Pa., ’87 BSBA in Finance, is a business attorney with Meyer, Unkovic & Scott and recently joined 412 Food Rescue, a nonprofit organization that works to fight hunger Beth Slagle and reduce food waste. She serves as treasurer and a member of the board of directors. Slagle earned her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She focuses her practice primarily on business disputes, insurance coverage and employment law, and she also represents a

number of entrepreneurs. She founded BizChicks and BizChicks Online, providing resources for professional women. Susan Moorer of Austintown, Ohio, ’89 BA in Speech Communication, is serving a two-year term as president of the Youngstown Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She recently Susan Moorer completed a term as president of the Junior Civic League and was installed in April as corresponding secretary for the YSU Women’s Club, where she previously served as Volunteer Services Chair. Moorer also holds an MS in Organizational Leadership from Geneva College. She joined the staff at YSU in 2006 and is employed as a development officer for WYSU FM-88.5. Donald K. Wiseman of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, ’89 BE in Chemical Engineering, was named senior vice president and president of PolyOne Corp.’s Performance Products & Solutions in Cleveland. He joined the company as a general manager in 2015 and previously held leadership and management positions at other performance material companies. He also earned a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from Duke University.

How We Met… Since the summer of 2013, YSU Magazine has been sharing married YSU couples’ love stories in our popular “Penguin Mates” column. Visit the magazine website, ysumagazine.org, to learn how they met and to see more photos.

Don Seely, ’58 BA in History, and Barbara Wentz Seely, ’58 BA in Mathematics and ’84 BS in Computer Science, were married Aug. 22, 1958. He earned a law degree from the University of Akron and is retired from a 47-year law practice; she taught math in the Poland Schools and at YSU. They live in Poland.

Steve Barber, ’85 BA in Political Science, and Valerie Vasil Barber, ’86 BS in Business Education, were married Aug. 23, 1986, in Hermitage, Pa. They live in Jeannette, Pa. He is a store manager with Rite Aid; she is a home economics teacher at Jeannette McKee Middle School. In August they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.

J. Robert O'Donnell,’70 BS in Industrial Marketing, and Leslie Knoll O'Donnell, ’69 in Early Childhood Education, were married June 27, 1970, in Pittsburgh. They live in Marietta, Ga. He retired in 2007 from the McNichols Co. as a senior management engineer; she retired in 2002 after 27 years as a teacher in the Cobb County Schools.

Michael Edward Faber, '97 BS in Combined Sciences, and Catherine Faber, ’08 BSAS in Information Technology, were married July 4, 2008, in Brookfield, Ohio. He earned a chiropractic degree from Southern California University of Health Sciences and is a chiropractor; she is an operations analyst for an IT company. They live in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

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Michael J. Sweeney, '00 BS in Criminal Justice, and Marnee Csejtey Sweeney, '00 BS in Elementary Education, were married April 13, 2002, in Youngstown. He works for Boardman Township; she is a fifth grade teacher at Youngstown Community School. They live in Boardman. Chris Crilley, ’04 BA in Political Science, and Gina Grapevine Crilley, ’05 BSEd, were married April 22, 2006, and celebrated their 10th anniversary this year. He is a home office property specialist for Grange Insurance; she is a Boardman High School teacher. They live in Poland.

Class Notes

Father, Daughter Named to Howland HS Hall of Fame Bill Quinlan, ’78 AAS in Nursing, and his daughter, Darcy Quinlan, ’03 BS in Physical Education, of Perrysburg, Ohio, shared the honor of being inducted into the Howland High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Both are YSU and Howland High School graduates. He is retired from St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee and previously worked at Northside Medical Center in Youngstown; she works for the North Central Ohio Legislative Service Committee. She holds a master’s degree from Slippery Rock University in Adapted Physical Education; he has an MBA from Baldwin Wallace University.

Darcy Quinlan with her father, Bill Quinlan

’90s Istvan "Steve" Domonkos of Galveston, Texas, ’90 BA in Political Science, was recently named territory sales manager with Bankers Insurance Group for the state of Texas. He also holds a degree in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh. John L. Grim of Smyrna, Ga., ’91 BA in Geography, was promoted to senior vice president of Leasing and Development for Coldwell Banker Commercial, where he finds lease space and develops market John L. Grim penetration plans for office and retail clients. In the past two years, he worked closely with Georgia Economic Development to negotiate tax incentives that helped to bring three major corporate headquarter relocations to the state. He also assisted Youngstown-based Phantom Fireworks with its retail development plans in Georgia after firework sales became legal in the state.

