[ search ]
[ how do i? ]
[ e-mail forwarding ]
[ alumni directory ]

Alumni Achievement Award: Recipients: 2001-2010
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2007 Recipients:

• Tabbetha A. Dobbins ’02g EMS
• Kameswar Rao Ellajosyula ’98g Agr
• Alexander A. Guk ’00 Har*
• Keegan-Michael Key ’96g A&A
• Darren P. Lehrich ’93 H&HD
• Paul H. Lerou ’96 Sci
• Heath A. Mitts ’96g Grad*
• Michael Signora ’96 Com
• Evan S. Trost ’02g Med
• G. Patrick Vennebush ’94 Edu

* Nominating college, if different from graduating college or campus.

Tabbetha A. Dobbins ’02g EMS

Tabbetha Dobbins is an assistant professor with a joint appointment in physics at Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University. After receiving her doctorate from Penn State in 2002, Dobbins was awarded the prestigious National Research Council Post-Doctoral Fellowship to do research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Dobbins’ dissertation focused on how high-temperature thermal spray conditions affected the quality of thermal barrier coatings—a critical component to the performance of commercial jet engines. She continues to do cutting-edge research in applying synchrotron x-ray analysis to modern engineering problems in carbon nanotubes, the hydrogen fuel economy, and polymer self-assembly. She already has an excellent record of publication in the top journals for materials research, which includes 13 scholarly publications.

Dobbins also excels in teaching and outreach. In her position, she has mentored students in both graduate and undergraduate research projects and promoted the students’ professional research. She works diligently to engage Louisiana Tech and Grambling State universities in joint research with Penn State in the area of synchrotron X-ray studies. One focus of this collaboration is on introducing women and minority students to state-of-the-art instrumentation and to the excitement of materials research. Students from these two institutions travel to Penn State to conduct research expanding the capabilities and relationships of all three universities, while at the same time, attracting and recruiting students to Penn State’s graduate science programs.

Dobbins is a member of the Louisiana Science Teacher’s Association and serves on the Louisiana State University Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices User Participation Committee. She lives in Ruston, La.

Kameswar Rao Ellajosyula ’98g Agr

Kamesh Ellajosyula is general manager of India Product Solution Centre for Rich Kwality Products, an international business venture of Rich Products Corporation of Buffalo, N.Y.

The recipient of several scholarships and research awards while at Penn State, Ellajosyula's thesis research on the destruction of gram-negative pathogens (E. coli and Salmonella) in fermented foods was used to craft new food safety regulations for the fermented meats industry and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ellajosyula's research showed that through the interaction of fermentation pH, heating temperature, and time, food-borne pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli bacteria could be destroyed in fermented sausage products.

Ellajosyula started with Rich Products as a food safety and stability scientist, was promoted to leadership roles with the Global Research and Development Management Office, Supply Chain projects, and new product research and development. Ellajosyula was recognized with Rich Product Corporation's "Wall of Fame Award" for breakthrough innovations to eliminate process problems, playing a key role in implementing multi-million dollar cost reduction initiatives, and establishing a stage gate review process for new product development.

Ellajosyula received a bachelor's degree from Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University in India in 1994, a master's degree in food science from Penn State in 1998, and a master's degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 2005. Business First, Buffalo’s business journal, recognized him with its “40 Under 40 Award” in 2002. He has been a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, the agriculture honor society, since 1997 and Beta Gamma Sigma, the international business honor society, since 2005. In 2004, he was recognized with the College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Recent Alumni Award.

Ellajosyula has relocated with his family to India for his current assignment.

Alexander A. Guk ’00 Har*

Alexander Guk is vice president of technology for Webclients.net, a Harrisburg-based corporation that has revolutionized online advertising.

Launched in 1998 with just $400 by Guk and Penn State Harrisburg classmate Mounir Elabridi, Webclients.net allows advertisers to track online marketing results and only pay for those that resulted in qualified leads and sales. As the company’s chief technology officer, Guk developed the technology that powers the company and its services. This has enabled Webclients.net to grow rapidly over the years, from $7.2 million in revenue in 2000 to an estimated $200 million in revenue in 2006. In 2005, Webclients.net was sold to ValueClick, a California-based leader in Internet marketing, for $141 million. The company is still located in Harrisburg, Pa., and 30 percent of its employees are Penn State Harrisburg alumni.

