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Queener Receives 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award

Catherine Queener (B.S.Ed. '83 English; University Honors Scholar) was honored as the 2008 Honors Distinguished Alumni at the June12 graduation reception in the Student Union.

Catherine Queener came to Wright State University Honors  Program in Fall 1978 as a National Merit Finalist.  She was passionate about her causes, participating in the Food Co-op and   Students Against Nuclear Energy.  She was elected Education   Representative for Student Government and served on the first Strategic Planning Committee. Catherine was an active and enthusiastic participant in all aspects of the Honors Program and    graduated Summa Cum Laude as a University Honors Scholar in 1983.  After completing an M.S. degree in College Student Personnel Services at the University of Dayton, she returned to Wright State as an academic advisor in 1990.  

In her role in University College, Catherine advocates for the Honors Program on a daily basis and actively teaches UH 101 service learning courses for the program. She also has continued her activism on campus, serving a term as President of the WSU Branch of American Association of University Women and organizing the first Take Our Daughters to Work Day.  Catherine exemplifies everything we hope Honors students will become, and she is a most deserving recipient of Honors Distinguished Alumni Award.   

More Alumni News

Megan Andrews (Palm) (B.S.N. '02 Nursing [UHS]) lives in Durham, NC, and is a nurse practitioner with Cardiovascular Care of Northern Carolina.  She completed an M.S.N. from Duke University in 2007. (R08)

Thomas Brex (B.S. '94 Accountancy; UHS) is a CPA with SS&G Financial Services.  Thomas volunteers at the the Canal Winchester Chamber of Commerce/Business Alliance and serves as Treasurer of Elder Choices of Central Ohio.  His first child, Julian Thomas Brex, was born in September 2007. (S08)

Robert Brownfield (B.S. '07 Middle Childhood Education; GSHS) received his M.Ed. from WSU this June and this fall will begin working as an assistant technology coordinator and teacher at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.  His 2008-09 courses will include 9th grade algebra, 10th grade American literature, and 11th grade British literature. (R08)

Jill Channing (B.A. '03 English: Language Arts Education, GSHS; M.A. '05 English) is currently chair of the English Department at Mitchell College is Statesville, NC, where she teaches English and women's studies courses.  She is also an Excellence Fellow at the University of North Carolina Greensboro where she is working on a Ph.D. in education and cultural studies.  Jill says, "My time at WSU was enlightening and contributed significantly to my growth as a learner and citizen of the world.  I especially remember my Honors courses because they were challenging and forced me to think in ways I had never considered." (R08)

Travis Clark (B.S. '07 Chemistry; UHS) is enrolled at the University of Michigan as a chemistry graduate student. (R08)

Katie (Frank) Corbett (B.S. '06 Accountancy; UHS) is working as an auditor for the Air Force Audit Agency at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  In Fall 2006 she married Michael Corbett (B.S. '06 Mechanical Engineering); they welcomed their son, Jacob, in August 2007.  (R08)

Terese DeSimio (B.S. '84 Biomedical Engineering; UHS) began a new position in April at WSU's Fordham Health Sciences Library. (R08)

Micah Fuerst (B.S. '05 Mathematics; UHS) lives in Michigan and is an actuary with Jackson National Life.  Micah also earned an M.S. in Mathematics from Michigan State University. (R08)

Christopher Gamm (B.A. '96 Organizational Communication; DHS) and his wife, Nicona (also a WSU graduate), welcomed their first child, Dillon, in November 2007.  Christopher is a sales representative for Anixter, a telecommunications distributor. (R08)

Joyce Kremer (B.S. '06 Middle Childhood Education, UHS; M.Ed. '07 Teacher Education) just completed her first year at Troy City Schools where she teaches sixth graders social studies and language arts.  She is engaged to be married in August 2008. Joyce is still actively involved in several service projects, including a Support the Troops drive she organized at her school chairing the Big Brothers Big Sisters 5K Run for Shelby and Darke County this past June.  In this photo, Joyce is getting pied in the face by one of her sixth grade students as a reward for winning the "Pie Miss K in the Face" contest; the student read over 3,000 pages during the school year. Joyce says, "Next year I am going to up the anty because 5 kids out of my 26-kid class reached that goal way too easily!" (R08)

Todd Locher, M.D. (B.S. '84 Engineering) practices chest, critical care, and sleep medicine in Tucson, AZ.  He has been chief of medicine and is now chief of staff-elect at a 300-bed hospital.  He recently opened a sleep center at Oro Valley Hospital in the Tucson area.  He is married and has four children. (R08)

Christal Morita (B.S. '07 Psychology; DHS) is completing the first year of a four-year DVM program at Ohio State's College of Veterinary Medicine.  Following graduation, she plans to pursue board certification in either surgery or cardiology. (R08)

Michael Peterson (B.S. '01 Computer Engineering, UHS; M.S. '03 Computer Science) graduated this spring with a Ph.D. in computer science at WSU. His dissertation, "An Evolutionary Methodology for Optimization of Image Transforms Subject to Quantization Noise," was a collaborative research effort with WSU, the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, and the U.S. Air Force Research Lab Sensors Directorate. This fall, Michael will become an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Alaska in Anchorage. (R08)

Lisa (Pasquinelli) Rickey (B.A. '05 History and Latin; UHS) graduated this June with an M.A. in public history from WSU and is employed at the Greene County Room, Xenia Public Library.  In May, Lisa married former Honors student Matt Rickey (B.S. '05 Electrical Engineering). They live in Vandalia. (R08)

LeAnn (Meyer) Sabatini (B.S. '06 Nursing; UHS) and her husband, Anthony Sabatini ('04 B.S. Biomedical Engineering; GSHS) are proud graduates of Wright State University. In August 2007 they moved to Ann Arbor, MI, where Anthony is a quality engineer for Terumo Cardiovascular Systems. LeAnn received the Rackham Merit Fellowship and attends graduate school at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing a degree as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner. She will graduate in May 2009. They just celebrated their first wedding anniversary in June, and despite living in Ann Arbor, they are still Raider and Buckeye fans! (R08)

Christopher Sabine (B.A. '96 Social Work; UHS) is president of a small business, ONH Consulting LLC, the only national organization dedicated to working with families of children with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Learn more about this organization at www.onhconsulting.com. (R08)

Kimberly Stewart (B.S. '93 Nursing; DHS) has been a full-time clinical instructor for WSU's College of Nursing and Health since 2005. Her Honors experience has come full circle, as she has just completed serving as project advisor for her first Honors student who graduated this June. Kimberly has also worked at Miami Valley Hospital since graduation. (R08)

Maria Williams (B.S. '03 Psychology; UHS) is completing her last year at WSU's School of Professional Psychology; her Doctor of Psychology degree will be conferred in September 2008. (R08)