Anniversary Awards

The 150th Anniversary Awards at St. Bonaventure University, established at the cusp of the University’s 150^_th anniversary celebration, recognize individuals and organizations who are significant to the life, culture, mission and history of St. Bonaventure University. The award can also recognize individuals or organizations who have demonstrated uncommon support to St. Bonaventure University.  The Anniversary Awards honor and, in doing so, document the significant accomplishments, contributions, and milestones of people and organizations who have enabled the success and distinction of the University as it celebrates its 150th anniversary. 

The awards - special 150th Anniversary Medallions - will be announced and presented throughout the University's 2008-2009 anniversary celebration. Please check back periodically as we acknowledge these special individuals. 

150th Anniversary Award Recipients:

Victoria Corderi, a correspondent for NBC News and “Dateline NBC” who graduated magna cum laude from St. Bonaventure in 1979. 

The Rev. Daniel McKee accepted the medallion on behalf of his late wife, Barbara Carr McKee, a longtime University administrator who gave her time and diverse talents to the St. Bonaventure community for more than 15 years. 

Catherine Jandoli accepted the award on behalf of her late husband, Russell J. Jandoli, founder of the University's journalism program. Jandoli served with extraordinary resolve in his 44 years as a mentor to men and women of character and ambition. 

  

Don Postles, anchor with WIVB-TV in Buffalo. Mr. Postles was honored for his many years of support and advocacy as an anchor and reporter for WIVB-TV in Buffalo and as the emcee of our Gaudete Dinner and Awards ceremonies.  His son, Michael, graduated from the University with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication in May of 2008 and was part of the audience when the award was presented at the conclusion of the 2008 Baccalaureate Ceremony and Mass at the Reilly Center Arena. 

Michael “Mike” Duffy, ’53, was the National Alumni Association Board president from 1977-1980. He was also a Reunion 2008 co-chair for his class and a member of the Board of Trustees. He lives in Pittsford, N.Y., with his wife, Carol.







 

Robert “Bob” Mantilia, ’73, was the National Alumni Association Board president from 1992-1994. His son, Andrew, graduated from SBU. He was a Reunion 2008 co-chair for his class and was a member of the Board of Trustees. He lives in New Canaan, Conn., with his wife, Susan.










 

Kathleen “Kathy” Brady, ’68, served on the Board of Trustees from 1996 until 1999. She has continually supported the University’s New York City alumni and journalism events. She was a Reunion 2008 co-chair for her class.































 

Robert “Bob” Jones, ’58, has a long, distinguished history of service to his alma mater. As a Bona student he was the President of Student Government and the “Ideal Bonaventure Man.” As a member of the Board of Trustees and later as chair, he served an unprecedented 23 years of service from 1975 until 1998. Bob and his wife, Carole, made the largest undesignated capital gift to the campaign in 1988. He was named the Alumnus of the Year in 1978 and in 1992 he received the James L. Hayes Volunteer Award for his efforts as Capital Campaign Chair. He was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree (D.C.S.) in 1989 and in 1999 he received the St. Francis Medal, and the Robert R. Jones Board of Trustees Room was dedicated in his honor for his 23 years of service to the University. Bob and Carole have established two endowed scholarships, the J. Howard and Mary H. Brown Scholarship and the Robert R. and Carol Lynn Jones Scholarship and are regular contributors to the Annual Fund. Most recently, Bob has agreed to serve as an Honorary Co-Chair of the Anniversary Campaign. 

James, ’56, and Judithanne Taylor are active members of the University community. Where there is a need they have been there to help out. Jim has been a driving force in forging a supportive and lasting relationship between the St. Bonaventure Army ROTC program and the American Legion. He has been involved with numerous events including the ROTC Awards Ceremony, Christmas Social, ROTC Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and the ROTC Military Ball, among other.  The Taylors are also supportive of our Bonaventure athletic teams, from basketball to cross country. They also are friends of the Franciscan Institute. Most recently, the Taylors provided financial help to help bring the families from Italy to Olean for our Convocation Ceremony.














 

Dorance Foster, a longtime Warming House guest, has made the University's community center/soup kitchen his family and home for more than 25 years. Many students have invited him to graduations and dinners, extending their relationship and warmth beyond the walls of the Warming House itself and making their friendship a pivotal part of their St. Bonaventure experience. 

Chef Brent Kelley of Alfred State College
School of Culinary Arts who, along with students from the culinary arts program, cook and serve a gourmet meal to Warming House guests once a month. He brings his Alfred State students into this opportunity with the hope that they might be touched in a way that deepens and grounds their own vocational journey as future culinary professionals in a needy world. 

