|
Thiel
College Celebrates Founders' Day Feb. 3
For release January 26,
2000
 Thiel
College will celebrate its rich heritage during a special Founders' Day Convocation at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 3,
in Bly Lecture Hall in the college's Academic Center.
Thiel College English professor Dr. Jay A. Ward will be honored
with the President's Award for Teaching Excellence, while Peter Mortensen, chairman and chief executive officer
of F.N.B. Corporation, will receive the Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award.
"Each year Thiel honors those who have been making an impact on the college in the same spirit as its founders
134 years ago," said Thiel College President Dr. Lance A. Masters. "We have been blessed for many years
to share the time, talent and treasure of Mr. Peter Mortensen, chairman of F.N.B. Corporation. We also recognize
excellence in our faculty for their outstanding teaching, insightful scholarship, and responsible participation
and leadership in service to the college and community, as exemplified by distinguished professor Dr. Jay Ward,
this year's recipient of the President's Award for Teaching Excellence."
Masters, who will provide the welcoming address at the ceremony, and Dr. Robert Olson, vice president for academic
affairs and dean of the college, will present the President's Award for Teaching Excellence.
Dr. Jay A. Ward
 |
This award is given annually to a faculty member in recognition of a consistent pattern of quality in teaching.
The recipient is selected upon the advice of the dean, whose recommendation is based upon the support of students
and peers.
Past recipients of the President's Award for Teaching Excellence include Dr. Richard B. Bennett, 1995; Dr. Robert
Olson, 1996, Judith G. Newton, 1997; Jesse R. Ligo, 1998; and Dr. William Merrill Downer and the late Dr. Timothy
Zgonc, both 1999.
Ward earned his bachelor of arts degree from Butler University in 1965, his master of arts degree from Indiana
Central University in 1970 and his doctorate from Ball State University in 1977. He joined the Thiel College faculty
in 1978.
Over the years, Ward has achieved several academic and professional honors and awards, including the National Council
of Teachers of English Superior Achievement Award. He has earned the Lilly Endowment Scholarship, the Sigma Tau
Delta national English honorary, the Alpha Chi national academic honorary and the Pi Kappa Delta national forensics
honorary. He has been recognized for his achievements by being named to Who's Who in American Education and Who's
Who in the Humanities.
When Ward, who served as chair of the English department from 1987 to 1996, is not teaching, he has remained busy
writing. He has published one book and approximately 15 articles in literature, composition, honors education,
interdisciplinary studies, pedagogy, and forensics. Ward has delivered academic papers at nearly 30 conference
presentations and workshops.
Ward also serves as the director for the Honors program, the director of forensics, and is coordinator for the
western humanities program.
He and his wife, Kathleen, an adjunct professor of English at Thiel, reside in Sharon, Pa.
Peter Mortensen
 |
The Distinguished Service Award will be presented by the president and Thomas W. Hodge, a 1950 Thiel graduate,
a current member of Thiel's Board of Associates, and a past member of the Board of Trustees. The award is given
for exemplary character, continuity of leadership and a long-term service to the local area. The recipient must
have demonstrated a commitment to the common good above private interests.
The award is named after Louis and Barbara Thiel, whose generosity made possible the founding of Thiel College
in 1866. In the 1940s, the German couple immigrated to Pennsylvania where their work was blessed with success as
they faithfully served family, community and church.
Mortensen, this year's recipient, is chairman and CEO of F.N.B. Corporation, Hermitage, Pa., where he is responsible
for all of the board's activities and oversees the financial operations of F.N.B.'s various affiliates.
A native of Greenville, Pa. graduated in 1952 from Penn High School, Greenville, where he was named co-valedictorian
of his class. He graduated with honors from the College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, where he earned his bachelor
of arts degree in economics.
Mortensen began his career in 1955 as a loan teller for the First National Bank of Mercer County. From 1957 to
1959, Mortensen was employed by the Central National Bank of Cleveland and returned to his Pennsylvania banking
roots - now the First National Bank of Pennsylvania - in 1959. He rose through the ranks until being elected president
in 1972.
