For more than 30 years, the Edinboro University Alumni Association has honored distinguished graduates who became successful in virtually every area of human endeavor.
This year is no exception.
The tradition continues with recognition of five extraordinary alumni who attained remarkable success in their career paths and who also served the broader community since graduation.
The Alumni Association will host its 2010 Distinguished Alumni Awards Celebration on Friday, March 26, beginning with a social hour at 6 p.m. at Van Houten South Dining Hall. The dinner program will follow at 7 p.m.
Edinboro’s Alumni Association traditionally chooses spring to celebrate and honor alumni whose achievements shine in their communities. First presented in 1976, the Distinguished Alumni Award was established to recognize outstanding alumni and the university’s history of excellence. Past recipients have committed themselves to the University’s mission: advancing the values and goals of a democratic society and ensuring the survival of present and future generations with improvements in the quality of life.
According to Jon Pulice, director of alumni relations and executive director of the Alumni Association, Distinguished Alumni Award recipients are representative of the rich diversity of Edinboro University, and they provide inspiration for others. Through their enduring commitment to excellence, integrity, civility, diversity, and service, they set a stellar example for future graduates of Edinboro University, Pulice said.
Presented in recognition of extraordinary achievements in a profession, career or avocation, or for direct service to the local, national, or international community, this year’s program will honor:
Tracy A. Gast, a 1980 graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice. He began his law enforcement career as a police officer in Wickliffe, Ohio, serving for six years before being selected to serve in the department’s Detective Bureau. In 1986, he joined the U.S. Secret Service as a special agent, and was assigned to the 1988 campaigns of Al Gore and Lloyd Bentsen. In 1990, he was assigned to the New York City office, where he was a member of the newly-established Telecommunications Fraud Squad that later became the Electronic Crimes Task Force. During the Clinton administration, Gast returned to the elite Presidential Protection Division. Since 2000, he has held various positions with the Secret Service, including special agent in charge of the Office of Protective Operations, and has been involved in a number of national special security events as identified by the Homeland Security secretary. While in the Office of Protective Operations, he earned a master of science in business management degree from Johns Hopkins University. Gast continues as a special agent in charge at the Buffalo, N.Y., office, coordinating Secret Service activities in 59 of New York’s 69 counties. He resides in Edinboro with his wife, Debbie, their son, Aaron, daughter-in-law Angela, granddaughter Gwenna and daughter Gretchen. Aaron is working on bachelor of arts degree, while Gretchen is working on her Master of Education degree, both at Edinboro University.
Michael C. Kane earned his Bachelor of Science degree in art education in 1976. A member of the Senior Executive Service, he is associate administrator for management & administration in the National Nuclear Security Administration. He is responsible for the management and operations of NNSA’s Budget & Financial Management, Human Capital Management, Acquisition Management, Diversity, Internal Controls and Administrative Operations supporting some 33,000 employees nationwide. Previously, he was director of special projects, Department of Energy, and had been procurement executive for the Office of Field Management. Kane held key leadership positions in Financial Management, Program Management and Acquisition in the Department of the Navy, where he was Chief of Planning and Program Management for Naval Avionics and Deputy for Operations of the Marine Corps Heavy Lift and Presidential Helicopter programs. He received many public service awards, including the U.S. Navy Meritorious Service Medal and the secretary of energy’s Superior Achievement and Exceptional Service Awards. He is an alumnus of the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. A Washington, D.C., native, Kane is married to the former Rose Brickner. They live in Arlington, Va., and are the parents of Brian, an art education major at Edinboro; Timothy, a history major at the University of North Carolina; and Andrew and Libby, Arlington public school students.
Xavier D. Williams received his Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1989 and is senior vice president for GEM Markets, AT&T Operations Inc., where he is responsible for nationwide state and local government, education and medical sales. Williams previously was senior vice president/business communications services for AT&T Southwest, where he was responsible for enterprise market sales and customer service for Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. He also was federal sales vice president for AT&T Government Solutions, and human resources training vice president, where he led the company’s Global Learning Strategy. Launching his AT&T career in 1990, he has held a variety of positions in business planning, corporate staff, finance, human resources, product management and sales. Williams was recognized for his contributions inside and outside the company. In 2009, Profiles in Diversity Journal listed him as one of the most influential African Americans in business.
In 2008, the National Eagle Leadership Institute honored Williams as recipient of the Eagle Award for outstanding leadership achievement, and in 2003 he was recognized by the USA Freedom Corps for his dedication to community volunteerism, while also being named as the first recipient of the AT&T Corporation Chairman’s Diversity Award. A native of Washington, D.C., Williams earned his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Tina, are the parents of two children.
William “Bill” J. Lawrence is this year’s Young Alumni Award recipient. The award is presented annually for achieving distinction in a profession, career, or avocation or for exceptional service to the University. Upon completing college in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education/social studies, Lawrence taught social studies for a year in Charlotte, N.C., before starting his own business and a career in personal training. Starting in 1999, he grew “Bill Lawrence’s Personal Fitness” from a one-trainer, private personal training business in a small studio with minimal equipment into a substantially larger operation that includes rental spaces, two gym facilities and cardio and tanning spaces.
Personal Fitness hosts an annual community “Kid’s Day” event, as well as a “Dream Team Contest” in which nearly 200 clients lost more than 2,000 pounds of fat every year since 2002. Lawrence has volunteered as a judge for several scholarship pageants, including Miss Crawford County 2007, and writes a weekly health and fitness column for the Meadville Tribune.
The winner of the 2001 Men’s Natural Pittsburgh ANBC Bodybuilding Award, and the 2002 National ANBC Bodybuilding Award, in 2006 he reached his lifelong goal of being awarded the National NPC Men’s Lightweight Bodybuilding Award and earned a position on the U.S. team competing that year in the Czech Republic. He also won the national award again in 2008. He resides in Meadville with his wife, Tara, and sons, Jackson and Luke.
Patricia “Pattie” Eckard Magdik will be presented with the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented annually for exceptionally meritorious service to Edinboro University. Magdik, who graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education, and earned a Master of Science in special education in 1970, served as Edinboro’s associate dean of women until 1973. She also twice was an adjunct professor of modern dance with Edinboro’s Physical Education program, and choreographed a piece for the Nutcracker presented in Edinboro by the Lake Erie Ballet. Her choreography was performed for many years by the Tam O’Shanters line for Edinboro’s marching band. Magdik, since her graduation, served as an advisor for the Edinboro University Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta, and for 20 years as a Province Director with chapters at Edinboro and Gannon universities, and Allegheny, Westminster and Thiel colleges. Also, she was a Special Supervisor for chapters at the University of Buffalo, Lafayette College and the University of Maryland. Recognized by Edinboro University as a recipient of the Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching to children of all ages in her field of dance, proceeds from her annual recitals are given to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, where she’s volunteered on 35 telethons, and to the Magdik Family Scholarship established by Magdik and her late husband, Emil.
Edinboro University President Jeremy D. Brown will be on hand at the March 26 dinner to help present the awards.
“These alumni have not only excelled in their chosen professions and service to their communities, but also they are outstanding role models for today’s students who will soon themselves become alumni and part of a global organization of Edinboro graduates more than 55,000 strong.
“It is always a great pleasure for me to personally meet those who are such a successful part of Edinboro’s history, those who represent us so well in the present and carry that success into the future.”
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