Marcelle Wilson of Boardman, ’91 BA and ’96 MA, both in History, is curator and educator at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor, which is owned by the Ohio Historical Society and operated by YSU. The museum, which commemorates the Mahoning Valley’s steel industry, provides work experience for many YSU graduate assistant interns from YSU’s History Department. Wilson also holds a PhD in History from West Virginia University.

Joseph Lucente of Toledo, Ohio, ’94 BSAS in Criminal Justice and Political Science, is a faculty member in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University, where he Joseph Lucente was recently promoted to associate professor with tenure. His primary responsibility is the Ohio Sea Grant College Program, and his teaching and research are focused on specializations in economic development, leadership and capacity development. He also holds an MBA in Public Administration from the University of Akron.

Julie (LeMay) Farr of Wesley Chapel, Fla., ’94 BE in Materials Engineering, has accepted a new position as director of Customer Service with Chromalloy Castings in Tampa. Previously, she spent more than 20 years as an account Julie Farr manager for Timken Steel in Canton, Ohio.

Alex Gedra, ’07 BS in Chemical Engineering, and Sevasti Hadzigeorge Gedra, ’08 BS in Nursing, were married Sept. 12, 2009. They live in Cortland, Ohio. He is a rubber development chemist for Goldkey Processing in Middlefield, Ohio; she earned an MSN from Ursuline College and is a family nurse practitioner in Radiation Oncology for Mercy Health.

James Kosek, ’11 MSEd in Education Administration, and Jessica Mularchik Kosek, ’06 BSEd in Middle Childhood Education and ’11 MSEd in Curriculum and Instruction, were married June 12, 2010. They live in Struthers. He is the new assistant principal at Howland Middle School and a member of Struthers City Council; she is a Title I teacher for the Poland Schools.

Michael Grumley, ’09 BE in Civil Engineering, and Kate Bonn Grumley, ’10 BE in Civil Engineering, were married May 28, 2016, in Pittsburgh. They are both employed as project engineers for FedEx Ground and live in Pittsburgh.

Michael Metzinger, ’12 BSBA in Accounting and Finance, and Ashley Kent Metzinger, ’15 BS in Middle School Education, were married Sept. 26, 2015, in Boardman. He is a senior accountant and a certified public accountant at Hill, Barth & King LLC in Canfield; she is a fourth grade teacher at St. Rose Catholic School in Girard. They live in Boardman.

Mike Adamson, ’12 BE in Chemical Engineering, and Alyssa Krumpak Adamson, ’11 BS in Mathematics, were married Sept. 5, 2015, in Youngstown. He is a process engineer for Omnova Solutions in Akron; she earned an MS in Statistics from the University of Akron in 2013 and is employed as a channel analyst for American Greetings Corp. in Cleveland. They live in downtown Cleveland.

If you and your spouse are both YSU graduates, we’d like to share your story in Penguin Mates. Tell us how you met, and a little about your life today, in 300 words or less, and email or mail with one or two wedding photos and/or a current photograph. Be sure to include your degrees, graduation years, city of residence, an email address and phone number so that we can contact you. Email to: cevinarsky@ysu.edu or mail to Editor, YSU Magazine, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH 44555.

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Class Notes

Marly Kosinski of Youngstown, ’95 BA in English, has joined the Tribune Chronicle in Warren, Ohio, as assistant metro editor. Previously, she spent more than five years at the Tribune Chronicle as a reporter, then worked as a web producer for local CBS affiliate WKBN. She also freelances for the Catholic Exponent, a newspaper serving the Youngstown Catholic Diocese. Paul Hugenberg III of Poland, Ohio, ’96 BSBA in Accounting, is the founder and CEO of InfoGPS Networks, named one of Stark County’s four Small Businesses of the Year for 2015. Founded in Poland, with offices in Canton and Mansfield, the company identifies, tracks and manages risks to sensitive records held on company networks.

Heather Fronk

’07 Graduate Crowned Mrs. Ohio America 2016 YSU graduate Heather Fronk of Austintown, ’07 BS in General Studies, was crowned Mrs. Ohio America 2016 in June, winning the right to compete in August in the Mrs. America pageant in Las Vegas. The winner of the national competition will go on to compete in the Mrs. World Pageant in South Korea. Fronk competed in the Mrs. Ohio pageant once before – she represented the region as Mrs. Mahoning Valley in 2015 – and placed first runner-up. The new Mrs. Ohio is employed as a business client manager for Huntington Bank, working with clients in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. She is an active member and volunteer for the Austintown Rotary Club and Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley.