In 1974, Mortensen was elected president and chief executive officer of the newly formed F.N.B. Corporation, and
in 1987 he also was named chairman. He remained president until 1997.
While Mortensen's career has revolved around banking, he has also been very active in the Mercer County community
by serving on boards such as St. Paul Homes, the Urban League, and the Shenango Valley Industrial Development Corporation.
He served as president of the Mercer County Development Corporation and the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce,
and was a member of the district advisory council for the Small Business Administration. For 11 years, he sat on
Thiel College's Board of Trustees and was a member of the college's Executive Committee. In addition, he served
on the Board of Trustees for Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Mortensen also serves as chairman of the Board of the First National Bank of Pennsylvania, vice chairman of the
Metropolitan National Bank in Youngstown, Ohio, and director of First National Bank of Naples, Fla. He also serves
as a director with the Jamestown Paint Co., Jamestown, Pa., and Liberty Steel Productions, North Jackson, Ohio.
Mortensen and his wife, Collette, reside in Hermitage, Pa. They have seven daughters and 15 grandchildren.
Past recipients of the Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award are Dorothea E. Anderson, 1995; F.W.
Knecht III, 1996; James E. Feeney, 1997; Joseph A. George, 1998; and Liberty Steel Products Inc., 1999.
Choral music at the convocation will be provided by the Thiel College Choir under the direction of Michael Bray.
For more information about Founders' Day activities, please contact Marianne Calenda, Thiel College's director
of special projects and events, at (724) 589-2028.
Back
to the top
Guest
Artist and Lecturer Series to host Korean Music Specialist Jin Hi Kim
For release January 24,
2000
GREENVILLE, Pa. --Korean music specialist and composer, Jin
Hi Kim, will present a
lecture/demonstration entitled "Introduction to Korean Music" at Thiel College at 7 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 7, in the Sawhill-Georgian Room of the Howard Miller Student Center.
Her presentation is part of a three-year tour of university campuses across the country. Kim will demonstrate and
perform on the indigenous Korean instrument, the komungo -- a six-stringed fretted board zither -- which originated
in the 4th century in the northern Korea.
The lecture consists of folk and court music, demonstrating Shamanism, Taoism,
Confucian and Buddhist influences in folk and court music. The original and distinctive
nature of Korean music will be highlighted as well as the interrelations among Korean,
Chinese, and Japanese music.
The lecture is free and students, faculty and community are invited to attend.
For more information, please contact Michael Bray at 589-2149.
Back
to the top
Thiel
Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day
For release January
12, 2000
Local Media Coverage
 GREENVILLE, Pa. - Thiel College will
make history Monday, Jan. 17, in its day-long observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
For the first time in Thiel's history, an abbreviated day of classes will be held in celebration of King, one of
the world's best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies. King was born Jan. 15, 1929 and assassinated
April 4, 1968.
All morning and afternoon classes will take place before
noon Monday, the first day of classes for the spring semester. Traditionally, full classes were held on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day. A series of events - under the theme of "Dream Builders: Facing the New Millennium"
- will be held on the campus in the afternoon and evening.
"Thiel College's observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s
birthday with a half day of activities is a milestone," said Daisybelle Thomas-Quinney, Thiel's coordinator
of multicultural affairs. "It shows that President Lance Masters, the faculty and students are moving ahead,
moving forward."
Session one, "Equality in the New Millennium," will kick off with a community forum at 1 p.m. Monday
in Bly Auditorium with a welcoming ceremony given by Thiel President Dr. Lance A. Masters and Greenville Mayor
Clifford Harriger.
A panel presentation will follow as members discuss the session's theme. Panel members include Olivia M. Lazor,
Mercer County commissioner; Philip Foster, information systems specialist at Werner Co., Greenville; Dr. Martha
Bruce, retired supervisor of media services in Youngstown City Schools; Dr. Joyce Cuff, Thiel College biology professor;
Mrs. Betty Marshall, president, Mercer County NAACP; Msgr. Andrew Karg of St. Michael Church, Greenville; and Shawn
White, Thiel senior business communication major from Maple Heights, Ohio. Dr. Curtis Thompson, chair of Thiel
College's department of religion, will serve as moderator.
