University Park, Pa. -- Ten Penn State alumni have been elected and three appointed to Alumni Council, the governing body of the Penn State Alumni Association.
Elected to Alumni Council for three-year terms from July 1, 2005-June 30, 2008 are incumbents Leslie N. Firth, Mercer, Pa.; Tommy C. Hogan, Hackettstown, N.J.; Alain E. Hunter, Washington, D.C.; Pamela D. Loughner, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.; Cindy Mable, Rockville, Md.; Johanna M. Ramos, Herndon, Va.; and Barry M. Simpson, Harrisburg, Pa. Newly elected to Alumni Council are Cara Caruso, Pittsburgh; CarolAnn Gentry, State College, Pa.; and Nelson Loftus Jr., State College, Pa.
Incoming Alumni Association President Lewis H. Gold filled three appointed positions on Alumni Council. The appointees are Saundra D. Johnson, South Bend, Ind.; Michelle Kramer Fitzgerald, Wilmington, Del.; and Thomas E. Range, Levittown, Pa.
Alumni Council is an all-volunteer governing body that guides and directs policy for the Penn State Alumni Association. The council determines strategies and programs to be carried out by the Alumni Association staff and is also responsible for electing the Alumni Association president and vice president.
In this year's election, which ended May 31, nearly 14,000 Alumni Association members cast ballots—a 10.4 percent participation rate among eligible voters, which is a slight increase over last year's 10 percent participation rate. Thirty-seven percent of those alumni ballots were submitted via the Internet, compared to 30 percent last year, continuing a trend of increased online voting.