Beverly Twitty, former administrative assistant with the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program. Beverly was a friend and mentor to students and continues in that role with many alumni. She started Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations on campus and in the community; started Gospel Choraliers, a non-denominational community choir; and has been honored by the Olean YMCA and the Bahá'í Community for her community involvement. 

For more than four decades Toni A. Litzinger has been a faithful friend of St. Bonaventure, first as a wife of faculty member and dean of the School of Arts and Sciences Dr. Boyd Litzinger, and in the last decade as a ambassador of the University. In 1990, she set up a scholarship in memory of her husband, who passed away in 1987. Through her efforts, the Dr. Boyd A. Litzinger Memorial Scholarship is helping students majoring in English with financial support. Litzinger’s profession as a real estate agent has made her an ambassador of the University by showcasing the Olean area to many of the new faculty and staff who join the University and make it their home. 

Jerome Fishkin, of Bradford, Pa., and his brother, Jack, donated a collection of Mayan Art to the University in 1982. Fishkin, who attended St. Bonaventure, said that he and his brother loved Bonaventure and they wanted to do something in appreciation for what the university had done for them. In September 2008, on the occasion of the opening of the exhibition "Art of Sky, Art of Earth: Maya Cosmic Energy" at the Quick Center for the Arts, Jerome was able to see their important collection on display in the University's museum. He also learned of the loan agreement between St. Bonaventure and Wake Forest University, where the exhibit will travel in exchange for a collection of African art.

 

Joan Zink receives the 150th Anniversary Award from Board of Trustees Chair John R. McGinley Jr. Joan, who was executive administrative assistant to Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., University president, retired in June 2008 after 42 years at St. Bonaventure. 

Robert D. Crowley, '71, has served St. Bonaventure in a number of ways through the years, most notably as chair of the successful Kresge Challenge and the Science Advisory Council for The William F. Walsh Science Center, a member of the National Alumni Association Board, president of his alumni chapter, co-chair of the annual Bonaventure Fund, reunion class co-chair, an assistant with student recruitment, and decades of service as a Devereux Society chair. He was awarded Alumnus of the Year in 2001. 

Dan Barry, '80, grew up in Deer Park, N.Y., digging ditches and working in delicatessens before graduating from Bonaventure and New York University. He joined the New York Times in 1995 and has written extensively about city politics, police brutality, and the World Trade Center catastrophe and its aftermath in his “About New York” column. He has received several honors, including a George Polk Award and an American Society of Newspaper Editors award for deadline reporting. Barry received the Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for investigative reporting of corruption in Rhode Island court system. He is also the author of the memoir "Pull Me Up." 

John Hanchette, ’64, began his career as a reporter for the Niagara Gazette in 1964, before joining the Buffalo News and Gannett News Service. He worked for Gannett in different capacities, eventually becoming a national correspondent where he was responsible for covering the White House, the Pentagon, State and Justice departments, and Congress. In 1980 he won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for uncovering religious fund-raising scandals. He was named by Gannett as one of the Top 10 reporters of the past 25 years. Following his retirement from Gannett in 1991, he returned to SBU, where he is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. 

Charles Hanley, ’68, after graduating from SBU, joined The Associated Press in Albany, where he later became a political correspondent and then bureau news editor. He became a special correspondent with the AP International Desk in New York, where he has worked for more than three decades and has traveled to more than 80 countries covering stories on war. Most recently he has spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq covering the crises and conflicts in those countries. In the late 1960s, he also served as a U.S. Army journalist in South Carolina and Vietnam. In 2000, Charles Hanley and two other reporters were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their investigative reporting for breaking the No Gun Ri story that occurred at the start of the Korean War in 1950. Hanley is also the co-author of “The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War.” 

Brian Toolan, ’72, has held positions with the Scranton Tribune, Baltimore News American, Dayton Journal Herald, and the Philadelphia Daily News. In 1998, he left his position as the managing editor of the Philadelphia Daily News to become the editor and senior vice president of The Hartford Courant. In 1999, Toolan and his news staff were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their breaking news coverage of a disgruntled employee's shooting of four supervisors at the nearby Connecticut Lottery headquarters. He left the Courant in 2006 to become the national editor for The Association Press, where he oversaw all daily and enterprise reporting nationally for the AP, managing 65 domestic news bureaus, the 35-editor National Desk, the Health & Science Desk and the National Reporting Team. Last April, he returned to Philadelphia as the Business Editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Sally Luna, a longtime employee at St. Bonaventure, served as women’s basketball coach from 1971 to 1975, Dean of Women from 1975 to 1980, and Dean of Students from 1980 to 1983.









 

Sam and Tom Stith took a chance on St. Bonaventure when they came to Olean from New York City in the late 1950’s. They then proceeded to boost Bonaventure basketball into the national spotlight. 

