Sustaining a Legacy of Achievement Sustaining a Legacy

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TheHistoryof theRuggles AwardOutstandingGraduateA man of foresight and conviction,Harry WyndhamRuggles graduated fromWyoming Seminary in 1899. In the yearsthat followed, he married classmate EmmaG. Rickard and assumed the managementof his family’s lumber business. Under hisleadership, Ruggles Lumber Companyexpanded froma regional retail andwholesale lumber business to includevast timbering and milling along thenorthern tier of Pennsylvania.In 1928, Ruggles joined theWyoming Seminary Board of Trustees.He served faithfully until his death in1953. During his tenure, he servedunder the direction of three presidents and was directly involvedin the planning of various Semprojects including the constructionof Carpenter Hall. Outside the Semcommunity, Ruggles was activein numerous community organizations including the KingstonMethodist Church, the Wilkes-Barre – Wyoming Valley Chamber ofCommerce and the Community Welfare Federation, in addition tomany others. However, none would capture Ruggles’ attention morethen Sem.Following Ruggles’ passing in 1953 his children establishedThe Harry W. and Emma R. Ruggles Award for the OutstandingGraduate to commemorate their parents’ appreciation and loveof Sem. At the time, the school presented a small group of awardsat Commencement celebrating the academic contributions ofthe graduating class. The Ruggles children recognized the need tocelebrate the positive contributions made by those outside of theclassroom.for theFive generations later the Ruggles name has been followedthrough the halls of Sprague by: son, John ’30; grandson John Jr. ’55,Fred ’58 and Richard ’64; great grandchildren, Harvie ’79, John III ’82and Taylor ’85; and great, great grandchildren, Michael ’04, Andrew’07 and Blair Saba ’10.24Photos courtesy of John Ruggles Jr., ’55Ruggles Award continued from page 5“I have been fortunate to land here in the field of sports and entertainment and Iwould have to say it has been a great fit for me; probably my dream job in many ways,”Wilkinson says. “I enjoy sports and I do get to go to a lot of games and other events. Myjob also requires little travel so I get to be a mom and work in a job I love at the sametime.”Before joining the Pacers in 2002, Wilkinson served as Vice President of HumanCapital for eSkye Solutions, an Indianapolis-based pre-IPO technology start-up. Shealso worked for Sara Lee Corporation’s Meat Group in various human resources rolesthroughout the United States.A stand-out athlete in field hockey, basketball and softball at Sem, Wilkinson wasthe school’s first female graduate to receive an athletic scholarship to an NCAA Div. Iinstitution, Duke University. There she co-captained the Blue Devils’ 1988 nationallyrankedfield hockey team, and graduated in 1989 with a bachelor of arts degree ineconomics. She later completed her M.B.A. at Vanderbilt University where she met herhusband Jeffrey. The couple now lives in a suburb of Indianapolis with their two daughtersNatalie and Claire.Wilkinson credits the vision and good counsel of her Sem teachers, coaches andadvisors for her success.“For me it was a time to stretch and explore, to build my self-confidence, weigh myinterests in potential careers and target my goals for the future. Sem gave me a solidfoundation on which to build a career – a foundation that has enabled me to reach higher,achieve more and clearly see a future of wonderful possibilities.”Frederick (Fritz) Bittenbender ’89Vice President of Public Affairs, Cephalon, Inc.Fritz Bittenbender is seen with his wifeHeather and their family in St. Andrews,Scotland last summer: Emma, 8, Teddy, 1and Alec, 6.Fritz Bittenbender’s career inbiotechnology began in a ratherunusual place: Pennsylvaniagovernment. During his nearlyeight years in the Governor’s officehe worked to bring in business andadvance the state’s economy; his work withthe growing biotechnology sector inspiredhim to join the industry and focus his effortson establishing Pennsylvania as a leader inthe bioscience field.Bittenbender, who began developinghis interests in politics while at Sem, firstbecame involved with state governmentas a graduate student at the University ofPennsylvania’s Fels Center of Government;he worked on the Tom Ridge gubernatorial campaign in Philadelphia. After Ridge’ssuccessful campaign, Bittenbender joined his administration in 1995, and was later namedDirector of the Governor’s Office of Public Liaison. He later was named Deputy Chief ofStaff for the Governor where he acted as liaison between the Governor and Cabinet levelagencies in state government. Bittenbender remained in the Governor’s office during MarkSchweiker’s administration and served as the secretary of administration, which acts asthe non-financial chief operating office for state government. As secretary, he chaired theCommonwealth’s important Tobacco Settlement Investment Board, which established theendowment of Pennsylvania’s tobacco settlement funds; $60 million of those funds wereinvested in private venture capital companies for development of Pennsylvania biosciencecompanies.