David Lee Morgan Jr. of Canton, Ohio, ’94 BS in Professional Writing and Editing, starts a new position this fall as a 10th grade English teacher at Massillon Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio. Previously, he David Lee Morgan was a development officer for the YSU Foundation, and before that he spent more than 25 years as a newspaper sports writer, most recently for the Akron Beacon Journal, where he covered LeBron James from sixth grade into the NBA. He has authored seven books, including LeBron James: The Rise of a Star, which is consistently a bestseller in its category on Amazon, and More Than A Coach: What It Means To Play For Coach, Mentor and Friend Jim Tressel.

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Jonathon Mills Pentecost of Fort Myers, Fla., ’98 BA in Political Science, was recognized as a rising young business leader in 2015 by the Forty Under 40 program sponsored annually by Gulfshore Business Magazine. Jonathon Mills Pentecost Pentecost is division president for Southwest Florida for DR Horton Inc., America’s Homebuilder and one of the youngest to rise to that level in the company nationally. A top performer in home sales and development, land acquisition and growth since joining the company in 2005, Pentecost has introduced two new housing brands in Southwest Florida. Phillip Wawrosch of Boardman, ’98 BS in Criminal Justice, is an equal employment specialist for the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. His 16-year career upholding civil Philip Wawrosch rights with the federal government has included positions as equal employment specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard, Investigator with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and correctional officer and counselor with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

’00s Diane Gardner of New Wilmington, Pa., ’01 MBA, was awarded the Certified Financial Planner designation in May. She is a certified financial planner with LPL Financial in Hermitage, Pa., where she assists clients with retirement and estate planning, as well as wealth management. Gardner was also recognized as a 2016 Mercer/ Lawrence County ATHENA Award Nominee. She has been working in the financial service industry since 1998. Shannon Ealy of Gastonia, N.C., ’03 BSBA, started a new position in May with ALSAC/ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she assumed a newly created title as director of Training and Resources for the Shannon Ealy Fitness Department. ALSAC, American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, is the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude. Previously, she spent 12 years with the American Cancer Society, most recently as director of program initiatives for its nationwide Relay For Life Department. Carmella Maria Williams of Liberty Township, Ohio, ’06 BS in Business Administration, was awarded a $5,000 grant by the Women in Entrepreneurship program, which is operated by the Carmella Maria Williams Youngstown Business Incubator. She plans to use the funds to advance her small business, Carmella Marie, which makes and markets a line of natural hair and skin care products that are available at 10 retail stores. Williams also works at YSU as assistant director in the Office of Associate Degree & Tech Prep Programs. She joined the university in 2006.

Music Grad Releases Original Jazz Album Stephen P. Harvey celebrated two major life events in May – releasing his debut jazz record album, titled “Suite Childhood,” and completing Stephen P. Harvey his YSU master’s degree in Jazz Studies. A native of Rochester, Pa., the spring 2016 graduate composed and arranged seven original jazz selections to create the album. The YSU Jazz Ensemble One and other Dana School of Music students also performed for Harvey’s album and presented the music live at an album release concert May 6. Harvey has a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa. His recording is self-published under SPHarvey Music.

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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Class Notes

Crystal Beiersdorfer of Youngstown, ’15 BFA in Studio Art and BA in Mathematics, is a photographer and camera operator for Tabbara Productions as well as a freelance photographer and videographer. She participated as the visual artist in a video collaboration, titled “Beige,” that was screened this summer at an arts presentation called “Convergence” in Stockholm, Sweden. The film was also screened locally at Youngstown Cinema in June. Cameron Carter of Worthington, Ohio, ‘15 BSEd in Early Childhood Education, is a second grade teacher at Slate Hill Elementary in the Worthington City Schools. He was the recipient of a prestigious award at the National Council of Teachers of English Conference last November, the Affiliate Leadership Development Award, recognizing educators in their first five years of teaching. He was the only teacher in Ohio to receive it. Carter was nominated after a presentation he made for the Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts titled "Becoming Text Evidence Detectives,” and had made several other presentations to the council in recent years. Paige Rassega of Mineral Ridge, Ohio, ’15 BSBA in Human Resources, was awarded the 2016 Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning Award, presented to students who have completed a bachelor’s degree and request support for additional professional or personal learning objectives. She is pursuing an MBA at Cleveland State University and will use the award to help with her education costs.