Together the Stiths helped St. Bonaventure to three NIT berths and one NCAAA Tournament bid. After graduation, the Stith brothers remained together, playing for their hometown New York Knicks in 1961-62. They were inducted to St. Bonaventure’s Hall of Fame in 1969.

While their accomplishments on the court are immeasurably important to the history of St. Bonaventure, their pioneering spirit as the first black basketball players ever to make the Bonnies’ roster is perhaps even more important to the University’s now longstanding commitment to diversity. 



 

Sam Stith was a defensive catalyst, helping to initiate the team’s zone defense. He also was a complete player who scored 1,112 career points and grabbed 620 rebounds.

 

Tom Stith was the Bonnies’ first consensus All-American. Tom earned his place in St. Bonaventure lore with a smooth athleticism and a hook shot that few, if any, could copy. 

 

John Connors, ’58, and his wife, Carolyn, carry forward the Franciscan values of social justice and service to others by supporting a range of University initiatives. One that is very dear to John is the Robert C. Conroy Memorial Parish Internship Program that he and Carolyn established in 2003 in honor of longtime SBU alumnus and employee Bob Conroy. John, a former member of the University’s Board of Trustees, was a center for the basketball team from 1956 through 1958, and was inducted into the SBU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. 

Elizabeth “Betty” Boardman began work at St. Bonaventure University 42 years ago on Dec. 5, 1966. She has held posts in the alumni records office and as the secretary for the University Registrar. In June of 1995, she became the executive administrative assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and held that position until her retirement on Jan. 1, 2008.
 

Robert S. McDow, '91, said his education at St. Bonaventure, both in and out of the classroom, paved the way for his success in life. He has ensured that others have the same opportunity by serving as a role model and mentor for students in the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) at St. Bonaventure. McDow, manager of the men's basketball team from 1987-1991, is director of finance and plant services for Sweet Home Central Schools. 

Albert D. Cecchi, ’49, served as president of the Olean Alumni Chapter, initiated projects such as a national alumni bulletin, the annual alumni golf tournament in Olean, the President's Day dinner, and the Communion Breakfast. He served on the President's Council, was the National Alumni Fund chairman for two four-year terms, and agent for his class of 1949. He was honored with the Alumnus of the Year award in 1989. Al has been a season basketball ticket holder since 1952, and won an American Cancer Society Coaches vs. Cancer Fan of the Year Award in 2004. He remains good friends with such men's basketball standouts as Bob Lanier, Freddy Crawford, and Sam and Tom Stith, as well as former men's basketball coach Larry Weise.

  

Dolores Finch, '59, was a business teacher, middle-school guidance counselor and assistant to the president of an Olean company, but she always had time for St. Bonaventure. An active volunteer and philanthropist, she served on the President's Council and was named Alumnus of the Year in 1999. She has made gifts to the Warming House, BonaResponds and numerous other campus projects and causes, and she spearheaded the renovation of Our Lady of Wisdom Shrine behind Francis Hall. Ms. Finch has also established six endowed scholarships, named in honor of her family members, to help deserving students complete their studies. 

Donald M. Flanagan, ’54, was a member of the President's Council, the National Alumni Association Board, was president of his Triple Cities (Binghamton) Alumni Chapter, and chaired two Devereux annual fund campaigns. He also was a member of the University Board of Trustee for two separate terms. He served from 1974 to 1976, then, after a two-year hiatus, returned to the board in 1978, retiring in 1996. As a trustee, he chaired the Planning Committee and was a member of the Executive Committee. He was honored with Alumnus of the Year award in 1994. Don also endowed a scholarship in honor of his mother, Elizabeth, in 1997. 

Walter R. Kuhn Jr., ’54, could be called "Mr. Reunion." Wally has attended every reunion since he graduated with the exception of the two years he was in law school. He can be seen at many basketball games, especially when the team plays at Fordham. Wally has been at the Devereux giving level since 1989. He served on the National Alumni Association Board from 1983 to 1989.
 

Philip J. Eberl, ’59, received his B.A. in history in 1959 and his MSED in 1964. Following his graduation from St. Bonaventure, Phil taught in Delevan, N.Y., for several years before returning as a faculty member in the School of Education in 1987. He has been so much a part of the preparation of teachers, counselors, and school administrators that he is basically "Mr. Bonaventure" in every school district within a one hour's drive. His motto for many years was "The student comes first" and, according to School of Education Dean Peggy Burke, this is what has endeared him to so many students. It didn't matter if a student were leaving campus to transfer to another college or changing majors; Phil treated everyone with the same respect and interest. He is the official in-house historian for the School of Education. He is often sougt out by students whose parents had him as an adviser. He still receives letters and correspondence from many students, and he never forgets a name.

