ycoming College presents alumni awards during Homecoming activities

From left: Ekke Schneemann; President James E. Douthat; Melanie Taormina

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa — The Lycoming College Alumni Association presented its annual awards to four outstanding members of the Lycoming community on Oct. 11 during Homecoming activities. Award recipients are selected by the Alumni Association Executive Board from nominations received from alumni and other members of the College community.The Angela R. Kyte Outstanding Alumnus Award was presented to the Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, a 1965 Lycoming graduate. Edgar has been president and CEO of Common Cause, a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizens lobby, since May 2007. He was previously general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA. Edgar sits on the boards of several organizations, including Independent Sector, Families USA and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and is the author of the book “Middle Church.”

Edgar served as a six-term U.S. Congressman beginning in 1974. Elected in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Edgar was among those who were responsible for sweeping reforms of Congress. He led efforts to improve public transportation, fought wasteful water projects and served on the House Select Committee on Assassinations that investigated the deaths of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.

Edgar earned a master of divinity degree from the Theological School of Drew University and holds five honorary doctoral degrees, including one from Lycoming. Edgar and his wife, Merle, have three sons and seven grandchildren.

The Angela R. Kyte Outstanding Alumnus Award is given in honor of an alumnus who has demonstrated a lifetime of service to humanity and whose life exemplifies those qualities encouraged and fostered at Lycoming and by its predecessor institutions.

The Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to David L. and Carol “Missy” (Marsland) Schoch, who both graduated from Lycoming in 1973.

David has spent most of his career with Ford Motor Company, where he is executive director of Ford Canada and South America. He previously served as CFO and VP of finance and strategic planning of Ford Europe and CFO of Ford Asia-Pacific as well as holding financial leadership positions with the company in South America, South Africa, Europe and North America. Throughout his career, David has served as a member of the board of directors of various automotive joint ventures in China, Thailand, North America, Turkey, India, Russia, South Africa and Japan. He holds an MBA in finance from Temple University.

In 2006, Missy founded the Detroit Children’s Choir, which she continues to direct. In the mid-’90s, she founded and directed the International Choir of Sao Paolo in Brazil, where she also established a choral program for children and teens.

She has sung with numerous choirs around the world, including the London Choral Society; the State Opera Chorus, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa; the Cantata Academy of Metropolitan Detroit; and the Birmingham First Chamber Ensemble, also in Michigan. She earned a master of music degree in choral conducting and vocal pedagogy from Oakland University.

The Schochs are the parents of three daughters.

The Outstanding Achievement Award is given in recognition of an alumnus who has achieved a significant accomplishment that reflects positively on Lycoming and/or its predecessor institutions, in a professional field or another area of accomplishment.

The Dale V. Bower Service Award was presented to Ekke Schneemann, who attended Lycoming as a German exchange student in the mid-’60s.

On five occasions since 1990, he has hosted the Lycoming College Tour Choir in his hometown of Wagenfeld, Germany, rallying the village in support of the group through community meals, village housing and attendance at concerts.

Schneemann and his wife, Helmi, have three sons and a grandson.

The Dale V. Bower Service Award Given to an individual for outstanding service rendered to Lycoming College. The recipient of this award may or may not be a Lycoming alumnus.

Lycoming College Calendar of Events

Through Nov. 1
Fall Symposium: The Gendered Body – Art exhibit: Gulia Huber presents “Trespassing”
Fine Arts Lobby

Oct. 21
Mathematics Colloquium: Christiana M. Karr, junior mathematics major, presents “Feuerbach’s Nine Point Circle.”
3:15 p.m., B-306, Academic Center

Oct. 21
Fall Symposium: The Gendered Body – Joan Jacobs Brumberg presents “The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls”
7:30 p.m., Barclay Lecture Hall, G-11, Heim Bldg.

Oct. 22
Astronomy and Physics Colloquium: The Lycoming College Chapter of the Society of Physics students host “Steven Hawking Comments upon the 50th Anniversary of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).”
4:30 p.m., C-303, Academic Center

Oct. 23
Concerts at Noon: American Songbook
Noon, Shangraw Performance Hall, Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall

Oct. 23
Archaeology Colloquium: Dr. Baruch Halpern, Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies; Professor of Ancient History, Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies, Pennsylvania State Univ., presents “Archaeology and the Bible.”
4 p.m., C-303, Academic Center

Oct. 26
Close-Up Concert: Flamenco to Tango
4 p.m., Shangraw Performance Hall, Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall
For ticket information, call the music dept. at 570-321-4016.

Oct. 28
Fall Symposium: The Gendered Body: Gulia Huber multi-media presentation
7:30 p.m., G-11, Barclay Lecture Hall, Heim Bldg.

Oct. 29
Award-winning river conservation author Tim Palmer to speak.
7 p.m., G-09, Heim Bldg.

Nov. 3
IMS Visiting Executive: Adam Sieminski, Chief Energy Economist Deutsche Bank/Global Markets presents “Oil Market Outlook: Bubble or Trouble?”
7 p.m., G-11, Barclay Lecture Hall, Heim Bldg.

Nov. 7
Opening and Artist’s Reception: Nicole Arendt
6-9 p.m., Digital Media Gallery, Communications Bldg.

Nov. 9
Habitat for Humanity 5K Run for Shelter
College Place, Lamade Gymnasium Rain site: Recreation Center

Nov. 9
Music at Lycoming: Lycoming College Concert Band
4 p.m., Community Arts Center

Nov. 11
James W. Harding Executive Speaker: Stephen Harrison ’61, Chairman of Lee Hecht Harrison, presents “The New Leadership Imperative: From Compliance to Decency”
7 p.m., G-11, Barclay Lecture Hall, Heim Bldg.