alumni authors June Summers of Winter Garden, Fla., ’62 BSEd in Art Education, has published her first novel, titled Let Freedom Ring, and co-authored with her late daughter, Wendelin Saunders. The book was released by The Wild Rose Press and is available through the publisher or from Amazon in print or e-book format. In addition to her writing projects, Summers is employed as a staff accountant for Martinez & Associates, CPAs. Previously, she and Saunders ran an animal shelter for homeless and abused dogs and cats until her daughter's death in 2009. Retired rock ‘n’ roll concert promoter Patrick J. DiCesare of Greensburg, Pa., ’69 BSEd, has authored a book, titled Hard Days, Hard Nights, a behind-the-scenes story of his five-decade career working with major rock and pop bands. He writes about his first big break promoting a 1964 Beatles concert in Pittsburgh and his experience working with other greats such as Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and the Rolling Stones. The book won the Grand Champion Award in the Great Midwest Book Festival, was runner-up in the Southern California Festival and was named Independent Book of the Year in 2014. DiCesare retired from concert promotion in 1999, but he writes for various music and business publications and is in demand as a speaker. He So Loved is the title of author Terry Lawrence’s fourth book, a compilation of inspirational poetry, available through Amazon in hard cover, paperback and e-book formats. His previous books also feature his original inspirational poetry. Lawrence, ’71 BSBA in Advertising, lives in Vancouver, Wash. His career in the hotel industry has spanned four decades, including 20 years as a hotel manager, working as a hospitality consultant in Athens, Greece, and two decades as a sales professional for Teledex, selling hotel and resort telephones. Still working in the hotel phone business, he represents NLS in Phoenix, Ariz., with a sales territory that spans the Western U.S., including Hawaii. Jim Cain of Brockport, N.Y, ’83 BE in Mechanical Engineering, has published his 15th team and community building text, titled Teamwork & Teamplay. The book contains teambuilding activities from around the world, presented in 16 different languages. Cain is the owner and director of Teamwork & Teamplay, a training company. Besides his YSU degree, he holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester and two other degrees. He has presented more than 1,500 programs in 49 states and 28 countries over the past decade. Lori (Santagata) Smith of Powell, Ohio, ’90 BSEd, is co-author of a 19-volume children’s literature book series, titled What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?, written to appeal to children between the ages of 4 and 13. The first four books were recently released through Tate Publishing. Smith is assistant principal and a teacher for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus. With her business partner and co-author, Amy Loring, she developed an educational consulting business, Two Teachers on the Edge. The books are available in print and in e-book format through the publisher at www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore. Smith’s daughter, Melanie, is a student in the nursing program at YSU.

Alexandra Nannicola

State Association Honors Education Grad Alexandra Nannicola, ’98 BSEd and ’04 MS in Educational Administration, principal of Champion Central Elementary School near Warren, was named one of Ohio’s top principals for grades K-8 by the Ohio Association of Elementary School Principals. She accepted the award at the OAESP Professional Conference in June and will travel to Washington, D.C., in October for an event honoring top elementary and middle-level educators selected by state associations nationwide. Nannicola began her career as a teacher and reading facilitator in the East Palestine School District in Columbiana County, advancing to assistant principal and principal there before joining the Champion Schools in 2012. 40

YO U N G S TO W N S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

Historian Dan Welch, ’08 BA in Instrumental Music, has co-authored a book, The Last Road North: A Guide to the Gettysburg Campaign, 1863, published by Savas Beatie. Robert Orrison, also an historian, is co-author. The authors follow in the footsteps of the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac as the two clashed in the costliest battle in North American history. Based on the Civil War Trails system, the book provides a detailed Civil War road trip, including the Confederate advance, the Union response, Jeb Stuart’s ride, the battle and the retreat from Gettysburg. James H. Crawley of Jacksonville, Fla., ’09 BA in Psychology, has authored a book, titled Jesus Christ, The True Temple of God, published by Xulon Press. The book discusses how the temple built by Solomon is prophetic of the Messiah. Crawley retired in 2006 from Delphi Automotive Systems. He earned a diploma in Religious Education from Central Bible College and is now working in ministry at First Church Hopewell in Jacksonville. He also ministers at the Baker and Columbia Correctional Institutions in the Florida prison system. Sean T. Posey of Canfield, ’12 MA in History, has authored a book, titled Lost Youngstown, and published in April by History Press. Posey is a freelance writer, photographer and historian whose work has been featured in several publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, CityLab, San Francisco Magazine, and the books Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology and The Pittsburgh Anthology. He holds a bachelor's degree in Photojournalism from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

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When Pete Was a Real Live Penguin, 1940 We all love our YSU mascot, Pete the Penguin, but did you know that the university had three live penguin mascots between 1939 and 1972? In these 1940 photos, the first Pete heads up a parade of students through Jones Hall and observes Youngstown College football coach Dwight “Dike” Beede illustrating a play for a group of players. The original Pete was kept at Crandall Park on Youngstown’s north side. In 1942, the student body raised money to purchase Pete II, along with a mate they named Patricia. Years later, in 1968, student council purchased Pete III. The bird lived on campus from September through May and summered at the Pittsburgh Zoo. (Source: Maag Library Archives)

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