Recently, Guk and business associate and fellow alumnus J. Alex Hartzler ’90 funded a Trustee Matching Scholarship at Penn State Harrisburg to support talented students with demonstrated financial need.

Guk settled in Pennsylvania in 1997 after years of religious persecution in his homeland of Belarus. Guk and his wife, Elena reside in Mechanicsburg, Pa., with their three children.

Keegan-Michael Key ’96g A&A

Keegan-Michael Key is an actor and television personality who is quickly gaining a national reputation through his roles as host of The Planet’s Funniest Animals on the Animal Planet and as a leading cast member on Fox’s sketch comedy program,
MADtv.

A classically trained actor, Key is now finding success at improvisational comedy writing. His widely versatile range of talent has earned him a number of honors, including being recognized in 2003 by Chicago Business as one of 40 people under age 40 making a mark in his or her profession.

Key got his start in comedy at Second City, the premiere improvisational company in North America. He was a company member and writer first with The Second City–Detroit and then with The Second City e.t.c. in Chicago. While working in Chicago, he was nominated for and won a number of Joseph Jefferson Awards, which honor excellence in Chicago theatre, for his work in revues such as Holy War, Batman! and Curious George Goes to War.

Key first appeared on MADtv as a featured guest in the 2003–04 season and was promoted to a regular cast member in the 2004–05 season. He is known for a number of memorable characters and celebrity impersonations including Al Roker, Dennis Rodman, and Snoop Dog.

Key is one of the founding members of the Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck, Mich., where he has directed several productions. In 1999, he wrote the interactive play Big Mama’s Wedding. He has taught at the University of Detroit, The Second City Training Center, Mosaic Youth Theatre, and Wayne State University. Key is a member of the Actors Equity Association and Screen Actors Guild.

Darren P. Lehrich ’93 H&HD

Darren Lehrich joined Deutsche Bank in 2005 as a managing director on the Companies Research Team in Global Markets. Lehrich covers the health care facilities sector and provides broad coverage across a variety of health care sub-sectors, including acute care hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient dialysis facilities, behavioral hospitals, and post-acute care providers.

Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Lehrich was a managing director and senior analyst covering the health care facilities sector at Piper Jaffray and Co. He has also held positions at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and at ING Barrings LLC. Before joining Wall Street in 1998, Lehrich worked at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he served in a practice management role in the ambulatory care division, working with several of the hospital’s prominent medical oncology practices.

In addition to his bachelor’s degree in Health Policy and Administration from Penn State, Lehrich holds a 1998 M.B.A. in Finance from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.

A life member of the Penn State Alumni Association, Lehrich is married to the former Ellen Katz, a 1993 Penn State graduate. They have three sons, Sammy, Jonathan, and Jed, and reside in Summit, N.J.

Paul H. Lerou ’96 Sci

Paul Lerou is a neonatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and a research scientist in the George Daley Laboratory at Children’s Hospital Boston.

At the Daley Laboratory at Children’s Hospital, Lerou heads the human embryonic stem cell derivation program. The ultimate goal of this research is to generate patient-specific human embryonic stem cells in the hopes that these can be used to treat disease. Lerou co-authored a paper, recently published in the journal Science, that described a novel and efficient means of generating genetically matched mouse embryonic stem cells from unfertilized eggs.

In addition to his research work, Lerou is a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School where he is an instructor in pediatrics and is a neonatologist in the Division of Newborn Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since 2005.

Lerou is originally from Belgium and moved to Chadds Ford, Pa., in 1984. He was a student in Penn State's Accelerated Premedical-Medical Program. Following his graduation from Penn State, Lerou attended Jefferson Medical College, where he earned the Alumni Prize in 1998. Lerou did his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital Boston, then served as a Chief Resident at Children’s prior to his Perinatal-Neonatal Medicine Fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Lerou resides in Newton, Mass., with his wife, Melissa, and their three daughters, Ella, Lilly, and Abigail.

Heath A. Mitts ’96g Grad*

Heath A. Mitts is the vice president of corporate finance at IDEX Corporation. Headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., IDEX Corporation is a $1.1 billion applied solutions company specializing in fluid and metering technologies, health and science technologies, dispensing equipment, and fire, safety and other diversified products built to its customers’ exacting specifications.

