The Comenius award is given in recognition of outstanding
achievement in an alumna's or alumnus' field of work. The Alumni
Association is proud to present Judith Share Yaphe ’66 with
the 2003Comenius Award in recognition of her distinguished career
as a specialist in Middle Eastern political analysis.
A
Distinguished Research Professor at the Institute for National Strategic
Studies, the National Defense University, Washington D.C., Judith is
a specialist in Middle Eastern political analysis, with a focus on
Iraq, Persian Gulf, Arab, Islamic and regional issues. Prior to joining
the INSS in 1995, Dr. Yaphe served with the Directorate of Intelligence,
Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis at the Central Intelligence
Agency. Considered to be one of the most respected authorities on Iraq
in the U.S., Judith received the Intelligence Medal of Commendation
for her work on the 1990-1991 Iraq/Persian Gulf war. Professor Yaphe
co-authored the book Strategic Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran
and wrote and edited The Middle East in 2015: the Impact of Regional
Trends in U.S. Security Planning. She has also published articles in
professional journals on Iraq, Iran, human rights, and U.S. interests
in the Persian Gulf. Dr. Yaphe has presented numerous papers and has
been a regular guest on NPR's All Things Considered and television
news programs such as PBS’ The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline,
and CNN. Following the advice of her senior honors adviser, Dr. Daniel
Gilbert, Judith pursued her Ph.D. in Middle East history with a concentration
on Iraq at the University of Illinois. After receiving her Ph.D. in
1972, Judith joined the CIA as a Middle East specialist where her background
proved to be invaluable. In addition to her other responsibilities,
she is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Eliot School of International
Affairs at the George Washington University, where she teaches a course
that must be dear to Doc Gilbert’s heart—U.S. Foreign Policy
Toward the Middle East. Dr. Yaphe, who worked for Dr. Rokke at the
National Defense University, has two grown sons and resides in Vienna,
Virginia, with her spouse, Michael.
The Haupert Humanitarian Award honors an alumna or
alumnus who has rendered outstanding service in the cause of human
welfare. The Alumni Association is honored to present the 2003 Haupert
Humanitarian Award to Ivan Backer’49 in recognition of his
leadership in community revitalization.
Born
in Czechoslovakia, Ivan Backer came to the United States via England
in 1944, where he eventually became a driving force for revitalization
in Hartford, Connecticut’s blighted Frog Hollow. Ivan received
his B.A. from Moravian College and earned degrees from Union Theological
Seminary and General Theological Seminary, both in New York. He was
employed in the business sector and in parish ministry until 1969,
when he became Trinity College’s first Director of Community
Affairs. In 1975 he became the Director of Graduate and Special Programs
where he helped develop a masters program in Public Policy Studies
and created numerous community–bridging activities. He helped
to form a neighborhood issues committee with Hartford Hospital, Trinity
College, and the Institute of Living; and he became the founding Executive
Director and President of SINA, Southside Institutions Neighborhood
Alliance. SINA grew to also include Connecticut Children’s Medical
Center, and Connecticut Public Television and Radio, also in Hartford.
During Ivan’s seventeen years as President/Executive Director,
SINA evolved into a highly effective force for positive change in Hartford
and became nationally recognized as a model for community revitalization.
His community involvement reached beyond his professional responsibilities,
resulting in his service on at least 17 boards of directors, task forces,
and coalitions. He set a standard for city-college relations and helped
to make Hartford a prototype for revitalization by bringing together
its poor and disadvantaged, its cultural elite, and its political poles.
The Benigna award recognizes an alumna or alumnus
for outstanding contributions to the field of education. The Alumni
Association is pleased to present Carol Mooney Kemp’80 with
the 2003 Benigna Education Award for her exceptional work as a middle
school English teacher.
Since
graduating from Moravian in 1980, Carol Mooney Kemp has been proudly
dedicated to her career as an eighth grade English teacher at Old Turnpike
Middle School in New Jersey's Tewksbury Township. Carol was the 1998
and 2000 recipient of the New Jersey Department of Education Best Practice
Award for Innovation in Language Arts, in addition to being chosen
as a 1996 Hunterdon County Honored Teacher, a 1991 New Jersey Governor's
Teacher Recognition Winner, and a 1988 Tewksbury Township Board of
Education's Excellence in Teaching Awardee. She was also selected for
Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 1987, 2000, and 2002.
Both CNN television and a nationwide radio broadcast featured her original
interdisciplinary Victorian Unit, which also received a 1998 New Jersey
State School Board Award. For over 20 years, Carol has served as advisor
for the yearbook staff, dance committee, and class officers. In 1986,
her eighth grade English class ranked first in the nation on the National
Language Arts Olympiad, and in 2002 Carol and her husband, Edward Kemp
were honored for co-directing twenty-one school musicals. Although
multiple sclerosis has confined Carol to a wheel chair for over a year,
she continues to model her class theme of "Be Your Own Advocate" to
her students and plans to serve as an example of positive thinking
to them for many more years.
The Young Alumni Achievement Award is presented to
an alumna or alumnus who has achieved exceptional success in his
or her profession and who has graduated within the past two to ten
years. The Alumni Association is delighted to present April Major ’93
with the 2003 Young Alumni Achievement Award for her expertise in
the Internet and the practice of law.
When
April Major entered Villanova Law School she found that she was "in
the right place at the right time." Her physics background at
Moravian helped her to understand the complex issues of integrating
information technology and law, and she quickly became an expert in
the implications of the Internet for our legal systems. After graduation
in 1996, Villanova offered her a teaching fellowship, and subsequently
an appointment as a Visiting Assistant Professor. She became Director
of Operations at Villanova's Center for Information Law and Policy,
a think tank dedicated to exploring the intersection of law and technology
and its global implications for modernizing legal systems. From 1996
- 2000, April also served as the Faculty Director of the Global Democracy
Project (GDP), a program dedicated to advancing the development of
civil societies and promoting the rule of law through Internet technology.
