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Festivities for Alumni Day 2002 begin on June 1 at 5 p.m. with a reception at the John S. Knight Center, 77 East Mill St., Akron. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the program. Tickets are $55 per person and black tie is optional. For more information, call the Alumni Association at ext. 7270.
Since its inception, nearly 180 men and women have received the Alumni Honor Award — the highest honor that can be bestowed on a graduate of the University by the Alumni Association. The award recognizes excellence in community service, professional achievement and service to the University.
The 2002 Alumni Honor Award recipients are: Fannie L. Brown ’91 ’95, executive director of the Coming Together Project; Richard C. Fedorovich ’74, managing partner of Bober, Markey, Fedorovich & Company; Russell A. Livigni ’56 ’60, retired vice president of corporate technology at GenCorp; and William A. Mallow ’62, technical adviser for the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute.
The Honorary Alumni Award is bestowed upon individuals who have not earned a degree at UA, but who have served their national, state and local communities with distinction. This year’s Honorary Alumni are: Robert W. Briggs, chairman of the board of managers at Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs; Ronald J. Fowler, senior pastor at Arlington Church of God, Inc., and Knute Larson, senior pastor at The Chapel. The University also will be honoring Board Chairman David E. "Gene" Waddell, who is leaving the Board after nine years of service.
Here are the honorees.
Since 1997, Fannie L. Brown has served as executive director of “The Coming Together Project,” an organization that promotes racial harmony. Brown has been involved in education throughout her career. Prior to her current position, she served as program manager with Project R.I.S.E., worked as a job specialist with Tri-County Jobs for Ohio Graduates and as an academic tutor for Akron Public Schools. She has served as an instructor at her alma mater. At UA, Brown earned a Ph.D. in secondary education in 1995 and a M.S. in technical education in 1991. She earned a B.A. in business management at Malone College in 1990.
Brown is involved in a wide range of activities, from the Akron Area Association of Churches Board to the Summit Education Initiative Advisory Board. At her alma mater, she serves on the College of Business Administration Diversity Board, Clinic for Child Study and Family Therapy Advisory Board and the K-16 Steering Committee. Her recent honors include an Akron Aeros 2001 Spirit of Akron Award and Community Service Awards from The Ohio Partner Group and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., both presented in 2000.
Richard C. Fedorovich, an Akron native who graduated from Archbishop Hoban High School in 1970, went on to graduate cum laude from The University of Akron with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He has been a partner in the regional accounting firm of Bober, Markey, Fedorovich & Company since 1982, and managing partner since 1996. His professional memberships include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Fedorovich’s many community activities include being an Akron General Medical Center trustee, member of the Greater Akron Chamber Board and serving as honorary chair of the 2002 harvest for Hunger Campaign for the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank. He also is a member of the College of Business Administration Advancement Council. Fedorovich’s previous honors include the Frank L. Simonnetti Distinguished Business Alumnus Award from UA, the Community and the Distinguished Leadership award from the National Association for Community Leadership programs.
Russell A. Livigni began a long career in industry after earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1956 and a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry in 1960, both at UA. He joined GenCorp (formerly The General Tire & Rubber Co.) in 1961 as a senior research chemist. Livigni progressed through the ranks to become vice president of corporate technology. He retired from GenCorp after 35 years and is now a consultant in polymer and rubber chemistry and research and development organization.
Livigni’s career accomplishments include 38 U.S. patents. He also participated in the development of telechelic polymers (“Telgens”), which have found application as rocket propellant binders in the aerospace industry. Livigni received a Corporate Inventor Award from GenCorp and a Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award from the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society in 1997. Livigni’s service to his alma mater includes serving on The University of Akron Foundation Board of Directors. He also established the Dr. Russell A. Livigni Graduate Scholarship in the Department of Chemistry.
William A. Mallow prepared for his long and productive career by earning a B.S. in chemistry at The University of Akron in 1962 and a M.S. in chemistry at St. Mary’s University in 1968. He worked as a research technician early in his career before joining Southwest Research Institute in 1961 as a research chemist in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. In later years, he also worked in the Department of Mechanical Sciences, and the Department of Materials Sciences. From 1989 to 1998, he served as the institute scientist for the Materials and Structures Division. At the time of his retirement in 1998, Mallow was technical adviser for the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Division.
