Alumni Awards to Be Presented at May 18 Commencement

Pennsylvania College of Technology will present "Distinguished Alumnus" and "Alumna Achievement" awards at two commencement ceremonies May 18 at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport.

Donald E. Stringfellow, a graduate of Penn College's Technology Management program and a 32-year veteran with PPL Electric Utilities, has been selected as the College's Distinguished Alumnus for 2002. He will be presented with the honor at the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony.

The Alumna Achievement Award will be presented at the 2:30 p.m. commencement ceremony to Becky S. Mease, who earned degrees in Civil Engineering Technology, Surveying Technology, and Computer-Aided Drafting and Design from Penn College and now works as a civil associate II for Michael Baker Jr. Inc.

The Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award is given in recognition of personal and professional accomplishments, contributions toward furthering the efforts of the College, and the high regard in which the recipient is held in the community.

The Alumnus/Alumna Achievement Award, which is being offered for the first time, is presented in recognition of noteworthy career accomplishments that demonstrate the importance of a Penn College education.

Stringfellow is community development director for the Lock Haven and Williamsport Areas for PPL Electric Utilities.

Previously for PPL, Stringfellow served as Lock Haven area manager, power engineer, supervisor for division metering, and distribution technician. He also worked at Xerox Corp. as a research lab technician and served in the electronics platoon of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

In addition to his bachelor's degree from Penn College, Stringfellow earned a master's of business administration from the University of Phoenix and an associate's degree in electrical and electronics technology from The Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill Haven.

Stringfellow's work includes community and economic development for PPL in both Lycoming and Clinton Counties. He is one of only 13 community development directors strategically located around PPL's 29-county service area. Together with the PPL program and prospect teams headquartered in Allentown, the 13 directors comprise one of the top 10 economic-development teams in the nation, according to "Site Selection" magazine.

Stringfellow is a former chairman of the Clinton County Economic Partnership and still serves on its board and chairs its publicity committee. He serves on the board and the executive committee of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce and chairs its strategic planning committee. He serves on the board of the Industrial Properties Corp., chairing its marketing and prospect development committee. He also serves on the boards of the Jersey Shore Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Lycoming, and he chairs Leadership Clinton County.

Stringfellow serves on the Hope Enterprises board, the Lycoming Foundation board, the Lycoming Neighborhood Development Corp. board, the Lycoming County United Way board (chairman of its Utilities Committee), the Clinton County Loan board, the SEDA-COG Foundation and Local Loan Review Committee, the FOCUS Central PA program Management Committee, the Pennsylvania Economy League Williamsport board, and the M&T Bank regional advisory board.

Stringfellow and his wife, Mary, reside in Woolrich. They have two children, Christine and Russell, and three grandchildren.

Mease, who also earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Bucknell University, was a Resident Assistant in student housing and a Student Ambassador while at Penn College.

She has more than six years' experience working on various transportation projects including the Market Street Bridge replacement in Williamsport for Michael Baker Jr. Inc. and other firms.

Mease has been employed with Michael Baker Jr. Inc. for the past 41/2 years. As a member of the firm's design team, she performs highway and traffic design. Recently, she researched and authored PennDOT's Publication 414: "Guide to Roundabouts."

A resident of Harrisburg, Mease is to be married in September to Robert Doble.

In addition to the Distinguished Alumnus and Alumna Achievement Awards being presented this month, the College will present an Alumni Citizenship/Humanitarian Award to two recipients at the December commencement exercises. The award will promote the responsibility of graduates to participate in their communities through volunteerism.