Proud - Youngstown State University

Lifelong athlete Joni
(Covert) Moore
of Salado, Texas, ’88
BA in Psychology and
Social Work, is training
to compete in the
Ironman World Championship,
set for Oct.
11 in Kona, Hawaii.
A U.S. Army veteran,
she’s raising funds
for the Children of
Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund, a nonprofit that provides
college grants and financial assistance to surviving
children and spouses of U.S. soldiers who lost their
lives in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. To donate, visit
her Web site, http://www.elitefeat.com/. Moore has
completed 10 Ironman triathlon contests and her sixth
place finish in Ironman Arizona this year qualified her
for the championship competition for the second time.
She owns the Hodgepodge Massage Lodge, a massage
therapy clinic in Salado.
among the top 40 global innovators by
Manufacturing Business Technology, and
Boston Women’s Business named her
among its “Five Women to Watch” in 2007.
Selanik Meisner has a bachelor’s degree in
biology from Kenyon College and a master’s
in business administration from Case
Western Reserve University.
Jeffrey Ferezan
of Ashville, N.C.,
’78 BS, has joined
Asheville-Buncombe
Technical Community
College in the
newly created position
of vice president
of college initiatives
to lead collegewide
new ventures.
Jeffrey Ferezan Ferezan had been associate
vice president
for community and legislative relations at
Northwest State Community College in
Archbold, Ohio. Ferezan earned a master’s
degree in business administration from
Franklin University and is completing a
doctorate in higher education administration
with a concentration on leadership
and systems from The Union Institute
and University in
Cincinnati.
80s
Melanie D. Jones
of Warren, ’80 BS
in law enforcement,
administration
and sociology,
was named to the
Trumbull County
African American Melanie Jones
Achievers Association’s
Hall of Fame. Jones is a licensed
social worker, a certified family assessor
and a certified surrogate parent for
students with learning disabilities.
She is employed by Northeast Ohio
Adoption Services as a permanency
planning specialist where she was
also named the agency’s Social
Worker of the Year for 2008.
Maureen K. Grapes Yambar
of Youngstown, ’80 AAB, and ’93
BA, recently retired from YSU’s
Payroll Office after 30 years of
public service. Yambar started as a
student office assistant in the office,
and from 1996 until her retirement
she was an administrative assistant,
responsible for the payment
and reporting for more than 4,500
employees.
James M. Kerrigan of Hubbard,
’81 Associate in Arts, has been
the owner of Kerrigan Insurance
Agency in Hubbard, Ohio,
since 1982.
David Gemmel
of Boardman,
’86 BA, has
been named
senior director of
medical education
and research for
Humility of Mary
Health Partners
where he will direct
the graduate
medical education
residency
David Gemmel
programs at St.
Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown, and
St. Joseph Health Center, Warren. Gemmel,
formerly director of research for HMHP,
has master’s and doctorate degrees from
the University of Akron and Kent State
University, respectively.
Elsa Higby of Youngstown, ’87 BA in
speech communications and music, is the
founder of Grow Youngstown, a new organization
that promotes the growth of food,
forage, forest and fuel in the Mahoning
County region. Higby recently moved back
to the Mahoning Valley from Manhattan,
N.Y., where she was involved in a similar
cooperative. Visit growyoungstown.org.
Sharon Rae North of Atlanta, ’87 BA,
presented a $400 donation to the American
Diabetes Association Southeast Division
office in Atlanta. She raised the contribution
by donating a portion of the proceeds
from the sale of her CD, “The Way You
Make Me Feel.” North also sang the
national anthem for the July 4th celebration
at the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Plantation in
Greensboro, Ga. last summer. A popular
performer in the Atlanta area, she has
been invited to sing in Shanghai, Taiwan,
Portugal and at Croatia’s Jazz in Lapidarij
Festival.
Gary White of State College, Pa., ’88
BS, was awarded the 2008 Gale Cengage
Learning Award for Excellence in Business
Librarianship, presented annually by the
American Library Association. White is
head of the Schreyer Business Library at
Penn State University in State College,
where he is a Ph.D. candidate. White holds
a master’s degree in library science from
Kent State University, and an MBA from
the University of Akron, has edited three
books and published more than 28 journal
articles. He is editor of the Journal of Business
and Finance Librarianship.
Karen Cohen of
East Palestine, ’89
BSBA in accounting,
’90, MBA, was named
the 2008 Youngstown-
Warren area ATHENA
Award recipient in
May, selected from a
field of 32 nominees
on the basis of her
professional achievements
and community
Karen Cohen
service. Cohen is a
certified public accountant and partner
at Packer-Thomas, a regional accounting
firm with offices in Youngstown and New
Castle, Pa.
Migdalia Diaz
McClendon of
Boardman, ’89,
BSBA, was awarded
the Shero/Hero of
Health Award by
the Ohio Commission
of Minority
Health. The award
recognizes her
efforts to narrow
health disparities for
minorities, her leadership
in the ethnic
community and her work with collegebound
students and their parents. McClendon
is assistant director of YSU’s Office of
Undergraduate Admissions and a volunteer
bilingual radio announcer for weekend
programs on 1500 AM-WGFT the Gift and
WYSU-FM. She is also a former volunteer
board member for Organizacion Civica y
Cultural Hispana Americana Inc. and the
Mahoning County Treatment Alternatives
to Street Crimes Inc.
Susan Moorer
Migdalia Diaz
McClendon
Susan Moorer of
Austintown, ’89 BA
in speech communication,
was presented
the Edna K. Mc-
Donald Award for
Cultural Awareness in
April, in recognition
of her contributions
to cultural diversity
on the YSU campus.
She also received her
52 Youngstown State University