The vice president of corporate finance since 2005, Mitts’ responsibilities include treasury and capital management, corporate financial planning, and overall business portfolio analysis for the IDEX, a corporation that has 4,400 employees on six continents.

Before joining IDEX, Mitts worked for PerkinElmer, Inc., most recently as chief financial officer of PerkinElmer Asia, based in Singapore. In this role, he was the lead financial executive for 16 locations in 12 countries representing more than $350 million in annual revenue. Prior to PerkinElmer, Mitts was the finance director of a $980 million aerospace avionics business for Honeywell International.

Mitts received his bachelor’s of business administration in finance and bachelor’s of arts in political science from Southern Methodist University in 1993. He is a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association and lives with his wife, Micaela, and their six-year-old daughter, Aidan, in Glencoe, Ill.

Michael Signora ’96 Com

Michael Signora is the director of media relations and international communications for the National Football League.

In this role, Signora is responsible for directing media operations of all NFL events, including the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, AFC and NFC Championship Games, and the NFL Draft. Signora oversees football publicity efforts for the league, driving media coverage to support multiple NFL initiatives and serving as spokesman to the media on key league issues and policies.

Responsible for publicizing and promoting numerous endeavors designed to enhance the profile of football internationally, Signora will lead all publicity and media operations efforts for the league’s new international regular-season game initiative, which ensures that up to two regular-season NFL games will be played outside the United States in each of the next five seasons. Signora is playing a leading role in NFL efforts to cultivate a fan base in China, directing publicity and media operations efforts for the 2007 China Bowl this summer between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, the league’s first-ever game in the world’s most populous country.

After interning with the NFL for three summers during his time at Penn State, Signora joined the league office as a communications assistant in June 1996. He then served as the league’s coordinator of corporate communications and international affairs and the NFC information manager before assuming his current position.

Signora has retained close ties to Penn State. He is a member since 2001 of the College of Communications Alumni Society Board and serves as a mentor to Penn State students.

He lives in Malverne, N.Y., with his wife, Nicole ’95, and their infant son, Peter.

Evan S. Trost ’02g Med

Evan S. Trost is a family physician in Scottsdale, Ariz., who specializes in wellness and preventative medicine.

In his practice, Troon Family and Preventative Care, Trost dedicates a portion of his time to the care of patients with Tourette Syndrome. He has a passion for helping children with tic disorders and has established himself as an expert on this condition. Trost volunteers a substantial amount of time with the Tourette Syndrome Association and was featured on an HBO special, I have Tourette’s, But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me, which received a 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Program.

Another area where Trost is very involved is geriatrics. As part of the physician group American Physicians, Trost helps provide medical care to 70 nursing homes seeing an average of 100 elderly patients each week. In addition, Trost is the medical director for Hospice INSPIRIS, Westchester Care Center, Scottsdale Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Avalon Shadow Mountain Care Center, Capri Care Center, and Ridgecrest Healthcare. He also volunteers his time as a school physician for Scottsdale’s Coronado High School.

Trost was recognized by the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians in 2005 with the prestigious Grobe Award. He was also named the General Clinic Research Center Student Scholar by Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in 1999.

Trost stays connected to his alma mater by serving as an informal mentor and contact for students interested in entering family practice or practicing medicine in Arizona.

G. Patrick Vennebush ’94 Edu

Patrick Vennebush has contributed to the advancement of mathematics education by developing standards-based math resources for pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers.

In his role as online projects manager for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Vennebush and his team of 20 content writers and technical staff develop mathematics content for Illuminations, a professional development Web site that provides free standards-based lessons and online activities for teachers.

Prior to joining the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Vennebush served as a member of the professional development group at Educational Testing Services. Before that, he worked as associate director of PBS TeacherLine, an online professional development program for teachers, and as the curriculum coordinator for MATHCOUNTS, a national program that promotes math excellence among middle school students by hosting statewide and national math competitions and providing free curriculum materials to school teachers. Vennebush began his teaching career at the Mercer Area Junior/Senior High School in 1994.

Vennebush has written math problems for the American Mathematics Competition, the Polya competition, the Mathematics Teacher "Calendar," and the Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School "Menu of Problems." He has also served two terms as the editor of the "Media Clips" column in the Mathematics Teacher journal.

Vennebush lives in Falls Church, Va., with his wife, Nadine Block.