In 2002 Bittenbender took his career in a new direction. He wasnamed president of Pennsylvania Bio, a statewide trade group thatworks to unite and advance the Commonwealth’s more than 2,000bioscience-related companies. He served as a spokesman and advocatefor the industry and directed the association’s federal and stategovernment relations activities, communications and overall industryrelations.Bittenbender now is vice president of public affairs atCephalon, Inc., joining the firm in 2005. One of the fastest growingbiopharmaceutical companies in the nation, Cephalon employs about4,000 people around the world and sells numerous branded andgeneric products in about 100 countries. There he is responsible forthe company’s global corporate communications, strategic positioning,directing its federal, state and local government affairs activities,representing the company to community and industry groups andmanaging Cephalon’s charitable giving.“During my tenure in state government it became obvious thatthe biopharmaceutical industry presented tremendous economicopportunity to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he says.“Few people realize it because we have not done an adequate jobtelling the story, but our state is a global leader in the developmentand manufacturing of innovative medicines and medical devices.The research and development that Pennsylvania companies areundertaking will have an incredible impact on human health aroundthe world.”Bittenbender also serves as president of the Cephalon CaresFoundation which donates free medicines to thousands of patients inneed. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the PhiladelphiaConvention and Visitors Bureau and the Committee of Seventy inPhiladelphia. In addition, he is a board member of PACT, the ChesterCounty Chamber of Commerce, the Philadelphia Biotechnology andLife Sciences Congress and Sting Communications.He admits that while at Sem, politics and government was muchmore interesting to him than science. “I am certain that my twooutstanding science teachers at Wyoming Seminary, Gary Vanderburgand Dr. John Dickinson, would both be shocked that I entered afield that involved science! However, I can say without equivocationthat the education I received, the relationships that I forged and theopportunities that I was given at Sem in large part prepared me for therole that I have today.”Bittenbender holds a bachelor of arts degree in international relationsand a master of arts degree in government administration, both from theUniversity of Pennsylvania. He and his wife Heather Schleicher are theparents of three children, Alec, Emma and Teddy.The Rev. Natalya Sharp Cherry ’94Pastor, Christ United Methodist ChurchAlthough from its inception Wyoming Seminary has been formedand inspired by the United Methodist Church, very few of its recentgraduates have chosen to become Methodist ministers. Natalya Cherryis one of those graduates, and even for her, the road to ministry did notbecome clear until after she had left Kingston.“I knew this was my path in life when I couldn’t walk away fromthe experience of hearing God’s voice, because all the neon arrowspointing the way were so obvious and because everything I needed justkept falling into my lap,” she says.In 1998, in her senior year as an English major at GeorgetownUniversity, Rev. Cherry received the Denit Fellowship at WesleyTheological Seminary in Washington, D.C., which allowed her to earnher master of divinity degree in 2001. Her first appointment, to a smalltrio of churches in Knoxville, Pa. in rural Tioga County, also includedwork with a dynamic group called “Salt n’ Light Youth Ministry,”encouraging youth and young adults who were interested in ministry.She and her husband Paul, had a countryside wedding there in 2002.In 2005, at the request of her bishop, Rev. Cherry moved to theAldersgate UMC in Mechanicsburg, Pa. to serve as the CommunityLife Pastor. Only a year later, however, she was appointed to the ChristUMC congregation in Tower City, a growing church family of about212 members who come from Schuylkill and Dauphin Counties. Thereshe pioneers a mission-focused church renewal initiative, sings in theFamily Choir and is initiating a 34-week DISCIPLE Bible Study, inaddition to her regular pastoral duties. She also is a member of theWilliams Valley Ministerium and served as its president; she is activein the local food pantry and crisis pregnancy center; and has served theSusquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church on severalmajor committees.Within the UnitedMethodist community,as well as other faithcommunities, Rev. Cherryis perhaps best knownfor her series of dramaticand comedic Bible scripts,which explore the common coreof Christian faith. Her scripts areperformed at Annual Conferencesand have been disseminated on theConference web site to all membercongregations. “My scripts arenow being performed in churchesof all denominations throughoutmy area so people think of faith innew ways and take action togetheracross denominational lines,”she says.The Rev. Natalya Sharp Cherry andher husband Paul and son Gregory.A faithful four-year member of the Sem Players who frequently wonleading roles, Rev. Cherry, her husband and their three-year-old sonGregory enjoy visiting retired English teacher and drama director CarverCollins who directed her in many productions. She credits him and otherSem teachers with teaching her critical thinking, analysis and logic.“These vital elements of my Sem education equip me to practiceprophetic leadership responsibly, as I’m sure they permit many otherRuggles Award winners to challenge the system effectively as well.”Continued on next page25
Page 8 and 9: Wyoming Seminary JournalSpring 2011
Page 10 and 11: Walking expert visits SemMark Fento
Page 12 and 13: RememberingDr. Wallace F. StettlerD
Page 14 and 15: Wyoming Seminary Journal Spring 201
Page 21 and 22: eunions1990ReunionsFirst Row: Pamel
Page 25: Wyoming Seminary Journal Spring 201
Page 29 and 30: Liqian Ma ’02Graduate student, Ha
Page 33 and 34: C l a s s N o t e s1963HARRY SCHOOL
Page 35 and 36: C l a s s N o t e s1974DAVID STETTL
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Page 39 and 40: B i r t h s1987CAROLYN KEPLINGER KU
Page 41 and 42: O b i t u a r i e sthe past 25 year
Page 43 and 44: O b i t u a r i e sattended Wyoming
Page 45 and 46: O b i t u a r i e sin a number of e
Page 47 and 48: Financial AidPhoto: Michael Kudelsk

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