GDP initiated projects in many regions of Central and Eastern Europe,
Costa Rica, Rwanda, and most notably in Bosnia where the Project successfully
implemented an operational Internet infrastructure through grants from
the U.S. State Department and other institutions. In 1997 she spoke
to the Venice Commission (the European Commission for Democracy through
Law) in Brussels, where she also met with high-level NATO officials.
April moved to Washington, D.C. in 2000 where she worked as an attorney
for the Federal Trade Commission training investigators in techniques
that would help them root out Internet fraud. During her short career,
April has published numerous articles and has made extensive presentations
to various institutions and commissions at state, national and international
levels. She has also given various local and national media commentaries,
including ABC and Fox news. Now back at Villanova as Assistant Dean
for Academic Computing, she teaches Administrative Practice and continues
to provide leadership in meeting the challenges presented by the use
of technology and practice of the law.
The Emerging Leader award is presented to an alumnus
or alumna who graduated within the last 10 years for his or her dedicated
service and leadership to Moravian College. The Alumni Association
gratefully acknowledges Michelle Litzenberger Trent ’93 for
her service to Moravian.
As
a 1993 graduate in International Management, Michelle studied abroad
in Toulon, France during her junior year of college. She was a member
of the French Club, was a French language tutor, and served as promotions
coordinator for the Activities Program Board, and secretary and menus
coordinator of the International Club. From 1999 through May of 2001,
Michelle chaired the Young Alumni Board’s Career Development
Committee, where she used her outstanding organizational skills to
help develop mock interviews for juniors and seniors and to organize
career panels. She also served on the executive board. A member of
the Alumni Career Advising Program, Michelle has participated in the
student-alumni career networking reception and as a career panelist.
Since 1995 she has served as her class correspondent, has attended
numerous alumni events, and has enjoyed serving candles at Vespers.
Michelle began her professional career at Browning-Ferris Industries
(BFI) where she became a National Account Manager for North America
and won the prestigious President’s Club award for achieving
the top 1% in the company’s national sales force of 3000 individuals.
From 1999 until 2002, Michelle was an independent consultant while
she also completed her MBA from Lehigh University. Since receiving
her MBA she has been director of sales of ACBS Group, Inc., where she
has already received their distinguished SME Award for recruitment,
training, and management of the ACBS sales force. Michelle and her
husband David currently live in Whitehouse, NJ, and plan to move to
Lower Saucon Township in 2004.
Since
his daughter, Joan ’86 and son, Jeffrey ’90 began attending
Moravian College, Fred Reinhard has been one of Moravian College’s
most enthusiastic and effective ambassadors and supporters. As a longstanding
member of the Board of Trustees, as a proud parent of college graduates,
and as an avid promoter of our athletic programs, Fred had made a profound
and lasting difference in the life of our institution and its students.
As a College trustee for more than seven years, he has provided strong
direction to Moravian from the boardroom. At the same time, Fred has
referred countless students from the Palmerton Area School District
to Moravian and has offered numerous student internships and employment
opportunities to our graduates. Honored as the 2003 Gillespie Award
recipient for his unwavering support of Hound athletics, Fred has been
a true and loyal fan, faithfully attending at-home and away events
in virtually every sport. He has hosted many receptions for current
and prospective student-athletes. At the same time, his financial leadership
has greatly enhanced Moravian’s athletic programs, helping to
initiate our men’s lacrosse program, to establish athletic internship
positions, and to provide leadership in the athletic campaign. Through
his newspaper, cable television, and internet companies, Fred has generously
offered invaluable public relations support to the College, promoting
it to hundreds of thousands of people in the region and beyond. Indeed,
his latest initiative will provide the first public broadcast of Moravian
Vespers Services throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In
acknowledgement of his outstanding dedication to Moravian College,
the Alumni Association is proud to recognize Fred Reinhard with the
distinction of honorary alumnus.
After
spending twenty-five years as a mining engineer, Mayo Lanning began
his second career at Moravian College in 1967. Since then, Mayo, who
is now eighty-seven, has dedicated not only his professional skills
but also untold volunteer hours to Moravian. With a BS in Engineering
from Lafayette, and an MS and MBA in Economics from Lehigh University,
Mayo used his varied background to help support the Economics and Business
Department and Moravian’s expanding Division of Continuing Studies
(DCS) program. After retiring from full time teaching in 1981, Mayo
spent the next eighteen years counseling DCS students on a part time
basis. In 1998 his work with Moravian took yet another turn when he
began to volunteer as a tutor and counselor with DCS students. In addition
to dedicating approximately fifteen volunteer hours a week to tutoring,
Mayo also helps to proctor exams and assist professors in other ways.
Since he feels that Moravian is like a second home to him, he has willingly
attended numerous extra activities that involve DCS and Business and
Economic students, encouraging them and wishing them well at dinners,
receptions, and ceremonies. In 2002 the Accounting Club recognized
Mayo with its Pinnacle Award for his contribution to the College and
the accounting profession, and Dean Linda Heindel recognized him at
the DCS dinner for his unwavering support of our students. Since he
finds his interaction with students to be stimulating and rewarding,
Mayo plans to continue making a difference in the lives of our students
for many years to come. In acknowledgement of his loyal commitment
to Moravian, the Alumni Association is pleased to recognize Mayo Lanning
with the distinction of honorary alumnus.