Session two, "Two Approaches to the Dream: Booker T. and W.E.," with speaker the Rev. Stephen J. Russell
Jr., will begin at 2:30 p.m. in Bly Auditorium. Russell, a graduate student at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
in Pittsburgh, will discuss the two 19th century African-American leaders who paved the way for the civil rights
movement. Dr. Robert Olson, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college, will act as moderator.
Session three, a film festival, will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in various Academic Center locations on campus.
Two powerful civil rights films, "The Long Walk Home" and "I Have a Dream," will be shown concurrently.
The fourth and final session, "Challenges of the New Millennium," will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Bly Auditorium.
The keynote address will be given by Dr. Cleo Higgins, retired vice president for academic affairs/dean of the
faculty of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona, Fla., an institution founded by the internationally acclaimed educator
and civil rights activist Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune.
A protégé of Bethune, Higgins is a widely traveled lecturer and public speaker. She holds degrees
from LeMoyne College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Throughout the day, music will be provided by the Thiel College Choir, Dr. Silas Norman, brother of world-renowned
opera singer Jesse Norman, and saxophonist Brandon McCray.
These events are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Thomas-Quinney at (724) 589-2220
or visit the Special Events web page for a complete
schedule of events.
Back
to the top
Thiel
Names Associate Dean of Students
For release
January 11, 2000
 GREENVILLE, Pa. - Jeff Baylor
of Apollo, Pa., was recently named associate dean of students for Thiel College, effective Jan. 1.
Baylor will be responsible
for a variety of projects associated with the daily operations of student life.
Prior to his appointment,
Baylor served three years as associate director of admissions at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. He also held
the position of assistant director of residence life at Marietta for three years.
"I'm thrilled to have
Jeff as a member of the student life team," said Roseanne Gill-Jacobson, vice president of student services. "We
will rely on his hard work and commitment to the students over the next years."
Baylor, who is residing
in Greenville, earned his bachelor of arts degree in business management and his masters of arts and education
degree from Marietta College.
Back
to the top
Thiel
Habitat For Humanity To Embark On Mississippi Mission
 GREENVILLE, Pa. - A group of
Thiel College students will depart for Coahoma County, Miss., Saturday morning as part of this year's Habitat for
Humanity (HFH) mission.
Eleven students and five adults representing Thiel's chapter of HFH will head to the Farrell-Sherard area of Coahoma
County where they will spend a week hammering, painting and adding last-minute touches to three Habitat homes.
"The need looked so great in that area," said Joan Heald, the organization's adviser and an adjunct professor
in Thiel's Global Heritage program. "Half of the houses in that place are Habitat houses. It's a rural community
with very little resources."
Farrell and Sherard, both rural communities in Coahoma County, are located just south of Memphis.
The group will spend time roofing one house, adding drywall to a community church, and putting the finishing touches
on another home which is expected to be dedicated next week, Heald said.
 The student representatives are Jennifer Allen of Pittsburgh, Theresa Brest of Stoneboro, Pa., Dawn
Brut of Allison Park, Pa., Bobbi Erkens of Butler, Pa., Joanne Haskins of Eldred, Pa., Molly Howsare of Transfer,
Pa., Adam Kmetz of Monroeville, Pa., Ronnie Onderick of Harrison City, Pa., Chris Palmer of Saegertown, Pa., Andrew
Thurston of Carlisle, Pa., and Cheryl Williams of Greenville, Pa.
The students and Heald will be joined by four other adults: Dr. Bill Good, former Thiel professor and dean of the
college; Dr. Robert Olson, class of 1960, and current vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college;
Susan Breckenridge, coordinator of Thiel's writing lab in the Academic Resource Center; and Roy Wilt Sr., former
state Senator and member of the class of 1959.
Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller. It is an ecumenical Christian, nonprofit
housing ministry that has provided housing for over 300,000 people worldwide.
Back
to the top
|