Mallow has done pioneering work in several areas. He is known in the fields of synthesis of new polymers, polymerization catalysts, cements, soil stabilization, grouts and building materials. He has developed and commercialized many consumer products, including office supplies, pet products, building materials derived from industrial wastes, and specialty sealants, adhesives and grouts.
Robert W. Briggs has taken an active role in his field as well as his community. After earning a B.A. in 1963 at Duke University and a Juris Doctor in 1966 at The Ohio State University College of Law, Briggs served as a staff judge advocate with the United States Air Force from 1967 to 1970. He joined the law firm of Herndon & Bartlo in 1970, which merged with Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs, LLP, in 1971. He was elected shareholder in 1974. From 1985 to 2000, he served on the Board of Managers of the firm, and as its president and CEO from 1990 and 2000.
Briggs is now chairman of the board and a counselor on corporate, business and foundation matters. He also is a co-trustee and executive director of the GAR Foundation. Briggs serves on the boards of several area companies and co-chairs the Board of Overseers of Blossom Music Center. He is a trustee for Summa Health Systems, the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation, Summit Education Initiative, Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education and Northeast Ohio Technology Coalition.
Since Jan. 13, 1969, Pastor Ronald J. Fowler has been senior pastor at the Arlington Church of God, Inc., in Akron. A 1954 graduate of Akron’s East High School, Fowler earned a B.S. in education in 1959 at Kent State University with the aid of a football scholarship. After serving in the military, he taught special and physical education in the Detroit Public Schools. But Fowler heard a special calling and chose to follow in the footsteps of his father, the Rev. Robert J. Fowler. After earning a Master of Divinity degree at what is now the Anderson University School of Theology, he pursued doctorate studies in theology at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Long active in the Akron community, Fowler is a member of the boards of the Knight Foundation and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. He serves on the Summit County Children’s Services Board Community Advisory Committee and the Anderson University Executive Committee. He received honorary degrees from Anderson in 1988 and the California School of Religion in 1990. Fowler and his wife, Ella Le Joyce, are the parents of three adult children.
For nearly 20 years, Pastor Knute Larson has guided The Chapel in Akron as its senior pastor. He and a pastoral staff of 19 offer five Sunday worship services and 300 activities to meet the varied needs of the congregation. Widely known throughout the greater Akron area for his daily one-minute radio and television spots, Larson speaks on issues ranging from leadership issues and communication to community involvement.
Larson is the author of “The Great Human Race,” a book about personal discipline, as well as three other books on ministry and leadership. Prior to his service at The Chapel, the Harrisburg, Pa., native was senior pastor at Grace Brethren Church in Ashland from 1968 to 1983. He earned a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, at Grace College in 1962, a Master of Divinity degree, magna cum laude, at Grace Theological Seminary in 1966 and a Doctor of Ministry at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1997. Larson also is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Grace Graduate School in 1982. He and his wife, Jeanine, have two adult daughters and three grandchildren.
David E. “Gene” Waddell, whose nine-year term on The University of Akron Board of Trustees ends in June, will be honored for his service to his alma mater at Alumni Day as well. For the past year, he has led the Board as its chairman. A 1953 graduate of the University with a degree in business administration, Waddell went on to earn an LL.B. degree at the Western Reserve Law School in 1959. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1960 and is associated with the law firm of Calhoun, Waddell & Hunt in Akron. He is a member of the Akron Bar Association as well as the Ohio Bar Association and American Bar Association, and is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. He served as law director for the city of Fairlawn from 1996 to 2000.
A member of The University of Akron Foundation, Waddell also is past president of the University’s National Alumni Council and a longtime supporter of the Hilltoppers. Waddell was selected as an “Honored Alumnus” in 1978. His other honors include being selected for membership in Omicron Delta Kappa National Honor Society in 1974.
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