University Park

19 Graduate School doctoral alumni honored during reunion weekend

Doctoral Alumni Recognition Weekend - 50th Anniversary Honorees Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State doctoral alumni celebrating the 10th, 25th, and 50th anniversary of receiving their doctorate returned to University Park for the Graduate School’s annual Doctoral Alumni Recognition Luncheon on March 24 in Kern Graduate Building. The 19 honorees included three doctoral alumni observing their 10-year anniversary, three commemorating their 25-year anniversary, and 13 who merited special distinction by joining more than 3,000 doctoral alumni who have been recognized over the years as 50th anniversary celebrants.

Speakers at the ceremony included Krishna C. Nadella, president, Graduate School Alumni Society; Paul Clifford, chief executive officer, Penn State Alumni Association; and Regina Vasilatos-Younken, vice provost for Graduate Education and dean of the Graduate School.

The achievements of Graduate School alumni are sources of inspiration and pride for current graduate scholars and the entire Penn State community. Their successes are an enduring testament to the powerful role graduate education plays in preparing individuals who have contributed many of the innovations and discoveries that have fueled the nation’s economic, cultural, and civic success for decades.

The doctoral alumni honored at the recognition luncheon were:

10th-year anniversary

  • Susan Carr-Mamett, doctoral degree, work force education and development
  • Sarah K. Gebauer, doctoral degree, integrative biosciences
  • Nicolai Pogrebnyakov, doctoral degree, information sciences and technology

25th-year anniversary

  • Robert R. By, doctoral degree, aerospace engineering
  • Joseph R. Fischer, doctoral degree, history
  • Dominic J. Lilak, doctoral degree, psychology

50th-year anniversary

  • Bernard J. Abbott, doctoral degree, microbiology
  • Robert E. Bennett, doctoral degree, educational administration
  • Wilmer E. Culham, doctoral degree, petroleum and natural gas engineering
  • Lester G. Kleckner, doctoral degree, secondary education
  • Lewis D. Kleinsasser, doctoral degree, psychology
  • James W. McCauley, doctoral degree, solid state science
  • David J. Michel, doctoral degree, metallurgy
  • Vernon A. Nelson, doctoral degree, zoology and entomology
  • Harvey S. Piper Jr., doctoral degree, electrical engineering
  • Fred W. Vondracek, doctoral degree, psychology
  • Larry N. Wilder, doctoral degree, speech
  • Helen D. Wise, doctoral degree, secondary education
  • John J. Zavodni, doctoral degree, physiology

Next year’s Graduate School Alumni Society Doctoral Alumni Recognition Weekend will be held on March 22 to 24, 2019. More information is available at gradschool.psu.edu/alumni/doctoral-alumni-reunion.

Last Updated April 2, 2018