Jennifer M. Corrou, ’89, was an active volunteer with the School of Business while working and living in New York City, participating in the "Wall Street Comes to SBU" day and the Student Investment Management Fund (SIMF) projects. Jen then turned her attention to the 150th Anniversary Campaign when she agreed to join the New York Metro Campaign Committee where she worked as a volunteer making calls and writing letters. Jennifer and her husband, Daniel Lerner, hosted a reception in their apartment for Sr. Margaret and members of the campaign committee. Last year, Jennifer moved from the city and is now living in Minneapolis with her husband and their twin daughters.

Michael A. Hahn, ’64, retired in 2003 from a career with the 3M Company. Since his retirement, Mike has turned his attention to his alma mater. He is the president of the Central Texas Alumni Association and is working hard to bring Bonaventure to Texas. He has also established an endowed scholarship and is a member of Seraphim Society. Mike is also involved with Mt. Irenaeus and is a member of its board of trustees and chair of the Development Committee.
 

Shirley Krise, ’57, became involved with her alma mater in 1978 as a member of the President’s Council, where she served from 1978 to 1981. She also served as a member of the University’s Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1998. She was the first woman to be honored with the Friars’ Award, an initiative of the University’s Buffalo Alumni Chapter, which recognizes devotion to family and leadership with the Buffalo community. She was very active in fundraising and advancement activities of the University. She was a Devereux volunteer for many years and served as national chairperson for the Annual Fund and Devereux regional chair for the Annual Fund. She was recognized for her volunteer efforts when she was named 1997 Alumnus of the Year.

Richard Penna, ’68, established the endowed Penna Family Scholarship Fund at St. Bonaventure in 2005. Dick was an original member of the Science Advisory Council and was a major donor toward construction of the William F. Walsh Science Center at SBU. He is also a major contributor to the Bonaventure Fund. He volunteered as a Reunion class chair in 2008 and was a member of the 150th Campaign Committee. A 1971 graduate of the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America, he works for VanNess Feldman in Washington, D.C., specializing in environmental law and regulation. He is the former assistant director of the National Commission on Air Quality, and a former attorney for the Office of Enforcement and General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He and his wife, Maryann, have three children.

Susan Romanski Green, '61, served as a member of the University Board of Trustees from 1988 to 2005, and is the first woman to serve as chair. Prior to her time on the board she was a member of the National Alumni Association Board, a class agent, and co-chair of the Devereux Association for the 1987-88 Annual Fund. She was a Devereux volunteer for the 100th Annual Fund and assisted in the University's Capital Campaign in northern New Jersey. Sue was named Alumna of the Year in 1991, and in 2004 was awarded the Francis Medal by the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, becoming only the second member of the St. Bonaventure University community to receive the medal. Sue and her husband, David, now live in Palm Springs, Calif. They have six grown children, four of whom graduated from SBU.

 

David W. Black, ’83, vice president of Paskill Stapleton & Lord, was honored for his extraordinary service as an enrollment consultant that has enabled St. Bonaventure University to significantly enhance the effectiveness of its recruiting and enrollment marketing programs.


























 

 

Marv Stocker, ’65, has given countless volunteer hours to his alma mater. He has been a member of the National Alumni Association Board since 2003 in which he served as its president from 2007 until May 2009. He was also the co-chair of the Annual Bonaventure Fund in 2007.  He has been a member of the Devereux Giving Society for more than two decades, a Bona Backer since the program’s inception, and a member of the Seraphim Society. He was also a member of the National Gaudete event committee for 2004.























 

The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Rochester, Minn., have supported the university in many ways over the years, including providing overnight hospitality for university personnel during their travels.

























 

 

During the 150th Anniversary Campaign, Rick Stearns, ’65, was a member of the Metro New York Regional Capital Campaign Committee and in August 2005, Rick and his wife, Kathy, endowed a family scholarship. Rick has been a member of the Devereux Society for more than two decades, and also is a member of the Seraphim Society. He has also been an active alumnus, serving as a volunteer for many activities including the Devereux Society, the Bonathon, athletics, admissions and as a career services volunteer. In 1985, Rick was honored with the Alumnus of Year award and he served as the NAB President from 1986-1988. He also served on the Board of Trustees. 

A longtime supporter and former employee of the university, Lawrence Ford Sr. serves on the St. Bonaventure Board of Trustees Committee on Athletics, Athletic Hall of Fame Committee and Ad Hoc Committee on Olean Area Alumni Events. His 30-year employment at SBU began just two years after he completed his undergraduate degree in history at the university. From 1964 to 1968, he served as assistant director of Food Service, to be followed by appointments as director of the Reilly Center and Housekeeping Services (1968-1978) and director of Personnel and Management Services (1978-1994).