Nov. 14
Music at Lycoming: Fugues, Alleluias and More
8 p.m., Shangraw Performance Hall, Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall

Nov. 14-15
The theatre dept. presents “A Fitting Confusion” a French farce, by Georges Feydeau
Directed by Fred Wild
8 p.m., Mary L. Welch Theatre
For tickets, call 321-4048.

Nov. 15
Admissions Open House
Call 321-4126 for information

Energy economist to speak at Lycoming College

Adam E. Sieminski, the chief energy economist for Deutsche Bank, a leading global investment company

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Adam E. Sieminski, the chief energy economist for Deutsche Bank, a leading global investment company, will speak at Lycoming College on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in Heim Building G-11. Sieminski’s lecture, titled “Oil Market Outlook: Bubble or Trouble?,” is part of the College’s Institute for Management Studies’ visiting executive series.Sieminski works with the bank’s global commodities research and trading units. He forecasts energy-market trends and writes on a variety of topics, such as energy economics, climate change, politics and commodity products.

From 1988-97, Sieminski served as the senior energy analyst for NatWest Securities U.S., where he covered the major U.S. international integrated oil companies. In 1998, he joined Deutsche Bank, and served on the company’s global oil and gas equity team.

In addition to his work with Deutsche Bank, Sieminski is a member of the United States National Petroleum Council, an advisory group to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, and is serving on the council’s global oil and gas study coordinating committee. He is also a senior advisor for the Center of Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Sieminski has spoken on energy topics before Congress, the U.S. Department of Energy and the International Energy Agency.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University. Sieminski is a member of the London, New York and Washington investment professional societies and holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

The Institute for Management Studies at Lycoming College is a collaborative organization, bringing together the accounting, business administration and economics departments to help students make connections that will further their careers.

Lycoming College alumna and former trustee makes significant gift in memory of her late husband

Rosanna Lowry

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – A third house at Lycoming College’s new residential complex has been named. Rosanna Lowry, a 1972 graduate of Lycoming and a former member of the College’s board of trustees, has made a significant gift to Lycoming to have one of six houses at The Commons named the “Robert S. Lowry House” in memory of her late husband, who passed away in February.

“As an alumna, I am indebted to the liberal arts credentials that Lycoming College gave me to pursue my life’s work in areas that I not only loved, but were much diversified,” said Lowry. “Likewise, while on the board of trustees, I saw Lycoming become a national liberal arts college and the board was just in the developing stages of the new residential houses. In fact, I now have the privilege of naming one of them in honor of my late husband, Robert S. Lowry.”

Robert Lowry was the president of the Lowry Electric Co. He also was a member of the Williamsport Rotary Club and a board member of Commonwealth Bank. A graduate of Bucknell, he was a veteran of World War II, where he served in the Army Air Corps.

“Robert Lowry spent 13 years as a child being raised in the house that previously existed where this residential complex now stands,” said Lowry. “He had many fond memories growing up here and could not have been more pleased to find his old home being replaced by Lycoming College to create a residential complex for young men and women endeavoring to advance themselves. I remember him often taking detours during the demolition of the old house and the construction of the new building just to check the progress. He felt it was indicative of the direction both the city and the College were moving: forward. Robert’s name on this house recognizes his desire to give something back to a community he felt gave him so much throughout his life. He would continue to be well pleased with both Lycoming College and the city of Williamsport.”

A resident of Montoursville, Pa., Rosanna Lowry twice served on Lycoming’s board of trustees, the last time in 2001. She retired in 1998 after serving 14 years as a teacher at the East Lycoming School District’s Carl G. Renn Elementary School. She is on the board of the Williamsport’s Children’s Development Center. She earned a master’s degree from Bloomsburg University.

“Rosie Lowry’s decision to recognize her late husband, Robert, in this manner is a great honor for Lycoming College,” said Lycoming President James E. Douthat. “Her long-term support of the College has been greatly appreciated. Naming this residential facility for Robert is a wonderful way for her to recognize him and his contributions to the area.”

The Commons opened in August 2007. Located at the corner of Mulberry Street and Washington Boulevard, the 29,000-square-foot building was designed with facade and landscaping to identify six houses. The building accommodates 85 students within 22 units and features furnished living rooms, bedrooms, baths, and kitchen appliances.

Lady Warriors drop 3-0 decision against Division II Kutztown

PINE GROVE, Pa. – The Lycoming College volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision against Division II Kutztown University on Monday, Oct. 13, at Pine Grove Area High School.

The game was played at Pine Grove High School in honor of a former Kutztown player that last her life in an accident. The game was established to support scholarship funds at Kutztown and at Pine Grove Area.

The Lady Warriors were overmatched by the Kutztown squad, dropping the match in three sets (25-12, 25-13, 25-16).

Senior Heather Frantz (Pine Grove, Pa.), a 2005 graduate of Pine Grove High School, led Lycoming with a double-digit kill performance. She finished the match with 10 of the team’s 20 total kills. She also recorded eight digs.

Abby Myers (Shippensburg, Pa.) handed out 10 assists while fellow setter Amy Sharlow (Fair Lawn, N.J.) added nine.

Emily Abel (Spring Grove, Pa.) led the defensive effort with 14 digs.

The Lady Warriors drop to 11-14 overall with the loss while remaining 0-3 in the Commonwealth Conference.

Lycoming will travel to Albright on Wednesday, Oct. 15, for a 7 p.m. conference match.